Category: Scammers
News of the monumental 500px data breach incident has hit the media recently. It may have affected all of their users – that’s 15 million people worldwide.
It’s understood that an ‘unauthorised party’ gained access to their systems on 5th July 2018. However, engineers only discovered the security issue and the subsequent breach last month. That means a period of around six months where victims of the 500px data breach have been left vulnerable to further attacks.
It’s thought that all 15 million of their users are affected by the incident. The organisation has triggered password resets as a precaution. Victims will need to keep an eye on their online accounts and activity, as well as being wary of phishing scams.
An inquiry from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has called for greater Facebook regulation to shift the power from the corporations to the people.
Recommendations include an independent regulator that could be responsible for enforcing an ethical code of conduct that all tech firms must adhere to. They could also be handed powers to bring legal proceedings for breaches and enforce new rules for tech firms to prevent and remove disinformation, false news and harmful content.
The inquiry was launched off the back of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and also focuses on the misuse of personal data as well.
The leak of hundreds of millions of email addresses and passwords – known as Collection #1 – is a stark and alarming wake-up call.
The 87gb file that was published contained data that’s said to have been gleaned from a number of different hacks and attacks over several years. It serves as a monumental wake-up call for those who are guilty of reusing the same login credentials across different platforms, and for those who haven’t changed their passwords for years and / or use rubbish passwords.
Criminals have the technology to use data from these hacks to systematically target accounts with very little effort. People are in imminent danger.
Data breach fatigue is said to be growing because of the sheer volume of data breaches that are happening on a continual basis.
In case you’re not aware, data breach fatigue is the idea that people are becoming less and less bothered about data breaches because they’re happening all the time. It’s almost as if there’s no longer a ‘uniqueness’ to the concept of someone falling victim to a data breach, and this can lead to a ‘group think’ kind of scenario where each individual’s interest in the risk can be diluted.
It’s said to be growing, and this could be very bad news for all of us.
It’s understood that business data breach headlines are still being ignored by business leaders, despite the monumental costs and consequences they can have.
Although the research and studies bring about all sorts of facts and figures, another recent worrying one indicated that only around a third of businesses are properly investing in new software to protect themselves against the increasing risks of hacks and business data breaches.
With huge names suffering massive losses as a result of big breaches, this number really isn’t reflective of a proper desire to protect the data they hold.
Recent security research has revealed that financial data breach uncertainties remain a concern, with worrying figures in 2017 over breaches and protection.
It’s thought that as many as 70% of financial organisations may have suffered a data breach, with many simply unable to confirm for definite whether they have or haven’t, and whether the breach was related to an unauthorised third-party access event.
The growth of open banking is said to be a huge factor as financial organisations no longer have a closed door on their systems and servers with customers being able to access and manage their finances online.
Read More “Financial data breach uncertainties remain a concern”
Data breaches are soaring, and only better cybersecurity and improved data protection training and protocols is going to stop the crisis worsening.
Almost every day we are seeing yet another breach somewhere around the world. With cyber-criminals getting smarter, and with many investing their ill-gotten gains back into their “business” to create more powerful tools, something needs to be done.
The new GDPR rules coming into force next month may be the catalyst needed for organisations to take cybersecurity more seriously.
Read More “New GDPR rules could see reported data breaches soaring”
It isn’t just data from hacks and breaches that can give a criminal enough information to scam you; it can also be the wealth of data on social media platforms like Facebook that they use as well.
Sometimes, for a person to become a victim of fraud or identity theft, it can come down to a case of a cyber-criminal being able to obtain enough information about a person from various sources. One source could be from a hack or breach – which could from large-scale breaches such as telecommunications providers or dating websites. This can then be combined with another data source which we willingly put out there on the internet for all to see… On social media sites for example.
Read More “The wealth of data on social media platforms like Facebook is a gift to cyber criminals”
Email scamming is becoming more sophisticated and commonplace, studies and research has shown.
With bank scams, it’s arguably easier to detect as you would not expect an email from them warning you of a hack. However, you could expect email providers to email you regarding your account, and that’s one popular method used by scammers these days.
Read More ““Are email scammers becoming more sophisticated?” – The rise of email scamming and how individuals and companies should tackle it”