While there is a lot here about the damage done, I would be more concerned that the victim did not disable the accounts (passwords) of the employee who left.
Ticketmaster Pays $10 Million Criminal Fine for Intrusions into Competitor’s Computer Systems
Ticketmaster Used Passwords Unlawfully Retained by a Former Employee of a Competitor to Access Computer Systems in Scheme to “Choke Off” the Victim’s Business
Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Ticketmaster L.L.C. (Ticketmaster or the Company) agreed to pay a $10 million fine to resolve charges that it repeatedly accessed without authorization the computer systems of a competitor. The fine is part of a deferred prosecution agreement that Ticketmaster has entered with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York to resolve a five-count criminal information filed today charging computer intrusion and fraud offenses.
Doorbells is dangerous!
https://threatpost.com/fbi-warn-home-security-devices-swatting/162678/
FBI Warn Hackers are Using Hijacked Home Security Devices for ‘Swatting’
Stolen email passwords are being used to hijack smart home security systems to “swat” unsuspecting users, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned this week. The announcement comes after concerned device manufacturers alerted law enforcement about the issue.
Swatting is a dangerous prank where police are called to a home with a fake emergency.
… By accessing a targeted home security device an attacker can initiate a call for help to authorities and watch remotely as the swat occurs. The FBI points out that by initiating a call for help from the actual security device lends authenticity and anonymity to the hacker.
I can see this type of lawsuit as a can (barrel) of worms waiting to explode. “I think you had a secret security breach, so I’m gonna sue you.” Perhaps an attempt to get paid to go away?
Data Breach Litigation Without a Data Breach? Not So Fast Walmart Says…
The Lavarious Gardiner v. Walmart Inc. et al. case is anything but typical.
As a re-cap, back in July 2020, plaintiff filed a class action complaint against Walmart alleging that Walmart suffered a data breach which they never disclosed. As evidence of the breach, plaintiff presented claims that the personal information associated with his Walmart account had been discovered on the dark web and presented the results of security scans performed on Walmart’s website, which allegedly show certain vulnerabilities.
In other words, plaintiff filed suit on the suspicion that Walmart’s systems had been breached, which Walmart denies.
On December 12, Walmart filed a Motion to Dismiss all plaintiff’s claims, (which include, among others, a claim under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and a claim under California Unfair Competition Law (‘UCL’)) arguing that plaintiff failed to state viable claims. In addition to the specific arguments discussed below for the CCPA and UCL claims, the motion presents several additional arguments, including the allegation that plaintiff “cannot make the requisite showing of cognizable harm.”
“I’ve got nothing to hide!”
Privacy, schmivacy: 2 in 3 Americans don’t care if their smart devices are recording them
Chris Melore reports:
Are the ads popping up in your smart device a little too spot on? Is it an eerie coincidence or are your smartphones and smart speakers listening in on everything you say in private? Privacy issues are a constant concern when it comes to digital technology, but a new survey finds many Americans are simply accepting they may not be alone in their own home. Researchers say two in three U.S. adults “don’t care” if their smart devices are always listening to what they say.
The report by Safety.com finds 66.7 percent of U.S. residents over 18 wouldn’t have a problem finding out a home gadget is listening in on what’s going on inside their home. Researchers polled nearly 1,100 people between the ages of 18 and 64 during December of 2020.
Read more on Study Finds.
Does this reflect a uniform strategy?
Tech Giants Rally Behind WhatsApp in Case Against Pegasus Cyber Surveillance Tools
WhatsApp (and parent company Facebook) has been in a year-long battle against Israeli firm NSO Group over unauthorized use of its cyber surveillance tools on the platform. That case received an injection of support from fellow Silicon Valley firms as Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems among others have filed an amicus brief in support of WhatsApp.
The brief provides expert testimony as to the cybersecurity risks created by allowing such cyber surveillance tools to be used by intelligence and law enforcement agencies on social media and e-commerce platforms. It is filed in counter to NSO Group’s request for sovereign immunity, arguing that setting such a precedent would allow foreign governments to violate United States law and create openings for criminal parties to engage in espionage.
Oh dear, another parental (and congressional?) fear debunked. (again) Of course it may be possible that only hyper-agressive kids play violent video games and therefore no increase is measured.
TEN-YEAR LONG STUDY CONFIRMS NO LINK BETWEEN PLAYING VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AS EARLY AS TEN YEARS OLD AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR LATER IN LIFE
A ten-year longitudinal study published in the Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking on a group in early adolescence from as young as ten years old, investigated how playing violent video games at an early age would translate into adulthood behavior (23 years of age). Titled "Growing Up with Grand Theft Auto: A 10-Year Study of Longitudinal Growth of Violent Video Game Play in Adolescents" the study found no correlation between growing up playing video games and increased levels of aggression ten years later.
For us stay-at-home bloggers.
https://www.bespacific.com/does-working-from-home-make-employees-more-productive/
Does working from home make employees more productive?
The Economist [paywall] – “Yes, according to new research, and they should be paid accordingly. Remote working, relatively uncommon before the pandemic, has gone mainstream. Before covid-19 roughly 5% of Americans worked from home. By May the figure had risen to 62%. By October 40% were still shunning the office. Both employers and employees have grumbled that the shift to home-working has been disruptive. But according to new research by Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington, two doctoral students in economics at Harvard, firms may be better off…” From the paper “Working” Remotely? Selection, Treatment, and the Market Provision of Remote Work:
“Why was remote work so rare prior to Covid-19’s lockdown? One possibility is that working remotely reduces productivity. Another is that remote work attracts unobservably less productive workers. In our setting of call-center workers at a Fortune 500 retailer, two natural experiments reveal positive productivity effects of remote work. When Covid-19 closed down the retailer’s on-site call-centers, a difference-in-difference design suggests the transition from on-site to remote work increased the productivity of formerly on-site workers by 8% to 10% relative to their already remote peers. Similarly, when previously on-site workers took up opportunities to go remote in 2018-2019, their productivity rose by 7%. These two natural experiments also reveal negative selection into remote work. While all workers were remote due to Covid-19, those who were hired into remote jobs were 12% less productive than those hired into on-site jobs. Extending remote opportunities to on-site workers similarly attracted less productive workers to on-site jobs. Our model allows us to characterize the counterfactual in which remote workers were not adversely selected. Without adverse selection, the retailer would have hired 57% more remote workers and worker surplus from remote work would have been 32% greater. Given the central role of selection, Covid-19’s effect on remote work will persist if the lockdown disproportionately causes more productive workers to be willing to work remotely.”
In case you missed one. Really geeky!
https://github.com/louisfb01/Best_AI_paper_2020#2020-a-year-full-of-amazing-ai-papers--a-review
2020: A Year Full of Amazing AI papers- A Review
A curated list of the latest breakthroughs in AI by release date with a clear video explanation, link to a more in-depth article, and code
… The complete reference to each paper is listed at the end of this repository.
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