Russian Hackers Behind Ukraine Power Outage May Have Sought More Damage The Russia-linked hackers who triggered a power outage in Ukraine back in 2016 may have hoped to cause much more damage, according to a report published recently by U.S.-based industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos. The threat group, which Dragos tracks as Electrum, used a piece of malware named Crashoverride and Industroyer to target industrial control systems… Read More
Interview with CEO of Israeli spyware-maker NSO An Israeli company licenses software around the world that can crack just about any smartphone, but is its use always on the side of good? CEO of Israeli spyware-maker NSO on fighting terror, Khashoggi murder, and Saudi Arabia An Israeli company licenses software around the world that can crack just about any smartphone, but is… Read More
These Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables Will Hijack Your Computer It looks like an Apple lightning cable. It works like an Apple lightning cable. But it will give an attacker a way to remotely tap into your computer. I plugged the Apple lightning cable into my iPod and connected it to my Mac, just as I normally would. My iPod started charging, iTunes detected the… Read More
It’s Surprisingly Easy to Hack the Precision Time Protocol When it comes to synchronizing large and important networks, for instance in the energy or financial sectors, every microsecond counts. Different protocols have been designed and implemented to achieve such precision. One of the most effective approaches is called IEEE 1588-2008 or the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). But while PTP can in theory help networks… Read More
Google goes down after major BGP mishap routes traffic through China Google lost control of several million of its IP addresses for more than an hour on Monday in an event that intermittently made its search and other services unavailable to many users and also caused problems for Spotify and other Google cloud customers. While Google said it had no reason to believe the mishap was… Read More
Google traffic hijacked via tiny Nigerian ISP A large chunk of the hijacked traffic passed through the network of a controversial Chinese state-owned telecom provider that was previously accused of intentionally misdirecting internet traffic. A tiny Nigerian ISP has hijacked internet traffic meant for Google’s data centers. The incident, called a BGP hijack, occurred yesterday, on November 12, between 13:12 and 14:35,… Read More
China has been ‘hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries’ A Chinese state-owned telecommunications company has been ‘hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries,’ according to an academic paper published this week by researchers from the US Naval War College and Tel Aviv University. The culprit is China Telecom, the country’s third-largest telco and internet service provider (ISP), which has had a presence inside… Read More
How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video. Based in Portland, Ore., Elemental made software for compressing massive video files and formatting them for different devices. Its technology had helped stream… Read More
Over a dozen vulnerabilities uncovered in BMW vehicles After 13 months of research, the team discovered 14 vulnerabilities which could place connected cars at risk of compromise. The tests were conducted with BMW’s backing and in laboratory conditions. Impacted vehicles are included in the automaker’s i Series, X1 sDrive, 5 Series, and 7 Series. In total, as documented in Keen Security Lab’s technical… Read More
A flaw in a connected alarm system exposed vehicles to remote hacking Car hacking has become a major focus in the security community in recent years, as more vehicles are hooked up to the cellular internet. But while convenient to control your car from your phone, it’s also opened up new points for attack — which could have real-world consequences. You might not even realize you’re a… Read More