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Facebook Fired An Intern After He Exposes How to Track Users' Location

Facebook Fired An Intern After He Exposes How to Track Users' Location

Aug 14, 2015
Previously, we posted about a privacy issue in Facebook messenger ; Aran Khanna , a Harvard University student, discovered ' A Marauder's Map ' that could sense and give the geolocations of your friends on the messenger. Khanna had received an opportunity to work as an intern for Facebook… …But destiny had planned something else for him, as after publicly stating the risk associated with the app; Facebook withdrew his candidature as a summer intern. Why Facebook Fired Him? Khanna himself confessed to be an avid user of the Facebook Messenger app , as it is an integral part of his social life. However, one day, while going through his chat history he found that a location is attached to each message he has sent and received from his device. Also, the location is shared with the ' power of default ' even if you choose to turn the location sharing option off. This made him look for the complete inside story, which brought him to a strange thing while writing the...
Incomplete 'Stagefright' Security Patch Leaves Android Vulnerable to Text Hack

Incomplete 'Stagefright' Security Patch Leaves Android Vulnerable to Text Hack

Aug 14, 2015
Wanna hack someone's Android smartphone by sending just an MMS message? Yes, you can, because Google's patch for the Stagefright vulnerability in hundreds of Millions of Android devices is BUGGY. Last week, Google issued an official patch for Stagefright vulnerability that affects 95 percent of Android devices running version 2.2 to version 5.1 of the operating system, an estimated 950 Million Android devices in use worldwide. But, the patch is so flawed that hackers can still exploit the Stagefright vulnerability (CVE-2015-3824) anyways. "The [original] patch is four lines of code and was (presumably) reviewed by Google engineers prior to shipping," researchers at Exodus Intelligence wrote in a blog post published Thursday. "The public at large believes the current patch protects them when it, in fact, does not." Buggy Patch Issued by Google The patch doesn't fix the vulnerability, allowing booby-trapped MP4 videos that supplied...
Ransomware Attacks Threaten Wearable Devices and Internet of Things

Ransomware Attacks Threaten Wearable Devices and Internet of Things

Aug 14, 2015
Are you a proud owner of a Smartwatch, a Smart TV , a Smart fridge, a Smart lock, an Internet-enabled car , or live in a smart city? Caution! Recently, it has been reported that the growth of the Internet of Things would eventually lead to cyber criminals in making lots of money, as they started attacking the Internet of Things for Ransom. Yes, the latest Interest of the cyber criminals in the field of Internet of Things is ' Ransomware '. Internet of Things (IoT) such as Android and iOS-based wearable Smartwatches and the concept of connected homes has now given a treat to the current generation Ransomware. With the advancements in Technology, cyber criminals are simultaneously promoting themselves from the threat known for restricting computers or encrypting files and asking users for money in return for gaining back access to their systems. From computers to mobile phones, now criminals are targeting the IoT and the wearables devices. Security resea...
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Weaponized GenAI + Extortion-First Strategies Fueling a New Age of Ransomware

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Trends and insights based on expert analysis of public leak sites, ransomware samples and attack data.
Windows 10 Doesn't Stop Spying You, Even After Disabling It's Creepy Features

Windows 10 Doesn't Stop Spying You, Even After Disabling It's Creepy Features

Aug 14, 2015
In our previous articles, we raised concern about Windows 10 privacy issues , including its controversial Wi-Fi Sense feature . Also, to cope up with these issues, I provided you a one-click solution to fix  all privacy compromising features that allow Microsoft to track users. But unfortunately, all those efforts got wasted because Microsoft still tracks you, even after you harden your Windows 10 privacy to an extreme level by disabling all privacy-infringing settings. This time the culprits are – Cortana and Bing search . Windows 10 features, including Cortana and Bing search, continue communicating with Microsoft's servers and sending it data, even after you turned the features off. A Technical Analysis done by Ars showed that even when you tell Microsoft to not to make any Internet-related inquiries by changing various privacy settings, it appears that Windows 10 still communicate with the software giant's servers for different information. Cortana ...
Change this Facebook Privacy Setting That Could Allow Hackers to Steal Your Identity

Change this Facebook Privacy Setting That Could Allow Hackers to Steal Your Identity

Aug 13, 2015
Facebook User: Who Can Find Me...? Hacker: Yes, I CAN!! A Security Researcher claimed " digi-crims could easily scan the population of an entire country to find targets ". Reza Moaiandin , technical director at Salt Agency, has figured out a way to exploit an important Facebook feature to gather personal data belonging to the users. Facebook Privacy Setting That Makes Your Identity Vulnerable If you pay attention to the security settings in your Facebook profile, you will find a privacy setting that says ' Who can look me up? ', or " Who can look you up using the phone number you provided? " which has been set to ' Everyone ' by default. This configuration allows you to search anyone just by entering his or her phone number; as a result, the search box in Facebook will display the profile of that person. But, Can you imagine, How Cybercriminals can take advantage of this crucial privacy blunder? By exploiting this default feature with a sim...
Lenovo Caught Using Rootkit to Secretly Install Unremovable Software

Lenovo Caught Using Rootkit to Secretly Install Unremovable Software

Aug 13, 2015
Two years ago Chinese firm Lenovo got banned from supplying equipment for networks of the intelligence and defense services various countries due to hacking and spying concerns. Earlier this year, Lenovo was caught red-handed for selling laptops pre-installed with Superfish malware . One of the most popular Chinese computer manufacturers 'Lenovo' has been caught once again using a hidden Windows feature to preinstall unwanted and unremovable rootkit software on certain Lenovo laptop and desktop systems it sells. The feature is known as " Lenovo Service Engine " (LSE) – a piece of code presents into the firmware on the computer's motherboard.  If Windows is installed, the LSE automatically downloads and installs Lenovo's own software during boot time before the Microsoft operating system is launched, overwriting Windows operating system files. More worrisome part of the feature is that it injects software that updates drivers, firmware, and oth...
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