Hacking cars, guns, and smartphones ...
... all in one week at Black Hat, the hacking conference that drew thousands of cybersecurity professionals to the sweltering heat of Las Vegas. It's (probably) the only time of year when seemingly everyone's out-of-office e-mails read something like, "for security reasons, it's easiest just not to use my smartphone at all, so don't even bother contacting me" – freeing everyone up to collect enough swag for a year and talk about the latest research, sometimes from cabanas, or alongside acrobats forming pyramids over outdoor swimming pools.
Some of the most talked-about presentations included security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek's big unveil of the technical details of how they took remote control of a Jeep Cherokee. They said the shock value of their demonstration was the reason they raised enough awareness of the security weaknesses to spur Fiat Chrysler to fix the problem. "Hackers did something. Change happened," Valasek said.
Other sexy research presentations this year included a talk by Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger. They decided to blend curiosity about the gun-loving aspects of American culture with their hacking talents by proving they could change the target of a Wi-Fi-enabled rifle, which they called "just an armed computer running on Linux." There will be more, too. The fun at DEF CON starts today. We'll be there, making use of airplane mode. // Sara Sorcher
Jeep hackers: Only a dramatic stunt could force a Chrysler recall
At this week’s Black Hat security conference, researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek said hacking a reporter’s car on a highway – which some called needlessly reckless – was the only real way to effect change. // Sara Sorcher
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OPM breach a shadow over Homeland Security's appeals to security pros
The Deputy Homeland Security Secretary urged attendees of the Black Hat conference not to let the massive government breach foil plans for improving information sharing about cybersecurity threats between the private sector and the government. // Sara Sorcher
Problematic protocol that directs all Web traffic finally gets attention
Security professionals have long overlooked Border Gateway Protocol, one of the most insecure parts of Internet infrastructure. But this year it was the subject of three talks at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. // Joe Uchill
Ello ads pan online targeting. Here's what experts say about its privacy practices
The upstart social media site launched an ad campaign on Facebook this summer to draw attention to online targeting and promote itself as an ad-free network. Yet, experts have questions about Ello's own privacy practices and safeguards. //Malena Carollo
Fox News invents a 'cyberwall'
At last night's earlier GOP debate, Fox News moderators added to the list of cyber-jargon with "cyberwall." Asked whether she would tear down cyberwalls to help catch terrorists, Republican candidate Carly Fiorina said she supported a targeted approach to tearing down cyberwalls, as did Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina later in the debate. But, what's a cyberwall?
Cyberwall is just a less effective way to talk about privacy protections and information flow in relation to terrorism investigations. But the term is so unspecific, it could include a multitude of topics, such as the encryption debate between Washington and Silicon Valley, or restrictions on threat information sharing. A more productive alternative is hashing out privacy and security issues in more concrete terms – tho the exchange was bombastic – like Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky and Gov. Chris Christie (R) of New Jersey did about the National Security Agency’s data collection practices. // Vox
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