News in the Hardware category

Command Input Typo Caused Massive AWS S3 Outage

In a postmortem status report, Amazon blamed a command input typo for the massive AWS S3 outage that took out a large chunk of the Internet three days ago.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- March 03, 2017
- 03:45 AM
- 3
Hidden Backdoor Found in Chinese-Made Equipment. Nothing New! Move Along!

Security researchers have discovered a hidden backdoor in the firmware of DblTek GoIP GSM gateways that allows Telnet access to affected devices.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- March 02, 2017
- 01:10 PM
- 0
AWS Goes Down, and So Do Millions of Websites, Apps, and Other Services

Millions of small websites, app backends, and various high-profile services are offline or experiencing severe issues because of a mysterious problem that hit Amazon's S3 (Simple Storage Service) a few hours ago.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 28, 2017
- 03:05 PM
- 1
Malware Uses Blinking Hard Drive LEDs to Transmit Data to Nearby Cameras

Custom-made malware installed on an offline computer can use a hard drive's LED to send out sensitive data from infected computers to nearby cameras.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 23, 2017
- 07:28 AM
- 0
JavaScript Attack Breaks ASLR on 22 CPU Micro-Architectures

Five researchers from the Vrije University in the Netherlands have put together an attack that can be carried out via JavaScript code and break ASLR protection on at least 22 processor micro-architectures from vendors such as Intel, AMD, ARM, Allwinner, Nvidia, and others.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 15, 2017
- 05:43 AM
- 0
Microsoft Employees Explain Why All Windows Drivers Are Dated June 21, 2006

Have you ever noticed that all Windows built-in drivers have the same value in the last update field? Have you wondered why? If you read Windows update logs, it's pretty obvious that Microsoft updates its drivers, so why isn't that date changing?
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 10, 2017
- 01:55 PM
- 5
Vizio Fined for Spying on Users via Smart TVs, Selling User Data Without Consent

Vizio agreed on Monday to pay a fine of $2.2 million after it was caught secretly collecting user data and then selling personal user details to third-parties without the user's explicit consent.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 07, 2017
- 07:07 AM
- 0
A Hacker Just Pwned Over 150,000 Printers Left Exposed Online

A grey-hat hacker going by the name of Stackoverflowin says he's pwned over 150,000 printers that have been left accessible online.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 04, 2017
- 12:20 PM
- 1
New Research Shows Sorry State of Printer Security

Knowing that printers are everywhere and they can leak sensitive information, these devices are precious reconnaissance and pivot points for any hacker trying to breach sensitive enterprise networks.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 01, 2017
- 05:30 PM
- 2
GitLab Goes Down After Employee Deletes the Wrong Folder

GitLab.com, a web service for hosting and syncing source code, similar to GitHub, has gone down last night at around 18:00 ET, January 31, and after 11 hours, at the time of publishing, the website is still down.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- February 01, 2017
- 05:06 AM
- 2
31 Netgear Router Models Affected by Flaw That Exposes Admin Password

Netgear has issued patches that resolve a simple bug in the firmware of 20 different router models that allow an attacker to expose the router's web panel admin password, which they can use to take over the device.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 31, 2017
- 01:05 PM
- 0
HP Recalls 101,000 Laptop Batteries Due to Fire Hazard

HP issued a recall today for 101,000 Panasonic batteries that the company used in various laptop and notebook models, sold between March 2013 and October 2016.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 25, 2017
- 02:52 PM
- 1
Intel CPUs Can Be Pwned via USB Port and Debugging Interface

Attackers with access to a device can take control over a target's computer and bypass all local security systems by abusing a hardware debugging interface included with Intel CPUs, which in recent years has become accessible via an external USB 3.0 port.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 18, 2017
- 10:06 AM
- 2
FTC Takes D-Link to Court Because of Insecure Routers and Cameras

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against D-Link, a Taiwanese hardware manufacturer, for misrepresentations about the security of various devices it sold in the US, and for failing to take action and secure devices when security flaws were reported.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 06, 2017
- 09:31 AM
- 1
Google and Samsung Release Touchscreen-Enabled Chromebook That Runs Android Apps

Today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017, held in Las Vegas, USA, Google together with Samsung will be unveiling the next line of Chromebook laptops that also double as a tablet thanks to its new touchscreen and built-in support for running Android apps.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 05, 2017
- 09:00 AM
- 1
Scientists Turn Memory Chips (RAM) Into Processor (CPU)

A team of researchers from universities in Singapore and Germany have found a way to turn the latest models of RAM memory chips into data processing units and effectively eliminate the need for a CPU.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- January 04, 2017
- 05:00 AM
- 1
Switcher Android Malware Hacks TP-Link Routers, Changes DNS Settings

An Android trojan named Switcher (Trojan.AndroidOS.Switcher) targets Android devices in order to take over local WiFi routers and hijack the web traffic passing through them.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- December 28, 2016
- 08:20 AM
- 0
Android Ransomware Infects LG Smart TV

Security firms have been warning us for more than a year about the possibility of Android malware jumping from phones and tablets to other Android-powered devices, such smart TVs.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- December 28, 2016
- 04:35 AM
- 8
ZyXEL and Netgear Fail to Patch Seven Security Flaws Affecting Their Routers

Router manufacturers such as Netgear and ZyXEL have failed to address seven security flaws reported by security researchers in the last three or more months.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- December 26, 2016
- 08:40 AM
- 2
Netgear Expands List of Vulnerable Routers, Starts Issuing Firmware Updates

Netgear has expanded the list of routers vulnerable to a simple yet dangerous exploit that came to light last week, and which is trivial to weaponize and allows attackers to take control over affected devices.
- Catalin Cimpanu
- December 13, 2016
- 11:55 AM
- 0