Krebs on Security: Ransomware Group Turns to Facebook Ads

Ransomware Group Turns to Facebook Ads
Brian Krebs. November 10, 2020

It’s bad enough that many ransomware gangs now have blogs where they publish data stolen from companies that refuse to make an extortion payment. Now, one crime group has started using hacked Facebook accounts to run ads publicly pressuring their ransomware victims into paying up.

Just when you thought Facebook had hit rock bottom. Now their adware network is being used for criminal extortion. And they're not even refunding the money to the victims who had their accounts hijacked in the process.

So glad I drop-kicked them to the curb many years ago.

Fox Business: FBI warns US companies about Chinese tax software embedded with hidden malware

FBI warns US companies about Chinese tax software embedded with hidden malware
By Michael Ruiz. July 24, 2020

Weeks after a cybersecurity firm uncovered backdoor malware embedded in mandatory Chinese tax software, the FBI is reportedly warning U.S. companies doing business in China.

The software imposes a major security risk on victim companies – requiring them to use one of only two approved programs to pay their taxes – both of which have been found embedded with vulnerabilities, according to Trustwave, the cybersecurity firm.

Due to the comprimised security issues, the FBI sent out a warning Thursday to companies in the health care, chemical and finance industries, the technology news outlet ZDNet reported.

Quck summary. In order to do business in China, you are legally required to run certain specific software programs in order to pay Chinese taxes. This software is infected with malware, which installs backdoors into the computer, granting access to all of its files and all of its network connections. The data is being sent to unknown servers in China.

Tell me again, why companies continue to think it's a good idea to conduct business in China? You get cheap labor and the potential for Chinese sales in excahge for what? The Chinese government stealing all of your confidential data, including your trade secrets and financial information. Can anyone honestly claim that this is an acceptable cost?

Naked Security: Stalker found pop star by searching eyes’ reflections on Google Maps

Stalker found pop star by searching eyes’ reflections on Google Maps
By Lisa Vaas, 14 Oct 2019

A predator has confessed to stalking and attacking a young Japanese pop star by zooming in on the reflections in her eyes from photos she posted on social media.
...
A 26-year-old man by the name of Sato was arrested and confessed to police that he’d used the star’s selfies to figure out where she lived. Each of her pupils reflected the nearby streetscape, which he plugged into the street map function of Google Map to find out matching bus stops and scenery.

Holy cow! This is the kind of analysis I used to think only existed in science fiction.

Hacker Who Sent Brian Krebs Heroin Faces Charges in U.S.

Hacker Who Sent Me Heroin Faces Charges in U.S.

A Ukrainian hacker who once hatched a plot to have heroin sent to my Virginia home and then alert police when the drugs arrived had his first appearance in a U.S. court today, after being extradited to the United States to face multiple cybercrime charges.

It's a very interesting read and a warning about what you may have to deal with if you make a career out of exposing cybercriminals. Fortunately, this story has a good ending.