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It's not unusual for movies, actors, and actresses to serve as lures in cyber attacks. Our recent post on "Spider-Man: No Way Home" proved that. Phishers and other threat actors will, unfortunately, try to capitalize on anything that's bound to get a lot of user attention. And the annual Oscar Awards is no stranger to such a scenario. Just last year, in fact, hackers used nominated films as phishing baits. This year may be no different.
Threat actors have notoriously taken advantage of the Olympic Games's popularity to launch malicious campaigns. The "OlympicDestroyer" malware was most notable, using a domain related to the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. But the COVID -- 19 bubble in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games may have increased the danger.
Romance-themed malicious campaigns are launched throughout the year, but days leading up to Valentine’s Day could be particularly timely for such activities.
Many countries celebrate Data Privacy Awareness Week every last week of January. Each year, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) makes it a point to remind users about the importance of keeping their digital data safe from all kinds of threat actors. In fact, they commemorated this year's Data Privacy Awareness Week with various events.
The eco initiative topDNS wants to protect the Domain Name System (DNS) even better from abuse in the future. Leading companies in the industry - including VeriSign, CentralNic, Public Interest Registry, IQ Global AS, Leaseweb and Realtime Register - are among the first supporters of the initiative.
BlackTech, an APT group known for cyber espionage activities targeting Asia, was recently detected using a new malware called “FlagPro.” NTT Security named some indicators of compromise (IoC) related to the new campaign, including five IP addresses and two subdomains.
Ransomware has been one of the biggest threats to Internet users the world over since the malware first surfaced. REvil was one of the most notorious ransomware variants of 2021, pushing the U.S. Department of State to offer a US$10 million reward to anyone who can name and locate REvil gang leaders and up to US$5 million for any of their affiliates in November.
Non-fungible token (NFT) scams can come in various forms, but one thing is sure: the threat actors behind them often use domain names, fake websites, and phishing emails.
Given the dangers that COVID-19 poses to people's health and the emergence of new variants every so often, it's easy to see why avid moviegoers would resort to streaming instead. But while they may indeed be avoiding the disease, their attempts to download pirated movies is not only illegal -- it could put their computers at risk.
As NFTs continue to grow in popularity, questions about how to protect both intellectual property and consumers will increase. In 2021, NFT sales reached an estimated $24.9 billion. That's up from $94.9 million the year before.