Where is the riskiest place in the U.S. for your phone & password?

Las Vegas, according to a new study.

See America’s most insecure cities — and how BMWs got hacked — in this week’s scam alert.

Watch here:

Insecure in Sin City

The least cyber secure city in the U.S. is Las Vegas, according to a new study.

You’re most likely to lose your passwords, money or identity online in Vegas than anywhere else, according to security company Coronet.

If you go Vegas, don’t trust the Wi-Fi at your hotel or casino to keep you safe.

You may want to try a VPN, or Virtual Private Network to protect your info.

The top cyber insecure cities after Las Vegas are Memphis, Charlotte and Houston.

The safest cities for your life online include Richmond, Virginia, Seattle, Washington and St. Louis, Missouri.

The Richmond, Virginia metro area is the safest for your digital life online, according to Coronet. Image credit: Timmorissette33

BMWs Hacked

A pricy set of wheels doesn’t guarantee you a hacker-free ride.

Researchers found more than a dozen security flaws in BMWs, including some in the i Series, X Series, the 3 Series, the 5 Series and the 7 Series.

Keen Security Lab published the report this week, saying attackers could take over parts of the car — even while you’re driving.

They’re keeping the details a secret until BMW fixes the problems.

BMW says it is indeed fixing those problems.

Researchers have hacked other cars in the past, like the Tesla Model S, the Tesla Model X and the Jeep Cherokee.

Researchers from Keen Security Lab show how they can exploit security flaws & hack into a BMW. Image credit: Keen Security Lab

Tracking Your Mug

You may have seen police pointing a radar gun at you.

Now, it could be a camera.

Amazon is selling its face recognition technology, called Amazon Rekognition, to law enforcement agencies.

Departments in Washington County, Oregon and Orlando, Florida have already signed up, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union.

This is causing controversy.

Police say it could help solve crimes.

But civil liberties groups say law enforcement could use facial recognition to see who’s protesting at political rallies and keep tabs on people who are not committing crimes.

They’re asking Amazon to stop selling the service, saying people should be able to “walk down the street without being watched by the government.”

Promotional video for Amazon Rekognition facial recognition technology. Image credit: Amazon

Class Cameras

Daydreaming in class?

Not any more at a high school in China.

The school is using facial recognition to tell when students are paying attention or not, reports the Chinese website Hangzhou.

The school’s system can see if your face shows happiness, sadness, anger, fear or surprise. 

If you start to lose focus, the system can report you to the teacher.

People’s Daily tweeted about the Hangzhou school’s emotion detection system. Image credit: Twitter

This kind of tracking is not just for kids.

Some Chinese companies are using brain sensors to track their workers’ emotions, reported the South China Morning Post.

The sensors are supposed to determine things like tiredness, sadness or panic.

For some, the idea of wearing these helmets at work would be enough to bring on those very feelings in a big way.

See other alerts:

Scam Alert #17 — Bank sneakers & hacker arrests

Scam Alert #16 — Plant takeovers & face tracking

Scam Alert #15 — Big cyber bust & fake internet stars

See more Scam Alerts here at Archer News.

Main image: Las Vegas. Image credit: Skeeze