e.Woke #40: Hackers Have Hearts (sometimes)

Welcome to e.Woke #40: Hackers Have Hearts (sometimes)

This is our 40th e.Woke! Time really flies when there’s always something new to write about. This week’s e.Woke is all about spyware, net neutrality, and data selling. Also, an update on the fight to save net neutrality. Let’s get right into it!

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A Hacker Has Wiped a Spyware Company’s Servers—Again

Hacking isn’t always malicious. There is so much power behind the ability to successfully hack, and people are using that power for good. A hacker recently gained access to the servers of Retina-X, a company that sells spyware/stalkerware that is often used by parents or by people who want to spy on their partners. There was no personal or financial gain from this hack, but the hacker explained his motivation, “Edward Snowden has said that privacy is what gives you the ability to share with the world who you are on your own terms, and to protect for yourself the parts of you that you’re still experimenting with. I don’t want to live in a world where younger generations grow up without that right.”.

(via Motherboard / BoingBoing / HackerRead )

To kill net neutrality, FCC might have to fight more than half of US states

The internet won’t go down without a fight. There are currently 27 states with pending legislation regarding Net Neutrality laws. “The legislative process obviously takes longer and is more uncertain because it requires votes by state lawmakers in addition to a governor’s signature.”. Some states are proposing and passing their own laws to protect net neutrality. So, If the FCC wants to kill the free and open net, they’re going have to go through half of the county.

(via Ars Technica / Digital Trends / The Washington Post )

Facebook told to stop tracking users that aren’t logged in

Facebook is honestly just a big surveillance company/machine. “Facebook Inc. must stop tracking Belgian users’ surfing outside the social network and delete data it’s already gathered, or it will face fines of 250,000 ($312,000) euros a day, a Belgian court ruled.”. This has already happened in the past, so why does Facebook keep doing it? I mean, the “research” they’re doing isn’t showing through their algorithms.

(via Naked Security / TechCrunch / The Inquirer )

Another baby monitor is allowing strangers to spy on children

The internet is either amazing or terrifying, and this time, it’s terrifying AND creepy. “SEC Consult, an Austrian cybersecurity company, on Wednesday urged owners of MiSafes Mi-Cam baby monitors to turn them off if they want to keep their kids from being eyeballed by prying eyes or chatted up by strangers roaming the internet.”. While reading about this kind of attack is scary enough, seeing how easy it is to access these baby monitors is even scarier.

(via Naked Security / Romper / Forbes )

Car companies are preparing to sell driver data to the highest bidder

Stop using our possessions to spy on us! First, our Roombas, now our cars?! During a survey regarding connected cars, “Only 38 percent of connected car drivers knew that their cars could store personally identifiable information about them, with 48 percent unaware this was the case.” now, car companies, such as Otonomo, are ready to profit from data sellings. Ben Volkow, CEO of Otonomo said “A big part of the investment is already done. The databases are built, SIMs and modems are in the cars; they’ve crossed the Rubicon.”. I guess riding your bike instead of driving is a form of digital security now?

(via Ars Technica / Jalopnik / Bloomberg )

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