There were lots of scary computer security and privacy stories in the news this week, coinciding nicely with Halloween. We'll start off with an unfortunate new cybersecurity term: killware. This is software whose end result is actual physical harm to human beings, including death. Sadly, this is now a thing. And I don't know about you, but Mark Zuckerberg's vision of the future (the "metaverse") is pretty damn scary, too.
In other news: a hacker seems to have stolen the government identity information for every person in Argentina; a New York Times journalist explains how his iPhone has been hacked multiple times by the NSO Group and what he does to protect himself (and his sources); the FBI, the Secret Service and other "like-minded countries" seem to have finally taken down the REvil ransomware gang for good; Facebook has changed its name to "Meta"; link previews in chat apps can actually cause serious security and privacy problems; Delta Airlines and UK schools are normalizing the use of facial recognition for mundane purposes; your ISP is collecting tons of information about you in the US because we let them; and finally, I demystify and debunk the "dangers" of QR codes.
Article Links
Killware: What You Need to Know https://adamlevin.com/2021/10/15/killware-what-you-need-to-know/Hacker steals government ID database for Argentina’s entire population https://therecord.media/hacker-steals-government-id-database-for-argentinas-entire-population/ NYT journalist describes his iPhone being hacked, and the precautions he now takes https://9to5mac.com/2021/10/25/nyt-journalist-describes-his-iphone-being-hacked-and-the-precautions-he-now-takes/ FBI, others crush REvil using ransomware gang’s favorite tactic against it https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/fbi-others-crush-revil-using-ransomware-gangs-favorite-tactic-against-it/ Facebook changes its name to Meta: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/5-things-mark-zuckerberg-said-about-his-plan-for-metaverse-that-should-make-you-very-worried.html Link Previews in Popular Messaging Apps May Lead to Security Vulnerabilities https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/26/link-previews-may-lead-to-security-vulnerabilities/ Delta Air Lines partners with TSA PreCheck to launch biometrics-based bag drops https://finance.yahoo.com/news/delta-air-lines-partners-tsa-164655619.html UK schools are using facial recognition to take pupils’ lunch money https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22732330/uk-schools-facial-recognition-lunch-payments-north-ayrshire Location Data Firm Got GPS Data From Apps Even When People Opted Out https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dgmqz/huq-location-data-opt-out-no-consent Internet service providers have so much data on you https://www.protocol.com/policy/isp-ftc-data Beware QR Code… Articles: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/beware-qr-code-articles/
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