The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

UK Police Accessed Civilian Data 1283 times for Fun and Profit, New Report Says

Posted on by Robin Edgar

More than 800 UK police staff inappropriately accessed personal information between June 2011 and December 2015, according to a report from activist group Big Brother Watch. The report says some police staff used their access to a growing trove of police data, which includes personal information on civilians, for entertainment and personal and financial gain. Read more about UK Police Accessed Civilian Data 1283 times for Fun and Profit, New Report Says[…]

Former Lottery Security Director hacked random-number generator to rig lotteries, investigators say

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For several years, Eddie Tipton, the former security director of the US Multi-State Lottery Association, installed software code that allowed him to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year, investigators allege. The random-number generators had been erased, but new forensic evidence has revealed how the hack was apparently done. […] The number generator Read more about Former Lottery Security Director hacked random-number generator to rig lotteries, investigators say[…]

Evidence mounting that DNA matching is more of an art than a science due partly to proprietary algorhythms

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Dror and Hampikian gave the DNA evidence to 17 lab technicians for examination, withholding context about the case to ensure unbiased results. All of the techs were experienced, with an average of nine years in the field. Dror and Hampikian asked them to determine whether the mixture included DNA from the defendant. In 2011, the Read more about Evidence mounting that DNA matching is more of an art than a science due partly to proprietary algorhythms[…]

Foscam, QNAP, Swann send data to iotcplatform.com and others without knowledge or consent

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Imagine buying an internet-enabled surveillance camera, network attached storage device, or home automation gizmo, only to find that it secretly and constantly phones home to a vast peer-to-peer (P2P) network run by the Chinese manufacturer of the hardware. Now imagine that the geek gear you bought doesn’t actually let you block this P2P communication without Read more about Foscam, QNAP, Swann send data to iotcplatform.com and others without knowledge or consent[…]

Eyefi To Brick Its Older Wi-Fi Cards, And Photographers Aren’t Happy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you’re a photographer shooting with Eyefi’s older generation Wi-Fi memory cards, here’s something you should know: your card will soon become more or less useless. Just days after announcing that it had sold its cloud services to Ricoh, Eyefi sent out an email to customers this week, informing them that older X1 and X2 Read more about Eyefi To Brick Its Older Wi-Fi Cards, And Photographers Aren’t Happy[…]

You can now browse through 427 million stolen MySpace passwords

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An anonymous hacker managed to obtain an enormous number of user credentials in June 2013 from fallen social networking giant MySpace — some 427 million passwords, belonging to approx. 360 million users. In May 2016, a person started selling that database of passwords on the dark web. Now, the entire database is available online for Read more about You can now browse through 427 million stolen MySpace passwords[…]

Acer leaks payment cards in e-store hack

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The PC maker has started writing to customers [PDF] warning that their personal records were siphoned off from its online store by crooks between May 12, 2015 and April 28, 2016. Acer did not say how many customers had their details swiped. The lost data includes customer names, addresses, card numbers, and three-digit security verification Read more about Acer leaks payment cards in e-store hack[…]

Buy one of 70K hacked servers from $6, get control kit with it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers have uncovered an underground marketplace selling information on over 70,000 compromised servers based around the globe. Russia-based Kaspersky Lab has revealed today that the online forum, named xDedic, seems to be operated by a Russian-speaking organisation and allows hackers to pay for undetectable access to a wide range of servers, including those owned by Read more about Buy one of 70K hacked servers from $6, get control kit with it[…]

BadTunnel Bug Hijacks All Network Traffic, for All Windows Versions

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The research of Yang Yu, founder of Tencent’s Xuanwu Lab, has helped Microsoft patch a severe security issue in its implementation of the NetBIOS protocol that affected all Windows versions ever released. Yu says an attacker could leverage this vulnerability to pass as a WPAD or ISATAP server and redirect all the victim’s network traffic Read more about BadTunnel Bug Hijacks All Network Traffic, for All Windows Versions[…]

Happiness equation: New equation reveals how other people’s fortunes affect our happiness

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new equation, showing how our happiness depends not only on what happens to us but also how this compares to other people, has been developed by UCL researchers funded by Wellcome. The team developed an equation to predict happiness in 2014, highlighting the importance of expectations, and the new updated equation also takes into Read more about Happiness equation: New equation reveals how other people’s fortunes affect our happiness[…]

TeLeScope can decrypt your TLS traffic realtime if on a hypervised machine (which most people are nowadays)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Bitdefender vulnerability researcher Radu Caragea presented today at the Hack In The Box Amsterdam conference a novel way to extract TLS keys from virtual machines, using an out-of-guest approach. The new technique works to detect the creation of TLS session keys in memory as the virtual machine is running. The presentation covers a novel technique Read more about TeLeScope can decrypt your TLS traffic realtime if on a hypervised machine (which most people are nowadays)[…]

Citigroup Is Suing AT&T For Using the Word ‘Thanks’ Because Citi Trademarked Thankyou

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in 2010, the US Patent and Trademark Office granted Citigroup a trademark for “thankyou,” which the company uses for credit card services. Today the company is suing AT&T over its own use of the terms “thanks” and “thanks AT&T.” Check the date, because this isn’t April Fool’s. Source: Citigroup Is Suing AT&T For Using Read more about Citigroup Is Suing AT&T For Using the Word ‘Thanks’ Because Citi Trademarked Thankyou[…]

Gawker Ordered To Pay Hulk Hogan $115 Million In Sex Tape Lawsuit – wait, how much?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a closely watched trial by the media community, shortly after 7pm on Friday night, and less than six hours after starting deliberations, the jury sided with ex-pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and awarded him $115 million in his sex tape lawsuit against Gawker Media. The trial lasted two weeks. The award consists of $55 million Read more about Gawker Ordered To Pay Hulk Hogan $115 Million In Sex Tape Lawsuit – wait, how much?[…]

Have Your iPhone 6 Repaired, Only To Get It Bricked By Apple

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In case you had a problem with the fingerprint sensor or some other small defect on your iPhone 6 and had it repaired by a non-official (read: cheaper) shop, you may be in for a nasty surprise: error 53. What happens is that during an OS update or re-install the software checks the internal hardware Read more about Have Your iPhone 6 Repaired, Only To Get It Bricked By Apple[…]

Hundreds of VerticalScope forums hacked, leaking 45 million user accounts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

the database shows email addresses, passwords that were hashed and salted passwords with MD5 (an algorithm that nowadays is easy to crack), as well as a user’s IP address (which in some cases can determine location), and the site that the record was taken from. Source: Exclusive: Hundreds of forums hacked, leaking millions of users’ Read more about Hundreds of VerticalScope forums hacked, leaking 45 million user accounts[…]

Chinese loan sharks seek salacious selfies as collateral

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The selfies are accepted as collateral for loans up to 15,000 yuan – about US$2,200 – on a whopping 30 per cent rate of interest per week. That may, however, have to do with translation: China Daily says the interest rate is 30 per cent per year. As well as the selfies, borrowers had to Read more about Chinese loan sharks seek salacious selfies as collateral[…]

Tesla Suspension Breakage: It’s Not The Crime, It’s The Coverup – Slashdot

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You find a fault in a Tesla. You ask for repairs. Tesla comes back offering 50% of the repair price, but only if you promise to not tell anyone about the problem you found! This offer, to repair a defective part in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement, is unheard of in the auto industry. More Read more about Tesla Suspension Breakage: It’s Not The Crime, It’s The Coverup – Slashdot[…]

Humanity will only buy 47 smartphones per SECOND in 2016

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last year we bought 44 per second, but growth has slowed so its frowning time […] Prognostication-producers Gartner reckon the disappointing start to 2016 will continue for smartphone makers, with the year to end a mere seven per cent ahead of 2015. If it’s accurate, that would translate to 1.5 billion units for the year Read more about Humanity will only buy 47 smartphones per SECOND in 2016[…]