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Microsoft has finally launched a new dedicated bug bounty program to encourage security researchers and bug hunters for finding and responsibly reporting vulnerabilities in its latest Windows versions of operating systems and software. Being the favourite target of hackers and cyber criminals, every single zero-day vulnerability in Windows OS—from critical remote code execution, mitigation bypass and elevation of privilege to design flaws—could cause a crisis like recent WannaCry and Petya Ransomware attacks. In past five years the tech giant has launched multiple time-limited bug bounty programs focused on various Windows features, and after seeing quite a bit of success, Microsoft has decided to continue. "Security is always changing, and we prioritise different types of vulnerabilities at different points in time. Microsoft strongly believes in the value of the bug bounties, and we trust that it serves to enhance our security capabilities." With its latest bu...

What if I say that your cute, smart robotic vacuum cleaner is collecting data than just dirt? During an interview with Reuters, the CEO of iRobot, the company which manufactured Roomba device, has revealed that the robotic vacuum cleaner also builds a map of your home while cleaning — and is now planning to sell this data to third-party companies. I know it sounds really creepy, but this is what the iRobot company has planned with the home mapping data its Roomba robots collect on its users. What is Roomba? Manufactured by Massachusetts-based firm iRobot, Roomba is a cute little robotic vacuum cleaner — which ranges in price from $375 to $899 — that has been vacuuming up household dirt since 2002. Early versions of Roomba used IR or laser sensors to avoid obstacles in their way, but the company began distributing high-end Wi-Fi-connected Roomba models from 2015, such as the Roomba 980, which includes a camera and Simultaneous Localisation And Mapping (SLAM) technology tha...

Earlier this year, China announced a crackdown on VPNs and proxy services in the country and made it mandatory for all VPN providers and leased cable lines operators to have a license from the government in order to use such services. Now, Russia is also considering to follow a similar path. The Russian Federation Council has just approved a bill that would outlaw the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), the Tor anonymity network, anonymous mobile messaging services and internet proxy services, citing concerns about the spread of extremist materials. VPNs are third-party services that help users access block banned websites by encrypting users' Internet traffic and routeing it through a distant connection, hiding their location data and access sites that are usually restricted or censored by a certain country. The bill to ban VPNs and proxy services has been passed by the lower house of Russian parliament, the State Duma, on Friday, and only needs to be approved by the u...

SaaS Adoption is Skyrocketing, Resilience Hasn't Kept Pace SaaS platforms have revolutionized how businesses operate. They simplify collaboration, accelerate deployment, and reduce the overhead of managing infrastructure. But with their rise comes a subtle, dangerous assumption: that the convenience of SaaS extends to resilience. It doesn't. These platforms weren't built with full-scale data protection in mind . Most follow a shared responsibility model — wherein the provider ensures uptime and application security, but the data inside is your responsibility. In a world of hybrid architectures, global teams, and relentless cyber threats, that responsibility is harder than ever to manage. Modern organizations are being stretched across: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments with decentralized data sprawl Complex integration layers between IaaS, SaaS, and legacy systems Expanding regulatory pressure with steeper penalties for noncompliance Escalating ransomware threats and inside...

Chinese authorities have recently initiated a crackdown on the operators of a massive adware campaign that infected around 250 Million computers , including Windows and Mac OS, across the world earlier this year. The adware campaign was uncovered by security researchers at Check Point last month after it already infected over 25 million computers in India, 24 million in Brazil, 16 million in Mexico, 13 million in Indonesia and 5.5 million in the United States. Dubbed Fireball , the infamous adware comes bundled with other free legitimate software that you download off the Internet. Once installed, the malware installs browser plug-ins to manipulate the victim's web browser configurations and replace their default search engines and home pages with fake search engines. Far from legitimate purposes, Fireball has the ability to spy on victim's web traffic, execute malicious code on the infected computers, install plugins, and even perform efficient malware dropping, cr...

Finally, Adobe is Killing FLASH — the software that helped make the Internet a better place with slick graphics, animation, games and applications and bring online video to the masses, but it has been hated for years by people and developers over its buggy nature . But the end of an era for Adobe Flash is near. Adobe announced Tuesday that the company would stop providing updates and stop distributing Flash Player at the end of 2020. The move has been applauded by many, as Adobe Flash has been infamous for frequent zero-day attacks , which is why it has long been one of the favourite tools for hackers and cyber criminals. It's been two decades since Adobe Flash has ruled the Web Space Animation Arena, which was the de facto standard for playing the online videos, but hackers increasingly found ways to exploit security holes in the technology and hack into user's computers. "We will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 and encoura...

Security researchers have discovered a new, massive cyber espionage campaign that mainly targets people working in government, defence and academic organisations in various countries. The campaign is being conducted by an Iran-linked threat group, whose activities, attack methods, and targets have been released in a joint, detailed report published by researchers at Trend Micro and Israeli firm ClearSky. Dubbed by researchers CopyKittens (aka Rocket Kittens) , the cyber espionage group has been active since at least 2013 and has targeted organisations and individuals, including diplomats and researchers, in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States, Jordan and Germany. The targeted organisations include government institutions like Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defence companies, large IT companies, academic institutions, subcontractors of the Ministry of Defense, and municipal authorities, along with employees of the United Nations. The latest report [ PDF ], dubbe...

An unnamed 29-year-old man, named by authorities as "Daniel K.," pleaded guilty in a German court on Friday to charges related to the hijacking of more than one Million Deutsche Telekom routers . According to reports in the German press , the British man, who was using online monikers "Peter Parker" and "Spiderman," linked to domains used to launch cyber attacks powered by the notorious Mirai malware has been pleaded guilty to " attempted computer sabotage ." The suspect was arrested on 22nd February this year at Luton airport in London by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) at the request of the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany, aka the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). The hacker, also known as 'BestBuy,' admitted to the court on Friday that he was behind the cyber attack that knocked more than 1.25 Million customers of German telecommunications provider Deutsche Telekom offline last November. According to the German aut...

Yes, even Mac could also get viruses that could silently spy on its users. So, if you own a Mac and think you are immune to malware, you are wrong. An unusual piece of malware that can remotely take control of webcams, screen, mouse, keyboards, and install additional malicious software has been infecting hundreds of Mac computers for more than five years—and it was detected just a few months back. Dubbed FruitFly , the Mac malware was initially detected earlier this year by Malwarebytes researcher Thomas Reed, and Apple quickly released security patches to address the dangerous malware. Now months later, Patrick Wardle, an ex-NSA hacker and now chief security researcher at security firm Synack, discovered around 400 Mac computers infected with the newer strain of the FruitFly malware (FruitFly 2) in the wild. Wardle believes the number of infected Macs with FruitFly 2 would likely be much higher, as he only had access to some servers used to control FruitFly. Although it i...

More Ethereum Stolen! An unknown hacker has just stolen nearly $8.4 Million worth of Ethereum – one of the most popular and increasingly valuable cryptocurrencies – in yet another Ethereum hack that hit Veritaseum's Initial Coin Offering (ICO). This incident marks as the fourth Ethereum hack this month and second cyber attack on an ICO, following a theft of $7 Million worth of Ether tokens during the hack of Israeli startup CoinDash's initial coin offering last week. A few days ago, a hacker also stole nearly $32 Million worth of Ethereum from wallet accounts by exploiting a critical vulnerability in Parity's Ethereum Wallet software, which followed a $1 Million worth of Ether and Bitcoins heist in crypto currency exchange Bithumb earlier this month. Now, Veritaseum has confirmed that a hacker stole $8.4 Million in Ether (ETH) from its ICO this Sunday, July 23. "We were hacked, possibly by a group. The hack seemed to be very sophisticated, but there...

Biohacking could be a next big thing in this smart world. Over two years ago, a hacker implanted a small NFC chip in his left hand right between his thumb and his pointer finger and hacked Android smartphones and bypassed almost all security measures, demonstrating the risks of Biohacking. At the end of the same year, another hacker implanted a small NFC chip with the private key to his Bitcoin wallet under his skin , making him able to buy groceries or transfer money between bank accounts by just waving his hand. And this is soon going to be a reality, at least in one tech company in Wisconsin. Marketing solution provider Three Square Market (32M) has announced that it had partnered with Swedish biohacking firm BioHax International for offering implanted microchips to all their employees on 1st August, according to the company's website . Although the programme is optional, the company wants at least more than 50 of its employees to undergo the Biohacking procedure. ...

Not all hacking is bad hacking. How would you feel if you are offered a six-figure salary to hack computer networks and break into IT systems legally? Isn't career with such skill-set worth considering, right? With hackers and cyber criminals becoming smarter and sophisticated, ethical hackers are in high demand and being hired by almost every industry to protect their IT infrastructures. So, it is not at all surprising that ethical hackers, penetration testers, and information security analysts are one of the most well-paid employees in the IT workforce today. Just last week, we introduced an online Computer Hacker Professional Certification Package for those seeking for online training in need to pass professional hacker certifications, such as CISSP, CISM, CISA, Ethical Hacker and Forensics Investigator Certification Exams. However, practical skills are just as important as formal qualifications. So, the THN Deals Store brings the Ethical Hacker Bootcamp course f...

Bad news for Android users — Decompiled source code of for one of the oldest mobile and popular Android ransomware families has been published online, making it available for cyber criminals who can use it to develop more customised and advanced variants of Android ransomware. Decompiled source code for the SLocker  android ransomware, which saw a six-fold increase in the number of new versions over the past six months, has just been published on GitHub and is now available to anyone who wants it. The SLocker source code has been published by a user who uses 'fs0c1ety' as an online moniker and is urging all GitHub users to contribute to the code and submit bug reports. SLocker or Simple Locker is mobile lock screen and file-encrypting ransomware that encrypts files on the phone and uses the Tor for command and control (C&C) communication. The malware also posed as law enforcement agencies to convince victims into paying the ransom. Famous for infecting thousands...