Just in case you missed any of them (ICYMI), THN Weekly Round-Up helps you provide all important stories of last week in one shot.
We advise you to read the full story (just click 'Read More' because there's some valuable advice in it as well).
Here's the list:
1. Facebook to Launch Its Own Satellite to Beam Free Internet
Facebook has revealed its plans to launch a $500 Million Satellite by next year in an effort to provide free or cheap Internet access in the developing countries.
The social network giant has teamed up with the French satellite provider Eutelsat Communications to beam free Internet access to several parts of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
For detailed information on Facebook's Satellite Project – Read more…
2. Angler Exploit Kit Campaign Generating $30 Million Took Down
Researchers took down a large ransomware campaign connected to the Angler Exploit Kit that was making an estimated $30 Million a year in revenue for hackers.
The hacker or group of hackers generating $30 Million annually is responsible for up to 50% of Angler Exploit Kit activity, which simply means that the rest of Angler kit business might be generating revenue of more than $60M annually for hackers worldwide.
For more information – Read more…
3. This Secure Operating System Protects You Even if You Get Hacked!
Qubes OS – an open-source Linux-based security-oriented operating system for personal computers runs everything inside the virtual machines.
The visualization mechanism of Qubes OS follows Security by Isolation (Software Compartmentalization) principle to secure the systems, which means, enabling the Principle of least privileges.
So, in case you become a victim of any malicious cyber attack, Qubes OS doesn't let an attacker take over your entire computer.
For in-depth information on Qubes OS – Read more…
4. How to Activate GodMode in Windows 10
God Mode – also known as 'Windows Master Control Panel Shortcut' – is an inbuilt, but hidden Windows' feature that provides additional customization options for the Microsoft's newest operating system.
Enabling God Mode in Windows 10 essentially unlocks a backdoor of the operating system to access 260+ additional settings from a single folder.
To know how to activate GodMode in Windows 10 – Read more…
5. British Agency Can Hack Any Smartphone With Just a Text Message
The British Intelligence Agency GCHQ has powers to hack any smartphone devices with just a text message, said the former NSA contractor and global surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden.
According to Snowden, GCHQ have special tools that let it take over your smartphones with just a text message and there is "very little" you can do to prevent the spying agency having "total control" over your devices.
For the full interview of Edward Snowden with BBC investigative programme Panorama – Read more…
6. Kemoge: Latest Android Malware that Can Root Your Smartphone
A new strain of malware, dubbed 'Kemoge Malware', has made its debut as an Adware on Android devices, allowing third-party app stores to pilfer your device's information as well as take full control of it.
Kemoge is an Adware in the disguise of popular Android Apps. The malware is distributed in the names of popular apps, but actually repackages the malicious code that even has the capability to root victims' phones, targeting a wide range of device models.
For more information on How does Kemoge Work and How to protect against it – Read more…
7. Microsoft Rewarded $24,000 Bounty to Hacker
Synack security researcher Wesley Wineberg won $24,000 from Microsoft for finding and reporting a critical flaw in Microsoft's Live.com authentication system that could allow hackers to gain access to victims' complete Outlook account or other Microsoft services.
Wineberg developed a 'proof-of-concept' exploit app, named 'Evil App', that allowed him to bypass Microsoft's OAuth protection mechanism, effectively gaining access to everything in victim's account.
For detailed information and video demonstration – Read more…
8. End of the Most Widely used SHA-1 Hash Algorithm
One of the Internet's widely adopted cryptographic hash function SHA-1 is counting its last breaths.
Researchers have claimed that SHA-1 is vulnerable to the Collision Attacks, which can be exploited to forge digital signatures, allowing attackers to break communications encoded with SHA-1.
For in-depth information on Collision attacks and how does it work – Read more…
9. Brute Force Amplification Attack Targeting WordPress Blogs
Security researchers have discovered a way to perform Amplified Brute Force attacks against WordPress' built-in XML-RPC feature in an effort to crack down administrator credentials.
XML-RPC protocol is used for securely exchanging data between computers across the Internet. It uses the system.multicall method that allows an application to execute multiple commands within one HTTP request.
The same method has been abused to amplify Brute Force attacks many times over by attempting hundreds of passwords within just one HTTP request, without been detected.
Here's how the Brute Force Amplification attack works – Read more…
10. China Arrested Hackers at U.S. Government Request
Just two weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the United States; China arrested a handful of hackers within its borders at the request of the United States government.
The arrested hackers were suspected of stealing state commercial secrets from United States firms and then selling or passing them to Chinese state-run companies.
For detailed information – Read More…
11. One-Minute Owner of Google.com Donated his Reward to Charity
The man who actually managed to buy Google.com got a huge reward from Google, but he donated all his prize money to charity.
Sanmay Ved, an ex-Google employee and now-Amazon employee, managed to buy the world's most-visited domain via Google's own Domains service for only $12.
However, Ved owned Google.com for one minute before the company realized it was a mistake and cancelled the transaction.
For in-depth information – Read More…
12. Critical Netgear Router Flaw Lets Anyone Hack You Remotely
Hackers have publicly exploited a serious flaw discovered in Netgear routers in order to bypass authentication mechanism on vulnerable routers.
Hackers could leverage the vulnerability to bypass authentication mechanism and then change the Domain Name System (DNS) settings of victims' routers to the rogue IP address.
The affected Netgear routers are JNR1010v2, JWNR2000v5, JWNR2010v5, WNR614, WNR618, WNR1000v4, WNR2020 and WNR2020v2.
For more details – Read more…
