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US Air Force Contract Aims to Improve Blockchain Security

Andrew Orr ·

The United States Air Force will use Constellation’s Hypergraph Network to provide data security with the Department of Defense’s commercial partners.

Constellation said it had been working with Kinnami Software Corporation to develop an end-to-end data security solution using blockchain encryption and distributed data management for the United States Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command’s 618th Air Operations Center, and a Civil Reserve Air Fleet partner. According to the platform, its goal is to securely exchange data with commercial partners on missions involving the operations of aircraft and ships under contract to the Department of Defense, or DoD.

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New Snapchat Scan Feature Can Detect Clothes, Plants, Wine, and More

Andrew Orr ·

Snap released a new augmented reality feature on Thursday. Called Scan, it can detect objects in the physical world.

This latest version of Scan, which Snap previewed at its developer conference earlier this year, adds detection for dog breeds, plants, wine, cars, and food nutrition info. The majority of Scan’s features are powered by other companies; the app Vivino is behind the wine scanning feature, for example. Soon Allrecipes will power a Scan feature that suggests recipes to make based on a specific food ingredient. Snap plans to keep adding more abilities to Scan over time using a mix of outside partners and what it builds in-house.

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Data Leak From Chinese Company 'EskyFun' Affects 1 Million Gamers

Andrew Orr ·

The research team at vpnMentor discovered an unsecured server from Chinese mobile gaming company EskyFun. It exposed data for over a million Android gamers.

The resulting records contained a lot of sensitive information, including: IP address, IMEI number, Mobile application package doing the tracking, Device screen size – whether a device is ‘rooted’*, Device model, Phone number (if any), Platform (Android/iOS), NetType (WiFi or cellular), Events (open,login,level_up, etc).

Not so fun anymore.

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Smash Hit Asphalt 8: Airborne Racing to Apple Arcade

Jeff Butts ·

Apple Arcade might have been launched to help new and exclusive games, but Cupertino has been adding some really hot titles to the subscription gaming service. On August 27, 2021, you’ll be able to download the popular racing game Asphalt 8: Airborne through Apple Arcade. Sure, the franchise is up to Asphalt 9, but this version won’t tempt you with in-app purchases.

One interesting aspect of having Asphalt 8 available on Apple Arcade is the change in the gameplay model. Current Asphalt games (including Asphalt 8) are free-to-play, meaning that anyone can download them without paying, but the game offers multiple items that can only be obtained through in-app purchases.

 

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It’s Easy for Minors to Bypass App Store Age Restrictions

Andrew Orr ·

On Wednesday, the Campaign for Accountability published a report that shows how easy it is for minors to bypass App Store age restrictions.

Using an Apple ID for a simulated 14-year-old, TTP examined nearly 80 age-restricted apps on the App Store and discovered that the underage user could easily evade the apps’ age restrictions in the vast majority of cases, often with minimal effort.

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Your Internet Activity May be Traceable Even Through a VPN

Andrew Orr ·

Netflow data refers to IP network traffic that can be collected as it enters or exits an interface. Using this aggregate data, it’s possible to trace network traffic even if a person uses a VPN. Internet service providers sell this information to third parties.

At a high level, netflow data creates a picture of traffic flow and volume across a network. It can show which server communicated with another, information that may ordinarily only be available to the server owner or the ISP carrying the traffic. Crucially, this data can be used for, among other things, tracking traffic through virtual private networks, which are used to mask where someone is connecting to a server from, and by extension, their approximate physical location.

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Social Engineering Majority of Business Attacks in 2020

Andrew Orr ·

Speaking of social engineering, new data from Atlas VPN shows this kind of attack was responsible for the majority of business breaches in 2020.

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, social engineering cyberattacks were the primary cause of company breaches in 2020 at 14%, followed by advanced persistent threats, unpatched systems and ransomware. As a result, learning to prevent social engineering attacks needs to be a top priority for businesses.