New Hacking Tool Breaks Locked Computer’s Password in 20 Seconds

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Snatching the login credentials of a locked computer just got easier and faster, thanks to a technique that requires only $50 worth of hardware and takes less than 30 seconds to carry out. Rob Fuller, a principal security engineer at R5 Industries, said the hack works reliably on Windows devices and has also succeeded on OS X, although he’s working with others to determine if it’s just his setup that’s vulnerable. The hack works by plugging a flash-sized minicomputer into an unattended computer that’s logged…

Web Browser Password Saving Is Still a Risky Proposition

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As you navigate through Chrome, or Safari, or Firefox, or whatever your browser of choice is, you’re often given an enticing option: Would you like us to save your password? A recent browser breach is a reminder that if you answer yes, you’re taking a risk. Late last week, the browser Opera confirmed a successful attack on its systems. The hackers were likely able to access personal information, company developer Tarquin Wilton-Jones wrote in a post announcing the breach, “including some of our sync users’…

The Method Behind Julian Assange’s Attacks on Hillary Clinton

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IN RECENT MONTHS, the WikiLeaks Twitter feed has started to look more like the stream of an opposition research firm working mainly to undermine Hillary Clinton than the updates of a non-partisan platform for whistleblowers. […] But it should come as no surprise to anyone who looks back at the founding principles of WikiLeaks that Assange — who has clearly stated his distaste for the idea of the former secretary of state becoming president — would make aggressive use of leaked documents to try to…

Tim Cook and Apple Are Right: Encryption Is a Human Right That Must Be Protected

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Apple is under fire from critics but this time it’s not for a hardware or software mishap. Instead, the company is being sued by the U.S. federal government to compromise the security of its users by creating a means of bypassing encryption on its iPhone mobile phones. At issue in the dispute is the smartphone of Syed Rizwan Farook, the man at the center of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California which killed 14. Before his death, Farook had enabled full device encryption…