Fastest-growing Internet virus ransoms computers

Terry Dent was certain that it was a scam the moment she read the warning message on her computer.

She knew she hadn’t downloaded any child pornography, this 57-year-old widow acknowledge that she is not the most computer- literate woman in the world but she is quite sure she hadn’t done any mistake. If in any case that she did, she knew the FBI wouldn’t be asking her to use a prepaid credit card to pay a $300 fine to unfreeze her computer.

“I’m not stupid,” she said. “I wasn’t going to send anyone anything.”

But the thing is other people do and will keep doing it. Details

Cops test latest crime-fighting gadgets at police expo

Australia’s New South Wales Police Force, SGT. DANIEL MOORE, wasn’t expecting that he would get to fulfill his all life fantasy the time he came to Philadelphia for last week’s International Association of Chiefs of Police conference.

In a suit and tie, SGT. DANIEL MOORE arrived at Pennsylvania Convention Center, waiting in the longest line at IACP’s expo hall.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to shoot a Taser at an alien,” Moore said.

And so, he did.

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For a unified cyber and telecom security policy

The preamble of the newly-ratified National Cyber Security Policy declares that information technology (IT) is one of the vital areas that exist in cyberspace. The major spotlight of the policy is the protection of this sector.

Another sector, just as important, that is now completely incorporated in cyberspace is telecommunications. Telecommunications and IT are widely engaged in computerized control and management of sectors like power, gas pipelines, nuclear energy, etc, which are commonly not associated with the Internet, but are still susceptible to malware attacks. Hence, the primary requirement at present is to protect all crucial sectors. Get more info

Rise of the Internet

The rise of the Internet is undeniable, and unrestricted access from multifarious smart gadgets with more rapid 4G connectivity means that consumers’ potential usages of these devices in terms of the tasks they can accomplish online at any time an at any place are growing fast. In this milieu, the subject of online retail and its correlation with personal communication (either face-to-face or via phone) is being fervently discussed in all sectors.

And so it goes for insurance as well. For the past thirty years, personal connections have been dominated by the contact centre, and while not many can question that the Internet has greatly aided in generating quotes, the accepted rule is that phone calls and in-the-flesh visits are still a vital part of the sales cycle and a major force in enhancing conversion rates.

While many situations may call for the application of the personal appearance, it is nevertheless the case that a rising share of everyday insurance tasks can be accomplished without it – in so far as the consumer agrees to it.

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We know where you live

…..A social media warning for parents

Nowadays one of the hottest social networking sites for tweens is Instragram. But there is a bigger concern parents are discovering, kids may end up putting home on the map without even knowing it.

“Most older people don’t have Instagram,” said Molly Matysiak. “That’s like our kind of thing.”

Many thinks it’s cool because it isn’t their dad’s or their mom’s but what many do not know is just how much those pictures are revealing about those young people [...]

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FTC probes

Investigations conducted on corporations and web companies that are suspected of different violations. One of the most common is not disclosing breaches and leaks against the entity that may affect their customers.

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Tailgating

Also called piggybacking, this scheme is used in gaining access even without having any authorization by simply riding on another individual’s credentials. This includes faking an ID or presenting excuses in order to make the person believe the hacker is harmless.

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Baiting

Baiting is closely similar to a trojan horse, only it is conducted in the physical world. It involves leaving an infected media (e.g. flash drive, CD, floppy disk) in a public location with the intent of damaging a network or stealing from a PC.

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Phishing

Phishing is commonly seen in email messages, a very vulnerable avenue in illegally getting private data from unsuspecting users. A hacker can pose as a legit entity with a message that will compel the user to act at once.

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Pretexting

Pretexting is basically used through inventing a scenario or pretending to be someone else in order to obtain the target’s desired information. Hackers can fake their way into gaining access to birthdate, social security number and bill amounts through establishing credibility. This is typically done more effectively when the impersonator has a confident and authoritative voice and have basic knowledge of the target.

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Social Engineering

Social enginnering is a popular technique utilized by skilled hackers that is conventionally used on the phone or on a face-to-face encounter. It is called the art of handling people — the most vulnerable element in computer security — into divulging personal data and doing something that will benefit the hacker [...]

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SQLi

SQL injection is a tactic used in attacking a database or a server via its front-end (e.g. website). Through putting parts of SQL statements in an entry field of the website, hackers can try and get the site to run the newly-created malicious command to the database itself, for instance, dumping its contents to a remote server under the control of the attacker [...]

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DDoS

Distributed Denial of Service attack is an onslaught of web traffic to a particular website that is launched to cripple its server. Flooding, or using up all of the website’s bandwidth and resources is a typical tactic for hackers who want to bring down the remote host, ergo the website along with it, for a period of time [...]

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Trials

Landmark trials conducted against hackers and rogue groups. Out of the number of convictions already given, there are still plenty of undocumented and undetected ones that might never come to court (nor to the light).

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Legal

Instances of legal measures taken that involves computer and network security. Also includes the legislative development that happened as hackers emerged and exploits became more widespread and damaging [...]

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House passes cybersecurity bill as privacy concerns linger

House passes cybersecurity bill as privacy concerns linger

The House of Representatives go for the second round of Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act as it passed legislation on Thursday.

The newly granted powers are intended to stop computer security threats against a company’s rights and property. But the definitions are broad and vague. The terms allow purposes such as guarding against “improper” information modification and ensuring “timely” access to information, functions that are not necessarily tied to attacks.

Once handed over, the government is able to use this information for investigating crimes that are unrelated to the underlying security threat and, more broadly, for “national security” purposes, which is a poorly defined term that includes “threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests” and “any other matter bearing on United States national or homeland security.”

The bill’s vague definitions like “cybersecurity purpose” and “cybersecurity system” also raise the frightening possibility of a company using aggressive countermeasures. If a company wants to combat a threat, it is empowered to use “cybersecurity systems” to identify and obtain “cyber threat information.” But the bill does not define exactly how far a company can go, leaving it open to the possibility of abuse [...]

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Security Holes

Vulnerabilities

The larger and more complex information systems are, the greater the possibility of error in logic and loopholes in algorithm.

These are weak points that could enable hackers to breach a system and compromise the integrity of information stored. Programmers themselves who are not yet adept in writing software code can unknowingly misuse the code and lead to a vulnerability.

A classic example of vulnerabilities that can be exploited is a weak password or its repeated use on various services or software. There are also websites containing malware that installs automatically once visited. Even legitimate software could be a venue for an exploit [...]

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Tips & Tricks

Handy tips and tricks on the web, operating systems and major programs for hacking n00bs and the general population. Discover useful (and mostly  amusing) easter eggs on the most basic programs and functions — from browsing the web, to converting files, to finding a more practical and easier way to circumvent an ISP block.

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Hacker Ethics

Believed to have originated from MIT between the 50s and 60s, hacker ethics are like unwritten rules, guiding philosophy and morals, that are silently observed by the hacking community. They are not actually discussed or debated but understood, accepted and agreed (by their community) implicitly.

Hackers are staunch supporters of open-source software and freeware because of the nature behind those that allow them to access the source code (useful in reuse and improvement). Access to anything that can teach people something should not be limited as we understand more on how things work the more we tinker [...]

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Data Leaks

Publicized data dumps from black hats and hacktivists (grey hats) that are either in their plain text or encrypted forms. (This list is only a reference and not hosted on this website, so, no we are not giving away the actual loots.)

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Grey Hat

Grey Hat

Grey hat hackers are those who do not identify with black hats or white hats. Their lot differs in hacking technique and in disclosing findings. Usually, grey hats do not hack to gain notoriety or money unlike the black hats but are quite ready to do something illegal to attain their goal in exploiting security holes or gaining information.

Moreover, grey hats would not necessarily let the companies know at once, as opposed to white hats, but will neither endeavor to conceal it for gaining money [...]

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Black Hat

Black hat hackers are the quintessential ‘bad guys’ of the hacking community and should be correctly referred to as “crackers”. They breach security for personal gain or to simply cause a nuisance. Because of this, they are portrayed as the computer criminals responsible for wreaking havoc and breaking into secure systems, which range from destroying data, stealing information and messing operations [...]

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Internet users familiarize with scam thus scammers find new tactics

Maybe you are wondering that there are sorts of emails in your inbox that does sounds unfamiliar but very pleasing. And, keeping you posted which sometimes goes like this. “I know this will come as a surprise to you, because you do not know me. My name is Abdul Al-Shallah and I am the son of a deposed government official in Nigeria.”

This is just an example of the growing cases on the web in which anyone can be shrouded- SCAM. This is the Nigerian scam’s boilerplate opening; it is one of the most popular scam in the world. Whatever you call it, Nigerian scam, “419 scam” or advance fee scheme, the elements is always the same. A royalty or some sort of official has come into a lot of money and he is in need of another person outside of the country to use their money for a bribe to spring the money free or sometimes to pay legal fees among other means.

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Ransomware leverages victims’ browser histories for increased credibility

A researcher says: Visited websites are listed as source of illegal material in order to make the bogus police messages more believable.

According to an independent malware researcher, the authors of police-themed ransomware have started using the browsing histories from infected computers in order to make their scams more believable.

Ransomware is a type of malicious applications intended to extort money from users by immobilizing chief system functionality or by encrypting their personal files. A specific distinction of this class of threat flaunts messages camouflaged as notifications from law enforcement agencies.

The scam varies depending on location of the victims, its language, tone of the message and the agency names. Although this may be the case, in most cases ransomware in general will make their victims believe that their computers have been locked because they accessed or downloaded illegal content. Then users are asked to pay a fine to recover access to their computers.

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Online scams to watch out for this year: Cyber-blackmail and the Royal baby

This is one birth of a baby we are not suppose to feel happy about, the birth of the Royal baby.  This will deliver viruses around the world and will target you mobiles and tablets.

Innocence isn’t an excuse besides staying safe online is easy as 1 2 3. Start by being familiar of the online threats expected to be born this year.

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How secured are you with the Internet Security?

With malicious cyber-attacks becoming more direct and certainly more advanced, a user needs to be well-informed to stay protected; internet security is all about trust. Most security measures involve data encryption and passwords. Data encryption is the translation of data into a form that is unintelligible without a deciphering mechanism. A password is a secret word or phrase that gives a user access to a particular program or system. But these numbers of securities on the cyber space has also an equivalent ways to crack by cyber criminals which then gives them an opportunity to become whoever they please.

On a series of Online Trust Alliance Conference (a group that is headed by Craig Spiezle, a former Microsoft executive and Director of Security and Privacy Product management for Internet Explorer based in Seattle Washington) at Town Hall explained how criminals worldwide have seized upon the Internet as a treasure trove to breach, steal, scam, extort, phish, stalk, track and victimize any individual or entity that has a connection to the cyber space [...]

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What’s new in identity theft protection?

With all the hundreds of quests from our survey, its a Hass Associates pleasure to answer those today! As what we have observed, identity theft is on the top where individuals get so interested. In fact, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, affecting on the average of 500,000 new victims each year, for the past decade. And so, we are glad to discuss this for you to be well- informed and have preventive measures, such as reducing and reporting scams and prosecuting scammers. These topics are followed by:

-online security and hardware concerns;
-earning money from legitimate work-at-home programs and work-at-home scams;
-credit cards and consumer issues;
-Nigerian and lottery scams;
-viruses and spyware;
-phishing scams;
-investment scams; and
-urban legends.

Obviously, many subscribers are interested in knowing out about new scams in these areas. This seems quite related to what we have been writing about. [...]

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Five Ways to Manage Your Digital Reputation

Reputation is the key word. In fact, online digital reputation has never been more important. While a few years ago much of our personal information was still considered private, today cyber security expose more information about our lives than ever before. While many people don’t think much about having a “digital reputation,” especially in purchasing products online, information about almost all adult worldwide can be found online.

Based from the survey conducted by ORC International, results have shown more than 89% of consumers research articles online before making a buying decision, while, 87% of them agree that a favorable review [...]

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Cracks/Hacks

Recent instances of hacking and security breaches on bigtime players like multinational companies, organizations, governments or state agencies. They range from simple DoS attacks to the more complex data theft from secured servers [...]

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Malware

Malware is a malicious software made to collect sensitive data, access secured systems or disrupt operations. It is a collective term for spyware, adware, worms, virus, trojan horses and any intrusive, hostile or nuisance programs. This malicious program would normally be disguised as or comes along with legit software. It is not uncommon for safe programs to be bundled with malware so that a user will unknowingly install it into a system. The basic characteristics of a malware is that it must be hidden and run without being seen or deleted. Any program with malicious code that can trick users into installing and running it is [...] Read the full article

Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks are quite simply sabotage tactics that are conducted over a network connection. Critical infrastructures that are vulnerable to the risk of disruption and modified or intercepted communications include transportation, power sources, stock exchange and communication channels. Even private citizens are equally at risk for their banking affiliations.

Cyber espionage is getting confidential or classified data from (mostly enemy) government states, organizations, companies or private individuals for economic, political, military or personal gains. Tools and tactics used via computer and the Internet can be legal or illegal. If not properly secured,


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Hass Associates Blog is one of the providers of news, analysis, opinion, information and services for the IT community, the role of technology in improving organization/s in all sectors...

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