Articles about Hacking

Hackers are winning the cybercrime war say business leaders

controlling hacker

A Europe-wide survey of almost 600 successful businesses reveals that 61 percent of business leaders on the board of their company believe that in the war against cybercrime the hackers are more sophisticated than the software developers.

The study carried out for global network RSM by the European Business Awards also finds that 60 percent of these board members believe they may have been breached without them knowing and 73 percent consider themselves at risk from cybercrime.

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Avast says CCleaner was targeted by hackers... again

avast hacked

Security firm Avast has revealed that it detected and intercepted suspicious activity on its network. The malicious attack is believed to have been instigated by hackers seeking to target the CCleaner software.

This is not the first time Avast and CCleaner have been targeted, and the company has revealed that an attacker had been trying to gain access to its network through its VPN as long ago as mid-May. The attacks -- dubbed "Abiss" -- continued until the beginning of this month.

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What are cyber threats?

security skull

A cyber threat is basically any type of threat that is computer related in nature. To be clear, a computer could be a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet or even a smartphone. All of these devices have particular types of threats that they can be exposed to that users need to be aware of to ensure that they can protect themselves and their confidential information. 

Given the number of different types of devices that can be exposed to cyber threats, there are a number of different types of issues that can present themselves. Each of these threats is unique in its own right and poses a different type of issue for the user, but typically they all have the same end result… the impacted system is somehow compromised and the user, or the user’s information, is placed at risk. While the list below is extensive, it is not all inclusive. There are far too many types of threats out in the wild of the Internet to list in one article. What I do hope to do is to list those that are most prevalent and give the reader a good overview of what the threat is and how it is often used to do damage to both home and corporate networks. 

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Developer of HildaCrypt ransomware releases decryption keys for free

Hacker

Ransomware is a pervasive problem, and for victims it can be difficult to know whether paying up will help them to regain access to their maliciously encrypted files. So when ransomware decryption keys are released free of charge, it's always good news -- and this is exactly what has happened for HildaCrypt.

The developer of this particular strain of ransomware has released the decryption keys after a security researcher shared detailed of what was initially thought to be a new type of ransomware.

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Get 'Hacking for Dummies, 6th Edition' ($29.99 value) FREE for a limited time

Hacking for dummies

Stop hackers before they hack you!

In order to outsmart a would-be hacker, you need to get into the hacker’s mindset and with this book, thinking like a bad guy has never been easier. Get expert knowledge on penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, security best practices, and ethical hacking that is essential in order to stop a hacker in their tracks.

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DoorDash hacked!

woman_hacker_food

Food delivery services are all the rage these days. Apparently, people are so averse to leaving their home, that they are willing to pay a premium to get meals driven to them. But wait, is that really a new trend? Pizzerias, for instance, have been delivering pies for years. Yeah, but that was driven by an employee of the restaurant. These days, services like Grubhub and DoorDash allow pretty much anyone with a car to be the go-between -- there is no vetting by the restaurant. Do you really want your food in the hands of a stranger? Lord knows what he/she could do to it.

If you are a DoorDash user, the suitability of your delivery driver is not what you need to be worried about today. Actually, your concern should be focused on your privacy, as the delivery service has suffered a massive data breach. Yes, hackers have infiltrated DoorDash, and the number of impacted people is staggering -- nearly 5 million. That doesn't just include customers but DoorDash drivers and merchants too!

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D-Link and Comba routers have multiple vulnerabilities, including storing passwords in plain text

Hacker typing username and password

A security researcher has revealed details of a series of vulnerabilities in routers made by D-Link and Comba which make it easy to see usernames and passwords.

Simon Kenin from Trustwave SpiderLabs -- an "elite team of ethical hackers, forensic investigators and researchers" -- found a total of five security flaws which involve the insecure storage of credentials. In some instances, passwords are stored in plain text and can be seen by anyone with network or internet access to the routers in question.

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Wikipedia taken offline by massive DDoS attack

Wikipedia page

A DDoS attack rocked Wikipedia on Friday, taking the site offline in a number of countries.

The online encyclopedia was forced offline for several hours across Europe and the Middle East, and the site battled the attack to restore service. The Wikimedia Foundation -- the organization behind the site -- condemned the attack saying it wanted to protect the "fundamental right" for people to be able to "freely access and share information".

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Hackers use Jack Dorsey's Twitter account to send racist tweets

Twitter on iPhone

Jack Dorsey's Twitter account was hacked yesterday, and the hackers -- going by the name of the Chuckle Gang -- proceeded to send racist tweets and made reference to a bomb at Twitter headquarters.

The account of the Twitter CEO was back under control relatively quickly, and the tweets sent out by the hackers were deleted. Twitter has said that its security systems were not compromised in the attack, instead blaming the account hijacking on a "security oversight" by a mobile provider which enabled hackers to take control of a mobile number associated with Dorsey's account.

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Google security researcher warns that hackers are using malicious websites to exploit iOS flaws and monitor iPhone users

Black iPhone

Hackers are using compromised websites to install "monitoring implants" on iPhones, warns a security researcher from Google's Project Zero.

Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in iOS and Safari, hackers are able to target devices running everything from iOS 10 to iOS 12, accessing contacts, images and other data. It is claimed that the practice has been going on for years, and that "simply visiting the hacked site [is] enough for the exploit server to attack your device".
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Web host Hostinger resets 14 million customer passwords following data breach

Hostinger

Hosting company Hostinger has reset passwords for all of its customers after a data breach in which a database containing information about 14 million users was accessed "by an unauthorized third party".

Hostinger says that the password reset is a "precautionary measure" and explains that the security incident occurred when hackers used an authorization token found on one of the company's servers to access an internal system API. While no financial data is thought to have been accessed, hackers were able to access "client usernames, emails, hashed passwords, first names and IP addresses".

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Hacktivism in decline as it returns to its roots

Hacktivist

Hacktivism has its origins in small groups of people banding together to achieve common goals. In recent years, however, it's become associated with larger groups and even nation states using the guise of hacktivism for geopolitical purposes.

A new report from the Insikt Group at Recorded Future though suggests that overall hacktivism is in decline.

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Will hackers turn the 787 Dreamliner into a flying nightmare?

Dreamliner

Do you like airplanes? I know I do. Get me inside an airport terminal and I become glued to the glass watching them move about on the tarmac. Big ones. Small ones. I love them all.

And not just from the outside. I love traveling in planes, too. In fact, I’ve flown in nearly every type of major short or long-haul jet in service. From humongous A380’s to diminutive MD88’s, I’m a seasoned veteran of the air travel game.

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Cisco to pay $8.6 million for supplying the US government with software known to be insecure

cisco-building

Cisco has agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle a claim that it sold video surveillance software to the American government even though it was aware it contained security vulnerabilities.

A total of fifteen US states filed a case under the False Claims Act after Homeland Security, the Secret Service, the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency all purchased flawed software from Cisco. Rather than improving security as desired, the complainants said that Cisco's software actually made systems less secure.

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Personal details of 106 million Americans and Canadians stolen in huge Capital One data breach

Capital One card

A hacker has been arrested following a massive data breach at Capital One. The attacker -- Paige A Thompson, also known as "erratic" -- was able to access the credit applications of 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians after exploiting a "configuration vulnerability".

In most cases, personal details such as name, date of birth, address and phone number were exposed by Thompson, but for tens of thousands of individuals, she also gained access to credit scores, Social Security numbers and account balances.

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