Avoid juice jacking! L.A. warns travelers against public USB charging stations
The District Attorney's Office of Los Angeles County issued a warning against juice jacking, a method in which hackers load malware into public USB charging stations. While the attack is nowhere near epidemic levels, travelers are recommended to consider safer alternatives while on the go.
New research finds that smart speakers can be compromised by lasers
A new study about the vulnerabilities of smart speakers, like Amazon Echo, Apple Home Pod, and Google Home, has been released. All the researchers at the University of Michigan and Japan's University of Electro-Communications had to do was shine a special laser on the smart speakers to manipulate them.
Huawei is reportedly hosting a secret hacker meeting in Germany
Huawei has reportedly invited some of the world’s most capable phone hackers to Munich for a secret meeting. At the event, the company is rumored to launch an exclusive bug bounty program that will reward researchers for submitting security vulnerabilities in its phones.
Senators call for investigation into TikTok for ‘counterintelligence threat’
Does giving your data to an app-based in China create a national security risk? Two U.S. senators are calling for an investigation into TikTok over data sharing, freedom of speech, and foreign interference. The request comes from Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican Sen. Tom Cotton.
Don’t be fooled if your smart speaker asks for your password
Recently, Security Research Labs (SRLabs), a hacking research group and think tank based in Germany, found that Alexa and Google Home expose users to phishing and eavesdropping due to third-party skills and apps. This exploit uses the speaker's own voice recognition technology to gather data.
Your personal data is for sale on the dark web. Here’s how much it costs
A recently published report from cybersecurity resource VPNOverview shows how much it costs to purchase various types of personal information on the dark web. And the results are actually kind of disappointing. Your personal information may not be sold at as high a price as you’d expect.
Hackers stole 26 million credit cards, but vigilantes just rescued them
In an ironic twist of fate, BriansClub, a black market site that contains stolen credit cards, was hacked to rescue the data of more than 26 million credit and debit cards. The data stolen was shared with financial institutions who were able to identify, monitor, and reissue cards that were compromised.
Iranian hackers targeted 2020 U.S. presidential candidates, Microsoft says
Microsoft identified Phosphorous as responsible for a series of recent hacks against current and former U.S. government officials, including presidential candidates, that occurred in August and September. Phosphorous is tied to the Iranian government and has been linked to previous cyberattacks.
Massive Words with Friends hack exposes 218 million account login details
A hacker has claimed responsibility for hacking the Zynga mobile game Words With Friends, saying more than 218 million accounts have been stolen, and the data includes names, email addresses, and hashed passwords. Zynga confirmed an attack, but did not reveal the numbers or the scope of the breach at the time.
The web gets more secure as Cloudflare, Firefox, and Chrome adopt HTTP/3
Websites could soon become more responsive and more secure as they adopt a new version of HTTP. As announced by Cloudflare, preliminary support for HTTP/3 is rolling out this week. The Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers will be joining Cloudflare in supporting HTTP/3 soon.
The U.S. government issues warning to install this emergency Windows update
Google Chrome might be the most popular web browsers, but a small percentage of Windows users are still depending on the older Internet Explorer browser. If that covers you, then Microsoft is now urging you to install an emergency patch as soon as possible in order to avoid possible malicious attacks from hackers.
Here’s why phishing attacks against Macs are rising at an alarming rate
Your Mac is more at risk of phishing attacks than ever, according to a new report from Kaspersky. At the same time, attacks from malicious files and other types of malware have been on the decline in 2019, suggesting criminals are changing their tactics.
BlackBerry will provide cybersecurity for future Jaguar Land Rover vehicles
Jaguar Land Rover and BlackBerry are already working together on infotainment systems, but now the two companies plan to expand their partnership to include other areas of tech. BlackBerry will provide cybersecurity consulting to Jaguar Land Rover, as well as software to spot threats.
Hackers can easily watch your every move, control PCs with free NanoCore Trojan
You might want to make sure you're up and running with the latest version of Windows and your antivirus software. Researchers have discovered a very dangerous remote access trojan (RAT), which if your PC is not fully patched and updated, could leave even amateur hackers in complete control of your PC.
Your Lenovo laptop may have a serious security flaw
A newly discovered security vulnerability involves older Lenovo laptops and a no-longer-supported program called Lenovo Solution Center. The laptop manufacturer has advised customers with these laptops to go ahead and uninstall Lenovo Solution Center to protect their computers.
Notepad has a major security flaw that leaves Windows PCs vulnerable to hackers
A major security flaw discovered in Windows PCs involves one of the operating system’s simplest apps: Notepad. The flaw allows hackers to take over entire computers. Microsoft has released a patch for this Notepad flaw, however, as part of the August 2019 edition of Patch Tuesday.
This woman implanted her Tesla key into her arm
Software engineer Amie DD took the car-shaped key fob that Tesla gives owners to unlock their vehicle, and implanted part of it in her arm, which allows her to open her Tesla with her body rather than a traditional key.
Oh great, now our smart speakers can attack us with harmful sounds
A security researcher has said it’s surprisingly easy to take over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers and get them to emit harmful sounds. With a few lines of code and a vulnerable device, Matt Wixey said it’s possible to play sounds that can annoy and intimidate those within earshot, or even damage their hearing.
Group dating app 3Fun caught exposing real-time locations, private photos
Pen Test Partners discovered that 3Fun, a dating app for arranging threesomes, was severely lacking in protecting the data privacy of its more than 1.5 million users. The app stored real-time locations, private photos, birth dates, and other sensitive information on its servers without encryption.
Apple will pay you $1 million to find a very specific iPhone bug
Apple announced a big changes to its bug-bounty program it launched in 2016. The biggest is a new $1 million reward if you find a very specific exploit. The payout will go to security researchers that are able to carry out a “zero-click full chain kernel execution attack with persistence”
Everything we know about Watch Dogs Legion
Watch Dogs Legion is a radical overhaul for the series, allowing you to control any non-player character in London and turn them into operatives for the DedSec vigilante group. Here's what we know so far, including information on the various classes, combat options, permanent death, and enemy factions.
Here’s how to protect yourself from the Capital One data breach
The recently announced Capital One data breach is said to have exposed the personal data of about 100 million people. If you think you might have been affected by this breach, there are some things you can do to protect your accounts. Here’s how to protect yourself from the Capital One data breach.
Pegasus spyware can break into users’ cloud accounts and steal data
An Israeli software company which creates spyware has developed a tool with the ability to break into users' cloud-based accounts. The Pegasus software developed by the NSO Group has been advertised as being able to copy authentication keys and access cloud services like Google Drive or iCloud.
Why are current smart TVs still dumb enough to be hacked?
Our smart TVs are amazing devices, able to stream on-demand music and movies, let us surf the web, and even control our smart home devices. But these features come at the cost of security and many of us don't even know there's a risk. Can our smart TVs be hacked? And if so, what can we do about it?
Marriott faces $123M fine for huge data breach that targeted millions of guests
Hotel giant Marriott is facing a $123 million fine for a data breach discovered in 2018 that affected 339 million of its Starwood customers. The fine comes just a day after British Airways was hit with a record $230 million penalty for a data breach that affected half a million of its customers.
How Beto O’Rourke’s hacker group changed cybersecurity as we know it
While the revelation that 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke was once a member of America’s most storied hacker collectives put Cult of the Dead Cow on the map for most people, it had a much greater impact on the cybersecurity our devices implement today.
British Airways hit with a massive fine for 2018 data breach
British Airways has been hit with a $230 million fine for a security breach in 2018 that saw hackers steal personal data belonging to around 500,000 of its customers. The airline has apologized and improved its online security, adding that it has received no reports of the data being used by criminals.
7-Eleven’s mobile payment app shut down after hackers nab $500K from customers
A mobile payment system launched by 7-Eleven in Japan has been forced to shut down just days after launch after it was targeted by hackers. Poor security measures have been blamed for the mishap, which saw 900 customers lose a total of $500,000 in fraudulent transactions.
Russian hackers behind ‘world’s most murderous malware’ probing U.S. power grid
A hacking group linked to the Russian government has been attempting to breach the U.S. power grid. Security experts tracked the hackers, and warn that they were probing the grid for weaknesses, searching for ways to access critical infrastructure systems.
Radiohead releases 18 hours of material to torpedo hacker’s ransom demand
A hacker who stole 18 hours' worth of unreleased Radiohead recordings was reportedly demanding $150,000 in exchange for its return. But to scupper the scam — and to offer something unexpected to fans — the band decided to release the material, with the proceeds going to a climate-action cause.
U.S. border agency says photos of travelers stolen in cyberattack
A subcontractor working for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection was breached by a cyberattack last month. The contractor had traveler photos and license plate images on its network, which was then subjected to a "malicious cyber attack," according to CBP.
WPA3, the third generation of Wi-Fi security, has one giant flaw: You
Wi-Fi security will get a lot better with WPA3, but it's not going to change things overnight. Even when all of the hardware and software has been upgraded to support it, there are still going to be some glaring problems. Hackers know the best way to break wireless security and it's usually through the user.
Flipboard hack prompts password reset for millions of users
Flipboard says it has been hit by hackers, resulting in the theft of personal data of some of its 145 million users. The company is still investigating the incident to find out precisely how many people are affected, but as a precautionary measure it’s prompting its community to create new passwords.
13 year old who hacked Apple servers sentenced to probation
Last year a 16-year-old student from Australia was found to have repeatedly broken into Apple's network and downloaded large amounts of secure data. Now a similar case has come to court with an even younger defendant, a teenager who was 13 when he began accessing Apple servers.