In 2016, when FBI Director James Comey conducted a question-and-answer session on privacy at Kenyon College , one of his revelations baffled the audience. Comey admitted to covering his laptop’s webcam to ensure privacy, and encouraged others to do the same. Some thought it ironic, coming from a federal agent whose work involved the very infiltration of privacy. In the three years since Comey’s initial warning, the information security landscape has changed dramatically. Not only did a presidential election make Americans think twice about online security threats and the ramifications of hacking in politics, but major breaches at well-respected companies such as Target, Equifax, and Facebook also revealed the impact on our wallets and on our identity. While many can imagine what hackers could want with your personal and account information, it may be harder to discern how your webcam video feeds and sound bites could prove valuable. Hackers can actually use a Remote Access Tool to...

When it comes to data breaches, most people would like to be warned shortly after. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Boost Mobile — a virtual mobile network owned by Sprint — recently announced that it had experienced a security breach almost two months ago. In an announcement, Boost said the breach originally occurred on March 14th. The company went on to add: “Boost.com experienced unauthorized online account activity in which an unauthorized person accessed your account through your Boost phone number and Boost.com PIN code.  The Boost Mobile fraud team discovered the incident and was able to implement a permanent solution to prevent similar unauthorized account activity.” Boost didn’t specify how many accounts were impacted by the breach itself. However, as reported by TechCrunch , the company also notified the California Attorney General . That’s required by law when more than 500 in the state are impacted by a security breach. By using phone numbers and account PINs,...

The Model 650 election machines used in more than half of U.S. states are vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to a report by Ohio’s secretary of state. The high-speed machine is used to count ballots, but an issue in its system could fall victim to election interference. The Model 650, created by Election Systems & Software LLC, is still sold on the company’s website; however, a spokeswoman for Election Systems told the Wall Street Journal that the machines have not been in production since 2007. She also said that the election machines are still fairly difficult to hack into in a “real world environment.” In August, hackers at the Defcon conference discovered flaws many of the election machine systems used across the country and this research was later made into a report. The report said that most of the security issues with the voting machines are at pique vulnerability when a hacker has physical access to the equipment; however, there are still ways to hack them remotely....