How Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Account Was Hacked

Like so many Twitter attacks lately, it was a SIM swap...

The Risk of Weak Online Banking Passwords

If you bank online and choose weak or re-used passwords, there's a decent chance your account could be pilfered by cyberthieves -- even if your bank offers multi-factor authentication as part of its login process. This story is about how crooks increasingly are abusing third-party financial...

The SIM Swap Fix That the US Isn't Using

While foreign phone carriers are sharing data to stop SIM swap fraud, US carriers are dragging feet...

Large-scale SIM swap fraud

Introduction SIM swap fraud is a type of account takeover fraud that generally targets a weakness in two-factor authentication and two-step verification, where the second factor or step is an SMS or a call placed to a mobile telephone. The fraud centers around exploiting a mobile phone operator's...

An Apple-Hacking Teen, SIM-Swap Indictments, and More Security News This Week

Location data scandals, a Zcash bug, and more of the week's top security news...

“Stole $24 Million But Still Can’t Keep a Friend”

Unsettling new claims have emerged about Nicholas Truglia, a 21-year-old Manhattan resident accused of hijacking cell phone accounts to steal tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies from victims. The lurid details, made public in a civil lawsuit filed this week by one of his alleged...

Hanging Up on Mobile in the Name of Security

An entrepreneur and virtual currency investor is suing AT&T for $224 million, claiming the wireless provider was negligent when it failed to prevent thieves from hijacking his mobile account and stealing millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies. Increasingly frequent, high-profile attacks like the...

Florida Man Arrested in SIM Swap Conspiracy

Police in Florida have arrested a 25-year-old man accused of being part of a multi-state cyber fraud ring that hijacked mobile phone numbers in online attacks that siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from victims. On July 18, 2018, Pasco County...

Reddit Breach Highlights Limits of SMS-Based Authentication

Reddit.com today disclosed that a data breach exposed some internal data, as well as email addresses and passwords for some Reddit users. As Web site breaches go, this one doesn't seem too severe. What's interesting about the incident is that it showcases once again why relying on mobile text...

T-Mobile Employee Made Unauthorized ‘SIM Swap’ to Steal Instagram Account

T-Mobile is investigating a retail store employee who allegedly made unauthorized changes to a subscriber's account in an elaborate scheme to steal the customer's three-letter Instagram username. The modifications, which could have let the rogue employee empty bank accounts associated with the...