“I think absurd is exactly the right word,” said Saudi Prince Faisal Read the rest
'Absurd,' Saudi Arabia calls claims MBS hacked Bezos phone
FBI says it will notify state officials when local election systems are hacked
“Gee, thanks.”
Boing Boing was hacked
Dear Boing Boing readers --
Around 11:30 EST on January 10th, An unknown party logged into Boing Boing's CMS using the credentials of a member of the Boing Boing team. Read the rest
After hack, Canadian LifeLabs paid ransom for 15M+ customers' health data
After LifeLabs was hit by a a cyber attack in November, the Canada-based medical lab paid a ransom to recover stolen data belonging to more than 15 million of its customers. That stolen data included usernames, password, and some 80,000 or more test results. Read the rest
Malware hackers using steganography in WAV audio files to hide malicious code
Beware the rogue .wav file. Read the rest
WhatsApp fixes security bug that let hackers take over with a GIF
A spokesperson for the Facebook-owned WhatsApp says the company has fixed a security vulnerability that let hackers take control of the messaging app by way of a malicious GIF. Read the rest
The Air Force will invite hackers to try to hijack a satellite at the next Defcon
At last month's Defcon, the United States Air Force invited pre-selected hackers to attempt to sabotage an F-15 fighter-jet data system:
And after two long days, the seven hackers found a mother lode of vulnerabilities that — if exploited in real life — could have completely shut down the Trusted Aircraft Information Download Station, which collects reams of data from video cameras and sensors while the jet is in flight.
Pleased with the results, the USAF has announced that next year's Defcon will feature an assault on a satellite. There will again be a pre-screening and qualifying process:
Sometime soon, the Air Force will put out a call for submissions. Think you know how to hack a satellite or its ground station? Let them know. A select number of researchers whose pitches seem viable will be invited to try out their ideas during a “flat-sat” phase—essentially a test build comprising all the eventual components—six months before Defcon. That group will once again be culled; the Air Force will fly the winners out to Defcon for a live hacking competition.
The tentative plan is to allow the hackers to try to take control of an orbiting satellite:
“What we’re planning on doing is taking a satellite with a camera, have it pointing at the Earth, and then have the teams try to take over control of the camera gimbals and turn toward the moon”
You can find information about Defcon 28 here. Read the rest
2600's Hackers on Planet Earth con needs your help because the Hotel Pennsylvania has tripled its fees
Aestetix sez, "2600 Magazine has hosted the biennial Hackers On Planet Earth conference since 1994. However, for 2020 the host hotel, the Hotel Pennsylvania, has tripled the fee charged to the conference. Rather than raising ticket prices and making the event inaccessible to all but the rich, HOPE is reaching out to the community to help solve the crisis." Read the rest
Hackers crack telecom networks across multiple continents to track a handful of targets
You might be popular, but are you Chinese hacker following your every move, no matter where you go popular?
No? It's cool. Not many people are. Read the rest
Less than 1 week after Florida town pays ransomware gang ~$600K, another Florida town votes to pay ~$500K in BTC to ransomware gang
It hasn't even been a full week since Riviera City, a town that fell victim to ransomware hackers, paid almost $600,000 in an attempt to regain control of vital city networks. Today, there's news that the government of yet another Florida town, Lake City, has voted to pay $500,000 in bitcoin to hackers for the same. Read the rest
How China grabbed NSA hacking tools and used them to attack U.S. allies
Chinese spies got a hold of NSA hacking tools, and “repurposed them in 2016 to attack American allies and private companies in Europe and Asia,” reports the NYT. How'd they get those cyberweapons? Symantec researchers “believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an N.S.A. attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away.” Read the rest
Two Russia-backed hacker groups target Europe ahead of elections, FireEye reports
Security services firm FireEye says two hacker groups known to be sponsored by the Russian government of Vladimir Putin are waging cyber-attacks currently against European government systems. Read the rest
Beto O'Rourke was in the Cult of the Dead Cow and his t-files are still online
Investigative tech journalist Joseph Menn's (previously) next book is a history of the Cult of the Dead Cow (previously) the legendary hacker/prankster group that is considered to be "America's oldest hacking group." Read the rest
Apple was slow to act on FaceTime bug report, which came from mother of 14 year old who found it
Go get a developer account and send us a formal bug report, Apple reportedly told them.
DHS issues security order after DNS hijack attacks from Iran, 6 agency domains already affected
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday issued an “emergency” security alert urging federal civilian agencies to secure login credentials for their respective internet domain records. Read the rest
Marriott hack update: Hotel now admits hackers got passport numbers
The Marriott hotel chain today said that a smaller number of customers were affected by a recent hack than initially estimated, but admitted that the hackers got customer passport numbers. Read the rest
HACKED: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and hundreds of government officials
Hackers have published a big dump of private data related to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and hundreds of other of the country's politicians, in what is said to be the biggest data dump of its kind ever in Germany. Read the rest
