5 Privacy Mistakes that Leave You Vulnerable Online

By John Mason When news broke about Cambridge Analytica, the Internet went into a frenzy: “How could Facebook do this!” “Facebook should be made accountable!” Besides the fact that I think the whole Cambridge Analytica issue was blown out of proportion, I believe bigger issue is the fact that ver...

Videographer sues Adobe after losing $250k worth of data through Premiere Pro bug

By Waqas A class action lawsuit has been filed by Dave Cooper, a freelance videographer, against Adobe for a bug in its video-editing software Premiere Pro that deleted years of his work within no time. Cooper software watched in horror as his important videos and clips got permanently deleted. I...

Elite North Koreans aren’t opposed to exploiting internet for financial gain

By David Balaban According to a report from Recorded Future, it seems the ruling elite in North Korea are now using the Internet more and more to take advantage of money-making opportunities and avoid various economic sanctions. Not only is the Kim regime utilizing interbank transfer systems,...

Facebook Messenger to offer Unsend feature to delete sent messages

By Waqas Facebook has made many efforts so far to refine its Messenger app. This year in May, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg along with other executives of the social network admitted that the Facebook Messenger has to be refined since the current app contained many useless features while lacked...

WordPress GDPR Compliance plugin hacked to spread backdoor

By Waqas Update your GDPR Compliance plugin right now. Security researchers have identified a critical vulnerability in the popular WP GDPR Compliance plugin assisting over 100,000 website owners around the world to comply with European privacy regulations known as GDPR that was announced by...

You are not alone; social media giant Facebook is down

By Carolina You are not alone; the social media giant Facebook is down in many countries around the world for almost a half an hour starting from 6 pm UK time. In some cases, Facebook's site and application both are suffering an outage. The reason for this outage is currently unknown and there ha...

Cloudflare Launches Android and iOS version of 1.1.1.1 DNS Service

By Waqas Download the app and toggle on it to generate a VPN profile that will automatically reroute the DNS traffic using the 1.1.1.1 DNS servers. On April 1, 2018, Cloudflare and APNIC launched the 1.1.1.1 public DNS service to speed up the searching process for web addresses faster and more...

Will good prevail over bad as bots battle for the internet?

By Ian Trump This is the third in a series of blog posts “on all things Bot” - The first two posts are available here and here. From bad to good and looking towards the future, Bots remain an information security issue which has the potential to impact all commercial and recreational online...

Headmaster caught mining cryptocurrency at school; gets fired

By Uzair Amir A Chinese school headmaster Lei Hua was caught mining cryptocurrency using the school's electricity. As a result, he had to lose his job. It happened at Puman Middle School in Hunan province of China. Initially, teachers complained about the loud noise that continued day and night...

Man who conducted DDoS attacks on Sony, Xbox & EA pleads guilty

By Waqas Austin Thompson, a 23-year-old man from Utah has pleaded guilty to conducting DDoS attacks on gaming giants between 2013 to 2014. Among his targets were companies like EA Origin, Sony's PlayStation Network, Steam, Microsoft's Xbox, Battle.net, and League of Legends, etc. Thompson who use...

Vulnerability in Drone giant DJI exposed users’ photos & other sensitive data

By Waqas Researchers at security firm CheckPoint identified a vulnerability in the website and apps of the popular consumer drone manufacturer DJI. The vulnerability was revealed on Thursday after DJI managed to fix the flaw. Though, it took DJI around six months to fully address the security fla...

Russian exploit developer publicly disclosed VirtualBox zero-day vulnerability

By Waqas An independent IT security researcher and exploit developer from Russia has publicly revealed a zero-day vulnerability in all versions of VirtualBox VB 5.2.20 and prior. VB is commonly used open source virtualization software that has been developed by Oracle. According to the analysis o...

4 things you didn’t know a VPN could do

By Sabrina Bucknole Until recently, many people thought of VPNs as a tool used by tech-savvy kids to anonymously download music and films. But, as concern about the use and security of personal data online continues to rise, it is no surprise that the number of people using a Virtual Private...

HSBC suffers data breach after hackers access customers’ personal data

By Uzair Amir The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC has suffered a data breach in which unknown hackers have accessed personal and financial data of its customers. The data breach, according to the notification from HSBC, took between October 4, 2018, and October 14, 2018. Upon...

Sim Swapping Crypto Stealing Hackers Arrested by Turkish Police

By Waqas Eleven Turkish individuals have been arrested by Turkish police department for stealing cryptocurrency worth approx. $80,000 via Sim Swapping. Reportedly, the suspects tricked the phone providers into revealing the phone numbers of the victims and used the SIMs for performing 2FA...

Data from “almost every Pakistani Bank” stolen & sold on the dark web

By Waqas Pakistani banks have debuted on the Dark Web with almost all of the country’s banks becoming victims of a devastating data hack. It is undoubtedly the biggest ever hacking campaign launched against banks in Pakistan. It is estimated that hackers have stolen financial data of more than...

Best Anonymization Tools and Techniques for 2019

By David Balaban Anonymizers are tools that ensure the anonymity of web surfing. They are also used to circumvent the web filters and local legislative restrictions\blocking of websites. Some types of anonymizers VPN may also encrypt your traffic. This article discusses how anonymizers are used a...

From cybercrime to cyber defence: How VPNs went mainstream

By Tabby Farrar Virtual Private Networks, also known as VPNs, have had something of an image change in the last few years. Historically, the term VPN has come with negative connotations – linked to users on the Dark Web hiding their identities from law enforcement. With that in mind, it’s...

Hackers found selling private messages of 81k hacked Facebook accounts

By Waqas Unsurprisingly, the price of each account is just 10 cents 8p. Last September, the social media giant Facebook revealed that it suffered a data breach in which hackers managed to steal access tokens of over 50 million accounts after exploiting a vulnerability in its View As feature. A...

How to boost your VPN connection speed in 5 ways

By Tabby Farrar VPNs are a fantastic tool for maintaining your online privacy, in that they keep your connection secure and your details anonymous while you’re browsing the web. One key flaw for many VPN users is the lag they can sometimes add to your connection. Because your uploads and download...

Feds accuse Chinese firm of stealing trade secrets of US tech giant

By Uzair Amir The US Justice Department has accused China to be involved in industrial espionage. According to a press release from the department, the Chinese government has made memory chips that store data its centralized science and technology strategy only to cover its espionage activities. ...

iOS 12.1 passcode bypass hack discovered just few hours after its release

By Waqas Only a few hours have passed since the new iOS 12.1’s release and already its passcode bypass hack has been identified. Through the hack, the attacker can see all the private conversations on a locked iPhone. The passcode bypass hack has been discovered by a Spanish security researcher...

New AI system DARKMENTION will detect upcoming cyberattacks from dark web

By Waqas Cybersecurity is one of the primary concerns of internet users nowadays, which includes commercial and governmental organizations as well. Recent, large-scale data breaches at Gmail, Equifax, Facebook, Google+ Cathay Pacific Airways, and Yahoo, etc., have made it clear that the bigger th...

Employee infects US govt network with malware after visiting 9,000 porn sites

By Uzair Amir Due to the carelessness of an employee, who apparently was a porn fan, the network of the satellite imaging facility, the U.S. Geological Survey USGS at the EROS Center, South Dakota got infected with malware. An audit carried out by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s inspector...

Signal App’s New Privacy Feature Conceals Sender ID from Metadata

By Waqas Messaging apps are now becoming more and more secure to make it difficult or rather impossible for anyone to access your conversations. Switching to end-to-end encryption although offered a stronger layer of protection but still the unencrypted metadata like sender/receiver information,...

IBM acquiring Red Hat for a whopping $34 billion

By Waqas IBM International Business Machine is acquiring the world-renowned provider of open source cloud software Red Hat, Inc., for a whopping $34 billion, the news about the deal was announced on Sunday. IBM plans to pay $34 billion in cash for $190.00 per share. After the deal, Red Hat will...

Now use Internet anonymously through Tor-enabled SIM card Onion3G

By Waqas Privacy concerns are rising with the advancement of technology. Today, we need to be a lot more careful about online browsing than we needed to a few years back despite that we have come far ahead with technology. Tor browser and VPNs are generally believed to protect our privacy online,...

Apple and Samsung fined millions for intentionally slowing down old smartphones

By Waqas The Italian Competition Authority AGCM has fined Apple and Samsung a whopping 5 million Euros $5.7m - £4.4m and 10 million Euros $11.4m - £8.84m. for what it called "planned obsolescence" of their smartphones. If you have ever noticed how your old iPhone or Samsung device had performance...

General Motors collected location & radio listening habits data of 90,000 drivers

By Waqas The listening habits of around 90,000 drivers of General Motors in Chicago and Los Angeles were monitored by the company for three months in 2017 under its radio-tracking program. The Detroit Free Press reported later released a report that General Motors was involved in targeted...

Cathay Pacific hit by massive data breach; 10 million passengers affected

By Waqas Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Limited has suffered a massive data breach in which personal data of 9.4 million customers has been stolen by unknown hackers. Cathay Pacific states that the stolen data includes passenger name, date of birth, nationality, email, phone number, frequent...

Site security & user friendliness: Top E-commerce qualities for 2018

By Carolina It seems security breaches have not just become common, but prevalent throughout society. Between allegations of hacking into voting systems, and then into the most influential social media platforms, digital security has never been more critical. Users and businesses alike must do al...

TimpDoor Android malware turning devices into hidden proxies

By Waqas Android users in North America are the current target of TimpDoor malware. The McAfee Mobile Research team has identified an active phishing campaign that traps users by sending an SMS to influence them on downloading and installing an Android malware app TimpDoor. It is a fake...

Third-Party Apps May Read Your Email: Learn How to Protect

By David Balaban Sad news about the unauthorized viewing of email messages by third-party application developers has alarmed Gmail users. It’s understood the Internet giant did not resort to ignoring the problem, the corporation provided detailed comments on possible exposure of the letters...

Teacher linked to Celebgate hacking scandal facing 7 years in prison

By Uzair Amir Former Lee Davis High School, Virginia teacher Christopher Brannan set to plead guilty to the federal charges of hacking into the computers of Celebrities including Emma Watson and non-celebrities leading to their private data in the Celebgate hacking scandal. 31 years old Christoph...

Russia launched Triton malware to sabotage Saudi petrochemical plant

By Waqas A few days ago it was reported that a new malware called GreyEnergy has been targeting high-profile industrial and energy sector with espionage and fingers were pointed at Russian hackers. Now, it has been revealed that Petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia have been on the radar of...

Hackers deface Saudi ‘Davos in the Desert’ site against Khashoggi’s death

By Waqas The official website of Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative ‘Davos in the Desert’ was hit by a cyber attack in which hackers defaced its homepage to protest the brutal murder of The Washington Post's journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey and killings of innocent civilians in Yemen...

ProtonVPN Subscriptions Now Available on Firefox for $10

By Waqas Mozilla has announced that it will be launching an experimental feature in the new version of Firefox that will offer ProtonVPN subscriptions. The feature, however, will be accessible by users only after they subscribe for a monthly package. It is basically, a subscription-based VPN...

Vesta control panel servers infected with DDoS malware after supply chain attack

By Waqas An open-source hosting panel software provider, Vesta Control Panel VestaCP, has admitted that the company became a victim of a supply chain attack. In an announcement made by VestaCP on its forum, it was revealed that the hacker managed to contaminate the source code of its project with...

Personal data of 75,000 individuals exposed after HealthCare.gov system hack

By Waqas Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS experienced a data breach leading to exposure of highly sensitive personal data of nearly 75,000 people. The CMS is a government system linked with healthCare.gov which assists insurance agents and brokers in helping people register for its...

How to Choose the Most Secure Software for your Business

By Carolina When it comes to protecting your business, how do you choose the best available and secure software on the market? Security software is a key component in ensuring your business is protected from hacking, viruses, risky emails and many other scams. There are plenty of options availabl...

LIVE555 media streaming library hit by remote code execution flaw

By Waqas This article has been updated with a statement from Live Networks, Inc explaining that the flaw only affected their implementation of RTSP server, which VLC and MPlayer do not use. The IT security researcher at Cisco Talos Intelligence Group has discovered a critical remote code executio...

Bad to the Bot Bone

By Ian Trump This is the second in a series of blog posts “on all things Bot.” From bad to good and looking towards the future, Bots remain an information security issue which has the potential to impact all commercial and recreational online activity. This series will explore the security and...

Swedish court tells ISP to block The Pirate Bay in the country

By Waqas Another day, another court order against The Pirate Bay TPB. This time, the Patent and Market Court of Sweden has ordered the telephone company and mobile network operator Telia to block The Pirate Bay and other torrenting websites including NyaFilmer, FMovies, and Dreamfilm in the...

Author of Luminosity RAT Gets 2.5 Years in Federal Prison

By Waqas Colton Ray Grubbs, 21 from Stanford, Kentucky has been sent to 30 months 2.5 years in prison for developing and operating the infamous Luminosity RAT or Luminosity Link RAT Remote Access Trojan that targeted unsuspected users worldwide. Luminosity RAT allowed hackers to infect targeted...

How to Make the Payment Process Easy for Online Customers

By Carolina If you want to increase conversions and sales, a good place to start is to make it as easy as possible for them to pay for your services or products. If your checkout page isn’t easy to use, it won’t matter how good your products or services are. Your checkout page is where they get …...

Authorities search & seize properties of GTA V’s “Infamous” cheat developers

By Carolina Cheat developers are constantly under the radar of Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games. Both companies have previously taken legal action against cheat developers for protecting their games including the very popular Grand Theft Auto V GTA V. Last month, they launched an operation...

GreyEnergy: New malware targeting energy sector with espionage

By Waqas After BlackEnergy, critical infrastructure around the world is among key targets of the new malware called GreyEnergy. In its recent research, ESET has revealed details of a new group of cybercriminals dubbed as GreyEnergy, which seems to be the replacement of BlackEnergy APT group. The...

400% increase in cryptomining malware attacks against iPhones

By Waqas It wouldn’t be wrong to state that Apple has become the apple of the eyes of cryptomining enthusiasts and cybercriminals. According to Check Point’s latest Global Threat Index, the company is being targeted more frequently in cryptomining malware attacks. The report discloses some...

Bug in Newly Released iOS 12.0.1 Gives Access To Your Photos

By Waqas An iOS user Jose Rodriguez, who discovered a passcode bypass related flaw in iOS 12 last month, has now identified another passcode bypass bug in the recently released iOS 12.0.1. According to Rodriguez, a Spanish security researcher, the new bug offers an easy access to Photo Library of...

Text Bomb Causing PS4 to Crash

By Uzair Amir Sony’s most prestigious gaming console till date PlayStation 4 or PS4 contains a bug that exploits and crashes the console through a text message. It is believed that malicious threat actors are sending infected messages to the console to crash it. Reddit is bursting with reports fr...