When the phone call is more dangerous than malware

" at DEF CON 21, a pool of 10 men and 10 women, from diverse backgrounds and experience levels, tested their social engineering abilities against 10 of the biggest global corporations, including Apple, Boeing, Exxon, General Dynamics and General Electric. The complete results of the competition are in, and they don't bode well for businesses."  Help-Net

GPS Bullets

"It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie - GPS bullets that can track the location of a suspect's car."  BBC

Adobe Breach Impacted At Least 38 Million Users

"It also appears that the already massive source code leak at Adobe is broadening to include the company’s Photoshop family of graphical design products."  Krebs

Firefox 25 is here.

Ten new security fixes.  You can download it from Slug.

Window XP, Time To Upgrade

If you're still using XP, you need to seriously consider upgrading.  Browsers support on XP will soon end.

 

 "Firefox and Chrome Will Soon EOL On XP"

Beware of CryptoLocker

The next generation of ransomware is very dangerous.  Once you are infected, the only choice is to pay the ransom unless you have good backups.  Edit: There may be a way to restore some files.

You should create recovery media for your OS.

It's a good idea to create some restore media for your OS to supplement your backup strategy (you are backing up, correct?).  Apple has Recovery Disk Assistant while Windows (8.1, 8.0, 7.0)has its own method.  Some manufacturers also have recovery disk options but you'll have to search Google for your model.

Windows 8.1 is here

The WinSuperSite has a guide on how to upgrade.  Make sure to create restore media before the upgrade.

October Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has released its latest round of patches.  Windows users should "Patch Now!" via Windows Update.  Adobe has also released patches for Reader and Acrobat.

The Adobe Breach FAQ

"It appears a vulnerability in Coldfusion was used to breach an Adobe site used for payment processing. The group that breached Adobe appearantly used Coldfusion exploits as one of their favorite tools to breach sites. "

 

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Adobe To Announce Source Code, Customer Data Breach

"The company said hackers also accessed nearly three million customer credit card records, and stole login data for an undetermined number of Adobe user accounts."

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Norton:Protect Your Smartphone

Norton says that while consumers are going mobile in their droves, they are leaving security behind -- placing their identities and personal data at risk.

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Critical Internet Explorer exploit code released in the wild

Avoid using IE or apply the Fix It patch from Microsoft.

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Chrome 30

50 Security Issues Fixed with the Release of Chrome 30

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