Kirk was executive editor for security and technology for Information Security Media Group. Reporting from Sydney, Australia, he created "The Ransomware Files" podcast, which tells the harrowing stories of IT pros who have fought back against ransomware.
Speech recognition software vendor Nuance Communications says an unauthorized third party accessed one of its medical transcription platforms, exposing records for 45,000 people. The company has blamed the breach on a former employee, who accessed personal data from several of Nuance's clients.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has reintroduced legislation in the House that would stop the government from forcing software vendors to intentionally weaken their products for surveillance purposes. Two prior attempts to enact the legislation in Congress have failed.
The Gandcrab ransomware has been a moving target. Since it was discovered in January, it quickly became one of the most widely distributed file-encrypting malware programs. Researchers with Cisco say they've now found it seeded within legitimate websites, making its spread tougher to stop.
A remote code execution vulnerability revealed in late March in the Drupal content management system is now being used on a large scale for mining the virtual currency monero, a researcher says. At least 400 websites have been infected, and the total number is likely far higher, security experts warn.
Security vendor ProtectWise says a series of operating mistakes has allowed it to gain insight into a group, believed to be affiliated with Chinese intelligence, that specializes in stealing code-signing certificates. The certificates allow for the signing of malware that's unlikely to raise security alarms.
Twitter has apologized after it discovered that it had been inadvertently storing users' passwords in plaintext in an internal log, potentially putting them at risk. Twitter has blamed a bug for the fault and recommends all users change their passwords immediately.
Australia's Commonwealth Bank has confirmed that two magnetic tapes containing transaction information for 19.8 million accounts went missing two years ago after mishandling by a subcontractor. A forensic investigation concluded the tapes were likely destroyed, and no fraudulent activity has been detected.
Following in Google's footsteps, Amazon has closed a technical loophole that helped some online services evade censorship filters, but which was also abused by cybercriminals. Collateral damage is already being felt by the likes of Signal, a popular, encrypted-messaging app blocked by some governments.
Jan Koum, WhatsApp's co-founder, is leaving Facebook. His departure marks another exit of a high-level privacy and security advocate. If Facebook continues to lose those who could better influence the social networking site's worrying views toward user data, what does that mean for the rest of us?
Twitter is now caught up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal: The social network sold public Twitter data to Aleksandr Kogan, the same person who sold Facebook data to Cambridge Analytica. Twitter says Kogan obtained no private information on users.
Can technology solve the problem of giving law enforcement access to all encrypted communications without additional risks to the public? Software legend Ray Ozzie says he has an idea. But it's unlikely to quell the debate over hard-to-break encryption.
Yahoo, now known as Altaba, has agreed to a $35 million civil fine with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle accusations that the search giant failed to promptly notify investors about a December 2014 data breach.
Large healthcare companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia are getting hit with a backdoor that comes from a long-observed group, which Symantec calls Orangeworm. The backdoor has been found on X-ray machines and MRIs.
Deception technology - which involves tricking hackers into lurking on bogus IT assets - can provide crucial intelligence on methods and motives. But is the technology worth the investment?
Thirty-four companies have signed on to the Microsoft-led Cybersecurity Tech Accord, which is aimed at protecting civilians from cybercriminal and state-sponsored attacks. The agreement crucially includes a pledge not to help governments with cyberattacks
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