16 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/16/2021

Google Can Be Sued for Tracking Users in Private Browsing Mode, Judge Says A U.S. district judge in California has stated that Google can be sued for collecting data on users even when they use “private browsing mode” on their selected browsers. The lawsuit in question is a class action brought forward by three Google users—Chasom Brown, Maria Nguyen, and William Byatt—who used private browsing mode in Chrome and in Safari, Apple’s web browser, in recent years. It claims that Google…
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15 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/15/2021

Former Facebook insiders explain why the company is making such a big fuss over Apple’s upcoming privacy change For the past few weeks, Facebook has been running an ad campaign in defense of personalized advertisements, arguing that targeted ads are key to the success of small businesses. The catalyst for the campaign has been an ongoing battle between the social media company and Apple. The battle focuses on a unique device identifier on every iPhone and iPad called the IDFA.…
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12 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/12/2021

Comcast scrambled to fix mistake that cut some users’ upload speeds by 20% Some Comcast customers received an unwelcome surprise yesterday morning when their upload speeds were suddenly lowered from 20Mbps to 16Mbps. Comcast was raising download speeds on its "Extreme Pro" tier from 600Mbps to 800Mbps—good news, to be sure—but the plan's relatively paltry 20Mbps upload speeds received a simultaneous 20 percent cut. Customers affected by the change complained to Comcast, and two of…
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11 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/11/2021

OVHcloud data centers engulfed in flames On March 10, OVHcloud founder and chairman Octave Klaba started a Twitter thread updating customers on the situation, which has claimed at least one data center. OVHcloud is a global cloud, dedicated server, and managed bare metal services provider catering to over 1.5 million customers.  The company manages 27 data centers in countries including the US, UK, France, and Australia.  As data centers manage vast quantities of data for customers, providers have to be…
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10 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/10/2021

Stalkers won’t be able to track victims via hidden AirTags It won’t be possible for someone to hide an AirTag on you and track your location without permission. iPhones will notify their users if one of Apple’s item tracker tags is moving along with them. AirTags haven’t been formally announced, but the latest iOS 14.5 beta adds an “Items” tab to the built-in Find My application so users can search for these tags. A setting in the…
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09 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/09/2021

Robocalls keep spamming Americans, in part because of their cyber tools After a surprising lull at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, phone scammers are back, and showing signs of overlapping more and more with text messages and cyber elements. Scammers are combining phone calls with tricks to circumvent two-factor authentication, using information they obtain online to make more targeted calls and, in some cases, mimicking the attack methods of hackers, government and industry officials…
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08 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/08/2021

What is the dark web and what does it mean for cyber security? The dark web, or darknet, is the part of the internet that is difficult to access without the proper tools and authorizations. An average, everyday web surfer using a commonly-available web browser like Chrome or Explorer isn't likely to be taking a virtual walk on the dark side, but security leaders still must make an effort to understand the threats the darknet…
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05 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/05/2021

Real estate group in Las Vegas launches fully autonomous security robot A new spin to security. The Westland Real Estate Group has launched a fully autonomous security robot at its Liberty Village Apartments in northeast Last Vegas. The security robot is the first in the world to be used in a multi-family residence in an effort to improve the safety and security of residents. The security robot monitors the property through video and thermal-imaging cameras.…
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04 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/04/2021

An AI Was Taught to Play the World's Hardest Video Game and Still Couldn't Set a New Record What’s the hardest video game you’ve ever played? If it wasn’t QWOP then let me tell you right know that you don’t know how truly difficult a game can be. The deceptively simple running game is so challenging to master that even an AI trained using machine learning still only mustered a top 10 score instead of shattering the record. Wesley Liao was…
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03 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/03/2021

World's leading dairy group Lactalis hit by cyberattack Lactalis, the world's leading dairy group, has disclosed a cyberattack after unknown threat actors have breached some of the company's systems. Lactalis (short for Lactalis Group) has 85,000 employees in 51 countries, and it exports dairy products to over 100 countries around the world. The dairy group controls multiple leading international brands, including Président, Galbani, Lactel, Santal, and Parmalat.  In a press release published on Friday, Lactalis says that only a limited number…
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02 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/02/2021

The Rise of Vendor-Owned News Sites Underscores the Appetite for Cybersecurity Information One of the most prolific cybersecurity journalists, Catalin Cimpanu of ZDNet, left the popular CBS-owned tech publication on Friday. Today he joins The Record, a publication backed by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. (Catalin’s jump to Recorded Future is occurring the day after the firm issued a report on its startling discovery that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group dubbed Red Echo introduced malware into Indian power…
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01 Mar 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 03/01/2021

78% of top security leaders say their organizations are unprepared for a cyberattack Seventy-eight percent of senior IT and security leaders believe their organizations lack sufficient protection against cyberattacks, according to research conducted by IDG Research Services on behalf of Insight. The high level of concern expressed by these leaders resulted in 91% of organizations increasing their cybersecurity budgets in 2021 — a figure that nearly matches the 96% that boosted IT security spending in…
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26 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/26/2021

The NYPD Sent a Creepy Robotic Dog Into a Bronx Apartment Building The largest police department in the country deployed its new K-9 companion into a Bronx apartment building while responding to a home invasion early Tuesday morning. But this particular K-9 wasn’t as cute, cuddly or even furry like its mammalian colleagues. Instead, this good boy features four metal and rubber legs, a face only perhaps only a Cylon could love, and all the grace…
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25 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/25/2021

Firefox 86 Introduces Total Cookie Protection Cookies, those well-known morsels of data that web browsers store on a website’s behalf, are a useful technology, but also a serious privacy vulnerability. That’s because the prevailing behavior of web browsers allows cookies to be shared between websites, thereby enabling those who would spy on you to “tag” your browser and track you as you browse. This type of cookie-based tracking has long been the most prevalent method…
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24 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/24/2021

Cybersecurity and online gaming: Don’t be a victim The proliferation of technology and internet connectivity has made it possible for people to seek out most things online, and gaming and gambling are not exceptions. In addition to online video games, social media, music, and video streaming, there are also online casinos and gambling for real money. Well, for gambling in the USA there are state laws to mind, but in some states online gambling is…
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23 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/23/2021

Clubhouse Chats Are Breached, Raising Concerns Over Security A week after popular audio chatroom app Clubhouse said it was taking steps to ensure user data couldn’t be stolen by malicious hackers or spies, at least one attacker has proven the platform’s live audio can be siphoned. An unidentified user was able to stream Clubhouse audio feeds this weekend from “multiple rooms” into their own third-party website, said Reema Bahnasy, a spokeswoman for Clubhouse. While the…
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22 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/22/2021

Clubhouse under scrutiny for sending data to Chinese servers Clubhouse was launched about a year ago and was initially only used by Silicon Valley’s rich and famous. It is different from other social media in that it focuses on the spoken word. Clubhouse members can enter virtual rooms to listen in or participate in live conversations. The conversations can only be joined when they are live and the people having the conversation determine who is…
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19 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/19/2021

Apple will only approve COVID-19 vaccination apps verified by health authorities It may not be enough just to get vaccinated against COVID-19 -- you may also need proof that you've completed the vaccination course to be able to travel, to go to school or to enter establishments in the immediate future. That's why apps providing proof of vaccination you can easily take with you have started popping up, and why Apple has conjured up a rule to…
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18 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/18/2021

Jones Day is latest major law firm affected by vendor data breach Jones Day confirmed Tuesday that a file transfer platform it used was recently compromised, and that the firm is investigating the breach and talking with affected clients. Hackers that go by the name Clop claim to have stolen files belonging to Jones Day and posted screenshots on the dark web, according to by DataBreaches.net, which posted redacted images of firm correspondence over the…
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17 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/17/2021

Copycats emerge after researcher exploits design flaw to breach Microsoft, Apple, Tesla Pseudonymous authors published more than 150 copycat packages just three days after Sonatype published research around a software supply chain flaw, attempting to exploit the vulnerabilities in the brief window before a patch. Ethical hacker and security researcher Alex Birsan posted a blog on Feb. 9 that detailed how he used dependency, or namespace confusion, “to push his malicious proof-of-concept (PoC) code to internal…
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16 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/16/2021

AT&T scrambles to install fiber for 90-year-old after his viral WSJ ad When 90-year-old Aaron Epstein bought a Wall Street Journal print ad to complain about his slow AT&T Internet service, the impact was immediate. Reporters like me called him and wrote articles, talk of his plight went viral on the Internet, his ad made an appearance on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, TV networks interviewed him for nightly news broadcasts, and AT&T executives sprang into action…
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12 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/12/2021

Tax Scammers Are Getting Sneakier. Here's How to Spot the Latest Cons The 2021 tax season starts on Friday, Feb. 12, which means it’s time to get your paperwork in order. It’s also time to be on the lookout for scam artists targeting those of us feeling a little overwhelmed as the April 15 deadline gets closer. Tax-related scams are nothing new, according to Howard Silverstone, a member of the American Institute of CPA’s Fraud…
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11 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/11/2021

Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA testing kit used by police A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a man accused of murder is entitled to review proprietary genetic testing software to challenge evidence presented against him. Attorneys defending Corey Pickett, on trial for a fatal Jersey City shooting that occurred in 2017, have been trying to examine the source code of a software program called TrueAllele to assess its reliability. The…
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10 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/10/2021

Microsoft to alert enterprise security teams when nation-state attackers target their employees Microsoft will introduce this month a new security alert that will notify enterprise security teams when an employee is being targeted by suspected nation-state attackers. The notification will appear in the dashboard of Microsoft Defender for Office 365, a cloud-based email filtering service that protects enterprise Office 365 users against advanced and targeted threats (e.g., BEC, credential phishing, etc.), so that security teams…
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09 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/09/2021

Bill would allow tech companies to create local governments If you’ve got enough money, acres upon acres of undeveloped land and an “innovative technology,” you soon could form a new local government in Nevada. When Gov. Steve Sisolak last month announced his plan to launch Innovation Zones in Nevada to jump-start the state’s economy by attracting new tech companies, the details of how those zones would operate proved scarce. According to a draft of the…
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08 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/08/2021

How will 'chipageddon' affect you? For the most part they go unseen but computer chips are at the heart of all the digital products that surround us - and when supplies run short, it can halt manufacturing. There was a hint of the problem last year when gamers struggled to buy new graphics cards, Apple had to stagger the release of its iPhones, and the latest Xbox and PlayStation consoles came nowhere close to meeting demand. Then,…
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05 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/05/2021

Scammers posing as FBI agents threaten targets with jail time The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning of scammers actively posing as FBI representatives and threatening targets with fines and jail time unless they don't hand out personal and/or financial information. As the FBI warns, the agency has received multiple reports of such scam attempts where the fraudsters are targeting North Florida residents attempting to steal their personal info. Additionally, "multiple versions of…
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04 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/04/2021

SCIENTISTS HAVE TAUGHT SPINACH TO SEND EMAILS AND IT COULD WARN US ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE Through nanotechnology, engineers at MIT in the US have transformed spinach into sensors capable of detecting explosive materials. These plants are then able to wirelessly relay this information back to the scientists. When the spinach roots detect the presence of nitroaromatics in groundwater, a compound often found in explosives like landmines, the carbon nanotubes within the plant leaves emit a signal. This…
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03 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/03/2021

Facebook strikes back against Apple privacy change, prompts users to accept tracking to get ‘better ads experience’ With a forthcoming update to iOS 14, each app that wants to use these identifiers will ask users to opt in to tracking when the app is first launched. If users opt out, it will make these ads a lot less effective. Facebook has warned investors that these looming changes could hurt its advertising business as soon as this quarter.…
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02 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/02/2021

Check if your photos were used to develop facial recognition systems with this free tool If you’ve uploaded any photos to the web in recent years, there’s a good chance they’ve been used to build facial recognition systems. Developers routinely train facial recognition algorithms on images from websites — without the knowledge of the people who posted them. A new online tool called Exposing.AI can help you find out if your photos are among the snaps they’re…
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01 Feb 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 02/01/2021

New Spotify Patent Involves Monitoring Users’ Speech to Recommend Music Spotify has been granted a patent with technology that aims to use recordings of users’ speech and background noise to determine what kind of music to curate and recommend to them, Music Business Worldwide reports. The company filed for the patent in 2018; it was approved on January 12, 2021. The patent outlines potential uses of technology that involves the extraction of “intonation, stress, rhythm, and the likes of units…
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29 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/29/2021

Arrest, Seizures Tied to Netwalker Ransomware U.S. and Bulgarian authorities this week seized the darkweb site used by the NetWalker ransomware cybercrime group to publish data stolen from its victims. In connection with the seizure, a Canadian national suspected of extorting more than $27 million through the spreading of NetWalker was charged in a Florida court. NetWalker is a ransomware-as-a-service crimeware product in which affiliates rent access to the continuously updated malware code in exchange for a…
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28 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/28/2021

23M Gamer Records Exposed in VIPGames Leak VIPGames.com, a free platform with a total of 56 available classic board and card games like Hearts, Crazy Eights, Euchre, Dominoes, Backgammon and others, has exposed the personal data of tens of thousands of users. In all, more than 23 million records for more than 66,000 users were left exposed thanks to a cloud misconfiguration, according to a new report from WizCase. Aside from its desktop users, VIPGames…
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27 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/27/2021

North Korean hackers are targeting security researchers with malware, 0-days A North Korean government-backed hacking group targets security researchers who focus on vulnerability and exploit development via social networks, disclosed Google tonight. According to a report released tonight by Google's Threat Analysis Group, a North Korean government-backed hacking group uses social networks to target security researchers and infect their computers with a custom backdoor malware. The threat actors create fake Twitter profiles and blogs to…
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26 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/26/2021

Apple launches ‘Time to Walk’ for Fitness+ with Dolly Parton, Draymond Green, others Apple today launched a new component of Fitness+ designed to get people out of their homes and away from their TVs. Called Time to Walk, it’s the first outdoor component of Fitness+ and opens the service up to a new world of workouts. Apple seemingly goes out of its way to not call them podcasts, but Time to Walk is a very much in the vein.…
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25 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/25/2021

After big hack of U.S. government, Biden enlists 'world class' cybersecurity team President Joe Biden is hiring a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defense officials and investigators as the U.S. government works to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies. Disclosed in December, the hack struck eight federal agencies and numerous companies, including software provider SolarWinds Corp. U.S. intelligence agencies…
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22 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/22/2021

Vehicle Manufacturers Face Cybersecurity Challenges Over the last several decades, there have been significant advancements in automotive technology. Today’s vehicles are equipped with more and more sophisticated computer systems than ever before. But as our reliance on technology continues to grow, so does the potential for cybersecurity attacks and resulting litigation. That’s why it’s becoming increasingly important for car manufacturers to pay close attention to the legal landscape. One recent case illustrates what’s going on.…
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21 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/21/2021

Are you more likely to be murdered IRL or hacked online? The existential question of our times has been answered The pandemic has brought existential conversations to the forefront in recent months. However, in an increasingly virtual world, threats are no longer reserved for the physical universe we occupy and cybersecurity breaches are increasingly common. It turns out people are more concerned about being hacked compared to acts of physical violence a la being murdered…
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20 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/20/2021

How one hacker's push to secure the internet became a crucial part of Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems Jason A. Donenfeld is relentlessly curious about everything, from ancient cities to cutting edge cryptography. When he's not developing WireGuard, known as the most secure VPN protocol in the world, the security researcher enjoys exploring the vast network of centuries-old limestone tunnels beneath Paris. Donenfeld, who is 32, originally came to Paris in 2010, after landing…
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19 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/19/2021

Nine Attention-Grabbing Inventions Unveiled at This Year’s CES Like school, work conferences and visiting your grandparents, this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been virtual-only. So instead of gathering in hangar-sized Las Vegas expo halls, those wishing to check out the year’s crop of tech and gadget debuts can simply tune in online. Some of these technologies will never catch on. Others may one day be as ubiquitous as the Xbox, satellite radio and 3D printers, all…
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15 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/15/2021

Apple drops 'exclusion list' which allowed its own apps to bypass firewalls The latest beta of macOS Big Sur has reportedly removed the contentious ability for Apple's own apps to bypass firewalls, and hide their network use. Apple's release of the macOS Big Sur 11.2 beta appears to show that the company is dropping a controversial network feature. In the current public version of Big Sur, 56 of Apple's own apps and system processes can use the internet…
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14 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/14/2021

The billionaires' brawl over satellite broadband Elon Musk is under siege by fellow billionaires at Amazon and Dish as he tries to get his fledgling space-based broadband service off the ground, with clashes involving airwave overload and the threat of satellite collisions. Musk's Starlink service could extend broadband to unconnected customers in hard-to-reach rural areas. But competitors are pressing the Federal Communication Commission to stymie Musk's plans. The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday evening to explore letting companies…
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13 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/13/2021

Mac malware uses 'run-only' AppleScripts to evade analysis A cryptocurrency mining campaign targeting macOS is using malware that has evolved into a complex variant giving researchers a lot of trouble analyzing it. The malware is tracked as OSAMiner and has been in the wild since at least 2015. Yet, analyzing it is difficult because payloads are exported as run-only AppleScript files, which makes decompiling them into source code a tall order. A recently observed variant…
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12 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/12/2021

Securing Wi-Fi at Home To create a secure home network, you need to start by securing your Wi-Fi access point (sometimes called a Wi-Fi router). This is the device that controls who and what can connect to your home network. Here are five simple steps to securing your home Wi-Fi to create a far more secure home network for you and your family.   Can Artificial Intelligence Help Us Fight Fake News? Fake news and…
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11 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/11/2021

Russian Hacker Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison For Involvement In Massive Network Intrusions At U.S. Financial Institutions, Brokerage Firms, A Major News Publication, And Other Companies Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ANDREI TYURIN, a/k/a “Andrei Tiurin,” was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 144 months in prison for computer intrusion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal online gambling offenses in connection with…
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08 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/08/2021

Rioters Had Physical Access to Lawmakers’ Computers. How Bad Is That? On Wednesday, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters rioted and stormed the Capitol, getting into the Senate and the offices of some lawmakers, who were hastily evacuated. Given how quickly some staffers and lawmakers had to leave, some of them left their computers unlocked and unattended, and some of the terrorists were photographed in front of them. Cybersecurity experts now worry that the rioters had a chance to get their…
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07 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/07/2021

Watch a Robot Dog Learn How to Deftly Fend Off a Human STUDY HARD ENOUGH, kids, and maybe one day you’ll grow up to be a professional robot fighter. A few years ago, Boston Dynamics set the standard for the field by having people wielding hockey sticks try to keep Spot the quadrupedal robot from opening a door. Previously, in 2015, the far-out federal research agency Darpa hosted a challenge in which it forced clumsy humanoid robots to…
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06 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/06/2021

One Million Compromised Accounts Found at Top Gaming Firms Tel Aviv-based threat intelligence firm Kela decided to investigate the top 25 publicly listed companies in the sector based on revenue. After scouring dark web marketplaces, it discovered a thriving market in network access on both the supply and demand side. This included nearly one million compromised accounts related to employee- and customer-facing resources, half of which were listed for sale last year. Compromised accounts linked to internal…
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05 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/05/2021

20 years of tech with Jeff: From green iMacs and DVDs to the iPhone era My stint started in 2000 – I began at USA TODAY earlier, covering entertainment – when we spent a lot of time talking about the big three tech companies: AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft. AOL had just shocked the world by buying Time Warner for $165 billion. (You know how well that turned out. But I digress.) We did use computers, yes indeed,…
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04 Jan 2021
By Mary

InfoSec News Nuggets 01/04/2021

Apply brakes to Apple Car expectations, analyst says The idea of an Apple Car landing in showrooms hit the headlines again last week when a Reuters report suggested the tech giant is aiming to have an electric vehicle (EV) with autonomous capabilities ready for market in 2024. But a new research note from respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests the car’s precise design specifications have yet to be decided, adding that any such vehicle may not arrive until 2028…
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