Dropbox Bug Restores Long-Deleted Files to Users

PSafe Newsroom — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 16:00:53 +0000

Many of us believe that once we’ve deleted a file, it’s difficult (or even impossible) to retrieve it. Sure, we can look in the trash, but after a period of time, the file will be irretrievable from there, too. But the popular file storage website, Dropbox — a useful system that is highly recommended — shows that you’ll never know when ancient history will crop back up.

Dropbox proved that once a file is deleted — even a file that was deleted years ago, is in fact — not always lost. Instead, Dropbox users recently got a serious blast from the past when files they had deleted as long ago as 2009 returned to their Dropbox accounts.

Certainly, the return of these files was a surprise to users. Like many other programs, Dropbox hangs onto users’ deleted files for 30 days in case users make mistakes in deleting the documents. After that, the files return to the Internet ether, never to be found again.

At first, users and Dropbox employees didn’t know what was going on. Users worried that their accounts had been hacked again, like they were in 2012. If you’ll recall, 68 million Dropbox users had their emails and passwords hacked five years ago. With these new files returned to their accounts, users worried that their information had, again, been breached.

Luckily, the retrieved files didn’t have anything to do with hacking. Dropbox hadn’t really been deleting users’ files after 30 days. Instead, a bug had been preventing the final purge of these files for nearly eight years. Astonishing, right? How is it possible for a bug to manipulate a website unnoticed for that length of time? According to a Dropbox employee who posted on the forum discussing the returned files, the company was attempting to fix the bug when they mistakenly returned the files and folders back to users’ accounts. No hackers were involved, the employee said; it was simply the company’s mistake.

Going forward, Dropbox promises to permanently remove deleted files from their server 60 days after users delete them, instead of the current 30 days. If you were affected by the Dropbox file returns, you may be excited to see some of your old files again. Nonetheless, if you had deleted files returned to you that you don’t want to keep, you should be able to delete them for good this time — they won’t be returned to you. Additionally, your quotas won’t be affected by the returned files, either.

Drammer Attack Threatens Millions of Android Users

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 21:33:53 +0000

Google has recently discovered a new security threat that could leave your Android device exposed to hackers. Much like the Linux-based attack known as Rowhammer, Drammer is a particularly pernicious form of malware that allows hackers to gain full access to your phone by first targeting a specific memory chip. Because of this security loophole, all PSafe users who have downloaded apps recently should click below immediately to remove threats.

For the most part, the attack is transmitted through an app that contains harmful code. Once the app is downloaded, it can repeatedly activate a specific row of memory chip transistors to cause a bit flip (a switch of states from 1 to 0 and/or 0 to 1). Since all data is written in binaries, having the ability to change values for stored information is the equivalent of successfully picking a lock.

According to Emilio Simoni, PSafe’s Security Manager, checking the app permissions before downloading them does not work, because the malware does not need any permission to perform this kind of attack. “We strongly advise users to download apps only in Google Play, and check if the app is well recommended,” he says.

With PSafe Total’s Quick AV Scan active and running, any threats to your phone will be immediately detected and removed. Click below to check if

bug – PSafe Blog

Dropbox Bug Restores Long-Deleted Files to Users

Drammer Attack Threatens Millions of Android Users