Privacy Threats and Exploding Sneakers

Take a glance at the most discussed cybersecurity news of the week. Learn about the current privacy threats and how to avoid them.

Exploding sneakers – one more argument for IoT insecurity

Diginomica on March 19, 2019

We believe this game was spectacular. And frightening.

During the basketball match against the arch-rival North Carolina, Zion Williamson, a player of Duke University, injured his knee. However, he did not slip and dislocate it, as you might suppose. Only 30 seconds into a game, Williamson’s left Nike PG 2.5 sneaker exploded on the national TV.

Recently the giant sport corporation launched the Nike BB Adapt, a $350, self-lacing sneaker straight out of “Back to the Future II”. The BB Adapt contains the special electronics, controlled through Android or iPhone. Indeed, the model can be classified as another IoT device (and extra playground for hackers).

Therefore, quoting the author of the news, we should remember that “a world in which everything that can be connected to the internet likely will be is a world where unintended consequences are going to occur – with both hilarious and deadly serious results”.

Spear phishing email – privacy threats to beware

eWeek on March 19, 2019

Recently Bobby the Fish, commenting on the growing phishing threat, advised not to fall for the bait. Well, it could be rather easy unless hackers’ bait, called spear-phishing, was so sophisticated.

While phishing is a broad-based attack, spear phishing is a technique, targeting specific individuals within an organization. Have a look at some interesting tendencies, discovered by Barracuda, to avoid any hacker’s spear-phishing tricks:

• Tuesday is the most popular day for such form of attacks. Being the busiest weekday, Tuesday accounts 20% of all incidents.
• Brand impersonation allows hackers to bypass email security. 83% of spear phishing emails impersonated a well-brand and 20% – a financial institution.
• “Request”, “follow up”, and “urgent/important” are the most common phrases used in subject line in Business Email Compromise emails.

Experts emphasized that while factors like terminal illnesses, divorce or personal tragedies can be used in spear phishing attacks against workers, companies should try to investigate the “high risk” employees before malefactors discover their potential privacy threats.

Digital doctor is watching you

Newsweek on March 20, 2019

What if everything about your body, your behavior, and your environment can be tracked for insights? Of course, for medical purposes. Digital medicine is a product of tech progress, designed to provide clients personalized health care and… Privacy threats?

Nowadays medicine puts the emphasis on prevention of any diseases, developing solutions to analyze the consequences of their occurrence. A global field of data-driven medical research explores the links between health and genes, the environment and behavior. Artificial intelligence algorithms allow specialists to digest this data and uncover important patterns.

Despite the whole positive impact of digital medicine, the privacy issue is especially controversial. Millennials, despite Big Data hacks and abuse by tech companies, are concerned about privacy threats but don’t much like their health care. Moreover, physicians and medical researchers worry that monitoring patients outside the hospital and mining their records could cross ethical boundaries.

These tools are powerful but scary, and I’m a little ambivalent. If we tell patients that our system has gone through their data and predicted they’re at some risk of self-harm, some might say they’re relieved and want the extra help, but some might say they don’t want us looking over their shoulder like that.

Don Mordecai, psychiatrist of Kaiser Permanente