WhatsApp? Eavesdropping. That's WhatsApp.

WhatsApp parent company Facebook has issued a warning about a new vulnerability on its hugely-popular chat app, which could let hackers take control of their device remotely and eavesdrop on your every conversation.

Facebook has warned users about a potential vulnerability within its WhatsApp chat app that allows cyber-criminals to take control of your device remotely. The security flaw could also allow them to eavesdrop on your conversations.

And if that wasn’t worrying enough, all you’d have to do to let the hackers access your handset is watch a single video... This security flaw affects all versions of WhatsApp, from Windows Phone to iOS. It even includes the enterprise-focused WhatsApp Business. That suggests the issue was found in the underlying code that powers all versions of the chat app...

WhatsApp has closed the loophole with the latest updates to WhatsApp. If you haven’t already got automatic app updates set on your smartphone, you should head to your respective app store and download the latest software to make sure you’re sa

According to Facebook, the potential issue only impacts the following versions of WhatsApp:
fe from attack.

• Android versions of WhatsApp before 2.19.274
• iOS versions of WhatsApp before 2.19.100
• Enterprise Client versions of WhatsApp before 2.25.3
• Windows Phone versions of WhatsApp before and including 2.18.368
• Business for Android versions of WhatsApp before 2.19.104
• Business for iOS versions of WhatsApp before 2.19.100

Free Ransomware Decryption Tool

Emsisoft Decryptor for STOP Djvu

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Of course, put all the safeguards in place first so you won't need this tool. ~Kevin

Spying - That's WhatsApp

WhatsApp users are being urged to update their apps, after it emerged that hackers are exploiting a software flaw to wiretap people's phones.

The flaw reportedly allows attackers to install malicious code, known as "spyware", on iPhones and Android phones by ringing up the target device. ​

The code can be transmitted even if the user does not answer the phone and a log of the call often disappears, the Financial Times reported. more

Not sure if WhatsApp is spying on your Android phone? Check here.

FaceTime Bug Lets Callers Hear You Before You Answer

Users have discovered a bug in Apple's FaceTime video-calling application that allows you to hear audio from a person you're calling before they accept the call—a critical bug that could potentially be used as a tool by malicious users to invade the privacy of others.

Apple: "We're aware of this issue, and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week." An hour or two after this post went live, Apple disabled Group FaceTime to mitigate the bug.

The bug requires you to perform a few actions while the phone is ringing, so if the person on the other end picks up quickly, they might not be affected. Knowledge of how to use the bug is already widespread.

The steps include:

• Tap on a contact on your iPhone to start a FaceTime call with them.
• Swipe up and tap "Add Person."
• Instead of adding a new person, enter your own number and add yourself as another participant in the Group FaceTime call. more

Updates: What we have also found is that if the person presses the Power button from the Lock screen, their video is also sent to the caller — unbeknownst to them. In this situation, the receiver can now hear your own audio, but they do not know they are transmitting their audio and video back to you. From their perspective, all they can see is accept and decline. (Another update: It seems there are other ways of triggering the video feed eavesdrop too.) more

Temporary fix. General smartphone security tips.

Your Tax Dollars at Work - An NSA Freebee!

The US National Security Agency will release a free reverse engineering tool at the upcoming RSA security conference that will be held at the start of March, in San Francisco.

The software's name is GHIDRA and in technical terms, is a disassembler, a piece of software that breaks down executable files into assembly code that can then be analyzed by humans.

The NSA developed GHIDRA at the start of the 2000s, and for the past few years, it's been sharing it with other US government agencies that have cyber teams who need to look at the inner workings of malware strains or suspicious software...

In total, the NSA has open-sourced 32 projects as part of its Technology Transfer Program (TTP) so far, and has most recently even opened an official GitHub account. more

Economic Espionage: Hackers X-Ray X-Rays and Other High-Tech Medical Devices

A mysterious hacking group has been spying on the healthcare sector by going as far to infect computers that control X-ray and MRI machines with malware.
Fortunately, sabotage and patient data collection doesn't appear to be a motive behind the hacking. The attackers were probably focused on corporate espionage and studying how the medical software onboard the computers worked, the security firm Symantec said on Monday.

Over the past three years, the hacking group Orangeworm has been secretly delivering the Windows-based malware to about 100 different organizations, said Jon DiMaggio, a security researcher at Symantec. He speculates this may have been done to learn how to pirate the medical software onboard. more

Court: Producers of Spyware Can Be Held Liable

A federal appeals court says the maker of an online spying tool can be sued on accusations of wiretapping. The federal lawsuit was brought by a man whose e-mail and instant messages to a woman were captured by the husband of the woman. That husband used that data as a "battering ram" as part of his 2010 divorce proceedings.

It's the second time in a week that a federal court has ruled in a wiretapping case—in favor of a person whose online communications were intercepted without consent. The other ruling was against Google. A judge ruled that a person not using Gmail who sent e-mail to another person using Gmail had not consented to Gmail's automatic scanning of the e-mail for marketing purposes. Hence, Google could be sued (PDF) for alleged wiretapping violations.

For the moment, the two outcomes are a major victory for privacy. But the reasoning in the lawsuit against the makers of the WebWatcher spy program could have ramifications far beyond the privacy context—and it places liability on the producers of spyware tools. more

Russian Hi-Tech Spy Devices Under Attack Over Privacy Fears

New Russian technologies, including phone call interception and a facial recognition app, have stirred a fierce debate about privacy and data monitoring. 
 
Infowatch, a Moscow-based IT security company managed by businesswoman Natalya Kasperskaya, found itself in hot water last month after it revealed it had invented a system that companies can use to intercept employees' mobile phone conversations...

The goal behind phone call interception, Kasperskaya said, is to provide large businesses with a tool to prevent information leaks, including companies whose success depends on protecting corporate secrets. more

Facebook Has Ears and is Nosey Too

Facebook admits that it “uses your microphone to identify the things you’re listening to or watching, based on the music and TV matches we’re able to identify.”

However, some experts believe that Facebook is not being fully transparent. Once the microphone feature is enabled, Facebook can listen in to your private conversation, even when one is not actively engaging with the app.


The feature listens for particular buzz words, which enable the site to weave the content that appears on news feeds to suit users’ personal interests.

In an NBC report, the feature is tested by Kelli Burns, a professor of Mass Communication at the University of South Florida.

In the experiment, she says aloud with her microphone feature on, “I’m really interested in going on an African safari. I think it’d be wonderful to ride in one of those jeeps.”

When she checked her Facebook newsfeed just 60 seconds later, the first item to appear was a safari story. She then also noticed an advertisement for Jeep vehicles. more

Spy Rumor Mill: Next iPhone iOS may let you know your boss is watching you.

...the next Apple update you get - iOS 9.3 – could see you getting a message on your device, which will tell you if your iPhone is being supervised.

According to the whispers in tech-world, you’ll get a prominent message on your phone, and on your lock screen, if someone is snooping around your business.

A message on the lock screen will say ‘this iPhone is managed by your organization’ and it’ll have something on the About screen which will give you more detail, including text that says your iPhone’s supervisor can monitor your internet traffic and locate your device...

This is most likely to affect people who work for companies that give a number of phones and devices out to their staff, as a company phone... It’ll be utilized on supervised devices set up through Apple’s Device Enrollment Program, and will offer a feature called MDM (or Mobile Device Management). more

Security Director Alert - 46,000 Internet-accessible Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) Hackable

Hackers can log into DVRs from RaySharp and six other vendors using a six-digit hard-coded root password

Up to 46,000 Internet-accessible digital video recorders (DVRs) that are used to monitor and record video streams from surveillance cameras in homes and businesses can easily be taken over by hackers.

According to security researchers from vulnerability intelligence firm Risk Based Security (RBS), all the devices share the same basic vulnerability: They accept a hard-coded, unchangeable password for the highest-privileged user in their software -- the root account.

Using hard-coded passwords and hidden support accounts was a common practice a decade ago, when security did not play a large role in product design and development...

RBS researchers found that they contained a routine to check if the user-supplied username was "root" and the password 519070."If these credentials are supplied, full access is granted to the web interface," the RBS researchers said... (Test it on your DVRs. ~Kevin)

RaySharp claims on its website that it ships over 60,000 DVRs globally every month, but what makes things worse is that it's not only RaySharp branded products that are affected.

The Chinese company also creates digital video recorders and firmware for other companies which then sell those devices around the world under their own brands. The RBS researchers confirmed that at least some of the DVR products from König, Swann Communications, COP-USA, KGUARD Security, Defender (a brand of Circus World Displays) and LOREX Technology, a division of FLIR Systems, contain the same hard-coded root password.

And those are only the confirmed ones. more

Tests Reveal Windows 10 Spying Is Out Of Control

Back in November Microsoft confirmed Windows 10’s worst kept secret: its extensive telemetry (or ‘spying’ as it has been labelled) cannot be stopped. What no-one realized until now, however, is just how staggering the extent of this tracking really is…

Blowing the lid on it this week is Voat user CheesusCrust whose extensive investigation claims Windows 10 contacts Microsoft to report data thousands of times per day. And the kicker? This happens after choosing a custom Windows 10 installation and disabling all three pages of tracking options which are all enabled by default.

The raw numbers come out as follows: in an eight hour period Windows 10 tried to send data back to 51 different Microsoft IP addresses over 5500 times. After 30 hours of use, Windows 10 expanded that data reporting to 113 non-private IP addresses. Being non-private means there is the potential for hackers to intercept this data.

Taking this a step further, the testing was then repeated on another Windows 10 clean installation again with all data tracking options disabled and third party tool DisableWinTracking was also installed which tries to shut down all hidden Windows 10 data reporting attempts. At the end of the 30 hour period Windows 10 had still managed to phone home with data 2758 times to 30 different IP addresses. more

UPDATE 2/12/16 (Another opinion.) - Windows 10 users who might be in a state of panic after reading an alarmist report claiming the OS is "spying" on PCs with thousands of data transfers a day can rest easy. The report was based on comments from a so-called security expert's comments that have since been deleted. more

VoIP Software Used to Eavesdrop

The backdoor could allow agents, employers or third parties to listen in on conversations...

The GCHQ has developed VoIP encryption tools with a built-in backdoor, allowing both authorities and third parties to listen in on conversations.

The backdoor is embedded into the MIKEY-SAKKE encryption protocol and has a 'key escrow' built in, allowing those with authority - whether an employer or government agency - to access it if a warrant or request is made.

The backdoor was uncovered by Dr Steven Murdoch, a security researcher from the University of London, who wrote a blog about the potential snooping tool. more

Your Old Wi-Fi Router May Be Security Screwed

...starting from the day you bought it.
 
The reason: A component maker had included the 2002 version of Allegro’s software with its chipset and hadn’t updated it. Router makers used those chips in more than 10 million devices. The router makers said they didn’t know a later version of Allegro’s software fixed the bug.
 
The router flaw highlights an enduring problem in computer security: Fixing bugs once they have been released into the world is sometimes difficult and often overlooked. The flaw’s creator must develop a fix, or “patch.” Then it often must alert millions of technically unsophisticated users, who have to install the patch.

The chain can break at many points: Patches aren’t distributed. Users aren’t alerted or neglect to apply the patch. Hackers exploit any weak link. more

Criptyque Launches Pryvate™, the First Fully Secure Communications Platform

Criptyque, the secure communications provider, today announced the launch of Pryvate™, the first all-encompassing and fully encrypted communications platform for mobile devices. Pryvate secures communication services across email, voice calls, conference calls, video calls and instant messenger to protect consumers and businesses from cybercriminals, intruders, corporate espionage, hackers and more.

The Pryvate application provides triple-layered security powered by top-of-the-line 4096-bit encryption, with AES 256-bit key management and DH key exchange. It offers truly seamless independent, network agnostic security combined with high quality of service at a low cost.

Initially available on Apple and Google Play stores, the service provides security by generating unique encryption keys on the devices of both users who communicate via the application. Once a key is used, a new key is created for every subsequent interaction and auto renew for every call, IM, message, session etc. Pryvate has no access to users’ encryption keys past, present or future: making it impossible to leak, hack, collaborate or give away keys, which makes all communication through Pryvate totally secure and impervious to hacking. more

Number of Phones Infected by Dendroid Spying App Remains Unknown

An American student who hoped to sell enough malicious software to infect 450,000 Google Android smartphones pleaded guilty to a law meant to prevent hacking of phones and computers...

Infected phones could be remotely controlled by others and used to spy and secretly take pictures without the phone owner's knowledge, as well as to record calls, intercept text messages and otherwise steal information the owners downloaded on the devices...

Morgan Culbertson expected each person who bought Dendroid would be able to infect about 1500 phones with it, or 300,000 and 450,000 phones total. more

Video Game Trade Secret Theft - Next Adventure - Game of War: Anul Stage

A manager at a maker of a popular videogame was arrested last week as he tried to board a plane for Beijing after allegedly stealing trade secrets, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

Jing Zeng, 42 years old, of San Ramon, Calif., allegedly downloaded data on how users interact with Game of War: Fire Age, one of the top-grossing games in Apple Inc.’s App Store. Mr. Zeng was a director of global infrastructure for the game’s maker, Machine Zone Inc...

On his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Zeng says that he left Machine Zone last month.

His current position: “Ready for next adventure.” more

EFF Browser Extension That Blocks Spying Ads Officially Launches

After more than a year of testing, 

the Electronic Frontier Foundation is releasing Privacy Badger 1.0, a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that prevents ads and sites from tracking your activity on the web. The EFF says over a 250,000 users have used the early versions of the extension, following a call for testers last May. So how does it work... more

Brazen Snoop Goes to Digital Extremes for Game Scoop

Lousy security, but “great food.”

That was a parting shot from a snoop who slipped into a London digital gaming company, hung out there for the day, ate a free lunch — then spilled details online about a new game the firm is developing.
The security breach last week at Digital Extremes, the city’s largest gaming company, underlines the perils of the open workplace that sets tech companies apart from many businesses, one observer said.

“This case illustrates the risk for any technology company of having an open environment and how vulnerable they can be to corporate espionage,” independent technology analyst Carmi Levy said. “There is a risk, when a stranger walks into an office, of losing trade secrets . . . They have to prevent that.” more

FREE - Enemy-of-the-State Spyware Detection Tool

via eff.org...
"Detekt is an easy-to-use, open source tool that allows users to check their Windows PCs for signs of infection by surveillance malware that we know is being used by government to spy on activists and journalists.

Some of the software used by states against innocent citizens is widely available on the Internet, while more sophisticated alternatives are made and sold by private companies and sold to governments everywhere from the United States and Europe to Ethiopia and Vietnam.

Detekt makes it easy for at-risk users to check their PCs for possible infection by this spyware, which often goes undetected by existing commercial anti-virus products." (more)