There’s a bad rabbit running loose. I ain’t talking about Bugs Bunny either. So there? is a ransomware they call Bad Rabbit. Ramsomware is back: But it never really left.
Early this week, Kaspersky Labs said there are around 200 cases of the Bad Rabbit virus. These cases are all in Turkey, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine. Kapersky and other cyber security groups also say hackers used a fake Adobe Flash update. So the first victim was Russian media. Then Bad Rabbit moved to Ukraine’s Odyssey Airport, that country’s largest airport. They also attacked Ukraine’s ground transit systems. Yes, police say the Bad Rabbit virus is the main suspect.
So far, the ransomware hit Germany and Turkey too. But the impact was far less severe. However, The Russian Central Bank said they recorded Bad Rabbit ransomware on some of their franchises. But thankfully, no bank, or customer, was compromised. This virus demands 0.5 Bitcoin. That’s almost $300 in cash. And if the victim doesn’t pay on their time, then the ransom goes up.? Furthermore, one researcher put up a telling picture. His picture shows the virus creating tasks in Windows, using Game of Thrones character names as aliases. So far, Bad Rabbit affected nobody in the USA. Obviously, nobody came to our computer service shop about this.
But in computer repair, we see this too many times. So we all need to be on our guard. Let’s not forget all we saw in 2017 so far. First, there was WannaCry. Then, there was Petya. Yes, Ransomware is back. But then again, it never left. Now for my other question: Who is responsible this time? We never got any real answers about who did it. Many suggest North Korea. That is very plausible. Look at the tensions between us and N. Korea, and the world for that matter? Could they do it? Or was it another nation, or was it somebody else?
So we’re just coming off the worst data breach in US history, the Equifax data breach. In computer servicing, we see this all too often. This is how to protect yourself from data breach.
So this is the first thing we tell clients in our Boston computer service shop: get a strong password! Because 81% of hacking breaches start with weak passwords [like 1234567, password, baseball]. That’s up from 50% just two years ago. Hackers love to take advantage of weak, or default passwords. If you had the same password for years, they’ll use that for a target also.
Then there is this question. Who is behind all these breaches and hacks? According to Verizon, 75% are done from the outside. Then they say organized crime caused over half of them. Furthermore, 73% of breaches are about money. If that’s not scary enough, there is a community of hackers. In fact, there are small time hackers who will sale your ID to bigger groups for as little as five dollars! But who are they after? Once again, Verizon data says so far in 2017 24% of breaches hit financial facilities. While another 15% hit medical facilities. They targeted weak, stolen and venerable information. Does this still not concern you? Keep in mind banks and medical places make up for 16% of all the business in the USA!
I don’t know about you, but what’s more alarming is that hackers hit up 59% of places that aren’t banks or hospitals. These could be government entities, IT support firms, entertainment firms, even where your kids go to school! Now we know most of the breaches are all about money. But what’s really scary is that 27% of them have even a more sinister motive, like revenge, sex-motivated, or even to start a war. This is why we you need to know how to protect yourself from data breach. Making a strong password is a great start. Include letters and numbers, and make the password personal. Make it something only you would know (example: Your elementary school and what year you started there). How do you protect yourself against this growing threat?
The Equifax breach will go down as one of the worst security breaches in US history. I say that because they leaked everything, from credit/debit card numbers, to SSN’s (social security numbers), even where your kids attend school. But it’s not just customers that suffer. Equifax leaders resign in disgrace.
First you have CIO (chief information officer) David Webb. He left, but his replacement is Mark Rohrwasser, at Equifax for a little over a year. Then there is CSO (chief security officer) Susan Mauldin. Her replacement is Russ Ayers. Ayers used to be overall vice-president. However, due to this scandal, he will now serve as CSO. These changes will take place immediately. So no goodbye parties for Webb or Mauldin, not like they deserve one anyway.
“But Damien, wasn’t that a little harsh?”, some may say? Not in this case. Because this breach messed up 143 million Americans. I didn’t say 143 million accounts, but 143 million American people! That’s over a third of the American population. Many in Congress don’t think that’s harsh either. Some US Senators, like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), push for new bills and laws. These laws would give more credit info control to the consumer, where it belongs. Furthermore, their bill would prevent credit agencies like Equifax from profiting off this freeze and security breaches. I would not want to be one of the Equifax leaders right now.
And this crisis is hitting home. Someone came into our Boston computer service shop?came in saying they were victims of the breach. I went to my local bank, and I overheard an elderly gentlemen complain he was hit by the Equifax breach. That’s when it hits you. This isn’t just another headline. People’s livelihoods, families, money, and even lives are on the line. I hope this next crop of Equifax leaders can do better than their predecessors. Will they be able to recover?
This could be the worst security breach ever! “But you always say that!”, some people in our Boston computer service shop tell me. I often say that because they’re getting worse and worse. Also, hackers are getting better at it. Then there is The Equifax breach: Is this the worst one yet?
First of all, the Equifax breach affected 143 million Americans. That’s over 40% of the entire population. Do you think the numbers are bad? Then think about what the breach leaked. We’re talking about names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, emails, drivers licence numbers, passport numbers, every number they need to wreck lives. Also, They provide sensitive banking, credit and insurance information.
Keep in mind Equifax is a credit score company. So think about how much info they have, and how much it can spill. Not only that, it took them over a month to even disclose data losses. Now they did make a website to tell potential victims. But they built it on WordPress. WordPress doesn’t have the best reputation for online security. Even worse, Equifax executives sold 1.8 million dollars worth of stock. So what does that have to do with anything? Lots, because they sold this stock just days after the July 29 discovery of the breach.
What we have here is trouble on two fronts. One is the Equifax breach itself. Then the other is how they handled the breach, or not handle it. It concerns me execs sold stock right after this broke. Are some people trying to cover their hides? Because that’s what it looks like to me. And who is taking advantage of the leaked information? We’re not talking about some stoner in mama’s basement. Could it be an international crime organization? What about terrorist and extremist groups trying to fund their cause? Or, with international tensions the way they are, could it be a foreign enemy? Usually, I would give ways to either prevent or salvage information. But what do I say about this?
So today is ‘The Fappening’ day. They call it this because three years ago, hackers broke in many celebrities’ iCloud accounts. Then, they blasted their most intimate photos online for the world to see. But today, they’re at it again. Nude celebrity photos are leaked…again.
Several reports say hackers leaked new nude photos of A-listers. Such celebrities include Tiger Woods, Kristen Stewart, Miley Cyrus and Lindsey Vonn. However, guess who many believe the culprit to be? The suspect website is…wait for it…Celebrity Jihad. And the outrage isn’t taking long to produce. Tiger Woods’ people already threaten lawsuits if hackers don’t take these photos down. Also, another hacker is doing time for leaking Cyrus’ and Stewart’s pictures.
Furthermore, hacking victims aren’t just American celebrities. Hackers broke into British model Danielle Lloyd’s pictures. But they didn’t stop there. They leaked them to an adults only website. Lloyd already called police about the matter. Somehow, hackers got them from her private phone. One of her people said a ‘jihad’ website was behind it. The person also said this website terrorized her for a while now. But they didn’t say if this was Celebrity Jihad. However, you can’t deny this pattern. This came at the worst of times. I say this because Lloyd is expecting her first child with her fiance. She doesn’t need this kind of stress right now.
Leaking nude celebrity photos is a serious crime. Did you know hackers can get years in prison for leaking naked pictures? It doesn’t matter if they’re famous or not. Yes, these heinous actions can catch you. And yes, these actions can get you in horrible trouble. I don’t know who in their right mind would want to name their website Celebrity Jihad. But just that mere names reveals the evil and madness that is behind their hearts and minds. Apparently, they don’t stop and embarrassing their victims. They also terrorize them. What can we do to keep safe?
The past week was very busy for America, from worries about North Korea to riots in Charlottesville, Virginia. But hackers were busy too. I say this because they infected the Android/Google store with SonicSpy. SonicSpy on Android: This is a consumer alert.
So why is SonicSpy so dangerous? Because it records your calls and text messages. It can also send calls, send messages, and monitor records at the hackers’ request. In fact, it can perform 73 different tasks; all these tasks have bad intentions. Recently, Android researchers found three versions of this spyware. They are soniac, hulk messenger, and troy chat.
But there is good news. Google removed these bad apps. However, there is bad news. There is fear that people downloaded these apps thousands of times already. For example, they downloaded soniac as many as 5,000 times. What SonicSpy does is hide from the victim. Then it connects to the control server and latches to the Telegram app. It shares the same code with other spyware that hit Android products in the recent past. Eventually, the hackers use the spyware to do just that, spy and get your information. Or they just take control of your phone altogether. Some say this virus originated from Iraq, one of the most turbulent nations in the world today.
Although they remove the spyware, experts warn they could come up with another batch and start again. They’re right. Not only that, they’re getting smarter, more desperate and more determined. There are 14 billion Android users in the world, myself included. Very few become victims to this. Here in our Boston computer service shop, we don’t have any Sonic Spy complaints…yet. And we don’t know who is behind this kind of spyware. We probably will never know. With all that’s going on, do you think they chose the timing because of such distractions?
