Most of us wouldn’t trust just anyone to watch our children, home, or pets, right? And we typically don’t hire just anyone who applies for employment, do we? What about the guy living out of his van offering low cost tax prep? Probably not your first choice this tax season. It’s our instinct to take… Read more »
Posts Categorized: IT Security
Why Russian trolls may be more excited that the NFL is back than you are
Millions of Americans are looking forward to the return of Sunday NFL football this weekend. And somewhere in St. Petersburg, a group of Russian trolls likely is too. The same Kremlin-linked group that posed as Americans on social media during the 2016 US presidential election has repeatedly exploited the controversy surrounding the NFL and players… Read more »
A Tiny New Chip Could Secure the Next Generation of IoT
The challenge with internet of things security so far has been the cost of implementing hardened features. It’s cheaper and faster to develop a product without spending time and resources on security. Devices rush off the line without adequate protections, often riddled with bugs, and rarely have a mechanism for manufacturers to distribute patches. An attacker who… Read more »
WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents
Wikileaks recently released thousands of documents that it said described sophisticated software tools used by the CIA to break into smartphones, computers and even Internet-connected televisions. Source: New York Times Date: March 7th, 2017 Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/world/europe/wikileaks-cia-hacking.html?action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=64996424&pgtype=Homepage&smid=fb-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur&_r=0 Discussion 1) “The WikiLeaks release said that the CIA has managed to bypass encryption on popular phone and messaging services.” Does this… Read more »
Yahoo: How do state hackers break in?
Yahoo has revealed that login details for up to one billion accounts have gone missing. The massive breach was discovered while it investigated a separate attack that had compromised data on about 500 million accounts. Yahoo said it suspected a state-sponsored attacker was involved in both thefts. How can it be sure? Source: BBC Technology News Date: December… Read more »
Hackers hit San Francisco transport systems
San Francisco’s transport agency has been hit by a hack attack that led to customers being able to travel for nothing. The hackers have made a ransom demand of 100 Bitcoin, which amounts to about $70,000 (£56,000 ; €66,000). As a precaution, staff shut off all ticketing machines on the network. Source: BBC Technology News Date: November 29th,… Read more »
Deutsche Telekom fault affects 900,000 customers
Deutsche Telekom has confirmed up to 900,000 customers have had their broadband service cut off following a possible hack of its hardware. Internet access, phone connections and TV reception for those with a certain router have been affected. Source: BBC Technology News Date: November 29th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38130352 Discussion 1) Is there anything you could do if you… Read more »
“No, the presidential election can’t be hacked”
The Obama administration is accusing Russia of hacking US political organizations. States are reporting attempts — in one case successful — to breach voter registration databases. And the final days of the campaign are dominated by talk of whether the race is “rigged.” Source: CNN Date: October 27th, 2016 Link: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/19/politics/election-day-russia-hacking-explained/index.html Discussion 1) “Nobody is going to be able to change the outcome of… Read more »
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) explained
A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to take a website offline by overwhelming it with internet traffic. The tactic is often used in protest against companies and organisations to make their websites unavailable. Source: BBC Technology News Date: September 22nd, 2016 Link to video: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35731734 Discussion 1) Have you seen a completely non-tech version… Read more »
Counter-counter-hacking
The whistleblower Edward Snowden believes Russia is behind a leak of malware allegedly belonging to the US National Security Agency (NSA). Hackers calling themselves Shadow Brokers started an auction for the malware last week. The malware is used by the NSA to attack or counter-attack in cyberspace. Source: BBC Technology Date: August 17th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37104745 Discussion… Read more »
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