hacking

Google Increases bug bounty payouts by 50% and Microsoft just doubles it!

Both tech giants Google and Microsoft have raised the value of the payouts they offer security researchers, white hat hackers and bug hunters who find high severity flaws in their products.

While Microsoft has just doubled its top reward from $15,000 to $30,000, Google has raised its high reward from $20,000 to $31,337, which is a 50 percent rise plus a bonus $1,337 or 'leet' award.

Stuffed toys leak millions of voice recordings from kids and parents

A security vulnerability allowed anyone to view personal information, photos and recordings of children's voices from CloudPets toys. And at one point, some people tried to hold all of that information for ransom.

According to a report compiled by security researcher Troy Hunt, over 820,000 user accounts were exposed. That includes 2.2 million voice recordings.

Yahoo hacked once again!

If yes, then you need to think once again, as the company is warning its users of another hack.

Last year, Yahoo admitted two of the largest data breaches on record. One of which that took place in 2013 disclosed personal details associated with more than 1 Billion Yahoo user accounts.

Well, it's happened yet again.

Donald Trump’s website just got hacked

The hacked server, secure2.donaldjtrump.com, which isn’t directly linked to the campaign’s home page, is behind CloudFlare’s content management and security system, Ars Technica reports.

The certificate of the server is legitimate and it looks like a real Trump campaign server. However, the image displayed is linked to some other website. The picture shows the following text:

Wordpress blogs defaced in hack attacks

One estimate suggests more than 1.5 million pages on blogs have been defaced.

The security firm that found the vulnerability said some hackers were now trying to use it to take over sites rather than just spoil pages.

WordPress urged site owners to update software to avoid falling victim.

 

Feeding frenzy

The vulnerability is found in an add-on for the WordPress blogging software that was introduced in versions released at the end of 2016.

Security firms 'overstate hackers' abilities to boost sales'

Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, made the accusation in a speech.

He said the firms played up hackers' abilities to help them sell security hardware and services.

Overplaying hackers' skills let the firms claim only they could defeat attackers, a practice he likened to "witchcraft".

In a keynote speech at the Usenix Enigma security conference, Dr Levy said it was dangerous to listen only to firms that made a living from cybersecurity.

MPs question UK's cyber attack defences

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said ministers had taken too long to consolidate the "alphabet soup" of agencies tasked with stopping attacks.

Cyber attacks are ranked among the top four risks to UK national security.

The government said it had acted with "pace and ambition" on the issue.

In November, Chancellor Philip Hammond said that hostile "foreign actors" were developing techniques that threatened the country's electrical grid and airports.

 

'Nato targeted'

Russian hacking aims to destabilise West

Moscow was "weaponising misinformation" in a bid to expand its influence and destabilise Western governments and weaken Nato, he said.

Vladimir Putin had chosen to become a "strategic competitor" of the West.

Sir Michael said it was vital alliance members strengthened cyber defences.

His speech, at the University of St Andrews, came hours before Theresa May was due to use an informal summit in Malta to press EU Nato members to boost defence spending.

How Europe's elections could be hacked

France, Germany and the Netherlands are holding elections later this year, and experts agree with former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that Moscow will try to sway the results.

The voting infrastructure is expected to be relatively secure since all three countries use paper ballots.

But here's how Russian hackers (and others) could influence the outcome:

 

Phishing for dirt

Russian hacker wanted by FBI arrested in Spain

The Guardia Civil, Spanish law enforcement agency officers, have detained 32-year-old Stanislav Lisov at Barcelona–El Prat Airport based on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at the request of the FBI.

Lisov is arrested on suspicion of creating and operating the NeverQuest Banking Trojan, a nasty malware that targeted financial institutions across the world and caused an estimated damage of $5 Million.