Independent – Page 65 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2022 16:17:08 +0000

A Florida teenager who served as a lackey for a cybercriminal group that specializes in cryptocurrency thefts was beaten and kidnapped last week by a rival cybercrime gang. The teen’s captives held guns to his head while forcing him to record a video message pleading with his crew to fork over a $200,000 ransom in exchange for his life. The youth is now reportedly cooperating with U.S. federal investigators, who are responding to an alarming number of reports of physical violence tied to certain online crime communities.

ComputerWorld Independent

September 20, 2022 admin

Windows 11 2022 Update is the version enterprises can move to

Microsoft today announced the rollout of the first major feature upgrade to Windows 11. Many of the changes are incremental and focus on user interface and productivity enhancements, but there are some useful additions — including a new password security feature.

Mostly, Windows 11 version 22H2, known as the Windows 11 2022 Update, is about polishing up the user experience introduced with Windows 11, while rounding out the feature set with some additional enterprise-targeted capabilities, according to Stephen Kleynhans, a vice president analyst at research firm Gartner.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 16, 2022 admin

Critical zero-days make September's Patch Tuesday a 'Patch Now' release

With 63 updates affecting Windows, Microsoft Office and the Visual Studio and .NET platforms — and reports of three publicly exploited vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-37969, CVE-2022-34713, CVE-2021-40444) — this month’s Patch Tuesday release gets a “Patch Now” priority. Key testing areas include printing, Microsoft Word, and in general application un-installations. (The Microsoft Office, .NET and browser updates can be added to your standard release schedules.)

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Independent Krebs

September 16, 2022 admin

Botched Crypto Mugging Lands Three U.K. Men in Jail

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:55:25 +0000

Three men in the United Kingdom were arrested this month after police responding to an attempted break-in at a residence stopped their car as they fled the scene. The authorities found weapons and a police uniform in the trunk, and say the trio intended to assault a local man and force him to hand over virtual currencies.

ComputerWorld Independent

September 16, 2022 admin

Sadly, IT can no longer trust geolocation for much of anything

Credit to Author: eschuman@thecontentfirm.com| Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 03:00:00 -0700

Geolocation was once a glorious way to know who your company is dealing with (and sometimes what they are doing). Then VPNs started to undermine that. And now, things have gotten so bad that the Apple App Store and Google Play both offer apps that unashamedly declare they can spoof locations — and neither mobile OS vendor does anything to stop it.

Why? It seems both Apple and Google created the holes these developers are using.

In a nutshell, Apple and Google — to test their apps across various geographies — needed to be able to trick the system into thinking that their developers are wherever they wanted to say that they are. What’s good for the mobile goose, as they say.

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Independent Krebs

September 14, 2022 admin

Say Hello to Crazy Thin ‘Deep Insert’ ATM Skimmers

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2022 21:46:58 +0000

A number of financial institutions in and around New York City are dealing with a rash of super-thin “deep insert” card skimming devices designed to fit inside the mouth of an ATM’s card acceptance slot. The card skimmers are paired with tiny pinhole cameras that are cleverly disguised as part of the cash machine. Here’s a look at some of the more sophisticated deep insert skimmer technology that fraud investigators have recently found in the wild.

Independent Krebs

September 13, 2022 admin

Wormable Flaw, 0days Lead Sept. 2022 Patch Tuesday

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2022 00:23:45 +0000

This month’s Patch Tuesday offers a little something for everyone, including security updates for a zero-day flaw in Microsoft Windows that is under active attack, and another Windows weakness experts say could be used to power a fast-spreading computer worm. Also, Apple has also quashed a pair of zero-day bugs affecting certain macOS and iOS users, and released iOS 16, which includes a nifty new privacy and security feature called “Lockdown Mode.” And Adobe axed 63 vulnerabilities in a range of products.

Independent Krebs

September 9, 2022 admin

Transacting in Person with Strangers from the Internet

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2022 12:40:03 +0000

Communities like Craigslist, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and others are great for finding low- or no-cost stuff that one can pick up directly from a nearby seller, and for getting rid of useful things that don’t deserve to end up in a landfill. But when dealing with strangers from the Internet, there is always a risk that the person you’ve agreed to meet has other intentions.