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April 9, 2021

Millions of Chrome users quietly added to Google’s FLoC pilot

Last month, Google began a test pilot of its Federated Learning of Cohorts—or FLoC—program, which the company has advertised as the newest, privacy-preserving alternative in Google Chrome to the infamous third-party cookie. Sounds promising, right? Well, about that. Despite Google’s rhetoric about maintaining user privacy, its FLoC trial leaves much to be desired. Google Chrome users had no … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Federated Learning of Cohorts, first-party cookie, first-party cookies, floc, Google, privacy, third party cookies, third-party cookie, user privacy
April 6, 2021

Has Facebook leaked your phone number?

Unless you keep your social media at a pole’s distance, you have probably heard that an absolutely enormous dataset—containing over 500 million phone numbers—has been made public. These phone numbers have been in the hands of some cybercriminals since 2019 due to a vulnerability in Facebook that allowed personal data to be scraped from the social media platform, until it was patched it in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: bec, cambridge analytica, facebook, haveibeenpwned, phone number, phone numbers, privacy, privacy settings, Social engineering
April 5, 2021

A week in security (March 29 – April 4)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, our podcast featured Malwarebytes senior security researcher JP Taggart, who talked to us about why you need to trust your VPN. You’ve likely heard the benefits of using a VPN: You can watch TV shows restricted to certain countries, you can encrypt your web traffic on public WiFi networks, and, importantly, you can obscure your Internet activity from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: "i accidentally reported you", "i accidentally reported you" scam, a week in security, andoird, blog recap, booking.com., credential stuffing, dos, facebook, fake investment ads, fraud, lock and code, lock and code podcast, npm, password book, phishing, podcast, privacy, PYSA, PYSA ransomware, ransomware, romance scam, scam, social media, solarwinds, steam scam, VPNs, weekly blog roundup
April 1, 2021

Relax. Internet password books are OK

Passwords are a hot topic on social media at the moment, due to the re-emergence of a discussion about good password management practices. There’s a wealth of password management options available, some more desirable than others. The primary recommendation online is usually a software-based management tool. Some include online syncing alongside web browser extensions. Others involve syncing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: book, password management, password manager, privacy, security, threat model
March 29, 2021

The one reason your iPhone needs a VPN

For years, Apple has marketed its iPhone as the more secure, more private option when compared to other smart phones, which do not, by default, include an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, warn users repeatedly about app location requests, or provide a privacy-forward Single Sign-On feature. But, while Apple has taken several, commendable steps into protecting users, the company’s reach only … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Apple, iPhone, privacy, virtual private network, virtual private networks, vpn
March 26, 2021

Don’t post it! Six social media safety sins to say goodbye to

If you or anyone you know is committing the below social media sins, it’s time to change that habit of an online lifetime. Even the most innocuous of things can cause trouble down the line, because everyone’s threat model is different. Unfortunately, people tend to realise what their threat model is when it’s already too late. With this handy list, you’ll hopefully avoid the most common … [Read more...]

Filed Under: credit cards, customer support, holiday, photographs, privacy, selfie, social media, TMI
March 16, 2021

How your iPhone could tell you if you’re being stalked

The latest iOS beta suggests that Apple’s next big update will include an iPhone feature that warns users about hidden, physical surveillance of their location. The feature detects AirTags, Apple’s answer to trackable fobs made by Tile, and serves to block the potential abuse of the much-rumored product. While the feature represents great potential, digital surveillance experts said that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: AirTags, Apple, Apple AirTags, Coalition Against Stalkerware, Find My, Find my iPhone, iOS, iOS 14.5, ipad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Item Safety Alerts, Mac, privacy, stalkerware, Tile
March 11, 2021

iPhone app exposed other people’s call recordings

Video and audio are huge privacy concerns for people. If something goes wrong with tech it can have major ramifications. You’re likely very familiar with warnings about video. However, audio hasn’t always been so prominent. It’s only really since the rise of home assistants like Amazon’s Alexa that audio worries have gone mainstream. Turning up the volume on audio threats Bluetooth … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Android, app, Apple, audio, iPhone, privacy, recording, sound
March 10, 2021

TinyCheck: Stalkerware detection that doesn’t leave a trace

In 2019, when Malwarebytes helped found the Coalition Against Stalkerware, which brings together cybersecurity vendors and nonprofits to detect and raise awareness about stalkerware, we encountered a significant roadblock in our fight: For some users, the very detection of these potentially privacy-invasive tools could put their lives at greater risk. In short, we needed a way to detect … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition Against Stalkerware, Malwarebytes, privacy, stalkerware, TinyCheck
March 6, 2021

Will Google’s Privacy Sandbox take the bite out of tracking cookies?

Third-party cookies have been the lynchpin of online advertising for many years. Plans to phase cookies out forever continue to run at a steady pace, with Google in the driving seat. In 2019, it announced its vision for a “Privacy Sandbox”. The building blocks for this were essentially: Most aspects of the web need money to survive, and advertising that relies on cookies is the dominant revenue … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ad networks, advertiser, analytics, Apple, browser, chrome, firefox, Google, privacy, privacy sandbox, safari, third party cookies, tracking
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