Former basketball star Shaquille O”Neal, who stands at 7″1″ (215 cm), relies on vehicle customization services to adapt cars to his size. Recently, he encountered an unfortunate incident when his modified Range Rover disappeared during transport due to a cyberattack.
According to reports, Effortless Motors, the company responsible for modifying O”Neal”s vehicle, lost track of the Range Rover after it was picked up for delivery from Atlanta to Louisiana. The company confirmed to TMZ that a cyberattack on the transport organization resulted in the vehicle”s disappearance while in transit. “This was a highly coordinated criminal act targeting the transport company”s network,” Effortless Motors stated. They are currently working with law enforcement and federal investigators to locate the vehicle and bring those responsible to justice.
The theft poses significant challenges for the criminals involved, as selling such a uniquely customized vehicle on the black market may prove difficult. However, this incident is not the most audacious recent theft involving hard-to-sell items.
In another notable event, a judge has permanently prohibited NSO Group, a spyware manufacturer, from targeting Meta”s WhatsApp platform. This legal battle began in 2019 when Meta discovered and patched a vulnerability that NSO allegedly exploited to deploy its Pegasus spyware against journalists, politicians, and other users of the messaging app. Following a jury”s decision that awarded Meta $167 million in damages, the judge granted a permanent injunction against NSO Group”s activities related to WhatsApp.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the Northern District of California articulated that NSO”s methods were deceptive and widespread, meriting a ban on any future engagement with WhatsApp. “Having concluded that defendants” conduct causes irreparable harm, and there being no dispute that the conduct is ongoing, the court concludes … in favor of granting an injunction,” Judge Hamilton remarked. However, the judge did not extend the injunction to include NSO”s other products, and the punitive damages were significantly reduced to just over $4 million.
In the realm of cybersecurity, a severe vulnerability termed “TARmageddon” has been identified in the async-tar Rust library, prompting warnings for users of certain forks of the library. Researchers from Edera, the company that discovered this flaw, explained that this boundary parsing vulnerability could allow attackers to execute remote code, overwrite files, and implement supply chain attacks. The most popular fork of async-tar, known as tokio-tar, is no longer maintained, leading Edera to advise users to switch to actively supported alternatives.
Furthermore, Scouting America has introduced merit badges focusing on AI and cybersecurity skills for its members. This initiative aims to educate young people on staying safe online rather than training them for potential careers in hacking. The AI badge will cover various AI systems and their ethical implications, while the cybersecurity badge will focus on recognizing online threats and practicing good digital hygiene.
Finally, developers of browser extensions for Firefox should be aware of an upcoming requirement. Starting November 3, they must disclose whether their extensions collect or transmit user data. This change aims to enhance transparency for users and will apply to new extensions, with existing ones receiving a grace period before compliance becomes mandatory.
