Mozilla in four weeks will bar plug-ins built using a decades-old technology from Firefox, ending a years-long process designed to make the browser more secure. The single exception to the ban: Adobe’s Flash Player, which will continue to run, with limitations, in Firefox. Mozilla’s plug-in prohibition will apply to NPAPI plug-ins, (Netscape Plug-in Application Programming…
A hacker is proving that sites on the dark web, shrouded in anonymity, can easily be compromised. On Friday, the unnamed hacker began dumping a sizable database stolen from Freedom Hosting II onto the internet, potentially exposing its users. The hosting service, Freedom Hosting II, was known for operating thousands of sites that were…
Popular smart TV maker Vizio will pay US $2.2 million to settle complaints that it violated customers’ privacy by continuously monitoring their viewing habits without their knowledge. Beginning in February 2014, the California TV maker tracked what TV shows customers were watching on 11 million TV sets sold in the U.S., the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and…
After aggressively using JavaScript email attachments to distribute malware for the past year, attackers are now switching to less suspicious file types to trick users. Last week, researchers from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center warned about a new wave of spam emails that carried malicious .LNK files inside ZIP archives. Those files had malicious PowerShell…
It wasn’t live, but Intel’s 300 drones in the sky behind Lady Gaga at the start of the Super Bowl Halftime Show were impressive nonetheless. What started out as a sea of floating lights came together by the end of the bit to form an American flag. It was impressive, cool, and it was all…
Microsoft’s mysterious Windows Cloud is supposedly a stripped-down version of Microsoft’s operating system that runs only Windows Store apps. Microsoft’s not commenting, but an early build that leaked over the weekend appears to be authentic and gives further tantalizing hints of what the company may have in mind. Windows Cloud intrigues Microsoft watchers because of its uncanny resemblance to…
At first glance, Intel’s Unite software comes across as an anomaly. What future does the collaboration software have in the chipmaker’s future? For now, the software is linked to Intel’s PC chips, which is a core business. But it’s emerging as a component of the company’s virtual reality, internet of things, and server businesses, which…
Carbon Black is introducing at RSA Conference 2017 next week a new way for its gear to detect attacks that don’t make their way into networks via viruses or malicious files that other endpoint security software can detect. Called Streaming Prevention, the technology can find both malware and non-malware attacks by analyzing endpoint activities in…
Google, Facebook, Intel, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple and Twitter are among a large group of companies that have filed a brief in opposition to an immigration order by U.S. President Donald Trump, citing the benefits to industry from liberal immigration rules and the disruption to business as a result of the regulation. A total of 97…
In the wake of the Note7 debacle, South Korea is introducing new tests and regulations to ensure battery and smartphone safety, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The new measures will include requiring manufacturers to certify the safety of lithium-ion batteries based on new technologies in the process of production. The announcement Monday…