The implacable march of technology has, in many ways, made parents’ lives easier. But in other areas, it’s added a whole new layer of complication. Like the fact that video-enabled baby monitors, designed to let parents have peace of mind while their kids are sleeping in another room, almost universally have completely crap security that any random stranger on the internet can tap into. [More]
hacks
Internet-Connected Video Baby Monitors Are Basically The Most Hackable, Least Secure Thing Ever
By 9.2.15
Why The Stolen Ashley Madison Data Is (Legally) Fair Game For The Internet
By 8.25.15
If your credit card information gets stolen in a data breach, there are certain rules in place that limit your liability and protect you from fraud. But if a hack makes personal, potentially very embarrassing, information public — as in, say, the Ashley Madison hack — there’s not much anyone can do to stop others from seeing or writing about it. [More]
Ashley Madison Offering $378,000 Reward For Info On Hackers
By 8.24.15
While big companies have been known to offer “bounties” to white-hat hackers to test for weaknesses in their networks and websites to ensure they aren’t one day breached in a cyber attack, it’s too late for AshleyMadison.com, the dating site for cheaters. After the embarrassment of having its users’ private information made very public, the site is now dangling several hundred thousand dollars as a reward for information leading to the arrest of the group behind the massive hack. [More]
Very Personal Information For Over 30 Million Ashley Madison Users Set Loose On Internet In Wake Of Hack
By 8.19.15
Ashley Madison, the website for cheating cheaters who specifically want to go have an affair, was hacked in July. A day later, the company said that it was working to secure its users’ data and all personally identifiable data had been taken down. But perhaps the company is taking after the worst habits of its member base, because that too turns out to be a pack of dirty lies: the full data for over 30 million Ashley Madison accounts is now out there in the wild. [More]
Why Don’t Huge Privacy Flaws Result In Recalled Smartphones?
By 8.18.15
When a car has a major flaw, like a potentially lethal airbag, it gets recalled. Same for a coffeemaker, or a surfboard, or a prescription drug. But when that major flaw is in a product’s software — like a huge exploit that puts literally a billion consumers’ privacy and personal data at risk — there’s no universal process out there for remedying the situation. Do we need one? And if so, how can we get one? [More]
Hackers Cut A Corvette’s Brakes Wirelessly To Prove It Could Happen To Your Car, Too
By 8.11.15
General Motors gets to join Fiat Chrysler and Tesla in an unenviable lineup this week: Using cheap gadgets and text messages, researchers have proven they can hack that most traditional of cars, the Chevy Corvette. And worse still is that this line of attack will work on basically any car with a computer in it, which is to say… all of them. [More]
Most Small Business Owners Aren’t Ready For Chip-And-PIN Credit Cards
By 8.6.15
Following a string of high-profile data breaches last year, Visa and MasterCard handed down a requirement that all merchants transition to the more secure chip-enabled credit card payment system by October of this year. While several major retailers have already made or are in the process of making the switch, a new report finds that many small business owners don’t even know about the deadline – or the potentially costly consequence of not meeting it. [More]
Yahoo Removes Malware From Its Advertising Network That Exploited Weakness In Adobe Flash
By 8.4.15
For six days last week, malware known as “malvertising” was reportedly lurking in Yahoo’s advertising network, with the potential for attackers to infect internet users’ computers and hold them for ransom. Security researchers say they notified Yahoo of the malware upon discovering it on Sunday, and the company removed the malicious code immediately. [More]
Hackers Can Now Remotely Attack A Gun, Change Its Target, And Lock The Owner Out
By 7.29.15
Over the past few years we’ve heard a lot about the smart, connected devices that make up the internet of things. From ceiling fans to cars and cameras, they’re everywhere. Unfortunately, anything that can connect to the internet can be hacked through the internet… and now, it seems, that includes guns. [More]
Bad News: Security Hole Can Let An Attacker Take Over Your Android Phone With A Single Text
By 7.27.15
It’s a bad news Monday for up to 950 million — yes, that’s almost 1 billion — Android device owners worldwide. A vulnerability that would let a hacker take over your phone remotely has been announced, and it’s a doozy. [More]
Facebook, Firefox Want Adobe To Just Kill Flash Already After More Security Exploits Found
By 7.14.15
The questionable stability and frequent security issues with Adobe’s Flash have long been a running joke among the tech-minded. Although the once-ubiquitous plugin’s star began to wane after mobile browsing took off, it still makes a lot of the content on the internet move. But after the release of yet another potentially disastrous vulnerability recently, the crowd clamoring for an end to Flash has now gone far beyond your local IT office, and includes both Firefox and Facebook. [More]
Federal Data Breach Reportedly Affects An Additional 21 Million People
By 7.9.15
Remember when it was announced that more than four million federal employees in the country were part of a massive data breach last month? Well, turns out that was just one of two rather large data breaches to hit the Office of Personnel Management, with the newly announced second, larger hack affecting upwards of 21 million current and former employees, as well as prospective employees, their families and others who applied for federal background investigations in the last 15 years. [More]
Survey Says: You’d Rather Have Your Nude Pics Leaked Than Your Financial Information
By 7.9.15
MasterCard wants to know how you feel, so they asked a bunch of people: Do you feel safe? Do you feel secure? Do you feel like you need a cookie and a nice cup of cocoa? Wait, scratch that last one. MasterCard’s survey only covered feelings about how safe and secure you feel your financial information is. The answer? Not very secure at all. [More]
New Exploit Leaves Up To 600M Samsung Galaxy Phones Vulnerable To Hack
By 6.17.15
Bad news for up to 600 million Samsung Galaxy phone owners worldwide: a big fat new vulnerability has been found that could let anyone with the inclination to cause trouble into your phone to read your messages, listen to your mic, watch your camera, and push malware at you. Oops. [More]
4 Million Federal Employees Are The Latest Victims Of A Massive Data Breach
By 6.5.15
There are millions of federal employees in the country, and not just in Washington, DC. The government is a big bureaucracy and a big employer — and that makes it a nice, juicy target for a big data breach. [More]
American Credit Cards Are Most Popular In The World For Hacks, Fraud (Because Our Tech Stinks)
By 5.29.15
If it feels like we hear a whole lot of stories about retail data breaches here in the U.S., well, that’s because we do. Americans are super duper popular targets for card hacks and fraud, and it’s for one simple reason: our credit card security is bad and should feel bad. [More]
Warrant: Researcher Claims He Commandeered Flight Through In-Flight Entertainment System
By 5.18.15
Nearly a month after a government report identified security weaknesses within the airline industry, including the possibility that newer airplanes with interconnected WiFi systems could be hacked, a recently obtained Federal Bureau of Investigation search warrant shows a security researcher claims he briefly took control of an aircraft after hacking into the plane’s in-flight entertainment system. [More]
United Offers “Bug Bounty” Of Up To 1 Million Miles For Hackers Who Find Vulnerabilities In Website, Mobile App
By 5.14.15
While big companies are known to quietly seek out the services of white-hat hackers to test for weaknesses in their networks and websites, it’s not every day that a major airline publicly offers a “bounty” to people who can diagnose vulnerabilities in its systems. [More]
