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A New Age of Hacktivism

A New Age of Hacktivism

Feb 22, 2024 Hacktivism / Information Warfare
In the past 2 years, we have observed a significant surge in hacktivism activity due to ongoing wars and geopolitical conflicts in various regions. Since the war against Ukraine began, we have witnessed a notable mobilization of non-state and state-backed actors alike, forming new groups or joining existing hacker collectives.  We understand hacktivism as a form of computer hacking that is done to further the goals of political or social  activism 1 . While  activism  describes a normal, non-disruptive use of the Internet in order to support a specific cause (online petitions, fundraising, coordinating activities),  hacktivism  includes operations that use hacking techniques with the intent to disrupt but not to cause serious harm (e.g., data theft, website defacements, redirects, Denial-of-Service attacks). Cyber operations that inherit a willingness or intent to cause harm to physical property, severe economic damage or loss of life would be referred to as  cyberterrorism, 2, 3  Th
Of Cybercriminals and IP Addresses

Of Cybercriminals and IP Addresses

Mar 28, 2022
You don't like having the FBI knocking on your door at 6 am in the morning. Surprisingly, nor does your usual cybercriminal. That is why they hide (at least the good ones), for example, behind layers of proxies, VPNs, or TOR nodes. Their IP address will never be exposed directly to the target's machine. Cybercriminals will always use third-party IP addresses to deliver their attacks. There are countless ways to deliver cyberattacks. But one thing is common to all of them. The need for a pool of IP addresses to serve as a medium. Criminals need IP addresses to deliver distributed denial of service attacks. Criminals need IP addresses to hide behind when probing services. Criminals need IP addresses to attempt brute force attacks. Criminals need IP addresses to run bot networks and services. In a nutshell, criminals need to maintain IP addresses under their control for pretty much anything. It is their most important asset and is the ammo they need to deliver attacks. So how
How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

Mar 06, 2024Data Security / Cloud Security
Every Google Workspace administrator knows how quickly Google Drive becomes a messy sprawl of loosely shared confidential information. This isn't anyone's fault; it's inevitable as your productivity suite is purposefully designed to enable real-time collaboration – both internally and externally.  For Security & Risk Management teams, the untenable risk of any Google Drive footprint lies in the toxic combinations of sensitive data, excessive permissions, and improper sharing. However, it can be challenging to differentiate between typical business practices and potential risks without fully understanding the context and intent.  Material Security, a company renowned for its innovative method of protecting sensitive data within employee mailboxes, has recently launched  Data Protection for Google Drive  to safeguard the sprawl of confidential information scattered throughout Google Drive with a powerful discovery and remediation toolkit. How Material Security helps organ
Hacker Who Hacked US Spy Chief, FBI & CIA Director Gets 5-Year in Prison

Hacker Who Hacked US Spy Chief, FBI & CIA Director Gets 5-Year in Prison

Sep 09, 2017
Remember " Crackas With Attitude "? The hacking group behind a series of embarrassing hacks that targeted personal email accounts of senior officials at the FBI, the CIA, and the White House, among other United States federal agencies in 2015. A member of Crackas With Attitude , who was arrested last year in September, has now been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Justin Liverman, a 25-year-old man from Morehead City, who was known under the online alias "D3F4ULT," was arrested last year along with another member of the group—Andrew Otto Boggs, 23, of North Wilkesboro, who allegedly used the handle "INCURSIO." The duo hacked into multiple government organizations between October 2015 and February 2016. Boggs was sentenced to two years in prison on June 30, 2017, for his role. Liverman pleaded guilty on January 6 this year to conspiracy to hack U.S. government computers and accounts and was sentenced to 5 years in prison on Friday.
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China Enforces Real-Name Policy to Regulate Online Comments

China Enforces Real-Name Policy to Regulate Online Comments

Aug 29, 2017
If you reside in China, your Internet life within the borders will soon be even more challenging. Last Friday, China's top Internet regulator announced a new set of rules that would force citizens to post comments using their real-world identities on Internet forums and other web platforms. Yes, you heard that right. Anonymity is about to die in the country. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) will start officially enforcing the new rules starting from October 1, 2017, requiring websites operators and service providers of online forums to request and verify real names and other personal information from users when they register and must immediately report illegal content to the authorities. According to the CAC, the following content would be considered unlawful and forbidden from being published online: Opposing the basic principles as defined in the Constitution Endangering national security Damaging nation's honor and interests Inciting national ha
Core Tor Contributor Leaves Project; Shutting Down Important Tor Nodes

Core Tor Contributor Leaves Project; Shutting Down Important Tor Nodes

Jul 19, 2016
Another blow to the Tor Project : One of the Tor Project's earliest contributors has decided to quit the project and shut down all of the important Tor nodes under his administration. Lucky Green was part of the Tor Project before the anonymity network was known as TOR. He probably ran one of the first 5 nodes in the TOR network at its inception and managed special nodes inside the anonymity network. However, Green announced last weekend that "it is no longer appropriate" for him to be part of the Tor Project, whether it is financially or by providing computing resources. TOR, also known as The Onion Router , is an anonymity network that makes use of a series of nodes and relays to mask its users' traffic and hide their identity by disguising IP addresses and origins. The TOR network is used by privacy-conscious people, activists, journalists and users from countries with strict censorship rules. Crucial and Fast TOR Nodes to be Shut Down Soon Alongs
Mozilla asks Court to disclose Firefox Exploit used by FBI to hack Tor users

Mozilla asks Court to disclose Firefox Exploit used by FBI to hack Tor users

May 13, 2016
Mozilla has filed a brief with a U.S. District Court asking the FBI to disclose the potential vulnerabilities in its Firefox browser that the agency exploited to unmask TOR users in a criminal investigation. Last year, the FBI used a zero-day flaw to hack TOR browser and de-anonymize users visiting child sex websites. Now, Mozilla is requesting the government to ask the FBI about the details of the hack so that it can ensure the security of its Firefox browser. TOR is an anonymity software that provides a safe haven to human rights activists, government, journalists but also is a place where drugs, child pornography, assassins for hire and other illegal activities has allegedly been traded. TOR Browser Bundle is basically an Internet browser based on Mozilla Firefox configured to protect the user's anonymity via Tor and Vidalia. In 2015, the FBI seized computer servers running the world's largest dark web child pornography site 'Playpen' from a web host in Lenoir, No
More than 1 million People now access Facebook Over Tor Network

More than 1 million People now access Facebook Over Tor Network

Apr 22, 2016
In Brief Facebook has hit another Milestone: More than 1 MILLION people, or you can say privacy conscious, are accessing Facebook over TOR. Facebook proudly announced today that, this month, for the first time, the people connected to the anonymous version of Facebook that's accessible only through the TOR anonymity network exceeded 1 Million – an increase of almost 100% in the past ten months. Today, when global surveillance system continues to grow, encryption has the power to protect users' security and privacy online. And it is ultimately a good thing that companies like Facebook are competing on users' security. In 2014, Facebook launched a special version of its website that runs only with the help of Tor anonymity software that offers privacy to users. Tor anonymity software or Tor browser secures and encrypts connections to prevent cyber criminals or law enforcement agencies from tracking users' web activity. Tor users can visit Facebook's Tor hidden s
FBI is fighting back against Judge's Order to reveal TOR Exploit Code

FBI is fighting back against Judge's Order to reveal TOR Exploit Code

Mar 29, 2016
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was ordered to reveal the complete source code for the TOR exploit it used to hack visitors of the world's largest dark web child pornography site, PlayPen. Robert J. Bryan, the federal judge, ordered the FBI to hand over the TOR browser exploit code so that defence could better understand how the agency hacked over 1,000 computers and if the evidence gathered was covered under the scope of the warrant. Now, the FBI is pushing back against the federal judge's order. On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI filed a sealed motion asking the judge to reconsider its ruling, saying revealing the exploit used to bypass the Tor Browser protections is not necessary for the defense and other cases. In previous filings, the defence has argued that the offensive operation used in the case was " gross misconduct by government and law enforcement agencies, " and that the Network Investigative Technique (NIT)
Judge Confirms Government Paid CMU Scientists to Hack Tor Users for FBI

Judge Confirms Government Paid CMU Scientists to Hack Tor Users for FBI

Feb 25, 2016
Everything is now crystal clear: The security researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) were hired by the federal officials to discover a technique that could help the FBI Unmask Tor users and Reveal their IP addresses as part of a criminal investigation. Yes, a federal judge in Washington has recently confirmed that the computer scientists at CMU's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) were indeed behind a hack of the TOR project in 2014, according to court documents [ PDF ] filed Tuesday. In November 2015, The Hacker News reported that Tor Project Director Roger Dingledine accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of paying the CMU, at least, $1 Million for providing information that led to the criminal suspects identification on the Dark Web . After this news had broken, the FBI denied the claims , saying "The allegation that we paid [CMU] $1 Million to hack into TOR is inaccurate."  Meanwhile, the CMU also published a press
Nasdaq to Use Bitcoin-style Blockchain to Record Shareholder Votes

Nasdaq to Use Bitcoin-style Blockchain to Record Shareholder Votes

Feb 13, 2016
The Nasdaq stock exchange and the Republic of Estonia have announced the use of Blockchain-based technology to allow shareholders of companies to e-vote in shareholder meetings even when they're abroad, according to Nasdaq's press release. Global stock market giant is developing an electronic shareholder voting system implemented on the top of Blockchain technology that underpins Bitcoins . Blockchain – the public and decentralized ledger technology underpins all Bitcoin transactions and logs each transfer of an asset in an encrypted "block" that is added to a permanent, transparent chain showing every deal associated with that asset. Even some of the world's major banks are also considering the adoption of the Blockchain technology. In the mid of last year, 9 of the World's renowned Banks, including JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs and Barclays , collaborated with New York-based financial tech firm R3 to create a new fram
Default Apache Configuration Can Unmask Tor Hidden Services

Default Apache Configuration Can Unmask Tor Hidden Services

Feb 01, 2016
Attention Tor Onion Hosters! A year old loophole in Apache Web Server, uncovered by an unknown Computer Science Student, could potentially unmask the real identity of .onion-domains and servers hidden behind the Tor-network. Although the loophole was reported on Reddit and to the Tor Project months back, it recently came to the limelight soon after a tweet by Alec Muffet , a well-known security enthusiast and current software engineer at Facebook. What is Tor Hidden (.onion) Service? Dark Web websites (generally known as 'onion services') with a special domain name that ends with .onion, are called Tor Hidden Service and reachable only via the Tor network. Tor Hidden Service is a widely popular anonymity network used by Whistleblowers, Underground Markets, Defense Networks and more in order to maintain secrecy over the Internet. An Onion Website can be hosted on the top of any web servers. But, if you are choosing Apache, then you need to rethink.
Facebook adds Built-in Tor Support for its Android App

Facebook adds Built-in Tor Support for its Android App

Jan 19, 2016
Rejoice for Privacy Lovers! Facebook today took a surprising move by announcing that it is bringing the free anonymizing software TOR support to its Android app , almost two years after the social network planned to make Facebook available directly over Tor network. Yes. Believe it or not, the Android version of the popular Facebook application now supports the Tor anonymity network. In October 2014, Facebook launched a .onion website on TOR in order to let its users around the world access its service more securely. Access Facebook over TOR via Orbot This latest move to expand that access to the Android app opens up the option to millions more users to maintain their privacy when they visit the world's most popular social network. Facebook says "a sizeable community of people" are already accessing the site over TOR, so the company is bringing this feature to Android via the free Orbot proxy app , which is available on the Google's Play
Anonymous Declares War On Donald Trump — #OpTrump

Anonymous Declares War On Donald Trump — #OpTrump

Dec 12, 2015
After targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the wake of Deadly terror attacks in Paris, hacktivist group Anonymous has now turned its attention to controversial US presidential candidate Donald Trump . The hacktivist group has declared war against Donald Trump following his recent radical speech stating he wanted to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Anonymous vs. Donald Trump On Wednesday, Anonymous slams Trump by posting a YouTube video in which a man in a Guy Fawkes mask says: "Donald Trump, it has come to our attention that you wish to ban all muslims from entering the United States. Muslims and Islam are not the problem. This policy will have grave impact and will serve only to fuel the emotions that ISIS uses to recruit muslims. Certainly ISIS will use this to their advantage in their social media campaigns. Instead of focusing on the innocent, the focus should be set on ways to protect them from the radicalized individuals they flee. Dona
Save the Date — 11th December: Anonymous to Celebrate 'ISIS Trolling Day'

Save the Date — 11th December: Anonymous to Celebrate 'ISIS Trolling Day'

Dec 07, 2015
After hacking and taking down social media accounts of ISIS members, the online Hacktivist group Anonymous is back again with its new plan to harass the Islamic State (IS) militant group that was behind the horrific terror attack in Paris. Anonymous declared total war against ISIS after the last month's Paris attacks and supposedly: Took down thousands of Twitter and social media accounts used by the ISIS terrorists Disrupted the terror group's primary communications platform Replaced one of ISIS' websites with a Viagra ad Now, the hacktivist group has declared December 11th to be " ISIS Trolling Day ," planning an organized trolling campaign against ISIS by assaulting their image through Photoshopped images, memes, videos and jokes related to the terrorist organisation. Also Read: ISIS Issues 5 Lame Tips for its Members to Avoid Getting Hacked Vanish ISIS Online Presence This campaign is also part of the group's ongoing effort
Anonymous Hacking Group Takes Down 20,000 ISIS Twitter accounts

Anonymous Hacking Group Takes Down 20,000 ISIS Twitter accounts

Nov 21, 2015
In the wake of horrific terror attacks in Paris, the online Hacktivist group Anonymous last week declared " total war " against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) that claimed responsibility for the attacks. While French, Russian, and US military are bombing ISIS from the sky, Anonymous members from all over the world are carrying out their very own cyber attack campaign, dubbed #OpParis , against the terrorist organization. Anonymous has claimed to have taken down 20,000 ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts in order to take revenge from ISIS for the deadly Paris attacks on November 13. Anonymous Took Down 20,000 ISIS-affiliated Twitter Accounts In a YouTube video posted on Wednesday, the group said: "More than 20,000 Twitter accounts belonging to ISIS were taken down by Anonymous." The group has provided a list of all the Twitter accounts that have been taken down. On Tuesday, the hacktivist group claimed to have successfully taken
Anonymous Group Leaks Identities of 1000 KKK Members

Anonymous Group Leaks Identities of 1000 KKK Members

Nov 06, 2015
The online hacktivist group Anonymous has followed through on its promise to disclose the identities of hundreds of Ku Klux Klan members. On Monday, Anonymous vowed to release the full info dump of about  1,000 alleged Ku Klux Klan members with a chosen date of 5th of this November. As promised, Anonymous posted a link to a Pastebin account with the names, aliases, Google Plus profiles, Facebook accounts and other identifying information of roughly 1,000 individuals the group believes are members of the Ku Klux Klan. The hackers behind the leak tweeted a link to a Pastebin on a Twitter account, Operation KKK ( @Operation_KKK ) believed to be controlled by them. Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is classified as a White Supremacist Racist group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, allegedly having total 5,000 to 8,000 members. "We hope Operation KKK will, in part, spark a bit of constructive dialogue about race, racism, racial terror and fr
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