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This week, McAfee took an exciting new step in our journey—we are now a pure-play consumer company. What does that mean for consumers? It means that McAfee will be able to focus 100% of our talent and expertise on innovation and development that directly enables and improves the products and services that protect you and your family. 

It’s the right time to take that step. Today, we use technology in every aspect of our lives, from education to recreation and entertainment to transportation. We have connected devices in our cars, in our pockets, and in our houses. In fact, the average U.S. household has 25 connected devices, and this number will continue to grow as more connected devices hit the market.  We are also on the precipice of new connectivity technology, such as 5G, that will enable devices to access larger amounts of data, faster, and from more places. 

All this technology makes our lives easier and more enriching in some way, whether it’s the ability to do our banking online or ordering groceries online or even having a consultation with our physician online. Our behaviors have changed during the past sixteen months and our need for online protection has changed with the times.  

Our online world is rapidly evolving, and as McAfee’s Chief Technology Officer, part of my job is to ensure that you and your family can use the latest, cutting-edge technology with the confidence and peace of mind that you are protected.  

The technology required to defend consumers against the latest threats requires new levels of sophistication. It’s important that we don’t confuse sophistication with complexity. Part of my mission for McAfee is to package the world’s most effective, highly sophisticated cybersecurity technology in a form that is accessible, usable, and consumable by everyday users—people and their families 

So as McAfee places its entire focus on consumers, what that really means is that now the focus is on you. Your life online, and the ways you use it to run your home, keep tabs on your finances, split dinner with friends, chat with your children’s teachers, and binge on your favorite shows over a rainy weekend. More than that, we’re here to protect you, because you are at the center of all these things and more. Our aim is to bring you breakthrough advances in online protection so that you can freely enjoy life online. And everyone here at McAfee is looking forward to bringing them to you. 

Stay Updated 

To stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

The post It’s All About You: McAfee’s New All-Consumer Focus appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

You’re probably expecting us to say, “Patch early, patch often.” And that is EXACTLY what we’re saying!

No More Ransom is collecting decryptors so ransomware victims don’t have to pay to get their data back and attackers don’t get rich.

Two bugs, now patched except in older versions, could be chained to allow attackers to hijack Zimbra server by simply sending a malicious email.

The unpatched flaws include RCE and authenticated privilege escalation on the client-side: Just the latest woe for the ransomware-walloped MSP.

Company urges iPhone, iPad and Mac users to install updates to fix a critical memory corruption flaw that can allow for attackers to take over a system.

Interesting research: “EvilModel: Hiding Malware Inside of Neural Network Models”.

Abstract: Delivering malware covertly and detection-evadingly is critical to advanced malware campaigns. In this paper, we present a method that delivers malware covertly and detection-evadingly through neural network models. Neural network models are poorly explainable and have a good generalization ability. By embedding malware into the neurons, malware can be delivered covertly with minor or even no impact on the performance of neural networks. Meanwhile, since the structure of the neural network models remains unchanged, they can pass the security scan of antivirus engines. Experiments show that 36.9MB of malware can be embedded into a 178MB-AlexNet model within 1% accuracy loss, and no suspicious are raised by antivirus engines in VirusTotal, which verifies the feasibility of this method. With the widespread application of artificial intelligence, utilizing neural networks becomes a forwarding trend of malware. We hope this work could provide a referenceable scenario for the defense on neural network-assisted attacks.

News article.

There’s a lot of misinformation about Virtual Private Networks, what they do, and the security benefits they offer. For this article, I’d like to do some myth-busting about how a VPN actually works and why you should use one. 

What is a VPN and how does it protect me? 

A VPN is an app that you install on your device to help keep your personal data safe as you browse the internet  

You may have heard that VPN apps live on your device and allow you to connect to the internet securely. What that means is, when you turn your VPN app on, your device makes a secure connection to a specialized computer that routes internet traffic, called a VPN server. You also may have heard that your connection is “wrapped in an encrypted tunnel” which means your device and the server share a secure connection so only you can see what you’re doing on the internet. 

Does a VPN change my IP address? 

Every internet connection (like your cable modem) is assigned a unique set of numbers called an IP address, which is tied to information such as geographic location, ISP, etc. A VPN replaces your actual IP address to make it look like you’ve connected to the internet from a different location: the physical location of the VPN server, rather than your real location. This is just one reason why so many people use VPNs. This can be handy when you want to hide from advertising trackers or protect your search history.  

How to use a VPN to change my IP address 

To change your IP address, you simply open your VPN app, select the server location you’d like to connect to, and you’re done. You’re now browsing with a new IP address. If you’d like to make sure your IP has changed, open up a browser and search for “What’s my IP address” and click on one of the results. 

When should I use a VPN? 

When to use a VPN really depends on what you want it for. For example, 39% of users understand public Wi-Fi is unsafe but still do sensitive things, like banking or shopping on public WiFi, so using a VPN when you’re at the airport, or a café is a great use case. 

As I mentioned before, a lot of people use a VPN for privacy reasons, like stopping advertisers from tracking them. Searches you perform, or websites you visit won’t be trackable, which means you’ll be able to surprise your spouse with a vacation you researched and planned on a computer you both use. Targeted ads could spoil things if your spouse is bombarded with ads for plane tickets and hotels while they browse. 

Can a VPN protect my search history? 

A VPN protects your search history through the secure connection you share. When you search for a website, or type a URL into your navigation bar, your device sends something called a DNS request, which translates the website into the IP address of the web server; this is how your browser can find the website and serve its content to you. By encrypting your DNS requests, a VPN can hide your search habits and history from those that might use that info as part of building a profile of you. This type of info could be used in a wide variety of ways, from legitimately serving targeted ads to nefarious social engineering.  

Can a VPN protect my identity? 

A VPN can protect your identity by blocking online trackers from following you around the internet. With your VPN on, trackers will think all of your browsing is coming from a different device in a different location. This throws off the profile advertisers try to build because they think you’re someone else. 

Another way a VPN can protect your identity is by preventing some types of hacking. Stopping attacks on public WiFi where a bad actor tries to get between you and the website you’re visiting, is just one way VPNs can help. It’s called a Man-in-the-Middle attack, but that’s a subject for another article. 

Does a VPN make me anonymous? 

No, a VPN cannot make you anonymous. They help secure what you’re doing, but your ISP still knows when you’re using the internet. They just can’t see what you’re doing, what sites you visit, or how long you’ve been on a site. 

Do I need a VPN if I use Incognito mode? 

Private browsing modes can help protect your privacy, but they’re useful if you share a device with other people and you don’t want them to see your search history. You can read all about the differences in the article I wrote a little while ago. 

What is Apple Private Relay? 

Apple’s Private Relay is currently in Beta and will be available with an iCloud+ subscription for Safari users on iOS and macOS soon. Private Relay is similar to a VPN in that it changes your IP address so websites you visit can’t tell exactly where you are.  

What does Apple Private Relay do? 

When you turn Private Relay on, your device connects to a server that sends your browsing data to a second server, before it travels through the internet. The reason for the double hop is that first server gives you a new IP address, to make you harder to track, while the second server hides that information from the website you’re browsing. The first server only knows your original IP address, while the second server only knows what you’re browsing, but not your IP. 

How to turn on Apple Private Relay on iPhone 

1. Tap the iCloud tab in Settings 
2. Tap Private Relay to turn it On 
3. Scroll down and tap on Turn On for Safari 
4. Tap IP Address Location to change Approximate or Broader Location 

How to turn on Apple Private Relay on Mac 

1. Click on iCloud in the System Preferences menu 
2. Click on the Private Relay box 
3. Click on the Options button 
4. Click on Private Relay for Safari 
5. Choose your IP Address Location to change Approximate or Broader Location 

Do I need a VPN if I have Apple Private Relay? 

Private Relay only works with Safari on iOS and macOS. Even if you are using an Apple device, a VPN is still a good idea because it will protect the information that your device sends outside of Safari. 

How to get your own VPN 

If you’re already a McAfee Total Protection subscriber, you have access to unlimited VPN usage. Protect your personal information, like your banking information and credit cards, from prying eyes with McAfee Total Protection’s Secure VPN. If you haven’t already signed up, now’s the perfect time. McAfee Total Protection provides security for all your devices, giving you peace of mind while you shop, bank, and browse online. 

Stay Updated 

To stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home  on Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

The post What is a VPN and Can it Hide My IP Address? appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

Enormous botnets of IoT devices are going after decades-old legacy systems that are rife in systems that control crucial infrastructure.

A cute name but an annoying and potentially damaging attack. Here’s what to do.