Tech Leo

Smartphones store your email, your photos and your calendar. They provide access to online social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and even your bank and credit card accounts. And they're keys to something even more private and precious – your digital identity. Through their role in  two-factor authentication  systems, the most commonly used  secure digital identity protection method , smartphones have become essential to identifying people both online and off. If data and apps on smartphones are not secure, that is a threat to people's identities, potentially allowing intruders to pose as their targets on social networks, email, workplace communications and other  online accounts . As recently as 2012, the FBI  recommended the public protect their smartphones' data  by encrypting it. More recently, though,  the agency  has  asked phone makers to provide a way to  get into encrypted devices , what police call "exceptiona...

Researchers Show That Android’s Popular Pattern Lock Security Can Be Cracked Within 5 Attempts Currently, Android is the most used mobile OS in the world, which means that it used by millions of devices worldwide. While Android devices provides PIN codes or text passwords to keep your device secure, it also offers a Pattern Lock system that allows you to create a password to protect your smartphone using various patterns of your choice. Apparently, around 40 percent of Android device owners prefer using popular screen pattern lock as compared to using PIN codes or text passwords. Pattern lock is a screen unlock tool that allows user to unlock their touchscreen based devices such as smartphone or tablet by drawing a specific pattern using the nine dots divided into a 3×3 grid without lifting the finger. While one may think that having screen pattern lock is more secure than using PIN codes or text passwords, then you may have to think again. According to a new  research ...

South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges hacked by North Korea, claims report North Korean hackers are suspected to be behind the attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges this year who have netted millions in the virtual currency, claims South Korea’s chief intelligence agency. The widespread malware campaign targeting cryptocurrency users is believed to be carried out by the “Lazarus Group,” a state-sponsored hacking group linked to the North Korean government. According to researchers, this group has been involved in some notable crimes, such as the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, an $81 million Bangladesh cyber theft in 2016 and the worldwide WannaCry ransomware attacks in May this year. Citing the country’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo reported that the cyberattacks credited to North Korean hackers also included the leaking of personal information from 36,000 accounts from South Korea’s biggest and one of the top five cryptocurrency exchange in the...

Easy 3 step guide for newbies to learn hacking Hacking is often one of the most misinterpreted words in computer lexicon. Hacking was a term that originated in 1990s and is associated with the unauthorized use of computer and network resources. By definition, hacking is the practice of altering the features of a system, to accomplish a goal which is not in scope of the purpose of its creation. However, hacking has more to it than just altering a code, it is a high paying career choice with huge reputation for successful hackers. If you are a beginner and need to learn how to hack, the information provided in this post can surely help you out. How can I Learn to Hack as a newbie? If you are a beginner and have little or no knowledge of hacking, the best way to learn is to start from the basics rather than undertake complicated hacking assignment. It is always advisable to think and start small in hacking. Instead try to spend time in mastering the basic concepts of...

This tool uses SS7 Flaw to let you spy on mobile phone calls, messages and user location The latest news only confirms the theory that Israeli firms are creating a position in the spying and surveillance industry with their ground-breaking and wide-ranging products. The latest news only confirms the theory that Israel is going places as far as digital surveillance is concerned. Established in 1993, an Israeli firm Ability has developed really amazing software, which has been named Ability Unlimited Interception System to provide unlimited surveillance chances to law enforcement in the US so that criminal activity could be kept at bay, it has been reported. Currently, this system can recognize calls, texts and location of almost any mobile phone around the world and is available for US$20 million. It is also being guessed that it is quite an accomplishment by the Israeli firm to get it for this price and the amazing skills of the system. Launched in November 2015, the system’s...

Anonymous lists the top 10 best-ever hackers of all times The online hacktivist group, Anonymous has named a British computer whiz Gary McKinnon as the most dangerous hacker of all time. Anonymous is a hacking collective that has a website nominally associated with the group, which describes it as “an Internet gathering” with “a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives.” The group became known for a series of well-publicized hackings and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites. The group who have released an album of the top 10 best-ever hackers, wrote: “Although sufferers of Asperger’s tend to have difficulty in social situations, they have usually proven to be outright geniuses in one particular subject.” “For Gary? It is computers. “In 2002 he made a strange message appear on US army computer screens. “It read: ‘Your security system is crap, I am Solo. I will cont...

Today,  Open Bug Bounty  has reached 100,000 fixed vulnerabilities in pursuit of its honorable goal to make the web safer.  Open Bug Bounty  accepts only XSS and CSRF vulnerabilities that cannot harm the website or its users unless maliciously exploited in the wild. Such a non-intrusive approach makes sense, as security researchers can ethically report and help to patch a security vulnerability on any website even without a formal bug bounty. Recently, also the  Open Bug Bounty  project announced a revision of its internal processes to comply with the  ISO 29147 standard . Started as an XSS archive in 2014, the project has evolved into a coordinated disclosure and  open bug bounty platform. The underlying non-profit and fully transparent concept of  Open Bug Bounty  may seem astonishing compared to paid bug bounty platforms that raise tens of millions of venture funding and get paid by companies to run their programs. However, t...

Is Facebook-owned ‘Onavo Protect’ app, a spyware? Facebook who is no stranger to privacy-related controversy has adopted a novel way to collect and track its users’ data that gives information about their online habits. Apparently, Facebook is pushing its users to download and install a Facebook-owned VPN client called “Onavo Protect” on their devices under the pretext of protecting their account. VPN (short for virtual private network) is used to safeguard users’ online privacy and keep their IP address anonymous particularly when using public Wi-Fi networks by creating a secure connection to another network over the Internet. However, Onavo Protect is just doing exactly the opposite. In fact, the VPN client is tracking users’ apps, how often they are used and what websites users visit and is sending these information back to Facebook. However, this VPN client has been added only to the iOS platform of mobile app and not the Android app, according to  Tec...

Google’s next Android P update is said to embrace iPhone X style notch design There is no denying that even the top smartphone manufacturers try to copy or clone some of the best smartphone features of its competitors and implement it in their devices so that they can attract more consumers and expand their market. Apparently, Google is looking to enhance the design of its upcoming operating system, which is also expected to be a complete overhaul of its software, in a bid to attract more iOS users and make them switch to Android,  reports Bloomberg citing sources close to Google. Android P (internally referred as Pistachio Ice Cream), which is expected to be Google’s next major Android update, will be seen “mimicking” Apple’s new “notch” at the top of iPhone X that is assumed to be implemented in Google’s “new generation” of Android smartphones. By embracing the iPhone X style notch design, Google is looking to make its presence felt in the flagship and premium seg...

Internet privacy is an issue that has gained significant traction over the years. Cybercriminals have increasing control over the hacked accounts of people on the net, including usage statistics, search queries, biographic data, perhaps even access to your WebCam and sensitive files. There are many ways to mitigate security concerns, including antivirus software, secure socket layer technology, firewalls, anonymous browsing, and  virtual private networks (VPNs).  Unfortunately, security features come at a premium. We may enjoy freebies such as IT support services, free Wi-Fi, and web hosting, but the quality of the service is often compromised, and security is not ironclad. As far as online privacy goes, there are advantages and disadvantages to free VPN services. Straight off the bat, it should be clear that free Virtual Private Networks typically provide PPTP virtual private network service. This is an unsecure format for browsing the web, since the paid providers ar...

Stay secure with these 8 privacy tools For any internet user, safeguarding sensitive and confidential information has become a high priority, as internet these days are becoming a less private place with several individuals, corporations, and even governments in some cases, tracking your activities to collect users’ information and metrics. Also, it is very easy to track a user because of the IP, the unique address that we all use to connect to internet that makes online privacy a big concern. However, if you wish to keep your personal information private, you can use a VPN or proxy tool to help you. It covers everything from secure web browsing to secure file erasing. Let’s have a look at the privacy tools below: 1. Tor Browser The Tor network (short for The Onion Router, which describes its multi-layered privacy technology) offers you an anonymous window to the Web. By far, the Firefox-based Tor Browser is the quickest and simplest to start using it. Tor’s network of ...