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US govt banned NSO’s Pegasus, but said to buy rival spyware Paragon Graphite

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The US government banned the use of NSO’s Pegasus spyware 18 months ago, but a new report today says that at least one government agency is using very similar malware from a rival company: Paragon Graphite.

Graphite reportedly has the same capabilities as Pegasus, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is said to be using it …

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Apple alerted Pegasus spyware victims during first known use in a military conflict

Apple alerted Pegasus spyware victims | Photo of razor wire

Security researchers have documented the first known case of NSO’s Pegasus spyware being used in a military conflict. The hacks relate to the long-running military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, over a region claimed by both countries.

The victims – who included a United Nations official, journalists, human rights advocates, and a former government minister – received alerts from Apple that their iPhones had been hacked …

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Apple security fix didn’t address root cause – now corrected in iOS 16.5

Apple security fix | Colored reflections on iPhone casing

An Apple security fix in iOS 15.6.1 back in August of last year was said to close two major security vulnerabilities, one of which could have allowed a rogue app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges (aka do Very Bad Things). But it’s now been revealed that the more serious vulnerability wasn’t closed after all.

Apple did succeed in blocking a specific way of exploiting the vulnerability, but didn’t address the root issue until last week’s iOS 16.5 update, some nine months later …

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1Password passkey support launches on June 6 – check out the videos [U]

1Password Passkeys promo graphic

We’ve been waiting for 1Password passkey support since last November, when the company first announced plans to include it. We learned a little more in an exclusive interview with the company’s CEO earlier this month, and we now know exactly when it will launch.

The company has revealed that passkeys will go live within 1Password on June 6. Unlocking 1Password itself with a Passkey will possible the following month. Video demos (below) show how the security feature will work …

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AI voice scams: Report shares 77% of victims lose money, how common it is, and how to protect yourself

AI voice scam how to protect

AI voice scams are becoming more prevalent and can be extremely convincing because it sounds like you’re talking to a loved one. Now we’ve got an in-depth report that digs into how AI voice cloning works, how common the scams are, the likelihood of falling for one, the average cost, plus how to prevent and protect against AI voice scams.

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8 important ways to check passwords and improve security, do you know them all?

check passwords and improve security

As hacking tools become more and more powerful, it’s more crucial than ever to maintain good password habits – or fix weak spots. World Password Day is a good reminder to share best security practices with friends or family or see if you’re on top of everything yourself. Here are 8 important ways to check passwords and improve security.

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T-Mobile sees another data breach compromising social security numbers and more for small group

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In January, T-Mobile revealed it was hit by a data breach that impacted 37 million customers. Now the company has shared that it has seen another incident. The good(ish) news is this time it’s believed to only have affected 836 users but the bad news is the malicious party was able to steal sensitive info like social security numbers, full names, birth dates, contact information, T-Mobile account PINs, and more.

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Study reveals top 20 most used passwords; 83% can be cracked in a second

Most used passwords report

Ahead of World Password Day on May 4, NordPass has released a report showing that “password habits die hard” with a list of the most used passwords in the US and 29 other countries. For the US, many of the usual suspects are on the list, however, this time around “123456” is no longer the most popular password. The study also found 83% of these passwords can be cracked in “less than a second.”

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Malware threat report reveals risk on Mac compared to Windows and Linux

So far this year we’ve seen a few reports about malware that’s affecting Macs. Now Elastic Security Labs has released its spring 2023 Global Threat Report. It offers a big-picture look at the state of malware including how often it’s impacting Mac vs Windows and Linux, the most common malware overall, the most common malware on Mac, and more.

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Proton launching end-to-end encrypted password manager beta as an iCloud Keychain alternative

Proton Pass encrypted password manager beta

Delivering on one of Proton Mail users’ top requests for years, Proton is starting the beta of its password manager. Naturally, coming from Proton, it features end-to-end encryption and is open source so anyone can audit the security features. Read on for all the details on this iCloud Keychain alternative.

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What’s more prevalent than juice jacking? Fake public WiFi networks, says researcher

Fake public WiFi networks

Juice jacking popped into the mainstream consciousness this month as the FBI shared a warning to avoid public device charging to protect against the rise of malicious cables. While juice jacking can severely compromise devices, one security expert is raising awareness of a more common – but usually less critical threat – fake public WiFi connections.

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NSO zero-click iPhone hack accessed HomeKit, but blocked by Lockdown Mode

NSO zero-click iPhone hack | Screenshot of Lockdown Mode alert

An NSO zero-click iPhone hack worked by gaining access to HomeKit on the device, but it was blocked by those using Apple’s Lockdown Mode security feature, with the phone alerting them to the access attempt.

However, two other NSO zero-click attacks seemingly succeeded – both exploiting vulnerabilities in the Find My app …

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PSA: AI voice cloning and call spoofing create scary convincing scams, here’s how to protect yourself

Protect against AI voice clone scams

As technology advances, scams are becoming quite sophisticated. One of the latest threats is AI voice cloning which a malicious party can use to make it seem like they have a loved one held hostage. Mix that with caller ID spoofing and it’s a very scary and convincing scam that can impact users on iPhone, Android, and really any phone. Read on for more details and how to protect against AI voice clone and caller ID spoofing scams.

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