Security News

A massive shortfall in PC availability, lack of login for secure IT systems, disjointed IT systems and a desperate attempt to fall back onto printed paper methods all contributed to chaotic scenes at the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, according to written testimony put before Parliament today. "On the evening of Saturday 21 August, the soldiers were issued one FCDO computer for every two soldiers. These did not work because FCDO IT had not issued the passwords to unlock them. These computers were finally unlocked on the afternoon of Sunday 22 August. Until this, the soldiers worked with one computer shared between roughly eight people," said former desk officer Raphael Marshall in his evidence [PDF] to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee's Inquiry on Government Policy on Afghanistan.

The latest findings show tech support scams, which often arrive as a pop-up alert convincingly disguised using the names and branding of major tech companies, have become the top phishing threat to consumers. Tech support scams are expected to proliferate in the upcoming holiday season, as well as shopping and charity-related phishing attacks.

Tech support scams work because they try to trick people into believing there's a serious security crisis with their computers, says Norton Labs. The tech support ruse was the number one scam described by Norton Labs in its new October Consumer Cyber Safety Pulse Report.

" Timezone curiosities - when modular arithmetic gets weird. Microsoft researcher found Apple 0-day in March, didn't report it.

The Tech Support Scams YouTube channel has been erased from existence in a blaze of irony as host and creator Jim Browning fell victim to a tech support scam that convinced him to secure his account - by deleting it. "So to prove that anyone can be scammed," Browning announced via Twitter following the attack, "I was convinced to delete my YouTube channel because I was convinced I was talking [to YouTube] support. I never lost control of the channel, but the sneaky s**t managed to get me to delete the channel. Hope to recover soon."

Millennials and Gen Z - not Boomers - fall prey most frequently, according to Microsoft in its 2021 Global Tech Support Scam Research report, released Thursday. Tech support scams involve cybercriminals convincing users they have malware or other problems with their computer that can best be addressed with unsolicited proactive assistance.

Tech support scammers are pretending to be from Microsoft, McAfee, and Norton to target users with fake antivirus billing renewals in a large-scale email campaign. While browsing the web, most people at one time or another have been redirected to a tech support scam web site that pretends your computer is infected and then prompts you to dial a displayed phone number.

A tech-support scammer making random phone calls in the hope of finding a victim called the cyber-crime squad of an Australian police force, which used the happy accident to document the con trick and inform the public on what to watch out for. The call was placed to the Financial and Cybercrime Investigation Branch in the state of South Australia, where the cops serve 1.75 million citizens.

Malwarebytes security researchers have identified a new campaign in which tech support scammers are exploiting a cross-site scripting vulnerability and are relying exclusively on links posted on Facebook to reach potential victims. This, they say, suggests that the tech support scammers were regularly changing these links to avoid blacklisting.

A man authorities say participated in a scam to steal victims' banking information by offering phony computer tech support services has pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors say. Abrar Anjum, 34, a citizen of India, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Providence.