A freelance security consultant and Handler at SANS Internet Storm Center has discovered a rather interesting exploit in Microsoft Word, one that allows an attacker to abuse the productivity program's ability to auto-update links. This is a feature that is enabled by default—when you add links to external sources like...Read more...
As our world becomes increasingly connected, the risk of exploitation continues to rise. Last October, we wrote of an issue that could become an all-too-common occurrence in the future: exploitation of our emergency systems.
A hot topic in recent years has been exploiting mobile emergency alert systems, which...Read more...
Bitcoin seems to be the currency of choice when it comes to demanding ransoms, and that is because culprits demanding payment can hide behind a pseudonym (Bitcoin itself is not actually anonymous). So it is no surprise that a hacking organization has instructed Apple to fork over a Bitcoin ransom in exchange for not...Read more...
President Donald Trump turned in his much-used Android phone for something more secure (likely a modified Blackberry or iPhone handset), but in case it has not been made clear to this point, he has no intention of giving up Twitter. Trump is the first United States president to tap into social media to the extent that...Read more...
As we've discussed multiple times before here at HotHardware, IoT device makers have largely been unconcerned about security up until this point, which means that way too many devices in use out there in the wild are sitting there unsecured. Samsung's Smartcam is one such device.
After Smartcam's launch, hackers...Read more...
As if hackers do not already have an easy enough time duping Internet users into forking over personal information, it turns out that browser autofill profiles may be helping them out when they're supposed to be making things more convenient for the person who inputted his information. By implementing hidden fields on...Read more...
As unfortunate as it is, it's really hard nowadays to be shocked at the thought of someone getting infected with malware, or even a piece of ransomware (which can now even affect Linux). It is still possible to get shocked though, with Betabot proving it for us. This piece of malicious software doesn't just fetch user...Read more...
More details about a previously disclosed security breach at cloud storage provider Dropbox have come to light. The hack itself is old news—it occurred back in 2012—but what's new is how many users were affected by it. Hackers made off with details belonging to north of 68 million Dropbox users, prompting a mass...Read more...
MICROS, one of the largest point-of-sale payment systems in the world, has been hacked by a Russian organized cybercrime group with a history of hacking into banks and retailers. The full extent of the security breach is still being evaluated, but given the size and scope of MICROS, this could turn out to be another...Read more...
Some people take Grand Theft Auto V a little too seriously, either that or just live that sort of life for real. Houston police officers have just announced that they have arrested two men accused of stealing at least thirty Dodge and Jeep vehicles with a laptop computer and a simple software hack.
Michael Arce...Read more...
For a brief moment, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe experienced a far less threatening version of what Captain Phillips went through when a Somalian pirate commandeered his ship and declared, "I'm the captain now." But instead of guns and a boat, Iribe seemingly lost control of his company when a hacker took control of his...Read more...
It seems impossible for the world to go a single week without a major security breach, so to fill the inevitable void this week is a hacker that goes by the name "thedarkoverlord," who claims to be in possession of a staggering 655,000 healthcare records. Of course, he is looking to sell them off.
This latest...Read more...
We wrote earlier about the kind of success Google has been seeing with its Android bug bounty program -- success that has led the company to actually increase its rewards. Over the years, we've seen other major companies offer bug bounties as well, such as Facebook and Microsoft, so it's clear that they can provide...Read more...
Has it been a long time since you've changed up your passwords? Now is a good time to think about doing so. A hacker or band of hackers obtained the login credentials of 45 million Internet users spread across 1,100 websites and communities, including many major and popular online destinations such as Motorcycle.com...Read more...
It's beginning to look a lot like no website on Earth can be trusted with our important data, as attackers are attracted to any service that has a huge number of users. They're even attracted to websites that seek out attractiveness, apparently, as BeautifulPeople.com has had its mammoth user database stolen. Are you...Read more...
Over the past couple of years, law enforcement at large has ramped up its efforts to try to gain access to communication mediums, which can include being able to browse unlocked smartphones. As it stands today, most jurisdictions do not give a member of law enforcement the ability to gain access to a smartphone...Read more...
A medical center located in Hollywood, California, paid hackers 40 bitcoins worth nearly $17,000 in U.S. currency to decrypt its files that were being held ransom. The ransom amount is far less than the $3.6 million that was being thrown around when news of the security breach went public, but is no less disheartening...Read more...
Could you go a full day without using your PC? It might not be all that difficult on a casual basis, but for workers at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, they've had the challenge of servicing patients without the aid of any computer systems for over a week due to a malware outbreak and subsequent ransom...Read more...
We've all misplaced things—keys, smartphone, USB flash drive—but have you ever lost half a dozen hard drives? Healthcare provider Centene Corporation did and it's currently conducting an "ongoing comprehensive internal search" for the missing HDDs, the company announced this week.
Centene discovered it was six hard...Read more...
Want to feel like the ultimate hacker, like those in the 1995 cinema classic Hackers? Quick: find the nearest Linux PC, boot to the GRUB2 bootloader, and hit Backspace 28 - and only 28 - times. Yes, really.
Hector Marco & Ismael Ripoll, who are researchers for the Cybersecurity Group at the Polytechnic University...Read more...
Rarely does a day pass when we don't write news about something that should reaffirm your belief that security is something to be taken seriously. Whether it's an online game, a retailer, or a bank, we've seen time and time again that no security put in place is bulletproof. That means that we need to do everything we...Read more...
Apple's operating systems might be considered as some of the most secure on the planet, but as has been proven time and time again, nothing is bulletproof. Not even the company's latest iOS build, it seems. ZERODIUM, a firm that rewards those for finding unknown bugs, has just announced that a team has secured its...Read more...