The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning to parents in the past about the concerns with connected toys. Many parents recently bought the newest gadgets for their kids over the holidays, without realizing the capabilities of these toys to collect, maintain, sell and use personal information. As I chat with people about the … Continue Reading
The latest report regarding Russia stealing U.S. cyber secrets is yet again centered around the National Security Agency (NSA), using Contractors to gain access, in some cases, to classified data. It has been reported that a NSA Contractor (fired back in 2015) put highly classified U.S. cyber secrets on his home computer, which included information … Continue Reading
The news about data breaches always seems to be dire lately. Some good news: data breaches in the healthcare industry were lower in October than in September, based upon reportable data breaches to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Note that only breaches involving more than 500 records have to be disclosed to the OCR … Continue Reading
On November 24, 2017, image-sharing website Imgur disclosed that email addresses and passwords of 1.7 million users were stolen in a 2014 hack on the company. Imgur became aware of the breach on November 23, 2017 when a security researcher alerted the company about the potential issue. The breach was confirmed on November 24th and … Continue Reading
A new study by Google, the University of California Berkeley and the International Computer Science Institute has concluded that email users are being threatened by massive credential theft and phishing schemes are the primary way hackers are stealing credentials. According to the study, phishing victims are 400 times more likely to have their email accounts … Continue Reading
Beazley has published a report outlining data breaches in the first nine months of 2017. The report notes that the highest cause of a data breach in 2017 so far are unintended disclosures, which accounted for 41 percent of all incidents. Beazley stated: “We urge organizations not to ignore this significant risk and to invest … Continue Reading
Security researchers at Check Point discovered software vulnerabilities in LG IoT devices which allowed them to potentially gain control over LG refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers and a live feed from a robot vacuum cleaner. A vulnerability in the mobil app and cloud app allowed them to remotely gain access to LG IoT devices with just an … Continue Reading
Unfortunately, September was another banner month for data breaches involving the health care industry. According to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) website, 39 data breaches involving over 500 records were reported to the OCR in the month of September. This does not include all records breached, as health care entities have until February 2018 … Continue Reading
Fax machines are still used in the medical community, and these days, faxing may be more secure than emailing as hackers have not yet cracked the task of hacking into old fax machines. All kidding aside, fax machines have been, and continue to be a risk to organizations as they have the ability to store … Continue Reading
Hackers working on behalf of the Iranian government have been targeting the aviation and petrochemical industries in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea since 2013, according to a report released by FireEye last week. According to the report, APT33, a hacking group working for the Iranian government, have sent phishing emails to aviation … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a warning that Smiths Medical Medfusion 4000 wireless syringe infusion pumps contain a security vulnerability that can be exploited by hackers to alter the performance of the medical devices. The devices are used to infuse small doses of medication to patients and are used in acute … Continue Reading
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drone) security has become a hot topic not only in the United States, but throughout countries around the world as more UAS hit the skies, increasing the potential for hackers to intercept data being transferred from drones to servers or other devices on the ground, or for hackers to carry … Continue Reading
You drop your smartphone and now there are a million cracks and you can hardly read your texts. Getting the screen replaced by the manufacturer of the phone is usually expensive and sometimes it is so expensive that it makes more sense just to buy a new phone. But some will bypass the manufacturer and … Continue Reading
In the latest example of security risks attendant to initial coin offerings (ICOs), on August 21st the blockchain startup Enigma reported that online scammers used fake solicitations for an ICO presale to steal approximately $500,000 in ether (a virtual currency) from investors. Enigma is a blockchain startup incubated at MIT Media Lab that is in … Continue Reading
Cybersecurity for critical infrastructure continues to be of concern, including the transportation sector. A new study by ABI Research concludes that although the transportation sector continues to increase spending on cybersecurity year over year, the rapid digitization of airports, aircraft, trains, ships, and cars puts this sector at risk. The study mentions that poor cybersecurity … Continue Reading
Everything connected to the Internet is hackable and at risk. But there are some things connected to the Internet that you just don’t think of as risks to an organization. That is, until now. Darktrace has issued its report Darktrace Global Threat Report 2017 that discusses nine unusual cyber threat scenarios that show, among other things, … Continue Reading
On August 1, 2017, 32M, located in Wisconsin, is offering its employees the ability to have RFID chips implanted into their hands to make purchases at the company break rooms, open doors, use the copy machine and log on to their company computer. On top of that, the employer issued chip can store medical and … Continue Reading
We previously reported about the microphone and video capabilities of Echo technology [view related post]. The FBI is also concerned about this technology being used in toys that are connected to the Internet. The FBI is so concerned that yesterday, it issued a Public Service Announcement that warns consumers that Internet-connected toys “could present privacy … Continue Reading
A cyber-attack against–Bithumb–one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and one of the five largest in the world—has reaped access to the data of 30,000 users and drained their accounts in the process. Bithumb is one of the biggest ethereum exchanges by volume in South Korea, representing more than 44 percent of trading in that … Continue Reading
Anthem Inc. has reportedly agreed to pay a settlement of $115 million to its customers that were affected by what is being called one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history. The settlement is reportedly the largest ever to result from a data breach in the United States and would end a class action … Continue Reading
Social networking app Wishbone, which is used primarily by teenage girls to vote on various teenage type quizzes, like favorite entertainers or fashion, has been hacked. The intruders have reportedly gained access to users’ (again, primarily female minors) names, unique email addresses and mobile telephone numbers. Not just a few, either. The data compromised included … Continue Reading
Tricky decision to make if you are among the millions that travel for work…. how safe is it? Will the new “laptop travel ban” affect me? What airports am I connecting through that are of concern? Is public Wi-Fi secure? Did that person just look over my shoulder (a.k.a. Shoulder Surfing) while I was opening … Continue Reading
President Trump’s administration is asking Congress to grant the federal government power to track, hack and destroy any type of drone that is flying over domestic soil. The draft legislation includes new exception to laws governing surveillance, computer privacy and aircraft protection. This draft legislation stems from the government’s growing concern for the widespread use … Continue Reading
We have read multiple reports on WannaCry and if you are reading this and don’t know what WannaCry is, Google it for the background story. The clear message is this is not the last major attack we will see, and future attacks will only get more sophisticated. It is being estimated that the cost associated … Continue Reading
