Adobe has released an emergency update to its Flash Player after security researchers discovered a bug that allows attackers to take over and then crash users’ machines. Adobe didn’t say how many users had been affected by the attacks, but Flash Player runs on more than 1 billion connected desktops worldwide. Source: CNN Date: April 10th, 2016 Link… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Cyber Security
Meet the vigilante who hacks jihadists
The hackers group Anonymous isn’t doing anything new by hacking Islamic extremist websites. A mysterious figure known as “The Jester” has been at it for five years. Jester has single-handedly taken down dozens of websites that, he deems, support jihadist propaganda and recruitment efforts. He stopped counting at 179. Source: CNN Money Date: April 1,… Read more »
How easy is it to hack a home network?
“I found out just how severely compromised my home network was in a very creepy fashion. I was on the phone when the web-connected camera sitting on the window sill next to me started moving. The lens crept round until it pointed right at me. I knew that the attackers were on the other end… Read more »
The disturbing consequences of ultra-connectivity
When we share pictures of our kids on Flickr, we probably don’t expect to see them turn up as faces on coffee mugs for sale on website Koppie-Koppie. Using Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) to comment on politics wasn’t supposed to land us in jail, as is happening in Turkey. Having a mobile phone with a SIM card wasn’t… Read more »
LA Hospital Pays Hackers Nearly $17,000 To Restore Computer Network
A Los Angeles hospital paid a nearly $17,000 ransom to hackers who breached and disabled its computer network, the hospital said in a statement Wednesday. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid the ransom of 40 bitcoins, which is currently worth $16,664, in order to restore the computer system that was infiltrated on Feb. 5. The hackers… Read more »
JOHN MCAFEE: I’ll decrypt the San Bernardino phone free of charge so Apple doesn’t need to place a back door on its product
Using an obscure law, written in 1789 — the All Writs Act — the US government has ordered Apple to place a back door into its iOS software so the FBI can decrypt information on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Source: Business Insider Date: February 19th, 2016 Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mcafee-ill-decrypt-san-bernardino-phone-for-free-2016-2 Discussion 1) The article starts… Read more »
An interview with a hacker
CNN Tech conducts interviews with hackers to learn more about what motivates them. Source: CNN Tech Date: January 18th, 2016 Link to video: http://money.cnn.com/technology/superhero-hackers/confessions-of-a-hacktivist/index.html?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlarge&iid=obnetwork Discussion 1) In the video one hacker is asked why he thinks it is ok to break the law to do what he does. His response: “If we have to break the law… Read more »
Why politicians still dream of controlling the internet
Who’s in charge of the internet? Both Xi Jinping, President of China, and Donald Trump, Presidential candidate, clearly think it is time for national governments to grasp control of the internet to bend it to their own political purposes. Source: BBC News Date: December 17th. 2015 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35112856 Discussion 1) China has an “increasingly sophisticated Great Firewall acts… Read more »
What is ransomware?
Computer viruses that threaten to delete your files unless you pay a ransom are known as ransomware. Security experts have warned that ransomware is the fastest growing form of computer virus. Like other computer viruses, it usually finds its way onto a device by exploiting a security hole in vulnerable software or by tricking somebody… Read more »
Pirate avoids lawsuit after hitting 200,000 video views
A convicted software pirate has been handed an unusual punishment. The man, named only as Jakub F, was told he would be spared having to pay hefty damages as long as a film denouncing piracy he was made to produce got 200,000 views. Source: BBC Tech news Date: November 30th, 2015 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34932628 Discussion 1) These were major… Read more »
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