Category: Artemus Spotlights

FBI Shares Tips to Spot Fake Lawyer Schemes Targeting Crypto Scam Victims

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FBI Shares Tips to Spot Fake Lawyer Schemes Targeting Crypto Scam Victims

source: infosecurity-magazine.com | image: fbi.gov

 

The FBI has updated its alert about fake lawyers defrauding victims of cryptocurrency scams, adding due diligence measures to help victims.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has previously warned that fraudsters were posing as lawyers from fictitious law firms and using social media and messaging services to defraud victims of cryptocurrency scams.

In this sophisticated scheme, the malicious actors target vulnerable populations, particularly the elderly, and offer to recover funds from a previous scam but instead steal personal information and sometimes money from them. Continue reading “FBI Shares Tips to Spot Fake Lawyer Schemes Targeting Crypto Scam Victims” →

Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes…

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Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes—and Now Can Open Them in Seconds

source: wired.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace)  |  Image: pixabay.com

 

Security researchers found two techniques to crack at least eight brands of electronic safes—used to secure everything from guns to narcotics—that are sold with Securam Prologic locks.

 

About two years ago, security researchers James Rowley and Mark Omo got curious about a scandal in the world of electronic safes: Liberty Safe, which markets itself as “America’s #1 heavy-duty home and gun safe manufacturer,” had apparently given the FBI a code that allowed agents to open a criminal suspect’s safe in response to a warrant related to the January 6, 2021, invasion of the US Capitol building.

Politics aside, Rowley and Omo were taken aback to read that it was so easy for law enforcement to penetrate a locked metal box—not even an internet-connected device—that no one but the owner ought to have the code to open. “How is it possible that there’s this physical security product, and somebody else has the keys to the kingdom?” Omo asks. Continue reading “Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes…” →

AI Data Centers Are Massive, Energy-Hungry and Headed Your Way

Posted on by esimantiras

AI Data Centers Are Massive, Energy-Hungry and Headed Your Way

source: cnet.com  | image: pixabay.com

 

Behind your ChatGPT and Gemini queries, there’s a land grab happening to keep up the fevered pace of gen AI’s growth. The consequences are significant.

 

From the outside, this nondescript building in Piscataway, New Jersey, looks like a standard corporate office surrounded by lookalike buildings. Even when I walk through the second set of double doors with a visitor badge slung around my neck, it still feels like I’ll soon find cubicles, water coolers and light office chatter.

Instead, it’s one brightly lit server hall after another, each with slightly different characteristics, but all with one thing in common — a constant humming of power. 

The first area I see has white tiled floors and rows of 7-foot-high server racks protected by black metal cages. Inside the cage structure, I feel cool air rushing from the floor toward the servers to prevent overheating. The wind muffles my tour guide’s voice, and I have to shout over the noise for him to hear me. 

Continue reading “AI Data Centers Are Massive, Energy-Hungry and Headed Your Way” →

Have You Turned Off Your Virtual Oven?

Posted on by esimantiras

 

Have You Turned Off Your Virtual Oven?

sosurce: thehackernews.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

You check that the windows are shut before leaving home. Return to the kitchen to verify that the oven and stove were definitely turned off. Maybe even circle back again to confirm the front door was properly closed. These automatic safety checks give you peace of mind because you know the unlikely but potentially dangerous consequences of forgetting – a break-in, fire, or worse.

Your external-facing IT infrastructure deserves the same methodical attention. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Digital Risk Protection (DRP) tools provide that same peace of mind for your digital “home,” automating the everyday safety checks that prevent costly incidents. Continue reading “Have You Turned Off Your Virtual Oven?” →

Beyond ChatGPT: Shadow AI Risks Lurk in SaaS Tools

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Beyond ChatGPT: Shadow AI Risks Lurk in SaaS Tools

source: technewsworld.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Unapproved use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools is creating a growing cybersecurity blind spot for businesses. As employees adopt these technologies without proper oversight, they may inadvertently expose sensitive data — yet many managers still underestimate the risk and delay implementing third-party defenses.

This type of unsanctioned technology use, known as shadow IT, has long posed security challenges. Now, its AI-driven counterpart — shadow AI — is triggering new concerns among cybersecurity experts. Continue reading “Beyond ChatGPT: Shadow AI Risks Lurk in SaaS Tools” →

UK Arrests Four in ‘Scattered Spider’ Ransom Group

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UK Arrests Four in ‘Scattered Spider’ Ransom Group

source: krebsonsecurity.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Authorities in the United Kingdom this week arrested four people aged 17 to 20 in connection with recent data theft and extortion attacks against the retailers Marks & Spencer and Harrods, and the British food retailer Co-op Group. The breaches have been linked to a prolific but loosely-affiliated cybercrime group dubbed “Scattered Spider,” whose other recent victims include multiple airlines. Continue reading “UK Arrests Four in ‘Scattered Spider’ Ransom Group” →

McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions…

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McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions of Applicants’ Data to Hackers Who Tried the Password ‘123456’

source: wired.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Basic security flaws left the personal info of tens of millions of McDonald’s job-seekers vulnerable on the “McHire” site built by AI software firm Paradox.ai.

IF YOU WANT a job at McDonald’s today, there’s a good chance you’ll have to talk to Olivia. Olivia is not, in fact, a human being, but instead an AI chatbot that screens applicants, asks for their contact information and résumé, directs them to a personality test, and occasionally makes them “go insane” by repeatedly misunderstanding their most basic questions. Continue reading “McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions…” →

Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimize 130 Firms

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Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimize 130 Firms

source: threatpost.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Over 130 companies tangled in sprawling phishing campaign that spoofed a multi-factor authentication system.

Targeted attacks on Twilio and Cloudflare employees are tied to a massive phishing campaign that resulted in 9,931 accounts at over 130 organizations being compromised. The campaigns are tied to focused abuse of identity and access management firm Okta, which gained the threat actors the 0ktapus moniker, by researchers.

Continue reading “Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimize 130 Firms” →

That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me

Posted on by esimantiras

That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me

source: substack.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

 

How I found myself on the receiving end of a Chinese spy recruitment pitch and stumbled into the strange new frontier of AI-assisted espionage.

 

If you’ve ever thought your inbox was full of suspiciously good offers—say, a Nigerian prince asking for your bank details—you may be missing out on another opportunity: being recruited by a foreign intelligence agency.

Yes, I’m here to report that I was pitched by what can only be described as a Chinese intelligence operation masquerading as a hedge fund consultancy. After 20 years of writing about foreign intelligence operations, I found myself in the middle of one.

Let me set the stage: it all began innocently enough on May 21, with a direct message on X from “Mary Taylor.” Her firm, the Visionary Advisory Group, was exploring the possibility of conflict between China and Taiwan, and I was just the guy whose opinion they wanted to hear about it.

Now, I’m really not that guy. I have at best a rudimentary understanding of the tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Don’t ask me to explain the “One China” policy or “strategic ambiguity.”

Continue reading “That Time Chinese Intelligence Tried to Recruit Me” →

FAA will build air traffic control system that can be ‘updated like your iPhone’

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FAA will build air traffic control system that can be ‘updated like your iPhone’

source: cybernews.com  |  image: faa.gov

 

US President Donald Trump and US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, along with at least a dozen major airline aviation CEOs on Thursday, announce a new plan to “completely rebuild and modernize” the nation’s air traffic control system.

The Secretary said the time has come to finally address the FAA’s antiquated technology infrastructure and the intermittent systemwide failures that have been plaguing the aviation industry for years. Continue reading “FAA will build air traffic control system that can be ‘updated like your iPhone’” →