Tag Archive for: called

Security workers called in to protect mobile vaccine units – The Durango Herald

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GOLDEN – Security workers will accompany nurses and staff members of Jefferson County Public Health’s three mobile vaccine units for the foreseeable future after months of harassment and abuse.

Last weekend, the agency was forced to pull vans off the street after a driver in Gilpin County, who contracts Jefferson County’s health agency, drove toward and destroyed signs around the van. Others “verbally abused” staff members Sept. 4, said Dr. Dawn Comstock, the agency’s executive director.

These types of attacks have been going on for months, she said, but they’ve escalated to a higher degree. For example, last month someone threw live fireworks into a tent of nurses and staff members, the Gazette reported.

Despite the ongoing barrage of attacks and harassment, the county was still set to hold its COVID-19 vaccine events.

“JCPH will not be intimidated out of its public health mission,” Comstock said. “We’ve arranged additional security measures to keep staff safe and will be working with our law enforcement partners to assure these handful of extremists are not allowed to infringe on the rights of those who want to be vaccinated.”

Each incident has been reported to law enforcement, however, each time the perpetrator has left the scene before they arrived.

Two incidents are being investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and at least one by the Arvada Police Department, said Mike Taplin, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office.

The health department has partnered with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies who will evaluate whether security, a deputy – on or off-duty – or other local officers, are needed.

Comstock said she also contacted the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to ask for them to provide security or funding for security to be used at each mobile vaccine unit, but was told they’re working with state law enforcement to combat the issue around the state.

“They let us know this isn’t…

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Weird Malware Called Oddball Blocks You From Accessing Piracy Sites Instead Of Hacking Device; What Kind of Sorcery is This?

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A weird malware is currently confusing some security experts and researchers. The reason behind this is that this new computer virus seems to have no interest in hacking your device. 

Weird Malware Blocks You From Accessing Piracy Sites Instead Of Hacking Device: Here's How Oddball Works

(Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Instead, the new Oddball malware blocks explicitly you from accessing piracy websites. Based on its process, some researchers claimed that this could even be a good malware since it can stop people from downloading or viewing paid content for free. 

As of the moment, piracy is still an issue since it can prevent the original creators of new songs, movies, apps, and other things from raising incomes. But, there’s a chance that this new malware could somehow help solve this problem. 

Specifically, involved security researchers confirmed that the new Oddball computer virus blocks infected computers from visiting these illegal websites. However, they did not confirm if the malware can also prevent clean devices. 

Weird Malware Oddball’s Details 

As of the moment, many hacking groups are developing malware and ransomware that could allow them to breach companies’ systems. These include the new ransomware targeting iConstituent, as well as the REvil’s malware. 

Weird Malware Blocks You From Accessing Piracy Sites Instead Of Hacking Device: Here's How Oddball Works

(Photo : Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Related Article: BUSTED: Ukraine Ransomware Gang Known for Hacking Universities Arrested

But, the new Oddball is not like these computer viruses. According to Threat Post’s latest report, the new malware modifies the HOSTS file on the infected system.

Security experts explained that this method is quite efficient since it can stop the device from access a certain web address, which is the main goal of Oddball. 

However, many techie users can easily prevent the malware’s effect since it has no persistence mechanism. 

“This seems to be a fresh trick on an old attack of compromising people attempting to download pirated software and media,” explained Netenrich’s Threat Intelligence Advisor John Bambenek. 

“In this case though, it seems to be an individual or group trying to protect intellectual property, but make no mistake, this is still clearly criminal behavior,” added the security…

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Internet Security Apps Called Out for Personal Data Abuse

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When you download a mobile app designed to keep you safe online, you probably don’t expect it to abuse your personal data.

But that’s exactly what many of China’s most popular mobile security apps are doing, according to a new announcement (link in Chinese) by the country’s internet regulator.

Some 36 security apps, including those developed by internet titans Tencent Holdings Ltd., Baidu Inc. and Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd., are guilty of illegally obtaining data without users’ consent, collecting more information than they need to operate, and demanding excessive numbers of permissions, according to the notice, which was published Monday.

The document singled out a further 48 online lending apps for similar violations, including those developed by the personal finance arms of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s e-commerce site Taobao, Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd. and several national banks.

Data privacy is a long-running problem in China, which lacks robust laws and regulations governing the collection and use of personal information.

A flagship data protection law is in the works, but remains in the draft stage amid debate over how it would affect both businesses and individuals.

For now, Chinese authorities largely content themselves with naming and shaming — and sometimes removing (link in Chinese) — apps that violate user privacy.

The companies on the latest naughty list have 15 working days to clean up their act or face legal punishment, the regulator said, without being specific.

Contact reporter Matthew Walsh ([email protected])

Related: China Mulls Severe Penalties in New Data Protection Law

 

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Telegram or Signal? Welcome to the illusion called data security

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By Nishant Arora

As millions shun WhatsApp and download new chat platforms in search for a secure experience, mind you that security is nothing but an illusion and there is no guarantee that Telegram or Signal may not be hacked in the future, especially when nation-state actors with highly sophisticated tools and huge resources are on the prowl.

Encryption is fundamentally flawed and once hackers get to know any vulnerability or bug in the whole data travel journey — apps, mobile operating system, public Wi-Fi, Cloud and the physical data centres — your personal and sensitive information is always at their mercy.

The Telegram development team is based in Dubai. The Telegram team had to leave Russia due to local IT regulations and has tried a number of locations as its base, including Berlin, London and Singapore. It does not store data within the boundaries of India.

Signal does not own its own data centres. The company is entirely Cloud based, which puts data at risk as cyber-attacks on Cloud-based services have increased in the recent past.

In case the data is compromised, India which does not have a dedicated law on privacy or on cyber security, will not be able to do much, unlike Europe which has a strong General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that treats the safety of its users’ data diligently and seriously.

According to Pavan Duggal, one of the nation’s top cyber law experts and a seasoned Supreme Court lawyer, if you are looking at complete and absolute security, you have to realise that security is a relative term.

“What was secure yesterday is not secure today and what is secure today will not be secure tomorrow. Blindfoldly relying upon these platforms would not suffice. There is a need for people to incorporate cyber security as a way of life,” Duggal told IANS.

Be it Pegasus software attack on WhatsApp or the great Twitter crypto hacking last year that compromised accounts of celebrities like US President-elect Joe Biden, former US President Barack Obama, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (you name it), people are always facing the risk of losing their data.

The latest is the SolarWinds attack that…

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