FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

Back To School Cybersecurity Tips
It may seem hard to believe, but summer’s almost over and the new school year is already here. While students prepare for the upcoming term by stocking up on supplies and scrambling to finish their summer reading assignments, there’s someone else who’s excited by the new school year: scammers... Read more
Court Rules Against WebWatcher Spying Software
The developer of an internet monitoring software has lost in an appeal filed by plaintiffs suing the company for invasion of privacy, according to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Awareness Technologies, creators of WebWatcher, had successfully filed to dismiss the lawsuit brought about by Javier Luis of Florida,... Read more
Arrest Made In Sage Data Breach
Agencies like the Identity Theft Resource Center, which first started tracking data breaches in 2005, have shown that the numbers have set new records almost every single year for the sheer volume of attacks and consumer records exposed. Security experts have found that no industry is immune to data... Read more
Hospital Ransomware Attacks On The Rise
In the realm of data breaches and hacking events, there are a handful of victims who are easy targets, for one reason or another. Elder scams, for example, are quite common–and utterly reprehensible, committed by the lowest humans on the planet–due to the perception that senior citizens are both... Read more
A Warning Label For Your Software
Thanks to initiatives aimed at consumer protection, we have warning labels on everything. From the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarettes and alcohol to the printed mandate not to let your child put a plastic bag on his head, we’re now more informed than ever when it comes to our... Read more
Are Security Holes In Apps Leaking Your Data?
There’s an app for just about everything these days, especially where our health is concerned. However, what permissions are consumers blindly granting to the latest apps, and who has access to that data? News recently appeared that a popular pregnancy and fertility tracking app had some serious security holes,  inlcluding a... Read more
Global Shortage Of Cybersecurity Shortage According To Intel Report
The Intel Security and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has found that over 200,000 cybersecurity jobs were left vacant in the US in 2015 and that an average of 15% of cybersecurity positions will remain vacant by 2020. “This is a global problem; a majority of respondents in... Read more
Pokemon Go And The Loss Of Privacy
The reviews are mixed about the new app-based game that’s quite literally taking over the internet. Pokemon Go, the location-based game that uses its players’ smartphones to pop up with a seemingly endless variety of cartoon Pokemon creatures, has fairly well divided humanity into two camps: the ones who... Read more
US Court Rules Password Sharing Is Illegal
A US appeals court hearing has ruled that password sharing is actually illegal. So could Netflix users find themselves up in court now? Probably not. Probably
. The verdict was handed down in a case involving a former employee of a business who had used a former colleague’s login details... Read more
iOS10 Is Unencrypted…On Purpose
Apple’s preview of iOS10 revealed something shocking: a lack of encryption on the kernel’s code. Uttering the words “Apple” and “encryption” in the same sentence might raise a few eyebrows, especially in the wake of the now-famous legal battle involving Apple being compelled by a US court to develop... Read more
Geo-specific FLocker Ransomware Infects SmartTVs
FLocker ransomware has been found infecting users’ smartTVs, but there is a fix. When FLocker ransomware was first uncovered back in the spring of last year, Android phone consumers were warned about its potential for harm. But new findings from Trend Micro have discovered one of FLocker’s 7,000 variants... Read more
SEC Hires Cybersecurity Expert
The SEC has brought on an expert in cybersecurity to advise its director and enact strict policies to prevent crime. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is the arm of the government charged with overseeing the buying and selling of securities. They’re charged with the oversight of major-name players... Read more
TeamViewer Insists There Was No Hacking
When news of a data breach occurs, typically the company whose information was hacked issues a statement to the effect of an ongoing cybersecurity investigation, informs the affected users, and offers up whatever legal reparations are required, such as credit monitoring or free copies of the victims’ credit reports.... Read more
Hackers Breach SWIFT Banking Software, Steal $81M
In typical data breaches, hackers work their way in, get what they’re after, and then head for the internet hills, occasionally stopping to brag about their exploits on some dark web forum after they’re done. But for last month’s data breach that resulted in hackers making off with $81... Read more
Snapchat Breach And The Biggest Security Flaw Ever
Social media photo and video site Snapchat has had its share of headline-grabbing, embarrassing security issues over the years, some intentional and some due to its own inability to plan. When a hacker warned and then exposed nearly 5 million users’ accounts because of a bug that left the... Read more
Predicting Crime With Software
Using technology to solve crimes is nothing new, at least not in the last few decades. With everything from forensic science innovations to DNA testing to facial recognition software and more, law enforcement agencies are relying on science to find their bad guys. But what if technology could tell... Read more
How IoT Medical Devices Are Vulnerable To Hackers
It’s a story straight out of a cyberthriller, a haunting tale in which hackers take over someone’s insulin pump and deliver too much of the normally life-saving drug, killing him with the very device that was supposed to save him. It makes for good crime novel fodder, but one... Read more
GCHQ Password Guidance: Can You Trust It?
GCHQ, the UK government spy agency have recommended that people use simpler, easy to remember passwords, suggest banning password strength meters and regular password changes. But can you trust security advice that comes from the same people who were found to be unlawfully conducting mass surveillance against its own... Read more