hackers

How You Can Use an Android Phone to Hijack a Plane from the Ground

Max Read · 04/11/13 08:21AM

If you've ever wanted to hijack a plane—but been prevented by your crippling fear of flying—you can now do it from the ground! All you need is an Android phone, a radio transmitter, flight management software, and some basic hacking skills, and you can control an entire passenger jet from the comfort of your living room. Not that you, uh, should! But you could.

"The Best Fucking Thing That Could Possibly Happen": Hacker Convict Weev Bids Farewell to Freedom

Adrian Chen · 03/22/13 10:40AM

"America is in a cultural decline," the internet troll and 27-year-old hacker Andrew "Weev" Auernheimer said into a microphone on Monday morning outside Newark's Martin Luther King Courthouse. Bearded, in a black hoodie with pockets that bulged with his omnipresent 3G-enabled tablet computer and a neckerchief, the stocky Auernheimer was dressed for hurling chunks of sidewalk through storefronts in a European street protest. He was speaking to a pack of cameras in the shadow of the enormous High Modernist bust of Lady Justice that dominates the plaza. "In my country there's a problem and that problem is the Feds. They take everybody's freedom and they never give it back."

'Skulls on Screens' at Korean Banks, Broadcasters Following Massive, Malicious Viral Attack

Max Read · 03/20/13 07:14AM

South Korea's three main broadcasters and two of its major banks were paralyzed on Wednesday by a massive outbreak of malicious code that crashed and displayed "skulls" on some computers, thought by many to be a retaliatory cyberattack from North Korea. The television channels KBS, MBC, YTN and the banks Nonghyup and Shinhan Bank had their computer systems simultaneously shut down at around 2 p.m., with employees unable to boot up their computers or access the internet; by 4 p.m., the systems had been restored. Media outlets were able to continue broadcasting, but Shinhan found that its internet banking and some ATMs were rendered inoperable. The South Korean government has launched an investigation and upgraded its information operations condition; North Korea has been threatening to launch a cyberattack since last week, when it accused the U.S. and South Korea of hacking computers in Pyongyang. The hack is believed to have come through services provided by LG. [BBC | Korea Herald | AJE]

Wish George W. Bush a Happy Iraq War Day: Here is His Private Email Address

John Cook · 03/19/13 04:30PM

As we mentioned earlier, a hacker calling himself (or herself) Guccifer has penetrated the electronic worlds of George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, and a number of other political figures. Screengrabs of various email conversations that Bush, Clinton, and others have participated in have been floating around the internet. And it has come to our attention on this, the day of the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on the orders of George W. Bush, that one of those screengrabs credibly displays Bush's private email address. It is: gwb@ogwb.org. Please let him know that you're thinking of him today.

Reuters Social Media Editor Accused of Helping Anonymous Has Long, Strange Internet Past

Adrian Chen · 03/15/13 07:13PM

News that Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys had been indicted for allegedly conspiring with Anonymous shocked his colleagues in online media. Keys has always seemed like a normal guy who constantly tweets news links. But in the wake of his indictment, details about his online past have emerged that make his entanglement with Anonymous seem less out of character.

Cord Jefferson · 03/12/13 01:29PM

Here is a terrifying story about hackers who crack into people's computers and then spy on them via their own webcams.

Obama, Clinton, Biden, Jay-Z Doxxed: 'Hackers' Snag Financial Records, Socials, Credit Reports

Taylor Berman · 03/12/13 07:20AM

A group of apparently Russian hackers, working on the website "exposed.su," claims to have published the private personal information of—or "doxxed"—17 politicians and celebrities. Victims include Michelle Obama, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, all of whom had credit reports posted to the website, as well as Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, whose social security numbers were published.

Beware of NBC's Hacked Website

Cord Jefferson · 02/21/13 05:53PM

After a long week of people compromising corporations' Twitter presences—specifically here and here—some real-deal hackers have gone into NBC's homepage and turned it into a mine field full of malware traps.

The Jeep Twitter Feed Has Been Hacked by the Same People Who Hacked Burger King Yesterday

Cord Jefferson · 02/19/13 02:03PM

Yesterday, hackers presumably from the DFNCTSC hacking crew took over Burger King's Twitter feed and turned it into an advertisement for McDonald's. Today it appears those same hackers have now overtaken the Jeep Twitter feed and are running a similar game, claiming that Jeep has been sold to Cadillac and shouting out not-very-Jeepy entities like Worldstar Hip Hop and Chief Keef.

Hacker Exposes Bush Family Emails, Photos, and George W. Bush's Amazing Self-Portraits

Taylor Berman · 02/07/13 11:03PM

After gaining access to the personal email accounts of Dorothy Bush, George W. Bush's sister, and several friends close to the Bush family, a hacker apparently obtained Bush family photos, cell phone numbers, security codes, information about George H.W. Bush's health, a post-election email from Fox New's Brit Hume, and, most amazingly, pictures of George W. Bush's in-progress paintings, which are just as awkward and simple as you'd hope. All told, six accounts were hacked, including emails for Barbara Bush's brother, family friend Willard Hemingway, and CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, another friend of the family.

Here's How Hackers Could Have Blacked Out the Superdome Last Night (Even Though They Probably Didn't)

Adrian Chen · 02/04/13 06:25PM

Beyonce and voodoo have been ruled out as potential culprits in the bizarre 33-minute blackout during last night's Super Bowl. But what about hackers? It took just a few minutes after the lights went out in the Superdome for hackers to begin hinting they had something to do with it. "#TangoDown Superbowl XLVII," tweeted the most popular Twitter account of the hacktivist collective Anonymous. It's an outlandish claim and almost certainly a troll. But it's possible, and here's how it might have happened.

The Death of Aaron Swartz and the New Hacker Crackdown

Adrian Chen · 01/14/13 07:02PM

In 1992, the sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling published The Hacker Crackdown, a riveting nonfiction book about a string of high-profile hacker busts on the early "electronic frontier" of the late '80s and early '90s. The first hacker crackdown shook the early internet to its core and helped mobilize political geeks. Today, we're in the midst of a new crackdown. And with the death this weekend of the legally and emotionally troubled 26-year-old computer genius Aaron Swartz, this one has a body count.