Ok, a new security one. Army Times is warning that Smartwatches capable of automatically connecting to cellphones and Wi-Fi, then gaining access to user data, are being shipped to members of the U.S. military seemingly at random. In an announcement last week, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, warned that the watches may contain malware, potentially granting whoever sent the peripherals “access to saved data to include banking information, contacts, and account information such as usernames and passwords.”
A more innocuous tactic may also be to blame: so-called brushing, used in e-commerce to boost a seller’s ratings through fake orders and reviews.
Why do we care?
Apparently, we must tell people not to accept strange electronics that mysteriously appear on their doorsteps. Who knew?
That’s lesson one, and the second is the simple fact that leveraging people is often the easiest way to make a change.. be it through potential hackers, or boosting sellers’ ratings.