TheNewsGuru

Tag: Hackers

  • APC to Nigerians: Using VPN to access #TwitterBan can expose your bank accounts, data to hackers

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned Nigerians to avoid the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) in accessing social media contents.

    The ruling party said such usage could expose users to cybercrimes and heinous activities of hackers.

    It also said warned that bank accounts and data of users of the communication platform are vulnerable to hackers.

    These alerts were contained in a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Secretary to APC Caretaker Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanduoehehe.

    The party scribe said the warning became necessary as some individuals had decided to access Twitter at all cost, following the suspension of its operations in the country.

    The statement reads: “All Progressives Congress (APC) alerts Nigerians to the many risks involved in accessing contents, especially the social media using the Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is vulnerable to the heinous activities of criminal hackers who can steal data and money in bank accounts.”

    The party chief warned legitimate private and public entities operating in the country to avoid the many dangers of exposing themselves to cybercrimes through the use of VPN, which he said is not adequately secured.

    “This advisory is necessary because despite the massive compliance by Nigerians to the Federal Government’s suspension of Twitter operations in the country, some individuals have resorted to VPN to assess Twitter, whose unwholesome activities were detrimental to peace and public order in the country.

    “Those using the VPN are advised to desist in their own interests because of its risks, which include data theft, illegal access to strategic company documents and possible economic espionage.

    “The APC emphasises that VPN users expose their devices to vulnerabilities because the network allows third parties access to personal data and changes user location to another country, which compromises data integrity. Your record can be traced to another country that is not yours, with all the risks it entails.

    “Many individuals and organisations using VPN have lost their investments after compromising the security of their devices. The APC strongly advises that Nigerians should avoid installing or using VPN to access social networking sites in order to protect their privacy and security online. This is in our individual and collective interest.”

  • Hackers have taken over our website, APC cries out

    The All Progressives Congress has raised the alarm that its official website has been hacked.

    The APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, raised the alarm in a press release on Saturday.

    The release read, “Our attention has just been drawn to the fact that the APC’s official website, apc.com.ng has been hacked with unauthorised content posted on our pages.

    “I have instructed that the site be taken down. Steps are underway to clean it up, strengthen the security, and restore it as soon as possible.

    “We won’t allow the desperate people to succeed in their evil plots,” he said.

  • Hackers stole $6 million in attack on SWIFT system, Russian Central Bank says

    Unknown hackers stole 339.5 million rubles (six million dollars) in an attack on the SWIFT international payments messaging system in Russia last year, the Russian Central Bank said on Friday.

    The disclosure, buried at the bottom of a central bank report on digital thefts at Russian banks, is the latest in a string of attempted and successful cyber heists using fraudulent wire-transfer requests.

    The central bank said it had been sent information about ”one successful attack on the work place of a SWIFT system operator.

    “The volume of unsanctioned operations as a result of this attack amounted to 339.5 million rubles,” the bank said.

    The central bank declined to provide further details.

    A spokeswoman for SWIFT, whose messaging system is used to transfer trillions of dollars each day, said the company does not comment on specific entities.

    ”When a case of potential fraud is reported to us, we offer our assistance to the affected user to help secure its environment,” said the spokeswoman, Natasha de Teran.

    A central bank spokesman quoted Artem Sychev, deputy-head of the regulator’s-security department, as saying that the hackers had withdrawn the money and this was “a common-scheme, when they take control of a computer.”

    Brussels-based SWIFT said late last year digital heists were becoming increasingly prominent as hackers use more sophisticated-tools and techniques to launch new attacks.

    In December, hackers tried to steal 55 million rubles from Russian state bank Globex using the SWIFT system, and digital thieves made off with 81 million dollars from Bangladesh Bank in February 2016.

    SWIFT has declined to disclose the number of attacks or identify any victims.

    However, details on some cases have become public, including attacks on Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank and Nepal’s NIC Asia Bank.

     

  • Hackers request $7.5m to stop leaking Game of Thrones

     

    Following the illegal leaking of two episodes of Game of Thrones and script material from an unaired episode of the show, hackers have requested for a ransom of $7.5 million in bitcoin from HBO.

     

    The hackers reportedly stole 1.5 terabytes of data from the company last week, comprising script summaries for the next five episodes of Game of Thrones as well as scripts of other HBO shows.

     

    According to the ransom note sent to HBO, the hackers advised HBO to pay up or risk forcing them to share more delicate company data online.

     

    “We often launch two major operations in a year and our annual income is about 12-15 million dollars. We are serious enough to do our business,” the note read.

     

    “We don’t play with you so, you in return, don’t play with us. You only have 3 days to make a decision so decide wisely.”

     

    The hackers gave the company three days to make a decision.

     

    HBO now has to take the tough decision of whether to pay up, stop the hackers from leaking, or risk losing even more valuable content.

     

  • Hackers steal forthcoming episodes of Game of Thrones

    Hackers steal forthcoming episodes of Game of Thrones

    Renowned entertainment company, HBO has been attacked by hackers who stole scripts from the popular TV series, Games of Thrones.

    TheNewsGuru reports that about 1.5 terabytes worth of material were taken by the hackers.

     

    Forthcoming episodes and scripts of the popular TV series are said to be in custody of the hackers.The hackers behind the attack are said to have shared data from other shows as well, including Ballers and Room 104.

     

    “HBO recently experienced a cyber-incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information,we immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cyber security firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold “a statement from the company read

     

     

    Richard Plepler, CEO of HBO, in an email to staff on Monday, said: “As most of you have probably heard by now, there has been a cyber -incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming.

     

    “Any intrusion of this nature is obviously disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us. I can assure you that senior leadership and our extraordinary technology team, along with outside experts, are working round the clock to protect our collective interests. The efforts across multiple departments have been nothing short of herculean.

     

    “It is a textbook example of quintessential HBO teamwork. The problem before us is unfortunately all too familiar in the world we now find ourselves a part of. As has been the case with any challenge we have ever faced, I have absolutely no doubt that we will navigate our way through this successfully.”

     

  • Hackers can guess PINs, passwords from brainwaves: Research

    Hackers can guess PINs, passwords from brainwaves: Research

    Hackers can guess a user’s passwords by monitoring their thoughts, according to scientists who suggest that brainwave-sensing headsets need better security.

    Electroencephalograph (EEG) headsets allow users to control robotic toys and video games with the mind.

    Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US found that a person who paused a video game and logged into a bank account while wearing an EEG headset was at risk for having their passwords or other sensitive data stolen by a malicious software programme.

    “These emerging devices open immense opportunities for everyday users,” said Nitesh Saxena, associate professor from University of Alabama.

    “However, they could also raise significant security and privacy threats as companies work to develop even more advanced brain-computer interface technology,” said Saxena.

    The team used one EEG headset currently available to consumers online and one clinical-grade headset used for scientific research to demonstrate how easily a malicious software programme could passively eavesdrop on a user’s brainwaves.

    While typing, a user’s inputs correspond with their visual processing, as well as hand, eye and head muscle movements. All these movements are captured by EEG headsets.

    The team asked 12 people to type a series of randomly generated PINs and passwords into a text box as if they were logging into an online account while wearing an EEG headset, in order for the software to train itself on the user’s typing and the corresponding brainwave.

    “In a real-world attack, a hacker could facilitate the training step required for the malicious programme to be most accurate, by requesting that the user enter a predefined set of numbers in order to restart the game after pausing it to take a break, similar to the way CAPTCHA is used to verify users when logging onto websites,” Saxena said.

    The team found that, after a user entered 200 characters, algorithms within the malicious software programme could make educated guesses about new characters the user entered by monitoring the EEG data recorded.

    The algorithm was able to shorten the odds of a hacker’s guessing a four-digit numerical PIN from one in 10,000 to one in 20 and increased the chance of guessing a six-letter password from about 500,000 to roughly one in 500.

    “Given the growing popularity of EEG headsets and the variety of ways in which they could be used, it is inevitable that they will become part of our daily lives, including while using other devices,” Saxena said.

    “It is important to analyse the potential security and privacy risks associated with this emerging technology to raise users’ awareness of the risks and develop viable solutions to malicious attacks,” he said.