McAfee announced Monday its 2014 product line of consumer antivirus and security products for the PC platform. All are available for download or retail purchase starting today.
Melissa Riofrio | 09 Sep | Read more
The NSA (the National Security Agency, or, as some people prefer, No Such Agency) has found itself in the spotlight lately, owing in large part to leaks from former contractor Edward Snowden. But although the agency has been in hot water because of who it has been spying on, snooping isn't the agency's only job. The NSA also plays an important role in helping the rest of the government secure its computers from outside attackers.
Rich Mogull | 06 Sep | Read more
The premise of the Google Authenticator app is pretty simple: Once you connect it to your online services, the app generates a random numeric code that you need to use along with your password when you're signing into your digital accounts. If the code isn't used in a short time frame, it self-destructs and becomes invalid. Boom! It's two-factor authentication at its finest.
Brad Chacos | 04 Sep | Read more
While Apple's announcement of the forthcoming iCloud Keychain feature of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks might have seemed like dire news for products like AgileBits's 1Password, the latter company's not about to throw in the towel. On Friday, it teased a sneak peek at the forthcoming 1Password 4 for Mac, a complete redesign and re-engineering of what represents the first major update to the password manager on OS X since 2009.
Somewhere deep inside Symantec, there's a humming farm of virtual machines whose sole purpose is to crawl 200-plus Android app stores worldwide, download about 10,000 new apps every day, and scan each and every one. They're looking not just for malware, but for other annoying, privacy-invading things an Android app could do--oh, like take your phone number and send it along to a third party, or grab your camera pictures or contacts.
Melissa Riofrio | 26 Jun | Read more
Google-owned Motorola has some big plans for replacing your online and device passwords that include taking a pill every morning and wearing a tattoo on your arm. The two experimental prototypes were showcased during the D11 technology conference by Motorola's head of advanced technology and projects group, Regina Dugan. Both concepts are meant as alternatives to using passwords, passcodes, picture passwords, and two-factor authentication as a means to access your smartphone, tablet, car, and even your front door.
Microsoft said Tuesday that it has moved its botnet-fighting capabilities to the cloud, a step that will make its response teams both faster and more effective in fighting hijacked PCs.
Mark Hachman | 29 May | Read more
Protecting a single PC from viruses, malware, and other security risks is difficult enough. Now that the typical tech'd-out household contains multiple tablets and smartphones, as well as one or more PCs, securing all of them can quickly become a big hassle. Responding to all this hardware proliferation, McAfee has announced a new tool called LiveSafe that's designed to be a protective umbrella for pretty much all the devices we may juggle (Windows Phones and Chromebooks being the notable exceptions).
Melissa Riofrio | 14 May | Read more
Organizations leaning too heavily on virtualization vendors for protection, BeyondTrust finds
John P. Mello | 09 May | Read more
An app available for download from Apple's iOS App Store contains an embedded Trojan horse. And while the good news is that you're almost definitely safe from any malware danger, there's still reason for concern. The app itself is almost certainly harmless--and the malicious code is probably present unintentionally--but the fact that the code slipped through the App Store's review process isn't ideal.
Lex Friedman | 02 May | Read more
With the news that some Apple, Facebook, and Twitter employees' Macs were hacked, and Apple and Oracle's subsequent software patches, it's time to revisit the question of whether Java can be used securely.
Rich Mogull | 21 Feb | Read more
Malware is a widespread concern that costs consumers more than $2 billion and compromises millions of personal computers annually. It's a threat that evolves as quickly as our measures to remedy it.
Matthew O'Connell | 06 Feb | Read more
If you're like a lot of people, when it comes time to renew your security software, you may ask yourself, "Do I really need to upgrade to the latest version?" The answer is yes. Keeping up-to-date is generally a good idea, as new threats surface constantly. And if you value mobile security or use a social network, this year's crop of security suites is worth paying attention to.
Nick Mediati and Sarah Jacobsson Purewal | 28 Jan | Read more
If the most recent security flaw in Java is a sign of anything, it's that the time has come for Oracle to rewrite the programming language.
John P. Mello Jr. | 13 Jan | Read more
Among your typical New Year's resolutions--lose weight, stop smoking, be happier--you should consider making some pledges to better secure your digital life. You might even be healthier if you can prevent the stress of a digital disaster, like malware wiping out your PC, having your online accounts hacked, or becoming a victim of identify theft because of a phishing scam or data theft. With that in mind, here are some security resolutions you should consider for the new year.
PCWorld staff | 05 Jan | Read more