Blogs

Signal Secure Messenger Signal is a secure messenger app published by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC. These are not-for-profit organizations based in Mountain View, California. They were founded by Matthew Rosenfeld aka ‘Moxie Marlinspike’ and Brian Acton, to build on the work of one of Rosenfeld’s earlier start-ups Open Whisper Systems. Signal is free and open source. One of the glories of open source is that absolutely anyone can review the source code.

Facebook Operates Under Contract Not Consent

By Dave McKay in compliance

January 4, 2021

December 2020 Ruling in Favour of Facebook The Viennese Superior Court (Oberlandesgericht Wien) ruled on December 29th 2020 that internet giant Facebook does not need to obtain consent from its users for the use of their data. That is, Facebook does not need to obtain consent under Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. This is because it is covered by the contract that exists between Facebook and its users, and the small print of its terms and conditions.

IoT Cyber Security Bill Enacted

By Dave McKay in

January 2, 2021

IoT Cyber Security Bill Enacted The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act was officially signed into U.S. law in dec. 2020. It requires any Internet of Thing (IoT) device purchased with government funds to meet minimum security standards. The massive growth of the IoT market has seen slip-shod research and development coupled with a lack of understanding of cyber security by design by some manufacturers, mean the market is swimming in insecure and easily exploited, vulnerable devices.

Fireeye Hit by Cyberattack

By Dave McKay in cybercrime

December 9, 2020

Major Cyber Security Firm Attacked One of the largest cyber security firms in the US has been hit by a successful cyberattack. Cyber security giant FireEye published a blog post describing the event. CEO Kevin Mandia said the hack most likely came from a nation-state attacker: “Based on my 25 years in cyber security and responding to incidents, I’ve concluded we are witnessing an attack by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities,” Mandia said in his post.

Complaint Filed Against Address Broker in Vienna

By Dave McKay in privacy

December 3, 2020

On Tuesday, My Privacy is None of Your Business (NOYB) filed a GDPR complaint against AZ Direct Österreich GmbH. They are an address broker—they sell personal data—based in Vienna. They refused to reveal where they get their data from and with whom it had been shared. They claimed they didn’t know because they didn’t bother recording it. It would have been “too burdensome”. A data subject had sent a data subject data access request and asked from where the address publisher had collected his data and to whom it had been sold.

Scammers Accidentally Ring Cybercrime Police

By Dave McKay in cybercrime

November 7, 2020

A Bad Case of Wrong Number A tech-support scammer making random phone calls in the hope of finding a victim to dupe accidentally rang the cybercrime squad of an Australian police force. Officers at the Financial and Cybercrime Investigation Branch (FCIB) used the opportunity—and a secure sand-boxed computer—to discover the mechanics behind the attack. “No one is safe from receiving scam robo-calls, not even the police,” the FCIB said.

FBI Warns US Hospitals About Ransomware

By Dave McKay in cybercrime

October 30, 2020

FBI: US healthcare system facing “increased and imminent” threat of attack The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services warned that they had “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to US hospitals and healthcare providers”. The attacks are ransomware attacks using the Ryuk ransomware strain. They suspect Russian-speaking threat actors are behind the attacks, which are believed to be financially, not politically, motivated.

Russian Military Hackers Accused of Spreading Malware

By Dave McKay in cybercrime

October 21, 2020

Six Russian Military Officers Charged Over Malware Six officers in Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, have been charged by the US with spreading malware and meddling with elections. They are said to be part of the infamous Fancy Bear Advanced Persistent Threat group, APT28. “No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously or irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented damage to pursue small tactical advantages and to satisfy fits of spite,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C.

Thirteen Year Old Arrested for Cybercrime

By Dave McKay in cybercrime

September 26, 2020

Unnamed 13-year Old Arrested for Cyberattacks in Indiana A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with hacking into an Indiana school district’s computer system. The defendant is a pupil at Benjamin Franklin Middle School, Valparaiso, the county seat of Porter County, Indiana. Police confirmed on September 18 that they had taken a boy into custody the day before, after school staff discovered he had illegally entered the Valparaiso Community School computer system.

Negligent Homicide in German Hospital Cyberattack

By Dave McKay in cybersecurity

September 24, 2020

German Police Probe ‘Negligent Homicide’ in Hospital Cyberattack A ransomware attack on a German hospital is under investigation as a cybercrime, obviously, but it is also being investigated from a potential homicide viewpoint. The ransomware attack delayed treatment for a female patient that led to her death, a state Justice Ministry has suggested. The patient was scheduled to undergo life-saving treatment at the Düsseldorf University Clinic but a ransomware attack against about 30 servers forced emergency services to redirect ambulances to a different hospital in Wuppertal, about 60 Km away.

Signal Messenger, WhatsApp, and Privacy

Facebook Operates Under Contract Not Consent

IoT Cyber Security Bill Enacted

Fireeye Hit by Cyberattack

Complaint Filed Against Address Broker in Vienna

Scammers Accidentally Ring Cybercrime Police

FBI Warns US Hospitals About Ransomware

Russian Military Hackers Accused of Spreading Malware

Thirteen Year Old Arrested for Cybercrime

Negligent Homicide in German Hospital Cyberattack

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