CYBER SECURITY
Cyber security news updates in Kenya and Africa and tips on why it is critical for an enterprise to utilize cybersecurity best practices to avoid common cyber security threats.
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[Column] Peter Mackenzie: Top 10 security misconceptions
The Sophos Rapid Response team has compiled a list of the most commonly held security misconceptions they’ve encountered in the last…
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Adversaries Spend More than 250 Hours Undetected in Target Networks on Average, Sophos Report
Sophos, today released the “Active Adversary Playbook 2021,” detailing attacker behaviors and the tools, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that Sophos’…
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Sophos Uncovers 167 Fake Android and iOS Trading and Cryptocurrency Apps
Sophos has identified a stash of 167 fake Android and iOS apps that attackers are using to steal money from…
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Sophos Launches Industry’s Only XDR Solution that Synchronizes Native Endpoint, Server, Firewall, and Email Security
Sophos today announced Sophos XDR, the industry’s only extended detection and response (XDR) solution that synchronizes native endpoint, server, firewall,…
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Dell Issues Security Patch to Bug Affecting Hundreds of Millions of Computers
Computer manufacturer Dell has issued a security patch to a “high-impact” Kernel bug affecting potentially hundreds of millions of its…
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One Out of Every 100 Mobile Users in Kenya Affected by Stalkerware
Among the many things that have risen sharply since the onset of the pandemic are cybersecurity attacks. Whether it’s on…
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Kaspersky partners with value-added distributor DataGroupIT to strengthen West African footprint
As part of its strategy to grow its business in West Africa, Kaspersky has partnered with value-added distributor DataGroupIT who…
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Sophos Unveils XGS Series Firewall Appliances
Sophos has today unveiled new XGS Series firewall appliances with unrivaled performance and advanced protection against cyberattacks. Sophos says the…
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Nigeria Suffers Mobile Malware Epidemic with 1 In 9 Android Phones Now Infected
Mobile users in Nigeria have been impacted by mobile malware during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is according to a new…
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inq. partners with Elastic to strengthen cybersecurity in Africa
Pan-African cloud-based digital service provider inq. has announced that they are now a strategic managed security services partner for Elastic,…
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Truecaller Intros Business Solution in Africa As It Hits 43 Million Users on the Continent
Truecaller, the popular Caller ID and Spam Blocking app has launched a new business-focused solution to help its users easily…
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[Column] Chester Wisniewski: Beg bounty hunting – why do people do it, and how?
I recently wrote a Sophos News article on the whole phenomenon of “beg bounties” and invited organizations that had been…
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Personal Data of Over 500 Million Facebook Users Leaked Online
Facebook’s history of handling users personal data is nothing short of disgusting. Following the massive data leak concerning the Cambridge…
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The Realities of AI in Cybersecurity: Catastrophic Forgetting
There is a lot of hype about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity. The truth is that the…
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Increasing Threat of Hidden Malware in User Devices in Kenya
Widely, it’s a commonly accepted notion that surfing the web poses dangerous security threats to users. While that is not…
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DearCry, prototype ransomware, takes advantage of Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities
Following the reporting of the Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities and the out-of-band release of security patches on March 2nd 2021, security researchers have…
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Importance of Creating a Security Culture in an Organisation
The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing, with malicious actors always on the move to devise new ways to target individuals…
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Sophos uncovers how attack code behaves while hiding in memory and built protection against it
The memory region of a hacked computer is a popular hiding place for malware because security scans don’t tend to…
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Sophos advices against HAFNIUM, the new national wide attack
Following Microsoft’s news about Hafnium, Sophos has been closely monitoring the issue and is providing regular advice on how organizations…
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Sophos to provide Intercept X endpoint protection for Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G PCs
Cybersecurity leader Sophos has announced its plans to provide Sophos Intercept X endpoint protection for 5G PCs powered by Qualcomm…
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TikTok to Pay $92 Million Over Alleged Privacy Violations
TikTok will pay $92 million in the U.S to settle a nationwide class-action suit alleging that the company violated several…
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Thousands of Macs Infected with Mysterious Malware
A new strain of malware has affected around 30,000 Macs, but its intentions remain mysterious to security researchers. The malware…
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Sophos shows how a five-day Conti ransomware attack unfolds day-by-day
In a new three-part series of articles, Sophos researchers and incident responders unveil what really happens when attackers break into…
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Cybercrime cost the world over $1 trillion in 2020 – Report
The cost of cybercrime continues to increase, and in 2020, it reached a staggering $1 trillion, a new report has…
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Safer Internet Day – why not up your game?
Usually, when Safer Internet Day comes around, the cybersecurity situation hasn’t changed much from the year before, so it doesn’t…
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Update your Google Chrome Browser ASAP
Google has released an update to its ubiquitous browser Chrome, which tags along with an important security patch. Chrome 88,…
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Why You Need to Upgrade your iPhone to iOS 14.4, ASAP!
Apple has released its newest iOS 14 build, version 14.4, which doesn’t bring any notable external changes but carries critical…
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Sophos Identifies Source Of “MrbMiner” Attacks Targeting Database Servers
Sophos published a new report on MrbMiner, a recently discovered cryptominer that targets internet-facing database servers (SQL servers) and downloads…
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Sophos Named Common Vulnerability and Exposure Numbering Authority
Sophos has been named a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Numbering Authority (CNA) in the CVE program. CVE is a recognized international…
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Apple ditches macOS feature that allowed its apps to bypass VPNs and Firewalls
Apple is known for its stringent privacy policies, but it has made some controversial moves in the past, even with…
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Economic uncertainty set to shape 2021 cybercrime agenda in Africa
Last year, the number of cybersecurity attacks increased globally, a time when lots were forced to stay at home if…
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Cybersecurity Threats Surge in Kenya
2020 was a tough year for many companies both financially and on the cybersecurity landscape. Various firms issued advisories of…
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SophosAI Advances the Practices and Language that Will Transform the Cybersecurity Industry with Much-needed Transparency and Openness
Sophos today announced four new open Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments to help broaden and sharpen the industry’s defenses against cyberattacks,…
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The Changing Shape of African Cybersecurity
The 2020 KnowBe4 African Report surveyed over 800 correspondents across eight countries to discover the continent’s view on cybersecurity and…
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Apple supplier Foxconn Hit by Ransomware Attack
Foxconn Technology Group, the company that assembles iPhones for Apple, was hit by a cyber attack in November that affected…
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Google Messages Starts Rolling Out RCS End-to-end Encryption
Google Messages has successfully landed the much-awaited Rich Communication Services, commonly known as RCS, to all users globally (unless you’re…
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Ransomware and fileless malware to present increased threat in 2021, predicts ESET
After a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic upended the way we live, work and socialize, we are likely to…
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Twitter Adds Support for Hardware Key-based Two-factor Authentication on Android and iOS
Twitter has added a new form of multi-factor authentication allowing security folks to use hardware-backed 2FA on Android and iOS,…
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Microsoft Unveils New Chip To Increase Security of future Windows PCs
Microsoft has launched various initiatives in Windows to secure laptops running the OS. On the software level, the company has…
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Cellulant Partners with Entersekt To Curb Digital Banking and Payment Fraud
Africa’s financial tech company Cellulant has partnered with Entersekt, a firm specializing in device identity and omnichannel authentication. The partnership…
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Kenya Ranked Among the Top 3 African Countries Affected by Mobile Fraud
Kenya has been ranked among the top three African countries hit by mobile fraud. According to Evina, a Paris-based cybersecurity…
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Go SMS Pro Flaw Exposes Millions of Private Photos and Media Files
One of the popular messaging apps, Go SMS Pro, has a security flaw that exposes user’s media files, including private…
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Here are the worst 200 passwords of 2020
Cybersecurity threats keep rising day by day with hackers armored with new advanced and sophisticated techniques to intrude systems. As…
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Sophos Threat Report Flags Ransomware and Other Significant Cyberattack Trends Expected to Shape IT Security In 2021
Sophos today published the Sophos 2021 Threat Report, which flags how ransomware and fast-changing attacker behaviors, from advanced to entry…
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Black Friday – stay safe before, during and after peak retail season
It’s three weeks until US Thanksgiving, which happens on the fourth Thursday of November. As readers around the world now…
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Smishing attack tells you “mobile payment problem” – don’t fall for it!
As we’ve warned before, phishing via SMS, or smishing for short, is still popular with cybercriminals. Sure, old-fashioned text messages have fallen out…
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Google Play Store Identified as the Primary Channel for Android Malware Distribution
The official store for Android users to download apps has been identified as the main distribution vector for malware. This…
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Mastercard Announces Cyber Secure, an AI-Powered Solution To Protect The Digital Ecosystem
Mastercard has launched a new AI-powered suite of tools to help banks assess cyber risk across their ecosystem and prevent…
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Beware of this New Google Drive Scam
Scammers have just found a new way to rip off unsuspecting users. A flaw embedded in Google Drive is being…
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Sophos Launches Rapid Response Service to Identify and Neutralize Active Cybersecurity Attacks
Sophos has announced the availability of an industry-first, fixed-fee remote incident response service that identifies and neutralizes active cybersecurity attacks.…
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Organizations are Never the Same After Being Hit by Ransomware, Sophos Survey
Organizations are never the same after a ransomware attack. This is according to findings from a global survey conducted by…
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Remove these 21 Malicious Apps from Your Phone
The Google Play Store has millions of apps with different purposes. However, it has become commonplace, once in a while,…
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The Top Three IT Security Threats in Africa
Kaspersky is warning Africa ’s cybersecurity operatives of the top IT security threats on the continent. In its latest insights…
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Zoom Plans to Roll out the Much-Needed Privacy and Security Feature Soon
Zoom announced plans to implement the real end-to-end encryption for calls in May, after public scrutiny. At first, Zoom planned…
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Cyber Attacks Decrease by 59.9pc in Kenya due to Improved Security, CA says
Kenya experienced a massive decline of cyber threat attempts in the second quarter (April – June) of the year, the…
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Huawei conspires with the Chinese Government, UK Parliament Says
The British parliament’s defense committee says they have found evidence that the Chinese technology giant, Huawei, conspires with “the Chinese…
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Paul Ducklin: Securing you IoT devices at home
Paul Ducklin, Principal Research Scientist at Sophos, offers some tips for keeping IoT devices and other connected computers secure at…
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Chrome for Android and iOS Starts Sending Alerts when Saved Passwords are Leaked
Google Chrome is ramping up security protocols and will now tell you if the passwords you’ve asked Chrome to remember…
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MTN, Airtel and Stanbic Bank Uganda Lose Billions of Shillings to a Third-party Service Provider Hack
Hackers have broken into Uganda’s Pegasus Technologies, making away with cash in the billions. Pegasus Technologies touts itself as a…
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Google Announces Initiative to Solve Security Issues in non-Pixel Phones
In the past three years or so, Google has ramped up Android updates and security patches to third-party vendors. The…
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Global Shipping Industry Hit with Cyber Attacks
The global shipping industry has been hit with two cyberattacks within a week, causing disruptions to the movement of goods.…
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SMS phishing scam pretends to be Apple “chatbot” – don’t fall for it!
Aren’t SMSes dead? Aren’t they just plain old text anyway? Surely they’re of no interest to cybercriminals any more? Well,…
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Phishing is the number one cyber threat during the COVID-19 pandemic, report
Key findings highlighted by the INTERPOL assessment of the cybercrime landscape in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic has ranked phishing as number…
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Kaspersky Reports Increased Cyber Attacks in Kenya
Kaspersky has reported an increased number of cyber-attacks in Kenya in 2020. In a new report, Kaspersky notes that the…
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Liquid Telecom unveils Cyber Security unit for its customers
Liquid Telecom has today unveiled its Cybersecurity unit which offers end-to-end managed services for digital security solutions. The offering is…
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Sophos Announces Its 2020 Africa Partner Award Winners
Sophos today announced its fiscal year 2020 awards for top performing channel partners in the Middle East and Africa. The…
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Sophos adds cloud visibility features from Cloud Optix to Intercept X Advanced for Server with EDR
Sophos today announced, that Intercept X for Server Advanced with EDR has been enhanced with powerful cloud visibility features from…
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The Real Cost of Buying Cheap Chinese Smartphones
It’s apparent that smartphones are getting cheaper by the day, at least in the lower market segment, a trend that’s…
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Delete these 23 Dangerous Apps from your Android Device
It’s become a norm that, now and then, new security reports emerge advising against some number of apps. The issue…
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Top 4 Reasons You Need a Virtual Data Room For Your Business
There’s no shying away from the fact that technology has encapsulated the world completely. So whether it’s about a big…
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Database with Millions of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Profiles Exposed
A database containing data of nearly 235 million users across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube has been breached. The database stored…
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[Column] Amir Kanaan: The role of AI and machine learning in cybersecurity
If artificial intelligence (AI) is the practice of trying to make machines become more humanlike, machine learning (ML) is one…
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TikTok Dodged Android’s built-in protections to Track Millions of Users
In a new revelation that may amplify TikTok’s scrutiny over security concerns, a report has revealed that the app skirted…
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Sophos Deconstructs Dharma Ransomware-as-a-Service Attacks on Small and Mid-Sized Businesses During Global COVID-19 Pandemic
Sophos today published, “Color by Numbers: Inside a Dharma Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) Attack,” which provides the first in-depth look at an…
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Remote working has led to increased cybersecurity threats
Cybercriminals have certainly been using the pandemic in their relentless phishing and ransomware attacks. They even disguise themselves as the…
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Peter Mackenzie: Five signs you’re about to be attacked
Whenever we work with ransomware victims, we spend some time looking back through our telemetry records that span the previous…
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[Column] Chester Wisniewski: Why ransomware is just not a passing fad
We are only 5 weeks away from the anniversary of the birth of modern ransomware, Sept. 5, 2013. I mark…
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Sophos: Be wary of ProLock ransomware and its faulty decryptor
Sophos has warned business to be wary of ProLock, a quirky, destructive ransomware with troubling aftershocks. SophosLabs has provided an…
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Strathmore University Joins the Fortinet Security Academy Program
Strathmore University has announced it has collaborated with Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, to…
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Twitter says Hackers Accessed DMs of Dozens of High-profile Accounts
A week ago a massive Twitter hack happened that sent the internet into shock. In a coordinated attack that saw…
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Cybersecurity Spending to Grow by up to 6% in 2020, Report
The global cybersecurity spending is expected to grow by 5.6% in 2020 in its best-case scenario, says Canalys, with investment…
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Top 50 Women In Cybersecurity In Africa
The Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity Africa accolade recognizes women in cybersecurity in Africa who are making significant contributions to…
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High-profile Twitter Accounts Hacked in Crypto Scam
Twitter Hacked: A number of high-profile Twitter accounts have recently been hacked simultaneously in a cryptocurrency scam. Some of the…
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Google Bans Advertisement of Unauthorized Tracking Technology
Google has banned the advertisement of unauthorized tracking technology. In new policy changes set to take effect on August 11,…
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SWVL Breached; Customer Names, Email addresses, and Phone Numbers Leaked
The Egyptian-born ride-hailing company, SWVL, has recently reported a security breach in their systems. In an email sent to its…
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Facebook Continued to Share User Data With Developers Longer Than Promised
Facebook has come clean, saying they shared user data with third-party developers longer than they had promised. The US Social…
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Insiders remain one of the key threats to corporate cybersecurity in East Africa – Report
Insider-related cybersecurity incidents in East Africa is one of the key threats in East Africa. This is according to a…
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Safari Plans to Bring Password-less Logins via Face ID and Touch ID
Apple’s default Safari browser on iPhones will support a more secure way of login soon. Safari 14 is set to…
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Some Twitter Business Users’ Private Data Might Have Been Exposed, Company Warns
Twitter has emailed some of its business users telling them that their data may have been compromised. These include business…
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[Column] Time to rethink your approach towards password change
Until a few years ago, everyone received advice to change passwords on a regular and frequent basis, just because it…
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Russia Lifts Ban on Private Messaging App Telegram
Finally, Russia is lifting its ban on Telegram, the popular private messaging app developed by Russian-born developer, Parel Durov. The…
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Zoom changes mind, says it will provide end-to-end encryption to free users
Zoom has quickly changed its hard stance against its upcoming end-to-end encryption technology. After being pressured on security and privacy…
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Google Switches To Phone Notifications As Default Two-Factor Authentication Method
Two-factor authentication is a great way of securing your online accounts. Its use has grown immensely in the past few…
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Cisco’s cloud-native security platform Cisco SecureX now available globally
Cisco has announced the general global availability of its cloud-native security platform Cisco SecureX. Cisco launched this platform in February…
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Sophos unveils an updated version of its EDR solution
Sophos today unveiled an updated version of its Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), the first solution designed for both security…
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Zoom Won’t Encrypt Calls For Free Users So Law Enforcement Agencies Can Have Access When Necessary
Early last month, Zoom acquired Keybase, a New York-based startup that provides a secure messaging and file-sharing service. The acquisition…
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Data of Thousands of Mount Kenya University Students Leaked Online in Hacker Forums, Report
A new report suggests that data of various Mount Kenya University students – both past and present – is being…
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Apple Patches an iOS 13 Vulnerability that Allowed iPhone ‘Jailbreaking’
Just last week, the unc0ver team discovered an iOS 13.5 vulnerability that allowed anyone to jailbreak an iPhone or iPad.…
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Safaricom Now Notifies You When Someone Tries To Register a SIM Card Using your ID
SIM swap frauds are pretty common in Kenya but Safaricom has been stepping up its game to tackle the menace.…
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Paying Ransom Doubles Ransomware Attack Recovery Cost, Says Sophos
Many organisations have always considered paying cyber ransom whenever they are hit by a ransomware attack. Doing so might however…
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Zoom is Bringing The Real End-to-End Encryption This Time, But There’s a Catch
Zoom is finally taking the big leap to bring an end to end encryption (E2EE) as it continues its 90-day…
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