Password

13,000 login details including payment card numbers an expiry dates have leaked from online services including Amazon, Xbox Live, Playstation Network and more, according to Tech Crunch.

Private data such as addresses and social security numbers can be just as valuable to cybercriminals as valid credit card details can be to thieves – if not more so. Lock yours down with our tips.

Google has launched a couple of new security feature for user of its apps. Most strikingly, the Devices and Activity dashboard allows users to see all devices that have logged in to the user’s Google account, and from where, in the last 28 days, Mashable reports.

Passwords as a method of authentication may be seeing their end of days. But what’s a realistic alternative to our old, alphanumeric security standby? Biometrics? Or perhaps two-factor authentication can play a role?

Hacking group DerpTrolling has leaked 5,604 logins for three gaming networks to Pastebin, and claims that this is a “very small portion” of the credentials they have stolen, LifeHacker reports.

A new wristband that aims to replace the password has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. At the time of writing, Everykey has passed the halfway mark on its $100,000 funding target with $56,586 pledged with 19 days to reach $100,000. Using Bluetooth, the Everykey promises “immediate access to a user’s password-protected electronics such as

Popular microblogging platform Twitter is taking bold steps to try and put an end to the password as we know it, according to Sky News.

Microsoft is taking aim at traditional single password systems with the upcoming version of Windows, by including build in two-factor authentication according to ZDNet, which describes the move as “audacious plans to tighten security”.

Google has added an extra layer of security to its browser, by introducing USB authentication to Chrome, the company has announced in an official blog post.

Facebook has a system in place to scan public ‘paste’ sites for email address and password combinations to stay one step ahead of possible leaks, according to The Register.

The dangers of clicking on links in eBay scam postings were highlighted after a fake posting advertising iPhones linked to a phishing site designed to steal usernames and passwords for the site.

Printer giant Canon is to provide a security fix “as quickly as is feasible” after a researcher exploited vulnerabilities in one of its wireless PIXMA products to run the classic shoot ‘em up game Doom on its colour display.

Pirates beware: free ebooks available online can be used to hack into Amazon accounts via the retail giant’s ‘Manage Your Kindle’ page, used to deliver ebook files to Kindle readers.

Google Chrome will now recommend pronounceable password hoices, according to developer and Chrome “happiness evangelist” Francois Beaufort, who announced the change via his Google+ page.

A bank is to allow remote log-ons using a hi-tech vein-scanning biometric system for large corporate accounts. The bank security system, using Hitachi’s VeinHD scanner, will be available to corporate customers from next year.

Another major phone brand has added biometric security to a flagship smartphone as Huawei unveiled the ultra-thin Mate P7, complete with a rather unique fingerprint scanner, at Berlin’s IFA 2014 show.

Hosting provider Namecheap said that it has come under attack from hackers apparently using the “Cybervor” hoard of 1.2 billion usernames and passwords and warned that some accounts may have been compromised.

Police hope to work with leading mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung to build in the requirement for a password or PIN number into ALL handsets to ‘target-harden’ devices.

Everyone hates passwords – even the guy who invented them – but some bank app users in the Nordic region are experiencing a taste of a future where they might not be necessary.

Biometrics are touted as a replacement for the passwords and PINs we all know and hate – and Intel’s new earbuds could be the most discreet way of authenticating a user ever.

Researchers flexed their hacking muscles at DefCon 22 to hunt the technology world’s most defenceless beasts – routers. More than a dozen new vulnerabilities were found.