School hackers steal personal data of half a million students & staff

By Waqas A school district in the United States has suffered a cyber attack in which unknown hackers managed to steal a trove of personal data belonging to over 500,000 staff and students. The targeted school was San Diego Unified School District in California whose database was accessed by hacke...

These people don’t exist – They were created by tech using Artificial Intelligence

By Waqas Artificial intelligence is increasingly advanced and has entered more and more areas, even in the most unexpected and sensitive issues for society such as the world’s first AI lawyer Ross. Now, tech giant NVIDIA has developed a tool that uses Artificial Intelligence to create extremely...

Holiday and Christmas scams users should be aware of

By Carolina "It's that time of the year again" when Holiday and Christmas scams target users around the world since millions of people are celebrating and buying gifts for friends and family. Most people prefer shopping online and that is where hackers and cybercriminals take full advantage of th...

Nokia exposes passwords & secret access keys to its internal systems

By Waqas Another day, another data breach - This time, multinational tech giant Nokia has been caught exposing highly sensitive data of industrial nature that would have put its internal security at risk. The data was discovered by the director of the cyber risk research team at Hacken and...

How to Market an Online Store

By Carolina If you own an online store, then you, more than likely, already know how hard it can be at times to make those all-important sales. What with the sheer volume of different retailers dotted around the Internet in this day and age, it can be incredibly difficult to stand out. It is not...

Authorities seize 15 popular DDoS-for-hire websites

By Waqas Authorities have seized and shut down 15 popular DDoS-for-hire websites used by cybercriminals for revenge and DDoS distributed denial of service attacks on private individuals as well as businesses including online gaming giants, email service providers and hosting sites. The operation...

Amazon sent 1,700 audio recordings of Alexa user to a stranger

By Waqas An Amazon customer in Germany under the European Union data protection law called GDPR General Data Protection Regulation requested the company to send all the data it stored on him but little did he know he was about to get his hands on a trove of 1,700 audio recordings of a stranger...

New email extortion scam warns “Pay $4,000 or a hitman is coming for you”

By Carolina In a new extortion scam, a cybercriminal is sending threatening emails to unsuspecting users asking them to pay a whopping $4,000 in Bitcoin or wait to be executed by a hitman. The email extortion scam surfaced on the Internet a few days ago and is currently arriving in victim's inbox...

NASA suffers data breach – Staff’s personal data stolen

By Waqas Another day, another data breach - This time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA has suffered a data breach in which personal data of the agency's employees have been stolen. In a notification obtained by SpaceRef, the data breach was identified on October 23rd, 2018...

Facebook gave Amazon, Netflix, Spotify & others access to private user data

By Waqas Facebook allowed Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Microsoft, Yandex and Royal Bank of Canada unprecedented access to its users' private data. The social media giant Facebook has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. Now, according to reports, Facebook allowed video streaming...

Here is a list of top 25 worst passwords of 2018

By Waqas SplashData, Inc. a leading password management application developer including SplashID has released a list of the 100 worst passwords of 2018. The company established the ranking after evaluating more than 5 million keywords leaked on the Internet this year. Their findings highlight the...

Hacker found using Twitter memes to spread malware

By Waqas Last year a shocking report revealed how Russian hackers were found spreading malware through Britney Spears's Instagram posts. Now, the IT security researchers at Trend Micro have discovered a sophisticated campaign in which an unknown hacker is using memes on the social networking...

Pro-PewDiePie messages appear on hacked Wall Street Journal website

By Waqas The official website of the Wall Street Journal was hacked earlier today after unknown hackers defaced it with messages in support of PewDiePie Felix Kjellberg, the most widely followed YouTuber. The hackers left a deface page along with a message on the domain partners.wsj.com that WSJ...

Chinese hackers reportedly stole secret US Navy data

By Waqas Hackers of Chinese origin have stolen data from US Navy contractors whose content includes highly confidential information on advanced military technologies. In June this year, it was reported that Chinese hackers stole 614 gigabytes of US Navy’s anti-ship missile data. Now, authorities ...

PewDiePie fan hacker compromise 100,000 printers

By Waqas A couple of weeks ago, a hacker going by the online handle of TheHackerGiraffe hacked over 50,000 printers for the sake of promoting PewDiePie’s YouTube channel and urging users to subscribe to his channel. Now, the same hacker has struck again and claims to have hacked over 100,000...

Wicked scammers steal $1 million from Save the Children charity

By Uzair Amir Another day, another email scam - This time, wicked scammers have stolen over $1,000,000 from Save the Children, an international non-governmental organization based in London, United Kingdom. This happened after scammers compromised email address of one of the Save the Children...

Facebook bug exposed private photos of 6.8M users to third-party developers

By Waqas Another day, another privacy breach - This time, the social media giant Facebook has announced that a bug in its Photo API exposed private photos of over 6.8 million users to third-party app developers. The breach took place from September 13 to September 25, 2018, which means for 12 day...

Hackers bypassed Gmail & Yahoo’s 2FA to target US officials

By Waqas The attack was carried out by Iran-backed charming kitten hackers and victims include dozens of US government officials. Private emails of US sanctions officials and nuclear scientists have been breached by Iranian state-sponsored hackers. As per the data obtained by Certfa, a...

Personal & banking data of 120 million Brazilians leaked online

By Carolina The Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas CPFs is a taxpayer registry identification for Brazilians - In this case, 120 million CPFs were exposed online. The IT security researchers at InfoArmor's Advanced Threat Intelligence team discovered a treasure trove of personal sensitive data belonging...

IT consultancy firm caught running ransomware decryption scam

By Waqas Ransomware has become a persistent threat to users globally but for cybercriminals, it is a lucrative business. Recently, IT security researchers at Check Point unearthed a sophisticated ransomware decryption scam in which a Russian IT consultant company has been caught scamming ransomwa...

A critical bug in Microsoft left 400M accounts exposed

By Waqas A bug bounty hunter from India, Sahad Nk who works forSafetyDetective, a cybersecurity firm, has received a reward from Microsoft for uncovering and reporting a series of critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft accounts. These vulnerabilities were present on users’ Microsoft accounts from ...

Nasty Android malware found stealing its victims’ PayPal funds

By Waqas Another day, another Android malware - This time, according to the latest findings of ESET's IT security researchers, there is a new malware in Google Play Store that hijacks PayPal account to steal money - Researchers assessed that the malware is specifically targeting Android users and...

Apps on smartphones are selling and sharing our location data 24/7

By Waqas It's no surprise that the apps we download on our smartphones are tracking our movements and also transferring the information to third parties without our consent. Last year it was Google caught collecting location data of Android users even if their device's location service was off th...

PlayStation Classic hacked to become platform-free console

By Uzair Amir Retro remake consoles are the preferred targets of hackers and their latest victim is Sony’s PlayStation Classic. According to reports, the security of PlayStation Classic is substantially affected by weak cryptography and this is why prominent console hackers including madmonkey190...

Google Plus hit by another breach – Data of 52.5M users exposed

By Waqas Google Plus has been hit by yet another bug forcing the company to shut down the social media site earlier than previously anticipated. In October this year, Google revealed that a bug was present in the API for the consumer version of Google Plus Google+ that allowed third-party...

Toyota’s PASTA- A car hacking tool to enhance automobile cybersecurity

By Waqas A team of security researchers working for the renowned automobile maker Toyota have developed a new car hacking tool. Dubbed as PASTA Portable Automotive Security Testbed with Adaptability, it is an open source tool created to help researchers identify the prevailing vulnerabilities in...

235 members of dark web money counterfeiting gang busted

By Waqas The Dark Web has become a thriving hub of all sorts of criminal activities from selling illegal drugs to the distribution of ransomware and running child porn platforms. To tackle the situation, a wide-scale crackdown was launched by European law enforcement agencies throughout Europe...

22 malware infected apps on Play Store found draining phone’s battery

By Waqas Another day, another malware targeting Android users - This time, 22 apps have been removed from the Play Store after security researchers found malware draining user phone's battery and also downloading files without their consent. These Android apps disguised themselves as legitimate...

DuckDuckGo study claims Google Incognito searches are not private

By Waqas Google offers customized search results even in Incognito Mode, study. DuckDuckGo claims that Google’s search results aren’t just based on your location data and previous searches normally but also when you are logged out or browsing in incognito mode. It’s a fact that offering...

Hackers conducting botnet attacks through 20k hacked WordPress sites

By Uzair Amir A newly published research from Defiant, a WordPress security firm, reveals that there is a botnet hunting for WordPress sites using over 20,000 already compromised WordPress sites. As the new sites are infected, these automatically become part of the bot army and start acting on th...

Another MongoDB database exposes personal data of 66M users

By Waqas Another day, another data breach - This time, the IT security researcher at HackenProof have discovered a massive trove of personal data of over 66 million users exposed online due to an unprotected MongoDB database. In October and November 2018, HackenProof's security researcher Bob...

6 Critical Website Elements You Need to Review

By Carolina Just like a car needs regular maintenance, your business’s website needs a review to ensure that it is performing to the best of its capabilities. Whether you have noticed a reduction in visitor numbers, or are responding to feedback from customers, reviewing your website is a busines...

415,000 routers infected by cryptomining malware – Prime target MikroTik

By Waqas According to a new report, around 415,000 routers throughout the world are infected with malware having the potential to steal computer resources and discreetly mine for the cryptocurrency. The campaign is an active one and it primarily targets MikroTik routers. Researchers claim that th...

New AI tool aims to make CAPTCHA a thing of the past

By Waqas Text-based options for verification purposes on websites and other digital forums are going to be a thing of the past, that too, pretty soon. So, get ready to identify objects like cars, parks, and storefronts form CAPTCHA image grids. CAPTCHA is the abbreviation for Completely Automated...

Windows 10 version 1809 is incompatible with Morphisec anti-malware

By Carolina Another day, another Windows 10 update issue - This time it includes security software. Another day, another reason for Windows 10 to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is a fact that Windows 10 is currently used by over 400 million users globally but lately, its updates hav...

Quora hacked: Personal data of 100 million users stolen

By Waqas Quora hacked - Change your password now. Another day, another data breach - This time Quora, a question-and-answer website, has suffered a massive data breach in which personal data of 100 million registered users has been stolen, the company said on Tuesday, December 4th. In a blog post...

Malware since 2017: Auction giant Sotheby’s Home hit by Magecart attack

By Waqas Sotheby's, an American multinational corporation and Auction House has become another victim of Magecart attack after hackers gained access to Sotheby's home website and inserted a card-skimming code aiming at customers’ credit card and banking data. Although Sotheby's detected the...

Private data of more than 82 million US citizens left exposed

By Uzair Amir Misconfigured ElasticSearch Servers Exposed Private Data of over 82 Million Users. A warning has been issued by Bob Diachenko, a HackenProof security researcher informing users in the US that around 73 gigabytes of data is identified in a “regular security audit” of publicly...

Moscow’s cable car service shuts down in 2 days after ransomware attack

By Waqas The first cable-car service was launched in Moscow this Tuesday, and free rides to and from Luzhniki Stadium were promised to the visitors throughout the first month. Naturally, people were eager to ride the cable-car and thronged the location. However, much to their dismay, only after a...

Someone hacked 50,000 printers to promote PewDiePie YouTube channel

By Waqas Nearly 50,000 printers across the globe were hacked by a hacker using the alias TheHackerGiraffe for the sake of promoting PewDiePie’s YouTube channel and encouraging users to subscribe to the channel. The hacker claims that the primary motive behind this hijacking spree is to spread...

Indian police & Microsoft busts tech support scam centers

By Uzair Amir You may have watched YouTube videos about tech support scam tricking unsuspecting users into believing that their devices have been compromised with some nasty malware and the only way to get rid of it is to pay the technician for their "services" over the phone or Skype call. This...

Marriott hotel data breach: Sensitive data of 500 million guests stolen

By Waqas Marriott has announced that it has suffered a massive data breach after attackers hacked its guest reservation system at Starwood hotels, a group of hotels the company took over in 2016 - These hotels include Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin and W Hotels. The breach was discovered last week...

Dunkin Donuts Perks loyalty data breach: Change your password

By Waqas Dunkin Donuts says it has suffered a data breach in which customer data of its DD Perks loyalty program may have been stolen - The DD Perk is a reward program for the company's regular customers. According to a now-inaccessible security advisory, Dunkin Donuts stated that the data breach...

Feds charge 2 Iranian hackers behind SamSam ransomware attacks

By Waqas The United States Department of Justice has charged two Iranian nationals with allegedly developing and using SamSam ransomware against their targets in the United States and Canada to carry out computer hacking and extortion scheme from Iran. Both Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27 and...

Gang sentenced for installing card skimmers on gas pumps & stealing data

By Carolina On Wednesday, a group of ten individuals including the head of the group received a total of 30 years sentence. The group was involved in installation of card skimmers on gas pumps across five states in the US including main cities of Northeast Ohio. Through card skimmers, credit card...

Dell resets all customer passwords after security breach

By Waqas The computer technology giant Dell has announced on Wednesday that it has suffered a potential security breach in which hackers attempted to steal customer data from its website Dell.com. The incident took place on November 9th when Dell detected and disrupted an attack aimed at the...

FBI & Google shut down largest-ever Ad fraud scheme ‘3VE’

By Waqas 8 suspects behind 3VE have also been identified. Last year in August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation organized a secret meet-up between cybersecurity and digital advertising experts in its Manhattan federal building. This included Google and nearly 20 tech firms while there were...

Lenovo to pay $7.3m for installing adware in 750,000 laptops

By Waqas In 2015, Beijing based laptop manufacturer and seemingly reliable technology company Lenovo made headlines that its 750,000 laptops had pre-installed adware called VisualDiscovery developed by Superfish. The adware played a vital role in compromising online security protections installed...

Popular Android apps on Play Store caught defrauding users

By Waqas A well-known Chinese app developer Cheetah Mobile and one of its subsidiaries Kika Tech might have claimed credit for millions of dollars from advertisers through an Android fraud scheme, reveals app analytics firm Kochava. It is a common practice for mobile app developers to generate...

Presumed technical issue disrupts Google Adsense payouts worldwide

By Waqas Still didn't receive your Google Adsense payouts? Don't worry, you are not alone. For the many millions of Google Adsense users, the earnings derived from it is their bread and butter so when there is a delay in AdSense payouts, predictably there is online pandemonium as many seek answer...