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Facebook Messenger Getting Feature To Help With Fake Accounts
It’s no secret that there are legions of scammers and spammers haunting the virtual halls of Facebook. As the world’s largest and most influential social networking site, it’s a natural target, making its masses of users natural targets, too. Facebook is taking steps to counter the threat posed by these nefarious actors, after being somewhat […]
Open Database Exposes Info Of 340 Million People
Internet security researcher Vinny Trola recently made a huge and disturbing discovery. A marketing firm called Exactis had left a massive database unsecured, allowing anyone who stumbled across it to access it. As a marketing firm, Exactis collects simply mind-boggling amounts of data on consumers all over the globe. The database in question was a […]
Americans Want Local Governments To Spend More On Cyber Security
While a significant percentage of Americans are suspicious of government spending beyond the essentials, there’s at least one notable exception, according to a recent survey conducted by SecurityFirst. A majority (74 percent) of Americans want their local governments to spend more money on cybersecurity. Here are a few of the highlights from the survey: […]
Apps In Gmail Have Full Access To Read Your Emails
File this one away under “watch your permissions.” It’s recently come to light that an unknown number of third party apps have access to read emails sitting in your Gmail account. While the practice is not new, things like this are coming under increased scrutiny in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica incident. Here are […]
Shopped At Adidas Website? Your Info May Have Been Compromised
Another week, another high-profile data breach. This time, Adidas and their online store was the target. The company became aware of the incident on June 26th, and immediately began notifying “certain customers” that their data had been compromised. The official statement from the company reads in part, as follows: “Adidas is working with leading […]
Bug In Facebook May Have Unblocked People You Blocked
Facebook recently announced a site bug that impacted the privacy settings of more than 800,000 of its users. If you’re one of the unfortunate souls who has been affected, then people you had formerly blocked may have become unblocked, and can now see your posts. For many people, that’s not a huge deal. In some […]
LTE Networks May Be Vulnerable To Hacking
Researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and New York University in Abu Dhabi have discovered serious security flaws in 4G LTE networks that allow hackers to spy on, listen in on, intercept, and disrupt phone calls and text messages. Given that billions of people rely on 4G LTE networks for cellphone communications, it’s a serious issue, and […]
Apple Extends Warranty For Certain Malfunctioning Macbook Keyboards
If you own a Macbook or a Macbook Pro and your keyboard has “butterfly switches,” you may have noticed some strange things with the way it operates. Users have been talking about the issue on forums scattered around the internet, but until recently, no one had a definitive answer for why the problem was occurring […]
Microsoft Edge Mobile Browser Blocks Android And iOS Ads
As most people know, Microsoft Edge was the company’s “reboot.” After trying for years to patch and update their beleaguered Internet Explorer, Microsoft ultimately decided to scrap it and start fresh. Since Edge’s launch, it has struggled to gain traction with users. Recently, Microsoft has upped the ante, at least where Edge for iOS and […]
Mobile Users Gain Privacy Protection In Supreme Court Ruling
There’s some good news from a recent Supreme Court ruling where privacy is concerned, but take it with a grain of salt. In a recent 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement agencies must obtain a warrant before they can get access to data collected and stored on mobile devices. Of special significance, […]
A Visionary Approach to Your Security
The purpose of an IT partner isn’t just to fix something when it is broken, it is to keep your people working and your data secure. Astral moves beyond traditional managed services by addressing all the key areas of cybersecurity in today’s complex landscape.
