Those over 55 aren't adequately protecting themselves online, survey finds

By Shawn Knight on October 5, 2016, 4:45 PM



While it’s generally accepted that wisdom comes with age, that’s certainly not always the case. Research from Kaspersky Lab and market researcher B2B International has shown that those of the older generation are increasingly finding their way to the Internet albeit with a general lack of awareness that could put them at risk.

In a survey of more than 12,500 Internet users as part of a report entitled: “Older and Wiser? A look at the Threats Faced by Over-55s Online,” the firms found that despite the fact that those 55 and older are more likely to install security software on their computers, they are less likely to protect their mobile devices or modify online behavior in the name of safety.

For example, the older generation uses high privacy settings on social media and in their web browsers less than other age groups. Furthermore, they’re unlikely to use security-minded functions of mobile devices like “find my phone” or VPNs.

Data from the survey shows that a whopping 86 percent of those 55 and older do not believe they are a target for cyber criminals. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that four in 10 have put themselves at risk by sharing financial details in the public domain.

Andrei Mochola, head of consumer business at Kaspersky Lab, said that on the one hand, it’s great to see that so many over-55s are using the Internet to shop, bank and stay connected with loved ones. On the other hand, however, it’s clear that this age group is not doing enough to protect themselves properly.

As such, Mochola encourages younger Internet users to help their older relatives and friends better protect themselves from the very real threats posed by cyber criminals. Suggestions for the older generation include being more vigilant online, installing reliable security solutions and using high privacy settings on all devices used to access the net.

Replacement Galaxy Note 7 catches fire on Southwest plane

By Jose Vilches on October 5, 2016, 5:32 PM



Samsung has been grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. The launch of its Galaxy Note 7 was marred by faulty (read: exploding) batteries, prompting the company to announce an unprecedented recall of about a million handsets that wiped a few billions from its market value — all this as Apple launched the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and now Google is going for a piece of the high end market with the new Pixel phones.

To its credit Samsung was quick to address the issue and set the replacement program in motion. However, new reports of an actual replacement unit catching fire while its owner was boarding an aircraft is not going to bode well for the company.

The incident occurred while boarding Southwest Airlines flight 944 from Louisville to Baltimore and resulted in all passengers being evacuated and the flight cancelled. Apparently the owner, Brian Green, had had picked up his replacement Galaxy Note 7 at an AT&T store on September 21st. The device was at about 80% of battery capacity and powered down at the moment it burst into flames, burning through the plane’s carpet and scorching the subfloor. All 75 people aboard the Boeing 737 were evacuated with no reported injuries.

As verified by The Verge, a photograph of the Note 7’s box shows the black square symbol that indicates a replacement Note 7 and Green said it had a green battery icon.

Samsung hasn’t issued an official comment about the incident yet. As for Green, he has already replaced it with an iPhone 7 according to The Verge. Ouch.

Samsung buys Viv Labs, whose team originally created Siri

By Tim Schiesser on October 6, 2016, 6:15 AM


Samsung wants its own personal assistant to compete with Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa and Cortana, so they've bought a company that designs them. As confirmed in a Medium post, AI assistant startup Viv Labs has been acquired by Samsung for an undisclosed price.

The Viv Labs team, namely Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham, is best known for designing and then selling its previous assistant technology, Siri, to Apple. The team gradually left Apple after the acquisition of Siri in 2012 and formed Viv Labs, who have been working on a next-gen assistant called Viv for several years.

Under Samsung, Viv Labs will operate as an independent company and will continue to work on their virtual assistant. Viv is reportedly a more powerful version of Siri with better integration of data and services, with the ability to understand more complex queries and remember important context from previous questions.

Viv Labs will provide services to Samsung and their various platforms, but it's not clear whether the assistant or its technology will be available outside Samsung's ecosystem. However it does give Samsung a tool to compete with heavyweights from Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and even Facebook, who are all developing their own AI assistant products.

According to Kittlaus, Samsung are setting their signs on "on becoming a major player in software and services, and specifically AI." The fact that Samsung ships more than 500 million devices a year was a tasty proposition for Viv Labs, whose technology could be seen in Galaxy devices and Samsung televisions as soon as next year.

Google, Disney, Apple won't bid for Twitter; stock plummets almost 10 percent

By Rob Thubron on October 6, 2016, 7:30 AM



The last few weeks have been awash with claims that several large companies are showing an interest in buying ailing social network/news site Twitter. The prospect of an acquisition sent the company’s share price soaring, but it seems this may have been slightly premature: all of the former suitors are no longer planning to make a bid for Twitter.

Last month, Disney became the latest company to be linked with a possible Twitter takeover, but Recode reports that although the organization had considered a bid, it won’t be making an offer, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Google has been showing an interest in acquiring Twitter for over a year. Many expected Sundar Pichai’s company to make a move; after the failure of Google+, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Google try to break into social media with an established, if struggling, platform. However, sources close to the situation say Google won’t be moving forward with a bid.

Apple was also thought to be considering an offer, but sources say that Twitter should have “low expectations” of hearing from the iPhone maker. With those three companies all but ruling themselves out, it appeared that cloud computing giant Salesforce was favorite to step in. But Business Insider reports that CEO Marc Benioff doesn’t seem that enthusiastic.

"I think it’s a great brand and I just wish Jack [Dorsey] very well...good on his company, that’s how I look at it today," Benioff said. "We look at everything, and we don’t buy most things, and we haven’t agreed to buy that company [...] it’s an unpolished jewel."

A Bloomberg report claims that the situation is made worse by an internal battle between CEO Jack Dorsey, who wants to keep Twitter independent, and co-founder and board member Ev Williams, who believes selling the firm is the best option. The in-fighting has reportedly led to Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto seizing de facto control of the company.

All this is bad news for Twitter. Its stock fell more than 9 percent to $22.58 in after-hours trading on the news that it’s struggling to find a buyer.

Many Android 7.1 Nougat features, including Google Assistant, are exclusive to the Pixel

By Rob Thubron on October 6, 2016, 8:30 AM



Google finally unveiled its long-rumored Pixel smartphones earlier this week. They will be the first to launch with Android 7.1 Nougat, but many of the Pixels’ best features, such as the new Google Assistant, won’t appear on other Android devices, including Google’s own Nexus series, when the OS arrives.

An Android 7.1 Nougat changelog leaked to Android Police shows which new features will appear in the upcoming operating system, as well as those that are Pixel-only. Google confirmed that the information is accurate is to TechCrunch.

The absence of the AI-powered helper will come as disappointment to those who expected to see the Siri/Cortana/Alexa rival on every handset receiving Android 7.1 Nougat. Google Assistant is essentially a more advanced version of Google Now, able to engage in two-way conversations with users, perform complex tasks, and learn and recall personal information from previous conversations for context.

Other Pixel exclusives include the free, unlimited photo and video (in their original quality) cloud backup service; the smart storage feature, which automatically removes old, backed up images/videos when the storage is full; and the Pixel Camera and Launcher apps. 24-hour phone/chat support and screen-share functionality will also be limited to the Pixel phones.

There are some interesting new features coming to all devices that receive Android 7.1, though. There’s the Night Light blue filter, which changes the color temperature of a display at night. A Daydream VR mode is also on its way, along with support for sliding down on the fingerprint sensor to open the notification bar.

Google did say that its Assistant would eventually be arriving on other Android devices, just don’t expect it soon. Ultimately, the company will likely replace Google Now with its more advanced version of the assistant.

"Our goal is to make the Google Assistant widely available to users, and we’ll continue to launch new surfaces over the course of the next year," a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch.

The developer preview of Android 7.1 arrives later this month. Google hasn’t said when it will come to phones other than the Pixel.

NSA contractor working for Edward Snowden's former employer charged with stealing secrets

By Rob Thubron on October 6, 2016, 10:30 AM


In what appears to be a case of history repeating itself, the NSA has arrested a contractor working for Booz Allen Hamilton, the same firm that employed Edward Snowden, and charged him with unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials, as well as theft of government property.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, the contractor is 51-year old Maryland resident Harold Thomas Martin III. The criminal complaint against him states that investigators found thousands of physical and digital documents marked as top secret when they searched his home on August 27.

TechCrunch reports that the material contained hacking codes for government systems in Russia, China and North Korea. Moreover, six of the discovered documents were said to be of an extremely sensitive nature.

According to the complaint, Martin initially denied taking the documents but later admitted to storing them in his home and car, despite knowing they were classified. “Martin stated that he knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized,” the affidavit states.

Edward Snowden famously passed NSA documents on to journalists in 2013. It’s unclear if Martin leaked the information in the his documents, or if he passed them on to a third party. His lawyers told the New York Times: “We have not seen any evidence. But what we know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.”

While no connection between Martin and Snowden has been made, investigators discovered Martin’s alleged theft when they were looking into the recent Shadow Brokers leak, which exposed what appeared to be malware used by the NSA. The leak took place two weeks before Martin’s arrest, suggesting he may not have any connection to it.

If found guilty, Martin could face up to ten years behind bars for his crimes. If it’s discovered that he shared the information with anyone, the contractor may face charges under the Espionage Act, just as Edward Snowden does.

Spotify users exposed to malware attack

By Shawn Knight on October 6, 2016, 11:30 AM

Some users of Spotify’s free, ad-supported service got a bit more than they bargained for this week (and not in a good way).

Reports surfaced as early as Tuesday that Spotify’s free tier was serving up malicious content through its advertisements. According to one user’s account, if Spotify was open, it would continuously open the default web browser and load various malware / virus-ridden sites – some of which didn’t even require any user interaction to cause harm.

Worse yet, the issue apparently wasn’t limited to Windows as reports flowed in of similar behavior on both Linux and MacOS installations.

Shortly after the outbreak, Spotify said in response to one of the community posts that they had identified an issue where a small number of users were experiencing a problem with questionable website pop-ups in their default browsers as a result of an isolated issue with an ad on their free tier. The source of the problem was identified and has been shut down, the Spotify rep said.

While it’s not uncommon for malware to sneak into the advertising campaign of a major company, it is a bit embarrassing for Spotify as this isn’t the first time the company has dealt with such an issue. In 2011, Spotify issued a public apology after its Windows desktop app was found to be installing bogus “Windows Recovery” software which, again, was a result of malvertising.