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Topic: Privacy

Apple has joined the growing list of conglomerates that have asked their employees to stop using generative AI-based chatbots—including OpenAI's ChatGPT. News 

Apple bans employees from using ChatGPT over data leak

Adriana Marais, , ,

After Samsung, Apple has joined a growing number of groups asking their employees to stop using creative AI-powered chatbots — including OpenAI’s ChatGPT — to prevent the leak of confidential information about internal company matters. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Apple has stated that generative artificial intelligence cannot be used for work purposes. They’ve even banned other AI-based platforms like Github Copilot, which happens to be owned by Microsoft, which allows users to automate writing code. By default, ChatGPT records user conversations, which are later used…

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Last month, Microsoft told customers of its advertising platform that it would remove Twitter from the platform News 

Twitter accuses Microsoft of misusing its data: Report

Jim Hendler, , ,

Twitter sent Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella a letter accusing the tech giant of misusing the social media company’s data, the New York Times (NYT) reported Thursday. Twitter has accused Microsoft of violating the data agreement and refusing to pay for its use, according to a letter reviewed by NYT. The letter alleges that Microsoft exceeded its authorized use of Twitter data in certain cases and shared it with government agencies without permission. Twitter on Thursday sent a letter to Microsoft’s chief executive, accusing the tech giant of improperly using the…

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If you have an internet router that is not up to date or obsolete, you may want to be careful—as a new report claims that Chinese hackers are targeting them to install backdoor malware to compromise networks. News 

Chinese Hackers Exploiting Internet Routers and Installing Malware to Compromise Networks: Report

Adriana Marais, , , ,

If you have an internet router that is out of date or out of date, you should be careful, as a new report claims that Chinese hackers are targeting them to install backdoor malware to compromise networks. As reported by Check Point Research, a hacker group called Camaro Dragon is planting malware on TP-Link routers, including a backdoor called “Horse Shell.” This backdoor agent can give hackers full control over the infected device. it remains undetected and continues to access compromised networks. The attacks are said to be targeting European…

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The breach hit systems for processing TRANServe transit benefits that reimburse government employees for some commuting costs News 

The US Department of Transportation suffered a major data breach, 237,000 employee records compromised

Adriana Marais, , ,

The personal information of 237,000 current and former federal employees was exposed in a data breach at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), sources briefed on the matter said Friday. Violation systems for processing TRANServe’s transit benefits, which compensate state employees for part of their commuting expenses. It was not clear whether the personal data was used for criminal purposes. USDOT said in a statement to Reuters that the breach did not affect the transportation security systems. It did not say who might be responsible for the hack. The department…

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With security keys, even if someone has your Apple ID and password, they still cannot access your account without your physical security key. News 

Protecting your Apple ID with security keys: A step-by-step guide

Adriana Marais, , ,

US tech giant Apple recently released a new security feature to help users protect their Apple ID account. The company introduced Security Keys, a physical device that can authenticate your Apple ID instead of a password. This new feature is considered the most secure way to protect your Apple ID. With the release of iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura 13.2, Apple introduced support for security keys or physical devices that can verify your Apple ID instead of a password. To enable this feature, users need to configure it…

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WhatsApp offers a host of features which needs access to your phone's mic, camera and storage. But that has raised concerns. News 

WhatsApp didn’t spy: Google confirms Android bug caused privacy breach

Jim Hendler, , ,

Earlier this week, WhatsApp was accused of using the phone’s microphone without the user’s permission. Many people criticized the messaging app, Elon Musk said that WhatsApp is not safe and some of you even wanted to take action against WhatsApp for this privacy breach. Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, claimed in its defense that a bug in Android caused this problem, implying that the messaging app was not to blame for this behavior. Turns out they were right after all. Google has confirmed that there is a bug in…

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Western Digital Corp said on Friday it had restored My Cloud services and expects customer access to its online store to be normalized in the week of May 15, more than a month after the data storage chip maker disclosed a security breach. News 

Western Digital Brings Services Back Online Soon After Breach: All the Details

Febin Mathew, , ,

Western Digital Corp said Friday it has restored My Cloud services and expects customer access to its online store to return to normal in the week of May 15, more than a month after the storage chip maker disclosed a security breach. Western Digital said it was moving forward with the restoration process and most systems and services were operational. An “unauthorized party” obtained customers’ names, phone numbers and partial credit card numbers from their systems, Western Digital said in a statement. The company said it is communicating directly with…

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India witnessed an 18 per cent increase in weekly cyber attacks during the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, with each organisation facing an average of 2,108 attacks per week, News 

India Sees 18% Increase in Weekly Cyber Attacks in Q1 2023: Report

Adarsh V.K, , ,

In India, the number of weekly cyber attacks increased by 18 percent in the first quarter of 2023, with each organization facing an average of 2,108 attacks per week, a new report released on Friday showed. According to Check Point Research (CPR), global weekly cyber attacks increased 7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter last year, with each organization experiencing an average of 1,248 attacks per week. Globally, in the first quarter of 2023, the education/research sector suffered the most attacks, with an average…

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WhatsApp has slowly become a hub for spam calls and messages but a new issue raises further alarm. News 

Beware! There is a new WhatsApp calling scam that demands your attention

Jim Hendler, , ,

WhatsApp has become a hub for spam and marketing messages, which is the exact reason why millions of people switched to the messaging app from traditional text messages. But the sophistication of WhatsApp scams is evolving. Now you don’t have to worry about nagging advertising messages from brands (who are not allowed to message you on WhatsApp), there have been regular cases of people receiving WhatsApp calls (both voice and video calls) from random international calls. numbers which, according to the given ISD codes, originate from Malaysia, Kenya and Vietnam.…

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The call forwarding scam has been in existence for a while now—with fraudsters finding new and unique ways to trick their victims. Here's how you can be safe. News 

How to protect yourself from call forwarding scams: tips and more

Febin Mathew,

In the online world, with the proliferation of mobile phones in countries including India, the call forwarding scam has been around for quite some time – scammers have found new and unique ways to trick their victims. There are a few ways you can prevent falling victim to these scams. But before we learn the ways, let’s understand how the call forwarding scam works. According to Truecaller, scammers can call you pretending to be your mobile operator or Internet Service Provider (ISP) – claiming that your account has been compromised…

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Meta would also be subject to other limitations, including with its use of face-recognition technology News 

Facebook has misled parents, failed to protect children’s privacy: US regulators

Jim Hendler, , ,

U.S. regulators say Facebook has misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app, including by misrepresenting app developers’ access to private user data. As a result, the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to Facebook’s 2020 Privacy Rule (now Meta) that would prohibit it from profiting from data it collects on users under 18. This would include data collected through its virtual reality. Products. The FTC said the company has not fully complied with the 2020 order. Meta would also be…

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Passkeys offer a safer alternative to passwords and texted confirmation codes. Users won’t ever see them directly News 

Google is making strides in online security with cross-passwords for more secure logins

Adriana Marais, , ,

Good news for all password haters: Google has taken a big step to make them an afterthought by adding “passwords” as a simpler and more secure way to log into its services. Here’s what you need to know: WHAT ARE PASSION KEYS? Passwords provide a more secure alternative to passwords and SMS verification codes. Users never see them directly; instead, a web service like Gmail uses them to communicate directly with a trusted device like a phone or computer to sign in. All you need to do is verify your…

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The researchers have recently discovered a Telegram channel advertising this new information-stealing malware. News 

Hackers are selling new malware on Telegram that targets MacOS users

Adriana Marais, , , , ,

Threat actors are selling a new malware called Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS) for macOS platforms on the Telegram channel, which is capable of extracting autofill information, passwords, wallets and more. According to Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL), the Atomic macOS Stealer malware is specifically designed to target macOS and can steal sensitive data from a victim’s machine. Researchers have recently discovered a Telegram channel promoting this new data-stealing malware. Also, according to the report, the hacker behind this thief is constantly improving this malware and adding new features to…

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On Tinder, there are several security measures that users can take advantage of—to ensure that you stay secure. News 

How to stay safe on Tinder: Check the app’s security features for online dating in India

Adarsh V.K, , ,

As online dating grows in popularity in India, more and more users are turning to apps like Tinder to find potential matches. However, as with anything on the Internet, it is important for users to know certain features that can help them stay safe while dating. Tinder has several security measures that users can take advantage of, including the following: Mutual Matching: With Mutual Matching, to start a conversation on Tinder, both users have to swipe against each other. This feature helps prevent unwanted messages from strangers and ensures that…

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Microsoft Edge browser has been leaking users' visited sites to its API site, bingapis.com. Here's what we know. News 

Microsoft Edge ‘leaks’ user browsing history to Bing API: Report

Adriana Marais, , , ,

With all the attention Microsoft Edge has been garnering over the past few months with GPT-4-backed Bing, there’s a new development that suggests the browser has been leaking user-visited sites to its API site, bingapis.com. This privacy concern was originally raised by Reddit users. According to The Verge, the latest version of Microsoft Edge sends a list of URLs from every page visited to bingapis.com. Reddit user Hackermchackface, who first discovered the bug on the site, stated: “Searching for references to this URL returns very few results and no documentation…

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Italy temporarily banned the programme last month over allegations its data-gathering broke privacy laws News 

Germany launches data protection probe during ChatGPT weeks after Italy’s restriction

Febin Mathew, , ,

Germany, along with other European countries, is monitoring the use of personal data by the popular artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT and is demanding answers from its US maker OpenAI, a regulator said on Monday. Regional data protection authorities in Europe’s top economy have put together a questionnaire for OpenAI and are expecting a response by June 11, said Schleswig-Holstein state commissioner Marit Hansen. “We want to know if a privacy impact assessment has been done and if the privacy risks are under control,” Hansen told AFP. “We are asking OpenAI…

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The amount of data collected is determined by the permissions granted to the infected app during installation as well as the Android version. News 

Android malware infects 60+ Google Play apps with 100 million downloads

Adriana Marais, , , ,

A new Android malware called “Goldoson” has infiltrated Google Play and has been found in 60 legitimate apps with a total of 100 million downloads. The malicious malware component is integrated into a third-party library that developers accidentally included in all sixty apps, reports BleepingComputer. The Android malware discovered by McAfee’s research team is capable of collecting a variety of sensitive information, such as information about a user’s installed apps, WiFi and Bluetooth devices, and GPS locations. According to the report, it can also commit ad fraud by clicking ads…

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Hackers have stolen around 10 TB data from data storage leader Western Digital that allegedly contains customer information. News 

Western Digital Hit Cyber Attack, 10 TB of customer data was stolen by hackers

Febin Mathew, , ,

Hackers have stolen approximately 10 TB of data from data storage leader Western Digital, allegedly containing customer information. According to reports, the hackers demanded a ransom of “at least 8 figures” in exchange for not disclosing the stolen information online. One of the hackers spoke to TechCrunch and provided details about the data breach. “The hacker shared a file that was digitally signed with Western Digital’s code signing certificate, indicating that they can now digitally sign files to impersonate Western Digital,” the report states. The hackers also shared the alleged…

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On March 31, Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy after the agency, known as Garante, temporarily restricted it News 

Italy sets a deadline for OpenAI to meet ChatGPT’s privacy requirements

Febin Mathew, , , ,

Italy’s data protection agency on Wednesday set OpenAI an end-of-April deadline to meet data protection and privacy requirements to allow its AI ChatGPT chatbot service to continue in the country. On March 31, Microsoft-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy after an agency called Garante temporarily restricted it and opened an investigation into a suspected violation of privacy rules. The Italian agency accused OpenAI of failing to verify the age of ChatGPT users and criticized the “absence of any legal basis” that would justify the massive collection and storage of…

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Instant messaging platform Discord said on Wednesday it was cooperating with U.S. law enforcement's investigation into a leak of secret U.S. documents that has grabbed attention around the world. News 

Discord says it is cooperating with the investigation into the breach of classified material

Febin Mathew, , ,

Instant messaging platform Discord said Wednesday it is cooperating with U.S. law enforcement authorities as they investigate the leak of classified U.S. documents that has drawn attention around the world. The statement comes as questions continue to swirl about who leaked the documents, whether they are authentic and whether the intelligence assessments they contain are reliable. The documents, which carry markings suggesting they are highly classified, have led to a series of stories about the war in Ukraine, protests in Israel and how the United States surveils both friend and…

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