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.
[See also: http://responster.com/blog/snapchat-guide
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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