Security News for the Week Ending November 25, 2022
The Great Crypto-Cop Brain Drain
As if things weren’t hard enough for the cops, the ones that have been tracking down the bad crypto apples have discovered the grass is greener on the corporate side – a lot greener. And they are fleeing the government side, making things even harder for the remaining govies. Read the whole story on Wired.
New York Attorneys Required to Take One Hour of Security and Privacy Training Every Two Years
That should handle their security needs. 30 minutes of training a year should teach New York lawyers everything they need to know about security, privacy and protecting your data. If you think, perhaps, this is a bit light, you might want to quiz your attorney on what they do to protect your stuff because, clearly, the bar association doesn’t care about you. Credit: CSO Online
Man Who Cleaned Up Enron Says FTX is a Bigger Mess
If you are one of the more than one million creditors of FTX (meaning if you had an account with some Bitcoin in it), then kiss that money goodbye. To quote the new CEO: Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here … this situation is unprecedented.” Credit: Motherboard
Repair Techs Snoop on And Copy Your Data
Can you trust the repair folks in those big box stores not to snoop on your data? Short answer is no. In a test, researchers instrumented computers and gave them to 16 repair providers. In 6 cases the techs snooped. In 2 cases they copied the data. Most tried to cover their tracks. Given what these stores charge (not much; a competent tech can make $25 to $50 an hour plus overhead plus profit) and most consumers would not go for a $250 to $500 bill to fix their computer. One thing that you can do and it is a bit of a pain, is store ALL of your personal data on a removable disk drive. At least that way you have minimized the theft of compromising pictures or sensitive intellectual property. Credit: Helpnet Security
Tech Support Scam Emails on the Rise
You may have seen emails or gotten phone calls announcing the renewal of some security software like Norton or Microsoft Office for $300 to $500 (which you never owned) and which tells you to contact some random phone number to cancel it within 24 hours or you will be charged. It is a scam and a very effective one, apparently. Do not fall for it. The basics of the scam is that you call them and the get you to download and install remote control software, at which point, they own you. They even ask you to log on to online banking, at which point they capture your credentials. The FBI has details which you can read here, at ZDNet.
by 