PALM BEACH, FL - There is no shortage of security breaches and data leaks reported in the news this past year. As we all move into 2020, here are some simple tips to help keep you stay cyber safe, so you can worry less and have more to look forward to this year. Don't Shorten 2020 in Dates You shouldn’t shorten the year 2020 when signing things. Scammers can easily change the abbreviated date, for example from “3/30/20” to “3/30/2018”. Make sure to write out the … [Read more...]
Data of 267 Million Facebook Users Exposed in Online Database; Found on Hacker Forum
PALM BEACH, FL - Data security researchers discovered an online database containing the names, phone numbers, and Facebook IDs of 267 million Facebook users available for download on a hacker forum. The database was not password protected and had been posted on December 12th. On December 14th, the researchers contacted the internet service provider that was hosting the database and the database was removed on December 19th. According to the Associated Press, a … [Read more...]
Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Called “Outrageously Incompetent” for Using “CC”
PALM BEACH, FL – BitMex, a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014 has accidentally emailed its users with the CC (carbon copy) field rather than the “private” BCC (blind carbon copy) field leading to outrage by many of its users. In a tweet posted on Nov. 1, crypto-currency attorney Jake Chervinsky said the leak was done in the most “outrageously incompetent way imaginable.” https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1190171229031936000 BitMEX … [Read more...]
Personal Info of 500 Million Guests Exposed in Marriott’s Starwood Reservation System
NEW YORK, NY - One of the world's leading global hotel groups disclosed that a guest reservation database, which covers a number of major hotel brands, suffered a large data breach. An internal investigation showed that unauthorized access had been occuring since 2014. The intrusion went unnoticed for four years by Starwood, which was acquired by Marriott in 2016 for $13.6 billion. It was uncovered in early September, when a security tool alerted Marriott officials to an … [Read more...]
WordPress Vulnerability for Sites Running WooCommerce with “Shop Manager” Role
NEW YORK, NY – If you're running a WordPress website and are utilizing the popular WooCommerce plugin, a shopping cart used by roughly four-million sites, there is a new vulnerability which requires that your WooCommerce plugin be up to date, or users marked as “Shop Managers” could hijack your site and virtually wipe out all data by compromising your administrator account. This new vulnerability was first reported to WordPress and WooCommerce in August when it was … [Read more...]
Orbitz, AmexTravel; Victims of Latest Data Breach Effecting 880,000 Customers
NEW YORK - If you travel and like to use third party travel sites to find discounts you may be one of the latest co-victims of a data breach by hackers which compromised near a million customers who use online booking services. According to Norton Internet Security, Orbitz, which has been owned by Expedia since 2015, released information regarding two separate data breaches tied to an older web site platform that effected partner bookings including AmexTravel.com; the … [Read more...]
New Threat to WordPress Sites Designed to Bypass All Ordinary Security Measures
NEW YORK, NY - It seems like a new security threat is born each day; maybe that is because there is. For those who operate WordPress sites, including myself, there is a new threat to consider that is designed to bypass ordinary security measures; a simple back door, you have already left wide-open, by choice. WordPress Plugins are great additions to any WordPress site as they create all sorts of easy plug-and-play options and make often complicated features simple to … [Read more...]
Phishing: Watch-out for New Dangerous Godaddy Email Phishing Attempt
NEW YORK, NY - This is just a quick reminder to remain vigilant of all sorts of threats from hackers, email-spoofers, phishers and scammers; you can never let your guard down these days when it comes to your accounts, financial information and especially your domain accounts, because loss of your domain name can be loss of your business and will likely be permanent. Just this week news broke about an Equifax hack that hit credit histories of up to 143 million … [Read more...]
iCloud Ransom: Will Hackers Wipe 627 Million Apple Devices on April 7th 2017?
NEW YORK, NY - Apple products have changed our lives incredibly over the last several years. IPhones, iPads, Macs, and all the rest provide many benefits making our lives a little bit easier and more enjoyable in general, but a couple of weeks ago, a hacking group calling themselves the “Turkish Crime Family” began contacting media outlets claiming that they had breached the Apple iCloud, and had access to millions of user accounts and would remotely wipe the accounts (and … [Read more...]