Cyber Bites

Facebook Inc will introduce a tool allowing users to clear their browsing history this year, which will affect the  company’s ability to target advertisements, Chief Financial Officer David Wehner told an investment conference on Tuesday. Facebook announced plans for a “Clear History” product last year, but technical challenges have delayed its implementation. Source: Reuters

The number of adverts selling logins for hacked accounts on adult websites doubled in 2018. The number of detections for malware strains that hunt for login credentials on adult-themed websites tripled in 2018, while the number of adverts selling access to hacked accounts on porn portals doubled, according to a report published today by Kaspersky Labs. Source: ZDNet

California officials proposed legislation that, if passed, would set stricter guidelines for when companies need to inform customers of a data breach. The bill would require companies to notify California residents when their passport, passport card or green card numbers are compromised in data breaches. It would also require customers be notified of compromised biometric information such as fingerprints. The legislation goes further than the state's current consumer protections, which require companies to inform their...

Plus: How Microsoft Edge helps Facebook Flash files dodge click-to-play rules in Edge. Adobe is taking a second crack at patching security bugs in its Acrobat and Reader PDF apps. The APSB19-13 release, out today, attempts to completely kill off vulnerability CVE-2019-7089, which a software update earlier this month tried to address but was found to have insufficiently covered the security hole. In other words, Adobe's earlier update didn't fully fix the issue, and so now people...

A vulnerability in both the Bigscreen virtual reality app and the Unity game development platform on which it's built makes it possible for hackers to listen to conversations and access user computers, according to researchers at the University of New Haven. "Our research shows hackers are able to monitor people day in and day out – listen to what they are saying and see how they are interacting in virtual reality," Ibrahim Baggili, founder and...

Labour Party claims MP contacted its supporters after quitting for the Independent Group. Labour has reported its former MP Joan Ryan to the Information Commissioner’s Office, though she strongly denies accessing party systems to contact members after resigning from the party on Tuesday to join the breakaway Independent Group. It is understood the party has informed the commissioner about the alleged breach and that it intends to submit a full report. Suspicions about the breach prompted party officials to...

Firefox Monitor is a Mozilla service that has partnered with Have I been Pwned to alert users when their email address has been discovered in a data breach. In the past, Firefox Monitor was a standalone service, but starting in Firefox 67 it will now be included as an extension. As part of a test in November 2018, Mozilla started displaying notifications to Firefox users when they visited a site that historically has had a data breach. You can see...

Federal agencies investigating breach, reported to be a ransom demand. Hackers have “scrambled” patient files at a Melbourne heart specialist clinic in what was reportedly a ransom attempt. The Australian Cyber Security Centre has confirmed it’s providing advice and assistance to the Melbourne Heart Group, which leases practice space from the Cabrini hospital in Malvern. “As the matter is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further,” a spokesman from the centre said. The Australian...

Attack is compatible with the activity of an Iranian state actor, U.S. cyber research company alleges. Hackers based in Iran and implicated in attacks on the U.S. and Western allies were behind a computer breach of Australia’s Parliament and political parties, a U.S. cyber research company alleged. Source: Wall Street Journal

The company has confirmed the attempted attack that took out its e-mail system, forcing employees to turn to other forms of communication to continue working. Toyota’s Australian subsidiary has been hit by a cyber attack, leaving employees without access to their e-mail messages for days, according to local media reports. In a statement today, Toyota Australia confirmed that it had been a victim of an “attempted cyber attack”, and that no private employee or customer...