Consumer Security

Amazon is testing scanners that can identify a human hand to use as a payment method for in-store purchases. The company plans to introduce "Orville" to some Whole Foods stores by the beginning of 2020, and later expand it to all locations in the United States. Employees at Amazon's New York offices...

Chinese government-affiliated hackers have been making a concerted effort to steal medical research, particularly cancer research, from U.S. institutions. The step-up in medical research theft appears to be linked to China's growing concern over cancer mortality rates and increasing healthcare costs...

Owners of iPhones looking for an extra measure of protection when using applications and logging into websites can get it with a new dongle from Yubico. Its new YubiKey 5Ci, which retails for $70, supports both USB-C and Apple's Lightning connectors on a single device. The dual connectors can give s...

Numerous driver design flaws by 20 different hardware vendors expose Microsoft Windows users to widespread security compromises that can cause persistent malware attacks. A report titled "Screwed Drivers," which Eclypsium security researchers presented at DEF CON, urges Microsoft to support solution...

Researchers associated with vpnMentor discovered a data breach involving nearly 28 million records in a BioStar 2 biometric security database belonging to Suprema. "BioStar 2's database was left open, unprotected and unencrypted," vpnMentor said. "After we reached out to them, they were able to clos...

Apple sent emails to a small number of customers last week, inviting them to apply for the company's new Apple Card, and a privileged few have become the first to enroll in the program. The rollout is limited to qualifying applicants in the U.S. The Apple Card, which is a virtual Mastercard issued b...

New personal identification and authentication technologies have the potential to transform the way entertainment services are delivered, accessed and experienced. These technologies offer a high level of security, often incorporating biometrics such as voice, fingerprint, iris or retinal features, ...

Amazon, Google and Apple have suspended contractor review of consumer recordings following disclosures that the devices are nearly always listening and have captured personal, business and other delicate human interactions. Consumers using smart speakers and digital assistant apps from Amazon and Go...

Capital One Financial Corporation has announced a data breach affecting some 100 million people in the United States and another 6 million in Canada. The FBI arrested the alleged perpetrator of the breach in Seattle. Capital One on July 19 discovered someone had accessed its data stored online and o...

The FTC announced that Equifax has agreed to pay a minimum of $575 million as part of a global settlement of claims against it arising from a 2017 data breach that affected 147 million Americans. The settlement with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 states and territories pot...

Every day we read stories about data breaches and cyberattacks on business and government websites, and the resulting the loss of personally identifiable information. Cybercrime is on the rise, and given the ever-evolving methods of attack, meaningful relief and reliable measures to fend off cybercr...

A security researcher has found a flaw in the popular video conferencing app Zoom that could be used to turn on the camera on a Macintosh computer without a user's permission. The vulnerability allows any website to forcibly join a user to a Zoom call, with their video camera activated, without a us...

Over time, it's likely that we will develop new AI technology to identify and label deepfakes, but until then, we are on our own.

Chinese hackers likely are behind a series of cyberattacks against telecommunications companies around the world, security researchers have reported. The campaign, dubbed "Operation Soft Cell," has been active since 2012, according to Cybereason. There is some evidence suggesting even earlier activi...