The Weekly Cypher is specially curated to keep you up-to-date on the latest in cybersecurity, biometrics, and related news and innovations. Here are a few of the headlines you might have missed this week.
Researchers develop artificial fingerprints, claiming they could hack into a third of smartphones | CNBC
Researchers from NYU and Michigan State have generated “DeepMasterPrints” which utilize machine learning to generate artificial fingerprints and have the potential to become a “master key” for devices that use fingerprint authentication. The researchers claim that this technology has the potential to unlock 1/3 fingerprint-protected smartphones.
Chrome in Android leaks device fingerprinting info | Threatpost
Google has issued a partial fix for an Android issue dating back to 2015 – after originally rejecting the bug report on the grounds of the mobile OS “working as intended.” According to Nightwatch Cybersecurity, Chrome and applications that use the associated APIs leak information about the hardware model, firmware version and security patch level of the device on which they are running.
Town Of Salem hacked leaving more than 7.6M with compromised data | Forbes
BlankMediaGames has confirmed that it suffered a data breach impacting more than 7.6 million players of popular browser-based role playing game Town of Salem. The breach was first disclosed on December 28th in an anonymous email to security firm DeHashed that included evidence of the server compromise and access to the complete player database.
Many employees have “too much access” to company information | IT Pro Portal
Insider threats and disgruntled employees remain one of the biggest risks for organisations, yet many companies fail to lock down business critical data. Insider threats and disgruntled employees remain one of the biggest risks for organisations according to a new report by CyberArk. Based on a poll of more than 1,000 UK office workers, the report says that almost half of them have, or have had, access to sensitive financial documents.
Nearly 5 million passengers’ data leaked from online train ticketing platforms |TechNode
Data thieves stole the personal information of nearly 5 million people from an unconfirmed number of Chinese online ticket reservation platforms, according to Beijing police, who arrested a suspect in the case. According to media reports, China Railways official online booking platform 12306 suffered a massive data breach, with information later being sold on the dark web. Compromised data reportedly included names, ID numbers, and passwords.