The lone developer of anti-cookie-warning browser add-on "I Don't Care About Cookies" has sold it to Avast, resulting in both concern – and new forks.…
Webinar The latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) states that applications are the 'main attack vector,' responsible for over 80 percent of breaches. Hardly welcome news since APIs are in use everywhere and have direct access to data in a way which web applications do not.…
ChromeLoader – the malware that exploded onto the scene this year by hijacking browsers to redirect users to pages of ads – is apparently evolving into a more significant threat by deploying malicious payloads that go beyond malvertising.…
On Tuesday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued rulings that limit indiscriminate data retention in France and Germany.…
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added two Chinese companies to its list of communications equipment suppliers rated a threat to national security: Pacific Network Corp, its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC, and China Unicom (Americas).…
Cryptocurrency market maker Wintermute says $160 million in digital assets have been stolen from it in a cyber-heist, though it assures customers that everything's fine.…
Today, we released the latest issue of The Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the second quarter of 2022 closed with 351.5 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains, an increase of 1.0 million domain name registrations, or 0.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2022.1,2 Domain name registrations have increased by 10.4 million, or 3.0%, year over year.1,2
Check out the latest issue of The Domain Name Industry Brief to see domain name stats from the second quarter of 2022, including:
• Top 10 Largest TLDs by Number of Reported Domain Names
• Top 10 Largest ccTLDs by Number of Reported Domain Names
• ngTLDs as Percentage of Total TLDs
• Geographical ngTLDs as Percentage of Total Corresponding Geographical TLDs
To see past issues of The Domain Name Industry Brief, please visit verisign.com/dnibarchives.
The post Verisign Q2 2022 Domain Name Industry Brief: 351.5 Million Domain Name Registrations in the Second Quarter of 2022 appeared first on Verisign Blog.
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, and others today faced renewed pressure to protect the privacy of messaging app users seeking healthcare treatment.…
We’ve been talking a lot about security resilience recently, and for good reason. It’s clear the only way businesses can operate in today’s hybrid world is by taking bold steps to increase visibility, awareness, and integration across their systems. All while maintaining a singular goal of becoming more resilient in the face of evolving threats. But that doesn’t just mean expanding the scope of your security stack. It also means examining the resilience of other pillars of your business, like operations, organizational structure, financial processes, and supply chain functions.
If threats do compromise your business, time is of the essence when it comes to detection, response, and recovery. The longer an organization is unable to operate normally, the more at risk it becomes for damaging financial losses. As Diana Kelley, CSO and CISO at Cybrize notes, “it’s not about giving up, it’s about being better prepared.” Financial and security resilience go together, you can’t have one without the other and both are incredibly important for businesses of all sizes.
While recovering from an attack is important for maintaining resilience, a key feature of strong operational resilience is a business’s ability to operate through adverse conditions, not just recover well after the fact. Trina Ford, SVP and CISO at AEG, notes the importance of “preparedness so that your business can continue to thrive” while your security team addresses threats.
It also relies heavily upon strong staffing models because people are a critical part of any business’s day-to-day operations. What happens when someone is out sick, or is unable to access the necessary tools to do their job? Operational resilience means having a plan in place to be prepared for these situations.
In this video, CISOs and other security professionals explain what operational resilience means to them and why it’s a necessary component of overall security resilience:
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that supply chains are fragile. But there are ways to prepare for disruption, such as minimizing negative outcomes like production delays, infrastructure weaknesses, and increasingly complex logistics. When it comes to security resilience, supply chains are important because they expand the attack surface to any third party in your network. Oftentimes, this is where businesses have the lowest visibility, making it hard to detect and respond to threats. Supply chain resilience means preparing for these challenges before they cause real damage and having contingency plans in place.
According to Helen Patton, CISO of the SBG, “security is a risk business”. We couldn’t agree more. In the context of organizational resilience, this means dedicating resources to the areas of the business that are creating the most value and protecting those to minimize the risk of damage from potential threats.
With hybrid work here to stay, the threat landscape is expanding quickly, and security teams are working constantly to stay up to date on the latest attacks. But defending against everything all the time is impossible, so it’s necessary to make informed decisions about how to dedicate resources efficiently. The goal is to maximize flexibility and agility to enable security teams to act confidently when, not if, a threat lands.
Avoiding cyberattacks 100% of the time is impossible, but by ensuring the integrity of each part of your business, you can address threats confidently and emerge stronger. Investing in security resilience will strengthen your business in each of these areas, and help you better prepare for the challenges ahead.
Learn more about how Cisco Secure can help you at any step of the journey.
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An old banking scam has a new look. And it’s making the rounds again.
Recently Bank of America alerted its customers of the “Pay Yourself Scam,” where scammers use phony fraud alerts and trick their victims into giving them access to their online banking accounts. It’s a form of phishing attack, and according to Bank of America it goes something like this:
The good news is that you can avoid this attack rather easily. If you receive a text or call about a possible fraud alert, don’t respond. (Scammers can easily “spoof” or fake caller ID information nowadays. So even if it appears that the number looks legitimate, it may not be after all.) Instead, contact your bank directly using the contact information on your debit or credit card. This way, you’ll know you’re speaking with the proper representatives about the matter.
Of course, this scam isn’t the only scam making the rounds these days. Whether it’s with some form of phishing attack, stealing passwords on public Wi-Fi, or malware that spies on your keystrokes, scammers use plenty of tricks to crack into online bank accounts. Yet with a few precautions and a sharp eye, you have several ways you can protect yourself.
Online protection software today goes far beyond antivirus. It can protect your privacy, identity, and your online accounts as well. McAfee+ Ultimate provides our most comprehensive coverage with features that monitor the dark web and sketchy data broker sites for your personal information, identity theft and ransomware protection, and identity restoration services should the unexpected happen—all along with our award-winning antivirus protection. In all, it protects you, not just your devices. Together, it offers your strongest line of defense in the face of hackers, scammers, and thieves.
Legitimate banks will never pressure, harass, or cajole you into action. If you get a message that strikes an aggressive tone, assume it’s fraudulent. Other things legitimate banks will never do include:
Earlier, I mentioned contacting your bank directly to ensure you’re speaking to a proper representative. Another way you can go directly to the source is to use your bank’s website or app to check up on your accounts. Once again, don’t click any links in a text or email. Just go to your bank’s website or app to check your account. You can make sure you have your bank’s official app by visiting the Google Play or Apple’s App Store and looking at the information section to ensure that it was indeed developed by your bank—not a copycat.
Strong and unique passwords for each of your online accounts can help keep hackers at bay. With data breaches occurring so often, updating them regularly is important too. Yet with all the accounts we keep, that can mean a lot of work. However, a password manager can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive security software will include one.
Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of defense on top of your username and password. It adds in the use of a special one-time-use code to access your account, usually sent to you via email or to your phone by text or a phone call. In all, it combines something you know, like your password, with something you have, like your smartphone. Together, that makes it tougher for a crook to hack your account. If any of your accounts support two-factor authentication, the few extra seconds it takes to set up is more than worth the big boost in protection you’ll get.
When you log onto public Wi-Fi, potentially anyone can see your internet activity—and that includes things like entering your username and password. For that reason, only log into your bank account with public Wi-Fi if you’re using a virtual private network (VPN). McAfee Secure VPN protects your privacy by turning on automatically for unsecured networks. Your data is encrypted so it can’t be read by prying eyes. The VPN also keeps your online activity and physical location private and secure from advertisers.
Keeping an eye on your bills and statements as they come in can help you spot unusual activity on your accounts. A credit monitoring service can do that one better by keeping daily tabs on changes to your credit report. While you can do this manually, there are limitations. First, it involves logging into each bureau and doing some digging of your own. Second, there are limitations as to how many free credit reports you can pull each year. A service does that for you and without impacting your credit score.
Depending on your location and plan, McAfee’s credit monitoring allows you to look after your credit score and the accounts within it to see fluctuations and help you identify unusual activity, all in one place, checking daily for signs of identity theft.
When a fraud notification pops up on your phone, you can almost feel your stomach drop. Hackers and scammers play off that fear. They use it to get you to act—and to act quickly. Taking a moment to scrutinize these messages and following up directly with your bank can help you steer clear of their tricks. Likewise, putting up a strong defense with comprehensive online protection software can make you safer still. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for this “Pay Yourself Scam” and other scams like it. It’s certainly not the first of its kind, and it won’t be the last.
The post Steer Clear of the “Pay Yourself Scam” That’s Targeting Online Bank Accounts appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Uber, four days after suffering a substantial cybersecurity breach, has admitted its attacker accessed "several internal systems" including the corporation's G Suite account, and downloaded internal Slack messages and a tool used by its finance department to manage "some" invoices.…
If you've been hit by the LockerGoga ransomware, an international law enforcement effort has publicly released a tool to fix the problem.…
I can’t tell you how many times over my 25 years of parenting that I’ve just wanted to wrap my boys in cotton wool and protect them from all the tricky stuff that life can throw our way. But unfortunately, that’s never been an option. Whether it’s been friendship issues in the playground, dramas on a messaging app or dealing with broken hearts, it can be really hard watching your kids experience hardship.
But one thing I have learnt from years of mothering is that if you spend some time getting ahead of a potentially challenging situation then you’ve got a much better chance of minimising it. Or better still preventing it – and this absolutely applies to cyberbullying.
In early 2022, McAfee interviewed over 15,000 parents and 12,000 children worldwide with the goal of finding out how families both connect and protect themselves online. And what they found was astounding: Aussie kids reported the 2nd highest rate of cyberbullying (24%) out of the 10 countries surveyed. American children reported the highest rate. The average for all countries was 17%. Check out my post here with all the details.
So, to dig deeper into this issue of cyberbullying, McAfee commissioned additional research in August this year to better understand what cyberbullying looks like, where it happens and who the perpetrators are. And the biggest takeaways for Aussie kids:
You can check out my post here with all the details.
So, if you need to grab a cuppa and digest all this, I don’t blame you! It’s a lot. But, as mentioned before, I honestly believe that if we get ahead of the challenges, we have a greater chance of minimising the fall out. So, without further ado – here is my advice on what you can do NOW to minimise the chance of your kids being involved in cyberbullying – either as the victim or the perpetrator.
As soon as your kids move on from just watching movies and playing games on their devices, you need to talk about the importance of ‘being nice’ online. A more natural way around this is to extend your parenting advice to include the online world too. For example:
And don’t forget the importance of role-modelling this too!
One of the best things you can do is to create a family culture where honest and genuine two-way communication is a feature of family life. If your kids know they can confide in you, that nothing is off-limits and that you won’t overreact – then they are more likely to open-up about a problem before it becomes overwhelming and ‘unsolvable’.
Parents who have a comprehensive understanding of their child’s life will be better able to detect when things aren’t going well. Knowing who your kid’s friends are, who they ‘sit with’ at lunchtime, their favourite music and their boyfriend or girlfriend needs to be a big priority. I also encourage parents to establish relationships with teachers or mentors at school so they can keep their ‘ear to the ground’. When a child’s behaviour and interests change, it can often mean that all isn’t well and that some detective work is required!
Cyberbullying can have a variety of definitions which can often cause confusion. In McAfee’s research, they used the definition by StopBullying.Gov:
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behaviour.
McAfee’s definition was then expanded to include specific acts of cyberbullying, such as:
Along with other acts, including:
Now, I appreciate that reading your children several minutes of definitions may not be very helpful. So, instead, keep it simple and amend the above to make it age appropriate for your kids. You may choose to say that it is when someone is being mean online, if your kids are very young. But if you have tweens in the house then I think more details would be important. The goal here is for them to understand at what point they shouldn’t accept bad behaviour online.
As soon as your kids are actively engaged with others online, they need to have an action plan in case things go awry – probably around 6-7 years of age. In fact, I consider this to be a golden time in parenting – a time when your kids are receptive to your advice and often keen to please. So, this is when you need to help them establish good practices and habits that will hold them in good stead. This is what I would instil:
Now, of course not all bad behaviour online will be defined as cyberbullying – remember we all see the world through different lenses. However, what’s important here is that your kids ask for help when they experience something that makes them feel uncomfortable. And while we all hope that it is unlikely that you will need to escalate any interactions to the police or the eSafety Commissioner, knowing what the course of action is in case things get out of hand is essential.
There is so much research on the connection between the lack of empathy and bullying behaviours. In her book Unselfie, Parenting expert Michelle Borba explains that we are in the midst of an ‘empathy crisis’ which is contributing to bullying behaviour. She believes teens today are far less empathetic than they were 30 years ago. Teaching your kids to ‘walk in someone’s else’s shoes’, consider how others feel and have a focus on compassion will go a long way to developing an empathetic lens. You can read more about helping develop empathy in your child here.
There is no doubt that cyberbullying is one of the biggest parenting challenges of our generation and, unfortunately, it isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. So, get ahead of the problem – teach your kids about kindness from a young age, create an open family communication culture, make empathy a priority in your family and give them an action plan in case things get tricky online. But most importantly, always listen to your gut. If you think things aren’t right with your kids – if they don’t want to go to school, seem emotional after using their devices or their behaviour suddenly changes, then do some digging. My gut has never let me down!
Take care
Alex
The post What You Do Now To Protect Your Child From Cyberbullying appeared first on McAfee Blog.