AnalysisDrivers for ride-hailing apps Lyft and Uber have organized for better pay through collective action – and not by unionizing. Here's how it works: a group of drivers who pick up passengers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, outside the US capital, have been turning off their taxi apps simultaneously to influence the …

AnalysisThe technology industry has numerous terms for sneaky software, including malware, adware, spyware, ransomware, and the ever adorable PUPs – potentially unwanted programs. But there isn't always a clear difference between malware and less threatening descriptors. In a research paper distributed this month through pre-print …

In a preliminary report issued on Thursday, the US National Transportation Safety Board on said that a Tesla 3 crash on March 1 in Delray Beach, Florida, occurred while the vehicle's Autopilot system was active. "The driver engaged the Autopilot about 10 seconds before the collision," the report stated. "From less than 8 …

VideoAircraft instrument landing systems (ILS) are susceptible to radio signal spoofing using off-the-shelf equipment, boffins have found, calling into question the adequacy of aviation cybersecurity. In a research paper titled "Wireless Attacks on Aircraft Instrument Landing Systems," scheduled to be presented at the 28th USENIX …

President Donald J. Trump today declared yet another national emergency in the US – this one over the threat of unidentified foreign adversaries exploiting vulnerabilities in IT and telecom systems and services. Short on specifics, the freshly signed executive order authorizes the Secretary of Commerce "to prohibit …

Google is offering free replacements of its Titan Security Keys, used for two-factor authentication, after learning the widgets' Bluetooth connections could be compromised by nearby hackers. The Chocolate Factory on Wednesday advised customers with certain Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) versions of Titan Security Keys – marked T1 …

AnalysisIn conjunction with Intel's coordinated disclosure today about a family of security vulnerabilities discovered in millions of its processors, Google has turned off Hyper-Threading in Chrome OS to fully protect its users. Meanwhile, Apple, Microsoft, IBM's Red Hat, QubesOS, and Xen advised customers that they may wish to take …

Intel on Tuesday plans to release a set of processor microcode fixes, in conjunction with operating system and hypervisor patches from vendors like Microsoft and those distributing Linux and BSD code, to address a novel set of side-channel attacks that allow microarchitecture data sampling (MDS). These side-channel holes can …

Last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said it intends to change the way its S3 storage service can be referenced in API and web requests. But by doing so, the cloud giant would have eliminated a means of censorship avoidance. On Wednesday, AWS chief evangelist Jeff Barr announced a revised plan, acknowledging that too few …

UpdatedThe owners of a Manhattan apartment block have agreed to give their tenants mechanical keys to end a court battle over a keyless smart-lock system. The landlords of 517-525 W 45th Street in New York installed the Latch smart-lock on the front door of the building when it was recently renovated. The gizmo allows tenants to, for …

Google I/OGoogle, the largest handler of web cookies, plans to change the way its Chrome browser deals with the tokens, ostensibly to promote greater privacy, following similar steps taken by rival browser makers Apple, Brave, and Mozilla. At Google I/O 2019 on Tuesday, Google's web platform director Ben Galbraith announced the plan, …

An Airbnb "superhost" has been arrested and jailed after a guest discovered a camera hidden inside an internet router placed in the bedroom. The perv had picked on the wrong woman. Yunfei (her online alias) works in IT security and always checks hotel rooms that she stays in. She became immediately suspicious when she arrived …

RoundupWelcome back, Brits, from your three-day Bank Holiday week. Allow us to catch you up on recent infosec comings and goings. 'Hamas hackers' bombed: Israeli Defence Forces claim they destroyed a building in the Gaza Strip on Saturday said to be used by Hamas hackers. The Palestinian militants were targeted in the air strike in …

After a year-long investigation, a top California exec has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly hacking into a competitor's website and stealing their customer data in an effort to ruin their business. There is an unusual twist, however: this isn't the high-stakes world of big tech or high finance, but American school …

On Friday, Mozilla detected a great disturbance in its Firefox browser, as if millions of voices had cried out on social media in annoyance. Every single web extension, theme, search engine plugin, and language pack had stopped working with netizens' Firefox installations, potentially stripping any data and settings associated …

"A year after the White House eliminated the position of cybersecurity coordinator, President Donald Trump called for everyone else to do the opposite and push cybersecurity coordination through worker training and recruitment." "America built the internet and shared it with the world; now we will do our part to secure and …

PromoThe internet is full of hacking tools and bad guys only too eager to use them. To help organisations keep their precious data out of the criminals’ hands, IT security training specialist SANS Institute is planning an event in Amsterdam from 20-25 May, 2019, for cybersecurity professionals to develop hands-on skills to defend …

If there's anything worse than having to constantly come up with and enter passwords, it's the idiotic way in which we all do it. Yep, it's World Password Day again and that means one thing: companies of every hue and shade politely but firmly telling us we're a disgrace. Avast, for example, let us know that "unfortunately, …