Cyber Bites

Hackers are disguising viruses as illegal downloads ahead of the show's hotly anticipated final season, which airs this week. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pirate the episodes so they don't have to shell out for pricey TV packages. And it seems cyber criminals are jumping on the chance to scam viewers as they scour the web for downloads. Security researchers from Kaspersky Lab say cyber criminals often use popular TV shows to...

Facebook's string of recent privacy scandals have made a dent in user trust in the company, a new study has found. In a survey administered by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, approximately 60 percent of respondents indicated that they don't trust Facebook with their personal information.  That percentage was greatly higher than the levels of user distrust recorded for rival tech giants like Amazon and Google.Source: Daily Mail

Researchers at Alphabet’s Chronicle Security say they have discovered what appears to be a new version of Flame malware that popped up in 2014 and likely remained active until 2016. The finding shows that instead of killing their operation, the attackers simply re-tooled their spy kit and added strong encryption to make it harder to detect and reverse engineer. “Nobody ever expected to see Flame again. We figured it was too old and expensive to...

The Home Office has admitted breaching data protection rules when it launched the Windrush compensation scheme. The department sent information to Windrush migrants in a way that meant their email addresses could be seen by other people. An internal review has been launched and the matter has been referred to the Information Commissioner. Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes apologised "unreservedly" for what she said was an "administrative error".Source: BBC

Today, the European Commission released guidelines calling for "trustworthy AI." According to the EU, AI should adhere to the basic ethical principles of respect for human autonomy, prevention of harm, fairness and accountability. The guidelines include seven requirements -- listed below -- and call particular attention to protecting vulnerable groups, like children and people with disabilities. They also state that citizens should have full control over their data.Source: Engadget

Android fans are being warned about the re-emergence of a malware that’s infected millions of devices and a Google Play Store threat. Android is one of the most used pieces of software in the world with over two billion people using it each and every month. The Google mobile OS has been subject to some high-profile security threats, including the Judy malware which was spread via the Google Play Store. And now Android fans are...

A widely circulated security report by Symantec has claimed involvement of an Iran based hacking group in various attacks that have attempted various cyber-attacks on US and Saudi Arabian firms. The Symantec security report establishes the connection wherein Elfin widely known as APT 33, the cyber-espionage group, has been found to be formulating and executing cyber-attacks on strategic firms, located in US and Saudi. Source: Tech Sprouts

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has proposed an independent watchdog that will write a "code of practice" for tech companies which would see Internet sites be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle "online harms" such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse. Senior managers could be held liable for breaches, with a possible levy on the industry to fund the regulator. Source: BBC

New variants of the sextortion scams are now attaching password protected zip files that contain alleged proof that the sender has a video recording of the recipient. While you cannot view the individual files in the archive, you can see what they are named, which can cause recipients to become scared enough to make a payment. This new sextortion variant was first reported by security site MyOnlineSecurity and is utilising email subjects like "RE: Case...

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has fined Newham Council £145,000 for inadvertently releasing the details of 200 people residing in its area who featured on a police database with a link to gang crime. The details were disclosed from the Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Matrix database when an employee sent the personal details in an attachment to 44 recipients, with both redacted and unredacted versions of the data. Source: IT Pro