Search results for hack your device | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Do you own an Amazon Echo? So are you also worried about hackers turning out your device into a covert listening device? Just relax, if there's no NSA, no CIA or none of your above-skilled friends after you. Since yesterday there have been several reports on Amazon Echo hack that could allow a hacker to turn your smart speaker into a covert listening device, but users don’t need to worry because the hack is not simple, requires physical access to the device and does not work on all devices, as well. Amazon Echo is an always-listening voice-activated smart home speaker that is designed to play music, set alarms, answer questions via the Alexa voice assistant, and control connected smart home devices like WeMo, Hive and Nest. Hack Turns Amazon Echo Into Spying Device (But It's Complex) Now researchers from MWR InfoSecurity have demonstrated a hack, showing how hackers can exploit a vulnerability in some models of Amazon Echo to turn them into covert listening d...

Apple has been asked to comply with a federal court order to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5C by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino mass shootings that killed 14 and injured 24 in December. The FBI knows that it can not bypass the encryption on the iPhone, but it very well knows that Apple can make a way out that could help them try more than 10 PINs on the dead shooter's iPhone without getting the device's data self-destructed. Although Apple refused to comply with the court order and has always claimed its inability to unlock phones anymore, the FBI so cleverly proved that Apple does have a technical way to help feds access data on a locked iOS device. And this is the first time when Apple has not denied that it can not unlock iPhones, rather it simply refused to build the FBI a Backdoor  for the iPhone, in an attempt to maintain its users trust. So, now we know that Apple is not doing so, but it has the ability to do so. Now, when you know ...

Your smartphone is your daily companion. The chances are that most of our activities rely on them, from ordering food to booking medical appointments. However, the threat landscape always reminds us how vulnerable smartphones can be.  Consider the recent  discovery by Oversecured , a security startup. These experts observed the dynamic code loading and its potential dangers. Why is this a problem? Well, the Google app uses code that does not come integrated with the app itself. Okay, this might sound confusing, but it all works in favor of optimizing certain processes. Thus, Google exploits code libraries pre-installed on Android phones to reduce their download size. In fact, many Android apps use this trick to optimize the storage space needed to run.  As revealed by Oversecured, perpetrators could compromise this retrieval of code from libraries. Instead of Google obtaining code from a reliable source, it could be tricked into taking code from malicious apps operatin...

Setting a passcode on your iPhone is the first line of defense to help prevent other people from accessing your device. However, it's pretty easy for anyone to access your personal photographs and contacts from your iPhone running iOS 9 in just 30 seconds or less, even with a passcode and/or Touch ID enabled. Just yesterday, the Security firm Zerodium announced a Huge Bug Bounty of 1 Million Dollars for finding out zero-day exploits and jailbreak for iPhones and iPads running iOS 9. Now... A hacker has found a new and quite simple method of bypassing the security of a locked iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) running Apple's latest iOS 9 operating system that could allow you to access the device's photos and contacts in 30 seconds or less. Yes, the passcode on any iOS device running iOS 9.0 is possible to bypass using the benevolent nature of Apple’s personal assistant Siri. Here's the List of Steps to Bypass Passcode: You need to follow...

Hacking Facebook account is one of the major queries on the Internet today. It's hard to find — how to hack Facebook account or facebook messenger, but researchers found a way that can allow someone to hack Facebook account passwords with only the target's phone number and some resources. Yes, your Facebook profile can be hacked, no matter how strong your password is or how much extra security measures you have taken. No joke! Hackers with resources to exploit SS7 network can hack your Facebook login and all they need is your phone number. The weaknesses in the part of global telecom network SS7 that not only let hackers and spy agencies listen to personal phone calls and intercept SMSes on a potentially massive scale but also let them hijack social media accounts to which you have provided your phone number. SS7 or Signalling System Number 7 is a cell phone signaling protocol that is being used by more than 800 telecommunication operators worldwide to exchange i...

More than a Billion of Android devices are at risk of a severe vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that could be exploited by any malicious application to gain root access on the device. Security experts at Trend Micro are warning Android users of some severe programming blunders in Qualcomm's kernel-level Snapdragon code that if exploited, can be used by attackers for gaining root access and taking full control of your device. Gaining root access on a device is a matter of concern, as it grants attackers access to admin level capabilities, allowing them to turn your device against you to snap your pictures, and snoop on your personal data including accounts’ passwords, emails, messages and photos. The company’s own website notes that Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs (systems on a chip) power more than a Billion smart devices, including many Internet of Things (IoTs) as of today. Thus, the issue puts many people at risk of being attacked. Although Google has pus...

Wi-Fi enabled devices — widely known as the Internet of Things (IoT) — are populating offices and homes in greater and greater numbers. From smartphones to connected printers and even coffee makers, most of these IoT devices have good intentions and can connect to your company's network without a problem. However, as the Internet of Things (IoT) devices are growing at a great pace, they continue to widen the attack surface at the same time, giving attackers a large number of entry points to affect you some or the other way. The attackers can use your smart devices to gain backdoor entry to your network, giving them the capability to steal sensitive data, such as your personal information, along with a multitude of other malicious acts. An interesting attack scenario has recently been demonstrated by one of the renowned hackers, Jayson Street , who said all it is needed is to walk around with the right device to get into someone's device. Before we jump into the te...

Hey Android users! I am quite sure that you must be syncing your Smartphone with your PCs for transferring files and generating backup of your device.  If your system is running a windows operating system, then it’s a bad news for you. Researchers have discovered a new piece of windows malware that attempts to install mobile banking malware on Android devices while syncing. Last year in the month of February, Kaspersky Lab revealed an Android malware that could infect your computer when connected to Smartphone or tablets.   Recently, Researchers at Symantec antivirus firm discovered another interesting windows malware called ‘ Trojan . Droidpak ’, that drops a malicious DLL in the computer system and then downloads a configuration file from the following remote server: http://xia2.dy[REMOVED]s-web.com/iconfig.txt The Windows Trojan then parses this configuration file and download a malicious APK (an Android application) from the following locatio...

Your device's lock screen PIN is believed to keep your phone's contents safe from others, but sadly not from a new piece of ransomware that is capable of hijacking safety of your Android devices . A group of security researchers has uncovered what is believed to be the first real example of malware that is capable to reset the PIN code on a device and permanently lock the owner out of their own smartphone or tablet. This Android PIN-locking ransomware, identified as Android/Lockerpin.A , changes the infected device's lock screen PIN code and leaves victims with a locked mobile screen, demanding for a $500 (€450) ransom . Here's the Kicker: Since the lock screen PIN is reset randomly, so even paying the ransom amount won't give you back your device access, because even the attackers don't know the changed PIN code of your device , security researchers at Bratislava-based antivirus firm ESET warn . LockerPIN , as dubbed by the researchers,...

You need to be more careful next time while leaving your computer unattended at your office, as it cost hackers just $5 and only 30 seconds to hack into any computer. Well-known hardware hacker Samy Kamkar has once again devised a cheap exploit tool, this time that takes just 30 seconds to install a privacy-invading backdoor into your computer, even if it is locked with a strong password. Dubbed PoisonTap , the new exploit tool runs freely available software on a tiny $5/£4 Raspberry Pi Zero microcomputer, which is attached to a USB adapter. The attack works even if the targeted computer is password-protected if a browser is left open in the computer's background. All an attacker need is to plug the nasty device in the target computer and wait. Here's How PoisonTap works: Once plugged into a Windows or Mac computer via USB port, the tiny device starts impersonating a new ethernet connection. Even if the victim's device is connected to a WiFi network, Poi...

How to Hack a Facebook Account? That's possibly the most frequently asked question on the Internet today. Though the solution is hard to find, a white hat hacker has just proven how easy it is to hack multiple Facebook accounts with some basic computer skills. Your Facebook account can be hacked, no matter how strong your password is or how much extra security measures you have taken. No joke! Gurkirat Singh from California recently discovered a loophole in Facebook's password reset mechanism that could have given hackers complete access to the victim's Facebook account, allowing them to view message conversations and payment card details, post anything and do whatever the real account holder can. The attack vector is simple, though the execution is quite difficult. The issue, Gurkirat ( @GurkiratSpeca ) says, actually resides in the way Facebook allows you to reset your password. The social network uses an algorithm that generates a random 6-digit passcode ‒ ...

If you own an Android smartphone, Beware! A new Android malware that has already breached more than 1 Million Google accounts is infecting around 13,000 devices every day. Dubbed Gooligan , the malware roots vulnerable Android devices to steal email addresses and authentication tokens stored on them. With this information in hands, the attackers are able to hijack your Google account and access your sensitive information from Google apps including Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Play, Google Drive, and G Suite. Researchers found traces of Gooligan code in dozens of legitimate-looking Android apps on 3rd-party app stores, which if downloaded and installed by an Android user, malware starts sending your device’s information and stolen data to its Command and Control (C&C) server. "Gooligan then downloads a rootkit from the C&C server that takes advantage of multiple Android 4 and 5 exploits including the well-known VROOT (CVE-2013-6282) and Towelroot (CV...

A new Android malware has been making waves recently that have the capability to gain root access on your smartphone and completely erase your phone's storag e. Dubbed Mazar BOT , the serious malware program is loaded with so many hidden capabilities that security researchers are calling it a dangerous malware that can turn your smartphone into a zombie inside hacker's botnet. Mazar BOT was discovered by Heimdal Security while the researchers at the firm were analyzing an SMS message sent to random mobile numbers and locations. How Mazar BOT Works Despite other Android malware that distributes itself by tricking users into installing an app from third-party app stores, Mazar spreads via a spam SMS or MMS messages that carry a link to a malicious APK (Android app file). Once the user clicks the given link, he/she'll be ending up downloading the APK file on their Android devices, which when run, prompts the user to install a new application. This ...

Vulnerabilities are common these days and when we talk about mobile security, this year has been somewhat of a trouble for Android users. Almost every week we come across a new hack affecting Android devices. One of the serious vulnerabilities is the  Stagefright Security Bug , where all it needed to install malicious code on the Android devices was a simple text message. Although Google patched these security holes in its latest Android update, manufacturers can take a long time to release their own updates, and it's even possible that older devices may not get the updates at all. So, even after the release of patches for these critical vulnerabilities, it is difficult to say which Android devices are at risk of what bugs. There is a one-click solution to this problem. One Android app can help educate you and help you know whether your devices is at risk. One-Click Solution to Check Your Device for All Critical Bugs Android Vulnerability Test Suite ( VT...

I am quite sure that you must be syncing your Smartphone with your Computers for transferring files and taking backup of your device. If you are using windows operating system and Android devices, then it’s a bad news for you, because FireEye Security Researchers have identified a new piece of windows malware that can also infects your Android Devices. During an investigation of a targeted attack on a US based financial institution, researchers spotted a new version of Windows Remote Access Trojan (RAT) called ' Win-Spy Software Pro v16 ', a spying and monitoring tool.  WinSpy was embedded in macro documents to kick off a spam campaign via a spear phishing email. “ The recent surge in Android-based RATs such as Dendroid and AndroRAT shows a spike in the interest of malicious actors to control mobile devices.  GimmeRAT  is another startling example of malicious actors venturing into the Android ecosystem ,” security firm said. The Researchers dubbe...

When it comes to safeguarding your Internet security, installing an antivirus software or running a Secure Linux OS on your system does not mean you are safe enough from all kinds of cyber-threats. Today majority of Internet users are vulnerable to cyber attacks, not because they aren't using any best antivirus software or other security measures, but because they are using weak passwords to secure their online accounts. Passwords are your last lines of defense against online threats. Just look back to some recent data breaches and cyber attacks, including high-profile data breach at OPM ( United States Office of Personnel Management ) and the extra-marital affair site Ashley Madison , that led to the exposure of hundreds of millions of records online. Although you can not control data breaches, it is still important to create strong passwords that can withstand dictionary and brute-force attacks . You see, the longer and more complex your password is, the much harder...