Tech

Android users now have an easy way to check the security of their passwords

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Google is adding its password checkup feature to Android, making the mobile OS the latest company offering to give users an easy way to check if the passcodes they’re using have been compromised. Password Checkup works by checking credentials entered into apps against a list of billions of credentials compromised in […]

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Report: Fry’s Electronics going out of business, shutting down all stores

Enlarge / Fry’s Electronics in Fremont, CA. (credit: Getty Images) Fry’s Electronics, the decades-old superstore chain with locations in nine American states, appears to have gone defunct. Bay Area TV station KRON-4 was the first press outlet to confirm the news late Tuesday, saying that Fry’s will shut down all 30 of its American locations. […]

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Musk: Starlink will hit 300Mbps and expand to “most of Earth” this year

Enlarge / A stack of 60 Starlink satellites launched in 2019. (credit: SpaceX) Starlink broadband speeds will double to 300Mbps “later this year,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter yesterday. SpaceX has been telling users to expect speeds of 50Mbps to 150Mbps since the beta began a few months ago. Musk also wrote that […]

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Crooks use the bitcoin blockchain to protect their botnets from takedown

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Ars Technica) When hackers corral infected computers into a botnet, they take special care to ensure they don’t lose control of the server that sends commands and updates to the compromised devices. The precautions are designed to thwart security defenders who routinely dismantle botnets by taking over the command-and-control server […]

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AT&T and Frontier have let phone networks fall apart, Calif. regulator finds

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | CalypsoArt) AT&T and Frontier have let their copper phone networks deteriorate through neglect since 2010, resulting in poor service quality and many lengthy outages, a report commissioned by the California state government found. Customers in low-income areas and areas without substantial competition have fared the worst, the report found. AT&T […]

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New malware found on 30,000 Macs has security pros stumped

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) A previously undetected piece of malware found on almost 30,000 Macs worldwide is generating intrigue in security circles, which are still trying to understand precisely what it does and what purpose its self-destruct capability serves. Once an hour, infected Macs check a control server to see if there are any new […]

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Comcast responds to pressure, cancels data cap in Northeast US until 2022

Enlarge / A Comcast van in Sunnyvale, California, in November 2018. (credit: Getty Images | Andrei Stanescu) Comcast is delaying a plan to enforce its 1.2TB data cap and overage fees in the Northeast US until 2022 after pressure from customers and lawmakers in multiple states. “[W]e are delaying implementation of our new data plan […]

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New browser-tracking hack works even when you flush caches or go incognito

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) The prospect of Web users being tracked by the sites they visit has prompted several countermeasures over the years, including using Privacy Badger or an alternate anti-tracking extension, enabling private or incognito browsing sessions, or clearing cookies. Now, websites have a new way to defeat all three. The technique leverages the […]

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Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers stole source code for 3 products

Enlarge (credit: Drew Angerer | Getty Images) The hackers behind one of the worst breaches in US history read and downloaded some Microsoft source code, but there’s no evidence they were able to access production servers or customer data, Microsoft said on Thursday. The software maker also said it found no evidence the hackers used […]

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France ties Russia’s Sandworm to a multiyear hacking spree

Enlarge / The logo of the French national cybersecurity agency Agence Nationale de la securite des systemes d’information(ANSSI) taken at ANSSI headquarters in Paris. (credit: Eric Piermont | AFP | Getty Images) The Russian military hackers known as Sandworm, responsible for everything from blackouts in Ukraine to NotPetya, the most destructive malware in history, don’t […]