Hacks & Hackers

Wyndham Settles with FTC Over String of Data Breaches

In-brief: The Federal Trade Commission announced that it has reached a deal with Wyndham Hotels stemming from a string of data breaches that resulted in some $10 million in fraudulent charges. The hotel chain agreed to improve its information security practices. 

Toymaker Hack Highlights Dark Side of Tech Industry’s Data Obsession

In-brief: The hack of VTech, a maker of technology products for children, has exposed sensitive data on hundreds of thousands of children, the company acknowledged this week. Also exposed: the toy industry’s growing and unregulated appetite for information on the children who play with their toys.

Experian: EMV Chips Won’t Stop Payment Breaches

In-brief: Experian, the credit monitoring firm, predicts in a new report that many merchants will continue to suffer payment-related breaches in 2016, despite the shift to EMV technology from older, magnetic stripe credit cards. 

Super Cookies, Web Analytics Behind Malicious Profiling

In-brief: FireEye is warning about a sophisticated campaign of online surveillance that combines web “super cookies” and common analytics software to target individuals with links to international diplomacy, the Russian government and the energy sector.

Firm Puzzled by Body Cams Infected with Malware

In-brief: a California company that makes wearable cameras that are used by law enforcement and the military said a report that it shipped cameras infected with the Conficker virus were “distressing,” but that it was unable to locate the malware on its devices or within its environment.