When I read the headline I assumed Microsft were getting out of the browser business, which might have made more sense.  However a new browser, Spartan is coming. Microsoft sends Explorer into retirement Internet Explorer — the software that launched the browser wars of the 1990s and became a symbol of the Seattle company’s former stranglehold on the tech world — is about to be ushered into retirement. The group confirmed this week that it would not use the IE name for the new browser that it plans to ship with the next version of its Windows operating system, due … Continue reading New Microsoft Browser coming with focus on cross platform

As banks adopt the new best practise approach of tokenization to ensure that real card information is not passed to merchants, new risks will appear as the potential for breach is shifted upstream to new attack vectors. Chase Launches Robust Digital Banking Services, Own Wallet Platform Coming Soon Tokenization ensures sensitive customer data is never passed to the seller, greatly reducing the risk of identity theft and security breaches Bad guys will seek the next easiest attack approach: Banks that haven’t adopted tokenization still have their customer card information sitting on multiple store databases. Tokens themselves will be subject to attack. … Continue reading Tokenisation of payment solves one problem for Banks but not all future attacks

I got into another discussion yesterday about what is bad about Apple products. Someone looked at my Mac and immediatley went into the usual tirade.  It is a familiar refrain but as someone who has used Windows, Linux and iOS/ OS X extensively I thought it time to get behind this discussion and explore why the apparent sides in this matter feel this way. Some of the main points were: Apple controls everything Apple is not open I do not wat to be controlled Apple is expensive Yesterdays particular discussion shifted to taking a couple of old laptops running now unsupported Win … Continue reading The eternal Apple vs the rest debate

Net neutrality as a concept is a disaster. President Obama has introduced a new law that contains principles which are worrying. US watchdog heeds Obama on net neutrality Advocates of the open internet principle — known as “net neutrality” — want to ensure that broadband providers are banned from setting up fee-based internet fast lanes or “throttling” content from websites that use a lot of bandwidth or compete with their affiliates. Why you may ask do I feel this way. The concept of net neutrality is often reduced to internet as a utility such as electricity or water.  Internet is … Continue reading Net neutrality as a concept is a disaster

Banks allow fingerprint access to accounts RBS said it has introduced the Touch ID service following feedback from customers who asked for the technology to be included in their mobile banking app on its Ideas Bank website. The technology replaces passwords and passcodes on a mobile phone application. From Thursday, individuals with an iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone6 Plus will be able to use Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor to check their finances, in what the bank claims is a first in Britain. Continue reading RBS announces Apple Touch ID to replace username and password

There is some more information apparently from the Kaspersky Report referenced yeasterday. The report was launched then pulled.  However it is still available at writing time here on this German site. It appears from reporting today from KrebsOnSecurity that these activities referenced in the report are part of an ongoing attack over several years.  There is no apparent newness here other than the Kaspersky Report, and they are not doing a very good job today of following up the hype they created yesterday.  The politics of security reporting aside, there are some real lessons here for banks to be concious of.   … Continue reading More on the Bank heist – Kaspersky report pulled