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Twelve big hacks

Some of the largest hacks in history, by records exposed :

#	Name	Hacks	+++++++++++++++++Expose
1	NYC Taxi & Limousine	173 million	Hack exploits poorly anonymized trip details and personal information of drivers
2	Adobe Systems	152 million	Hack of company systems exposes informations related to customer orders
3	Shanghai Roadway	150 million	Firm may have illegally bought and sold customers’ information
4	eBay	145 million	Hack exposes names, encrypted password and personal information
5	Unknown South Korean Firms	140 million	North Korean hackers expose e-mail addresses and identification numbers
6	Heartland	130 million	Hack/malicious software exposes credit cards at processor
7	Target	110 million	Hack exposes customer information by targeting point-of-sale systems
8	Korea Credit Bureau	104 million	Insider fraud exposes 104 million credit cards
9	TJX	94 million	Hack exposes credit cards and transaction details
10	TRW	90 million	Hack exposes credit-reporting database
11	JPMorgan	83 million	Hack exposes names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails of the holders of household and small business accounts
12	Home Depot	56 million	Hackers use malware to steal debit and credit card data from point-of-sale systems

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs is a Toronto based web design company specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready websites.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Facebook creates ‘Safety Check’ tool for disasters

A tool that push users notify friends and family that they are safe during or after natural disasters like Tsunami & Earthquake, is launched by Facebook.

The tool, called ‘Safety Check’, which includes the basic “feature” phones many people still use to access Facebook, will be available worldwide to the social network’s users on computers and mobile devices, especially in developing countries.

Though the people already use Facebook to tell people they are “OK” after earthquakes and other disasters, the Facebook’s Safety Check tool will make it easier. This tool was created in 2011 by Facebook engineers following the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan as a disaster message board.

Once users activate the tool, it will determine their location using the city they have listed in their profile, the last location they’ve shared or the city where they are using the internet. If they are in an area affected by a natural disaster, Safety Check will send them a notification asking if they’re safe.

If they say yes, their Facebook friends will be notified. There’s no option to say no. Users can also mark their friends as safe, but the friends have to approve it.

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs is a Toronto based web design company specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready websites.

Source: “http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/44834579.cms?intenttarget=no”

Ex-Googlers launch an app to make people talk

An app called Cord, developed by two former Google employees, Thomas Gayno and Jeff Baxter, is hoping to let people quickly record and send their brief voice messages lasting no more than 12 seconds to one or several people at the same time with just a single tap.

“Over the past decade, people are speaking to each other less and less,” Gayno told AFP.

“Increasingly they communicate by text — either by SMS, email or instant messaging. We want to tackle that and get people speaking to each other again.”

To transmit the voice with Cord, users will simply tap on the face of a visible contact placed in a circle, pressing once to listen to a message or to respond without the requirement of any number or text.

This voice enabled app will certainly play a key role in controlling new devices, from smartphones to wearables and other connected objects, as said by Thomas Husson, an analyst with Forrester Research. “However, I doubt that a service based on the promise of voice-services alone can scale – it will have to embedded among other features in an open way to control new devices.”

The two Google Veterans are hoping that this innovative new app will trigger a renaissance in an increasingly unfashionable method of human communication: talking.

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs is Toronto based web design company specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready websites.

Source: “http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Ex-Googlers-launch-an-app-to-make-people-talk/articleshow/44500960.cms”

Bash Bug – A New Virus

A new programming flaw known as “Bash Bug” is reported to give a serious threat to the IT world effecting millions of computers and other devices such as home internet routers and even the systems that are used to run factory floors and power plants.

The Bash Bug also known as “Shellshock”, affects a system software called Bash, which is found on a variety of Unix-based systems, potentially allows hackers to take control of a victim’s computer and run almost any operation, from opening, altering and deleting files to shutting down networks and launching attacks on websites.

Bash is found on Unix-based devices that are running the Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. Devices that use Unix in some form include many servers, routers, Android phones, Mac computers, medical devices and even the computers that create bitcoins. Systems running power plants and municipal water systems could also be affected by the bug, though security experts already recommend that these systems remain disconnected from the internet to avoid opening them to such risks.
Bash is a command shell which “tells the computer to do of what you want do”. Thus, the bug in Bash allows the hackers to take control over a victim’s device.

Thus, Bash is believed to be worse than “Heartbleed, which expose passwords and other sensitive data to hackers”.

As we wait for the development of a fix to this bug, it will be always helpful to run up-to-date security software on your devices.

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs is Toronto based web design company specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready websites.

Source: “http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/computing/What-is-Bash-Bug-and-should-you-be-worried/articleshow/43501380.cms”, http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bash-bug-aka-shellshock-has-no-easy-fix-1.2779383

Google to separate photo service from Google+

Google is planning to separate Google+ Photos from the rest of its social network in an effort to draw more users toward the photo platform, sources recently told Bloomberg.

The goal would be to make the photo service more independent, so that the service can still be used without a Google+ profile.
According to the Bloomberg report, Google seems to give its photos service a more independent role and will allow non-Google+ users to use the photo services. The service, called Google+ photos, would still work with the social network’s users and may be rebranded as partof the move.

The report quotes, The world’s larget search engine grappling with competition from Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo! Inc., is freeing up services from Google+ after spending the past few years encouraging visitors to sign up for the social network. Recently, Google enabled the social network’s Hangouts videoconferencing feature to work for some business customers who aren’t users of Google+.

Google said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, “Over here in our darkroom, we’re always developing new ways for people to snap, share and say cheese.”

Source: “http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech%20news/Google-to-remove-Photos-from-Google-report/articleshow/39469114.cms”,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-01/google-said-to-plan-separating-photo-service-from-google-.html

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs is specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready website.

Some Tips to secure your Android

Android is the world’s most flexible mobile platform on the market. We are so obliged that we store our every private data on our handy smartphones and tablets than ever before leaving ourselves liable to data thefts. The major reason for its popularity is the flexibility of the third-party apps. Apps can be side-loaded inspite of Google’s hard work with all sorts of Play Store improvements, making Android liable to security threats and malware.

Here are some tips to help ensure a more secured Android.

1. Set up a screen lock to guard your device by using a password, PIN or pattern. The device will be locked automatically after some idle time because of the lock.

2. Encrypt the storage on your device so that an encrypted password is required even to use the device. The data can’t be stolen even the device goes into wrong hands as the stored data can’t be read unless it is decrypted.

3. Activate Google’s Android Device Manager which will allow you to track the device when you loose it. It also enables you to ring the device at full volume for five minutes and even erase all the data.

4. When storing sensitive data like credit card information or personal contacts on SIM cards, set up a SIM card lock so that the SIM card can be accessed by using the PIN.

5. Install an anti-malware app. It’s always secure to install and regularly use an anti-malware app.

6. Don’t install apps from unknown sources unless you trust that them 100 percent as they might contain spyware or malware.

7. Don’t install the apps without reading the permissions before installing as some gains access to your contacts and networking information.

8. Don’t root your device as apps with root access get unhindered access to your device’s file system, exposing it to more damage in case a malicious app is installed. It also voids your device’s warranty.

Is your Android secure enough? With just a few steps you can secure your Android and all the valuable data on your Android device.

Sources : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/protectingandroiddevice/

This post was posted by Daizy for DMG Weblabs, Toronto. DMG Weblabs – specialized in creating SEO web sites and mobile ready websites.

Precautions to protect from social media

“Every young person one day will be entitle automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friend’s social media sites.”, predicted by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2010.

We will be surprised to see how much personal information we are posting online and giving details of our personal life on internet. In fact, if we see the social media sites like Face book, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr Photos, LinkedIn and etc, they give all the information about us of who our friends & family are, what are our interests, our relationship status, our professional history, the past and present history of ours, etc., . The photos we are tagged in the social media reveal of what we’ve done, where we were, our favourite vacation spots, etc. One can access all this digital data information in just one search of our name.

If we need to know about any one, just Google search their name and we will be able to get details of all their social network sites and connections by revealing their personal history. Chances are there that all this digital data can be taken out and could be used to cause problems in our personal day to day life, problems at the time of prospective marriage alliances, could be investigated by potential employers, mined by marketing firms, or even be used by cyber criminals for identity theft.

But, if we take precautions by few quick things, we can protect ourselves from the chaos.

Manage all your accounts

Find out all your social network sites, online services and smart phone apps – where you have your accounts. You can Google your full name, nick names and e-mail addresses to find out the forgotten accounts. Close the accounts and unsubscribe yourself from the services that are no longer in use. Try website like http://accountkiller.com/en/, http://deleteyouraccount.com/, and http://justdelete.me/ to delete your accounts and how-to’s.

For the social networks you are using, make sure that your posts and photos are not freely available to the public by changing the settings to private. Do not allow anyone to tag you in the photos. Share your photos only to your close friends. And always be cautious when you share your posts, photos or tweets.

Avoid being tracked

Every time you surf the web – even in the privacy of your home, your actions are constantly being tracked. When you are signed-in to your Google, Microsoft or face book, your searches are monitored by Google search and Bing to give tailor-made results. When the shopping websites are being surfed, they leave cookies on your system which are used to provide advertisements in your browsing.

Sign out from all your accounts before browsing websites or using search engines. Uninstall search tool bars that might have been installed. Check the extensions that the browser is running (see browser Help section to know more about extensions), and disable the ones that you don’t recognize. Try https://duckduckgo.com/ search engine that doesn’t track you. Install the DoNotTrackMe browser add-on (http://abine.com/index.html) that’s available for Chrome, Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari and also as an app for Android and iOS. This add-on blocks ad networks, social networks and data-collection companies from tracking your browsing. It also protects email address, phone and credit card from being used by companies on the web and on your mobile devices. Install the CCleaner from http://www.piriform.com/ to clear temporary files, cookies, browsing, download and form history to protect privacy and to make computer faster and secure.

Useful browser extensions

Disconnect: Blocks trackers from popular sites (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari) HTTPS
Everywhere: Redirects to secure (HTTPS) versions of the sites where possible (Chrome, Firefox)
Adblock Plus: Blocks intrusive ads (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari)

Sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/

12 Quick Internet Safety Tips That Will Save Your Digital Life From Getting Hacked

In 2014, the hackers are becoming more of a threat than ever before. Within the past two months companies such as Microsoft, AOL, and eBay have been the victim of security breaches.

And also the Heartbleed bug — a giant vulnerability that was discovered within an encryption protocol that guards a massive chunk of the internet.

Here are some tips to help prevent your digital life from being stolen, whether it be a password breach or an internet-wide vulnerability.

Make sure you’ve got a superstrong, unique password. In other words, ensure that your password is difficult to guess. One way to come up with a creative password is to brainstorm a random sentence. Take the first letter of each word in that sentence and use that acronym as the base for your password.

Don’t use the same password for multiple services. Using the same term for all of your passwords leaves your entire digital life vulnerable to attack. This means that if a hacker has one password, he or she has all of your passwords.

Enable two-factor authentication. Many services, including Google, offer two-factor authentication for logging into your account. Instead of simply entering a username and password to log in, the website will prompt you to enter a code sent to your smartphone to verify your identity.

Apply software updates when necessary. Apple, Google, and Microsoft typically include security bug fixes and patches in their most recent software updates. So don’t ignore those annoying prompts and keep your software up-to-date.

Carefully read the permissions before installing apps. This is one of the most prominent ways in which malicious apps can gain access to your personal information. These types of issues have been especially present in the Google Play store. A lot of apps ask for a lengthy list of permissions, and that doesn’t mean they’re all ill-intentioned. But it’s important to be aware of the types of information your apps are accessing, which can include your contacts, location, and even your phone’s camera.

Check the app publisher before installing. There have been numerous instances in which scammers have published apps in the Google Play store posing as another popular app. For example, in late 2012 an illegitimate developer posted an imposter app in Google Play pretending to be “Temple Run.” A quick look at the publisher shows that the app comes from a developer named “apkdeveloper,” not the game’s true publisher Imangi Studios.

Avoid inserting hard drives and thumbdrives you don’t trust into your computer. If you find a random USB stick, don’t let your curiosity tempt you to plug it in. Someone could have loaded malware onto it hoping that an interested person was careless enough to insert it into their device. If you don’t trust the source, you’re better off not putting your computer at risk.

Make sure a website is secure before you enter personal information. Look for the little padlock symbol in front of the web address in the URL bar. Also, make sure the web address starts with the prefix https://. If these things aren’t there, then the network isn’t secure and you shouldn’t enter any data you wouldn’t want made public.

Don’t send personal data via email. Sending critical information such as credit card numbers or bank account numbers puts it at risk of being intercepted by hackers or cyber attacks.

Keep an eye out for phishing scams. A phishing scam is an email or website that’s designed to steal from you. Often times, a hacker will use this email or website to install malicious software onto your computer. These web entities are designed to look like a normal email or website, which is how hackers convince their victims to hand over personal information. Phishing scams are typically easy to spot, but you should know what to look out for. Many of these emails contain spell errors and are written in poor grammar.

Avoid logging into your important accounts on public computers. Sometimes you’ve got no choice but to use a computer at the coffee shop, library, or local FedEx. But try not to do it frequently, and make sure you completely wipe the browser’s history when you’re finished.

Back up your personal files to avoid losing them. You should keep a copy of all important files in the cloud and on some sort of hard drive. If one of them gets hacked or damaged, you’ll still have a backup copy.

Sources: www.finance.yahoo.com