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Operation ShadowHammer: Hackers planted malware code in video games

Last month the world was reminded once again of the danger of supply chain attacks, as it was revealed that hackers had compromised the network of Taiwanese technology giant ASUS to push out a malicious software update to as many as one million laptops. The attack, dubbed "Operation ShadowHammer" by security researchers, saw hackers successfully sign...
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Man fried over 50 college computers with weaponized USB stick

It's not as though 27-year-old Vishwanath Akuthota made it hard for authorities to prove that he was the person who destroyed $58,000 worth of college equipment in February this year. On Valentine's Day, February 14th 2019, Akuthota walked around the campus of the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. He had graduated from the college in 2017 with...
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High-rolling hacker jailed after launching malware attacks via websites

A British man has been jailed for over six years after exploiting ad networks on pornographic websites to spread malware onto innocent users' computers. 24-year-old Zain Qaiser made massive profits from victims in over 20 countries around the world through a criminal scheme which involved malware and blackmail. According to the National Crime Agency ...
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Unsecured databases found leaking half a billion resumes on the net

Barely a day goes by anymore without another report of sensitive data being left accessible to anyone on Elasticsearch servers or MongoDB databases that have not been properly configured. Today is no different. As ZDNet reports, researchers have discovered several exposed servers that belong to Chinese recruitment firms. Security experts Devin Stokes,...
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US Senators say it shouldn't be a secret when they've been hacked

Take a look at the security headlines, and you'll see report after report of businesses and large organisations being hacked. Sensitive databases are accessed, passwords are stolen, email archives are plundered, innocent people are put at risk and corporations get a kick up the backside that they need to take security more seriously. But what you don't...
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Coinhive, the in-browser cryptomining service beloved by hackers, is dead

If you think back to last year, Coinhive was everywhere. The service offered any website an arguably legitimate way of generating income that didn't rely upon online adverts. And plenty of well-known sites, such as Showtime, Salon.com and The Pirate Bay, were happy to give it a go. Rather than making money through ads that might irritate you or track...
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Hacker arrested for wave of fake bomb and shooting threats against schools

FBI agents have arrested a 20-year-old man alleged to have been part of a hacking gang that not only launched distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks but also launched a wave of bomb and shooting threats against thousands of schools in the United States and United Kingdom. Timothy Dalton Vaughn of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is alleged to be a...
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Google Chrome extension warns if your password has been leaked

Anyone who has a presence on the internet is likely to be suffering from breach fatigue. Data leaks are reported in the headlines on a daily basis, and users can feel so overwhelmed by the sheer number of breaches that they feel there's little they can do to keep ahead of hackers. It can almost feel like a full-time job as you try to determine if your...
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Passwords at risk for users who fall for voicemail phishing emails

Security researchers are warning of a new wave of phishing emails which are using an unusual disguise in their attempt to both bypass scanners at email gateways and dupe unsuspecting users. The attack arrives in users' inboxes in the form of an email purporting to be a notification about a voice message using subject lines such as "PBX Message," "Voice...
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Magecart hits hundreds of websites via ad supply chain hijack

A criminal Magecart gang successfully compromised hundreds of e-commerce websites via a malicious script that silently harvested personal data and payment card information as customers bought goods and services online. Rather than specifically target individual websites, the hackers audaciously hacked a third-party Javascript library from French...
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Reddit users locked out of accounts after "security concern"

A large number of Reddit users are being told that they will have to reset their passwords in order to regain access to their accounts following what the site is calling a "security concern." The lockout occurred as Reddit's security team investigates what appears to have been an attempt to log into many users' accounts through a credential-stuffing...
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Hackers demand ransom from Dublin's tram system, after Luas website defaced

The website of Luas, the tram system operating in Ireland's capital city of Dublin, has been taken offline this morning after hackers defaced the site and demanded a ransom be paid within five days. Early morning visitors to the website were greeted with a message from the hackers, claiming that data had been stolen from operator Transdev Ireland, and...
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Unlocking Android phones with a 3D-printed head

Not everyone is a fan of it, but it's hard to argue convincingly that facial recognition isn't going to play a role in the future of technology. The newest Apple iPhones and Android smartphones have built-in facial recognition features that can unlock your device, but you would be wrong to think that the reliability and accuracy of the features is...
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US charges Iranian hackers for SamSam ransomware attacks

Authorities in the United States have charged two people in connection with a series of notorious ransomware attacks. According to the Department of Justice, 34-year-old Faramarz Shahi Savandi and 27-year-old Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri were the masterminds behind attacks against more than 200 networks since 2015. Unlike normal ransomware attacks ...