Wednesday, February 13, 2019

A very nasty hack.  How many systems are vulnerable?

Hackers Wipe VFEmail Servers, May Shut Down After Catastrophic Data Loss

Sergiu Gatlan reports:
The U.S. servers of privacy-focused e-mail provider VFEmail were hacked into on February 11 and all the data was destroyed, on both the main and the backup systems.
According to VFEmail’s owner, the hackers did not leave a ransom note and, given the extent of the destruction, the service will most likely go offline to never return.
Read more on BleepingComputer.
VFEmail’s last tweet was yesterday (Feb. 11):
This is all I can do at this time. I will need to get into the datacenter to see if the one file server I caught during formatting can be recovered. If it can, we can restore mail, but most of the infrastructure is lost..
And 9 hours ago, @Havokmon tweeted that yes, VFEmail is effectively gone and likely would not return.
This is both incredibly sad and chilling.


Hacking for fun and profit.

A Closer Look: SEC’s Edgar Hacking Case

Craig A. Newman writes:
Last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged nine defendants with hacking into the agency’s EDGAR system – the online platform used by public companies for making their public filings – and stealing material nonpublic information to use for illegal trading purposes.
While the charges are new, the insider trading scheme goes back years and underscores the challenges faced by U.S. law enforcement and regulatory authorities in pursuing foreign nationals who violate U.S. securities laws.
According to a 43-page complaint filed in federal court in New Jersey, a Ukrainian hacker and six individual traders based in the U.S., the Ukraine and Russia, made off with more than $4.1 million in illegal profits by hacking the EDGAR system and trading in front of market-moving news.
Read more on Data Security Law Blog.


Tools for the hacking kit.


Something to watch.
Saritha Rai reports:
India’s government dealt retail giants Amazon.com and Walmart a devastating blow this year with new policies undermining their growth plans.  Now U.S. social media pioneers Facebook and Twitter are in danger of suffering similar setbacks in what is perhaps the world’s most important emerging technology market.
In the latest skirmish, the government is targeting Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp, the popular messaging service increasingly important to its parent’s bottom line.  Frustrated that the service has been used to incite violence and spread pornography, the government is pressing WhatsApp to allow more official oversight of online discussions, even if that means giving officials access to protected, or encrypted, messages.  Facebook has refused, risking punitive measures or even the possibility of a shutdown in its biggest market.
Read more on Bloomberg.


I’m sure everyone will get out the paint rollers and start doing this immediately.   
You'll Have to Mark Your Drone With an ID Under Anti-Terror Rule
Responding to concerns from law enforcement and security agencies about the potential for concealed explosives, the U.S. government is ordering all civilian drones to add external markings so the owner can be more easily identified.
The regulation, which was posted Tuesday on a preview website for the Federal Register and takes effect Feb. 23, is part of an effort to bring more oversight to the rapidly growing hobby and commercial drone industry.
   The regulation would require drone owners to place their registration number on the outside of their devices. When the FAA first required drone owners to register their aircraft in 2015, it said the number could be placed within the battery compartment.


Perspective.  Towards fully automated vehicles. 
40 countries agree cars must have automatic braking
Forty countries led by Japanand the European Union — but not the U.S. or China — have agreed to require new cars and light commercial vehicles to be equipped with automated braking systems starting as soon as next year, a U.N. agency said Tuesday.
   The measure will apply to vehicles at “low speeds”: 60 kilometers per hour (42 mph) or less, and only affects new cars sold in the markets of signatory countries — so vehicle owners won’t be required to retrofit their cars and trucks already on the roads today.


Why I love lists: Someone took the time to gather useful stuff!  (Only a couple examples)
The Essential Tools for Programmers
This is a list of essential tools and services from my coding workflow that I think should be part of every web programmer’s toolkit.  Whether you a building a simple “Hello World” app or a complex web application, these tools should make your coding easier and increase productivity.
1. devdocs.io — API documentation for all popular programming languages and frameworks.  Includes instant search and works offline too.
10. explainshell.com — Type any Unix command and get a visual explanation of each flag and argument in the command.

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