Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2021

Mandiant Discloses Critical Vulnerability Affecting Millions of IoT Devices

Today, Mandiant disclosed a critical risk vulnerability in coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) that affects millions of IoT devices that use the ThroughTek “Kalay” network. This vulnerability, discovered by researchers on Mandiant’s Red Team in late 2020, would enable adversaries to remotely compromise victim IoT devices, resulting in the ability to listen to live audio, watch real time video data, and compromise device credentials for further attacks based on exposed device functionality. These further attacks could include actions that would allow an adversary to remotely control affected devices. At the time of writing this blog post, ThroughTek advertises having more than 83 million active devices and over 1.1 billion monthly connections on their platform. ThroughTek’s clients include IoT camera manufacturers, smart baby monitors, and Digital Video Recorder (“DVR”) products. Unlike the vulnerability published by researchers from Nozomi Ne

Beijing sees TikTok as an extension of the party

The Chinese government is getting in on tech giant ByteDance, which owns TikTok. U.S. politicians now fear that China is slowly but surely usurping power over the video app.  The deal was struck in secret. Not a word leaked to the public. Four months ago, the Chinese government got in on a subsidiary of Beijing tech giant ByteDance. The government acquired a one percent stake and was given a seat on the supervisory board. Only now has the deal become public - and it immediately caused unrest, especially in the US. That's because Bytedance also owns the video app TikTok, which is now downloaded more often in America than Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. So is China expanding its influence in the country with which it was until recently engaged in a bitter trade war? At first glance, it all seems to concern only China itself. The subsidiary into which the state entered holds the licenses to operate Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Toutiao, a news portal. Both services are

OnlyFans is going to block sexually explicit videos starting in October

OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business. The company will prohibit users from posting any sexually explicit conduct, starting in October. Creators will still be allowed to post nude photos and videos, provided they’re consistent with OnlyFans’ policy, the company said Thursday. The changes are needed because of mounting pressure from banking partners and payment providers, according to the company. “In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of our platform, and the continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines,” OnlyFans said. OnlyFans has attracted more than 130 million users by giving online creators a platform to charge their fans for photos and videos. Many of its most-popular creators post nude photos and videos, and it has been praised for giving sex workers a safer place to do their jobs. But sex work still has a stigma. And OnlyFans is trying to raise money from outside investors at a valuation of more than

FTC requests Facebook sell WhatsApp and Instagram in major antitrust case

The US Federal Trade Commission has re-filed its complaint against Facebook, arguing that the company should be broken up and forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The revised complaint argues that Facebook has a monopoly over social networking in the US and argues that Facebook has looked to make it difficult for other companies to compete. The complaint is partly redacted, and the FTC’s filing asks that it is sealed for 10 days. The new case comes amid mounting scrutiny over the size and power of Facebook’s empire and how it has bought up competitors as they have grown. The case makes reference to an email from Mark Zuckerberg, sent in 2008, in which he said “it is better to buy than compete”. The FTC’s lawyers argue that Facebook has acted in accordance with that strategy, tracking its rivals and buying them when they become big enough to be threats. source- https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/facebook-ftc-whatsapp-instagram-antitrust-b1905429.html

More than $90 million in cryptocurrency stolen after a top Japanese exchange is hacked

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid said Thursday it has been hit by a cyberattack that saw hackers make off with a reported $97 million worth of digital coins. Liquid said some of its digital currency wallets had been "compromised," and that hackers were transferring the assets to four different wallets. "We are currently investigating and will provide regular updates," Liquid tweeted. "In the meantime, deposits and withdrawals will be suspended." Liquid did not provide an estimate for the loss. It says it is regulated by Japan's Financial Services Agency. The watchdog was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company, said its analysis showed that the hackers obtained about $97 million in cryptocurrencies. Of the total haul, $45 million in tokens were being converted to ethereum through decentralized exchanges — blockchain-based platforms that require no intermediaries — like Uniswap and Su