Fidelity National Financial, a major player in real estate services such as title insurance and escrow, recently fell victim to a devastating ransomware attack, causing widespread confusion and concern among homeowners and potential buyers.
A recent Gallup survey highlights a growing concern among Americans regarding scams, with 57 percent of the respondents fearing being tricked by internet scammers.
The company behind Roblox, a video game massively popular with children and young teens, is facing a class-action lawsuit initiated by concerned parents over allegations of sexual content and grooming on its gaming platform, raising serious concerns about the safety of its young user base.
Crooks and scammers are having a field day thanks to the advent of AI technologies used for cloning voices and extracting personal information from social media platforms. Cybercriminals are using AI to create convincing copies of young people’s voices, which are used to power “grandparent scams” targeting elderly relatives.
A ransomware attack on the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the communist county’s largest bank, has reportedly caused a disruption at the U.S. Treasury market.
A recently unsealed court filing by the FTC accuses massive data broker of Kochava of selling a “staggering” amount of sensitive information on Americans gathered from a wide variety of sources including smartphone apps. Data brokers like Kochava promise their customers a “360-Degree perspective” on individuals, which the government alleges happens without the consent of consumers.
Okta, an identity and authentication management software company whose products are widely used in business and education, has fallen victim to a security breach where hackers accessed sensitive customer information through its customer support management system.
The world of robocalling is evolving, with generative AI now enabling scammers to mimic the voices of people we know, making fraudulent calls seem more trustworthy and heightening the risk of successful scams.
The FTC is contemplating an investigation into Microsoft’s adherence to cybersecurity commitments following the massive email hack the revealed troubling vulnerabilities in the tech giant’s defense mechanisms. Hackers were able to access sensitive information in corporate and government email system thanks to Microsoft’s security failures.
Millions of user records from DNA testing company 23andMe have been leaked online by a hacker, marking the second significant breach in recent weeks.
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Google search data can be used as evidence in a murder trial, marking a significant moment in the intersection of technology and law. Bloomberg reports that in a decision that could reshape legal
A class action lawsuit accuses Apple’s AirTags of becoming the “weapon of choice” for stalkers, sparking an alarming surge in stalking reports across the nation and beyond.
A coordinated “swatting” effort may be behind hundreds of school shooting hoaxes that sent police rushing to quiet schools, where they smashed doors open and stalked the hallways armed with rifles, only to find terrified teachers and students.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against H&R Block, Facebook (now known as Meta), and Google, accusing the companies of scheming to illicitly install trackers on H&R Block’s website used scan and transmit sensitive tax data, which was allegedly used for targeted advertising and refining Facebook’s AI algorithms. As one attorney explained, “It’s like your income tax guy handing your pay stubs and tax returns over to a marketing firm.”
A sophisticated and twisted new phone scam is targeting parents in New York City, with fraudsters utilizing advanced AI to mimic the distressed voices of their target’s children. One woman who was scammed by a call seeming to come from her 14-year-old daughter crying and claiming to have been arrested explains, “I’m aware it was really stupid – and I’m not a stupid person – but when you hear your child’s voice, screaming, crying, it just puts you on a different level.”
Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing Chat has recently fallen prey to a sophisticated malware advertising campaign, with malicious ads infiltrating conversations and directing users to fake download sites known to distribute malware.
Hackers purportedly linked to the Chinese government infiltrated the State Department after hacking a Microsoft employee earlier this summer, pilfering around 60,000 emails from the inboxes of 10 employees, revealing sensitive information including travel itineraries and diplomatic deliberations.
The CIA is in the final stages of developing an AI tool designed to enhance the analysis of open-source intelligence, marking a significant stride in the West’s ongoing technological rivalry with China.
Meredith Whittaker, the president of private messaging app Signal, shed light on the intrinsic link between AI and Big Tech’s surveillance capitalism, emphasizing the profound implications of the technology on privacy and user data during her appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. Whittaker went so far as to label AI as “surveillance technology,” which may be why the Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe are rushing to integrate AI into everything they do.
The FTC is scrutinizing Elon Musk for potentially compromising data privacy and security protocols at Twitter, which has recently been rebranded as X.
MGM Resorts International is in crisis management mode as a significant cybersecurity breach forces the shutdown of various systems, including its main website, online reservations, and in-casino services. Legions of gamblers were shocked when even the casino giant’s slot machines stopped working temporarily.
Chinese hackers broke into a Microsoft engineer’s corporate account, leading to the unauthorized access of email accounts belonging to senior U.S. officials, casting a shadow over the tech giant’s cybersecurity measures. The hack occurred in June, but the company just completed an internal investigation that pointed the finger at its own sloppy security practices.
Apple has urgently rolled out software updates to counter a newly discovered “zero-click” vulnerability that allows spyware to infiltrate its devices. Owners of iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and even Apple Watches should immediately update their device by following the instructions at the bottom of this article.
The U.S. federal government has allocated at least $22 million for the development of “smart” clothing capable of surveillance and data collection. The largest allocation of this funding is a project called SMART ePants, which will design underwear and other clothing items capable of spying on their surroundings.
A feature on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) website, designed to allow New York City subway riders to check their travel history, has come under scrutiny for posing a significant privacy risk. As one privacy expert explains, “Obviously this is a great fit for abusers who live with their victims or have physical access, however brief, to their wallets.”
In a sweeping response to new age verification laws in various states, Pornhub has blocked access to its adult content in Arkansas, Virginia, and other locations, igniting a debate over online privacy, child safety, and governmental regulation. The pornography company bizarrely argues that asking users to prove they are at least 18 years old “will put children and your privacy at risk.”
Microsoft’s cloud security, particularly its Azure platform, has come under severe criticism for what security experts are calling negligent and irresponsible handling of security vulnerabilities. The CEO of one security firm explains, “What you hear from Microsoft is ‘just trust us,’ but what you get back is very little transparency and a culture of toxic obfuscation.”
Google has announced that it now reserves the right to scrape virtually all content posted online to enhance its AI tools. The internet giant’s privacy policy now doesn’t just describe how the Masters of the Universe will use all your personal data in its products to generate ad revenue, but also explains it considers the entire internet fair game for its relentless data collection systems.
The increasing popularity of OpenAI’s AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has led to a surge in cybersecurity threats, with over 101,000 compromised ChatGPT account login credentials found on dark web marketplaces in the past year. Compromised accounts put ChatGPT users’ privacy at risk because the system keeps a record of chats which may include sensitive information and personal data.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) reported Wednesday that hackers stole names, social security numbers, birth dates and other confidential information of roughly 769,000 retirees and beneficiaries.
Despite Elon Musk’s claims following his takeover of Twitter, the social media platform continues to grapple with the persistent issue of fake and spam accounts, according to recent research. One Princeton professor explains, “It’s clearly the case that bad bots remain pervasive on Twitter.”
A recent report from the Director of National Intelligence has unveiled that the U.S. government is buying vast quantities of Americans’ personal data generated by our cars, smartphones, and web browsers, mirroring the results of intrusive surveillance techniques and posing significant threats to privacy.
In an unprecedented event in the healthcare industry, St. Margaret’s Health in Spring Valley, Illinois, is set to close its doors, partially due to a crippling ransomware attack that occurred in 2021. This marks the first time a hospital has publicly attributed its closure to a cyberattack. One administrator explained the extent of the cyberattack, saying, “You’re dead in the water. We were down a minimum of 14 weeks. And then you’re trying to recover. Nothing went out. No claims. Nothing got entered. So it took months and months and months.” she said.
Microsoft’s cybersecurity has detected a China-backed attack on U.S. communications infrastructure. The attack was targeted primarily in the U.S territory of Guam, a Pacific ocean island that is central to a potential U.S. response to Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
A popular fertility tracking app, Premom, is facing allegations of unlawfully sharing sensitive health data of its users with third-party advertisers including Google and Chinese companies, according to a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
A study by the Internet Watch Foundation found that online predators are targeting children’s webcams, and that since 2019, there has been a tenfold increase in sexual abuse imagery created via webcams and other recording devices worldwide.
While Google “promised to delete” pro-abortion users’ data whenever they visited abortion mills, the tech giant appears to be unable to help itself when it comes to collecting (and keeping) information on everyone.
Twitter has admitted to a privacy breach that exposed tweets intended to be seen only by users’ closest friends to the entire site, after weeks of ignoring reports on the issue.
A recent investigation by cybersecurity researchers has exposed the misuse of hacking tools sold by little-known Israeli vendor QuaDream. The company’s “Reign” hacking tool seems to be as powerful as the better known “Pegasus” hacking tool made by NSO Group.
Manufacturers are reportedly scrambling to secure communication systems in their vehicles after thieves discovered new methods to bypass advanced security systems. In some cases, crooks are taking control of vehicles by hacking their headlights.
