A Little Sunshine

IndependentKrebs

Violence-as-a-Service: Brickings, Firebombings & Shootings for Hire

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2022 14:59:13 +0000

A 21-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with stalking in connection with a federal investigation into groups of cybercriminals who are settling scores by hiring people to carry out physical attacks on their rivals. Prosecutors say the defendant recently participated in several of these schemes — including firing a handgun into a Pennsylvania home and torching a residence in another part of the state with a Molotov Cocktail.

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IndependentKrebs

PayPal Phishing Scam Uses Invoices Sent Via PayPal

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2022 15:27:53 +0000

Scammers are using invoices sent through PayPal.com to trick recipients into calling a number to dispute a pending charge. The missives — which come from Paypal.com and include a link at Paypal.com that displays an invoice for the supposed transaction — state that the user’s account is about to be charged hundreds of dollars. Recipients who call the supplied toll-free number to contest the transaction are soon asked to download software that lets the scammers assume remote control over their computer.

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IndependentKrebs

When Efforts to Contain a Data Breach Backfire

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2022 17:06:00 +0000

Earlier this month, the administrator of the cybercrime forum Breached received a cease-and-desist letter from a cybersecurity firm. The missive alleged that an auction on the site for data stolen from 10 million customers of Mexico’s second-largest bank was fake news and harming the bank’s reputation. The administrator responded to this empty threat by purchasing the stolen banking data and leaking it on the forum for everyone to download.

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IndependentKrebs

Sounding the Alarm on Emergency Alert System Flaws

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2022 15:26:58 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging states and localities to beef up security around proprietary devices that connect to the Emergency Alert System — a national public warning system used to deliver important emergency information, such as severe weather and AMBER alerts. The DHS warning came in advance of a workshop to be held this weekend at the DEFCON security conference in Las Vegas, where a security researcher is slated to demonstrate multiple weaknesses in the nationwide alert system.

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IndependentKrebs

It Might Be Our Data, But It’s Not Our Breach

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:45:31 +0000

A cybersecurity firm says it has intercepted a large, unique stolen data set containing the names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security Numbers and dates of birth on nearly 23 million Americans. The firm’s analysis of the data suggests it corresponds to current and former customers of AT&T. The telecommunications giant stopped short of saying the data wasn’t theirs, but it maintains the records do not appear to have come from its systems and may be tied to a previous data incident at another company.

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IndependentKrebs

The Security Pros and Cons of Using Email Aliases

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2022 15:10:59 +0000

One way to tame your email inbox is to get in the habit of using unique email aliases when signing up for new accounts online. Adding a “+” character after the username portion of your email address — followed by a notation specific to the site you’re signing up at — lets you create an infinite number of unique email addresses tied to the same account. Aliases can help users detect breaches and fight spam. But not all websites allow aliases, and they can complicate account recovery. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of adopting a unique alias for each website.

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IndependentKrebs

Class Action Targets Experian Over Account Security

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2022 01:54:35 +0000

A class action lawsuit has been filed against big-three consumer credit bureau Experian over reports that the company did little to prevent identity thieves from hijacking consumer accounts. The legal filing cites liberally from an investigation KrebsOnSecurity published in July, which found that identity thieves were able to assume control over existing Experian accounts simply by signing up for new accounts using the victim’s personal information and a different email address.

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IndependentKrebs

No SOCKS, No Shoes, No Malware Proxy Services!

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2022 19:31:35 +0000

With the recent demise of several popular “proxy” services that let cybercriminals route their malicious traffic through hacked PCs, there is now something of a supply chain crisis gripping the underbelly of the Internet. Compounding the problem, several remaining malware-based proxy services have chosen to block new registrations to avoid swamping their networks with a sudden influx of customers.

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