IoT News: Data from Over 116.5 million Smart Devices Go Here

From rooftop to basement and the bedrooms in between, much of the technology making consumer products smart comes from a little-known Chinese firm, Tuya Inc. of Hangzhou. More than 5,000 brands have incorporated Tuya’s technology in their products... Smart home thermostats. Smart home security cameras. Smart refrigerators. Smart TVs. Smart pet feeders. Smart breast pumps...

Tuya says as of 2020, its services cover more than 1,100 categories, such as healthcare, agriculture and apartment management, and are sold in more than 220 countries and regions globally in over 116.5 million smart devices... including Dutch multinational Philips, and TCL, the Chinese electronics company that makes Roku TV, according to the company. Global retailers Amazon, Target and Walmart sell consumer products that use Tuya’s technology.

Some cybersecurity experts worry about the lack of protection for the consumer data collected by Tuya tech in household items and in products used in health care and hospitality. more

Fax Security Alert: One Picture Worth 1000 Hacks

Security researchers have found a way to remotely execute code on a fax machine by sending a specially crafted document to it. So… who cares about fax? Well apparently a lot of persons are still using it in many institutions, governments and industries, including the healthcare industry, legal, banking and commercial. Bureaucracy and old procedures tend to die hard.

"Our research set out to ask what would happen if an attacker, with merely a phone line at his disposal and equipped with nothing more than his target`s fax number, was able to attack an all-in-one printer by sending a malicious fax to it.

In fact, we found several critical vulnerabilities in all-in-one printers which allowed us to ‘faxploit’ the all-in-one printer and take complete control over it by sending a maliciously crafted fax." more

 

Wanted: Disgruntled Employees to Deploy Ransomware

 via krebsonsecurity.com
Criminal hackers will try almost anything to get inside a profitable enterprise and secure a million-dollar payday from a ransomware infection. Apparently now that includes emailing employees directly and asking them to unleash the malware inside their employer’s network in exchange for a percentage of any ransom amount paid by the victim company.

 

Image: Abnormal Security.

Crane Hassold, director of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security, described what happened after he adopted a fake persona and responded to the proposal in the screenshot above. It offered to pay him 40 percent of a million-dollar ransom demand if he agreed to launch their malware inside his employer’s network.

This particular scammer was fairly chatty, and over the course of five days it emerged that Hassold’s correspondent was forced to change up his initial approach in planning to deploy the DemonWare ransomware strain, which is freely available on GitHub. more

IoT Bug Impacts Millions of Devices - Allows Hackers to Spy on You

Security researchers have discovered a critical vulnerability affecting millions of IoT devices which could allow attackers to spy on you by tapping into real-time camera feeds.

The security issue impacts products from various manufacturers that provide video and surveillance solutions, as well as home automation IoT systems, which are all connected via ThroughTek’s Kalay IoT cloud platform.

American cybersecurity firm Mandiant revealed the CVE-2021-28372 bug after reporting it to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Because the Kalay platform is used by devices from a large number of manufacturers, it is difficult to create a list with the affected brands. Mandiant were unable to determine how many devices are affected, but they warned that more than 83 million users are currently using Kalay. more

An adversary would be able to remotely compromise an IoT device by exploiting the flaw and could compromise device credentials, watch real-time video data, and listen to live audio. more

Russian Spy Ship Loitering Near Trans-Atlantic Internet Cables

The Russian Navy related ship Yantar has turned up off the Atlantic coast of Ireland. An Irish Defence Forces spokesperson said that the Irish Navy is aware of the ship.

The ship carries a range of deep-diving submersibles and sonar systems and has been suspected of operating on undersea cables before.

Yantar took up a stationary position between two undersea internet cables on Tuesday morning. According to AIS (automated identification system) positions collected by MarineTraffic.com, the ship moved into a position between the cables around 4am local time. She has remained there for most of Wednesday before resuming her journey southwest. more

Apple's Double Agent Spy Blows Cover Over Pay

An active member of the Apple jailbreak and leaking community reportedly served as a "double agent" and spied for the Cupertino tech giant's security team.

Andrey Shumeyko, who goes by handles JVHResearch and YRH04E, advertised leaked Apple apps, internal company documents, and stolen devices to a community that traded in such commodities. However, unbeknownst to others in the community, he also shared a wealth of details about its inner workings to Apple.

According to Motherboard, Shumeyko reportedly provided Apple with the personal information of people who sold stolen prototype devices and Apple employees who leaked information online...

Shumeyko said he is sharing his story because he felt like Apple took advantage of him and didn't compensate him for the information that he provided to the company's Global Security team. more

Your Own Personal License Plate Reader

via Theodore Claypoole, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP 

Somewhere along the path between doorbell cameras and anti-tank weapons lies the newest home protection equipment – privately-owned license plate readers. A new company straight out of Y Combinator is offering machine-learning license plate capture technology for your home and office. Flock Safety, a start-up that describes itself in press releases as a crime-solving company, offers for sale TALON, a national network of automatic license plate readers. Anyone can own a node in this network.

Until recently, license plate readers had been the province of law enforcement... more

OK, how much?

The Flock Safety Falcon camera is $2,500 per camera per year, with a one-time $250 installation cost. This price includes everything — installation, maintenance, footage hosting, cellular service, and software updates. The Sparrow camera (a lighter and smaller version of our Falcon camera) costs slightly less with the same basic subscription model. more

Two U.S. Officials in Germany Treated for Havana Syndrome

At least two U.S. officials stationed in Germany sought medical treatment after developing symptoms of the mysterious health complaint known as Havana Syndrome, U.S. diplomats said.

The symptoms, which included nausea, severe headaches, ear pain, fatigue, insomnia and sluggishness, began to emerge in recent months and some victims were left unable to work, the diplomats said. They are the first cases to be reported in a NATO country that hosts U.S. troops and nuclear weapons. more

“Glowworm” Can Eavesdrop via Devices’ Power LEDs

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have demonstrated a novel way to spy on electronic conversations. A new paper released today outlines a novel passive form of the TEMPEST attack called Glowworm, which converts minute fluctuations in the intensity of power LEDs on speakers and USB hubs back into the audio signals that caused those fluctuations.

The Cyber@BGU team—consisting of Ben Nassi, Yaron Pirutin, Tomer Gator, Boris Zadov, and Professor Yuval Elovici—analyzed a broad array of widely used consumer devices including smart speakers, simple PC speakers, and USB hubs. The team found that the devices' power indicator LEDs were generally influenced perceptibly by audio signals fed through the attached speakers.

Although the fluctuations in LED signal strength generally aren't perceptible to the naked eye, they're strong enough to be read with a photodiode coupled to a simple optical telescope... more 

Check out the other eavesdropping hits that have come out of Ben-Gurion University... here

The Philadelphia Experiment Isn't the Only Thing Missing

When one thinks of spy stories, one usually thinks of foreign cites such as Hong Kong or Berlin, but espionage is being committed right here in Philadelphia. Economic espionage occurs in Philadelphia as the city and surrounding suburbs are home to major corporations, major universities, and major defense contractors. Technologically advanced firms, small innovative companies, as well as chemical, critical manufacturing, energy, and public health organizations, are also targeted. more

This Week in Spy News

Germany Arrests British Embassy Worker Suspected of Spying for Russia
Prosecutors accuse the British man of handing over documents to Russian agents for cash, amid growing concerns that Germany is increasingly caught in the cross hairs of international spying. more

A Chinese court has sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage, more than two years after he was first detained. Spavor, a Beijing-based businessman who regularly traveled to North Korea, was sentenced after being found guilty of spying and illegally providing state secrets to foreign countries, the Dandong Intermediate People's Court said in a statement Wednesday. more

Despite a lack of evidence, the National Security Agency will investigate whether the Fox host was illegally targeted. The National Security Agency’s Inspector General Robert Storch has announced a review of whether the agency illegally conducted cyber-espionage and collected the electronic communications of Fox News opinion-show host Tucker Carlson, who has accused the NSA of trying to capture embarrassing information that might lead to him being taken off the air. more

China Sighted by CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency is weighing proposals to create an independent “Mission Center for China” in an escalation of its efforts to gain greater insight into the U.S.’s top strategic rival, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

The proposal, part of a broader review of the agency’s China capabilities by CIA Director William Burns, would elevate the focus on China within the agency, where China has long been part of a broader “Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific.” more

Tips for Closing Hard-to-Delete Online Accounts

 via Consumer Reports

Tips for Deleting Old Accounts

Deleting your old accounts can be a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process. Some guidelines to speed things along...

• Check to see if anyone has figured out the steps. Google “how to delete [company name] account” and you’ll often find instructions. (A step-by-step guide to deleting two dozen common accounts.)
  
• Go to the Settings page first. Companies sometimes put the delete button in settings, account menus, or pages to edit your profile; it varies by company.
• Try the privacy policy. Privacy policies often include instructions, and you can search for words like “account,” “delete,” “close,” or “deletion.”
• Explore the Help menus. If there’s a Help menu or an FAQ section on a website, you can often find deletion instructions there.
• Try customer service. When available, text chats are usually faster than phone calls in my experience.
• Take advantage of privacy laws. California’s privacy law, the CCPA, requires most businesses to let state residents delete data collected from them. Companies don’t have to fulfill a deletion request if you’re not a resident, but some honor requests from anyone. Look for “California” or “CCPA” in privacy policies for details.
• Don’t forget the accounts you’ve forgotten. You may have registered for accounts years ago that have slipped your mind. A whole article with detailed instructions on how to find them. Some tips to get started: Google your email address and old usernames; check for saved log-ins in your web browser or password manager; search your email inbox for old “welcome” messages. Try variations on phrases like “welcome to,” “new account,” “password,” or “confirm your email.” more
  

The NSA's Wireless Device Best Practices

Telework has become an essential component of business, and many people are teleworking from home or during travel. While the owners of home networks can take steps to secure those networks, it can be difficult to ensure public networks (e.g., conference or hotel Wi-Fi®) are secure. Protecting personal and corporate data is essential at all times, but especially when teleworking in public settings.

This infosheet gives National Security System (NSS), Department of Defense (DoD), and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) users the best practices for securing devices when conducting business in public settings. It describes how to identify potentially vulnerable connections and protect common wireless technologies, and lists steps users can take to help secure their devices and data. 

While these best practices cannot ensure data and devices are fully protected, they do provide protective measures users can employ to improve their cybersecurity and reduce their risks. more

Florida Surveillance Techs Charged With Video Voyeurism

Palm Beach, FL
Police have arrested video surveillance technician Jeremy Dale Lewis for video voyeurism after a nearly year-long investigation... 

A second suspect, Michael Reilly, is also facing a charge of video voyeurism. Police said Reilly, who also worked for Ask the Advisors, watched more than 600 live and archived videos over a five-day period in July 2020 of a woman undressing in her dressing room, and of a couple having sex...

This incident follows a high-profile case that saw an ADT technician receive a 52-month jail sentence for doing essentially the same thing. more