All posts tagged: secure

Europe to accelerate effort to secure Hormuz despite Trump’s order to ‘STAY AWAY’ – POLITICO

Europe to accelerate effort to secure Hormuz despite Trump’s order to ‘STAY AWAY’ – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

But the exact details of a potential international mission remain sketchy. After the meeting in Paris on Friday, which included leaders from more than two dozen countries via videoconference, Meloni offered to deploy Italian frigates to the region. Germany on Thursday said it would contribute minesweepers. “It’s going in the right direction, even if the opening of Hormuz is conditional to coordination by the Iranian authorities and the United States has said it is going to maintain a targeted blockade,” Macron said. “Recent developments are encouraging but we must take them with caution,” the French leader added. But Europeans are at odds about whether the United States should be included in the mission, with France insisting the mission should only include non-belligerent countries, and Germany keen on including an American contingent. On Friday, that rift still looked open. Merz said it would be “desirable” to include the U.S., while Macron insisted the coalition should be “neutral and separate from the belligerents.” Source link

France, Germany split on potential US role in European plans to help secure Hormuz – POLITICO

France, Germany split on potential US role in European plans to help secure Hormuz – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“There are good arguments in favor of it,” Merz said at a press conference in Berlin with regard to a joint European and U.S. effort. This puts Merz on a potential collision course with Macron, who has been sharper in criticizing the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. While France has said it would not partake in U.S. military operations, the country has deployed an aircraft carrier and other vessels to help defend regional allies in the Gulf. “We won’t enter into a coalition with the U.S. and I don’t think Germany will either,” said the French presidency official, who was granted anonymity for protocol reasons. While the Europeans attempt to agree on a plan for securing the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. officials are depicting the initiative as an empty exercise, claiming the U.S. can do the job on its own. “The United States Navy has more than enough resources and assets to secure the strait itself and does not need help from any other country,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said Thursday. Germany on …

Microsoft’s latest Windows update now confirms if your PC is Secure Boot-protected – how it works

Microsoft’s latest Windows update now confirms if your PC is Secure Boot-protected – how it works

Published by skeptic

Lance Whitney/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Windows will now tell you if Secure Boot is working properly. The new status indicates whether you have the latest Secure Boot updates. The April Windows update also patches a whopping 164 security flaws. Microsoft’s Secure Boot defends your Windows PC against dangerous bootkit malware. To keep your PC protected, the company has been racing to replace older Secure Boot certificates before they expire in June. But how do you know if your PC has received the newer certificates? Windows itself will now tell you. Arriving this week with the April Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 is a new visual clue and description to indicate the status of Secure Boot on your computer. The new information will tell you whether you’re protected with the latest certificates or still at risk. Here’s how this works. Also: How to check your Windows PC for expiring security certificates In Windows 11, go to Settings, select Privacy & security, choose …

Surfshark Just Dropped a Next-Gen VPN Protocol That Could Be Faster and More Secure Than Other VPN Connections

Surfshark Just Dropped a Next-Gen VPN Protocol That Could Be Faster and More Secure Than Other VPN Connections

Published by skeptic

Surfshark today released its brand-new Dausos VPN connection protocol, which the company says elevates three key elements for VPN users: 30% faster speeds than industry-standard protocols, enhanced security with a hybrid post-quantum encryption and dedicated, private server-side tunnels for each individual session.  This means that Dausos should give Surfshark users smoother connections, improved privacy and faster performance to benefit data-heavy activities, like streaming and gaming.  VPN protocols are essentially the rules that determine the encrypted connection between your device and the internet while on a VPN. Long gone are the days when OpenVPN dominated as the hotshot of the VPN protocol world. It’s still a fine protocol with airtight security that can be great when you need stable connections on any network or want to bypass firewalls, but it’s a lumbering hulk that wasn’t built for the speed or security requirements of today’s VPN users.  Modern times call for modern VPN protocols, and Surfshark is the latest of CNET’s top VPN picks to spin up its own proprietary next-generation VPN protocol. Dausos sounds poised to …

Why Windows Secure Boot can be bypassed so easily (and what Microsoft isn’t telling you)

Why Windows Secure Boot can be bypassed so easily (and what Microsoft isn’t telling you)

Published by skeptic

Microsoft uses Secure Boot to safeguard your Windows PC from malware, attacks, and security vulnerabilities before your operating system fully loads. By default, Secure Boot is enabled on Windows PCs to verify that any software running in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is trusted and safe. The UEFI, in simple terms, is the basic firmware that launches to initialize your PC’s hardware and boot your operating system. The built-in Windows security protections aren’t active until the operating system fully boots, and that’s why Secure Boot is tasked with locking down the UEFI before that happens. For more than a decade, Secure Boot did just that. The security tool was never bypassed publicly until late 2022 — beforehand, only researchers managed to identify ways to bypass Secure Boot. Everything changed with the BlackLotus exploit, which involved a UEFI bootkit with a Secure Boot bypass appearing for sale in October 2022. The exploit proved harder to patch than expected. Instead of “cracking” Secure Boot, bypass methods like BlackLotus use older and trusted bootloader versions with known …

Pakistan’s Last-Ditch Effort to Secure Iran War Truce

Pakistan’s Last-Ditch Effort to Secure Iran War Truce

Published by Sam Flores

By Asif Shahzad, Alexander Cornwell and Ariba Shahid ISLAMABAD/TEL AVIV, April 8 (Reuters) – Mediation efforts to halt the war in Iran were hours from ⁠collapse when ⁠Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and ⁠bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations, four Pakistani sources told Reuters. The effort nearly unravelled after an Iranian strike on a Saudi petrochemical facility triggered fury in Riyadh and threatened ​to derail weeks of back-channel diplomacy, the sources – with direct knowledge of the talks – said.  With a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump looming, Pakistani officials mounted a last-ditch attempt to pass messages between Tehran and Washington, after Trump warned that continued fighting that night could wipe out “a ‌whole civilization.” Pakistan’s effort involved direct contact with top officials across all sides, ‌including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and senior Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, one of the sources said. After what a second source described as several …

How secure are the Commission’s group chats? – POLITICO

How secure are the Commission’s group chats? – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Bulgaria is heading towards another tight parliamentary election this month — and it wants the EU to help counter malign foreign interference. Haunted by memories of coordinated social media campaigns targeting other countries in the region, the government is concerned that Russian misinformation could sway public opinion ahead of the vote. Host Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart, senior EU politics editor, discuss what tools Brussels has to counter foreign interference efforts.  Also on the show, a Signal group chat with European Commission officials has been shut down over security concerns. But this isn’t an isolated case, it’s part of a series of cyberattacks targeting the EU executive branch. Finally: We take a look at the Italian football fiasco that’s sparking a political row. Want to send us a message? You can reach us on our WhatsApp by clicking here or dialing +32 491 05 06 29. Source link