The Department of Health and Human services has issued a warning to healthcare providers to be on high alert for the SamSam strain of ransomware, which has been used to attack eight different health care entities so far this year. SamSam made its first appearance in 2016 and is seeing increasingly widespread use so far this year. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry is considered by most to be a soft target. On the Dark Web, healthcare data has become more highly sought after than credit … Read more
Archives for May 2018
Windows 10 Gets iTunes App For Apple Users
Apple promised that its iTunes app would be available on the Microsoft Store by the end of 2017. The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm, but unfortunately, the company didn't meet their own deadline. They cited the need for more time to build a more robust user experience for Windows users. The wait is finally over, and its big news, because some Windows 10 machines can only download apps, and prior to this, iTunes was offered as a standalone download only. The app is fairly … Read more
T-Mobile And Sprint To Merge Companies
The on-again, off-again talks about a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is definitely back on, with T-Mobile planning to buy Sprint for a staggering $26 billion. The deal has been in the works since before Trump was elected President. It died quietly when it became clear that the Obama administration would not allow the deal to go forward, due to concerns that it would leave the US with only three telecom providers, which could harm consumers. The Trump administration has made it clear … Read more
Some VW and Audi Cars May Be Hacked Through WiFi
Thanks to researchers Daan Keuper and Thijs Alkemade (who work at the Dutch cyber-security firm Computest), newly produced Golf GTE and Audi A3 vehicles are a little bit safer, and a lot less vulnerable to remote hacks. The duo found that by taking advantage of these vehicles' WiFi connection, they could access the cars' IVI, (in-vehicle infotainment system) and from there, gain access to other systems as well. The researchers had this to say about their work: "Under certain conditions, … Read more
Use Caution Traveling, Hackers Now Have Keys To Hotel Rooms
Score one for the good guys, but with hesitation. Unfortunately, in today's fast-moving digital world, even a victory doesn't mean the end of a problem. Recently, a pair of researchers (Tomi Tuominen and Timo Hirvonen of F-Secure) released information about a new hack they had discovered. It takes advantage of a critical security flaw in the magnetic VingCard locking systems used in hotel chains around the world. This particular system produced by Assa Abloy is deployed in more than 42,000 … Read more
Apple Will Officially No Longer Sell Routers
After more than two decades in the business, Apple is officially going to stop selling routers. The writing has been on the wall for a while now, since the company's "AirPort" family of products hasn't received a significant update in more than five years. When Apple first introduced its AirPort product line, wireless computing was still something of a rarity, and Apple's offerings were ahead of their time. In the years between then and now though, the market has changed significantly. … Read more
Hackers Can Use PDF Files To Access Windows Credentials
Security researcher Assaf Baharav from Check Point Security has discovered a new twist on an old, fairly well-known attack. He was able to essentially "weaponize" PDFs to steal Windows credentials stored in NTLM hashes. Unfortunately, no action other than simply opening the PDF is required for the hacker to gain access to the information. Baharav used the same methodology that hackers have used in the past, which amounts to instantiating SMB requests from inside the document. Hackers have … Read more
WiFi Sync on iOS Vulnerable To TrustJacking
Owners of Apple devices have a new attack vector to worry about, called "TrustJacking." Symantec researchers recently stumbled across a pair of scenarios that take advantage of Wi-Fi syncing of various Apple devices. These are scenarios that also take advantage of the trust users have in the security of their own devices, allowing hackers to take complete control over those devices. The flaw is a consequence of the way that iTunes Wi-Fi Sync is designed. The vulnerability manifests when a … Read more
New Malware Takes Screenshots and Steals Your Passwords
Recently, a new strain of malware called "SquirtDanger" has been found by researchers at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, and it's a particularly nasty one for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the owner of the malware isn't orchestrating campaigns himself, but rather, selling his product as a commodity on the Dark Web. That has troubling implications because the malware is quite advanced, and since it's being sold to a broad cross-section of hackers, odds are excellent that it will be … Read more
Are Lasers The Answer To Completely Wireless Computing And Charging?
Researchers at the University of Washington just might change the face of computers and computing forever. It may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but based on their research, the day may soon be coming when computing devices are completely un-tethered, requiring no wires for either power or recharging. The team was able to successfully charge a smartphone from across a room using nothing more than lasers. Right now, their approach has an effective range of about forty feet. Devices … Read more
