Apple issues security warning for iCloud

Apple online storage service iCloud attacked via vulnerable security certificates. - 

Apple has issues a new security warning to its iCloud online storage service users amid reports of a concerted effort to steal passwords and other data from people who use the popular service in China.

According to reports, some Chinese internet users have begun seeing warnings that indicate they had been diverted to an unauthorized website when they attempted to sign into their iCloud accounts. 

Security experts call it a “man in the middle” attack, this allows a third party to copy and steal the passwords that users enter when they think they are signing into Apple’s service. The passwords can be used by hackers to collect other data from the users’ accounts.

Apple declined to comment on the allegations but has updated its technical support page to provide advice on how to protect against such attacks. Apple’s post did not mention China or provide any details on the attacks. However, the post stated that Apple's own servers have not been compromised. 

Apple stated in a blog post on its support website, "We're aware of intermittent organized network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information, and we take this very seriously."

Apple warns that iCloud users should never enter their iCloud password if they get warnings about invalid digital certificates when visiting www.icloud.com. The blog post also mentions procedures which users can use to verify they are connected to Apple's legitimate site when using various browsers.

Apple warned iCloud users, “If users get an invalid certificate warning in their browser while visiting www.icloud.com, they should pay attention to the warning and not proceed.”

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The Bachchan Diwali Party: VIP Guests Include Deepika, Hrithik, Kangana

Deepika, Hrithik and Kangana stood out among the VIP guests

THE BIGGEST CELEBRITY NAMES PUT ON THEIR MOST GLAMOROUS PARTY OUTFITS FOR THE BASH WHICH WAS A GRAND AFFAIR, AS IT IS EVERY YEAR

made a glittering night of it at the annual Diwali party hosted by the Bachchans at their home in Mumbai on October 23. The biggest celebrity names put on their most glamorous party outfits for the bash which was a grand affair, as it is every year.

The Bachchans were splendidly dressed: bahu Aishwarya in an embellished pink outfit, Jaya Bachchan in an understated sari and father and son in similar colour-blocked outfits - Big B in blue, Abhishek in pink.

Guests arrived dressed in their best. Happy New Year star Deepika Padukone, in a glittering red-pink sari, was greeted warmly by Mrs Bachchan senior. Queen actress Kangana Ranaut was fabulous - despite some very casual styling - in a blue and gold Raw Mango skirt-choli-dupatta ensemble.

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Indian Air Force Reportedly Issues Security Warning Against Xiaomi Products

Is using a Xiaomi smartphone a security risk? The Indian Air Force (IAF) seems to think so.

In a circular apparently distributed by the IAF to its personnel and their families, it advises against using handsets made by the Chinese company, according to a recent report. Xiaomi is no stranger to allegations of spying on its users - in July, a security firm had reported that Xiaomi phones were pre-loaded with software to spy on you.

Xiaomi assured users that this was not the case and recently, the company has also shifted some smartphone data out of China because of these privacy concerns.

The report about the IAF states that smartphones and notebooks made by Xiaomi have been found to send users' private data to servers in Beijing. This is strange considering that Xiaomi does not have any laptops yet - there are rumours that the company will release one, but none have been released so far. The report also mentions F-secure's findings that Xiaomi phones were forwarding information to Beijing. This does not take into account a later report by F-secure, which noted that the security flaws had been plugged.

According to Hugo Barra's blog post on Google+, data from non-Chinese users will be moved to Amazon servers in the United States and data centres in Singapore. Although there is no indication to suggest that the announcement about Xiaomi moving its data centres out of China is connected to the IAF circular, this move is nonetheless very important for it as it grows.

While it is frequently referred to as the Apple of China, Xiaomi's overseas growth is only beginning. Having the data centres in other parts of the world will address security concerns and lead to speedier services for customers around the world as well. Whether the IAF will issue a follow up telling its members that they can go ahead and buy the phone even after these changes is another matter.

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9 Must Know Features Of Gmail

Google products are full of useful features. Sometimes, the number of features and options are so many that user gets confused what to choose from. Today we have listed 9 hidden features in Google’s popular mail service- Gmail. You can make use of these features to make your mailing experience more efficient and productive.


1. Contacts

Contacts on your smartphone can be synced with Google account. In Android phones, this sync mode is by default on. You can find these synced contacts in ‘Contacts’ in Gmail. This is whole new address book that is real time synced with your smartphone and tablet.

2. Sync contacts

In case, you are unable to find your smartphone contacts in your Gmail, you need to add your Google account on the phone and sync it. On Android devices, go to Settings > Add Account > Google, and sign in with your Google account. You can enable and disable contact sync from here. Every time you create new contact, make sure that you are choosing ‘Google’ to add new contact.

3. Google 18

You can manage the duplicate contacts using this feature. In Gmail, go to Contacts > More > Find & Merge Contacts. This will show the list of all duplicate contacts, you can combine and merge selected contacts.

4. Restore Addresses

If you accidentally delete contact from your mobile device, you can recover it using a function in Contacts in Gmail within 30 days after deleting. Go to Contacts > More > Restore. This will show you the list of contacts that are deleted recently, you can mark the contacts and restore them.

5. Spam

There is one cool feature to deal with spams in Gmail. By default, the dots in your Google email address are not considered. If your email address is xyz.abc@gmail.com, you will receive all the emails sent to xyzabc.com or x.yzabc@gmail.com and even x.y.z.a.b.c@gmail.com. Which is a great consideration because, if you dont want to provide your real email address on some websites, you can use any with dots and create an email filter to delete emails coming to that email ID.

6. Subscriptions

You can use ‘+’ in your email ID if you wish to receive subscription letters from some particular internet service you are signing up for. For example, if you want to subscribe to newsletter of EFYTimes, you can use xyz.abc+efytimes@gmail.com for the sign up. You will receive the newsletters to your xyz.abc@gmail.com email ID but, now you can use ‘EFYTimes’ as a keyword to search for these newsletters from your inbox.

7. Manage dates

You can use your Google ID to manage your timetable. Google Calendar can help you plan your schedule. You can create events and meetings, view them by a day, a week or a month. You can invite your friends to the event/meetings by simply adding their email ID. These events are synced with your calendar app on smartphone as well. To access calendar within Gmail, go to Settings > Labs > Google Calendar gadget and enable it.

8. Labs

Labs in Gmail is the store of experimental stuff create by programmers at Google. There are number of options in Labs, and are added new on regular basis. There are some cool options such as, Preview Pane, using which you can read your email as soon as you click on it. You can add multiple inboxes using Labs, create different panes for filtered emails. You can access Labs by clicking Settings > Labs.

9. Email filter

This is very useful tool to filter unwanted emails. This feature provides multiple options such as criteria of incoming mails, user can create the filter to assign some specific action like, skipping the inbox, applying label to the email or delete it right after receiving it etc. You can create email filter by going to Settings > Filter tab > Create a new filter. 

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