Tag Archive for: hacking

Hacking hotels, Google’s AI goof, and cyberflashing • Graham Cluley

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Smashing Security podcast #365: Hacking hotels, Google’s AI goof, and cyberflashingSmashing Security podcast #365: Hacking hotels, Google’s AI goof, and cyberflashing

Security researchers find a way to unlock millions of hotel rooms, the UK introduces cyberflashing laws, and Google’s AI search pushes malware and scams.

All this and much much more is discussed in the latest edition of the “Smashing Security” podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by T-Minus’s Maria Varmazis.

Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.

Hosts:

Graham Cluley – @gcluley
Carole Theriault – @caroletheriault

Guest:

Maria Varmazis – mstdn.social/@varmazis

Episode links:

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Theme tune: “Vinyl Memories” by Mikael Manvelyan.
Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

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US authorities charge seven over Chinese hacking

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The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has unsealed an indictment charging seven Chinese nationals with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, alleging their involvement in the state-backed APT31 hacking group over a 14-year period.

Concurrent with new sanctions issued today by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, APT31 is accused by the Americans of a wide-ranging campaign of espionage furthering the intelligence objectives of the Chinese government.

Those named are Ni Gaobin, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38. All are believed to be located in China, and it is highly unlikely they will face a court.

“Over 10,000 malicious emails, impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents. As alleged in today’s indictment, this prolific global hacking operation – backed by the People’s Republic of China government – targeted journalists, political officials and companies to repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions and steal trade secrets,” said US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco.

“The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue, expose and hold accountable cyber criminals who would undermine democracies and threaten our national security.”

Attorney general Merrick Garland added: “The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses.

“This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies.”

“This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies”
Merrick Garland, US attorney general

The US said it was pulling back the curtain on China’s vast hacking…

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Britain summons Chinese charge d’affaires over alleged cyber hacking, ET Telecom

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LONDON: Britain on Tuesday summoned the charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in London after accusing Chinese state-backed hackers of stealing data from Britain’s elections watchdog and carrying out a surveillance operation against parliamentarians.

Britain said the Chinese hackers stole the voter registration data – mostly names and addresses – of about 40 million people from the Electoral Commission and tried to break into lawmakers’ emails.

“The (Foreign Office) set out the government’s unequivocal condemnation of Chinese state-affiliated organisations and individuals undertaking malicious cyber activity against UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday the government is close to finalising a new foreign influence registration system that would require anyone working undeclared for a foreign country in the so-called “enhanced tier” to declare their activity.

Under Britain’s new National Security Act, individuals, such as lawyers, a public relations company or an undercover spy working for a country in the “enhanced tier” would have to record their activity in a register or face prosecution.

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday that China’s alleged hacking of British democratic institutions meant there was a “strong case” for including the country in the enhanced tier.

China has denied the spying allegations. The Chinese embassy in London said on Monday the claims said the claims were ”completely fabricated” and it will make “a justified and necessary response”.

The British government has previously said it would be inappropriate to call China a “threat” because it is too simplistic to view relations with the world’s second biggest economy through a single word.

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The ELD Hacking Threat: Q&A with Serjon’s Urban Johnson – Safety & Compliance

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ELDs are an easy gateway for hackers to get into a fleet's IT network and do major damage, warns Serjon's Urban Johnson. - HDT Graphic/Serjon headshot

ELDs are an easy gateway for hackers to get into a fleet’s IT network and do major damage, warns Serjon’s Urban Johnson.

HDT Graphic/Serjon headshot


Did you know your fleet’s electronic logging devices may be vulnerable to hackers?

It’s true. Serjon, a cybersecurity firm specializing in fleet transportation security, held a press conference during the Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting in New Orleans in early March. Urban Johnson, senior vice president, information technology and cybersecurity services for Serjon, briefed media on the threats facing fleets with compromised ELDs.

ELDs are essentially communication devices used to record and report truck driver hours of service. Due to certain technical requirements of the regulations, ELDs require the ability to “write” messages to the truck’s network to obtain information, such as engine hours. The ELD also requires internet access to report the HOS information.

This creates a truck network-to internet communication bridge that introduces significant cybersecurity concerns.

We sat down with Johnson to learn more about this new cybersecurity threat to North American fleets and what they can do to protect themselves. (This interview has been lightly edited for clarity)

HDT: Many fleets aren’t aware that ELDs can be hacked. Talk a little about how hackers can gain access to an ELD.

Johnson: Different ELD vendors use different designs to deliver the functionality required by the ELD mandate. A common design is a hardware device that connects to the vehicle’s on-board diagnostics (OBD) port and then uses a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection to a cellular device, such as a tablet or cellphone, to collect the ELD information and report it.

That ELD information can be attacked by hackers locally (close to the truck) or remotely across the internet.

In a recent paper presented at VehicleSec’241, the researchers were able to compromise an ELD device locally by simply connecting to the ELD Wi-Fi connection point, which had a predictable SSID [network name] and a weak default password….

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