Tech Trend 247

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned fellow Democrats on Saturday to change their cellphone numbers and not let family members read their text messages after personal and official information of Democratic House members and congressional staff was posted online.

Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic Party entities were the target of "an electronic Watergate break-in."

As a result, a mix of personal and official information of Democratic members and hundreds of congressional staff, purportedly from a hack of the DCCC, was posted online, Pelosi said.

personal and official information of Democratic members and hundreds of congressional staff was posted online

A hacker who calls himself Guccifer 2.0 (an apparent reference to the first hacker called Guccifer) took credit for posting the information Friday night. He had claimed responsibility for the recent hack of Democratic National Committee emails, which roiled the Democratic National Convention last month.

Pelosi said she was flying from Florida to California when she heard about the posting of information such as cell phone numbers

"Upon landing, I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages," Pelosi said in her letter to colleagues. "Please be careful not to allow your children or family members to answer your phone or read incoming text messages. This morning, I am changing my phone number and I advise you to do so as well. "

Pelosi said the chief information security officer of the House, John Ramsey, in coordination with U.S. Capitol Police, has sent communications to those people whose email addresses have been made public about how to address the problem. The chief administrative officer of the House has also sent an email stating that the House computer system has not been compromised, but urged members and staff to be vigilant about opening emails and websites.

I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages

Ramsey, in a memo distributed by Pelosi, advised lawmakers to change passwords to all email accounts that they use and strongly consider changing non-House email addresses if possible. 

Should lawmakers or staff receive any threats or observe suspicious activity, they should contact U.S. Capitol Police and local police, he said in the memo.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was holding a conference call with lawmakers on Saturday evening along with cybersecurity experts who have been investigating and responding to the breach.

"This is a sad course of events, not only for us, but more importantly for our country," Pelosi said in urging lawmakers to join the conference call with Lujan.

While Guccifer 2.0 has described himself as a Romanian hacker and denies working for Russia, online investigators assert that he is linked to Russia.

Disclosures of email showing DNC staffers privately supporting Hillary Clinton during the presidential primary while publicly maintaining they were neutral in her race with Bernie Sanders led to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

A driver of a Tesla Model S died in early May when both he and his car's semi-autonomous Autopilot system failed to see a tractor trailer crossing in front of the car on a highway in Florida.

While it seemed like the perfect storm of real-world chance versus automotive high tech, it turns out not just an unlikely blend of coincidence could cause Tesla's Autopilot to miss an obstacle.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and China’s Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360, say they've both easily blinded Autopilot and also caused it to see phantom obstacles.

When they take the stage later this week at the Defcon hacker conference, the researchers will detail how they used relatively accessible (but expensive) devices to deceive Tesla’s Autopilot sensors, according to Wired.

Intriguingly, the researchers, turned white-hat hackers, didn't actually have to hack the car. They simply jammed the stationary test car's front-mounted radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras by exposing them to various machines that emitted light, radio and sound.

As you can see in the video above, Autopilot suddenly and without warning loses track of the car ahead when the radio interferer is activated.

What's more, the researchers created the same blinding effect by draping a car with acoustic foam, which is far cheaper than devices with five- and six-figure price tags.

Granted, the machines employed by the researchers are expensive — and wrapping something in acoustic foam would be obvious. So, it's unlikely they would be used by would-be hackers to impair a single car. However, the tests prove that there are more issues with Tesla's Autopilot system than was initially anticipated.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

A driver of a Tesla Model S died in early May when both he and his car's semi-autonomous Autopilot system failed to see a tractor trailer crossing in front of the car on a highway in Florida.

While it seemed like the perfect storm of real-world chance versus automotive high tech, it turns out not just an unlikely blend of coincidence could cause Tesla's Autopilot to miss an obstacle.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and China’s Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360, say they've both easily blinded Autopilot and also caused it to see phantom obstacles.

When they take the stage later this week at the Defcon hacker conference, the researchers will detail how they used relatively accessible (but expensive) devices to deceive Tesla’s Autopilot sensors, according to Wired.

Intriguingly, the researchers, turned white-hat hackers, didn't actually have to hack the car. They simply jammed the stationary test car's front-mounted radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras by exposing them to various machines that emitted light, radio and sound.

As you can see in the video above, Autopilot suddenly and without warning loses track of the car ahead when the radio interferer is activated.

What's more, the researchers created the same blinding effect by draping a car with acoustic foam, which is far cheaper than devices with five- and six-figure price tags.

Granted, the machines employed by the researchers are expensive — and wrapping something in acoustic foam would be obvious. So, it's unlikely they would be used by would-be hackers to impair a single car. However, the tests prove that there are more issues with Tesla's Autopilot system than was initially anticipated.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

A driver of a Tesla Model S died in early May when both he and his car's semi-autonomous Autopilot system failed to see a tractor trailer crossing in front of the car on a highway in Florida.

While it seemed like the perfect storm of real-world chance versus automotive high tech, it turns out not just an unlikely blend of coincidence could cause Tesla's Autopilot to miss an obstacle.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and China’s Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360, say they've both easily blinded Autopilot and also caused it to see phantom obstacles.

When they take the stage later this week at the Defcon hacker conference, the researchers will detail how they used relatively accessible (but expensive) devices to deceive Tesla’s Autopilot sensors, according to Wired.

Intriguingly, the researchers, turned white-hat hackers, didn't actually have to hack the car. They simply jammed the stationary test car's front-mounted radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras by exposing them to various machines that emitted light, radio and sound.

As you can see in the video above, Autopilot suddenly and without warning loses track of the car ahead when the radio interferer is activated.

What's more, the researchers created the same blinding effect by draping a car with acoustic foam, which is far cheaper than devices with five- and six-figure price tags.

Granted, the machines employed by the researchers are expensive — and wrapping something in acoustic foam would be obvious. So, it's unlikely they would be used by would-be hackers to impair a single car. However, the tests prove that there are more issues with Tesla's Autopilot system than was initially anticipated.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

A driver of a Tesla Model S died in early May when both he and his car's semi-autonomous Autopilot system failed to see a tractor trailer crossing in front of the car on a highway in Florida.

While it seemed like the perfect storm of real-world chance versus automotive high tech, it turns out not just an unlikely blend of coincidence could cause Tesla's Autopilot to miss an obstacle.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina and China’s Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Chinese security firm Qihoo 360, say they've both easily blinded Autopilot and also caused it to see phantom obstacles.

When they take the stage later this week at the Defcon hacker conference, the researchers will detail how they used relatively accessible (but expensive) devices to deceive Tesla’s Autopilot sensors, according to Wired.

Intriguingly, the researchers, turned white-hat hackers, didn't actually have to hack the car. They simply jammed the stationary test car's front-mounted radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras by exposing them to various machines that emitted light, radio and sound.

As you can see in the video above, Autopilot suddenly and without warning loses track of the car ahead when the radio interferer is activated.

What's more, the researchers created the same blinding effect by draping a car with acoustic foam, which is far cheaper than devices with five- and six-figure price tags.

Granted, the machines employed by the researchers are expensive — and wrapping something in acoustic foam would be obvious. So, it's unlikely they would be used by would-be hackers to impair a single car. However, the tests prove that there are more issues with Tesla's Autopilot system than was initially anticipated.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.