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All aboard the cybersecurity train! CHOOO CHOOOO! Each week we bring you the greatest and most terrifying cybersecurity and hacking-related news on the web. This is….THIS WEEK IN GETTING HACKED!
On to the links…
One of the people responsible for biggest financial hack in history—one that hit twelve major banking institutions—was apprehended at JFK airport and was scheduled to appear in court later this week. Joshua Samuel Aaron, a US national, had been hiding in Moscow, and voluntarily returned to the US to faces the charges brought against him, according to his lawyer.
They manipulated stock markets by selling shares of the companies to the accounts of people they hacked. They also ran a payment processing business that stole $18 million in fees.
Google is just out and out releasing the data-request letters that the government is sending them. That’s pretty cool, actually, and kind of a giant middle finger at the Feds. This decision came after a gag order was lifted and allowed Google to disclose the information, and Google was like, “Sure!” It gives a really good look at what the government is looking for when it comes to accounts they are tracking.
Last week, Samsung announced it would be using OTA updates to essentially “kill” all Note 7’s currently in the wild. As you know, the Note 7 is vulnerable to murdering you in a fiery explosion, and Samsung is trying to mitigate the amount of “fiery death” lawsuits they get, so they issued an update that kills Note 7’s. The real issue is—besides the threat of explosion via cell phone—is that companies are able to automatically kill your device if they want to.
You don’t think Apple has that same code, ready to wipe out your precious iPhone at a moment’s notice? Is it the responsibility of the company to decide if people can use their devices, or is it the people who bought them that get to decide whether they want to risk fiery death while swiping on Tinder?
If you use Evernote, congrats! Now Evernote employees can read your notes, if they want. Evernote wants to use machine learning and by letting machines—and people—read your notes, it’ll provide better improve those learning technologies.
And finally…
If being a fledgling mid-tier late-90’s/early-00’s search engine turned media company turned literal dumpster fire wasn’t enough, now it gets worse for Yahoo! as they revealed that up to 1 billion accounts—ONE BILLION, WITH A “B”—have been compromised from a hack that occurred in 2013.
This is a separate issue from a hack that revealed the breach of 500 million accounts this past September. So, in total, Yahoo has compromised the accounts of nearly 2/7th’s of the people on earth. Yahoo! Hooray!
Stay safe out there, a large portion of Earth.
