Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to malware on our mobile devices, malware on Android seems to be making the news more often than not, and according to a study conducted by the US government and published on Public Intelligence has found that 79% of malware threats were targeted at Android, while iOS 7 was only at 0.7%, a relatively low figure. The study was conducted by gathering data from back in 2012 and targeted the police, fire, and emergency personnel. For those interested in reading the report, it goes on to share tips and pointers on how to avoid getting infected, such as avoiding scams from SMS messages as well as steering clear of fake apps.

While Android might be more targeted by malware, this is not to say that iOS is completely malware free, as it was just recently that researchers managed to slip a malicious app into the iTunes App Store due to Apple’s app review process not being as thorough as it should. In any case like we’ve said in the past, downloading apps, especially from third-party app stores, should be done cautiously, and it never hurts to read the reviews and check out the ratings first before making your decision.

Study Finds 79% Of Malware Targets Android Devices, 0.7% For iOS original content from Ubergizmo.

These are the most malicious plushies you’ll ever see. They’re the Computer Virus Dolls and they might rub you off the wrong way, especially if you’re into IT and have to deal with problems that are caused by them on a daily basis.

Each and every one of the plushies in the series are inspired by a bevy of the most common malicious software that infects computers worldwide on a daily basis.

The Drew Oliver Company is behind the unusual series, which includes Virus, Worm, Trojan, and Malware-inspired plushies, going by the name of the malicious program that it was created after.

Each of the plushies come with a pop-up window tag and a ribbon that spells out the name of the doll in binary. Expect more unusual plushies from the group, as stuffed bugs, bots, and zombies are said to be coming soon.

[via Laughing Squid]

When it comes to approving apps for the iTunes App Store, Apple for the most part has been pretty strict about it and to date there aren’t that many cases of malware on iOS. This is not to say that Apple’s system is perfect because according to a recent experiment conducted by a team from Georgia Tech, it seems that they have managed to slip a malware app past Apple and actually get it approved for download! (more…)

Researchers Successfully Slip Malicious App Into Apple’s iTunes App Store original content from Ubergizmo.

The security firm Spider.io revealed that a California-based company called Sambreel was using its software to inject advertisements on YouTube, according to a report on the company’s website. Sambreel’s subsidiary Yontoo was responsible for two programs designed to make downloading videos off of YouTube simple, both of which have been pulled after Spider.io revealed its […]

Oh, Philips. Why’d you have to make it so easy for ne’er-do-wells to go full Aiden Pearce on Hue smart light users? A recent study by researcher Nitesh Dhanjani reveals that Hue’s control portal — known as the bridge — uses a shoddy authentication system when communicating with smartphones and computers. That system uses the bridge’s MAC address, which is easy to detect. As such it’s also easy to hack the device and cause a blackout.

In Dhanjani’s demo video below, he introduces malware into the bridge through a compromised website. This lets him find the right MAC address and take control, turning the lights off again and again, ad infinitum, regardless of the switch’s status. Sure, there’s no immediate threat of widescale blackouts — smart lighting has yet to be adopted en masse, after all — but this is a security issue companies need to address, especially since lighting plays such a critical safety role.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Ars Technica, The Register

Source: Nitesh Dhanjani