Feds probe China-linked attacks on US telecom networks
Federal authorities said they are investigating China-linked attacks on U.S. telecom networks in the wake of reports that hackers conducted a broad espionage campaign, targeting senior elected officials and candidates. "After the FBI identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency immediately notified affected companies," the agencies said in a joint statement Friday. READ MORE...
French ISP Free confirms data breach after hacker puts customer data up for auction
One of the largest internet providers in France, Free S.A.S, has confirmed that it recently suffered a cybersecurity breach after a hacker attempted to sell what purported to be stolen data from the organisation on the dark web. Free told Le Monde that personal data related to some customers had indeed compromised after an attacker targeted a management tool. However, according to the firm, no passwords, bank card information, or the contents of communications were compromised by the attack. READ MORE...
Windows 'Downdate' Attack Reverts Patched PCs to a Vulnerable State
Fully patched Windows 11 systems are vulnerable to attacks that allow an adversary to install custom rootkits that can neutralize endpoint security mechanisms, hide malicious processes and network activity, maintain persistence and stealth on a compromised system, and more. The assault involves a Windows OS downgrade attack technique that SafeBreach security researcher Alon Leviev demonstrated at Black Hat USA 2024 in August. READ MORE...
Phishers reach targets via Eventbrite services
Crooks are leveraging the event management and ticketing website Eventbrite to deliver their phishing emails to potential targets. "Since July, these attacks have increased 25% week over week, resulting in a total growth rate of 900%," Perception Point researchers say. The phishing emails look like they are coming from Eventbrite because they are, but their content is crafted to impersonate legitimate businesses. READ MORE...
Update your iPhone, Mac, Watch: Apple issues patches for several vulnerabilities
Apple has released security patches for most of its operating systems, including iOS, Mac, iPadOS and watchOS. Especially important are the updates for iOS and iPadOS which tackle vulnerabilities which could potentially leak sensitive user information. You should make sure you update as soon as you can. To check if you're using the latest software version, go to Settings > General > Software Update. READ MORE...
Russia Kneecaps Ukraine Army Recruitment With Spoofed 'Civil Defense' App
Ukrainian efforts to recruit new soldiers to serve in its military in the country's war against Russia is under a two-pronged cyberattack by Kremlin-backed threat actors. Researchers at Google's Threat Intelligence Group (TAG) and Mandiant have tracked down an active campaign that uses a spoofed version of the legitimate Ukrainian-language tool "Civil Defense," a crowdsourced mapping tool used to locate military recruiters. Attackers are using the fake version to perform dual malicious actions. READ MORE...
ChatGPT Jailbreak: Researchers Bypass AI Safeguards Using Hexadecimal Encoding and Emojis
Malicious instructions encoded in hexadecimal format could have been used to bypass ChatGPT safeguards designed to prevent misuse. The new jailbreak was disclosed on Monday by Marco Figueroa, gen-AI bug bounty programs manager at Mozilla, through the 0Din bug bounty program. Launched by Mozilla in June 2024, 0Din, which stands for 0Day Investigative Network, is a bug bounty program focusing on large language models (LLMs) and other deep learning technologies. READ MORE...
Fitness App Strava Gives Away Location of Biden, Trump and other Leaders, French Newspaper Says
An investigation by French newspaper Le Monde found that the highly confidential movements of U.S. President Joe Biden, presidential rivals Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and other world leaders can be easily tracked online through a fitness app that their bodyguards use. But the U.S. Secret Service told the newspaper that it doesn't believe the protection it provides was in any way compromised. READ MORE...
- ...in 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashes in what will be known as "Black Tuesday," beginning the Great Depression.
- ...in 1957, actor and voice artist Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson and other characters on "The Simpsons," is born in Chicago, IL.
- ...in 1969, the first computer-to-computer link is accomplished through ARPANET, forerunner of the Internet.
- ...in 1998, Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off with 77-year-old astronaut/senator John Glenn on board, at that time making him the oldest person to go to space.
