vulnerabilities Archives

Justice Dept. studying national security threats of Internet of Things devices

September 12, 2016 Paul Roberts

Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Justice Department has formed a threat analysis team to study potential national security challenges posed by self-driving cars, medical devices and other Internet-connected tools. The new group’s goal is to secure the so-called “internet of things” from exploitation by “terrorist threats” and by others who might try to hack devices to cause loss of life or achieve political or economic gain, according to Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, head of the Justice Department’s national security division. The impetus for the team, which has been informally active for about six months, was an understanding that the internet is vulnerable to cyber attacks partly because it was not designed with security in mind, Carlin told Reuters, after announcing the group on Thursday at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance conference in Washington. Source: Justice Dept. group studying national security threats of internet-linked devices

After Shadow Brokers, US CERT warns on Supply Chain Security

September 7, 2016 Paul Roberts

In-brief: The Department of Homeland Security is warning companies to pay closer attention to supply chain security in the wake of attacks on networking infrastructure.

FTC warns consumers of rental car data theft risk

August 31, 2016 Paul Roberts

In-brief: The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers to beware of features that allow rental car customers to connect their mobile phone or other devices to in-vehicle infotainment systems. They could result in the leak of sensitive information!

Short Sheet: Researchers Raise Doubts on St. Jude Device Hack

August 30, 2016 Paul Roberts

In-brief: The battle of words over the security of devices by St. Jude Medical continued on Tuesday, as researchers from University of Michigan raised questions about claims that security researchers had actually “crashed” implantable pace makers.

Beware: Targeted Attacks on iPhone Users are a Thing | Lookout Blog

August 26, 2016 Paul Roberts

In-brief: Lookout said it identified an active threat that was using three critical iOS zero-day (that is: previously unknown) vulnerabilities. When exploited, the three vulnerabilities “form an attack chain that subverts even Apple’s strong security environment.”