Comcast secure second Xfinity security bug issue that leaked data

A seldom known page on Comcast’s Xfinity website was exposing customers’ account information to anyone — or any app — on a customer’s network. An anonymous security researcher dropped ZDNet an email, explaining that an API used by the internet giant could be tricked into returning customer data, including account numbers, a customer’s home address …

FTC confirms Facebook’s privacy practices are under scrutiny

US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook’s privacy practices following a week of scandals and public outrage over the company’s failure to protect the personal information of tens of millions of users. “The FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook,” said Tom Pahl, acting director of …

Google is asking for web publishers’ consent to gather personal data ahead of GDPR

Google is requesting that web publishers provide it with the necessary consents to continue gathering personal information from Europeans for targeted ads as it gears up for the impending arrival of toughened data privacy laws. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May after which companies will be obligated to obtain …

Germany’s government network hacked

A hacker group known for many high-level cyber attacks was able to infiltrate the German government’s secure computer networks, the dpa news agency reported Wednesday. Dpa cited unidentified security sources saying the group APT28 hacked into Germany’s foreign and defense ministries and managed to steal data. The attack was noticed in December and may have …

US Senator warns YouTube algorithm could be open to bad-actor manipulation

The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee has warned that YouTube’s powerful recommendation algorithm may be “optimising for outrageous, salacious and often fraudulent content” or susceptible to “manipulation by bad actors, including foreign intelligence entities”. Senator Mark Warner, of Virginia, made the stark warning after an investigation by the Guardian found that the Google-owned …

Bitcoin could jettison nelow $5,000 should a mysterious Tether cryptotoken report be right

Some people think bitcoin’s spectacular price rise last year was manipulated by a cryptotoken called Tether that’s supposed to be pegged to the US dollar. Now, an anonymous report answers the question: What would bitcoin be worth without Tether? The answer: around $4,500, based on the current bitcoin price of about $7,600. Tether is a …

Warning of Chrome Extensions that are Malware infested

For long users have been warned of third-party Android apps might be hiding some malware as well. But your hyper-vigilant download habits should extend beyond your smartphone. You need to keep an eye on your desktop Chrome extensions as well. As with Android apps, though, Chrome extensions can sometimes hide malware or other scourges, even …