Ngawur: April 2016

Breaking News

Friday 29 April 2016

Ransomware Virus Shuts Down Electric and Water Utility

Ransomware has become an albatross around the neck, targeting businesses, hospitals, and personal computers worldwide and extorting Millions of Dollars.

Typical Ransomware targets victim's computer encrypts files on it, and then demands a ransom -- typically about $500 in Bitcoin -- in exchange for a key that will decrypt the files.

Guess what could be the next target of ransomware malware?

Microsoft to Store Data on DNA — 1,000,000,000 TB in Just a Gram

In Brief
Do you know — 1 Gram of DNA Can Store 1,000,000,000 Terabyte of Data for 1000+ Years.

Microsoft has purchased 10 Million strands of synthetic DNA, called Oligonucleotides a.k.a. DNA molecules, from biology startup Twist and collaborated with researchers from University of Washington to explore the idea of using synthetic DNA to store huge amount of data.

Microsoft is planning to

U.S. Supreme Court allows the FBI to Hack any Computer in the World

In Brief
The US Supreme Court has approved amendments to Rule 41, which now gives judges the authority to issue search warrants, not only for computers located in their jurisdiction but also outside their jurisdiction.

Under the original Rule 41, let’s say, a New York judge can only authorize the FBI to hack into a suspect's computer in New York.

But the amended rule would now make it

Thursday 28 April 2016

In-Brief: Telegram Vulnerability, Malware in Nuclear Plant, Anti-Tor Malware and Hotpatching Exploit

Clickjacking Vulnerability in Telegram Web Client
The official Telegram web-client that allows its users to access messenger account over desktop’s web browser is vulnerable to clickjacking web application vulnerability.

Egyptian security researcher Mohamed A. Baset told The Hacker News about a flaw in Telegram that could allow an attacker to change sensitive information of a Telegram user,

Child Porn Suspect Held in Jail for 7 Months for refusing to Decrypt Hard Drives

In Brief
A suspect of child pornography possession, Francis Rawls, who is a former Philadelphia Police Department sergeant, has been in solitary confinement without charges for last seven months and will remain until he complies with a court order forcing him to decrypt his password-protected hard drives seized in connection with a child pornography investigation.

Remember Ramona Fricosu?

Former Tor Developer Created Malware for FBI to Unmask Tor Users

In Brief
According to an investigation, Matthew Edman, a cyber security expert and former employee of the Tor Project, helped the FBI with Cornhusker a.k.a Torsploit malware that allowed Feds to hack and unmask Tor users in several high-profile cases, including Operation Torpedo and Silk Road.

Do you know who created malware for the FBI that allowed Feds to unmask Tor users?

It's an

PLATINUM Hackers Hijack Windows Hotpatching to Stay Hidden

In Brief
The Microsoft’s Windows Defender Advanced Threat Hunting team detected that a cyber espionage group of hackers, known as PLATINUM, has found a way to turn the Windows's Hotpatching technique (a way of updating the operating system without requiring a restart) to hide its malware from Antivirus products.

PLATINUM group has been active since 2009 and launching large-scale attacks

Wednesday 27 April 2016

This Tiny Computer has no Battery, Powered Wirelessly from Radio Waves

No matter how smart and fast your devices would be, the biggest issue is always with the battery technology.

Whenever you go to buy any electronic gadget — smartphone, laptop, or any wearable — the most important specification isn’t its processor speed or its camera quality but its Battery Backup, which is not getting better any time soon.

What if you could eliminate the very thing entirely

For the First time, FBI discloses a Flaw to Apple, but it's already Patched!

In Brief
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made its first disclosure about a software security flaw to Apple under the Vulnerability Equities Process (VEP), a White House initiative created in April 2014 for reviewing flaws and deciding which ones should be made public.

Unfortunately, the vulnerability reported by the federal agency only affected older versions of Apple’s iOS and OS

Tuesday 26 April 2016

Pro-ISIS Hackers release 'Kill List' Of 43 United States Officials

In Brief
A group of pro-ISIS hackers calling themselves the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC) has issued a "Kill List" containing the names of dozens of U.S. government personnel at the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, and several other federal agencies.

Meanwhile, the US military’s Cyber Command has announced to launch its first attack against ISIS' digital

In-Brief: Spotify Hack, Secret of Chrome OS, MIT Bug Bounty, Nanowire Batteries

1. Spotify Hacked! Change your Password ASAP

If you are one of the millions of people around the world who love to listen to music on Spotify, you may need to change your password immediately.

Has Spotify been hacked? The company says no, but some Spotify users have claimed their profiles were hijacked, and details were changed without knowledge, including passwords and email addresses, TC

Laser Gun to Detect Bombs and Chemical Weapons from 100 Feet Away

In Brief
US-based Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) agency is sponsoring a program to build portable laser sensors that could detect explosives, narcotics and other dangerous chemical weapons from 100 feet away.

Dubbed SILMARILS (Standoff Illuminator for Measuring Absorbance and Reflectance Infrared Light Signatures), the program aims to identify biological agents as

DDoS Extortionists made $100,000 without Launching a Single Attack

In Brief
Cyber crooks find a new and ingenious way to make hundreds of thousands of dollars with no effort.

An unknown cyber gang, pretending to be Armada Collective, has made more than $100,000 in less than two months simply by threatening to launch DDoS attack on websites, but never actually launched a single attack.

A group of Cyber Extortionists is sending threatening emails to

Monday 25 April 2016

How Did Hackers Who Stole $81 Million from Bangladesh Bank Go Undetected?

In Brief
Investigators from British defense contractor BAE Systems discovered that hackers who stole $81 million from the Bangladesh Central Bank actually hacked into software from SWIFT financial platform, a key part of the global financial system.

The hackers used a custom-made malware to hide evidence and go undetected by erasing records of illicit transfers with the help of compromised

Saturday 23 April 2016

DARPA Wants To Build Ultra Secure Messaging App for US Military

Just last month, DARPA launched a project dubbed "Improv," inviting hackers to transform simple household appliances into deadly weapons.

Now, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is finding someone in the private sector to develop a hacker-proof "secure messaging and transaction platform" for the U.S. military.

Darpa wants researchers to create a secure messaging and transaction

Bank with No Firewall. That's How Hackers Managed to Steal $80 Million

In Brief
Investigators from the Forensic Training Institute of the Bangladesh investigated the $80 Million bank heist and discovered that the hackers managed to gain access to the network because the Bank was using second-hand $10 network switches without a Firewall to run its network.

When it was reported last month that an unknown hacking group attempted to steal $1 Billion from

Friday 22 April 2016

Hacker Installed a Secret Backdoor On Facebook Server to Steal Passwords

How to Hack Facebook?

That’s the most commonly asked question during this decade.

It’s a hacker dream to hack Facebook website for earning bug bounty or for any malicious purpose.

Facebook security team recently found that someone, probably a blackhat hacker with malicious intent, has breached into its server and installed a backdoor that was configured to steal Facebook employees' login

More than 1 million People now access Facebook Over Tor Network

In Brief
Facebook has hit another Milestone: More than 1 MILLION people, or you can say privacy conscious, are accessing Facebook over TOR.

Facebook proudly announced today that, this month, for the first time, the people connected to the anonymous version of Facebook that's accessible only through the TOR anonymity network exceeded 1 Million – an increase of almost 100% in the past ten

Sony PlayStation Network to Get Two-Factor Authentication

In Brief:
Sony is finally bolstering the security of the PlayStation Network by adding Two-Factor Authentication to the servers — almost five years after a massive hack that exposed data of over 77 Million users.

Sony confirmed to Polygon today that it is planning to introduce two-factor verification to its PlayStation Network widely soon after a Twitter user saw a reference to it in the

FBI paid Hacker $1.3 Million to Unlock San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone

In Brief
Guess how much the FBI has paid an unknown grey-hat hacker to break into San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone?

FBI Director James Comey hinted during an interview that the FBI spent more than $1.3 Million for breaking into the iPhone of a suspected terrorist and found nothing useful on it.

Apple's legal battle with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ended following the bureau's

Thursday 21 April 2016

Encrypted Smartphone Network Seized by Dutch Police for Criminal Investigation

On Tuesday, the Dutch Police arrested a 36-year-old man, Danny Manupassa, on suspicion of money laundering and involvement in selling encrypted smartphones to criminals.

Manupassa owns a company called Ennetcom, which provides customized Blackberry Phones with the secure PGP-encrypted network.

Reportedly, Ennetcom sold nearly 19,000 encrypted cell phones at 1500 euros each in last few years.

Opera Browser Now Offers Free and Unlimited Built-in VPN Service

In Brief
Opera becomes the first web browser to offer a built-in Free, unlimited and 256-bit encrypted VPN service for everyone.

Opera's Free VPN protects unencrypted browser session from leaking on public WiFi networks and will also let unblock firewalls to improve privacy and security.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have become an important tool not just for large companies, but also

Creators of SpyEye Virus Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison

In Brief
Two International hackers, Aleksandr Andreevich Panin and Hamza Bendelladj, have been sentenced to a combined 24 years and 6 months in prison for their roles in developing and distributing SpyEye banking trojan, a powerful botnet similar to the infamous ZeuS malware.

Both hackers were charged with stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from banking institutions worldwide.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Researcher releases Free Ransomware Detection Tool for Mac OS X Users

In Brief:
Introducing RansomWhere, a free generic ransomware detection tool for Mac OS X users that can identify ransomware-like behavior by continually monitoring the file-system for the creation of encrypted files by suspicious processes.

This ransomware detection tool helps to block the suspicious processes and waits for the user to decide whether to allow or stop the process.

China wants Apple's Source Code, but the Company Refused

In Brief
Apple's head of legal has denied all rumors about providing its complete source code or any backdoor to the Chinese government.

Apple officially confirmed that the Chinese government has asked Apple twice in the past two years to hand over the source code for its operating system, but the company refused in both the cases.

In a Tuesday hearing entitled "Deciphering the Debate Over

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Viber adds End-to-End Encryption and PIN protected Hidden Chats features

In Brief
Viber, the popular mobile messaging app announced Tuesday that it has added full end-to-end encryption for video, voice and text message services for its millions of users.

Here, the end-to-end encryption means only you and the person you are communicating with can read the content, and nobody in between, not even the company and if court orders company to provide user data, they

MIT builds Artificial Intelligence system that can detect 85% of Cyber Attacks

In Brief
What if we could Predict when a cyber attack is going to occur before it actually happens and prevent it? Isn't it revolutionary idea for Internet Security?

Security researchers at MIT have developed a new Artificial Intelligence-based cyber security platform, called 'AI2,' which has the ability to predict, detect, and stop 85% of Cyber Attacks with high accuracy.

Cyber security

Google makes it mandatory for Chrome Apps to tell Users what Data they collect

In Brief
Chrome apps and extensions make things easier, but they can also do terrible things like spy on web users and collect their personal data.

But, now Google has updated its browser’s User Data Policy requiring all Chrome extension and app developers to disclose what data they collect.

Furthermore, developers are prohibited from collecting unnecessary browsing data and must also use

Hackers can spy on your calls and track location, using just your phone number

In Brief

The famous ‘60 Minutes’ television show shocked some viewers Sunday evening when a team of German hackers demonstrated how they spied on an iPhone used by U.S. Congressman, then recorded his phone calls and tracked his movement through Los Angeles.

Hackers leverage a security flaw in SS7 (Signalling System Seven) protocol that allows hackers to track phone locations, listen in on

Friday 15 April 2016

Canadian Police obtained Master Key to Crack BlackBerry Messenger Encryption

BlackBerry has long been known for its stance on mobile security, as it was the first mobile phone maker to provide end-to-end encryption. But a new report revealed that the company has provided a master backdoor to law enforcement in its secure devices since 2010.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been in possession of a global decryption key for BlackBerry phones since 2010,

Report: Nothing useful found on San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone

The San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone that the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said was critical in their investigation has absolutely nothing useful on it, at least so far.

Yes, the same iPhone that was subject of so much attention from the past few months.

Here's a brief look at what happened in recent months over the iPhone:

The DoJ and

Thursday 14 April 2016

Microsoft Sues US Govt Over Unconstitutional Secret Data Requests

Microsoft is suing the Department of Justice (DoJ) to protest the gag order that prevents technology companies from telling their customers when their cloud data is handed over to authorities.

In layman's terms, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) allows the government to issue gag orders saying that the people or companies involved in a legal case cannot talk about the case or

Anti-Encryption Bill Released, would Kill your Privacy and Security

The United States anti-encryption bill will kill your Privacy.

In the wake of the Apple vs. FBI case, two leading Intelligence Committee Senators have introduced an anti-encryption bill that would effectively ban strong encryption.

Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released the official version of their bill today in response to concerns that criminals and

Journalist Matthew Keys gets 2-Year Prison term for helping Anonymous Hackers

Former Reuters journalist Matthew Keys, who was convicted last year of helping the Anonymous group of hackers, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for computer hacking charges.

Keys was found guilty last year in October of giving Anonymous login credentials that allowed the group to deface the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Media-owned newspaper, back in 2013.

After leaving the job

Wednesday 13 April 2016

British Authorities Order Hacker Lauri Love to hand Over Encryption Keys

The National Crime Agency (NCA) of United Kingdom is forcing the British citizen, and political hacktivist Lauri Love accused of hacking to hand over encryption keys to equipment seized from his home.

Love, 31, is currently fighting extradition to the United States where he faces up to 99 years in prison for allegedly hacking into the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), the US Missile

So, FBI Director also Puts Tape Over His Webcam

What do you do to protect your 'Privacy' while using your computer?

FBI Director James Comey uses tape to cover up his laptop webcam to ensure Privacy.

Yes, you heard it right. During the Q&A session at Kenyon College last week, Comey said that he uses tape to cover his laptop webcam in order to mitigate the danger of secret surveillance.

While giving a speech about encryption and

Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death Gets QR Code

If you are a Microsoft’s Windows user, you may have encountered the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

The Blue Screen of Death generally appears when Windows encounters any critical error due to software or hardware issues, displaying a sad face and no information other than "Your PC ran into a problem."

However, now the company is apparently giving its infamous Blue Screen of Death

Tuesday 12 April 2016

WebUSB API — Connect Your USB Devices Securely to the Internet

Two Google engineers have developed a draft version of an API called WebUSB that would allow you to connect your USB devices to the Web safely and securely, bypassing the need for native drivers.

WebUSB – developed by Reilly Grant and Ken Rockot – has been introduced to the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Incubator Community Group (W3C WICG), is build to offer a universal platform that could

How to decrypt Petya Ransomware for Free

Ransomware has risen dramatically since last few years and is currently one of the most popular threats on the Internet.

The Ransomware infections have become so sophisticated with the time that victims end up paying ransom in order to get their critical and sensitive data back.

But if you are infected with Petya Ransomware, there is good news for you.

You can unlock

Warning! CCTV Cameras Sold on Amazon Come with Pre-Installed Malware

Be careful while buying any off-brand electronics from Amazon, as they could end up infecting you.

Recently, independent security researcher Mike Olsen discovered that the CCTV surveillance devices sold on Amazon came with pre-installed malware.

Olsen discovered this nasty secret after he bought a set of outdoor CCTV surveillance cameras from Amazon for one of his friends.

He picked

Monday 11 April 2016

Forensic Firm that Unlocked Terrorist's iPhone 5C is Close to Crack iPhone 6

The FBI didn't disclose the identity of the third-party company that helped them access the San Bernardino iPhone, but it has been widely believed that the Israeli mobile forensic firm Cellebrite was hired by the FBI to put an end to the Apple vs. FBI case.

For those unfamiliar in the Apple vs. FBI case: Apple was engaged in a legal battle with the Department of Justice over a court order

How Certificate Transparency Monitoring Tool Helped Facebook Early Detect Duplicate SSL Certs

Earlier this year, Facebook came across a bunch of duplicate SSL certificates for some of its own domains and revoked them immediately with the help of its own Certificate Transparency Monitoring Tool service.

Digital certificates are the backbone of our secure Internet, which protects sensitive information and communication, as well as authenticate systems and Internet users.

The

What is Certificate Transparency? How It helps Detect Fake SSL Certificates

Do you know there is a huge encryption backdoor still exists on the Internet that most people don't know about?

I am talking about the traditional Digital Certificate Management System… the weakest link, which is completely based on trust, and it has already been broken several times.

To ensure the confidentiality and integrity of their personal data, billions of Internet users blindly

Saturday 9 April 2016

No Password Required! 135 Million Modems Open to Remote Factory Reset

More than 135 Million modems around the world are vulnerable to a flaw that can be exploited remotely to knock them offline by cutting off the Internet access.

The simple and easily exploitable vulnerability has been uncovered in one of the most popular and widely-used cable modem, the Arris SURFboard SB6141, used in Millions of US households.

Security researcher David Longenecker

WordPress enables Free HTTPS Encryption for all Blogs with Custom Domain

Do you own a custom domain or a blog under the wordpress.com domain name?
If yes, then there is good news for you.
WordPress is bringing free HTTPS to every blog and website that belongs to them in an effort to make the Web more secure.
WordPress – free, open source and the most popular a content management system (CMS) system on the Web – is being used by over a quarter of all websites across

Friday 8 April 2016

Google may adopt Apple's Swift Programming Language for Android

Almost two years back, Apple introduced Swift programming language at its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) to the developers who build software applications for Apple devices.

Swift was designed to make it easier for developers to create apps for Apple's mobile platform. Usually developers write complete app code and then compile it to see output, but Swift helps them see results in

Thursday 7 April 2016

FBI claims its iPhone Hacking Tool can't Unlock iPhone 5S, 6S and 6S Plus

Although everyone, including Apple, was worried about the iPhone hacking tool used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to access data on iPhone belonged to the San Bernardino shooter, the FBI director said the hack does not work on an iPhone 5S or later.

FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that the agency was able to avoid a prolonged legal battle with Apple by buying a tool from

How to Run Ubuntu on latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14316

As reported last week, Microsoft will launch an 'Anniversary Update' for Windows 10 that will bring Ubuntu file system, allowing you to use Bash to run command-line Linux applications without a virtual machine.

However, you do not have to wait until this summer to run Bash (Bourne Again Shell) on your Windows 10 OS, as Microsoft has released the first preview build of the Windows 10

'Hacking Team' Loses License to Sell Surveillance Malware Outside Europe

Hacking Team – the infamous Italy-based spyware company that had more than 400 GB of its confidential data stolen last year – is facing another trouble.

This time not from other hackers, but from its own government.

Hacking Team is infamous for selling surveillance spyware to governments and intelligence agencies worldwide, but now it may not be allowed to do so, as the Italian export

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Adobe to issue Emergency Patch for Critical Flash Player Vulnerability

Adobe has been one of the favorite picks of the Hackers to mess with any systems devoid of any operating systems, as Flash Player is a front runner in all the browsers.

Hackers have already been targeting Flash Player for long by exploiting known vulnerabilities roaming in the wild.

Despite Adobe's efforts, Flash is not safe anymore for Internet security, as one more critical

Facebook uses Artificial Intelligence to Describe Photos to Blind Users

Today the Internet has become dominated by images, and it’s the major feature that got Facebook to a Billion daily users.

We can not imagine Facebook without photos, but for Millions of blind and visually impaired people, Facebook without photos has been the reality since its launch.

But not now! Facebook has launched a system, dubbed Automatic Alternative Text, which describes the

Hacker reveals How to Bypass iPhone 6s Lock Screen Passcode [Video]

Apple gave you a reason to turn your Siri OFF.

A critical security flaw in Apple's newest iPhones running the latest version of the iOS operating system allows anyone to bypass the phone's lockscreen and gain access to personal information.

The iPhone lockscreen bypass bug only works on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, as these devices take advantage of the 3D Touch functionality that

Tuesday 5 April 2016

WhatsApp turns on End-to-End Encryption by default for its 1 Billion Users

WhatsApp is updating its messaging app so that every text message and voice call will be encrypted for the company’s one billion users.

Yes, Whatsapp has finally implemented full end-to-end encryption, as promised a year ago.

This means, from now every message, image or voice call you made will be secured by end-to-end encryption so that only you and the person you're communicating with can

Silk Road 2.0 Dark-Web Admin Pleads Guilty

An admin of Silk Road 2, named Brian Farrell, who helped maintain the notorious dark web site by providing customer and technical support, approving and suspending vendors, and promoting staff members, has pleaded guilty and could face 8 years in prison.

The 28-year-old man, who used the moniker "DoctorClu," had been accused last year of being the right-hand to the creator of Silk Road 2.0

Personal Data of 50 Million Turkish Citizens Leaked Online

Personal details of nearly 50 Million Turkish citizens, including the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have been compromised and posted online in a massive security breach.

A database, which contains 49,611,709 records, appeared on the website of an Icelandic group on Monday, offering download links to anyone interested.

If confirmed, the data breach would be one of the

Monday 4 April 2016

Microsoft Pays $13,000 to Hacker for Finding Authentication Flaw

A security researcher has won $13,000 bounty from Microsoft for finding a critical flaw in its main authentication system that could allow hackers to gain access to a user's Outlook, Azure and Office accounts.

The vulnerability has been uncovered by UK-based security consultant Jack Whitton and is similar to Microsoft's OAuth CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) in Live.com discovered by

Infamous Hacker 'Guccifer' appears in US Court after Extradition

Marcel Lazar Lehel aka "Guccifer" – an infamous Romanian hacker who hacked into the emails and social networking accounts of numerous high profile the US and Romanian Politicians – appeared in the United States court for the first time after extradition.

Following Romania's top court approval last month, Guccifer was extradited to the United States recently from Romania, his home country,

Ransomware attacks on Hospitals put Patients at Risk

Just last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an urgent "Flash" message to the businesses and organisations about the threat of Samsam Ransomware, but the ransomware has already wreaked havoc on some critical infrastructure.

MedStar, a non-profit group that runs 10 hospitals in the Baltimore and Washington area, was attacked with Samsam, also known as Samas and MSIL,

The Panama Papers — Biggest leak in History Exposes Global Corruption

A huge trove of confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca was made public on Sunday in what's known as One of the World’s Largest Data Leaks ever, called The Panama Papers.

Over 11.5 Million Leaked Files including 2.6 Terabytes of Data

Even larger than the NSA wires leak in 2013, the Panama Papers includes 2.6 Terabytes of private data, exposing an enormous web

Friday 1 April 2016

Hacker Hijacks a Police Drone from 2 Km Away with $40 Kit

A researcher has demonstrated how easy it is to steal high-end drones, commonly deployed by government agencies and police forces, from 2 kilometres away with the help of less than $40 worth of hardware.

The attack was developed by IBM security researcher Nils Rodday, who recently presented his findings at Black Hat Asia 2016.

Hacking the $28,463 Drone with Less than $40 of Hardware

Just One? No, FBI to Unlock More iPhones with its Secret Technique

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) worked with Israeli mobile forensic firm Cellebrite to unlock iPhone used in the San Bernardino shooting last year, confirmed by multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Tuesday that the FBI successfully unlocked iPhone and accessed data with the help of an undisclosed alternative method

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