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Have you updated your @Twitter password? __ Last week Twitter disclosed to its over 330 million users that a bug in their system caused users’ passwords to be stored in readable text in a log internal to Twitter. Normally passwords are stored only after being run through a “salted hash” mechanism which securely modifies a password, making it much harder to decrypt. — Twitter apologized and informed its users that they have fixed the issue and found no indication that passwords were stolen or misused. — However, Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, strongly recommends that all users change the password to their Twitter account and any other account using that password, as a precaution. — When it comes to passwords, always remember to use strong passwords, periodically change your passwords, and never reuse passwords across multiple accounts. 16,500 borrowers were notified by Access Group Education Lending, a student loan services company, that their personal data was recently breached. In the letter sent to those affected, the company stated that the data breach occurred on March 23rd when one of its vendors, Nelnet, inadvertently sent files that included borrowers’ names, license numbers, and Social Security numbers to another student loan lender. Security of customer information is critical, but can easily be compromised by those with malicious intent (hackers) or even accidentally by those with legitimate access. How much do you trust companies with the handling of your personal data? Have you seen this message at the top of your Facebook feed? — This past Monday, Facebook started dispersing the message to the 87 million people whose data was likely used by Cambridge Analytica (see previous post). — Facebook CEO, Mark Zukerberg ( @zuck ), has been quite apologetic since the news of this unauthorized data sharing made headlines. He takes full responsibility for the incident(s) stating “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here” in his prepared testimony released by a House committee earlier this week. — A congressional hearing regarding the site’s protection of user privacy took place on Tuesday, April 10th, during which Mark did not rule out a paid version of the site when questioned by congressional representatives. Would you pay to use social media sites such as Facebook? Over 5 million customers’ credit and debit card information was stolen in the recent hack that affected both Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor shoppers. — Software installed on department store cash registers appears to be the culprit. This credit and debit card data breach marks one of the largest known retailer data breaches. Although many lessons have been learned over the years through previous large data breaches (Home Depot, Target, Neiman Marcus, etc.), retailers still have quite a long way to go in their efforts to fend off hackers. — Did you know that often times hackers sell the stolen credit card data they obtain from their hacks on the Dark Web - the part of the Internet that is only accessible by means of special software? What steps are you taking as a consumer to prevent your data from being stolen. Is cash your preferred method of payment? A recent Cyberattack on the city of Atlanta has cyber security experts shook! The driving force behind this attack, which is one of the most sustained and consequential attacks against a major US city, is ransomware. — You may recall from previous post from @CySecintellects what ransomware is, but if you are not familiar, ransomware is a type of malicious computer software (better known as ‘malware’) that restricts access to the system it infects and demands that the system user/owner pay a ransom to regain access. These types of attacks are usually directed toward systems holding valuable data. — The hackers behind this attack have been identified as the SamSam hacking crew, known for locking up victims’ files with encryption, temporarily changing their file names to “I’m sorry” and giving victims a week to pay the ransom before their files become permanently inaccessible. — This intense attack has left employees of the City of Atlanta unable to access their computers for days and has halted many of the city’s services and functions, such as bill pay, traffic tickets, incident reporting, etc. The asking price for the City of Atlanta ransom attack is said to be about $51,000. What would you do in this situation? Everything you post on @facebook may not be as private as you think. Back in 2013, FaceBook allowed an outside researcher, Aleksandr Kogan of @cambridgeuniversity , to develop an app on the FaceBook platform that paid users to take a personality quiz. The app was installed by about 300,000 people who consented to sharing their data and unbeknownst to them sharing the data of all of their FaceBook friends. The researcher then provided the data — on over 50 million Facebook users — to Cambridge Analytica, a private firm founded by Stephen K. Bannon and that has ties to several political campaigns. This transfer of data to a third-party broke Facebook’s usage policies. — In 2015, Facebook found out about the violation and removed the app from their platform. They also demanded that Cambridge Analytica delete the Facebook user data they had improperly acquired. — However, earlier this month, FaceBook found out from @Guardian , @NYTimes, and @Channel4 that Cambridge Analytica likely did not delete the data as they had previously claimed. Facebook founder @Zuck responded yesterday by calling this a “breach of trust” and immediately banned Cambridge Analytica from using any of their services. — FaceBook is now promising tighter privacy controls some of which consist of investigating third party FaceBook apps that have access to large amount of data, restricting apps blanket access to user data, and helping FaceBook users better understand what user data apps are requesting access to. — Will hearing this news change the way you use FaceBook or any other social media platform? Do you really consider things you post on social media private? Let us know in the comments below. Another Popular Food Chain Restaurant Falls Victim to a Data Breach — 167 @applebees locations across the US have been affected by point-of-sale (PoS) malware. Although the malware was discovered by the company back in February, the exact dates of the breach vary by location. As a result of this incident, customer information consisting of names, payment card information (including expiration dates & verification codes) was compromised. Applebee’s has since taken actions to secure the systems, notify authorities, and contact a third-party cybersecurity firm to conduct an investigation into the incident. — Hackers are becoming increasingly better at identifying and exploiting weaknesses in PoS software. What can you do as a consumer? Be more cautious when using debit/credit cards and monitor your accounts frequently for any suspicious activity. Are You At Risk Of A Targeted Online Attack? — @Google recently incorporated the ability for its “high-risk” users to add stronger account protections through their Advanced Protection Program. Google considers high-risks users to be individuals that may be directly targeted. The list of potential high risk users may include celebrities, journalists, activists and victims of stalking just to name a few. For these users, and others, standard security options alone may not do the job. Google insists that the program will help protect users against phishing attacks, malicious apps looking to siphon data, and hackers trying to use account recovery processes to overtake accounts. — Read more about Google’s new security program and the three ways it can help protect you from targeted online attacks at: https://landing.google.com/advancedprotection/ Was XXXtentacion really hacked?? — If you’re one to keep up with music industry beef, then you’re probably aware of the longstanding tension between artists @XXXtentacion & Drake ( @champagnepapi ). Well, it seemed like that beef came to a head recently when the social media world watched X throwing weird, direct jabs at Drake. After a field day was had, the tweets were later deleted and X countered with the all-too-familiar “I was hacked” line. Now we all know celebrities getting hacked is a huge thing of the present and hacking in general has definitely been on the rise, but do you think celebs are using this as an excuse to cover their social media tracks? Cyber Security Startup ‘PhishMe’ Acquired for $400 Million 😯 — Cyber Security startups world wide just got an extra boost of motivation with the recent big time purchase of the Cyber Security startup ’PhishMe.’ PhishMe, a firm that has made its mark providing companies tools to help their employees recognize malicious phishing emails, was acquired by a giant private equity consortium for around $400 Million. As part of the acquisition, PhishMe has rebranded and changed its name to ‘CoDefense.’ Moving forward, CoDefense plans to leverage its new support to continue to provide leading solutions in phishing defense by offering solutions that make use of both human intelligence and technology. — According to a 2016 PhishMe study, 91% of all cyber attacks start with a phishing email. What are some telltale signs of phishing emails that have helped you not fall victim?

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