Here’s How to Steer Clear of Bot Accounts on Social Media
“Congratulations, you’re a winner!” “Did you know this public figure is trying to make your life worse? Click here for what they don’t want you to know.” “Save thousands today with just one click!” Spam and bot accounts on social media are everywhere. You’ve likely encountered messages like these that attempt to get you to […] more…Start the New Year Right With This 3-Step Digital Detox
Pledging to follow healthier habits is consistently the most popular new year’s resolution. That January 1st promise looks different to everyone: snacking less often, going to the gym more often, drinking more water, drinking less soda, etc. This year, instead of a juice cleanse subscription, opt for a healthier habit that’s not an unappetizing shade […] more…Getting Your Kids Ready for School—And Their Smartphones Too
If you’re the parent of a tween or teen, chances are they’re not the only ones going back to school. Their smartphones are going back too. Our recent global research showed just how many tweens and teens use a smartphone. Plenty. Depending on the age band, that figure ranges anywhere from 76% to 93%, with […] more…Seniors: How to Keep Your Retirement Safe from Online Scams
The growing number of internet crimes targeting senior adults is mind-blowing. In 2021, more than 92,000 people over the age of 60 reported losses of $1.7 billion, according to IC3, the FBI’s Internet Crime division. That number reflects a 74 percent increase in losses from 2020. These numbers tell us a few things. They tell […] more…Spam and phishing in Q3 2021
Quarterly highlights Scamming championship: sports-related fraud This summer and early fall saw some major international sporting events. The delayed Euro 2020 soccer tournament was held in June and July, followed by the equally delayed Tokyo Olympics in August. Q3 2021 also featured several F1 Grand Prix races. There was no way that cybercriminals and profiteers could […] more…Great R packages for data import, wrangling, and visualization
The table below shows my favorite go-to R packages for data import, wrangling, visualization and analysis — plus a few miscellaneous tasks tossed in. The package names in the table are clickable if you want more information. To find out more about a package once you’ve installed it, type help(package = "packagename") in your R […] more…How to Prepare for Your Child’s First Smartphone
If only more things in life came with training wheels; a child’s first smartphone could certainly use some. Like taking off the training wheels and riding out into the neighborhood for the first time, a smartphone opens an entirely new world for children. There are apps, social media, group chats with friends, TikTok stars, and the joy of simply being “in” with their classmates and […] more…Financial Cyberthreats in 2020
2020 was challenging for everyone: companies, regulators, individuals. Due to the limitations imposed by the epidemiological situation, particular categories of users and businesses were increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. While we were adjusting to remote work and the rest of the new conditions, so were scammers. As a result, 2020 was extremely eventful in terms of digital […] more…Game of Threats
Introduction While the way we consume TV content is rapidly changing, the content itself remains in high demand, and users resort to any means available to get at it – including illegal and non-ethical ones like the use of pirated stuff. The world is embracing the idea of paying for entertainment more and more with […] more…EyePyramid and a Lesson on the Perils of Attribution
In the past weeks, information-stealing malware EyePyramid made headlines after it was used to steal 87GB of sensitive data from government offices, private companies and public organizations. More than 100 email domains and 18,000 email accounts were targeted, including those of high-profile victims in Italy, the U.S., Japan and Europe. The natural assumption for many […] more…App Store Flooded with Phony Retail Apps to Kick Off Holiday Season
The holiday season has officially kicked off, which means a number of things for many of us: seasonal cheer, quality time with loved ones, and admittedly for many, lots and lots of shopping. And these days, many of holiday retail sales are happening online. Unfortunately, that also means now more than ever, there’s more holiday-related […] more…Can Internet of Things be the New Frontier for Cyber Extortion?
The Internet of Things (IoT)—the network of devices embedded with capabilities to collect and exchange information—has long been attracting the attention of cybercriminals as it continues to gain momentum in terms of its adoption. Gartner has estimated that more than 20.8 billion IoT devices will be in use by 2020; IoT will be leveraged by […] more…SINOWAL Attempts To Disable Rapport, Aid ZBOT
The year might be coming to a close but we’re still seeing our 2013 predictions come true. We encountered an attack that featured an old malware with new routines. This malware, detected as BKDR_SINOWAL.COP specifically attempts to disable the Rapport software from Trusteer. Figure 1. Code that looks for the Trusteer Rapport module Rapport is software […] more…Shady Surfing: Online Ads 182x More Likely than Adult Websites to Infect Your PC
Wait…what! You heard it right: According to a recent security report, Internet users are 182 times more likely to get a virus from clicking on online ads than visiting an adult website. At first glance, this sounds extremely counterintuitive (and it is). In theory, wouldn’t your risk go up when visiting shady sites? Yes and […] more…Observations on the Evolution of Cyber Tactics in 2013
“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo The world has reached a point of inflection in cybercrime. As cyberspace abounds with cyber privateers, and many nations of the world become havens for these modern-day pirates, it appears that […] more…Facebook Spam Leverages, Abuses Instagram App
The downside of popularity is that cybercriminals tend to abuse it for their own nefarious ends. Case in point, social networking sites have been often used to proliferate malware. Just recently, we spotted a Facebook clickjacking attack that leverages and abuses Instagram to point users to malicious websites. Users encounter this threat by being tagged […] more…More information
- How to use Syrian Electronic Army attacks to improve security awareness
- WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Returns to Australia a Free Man After US Legal Battle Ends
- PWN2OWN Day Two – Chrome and Safari join the losers
- Blockchain/IoT integration accelerates, hits a ‘sweet spot’ for the two technologies
- Outage: University Park: West campus area power is unavailable
- Rural Sewage Plants Hit by Ransomware Attacks in Maine
- Tech groups call on presidential candidates to support encryption, embrace other IT issues
- Advent tip #6: A padlock *inside* a web page? Ignore it!
- Twitter restores @N handle to its rightful owner
- 500,000 Impacted by Pennsylvania Teachers Union Data Breach