Security researchers have discovered that as many as half of all geostationary satellites in Earth’s orbit are carrying unencrypted sensitive consumer, corporate, and military information, making this data wide open to eavesdropping. The researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Maryland spent $800 on an off-the-shelf satellite receiver and pointed it at the […]
Former U.S. Army soldier Cameron John Wagenius pleaded guilty to hacking telecommunication companies and attempting to extort them by threatening to release stolen files, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. According to the DOJ, Wagenius, who went online with the nickname “kiberphant0m,” conspired to defraud 10 victim companies by stealing their login credentials, using
US Army soldier pleads guilty to hacking telcos and extortion Read More »
It’s 2025, and cell phone numbers are ubiquitous. We use our phone numbers to sign up for websites and online services, from retail and banking to social media and health providers. You can use your phone number to reset a forgotten password, and even for receiving two-factor authentication codes for securely logging in to your
How to protect your cell phone number from SIM swap attacks Read More »
Sen. Ron Wyden sent a letter to fellow Senators on Wednesday, revealing that three major U.S. cellphone carriers did not have provisions to notify lawmakers about government surveillance requests, despite a contractual requirement to do so. In the letter, Wyden, a Democrat and longstanding member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that an investigation by
Wyden: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon weren’t notifying senators of surveillance requests Read More »
Cameron John Wagenius pleaded guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon and stealing a massive trove of phone records from the companies, according to court records filed on Wednesday. Wagenius, who was a U.S. Army soldier, pleaded guilty to two counts of “unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information” on an online forum and via an
US Army soldier pleads guilty to AT&T and Verizon hacks Read More »
U.S. prosecutors have formally linked the arrest of a serving U.S. Army soldier in December to a massive theft of U.S. phone records from AT&T and Verizon last year. Authorities arrested Cameron John Wagenius, a U.S. Army communications specialist, in Texas on December 20 following a brief two-page grand jury indictment accusing the U.S. serviceperson
DOJ confirms arrested US Army soldier is linked to AT&T and Verizon hacks Read More »
U.S. telecom giant Verizon says it has secured its network after being targeted by the China-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage group. In a statement given to TechCrunch on Sunday, Verizon spokesperson Richard Young said the company has “contained the cyber incident brought on by this nation-state threat actor,” and that it has not detected any threat actor
Verizon says it has secured its network after breach by China-linked Salt Typhoon group Read More »
The U.S. government has confirmed that hackers with links to China breached multiple U.S. telecommunication service providers to access the wiretap systems used by law enforcement to surveil Americans. In a joint statement published on Monday, CISA and the FBI said they had uncovered “a broad and significant” cyber espionage campaign that saw PRC-affiliated actors
US confirms China-backed hackers breached telecom providers to steal wiretap data Read More »
The U.S. government has accused Connor Moucka and John Binns of being the hackers who broke into the systems of AT&T, stealing around 50 billion customer call and text records. In July, AT&T said hackers stole the phone records of “nearly all” of its cellular and landline customers, as well as calls and text message
Snowflake hackers identified and charged with stealing 50 billion AT&T records Read More »
A hacker suspected of involvement in a series of massive Snowflake-related hacks has been arrested in Canada, according to local authorities. Ian McLeod, a spokesperson for the Canadian Department of Justice, told TechCrunch in an email that, “following a request by the United States, Alexander Moucka (a.k.a. Connor Moucka) was arrested on a provisional arrest
Canadian authorities say they arrested hacker linked to Snowflake data breaches Read More »
