Google tracks your activity
They've been tracking you since you first created that free Drive, Gmail or YouTube account. You can review the data Google tracks and download it. Google also lets you delete some data.
Google tracks via Gmail
Take a deep breath and visit https://myaccount.google.com/dashboard. Login if prompted.
Let’s start with the Gmail link. Google indexes Gmail contents and uses that to help determine which ads will be most interesting to us. Let’s see just how much data Google tracks.
Click the Gmail button.
Click GO TO GMAIL.
Click All Mail (on the left).
Peruse your entire mailbox.
Google reports 4,789 messages in my Gmail account. Although Google reports 4,789 messages, I see only 224 messages in my Inbox, 10 in Trash and 487 in Sent. The rest ... Read More
Remote Desktop is a big vulnerability
Maybe you use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop feature to connect to your workstation at work from…anywhere. Remote Desktop has been in Windows for 20 years at no extra cost. The network administrator at my target reviews the workstation’s logs through Windows’ Event Viewer. This screenshot is from my research honeypot.
Someone is trying to login to this virtual machine at a ferocious pace
The unlucky soul who has to read these logs finds login attempts are international. My perusal shows login attempts from five IP addresses:
211.72.1.31 in Taipei, Taiwan
24.142.48.215 in Dartmouth, Canada
87.147.195.55 in Olching, Germany
47.185.77.29 in Keller, Texas
91.234.125.163 is in Sosnicowice, Poland
Assuming it is one hacker who either employed a botnet (a series of computers simultaneously tasked with a large task) or is ... Read More
Let LastPass manage your passwords (you have other things to think about today).
We have too many passwords. Keeping track of them mentally or on Post-It notes does not work. Keeping them in a Microsoft Word document is also troublesome. If you change a password and fail to update the document, then the record becomes wrong. Next time you go to that website and use the password in your Microsoft Word document, it won’t work. You did not update the document. Let me introduce LastPass.
Several companies have solutions. I use LastPass, which lets you create a vault that holds all your passwords. You don’t have to remember what LastPass stores in the vault. You only have to remember the master password to access the vault. The ... Read More
2-factor Authentication helps protect your identity.
You should deploy 2-factor Authentication. This increases your security and reduces your chances of becoming an identity theft victim. Most services encourage 2-factor Authentication and let you deploy it at no additional cost.
Here's a quick question for you.
When attempting to access a website, the website can challenge you based on:
A) What you know (e.g. password).
B) Who you are (e.g. fingerprints).
C) What you have (e.g. phone).
D) All of the above.
Correct answer: D.
How it looks in real life.
Daisy runs a dental office in Folsom, CA. Keeping the practice up and running is her top priority. She runs most of her patient, insurance and vendor communications through her Gmail account. She deploys 2-factor Authentication with the steps at https://myaccount.google.com/signinoptions/two-step-verification/enroll-welcome. She keeps her smartphone nearby. ... Read More
Did you know your multifunction printer has its own backdoor WIFI?
Allen called me one day and said his printer was printing nonstop garbage. He wasn’t printing anything, but somebody was printing through WIFI. This print job was consuming his toner and paper. How did this happen?
I told Allen that in addition to joining your multi function printer to your office or home WIFI, you’ll find the printer broadcasts its own WIFI signal. You, or anybody close enough to the printer, can hop on that printer through that WIFI. A hacker could then cause mischief, including changing the printer’s IP addresses or printing large print jobs that consume paper and toner. I am showing you how to identify your printer’s WIFI, and how to secure it.
Assumptions
... Read More
Triton got into a petrochemical plant
In the summer of 2017, a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia experienced a worrisome security incident that cybersecurity experts consider to be the first-ever cyber attack carried out with “a blatant, flat-out intent to hurt people.” The attack involved a highly sophisticated new malware strain called Triton, which was capable of remotely disabling safety systems inside the plant with potentially catastrophic consequences. It all started when someone launched a spear phishing attack and someone else clicked a link they should not have clicked.
Luckily, a flaw in the Triton code triggered a safety system that responded by shutting down the plant. If it hadn’t been for that flaw, the hackers could have released toxic hydrogen sulfide gas or caused explosions. As ... Read More
Phishing and File Sharing
Internet thieves have long used file sharing sites and services to host their malicious files. When they do this, they typically use the underlying service to generate download links that anyone can click without logging in to the hosting service.
Over the past month we started noticing apparently legitimate Dropbox emails pushing links to files with names suspiciously similar to those routinely used by the bad guys. When we clicked the links to check, however, we were greeted with a demand to log in to the service. That's typically been a sign that the files involved were legit.
Still, something wasn't right here. Given the file names presented, we reckoned there was little chance those files were innocuous. So, we decided to log in to ... Read More
Ransomware knocked most systems offline
Officials in Jackson County, Georgia, paid $400,000 to cyber-criminals this week to get rid of a ransomware infection and regain access to their IT systems. The County hired cyber-security consultant to negotiate ransom fee with hacker group. Jackson County officials have not yet confirmed how hackers breached their network.
The infection forced most of the local government's IT systems offline, with the exception of its website and 911 emergency system.
"Everything we have is down," Sheriff Janis Mangum told StateScoop in an interview. "We are doing our bookings the way we used to do it before computers. We're operating by paper in terms of reports and arrest bookings. We've continued to function. It's just more difficult."
Jackson County officials notified the FBI and hired a cyber-security consultant. ... Read More
Extortionists demand money even though no agreement made
Anyone who depends upon good public opinion can be vulnerable to orchestrated bad word-of-mouth, especially in the form of online reviews.
Podcasters are being targeted by extortionists who threaten to swamp their shows with negative reviews, according to Mark Asquith at Rebel Base Media. Asquith cites one recent case in which a scammer reached out to a podcaster on social media and offered to promote their show.
When the podcaster expressed interest, the scammer didn’t respond for several days. After that, the scammer sent a message informing the target that they’d been promoting the target’s podcast for the past few days. The scammer then demanded hundreds of dollars in payment for this supposed service. “No agreement had even been discussed, ... Read More
Office Depot $300 scam - yes, it really happened
I'm sure you've heard something about the Office Depot $300 fraud. For a thorough explanation, see https://cybersafetynet.net/office-depot-faked-malware-scans-to-sell-unneeded-300-tech-services/. Basically, Office Depot's malware scan reported malware on computers that did not have malware. Office Depot then sold an unnecessary $300 service. Today I am writing about how that would look in other industries.
We have a high level of trust in those who provide professional services. We go to them when we sense a problem and need their training, judgement and professionalism to turn the problem into a solution. Let's see how this would play out in another industry.
Electrical
Your kitchen has a refrigerator, microwave oven and coffee maker. You discover that you can run two at the same time, but ... Read More