Data Breach of California Pizza Kitchen Leaks 100,000 Social Security Numbers

TechCrunch reports that California Pizza Kitchen suffered a data breach in September. The SSNs of over 100,000 employees were leaked as a result.

While CPK didn’t confirm how many people are impacted by the breach, a notification from the Maine attorney general’s office reported a total of 103,767 current and former employees — including eight Maine residents — are affected. CPK employed around 14,000 people as of 2017, suggesting the bulk of those affected are former employees.

Teen in Canada Arrested Over $36.5 Million Crypto Theft

Bloomberg reports on a theft involving a Canadian teen stealing US$36.5 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in the U.S.

Police said the victim was targeted through a cell phone scam known as SIM swapping, in which a scammer hijacks a wireless customer’s phone number to intercept two-factor authentication requests and gain access to the victim’s accounts.

The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force, the Hamilton Police Service said in a statement. The investigation was launched last year in March.

If you haven’t already done so it’s a good idea to lock your SIM card with a PIN.

Enjoy an Ice Cream Flavor-Inspired iPhone Case

One lifestyle label has decided to take inspiration from popular ice cream flavors for its latest iPhone cases. Urban Sophistication is a clothing and accessory boutique. It “reinterprets everyday objects to offer a unique experience of the ordinary altogether creating a portrait of us”. The boutique’s latest product announcement consists of five new Puffer cases. Different ice cream flavors inspire each of the cases in the new “Flavors” drop. You can choose from Bubblegum, Frozen Sun, Green Tea, Peach Sorbet and Cotton Candy. Urban Sophistication first thought up the Puffer case after photoshopping a picture of a puffer jacket onto an iPhone case. The idea proved so popular that Urban Sophistication designed a new line of cases incorporating the puffiness of the jacket. Dua Lipa, Rosalia, Madelaine Petsch and J Balvin have helped popularize the Puffer cases. These cases fit all models of iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13.

Williston, North Dakota Adds Cryptocurrency ATM to Airport

The City of Williston announced the addition of a cryptocurrency ATM at Williston Basin International Airport. It supports over 40 coins such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ether, Cardano, and more.

The City of Williston does not act as the fund custodian or manage any crypto transactions. Purchases and withdrawals are handled by the DCM operator, Coin Cloud. This marks the first government-hosted cryptocurrency kiosk and the first Coin Cloud installation in an airport. The DCM is located before security on the first level near the rental car offices and the baggage carousel.

Musicians Call for Concert Venues to Drop Amazon Palm Scanning Technology

Musicians and activist groups are calling on Red Rocks Amphitheatre to stop its rollout of Amazon’s palm scanning tech.

The letter contributors are worried Amazon might send palm data to government agencies hoping to track activists and marginalized people, particularly in light of its past collaborations with police. They’re also concerned thieves might steal info from the cloud, and see AEG as inconsistent after it condemned the use of facial recognition in 2019.

US Issues Joint Advisory Warning Companies of Iranian Ransomware

In a joint advisory issued on Wednesday, the U.S. is warning that Iranian state-backed hackers are targeting infrastructure companies with ransomware.

The Iranian government-sponsored APT actors are actively targeting a broad range of victims across multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including the Transportation Sector and the Healthcare and Public Health Sector, as well as Australian organizations. FBI, CISA, ACSC, and NCSC assess the actors are focused on exploiting known vulnerabilities rather than targeting specific sectors.

Apple Promoting Express Transit in London

Apple has been promoting Express Transit inside the Wallet app in London, 9to5 Mac reported on Tuesday. I had a look whilst using public transport on Wednesday, and didn’t notice the ads. However, it’s interesting that some users did have this relatively underused feature highlighted to them, and that not all of them were happy about it.

When you click on it, Apple explains how to get around using the Express Mode feature, which does not require Face ID or Touch ID when paying for public transportation…The weird thing about this activation, which you could call an ad, is that this notification appears even if you have the Express Mode feature already enabled – and it toggles an icon alert on the Wallet app as well. This is not the first time Apple users have complained about the company inserting ads on their devices.