LockyDump Tool Helps Track Ransomware Configurations and Variants
The group behind the Locky ransomware has continued to update and improve the malware its distributing, and security researchers have been racing to keep up with the changes. The Talos research team at Cisco is part of that effort and the group has released a new tool that can dump all of the configuration information […]
Congress Wants Answers on Yahoo Email Scanning
Nearly 50 members of Congress are demanding information from the director of national intelligence about the email scanning order that the Department of Justice reportedly delivered to Yahoo last year. The order, which was revealed earlier this month in stories by Reuters, reportedly required the company to create a system that would inspect all incoming emails […]
DHS Warns Mirai Malware is Targeting Sierra Wireless Gateways
DHS is warning users that the Mirai malware is infecting wireless gateways sold by Sierra Wireless and using the compromised devices as part of a botnet for DDoS attacks. The Mirai malware has been targeting a variety of embedded devices, especially CCTV cameras, that have default telnet credentials enabled and compromising them. The attackers deploying […]
Pork Explosion Backdoor Found in Some Android Bootloaders
A security researcher has uncovered a debugging feature left in some Android firmware images on devices assembled by Foxconn that essentially serves as a fully functioning backdoor that can be exploited in as little as five seconds. Researcher Jon Sawyer found the backdoor in a bootloader that Foxconn provides on some of the Android phones it […]
FTC Charges Three in $9M Phone Fraud Ring
The FTC has shut down a phone fraud scam that involved scammers calling consumers–mostly elderly and on fixed incomes–and pressuring them to invest in web sites that supposedly had ties to large companies, promising quick returns. The scheme allegedly netted the scammers more than $9 million. The scheme involved six companies that the FTC alleges were […]
The Infowar Shaping the Election
Depending upon your definition of the word, this presidential campaign cycle has included perhaps more surprises than any other in recent memory. Leaked videos, tax returns, and other data dumps have turned the 2016 campaign into the first to be defined by a modern information war. Political campaigns by their very nature always have been […]
On the Wire Podcast: Cindy Cohn
Few people have been more deeply involved in the fight to protect strong encryption than Cindy Cohn. Beginning in the early 1990s when she was brought in as an outside counsel to help the EFF in the Bernstein v. Department of Justice case, and extending through the current conflict between law enforcement and technology vendors over […]
Vera Bradley Reveals Data Breach at Retail Stores
Vera Bradley, the maker of women’s handbags and accessories, said attackers compromised its payment processing system and were able to steal card data for customers who used cards in the company’s stores from the end of July through late September. The data breach doesn’t affect cards that were used online and the company hasn’t specified […]
Signal Adds Expiring Messages to Encrypted Chats
The steady march toward greater use of encryption and increased privacy in mobile communications has taken another step forward with Signal, the encrypted messaging app, introducing disappearing messages. The newest version of Signal for both iOS and Android, as well as the desktop app, include the feature, which enables users to set timers for when […]