As part of our ongoing efforts to help keep your personal information as safe as possible, we want to remind you to stay on the lookout for the many security threats making the rounds in cyberspace today.
Below, you’ll find a few current security-related articles from around the web. The goal of sharing these is to help keep you informed of what’s going on in the world, so you can better defend against today’s biggest security threats.
The Next Big Data Breach Victim Is . . . Sweden?
Recently, news broke of a massive data breach in Sweden, which leaked personal details of everyone in the police register, information on citizens in Sweden’s witness relocation program, and more. The cause? The Swedish Transport Agency (part of the Swedish government) had mishandled an outsourcing agreement back in 2015. Learn more about what led to the breach.
Dark Web Black Markets Taken Down
To sell malware and stolen information, criminals rely on black markets on the dark web (i.e., websites that help make user activity anonymous). Last month, after an international law enforcement investigation, two of these marketplaces, AlphaBay and Hansa, were shut down. The more of these sites that are shut down, the fewer places criminals have for making a profit off compromised information.
How Do You Avoid a Wi-Fi Worm? Update!
What if malware could automatically hop from device to device via Wi-Fi? A newly discovered security flaw—called Broadpwn—on top smartphones could allow criminals to craft such an attack. Fortunately, the latest iOS and Android updates patch this flaw, so be sure to update ASAP!
The White House E-Mail Prankster
Would White House officials fall for phishing e-mails? Last month, a prankster e-mailed top personnel, claiming to be other key figures in the White House. According to the released conversations, quite a few believed the sender—including Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and former media chief Anthony Scaramucci. It’s believed that this prankster created e-mail addresses that closely resembled the legitimate ones.
The lesson we can all learn from this incident? When checking e-mail, pay close attention to the sender information, and always take a moment to think if you are prompted to click on a link or open an attachment.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the information shared here, please feel free to call our office at 906-228-3696.
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