Security News
Owners of Dropcam security cameras and Nest Secure systems have been given an unwelcome deadline from Google: their smart home products will be shut off April 8 next year. Google made the announcement Friday on the Google Nest Community site, where it said point blank that Dropcam and Dropcam Pro devices "Will no longer work after that date," the same going for Nest Secure systems.
After a decade or so of ransomware attacks against sometimes very prominent targets, the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack by the Darkside gang has been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, as the attack was followed by a temporary shut down of the pipeline, which then led to widespread fuel shortages in the Southeast United States and the government issuing a state of emergency for 18 states. According to Intel 471 researchers, other ransomware gangs reacted with changes to their RaaS programs.
Bad news for those who have bought into the Nest Secure home surveillance system - Google has surprised many by halting further deployments. The Secure package consists of motion sensors for doors and windows that communicate with the Hub, a modern-day version of the traditional home alarm keypad but with NFC Tag key fobs and smartphone alerts.
Even Apple itself came to the anti-virus party back in 2009 when it introduced a rudimentary malware blocking tool called XProtect right into into OS X. Whether you called it malware or not, there have long been "Software actors" out there ready to go after Mac users in the same way that they've been going after Windows users for years. SophosLabs has just published a fascinating new report about an adware threat known as Bundlore that has Mac users very clearly in its sights.
Nest owners, if you aren't already flying with two-factor authentication on your accounts, get ready for Google to push you into spreading those security wings. On Tuesday - which, appropriately enough, was Safer Internet Day - Google announced that in the spring, it will start forcing users of its Nest webcams and other products to use 2FA to secure their accounts.
China-based electronics company Xiaomi said it has fixed a "Cache update" issue for its Xiaomi Mijia smart camera after a Reddit user claims that attempts to view Xiaomi camera footage on his Google Nest Hub instead showed videos of strangers. This security camera can be linked to the Google Nest Hub if users integrate their Google accounts on Xiaomi's Mi Home application.
In one such recent privacy mishap, smart IP cameras manufactured by Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi found mistakenly sharing surveillance footage of Xiaomi users with other random users without any permission. The issue appears to affect Xiaomi IP cameras only when streamed through connected Google's Nest Hub, which came into light when a Reddit user claimed that his Google Nest Hub is apparently pulling random feeds from other users instead of his own Xiaomi Mijia cameras.
The newly discovered Legion Loader infects computers with a huge quantity and variety of malware, making it a serious threat.
The list of vulnerabilities recently discovered by researchers relate to one model, the Nest Cam IQ Indoor camera.
Eight vulnerabilities would allow a range of attacker activities, including taking the Nest camera offline, sniffing out network information and device hijacking.