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April 13, 2018 By PC Portal

Cyber News Rundown: Hacktivists Strike YouTube Music Videos

Reading Time: ~2 min.

The Cyber News Rundown brings you the latest happenings in cybersecurity news weekly. Who am I? I’m Connor Madsen, a Webroot Threat Research Analyst and a guy with a passion for all things security. Any questions? Just ask.

Music-Oriented YouTube Channels Hacked

Within the last week, hackers have defaced multiple YouTube music videos, focusing largely on Vevo channels with high view counts. Most of the videos were quickly taken down after suspicious upload activity was found on several accounts, leaving some videos with the statement “Free Palestine” in the description. Vevo worked quickly to resolve the defacement and is in the process of returning the affected videos to viewable status.

Pen Test Reveals Security Risks for Radar

Researchers have recently been working to determine if radar is truly secure, as industry professionals have claimed, since it doesn’t interact with the Internet. Unfortunately, after a bit of effort, these same researchers were able to successfully breach the core systems for radar on a Navy vessel and modify it enough to set the ship off course without raising alarms. The system, had it been maliciously compromised, could have easily run the ship aground or sent off on a dangerous interception course. In addition to taking control of the vessel, the researchers were also able to remove all radar detections and leave the ship effectively blind in the water.

Majority of Android Users Denied Consent to Facebook over Data Collection

In a recent survey, nearly 90% of the 1,300 users had refused consent to Facebook for collecting SMS and call data. Unsurprisingly, Facebook has replied that the choice was an opt-in rather than out and users should have been asked, though many agree that no choice had ever been presented to them. Some users have even reported seeing over two years worth of call and SMS data saved within their Facebook account’s data.

Facebook Announces Permissions Change

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica fiasco, Facebook has made multiple changes to its policy on app permissions that collect user data. Any app that hasn’t been accessed within the last 90 days will require the user to go through the Facebook login page and re-consent to any data collection that may take place. These changes will not be immediate, but instead rolled out over a two-week period, giving users time to decide which apps they want to use and letting expired data tokens be deleted.

Department of the Interior Faces Malware Infection

Nearly three years after the data breach within the Office of Personnel Management, the Interior Department is still having issues with properly securing their systems. The latest internal threat stems from a US Geological Survey employee who was found to be watching pornography and saving the videos to an external hard drive, which led to their computer hosting Russian malware. This likely ties back to the department relying on automated security systems, rather than having trained personnel actively monitoring for malicious activity.

The post Cyber News Rundown: Hacktivists Strike YouTube Music Videos appeared first on Webroot Blog.

February 23, 2018 By PC Portal

Cyber News Rundown: Linux OS Hacked onto Nintendo Switch

Hackers Run Linux OS On Nintendo Switch

When gaming consoles get hacked, it’s usually by someone who wants to play pirated games. Not this time. Recently, a group of hackers found an exploit that allowed them to deploy a full Linux OS onto the Nintendo Switch. The flaw is contained within the specific Tegra X1 chips used by the Switch for core functionality. These are not easily patched and would likely require a recall if the flaw becomes a major problem.

California Employee Data Breach

Employees working in the Department of Fish and Wildlife for California were recently notified that their Social Security numbers had been exposed in a data breach from late last year. The breach appears to have stemmed from a former employee downloading the data and removing it from the premises, prior to having left the company. This type of breach is extremely common, as many companies don’t enforce more strict data policies for current and former employees.

Facebook Bug Spams Users With 2FA System

In the last week or so, several Facebook users have taken to other social media platforms to announce a nearly endless stream of spam being sent to the phone numbers they had used for 2-factor authentication. The spam then began posting the user’s replies to their Facebook wall, even after multiple attempts to stop the messages. While Facebook has since resolved the issue, they have remained vague about when they’ll finally discontinue the program functionality that caused the issue in the first place.

Crypto-miners Found on Tesla Servers

Following the breach of Tesla’s cloud server last year, company engineers have been discovering cryptocurrency miners on several of their internal servers. The initial breach occurred because their Kubernetes console lacked a password, and, once in, the hackers set up a complex mining operation that used multiple techniques to avoid detection.

FedEx Breach Exposes Personal Information

Over the last few days, officials have confirmed that over 119,000 individual forms of scanned identification belonging to Bongo International, an international sales broker that was bought by FedEx in 2014, were left exposed to the public. The data, which was found on an Amazon S3 server, was likely forgotten about amidst the acquisition and was available for an unknown amount of time.

The post Cyber News Rundown: Linux OS Hacked onto Nintendo Switch appeared first on Webroot Threat Blog.

January 22, 2018 By PC Portal

Just Keep Swimming: How to Avoid Phishing on Social Media

From Facebook to LinkedIn, social media is flat-out rife with phishing attacks. You’ve probably encountered one before… Do fake Oakley sunglasses sales ring a bell?

Phishing attacks attempt to steal your most private information, posing major risks to your online safety. It’s more pressing than ever to have a trained eye to spot and avoid even the most cunning phishing attacks on social media.

Troubled waters

Spammers on social media are masters of their craft and their tactics are demonstrably more effective than their email-based counterparts. Up to 66 percent of spear phishing attacks on social media sites are opened by their targets, according to a report by ZeroFOX. This compares to a roughly 30 percent success rate of spear phishing emails, based on findings by Verizon.

In a whitepaper published last year, Facebook warned of cybercriminals targeting personal accounts in order to steal information that can be used to launch more effective spear phishing attacks. Facebook is taking steps to protect users’ accounts from hostile data collection, including more customizable security and privacy features such as two-factor authentication. The platform has also been more active in encouraging users to adopt these enhanced security features, as seen in the in-app message below.

Types of social phishing attacks

Fake customer support accounts

The rise of social media has changed the way customers seek support from brands, with many people turning to Twitter or Facebook over traditional customer support channels. Scammers are taking advantage of this by impersonating the support accounts of major brands such as Amazon, PayPal, and Samsung. This tactic, dubbed ‘angler phishing’ for its deepened deception, is rather prevalent. A 2016 study by Proofpoint found that 19% of social media accounts appearing to represent top brands were fake.

To avoid angler phishing, watch out for slight misspellings or variations in account handles. For example, the Twitter handle @Amazon_Help might be used to impersonate the real support account @AmazonHelp. Also, the blue checkmark badges next to account names on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram let you know those accounts are verified as being authentic.

Spambot comments

Trending content such as Facebook Live streams are often plagued with spammy comments from accounts that are typically part of an intricate botnet. These spam comments contain URLs that link to phishing sites that try to trick you into entering your personal information, such as a username and password to an online account.

It is best to avoid clicking any links on social media from accounts you are unfamiliar with or otherwise can’t trust. You can also take advantage of security software features such as real-time anti-phishing to automatically block fake sites if you accidently visit them.

Dangerous DMs

Yes, phishing happens within Direct Messages, too. This is often seen from the accounts of friends or family that might be compromised. Hacked social media accounts can be used to send phishing links through direct messages, gaming trust and familiarity to fool you. These phishing attacks trick you into visiting malicious websites or downloading file attachments.

For example, a friend’s Twitter account that has been compromised might send you a direct message with a fake link to connect with them on LinkedIn. This link could direct to a phishing site like the one below in order to trick you into giving up your LinkedIn login.

While this site may appear to look like the real LinkedIn sign-on page, the site URL in the browser address bar reveals it is indeed a fake phishing site.

Phony promotions & contests

Fraudsters are also known to impersonate brands on social media in order to advertise nonexistent promotions. Oftentimes, these phishing attacks will coerce victims into giving up their private information in order to redeem some type of discount or enter a contest. Know the common signs of these scams such as low follower counts, poor grammar and spelling, or a form asking you to give up personal information or make a purchase.

The best way to make sure you are interacting with a brand’s official page on social media is to navigate to their social pages directly from the company’s website. This way you can verify the account is legitimate and you can follow the page from there.

The post Just Keep Swimming: How to Avoid Phishing on Social Media appeared first on Webroot Threat Blog.