Author: HackWatchit

6 Dec 2022 Informational, InfoSec 101, News, Podcasts 00:00 – PreShow Banter™ — Florida Bobsledding Team01:29 – PreShow Banter™ — Open AI Phishing Campaign05:17 – BHIS – Talkin’ Bout [infosec] News 2022-12-0507:53 – Story # 1: There are no episodes of Darknet Diaries scheduled Q1https://twitter.com/JackRhysider/status/159911598426227097709:45 – Story # 2: Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook Amid Claims of Twitter App Store Disputehttps://www.macrumors.com/2022/11/30/elon-musk-tim-cook-meeting-apple-park/14:46 – Story # 3: Anker’s Eufy Cameras Caught Uploading Content to the Cloud Without User Consenthttps://www.macrumors.com/2022/11/29/eufy-camera-cloud-uploads-no-user-consent/23:20 – Story # 3b: Eufy caught lying about local-only security cameras with footage sent to cloud, accessible in unencrypted streamshttps://9to5google.com/2022/12/01/eufy-camera-cloud-security-leak/26:54…

Image by author GenAI has already made an extraordinary impact on enterprise productivity. Marc Benioff has stated Salesforce will keep its software engineering headcount flat due to a 30% increase in productivity thanks to AI. Users leveraging Microsoft Co-pilot create or edit 10% more documents. But this impact has been evenly distributed. Powerful models are a simple API call away and available to all (as Meta and OpenAI ads make sure to remind us).  The real disruption lies with “data + AI.” In other words, when organizations combine their first-party data with LLMs to unlock unique insights, automate processes, or…

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed the creation of a new Council for National Security within the telecom agency. The Council will utilize the Commission’s complete set of regulatory, investigatory, and enforcement powers to enhance America’s national security and address threats from foreign adversaries, with a specific focus on the risks posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr named his National Security Counsel, Adam Chan, as the first Director of the FCC’s Council on National Security. The Council will be comprised of representatives from eight Bureaus and Offices…

Earlier this year, the modern mainframe celebrated its 60th anniversary, underscoring its ongoing significance. According to this 2024 Forrester report, 61% of global infrastructure hardware decision-makers confirm their firms still rely on mainframes, with more than half planning to expand their use in the next two years. As digital transformation accelerates across industries, the mainframe remains a critical backbone of operations; however, its security is often overlooked. Cybersecurity strategies for mainframes should be top of mind for organizations especially considering mainframes are essential to the operations of leading enterprises: 45 of the world’s top-grossing banks, 67 of the Fortune 100 companies, and…

Signal, the popular messaging platform with approximately 108 million active users worldwide, has recently attracted attention for its perceived failure to address cyber threats raised by Ukraine regarding Russian interference. Despite the severity of the allegations coming from Ukraine, the now WhatsApp funded app has yet to respond publicly to concerns about its vulnerability to Russian cyber actors. Those following global political developments, particularly on forums like Reddit, suggest that Signal may be aligning its response—or lack thereof—with directives from the White House, potentially influenced by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on these issues. This speculation arises from ongoing…

​Microsoft is investigating a known issue that causes the new Outlook email client to crash when users click the “Go to classic Outlook” button, which should help them switch back to the classic Outlook. “Some users have reported that the ‘go back to classic Outlook’ button in new Outlook for Windows does not open a support article on how to download classic Outlook for Windows,” the company says in a Wednesday support document. “The application just closes, and classic Outlook is not installed,” as those clicking the button would expect. While looking into the issue, Redmond also provides those affected…

Tax season is a prime time for cybercriminals, especially those running phishing scams to steal W-2s. With many people filing their tax returns, scammers take advantage of the rush to trick unsuspecting individuals into handing over sensitive financial data. This blog highlights the rise in tax-related cybercrime and offers practical tips to keep your information safe. W-2 phishing scams often involve emails that appear to be from the IRS or another official source, requesting personal information. These phishing emails can be highly sophisticated, often mimicking the look and feel of legitimate communications. The goal is to trick the recipient into…

Critical Points:  GSA is planning to consolidate contracting functions from several federal agencies, including OPM, Education, SBA, and HUD.  Initial pilot program expected to launch by March 30.  Affected agencies are already experiencing significant changes, including OPM’s recent procurement team layoffs  Department of Education cutting nearly 50% of staff. The General Services Administration (GSA) is preparing to centralize federal contracting operations by assuming responsibility for acquisition functions currently performed by multiple agencies, according to internal communications and sources familiar with the plans.   An email obtained by Federal News Network revealed that GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is establishing a new…

Who else loves tax season besides accountants? Scammers.  It’s high time of year for online risks here in the U.S. with the onset of tax season, where scammers unleash all manner of scams aimed at taxpayers. The complexity, and even uncertainty, of filing a proper tax return can stir up anxieties like, Have I filed correctly, Did I claim the right deductions, Will I get audited, and Will I get stung with a tax penalty are just a few—and these are the very same anxieties that criminals use as the cornerstone of their attacks.    Yet like so many scams, tax…