Security

One of the strangest moments at the Black Hat USA security conference in Las Vegas this month has now become the subject of a federal lawsuit against the conference. ARS TECHNICA This story originally appeared on Ars Technica, a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews, and more. Ars is owned by WIRED's parent company, Condé Nast. In a filing to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (PDF), attorneys for the "emerging digital cryptography" firm Crown Sterling alleged that Black Hat USA had breached "its sponsorship agreement with Crown Sterling and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing arising therefrom." Crown Sterling goes on to accuse the conference organizers of "other wrongful conduct" connected to events surrounding the presentation of a paper by Crown Sterling CEO and founder Robert E. Grant. In addition to legally targeting the conference, Crown Sterling has also filed suit against 10 "Doe" … [Read more...] about Alleged ‘Snake Oil’ Crypto Firm Sues Over Boos at Black Hat

We learn in email 101 that hyperlinks from unfamiliar senders are breeding grounds for scams. Microsoft has warned against clicking on foreign links for decades. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has repeatedly cautioned Americans to be wary of malware and phishing expeditions. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) alerted consumers to a new cyber threat it dubbed “smishing”—targeting consumers with deceptive text, or SMS, messages—and urged consumers to “never click links, reply to text messages or call numbers you don't recognize.” WIRED OPINION ABOUT David Vladeck was the Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection from 2009 to 2012 and is currently the A.B. Chettle, Jr., Chair in Civil Procedure at Georgetown Law School. He sits on the Board of Directors of the National Consumer Law Center. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau apparently skipped these lessons. Despite many warnings, the … [Read more...] about The Consumer Bureau’s Reckless Plan for Debt Collection

The threat actor behind the coordinated ransomware attack against multiple Texas local governments may have gained access to its computer systems via a third-party software provider. According to NPR, which first reported the development, the attackers want a collective ransom of $2.5 million. So far, there are no indications the amount has been paid. Hard Fork Summit is coming Join us in Amsterdam on October 15-17 Find out more On August 20, the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) said as many as 23 state-run services — including police departments and libraries — had been had been affected by file-encrypting malware. Though very little is known about the attack’s origin or the strain of ransomware used, the agency revised the count to 22 two days later. The news comes as ransomware attacks are becoming highly targeted, with criminals devising sneakier ways to inject malicious code into computer networks in hopes that companies and … [Read more...] about Hackers behind Texas ransomware attacks want $2.5 million

The bitter fight against robocalls has raged for years, but today it gets a boost from significant players: attorneys general from all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, working in concert with a dozen major telecoms, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Comcast. The group has collectively agreed to a set of anti-robocalling "principles," which comprise both technical steps phone carriers can implement and expanded law enforcement efforts. Combined, the steps could drastically reduce robocalls to US consumers. "This agreement brings phone service providers on board as critical allies in our fight against illegal robocalls,” Ohio attorney general Dave Yost said in a press release. "By adopting these commonsense business practices, service providers will reinforce our ongoing efforts to crack down on this growing nuisance." "Part of this is just getting to a point where if you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself." Harold Feld, Public Knowledge … [Read more...] about The Fight Against Robocalls Gets Powerful New Allies

The 2020 United States Census will be the first to request a majority of Americans to respond online. The benefits are obvious. A digitized census is more efficient than the 230-year-old paper method, streamlining the processing of individual data for a population that has increased nearly a hundredfold since 1790, to 330 million. But connecting the country’s biggest and most important questionnaire to the internet also creates vulnerabilities to hacks. And what could be the most popular census survey station is also an underfunded and maliciously targeted American institution: the public library (and its computers). WIRED OPINION ABOUT Leeza Garber is a cybersecurity and privacy attorney and Drexel University’s Kline School of Law adjunct law professor specializing in information privacy. The Census Bureau is aware of digitization risks (and expenses, with cost projections upwards of $15 billion, including an IT budget). The bureau has responded to cybersecurity concerns … [Read more...] about Shh! No Hacking the Census in the Library