Tag Archive for: breaking

I’m a tech expert – millions risk losing everything by breaking ‘number one security rule’ on iPhone and Android

/in


CYBER experts have revealed why you must never use the same password more than once.

Gadget users risk a dangerous wave of cyber-attacks if they make a simple (and very common) mistake.

It might seem like a handy option, but re-using passwords is extremely dangerousCredit: Unsplash

Often people choose one strong password – and then use it over and over again.

That’s because it’s easy to remember just one password, giving you quick access to all of your accounts and apps.

But it’s extremely dangerous, according to Brad Freeman, director of technology at SenseOn.

“The number one security rule is don’t reuse passwords,” Brad exclusively told The U.S. Sun.

“Many websites will get compromised and reusing the same password could cause a cascading failure as attackers can access multiple services which you have signed up for.

“This could allow an identity thief to build up a rich picture about you to commit fraud against you or your employer.”

If one account is hacked or leaked, crooks can use your password to break into all of your accounts that share the same login.

This means that a small breach somewhere can suddenly cascade into an enormous cyber-attack.

It puts you at serious risk of financial loss and being defrauded.

Hackers could even use a major cyberattack like this to spy on you, or even extort or blackmail you.

Thankfully staying safe is easy: Don’t re-use passwords.

If that seems difficult, it’s best to start using a password manager.

You may already have one: Apple devices like the iPhone offer you iCloud Keychain.

This will automatically generate strong passwords for accounts and then save them for you – refilling the login field when it’s needed.

Google offers a similar password-management feature through its Chrome browser.

And both Apple and Google are trying to push users away from passwords altogether to a new system called Passkeys.

Password-less logins are only just becoming available, and mean you don’t have to risk having a password for an account at all.

Source…

How to stop quantum computers from breaking the internet’s encryption

/in


Keeping secrets is hard. Kids know it. Celebrities know it. National security experts know it, too.

And it’s about to get even harder.

There’s always someone who wants to get at the juicy details we’d rather keep hidden. Yet at every moment, untold volumes of private information are zipping along internet cables and optical fibers. That information’s privacy relies on encryption, a way to mathematically scramble data to prevent any snoops from deciphering it — even with the help of powerful computers.

But the mathematical basis of these techniques is under threat from a foe that has, until recently, seemed hypothetical: quantum computers.

In the 1990s, scientists realized that these computers could exploit the weird physics of the minuscule realm of atoms and electrons to perform certain types of calculations out of reach for standard computers. That means that once the quantum machines are powerful enough, they could crack the mathematical padlocks on encrypted data, laying bare the world’s secrets.

Today’s quantum computers are far too puny to defeat current security measures. But with more powerful quantum machines being regularly rolled out by the likes of IBM and Google, scientists, governments and others are beginning to take action. Experts are spreading the word that it’s time to prepare for a milestone some are calling Y2Q. That’s the year that quantum computers will gain the ability to crack the encoding schemes that keep electronic communications secure.

“If that encryption is ever broken,” says mathematician Michele Mosca, “it would be a systemic catastrophe.”

Y2Q is coming. What does it mean?

Encryption pervades digital life — safeguarding emails, financial and medical data, online shopping transactions and more. Encryption is also woven into a plethora of physical devices that transmit information, from cars to robot vacuums to baby monitors. Encryption even secures infrastructure such as power grids. The tools Y2Q threatens are everywhere. “The stakes are just astronomically high,” says Mosca, of the University of Waterloo in Canada, who is also CEO of the cybersecurity company evolutionQ.

The…

Source…

Breaking Down the Code: Computer Scientists Untangle Internet’s Complex Protocols to Unveil Underlying Simplicity

/in


Undergraduate students taking computer-networking courses often find themselves confronted with an avalanche of acronymic protocols that dictate how the internet works. But underlying the layers of complexity, there exists surprising simplicity in the design of the internet, as illustrated in the February cover feature for Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) — a monthly magazine published by the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society.

Looking to cut through that seemingly tangled mess, UCLA computer science professor George Varghese, joined by his colleagues James McCauley of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Scott Shenker of UC Berkeley, set out to explain in this article that the internet’s fundamental design has remained unchanged since its adoption in 1983.

Titled “Extracting the Essential Simplicity of the Internet,” the predominantly non-technical article boils down the internet’s architecture to three key mechanisms: routing, reliability and resolution. They formed the foundation of the ubiquitous global system of interconnected computer networks despite evolving technologies built around the internet.

“Most people understand the power of the internet but few appreciate the brilliance of its design that has allowed the system to accommodate decades of growth, with billions of users and connected devices that process mountains of data in a blink of an eye,” said Varghese, who holds UCLA’s Jonathan B. Postel Endowed Chair in Networking. He has made landmark contributions to network algorithmics, which helped make the internet run faster. His current research emphasis is on network design automation, to help manage and debug computer networks.

The article originated from a guest lecture by Shenker on the internet’s basic routing simplicity in a UCLA undergraduate networking class taught by Varghese. The internet’s long-lasting success, the authors noted, can be attributed to its modest all-purpose design; its modularity that allows it to incorporate innovations at the applications end that are completely distinct from the connecting network layers; and its built-in layers of fail-safe…

Source…

Hacker cop facing more charges after breaking into women’s social media accounts, sharing photos

/in


Hacker cop facing more charges after breaking into women’s social media accounts, sharing photos








Latest from Breaking News








Go toTop

Source…