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4.3M Email Addresses Stolen By Emotet; FBI Uses Service To Alert Victims

Identity Theft

4.3M Email Addresses Stolen By Emotet; FBI Uses Service To Alert Victims

In a major takedown event earlier this year, the FBI discovered 4.3 million email addresses harvested by the notorious Emotet malware bot. Emotet is described as “the world’s most dangerous botnet” by Europol. Since 2014, Emotet is responsible for distributing banking trojans, ransomware, and more through email phishing and malware spam. The FBI is now using a widely trusted data breach service, Have I Been Pwned, to alert the victims of Emotet. READ FULL STORY

Identity Theft

Shocking Amazon Fake Review Scam Revealed In Data Breach
June 14, 2021

Yet another data security incident involving an ElasticSearch database happened earlier this year. More than 13 million records were made public without any encryption or password protection from a database used for fake reviews of products sold on Amazon. The data from over 200,000 Amazon users was compromised, including that of the vendors and reviewers involved in the scam. Seven gigabytes of personal data were made public in the data breach, including PayPal user email accounts and other email addresses. READ FULL STORY

Homoglyph Attacks Show What You See May Not Be What You Get

Scams & Phishing

Homoglyph Attacks Show What You See May Not Be What You Get

Not the easiest word to pronounce or spell, homoglyph attacks continue to be widely used by fraudsters intent on stealing your PII. Homoglyphs use characters in a domain name that look like what they’re supposed to be, but they’re not. Cybercriminals use characters from English and other languages to create sneaky, but fake domain name spellings, all with the goal of stealing your PII from a bogus website. Hackers count on users not noticing the homoglyph in order to be successful, and now these attacks are easier to pull-off than ever before. READ FULL STORY
Email Scams Threaten Extortion And Blackmail

Scams & Phishing

Email Scams Threaten Extortion And Blackmail

An uptick in email scams has cybersecurity professionals concerned, and for good reason. Symantec researchers found that in the first five months of 2019, they prevented almost 300 million extortion email attacks from going forward. Just some of those discovered include blackmail, sextortion, bombs, hit men, and malware threats. The researchers also determined the average cost of paying demands over a 30 day period was $1.2 million in 243 Bitcoin transactions. READ FULL STORY
They Will Rock You; Over 8 Billion Records Leaked Toppling Previous Record

Your Security

They Will Rock You; Over 8 Billion Records Leaked Toppling Previous Record

Has your world been rocked lately? Even if you say it hasn’t, it probably has because of a recent data breach that released 8.4 billion unique sets of passwords, along with email addresses and usernames. Yes, folks. That’s more than the number of people inhabiting Earth and twice the number of people estimated to use the Internet. So, the odds are indeed that your world has been rocked in this largest data breach ever that is being called RockYou2021. READ FULL STORY

Your Security

LinkedIn Data-Scraping Leads To 500 Million Profiles For Sale
June 10, 2021

Just to prove they mean business, the threat actor behind the LinkedIn data scraping event released two million user profiles for free on the dark web. The remaining five million user profiles are being auctioned by the hacker for an unknown amount they hinted would be a “four-digit ($$$$) minimum price.” LinkedIn says the data being sold was scraped together using information that’s already publicly available. But, in the wrong hands, this data can lead to highly targeted and effective spear phishing attacks. READ FULL STORY

FBI Warns Cryptocurrency Scams Spiking

Your Security

FBI Warns Cryptocurrency Scams Spiking

For many of us, understanding what cryptocurrency is, can be difficult to wrap your head around. But when the FBI announces cryptocurrency scams are on the rise, it’s helpful to know what the mystery is about. In particular, the FBI says BEC scams or “spoof emails” are spiking, and massive amounts of funds, often converted to cryptocurrency, are at risk. The 2020 Internet Crime Report finds last year alone saw over $1.8 billion in losses to BEC crimes. READ FULL STORY
Study Finds 90% Of Excel 4.0 Macros Distribute Malware

Scams & Phishing

Study Finds 90% Of Excel 4.0 Macros Distribute Malware

Since 1992, Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros are a scripting language that Microsoft Office still supports today. Using outdated technology is enough to welcome malicious actors interested in distributing malware through the legacy macro. A study by ReversingLabs finds 90% of the XLM macros they found are still in use and are likely malicious. XLMs give bad actors easy ways to access and abuse essential functions within a system. Many businesses still use XLM macro documents, and as a result, security issues are created. READ FULL STORY
WhatsApp Worm Spreads To Other Apps, Malware Hides in .BMP Images

Scams & Phishing

WhatsApp Worm Spreads To Other Apps, Malware Hides in .BMP Images

It’s a cyber jungle out there. It’s a sort of “survival of the fittest” and those in-the-know can help keep themselves from becoming a casualty of these cybercrimes. An investigation by Malwarebytes found that cybercriminals are now circulating malware via bitmap (.bmp) images to add to the ever increasing list of file types that can no longer be trusted, such as .doc, .xls, and .exe. Now, even clicking that funny cat picture may leave our devices infested with dangerous worms, Trojans, and perhaps ransomware. READ FULL STORY
Amazon Sidewalk Overview, Warnings And How To Opt Out

Your Security

Amazon Sidewalk Overview, Warnings And How To Opt Out

Amazon has announced that on June 8th 2021, anyone with an Amazon device such as Alexa, Echo, Ring, etc. in their home, will automatically be enrolled in a new service called "Amazon Sidewalk" while will share your homes Internet bandwidth with your neighbors. Jim Stickley has taken some time to research this new offering and in this video, he discusses what he likes about the idea and more importantly the concerns he has about joining this new service. In addition, Stickley will give you the steps needed if you choose to opt-out. READ FULL STORY
Mobile Phones Are Under Constant Attack

Mobile Security

Mobile Phones Are Under Constant Attack

It’s pretty common knowledge that computers have vulnerabilities. Whether you are on a laptop or a desktop, use Mac or Windows, ultimately any of these devices can be compromised. Because of this, most people try to be cautious with how they access the Internet. However, when it comes to mobile devices, people have a bit of a different opinion. The reality is that mobile devices are far more secure than your basic computers and the risk of a common virus spreading on a mobile device is extremely low. That said, low risk does not mean no risk and like a regular computer, your mobile device can be compromised too. READ FULL STORY
Is Sideloading Worth The Risk Of Downloading Malware?

Your Security

Is Sideloading Worth The Risk Of Downloading Malware?

It’s been well-known that sideloading apps is a risky proposition. Just ask the 20 million Aptoide users who recently learned their personally identifiable information (PII) was posted online by a hacker. Aptoide, a popular third-party app “discovery platform” had its database hacked earlier this month. The cybercriminal behind the hack claims that in addition to the 20 million exposed data files, there’s an additional 19 million files in their possession. Whether that’s true or not remains a mystery for now, but the Aptoide incident shows (in a huge way) why app sideloading is risky at best and is not recommended by security professionals. READ FULL STORY
Securing Your Company's Data Beyond Delete

Corporate Security

Securing Your Company's Data Beyond Delete

For businesses needing to destroy data and outdated devices, permanently wiping data from existence can be a security challenge. It often involves removing confidential company information and the private PII belonging to its customers. Permanently wiping data stored on an outdated hard drive is yet another challenge. A study commissioned by Comparitech found that out of 200 used hard drives purchased online, 59% still held data from previous owners. READ FULL STORY
Tips for Securing Your Mobile Devices

Education

Tips for Securing Your Mobile Devices

Nearly all of us these days have some type of mobile device that is essentially a part of us. It is filled with all kinds of personal information, such as our contacts, our email conversations, and perhaps even our health information. Losing it, having it accessed without permission, or finding out it’s infested with malware can be a really scary moment. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to protect those devices and the information on them. READ FULL STORY




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