Hack Drains Retirement Accounts In Australia
Four major managers of retirement accounts called superannuities were hit with cyber attacks last week. While the vast majority of account holders are safe, a small group of victims lost huge sums of money. Details are sparse in how the attack was perpetrated, or how it might have been prevented. See 7NEWS for more.
The Bottom Line: While we don't know how this attack happened, it's always a good idea to use strong multifactor authentication on the accounts where you manage your investments, retirement funds, and bank accounts.
Baltimore Hospital Worker Allegedly Installed Spyware on Coworkers Devices
In a truly nasty episode, a pharmacist at the University of Maryland Medical Center allegedly hacked numerous devices at the hospital. A lawsuit, filed by the victims, details how they believe he used malware on hospital computers to capture their passwords, then used their passwords to gain access to their home networks for the purpose of recording video and images of coworkers in compromising and intimate activities at home. The victims learned of this when contacted by the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation.
The Bottom Line: Do not reuse passwords. When installing cameras for security or baby monitoring in your home, make sure that they are secured with multifactor authentication, or better yet, that they are not accessible over the internet. If someone has physical access to a device, they can usually find a way to install malware on it, but using Mac computers with disk encryption and strong unique passwords can help.
Data Removal Just Got Personal
As cyber threats and scams evolve, so must our tools to fight them. That's why Incogni is offering a brand new service: custom data removals. Any time you find yourself in a place online where you shouldn't be, you can submit that site to Incogni and they will get you off that site*. Get Incogni Unlimited and reclaim your privacy from anywhere that exposes you.
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It's Not an Unpaid Toll. It's a Scam
Scam texts claiming we have an unpaid toll have been arriving on our phones since last year, but they're still coming, and maybe even in greater numbers than ever before, according to Bleeping Computer. Our staff writer based in Hawaii got one, and there aren't even toll roads in Hawaii. As we reported in April of 2024, these scams hope to trick you into thinking you've got an unpaid toll and logging in to their website. They'll take your login, and if you pay the fraudulent toll, they'll take your money.
The Bottom Line: Tell your friends and family about this scam, and warn them not to trust text messages that claim you have an unpaid toll. Make sure they know to visit the real toll road website to check their account balance, and never click any link in an unsolicited text message.
Small Win for Apple in Case Against UK Government
You might remember back in February, Apple disabled Advanced Data Protection for users in the UK after the government demanded the company create a backdoor into encrypted user data. Apple has since taken legal action against the UK government, and, in a small win, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled that the legal proceedings of this case will be public rather than being held in secret. While this doesn't currently change anything about Advanced Data Protection or the UK government's order for a backdoor, it is a step in the right direction.
Malware Hiding Behind Fake reCAPTCHA Boxes
Malwarebytes has come across a new strategy that is being used to deliver malware to Windows devices. This strategy works by making you think you're clicking a reCAPTCHA checkbox, which actually copies a line of code to your clipboard. The fake reCAPTCHA box will then instruct you to press the Windows Key and R Key, which opens the Run dialogue box, a tool in Windows that is used to run code. The instructions tell you to then press Ctrl + V (which pastes the code into the Run box) and hit enter. This, of course, will then run the malicious code and install malware onto your machine.
Thankfully, this trick is currently only targeting Windows users, so if you use a Mac, there's not much to be worried about. Although, it would not be difficult for bad actors to adapt this strategy to the Mac, so it's important to stay vigilant.
The Bottom Line: Whether you're a Windows or Mac user, do not listen to instructions that tell you to open programs and paste text into them. A legitimate reCAPTCHA box will never ask you to open a separate app to verify that you are not a bot.
How to Detect and Remove an Android Spyware App
For your friends with Android phones, Zack Whittaker at Tech Crunch has an excellent article detailing how a stalkerware app makes it hard for the victim to remove the app, and also how you can remove it safely. The mechanism that the app uses to prevent the victim from uninstalling it would not work on an iPhone.
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