Computer security

Colonial Pipeline Reportedly Paid Hackers $5 Million for Decryption Key That Wasn’t Very Useful

About a week ago, Colonial Pipeline paid the ransomware group DarkSide approximately $5 million in exchange for a data decryption key that didn’t really decrypt that much data. An investigation from Bloomberg found that, despite earlier reports suggesting the company had no intention of paying the cybercriminals, Colonial actually did just that “within hours of the…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek May 13

Senate Cyber Hawk Calls for ‘Criminal Penalties’ for Negligent CEOs After U.S. Pipeline Hack

Sen. Ron Wyden, historically a leading proponent of heightened cybersecurity governance in both public and private spheres, called for congressional action Wednesday around all private firms operating in critical infrastructure sectors, saying the recent network breach at one of the largest U.S. pipelines paints a dismal picture of the nation’s susceptibility to attack. The cyber…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron May 12

Gas Is Back: Colonial Opens Up the Corpse Juice Hoses Just as Much of East Coast Runs Out

Large swathes of the East Coast are running out of the precious refined corpse juice used to fuel most of the nation’s vehicles, five days after ransomware knocked out most of the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline system—the biggest gasoline pipeline in the country, connecting Gulf Coast refineries to cities as far north as New York. Due…

Privacy & Security Tom McKay May 12

Wanted: Colonial Pipeline Cybersecurity Manager (No, Really)

Sometime before the disastrous ransomware attack on its network and the East Coast gas shortage that followed, Colonial Pipeline was apparently looking for someone to help run its cybersecurity team. The energy company, which manages America’s largest oil pipeline, is currently working feverishly to restore full service after being targeted by the ransomware gang DarkSide.…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek May 12

Update Windows (and Lots of Other Stuff) ASAP: ‘FragAttack’ Bugs Found Lurking in Millions of Wifi Devices

A slew of new wifi vulnerabilities impacts everything from cellphones and routers to, well, anything wifi-connected.

Privacy & Security Shoshana Wodinsky May 12

The U.S. Has Ignored Pipeline Cybersecurity and Now You’re Paying the Price

It’s been four days since the Colonial pipeline, a major gasoline artery in the U.S., shut down following a ransomware attack—and Americans are starting to feel the impacts. As the federal government scrambles to figure out how to transport gasoline across the country and shortages are beginning to hit gas stations in some states. It’s…

Energy Molly Taft May 11

Hackers Threatening East Coast’s Fuel Supply Claim They’re Not Trying to Cause Anybody Trouble

Over the weekend, a cyberattack by the Russia-based ransomware gang DarkSide managed to hamstring America’s largest oil pipeline, Colonial, threatening to choke off significant energy flows to the East Coast. Per Bloomberg News, the gang pilfered approximately 100GB of data from the company’s IT network in just two hours on Thursday. The attack was part…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek May 10

Google Plans to Automatically Enroll Users In Two-Factor Authentication Soon

Security experts have been banging the drum about password managers and enabling two-factor authentication for what seems like an eternity. Probably because year after year, hordes of you keep using “123456″ and “password” to secure your shit online. Well, Google’s not having it anymore. So long as you provide a secondary email or phone number, the…

Tech News Victoria Song May 6

You Should Definitely Update Your Dell Computer Right Now

A public service announcement for anyone who, like me, is using a years-old Dell computer as their primary machine: Dell has released a security patch for a security vulnerability affecting close to 400 different computer models manufactured between 2009 and right now. That’s, uh, a lot of laptops. The vulnerability was discovered by security research…

Privacy & Security Florence Ion May 4

Update to iOS 14.5.1 Right Now or Your iPhone Is a Sitting Duck for Hackers

Apple has rushed out fixes to two major vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS 14.5, last month’s update that implemented its App Tracking Transparency feature. Both bugs could have allowed malicious parties to remotely execute code, possibly leading to the takeover of an affected device. That means you need to update your devices as soon as…

Privacy & Security Tom McKay May 4

Your Old Phone Number Could Get You Hacked, Researchers Say

When you get a new phone number, mobile carriers will often “recycle” your old one—assigning it to a new phone and, therefore, a new customer. Carriers say the reason they do this is to stave off a hypothetical future of “number exhaustion”—a sort of “peak oil” for phone numbers, when every possible number that could…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek May 3

Australia Wants to Teach Basic Cybersecurity to 5-Year-Olds

Australia may become one of the first countries to truly buckle down and prioritize teaching children about online safety. Though kids today are digital natives, they aren’t necessarily taught about all of the dangers that lurk in cyberspace. From a young age, children come to understand that iPads and smartphones are great, that Instagram and…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 30

Why You Should Use a Physical Key to Sign Into Your Accounts

The benefits of two-factor authentication (2FA) are clear: A person trying to get into your accounts will need something else besides your username and password, which makes it more difficult to hack you. That something else is often a code sent via SMS or through an app, but there’s another option: a physical security key. These keys…

Gadgets David Nield Apr 30

60-Member Ransomware Task Force Has a Plan to Crack Down on Ransomware Criminals

A new, Big-Tech-backed coalition is lobbying the Biden administration to more aggressively pursue the threat of ransomware. In a report sent to the White House this week, members of the new group—simply called the Ransomware Task Force—have asked the president and the U.S. intelligence community to prioritize the disruption of cybercriminal networks involved in the…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 29

Signal’s Cellebrite Hack Is Already Causing Grief for the Law

A Maryland defense attorney has decided to challenge the conviction of one of his clients after it was recently discovered that the phone cracking product used in the case, produced by digital forensics firm Cellebrite, has severe cybersecurity flaws that could make it vulnerable to hacking. Ramon Rozas, who has practiced law for 25 years,…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 27

Update Your Mac Right Now to Avoid This Massive Security Bug

If you haven’t already, you should update your Mac right now. A recently patched zero-day vulnerability in macOS operating systems has been allowing hackers to bypass much of Apple’s security protocols and deploy malware on an unknown amount of computers, new research shows. The bug, which was discovered in March by security researcher Cedric Owens,…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 26

Enterprise Password Manager Passwordstate Hacked, Exposing Users’ Passwords for 28 Hours

Passwordstate, the enterprise password manager offered by Australian software developer Click Studios, was hacked earlier this week, exposing the passwords of an undisclosed number of its clients for approximately 28 hours. The hack was carried out through an upgrade feature for the password manager and potentially harvested the passwords of those who carried out upgrades.…

Privacy & Security Jody Serrano Apr 24

A Notorious Ransomware Gang Claims to Have Stolen Apple’s Product Designs

Cybercriminals claim to have stolen blueprints for some of Apple’s newest products and are now attempting to extort the tech giant by threatening to publish the documents online. On Tuesday, the ransomware gang REvil publicly claimed that it had hacked Quanta Computer, a third-party supplier in Taiwan that has partnerships with over a dozen large…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 20

A Geico Data Breach Let Cyber Fraudsters Steal Customers’ Driver’s License Numbers

Car insurance giant Geico has quietly disclosed that a recent security breach allowed cyber thieves to steal customers’ driver’s license information right off the company’s website. The breach was made public Monday after TechCrunch noticed that the company had recently filed a breach notice with the California Attorney General’s Office—as is required by state law.…

Privacy & Security Lucas Ropek Apr 19

U.S. Federal Investigators Are Reportedly Looking Into Codecov Security Breach, Undetected for Months

U.S. federal investigators are purportedly looking into a security breach at Codecov, a platform used to test software code with more 29,000 customers worldwide, Reuters reported on Saturday. The company has confirmed the breach and stated that it went undetected for months. According to Reuters, the breach has affected an unknown number of the company’s…

Privacy & Security Jody Serrano Apr 17

Colonial Pipeline Reportedly Paid Hackers $5 Million for Decryption Key That Wasn’t Very Useful

Senate Cyber Hawk Calls for ‘Criminal Penalties’ for Negligent CEOs After U.S. Pipeline Hack

Gas Is Back: Colonial Opens Up the Corpse Juice Hoses Just as Much of East Coast Runs Out

Wanted: Colonial Pipeline Cybersecurity Manager (No, Really)

Update Windows (and Lots of Other Stuff) ASAP: ‘FragAttack’ Bugs Found Lurking in Millions of Wifi Devices

The U.S. Has Ignored Pipeline Cybersecurity and Now You’re Paying the Price

Hackers Threatening East Coast’s Fuel Supply Claim They’re Not Trying to Cause Anybody Trouble

Google Plans to Automatically Enroll Users In Two-Factor Authentication Soon

You Should Definitely Update Your Dell Computer Right Now

Update to iOS 14.5.1 Right Now or Your iPhone Is a Sitting Duck for Hackers

Your Old Phone Number Could Get You Hacked, Researchers Say

Australia Wants to Teach Basic Cybersecurity to 5-Year-Olds

Why You Should Use a Physical Key to Sign Into Your Accounts

60-Member Ransomware Task Force Has a Plan to Crack Down on Ransomware Criminals

Signal’s Cellebrite Hack Is Already Causing Grief for the Law

Update Your Mac Right Now to Avoid This Massive Security Bug

Enterprise Password Manager Passwordstate Hacked, Exposing Users’ Passwords for 28 Hours

A Notorious Ransomware Gang Claims to Have Stolen Apple’s Product Designs

A Geico Data Breach Let Cyber Fraudsters Steal Customers’ Driver’s License Numbers

U.S. Federal Investigators Are Reportedly Looking Into Codecov Security Breach, Undetected for Months

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