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It seemed like déjà vu’ all over again. Echoing one of the most talked about successful phishing attacks of all time, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) once again had cause to raise concern recently believing that it was the intended target of a new phishing campaign. And, given upcoming elections in the US, the DNC had every reason to take the threat of attack seriously. The then-known evidence and facts seemed to point to a motivated attacker was building a sophisticated phishing campaign, including a credential harvesting webpage “target[ing] the Democratic Party’s voter file, known as Votebuilder.” Even the FBI, the DNC’s CISO, and outside security companies believed the trail pointed to a malicious attack…. Except it wasn’t malicious. And it wasn’t an attack… at least not in the traditional sense. As experts and the media had more time to study the evidence, it became clear that all of the fear and excitement was over simulated phishing test conducted by the Michigan De...

It seemed like déjà vu' all over again. Echoing one of the most talked about successful phishing attacks of all time, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) once again had cause to raise concern recently believing that it was the intended target of a new phishing campaign. And, given upcoming elections in the US, the DNC had every reason to take the threat of attack seriously. The then-known evidence and facts seemed to point to a motivated attacker was building a sophisticated phishing campaign, including a credential harvesting webpage "target[ing] the Democratic Party's voter file, known as Votebuilder." Even the FBI, the DNC's CISO, and outside security companies believed the trail pointed to a malicious attack…. Except it wasn't malicious. And it wasn't an attack… at least not in the traditional sense. As experts and the media had more time to st...

The practice of 'swatting' has increasingly become a part of online harassment, and now the Seattle Police Department formalized a proactive measure for residents who think they might be a target. It published a PSA for the project showing bodycam footage of officers responding to a call that turned out to be a swatting "prank" where a caller claimed he was holding five hostages and would kill them if he didn't get $5,000. When police rushed to the location, they found onl y a young woman and a cat. For people like live streamers who may be targets, the PD is using its arrangement with a company called Rave Facility. It already used their tech to create a "Smart 911" profile residents could fill out to give responders a heads up about being hearing impaired, having pets or a medical condition to be concerned about. This next step contains a...

Supernumerary Rainbows over New Jersey Yes, but can your rainbow do this? After the remnants of Hurricane Florence passed over Jersey Shore , New Jersey , USA last month, the Sun came out in one direction but something quite unusual appeared in the opposite direction: a hall of rainbows . Over the course of a next half hour, to the delight of the photographer and his daughter, vibrant supernumerary rainbows faded in and out, with at least five captured in this featured single shot. Supernumerary rainbows only form when falling water droplets are all nearly the same size and typically less than a millimeter across. Then, sunlight will not only reflect from inside the raindrops, but interfere , a wave phenomenon similar to ripples on a pond when a stone is thrown in. In fact, supernumerary rainbows can only be explained with waves, and their noted existence in the early 1800s wa...

It's almost the midterm elections in the US, and that means disinformation campaigns could be working overtime. Social networks have been introducing new features, rolling out changes and even asking the government for help to fight off trolls and fake news disseminators . Twitter, for instance, has expanded its ability to spot and remove fake accounts. In a post detailing its elections integrity work, the microblogging platform said it may now delete "fake accounts engaged in a variety of emergent, malicious behaviors." Going forward, it will take several new factors into account when determining which users are fake, including the use of a stock or a stolen avatar. The use of stolen profile bios and putting intentionally misleading information, such as location, in profiles will also make a user look suspicious in Twitter's eyes. The platfo...

This week Doctor Who premieres with a new actor taking the lead role, while The Walking Dead lives up to its name with another new season. CBS All Access is streaming the first of its Short Treks tidbits to hold Discovery fans over until season two, while Hulu premieres Into the Dark , Amazon Prime has a new season of The Man in the High Castle and Netflix leads off a slew of releases with Big Mouth season two and Dancing Queen . For gamers there's Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Mega Man 11 and the wide release of Forza Horizon 4 . Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (o r what we missed). Blu-ray & Games & Streaming Ant-Man and the Wasp (VOD) Sicario: Day of the Soldado (4K) Step Brothers (4K) The Fast and the Furious (4K) 2 Fast 2 Furious (4K) ...

You now have your chance to see just how well a New York City-backed mobile security app works in practice: the metropolis (and its tech partner Zimperium) has released NYC Secure for both Android and iOS . As promised, the free software can detect threats device, app and network threats and recommend actions if it finds something worrisome. It'll advise you to disconnect from a suspicious WiFi hotspot, or tell you to uninstall a malware-laden app. You don't need an internet connection, and it won't transmit sensitive information. You won't necessarily need this if you already have security tools, especially if you're familiar with safeguarding your devices. However, the city said that NYC Secure includes features "not previously accessible for personal use. We'd add that this isn't necessarily for seasoned techies. This is more...

The premise of Run an Empire is something familiar to fans of Civilization: take your society out of the mud and into the stars. But rather than leading your tribe from the comfort of your computer desk, you'll need to don a pair of sneakers and run (jog, or walk) to victory. The location-based game is designed to get you out and about, with users encouraged to conquer ground by running around it. The more land you conquer, and the more regions that you build upon, the more money that you can earn to further expand. Building huts and hiring hunters quickly gives way to growing building research centers and spaceports. And, if you don't fancy leaving the game open while you run, you can pair it with your Strava account to track your runs instead. Run an Empire debuted in the UK earlier this summer after a successful Kickstarter , where it raised £23,067 ($...

Nest's Thermostat E arrived on the scene a little over a year ago, with its relatively simplistic, subtle design making it appear perhaps less prominent in your living space than other smart thermostats. Now, it's making its way to the UK. Pre-orders are open Tuesday, and the device will cost you £199, £20 less than the Nest Learning Thermostat. It will also be available at retailers from mid-October. With the latest thermostat from Google-owned Nest , you can tweak the temperature using a dial, or (of course) set up schedules and adjust settings using the Nest app. If you'd rather verbally boss the smart thermostat around, you can do so with your voice assistant of choice, while it will learn your routines and preferences over time. The True Radiant feature, meanwhile, allows Thermostat E to optimize your heating system so it reaches the correct temperatu...