Tag Archive for: gave

Hacker Claims T-Mobile’s ‘Awful’ Security Gave Him Access to 50 Million Accounts

/in


Now living in Turkey, hacker John Binns shared with the Wall Street Journal how he breached T-Mobile’s network and gained access to 50 million accounts in July. He didn’t use any sophisticated tools or highly complex methods to breach T-Mobile’s security. Instead, the hack job was made easy because the mobile carrier’s security is lax, claims Binns.

Binns said he could access T-Mobile’s network through an unprotected router in the company’s data center near East Wenatchee, Washington. He discovered the vulnerable piece of hardware using a publicly available scanning tool that he pointed at T-Mobile’s widely known internet addresses.

“I was panicking because I had access to something big,” said Binns to the Wall Street Journal. “Their security is awful.”

Binns is a known hacker who has been perfecting his craft online since 2017 using various online aliases. He shared the details on this T-Mobile hack with the WSJ before the wireless carrier publicly confirmed the intrusion.

Binns declined to confirm whether he was paid to conduct the hack or sold the data he obtained.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said he was “truly sorry” for the intrusion that affected 50 million people. 

“We didn’t live up to the expectations we have for ourselves to protect our customers. Knowing that we failed to prevent this exposure is one of the hardest parts of this event.”

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert via AP

The company confirmed that the hack exposed names, social security numbers, driver’s license information, and more. Over 40 million customers who applied for T-Mobile credit were affected by this breach. Also involved were 7.8 million current T-Mobile subscribers who pay for their service on a monthly basis.

T-Mobile has reached out to those accounts that were compromised in this breach. If you are not sure if your account was involved, you can contact T-Mobile customer service or log into your account.

Those who were not affected should see a banner on their account page that confirms the hacker did not steal their account data.

Source…

Russia hack on FireEye gave them everything they needed

/in


  • Two European security officials discussed the recent hack of the high-profile internet-security firm FireEye, with one telling Insider it was “frustratingly well done.”
  • The sources said the US had briefed its allies in Europe about the hack and determined Russia to be the culprit.
  • One source, a NATO official, described the information obtained in the hack as “useful stuff to the GRU and FSB or just about anyone really.”
  • “The real loss here — other than brutal embarrassment — is the value the Russian hackers gained by seeing inside the best tools used to counter them. Software can be patched, but knowledge cannot,” the NATO official said.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The recent hack of the high-profile internet-security firm FireEye included the theft of powerful hacking tools and has required a concentrated effort by European government services to mitigate damage, according to security officials in Brussels and the Baltics who specialize in counterintelligence operations.


First announced in a blog post by FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia, the hack was described as very sophisticated and was quickly blamed on Russia by US officials briefing journalists in the US.

Two European intelligence officials — one who specializes in countering Russian intelligence operations in the Baltics, the other a military-intelligence officer assigned to NATO headquarters — told Insider the US had determined Russia was behind the hack and had briefed US allies in Europe before Tuesday’s announcement. Neither source would confirm when the first briefing took place because such information could be of value to the hackers, but both said the operation was impressive.


“Frustratingly well done,” the official in Brussels said. “Targeted the very tools used to protect sites from their attacks. And stealing them from a firm considered among the very best at stopping attacks just adds to it.”


Mandia’s blog post described some of the tools apparently captured by Russian government hackers as designed for testing website security by impersonating attacks.


“Useful stuff to the GRU and FSB or just about anyone really,” the official at…

Source…

Twitter says Android security bug gave access to direct messages – TechCrunch

/in
  1. Twitter says Android security bug gave access to direct messages  TechCrunch
  2. Twitter finds security vulnerability in its Android app  CNET
  3. Twitter users urged to update over Android flaw  BBC News
  4. Twitter says security flaw may have exposed Android users’ direct messages  CNBC
  5. Security flaw in Twitter Android app might have exposed Direct Messages  Engadget
  6. View Full Coverage on read more

“android security news” – read more