Security News

Emergency alert on US phones and TVs today — Don’t worry, it’s just a test
2023-10-04 09:24

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission will run an emergency alert test today to check Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts capabilities nationwide. On consumers' phones, WEA alert messages will read: "This is a test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

“Snakes in airplane mode” – what if your phone says it’s offline but isn’t?
2023-08-21 19:45

That's because "Fake airplane" mode doesn't itelf snoop on or try to steal private data belonging to other apps, but works simply by showing you what you hope to see, namely visual clues that imply that your device is offline even when it isn't. You can imagine that determined scammers, cryptoconfidence tricksters and spyware peddlers might be keen to find a way to hide "Fake airplane" treachery in otherwise unexceptionable looking apps in order to make it through the App Store verification process.

Zoom ZTP & AudioCodes Phones Flaws Uncovered, Exposing Users to Eavesdropping
2023-08-12 11:34

Multiple security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in AudioCodes desk phones and Zoom's Zero Touch Provisioning that could be potentially exploited by a malicious attacker to conduct remote attacks. "An external attacker who leverages the vulnerabilities discovered in AudioCodes Ltd.'s desk phones and Zoom's Zero Touch Provisioning feature can gain full remote control of the devices," SySS security researcher Moritz Abrell said in an analysis published Friday.

Tracking Down a Suspect through Cell Phone Records
2023-07-17 11:13

Investigators went through phone records collected from both midtown Manhattan and the Massapequa Park area of Long Island-two areas connected to a "Burner phone" they had tied to the killings. They then narrowed records collected by cell towers to thousands, then to hundreds, and finally down to a handful of people who could match a suspect in the killings.

Satellites lack standard security mechanisms found in mobile phones and laptops
2023-07-14 04:30

Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum and the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Saarbrücken have assessed the security mechanisms of satellites currently orbiting the Earth from an IT perspective. They analyzed three current low-earth orbit satellites and found that, from a technical point of view, only some modern security concepts were implemented.

French Police Will Be Able to Spy on People through Their Cell Phones
2023-07-13 11:20

French police should be able to spy on suspects by remotely activating the camera, microphone and GPS of their phones and other devices, lawmakers agreed late on Wednesday, July 5. Covering laptops, cars and other connected objects as well as phones, the measure would allow the geolocation of suspects in crimes punishable by at least five years' jail.

Liberté, Égalité, Spyware: France okays cops snooping on phones
2023-07-10 05:33

Per Le Monde, lawmakers from French president Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party added several amendments to what's been dubbed the "Snoopers' charter" - requiring remote spying only be used "When justified by the nature and seriousness of the crime," and even then only for a "Strict and proportional" length of time. French justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said the bill will only apply to a few dozen cases per year and, rather than being a way for France to get government-sponsored spyware onto the devices of anyone accused of a crime, will save lives.

Aussie PM says, “Shut down your phone every 24 hours for 5 mins” – but that’s not enough on its own
2023-06-23 19:10

Simple things, turn your phone off every night for five minutes. Shutting down generally closes all your apps, then closes down the entire operating system, thus stopping any malware or spyware that was active in the background, along with everything else.

Windows 11 will let you view phone photos in File Explorer
2023-06-01 18:27

Microsoft is now rolling out a new Windows 11 dev build allowing Insiders to view their phone's camera roll in the File Explorer Gallery. Once the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23471 gets installed, they can add photos from their phone by clicking a new button added to the File Explorer's command bar.

Phone scamming kingpin gets 13 years for running “iSpoof” service
2023-05-22 18:58

Get the ability to change what someone sees on their caller ID display when they receive a phone call from you. In the 12 months until August 2022 around 10 million fraudulent calls were made globally via iSpoof, with around 3.5 million of those made in the UK. Interestingly, the NCA says that about 10% of those UK calls, made to 200,000 different potential victims, lasted more than a minute, suggesting a surprisingly high success rate amonst scammers who used the iSpoof service to give their bogus calls a fraudulent air of legitimacy.