A Primer On The Internet Of Things | Avast
The city of Portland, Ore. has set out to fully leverage the Internet of Things and emerge as a model “smart” city.
Category Archives: Consumer Alerts
How Hackers Set The Pace | Avast
In cybersecurity, the bad guys almost always have a head start on the good guys. There are several reasons for this, but basically security is fundamentally reactive, and there is asymmetry in the battle.
Flashlight Apps on Google Play Request Up to 77 Permissions, Avast Finds | Avast
Avast researchers have found that Android flashlight applications request an average of 25 permissions to access data or features on mobile devices, potentially exposing users in unnecessary ways.
Exposed Facebook Server Leaks 419M Records | Avast
A security researcher discovered an exposed server that contained several databases of information on over 419 million Facebook accounts, Tech Crunch reported. Predominantly listing users’ phone numbers and Facebook IDs, the server also exposed other b…
Flaw Allows Phony Provisioning Alerts on Androids | Avast
Cybersecurity researchers have identified a critical flaw in the Android smartphones built by Samsung, Huawei, LG, and Sony, whereby a bad actor could potentially infiltrate a victim’s phone using a phony provisioning message. Mobile operators send out…
Avast Finds Child Trackers Unsecured From Hackers | Avast
Avast researchers have discovered serious security vulnerabilities in some 600,000 child trackers for sale on Amazon.com and other large online merchants. The devices expose data sent to the cloud, including the exact real-time GPS coordinates of child…
Deepfake Voice Fraud Causes $243,000 Scam | Avast
A UK-based energy firm was scammed out of $243,000 when criminals targeted the company with an effective vishing campaign. “Vishing” is short for “voice phishing,” the tactic of tricking targets over the phone. This incident marks the first time AI-bas…
The Internet’s First Smart Device | Avast
In 1990, there were 3 million people on the internet. (Today there are 1,000 times that many.) And while there were experiments – such as a “wired” soda machine at Carnegie Mellon University – there were no smart devices online, at least not …
IRS alerts public to ‘tax reminder’ phishing scam | Avast
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued an alert to taxpayers about a new phishing scam that uses fraudulent emails posing as IRS communications to direct American taxpayers to download malware. With subject lines such as “Automatic Income Tax Reminde…
IRS alerts public to ‘tax reminder’ phishing scam | Avast
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued an alert to taxpayers about a new phishing scam that uses fraudulent emails posing as IRS communications to direct American taxpayers to download malware. With subject lines such as “Automatic Income Tax Reminde…