data sharing | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Google on Wednesday announced a new partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance ( GASA ) and DNS Research Federation ( DNS RF ) to combat online scams . The initiative, which has been codenamed the Global Signal Exchange ( GSE ), is designed to create real-time insights into scams, fraud, and other forms of cybercrime pooling together threat signals from different data sources in order to create more visibility into the facilitators of cybercrime. "By joining forces and establishing a centralized platform, GSE aims to improve the exchange of abuse signals, enabling faster identification and disruption of fraudulent activities across various sectors, platforms and services," Google said in a blog post shared with The Hacker News. "The goal is to create a user-friendly, efficient solution that operates at an internet-scale, and is accessible to qualifying organizations, with GASA and the DNS Research Federation managing access." The tech giant said it has sh...

Facebook has been fined £500,000 ($664,000) in the U.K. after the country's data protection watchdog concluded that its data-sharing scandal broke the law, making it as the social network's first fine over the Cambridge Analytica scandal . Yes, £500,000—that's the maximum fine allowed by the UK's Data Protection Act 1998, and equals to what Facebook earns every 8 minutes. Facebook has been under scrutiny since earlier this year when it was revealed that personal data of 87 million users was improperly gathered and misused by political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, who reportedly helped Donald Trump win the US presidency in 2016. According to the social media giant, a Cambridge University lecturer named Aleksandr Kogan collected the users' data legitimately through a quiz app but then violated its terms by sharing the data with Cambridge Analytica, which was then hired by the Trump presidential campaign. The UK's Information Commissioner's...

Facebook's privacy issues are like a centipede with countless shoes dropping. There seems to be no end to them. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reporters revealed that Facebook apps have been inadvertently sharing user identities with advertisers. Companies like Rapleaf use Facebook data to create detailed personal profiles, including names, locations, politics, and religious beliefs. This morning, we found out that not only were Facebook apps inadvertently sharing user identities (UIDs), but some were also doing it deliberately, for money. App makers were selling user information to data brokers. This is like Charlie Sheen sharing his secrets with Perez Hilton—it won't stay private for long. Facebook's blogger Mike Vernal disclosed the news. Vernal's blogging style is rather dry and dense, which might be why he got the job. It took him six paragraphs to explain the situation: "As we examined the circumstances of inadvertent UID transfers, we discovered some inst...