Jeff Stone – Page 18 – WindowsTechs.com

Twitter nabs a network of Chinese accounts demonizing pro-democracy protests, spinning coronavirus news

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Just because Twitter is banned in mainland China doesn’t mean Beijing won’t use it to influence public opinion around the world. Twitter announced Thursday it removed 23,750 accounts linked to Chinese-backed propaganda campaigns. Those accounts made up the core of the effort, the company said, while another 150,000 sought to amplify the content on those core accounts. Much of the activity was aimed at undermining pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the coronavirus pandemic and discrediting Chinese dissidents, researchers found. Researchers from Stanford University’s Internet Observatory determined that the Twitter activity focused on COVID-19 accelerated in January and peaked in March. Often, the accounts would praise the Chinese government’s response to the pandemic, call for global unity on the issue and bristle at the notion that Taiwan’s government responded to the health crisis in an effective manner. The themes echo prior propaganda in other suspected Chinese social media operations and official […]

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Here’s what that Capital One court decision means for corporate cybersecurity

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Jeff Stone

When a judge ruled last month that Capital One must provide outsiders with a third-party incident response report detailing the circumstances around the bank’s massive data breach, the cybersecurity world took notice. The surprise decision, in effect, determined that Capital One would need to provide the forensic details — warts and all — about the hack to attorneys representing a group of customers suing the bank. It’s the kind of report that, if made public, could highlight technical and procedural failures that made it possible for a single suspect to allegedly collect gigabytes of data about 100 million people from a bank with $28 billion in revenue. Typically, hacked organizations are able to keep incident response reports private and avoid costly suits by shielding the details under attorney-client privilege. Not under this decision. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Capital One must provide a […]

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Hackers use fake contact tracing apps in attempt to install banking malware on Android phones

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Twelve applications posing as coronavirus contact tracing apps available outside mainstream marketplaces are designed to steal personal and financial information from unwitting Android users. Apps meant to impersonate official government tracing apps from countries including Italy, Russia and Singapore trigger malicious software capable of collecting a range of data from user’s devices, the threat intelligence firm Anomali found in research shared with CyberScoop prior to its publication. It’s the latest example of hackers and scammers exploiting global events to try stealing from anxious smartphone users who, in this case, would have believed they were downloading an app designed to measure the prevalence of COVID-19 in their community. None of the apps were included in the Google Play Store at press time. Anomali determined that apps were available on suspicious websites and in third-party app markets. Researchers were unable to determine how many people downloaded the suspicious apps, and the distinct […]

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This was inevitable: ‘Thanos’ ransomware weaponizes research tool against Microsoft Windows users

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Hackers have converted software initially created as a testing tool into a destructive strain of ransomware, weaponizing inside knowledge about digital fortifications at a time when internet extortion only is accelerating. Scammers on cybercriminal forums are marketing a new strain of ransomware, dubbed “Thanos,” to other attackers aiming to infiltrate computers running Microsoft Windows, according to research published Wednesday by threat intelligence firm Recorded Future. Thanos operates much like similar hacking tools — encrypting victims’ files until they pay a shakedown fee — except that it’s the first ransomware built, in part, based on a proof-of-concept from security researchers who previously marketed their computer code as a way to bypass Windows 10 security protocols as part of otherwise legitimate tests. The discovery of the Thanos malware family coincided with a 25% uptick in overall ransomware attacks during the first three months of this year, compared to the final three months of […]

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Vast hack-for-hire scheme against activists, corporate targets tied to Indian IT firm

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Jeff Stone

An Indian cybersecurity firm operated a widespread hack-for-hire scheme that, for a span of seven years, aimed to steal passwords from journalists, advocacy groups, investment firms and an array of other targets, according to new research. Since 2013, thousands of people throughout the world have been targeted with phishing emails that appeared to come from friends, co-workers, Facebook, pornography websites and other sources. In fact, the emails aimed to trick recipients into providing their username and password to BellTroX InfoTech Services, an Indian security firm that aimed to hack organizations on behalf of its clients, according to the internet watchdog group Citizen Lab, a research group affiliated with the University of Toronto. Citizen Lab did not provide details on the company’s clients, but did count the net neutrality advocacy groups Fight for the Future and the Electronic Frontier Foundation among the intended victims. Environmental groups working on the #ExxonKnew campaign, which […]

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Facebook removed white nationalist accounts encouraging guns at anti-racist protests

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Facebook removed multiple account networks connected with white nationalist hate groups that encouraged members to bring guns to anti-racism demonstrations throughout the United States. The social media company said Friday it removed sites affiliated with the Proud Boys and American Guard, which have been designated as extremist hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, respectively. Facebook removed roughly 30 accounts and 30 Instagram accounts belonging to the Proud Boys, which has appeared at white supremacist rallies like the Charlottesville demonstration in 2017. They also removed approximately 80 accounts and roughly 50 Instagram accounts from American Guard, who have advocated violence against immigrant and refugee communities. Both groups previously had been banned from Facebook, according to Brian Fishman, the company’s director of counterrorism and dangerous organizations. Facebook staff that had been monitoring both networks in an attempt to map their connections accelerated the account removals as […]

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Facebook announces it will flag state media posts, eventually decline ad dollars

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Facebook says it soon will begin labeling posts from state-controlled media outlets, an update praised by some disinformation researchers that comes after other social media firms have taken more aggressive steps to root out incendiary posts. Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced Thursday that the company will include notes on pages of media organizations that are “wholly or partially under the editorial control” of a government, as well as the outlets’ Ad Library Page and the Page Transparency section. Facebook also will apply labels to advertisements from state-controlled media outlets, a process that will not begin until U.S. election season accelerates. “State-controlled media outlets rarely advertise in the U.S.,” Gleicher wrote in a blog post explaining the update. “Nevertheless, later this summer we will begin blocking ads from these outlets in the U.S. out of an abundance of caution to provide an extra layer of protection against various […]

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Email scammer pleads guilty to defrauding Texas firms out of more than $500,000

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Jeff Stone

A 64-year-old man has admitted his role in an email-based fraud scheme that relied on spoofed email addresses to con two companies out of more than $500,000. Kenety Kim, or Myung Kim, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Texas court to conspiracy to commit money laundering as part his role in a business email compromise scheme. Kim used email addresses that impersonated legitimate corporate accounts to intercept financial transfers, or to convince a firm to direct money into an account under Kim’s control, according to the plea deal. As part of his agreement with U.S. prosecutors, Kim acknowledged that he has earned more than $700,000 from a web of fraud schemes, including some for which he was not charged. In one incident, he created an email account that appeared to belong to a construction company based in Pinehurst. then used that to ask another company, based in Huntsville, to send him […]

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Google updates anti-phishing tools by streamlining iOS capabilities

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Jeff Stone

Google is making it easier to use physical security keys on iOS devices. The company says that Apple product owners will now be able to use Titan Security Keys, which fend off phishing and other threats, on personal and professional Google accounts. Google’s Advanced Protection Program, dedicated to protecting users at risk of targeted malicious software attacks, announced the update in a blog post Wednesday. It’s the latest move from Google to expand protection after the Advanced Protection Program unit said in January that users could utilize iPhone or Android devices as a unique security key to access their accounts. Now, by using near-field communication protocols, users should be able to sign in by tapping a security key on the back of an iPhone. “This capability….simplifies your security key experience on compatible iOS devices and allows you to use more types of security keys for your Google Account and the […]

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