Google has another new product out. A slimmed down, streamlined version of the Android OS called "Go." Unfortunately, it's release didn't gather as much press as you'd expect when a new OS is released. The reason for that is simple. The new, slimmer, sleeker Android Go was designed for low-end phones with limited storage capacity, which don't typically get much press either. Despite the relative lack of fanfare, Android Go is an interesting app that deserves some attention, even if you … Read more
Google Calls Out Microsoft For Security Issue
Depending on who you ask, Google's Project Zero is either the thing that's going to singlehandedly save the internet, or the bane of many companies' existence. It's easy to see both sides of the argument. On one hand, by uncovering previously undiscovered bugs in all manner of software and handing that information over to the authors, Google is undeniably performing a valued public service. The problem has never been with the "carrot" side of the equation, always with the stick. The … Read more
Changes To Google Images Will Make Image Theft Difficult
Image theft is one of the biggest problems on the internet. If you're a photographer, you've almost certainly lost money because people find your work online and make a copy of it rather than paying for the right to use it. Unfortunately, Google has made that incredibly easy to do, but that's changing. Until recently, if you did a Google image search, you'd get a list of images that matched your search phrase, and one of the buttons displayed was a "View Image" button that would take you to … Read more
Vulnerability Found In Popular Grammar Checker
On February 2, Tavis Ormandy, a researcher on Google's Project Zero team discovered a critical flaw in the popular online grammar checking app, "Grammarly." Tens of millions of users make regular use of the app to improve the quality of their writing. The bug allowed a hacker to steal a Grammarly user's authentication token and use that token to log on and access every document they've run through the Grammarly system. This along with that user's history, logs and other data. They were able to … Read more
Apple And Google No Longer World’s Top Brands
The latest Brand Finance Global 500 report out and contains some surprises this year. In the battle of the Brands, two companies have long topped the list: Apple and Google. This year, there's a new Sheriff in town. Amazon blew past the top two claiming the top spot for itself. It is now the most valuable brand in the world with an impressive $150.8 billion dollar value. David Haigh, the CEO of Brand Finance had this to say about the upset in the rankings: "Jeff Bezos once said that … Read more
Blizzard Games Vulnerability Could Leave Gamers Open To Hacking
Do you play Blizzard online computer games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Starcraft II, or Overwatch? If so, there's a potential problem you need to be aware of. Tavis Ormandy, a researcher on Google's Project Zero team, recently discovered that the Blizzard Update Agent is vulnerable to hacking, via a technique known as "DNS Rebinding." The update agent is designed to accept commands to install, uninstall, change settings, update and perform other maintenance … Read more
Google Will Get Tougher On Websites Not Using HTTPS
Google is poised to make an important change to its Chrome browser beginning in July 2018. Here's the summary from Emily Schechter, the Google Chrome Security Product Manager: "For the past several years, we've moved toward a more secure web by strongly advocating that sites adopt HTTPS encryption, and within the last year, we've also helped users understand that HTTP sites are not secure by gradually marking a larger subset of HTTP pages as 'not secure.' Beginning in July 2018 with the … Read more
Inappropriate Ads Found In Some Game Apps for Kids
Normally, Google's robust series of checks and audits are pretty good at catching malicious code and preventing it from making its way to the Play Store. Sometimes, however, something slips through anyway despite the company's best efforts. This latest one is particularly bad. Researchers from Check Point have identified a new strain of malware called "AdultSwine" lurking in more than sixty gaming apps on the Play Store. Each of these apps has been downloaded between 3 million and 7 million … Read more
Do Not Use These Chrome Extensions
Do you use any of the following Chrome browser extensions? Change HTTP Request Header Nyoogle - (a custom logo for Google) Stickies - (a Post-It note for Chrome) Lite Bookmarks If so, you're not alone. These four extensions have a combined user base of more than half a million. Recently, security researchers from ICEBRG (a US cyber-security company) have discovered malicious codes embedded in copies of these on the official Chrome Web Store. The code allows hackers to … Read more
Vulnerabilities Found In Some GPS Services
A duo of researchers stumbled across a series of vulnerabilities in literally hundreds of GPS services that leave sensitive GPS tracking data open to hackers. Dubbed "Trackmageddon" by the researchers, the vulnerabilities span a range of weaknesses that include default or easy-to-guess passwords, IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) issues, insecure API endpoints, and data collection folders that are entirely unsecured. The reason so many different tracking services are impacted is that … Read more
