You’re feeling like you’ve had enough. All the recent news—from Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica snafu to various abuses of Twitter vulnerabilities—has you wondering: Should I delete myself from social media? Social networking does have its positive aspects. You can stay in touch with distant (or not) relatives, be included in the planning of social events within your circle of … [Read more...]
February 14, 2019
February 11, 2019
A week in security (February 4 – 8)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we took a closer look at the technical and reputational challenges for Facebook as it tries to integrate secure messaging across Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. We explored Google’s latest attempts to change how the public sees—literally—web browser URLs, gave some of our best tips on how to safely browse the Internet at work, and detailed a unique spam campaign … [Read more...]
February 6, 2019
Google Chrome announces plans to improve URL display, website identity
“Unreadable gobbledygook” is one way to describe URLs today as we know them, and Google has been attempting to redo their look for years. In their latest move to improve how Chrome—and of course, how the company hopes other browsers would follow suit—displays the URL in its omnibox (the address bar), Google’s Chrome team has made public two projects that usher them in this direction. First, they … [Read more...]
December 19, 2018
Yes, Chromebooks can and do get infected
As a Mac malware specialist, I’ve seen more than my share of folks saying “Macs don’t get viruses” over the years. I’ve seen and experienced first-hand that this isn’t true—even on iOS, where despite having tight, built-in security, iPhones are still capable of getting infected by rare malware. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised, then, when I hear … [Read more...]
December 17, 2018
November 28, 2018
ESTA registration websites still lurk in paid ads on Google
Google has taken direct action against adverts promoting ESTA registration services, often offered by third parties at highly inflated prices. Ads displayed on the Google network shouldn’t display fees higher than what a public source or government charges for products or services. This tightening of the ad leash has taken a remarkable eight years to complete—and we argue it’s not done … [Read more...]
November 7, 2018
Google logins: JavaScript now required
Google users: In news that may sound alarming, it is now a requirement for you to enable JavaScript. Why? When your username and password are entered on Google’s sign-in page, Google runs a risk assessment and only allows the sign-in if nothing looks suspicious. Recently, Google went about improving this analysis and now requires JavaScript in order to run their assessment. Want to use some of … [Read more...]
August 27, 2018
A week in security (August 20 – 26)
Last week on Labs, we took a look at insider threats, doubled back on the privacy of search browser extensions, profiled green card scams, revisited Defcon badgelife, and talked about what happens to a user’s accounts when they die. Other cybersecurity news There was an archiving error in Twitch HQ. Unfortunately, that left some private user messages (even those with sensitive info in them) … [Read more...]
July 27, 2018
New Android P includes several security improvements
According to the Android developer Program Overview, the next major version of Android, Android 9.0 or P, is set to arrive soon. Their plans show a final release within the next three months (Q3 2018). The end of the Android P beta program is approaching, with the first release candidate built and released in July. As a security company, we simply can’t help but take a close look at what … [Read more...]
July 18, 2018
What’s the real value—and danger—of smart assistants?
You’ve heard them called virtual assistants, digital personal assistants, voice assistants, or smart assistants. Operated by artificial intelligence, technologies such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana have become ubiquitous in our culture. But what exactly do they do? And how seriously should we take them? While all the tech giants want us to use their smart assistants all the … [Read more...]
