Nathan Wasson
Nathan grew up with computer hardware news and reviews in the family business and eventually joined the business himself in 2014. He initially joined to make video reviews and help with the podcast, but was soon asked if he would write, and he's been writing about computers ever since. More recently, Nathan has developed a passion for internet privacy, security, and decentralization and likes writing about those topics the most. He spends much of his free time tinkering with Linux distributions, custom Android ROMs, privacy and security tools, and self-hosting solutions. He also started gaming on a PC at a young age and still can't give up Unreal Tournament 2004 and Supreme Commander 2. Beyond computers, Nathan is a car enthusiast and philosophy nerd.
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
Malware campaigns employ different techniques to smuggle malicious software onto computing devices without the notice of users or anti-virus systems. Threat actors who develop and distribute malware frequently rely on various forms of mimicry to take advantage of users’ trust in legitimate websites, services, and...
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In May of last year, Colonial Pipeline was struck by a ransomware attack, prompting the Colonial Pipeline Company to take certain systems offline in an attempt to contain the attack. As a result, all pipeline operations were temporarily halted, shutting off the flow of fuel to the eastern seaboard. Shortly thereafter...
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Google is engaged in a never ending game of cat and mouse with threat actors on its Play Store who employ different techniques to sneak malware-ridden apps onto the app store. We fairly regularly write about newly discovered batches of malicious apps that went unrecognized as such long enough to infect hundreds of...
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Ransomware can be both disruptive and costly for its victims. A recent report found that the total downtime resulting from ransomware attacks in 2021 cost schools a whopping $3.56 billion. The sudden encryption of data on computer systems critical to an organization’s regular operations presents a major problem when...
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Google announced its Privacy Sandbox initiative back in 2019 with the stated goal of changing the online advertising business that supports much of the web to use more privacy-preserving technologies. At present, online advertising relies heavily on third-party cookies that track users’ behavior across different...
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An important distinction in the eternal iPhone versus Android debate is that the iPhone is a specific brand of phone with its own operating system, iOS, while Android is only an operating system that runs on a wide variety of different phone brands and models. That said, Google, the driving force behind Android, does make its own phones and...
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While malware and phishing are two different kinds of cyberattacks, threat actors sometimes use both methods in malicious campaigns. A threat actor known as Roaming Mantis appears to be doing exactly that in a new campaign documented by researchers at the cybersecurity firm SEKOIA. Roaming Mantis has previously...
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Near the end of 2020, Apple introduced a dedicated app privacy section to the App Store, requiring developers to disclose what user information is linked to users’ identities and used to track them. Then, in May of 2021, Google announced that a similar feature was in the works for its Play Store. Almost a year later...
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Ring, the smart home security company acquired by Amazon in 2018 for $1 billion, has a history of raising privacy concerns with its user data practices. Less than a year after Amazon completed its acquisition of Ring, an inside source revealed that the company’s employees had full access to customers’ live video...
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We cover both ransomware and Elden Ring fairly regularly here at HotHardware, but it’s a sad day when those two things meet. The ransomware attacks that often receive the most coverage are those that disrupt major supply lines and infrastructure, raising national security concerns. However, ransomware gangs carry out...
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Phishing attacks employ various methods to trick users into handing over sensitive information, such as login credentials. Over time, as users have become more suspicious and email clients, web browsers, and IT departments have implemented anti-phishing measures, scammers have had to get creative and devise more...
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Earlier this year, we wrote about a vulnerability in Honda’s remote keyless entry (RKE) system that hackers could exploit to lock, unlock, and start certain Honda and Acura vehicles. This particular vulnerability was the result of Honda using fixed codes in its RKE system. Many Honda and Acura key fobs send the same...
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Last year, a hacker who goes by the name “pompompurin” managed to breach a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) web portal and send out thousands of hoax emails from an official FBI email address. Just a couple weeks prior, pompompurin gained unauthorized access to the internal network of the stock trading app...
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Last week, we wrote about spyware that researchers gave the name “Hermit” and attributed to the Italian spyware vendor RCS Labs. Hermit falls within the same class of spyware as NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, which infected at least nine phones belonging to US State Department employees. This sort of spyware is usually...
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We recently wrote about TikTok’s extensive user data collection and an FCC commissioner's letter asking Apple and Google to ban the app from their app stores for violating their privacy policies. While TikTok goes to great lengths to collect user data, there is some small solace in the fact that users can avoid the...
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Last month, a ransomware gang known as ALPHV struck The Allison Inn & Spa, stealing employee and customer data. ALPHV then published this information to the open web, where it could be indexed by search engines and viewed without the use of the Tor network. While the website that presented the data for download wasn’t...
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Earlier this year, multiple US law enforcement agencies completed a joint operation with authorities from the United Kingdom, Europol, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, and Romania. This coordinated police action, dubbed Operation TOURNIQUET, culminated in the seizure of the RaidForums domain names, as well as the arrest of...
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Last month, we wrote about malicious Android apps containing a trojan that researchers have dubbed “SMSFactory.” This bit of malware exists to infect Android phones and conduct SMS billing fraud. SMSFactory uses SMS and phone permissions to regularly send premium text messages and make calls to premium numbers...
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Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine near the beginning of this year, some prominent hacking groups announced that they would be joining the war within the digital realm. The hacking collective Anonymous declared cyberwar against the Russian government and has since been conducting cyberattacks on Russian and...
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TikTok continues to be the subject of many discussions and news stories regarding not only privacy and personal data sovereignty, but also national security. Like so many popular social media and entertainment apps, TikTok collects lots of user data, including usage behavior, for advertising purposes. Detailed...
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A cybersecurity report published last month revealed the passwords most commonly used by business owners and executives, and topping this list were “123456” and “password.” The commonality of such remarkably weak passwords among not just ordinary users, but high-ranking executives of large corporations is almost...
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Malicious software, commonly known as malware, is one of many threats to both cybersecurity and privacy. Cybercriminals can distribute malware to achieve a number of different goals, including siphoning funds from cryptocurrency wallets, stealing login credentials, or establishing botnets. However, cybercriminals...
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