Silensec Newsletter

Hacky hack hack': Teen arrested for breaking into Apple's network

Hacky hack hack': Teen arrested for breaking into Apple's network

An overzealous Apple fanboy from Australia plead guilty to criminal charges after he allegedly cracked the Cupertino giant's systems in hopes of landing a job. The 16 year-old hackeroo is said to have broken into the tax racket's servers on more than one occasion, downloading around 90GB worth of iStuffs and saving it into a folder labeled "hacky hack hack."

According local reports, the young man's defense attorneys claim that the hacking was done out of admiration. The junior Apple fan was only trying to get Apple's attention. Now, instead of a job, he faces a criminal conviction.

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Microsoft patches zero-day flaws in Windows, Internet Explorer

Microsoft patches zero-day flaws in Windows, Internet Explorer

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday updates for August 2018 address 60 vulnerabilities, including 2 zero-day flaws affecting Windows and Internet Explorer. One of the actively exploited vulnerabilities is CVE-2018-8414, which Microsoft learned of in June.

20 vulnerabilities patched this month have been rated “critical” and, unsurprisingly, many of them impact Edge and Internet Explorer. RCE flaws discovered in SQL Server, Exchange, and Windows have also been assigned a “critical” severity rating.

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Snapchat source code leaked after an iOS update exposed it

Snapchat source code leaked after an iOS update exposed it

Hackers gained access to the source code of the front-end of SnapChat instant messaging app for iOS and leaked it on GitHub. A GitHub account associated with a person with the name Khaled Alshehri who goes online with the handle i5xx created the GitHub repository titled Source-Snapchat.

After being notified, Snap Inc., has confirmed the authenticity of the source code and asked GitHub to remove it by filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act request.

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New Method Discovered for Cracking WPA2 Wi-Fi Passwords

New Method Discovered for Cracking WPA2 Wi-Fi Passwords

A security researcher has revealed a new Wi-Fi hacking technique that makes it easier for hackers to crack WiFi passwords of most modern routers.

The new WiFi hack works explicitly against WPA/WPA2 wireless network protocols with Pairwise Master Key Identifier (PMKID)-based roaming features enabled.

The attack to compromise the WPA/WPA2 enabled WiFi networks was accidentally discovered while the researcher was analyzing the newly-launched WPA3 security standard.

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Reddit discloses a data breach, a hacker accessed user data

Reddit discloses a data breach, a hacker accessed user data

Reddit is warning its users of a security breach, a hacker broke into the systems of the platform and accessed user data. The hacker accessed user data, email addresses, and a 2007 backup database containing hashed passwords managed by the platform.

The databreach was discovered on June 19, 2018, according to Reddit, between June 14 and 18, 2018, the attacker compromised some of the employees' accounts with the company cloud and source code hosting providers.

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French to ban smartphones in schools

French to ban smartphones in schools

Lawmakers in France recently passed a law that prohibits students from using smartphones at school. Once the law goes into effect, students will have to either leave their phones at home or keep them switched off during school hours. The French hope to alleviate children's phone addiction and help them focus in class.

The ban will apply to students as old as 15, unless they use the phone for educational purposes or certain extracurricular activities, or unless they have a disability.

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