Cyber Security News highlights this week
- Facebook removed 32 Facebook, and Instagram accounts, and pages for inauthentic activity
- Hackers leaked 11,000 Private Messages from WikiLeaks’ Twitter Chats
- Google banned cryptocurrency-mining Android apps from the play store
- SamSam Ransomware had extorted nearly $6 million from its victims since December 2015
- Two young Dutch brothers sentenced 240 hours of community service who were responsible for the CoinVault Ransomware campaign
- KickICO hacked and lost more than 70 million KICK tokens (or KickCoins) worth an estimated $7.7 million
- Prisoners stole $225K by exploiting vulnerabilities of Jail issued Tablet phones
In-Short Overview:
Yesterday, Facebook announced that it had shut down 17 Facebook accounts, 8 Facebook pages, and 7 Instagram profiles for what the social network categorized as “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”.
Read More:
Facebook Removed 32 accounts for ‘Inauthentic’ Activity (Bank Info Security, July 31, 2018)
Hackers have leaked more than 11,000 direct messages from a Twitter group used by WikiLeaks and around 10 close supporters have been posted online by journalist and activist Emma Best, exposing private chats between 2015 and 2017.
Read More:
Hackers Leaked 11,000 Private Messages from WikiLeaks’ Twitter Chats (The Hacker News, July 30, 2018)
Google has updated its Play Store policy this week to ban Cryptocurrency mining Android apps from the play store. However, there are some cryptocurrency mining apps, like MinerGate, AA Miner, NeoNeonMiner, and Crypto Miner which are still available on the Play Store.
Read More:
Google Banned Cryptocurrency Mining Android Apps from the Play Store (CNet, July 27, 2018)
New research revealed that SamSam Ransomware has earned nearly $6 million from just 233 victims, and their profits are still on the rise, netting around $300,000 per month since December 2015.
Read More:
SamSam Ransomware Attacks Extorted Nearly $6 Million (Bleeping Computer, July 31, 2018)
Three years after the arrest of two young Dutch brothers, who pleaded guilty to their involvement in creating and distributing CoinVault ransomware malware, a district court in Rotterdam sentenced them to 240 hours of community service. The court has also ordered the suspects to pay compensation to some of their victims.
Read More:
CoinVault Authors Sentenced to Community Service for 240 hours (Dark Reading, July 26, 2018)
On Thursday, July 26, at 09:04 UTC, the ICO platform KickICO got hacked. Attackers have stolen over 70 million KICK tokens ($7.7 million at the time of the hack) from the platform’s wallets. KICKICO is guaranteed to return all tokens to KickCoin holders.
Read More:
KICKICO Hacked: Cybercriminal Steals $7.7 Million from ICO Platform (The Hacker News, July 30, 2018)
364 Prisoners in Idaho have stolen nearly $225K by exploiting the vulnerability in jail-issued JPay Tablets which they were using for E-Mail and communication purposes with their friends and family.
Read More:
Prisoners exploited tablet vulnerability to steal nearly $225K (Naked Security, July 30, 2018)