Every June, a select group of students from high schools and middle schools in San Diego County, California, get five days of intense education in the art of defending computer systems.
The post Cyber Boot Camp: a head start for tomorrow’s cyber workforce appeared first on We Live Security.
Risk analysis is the first step towards managing risks, particularly when it comes to cyber risks. This recorded webinar introduces and explains key concepts, with links to several useful risk assessment tools.
The post Cyber risk analysis, assessment, and management: an introduction appeared first on We Live Security.
Security research is published in many forms. For example, there are live and recorded webinars that cover a range of cybersecurity topics.
The post The wider world of security research output: webinars appeared first on We Live Security.
In this recorded webinar the security challenge that mobile devices and BYOD bring to the businesses, notably smaller businesses, is reviewed; then defensive strategies are presented.
The post The big small business security challenge: mobile and BYOD appeared first on We Live Security.
It’s National Small Business Week in the U.S. and, because properly protecting the digital assets of your small business could be vital to its success, here’s a cybersecurity survival guide.
The post National Small Business Week: a cybersecurity survival guide appeared first on We Live Security.
The Mozilla Foundation announced yesterday that it is in the process making HTTP connections incompatible with its popular Firefox Web browser.
Major themes of the 2015 RSA Conference: the degree to which the deployment of digital devices is outpacing our ability to deploy humans with the necessary skills and knowledge needed to secure data and systems.
The post RSA Conference 2015: too much technology and not enough people? appeared first on We Live Security.
A lawyer in Arkansas is claiming that police planted three different pieces of malware on an external hard drive in a controversial whistleblower case against the police force, reports 5 News Online.
The post Lawyer claims police placed malware on requested external hard drive appeared first on We Live Security.
Earlier in March, researcher Randy Westergren, decided to investigate the gameplay mechanics of popular trivia quiz app Trivia Crack.
What he found was surprising. Within the app’s code is a hidden “cheat mode” that provides the player with the answers to each question, clearly not intended for general use.
While discovering “cheat mode” doesn’t present an immediate threat to most players, it’s a timely reminder that not all apps are secure.
Westergren altered the Trivia Crack’s code to harmlessly enable “cheat mode” but it is also possible to insert malicious code.
As Westergren explains, this vulnerability “should serve as a good example that client application privacy cannot be guaranteed and developers should be careful about what’s included in their compiled releases.”
Trivia Crack is certainly not the first popular app to face scrutiny from potential attackers with apps such as Angry Birds often the target for malicious attack.
As AVG CTO Yuval Ben-Itzhak explained in his recent blog post, “hackers are clever; they have found ways to get around stringent app store controls by exploiting existing non-malicious apps that are vulnerable.”
The largest challenge for mobile security today is not blocking malicious apps but instead protecting benign apps that are vulnerable to attack thanks to short time to market, small development teams and budgets.
Even apps from well-known developers or apps that you have had installed for a long time can become vulnerable if not properly maintained and security tested.
How can players protect themselves?
The best way to defend yourself against malicious apps is to download mobile antivirus on your device.
AVG AntiVirus for Android FREE has over 100 million downloads from the Google Play Store.
Watch this video for more tips to help you protect your Android device,
March 28th, 2015 – It was a gray and chilly Saturday morning when some of Avast’s fittest gathered to run in the 17th edition of the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon. As the biggest running event in the Czech Republic, this year’s race drew in over 12,000 participants. Thirteen brave Avastians ran the event’s full 21 kilometers and 12 (also brave) Avastians ran in relay teams. The relay teams consisted of four members, three of whom ran five kilometers and a fourth who ran six. The Avast runners chose to support the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation, an organization that works to support handicapped, abandoned and discriminated individuals in their integration into society.
Avast’s runners before the half marathon
The race took place in Prague’s historic city center along the Vltava River. Both the start and end points of the race were positioned in Jan Palach Square, named after Jan Palach, a student who immolated himself to protest the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1969. At the starting line, I found myself stretching and warming up next to thousands of fellow participants. As we eagerly waited for the race to begin, some sort of miracle occurred – the sun’s rays made their way through the clouds, warming our cold bodies and lifting our spirits. Then, at noon, the starting pistol was fired and we began the race, appropriately accompanied by the sounds of Bedrich Smetana’s “The Moldau”. This celebrated piece of classical Czech music evokes the sounds of the Vltava River, the body of water that served as the backbone of the race.
The Prague Half Marathon was the first official race that I’ve taken part in. I ran five kilometers as part of one of Avast’s three relay teams. Intimidating is definitely a word one could use when describing the experience — when the race began, literally thousands of people ran past me and it soon became somewhat of a struggle to keep up in the constant stream of runners. However, it was great having my colleagues there for moral support. During the first kilometer, one of my colleagues passed me, giving me a cheerful greeting en route to complete the race’s full 21 km.
As I ran, I let the Vltava’s breeze cool me off while I basked in the sun’s warmth and admired Prague’s breathtaking views. Within just two kilometers, I had passed some of the city’s most famous sites, including the Charles Bridge, National Theater, and Dancing House. Out of the corner of my eye, I could even see the Prague Castle on the other side of the river. Upon reaching the five kilometer mark, I handed my baton chip over to my teammate, who continued on and crossed the Vltava to meet our third runner.
Each of the Avast relay teams completed the half marathon in just under two hours. The individual runners, who ran the full length of the race, all finished within two and a half hours. To top it all off, Avast’s fastest runner, Adam Simek, came in 88th place out of the 12,500 runners who participated, completing the half marathon in a remarkable one hour and 18 minutes!
A message to my fellow Avast runners: You guys all did an amazing job and I hope you have all recuperated from the run 
I look forward to running with you again next year!
