Security News

Twitter limits tweeting as prominent accounts spam out cryptocoin scams
2020-07-16 00:34

Many prominent, verified Twitter accounts have been tweeting out cryptocoin scams, with fake tweets reported from an eclectic range of high-profile people and companies, apparently including Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Apple and many others. The scam tweets reportedly included catchy - if highly unlikely - messages such as "Feeling greatful , doubling all payments made to my Bitcoin address," urging people to pay out $1000 and get $2000 back.

Twitter Confirms it was Hacked in an Unprecedented Cryptocurrency Scam
2020-07-15 23:22

The Twitter accounts of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Apple and Uber have each been hijacked at the same time to push a cryptocurrency scam in an unprecedented breach of Twitter accounts. Twitter locked down thousands of verified accounts belonging to elite Twitter users and high-profile companies Wednesday afternoon in an effort to prevent hackers from perpetrating a massive cryptocurrency scam.

Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others hijacked to promote crypto scam
2020-07-15 22:55

A number of high profile Twitter accounts, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Apple, were breached on Wednesday. Twitter said in an official statement: "We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts Twitter accounts. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly".

Twitter mass hacking: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Biden, Obama, more hijacked to peddle Bitcoin scam
2020-07-15 22:21

The Twitter accounts of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and other celebrities were briefly taken over on Wednesday, along with the accounts of various cryptocurrency businesses and affiliated executives, to promote a Bitcoin scam. Twitter also silenced verified blue-tick accounts temporarily to prevent more abuse while it got to the bottom of the kerfuffle.

Google stops pushing scam ads on Americans searching for how to vote
2020-07-01 12:20

You don't have to pay to vote in the US. Up until recently, you wouldn't have necessarily known that, were you to have run a Google search for how or where to vote. Such a search would have been polluted with ads like this one offering "Same-day processing" of voter registration for $129:. That ad, which directs to a site from PrivacyWall.org, is the first ad in a Google search for "Register to vote" that was run in an analysis done by watchdog Tech Transparency Project.

Beware “secure DNS” scam targeting website owners and bloggers
2020-06-29 18:15

We care about your privacy and the protection of your domains, so we will soon be upgrading them, from basic Domain Name System to Domain Name System Security Extensions. As you probably know, DNS is short for domain name system, and it's the globally distributed database that turns server names that humans can remember, such as nakedsecurity.

Cryptocurrency Pump and Dump Scams
2020-06-24 11:30

Really interesting research: "An examination of the cryptocurrency pump and dump ecosystem": Abstract: The surge of interest in cryptocurrencies has been accompanied by a proliferation of fraud....

COVID-19 Fuels Phishing and Scams While BEC Attacks Evolve and Increase
2020-06-23 15:30

Between the second and third weeks of March 2020, email scams and phishing attacks spiked by an unprecedented 436%. Such was the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. BEC attacks represent a low percentage of email attacks by volume, but a disproportionally high percentage of overall loss to business.

Anatomy of a survey scam – how innocent questions can rip you off
2020-06-22 18:48

We've been receiving loads of survey scam emails lately - and you probably get heaps of these, too. Many brands ask questions of that sort, and sometimes offer small rewards for people who take the trouble to fill in the survey - $5 off your next purchase, for example, or a free product of modest value with your next order.

Crypto founder admits $25 million ICO backed by celebrities was a scam
2020-06-18 11:43

The Miami-based cryptocurrency firm Centra Tech was built on fairy dust and paid celebrity hoo-ha, but co-founder Robert Joseph Farkas is going to be doing real time in a real prison for the $25 million initial coin offering rip-off. Centra Tech's founders included Farkas, who held different roles, such as chief marketing officer and chief operating officer.