Petronella Cybersecurity News

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Facebook users are being swept up in the latest on-line trend called the “10-year challenge.” People will post side-by-side then-and-now photos, but some say there’s a dark side to it. Facebook is the ultimate “Big Brother” surveillance device. Those using it readily participate in feeding its enormous appetite for data without realizing […]

The prolonged and ongoing government shut down due to a standoff between President Trump and Congress is affecting more than just 800,000 government paychecks and border walls.  The shutdown is affecting key agencies that control cybersecurity, such as the Department of Homeland Security, and compromised government cyber systems are the root of anxiety for many. […]

Data. It feeds the information superhighway with ever-increasing accuracy and depth.  Personal data is particularly lucrative, and many companies will pay big bucks to get your info. Like many other tech giants, Google acquires massive amounts of personal data to tailor ads to the user and improve your experience.  Through its various apps and services, […]

Microsoft issued an emergency security update on Wednesday to patch a critical zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser IE9, IE10 and IE11. It also impacts IE 9 on Windows Server 2008, IE 10 on Windows Server 2012, IE 11 from Windows 7 to Windows 10, and IE 11 on Windows Server 2019, Windows […]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning about a new “tax transcript” scam that consumers are forwarding to the IRS reporting address phishing@irs.gov.   Scammers pretending to be the “IRS Online” send out “urgent” emails with attachments labeled some variant of “Tax Account Transcript”.  Tax transcripts are summaries of your tax records.  They are available online, […]

It’s pretty rare these days to find a letter in your mailbox.  With the electronic age dominance, most physical mail a person receives is junk mail or packages.  A new system by the United States Postal Service allows you to get delivery notifications with photos of what’s being delivered, so of course, criminals have found […]

Just after the Marriott International breach, over 100 million Quora users recently received an email notifying them of a data breach.  Quora has confirmed that its systems were hacked leaving account and user information exposed. Though the cause is still yet unknown, the intrusion was noted on Friday, November 30th.  Compromised information includes usernames, emails, […]

Darthminer is a recently discovered threat that targets Mac systems via Adobe.  Malwarebytes security researches warn that the threat is actually a combination of two open-source programs. The threat is distributed through an application called Adobe Zii.  It utilizes a generic Automater applet icon instead of a stolen Adobe Creative Cloud logo.  The fake application […]

Up to 500 million accounts have been hacked at the Marriott hotel chain’s Starwood guest reservation database.  Approximately 327 million guest information was released including some combination of names, mailing address, phone number, passport number, date of birth and other sensitive information.  Marriott was also unable to verify if both of their Advanced Encryption Standard […]

Back in 2014, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center confirmed a data breach that release that caused over 60,000 employees’ personal information to be released. Hackers then used that information to file and receive fraudulent tax return monies.  Employees sued the company, but the case was discarded from lower courts. Now, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court […]

Due to a rumored “technical error,” Amazon contacted several customers this week to notify them that their names and email addresses had been exposed.  The email, however, was somewhat vague, and many recipients thought the email was a scam.  “This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for […]

Warminster-based O’Neill Bragg & Staffin and its principals filed a lawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia against Bank of America.  The law firm claims that the bank was responsible for damages done after cybercriminals used a Phishing email to trick a member of the firm into transferring more than a half-million dollars to the Bank […]

Well, it’s here!  Black Friday shopping week has officially begun.  The lure of door busting sales will bring online shoppers in droves worldwide.  That means Christmas candy for cybercriminals that take advantage of that rush with Trojan sites used to intercept users’ credentials, or phishing pages designed to capture website logins. Captured web credentials sell […]

A new government agency is on its way after the House of Representatives passed a bill paving the way for its creation. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA (you’ve got to love how they added the extra “security” in there so they wouldn’t have an acronym conflict with the Central Intelligence Agency), will […]

Apple’s operating systems are no longer bulletproof.  Regardless of end users perceptions of invincibility, a recent study has demonstrated that ransomware attacks have increased by 500% on Macs and iOS devices, despite their locked down architecture.  The difference is in the criminal tactics.  Cybercriminals today utilize OS- Specific ransomware to obtain trust, access, or Intel […]

The city of West Haven, Connecticut was hit by a ransomware attack that ran for twenty-three minutes on Tuesday, October 16th and infected 23 servers. The city managed to contain the attack by 5:30pm the following day.  With the help of MS-ISAC, a division of Homeland Security, police were able to determine the attack came […]

Security is a necessity when it comes to information technology. Everything from hacking to malware to theft is a potential threat. While there is nothing that guarantees 100% protection, there are a few basics that go a long way toward protection. Here are five best practices for keeping your system safe. 1. Pick Your Battles […]

Cybercrime is projected to cost the global economy more than $2 trillion a year by 2019 according to market analysts Juniper Research, yet a simple overlooked solution exists—changing your domain name system (DNS). Changing your DNS server is quick, easy and an effective trick to not just save you money but also boost your security, […]

Biohax, a passive near field communications device has been inserted in thousands of people in Sweeden.  Certified biohackers insert the 2x12mm tubular microchip under your skin, usually in the area between your thumb and forefinger.  The chip contains no tracking capabilities, no GPS capabilities, and no batteries, and the device itself is Chinese, with German […]

This is something I’ve been contemplating for a good 20 years. I hate to see my suspicions borne out. As it turns out, China has been putting rice-sized surveillance chips on motherboards manufactured in the country. Since the chips are so small they don’t contain a lot of information, but it’s enough to allow Chinese […]