Security News

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says Americans lost over $10 billion to scammers in 2023, marking a 14% increase in reported losses compared to the previous year. Imposter scams emerged as the most frequently reported fraud category, with notable upticks in business and government impersonation reports.

It finally admitted to buying bulk data on Americans from data brokers, in response to a query by Senator Weyden. This is almost certainly illegal, although the NSA maintains that it is legal until it's told otherwise.

For a country that prides itself on being free, America does seem to have an awful lot of spying going on, as the new Street Surveillance Hub from the Electronic Frontier Foundation shows. The Hub contains detailed breakdowns of the type of surveillance systems used, from bodycams to biometrics, predictive policing software to gunshot detection microphones and drone-equipped law enforcement.

Today, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission banned data broker Outlogic, formerly X-Mode Social, from selling Americans' raw location data that could be used for tracking purposes. Under the order released today, the first time data brokers were barred from sharing and selling users' sensitive location data, Outlogic must now delete all unlawfully collected sensitive location data, including any models or algorithms derived from this data.

First American Financial Corporation, the second-largest title insurance company in the United States, took some of its systems offline today to contain the impact of a cyberattack. "First American has experienced a cybersecurity incident," the company said in a statement published on a website dedicated to the cyberattack.

First American Financial Corporation, the second-largest title insurance company in the United States, took some of its systems offline today to contain the impact of a cyberattack. "First American has experienced a cybersecurity incident," the company said in a statement published on a website dedicated to the cyberattack.

Allied Pilots Association, a labor union representing 15,000 American Airlines pilots, disclosed a ransomware attack that hit its systems on Monday. APA said that its IT team and outside experts are working on restoring systems impacted by the ransomware attack from backups, with an initial focus on first bringing back pilot-facing products and tools in the hours and days ahead. The union has launched an investigation led by third-party cybersecurity experts to assess the full extent of the incident and its impact on data stored on compromised systems.

Insurance giant American Family Insurance has confirmed it suffered a cyberattack and shut down portions of its IT systems after customers reported website outages all week.American Family Insurance is an insurance company focusing on commercial and personal property, casualty, auto, and life insurance, as well as offering investment and retirement planning The company employs 13,000 people and has a 2022 revenue of $14.4 billion.

A new APT hacking group named 'AtlasCross' targets organizations with phishing lures impersonating the American Red Cross to deliver backdoor malware. Cybersecurity firm NSFocus identified two previously undocumented trojans, DangerAds and AtlasAgent, associated with attacks by the new APT group.

An active malware campaign targeting Latin America is dispensing a new variant of a banking trojan called BBTok, particularly users in Brazil and Mexico. "The BBTok banker has a dedicated...