This Week in Getting Hacked: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Edition

All aboard the cybersecurity train! CHOOO CHOOOO! Each week we bring you the greatest and most terrifying cybersecurity and hacking-related links on the web. This is….THIS WEEK IN GETTING HACKED!

On to the links!

-Last year, Sony Pictures was super-duper hacked and a bunch of emails and employee info was compromised. The entertainment company was hacked because a group known as the Guardians of Peace didn’t want The Interview to be released. Well, now Sony is paying out the affected employees around $8 million in settlements. I think the real issue is that The Interview shouldn’t have been made to begin with—because, woof– but who am I, ya know? Affected employees will get around $10K each to cover any identity theft losses and other expenses.

-In a bit of good news, Facebook is now alerting you when you are potentially getting hacked from state-sponsored hackers. In a bit of terrifying news, state-sponsored hackers are now targeting Facebook users. Not sure what they’d want with my account, unless they’d like to improve on the crappy jokes I throw out there. Dislike.

-A teen who hacked the Director of the CIA’s email finally went on record explaining how he did it. The kid broke into the Director’s AOL account (ha!) by acting as a Verizon employee to trick another employee into releasing the important info. Just goes to show that, despite numerous firewalls, security protocols, numerous and frequent password changes, and other security measures, the biggest threat to cybersecurity is someone at Verizon.

-A new startup cybersecurity firm, illusive networks, has found a way to beat the hackers at their own game. Basically, the company layers a bunch of false information on top of a company’s network, effectively hiding the actual good stuff inside. If/when there is a breach, the hackers think they’re taking all the useful information, but really it’s nothing, and illusive is able to trigger a warning and neutralize the attack. How do you double cross a double cross? With a triple cross!

And finally…

-Remember when a few months back, Obama got together with the President of China and they decided to stop hacking each other? Yeah, China is still hacking our companies. Hooray for diplomacy!

See you next week! Stay safe out there!