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Some credit card companies have begun using selfies as an alternative to traditional, text-based passwords in order to provide enhanced security. No system is perfect, though, and hackers have already begun experimenting with various exploits to the new paradigm. Far and away, the most successful exploit so far has been the Acecard Trojan. This malware…

Back in September, President Obama called the news media out for their complacency. In a year marked by an extremely divisive political campaign, people have lamented the fact that many of the nation’s major news outlets are dealing in false equivalency and spin of one flavor or another. It’s creating a climate of misinformation that…

It was supposed to be a landmark achievement for Samsung, and the start of an era of record-breaking profits. The release of the Note 7 was widely anticipated, and when it hit the shelves back in August, customers flocked to buy the new devices. That’s when the trouble began. The new devices were plagued with…

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an intriguing new technology that can actually transmit secure password signals through the body, using the fingerprint sensors and touchpads on smartphones and laptops, in what they’re calling “on-body transmission.” The signals are then authenticated when the password-protected devices touch the body. This is fundamentally different from…

There may be some good news where cybercrime is concerned. Increasingly, Americans are beginning to take the threat more seriously. A recently released survey conducted by TransUnion showed an unmistakable increase in awareness, which is a critical first step. Some of the key findings in the report were: • 83% of survey respondents reported being…

Say what you will about Russian hacking group “Fancy Bear,” but they’ve definitely got a sense of style. Fancy Bear is the group widely believed to be responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s servers. Now, authorities believe the group has developed a form Trojan called Komplex, which targets Mac users. Like most other malware,…

In a bid to increase its share of the browser market, Microsoft has made some interesting moves recently, which make its new “Edge” browser software stand out from the crowd. The most recent change is the announced addition of Windows Defender Application Guard, which can be selectively enabled on a user’s browser. If the option…

Laptop users in general have been unhappy with Google’s Chrome browser. There are several aspects of the software’s design that cause it to drain battery power at an alarming rate. Fortunately, the company has decided to do something about that, and with the release of Chrome 53, things should be notably better. Although battery life…

From the very earliest days of the PC revolution, printer manufacturers have relied on a very specific model to sell their wares. They sell the printer itself as cheaply as possible, relying on the sales of ink cartridges to make up the difference and pad their bottom lines. Known as the “Razor and Blades” model,…

Over the past few years, most of MacOS’s updates have been aimed at bringing it firmly into alignment with iOS. Gradually, we’ve seen an increasing number of iOS’s features ported over to the desktop, up to and including the overall look and feel of the software that drives Apple’s mobile device empire. Until this most…