Snapchat Hack
“The Snappening“: Hackers have done a massive online leak of as many as 200,000 photos and videos, some of them nude, captured using photo messaging app Snapchat.
The compromising Snapchat photos and videos are being leaked onto the popular online forum 4Chan. This is the same site that housed the first leaked nude photos of actress Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities.
Hackers were able to collect user photos and videos sent through a third-party app that lets you save Snapchat transmissions. Within the traditional Snapchat app, photos and videos that users send to friends “disappear” after several seconds.
Snapchat takes no responsibility. Listeners should remember to always practice “Safe Tech”
Kmart Credit Card Data Breach Exposes Consumer Information
Kmart was the target in a data breach which exposed the debit and credit card information of customers. Sears Holding Corp. said in a Friday statement it is working with federal agents and a private security firm to investigate the breach of its discount retail subsidiary’s systems.
A covert form of malware infected the chain’s payment data system, exposing consumer data. Sears discovered the breach Thursday, although it took place in early September. Sears removed the malware from their systems. However, this was not before the compromise affected “certain debit and credit card numbers”.
If you’ve shopped Sears or Kmart since September, see your bank for a new debit or credit card.
Dairy Queen Hacked
Dairy Queen reported Thursday that attackers hacked about 400 of its restaurants.
The chain blamed malware called Backoff for the breach, which compromised payment card numbers, customer names and expiration dates for purchases made between August and October 2014.
Dairy Queen is offering “free identity repair services” for a year to any affected customer. Again see your bank for a new card.
Apple reportedly set to hold iPad/iMac/Yosemite event on October 16th at Town Hall
The event will feature updates to Apple’s iPad line, OSX 10.10 Yosemite as well as the new Retina iMacs. Mac mini updates would be nice too.
Apple will likely release Yosemite soon after the event, if historic patterns hold.
U.S Government Has Its Head in the Clouds
As government offices are moving away from keeping paper copies of forms, they’re looking for an efficient way to store data. The government will invest approximately $18.5 billion in cloud computing by 2018. Cloud facilitates the storage and sharing of data between service centers and offices. Of course this makes us all nervous after all of the recent hacks of credit cards and personal information. However, security technology is a big part of the budget.
Look Out for the SandWorm!
Yesterday, researchers uncovered a Windows vulnerability being called “SandWorm“. This impacts all versions of Microsoft Windows. (Picture the giant sand worm in star wars… this is BIG)
The hole was used in Russian cyber-espionage campaign targeting NATO, European Union, Telecommunications and Energy sectors.
Windows has released important updates for all computers. EVERYONE should run their Windows, Java and Adobe programs to close these security holes.
