According to the company’s Israeli cyber investigators, the security breach found allowed them to hack the tablets, gain full control and steal the e-reader users’ Amazon accounts.
Check Point’s findings were revealed at DEF CON, the world’s largest hacker and cybersecurity convention, held annually in Las Vegas. The annual conventions are regularly attended by FBI agents on top of the companies in the cyber field.
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The company managed to hack into the Kindles by exploiting a breach that occurs as the tablet is processing an e-book the reader has clicked on.
In the few seconds it takes for the tablet to process an e-book before displaying it to the user on the screen, the cyber investigators managed to run a code into the e-book, capable of handing complete remote control of the tablet to the hackers.
“We are delighted that Amazon realized the severity of the breach and worked with us [Check Point] to fix the issue,” Cohen added.
The breaches were fixed by Amazon’s security department, with assistance given by Check Point. Amazon’s newest update containing a fix was released and automatically installed in Kindles all over the world.