Tag Archive for: Americans

This Hacker Stole Data From 200M Americans. Now He’s Infiltrating Scam Gangs.

/in


Sitting in court, Ngo Minh Hieu knew he had fucked up big time. 

In July 2015, the 25-year-old was sentenced to 13 years in prison for stealing personal information from approximately 200 million Americans—over 60 percent of the U.S. population—and selling it on the dark web. 

That day in court, the judge told him that they had received some 10,000 complaint letters from his victims. Among them was a woman who had lost her house and was struggling to feed her children after her personal information was hijacked by malicious actors, landing her in crippling debt.

It was then that the gravity of what he had done dawned on him. 

“I felt like a serial killer,” he told VICE World News. “When I was still making money and living a good life in Vietnam, I thought that information was just numbers.”

“I couldn’t imagine that stealing U.S. identities would bring so much damage to a person’s life.”

Today, his life is unrecognizable from that of the prolific hacker he was 10 years ago. After a seven-year stint in U.S. federal prison, the 33-year-old today is still trawling the dark web, but now working for the Vietnamese government to hunt cybercriminals like he once was. As part of this grand redemption arc, the past year has also seen him tackling a disturbing new breed of cyber scammer in Cambodia, where thousands of human trafficking victims are trapped and tortured in industrial-scale centers, forced to lure internet users into online frauds. 

Fueling these attempts to make amends is the nagging guilt over his crime spree, described by U.S. authorities as one of the most prolific identity thefts in U.S. history, which he says continues to haunt many of his victims today.

“Every time I have a chance to speak with the media, I always try to apologize to American people as much as possible,” Hieu said. “Because I know the damage is already done and it’s very difficult to recover when your identity gets traded or sold to bad people on the dark web.”

Hieu grew up in Cam Ranh, a city in south Vietnam, where his parents owned a small electronics store. He got his first computer when he was 13, and by age 14, the curious teen was already dipping his toe into the world of hacking,…

Source…

Top US cyber official asks Americans to look out for Russian hacking efforts

/in


The U.S. government is wary about the possibility of a Russian cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure paired with Kremlin attempts to spread disinformation about any incident’s effects to sow panic among Americans, a top U.S. cyber official told CNN.”All businesses, all critical infrastructure owners and operators need to assume that disruptive cyber activity is something that the Russians are thinking about, that are preparing for, that are exploring options, as the President said,” Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said.”That’s why we are so focused on making sure that everybody understands the potential for this disruptive cyber activity,” Easterly said. “And it’s not about panic. It’s about preparation.”Easterly pointed to the example of a cybercriminal attack on Colonial Pipeline last year, which shut down delivery of fuel to the East Coast for days and led to Americans hoarding gasoline.The Biden administration has for months warned that Moscow could respond to U.S. sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure — or that ransomware gangs like the one that hit Colonial Pipeline could lash out.”The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential and it’s coming,” President Joe Biden told business leaders March 21.Easterly called Biden’s statement, which said Russia was conducting “preparatory activity” for a potential cyberattack, “pretty unprecedented.””I think what makes the moment different is just seeing what the Russians have done with this unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and then understanding there can be some very real consequences of that in cyberspace,” Easterly told CNN.Easterly’s agency, established in 2018, is charged with advising the owners and operators of power plants, manufacturing facilities and other critical infrastructure on how to defend against such threats.Agencies like CISA and the departments of Treasury and Energy have in recent months held cyberthreat briefings on Russian hacking capabilities for America’s biggest banks and electric utilities.Many of those critical infrastructure operators have spent years investing in network…

Source…

Americans turn to VPNs to prevent online fraud and hacking

/in


Since March 2020 there has been an increase of of VPN (Virtual Private Network) discount-related searches as Americans search for a way to feel secure online, according to a new report.



a close up of a woman

© Tweetyspics


New York, NY-based coupon engine CouponFollow, part of NextGen Shopping surveyed 1,666 US adults before the pandemic and a further 1,834 US adults in February 2021 to understand how Americans view their internet security and data privacy.

Also: What is a VPN and why do you need one? Everything you have to know

The report showed that almost seven in ten (69%) of Americans are concerned about the security of their data when using public Wi-fi, and nearly two in three (64%) are worried about it when using the internet at home.

A similar percentage (65%) are concerned that their medical or financial data might be shared — or sold on — by their ISP.

Online privacy worries almost half (47%) of Americans who are concerned about their privacy when using public Wi-Fi. Nearly a third (30%) worry about their privacy even when using the Internet at home.



chart, bar chart: CouponFollow

© Provided by ZDNet
CouponFollow

Online fraud and hacking is a concern for Americans with over one in three (35%) knowing someone who has had their social media account hacked or hijacked — including them. Almost half of Millennials (48%) reported this happening.

Loading...

Load Error

In October 2020 the UK’s data privacy watchdog fined the Marriott hotel chain for a data breach that could have affected up to 339 million guests. Even social media sites like Facebook has suffered data leaks.

One in three have had, or know someone who has had their password stolen, and (52%) of Millennials and Gen Z reported the same.

Also: How to set up and use a VPN on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android

Only 12% of Baby Boomers reported having their password stolen, and one in five (20%) had a social media account hacked or hijacked — reflecting the amount of time they spend online.

Although one in three (35%) Americas use a VPN, 33% reported that they do not know what a VPN is.

Men are more likely to know what a VPN is, but almost half of Baby Boomers (49%) do not know what a VPN is. Even two in five (40%) of VPN users do not…

Source…

China Threatens to Detain Americans if U.S. Prosecutes Chinese Scholars – The New York Times

/in
  1. China Threatens to Detain Americans if U.S. Prosecutes Chinese Scholars  The New York Times
  2. China threatens to detain U.S. citizens if DOJ prosecutes scholars with Chinese military ties  Axios
  3. China denies report it may detain Americans, says U.S. mistreats its scholars  Reuters
  4. China, on reports it may detain Americans, says U.S. is trying to play the victim  Reuters UK
  5. China: Beijing threatens to detain American citizens – Report  Business Insider
  6. View Full Coverage on read more

“china espionage” – read more