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Ukraine catches hacker who tried to sell 773 million stolen email addresses
Ukrainian officials detained the hacker, known as Sanix, who tried to sell a database with 773 million email addresses and 21 million unique passwords.
Hackers are selling card info stolen in last year's Wawa breach
If you purchased anything at the East Coast gas station and convenience store chain Wawa between March and December last year, there's a chance your credit and debit card info is being sold on the dark web. Earlier this week, fraud intelligence company Gemini Advisory discovered stolen payment card data being uploaded to Joker's Stash, an online cybercrime marketplace. It seems the data was obtained during the Wawa breach discovered in December.
Former Yahoo engineer hacked 6,000 accounts in search of sexual content
A former Yahoo engineer pleaded guilty to hacking into roughly 6,000 accounts in search of sexual photos and videos. According to court documents, Reyes Daniel Ruiz, 34, used his employee access to Yahoo's internal network to crack users' passwords. He then downloaded explicit photos and videos to a personal hard drive, which he stored at home.
NASA engineer creates glitter bomb package to thwart parcel thieves
Because we live in a world where we can't have nice things, package theft is a real problem, and in recent times unscrupulous individuals stealing parcels from porches have prompted police sting operations, as well as longer-term tech innovation, such as Amazon's smart locks. But neither of these things do a whole lot for theft victims longing for sweet, sweet revenge. Now, former NASA engineer Mark Rober has devised a frankly glorious solution that guarantees instant vengeance.
Apple patenting a way to collect iPhone thieves' fingerprints
Apple's done a lot to curb iPhone theft via the "Find my iPhone" feature and encryption that locks out users if an incorrect code or fingerprint is used too often. However, it's thinking about getting more proactive, judging by a recent patent application. It claims a method of "capturing biometric information for identifying unauthorized users," including fingerprints, video or audio. The information could be stored or send to a server, where police could presumably use it to figure out who nabbed your device.
Beloved London arcade rescued by gamer donations after burglary
Earlier this week, the independent London arcade Heart of Gaming was burgled. Thieves took over £5,000 worth of consoles, games and accessories, leaving the owners understandably crestfallen. The arcade is best-known for its retro cabinets, but those responsible were interested in the latest hardware and software instead. Police are now investigating, but instead of dwelling on their misfortune staff have been asking the community for help. And boy, are they helping. A GoFundMe campaign looking to raise the lost £5,000 has already smashed its target after a single day. In an age where UK arcades are a rarity, it's nice to see players banding together to help one during its time of need.
Ex-NBAer Rex Chapman allegedly stole from Apple Stores by faking EasyPay
Remember when Apple introduced its EasyPay self-checkout feature in 2011, and everyone wondered "how can they really tell if a customer is buying something or just shoplifting?" According to the Scottsdale, AZ police, former college and professional basketball player Rex Chapman had the same thought and acted on it. They arrested the 12-year NBA veteran at 1:45 PM local time, after employees recognized him as a former player for the Phoenix Suns and tied him to a string of thefts. Chapman is accused of committing seven instances of theft over a few months, snagging gear worth more than $14,000 and selling it at a local pawnshop for cash. All of this was allegedly done by picking up the items, pretending to use the self-checkout feature in the iPhone's Apple Store app and then just walking out. Now Chapman is facing nine counts of Organized Retail Theft and five counts of Trafficking in Stolen Property -- all of which are felonies -- and we're wondering if Tim Cook has another security issue that could use some attention. [Image credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS]
PSA: Rebellion revoking stolen Sniper Elite 3 keys
UK development studio Rebellion claims that a batch of Steam keys for Sniper Elite 3 has been stolen, and access to the game from accounts which purchased the ill-gotten goods has been revoked. "One of our PC retail distributors informed us that some of their allotted Steam keys were stolen," the company wrote on its Steam Community page. "We believe these keys were then resold to multiple companies, with no payments going to either Valve or the retail distributor. Steam were immediately informed and have now revoked that set of keys." Rebellion acknowledged that those affected may not have been aware that the key they purchased was illegitimate, and is thus offering the game's "Target Hitler" DLC for free. Rebellion themselves could not offer refunds, but strongly encouraged those who have found their access revoked to contact their seller to receive one. For more details on how to get the free DLC and the full post of Rebellion's explanation, check the game's Community page. [Image: Rebellion]
The UK's stolen phone market is as healthy as ever
It may be easy to report and track stolen smartphones in the UK, but that's not preventing some of the country's shops from selling these ill-gotten handsets. A BBC undercover operation has revealed that at least eight stores in London are willing to buy stolen phones, even when the hardware is obviously locked down. One of the locations was only willing to make an exchange outdoors, but none of them were seriously concerned about a run-in with the law.
Study claims kill switch for stolen cellphones could save $2.5 billion per year
It's easy to understand the personal benefits of a potential kill switch requirement for cellphones; thieves would have less incentive to swipe your handset if they knew that it would become a brick. However, Creighton University professor William Duckworth has conducted a study suggesting that a remote shutdown feature could also save phone users a lot of money. Based on a 1,200-person survey, he estimates that consumers could avoid spending a total of $2.5 billion per year -- $500 million in buying replacement phones, and $2 billion in insurance that covers theft. The savings would be good news for customers, though not the carriers and insurers that earn revenue from the status quo.
4 ways to find your lost iPhone (and keep it from getting lost again)
2014 is just waking up and its house is trashed. There are champagne stains on the carpet, and its iPhone is nowhere to be found. Yikes. If you've followed in the New Year's footsteps and similarly misplaced your pricey pocket computer, there are a few things you can do to find it and prevent an unfortunate instance from ever happening again. Find My iPhone is a good bet if you had a night on the town and can't find your handset the next morning. It tracks the path of your iPhone and shows you its current GPS location while also notifying anyone who found the phone that it is indeed lost. For even more nuanced location data, GPS Phone Tracker is a great alternative. You can set the app to log your phone's location as often as every two minutes, which will give you the best chance of finding your phone's current location as well as how it got there. You can set up permissions for friends or other trusted users to view your phone's location, so you'll always have someone who knows where your phone is. Where's My Cellphone is a simple website that will call your phone for you. You can time the call or have it ring immediately, which is handy if you need to check your car or other location (far from your computer) for the device. The site has been used more than 14 million times already, and it will continue to be a go-to for the foreseeable future. If you find that you're losing your iPhone on a daily basis, you can go all-out and buy a protective case that also helps you locate the device. BiKN is a system of tags that go on important objects -- like your keys, purse, etc. They locate each other by activating alert tones. If you can find one of the objects you have a BiKN on, you can find them all. The iPhone case works hand in hand with the BiKN app to both help you find your important stuff, and have your important stuff find your iPhone for you.
Indie dev gives game away, hackers steal 30,000 Steam keys overnight
Husband and wife duo Wadjet Eye Games started a giveaway yesterday, offering up Steam codes for Blackwell Deception to celebrate Halloween. The indie developer opted to cancel the adventure game giveaway today after discovering that 30,000 Steam keys were stolen by hackers. The problem was even bigger at first as founder Dave Gilbert discovered that, after issuing a press release to the media about the giveaway earlier this week, the generated keys unlocked Wadjet Eye Games' entire catalog. After sorting that issue out, Gilbert discovered that buyers were "ordering multiple copies of the game – hundreds at a time. And collecting Steam keys for reselling later," he told Red Door Blue Key. Gilbert asked his sales provider, BMT, to create an IP-detecting Steam code generator page, though it didn't stop resellers from masking their IPs to continue their thieving efforts. After removing the link to the Steam key generator, Gilbert returned today to find that because the generator itself still existed, some 30,000 keys had been stolen. He announced via Twitter that Steam has disabled the keys generated after midnight and that, per his request, no bans will be issued to those that redeemed the Steam codes. Blackwell Deception is the fourth game in the Blackwell adventure series, and was first made available on Steam in January 2012. The game can be purchased for $10, though Wadjet Eye Games is also offering a four-game bundle of the series to date for $20.
Thievery at E3: Vlambeer developer's backpack full of games stolen
Wednesday night, a black Samsonite backpack filled with an Asus laptop, two iPads, two Vitas, a Kindle, a bunch of European-US outlet converters, and "enough power cables to power E3," disappeared from an E3 party. The bag and everything inside of it belong to Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail. Ismail was at the Sony mixer at the Figueroa hotel last night, and he left his bag near a table for a few minutes. When he turned to reclaim it, it was gone. Today, Ismail filed a police report, but so far no one has produced any information about the thief. "It's pretty much my entire company in that backpack," Ismail said. Vlambeer is responsible for Ridiculous Fishing, Super Crate Box and the coming multiplatform game, Luftrausers. Authorities said E3 and its surrounding events provide a hotbed for burglaries, so keep a close eye on your bags. And if you spy anyone playing Luftrausers on a Vita that isn't attached to a Sony booth, hit up Ismail's Twitter.
Bloomberg blames iOS device thefts for NYC crime rise
Crime in New York City is trending slightly upwards this year, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has picked a strange culprit to blame the rise on: Apple's iOS devices. In his weekly radio show, the mayor pointed out that New York City was home to 108,432 "major crimes" this year, which was 3,484 more than 2011's total. And thefts of Apple products rose by 3,890 in that time, which Bloomberg says put the city over the top. "If you just took away the jump in Apple, we'd be down for the year," according to the mayor's press secretary. Hizzoner himself said that while there are lots of new smartphones and cellphones in New Yorkers' pockets, this is specifically an Apple phenomenon -- he didn't include thefts in this total of other devices, including the Samsung Galaxy. New York City thieves have discriminating tastes in the smartphones they steal, apparently. All kidding aside, Bloomberg also reported that homicides for the year were currently totaled at 414, which puts the city on pace to see the lowest total murders since it began tracking numbers back in 1963. So that's great news. Now if only New Yorkers could be sure to keep their Apple devices secure, we'd see some real drops in "major crimes" next year. [via GigaOm, photo by MSG on Flickr]
Twitter-based MMORPG accused of stealing artwork
Tweeria is a web-based role-playing game that advertises itself as the "laziest MMORPG ever." It uses Twitter to passively power and level up a virtual character set in a fantasy-based world, and has now been accused of stealing art from the World of Warcraft collectible card game.Mike Sacco, a columnist for WoW Insider who also happens to work at WoW CCG owner Cryptozoic Entertainment, points out that artwork uploaded by the Tweeria staff for the title is ripped right off from the cards.Tweeria's creator, a Russian company called Twee Game, claims it's a "mostly experimental" project, and the game has since added a "copyright notice" at the bottom of its pages to try and attribute the artwork to its creators. For now, the game is still up and running, despite user feedback saying that it's unclear just how it all works anyway.
Thieves steal 7,000 Wiis from a warehouse in Seattle [Update]
In the dead of night between Saturday and Sunday, thieves stole 7,000 Wiis from a Seattle Air Cargo warehouse, Seattle PI reported.The thieves made off with 7,000 consoles, two 53-foot trailers and a box van from the warehouse, for an estimated haul of $2 million. The King County Sheriff's Office is looking into the theft. Not to say that we're professionally trained investigators here, but we would suggest officers keep an eye on Ebay. That's what we would do, at least.Update: The consoles were, in fact, Wii Us, an officer told Kotaku. Our source at the Seattle PI and ABC News reported that the stolen consoles were Wiis, and Kotaku was not one of our original sources. Thank you for the kind tips, lovely, wonderful commenters.
Capcom confirms Polish copies of Resident Evil 6 stolen
Capcom has stated the recent sale of Resident Evil 6 before its launch date in Poland is an "unfortunate incident" involving stolen goods. The publisher told Eurogamer that the situation is "limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game."The publisher is currently conducting a "thorough investigation" into the matter, which saw copies of the game go on sale in the Polish city of Poznan last week. The game isn't intended to be released at retail until October 2.Eurogamer also points out that one person is currently trying to sell a stolen copy on eBay. For anyone thinking of getting involved in that, let us just slide this article regarding knowingly possessing or trafficking in stolen goods right here.
Blizzard suffers security breach, encrypted passwords and authenticator data compromised
According to a recent Blizzard security update, now might be a good time cook up a new password. Blizzard's security team found that its internal network has been illegally accessed, and answers to personal security questions, authenticator data and cryptographically scrambled Battle.net passwords have found their way into the perpetrator's hands. The team is confident, however, that the compromised data isn't enough to give the attacker access to user accounts, and says that there is no evidence to suggest financial data (credit cards, billing addresses and customer names) were accessed. Blizzard President Mike Morhaine recommends that users update their passwords all the same, and we couldn't agree more. Check out his official statement at the source link below and get that Diablo III account locked down.
Undercover 5: the best way to secure and recover a stolen Mac
A few years ago I wrote about Orbicule's Undercover 4 software. Undercover lets you remotely track and monitor a missing Mac, and can even help you recover your stolen gear. Given the Mac security issues in the news over the last few days, it's worthwhile reviewing some best practices to help keep your Mac as secure as it can be. That's why I'm happy to tell you that Orbicule has come out with a brand new version of its security and recovery software: Undercover 5. Undercover is sometimes compared to iCloud's Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac feature. However, Apple's Find My device feature pales compared to Orbicule's Undercover 5. Load the software on your computer and it silently runs in the background constantly monitoring your Mac's location. Should your Mac go missing, you can go to www.undercoverhq.com and start tracking your Mac remotely. From the Undercover HQ center you can see the current and past locations of your Mac, quietly activate your Mac's FaceTime camera to take photos of the thief, and quietly take screenshots so you can see what the thief is doing at any given time. All of this is done incognito, so the temporary new custodian of your laptop won't have any idea that they're being monitored every moment. But the best feature about Undercover 5 is that you can now activate a keylogger, so every single thing the thief types -- from Facebook usernames and passwords, to instant messages, to emails to his accomplices and/or parole officer are all logged and sent back to you to view in your Undercover HQ dashboard. After you've collected FaceTime pics, geolocations, screenshots, and keylog files (all shown automatically in your "Thief Report" section of the Undercover HQ center) you can quickly and simply submit all this information to the local police. But what's even cooler -- and a bit out of a Hollywood movie -- is that if the police can't recover the stolen Mac, you can always resort to Undercover's aptly named "Plan B." Plan B allows you to launch a simulated hardware failure on your Mac so the thief has no choice but to take it into an Apple Store for repair. Once you track it to the Apple Store (or Best Buy or wherever) you then activate part two of plan B -- you tell the Mac to display a message on the screen saying the Mac has been stolen and the repair shop should hold onto it and call the police. I cannot recommend Undercover 5 enough. It's especially important for those of you who just splashed all that cash on a MacBook Pro with Retina display, but at only US$49.00 for one license (licenses of 5 for $59.00 or 25 Macs for $299 are available -- as are student discounts) every owner of any kind of Mac should purchase Undercover 5. And for those of you wondering, Undercover 5 cannot be deleted off your Mac without your administrator password and even then the thief would need to know that Undercover is actually installed, which is very hard to know since there is no app icon or any kind of System Preference settings. Undercover is kind of like Batman; it works silently in the background and the bad guy never knows it's there until it's too late (sure, a thief could restore your Mac, but that's impossible to do if you set a firmware password). Check out the video below that shows how Undercover 5 works, then do yourself a favor and buy the software. If your Mac is ever nicked, you'll thank yourself for it.
Apple granted patent for accelerometer-aided theft-detection system
Despite the added risk brought on by Apple's Find My iPhone feature, the iOS handset remains a frequent target for smartphone thieves, thanks to the device's resale value and compatibility with networks around the world. There's not much you can do to deter sticky fingers short of keeping your iPhone or MacBook in view at all times, but the issue does appear to have crossed the desks of Apple's design team, which was just granted patent number 8,217,792 for a sophisticated anti-theft scheme. The acceleration-based system would detect a "known theft condition" based on acceleration characteristics, sounding an alarm and disabling the device. The smartphone or laptop would ignore vibrations from passing cars or those caused by items being dropped onto a nearby surface, instead focusing on undisclosed scenarios that likely involve direct movement. The device owner would use a GUI to configure and disable the system, at which point the handset or computer would return to its pre-disturbed mode. Overall, it sounds like a fairly straightforward hardware/software solution, with the added benefit of a technique to filter out regular motion in an attempt to reduce the number of false alarms. You'll find the full patent at the source link below.
