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January 1, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Things aren’t so easy in the Big Easy right now. The city of New Orleans has suffered a ransomware attack. As a result, most of the city’s servers and computers are currently down. However, at a recent press conference held by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, all New Orleans emergency services are intact. The city’s CIO, Kim […]
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December 31, 2019 by Vertical Axion
The leaders of the ransomware known as Sodinokibi (REvil Ransomware) have announced a nasty new tactic to get their victims to pay up when their files get encrypted. The hackers are now threatening that they’ll begin releasing stolen data to the general public or to competitors unless the ransom is paid. While hackers have made […]
December 30, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Windows users aren’t big fans of change. Recall the cries of outrage when Microsoft tried in vain to retire MS Paint, which was never a very good graphics program and only a small subcomponent of the company’s OS. Users revolted to the point that Microsoft decided rather than kill off the ancient program, they simply […]
December 26, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Instagram has made a recent change you should be aware of. Any time you make a comment, you may get a popup warning that your comment may be “potentially offensive”. That is, if the service’s AI-powered tools conclude that the warning is appropriate based on an analysis of other comments that have generated complaints. Instagram […]
December 25, 2019 by Vertical Axion
On the Dark Web, there’s a live webcast show called “NulledCast” that few people have ever heard of. It’s pretty popular in Dark Web circles, though. The premise of the show is this: The hosts will hack the cameras in home security systems and mess with the owners. Ring and Nest are the two most […]
December 24, 2019 by Vertical Axion
These days, who hasn’t made use of Google Maps? It has become an indispensable navigation tool and smart phone navigation. It is powered by Google Maps and could arguably be described as a killer app that makes modern life a whole lot more convenient. What fewer people realize is that Google Maps’ Street View is […]
December 23, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Researchers at BlackBerry Cylance have discovered a new and dangerous strain of ransomware in the wild dubbed “Zeppelin”. It has been used to target small numbers of healthcare and technology-related companies in the US, Canada and Europe in recent weeks. An analysis of the code reveals that Zeppelin is related to, but distinct from the […]
December 21, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Do you have a home security system that incorporates Amazon’s Blink XT2 cameras? If so, be advised that researchers at Tenable Security recently identified several serious security flaws that would allow an attacker to take control of the cameras remotely and use them to spy on you and your family. The security issues are centered […]
December 20, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Researchers at SophosLabs have discovered a new threat to be on the alert for. A variant of the Snatch ransomware has been spotted in the wild. It features an innovative means of getting around whatever antivirus software you may be using to defend yourself. Disguised as a backup utility, when the malware is installed, it […]
December 19, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Are you using a device that’s running on Windows 10 Mobile? If so, you don’t have a lot of company. Sadly, the OS never really caught on. Microsoft pulled the plug on its development, announcing that support for it would be coming to an end. Unfortunately, that day has arrived. In January of this year, […]
December 18, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Google has a solid reputation when it comes to making a steady stream of improvements to its large and growing base of products and services. They have a demonstrated a track record when it comes to enhancing user experience. Recently, they’ve proved that once again by adding a new feature to Gmail that allows you […]
December 17, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Researchers from Group-IB monitor the Dark Web and have recently reported the appearance of nearly half a million credit card records available for sale. Each record is valued at more than half a million dollars. The records were rolled out in staggered fashion, with the first file containing some 30,000 records. They included credit card […]
December 16, 2019 by Vertical Axion
If you use Google’s Chrome web browser, there’s a new threat you should be aware of. A new trojan targeting Windows-based machines will attempt to steal passwords stored in the Chrome browser. Dubbed CStealer, it was discovered by the Malware Hunter Team. They found some points of interest that make this threat more notable than […]
December 14, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s a new strain of malware in the wild. It is targeting Android devices and disguised as an innocuous chat app. Researchers at Trend Micro have discovered it in two different apps so far: Chatrious and the Apex App. Chatrious has since vanished from Google’s Play Store, but at the time this piece was written, […]
December 13, 2019 by Vertical Axion
According to data collected by Microsoft, phishing emails accounted for 0.62 percent of all inbox receipts in September 2019. That’s up from 0.31 percent just one year prior to that. The increase is alarming of course, but at first glance, these look like fairly harmless numbers. Unfortunately, last year, phishing emails targeting business owners (BEC, […]
December 12, 2019 by Vertical Axion
FaceApp is in the news again, and as before, not for a good reason. Several months ago, watchdog groups around the world sounded the alarm about the Russian-made app, which raised curious eyebrows. It just takes a photo you upload to it and ages you, what’s the harm in that? According to the FBI, quite […]
December 11, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s a war on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it’s taking a very different form than what commonly gets reported in the news media. This war is being waged by hackers and scammers, and they’re waging it by poisoning Holiday eCards designed to facilitate the distribution of malware. BleepingComputer discovered the trend, noting an uptick […]
December 10, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Recently, the Magento Marketplace was acquired by Adobe and suffered a breach that exposed a limited amount of user data to an unknown third party. When Adobe discovered evidence of the breach, they temporarily shut the marketplace down so they could assess the extent of the breach. It has subsequently been reopened. If you’re not […]
December 9, 2019 by Vertical Axion
The 2019 Holiday Season is officially upon us, and unfortunately, that means that scammers around the world are ramping up for another busy season. Deals are abound on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Sadly, those two big shopping days mark the beginning of a mad sprint to push out as many shopping-related scams as possible. […]
December 7, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft RDP has its share of problems. That simple truth has sparked the rise of a number of open-source VNC (Virtual Network Computing) applications, which allow a user to remotely control another computer. Regardless of which VNC solution you use, they all work pretty much the same way. There’s a “server component” which runs on […]
December 6, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Since October 2018, Microsoft engineers have been tracking a new strain of malware specifically designed to target Windows machines. As malware goes, this one isn’t particularly dangerous. It’s not designed to mass delete files, lock your system down or flood you with pop-up ads. Rather, its purpose is to install itself stealthily and live in […]
December 5, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Are you a fan of Google’s Cloud Print service? It’s fantastic because it allows you to print from anywhere to anywhere, which makes it utterly invaluable. Like so many great services Google has introduced over the years, for a variety of reasons, the company has decided to pull the plug on it after keeping the […]
December 4, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Recently the US branch of the global telecom company T-Mobile disclosed a security breach that impacted a small percentage of its customer base. Specifically, the breach revealed certain information belonging to a small number of the company’s prepaid cellphone users. The exposed data included customer names, billing addresses, account numbers, rate plans, plan features […]
December 3, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Early in 2019, a new strain of ransomware appeared. Called “DeathRansom,” its bark was initially much worse than its bite. Researchers quickly discovered that the new strain only pretended to encrypt a user’s files. If victims simply removed the “encryption” extension, they could get their files back without doing anything at all. That ceased to […]
