The Hacker News | #1 Trusted Source for Cybersecurity News — Index Page

Before winding up the dispute of Apple and FBI over encryption, another buzz on the Whatsapp Snooping is now the hot debate on the court bench. In the wake of WhatsApp's move to offer end-to-end encryption to text messages as well as VoIP calls made through its app, federal authorities have not been able to execute wiretapping warrants on WhatsApp users. Though the US Department of Justice was discussing how to proceed with a continuing criminal investigation, the government is considering legal proceedings similar to those involved with Apple. According to the New York Times , as recently as this past week, a federal judge had approved a wiretap in a criminal investigation, but WhatsApp's encryption hindered investigators. Since any court officials have not made a final decision, the Department of Justice is very keen to drag Whatsapp into the Encryption fight war zone similar to the ongoing San Bernardino case . In San Bernardino case, the DoJ was gr...

Card Skimmers have been around for years, but the video posted below is a perfect example of the evolution of the technology used by thieves. The video released by Miami Beach Police involved two men who work as a team to install a credit card Skimmer on top of a card terminal at a local gas station in LESS THAN 3 SECONDS . Yes, in just less than 3 seconds hackers can turn a regular credit and debit card reader into a Skimmer – a device designed to secretly steal a victim's credit or debit card information. The two men were caught on video by a security camera, but it all happened so fast that one might have to rewatch the video to actually catch the crime. Miami Beach Police have published the video of the cyber crook and his partner, who was tasked with distracting the station's clerk, in the hopes that someone recognizes the criminals and helps track them down. Video Demonstration: Here's What Happened: The incident took place on We...

The recent cyber attack on Bangladesh's central bank that let hackers stole over $80 Million from the institutes' Federal Reserve bank account was reportedly caused due to the Malware installed on the Bank's computer systems. Few days ago, reports emerged of a group of unknown hackers that broke into Bangladesh's central bank, obtained credentials needed for payment transfers from Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then transferred large sums to fraudulent accounts based in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The criminal group was able to steal a total value of about $81 Million from the Federal Reserve's Bangladesh account through a series of fraudulent transactions, but a typo in some transaction prevented a further $850 Million Heist . However, the question was still there: How the Hackers managed to transfer $80 Million without leaving any Trace? Security researchers from FireEye's Mandiant forensics are helping the Dhaka investigat...

A newly released report by cybersecurity firm CTM360 reveals a large-scale scam operation utilizing fake news websites—known as Baiting News Sites (BNS)—to deceive users into online investment fraud across 50 countries. These BNS pages are made to look like real news outlets: CNN, BBC, CNBC, or regional media. They publish fake stories that feature public figures, central banks, or financial brands, all claiming to back new ways to earn passive income. The goal? Build trust quickly and steer readers toward professional-looking scam platforms like Trap10, Solara Vynex, or Eclipse Earn. Scammers use sponsored ads on Google, Meta, and blog networks to push traffic to these sites. Ads often carry clickbait headlines—"You won't believe what a prominent public figure just revealed"—paired with official photos or national flags to make them feel legit. Clicking the ad directs users to a fake article, which then redirects them to a fraudulent trading platform. Many of these scams follow a...

The legal battle between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is turning ugly with each passing day. Apple is fighting with the federal authorities over iPhone encryption case . The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requires Apple's assistance to unlock an iPhone 5C belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said explicitly that providing a backdoor would likely open up the company's iPhones to not just the federal agents, but also to malicious hackers who could use it for evil purposes. Now the Apple's decision not to comply with the court order has provoked a Florida sheriff, who has threatened to arrest Tim Cook if he gets the chance. Sheriff Vows: I'll Lock the Rascal up. During a Wednesday press conference, when Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was asked about Cook's refusal to help create a custom operating system that would assist the FBI to circumvent security measures on terrorist iPhone ...

Staminus Communications – a California-based hosting and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection company – is recovering a massive data breach after hackers broke down into its servers and leaked personal and sensitive details of its customers. Though the company acknowledged that there was a problem in a message posted to Twitter on Thursday morning, it did not specify a data breach. Staminus's website went offline at 8 am Eastern Time on Thursday, and on Friday afternoon, a representative said in a Twitter post that "a rare event cascaded across multiple routers in a system-wide event, making our backbone unavailable." What type of information? The dump of information on Staminus' systems includes: Customer usernames Hashed passwords E-mail addresses Customer real names Customer credit card data in plain text Customer support tickets Server logs data Chat logs Source code of some of the company's services including Intreppi...

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has warned Apple that it may force the tech giant for handing over the source code to the complete operating system if it does not help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone . Apple is battling with the FBI over iPhone encryption case. The federal investigators needs Apple's assistance to unlock an iPhone 5C belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said explicitly that providing a backdoor would likely open up the company's iPhones to not just the federal agents, but also to malicious hackers who could use it for evil purposes. On Thursday, Apple and the FBI head to another court hearing on the San Bernardino iPhone case. The DOJ's latest 43-page brief filing contains an implicit threat that if Apple does not create the vulnerable version of its iOS operating system needed to bypass the passcode protection on the terroris...

Microsoft reckoned Bitcoin was the future of payment system and added it as a payment option for Windows store at the end of 2014, but the company has silently pulled support for Bitcoin in the Windows 10 Store. In November 2014, Microsoft struck a deal with third-party bitcoin payment processor ' Bitpay ' that allowed people to use Bitcoin to purchase Microsoft's products and services from Windows Stores. However, Microsoft quietly updated the Windows Store FAQ that popped up " Microsoft Store doesn't accept Bitcoin. " The end of support for Bitcoin payments only applies to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile stores.  "Microsoft Store doesn't accept Bitcoin. You can no longer redeem Bitcoin into your Microsoft account," the update reads. "Existing balances in your account will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can't be refunded." In short, you can make use of an existing balance in your accou...

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has put forward a proposal that aims to protect Internet user's privacy. The proposal [ pdf] will regulate the amount of customers' online data the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are able to collect and sell to the advertising companies. Currently, there is no particular rule by law covering broadband providers and customer privacy, and if adopted, this would be the first privacy rule for ISPs. The FCC already governs how phone companies can use and resell customer data, and the Chairman Tom Wheeler believes similar rules should be applied to ISPs. Is Your ISP Tracking Your Web Surfing and Selling Data to Advertisers? Your complete Internet traffic passes through your Internet Service Provider, which gives it the ability to access to vast and potentially lucrative amount of your web-browsing activity. If you are using a mobile phone, your ISP can also track your physical location throughout the day in real time. ISPs ...

Typos are really embarrassing, but this time it saved the Bangladesh Central Bank and the New York Federal Reserve by preventing a nearly $1 Billion ( £700 Million ) heist. Last month, some unknown hackers broke into Bangladesh's central bank, obtained credentials needed for payment transfers and then transfer large sums to fraudulent accounts based in the Philippines and Sri Lanka . But… A single spelling mistake in an online bank transfer instruction prevented the full theft, according to Reuters . Here's what actually was happened: Nearly three dozen requests hit the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on 5 February using the Bangladesh Bank's SWIFT code, out of which four resulted in successful transfers, for a total value of about $81 million. However, when the hackers attempted to make their fifth transfer of $20 Million to a Sri Lankan non-governmental organization called the Shalika Foundation , they made a typo by attempting a transfer to the Shalika " ...

Android N Developer Preview, an early beta of Google's new mobile operating system that was expected to launch on Google I/O in mid-May, is unexpectedly launching right now. Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C Nexus 9, the Nexus Player and the General Mobile 4G, an Android One device has been made available as an over-the-air update by Google on Wednesday. So, you can test out Android N Developer Preview on your smartphone and tablet right now from developer.android.com/preview . The good news is that the Google Android team has brought meaningful features to your smartphone and tablet in just five months. "As we look to the next release of Android, N, you'll notice a few big changes aimed at you as developers: it's earlier than ever, it's easier to try and we're expanding the ways for you to give us feedback," Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's SVP for Android writes . "We hope these changes will ensure that you are heard an...

Let's Encrypt has achieved another big milestone by issuing 1 million free Transport Layer Security (TLS) SSL Certificates to webmasters who wish to secure the communications between their users and domains. Let's Encrypt   – operated by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) – is an absolutely free, and open source certificate authority recognized by all major browsers , including Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It is just three months and five days since Let's Encrypt launched a beta version of the service, and the group has crossed 1 Million certificates in use across the Web, Let's Encrypt said in a blog post on Tuesday. Let's Encrypt allows anyone to obtain Free SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security) certificates for their web servers. Backed by companies including EFF, Akamai and Mozilla, the Let's Encrypt project started offering Free HTTPS certs to everyone fro...

Upon the request of US authorities, Marcel Lazar Lehel, well known as Guccifer , has finally been approved to extradite to the United States to face Computer Intrusion and Identity Theft Charges for 18 months. Guccifer is an infamous Romanian hacker who was arrested in Romania for hacking into the emails and social networking accounts of numerous high profile the US and Romanian Politicians. Romania's top court has approved a request by US authorities to extradite Guccifer to the United States, a source within Romania's DIICOT anti-organized crime and terrorism unit told Reuters. Guccifer's well known political targets included: Bill Clinton (Former President) Hillary Clinton (U.S Presidential Candidate) George W. Bush (Former U.S. President) Colin Powell (former U.S. Secretary) George Maior (chief of the Romanian Intelligence Service) John Tenet (State Director of Central Intelligence for the United States CIA) Richard Armitage (Republican politici...

A Romanian card skimmer arrested for being part of an international cybercrime group that used malware to plunder US$217,000 from ATMs has escaped from a Bucharest prison on Sunday morning (6th March). Renato Marius Tulli , 34, was being held at Police Precinct 19 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, after being arrested together with 7 other suspects as part of a joint Europol, Eurojust, and DIICOT investigation on January 5, 2016. Tulli was part of a criminal gang specialized in robbing NCR-based ATMs. According to the federal authorities, the gang allegedly used a piece of malware, dubbed Tyupkin , to conduct what's known as Jackpotting attack and made Millions by infecting ATMs across Europe and beyond. Using Tyupkin malware, the criminals were able to empty cash from infected ATMs by issuing commands through the ATM's pin pad. Authorities announced on Monday that Tulli escaped with Grosy Gostel , 38, a man held for robbery charges, while both o...

Hacking Facebook account is one of the major queries of the Internet user today. It's hard to find — how to hack Facebook account , but an Indian hacker just did it. A security researcher discovered a 'simple vulnerability' in the social network that allowed him to easily hack into any Facebook account, view message conversations, post anything, view payment card details and do whatever the real account holder can. Facebook bounty hunter Anand Prakash from India recently discovered a Password Reset Vulnerability , a simple yet critical vulnerability that could have given an attacker endless opportunities to brute force a 6-digit code and reset any account's password. Here's How the Flaw Works The vulnerability actually resides in the way Facebook's beta domains handle 'Forgot Password' requests. Facebook lets users change their account password through Password Reset procedure by confirming their Facebook account with a 6-digit c...

Are You an Employee? It's quite possible that someone has been reading your messages, emails, listening to your phone calls, and monitoring your activities at work. No, it's not a spy agency or any hacker… ...Oops! It's your Boss. Recently, European Court had ruled that the Employers can legally monitor as well as read workers' private messages sent via chat software like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and webmail accounts like Gmail or Yahoo during working hours. So, if you own a company or are an Employer, then you no need to worry about tracking your employees because you have right to take care of things that could highly affect your company and its reputation, and that is Your Employees! Since there are several reasons such as Financial Need, Revenge, Divided Loyalty or Ego, why a loyal employee might turn into an INSIDER THREAT . Insider Threat is a nightmare for Millions of Employers. Your employees could collect and leak all your professional, ...

Mac users, even you are not left untouched! The World's first fully functional Ransomware targeting OS X operating system has been landed on Macs. Ransomware – one of the fastest-growing cyber threats – encrypts the important documents and files on infected machines and then asks victims to pay ransoms in digital currencies so they can regain access to their data. Though Ransomware has been targeting smartphones and Windows computers for a while, Mac OS X users haven't really had to worry about this threat… until now! As security researchers from Palo Alto Networks claims to have discovered the very first known instance of OS X Ransomware in the wild, called " KeRanger " attacking Apple's Macintosh computers, firm's Threat Intelligence Director Ryan Olson told Reuters. The KeRanger ransomware, which appeared on Friday, comes bundled into the popular Mac app Transmission , a free and open-source BitTorrent client for Mac with Millio...

A computing legend who 'changed the way the world communicates' has died. RAY TOMLINSON , the man who invented email as we know it today and picked the @ symbol for email addresses, passed away at the age of 75 following an apparent heart attack Saturday morning, according to reports . Hard to believe but 'the godfather of email' has passed away. His death was confirmed by Mike Doble, director of corporate PR at Tomlinson's employer Raytheon. "A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us the email in the early days of networked computers," Doble said in a statement confirming Tomlinson's death. The Internet reacted with sadness over the death of Tomlinson, who became a legend for his invention in 1971 of a system that allowed a user on one network to send a message to other computer users on other networks. "Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map. #RIP," Gmail...

Unlike desktops, your mobile devices carry all sorts of information from your personal emails to your sensitive financial details. And due to this, the hackers have shifted their interest to the mobile platform. Every week new exploits are discovered for iOS and Android platform, most of the times separately, but the recently discovered exploit targets both Android as well as iOS devices. A team of security researchers from Tel Aviv University , Technion and The University of Adelaide has devised an attack to steal cryptographic keys used to protect Bitcoin wallets, Apple Pay accounts, and other highly sensitive services from Android and iOS devices. The team is the same group of researchers who had experimented a number of different hacks to extract data from computers. Last month, the team demonstrated how to steal sensitive data from a target air-gapped computer located in another room. Past years, the team also demonstrated how to extract secret decryption key...