Today’s Tech Sightings:
FILE – Yui Matusmoto, 4, plays with Edwin the Duck, a digital ‘smart duck’ toy, in the living room of his home in Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2016,.
Consumer Groups Warn Connected Toys Open Bedroom Door to Strangers
The Norwegian Consumer Council and various consumer rights groups in Europe and the United States say Internet-connected toys subject children to hidden marketing messages and let them chat with strangers over their Bluetooth connection. The toys also record conversations and send them to voice recognition service providers without the explicit consent of users. The groups also found that the toys do not authenticate their Bluetooth pairings, meaning any stranger within radio range can detect them and connect.
Phishing-as-a-service Is Making It Easier for Hackers to Steal Your Data
If ransomware-as-a-service isn’t enough to get every crook into the data-hijacking business, there’s a new game in town – phishing-as-a-service. According to a report from Imperva’s Hacker Intelligence Initiative, there is a Phishing-as-a-Service store on the Russian black market that offers beginner scammers a “complete solution” to phishing, including email databases, scam templates and storage for stolen credentials.
Hackers Actively Stealing Wi-Fi Keys From Vulnerable Routers
If you just bought yourself a new Wi-Fi router, it is highly recommended that you change the default password. Hackers are now focused on compromising – and resetting – Wi-Fi keys, according to UK consultants, Pen Test Partners. Customers of UK ISP TalkTalk are among the most vulnerable.
More:
- Dailymotion Admits Hack Exposed Millions of Accounts
- Facebook Is Asking Users’ Help to ID Misleading News
- App Aims to Stop Lasers Being Used to Target Planes
- IBM’s Watson Now Fights Cybercrime in Real World
- Instagram Fights Abuse With Comment Disabling and Liking
- Parents Spend as Much Time on Screens as Teenagers
- Apple Will Try to Address iPhone Battery Issue With Next iOS Update
- How Amazon Plans to Totally Reinvent Grocery Shopping
- Microsoft’s New Zo Chatbot Dodges Politics, but Doesn’t Always Make Sense
- Twitter’s Top Conversations for 2016 Remind Us Just How Much 2016 Sucked
- So, #ThisHappened on Twitter in 2016
