You’ve Been PWNED!

What the heck does "pwned" mean? The definition according to wikipedia.com is “to appropriate or to conquer to gain ownership. The term implies domination or humiliation of a rival, used primarily in the Internet-based video game culture to taunt an opponent who has just been soundly defeated (e.g., "You just got pwned!"). In hacker jargon, pwn means to compromise or control, specifically another computer (server or PC), web site, gateway device, or application. It is synonymous with one of the definitions of hacking or cracking, including iOS Jailbreaking. The Pwnie Awards are awarded by a group of security researchers. Popularity of the term among teenagers rose in the mid-2000s, with the spread from the Internet written form to use in spoken language.”

AT&T is one of 48 carriers that have a vulnerability to hacking. Essentially this means that the vulnerability allows hackers to intercept cellular data and inject malicious content into the traffic that passes between Smartphones and the websites they visit. According to Killian Bell, cultofmac.com, “The flaw can be used to transfer code to unencrypted pages, which causes a user to perform unintended actions, like sending messages or friend requests from Facebook and Twitter. And your iPhone may be vulnerable.” Uh oh! What is most dangerous about all of this is that it can cause a re-direct to a fraudulent banking site. The carriers had intended the firewalls to make things more secure, but alas! Such is not the case. According to Ars Technica, “While intended to make the networks safer, these firewall middleboxes allow hackers to infer TCP sequence numbers of data packets appended to each data packet, a disclosure that can be used to tamper with Internet connections.”

AT&T denies the claim it is vulnerable. According to Killian Bell, cultofmac.com, “AT&T claims that the report does not provide enough detail for us to confirm a conclusion, however, it does promise to take a look at the issues raised.” Hmmm… Could it be that the carriers have an ulterior motive with the firewalls? It does make you wonder.

Think you’re safe because you use a Mac or iPhone? According to Nicole Martini, cultofmac.com, “Neal O’Farrell, executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit Identity Theft Council, says that thinking you’re too small to get serious about security is about as dumb as you can get. O’Farrell gave a talk titled “The Hackers are Coming – Why the Small Business is the Big Target and What You’ve Got to Lose” as part of San Francisco Small Business Week. O’Farrell’s intent was to scare small business owners into being smart about online transactions as well as online banking apps. He said that hackers regularly target Mac users as well as the iPhone. So don’t be falsely lulled into thinking you are safe because you are using a Mac or Apple product. It simply isn’t true anymore.

Is there a solution? Aside from demanding carriers dump the firewalls, the only other solution is to stop using Facebook apps on your phone as well as to discontinue any and all banking apps. Be smart about opening emails of any kind. Even though it says it comes from a friend, don’t open suspicious links in emails. I regularly receive emails from friends’ accounts that have been hacked. Be aware and be cautious.

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