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Automated Skype calls spreading fake anti-virus warning Automated Skype calls spreading fake anti-virus warning, where an automated message (what I like to call a "Digital Dorothy") warns you in a semi-robotic voice that your computer's security is not up-to-date. "Attention: this is an automated computer system alert. Your computer protection service is not active. To activate computer protection, and repair your computer, go to [LINK]," says the robotic voice during a prerecorded message. The offered link takes the most gullible and curious ones to a page that shows the typical "Computer protection inactive. Scanning… Viruses found!" message that is meant to convince them to fork over a decent amount of money - in this case, $19.95 - in order to get the offered protection.Not content with the money, they also ask for their personal information. If you weren't aware of fake anti-virus (also known as scareware) scams like this you might well...

It's no secret that the internet isn't a very safe place. And it's not hard to understand why. It's a medium that connects billions of people around the world that affords bad actors enough anonymity to wreak havoc without getting caught. It's almost as if the internet's tailor-made to enable scams and fraud. And that's just what it does. Right now, the world's on track to  lose $10.5 trillion every year  to cybercrime. That number is so large that it's hard for the average person to grasp. And when most people hear it, they imagine that money's coming mostly from large-scale data breaches and ransomware attacks on large companies. Although businesses are among the hardest hit each year, they're by no means the only target. Every day, internet users are targeted too. They face barrages of phishing emails, compromised websites, and booby-trapped downloads. But among all of the attacks aimed at rank-and-file users, there's one that stand...

A coalition of law enforcement agencies coordinated by the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) has led to the arrest and extradition of a Belarussian and Ukrainian dual-national believed to be associated with Russian-speaking cybercrime groups. Maksim Silnikau (aka Maksym Silnikov), 38, went by the online monikers J.P. Morgan, xxx, and lansky. He was extradited to the U.S. from Poland on August 9, 2024, to face charges related to international computer hacking and wire fraud schemes. "J.P. Morgan and his associates are elite cyber criminals who practiced extreme operational and online security in an effort to avoid law enforcement detection," the NCA said in a statement. These individuals, the agency said, were responsible for the development and distribution of ransomware strains such as Reveton and Ransom Cartel , as well as exploit kits like Angler . Reveton, introduced in 2011, has been described as the "first ever ransomware-as-a-service business model." V...

Better Business Bureau has published a list of top 10 scam that seems not only to the biggest scam in 2010, but what to watch in 2011. In no particular order, here they are: Door to door scams Each of the new season of the show to attract new scammer port provides an incredible offer: Roofing in the spring, paving contractors in the summer and heating contractors in the fall. These entrepreneurs fraudulent use of high pressure sales tactics to scare people with expensive even worse - a job that is not the way to contact them if you do not - and often useless. Tip: Do not give in to high pressure sales tactics. Take the time to do your due diligence, to obtain the name and location of the company and ensure all the details and verbal promises are included in the contract. If you do not sign the agreement and would like to change my mind, BC law, if it was door to door sales contract after you have 10 days to withdraw from advising the company. Suspicious door-to-sale must infor...

With the beginning of FIFA World Cup tournaments in Brazil, Football fever is going viral across the world. Soccer or Football is the most popular sport in the world with billions of fans who don’t even miss a single tournament. Now, this is the most awaited and rejoicing atmosphere for Football fans as well as cybercriminals right now. For bad actors, the World Cup is a perfect opportunities to scam people online. While you are busy figuring out websites where you can stream live Fifa Matches on your PCs without missing a single moment of the world cup tournament, cyber criminals are also busy to launch phishing attacks in form of scams and malwares in order to victimize the system by several Trojans and viruses. This isn't surprising as cyber criminals have become smart enough to gain from every possible eventuality they get and their prior/common target is every time the users’ interest based major news and current events. The most popular threat this World ...

Your mailbox may be filling up with Christmas cards from friends and family, and so might your email inbox. But, as the song says, 'you better watch out,' because some of those merry emails could be from an internet Grinch looking to steal your peace of mind. Christmas cards are a great way to send holiday wishes to those you love. However, many of us are opting to send our cards electronically using e-cards. "One of the big problems around Christmastime is everyone sends out Christmas cards. That's great, and it's great to see one in your email inbox. The problem is, about half of them that you're going to get are actually links to viruses and Trojan horses that will infect your computer," explained News 4 WOAI Web Expert Bob Gambert. Some of these malicious emails will attack your email address book and flood your friends' inboxes with spam. So, how do you know which e-card is safe to open? Our computer expert says don't open any of them. Inst...

A new social networking worm in the vein of Koobface is currently doing the rounds. A Naked Security reader, George, who had been exposed to it on Facebook reported it to us - unlike the majority of Facebook scams we report, this one actively infects your computer with malware instead of simply tricking you into taking surveys and passing on messages to other users. The link in his Facebook chat from a friend pointed to an app.facebook.com/CENSORED link. Typically when you go to a Facebook app page it prompts you to add the application and grant it permission to post on your behalf or read your profile data. The scary part about this one is that it immediately prompts you to download a " FacebookPhotos#####.exe " file with no prompting or clicking required. The screen reads "Photo has been moved. This photo has been moved to other location. To view this photo click View Photo." If your computer has not already downloaded the malware, the "View Photo"...

Not every risk looks like an attack. Some problems start as small glitches, strange logs, or quiet delays that don’t seem urgent—until they are. What if your environment is already being tested, just not in ways you expected? Some of the most dangerous moves are hidden in plain sight. It’s worth asking: what patterns are we missing, and what signals are we ignoring because they don’t match old playbooks? This week’s reports bring those quiet signals into focus—from attacks that bypassed MFA using trusted tools, to supply chain compromises hiding behind everyday interfaces. Here's what stood out across the cybersecurity landscape: ⚡ Threat of the Week Cloudflare Blocks Massive 7.3 Tbps DDoS Attack — Cloudflare said it autonomously blocked the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack ever recorded, which hit a peak of 7.3 terabits per second (Tbps). The attack, the company said, targeted an unnamed hosting provider and delivered 37.4 terabytes in 45 seconds. It origi...

Hackers behind what computer security experts believe could be the biggest data theft in US history may be planning to sell the information to cyber criminals for targeted scams. And while the tens of millions of names and email addresses swiped from online marketing firm Epsilon do not appear to have been used yet for cyber crime, the experts said it may just be a matter of time. Major US banks, hotels, retail outlets and other companies have been warning customers to be wary of fraudulent emails after Epsilon acknowledged last week that hackers had gained access to the Texas-based company's email system. Epsilon, which provides email services for some 2,500 companies around the world, has said that customer data for about two per cent of its total clients was exposed in what it called an "unauthorized entry." Epsilon, which sends out over 40 billion emails a year, did not identify the firms whose customers' names and email addresses were taken but dozens of ...

In our previous stories, you might have already read about various campaigns warning how threat actors are capitalizing on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to infect your computers and mobile devices with malware or scam you out of your money. Unfortunately, to some extent, it's working, and that's because the attack surface is changing and expanding rapidly as many organizations and business tasks are going digital without much preparation, exposing themselves to more potential threats. Most of the recent cyberattacks are primarily exploiting the fears around the COVID-19 outbreak—fueled by disinformation and fake news—to distribute malware via Google Play apps , malicious links and attachments, and execute ransomware attacks. Here, we took a look at some of the wide range of unseen threats rising in the digital space, powered by coronavirus-themed lures that cybercriminals are using for espionage and commercial gain. The latest development adds to a l...

Hackers steal Dell 1000's customer information ! The personal information of thousands of Australians has been stolen by hackers who raided a US-based database company, in what some experts are calling the biggest data theft in US hist ory. Dell Australia says customer data was "exposed" by an unauthorised entry into the computer system of email service provider Epsilon. The information includes the names and email addresses of Dell Australia's customers. In a statement, Dell assured its customers that credit card, banking and other personally-identifiable information was not at risk and remained secure. Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim says Dell has informed him of the data breach. "Dell Australia have also advised all of its customers affected by the data breach and have set up an advice service that those customers can use to obtain further information if needed," he said in a statement. Mr Pilgrim has launched an investigati...

If you receive a link for a video, even if it looks exciting, sent by someone (or your friend) on Facebook messenger—just don't click on it without taking a second thought. Cybersecurity researchers from Trend Micro are warning users of a malicious Chrome extension which is spreading through Facebook Messenger and targeting users of cryptocurrency trading platforms to steal their accounts’ credentials. Dubbed FacexWorm , the attack technique used by the malicious extension first emerged in August last year, but researchers noticed the malware re-packed a few new malicious capabilities earlier this month. New capabilities include stealing account credentials from websites, like Google and cryptocurrency sites, redirecting victims to cryptocurrency scams, injecting miners on the web page for mining cryptocurrency, and redirecting victims to the attacker's referral link for cryptocurrency-related referral programs. It is not the first malware to abuse Facebook Messenger...

Behind every security alert is a bigger story. Sometimes it’s a system being tested. Sometimes it’s trust being lost in quiet ways—through delays, odd behavior, or subtle gaps in control. This week, we’re looking beyond the surface to spot what really matters. Whether it’s poor design, hidden access, or silent misuse, knowing where to look can make all the difference. If you're responsible for protecting systems, data, or people—these updates aren’t optional. They’re essential. These stories reveal how attackers think—and where we’re still leaving doors open. ⚡ Threat of the Week Google Releases Patches for Actively Exploited Chrome 0-Day — Google has released Google Chrome versions 137.0.7151.68/.69 for Windows and macOS, and version 137.0.7151.68 for Linux to address a high-severity out-of-bounds read and write vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript and WebAssembly engine that it said has been exploited in the wild. Google credited Clement Lecigne and Benoît Sevens of Google T...

Last week’s cyber news in 2025 was not about one big incident. It was about many small cracks opening at the same time. Tools people trust every day behave in unexpected ways. Old flaws resurfaced. New ones were used almost immediately. A common theme ran through it all in 2025. Attackers moved faster than fixes. Access meant for work, updates, or support kept getting abused. And damage did not stop when an incident was “over” — it continued to surface months or even years later. This weekly recap brings those stories together in one place. No overload, no noise. Read on to see what shaped the threat landscape in the final stretch of 2025 and what deserves your attention now. ⚡ Threat of the Week MongoDB Vulnerability Comes Under Attack — A newly disclosed security vulnerability in MongoDB has come under active exploitation in the wild, with over 87,000 potentially susceptible instances identified across the world. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2025-14847 (CVSS score: 8.7)...

Stratfor hacked by Anonymous Hackers for #AntiSec Stratfor who provides strategic intelligence on global business, economic, security and geopolitical affairs just now has been defaced by Anonymous Group of Hackers. Mirror of Hack is available here . Lulzsec Leader, SABU tweeted that " Over 90,000 Credit cards from LEA, journalists, intelligence community and whitehats leaked and used for over a million dollars in donations ". Private Clients List of Stratfor is also leaked on a Pastebin note. For all this clients have been exposed sensible information including credit cards (which supposedly have been used to make $1 million in “donations”), as well as over 200 GB of email correspondence. As a result of this incident the operation of Stratfor’s servers and email have been suspended. Anonymous has now exposed two lists of credit card details belonging to people who have subscribed to STRATFOR services, the first one containing 3956 card details and the second one...