Thanks to security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, we already know that late-model cars are vulnerable to cyberattacks that can range from the annoying – say, an uncontrollably blasting horn – to the potentially lethal: slamming on a Prius’s brakes at high speeds, killing power steering with commands sent from a laptop, spoofing GPS,...

You’ve read the stories; the lurid tales of homes laid bare by unsecured baby monitors, smart TVs and unintentional backdoors; the kids with apps that lied; the social media scams; the crummy passwords… You saw them and you knew that somebody had to do something. You did something. You joined the legion of the unsung...

If you’re in the USA, it’s officially National Cyber Security Awareness Month, starting today, October 1, 2015. Here on Naked Security, we’ll refer to it more loosely just as CSAM, in the hope that Naked Security readers all over the world will join in. Of course, CSAM isn’t an invitation to take cybersecurity more seriously...

Given that I’m a sucker for online quizzes, I’m aware of the fact that when I’m angry, the villain I most resemble is Voldemort. I also know that if an artist were to promise me a novelty passport that features my machine-drawn portrait, replete with my name and an official-looking red stamp just like a...

Windows 7 users were thrown into a panic overnight by what we can only think to describe as a harmlessly incorrect genuine botched fake update. Help forums filled up with rumours of a hack at Microsoft, thanks to an update notification looking something like this: gYxseNjwafVPfgsoHnzLblmm...YMEILGNIPwNOgEazuBVJcyVjBRL Download size: 4.3 MB You may need to restart...

Passwords? On Post-its? How retro! How circa Prince Williams! You’d think we’d all know better, particularly after such memorable incidents as when passwords were left on sticky notes glued in the background during a TV interview – an interview concerning a cyber-attack, of course – broadcast live on the French TV channel TV5 Monde this...

A 22-year-old Russian man received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence this week for conspiracy to commit computer fraud, ending a long legal battle spanning two years and three countries. The Russian national, Dimitry Belorossov, infected 7000 computers with the notorious Citadel banking malware, which he used to steal sensitive information including online bank account credentials and passwords from...

Apple just released iOS 9.0.2. This new version claims to close the well-publicised Lock screen hole that lets anyone view and edit your contacts, send text messages, and rummage through your photos – without entering your passcode. If you had an iOS 9 or 9.0.1 device with Siri accessible from your lock screen, you were vulnerable...

Former hashtag Edward Snowden is now an actual thing on Twitter. The former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower has joined Twitter, sending an opening tweet on Tuesday asking, “Can you hear me now?” Snowden, the man whose revelations about PRISM, XKeyscore and other secretive NSA surveillance programs opened up a worldwide discussion about government surveillance, reached one million Twitter followers after...

Let’s say you’ve joined a travel company’s rewards program. In doing so, you handed over your email address. As you plan your next trip, maybe you’ll do a Google search on “non-stop flights to new york,” much to the delight of the advertising-engorged company. If you’re logged in to any Google account, you may very...