Saturday, June 11, 2016

For my iPhone toting students.  (and my Ethical Hacking students)
Your cell phone number could be hijacked unless you add a PIN to your carrier account
DeRay Mckesson is a widely known activist in the Black Lives Matter movement and a former candidate in the race for mayor of Baltimore.  He’s a high-profile target, and someone finally figured out a way to crack his popular Twitter account—by hijacking his cell phone number, and getting it reassigned to a phone under their control.  This was used to push out a message in his account in support of a candidate who he says represents the antithesis of his beliefs.  Those tweets have since been deleted and Twitter has restored account access to Mckesson.


Gosh, how shocking.
The National Security Agency is researching opportunities to collect foreign intelligence — including the possibility of exploiting internet-connected biomedical devices like pacemakers, according to a senior official.
“We’re looking at it sort of theoretically from a research point of view right now,” Richard Ledgett, the NSA’s deputy director, said at a conference on military technology at Washington’s Newseum on Friday.
Biomedical devices could be a new source of information for the NSA’s data hoards — “maybe a niche kind of thing … a tool in the toolbox,” he said, though he added that there are easier ways to keep track of overseas terrorists and foreign intelligence agents.
When asked if the entire scope of the Internet of Things — billions of interconnected devices — would be “a security nightmare or a signals intelligence bonanza,” he replied, “Both.”
   When the agency is looking to exploit different new devices, the NSA has to prioritize its resources, which are usually focused on the “bad guys’” tech of choice rather than popular gadgets in the U.S., Ledgett explained.
That’s why the NSA wasn’t able to help the FBI crack the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, he said, because the agency hadn’t invested in exploiting that particular model of phone.  “We don’t do every phone, every variation of phone,” he said.  “If we don’t have a bad guy who’s using it, we don’t do that.”


Gotta keep my students current!
6 Tools to Boost Snapchat for Beginners or Pros
The big news in the tech world recently is that Snapchat has more active daily users than Twitter now.  If you ignored Snapchat previously for its notoriety as a sexting app, it’s time to rethink that image and get on board.


This article tells you how to use software you already have on your computer.
How to Easily Create a Stunning Video Using Windows Movie Maker


Saturday, and more silliness.
Hack Education Weekly News
   A must-read on Trump University from Ars Technica: “Trump University and the art of the get-rich seminar.”  Here are some reading suggestions from ProPublica: “The Absolute Best, Most Terrific Reporting on Trump University.”  And the latest on the court case/Trump University scandal: Via NPR: “Texas Governor Linked To Trump University Fraud Case.” See also, via The Texas Tribune: “In Texas, Trump U Shut Down After State Scrutiny.”  Via the AP: “Florida AG asked Trump for donation before nixing fraud case.”
   Via The Hechinger Report: “Some surprising reasons companies are rushing to help their workers get degrees.”
   Via eSchool News: “How hackers held a district hostage for almost $10,000.” Hackers, man. (Related: “Companies Are Stockpiling Bitcoin to Pay Off Cybercriminals.”
   Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google Are Fighting a War for the Classroom,” says Edutechnica, with a look at how many colleges have adopted their competing pseudo-LMSes.

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