Tag Archive for: protect

Check your email security, and protect your customers – NCSC.GOV.UK – National Cyber Security Centre

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Check your email security, and protect your customers – NCSC.GOV.UK  National Cyber Security Centre

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AI hacking scams are on the rise – here’s how to protect your money, points and miles

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In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received 2.6 million fraud reports totaling $10 billion lost to scams, the highest annual loss ever reported. Of those reports, the overwhelming majority were imposter scams where a fraudster impersonates a bank’s fraud department, the government, a business, a relative, a love interest or a technical support representative.

As artificial intelligence becomes easier to access and more sophisticated, it is quickly rising through the ranks as an effective way for scammers to gain access to your accounts, draining them of money or points and miles.

The FTC is actively seeking to thwart AI-generated so-called deepfakes by enacting a rule prohibiting the impersonation of individuals. A deepfake is an image or video that has been digitally manipulated using a form of AI called deep learning. This technology allows fraudsters to make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something that never happened.

This would be an extension of an existing rule against impersonating businesses or government officials.

In fact, the FTC issued a consumer alert last year warning people against scammers who use AI to clone a loved one’s voice in an attempt to have you send them money. Not only can they impersonate the voice of someone you know, but they can also use AI to generate fake images to make their story more convincing.

How is AI being used by scammers?

“Someone could impersonate your child’s voice and tell you that they are out of town, lost their phone and need money right away,” Adrianus Warmus, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, told TPG. “They can then use an AI tool to scrape that person’s Facebook or Instagram and create an image that ‘proves’ it’s really them reaching out to you from wherever they say they are,” he explained.

LIUBOMYR VORONA/GETTY IMAGES

Playing to your emotions is not the only way scammers use AI technology to separate you from your money and travel funds.

Related: How and why you should use a VPN internet connection while traveling

Scammers can also use AI to spoof an email address. “It’s possible to impersonate or take over an email address and use AI to even impersonate someone’s writing style to make it sound convincing,” Jeff Reich,…

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Check these settings to protect your Android device from malware scams

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SINGAPORE – Android phone users’ freedom to download apps outside of official app stores – a defining feature of the operating system – is being curtailed amid pressure on tech companies to crack down on malware scams that have proliferated on the mobile platform.

Google, which develops Android, announced on Feb 7 that it would, by default, block attempts to install apps from unverified sources that require sensitive permissions, starting from the week of Feb 21.

Sideloading, as it is called, is common practice for the installation of apps for tech enthusiasts or for overseas businesses that are not supported by Google’s ecosystem.

This open door to unverified apps has been exploited by fraudsters to plant viruses. Malware scams left a trail of losses worth more than $34 million in 2023, according to the police’s scam statistics, which found that many victims were duped into installing virus-laden apps on Android phones.

In response, Google and phone manufacturers have had to tighten security measures on their devices in Singapore.

The blocking of installations of apps from unverified sources is part of a Singapore trial by Google and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) that will involve all Android users.

It is among a slew of security features available on the Android operating system – some of which are tucked away in the many sub-menus of the phones’ settings.

Here is a guide on how you can ensure your Android phone is shielded from the malware menace.

Look out for the new software update 

The new Android security feature that blocks attempts to install sideloaded apps will be pushed automatically to all Android devices – there is no need to manually update a device, said Google’s director of Android security strategy Eugene Liderman, in reply to questions from The Straits Times.

The update will beef up Google Play Protect, an in-built program on Android devices that scans for harmful behaviour, issues warnings and blocks or automatically disables suspicious apps.

ST understands that users will not be notified when the new software is enabled on their devices, but they will find that any new attempts to install apps from suspicious…

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Government agrees law to protect confidential journalistic material from state hacking

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The government has agreed to bring in legislation to require MI5 and GCHQ to seek independent authorisation before accessing confidential journalistic material obtained through the bulk hacking of phones or computer systems.

The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill, which was debated in the House of Commons yesterday (Monday 19 February), will require the intelligence services to seek independent approval from the investigatory powers commissioner before accessing journalistic material or material that could identify a confidential journalistic source.

The concession follows a seven-year legal challenge brought by human rights organisation Liberty with the support of the National Union of Journalists (NJU).

It follows separate warnings from technology companies and rights organisations that proposed changes to the Investigatory Powers Act would disrupt the ability of technology companies to apply security updates and introduce end-to-end encryption.

The government has asked Liberty to drop legal proceedings against it in the light of a proposed amendment to the Investigatory Powers Bill 2016 that will require an independent body to review all requests to search and retain confidential journalistic information obtained through bulk hacking of computers, phones and tablets.

Journalists exposed to state surveillance and interference

Under current law, security and intelligence agencies and other state bodies can search for confidential journalist material, including emails, calls and texts, among data obtained through bulk hacking operations without the need for prior authorisation from a judicial commissioner.

The government introduced similar protections for journalistic material obtained through bulk interception in March 2023 following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of “Big Brother Watch and others v UK”,  which found that bulk interception of communications data breached the privacy rights of UK citizens.

Megan Goulding, a lawyer for Liberty, said journalists have been exposed to state surveillance and interference for more than a decade with few safeguards or protections.

“The introduction of a new requirement for an independent…

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