Cybersecurity

Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and Brave have released critical security patches. This is reported by Stack Diary. The fixes address the CVE-2023-4863 vulnerability, which could be exploited by remote attackers to gain access to or run malicious code on users’ computers. The vulnerability was found in the libwebpm library, which is ... Read more

Social media has failed to stop Russia’s “large-scale” disinformation campaigns since the invasion of Ukraine. This is reported by BBC with reference to the European Commission report. “Over the course of 2022, the audience and reach of Kremlin-aligned social media accounts increased substantially all over Europe,” the study found. At ... Read more

A Russian intelligence unit is attacking Ukrainians’ Android devices using malware called Infamous Chisel. Its goal is to steal critical information. This was reported by Western intelligence agencies, according to Ars Technica. Infamous Chisel is a set of components that provides constant access to an infected Android device via the ... Read more

Meta identified and deleted 7704 questionable Facebook accounts that were part of a large-scale disinformation campaign of covert influence. This is stated in the report of the tech giant, writes Gizmodo. The accounts tended to post positive comments about China’s policies and negative posts about the United States. The campaign ... Read more

Hackers have attacked the servers of the Portuguese-language spyware WebDetetive. The incident is reported by TechCrunch. The unnamed hackers found and exploited security vulnerabilities in the software. This allowed them to compromise WebDetetive’s servers and gain access to user databases. The hackers also claim that they managed to disconnect the ... Read more

Google’s Gmail email service will strengthen security measures. They will act on user attempts to access sensitive settings, writes Ars Technica. These are settings such as account forwarding, editing filters, or changes to the IMAP protocol. In this case, the user must go through two-factor authentication (2FA), even if they ... Read more

Google has launched a new security feature exclusively for Pixel smartphones known as Pixel Binary Transparency. It serves as a certificate of authenticity for Pixel devices, ensuring that their software has not been tampered with, writes повідомляє Wired. The new feature complements the existing Android Verified Boot (AVB) system, which ... Read more

Cybersecurity experts have watched hackers break into computers. As part of the experiment, they recorded 190 million events and 100 hours of video of the attackers’ actions, writes TechCrunch. They did this by deliberately placing multiple servers on the Internet and configuring the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). This allowed the ... Read more

Intel has patched a vulnerability in processors released since 2015, known as Downfall. It could allow attackers to bypass system barriers designed to protect data, potentially giving them access to sensitive information, even passwords and encryption keys, writes Wired. The vulnerability was discovered by Google researcher Daniel Mogimi, who found ... Read more

The Finnish Data Protection Authority (DPA) has banned Yandex and Ridetech International B.V. from processing and transferring to Russia personal data of customers collected by the Yango taxi service, writes The Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman of Finland. The temporary order will come into effect on September 1 and ... Read more

Google is simplifying the backup and transfer of users’ personal data to third-party services in response to an investigation regarding the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) conducted by the Italian antimonopoly authority AGCM, writes The Verge. According to this authority, Google’s commitments “will ensure significant automation of the data export ... Read more

Kevin Mitnick, once one of the most wanted computer hackers in the United States, has died at the age of 59. This is reported by The New York Times with reference to the press secretary of the company KnowBe4 Kathy Wattman. The cause of death was complications from pancreatic cancer. ... Read more

The Ukrainian company MacPaw announces a new cyber security line, Moonlock. Its team will develop effective solutions to strengthen the cybersecurity of Mac users. This was reported by the company’s press service. The first implemented project was the Moonlock Engine, a new malware detection technology integrated into the CleanMyMac X ... Read more

Google is starting a new pilot program in which some employees will be restricted from accessing the Internet on desktop computers. This is done to reduce the risk of cyber attacks. This was reported by CNBC. The company will disable Internet access on select desktops, except for internal web tools ... Read more

Millions of US military emails were forwarded to Mali due to a typo. It led to the leakage of confidential information, including diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and travel data of senior officers, writes Financial Times. It’s a domain typo – people sometimes confuse .ML (the country identifier for Mali) ... Read more

Lawmakers in Massachusetts are considering a near-total ban on buying and selling users’ location data obtained from their mobile devices. This will be the first attempt in the country to curb the billion-dollar industry, writes The Wall Street Journal. This is provided by a bill called the Location Shield Act, ... Read more

One of the hackers responsible for hacking Twitter three years ago will serve time in a US federal prison. This was reported by TechCrunch. Joseph James O’Connor, 24, was sentenced Friday in a New York federal court to five years in prison after pleading guilty in May to four counts ... Read more

Since April 2023, Microsoft has linked a threat group it tracked as Cadet Blizzard to the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the russian Armed Forces (also known as the GRU). This is reported by Bleeping Computer. The company had previously linked the hacking group to the WhisperGate data ... Read more

A hacker attack was carried out on Ukrainian media Suspilne’s websites. Because of this, the media appealed to the state computer emergency response team CERT-UA. “Suspilne has suffered a hacker attack: some of our sites are temporarily down. We are solving the problem. At the same time, all Suspilne News ... Read more

The UK will host the first major global AI security summit in autumn 2023. This was announced by the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. At the summit, it is planned to consider the risks associated with artificial intelligence. It will also be discussed how they can be mitigated through internationally ... Read more

The FBI has warned of a rise in the use of artificial intelligence to create fake videos to stalk people for extortion purposes. This is reported by Ars Technica. “The FBI continues to receive reports from victims, including minor children and non-consenting adults, whose photos or videos were altered into ... Read more

Microsoft will have to pay $20 million to settle allegations by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This was reported by Engadget. The company was accused of collecting information about underage Xbox users and storing their data without parental consent. ... Read more

Cyber security experts are bracing for a possible wave of blackmail following the discovery of a vulnerability in encrypted file-sharing software that hackers used to attack a number of companies, including British Airways and the BBC. This is reported by Bloomberg. Several companies and a Canadian province said they are ... Read more

China-backed hackers have compromised “critical” US cyber infrastructure across multiple industries, focusing on intelligence gathering. Microsoft warned about this, writes CNBC. It is about a Chinese hacker group codenamed Volt Typhoon, which has been active since mid-2021. Microsoft notes that the organization is apparently working to destroy critical communications infrastructure ... Read more

Android devices have a complicated relationship with security. Although the operating system itself and Google Pixel smartphones have shown resistance to software exploits over time, the frequent appearance of malicious applications in Google Play and the vulnerability of devices from some third-party manufacturers have somewhat tarnished Android’s reputation as a ... Read more