ZTE is ending “major operating activities,” the company announced today, as its conditions worsen under a US ban on exports to the Chinese phone maker. ZTE says in a filing that it has enough cash to stay afloat while pausing operations for the time being. While the news doesn’t mean ZTE is completely dead, things aren’t looking good for the phone maker.

The company says it’s in talks with the US about how to reverse or modify the Department of Commerce’s April decision to ban exports and “forget a positive outcome in the development of matters.” American companies like Dolby and Qualcomm can’t export parts to ZTE for up to seven years. 

The Trump administration is considering executive action that would restrict some Chinese companies’ ability to sell telecommunications equipment in the U.S., based on national-security concerns, said several people familiar with the matter.

The move, if it happens, would represent a significant escalation of a growing feud between the U.S. and China over tech and telecommunications. The affected firms likely would include Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. , two of the world’s leading telecommunications equipment makers. They have found themselves increasingly in an international crossfire. 

Authenticating with your face seems like a natural choice when it comes to smartphones. Talk about convenient — you were going to look at the phone anyway, right? The smartphone industry as a whole seems to agree.

Apple wasn’t the first company to come up with the idea of unlocking a smartphone with a face, but after Apple introduced it, in the iPhone X, the whole smartphone industry followed — as it always does. Almost every phone showcased at Mobile World Congress 2018 had this function. It’s a really bad trend, and here’s why. Actually, I don’t think that face recognition is bad per se. Quite the opposite — done right, it’s probably better then authentication based on fingerprints or PIN codes.

After reports and studies revealed that browsers' private modes aren't that secure, MIT graduate student Frank Wang decided to take things into his own hands.

He and his team from MIT CSAIL and Harvard have created a tool called Veil, which you could use on a public computer -- or on a private one on top of using incognito mode and Tor if you have big secrets to keep or if you've just become paranoid after years of hearing about hacks and cyberattacks. MIT explained that data tends to move between different cores in multicore chips and caches, which attackers could access by exploiting flaws.

You are probably familiar with browser extensions, which most of us use on a daily basis. They add a lot of useful features to browsers, but at the same time, they pose threats to both privacy and security.

Let’s discuss what’s wrong with browser extensions and how you can minimize the chances of one of them running amok on you. But first let’s go through what exactly a browser extension is. What are browser extensions, and why do you need them? A browser extension is something like a plugin for your browser that adds certain functions and features to it. Extensions can modify the user interface or add some Web service functionality to your browser.

Hacking isn’t always hard. Some lower-tier hackers use programs to automatically churn through breached login details to break into other accounts, and some penetration testing tools are designed to streamline processes so hackers can get to the more interesting stuff as quickly as possible.

Enter AutoSploit, a program which takes that idea of efficient hacking, but severely ramps up the potential for damage by automating pretty much everything, including the process of finding a vulnerable target to attack. “As the name might suggest AutoSploit attempts to automate the exploitation of remote hosts,” the tool’s Github page reads. 

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is actively considering banning US military and civilian personnel from bringing their personal cell phones into the Pentagon, the world's largest office building, according to three US defense officials familiar with an ongoing review of the issue.

The officials told that while the issue is under review and a final decision has not been made, the recent revelations that a fitness tracking app that maps people's exercise habits could pose security risks for US troops has only underscored the need for the review. The officials added that the review was ordered after Mattis expressed his intent to ban personal cell phones in the Pentagon.

Donald Trump’s national security team is looking at options to counter the threat of China spying on US phone calls that include the government building a super-fast 5G wireless network. The official said the option was being debated at a low level in the administration and was six to eight months away from being considered by the president himself. 

The 5G network concept is aimed at addressing what officials see as China’s threat to US cyber security and economic security. The Trump administration has taken a harder line on policies initiated by predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing’s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire US strategic industries. 

Let’s be honest, when most people see a little green lock with the word “Secure” to the left of a URL, they think the site is safe. Ditto for spotting the words “this site uses a secure connection” or a URL beginning with the letters “https.” More and more sites these days are switching to HTTPS. 

Most have no choice, in fact. So what’s the problem? The more secure sites there are, the better — right? We’re about to let you in on a little secret: Those “Secure” symbols don’t guarantee a website is safe from all threats. A phishing site, for example, can legitimately display that comforting green lock next to its https address. 

Basically, phishing is a type of fraud that aims to extract personal data: logins, passwords, wallet numbers, and so forth. It’s essentially digital social engineering.

There’s a variety of phishing known as spear phishing. What distinguishes spear phishing from other types of phishing is that it targets a specific person or employees of a specific company. That targeting makes spear phishing more dangerous; cybercriminals meticulously gather information about the victim to make the “bait” more enticing. A well-produced spear phishing e-mail can be very difficult to distinguish from a legitimate one. So, spear phishing makes it easier to hook the victim.