Zack Whittaker
Security Editor
The Latest from Zack Whittaker
Startups face the same phishing risks as big corporations
This week, we reported on TechCrunch how thousands of remote employees with health and workplace benefits through human resources giant TriNet received emails that looked like a near-perfect phishing
Another US court says police cannot force suspects to turn over their passwords
The highest court in Pennsylvania has ruled that the state’s law enforcement cannot force suspects to turn over their passwords that would unlock their devices. The state’s Supreme Court s
Congress extends NSA call records collection powers to March
In passing a short-term funding bill to avoid a U.S. government shutdown, Congress has also extended the government’s legal powers allowing it to collect daily millions of Americans’ call
Jeanette Manfra, senior DHS cybersecurity official, to leave government
Jeanette Manfra, one of the most senior and experienced U.S. cybersecurity officials, is leaving government after more than a decade in the public sector. Manfra, who served as assistant director for
Uber reports a sharp rise in government demands for user data
Uber says the number of legal demands for riders’ data made by U.S. and Canadian authorities has risen sharply in the past year. The ride-hailing company said the number of law enforcement deman
Macy’s said hackers stole customer credit cards — again
For the second time in as many years, Macy’s customers have been hit by a data breach involving countless numbers of credit cards. In a filing with the California attorney general, the retail gi
Cybersecurity startup CyCognito raises $18M in Series A funding
CyCognito, a cybersecurity platform that aims to give visibility into a company’s security weak spots, has raised $18 million in its Series A round of funding. Lightspeed Partners led the fundra
Cybersecurity firm Sonatype acquired by Vista Equity
Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has acquired Sonatype, a cybersecurity-focused open-source automation company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Sonatype said the acquisition will he
TriNet sent remote workers an email that some thought was a phishing attack
It was the one of the best phishing emails we’ve seen… that wasn’t. Phishing remains one of the most popular attack choices for scammers. Phishing emails are designed to impersonate
‘Magic: The Gathering’ game maker exposed 452,000 players’ account data
The maker of Magic: The Gathering has confirmed that a security lapse exposed the data on hundreds of thousands of game players. The game’s developer, the Washington-based Wizards of the Coast,
LA warns of ‘juice-jacking’ malware, but admits it has no cases
Los Angeles’ district attorney is warning travelers to avoid public USB charging points because “they may contain dangerous malware.” Reading the advisory, you might be forgiven for
Despite bans, Giphy still hosts self-harm, hate speech and child sex abuse content
Image search engine Giphy bills itself as providing a “fun and safe way” to search and create animated GIFs. But despite its ban on illicit content, the site is littered with self-harm and
Facebook says government demands for user data are at a record high
Facebook’s latest transparency report is out. The social media giant said the number of government demands for user data increased by 16% to 128,617 demands during the first half of this year co
A US federal court finds suspicionless searches of phones at the border is illegal
A federal court in Boston has ruled that the government is not allowed to search travelers’ phones or other electronic devices at the U.S. border without first having reasonable suspicion of a c
A new ‘Zombieload’ flaw hits Intel’s newest Cascade Lake chips
Time to reset your “days since last major chip vulnerability” counter back to zero. Security researchers have found another flaw in Intel processors — this time it’s a new variant
Facebook says a bug caused its iPhone app’s inadvertent camera access
Facebook has faced a barrage of concern over an apparent bug that resulted in the social media giant’s iPhone app exposing the camera as users scroll through their feed. A tweet over the weekend
New 5G flaws can track phone locations and spoof emergency alerts
5G is faster and more secure than 4G. But new research shows it also has vulnerabilities that could put phone users at risk. Security researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa have f
OpenText buys data security firm Carbonite for $1.42B
Carbonite has agreed to a $1.42 billion purchase by OpenText, an enterprise information management giant, ending weeks of speculation about the anticipated buyout. The deal marks a 78% premium on Carb
Two security researchers earned $60,000 for hacking an Amazon Echo
Two security researchers have been crowned the top hackers in this year’s Pwn2Own hacking contest after developing and testing several high profile exploits, including an attack against an Amazo
Popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners
Security researchers have found several popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners by exploiting a weakness that gives accessories access to the phone’s underlying baseb