Looking for love? Be careful what you wish for.
A loose community of scammers known as Yahoo Boys has begun using real-time face-swapping technology to woo victims of romance scams. Scammers use a variety of tools and techniques, including AI-powered apps, to make themselves appear to be someone completely different on video calls. Remember: If someone you've never met IRL asks you for money, say no.
Elsewhere in the world of harmful deepfakes, two major websites used to create fake nude images of people are now blocked in the UK. The censorship, which appears to be self-imposed, comes days after the UK proposed legislation to ban non-consensual sexual images generated by AI.
A Russian cybercriminal organization called the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn was created with the help of Sandworm, a notorious Russian military hacking force that has carried out devastating cyberattacks against Ukraine for years. It seems so. difference? The Cyber Army of Russia Reborn is even more brazen, taking credit for attacks on critical infrastructure in Europe and the United States.
This week marks a new chapter in the Change Healthcare ransomware saga. A cybercriminal group called RansomHub claims to be selling highly sensitive patient information stolen from the company. The sale comes after RansomHub claimed to have terabytes of data stolen in a February attack by another ransomware group known as AlphV or Black Cat, which received a $22 million payment in March. This is what happened to me. Change Healthcare said it had spent $872 million responding to ransomware attacks as of March 31st.
The United States' largest global surveillance program may be about to expand even further. The two-year renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which technically expired on Friday, is expected to be voted on in the Senate soon after passing the House last week. The bill includes provisions that would significantly expand the number of companies that can be recruited to spy on behalf of the U.S. government, what critics call the “Stasi clause.” One of the biggest lobbying firms for big tech companies opposes the provision, citing concerns that tech industry workers could be coerced into informing.
That's not all. Every week, we round up security and privacy news that we haven't covered in detail ourselves. Click on the heading to read the full text. And stay safe outside.
All good fiction contains a kernel of truth, which is why the hyper-realistic Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is always the go-to for shows like: X files and games like metal gear solid. They tend to pop up whenever a shadowy government agency is needed to reverse engineer stolen alien artifacts or build giant killer robots. But DARPA's announcement this Thursday bears too much resemblance to the opening sequence of Hideo Kojima's game. The agency announced that it has successfully flown an experimental aircraft known as the X-62 with the help of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. An artificial intelligence engages in a simulated dogfight with a human pilot in an F-16. “The potential for autonomous air-to-air combat has been imaginable for decades,” said U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. “But the reality remains a distant dream until now.”
For at least several hours this week, hackers destroyed computer systems that support the work of the New York State Legislature, although details of the impact were unclear. While the attack on what's called the Legislative Drafting Committee is less surprising than attacks on power plants and naval bases, the LBDC is one of more than a dozen blocks needed before New York's legislation becomes a reality. It is one. Law. Without it, a bill cannot be introduced, amended, considered in committee, much less voted on. Fortunately, the agency reports that it was able to recover within hours using a “backup system.” The investigation into this attack is ongoing.
A swarm of law enforcement agencies arrested 37 suspects around the world over the weekend in an operation targeting LabHost, one of the world's largest phishing-as-a-service platforms. The investigation was led by the Metropolitan Police in conjunction with Europol. Europol said its researchers discovered 40,000 phishing domains operated by 10,000 users around the world. LabHost's monthly fee was $249. Another sign of the growing popularity and sophistication of these markets is that cybercriminals have discovered the psychological benefits of slightly below-price pricing.
Encrypted messaging apps WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram are following a Winnie the Pooh-like path. China has ordered Apple this week to remove “certain apps” from the country's App Store, citing “national security concerns,” the tech giant announced (but not all apps are compatible with which apps). It was not made clear whether this was the case). Apple reportedly met with Chinese authorities to express concerns about how banning the app would affect users, but was met with a wall and relented. “We are obligated to abide by the laws of the countries in which we operate, even if we disagree,” the company said in a statement. Apple relies heavily on Chinese labor to make its products, with sales in the region exceeding $70 billion in recent years. It's no longer a big secret that Apple is beholden to the Chinese government because of this.
