Information Technology

Maria Diaz/ZDNETApple is sounding alarm bells over a wave of sophisticated and destructive spyware attacks against specific people across 92 countries. As reported by The Economic Times, Apple sent an email warning individuals in the crosshairs that they were “being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone.”The email explained that the attacks are targeting people specifically because of who they are or what they do. Though the email said that Apple couldn’t be absolutely certain when detecting such attacks, the company had high confidence in the warning and urged people to take it seriously.On Wednesday, Apple also updated its support page on threat notifications and mercenary spyware. The page explains how mercenary spyware attacks work, how Apple will alert its users if they’re the victims of such an attack, and what to do if you’re targeted by this kind of attack. More

Future Publishing/Getty Images Whether you don’t own a car or want to enjoy a night out without worrying about how to get home, ride-hailing services come in handy. However, safety is always a concern with these services; to address that, Uber is adding new safety features to its app. On Wednesday, Uber unveiled safety preferences, […] More

Jack Wallen/ZDNETGiven that it’s the most widely-used web browser on the market, Google Chrome has had a target on its back for some time. Because of that, Google is always tinkering with security to stay ahead of hackers, ne’er do wells, vulnerabilities, and a host of other issues.Also: 5 ways to improve your Chrome browser’s security (and why you should)With its latest announcement, Google has introduced the V8 Sandbox, which is a lightweight, in-process sandbox for V8 (the Google JavaScript engine) that is designed to prevent common vulnerabilities within the engine.According to the V8 Sandbox Readme, “The sandbox limits the impact of typical V8 vulnerabilities by restricting the code executed by V8 to a subset of the process’s virtual address space (“the sandbox”), thereby isolating it from the rest of the process. More

Lance Whitney/ZDNETYou probably already secure your Android phone with a PIN, a facial scan, or a fingerprint. If you’ve ever wanted to give certain data an extra later of protection, Android 15 will let you do just that via a new feature called Private Space.As tested by Android Authority, Private Space sets up an encrypted area on your Android device in which you can hide sensitive or private apps and files. The feature works similarly to the Secure Folder option on Samsung Galaxy phones that lets you choose the apps and files you want to secure and how you want to secure them.The main goal behind Private Space is to prevent a thief, a hacker, or another unauthorized user who gains access to your phone from viewing certain data. Currently, Google’s Files app offers a similar option called Safe Folder. That feature only works with files, whereas Private Space will be able to secure specific apps as well.Also: The top six Android 15 features I’m most excited aboutAlternatively, you can also install a third-party file lock or private vault app; Google Play is home to many such apps. Since Private Space is built directly into the operating system, however, the feature promises to be easier to use and likely more secure.To set up Private Space, you would head to Settings, select “Security & privacy,” and then tap Private Space, according to Android Authority. After authenticating yourself, you would sign into your Google account to more easily add apps to Private Space. To better manage the apps and files you want to protect, you’ll be able to set up a separate account, though this step isn’t required.Next, you’d choose how to secure the data you want to keep private. You can use your existing lock screen process—PIN, facial scan, or fingerprint—or pick a different method. Opting for a different method would be more secure as someone who breaks their way through your lock screen would then face another obstacle trying to get to your protected apps and files. More

A Gemini for Security demo running in Chronicle. Screenshot by Radhika Rajkumar/ZDNETThe rise of generative AI means cyber attacks are becoming more common — and more sophisticated. Data breaches increased by 20% between 2022 and 2023, one study found. But GenAI could also be the key to staying ahead of threats. Also: The new Google search powered by next-gen AI may be subscription-onlyAt Google Cloud Next ’24 on Tuesday, Google announced new AI-powered innovations across its security offerings that promise to improve threat detection, deepen insights, and specify solutions. Built into Google’s SecLM API, both tools use Gemini, the company’s recently rebranded AI chatbot, to support security teams and increase productivity.  More

wildpixel/Getty Images As countries prepare to hold major elections in a new era marked by generative artificial intelligence (AI), humans will be prime targets of hacktivists and nation-state actors. Generative AI may not have changed how content spreads, but it has accelerated its volume and affected its accuracy.  Also: How OpenAI plans to help protect […] More

A look at the Midjourney Facebook page that was removed from Facebook in March 2024. Bitdefender Scammers are using the allure of artificial intelligence features and services to dupe unsuspecting Facebook users into downloading malicious software on their computers, according to security firm Bitdefender. Over the past year, scammers have been hijacking Facebook Pages and changing them […] More

BeeBright/Getty Images It all started when Andres Freund, a Microsoft principal software engineer, became curious about why the SSH remote security code in the Debian Linux beta was running slowly. Freund did some digging and discovered the problem: A chief programmer and maintainer of the xz data compression library, Jia Tan, had put a backdoor […] More