schwit1 shares a report from ZDNet: Cyberattackers have turned to search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to deploy malware payloads to as many victims as possible. According to Sophos, the so-called search engine “deoptimization” method includes both SEO tricks and the abuse of human psychology to push websites that have been compromised up Google’s rankings. SEO optimization is used by webmasters to…
Tag: actors
Did ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Bot Accounts Hype GameStop’s Stock and Dogecoin?
Reuters reports: Bots on major social media platforms have been hyping up GameStop Corp and other “meme” stocks, according to an analysis by Massachusetts-based cyber security company PiiQ Media, suggesting organized economic or foreign actors may have played a role in the Reddit-driven trading frenzy… it is unclear how influential they were in the overall saga… PiiQ said it identified very…
Roku Plans To Produce Original Shows and Feature Films
Not content anymore with just streaming Hollywood’s old shows and movies, Roku is looking to produce originals: The company published a job listing for a lead production attorney, which spells out plans to build out an “expanding slate of original content.” From a report: This renewed push into originals comes just weeks after Roku acquired Quibi’s content library, for which the…
Google’s Fi VPN Is Coming To iPhones Soon
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Google is rolling out its virtual private network (VPN) service for subscribers of its Fi network that should help people when they’re using online services on public Wi-Fi. “We plan to roll out the VPN to iPhone starting this spring,” Google notes. Google is also bringing its privacy and security hub to Android…
Ban on Wireless Modems In Voting Machines Should be Optional, Suggests US Election Agency
The U.S. agency overseeing elections has “quietly weakened a key element of proposed security standards…” reports the Associated Press, “raising concern among voting-integrity experts that many such systems will remain vulnerable to hacking.” The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is poised to approve its first new security standards in 15 years after an arduous process involving multiple technical and elections community bodies…
Google Chrome Sync Feature Can Be Abused For C&C and Data Exfiltration
Threat actors have discovered they can abuse the Google Chrome sync feature to send commands to infected browsers and steal data from infected systems, bypassing traditional firewalls and other network defenses. From a report: For non-Chrome users, Chrome sync is a feature of the Chrome web browser that stores copies of a user’s Chrome bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, and browser and…
The Ethical Source Movement Launches a New Kind of Open-Source Organization
ZDNet takes a look at a new nonprofit group called the Organization for Ethical Source (OES): The OES is devoted to the idea that the free software and open-source concept of “Freedom Zero” are outdated. Freedom Zero is “the freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.” It’s fundamental to how open-source software is made and used… They…
Ransomware Attackers Try Publishing 4,000 Scottish Government Agency Files
Threatpost reports:
On the heels of a ransomware attack against the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), attackers have now reportedly published more than 4,000 files stolen from the agency — including contracts and strategy documents. After hitting SEPA on Christmas Eve with the attack, cybercriminals encrypted 1.2GB of information. The attack has affected SEPA’s email systems, which remain offline as of Thursday,…
US Treasury Nominee Yellen Wants to Encourage Cryptocurrencies — ‘For Legitimate Activities’
Business Insider reports: The bitcoin price was set for its biggest one-week fall since September on Saturday morning, having slipped around 10% since Monday… Bitcoin came under selling pressure this week after Janet Yellen, Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary, suggested the use of cryptocurrencies should be “curtailed” because they were used mainly for “illicit financing”. Writing at Nasdaq.com on Thursday,…