Zoom Video Software Targeted by Hackers
With much of the professional world now telecommuting, hackers have taken notice and are finding vulnerabilities within Zoom’s software to hijack online meetings. Over 400 new domains have been registered through Zoom in just the last month, of which many have been found to contain suspicious content or activity. Other adware variants have been found spoofing Microsoft’s Teams videoconferencing while performing malicious activities in the background.
Microsoft Takes Steps to Prevent Ransomware Attacks on Healthcare
In a push to limit the spread of ransomware throughout the healthcare industry, Microsoft has begun reaching out to hospitals that have public-facing VPNs or other remote-access services that could allow malicious activity when improperly setup. With hospitals already overwhelmed with the current pandemic, a ransomware attack shutting down their systems for any time could be devastating. In the end, it comes down to these organizations taking this notification seriously and locking down any unsecure devices or networks.
Georgian Citizens’ Data Exposed
A popular hacker forum recently received sensitive details on over 4.9 million alive and deceased citizens of the country of Georgia. It is still unclear where the database originated, but one of the users posting the leaked data claims it did not come from the country’s election commission. Much of the information stored in the database could be easily used to identify and locate any number of individuals. More worryingly, the criminals could use the data belonging to more than 1 million deceased individuals for illicit means.
Marriott Leaks Data of 5.2 Million Customers
Officials have been working over the past month to identify the source of a data leak from an internal Marriott International application, which may have compromised the data of over 5 million customers. While the app itself didn’t collect payment of personal information, it did contain basic contact info and other hotel-related information. Fortunately, Marriott International has begun offering credit monitoring services for all affected clients and has pushed a mandatory password reset for their loyalty programs.
YouTube Accounts Hacked to Promote Scams
Many YouTube accounts were recently hijacked and renamed to variations of ‘Microsoft’ while streaming hours of cryptocurrency scams, all while pretending to be Bill Gates. These types of scams used to be extremely common on Twitter but have dropped off in recent years as the platform implemented security measures, so the scammers have switched to a more forgiving platform. Microsoft commented that the hijacked channels neither belonged to them, nor were they affiliated in any way.
