Independent

IndependentKrebs

Meet the World’s Biggest ‘Bulletproof’ Hoster

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2019 15:34:31 +0000

For at least the past decade, a computer crook variously known as “Yalishanda,” “Downlow” and “Stas_vl” has run one of the most popular “bulletproof” Web hosting services catering to a vast array of phishing sites, cybercrime forums and malware download servers. What follows are a series of clues that point to the likely real-life identity of a Russian man who appears responsible for enabling a ridiculous amount of cybercriminal activity on the Internet today.

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IndependentKrebs

Is ‘REvil’ the New GandCrab Ransomware?

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:58:30 +0000

The cybercriminals behind the GandCrab ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) offering recently announced they were closing up shop and retiring after having allegedly earned more than $2 billion in extortion payments from victims. But a growing body of evidence suggests the GandCrab team have instead quietly regrouped behind a more exclusive and advanced ransomware program known variously as “REvil,” “Sodin,” and “Sodinokibi.”

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ComputerWorldIndependent

How to take control of Face ID (with tools you may not know exist)

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2019 09:00:00 -0700

If you travel frequently and use an iPhone or iPad then you simply must familiarize yourself with these two tips – they’ll make it much easier to secure your device and its contents when you are on the move.

In praise of Face ID

I’ve become very used to using Face ID. It’s seamless.

On the iPhone, I like that I can pay for groceries with a look and find it much easier to use in the dark than the Home button.

My iPad experience is similar, but I do get annoyed sometimes that I must raise the tablet slightly to get the face angle right – this isn’t always as intuitive as I would like.

All the same, given Apple’s claim that there is a 1 in 50,000 chance that someone else’s fingerprint will unlock your iPhone and a 1 in 1,000,000 chance that it will be unlocked by another person’s face, I’ll always opt for the highly secure choice.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Memory-Lane Monday: Even worse than you thought

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2019 03:00:00 -0700

This government agency has cashiers’ stations for handling transactions with the public, and the treasurer’s office decides it needs new software to run those stations, according to a pilot fish in IT.

And there’s going to be one sign-on and password for all the stations, brag the higher-ups.

Bad idea, protest all the IT programmers and system administrators. For one thing, having a single user sign-on to the system will prevent tracking who is completing each transaction. They cite security, accountability and separation of duties, but their protests fall on deaf ears.

The vendor rep shows up one day, and he and the treasurer do a presentation for an audience that includes IT managers. The two sound excited, and a touch proud, when they tell everyone that the cashiers will sign on with the user ID “Cash.” They don’t share the top-secret password, though; that’s just for the cashiers to know.

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IndependentKrebs

FEC: Campaigns Can Use Discounted Cybersecurity Services

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 20:41:21 +0000

The U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) said today companies can offer discounted cybersecurity services to political campaigns without running afoul of existing campaign finance laws, provided they already do the same for other non-political entities. The decision comes amid much jostling on Capitol Hill over election security at the state level, and fresh warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies about impending cyber attacks targeting candidates in the lead up to the 2020 election.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Zoom fixes webcam flaw for Macs, but security concerns linger

Credit to Author: Matthew Finnegan| Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 11:51:00 -0700

Zoom released a patch this week to fix a security flaw in the Mac version of its desktop video chat app that could allow hackers to take control of a user’s webcam. 

The vulnerability was discovered by security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh, who published information about it in a blog post Monday. The flaw potentially affected 750,000 companies and approximately 4 million individuals using Zoom, Leitschuh said.

Zoom said it’s seen “no indication” any users were affected. But concerns about the flaw and how it works raised questions about whether other similar apps could be equally vulnerable.

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