It’s been almost 25 years since macro malware first reared its head, and it would be nice to think that the defences Microsoft has built into its Office suite in the years since would do a half-decent job of stemming the threat.
Unfortunately, it seems that’s not the case – at least not for users of the Mac version of Microsoft Office.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Good luck to the social media sites playing whack-a-mole as they try to police the activities of state-sponsored groups trying to influence the public’s opinion with co-ordinated campaigns. This isn’t going to be a problem that’s easy to fix.
If you have an older Mac, or your newer one’s just running a bit too slowly for your liking, you can disable some of the cosmetic animations to speed it up a bit. Defaults-Write has a solid collection of different Terminal commands that’ll do just that.
mac hacker – read more
Just about everything these days ships with tiny embedded computers that are designed to make users’ lives easier. High-definition TVs, for instance, can run Skype and Pandora and connect directly to the Internet, while heating systems have networked interfaces that allow people to crank up the heat on their way home from work. But these newfangled features can often introduce opportunities for malicious hackers. Witness “Smart TVs” from Samsung or a popular brand of software for controlling heating systems in businesses.
Now, security researchers are turning their attention to the computers in cars, which typically contain as many as 50 distinct ECUs—short for electronic control units—that are all networked together. Cars have relied on on-board computers for some three decades, but for most of that time, the circuits mostly managed low-level components. No more. Today, ECUs control or finely tune a wide array of critical functions, including steering, acceleration, breaking, and dashboard displays. More importantly, as university researchers documented in papers published in 2010 and 2011, on-board components such as CD players, Bluetooth for hands-free calls, and “telematics” units for OnStar and similar road-side services make it possible for an attacker to remotely execute malicious code.
The research is still in its infancy, but its implications are unsettling. Trick a driver into loading the wrong CD or connecting the Bluetooth to the wrong handset, and it’s theoretically possible to install malicious code on one of the ECUs. Since the ECUs communicate with one another using little or no authentication, there’s no telling how far the hack could extend.
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