Viber, a mobile messenger app that allows users to make phone calls and send text messages and images for free, also gives up plenty of free user data to anyone who wants to listen.
According to researchers from the University of New Haven (UNH) in Connecticut, US, Viber's app sends user messages in unencrypted form - including photos, videos, doodles, and location images.
All of that rich data from users is also stored unencrypted on Viber's servers, rather than being deleted immediately, and is accessible without credentials, just a link, the UNH researchers said.
Read moreIf you are using WhatsApp to chit-chat with your friends or relatives, then you should be careful about sharing your location with them using WhatsApp 'Location Share' feature. No doubt, WhatsApp communication between your phone and company's server is now encrypted with SSL, which means whatever you are sharing with your friends, is secured from the man-in-the-middle attacks.
But the extremely popular instant messaging service for Smartphones that delivers more than 1 billion messages per day has another serious security issue. According to Researchers at UNH Cyber Forensics Research & Education Group, WhatsApp location sharing service could expose your location to hackers or Spy Agencies.
Read moreApple founder Steve Jobs was planning to wage a "Holy War" against Google a year before he died, a higly confidential email has revealed.
Jobs sent the email in 2010 to his top 100 most senior executives, in which he outlined the company's strategy for the following year.
In it, he announced that 2011 would see a 'Holy War' between Apple and Google, and outlined all the ways in which the two companies would compete – from cloud services to mobile operating systems.
Read moreThe first round of results are in, and so far TrueCrypt, the popular open-source encryption program, has a relatively clean bill of health. Security firm iSec Partners recently carried out the first phase of the TrueCrypt audit on behalf of the Open Crypto Audit Project (OCAP).
OCAP is the official name for the group behind istruecryptauditedyet.com, a project inspired by the revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities. OCAP was created by Matthew Green, a cryptographer and research professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Kenneth White, Principal Scientist at Social & Scientific Systems. For its report, which was released on Monday, iSec took a look at TrueCrypt’s latest Windows edition (version 7.1a).
Read moreThe fingerprint sensor on Samsung's Galaxy S5 handset has been hacked less than a week after the device went on sale.
Berlin-based Security Research Labs fooled the equipment using a mould it had previously created to spoof the sensor on Apple's iPhone 5S.
The researchers said they were concerned that thieves could exploit the flaw in Samsung's device to trigger money transfers via PayPal. The payments firm played down the risk. "While we take the findings from Security Research Labs [SRL] very seriously, we are still confident that fingerprint authentication offers an easier and more secure way to pay on mobile devices than passwords or credit cards," it said.
Read moreGovernment of Russia has refused iPad in favor superseding tablets Samsung, said the head of the Ministry of communications of Russia Nikolay Nikiforov.
"It is protected in a special way devices that can be used for handling of confidential information.
Some information in the government sessions are confidential, and these devices (Samsung) fully meet these requirements and have passed the most stringent certification system" - quoted Mr. Nikiforov Agency ITAR-TASS. The Official reason "replacement" called a purely technical nature, that is, supposedly, the policy is not satisfied exclusively by the technical capabilities of equipment
Read moreTwo American privacy watchdogs are attempting to thwart Facebook’s $19-billion acquisition of popular messaging service WhatsApp, citing privacy concerns.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy have filed an ‘unfair and deceptive practices’ complaint with the Federal Trade Commission that accuses Facebook of violating the consent decree issued by the regulatory agency in 2011. The complaint also says WhatsApp’s more stringent privacy policy conflicts with Facebook’s more open one. The groups are asking the FTC to “halt Facebook’s proposed acquisition of WhatsApp” until the concerns listed in the complaint are “adequately” addressed.
Read moreApple has released a massive update to its “iOS Security” white paper for IT professionals. It contains more information on iOS security than Apple has ever shared publicly before, including extensive details on Touch ID, Data Protection, network security, application security, and nearly all security-related features, options, and protective controls.
For the first time, we have extensive details on iCloud security. For security professionals like myself, this is like waking up and finding a pot of gold sitting on my keyboard. Along with some of the most impressive security I’ve ever seen, Apple has provided a way to make it impossible for agencies like the NSA to obtain your iCloud Keychain passwords.
Read moreWhatsApp users should switch to a more secure messaging service now that it is being bought by Facebook, a German data protection commissioner urged Thursday.
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it plans to acquire WhatsApp, a mobile messaging service with about 450 million monthly users, for $12 billion in shares, $4 billion in cash as well as $3 billion in stock options. The deal could raise important data protection issues because the personal data of its users will likely be merged with Facebook data, said Thilo Weichert, data protection commissioner for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. When communication metadata and content of both services is merged, it can be used for profiling and commercially exploited for advertising purposes, Weichert said.
Read moreFacebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google on Monday began publishing details about the number of secret government requests for data they receive, hoping to show limited involvement in controversial U.S. surveillance efforts.
The tech industry has pushed for greater transparency on government data requests, seeking to shake off concerns about their involvement in vast, surreptitious surveillance programs revealed last summer by former spy contractor Edward Snowden. The government said last month it would relax rules restricting what details companies can disclose about Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court orders they receive for user information.
Read moreAxarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland