Here are three security articles we found rather interesting this week.
Researcher Wows Black Hat with NFC-based Smartphone Hacking Demo (CIO)
Accuvant Labs researcher Charlie Miller has figured out how to break into the Google/Samsung Nexus S and the Nokia 9 smartphones by using Near Field Communication (NFC).
I can read all the files, said Miller about how he managed to break into the Nokia 9 when his home-made NFC-based device is in very close proximity to the targeted smartphone. I can make phone calls, too. Vulnerabilities he identified in the Android-powered Nexus S were located in the browser surface, he said.
The truth behind those Nigerian 419 scammers (TechRepublic)
419 Advanced Fee Fraud (also known as the Nigerian 419 scam) is still being used quite frequently to steal money from gullible victims via fraudulent emails. But are these emails really coming from Nigeria, or are they perpetrated by attackers from other countries?
Researchers from the University of Ibadan found the following IP locations within 400 scam emails tested:
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue: A Bargain for the Identity Theft Collective (The Huffington Post)
Adam Levin of Credit.com wrote an interesting story documenting Wisconsin’s complete inability to secure public information.
Last week, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue revealed that it had accidentally made public 110,795 Social Security numbers and tax ID numbers of Wisconsin residents. The numbers were mistakenly embedded in a real estate report and posted to the department’s website for almost three months before being removed.
This is the fourth time since 2006 that Wisconsin state agencies have been involved in the public release of Social Security numbers.