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Chromecast and Google Homes reportedly overloading home Wi-Fi [Updated]

Enlarge / The Google Home Mini, the original Google Home, and the Google Home Max. (credit: Google ) Update: Google has posted a support page for this issue promising a fix tomorrow (1/18). The page says the issue is limited to “People with an Android phone and a Chromecast built-in device (such as a Chromecast or Google Home device) on the same Wi-Fi network” and that a fix will be rolling out via Play Services. The original story is below. Users on the  Google help forums and  Reddit  are reporting that Google Home and Google Chromecast devices are causing issues with their Wi-Fi networks. Users say hooking up these Google hardware products leads to an unstable Wi-Fi network or a network that goes down entirely. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Chromecast and Google Homes reportedly overloading home Wi-Fi [Updated]

Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws threaten PCs, phones and servers

By now you’ve probably heard about a bug Intel is dealing with that affects processors built since 1995. But according to the people who found “Meltdown” and “Spectre, ” the errors behind these exploits can let someone swipe data running in other apps on devices using hardware from Intel, ARM and AMD. While server operators ( like Amazon ) apply Linux patches to keep people from accessing someone else’s information that’s being executed on the same system, what does this mean for your home computer or phone? Google’s Project Zero researchers identified the problems last year, and according to its blog post, execution is “difficult and limited” on the majority of Android devices. A list of potentially impacted services and hardware is available here , while additional protection has been added in the latest Android security update . In a statement, Microsoft said: “We are in the process of deploying mitigations to cloud services and have also released security updates to protect Windows customers against vulnerabilities affecting supported hardware chips from Intel, ARM, and AMD.” In a blog post directed towards customers on its Azure server platform, the company said its infrastructure has already been updated, and that a “majority” of customers should not see a performance impact. Apple has not publicly commented on the issue, however security researcher Alex Ionescu points out that macOS 10.13.2 addresses the issue and said that the 10.13.3 update will include “surprises.” According to AMD, “Due to differences in AMD’s architecture, we believe there is a near zero risk to AMD processors at this time, ” however it has promised further updates as the information comes out. As for ARM, it says most processors are unaffected but it has specific information on the types that are available here . So what does this mean for you? On your devices the prescription is the same as always — make sure you have the latest security updates installed and try to avoid malware-laden downloads from suspicious or unknown sources. Source: MeltdownAttack.com

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Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws threaten PCs, phones and servers

Equifax may have been hacked again (updated)

When Equifax’s interim CEO penned a letter of apology on The Wall Street Journal , he admitted that it will take a lot of effort to regain people’s trust. Unfortunately, the company still seems to be lacking when it comes to security, because according to Ars Technica , it’s been hacked yet again. Independent security analyst Randy Abrams told Ars that he was redirected to hxxp:centerbluray.info and was met with a Flash download when he went to equifax.com to contest a false info on his credit report. The fake Flash installer apparently tricks people into downloading what Symantec identifies as Adware.Eorezo , an adware that inundates Internet Explorer with advertisements. Unfortunately, we can’t replicate the problem, but Abrams said he encountered the issue on three separate visits and captured one of them on video: We reached out to Equifax to ask whether the company has already cleaned up the adware downloader. To be safe, though, don’t click on any random Flash installer that pops up when you visit the agency’s website in the near future. Update: Equifax says its IT and security teams are looking into the issue, but while the investigation is in progress, the page has been taken offline. The company plans to share more information as it becomes available. Source: Ars Technica

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Equifax may have been hacked again (updated)