Tag Archive for: paid

FatFace paid £1.45m ransom to cyber hackers behind January attack

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FatFace paid £1.45m ransom to cyber hackers who put customer and employee details at risk in attack triggered by a dodgy email

  • FatFace told shoppers and staff last week their details had been hacked 
  • At-risk information included names, addresses, bank details and NI numbers
  • The attack took place on 17 January and used ransomware to lock its systems
  • FatFace did not deny its systems were accessed as a result of a phishing email 

By George Nixon For Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: | Updated:

The ‘sophisticated criminal attack’ against the clothing retailer FatFace which put employees’ bank details and National Insurance numbers and the personal details of customers at risk was caused by a staff member clicking on a dodgy email, it has been reported.

The chain was forced to pay out a £1.45million ransom to hackers after it was hit by a malware attack in mid-January which locked it out of its systems and harvested 200GB of data, Computer Weekly reported.

Hackers initially asked for $8million, around £5.8million, worth of bitcoin, the website said, but the price was talked down after the 200-store chain argued its sales had slumped by as much as 75 per cent due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting its shops.

Ransomware is a type of malware used to deny companies and individuals access to their systems until a ransom is paid or a task carried out in return for stolen data

Ransomware is a type of malware used to deny companies and individuals access to their systems until a ransom is paid or a task carried out in return for stolen data  

The report did not say when the ransom was paid, but the software attack took place on 17 January, the same day FatFace told customers and past and present employees last week it had ‘identified some suspicious activity within its IT systems’.

But Computer Weekly said FatFace’s network had been compromised a week earlier, when hackers ‘entered its network via a phishing attack.’

Ransomware, a type of malware which locks companies and individuals out of their systems until a fee is paid or a quid pro quo carried out, is frequently deployed through phishing emails, according to the National Cyber Security Centre.

‘These emails encourage users to open a malicious file or click on a malicious link that hosts the malware.’

Such emails and text messages…

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Best password managers in 2021 – secure your passwords with these free and paid options

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  • Password managers give you the freedom to use unique passwords for each account without having to remember them.
  • You can access all your passwords by remembering only one password – the master password of your password manager.
  • Password managers also help you set strong passwords, and some of them notify you if your password has been found in a data breach by hackers.
  • Whether you are looking for a free or paid password manager, we have some good options for you to consider.

Remembering dozens of unique passwords can be cumbersome and almost impossible for most of us. Moreover, entering each password manually can start seeming like a chore.

Often, since it’s almost impossible to remember dozens of unique passwords, many of us simply re-use the same password across websites. This is a very dangerous practice. If one of those websites gets hacked, every account where you have used the same password is also compromised.

This is where password managers can be extremely useful. The best password managers in 2021 allow you to save your login details, including the app or the website name, your user ID and your password, so you don’t have to do it yourself.

Apart from this, password managers can also suggest you strong passwords, with a mix of numbers, letters and special characters. All you have to do to access dozens of your saved passwords is remember one password – which is the master password for your password manager.

Now that you know why password managers are important and what they do, it’s time to find out which are the best password managers in 2021.

1Password

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1Password is perhaps one of the best password managers out there, offering robust password security. It can also intimate you if any of your passwords have been compromised in case a website has been hacked.

It is also easy to use and comes with a polished interface – at least on mobile apps. You can also use it on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS as well as major web browsers, so compatibility is not an issue.

1Password offers only paid options, starting at $2.99 per month (approx. ₹218).

Dashlane Password Manager

Dashlane is another reputed name when it comes to password managers. Apart from…

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Our Latest Techdirt Gear: I Paid More For This T-Shirt Than Trump Paid In Taxes

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We were working on some new Techdirt gear designs for our Techdirt Gear shop at Threadless (stay tuned!) when the NY Times dropped its bombshell of a story regarding President Donald Trump’s tax returns. As you likely know, despite every Presidential candidate in my lifetime releasing their tax returns, Trump has refused to do so (also, despite promises that he would). For years, reporters have sought out those taxes, and somehow the reporters at the Times got them. There were many interesting things highlighted in those tax returns, but a key point that has resonated widely: in the year Trump won the Presidency he only paid $ 750 in federal taxes (the same as he paid in many other years as well, including his first year as President in 2017).

Lots of people have been pointing out that this is crazy for all sorts of reasons, and plenty of people, including Joe Biden have jumped in with “I paid more in taxes than Donald Trump” gear. But, here at Techdirt, we believe in… going bigger. So we’re selling a “I Paid More For This T-Shirt Than Trump Paid In Taxes” t-shirt… for $ 751 (plus shipping).

This is a real shirt and you can really buy it. Whether or not it’s worth paying $ 751 for such a t-shirt is a decision that only you can make, though we’d be happy with that kind of support.

Of course, if that’s a bit too pricey for you, we do still have a lot of other more affordable gear you can pick up too, like our copyright takedown gear:

Or our 1st Emojiment gear that explains the 1st Amendment in emoji.

And many other designs and products (not just t-shirts, we’ve got face masks, mugs and notebooks among many other items as well). So shop around, and feel free to spend more supporting us than the President has spent supporting the United States of America.

Techdirt.