Weekly Wireless Report September 23, 2016
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Week Ending: Weekly Wireless Report September 23, 2016 This Week’s Stories Yahoo Says Information On At Least 500 Million User Accounts Inside This Issue: Was Stolen September 22, 2016 This Week’s Stories Yahoo Says Information On Internet company says it believes the 2014 hack was done by a state-sponsored actor; potentially the At Least 500 Million User biggest data breach on record. Accounts Was Stolen Yahoo Inc. is blaming “state-sponsored” hackers for what may be the largest-ever theft of personal You Can Now Exchange user data. Your Recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 The internet company, which has agreed to sell its core business to Verizon Communications Inc., said Products & Services Thursday that hackers penetrated its network in late 2014 and stole personal data on more than 500 million users. The stolen data included names, email addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers Facebook Messenger Gets and encrypted passwords, Yahoo said. Polls And Now Encourages Peer-To-Peer Payments Yahoo said it believes that the hackers are no longer in its corporate network. The company said it Allo Brings Google’s didn't believe that unprotected passwords, payment-card data or bank-account information had been ‘Assistant’ To Your Phone affected. Today Computer users have grown inured to notices that a tech company, retailer or other company with Emerging Technology which they have done business had been hacked. But the Yahoo disclosure is significant because the iHeartRadio Is Finally company said it was the work of another nation, and because it raises questions about the fate of the Getting Into On-Demand $4.8 billion Verizon deal, which was announced on July 25. Streaming In July, Yahoo began investigating claims by hackers who were offering to sell what they said were AT&T Said To Plan Web 280 million Yahoo usernames and passwords. Yahoo said it concluded the information for sale wasn't Streaming As Primary TV legitimate, but the company decided to broaden its probe, eventually determining that it had been Platform By 2020 breached by “a state-sponsored actor.” Mergers & Acquisitions In a proxy filing related to the Verizon deal on Sept. 9, Yahoo said it wasn't aware of any “security Apple Keeps Buying breaches” or “loss, theft, unauthorized access or acquisition” of user data. Yahoo declined to Companies In This Space comment on the filing. These Major Tech Yahoo didn’t say how the hackers broke into its network or which country sponsored the attacks. Companies Are Interested In Acquiring Twitter The intrusion, in late 2014, came during a period when many computer attacks, including on the federal Office of Personnel Management and health insurer Anthem Inc. were believed to be the Industry Reports work of China. More recent hacks, however, including of the Democratic National Committee earlier Comcast Confirms Plans To this year, have been blamed on Russia. Both countries have denied involvement in the hacks. Launch Mobile Phone Service In 2017 It isn’t uncommon for data breaches to go unreported for years. In May, Myspace notified users of a T-Mobile Q3 Results 2013 breach; the same month, LinkedIn Corp. also notified users that a 2012 incident, thought to Preview Shows Un-carrier have affected just 6.5 million accounts, had actually compromised more than 100 million. Reeling In Customers From AT&T, Verizon “The FBI is aware of the intrusion and investigating the matter,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. “We take these types of breaches very seriously and will determine how this occurred and who is responsible.” Connect with us Visit our website www.ksrinc.com Pag e | 2 Verizon said it was notified of the breach earlier this week. “We understand that Yahoo is conducting an active investigation of this matter, but we otherwise have limited information and understanding “The internet company…said of the impact,” Verizon said in a statement. “We will evaluate as the investigation continues.” Thursday that hackers B. Riley & Co. analyst Sameet Sinha said the breach is unlikely to affect terms of the Verizon deal. penetrated its network in late 2014 and stole personal “Data breaches have become part of doing business now,” he said, adding that Microsoft Corp. data on more than 500 agreed to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in June, one month after LinkedIn notified users of the million users. The stolen data broader scope of its 2012 breach. included names, email addresses, dates of birth, But Stephen S. Wu, a technology lawyer at the Silicon Valley Law Group, said the language assuring telephone numbers and that no security breaches had occurred might give Verizon leverage to renegotiate the deal, or even to walk away. encrypted passwords, Yahoo said.” The Yahoo breach appears to be the largest ever disclosed, based on the number of users affected, said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy with Privacy Rights Clearing House, a not-for- profit group that compiles information on data breaches. Credit-card processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. said roughly 130 million credit- and debit-card numbers had been stolen in a 2009 hack. The Yahoo breach, and the timing of the disclosure, quickly reverberated in Washington. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement, “I am perhaps most troubled by news that this breach occurred in 2014, and yet the public is only learning details of it today.” Yahoo’s breach is the latest in a series of compromises that have put billions of consumer usernames and email addresses at risk. One website, called Leaked Source, sells a searchable list of more than two billion credentials. While many other companies have disclosed large-scale breaches recently, the fact that Yahoo is linking its hack to state-sponsored hackers is noteworthy. U.S. intelligence officials have said China- based attacks have declined in recent months, following a 2015 agreement between the U.S. and China. Over the past year, Russia has gradually taken China’s place as the primary suspect of attacks on U.S. systems. Two hacking groups—linked by security researchers and U.S. government officials to Russia—have published email messages belonging to public figures, including private Gmail messages belonging to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Yahoo data could be used to obtain the personal correspondence of public figures. “For a government, the real value would be to look for people with real value,” said Matthew Green, a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University. “Maybe you don’t get classified information, but some of those Colin Powell emails were very interesting.” Yahoo said the stolen passwords were encrypted, but computer-security experts said a determined attacker could unscramble passwords—especially simple passwords—using commonly available “cracking” software. Once cracked, hackers could break into Yahoo accounts and—if the password happened to be reused on another web service—possibly other websites too. Security experts recommend that consumers add a “second factor” of authentication to their online accounts. Typically this means receiving a short code via text message every time the user logs in from an unknown computer. Yahoo says that its users should change their passwords and security questions, and avoid using the same password on multiple accounts. wsj.com Connect with us Visit our website www.ksrinc.com Pag e | 3 You Can Now Exchange Your Recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 September 21, 2016 The new devices come after battery cell issues were discovered in the Note 7 earlier this month Samsung has shipped more than 500,000 replacement units of the Galaxy Note 7 to carrier and retail stores in the U.S., the company recently announced. The new phones are available for exchange at retail stores as of Wednesday, nearly a week after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a voluntary recall of devices sold before Sept. 15. The company is also launching a software update for the Note 7 that will help owners distinguish whether or not their Note 7 has been impacted by the recall. The software will display a green battery icon in the phone’s status bar to indicate that the phone is unaffected. Samsung stopped selling the Note 7 earlier this month due to a battery cell issue after reports of devices catching fire. On Sept. 9, the CPSC warned users to power down their devices and to stop using them. Still, usage among those who own the phone had remained the same since the day of the recall as of Sept. 13, according to data from Apteligent. Samsung is also releasing a software update to recalled devices that causes a safety notice to appear each time the phone is powered on or charged. Samsung’s market value began to plummet after the incident, as shares fell to their lowest level in nearly two months last week. time.com Products & Services Facebook Messenger Gets Polls And Now Encourages Peer-To- Peer Payments September 22, 2016 “Facebook explains that ‘it’s Facebook is rolling out two new features for its popular Messaging app, giving users in-chat polling often hard to get groups of and also testing out an intelligent way to detect when you want to send money. The latest changes people to make decisions and will be available on both iOS and Android starting this week, but they’re limited to the U.S., for now. plans, from deciding what movie to go watch, what One of the benefits of using a messaging app is the convenience of group conversations. But restaurants to eat at, which extended group chats can get overly complex. This is where polling comes into play: Facebook day to meet up for coffee, explains that “it’s often hard to get groups of people to make decisions and plans, from deciding what where to go on the next movie to go watch, what restaurants to eat at, which day to meet up for coffee, where to go on the family vacation, and much next family vacation, and much more.” more.’” This feature is only usable in group conversations, meaning the chat must contain more than two people.