Not to fool out of anyone, but there is a serious flaw in all supported versions of Microsoft Windows that allow attackers to take over your machine. The so-called Follina vulnerability can be exploited using an armed Word document, and security researchers say they have already seen government-backed hackers using this attack in the wild. Crossing fingers that Microsoft, which has downplayed the seriousness of the bug, will soon issue a patch.
Speaking of patches, everything from Apple’s iOS and Google Android to Chrome, Firefox and Zoom received major security updates in May. Check out our complete list of available updates to see which apps you need to use as soon as possible.
We also explored the race to protect your voice from the greed of hackers and companies. And we tried to solve the mystery behind China’s sudden warnings about US state – sponsored hackers going after Chinese systems, despite the fact that these hacks are well known and happened forever.
Meanwhile, in India, the country’s telecommunications authority is preparing to crack down on robocall spam and scammers by requiring caller names to appear on caller ID. The idea sounds good – until you realize the consequences of privacy and the fact that such a plan may not even work.
Finally, because nothing is sacred, Canada’s privacy commissioner announced this week that a mobile app for Tim Hortons, the beloved coffee chain, was illegally spying on its users’ locations. The app, which used location tracking technology from the US company Radar, collected a constant stream of users’ location data – checks as often as every 2.5 minutes – and would create an “event” whenever a user “came in or left” their home , office, major sports complex or rival coffee shop, according to the commissioner’s office.
But that’s not all, folks. Every week, we pick up the big news about security and privacy that we did not cover ourselves. Click on the links for the full stories, and be sure out there.
If you lived in Illinois between May 1, 2015 and April 25, 2022, Google may owe you some money. The company recently settled a class action lawsuit over a feature in the Google Photos app that categorized images of people based on their faces. The problem? According to the lawsuit, Google failed to obtain consent to do so from millions of users, a violation of the state Biometric Information Privacy Act. Google did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but it has agreed to pay $ 100 million and impose measures to avoid further breaches of privacy. If you were a resident of Illinois during the seven-year period and appeared in a photo uploaded to the Google Photos app, you can file a claim for your share of the $ 100 million cake.
The blurred line between “at war” and “not at war” became even more blurred this week. General Paul Nakasone, head of the U.S. Cyber Command and NSA, told Sky News that the U.S. military has conducted “a series of operations across the spectrum,” including “offensive, defensive and information operations” in support of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion. . Nakasone declined to elaborate on what these operations entailed, but assured that they were completely legal. The General’s concession coincides with the United States agreeing to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems with a range of 50 miles. The Kremlin responded to this news by saying that the United States “poured fuel on the fire.”
As part of the U.S. Supreme Court’s investigation into the leak of a draft opinion overturning guaranteed abortion rights in the United States, court secretaries have been asked to pass on their private phone records and sign a statement, according to CNN. The “unprecedented” step is jarring for civil liberties. As Albert Fox Cahn, found from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, writes for WIRED: “The intrusive probe reveals a disturbing face from the Supreme Court, and especially Chief Justice John Roberts, about surveillance powers.” The clerks, meanwhile, are reportedly reluctant to reject the request for telephone records or seek legal advice for fear of being mistakenly suspected of leaking the draft opinion to Politics journalists.
A conspiracy theory from the Trump era can finally be put to rest – at least theoretically. ONE 52-page classified report into the “revelation” of Michael Flynn, a former US national security adviser to Donald Trump, has now been made public thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Jason Leopold of Buzzfeed News. Republicans have long accused the Obama administration of revealing Flynn’s name in classified material for political purposes ahead of the 2016 election. purposes or other inappropriate reasons during the 2016 election period or the subsequent transition period. ” Flynn eventually. quit in 2017 for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn’s call with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.