Consumer electronics giant Samsung just released its latest update to its flagship product, the Galaxy Note 7, two weeks ago, as of the writing of this piece. The company has sold some 2.5 million units worldwide, and now, they are issuing a global recall order, and promising to replace all units that have been sold.

As you probably know by now, ransomware is a particularly insidious form of hacking attack whereby a target computer’s files are locked or held hostage in some way, and besides restoring from whatever backups you have, the only way to get the files back is to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers.

The story of the fall of the hacker going by the alias “Track2” is an absolutely riveting one. Track2, whose real name is Roman Valerevich Seleznev, is a thirty-one year old from Russia. His criminal enterprise thrived from 2009 to 2013, when it was finally shut down, but unfortunately not before he did a considerable amount of damage on a global scale.

If you’re a Mac user who downloads files using the torrent software called “Transmission,” you may want to check your machine for signs of infection. It was recently discovered that a malicious copy of the torrent software had found its way onto Transmission’s website, which is where most people go to download the client.

There have been papers written and demonstrations conducted in recent months to show how it’s possible to wirelessly log your keystrokes. All of those demonstrations have relied upon specialized gear you can make using off-the-shelf components, but given that requirement, it limits the pool of hackers with the technical skills to pull it off.

If you’re one of the millions of Dropbox users around the world, you were probably mildly annoyed recently when you logged on to find that you were being forced to change your password on that system. It’s one part of the company’s response to a data breach that dates back to 2012.

In 2012, the company became aware of a breach, and at that time, its investigation concluded that the number of users impacted by the breach was quite small.

Opera does not have anything that could be described as a commanding share of the web browser market, but as one of oldest and best loved browsers in existence, the company still commands respect, and has a collection of die-hard fans, supporters and users.

Shaun Treacy, the President of MHR (Millennium Hotels and Resorts) North America, has recently sent a communication to guests who stayed at some of the company's locations between March and June of 2016. In his letter, he warns that an unnamed form of malware was discovered on some of the company's Point of Sale systems, and that they should be on their guard and monitor their credit card statements for signs of suspicious activity.

An interesting and disturbing new form of Ransomware was on display at this year's Def Con convention, in Las Vegas. So far as anyone knows, this is the first, proof of concept ransomware that targets smart thermostats. Yes, you read that correctly. The new ransomware is specifically designed to target smart thermostats.

Much has been written in previous months about the explosion in growth of the (IOT) Internet of Things, and the security risks posed by that growth. Where PCs, laptops, and smartphones all have fairly robust security measures in place to prevent hackers from gaining easy access, the same cannot be said of the growing legion of internet-connected objects ranging from smart lightbulbs and thermostats to smart door locks.