Hackers Breach Private Keys to Steal Cryptocurrency
A possible coding error allowed hackers to compromise at least 732 unique, improperly secured private keys used in the Ethereum blockchain. By exploiting a vulnerability, hackers have successfully stolen 38,000 Ethereum coins so far, translating to over $54 million in stolen funds, though the current number is likely much higher. While uncommon, such attacks do show that the industry’s security and key-generation standards have plenty of room for improvement.
Prominent Malware Reverse Engineer Faces Jail Time
The malware researcher Marcus Hutchins, who successfully reversed and stopped the WannaCry ransomware attacks in 2017, is facing up to six years of jail time for prior malware creation and distribution. Hutchins’ charges all tie back to his involvement in the creation of Kronos, a widespread banking Trojan that’s caused significant damage around the world.
Data Exposed for Thousands of Rehab Patients
Personally identifiable data belonging to nearly 145,000 patients of a Pennsylvania rehab facility have been found in a publicly available database. After a Shodan search, researchers discovered the database that contained roughly 4.9 million unique documents showing information ranging from names and birthdays to specific medical services provided and billing records, all of which could be used to to steal the identity of these thousands of individuals.
Study Finds Password Security Still Lacking
After this year’s review of password security it may come as no surprise that the top five passwords still in use are simple and have remained at the top for some time. Using a list generated from past data breaches, researchers found the password “123456” was used over 23 million times, with similar variations rounding out the top five. Several popular names, sports teams, and bands like blink182 and Metallica are still in use for hundreds of thousands of accounts. While these passwords may be easy to remember, they are exceedingly simple to guess. Stronger passwords should include multiple words or numbers to increase the complexity.
Bodybuilding Site Breached through Phishing Campaign
The website bodybuilding.com has announced they were the victim of a data breach stemming from an email phishing campaign in July 2018 that could affect many of the site’s clients. Fortunately, the site doesn’t store full payment card data, and the data it does store is only stored at the customer’s request, leaving little data for hackers to actually use. The site also forced a password reset for all users issued a warning about suspicious emails coming from bodybuilding.com, noting they may be part of another phishing campaign.
