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Tech News
A tech explainer outlines the main ways spam callers and text scammers acquire phone numbers, including random robocall dialing, data breaches, and numbers shared or sold by apps and websites. It notes that some causes, like breaches and random dialing, are beyond a user's control, while other exposure can be reduced through user action. The piece also points to existing tools on Android and iPhone that can help block unwanted calls.
An entrepreneur who runs a transcription company describes how handling sensitive audio and video files requires strict confidentiality practices, including cybersecurity tools, employee NDAs and clear client communication. The piece argues that trust, once built, can be destroyed instantly by a data breach, misleading claims or broken promises, and that honest acknowledgment of mistakes is key to recovery.
A new explainer outlines the different layers of email encryption, noting they guard against distinct threats such as account compromise, network eavesdropping, data breaches and physical theft. It emphasizes that connection-level encryption (TLS) protects data in transit between a device and an email provider, while other threats like phishing or accidental deletion require different safeguards.
Following a wave of data breaches, some insurance carriers have begun offering specialized policies covering enterprises targeted by rogue AI agents or whose own AI systems attack third parties, while other insurers are avoiding this coverage area altogether. Many businesses wrongly assume existing cyber or liability policies already cover AI-related incidents, when such coverage is often absent or inadequate.
Dutch police confirmed a 24-year-old Amsterdam man, arrested earlier in September, is being investigated in connection with the ShinyHunters hacking group. He is set to appear before the Rotterdam District Court on September 29. Media outlets have identified the suspect as Pepijn van der Stap, previously convicted in 2023 for hacking and extorting more than a dozen companies.
An Android Authority writer describes shifting to privacy-focused tools like the Brave browser to limit Google's data collection and targeted advertising, after encountering people who dismiss online privacy as unimportant. The piece recounts personal experience with data breaches at retailers that exposed sensitive information such as ID numbers, arguing this shows why data collection risks extend to everyday consumers, not just privacy-conscious tech users.
A year-end review of 2026's major hacks highlights an unresolved controversy over the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security Administration data. Ongoing federal lawsuits and a whistleblower's claims allege DOGE staff uploaded a live copy of the Social Security database to an unsecured third-party server, potentially exposing sensitive personal information tied to most living Americans. The broader roundup also notes a year marked by ransomware, nation-state attacks on infrastructure, and data weaponization by governments.