Hotels top target for hackers

by Tom Johansmeyer on

According to online security trade publication DarkReading.com, hackers went after the hotel sector more than any other in 2009. And, they didn’t get caught: it took hotels an average of 156 days to discover a security breach. A study by Trustwave’s SpiderLabs of 218 security breach investigations in 24 countries found that 38 percent hit the hospitality industry, 19 percent for financial services, 14 percent for retailers and 13 percent for food and beverage.

So, why are hackers poking around in hotel systems? Credit cards!

Hackers are looking for payment information that they can steal and use elsewhere. This information that can be converted to cash quickly, says Trustwave SpiderLabs executive Nicholas Percoco. Other sensitive information wasn’t nearly as popular, with the likes of financial, authentication and healthcare information good for only 1 percent of what was stolen.

Crashing a flight’s in-flight entertainment system, on purpose

by Jerry Guo on

For all you armchair terrorists, here’s a handy do-it-yourself guide to crashing the back-of-seat entertainment system. The upside is that this system is not in any way connected to flight navigational controls. The probable downside is that 400 passengers will be quite angry with you.

But mainly, this just shows you software, even for the aviation industry, is far from being fail-safe or idiot-proof. Anyways, here’s the cheat-sheet.

1. Open up the Tetris knockoff game.
2. Highlight the preferences option where you can select how many blocks to see ahead.
3. Change this number to five using your phone numpad.
4. Proceed to hit + on the screen, increasing this one by one to 127.
5. This is a crucial number (the max value that can be stored using 1 byte of memory). So savor this moment.
6. Hit + again.
7. Angry passengers.

[Via CSO Security and Risk]

Make Your Own String Tripod

by Justin Glow on

Most of us travel with a camera of some sort, but very few are willing to lug a tripod around to insure our night shot of the Eiffel Tower comes out just right.

Instructables.com has a great tutorial on making your very own string tripod, which is a simple, light-weight alternative to the three-legged travel foe. It’s cheap, easy to make, fits in your pocket, and goes where other tripods aren’t allowed, like ancient temples or museums. All the supplies — an eye hook, nut, and piece of nylon rope — can be found at your local hardware store, and cost under five bucks.

While the string tripod might not produce professional results (though I think you’ll be surprised), it’s better than no tripod at all. Plus you’ll look really cool tied to a tree, tangled up in nylon rope.

[Via Lifehacker]