Tag: Technology Tips

MyFitnessPal User Information Data Breach Affects 150 Million

Another week, another high-profile data breach.  This time, it’s Under Armour in the hot seat.  Under Armour acquired the MyFitnessPal app back in February 2015, and the company recently announced that their new acquisition was hacked in late February 2018.

So far, the company is taking all steps we’ve come to see as usual in these circumstances.  They’ve notified their user base about the scope and scale of the attack, which impacted a hefty 150 million users.  In conjunction with the announcement of the event itself, they assured their users that the theft of data was limited to user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords.

Although the stolen passwords are encrypted with bcrypt (which is a highly secure solution), the company is still recommending that all of the app’s users change their passwords immediately, just to be safe.  Under Armour also assures its MyFitnessPal users that no credit card information was exposed.

In a departure from the routine we’ve come to expect in situations like these, the company is also warning users to be aware that since their emails were stolen, they may be subject to phishing scams in an attempt to get more of their personal information.

That announcement, in part, reads as follows:

“Please note that the email from MyFitnessPal about this issue does not ask you to click on any links or contain attachments and does not request your personal data.  If the email you received about this issue prompts you to click on a link, suggests you download an attachment, or asks you for information, the email was not sent by MyFitnessPal and may be an attempt to steal your personal data.  Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from such suspicious emails.”

While Under Armour’s handling of the incident has been solid so far, one has to wonder how many more of these incidents we’ll see before companies start taking data security more seriously.

Huge Spike in Malware With Mining Capabilities

There’s a new type of hacking attack to be concerned with, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds.  Called “Crypto-Jacking,” it’s a process by which malicious code is placed on websites. When the sites are visited, the code secretly siphons off a portion of the affected user’s PC, laptop, or smartphone’s processing power and uses it to mine for various cryptocurrencies  so that the hackers can profit from it.

Kevin Haley, the Director of Symantec’s Security Response Team, had this to say about the issue:

“Cryptojacking just came out of nowhere.  I think what we’re going to learn in the year to come is when people see the opportunity to take money, they’re going to come up with some really wild ways to do that.”

Based on the statistics the company has been collecting, cryptojacking increased a whopping 8500 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 alone. As the prices of various cryptocurrencies continue to rise, we can expect to see even more of this because it provides the hackers with a hands-free method of gaining tremendous profits with almost no risk or exposure.

Mike Fey, the President and COO of Symantec adds, “Cryptojacking is a rising threat to cyber and personal security.  The massive profit incentive puts people, devices and organizations at risk of unauthorized coin miners siphoning resources from their systems, further motivating criminals to infiltrate everything from home PCs to giant data centers.”

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this new attack vector is how easy it is to pull off.  Even a low-skill hacker with a very limited toolset can manage to insert the handful of lines of code needed to begin siphoning resources.

Unlike most other forms of attack, however, no company data is directly at risk.  What you can expect to see though, are serious performance hit as more of your equipment becomes infected.  It’s not a happy situation given the importance of speed in today’s fast-paced business environment.

High Speed Wireless Coming To Laptops Next Year

If you’re in the market for a new laptop but can milk a little more life out of the one you’ve got, 2019 will be the year to buy.  The reason?  5G.  AT&T is slated to become the first carrier to offer 5G network connectivity to small segments of its customer base this year (starting in Atlanta, Dallas, and Waco, and then slowly spreading to other areas).

While they’ll be the first, it’s not hard to imagine that their competitors will be hot on their heels, and all the major PC and laptop manufacturers are keenly aware of this.  That’s why Microsoft, Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Intel have all announced that the first 5G-enabled PCs will become available sometime in mid to late 2019, in a bid to take advantage of the awesome new capabilities that 5G promises to make a reality.

While Intel missed the 4G opportunity, the company has every intention of being front and center in the 5G revolution.

In fact, the company had this to say when it made its announcement earlier this week:

“Intel is investing deeply across its wireless portfolio and partners to bring 5G-connected mobile PCs to market, with benefits for users like high quality video on-the-go, high-end gaming, and seamless connections as users traverse WiFi and Cellular networks.”

All true, and a widespread 5G network would truly be a game changer.  The problem though, is that 5G has a bit of an image problem.  It has long been considered the Holy Grail of wireless networking, and Intel and other companies have been hyping its many advantages for years.

The difference of course is that now, companies have the technical capabilities to make it all real, and have firm timetables in place for a rollout, neither of which were true in the past. Even so, 5G now has to swim against a bit of a tide of its own making as it draws closer to becoming reality.

Intel Releases New Patch For Spectre Chip Issue

By now, you’ve probably heard more than you ever wanted to hear about the critical Intel security flaw known as “Spectre.”  The flaw is massive in scope and scale, impacting every chip that Intel has released over the past decade, and if exploited, would allow a hacker to take complete control over the vulnerable system.  Needless to say, once discovered, the company got to work right away on a fix for the issue.

Unfortunately, there were problems.  Whatever form the fix ultimately took, it was going to mean a performance hit to any machine receiving the update.  Early estimates were that performance could be degraded by between 17 and 24 percent.

As it turns out, things were worse than expected.  Intel’s first attempt at patching the issue can only be described as a catastrophic failure, causing updated systems to spontaneously reboot multiple times a day and ruining performance.  The problem got so bad that the company formally recommended not installing the patch and waiting for a better one to be developed.

That better patch is now available, and has been extensively tested to avoid the problems that plagued the release of the first patch.  If you’re running a machine that uses Intel’s sixth, seventh, or eighth generation processor (Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, or Skylake), or if you’re using a machine running an X-series processor, you should have already received the update via OEM firmware push.  If not, now is the time to grab it.

While it’s true that we’ve seen worse bugs and flaws than Spectre, this is as bad as anything we’ve seen recently. Given how many Intel-based machines there are out there in the wild, the problem posed by Spectre couldn’t get much bigger.  Don’t leave yourself vulnerable.  Get the update today.

Mi-Cam Baby Monitor Video Feeds Vulnerable To Hacking

Do you have a Mi-Cam in your home?  Even if you don’t have kids, you may have one. They’re a highly popular, inexpensive means of keeping tabs on the comings and goings inside your home when you’re not around.

As with so many such devices these days, users have the option of installing either an Android or iOS app on their phones so they can peek in remotely, any time they like, and therein lies the problem.

It’s no secret that the IoT is filled with “smart” devices that don’t live up to their name when it comes to security, and the Mi-Cam is no exception.  Security researchers have discovered that the communications between the company’s cloud servers where the video feeds live and the smartphones of the product’s user based are not secure.

So far, six different vulnerabilities have been identified, all of them critical. Any one of them would allow a hacker to hijack the window into your video feed and use that to scroll through literally every video feed on the company’s cloud, regardless of who owns it.  All told, that’s more than fifty thousand video feeds, accessible from a single point of entry.

It gets worse.  The attack is trivial to perform, because no SSL certificate is needed.  All that’s required is a copy of either the Android or iOS mobile app.

The manufacturer of the Mi-Cam has been notified of these critical security flaws, but as of now, none have been addressed. The company has not released any information about when they might be.  In light of that, if you have one, your best bet is to simply stop using it until the company can at least employ some rudimentary security protocols.

New Android OS To Improve Lower End Phones

Google has another new product out.  A slimmed down, streamlined version of the Android OS called “Go.”  Unfortunately, it’s release didn’t gather as much press as you’d expect when a new OS is released.  The reason for that is simple.  The new, slimmer, sleeker Android Go was designed for low-end phones with limited storage capacity, which don’t typically get much press either.

Despite the relative lack of fanfare, Android Go is an interesting app that deserves some attention, even if you don’t own a low-end phone.  At first glance, it’s got a lot going for it, although it remains to be seen if users will embrace it and make full use of its capabilities.

The first major noteworthy difference between Go and the standard Android OS is the fact that it doesn’t take up nearly as much space.  Counting the OS itself and the Android default apps, the entire package requires just over 3GB, which is a significant space savings. This makes a real difference on low-end phones, which typically have no more than 8GB of storage to begin with.

Second, it comes with an app called “File Go” that offers users suggestions on files that can be moved to the cloud or safely removed altogether.  Another app known as “Datally” makes tools available to manage how much data other apps on the phone are using, especially helpful for people who have limited data plans.

Third, there’s a special “YouTube Go” version of the standard YouTube app that gives users three different video streaming options: basic, standard, and high quality. This comes with information about how much data each of the three options will eat up.

In addition to those changes, Google has added a special section to its Play Store, highlighting apps that don’t require a lot of space.

Android Go is aimed specifically at users in developing nations, as this is where the highest concentration of low-end smartphones can be found.  As to how successful the new OS will be, only time will tell, but early indications are encouraging.

Another 2.4 Million Users Hacked In Equifax Breach

It looks like it’s going to be another bad month for Equifax.  The company just can’t seem to get out of its own way.

In 2017, the company announced a massive data breach that (it initially claimed) impacted some 140 million users.  Several months after the official announcement, the company was forced to revise the number of impacted users upward, as the forensic investigation into the breach continued.

Now, the company has announced a further upward revision of 2.4 million, bringing the total number of impacted users to slightly more than 148 million.

Equifax CEO Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. had this to say about the announcement, which raised more than a few eyebrows:

“This is not about newly discovered stolen data.  It’s about sifting through the previously identified stolen data, analyzing other information in our databases that was not taken by the attackers, making connections that enabled us to identify additional individuals.”

As it did originally, the company has also announced that it would notify the newly identified consumers and offer them free credit monitoring and identity theft protection at no cost.

After last year’s congressional hearings on the matter, this portion of the announcement tends to illicit eyerolls. The company is in the credit monitoring business, and the way the company offers its “free” protection is that at the end of the free period, it automatically rolls into a paid plan unless the user cancels the service.

Of course, as with most such schemes, a high percentage of users won’t think about it until they get their first bill. One of the more acidic comments made during last year’s hearings was that the company actually seems to be profiting from their own data breach.  That makes the CEO’s statement that “We are committed to regaining the trust of consumers, improving transparency, and enhancing security across our network” ring a bit hollow.

Trustico CEO Leaks HTTPS Certificate Keys Through Email

The CEO of Trustico, a TLS certificate reseller based in the United Kingdom, finds himself at the center of a controversy that raises a number of disturbing questions about browser-trusted security certificates.

The email in question was sent to Jeremy Rowley, an executive Vice President at DigiCert.  The catalyst that prompted the fateful email was that officials at Trustico notified DigiCert that 50,000 certificates originally issued by Symantec and resold by Trustico had been compromised and should be mass revoked due to security concerns.

Mr. Rowley, not wanting to take such drastic action without proof, asked for it.  In response, Trustico’s CEO emailed the private keys of 23,000 certificates, an action which drew shocked reactions from security professionals around the world when news of the email became public.

If you’re not familiar with the inner workings of browser-trusted certificates, there are a few problems here.  First, there’s no good reason why a reseller should have a copy of the private keys to begin with.  Second, even if that were the norm, to simply email them to a third party shows incredibly poor judgement, especially given that there’s no evidence the email in question was encrypted.  Third, customers used Trustico’s website to generate their private keys, which is a service that should never even have been offered.

To make matters even worse, not long after news of the email hit the internet, Trustico’s website went dark, when a security expert posted details about a critical vulnerability on the company’s website.  The flaw resides in a site feature that allows customers to confirm that certificates are properly installed.  Unfortunately, Trustico’s website had been compromised and any time a user would use the feature, the hackers could use the opportunity to run malicious code.  It’s a tangled web, and it paints everyone involved in a very bad light.

Facebook Post Removals May Soon Get An Appeals Process

There are some big changes coming to Facebook, which may have some serious unintended consequences.

In a recent interview, Mark Zuckerberg indicated that he’s considering allowing users to independently appeal to the content moderation team if their posts get taken down for violating various community policies.

On the surface of it, this seems like it would be a good thing. Zuckerberg said that the move is designed to give people in the Facebook communities what they want, rather than reflecting short-term, profit-driven wishes of the shareholders.

It’s a significant change because as of right now, Facebook only allows for appeals if content was removed for violation of copyright laws. In addition, the appeal must be made via a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notification, which makes it a somewhat daunting process.

Zuckerberg describes the new approach as follows: “So maybe the folks at Facebook make the first decision based on the community standards that are outlined, and then people can get a second opinion.  You can imagine some sort of structure, almost like a Supreme Court, that is made up of independent folks who don’t work for Facebook, who ultimately make the final judgement call on what should be acceptable speech in a community that reflects the social norms and values of people all around the world….I think we can build that internally as a first step.”

All of that looks good on paper, but there are some major problems with this approach.

First,  the company will struggle to find enough volunteers to monitor content and appeals to keep pace with demand.  Given the size of Facebook’s footprint on the web, that’s a very real concern. The new, easier appeal policy is certain to cause the number of appeals to explode.

Second, if not done with great care and forethought, it could further polarize the platform. It could lead to the development of more estranged “information silos,” which runs counter to what the company ultimately wants its global network to be.  In addition to that, it could easily lead to a massive backlash against the company.

Time will tell, but the coming months should be interesting indeed.

Microsoft To Help Intel With Security Issues

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard of the “Spectre” and “Meltdown” security flaws that affect every Intel chip produced in the last decade.  Users have been waiting for a fix for both of these since January, when the issues were first discovered.

From the beginning, Microsoft agreed to include the fix for Spectre in its regular software updates but insisted that Intel and PC manufacturers would have to push the Meltdown fix on their own.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of users are still waiting, and in the meantime, untold millions of machines are at risk.  Intel’s first attempt at a fix was so spectacularly bad that the company urged users not to install it until a better fix could be rolled out.

Intel has since released an updated fix, but few users have taken advantage of it so far.  The reason is because most users simply don’t know how.  They’re not aware that they have to go to Intel’s website to manually download and install it, or wait for an OEM push, which could still be months away.

Given this reality and the extreme danger that Spectre poses, Microsoft has reversed course and agreed to make special Windows update releases that include the Spectre fix.  The first such update, KB4090007, is now out and available to users.

There are two important caveats to be aware of, however:

  • These special updates will not be delivered automatically. Users will have to go to the Windows Update Catalog and select the appropriate package, then run it on their computers
  • The updates are available only for Windows 10, version 1709, and Windows Server, version 1709
  • The currently available package (KB4090007) is meant for Intel Skylake CPU owners only. Additional packages will be released over the course of the next few months.