Tag: hightech | Page 2

America Has to Make High-Tech Medicine Hack-Proof

May 26, 2021/in Computer Security

The hack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline has most Americans worried about threats to the nation’s computer network. According to a recent survey by Rasmussen Reports, 85 percent of Americans are at least “somewhat concerned” about the safety of the nation’s computer infrastructure.

a person sitting on a bed: A registered nurse cares for COVID-19 patients in a makeshift ICU at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021, in Torrance, California.

© Mario Tama/Getty Images
A registered nurse cares for COVID-19 patients in a makeshift ICU at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021, in Torrance, California.

Their concerns are not idle ones—they exist across vital sectors of the economy. Over the last decade, the health care industry has become increasingly vulnerable to ransomware attacks like the one we’ve just been through in the energy sector. Experts have been raising the alarm but thus far their warning cries have not received the attention they deserve.

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That needs to change. Policymakers need to pay attention as these kinds of attacks become more frequent and more expensive. According to a study conducted by Comparitech, in 2020 alone 92 individual ransomware attacks occurred that cost an estimated $20 billion and affected over 600 separate clinics, hospitals and organizations and more than 18 million patient records.

Health care systems rely more and more on devices that use network-integrated software components. These machines—MRI machines, CT scanners and the like—are a vital part of 21st century health care. We cannot do without them so we must take steps to ensure they cannot be hacked. Unfortunately, despite growing vulnerabilities, hospitals and other providers are allowing cost concerns to create a serious security gap that could further jeopardize the integrity of certain medical devices, as well as health systems more broadly: third-party medical device servicing activities.

Online infrastructure must be protected from hackers who can cause life-saving technologies to crash with the push of a button. These technologies are essential to diagnostic and therapeutic services and for patient care. People literally cannot live without them yet it’s not clear they are being protected, especially when they need to be repaired. Problematically, these vulnerabilities are being studied just as…

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Cellebrite’s high-tech hacking tools used by police are super-easy to hack

April 22, 2021/in Computer Security

You might have heard of Israel-based hackers-for-hire Cellebrite, who create smartphone hacking tools that then get used by law enforcement and government agencies worldwide, as well as repressive regimes and other unsavory characters

Well, it seems that their “security products” have no real security themselves, as outlined in a scathing blog post by Signal’s founder, Moxie Marlinspike.

Signal got hold of a Cellebrite UFED device, and their analysis showed some serious security issues, where “industry-standard exploit mitigation defenses [are] missing,” with multiple opportunities to exploit the device.

You can see some of those hacks in action below, with Signal showing the UFED device showing a benign message from the 90s movie, Hackers, as a proof of concept. In reality, the vulnerability that led to that message could let any payload run on the UFED, potentially corrupting every scan that device had in memory from other smartphones, or even planting faked evidence.

With the vulnerability only needing the UFED to read a file on the device, anyone with the technical know-how could keep a self-destruct file on their device in case it ever ends up in the hands of Cellebrite or any organization/agency that uses their services.

That could go even further, as Phobos Group founder Dan Tentler says this method could be used to infect a government agency, by baiting them into “reading a phone loaded with the exploit,” which would then be transferred to a networked computer to read the files the Cellebrite device pulled off the phone. Yikes.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Biden could be forced to ditch his high-tech exercise bike because of cyber-security risks

January 20, 2021/in Internet Security

Last ride for Joe Biden’s beloved Peloton: New president could be forced to ditch his high-tech exercise bike because of cyber-security risks

President-elect Joe Biden could be forced to give up his Peloton exercise bike
The stationary bike has camera and microphone which could pose security risks
Biden previously said he uses the bike as part of his daily morning workout

By Sam Baker For Mailonline

Published: 07:37 EST, 20 January 2021 | Updated: 07:45 EST, 20 January 2021

Joe Biden could be forced to change his workout routine when he moves into the White House because of potential security concerns over his Peloton bike.

The popular exercise bike connects to the internet and has an in-built microphone and camera that could pose a hack risk, according to Popular Mechanics.

As a result, the Secret Service could force the 78-year-old President-elect to leave behind the bike when he takes up residency in the White House.

Max Kilger, Ph.D., director of the Data Analytics Program and Associate Professor in Practice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told the website: ‘Because you’re connected to the internet, even though there are firewalls and intrusion detection software… those things can be gotten around if you’re really good and skilled.’

Joe Biden (pictured) could be forced to change his workout routine when he moves into the White House because of potential security concerns over his Peloton bike

Kilger moved on to say that if a hacker was able to gain access to the Peloton bike then they could potentially also breach any device connected to it.

He also said that if Biden was determined to keep hold of his exercise bike then the secret service may have to rip out the components that pose the potential security risks.

Although, he said, this then eliminates the attractiveness of the machine.

Peloton exercise bikes are indoor stationary bicycles that cost upward of $1900 each and have smart tablets attached to them which allow owners to connect with other people.