Latest Security News and Updates from Last Week

Still Using XP? This Report May Change your Mind
Windows XP will be going out of service from April 8, 2014. Recently, Microsoft came up with a finding that further stresses the need to switch from this version to a latest one. In this finding, the company highlighted their analysis which they did on the infection rates, malware attacks, and the effect of antimalware software on unsupported operating systems; in this case, XP. One of the key conclusions of this report was that, Windows XP is 5 times more vulnerable to malware than Windows 8. Read the complete report here.

Giraffes are cute but not the ones grazing on Facebook
A new (little interesting though) virus hoax is doing the rounds on Facebook. The hoax is warning users not to use the picture of a giraffe for their Facebook profile. According to the warning, hackers have placed malicious giraffe images on Google’s image search results. So, if a user changes their profile pic to the tallest animal on land, then they might risk a malware infection on their computer. Now, here’s the reality check. This is but a hoax that users are spilling over the social media, and only adding to the confusion. We recommend users to always verify such security warnings with legitimate sources, before going all noisy about it. [Source:https://www.hoax-slayer.com]

We know what US National Security Agency (NSA) did last summer
The US National Security Agency has recently been taking a lot of heat because of its eavesdropping spree. And it looks like, another revelation has added fuel to this heat. Reportedly, the NSA exploited Yahoo and Google data centers across the globe, to mine data of millions of users. Interestingly, a report from an Italian media also revealed about NSA’s interest in the Pope of the Vatican City. However, both the search engines have denied providing any kind of unauthorized access of their data to the NSA. Google seems to have taken this finding seriously. It stated that it is continuing to extend encryption across more and more of its services. Read more of this here.

Stop that Chinese Kettle, it may be a Spy!
Guess what else in China is making headlines besides hackers. Kettles! Yes, you heard it right. A batch of kettles made in China have been confiscated by Russian authorities. According to them, these kettles had tiny computers embedded in them. These computers look for unsecure WiFi networks to send spam, distribute malware, and send back data to foreign servers. Russia media outlet, St. Petersburg, stated that local authorities were able to find about 30 pieces of spy microchips in these home appliances. You can read the full story here, before you decide to throw away that Chinese kettle of yours.

WordPress Admins, Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy the Automatic Updates
WordPress 3.7 is out and looks like it has made its entry with a bang. It has a new feature called Automatic Update. This feature is also being called ‘Update while you sleep’. So, every time a security patch is rolled out, it will be automatically updated. This move by WordPress is being greatly appreciated, because it has significantly reduced the chances of getting hacked by malware due to outdated versions. By the way, this version of WordPress is called ‘Basie’. Read the official report about this here.

Rajiv Singha