Security News

Intel Sued Under Wiretapping Laws for Tracking User Activity on its Website
2021-03-30 12:49

Intel is being sued under a Florida state wiretapping law for using software on its website to capture keystrokes and mouse movements of people that visit it. A class-action suit in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit In and For Lake County, Florida, alleges that the tech giant unlawfully intercepted communications without user consent because of its use of analytics technology on its website.

Chrome 90 goes HTTPS by default while Firefox injects substitute scripts to foil tracking tech
2021-03-24 08:19

When version 90 of Google's Chrome browser arrives in mid-April, initial website visits will default to a secure HTTPS connection in the event the user has failed to specify a preferred URI scheme. Chrome 90 will make HTTPS the default for first time website visits where no transport has been declared.

New Browser Attack Allows Tracking Users Online With JavaScript Disabled
2021-03-12 18:53

Researchers have discovered a new side-channel that they say can be reliably exploited to leak information from web browsers that could then be leveraged to track users even when JavaScript is completely disabled. In avoiding JavaScript, the side-channel attacks are also architecturally agnostic, resulting in microarchitectural website fingerprinting attacks that work across hardware platforms, including Intel Core, AMD Ryzen, Samsung Exynos 2100, and Apple M1 CPUs - making it the first known side-channel attack on the iPhone maker's new ARM-based chipsets.

Apple’s Device Location-Tracking System Could Expose User Identities
2021-03-09 23:31

Two vulnerabilities in a crowdsourced location-tracking system that helps users find Apple devices even when they're offline could expose the identity of users, research claim. Offline Finding, a proprietary app introduced by Apple in 2019 for its iOS, macOS and watchOS platforms, enables the location of Apple devices even if they aren't connected to the internet.

Flaws in Apple Location Tracking System Could Lead to User Identification
2021-03-09 09:40

Vulnerabilities identified in offline finding - Apple's proprietary crowd-sourced location tracking system - could be abused for user identification, researchers said in a report released this month. With "Hundreds of millions" of devices part of Apple's OF network, this represents the largest crowd-sourced location tracking system in the world, one that is expected to grow even further, as support for non-Apple devices is added to it.

Google Vows to Stop Tracking Individual Browsing for Ads
2021-03-03 15:01

Google on Wednesday pledged to steer clear of tracking individual online activity when it begins implementing a new system for targeting ads without the use of so-called "Cookies." The internet giant's widely used Chrome browser this month will begin testing an alternative to the tracking practice that it believes could improve online privacy while still enabling advertisers to serve up relevant messages.

Week in review: Kali Linux 2021.1, CNAME-based tracking, VMware vCenter Servers under attack
2021-02-28 08:55

Attackers are looking to exploit critical VMware vCenter Server RCE flaw, patch ASAP!The day after VMware released fixes for a critical RCE flaw found in a default vCenter Server plugin, opportunistic attackers began searching for publicly accessible vulnerable systems. Kali Linux 2021.1 released: Tweaked DEs and terminals, new tools, Kali ARM for Apple Silicon MacsOffensive Security has released Kali Linux 2021.1, the latest version of its popular open source penetration testing platform.

Users largely unaware of the privacy implications of location tracking
2021-02-25 04:00

Through the app employed in the study researchers were able to identify which kind of personal information the app extracted and its privacy sensitivity according to users. "Users are largely unaware of the privacy implications of some permissions they grant to apps and services, in particular when it comes to location tracking information", explains Musolesi.

Mozilla Patches Bugs in Firefox, Now Blocks Cross-Site Cookie Tracking
2021-02-24 20:50

The Mozilla Foundation has released its latest version of the Firefox browser, which comes with new privacy protections to squash cross-site cookie tracking, as well as a slew of security vulnerability fixes. "Total Cookie Protection confines cookies to the site where they were created, which prevents tracking companies from using these cookies to track your browsing from site to site," said Tim Huang, Johann Hofmann and Arthur Edelstein with Mozilla on Tuesday.

CNAME-based tracking increasingly used to bypass browsers’ anti-tracking defenses
2021-02-24 14:16

As browser-makers move to defang third-party cookies, marketers are increasingly switching to alternative tracking techniques. In 2019, Firefox was equipped with Enhanced Tracking Protection by default, blocking known trackers, third-party tracking cookies and cryptomining scripts.