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The Security box, podcast 159: Fraudulent activity, Retail and the dark web

Good day folks,

Welcome to the security box, podcast 159. I hope your day is going well.

We’ve uploaded the podcast to RSS for those who want to subscribe, or search the Technology blog and podcast wherever you get podcasts.

Do you need a direct download? Please download the 151.9mb file by using the link.

Below, please find the complete show notes. Before we do that, TSB’s page on EMHS should now be caught up with podcasts 158 and 159.

If there are errors there, please contact me so I can fix them.

Now, on with the notes!

Welcome to the security box, podcast 159. On this podcast, we’re going to have a two-part article discussion dealing with fraudulent activity when it comes to retail and the dark web. This came to us via Phishlabs. Besides that, we may have some stupid fucks to talk about, the landscape as usual, and your comments and questions if any.

The Stupid Fuck award

I found an article I posted to the blog on August 30th that talks about the U.K. wanting to ban IOS updates unless its approved. Like that’s going to solve anything except problems for us useers who may either travel to the UK or live there. Here’s the blog post I wrote that posted before the show. Good job, UK government for earning the stupid fuck award.

Fraudulent Activity on the dark web with retail

This is a two part article coming to us from Phishlabs.

I hope that you enjoy the program as much as I have bringing it together for you. Thanks for listening!

Please look for ways to donate to the network if you wish to do so.. Links are on pages here on the blog or on my web site if you wish to do so. Have fun!

Comments (0)

College board says “We didn’t send data to TikTok, Facebook” … retracts statement

Hello folks,

The site Gizmodo is reporting that the College Board, a site that you need to go to to take the SAT and get GPA data says that they did not send data to Facebook and TikTok using Pixel data. When presented with the evidence by that reporter, it was retracted, saying that they did and that those are not identifiable pieces of info.

As technologists have said, it is.

Article: The College Board Tells TikTok and Facebook GPAs and Details About SAT Scores

Let the fun begin. What do you think? Problem much?

Comments (0)

Lookalike domains are now going up

I joined a webinar last week, and the accompanying article Original Research from Fortra Reveals Pervasiveness, Types of Look-Alike Domains Targeting Brands was talked about on last Saturday’s security hour and this week’s TSB to be released later on today.

Here are the highlights.

  • • In H1 2023, the average brand was targeted by nearly 40 look-alike domains every month
  • 77% of look-alike domains deemed malicious hosted phishing sites
  • Cybercriminals are now paying to register look-alike domains after free registrations of top-level domains decreased by 80% in Q1 2023
  • For the first time since reporting on domain data, Fortra has seen cybercriminals favoring Country-Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)
  • More than 62% of spoofed email display names impersonated well-known brands, including Microsoft and Google

The highlight all of the staff we have between the mix and the jrn is …

77% of look-alike domains deemed malicious hosted phishing sites

Please read the full article, check out the report, and we’ll have the webinar out as a full podcast here soon. We played it last Saturday with the question and answer portion removed, so check out TSN on the mix.

I’d love to hear from you!

Comments (0)

Here’s the latest, banning an entire update at wil

According to an article spotted today, the U.K. wants to ban apple updates outright at will at their notice.

Here’s how it would work, according to 9to5 mac. Apple would need to notify the government of the U.K. prior to a patch. If the government feels necessary to do so, it can “block” (quoted) the update which could be a bigger problem. They could say it was for surveilance purposes, but this has been a 6 year battle which you can read more about within the article.

The article is titled It’s not just iMessage: UK government could ban Apple security updates and I’d love to see how this is going to end up working in the long run.

Comments (2)

Twitter soon to possibly get rid of headlines

In the catching up department, it is now being reported through Fortune that Twitter, now known in my circle as “Twixer” will get rid of headlines from within posts.

While the article indicates this is being tested internally, it also rehighlights all of the stupid things its done within the past year in no great detail which is fine. It didn’t cover everything, but a number of things throughout the takeover.

I’ve been threatening to pull DLVR from twitter, but haven’t done so yet. If this is true, the post will only have a link, which could in theory be a problem as we’ve talked about numerous times.

Elon Musk plans to remove headlines from news articles shared on X is the article.

Twixer didn’t comment further for the article, more specificly when this would take effect.

Have fun with this one!

Comments (0)

Elon Musk says “X May Fail” no great social media sites around

In a very interesting article I recently found, Elon Musk is admitting that X may fail. Twitter as it was once known was doing fine until he was supposed to buy it and forced to do so by Twitter themselves.

Now, with the fact there was yet another “I’m sorry” due to the fact that links were broken due to deleted photos, Twitter is feeling the backlash of yet more controversy.

This article, while several days old, is titled Elon Musk admits X ‘may fail’ after glitch deletes Twitter photos which is another strike toward the blundering Tesla owner I’m afraid.

Comments (0)

The Security box, podcast 158: The 1.3 billion dollar fine and what it means to Facebook

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the Security Box program for today. It was a definite discussion this time with Facebook needing to pay a 1.3 billion dollar fine. We don’t know if they paid it, and the way the internet works, its just not practical what the EU wants and why they fined Facebook to begin with.

If you need RSS, here is that link.

If you don’t like RSS, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with the 149.3mb file for you to download.

Now, here is the show notes for everyone which includes all of the morons and their accompanying articles and the link to this week’s topic.

Welcome to podcast 158 of the Security Box. On today’s podcast, we’ve got at least one moron, we’ve got an interesting topic that deals with Facebook getting fined, again, and of course we’ll cover the landscape and what has been read and blogged as of late.

The You Stupid Fuck award section

  1. Who the hell is Global phishing 16 service? Well, someone or multiple someones have been picked up. Karma Catches Up to Global Phishing Service 16Shop comes to us from Krebs on Security and was quite an interesting read. According to Krebs, this outfit has been around since 2017 and really had a name for itself when it came to having people pay on time, making sure their tools were not given to anyone who did not pay and more. While the concept was novel, people got caught, so please enjoy your stupid fuck award.
  2. Nice to see some arrests of a couple dozen more stupid fucks in this one. Two dozen arrested, hundreds of malicious IPs taken down in African cybercrime operation comes to us from Cyberscoop. While the article isn’t long, we now learn there is a new threat that knows what they’re doing. Better read this one!

Topic: The 1.3 Billion dollar fine and what it means for privacy regulation

The article we’re going to take from is an article we posted back in May. The title of this article is What the record-breaking $1.3 billion Meta fine means for the US-EU clash over spying programs and it comes from Cyberscoop.

I guess we’ll have to see what happens with this, as I don’t think we’ll be done with this yet. If there are any updates, we’ll be posting these updates to our list and blog where applicable.

Supporting the podcast

If you’d like to support our efforts on what this podcast is doing, you can feel free to donate to the network, subscribing to the security box discussion list or sending us a note through contact information throughout the podcast. You can also find contact details on our blog page found here. Thanks so much for listening, reading and learning! We can’t do this alone.

Comments (0)

Australia companies getting rid of email as part of broadband services

Its time to start looking at your provider you use, especially if you live in Australia.

According to an article titled Australia’s internet providers are ditching email, to the disgust of older customers which was published and updated on August 20th, some providers will soon charge for the privilege of having that email address.

I’m one of these people who migrated once I baught my domain, but there are folks who don’t want a domain.

I think domains would be better than having something like Gmail or Yahoo, as you’re in control of the email, if you’re clever enough, you install the software to block out spam, unless your provider does that for you.

I understand that hosting and domain costs aren’t in everyone’s budget either, so this is a tough one.

This is the first I’m hearing of such a move, but some providers aren’t equipped to keep up with the deluge of spam and very interesting email we talk about.

It was an interesting article that people need to at least look at, just in case their provider they have decides to either drop or charge for email access.

Let me know if something like this happens in your world!

Comments (1)

Why did it take one year for a company to notify customers about a breach?

A customer could be someone who comes to you for a service like web design, or a customer could be someone that needs a service like medical care or even getting services like money from the government like social security or similar in other countries.

One of the things that people in my circle was talking about was an article I posted to TSB’s email list that is titled One year later, Tift Regional Medical Center notifies patients of Hive attack.

While there are linked items within this short article, one big paragraph got people in my circle talking. The last paragraph from Databreaches.net’s article says:

Tift’s letter to patients does not reveal that data was shared with journalists or leaked on the dark web. Nor does it explain why, if there was no encryption, it took them a year from discovery to make notifications.

My big question was why it took a year for them to notify anyone. If I were breached, and it took me 30-60 days to be notified, that’s one thing. But its my responsibility as a company to get my customers, patients, or however they’re referred to in my industry notified that some mistake happened in my company.

I know that it can take 191 days in some circumstances before you’re notified of the breach, that can’t be helped. But once you’re notified, this is crucial to get your customers, patientsor however they’re referred to in your industry notified.

I just don’t understand what this medical center is doing, and they’re still not clear with notifications.

Maybe they need to take after a company who has had a breach and disclosed properly after the fact.

Comments (0)

So … its official: Now we must say bye bye to the block button

I think I call bull!

Here we go, say bye bye to the block button on Twitter was blogged in June when it was reported that Twitter would potentially remove the block button on their platform.

X, as its now known is having articles out saying that the decision was just more recent. DJ Terry, board operator of Throwback Saturday Night, as well as his own show on the mix sent me a voice message telling me that this was a breaking story.

I believe now this is the second time he will have said he’s removing the block button on twitter.

I’ve blocked people because hey’re scammers and people who wanted gift cards among other things.

You can’t get rid of the block button without removing it completely, because there’s no sense to only allow the blocking of direct messages.

Elon Musk Plans to Remove Option to Block People on Twitter will be the second article that has come out saying this.

Of course, no time table has been given.

I still call bull. What do you all call?

Comments (0)

Cyber security researchers targets of all kinds of things

In an article that is quite interesting, we learn about some of the threats that researchers have gone through. Even the older news of Brian Krebs and his work and what happened to him is discussed.

What might these folks need to do differently especially if children are involved?

Cyber security researchers become target of criminal hackers is the article.

Comments (0)

2 dozen arrested, hundreds of IP’s taken down

I always like good news, and this one is no different. Two dozen arrested, hundreds of malicious IPs taken down in African cybercrime operation comes to us from our good friends at Cyberscoop.

We don’t know much about the African cybercrime market, but if this is any indication, it can be interesting.

While arrests are always good, we know that there will always be more waiting to take their place.

The first paragraph says:

An international law enforcement operation spanning more than two dozen African countries led to 14 arrests and the takedown of hundreds of malicious IP addresses and malware hosters, Interpol said Friday.

Another paragraph has some very interesting stats. That paragraph says:

The private sector reports supporting the operation included information on 3,786 malicious command and control servers, 14,134 victim IP addresses linked to data stealer cases, 1,415 phishing links and domains, 939 scam IPs and more than 400 other malicious URLs, IPs and botnets, according to the statement.

That’s a hell of a lot of stuff they found, don’t you think?

This is not the first time African things have been foiled. There’s a link to a Group IB report going back to 2022.

While the article is not long, I urge people to read this, as “The Shadow” says: “Crime does not pay.” He always knows what’s going on, and he’ll laugh you all the way to the guilty verdict if necessary.

Comments (0)

AI books being allowed on online bookstores

I’ve seen a few articles about this topic where books that are not written by a particular author is in the author’s list of books for purchase.

This article ZDNET tells us how we can spot these types of books before we purchase them.

While I’ve played a little with Bing, I’ve not done a whole lot with the AI. I’ve followed this AI thing for awhile, reading various articles and there could be podcasts on my thoughts on older stuff.

One might ask, is the NLS program going to be affected by this? Probably not, as they go through each book, and/or they get it directly from the publisher.

I doubt NLS patrons who rely soully on the digital or mailed offerings will have anything to do with this, but we need to know what’s going on.

As for Bookshare, I’m not sure, as I don’t know how their submission process works. I know that publishers are also submitting to them, so it may not be a problem.

I just think this needs to be looked in to as something we need to know. Looking in to something by reading reviews for the new book or searching things out is always a good thing if you’re not sure.

The books we have on our EMHS resources list have been checked in to and linked directly to Amazon for this very reason.

What do people do if they see a book by an author they’re not sure about?

Comments (0)

A thought for today, turning off Wifi and bluetooth

For awhile now, experts have indicated that you should turn off bluetooth and wifi if you’re not using it. But here’s a boost with a legitimate concern.

Steve Mann: Boosting Lynn I (lynnskyi): Just read an article suggesting you turn off bluetooth and WiFi when you’re not using them, and that you do so, not from the control center of your iOS devices, but from settings. The second part of this makes total sense to me. However, if I turned off both bluetooth and Wifi every time I wasn’t using them, I’d be doing so many times throughout the day.

The reasons given for this were to conserve battery power, and to prevent hackers from gaining access. Good reasons, of course, but I have my phone set so that it doesn’t automatically connect to wireless networks, other than mine. As for bluetooth, I suppose I could turn that off when I’m not at home, but depending on where I’m going and what I’m doing, I sometimes bring along the Orbit Writer, so I can more easily type on the touch screen if needed.

Perhaps i’m missing something vital here, but it seems to me to be quite inconvenient to turn both off every time I’m not using them.

I also have a writer, two bluetooth keyboards, and of course the air pods version 2. My lock also works on bluetooth, so it needs to know where I am so it can unlock when i approach my door when I come home.

Here’s what I would say. I would say that while great advice, most people probably won’t because of the numerous devices they use with their phone. But if I were you, I’d not necessarily worry about it unless you’re flying or get a bunch of requests to connect that you don’t recognize.

I too, don’t connect automaticly to other networks than my own, and don’t use public wifi of stores like Starbucks anymore like I used to.
If I had a power outage, I’d definitely be sure to turn these options off because Wifi wouldn’t be working and I normally don’t use my air pods 2 while home although sometimes I tend to depending on what’s happening.

I’m posting this publicly to see what others think. Let’s discuss. Am I wrong? How do you do this if you follow that type of advice? Its not wrong advice, but I think its sound and should be based on your use.

Comments (1)

Could Open AI be open for business much longer?

Windows Central has an article that indicates that open ai has lost $540m but the company looks to make that and more this year and next.

By next year, the company says it hopes to make a billion, and hopes to make a million this year. Seeing that the CEO and the company are at odds on what Chat GPT will be in the long term, and the fact that Chat GPT apparently has gotten dumber, I’m not sure what will happen.

The good news is that the API seems to be used more, so not many people are using the website anymore.

The article is titled ChatGPT’s fate hangs in the balance as OpenAI reportedly edges closer to bankruptcy for those who want to read it.

I’ve never used chat gpt in any form, but i know this community has. i’ve looked at Bing’s offering through Skype, but I haven’t done a whole lot with it.

Comments (0)

The Security box, podcast 157: A Different type of Ransomware Demand

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Security Box, podcast 157. I hope that those who were able to catch the live taping got something good out of it.

Usually, I get this up within a day, but I’ve not felt that great, so sorry about that.

I uploaded to RSS yesterday, if you don’t have RSS than use this link to download the 146.4mb file.

Glad to se Nick return to the program after a few weeks, that was good.

Here are the show notes for those who want to review articles that may have been discussed.

Welcome to the security box, podcast 157. This week, we ay be talking about a very interesting topic coming out of connecticut which might or might be a moron. We’ll talk about other news and notes from the landscape, and yes, today’s topic is on ransomware groups and one which says you should pay the money to charity instead of the group itself.

Morons of the podcast

We are going to link to the stories that deal with our moron(s) of the podcast.

Florida Healthy Kids is a very interesting story, mainly because of who they are partnering with. I guess we’ll see what happens with them.

Ransomware group says: Pay a Charity

Today’s topic comes to us from Cyberscoop way back in May. I’ve not seen another group do this, and I think its a one of a kind deal. I wish I were on that charity list, although I don’t take crypto, but proof of donation would all that it would be.

Today’s article is titled A different kind of ransomware demand: Donate to charity to get your data back which should be read just the same. If someone you know was hit by this group, did they get their files back?

Supporting the podcast

If you’d like to support our efforts on what this podcast is doing, you can feel free to donate to the network, subscribing to the security box discussion list or sending us a note through contact information throughout the podcast. You can also find contact details on our blog page found here. Thanks so much for listening, reading and learning! We can’t do this alone.

Comments (1)

LinkedIn hack: You need to check your LinkedIn account

TThis appeared first on tech vi.
I signin with everything tthrough my google to avoid some of this.
Nothing sensitive is posted in my linked in but yeah there are bad acters about.
Stay safe and frosty.
gHacks Technology News – Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at 8:45 AM

LinkedIn hack: You need to check your LinkedIn account

If you want to understand the ongoing LinkedIn hack easily, picture this:
profiles locked, passwords changed, and the unsettling realization that
unseen hands have infiltrated your professional realm. The battleground is
set, and users are grappling to regain control.

Do these appear as though they’ve emerged from a cinematic masterpiece?
Regrettably, this isn’t a scene from a film; it’s just a new day in 2023.

LinkedIn hack: How hackers are exploiting LinkedIn accounts
>

In a concerning development, a surge of account breaches has engulfed
LinkedIn, the professional networking platform. Users are grappling with
unauthorized access and the subsequent hijacking of their profiles by
cybercriminals. As the scale of these attacks grows, many find themselves
locked out of their accounts or coerced into paying ransom for control
restoration. Despite mounting complaints and frustrations, LinkedIn’s
support seems to be struggling to provide adequate assistance for now.

Cybersecurity firm
Cyberint
has shed light on the alarming tactics employed by these attackers. Leaked
credentials and brute-force techniques have become the weapons of choice,
allowing hackers to compromise a substantial number of LinkedIn accounts.
Those with weak security measures, such as easily guessed passwords or lack
of two-factor authentication, are particularly susceptible.

Yesterday night my LinkedIn
@LinkedIn
@LinkedInHelp account
https://t.co/V8R62WvDr5 is hacked.

I received 2 emails from your end at end at night 1.56am and 3.42 am and I
was sleeping.

Someone has changed email ID.

Can you help me recover this.

— Revolutionary Raja Ram for Tax & Economic Reforms (@abhishekrajaram)
August 16,
2023

LinkedIn is implementing temporary locks for accounts demonstrating strong
security as a preventive measure against multiple takeover attempts.
Locked-out users must navigate an intricate process to verify ownership and
reset their passwords before account access is restored. However, the
situation worsens for victims whose accounts fall prey to hackers.

Upon successfully infiltrating an account, attackers quickly alter the
linked email address to one from the “rambler.ru” domain, subsequently
changing the account password. This leaves the original account owners
locked out and vulnerable to further exploitation. In several cases, hackers
have gone a step further, imposing two-factor authentication to impede
victims’ attempts at account recovery.

As complaints mount and frustration grows, users have taken to social media
platforms, including Reddit, Twitter, and Microsoft forums, to voice their
dismay at LinkedIn’s lackluster support response. The absence of timely
assistance has left victims feeling powerless in their efforts to regain
control of their accounts.

What LinkedIn users should do now

As the threat of account breaches looms large, LinkedIn users must take
immediate action to safeguard their profiles and personal information.

Here’s what you should do:

  • Review and strengthen security measures: Review your account settings
    to ensure you have a strong password. Consider using a combination of
    uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. If you
    haven’t already, activate two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer
    of security.
  • Change passwords: If you suspect your account might have been
    compromised or you haven’t updated your password recently, change it
    immediately. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts.
  • Monitor account activity: Regularly review your account activity for
    any suspicious or unauthorized actions. Report any anomalies to LinkedIn’s
    support.
  • Stay vigilant against phishing: Be cautious of unsolicited messages or
    emails requesting personal information or login credentials. Hackers often
    employ phishing tactics to trick users into divulging sensitive data.
  • Verify email addresses: Ensure that the email address associated with
    your LinkedIn account is correct and up-to-date. This can prevent attackers
    from using “rambler.ru” or other unfamiliar domains to take control of your
    account.
  • Regularly update information: Keep your account information accurate
    and current. This can aid in account recovery and verification processes.
  • Report suspicious activity: If you encounter any suspicious behavior
    on your account or believe you have fallen victim to an attack, report it
    immediately to LinkedIn’s support team.

For users caught in the crossfire, regaining access to their accounts has
become a complex journey. Owners of locked accounts must navigate identity
verification and password updates.

In light of these concerning developments, LinkedIn users must prioritize
their account security. By implementing these proactive measures,
individuals can reduce their vulnerability to potential breaches and
maintain a safer online presence.

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post LinkedIn hack: You need to
check your LinkedIn
account
appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

Comments (0)

Mac systems turning in to proxy exit by AdLoad

AdLoad isn’t necessarily new, but it has new capabilities. I ran across this post titled Mac systems turned into proxy exit nodes by AdLoad which Mac users should read.

Apparently this has been around for at least 6 or 7 years and continues to be developed. Mac users should give this a read, and make sure they’re protected as appropriate.

Edited on August 18 for a broken link. Sorry about that! Thought it was correct when copying.

Comments (0)

Our good buddy John Bernard is back in the news

We’ve talked about John Bernard for quite a number of podcasts through the years.

The latest update comes to us from Brian Krebs titled Diligere, Equity-Invest Are New Firms of U.K. Con Man.

This particular story talks about a supposed brand new web site, 13 years of experience with clients, and a domain that was both closed in 2020 and another one opened in 2023.

You let us know what you think of this latest development.

Comments (0)

China can be involved in espionage, but cracks down on people buying crypto?

So, this story is probably going to be a few days old and I spotted it on Mastodon. I really don’t understand the point of this.

We know that the Chinese are involved in campaigns that might be considered questionable. If you don’t believe me, you can listen to Monday’s Cyber Wire Daily.

This article is titled Chinese man sentenced to 9 months in prison for buying $13K in USDT is the article.

You also have been involved in what has been known as “The Great Firewall”

wikipedia on great firewall

That was definitely talked about in articles, blogs, and podcasts including but not limited to Security Now and possibly others.

If this great firewall still exists, the Chinese still can’t access whatever the government doesn’t want them to do, and was I not mistaken that they blocked VPN access?

Check this article out, and let us know what you think.

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