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Story highlightsTiger Woods' former coach suggests the golfer wanted to become a Navy SEALHank Haney is releasing a book about his six years working with the 14-time major winnerHaney says former world No. 1 Woods seriously considered turning his back on the sportWoods' agent has denied the claims, saying he just admired his father's military heritageTiger Woods has done it all in the world of golf. He has won 14 majors, topped the world rankings for a record 623 weeks in a row and enjoyed a lifestyle which the majority of people can only dream of.But it seems that the world's top-earning sportsman once thought about giving it all up -- to join the Navy. According to a book written by the 36-year-old's former coach Hank Haney, Woods seriously considered quitting golf to become a Navy SEAL.SEALs are the special operations arm of the U.S. Navy, so called because of their ability to operate in the sea, in the air or on land. According to Haney, Woods became infatuated with the idea of joining the specialized force."Tiger was seriously considering becoming a Navy SEAL," read an excerpt from Haney's forthcoming book on the website of Golf Digest. One of the magazine's journalists helped write the book."I didn't know how he'd go about it, but when he talked about it, it was clear he had a plan," Haney said."I thought, 'Wow, here is Tiger Woods, greatest athlete on the planet, maybe the greatest athlete ever, right in the middle of his prime, basically ready to leave it all behind for a military life.' "The book is based on the six years Haney spent as Woods' swing coach, which ended in May 2010 after the former world No. 1 dropped out of the first round of the The Players Championship with a neck injury.Haney also revealed that in 2004 Woods went on a four-day special operations training course at Fort Bragg."Tiger did two tandem parachute jumps, engaged in hand-to-hand combat exercises, went on four-mile runs wearing combat boots, and did drills in a wind tunnel. Tiger loved it, but his physical therapist, Keith Kleven, went a little crazy worrying about the further damage Tiger might be doing to his left knee," he wrote."One morning I was in the kitchen when he came back from a long run around Isleworth, and I noticed he was wearing Army boots. Tiger admitted that he'd worn the heavy shoes before on the same route. 'I beat my best time,' he said."Woods' agent Mark Steinberg rejected Haney's claims as "armchair psychology." He suggested Haney was twisting Woods' admiration for his late father, who was in the U.S. Army special forces."Because of his father, it's no secret that Tiger has always had high respect for the military," Steinberg said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel.Haney also suggested Woods put pressure on himself to overhaul fellow American Jack Nicklaus' record total of 18 wins in golf's four major tournaments."He never mentioned Nicklaus' record, but it started to weigh more heavily at every major," read another excerpt from "The Big Miss." "And Tiger's actions indicated he believed he had less time to do it than everyone thought."Woods has not won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, and is rebuilding his career following the scandal about his extramarital affairs which led to his divorce in 2010.
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(CNN)While unable to edge closer to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the grand slam leaderboard in the second half of the tennis season, Novak Djokovic is chasing one record that could see him outstrip his rivals. Djokovic needs to win just two matches at this week's Vienna Open to end the year as world No. 1 for the sixth time, equaling Pete Sampras' record set between 1993 and 1998. The Serb is currently tied with Federer, Nadal -- whom he lost to in the final of the French Open earlier this month -- and Jimmy Connors on five year-ending No. 1 accolades, securing them in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018."Sampras had been one of my idols when I was a kid and of course I want to finish the year as No. 1 to tie his record," Djokovic told reporters. "That's one of the toughest achievements in world sports."Read MoreREAD: Nadal swaps tennis racket for golf clubs and finishes sixth in tournamentDjokovic could tie Pete Sampras' record in Vienna. Djokovic, the top-seeded player in the tournament, faces Filip Krajinovic in the first round on Tuesday as he bids to win his fifth ATP Tour title this year. He surpassed Sampras' record in the leaderboard of total weeks at No. 1 this September and has now spent 292 weeks at the top of the rankings. Only Roger Federer has more at 310. In his first appearance in Vienna since 2007, Djokovic's main competition for the title will come from defending champion Dominic Thiem, who is playing on home soil, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who recently took Djokovic to five sets in the French Open semifinals. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev complete the top five seeded players in the tournament.Thiem revealed on Monday that Djokovic had delivered his prize money from the Belgrade event of the ill-fated Adria Tour that was canceled after a number of players, including Djokovic, tested positive for Covid-19. The Austrian said he would donate the money to charity.
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A new widespread ransomware attack is spreading like wildfire around Europe and has already affected over 200 major organisations, primarily in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Germany, in the past few hours.
Dubbed "Bad Rabbit," is reportedly a new Petya-like targeted ransomware attack against corporate networks, demanding 0.05 bitcoin (~ $285) as ransom from victims to unlock their systems.
According to an initial analysis provided by the Kaspersky, the ransomware was distributed via drive-by download attacks, using fake Adobe Flash players installer to lure victims' in to install malware unwittingly.
"No exploits were used, so the victim would have to manually execute the malware dropper, which pretends to be an Adobe Flash installer. We've detected a number of compromised websites, all of which were news or media websites." Kaspersky Lab said.
However, security researchers at ESET have detected Bad Rabbit malware as 'Win32/Diskcoder.D' — a new variant of Petya ransomware, also known as Petrwrap, NotPetya, exPetr and GoldenEye.
Bad Rabbit ransomware uses DiskCryptor, an open source full drive encryption software, to encrypt files on infected computers with RSA 2048 keys.
ESET believes the new wave of ransomware attack is not using EternalBlue exploit — the leaked SMB vulnerability which was used by WannaCry and Petya ransomware to spread through networks.
Instead it first scans internal network for open SMB shares, tries a hardcoded list of commonly used credentials to drop malware, and also uses Mimikatz post-exploitation tool to extract credentials from the affected systems.
The ransom note, shown above, asks victims to log into a Tor onion website to make the payment, which displays a countdown of 40 hours before the price of decryption goes up.
The affected organisations include Russian news agencies Interfax and Fontanka, payment systems on the Kiev Metro, Odessa International Airport and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Researchers are still analyzing Bad Rabbit ransomware to check if there is a way to decrypt computers without paying ransomware and how to stop it from spreading further.
How to Protect Yourself from Ransomware Attacks?
Kaspersky suggest to disable WMI service to prevent the malware from spreading over your network.
Most ransomware spread through phishing emails, malicious adverts on websites, and third-party apps and programs.
So, you should always exercise caution when opening uninvited documents sent over an email and clicking on links inside those documents unless verifying the source to safeguard against such ransomware infection.
Also, never download any app from third-party sources, and read reviews even before installing apps from official stores.
To always have a tight grip on your valuable data, keep a good backup routine in place that makes their copies to an external storage device that isn't always connected to your PC.
Make sure that you run a good and effective anti-virus security suite on your system, and keep it up-to-date.
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(CNN)Relationships between men and women in the work place have never been under more scrutiny.However, one leading female sailor Dee Caffari is confident her equally gender split crew is the way forward as it competes in one of the world's toughest races.This year's edition of the Volvo Ocean Race -- the premier around-the-world sailing event for professionals -- gives a numerical advantage to crews comprised of men and women.Follow @cnnsport
Briton's Caffari is the only skipper to opt for a 50-50 split, meaning she will race with a crew of 10 aboard the "Turn The Tide on Plastic" boat during the 45,000 nautical mile race.JUST WATCHED50 years of the Yacht Club Costa SmeraldaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH50 years of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 22:30READ: Bullied as a kid, this sailor conquered the worldRead More"From my experience it helps level out the testosterone in the guys and it brings on the girls," says Caffari, whose crew set sail from Alicante, Spain last weekend."You can't wuss out, you don't want to let [the others] down and you have to deliver, so you get a very nice environment to sail in."The rule change for this edition of the race reduced the size of an all-male crew from eight to seven, although one or two women can be added. Crews can also contain seven women and one or two men, or five men and five women, or 11 women.It's a change that initially didn't go down well with one of the race competitors.Rival skipper David Witt, of Hong Kong-based entry SHK Scallywag, vowed to buck the trend of the other six teams and take just seven men and no women, saying: "It's hard enough to win the race, the last thing we need is to be part of a social experiment."However, the veteran Australian skipper has since relented and drafted in Dutchwoman Annemieke Bes to bolster his crew.JUST WATCHEDBlair Tuke's pursuit of historyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBlair Tuke's pursuit of history 03:04READ: Giving it all up to sail around the world'Initial hump'The argument for more sailors is down to rest and recovery times and increased muscle for physically demanding maneuvers such as sail changes.For Caffari, a mixed crew makes complete sense."Most boardrooms are not male-only or female-only, they're very mixed to produce high-performance teams. My argument was, what's the difference?" she says."What it will achieve, finally, because it's still an unbelievably male-dominated sport, is it will get us over that initial hump where professional male sailors realize it's not that bad. Going forward it will be more acceptable and won't be such a 'thing.' "You're a sailor on the boat because of your ability rather than what gender you are."Practicing on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. READ: People think we're crazy, says around-the-world sailorThe 44-year-old Caffari was the first woman to have sailed single-handed around the world in both directions -- including the 2009 Vendee Globe -- and the only woman to have raced non-stop around the world three times.She sailed on the all-female Team SCA in the last edition of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2014/2015, her fifth circumnavigation, but has also sailed extensively with mixed crews."The conversation is a little cleaner, maybe a bit more polite -- but only at times. Girls can often be worse than the guys. It brings out the better side of people," she says."That interaction of having the mix is a healthier environment."Battered hands after eight days of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015.In Caffari's experience, gender is unrelated to how individuals cope when the pressure is on during an ocean race. "Someone who is tired, and nice and warm in their bunk and you want them to go out where it's wet and cold, they're all pretty miserable," she says."Either you're a person that can be woken up four times a day or you're not. I think whether you're male or female is irrelevant."Ian Walker sighs as he is about to put on wet weather gear for another watch on deck during the 2015 race.'Massive responsibility'The bulk of Caffari's crew, including British America's Cup sailor Bleddyn Mon, has never been to the treacherous Southern Ocean -- with its howling winds, huge seas and icebergs -- which features in three of the 11 legs from Alicante to The Hague. "My biggest burden of responsibility going into this race is the level of inexperience on my crew. That's a massive responsibility for me," says Caffari. "Six out of 10 have never been in the Southern Ocean before and don't know what they don't know, so don't even know what to ask. I'm trying to think of everything they need to understand before we go."Surfing down mountainous waves with the boat humming at high speed, strong winds screaming through the rigging and sheets of spray lashing across the deck like a fire hose is what draws Caffari back to the world's watery wastes.She hopes her excitement for the extreme conditions of the Southern Ocean can rub off on her young crew, especially if they are anxious."That's the best sailing, I love it," she says. "That's the bit we signed up for, that's the cool bit where it gets fun and the sailing is awesome. "You lead by example. If you're relaxed and enjoying it and laughing that it is cold and wet then they pick up on that vibe. If you're stressed and scared and think something terrible is going to happen, that's the impression they get." Charlie Enright on the helm as the clouds part for a momentary glimpse of sunlight with rain and squalls on the horizon in the 2015 race.'Emotionally battered'Caffari has learned from experience not to panic, but she still shudders at the memory of being stuck halfway up the mast while making repairs during a solo passage in the Southern Ocean, when the wind had relented from a constant 40 knots for two weeks to a "lighter" 25-30 knots."My first reaction was I'll just cry but clearly that's not going to help you go up or down," she says. "I was trying to psyche myself up to have the confidence to unclip and free climb down. It took me an hour and a half to sort myself out. I didn't handle it well. I was emotionally battered and bruised and valued myself a bit more after that."Even worse was her first brush with an ice field during her groundbreaking "wrong way round" voyage against the prevailing winds in 2005-2006. Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageBeautiful South – An image taken by drone shows Foresight Natural Energy, Conrad Colman's yacht in the Vendee Globe, carving through the South Atlantic in the direction of South Africa.Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageMaking a splash – Water rushes onto the deck as Colman -- who has already completed two round-the-world races in his sailing career -- steers his yacht into choppy waters.Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageRunning repairs – Colman, born in New Zealand and with an interest in sailing since his childhood, works on the hydraulic system for canting his yacht's keel after detecting a drop in pressure and oil levels.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageBird's eye view – Another drone photo shows Foresight Natural Energy making its way through sparkling seas off western Brazil.Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyage'Ultimate' in races – Colman -- and cuddly hippo friend -- aboard his yacht for the race, which the sailor has described as "the ultimate challenge."Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageIn full sail – Foresight Natural Energy makes her way through calm open waters in the Vendee Globe.Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageIn trim – Colman takes a moment to check the trim of his yacht, which he describes as "an ambassador for clean energy."Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageSanto pause – A reflective Colman takes a moment to enjoy the view of the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, to the north-east of Madeira.Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Vendee Globe: Conrad Colman's epic voyageDistant island – The drone is in action again to capture this view of the boat off Madeira itself.Hide Caption 9 of 9READ: Overboard -- 1,000 miles from landInitially, she was excited and took loads of photos and sent video back to her shore team, but after days on constant ice watch she was on her "last ounces of commitment." "I hadn't slept, hadn't eaten properly and stress levels were high," she said. "I thought, 'I'm done unless I get out of here.'"It took three days to clear the icefield. That was probably the best day of my life."Visit CNN.com/sailing for more news, features and videos"They've got loads of energy. I've just got to harness that enthusiasm."
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Hackers are increasingly using ransomware as an effective tool to disrupt businesses and fund malicious activities.
A recent analysis by cybersecurity company Group-IB revealed ransomware attacks doubled in 2020, while Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that a ransomware attack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021.
Businesses must prepare for the possibility of a ransomware attack affecting their data, services, and business continuity. What steps are involved in recovering from a ransomware attack?
Isolate and shutdown critical systems
Enact your business continuity plan
Report the cyberattack
Restore from backup
Remediate, patch, and monitor
Isolate and shutdown critical systems
The first important step is to isolate and shut down business-critical systems. There is a chance the ransomware has not affected all accessible data and systems. Shutting down and isolating both infected systems and healthy systems helps contain malicious code.
From the first evidence of ransomware on the network, containment should be a priority. Containment and isolation can include isolating systems from a network perspective or powering them down altogether.
Enact your business continuity plan
The business continuity plan and its disaster recovery component are essential to maintaining some level of business operations.
The business continuity plan is a step-by-step playbook that helps all departments understand how the business operates in times of disaster or other business-altering scenarios. The disaster recovery component details how critical data and systems can be restored and brought back online.
Report the cyberattack
Many businesses may hesitate to do so, but reporting the attack to customers, stakeholders, and law enforcement is essential. Law enforcement agencies can provide access to resources that may not be available otherwise.
You will also need to consider compliance regulations. The GDPR, for example, provides businesses with a 72-hour window to disclose a data breach involving customers' personal information.
Restore from backup
The best protective measure you have for your data is backups. However, restoring large quantities of data can be time-consuming, forcing the business to be offline for an extended period of time.
This situation highlights the need to discover and contain ransomware infections as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of data that needs recovering.
Remediate, patch, and monitor
In the final phase of recovering from a ransomware attack, companies remediate the ransomware infection, patch systems that may have led to the initial ransomware compromise, and monitor the environment closely for further malicious activity.
It is not unheard of for malicious activity to continue, even if the ransom is paid, or if infected systems were restored. If the same vulnerability exists that led to the initial attack, the environment can become compromised once again.
Remediate common entry points for ransomware
As businesses look to bolster the environment against ransomware and other malicious threats, it is crucial to look at the common entry points for these types of attacks.
Cyberattacks use phishing attacks to harvest stolen credentials which can then be used to launch a ransomware attack, or access systems directly.
Prevention and next steps
Businesses must not be careless in handling password security, especially with Active Directory user accounts. Unfortunately, Active Directory does not have good native security tools for securing passwords in line with today's password security policy requirements.
Specops Password Policy provides breached password protection, disallowed password lists, and many other robust security features to protect your environment. It takes the very basic password policies available in Active Directory and aligns them with modern guidance from NIST and other cybersecurity authorities.
Learn more about Specops Password Policy and download a free trial to protect your environment from vulnerable passwords.
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(CNN)It's a wrenching scene that plays out every time a natural disaster strikes. Thousands of people are homeless and searching for refuge, and many of them end up on America's doorstep.The reality of the devastation Hurricane Dorian left behind when it pounded the Bahamas is becoming increasingly clear. But details of the US response to the disaster are still taking shape.US rescue teams have been searching for survivors across the islands. And many Bahamas residents have fled to the United States since the storm hit. But some Bahamians boarding a ferry boat for Florida over the weekend heard what critics called a cruel message: If you don't have a valid visa, you have to turn back. US Customs and Border Protection officials said that announcement came because the ferry's operator didn't properly coordinate the evacuation with the US and Bahamian governments. Mark Winder of Tampa, Florida, embraces his niece, Gabriella Winder, 10, as she and her family arrive in Riviera Beach, Florida, from the Bahamas on Saturday, September 7. "There's some confusion there," acting CBP chief Mark Morgan said Monday. "We will accept anyone on humanitarian reasons that needs to come here. We're going to process them expeditedly."Read MoreAsked outside the White House on Monday whether he was prepared to offer temporary protections to Bahamas residents, President Donald Trump said the matter was under discussion. But he stressed that anyone coming to the United States from the Bahamas needs "proper documentation." "We have to be very careful," he said. This much is clear: The situation on the ground in the Bahamas remains chaotic, and tens of thousands of people need help. Here's a look at how the US government has responded to migrants fleeing countries where disaster struck in recent years, and what could happen next.Migrants from Haiti and El Salvador were protected in the US after disastersIn the past, the US government has stepped up the protections it offers migrants after natural disasters hit."If the government wants to help people to come for short stays as a reprieve, it certainly has the authority to do that," said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute's New York office.Whether the US government will offer more protections for the Bahamas, where Dorian left an estimated 70,000 people homeless, remains to be seen, Chishti said."Fearing the numbers may be large and overwhelming," he said, "they may choose not to do that."Unidentified evacuees board a relief flight to Chicago from earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in January 2010. One example in recent memory shows one way the United States could respond to this disaster. The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010 killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 1.5 million more. On January 21, 2010, nine days after the temblor struck, the US government designated Haiti for what's known as temporary protected status, or TPS -- allowing Haitians who'd been in the United States since the quake hit to remain, given the "size of the destruction and humanitarian challenges" facing the country."That was a very quick reaction in recognition of what had happened in Haiti, and it did help a lot of people," Chishti said.A group of evacuees from Haiti wait for transportation as they clear customs at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, in January 2010.Congress created TPS in 1990. It's a form of humanitarian relief for people who would face extreme hardship if forced to return to homelands devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters. In the United States, more than 400,000 people from 10 countries currently have TPS, according to the Congressional Research Service, but the Trump administration has been trying to end these protections for many of them. After a series of devastating earthquakes hit El Salvador in 2001, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft granted TPS to residents of the Central America country. And more recently, Nepal was designated for TPS in 2015 after an earthquake killed more than 8,000 people there. Officials also designated Honduras and Nicaragua for TPS in the late 1990s after Hurricane Mitch.JUST WATCHEDMother: 'I have nightmares about going back'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMother: 'I have nightmares about going back' 01:40Since President Trump took office, his administration has tried to strip deportation protections from hundreds of thousands of people from these countries who were granted TPS. So far, courts have blocked those efforts. But the cases are still pending, and how long such protections will last is anything but certain. Trump says everyone needs 'proper documentation'In a letter last week, Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida asked Trump to suspend certain visa requirements for Bahamians who have relatives in the United States. By Monday, Rubio said storm survivors were already being evacuated to the United States without being required to show visas after coordinating with authorities. And Morgan, the acting CBP chief, said humanitarian cases of people evacuating from the Bahamas were being processed, excluding those with long criminal histories who've been previously denied entry to the United States.But Trump sounded less than enthused when asked whether he was prepared to offer TPS to people from the Bahamas."We're talking to a lot of different people on that," the President said, noting that parts of the United States are also recovering from the hurricane, even though damage was not as bad as feared."We have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation, because, look, the Bahamas had some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas that weren't supposed to be there," he said. "I don't want to allow people that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to go to the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very very bad drug dealers. So we are going to be very very strong on that." Trump didn't provide further details. Officials in the Bahamas have cracked down on illegal immigration in recent years.Undocumented Haitian immigrants lived in some of the areas that were hardest hit by the storm.Evacuees gather at Marsh Harbour Port in Abaco, Bahamas, on Friday, September 6.For Bahamians, several options could be on the tableChishti said the US government could be weighing a range of different options as the number of residents trying to leave the Bahamas grows. Among them: • TPS - As it has with other countries in the past, the United States could designate the Bahamas for TPS. But Chishti notes there are limitations to such protections. TPS, he said, "applies only to people who are already in the United States."• Humanitarian parole - For people who aren't already in the United States and are fleeing the storm's devastation, but don't have valid visas to enter the country, the Department of Homeland Security could encourage officers to grant what's known as humanitarian parole, Chishti said. "There would have to be a guidance issued by the DHS that we are authorizing issuing of a parole for this group of people and in these circumstances," he said.• Regional response - It's possible the United States will argue it's not the only country that should be responsible for helping displaced people in the Bahamas. "The US could, I think, argue that this is not just the US's responsibility," Chishti said, "that this is a real disaster that requires a cohesive, regional response."CNN's Christina Maxouris, Eric Levenson, Paula Newton and Rosa Flores contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsVictor Barrio, 29, was killed in Teruel Spanish towns hold annual bull running festivals every summer (CNN)A professional bullfighter was gored to death by a bull during a competition on live television in Spain over the weekend. Victor Barrio, 29, was killed in Teruel, in the eastern Aragon region. Plaza de Las Ventas bullring, where he's worked as a bullfighter fox six years, announced his death in a statement Saturday. It said a moment of silence will be held in his honor.Spanish bullfighter Victor Barrio performs in Madrid in 2011. He was gored to death by a bull Saturday. Spanish towns hold annual summer festivals in which bulls dash after humans in a short run that seems like an eternity.Spanish matador takes baby to work, sparks outrageRead MoreIn Pamplona, where Spain's famous bull run is held, the event dates to 400 years. It gained fame worldwide after author Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in his 1920s novel, "The Sun Also Rises." The annual festival is so popular that Pamplona's population of 200,000 can triple during the eight consecutive days of running in July.Throngs of revelers travel to Spain every year for a chance to watch from the barricades and balconies. In Pamplona's San Fermin festival, a 33-year-old Japanese man was gored in the chest, one of 14 people injured Saturday, the local government said on its website.'Expert' gored by bulls says he'll run with them againFollow @faithcnn CNN's Dominique Heckels contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsJose Mourinho worried by Real Madrid's lack of goals compared to last seasonSpanish team preparing for Champions League quarterfinal against GalatasarayRivals Barcelona boosted by return to fitness of Xavi and Jordi AlbaCancer-stricken coach Tito Vilanova takes Sunday's training session As Lionel Messi set yet another record, scoring in his 19th successive league match for Barcelona, Jose Mourinho was left reflecting on the reasons why his Real Madrid team have been also-rans in La Liga this season."We are not scoring many goals, that is the truth. Perhaps one of the differences compared to last season," Mourinho told reporters after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Zaragoza left his side 13 points behind Barca."In four chances we'd score three; in six, four, etc. We scored goals with great ease and the only player that has kept a similar average is Cristiano, all the others have dropped in terms of the number of goals scored and obviously the team suffers because of that."Cristiano Ronaldo has netted 28 of Real's 72 goals from 29 Spanish league games -- the second highest behind Barca's 90, of which 43 have come from Messi including 29 in this 19-match streak.Read: Messi makes more history in Barca drawJUST WATCHEDGinola on why PSG are worth itReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGinola on why PSG are worth it 02:45JUST WATCHEDCNN FC: Countdown to quarterfinalsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN FC: Countdown to quarterfinals 23:18JUST WATCHEDIs Juventus 'unsinkable'? ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHIs Juventus 'unsinkable'? 01:42Last season Real posted a record 121 from 38 matches, earning an unprecedented 100 points on the way to winning the title, but like Barcelona suffered heartbreak in European football's biggest competition with a semifinal exit in the Champions League.Mourinho said Real's realistic goals for this season are now the Spanish Cup and an attempt to win the club's first European title since 2002, and 10th overall.His players have scored 18 times in eight games in the tournament this season, edging past Manchester United in the last 16."The goals will come. If they don't come on Wednesday we hope that they come in the next match," he said ahead of the first leg of the quarterfinal clash with Turkish club Galatasaray in Madrid.Mourinho said that goalkeeper Iker Casillas was unlikely to be in the squad despite Spain's World Cup-winning captain having recovered from injury."I don't think he'll be there on Wednesday. One more week. I think he'll be in the squad for the match against Levante," Mourinho said."I can never say that a player is going to be in the starting XI from now until the end of the season. Diego Lopez has played an important role, he has helped the team because he has saved goals. "And playing as he has been since joining our side, in difficult matches such as that against Manchester or Barcelona, in football we have to be honest with ourselves and our players, and following that line, it is very hard to take him out of goal."JUST WATCHEDSpain coach Del Bosque: I've been luckyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSpain coach Del Bosque: I've been lucky 02:33JUST WATCHEDBecker: Ronaldo the tennis ace?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBecker: Ronaldo the tennis ace? 02:34Barcelona will be boosted for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain by the return to fitness of key midfielder Xavi and attacking fullback Jordi Alba.Both trained alongside coach Tito Vilanova, who ran just his second session since returning from cancer treatment in New York.Vilanova missed Saturday's 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo, in which Messi became the first player to score against every team in the league in successive matches.Eric Abidal, who was named in the squad against Celta for the first time since his liver transplant, is also traveling to France on Monday.Meanwhile, Real stayed second in La Liga after city rival Atletico drew 1-1 with Valencia on Sunday.Visiting Valencia took the lead in the first half through Jonas, but Atletico's top scorer Radamel Falcao immediately replied with his 22nd in La Liga this season from Arda Turan's cross.Fourth-placed Real Sociedad also drew, 2-2 at Espanyol -- whose defender Javi Lopez conceded an own-goal for the equalizer with 14 minutes left.
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Another day, another data breach. This time Amazon-owned grocery chain has fallen victim to a credit card security breach.
Whole Foods Market—acquired by Amazon for $13.7 billion in late August—disclosed Thursday that hackers were able to gain unauthorized access to credit card information for its customers who made purchases at certain venues like taprooms and full table-service restaurants located within some stores.
Whole Foods Market has around 500 stores in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
The company did not disclose details about the targeted locations or the total number of customers affected by the breach, but it did mention that hackers targeted some of its point-of-sale (POS) terminals in an attempt to steal customer data, including credit details.
The company also said people who only shopped for groceries at Whole Foods were not affected, neither the hackers were able to access Amazon transactions in the security breach.
Instead, only certain venues such as taprooms and table-service restaurants located within its stores—which use a separate POS system—were impacted.
Whole Foods Market has hired a cybersecurity firm to help it investigate the credit card breach and contacted law enforcement authorities of this incident.
"When Whole Foods Market learned of this, the company launched an investigation, obtained the help of a leading cybersecurity forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and is taking appropriate measures to address the issue," Whole Foods said in a statement on its website.
The company is also encouraging its customers to closely monitor their credit card statements and "report any unauthorized charges to the issuing bank."
According to Whole Foods Market, none of the affected systems being investigated are, in any way, connected to Amazon.com systems.
Whole Foods Market has become the latest of the victim of the high-profile cyber attack. Earlier this month, Global tax and auditing firm Deloitte suffered a cyber attack that resulted in the theft of private emails and documents of some of its clients.
Also last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also disclosed that unknown hackers managed to hack its financial document filing system and illegally profited from the stolen information.
Last month, credit rating agency Equifax publicly disclosed a breach of its systems that exposed personal details, including names, addresses, birthdays and Social Security numbers, of potentially 143 million US customers.
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Are you using Linux or Mac OS? If you think your system is not prone to viruses, then you should read this.
Wide-range of cybercriminals are now using a new piece of 'undetectable' spying malware that targets Windows, macOS, Solaris and Linux systems.
Just last week we published a detailed article on the report from EFF/Lookout that revealed a new advanced persistent threat (APT) group, called Dark Caracal, engaged in global mobile espionage campaigns.
Although the report revealed about the group's successful large-scale hacking operations against mobile phones rather than computers, it also shed light on a new piece of cross-platform malware called CrossRAT (version 0.1), which is believed to be developed by, or for, the Dark Caracal group.
CrossRAT is a cross-platform remote access Trojan that can target all four popular desktop operating systems, Windows, Solaris, Linux, and macOS, enabling remote attackers to manipulate the file system, take screenshots, run arbitrary executables, and gain persistence on the infected systems.
According to researchers, Dark Caracal hackers do not rely on any "zero-day exploits" to distribute its malware; instead, it uses basic social engineering via posts on Facebook groups and WhatsApp messages, encouraging users to visit hackers-controlled fake websites and download malicious applications.
CrossRAT is written in Java programming language, making it easy for reverse engineers and researchers to decompile it.
Since at the time of writing only two out of 58 popular antivirus solutions (according to VirusTotal) can detect CrossRAT, ex-NSA hacker Patrick Wardle decided to analyse the malware and provide a comprehensive technical overview including its persistence mechanism, command and control communication as well as its capabilities.
CrossRAT 0.1 — Cross-Platform Persistent Surveillance Malware
Once executed on the targeted system, the implant (hmar6.jar) first checks the operating system it's running on and then installs itself accordingly.
Besides this, the CrossRAT implant also attempts to gather information about the infected system, including the installed OS version, kernel build and architecture.
Moreover, for Linux systems, the malware also attempts to query systemd files to determine its distribution, like Arch Linux, Centos, Debian, Kali Linux, Fedora, and Linux Mint, among many more.
CrossRAT then implements OS specific persistence mechanisms to automatically (re)executes whenever the infected system is rebooted and register itself to the C&C server, allowing remote attackers to send command and exfiltrate data.
As reported by Lookout researchers, CrossRAT variant distributed by Dark Caracal hacking group connects to 'flexberry(dot)com' on port 2223, whose information is hardcoded in the 'crossrat/k.class' file.
CrossRAT Includes Inactive Keylogger Module
The malware has been designed with some basic surveillance capabilities, which get triggered only when received respective predefined commands from the C&C server.
Interestingly, Patrick noticed that the CrossRAT has also been programmed to use 'jnativehook,' an open-source Java library to listen to keyboard and mouse events, but the malware does not have any predefined command to activate this keylogger.
"However, I didn't see any code within that implant that referenced the jnativehook package—so at this point it appears that this functionality is not leveraged? There may be a good explanation for this. As noted in the report, the malware identifies it's version as 0.1, perhaps indicating it's still a work in progress and thus not feature complete," Patrick said.
How to Check If You're Infected with CrossRAT?
Since CrossRAT persists in an OS-specific manner, detecting the malware will depend on what operating system you are running.
For Windows:
Check the 'HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\' registry key.
If infected it will contain a command that includes, java, -jar and mediamgrs.jar.
For macOS:
Check for jar file, mediamgrs.jar, in ~/Library.
Also look for launch agent in /Library/LaunchAgents or ~/Library/LaunchAgents named mediamgrs.plist.
For Linux:
Check for jar file, mediamgrs.jar, in /usr/var.
Also look for an 'autostart' file in the ~/.config/autostart likely named mediamgrs.desktop.
How to Protect Against CrossRAT Trojan?
Only 2 out of 58 antivirus products detect CrossRAT at the time of writing, which means that your AV would hardly protect you from this threat.
"As CrossRAT is written in Java, it requires Java to be installed. Luckily recent versions of macOS do not ship with Java," Patrick said.
"Thus, most macOS users should be safe! Of course, if a Mac user already has Java installed, or the attacker is able to coerce a naive user to install Java first, CrossRAT will run just dandy, even on the latest version of macOS (High Sierra)."
Users are advised to install behaviour-based threat detection software. Mac users can use BlockBlock, a simple utility developed by Patrick that alerts users whenever anything is persistently installed.
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Story highlightsManchester City and Manchester United exit European Champions LeagueManchester United lose 2-1 in Basel to seal their fate in Group CManchester City beat Bayern Munich 2-0 but Napoli's win eliminates themChelsea and Arsenal only two qualifiers for last 16 from English Premier LeagueManchester United and their city rivals Manchester City both made embarrassing exits from the European Champions League on Wednesday. United were beaten 2-1 in Basel to leave the Swiss side and Benfica as the qualifiers from Group C, while City beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium but went out as Napoli won 2-0 at Villarreal.It left Bayern and the Italians to go through from Group A to complete a chastening first experience of Europe's top club competition for Robert Mancini's expensively assembled side.But it was the exit of last year's runners-up United which was the biggest upset, needing only a draw to ensure their passage to the last 16, goals from Marco Streller and Alexander Frei sent them crashing.Real Madrid to topple Barca in 'El Clasico' clash?Phil Jones pulled one back in the 89th minute to set up a frantic finale but they could not force the equalizer.Streller's goal after nine minutes came as a result of defensive uncertainty with goalkeeper David De Gea parrying out a cross which fell invitingly for the scorer.Wayne Rooney wasted United best chance to level and Markus Steinhofer belted the ball against his own crossbar in the second half before Frei nipped in to head home the crucial second goal in the 84th minute.It was the first time Alex Ferguson's men had failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for six years and only the third time in 16 years."Of course we're disappointed, there's no other way you can feel," Ferguson told Sky Sports."It's part of football. You have to deal with the disappointment, and this club has used it as motivation many times."These young players will feel disappointed tonight but they'll have to cope with it and go on with their careers."Oscar Cardozo scored the crucial goal after seven minutes for Benfica in their 1-0 win over Otelul Galati which left them top of the group.English Premier League leaders Manchester City eased to victory against their understrength Bavarian visitors as David Silva and Yaya Toure struck either side of halftime.But it all proved academic as Napoli left Villarreal pointless after goals from Gokhan Inler and Marek Hamsik inflicted a sixth straight group defeat on the Spaniards.It was the first time Napoli have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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Story highlights Investigations are focused on the bus driver, the chief prosecutor says Some 5,000 mourners attend the funeral of 38 people killed in the bus crash -- policePrime Minister Enrico Letta is among those at the service in PozzuoliThe bus plunged off a bridge as it returned from a weekend visit to a Catholic shrineThousands of mourners gathered in southern Italy on Tuesday for the funeral of 38 people killed when their bus plunged off a bridge as it returned from a visit to a Catholic shrine.Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta was among those who attended the service in the village of Pozzuoli, near Naples.He said on Twitter that Tuesday would be a national day of mourning for the victims.An estimated 5,000 people turned out for the funeral, held in a sports arena, a spokeswoman for the Naples police said. The bus was traveling east of Naples in Avellino province when it crashed late Sunday. The passengers had participated in a weekend pilgrimage to the Padre Pio shrine in Pietrelcina.Rosario Cantelmo, the Avellino prosecutor who is coordinating the investigation, told CNN that the bus driver -- who was among those killed -- is the focus of inquiries.An autopsy on the driver's body should be completed in the coming days, Cantelmo said.Andrea Regione, a photographer for the Corriere dell'Irpinia newspaper, told CNN that the bus went off a bridge and fell roughly 30 meters (almost 100 feet) into a heavily wooded area below. JUST WATCHEDHow safe is that bus?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow safe is that bus? 02:35JUST WATCHEDWhat caused fatal Italian bus crash?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhat caused fatal Italian bus crash? 01:46Photos from the scene showed a broken guardrail and the bus lying on its side.Avellino police official Pasquale Picone said the bus struck 11 cars on the road before falling off the bridge, leading police to suspect the bus had brake problems. But the exact cause of the accident remains unknown.The funeral in Pozzuoli comes only a day after a somber memorial Mass in Spain for 79 victims of last week's train crash outside Santiago de Compostela.
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Story highlightsAndy Murray beats David Ferrer at World Tour Finals Murray wins 6-4 6-4 at year-end championships Rafael Nadal crushes Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-2 later Monday Novak Djokovic plays Roger Federer Tuesday (CNN)Andy Murray began his opening match at the World Tour Finals with a thumping ace down the middle. The rest of the first game against David Ferrer settled into a slugfest, setting the tone for Monday's clash in Group Ilie Nastase. Follow @cnnsport
Just as he did at the Paris Masters nine days ago, Murray defeated the Spaniard, this time by a score of 6-4 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London. But later Monday, Stan Wawrinka couldn't replicate his win over Rafael Nadal in the French capital, crushed by Ferrer's countryman 6-3 6-2. Although he is bidding to win the year-end championships for the first time -- he has not yet reached the final -- Murray is preoccupied by what comes after the tournament, the Davis Cup final. JUST WATCHEDBelgium's stunning Davis Cup runReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBelgium's stunning Davis Cup run 03:27JUST WATCHEDBritain's Davis Cup glory daysReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBritain's Davis Cup glory days 01:34Great Britain travels to Belgium on November 27, one victory away from claiming a first title in the elite men's team competition since 1936, and if the visitors are to prevail, the 28-year-old needs to be ready physically. He will probably feature on all three days of the best-of-five match series on clay. So beating the ever tenacious Ferrer in straight sets in 1½ hours on the indoor hard court was especially good for the Scot. He was keen to avoid the type of marathon encounter he endured against Ferrer in the Miami final in 2013 -- that match, in oppressive heat, lasted nearly three hours -- or in last year's Vienna final, where he battled back from a set down. Read MoreAnd only last week, Murray practiced on clay, mindful of the upcoming tie in Ghent. "It's a different surface here, but playing matches against the best players in the world is also fantastic preparation" for the Davis Cup final, Murray told reporters. "I changed my schedule and the way I've trained over the last two months ... to make sure I am fresh for this part of the season, which hasn't always been the case."I've only played two tournaments in the last six or seven weeks. I feel good just now. Hopefully I can perform well here and in Belgium." Murray is one win away from finishing the season at No. 2, which would be a first, behind dominant No. 1 Novak Djokovic. It would be a reward for what he has called his most consistent year, making the Australian Open final and semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon -- although, ever the perfectionist, Murray likely feels he could have forced the issue more against Roger Federer at the All England Club.Murray was broken to end every set in his 7-5 7-5 6-4 defeat in July, and Ferrer suffered the same fate Monday, cracking on serve to conclude both sets. Unusually for Ferrer, who many would argue has overachieved in his career, he was let down by double faults. He struck eight in total without hitting an ace. 90 minutes is a stat that'll please @andy_murray, who likes a game 10 break! #finalshowdown https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/VhWKTaBfir— TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 16, 2015
Besides his ace in the first game, Murray added three more, without contributing a double fault. "I served bad the end of the first set and also in the second set," Ferrer told reporters, adding that serving well against fellow top-10 players is pivotal. "Anyway, in important moments he was better than me. He played more aggressive than me."Federer said after brushing aside Tomas Berdych on Sunday that the court was playing slow. There was nothing to suggest otherwise a day later, and both Murray and Ferrer sought to shorten points by coming to the net. There were also more than a few drop shots. The combination brought relief for those not enamored with incessant baseline rallies. The match might have been different had the 2007 runner-up -- now a loser in seven of his last eight matches against Murray -- converted a break point in the opening game. Attempting to force the issue or hit a clean winner, he missed a forehand long. JUST WATCHEDCNN Open Court Davis Cup TrailerReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Open Court Davis Cup Trailer 00:30Murray -- watched by pregnant wife Kim Sears -- squandered his own break chances, particularly in the eighth game, but then recovered in the 10th. He was immediately broken to love to begin the second set, although he broke back for 3-3 when he forced Ferrer into a forehand error following a lengthy rally. Murray raised his arm and clenched his fist, roared on by a partisan crowd. Predictably, he duly sealed the contest moments later, officially putting away Ferrer with a gentle overhead. He awaits Nadal on Wednesday. Revenge for Rafa When Nadal and Wawrinka squared off in Paris, the Swiss triumphed in a 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) thriller to quell the 14-time grand slam champion's recent momentum. Nadal failed to convert set points in both sets. On Monday, they traded breaks early before Nadal took charge -- thanks in no small part to Wawrinka's unforced errors. Overall he made 35 -- or an average of more than two per game. Still, he almost turned things around in the second set. 2-time runner-up @RafaelNadal overcomes #Wawrinka at #FinalShowdown. https://t.co/kle7roXwh6 #atp #tennis pic.twitter.com/FZ1MQR1Ey5— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) November 16, 2015
Under pressure to begin the set, Wawrinka somehow fended off seven break points. In the ensuing game, he manufactured a break chance of his own and was close to taking a 2-0 lead after getting down low to volley a dipping Nadal forehand passing shot. But Nadal raced to the ball and engineered a sumptuous forehand cross-court lob to escape, leaping in the air to celebrate. He broke in the next game thanks to a double fault and the contest was realistically over. "It was a very important point for me, because saving that tough moment I was able to be back," Nadal, absent from last year's event in the aftermath of appendix surgery, told Sky. "And finally I had the break in the next game." Djokovic, who routed Kei Nishikori on Sunday, and Federer tangle in Tuesday's standout match. Djokovic beat Federer in both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals this year, despite the crowd firmly rooting for the Swiss. Read: Djokovic honors Paris victims
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(CNN)Runners from Kenya prevailed in the New York City Marathon Sunday, with Albert Korir winning the men's race, and Peres Jepchirchir taking the women's competition.Korir, who came in second in the 2019 race, finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 22 seconds, and Jepchirchir came in at 2 hours, 22 minutes and 39 seconds, according to the New York Road Runners.It was 28-year-old Jepchirchir's first time running the New York City Marathon, and she was not expecting to win after taking gold in the Olympics marathon in August, she told ESPN on Sunday. "I thank my God for the energy he has given me," she said. "I'm going to say this course is not bad, but it's not easy" especially the finish.Read MoreShe is the first runner to win both Olympic gold and the New York City Marathon.Viola Cheptoo, also from Kenya, was just seconds behind Jepchirchir. Ethiopia's Ababel Yeshaneh took third in the women's race, finishing in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 52 seconds. Molly Seidel finished as the top American woman, taking fourth in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds. Seidel won bronze in the women's marathon at the Tokyo Olympics.The victory was Korir's fifth in a marathon, after Vienna City in 2017, Cape Town in 2018, Houston in 2019 and Ottawa the same year. Mohamed El Aaraby of Morocco came in second in the men's race, finishing in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 6 seconds. He was followed by Eyob Faniel of Italy, who came in at 2 hours, 9 minutes and 52 seconds.Elkanah Kibet finished as the top American, taking fourth with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 15 seconds.About 30,000 people were registered to take part in today's event, the 50th New York Marathon, which travels through the city's five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. The race starts on Staten Island and ends in Central Park.The 2020 marathon was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Facebook privacy flaw exposes Mark Zuckerberg private photos
A flaw in Facebook has granted prying users access to supposedly private photographs, including those of the website's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. In total 14 pictures of Mr Zuckerberg were posted to image site Imgur under the headline: "It's time to fix those security flaws Facebook".The bug in the website's photo reporting tool - which Facebook says was only temporary and has now been fixed - meant that users could access others' pictures even if they were private.
The flaw was first reported on the forums of BodyBuilding.com, presumably because the users of that website like taking photos of themselves and putting them online. The bug exploits the way the offensive photograph reporting tool works. Facebook has been heavily criticised in the last few years for matters of privacy and so there are people who will leap on this story as yet another example of how the company simply doesn't take its users privacy seriously. Such problems have included a change to the terms and conditions that made all your photographs and statuses Facebook's property and a settings change that made everything on everybody's profile accessible to search engines by default.
The exploit has since been patched, and Facebook has officially responded:
"Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously. The bug allowed anyone to view a limited number of another user's most recently uploaded photos irrespective of the privacy settings for these photos. This was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was live for a limited period of time."
In a blog post, Mr Zuckerberg said that "even if our record on privacy were perfect, I think many people would still rightfully question how their information was protected".
"It's important for people to think about this, and not one day goes by when I don't think about what it means for us to be the stewards of this community and their trust," he added. Facebook was forced to agree to external inspections of its privacy systems and agree to fines of $16,000 per day for new violations. Mr Zuckerberg also pledged to protect users' information "better than any other company in the world".
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WordPress administrators are once again in trouble.
WordPress version 4.9.3 was released earlier this week with patches for a total 34 vulnerabilities, but unfortunately, the new version broke the automatic update mechanism for millions of WordPress websites.
WordPress team has now issued a new maintenance update, WordPress 4.9.4, to patch this severe bug, which WordPress admins have to install manually.
According to security site WordFence, when WordPress CMS tries to determine whether the site needs to install an updated version, if available, a PHP error interrupts the auto-update process.
If not updated manually to the latest 4.9.4 version, the bug would leave your website on WordPress 4.9.3 forever, leaving it vulnerable to future security issues.
Here's what WordPress lead developer Dion Hulse explained about the bug:
"#43103-core aimed to reduce the number of API calls which get made when the auto-update cron task is run. Unfortunately, due to human error, the final commit didn't have the intended effect and instead triggers a fatal error as not all of the dependencies of find_core_auto_update() are met. For whatever reason, the fatal error was not discovered before 4.9.3's release—it was a few hours after release when discovered."
The issue has since been fixed, but as reported, the fix will not be installed automatically.
Thus, WordPress administrators are being urged to update to the latest WordPress release manually to make sure they'll be protected against future vulnerabilities.
To manually update their WordPress installations, admin users can sign into their WordPress website and visit Dashboard→Updates and then click "Update Now."
After the update, make sure that your core WordPress version is 4.9.4.
However, not all websites being updated to the faulty update have reported seeing this bug. Some users have seen their website installed both updates (4.9.3 and 4.9.4) automatically.
Moreover, the company released two new maintenance updates this week, but none of them includes a security patch for a severe application-level DoS vulnerability disclosed last week that could allow anyone to take down most WordPress websites even with a single machine.
Since WordPress sites are often under hackers target due to its wide popularity in the content management system (CMS) market, administrators are advised to always keep their software and plugins up-to-date.
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Story highlightsRecent abductions and violence have put security in Mexico back in the newsYet millions visit Mexico every year without incidentSafety varies dramatically depending where you are and what you doViolence in Mexico is back in the news and so is the perennial question: Is Mexico safe? In just the last few weeks there have been stories of 12 young people allegedly abducted in daylight from a Mexico City club; the death by beating of Malcolm X's grandson, also in the capital; the kidnapping of a U.S. Marine reservist from his father's ranch; the freeing of 165 people, including two pregnant women, who had been held prisoner; and the case of an Arizonan mom traveling on a bus who was arrested and jailed, accused of smuggling drugs. That's all before you look at the staggering toll of the years-long war between security forces and drug cartels -- at least 60,000 people killed in drug-related violence from 2006 to 2012, according to Human Rights Watch. Other observers put the number even higher.Disappearances in Mexico City linked to gangOutside of war zones, more Americans have been killed in Mexico in the last decade than in any other country outside the United States, and the number of U.S. deaths jumped from 35 in 2007 to 113 in 2011.But those numbers do not lead to any simple conclusion.Millions of Americans visit Mexico every year without incident, and the number of tourists continues to grow. Nearly 6 million U.S. citizens visited Mexico in 2012, according to data from Mexico's tourism ministry. The first quarter of 2013 has seen a 5.9% uptick in American tourists compared to a year before, the ministry reported.Analysts and travel experts agree that security in Mexico varies -- sometimes dramatically -- from place to place. It's a contradiction -- Mexico is both as dangerous as ever or as safe as ever, depending on one's destination, actions and common sense."I think what you see in Mexico over the past few years is this movable target of what's safe and what's not safe," said Shannon K. O'Neil, senior fellow for Latin America studies at the Council for Foreign Relations.Of course you can be hurt anywhere, but the risks are different for a business trip to the capital, seeking sun and sand in Cancun or visiting family across the border.Mexico City cautionResidents of Mexico City were gripped this week by the disappearance of 12 young people from an after-hours bar in a popular entertainment district. The families of the missing, one only 16 years old, allege that they were kidnapped in broad daylight by an armed group. Investigators have confirmed that the group was at the Heavens After nightclub, but the case remains shrouded in mystery: There was no sign of an armed group or of a struggle at the scene, officials said.The incident grabbed attention because it was a particularly brazen crime for the nation's massive capital. Throughout the violence spawned by the drug war, Mexico City remained a relatively safe place, not immune, but not awash in gangland violence.JUST WATCHEDYoung people go missing from barReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHYoung people go missing from bar 01:31Twenty years ago, the city had a reputation as a dangerous place, but successive local administrations have made it safe for residents and visitors. Analyst O'Neil points out that there is a large police and security camera presence to keep it that way. "Even if there was this wave of organized crime coming in, the law enforcement capacity in Mexico City is much higher than in other parts of the country," she said.Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, died last month after suffering an apparent beating in Mexico City. Many of the details of his night out remain unknown, but he had been at a bar one block south of Plaza Garibaldi, a rough but famous patch of the capital known for its mariachis. Those who know the city say that, just like any other major metropolis, there are areas that visitors should stay away from at certain hours."Physical safety if you are in the main tourist areas and you are sensible is not a problem," in Mexico City, said John Bailey, professor emeritus at Georgetown University who has researched public security in Mexico. "Bad things happen to good people, but that's just a small fraction."The State Department has issued no travel advisories for Mexico City.Opinion: In Mexico, guilty till proven innocentSafe at the beachThe majority of the millions of Americans who visit Mexico head to resort cities along its coasts. The most popular destinations, according to Mexican officials, are Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta.And while it's impossible to separate completely the parts of Mexico on drug routes from where tourists go, there is a level of separation, O'Neil said.Drug trafficking may happen in Cancun just like anywhere else, but the tourist areas are typically safe, she said.3 undeniable reasons to explore MexicoOne thing the tourist destinations have in common, besides beaches, is that none is the subject of a travel advisory.Jill Noble, owner of Cruise Therapy Travel Co. in Texas, staunchly defends Mexico as a safe destination."I've never felt threatened in any way, and that's what I tell my clients," she said.She blames the media for focusing on the negative and provoking fear in would-be travelers.That's all that people read about, Noble said."I've seen more paranoia, for sure," she said. "But it'll pass."Once her clients vacation in Mexico, they come back and wonder why they were scared at all in the first place, she said.By the numbers: U.S.-Mexico relationsBorder remains an unknownTwo of the recent incidents that garnered headlines -- the jailing of Yanira Maldonado, accused of smuggling marijuana, and the search for missing Marine reservist Armando Torres III -- took place near the border.The area where Mexico abuts the United States is culturally unique and sees hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of cross-border trade pass by on trucks. But the proximity to the United States makes many border cities key to illegal markets as well.Drug cartels fighting for lucrative smuggling routes engage in turf battles that can turn cities into war zones. Nuevo Laredo experienced this in the mid-2000s, and later, Juarez suffered the same.Some things are changing. The number of killings in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, has dropped enough for the city to shed the title "Murder Capital of the World." (San Pedro Sula, in northwest Honduras, has topped that list for the last two years.) Brazen daylight shootings and mass killings farther south in the state of Tamaulipas, across from where Texas hits the Gulf of Mexico, are no longer in the news.But that does not mean all is well.Rape case in Mexican resort city puts violence back in the spotlight"Tamaulipas is under the control of criminal groups," said Bailey, the professor with expertise in Mexican public security. The cartels may not be having daily shootouts in the streets, but the risks for those who venture to the wrong place at the wrong time persist, he said.Arizonan Maldonado was arrested in the northwestern state of Sonora after the bus she was riding was searched at a military checkpoint. Soldiers claimed to have found 12 pounds of marijuana under her seat and detained her. A very public campaign by her family put pressure on a judge to release her, which he did after a video showed that she did not board the bus with the illicit bundles.Buses have previously been targeted by criminal groups for extortion and kidnapping.In 2011, the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, issued a warning against bus travel after at least three reports by Americans that their buses were boarded by criminals.In at least one case, the male bus passengers, including one U.S. citizen, were forcibly removed and went missing. In Tamaulipas this week, authorities freed 165 migrants apparently kidnapped and held, possibly for ransom. The State Department has issued a travel warning for visitors to "defer nonessential travel" to most areas of Mexico's border states.Overall, Georgetown's Bailey said travel to Mexico is safer today than two years ago.But it has a lot to do with one's common sense and a twist on the old adage -- not so much who you know but where you go and what you do. "Americans," Bailey said, "have a gift for finding trouble if they're looking for it."
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The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has released security updates to address several vulnerabilities in its Tomcat application server, one of which could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information.
Apache Tomcat is an open source web server and servlet system, which uses several Java EE specifications like Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), Expression Language, and WebSocket, and provides a "pure Java" HTTP web server environment for Java concept to run in.
Unlike Apache Struts2 vulnerabilities exploited to breach the systems of America credit reporting agency Equifax late last year, new Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities are less likely to be exploited in the wild.
Apache Tomcat — Information Disclosure Vulnerability
The more critical flaw (CVE-2018-8037) of all in Apache Tomcat is an information disclosure vulnerability caused due to a bug in the tracking of connection closures which can lead to reuse of user sessions in a new connection.
The vulnerability, marked as important, was reported to the Apache Tomcat Security Team by Dmitry Treskunov on 16 June 2018 and made public on 22 July 2018.
The flaw affects Tomcat versions 9.0.0.M9 to 9.0.9 and 8.5.5 to 8.5.31, and it has been fixed in Tomcat 9.0.10 and 8.5.32.
Apache Tomcat — Denial of Service (DoS) Vulnerability
Another important vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2018-1336, in Apache Tomcat resides in the UTF-8 decoder that can lead to a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.
"An improper handling of overflow in the UTF-8 decoder with supplementary characters can lead to an infinite loop in the decoder causing a Denial of Service," the Apache Software Foundation says in its advisory.
Apache Tomcat Server Software Updates (Patches)
The vulnerability affects Tomcat versions 7.0.x, 8.0.x, 8.5.x and 9.0.x, and has been addressed in Tomcat versions 9.0.7, 8.5.32, 8.0.52 and 7.0.90.
The Apache Software Foundation also included a security patch in the latest Tomcat versions to address a low severity security constraints bypass bug (CVE-2018-8034), which occurs due to missing of the hostname verification when using TLS with the WebSocket client.
Administrators are strongly recommended to apply the software updates as soon as possible and are advised to allow only trusted users to have network access as well as monitor affected systems.
The Apache Software Foundation says it has not detected any incident of the exploitation of one of these Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities in the wild.
A remote attacker could exploit one of these vulnerabilities to obtain sensitive information.
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On Saturday, the Senior Administration Officials cast light on the subject of Internet Security and said President Obama has clearly decided that whenever the U.S. Intelligence agency like NSA discovers major vulnerabilities, in most of the situations the agency should reveal them rather than exploiting for national purpose, according to The New York Times.
OBAMA's POLICY WITH LOOPHOLE FOR NSA
Yet, there is an exception to the above statement, as Mr. President carved a detailed exception to the policy "Unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need," which means that the policy creates a loophole for the spying agencies like NSA to sustain their surveillance programs by exploiting security vulnerabilities to create Cyber Weapons.
After three-month review of recommendations [PDF-file], the Final Report of the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies was submitted to Mr. Obama on last December, out of which one of the recommendation on page no. 37 states that, "In rare instances, US policy may briefly authorize using a Zero Day for high priority intelligence collection, following senior, interagency review involving all appropriate departments."
Obama took this new decision in January this year, but the elements of decision disclosed just one day after the story of HeartBleed OpenSSL Security Bug broke last week and Bloomberg reported that the NSA may have known about the flaw for last two years and using it continuously to gain information instead of disclosing it.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a statement on Friday in response to the Bloomberg report saying NSA was not aware of Heartbleed until it was made public.
The ODNI report concludes, "In response to the recommendations of the President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, the White House has reviewed its policies in this area and reinvigorated an interagency process for deciding when to share vulnerabilities. This process is called the Vulnerabilities Equities Process. Unless there is a clear national security or law enforcement need, this process is biased toward responsibly disclosing such vulnerabilities," that coincides with above stated recommendation.
PURCHASED ZERO DAYS, AGAINST ANYONE-ANYTIME
As we already know, U.S. government is the biggest buyer of cyber weapons and Zero-Day exploits, those NSA and FBI are using from last many years to compromise the Internet for spying on the whole world.
In NSA's exploit archive there could be more than 50 percent of purchased exploits, and without any doubt we can label it as 'National Security or Law Enforcement Needs'. Thanks for above exceptional recommendation, the use of Zero-day exploits are now enough legal against anyone-anytime.
Review Group report also mentions, "US policy should generally move to ensure that Zero Days are quickly blocked, so that the underlying vulnerabilities are patched on US Government and other networks."
In March, Edward Snowden files revealed that the National Security Agency conducted a major offensive cyber operation called "Operation Shotgiant" against the Chinese government and networking company Huawei, in early 2009 and also accused for stealing the source codes for certain products.
Will U.S also responsibly disclose zero-day flaws to foreign vendors (like Huawei and ZTE) as well, rather than exploiting their products for Cyber espionage on other Countries?
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Story highlightsJose Mourinho appointed Manchester United managerWill come up against new Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola"The Special One" has had his fair share of feuds (CNN)Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once famously described Wimbledon, Chelsea and Millwall player Dennis Wise as a man who could "start a fight in an empty room" -- a description which could equally be applied to the man who is taking on his old job. Mourinho has been installed at Old Trafford after outgoing manager Louis van Gaal failed to deliver Champions League football to the European giants. JUST WATCHEDLooking back on Mourinho's Chelsea reign ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLooking back on Mourinho's Chelsea reign 02:36The self styled "Special One," Mourinho is no stranger to controversy and his new job will allow him plenty of opportunities to spar with an old rival -- the incoming manager of the Red Devils' crosstown rivals Manchester City, Pep Guardiola. So as Mourinho settles into his job -- no doubt ready to ruffle a few more feathers -- how do his previous beefs stack up? Leicester City: Could Premier League triumph be sport's greatest achievement?Read MorePep Guardiola/Tito Vilanova/BarcelonaMourinho's history with the Catalan giants goes back to 1996, when he arrived from Portugal as then-manager Bobby Robson's assistant and translator -- a fact that Barca fans never let him forget. When head coach at rivals Real Madrid, he was taunted at the Nou Camp with chants of "traductor" -- translator. He's sparred with Guardiola, who more often than not refused to rise to his taunts. But that didn't stop Mourinho from trying to get a rise from the new City boss."When you enjoy what you do, you don't lose your hair, and Guardiola is bald," Mourinho said in September 2014. "He doesn't enjoy football."However, the Portuguese crossed what many considered to be a line in the Spanish Super Cup encounter of 2011 when he poked then-assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye during a pitchside scuffle.Arsene WengerJUST WATCHEDJosé Mourinho's press conference anticsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJosé Mourinho's press conference antics 06:08Mourinho's feud with Arsenal's veteran manager Arsene Wenger is long-running and particularly fractious, and complicated by the fact that the Frenchman has only beaten him once, in the inconsequential Community Shield match in August of last year. Among a long list of barbs between the two, Mourinho has branded Wenger a "specialist in failure" for Arsenal's ever increasing wait for a Premier League trophy -- the Gunners last won the title in the 2003/04 season -- and has also called him a "voyeur," for his apparent obsession with Chelsea's spending and success. The war of words boiled over in October 2014, with Wenger shoving his counterpart on the touchline as Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0.The Frenchman refused to shake his counterpart's hand following a subsequent meeting. Rafa BenitezThe Spanish coach of Newcastle United has a history of following Mourinho into jobs, taking over at Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid in the wake of Mourinho's meltdowns at each club. Mourinho has repeatedly trashed his successor, saying that the Spaniard owed him a thank-you for the teams that he inherited, while boasting that fans always prefer him over Benitez and that the Spaniard would be unable to match his success. Benitez's wife, Montse Seara, however, told a Spanish newspaper that her and her husband "tidy up (Mourinho's) messes."Mourinho hit back by saying: "If she takes care of her husband's diet she will have less time to speak about me."Manuel Pellegrini JUST WATCHEDJosé Mourinho: 'I hate my social life'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJosé Mourinho: 'I hate my social life' 04:22As the Chilean departs Manchester, he is perhaps breathing a sigh of relief that he won't be looking across at bitter rival Mourinho next season. Mourinho took over from Pelligrini at the Bernabeu in 2010, setting up a dig at the departing manager by belittling his next job. "If they get rid of me, I won't be going to coach Malaga," he said upon inheriting Pelligrini's Real office. The rivalry carried on to England, where both were managing in the Premier League, with Mourinho possibly-maybe deliberately miscalling the Manchester City man "Mr. Pelligrino" during a press conference, a joke he's wheeled out on more than one occasion. In 2015 he also took a dig at City's financial muscle -- an odd choice, maybe, for a manager who at the time was coaching a team bankrolled by a Russian billionaire. "The rules are different for City, you know what I mean. But they can only play with 11, unless the rules for them are different and they can play with 12."Eva CarneiroMourinho lost his temper after Chelsea's first-team doctor Eva Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn went onto the pitch to attend Belgium international Eden Hazard in the closing moments of the English Premier League champions' 2-2 draw at home to Swansea City on last season's opening day.Mourinho called the two medical staff members "impulsive and naive," and said that he wasn't "happy" with the two. "Even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench, you have to understand the game," he said. Britain's General Medical Council (GMC) had a different take on the matter, backing Carneiro's call. Carneiro, who left the club after being frozen out by Mourinho, is suing both the club and Mourinho himself, the latter for alleged victimization and discrimination.Mario Balotelli JUST WATCHEDMourinho on the enigma of BalotelliReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMourinho on the enigma of Balotelli 01:35Not so much a feud as a series of frustrations, the master motivator revealed to CNN's Pedro Pinto that even he couldn't get through to the talented but wayward Italian striker. "Mario was good fun. I could write a book of 200 pages of my two years in Inter with Mario. But the book would be not a drama, the book would be a comedy. "We went to Kazan in the Champions League and in that match I had all my strikers injured. No (Diego) Milito, no (Samuel) Eto'o, I was really in trouble and Mario was the only one. Mario gets a yellow card in minute 42, 43, so when I went to the dressing room at half time I spent, I would say, 14 minutes of the 15 speaking only for Mario. "'Mario, I cannot change you. I cannot make a change, I don't have a striker on the bench. Don't touch anybody. Play only with the ball, when we lose the ball no reaction, if someone provokes you, no reaction, if the referee makes a mistake, no reaction. Mario, please.' Minute 46? Red card."2015-16 Chelsea first teamFollowing one of the many defeats in his woeful final season at Chelsea, Mourinho told reporters he felt "betrayed" by his players, who had failed to carry out his tactical instructions."One of my best qualities is to read the game for my players and I feel like my work was betrayed," Mourinho told Sky Sports."One possibility is that I did an amazing job last season and brought the players to a level that is not their level and now they can't maintain it."JUST WATCHEDCarlo Ancelotti: Mourinho 'really good' for Man UtdReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCarlo Ancelotti: Mourinho 'really good' for Man Utd 00:50
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One of the world's largest Bitcoin and Ether cryptocurrencies exchanges Bithumb has recently been hacked, resulting in loss of more than $1 Million in cryptocurrencies after a number of its user accounts compromised.
Bithumb is South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange with 20% of global ether trades, and roughly 10% of the global bitcoin trade is exchanged for South Korea's currency, the Won.
Bithumb is currently the fourth largest Bitcoin exchange and the biggest Ethereum exchange in the world.
Last week, a cyber attack on the cryptocurrency exchange giant resulted in a number of user accounts being compromised, and billions of South Korean Won were stolen from customers accounts.
Around 10 Million Won worth of bitcoins were allegedly stolen from a single victim's account, according to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a major local newspaper.
A survey of users who lost cryptocurrencies in the cyber attack reveals "it is estimated that hundreds of millions of won [worth of cryptocurrencies] have been withdrawn from accounts of one hundred investors. One member claims to have had 1.2 billion won stolen."
Besides digital currencies, hackers were succeeded in stealing the personal information of 31,800 Bithumb website users, including their names, email addresses, and mobile phone numbers, the South Korean government-funded Yonhap News reported.
However, Bithumb claims that this number represents approximately 3% of its customers.
The exchange also told Yonhap that it contacted South Korea's cybercrime watchdog on June 30, Friday after it learned of the hack on June 29.
Bithumb believes that one of its employee's home computer was hacked in the attack and not its entire network and no passwords were compromised, so it is impossible for hackers to gain direct access to user accounts.
The digital currency exchange says that the loss of funds is the result of using "disposable passwords" in order to carry out digital transactions online.
"The employee PC, not the head office server, was hacked. Personal information such as mobile phone and email address of some users were leaked," Bithumb told the newspaper. "However, some customers were found to have been stolen from because of the disposable password used in electronic financial transactions."
While more than 100 Bithumb customers have already filed a complaint with the National Police Agency's cybercrime report center regarding the hack, South Korean officials are now investigating the incident.
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Nearly 40,000 organisations running MongoDB, a NoSQL high performance and cross-platform document-oriented database, are found to be unprotected and vulnerable to hackers.
Three students from University of Saarland in Germany at the Centre for IT Security – Kai Greshake, Eric Petryka and Jens Heyens – discovered that MongoDB databases running at TCP port 27017 as a service on several thousands of commercial web servers are easily accessible on the Internet.
MongoDB is an open-source database used by companies of all sizes, across all industries for a wide variety of applications. MongoDB is built for scalability, performance and high availability, scaling from single server deployments to large, complex multi-site architectures. By leveraging in-memory computing, MongoDB provides high performance for both reads and writes.
The German researchers said that they were able to get "read and write access" to the unsecured MongoDB databases without using any special hacking tools. They found 39,890 MongoDB databases openly available on the Internet, including one belongs to an unnamed French telecommunications company containing 8 Million customer's phone numbers and addresses.
"Anybody could retrieve and even alter several million items of customer data, including names, addresses, emails and credit card numbers," the university in Saarbruecken on the Franco-German border said in a statement.
Exploiting the loophole is incredibly easy, as an attacker only needs to run a port scan for TCP port 27017 on the victim's machine and finding all possible vulnerable servers on the Internet could be achieved within four hours by scanning the Internet using fastest TCP Port Scanner called, "masscan".
However, Shodan Search Engine makes the task even easier as it helps hackers to identify accessible MongoDB databases easily. Shodan has a database containing IP addresses with a list of services running and an easy-to-use filter mask.
The German researchers reported the issue to MongoDB as well as the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) and the Federal Office for Information Security so that the affected database owners could be notified of the loophole.
MongoDB responded to the issue, saying "MongoDB takes security very seriously." Those who are affected by the issue should use latest installer for MongoDB which limits network access to localhost by default and also refer MongoDB Security Manual.
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Story highlightsWomen take on giant waves off MauiPeahi wave is known as "Jaws"First women's big-wave event (CNN)They hurtle down huge walls of water defying injury or worse, but these are not your typical big-wave warriors.For the first time, women competed alongside the men in the Pe'ahi Challenge -- a surfing event at the infamous "Jaws" break off the Hawaiian island of Maui. Follow @cnnsport
Riding liquid mountains more than 30ft high, 12 pioneering women braved giant surf in the inaugural Women's Big Wave Tour event.Congrats @paigealms, Women's #PeahiChallenge winner & Big Wave World Champion!! 🏆 #DontCrackUnderPressure @TAGHeuer pic.twitter.com/A34aF0cHWa— World Surf League (@wsl) November 12, 2016
"We're incredibly proud to be introducing a women's event this season," Big Wave Tour commissioner Peter Mel told the World Surf League website ahead of the competition."These ladies are some of the most dedicated, passionate and talented big-wave surfers on the planet. It will be phenomenal to witness them tackle Pe'ahi."Read MoreJaws, which is officially known as Pe'ahi, was first ridden in the 1990s by surfers using a colleague driving a jet ski to tow them in to the wave.The huge swells -- sometimes up to 60ft high -- were initially thought to move too fast to paddle into like traditional surfers, but the paddle-in movement has grown in recent years.The jet skis are also used to rescue fallen surfers from the impact zone before another huge set of waves crashes over them.The surfers are highly tuned athletes who train specifically for the challenge of riding big waves, including the ability to hold their breath for long periods of time in the event of being held underwater by the violence of the waves. 2016 #BigWaveTour #PeahiChallenge Highlights pic.twitter.com/UXxFKeClXh— World Surf League (@wsl) November 12, 2016
Maui local Paige Alms, 28, won the women's title at Pe'ahi, while another Hawaiian Billy Kemper topped the 24-strong men's competition. "I still feel like it's kind of a dream, but I can't believe it," Alms told the World Surf League after her win. "What a blessing to be out there with just a couple girls. That was special, for sure."Women have long lobbied for a big-wave event but organizers have typically argued there was insufficient strength in depth to warrent a competition.Some big-wave spots such as Mavericks at Half Moon Bay in California were considered too dangerous for women, although the Titans of Mavericks event will also feature a women's competition this year.Surfing in giant waves can be deadly even for the most experienced surfers. Famous big-wave rider Mark Foo drowned at Mavericks in 1994, while Hawaii local Todd Chesser died surfing a huge swell on an outer reef off the North Shore in 1997.
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NeXpose 5.0 vulnerability management solution Released by Rapid7
Nexpose proactively supports the entire vulnerability management lifecycle, including discovery, detection, verification, risk classification, impact analysis, reporting and mitigation. This gives organizations immediate insight into the security posture of their IT environment by conducting over 65,000 vulnerability checks for more than 16,000 vulnerabilities. The solution leverages one of the largest vulnerabilities databases to identify vulnerabilities across networks, operating systems, databases, Web applications and virtual assets. Risk is classified based on real exploit intelligence combined with industry standard metrics such as CVSS, as well as temporal and weighted risk scoring. Nexpose provides a detailed, sequenced remediation roadmap with time estimates for each task. Nexpose is used to help organizations improve their overall risk posture and security readiness as well as to comply with mandatory regulations, including security requirements for PCI, HIPAA, ARRA HITECH ACT, FISMA (including SCAP Compliance), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and NERC CIP. Nexpose 5.0, will address the complex security challenges presented by the wide scale adoption of virtualization technologies and the rapid increase of malware. For the first time, organizations will be able to ensure that their virtual environments do not represent potential hidden security threats.
Nexpose 5.0 will augment this intelligence with the introduction of its patent-pending Real Risk™ technology that leverages Rapid7' Malware Exposure, identifying which vulnerabilities are currently exploited by malware, and making the risk scores used for prioritized remediation even more meaningful and contextual to security teams.
Rapid7 is proactively addressing this emerging threat with Nexpose 5.0: the first vulnerability management solution to offer organizations patent-pending vScan technology, which enables continuous discovery of virtual machines in their dynamic environments, ensuring they are included in scanning, prioritzation and remediation efforts. Virtualization management metadata is used to discover and track assets in their virtualized infrastructure, giving defenders an up-to-date and accurate view of real risk across their entire physical and virtualized infrastructures. Changes to the status of virtual machines are updated automatically as they are migrated to new hosts or switched on and off. Once discovered, these assets can be classified by the specific factors that are important to security and operational professionals and Nexpose will dynamically update users if any of those key factors change in the assets so they can be appropriately re-classified. These capabilities for virtualization management will initially be available for VMware vCenter™ Server.
Read More here
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Story highlightsThe catacombs of Paris contain millions of bones after cemeteries could no long accommodate burials"Cataphiles" love to explore the deserted tunnels and abandoned quarries under the cityUX has completed a a series of high profile stunts deep under the city, including its own fucntioning cinemaExpert: "There are so many bones here you don't see them as human remains, you just see them as decorations."In the tunnels and caves that lie deep beneath Paris an elaborate, and, at times, dangerous game of cat and mouse is played out nearly every weekend. In this case the mice are represented by the cataphiles -- a group of dedicated hedonists who love to party in the abandoned quarries deep beneath the French capital - and the part of the cat is played by the police who patrol the places most people would fear to tread. Paris has two main underground attractions -- one being a vast catacomb which holds the remains of more than six million people, the other being a network of tunnels and quarries that stretch nearly 321 kilometres under the city. At the official catacombs visitors who are prepared to walk down the 139 steps and along endless tunnels are met by truly extraordinary sights as well as a fascinating slice of 18th-century life in Paris. In 1786 the cemeteries of Paris were full to bursting, meaning corpses were often buried near those people still living. After the collapse of a communal grave near the center of the city it was decided to transfer all the bones to one vast ossuary. JUST WATCHEDEmpire of the Dead: Part 1ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEmpire of the Dead: Part 1 06:37JUST WATCHEDEmpire of the Dead: Part 2ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEmpire of the Dead: Part 2 07:35JUST WATCHEDEmpire of the Dead: Part 3ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEmpire of the Dead: Part 3 08:50 Nowadays the mountains of unwanted bones have been arranged into a macabre set of alleys and pillars - a process that was started two centuries ago. One of the museum's curators Tram Nguyen told us how people usually reacted on their first visit: "When you come here for the first time you get quite destabilized but then you get used to it. There are so many bones here you don't see them as human remains, you just see them as decorations." Our program was looking as all aspects of underground life in Paris and in the process of researching it we also came across another extraordinary group who put the subterranean spaces to new uses. Urban Experiment, UX for short, is a highly secretive organization which has gained a cult following after successfully completing a series of high profile stunts deep under the city. Members of UX very rarely reveal what, how, or why they do what they do but CNN arranged a series of meetings with one of their members who slowly let us into some of the secrets. We first met Lazar Kunstmann - not his real name but the one he insists on using -- in an anonymous Parisian bar. With a shaved head and regulation black clothes he is a friendly, if somewhat cagey, individual. We wanted to know who the UX were. His answer was suitably cryptic. "The UX is a collective of people who pursue the same aim with a range of skills. It is anyone and everyone. There are no characteristics in terms of age, sex, social or cultural background -- the only characteristic is to live relatively close to the area where the projects are carried out, in Paris. All the rules of the UX have to do with feasibility -- the practical aspect of the execution of the projects." The Palais de Chaillot - or more precisely one of quarries that lies beneath it -- was the scene of one their most infamous projects. The group - which has existed for 30 years -- dug deep under the theatre to create their own fully functioning cinema in one of the hundreds of caves under the city. They even made their own film to mark the event. Over a beer Kunstmann explains what motivates the UX. "We are a group who use public spaces, not necessarily the public spaces underground, not necessarily abandoned. It is simple - the only characteristic of the spaces we use is that they are public, and have been left, that's to say "loosely" abandoned. The vocation of these spaces is to accommodate projects." Secrecy is, of course, essential for Kunstmann and other members of the UX. "The secrecy is just linked to the feasibility. When we were young we profited from the craze of underground parties in the 1990s in the ancient quarries of the Latin Quarter in order to discover, that in fact there was all this public space, which was totally abandoned, which we could use for anything. Much later, at the same time as wanting to learn more about all this public space, to have a geographic and practical knowledge - that is by getting hold of maps and keys to use the tunnels - we realized this really was the ideal location for numerous projects." Before we leave him Kunstmann tells us that the UX have several more projects in mind but, unsurprisingly perhaps, he declines to elaborate saying future plans have to be kept under wraps.Living life in Paris' Empire of the Dead
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Can you get hacked just by clicking on a malicious link or opening a website? — YES.
Microsoft has just released its April month's Patch Tuesday security updates, which addresses multiple critical vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and other products, five of which could allow an attacker to hack your computer by just tricking you visit a website.
Microsoft has patched five critical vulnerabilities in Windows Graphics Component that reside due to improper handling of embedded fonts by the Windows font library and affects all versions of Windows operating systems to date, including Windows 10 / 8.1 / RT 8.1 / 7, Windows Server 2008 / 2012 / 2016.
An attacker can exploit these issues by tricking an unsuspecting user to open a malicious file or a specially crafted website with the malicious font, which if open in a web browser, would hand over control of the affected system to the attacker.
All these five vulnerabilities in Windows Microsoft Graphics were discovered and responsibly disclosed by Hossein Lotfi, a security researcher at Flexera Software.
CVE-2018-1010
CVE-2018-1012
CVE-2018-1013
CVE-2018-1015
CVE-2018-1016
Windows Microsoft Graphics is also affected by a denial of service vulnerability that could allow an attacker to cause a targeted system to stop responding. This flaw exists in the way Windows handles objects in memory.
Microsoft has also disclosed details of another critical RCE vulnerability (CVE-2018-1004), which exists in Windows VBScript Engine and affects all versions of Windows.
"In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit the vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website," Microsoft explains.
"An attacker could also embed an ActiveX control marked 'safe for initialization' in an application or Microsoft Office document that hosts the IE rendering engine."
Besides this, Microsoft has also patched multiple remote code execution vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office and Microsoft Excel, which could allow attackers to take control of the targeted systems.
The security updates also include patches for six flaws in Adobe Flash Player, three of which were rated critical.
Rest CVE-listed flaws has been addressed in Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, ChakraCore, Malware Protection Engine, Microsoft Visual Studio, and the Microsoft Azure IoT SDK, along with bugs in Adobe Flash Player.
Users are strongly advised to apply security patches as soon as possible to keep hackers and cybercriminals away from taking control of their computers.
For installing security updates, simply head on to Settings → Update & security → Windows Update → Check for updates, or you can install the updates.
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Lyon, France (CNN)In the aftermath of World Cup final victory, USWNT coach Jill Ellis, part of her face hidden by a white cap with a USA badge on the front, was alone on a podium facing a puzzled media. Her captain was not by her side, as is usually the custom in post-match press conferences.When it was revealed that Megan Rapinoe had been picked for a doping test, the room deflated in unison. Such has been Rapinoe's pull these last few weeks that posing questions to the first coach to win the Women's World Cup twice did not have quite the allure as talking to the 34-year-old who now transcends her sport.Follow @cnnsport
But towards the end of the press conference Rapinoe emerged, to the warm applause of some in the room."I just killed doping," the ebullient forward told reporters, smiling as broadly as a World Cup winner should.Ever since Rapinoe agitated US President Donald Trump during the World Cup by saying that she would not attend the White House should the US win the competition, the forward has been the center of attention in France.Read MoreBut her performances on the pitch have elevated her to another level of stardom, too. She was the match winner in both the last-16 and the quarterfinal and also scored the opening goal in the final, helping secure a 2-0 win over the Netherlands.After the match, the forward spoke as passionately and as eloquently as she always does. Rapinoe takes a penalty awarded in the second half for a foul on Alex Morgan. READ: US Women's team crowned world championREAD: Jill Ellis -- US Soccer's record-breaking head coach'A little public shame never hurt anybody'Asked about her thoughts to the crowd's booing of FIFA president Gianni Infantino as he walked towards the presentation stage and the chorus of "equal pay" which rippled around the Groupama Stadium in Lyon as the USWNT prepared to lift the coveted World Cup trophy, Rapinoe said: "I'm down with the boos.""I think everyone is ready for this conversation to move to the next step," she said.
"I think we're done with 'are we worth it, should we have equal pay, is the markets the same, yadda, yadda.' Fans are done with that, players are done with that and, in a lot of ways, I think sponsors and everyone's done with that."Let's get to the next point. How do we support women's federations and women's programs around the world?"What can FIFA do, what can we do to support the leagues around the world?"We put on as players -- every player at this World Cup put on the most incredible show that you can ever ask for and we can't do anything more to impress more, to be better ambassadors, to take on more, to play better."It's time to move that conversation forward to the next step and a little public shame never hurt anybody, right."On Saturday Infantino described France 2019 as the "best Women's World Cup ever."He also said that he wants to expand the Women's World Cup to 32 teams and double the current prize money of $30 million for the next tournament, setting out a five-point plan to make sure the sport "seizes this opportunity."READ: Social media becomes ode to Rose LavelleRapinoe celebrates after scoring against the Netherlands. But even if FIFA were to double the prize money for 2023, it would still mean participants at the Women's World Cup would be receiving significantly less than men's teams. For last year's men's World Cup, the overall prize fund was $400 million, with winners France taking home $38 million.The USWNT is also fighting its own equal pay battle with the squad announcing earlier this year that they were taking legal action against their own federation, alleging "institutional gender discrimination.""It is time for the Federation to correct this disparity once and for all," said Molly Levinson, spokeswoman for the US Women's National Team Players Association, in a statement published after the victory which gave the USWNT its fourth World Cup, a remarkable feat as there has only been eight editions of the tournament. READ: USWNT captain, World Cup winner and social activist Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS players celebrate after winning the World Cup final on Sunday, July 7.Hide Caption 1 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS captain Megan Rapinoe, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the final. She converted a penalty in the 61st minute.Hide Caption 2 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itThe penalty was awarded after a video review of this incident. US forward Alex Morgan was fouled in the box by Dutch defender Stefanie van der Gragt.Hide Caption 3 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itRose Lavelle, third from left, celebrates after adding the team's second goal in the 69th minute.Hide Caption 4 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itMorgan celebrates her tournament-leading sixth goal in the 2-1 semifinal win against England on Tuesday, July 2. Rapinoe and England's Ellen White later tied her.Hide Caption 5 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher saves a penalty by England's Steph Houghton late in the semifinal. The goal preserved the Americans' 2-1 lead.Hide Caption 6 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itMorgan made headlines with her tea-drinking goal celebration against England. The goal came on what was her 30th birthday.Hide Caption 7 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itMany fans were perplexed when Rapinoe was left out of the starting lineup of the England match. She didn't participate in warmups, either. It was announced after the match that she was nursing a slight hamstring strain. She was back in the lineup for the final.Hide Caption 8 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itChristen Press, left, celebrates her opening goal against England with Lindsey Horan. Press was the surprise starter in place of Rapinoe.Hide Caption 9 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itRapinoe celebrates one of her two goals in the 2-1 victory over France in the quarterfinals. After being embroiled in a war of words with US President Donald Trump, Rapinoe became the focus of unprecedented scrutiny during this World Cup.Hide Caption 10 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS defender Abby Dahlkemper, left, and France's Valerie Gauvin battle for a header. Many experts considered France to be the Americans' biggest challenger in this tournament.Hide Caption 11 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itMorgan is challenged by French players Amandine Henry, left, and Amel Majri.Hide Caption 12 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itThe US team huddles before the second half of the France match.Hide Caption 13 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS forward Jessica McDonald holds her son, Jeremiah, after the France win.Hide Caption 14 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itRapinoe slots home a goal from the penalty spot during the Americans' 2-1 victory over Spain in the round of 16. Rapinoe again had both goals. Both were off penalties.Hide Caption 15 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itSpanish forward Jennifer Hermoso and US defender Kelley O'Hara compete for a header.Hide Caption 16 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS midfielder Julie Ertz gets a kiss from her husband, NFL star Zach Ertz, after the Americans defeated Sweden 2-0 in the final match of the group stage.Hide Caption 17 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itHoran, right, scored the opening goal against Sweden in the third minute. At left is US midfielder Rose Lavelle. The Americans didn't allow a goal in their three group matches, winning them by a combined score of 18-0.Hide Caption 18 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS head coach Jill Ellis sings the National Anthem before the group-stage match against Chile. Ellis was also the coach when the US team won the World Cup four years ago.Hide Caption 19 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itUS fans celebrate a goal in the Americans' 3-0 victory over Chile. Thousands of US fans made the trip to France.Hide Caption 20 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itChile's Javiera Tora, left, and US midfielder Mallory Pugh focus on the ball.Hide Caption 21 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itCarli Lloyd, the Golden Ball winner from the 2015 World Cup, scored the third US goal against Chile. This year, she was mostly used as a substitute.Hide Caption 22 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itYoung US fans watch the match against Chile.Hide Caption 23 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itRapinoe celebrates her goal during the team's 13-0 rout over Thailand. It was the largest win in World Cup history for any team, men or women. But the team was criticized for the way it celebrated many of its late goals.Hide Caption 24 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itLloyd consoles some of the Thai players after the blowout victory.Hide Caption 25 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itLloyd is closed down by a Thai defender in the opening match.Hide Caption 26 of 27 Photos: The US women just won another World Cup. Here's how they did itO'Hara, foreground, cheers on her teammates after a goal against Thailand.Hide Caption 27 of 27In Rapinoe, the squad has a player of global acclaim who will fight and speak loudly on their behalf. She celebrated in Lyon as she did in Paris -- when she scored against France just days after irking Trump -- her arms outstretched in a statuesque pose before being engulfed by teammates.Her now signature celebration, a pose which can be seen emblazoned on T-shirts, epresents her attitude, she explained. "I'm generally pretty off the cuff," she said when asked about her celebration."This just felt right in this moment to have me and the person and the things I stand for with a big sh*t-eating grin of your face in all of our glory, I say that as my team and all the women's players that have played in this tournament and around the world."I feel that it's kind of iconic of everything that we've gone through and continue to go through and yet we still put this beautiful product out on the pitch."That Rapinoe used the word "iconic" was apt as that is what she and her team have become after a month where they have blazed a trail both on and off the pitch.READ: 'We're crazy, that's what makes us special,' says US starJust before Rapinoe had walked into the press conference to hold court, Ellis was asked whether the attention her player had received in recent weeks was a distraction. "Megan was built for this, build for these moments, built to be a spokesperson for others," she replied. "I've sat in a couple of press conferences with her and she's just incredibly eloquent, speaks from her heart and we need people like that in the game -- to be honest, to call things for what they are. "In terms of her dealing with this, I've never had any issue with that. For the past four, five years I've seen what she's capable of. The bigger the spotlight, the more she shines. For Megan, it highlights who she is."
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Story highlightsUruguay 2-1 PortugalCavani double knocks out Ronaldo' s PortugalUruguay to play France in quarterfinals (CNN)The two greatest players of this generation have been sent packing from Russia in the same day.Just hours after Lionel Messi and Argentina were eliminated from the World Cup by France, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal fell to a 2-1 defeat against two-time champions Uruguay in the last 16.Follow @cnnsport
Two goals from Edinson Cavani, the second a stunning strike into the far corner, either side of Pepe's equalizer consigned the reigning European champions to defeat and set up a quarterfinal tie with France on July 6. Edinson Cavani celebrates his winning goal.READ: Mbappe scores twice to knock out Messi's Argentina READ: Donald Trump on Cristiano Ronaldo -- 'They say he is the greatest ever'Read MoreREAD: What is VAR? The Video Assistant Referee explainedCavani at the doubleRonaldo was in the tunnel before kick-off bouncing on his toes and grinning excitedly, visibly itching to get onto the pitch.These are the kind of occasions which bring the best out of him, the nights -- like that memorable one two weeks ago against Spain when he scored a hattrick -- where he craves a moment in the spotlight to add to his legacy.But it wasn't Portugal's star man who stole the show. Instead, it was one of Uruguay's talismans, Paris Saint-Germain's Cavani, who was the protagonist in another chapter of this tiny South American nation's rich World Cup history.Cavani and Suarez celebrate Uruguay's winner.Despite boasting some of the world's best attack talents, these two sides thrive in playing the role of underdogs.But neither had come to Sochi to defend, sensing a place in the quarterfinals was well within their grasp.And it was Uruguay's star strikers Cavani and Luis Suarez, a pairing who have honed their partnership over more than a decade playing together on the international stage, who took it upon themselves to lead their country into the last eight. Born in the same town, just three weeks apart, Uruguay's deadly strike duo combined for the opening goal with seemingly telepathic understanding.Cavani started the move, spraying a pinpoint cross-field pass to Suarez's feet, before continuing his run into the box.Suarez took two touches, cut inside his marker and curled a cross to the far post where Cavani was lurking unmarked. Though he miscued his header, the ball bounced fortuitously off his shoulder and into the net, setting Uruguay up for a fourth win of this tournament. Cavani's header was his 44th for UruguayWill Uruguay beat France? Have your say on our Facebook page. Ronaldo fails to inspireThough Portugal had dominated the ball, they had created very little and now faced the seemingly impossible task of scoring against a Uruguay team that hadn't conceded all year.Ronaldo had an effort from the edge of the area, which Fernando Muslera gathered with relative ease, before Goncalo Guedes won a free-kick on the edge of the area which was in the proverbial 'Ronaldo territory.'With the ball placed in an almost identical position to his stunning late equalizer against Spain, Ronaldo stepped back, pulled up the front of his shorts and puffed his cheeks.But, this time, like many of his previous attempts -- his leveler against Spain was his first direct freekick goal at a major tournament for Portugal in 45 attempts -- the ball failed to clear the wall.Uruguay's fans celebrated the winner wildly.Much of Portugal's inability to create was down to Uruguay's incessant pressing and harrying.Uruguay's success comes from a collective effort that even the two superstars leading the line don't feel is beneath them. On several occasions, Suarez and Cavani could be seen filling in at various positions in defense.But having looked so solid for the opening 45 minutes, Uruguay's defense switched off momentarily. They allowed a short corner to be taken and Raphael Guerreiro whipped a cross into the box for Pepe, arriving at the far post, to head past Muslera.Portugal had gradually grown into the game after the restart, thanks in part to coach Fernando Santos' decision to move playmaker Bernado Silva into a more advanced position, but also Uruguay's willingness to sit back and defend their lead.Cristiano Ronaldo helps the injured Cavani off the pitch.But Portugal's delight would last all of seven minutes as another Cavani goal saw Uruguay retake the lead.One long, hopeful punt upfield by Muslera fell to Rodrigo Bentancur, who rolled the ball into the path of the onrushing Cavani.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news and features The prolific PSG forward opened up his body and hit the shot first time, curling the ball around Rui Patricio's outstretched arm and into the far corner.Cavani was injured in the closing stages, hurt while tracking back to defend his own area. He was helped off the pitch by Ronaldo, the man whose potential final World Cup appearance had been ended by the lethal Uruguayan's boot.
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(CNN)Sidney Poitier left behind a legacy of landmark performances, from his Oscar win for "Lilies of the Field" to the Oscar-winning "In the Heat of the Night," the latter coming in a year, 1967, that also saw him star in "To Sir, With Love" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."The richness of the filmography assembled by Poitier, who died Thursday at the age of 94, makes it difficult to choose a favorite film or role. On different days, that might be "Porgy and Bess;" "A Raisin in the Sun," reprising his part in from the play about a struggling Chicago family; or "The Defiant Ones," which earned him his first best-actor Oscar nomination as an escapee on the run chained to a Southern bigot played by Tony Curtis. (In a loaded year, both Curtis and Poitier earned nominations, along with Spencer Tracy and Paul Newman, but the award went to David Niven for "Separate Tables.")Those movies only scratch the surface of a half-century of screen work, which helped pave a path for other performers of color -- a burden the actor bore with considerable grace, despite the challenges and strictures he faced.As Variety's Tim Gray noted in framing the decades when Poitier's career peaked, the US Supreme Court ruling against miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia occurred only months before the release of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." "While the message of tolerance in 'Guess Who's Coming' may seem hoary," he wrote, "it was an eye-opener to many."Still, there are other movies and TV miniseries to add to any Poitier watch list, yielding a by-no-means comprehensive roster of additional recommendations -- presented in chronological order -- that might not have been mentioned as prominently in initial remembrances and tributes.Read MoreBlackboard Jungle (1955): Poitier played a student in a tough school filled with juvenile delinquents before he made audiences swoon a dozen years as a teacher with a British class full of them. Here, Glenn Ford played the teacher trying to break through to the kids, with Vic Morrow as the worst of the bad apples.Edge of the City (1956): The pairing of Poitier and John Cassavetes as two longshoremen, with Jack Warden as a truly hissable villain, elevates this film from director Martin Ritt. Like many prominent roles for Black actors in this period, the arc of Poitier's character, alas, existed largely to set up a moral dilemma for his co-star to confront.A Patch of Blue (1965): Poitier starred opposite Elizabeth Hartman as a blind woman whom he befriends (the title describes her last memory of vision), while Shelley Winters earned an Academy Award as one of the world's worst mothers.They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Organization (1971): After the success of "In the Heat of the Night," Poitier returned in two standard but enjoyable sequels as Virgil Tibbs, the big-city detective, with the first capitalizing on one of the more memorable movie lines from the 1960s.Buck and the Preacher (1972) and Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and): Poitier not only starred in but directed both of these films, playing opposite Harry Belafonte in a western and Bill Cosby in a light comedy-action vehicle, which was successful enough to spawn a pair of re-teamings with Cosby, the appropriately titled "Let's Do It Again" and "A Piece of the Action." His work behind the scenes also included directing "Stir Crazy," the prison comedy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.Separate But Equal (1991): Moving to TV, Poitier played future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in this ABC miniseries about the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, also featuring Burt Lancaster in his final role.Sneakers (1992): A disposable but extremely fun caper film with an excellent cast that featured Poitier and Robert Redford as part of an elite security team. One of several entertaining if not particularly significant movies from the tail end of his career, including "Shoot to Kill" and "Little Nikita."
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If you receive an image file sent by someone, even your friend, on your Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn or any other social media platform, just DO NOT CLICK ON IT.
Even JPG image file could eventually infect your computer with the infamous Locky Ransomware.
Earlier this week, we reported a new attack campaign that used Facebook Messenger to spread Locky Ransomware via .SVG image files, although Facebook denied this was the case.
Now, researchers have discovered that the ongoing spam campaign is also using boobytrapped .JPG image files in order to download and infect users with the Locky Ransomware via Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking platforms.
Security researchers from Israeli security firm Check Point have reportedly discovered how cyber criminals are hiding malware in image files, and how they are executing the malware code within these images to infect social media users with Locky variants.
According to researchers, malware authors have discovered security vulnerabilities in the Facebook and LinkedIn that forcibly download a maliciously coded image file on a user's computer, though in some cases, the user has to click on the image file to download.
When the user detect the automatic download and access that malformed image file, malicious code installs the Locky ransomware onto the user's computer, which encrypts all files on the infected computer until a ransom is paid.
Flaws in Facebook and LinkedIn Remain Unpatched
The security firm has declined to provide technical details as the vulnerability the malware relies on still impacts both Facebook and LinkedIn, among other unnamed web services.
"The attackers have built a new capability to embed malicious code into an image file and successfully upload it to the social media website," Check Point researchers say.
"The attackers exploit a misconfiguration on the social media infrastructure to deliberately force their victims to download the image file. This results in infection of the users' device as soon as the end-user clicks on the downloaded file."
CheckPoint says the firm reported the issue to both Facebook and LinkedIn back in September, but the vulnerabilities remain unpatched in both the platform, which is now actively being exploited by attackers.
Video Demonstration of the Attack
You can also watch the video demonstration of this attack, which CheckPoint dubbed ImageGate, which shows the attack in action.
Locky is Spreading Massively via Social Media Platform
Locky ransomware has been around since early this year and has become the biggest and most common ransomware family known today. It works by encrypting victims' files with RSA-2048 and AES-1024 algorithms and demands a ransom for the key.
Locky ransomware mainly spreads via phishing emails containing a malicious attachment disguised as a Word or Zip file. But since people spend time on social network sites, cyber crooks have turned their focus to finding a way into these platforms.
Check Point says that in the past week, they have noticed a "massive spread of the Locky ransomware via social media, particularly in its Facebook-based campaign."
To keep yourself safe, you are advised not to open any unsolicited file that has automatically downloaded onto your computer, especially image files with unusual extensions like SVG, JS, or HTA.
The bottom line: Don't be curious to look at image sent by someone, at least for the time being.
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(CNN)Pope Francis has expelled the Reverend Cristian Precht Bañados of Chile, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Santiago. This is the first formal resignation the Pope has decreed since every bishop in Chile offered to step down in May over the country's sex abuse scandal. The Chilean bishops' offer was thought to be unprecedented in the modern history of the Catholic Church.Catholic bishops in Chile resign over a sex abuse scandalPrecht had been suspended in 2012 from practicing within the ministry for five years after the Archbishop of Santiago ordered a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against him.The Archbishop issued a statement at the time saying that "during the process were established verifiable reports of abusive behavior with adults and minors."Precht has not been charged with any crimes by Chilean authorities, but was not allowed to leave the country's capital, Santiago, pending completion of the church investigation. JUST WATCHEDAbuse survivor: I'm glad Pope is speaking outReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAbuse survivor: I'm glad Pope is speaking out 02:34Read MoreIn a February 2013 statement, Precht denied "ever forcing anyone's will, be it an adult or a minor, woman or man."He also denied the allegations earlier this year in a letter to the director of the Chilean newspaper La Tercera."I absolutely deny participating, in any way, in the acts which I'm slanderously being accused of," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "I will defend my personal and clerical honor in every way I can and any time it's violated."Precht was extremely popular in Chile and known for being a fierce defender of human rights during the Chilean dictatorship. His defrocking comes as the Catholic Church continues to face criticism over its response to myriad allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy over the years.Pope Francis said last month that "no effort to beg pardon and seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient." He has called for a meeting of the church's top officials in February to address the scandal.Mass resignationAll of Chile's 34 active and retired bishops offered their resignations to Pope Francis in May after an emergency summit at the Vatican. The Pope called the bishops to Rome after receiving a 2,300-page report detailing sexual abuses by priests in Chile.The report alleged that for decades church officials in Chile knew about and covered up cases of sexual abuse, even destroying records.Pope 'ashamed' church didn't listenPope Francis had previously defended a Chilean bishop accused of concealing the abuse, saying he had been "slandered." The Pope apologized after Vatican investigators said church officials in Chile had helped cover up multiple cases of sexual abuse by the clergy. In June, the Vatican said Pope Francis was sending investigators back to Chile to look into historical child abuse and accusations that a bishop covered up crimes against minors. Last month, police arrested a former Chilean priest over the alleged abuse of seven minors. Prosecutors say 158 people, including bishops, priests and lay people are under investigation.
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Emotet, the notorious email-based Windows malware behind several botnet-driven spam campaigns and ransomware attacks, was automatically wiped from infected computers en masse following a European law enforcement operation.
The development comes three months after a coordinated disruption of Emotet as part of "Operation Ladybird" to seize control of servers used to run and maintain the malware network. The orchestrated effort saw at least 700 servers associated with the botnet's infrastructure neutered from the inside, thus preventing further exploitation.
Law enforcement authorities from the Netherlands, Germany, the U.S., U.K., France, Lithuania, Canada, and Ukraine were involved in the international action.
Previously, the Dutch police, which seized two central servers located in the country, said it had deployed a software update to counter the threat posed by Emotet effectively. "All infected computer systems will automatically retrieve the update there, after which the Emotet infection will be quarantined," the agency noted back in January.
This involved pushing a 32-bit payload named "EmotetLoader.dll" via the same channels that were used to distribute the original Emotet to all compromised machines. The cleanup routine, which was set to trigger itself automatically on April 25, 2021, worked by removing the malware from the device, in addition to deleting the autorun Registry key and terminating the process.
Now on Sunday, cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes confirmed that its Emotet-infected machine that had received the specially-crafted time bomb code had successfully initiated the uninstallation routine and removed itself from the Windows system.
As of writing, Abuse.ch's Feodo Tracker shows none of the Emotet servers are online. However, it remains to be seen if this "final" blow to the botnet will cause it to bounce back in the future or render it permanently inoperable, paving the way for other cybercrime actors to fill the void.
"Historically, Emotet's operators used long breaks in activity to improve their malware," Redscan researchers noted on Friday. "This means there is a realistic possibility that Emotet's operators will use this opportunity to make the loader malware even more resilient, for example, by using polymorphic techniques to counter future coordinated action. They could also use the Emotet source code to branch off and create smaller, independent botnets."
The mass action marks the second time law enforcement agencies have intervened to remove malware from compromised machines.
Earlier this month, the U.S. government took steps to remove web shell backdoors dropped by the Hafnium threat actor from Microsoft Exchange servers located in the country that were breached using ProxyLogon exploits.
Following the court-authorized operation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it's in the process of notifying all the organizations from which it had removed web shells, implying the intelligence agency accessed the systems without their knowledge.
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Exclusive — If you have not updated your website to the latest WordPress version 5.0.3, it's a brilliant idea to upgrade the content management software of your site now. From now, I mean immediately.
Cybersecurity researchers at RIPS Technologies GmbH today shared their latest research with The Hacker News, revealing the existence of a critical remote code execution vulnerability that affects all previous versions of WordPress content management software released in the past 6 years.
The remote code execution attack, discovered and reported to the WordPress security team late last year, can be exploited by a low privileged attacker with at least an "author" account using a combination of two separate vulnerabilities—Path Traversal and Local File Inclusion—that reside in the WordPress core.
The requirement of at least an author account reduces the severity of this vulnerability to some extent, which could be exploited by a rogue content contributor or an attacker who somehow manages to gain author's credential using phishing, password reuse or other attacks.
"An attacker who gains access to an account with at least author privileges on a target WordPress site can execute arbitrary PHP code on the underlying server, leading to a full remote takeover," Scannell says.
Video Demonstration — Here's How the Attack Works
According to Simon Scannell, a researcher at RIPS Technologies GmbH, the attack takes advantage of the way WordPress image management system handles Post Meta entries used to store description, size, creator, and other meta information of uploaded images.
Scannell found that a rogue or compromised author account can modify any entries associated with an image and set them to arbitrary values, leading to the Path Traversal vulnerability.
"The idea is to set _wp_attached_file to evil.jpg?shell.php, which would lead to an HTTP request being made to the following URL: https://targetserver.com/wp-content/uploads/evil.jpg?shell.php," Scannell explains.
And, "it is still possible to plant the resulting image into any directory by using a payload such as evil.jpg?/../../evil.jpg."
The Path Traversal flaw in combination with a local file inclusion flaw in theme directory could then allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted server.
The attack, as shown in the proof-of-concept video shared by the researcher, can be executed within seconds to gain complete control over a vulnerable WordPress blog.
According to Scannell, the code execution attack became non-exploitable in WordPress versions 5.0.1 and 4.9.9 after patch for another vulnerability was introduced which prevented unauthorized users from setting arbitrary Post Meta entries.
However, the Path Traversal flaw is still unpatched even in the latest WordPress version and can be exploited if any installed 3rd-party plugin incorrectly handles Post Meta entries.
Scannell confirmed that the next release of WordPress would include a fix to completely address the issue demonstrated by the researcher.
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Security researchers have discovered yet another example of how cybercriminals disguise their malware activities as regular traffic by using legitimate cloud-based services.
Trend Micro researchers have uncovered a new piece of malware that retrieves commands from memes posted on a Twitter account controlled by the attackers.
Most malware relies on communication with their command-and-control server to receive instructions from attackers and perform various tasks on infected computers.
Since security tools keep an eye on the network traffic to detect malicious IP addresses, attackers are increasingly using legitimate websites and servers as infrastructure in their attacks to make the malicious software more difficult to detect.
In the recently spotted malicious scheme, which according to the researchers is in its early stage, the hackers uses Steganography—a technique of hiding contents within a digital graphic image in such a way that's invisible to an observer—to hide the malicious commands embedded in a meme posted on Twitter, which the malware then parses and executes.
Although the internet meme looks a normal image to human eyes, the command "/print" is hidden in the file's metadata, which then prompts the malware to send a screenshot of the infected computer to a remote command-and-control server.
Also Read: Hacking With Just An Image — Stegano
Here, the malware, which the researchers named "TROJAN.MSIL.BERBOMTHUM.AA," has been designed to check the attacker's Twitter account and then download and scan meme (image) files for the secret commands.
According to the Trend Micro researchers, the Twitter account in question was created in 2017 and contained only two memes posted on October 25 and 26 that delivered "/print" commands to the malware that instructed it to take screenshots.
The malware then sends the screenshots to a command and control server, whose address is obtained through a "hard-coded" URL on the Pastebin site.
Besides taking screenshots, the malware can also be given a variety of other commands, such as to retrieve a list of running processes, grab the account name of the logged in user, get filenames from specific directories on an infected machine, and grab a dump of the user's clipboard.
The malware appears to be in the early stages of its development as the pastebin link points to a local, private IP address, "which is possibly a temporary placeholder used by the attackers."
It's worth noting that the malware was not downloaded from Twitter itself and the researchers currently haven't found what specific mechanism that was or could be used by attackers to deliver the malware to the victims' computers.
The good news is that the Twitter account used to deliver the malicious memes appears to have been disabled, but it is still not clear who is behind this malware and how the mysterious hacker was circulating the malware.
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The Market of E-commerce websites is at its peak, as today people love to shop online to save their time. However, E-commerce and financial sites stand first in the rundown of potential victims as they manage financial exchanges.
The traditional way to target victims of e-commerce sites is to use targeted "phishing" attacks via social media and emails. But…
…due to increased awareness among the people about the threat of phishing attacks, hackers have now discovered new way — by malvertising legitimate websites where people assume to be safe and secure.
We know:
Today, there are many ready-to-use e-commerce platforms available on the Internet that are very easy to install and manage and that too at no extra cost; 'Magento' is one of the most popular out of them.
The most popular, the most targeted:
Yes! Security researchers at Sucuri have found a malicious code inside the Magento e-commerce website that was intended to send all the data submitted by a customer amid checkout procedure to a third-party site, here "soulmagic .biz .fozzyhost .com/add."
Hackers have added 50 extra lines of code in the:
app/code/core/Mage/Payment/Model/Method/Cc.php file inside the prepareSave() function, which you can see below:
What actually happens behind the scene?
Like most Magento sites, the site scanned by the researchers had a checkout form that asks for customers' credit card details.
However, Magento encrypts this information and saves it, and sends it to the payment gateway in order to complete users' transaction.
But, at the moment between the checkout form submission and encryption of the user's payment details when Magento handles customer's sensitive information in a plain text, the code injected by hackers send this unencrypted data to third-party address.
Not only Magento sites are targeted:
Researchers also found a very similar code being injected by hackers into the Joomla Donation extension in Joomla websites in order to send customers' credit card information to the hackers using "java-e-shop .com/add."
Moreover, all e-commerce solutions, including CMS, plugin, and extension, are equally susceptible to this kind of cyber attack in the event they request customers' credit card details directly on a site, instead of redirecting them to a payment gateway.
Because:
It's so easy for a hacker to add a few lines of malicious code in the legitimate code of the website in an effort to dump customer's sensitive details to a noxious third-party.
However, customers of online store aren't the only target, either:
"When hackers manage to compromise an e-commerce site, the owners of the website can be robbed too," researchers at Sucuri wrote.
There are a known number of cases where hackers replace the PayPal account of website owner with their own account. As a result, every time a customer buys something, the site owner would "never receive the funds."
The bottom line:
Online Shoppers can protect themselves against this threat by following these steps:
Don't enter your payment details on the websites that offer their own page. Instead prefer the sites that redirect you to a payment gateway provided by PayPal, payment gateway or bank to complete the transaction.
Only use your Credit Cards with additional levels of authentication. Use payment cards that support additional security layers, like Visa 3-D Secure, or MasterCard SecureCode, or your bank's own 2FA service.
Check the website for any security issue. This can be done by either surfing the Internet or simply check Google's SafeBrowsing information for the website using this link: https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=example.com, where example.com is the domain name of the site you want to check.
Owners of E-commerce website can protect themselves against this threat by following these steps:
Don't allow customers to process payment details on your site. Outsource the payments to trusted third-party service such as PayPal, Stripe or Google Wallet, so that if hackers compromise your site they cannot be able to steal your customers' credit card details.
Use best practices with your website security, including strong and unique passwords for every element of your site, actively maintain and update your website firewall, and monitor your website for security issues.
Be Proactive. If your website is hacked, get help immediately as you cannot put both your customers' money as well as your reputation at risk.
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London (CNN)In the age of social media, it doesn't take much to cause a schism -- and the latest divisive topic is that favorite of toddlers everywhere, the duck. Specifically, whether it's a good idea to feed it bread. A Facebook post showing a sign asking passersby to feed bread to ducks in a park in Buxton, England has sparked fierce debate online. The original post of the sign, which claimed that some birds were "dying of starvation" because people had stopped feeding them bread, was shared more than 17,000 times before it was deleted, BBC News reported. The park's managers said they were not responsible for the sign, according to the BBC.Please feed the ducks pic.twitter.com/OIaGhzmsY2— Sammy j williams (@Sammyjwilliams3) October 17, 2019
Meanwhile, the image was reposted on Reddit under the "I'm confused about duck diet now" thread -- which was upvoted more than 39,000 times and prompted lively discussion about whether the birds should, in fact, eat bread. And it turns out that even experts can't agree fully on the matter. Read MoreAn incredibly rare yellow cardinal has been spotted in Florida. An expert says it's 'one in a million'"Bread in itself is not the best food to give waterfowl as it fills them up without giving them the nutrients they need," a spokesperson for the The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) told CNN in a statement. "We recommend people instead give small amounts of grain such as wheat, corn or bird seed, plus fresh chopped greens like cabbage or spinach, as these will supplement the birds' natural diet and help provide the birds with the necessary nutrients to keep them healthy." The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), however, told CNN in a statement that only a small amount of bread should be given to birds, and that people could also feed ducks and swans with sweetcorn, porridge oats, defrosted frozen peas, bird seed and crumbled cookies. A rare Mandarin duck is hanging out in NYC's Central Park and nobody knows how it got there"Just like us, birds need a varied diet to stay healthy," a spokesperson for the RSPB said in a statement. "Although ducks and swans can digest all types of bread, too much can leave them feeling full without giving them all of the important vitamins, minerals and nutrients they need," they added. Meanwhile, the Canal and River Trust said that bread "could lead to malnutrition" in ducks and can also create problems for waterways."Uneaten soggy bread can cause a build-up of bad nutrients which can lead to greater algal growth, spread disease and encourage pests such as rats," the organization added. So it seems that, for ducks as for humans, a little bit of what you fancy does you good. But too much will leave you feeling fowl.
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(CNN)Condo owners in the South Florida tower that collapsed last week were facing assessments for millions of dollars worth of repairs -- with payments set to begin a week after the building's deadly fall.The Champlain Towers South condo association approved a $15 million assessment in April to complete repairs required under the county's 40-year recertification process, according to documents obtained by CNN. The documents show that more than two years after association members received a report about "major structural damage" in the building, they began the assessment process to pay for necessary repairs. Owners would have to pay assessments ranging from $80,190 for one-bedroom units to $336,135 for the owner of the building's four-bedroom penthouse, a document sent to the building's residents said. The deadline to pay upfront or choose paying a monthly fee lasting 15 years was July 1.Letter sent months before deadly Florida collapse warned damage to condo building was acceleratingAn itemized list of planned repairs included new pavers, planter landscape and waterproofing -- addressing some of the issues noted in a 2018 engineer's report, which warned how leaking water was leading to deteriorating concrete. The most costly project was "facade, balcony and railing repairs" for $3.4 million. Read MoreThe 2018 report, prepared for the condo association, had previously estimated that necessary repairs to the Surfside, Florida, building would cost about $9.1 million. It's unclear whether the issues identified by Frank Morabito, the structural engineer who produced the report, contributed to the disaster. In an April letter to homeowners, condo association President Jean Wodnicki described the progression of decay at the building, saying, "the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection." She noted that the "concrete deterioration is accelerating. The roof situation got much worse, so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated." "Other previously identified projects have been rolled under the main project. New problems have been identified. Also, costs go up every year," the letter states. "This is how we have gone from the estimated $9,128,433.60 cited in Morabito's 2018 report, to the much larger figure we have today."The big assessment bill came as an unwelcome surprise to some owners of the building's 136 units. "We struggled with it and everything," said Isabel Aguero, who owns an 11th-floor condo in the part of the building that remains standing. She said she thought most of the line items appeared to be more for aesthetic improvements instead of structural fixes to the building -- such as $722,000 for "hallway and public area renovations." As engineers hunt for answers in the Surfside building collapse, signs point to the building's lower reachesAguero and her husband decided to go with the monthly payment and sent in the paperwork on June 23 so the association would start adding $593 to their homeowner fees, they said. Early the next morning, the building collapsed. The couple bought their condo two years ago with plans to retire there, but they said they hadn't spent much time in it, as their renovations and furniture deliveries were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Their son, Albert Aguero, was in the tower vacationing with his wife and two children when it collapsed. They woke up to a horrific noise and shaking, and "when we opened the door, we realized just how much damage had occurred," he said. "The apartment to the left looked like it had been sheared in half."He said that there had been work on the building's roof since earlier this year "that would wake us up every morning with drilling." But larger structural construction had not yet begun, according to a statement from the engineering firm that conducted the 2018 report.Albert said he was distressed reading the warnings in the 2018 report, which he never saw until after the building fell. "I was pretty angry at that point, angry that innocent lives had to be lost," he said. Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiExcavators dig through the remains from the Champlain Towers South building on July 9.Hide Caption 1 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiWooden hearts with victims' names have been put up at the memorial site near the building's remains.Hide Caption 2 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiNuns from the St. Joseph's Catholic Church pray at the memorial site on July 7.Hide Caption 3 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA member of a search team moves rubble at the site on July 7. Authorities transitioned from search and rescue to search and recovery after determining "the viability of life in the rubble" was low, Miami-Dade County Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said.Hide Caption 4 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiWorkers gather for a moment of silence and prayer after it was announced that rescue efforts would transition to a recovery operation.Hide Caption 5 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA member of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue hugs victims' family members and friends at the memorial near the collapsed building.Hide Caption 6 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiCrews work at the site of the collapsed building on July 6.Hide Caption 7 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiMembers of a search-and-rescue team comb through the debris on July 5.Hide Caption 8 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA memorial is seen near the spot where the building used to be. The rest of the building was demolished on July 4 so that authorities could continue to look for survivors safely, officials said.Hide Caption 9 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA controlled explosion brings down the unstable remains of the building on July 4.Hide Caption 10 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA woman cries as she watches the rest of Champlain Towers South be demolished.Hide Caption 11 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople watch a cloud of dust form as the rest of the building is demolished.Hide Caption 12 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiKarol Casper places a flower on the memorial wall set up near the building.Hide Caption 13 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople stop at a makeshift memorial near the site.Hide Caption 14 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiSearch-and-rescue personnel work at the site on July 2.Hide Caption 15 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiResidents of the Crestview Towers Condominium carry their belongings as they leave their building in North Miami Beach, Florida, on July 2. The building, about 6 miles from Surfside, was deemed to be structurally and electrically unsafe based on a delinquent recertification report for the almost 50-year-old building. The city said the move was out of an "abundance of caution," as area authorities check high-rise condo buildings following the Surfside collapse.Hide Caption 16 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit a memorial near the partially collapsed building on July 1. Biden traveled to Surfside to console families still waiting on news of their loved ones. Those meetings were closed to the press.Hide Caption 17 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA Coast Guard boat patrols the water ahead of Biden's visit.Hide Caption 18 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiNBA basketball player Udonis Haslem, left, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava arrive to pay their respects at a memorial near the building on June 30.Hide Caption 19 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiSearch-and-rescue teams look through the rubble of Champlain Towers South on June 29.Hide Caption 20 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople take part in a twilight vigil near the building on June 28.Hide Caption 21 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiMore than 3 million pounds of concrete have already been removed during the rescue operation, said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky.Hide Caption 22 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiA woman puts flowers in a barricade as she pays her respects near the building.Hide Caption 23 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPassersby look at photos of missing people.Hide Caption 24 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiWorkers search through the rubble on June 26.Hide Caption 25 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiEliagne Sanchez and K. Parker lay flowers on the beach near the partially collapsed building.Hide Caption 26 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiSmoke rises as rescuers continued to search for survivors on June 26.Hide Caption 27 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople stand near the building on June 25.Hide Caption 28 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiMourners light candles on the beach near the building.Hide Caption 29 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiMembers of a search-and-rescue team work in the rubble.Hide Caption 30 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople pray together on the beach near the collapsed building.Hide Caption 31 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiFirefighters battle a blaze at the collapse site.Hide Caption 32 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople hug June 25 as they wait for news about their relatives at a community center in Surfside.Hide Caption 33 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue personnel search through the building's rubble on June 25.Hide Caption 34 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiToby Fried holds up a picture of her missing brother, Chaim Rosenberg, outside the Surfside Community Center on June 25.Hide Caption 35 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue workers use a crane to inspect the damage.Hide Caption 36 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiAriana Hevia, center, stands with Sean Wilt near the partially collapsed building on June 25. Hevia's mother, Cassandra Statton, lives in the building.Hide Caption 37 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue workers arrive to the scene with dogs on June 25.Hide Caption 38 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiFaydah Bushnaq, center, is hugged by Maria Fernanda Martinez as they stand on the beach near the building. Bushnaq, who was vacationing in South Florida, stopped to write "pray for their souls" in the sand.Hide Caption 39 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThe arm of an earth mover is seen during the search operations.Hide Caption 40 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue personnel work at the site on June 24.Hide Caption 41 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiYube Pettingill talks to the media. Two of her family members were still missing.Hide Caption 42 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThis photo was tweeted by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue after the building collapsed.Hide Caption 43 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiDisplaced residents are taken to a nearby hotel in Surfside.Hide Caption 44 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThe partial collapse left huge piles of rubble and materials dangling from what remained of the structure.Hide Caption 45 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at center in the red tie, arrives to speak to the media on June 24. "We still have hope to be able to identify additional survivors," DeSantis told reporters near the scene. "The state of Florida, we're offering any assistance that we can."Hide Caption 46 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiDebris dangles from the building on June 24.Hide Caption 47 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople hug at a family reunification center where evacuees were staying in Surfside.Hide Caption 48 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThe cause of the collapse wasn't immediately known.Hide Caption 49 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiJennifer Carr sits with her daughter as they and other evacuees wait for news at the family reunification center in Surfside.Hide Caption 50 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue personnel search through the rubble with dogs.Hide Caption 51 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPolice stand guard on the day the building collapsed.Hide Caption 52 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople on the beach look at the building after the partial collapse.Hide Caption 53 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThe building was constructed in 1981, according to online Miami-Dade property records.Hide Caption 54 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiPeople lie on cots at the family reunification center in Surfside.Hide Caption 55 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiThe beachfront community is a few miles north of Miami Beach.Hide Caption 56 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiMore than 80 rescue units responded to the scene, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said.Hide Caption 57 of 58 Photos: Deadly condo collapse near MiamiRescue personnel work at the site of the partial collapse.Hide Caption 58 of 58Earlier this month, Francesco Cordaro paid more than $95,000 for his portion of the millions in special fees related to the repairs and recertification. On Thursday, Cordaro and his wife watched on TV from Staten Island, New York, as their apartment building crashed to the ground. They were in Surfside last month and had planned to move to South Florida for retirement, he said. "The ocean view, the size, the location -- I loved everything about that apartment," the 65-year-old said. "All my dreams are shattered."The couple purchased the unit in January 2019. "We knew that we were going to have the recertification, but no other specific claims were made at that time about any structural problems," Cordaro said.He has not hired a lawyer out of respect for the tower's missing residents, he said, but he believes someone should be held financially liable. "Certainly, someone needs to pay for this," he said. "I don't know who, what, when, but certainly someone has to pay."Condo association under scrutinySince the collapse, the condo association has received scrutiny for the yearslong delay between the alarming 2018 report and the building's overhaul. Its representatives have noted that they were delayed by the pandemic and had to take the time to issue competitive bids for the work."We have board members who are living here, had their families living here, and are among the missing, so if they knew there was a hazardous issue, they certainly would have taken care of it," Donna DiMaggio Berger, an attorney for the Champlain Towers condo association, told CNN on Friday. One official from the town of Surfside had previously assured the association that their building was "in very good shape" in November 2018, meeting minutes obtained by CNN show -- even though he had received the report about structural damage two days earlier. Rosendo Prieto, who worked as the town's building official at the time, made the comments at a meeting of the tower's condo association more than two years before the building's collapse, according to minutes from the November 15, 2018, meeting. The death toll from the Florida condo collapse reaches 11 as rescuers race to find 150 people still missing"Structural engineer report was reviewed by Mr. Prieto," the minutes said, in an apparent reference to the Morabito report. Although Prieto noted that the report "was not in the format for the 40 year certification he determined the necessary data was collected and it appears the building is in very good shape," the minutes say.A resident of the condo, Susana Alvarez, told NPR that she attended the meeting -- which took place in the building's recreation room -- and remembered a representative of the town saying, "the building was not in bad shape." Prieto no longer works for Surfside and has not responded to requests for comment from CNN. Two days before the meeting took place, on November 13, 2018, a member of the condo board, Mara Chouela, forwarded Prieto a copy of the structural engineer's report, according to an email released by the town on Saturday. And the day after the meeting, Prieto sent another email to Guillermo Olmedillo, the former town manager, saying the condo board meeting "went very well." "The response was very positive from everyone in the room," Prieto wrote in the November 16 email, which was released by the town Sunday. "All main concerns over their forty year recertification process were addressed."CNN's Daniel Medina contributed to this report.
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(CNN)Look at Moscow through the lens of Russian state television, and everything seems to be going swimmingly for President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, the Kremlin leader attended a concert at the capital's Luzhniki stadium to mark the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The show, in effect, was a pep rally for Putin's war in Ukraine. Putin appeared in front of a flag-waving crowd in front of a podium that read, "Zа мир без нацисма" -- "For a world without Nazism" -- a sort of marketing slogan-slash-propaganda case for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The slogan even made use of the letter "Z," which is morphing into the official symbol of support for Putin's war: the Cyrillic letter "З" in the slogan was replaced by a Z, evoking the markings first spotted on Russian military vehicles ahead of the February 24 invasion.JUST WATCHEDHow the letter 'Z' became Russia's pro-war symbolReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow the letter 'Z' became Russia's pro-war symbol 02:23For those Russians who don't support the war, life under the sign of the 'Z' is becoming increasingly grim. Read MoreTake a look at social media posts by some opposition activists. On March 16, Olga Misik -- a youthful activist best known for reading a copy of Russia's constitution in front of riot police at an anti-government demonstration -- posted a photo of a Z spray-painted in white on her apartment door. "Don't sell out the motherland, bitch," the accompanying graffiti read. Another democratic activist posted a similar photo on Friday, the Z tag spray-painted in black along with graffiti accusing them of being an "enemy of the people."Hunt for internal enemiesBut why the vitriol, if everything -- as Putin reassures his people -- is going to plan? Part of it may be explained by a speech Wednesday evening by Putin, who told Russians that there were fifth columnists -- enemies -- among the ranks of their fellow countrymen. "The West will try to rely on the so-called fifth column, on national traitors, on those who earn money here with us but live there," Putin said. "And I mean 'live there' not even in the geographical sense of the word, but according to their thoughts, their slavish consciousness." Zelensky: 'I'm ready for negotiations' with Putin, but if they fail, it could mean 'a third World War'The Russian people, Putin added, will "always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors, and simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths, spit them out on the pavement." Putin's call for the "self-cleansing of society" should disturb anyone with even a passing familiarity with Russian and Soviet history. The hunt for internal enemies became the pretext for the Great Terror, the wave of show trials, imprisonment and executions that Joseph Stalin launched in 1937. During that campaign, the Soviet government exhorted citizens to inform on neighbors, co-workers and even family members over any suspicion of disloyalty. The Z campaign has a similar grassroots element. No one, it seems, is being forced to tape the Z on the window of their car, or spray-paint the door of a well-known oppositionist. But the images appearing on social media signal a real atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Putin has said Russia "will definitely implement all our plans" in Ukraine. But as Russian troop casualties mount in Ukraine -- Russia's official military death toll is still frozen at under 500, a figure not updated since the beginning of March -- it's clear that the wrath of the authorities will be directed at anyone who is not toeing the official line. JUST WATCHED'Hit so hard': Washington Post editor on Putin's views on warReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'Hit so hard': Washington Post editor on Putin's views on war 01:13Crushing dissentTake the Rosgvardia, Russia's National Guard, Putin's domestic security force. Open-source research and anecdotal evidence suggests that Rosgvardia units -- which are lightly armed and equipped -- have taken heavy losses in the fighting in Ukraine. Rosgvardia is well practiced at crushing domestic dissent in Russia, where its riot control troops are best known for jailing political demonstrators. But those forces were likely not well prepared for major combat against Ukrainian units outfitted with effective anti-tank weaponry and armed drones. 'I couldn't sit there and do nothing': These teens created a website matching Ukrainian refugees with hosts offering shelterAnd that's a worry when it comes to Russia. Viktor Zolotov, the general who heads Rosgvardia, has a vengeful streak. He is best known for threatening in 2018 to turn Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny into a "tenderized beefsteak" after Navalny published an investigation into Zolotov's alleged involvement in a corruption scheme.Such threats have a bad habit of being predictive in Russia. Navalny is currently in a Russian penal colony after surviving nerve-agent poisoning. And the ruthlessness with which Russia has cracked down on anti-war protests suggests the tactics of the authorities may become more heavy-handed. OVD-Info, a monitoring group that tracks arrests and detentions at political demonstrations, says more than 15,000 people have been detained in anti-war protests around the country. Police have been observed brutally beating some demonstrators. So where does that leave Russia, and Russians? On Sunday, Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor ordered the closure of two online news outlets, Agentura.ru and Mediazona Central Asia, Russian state news agency TASS reported Sunday. That leaves Russians with two fewer sources of independent information. And some opposition-minded Russians -- with dark humor -- are now referring on social media to the "Z" as the "Zвастика" (Zwastika), a comparison that could easily land them in jail.
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Online trading and discount brokerage platform Upstox has become the latest Indian company to suffer a security breach of its systems, resulting in the exposure of sensitive information of approximately 2.5 million users on the dark web.
The leaked information includes names, email addresses, dates of birth, bank account information, and about 56 million know your customer (KYC) documents pulled from the company's server.
The breach was first disclosed by independent researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia on April 11. It's not immediately clear when the incident occurred.
Reacting to the development, the company however said it had recently upgraded its security systems following reports of "unauthorized access into our database" while stressing that users' funds and securities remained protected.
As a precaution, besides initiating a secure password reset of users' accounts, Upstox said it restricted access to the impacted database, implying it was a case of a misconfigured AWS server. In addition, the company said it's incorporating multiple security enhancements at its third-party data warehouses and ring-fencing the network. Upstox refrained from specifying the exact number of client accounts that may have been exposed.
News of Upstox's security breach comes weeks after an India-based digital wallet service MobiKwik dealt with a major security incident after 8.2 terabytes (TB) of data belonging to millions of its users began circulating on cybercrime forums.
Other Indian companies such as BigBasket, Dunzo, Edureka, Paytm Mall, and Byju's-owned WhiteHat Jr too have reported data breaches in recent months.
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FinFisher, a software application used by law enforcement agencies for surveillance, appears to be far more widespred than originally thought.Sold by British company Gamma Internationl Gmbh, FinFisher secretly monitors computers by turning on webcams, recording everything the user types with a keylogger, and monitoring Skype calls.
It can also bypass popular antivirus products, communicate covertly with remote servers, record emails, chats, and VOIP calls, and harvesting data from the hard drive.
On Wednesday, computer security company Rapid7 researcher Claudio Guarnieri shared new details of the workings of FinFisher, a piece of malware sold by UK contractor Gamma Group to government agencies. He found FinFisher servers at work in Australia, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Estonia, Indonesia, Latvia, Mongolia, Qatar, and the United States.
Rapid7 has published the IP addresses and communication "fingerprint" of the command and control servers it has discovered. The information can be used in intrusion detection systems. "If you can identify those networks actually communicating with those IPs, it most likely means some of the people on those networks are being spied on in some way," Guarnieri said.
Muench, who is based in Munich, has said his company didn't sell FinFisher spyware to Bahrain. He said he's investigating whether the samples used against Bahraini activists were stolen demonstration copies or were sold via a third party.
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Story highlightsBayern Munich beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Champions League semifinal first legMario Gomez scores 90th minute winner in Allianz ArenaMesut Ozil equalized Frank Ribery's first half opener for BayernBarcelona play Chelsea in second semifinal WednesdayMario Gomez gave Bayern Munich a precious 2-1 advantage in their Champions League tie against Real Madrid with an 90th minute winner in the first leg in the Allianz Arena Tuesday.The match looked headed for a draw until the prolific striker connected with Philipp Lahm's right wing cross to give Bayern a deserved victory.They had gone ahead through Franck Ribery in the first half with Mesut Ozil leveling in a rare Real Madrid attack just after the break.Gomez had endured a frustrating night, wasting an earlier gilt-edged chance to put them ahead for a second time when he shot over from close range.But he was rewarded for his persistence with his 40th goal of the season to give the Bavarian giants real hope of reaching the final which will be played in their home stadium next month.English Premier League Chelsea entertain reigning champions Barcelona in the second semifinal first leg Wednesday.La Liga leaders Real had gone into their away tie as favorites to progress, but from the early moments it was clear Bayern would be a difficult proposition.Ribery felt he should have had a penalty when his shirt was tugged by Sergio Ramos, but English referee Howard Webb waved away the protests.The French international did not have long to wait to be celebrating as he latched on to a loose ball in the Real penalty area from a corner and lashed his shot past Iker Casillas.Gomez had the first of his chances before halftime as Casillas turned behind his shot and it looked to be costly as Real equalized in the 53rd minute.Cristiano Ronaldo wasted the first chance as his weak shot was saved by Manuel Neuer.But Karim Benzema picked up the rebound and his shot across the goal came to Ronaldo, who cut it back for Ozil to shoot home from close range.It was the precursor for a good spell for Real but Bayern regrouped and began to create opportunities again.Gomez lifted his effort over in the 71st minute and then headed straight at Casillas.He also had penalty appeals waved away before striking late in typical fashion after superb work from the tireless Lahm.Real boss Jose Mourinho, whose team face an El Clasico showdown with Barcelona Saturday, is still confident his team will progress. "We have the second leg to come and it's not like we have to make a historical comeback, what we have to do is very achievable," he told gathered reporters."If we win at home, we are there. I am optimistic we can return here to play the final."
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Another Day, Another Data Breach! And this time, it's worse than any recent data breaches.
Why?
Because the data breach has exposed plaintext passwords, usernames, email addresses, and a large trove of other personal information of more than 6.6 Million ClixSense users.
ClixSense, a website that claims to pay users for viewing advertisements and completing online surveys, is the latest victim to join the list of "Mega-Breaches" revealed in recent months, including LinkedIn, MySpace, VK.com, Tumblr, and Dropbox.
Hackers are Selling Plaintext Passwords and Complete Website Source Code
More than 2.2 Million people have already had their personal and sensitive data posted to PasteBin over the weekend. The hackers who dumped the data has put another 4.4 Million accounts up for sale.
In addition to un-hashed passwords and email addresses, the dump database includes first and last names, dates of birth, sex, home addresses, IP addresses, payment histories, and other banking details of Millions of users.
Troy Hunt, operator of Have I Been Pwned? breach notification service, verified the authenticity of the data taken from ClixSense.
Besides giving away 4.4 Million accounts to the highest bidder, the hackers are also offering social security numbers of compromised users, along with the complete source code of the ClixSense website and "70,000 emails" from the company's internal email server, according to a Pastebin message advertising the stolen database.
PasteBin has since removed the post as well as the sample of the compromised database that contained user account information.
Here's How Hackers Hacked ClixSence:
ClixSense admitted the data breach and said some unknown hackers were able to get access to its main database through an old server which the firm was no longer using, but at the time, still networked to its main database server.
After gaining access, the hacker was able "to copy most, if not all" of the ClixSense users table, ran SQL code to change account names to "hacked account," deleted several forum posts, as well as set account balances of users to $0.00.
While talking to Ars Technica, ClixSense owner Jim Grago admitted that the database contained entries for roughly 6.6 Million accounts and that the company became aware of the breach on September 4 and managed to regain control of their DNS over the weekend.
"This all started last Sunday, September 4th about 5 am EST when my lead developer called me and said ClixSense was redirecting to a gay porn site. The hackers were able to take over our DNS and setup the redirection," Grago wrote.
"On Monday (Labor day) they were able to hack into our hosting provider and turned off all of our servers, hacked into our Microsoft Exchange server and changed the passwords on all of our email accounts. On Tuesday they were able to gain access to a server that was directly connected to our database server and get a copy of our users table."
Change Your Passwords and Security Questions Now
Users are strongly advised to change their passwords for ClixSence account immediately, and it would also be a good idea to reset passwords for all of your other online services, especially those using the same passwords.
Since ClixSense uses a large trove of personal information on its users, make sure you change your security questions, if it uses any of the information you provided to ClixSense, such as your address, date of birth, or other identifying information.
Moreover, I recommend you to use a good password manager to create strong and complex passwords for your different online accounts, and it will remember all of them on your behalf.
I have listed some of the best password managers that could help you understand the importance of password manager and choose one according to your requirement.
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(CNN)Of all that is at stake in Turkey's spat with Europe, perhaps nothing is more fragile than President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pride.He fills an outsized global role these days and any hint of humiliation at not getting his way in the Netherlands will not sit well at home -- where he generally does get his own way.When rebuffed by Germany a week and half ago and by the Netherlands this week, he accused both of Nazi inclinations. His incendiary words brought sharp rebuke from both countries, the Dutch reminding him of the 200,000 people killed by Nazi forces.This weekend his ministers were due to address expat Turks in the Netherlands to get their support for a Turkish referendum that will transfer and consolidate Turkey's powers in Erdogan's hands alone.Read MoreWhat happens if Turkey votes for Erdogan's 'power bill'?But in attempting to further eclipse democracy in his country, Erdogan appears to have overlooked Holland's impending elections where immigration is a key issue. The Netherlands -- where his Foreign Minister and Minister of Families were denied permission to address rallies -- goes to the polls on Wednesday.Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he doesn't think Erdogan was intent on upsetting the Dutch elections but that his ministers tried to force their way in to his country against the direct wishes of the Dutch government.According to Rutte, his government was in negotiation with Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusoglu to speak at a small gathering in Rotterdam. During the negotiations Cavusolglu threatened unspecified action if he didn't get his way.For Rutte that was a red line: "we stopped talks ... when the Turkish Foreign Secretary started threatening us with sanctions." That's when Cavusolglu was denied permission to land at Rotterdam airport. Protestors wave Turkish flags outside the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, March 11.
Hours later, undaunted, another of Erdogan's ministers tried to make it to Rotterdam to give a speech. Families Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya drove in from Germany but was later escorted back to the border by Dutch police.Populist nationalist Geert Wilders, who campaigns on an anti-Muslim agenda, has been neck and neck with Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Over the weekend, he sought to gain advantage from the discord, tweeting to the Families Minister to "go away and never come back" and to "take all your Turkish fans from The Netherlands with you please." Go away and never come back @drbetulsayan and take all your Turkish fans from The Netherlands with you please. #byebye https://t.co/FLKFNX2XGm— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) March 11, 2017
If he could, Wilders would take the Netherlands out of the EU and close down its open borders that allowed Erdogan's minister to drive unhindered in to Holland from Germany.At any other time this might have been a small diplomatic skirmish, but this is not a normal time.Turkish minister tells Dutch: 'I am not a terrorist'Post Brexit, post Trump, Europe faces a round of elections where populist nationalists like Wilders thrive on immigration issues and pose an existential threat to the EU.Erdogan has emerged as an increasingly influential leader, a key global partner on counter-terrorism, a necessary ally for the US in Syria as well as new partner for Russia in the same conflict, not to mention a vital floodgate holding back refugees from pouring in to Europe.All this against a backdrop of increasing European unease at Erdogan's political reforms in Turkey that appear to many European diplomats to benefit only him and his cronies, taking him farther from his stated goal of EU membership.Since the coup attempt last July, Turkey has shut down nearly 140 media organizations, arrested 41,000 people and thrown about 100,000 others out of their jobs.Now the stage has slowly been set, Erdogan has his hands on levers that are already triggering tremors across the continent; however uncomfortably that sits with European governments.Brexit was won on the issue of immigration, fueled by images of refugees streaming into Europe and compounded by fears of radical Islamist terror attacks.UK to Europe: We're outToday the same fears fuel the populist narrative all across northern Europe. Not just by Wilders in the Netherlands but French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, whose country goes to the polls next month, and where she too has vowed to lead the country out of the EU if she wins.Across Europe in the coming months more countries go to the polls and in most established parties face an erosion of support to nationalist populists in one shape or another.To a degree, Erdogan holds the key to Europe's status quo: halting refugees crossing into Europe from Turkey (albeit as the result of a 6 billion euro deal with the EU) and cooperation around counter-terrorism stemming ISIS' insidious incursion into Europe to show the strength of his hand.Yet in his handling of this recent diplomatic spat, Erdogan appears to show a brittle side to his personality. His actions reinforce European concerns that he is becoming increasingly autocratic.
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M86 Security detected Web exploitation attacks using AJAX
Security researchers from Web filtering vendor M86 Security have detected Web exploitation attacks that use AJAX to fragment the payload into small pieces of code that are harder to detect by antivirus programs and intrusion prevention systems. The attack starts on a page that contains an unsuspicious piece of JavaScript code that is similar to that commonly found on legitimate AJAX-using websites.
This code is responsible for fetching the payload in multiple chunks and assembling it back together on the client before executing it. Different pages found by M86 on the attack server exploited vulnerabilities in unpatched versions of Flash Player and Internet Explorer.
Bogdan Botezatu, an e-threats analyst at antivirus vendor BitDefender said "This attack scenario definitely has its advantages: by passing the payload in several distinct chunks, the offending packets would likely avoid interception as they pass through the firewall".
Read More
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(CNN)A damaged reservoir in northern England is threatening to collapse and submerge the town of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of homes in an emergency operation.The army, environmental agencies and firefighters from across the country are part of a task force battling to shore up the crumbling wall of Toddbrook reservoir -- which suffered extensive damage during flooding this week, Derbyshire police said in a statement. More than 6,000 people were evacuated from the town following the partial collapse of a dam wall, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said in a statement Thursday. Police describe it an "unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation." On Thursday, officers called for the evacuation of the town's residents after images appeared showing a huge hole in the dam wall, the UK's Press Association (PA) agency reported. Local resident Marella Cairns, who lives below the dam, told CNN she was turned back while trying to drive back to Whaley Bridge on Thursday. Read More"Fortunately, my son's girlfriend had been working nights, and was asleep at our house, and was still there. I asked her to grab the dogs, my medication and my knitting and to meet me at the evacuation center, which is the local high school," she said. After resting there "for a while" she moved to her brother's house in Greater Manchester. The Dam Wall at Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge this morning, looks like Barnes Wallis and @OC617Sqn has had a pop at it. @BBCNews pic.twitter.com/gtnFExZ9Gs— Frag Last (@fraglast) August 1, 2019
She said that the River Goyt, which is below the reservoir and runs in front of her house, "has never flooded" while she lived there. On Thursday, the Environment Agency issued a "danger to life" warning covering the River Goyt.A resident told PA that another section of the dam's spillway also collapsed on Thursday."I've lived in Whaley (Bridge) for the best part of 45 years, and I've never seen water flood over the dam like that, ever, nor thought that we could possibly be at risk in this way," Carolyn Whittle told PA. The 45-year-old added that "another section of the concrete on the dam face has now collapsed."British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted Friday that his "thoughts are with those who have had to leave their homes and all of those who are affected in #WhaleyBridge." Johnson also announced a ministerial COBRA meeting chaired by the Environment Secretary to coordinate the government's response.'Reduced considerably'Videos shared on social media by a local fire station showed a Royal Air Force Chinook helping to reinforce the dam wall and dropping sandbags to bolster the damaged part of the structure. It helped "move more than 50 tonnes of aggregate into the reservoir wall to reinforce it," the police wrote. RAF helicopter coming in to #WhaleyBridge to drop aggregate at the dam site. pic.twitter.com/ZuGSmTSGus— Melissa Welliver (@Melliver) August 2, 2019
"The Chinook will also be dropping aggregate into other parts of the reservoir today [Friday], to stem the flow of water going into it," police added. "There are also a total of 16 high-volume water pumps which have been installed in the reservoir, in order to reduce the water levels," officers said.The plan to secure the reservoir includes using a total of 400 tons of aggregate to divert the flow, removing water with pumps to relieve pressure, and then start repairing the dam itself. Julie Sharman, chief operating officer of the Canal and River Trust which runs the reservoir, said water flowing into Toddbrook has been "reduced considerably" thanks to additional pumping. "We've lowered the level of the water in the reservoir by 200mm. We are obviously aiming to get that down considerably more," she told BBC Radio 4's Today program. In a later interview with PA, she said while the important, water-retaining clay core of the dam is intact, it is vital to replace material lost when the earth was eroded. "It is a critical situation at this point in time. And until we're beyond that ... the risk is a material risk and that's why we've taken the action we have."In a statement Friday, the NFCC said "it is currently anticipated that the incident will run for at least 2 to 3 days."But it is still unknown when residents will be allowed back to their homes. "We don't know how long this operation will take to conclude but we and our colleagues in the emergency services, partner agencies, Environment Agency and military are doing everything humanly possible to save the reservoir wall and to protect the town," Assistant Chief Constable Kem Mehmet said in a statement.Scientists say that while it's impossible to attribute a concrete weather event to climate change, the climate crisis is making episodes like this more likely.From CNN's Livvy Doherty contributed to this report.
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(CNN)A 99-year-old World War II veteran who survived the coronavirus has been given a guard of honor by nurses as he was discharged from hospital.Albert Chambers, who will turn 100 in July, is due to arrive back home on Friday after recovering from the virus at Tickhill Road Hospital in Doncaster, northern England.Chambers was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago after injuring his wrist in a fall. While there, he began to show symptoms of Covid-19 and tested positive for the virus.But, despite the fears of his family, he recovered, and nurses at the hospital saw him off with a guard of honor -- a moment that was captured on video and shared on social media by the NHS Northeast and Yorkshire health trust."Thank you very much, I appreciate every bit you've done for me. It couldn't have been better," Chambers, who has lived alone since his wife's death almost two decades ago, tells one of the nurses in the video.Read MoreSome lovely news coming from Doncaster this evening.Albert Chambers, who will be 100 in July, and a WW2 veteran, has fought off Coronavirus thanks to the help of the team at Tickhill Road Hospital, run by @rdash_nhs. Here he is getting a guard of honour from staff 💙 pic.twitter.com/INkBIuTJ5F— NHS North East & Yorkshire (@NHSNEY) April 9, 2020 His grandson, 49-year-old Stephen Gater, told CNN how the family had expected the worst after being told he had contracted Covid-19. But, he said, he believed his grandfather's "fortitude" -- gained during his time as a British Army soldier during World War II -- helped pull him through. During the war, Chambers was captured by the enemy after being injured in a bomb blast in North Africa. He was transferred to Fallingbostel in northwestern Germany, where he spent three years as a prisoner of war in its Stalag XI B camp.Albert Chambers as a young soldierAfter the war, he protected London's royal palaces as a soldier in the Coldstream Guards. "It's nice to have some positive news in the midst of what is a difficult time for everybody," Gater told CNN."When we heard the news we feared the worst but he's pulled through and it's amazing -- the staff there are incredible and we owe them a huge amount of gratitude. We were clapping very ferociously last night at 8 o'clock along with everyone else. Secret footage from WWII spy center Bletchley Park discovered."It's testament to the care he was getting and his positive attitude and his fortitude."One thing Chambers will have missed, Gater said, was his "guilty secret" -- a daily trifle bought from the supermarket Marks & Spencer. "I'm just driving up and I've literally just stopped at a service station and bought him a load -- so hopefully that'll put a smile on his face," he said.
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A new Android-rooting malware with an ability to disable device' security settings in an effort to perform malicious tasks in the background has been detected on the official Play Store.
What's interesting? The app was smart enough to fool Google security mechanism by first pretending itself to be a clean app and then temporarily replacing it with a malicious version.
Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab discovered a new piece of Android rooting malware that was being distributed as gaming apps on the Google Play Store, hiding behind puzzle game "colourblock," which was being downloaded at least 50,000 times prior to its removal.
Dubbed Dvmap, the Android rooting malware disables device's security settings to install another malicious app from a third-party source and also injects malicious code into the device system runtime libraries to gain root access and stay persistent.
"To bypass Google Play Store security checks, the malware creators used a very interesting method: they uploaded a clean app to the store at the end of March, 2017, and would then update it with a malicious version for short period of time," the researchers said.
"Usually they would upload a clean version back on Google Play the very same day. They did this at least 5 times between 18 April and 15 May."
Here's How Dvmap Malware Works
Dvmap Trojan works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Android, which once installed, attempts to gain root access on the device and tries to install several modules on the system including a few written in Chinese, along with a malicious app called "com.qualcmm.timeservices."
To make sure the malicious module gets executed with system rights, the malware overwrites system's runtime libraries depending on which Android version the device is running.
To complete the installation of the above-mentioned malicious app, the Trojan with system rights turns off "Verify Apps," feature and modify system setting to allow app installation from 3rd party app stores.
"Furthermore, it can grant the "com.qualcmm.timeservices" app Device Administrator rights without any interaction with the user, just by running commands. It is a very unusual way to get Device Administrator rights," the researchers said.
This malicious 3rd party app is responsible for connecting the infected device to the attacker's command-and-control server, giving out full control of the device into the hands of attackers.
However, the researchers said, they haven't noticed any commands received by the infected Android devices so far, so it's unclear "what kind of files will be executed, but they could be malicious or advertising files."
How to Protect Yourself Against Dvmap Malware
Researchers are still testing the Dvmap malware, but meanwhile, advise users who installed the puzzle game in question to back up their device's data and perform a full factory data reset in an effort to mitigate the malware.
To prevent yourself from being targeted by such apps, always beware of fishy apps, even when downloading from Google Play Store, and try to stick to the trusted brands only. Moreover, always look at the comments left by other users.
Always verify app permissions before installing any app and grant only those permissions which have relevant context for the app's purpose.
Last but not the least, always keep a good antivirus app on your device that can detect and block such malware before it can infect your device and keep it up-to-date.
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Cybersecurity researchers have unearthed a fourth new malware strain—designed to spread the malware onto other computers in victims' networks—which was deployed as part of the SolarWinds supply chain attack disclosed late last year.
Dubbed "Raindrop" by Broadcom-owned Symantec, the malware joins the likes of other malicious implants such as Sunspot, Sunburst (or Solorigate), and Teardrop that were stealthily delivered to enterprise networks.
The latest finding comes amid a continued probe into the breach, suspected to be of Russian origin, that has claimed a number of U.S. government agencies and private sector companies.
"The discovery of Raindrop is a significant step in our investigation of the SolarWinds attacks as it provides further insights into post-compromise activity at organizations of interest to the attackers," Symantec researchers said.
The cybersecurity firm said it discovered only four samples of Raindrop to date that were used to deliver the Cobalt Strike Beacon — an in-memory backdoor capable of command execution, keylogging, file transfer, privilege escalation, port scanning, and lateral movement.
Symantec, last month, had uncovered more than 2,000 systems belonging to 100 customers that received the trojanized SolarWinds Orion updates, with select targets infected with a second-stage payload called Teardrop that's also used to install the Cobalt Strike Beacon.
"The way Teardrop is built, it could have dropped anything; in this case, it dropped Beacon, a payload included with Cobalt Strike," Check Point researchers said, noting that it was possibly done to "make attribution harder."
"While Teardrop was used on computers that had been infected by the original Sunburst Trojan, Raindrop appeared elsewhere on the network, being used by the attackers to move laterally and deploy payloads on other computers."
It's worth noting that the attackers used the Sunspot malware exclusively against SolarWinds in September 2019 to compromise its build environment and inject the Sunburst Trojan into its Orion network monitoring platform. The tainted software was then delivered to 18,000 of the company's customers.
Microsoft's analysis of the Solorigate modus operandi last month found that the operators carefully chose their targets, opting to escalate the attacks only in a handful of cases by deploying Teardrop based on intel amassed during an initial reconnaissance of the target environment for high-value accounts and assets.
Now Raindrop ("bproxy.dll") joins the mix. While both Teardrop and Raindrop act as a dropper for the Cobalt Strike Beacon, they also differ in a number of ways.
For a start, Teardrop is delivered directly by the initial Sunburst backdoor, whereas Raindrop seems to have been deployed with the goal of spreading across the victims' network. What's more, the malware shows up on networks where at least one computer has already been compromised by Sunburst, with no indication that Sunburst triggered its installation.
The two malware strains also use different packers and Cobalt Strike configurations.
Symantec did not identify the organizations impacted by Raindrop but said the samples were found in a victim system that was running computer access and management software and on a machine that was found to execute PowerShell commands to infect additional computers in the organization with the same malware.
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The South African arm of one of the world's largest credit check companies Experian yesterday announced a data breach incident that exposed personal information of millions of its customers.
While Experian itself didn't mention the number of affect customers, in a report, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre—an anti-fraud and banking non-profit organization who worked with Experian to investigate the breach—disclosed that the attacker had reportedly stolen data of 24 million South Africans and 793,749 business entities.
Notably, according to the company, the suspected attacker behind this breach had already been identified, and the stolen data of its customers had successfully been deleted from his/her computing devices.
"We have identified the suspect and confirm that Experian South Africa was successful in obtaining and executing an Anton Piller order which resulted in the individual's hardware being impounded and the misappropriated data being secured and deleted."
Experian South Africa has already reported the breach to law enforcement and the appropriate regulatory authorities.
The company claims there is no evidence indicating whether the stolen data includes consumers' credit or financial information or used for fraudulent purposes before authorities had it deleted.
"Our investigations also show that the suspect had intended to use the data to create marketing leads to offer insurance and credit-related services."
"The compromise of personal information can create opportunities for criminals to impersonate you but does not guarantee access to your banking profile or accounts. However, criminals can use this information to trick you into disclosing your confidential banking details," says SABRIC CEO, Nischal Mewalall.
Besides releasing this information, SAFPS also recommended that credit reporting agency customers should immediately apply for a free Protective Registration listing with Southern Africa Fraud Prevention Service that has been designed to alert users when their identity is compromised.
You can also regularly check your credit report for free here.
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Security researchers have uncovered a new piece of Adware that replaces your entire browser with a dangerous copy of Google Chrome, in a way that you will not notice any difference while browsing.
The new adware software, dubbed "eFast Browser," works by installing and running itself in place of Google Chrome
The adware does all kinds of malicious activities that we have seen quite often over the years:
Generates pop-up, coupon, pop-under and other similar ads on your screen
Placing other advertisements into your web pages
Redirects you to malicious websites containing bogus contents
Tracking your movements on the web to help nefarious marketers send more crap your way to generating revenue
Therefore, having eFast Browser installed on your machine may lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft.
What's Nefariously Intriguing About this Adware?
The thing that makes this Adware different from others is that instead of taking control over your browser, eFast Browser uses a deceiving method of replacing your entire browser with a malicious copy of Chrome.
In a report published Malwarebytes detailed that the nefarious software attempts to delete Chrome and itself takes its place, allowing it to hijack several file associations including HTML, JPG, PDF, and GIF, as well as URLs associations including HTTP, HTTPS, and MAILTO.
The eFast Browser is based on Google's Chromium open-source software, so the browser maintains the look and feel of Google Chrome at first glance, tricking users into believing that they are using the legitimate Chrome browser.
The malicious software program then replaces any Chrome desktop website shortcuts with its own versions, showing a striking design resemblance with window and icons from Chrome.
"The installer for eFast also deletes all the shortcuts to Google Chrome on your taskbar and desktop," wrote Malwarebytes, "most likely hoping to confuse the user with their very similar icons."
What's more?
The eFast Browser is based on Google's Chromium open-source software, so the browser maintains the look and feel of Google Chrome at first glance, tricking users into believing that they are using the legitimate Chrome browser.
The malicious computer program comes from a company calling itself Clara Labs, who developed a slew of similar browsers under titles such as BoBrowser, Unico, and Tortuga.
How does eFast Browser Install itself in the First Place?
eFast Browser is just another Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP), according to PCrisk, which tries to get itself on your PC by burrowing itself into the free software installers from dubious sources on the web.
It's easier for malicious software to replace your browser than to infect it. This is due to Chrome's security against in-browser malware that cyber criminals are now overwriting the browser completely.
It is relatively easy to avoid installing eFast Browser and, fortunately, also relatively easy to uninstall if you have found it on your computer. You can follow the removal instructions detailed by PCRisk.
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Washington (CNN)As the number of people displaced by war and famine surges, the Trump administration is capping refugee admissions at the lowest level since 1980, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday. It's the second year in a row the administration has set the cap at a record low.The US will cap refugee admissions at 30,000 in 2019, a 33% drop from 2018's record-low ceiling of 45,000.Pompeo said the number should not be considered as "the sole barometer" of the United States' commitment to humanitarian efforts around the world, adding that the US would "focus on the humanitarian protection cases of those already in the country."As evidence, Pompeo cited the number of asylum applications expected next year, saying the US will process up to 280,000 such applications in 2019. The US is on track to admit the fewest number of refugees since the resettlement program began "The ultimate goal is the best possible care and safety of these people in need, and our approach is designed to achieve this noble objective," Pompeo said. "We are and continue to be the most generous nation in the world." Read MoreRefugee resettlement agencies, immigrant rights groups and religious leaders had been pushing for the administration to increase the cap, noting that the number of refugees who need help around the world is larger than ever. But Monday's announcement isn't a surprise. Administration officials have been moving to scale back refugee resettlement in the US since President Donald Trump took office. Last year, officials lowered the cap to 45,000, a dramatic decrease from the ceiling of 110,000 that President Barack Obama's administration had set for the 2017 fiscal year. And the US isn't even going to admit that many. CNN reported in June that the US is on track to admit the fewest number of refugees since its resettlement program began in 1980, tens of thousands below the cap amount.Monday's announcement was met with swift condemnation from refugee resettlement organizations."The United States is not only abdicating humanitarian leadership and responsibility-sharing in response to the worst global displacement and refugee crisis since World War II, but compromising critical strategic interests and reneging on commitments to allies and vulnerable populations," the International Rescue Committee said.Pompeo's assertion that the US will process up to 310,000 refugees and asylum seekers also makes a false equivalence between the two issues. Asylum and refugee protections are designed on similar grounds to protect immigrants who are being persecuted. Refugee protections are granted to immigrants who are still abroad, whereas asylum is reserved for immigrants who have already arrived on US soil.There is no cap on asylum numbers, and in recent years, roughly 20,000 to 25,000 asylum seekers have been granted protections annually, according to the latest available government statistics.By the numbers: How Batulo and her family fit inTotal refugees:22.5 million around the world3 million living in the USRefugees recently admitted to the US:96,874 in 2016 33,368 in 2017 4,978 so far this yearSomali refugees recently admitted to the US: 10,786 in 20162,770 in 201773 so far this yearSources: Pew Research Center, International Rescue Committee, US State Department, United NationsThere are two resource and funding streams each for refugees and asylum cases. They also apply differently -- with the State Department handling refugee admissions and the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice handling asylum claims. The interviewers who conduct screenings, however, can be deployed to handle either kind of interview.But immigration hardliners and the administration have sought to curtail to the growing number of asylum claims each year, driven in large part by immigrants arriving at the southern border.The number announced Monday reflects a compromise between hardliners in the Trump administration, such as Stephen Miller, who favored capping the ceiling at 20,000, and Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who argued to keep it at 45,000, according to several senior administration officials. Senior NSC official out at White HouseMiller personally has lobbied Cabinet officials to support the President's desires to focus on border security, officials told CNN, and the issue was discussed at a secret Principals Committee meeting on Friday.Hundreds of thousands of asylum applications are pending between the immigration courts, run by the Department of Justice, and applications to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, run by the Department of Homeland Security.Depending on how a person is applying for asylum, and where in the process the application is, the case could be pending before either body. CNN's Catherine Shoichet, Tal Kopan, Michelle Kosinski and Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting
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Story highlightsMillions have been displaced by upheaval in their native countries and are drawn to hope of better lifeTurkey: President says the Western world must wake up to its role in the crisisHungary: A chaotic way station on the way to hopes of a better life in Germany (CNN)To read the headlines, one could conclude that Europe is a mess.Its response to the historic wave of people now migrating from the Middle East and North Africa has been muddled and incoherent. There is a patchwork of different policies. Train stations in Budapest, Hungary, sell tickets, then close down, then reopen.Migrant crisis in Europe: How you can helpBorders that normally are just road signs along the highway are suddenly patrolled again. Some countries welcome migrants. Others build walls to keep them out. Yet there's reason for this unprecedented human migration. A significant part of the Middle East is in flames. In Europe, there is peace. Read MoreHere's a look at the latest country-by-country developments in the refugee and migrant crisis unfolding across much of Europe:Turkey: 2-year-old's death captures world's attention JUST WATCHEDErdogan: 'Western world to be blamed' for migrant crisisReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHErdogan: 'Western world to be blamed' for migrant crisis 03:12Four Syrian citizens were taken into custody Thursday, suspected of human trafficking in connection with the deaths of a toddler whose body was photographed on the Turkish shore and nine others, according to Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news agency. The image of 2-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body, face down in the surf of a Turkish beach, rocketed around the world. He died along with his 4-year-old brother and mom -- three of several thousand refugees and migrants who have perished while trying to find safety in Europe.Photographer describes 'scream' of migrant boy's 'silent body'The boy's father, Abdullah Kurdi, was in mourning Thursday."I don't want anything else from this world," he told CNN. "Everything I was dreaming of is gone. I want to bury my children and sit beside them until I die."Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, told CNN's Becky Anderson that the image shocked him, too."When I saw that picture, it was in a family setting, unfortunately, and my children and my grandchildren, they saw the picture at the same time as me," Erdogan said."To be honest, the whole Western world is to be blamed in my opinion on this issue," he said. "When we saw it, we were devastated and we asked the question of ourselves: Where is humanity? Where is the conscience of humanity that a (2-year-old) child -- and it's not the first time this is happening. ... Many children, mothers, fathers unfortunately have been drowned in the rough waters of the Mediterranean."Hungary: A chaotic transit stopJUST WATCHEDTake a look inside a migrant train near BudapestReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTake a look inside a migrant train near Budapest 03:19Trains packed with refugees left a station in Budapest on Thursday but stopped suddenly at a station outside the capital. Police gathered at the side of the track in Bicske. A CNN crew on one of the trains said the families there, who boarded hoping to travel to Austria or ultimately Germany, were refusing to get off despite suffocating heat and limited food and water. Tents and desks had been set up near the station in what the migrants feared was a relocation camp to transfer them to a nearby refugee center.Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met in Brussels, Belgium, with other EU leaders to discuss the crisis. His nation, a transit point for migrants trying to make their way north, has responded by erecting a fence along its border with Serbia."The problem is not a European problem; the problem is a German problem," he said. Germany's government said last month it expected up to 800,000 asylum seekers to come this year -- four times more than in 2014. But, Orban said, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that they must be registered before leaving Hungary."All of them would like to go to Germany; our job is only to register them," Orban said.France: 'Welcome those who are pushed out'JUST WATCHEDAugust: A Syrian refugee's journey across EuropeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAugust: A Syrian refugee's journey across Europe 02:54French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that it's "time to act" to prevent more tragedies such as the death of Aylan Kurdi, the refugee toddler whose body was photographed after it washed up on a Turkish beach -- called upon Europe's conscience. "An image goes around the world and brings out emotion. It is shared," he said."Europe is a group of principles, of values which oblige us to welcome those who are pushed out and look for refuge because they are persecuted." He said some of the 4 million displaced people in Syria have been "welcomed by neighboring countries that are themselves suffering."Hollande said he had spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the crisis.Czech Republic: Removed from trains, marked in inkWe have to question them. It's our legal obligation.-- Katerina Rendlova, Czech immigration officialCzech authorities said this week that they've started to remove migrants traveling without documentation from trains.In some instances, Czech police have been marking and numbering the migrants with washable ink. "We cannot let people without any documents and identification travel through the Czech territory. We have to question them. It's our legal obligation," said Katerina Rendlova, a Czech immigration official. "I know other states are not doing it, letting them pass freely to the next country, but we have laws that don't allow us to do it."Italy: Border controls with Austria reinstatedJUST WATCHEDLast week: 51 found dead in one boatReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLast week: 51 found dead in one boat 01:45Foreign Ministers Paolo Gentiloni of Italy, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Laurent Fabius of France have presented the European Union with a joint document calling for a revision of asylum rules and a fairer distribution of refugees, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry.Italian authorities on Wednesday said they were temporarily reinstating border controls at the Italian-Austrian line in the Alto Adige region. This is after Bavarian authorities in Germany requested them to do so because they are "overwhelmed" by the influx of migrants, according to a statement by Italy's Bolzano prefecture.Bavaria has had a great number of refugees arriving mainly from the Balkan route, and the situation is getting difficult to handle, the Italian statement said.United Kingdom: Pressure on to take more refugees Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photos Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA woman cries after being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, on July 25, 2017. More than 6,600 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in January 2018, according to the UN migration agency, and more than 240 people died on the Mediterranean Sea during that month.Hide Caption 1 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosRefugees and migrants get off a fishing boat at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey in October 2015.Hide Caption 2 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosHide Caption 3 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosMigrants step over dead bodies while being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Libya in October 2016. Agence France-Presse photographer Aris Messinis was on a Spanish rescue boat that encountered several crowded migrant boats. Messinis said the rescuers counted 29 dead bodies -- 10 men and 19 women, all between 20 and 30 years old. "I've (seen) in my career a lot of death," he said. "I cover war zones, conflict and everything. I see a lot of death and suffering, but this is something different. Completely different."Hide Caption 4 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosAuthorities stand near the body of 2-year-old Alan Kurdi on the shore of Bodrum, Turkey, in September 2015. Alan, his brother and their mother drowned while fleeing Syria. This photo was shared around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag that means "Flotsam of Humanity."Hide Caption 5 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosMigrants board a train at Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, after the station was reopened in September 2015.Hide Caption 6 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosChildren cry as migrants in Greece try to break through a police cordon to cross into Macedonia in August 2015. Thousands of migrants -- most of them fleeing Syria's bitter conflict -- were stranded in a no-man's land on the border.Hide Caption 7 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosThe Kusadasi Ilgun, a sunken 20-foot boat, lies in waters off the Greek island of Samos in November 2016. Hide Caption 8 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosMigrants bathe outside near a makeshift shelter in an abandoned warehouse in Subotica, Serbia, in January 2017.Hide Caption 9 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA police officer in Calais, France, tries to prevent migrants from heading for the Channel Tunnel to England in June 2015.Hide Caption 10 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA migrant walks past a burning shack in the southern part of the "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais, France, in March 2016. Part of the camp was being demolished -- and the inhabitants relocated -- in response to unsanitary conditions at the site.Hide Caption 11 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosMigrants stumble as they cross a river north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border-control fence in March 2016.Hide Caption 12 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosIn September 2015, an excavator dumps life vests that were previously used by migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.Hide Caption 13 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosThe Turkish coast guard helps refugees near Aydin, Turkey, after their boat toppled en route to Greece in January 2016.Hide Caption 14 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA woman sits with children around a fire at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni in March 2016.Hide Caption 15 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA column of migrants moves along a path between farm fields in Rigonce, Slovenia, in October 2015.Hide Caption 16 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA ship crowded with migrants flips onto its side in May 2016 as an Italian navy ship approaches off the coach of Libya. Passengers had rushed to the port side, a shift in weight that proved too much. Five people died and more than 500 were rescued.Hide Caption 17 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosRefugees break through a barbed-wire fence on the Greece-Macedonia border in February 2016, as tensions boiled over regarding new travel restrictions into Europe.Hide Caption 18 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosPolicemen try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers during a registration procedure in Kos, Greece, in August 2015.Hide Caption 19 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA member of the humanitarian organization Sea-Watch holds a migrant baby who drowned following the capsizing of a boat off Libya in May 2016.Hide Caption 20 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosA migrant in Gevgelija, Macedonia, tries to sneak onto a train bound for Serbia in August 2015.Hide Caption 21 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosMigrants, most of them from Eritrea, jump into the Mediterranean from a crowded wooden boat during a rescue operation about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, in August 2016.Hide Caption 22 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosRefugees rescued off the Libyan coast get their first sight of Sardinia as they sail in the Mediterranean Sea toward Cagliari, Italy, in September 2015.Hide Caption 23 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosLocal residents and rescue workers help migrants from the sea after a boat carrying them sank off the island of Rhodes, Greece, in April 2015.Hide Caption 24 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosInvestigators in Burgenland, Austria, inspect an abandoned truck that contained the bodies of refugees who died of suffocation in August 2015. The 71 victims -- most likely fleeing war-ravaged Syria -- were 60 men, eight women and three children.Hide Caption 25 of 26 Photos: Europe's migration crisis in 25 photosSyrian refugees sleep on the floor of a train car taking them from Macedonia to the Serbian border in August 2015. How to help the ongoing migrant crisisHide Caption 26 of 26Prime Minister David Cameron has come under new pressure to offer shelter to more refugees from the Middle East after saying the best policy was to focus on bringing peace to the region.The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, Nils Muiznieks, said that Cameron's position "seriously concerned" him."The truth is that at the moment the UK is doing much less than other European countries, like Germany or Sweden, which give refuge to thousands of Syrians," Muiznieks said in a statement.An online petition calling for the UK Parliament to accept more asylum seekers has passed the 100,000 mark required to ensure debate."We can't allow refugees who have risked their lives to escape horrendous conflict and violence to be left living in dire, unsafe and inhumane conditions in Europe. We must help," the petition states.CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsPele believes Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea is good for the English Premier League clubBrazilian warns that the arrival of the Portuguese does not guarantee successThree-time World Cup winner saddened by Neymar leaving Santos for BarcelonaLegendary Brazilian footballer Pele believes Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea will benefit the London club but he has warned there is no guarantee the Portuguese can deliver success. Mourinho made his long-awaited return to Stamford Bridge on Monday, after cutting short a three-year tenure at Real Madrid despite having another three years left on his contract. The 50-year-old won the 2012 league title with the Spanish giants, and the Copa del Rey the year before, but failed in the club's primary objective -- to win a 10th European crown. Read: 'Special One' Mourinho returns to ChelseaThe relative lack of success in the Champions League, where Mourinho guided Real to the semifinals in each of his three seasons, may underpin Pele's comments about his reappointment at the home of the 2012 European titleholders. "Mourinho's return is good for Chelsea because he's a good coach," Pele told CNN's World Sport. JUST WATCHEDMourinho returns to ChelseaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMourinho returns to Chelsea 03:08JUST WATCHEDJosé Mourinho's press conference anticsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJosé Mourinho's press conference antics 06:08JUST WATCHEDNeymar dealing with the pressureReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNeymar dealing with the pressure 03:19JUST WATCHEDWhy did soccer stadium roof collapse?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhy did soccer stadium roof collapse? 02:48JUST WATCHEDPedro Pinto's road to RioReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPedro Pinto's road to Rio 04:36"He is talented and very honest. I know him personally. But football is a box of surprises. "He has to have a bit of luck because in football, sometimes the best doesn't work. I wish him good luck." During his first stint in charge of Chelsea from 2004-2007, Mourinho delivered the club's first English title in half a century before adding another Premier League crown, an FA Cup and two League Cups as well. While he was away, the former Porto manager won his second Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010, a year when he won the league title for the second time with the Italian club. Desperate to win the Champions League for the first time since 2002, Real Madrid turned to Mourinho just days after he ended Inter Milan's barren 35-year run in the competition. But even with the goalscoring ability of star player Cristiano Ronaldo, the semis proved an insurmountable barrier as successive exits at the hands of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund followed. Mourinho's relationship with his compatriot Ronaldo broke down towards the end of his Madrid reign and the coach explained why in typically outspoken fashion during an interview broadcast by popular Spanish football show "Punto Pelota" on Tuesday. "I had only one problem with him -- very simple, very basic -- which was when a coach criticizes a player from a tactical viewpoint, trying to improve what in my view could have been improved," he said. "And at that moment he didn't take it very well because maybe he thinks he knows everything and the coach cannot help him to develop more."While Ronaldo's future at Real Madrid has been the subject of recent debate, the endless speculation is finally over about where a Brazilian youngster who is often compared to Pele will end up. Read: Neymar vows to help MessiNeymar, 21, signed a five-year deal with Real's great rivals Barcelona this week, leaving behind the very club where Pele made his name from 1956-1974: Santos. After winning numerous titles with the club, including the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Neymar has often been labeled "the next Pele" but the man himself -- still the only player to have won the World Cup on three separate occasions -- refuses to make such a comparison. "To be the new Pele would be very difficult, because my mother and my father closed the machine," joked the 72-year-old, who lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1970. "But no doubt he is one of the best players we have in Brazil." "Of course in Brazil we have a lot of excellent players like Zico, Tostao, Rivelino, Pele, Ronaldinho, but the last two years we have Neymar, who is very talented. "I hope he has luck in Barcelona. I didn't like it so much because he used to play in my team, Santos. I lost a good player. But it's important to understand that he deserves to go to the best team."
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Popular video conferencing app Zoom has addressed several security vulnerabilities, two of which affect its Linux client that could have allowed an attacker with access to a compromised system to read and exfiltrate Zoom user data—and even run stealthy malware as a sub-process of a trusted application.
According to cybersecurity researcher Mazin Ahmed, who presented his findings at DEF CON 2020 yesterday, the company also left a misconfigured development instance exposed that wasn't updated since September 2019, indicating the server could be susceptible to flaws that were left unpatched.
After Ahmed privately reported the issues to Zoom in April and subsequently in July, the company issued a fix on August 3 (version 5.2.4).
It's worth noting that for some of these attacks to happen, an attacker would need to have already compromised the victim's device by other means. But that doesn't take away the significance of the flaws.
In one scenario, Ahmed uncovered an issue with the Zoom Launcher for Linux that could allow an adversary to run unauthorized software owing to the manner it launches the "zoom" executable.
"This breaks all of the protection of application whitelisting, allows malware to run as a subprocess of a trusted vendor (Zoom), and is a bad design/security practice by all means," Ahmed said in an analysis.
That's not all. In a similar vein, an attacker with access to the victim's machine can read and exfiltrate Zoom user data and configuration by navigating to the local database and even accessing chat messages stored on the system in plaintext format.
Two other flaws involved an externally accessible Kerberos authentication service ("ca01.idm.meetzoom.us") and a TLS/SSL issue that lets malware inject custom certificate fingerprints into the local Zoom database.
"This is per user certificate pinning and intentionally allows for the user to allow custom certificates," Zoom said of the certificate injection flaw. "The user can write to their own database, but no other non-root users can. It's common best practice to have user applications run at their privilege level, as requiring Zoom to run as root would introduce unnecessary security risks to Zoom and our customers."
But it gets more interesting. Ahmed went on to highlight a memory leak vulnerability by exploiting the profile picture feature on Zoom to upload a malicious GIF image, download the rendered file, and extract data from it to leak portions of system memory.
"After an internal investigation, we've concluded that the behavior was not a memory leak but just our image utility's best effort at converting a malformed gif into a jpeg," the company said.
Although Ahmed believes this to be a consequence of a known flaw in ImageMagick image conversion software (CVE-2017-15277), Zoom has said it doesn't use the utility to convert GIFs uploaded as profile pictures into JPEG format.
In response to the disclosures, Zoom has taken down the exposed Kerberos authentication server to prevent brute-force attacks, while also acknowledging that it's working on addressing the lack of encryption while storing the chat logs.
It's recommended that users update Zoom to the latest version to mitigate any risk arising out of these issues.
"We thank Mazin for reporting his findings. We have fixed all relevant issues and recommend that users keep their Zoom clients up to date to ensure they receive ongoing security and product updates. Zoom appreciates vulnerability reports from researchers. If you think you've found a security issue with Zoom products, please send a detailed report to security@zoom.us," a spokesperson for the company told The Hacker News.
The development came as the company resolved a security flaw last month. It allowed attackers to crack the numeric passcode used to secure private meetings on the platform and eavesdrop on participants.
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Story highlightsPresenter was involved in an encounter with a BBC producer'Top Gear' was due to air this Sunday, episode pulled from schedule (CNN)The BBC has suspended Jeremy Clarkson, the host of car show "Top Gear," following "a fracas with a BBC producer," the broadcaster said in a statement."Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation," they said. "No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday."Fans of the presenter expressed dismay at the decision. At the time of writing, more than 147,000 people had signed a petition seeking his reinstatement.Using the hashtag #BringBackClarkson, some Twitter users lamented that the show would not be the same without him.No Top Gear? No @JeremyClarkson? Unacceptable BBC, #BringBackClarkson.— Will Sheward (@willsheward) March 11, 2015
Clarkson himself also took to Twitter, posting an apology (of sorts) to Labour leader Ed Miliband -- for knocking him down the news agenda.Read MoreSorry Ed. It seems I knocked your "I'm a human" piece down the news agenda.— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) March 10, 2015
"Save Clarkson?" his co-host James May tweeted. "Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful."Save Clarkson? Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful.— James May (@MrJamesMay) March 11, 2015
Controversial commentsThis is not the first time that Clarkson has been at the center of controversy. In May this year, the television presenter asked forgiveness after using a racist term during a taping of the show.JUST WATCHED'Top Gear' host suspendedReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'Top Gear' host suspended 03:09Clarkson had mumbled the n-word while reciting a children's nursery rhyme, but that version of the take was never aired.Last year, the BBC show hit the headlines when Argentina complained about a "Top Gear" special filmed in the country in which the number plate H982 FKL was used -- interpreted by some as a reference to the 1982 Falklands War.Forced to stop filming and leave the country, Clarkson said on the BBC Newsbeat website that the use of the plate was purely coincidental.In a previous article on their website, the BBC said "Jeremy Clarkson is not a man given to considered opinion."In their statement, the corporation declined to comment any further.Jeremy Clarkson: Hated by liberals, loved by the elite
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(CNN)Supernatural or merely coincidence?Tiger's Kobe tribute. 💛💜Brooks' "cute" bomb. 🏌️♂️😂Rory's eagles. 🦅🦅It's all in The Takeaway. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SnCnl3Yqcw— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2020 Some might think there was a higher power at work when Tiger Woods strode down the first hole at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles Thursday. Close to where basketball great Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash last month, Woods fizzed his second shot into the green to leave an eagle putt of 24 feet eight inches.Remarkably, those are the two jersey numbers worn by Bryant during his glittering 20-year career with the LA Lakers.Read MoreOf course, Woods made the putt."It's ironic, isn't it?" Woods told the Golf Channel afterwards. "I didn't know about the putt being that long."READ: Tiger Woods: A tumultuous 10 years from scandal to redemptionREAD: Woods on fame: I don't like it. I never haveJustin Thomas wore bespoke shoes in honor of NBA star Kobe Bryant.In a scorching start, the former world No.1 also birdied the fifth and the par-four eighth hole, where the flag and signage were in the yellow and purple livery of the Lakers.Some #MambaMentality inspiration this week at Riviera. 👊 pic.twitter.com/jXRFx33Qfd— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) February 12, 2020 It's also where Woods mimicked a basketball shot as he tossed his ball back to caddie Joe LaCava.Several other players also paid tribute to Bryant during the first round of the Genesis Invitational. World No.1 Rory McIlroy sported a set of Lakers headcovers on his woods with the numbers 24 and 8 and the words "Mamba mentality" in a nod to Bryant's nickname "Black Mamba." Brooks Koepka, who McIlroy overtook at the top of the standings, also had Lakers headcovers, while Justin Thomas wore a pair of custom-made golf shoes in Lakers colors bearing Bryant's image."No matter what we do, I think for a while we're going to always remember Kobe and what he meant, especially here in SoCal and the entire sports world," Woods added.JUST WATCHEDShaq speaks on Kobe's death for the first timeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHShaq speaks on Kobe's death for the first time 01:21Woods is chasing a record 83rd PGA Tour win to surpass the mark he shares with countryman Sam Snead.His birdie at the eighth took him to four under as he went out in 31, but the 44-year-old was wayward off the tee on the back nine and came home in 38 to end with a two-under 69 to trail leader Matt Kuchar by five shots.Woods made his PGA Tour debut at Riviera as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992 but has never won at the Pacific Palisades venue.He is building up to a defense of his Masters title and a potential 16th major title at Augusta from April 9-12.
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Story highlightsKeys is one of three US women in top 10 The 21-year-old has climbed rankings Chris Evert says she is a US Open contender Serena Williams chasing record 23rd slam (CNN)Once again, history is on the line for Serena Williams at the US Open. But, as Williams is trying to protect her No. 1 ranking and chase an Open era record 23rd grand slam title, the final tennis major of 2016 could also provide the perfect setting for a new generation of American players eager to be cast as her potential successor. With the 34-year-old Williams no longer dominating, and struggling with a shoulder injury that derailed her Olympics campaign, 21-year-old Madison Keys sees her as an inspiration."The biggest thing that I'm always very impressed with is her fire, she's No. 1 in the world, she's won all these grand slams, but she always wants more," Keys told CNN ahead of the New York tournament, where she will be the eighth seed when the two-week event starts Monday. "I don't think very many people have that characteristic, and seeing that so much is probably one of the biggest reasons why she's done what she's done," said Keys, who just like Williams has a hugely powerful serve and aggressive game style.Read MoreWill women's shock results continue?If the past 12 months are anything to go by, we could be in for another surprise in New York. After Roberta Vinci pulled one of the greatest upsets of all time by ending Williams' historic quest to win the first "calendar slam" since 1988 in last September's semifinals, the US Open was won by fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta, who promptly announced her retirement.Williams during her loss to Vinci at last year's U.S. Open. Williams then lost in January's Australian Open final to Germany's Angelique Kerber -- who will be guaranteed the No. 1 ranking if she wins the title on September 10 -- while Spain's Garbine Muguruza outplayed her in the final at Roland Garros. Although Williams righted the ship with a win over Kerber in July's Wimbledon final, her reign as Olympic champion was ended by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the third round at Rio 2016 -- a tournament won by Puerto Rican outsider Monica Puig. Williams, who turns 35 next month, then pulled out of this month's US Open warmup event in Cincinnati, citing a shoulder injury. She will begin her bid for history against Russian Ekaterina Makarova in a rematch of their 2014 semifinal, which Williams won before lifting the US Open trophy for the sixth time, equaling Evert's Open-era record.Her older sister Venus -- one of Keys' childhood idols -- is seeded sixth. The two-time US Open champ -- a quarterfinalist last year -- faces Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova first up.Right mindsetKeys is in the other half of the draw to the Williams duo, and faces fellow American Alison Riske in the first round.Although she has always had immense talent, Keys believes she has finally found the right mindset to be a contender for a grand slam title. Ever since she broke through in 2015, reaching the Australian Open semifinals and Wimbledon quarterfinals, Keys has been widely touted as "the next Serena."Williams declared herself " a fan" of Keys after beating her in last year's Melbourne semis, saying: "It was an honor for me to play someone who will be ranked No. 1 in the future." Excited to join @FearlesslyGirl and help lead the way for strong young women. #IamFearlesslyGirl #thisgirlcan pic.twitter.com/UoeGa1WUUe— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) August 24, 2016
Read more: Graf - I want Serena to break my recordBut thanks to Thomas Hogstedt, a Swede who turned Maria Sharapova into a French Open champion, Keys has found the right consistency to become a top-10 tennis player."He's really helped me mostly on things that are on the practice court -- having a very focused and intense practice where there is really no lapses in focus," Keys, who has reached the fourth round in all three slams this year, told CNN. "My practice may only be one hour, 15 minutes, but it's very high intensity, very focused and we get a lot done. That is shifting over to my match play, where I feel I used to have two or three games of bad decisions, or loss of focus. And now, instead of three games, it's maybe two points." Keys' big serve is well-suited to grass courts, where she's won two career titles.Youngest top-10 memberAt the age of nine, the Rock Island, Illinois native moved to Florida with her family to train at the academy run by 18-time grand slam winner Chris Evert and her brother John, who became her coach.After winning several prestigious junior events, Keys turned pro in 2009 and became the youngest player since Martina Hingis in 1994 to win a main draw WTA match at an event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida aged 14. By 2013, she made the top 50. Keys was guided by former Wimbledon winner Lindsay Davenport during her breakout season in 2015. After brief spells with former U.S. tennis pro Jesse Levine and former top-ranked Mats Wilander at the start of 2016, Keys started working with Hogstedt in April. Having struggled with injuries in the past, she now also travels with renowned fitness trainer Scott Byrnes. .@Madison_Keys has got that #FridayFeeling down! #usopen #socialshack pic.twitter.com/ADAzkmoNef— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 26, 2016
The changes have paid off. Known for an aggressive playing style built around one of the most powerful serves in the women's game, Keys won a grass-court event in Birmingham, England in June to become the first American woman to reach the top 10 of the women's tour since Serena Williams in 1999. At 21, she's also the youngest member of the elite group.Who will win the US Open? Have your say on our Facebook pageOther highlights included reaching the final on clay in Rome, where she lost to Serena, and on hard court in Montreal, where she was beaten by former No. 2 Simona Halep. At the Rio Olympics, Keys played for the bronze medal.Although she lost out to two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, Keys called her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro "one of the coolest experiences of my life."In between her tennis commitments, she watched the swimming and saw Simone Biles excel in the gymnastics arena.Backed by a tennis legendChris Evert has been so impressed with Keys' progress that she tipped her as one of the main challengers for Williams alongside more established names such as second-ranked Kerber, third-ranked Muguruza and No. 5 Halep, a semifinalist in New York last year. JUST WATCHEDMadison Keys: American tennis' rising starReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMadison Keys: American tennis' rising star 01:23 "You really have to make that mental and emotional commitment to the game," Evert said in a conference call for tennis writers organized by U.S. broadcaster ESPN this week. "I think that's what Madison Keys is learning right now. She's made more of a commitment to tennis. She could still be better."Visit CNN's Open Court page for more tennis newsIf Keys keeps the right mindset, Evert adds, anything is possible."I'm a Madison Keys fan because of her power on her serve and her ground strokes," she said. "And if she could ever get it all together and believe and trust herself and play her 'A Game,' she could be a threat."
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Crimepack 3.1.3 Exploit kit Leaked, available for Download !
Part 1: Java Exploit
As stated above, I focus on a malware that exploits a recent JRE vulnerability: CVE-2010-0840 to execute malicious files on a victim system. This malware comes inside a jar file, which contains the following two classes: Crimepack.class and KAVS.class.
Part 1.1: Crimepack.class
This class is the engine of the malware, it is obfuscated, but you can quickly strip off the obfuscation (my python beta tool is great…), once you get rid of the obfuscation you can see the following code:
As always, we have an Applet that access to the data parameter, generates a random name for the exe payload that will be dropped in the system temp directory and then executed. So at this point as you can see we have nothing new, the above is a common Java downloader… but let's scroll down:
Above, we can see that the malware is creating a new instance of the KAVS class (description follows), in order to trigger the JRE vulnerability by using a call to the getValue() method (..snipped above..).
Part 1.2: KAVS.class
Here is the hand-crafted class, I say hand-crafted because such class cannot be compiled by using a standard compiler, so you have to edit the compiled class by editing the bytecode:
Part 2: PDF-generator on demand
The kit contains a nice php script that drops custom pdf on-demand, which means that you can have several mutations of the same piece of malware, by simply connecting to a malicious link.
Download Here : https://www.multiupload.com/3HGKHWMRS5
Source
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(CNN)Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was released from Massachusetts General Hospital last week, called his doctors, nurses and caregivers "some of the best teammates I have ever had."Ortiz was shot in the lower back on June 9 while he was sitting on a crowded bar patio in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The bullet perforated his intestines and internal organs before hitting his friend Jhoel Lopez in the leg.David Ortiz has been released from the hospital after being shot in the Dominican RepublicAccording to authorities, Ortiz's friend was the target, not the MLB star. Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, who is accused of orchestrating the shooting, has been arrested, along with several other suspects.Ortiz had surgery in the Dominican Republic before he was taken to Massachusetts General in Boston, where he underwent two additional procedures."My deep appreciation goes to John and Linda Henry, Tom Werner, Sam Kennedy and the entire Red Sox organization for arranging the Red Sox plane that took me back to Boston from Santo Domingo and their continuing assistance to me and my family," Ortiz said in a statement Monday.Read MoreOrtiz thanked fans for their prayers and posted photos of steak, pasta and fish on Instagram on Monday. View this post on Instagram Being at home and look at my family celebrating that lm here safe is priceless... Thank for all the prayers 🙏🏽 Too bad l can't crush food yet 😑!!!! Estando ya en casa y viendo a mi familia celebrarlo no tiene precio gracias por todas sus oraciones 🙏🏽... lo único malo es que no puedo matar la liga comiendo todavía 😑!!! A post shared by David Ortiz (@davidortiz) on Jul 29, 2019 at 7:14am PDT "Too bad l can't crush food yet!!!!" he wrote.He plans to focus on his recovery, he said in the statement: "I am feeling good but know I need to do my rehab just like I did when I was recovering from injuries playing baseball.""Big Papi will be back soon."
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Adobe has just released new versions of its Acrobat DC, Reader and Photoshop CC for Windows and macOS users that patch 48 vulnerabilities in its software.
A total of 47 vulnerabilities affect Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications, and one critical remote code execution flaw has been patched in Adobe Photoshop CC.
Out of 47, Adobe Acrobat and Reader affect with 24 critical vulnerabilities—categorized as Double Free, Heap Overflow, Use-after-free, Out-of-bounds write, Type Confusion, and Untrusted pointer dereference—which if exploited, could allow arbitrary code execution in the context of the targeted user.
Rest of the 23 flaws, including Security Bypass, Out-of-bounds read, Memory Corruption, NTLM SSO hash theft, and HTTP POST newline injection via XFA submission, are marked as important and can lead to information disclosure or security bypass.
The above-listed vulnerabilities impact the Windows and macOS versions of Acrobat DC (Consumer and Classic 2015), Acrobat Reader DC (Consumer and Classic 2015), Acrobat 2017, and Acrobat Reader 2017.
The latest Adobe Acrobat and Reader patches have been given a priority rating of "1," which means the flaws are either being exploited in the wild or more likely to be exploited in the wild. So, users are highly recommended to update their software as soon as possible.
The flaws have been addressed in Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader DC version 2018.011.20040, Acrobat 2017 and Acrobat Reader DC 2017 version 2017.011.30080, as well as Acrobat Reader DC (Classic 2015) and Acrobat DC (Classic 2015) version 2015.006.30418.
Security Patch for Adobe Photoshop CC
Adobe has also released security patches for the Windows and macOS versions of Photoshop CC to address a critical vulnerability, categorized as "out-of-bounds write" issue, which can be exploited to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.
The vulnerability (CVE-2018-4946) impacts Photoshop CC 2018 version 19.1.3 and earlier 19.x versions, as well as Photoshop CC 2017 version 18.1.3 and earlier 18.x versions.
The company credited researcher Giwan Go of Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative for reporting the flaw, which has been addressed with the release of Photoshop CC 2018 version 19.1.4 and Photoshop CC 2017 version 18.1.4.
This update has been given a priority rating of "3," which means the attackers have not targeted the vulnerability.
Adobe recommends end users and administrators to install the latest security updates as soon as possible.
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Rovio's latest game, Bad Piggies, is now available via Google Play and the App Store, and as a PC and Mac download, but it has not yet made its way to the Chrome Web Store. These pigs can indeed fly - "Bad Piggies," the spinoff to the monster hit game "Angry Birds," set a new record by soaring to the top of the charts just three hours after release.
Scammers have quickly taken advantage of this, introducing bogus versions of Bad Piggies into the Chrome Web Store that exist primarily to serve up in-browser advertisements thanks to a few plug-in permissions.
Barracuda Networks' lab today discovered a knock-off of the new and wildly popular "Bad Piggies" game which includes a phishing plug-in that may have injected an aggressive adware program into more than 82,000 Chrome browsers.
The lack of a free online version for Bad Piggies left space for others to capitalize on the instant success of the game. Just days after the game launched, Jason Ding, a research scientist from Barracuda Networks, found seven free versions of the games in the Google Chrome web store.
Jason Ding notes that all of these games are being distributed by the same site: playook.info. After installation, the games insert their own advertisements into popular websites. Barracuda found that after deploying the games in a test environment, they inserted advertising from playook.com into sites like Myspace, eBay, IMDB, Yahoo and MSN among dozens of other sites on the Chrome browser.
"If you have already installed, uninstall them immediately and change your passwords on other websites if possible," Barracuda said. The firm also warned users to be wary of plugins that requires a lot of suspicious permissions.
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Story highlightsUnsettled Man Utd striker subject of a "written offer" by West London clubStriker played second fiddle to Robin van Persie during 2012/13 season Rooney reported to be "angry and confused" at treatment by Manchester UnitedReturning Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho describes offer as "clean" and "ethical"English Premier League champions Manchester United have rejected a bid for striker Wayne Rooney from rivals Chelsea.The West London club revealed in a statement released Wednesday that it has submitted a "written offer" for the unsettled striker. "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that yesterday it made a written offer to Manchester United for the transfer of Wayne Rooney," the Chelsea statement read.The fee is not known, but reports in the UK media on Wednesday speculated that Chelsea might be offering winger Juan Mata or defender David Luiz plus cash in the return for the services of Rooney. But the club flatly reject the claim."Although the terms of the offer are confidential, for avoidance of doubt and contrary to what is currently being briefed to the press in Sydney (where Manchester United are currently on tour), the proposed purchase price does not include the transfer or loan of any players from Chelsea to Manchester United," the Chelsea statement read.Manchester United have not commented further on the bid.Read: Tevez says CL pressure too much for City After overseeing his first game back in charge of Chelsea in Bangkok, Jose Mourinho described the offer as "clean" and "ethical" before adding that the club have not, and will not, bid for any other strikers this summer. "We love the player, we are interested in the player, we made the bid. We have nothing more to say and nothing more to do. And now we have to respect and be ethical in this process," Mourinho said following Chelsea's 1-0 win over Singha All Stars.Chelsea's interest in Rooney is the latest twist in a long-running saga about the striker's future. Rumors of the 27-year-old's discontent began to surface towards the end of last season as Manchester United were romping to a 20th League title. The club eventually won by 11 points from rivals Manchester City, but Rooney was playing second fiddle to striker Robin van Persie who signed from Arsenal at the beginning of the 2012/13 season. The Dutchman netted 30 goals in 48 matches for his new club while Rooney only managed 12 from 37.At the end of last season, outgoing manager Alex Ferguson confirmed that Rooney had submitted a transfer request. "We refused it. He should go away and think it over. He's not happy being taken off a couple of times this season, but Rooney in top form wouldn't have been taken off," Ferguson said following United's final home game of the season. Read: El Matador' signs for PSG in record dealFerguson's replacement, David Moyes tried to quash ongoing rumors when he officially took over the managerial reigns at the club earlier this month. "Wayne is not for sale," Moyes, who signed a six-year contract to replace Ferguson in May, told reporters. "He is a Manchester United player and will remain a Manchester United player."I see a glint in his eye. He looks happy, he looks like he will knuckle down and get himself right."That apparent glint has been replaced by a furrowed brow with Rooney reported to be "angry and confused" at his treatment by his current employers. The striker, who joined United from Moyes' previous club Everton for $39 million in 2004, signed a new improved five-year-deal in October 2010 following a similar falling out with the club's management.Manchester United's chief executive, Ed Woodward recently said that no contract renewals are currently being discussed."I am not sitting down with any player on an extension and there is no trigger date in the diary. Would we be afraid to run a contract down? Of course not," Woodward said.
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At Black Hat security conference this year Cody Brocious demonstrated that How a simple Dry erase marker allows him to open an Onity hotel room door lock with an Arduino, which is totally James Bond. This is just kind of scary on multiple levels, the least being that dry erase markers are one of the most ordinary, non-suspicious objects we can think of.
Watch the video below and be afraid – be very afraid. It has been refined to such a state where there are no dangling bits that come out of the marker, with a tip that looks totally normal sans any wires.
All you need to do is touch the tip of the market to the door port, and you would have gained entry without mentioning a secret password. The story didn't stop there with Onity, the electronic door specialist in question, stepping in to introduce several measures to secure the doors.
Brocious created a proof-of-concept device to show to security experts and press, but it was a bit crude. In order to build and test all of this yourself you will need the following:
1 Arduino (Almost any kind works, Cody used a Arduino Mega 128)
1 DC barrel jack, 5mm outer diameter, 2.1mm inner diameter
1 5.6k resistor
1 Onity Door lock
With the parts listed above I was able to build the Arduino circuit and load up the Arduino sketch that Cody provided at his Website. The company responsible for the popular locks, Onity, has promised that it is going to find a fix to this exploit.
In video Hacker demonstrating the $50 security cracking kit and how to make it.
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Hackers have obtained credentials for more than 68 Million accounts for online cloud storage platform Dropbox from a known 2012 data breach.
Dropbox has confirmed the breach and already notified its customers of a potential forced password resets, though the initial announcement failed to specify the exact number of affected users.
However, in a selection of files obtained through sources in the database trading community and breach notification service Leakbase, Motherboard found around 5GB of files containing details on 68,680,741 accounts, which includes email addresses and hashed (and salted) passwords for Dropbox users.
An unnamed Dropbox employee verified the legitimacy of the data.
Out of 68 Million, almost 32 Million passwords are secured using the strong hashing function "BCrypt," making difficult for hackers to obtain users' actual passwords, while the rest of the passwords are hashed with the SHA-1 hashing algorithm.
These password hashes also believed to have used a Salt – a random string added to the hashing process to further strengthen passwords in order to make it more difficult for hackers to crack them.
"We've confirmed that the proactive password reset we completed last week covered all potentially impacted users," said Patrick Heim, Head of Trust and Security for Dropbox.
"We initiated this reset as a precautionary measure so that the old passwords from prior to mid-2012 can't be used to improperly access Dropbox accounts. We still encourage users to reset passwords on other services if they suspect they may have reused their Dropbox password."
Dropbox initially disclosed the data breach in 2012, notifying users that one of its employee passwords was acquired and used to access a file with users' email addresses, but the company didn't disclose that the hackers were able to pilfer passwords too.
But earlier this week, Dropbox sent out emails alerting its users that a large chunk of its users' credentials was obtained in 2012 data breach that may soon be seen on the Dark Web marketplace, prompting them to change their password if they hadn't changed since mid-2012.
"Our security teams are always watching out for new threats to our users. As part of these ongoing efforts, we learned about an old set of Dropbox user credentials (email addresses plus hashed and salted passwords) that we believe were obtained in 2012," the company wrote. "Our analysis suggests that the credentials relate to an incident we disclosed around that time."
Dropbox is the latest to join the list of "Mega-Breaches," that revealed this summer, when hundreds of Millions of online credentials from years-old data breaches on popular social network sites, including LinkedIn, MySpace, VK.com and Tumblr, were sold on Dark Web.
The takeaway:
Change your passwords for Dropbox as well as other online accounts immediately, especially if you use the same password for multiple websites.
Also use a good password manager to create complex passwords for different sites as well as remember them. We have listed some best password managers that could help you understand the importance of password manager and choose one according to your requirement.
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Story highlightsWorld No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wins all-French final at the Qatar Open on SaturdayTsonga defeats Gael Monfils 7-5 6-3 in match which was delayed by misty weatherWorld No. 4 Andy Murray will take on third seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in Brisbane finalSerbia's Janko Tipsarevic faces Canada's Milos Raonic in Chennai Open title matchJo-Wilfried Tsonga boosted his Australian Open hopes by overcoming difficult conditions to beat fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils in the final of the Qatar Open on Saturday.The match was delayed by misty conditions, and world No. 6 Tsonga suffered one worrying slip on the greasy hard-court surface before completing a 7-5 6-3 victory in Doha.The 26-year-old claimed the first title of the 2012 ATP Tour season and the eighth of his career, showing the sort of form that took him to the final of the year's opening grand slam in Melbourne four years ago.He became the third Frenchman to win the event, being played in the Gulf state for the 20th time, and extended his career record over his Davis Cup teammate to 3-1.Federer and Nadal exit Qatar tournament"It was difficult. The surface was very slippery especially on the 'Qatar' sign painted on the court," Tsonga, who won 16 of the last 19 points, told reporters.JUST WATCHEDToasting retirement with Thomas MusterReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHToasting retirement with Thomas Muster 03:50JUST WATCHEDAndy Murray's consistent yearReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAndy Murray's consistent year 07:29JUST WATCHEDDoubles players look for new partnersReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDoubles players look for new partners 03:42JUST WATCHEDBryan twins top doubles rankingsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBryan twins top doubles rankings 02:52"It was dangerous but they did enough to make it okay. This is a good win for me going into the Australian Open, it's just amazing."Tsonga took his place in the final after world No. 3 and three-time defending champion Roger Federer withdrew before their semifinal due to a back problem.Monfils qualified after beating second-ranked Spaniard Rafael Nadal in straight sets.Meanwhile, world No. 4 Andy Murray will take on Ukrainian third seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in Sunday's Brisbane International final.The top-seeded Briton beat Australian teenager Bernard Tomic 6-3 6-2 on Saturday in his first match under the guidance of his new coach, former world No. 1 Ivan Lendl.Murray, last year's Australian Open runner-up, reached his 31st career final after eliminating the 42nd-ranked 19-year-old.World No. 15 Dolgopolov defeated French second seed Gilles Simon 6-3 6-4 to reach his third hard-court final and third overall, giving him the chance to win his second title in a clash with a player who has beaten him in both their previous meetings.In India, Serbian top seed Janko Tipsarevic will face Canadian No. 4 Milos Raonic in Sunday's Chennai Open final.World No. 9 Tipsarevic beat Japanese qualifier Go Soeda 6-1 6-4 to qualify for his eighth singles final, having lost five of those.The 31st-ranked Raonic, named 2011 ATP Newcomer of the Year after winning his first title in San Jose, defeated Spanish second seed Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-4 to reach his third final.
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You might want to be a little more careful the next time you pick up a cheap knock-off accessory for your device to save a few bucks because new hardware hacks could be the next big thing among cyber criminals.
Researchers say they've built a custom iPhone wall charger that can Install malware in any iOS device using a custom made malicious chargers called Mactans, which are in turn controlled by a Raspberry-Pi like computer called a BeagleBoard.
Mactans, which is named after the black widow spider's Latin taxonomy, will be demonstrated by Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang, and Chengyu Song at the Black Hat 2013 conference in July and they said all users were vulnerable to attacks over the charger.
They add that they can also demonstrate that the malware infection resulting from their malicious charger is persistent and tough to spot. In order for the malicious software to remain installed and unseen, the trio will show how an attacker can hide their software in the same way Apple hides its own built-in applications.
Researchers wanted to show just how easy and cheap it can be to cause a lot of virtual destruction in an innocent package. The security researchers have disclosed the vulnerability to Apple, but presumably Apple hasn't fixed the hole yet as the researchers are refusing to give out exact details until the conference.
It doesn't even matter what version of Apple iOS an iPhone or iPad the user is running, the hack doesn't discriminate again any Apple platform.
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Attention Android users!
More than 1 Billion Android devices are vulnerable to hackers once again – Thanks to newly disclosed two new Android Stagefright vulnerabilities.
Yes, Android Stagefright bug is Back…
…and this time, the flaw allows an attacker to hack Android smartphones just by tricking users into visiting a website that contains a malicious multimedia file, either MP3 or MP4.
In July, Joshua Drake, a Security researcher at Zimperium revealed the first Stagefright bug that allowed hackers to hijack Android smartphones with just a simple text message (exploit code).
How Stagefright Bug 2.0 Works
Both newly discovered vulnerabilities (CVE-2015-6602 and CVE-2015-3876) also reside in the Android Media Playback Engine called 'Stagefright' and affects all Android OS version from 1 to latest release 5.1.1.
Reportedly, merely previewing a maliciously crafted song or video file would execute the Stagefright Bug 2.0 exploit, allowing hackers to run remote codes on the victim's Android device.
New Stagefright Attack Vectors
The Stagefright Bug 2.0 vulnerability can be triggered (attack vectors) by:
Webpage
Man-in-the-middle attack
Third-party media player
Instant messaging apps
"Additionally, the attacker gains a foothold, from which they could conduct further local privilege escalation attacks and take complete control of the device," Zimperium said.
Google has scheduled monthly Android Security Update on 5th October 2015, which will patch newly discovered vulnerabilities for Nexus devices.
Google has already shared vulnerability report and patches with OEM Partners on Sept. 10. So you might be receiving patches soon from your Android device manufacturer.
Zimperium reported the flaws to Google on Aug. 15. The firm also plans to release technical details and proof-of-concept exploit code once a fix is released.
Stay Tuned to The Hacker News Facebook Page for more updates.
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Story highlightsJose Mourinho's Chelsea reign is overSacked after poor first half of seasonIt was his second stint at Stamford BridgeManager embroiled in controversies (CNN)Oh Jose, how did it come to this?From celebrating a championship in May to looking for a new job by Christmas. Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Chelsea after a disastrous run of form which has left the English Premier League titleholder languishing near the foot of the table.The ax finally fell on one of the most successful coaches in world football following Monday's 2-1 defeat to Leicester -- the team's ninth loss in 16 league games.Were Chelsea right to sack Jose Mourinho? https://t.co/AOVqB0CyMV #CFC— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) December 17, 2015
So what went wrong for the "Special One?"How bad is it?Read MoreIt's less than six months since Chelsea was celebrating winning the Premier League title after finishing eight points clear of its nearest rival.Diego Costa scored 20 league goals in his debut season and Eden Hazard was named Player of the Year by his fellow professionals and the English sports media.Mourinho, who rejoined the club in 2013, six years after leaving Stamford Bridge, appeared set to lead the club into a new era of dominance.How times have changed.Chelsea sits 16th in the Premier League -- 20 points adrift of surprise leader Leicester.Mourinho's side has also suffered shock losses to Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham, as well as a painful 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in October.Lost the dressing room?One of the most common phrases chucked at under-fire managers is that they have "lost the dressing room."And one way to royally annoy your players is to accuse them of betrayal.Jose Mourinho: Social media reacts to manager's sackingAfter Monday's defeat at Leicester, Mourinho was frank in his criticism of his charges."One of my best qualities is to read the game for my players, and I feel like my work was betrayed," he said.Never lacking in self-belief, he did offer an alternative view on his team's struggles."One possibility is that I did an amazing job last season and brought the players to a level that is not their level and now they can't maintain it," he speculated.The Eva Carneiro sagaSince the opening day of the season, Mourinho's decision to criticize club doctor Eva Carneiro has led to questions about his judgment.Carneiro was dropped from first-team duties and labeled "naive" by Mourinho for treating Hazard during August's draw with Swansea at Stamford Bridge, and she has subsequently left the club.While Mourinho was cleared by the English Football Association of making discriminatory comments towards Carneiro, the saga has arguably left a stain on his reputation.The Women in Football group said it was "appalled by the conclusion of the FA investigation" and there have been widespread reports in the UK media that Carneiro has served notice of a claim of constructive dismissal against Chelsea."I'm not aware we have received any paperwork so we will keep to our stance that it is an internal staffing matter," a Chelsea spokesman said at the time.John Terry finished?He has been the rock on which Chelsea's success has been built, but is captain Terry's time at the top finished?There is little debate that he has been one of the outstanding defenders in European football over the past decade, but at 34 he is entering the twilight stage of his career.During Mourinho's first spell in charge at Chelsea, Terry was the man entrusted with enforcing his instructions on the field -- which he did to great effect.That Chelsea team won the Premier League title in 2005 and 2006, dominating English football and leaving rivals in its wake.JUST WATCHEDLooking back on Mourinho's Chelsea reign ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLooking back on Mourinho's Chelsea reign 02:36Terry played every minute of last season's league campaign and was rewarded with a new one-year contract, but has since become a bit-part player and was controversially hauled off at halftime in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City.He's even been linked with a move away from the club, though Mourinho has said the bond between the two men remains as strong as ever."He's a player of my total confidence," Mourinho told reporters in October. "I trust him as always and he's one of my men. Because he's on the bench one game or because I take him off at halftime, nothing changes."Hazard warningLast season, the diminutive Belgian could do no wrong. Hazard glided through the campaign and picked up the Player of the Year award following a series of outstanding performances.His ability to conjure something out of nothing gave Chelsea an extra edge to their play and left opponents bamboozled -- but that has all changed this season.The 24-year-old has seemingly lost his mojo.He scored 19 goals for Chelsea in all competitions last season, but is yet to find the net for the Blues this campaign.Indeed, the relationship between Hazard and Mourinho has deteriorated to such an extent that reports suggested the player had exaggerated a hip injury which forced him off during the Leicester match.Hazard's father denied the reports and insisted the pair still enjoyed a good working relationship.Not anymore...Men in blackMourinho has never been one to shy away from controversy -- or voicing his dissatisfaction with referees.And this season has proved that old habits die hard, a fact supported when Mourinho was sent to the stands during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at West Ham.He was charged with misconduct by the FA after going to speak to the referee during the interval at Upton Park, which is strictly prohibited, and fined £40,000 ($60,000).Mourinho was also in hot water with the FA earlier in October after his side lost 3-1 to Southampton at Stamford Bridge.He went on the offensive after the game, claiming officials are scared to give his team penalties when referee Robert Madley decided not to award Chelsea a spot-kick -- a rant which led to the Portuguese manager being fined £50,000 ($75,000) and given a suspended one-match stadium ban."He was afraid to give it like everyone else is afraid to give it," Mourinho said."If the Football Association wants to punish me, they can. They don't punish other managers."Three-year itch?The great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann once proclaimed that the third year of a manager's reign could prove "fatal."Guttmann, who led Benfica to the European Cup in 1961 and 1962, never stayed at a club for more than three years -- and neither has Mourinho.Guttmann led Benfica to European glory in the 1960sMourinho, who has won the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan, is without doubt one of the best in the business.But he was unable to arrest Chelsea's slide.While Chelsea could quite conceivably still finish in the top four and qualify for next season's elite European competition, the Premier League title already looks to be gone.What do you think?Who should replace Jose Mourinho at Chelsea?You can tell us your views on Twitter @CNNFC and on our Facebook page here.
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Beware! Attackers can remotely hijack your Android device and steal data stored on it, if you are using free version of CamScanner, a highly-popular Phone PDF creator app with more than 100 million downloads on Google Play Store.
So, to be safe, just uninstall the CamScanner app from your Android device now, as Google has already removed the app from its official Play Store.
Unfortunately, CamScanner has recently gone rogue as researchers found a hidden Trojan Dropper module within the app that could allow remote attackers to secretly download and install malicious program on users' Android devices without their knowledge.
However, the malicious module doesn't actually reside in the code of CamScanner Android app itself; instead, it is part of a 3rd-party advertising library that recently was introduced in the PDF creator app.
Discovered by Kaspersky security researchers, the issue came to light after many CamScanner users spotted suspicious behavior and posted negative reviews on Google Play Store over the past few months, indicating the presence of an unwanted feature.
"It can be assumed that the reason why this malware was added was the app developers' partnership with an unscrupulous advertiser," the researchers said.
The analysis of the malicious Trojan Dropper module revealed that the same component was also previously observed in some apps pre-installed on Chinese smartphones.
"The module extracts and runs another malicious module from an encrypted file included in the app's resources," researchers warned.
"As a result, the owners of the module can use an infected device to their benefit in any way they see fit, from showing the victim intrusive advertising to stealing money from their mobile account by charging paid subscriptions."
Kaspersky researchers reported its findings to Google, who promptly removed the CamScanner app from its Play Store, but they say "it looks like app developers got rid of the malicious code with the latest update of CamScanner."
Despite this, the researchers advised users to just keep in mind "that versions of the app vary for different devices, and some of them may still contain malicious code."
It should be noted that since the paid version of the CamScanner app doesn't include the 3rd-party advertising library and thus the malicious module, it is not affected and is still available on the Google Play Store.
Although Google has stepped up its efforts to remove potentially harmful apps from Play Store in the last few years and added more stringent malware checks for new apps, legitimate apps can go rogue overnight to target millions of its users.
"What we can learn from this story is that any app — even one from an official store, even one with a good reputation, and even one with millions of positive reviews and a big, loyal user base —can turn into malware overnight," the researchers concluded.
Therefore, you are strongly advised to always keep a good antivirus app on your Android device that can detect and block such malicious activities before they can infect your device.
In addition, always look at the app reviews left by other users who have downloaded the app, and also verify app permissions before installing any app and grant only those permissions that are relevant for the app's purpose.
For more technical detail about the Trojan Dropper malware found in CamScanner and a full list of its indicators of compromise (IOCs) including MD5 hashes and its command and control server domains, you can head on to Kaspersky's report.
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Purple Fox, a Windows malware previously known for infecting machines by using exploit kits and phishing emails, has now added a new technique to its arsenal that gives it worm-like propagation capabilities.
The ongoing campaign makes use of a "novel spreading technique via indiscriminate port scanning and exploitation of exposed SMB services with weak passwords and hashes," according to Guardicore researchers, who say the attacks have spiked by about 600% since May 2020.
A total of 90,000 incidents have been spotted through the rest of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
First discovered in March 2018, Purple Fox is distributed in the form of malicious ".msi" payloads hosted on nearly 2,000 compromised Windows servers that, in turn, download and execute a component with rootkit capabilities, which enables the threat actors to hide the malware on the machine and make it easy to evade detection.
Guardicore says Purple Fox hasn't changed much post-exploitation, but where it has is in its worm-like behavior, allowing the malware to spread more rapidly.
It achieves this by breaking into a victim machine through a vulnerable, exposed service such as server message block (SMB), leveraging the initial foothold to establish persistence, pull the payload from a network of Windows servers, and stealthily install the rootkit on the host.
Once infected, the malware blocks multiple ports (445, 139, and 135), likely in an attempt to "prevent the infected machine from being reinfected, and/or to be exploited by a different threat actor," notes Amit Serper, Guardicore's new vice president of security research for North America.
In the next phase, Purple Fox commences its propagation process by generating IP ranges and scanning them on port 445, using the probes to single out vulnerable devices on the Internet with weak passwords and brute-forcing them to ensnare the machines into a botnet.
While botnets are often deployed by threat actors to launch denial-of-network attacks against websites with the goal of taking them offline, they can also be used to spread all kinds of malware, including file-encrypting ransomware, on the infected computers, although in this case, it's not immediately clear what the attackers are looking to achieve.
If anything, the new infection vector is another sign of criminal operators constantly retooling their malware distribution mechanism to cast a wide net and compromise as many machines as possible. Details about the indicators of compromise (IoCs) associated with the campaign can be accessed here.
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Until now, I'm sure you all might have heard of the SimJacker vulnerability disclosed exactly a month ago that affects a wide range of SIM cards and can remotely be exploited to hack into any mobile phone just by sending a specially crafted binary SMS.
If you are unaware, the name "SimJacker" has been given to a class of vulnerabilities that resides due to a lack of authentication and proprietary security mechanisms implemented by dynamic SIM toolkits that come embedded in modern SIM cards.
Out of many, two such widely used SIM toolkits — S@T Browser technology and Wireless Internet Browser (WIB) — have yet been found vulnerable to SimJacker attacks, details of which we have provided in our previous articles published last month.
At that time, a few experts in the telecom industry confirmed The Hacker News that the SimJacker related weaknesses were internally known to many for years, and even researchers also revealed that an unnamed surveillance company has been exploiting the flaw in the wild to spy on its targets.
Cybersecurity researchers at Adaptive Mobile Security have now released a new report, revealing more details about the SimJacker attacks and trying to address some important unanswered questions, like the number of affected operators and countries, along with details on attacks spotted in the wild.
1 - List of Affected Countries
Though the researchers did not name the affected mobile operators to prevent attackers from taking advantage of the disclosed vulnerability, they did reveal the names of countries where the vulnerable SIMs are still in use.
According to the report, the list includes 29 affected countries across five continents, where customers of a total of 61 mobile operators are actively using vulnerable SIMs with S@T Browser toolkit:
North America: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and Panama.
South America: Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon.
Europe: Italy, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
Asia: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.
"The most probable, conservative estimate is that mid to high hundreds of millions of SIM Cards globally are affected," the researchers said.
On the other hand, there are only 8 mobile operators in 7 countries who are actively using the vulnerable WIB toolkit on their SIM Cards. These countries are spread across Eastern Europe, Central America, Asia, and West Africa.
2- SimJacker Attacks in the Wild
According to the researchers, an unnamed surveillance company—active from at least 2015 and known for targeting users from multiple countries over the SS7 network—has been exploiting the SimJacker vulnerability to gather intelligence on its targets.
It all started when researchers detected unusual and suspicious SMS events in the last quarter of 2018, and when actively monitored, they recorded nearly 25,000 Simjacker messages attempted to be sent to 1500 unique mobile devices in a period of 30 days.
The primary targets were Mexican mobile users, while a small number of attacks were also observed against mobile phone subscribers from Colombia and Peru, with an aim to obtain both location Information and unique IMEI identifiers.
"We believe that prior to the discovery, they would have successfully tracked the location of many thousands of mobile subscribers over months and probably years," the researchers said.
"We also observed the attacker experiment over time with new potential forms of attack using the vulnerability. The number, scale, and sophistication of modifications of the attack are significantly beyond what we have witnessed from any attacker over mobile networks."
Researchers observed over 860 Simjacker attack sub-variants in the actual SMS Packet that were sent from at least 70 attacker-controlled mobile numbers.
Besides this, researchers also observed that the attackers were attempting to use dedicated SS7 attacks against some users in case SimJacker attacks failed.
3. How to Prevent Yourself from SimJacker Attacks
Unfortunately, there is no simple way for mobile subscribers to know whether a vulnerable SIM browser toolkit is deployed on their SIM card or not.
Though there are apps available, like SnoopSnitch, that you can download from Google Play Store to detect attacks based on suspicious binary SMS, it requires your Android device to be rooted and even knowing that won't help you much.
That's because, as a potential victim, there's very little you can do to protect yourself, except wait for your mobile operator to implement security measures or simply migrate your phone number to a different safe network, if available, which will provide you with a new SIM card.
Meanwhile, GSM Association (GSMA), a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has provided some of the best ways to prevent and block these attacks to protect billions of mobile phone users worldwide.
In addition, the SIMalliance has also made some updates to its S@T browser specifications to improve the security of the SIM toolkits, and provided recommendations for SIM card manufacturers to implement security for S@T push messages.
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Cisco has fixed a critical vulnerability in Secure Access Control Server for Windows that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands and take control of the underlying operating system.
Cisco Secure ACS is an application that allows companies to centrally manage access to network resources for various types of devices and users.
The reported flaw affects Cisco Secure ACS for Windows versions 4.0 through 4.2.1.15. Successful exploitation requires that Cisco Secure Access Control Server is configured as a RADIUS server EAP-FAST authentication.
The Cisco Security advisory said:
"The vulnerability is due to improper parsing of user identities used for EAP-FAST authentication. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted EAP-FAST packets to an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the Cisco Secure ACS server and take full control of the affected server,"
The newly patched vulnerability is identified as CVE-2013-3466 and received the maximum severity score, 10.0 in the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
Cisco has released free software updates that address the vulnerability described in this advisory. This vulnerability is first fixed in Cisco Secure ACS for Windows release 4.2.1.15.11.
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London (CNN)Britain is heading for a new showdown with the European Union after Theresa May bowed to pressure from UK lawmakers who demanded she renegotiate her hard-fought Brexit deal.In a sharp reversal of policy, the British Prime Minister agreed to return to Brussels and reopen Brexit talks, even though she previously said the idea was a non-starter and the EU has repeatedly insisted the deal is locked down.Lawmakers voted 317 to 301 to order May to seek new terms with the EU over the Irish border, a totemic issue for hardline Brexiteers that has dogged May for months. May had earlier told the House of Commons she would support the initiative, in an effort to persuade a majority of MPs to back some kind of Brexit plan.After the vote, the EU said there was no chance of reopening the Withdrawal Agreement -- signed by May in November but comprehensively rejected by the House of Commons a month later. Prime Minister Theresa May said re-negotiation with the EU "will not be easy" after MPs ordered her to return to Brussels.In a series of votes on Tuesday, lawmakers also rejected a no-deal Brexit, by 318 votes to 310. But the measure is not legally binding, and lawmakers failed to pass any plan that would have prevented the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on March 29.Read MoreSpeaking immediately after the votes, May said she would go back to the EU but admitted renegotiation with Brussels would be tough. "There is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy," May told Parliament. "But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this House has made clear what it needs to agree a deal."To succeed, May must secure concessions within weeks on issues that have been raked over for months. The EU showed no sign of giving in to the UK on Tuesday. A spokesman for Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, insisted that the Brexit deal "is not open for renegotiation.""The Withdrawal Agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union," the spokesman told CNN.Parliament voted for May to seek new terms with the EU over the thorny issue of the Irish border.Dublin also rejected any attempt to re-open the Brexit deal. "The Withdrawal Agreement is not open for re-negotiation," the Irish government said in a statement."The agreement is a carefully negotiated compromise, which balances the UK position on customs and the single market with avoiding a hard border and protecting the integrity of the EU customs union and single market," Ireland said.What now for May?Despite saying in December that her Brexit deal was locked down, May told MPs earlier Tuesday that she now wanted a mandate to reopen it. She argued that it would give her a chance to resolve the issue of the Northern Ireland backstop -- an insurance policy to prevent the return of a border infrastructure in Ireland -- despised by many Brexiteers.But, with just 59 days to go until Britain leaves the EU on March 29, it could be too little too late. EU officials have repeatedly insisted that the withdrawal deal cannot be reopened.UK vote designed to bring Brexit clarity. But can politicians finally agree?One EU diplomat told CNN earlier on Tuesday: "London has negotiated with itself more than the EU. The negotiation with the EU is over."There are signs of deep frustration in Brussels. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, told CNN that the Parliament would "not give its consent to a watered-down Withdrawal Agreement.""The deal we have is fair and cannot be renegotiated. The backstop is needed because of UK red lines and the EU to secure the Good Friday Agreement," Verhofstadt added.However, it's possible that May could secure changes to the political declaration that accompanies the deal.How did the UK get here?It's been a whirlwind few weeks for the Prime Minister, whose first deal was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs, in the biggest defeat for any UK government in the modern parliamentary era.It was a devastating blow for May, after two and a half years of torturous debate and negotiations with the EU. It left her facing a deep political crisis with no clear way forward -- except edging closer to crashing out of the EU without a deal.U(o)K, hun? A guide to what comes next in Brexit turmoilIt turns out that untangling a 45-year marriage after 51.9% of British people voted to leave the EU in 2016 was not as easy as some Brexiteers claimed it would be.May's biggest headache has been the hardline pro-Brexit lawmakers within her own Conservative party, who have opposed her deal from the start.Unfortunately, Tuesday's votes don't clear much up. But one thing is for certain: the clock is ticking and unless May can get approval from both the EU and UK, or unless she seeks an extension to Article 50, the official process of leaving the EU, the UK will crash out on March 29.CNN's Erin McLaughlin in Brussels contributed to this story.
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In recent months, we've seen the rootkit family Win32/Sirefef and Win64/Sirefef (also known as ZeroAccess Botnet) update its command and control protocol and grow to infect more computers while connecting to over one million computers globally.
Before, disclosed that it creates its own hidden partition on the hard drive and uses hidden alternative data streams to hide and thrive. Then ZeroAccess developer changed infection tactics and stopped using kernel-mode components in the latest version Security firms tracked the growth of x64 version infections. But Recently uncovered by SophosLabs that ZeroAccess botnet took a major shift in strategy and operating entirely in user-mode memory.
There are two distinct ZeroAccess botnets, and each has a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version, numbering four botnets in total. Each botnet is self-contained because it communicates exclusively on a particular port number hard-coded into the bot executable. The botnets can be categorised based on their port numbers. Ports 16464 and 16465 are used by the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of one botnet; ports 16470 and 16471 are used by the 64-bit and 32-bit versions of the other botnet.
They also disclose the ZeroAccess has been installed on computers over nine million times with the current number of active infected PCs numbering around one million.
The current size of the botnet is somewhere in the region of 9 million machines spread throughout the world, but with the majority located in the U.S.
Other than U.S other top infected countries are :
Brazil
Japan
Romania
Argentina
Venezuela
Chile
The ZeroAccess botnet currently creates two primary revenue streams: click fraud and Bitcoin mining. Click fraud and Bitcoin mining can earn the botnet owners a potential $100,000 a day. "The traffic generated by the ad-click fraud can burn through your bandwidth cap. We have been following a number of bots such as ZeroAccess whose primary function is ad-click fraud. These bots receive instructions from a controller directing them to click on ads on specific web sites. The web site owner gets paid by the advertiser on a per click basis usually through the intermediary of an ad network. The advertisers and ad network operator have a number of safeguards in place to protect against click fraud," the report said.
The ZeroAccess botnet not only makes large amounts of money for its owners but it also causes significant damage and loss in a variety of ways to a variety of individuals and entities. Various aspects of ZeroAccess' operation consume considerable bandwidth. This is 1,227,300 bytes per hour, 29,455,200 per day and 895,929,000 bytes per month. 895 MB per month per bot means a botnet with 1 million nodes could be producing as much as 895,000,000 MB or 895 Terabytes of network traffic per month. And all of this occurs before any files are actually downloaded using the protocol.
The peer-to-peer protocol used by the latest version of ZeroAccess contains only a few commands and is designed to spread files and IP addresses across the network quickly. It is encrypted to avoid easy detection and there are a number of measures taken to avoid the network being poisoned or taken over. This generally held at around 150,000 new installations per day, with a noticeable drop at the end of August.
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(CNN)When James Giannetta first called his brother Russ in late June to tell him that the coronavirus was beginning to spread in his Texas federal prison, Russ could hear the fear in his voice. "This place is exploding," James warned. Russ soon got another call: James, a 65-year-old inmate with diabetes and HIV, had tested positive for the virus himself. Within days, he was rushed to a hospital as his oxygen levels plummeted. A few weeks later, after his condition deteriorated and he was placed on a ventilator, he was dead. As coronavirus has spread rapidly through prisons and jails around the country in recent months, the Texas lockup where Giannetta spent his last days has emerged as the hardest-hit federal prison in the United States. More than 1,300 of the roughly 1,750 prisoners at FCI Seagoville prison and camp have tested positive for the virus, according to data from the federal Bureau of Prisons -- a stunning three out of every four inmates. So far, three inmates at the prison, including Giannetta, have died from Covid-19. Five Seagoville inmates told CNN in phone interviews from behind bars that they feared for their lives as the virus rushed through the Dallas-area prison, and that the crowded conditions made it all but impossible for them to stay socially distanced. "It came through here so fast that it's out of control," said Bobby Williams, an immunocompromised inmate who has about three years left on a more than two-decade drug sentence. He said he came down with severe pneumonia after contracting Covid-19 in June. "We're packed like sardines." Read MoreAs the BOP has scrambled to stanch the spread of the virus in its facilities, the toll at Seagoville and elsewhere raises questions about whether the Trump administration is doing enough to release elderly and medically vulnerable prisoners -- even as several high-profile inmates like former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and the rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine have been released from prison to home confinement. The BOP declined repeated requests for an interview with officials at Seagoville or national officials involved in setting coronavirus policy. A spokesperson said the agency distributed cloth masks to every inmate and guard, began mass testing of inmates in the prison by late June and stepped up sanitation procedures, among other policy changes. But the low-security men's prison -- which once held Japanese and German detainees during World War II, among others -- is now a cautionary tale for how quickly the coronavirus can take deadly hold in correctional facilities. Since the beginning of May, when there was only a single coronavirus case at Seagoville, the number of inmates who have tested positive has soared to 1,333, according to BOP data (including prisoners at a minimum-security camp next to the prison). Twenty-eight of the roughly 300 prison employees have also tested positive. The outbreak means that the facility has more coronavirus cases than about 85% of the counties in the US. Dr. Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer for New York City's jail system, who has inspected federal prisons' coronavirus response plans, said outbreaks at Seagoville and other prisons were like "popcorn kernels popping off over an extended period of time.""There are many facilities that either have gone through the same thing or will," he predicted. "This is really a tragic situation that's playing out all over the country."FCI Seagoville prison near Dallas has suffered the largest coronavirus outbreak of any federal prison in the U.S., with more than 1,300 inmates testing positive.Early release programs fall shortPrisoner rights advocates say that the BOP has fallen short on the most effective way to save inmate lives: reducing the number of vulnerable people inside the prisons. Federal inmates have two paths to early release during the pandemic. The BOP is evaluating inmates for home confinement, which is granted based on factors like inmates' age, risk factors for Covid-19, the seriousness of their offense and their conduct in prison. Manafort and several other high-profile inmates were released under this method, which was expanded under the CARES Act earlier this year.The agency has released 7,444 inmates to home confinement nationwide over the last four-and-a-half months, according to data released by the agency, out of the more than 157,000 total in the federal system. A spokesperson declined to provide specific numbers for Seagoville or other individual prisons, citing "the fluid nature of the pandemic situation." Inmates can also apply for compassionate release, a procedure that was streamlined with the passage of the First Step criminal justice reform act in 2018. Inmates with health issues can ask a judge to reduce their sentence; they can also apply to their warden for the federal government to file a court motion for release on their behalf. So far, roughly 900 additional inmates have been released through that track this year, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a criminal justice reform group that has helped recruit attorneys to represent inmates in coronavirus cases.
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But criminal justice experts call the releases so far a drop in the bucket compared with the vast numbers of elderly and medically vulnerable people in federal custody. Kevin Ring, the president of FAMM, said federal officials had been arguing in court against many inmates who have petitioned for compassionate release. "It's been disappointing because most of these people were elderly and sick and now they're the most at risk from this disease," Ring said, arguing that the Trump administration "should have been clearing these people out." Instead, he said, officials were "slow to react" when the coronavirus started its deadly march through prisons around the country. "We've watched it hop from facility to facility -- when it hits one, it ravages it," Ring said. "It has been terrifying to watch."Nationally, more than 10,000 federal inmates and 1,300 BOP employees have tested positive for coronavirus, while 111 inmates and one staffer have died. Several other federal prisons have also faced dramatic outbreaks, although none that infected as many inmates as Seagoville's. In Ohio, a judge ordered officials to release or transfer more than 800 vulnerable inmates at another federal prison ravaged by the virus, saying the conditions in the facility had possibly reached the level of "cruel and unusual punishment." But an appeals court struck down that order in June, finding that the inmates did not prove the BOP was "deliberately indifferent" to the risks presented by Covid-19.Some Democrats in Congress have pointed to Manafort's release to argue that the administration isn't treating inmates equally. If the coronavirus was "deadly enough of a virus that you needed to protect the former campaign manager, why not all of these Americans who also are vulnerable and have at-risk conditions?" Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, asked Attorney General William Barr at a House hearing last week. Barr said he had nothing to do with the decision to send Manafort home but noted that the department had released thousands of inmates.Federal inmate George Reagan, who has tested positive for Covid-19, and his wife Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan. All five of the Seagoville inmates interviewed said they had been denied compassionate release or home confinement, and some said their families were planning to go to court. In a message denying his request for compassionate release, the prison's warden wrote that "at this time COVID-19 is not considered extraordinary compelling circumstances" under the BOP's compassionate release policy, inmate George Reagan told CNN.The BOP spokesperson said the agency didn't comment on specific inmates' requests for early release. For some inmates, the potential of early release came too late. Giannetta, a Massachusetts native who was serving a 14-year sentence for selling methamphetamine and other charges, applied for an early release from the warden and was denied, according to a filing by his court-appointed lawyer. The lawyer submitted an expedited motion for compassionate release on July 3, after he had already tested positive and been sent to a hospital. A judge dismissed the petition as moot after Giannetta died at the hospital on July 16. Giannetta's older brother Russ, a physics professor at the University of Illinois, said in an interview that he had sent medical documents outlining his brother's myriad health issues to officials at the prison and even wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but his pleas for help didn't seem to have any effect.The Seagoville facility was a "petri dish," Russ said. He said James knew even before he tested positive that he was in real danger: "He had a pretty good premonition that this was not a place that was going to be able to contain this virus if it broke out."Prison struggles to respond to outbreakIn interviews, inmates at Seagoville described a chaotic response to the outbreak by prison officials, whose efforts to slow the spread of the virus were hampered by delayed test results and a lack of enforcement of mask-wearing policies. Bobby Williams, who has skin cancer and takes medicine that reduces his immune response, said he came down with pneumonia after testing positive for the virus. "I thought I was going to die," he said. "I was passing out, I couldn't breathe."He said doctors at the prison gave him steroid shots and a nasal spray that helped, but over a month later, he still feels the impact from the virus. Williams, 56, has been in federal prison for 22 years and has about three-and-a-half years left to go on drug and money laundering convictions. Venters, the former New York jail medical officer, has conducted dozens of inspections of coronavirus response efforts in prisons and jails around the country, including BOP facilities. He said that while he hadn't inspected Seagoville, the numbers and stories shared by inmates were troubling. Bobby Williams, center, an inmate at FCI Seagoville who has tested positive for coronavirus, with his parents, Bobby and May Belle, in 2012."What I've found over and over is there is no special protections or special surveillance for high-risk patients," Venters said. In many BOP facilities, he said, "I have observed very large numbers of people in very close quarters, which makes the spread of this virus inevitable once somebody becomes sick."One difficulty has been the delay in getting test results. Curtis Severns, a Seagoville inmate scheduled to be released next year after an arson conviction based on disputed evidence, said that he and other inmates faced a four-day delay between taking a test and getting the result last month -- which meant that the prison didn't move some positive inmates out of the general population until it was too late.The BOP spokesperson said Seagoville was using a rapid 15-minute test machine as well as commercial lab tests that have turnaround times of three to 10 days.Severns, who tested positive and was mostly asymptomatic, said he is now living with five roommates -- all of whom have also tested positive -- in a small former TV room converted to housing. "I was amazed just how fast (the virus) went, once it started going," he said. "I think everybody here's going to get it."Mask wearing has been spotty among both guards and inmates, several inmates said, although they added that more people in the prison are now wearing masks regularly in the last week or two as cases have shot up.Joseph Perrone, who said he is scheduled to go to a halfway house in a few weeks after about a decade in prison for selling cocaine, said he suffered headaches, a loss of smell and the worst muscle aches of his life after testing positive. "It felt like somebody beat me," he said. Perrone, 55, who said he worked in the prison's food service at the beginning of the outbreak, said most of the guards overseeing him weren't wearing their masks at the time and "they didn't make us wear ours."Jails can spread coronavirus to nearby communities, study finds"I was going to work and I'm sure I was infecting people," he said. Now, as the cases have reached a level that could result in a form of herd immunity in the prison, officials are starting to move operations back to normal, according to a memo to inmates that several described to CNN. Coronavirus-positive inmates who are symptom-free for 10 days will be considered recovered in most cases, and they will start to be moved back to their original housing locations soon, the memo said.According to BOP statistics, 1,287 inmates at the prison have recovered from Covid-19, while 46 still have active cases.Beyond the prison wallsVisitation has been shut down at Seagoville and other federal prisons for months -- but outbreaks behind bars can still spread to local communities as guards and other employees go back and forth to work. Correctional officers at the facility say they're scared to walk inside the prison's walls, especially because while the agency has tested most of the inmates, it hasn't done the same for the prison's 283 employees. Anthony Simon, a case worker at the prison and a representative for the local union, said he had appealed to the management for broader testing. When he comes home from working at the prison or attending to inmates at a local hospital, Simon said, he strips off his clothes, puts them in a bag and showers before even greeting his wife. "Everyone's worried they could bring it home to their family," Simon said. "But you're still required to go to work -- we can't leave the inmates by themselves and say we'll come back later."The BOP spokesperson said the agency couldn't require employees to get tested, but it's providing staff who come in close contact with Covid-19-positive inmates a letter to public health departments that can help them get prioritized for testing.Research has suggested that prison coronavirus cases can seed broader outbreaks in their local communities. A study of Chicago's Cook County Jail found that inmates going in and out of the jail may be linked with more than 15% of all the virus cases in Illinois as of April. Still, local officials in Dallas County said they didn't think that Seagoville was having a major impact outside the prison itself. The prison outbreak "has not strained our local health resources as the facility has handled their own response and contact tracing," said Lauren Trimble, the chief of staff for the Dallas County Judge, the county's top executive. Family members of inmates have organized several protests in front of the prison in recent months. One of the protest organizers, Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan, a Dallas entrepreneur and activist whose husband is a Seagoville inmate, said she thought people in the community weren't paying enough attention to the human suffering in the prison. Her husband George Reagan, 55, who is scheduled to be released from a more than 5-year drug sentence next year, was sharing a cell with another inmate who got coronavirus in late June, she said. Reagan tested negative twice, so the prison didn't isolate him from the other inmates, Wheeler-Reagan said. 147 Vermont inmates in Mississippi prison test positive for Covid-19Then, early last month, Reagan called his wife with ominous news: he had lost his sense of taste. She said she immediately called the prison and demanded he get tested again. Once he did, he tested positive. Wheeler-Reagan said she thinks the prison leadership didn't take the outbreak seriously enough early on and the guards didn't have proper training about how to respond. She was confused why prison officials rejected her husband's bid for home confinement during the pandemic, especially considering he has heart disease and he'll likely be eligible to go to a halfway house later this year, she said."I one hundred percent don't think that the federal government cares at all," Wheeler-Reagan said. "This is one of those situations where they can't blame anybody but themselves."CNN's Collette Richards contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsTotal's Elgin platform in the North Sea began leaking gas on SundayCurrently, about 200,000 cubic meters of gas a day are leaking into the waterTwo methods are being tried to stop it: drilling relief wells and plugging it upA Scottish official says the environmental risk appears to be minimalLarge volumes of gas continued Friday to gush into the North Sea from an offshore oil platform, with energy giant Total trying two divergent methods in hopes of stopping the leak.Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said Friday that authorities are prepared for the worst, but he added that it is believed that the "gas condensate" now flowing into the water "will evaporate naturally into the atmosphere.""As such, the current environmental risk continues to be minimal," Lochhead said.The Elgin platform sprang a leak Sunday, prompting the evacuation of 238 people from the platform and the adjacent Rowan Viking drilling rig, according to Total executive Philippe Guys. The leak seems to have started as workers were sealing the well in the North Sea, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen.Since then, energy company and government officials have weighed what to do about it, with one option being waiting for the gas to stop leaking on its own.On Friday, one day after announcing it had pinpointed the source of the leak, Total detailed its dueling approaches to stop it: blocking the outflow with "heavy mud" (consisting of a mixture that contains mineral compounds) and drilling a pair of relief wells.JUST WATCHEDA waiting game over Elgin gas leak ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA waiting game over Elgin gas leak 02:15JUST WATCHEDMajor gas leak in the North SeaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMajor gas leak in the North Sea 03:07Until then, "the leak remains ongoing," according to Guys. Gas is now gushing into the North Sea at an estimated rate of 2 kilograms per second, which translates to about 200,000 cubic meters per day.The North Sea was the scene of the world's worst offshore rig disaster, the Piper Alpha explosion, which killed 167 people in 1988.The Elgin leak has echoes of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 -- including the fact that both emerged as workers were closing off wells -- but there are differences.The Elgin is in shallower water than the BP spill, which could make problems easier to fix. And instead of oil, it is leaking gas, which can disperse faster but ignites more easily."This is nothing on the scale of the Gulf spill two years ago," oceanographer Simon Boxall said. "This is a relatively light spill. The gas itself is dispersing quite rapidly."After Total's share price fell sharply earlier in the week, it rebounded slightly on Friday with a 0.9% gain.Guys, the executive from the energy giant, said Friday that "all other" Total wells in the vicinity are in "safe condition," signaling that there is no expectation of further problems. Shell has also partially evacuated two of its nearby platforms, Shearwater and Hans Deul, as a "purely precautionary" measure, it said Wednesday.Satellites and spotter planes are being used to assess the latest spill, while several vessels are on standby nearby ready to help, Guys said.Lochhead, Scotland's environmental minister, said he was "pleased" that "more information" on the incident had been released by Total and the British government.While expressing faith that the long-term impact on the environment shouldn't be major, Lochhead said that the hard work is far from over."We cannot be complacent, and Marine Scotland is continually assessing the situation and scenario planning for all eventualities," Lochhead said. "Additional scientific resources, manpower and vessels can be utilized at short notice, should the situation change."
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Well, there's something quite embarrassing for Apple fans.
Though Apple servers are widely believed to be unhackable, a 16-year-old high school student proved that nothing is impossible.
The teenager from Melbourne, Australia, managed to break into Apple servers and downloaded some 90GB of secure files, including extremely secure authorized keys used to grant login access to users, as well as access multiple user accounts.
The teen told the authorities that he hacked Apple because he was a huge fan of the company and "dreamed of" working for the technology giant.
What's more embarrassing? The teen, whose name is being withheld as he's still a minor, hacked the company's servers not once, but numerous times over the course of more than a year, and Apple's system administrators failed to stop their users' data from being stolen.
When Apple finally noticed the intrusion, the company contacted the FBI, which took the help of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) after detecting his presence on their servers and blocking him.
Apple Hack: The "Hacky Hack Hack" Folder
The AFP caught the teenager last year after a raid on his residence and seized two Apple laptops, a mobile phone, and a hard drive.
"Two Apple laptops were seized, and the serial numbers matched the serial numbers of the devices which accessed the internal systems," a prosecutor was quoted as saying by Australian media The Age. "A mobile phone and hard drive were also seized, and the IP address matched the intrusions into the organization."
After analyzing the seized equipment, authorities found the stolen data in a folder called "hacky hack hack."
Besides this, authorities also discovered a series of hacking tools and files that allowed the 16-year-old boy to break into Apple's mainframe repeatedly.
According to the authorities, the teenager also used Whatsapp to share his offending with others.
At Apple's request, authorities did not disclose details regarding the methods the teenager used to hack into its secure servers, though investigators said his ways "worked flawlessly" until the company noticed.
The FBI and the AFP kept everything secret until now, as the teen's defense lawyer said the boy had become so well known in the international hacking community that even mentioning the case in detail could expose him to risk.
In a statement given by Apple to the press today, the company assured its customers that no personal data was compromised in the hack, though it is still unclear what kind of data the teen stole.
The teen has pleaded guilty to a Children's Court, but the magistrate has postponed his sentencing till next month (20 September).
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The Adobe Flash Player just said goodbye to the year with another bunch of vulnerability patches.
Adobe released an out-of-band security update on Monday to address Nineteen (19) vulnerabilities in its Flash Player, including one (CVE-2015-8651) that is being exploited in the wild.
All the programming loopholes could be abused to execute malicious code (here malicious Flash file on a web page) on victims' computers in order to hijack an unpatched PC or Mac entirely.
So, if you are running the Flash Player plugin on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or Chrome OS, it is time for you to upgrade your system as soon as possible before criminals start taking advantage of the bugs.
Here're the details of the Flash's 19 security vulnerabilities patched in the emergency APSB16-01 update posted Monday afternoon:
A Type Confusion Vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution (CVE-2015-8644)
An Integer Overflow Vulnerability that also leads to code execution (CVE-2015-8651)
Use-After-Free() Vulnerabilities that could also lead to code execution
Memory Corruption Vulnerabilities that could also lead to code execution
The company did not provide many details about the attacks exploiting the Integer Overflow Vulnerability (CVE-2015-8651) discovered by Huawei, other than describing them as "limited, targeted attacks."
Upgrade your machines to the following patched versions of Flash Player:
Flash Player versions 20.0.0.267 and 18.0.0.324 for Windows and Mac users.
Flash Player version 20.0.0.267 for Google Chrome
Flash Player version 20.0.0.267 for Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 10
Flash Player version 20.0.0.267 for IE 10 and 11 on Windows 8.x
Flash Player version 11.2.202.559 for Linux
You can also get the latest Flash Player versions from Adobe's website.
However, if you really want to get rid of these nasty bugs, you are advised to simply disable or completely uninstall Adobe Flash Player immediately.
Flash has plagued with several stability and security issues, which is why developers had hated the technology for years.
Moreover, this is the reason Adobe plans to kill Flash Player and re-brands it as Adobe Animate CC — Adobe's Premier Web animation tool for developing HTML5 content.
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Story highlightsPetra Kvitova beats Caroline Wozniacki to make semis at WTA ChampionshipsKvitova wins 6-4 6-2 to knock world No.1 Woznaicki out of tournamentVictoria Azarenka joins Kvitova in the final four after beating China's Li NaAgnieszka Radwanska beats Vera Zvonareva to keep hopes of semi berth alivePetra Kvitova dumped Caroline Wozniacki out of the WTA Championships with a straight sets victory that sealed her place in the final four.Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, inflicted Wozniacki's second defeat in Istanbul, winning 6-4 6-2 to go top of the Red Group. World number one Wozniacki, who called the trainer on during her match after complaining of feeling sick, is rock bottom of the group after playing all three of her round robin games.After her victory Kvitova told CNN she was delighted to make the final four: "It's nice when I win and I'm happy to be in the semi-final. Istanbul is a great place and it is great experience for me."I have had a great season and it's very nice to play here -- it's like something new for me as I'm still learning. I am enjoying every match I play and I'm trying not to think about winning here."Wozniacki told reporters: "I tried my best, but my body didn't want to do the things I asked it today. What I told my brain didn't go to my body."It's just unfortunate that my body has been feeling tired. To get sick now is not the best time if you want to beat the top players."Czech Kvitova faces Agnieszka Radwanska on Friday -- a match that will determine who grabs the second qualification spot in the red group.Radwanska, from Poland, currently occupies second spot after she saved three match points to beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 1-6 6-2 7-5. The Pole can make sure of her place in the semis as long as she wins a set in her clash with Kvitova.In the white group, Victoria Azarenka sealed her spot in the last four after beating China's Li Na 6-2 6-2.The Belarusian added to her victory over Australia's Sam Stosur to ensure her meeting with Marion Bartoli, who replaced the injured Maria Sharapova, is academic.Azarenka told the WTA's official web site: "Li Na has such a good return and likes to dominate from the beginning, so I tried to serve well and take that away from her."The crowd here in Istanbul just makes me want to play well and show them some good tennis. They're a fantastic crowd and make me want to play really well."The final qualification spot in the white group will go to the winner of Friday's clash between Li Na and Stosur.
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A French hacker has been arrested for spreading a virus through fake smartphone applications. Prosecutors say he stole tiny sums from 17,000 people, amassing about 500,000 euros (£405,000) since 2011.
Working from the basement of his parents' home in Amiens, France, he created malicious software that looked like normal smartphone apps, but these programs stole money through hidden transactions. He also used programs that sent him the usernames and passwords for gambling and gaming websites.
The man admitted his crimes to police after he was arrested in the northern French city of Amiens. He told officials that he was motivated by a strong interest in computers and the desire to be a software developer.
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(CNN)Bryson DeChambeau is used to pushing the boundaries of golf. But now, he's stepping into the world of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, after announcing he is becoming the first golfer to release a set of digital trading cards.The reigning U.S. Open winner's image appears on the limited-edition cards, which are powered by blockchain technology. Each NFT holds its own value and fans bid on a marketplace to own the unique card, which can either be held onto or sold on. READ: Rory McIlroy suffers nightmarish loss as he hits ball into swimming poolRead MoreDeChambeau walks on the second hole during the first round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions."This is something I'm excited to share with the world and give people the opportunity to own unique moments in time of my digital art," DeChambeau said on his Twitter.NFTs have become extremely popular among investors and sports fans in recent months.The NBA's version of the digital trading cards, NBA Top Shot, is the most popular at the moment after it shot to prominence with fans unable to attend games in person for the most part. It allows fans to buy cards in the form of video highlights from its games. In February, a user paid $208,000 for a video of a LeBron James slam dunk.DeChambeau's NFTs, which were auctioned on Tuesday and Wednesday, offer five unique versions of the digital trading cards. The Distance card, of which there is only one, comes with a meet-and-greet with DeChambeau at an golf event, a personally autographed U.S. Open flag, a custom set of Cobra golf clubs, a $1,000 Bose gift card and six dozen Bridgestone balls. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosDeChambeau plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of The Players Championship.The remaining four cards -- named "American Champion," "Swing," "Red" and "White" -- will each have 18 editions and will be auctioned off individually.Earlier this month, NFL superstar Rob Gronkowski became the first professional athlete to release his own set of NFTs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneer tight-end said that he hoped the rarest one would fetch "millions."
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London (CNN)Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged European Union leaders to get the "tone" right in their negotiations with the UK over Brexit following a social media post by European Council President Donald Tusk.Hunt made the comments on BBC's Radio 4 on Saturday when asked about an Instagram post by Tusk showing himself and the UK Prime Minister Theresa May choosing from a cake stand.Tusk added the caption: "A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries." View this post on Instagram A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries. #brexit #salzburgsummit2018 #theresamay #donaldtusk #europeancouncil #europeanunion #euco A post shared by Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) on Sep 20, 2018 at 12:57am PDT
The EU side has repeatedly accused Britain of wanting to "have its cake and eat it" and of cherry-picking as it seeks to keep elements of the single market it likes and ditch others it doesn't."If we are going to work seriously towards a solution then we need to avoid revving up the situation and making it worse by appealing to audiences on social media," Hunt told the BBC. Read MoreMay said Friday that negotiations with the EU were "at an impasse" after a disastrous summit at which her Brexit plan was largely rejected.UK fruit farmers feel the squeeze as Brexit loomsShe called for the EU's leaders to "respect" the British position and the result of the June 2016 referendum.A day after returning from the summit in Salzburg, Austria she called on the EU to spell out its objections to her plan or come up with an alternative."Throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. A good relationship at the end of this process depends on it," May said.May faced widespread humiliation at the Salzburg summit after EU leaders failed to back her so-called Chequers plan. The PM said the two sides remained "a long way apart" but insisted the British "stand ready" to work on resolving the issues.Opinion: May has finally joined the real world on BrexitFrench President Emmanuel Macron said the entire Brexit project was sold to the British people by "liars" who immediately fled the stage, unwilling to see their project through.Hunt replaced leading Brexiter Boris Johnson as foreign secretary after he said he was unable to support May's EU exit proposals."What Theresa May is saying is: don't mistake British politeness for weakness," Hunt said. "If you put us in a difficult corner, we will stand our ground. That's the kind of country we are."Over the years, the UK has opted out of a number of important EU integration initiatives, including the Social Charter on workers' rights and joining the single currency.
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With the beginning of FIFA World Cup tournaments in Brazil, Football fever is going viral across the world. Soccer or Football is the most popular sport in the world with billions of fans who don't even miss a single tournament.
Now, this is the most awaited and rejoicing atmosphere for Football fans as well as cybercriminals right now. For bad actors, the World Cup is a perfect opportunities to scam people online.
While you are busy figuring out websites where you can stream live Fifa Matches on your PCs without missing a single moment of the world cup tournament, cyber criminals are also busy to launch phishing attacks in form of scams and malwares in order to victimize the system by several Trojans and viruses.
This isn't surprising as cyber criminals have become smart enough to gain from every possible eventuality they get and their prior/common target is every time the users' interest based major news and current events.
The most popular threat this World Cup targets users in the form of phishing attacks. You may see links in messages over emails and social networking sites serving attractive contents of this World Cup such as Free Tickets, merchandise, news and footage of highlights, online streaming videos of footballers behaving badly and many more.
But once clicked, the victims are redirected to the malicious websites that trick users into revealing their private information or installing malicious softwares in order to put their computer systems at risk of malwares and viruses infection or identity theft.
Researchers at the security software maker firm, Symantec, have identified several email scams and in coming days, they also expects to see these scam attempts targeting Soccer fans on social networks as well.
#1 FREE TICKETS TO WORLD CUP
The most common scam is Free Tickets to World Cup 2014. In this Football fevered atmosphere, everyone is seeking to get a free pass or a ticket to the tournament in Brazil and What if you won an all-expenses paid trip to Brazil? It's really like a dream comes true for any Soccer fan.
The security firm has identified several emails that contain a malicious zip file and inside it is an executable file. Once executed, it will allow your computer to be taken over by Trojans and remote administration tools.
#2 NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS OF WORLD CUP TEAMS AND PLAYERS
Apart from free tickets, news and highlights about different World Cup teams and players can also be used to thwart users into opening up malicious attachments or clicking malicious links.
Researchers have discovered emails that are currently circulating about Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, a young star player with the Brazilian national team. The email have a malicious word document that could exploit a known vulnerability in the victims' Microsoft Word.
#3 FREE ONLINE STREAMS OF FIFA WORLD CUP MATCHES
Once the FIFA World Cup begins, cyber criminals starts targeting users by emails and social networks' scams that claim to provide free live stream of various matches. Before you can unlock access to the live stream, it first ask you to fill out a survey or download and install software in order to fetch money from your pockets.
HOW TO PROTECT FROM WORLD CUP SCAMS
If you are served any link for free tickets to World Cup, consider it as a scam because free stuffs are never free.
If you have to watch live World Cup match, check your local service providers to see where and when you can catch World Cup games online.
Avoid unknown sources to know happenings of your favorite teams and players; visit only official news websites.
If any site ask you for password or credit card information, double check it before proceeding.
Beware of links that either lead you to any application or external Website.
Make sure you have installed an updated Anti-virus solution to avoid latest threats.
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Story highlightsLiverpool decide not to appeal eight-game ban for Luis SuarezUruguay international Suarez will start suspension immediatelyFA found Suarez gave 'unreliable' evidence to a disciplinary commissionSuarez was accused of racially abusing Manchester Utd's Patrice EvraLiverpool will not be appealing the eight-game ban for their Uruguay international striker Luis Suarez, the English Premier League club said Tuesday.Suarez received the suspension and a $62,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in a match in October.Their decision follows the weekend release by the English Football Association (FA) of the findings of its Independent Regulatory Commission.A detailed 115-page report concluded that Suarez's evidence was "unreliable" and "inconsistent", revealing that he had called Evra a "negro" no fewer than seven times in a heated exchange.Liverpool continued to defend Suarez in a lengthy statement on its official website, claiming the FA had constructed a "highly subjective" case against him, which was "ultimately unsubstantiated."Suarez, who joined Liverpool from Dutch side Ajax last season, also protested his innocence in a statement."Never, I repeat, never, have I had any racial problem with a team mate or individual who was of a different race or color to mine. Never," it read. Dalglish defends t-shirts supporting SuarezHe added: "In my country, 'negro' is a word we use commonly, a word which doesn't show any lack of respect and is even less so a form of racist abuse. Based on this, everything which has been said so far is totally false."Suarez's ban will begin immediately, meaning he will miss Tuesday night's clash against EPL leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium."I do feel sorry for the fans and for my team mates whom I will not be able to help during the next month. It will be a very difficult time for me," he said.Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and his players wore Suarez t-shirts in the warm-up before their matchagainst Wigan last month, but ultimately the club decided not to prolong the affair.FA: Suarez evidence 'unreliable'"It is time to put the Luis Suarez matter to rest and for all of us, going forward, to work together to stamp out racism in every form both inside and outside the sport," the statement said.His absence from the Liverpool line-up will be keenly felt during a critical period as they chase a Champions League place.Suarez will also miss their League Cup semifinal tie against Manchester City as Dalglish bids to win his first silverware since taking charge last season.
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Click Studios, the Australian software company behind the Passwordstate password management application, has notified customers to reset their passwords following a supply chain attack.
The Adelaide-based firm said a bad actor used sophisticated techniques to compromise the software's update mechanism and used it to drop malware on user computers.
The breach is said to have occurred between April 20, 8:33 PM UTC, and April 22, 0:30 AM UTC, for a total period of about 28 hours.
"Only customers that performed In-Place Upgrades between the times stated above are believed to be affected," the company said in an advisory. "Manual Upgrades of Passwordstate are not compromised. Affected customers password records may have been harvested."
The development was first reported by the Polish tech news site Niebezpiecznik. It's not immediately clear who the attackers are or how they compromised the password manager's update feature. Click Studios said an investigation into the incident is ongoing but noted "the number of affected customers appears to be very low."
Passwordstate is an on-premise web-based solution used for enterprise password management, enabling businesses to securely store passwords, integrate the solution into their applications, and reset passwords across a range of systems, among others. The software is used by 29,000 customers and 370,000 security and IT professionals globally, counting several Fortune 500 companies spanning verticals such as banking, insurance, defense, government, education, and manufacturing.
According to an initial analysis shared by Denmark-based security firm CSIS Group, the malware-laced update came in the form of a ZIP archive file, "Passwordstate_upgrade.zip," which contained a modified version of a library called "moserware.secretsplitter.dll" (VirusTotal submissions here and here).
This file, in turn, established contact with a remote server to fetch a second-stage payload ("upgrade_service_upgrade.zip") that extracted Passwordstate data and exported the information back to the adversary's CDN network. Click Studios said the server was taken down as of April 22 at 7:00 AM UTC.
The full list of compromised information includes computer name, user name, domain name, current process name, current process id, names and IDs of all running processes, names of all running services, display name and status, Passwordstate instance's Proxy Server Address, usernames and passwords..
Click Studios has released a hotfix package to help customers remove the attacker's tampered DLL and overwrite it with a legitimate variant. The company is also recommending that businesses reset all credentials associated with external facing systems (firewalls, VPN) as well as internal infrastructure (storage systems, local systems) and any other passwords stored in Passwordstate.
Passwordstate's breach comes as supply chain attacks are fast emerging a new threat to companies that depend on third-party software vendors for their day-to-day operations. In December 2020, a rogue update to the SolarWinds Orion network management software installed a backdoor on the networks of up to 18,000 customers.
Last week, software auditing startup Codecov alerted customers that it discovered its software had been infected with a backdoor as early as January 31 to gain access to authentication tokens for various internal software accounts used by developers. The incident didn't come to light until April 1.
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The hike in the banking malware this year is no doubt almost double compared to the previous one, and so in the techniques of malware authors.
Until now, we have seen banking Trojans affecting devices and steal users' financial credentials in order to run them out of their money. But nowadays, malware authors are adopting more sophisticated techniques in an effort to target as many victims as possible.
BANKING MALWARE WITH NETWORK SNIFFING
Security researchers from the Anti-virus firm Trend Micro have discovered a new variant of banking malware that not only steals users' information from the device it has infected but, has ability to "sniff" network activity in an effort to compromise the devices of same network users as well.
The banking malware, dubbed as EMOTET spreads rapidly through spammed emails that masquerade itself as a bank transfers and shipping invoices. The spammed email comes along with an attached link that users easily click, considering that the emails refer to their bank or financial transactions.
Once clicked, the malware get installed into users' system that further downloads its component files, including a configuration and .DLL file. The configuration files contains information about the banks targeted by the malware, whereas the .DLL file is responsible for intercepting and logging outgoing network traffic.
The .DLL file is injected to all processes of the system, including web browser and then "this malicious DLL compares the accessed site with the strings contained in the previously downloaded configuration file, wrote Joie Salvio, security researcher at Trend Micro. "If strings match, the malware assembles the information by getting the URL accessed and the data sent."
ENCRYPTED STOLEN DATA
Meanwhile, the malware stores stolen data in the separate entries after been encrypted, which means the malware can steal and save any information the attacker wants.
"The decision to storing files and data in registry entries could be seen as a method of evasion", Salvio said. "Regular users often do not check registry entries for possibly malicious or suspicious activity, compared to checking for new or unusual files. It can also serve as a countermeasure against file-based AV detection for that same reason."
HTTPS CONNECTIONS KICKED
Moreover, the malware has ability to even bypass the secure HTTPs connection which poses more danger to users' personal information and banking credentials, as users will feel free to continue their online banking without even realizing that their information is being stolen.
"[It has] capability to hook to the following Network APIs to monitor network traffic: PR_OpenTcpSocket PR_Write PR_Close PR_GetNameForIndentity Closesocket Connect Send WsaSend"
This kind of financial threat is really dangerous for the people, because previous banking malwares often rely on form field insertion or phishing pages to steal users' financial information, but the use of network sniffing in the malware, makes the threat even more harder for users to detect any suspicious activity as no changes are visibly seen, said the researcher.
Researchers are still investigating that how the malware sends the gathered data sniffed from the network to the attacker.
MALWARE DISTRIBUTION OVER WORLD MAP
The malware infection is not targeted to any specific region or country but, EMOTET malware family is largely infecting the users of EMEA region, i.e. Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with Germany on the top of the affected countries.
Users are advised to do not open or click on links and attachments provided in any suspicious email, but if the message is from your banking institution and of concern to you, then confirm it twice before proceeding.
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This story was excerpted from the July 6th edition of CNN's Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe. (CNN)In America's other pandemic, the dying never stops. At least 150 people were killed on the long Independence Day weekend in more than 400 shooting incidents, as violence that coincided with the reopening of major cities intensifies. The data, collected by CNN reporters and the Gun Violence Archive, covers the 72-hour period from Friday through Sunday, and the terrible toll of America's birthday weekend is almost certain to rise. In separate incidents this weekend, a golf pro was shot dead on a green at his country club in Georgia. Eight people were wounded after an argument sparked a shooting at a car wash in Texas. Two people died in a park in Cincinnati, Ohio. No place is off limits -- there have been shootings at grocery stores and at workplaces. Since the year began, more than 22,500 Americans have died in violent gun incidents, including 10,000 from homicides and 12,000 from suicides, the Gun Violence Archive says. Read More This is not just the summer of liberation from Covid-19. It's also the summer of gun violence. Generally, US crime rates have fallen in recent years — and cities like New York are far safer than they were in the 1980s, for instance. But fears of the bad old days are beginning to come back. So far this year, gun violence in Gotham has surged 40% over the same period in 2020, with 767 shootings and 885 victims. And 2020 itself was a bad year. What unleashed this outburst of horror? The pandemic's economic and human toll has destabilized communities and increased criminal activity in some areas. There's also talk that months of lockdown may have spiked mental health issues and pent-up rage that all too easily spills into violence on the streets. Every explanation is exacerbated by the fact that the United States is awash in guns. Firearms sales spiked during the pandemic and are now at record levels — so much so, there's an ammunition shortage. President Joe Biden has pleaded with lawmakers to do something, anything, to stop the shootings. But nothing is getting done. Lawmakers can't even agree on minor reforms expanding background checks for some gun purchases. The right to bear arms is often seen as a foundational principle of US conservatism, so Republicans almost always block meaningful firearms controls -- even if they are far from overturning that constitutional right. In fact, many conservatives, who blame the spate of killings on Democrats defunding police budgets, argue that even more guns are needed so that more Americans can protect themselves from one another. Postcard from Surfside "I'm standing in front of a memorial wall covered with photographs of people missing from the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building. Their smiling photos are an eerie contrast to the scene of the tragic collapse itself, where the muggy air is thick with dust from the debris site and with the scent of well-wishers' flowers withering after days in the sun. "It's been more than a week since the building collapsed. No one has been pulled out alive since then, despite the constant sound of heavy equipment sifting through the rubble. Many of the people who stop by to pay their respects are wearing glasses to mask their swollen eyes. Moshe Candiotti -- a resident of condo 407, who ran for his life when one side of the building crumbled -- says the site fills him with mixed emotions; he's grateful to be alive, but sad for his neighbors who perished. "Candiotti points out that the scene has changed overnight. The portion of the building where he lived, which had been left standing after the collapse, was demolished on Sunday night, in order to ensure the safety of rescue workers in its shadow. Until yesterday, beyond the memorial wall, we could see the high-rise condo building brushing the heavens. Today, only two cranes rise from the rubble that was his home address, both flying American flags. "Of all the money, jewelry and possessions he lost, Candiotti says, there is only one thing he wishes he could retrieve from under the tons of broken concrete and steel: a photograph of his mother. His voice takes an emotional turn as he describes looking at his mother's photo every morning, a habit that he says once energized him. The pain is palpable here in Surfside as the known death count rises. More than a hundred people are still unaccounted for." -- CNN's Rosa Flores writes to Meanwhile from Surfside, Florida
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Story highlightsLewis Hamilton is targeting a sixth British Grand Prix win - and a sixth world titleCan the Mercedes star go on to surpass Michael Schumacher's record seven world crowns?Next generation stars Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are a "major threat"Major rules changes for 2021 could halt Hamilton's era of dominance in F1 (CNN)Formula 1 is a numbers game where margins measured in thousandths of a second and millimeters can be the difference between winning and losing. But when it comes to the big figures there are two drivers in the history of the sport who are in a class of their own -- Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.Schumacher is a record seven-time world champion -- a landmark that has stood for 15 years -- and also owns a record 91 grand prix wins. But Hamilton is chasing his numbers hard, already eclipsing the German great's total number of pole positions and most front row starts, among many others. "In terms of raw numbers, only Schumacher can be mentioned in the same breath as Hamilton," US-based motorsport statistician Sean Kelly tells CNN."Hamilton is the only driver to have won races in every season in which he has competed, and just as with Schumacher in his pomp, Hamilton seems to reach a new milestone at every grand prix. Read More"He's very likely to be the first driver ever to win 100 grands prix and/or take 100 pole positions -- and that's almost 10% of all F1 races ever run."This weekend Hamilton returns to the Silverstone circuit, less than 60 miles from where he grew up, with his sights set on a record sixth British Grand Prix. JUST WATCHEDSilverstone: The heart of British Formula OneReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSilverstone: The heart of British Formula One 23:15A victory at his home track would also nudge the 34-year-old one step closer to a sixth world title this season and tantalizingly close to Schumacher's world record haul.Many fans and Formula 1 insiders thought the German's landmark would never be bettered, not even by the all-conquering hero himself when Schumacher made a shock return to the sport with Mercedes in 2010.When the legendary German chose to step away from F1 for a second time, Hamilton inherited Schumacher's race seat in 2013 and now, with the merciless Mercedes at his fingertips, he is plotting a course to surpass all of Schumacher's statistical landmarks. But could factors on and off track put the brakes on Hamilton's golden era?Rise of the Young GunsThe last race in Austria was a blockbuster reminder that the 'next generation stars' are emerging as a threat to Hamilton's current era of dominance.With the Briton hampered by a grid penalty and then front wing damage, the race to the flag was between talented 21-year-olds Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.READ: Verstappen gets controversional win after late passAfter a breathless duel, Verstappen,-- who had fallen back to seventh at the start -- muscled his Red Bull past the Ferrari for the win, ending Mercedes' winning streak at 10 consecutive races."We know that Verstappen is a great talent," says Ben Edwards, F1 commentator for Channel 4's UK broadcasts. "He is really going to be in prime form over the next couple of years. "Verstappen has picked up his game as team leader at Red Bull and they're working around what he wants. If he and Red Bull really get their act together next year that could be a major threat for Hamilton and Mercedes.Rising stars: Verstappen and Leclerc could threaten Hamilton's era of dominanceThe F1 rumor mill was also churning in Austria with talk of a break clause in Verstappen's Red Bull contract, which currently ties him to the team until the end of 2020. There is even speculation that Verstappen could replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes next year which would give the Dutch dynamo exactly the same machinery to take the title fight to Hamilton and stop his run into the record books."Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff probably wouldn't want to put Verstappen alongside Hamilton from a team harmony point of view," says Edwards. "But he'd probably want him to stop him going anywhere else as he's going to be a threat wherever he is. "Hamilton would be up for it, as he has said, as he's always ready to take down anybody. It might mean Mercedes dominate but that would be awesome, an incredible mix."'Too many errors' Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel should, in theory, also be able to throw a spanner in the works of Hamilton's record-breaking ambitions, after all they started the 2019 season as favorites after impressing in testing.But the Italian team, who Schumacher spurred on to five straight team and driver titles between 2000 and 2004, just haven't had the luck so far this season, with both Leclerc and Vettel losing out on race wins.READ: Ferrari loses bid to appeal Vettel penalty"Leclerc has the potential to be a real star of the future," says Edwards. "He has already shown us he has what it takes and his mental attitude is fantastic."JUST WATCHEDVettel: 'Rather have Kimi' than Lewis on teamReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVettel: 'Rather have Kimi' than Lewis on team 02:53For the last 13 years either Hamilton or Vettel, who both made their F1 debuts in 2007, has been at the heart of the title fight, often sparring against each other."It's still possible that Vettel could put a world championship-winning season together," adds Edwards. "But it's a crucial time in his career right now."He's made too many errors and in this turbo-hybrid era I don't think he's ever had a car that totally talks to him in the way that the Red Bull did."Vettel is still a potential threat -- but I don't see it happening this year."Intense battleThe only driver to halt Hamilton in his golden era, which stretches back to 2014, has been his former teammate Nico Rosberg. In 2016, the German delivered an epic campaign to deny Hamilton what would have then been a fourth world title. But it was a bruising physical and psychological battle that saw Rosberg quit F1, unwilling to go head-to-head with his old friend again. His successor, Bottas, is arguably in the best position to stop Hamilton racing away to a sixth world title this season but after a brilliant start to 2019, winning in Australia and Azerbaijan, the Finn's challenge seems to be faltering."The problem for Bottas is sustaining that level you need to beat Hamilton," adds Edwards. "As we saw with Rosberg, it's so intense trying to take on and beat Hamilton and keeping it up all year long."I've been impressed with Bottas this year and I don't think his challenge has completely vanished. But he's definitely going through a rocky patch and this is the stage in the season where Hamilton traditionally starts to come on really strong."Dethroning MercedesIt's not only rival drivers, however, that can turn purple patches into a dose of the blues. "F1 history is littered with examples of dominant drivers seeing their reign come to a sudden end," explains Kelly."Right now it seems like Mercedes and Hamilton will go on dominating forever, but when Vettel won four consecutive titles from 2010-13 he then failed to win a race in 2014."Schumacher himself won five consecutive championships with Ferrari and then just a single race in 2005."Both Schumacher and Vettel were halted not by drivers, but by changes to the F1 rulebook.In 2005 it was tires and in 2014 major new rules on engines effectively ended the Red Bull era and laid the foundations for Hamilton's four world titles thanks to the dominant Mercedes hybrid V6 engine.The wheels came off Michael Schumacher's dominance when changes to the rules on tires were introduced in 2005With a regulation shake-up planned for 2021 -- potentially the season Hamilton goes for a record eighth title -- should he be worried?"For 2021 there are going to be fairly major changes," explains Edwards. "The aerodynamic design of the cars will be quite a major shift. It's not quite like a blank sheet of paper but it will certainly be a big step change."That could open the door more widely for any of the top teams to come up with a winning package."Kelly agrees: "The changes coming in 2021 present an opportunity for other teams to depose Mercedes."Alongside the proposed new technical regulations, the FIA and Liberty Media, who bought F1 for $8 billion in 2017, also want to introduce a budget cap of around $175 million to help level the playing field among the teams.Getting stuck inHamilton is also the master of his own destiny. How long Hamilton, who divides his time between Monaco and his homes in the US, wants to keep jetting around the world for the day job remains to be seen. On his weekend off before the British Grand Prix, he was photographed partying with his celebrity circle of friends in Los Angeles. The British racer has spoken before about life outside F1 and even mooted a second career in fashion, music or acting. Hamilton's current contract with Mercedes ends at the end of 2020 -- conveniently giving him time to match Schumacher's seven world titles. But would he want to go on?JUST WATCHEDLewis Hamilton wins first F1 world title in 2008ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLewis Hamilton wins first F1 world title in 2008 01:03"He's a difficult guy to read," says Edwards, who has commentated on motorsport for more than 25 years. "But I get the feeling that he's really enjoying himself and relishing the challenge of the young stars coming along. He kind of wants to get stuck in and have a go with them. "When a driver gets to the more mature years he has to maintain that motivation."Hamilton is doing that fantastically well at the moment. Somebody close to the circle working with him said to me he thinks Lewis is working harder this year than he has in the past on the technical understanding of the car and working with the team."So, I don't see him stopping imminently. I see him battling on next year -- and then he'll be intrigued by the new rules. If he gets his seventh title next year then you would think he would want to carry on to see if he can get that extra one."A perfect 10Kelly adds: "At the current rate, Hamilton should overhaul Schumacher's 91 wins and 155 podium finishes at some stage in 2020, and he could also equal his seven world titles if he wins the championship in 2019 and 2020."He'd still only be 35 by then. Kimi Raikkonen was a race winner last year just shy of 39 years old, so Hamilton would have time to pile on even more numbers."Speaking to David Letterman on an episode of his Netflix show My Guest Needs No Introduction recorded at the end of 2018, Hamilton said: "Michael retired when he was 38. I'm 33. I can definitely do five years."Imagine that, five more years would take Hamilton to a potential perfect 10 world titles.But ask any driver in the F1 paddock and they will tell you they simply take it one race at a time because as legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker famously said: "Anything can happen in Grand Prix racing... and it usually does."
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In the digital world, it just takes one click to get the keys to the kingdom.
Do you know spear-phishing was the only secret weapon behind the biggest data breach in the history?
It's true, as one of the Yahoo employees fell victim to a simple phishing attack and clicked one wrong link that let the hackers gain a foothold in the company's internal networks.
You may be familiar with phishing attacks — an attempt to steal user credentials or financial data — while, Spear-phishing is a targeted form of phishing in which attackers trick employees or vendors into providing remote-access credentials or opening a malicious attachment containing an exploit or payload.
Here's how the Yahoo's massive data breach was traced back to human error and who were the alleged masterminds behind this hack.
On Wednesday, the US government charged two Russian spies (Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin) and two criminal hackers (Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov) in connection with the 2014 Yahoo hack that compromised about 500 million Yahoo user accounts.
While the indictment provided details on the 2014 Yahoo hack, the FBI officials recently gave a fresh insight into how the two officers from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) hired two hackers to gained initial access to Yahoo in early 2014.
Here's How the Yahoo Hack Initiated:
The hack began with a "Spear Phishing" e-mail sent to a "semi-privileged" Yahoo employees and not the company's top executives early in 2014.
Although it is unclear how many Yahoo employees were targeted in the attack and how many emails were sent by the hackers, it only takes one employee to click on either a malicious attachment or a link, and it gave attackers direct access to Yahoo's internal networks.
Russian Spies HIRED Cyber Criminals to Hack Into Yahoo Servers; Here's How They Did It.
CLICK TO TWEET
Once in, Alexsey Belan, who is already on the FBI's Most Wanted Hackers list, started poking around the network and, according to the FBI, discovered two key assets:
Yahoo's User Database (UDB) – a database containing personal information about all Yahoo users.
The Account Management Tool – an administrative tool used to edit the database.
Belan used the file transfer protocol (FTP) to download the Yahoo database, containing usernames, phone numbers, security questions and answers, and, what's worse, password recovery emails and a cryptographic value unique to each Yahoo account.
Recovery emails and unique cryptographic values enabled Belan and fellow hacker Baratov to access the accounts of certain users requested by the Russian spies, Dokuchaev and Sushchin.
Since the Account Management Tool did not allow for simple text searches of usernames, the hackers began identifying targets based on their recovery email address.
Once identified, the hackers then used stolen cryptographic values called "nonces" to generate forged access cookies for specific user accounts, giving both the FSB agents and Belan access to users' email accounts without the need for any password.
According to the FBI, those cookies were generated many times between 2015 and 2016 to access "more than 6,500 Yahoo accounts," out of the roughly 500 million accounts.
Victims Targeted by the Russian Spies:
According to the indictment, among other foreign webmail and Internet-related service providers, the Russian spies accessed the Yahoo accounts belonging to:
An assistant to the deputy chairman of Russia.
An officer in Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs.
A trainer working in Russia's Ministry of Sports.
Russian journalists.
Officials of states bordering Russia.
U.S. government workers.
An employee of a Swiss Bitcoin wallet company.
A U.S. airline worker.
FBI special agent John Bennett told a news conference that Yahoo first approached the bureau in 2014, regarding the hack and was "great partners" during its investigation.
However, the company took two years to go public in December 2016 with details of the data breach and advised hundreds of millions of its customers to change their passwords.
Baratov was arrested on Tuesday by the Toronto Police Department, while Belan and the two FSB officers are in Russia. The United States has requested all the three to be handed over to face charges, but the US has no extradition treaty with Russia.
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(CNN)The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been accused of being "played by the Russians" after the country's anti-doping agency missed the December 31st deadline to hand over data from its Moscow laboratory.Sir Craig Reedie, WADA president, said he was "bitterly disappointed" that one of the conditions set when it lifted the three-year suspension on the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) in September had not been met. WADA's compliance review committee will meet on January 14 in Canada to consider its options, which could see the country once again banned from international events. Travis Tygart, United States anti-doping agency (USADA) chief executive, said the situation was a "total joke" and an "embarrassment for WADA and the global anti-doping system." Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features and videosRead More'No one is surprised'In a statement, Tygart said: "In September WADA secretly moved the goalposts and reinstated Russia against the wishes of athletes, governments and the public. In doing this WADA guaranteed Russia would turn over the evidence of its state-supported doping scheme."No one is surprised this deadline was ignored and it's time for WADA to stop being played by the Russians and immediately declare them non-compliant for failing yet again to meet the deadline."Statement from USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart on WADA Failure to Enforce Deadline for Russia Data Submission pic.twitter.com/tjY1Imt5iY— USADA (@usantidoping) January 1, 2019
However, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has suggested Russia would not be suspended for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, saying the country had "served its sanction" when banned from the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang last year. WADA's decision in September allowed Russian athletes to return to competition across all sports despite the country not having complied with all demands following the revelations in 2015 of a state-sponsored doping program. The suspension was lifted pending Russia meeting "strict conditions" that included a timeline for "access to the former Moscow laboratory data and samples." In November Reedie had said it was "very hard to believe" Russian authorities "won't deliver," but last month WADA was unable to extract all of the promised data with the Russian authorities reportedly saying that the team's equipment required to be certified under Russian law. Really proud that the @ukantidoping Athlete Commission were able to put together this statement. It's time for Craig Reedie, Olivier Niggli and Thomas Bach to listen to athletes.We call on WADA to do what is right by the athletes, their families, their fans and their sport. pic.twitter.com/oJo221b0lb— Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) January 1, 2019
The UK anti-doping athlete commission said RUSADA must be declared non-compliant and suspended. It said: "The Russian state needs to prove unequivocally that they have learned from the biggest doping scandal under WADA's watch, and that they will from this date forward be committed to a drug-free, transparent regime across international sport."Otherwise the WADA compliance review committee and the WADA executive committee must immediately declare Rusada non-compliant."WADA's leadership has the opportunity to stand up for the interests of athletes, their families, their fans and their sport. We trust that those we look to for leadership will demonstrate their resolve and commitment to clean sport."In the name of sport, it is time to do what is right."RUSADA has yet to make an official statement.
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(CNN)It's the meeting of the G.O.A.T. and his potential successor -- and fans are salivating at the prospect. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will meet in Super Bowl LV on February 7 after leading their sides to victory on Championship Sunday. Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers stunned the red-hot Green Bay Packers 31-26 in the NFC championship, while Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills 38-24 in the AFC championship.And given the 18-year age difference between the two star quarterbacks, fans are thrilled at the idea of 43-year-old Brady facing off against 25-year-old Mahomes in Tampa Bay in two weeks. Some compared them to the two editions of Yoda from the Star Wars films and The Mandelorian TV series. Read MoreBrady and Mahomes playing in the Super Bowl ⏳ pic.twitter.com/fbiK9SczpM— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 25, 2021
Others tweeted photos announcing the clash of the two titans with pictures of two goats -- suggesting both Brady and Mahomes are two of the greatest players of all time -- while others compared it to a young Kobe Bryant facing an older Michael Jordan. READ: Inauguration cool -- forget the outfits, everyone is talking about the kicksMahomes vs Brady pic.twitter.com/i2WixwcyB6— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) January 25, 2021
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and now CBS commentator Tony Romo described it as an "all-time matchup" as well as comparing it to "LeBron and Jordan playing in the (NBA) Finals."It will also be the first ever Super Bowl match-up between the winning quarterbacks from the previous two Super Bowls.In winning on Sunday, Brady advanced to his 10th Super Bowl -- nine with the New England Patriots and now one with the Buccaneers after signing with them before this season. And like he did the last time he made it to the big game in 2019, he celebrated in style with his long-time Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski, who also made the move to Tampa Bay before this season. W pic.twitter.com/N8PhGC4KGK— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 25, 2021
How Brady has helped to transform the Buccaneers has been remarkable, leading the team to the Super Bowl when last year they failed to even reach the playoffs. For Mahomes, on the other hand, his stock is only on the rise. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosHe will be playing in his second successive Super Bowl having won it last year and joined Kurt Warner, Brady, and Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks to reach the Super Bowl twice in their first four NFL seasons, according to NFL Research. Five-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard even compared Mahomes' ability to that of Steph Curry on Instagram.
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Do you know — 1 Gram of DNA Can Store 1,000,000,000 Terabyte of Data for 1000+ Years?
Even in March this year, a team of researchers successfully stored digital data — an entire operating system, a movie, an Amazon gift card, a study and a computer virus — in the strands of DNA.
But what if someone stores a malicious program into the DNA, just like an infected USB storage, to hijack the computer that reads it.
A team of researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle have demonstrated the first successful DNA-based exploit of a computer system that executes the malicious code written into the synthesised DNA strands while reading it.
To carry out the hack, the researchers created biological malware and encoded it in a short stretch of DNA, which allowed them to gain "full control" of a computer that tried to process the genetic data when read by a DNA sequencing machine.
The DNA-based hack becomes possible due to lack of security in multiple DNA processing software available online, which contains insecure function calls and buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
"We analysed the security of 13 commonly used, open source programs. We selected these programs methodically, choosing ones written in C/C++," reads the research paper [PDF], titled "Computer Security, Privacy, and DNA Sequencing: Compromising Computers with Synthesized DNA, Privacy Leaks, and More."
"We found that existing biological analysis programs have a much higher frequency of insecure C runtime library function calls (e.g., strcpy). This suggests that DNA processing software has not incorporated modern software security best practices."
To create the biological malware, the researchers translated a simple computer program into a short stretch of 176 DNA letters, denoted as A, G, C, and T, each representing a binary pair (A=00, C=01, G=10, T=11).
The exploit took advantage of a basic buffer overflow attack, in which a software program executes the malicious command because it falls outside maximum length.
The command then contacted a server controlled by the team, from where the researchers took control of a computer in their laboratory they were using to analyse the DNA file.
"Our exploit did not target a program used by biologists in the field; rather it targeted one that we modified to contain a known vulnerability," the researchers said.
Although this kind of hack probably doesn't pose any threat anytime soon, the team warned that hackers could in future use fake blood or spit samples to gain access to computers, steal information, or hack medical equipments installed at forensic labs, hospitals and the DNA-based data storage centers.
The researchers will be presenting this first "DNA-based exploit of a computer system" at the next week's Usenix Security Symposium in Vancouver. For the more in-depth explanation on the DNA-based hack, you can head on to the research paper.
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Are you curiously googling or searching torrents for photos or videos of Emma Watson, Amanda Seyfried, Rose McGowan, or any other celebrities leaked in The Fappenning 2.0?
If yes, then beware, you should not click any link promising Fappenning celebrity photos.
Cybercriminals often take advantage of news headlines in order to trap victims and trick them into following links that may lead to websites containing malware or survey scams.
Last week, a few private photos of Emma Watson and Amanda Seyfried — ranging from regular selfies to explicitly sexual photos — were circulating on the Internet forums, including Reddit and 4chan, with UK's TV presenter Holly Willoughby and US actor Rose McGowan among the latest alleged victims.
Now, according to the security researchers from MalwareBytes, scammers are exploiting this new batch of leaked celebrity photos and videos by using their stolen selfies to lure victims on social media sites and making dollars.
Also Read: Hackers Threaten to Remotely Wipe 300 Million iPhones Unless Apple Pays Ransom
One of the scam campaigns uncovered by MalwareBytes targets Twitter users, promising them to follow mentioned links to access leaked embarrassing private photos of British WWE star Paige – whose intimate photos and videos, among other celebs, were leaked online last week without her permission in an act dubbed "The Fappening 2.0."
The Fappening 2.0 is named after similar leaks in 2014 when some anonymous hackers flooded the Internet with private photographs of Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Kate Upton and many hundreds of other celebrities by hacking their Apple's iCloud accounts.
Don't Install Any App To View Leaked Fappening Images — It's a Malware!
The latest scams spreading on Twitter read:
"VIDEO: WWE Superstar Paige Leaked Pics and Videos"
"Incredible!!! Leaked Pics and Videos of WWE Superstar Paige!!!!: [url] (Accept the App First)"
For accessing the content, scammers told you to first install a twitter app called "Viral News." In the hope of a glimpse of Paige's video, victims tricked into giving the malicious app permission to access their Twitter account, update their profile and post tweets on their behalf.
Once the app is installed, you are then sent to a site that serves no purpose other than enabling crooks to make money from affiliate marketing and advertising link clicks.
The site quickly grays out, asking you to click yet another link that eventually lands you on a survey page that promises to reward you with an Amazon gift card as soon as you hand over your details.
"Suffice to say, filling this in hands your personal information to marketers – and there is no guarantee you will get any pictures at the end of it," said Chris Boyd, a malware intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes.
Malware Hijacks Twitter Accounts to Spread Fappening Spam
While you are looking through all these links, the creepy app spams out the same tweets from your account, leading your followers to the same The Fappening 2.0 scam you fell for.
So far nearly 7,000 users have become a victim of the latest scam.
"As freshly leaked pictures and video of celebrities continue to be dropped online, so too will scammers try to make capital out of image-hungry clickers. Apart from the fact that these images have been taken without permission so you really shouldn't be hunting for them, anyone going digging on less than reputable sites is pretty much declaring open season on their computers," Boyd concluded.
Here are some useful tips you can follow in an effort to protect yourself from scams shared through social media:
Don't take the bait. Stay away from promotions of "exclusive," "shocking" or "sensational" photos or footage. If it sounds too outlandish to be true, it is probably a scam.
Hover over links to see their real destination. Before you click on any link, mouseover the link to see where it'll take you. Do not click on links leading to unfamiliar sites.
Don't trust your friends online. It might not actually be your friends who are liking or sharing scam links to photos. Their account may have been hijacked by scammers.
Raise your Eyebrows when asked for something in return. Beware of any site that asks you to download and install software in order to view anything else, in this case, photos and videos of Paige. This is a known tactic of spreading scam.
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(CNN)After waiting 16 years to appear in the NBA Finals, Chris Paul made his debut count. The 36-year-old continued his excellent season in Game 1 of the best-of-seven playoff series to decide who will be crowned NBA champions, scoring 32 points and dishing out nine assists as the Phoenix Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-105 on Tuesday night.In doing so, Paul became only the third player aged 36 or older to have more than 30 points in a Finals game, joining Hall-of-Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan. He also became the first player since NBA legend Michael Jordan with over 30 points and 8 assists in their Finals debut.Combined with the red-hot shooting of young superstar Devin Booker -- who scored 27 points -- and the continued breakout dominance of 22-year-old Deandre Ayton, Paul and the Suns took one step towards lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy. Read MorePaul shoots a 3-pointer over Bucks guard Pat Connaughton.Paul's big third quarter was a vital part in the Suns pulling away from the Bucks in the second half, as the 11-time All-Star scored 16 points in the quarter to assert his will on the game. In what was the first NBA Finals game in Phoenix since Jordan's Chicago Bulls won their third straight championship in 1993, Paul masterfully picked apart the Bucks defense. Afterward, Booker -- who is making his debut appearance in the playoffs this season -- praised the performance of his more experienced teammate. "Every time he shoots it, we think it's going in," Booker told the media. "Anybody that counted Chris Paul out," Booker added. "You can't ever count any guy out that has done the things that he's done on the court."So if I hear things like that, which I did, I take it as complete nonsense. If he doesn't play another game for us, you can still pay him his contract. His effect is that big, you know what I'm saying?"READ: Firework accident that killed NHL goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks was at coach's house, team saysBooker high fives Paul after Game 1 against the Bucks.Coming backHeading into the Finals, the health of two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo was a big concern for the Bucks. The "Greek Freak" hyperextended his knee in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks, missing the final two games of the series. The 26-year-old was cleared to appear in the series opener just hours before it began, and showed no signs of holding back in the opening stages, throwing himself about from the outset in the hopes of giving the Bucks a chance at victory. He finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds in 35 minutes while Khris Middleton led the team with 29 points.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosAntetokounmpo takes a moment during the game against the Suns.Afterwards, Antetokounmpo was just appreciative of the fact he was able to be out on the court competing. "I'm just happy that I'm out there and I'm able to help my team in any way possible and participate in my first NBA Finals," he said."When I went down, I thought I'm going to be out for the year," he continued. "I thought I'm gone. I thought I'd turn -- I'd hurt everything in my knee. Just being able to be on the bench and not be on a cold table getting surgery and supporting those guys, watching the game and walking around and sharing with them."
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Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success" and co-author, with Peter Eisner, of the book "High Crimes: The Corruption, Impunity, and Impeachment of Donald Trump." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. (CNN)The Pentagon inspector general tells us that many who worked with Ronny Jackson -- the former Trump White House physician and now a member of Congress from Texas -- think he was a "tyrant" and a "dictator" prone to "yelling, screaming, cursing, or belittling subordinates." Michael D'AntonioWitnesses say he suffered "meltdowns" and "tantrums" and made "sexual and denigrating comments" about a female subordinate (allegations he denies). Trump called this man "one of the finest people that I have met"-- and then similar accusations scuttled his attempt to make Jackson his Veterans Administration chief, so he created a new job for him: "Assistant to the President and Chief Medical Advisor." Read MoreAs with so many chapters in the Trump saga, the tale of Ronny Jackson illustrates the strange way that the former president either attracts people, especially men, who share his bullying and deceptive ways, or shapes them to fit the mold. A year ago, Jackson said that once he declaimed on the former president's health status before the national media, "I got the Trump stamp on me completely"... and not in a good way. The association would end up serving him well just the same.How the party of Lincoln became the party of Alex JonesJackson, who also served as White House Physician for Barack Obama, gained national attention -- and Donald Trump's devoted support -- in 2018, when he declared Trump to be in "excellent" health, despite being obese, because of his "good genes." Jackson didn't mention test results indicating heart disease and downplayed sleep habits that would make anyone chronically exhausted. Trump "has a very unique ability to just get up in the morning and reset," said Jackson. With a healthy diet, he added, "He might live to be 200 years old." With his performance in the White House press room, Jackson guaranteed himself a place next to Harold Bornstein, MD in the Hack Trump Doctor Hall of Fame. Bornstein, you'll recall, signed his name to a letter he said Trump had dictated, declaring his patient would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." But Bornstein wasn't accused of the alleged toxic behavior the inspector general reported about Jackson after reviewing documents and interviewing 78 witnesses.In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Jackson claimed the report was politically motivated and that the inspector general "resurrected" old allegations against him because he refused to "turn my back on President (Donald) Trump," who was a vocal supporter of his 2020 congressional bid. He also told CNN he rejects "any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty." The IG probe, which began in 2018, uncovered problems far more serious than goofball claims that Trump is a superior human specimen who could defy medical science on things like diet and exercise. According to the IG, witnesses allege that Jackson broke rules by drinking alcohol on presidential trips and taking prescription sleeping pills that could have impaired his responsibility to take care of the president. In the report, witnesses on a presidential trip to the Philippines during the Obama administration described Jackson's alleged behavior of heavy drinking and mistreatment of subordinates, with one witness saying he made a "sexually inappropriate comment."On Trump's taxes, here's where it gets interestingThough concerning, the reported incidents involving alcohol and pills were not as widely noted as allegations of Jackson's abusive behavior as a leader. Out of 60 people who spoke to the IG about Jackson's leadership, only 13 shared positive comments. Another 38 offered accounts of unprofessional conduct. One person said Jackson "established a workplace where fear and intimidation were kind of the hallmarks of him, his command, and control of his subordinates."This should sound familiar. Fear figures so prominently in Donald Trump's leadership style that Bob Woodward titled his 2018 bestseller about the 45th president "Fear: Trump in the White House." In his account of his years as Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen described a bully, a "con man" and "a cheat" who would insult his own children. In light of what Cohen and Woodward had to say about their subject, the IG report about Jackson suggests he was just the type of person Trump had in mind when he said in 2016 that he would surround himself with "only the best" people. In office Trump then presided over an administration that was racked by scandals, many of which were caused by the behavior of the "best" people. Turnover occurred at an astonishing rate as high-level appointees ran into ethics scandals. But Jackson's stock rose, and he showed he was willing to shamelessly spin the press, just like his boss.In February 2018 Trump appointed Jackson to replace the head of the VA who had, himself, been felled by a scandal. Two months later Jackson withdrew from consideration amid allegations of misbehavior, which he termed "completely false and fabricated." Those allegations closely resembled the charges detailed in the new IG report. "These are all false accusations," Trump told "Fox & Friends" in a phone call at the time. "There's no proof of this. He's got a beautiful record." Last year, in true Trumpian fashion, Jackson would trade on his relationship with the President as he campaigned for his new job representing Texas' 13th District. Trump did not actively campaign for him, but had privately urged him to run -- and Trump "allies and aides" pitched in to help him get elected, according to a report in the New York Times. If the Pentagon inspector general is to be believed, Jackson didn't have to work too hard to gain that kind of approval from Trump. He proved himself to be a Trump man with all the "yelling, screaming, cursing or belittling" others said was his leadership style.Get our free weekly newsletterSign up for CNN Opinion's new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and FacebookBut Trump's version of leadership wore thin with voters who, after a single term, bounced him out of office by a decisive 7 million votes. Like Trump, Jackson won his first elective office, not on the basis of his political experience but while spreading conspiratorial claims about Barack Obama and the "Deep State." Now, as scandal looms, Jackson insists he's being subjected to a "hit job" (remember: the IG report interviewed 78 people -- the report was hardly cooked up). Trump tried the same thing, complaining of witch hunts as his scandals piled one upon the other. If he likes his job in Congress, Jackson might reconsider that approach. Just look at how it worked out for the man now known as the "former guy" in the White House.
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Story highlightsFrench president party denies claim Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set upEx-IMF chief arrested on charges of sexual assault in New York; charges droppedScandal ended his career at IMF and political ambitions in FranceDSK's lawyer says his client possibly "target of a deliberate effort to destroy him"A leading figure in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's party, the UMP, has dismissed any suggestion that ex-International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was set up when he was arrested on charges of sexual assault in New York in May."To imagine that what would have happened to Mr. Strauss-Kahn would be the object of some sort of complicity from the UMP, it seems too hard to believe," said Jean-Francois Cope, secretary-general of the UMP party.Charges against Strauss-Kahn were dropped in August after questions were raised over the credibility of his accuser, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo. However, the scandal ended both his career at the IMF and any hope of the leading Socialist politician challenging Sarkozy in next year's presidential election.Now an article in the New York Review of Books says Strauss-Kahn suspected a cellphone that disappeared just before his arrest had earlier been hacked. It also describes CCTV footage showing employees of the Sofitel hotel appearing to celebrate after the maid reported the alleged attack.A female friend of Strauss-Kahn allegedly warned him that an email he had sent had been read at UMP offices in Paris. If this was the case it meant, according to the New York Review of Books, "he had reason to suspect he might be under electronic surveillance in New York. He had already been warned by a friend in the French diplomatic corps that an effort would be made to embarrass him with a scandal. The warning that his BlackBerry might have been hacked was therefore all the more alarming."The author of the New York Review of Books story, Edward Epstein, told Agence-France Presse: "I didn't say it was a political conspiracy but I would say that people wanted to find evidence of an indiscretion of his that could derail either his (French presidential) candidacy or even (his work at) the IMF."JUST WATCHEDDSK: Attempted rape complaint dropped ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDSK: Attempted rape complaint dropped 01:43JUST WATCHEDNew book targets former IMF chiefReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNew book targets former IMF chief 02:06One of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, William Taylor, also told the news agency his client was possibly "the target of a deliberate effort to destroy him as a political force." However, Taylor did not say exactly who might be to blame.In France, right-wing politicians described the entire story as pure fantasy. "For me, if there are facts, if there is clear evidence, of course, it goes without saying that conclusions will have to be drawn," said the UMP's Cope. "As long as they are only rumors, gossip, allegations on the basis of anonymous testimony, which we know absolutely nothing about, you can understand that we remain a little more reserved and certainly not fooled."In a television interview following his return to Paris, Strauss-Kahn confessed to a "moral weakness" and an "inappropriate relationship" with Diallo, but denied any violence or aggression. Strauss-Kahn still faces a civil suit from Diallo in New York, but he has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing his job gave him immunity from civil cases.The New York hotel where the alleged incident was reported also dismissed the story as "inaccurate and speculative." The Sofitel hotel chain released a statement saying: "The article states that two Sofitel employees were seen 'celebrating' on tape for three minutes. In fact, the incident in question lasted only eight seconds and both employees categorically deny this exchange had anything to do with Mr. Strauss-Kahn."Sofitel Luxury Hotels has cooperated with law enforcement authorities for the entirety of this case as was its civic and legal obligation. As the civil trial remains pending in the U.S., it would not be appropriate to comment on the facts of the case."
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Story highlightsUEFA sets out punishments for clubs and nations whose fans are found guilty of racist abuseMember associations encouraged to follow similar stepsBerlin's Olympic Stadium to host Champions League final with Europa League final in WarsawWinner of Europa League expected to receive place in the Champions League from 2015After a year where football's name has been dragged through the mud by a series of racism controversies, UEFA has announced that players and officials will face a 10-match ban if found guilty of racist abuse.Following a meeting of UEFA's executive committee in London Thursday, the European governing body confirmed the bans would apply to its own competitions, while other national associations remain free to decide on their own punishments.The new tougher sanction comes just over a week after the English Football Association drew criticism for its plans to introduce a minimum five-match suspension for racism.Read: UEFA wants 10-match bans for racist abuse"An association should adopt the same or similar measures. UEFA has always acted in a way to try to convince people rather than impose," said UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino at a press conference."I don't think you measure the way of fighting against racism in one simple measure and sanction.JUST WATCHEDBalotelli: I've had enough of racist abuseReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBalotelli: I've had enough of racist abuse 01:15JUST WATCHEDBoateng: Racism in football must endReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBoateng: Racism in football must end 04:09JUST WATCHEDWebb: Racism sanctions will send messageReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWebb: Racism sanctions will send message 00:57"The way I read the FA's decision is that it could be five matches and it could also be 15. The FA is sure their way of regulating is more correct for England."It's their decision but it doesn't mean they do more or less than us. Everyone has to do what they can do in this field."The FA is autonomous and knows best what is best for England to do in the fight against racism. It is probably one of the countries where the most has been done."According to details released by UEFA, clubs and national side's whose fans are found guilty of racist abuse will be punished with a partial stadium closure as a first offense, while a second offense will lead to a complete closure.Read: Balotelli threatens to walkOnly last week, AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli told CNN that he was prepared to walk off the pitch if racially abused once again.The Italy striker was subjected to "monkey chants" by visiting fans during Milan's goalless draw with Roma at the San Siro."I always said that if it (racism) happened in the stadium I will just do like 'nobody says nothing and I don't care,'" Balotelli told CNN.JUST WATCHEDBoris Becker: A champion's London tourReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBoris Becker: A champion's London tour 02:19JUST WATCHEDWembley Stadium: Home of world footballReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWembley Stadium: Home of world football 03:11JUST WATCHEDWho will win the Champions League final?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWho will win the Champions League final? 01:11"But this time I think I've changed my mind a little bit. If it's going to happen one more time, then I'm going to leave the pitch because it's so stupid."Balotelli is not the first player to have suffered racial abuse while playing for AC Milan -- one of the most revered clubs in Europe having won 18 league titles and seven European Cups.Read: Boateng wants refs to have stronger powersIn January, midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng walked off the pitch in disgust after being racially abused by a section of supporters during a friendly game at Pro Patria.Since then, UEFA has stated its intention to introduce stricter punishments for those found guilty of racism after being heavily criticized in the past for being too lenient.The new rules are intended to curb racism at clubs such as Italian club Lazio, which has been charged four times by UEFA so far this season, with the Italian side paying $300,000 in fines.Europe's governing body also plans to introduce the implementation of biological passports for players in the future.Biological profiles are built up by collating an athlete's drug test results over time, therefore making it easier to detect differences which could indicate the use of a banned substance.A new UEFA anti-doping program will also examine 900 samples given in the past five years to decipher whether steroids have been used.On Friday, UEFA is expected to announce changes to the Europa League with the winner set to be granted a place in the Champions League from 2015.Meanwhile, Berlin's Olympic Stadium will host the 2015 Champions League final, while Warsaw will welcome the finalists of the Europa League.
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(CNN)In her opener at this year's U.S. Open, Serena Williams spent half an hour on court and didn't lose a single game against a hobbling Vitalia Diatchenko.Follow @cnnsport
Wednesday's outing versus Kiki Bertens in New York was more indicative of the way things have gone for the American at grand slams in 2015: She toiled for a large chunk of the late afternoon contest. As she has done at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, however, the undisputed world No. 1 prevailed to move within five matches of becoming the first player since Steffi Graf 27 years ago to complete the calendar-year grand slam. JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams' U.S. Open stylesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams' U.S. Open styles 00:52The 7-6 (5) 6-3 result as the hot weather persisted in the Big Apple was indeed as close as the score suggested. Bertens, a qualifier ranked 110th, had never defeated a top-10 player in her career but owned a 17-2 record when representing the Netherlands in the Fed Cup. With the overwhelming majority of those assembled on Arthur Ashe stadium rooting for Williams, the atmosphere resembled the partisan environment often encountered in women's tennis' most prestigious team competition. Read MoreAnd with Williams admittedly nervous ahead of the match, an on-song Bertens broke early. Not closing out the set serving at 5-4 did little to dampen the 23-year-old's spirits, as she raced to a 4-0 advantage in the tiebreak. Cue the Williams comeback. Another one this year. "I think being down a lot, I know I can try to make a comeback," Williams, the three-time defending U.S. Open champion, told the crowd. "Plus, I never stop. "It doesn't worry me."JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams' life in numbersReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams' life in numbers 01:10But even the most optimistic of Williams supporters had to have been concerned in the tiebreak as the first four points went to the underdog. After Williams forced an error and happily watched Bertens strike two unforced errors to make it 4-3, the turning point might have come next. Bertens crushed a second-serve return, only for Williams to scamper and manage to keep her reply in play. Bertens then erred on a forehand for 4-4 and things were slipping away. She tossed her racket in disgust after a net-cord contributed to a forehand error on set point. Williams thus stole the set -- and realistically ended the contest -- despite tallying 26 unforced errors and eight double faults, including four in the 11th game. The 33-year-old next faces countrywoman Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who eased past CoCo Vandeweghe 6-2 6-1 one round after Vandeweghe, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, upset Sloane Stephens. Unable to contain her frustration, Vandeweghe destroyed her racket in the first set Wednesday. JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams bringing in new sponsorsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams bringing in new sponsors 02:43Also advancing to the third round was Eugenie Bouchard. Bouchard turned to retired great Jimmy Connors in an effort to end her alarming skid and the move seems to be paying off. When the 2014 Wimbledon finalist edged Polona Hercog 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-3, it marked the first time since March the Canadian won back-to-back matches. Bouchard originally failed to serve out the affair in the second set. Her next foe is Dominika Cibulkova, like the 21-year-old a grand slam finalist last year who is seeking to rediscover top form. In men's play, slumping two-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-5, although he may have played better in the first round against Borna Coric even after needing four sets to progress. Elsewhere, defending champion Marin Cilic downed Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-3 7-5; Bouchard's fellow Canadian Milos Raonic, ranked 10th, overcame back troubles to defeat Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-4 6-7 (5) 7-6 (1); and David Ferrer -- a longtime member of the top 10 -- beat Filip Krajinovic 7-5 7-5 7-6 (4) in his first tournament since June. This is my favourite emoji! #usopen .@cilic_marin pic.twitter.com/54f2B6od15— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2015
Mardy Fish, a former top-10 player, contested the last match of his career, losing to Feliciano Lopez 2-6 6-3 1-6 7-5 6-3. Fish, hindered by heart issues and anxiety in recent years, succumbed to cramps in the fifth set after relinquishing a 5-4 lead, with a break, in the fourth. . @MardyFish hell of an effort my friend... I couldn't be prouder ..... Time for that margarita #cheers— andyroddick (@andyroddick) September 2, 2015
"I have got a lot of great memories," Fish told reporters. "I've got a lot of good wins out here. I have made a lot of really good friendships with almost everyone out here. I'll miss that."And then the health stuff, I'm just trying to help any way I can and share my story. If it helps other people, that's great."Read: Federer flawless, Murray magical
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Prime Minister Theresa May wants tech companies, like Facebook, Apple, and Google, to create controversial 'backdoors' for police, but even somewhere she knows that it's not that easy as it sounds.
The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has released a draft proposal [PDF] for new laws on privacy and electronic communications, recommending end-to-end (E2E) encryption on all communications and forbidding backdoors that offer access to law enforcement.
"The protection of confidentiality of communications is also an essential condition for the respect of other related fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the protection of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of expression and information," the draft reads.
Draft Says, Your Security is Our Top Priority
According to the draft, EU citizens need more protection, not less and they need to know that the "confidentiality and safety" of their data is "guaranteed," but software backdoors risk "weakening" that privacy.
What is backdoor? By definition, "Backdoor is a feature or defect of a computer system that allows surreptitious unauthorized access to data."
Many countries' government, including the US Defence Department, have forced major companies to provide backdoor access to their services, allowing the feds to intercept users' traffic and access everything from secure messages to their web activities.
But, "Technically, there is no such backdoor that only the government can access. If surveillance tools can exploit the vulnerability by design, then an attacker who gained access to it would enjoy the same privilege."
Draft Demands End-to-End Encryption & Ban On Backdoors
The proposed draft recommends the use of end-to-end encryption that would make it more difficult for federal officials to request data from tech companies.
The proposal would ban decryption of user data as well as the creation of backdoors in software or encryption technologies that could allow government access to users' private information.
So if the amendments pass, the ban on software backdoors would make it difficult for the government to enforce the Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000's requirement that companies remove "electronic protection" when possible.
For those unaware, end-to-end encryption is a secure communication that encrypts data on the sender's system before passing it to a company's server. The company then passes the encrypted data to the intended recipient, who is the only person who can decrypt it.
Nobody in between, be it an application service provider, an Internet service provider (ISP), hacker, or even law enforcement officials, can read or tamper with the data.
"When encryption of electronic communications data is used, decryption, reverse engineering or monitoring of such communications shall be prohibited," the draft reads.
"Member States shall not impose any obligations on electronic communications service providers that would result in the weakening of the security and encryption of their networks and services."
Securing the 'Internet of Things'
Similarly, the draft also says, the current law have not kept pace with how the machine-to-machine communications in the Internet of Things can expose citizens.
The connected devices and machines are increasingly communicating with each other today by using electronic communications networks.
So, according to the committee, this Regulation should also be applied to the machine-to-machine communications in order to "ensure full protection of the rights to privacy and confidentiality of communications, and to promote a trusted and secure Internet of Things in the digital single market."
In short, the committee wants that any future means of communication, such as "calls, internet access, instant messaging applications, email, internet phone calls and messaging provided through social media" are all protected from hackers, government and prying eyes.
The committee wants that applications, browsers, internet service providers, cars, smartphones or fitness trackers should also respect no-track requests from their customers, and snoop their data only after getting users' consent.
However, it should be noted that most technology companies fall under the United States court of law, and post-Snowden era proves that as long as your countries' data is stored out of your boundaries, your policies and regulations would hardly make any difference.
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Security researchers are expected to disclose new vulnerabilities in near field communication (NFC), mobile baseband firmware, HTML5 and Web application firewalls next week at the Black Hat USA 2012 security conference.
The Black Hat session aim to expose sometimes shocking vulnerabilities in widely used products. They also typically show countermeasures to plug the holes.
Two independent security consultants will give a class called "Advanced ARM exploitation," part of a broader five-day private class the duo developed. In a sold-out session, they will detail hardware hacks of multiple ARM platforms running Linux, some described on a separate blog posting.
The purpose of the talk is to reach a broader audience and share the more interesting bits of the research that went into developing the Practical ARM Exploitation and presenters Stephen Ridley and Stephen Lawler demonstrate how to defeat XN, ASLR, stack cookies, etc. using nuances of the ARM architecture on Linux.
In addition to mobile and Web security, Black Hat presentations will also cover security issues and attack techniques affecting industrial control systems, smart meters and embedded devices.
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