Hacks, Hacks, Hacks

The increase in data breaches begets data breaches

There are always hacks coming along, but it seems that popular social networks have been getting a lot of it lately. LinkedIn, Tumblr, and even the “Do I still have a site here?” Myspace have had security breaches that are just coming to light. Note that most of the breaches are from several years ago, with the information only now becoming public as the information has started to go on sale online, most likely by the same person. While we don’t yet know how many companies were aware of intrusions before the data went up for sale, it seems fairly coincidentally timed that the European Union General Data Protection Regulation went into effect last week, which among other things requires timely notification to authorities of significant data breaches that affect EU customers.

The first place that users are affected is through the individual sites and any data that is breached from them, but the secondary wave of data insecurity can be just as bad, or worse. LinkedIn may reset all passwords preemptively, for instance, but hackers are well aware that many users don’t vary their passwords if they don’t have to, and that a login at LinkedIn may be just as secure as a login at a bank or health services provider. When the data is exposed for years, the odds of secondary breaches go even higher. Plus, as the Myspace hack illustrates as a punchline – yes, the service still exists, and just because you forgot about it doesn’t mean that it forgot about you. It kept all of your data around for your potential return, which suits hackers that want larger and larger hauls just well. The large amounts of data leaked make it even easier to hack other sites in the future, as it gets increasingly trivial to crack accounts when a more detailed profile of account holders or just plain old heuristic improvement.

The FBI is warning of an extortion scam going around now, with threats of personal information being revealed and leaked unless Bitcoin is used to pay the extortionists. Whether or not you have anything incriminating depends on what you consider incriminating, but these extortionists most likely have nothing at all. Even if they have your accounts, there’s a lot to comb through, and the likelihood of actual thefts is lower than the number of reported accounts breached.

You should be using a password manager, both to make your life easier and to make yourself more secure over the increasing number of websites that ask for personal or identifying information. Wired has a strong case for them, as well as a guide on some free ones that you can use today. Keep yourself safe while still able to enjoy the ease of the web!

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This ‘Demonically Clever’ Backdoor Hides In a Tiny Slice of a Computer Chip

Andy Greenberg, Wired

Of course, it’s hard to secure our accounts when our devices are themselves insecure. In what has to be one of the most devious insecurity hacks ever demonstrated, researchers at the University of Michigan have built and reported on a technique that could allow anyone – even a single employee at a chipmaker – to insert themselves in the printing process of computer chips and create a trigger that would allow them to control an operating system after running some commands on the affected machine. The trigger itself is only a few microns wide, sitting on a single portion of a single chip out of hundreds that work in tandem to make your computer work. Currently there is no reliable testing method to confirm the existence of such a trigger.

If you want to be even more paranoid, see how the top five PC manufacturers (and probably plenty of others) have insecurities in how they handle software updates that could allow bad actors to insert fake updates with malware.

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Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends

Mary Meeker, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Every year since 2001 Mary Meeker has done an analysis on internet trends for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The report is highly anticipated, and the 2016 report has been released this week and can be viewed here. Some of the most notable parts of the report are the slowed growth of the internet and mobile phone sales, and low interest rates contributing to slow economic growth worldwide as well. The report is a must read for economists, marketers, and anyone looking to expand their businesses.

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These Are Each State’s Most Commonly Misspelled Word On Google

Tom Hale, IFL Science

If you live in Florida like me, the word that you were most likely to Google “how to spell” is “tomorrow”. Thankfully I was able to spell that without checking, but maybe it’s harder than I thought and I’d better Google it…

You can also see the most common questions asked by state compared to other states. I used to live in Kansas, and I can attest that “How to make meth?” is a common question. I don’t need to ask “Why does everyone hate Florida?” though, as I’m fully aware of Florida Man.

Thanks to TWIW contributor Lisa for submitting this link. Don’t forget that you can suggest a story here.

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Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft agree to remove hate speech across the EU

Romain Dillet, TechCrunch

The European Commission created an agreement with several major tech firms to help curb hate speech online. Specifically, the goal is to tackle the heavy use of groups like ISIS who use social networks to garner support and gain new followers, both online and for in person attacks. The new agreement involves tackling reports within 24 hours, which will greatly reduce the amount of time offending accounts are active, if handled properly.

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FTC: Different Privacy Rules for ISPs ‘Not Optimal’

Lydia Beyoud, Bloomberg

The FTC is calling on Congress to strengthen privacy protections for internet data for all companies, not just ISPs, as stated in a filing submitted last week. The FTC has vowed to continue protecting consumers and fighting for digital rights despite the Title II reclassification last year in the Open Internet order that put ISPs under FCC control.

The issue that the FTC is highlighting is that while regulations are being placed upon Internet Service Providers, those same regulations don’t affect the larger data gathering entities in the US, such as Facebook and Google. Their argument (and that of affected ISPs) is that the reason for regulation demonstrates that it’s being unevenly applied, and there are other fish to fry.