hacking

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/us/politics/iowa-caucus-app.html

“The consensus of all experts who have been thinking about this is unequivocal,” Mr. Blaze added. “Internet and mobile voting should not be used at this time in civil elections.” Any technology, he said, should be tested and retested by the broader cybersecurity community before being publicly introduced, to test for anything ranging from a small bug to a major vulnerability. “I think the most important rule of thumb in introducing technology into voting is be extremely conservative,” he said

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigation/2020/01/29/united-nations-cyber-attack

The UN did not publicly disclose a major hacking attack into its IT systems in Europe – a decision that potentially put staff, other organisations, and individuals at risk

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/22/jeff-bezos-un-calls-for-investigation-into-alleged-saudi-hack

‘Grave concern’ expressed at evidence of possible ‘effort to silence Washington Post’

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusive/exclusive-apple-dropped-plan-for-encrypting-backups-after-fbi-complained-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1CT

More than two years ago, Apple told the FBI that it planned to offer users end-to-end encryption when storing their phone data on iCloud

Under that plan, primarily designed to thwart hackers, Apple would no longer have a key to unlock the encrypted data, meaning it would not be able to turn material over to authorities in a readable form even under court order.

In private talks with Apple soon after, representatives of the FBI’s cyber crime agents and its operational technology division objected to the plan, arguing it would deny them the most effective means for gaining evidence against iPhone-using suspects, the government sources said.

When Apple spoke privately to the FBI about its work on phone security the following year, the end-to-end encryption plan had been dropped

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/12/clinical-lab-pays-hackers-for-the-return-of-data-of-15-million-patients/

Canada’s biggest provider of specialty laboratory testing services said it paid hackers an undisclosed amount for the return of personal data they stole belonging to as many as 15 million customers.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/bmw-and-hyundai-hacked-by-vietnamese-hackers-report-claims/

Many experts have speculated that the Vietnamese government has taken a page out of China’s book and is using hacking groups to carry out economic espionage on foreign companies, stealing intellectual property, and then using it for its state-funded corporations.

China used this strategy to prop its airplane manufacturing sector, and now experts believe Vietnam is doing the same for its fledgling automotive startup VinFast, which started rolling out its first cars out factory lines this year.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/17/tech/epilepsy-strobe-twitter-attack-trnd/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/lifelabs-pays-hackers-to-recover-data-of-15-million-customers/

Data breach took place in early November, and hackers also gained access to 85,000 laboratory test results.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/epg4xm/amazon-ring-camera-security

Ring lacks basic security features, making it easy for hackers to turn the company’s cameras against its customers.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/12/vulnerability-in-fully-patched-android-phones-under-active-attack-by-bank-thieves/

The vulnerability allows malicious apps to masquerade as legitimate apps that targets have already installed and come to trust, researchers from security firm Promon reported in a post. Running under the guise of trusted apps already installed, the malicious apps can then request permissions to carry out sensitive tasks, such as recording audio or video, taking photos, reading text messages or phishing login credentials. Targets who click yes to the request are then compromised