Julianne Pepitone | Vox

U.S., China Reach Cyber-Espionage ‘Common Understanding’

2019-03-06T06:02:51-05:00

The United States and China have agreed not to “conduct or knowingly support” cyber theft of intellectual property or commercial trade secrets, the presidents of both countries announced Friday in an address at the White House Rose Garden.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose arrival in the U.S. this week marked his first-ever visit as president, jointly led the press conference with President Obama. Despite mounting reports of cyber attacks on U.S. entities being linked to China, the nation has repeatedly denied involvement in such hacks.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

IRS: Hackers May Have Stolen Tax Information for Additional 224,000

2019-03-06T05:33:26-05:00

The Internal Revenue Service revealed Monday that criminals potentially accessed tax information for a total of 338,000 taxpayers — triple the amount feared when the breach was first disclosed in May.

The IRS had originally said that hackers potentially accessed information for 114,000 taxpayers via an online system. The agency did a further review and issued a statement Monday adding 224,000 more victims to the list of those whose information was potentially accessed.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Anthem Hack: Credit Monitoring Won’t Catch Medical Identity Theft

2019-03-06T04:56:04-05:00

Health insurer Anthem is offering free credit monitoring after a major breach that may have affected as many as 80 million records, but customers should watch out for an especially insidious type of fraud: Medical identity theft.

Anthem disclosed the hack late Wednesday, saying customer information that could have been compromised includes names, Social Security numbers, street addresses — and the medical ID numbers found on customers’ health insurance cards.

Criminals can use those numbers at hospitals, emergency rooms and pharmacies to receive care and prescriptions, racking up charges and wrecking victims’ medical records.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Cyborgs Among Us: “Biohackers” Embed Chips in Their Bodies

2019-03-06T05:50:20-05:00

In tattoo parlors and basements around the world, people are turning themselves into cyborgs by embedding magnets and computer chips directly into their bodies.

They call themselves biohackers, cyborgs and grinders. With each piece of technology they put beneath their skin, they are exploring the boundaries — and the implications — of fusing man and machine.

Welcome to the world of biohacking.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

“Creepware” Hacker Sting Nets 97 Worldwide

2019-03-06T05:47:30-05:00

Law enforcement officials around the globe have arrested 97 people for alleged connection with the malicious software Blackshades — also known as “creepware” because it can allow hackers to spy on users’ computer activity and even take over full control of their machines.

The European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust), which led the two-day sting, announced the arrests on Monday. During the two-day operation, officials searched 359 houses and seized 1,100 devices — along with cash, illegal weapons and drugs.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Startup Hires “Fake” Mandela Sign-Language Interpreter for Bizarre Ad

2019-03-06T05:46:46-05:00

An Israeli startup’s new ad features the “fake” sign-language interpreter from Nelson Mandela’s memorial service — and the company says it pulled him out of a psychiatric hospital to film it.

The commercial featuring Thamsanqa Jantjie is a stunt from Tel Aviv-based Livelens, which recently raised $2 million for its social livestreaming app.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

#MyNYPD: Why It’s Impossible to Control Online Conversation

2019-03-06T05:45:52-05:00

The failed #MyNYPD Twitter campaign is the latest example of a big organization attempting to rustle up goodwill, only to find that the open nature of social media makes it impossible to control the conversation.

The New York City Police Department’s nightmare began Tuesday with a request from its official Twitter account.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Target Hack to Hit the Big Screen in Sony Movie Deal

2019-03-06T06:11:37-05:00

Cyber criminals! SWAT teams! Twelve-gauge shotguns! The life of the cyber security blogger who exposed the major Target data breach in December has all the makings of a thriller — and that’s exactly what Sony Pictures plans to develop.

Sony has bought the rights to an article about the blogger, Brian Krebs, that the New York Times published in February, according to the The Hollywood Reporter. Sony reportedly plans to make a “cyber-thriller” that is “set in the high-stakes international criminal world of cyber-crime.”

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Hackers Mount Denial-of-Service Attack With Computer Clock Tool

2019-03-06T05:42:05-05:00

Hackers used a weakness in the Internet system that sets the time on computers’ clocks in order to overload a victim’s servers with traffic, in what is reportedly the largest-ever such cyberattack.

The common hacking method is called a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, in which Web services receive so much traffic that they either slow down or crash.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Jetsons Age Beckons, but Opinion Split on Driverless Cars, Drones

2019-03-06T05:42:04-05:00

A Tomorrowland-like future would be fine with plenty of Americans, according to a new survey, even as they fret about hackers and cybersleuths sniffing around their personal data.

A new study from tech company Intel shows American opinion is split on whether “smart cities” are indeed a smart idea — but the half who are on board are willing to trade some privacy for a more wired future. Intel, which is working on smart-city technology, surveyed 12,000 respondents in eight countries last summer. The company’s report released Tuesday broke out responses for Americans in particular.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.