From the Cyber Newswire

Phishing concept background, Phishing email, Data Breach, Theft,

PHISHING IS #1 — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says fake emails have overtaken phone calls as the most common way to scam victims. In most cases, the sender claims to be from an authority figure, such as a government agency, a bill collector, a tech support expert, or a bank. PCMag says a typical phishing victim in the U.S. now loses about $7,000, more than double the amount in 2019.

Microsoft_Azure_Logo

PASSWORD RESET REQUEST — Cyber attackers are targeting employees — especially sales executives, HR, and accounting teams — with emails asking them to reset the username and password to their Microsoft Azure accounts. The phishing emails are usually urgent in tone and don’t include graphics or logos. Proofpoint says there has been a “substantial increase” in this activity in recent weeks.

Wize logo

SURPRISE! THAT’S NOT YOUR LIVING ROOM — Wyze, the home security camera company, says 13,000 customers received images from other peoples’ cameras during February. Malwarebytes says this is the second time in a year Wyze cameras have malfunctioned this way. Affected customers received thumbnail images from other customers’ security cameras and were alerted if those customers’ activity alarms went off.

AI Has come to this
OpenAI, the company that launched the AI revolution a year ago, has introduced a new product called Sora. A user simply describes the desired scene, and the technology creates a detailed video. It will be the next big thing in tech.

One more thing...

March 1 Cartoon

Answers to readers'
cybersecurity questions

“What happens if you use a password manager and forget a password it creates?”

Password manager software is designed to remember and manage all your passwords. But password managers require a “master password” for you to view, export, or change passwords it stores, so don’t lose it! Some password managers lock you out of your account — and all the passwords it contains — if you lose that master password.

“What are some best practices to use when reviewing email? I thought I was pretty good at identifying scam emails, but I almost fell for one recently designed to look like it came from Comcast. It was well-written and designed. When I looked at it closer, I finally realized it was fake.”

Look at the sender’s email address. No doubt, it was not sent from “comcast.com.” A nonsense email address or an address close to the real thing (like comcasthelpdesk.com) is the biggest clue that an email is fake. Are you still wondering if the message is genuine? Log in to the website directly and check your account.

“I am new at this. How do scammers take over someone’s Facebook account?”

The most common method is to send the victim an email that appears to be from Facebook, telling them to click a link in the email and log in to their Facebook account. The scammers then have the victim’s username and password, which they use to log in, change the password, and log the owner out. One way to protect yourself from this is to turn on two-factor authentication by visiting accountcenter.facebook.com/accounts. Click “Password and Security” and choose how you’d like Facebook to alert you if someone tries to get into your account.

Send us your cybersecurity question for possible use in a future newsletter.

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