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Next in the queue, Kazakhstan is also planning to Spy on encrypted Internet Traffic of its citizens, but in the most shameless way. Unlike other spying nations that are themselves capable of spying on their citizens, Kazakhstan will force every internet user in the country to install bogus security certs on their PCs and mobile devices, allowing the 'Dictator' Government to: Intercept users' Internet traffic to any Secure website, i.e. Man-in-the-Middle  Attack Access everything from user's web browsing history to usernames and passwords to secure and HTTPS-encrypted traffic This Program will seriously restrict Citizens' Freedom of Speech and Expression. What the F… is "National Internet Security Certificate"? On Monday, the nation's largest Internet service provider Kazakhtelecom JSC published a notice, which said: Citizens are "obliged" to install a so-called " National Internet Security Certificate "

You should be very careful while visiting websites on the Internet because you could be hit by a new upgrade to the World's worst Exploit Kit – Angler , which lets hackers develop and conduct their own drive-by attacks on visitors' computers with relative ease. Many poorly-secured websites are targeting Windows users with a new "Cocktail" of malware that steals users' passwords before locking them out from their machines for ransom. Yes, stealing Windows users' passwords before encrypting their data and locking their PCs for ransom makes this upgrade to the Angler Exploit Kit nastier. Here's How the New Threat Works: Once the Angler exploit kit finds a vulnerable application, such as Adobe Flash, in visitor's computer, the kit delivers its malicious payloads, according to a blog post published by Heimdal Security. The First Payload infects the victim's PC with a widely used data thief exploit known as Pony that systematic

It comes as no surprise that today's cyber threats are orders of magnitude more complex than those of the past. And the ever-evolving tactics that attackers use demand the adoption of better, more holistic and consolidated ways to meet this non-stop challenge. Security teams constantly look for ways to reduce risk while improving security posture, but many approaches offer piecemeal solutions – zeroing in on one particular element of the evolving threat landscape challenge – missing the forest for the trees.  In the last few years, Exposure Management has become known as a comprehensive way of reigning in the chaos, giving organizations a true fighting chance to reduce risk and improve posture. In this article I'll cover what Exposure Management is, how it stacks up against some alternative approaches and why building an Exposure Management program should be on  your 2024 to-do list. What is Exposure Management?  Exposure Management is the systematic identification, evaluation,

Another Big Milestone – Let's Encrypt is now offering Free HTTPS certificates to everyone. Let's Encrypt has opened to the public, allowing anyone to obtain Free SSL/TLS ( Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security ) certificates for their web servers and to set up HTTPS websites in a few simple steps ( mentioned below ). Let's Encrypt – an initiative run by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) – is a new, free, and open certificate authority recognized by all major browsers , including Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The Free SSL Certification Authority is now in public beta after testing a trial among a select group of volunteers. Why Let's Encrypt? Let's Encrypt promised to offer a certificate authority (CA) which is: Free – no charge for HTTPS certs. Automatic – the installation, configuration as well as the renewal of the certificates do not require any administrator a

In the most surprising manner, the Chinese government said it arrested criminal hackers behind the massive cyber attack on US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) earlier this year, dismissing its involvement. Three months back, we reported that China arrested a handful of hackers within its borders who were suspected of allegedly stealing commercial secrets from US companies. The arrests took place shortly before China President Xi Jinping visited the United States in September 2015 when both heads of states agreed that neither side will participate in commercial espionage against one another. China: Cyber Criminals Hacked OPM, Not Government Spies Now, those suspected hackers have turned out to be the ones in connection with the OPM hack that resulted in the theft of personal details of more than 21 Million United States federal employees, including 5.6 Million federal employees' fingerprints . Citing an " investigation ", the Chinese governme

Are you Using HTTPS on your Website to securely encrypt traffic? Well, we'll see you in the court. At least, that's what CryptoPeak is saying to all big brands that utilize HTTPS on their web servers. BIG Brands Sued for Using HTTPS: 'Patent Troll' Texas-based company CryptoPeak Solutions LLC has filed 66 lawsuits against many big businesses in the US, claiming they have illegally used its patented encryption method – Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) – on their HTTPS websites. Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a key exchange algorithm that is most widely used on websites secured with Transport Layer Security (TLS) to determine what symmetric keys are used during a session. Encryption is on the rise after Edward Snowden made the world aware of government's global surveillance programs. Today, many big tech and online services are using encryption to: Protect the data transmitted to/from visitor to domain Lessen the risk of hacking

Adobe is Finally Killing FLASH, but not actually. Adobe Flash made the Internet a better place with slick graphics, animation, games and applications, but it never stood a chance of surviving in the same world as HTML5. Of course, Flash has plagued with various stability and security issues , which is why developers had hated the technology for years. So, now it's time to say GoodBye to Adobe Flash Professional CC, and Welcome Adobe Animate CC . Meet the new Flash, Adobe Animate CC , same as the old Flash, and still insecure mess. Adobe Animate CC Embraces HTML5 Adobe has officially announced that "over a third of all content created in Flash Professional today uses HTML5," so the company is acknowledging the shift with the new name. Adobe Animate CC — Adobe's Premier Web animation tool for developing HTML5 content . Yes, that's what the company has the focus on. The application – mostly looks like an update to the Fla

The point of Sale systems are the most tempting target for cyber crooks to steal your credit card information and with this Christmas, you need to be more careful while using your credit cards at retailers and grocery stores. Here's why… Cyber criminals are now selling a new powerful strain of Point of Sale (PoS) malware through underground forums. Like several POS malware families discovered last year, including vSkimmer and BlackPOS , the new malware is also designed to steal payment card data from the infected POS systems and support TOR to hide its C&C (Command and Control) servers. Pro PoS – Light Weight, Yet Powerful Malware However, the new malware, dubbed " Pro PoS ," packs more than just a PoS malware. Pro PoS weighs only 76KB, implements rootkit functionalities, as well as mechanisms to avoid antivirus detection, according to threat intelligence firm InfoArmor. What's even more interesting about this malware is… Pro P

It seems like Facebook-owned popular messaging service WhatsApp is blocking links to rival messaging applications – at least Telegram app  for now. Telegram users are noticing that WhatsApp is blocking any links to the privacy-oriented messaging service Telegram.me. Although users are free to send or receive Telegram links on WhatsApp, the links appear as non-clickable that you cannot copy or forward. This strange behavior was first noticed this morning by Telegram users over on Reddit. The URLs – which are generally automatically made clickable – still appeared as plain text messages, but they didn't register as hyperlinks, blocking users from copying or forwarding them to other users or other apps. Read Also: How to Auto-BackUp Your WhatsApp Data to Google Drive with Encryption . In general, this odd behavior is done with malicious URLs such as malware or spam. The Culprit However, this strange behavior was not exhibited on every device. Only W

Earlier this month, a massive data breach at VTech – the maker of tablets and gadgets aimed at children – exposed the personal details of about 4.8 Million parents and photos of more than 200,000 Children. If that was not bad enough… …it turns out that the massive cyber attack against the toymaker company also left hundreds of thousands of snaps of parents and children , as well as a year worth of chat logs kept online in a way easily accessible to hackers. VTech Data Breach In a statement released Monday, the toymaker company VTech said the hacked database included victim's profile information including: Customers' names Email addresses Passwords ( One-way encrypted using MD5 hash that can be cracked in no time ) Secret questions and answers for password retrieval IP addresses Residential addresses Download history The database also included information on children including names, genders and date of births. Also Read: Caution! Hackers Ca