Topics /

Security & Privacy

The most popular blog posts about security & privacy on Hacker News. 292 posts.

2022
181

Scary fraud ensues when ID theft and usury collide

What’s worse than finding out that identity thieves took out a 546 percent interest payday loan in your name? How about a 900 percent interest loan? Or how about not learning of the fraudulent loan until it gets handed off to collection agents? One reader’s nightmare experience spotlights what can happen when ID…

188

Cracking encrypted LastPass vaults

The recent (2022) compromise of Lastpass included email addresses, home addresses, names, and encrypted customer vaults. In this post I will demonstrate how attackers may leverage tools like Hashcat to crack an encrypted vault with a weak password.

190

A Closer Look at the Lapsus$ Data Extortion Group

Microsoft and identity management platform Okta both this week disclosed breaches involving LAPSUS$ , a relatively new cybercrime group that specializes in stealing data from big companies and threatening to publish it unless a ransom demand is paid. Here’s a closer look at LAPSUS$, and some of the low-tech but…

191

Universal's Audible Watermark (2012)

This is my personal blog. The views expressed on this page are mine alone. Update, April 8, 2013: Can you hear it? Take the watermark listening test. Update, January 14, 2015: Check out the results of the listening test. A while ago, I wrote about my confusion regarding Weird Spotify Compression Artifacts. It turns…

192

Using a Canon EOS camera as a webcam in Debian

Learn how to use your Canon EOS camera as a webcam on Debian Linux with secure boot enabled. Step-by-step guide for installing dependencies, signing the v4l2loopback module, and using the camera in applications. Works with many camera brands including Canon, Fuji, HP, Kodak, Nikon, Pentax, Sanyo, and Sony.

197

SIM swapper abducted, beaten, held for ransom

A Florida teenager who served as a lackey for a cybercriminal group that specializes in cryptocurrency thefts was beaten and kidnapped last week by a rival cybercrime gang. The teen’s captives held guns to his head while forcing him to record a video message pleading with his crew to fork over a $200,000 ransom in…

199

When Your Smart ID Card Reader Comes With Malware

Millions of U.S. government employees and contractors have been issued a secure smart ID card that enables physical access to buildings and controlled spaces, and provides access to government computer networks and systems at the cardholder’s appropriate security level. But many government employees aren’t issued an…

203

Your phone may soon replace many of your passwords

Apple , Google and Microsoft announced this week they will soon support an approach to authentication that avoids passwords altogether, and instead requires users to merely unlock their smartphones to sign in to websites or online services. Experts say the changes should help defeat many types of phishing attacks and…