Ridgewood NJ, Cyber criminals are launching a relentless tide of attacks on US internet users — hacking 1,966 Americans every minute, virtual private network provider NordVPN can reveal1.
With the festive season offering cyber criminals a host of opportunities to cash in, the average US adult suffers a cyber attack of some kind four times a year, Nord’s latest research shows.
Ridgewood NJ, according to GoDaddy the internet hosting and domain name company on or about September 6, 2021, an unauthorized third party gainedaccess to certain authentication information for administrative services, specifically, the customer number and email address creating a major security incident impacting the GoDaddy Managed WordPress hosting service.
Acting Associate Director, Division of Consumer Response and Operations
Has Amazon contacted you to confirm a recent purchase you didn’t make or to tell you that your account has been hacked? According to the FTC’s new Data Spotlight, since July 2020, about one in three people who have reported a business impersonator scam say the scammer pretended to be Amazon.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that a William Street resident reported being the victim of a theft by deception and fraud. The victim reported he was contacted by a party reporting to be from Apple’s fraud department and that his iMac computer was hacked. The victim provided access to his personal computer and was advised to purchase $400 in Apple gift cards. The victim purchased the gift cards and provided the serial numbers to the caller and then realized it was a scam and contacted the police department.
How to Avoid phishing emails, fake ‘virus‘ alerts, phony support calls, and other scams
Use these tips to avoid scams and learn what to do if you think your Apple ID has been compromised.
If you see a message while browsing the web that your iPhone, Mac, or other Apple device has a virus, or someone claiming to be from Apple calls and asks for your account name and password, you’re likely the target of a scam.
Scammers use any means they can—fake emails, pop-up ads, text messages, even phone calls—to try to trick you into sharing personal information, such as your Apple ID password or credit card information. Use this information to protect your account and avoid scams.
Protect your Apple ID
Never share your Apple ID password or temporary verification codes with anyone. Apple will never ask you for this information to provide support.
Use two-factor authentication to protect your Apple ID. Learn more about security and your Apple ID.
If you believe that your Apple ID has been compromised, change your password immediately.
If you see pop-up alerts or ads
When you browse the web, you might see a pop-up ad or a page warning you about a problem with your device. It might even look like the alert is coming from macOS or iOS. It isn’t. These alerts are pop-up ads, designed to trick you into calling a phony support number or buying an app that claims to fix the issue. Don’t call the number. Simply close the pop-up ad, or navigate away from that page and continue browsing.
If you get a suspicious phone call or voicemail
Scammers spoof phone numbers and use flattery and threats to pressure you into giving them information, money, and even iTunes gift cards. Always verify the caller’s identify before you provide any personal information. If you get an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Apple, hang up and contact us directly.
If you receive a phishing email or text message
Scammers try to copy email and text messages from legitimate companies to trick you into entering personal information and passwords. Never follow links or open attachments in suspicious or unsolicited messages. If you need to change or update personal information, contact the company directly.
These signs can help you identify phishing scams:
The sender’s email address or phone number doesn’t match the name of the company that it claims to be from.
Your email address or phone number is different from the one that you gave that company.
The message starts with a generic greeting, like “Dear customer.” Most legitimate companies will include your name in their messages to you.
A link appears to be legitimate but takes you to a website whose URL doesn’t match the address of the company’s website.*
The message looks significantly different from other messages that you’ve received from the company.
The message requests personal information, like a credit card number or account password.
The message is unsolicited and contains an attachment.
Report phishing attempts and other suspicious messages to Apple
To report a suspicious email, forward the message to Apple with complete header information. To forward the email: In macOS Mail, select the email and choose Forward As Attachment from the Message menu at the top of your computer screen.
These email addresses are monitored by Apple, but you might not receive a reply to your report.
If you receive what you believe to be a phishing email that’s designed to look like it’s from Apple, please send it to reportphishing@apple.com.
To report spam or other suspicious emails that you receive in your iCloud.com, me.com, or mac.com Inbox, please send them to abuse@icloud.com.
To report spam or other suspicious messages that you receive through iMessage, tap Report Junk under the message, or take a screenshot on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and send it to imessage.spam@apple.com.
If you receive a suspicious message about your purchase activity in the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store, contact iTunes Support.
*To confirm the destination of a link on your Mac, hover your pointer over the link to see the URL in the status bar. If you can’t see the status bar in Safari, choose View>Show Status Bar. On your iOS device, touch and hold the link.
Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Risks are inherent in the use of the Internet. Contact the vendor for additional information. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The head of the National Security Agency told a Senate Committee on Thursday that Hillary Clinton’s former email setup would be an “opportunity” for the U.S. if it had been used by a top foreign diplomat.
“From a foreign intelligence perspective, that would represent opportunity,” Adm. Michael Rogers testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The server would be a “top priority for foreign intelligence services,” Rogers agreed in response to a question from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
The comments are only likely to deepen the political trouble for Clinton, the former secretary of State whose “home-brew” email setup has threatened to engulf her campaign for the White House.
Critics have long feared that Clinton’s decision to go outside of the State Department’s normal email protocol posed a security risk to the nation by making it easier for foreign spies to crack into her messages and steal potentially crucial diplomatic secrets. Those concerns have only been compounded by revelations that some of the information contained in her emails is now classified.
Rogers said he had “no knowledge” of whether or not NSA officials’ emails were contained among the tens of thousands of work-related messages on Clinton’s personal server, or if any NSA officials were aware of her personal server.
The intelligence chief repeatedly attempted to dodge questions about the email setup on Thursday, clearly aiming to stay above the political fray.
More than 3.5 million people’s sexual preferences, fetishes and secrets have been exposed after dating site Adult FriendFinder was hacked.
Already, some of the adult website’s customers are being identified by name.
Adult FriendFinder asks customers to detail their interests and, based on those criteria, matches people for sexual encounters. The site, which boasts 64 million members, claims to have “helped millions of people find traditional partners, swinger groups, threesomes, and a variety of other alternative partners.”
The information Adult FriendFinder collects is extremely personal in nature. When signing up for an account, customers must enter their gender, which gender they’re interested in hooking up with and what kind of sexual situations they desire. Suggestions AdultFriendfinder provides for the “tell others about yourself” field include, “I like my partners to tell me what to do in the bedroom,” “I tend to be kinky” and “I’m willing to try some light bondage or blindfolds.”
The hack, which took place in March, was first uncovered by independent IT security consultant Bev Robb on her blog Teksecurity a month ago. But Robb did not name the site that was hacked. It wasn’t until this week, when England’s Channel 4 News reported on the hack, that Adult FriendFinder was named as the victim.
U.S. military social media accounts apparently hacked by Islamic State sympathizers
Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State took control of the social media accounts of the U.S. military’s Central Command on Monday, posting threatening messages and propaganda videos, along with some military documents.
The command’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were eventually taken offline, but not before a string of tweets and the release of military documents, some of which listed contact information for senior military personnel. A Centcom spokesman confirmed their accounts were “compromised,” and said later that the accounts have been taken offline while the incident is investigated more.
“CENTCOM’s operation military networks were not compromised and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command,” a military statement said. “CENTCOM will restore service to its Twitter and YouTube accounts as quickly as possible. We are viewing this purely as a case of cybervandalism.”
U.S. utility’s control system was hacked, says Homeland Security
By Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) – A sophisticated hacking group recently attacked a U.S. public utility and compromised its control system network, but there was no evidence that the utility’s operations were affected, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS did not identify the utility in a report that was issued this week by the agency’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, or ICS-CERT.
“While unauthorized access was identified, ICS-CERT was able to work with the affected entity to put in place mitigation strategies and ensure the security of their control systems before there was any impact to operations,” a DHS official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The crowd-funding site says hackers broke into its systems and made off with data. Apparently credit card numbers escaped the attack.
by CNET News staff
February 15, 2014 1:54 PM PST
Hackers hit crowd-funding site Kickstarter and made off with user information, the site said Saturday.
Though no credit card info was taken, the site said, attackers made off with usernames, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and encrypted passwords.
“Actual passwords were not revealed, however it is possible for a malicious person with enough computing power to guess and crack an encrypted password, particularly a weak or obvious one,” the site said in a blog post, adding that “as a precaution, we strongly recommend that you create a new password for your Kickstarter account, and other accounts where you use this password.”
