A few months ago, computer users worldwide were shocked when it was discovered that their systems could be vulnerable to two hardware level security vulnerabilities called Spectre and Meltdown. Intel and AMD rushed to patch the firmware on the affected processors, but it appears that the ghost has returned to haunt Intel in the form of Spectre Variant 4.

Ignoring the spooky pun, the news is alarming. A joint research done by Microsoft and Google says that the new variants are called 3A and 4.

To fix these bugs, Intel has released microcode updates to OEMs in a beta form. These mitigations however come at a cost, not financial of course, but in terms of performance. [...]

Malwarebytes has acquired Binisoft, the developer of the popular Windows Firewall Control application. The security company is planning to strengthen its EndPoint Protection Platform with the web protection that the latter offers.

Binisoft is known for its USB Flash Drives Control program which allows the user advanced security options, for enabling the plugged in USB device to work in read mode, write mode or execute mode, depending on how you want to use the drive.

Windows Firewall Control is (was) an application which allows users to use the built-in Firewall in Windows in a much more efficient manner, to block network connections by using advanced filters to prevent [...]

Networking giant CISCO has identified a new threat called the VPNFilter malware, that has affected over 500,000 routers across the World. The list of affected devices include those which were made by Netgear, TP-Link, Linksys, MicroTik, QNAP network-attached storage devices.

The malware is found to be similar to the BlackEnergy malware which targeted routers in Ukraine networks. But it does go beyond too, and is now believed to affect users in 54 Countries. Cisco alleges that this malware could be a state-sponsored one, or at least staged by someone affiliated with the state. Alarmingly, this malware has been active since 2016, and has slowly been spreading across the [...]

Facebook two factor authentication now supports third-party apps like Authy, Google Authenticator. Prior to this news, the social network relied entirely on SMS based authentication for  your account’s security.

So, why is this a big deal? Think about it, you are traveling, or are in an area where there is no mobile service. You have access to the internet though, and wish to use it on your laptop. When you try to login to Facebook, you will be asked for a code which has been sent to you via a text message. When there is no mobile network signal, you won’t be able to access Facebook at all. The same scenario applies to lost or stolen mobile phones. You could get a [...]