Tag Archive for: Monitors

Woman throws computer monitors, scanners in outburst at airport ticket counter


Things got turbulent — well before takeoff.

A woman was caught on cellphone video going ballistic at a Mexico City International Airport ticket counter Tuesday when a Volaris airline employee informed her there was an issue with her flight reservation.

“A passenger reacted violently when she was notified that she had to complete the purchase of her flight,” Volaris said in a statement to The Post on Thursday.

“Apparently the lady had tried to make the payment with several credit cards without success, causing our fraud prevention system to issue a security alert.”

María Guadalupe, 56, is being accused of damaging equipment as well as disturbing the peace for allegedly slamming four computer monitors and four handheld barcode scanners to the ground, the Daily Mail reports.


María Guadalupe was taken into police custody.
María Guadalupe was taken into police custody.
Twitter / @MiguelElBlacky

Woman goes berserk at Mexican airport ticket counter
Guadalupe is accused of destroying equipment at a ticket counter at the Mexico City International Airport.
Twitter / @MiguelElBlacky

Auxiliary Police agents placed Guadalupe in custody, according to Volaris, which noted “a reparation agreement was reached for the damages.”

The Post contacted representatives for the airport and the police for comment.

The situation apparently took off when Guadalupe allegedly asked a Volaris worker for a refund.

“If you don’t want to, don’t give me the money back. I don’t give a f—k. But that’s going to cost you,” the woman shouted in Spanish at an agent as she stood atop the airline’s baggage scale.

“Don’t give it to me. But you pay for that.”

The woman can be seen throwing computer monitors and barcode scanners to the ground.


María Guadalupe destroyed a ticket counter at Mexico City International Airport.
Cellphone footage captured the equipment damage.
Twitter / @MiguelElBlacky

In its statement, Volaris said its “ambassadors on site activated the corresponding security protocol with the support of the airport authority.”

The airline called the woman’s behavior “erratic and unfortunate.”

“For Volaris, the safety of its customers is of the utmost importance,” the airline’s statement read.

“For this reason, Volaris works closely with the authorities to permanently…

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Hacking baby monitors can be child’s play: Here’s how to stay safe


Make sure that the device that’s supposed to help you keep tabs on your little one isn’t itself a privacy and security risk

We’ve probably all read horror stories online: a parent is woken in the middle of the night by strange noises coming from their child’s bedroom. They open the door, only to find a stranger “talking” to their baby through the monitor. While rare, such cases do happen from time to time.

Smart technology has provided us with numerous ways to keeping our houses safe(r), from smart locks and doorbells to home security cameras. But when gadgets are fitted with computing power and internet connectivity, they also become a target for remote hackers.

Fortunately, a few best practices can help to provide peace of mind that your baby monitor will be doing its job, and not the bidding of a stranger, and doesn’t itself become a security and privacy risk.

How can hackers hijack baby monitors?

Why would anyone want to hijack a baby monitor? Some are just looking to play a prank. Others may have more voyeuristic aims in mind. And some may even be looking to steal personal information overheard on the monitor, or confirming the house is empty so it can be burgled.

Whatever the reason, there are two main ways to hack a baby monitor. They depend on the kind of monitor it is:

Radio frequency monitors require an eavesdropper to be within range of the signal and know the frequency it is using. Both this, and the fact that most leading products of this type use encrypted communications, make these models a safer bet overall, albeit with more limited functionality.

Wi-Fi monitors are more exposed to hacking because they connect to the home router and, often, out to the public internet. The latter support functionality which allows parents to view the video feed via a mobile app, wherever they are. While this could provide peace-of-mind when out and about, it also opens the door to remote hackers, who might be scouring the web looking for unsecured cameras to hijack.

Even devices that don’t offer this functionality could theoretically be hacked if…

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New security tech monitors power use for warning signs of cyberattacks


'We can protect anything that consumes power'
A small box collects data on power use for analysis by AI software. Credit: University of Waterloo

Researchers have developed new technology to protect governments, businesses and other organizations from cyberattacks by monitoring for unusual power consumption.

The technology combines a small piece of hardware to collect data with artificial intelligence (AI) software that can determine if power usage in a system is inconsistent with known, predictable patterns. If so, the AI sends an alert to security officials within the organization that its infrastructure might be under attack by hackers or malicious ransomware stealing or locking crucial information.

“If suddenly, for instance, several machines exhibit a similar pattern of high-power usage in specific patterns, we would raise an alert that there might be spreading crypto-ransomware in the network,” said Sebastian Fischmeister, an engineering and computer science professor at the University of Waterloo.

The research team and spinoff company Palitronica Inc. are now testing the technology—which is designed to complement, not replace, existing security controls such as network intrusion detection—in several Ontario municipalities, with a dozen more interested in participating.

“Ransomware and malware are serious threats to municipal governments,” said Jamie McGarvey, the mayor of Parry Sound and president of the Association of Municipalities Ontario. “We have seen an alarming increase in attacks and are encouraged that the University of Waterloo, the security company Palitronica, and the federal government are working with municipalities to improve municipal IT infrastructure systems.”

Fischmeister said the concept at the core of the technology, which is far less vulnerable to tampering since it sits outside the monitored system, means it has a wide variety of potential applications.

“It could be used to protect network equipment and computers, but also water supply, 5G infrastructure, trains and airplanes—we can protect anything that…

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Smashing Security #111: When rivals hack, and ‘extreme’ baby monitors

Smashing Security #111: When rivals hack, and 'extreme' baby monitors

Why a business spat resulted in Liberia falling off the internet, how the US Government shutdown is impacting website security, and the perplexing world of extreme IoT devices.

All this and much more is discussed in the latest edition of the award-winning “Smashing Security” podcast by computer security veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by special guest Zoë Rose.

Graham Cluley