21st Century Learning and Teaching

Security researchers have discovered a vulnerability that could allow attackers to take full control of most Android smartphones

The vulnerability allows hackers to modify an app without breaking its cryptographic signature, according to Jeff Forristal, chief technology officer (CTO) at mobile security firm Bluebox.

A discovery about Facebook's official Android app once again puts into question if the social network's developers truly *get* security and privacy.

As Symantec describe on its blog, when its developers tested its new Norton Mobile Security product against some of the world’s most popular Android apps, they were disturbed to see a warning message claiming that the Facebook Android app leaks personal information without the device owner’s knowledge:

Laut einer Studie von NQ Mobile hat sich die Anzahl der Malware 2012 gegenüber 2011 verdreifacht. Im vergangenen Jahr gab es über 65.000 Schadprogramme.

Ein Sicherheitsforscher und Pilot hat auf einer Konferenz demonstriert, dass er mit einem Smartphone ein Passagierflugzeug unter seine Kontrolle bringen könnte. Dazu hat er eine spezielle App entwickelt.

F-Secure Labs Mobile Threat Report for Q4 2013 is out and it’s clear that the most popular smartphone operating system is also the leading target for online criminals.

94% of all mobile malware the F-Secure Response Labs analyzed in Q4  targets Google’s Android platform.

3. Keep your phone’s software updated.
Your smartphone is a mini PC with the same software issues that your PC has including software that continually needs to be updated. This may require some help from your carrier depending on your phone –  but the basic rule is: The more current, the better.

Bis zu 500 Millionen Android-Smartphones sollen über einen fehlerhaft implementierten "Factory Reset" verfügen. Passwörter und Nutzerdaten seien dadurch auch nach dem Zurücksetzen des Geräts wiederherstellbar.

FREAK, a newly-discovered flaw in SSL/TLS, the technology which is supposed to secure your communications across the net, has been discovered.

Here's what you need to know.

Learn more:

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=FREAK

Apple and Google are preparing patches for a newly-revealed bug in the web encryption protocols used by the two companies' mobile browsers.

The FREAK bug disclosed yesterday is the latest in a series of vulnerabilities affecting the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols used to encrypt traffic between an HTTPS website and a browser.

A man-in-the-middle attacker can force connections between affected browsers and websites to downgrade from 'strong' RSA encryption to a weaker version known as 'export grade' RSA. That weaker version is a by-product of laws from the 1990s that made it illegal to export from the US products with strong cryptography.

Learn more:

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=FREAK

Une vulnérabilité hautement critique a été découverte. Elle concerne les smartphones et tablettes fonctionnant sous Androïd et iOS.

En savoir plus:

- https://preview.cases.lu/index.php?articleid=762

- http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=FREAK

Principal Security experts are confident that in the next months we will assist to the explosion for Android botnets and in general of mobile cyber threats.

Mobile service provider NQ Mobile today released a study of malware covering 2012, using data gathered from the company's Security Labs.

NQ’s data indicates that Android is a big risk for malware, but iOS has also recently come under fire for free apps that leak more personal data than on other platforms. Overall, mobile security is likely to be a growing concern, and one that could potentially become more complicated as the pace of improvements to mobile tech increases and our usage of those devices grows higher still.

===> For now, common sense is probably the best defense against security threats, but a more unified Android platform would help to limit malware problems as well as significantly improve developers’ lives. <===

Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine.

Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all...it’s rarely where you need it when you need it.