security roundup – Page 2

Chinese Hackers Are Hiding in Routers in the US and Japan

1Oct

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Chinese Hackers Are Hiding in Routers in the US and Japan

WIRED broke the news on Wednesday that SoundThinking, the company behind the gunshot-detection system ShotSpotter, is acquiring some assets—including patents, customers, and employees—from the firm Geolitica, which developed the notorious predictive policing software PredPol. WIRED also exclusively reported this week that the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center is calling on the US Justice Department to investigate potentially biased deployment of ShotSpotter in predominantly Black neighborhoods.As the US federal government inches closer to a possible shutdown, we took a look at the sprawling conservative media apparatus and deep bench of right-wing hardliners in Congress that are exploiting their leverage to block a compromise in the House of Representatives.Satellite imaging...

The Shocking Data on Kia and Hyundai Thefts in the US

24Sep

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The Shocking Data on Kia and Hyundai Thefts in the US

Mandiant researchers published findings this week about a newly revealed Chinese espionage operation that used Sogu malware to spy on the African operations of both European and US organizations. The campaign is significant for the scope of its victims, but also because attackers used a classic malware distribution method: thumb drives. The attacks are the latest example of China's aggressive global espionage—but read on for statements from the Chinese government about alleged US cyberattacks and digital espionage.After Elon Musk claimed recently that primates used in Neuralink implant research were close to death anyway, a WIRED investigation this week revealed grisly details about the truth of their deaths that appear to dispute the characterization that the animals were all terminally ...

You Need to Update Google Chrome or Whatever Browser You Use

17Sep

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You Need to Update Google Chrome or Whatever Browser You Use

China-linked hackers are increasingly moving beyond espionage and into the disturbing world of power grid attacks. Threat researchers at security software firm Symantec this week released new evidence that the Chinese hacking group known as APT41 infiltrated the power grid of an Asian nation. Some details of the latest intrusion echo a 2021 attack on India’s power grid, suggesting the same hackers are responsible.In Argentina, a scandal is playing out over the use of facial recognition software in Buenos Aires. Despite laws that require authorities to limit searches to known fugitives, an investigation by a judge found that the system was used to look up people not wanted for any crimes. In other cases, errors led police to arrest or question the wrong people. While Buenos Aires is attemp...

Mozilla: Your New Car Is a Data Privacy Nightmare

10Sep

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Mozilla: Your New Car Is a Data Privacy Nightmare

Eighty-four percent of the brands that researchers studied share or sell this kind of personal data, and only two of them allow drivers to have their data deleted. While it is unclear exactly who these companies share or sell data to, the report points out that there is a huge market for driver data. An automotive data broker called High Mobility cited in the report has a partnership with nine of the car brands Mozilla studied. On its website, it advertises a wide range of data products—including precise location data.This isn’t just a privacy nightmare but a security one. Volkswagen, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have all recently suffered data leaks or breaches that affected millions of customers. According to Mozilla, cars are the worst category of products for privacy that they have ever ...

Security News This Week: US Energy Firm Targeted With Malicious QR Codes in Mass Phishing Attack

19Aug

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Security News This Week: US Energy Firm Targeted With Malicious QR Codes in Mass Phishing Attack

At the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas last weekend, thousands of hackers competed in a red-team challenge to find flaws in generative AI chat platforms and help better secure these emerging systems. Meanwhile, researchers presented findings across the conference, including new discoveries about strategies to bypass a recent addition to Apple’s macOS that is supposed to flag potentially malicious software on your computer. Kids are facing a massive online scam campaign that targets them with fake offers and promotions related to the popular video games Fortnite and Roblox. And the racket all traces back to one rogue digital marketing company. The social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has been filing lawsuits and pursuing a strategic legal offensive to oppose researchers who s...

Security News This Week: The Cloud Company at the Center of a Global Hacking Spree

5Aug

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Security News This Week: The Cloud Company at the Center of a Global Hacking Spree

Between a cascade of indictments against former US president Donald Trump, a tumultuous 2024 election season (in which Trump is a main character), and the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence, 2024 is shaping up to be a complete nightmare.At the center of it will be a rise in personalized disinformation. Not only will there be more BS to sift through thanks to tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, but the disinformation will likely be more effective, and even tailored to target specific groups with frightening consequences. Of course, some of this could be fixed with new regulations. But the US Congress still hasn’t figured out how to tackle privacy, and regulating AI will only be more difficult.In addition to disinformation, people keep figuring out new ways to break through ...

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ Players Hit With Worm Malware

30Jul

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‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ Players Hit With Worm Malware

According to TechCrunch it is unclear why the malware is spreading or what exactly the impact is on gamers. Valve, the owner of Steam, did not comment on the issue, according to the news website.Public companies in the United States will soon have to report data breaches and hacking incidents four days after they deem an incident to have a “material” impact on their business. On Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted to introduce the regulations that require firms to disclose cyberattacks once they have determined it will disrupt its operations or finances. The disclosures must detail the "nature, scope, and timing" of the attack, as well as the potential impact it will have on the firm.Former SEC rules required companies to disclose cyber incidents but did not impose ...

Nude Videos of Kids From Hacked Baby Monitors Were Sold on Telegram

15Jul

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Nude Videos of Kids From Hacked Baby Monitors Were Sold on Telegram

IPVM disputes this allegation and says it promptly contacted the FBI upon discovering the crimes.A murdered Russian submarine captain may have been tracked by his killer through the Strava fitness app. According to the BBC, the commander, Stanislav Rzhitsky, kept a public Strava profile that detailed his jogging routes—including one that took him through the park where he was killed early this week.Privacy experts have been concerned about the dangers posed by social fitness apps like Strava for years. In 2018, for example, researchers exposed several secret US military installations using public data from soldiers tracking their fitness with the app.While the killer’s motivations are currently unclear, Russian investigators say they arrested a man named Serhiy Denysenko, born in Ukraine,...

8Jul

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Russia’s Notorious Troll Farm Disbands

When Yevgeny Prighozin, the head of the notorious mercenary army known as the Wagner Group, staged an aborted coup against the Russian government, his brief revolt led to the deaths of 13 Russian fighter pilots and a serious blow to Vladimir Putin's sense of invulnerability. Now the fallout of that strange story has also apparently taken another casualty: the most notorious troll farm in the world, known as the Internet Research Agency.But we'll get to that. First, Elon Musk is having a tough week. After Twitter’s baffling decision to temporarily limit the number of tweets users can read each day, Mark Zuckerberg sucker-punched the self-sabotaged platform with the launch of Threads. The Instagram-linked microblogging app surged to the top of the app store charts, gaining a staggering 30 m...