Target to Pay $18.5M to States Over Data Breach; Inside Counsel, May 24, 2017

P.J. D'Annunuzio, Inside Counsel; 

Target to Pay $18.5M to States Over Data Breach

"Deterrence was a major theme brought up by many of the attorneys general who released statements about the agreement.

The $18.5 million settlement with the states, coupled with the $10 million consumer class action settlement approved last week, may seem like a drop in the bucket for a retail juggernaut like Target, but according to Lambiras, the deterrent effect lies in the residual legal and public relations costs companies incur following a data breach.

In a statement Tuesday, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said the settlement should serve as a wake-up call to companies to tighten their data security. He also gave kudos to Target for working with authorities after the breach."

Boy, 11, hacks cyber-security audience to give lesson on 'weaponisation' of toys; Agence France-Presse via Guardian, May 16, 2017

Agence France-Presse via Guardian; 

Boy, 11, hacks cyber-security audience to give lesson on 'weaponisation' of toys

"“Most internet-connected things have a Bluetooth functionality ... I basically showed how I could connect to it, and send commands to it, by recording audio and playing the light,” [Reuben Paul] told AFP later.

“IOT home appliances, things that can be used in our everyday lives, our cars, lights refrigerators, everything like this that is connected can be used and weaponised to spy on us or harm us.”

They could be used to steal private information such as passwords, as remote surveillance to spy on kids, or employ GPS to find out where a person is, he said. More chillingly, a toy could say “meet me at this location and I will pick you up”, Reuben said."

WikiLeaks’ latest release of CIA cyber-tools could blow the cover on agency hacking operations; Washington Post, March 31, 2017

Ellen Nakashima, Washington Posr; WikiLeaks’ latest release of CIA cyber-tools could blow the cover on agency hacking operations

"WikiLeaks’ latest disclosure of CIA cyber-tools reveals a technique used by the agency to hide its digital tracks, potentially blowing the cover on current and past hacking operations aimed at gathering intelligence on terrorists and other foreign targets.

The release Friday of the CIA’s “Marble Framework” comes less than a month after the WikiLeaks dumped onto the Internet a trove of files — dubbed “Vault 7” — that described the type of malware and methods the CIA uses to gain access to targets’ phones, computers and other electronic devices...

WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange, has sought to position itself as a champion of transparency and defender of privacy rights. It described the Marble Framework as “the digital equivalent of a specialized CIA tool to place covers over the English language text on U.S. produced weapons systems before giving them to insurgents secretly backed by the CIA.”"

North Korea’s Rising Ambition Seen in Bid to Breach Global Banks; New York Times, March 25, 2017

Paul Mozur and Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times; North Korea’s Rising Ambition Seen in Bid to Breach Global Banks

"The security firm Symantec said it believed that the hackers behind the Poland attack were also behind two other major breaches: the theft of $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh and a 2014 attack on Sony Pictures, which rocked the film industry.

“We found multiple links, which gave us reasonable confidence that it’s the same group behind Bangladesh as the Polish attacks,” said Eric Chien, a researcher at Symantec, which studied both attacks."

Justice Department Announces Charges Against Yahoo Hacking Suspects; Huffington Post, March 15, 2017

Ryan Grenoble, Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post; 

Justice Department Announces Charges Against Yahoo Hacking Suspects

"The suspects face a number of charges, according to the DOJ: conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. The most serious of those charges, conspiring to commit wire fraud, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years."

Russian Espionage Piggybacks on a Cybercriminal’s Hacking; New York Times, March 12, 2017

Michael Schwirtz and Joseph Goldstein, New York Times; 

Russian Espionage Piggybacks on a Cybercriminal’s Hacking

"In the summer of 2014, the F.B.I., together with law enforcement agencies in over half a dozen countries, carried out Operation Tovar, a coordinated attack on Mr. Bogachev’s criminal infrastructure that shut down his network and liberated computers infected with GameOver ZeuS."

Ethics And Hacking: What You Need To Know; Forbes, March 6, 2017

Forbes Technology Council, Forbes; 

Ethics And Hacking: What You Need To Know

"The term hacking gets bandied about a great deal in both the industry and in the media. Some stories carry the image of bored tweens, building skills while bragging about tearing up someone else’s hard work. Other stories talk more about offshore groups using server farms to mass phish for information.

The kinds of damage that hackers can cause is as varied as functions of a computer or device: Lost finances, trade secrets, and files swapped or erased are only the tip of what could be done to a person or company. Sometimes, just being one of the few people aware that different companies are talking to each other about business can mean opportunities for the unethical.

So the question gets raised: Can the arts of hacking be used to improve lives on a broader scale, or is it a purely destructive activity? Below, Forbes Technology Council members weigh in on ethics and hacking."

"Homework Hacked"; Frank and Ernest via GoComics.com, March 3, 2017

Thaves, Frank and Ernest via GoComics.com; "Homework Hacked"

"Putin's Fingerprints", Rob Rogers, February 28, 2017

Rob Rogers; "Putin's Fingerprints"