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The Security box, podcast 88: Internet Connections and more

For those that need it, Here’s the 103.22mb file for you to download.

While I had covered everything within an hour, we ended up having a guest, so we rehashed things, had some comments and wanted to see what else they had to say.

There will be a show next week, it’ll be on Thursday next week, not on Wednesday. Hope to see you then!

Here are the show notes.

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The Internet is a complex thing. There are different types of internet connections, some are most common than others, but all are important. In a recent article I spotted, the connection known as Sattelite Internet was targeted apparently by Russia, but that is not confirmed. The article is titled A mysterious satellite hack has victims far beyond Ukraine.

We’ll also have other topics that might be of interest and we’ll see what others have to say as well. Thanks so much for listening and enjoying the program!

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See you next week!

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If you see these 4 words on Facebook Messenger, don’t click

We should all be aware of this, better take note. This comes from Kim Komando’s web site. Thanks so much for reading! Thoughts on this emerging return?

Be careful of an old scam that has resurfaced on Facebook Messenger to steal info. It spreads through compromised accounts of friends.

Source: If you see these 4 words on Facebook Messenger, don’t click

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The Whitehouse is warning of a potential cyberattack against infrastructure

I’ve been sounding the warnings as my opinion for some time now, even well before the war was ever thought of. As this war continues, our president and their advisor is sounding the alarm again.

While it makes me feel better that people like me will potentially not be targeted, I think everyone needs to be aware of what’s going on. The fact is, Russia has been playing with us for some time, and as I’ve read elsewhere, its possible we’re sitting in other networks just waiting for the right signal.

I would hate to think that people would be sitting on networks that are not theirs until someone said “attack them” but anything is possible now a day.

The Biden administration on Monday warned that it believes Russian state hackers may step up a cyber offensive that targets US organizations, particularly organizations in the private sector providing critical infrastructure.

Administration officials stressed that they have yet to unearth any evidence of specific cyberattack plans. But in recent weeks, officials have said Kremlin-sponsored strikes on US-based computers and networks was a distinct possibility that security defenders should prepare for. As the US and its allies have ratcheted up sanctions on Russia and the US receives new intelligence assessments, the White House is once again urging vigilance.

I think that we should always defend ourselves the best we can. The fact is, we honestly don’t know what happens on any given day, and things happen while others are sleeping. Things happen while some are awake but not aware of it because there are so many articles out there covering this stuff and not enough time.

The article we’re talking about is: White House warns of possible Russian cyberstrike on US critical infrastructure and should be perused. You be the judge.

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The U.S. has sweeping vulnerabilities, but experts say there may not be an attack

I want to pass along an article that caught my attention when I saw the news digest from last week. This CNN article is titled US has ‘significant’ cyber vulnerabilities, but a sweeping Russian cyberattack is unlikely which was a great article for CNN to have.

While I can see sone of the points within this article, there could be, if hackers wanted, some sort of problem. Reading this could put minds like mine better at easem, for a big time cyberattack on the U.S,. infrastructure.

It would not put it passt this Russian president to do something if he felt threatened enough, and as the article says, they’ve already been targeting us in limited scale and the Colonial Pipeline and the Florida water issue were just small problems.

While the Colonial Pipeline was more of a problem as it was a ransomware attack, experts indicate that we need to be more concerned about that shutting off infrastructure than influences like Russia.

They are more than capable of doing whatever they want, and the article talks about several attacks within the past 5-10 years that were done, some were not knowmn to be Russian, but we can’t just say Russia is the biggest problem.

The article points out that we could be sitting in some network waiting to do something that someone tells us to do. Me … I’m not going to sit in anyone’s network that I don’t belong. It would be too risky.

Thoughts on this article? Sound off in the comments.

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Spam Nation villin charged with fraud

I read this article yesterday where one of the villins used in Brian Kreb’s book Spam Nation was charged with Fraud.

The article is titled ‘Spam Nation’ Villain Vrublevsky Charged With Fraud and was an interesting read.

He was arrested in Moscow, according to the article.

This is not the first arrest in Russian teritory, but it is not common from what I’ve read on arrests of cybercriminals go.

According to the article, Brian has written about the mentioned guy in 20089, when he was a reporter for the Washington post.

We also learn that he was also sentenced to 2 and a half years in a Russian penal collony.

After getting out, he started yet another payment processor. That paragraph says:

Following his release from jail, Vrublevsky began working on a new digital payments platform based in Hong Kong called HPay Ltd (a.k.a. Hong Kong Processing Corporation). HPay appears to have had a great number of clients that were running schemes which bamboozled people with fake lotteries and prize contests.

I wonder if some of that came through SMS? I’ve noticed, knock on wood, that the SMS spam I’ve been getting has completely stopped except for the occasional one that might come through.

There’s more, feel free to check this out and form your own opinions.

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The Security box, podcast 87: SMS PVA, is it something we need to be concerned wwith?

Hello everyone,

Welcome to another podcast here on the tech blog and podcast. I uploaded it yesterday, and yes, its over 3 hours.

Due to the fact that I did not have live show notes, I did it all live. Other topics were also discussed as well.

Don’t have RSS? Here is the 191mb file for you to download.

Below, please find the show notes, and I hope you enjoy the show!

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Hello folks, welcome to podcast 87 of the security box. On this podcast, we talk about a wide range of topics, but we also talk about a three part article set dealing with SMS services that can be used to sign you, the consumer up for services that you may not even know about or even want.

While the applications discussed here are potentially Android based, we need everyone to know what is out there in case something is developed for IOS or any other system you may use.

Below, please find the links to the articles we are going to be taking from as part of this discussion.

• SMS PVA Part 1: Underground Service for Cybercriminals
• SMS PVA Part 2: Underground Service for Cybercriminals
• SMS PVA Part 3: Countries Most Impacted by Service

What caught me on wanting to talk about this is the fact that the United States is affected by this, although we don’t know by how much.

Understand that I think everyone should be aware of what is out there, and hopefully the articles and information can give you a sense on how you can stay as safe as possible. Thanks for listening, reading and participating in this important topic.

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News of the week, news ending March 18, 2022

I’ve been MIA, and part of that is because I’ve not felt the greatest. I also gott involved with other stuff too which did not allow me to keep up like I’d like.

Today, let’s go through what the landscape looked like in regards to last week’s news.

• Navigating New Frontiers: Trend Micro 2021 Annual Cybersecurity Report
• US Has ‘Significant’ Cyber Vulnerabilities, But A Sweeping Russian Cyberattack Is Unlikely
• New RURansom Wiper Targets Russia
• Ukraine Secret Service Arrests Hacker Helping Russian Invaders
• New Nokoyawa Ransomware Possibly Related to Hive
• Russian Cyclops Blink Botnet Launches Assault Against Asus Routers
• Will Russian Oil Ban Spur Increased Cyber-Attacks
• New Ransomware Lokilocker Bundles Destructive Wiping Component
• Utility Cybersecurity: How Cyber Awareness Can Reduce Future Risk
• Facebook Removes ‘Deepfake’ Of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

Oil & Gas Cybersecurity: Stop Critical Operation Cyber-attacks

• Cyclops Blink Sets Sights on Asus Routers

Keeping a Close Watch: Trend Micro Specialized Cybersecurity Report for Latin America and the Caribbean

This Week in Security News – March 18, 2022 is the article for these articles.

I’ll try to write more tomorrow, and even get my show notes done, although maybe not. We’ll see how things go.

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This dangerous malware can steal 2FA codes to break into your accounts

I’ve had this on my screen for hours now, and I finally read it. Taking the article title the same, this is of importance to read. Just be careful, and I hope you don’t get this one.

Be careful where you download your Android apps. An updated malware variant can infiltrate your 2FA codes and steal your details.

Source: This dangerous malware can steal 2FA codes to break into your accounts

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The security box, podcast 86: Windows Update, Russia updates, spam discussion, books and more

Hello everyone,

It has been a busy week here at the JRN, so I’ve not been able to really have a chance to blog.

We’ve got a bunch of stuff that we’re going to possibly blog and or talk about, so just stay tuned.

Download the 145.02mb file if you do not have RSS.

Below, please find the show notes.

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Welcome to podcast 86. On this podcast, we’ll cover Windows Update. I only have one article now instead of the two, so we’ll have to see how I can get the other back. Besides that, we’ll have comments from the Clubhouse room and other topics they may want to bring up.

• Microsoft Patch Tuesday, March 2022 Edition Krebs On Security

I hope you’ll enjoy the program as much as I am bringing it to you.

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Crypto Tip: Don’t fall for celebrity crypto pitches

Just got someone asking me on Clubhouse if I want to make a deal. I simnply responded that if it involved Crypto, I wasn’t interested and to read my profile there. They actually said good luck. Here’s something from Kim Komando’s web site about Crypto and the risks. While we can invest safely, doing our own research is the best medicine. Here’s the quote from the article and the link. Our title is the same as theirs.

Investing in cryptocurrency is inherently risky. Here’s why you don’t want to follow crypto advice from celebrity endorsements.

Source: Crypto Tip: Don’t fall for celebrity crypto pitches

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Use Firefox? Update now to patch 2 critical flaws

If I blogged this, I’m sorry, but I am seeing it in the breaking news thing I just posted a little bit ago. If you use firefox like I do, we need to make sure we’re as up to date as possible as one of the flaws can use our graphics card. Click through to read all about it from Kim’s staff.

If you use Mozilla’s Firefox browser, you must update to the latest version. It fixes two critical flaws that hackers can use against you.

Source: Use Firefox? Update now to patch 2 critical flaws

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Russia-Ukraine War scams are here – Here’s what to keep an eye out for

As the war presses on, here’s a quote and a great article linked as breaking news from Kim Komando in regards to scams coming out. This doesn’t surprise me, and we’re using the same article title as the article there. I’ll have more in the coming days as I prepare for next week’s Security Box.

There’s been an increase in scams posing as charities seeking assistance to aid in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Here’s what to watch for.

Source: Russia-Ukraine War scams are here – Here’s what to keep an eye out for

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Remove the Antivirus Program if you have it, Antivirus Super Cleaner is its name

There are multiple articles out in regards to an antivirus program. I first saw this through Kim Komando with the article Dangerous antivirus app is hiding malware – Remove it from your phone now which you should read.

It talks about an app called AntiVirus, Super Cleaner. It isn’t a virus program at all, it steals banking information and will steal your money.

Michael also sent <a href=”If you have this antivirus app, delete it immediately to our list which has the same information as Kim Komando.

No matter which way your turning to read, please don’t download this Android application. There will be no hope for you.

Both articles talk about a QR code that is malicious as wlel, so look out for that too.

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The Security box, podcast 85: How I started in this industry, news notes and more

Here is the 199.2mb file for those who don’t have RSS.

We had a great time, played a few tunes, and talked about how I got started in this industry, how the Internet was much calmer while starting to deal with viruses, worms and trojans, and how things have changed.

Not necessarily highly technical or detailed, we also cover Russia and what I heard on Security Now from last week.

Full notes below.

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Today, the Security box takes a break from day to day activity although we’ve covered some scam type activities and even went through how I got started in this industry and how I think information can be given out successfully.

We also have some tracks that play as well.

The program lasts almost 3 and a half hours, and I hope you enjoy it.

I even talk about why we’ve temporarily retired the normal theme we use for the program.

Check the blog for complete details on things that may have been mentioned.

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I hope you all enjoy the 3 and a half hour program, and feel free to participate! We’d love to have you.

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Same Scam, different type of delivery method now

This is a typical scam. This is actually sent through my contact form? You’ve got to be kidding me. Who is Mrs. Anna? If Anna is only a first name, I know many anna’s or Anne or any other variation.

I don’t believe I have any family to my immediate knowledge who works for shell-development company.

While the 9.5 million dollars sounds nice, and I’d love to give you a bank account to deposit such an amount in my bank account, I can tell you that this scam is one of those that will have you send some money first before sending such money. That, I wouldn’t do. I believe that they ask for a certain amount, but I don’t honestly remember how this works.

Here is the contact form, as the network received it.

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Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by () on Tuesday, March 08, 2022 at 05:36:18

Name: Paco Martinez
phone: 85991688389
contact_method: phone
bug: no
additional_bug_info: I am a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to the late Mrs. Anna who used to work with Shell – development company . Hereafter shall be referred to as my client.

On the 29th December 2009, my client, his husband and their three children were involved in a car accident. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

The finance company where the deceased had an account valued at about 9.5 million euros has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated within the next ten official working days.

Sincerely,
Barrister Paco Martinez (Esq)
Tel/Fax: 0034-604-197-938
Reply To:
comment_or_question: I am a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to the late Mrs. Anna who used to work with Shell – development company . Hereafter shall be referred to as my client.

On the 29th December 2009, my client, his husband and their three children were involved in a car accident. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

The finance company where the deceased had an account valued at about 9.5 million euros has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated within the next ten official working days.

Sincerely,
Barrister Paco Martinez (Esq)
Tel/Fax: 0034-604-197-938
Reply To:

submit: Submit comment or question to the Jared Rimer Network

HTTP_USER_AGENT: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/67.0.3396.79 Safari/537.36
REMOTE_ADDR: 188.126.73.208

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Are you kidding me? An account wouldn’t be open for more than 10 years

When dad died, I know it took some time for things to settle down and for things to be closed, but I believe that they’re all closed by now and it has been almost 4 years since that tragic death. I know I have a podcast, but I can’t find it right now. Regardless, he might have seen this too and just deleted it like most people should. What a shame. I’d love this money, but I know its not mine, and I know if I even responded, that I probably wouldn’t see it.

I’d bet they need name, address, phone number, etc. although this one was sent directly through my contact form. How fun. I wonder what the name of this scam is?

According to Abuse IP DB this belongs to GleSYS AB who has an unknown domain name. This is a data center web host according to the lookup.

Also, reports indicate that it is the same report as mine, claiming to be an attorney. I’ll just add mine to the mix. 93 reports from 32 sources.

The country is Sweden.

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These bank suspension alerts are fake – Don’t fall for them

Here is some information that is of value now more than ever. Sounds like this is back in the headlines.

I would definitely add to this in the tips section within the article, the fact that they don’t greet you by name, or company name, as well as the email address being very suspicious. Even the paypal emails are similar in the scam department. You should always know what’s going on with your bank account.

Here is the quoted material and a link to the article.

Be careful if you receive a notification that your bank account is suspended. It could be part of this elaborate phishing scam.

Source: These bank suspension alerts are fake – Don’t fall for them

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A long used technology is revived from the dead, brings news to Russia and Ukraine

Hello everyone,

This is not surprising what I’m going to report, and this i feared. I know that all I’m doing is giving my free thoughts on what is going on, and linking to things that I feel should be talked about.

This clubhouse room does not have replays available, but is a current live room at the time of writing.

As the article I’ll be linking to indicates and I just heard, Russia has blocked all forms of social media which icludes but will not be limited to Facebook and Twitter. The president has also according to what I heard, put in to law anyone who reports the real news will be arrested and charged in Russia.

The BBC room I’m currently listening to indicates that Ukraine is telling people to film and document what is going on, and I think that should be supportive.

How the BBC is getting real news into Russia is fascinating is an article that talks about how short wave radio, something I have a little familiarity with is coming back to get the news to the Russian citizens.

This is very important, as Russia does not want its citizens to know aht is really going on. The Russian government can not do anything about short wave radio. The BBC used it from the mid 30s till 2008, according to the article. They’re bringing it back so that Russians can get what is really going on.

Under the “what you need to know” section of komando.com’s article linked above, it says:

Last week, Putin took Russia’s final independent TV station off the air for reporting news of the invasion gathered by western media outlets. He didn’t stop there and later blocked Facebook because of its “discrimination against Russian media and information resources.”

For those who have short wave, information on how to listen is given. Please check this out, it might save your life if you are affected by the ongoing war. Thanks so much for reading!

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Top 5 scam calls and what you can do to get them to finally stop

Hello folks, welcome to another blog post. Its time I really step on the gas with blogging, and I’m going to step on the gas now with this first post about Scan Calls.

Recently, I got a phone call telling me they’re from some police department and that they need money. I hung up on the guy. I know that police departments do not call citizens to ask for money, and police don’t have everybody’s phone number to do this.

Kim’s staff didn’t cover that one, but they do cover 5 ones that are just as important.

Those 5 are:

• • Auto Warranty
• • Social Security number
• • Credit Card
• • IRS
• • Student Loan

Here are 4 things you can do about it.

• Where possible, install a caller identification app on your phone. These apps have vast databases of spam numbers and will let you know if the call is safe to answer or not.
• Never give out personal information over the phone when receiving unsolicited calls. Especially to someone you don’t know.
• When you receive a robocall, the best thing is to hang up immediately. Don’t press buttons on your phone, even if the call gives you the option to stop
• If you receive a spam call, hang up and block the number on your device. This will ensure the caller can’t reach you again.

I do not agree with the last item in my personal opinion. I’ve gotten so many of these calls, blocking them seems useless. Even one of my people who shall remain nameless has blocked them and put them in their contacts as x1 x2 x3 as examples, and they just keep calling.

This is because they spoof their telephone numbers, using methods like spoof cards or other ways I don’t know about or haven’t investigated. I don’t claim to know everything about this stuff, so just keep in mind that this is possible.

They say not to press buttons on the phone, even if you are instructed that pressing a button will remove you from their list. Even though my cell phone is private, unlisted, not published on my web site or anywhere else that I’m personally aware of, I still get these calls regardless on whether or not I’ve indicated to put me on the list.

I love the first item: “Where possible, install a caller identification app on your phone. These apps have vast databases of spam numbers and will let you know if the call is safe to answer or not.” Problem is, besides robo call, what other applications are out there? I know AT&T has some type of application you can use to be able to block these, but we also have Shaken and Stir which is to tell us about these types of calls.

Top 5 scam calls and what you can do to get them to finally stop is the article, please leave your thoughts on this.

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Have you upgraded to windows 11? Better take note if you can

Hello folks, have you updated to windows 11 and having trouble with your HP computer? Is it a laptop computer? You should read this Kim Komando article Upgrading to Windows 11 is killing these laptops – Here’s what to do for steps you can take to try and fix this.

HP has known of the problem since last year, and they have no official fix. This is a little concerning, but hopefully there is a fix really soon.

The article covers potential workarounds and steps to try and fix this issue.

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Facebook protect, is it real?

Hey guys. I’ve seen something about facebook protect somewhere, but not through my own facebook account. As some people know, I haven’t posted to my facebook in quite a number of years. This Kim Komando staff article titled Did you get a strange notification that you need to protect your Facebook account? It’s (probably) real It talks about what is Real and what might be fake. Let’s make sure that we’re protected as much as possible. Read up and learn.

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