Sochi Olympics Visitor's Devices Being Hacked

Visitors visiting Sochi for this year's Winter Olympics are facing a huge privacy concern according to a new report by NBC.

In the report they tested how long it would take their two new devices (a Mac and an Android phone) to be hacked when they accessed public Wifi while in Sochi. The first connection was made at a local coffee shop. Within minutes the phone was being probed by hackers. Intrusion attempts followed and eventually the device was compromised. Once compromised hackers were able to take any data they wanted off of the phone as well as setting up a tap to listen to conversations, follow the internet traffic of the phone, and read emails. When the laptop was hooked up to the hotel's Wifi they had a similar outcome in a similar amount of time.

The U.S. State Department has also rung in on the issue saying Americans visiting Sochi should have "no expectation of privacy." Sochi is expected to receive tens of thousands of visitors with the Olympics. The influx of high traffic and weak law enforcement, in regards to hacking, has privacy advocates on edge.

Anyone hoping to maintain their privacy is urged to use a VPN service like GoTrusted as well as making sure their devices are encrypted and password protected. Storing sensitive information in a non-internet connected device (like an external hard drive or USB stick) is also a good idea.

Keeping Your Android Smartphone Secure

Technews has released an article outlining a few steps that Android users can take to prevent malware from affecting their phones.

The majority of users that are using Android devices are unaware of the potential security risks. Jupiter Research has said that it believes about 80% of smartphone users are not protected from possible breaches.

Some of the best steps to be taken include not downloading from untrusted sources. Android's more open ecosystem, while giving greater flexibility to users, also enables malicious websites to more easily load malware onto those devices. This is done through websites or links that look to be legitimate or known websites, but are 'faked'. It's always safer to stick to trusted sources like the Google Play store or Amazon for downloading apps. Even from trusted sites it's a good idea to pay attention to what the app asks to have permission to. Always make sure the request seems relevant to what the app would be for.

Reading app reviews can also alleviate this a bit. Make sure the app you're downloading does what it claims to do. There are a lot of fake apps out there for other well known apps. Make sure to cross check the app to make sure it's the from the right publisher and seems to be correct. 

Installing security software is another big step in securing your phone. There is anti-virus software available from different companies just like on your personal computer. Using a VPN service, like GoTrusted, will also mitigate redirects to malicious websites by so-called 'DNS poisoning' – which is a method that malware and malicious connections use to 'fake' your system into going to websites with similar/same looking names to legitimate websites. VPN services also prevent anyone snooping information off your connection if it were to ever be compromised due to malware or other malicious activity. 

All of these are good steps for users to take and keep in mind. Most people don't realize their phone can be just as vulnerable as their home computers, sometimes even more so because it's used in more places. 

Google Glass Vulnerable to Wifi Attack According to Symantec

Symantec has uncovered another vulnerability within the Google Glass platform while testing in its labs.  The article was published on Tech Hive earlier this week.

The initial vulnerability was related to QR codes, the patchwork UPC-like patterns that can transfer information, such as a website, when scanned off a product, poster or periodical. Google Glass would scan a malicious QR code which would redirect the user to a website hosting a known Android 4.04 vulnerability which would give the host complete control over the device. That issue has since been patched.

The new vulnerability that was discovered relates to auto-connecting to known networks that a user has used before. This is something almost all wireless devices do as a convenience to the user. Unfortunately that convenience comes at the price of vulnerability. For as little as $100 a hacker can purchase a device that impersonates the known network and imitates it's SSID. This causes the user's device to automatically connect to the hacker's network without knowing.

A common scenario is your device will search for a WiFi hotspot. It will find the network, which may look to be a known WiFi connection, like Starbucks or AT&T, but it would be a spoofed network in disguise.  Your device would then connect to the malicious hotspot. Once you're connected to the device it will allow you to connect to the internet where it will be between you and the server you are accessing. This allows the device to spy on any and all unencrypted traffic going over the connection and is known as a man-in-the-middle attack (MITM).

This, of course, is not limited to just Google Glass. It can be an issue for any device connecting to a known network such as a coffee shop, library, or even your own network. The best deterrent for this that more and more people are turning to is running a VPN service. This way, even if the device is able to have you connect through it, the information being sent and received is unreadable. Effectively making you safe from possible MITM attacks.

The news highlights that even the latest technologies are vulnerable to such rudimentary attacks and additional steps should be taken to protect yourself. Running security software such as GoTrusted is one way to provide the protection you need from these kinds of MITM attacks, as well as the myriad of other systems hackers are actively using.

Online Tracking and Ways to Prevent it.

A recent article on http://www.abine.com about current online tracking practices highlights just how much information we may be giving out without our knowledge.

They have a nice infographic showing who may be tracking you, as well as some of the most common and simplest ways these companies track consumers.

Reasons for tracking are generally for advertisers to try and target people specifically and to build consumer ‘profiles’, but most people worry that these reasons are not always on the up and up.

In a questionnaire to Wall Street Journal readers, 60% said they worry ‘Tremendously’ about the loss of online privacy.

There are, of course, some simple steps you can sue to combat unwanted tracking and profiling. These include: Making sure your social networking sites privacy settings are set correctly, delete your information from companies that publicly sell it, running a free browser add-ons like DoNotTrackMe, and running a VPN like GoTrusted.

Running a VPN service will make you anonymous and prevent sites from targeting you by your geographic location as well as keeping you safe from sites that may try to view your browsing or buying habits online.

Expanded Android Support For Jellybean

Good news for our Android users. We've rolled out new settings and instructions for use with the new Android 4.1 Jellybean operating system. You can find the new instructions on our 'Android Instructions' page when you log in under 'Existing Users' and and select 'Android Instructions'.

This update coupled with Android Jellybean will provide our users with increased and simplified connectivity using the GoTrusted service making it even easier to GoTrusted when on the go!