Pay up or face your patients' wrath.That’s how one hacker is trying to shake down U.S. healthcare providers after stealing sensitive data about their patients.TheDarkOverlord claims to have stolen 10 million patient records and is selling them on the black market. In the meantime, the hacker is trying to extort the providers by telling them their patient data won't be sold if they pay a ransom.At least one of the healthcare providers so far has refused to give in, TheDarkOverlord said in an interview Friday. To apply pressure, the hacker claims to have called some of its patients to warn them their records will be leaked if the provider doesn't pay up.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A newly discovered fake Pokemon Go game will actually lock your phone and then secretly run in the background, clicking on porn ads.Security firm ESET found it on Google Play and its called Pokemon Go Ultimate. However, once downloaded, the app itself doesn’t even pretend to offer anything remotely like the hit game.Instead, it simply appears as an app called “PI Network.” Once it runs, the app will then freeze the phone with a screen lock of a Pokemon Go image, forcing the user to restart the device, ESET said on a blog post on Friday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A newly discovered fake Pokemon Go game will actually lock your phone and then secretly run in the background, clicking on porn ads.
Security firm ESET found it on Google Play and its called Pokemon Go Ultimate. However, once downloaded, the app itself doesn’t even pretend to offer anything remotely like the hit game.
Instead, it simply appears as an app called “PI Network.” Once it runs, the app will then freeze the phone with a screen lock of a Pokemon Go image, forcing the user to restart the device, ESET said on a blog post on Friday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A new Trojan that can steal your payment data will also try to stymie you from alerting your bank.Security vendor Symantec has noticed a “call-barring” function within newer versions of the Android.Fakebank.B malware family. By including this function, a hacker can delay the user from canceling any payment cards that have been compromised, the company said in a blog post.Fakebank was originally detected in 2013. It pretends to be an Android app, when in reality, it will try to steal the user’s money.The malware works by first scanning the phone for specific banking apps. When it finds them, the Trojan will prompt the user to delete them and install malicious versions of those same apps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A new Trojan that can steal your payment data will also try to stymie you from alerting your bank.Security vendor Symantec has noticed a “call-barring” function within newer versions of the Android.Fakebank.B malware family. By including this function, a hacker can delay the user from canceling any payment cards that have been compromised, the company said in a blog post.Fakebank was originally detected in 2013. It pretends to be an Android app, when in reality, it will try to steal the user’s money.The malware works by first scanning the phone for specific banking apps. When it finds them, the Trojan will prompt the user to delete them and install malicious versions of those same apps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Privacy advocates, especially those outside the U.S., can rest a little easier now. A federal court has rebuked the U.S. government’s attempt to access emails stored on a Microsoft server in Ireland.But the legal battle may be far from over. Thursday’s ruling could affect how the U.S. conducts surveillance over suspected criminals and terrorists overseas, so expect the government to appeal, said Roy Hadley, a lawyer at Thompson Hine who studies cybersecurity issues.“There’s a fine line between privacy and national security,” he said. “And it’s a difficult line to walk.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Privacy advocates, especially those outside the U.S., can rest a little easier now. A federal court has rebuked the U.S. government’s attempt to access emails stored on a Microsoft server in Ireland.But the legal battle may be far from over. Thursday’s ruling could affect how the U.S. conducts surveillance over suspected criminals and terrorists overseas, so expect the government to appeal, said Roy Hadley, a lawyer at Thompson Hine who studies cybersecurity issues.“There’s a fine line between privacy and national security,” he said. “And it’s a difficult line to walk.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Privacy fears about the Pokemon Go app have been largely addressed, but dozens of other apps that piggy back on the popular game have raised further concerns.Since the game launched last week, a swarm of unofficial apps has emerged and is trying to capitalize on the title’s success. And many are hungry for your personal data.These unofficial apps have been offering cheats, tips and even songs from the hit game. But in exchange, they demand permission to access sensitive data on your phone, said Chad Salisbury, a security engineer with RiskIQ, which monitors mobile malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Privacy fears about the Pokemon Go app have been largely addressed, but dozens of other apps that piggy back on the popular game have raised further concerns.Since the game launched last week, a swarm of unofficial apps has emerged and is trying to capitalize on the title’s success. And many are hungry for your personal data.These unofficial apps have been offering cheats, tips and even songs from the hit game. But in exchange, they demand permission to access sensitive data on your phone, said Chad Salisbury, a security engineer with RiskIQ, which monitors mobile malware.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A website that offered access to hacked servers for as little as $6 is back online.The market, called xDedic, went down last month on June 15 right after security firm Kaspersky Lab publicly exposed it. Access to more than 70,000 compromised servers from governments, businesses and universities had been sold through the site, in the two years it was in operation.Kaspersky Lab, however, reported its finding to law enforcement agencies and said that “several major” internet service providers helped shut the site down. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A website that offered access to hacked servers for as little as $6 is back online.The market, called xDedic, went down last month on June 15 right after security firm Kaspersky Lab publicly exposed it. Access to more than 70,000 compromised servers from governments, businesses and universities had been sold through the site, in the two years it was in operation.Kaspersky Lab, however, reported its finding to law enforcement agencies and said that “several major” internet service providers helped shut the site down. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
3D printers can churn out toys, clothing and even food. But the technology also shows potential for use in industrial sabotage, researchers warn.Imagine a car maker using 3D printers to manufacture components, only to have the parts contain defects that are undetectable until it’s too late.A hacker with access to the 3D printers could make that happen, a team of researchers wrote in a recent paper. This could result in a "devastating impact" for users and lead to product recalls and lawsuits, said New York University professor Nikhil Gupta, the lead author of the paper. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
3D printers can churn out toys, clothing and even food. But the technology also shows potential for use in industrial sabotage, researchers warn.Imagine a car maker using 3D printers to manufacture components, only to have the parts contain defects that are undetectable until it’s too late.A hacker with access to the 3D printers could make that happen, a team of researchers wrote in a recent paper. This could result in a "devastating impact" for users and lead to product recalls and lawsuits, said New York University professor Nikhil Gupta, the lead author of the paper. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The creator of Megaupload plans on reviving the infamous file sharing site on Jan. 20, five years after the U.S. government shut it down.“It will be better than the original and it will feel like home,” tweeted Megaupload’s creator Kim Dotcom on Sunday.He made the announcement as U.S. authorities are trying to extradite him to face copyright infringement charges. In 2012, the U.S. government pulled the plug on his file-sharing site, which was accused of helping to distribute pirated music and video.Dotcom, who is based in New Zealand, has appealed his extradition to the U.S., and a court hearing is set for August.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The new smash-hit game "Pokemon Go" could become bait for hackers wanting to take over your phone.Researchers at security firm Proofpoint have already found an Android version of the game containing malware. Once installed, it uses a remote access tool called DroidJack that can give a hacker full access to the phone, Proofpoint said Thursday.The company hasn’t yet seen the infected game in the wild, but it shows that hackers are already hard at work targeting it. Proofpoint discovered the software in a malicious online file repository.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The new smash-hit game "Pokemon Go" could become bait for hackers wanting to take over your phone.Researchers at security firm Proofpoint have already found an Android version of the game containing malware. Once installed, it uses a remote access tool called DroidJack that can give a hacker full access to the phone, Proofpoint said Thursday.The company hasn’t yet seen the infected game in the wild, but it shows that hackers are already hard at work targeting it. Proofpoint discovered the software in a malicious online file repository.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The war against cybercriminals won’t be won alone. To keep hackers at bay, security vendors are establishing more ways for their customers to cooperate and share data about the latest threats -- even as it sparks concerns about trust and competition.“We have to win this war together,” said Ben Johnson, chief security strategist of Carbon Black.The company is the latest to help pool together security expertise with a new platform called the Detection eXchange.Carbon Black protects the networks of thousands of companies, and it's now opening a line of communication between them. More than a virus signature or an IP address, the exchange aims to foster the sharing of "patterns of attack," which identify behaviors and tactics employed by malicious hackers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The war against cybercriminals won’t be won alone. To keep hackers at bay, security vendors are establishing more ways for their customers to cooperate and share data about the latest threats -- even as it sparks concerns about trust and competition.“We have to win this war together,” said Ben Johnson, chief security strategist of Carbon Black.The company is the latest to help pool together security expertise with a new platform called the Detection eXchange.Carbon Black protects the networks of thousands of companies, and it's now opening a line of communication between them. More than a virus signature or an IP address, the exchange aims to foster the sharing of "patterns of attack," which identify behaviors and tactics employed by malicious hackers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The encryption methods used to secure today’s Internet communications won’t be impenetrable forever. More powerful “quantum computers” on the horizon could very well crack them.That’s why Google is testing out new cryptography that computers in the future might not be able to break. The processing power offered by "hypothetical, future" quantum computers could be enough to “decrypt any internet communication that was recorded today,” wrote Matt Braithwaite, a Google software engineer in a company blog post on Thursday.This could affect the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol used when visiting websites. Old information, originally meant to be secured for decades, could suddenly become exposed, he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The encryption methods used to secure today’s internet communications won’t be impenetrable forever. More powerful “quantum computers” on the horizon could very well crack them.That’s why Google is testing out new cryptography that computers in the future might not be able to break. The processing power offered by "hypothetical, future" quantum computers could be enough to “decrypt any internet communication that was recorded today,” wrote Matt Braithwaite, a Google software engineer in a company blog post on Thursday.This could affect the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol used when visiting websites. Old information, originally meant to be secured for decades, could suddenly become exposed, he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Michael Kan