Day: April 5, 2020

Amazon says it fired a guy for breaking pandemic rules. Same guy who organized a staff protest over a lack of coronavirus protection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Monday, Amazon fired Chris Smalls, a worker at its Staten Island, New York, warehouse, who had organized a protest demanding more protection for workers amid the coronavirus outbreak. Smalls, in a statement, said, “Amazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our Read more about Amazon says it fired a guy for breaking pandemic rules. Same guy who organized a staff protest over a lack of coronavirus protection[…]

A Feature on Zoom Secretly Displayed Data From People’s LinkedIn Profiles

Posted on by Robin Edgar

But what many people may not know is that, until Thursday, a data-mining feature on Zoom allowed some participants to surreptitiously have access to LinkedIn profile data about other users — without Zoom asking for their permission during the meeting or even notifying them that someone else was snooping on them. The undisclosed data mining Read more about A Feature on Zoom Secretly Displayed Data From People’s LinkedIn Profiles[…]

A hacker has wiped, defaced more than 15,000 Elasticsearch servers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the past two weeks, a hacker has been breaking into Elasticsearch servers that have been left open on the internet without a password and attempting to wipe their content, while also leaving the name of a cyber-security firm behind, trying to divert blame. According to security researcher John Wethington, one of the people who Read more about A hacker has wiped, defaced more than 15,000 Elasticsearch servers[…]

Zoom’s Flawed Encryption Linked to China

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Meetings on Zoom, the increasingly popular video conferencing service, are encrypted using an algorithm with serious, well-known weaknesses, and sometimes using keys issued by servers in China, even when meeting participants are all in North America, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. The researchers also found that Zoom protects video and audio content Read more about Zoom’s Flawed Encryption Linked to China[…]

Thousands of recorded Zoom Video Calls Left Exposed on Open Web

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Thousands of personal Zoom videos have been left viewable on the open Web, highlighting the privacy risks to millions of Americans as they shift many of their personal interactions to video calls in an age of social distancing. From a report: Many of the videos appear to have been recorded through Zoom’s software and saved Read more about Thousands of recorded Zoom Video Calls Left Exposed on Open Web[…]

Zoom Bombings Started Off as Pranks. Now Someone Could End Up Dead

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For those unaware, Zoom officially has a porn problem. The multibillion-dollar video messaging mainstay among employees at Johnson & Johnson and the Department of Homeland Security—not to mention a household name among currently house-bound citizens across the country—has been rocked by story after story of pranksters popping into video meetings with clips of graphic porn Read more about Zoom Bombings Started Off as Pranks. Now Someone Could End Up Dead[…]

NSO Group: Facebook tried to license our spyware to snoop on its own addicts – the same spyware it’s suing us over

Posted on by Robin Edgar

NSO Group – sued by Facebook for developing Pegasus spyware that targeted WhatsApp users – this week claimed Facebook tried to license the very same surveillance software to snoop on its own social-media addicts. The Israeli spyware maker’s CEO Shalev Hulio alleged in a statement [PDF] to a US federal district court that in 2017 Read more about NSO Group: Facebook tried to license our spyware to snoop on its own addicts – the same spyware it’s suing us over[…]

SpaceX loses its third Starship prototype during a cryogenic test

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This week, SpaceX workers in South Texas loaded the third full-scale Starship prototype—SN3—onto a test stand ​at the company’s Boca Chica launch site. On Wednesday night, they pressure-tested the vehicle at ambient temperature with nitrogen, and SN3 performed fine. On Thursday night SpaceX began cryo-testing the vehicle, which means it was loaded again with nitrogen, Read more about SpaceX loses its third Starship prototype during a cryogenic test[…]

A Hacker Found a Way to Take Over Any Apple Webcam

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple patched the vulnerabilities in January and March updates. But before the fixes, all a victim would have needed to do is click one malicious link and an attacker would have been able to spy on them remotely. “Safari encourages users to save their preferences for site permissions, like whether to trust Skype with microphone Read more about A Hacker Found a Way to Take Over Any Apple Webcam[…]

Pandemic Shutdowns Will Help the Economy, Too

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A study by economists Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck and Emil Verner suggests that the best way to save your economy is to save your people. The authors looked at the economic impact of the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 on different U.S. cities. They concluded that the earlier, more forcefully and longer cities responded, the Read more about Pandemic Shutdowns Will Help the Economy, Too[…]