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Yahoo has patched a critical security vulnerability in its Mail service that could have allowed an attacker to spy on any Yahoo user's inbox.
Jouko Pynnönen, a Finnish Security researcher from security firm Klikki Oy, reported a DOM based persistent XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) in Yahoo mail, which if exploited, allows an attacker to send emails embedded with malicious code.
In his blog post published today, the researcher demonstrated how a malicious attacker could have sent the victim's inbox to an external site, and created a virus that attached itself to all outgoing emails by secretly adding a malicious script to message signatures.
Since the malicious code is in the message's body, the code will get executed as soon as the victim opens the boobytrapped email and its hidden payload script will covertly submit victim's inbox content to an external website controlled by the attacker.
This issue is because Yahoo Mail failed to properly filter potentially malicious code in HTML emails.
"It would be possible to embed a number of HTML attributes that are passed through Yahoo's HTML filter and treated specially," Pynnönen says in his blog post.
Pynnönen says he found the vulnerability by force-feeding all known HTML tags and attributes in order to the filter that Yahoo uses to weed out malicious HTML, but certain malicious HTML code managed to pass through.
"As a proof of concept I supplied Yahoo Security with an email that, when viewed, would use AJAX to read the user's inbox contents and send it to the attacker's server," Pynnönen says.
Pynnönen privately disclosed the vulnerability to Yahoo through its HackerOne bug bounty program and was awarded a $10,000 bounty.
Pynnönen reported a similar vulnerability in the web version of the Yahoo! Mail service earlier this year for which he earned $10,000. He also reported a stored XSS vulnerability in Flickr to Yahoo in December 2015 for which he earned $500.
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Apache Patch released for Reverse proxy Bypass Vulnerability
Security experts at Context have discovered a hole in the Apache web server that allows remote attackers to access internal servers. Security experts are warning firms running the Apache web server to keep up to date with the latest patches after the Apache Software Foundation issued a security advisory to all customers highlighting a new vulnerability. The weakness in 1.3 and all 2.x versions of the Apache HTTP Server can be exploited only under certain conditions.
Reverse proxies are used to route external HTTP and HTTPS web requests to one of several internal web servers to access data and resources. Typical applications include load balancing, separating static from dynamic content, or to present a single interface to a number of different web servers at different paths.
Context explained that the attack is based on an Apache web server using the mod_rewrite proxy function, and uses a common hacking tool to change the request to access DMZ systems."We can access any internal/DMZ system which the proxy can access including administration interfaces on firewalls, routers, web servers, databases etc," the firm said."Context has had plenty of success with this attack where credentials are weak on the internal systems allowing for full network compromise e.g. uploading Trojan WAR files on to JBoss servers."
Apache issued a patch for those who compile their own installations of the webserver. It wouldn't be surprising to see Linux distributions release their own security updates in the next few days. Apache's advisory also contains suggestions for writing proxy rules that prevent the attack from working. Adding a simple forward slash to certain configurations, for example, will go a long way to protecting sensitive systems. The line is "RewriteRule (.*)\.(jpg|gif|png)" could expose internal servers, while the line "RewriteRule /(.*)\.(jpg|gif|png)" (note the extra "/") will ensure they remain protected.
The best way to prevent this type of attack is to apply the new Apache patch and run the latest version of the software, and to ensure that your reverse proxy rewrite rules can't be employed to access internal systems, according to Context.
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Yes, from today, Microsoft is ending the support for versions 8, 9 and 10 of its home-built browser Internet Explorer, thereby encouraging Windows users to switch on to Internet Explorer version 11 or its newest Edge browser.
Microsoft is going to release one last patch update for IE8, IE9 and IE10 today, but this time along with an "End of Life" notice, meaning Microsoft will no longer support the older versions.
So, if you want to receive continuous updates for your web browser and avoid being exposed to potential security risks after 12 January, you are advised to upgrade your browser to Internet Explorer 11, or its new Edge browser.
End of Life of Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10
"Internet Explorer 11 is the last version of Internet Explorer, and will continue to receive security updates, compatibility fixes, and technical support on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10," Microsoft says.
This move could be part of Microsoft's bigger plan to move its users to the new Edge browser, which is currently available only on Windows 10 PCs.
With the launch of Microsoft Edge last April, the company attempted to encourage Windows 10 users to switch to Edge if they are using its rival browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, as the default web browser.
Edge has been designed completely separate to Internet Explorer, and promises speed and usability, with support for Cortana -- Microsoft's virtual assistant.
Around 340 Million Users Run Internet Explorer
For higher adoption of Edge, Microsoft is finally ending support for Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10. However, an estimated 340 Million Windows users are still running Internet Explorer, and nearly half of those are believed to be using one of the expired IE versions.
Therefore, the older versions of the browser will receive KB3123303 patch today that will feature "nag box" asking users to upgrade their browser.
If you have "Automatic Updates" turned ON, you most likely upgraded to IE11 already. However, users with older IE browsers can turn "Automatic Updates" ON by clicking on "Check for Updates" in the "Windows Update" section of the Control Panel.
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Story highlightsMaria Sharapova hasn't appeared in a major since 2016Sharapova returned in April after serving a 15-month ban (CNN)Maria Sharapova is set to make her first grand slam appearance since serving a 15-month doping ban.Sharapova, a five-time major champion and a former world No. 1, has been given a wild card for the women's singles main draw at the US Open. The USTA made the announcement on Tuesday, also giving wild cards to Taylor Townsend, Kayla Day, Sofia Kenin, Ashley Kratzer, Brienne Minor and Amandine Hesse.Sharapova, 30, returned to the WTA Tour in April and is currently ranked No. 148. Due to her suspension, her ranking had plummeted to a level where she wasn't good enough to reach the main draw of the French Open, Wimbledon or the US Open, thus necessitating a wild card entry.JUST WATCHEDFederer: 'Dream scenario' to win 8th WimbledonReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFederer: 'Dream scenario' to win 8th Wimbledon 02:41READ: How Garbine Muguruza became a championRead MoreIn May, the French Tennis Federation denied Sharapova a wild card entry to the French Open. Following that decision, Sharapova elected to enter Wimbledon qualifying in the final week of June instead of requesting a main-draw wild wildcard. However, she was forced to pull out of Wimbledon qualifying due to a thigh injury she suffered at the Italian Open in May.Sharapova hasn't played in a major since she lost to Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals on January 25, 2016. Her last major title came in 2014, when she won the French Open. Sharapova won the US Open in 2006 and reached the semifinals in 2005 and 2012.JUST WATCHEDWimbledon champ went to bed earlyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWimbledon champ went to bed early 02:56READ: Serena slams gender pay gap In March 2016, Sharapova announced that she had tested positive for meldonium. She said she failed to realize the heart drug she had taken for more than a decade for various health issues had been added to the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 1, 2016.Initially, she was given a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation, but it was reduced on appeal to 15 months.
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Hard time for mobile phone users!
Just recently, two severe vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and Stagefright were spotted on the Android platform, affecting more than a Billion and Millions of devices respectively.
And now:
Hackers have discovered a new way to install malicious apps onto your iPhone without your interaction.
Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have uncovered a new strain of malware that can infect Non-Jailbroken (factory-configured) iPhones and iPads without the owner's knowledge or interaction, leaving hundreds of millions of Apple iOS devices at risk.
Dubbed AceDeceiver, the iPhone malware installs itself on iOS devices without enterprise certificates and exploits designing flaws in Apple's digital rights management (DRM) protection mechanism called FairPlay.
What's more concerning about this malware:
Unlike most iOS malware, AceDeceiver works on factory-configured (non-jailbroken) iOS devices as well.
FairPlay is an Apple's software program that prevents people from stealing purchased apps from its official App Store.
However, with the help of AceDeceiver's "FairPlay Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) technique," hackers can install malicious apps on your iPhone even without your knowledge, simultaneously bypassing Apple's other security defenses.
According to researchers, the FairPlay Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) technique has been in use since 2013, as a way to distribute pirated iOS apps.
"In the FairPlay MITM attack, attackers purchase an app from App Store then intercept and save the authorization code," Claud Xiao from Palo Alto Networks explains in a blog post. "They then developed PC software that simulates the iTunes client behaviors, and tricks iOS devices to believe the app was purchased by the victim."
However, this is the first time the FairPlay technique has been used to spread malware on iOS devices, as the creator of the pirated software can install potentially malicious apps without your knowledge.
Currently, the malicious behaviors related to AceDeceiver has been spotted in China, but researchers warn that the malware could be easily configured to target iPhone users of other geographic regions as well.
For more details, you can head on to Palo Alto Networks' blog post about the AceDeceiver threat.
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(CNN)Former British Prime Minister David Cameron says he doesn't regret calling a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union -- but wishes the result had gone the other way."I made a promise to the British people -- I kept that promise," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in his first major broadcast interview since resigning in 2016, to mark the release of a report on development in fragile states by a committee he co-chairs.Cameron's fateful decision to call the referendum led to his political downfall and left his successor, Theresa May, with a diplomatic tangle that has plagued her shaky government. Brexit negotiations have been fraught, and key sticking points remain outstanding less than a year before Britain is due formally to leave the EU.Cameron, who campaigned to stay in the EU, continues to believe the outcome of the vote was a mistake. "I think we've taken the wrong course," he said.Cameron resigned the day after the Brexit referendum, June 24, 2016.But the former prime minister said that, after more than two decades of EU membership during which the bloc had acquired greater powers in successive treaties, a referendum was the right thing to do. "I don't think you can belong to these organizations and see their powers grow and treaty after treaty and power after power going from Westminster to Brussels and never asking the people whether they're happy governed in that way."Read MoreRelated: UK government loses key Brexit voteOn Syria air strikes: 'May was right'Like his successor, Cameron faced a decision on whether to retaliate against the use of chemical weapons in Syria. He asked the UK Parliament to back his plans for air strikes in 2013, but lost the vote and was forced to withdraw a plan to allow UK fighter jets to bomb targets in Syria. This time, May did not seek prior parliamentary approval to join the US in striking at the Syrian regime.Cameron told Amanpour that he supported the air strikes, launched by British, American and French forces last weekend. May "has done the right thing," he said."This is not about regime change in Syria, although God knows we need it. It's not about intervening in the civil war. It is about making a point that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable."The US assessed that sarin and chlorine were used in an attack on a rebel enclave in the Damascus suburb of Douma earlier this month. Cameron said that the world could not allow the use of chemical weapons "to become normalized."Cameron told Amanpour that he wished the House of Commons had supported him five years ago. "I deeply regret that Parliament didn't vote for similar action in 2013," he said. "I think I know why -- a lot of people were so unhappy about what had happened in Iraq, and they were so bruised by that."On his legacy: 'People will make up their own minds' Until now, Cameron has said little in public about the Brexit vote, which fulfilled a pledge he made to voters ahead of the UK election in 2015. He was caught on a hot microphone in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, telling a steel magnate that Brexit was "a mistake not a disaster," and that it had "turned out less badly than we first thought."'Just get on with it': Brexit voters want out -- for better or worseCameron unexpectedly resigned a day after the vote, when Britons voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU.Peter Mandelson, a former British trade minister, told the Financial Times recently that history would remember Cameron for nothing more than taking the UK out of the EU: "A man who took this tactical risk, which then turned into a strategic blunder," he said.When Amanpour put that quote to Cameron, he was diplomatic. "I think people will make up their own minds," he said. "I obviously believe that I was right to hold a referendum."He touted the economic growth, job creation and boosted budget for development aid over which he presided."People say this is all about politics. And of course there's always politics involved in these decisions." But the British people, he said, saw "with the development of the single currency the beginning of decisions being made about us without us, and we needed to fix our position.""I wanted to fix it inside the European Union. The British public chose that we would fix it from outside the European Union.""And I wish my successor well with her work in being what I hope will be a good and friendly and close neighbor to the European Union rather than as we were -- perhaps we were a slightly unhappy tenant."On 'fragile states'Since leaving office, Cameron has focused his concerns on governance abroad.A key proposal from the Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development, which is backed by the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford, is to simplify the goals that Western countries and international organizations often set for fragile sates."We need to strip that back and say actually the most important things are basic security, and basic economics," he told Amanpour.That means being realistic about the pace of democratic reform."If you go straight to the election, you may find you get one person, one vote -- but it might be one person, one vote, once -- and one of the parties to the conflict wins the election, and then really overrides the system and you don't get the genuine democracy."For a country like Iraq, where power is divided between a large swath of groups, including Sunni and Shiite Muslims, he advocated a period under a provisional government during which norms of power sharing would be established, before multiparty elections are held."We've got to be realistic," he said. "Sometimes we look at a country like Somalia... and the international community almost says, 'Right, we've got this great plan to turn you into Denmark, this model of democracy, in a very short period of time.' It's totally unrealistic."Fragile countries become "unfragile" only when "the people in those countries look to those governments and institutions and say, 'Yes, they're mine.'"
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Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was ordered to reveal the complete source code for the TOR exploit it used to hack visitors of the world's largest dark web child pornography site, PlayPen.
Robert J. Bryan, the federal judge, ordered the FBI to hand over the TOR browser exploit code so that defence could better understand how the agency hacked over 1,000 computers and if the evidence gathered was covered under the scope of the warrant.
Now, the FBI is pushing back against the federal judge's order.
On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI filed a sealed motion asking the judge to reconsider its ruling, saying revealing the exploit used to bypass the Tor Browser protections is not necessary for the defense and other cases.
In previous filings, the defence has argued that the offensive operation used in the case was "gross misconduct by government and law enforcement agencies," and that the Network Investigative Technique (NIT) conducted additional functions beyond the scope of the warrant.
The Network Investigative Technique or NIT is the FBI's terminology for a custom hacking tool designed to penetrate TOR users.
This particular case concerns Jay Michaud, one of the accused from Vancouver, Washington, who was arrested in last year after the FBI seized a dark web child sex abuse site and ran it from agency's own servers for the duration of 13 days.
During this period, the FBI deployed an NIT tool against users who visited particular, child pornography threads, grabbing their real IP addresses among other details. This leads to the arrests of Michaud among others.
The malware expert, Vlad Tsyrklevich held by the defense to analyse the NIT, said that it received only the parts of the NIT to analyse, but not sections that would ensure that the identifier attached to the suspect's NIT-infection was unique.
"He is wrong," Special Agent Daniel Alfin writes. "Discovery of the 'exploit' would do nothing to help him determine if the government exceeded the scope of the warrant because it would explain how the NIT was deployed to Michaud's computer, not what it did once deployed."
In a separate case, the Tor Project has accused the FBI of paying Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) at least $1 Million to disclose the technique it had discovered that could help them unmask Tor users and reveal their IP addresses. Though, the FBI denies the claims.
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Dublin, Ireland (CNN)Ireland has voted an emphatic "Yes" to amend the country's constitution to enable legislation that would allow women to have an abortion in a historic and emotionally charged referendum.With a high turnout of 64.13%, 1,429,98, or 66.4%, voted for the amendment Friday and 723,632, or 33.6%, against, according to the country's Referendum Commission. The results that were announced Saturday defied earlier projections that it would be a tight race.Only one county voted no -- the rural and religiously conservative Donegal in northwest Ireland. The vote signifies a resounding victory for the government of Leo Varadkar, the Prime Minister, or Taoiseach as the office is called in Ireland."Today is a historic day for Ireland," Varadkar said at a press conference. "A quiet revolution has taken place, and today is a great act of democracy."Read More"A hundred years since women gained the right to vote, today we as a people have spoken," he said. "And we say that we trust women and respect women to make their own decisions and their own choices." He noted that people in "almost every county, almost every constituency, men and women, all social classes and almost all age groups" voted to repeal the amendment. "We are not a divided country," he said.Chants of "Yes we did" rose from the crowd as the Referendum Commission's Returning Officer Barry Ryan announced the final results. "Yes" supporters wait for the final results Saturday at Dublin Castle.It was a scene of jubilation as some supporters burst into tears. Others began laughing as they hugged one another and asked each other, "Can you believe we did this?"Emma Gallagher, 22, began crying as she heard the final results. "I feel safe now, I feel comfortable," she told CNN. "It felt for a long time women didn't matter. ... Now we know that we matter."Rene Wogan, 66, held Gallagher's hand and told her, "It was all for justice. You're forwarding the flag on for women."Thousands of people packed the square in front of Dublin Castle as abortion rights politicians, including Varadkar, also joined the celebration. He told Sky TV he expected legislation to be voted through by the end of the year."I feel enormous relief and great pride in the people of Ireland who didn't maybe know what they thought until they were finally asked the questions," Ailbhe Smyth, a longtime women's rights activist, told CNN."It has been a long and very hard road, but we never lost sight of this because it's so central to the existence, and the selfhood and personhood of women to have that control of our own bodies."A woman from the "Yes" campaign reacts after final results were announced Saturday at Dublin Castle. The Eighth Amendment, which was added to the constitution following a referendum in 1983, banned abortion in Ireland unless there was a "real and substantial risk" to the mother's life.Repeal of the amendment has completed a circle of sweeping social reforms in the European Union nation that fly in the face of the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church, from contraception to divorce, and most recently same-sex marriage. Roscommon, in the rural interior, the only county to say no to same-sex marriage, also voted yes in the abortion referendum. Thousands of Irish working abroad returned to Ireland to cast their vote. This is my mam. It took 38 years for us to find each other again. The last time she saw me was when she was running after a car as nuns drove away with me.We voted yes.We stand together for change.#repealThe8th #repealedThe8th pic.twitter.com/CXHAptgKzc— michellesinhell (@michellesinhell) May 26, 2018
Those opposed to abortion vowed Saturday to take their fight now to the Irish Parliament, where lawmakers will have to bring about legislation allowing for terminations in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy -- and later in cases where there is a risk to the mother's life or the fetus is not expected to survive."The truth is not established by popular consensus," said Mark Hickey, who voted no, while observing the official ballot count. "We will look back at this moment in history as being a very gray one. From this point of view that we did not stand up for the most innocent, most weak and most vulnerable in our society, which is the unborn."Dr. Ruth Cullen, spokeswoman for the anti-abortion LoveBoth campaign, conceded defeat Saturday before the count had finished. "We will hold the Taoiseach to his promise that repeal would only lead to abortion in very restrictive circumstances. He gave his word on this, now he must deliver on it. No doubt many people voted for repeal based on the Taoiseach's promises in this regard," Cullen said at a press conference Saturday.In his statement Saturday, Varadkar acknowledged that those who voted against the repeal likely feel that they no longer recognize their country. "I want to reassure you that Ireland today is the same country as it was last week," he said, "but just a little bit more tolerant, more open and more respectful." The death of an Indian dentist ignited the abortion rights campaign in Ireland. Savita Halappanavar, 31, died in 2012 because of complications from a natural miscarriage after abortion was denied to her. Repeal supporters leave notes at a mural of Savita Halappanavar, whose death sparked the campaign.Voters over 65 were the only age group overall not supporting the repeal of the amendment.Ireland's vote will likely put pressure on Northern Ireland to change its abortion laws, too. Despite Northern Ireland being part of the UK, the 1967 Abortion Act legalizing abortions never applied there, and even victims of rape and incest are forced to travel to mainland Britain if they want a termination.CNN's Kara Fox reported from Dublin, while Hilary Clarke wrote from London and Dakin Andone from Atlanta. CNN's Muhammad Darwish and Laura Perez Maestro contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsTheresa May expected to become Britain's prime minister on Wednesday evening In politics for decades, she has strong stances on immigration, same-sex marriage (CNN)Theresa May is not a mother -- her opponent made that clear, to her own demise -- but you may be wondering who exactly is this conservative politician tapped to lead post-Brexit Great Britain. Let's start by making one thing clear: Though May stood with the Remain camp, there will be no do-over on the Brexit vote. "Brexit means Brexit. The campaign was fought. The vote was held. Turnout was high, and the public gave their verdict," she said, asserting there was no chance of a second referendum on Britain leaving the European Union. The 59-year-old May became the heir apparent after Andrea Leadsom, the final of four opponents in the bid to lead the Conservative Party, dropped out following backlash to her remarks that she was more qualified than May to lead Britain because she is a mother.To be fair, the tea leaves were already pointing toward May, who garnered 99 more Conservative Parliament members' votes than Leadsom in the first round of ballots, and 115 more in the second. Read MoreJUST WATCHEDTheresa May: We will build a better BritainReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTheresa May: We will build a better Britain 01:29Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he will lead his last Cabinet meeting Tuesday and will deliver his resignation to Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. May will formally replace Cameron on Wednesday evening."It is clear Theresa May has the overwhelming support of the Conservative parliamentary party," he said in a statement. "I'm also delighted that Theresa May will be the next prime minister. She is strong, she is competent, she's more than able to provide the leadership the country is going to need in the years ahead and she will have my full support."Leadsom also pledged her support to May. In remarks shortly after her leadership was affirmed, May vowed to negotiate with the European Union for a successful Brexit, to unite the country and to espouse a "strong, new, positive vision for the future," not just for the privileged, but for everyone. Here are some things you should know about Britain's next leader:Growing upThe daughter of a Church of England vicar was born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on England's southeast coast, BBC has reported. She attended both public and private schools and went on to study geography at Oxford University's St. Hugh's College, graduating in 1977, her website says. Professional careerShortly after graduating, May began working at the Bank Of England, where she remained until 1983. May went on to hold positions at what is now the UK Payments Administration, according to a biography on her party's website. PoliticsMay entered the political fray more than 30 years ago, starting out by "stuffing envelopes at her local Conservative association before serving as a councilor in the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994," her party bio says. After failed bids to join Parliament in 1992 and 1994, May was elected a Conservative member of Parliament for Maidenhead, just west of London, in 1997, the Parliament website says.How she got hereIn her latest re-election, in 2010, May won her Maidenhead seat by a landslide, tallying more than twice the votes of her Liberal Democrat opponent.She's served in a slew of positions since joining Parliament (too many to outline, but you can see them all here), including being a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 to 2010 and serving as the first female party chair from 2002 to 2003. "Theresa was appointed Home Secretary in May 2010. In this role she is leading the Government's work to free up the police to fight crime more effectively, secure the borders and reduce immigration, and protect the UK from terrorism," the bio on her website says.ReputationTheresa May has been compared to Germany's Angela Merkel.The Financial Times in London has described May as a liberal conservative and compared her to Germany's Angela Merkel. May ran as a "safe pair of hands," meaning she could be trusted to handle her party's leadership during trying times, namely the economic instability wrought by the Brexit vote. CNN political contributor Robin Oakley said May, who has a reputation as a serious-minded workaholic, was "the nearest thing you could find in British politics today to Margaret Thatcher."On the issuesNaturally, any politician with her tenure has plenty of accomplishments to tout, not to mention some embarrassments, including the so-called "go home vans," which were billed as an effort to encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport but were widely panned as xenophobic. Lest we forget, the soon-to-be new UK prime minister sent out 'Go Home' vans deemed too extreme even by Nigel Farage pic.twitter.com/d2NqvPKL5g— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 11, 2016While we don't have room to outline where May stands on the many issues facing Britain, you can find those stances here and here. In sum, she is largely for same-sex marriage, reducing welfare benefits, selling public forests, sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, raising undergraduate tuition fees, decreasing the number of members of the House of Commons, electing police and crime commissioners and stronger enforcement of immigration rules. She's in for a fightIt was only minutes after May secured her party's leadership, paving her way to 10 Downing Street, that her detractors were quick to surface a 2007 column she wrote blasting then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was in his first year in office. In the column, she criticized the Labour Party leader's National Health Service cuts and the party's inability to curb violent crime. But it was the final paragraph that people were seizing on Monday. Unelected prime minister Gordon Brown has "no democratic mandate" without an election, warns Theresa May in 2007. pic.twitter.com/OmHK9YpjXb— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) July 11, 2016"So whenever Gordon Brown chooses to call a general election, we will be ready for him. He has no democratic mandate. He has a reputation tainted by his failures after a decade in office. And he has no new ideas. An early election? Bring it on," she wrote.Expect the "no democratic mandate" line to be repeated plenty in the coming weeks as her rivals call for snap elections. PersonalShe has been married to British banker Philip May since 1980. According to profiles in three British newspapers, Benazir Bhutto, who went on to become prime minister of Pakistan, introduced the pair at a Conservative Party disco while they were attending Oxford. They live in Sonning-on-Thames, which is also home to lawyer and activist Amal Clooney, magician Uri Geller and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, the Independent reported. Philip May gives his wife a kiss Monday before she speaks about assuming party leadership. May describes cooking and walking as primary hobbies, and if you're wondering whether walking can really be classified as a hobby, she elaborated in a column for Balance magazine, in which she wrote of her battle with diabetes. "The fact is that you can still do whatever you want to do. For example, on holiday my husband and I do a lot of quite strenuous walking up mountains in Switzerland, and it doesn't stop me doing it. I can still do things like that and can still do the job," she wrote.Follow @eliottcnn
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Dell's SupportAssist utility that comes pre-installed on millions of Dell laptops and PCs contains a security vulnerability that could allow malicious software or rogue logged-in users to escalate their privileges to administrator-level and access sensitive information.
Discovered by security researchers at SafeBreach Labs, the vulnerability, identified as CVE-2019-12280, is a privilege-escalation issue and affects Dell's SupportAssist application for business PCs (version 2.0) and home PCs (version 3.2.1 and all prior versions).
Dell SupportAssist, formerly known as Dell System Detect, checks the health of your system's hardware and software, alerting customers to take appropriate action to resolve them. To do so, it runs on your computer with SYSTEM-level permissions.
With this high-level privileges, the utility interacts with the Dell Support website and automatically detects Service Tag or Express Service Code of your Dell product, scans the existing device drivers and installs missing or available driver updates, along with performing hardware diagnostic tests.
However, researchers at SafeBreach Labs discovered that the software insecurely loads .dll files from user-controlled folders when run, leaving a spot for malware and rogue logged-in users to corrupt existing DLLs or replace them with malicious ones.
Therefore, when SupportAssist loads those tainted DLLs, malicious code gets injected into the program and executed within the context of an administrator, thus easily allowing the attacker to gain complete control of a targeted system.
"According to Dell's website, SupportAssist is pre-installed on most of Dell devices running Windows. This means that as long as the software is not patched, the vulnerability affects millions of Dell PC users," the researchers say.
What's worrisome? Researchers believe that Dell is not the only company whose PCs are impacted by this particular security issue.
Since Dell SupportAssist is written and maintained by Nevada-based diagnostics and customer support firm PC-Doctor, other PC makers that bundle the same diagnostic and troubleshooting tools into their own computers with different names may also be vulnerable.
"After SafeBreach Labs sent the details to Dell, we discovered that this vulnerability affects additional OEMs which use a rebranded version of the PC-Doctor Toolbox for Windows software components," the researchers say.
Also, according to the PC-Doctor website, PC makers have "pre-installed over 100 million copies of PC-Doctor for Windows on computer systems worldwide," which means the flaw also affects other OEMs that rely on PC-Doctor for specialized troubleshooting tools.
Since Dell's SupportAssist software use a signed driver by PC-Doctor to access low-level memory and hardware, researchers demonstrated this vulnerability to read the content of an arbitrary physical memory address as a proof-of-concept.
SafeBreach Labs reported the vulnerability to Dell on 29th April 2019, and the company then reported the issue to PC Doctor and released fixes provided by PC-Doctor on 28th May for affected SupportAssist versions.
Dell Business and home PC users are recommended to update their software to Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs version 2.0.1 and Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs version 3.2.2 respectively.
It's not the first time when Dell SupportAssist has been found affected by a severe security vulnerability.
In April this year, Dell also addressed a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the utility that would have allowed remote attackers to download and install malware from a remote server on affected Dell computers and take full control over them.
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Cybersecurity researchers today disclosed a new supply-chain attack targeting the Vietnam Government Certification Authority (VGCA) that compromised the agency's digital signature toolkit to install a backdoor on victim systems.
Uncovered by Slovak internet security company ESET early this month, the "SignSight" attack involved modifying software installers hosted on the CA's website ("ca.gov.vn") to insert a spyware tool called PhantomNet or Smanager.
According to ESET's telemetry, the breach happened from at least July 23 to August 16, 2020, with the two installers in question — "gca01-client-v2-x32-8.3.msi" and "gca01-client-v2-x64-8.3.msi" for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems — tampered to include the backdoor.
"The compromise of a certification authority website is a good opportunity for APT groups, since visitors are likely to have a high level of trust in a state organization responsible for digital signatures," ESET's Matthieu Faou said.
After the attack was reported to VGCA, the certificate authority confirmed that "they were aware of the attack before our notification and that they notified the users who downloaded the trojanized software."
The digital signature tool, mandated by Vietnam's Government Cipher Committee as part of an electronic authentication scheme, is used by the government sector as well as private companies to digitally sign documents using a USB token (also called a PKI token) that stores the digital signature and requires the aforementioned driver to operate.
As a consequence, the only way a user can get infected is when the compromised software hosted on the official website is manually downloaded and executed on the target system.
Once installed, the modified software starts the genuine GCA program to mask the breach and then runs the PhantomNet backdoor that masquerades as a seemingly harmless file named "eToken.exe."
The backdoor — compiled most recently on April 26 — takes the responsibility of collecting system information, with additional malicious capabilities deployed through plugins retrieved from hardcoded command-and-control servers (e.g. "vgca.homeunix[.]org" and "office365.blogdns[.]com") that mimic the names of VGCA and popular productivity software.
ESET said in addition to Vietnam, it saw victims in the Philippines, but their delivery mechanism remains unknown. The ultimate goal of the attackers remains unclear as well, what with little to no information about the post-compromise activity.
If anything, the incident highlights why supply-chain attacks are increasingly becoming a common attack vector among cyberespionage groups, as it allows the adversaries to deploy malware on many computers at the same time covertly.
In November, ESET disclosed a Lazarus campaign in South Korea that used legitimate security software and stolen digital certificates to distribute remote administration tools (RATs) on target systems.
Then last week, it also found that a chat software called Able Desktop, used by 430 government agencies in Mongolia, was abused to deliver the HyperBro backdoor, the Korplug RAT, and another Trojan called Tmanger.
Lastly, a supply-chain attack on SolarWinds Orion software discovered this week was exploited to breach several major US government agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, Treasury, and State.
"Supply-chain attacks are typically hard to find, as the malicious code is generally hidden among a lot of legitimate code, making its discovery significantly more difficult," Faou concluded.
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Story highlightsRio Haryanto to pilot the Manor Racing carThe 23-year-old is first Indonesian to compete in F1 (CNN)Rio Haryanto will make history next month when he becomes the first Indonesian driver to race in Formula One.The 23-year-old has signed for Manor Racing for the 2016 season and will partner German Pascal Wehrlein, who was announced as the British-based team's lead driver earlier this month. Follow @cnnsport
"Manor Racing is a team with an exciting vision and ambitious plans," Haryanto said in a statement on the Manor F1 team website."They have produced a great package and I can't wait to get in the car."The Indonesian, who finished fourth in last year's GP2 Series, will make his debut at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 20. Read More"Melbourne will be a huge moment for me, my country, supporters and fans and I want to thank everyone who's been with me since I started in single seaters; 2016 is my chance to reward that faith and represent Asia in F1," he said.'Tenacious' driverManor Racing owner, Stephen Fitzpatrick, described Haryanto as a "tenacious" individual with a massive fan base in his homeland.Haryanto driving during the GP2 Feature Race at Sochi Autodrom on in October 2015."Rio's been racing since he first got into a kart at six years old. He's tenacious on and off the track and made a big impression on last year's GP2 battle," Fitzpatrick said in a statement. "Rio's huge following in Indonesia is great for the team and for F1. They are keen to see him on the grid and we're confident that we'll see him enjoying some exciting battles in the year ahead."Haryanto in the cockpit of the Manor Racing car.Haryanto and Wehrlein replace last year's line up of Briton Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi from Brazil. U.S. driver Alexander Rossi, who started five races for the team towards the end of 2015 season, also misses out.Manor Racing finished 10th in last season's Constructors' Championship, failing to score a point in 19 races. The team scored its first and only points to date in F1 during the 2014 season when Jules Bianchi finished 9th at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Frenchman tragically died in July 2015, succumbing to head injuries sustained in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in October 2014.
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I am considering that you all must have read my last article on OpenSSL Heartbleed, a critical bug in the OpenSSL's implementation of the TLS/DTLS heartbeat extension that allows attackers to read portions of the affected server's memory, potentially revealing users data, that the server did not intend to reveal.
The Heartbleed vulnerability made headlines around the world and my last article explains everything about probably the biggest Internet vulnerability in recent history, but still some readers are not aware of its nature, otherwise they would not have been a victim of the spam campaigns.
Spammers are very smart on gaining from every opportunity they get, so this time they are taking advantage of the infamous Heartbleed bug and frighten the users into installing Anti-Heartbleed Software onto their systems, which is obviously a malware.
The researchers at Symantec have unearthed a spam campaign targeting people by sending spam emails that warns them their system may still be "infected" with the Heartbleed bug and request them to run the Heartbleed bug removal tool (attached to the email, as shown below) in order to remove the virus from their system.
The people with a little knowledge of the OpenSSL Heartbleed Bug may follow what the spammers say, despite websites around the world flooded with the Heartbleed articles, explaining how it works, how to protect, and exactly what it is. Yet many didn't get it right.
We too explained almost everything related to the nature of the bug and the foremost myth of the people about the bug is answered in our top question that explained Heartbleed is not a Virus or Malware, instead it's a vulnerability resided in TLS heartbeat mechanism built into certain versions of the popular open source encryption standard OpenSSL. So, how could you go with the spammers in cleaning up your system to protect your systems from Heartbleed infection or malware?
Now, this is something which is unacceptable and allows cybercriminals to targets users with less technical knowledge to know that the Heartbleed vulnerability is not at all an infection or a malware.
"The spam email uses the social and scare tactics to lure users into opening the attached file," reads the blog post.
The email tricks users by masquerading itself to come from a very popular password management company, with the details to run the attached removal tool, along with the measures if users' antivirus software blocks it.
Users feel safe to open the attachment as the attached file seems to be a docx file, but once it is opened, it will serve an encrypted zip file to the user. When the user extracts the zip file content, they will find a malicious .exe file that represents itself as the Heartbleed bug removal tool.
Once the .exe file is executed by the user, it downloads a keylogger in the background without their knowledge, whereas the user shows a popup on the screen with a progress bar. After a while, a message flash on the screen reporting users that Heartbleed bug was not found and the computer is clean.
The user may feel relieved after knowing that the Heartbleed bug has not affected them, but during the same time they are unaware of the key-logger software installed in background and recording keystrokes, screenshots and sending all the personal information of users to the cyber criminals.
Users are recommended not to click on any link in the suspicious messages and better use your common sense and knowledge at right time and right place, because security researchers, experts and we sitting here can only provide you knowledge about the various vulnerabilities and measures to get rid of it, but else is up to you to protect yourself from these kind of security threats.
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Story highlightsThe case of three women held capitive in London has shocked Britain, and the world While it's an extreme example, slavery is not uncommon in London, Andrew Boff saysAuthorities are over-stretched and neglecting the informal cases which are hard to findThis case shows how slavery is a huge problem -- and it's all around usThe case of three women held as slaves in south London has shocked not just the British public, but people across the world.What makes this particular case stand out is the length of time these women are said to have been held captive - over 30 years.Although this is an extreme example, this type of slavery is not uncommon in London. Figures from the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre and Serious Organised Crime Agency for this year show that there were 389 potential victims of trafficking in the capital.Although the women in this case are not believed to have been trafficked, the case shows that hidden slavery is taking place around us, within our everyday environments, whether it be on construction sites, mobile soup runs for the homeless, at cheap takeaways, in nail bars and in domestic homes in our neighborhoods.Andrew BoffRead more: How to recover after decades of slavery?It's not necessarily organized by criminal gangs - it can involve informal arrangements, carried out by so-called ordinary and even respected people in the community.I recently published a report called "Shadow City -- Exposing human trafficking in everyday London" that uncovered just how diverse that trafficking is, and that no matter where you live you are probably not that far from someone who is being exploited.Sadly, authorities are still blind to this. Things need to change, urgently. An overstretched anti-trafficking unit in London's Metropolitan Police, and a figure-driven culture, means police are focusing on large-scale organized cases, and neglecting the informal cases that take longer to find, but are sometimes more serious.In this case the three victims were lucky. They are said to have contacted a charity that was able to successfully rescue them. Many are not so fortunate.JUST WATCHEDPolice: 30-year-old captive entire lifeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPolice: 30-year-old captive entire life 01:06Read more: Slavery's last strongholdJUST WATCHEDExpert: Freed women 'damaged for life'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHExpert: Freed women 'damaged for life' 02:34But if we continue to lose the expertise of dedicated trafficking officers within the Met police, the cultural subtleties behind cases will be missed and traffickers and perpetrators of slavery will continue to largely evade conviction.JUST WATCHEDWomen rescued from 'decades of slavery'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWomen rescued from 'decades of slavery' 08:19Of course budgets are tight, but if the money made in trafficking exploits is recuperated through the use of specialist teams, then these investigations could pay for themselves.In my report, I made some recommendations that could help tackle the lack of action on informal types of slavery.These included the Met's anti-trafficking unit being urgently protected from further integration into other units, additional human trafficking units to be established in other police forces across the UK, human trafficking to become part of the core syllabus for training new police recruits, and special points of contact to be established in every borough's police force. The police are not the only agency that needs better systems put in place. It is also vitally important that social workers, teachers, health professionals and benefit agency staff receive training on how to spot signs of trafficking and slavery, and who to consult if they have concerns.For too long many Londoners have assumed that trafficking happens elsewhere, and statutory agencies have concentrated too much resource into trafficking that happens through organized crime with a concentration on drugs and sex workers.The case in south London shows that slaves could be living next door.Read more: The CNN Freedom ProjectWatch more: 12,000 girls rescued from slavery
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Although the number of malicious browser extensions has significantly increased in the past years, but recently a new extension of the Google Chrome is allegedly targeting Cryptocurrency users that is capable of stealing Bitcoins and other crypto coins silently.
The malicious Chrome browser extension dubbed as 'Cryptsy Dogecoin (DOGE) Live Ticker' which is available on Chrome Web store for free downloads and developed by "TheTrollBox" account. Reddit user noticed that the updated version of the extension has a malicious code, which is designed to hijack the crypto currency transactions.
HOW CHROME EXTENSION STEALS CRYPTOCURRENCY
It is very obvious that the kind of crypto related software extensions is downloaded only by the users who deal with the digital currency. So, once the user installed the malicious extension, the software within the extension starts monitoring users' web activity and looks for those users who go to Cryptocurrency exchange sites such as Coinbase and MintPal.
After realizing that the user is performing a transaction in digital coins, the malicious extension replaces the receiving address, where the user is trying to transfer his Cryptocurrency, with the a different BTC address of its own (attacker's bitcoin address)
The same happened to a Reddit user, who had been reported this activity from the Cryptocurrency exchange MintPal in a withdrawal confirmation. After then he posted a Warning about the rogue extension on Reddit, advising all to "Be careful of what you install on your devices you use to access your wallets."
OTHER CHROME EXTENSIONS FROM SAME DEVELOPER
TheTrollBox, the developer of malicious 'Cryptsy Dogecoin (DOGE) Live Ticker' Chrome extension has also developed 21 more similar extensions, which are currently available on Google Chrome Store. These Chrome extensions also could be susceptible to have malicious code, and Google has not taken any action against the reported chrome extensions.
If you have installed any of the followings extensions, then you should remove them as soon as possible:
Cryptsy MOON
BTER NXT
DGEX NXT
Cryptsy DOGE
Cryptsy LOT
Coinbase BTC
MTGox BTC
BTC-E BTC
BTC-E LTC
BTC-E PPC
BTC-E NVC
BTC-E NMC
BTC-E FTC
BTC-E XPM
Bitstamp BTC
BTCChina BTC
OKCoin BTC
OKCoin LTC
FXBTC BTC
FXBTC LTC
BitcoinAverage BTC
MALWARE vs DIGITAL COINS
As the business has moved to greater use of mobile and non-Windows computers, so cyber criminals have adapted techniques monetize their efforts. Due to an increase in the value of digital coins, cyber criminals has added it in their watchlist and making every effort to steal your virtual money.
We have seen Android malware distributed by cyber criminals on Google play store that have hidden Coinkrypt malware, which had capability to turn your mobile device into crypto-currency miners, also cybercriminals spreading malware through Home appliances in order to mine virtual currencies, and now they are started editing software extensions with malicious codes to grab users digital coins.
PROTECT YOUR WALLETS
Users are advised to choose a Crypto currency exchange or wallet service that enables two-factor authentication for the high level of security of their virtual wallets, as two-factor authentication required more than one device, which will eventually decrease the chances of malicious malware modifying changes to your transactions.
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Shylock, a financial malware platform discovered by Trusteer in 2011, is a non-Zeus-based information-stealing trojan that improved methodology for injecting code into additional browser processes to take control of a computer, and an improved evasion technique to prevent malware scanners from detecting its presence.
Why this Name ? Shylock named after the ruthless money lender in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, also deletes its installation files, runs solely in memory, and begins the process again once the infected machine reboots.
Shylock has gained a new trick: The ability to detect whether it's running in a virtual machine (VM) that is being analyzed by malware researchers.
What New ? Latest Shylock dropper detects a remote desktop environment by feeding invalid data into a certain routine and then observing the error code returned. It uses this return code to differentiate between normal desktops and other "lab" environments. In particular, when executed from a remote desktop session the return code will be different and Shylock won't install. It is possible to use this method to identify other known or proprietary virtual/sandbox environments as well.
However, it is unclear how long such a trick will help it evade detection, because evasion tactics aren't actually that effective. In February researchers found that none of the world's top 20 malware families except for Conficker try to detect virtual machines.
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October is turning out to be a busy month for patches. This month also marks the 10-year anniversary of the Patch Tuesday program, which Microsoft started in October of 2003.
Scheduled for tomorrow, Microsoft has announced that they will release eight security updates including four critical, addressing vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft Office and its other products.
Bulletin 1 is almost certainly to a zero-day vulnerability CVE-2013-3893 that has been actively exploited by hackers in targeted attacks. Though Microsoft issued a temporary "Fix it" in September for the vulnerability,
Bulletins 2, 3 and 4 address vulnerabilities in a wide range of Microsoft products, including Windows XP, 7 and 8, and Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2012.
Bulletins 5, 6 and 7 address vulnerabilities that could allow for remote code execution. Bulletin 8 addresses an information disclosure vulnerability in SIlverlight and is the least urgent of the eight patches.
Microsoft's pre-release notice provides more details of the affected software packages.
Adobe will also be releasing updates on Tuesday for Reader XI and Acrobat XI for Windows. Both are rated 2, which means it's a critical vulnerability, but not known to be in use.
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This News will blow everyone's mind! If you are a bitcoins holder then you might be aware of MtGox, Once the World's biggest Bitcoin exchange. MtGox filed for bankruptcy last month after saying it lost some 8,50,000 Bitcoins to hackers and suddenly went dark with no explanations.
A few days ago, some unknown hacker breached into the personal blog and Reddit account of MTgox CEO, Mark Karpeles to level charges of fraud. But, Hackers are very clever to avail every eventuality they get.
After compromising the MtGox CEO's blog, the hacker posted a 716MB ZIP file, MtGox2014Leak.zip, which contains the data dump and specialized software tools for remote access to MtGox data, but these software tools turned out to be a Bitcoin wallet stealing malware, according to the research carried out by the Kaspersky Lab Expert, Sergey Lozhkin.
The application was actually a malware, which was created to search and steal Bitcoin wallet files from the victims' computer. The hackers took advantage of the people keen interest in the latest MtGox topic that abruptly stopped trading because of security lapse.
The Executable uploaded along with the archive tricks users into believing that they have access to databases of MtGox using the software, which is in fact a Bitcoin Miner.
So, the whole MtGox leak was invented to infect the victims' computers with Bitcoin stealer malware.
"We detect the Windows Trojan (MD5:c4e99fdcd40bee6eb6ce85167969348d), a 4.3MB PE32 executable, as Trojan.Win32.CoinStealer.i and OSX variant as Trojan.OSX.Coinstealer.a. Both have been created with the Livecode programming language – an open-source and cross-platform application development language." according to Kaspersky.
The malware works on both Mac OS X and Windows, executes the TibanneSocket.exe binary. It would seek out bitcoins (bitcoin.conf and wallet.dat files) on an infected computer and then send them to the Command and Control server of the malware, which was located in Bulgaria, but down for now.
Readers are advised to keep an eye on the spam emails, dressed up to look like MtGox emails and asking for MtGox and bank account details. Do not download softwares from non-trusted sources and keep your antivirus up-to-date. Stay Secure!
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Computer viruses do not discriminate.
They are not just hacking your email and online banking accounts anymore.
Computer viruses do not distinguish between a personal computer or a hospital machine delivering therapy to patients — and the results could prove deadly.
Cyber attacks on hospitals have emerged as a significant cyber security risk in 2016, which not only threaten highly sensitive information but also potentially harm the very lives of those being protected.
In the latest incident, hundreds of planned operations, outpatient appointments, and diagnostic procedures have been canceled at multiple hospitals in Lincolnshire, England, after a "major" computer virus compromised the National Health Service (NHS) network on Sunday.
In a bright-red alert warning labeled "Major incident" on its website, the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) said its systems in Scunthorpe and Grimsby were infected with a virus on October 30.
The incident forced the trust to shut down all the major systems within its shared IT network in order to "isolate and destroy" the virus and cancel surgeries.
"We have taken the decision, following expert advice, to shut down the majority of our systems so we can isolate and destroy it," the NHS wrote on its website. "All planned operations, outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures have been canceled for Wednesday, Nov. 2 with a small number of exceptions."
Some patients, including major trauma patients and high-risk women in labor, were diverted to neighbouring hospitals.
Although the majority of systems are now back and working, the NHS Trust has not provided any specific information about the sort of virus or malware or if it managed to breach any defense.
The incident took place after the U.S. and Canada issued a joint cyber alert, warning hospitals and other organizations against a surge in extortion attacks that infect computers with Ransomware that encrypts data and demand money for it to be unlocked.
Although it is unclear at the moment, the virus could likely be a ransomware that has previously targeted hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Life Threatening Cyber-Attacks
With the rise in Ransomware threat, we have seen an enormous growth in the malware businesses.
The countless transactions of Bitcoins into the dark web have energized the Ransomware authors to distribute and adopt new infection methods for the higher successful rate.
Today, Ransomware have been a soft target for both Corporates as well as Hospitals.
Since earlier this year, over a dozen hospitals have been targeted by ransomware, enforcing them to pay the ransom amount as per the demand by freezing the central medical systems.
Technological advancement in the medical arena has digitalized patients data in the form of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) in order to save them into the hospital's central database.
Since the delay in patients treatment by temporary locking down their details could even result in the patient's death, the attackers seek 100 percent guarantee ransom by infecting hospitals with Ransomware.
Due to this reason, in most of the cases, hospitals generally agrees to pay the ransom amount to the attackers.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles-based Presbyterian Medical Center paid $17,000 in Bitcoins to cyber crooks in order to restore access to its electronic medical systems, after a ransomware virus hit the hospital.
Also back in April, the MedStar Health chain that runs a number of hospitals in the Baltimore and Washington area, was attacked with Samsam ransomware (or Samas) that encrypted sensitive data at the hospitals.
Followingly, many more hospitals, including Methodist Hospital in Henderson and Kentucky, Desert Valley Hospital in California and Chino Valley Medical Center, have been infected with Ransomware.
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Security researchers have published the details and proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits of an integer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel that could allow an unprivileged user to gain superuser access to the targeted system.
The vulnerability, discovered by cloud-based security and compliance solutions provider Qualys, which has been dubbed "Mutagen Astronomy," affects the kernel versions released between July 2007 and July 2017, impacting the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Debian distributions.
The Mutagen Astronomy vulnerability tracked as CVE-2018-14634, is a type of a local privilege escalation issue—one of the most common issues with operating systems as a whole—and exists in the Linux kernel's create_elf_tables() function that operates the memory tables.
To successfully exploit this vulnerability, attackers need to have access to the targeted system and run their exploit that leads to a buffer overflow, thereby resulting in the execution of malicious code and achieving complete control of the affected system.
According to a security advisory published by Qualys on Tuesday, the security vulnerability can be exploited to escalate privileges to root via a SUID-root binary, but it only works on 64-bit systems.
"This issue does not affect 32-bit systems as they do not have a large enough address space to exploit this flaw. Systems with less than 32GB of memory are unlikely to be affected by this issue due to memory demands during exploitation," an advisory released by Red Hat reads.
"Only kernels with commit b6a2fea39318 ("mm: variable length argument support," from July 19, 2007) but without commit da029c11e6b1 ("exec: Limit arg stack to at most 75% of _STK_LIM", from July 7, 2017) are exploitable," the Qualys advisory says.
Linux Kernel versions 2.6.x, 3.10.x and 4.14.x, are said to be vulnerable to the Mutagen Astronomy flaw.
While most Linux distributions have backported commit da029c11e6b1 to their long-term-supported kernels to address the issue, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Debian 8 Jessie (the current "oldstable" version) did not implement the changes and therefore, left vulnerable to the attacks.
Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploits Released
Qualys reported the vulnerability to Red Hat on August 31, 2018, and to Linux kernel developers on September 18, 2018.
Red Hat, assigned the flaw as "important" with a CVSS score of 7.8 (high severity), has patched the issue and begun releasing security updates that address the issue.
"This issue affects the version of the kernel packages as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2. Future kernel updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 will address this issue," Red Hat says.
However, the versions of Linux kernel as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 are not affected by the Mutagen Astronomy vulnerability.
Qualys researchers have also released both technical details and proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits (Exploit 1, Exploit 2) for the vulnerability to the public.
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Another day, another revelation of a critical unpatched zero-day vulnerability, this time in the world's most widely used mobile operating system, Android.
What's more? The Android zero-day vulnerability has also been found to be exploited in the wild by the Israeli surveillance vendor NSO Group—infamous for selling zero-day exploits to governments—or one of its customers, to gain control of their targets' Android devices.
Discovered by Project Zero researcher Maddie Stone, the details and a proof-of-concept exploit for the high-severity security vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-2215, has been made public today—just seven days after reporting it to the Android security team.
The zero-day is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Android kernel's binder driver that can allow a local privileged attacker or an app to escalate their privileges to gain root access to a vulnerable device and potentially take full remote control of the device.
Vulnerable Android Devices
The vulnerability resides in versions of Android kernel released before April last year, a patch for which was included in the 4.14 LTS Linux kernel released in December 2017 but was only incorporated in AOSP Android kernel versions 3.18, 4.4 and 4.9.
Therefore, most Android devices manufactured and sold by a majority of vendors with the unpatched kernel are still vulnerable to this vulnerability even after having the latest Android updates, including below-listed popular smartphone models :
Pixel 1
Pixel 1 XL
Pixel 2
Pixel 2 XL
Huawei P20
Xiaomi Redmi 5A
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
Xiaomi A1
Oppo A3
Moto Z3
Oreo LG phones
Samsung S7
Samsung S8
Samsung S9
To be noted, Pixel 3, 3 XL, and 3a devices running the latest Android kernels are not vulnerable to the issue.
Android Flaw Can Be Exploited Remotely
According to the researcher, since the issue is "accessible from inside the Chrome sandbox," the Android kernel zero-day vulnerability can also be exploited remotely by combining it with a separate Chrome rendering flaw.
"The bug is a local privilege escalation vulnerability that allows for a full compromise of a vulnerable device. If the exploit is delivered via the Web, it only needs to be paired with a renderer exploit, as this vulnerability is accessible through the sandbox," Stone says in the Chromium blog.
"I've attached a local exploit proof-of-concept to demonstrate how this bug can be used to gain arbitrary kernel read/write when running locally. It only requires the untrusted app code execution to exploit CVE-2019-2215. I've also attached a screenshot (success.png) of the POC running on a Pixel 2, running Android 10 with security patch level September 2019."
Patches to be Made Available Soon
Though Google will release a patch for this vulnerability in its October's Android Security Bulletin in the coming days and also notified OEMs, most affected devices would not likely receive the patch immediately, unlike Google Pixel 1 and 2.
"This issue is rated as High severity on Android and by itself requires installation of a malicious application for potential exploitation. Any other vectors, such as via web browser, require chaining with an additional exploit," the Android security team said in a statement.
"We have notified Android partners, and the patch is available on the Android Common Kernel. Pixel 3 and 3a devices are not vulnerable while Pixel 1 and 2 devices will be receiving updates for this issue as part of the October update."
Google's Project Zero division usually gives software developers a 90-day deadline to fix the issue in their affected products before going public with the details and PoC exploits, but in case of active exploits, the team goes public after seven days of privately being reported.
What's your take? Although this vulnerability is severe and can be used to gain root access to an Android device, users need not worry that much as the exploitation of such issues is mostly limited to targeted attack scenarios.
Nevertheless, it's always a good idea to avoid downloading and installing apps from third-party app stores and any unnecessary apps, even from the Google Play Store.
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A new cyber surveillance virus has been found in the Middle East that can spy on banking transactions and steal login and passwords, according Kaspersky Lab, a leading computer security firm.
After Stuxnet, Duqu, and Flame, this one seems to mainly spy on computer users in Lebanon. It's been dubbed Gauss (although Germanic-linguistic purists will no doubt be complaining that it should be written Gauß).
Gauss is a complex cyber-espionage toolkit, highly modular and supports new functions which can be deployed remotely by the operators in the form of plugins. The currently known plugins perform the following functions:
Intercept browser cookies and passwords.
Harvest and send system configuration data to attackers.
Infect USB sticks with a data stealing module.
List the content of the system drives and folders
Steal credentials for various banking systems in the Middle East.
Hijack account information for social network, email and IM accounts.
The researchers at Russia-based Kasperky Labs who discovered it have christened it Gauss, and say it is aimed at pinching the pocketbooks of its intended targets, whoever they may be, by stealing account information of customers of certain banks in Lebanon, but also customers of Citibank and of PayPal.
An analysis of the new malicious software shows it was designed to steal data from Lebanese lenders including the Bank of Beirut (BOB), BomBank and Byblos Bank, Kaspersky said. Gauss has infected 2,500 machines, while Flame hit about 700.
Two groups Russian-based Kaspersky Labs, which first published information on Gauss and Flame, and the Hungarian research lab Crysys are detecting the malware by looking for a font that shows up on infected machines called Palida Narrow.Roel Schouwenberg, senior researcher at Kaspersky Labs, said that researchers still don't know why Gauss's creators included the font file.
Have a look on relationship between Flame, Gauss, Stuxnet and Duqu:
One of the firm's top researchers said Gauss also contains a module known as "Godel" that may include a Stuxnet-like weapon for attacking industrial control systems. Kaspersky researchers said Gauss contained a "warhead" that seeks a very specific computer system with no Internet connection and installs itself only if it finds one.
*Image credit Kaspersky Lab
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(CNN)All patients have been moved to nearby hospitals after a fire broke out at a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey's state-run media Anadolu reported Thursday evening, citing Turkey's Minister for Health.Firefighters continued to tackle the blaze several hours after the fire started on the roof of the Taksim Training and Research Hospital in Gaziosmanpasa, a district in the northern part of the city. About 70 patients were evacuated.Hasan Tahsin Usta, mayor of Gaziosmanpasa, said that the fire, which spread down the outside of the building, was almost under control and no casualties had been reported, according to Anadolu. Footage posted to social media showed flames on the hospital facade.Yangın büyük ölçüde söndürüldü. pic.twitter.com/zSrTKtSQoj— Önder Çelik (@ondercelik36) April 5, 2018
Speaking to CNN Turk, Bahriye (who did not give her last name) said she was with her mother, a patient in the hospital, on the second floor when the fire broke out.Read More"I just heard many noises, people were screaming and yelling," she said. "There was no fire alarm, just people screaming. I opened the door, it was all smoke. You couldn't see anyone, all of a sudden smoke came inside our room.... Flames were outside the window -- that's why we were so scared."She said she called for help and someone came and carried her mother, who could not get up unaided, out of the hospital. "It was so dark and I went after them but I don't know how I got downstairs," Bahriye said. She lost her mother in the process. "I still don't know where my mom is," she said. The fire broke out on the roof of Taksim Training and Research Hospital in northern Istanbul.At first response, patients who could be moved had been evacuated and intensive care patients were being held in a safe location inside the hospital, Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters.As night fell, Minister for Health Ahmet Demircan said all patients had been moved to nearby hospitals by ambulance, according to Anadolu.Firefighters from several districts of Istanbul responded to the emergency and worked with medical teams to bring patients to safety while hospital staff worked to salvage medical equipment as the evening progressed. Sahin said that the fire had been confined to the outside of the hospital and that the evacuations had been carried out due to smoke entering the building.The patients were taken by ambulance to private and public hospitals in the area, according to Sahin. He said the cause of the fire was not yet known and that several prosecutors had already been tasked with investigating the blazePresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan was informed by the minister for health, Anadolu reported.CNN's Gul Tuysuz, Hamdi Alkshali, Isil Sariyuce and Hande Atay Alam contributed to this article
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Security researchers have discovered a new strain of malware that makes use of extraordinary measures to evade detection and analysis, making the computer it infects unusable.
Dubbed Rombertik, which is "unique" among other self-destructing malware samples due to its unique evasion techniques. As soon as any analysis tool is detected, Rombertik attempts to delete the device's Master Boot Record (MBR) and home directories, making the machine constantly restart.
Rombertik is a complex piece of spyware designed to "indiscriminately" collect everything a user does online in order to obtain victim's login credentials and other confidential information.
Infects users via Phishing campaign:
Rombertik typically gets installed on vulnerable machines when users click on malicious attachments included in phishing emails, Cisco security researchers Ben Baker and Alex Chiu said in a blog post Monday.
Once loaded into the system, Rombertik first runs a series of anti-analysis checks to determine if it is running within a sandbox.
In case it isn't running within the sandbox, Rombertik decrypts and installs itself on the victim's machine, which then allows the malware to launch a second copy of itself and overwrite the second copy with the malware's core spying functionality.
Here's the kicker:
After completing this process and before begins spying on users, Rombertik runs a final check to make sure it is not being analyzed in memory. In case it finds any indication of being analyzed, the spyware attempts to destroy the master boot record (MBR) of the vulnerable computer.
Rombertik then restarts the machine, and because now the MBR is missing from the hard drive, the victim's computer will go into an endless restart loop.
MBR is the first sector of a computer's hard drive that the system looks for before loading the operating system. However, deleting or destroying MBR involves re-installing of operating system, which means valuable data is lost.
In cases where the malware is under the microscope of security experts or any rival malware author, Rombertik will self-destruct itself, taking the contents of a victim's hard drive along with it.
Security researchers reverse-engineered the malware and found that Rombertik contains volumes of "garbage code" that have to be analyzed. The researchers were able to capture a small sample and found that…
...the unpacked Rombertik sample was 28KB in size while the packed version is 1264KB, including 75 images and 8,000 functions that are never used.
Rombertik other Tricks involve:
Moreover, Rombertik keeps itself in sandboxes by writing a random byte of data to memory 960 million times in an effort to overwhelm analysis tools that try to detect malware by logging system activity.
"If an analysis tool attempted to log all of the 960 million write instructions, the log would grow to over 100 gigabytes," researchers explained in a blog post.
"Even if the analysis environment was capable of handling a log that large, it would take over 25 minutes just to write that much data to a typical hard drive. This complicates the analysis."
Data wiping and Self-destructing malware:
Data wiping and self-destructing malware are not new. In last three years, we have seen a hike in malware evasion capabilities.
Wiper malware was used against South Korean banks and TV broadcasters in 2013 as well as against Sony Pictures Entertainment last year, which marked history in a massive data breach.
Also last year, the German Aerospace Centre was targeted by a self-destructive malware in an espionage attack, believed to be conducted by China.
TIP
The best way to keep your systems away from such malware is to have a best antivirus for PCs, as well as avoid opening malicious or suspicious links served via phishing emails.
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An Arkansas lawyer representing three police whistleblowers has claimed that the law enforcement officials at the Fort Smith Police Department (FSPD) tried to infect his computer with Trojan viruses in order to spy on their legal opponents.
What's the issue?
A lawyer Matthew Campbell of the Pinnacle Law Firm in North Little Rock is representing Don Paul Bales, Rick Entmeier, and Wendall Sampson, current and former officers of the Fort Smith Police Department in the lawsuit since January 2014.
The three whistleblowers exposed some frauds within the corrupt department, and, therefore, the police have illegally investigated them.
"Since July 2013, the plaintiffs have been the target of nearly two dozen various investigations, Campbell told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. "[This range] from accusations that they misspent FSPD funds to allegations that they were impugning the FSPD on Facebook."
What happened?
Campbell provided a blank hard drive to the department requesting an archive of internal emails and other data as evidence, according to court documents.
However, when the police department returned his external hard drive back to him, he found it loaded with three well-known Trojans, including a backdoor and a password-sniffing keylogger.
The worse part:
After examination of the hard drive's file system, the lawyer's security consultant, Geoff Mueller, discovered three distinct types of Windows PC malware installed in a specific folder, one named D:\Bales Court Order.
The Trojans are as follows:
Win32:Zbot-AVH[Trj] – A password stealer and backdoor
NSIS:Downloader-CC[Trj] – A tool that connects to attacker-controlled servers and downloads and installs more malicious programs to run
Two instances of Win32Cycbot-NF[Trj] – A nasty software that opens a backdoor and gives attackers freedom on the infected computer
Not only the hard disk contained all the Trojans in the same sub-folder and not in the root directory, but also these Trojans more likely believed to have been placed there intentionally with an aim to take command of Campbell's computer.
All the three Trojans were designed to steal passwords, install malicious software and grant FSPD command and control access for the Campbell's computer.
Not just Trojans:
Campbell also accuses the police department of deleting swathes of emails related to the case that could have been recovered, according to the motion for sanctions [PDF].
The discovery ordered requested the department to hand over all relevant internal emails, but instead handing it over, the department purged those emails from the system that could have been recovered and deleted emails that were previously provided in response to freedom of information requests, Campbell claimed.
Now, the lawyer has requested the court to hold the police department in criminal contempt, and has asked for the heading judge to rule in the favor of his clients. However, the Fort Smith Police Department (FSPD) haven't yet commented on the issue.
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A 21-year-old New Jersey woman has been charged with hacking into the email accounts of pop star and actress Selena Gomez, stealing her personal photos, and then leaked them to the Internet.
Susan Atrach of Ridgefield Park was charged Thursday with 11 felony counts—five counts of identity theft, five counts of accessing and using computer data to commit fraud or illegally obtain money, property or data, and one count of accessing computer data without permission.
According to the prosecutors, Atrach allegedly hacked into email accounts belonging to Gomez and one of her associates several times between June 2015 and February 2016, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said in a press release.
She then obtained images and other media stored there and shared them with her friends and posted them online.
Gomez, who has more than 138 million followers on Instagram, was the victim of a hacking attack in August 2017, when photographs of her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber were posted to her Instagram account.
However, it is not immediately clear if those photos were also the subject of the criminal charges against Atrach.
According to LA Times, Atrach believed to have broken into Apple iCloud and Yahoo email accounts used by Gomez and her personal assistant, by using the publicly-available information to answer the singer's "secret questions."
She then reportedly stole digital information, including photos of Justin Bieber that were taken as Gomez and Bieber vacationed in Bora Bora in 2015, and made them online.
Atrach is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court by August 27. If convicted, Atrach could face up to nine years and eight months in prison.
Neither Gomez nor any of her representatives have made a comment on the case.
It seems like celebrities are not taking the security of their online accounts seriously, as anyone could find the answers to celebrities' security questions among hundreds of pieces of information about the celebrities readily available on the Internet.
In past, hackers managed to breach the iCloud accounts of a hundreds of singers and actresses, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Miley Cyrus, and Kim Kardashian, extract photos and videos and then post them online—the incident very well known the Fappening.
So, lesson learned—always choose strong and unique passwords for all your online accounts and enable two-factor authentication, if available, so that even if the hackers know your password, they can not get into your account.
Moreover, do not keep easy-to-guess answers to your security questions, use one that only you knows, and nobody else.
Since such hacks are usually conducted using social engineering tricks, you are advised to avoid clicking on any suspicious link or attachment you receive via an email or message and avoid providing your personal or financial information without verifying the source properly.
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(CNN)"We're going to win the league," sang thousands of Liverpool fans inside Anfield.This is a club that has not won the league title for 30 years and, even with a 13-point lead at the top of the table before Sunday's match against Manchester United, there was a sense the nervous fan base still didn't want to risk jinxing things.But once Mo Salah's late strike secured a 2-0 win over Manchester United, you got the feeling the party to end a three-decade wait for the title had just begun.Even the most pessimistic of Liverpool fans and optimistic of Manchester City fans will probably now admit this season's Premier League title race is over.After Pep Guardiola's side could only muster a disappointing draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Jurgen Klopp's Reds have now extended their lead at the top of the table to 16 points.Read MoreWhile the scoreline alone makes this game seem like a somewhat tight affair, it was anything but.Virgil van Dijk rises highest to give Liverpool the lead.READ: Relentless Liverpool on course for record-breaking seasonREAD: Liverpool make best-ever start to a Premier League seasonUnder a brilliant red sky at Anfield, the gulf in quality between these two teams was plain for everyone to see and victory for Liverpool means the club is now 30 points better off than Manchester United this season.After today's match, you were left wondering how it was only 30.Aside from a brief spell on pressure early in the second half, Manchester United had no answer to the relentless red wave that descended time and again on its goal.When Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring for Liverpool after just 14 minutes -- towering above everybody in the box to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner -- the only surprise was that it had taken that long.Curiously, Manchester United is the only team this season to have taken points off Liverpool in the Premier League, holding the champion-elect to a 1-1 draw back in October.Anfield exploded with noise as Liverpool extended its lead to 16 points.As the first half wore on, the visiting side's defense continued to wilt under pressure and Liverpool found VAR to be a far more stubborn opponent than United's backline.Not once, but twice was the home side denied by the video assistant referee; the first for Van Dijk's foul on David de Gea and the second for a fractional offside decision.Liverpool was cruising at half time, though if any particularly jittery fans did need some extra comforting, the Reds hadn't lost a home Premier League game when leading at the interval for 10 years, a run stretching back 102 matches.Two minutes into the second half, Salah had one of the easiest chances he'll ever have to score but somehow fluffed his shot from three yards out wide of the post.It was a let off for Manchester United -- whose players looked to have started the second period half asleep -- and just seconds later some sloppy play at the back gifted the ball to Jordan Henderson, who crashed an effort off the outside of the post.Those missed opportunities seemed to spark life into United and Anthony Martial squandered his side's only real chance of the match, blazing his shot wildly over the bar when it looked easier to score.Mo Salah celebrates after scoring Liverpool's second.With the visiting side throwing all its men forward in search of a later equalizer, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson hit a stunning pass upfield to find Salah completely unmarked.United winger Daniel James did well to get back but the Egyptian held off his challenge and coolly slotted the ball under De Gea to send Anfield into rapture."And now you're gonna believe us," the fans continued. "We're going to win the league."
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Hyatt Hotels Corporation is notifying its customers that credit card numbers and other sensitive information may have been stolen after it found malware on the computers that process customer payments.
"We recently identified malware on computers that operate the payment processing systems for Hyatt-managed locations," the company announced on Wednesday. "As soon as we discovered the activity, we launched an investigation and engaged leading third-party cyber security experts."
What type of information?
The company didn't confirm whether the attackers succeeded in stealing payment card numbers, neither it say how long its network was infected or how many hotel chains were affected in the malware attack.
But as the payment processing system was infected with credit-card-stealing malware, there is a possibility that hackers may have stolen credit card numbers and other sensitive information.
What happened?
Hyatt spokeswoman Stephanie Sheppard said the company discovered malware on 30 November but did not justify why the company waited over three weeks to report the incident.
How many victims?
The company didn't confirm how many clients could have been affected in the malware attack. However, the world's leading hospitality corporation, headquartered in Chicago, owns a portfolio of 627 properties in 52 countries.
What was the response?
Hyatt said it had launched an investigation and hired leading third-party cyber security experts to help investigate the malware threat, as well as taken necessary steps to increase security on its computer systems.
What Hyatt customers should do?
Meanwhile, the company has also advised all its customers to review their payment card statements carefully and to report any unauthorized bank transactions.
Moreover, the company reassured its customers that "customers can feel confident using payment cards at Hyatt hotels worldwide."
Hyatt became the latest hotel chain to report a potential customer data breach this year, following the data breach in other hotel chains, including Hilton, Starwood, Mandarin Oriental, White Lodging and the Trump Collection that acknowledged finding malware in their payment systems.
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Another day, another stunning Malware – this time targeting banks, payment card processors, and other financial services.
Security researchers have uncovered a sophisticated payment card malware that executes before the operating system boots, making the malware very difficult to detect and much less remove.
The malware in question is part of "Nemesis" – a malware suite that includes all software programs for capturing screens, transferring files, injecting processes, logging keystrokes, and carrying out other malicious activities on the infected computers.
Nemesis malware family has been seen in the past, targeting banks, ATMs, financial transaction processing, credit unions, and financial business service companies.
Nemesis Bootkit Malware – Reappears even after Re-installation of the OS
The malware with bootkit functionality has been in operation since early this year and has the ability to modify the legitimate VBR (Volume Boot Record) that makes the malware possible to load before Windows starts.
This makes the malicious threat hard to detect and remove using traditional security approaches.
Moreover, the malware resides in a low-level portion of a hard drive.
This makes the malware infection reappears even after the complete reinstallation of the Windows operating system.
"The malware that persists outside of the operating system (OS) requires a different approach to detection and eradication," security analysts from FireEye wrote in a blog post published Monday.
"Malware with bootkit functionality can be installed and executed almost entirely independent of the Windows [OS]. As a result, incident responders will need tools that can access and search raw disks at scale for evidence of bootkits."
How Does the Malware Work?
Early this year, the cyber criminals tweaked Nemesis to include a utility called BOOTRASH that has the ability to modify an infected computer's boot process.
In a normal boot, any Windows PC reads data from a hard drive's MBR (Master Boot Record) that loads the VBR – a piece of code specific to an operating system containing instructions for the OS to begin the boot process.
The process typically looks like this:
The VBR then normally loads the operating system code, but BOOTRASH loads:
First, the malicious code that injects the Nemesis components stored in the virtual file system into the Windows kernel
Then the Operating System code
Since BOOTRASH is loaded outside of the machine's OS, it is not subject to any kind of integrity checks, nor are any of its components scanned by system's Anti-Virus program, which helps the malware evade detection.
According to the researchers, versions of BOOTRASH are targeting both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows architectures. Moreover, due to this newly added Bootkit component, reinstalling the OS will not remove the Nemesis malware.
Hackers behind Nemesis Malware
FireEye researchers believe the Nemesis bootkit malware belongs to a financial crime group of hackers, likely based in Russia, called FIN1.
"We identified the presence of a financially motivated threat group that we track as FIN1, whose activity at the organization dated back several years," FireEye researcher wrote. "The threat group deployed numerous malicious files and utilities, all of which were part of a malware ecosystem referred to as 'Nemesis' by the malware developer(s)."
The researchers believe that the FIN1 hacking group used this malware, most of the times, to access victims environment and steal cardholders data. In the past, the researchers came across different versions of the Nemesis family when they analyzed FIN1's malware.
How to Protect Your Systems From Nemesis Bootkit Malware?
Re-installing the operating system of your Windows machine is not a sufficient method to get rid of this malware.
The solution against this malware threat is to use software tools that can access and scan raw disks at scale for evidence of Bootkits, or physically wipe the disks before reinstalling the operating system.
"System administrators should perform a complete physical wipe of any systems compromised with a bootkit and then reload the operating system," FireEye researchers recommend.
Nemesis is by no means the first malware family to hijack normal boot process of a PC in an effort to gain persistence and stealth, but it is not the first malware family that contains bootkit functionality.
In the past, researchers detected malicious threats such as TDL4 (Olmarik), Rovnix, Necurs, and Carberp. Among these, Carberp banking trojan targeted financial institutions.
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Saudi Arabia's national oil company "Aramco" is the country's largest oil production facility and is a significant exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. They said that a cyber attack against it in August which damaged some 30,000 computers was aimed at stopping oil and gas production at the biggest OPEC exporter.
The interior ministry said it was carried out by organised hackers from several different foreign countries and Aramco employees and contractors were not involved.
"The main target in this attack was to stop the flow of oil and gas to local and international markets and thank God they were not able to achieve their goals," Abdullah al-Saadan, Aramco's vice president for corporate planning, said on Al Ekhbariya television.
"Not a drop of oil was lost and the company was able to restore productivity in record time," he added. The hackers used several methods to hide their location
The attack used a computer virus known as Shamoon, spread through Aramco's network and wiped computers' hard drives clean. Aramco said damage was limited to office computers and did not affect systems software that might harm technical operations.
Later, Hacker group called Cutting Sword of Justice claimed responsibility for the attack. A posting on the website of Cutting Sword of Justice a day before the attack accused Saudi Arabia of crimes and atrocities in countries that include Bahrain and Syria.
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Crete, Greece (CNN)The body of American scientist Suzanne Eaton was found inside a former Nazi bunker on the Greek island of Crete, police told CNN on Thursday.The 59-year-old biologist went missing on July 2. Her body was discovered by two locals on Monday in a cave that had been turned into a bunker by Nazi soldiers during the Second World War, according to Crete's Chief of Police Konstantinos Lagoudakis.Eaton's body was found around 60 meters inside the cave beneath an air shaft which had been covered by a large wooden pallet, Lagoudakis added.Eaton was attending a conference at the Orthodox Academy in Crete and is believed to have disappeared during a run.The police said on Wednesday that Eaton was asphyxiated. Minor stab wounds were also found on her body, but police said they were not believed to be the cause of her death. The police believe the body was dumped inside the cave, because it was found face down.Read MoreLagoudakis told CNN on Thursday that he had never seen a case like this in his four years as police chief.American scientist who went missing on Crete was asphyxiated, Greek police say. Homicide investigation launchedRelatives -- including her mother, son and siblings -- released tributes to her on Thursday.Eaton's sister praised her great range of achievements describing her as an "accomplished woman" of "insatiable curiosity." "She took great pleasure in preparing exquisite meals and had an exotic fashion sense. She loved perfume. She taught and practiced Tae Kwon Do as a second degree black belt. She finished crossword puzzles way too quickly, played concertos, and read extensively. She fit Jane Austin's strictest description of an 'accomplished woman' while maintaining a natural humility and 'insatiable curiosity'," her sister wrote.Her sister added that Eaton would often worry about not giving her family enough time as well as devoting herself to science. She continued, "But anyone who read of her accomplishments in the field of molecular and developmental biology, or who witnessed her joy in tutoring, comforting, and inspiring her children, or sharing with, and loving her husband, would not have suspected. With a deep sensitivity and compassion, she somehow made us all a priority."The statements were released on a website set up by Eaton's employer, the Max Planck Institute at Dresden University in Germany.Her family initially believed Eaton, a regular runner, likely died during a run as a result of heat exhaustion or a fall in the rough terrain. "Due to the rough terrain and extreme heat, we believe the most likely possibility is that Suzanne may have either become overheated and looked for shade or that she may have fallen," said a post on a Facebook page set up by her family.The horrific details surrounding Eaton's death have shocked the locals, some of whom thought she died in a hiking accident. Crete is known to be among the safest of the Greek islands despite its size and the large number of tourists. "We are deeply shocked and disturbed by this tragic event," the Max Planck Institute said in a statement. "Suzanne was an outstanding and inspiring scientist, a loving spouse and mother, an athlete as well as a truly wonderful person beloved to us all."Eaton was the wife of British scientist Tony Hyman and mother of two sons, according to institute.
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Story highlightsWorld No. 2 Rafael Nadal moves into the semifinals of the Barcelona OpenSpaniard beats Serbia's No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic in just 83 minutesBritain's Andy Murray knocked out by big-serving Canadian Milos RaonicVictoria Azarenka survives scare to reach semifinals of Stuttgart tournamentWorld no. 2 Rafael Nadal continued his serene progress at the Barcelona Open after defeating No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-2 6-2.The Spaniard hasn't been beaten at the tournament since 2003 and showed no signs of slipping up against the Serbian, who he dismissed in 83 minutes.He has lifted the trophy on his past six appearances and took his event record to 33 wins and just one loss.Nadal will now face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the semis after the No. 7 seed's quarterfinal was cut short due an injury to his opponent Kei Nishikori, of Japan.But there was a shock in one of the other last eight clashes as Britain's Andy Murray was dumped out of the tournament by big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.Murray, the world No. 4, who also made an early exit at last week's Monte Carlo Masters, struggled to find any rhythm against the 21-year-old, and slumped to a 6-4 7-6 defeat -- his sixth reverse of the season."It's very, very difficult and a big plus in confidence for me," Raonic told the ATP Tour's official website. JUST WATCHEDNovak Djokovic under the spotlightReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNovak Djokovic under the spotlight 02:33JUST WATCHEDVictoria Azarenka targets 2012 successReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVictoria Azarenka targets 2012 success 06:49"Clay's not his best surface, but he consistently does well on it. Last year he reached the semi-finals at the French Open, Monte-Carlo and Rome, so he can play really well on it. For me, it was a big win, regardless of the surface."Ranoic only lost his serve once in the match and added: "I was playing really well up till that point. He played really well the next game at 5-5. "I didn't really have any opportunities and I was fortunate that I served well again in the next game then played a good tie-break."Raonic will now face a semifinal clash with David Ferrer, after the Spaniard beat compatriot Feliciano Lopez, the No. 7 seed, 6-7 7-6 6-3 in a match that lasted nearly three hours.In Stuttgart, women's world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka survived a scare as she fought off a stiff challenge from wild card Mona Barthel to reach the final four.The Belarusian eventually triumphed 6-4 6-7 7-5 over the 21-year-old German, who recorded 13 aces in the match. "She keeps producing some great tennis and she showed again today why she is a tough one to beat," Azarenka told reporters."Her serve is definitely up there with the best, after more than two-and-a-half hours she was still blasting down aces. I have been saying for a while she is one to watch."Azarenka will now face Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the last four, after she beat French Open champion Li Na 3-6 6-2 6-3.Australia's Samantha Stosur faces Maria Sharapova, from Russia later on Friday, with the winner playing either Germany's Angelique Kerber or Czech Petra Kvitova in the other semi.
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90000 web pages infected by mass iFrame attack
Security Experts Wayne Huang, Chris Hsiao, NightCola Lin discovered that more than 90000 web pages are infected by mass iFrame attack. There's been a mass scale injection ongoing recently, with the injected iframe pointing to willysy.com .
Just Try a simple Google Search to find out the facts.
Video Demonstration:
Researchers at Armorize said the injected scripts redirect users to malicious Web domains that is launching attacks targeting known vulnerabilities in Java, Adobe's PDF, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and other common platforms, according to the report by Armorize experts Wayne Huang, Chris Hsiao and NightCola Lin. The campaign is targeting online commerce sites, the researchers found.
Read more at Source.
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Story highlightsBarcelona will play Bayern Munich in the Euroepan Champions League semifinalsNine-time winner Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in the last fourSemifinals will be played on 23 and 24 April, with the return legs on 30 April and 1 May Chelsea face Basel, while Fenerbahce meet Benfica in the Europa League semifinalsThe prospect of arguably the two best club sides in the world contesting the European Champions League final remains a possibility after Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid were kept apart in the semifinal draw in Nyon, Switzerland.Current Spanish league leaders Barca were drawn against Bayern Munich, who have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title this season, while Real Madrid will play Borussia Dortmund."It's our chance to show that Bayern Munich has improved since 2009 (when Barcelona beat Bayern 4-0) and that we can now compare ourselves to the best teams," Bayern honorary president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told reporters on Friday."It will be a good comparison between the Bundesliga and the Spanish league."Read: Messi emerges to rescue BarcelonaLast season Real and Dortmund won the Spanish and German league titles.JUST WATCHEDExclusive: What makes Ibrahimovic tick?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHExclusive: What makes Ibrahimovic tick? 03:48JUST WATCHEDIbrahimovic reveals biggest weaknessReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHIbrahimovic reveals biggest weakness 02:17JUST WATCHEDPSG: One year onReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPSG: One year on 04:59JUST WATCHEDGullit: Mourinho will return to ChelseaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGullit: Mourinho will return to Chelsea 02:56While Real have been off the pace in the Spanish league this season -- Jose Mourinho's side are 12 points behind Barca -- the Madrid club beat their Catalan rivals recently in the Spanish Cup semifinals.In the Bundesliga, Dortmund have also lagged as Bayern have romped to the title, but Jurgen Klopp's side have looked a different proposition in the Champions League and are the only unbeaten side in this season's competition.Dortmund got the better of Real when the two sides met in the group stages, with the German side beating Real 2-1 in their Westfalenstadion and then securing an impressive 2-2 draw in Madrid to finish top of their section.The semifinal meeting between Barca and Bayern has an added twist in that the Catalan's side former coach coach Pep Guardiola will replace the German club's coach Jupp Heynckes at the end of the season.Heynckes was Real's coach in 1998, when Madrid won their first title in the competition in more than 30 years.Real are chasing a 10th European Cup, although their last win was back in 2002.Read: Dortmund end Malaga dreamTheir arch-rivals Barcelona and Bayern both have four and Borussia weigh in with their single victory in 1997 when they upset favourites Juventus 3-1 in the final. The semifinal will be played on 23 and 24 April, with the return legs on 30 April and 1 May to decide who will meet in the Wembley final in London on May 25.In the Europa League, Chelsea will face Switzerland's Basel, while Turkish side Fenerbahce face Portugal's Benfica on April 25 and May 2 for the right to contest the final in Amsterdam on May 15.
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(CNN)As it turns out, Australian scientists are Marvel fans too.Scientists at the federal government agency CSIRO gave scientific names to 165 new species this year -- and picked five flies to name after the world's favorite superheroes and villains within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.There's the Thor fly in tribute of the God of Thunder, played in Marvel by Chris Hemsworth. Its scientific name is "Daptolestes bronteflavus," which is derived from Latin like most scientific names -- and translates to "blond thunder." The Thor fly has flecks of gold and light brown on its body, antennae, and face, calling to mind Thor's blond hair and the gold features on his outfits.Morning @chrishemsworth! Check out your new assassin fly species 'bronteflavus', meaning blond thunder named by @TheScienceRobin from our team at @CSIRO. https://t.co/DYzePzZruQ pic.twitter.com/YR2LFeVYVD— Dr Bryan Lessard (@BrytheFlyGuy) July 28, 2020
There's the Loki fly, in honor of the tortured God of Mischief, whose scientific name is "Daptolestes illusiolautus," meaning elegant deception. Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, fakes his own death at one point, betrays other characters, and uses visual illusions.Read MoreBlack Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff, also has her own fly -- "Daptolestes feminategus," meaning woman wearing leather, in reference to Scarlett Johansson's iconic leather suit worn in the movies.Deadpool also has his own fly, colored orange-red and black, the same as Deadpool's suit -- and it shares similar markings as Deadpool's mask."We chose the name Humorolethalis sergius (for Deadpool). It sounds like lethal humor and is derived from the Latin words humorosus, meaning wet or moist, and lethalis meaning dead," said CSIRO entomologist Dr. Bryan Lessard in a statement on Wednesday.The Deadpool fly is a species of Robber fly, which are "assassins of the insect world" -- fitting for the mercenary antihero. Finally, there's a Stan Lee fly, in honor of the late Marvel Comics visionary. Lee is known as the founding force behind the modern Marvel behemoth, and co-created Spider-Man and many other popular characters. The fly, named "Daptolestes leei," has markings on its face reminiscent of Lee's characteristic sunglasses and white mustache. Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee and the Daptolestes leei fly.Naming newly discovered species is an "important superpower in solving many of the world's challenges," said the CSIRO statement.The scientists also named 151 new insects, eight new plants, two new fish, one new mite, three new subspecies of bird, and 25 marine invertebrates, some of which were discovered several decades ago and remained unnamed, while others were a more recent find.The names for these aren't quite as whimsical, but some do pay tribute to other things -- for instance, they named two species after "Investigator," the research ship that discovered them.Naming species allows scientists to have a little fun, but the meticulous process is also vital for researchers, conservationists, and other types of experts. Being able to identify and differentiate between species allows experts to learn more about them and to "help save their lives and our own," said the statement.Only about a quarter of Australian insects are known to science, said Lessard in the study. The statement added, "the more species are named, the better we can understand their super powers."
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SonicWall, a popular internet security provider of firewall and VPN products, on late Friday disclosed that it fell victim to a coordinated attack on its internal systems.
The San Jose-based company said the attacks leveraged zero-day vulnerabilities in SonicWall secure remote access products such as NetExtender VPN client version 10.x and Secure Mobile Access (SMA) that are used to provide users with remote access to internal resources.
"Recently, SonicWall identified a coordinated attack on its internal systems by highly sophisticated threat actors exploiting probable zero-day vulnerabilities on certain SonicWall secure remote access products," the company exclusively told The Hacker News.
The development comes after The Hacker News received reports that SonicWall's internal systems went down earlier this week on Tuesday and that the source code hosted on the company's GitLab repository was accessed by the attackers.
SonicWall wouldn't confirm the reports beyond the statement, adding it would provide additional updates as more information becomes available.
The complete list of affected products include:
NetExtender VPN client version 10.x (released in 2020) utilized to connect to SMA 100 series appliances and SonicWall firewalls
Secure Mobile Access (SMA) version 10.x running on SMA 200, SMA 210, SMA 400, SMA 410 physical appliances, and the SMA 500v virtual appliance
The company said its SMA 1000 series is not susceptible to the zero-days and that it utilizes clients different from NetExtender.
It has also published an advisory urging organizations to enable multi-factor authentication, disable NetExtender access to the firewall, restrict access to users and admins for public IP addresses, and configure whitelist access on the SMA directly to mitigate the flaws.
With a number of cybersecurity vendors such as FireEye, Microsoft, Crowdstrike, and Malwarebytes becoming targets of cyberattacks in the wake of SolarWinds supply chain hack, the latest breach of SonicWall raises significant concerns.
"As the front line of cyber defense, we have seen a dramatic surge in cyberattacks on governments and businesses, specifically on firms that provide critical infrastructure and security controls to those organizations," SonicWall said.
UPDATE (24 Jan, 2021)
SonicWall, in an updated advisory on Saturday, said its NetExtender VPN clients are no longer affected by the potential zero-day vulnerabilities that it said were used to carry out a "coordinated attack" on its internal systems.
The company, however, said it's continuing to investigate the SMA 100 Series for probable zero-days.
"While we previously communicated NetExtender 10.x as potentially having a zero-day, that has now been ruled out," the company stated. "It may be used with all SonicWall products. No action is required from customers or partners."
That said, exact specifics about the nature of the attack and what prompted SonicWall to investigate its own products as a possible attack vector remains unclear as yet.
We have reached out to the company for details, and we'll update the story if we hear back.
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United States Census Bureau Hacked and Vulnerability Exposed
A Group of Hackers from r00tw0rm found SQL injection Vulnerability on United States Census Bureau and Hackers successfully exploit the Database and Leak it online today. The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as a leading source of data about America's people and economy.
The Pastebin Note include the complete Database Structure as shown:
There is no reason mentioned for this attack yet by Hacker, But Hacker suggest United States Census Bureau to fix their loopholes as soon as possible. The Note include the Greets to other Hacking Groups like Inj3ct0r , TeaMp0isoN and Anonymous, seems that its a collective hack for #Antisec.
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Story highlightsTeenage golf sensation Lydia Ko signs with sports management firm IMGKo is the youngest winner in LPGA Tour historyThe South-Korean born New Zealander has racked up five pro wins alreadyThe 16-year-old will join the LPGA Tour in 2014She's the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and now teen sensation Lydia Ko looks set for a long and lucrative career after teaming up with a major sports management firm.The South-Korean born New Zealander has signed with IMG, the company which once had world No. 1 Tiger Woods on its books."Now officially an IMG family member :)," the 16-year-old announced on Twitter. Ko has enjoyed five professional wins since January 2012 and is ranked No. 4 in the world.In August 2012, two days after her 15th birthday, Ko won the Canadian Women's Open but was unable to collect the $300,000 winner's check due to her status as an amateur.It was the same story when she defended the title 12 months on, with Ko neglecting to turn pro to focus on her education.JUST WATCHEDA new generation of golfing stars emergeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA new generation of golfing stars emerge 01:50JUST WATCHEDLPGA winner reveals Olympic ambitionsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLPGA winner reveals Olympic ambitions 04:13She also benefited from the backing of wealthy benefactor David Levene, who donated some of his fortune to Ko so she could remain an amateur and continue with her studies.Ko will have no such problems in the future as she joins the LPGA Tour in 2014."I am excited to work with my new team at IMG as I embark on my professional career," Ko said in a statement. "My family and I spoke with many candidates and IMG emerged as the clear choice to represent me, in large part because of their global reach. I am comfortable knowing that IMG will commit the appropriate resources to help my career excel while I focus on golf."Ko was described by IMG's global head of golf Guy Kinnings as "an incredibly impressive young lady and an astonishing player."IMG's female golf stable already includes illustrious names such as 2010 U.S. Women's Open winner Paula Creamer and American Michelle Wie.Read: Why lawyers love golfRead: Woods -- "Mandela inspired me"
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(CNN)The words poured out in emotional fashion as Bryony Frost became the first female jockey to win a top-flight race on an inspirational day at the Cheltenham Festival. The 23-year-old Frost was roared home by an ecstatic crowd to win the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase onboard the Paul Nicholls-trained Frodon to secure her place in the record books. The pair's stunning triumph sparked a remarkable hour of racing which also yielded victory for blind owner Andrew Gemmell's Paisley Park and saw Lizzie Kelly clinch a double for female jockeys."He's Pegasus! He's got wings," said an overjoyed Frost to ITV Racing at the finish line."Most horses would quit, but he grabbed me by the hands and said, 'don't you dare give up, don't you dare not send me into the last - I want this more than you, now come on, where are you?'Read More"Just look at what he's done there - deny that he just loves racing. He's unbelievable. I love you."Frost added: "He just made the dream come true, it's just incredible. He will deserve every single high five, pat and carrot." READ: A day in the life of Paul Nicholls' racing yard Photos: Cheltenham 2019Jockey Paul Townend gives Al Boum Photo a kiss after they win the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup, the showpiece of jump racing's blue-riband Cheltenham Festival.Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019A capacity crowd of nearly 70,000 descended on Prestbury Park in England's Cotswolds for the concluding Gold Cup day of the Festival. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Al Boum Photo was the first Gold Cup winner and final piece in the puzzle for veteran Irish trainer Willie Mullins.Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Townend and Al Boum Photo beat the likes of Presenting Percy and Clan Des Obeaux to win steeplechasing's most coveted prize.Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Bryony Frost made history when she partnered Frodon to win and become the first female jockey to clinch a Grade 1 at the Festival.Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The pair's victory sparked emotional scenes as they returned to the winner's enclosure in front of packed stands. Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Owner Andrew Gemmell, who was born blind, celebrates with trainer Emma Lavelle (left) as his horse Paisley Park wins the feature Stayers Hurdle on St Patrick's Thursday at Cheltenham.Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Tennis star Andy Murray and his wife Kim Murray watch the opening race on Ladies Day at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival.Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The Princess Royal (center) and Zara Tindall (right) watch the action during Ladies Day of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival.Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Ladies Day brings out the finery to light up Cheltenham's Prestbury Park racecourse. Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The Cheltenham Festival attracts huge crowds to jump racing's blue riband event in the Cotswolds region of England. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Altor (center), ridden by Nico de Boinville, made it 18 straight wins with victory in the feature race, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, on Ladies' Day Wednesday at the Cheltenham Festival. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Jockey Mark Walsh rode Espoir D'Allen to win the feature Champion Hurdle on the opening day of the 2019 Festival.Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The Champion Hurdle is one of the big four races at the Festival. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Actress and model Liz Hurley presented Walsh with the winning trophy by at Cheltenham.Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson (left) attended on day one. The Scot is a part owner of Gold Cup joint-favorite Clan Des Obeaux. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Rain at the start of the week made for a muddy racecourse.Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The Festival features four days of top-class jump racing action. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019The betting market is frenetic during the week with punters trying to beat the oddsmakers.Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Rain sits in puddles on the all-weather surface of the Cheltenham gallops ahead of the Festival. (Digital filters were used in this image)Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: Cheltenham 2019Horses cross the course after exercising ahead of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. Hide Caption 21 of 21 'One of best days ever'The pair was treated to a thunderous reception as they returned to the parade ring where Frost's family were waiting to congratulate the history maker. "I'm just so proud of her, that was an amazing ride," said Frost's mum in front of her visibly emotional daughter.Many on social media were calling Frost's win the best moment so far of this year's jump racing showpiece, and Frodon's trainer Nicholls agreed. "One of the best days ever," said the 10-time champion trainer, who has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup four times with legendary horses such as Kauto Star and Denman.Frost's female colleague Rachael Blackmore also claimed an impressive Festival win onboard A Plus Tard on Wednesday. Frost poses with the trophy after winning. In the following race, Paisley Park -- a horse that almost died two years ago -- clinched the Stayers' Hurdle to whip the crowd into a further frenzy. Owner Gemmell, who was born blind, was crying and dancing in the stands as someone narrated the race to him. "Wonderful. It's fantastic. I'm aware we're on air so I won't say what I want!" he told BBC Radio 5 live after his first festival winner. "I can't believe it's happened. I'm in tears. Wow. I couldn't see the race but that roar is incredible!"
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Story highlightsTwo brothers have sent their toy pirate ship on a North Sea voyageIt was part of 500 adventures set by their parentsOllie and Henry have also sent Lego figures into space (CNN)As Ollie and Henry Ferguson pushed their toy pirate ship into the North Sea, there was a sudden pang of doubt from the pair.Tentatively, they released it into the choppy waters off the coast of the Scottish town of Peterhead.Follow @cnnsport
Ollie is eight and Harry is five, and the boat in question their Playmobil pirate ship -- a once prized possession that had been gathering dust at home.But the voyage has taken it -- aptly named Adventure -- to Scandinavia and now on towards Cape Verde, having traveled through waters that have smashed far grander vessels than one measuring just 67 centimeters in length and costing $67 (£49.99.)Its an unexpected voyage that has garnered attention from Copenhagen to Canada and from the United Kingdom to the United States.Read MoreJUST WATCHEDVolvo Ocean Race: The Everest of the SeasReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVolvo Ocean Race: The Everest of the Seas 22:31READ: Giving it all up to go sailing around the worldThe journey is part of an idea from their father Mac, who set his sons 500 adventures.Currently, they have chalked off 208 with each one detailed on their Facebook page but none have caught the attention quite like the Playmobil pirate ship."It started with the premise of a message in a bottle," Mac explains to CNN from the family home, "of sending a message from one country to another, to learn about how big the world is, and things like crosswinds."We didn't want to send a plastic bottle into the ocean as that's littering and sent the wrong message so instead we used a Playmobil ship that they no longer used and would have gone to a charity shop or something."READ: Sailing's glamor tribe and the downsides of paradiseVoyage of discoveryTo make it more seaworthy, the boys added a counterweight to stop it from flipping over and polystyrene to help it float. It then underwent testing in their local swimming pool and in open water before its main voyage.But the Fergusons had no idea how the journey would play out as, on May 26, it was put to sea along with the family's contact details.Their Dad recalls: "I half thought, it'd get caught up and spilled back onto the beach a few miles down the coast."JUST WATCHEDBlair Tuke's pursuit of historyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBlair Tuke's pursuit of history 03:04Read: Meet the violin-playing surferInstead, though, it traveled 390 miles to Denmark where it was picked up by a family, who contacted the Fergusons via Facebook with photos of them with the boat before returning it to the sea.From there, it traveled to Sweden where it found its way into a tree, found by a woman in her boat who did some running repairs before setting it off on its latest voyage, this time to Norway."Partly because it was going to waste, we used the Playmobil boat but also as it was more eye-catching for people to pick up rather than leave it where it is," he says. "It's obviously worked better than it ever could have."Its last appearance was in Norway, where it was found by a crew member aboard a conservation vessel a quarter-of-a-mile off the Norwegian shoreline."It made it to three countries in just about six weeks which is incredible," says Ferguson, with an infinitely more demanding journey now under way.It was put on board the Christian Radich, a fully-rigged ship, and pushed into the waters towards Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean.Lego in outer spaceAs for what the future holds, the family have no idea but the boys are still relishing it."It's funny as this is not even the most adventurous of our 500 challenges," explains Ferguson, who sent two Lego men into space 19.5 miles above earth with a GoPro."But of the 500, this one has certainly grown arms and legs, and it's certainly made the boys popular at school." Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesAndreas Cariolou, RS-X (Cyprus) – The sun was beginning to set over the Marina da Glória and award-winning sports photographer Clive Mason was finishing up for the day. All he needed was that one perfect shot and, "as if by magic," Cypriot windsurfer Andreas Cariolou glided directly past the press boat as he made his way to shore.Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesBen Saxton & Nicola Groves, Nacra 17 (Great Britain) – Sailors are not averse to "playing up" for the cameras, jokes Mason, telling CNN the more brazen showboaters will deliberately seek to sail past the working press.Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesNathan Outteridge, 49er skiff (Australia) – But the photographer's craft is also about intensely "personal" moments. Mason says he was "lucky" to get the opportunity to shoot Australian sailor Nathan Outteridge washing down his boat in this pragmatic, four or five days before the hustle and bustle of Olympic competition. "I love this picture," Mason says, telling CNN Sport he and his fellow professionals sometimes find themselves forming bonds with the athletes they cover over the years, quietly sharing their moments of victory. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesBen Saxton & Nicola Groves, Nacra 17 (Great Britain) – As the events started and windsurfers, dinghies and skiffs flew by in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain, Mason freely admits Rio 2016 became as much about the topography as the sailing talent. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesPablo Abella & Mariana Costa, Nacra 17 (Uruguay) – At times, the photographers had to remind themselves what they were actually there to shoot, he tells CNN. After all, "not every picture could look like a chocolate box."Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesFinn Class in the shadow of Sugarloaf – This image, taken "late in the afternoon" on the Copacabana, depicts the "abstract" sails of the Finn fleet positioned directly below Christ the Redeemer. It's a photo that could adorn the wall of any home; indeed, Mason confirms he's had numerous requests for prints. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesGiles Scott, Finn class (Great Britain) – But there was a whole lot more to Rio 2016 than triumphant topography. In this image, Mason captures the exact moment Giles Scott realizes he has sealed the gold medal for Great Britain. It's the final product of careful planning on the part of the photographer -- Scott's lead was already unassailable the day before the medal race. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesBen Saxton and Nicola Groves, Nacra 17 (Great Britain) – Mason describes the image of Scott's elation as "one the nicest, cleanest" he's ever taken -- telling CNN Sport the ultimate aim is always "a picture that tells a story with a key moment, key athlete and beautiful light." But sometimes it's about pure action. Here, a member of the Nacra 17 Olympic fleet fights with testing winds on the Rio waters. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesMathew Belcher & Will Ryan, 470 class (Australia) – The photographer was "in the lap of the Gods" for this shot as he hung from side of a boat and utilized an underwater housing. Finely framed, "the crest of the water leads into the shape of the sail." Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Sailing at the 2016 Olympic GamesMariana Costa & Pablo Abella, Nacra 17 (Uruguay) – "Whatever you're doing, its a huge sacrifice," Mason concludes, admitting it can be difficult spending so much time away from family. But after covering four Olympic sailing regattas, hundreds of F1 races and numerous FIFA World Cups, this photographer has no intention of quitting. Interested in professional sports photography? Find out how to capture the world's fastest drivers Hide Caption 10 of 10While they are enjoying the attention inside the school gates and watching themselves on television or reading about themselves online or in newspapers, they have "become rather blasé", according to their father.Ferguson hopes the voyage might prompt others to set outdoor challenges for a generation of children plugged into tablets.The 44-year-old, who has his own business working on adventures with children, says: "I'm not trying to make the boys Bear Grylls or Ray Mears but it's just to share experiences, and they're getting bigger and bigger, and more adventurous."
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(CNN)The suspects of the 2018 novichok nerve agent poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, have been linked to a 2014 blast in the Czech Republic that killed two people. Czech police said Saturday that they were searching for two men in connection with a serious crime. Czech police released images matching those of the Salisbury suspects, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. UK officials said the men are behind a 2014 explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetice.The Czech police added that the men are known to be carrying various passports, including Russian passports with Petrov and Boshirov's names. How an alleged Russian spy ring stole NATO and EU secrets from BulgariaMoscow has denied any involvement with the Salisbury incident, and the men who identified themselves as Petrov and Boshirov claimed they briefly visited the historic cathedral city as tourists. Putin has said the two men identified as suspects are "not criminals."The UK foreign office said on Sunday: "It has been announced by the Czech authorities that the two GRU Officers that were charged with the attempted murder of the Skripals in Salisbury, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were also behind the deaths of two civilians and an explosion in the Czech town of Vrbetice."Read MoreCzech police say the men were in the Czech Republic between October 11 and October 16 of 2014, and added they also carried passports from Moldova and Tajikistan, under the names of Nicolai Popa and Ruslan Tabarov respectively.Shortly before the announcement, the Czech Republic said it would expel 18 employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague in retaliation for the 2014 explosion, which caused huge financial and environmental damage."As Foreign Minister I decided to expel all employees of the Russian Embassy who were clearly identified by our security services as officers of Russian Intelligence Services, SVR and GRU," Acting Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said at the time.Russia will take "retaliatory measures" against the Czech Republic over the move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.The decision to expel 18 embassy employees was "based on unfounded and far-fetched excuses about the involvement of Russian special services in the explosion of 2014 at military depots in Vrbetice settlement," the statement said."This is even more absurd, since the Czech leadership previously blamed the companies that own these warehouses for explosions," it added.The Russian ministry alleged the move was "an effort to please the United States against the background of recent US sanctions against Russia, the Czech authorities have even surpassed their overseas masters in this regard."Russian intelligence service Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Saturday "there is well founded suspicion that officers of Russian Intelligence Services GRU, unit 29155 were connected to the explosion of a munition depots in Vrbetice in the year 2014."He added that the blast "caused enormous material damage, serious threat and disruption of people's lives, but especially, it killed two of our citizens, two unexpected and innocent fathers."Babiš said he informed the European Council President Charles Michel about the investigation into the explosion. The Czech Republic will discuss the explosion with NATO and European Union allies on Monday, according to a tweet sent early Sunday by Hamacek.Joe Biden is meeting the cold reality of officeHamacek was scheduled to travel to Moscow in the coming days to discuss the possibility of the Czech Republic acquiring the Russian Covid-19 vaccine. The trip has been canceled because he would be "needed at the government's meeting on Monday," he said. After that announcement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian state news agency TASS, "Prague is well aware of what will follow such tricks."In a tweet sent Sunday, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Prague Jennifer Bachus said, "The United States stands with its steadfast Ally, the Czech Republic. We appreciate their significant action to impose costs on Russia for its dangerous actions on Czech soil."British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK "stands in "stands in full support of our Czech allies, who have exposed the lengths that the Russian intelligence services will go to in their attempts to conduct dangerous and malign operations in Europe."He added that it showed " a pattern of behavior by Moscow, following the Novichok attack in Salisbury."NATO said Sunday it supported the Czech Republic as it "investigates Russia's malign activities on its territory.""We express our sympathy to the loved ones of the victims of the explosion in Vrbetice. Those responsible must be brought to justice," a NATO official said in a statement.Relations between London and Moscow deteriorated in 2018 when the UK government pointed the finger of blame at the two Russians it said were the agents of the GRU. The bitter diplomatic fight also saw a wave of tit-for-tat expulsions between Russia and Western nations.This week the administration of US President Joe Biden targeted Russia with sweeping sanctions and diplomatic expulsions, punishing Moscow for its interference in the 2020 US election, its SolarWinds cyberattack and its ongoing occupation and "severe human rights abuses" in Crimea.This story has been updated to clarify what Czech police said on Saturday.CNN's Tara John, Tomas Etzler, Anna Chernova, Sharon Braithwaite, Arnaud Siad and Olga Pavlova contributed to this report.
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(CNN)Harry and Meghan's royal tour of Australia took in a visit to a struggling, drought-stricken farming area of New South Wales Wednesday, after stopping by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) -- a lifeline for many in the vast, rural areas the state -- to unveil a new aircraft. The UK's Prince Harry and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, landed in the town of Dubbo, an hour's flight northwest of Sydney, to a warm welcome, chatting with local schoolchildren as they arrived. Meghan is greeted by schoolchildren following her arrival in Dubbo.The welcome included one young fan, Luke Vincent, who broke the ropeline to embrace the prince, playfully playing with his beard. He then handed a bouquet of flowers to the Duchess before hugging her as well. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gets a hug and a bouquet of flowers from 5-year-old Luke Vincent.The royal couple were treated to a demonstration of the RFDS' capabilities and mission, meeting members of the long-running service before participating in a ceremony to inaugurate the new aircraft. The RFDS, the world's first flying doctors service, has provided critical healthcare to remote, rural Australian communities for 90 years.The Royal couple inaugurate a new aircraft for Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) at Dubbo Regional Airport.Read MoreFarm visitThe young couple, who announced the Duchess' first pregnancy as they arrived in Australia, then traveled to a farm owned by the Woodley family, which has been suffering from the effects of a long-running drought in the region. Accompanied by the family, the Royals took a tour through the property, helping feed livestock. The Woodleys showed their appreciation for the royal's interest in their trying situation. "It was an honor and a privilege to have them look around our property and they were very interested in everything that has been going on in the last two years and how we have been coping with it," one family member said. Prince Harry and wife Meghan chat with farmers Scott Woodley, his daughter Laura and wife Elaine during a visit to their drought-affected farm in Dubbo.The royal couple also visited a school which is focused on improving education of indigenous Australians, and attended a community event in Dubbo, where Harry praised the area's farmers for their endurance in the face of the hardship of the drought. The royal couple watch aboriginal dances at Victoria Park in Dubbo."You are the salt of the earth. Honest, hard working and as tough as they come, and that resilience, sense of humor and commitment to the land are the qualities that make you unique. You are the backbone of this country," Harry told the small crowd as Meghan held an umbrella over him -- a rare outbreak of rain in a region that has suffered for multiple seasons. Prince Harry speaks as a rare, welcome outbreak of rain falls in Dubbo, in rural New South Wales."You have just lived through two years of drought and despite recent welcome rain, it is going to take a lot more and a long time to recover. It must be hard not to lose hope when you endure so many dry months, end on end, knowing that you are powerless to do anything about it."The state's Department of Primary Industries has reported that 98% of NSW is declared in drought -- slightly improving on August's 100% figure, Australia's ABC reports. Importance of mental health careHarry also encouraged those suffering due to the dry weather to seek help "when you need it," referencing his struggles with mental health issues in the wake of his mother, Princess Diana's accidental death in 1997. "But you need to know that part of being strong and tough is having the courage to ask for help when you need it. You must not silently suffer. "You are all in this together, and if I may speak personally, we are all in this together, because asking for help was one of the best decisions I ever made. You will be continually amazed how life changes for the better."Harry and Meghan will head to Melbourne tomorrow for the next leg of their tour, which will also take in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.
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How do you check if a website asking for your credentials is fake or legit to log in?
By checking if the URL is correct?
By checking if the website address is not a homograph?
By checking if the site is using HTTPS?
Or using software or browser extensions that detect phishing domains?
Well, if you, like most Internet users, are also relying on above basic security practices to spot if that "Facebook.com" or "Google.com" you have been served with is fake or not, you may still fall victim to a newly discovered creative phishing attack and end up in giving away your passwords to hackers.
Antoine Vincent Jebara, co-founder and CEO of password managing software Myki, told The Hacker News that his team recently spotted a new phishing attack campaign "that even the most vigilant users could fall for."
Vincent found that cybercriminals are distributing links to blogs and services that prompt visitors to first "login using Facebook account" to read an exclusive article or purchase a discounted product.
That's fine. Login with Facebook or any other social media service is a safe method and is being used by a large number of websites to make it easier for visitors to sign up for a third-party service quickly.
Generally, when you click "log in with Facebook" button available on any website, you either get redirected to facebook.com or are served with facebook.com in a new pop-up browser window, asking you to enter your Facebook credentials to authenticate using OAuth and permitting the service to access your profile's necessary information.
However, Vincent discovered that the malicious blogs and online services are serving users with a very realistic-looking fake Facebook login prompt after they click the login button which has been designed to capture users' entered credentials, just like any phishing site.
As shown in the video demonstration Vincent shared with The Hacker News, the fake pop-up login prompt, actually created with HTML and JavaScript, are perfectly reproduced to look and feel exactly like a legitimate browser window—a status bar, navigation bar, shadows and URL to the Facebook website with green lock pad indicating a valid HTTPS.
Moreover, users can also interact with the fake browser window, drag it here-and-there or exit it in the same way any legitimate window acts.
The only way to protect yourself from this type of phishing attack, according to Vincent, "is to actually try to drag the prompt away from the window it is currently displayed in. If dragging it out fails (part of the popup disappears beyond the edge of the window), it's a definite sign that the popup is fake."
Besides this, it is always recommended to enable two-factor authentication with every possible service, preventing hackers from accessing your online accounts if they somehow manage to get your credentials.
Phishing schemes are still one of the most severe threats to users as well as companies, and hackers continue to try new and creative ways to trick you into providing them with your sensitive and financial details that they could later use to steal your money or hack into your online accounts.
Stay tuned, stay safe!
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London (CNN)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's controversial five-week suspension of Parliament was unlawful, the UK Supreme Court has ruled, in a landmark decision that will have far-reaching constitutional implications.Judges unanimously upheld an earlier decision by Scotland's highest civil court, which ruled that Johnson had acted illegally to suppress parliamentary scrutiny of his Brexit strategy.Supreme Court President Lady Hale said Johnson's advice to the Queen "was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification."Extraordinarily, she added that the prorogation was "void and of no effect," and that "Parliament has not been prorogued."Huge defeat for PMRead MoreThe decision is a huge defeat for the Prime Minister, and will likely set off a bitter argument over whether the justices have strayed too far into the UK's political arena.But, speaking in New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Johnson was defiant, saying that while he has "the utmost respect for our judiciary ... I don't agree with the verdict."Johnson said the government would respect the ruling, adding that the "most important thing" is that the UK leaves the EU on October 31, "come what may."A government source told CNN the Prime Minister would fly back to the UK on Tuesday night, after his speech at the UNGA.John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, addresses reporters after the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue Parliament was unlawful.Following the judgment, John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, said Parliament would resume on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET). It is not yet clear if Johnson plans to address MPs on Wednesday, following his return from the US.Bercow said there would be no Prime Minister's Questions session (normally held on Wednesdays) but that there would be opportunities for urgent questions, ministerial statements and emergency debate applications.The House of Lords, Parliament's upper house, will also resume on Wednesday, at 3 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).Contentious decisionJohnson's decision to suspend parliament until mid-October was hugely contentious. Opposition lawmakers accused him of trying to shut down political efforts to stop a no-deal Brexit on October 31. The government insisted the prorogation was constitutional, and normal procedure when a government wants to restart the parliamentary session with a new legislative agenda. READ LADY HALE'S FULL SUMMARY OF THE COURT'S DECISION HERE:
UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called for Johnson to reconsider his position "and become the shortest serving Prime Minister that has ever been."Speaking at the Labour conference in Brighton, Corbyn added that Johnson must "obey the law, take no deal off the table and have an election to elect a government that respects democracy that respects the rule of law and brings power back to the people, not usurps it."Why was the UK Parliament suspended and what does it mean for Brexit?Tuesday's decision follows last week's high-stakes hearing in the Supreme Court, at which the justices were asked to decide between competing decisions of Scottish and English courts. They upheld a case brought in Edinburgh by a cross-party group of more than 70 lawmakers led by Scottish National Party MP Joanna Cherry. They agreed with the Court of Session that Johnson's suspension of Parliament was motivated by the "improper purpose of stymying Parliament." At the same time, they overturned a ruling by the High Court in London, which found against the anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller. The High Court had earlier ruled that the decision to suspend Parliament was a political matter, and not one that could be reviewed by the courts. Miller's legal action was joined by John Major, treating Britain to the extraordinary spectacle of a former Conservative prime minister suing his successor. Speaking outside court following the ruling, Cherry told reporters that she was "absolutely delighted that the UK Supreme Court has agreed with Scotland's Supreme Court."SNP MP Joanna Cherry speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court in central London.She added: "This is a huge victory for the rule of law for democracy and it's very much in keeping with Scottish constitutional traditions that neither of the governments nor indeed the monarch are above the law."Meanwhile, Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt tweeted that "the rule of law in the UK is alive and kicking" after the decision."Parliaments should never be silenced in a real democracy," he added. "I never want to hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say again that the European Union is undemocratic."At least one big relief in the Brexit saga: the rule of law in the UK is alive & kicking. Parliaments should never be silenced in a real democracy.I never want to hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say again that the European Union is undemocratic.— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) September 24, 2019 This story has been updated to clarify what the ruling said about the reasons Boris Johnson gave to Queen Elizabeth II for the prorogation of Parliament.
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Story highlightsJapan top table with seven Guangzhou goldTeenage sensation Akira Sone leads the wayGeorgia seal double gold on final day (CNN)Akira Sone showed age is no barrier as the 18-year-old proved the star attraction for a Japan team that comfortably topped the medal table with seven gold medals at the year-ending Guangzhou Masters.Arguably facing one of the greatest heavyweights of all time in Cuba's Idalys Ortiz -- a former Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion -- teenager Sone proved undaunted.Visit cnn.com/sport for more news and videosThe 18-year-old continually pressured world silver medalist Ortiz, the Cuban eventually given three shido penalties, which saw Sone crowned the winner as Japan swept the board to win every women's weight category.Sone was the aggressor from the outset, forcing a rattled Ortiz, who trains against men to prepare herself for competitions, to concede those trio of shido penalties and, with that, the title.Read MoreFollowing her first major title on the World Judo Tour, Sone, who became a national champion as a 17-year-old, said: "Ortiz is a very tactical judoka. So, I knew that I couldn't fall into her trap, so I just tried to stay one step ahead of her throughout."Sone's Guangzhou victory secured her first major title on the IJF World Judo Tour.For the Japanese judoka, it was their superior technical skill, which shone out.Former judo world champion Neil Adams, a technical adviser for the International Judo Federation, told Judo Inside: "Japan obviously always impress because they are always looking for ippon."The Japanese judoka rely more on technical expertise and technique to win a match, that tells us a lot towards the sheer volume of practice as opposed to just physical training. Technique wins."Even when they're down and out, the top judoka are always dangerous, the ones with big techniques, you can't write them off. When you have technique, you're always dangerous until the last second."JUST WATCHEDThe judoka who left Japan for judo gloryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe judoka who left Japan for judo glory 01:58The Masters is invite only, open to the 16 best judoka in the world in each category, with Japan claiming three gold medals in all on the final day of action, including Mami Uemki defeating countrywoman Ruika Sato with ippon in the final of the -78 kilogram division.Another Japanese youngster in Saki Niizoe starred by defeating three-time world champion Yui Alvear in the -70kg finale.Georgia proved the best of the rest behind the dominant Japanese with duo Varlam Liparteliani and Guram Tushishvili both winning gold.Liparteliani did not even have to take to the mat for his -100kg final when Mongolian opponent Otgonbattar Lkhagvasuren pulled out with injury.Meanwhile, Tushishvili, the current +100kg world champion, needed ippon to edge out Brazilian Rafael Silva in the defense of his Guangzhou title.
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Story highlightsEuro 2012 kicks off on June 8, with 16 nations taking partBuildup to the four-yearly tournament has been difficult for the co-hostsThere have been fears that infrastructure in Ukraine will not be sufficientCountry has also been criticized over human rights and racist football fansIf the pre-vote predictions had been accurate, football heavyweights Italy would be preparing to host the 2012 European Championship.It wasn't a shock on the scale of Qatar's swoop for the 2022 World Cup, but the joint bid from Poland and Ukraine was at one stage considered third favorite to host Euro 2012 -- out of three candidates.But taking advantage of the hooliganism and match-fixing allegations making ugly headlines in Italy back in 2007, Poland and Ukraine stole up on the outside to pip both the 1968 champions and another joint bid from Hungary and Croatia to the honor.Racism, rather than Ronaldo and Ribery, dominates Euro 2012 storylinesFulfilling UEFA chief Michel Platini's ambition of balancing the power in European football, this will be the first major football tournament in the former Iron Curtain.But as early as 2008, Platini was telling Ukraine to "get going" as the building of new stadiums and improvements in the transport network slipped behind schedule. At one stage, there was even talk of Scotland stepping in as emergency host.By the end of 2011, Platini was diplomatically describing the buildup as a "complicated adventure." JUST WATCHEDPlatini: Bayern, Chelsea worthy of finalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPlatini: Bayern, Chelsea worthy of final 04:58JUST WATCHEDPlatini: Blatter racism claims 'clumsy' ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPlatini: Blatter racism claims 'clumsy' 04:42"Difficult births often lead to beautiful babies," the French football great concluded in March as Poland and Ukraine finally declared they would be ready for the June 8 kickoff when an estimated worldwide audience of at least 150 million is expected to be watching.Only time will tell whether Platini will return to UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland a proud father.Most major sporting tournaments experience a rocky buildup, Poland and Ukraine's has been at the turbulent end of the scale -- understandably so, given the countries' lack of major event experience coupled with ambitious improvement plans that are reported to have cost $38 billion combined.The stadia are breathtaking. Five of the eight on show during the tournament are brand new, and the existing venues in Kiev, Donetsk and Kharkiv have undergone major developments.The 50,000-capacity, newly-constructed National Stadium in Warsaw will host the opening game between Poland and Greece.Kiev's 60,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, which began life in 1923 as the Red Stadium of Lev Trotsky and hosted games during the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has been completely renovated with a new transparent roof and will host the final on July 1.While the venues have been tested, the transport network will come under scrutiny for the first time when an estimated one million fans descend on the two countries.Ukraine faces a race against time to complete the planned 1,750 kilometers of new roads in time for the start of the tournament. It has also shipped in high-speed trains from South Korea to ease travel between the two host countries. Photos: Euro 2012: Key players Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersMilan the main man – Czech Republic were solid in a kind qualifying group, finishing second to reigning champions Spain after conceding just eight goals in eight games. The Euro 1996 finalists' problems are in attack, where 30-year-old striker Milan Baros will be expected to provide a cutting edge.Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersCounting on Karagounis – Greece shocked the whole of Europe eight years ago, emerging from nowhere to be crowned Euro 2004 winners. One of the survivors of that team is midfielder Giorgos Karagounis, whose experience will be key if Greece are to reach the quarterfinals.Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersPoster boy – Co-hosts Poland boast one of Europe's most in-form strikers in the shape of Robert Lewandoski. The 23-year-old had a fine season with German champions Borussia Dortmund and he will be Poland's main goal threat in Group A.Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersKirill the kid – The surprise inclusion in the Russia squad was uncapped CSKA Moscow defender Kirill Nababkin(left). Under Guus Hiddink in 2008, Russia enjoyed a run to the semifinals in Austria and Switzerland. Hiddink's compatriot Dick Advocaat will be hoping for a similar performance this year.Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersEyes on Eriksen – The star of the Denmark squad is young playmaker Christian Eriksen. The Ajax midfielder could earn a move to one of Europe's big clubs with an impressive showing in Poland and Ukraine.Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersSweating on Schweinsteiger – Germany go into Euro 2012 with a squad full of proven international performers and as one of the favorites to lift the trophy. Coach Joachim Low's main concern will be midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is battling to be fit for Germany's first match against Portugal on June 9.Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersReliant on Robin? – Netherland's Robin van Persie enters the four-yearly tournament off the back of a prolific season with Arsenal. In addition to Van Persie's firepower, the Euro 1988 winners also have Schalke hitman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersCristiano the creator – Portugal have exciting talents such as Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani of Manchester United in wide positions, but Paulo Bento's team arguably lack a true goalscorer.Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersLooking to Luka – Croatia impressed many spectators with their performances at Euro 2008, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Turkey. Luka Modric was their stand-out performer four years ago, and the pressure will be on the midfelder once again in June.Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersSuper Mario – Italy's preparations for Euro 2012 might have been hit by a recent match-fixing investigation, but in striker Mario Balotelli, who has been handed the No. 9 shirt, the Azzurri have a player who could, if he's in the right mood, be the star of the tournament.Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersGetting the job Dunne – Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland qualified for Euro 2012 courtesy of a strong defence. In a group which includes multiple attacking threats, Richard Dunne will be key to Ireland's chances of reaching the quarterfinals.Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersTorres' time? – An injury to David Villa has opened the door for Fernando Torres to spearhead reigning champions Spain's challenge. Can the Chelsea striker put a difficult couple of years behind him and produce another European Championship-winning goal?Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersWithout Wayne – England will be without striker Wayne Rooney for the first two matches of the tournament due to suspension. Can new coach Roy Hodgson adapt and navigate his team out of a tricky group?Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersFrance's forward options – Striker Olivier Giroud enjoyed an impressive campaign in the French Ligue 1, playing a key part of Montpellier's championship-winning team. Can the 25-year-old usurp Real Madrid's Karim Benzema as Laurent Blanc's first-choice striker?Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersZlat attack – Sweden's challenge will be led by the unpredictable talents of AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite world-class performances at club level, the striker has so far failed to convince on the international stage.Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Euro 2012: Key playersSheva's last stand – Ukraine legend Andriy Shevchenko (left) will be taking part in his final international tournament and the former AC Milan striker will be hoping to go out with a bang in front of his home fans.Hide Caption 16 of 16 Photos: Eye on Poland Photos: Eye on PolandAn independent state – Poland declared independence in 1918 following more than 120 years when it came under Russian, Prussian, and Austrian rule. Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 sparked the Second World War, during which six million Poles died, including the majority of its Jewish population. After the war Poland became a communist state and member of the Warsaw Pact. In 1989, it became the first member of the Soviet bloc to establish a non-communist government and joined the European Union in 2004.Hide Caption 1 of 9Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Eye on PolandBialowieza Forest – The Bialowieza forest in northeastern Poland preserves nature as it was a few centuries ago, with bison, ancient trees and rare plants. Aside from its beautiful architecture, Poland also has a wealth of lakes, mountains, and forests that are home to animal species otherwise extinct in Europe.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Eye on PolandMarket Square, Krakow – Located in the center of Krakow's Old Town, Market Square is one of the largest medieval squares in Europe, dating back to the 13th century. It hosts several of the city's historical landmarks, including the Renaissance Sukiennice (ancient cloth market), St. Mary's Basilica, and the Town Hall Tower. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Eye on PolandUp and coming – In Poland's first years of EU membership, over 800,000 Poles left every year to work in other -- mainly Western -- EU countries where wages were higher. But according to recent research by Poland's Central Statistics Office, this tide of emigres has stemmed and an increasing number of Polish nationals have remained in the country since 2008. Poland is the only economy in the European Union to avoid going into recession since the 2008 financial crisis. Hide Caption 5 of 9Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Eye on PolandBronislaw Komorowski – In 2010, President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others, including many of the country's top leaders, died in a plane crash in Russia. They were on their way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Russian massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn. Following Kaczynski's death, Bronislaw Komorowski was elected as the country's president for a five year term. Hide Caption 7 of 9Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Eye on PolandPope John Paul II – More than 90% of Poland's population is Roman Catholic. The late John Paul II served as Pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. The only Polish pope to date and the third-longest serving pontiff, he was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, credited with helping end communism in his native Poland and Europe. He traveled extensively during his pontificate, visiting over 120 countries and delivering more than 2,000 speeches.Hide Caption 9 of 9Poland has already accepted that some of its transport improvements -- including the construction of 750 km of new motorways -- may not be ready."We know not everything will be completed in time for Euro 2012," Poland 2012 communications director Mikolaj Piotrowski told CNN late last year. "But today we can say that a lot of important investment projects will be completed three to five years sooner than without the Euros scenario, so I think it was worth it to see Michel Platini opening the envelope in Cardiff in 2007."If getting around should be manageable for fans, finding somewhere affordable to stay once they get to their destination is an altogether trickier task.England -- traditionally one of the best-supported European teams -- failed to sell out its original allocation of tickets for its group games in Kiev and Donetsk, with many fans opting to stay at home as Ukrainian hotel owners seek to make hay from the tournament by ramping up prices. In April the Football Supporters' Federation said fans were being quoted as much as $1,000 a night for a three-star room.The England team avoided that problem by choosing a base in Krakow, Poland -- even though it will mean thousands of miles of travel between the two countries.If it isn't financial concerns putting off fans, it is the fear of the kind of reception they'll get. The English Foreign Office warns that there has been a recent "increase in hostility" toward gay people in Ukraine and that "travelers of Asian or Afro-Caribbean descent and individuals belonging to religious minorities should take extra care."The families of black England players Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have already decided against traveling to Ukraine -- and that was before a BBC documentary highlighting racism and violence in the host countries was screened Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Olympic Stadium, Kiev – All 16 competing nations at Euro 2012 will head to Poland and Ukraine next year dreaming of reaching the final at Kiev's Olympic Stadium on July 1. The venue in the Ukrainian capital has been renovated ahead of the championship, having originally been constructed in the 1920's. In addtion to the final, the Olympic Stadium will also host a quarterfinal and some Group D matches.Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Donbass Arena, Donetsk – The Donbass Arena in Donetsk is home to Ukrainian champions and 2009 UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk. Opened in August 2009, the stadium will host a semifinal, quarterfinal and Group D matches.Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012National Stadium, Warsaw – The National Stadium in the Polish capital of Warsaw has a capacity of over 58,000 and will play host to a semifinal, a quarterfinal and Group A matches. Euro 2012 will kick-off at the newly-built arena on June 8.Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Arena Gdansk, Gdansk – Work began on the 43,000-seater Arena Gdansk in 2008, with the stadium now the home of Polish team Lechia Gdansk having opened in August 2011. The stadium will host a quarterfinal and three Group C matches.Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Ukrayina Stadium, Lviv – The Ukrayina Stadium is home to Ukrainian outfit Karpaty Lviv and is pictured here during an explosive opening ceremony in October 2011. The arena holds just under 35,000 fans and will be the venue for three Group B ties.Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv – The Kharkiv Stadium is the home ground of Ukrainian team Metalist Kharkiv and was renovated ahead of next year's tournament. The venue for three Group B matches, the ground can hold 38,000 fans.Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Miejski Stadium, Poznan – The Miejski Stadium was originally built in 1980, but the arena in the Polish city of Poznan has been updated for Euro 2012. It is the home of Lech Poznan and will stage three Group C matches.Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: The stadiums of Euro 2012Municipal Stadium, Wroclaw – The Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw holds 42,000 fans and will be the venue for three Group A clashes. Home to Polish team Slask Wroclaw, the arena was opened in September.Hide Caption 8 of 8 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Europe's Ukrainian dilemma – Next month sees the start of football's European Championships, arguably the toughest competition in world football. Ukraine will co-host the event with Poland, but it has been overshadowed by the treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been in prison since last October on charges of abuse of power.Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Bruised and battered – It is alleged by Tymoshenko's supporters that charges against the former prime minister, who came to the fore during the Orange Revolution that swept Ukraine in 2004 and 2005, are politically motivated, trumped up by current president Viktor Yanukovych. They also allege that Tymoshenko was beaten while in prison.Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Like mother like daughter – CNN spoke to Tymoshenko's daughter Eugenia about her mother's detention and alleged beating. The pictures caused a political firestorm, with many European leaders now boycotting the tournament.Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Political football – Dozens of European political figures have boycotted the event in protest at Tymoshenko's treatment, including the EU president and head of the EU commission Jose Manuel Barroso. Barroso is pictured here receiving an official Euro 2012 match ball from President Yanukovych just 18 months ago.Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012The Orange Revolution – The controversy is a far cry from the euphoria that followed the Orange Revolution in 2004 and 2005. The uprising was sparked when Viktor Yushchenko lost the presidential election to the then prime minister Viktor Yanukovych after alleged voter fraud.Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Mr. President – Yushchenko was taken seriously ill during the uprising. His supporters alleged that he was deliberately poisoned to prevent him winning the election. But he survived and, after the allegations of vote fraud had provoked massive street protests, a new round of voting took place which Yushchenko won.Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Cover girl – Although Yushchenko had won the election it was the blonde-haired figure of Tymoshenko that captured the public's attention. She was appointed prime minister in the new government.Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012All smiles – Here Tymoshenko meets with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Although it was all smiles on the international stage, domestically Tymoshenko and President Yushchenko were locked in a bitter power struggle.Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Regime change – The Ukrainian people had had enough of the infighting, and made a decisive decision in the 2010 presidential elections. Yushchenko received just 5% of the vote while Tymoshenko narrowly lost to Yanukovych, who had lost the 2004 election. This time international observers judged the election to be free and fair.Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Predicting a riot – Preparations for Euro 2012 did not run smoothly. The new president promised to allay UEFA's concerns over the slow building work. Here Ukrainian riot police practice ahead of the arrival of tens of thousands of football fans from across Europe. But there are still some worries. Amnesty International issued a warning to fans that Ukraine's police exhibited "criminal" behavior. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Sun sets on Kiev? – The preparations were completed and Ukraine now awaits the biggest sporting event to ever take place in the country's history. But how many European heads of state will actually turn up for the final at the $500 million Olympic Stadium in the capital Kiev on July 1?Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: From Orange Revolution to Euro 2012Saying goodbye – That will largely depend on the fate of Tymoshenko, pictured here kissing her daughter Eugenia goodbye after being convicted last year. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of several politicians watching and waiting before making a decision.Hide Caption 12 of 12"It's a major concern," said Oxlade-Chamberlain's father Mark, himself a former England player. "I think your safety is more important than a game of football."Poland, too, has suffered serious problems with racism."Monkey chanting, banana throwing, that has happened in Polish matches unfortunately," Rafal Pankowski from the campaign group Never Again told CNN."We want to use the Championships to highlight some of the issues and make a difference in a positive way in terms of anti-racism education."A series of bomb blasts in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine's fourth largest city, in late April only added to the pervading nervousness over traveling to the country, while several EU leaders will boycott the tournament over Ukraine's treatment of imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. Amnesty International, meanwhile, has warned of "widespread police criminality" in Ukraine, leading to concerns that any crowd trouble could be met with a particularly brutal response.UEFA has always accepted that giving Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine was a risk."From the beginning, it was a big challenge to go to Poland and Ukraine," Platini told CNN last month. "Four years ago when all the signs were red, red, red -- stadium, roads, accommodation -- it was not easy. Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights row Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowTymoshenko imprisoned – Former Ukraine prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year jail sentence for abuse of office and faces another trial on tax evasion charges. The 51-year-old displays bruises she claims were inflicted by prison guards. Government officials deny the claims.Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowDevastated family rallies – Tymoshenko's husband Oleksander and daughter Yevgenia hold a news conference to rally support. Yevgenia claims her mother's life is in danger since starting a hunger strike more than a week ago. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowThe people's PM? – A police guard stands outside Tymoshenko's cell at the Kachanivska prison in Kharkiv. Her supporters have called on president Victor Yanukovych to quit in the wake of allegations of abuse.Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowA divisive figure – Thousands of supporters and opponents rallied outside Tymoshenko's latest court hearing in Kharkiv on April 28. The mixed turnout shows how divisive Tymoshenko still remains in Ukraine after a spell in government that began with hopes of pro-Western reforms and ended with allegations of corruption.Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowBombs blast Ukraine – Police experts examine one of the explosion sites in Dnipropetrovsk, where four bombs were let off in rubbish bins on Friday. At least 30 people were injured, raising serious concerns over safety at next month's European Championships.Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: EU leaders snub Euro 2012 over Ukraine human rights rowUnder-fire Yanukovych – Pressure is mounting on president Viktor Yankovych to clean up the country's human rights record. Following last week's bomb blasts, UEFA took the unprecedented step of raising political concerns with the host country.Hide Caption 6 of 6 Photos: UEFA's fight against racism Photos: UEFA's fight against racismProper punishment? – Porto's fine after its fans made monkey chants at Manchester City's Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure was less than the English club's punishment for being late on the field in another match.Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: UEFA's fight against racismTaking a stand – European football's ruling body UEFA has run a "Unite Against Racism" campaign in recent years. Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: UEFA's fight against racismMessi's message – Three-time world player of the year Lionel Messi with a mascot wearing an anti-racism shirt ahead of Barcelona's UEFA Champions League match against Czech team Viktoria Plzen in October 2011.Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: UEFA's fight against racismManchester City united – Manchester City took part in the campaign in 2009 when its players and mascots wore Unite Against Racism t-shirts for a home match against Polish club Lech Poznan.Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: UEFA's fight against racismStadium presence – UEFA has worked closely with the group Football Against Racism in Europe since 2001. FARE members will be patrolling matches at the Euro 2012 finals looking for evidence of racist behavior.Hide Caption 5 of 5"But I say it was a good risk."And Kiev could witness a historic moment if Spain can follow up 2008's victory and become the first team to successfully defend the title since the tournament began 52 years ago.On a lighter note, we await the predictions of Ukraine's "Psychic Pig" and Poland's "Citta" the elephant with interest. They follow in the footsteps of 2010 World Cup soothsayer Paul the Octopus in what seems to be becoming a curious tradition at major football tournaments.For most pundits, the Spanish are favorites for the title, but they have their problems. Record scorer David Villa and veteran defender Carles Puyol have been ruled out of the tournament, while striker Fernando Torres -- who netted the only goal of the 2008 final -- has endured another torrid season for Chelsea. Their competition looks set to come from Joachim Low's youthful Germany side, 2010 World Cup finalists Netherlands, and perhaps a France team that appears to be back on an even keel under the calming influence of Laurent Blanc.Italy, six years on from the scandal that so seriously damaged the country's chances of hosting the tournament, is embroiled in another match-fixing crisis that led defender Domenico Criscito to be cut from the squad.The English are even less fancied, particularly so among their own pessimistic supporters. Roy Hodgson took up his coaching job just 29 days before the first game against France and has to get the best out of a squad that must survive the first two games without the suspended Wayne Rooney, one of the team's few world-class players.As for the hosts, Poland looks to have the easier group with Czech Republic, Greece and Russia.Ukraine must contend with France, England and Sweden. For 35-year-old national icon Andriy Shevchenko, the tournament is a chance to put the perfect full stop on a 17-year international career."Ukrainians, our time has come!" declares the team's slogan.UEFA might be hoping it also applies to the country as a whole.
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Story highlightsEnel plans on installing 14,000 charging points across the country by 2022Around 1,400 of those will be fast chargingIt's part of a plan to eliminate the electric population's "range anxiety" (CNN)For a country known for its lavish and upmarket cars, from Lamborghini to Ferrari, and Maserati, it might come as a surprise the culture in Italy is shifting towards electrification.Power companies like Enel realize one of the biggest fears among electric car drivers is running out of power. For many, the worry of whether they will be able to find a charging station as easily as a petrol station -- or if they can get to their destination hassle-free -- is an immediate deal breaker when thinking about changing over. Enel is building an electric highway from Italian northern metropolis Milan all the way to the country's capital, Rome.Enel wants to eliminate this -- the population's "range anxiety" -- by building an electric highway from Italian northern metropolis Milan all the way to the country's capital, Rome. Along this route, drivers have the opportunity to recharge their batteries every 60 minutes."We know electric users like myself are mainly urban users, but we also want to move around for the weekends or travel around, so we've started to build infrastructure all around the country," Alberto Piglia, head of Enel's e-mobility unit, explains to CNN's Supercharged.Enel's new e-car charging pole station."Since last September people can go from Rome to Milan because we installed 30 charging points around the motorway," Piglia says. Read More"But we haven't stopped there because we are continuing to put infrastructure (so that) people are able to move around Italy."READ: First electric Ferrari faster than original: 'It absolutely decimated it' Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsSweden has a goal of achieving a completely fossil fuel free vehicle fleet by 2030 and in order to achieve this, it has started trialling a series of projects to develop and test technologies that will enable the country to completely convert to electric vehicles.Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsOne project includes the "eRoad" which charges electric vehicles during journeys via a rail. So far, it has cost €6.4 million ($7.7 million) to install but it's predicted that if it were implemented across the country it would eventually work out less than €1 million ($1.2 million) per kilometer to build.Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsThe trial track built by eRoadArlanda stretches along two kilometers (1.2 miles) and has been installed on public road "893" just 30 minutes outside of Stockholm.Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsElectricity is transferred to vehicles via a movable arm that attaches to a track in the middle of the road. While the system is designed with the capacity to feed heavier vehicles such as trucks, it's also developed to work for cars and buses.Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsWhen vehicles approach the track, a sensor from the car or truck detects the electrified rail and a movable arm from underneath the vehicle lowers and inserts into the rail.Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carseRoadArlanda says the road is an example of a sustainable and cost-effective solution to enable the electrification of existing commercial roads.Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsFor a heavy truck to be 100% electric, it would need a battery that weighs 40 tonnes, Hans Säll chairman of the eRoadArlanda says. But if technology like the eRoad was readily available, the truck's battery would be able to weigh as little as 600 kilograms because it wouldn't need to retain as much charge.Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsThe eRoad will be used for two years by a truck carrying freight in order to determine how well the innovation works under various weather conditions and in conjunction with normal road traffic.Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsBut eRoadArlanda has said adverse weather such as rain, snow and ice should not cause any major issues. The project has successfully tested drainage of the water in the past and snow plows will be able to clear the road as usual.Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Sweden's new electrified road that charges vehicles like real-life slot carsThe eRoad was opened to the public on April 11, 2018 by the director General of the Swedish Transport Administration Lena Erixon and the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth.Hide Caption 10 of 10Charge your vehicle in 20 minutesEnel has also set itself a huge target across the entirety of country -- with plans to build 7,000 recharging points in urban and rural areas by 2020, then another 7,000 by 2022.Around 1,400 of those will be fast charging stations, Piglia says, which can charge your vehicle in 20 minutes -- 6 times faster than usual charging points.Such infrastructure is necessary, given sales of new electric vehicles have doubled over the last four years in the country.The recharging stations are necessary, given sales of new electric vehicles have doubled over the last four years in the country.Piglia says he has already received emails of praise from customers who are able to travel distances in their electric vehicles that they couldn't before -- including one who traveled from the south of Calabria to watch the Formula E race held in Rome in early May."He was able to do this thanks to the recharging stations we have placed from Calabria onwards, so we are gradually giving customers the opportunity to move around north to south."It's really big stuff when a customer sends an email saying 'Thank you very much, I was able to do this thanks to you'."READ: 'HIPERCAR' - Electric speedster 'will be quite a game changer'Enel is investing between €100 million ($122 million) and €300 million ($366 million) in the project, Piglia says."The range difference is basically due to the fact that we have a plan that is flexible," he says. "So the more electric vehicles with interest the more we will install."He also says says having the flexibility allows the company to adapt their plan as markets evolve between now and 2022."The more (demand) there is to have high powered, more powerful charging stations compared to the ones that are here today the more we will need to invest.""We know electric users like myself are mainly urban users, but we also want to move around for the weekends or travel around, so we've started to build infrastructure all around the country," Alberto Piglia, head of Enel's e-mobility unit, told CNN Sport.Norway to ItalyEnel isn't the only company that's investing to create an "electric highway."In November last year, energy firm E.ON and Danish e-mobility provider CLEVER announced plans to create a network of ultra-fast charging stations in countries between Norway and Italy. It received €10 million in funding from the European Commission to install 180 of the fast charging stations across seven countries over the next three years."We are talking about a complex project," Markus Nitschke from E.ON told CNN. "As this is an EU funded project we have to accomplish the plan (by the) end of 2021." Photos: Driving the futureTesla Model S P100D – Described as "the funnest car I've ever driven" by none other than Kanye West, the Tesla Model S is now being used for a new zero emissions racing series organized by Electric GT. Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureTesla Model S P100D – Details of the EGT Championship were unveiled in April, with the inaugural season set to commence in the southern Spanish city of Jerez on November 3, 2018.Hide Caption 2 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureRimac Concept Two – Able to accelerate from 0-60mph in just 1.85 seconds, the all-electric Rimac Concept Two is one of the fastest cars ever made. Hide Caption 3 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureRimac Concept Two – Unveiled at March's Geneva Motor Show, the Croatian hypercar boasts top speeds of 258mph (412kph) and is claimed to be "as capable on track as it is crossing continents." It can travel a quarter of a mile -- from standstill -- in just 9.1 seconds. Hide Caption 4 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureRimac Concept Two – Designers claim the Concept Two has a range of over 400 miles (650km.) With facial recognition in lieu of a traditional key, it's one of numerous electric supercar concepts lighting up 2018.Hide Caption 5 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureAston Martin Lagonda – Offering a "new kind of luxury mobility," the interior design of the Aston Martin Lagonda Vision was overseen by Savile Row tailors. Hide Caption 6 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureAston Martin Lagonda – As well as lush carpets of silk and cashmere, the self-driving car boasts front seats that rotate 180 degrees to facilitate face-to-face conversation on the move. Hide Caption 7 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureLamborghini Terzo Millennio – Designed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the new Lamborghini concept is like nothing else on the road. Hide Caption 8 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureLamborghini Terzo Millennio – Italian for "Third Millennium," the Terzo Millenio would not look out of place in a sci-fi movie. Hide Caption 9 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureLamborghini Terzo Millennio – Stefano Domenicali, Lamborghini CEO and Chairman, said the project "intends to write an important page in the future of super sports cars."Hide Caption 10 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureLVCHI Auto Venere – All-electric four-seater saloon from China, the LVCHI Auto Venere claims to have a range of 403 miles (650km).Hide Caption 11 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureLVCHI Auto Venere – It's longer than a Range Rover but that doesn't stop it shifting. The Auto Venere can reportedly accelerate from 0-100kph (62mph) in 2.7 seconds, delivering a top speed of 168mph (270kph). Hide Caption 12 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureRENAULT EZ-GO – Designed to transport up to to six passengers simultaneously, the EZ-GO concept is Renault's "vision of shared urban mobility." Hide Caption 13 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureRENAULT EZ-GO – The shared, electric driverless vehicle has been "built for the city" and has level four autonomous technology, meaning it would be able to handle all routine circumstances on recognizable roads. Hide Caption 14 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureNissan IMx KURO – The days of the steering wheel may soon be over. Most controls aboard the IMx Kuro can be controlled via hand gestures and eye movements, according to the Japanese manufacturer.Hide Caption 15 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureNissan IMx KURO – Brain-to-Vehicle, or B2V, technology enables the KURO to interpret signals from the human brain, speeding up reaction times and paving the way for cars that learn from each other. Should the driver wish to sit back and let the car do the work, its seats recline and the steering wheel retracts into the dashboard.Hide Caption 16 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureVolkswagen I.D. Vizzion – Expected to hit the roads by "2022 at the latest," the I.D. Vizzion is also designed to be used predominantly with voice and gesture. Hide Caption 17 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureVolkswagen I.D. Vizzion – The car, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, is said to boast a range of 413 miles (665km) between charges and level five autonomous driving -- meaning it can handle any situation a human could negotiate. Hide Caption 18 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureJaguar I-Pace – Capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds, the first ever all-electric Jaguar has 395bhp and a range of 298 miles. Hide Caption 19 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureJaguar I-Pace – "Every Jaguar feels like no other car on the road," says a statement from the iconic British manufacturer. "Moving to all-electric power doesn't change this."Hide Caption 20 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureElextra – With a "revolutionary" four-wheel drive powertrain developing 671bhp, the Elextra will reportedly move from standstill to 62mph (100 kph) in less than 2.3 seconds.Hide Caption 21 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureElextra – The Swiss-German built four-door car will have its top speed limited to 155mph (250 kph) but it boasts a range of over 600km on a single charge. Hide Caption 22 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureHyundai Le Fil Rouge – Hyunda claim the Le Fil Rouge adheres to the golden ratio -- a mathematical pattern found in nature -- culminating in a "sensuous sportiness." Hide Caption 23 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureHyundai Le Fil Rouge – French for "common thread," Hyundai claim Le Fil Rouge is a car that connects Hyundai's past, present and future designs. Hide Caption 24 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureElectra Meccanica Solo – This one-seater offering might not be the fastest -- boasting estimated top speeds of just 82mph (130kph) -- but the diminutive three wheeler will zip you around the city where few other cars can go for just $15,500. Hide Caption 25 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureTesla Model X – Described as the "safest SUV ever," the new Model X seats seven but can accelerate from 0-60mph in just 2.9 seconds. Hide Caption 26 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureBMW i Vision Dynamics – An amalgamation of the BMW i3 and BMW i8, the i Vision Dynamics concept has a range of 373 miles and accelerates from 0-62mph in four seconds. Hide Caption 27 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureMini Electric Concept Car – Expect to see all-electric Minis on the roads by 2019, marking the 60th anniversary of the legendary marque's first car. Hide Caption 28 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureMaruti Suzuki Electric e-Survivor – A four-wheel drive SUV concept from India, the futuristic looking e-Survivor will be powered by dual electric motors on each wheel and be equipped for autonomous travel. Hide Caption 29 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureTechrules Ren RS – Designed for track use only, the Chinese single-seat Techrules Ren RS can be configured with up to six electric motors, delivering up to 1,287bhp.Hide Caption 30 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureTechrules Ren RS – That lets it travel from 0-62mph (0-100kph) in three seconds with a max speed of 205mph (330kph). Hide Caption 31 of 32 Photos: Driving the futureTechrules Ren RS – What electric supercar concepts have you found most exciting in 2018? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook page. Hide Caption 32 of 32Together with CLEVER, the first sites are being built in Germany and Denmark and will be placed every 120-180 kilometers."For many other sites we are in touch with potential partners, landowners or authorities," Nitschke says, adding the preparations to meet the 2021 target are "running well."Full electric conversion 'will happen rapidly'It's not just the public sphere Enel is investing in though, it's also partnered with several automakers to bundle private charging stations with the sale of electric vehicles.Piglia says several factors are involved when it comes to achieving full electric conversion among drivers: the infrastructure, cost, the range of an electric vehicle and how much pleasure people actually get in actually driving them."(Full conversion) will happen more rapidly than we actually we think," he says, especially with the help of Formula E."It's helped put emotion into electric vehicles."
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Attention Tor Onion Hosters!
A year old loophole in Apache Web Server, uncovered by an unknown Computer Science Student, could potentially unmask the real identity of .onion-domains and servers hidden behind the Tor-network.
Although the loophole was reported on Reddit and to the Tor Project months back, it recently came to the limelight soon after a tweet by Alec Muffet, a well-known security enthusiast and current software engineer at Facebook.
What is Tor Hidden (.onion) Service? Dark Web websites (generally known as 'onion services') with a special domain name that ends with .onion, are called Tor Hidden Service and reachable only via the Tor network.
Tor Hidden Service is a widely popular anonymity network used by Whistleblowers, Underground Markets, Defense Networks and more in order to maintain secrecy over the Internet.
An Onion Website can be hosted on the top of any web servers. But, if you are choosing Apache, then you need to rethink.
Apache Misconfiguration Exposes Tor Hidden Servers
According to the report, most distributions of Apache Server ship with mod_status module, enabled by default, which could disclose the real identity of the .onion domains, placing the Onion Servers at risk of being identified.
Apache's mod_status module helps server administrators to monitor the health of web server with an HTML interface and is accessible via a web browser on its localhost only.
The Output of this module would be available on every server when accessing the URL: https://website.com/server-status/
However, running mod_status module with Tor hidden service may result in exposing 'server-status' page to the world via Tor daemon service.
This page would spit the sensitive backend data like server's settings, uptime, resource usage, total traffic, virtual hosts, and active HTTP requests if enabled by default which is enough to figure out the Server location.
"What could a malicious actor do in that case? They could spy on potentially sensitive requests," reads the blog post regarding the issue. "They could deduce the server's approximate longitude if the timezone is set. They could even determine its IP address if a clearnet Virtual Host is present."
How to Disable mod_status on Apache
Now, if you run a .onion domain on top of any Apache Server, then make sure that the mod_status is disabled.
For this, you may need to run this code in shell command:-
sudo ap2dismod status
Where,
"ap2" stands for Apache 2.x
"dis" stands for disable
"mod" stands for module
Soon after this, if you reload, then you would be prompted by a 403 or 404 Error Prompt. The Error message would ensure that you are no longer vulnerable to that Risk.
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Cybesecurity researchers today revealed a new malspam campaign that distributes a remote access Trojan (RAT) by purporting to contain a sex scandal video of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The emails, which carry with the subject line "GOOD LOAN OFFER!!," come attached with a Java archive (JAR) file called "TRUMP_SEX_SCANDAL_VIDEO.jar," which, when downloaded, installs Qua or Quaverse RAT (QRAT) onto the infiltrated system.
"We suspect that the bad guys are attempting to ride the frenzy brought about by the recently concluded Presidential elections since the filename they used on the attachment is totally unrelated to the email's theme," Trustwave's Senior Security Researcher Diana Lopera said in a write-up published today.
The latest campaign is a variant of the Windows-based QRAT downloader Trustwave researchers discovered in August.
The infection chain starts with a spam message containing an embedded attachment or a link pointing to a malicious zip file, either of which retrieves a JAR file ("Spec#0034.jar") that's scrambled using the Allatori Java obfuscator.
This first stage downloader sets up the Node.Js platform onto the system and then downloads and executes a second-stage downloader called "wizard.js" that's responsible for achieving persistence and fetching and running the Qnode RAT ("qnode-win32-ia32.js") from an attacker-controlled server.
QRAT is a typical remote access Trojan with various features including, obtaining system information, performing file operations, and acquiring credentials from applications such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Microsoft Outlook.
What's changed this time around is the inclusion of a new pop-up alert that informs the victim that the JAR being run is a remote access software used for penetration testing. This also means the sample's malicious behavior only begins to manifest once the user clicks the "Ok, I know what I am doing." button.
"This pop-up is a little odd and is perhaps an attempt to make the application look legitimate, or deflect responsibility from the original software authors," Lopera noted.
Furthermore, the malicious code of the JAR downloader is split-up into different randomly-numbered buffers in an attempt to evade detection.
Other changes include an overall increase in the JAR file size and the elimination of the second-stage downloader in favor of an updated malware chain that immediately fetches the QRAT payload now called "boot.js."
For its part, the RAT has received its own share of updates, with the code now encrypted with base64 encoding, in addition to taking charge of persisting on the target system via a VBS script.
"This threat has been significantly enhanced over the past few months since we first examined it," Topera concluded, urging administrators to block the incoming JARs in their email security gateways.
"While the attachment payload has some improvements over previous versions, the email campaign itself was rather amateurish, and we believe that the chance this threat will be delivered successfully is higher if only the email was more sophisticated."
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SQL Injection Vulnerability in Google Lab Database System
Very Big & Critical Vulnerability detected in Google Lab System. Vendor is already reported by hackers, But they don't take positive step in this case, so finally hackers exposed the vulnerability in public by Bangladesh Cyber Army Admin - Shadman Tanjim on their Forum.
Google Lab Website has SQL Injection Vulnerability and Dangerous thing is this Vulnerability is Exploitable. Hackers are able to get Tables, columns and data from Database. Google Lab Database has his own customize DB system. But Interesting things is their database system is Similar as Ms Access database. In this case Ms Access SQL Injection System is Also Work on Google Lab Database system.
Statement By Hacker :
I already contact with Google Corporation but they don't give positive response, I think this is their big fault, and will suffer for that. But if they give Positive response then this will be very good for them. Thanks a Ton!!!
Shadman Tanjim
Ethical Hacker, Programmer and Security Professional
Email: admin@bdcyberarmy.com or shadman2600@gmail.com
Website: www.bdcyberarmy.com/forum
Greets to: Shahee Mirza, Almas Zaman, Sayem Islam, Pudina pata, LuckyFm and All
Bangladesh Cyber Army Members.
Video Download link:
https://www.bdcyberarmy.com/Google/google_video.avi
Hackers Release Step by step proof about this Vulnerability
1. Website : www.googlelabs.com or labs.google.com
2. Vulnerability type : SQL Injection
3. Vulnerable url : https://www.googlelabs.com/?q=%27&apps=Search+Labs
4. Info:
Host IP: 209.85.175.141
Web Server: Google Frontend
Keyword Found: Fast
Injection type is Integer
Let's Check Exploiting this Vulnerable link. Here Hackers use 3 Famous SQL Injection tools. They are:
1. Havij Advance SQL Injection Tool
2. Safe3 SQL Injector v8.4
3. Pangolin SQL Injection Tool
1st Work with Havij Advance SQL Injection Tool:
Screen Shot 1: Scan Vulnerable link and it says this website is Vulnerable.
Screen Shot 2: Now it scans and gets all tables and columns
Screen Shot 3: Now you can see list of tables and Columns
And this is a Prove for this Website is Genuine SQL Injection Vulnerable. Here you see this database type is MS Access, so this is a Proof of this concept. Some people should Say Google Lab Database System is not Ms Access but this Website Database is Similar as Ms Access database and Ms Access SQL Injection Query are also Work on Google Labs Database system. As like MySQL 5 and MySQL 4.1 both are injected via Union select, but both are not have Information Schema.
2nd now Work with Safe3 SQL Injector v8.4:
Screen Shot 1: Analyzing Vulnerable link and it says it's vulnerable and gets keyword and db type.
Screen Shot 2: Now it's Inject the vulnerable link and gets All Table list and column list
This is another Prove for this Website Vulnerability and we can see this and Dangerous thing is its Exploitable. Now we check our last SQL Injection tool for 100% Satisfy.
3rd Pangolin SQL Injection Tool:
Screen Shot 1: Scan vulnerable link and its say this website is vulnerable
Screen Shot 2: Now inject this Website and get tables and columns list
Screen Shot 3: Here is a full List of Tables and Columns list
Now I think we are 100% Sure Google Lab Website is SQL Injection Vulnerable.
You Can Check Video. This Video is also made by Bangladesh Cyber Army Member - Shadman Tanjim.
UPDATE :
Google insist that there has been no intrusion. The company claims that their GQL database won't allow SQL injection attacks. Additionally, they say that the data that appears in the screen shots, does not exist anywhere in their data stores.
On this Shadman Tanjim - Hackers Reply to Google "Proof it. because I am Also Proof it's Vulnerable. If they say's Google Lab is Not Vulnerable, It Means We get new Bugs in Some Famous SQL Injection tools. And also and 1=1 concept. So tell them to proof this and I don't think All tools are false. because 1 tools can false, 2 tools can get false but not All. ALL Tools say's it is Vulnerable, So i don't think it any confusion. :D "
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It's been over a day now since Apple's online Dev Center went offline, and latest message can be seen in the screenshot, which explains that the current maintenance has took a lot longer than they expected.
"We apologize that maintenance is taking longer than expected. If your program membership was set to expire during this period, it has been extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account, please contact us. Thank you for your patience." message said.
Since that time, developers have been unable to access the site and cannot visit the forums or download Mac or iOS SDKs, the iOS 7 beta, or the Mavericks beta.
It was first seemed like Apple having some backend issues but according to tweets from many developers, they have received a message from Apple that an attempt was made to reset their user ID's password. Such notices pointing that Apple's Developer Center website may have been compromised. But if it is a security issue, there still remain unanswered questions over what happened.
This is not a problem if you have no need to visit your Apple developer account, but for those of you that want to add another iPhone or iOS device to your account, it is a real problem. Possibly that iOS 7 beta 4 download will arrive right around the time of the Dev Center return.
Update (Monday) :
Apple has published a statement claiming that an intruder attempted to steal the details of registered developers from the company's developer website.
A UK based security researcher, Ibrahim Balic claims that he reported 13 Vulnerabilities in Apple system, highlighting a hole that could left data from the Developer Center exposed. For proof of concept, he demonstrated the hack on his own 73 employees while reporting to Apple security team. Though he admits that he was able to hack more than 100,000 users, but he did not hack the system for malicious purposes.
Security researcher is not happy with Apple's Statement, that cited an attempted security breach as the reason for the developer site outage.
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Story highlightsMacedonia authorizes military to help with migrant crisisSlovakia official: "Slovakia as a Christian country can really help Christians from Syria"Most migrants seeking to reach Europe are from Syria, Afghanistan and African nations (CNN)A day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency to deal with an unprecedented migrant crisis, the United Nations refugee agency said it received assurances Friday that the border between Greece and the former Yugoslavia will not be closed.In a statement, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said he spoke with Macedonia Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki about what the agency called "the increasingly precarious situation" at the border, where force was used Friday to prevent people from crossing. Ivo Kotevski, a spokesman for Macedonia's Interior Ministry and the Macedonian police, told CNN he did not know about police firing tear gas to disperse migrants. He said about 1,500 illegal migrants were entering Macedonia each day. "If an officer feels threatened, he has authority to protect himself and the border," he said.Nawras, 25, who arrived at the Greece-Macedonia border two days ago from Syria, described the standoff with police as "terrifying" and said stun grenades and tear gas were being used on women and children.Read MoreSome migrants were allowed across the border late Friday but many others were forced to wait in a cold, heavy rain, Nawras said. "I don't know what to do," he said by phone. "This is miserable."Activist Gabriela Andreevska said about 300 migrants waited at the Gevgelija train station in Macedonia. "They are just standing desperately in the rain," she said. "No camp. No shelter. We gave them plastic bags. They cannot go to a hotel as they have no papers."A Doctors Without Borders project coordinator, Antonis Rigas, said more than 5,000 migrants waited at the border. On Friday night, some families were allowed to cross into Macedonia, he said. "The situation is terrible," he said, adding police beat some migrants with sticks. Guterres said Poposki assured him the border "will not be closed in the future."On Thursday, Macedonia declared a state of emergency in its southern and northern border regions, the country's Interior Ministry said. The decision clears the way for the country's army to help deal with the crisis. At least 1,327 migrants, most of them Syrians, have expressed interest in applying for asylum over the past 24 hours, the Macedonian Interior Ministry said. By doing so, the migrants gain the right to spend three days in Macedonia until they apply for asylum. Most use that time to travel to the Serbian border, according to the country's state-run Macedonian Information Agency. An estimated 44,000 migrants have arrived in Macedonia in the last two months, including 33,461 Syrians, the ministry said. The rest come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and various African countries.For migrants, crossing through Macedonia is the most dangerous part of the journey because of armed gangs and Mafia. The migrants often wait until they are in large groups to cross safely.Closing off Macedonia would create a bottleneck in Greece where, due to the economic difficulties there, the situation is considered unsafe for migrants. Slovakia says it will only take Christian migrants As Europe grapples with an unprecedented wave of migrants, many fleeing the brutal conflict in Syria, Slovakia said this week that it only wanted to take in Christians.Slovakian Interior Ministry spokesman Ivan Netik told CNN his country's approach did not result from discrimination. Instead, he said, it stemmed from concern over whether the migrants would stay in Slovakia for the long term.Slovakia has only a tiny Muslim community, Netik said, and there are no mosques, making it hard for Muslims to integrate. "That's the reason we want to mostly choose people who really want to start a new life in Slovakia," he said. "And Slovakia as a Christian country can really help Christians from Syria to find a new home in Slovakia."'It's nothing against religion'European Union member states agreed last month to take in more than 32,000 migrants to ease the burden on Italy and Greece, where by far the largest numbers have arrived. Another 8,000 should be allocated by the end of the year, said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European Union's commissioner for migration, who is Greek. JUST WATCHEDFuture uncertain for migrants despite arriving in KosReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFuture uncertain for migrants despite arriving in Kos 02:50Most migrants who reach Europe are from Syria, Afghanistan and African nations, and they are fleeing conflict or poverty.But Slovakia has made clear it is opposed to the idea of EU quotas on migrants."It's nothing against religion. It's not about discrimination. But it will be very false and insincere solidarity if we take now more than 1,000 people to Slovakia who don't want to live in Slovakia," Netik said. "You can't force somebody to live somewhere. Most of them will leave in a few days to Germany, Great Britain or Scandinavian countries. It's not a solution. It's not help."However, if Muslims do decide to come to Slovakia and apply for asylum, they will enter into the normal process, he said.Germany expects 800,000 asylum seekersAt the same time, the German government said it expected up to 800,000 asylum seekers to come this year -- four times more than in 2014.German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere published the revised forecast Wednesday.JUST WATCHEDInside the migrant 'Jungle' of CalaisReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHInside the migrant 'Jungle' of Calais 02:48The government had already registered 218,000 applications by the end of July, and de Maiziere's statement said there was no sign the trend would ease.Past experience shows that the number of arrivals tends to be greater in the second half of the year. In addition, there's been a significant increase in migration through the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, leading to a dramatic escalation of the situation in Greece, the statement said.Ministers from France and Britain met Thursday in the French port city of Calais to mark the signing of a new deal aimed at stemming the flow of migrants attempting to reach the United Kingdom illegally.An increase in attempts has caused disruption to Channel Tunnel freight and passenger services and resulted in the death of a number of migrants. "About 320,000 migrants crossed the EU external borders since early 2015," French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. "This involves, here in Calais, a strong migratory pressure, which causes firstly humanitarian problems. There are human tragedies we have to face involving people, women and children in vulnerable situations, but also migrants who die."Slovakia: Tackle root causesNetik warned that taking in migrants would not help with the causes of migration -- and that, if the wave of new arrivals does not stop, Europe could end up receiving millions of people.Slovakia has been helping with the "humanitarian transfer" of migrants to other countries since 2008, he said. It has brought Syrian mothers and children from refugee camps in Turkey, for example, giving them food, health care, accommodation and schooling before sending them on, six months later, to their final destinations -- often the United States.This number will be increased this year from about 300 to 500, he said. Slovakia has also offered to house 500 people going through the asylum application process in Austria, starting in September, Netik said. They will be transferred from an asylum center in Gabčikovo back to Austria when the process is completed.Many of the migrants have embarked on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey or North Africa, often in unseaworthy boats operated by human traffickers.The U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, said Tuesday that the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean this year stood at some 264,500, including 158,456 to Greece, about 104,000 to Italy, 1,953 to Spain and 94 to Malta.CNN's Gul Tuysuz, Ray Sanchez, Noisette Martel and Don Melvin contributed to this report.
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(CNN)When Philip Rivers found a wide open Mike Williams in the end zone for a two-point conversion with four seconds remaining to stun the Chiefs 29-28, it was more than just a Chargers win at a hostile Kansas City on Thursday.Historically, the way they did it was rare. Since 2000, teams trailing by 14 points with two minutes remaining in the game have now won 12 games out of a possible 2,059. The Chargers also became the first team since 2002 to convert a two-point conversion to win a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation, which the Vikings did in Week 15 that year.Wide receiver Mike Williams celebrates after catching a 2-point conversion with 4 seconds remaining in the game to put the Chargers up 29-28.Additionally, it clinched a playoff berth for the Chargers for first time since the 2013 season. It also guarantees that the city of Los Angeles, which didn't have an NFL team for more than two decades, will have two teams in the playoffs for the first time since 1985.Back then, it was the Rams and Raiders. Now, it's the Rams -- who are battling for the top overall seed and home-field advantage in the NFC -- and the Chargers, who hail from the AFC."It is exciting," Rivers said on getting back to the playoffs. "I think you always talk in the division, but you just want a spot. You just want to give yourself a chance.Read More"The seasons are tough. You get done in week 16 or 17 and you say, we didn't give ourselves a chance. All the years we have been in the playoffs, we have gotten eliminated but we got a chance. "To know that we are going to have a chance again is exciting. To be one of 12 (teams to reach the playoffs) to have a chance. We have to keep getting better. We have two weeks to get better before we get that opportunity."The Raiders are without a home for 2019, and it's unclear where the NFL team will playThe Chargers, who spent 56 seasons in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles in 2017, still have hopes to win the AFC West division. Both the Chargers and Chiefs are 11-3, but the Chiefs currently hold the tiebreaker because of their 4-1 division record. The Chargers are 3-2."Everybody feels good right now," Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said. "It is good to be in the playoffs, but we are not done. We want to win this division, so we have work to do. We are going to need a little help to get that done, but that is our goal."The Chargers reached the Super Bowl once, in the 1994 season, and were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers waves to Kansas City Chiefs fans after his team defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.There's another reason 1994 is notable. It was the last time Los Angeles had two NFL teams. The Raiders went 9-7 that year, missing the playoffs, and then jetted back to Oakland. Now, interestingly, their home for 2019 is up in the air as the team sorts out where to play next season before moving again -- this time to Las Vegas.Meanwhile, the Rams were 4-12 in 1994 and then left for St. Louis for 21 seasons. During that stretch, they reached two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta at the now-demolished Georgia Dome.Back in 1985, the two LA representatives in the playoffs came up short. The Raiders fell in the divisional round to the Patriots, while the Rams were shut out by the eventual Super Bowl XX champions, the Chicago Bears, 24-0 in the NFC title game.Hines Ward: Dallas Cowboys figuring it out at perfect timeSince returning to Los Angeles in 2016, the Rams have now reached the playoffs twice, having already clinched the NFC West division title this season. Currently at 11-2, they could clinch a first-round bye this weekend and are considered one of the favorites to reach Super Bowl LIII.The location of this season's title game on February 3 happens to be where they last won: Atlanta. And while it's not at the same site, the venue, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is right next door to where the Dome once stood.Just a few years ago, Los Angeles didn't have an NFL team. Now, there's a chance two Los Angeles teams could meet with the title on the line in Atlanta.But getting through January's playoffs must come first."I don't know what more we can face to be ready for January football," Rivers said. "I'm not jumping ahead, we've got work to do still. All this did was give us a spot and we still need help from Kansas City and win our next two to win the division."But, I don't know what more from a battle-testing standpoint, I don't know what else we can deal with."
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PayPal vulnerability : Hack any Paypal account within 30 seconds
UPDATE : This has been debunked, Paypal accounts are safe. https://thenextweb.com have spoken in depth to Matt Langley, the person who discovered the supposed issue, and it's clear why he assumed there was a serious security breach but the issue is far less serious than initially thought.
Matt Langley explains:
"It seems that the 'victim' had opened an account using an email address of mine, with extra characters thrown in, which Gmail ignores and accepts as the same email address, so it was gmail which uncorrupted the email address and sent the emails to me, not Paypal. I had previously reported an account set-up with fraudulent email address to Paypal many times in the past, but only yesterday noticed that the email address was different to mine, in a way which on any other email system in the world would be a different email address."
OLD :
A security vulnerability in PayPal's systems makes it possible to gain full, unrestricted access to any account within 30 seconds, we've heard from Matt Langley of Integrated Computer Enterprises Limited.
The vulnerability lies in PayPal's forgotten password recovery features. Says Langley:
PayPal sends Password Forgotten Change tokens to unauthorized email addresses instead of the email address on the account. Once you follow the link they email, and change the password, you are given total access to that account. No trickery or sophisticated hacking is required. It's a bug in their email system that corrupts email addresses.
Once the attacker has access, there's nothing restricting their ability to siphon money out of the account.
The exploit is, of course, a direct violation of PayPal's privacy policy and a laundry list of laws, so don't try this at home, but PayPal needs to act as thieves aren't particularly concerned with such things.
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(CNN)There has been a "steep rise" in the levels of discrimination around English football, according to anti-racism group Kick It Out.A new review released by Kick It Out Thursday says there was a 42% increase in reports of discrimination during the 2019/20 season at both a professional and grassroots level, from 313 to 446.This includes a 53% increase in reports of racial abuse and a 95% rise in reports of abuse based on sexual orientation."This year the pandemic and the killing of George Floyd turned the world on its head. Football responded positively with clubs increasing their work in the community and with the players symbolizing the demand for greater equality of opportunity, by taking a knee," said Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari."But beneath the surface, hate and division in society remains a lurking pernicious threat. Read More"Our reports indicate a steep rise in discrimination reports over the last two years, which reflect the hate crime statistics from the (UK's) Home Office that show marked national increases over the last four years."JUST WATCHED'White Lives Matter' banner over EPL game reflects divisions revealed in CNN's pollReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'White Lives Matter' banner over EPL game reflects divisions revealed in CNN's poll 02:32'Battleground of hate'Bhandari added that social media can be a "battleground of hate," particularly as fans are kept away from stadiums amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Earlier this year, Crystal Palace striker Wilfried Zaha spoke out about receiving abuse via social media, telling CNN Sport he is "scared" to open Instagram due to the number of racist messages he receives. READ: 'Say it Loud' documentary details harsh reality of Black MLS playersThe report did note, however, that Kick It Out has seen a reduction in complaints relating to abuse on social media, which is believed to reflect increased public awareness of reporting abuse directly to social media companies.The organization separately ran a YouGov poll with 1,000 football fans, revealing that 39% of those surveyed had witnessed or heard an act of discrimination within the last year, while 14% had witnessed abuse within the last week.In the same poll, 30% claimed to have witnessed racist comments or chants between January and December 2019, and 32% said they had witnessed homophobic comments during that period. JUST WATCHEDBlack footballers too 'scared' to look at social media due to racist abuse, says ZahaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBlack footballers too 'scared' to look at social media due to racist abuse, says Zaha 03:33"As our YouGov poll also confirms, we know that reports to Kick It Out are just the tip of the iceberg," said Bhandari."We only report what is reported to us. There is no single view across the whole of football. We need to aggregate the data across Kick It Out, clubs, law enforcement, governing bodies and others so that we have the complete picture to give us a greater chance of finding better solutions together. "We urge those organizations to share data to create better insights."READ: Premier League start Zaha says he's 'scared' to open Instagram due to racist abuseThe Black Lives Matter movement was supported prominently by the Premier League when matches resumed, with players, coaches and officials taking a knee before games and players wearing the words Black Lives Matter across the back of their jerseys. However, there was resistance to this show of support from some fans. A White Lives Matter banner was flown over the Etihad Stadium by a Burnley supporter before the Clarets faced Manchester City. It was widely condemned by the club and its players and management. Football resumes in the UK on September 12 following a delayed start to the season due to last season's late end date.
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The Bitcoin Core development team has released an important update to patch a major DDoS vulnerability in its underlying software that could have been fatal to the Bitcoin Network, which is usually known as the most hack-proof and secure blockchain.
The DDoS vulnerability, identified as CVE-2018-17144, has been found in the Bitcoin Core wallet software, which could potentially be exploited by anyone capable of mining BTC to crash Bitcoin Core nodes running software versions 0.14.0 to 0.16.2.
In other words, Bitcoin miners could have brought down the entire blockchain either by overflooding the block with duplicate transactions, resulting in blockage of transaction confirmation from other people or by flooding the nodes of the Bitcoin P2P network and over-utilizing the bandwidth.
The vulnerability had been around since March last year, but the team says nobody noticed the bug or nobody was willing to incur the expense of exploiting it.
According to the bitcoin core developers, all recent versions of the BTC system are possibly vulnerable to the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, though there's a catch—attacking Bitcoin is not cheap.
The DDoS attack on the BTC network would cost miners 12.5 bitcoins, which is equal to almost $80,000 (£60,000), in order to perform successfully.
The Bitcoin Core team has patched the vulnerability and are urging miners to update with the latest Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 version as soon as possible.
"A denial-of-service vulnerability (CVE-2018-17144) exploitable by miners has been discovered in Bitcoin Core versions 0.14.0 up to 0.16.2. It is recommended to upgrade any of the vulnerable versions to 0.16.3 as soon as possible," the vulnerability note reads.
Although the team says that the miners running Bitcoin Core only occasionally are not in danger of such attacks, it would obviously be recommended to upgrade to the latest software version as soon as possible just to be on the safe side.
In addition to the DDoS vulnerability, the latest version also includes patches for a non-insignificant number of minor bugs, related to consensus, RPC and other APIs, invalid error flags, and documentation.
After upgrading to the latest version—the process that will take five minutes to half an hour depending upon the processing power of your computer—users should note that the new wallet will have to redownload the entire blockchain.
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Zerodium, the infamous exploit vendor that earlier this year offered $1 million for submitting a zero-day exploit for Tor Browser, today publicly revealed a critical zero-day flaw in the anonymous browsing software that could reveal your identity to the sites you visit.
In a Tweet, Zerodium shared a zero-day vulnerability that resides in the NoScript browser plugin comes pre-installed with the Mozilla Firefox bundled in the Tor software.
NoScript is a free browser extension that blocks malicious JavaScript, Java, Flash and other potentially dangerous content on all web pages by default, though users can whitelist sites they trust.
According to Zerodium, NoScript "Classic" versions 5.0.4 to 5.1.8.6--with 'Safest' security level enabled--included in Tor Browser 7.5.6 can be bypassed to run any JavaScript file by changing its content-type header to JSON format.
In other words, a website can exploit this vulnerability to execute malicious JavaScript on victims' Tor browsers to effectively identify their real IP address.
It should be noted that the latest version of Tor browser, i.e., Tor 8.0, is not vulnerable to this flaw, as the NoScript plugin designed for the newer version of Firefox ("Quantum") is based upon a different API format.
Therefore, Tor 7.x users are highly recommended to immediately update their browser to the latest Tor 8.0 release.
NoScript has also fixed the zero-day flaw with the release of NoScript "Classic" version 5.1.8.7.
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Story highlightsNovak Djokovic is targeting a fourth straight title in next week's Australian OpenThe Serbian has not lost a match since becoming engaged last SeptemberTop seed Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer meet Australians in first roundVictoria Azarenka is defending women's champion but Serena Williams is top seedNovak Djokovic is on course for a "fab four" of Australian Open titles when the tournament begins in Melbourne next week -- and the defending champion says all he needs is love.The Serbian second seed could become the first man to win four straight titles at the opening grand slam of the season and he says he has been in unstoppable form since popping the question to his girlfriend Jelena Risti."I got engaged in September," Djokovic told the media assembled under Melbourne's sunny skies Friday. "But since we got engaged I haven't lost a match so I guess the wedding should come very soon!"The 26-year-old says the couple have yet to set a date for the big day so for now he is able to focus on beginning his on-court campaign in Australia.Djokovic may be engaged but he is also exploring an on-court relationship with new coach Boris Becker, himself a two-time Australian Open champion.JUST WATCHEDIs Murray ready for the Australian Open?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHIs Murray ready for the Australian Open? 02:29JUST WATCHEDHow Novak Djokovic stays on topReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow Novak Djokovic stays on top 06:13JUST WATCHEDTennis stars take on the quick fire quizReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTennis stars take on the quick fire quiz 02:32"It's great to see Boris as elegant as ever he's a legend of our sport," said Djokovic, nodding to Becker, who was watching in the crowd wearing a smart beige blazer."He's not been in Australia for 15 years so he's surprised to see how much has been done since then and for me it's an honor to have him alongside other team members."We're going to try and make a success of our partnership, it's just the beginning." Djokovic, who won his first grand slam in Australia in 2008, faces Slovakia's World No.90 Lukas Lacko in the first round."The Australian Open is definitely my most successful grand slam and my favorite," Djokovic said."Most of the players share the same opinion that we love the atmosphere, we love the easy energy that goes around and the tennis fever in Australia."Roger Federer, also a four-time winner in Australia, opens his tournament against Australian James Duckworth.The Swiss, who last won the tournament in 2010, is seeded eighth for the event and is on course for a quarterfinal match with Britain's Andy Murray in his half of the draw.Murray, a three-time finalist in Melbourne, takes on Japan's Go Soeda in the first round.Rafael Nadal missed last year's tournament because of a stomach virus but the Spanish star is back after winning a warm-up tournament in Qatar.The World No. 1 and top seed opens his Australian Open in an intriguing match against Australian firecracker Bernard Tomic and faces a potential semifinal clash with Murray or Federer.Read: Time for tennis bad boy to grow up?Fellow Aussie Lleyton Hewitt meets Italian Andreas Seppi in the first round fresh from beating Federer in the Brisbane International -- a victory which saw him win his first title in three years.Victoria Azarenka lined up alongside Djokovic to meet the media and fans as the defending women's champion is looking for her third straight title on the hardcourts of Melbourne Park. Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering career Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerKim Clijsters' glittering career – Kim Clijsters retired from professional tennis for a second time at the U.S. Open in September 2012. The Belgian won four grand slam titles in a 15-year career which included a two-year break between 2007 and 2009. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerFamily act – Kim Clijsters with daughter Jada and the 2010 U.S. Open trophy after beating Vera Zvonareva in the final.Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerDancing queens – Clijsters came out of retirement the previous year, having taken time out to have her first child. She defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the 2009 final after receiving a wild-card entry to the season's closing grand slam.Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerNew York, New York – Clijsters had a love affair with New York. Here she climbs into the family area after the 2005 U.S. Open final after beating France's Mary Pierce 6-3 6-1 to clinch her first grand slam title.Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerInitial retirement – The Belgian suffered a shock 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 loss to Julia Vakulenko in 2007 in what proved to be her final match before retiring for the first time. Clijsters took time away from the sport to raise her family and gave birth to Jada in 2008.Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerThree and easy – Clijsters defended her Flushing Meadows crown in 2010, avenging her defeat by Russia's Zvonareva in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon -- a loss she told CNN "hurt her the most."Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerAussie Kim – Clijsters enjoys popularity in Australia thanks to ex-boyfriend and male tennis star Lleyton Hewitt. She was overcome with emotion after defeating Li Na of China to clinch the 2011 Australian Open -- the fourth grand slam title of her career.Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerFinal split? – The daughter of a footballer and a gymnast, Clijsters is renowned for her on-court splits -- an ability which originated from her early years on clay courts but was later transferred to other surfaces.Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerFinal defeat – Clijsters' final singles match was a loss against unseeded British teenager Laura Robson in the second round of the 2012 U.S. Open. She also competed in the mixed doubles competition with Bob Bryan, but they too lost in the second round.Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Kim Clijsters' glittering careerThank you and goodbye – Clijsters put on a series of farewell matches in her homeland to say thank you and goodbye to her hoards of Belgian fans.Hide Caption 10 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana Ivanovic Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicCrossroads – Ana Ivanovic is at a major crossroads in her career, heading into the new season with hopes of breaking back into the world top 10 for the first time since May 2009 after an injury-plagued few years.Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicNew kid on the block – At the age of 17 she stormed to the quarterfinals of the 2005 French Open, knocking out third seed Amelie Mauresmo in the process.Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicOne and only – Three years later, the Serbian clinched her maiden grand slam with a win at the French Open in 2008 and was the world No. 1 for the first time in her career. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicChanges – The 26-year-old has hired and fired a number of different coaches over the years, including former head of English women's tennis Nigel Sears, who she split with in July 2013 after crashing out in the second round at Wimbledon.Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicDownward spiral – She slid as low as 65th in the rankings in July 2010 after a series of injuries, and has not reached the final four of a grand slam since her French Open win in 2008.Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicMoney, money, money – While her on-court success has plummeted, Ivanovic's financial fortunes appear more resilient. Forbes rated her as the ninth highest-paid female athlete in 2013 with total earnings of $7 million -- largely thanks to lucrative sponsorship deals.Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicIt must be love? – Ivanovic has had a string of high-profile boyfriends to help distract her, including Masters-winning golfer Adam Scott (left) and Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco.Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicRole model – Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia in September 2007. She has also appeared on the cover of magazines around the world such as FHM, Grazia, Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan.Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicGood start – Ivanovic kicked off 2014 in style by winning the WTA even in Auckland, New Zealand, beating fellow former world No. 1 Venus Williams in the final to claim the 12th title of her career.Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: The rise and fall and rise of Ana IvanovicMelbourne mission – Ivanovic will take her bid for a second grand slam title to the Australian Open, where she was runner-up in 2008 and lost in the fourth round the last two years. Hide Caption 10 of 10 Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod Laver Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod LaverLegends come together – Two legends of tennis came together in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open getting underway next week. Roger Federer, a 17-time grand slam winner, and the great Rod Laver delighted the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena by exchanging a couple of rallies ahead of a charity match.Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod LaverNow... – Laver may not be as agile as he once was, but world No. 6 Federer was delighted to be able to take to the court with one of his heroes.Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod Laver... and then – During his 13-year playing career, Laver reached the top of the world rankings and won 11 grand slam titles. The lefthander retired in 1976.Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod LaverRod Laver Arena – Federer and Laver played in the Rod Laver Arena, which annually hosts the Australian Open finals.Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: Roger Federer vs. Rod LaverGalaxy of stars – A host of stars turned out to raise money for the Roger Federer Foundation. From left to right, Pat Rafter, Tony Roche, Federer, Laver, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lleyton Hewitt pose for the cameras.Hide Caption 5 of 5"I'm happy to be back here at the Australian Open again," said Azarenka. "Last year was really successful for me, winning a grand slam here and having a great final at the U.S. Open."There was no mention of American rival Serena Williams, who beat Azarenka in Brisbane to once again go into the Australian Open as the one to watch.Williams, a three-time Australian Open winner and top seed for the women's tournament, meets Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty in the first round.Azarenka kicks off her campaign against Sweden's Johanna Larsson while in the same half of the draw Russian third seed Maria Sharapova faces American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.Djokovic and Azarenka were happy to pose for the cameras with their trophies as defending champions but at the Australian Open it is not about defense -- it's all about attack."We are getting used to these pre-tournament photos together for two years in a row as defending champions," said Djokovic."I love the fact that we have the draw with the trophies and hopefully we leave our prints on them and grab them again in two weeks."Read: Hewitt ends title droughtRead: Clijsters cool on another comebackRead: Djokovic welcomes big name coaches
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London (CNN)Europe's had a torrid time since the start of the pandemic. For a continent whose prosperity relies on political cooperation, seamless supply chains and the uncomplicated crossing of borders, a crisis that pits nation against nation and demands limited movement is a challenge. The pandemic has exacerbated gripes that have existed between European nations for decades. Countries have sniped at one another as they scrambled for protective equipment and vaccines, while pointing the finger at one another over their measures to contain the virus. This has been especially true of the 27 member states of the European Union. At the start of the pandemic, countries closed their borders for lack of trust that their neighbors were sufficiently containing the virus. There have been bitter disputes over exactly how the bloc should finance its economic recovery, with wealthier member states in the north contemptuous of financing those in the south, which they believe to be fiscally irresponsible. Despite Brexit, Britons won't stop being EuropeanMost recently, countries have been falling out over Europe's lackluster vaccine rollout. This week, Italian authorities raided a factory where 29 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were being stored. While the EU didn't directly accuse the pharmaceutical company of withholding the vaccines, EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis noted that the drug maker "committed to deliver 120 million doses to the EU in the first quarter of the year. They are promising to be able to deliver 30 million doses, but they are not even close to this figure." The raid took place on the same day that the EU Commission proposed stricter export controls on vaccines. Read MoreThe episode in Italy comes at a time when trust seems low. One recent example: Sebastian Kurz, the Chancellor of Austria, accused the Commission of distributing vaccines unfairly, pointing out that countries including Malta and Denmark have had more doses per capita than Austria. Maltese officials and representatives of the Commission speculated to CNN that perhaps Austria is falling behind because it declined to buy its full allocation of vaccines procured by the EU. On one hand, this is just the brutal world of politics. "Every head of state or government understands the situation. They are all under pressure to show that they are delivering at home. None of them take these comparisons personally," says Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland. On the other, underlying tensions among the bloc have been very bad of late and could have long-term impacts on European unity. President Joe Biden attends the virtual EU Leaders' Summit in Brussels, Belgium on March 25, 2021."The pandemic has definitely made the usual tensions more obvious. Normal diplomacy cannot happen on a video call, let alone trying to navigate a once-in-a-century pandemic that is killing thousands and wrecking economies," says Neale Richmond, an Irish government backbencher who was previously appointed to represent Ireland in Brussels. Vaccine nationalism could backfireThe anger is real, but somewhat scattergun. Some of it is aimed at Brussels, some of it is aimed at fellow member states and some of it is aimed at the recently departed UK, whose vaccine program is racing ahead. The anger aimed at the Commission is mostly over its proposals for placing export controls on vaccines. The Commission believes that it should only export doses produced in the bloc to countries that are sending vaccines back in. Critics believe that this move was an unsubtle attempt to make clear its view that the UK and AstraZeneca are holding back vaccines from the EU. They fear it could backfire badly. "Vaccine nationalism makes absolutely no sense. The problem with zero-sum politics is that there is always a loser and, in this case, losing means more deaths for the loser," says Mohammed Chahim, a Dutch member of European Parliament who sits on the public health committee. He adds that a single-minded focus on vaccinating Europeans won't stop the virus spreading and mutating outside. "Inevitably, new strains will end up back in your country and we're back to square one." The anger between member states is more complicated. Diplomats in Brussels from different countries cannot even agree on what they are disagreeing about. Western European diplomats say there is no disagreement at all and those who say there is are simply seeing the glass as half empty. Central and Eastern Europeans feel they are being punished for being responsible and not blindly buying their full allocations of vaccines before knowing if they'd even be able to store them. Members of the so-called "Frugal Four" -- Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands and Sweden -- believe that southern European nations have created a "victim narrative" which placed responsible nations on the wrong side of history. And southern European diplomats say that caricatures of their nations have meant they've been treated like irresponsible children by the others, who can't be trusted not to squander any funds sent their way from wealthier neighbors. While very little of this has anything to do with the actual handling of the pandemic, it's obvious when talking to officials how raw and deep the emotion is. JUST WATCHEDA look at the Covid-19 disinformation pushed by China and RussiaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA look at the Covid-19 disinformation pushed by China and Russia 03:03The anger aimed at the UK is slightly easier to understand. Boris Johnson has not been shy in claiming that the UK's successful vaccine rollout would not have been possible without Brexit. This makes blood boil because it's simultaneously untrue but easy to believe. While an argument can be made that Brexit inspired a way of thinking independently of Brussels, there was no specific rule that would have prohibited the UK from acting exactly as it has if it were an EU member state. "The perception that the UK is rolling out so fast while the EU is stumbling from crisis to crisis is very unhelpful," says Richmond. "While no one believes a member state is going to leave over the EU's handling of the pandemic or that it will fall apart, the post-Brexit reality is that all crises are automatically linked to the fact the UK has created a framework for leaving." Others are less measured and still believe Europe will have the last laugh. "You might feel very happy on your little island when you are all vaccinated, but your island might feel very small when you cannot leave it because your neighbors are not vaccinated," one senior diplomat told CNN. Resentment and angerIt's perhaps unsurprising that Europe is an angry place politically at the moment. From the Greek crisis to Brexit to a deadly pandemic, it's had a rough decade. JUST WATCHEDHow a London community is bridging the gap to reach minorities hard-hit by the pandemicReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow a London community is bridging the gap to reach minorities hard-hit by the pandemic 05:45The pandemic has laid the ground for some pretty important discussions to take place about Europe's future, especially concerning Brussels assuming greater centralized power. "Europe's pandemic can be viewed through the Commission's failures on health policy and its successes on economic policy," says Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group. "My sense is that it will be hard for the Commission to say that its failures on health mean it should have more control of Europe's health policy. However, if the Covid recovery fund results in serious reform, that could be a catalyst for more European integration." As it was originally envisaged, the EU was, at a Brussels level, supposed to not be dictated to by the national politics of member states. Officials fear that the horse has long bolted, leaving decisions at the mercy of the political whims of the strongest nations. If the post-pandemic anger fails to dissipate, it could create a toxic dynamic that is unlikely to end in closer integration and greater unity. The EU is not on life support by any stretch of the imagination. But if it's to move on from its years of pain, it needs to find a way of healing wounds that have led to such deep-seated resentment and anger.
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Washington (CNN)As the first anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol approaches, the House committee investigating January 6 faces its biggest challenge yet: proving allegations that there was a coordinated effort behind the insurrection and convincing the American people that former President Donald Trump was complicit.To do so, the House select committee is sketching out its strategy for 2022, including preparing for a series of public hearings intended to address Trump's continued false claims that the election was somehow fraudulent. Envisioned as prime-time broadcasts, some of those hearings would focus on the two months between the 2020 election and the January 6 riot and will likely include testimony from state election officials, as well as former top members of the Trump Justice Department. The hearings are expected to be followed by an interim report over the summer and a final report in the fall ahead of November's pivotal midterm elections. The goal will be to establish a definitive narrative about what happened on January 6 and propose legislative recommendations to prevent such an attack from happening again. "In this great country of ours, I'm convinced that sunlight and truth [are] the best disinfectant when you're dealing with a lie," committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, told CNN. "Hopefully we will provide the proper disinfectant for what's happened on January 6, so that people will understand it."Read MoreRep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack, speaks to reporters after a business meeting on Capitol Hill on December 13, 2021. For any of this to be successful, the committee must overcome a series of obstacles, not the least of which is skepticism from a broad swath of the American public that holds on to the false belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. The committee is also fighting nearly a dozen legal challenges by key Trump allies, as well as Trump himself, who has asked the Supreme Court to block access to his White House records. Despite this, committee members say the investigation is in full swing. They've interviewed more than 300 witnesses and collected some 35,000 records. House investigators are subpoenaing bank records to follow the money behind the pro-Trump rallies that preceded the insurrection, and they're poring over texts and other communications to examine the role of Trump and his allies.The committee is also studying how Trump's actions stoked violence on January 6 -- and whether his inaction as the Capitol riot dragged on for hours amounted to a "dereliction of duty."Committee members revealed this week that they have "firsthand testimony" that Trump was watching the insurrection on television as staffers, friends and even his own children implored him to stop the riot."Any man who would provoke a violent assault on the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes, any man who would watch television as police officers were being beaten, as his supporters were invading the Capitol of the United States, is clearly unfit for future office," GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who serves as vice chair of the panel, said on ABC's "This Week.' Members of the panel must also decide whether to engage in a charged fight by subpoenaing their own Republican colleagues who refuse to cooperate. Thompson told CNN that decision will be made "in the next few weeks."The committee has recently set its sights on talking with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity and says it wants to speak with former Vice President Mike Pence. "There are still some critical questions that remain for us, and the closer we get to Donald Trump, the more we are finding," committee member Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, told CNN. "I think we've painted two-thirds of a picture. The broad strokes are there, the outline of all the major objects are there, but there's some extremely important details that still remain to be filled." The most important of those details pertain to the question of coordination between the White House and what ultimately unfolded on January 6. Thompson told CNN this week that the three-hour delay before the National Guard received permission to send reinforcements on January 6 "was, in my opinion, by design.""When people are breaking into the United States Capitol, it should not take long for reinforcements to arrive," Thompson said. "Three hours is just absolutely too long."Military leaders have maintained there was no delay. It took time to move Guard members from traffic duty to riot control, they say, especially after DC officials had repeatedly said they did not need more National Guard forces ahead of the riot. Thompson also said he believes the effort to spread the lie of a stolen election "was part of an organized plan." Details of the work Much of the committee's work has happened behind closed doors, in an office building on the edge of the Capitol complex. Depositions are not always announced. Subpoenas are not always made public. Most of the committee's 40-plus staffers keep a low profile. The committee is divided into five investigative teams, each with its own color designation. The green team is tasked with tracking money, including the funding behind the rallies, as well as untangling the complex web of financial ties between rally organizers and entities affiliated with Trump or his campaign, according to multiple sources. That team has made considerable progress, sources tell CNN. The blue team is focused on how government agencies prepared ahead of January 6 and responded to the attack. The gold team is examining efforts by Trump and his allies to pressure Department of Justice officials, as well as those at the state level, to overturn the results of the election. The red team is investigating rally planners and the "Stop the Steal" movement. The purple team is digging into domestic violence and extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, 3 Percenters and Oath Keepers. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks with Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., by his side as the House committee investigating January 6 meets on October 19, 2021. In interviews with CNN, committee members and staffers describe what has been an all-consuming amount of work, including spending nights and weekends keeping up with the volume of documents coming in. Thompson said that on many weekends when he is deer hunting with his grandson in Mississippi he takes his iPad along. "It's challenging," said Thompson. "I accepted the appointment from the speaker, and you know sometimes family and other folks kind of look at you like have you lost your mind."What we've learned so farThough much of the committee's investigation has been done in secret, significant information has begun to emerge. Most notably, last month the panel made public a batch of text messages obtained from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The messages include revealing communications from some of Trump's closest allies and members of his family. Cheney told ABC News that the panel has "firsthand testimony" that during the attack, Trump's daughter and then-senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, asked him to call off the riot. Trump didn't make a statement until 187 minutes after the violence started. In one batch of subpoenas, the committee revealed a direct connection between Trump and organizers of the January 6 rallies that preceded the attack, stating Trump had met with organizers in his private dining room off the Oval Office to discuss the rally on the Ellipse and who would be speaking. President Donald Trump speaks at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 6, 2021, in Washington. Sources tell CNN that the committee is also receiving the communications records of more than 100 people, including former Trump officials and associates, that show contacts before, during and after the attack on the Capitol.The panel is still hoping to receive documents from the National Archives to fill in holes about what happened at the White House leading up to and on the day of the attack, including drafts of previously unseen videos that Trump recorded prior to releasing his video message at the White House on January 6.Facing obstruction from Trump's biggest alliesThe committee still faces an uphill battle in getting some of Trump's closest allies to cooperate. Among them are some of the members' own colleagues, including Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Jim Jordan of Ohio, both of whom turned down the committee's voluntary request to speak with them. In the new year, members of the panel will have to decide not only whether to subpoena their colleagues, but also whether to expand the list of Republican lawmakers. Jim Jordan sent one of the texts revealed by January 6 committee Thompson told CNN directly that he was not afraid to subpoena lawmakers if it came to that. In December, the House referred Meadows to the Justice Department for possible criminal contempt charges. Trump ally Steve Bannon has already been indicted for contempt of Congress and has a trial date for July. (He has pleaded not guilty.) Former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, who pursued unfounded claims of voter fraud in the weeks after the November election, along with a growing list of others, has informed the panel he will plead the Fifth Amendment."We're very serious about trying to get Meadows to testify to us. And we're very serious about trying to get Jeffrey Clark to testify," Raskin told CNN. "But the closer you get to Donald Trump, the more afraid they are of both Donald Trump and also of being criminally prosecuted, so they're turning to the Fifth Amendment."Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who serves on the panel, told CNN, "I don't think there's any question that there's some coordination among those who've been subpoenaed as an effort to obstruct the investigation."Committee members remain steadfast that despite these stonewalling tactics, there are still plenty of ways to build out their investigation. Their swift criminal contempt actions, they believe, will also convince others to talk."It's only a very handful of people who want to risk jail time and fines for contempt of Congress who are obstructing our process," Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, who serves on the panel, told CNN. Building a case before the midtermsThe committee likely has until November to make its case to the American public. If Republicans take over the House, the investigation will almost certainly stop. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only other Republican committee member besides Cheney, is not running for reelection. Murphy, whose district was redrawn, has also announced her retirement. Cheney faces a tough primary, while Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria will have to run in a competitive district in Virginia."It's certainly a consideration that if the House of Representatives would change hands in 2022 that the other party would not want to continue this work," Luria said. "They would not want these things exposed. They want to just brush it away."Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., speaks in the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, on July 27, 2021, at the Cannon House Office Building. With a majority of Republican voters still doubting the legitimacy of Biden's election win, the committee faces tough hurdles in making its case. "Will it change minds? I think it's hard to say," said former Republican Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, who is a CNN contributor. "As we know, the country is deeply polarized and tribalized, and some people won't let new facts change their hardened opinions."Some members of the panel have suggested the investigation could result in evidence related to criminal activity by Trump, but that's not the committee's focus.Legal scholar and Harvard professor Laurence Tribe told CNN that while the committee does not have the power to prosecute any crimes it may find, it can put pressure on the Justice Department to act."It can't ensure that it will happen, but it can certainly increase the likelihood and create a kind of public momentum that will make it harder for the Justice Department just to sit there and twiddle its thumbs," he said.Tribe laid out specific legislative recommendations the panel can make, such as specifying that acting corruptly to impede or obstruct the electoral vote count is a federal crime and protecting the integrity of the process to certify the next president.A year later, the violence of the day, along with the stakes of the investigation, still weighs on the committee. "It is a tremendous sense of responsibility," Raskin said of what it means to him to serve on the panel. "Everywhere we go, people tell us that this is the most important investigation they can remember at least since the Watergate investigation. So there's a high burden of hope being placed upon us."Luria said that when she walks through the empty Rotunda of the Capitol late at night, she often reflects on the violent and troubling incidents that happened in that very hallway. "It's incredibly sobering," she said.
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If you are a T-Mobile customer, this news may concern you.
US-based telecom giant T-Mobile has suffered yet another data breach incident that recently exposed personal and accounts information of both its employees and customers to unknown hackers.
What happened? In a breach notification posted on its website, T-Mobile today said its cybersecurity team recently discovered a sophisticated cyberattack against the email accounts of some of its employees that resulted in unauthorized access to the sensitive information contained in it, including details for its customers and other employees.
Although the telecom company did not disclose how the breach happened, when it happened, and exactly how many employees and users were affected, it did confirm that the leaked information on its users doesn't contain financial information like credit card and Social Security numbers.
What type of information was accessed? The exposed data of an undisclosed number of affected users include their:
names,
phone numbers,
account numbers,
rate plans and features, and
billing information.
What is T-Mobile now doing? The company took necessary steps to shut down the unauthorized access upon discovery and immediately notified law enforcement of the security breach incident.
T-Mobile also immediately launched a forensic investigation to determine the extent of the breach incident, a report of which is expected to be released soon..
"We regret that this incident occurred. We take the security of your information very seriously, and while we have a number of safeguards in place to protect customer information from unauthorized access, we are also always working to further enhance security so we can stay ahead of this type of activity," the company said.
The company is notifying affected customers of the breach incident.
What should you do now? Though T-Mobile said it does not have any evidence of the stolen information being used to commit fraud or otherwise misused, it still advises users to change PIN/passcode to access their accounts as a precaution.
Affected customers should also be suspicious of phishing emails, which are usually the next step of cybercriminals in an attempt to trick users into giving away their passwords and credit card information.
Although the T-Mobile data breach incident did not expose any financial information of affected customers, it is always a good idea to be vigilant and keep a close eye on your bank and payment card statements for any unusual activity and report to the bank if you find any.
The incident comes in less than six months after the telecom giant suffered a significant data breach that exposed the personal information of some of the customers using its prepaid services.
In August 2018, the company also disclosed a data breach that affected roughly two million customers.
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(CNN)Five British police officers will face misconduct action over social media messages sent in relation to Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by a serving police officer, the UK's police watchdog said Friday. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which oversees the police complaints system in England and Wales, carried out two separate investigations.The first one found an "inappropriate graphic depicting violence against women" was shared by a Metropolitan Police constable on probation with colleagues on WhatsApp, "in reference to the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer."The police watchdog said the officer was off duty at the time but went on to staff a cordon as part of the search for Everard."The image was highly offensive, and the officer now has a case to answer for misconduct for potentially breaching standards of professional behavior for conduct and authority, respect and courtesy," the IOPC said in the statement, adding the officer will face a misconduct meeting to answer the allegations.Read MorePolice failures exposed by Sarah Everard murder underpin culture of misogyny in the force, activists sayWayne Couzens, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the abduction, rape and murder of Everard last month.In the other, separate, investigation, the IOPC looked at allegations seven officers from several forces "breached standards of professional behavior when they used the Signal messaging platform to share information connected to Couzens' prosecution."On the night of March 3, Wayne Couzens, a serving Met police officer, spent the entire evening "hunting a lone female to kidnap and rape," according to the judge who sentenced him last month. Couzens stopped Everard on the street by identifying himself as police, "arresting" her under the pretense of breaking Covid rules. He raped her later that evening and strangled her with his police belt. A week later, her remains were found in a woodland in Ashford, Kent -- more than 50 miles from where she was last seen.London police warn women to be wary of lone officers after Sarah Everard murderEverard's murder has sparked outrage and an ongoing national debate about violence against women and calls to reform policing in the UK.Inappropriate behavior is not new in the police force. After sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were brutally murdered in London in June 2020, two London Metropolitan police officers took selfies next to their bodies and shared them on WhatsApp. Six other officers failed to report it.At least 16 women have been killed by serving or retired police officers over the last 13 years in the UK, according to the Femicide Census, a group which collects data on women killed by men.High-ranking police have said they understand public trust has been broken, and they will take steps to regain it in the wake of Everard's murder. They have outlined measures they believe women should take to feel safer, which many campaigners have called tone-deaf, saying it puts the onus on women to take responsibility for avoiding crimes against them.The UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has called for an overhaul of policing, saying in September, "all of us want to feel safe and be safe."
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Story highlights The cruise line says crew members acted "bravely and swiftly"Passengers recall chaos as people scrambled for lifeboatsOne passenger says she thought several times she might die"Nobody followed any procedure," said passenger Brandon WarrickAt first, Vivian Shafer said, she thought it was part of the magic show aboard her Mediterranean cruise.During the show, aboard the Costa Concordia, staffers had been "playing with the lights" and using smoke, "so we really weren't that alarmed" as things began happening on the ship, she said Sunday. Shafer said she and her traveling companion, Ronda Rosenthal, returned to their cabin after the ship gave a "shudder," but were reassured by their cabin steward the ship was experiencing a "small technical difficulty." And as the two got into bed, someone speaking on behalf of the ship's captain made an announcement saying there was an electrical problem that would be fixed soon.However, it became clear that something was amiss aboard the 1,500-cabin luxury vessel, after the two heard announcements regarding lifeboats and muster stations. They dressed, grabbed their life jackets and went to investigate, coming upon a chaotic scene."We peeked around the corner to kind of see what people were doing ... and my gosh, people were actually getting in a lifeboat," Shafer said. At least five people died after the Concordia ran aground on the tiny island of Giglio Friday night. Several others remained unaccounted for. JUST WATCHEDCoast Guard: Ship too close to islandReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCoast Guard: Ship too close to island 01:09JUST WATCHEDCaptain blames charts for crashReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCaptain blames charts for crash 01:42JUST WATCHEDAmerican survivors of ship wreck speakReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAmerican survivors of ship wreck speak 05:49JUST WATCHED'Chaos' as cruise ship hits rockReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'Chaos' as cruise ship hits rock 02:21Survivors recounted a frantic rush by passengers to get on lifeboats, while the crew appeared helpless and overwhelmed to cope."There wasn't anybody to help you," Shafer said. "I mean, the passengers were loading the lifeboats by themselves."Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Costa Cruises, said in a statement Saturday that it was "working to fully understand the cause of what occurred. The safety of our guests and crew members remains the number-one priority of Carnival Corporation ... and all of our cruise lines."Costa Cruises on Sunday said crew members on board the Concordia "acted bravely and swiftly to help evacuate more than 4,000 individuals during a very challenging situation. We are very grateful for all they have done." It said preliminary indications are that there may have been "significant human error" on the part of the ship's captain.Compounding the evacuation problems was that only one side of lifeboats was available as the ship was listing. Passenger Laurie Willits, from Ontario, Canada, said some lifeboats on the higher side got stuck, leaving people suspended in mid-air amid the sounds of children crying and screaming."It was so crowded, and there was no room for us," said Brandon Warrick, who was sailing with his siblings. They arrived late, he said Sunday, and "it was just bad, like mad scrambles to get into the lifeboats. Nobody followed any procedure. The crew was yelling for people to wait their turn and pretty much it was just a giant every man for himself, to get onto the lifeboat."He said his family hung back because "we didn't want to make it worse."His sister, Amanda Warrick, said she thought several times that she might die, as they waited at least an hour and a half for more rescue boats after all the lifeboats departed. As the ship took on water and listed to the side, "We were just holding onto the railing, trying not to fall," Brandon Warrick said."I just remember standing on the decks," Amanda Warrick said. "There were barely any people left." She said she didn't see any crew members "until the very last minute" and they were given no information about how long they would have to wait or whether any more help was coming.Her primary concern, she said, was staying with her brothers. "There was no way that we were going to be separated."Costa Cruises said Sunday its crew members hold a certificate in basic safety training and are trained to assist in emergency situations. Every two weeks, the company said, all crew members perform a ship evacuation simulation.Shafer said the only help they received from the crew was one young woman who approached her and told her to tighten her life vest."I was really disappointed and surprised," she said. "The crew was so young. You would have thought they could have handled it better." She said she thinks passengers should at least have been told to grab their coats, shoes and warm clothing.Rosenthal said she believes the two waited at least 40 minutes to get on a lifeboat. The two had just embarked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia, she said, and had not undergone the mandatory safety drill, scheduled for the next evening. However, she had just taken a cruise and so she knew where the life jackets were stored, she said. "Lack of communication was a big thing for me," she said, "and it wasn't the language barrier ... it wasn't handled at all like the previous cruise I had been on." Even on shore, she said, people were wandering around aimlessly.She said once she and Shafer got on board a lifeboat, people were angry with them, as the boat was crowded. She did not clarify whether the crew members or other passengers were angry.Passenger Benji Smith on Saturday recounted making his own rope ladder to save himself and his wife."It was the Marx brothers, watching these guys trying to figure out how to work the boat," he said. "I felt like the disaster itself was manageable, but I felt like the crew was going to kill us."After helping passengers, some said, crew members jumped overboard and swam ashore.Smith said even the safety presentation was more of a "sales pitch" for shore excursions.
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Purchasing malware to victimize people is illegal by laws but if the same thing any government official do, then its not!! Yes, the police forces around the World are following the footsteps of U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and FBI.
Researchers from the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and computer security firm Kaspersky Lab have unearthed a broad network of controversial spyware which is specially designed to give law enforcement agencies complete access to a suspect's phone for the purpose of surveillance.
MALWARE FOR DESKTOPS AND ALL MOBILE DEVICES
The malware, dubbed as Remote Control System (RCS), also known as Da Vinci and Galileo, is developed by an Italian company known as Hacking Team, available for desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices. The latest version of the malware works for all phone including Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry devices, but best on Android devices, and can also be installed on jailbroken iOS devices. But even if the targeted iOS device is not jailbroken, the malware uses the famous Evasi0n jailbreaking tool to install the malware easily.
The team of researchers from both Citizen Lab and Kaspersky Lab in collaboration has presented their findings during an event in London. According to the report published, the diameter of the command infrastructure supporting Hacking Team, which sells the RCS to governments and law enforcement, is very vast with 326 command-and-control (C&C) servers running in more than 40 countries.
MALWARE DEVELOPERS - 'HACKING TEAM'
Hacking Team is a Milan-based IT company with more than 50 employees that has made a totally different place for itself selling "offensive" intrusion and surveillance software to governments and law enforcement agencies in "several dozen countries" on "six continents."
"It was a well-known fact for quite some time that the HackingTeam products included malware for mobile phones. However, these were rarely seen," said Kaspersky Lab experts on the blog post. "In particular, the Android and iOS Trojans have never been identified before and represented one of the remaining blank spots in the story."
WORLD WIDE WEB OF COMMAND-N-CONTROL SERVERS
Kaspersky Lab researchers have used a fingerprinting method to scan the entire IPv4 space and to identify the IP addresses of RCS Command & Control servers around the world and found the biggest host in United States with 64 counts of C&C servers. Next on the list was Kazakhstan with 49, Ecuador has 35, UK which hosts 32 control systems and many other countries with a grand total of 326 Command & Control servers.
"The presence of these servers in a given country doesn't mean to say they are used by that particular country's law enforcement agencies," said Sergey Golovanov, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab. "However, it makes sense for the users of RCS to deploy C&Cs in locations they control – where there are minimal risks of cross-border legal issues or server seizures."
ATTACK VECTOR AND MALWARE FEATURES
RCS can be physically implanted on the victim's device through a USB or SD card, and remotely it can be installed through spear phishing, exploit kits, drive-by downloads or network traffic injection.
Once installed on Apple iOS and Android device, the new module enable governments and law enforcement officers with larger capabilities to monitor victim devices, including the ability to:
control phone network
steal data from their device
record voice E-mail
intercept SMS and MMS messages
obtain call history
report on their location
use the device's microphone in real time
intercept voice and SMS messages sent via applications such as Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, and much more.
"Secretly activating the microphone and taking regular camera shots provides constant surveillance of the target—which is much more powerful than traditional cloak and dagger operations," Golovanov wrote.
While, the Android module is protected by an optimizer for Android called DexGuard that made the it extremely difficult to analyze. However, most of the iOS capabilities mentioned above are also available for Android, along with the support for hijacking applications such Facebook, Google Talk, Tencent of China and many more.
The mobile modules for each are custom-built for each target, researchers said. From previous disclosures we have seen that RCS is currently being used to spy on political dissidents, journalists, human rights advocates, and opposing political figures.
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It's Patch Tuesday week!
Adobe has just released the latest June 2019 software updates to address a total 11 security vulnerabilities in its three widely-used products Adobe ColdFusion, Flash Player, and Adobe Campaign.
Out of these, three vulnerabilities affect Adobe ColdFusion, a commercial rapid web application development platform—all critical in severity—that could lead to arbitrary code execution attacks.
Here below you can find brief information about all newly patched ColdFusion flaws:
CVE-2019-7838 — This vulnerability has been categorized as "File extension blacklist bypass" and can be exploited if the file uploads directory is web accessible.
CVE-2019-7839 — There's a command injection vulnerability in ColdFusion 2016 and 2018 editions, but it does not impact ColdFusion version 11.
CVE-2019-7840 — This flaw originates from the deserialization of untrusted data and also leads to arbitrary code execution on the system.
Besides ColdFusion, Adobe has patched just one vulnerability (CVE-2019-7845) in the infamous Flash Player software this month, which is also critical in severity and leads to arbitrary code execution on the affected Windows, macOS, Linux or Chrome OS-based system.
This flaw was reported by an anonymous cybersecurity researcher to the Adobe and can now be patched by installing the latest Flash player version 32.0.0.207.
The rest 7 flaws that Adobe patched this month resides in Adobe Campaign Classic (ACC), an advanced cross-channel marketing and campaign management platform, one of which is critical in severity, three have been rated important and other 3 poses little threat to users.
The only critical flaw (CVE-2019-7843) in Adobe Campaign could allow attackers to execute commands on the affected systems (Windows and Linux) through arbitrary code execution flaw.
At the time of writing, the company is not aware of any in-the-wild exploit for the vulnerabilities it addressed today.
Adobe has released updated versions of all three vulnerable software for each impacted platform that users should install immediately to protect their systems and businesses from cyber attacks.
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Story highlightsHamon wins Socialist Party nominationDefeated former PM Manuel VallsParis (CNN)Benoit Hamon clinched the socialist nomination for this year's French presidential election Sunday, securing victory over former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.Hamon won with 58.9 percent of the vote, according to the Socialist Party website, defeating Valls who had 41.1 percent. So far, 76.61 percent of the votes have been counted. The Socialist Party website states that more than 1.7 million people voted in the primary election.Hamon's win defied polls that had predicted a runoff between Valls and former economy minister Arnaud Montbourg.Hamon thanked those who voted for him in a tweet, saying "I warmly thank the left-wing voters for giving me, by their vote, a considerable strength for the fights to come."Read MoreValls issued a tweet of his own: "Serving France for five years has been an honor, I will never forget it."Divided partyThe first round of the presidential election will be held on April 23 and the second on May 7, with legislative elections due to be held immediately afterward in June.But the challenge may only just have started for Hamon, who now faces the difficult task of reuniting a bitterly divided party decimated even further by a fractious primary campaign.Hamon, Valls in final two for leadership of France's Socialist PartyThe vote, the second primary ever held by the Socialist Party, was seen as a contest between its two opposing wings. On the left, Hamon, who campaigned on a platform which included the creation of a universal basic income, the legalization of cannabis and a so-called "robot tax," which would be applied on technology that takes away jobs from humansTo the right, Valls, hampered by being forced to defend not only the government's record but also his own.Paying the price? Twice while prime minister, Valls used an unpopular constitutional measure that allowed him to bypass the opposition from within his own party in order to push controversial reform measures through. Such moves did not enamor him to colleagues, who appeared reluctant to forgive him, as highlighted by the television debates in which he often appeared adrift and isolated.The debates between the seven candidates also exposed the deep fault lines running through France's socialist party, with the result a measure of the discontent within the party's rank and file at Francois Hollande's government. Hollande's chose not to run for re-election, which paved the way for Valls' candidacy, but the former prime minister appears to have paid the cost of the government's low ratings.Shift in support?France's presidential election: Who is Francois Fillon? On the other side of the contest, opinion polls suggest that Republican candidate Francois Fillon is losing some of his advantage over the far-right's Marine Le Pen. The allegations that Fillon paid his wife around half a million euros of parliamentary funds for a non-existent job as his parliamentary secretary threaten to overshadow his campaign. The polls put Emmanuel Macron in third place and have consistently predicted a distant fifth-place finish for the socialists behind the far-left's Jean-luc Melenchon. But once again, the socialist primary has shown the unreliability of polls. Francois Fillion was a surprise winner in the primary.As the seven candidates went into the first round, a substantial victory was predicted for Valls, with the runner-up expected to be Montebourg.The polls were also wrong at the time of the Republican primary in November. Before the first round, polls were predicting a Nicolas Sarkozy-Alain Juppé runoff with Fillon in third place. CNN's Benjamin Marcus reported from Paris for this story.
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Story highlightsElistratov first Olympic Athlete from Russia to win a medalRussia is officially banned from the GamesElistratov once tested positive for a banned substance (CNN)Russia may be banned as a nation from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but that didn't stop a Russian athlete who once served a drug ban from winning a medal. Follow @cnnsport
Semen Elistratov took bronze in the men's 1500m short-track event on day one to clinch the first medal for the Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) team.
The 27-year-old was suspended in 2016 for taking the banned heart drug meldonium but was later exonerated. The 168-strong neutral-flagged OAR team is made up of Russian athletes who have been able to prove they are competing clean. Read MoreLast year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the Russian team from the PyeongChang Olympics after it found the country had run a state-sponsored doping program leading up to and during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. READ: Winter Olympics Day 2: live updatesREAD: Russian athletes lose last-ditch attempt to compete at Games'Special issue'Elistratov was part of a group of about 40 Russian athletes who were exonerated in April 2016 by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which said a presence of less than one microgram of the substance found in samples before March 1 was acceptable.JUST WATCHEDThe evolution of doping in sportReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe evolution of doping in sport 02:19WADA had put meldonium on its banned substance list from January 1, 2016. In March 2016, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova announced she had failed a doping test for meldonium at the Australian Open. After initially being given a two-year suspension, her ban was cut to 15 months on appeal and she made her comeback to women's tennis in April. "Anyone who had been suspended for an ADRV (Anti-Doping Rule Violation) was not invited," IOC medical and scientific director Richard Budgett told reporters in Pyeongchang on Sunday. "As you know, meldonium was a special issue. It was accepted that, because of the way it was metabolized it could stay in the system for many, many months, even nine months after it had been taken, because its stored in red blood cells, released and then stored again..."So if the case was consistent with usage before meldonium was prohibited, that would not be considered an ADRV." Budgett added that meldonium use in eastern Europe and Russia was "widespread" and "considered a cardiac stimulant which was not prohibited." READ: Best photos from day two at PyeongChang 2018 More controversy over commentsElistratov's drug ban wasn't the only controversy surrounding him after he appeared to breach strict IOC rules by criticizing Olympic officials after winning his bronze medal. "I dedicate this medal to all guys that have been excluded from these Games in such a hard and unfair way," Elistratov said. "This medal is for you."When asked if Elistratov has breached the OAR team guidelines, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Sunday: "As with all of the behavior and comportment of the Olympic Athletes from Russia group of athletes we have a surveillance program going on looking at their actions and behavior and they will report back at the end of the Games to the executive board whether they feel that not just the letter but the spirit of the law has been breached."
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Story highlightsWawrinka rallies from 2-1 down in setsNext plays Japan's Taro DanielMurray down 2-1 in sets Garbine Muguruza prevails in three sets (CNN)It was, for a defending champion playing on center court, not the smoothest way to begin the defense of a grand slam crown. Follow @cnnsport
On a nippy day in Paris that had spectators wearing thick coats after a spell of rain, less than half of Philippe Chatrier court was full for Stan Wawrinka's clash with Lukas Rosol at the French Open. But by the time the first-round match ended, the majority of the world's most famous clay-court stadium was filled, an indication of not only a slight upturn in the weather but the drama unfolding. Ultimately Wawrinka escaped 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 against the Czech with a giant-killing reputation to barely avoid becoming the first reigning men's champion at the French Open to exit in his opener the next season. Another Czech made a stir, too. Qualifier Radek Stepanek, who turns 38 in November, led second-seed Andy Murray 6-3 6-3 0-6 2-4 when darkness halted their contest on centre just past 9:20 p.m. local time. Watch match point as @stanwawrinka downs Rosol (for the 2nd time in 2 weeks) 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 #RG16 https://t.co/DA9twYGymC— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2016
Read MoreThe cooler conditions, coupled with playing on the sport's slowest surface, certainly didn't lend itself to breathtaking tennis, yet Wawrinka and Rosol managed to strike more winners than unforced errors. And on the second day of this year's tournament, Wawrinka produced enough glittering shots to fill a highlight reel all by himself. He even did it without his red and white, pajama looking shorts that became so famous 12 months ago. It's rare for grand slam winners to contest a tournament the week before a major but that's what the Swiss opted to do. Wawrinka won the title at home in Geneva for a boost of confidence -- downing Rosol in the semifinals -- but then faced a quick turnaround. Physically and emotionally, and when taking into consideration his opponent Monday, it came as no surprise he was pushed to the limit. Rosol ousted Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012 and when his booming, flat ground strokes are firing, he is difficult to contain. Rosol refused to buckle when dropping the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead in the third. JUST WATCHEDWawrinka: 'Shorts won the French Open'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWawrinka: 'Shorts won the French Open' 01:17With Wawrinka dealing with the pressure of serving second in the fourth and Rosol surging, the defending champion -- the only prominent Swiss men's player in the field after Roger Federer's withdrawal -- capped a lengthy rally in the fifth game with a winning smash. "He was going for his shots all the time, not missing much," Wawrinka told reporters. The fifth game proved pivotal, as Wawrinka saved two break points to earn a 3-2 advantage. Rosol crumbled in the eighth game to trail 5-3 and the lone break of the fifth came a point after Wawrinka crunched one of his trademark one-handed backhands down the line. He raised his arms in celebration -- and relief -- after converting a third match point, putting away a comfortable backhand volley. Lasting a shade over three hours, Wawrinka would have probably wanted an easier outing as he attempts to become the eighth man to win back-to-back French Opens in the Open Era. "It's never the best to start with a five-set match," conceded Wawrinka. His opponent in the second round, Japan's Taro Daniel, also endured a five-set affair, rallying to beat the dangerous Martin Klizan. Klizan retired in the fifth with a neck injury to give Daniel a 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-4 3-0 win. Murray enjoyed his finest clay-court buildup to the French Open this year and seemingly received a gentle draw Friday. Stepanek did take a set off Murray in Madrid this month but that was in quicker conditions that aids the attacking game of the former world No. 8. Stepanek, though, played his all-court game to perfection in the first two sets against a passive Murray before the Scot raised his game, and Stepanek dipped, in the third and fourth sets. The current world No. 128 -- the only man to win back-to-back, live fifth matches in a Davis Cup final -- claimed a mere six points in the third set. The stoppage, then, benefited Stepanek. Daniel's fellow Japanese, 2014 U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori, defeated Simone Bolelli 6-1 7-5 6-3. Nishikori led by two sets Sunday when rain postponed proceedings. Photos: French Open Day 2Stan Wawrinka raises his arms in celebration after seeing off Lukas Rosol in five sets in the first round. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2Rosol, the man who upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012, led two sets to one. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2But Wawrinka eventually prevailed 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a clash with Japan's Taro Daniel. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2Andy Murray, the second seed in Wawrinka's half, trailed Radek Stepanek two sets to one when darkness halted play. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2Garbine Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist, rallied to defeat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6 6-3 6-3. Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2It was Schmiedlova's 12th consecutive main draw loss at the highest level. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist who has had a solid clay-court season, completed a 6-1 7-5 6-3 victory over Simone Bolelli. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: French Open Day 2Women's second-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost in the first round last year, had no trouble dispatching Bojana Jovanovski 6-0 6-2. Hide Caption 8 of 8Muguruza rallies With Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Dominika Cibulkova in the top half of the women's draw, opportunity knocks in the bottom half and 2015 Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza is hoping to prosper. The Spaniard went 7-3 on the clay prior to the French Open to gain momentum following a tough start to the season and she began her tournament by beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6 6-3 6-3. A breakthrough artist in 2015, Schmiedlova lost her 12th straight main draw match at the highest level. Muguruza faces a potential fourth-round tussle with 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who overturned a one-set deficit herself, finishing off Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 6-1 6-4 in a match also suspended by rain Sunday. Women's second-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, a year after being upset in the first round, eased past Bojana Jovanovski 6-0 6-2 on her least favorite surface while sixth-seed Simona Halep, the 2014 finalist, routed Japan's Nao Hibino 6-2 6-0. Will Wawrinka win another French Open title? Have your say on CNN's Sport Facebook pageJUST WATCHEDArantxa Sanchez remembers her finest moment on courtReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHArantxa Sanchez remembers her finest moment on court 05:49
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Moscow (CNN)Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reaction of the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to the Times report saying that Russia is engaging in a disinformation campaign to discredit the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine in an effort to promote its own vaccine Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Institute. "Commenting on the accusations against Russia is getting more and more circus-like," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters Friday. "Russia is not misinforming anyone, Russia proudly talks about its successes and Russia shares its successes regarding the first ever registered [coronavirus] vaccine in the world." The Times published a report on Friday outlining a supposed Russian disinformation campaign "designed to undermine and spread fear about the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine." The campaign involves spreading memes and videos suggesting the vaccine, manufactured by a pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is "a monkey vaccine" that could turn people into monkeys because it uses a chimpanzee virus as a vector, according to the newspaper."We know that Russia has got a track record in this area. Previously we've commented and called them out on it," Raab said in an interview with Sky News. "But anyone trying to basically sabotage the efforts of those trying to develop a vaccine I think are deeply reprehensible. It's unacceptable and unjustified in any circumstances." Read MoreThe Times said a "whistleblower" "involved in the campaign" passed on the images to the paper out of concern about potential damage to the public health efforts. The newspaper notes it is not clear whether the campaign was directly authorized by the Kremlin but added "there is evidence that some Russian officials were involved in its organisation and dissemination." US authorities investigating if recently published emails are tied to Russian disinformation effort targeting Biden"Misinformation is a clear risk to public health. This is especially true during the current pandemic which continues to claim tens of thousands of lives, significantly disrupt the way we live and damage the economy," Pascal Soriot, CEO at AstraZeneca, said in a statement. "I urge everyone to use reliable sources of information, to trust regulatory agencies and to remember the enormous benefit vaccines and medicines continue to bring to humanity."Disinformation is "reckless and contemptible behaviour that could lead to real damage to people's health", said a source in Whitehall, the area in central London where key UK ministries are based. "This sort of lie fundamentally harms all of us around the world and we need to be alert to identify and counter this kind of activity to support the provision of factual information for all people about Covid-19 and vaccines."When asked to comment on the article, the Kremlin spokesperson in turn accused the UK of spreading disinformation about the Russian vaccine suggesting it's a testament to the unfair competition in the vaccine race. "Russia already has documents of intention to sell or jointly produce this vaccine in a number of countries, and of course in these countries Russia is not shying away from informing [the public] about the advantages of our vaccine," Peskov said. "A number of [producers] who could be called competitions, they are the ones engaging in disinformation, the disinformation agents are sitting in the UK, among other places." According to the Times, the campaign was aimed at "countries such as India and Brazil where Russia was trying to market its own vaccine" as well as Western countries that are developing their own vaccines. To date, Russian sovereign wealth fund (or the RDIF), which sponsors the vaccine, said it reached deals to supply Sputnik V to India and Brazil, among others. RDIF said it condemns social media attacks against AstraZeneca vaccine. "We condemn the social media posts aimed to denigrate AstraZeneca vaccine described by The Times today. We believe any attempts to smear any vaccine are wrong including those against Gamaleya's Sputnik V vaccine," Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the RDIF, told CNN in a statement Friday. "All vaccines should, of course, be subject to the most rigorous scientific investigation." However, the "monkey vaccine" narrative has been voiced by Russian officials and the state media before. On September 9, following the news of a pause in AstraZeneca's global trials due to an unexplained illness, Dmitry Peskov said the British vaccine is less safe as it is a "monkey vaccine" while the Russian development is a "human vaccine" and believed to be "much more reliable" by the Russian scientists. JUST WATCHEDCNN anchor questions Russian CEO about vaccine transparencyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN anchor questions Russian CEO about vaccine transparency 07:39Crude images depicting monkeys with captions such as "Monkey vaccine is fine" and similar memes have appeared on Russian state media two days after AstraZeneca announced the pause. On September 10, Russian state-news agency RIA Novosti published an editorial piece titled "Why the West is losing the vaccine race: Russia has been exposed," which contained four caricatures on the monkey vaccine with English captions.AstraZeneca has since resumed the trials in the UK. In the US, the FDA is considering whether to allow AstraZeneca to restart its trial after a participant became ill. At issue is whether the illness was a fluke, or if it may have been related to the vaccine. The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which sponsors the development of Sputnik V, said in September the company is "delighted" to see that the AstraZeneca trials are moving forward but called the approach "unacceptable" due to "excessive reliance upon new unverified technologies," including the use of a monkey adenovirus vector or mRNA technology. In July, however, the RDIF announced that one of its portfolio companies, drug maker R-Pharm, reached a deal with AstraZeneca to produce the Oxford vaccine in Russia. The announcement came after warnings that Russia-linked actors are attempting to hack UK, US and Canada-based research centers in order to gather intelligence on the vaccine production. Russia denied any involvement. The head of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters at the time Moscow did not need to steal any secrets as it already had a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the potential British vaccine in Russia. "The transfer of the cell line and the adenovirus vector to Russia has been carried out; it is planned to produce the antigen here and produce the finished doses," R-Pharm said in a July statement. "At the same time, Russia will be one of the hubs for the production and supply of the vaccine to international markets."The race inside Russia's coronavirus vaccine laboratoryWhen asked Friday to comment whether AstraZeneca's pause in trials and technology threatens the deal with a Russian producer, Dmitriev said: "One of our portfolio companies is manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine. We believe that both human adenoviral vector approach that Sputnik V is using, and chimpanzee adenoviral vector approach used by AstraZeneca are both very promising approaches based on solid scientific basis." Gamaleya is using adenoviruses in their Covid-19 vaccines; this is the same approach used in the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. The adenovirus delivers genetic material for the spike protein that sits atop the virus that causes Covid-19, and that genetic material is designed to generate an immune response to the virus. Adenoviruses can cause a variety of symptoms, including the common cold. The researchers manipulate the virus so it will not replicate and cause illness.The Gamaleya vaccine is given in two doses, and each dose uses a different adenovirus vector. Russia registered its first coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in August after testing it on 76 volunteers and ahead of large-scale Phase 3 trials. The announcement came to much fanfare from Russian state media but drew widespread skepticism from the international community concerning its safety and the notion the approval could've been rushed by political goals. Sputnik V is now in its stage 3 trial which so far involved 13,000 people and seeking to enroll up to 40,000, according to Russian officials. AstraZeneca began large-scale phase 3 human clinical trials in August seeking to enroll up to 30,000. Such trials are the last step before a vaccine maker seeks approval from regulators. Another vaccine EpiVacCorona developed by a former biochemical weapons lab Vector, was registered in Russia this week before going through Phase 3 trials. The third potential Russian vaccine, from the Chumakov Institute, began Phase I trials last week.CNN's Simon Cullen contributed reporting
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Story highlightsFerrari drops idea of challenging the Brazilian Grand Prix resultItalian team had questioned whether Sebastian Vettel had illegally overtaken Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso"Ferrari duly takes note of the reply sent by the FIA and considers the matter now closed"Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo wants to "revamp our organization and our working methods"It's official: Sebastian Vettel is a three-time world champion after Ferrari dropped the idea of challenging the result of the Brazilian Grand Prix.The Italian team has written to the governing body the FIA requesting clarification as to whether Red Bull racer Vettel had illegally overtaken Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso during Sunday's race at Interlagos.If that had been the case, Vettel would have incurred a 20 seconds penalty, demoting the German driver to eighth place and ensuring Ferari's Fernando Alonso would have won the drivers' title by one point.Read: Victorious Vettel makes historyJUST WATCHEDCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day OneReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day One 01:14JUST WATCHEDCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day TwoReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day Two 01:02JUST WATCHEDCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day ThreeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day Three 01:09"The request for a clarification from the FIA, regarding Vettel's passing move on Vergne, came about through the need to shed light on the circumstances of the move, which came out on the Internet only a few days after the race," said a Ferrari statement on Friday."The letter to the FIA was in no way intended to undermine the legality of the race result. "We received tens of thousands of queries relating to this matter from all over the world and it was incumbent on us to take the matter further, asking the Federation to look into an incident that could have cast a shadow over the championship in the eyes of all Formula 1 enthusiasts, not just Ferrari fans. "Ferrari duly takes note of the reply sent by the FIA this morning and therefore considers the matter now closed."Read: Just how good is Sebastian VettelOn Sunday, Vettel recovered from a nightmare start to become the youngest ever triple Formula One champion as Jenson Button won the Brazilian Grand Prix.The 25-year-old German was hit on the fourth turn of the opening lap and suffered damage to the left side of his car which could not be fixed.But Vettel roared back through the field to finish sixth and deny title rival Alonso by three points.JUST WATCHEDCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day FourReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day Four 01:14JUST WATCHEDCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day FiveReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Greatest F1 Driver: Day Five 01:21Having decided against challenging the result of the race, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has turned his attention to "revamping" the Italian team ahead of the 2013 season."Now is the time to look ahead to next year," said Di Montezemolo. "I want us to start with a car that is immediately capable of fighting for the win and it has to be our first task."That was a reference to Red Bull's engineering dominance over the last three seasons thanks to the input of design guru Adrian Newey."In order to achieve that, each one of us must improve in our own roles by at least a millimetre," Di Montezemolo."We must revamp our organization and our working methods to try and be at the same level as the best, right from the first race, which for too many years now we have failed to do."
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Hacking ATM Machines is nothing new, but it seems that instead of relying on ATM skimmers now some smart hackers in Europe are reportedly targeting ATM Machines using Malware-loaded USB drives to steal money.
Most of the world's ATMs are running on Windows XP operating system, which is highly vulnerable to Malware attacks. Just like your Desktop Laptops, some ATMs also have USB sockets, which is hidden behind the ATM's fascia.
The German security researchers who discovered the hack detailed their findings at the Chaos Computing Congress in Hamburg, Germany recently. They said that the thieves cut holes in the fascia to access a USB port and then uploaded malware to the machines.
The malware creates a backdoor that can be accessed on the front panel. "These researchers explained that the malware allowed the thieves to create a unique interface on the ATMs by typing in a 12-digit code. This interface allowed for withdrawal and also showed the criminals the amount of money and each bill denomination inside the machines. This meant the thieves could save time by only taking the highest value bills." Dara Kerr from CNET news reported.
Once the thieves finished their theft at a cash machine, they would patch up the hole to allow the same exploit to be used on other machines. This indicates that the criminal crew is highly familiar with the ATMs mechanism.
The malware does not appear to harvest customer PINs or other sensitive data and now some banks have upgraded their ATMs to prevent them from booting from external USB drives.
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If you have ever registered an account with the official Magento marketplace to bought or sold any extension, plugin, or e-commerce website theme, you must change your password immediately.
Adobe—the company owning Magento e-commerce platform—today disclosed a new data breach incident that exposed account information of Magento marketplace users to an unknown group of hackers or individuals.
According to the company, the hacker exploited an undisclosed vulnerability in its marketplace website that allowed him to gain unauthorized third-party access to the database of registered users — both customers (buyers) as well as the developers (sellers).
The leaked database includes affected users' names, email addresses, MageID, billing and shipping address information, and some limited commercial information.
While Adobe didn't reveal or might don't know when the Magento marketplace was compromised, the company did confirm that its security team discovered the breach last week on November 21.
Image courtesy: Twitter user @Hxzeroone
Besides this, the company also assured that the hackers were not able to compromise Magento's core product and services, which suggests that themes and plugins hosted on the Marketplace were not accessed to add any backdoor or malicious code and are safe to download.
"On November 21, we became aware of a vulnerability related to Magento Marketplace. We temporarily took down the Magento Marketplace in order to address the issue. The Marketplace is back online. This issue did not affect the operation of any Magento core products or services," said Jason Woosley, VP of Commerce Product and Platform at Adobe.
While the company also didn't reveal the total number of affected users and developers, it has started notifying the affected customers via email.
Though Adobe hasn't explicitly mentioned that the account passwords were also leaked, users are still recommended to change it, and do the same for any other website where you are using the same password.
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(CNN)A former Bosnian Croat general has died after apparently swallowing poison as a judge at the Hague upheld his 20-year sentence for war crimes.Footage from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) showed 72-year-old Slobodan Praljak tilt his head back and drink from a small glass bottle as the presiding judge read out the verdict."Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. I am rejecting your verdict with contempt," Praljak shouted before swallowing the liquid.The judge was then heard immediately suspending proceedings and asking for the curtains to be drawn. An ambulance was at the building shortly and paramedics raced up to the courtroom, Reuters reported.The courtroom was being treated as a crime scene, an ICTY spokesperson told CNN.Read MoreCrotian Former General Slobodan Praljak drinking a small bottle of liquid during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague on November 29.Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, later confirmed the former general had died and offered his condolences. "On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and on my own behalf, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of General Slobodan Praljak," Plenkovic said, according to a tweet from an official government account. The nature of the substance ingested by Praljak was not immediately clear.Praljak, a former assistant defense minister of Croatia and commander of the Croatian Defense Council, was appealing a jail term of 20 years in prison.He was one of six former Bosnian Croat leaders found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the rape and murder of Bosnian Muslims, in 2013. Slobodan Praljak enters the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday. Praljak played an important role in securing weapons and ammunition for the Croatian Defense Council army, according to the original indictment.The offenses, which date to between 1992 and 1994, were part of a wider conflict that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.The appeal judges upheld the findings of an earlier trial that implicated the Croatian regime under then-President Franjo Tudjman in a criminal conspiracy with the goal of "ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population" of parts of Bosnia to ensure Croatian domination.The Bosnian Croat leadership, along with Croat leaders, wanted to make this territory part of a "Greater Croatia," the ICTY said when the case first went through the court.The six received sentences that ranged from 10 to 25 years. No further appeals are possible.CNN's Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.
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Back in July, a security researcher disclosed a zero-day vulnerability in Mac OS X that allowed attackers to obtain unrestricted root user privileges with the help of code that even fits in a tweet.
The same vulnerability has now been upgraded to again infect Mac OS X machines even after Apple fixed the issue last month.
The privilege-escalation bug was once used to circumvent security protections and gain full control of Mac computers. Thanks to the environment variable DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE Apple added to the code of OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
The vulnerability then allowed attackers to install malware and adware onto a target Mac, running OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), without requiring victims to enter system passwords.
However, the company fixed the critical issue in the Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan Beta builds as well as the latest stable version of Mac OS X – Version 10.10.5.
Mac Keychain Flaw
Now, security researchers from anti-malware firm MalwareBytes spotted the updated version of the same highly questionable malicious installer is now accessing user's Mac OS X keychain without user's permission.
Once executed, the updated installer throws an installer request that asks for permission to access the user's OS X keychain.
The installer automatically simulates a click on the "Allow" button as soon as it appears, which allows it to gain access to the Safari Extensions List, said MalwareBytes researcher Thomas Reed.
This allows the malicious installer to install a Genieo Safari extension. The entire process of installing a malicious extension and gain access to OS X keychain takes just a fraction of a second.
You're Totally Screwed Up
However, the more worrisome part is that the installer could easily be modified to grant attackers access to other data from the keychain alongside passwords for user's Gmail account, iCloud account, and other important accounts.
Meanwhile, two security researchers from Beirut independently reported the Mac Keychain vulnerability on Tuesday, the same day Malwarebytes researchers disclosed their findings involving Genieo.
The technique works on Mac systems only when invoked by an app already installed on user's systems.
The issue is critical because the Mac keychain is supposedly the protected place for storing account passwords and cryptographic keys.
Apple has yet to respond to this latest issue. Until then, Mac users are advised to follow the standard security practices, such as do not download files from unknown or untrusted sources, and be wary of emails or websites that seem suspicious.
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(CNN)The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed scaling back the requirements around storing and releasing waste from coal-fired power plants, despite also finding an increase in toxic leaks from waste pits. The proposals would relax Obama-era rules from 2015 about the disposal of toxic wastewater and coal ash from the power plants. Coal ash, a mix of fine powder and sludge that is a by-product of burning coal, is commonly stored in pits and landfills. The wastewater can contain dangerous metals such as mercury and arsenic.The proposals would reduce costs to plant operators at a time when the coal industry is struggling and the number of coal-fired power plants is declining. The Washington Post and The New York Times first reported the administration's planned announcements.Coal ash contaminating groundwater nationwide, groups sayThe stricter 2015 regulations are becoming more expensive for operators, the Trump administration said, because it was discovered that "more surface impoundments regardless of liner type are leaking" compared to the Obama administration's estimate four years ago.Ninety-two percent of coal ash ponds are leaking, according to Lisa Evans of the environmental law organization Earthjustice, which opposes the proposals. "So much more harm is occurring than the Obama EPA expected," Evans told CNN. Read MoreThe Trump administration estimated the changes would save power plant operators around $215 million every year. It also said its changes to wastewater rules would result in fewer toxic discharges by allowing new methods of compliance, such as filtration systems. It also allow plants to use a membrane filtration system to filter wastewater and then release it.The administration would allow operators to request extensions of deadlines in 2020 and give them an additional eight years to comply -- until December 2028. Environmental advocates raised concerns the rules would exempt certain plants from compliance. "These rules are supposed to safeguard our water from toxic pollution, but the laundry list of loopholes proposed by the Trump EPA threatens to completely undo the protections," said Thom Cmar, an attorney with Earthjustice.In a statement, Abel Russ of the Environmental Integrity Project said, "This administration will stop at nothing to save the coal industry a few bucks."The rule relaxation comes as companies in the coal industry claimed in court that the current rules were unaffordable and as the Trump administration has taken a "pro-coal" stance. This story has been updated with additional developments Monday.
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Story highlightsNyquist odds-on favorite at Kentucky DerbyNamed after Detroit Red Wings playerOwner J. Paul Reddam is a huge NHL fanExaggerator and Moyahmen are second-favorites (CNN)Picking championship racehorses is something J. Paul Reddam is exceptionally good at, but it's well known that hockey is his true lifeblood. So just how big a fan is he?Follow @cnnsport
Well, for starters, his horse Nyquist -- the 10-3 favorite to win Saturday's Kentucky Derby -- is named after a player on his favorite team, the Detroit Red Wings. The 60-year-old Reddam, who made his fortune launching two lending businesses, grew up in Windsor, Ontario, just across the border from Detroit where his mother, a team secretary, would bring home Red Wings tickets and apparel. Baby Nyquist!Tales from the Crib: https://t.co/vCiI2JgQSS pic.twitter.com/ZoQVrdO2DC— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 2, 2016
"That's how I really got hooked," Reddam tells CNN, adding that he caught 75 of the Red Wings' 82 games on TV this season. He even got to sip champagne from the Stanley Cup when Detroit won the title in 2002. Read More"That was almost as big a thrill as winning the Derby a few years ago," he says, referring to his 2012 Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another, who went on to take the Preakness, before pulling out of the Belmont Stakes a race shy of the Triple Crown. Reddam will be reunited with the hallowed Stanley Cup when it makes its way to Nyquist's stable on Saturday for some pre-Derby good karma. One person who won't be attending, however, is Gustav Nyquist himself. The right winger, who has yet to meet Reddam, was invited to the owner's box via text message, but had to pass after being called up to Sweden's world championship squad. Although Reddam is certainly a fan of the Swede -- "I really like him as a player. He's very classy and a very good stick handler" -- he confesses that the name came about as a way to annoy his friend Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erick Johnson, who vowed never to join the Red Wings. Best of luck to @TheNyquistHorse running @KentuckyDerby this weekend!— Gustav Nyquist (@GNyquist) May 2, 2016
Nevertheless, Johnson, who sometimes co-invests in Reddam's horses, wanted a piece of the action once Nyquist blossomed into a world class sprinter. His 7-0 record includes a convincing win over second-favorite Mohaymen."I said: 'Sorry buddy that's not happening,'" laughs Reddam, who, despite his PhD in philosophy, is a stickler for superstition. "Listen, you said you'd never sign with them, so you're not owning a horse with a Red Wing name." Another colt at Reddam Racing that is off-limits: Mrazek, named after the Red Wings' Czech goalie. Bringing business sense to the trackAfter starting out as a college professor, Reddam founded two highly lucrative businesses that delivered high interest loans, a practice which has landed his company CashCall in hot water."I'm not saying these loans are for everybody," Reddam told the New York Times in 2012. "You should think of what you're doing."There is no equivocation, however, when it comes to operating his racing stable: "It absolutely has to be a business otherwise your passion will die off and then you'll go broke."#KYDerby favorite Nyquist gets a bath after final work at @keeneland in prep for the Derby next Sat. @DougONeill1 pic.twitter.com/hnvP2PeyuU— Michael Reaves (@MichaelMReaves) April 29, 2016
Moreover, he says that earning riches off the racetrack can burden newcomers into thinking they know what they're doing, when in fact they don't. "Having knowledge in some other business, or revolutionizing some other business ... it doesn't follow that they are going to have success in this business," Reddam clarifies, adding that breeders in the Bluegrass state can give the impression that they can be easily bamboozled, though the opposite is often true. "People think they're going to come and take advantage of them, but they've got it completely backwards," he warns. "They think: 'I'm going to buy the best; that's how I'm going to beat everybody,' and within two years they're gone because they have lost a fortune." Spending big on horses is "a universal bust"Although his two favorite sports are wildly popular in his native Canada, horse racing is in no way similar to hockey from a business point of view, says Reddam. "If you bought a mainstream sports franchise -- generally speaking -- even if you are terrible at running it you'd have to make money, because the value of any team in the league would have greatly appreciated," he says, adding that the age-old practice of spending big on prospects does not translate well on the racetrack. "In horse racing that is almost universally going to be a bust ... it doesn't work that way at all."Instead, Reddam employs the services of "talent scouts" who tip him off to prospects they believe offer good value. Reddam will then "evaluate the evaluators" to make a decision. The process has been paying off in spades.Last year's $400,000 purchase of Nyquist has already reaped $2.3 million in prize money -- not counting his potential share of Saturday's $2 million purse. Nyquist says good morning. #kyderby16 pic.twitter.com/8LlNFLJlPo— Claire Novak (@BH_CNovak) May 5, 2016
The purchase was made via horse broker Dennis O'Neill, brother of Nyquist's trainer Doug O'Neill -- who also happens to have trained I'll Have Another.Back in 2012, Reddam took some heat for employing Doug O'Neill fresh off an announced suspension by California racing authorities for a drug violation. But ignoring the critics has arguably proved to be the right call. I'll Have Another was purchased for just $35,000 and ended his career with over $2.6 million in earnings before being sold to a stud farm. Related: Kentucky Derby -- The horses swinging for home runsLearning to deflect criticism and focus on the future, it turns out, is a discipline in line with Reddam's teachings as a former philosophy professor. "Philosophy is really about possibility," he says, "When you buy horses, you usually buy them before they ever run, so you're imagining what this horse could be."So from that sense it's been very helpful to have a (vision) of what you're hoping for long term when the horse is a baby." Photos: Meet theNyquist -- the 2016 Derby favorite -- is washed outside his barn during morning training at Churchill Downs.Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Meet theNyquist's owner J. Paul Reddam speaks in the foreground as Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another grazes behind him outside of barn two on June 8, 2012 in Elmont, New York. Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Meet theReddam (C) and jockey Mario Gutierrez celebrate after I'll Have Another's Kentucky Derby success in 2012.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Meet theGustav Nyquist of the Detroit Red Wings is the inspiration behind the horse of the same name. Nyquist's owner Reddam is a lifelong Red Wings fan. Although he has traded texts with the player, they have yet to meet in person.Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Meet theErik Johnson of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche is a close friend of Reddam's and has co-invested in horses with him. However, Nyquist -- named after a rival Detroit Red Wing -- is not one of them.Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Meet theNyquist #4, ridden by Gutierrez, leads Mohaymen #9, ridden by Junior Alvarado, out of turn four during the 2016 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park April 2, 2016 in Hallandale, Florida. Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Meet theThe Stanley Cup is hoisted by Patrick Kane during the Chicago Blackhawks parade in June, 2010. Nyquist's owner Reddam was given the honor of drinking out of the cup when his beloved Detroit Red Wings won the NHL title in 2002. The cup was reportedly making its way to Nyquist's stable before the Run For the Roses on May 7. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Meet theKentucky Derby's 14-karat gold trophy at Churchill Downs.Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Meet theSheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai, presents the owners of U.S. horse California Chrome with the Dubai World Cup trophy. Sheikh Hamdan is the owner of Mohaymen, one of the favorites in Kentucky. Hide Caption 9 of 9Despite all his rational, Reddam still leans on pure superstition when it comes to race day. For starters, if you happen to walk by him at Churchill Downs, never say 'I'll see you in the winner's circle.'" "That is the kiss of death," he says. "Whenever anyone's said that to me who is kind of new to the races, or coming as a visitor, or whatever (I think), 'Ooh, You just didn't say that to me did you?'" Wishing each other good luck, however, is fine -- even if it's fake. "Actually, in horse racing all the (competitors) wish each other good luck," he says. "And I would say 98% of the time that's completely insincere."They definitely want to beat you, and, they don't want your horse to get hurt, but they want you to have bad luck as far as the race goes."One thing that's legit: Reddam would relish the chance to drink out of the Stanley Cup again -- this time as part of the winning team, not simply a fan. He may, in fact, even have some company. "I don't know if there will be any pictures of Nyquist drinking out of it or not," he ponders.Read: Dubai World Cup -- California Chrome lands world's richest horse raceJUST WATCHEDHow do you make the 'Drink of the Kentucky Derby'?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow do you make the 'Drink of the Kentucky Derby'? 01:57
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Malcolm Reiman is a retired New York City Police Department detective, who served over 31 years on the force, with 21 of those years working in the Bronx Homicide Squad. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. (CNN)Being a New York City Police Department detective has been the greatest job in the world. It's why I gave more than 31 years of my life to it. I spent that time identifying and apprehending murderers. And what greater calling can there be than giving justice to the dead and comfort to the loved ones left behind? Of course, I only did this working side by side with my courageous partners, squad members and bosses in the NYPD. However, this kind of service comes at a cost. Cops see unspeakable horrors -- the worst things that human beings can do to each other-- and yet must strive to lead semi-normal lives. Malcolm ReimanNow, following a recent wave of suicides that have claimed the lives of three members of the city's police department, many are left wondering -- why is this happening? And what can we do to prevent future tragedies?To understand the struggle of these men, it's worth giving you some background on what it really means to be a New York City detective. For the average person, an upsetting day involves coming out of work to discover a scratch on your fender. For a cop, it's seeing a beautiful seven-month-old baby boy who has been beaten to death by his mother's new boyfriend. Read MoreYou may be able to forget the scratch on your car, but the cop will never forget the scene of that crime. And he or she will see many more variations of that nightmarish scene over the course of a career.But the violence isn't always limited to civilians. Over the course of three decades, two of my partners were shot; two of my sergeants were shot; and many others I served with were shot, badly injured -- and sometimes killed. This is the reality of being a police officer. The danger is constant and unforgiving. The strain can be as well.Doctor: Suicide prevention: here's how you can helpCops may subsequently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder -- much like our military personnel who serve overseas in combat zones. But unlike the military, where there is increasing awareness (though there is still much work to do) on the issue, there is little recognition of the violence that police officers see and process each day. And, according to a recent Department of Justice article, approximately 15% of American police officers experience PTSD. However, cops, to put it simply, are expected to be the tough guys. Whether there are gang members shooting up the street or an emotionally disturbed naked man is waving a meat clever, cops are expected to run toward the danger. That's our job. It's what the public expects from us -- and it's what we expect from each other. We are the ones who are expected to be cool and calm when the world is coming apart. But when we are always expected to show our strength, how and when can we let our guard down and ask for help? Of course, the police department itself does a lot, with members at the highest levels reaching out to help. The department focuses on suicide awareness during its semi-annual training. And posters are prominently displayed at police precincts across the city, listing the counseling services that are available. Talking and sharing are key to suicide preventionThe unions do their best, too. The Detectives Endowment Association, of which I am a member, treats its people like family. The board and delegates are always there for its members, day and night. There are organizations, peer groups and phone lines to contact. Organizations like Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance provide 24-hour a day support that is confidential and free.And yet we continue to fall.Having a loaded pistol on your hip all the time makes a suicide so much easier to carry out. It makes it easier to act on an impulse. If a cop is found to be a danger to him or herself, the department will remove that officer's firearms for safekeeping. The department is known to err on the side of caution in these matters, and the reason is understandable. What supervisors would want to live with the fact that they had the opportunity to prevent a tragic suicide and failed to do so. That said, for the department to remove a firearm, it has to be aware of a problem. And there is an uncomfortable stigma surrounding being "rubber gunned" or "placed in the rubber gun squad" -- police slang for having your gun removed. But there should be no shame in being in pain. So, if we want to start to address this issue, let's start by removing this stigma. Seth Moulton: Nobody should fear talking about mental health challenges in AmericaOf course, doing so will take time. A doctor who works with abused children recently told me that for people who work in high-stress environments and are exposed to daily horrors, suicide is a job hazard -- not a deficiency in the employee. And I agree. These New York cops were not deficient in any sense of the definition. They were great cops -- and I can personally attest to this, having known two of the men who died as heroes. One of them saved my life 30 years ago, when a man brandishing a large knife attempted to stab me. I was on uniformed patrol in the Bronx and was in a struggle, seeking to arrest a man wanted for a robbery. A member of the robber's family tried to prevent the arrest by attempting to stab me in the back. Before he was able to do so, the sergeant at the time stopped him. I wished I could have returned the favor a few days ago.Sadly, the years of exposure to violence, stress, danger and death can kill our police just as surely as a criminal's bullet or knife. Life's usual problems can be magnified by the pressures of daily police work.We always support each other if we notice a problem. But we have to notice it. Since we view cops as family, sometimes we need to make more of an effort to notice. We do that by posting messages for each other on social media that say, "Talk to me." And, day to day, we can push just a little harder to ask if someone is alright.Stay up to date...Sign up for our new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and FacebookWe also need to concentrate on the subtle -- the look in the eye, the change in demeanor. And we need to listen to ideas and information from outside the department as well. Mental health professionals, clergy and anyone else who can bring something to the table. If one small idea saves a life, then it was immense in its power. In short, we need to renew our efforts from within and from without.I am not a policy maker. But I am a retired homicide detective who has been around the block a couple of times. I would respectfully say that if there are cops in your life, check in on them once in a while. Those cops signed up for this job, and we should all be thankful they did. They looked out for us. We need to do the same for them. As for the cops, I say, hang in there my brothers and sisters. There are better days ahead. You're too tough to let go now. Reach out and talk to someone -- a friend, a partner, a voice on a helpline. The criminals haven't killed you. Don't let this sadness kill you either. We are blessed to have you in our lives. Please don't go away.
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Las Vegas (CNN)A quarter-century of surgical experience couldn't steel Dr. Michael Seiff for what he encountered entering Sunrise Hospital's emergency room Sunday night. "Blood everywhere. Blood all over the floor. The stench of blood and bodies whisking by in either direction on stretchers," he recalled. "Just a mind-boggling sight that you're not expecting and not prepared for."Sunrise was one of the closest hospitals to Las Vegas Village, where 22,000 people had gathered for a country music festival, only to scatter in panic after a gunman perched 32 floors above them began raining automatic gunfire onto the crowd. Within minutes, nearly 500 people were wounded. Soon after that, an impromptu fleet of ambulances, private vehicles, taxis, Ubers and Lyfts began scooping them up from the festival site on the Strip and rushing them to nearby hospitals, where besieged emergency rooms became the front lines in a battle to save lives. JUST WATCHEDMan risks life ushering injured to safety ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMan risks life ushering injured to safety 03:27About 200 of the injured went to Sunrise, most of them with gunshot or shrapnel wounds. Read More"It was organized chaos," said Seiff, 55, who has worked at Sunrise since 2001. As chief of neurosurgery, he had seen all the injuries in the past and smelled the "pungent, metallic" odor of blood.But nothing like this. Not on this scale."Everything I saw on Sunday night I've seen before, just not at one time," he said. Injured people filled the waiting room and hallways. Nurses and doctors frantically scurried to triage patients so the most desperate could be treated first. Nineteen patients -- all head and spine injuries -- came to Seiff. He and Drs. John Anson, Keith Blum and Gene Khavkin handled 10 head-shot victims and nine spinal injuries. Fifteen of them made it, though one patient will be a quadriplegic, two others paraplegic. "That's a devastating thing to have to tell somebody," Seiff said. A body lies under a sheet as fire and rescue personnel respond to Sunday's shooting in Las Vegas.A bullet had passed through both of one patient's shoulders. She couldn't move her legs. The neurosurgeons quickly had to make room for her spine to swell. A woman in her 20s had been shot through the eye. The base of her skull was smashed. Another young woman had a bullet wound to her jaw. Briefly, Seiff pondered the women's disfigurement but pushed the thought away. "That wasn't the time to think about those kinds of things," he said. "Emotion wells up, and you realize you could start crying, but you force it back down. It's not the time."Code red = patient near deathAcross the city that night, the phones of hundreds of Las Vegas medical professionals began buzzing and dinging. Doctors, nurses and other hospital staff -- some of whom had just left work -- were alerted to a "mass casualty event."Most had gotten similar texts before -- after bad car wrecks. Dr. Scott Scherr, 43, medical director for Sunrise's emergency department, had just climbed into bed to go to sleep when he received some 20 texts and five phone calls in just a few minutes. That was unprecedented, much like what he was about to see.He returned to the hospital to find patients pouring out of ambulances, taxis and private vehicles. Friends dragged listless bodies into the emergency room. Hospital personnel waved badges from their car windows as security guards tried to direct them through the mayhem.JUST WATCHEDTrauma surgeon: Victims 'kept coming in'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTrauma surgeon: Victims 'kept coming in' 02:59Within about 90 minutes, the 45-bed emergency department was at more than quadruple its capacity. The chaos overflowed into the pediatric and post-anesthesia units, as doctors and nurses color-coded patients in the hallways and waiting room. In memoriam: remembering the Las Vegas shooting victimsRed meant dying. Those patients were sent to trauma bays or operating rooms. Yellow meant life-threatening injuries but the patient had an hour or so to live. They could wait. Green was for walking wounded. One Sunrise doctor who served in Iraq and Afghanistan told Scherr it was like "something you would see in a war zone."Nurse practitioners and physician assistants kept reevaluating the patients constantly to make sure yellows didn't become reds. Meanwhile orthopedic doctors were treating gunshot wounds and pediatric doctors were operating on adults. On a normal evening at Sunrise, there are eight people staffing the emergency room. On Sunday night, Scherr said, that swelled to 200."We deal with blood a lot, but we don't deal with this magnitude of blood loss all at once," said Scherr. In a busy week, he said, his emergency room might typically see 6-7 shooting victims. When he left the hospital after 20 hours treating people, Sunrise had administered 300 units of blood, he said -- almost 20 gallons. 'There's not a time for me to feel'A few miles away, the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada's Level 1 trauma center -- the only one in the state -- had surged from a norm of 12 to 20 staffers to about 200, spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. These hospitals received the most patients after nearly 500 people were wounded in Sunday's mass shooting.More than 100 patients came through its doors. Dr. John Fildes, the hospital's medical director, told CNN it was the largest wave of mass casualties they had ever seen."The alarming thing was watching the front door open, and it never stopped. And gurneys just kept coming in," he said. "Trucks would pull up, people would be brought in by friends."Like so many doctors, Dr. Paul Chestovich, 39, a trauma surgeon whose specialty is major bleeding, was at home when he got the alert. His anxiety soared as he raced to the hospital, and his adrenaline spiked when he saw the bodies and blood. "You take that nervousness and you translate it into energy of action," he said. Dr. Paul Chestovich: "I had to decide what's going to kill people first and fix that." Complicating matters was that the trauma resuscitation unit already had nine patients, including a burn victim and a pedestrian who'd been hit by a car, said clinical nurse supervisor Brad Skilling. The unit was two-thirds full, and yet 39 critically injured patients were about to be wheeled in. Because the shooter had used high-velocity rounds, Chestovich's skill set was in demand. These types of bullets, he said, carry an enormous amount of energy, which is "transmitted to whatever stops the projectile," he said. Chestovich focused on stopping bleeding, along with the "ABCDE" of trauma care: airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure. "I had to decide what's going to kill people first and fix that," the surgeon said.Skilling and his counterpart, Toni Mullan, were also called in to help with the response. Mullan had just finished a 12-hour shift and was in the bath when she got the call. She had to stave off her emotions upon seeing the carnage."To say 'chaos' isn't telling you how the scene was," she said. "There's not a time for me to feel. ... You need to figure out what was going to work."Nurse supervisors Toni Mullan & Brad Skilling were air traffic controllers after #LasVegasShooting. Chaos is an understatement, Mullan says. pic.twitter.com/qN2tdWL8fy— Eliott C. McLaughlin (@EliottCNN) October 6, 2017
Triage began outside, between the police barricades and the ER's front door, as a nurse and a doctor directed patients -- limping, in wheelchairs, on gurneys -- to treatment. Skilling and Mullan orchestrated blood, blankets, medicine, CT scans, nurses, lab techs, respiratory therapists -- you name it -- to make sure patients received what they needed. "My job is to figure out how to calm the storm and how to direct it," said Skilling, who has worked in trauma since 1993. "I did look around. I took a deep breath. I guess I've been doing it so long I don't get real fazed by it. Back in the day, I did."Five victims in one pickup truckIf a dozen Las Vegas area hospitals -- Sunrise and UMC chief among them -- hadn't been ready to treat the hundreds of injured, it's possible that far more than 58 people could have died. But those doctors and physicians aren't the only heroes. Civilians played a crucial role in ferrying the injured to help. According to witnesses, while some frightened concertgoers refused to stop as they escaped the scene in vehicles, others lined up along the shoulder to take victims to hospitals. Lindsay Padgett, 29, and fiancée Mark Jay, 37, were among the lucky people to make it out unharmed. They were exiting a parking lot, gaping as shell-shocked pedestrians meandered through the crowd and people ran by with bodies in wheelbarrows and on police barricades repurposed as gurneys. A man ran up to their passenger-side window and said, "Right now, we need your truck. We just need to get people over to the hospital, OK?"Lindsay Padgett and fiancée Mark Jay drove five victims to the hospital. They piled five victims -- one of them a young man with a faint heartbeat, his limp body slumped over another man's shoulder -- into Padgett's white pickup, along with seven of their friends. "That is just something that you do," Padgett said. "You take people to the hospital. You put them in the car."They were able to get three of the victims to paramedics. They took a fourth, a Canadian woman who had been shot in the leg, to Valley Hospital Medical Center. The young man with the faint heartbeat didn't make it. In a Facebook Live video she shot outside the hospital, Padgett said, "We've got to go back and get more people. Some guy just died in the back of my truck." She exhaled and wiped tears from her eyes. 'There was a lot of selflessness that night'Also in the crowd that night were Las Vegas paramedic and firefighter Ben Kole, Clark County fireman Jesse Gomez and Henderson fireman Anthony Robone. They're among the many first responders who spent their days off at the music festival. Twelve firefighters were shot at the concert, two while performing CPR, said Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285 President Eric Littmann. When the bullets began coming down, Robone, 25, covered his girlfriend and told her everything was fine, even though he was not sure that was true. Then he heard his brother, Nick, say, "I got hit," and saw him spit up blood. Fireman Anthony Robone's brother was shot in chest in #LasVegasShooting. He sent him to hospital with friend while he helped triage victims. pic.twitter.com/pq9qQsYWSC— Eliott C. McLaughlin (@EliottCNN) October 3, 2017
Robone and a friend got his brother into a Sunrise-bound ambulance and then "started trying to treat patients as best we could in the street."Robone saw people taking off belts to make tourniquets, strangers applying pressure to victims' wounds and a person who was shot in the arm get out of an ambulance to make room for someone more critically injured. "There was a lot of selflessness that night," he said. Gomez, 45, got his family to safety, then told his wife, Debbie, to go home without him. "She begged me not to go. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, but she knew I had to go," he said, adding that his wife ended up taking one of the victims to Spring Valley Hospital. Gomez also struggled with telling people staying behind with deceased friends and kin that they had to evacuate and leave their loved ones behind. JUST WATCHEDMan stole truck to drive victims to hospitalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMan stole truck to drive victims to hospital 02:25For Kole, 50, it was especially agonizing to have to tell those near death that he couldn't do anything for them. "You have to tell them, 'I'm sorry. I have to help somebody else,'" he said. "You don't want to give them false hope, and you want to give those that are serviceable a chance."He and his daughter, Rachel, an EMT who had been assigned to the concert, worked in tandem, triaging the injured. Kole estimates that between them they had to deliver that devastating news to a half dozen victims. But they also were able to treat about 50 people, he said.Rachel Kole is 20 and has been an EMT only since May. Amid all the agony, she also saw plenty of altruism. One victim who'd been shot in the arm told her, "You can move on. There are other people who need you more." Ben Kole and his daughter Rachel, both EMTs, were at Sunday's concert.'I'm emotionally blunted'Now, the healers must heal. If their long stares, clasped fingers, quavering voices and exhausted sighs are indications, it could be a long process. Scherr, the emergency room director, said he broke down after leaving the hospital. He watched news footage of concertgoers fleeing the gunshots and "I could just imagine the fear of those people," he said. He wept again later, but for a different reason: He realized, "Our team did a fantastic job and we saved a lot of lives."Seiff, the neurosurgeon, hadn't cried as of Thursday. But he came close when, at his 17-year-old daughter's behest, he wrote his first Facebook post in more than a year to let everyone know he was all right. "Friends'll say I'm emotionally blunted," he told CNN. "I don't know. It could be something innate that allows me to do what I do."JUST WATCHEDNew video shows concertgoers fleeing sceneReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNew video shows concertgoers fleeing scene 02:57In the last few days, Seiff has gotten some welcome news. He visited at least six of his patients Wednesday and they were stable. The woman who couldn't move her legs Sunday night moved them Tuesday. The woman shot through the eye may go home this weekend. A brief smile illuminated his weary face as he walked to his car following an interview at a local bagel shop.Padgett and Jay, who evacuated five victims, are still trying to process what they witnessed. Each day, it seems, they remember something new about the attack. "It's like a nightmare, like it's not real," Padgett said as Jay drove her truck, still streaked with blood, to a local car wash that was offering free detailing to people who had helped victims. There, the sound of water from the power washers hitting the hood of the truck made Padgett visibly shudder.Padgett and Jay went to a car wash to scrub blood from her pickup truck."It just triggers something and makes you think about it," she said. "I can't explain it." Ben Kole and his daughter, meanwhile, have already been to a therapy session together. Kole wasn't sure counseling was for him, but he wanted to make sure Rachel healed, he said.At their first session, a counselor told him something that resonated: If he and his daughter chose to live in fear, then the shooter had claimed two more victims. Before they began treating victims on Sunday, the pair frantically searched for each other amid the bedlam of the festival grounds. After it was all over, they came together and wept.And like many people who pitched in that night, they are still grappling with the horrors they witnessed. "You wake up the next morning and go, 'Wow, I'm still here," said Rachel Kole, a pre-med student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "And you sit on the couch, and you almost don't know what to do -- how to continue."But Rachel told CNN her dad's courage in the face of danger is inspiring her. "To see him in action encouraged me to do my best and one day be able to perform as well as he does." CNN's Ben Tinker contributed to this story.
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A U.S. Grand jury indicted and accused 13 members of the hacking group Anonymous for allegedly participating in the cyber attacks against a number of websites as an anti-copyright campaign called "Operation Payback"
Hackers took down the sites by inflicting a denial of service, or DDoS, attack, including those belonging to the Recording Industry Association of America, Visa and MasterCard.
The attacks were in retaliation for the shutdown of "The Pirate Bay," a Sweden-based file-sharing website used to illegally download copyrighted material.
The DDoS Campaign was later extended to Bank of America and credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard after they refused to process payments for WikiLeaks.
According to the indictment, the suspects are charged with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to protected computers. Suspects downloaded and used software known as Low Orbit Ion Cannon, or LOIC, to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks, that flooded web servers with traffic and rendered sites unavailable for legitimate users.
Those charged ranged in age from 21 to 65 and lived in 13 different U.S. States, named in the indictment were Dennis Owen Collins, Jeremy Leroy Heller, Chen Zhiwei, Joshua Phy, Ryan Russel Gubele, Robert Audubon Whitfield, Anthony Tadros, Geoffrey Kenneth Commander, Austen Stamm, Timothy Robert McLain, Wade Carl Williams and Thomas Bell.
The court papers say that the hackers conspired to coordinate DDoS attacks in Internet Chat Relay (IRC) channels. The group caused an estimated $5,000 in damages and affected at least 10 protected computers.
"We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us,"
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Story highlightsFootage of camerawoman Petra Laszlo tripping refugees went viral, triggering outrage on social mediaHungary has announced it will detain all asylum seekers while their applications are being processedHungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban swore in "border hunters" in Budapest on ThursdayLondon (CNN)A Hungarian camerawoman who sparked global outrage after she was filmed kicking and tripping refugees has been sentenced to three years' probation, according to Szeged District Court.Petra Laszlo was caught on camera kicking a young girl and tripping a man running with a child in his arms. Both were fleeing from police at a holding camp near the town of Roszke, on the Hungary-Serbia border, in September 2015 after about 400 migrants broke through a police line.Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo is seen kicking a child at a camp near Roszke, Hungary.Video of the incident showed Laszlo sticking out her foot as Osama Abdul Mohsen, a Syrian refugee who was holding his seven-year-old son Zaid, darted past police. The footage, which went viral after it was shared by RTL Television reporter Stephan Richter, has been retweeted over 2,400 times. Read MoreLage in #Roeszke #Hungary weiter schlimm - Polizei überfordert - Flüchtlinge durchbrechen Polizeikette - Verletzte! pic.twitter.com/GlMGqGwABb— Stephan Richter (@RichterSteph) September 8, 2015
"The video has caused indignation and disbelief all over the world," Richter told CNN Friday. "To all appearances, the Court of Szeged is similar in its decision."Shortly after the incident, Laszlo was fired by her employer, the Hungarian nationalist N1TV station, and apologized for her actions. But in an interview with CNN in 2015, Mohsen said he did not buy Lazlo's excuses: "I tell her, be sure you Hungarian journalist that karma will get back to you, and God will not leave this be." Syrian refugee warned Lazlo of karma Mohsen said that the stampede was spurred by desperate conditions at the temporary camp where thousands of people -- mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -- had gathered on their way to Western Europe.Mohsen told CNN he only spent one night in the camp, sleeping on the ground, but that others had lived in cramped conditions for weeks."This caused anxiety and weariness to many migrants," Mohsen said. "The indifference of the Hungarian authorities triggered the situation, causing the migrants to storm the police defenses and walk their way to the nearby village, around three to five kilometers away."It was during this melee that Laszlo was seen kicking and tripping fleeing migrants.Osama Abdul Mohsen and his son Zaid eventually moved to Spain, where Mohsen was offered a job.A few days after the ordeal, Laszlo apologized for her actions in a letter published by the daily Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet. In it, she said she was frightened when the migrants burst through the police cordon, and feared she would be attacked."I am very sorry for the incident, and as a mother I am especially sorry for the fact that fate pushed a child in my way. I did not see that at that moment. I started to panic and as I re-watch the film, it seems as it was not even me," her letter states.Mohsen, who was a soccer coach at a sports club in Deir Ezzor before leaving Syria, was offered a job at a football academy near Madrid, Spain, after the dramatic video of the incident went viral. And his son Zaid was chosen as a mascot for Real Madrid, walking out on to the field at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium holding soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo's hand.Zaid Mohsen was chosen as a mascot for soccer team Real Madrid.In a later interview with the Guardian, Mohsen said that he has since forgiven Laszlo. Her actions, he said, gave his family a future while costing her family their own.Hungary cracking down on refugeesHungary has been heavily criticized for its tough immigration measures since shuttering its border last September and installing a razor-wire fence.On the same day of Laszlo's sentencing, the Hungarian government introduced more measures to crack down on the tide of refugees, announcing that asylum seekers will be held in police custody while their application is being processed. "No one may freely move in the territory of Hungary until the assessment of the asylum application submitted," Janos Lazar, the minister heading the Hungarian Prime Minister's Office, said.Hungarian PM Viktor Orban
during the country's referendum on EU migrant quotas.Hungary is recruiting thousands of so-called "border hunters" to patrol the frontier with the police and army.During a ceremony in Budapest Thursday, Orban swore in police officers who had taken part in the first phase of border guard training. Orban said Hungary was one of the safest countries in the European Union, but that it must not expect help from Brussels, insisting "we ourselves must organize our own defense."The nationalist PM championed a campaign to reject EU migrant quotas in a controversial referendum last year; Orban hailed the vote a victory, despite a low turnout that rendered its result invalid.CNN's Milena Veselinovic and Mustafa Al-Arab contributed to this report.
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Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor known as Sandworm has been linked to a three-year-long stealthy operation to hack targets by exploiting an IT monitoring tool called Centreon.
The intrusion campaign — which breached "several French entities" — is said to have started in late 2017 and lasted until 2020, with the attacks particularly impacting web-hosting providers, said the French information security agency ANSSI in an advisory.
"On compromised systems, ANSSI discovered the presence of a backdoor in the form of a webshell dropped on several Centreon servers exposed to the internet," the agency said on Monday. "This backdoor was identified as being the PAS webshell, version number 3.1.4. On the same servers, ANSSI found another backdoor identical to one described by ESET and named Exaramel."
The Russian hacker group (also called APT28, TeleBots, Voodoo Bear, or Iron Viking) is said to be behind some of the most devastating cyberattacks in past years, including that of Ukraine's power grid in 2016, the NotPetya ransomware outbreak of 2017, and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018.
While the initial attack vector seems unknown as yet, the compromise of victim networks was tied to Centreon, an application, and network monitoring software developed by a French company of the same name.
Centreon, founded in 2005, counts Airbus, Air Caraïbes, ArcelorMittal, BT, Luxottica, Kuehne + Nagel, Ministère de la Justice français, New Zealand Police, PWC Russia, Salomon, Sanofi, and Sephora among its customers. It's not clear how many or which organizations were breached via the software hack.
Compromised servers ran the CENTOS operating system (version 2.5.2), ANSSI said, adding it found on the two different kinds of malware — one publicly available webshell called PAS, and another known as Exaramel, which has been used by Sandworm in previous attacks since 2018.
The web shell comes equipped with features to handle file operations, search the file system, interact with SQL databases, carry out brute-force password attacks against SSH, FTP, POP3, and MySQL, create a reverse shell, and run arbitrary PHP commands.
Exaramel, on the other hand, functions as a remote administration tool capable of shell command execution and copying files to and fro between an attacker-controlled server and the infected system. It also communicates using HTTPS with its command-and-control (C2) server in order to retrieve a list of commands to run.
In addition, ANSSI's investigation revealed the use of common VPN services in order to connect to web shells, with overlaps in C2 infrastructure connecting the operation to Sandworm.
"The intrusion set Sandworm is known to lead consequent intrusion campaigns before focusing on specific targets that fits its strategic interests within the victims pool," the researchers detailed. "The campaign observed by ANSSI fits this behaviour."
In light of the SolarWinds supply-chain attack, it should come as no surprise that monitoring systems such as Centreon have become a lucrative target for bad actors to gain a foothold and laterally move across victim environments. But unlike the former's supply chain compromise, the newly disclosed attacks differ in that they appear to have been carried out by leveraging internet-facing servers running Centreon's software inside the victims' networks.
"It is therefore recommended to update applications as soon as vulnerabilities are public and corrective patches are issued," ANSSI warned. "It is recommended either not to expose these tools' web interfaces to [the] Internet or to restrict such access using non-applicative authentication."
In October 2020, the U.S. government formally charged six Russian military officers for their participation in destructive malware attacks orchestrated by this group, in addition to linking the Sandworm actor to Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency part of the Russian Army.
UPDATE
French software company Centreon on Tuesday issued a clarification following the publication of ANSSI's report, stating none of its customers were affected in the hacking campaign that was found to strike business entities running its network monitoring software.
"The campaign described by ANSSI exclusively concerns obsolete versions of Centreon's open source software," which it said is no longer being actively supported for five years, adding "only about fifteen entities were the target of this campaign.
ANSSI, in its analysis, had said the attacks specifically targeted web-hosting companies.
Besides urging users of its outdated software to update to the latest version, Centreon also made it a point to stress that the campaign is not a supply chain type attack and that "no parallel with other attacks of this type can be made in this case."
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Anonymous user asked a question on Quora that, How and Why Google is showing p*rn results in when one type equation -4^(1/4) into Google search query ? This is really a very strange bug on Google.
Just after that Jeremy Hoffman, Google software engineer replied him, "Hi, I'm a Google search engineer. Anon User and Anon User did some excellent analysis. As a web search query, [-4^(1/4)] is interpreted like [-4 "1 4"], as in "Find me pages which contain a 1 next to a 4, but which do not contain a 4." This should return zero results, because it is impossible to satisfy both requirements."
The bug was apparently uncovered via when user tried to use Google for solving mathematical equations, but the search engine misinterpret his queries. Because it was a combination of impossible questions Google brings back p*rn sites results, any Logic ?
Some similar example Queries are:
-s "s 2″
-3 "1 3″
-title "title 4″
-4 "1 4″
How -s "s 2″ a impossible query ? According to Google advance search options,when one is asking for -s "s 2″, it means you're asking Google to find pages that have the letter S on them but which don't have the letter S in a phrase like "s 2." It should be impossible to find a match for this.
Even my Safe Results option is enables in search preference, I still can see these p*rn results as shown above:
"However, we have uncovered a bug that causes some web pages to "match" these contradictory queries. Since these are the only results that "match" the query, they are the results that get shown. We are working on a bug fix." Jeremy also said.
As always Google said, A team of highly trained monkeys has been dispatched to deal with this situation.
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Story highlightsManchester United on course for Champions League group stage returnUnited beat Belgium's Club Brugge 3-1 at Old Trafford in first legMemphis Depay scores two goals in victory (CNN)Manchester United star Memphis Depay's match-winning performance against Club Brugge Tuesday prompted quite the reaction from manager Louis van Gaal.Follow @cnnsport
"I want to kiss him tonight," said the Dutchman, after two goals and an assist from Memphis turned United's Champions League playoff against Club Brugge on its head, following a Michael Carrick own goal that gifted the Belgian visitors an early lead. "I'm very happy for him because a player needs that," added United's manager as he reflected on Memphis' first goals for United."Hopefully he shall continue to score. I have confidence in him. He showed what he can do tonight. He scored two goals and got the assist for the other."Van Gaal was even happier that Memphis believed he could have done more in the game.Read More"When you score two goals and the assist also, normally in the world you are the hero," said Van Gaal. "For a trainer-coach, it's different. He's never satisfied. I like that. "You have to know what you are doing and also what you can do and then your desire to improve is higher. And that's Memphis."Two fine individual efforts -- the first including a flick of the ball over a defender's head -- were rounded off when the 21-year-old turned provider in the final seconds, sending a ball into the box that Marouane Fellaini headed home to give United a two-goal cushion for next Wednesday's second leg.Louis van Gaal hails the performance of @Memphis: "I want to kiss him tonight!" #mufc pic.twitter.com/etKHwa6Dkb— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 18, 2015
Memphis might have netted a hat-trick, but in the opening 45 minutes he selflessly chose to pass instead of shoot, and in the second half he blazed a shot over the crossbar after being set up by Wayne Rooney's deft back-heel. "I'm happy that I scored -- and of course I'm happy that we won," said the $34 million signing. "But I must admit I'm a bit disappointed because I could have scored the last two chances and got a hat-trick."I will think about that tonight and forget about it tomorrow."Van Gaal had appeared uncharacteristically tense in the run-up to his side's playoff with their Belgian opponents.The outspoken Dutchman, a Champions League winning coach with Ajax in 1995 and runner-up with Bayern Munich in 2010, bristled at questions regarding tactics, team selection and the form of his players when speaking with reporters Monday."The pressure is high," he said, revealingly, when asked about his pre-match emotions. After watching his side battle to a hard-fought 3-1 victory at Old Trafford Tuesday, however, the 64-year-old coach can breathe easier for the time being. Memphis Depay equalizes for Manchester United against Club Brugges in the Champions League playoffs.Van Gaal had even gone as far as to suggest the two-legged tie would constitute the biggest games since he replaced David Moyes at the helm of the Old Trafford club last year.Speaking at the end of Tuesday's entertaining first-leg, he seemed content with the win, yet was keen to stress that the tie was nowhere near over. "Because of that last goal (we can be) more confident," said United's Dutch manager."(Fellaini's goal) makes a difference because 2-1 is a very difficult result. We deserved much more because we created a lot of chances." Brugge strike firstAlthough on paper one of the easier teams United could have faced when the playoff draw was made two weeks ago -- the others being CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Monaco and Rapid Vienna -- the Blaue-Zwart proved stubborn opposition throughout. It even had the temerity to strike first.Victor Vazquez's eighth-minute free-kick from the angle deflected off the shin of United midfielder Michael Carrick, deceiving goalkeeper Sergio Romero to trickle into the home side's net.The home crowd was stunned while Brugge's voluble traveling support could hardly believe its luck. Yet it was a lead that would last only four minutes. Depay controlled Carrick's cross field pass with his chest deep in Brugge territory before dancing past three defenders and placing the ball beyond Sebastien Bruzzese. At this stage it looked like a goal-fest could be on the cards. But there were to be few more goalmouth incidents until just before half-time when Depay picked up Daley Blind's pass on the right hand corner of the Brugge box. The 21-year-old summer signing from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven took a touch, shifted it on to his right foot and curled a precise strike around the despairing Bruzzese for his second goal of the night.Great win and a very important goal by @Fellaini! We put ourselves into a good position for the second leg! #UCL #mufc— Basti Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) August 18, 2015
Brugge was pipped to the Belgian title by Gent last season, but it's players would seldom have encountered a customer as tricky Depay on domestic duty.The Dutchman was repeatedly allowed to cut inside from the left onto his stronger right foot with the Belgian club's defenders seemingly at a loss at how to stop him.Depay again tested Bruzzese at the beginning of the second half then missed a golden opportunity to notch his hat-trick on the hour, blazing over after being set up by Wayne Rooney's exquisite touch.Important @ManUtd win over Brugge. Still have the return leg to qualify for the group phase of the @ChampionsLeague. pic.twitter.com/18aqPoGX6i— Andreas Pereira (@andrinhopereira) August 18, 2015
The game was to tilt towards United yet further when Brugge was reduced to 10 men on 79 minutes. Brandon Mechele hauled down substitute Javier Hernandez with referee Deniz Aytekin swiftly waving a second yellow card at the defender.And United made its numerical advantage in the third minute of injury time. Depay, again allowed time on the ball, swung over a cross that Marouane Fellaini was able to nod beyond Bruzzese.It was a goal that could prove crucial in deciding the tie, and relaxing one Louis Van Gaal.Champions League roundupIn the evenings other playoff ties, Lazio claimed a vital home victory over Bayer Leverkusen after Keita Baldé Diao's goal ensured a slender 1-0 victory.A late Islam Slimani strike gave Sporting Club de Portugal a 2-1 home victory over CSKA Moscow in Lisbon while BATE Borisov overcame 10-man Partizan Belgrade in Minsk thanks to a solitary Mikhail Gordeychuk goal.FC Astana of Kazakhstan triumphed 1-0 at home to APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus courtesy of a Baurzhan Dzholchiyev strike.Read: Was Chelsea 3-0 defeat fake?Read: The billionaire who wants to fix FIFA
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Global entertainment ticketing service Ticketmaster has admitted that the company has suffered a security breach, warning customers that their personal and payment information may have been accessed by an unknown third-party.
The company has blamed a third-party support customer service chat application for the data breach that believed to affect tens of thousands of its customers.
The customer support chat application, made by Inbenta Technologies—a third-party artificial intelligence tech supplier—used to help major websites interact with their customers.
In its statement, Ticketmaster said it discovered malicious software on the customer support application hosted on its UK website that allowed attackers to extract the personal and payment information from its customers buying tickets.
Ticketmaster disabled the Inbenta product across all of its websites as soon as it recognized the malicious code.
However, Inbenta Technologies turned away blame back to Ticketmaster, saying that the ticketing service deployed the chat application improperly on its website.
"Upon further investigation by both parties, it has been confirmed that the source of the data breach was a single piece of JavaScript code, that was customized by Inbenta to meet Ticketmaster's particular requirements," Inbenta chief executive Jordi Torras said in a statement.
"This code is not part of any of Inbenta's products or present in any of our other implementations. Ticketmaster directly applied the script to its payments page, without notifying our team."
Inbenta said by applying this Javascript to the payment page, Ticketmaster presented attackers with "a point of vulnerability that affects the capacity for web forms to upload files," allowing attackers to locate, modify, and use the script to "extract the payment information of Ticketmaster customers processed between February and June 2018."
Compromised information includes name, address, email address, telephone number, payment details and Ticketmaster login details of its customers.
"Forensic teams and security experts are working around the clock to understand how the data was compromised," Ticketmaster said. "We are working with relevant authorities, as well as credit card companies and banks."
Neither Ticketmaster nor Inbenta did say the number of customers affected by the incident, but the ticketing service did confirm that less than 5% of its global customer base has been affected.
Inbenta is entirely confident that no other customer of Inbenta has been compromised in any way, and that the incident has "nothing to do with any of its industry-leading AI and machine learning products," which serve hundreds of customers on six continents.
"We can fully assure our customers and end-users that no other implementation of Inbenta across any of our products or customer deployments has been affected," Inbenta said.
Ticketmaster said that it has emailed all affected customers, and is offering 12 months of free identity monitoring service for those who have been impacted.
Affected customers are also advised to keep a close eye on their bank account transactions for signs of any suspicious activity, and immediately notify their banks if found any.
Users are also advised to be cautious if they receive any suspicious or unrecognized phone call, text message, or email from anyone saying you must pay taxes or a debt immediately—even if they provide your personal information.
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Story highlightsFormula E to release virtual driving gameGame allows players to race drivers in real time (CNN)If you've ever thought you could thrash the lap times of a racing driver, now is your chance to prove it. Formula E has partnered with entertainment company Virtually Live to create a racing game allowing players to compete against drivers in real time inside a "ghost car."Follow @cnnsport
The game, which will be released during season five of Formula E, uses cutting-edge technology to replicate race tracks, drivers and their cars, right down to the bumps. "It is impressive how much detail has gone in to the finer aspects of the game such as recreation of the environment and signage to ensure the fan experience replicates what is happening on track," Oliver Weingarten, Director of Content Development for Virtually Live, told CNN Sport."Someone can be sitting at home or even in the stands with their device, with the race taking place in front of them and they can effectively be participating and racing alongside Formula E drivers on the actual track during the live race."Read MoreREAD: Formula E series heads back to China Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaFormula E, the world's leading all-electric racing series, officially unveiled its next generation car Tuesday at the Geneva Motor Show.Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaThe Gen2, as it's been named, will make its racing debut at the start of the 2018-19 Formula E season.Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaAfter a digital launch earlier this year, the first physical model was revealed by FIA President Jean Todt and Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag.Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaFormula E title partner ABB provided a robotic arm to lift the cover on the new design. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaThe new car will have twice the energy storage of the current car, doubling its range. It means the end of the mid-race car swap that has been a fixture of Formula E since its debut in 2014.Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaThe Gen2 will have a top speed of 174 mph thanks to an increase in the maximum power output.Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaIt will also have a new LED strip which allows fans to follow the drivers' race modes and tactics.Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Formula E unveil next generation car in GenevaTodt said: "Formula E will continue to push the development of electric vehicle technology, and this car is an important milestone in this journey."Hide Caption 8 of 8The game will be released on all mobile platforms and desktop PCs, with a view to making it available on consoles in the future. Whilst it can be played offline, it encourages online activity by allowing users to connect with their friends and share clips on social media. "Players can capture their best moments or timings during a race and can share it with their friends online," Ben Padley, marketing director at Formula E, told CNN Sport."The driver can also create a meme by snipping parts of their race up, they can add emojis and share it around. It makes it more fun."READ: Susie Wolff: Ex-Formula One test driver to run Venturi FormulaREAD: Formula E Gen 2: The race car of the future?Padley hopes the game can "democratize" the sport, allowing up-and-coming drivers to test themselves against professional racers."Simulated racing is the closest representation you can get to in driving, though it comes with limitations, it can level out the playing field."It is accessible for people who were taking it seriously and wanted to practice against real racer's times as anyone can download and play it."READ: Robocar autonomous racer to tackle iconic hill climbAnd Padley sees a future for the technology beyond the race track."We are incredibly excited about its potential," he added. "In the future it could be applied to a concert or a match, from a concept perspective it has the ability to change the way virtual reality is heading."The content will evolve as will the technology -- we are not going to stand still."
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Almost half of the fight travelers around the world were found exposed to a critical security vulnerability discovered in online flight ticket booking system that allowed remote hackers to access and modify their travel details and even claim their frequent flyer miles.
Israeli network security researcher Noam Rotem discovered the vulnerability when he booked a flight on the Israeli airline ELAL, successful exploitation of which just required victim's PNR (Passenger Name Record) number.
The vulnerability resided in the widely used online flight booking system developed by Amadeus, which is currently being used by nearly 141 international airlines, including United Airlines, Lufthansa and Air Canada.
After booking a flight with ELAL, the traveler receives a PNR number and a unique link that allows customers to check their booking status and related information associated with that PNR.
Rotem found that merely by changing the value of the "RULE_SOURCE_1_ID" parameter on that link to someone else's PNR number would display personal and booking-related information from the account associated with that customer.
Using disclosed information, i.e. booking ID and last name of the customer, an attacker can simply access the victim's account on ELAL's customer portal and "make changes, claim frequent flyer miles to a personal account, assign seats and meals, and update the customer's email and phone number, which could then be used to cancel/change flight reservation via customer service."
"Though the security breach requires knowledge of the PNR code, ELAL sends these codes via unencrypted email, and many people even share them on Facebook or Instagram. But that's just the tip of the iceberg," the researcher said in his blog post.
Don't have PNR numbers of your victims? Don't worry.
Rotem also figured out that the Amadeus portal was not using any brute-force protection that eventually allowed attackers to attempt every alphanumeric uppercase complications using a script, as shown, to find all active PNR numbers of customers of any Amadeus-linked airline website.
"After running a small and non-threatening script to check for any brute-force protections, none of which were found, we were able to find PNRs of random customers, which included all of their personal information," Rotem added.
You can see the video demonstration provided by the researcher to know how a simple script devised by him guessed the PNR numbers and was able to find active numbers in Amadeus.
Since the Amadeus booking system is being used by at least 141 airlines, the vulnerability could have affected hundreds of millions of travelers.
After discovering the vulnerability, Rotem immediately contacted ELAL to point out the threat and suggested the airline to introduce captchas, passwords and a bot protection mechanism in order to prevent brute-force attempts.
Amadeus has now fixed the issue, and the Rotem's script can no longer identify active PNRs as demonstrated in the above video.
Upon contacting Amadeus, the company replied, "At Amadeus, we give security the highest priority and are constantly monitoring and updating our systems. Our technical teams took immediate action, and we can now confirm that the issue is solved."
Amadeus also added that the company has also added a Recovery PTR to strengthen security further and "prevent a malicious user from accessing travelers' personal information."
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(CNN)Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday vowed there would be a "swift, severe and united" response if Russia invades Ukraine and assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the US "stands with Ukraine."In remarks at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Harris laid out retaliatory measures in a manner befitting her past career as a prosecutor, promising "significant and unprecedented" economic costs."We will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls. We will target Russia's financial institutions and key industries. And we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion," Harris said as she took center stage at the security conference, which is taking place as the brewing conflict between Russia and Ukraine reaches a boiling point.What does Putin want in Ukraine? The conflict explainedThe vice president continued, "Make no mistake: The imposition of these sweeping and coordinated measures will inflict great damage on those who must be held accountable."In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour Saturday after he met with Harris, Zelensky said any list of sanctions on Russia should be made public before an invasion of Ukraine occurs.Read More"We don't need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen and after our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders, or after we will have no economy ... why would we need those sanctions then?" he said. In their meeting in Munich, Harris told Zelensky that the US "takes seriously the importance of the integrity and the territorial integrity of Ukraine and your sovereignty, and the United States stands with Ukraine in this regard.""Any threats to your country we take seriously, and we have rallied our allies and our partners to speak with one voice," the vice president said.Harris' office said in a statement that Harris and Zelensky "discussed the united Transatlantic approach if Russia further invades Ukraine, and the Vice President outlined the swift and severe economic measures that have been prepared alongside our Allies and partners."Zelensky said he was grateful for the US support, particularly in bolstering Ukraine's defense capacity."This is our land and the only thing we want is to have peace, bring the peace back to our country," he said.Harris held additional meetings Saturday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to a White House official."In each meeting, they discussed Ukraine, recent developments, and the united Transatlantic response. In particular, they discussed the swift and severe economic measures that the U.S., the EU, and others are poised to impose if Russia further invades Ukraine. They also discussed ongoing efforts at both deterrence and diplomacy," the official said.'Until the very last minute'US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said Russia was "moving into the right positions to conduct an attack," and echoed President Joe Biden's assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made up his mind on invading. "They're uncoiling and now poised to strike," Austin said, speaking from Vilnius, Lithuania. Austin said the US would pursue a diplomatic solution "until the very last minute, until it's not possible."An attempt by international mediators to convene a meeting of Ukrainian and Russian representatives on the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine failed Saturday after the Russian delegation did not attend.The meeting was due to be held under the auspices of the Trilateral Contact Group, which is chaired by a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen.The US intends to sanction elite Russian government officials and business leaders if Russia invades Ukraine, CNN has reported. Biden has said he would consider sanctioning Putin himself, but the administration has not revealed the names of those it is looking to sanction.Another option US lawmakers are weighing that would have major repercussions inside Russia is cutting the nation off from the global banking system. Russia could be removed from SWIFT, the high-security network that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world. The move would make it nearly impossible for financial institutions to send money in or out of Russia, which would deliver a shock to Russian companies and their customers abroad. If Russia is cut off from SWIFT, senior Russian lawmakers have said shipments of oil, gas and metals to Europe would stop.A unified responseHarris' remarks at the conference Saturday echoed repeated pledges from top US officials in recent days of a unified response to efforts by Russia to mount an invasion. A bipartisan delegation of 40 members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was also in Munich in a show of solidarity with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "Not since the end of the Cold War has this forum convened under such dire circumstances," Harris said. "Today, as we are all well aware, the foundation of European security is under direct threat in Ukraine."The vice president emphasized the importance of international organizations, institutions, laws and treaties that she reiterated have led to "unprecedented peace, security and prosperity" in Europe in the wake of two world wars. Harris stressed that at the heart of these defining principles is the belief that the sovereignty of nations must be respected, that nations have the right to choose their own governments and alliances, and "national borders should not be changed by force.""In the face of Russian aggression, I have been reassured and heartened by the widespread agreement across the trans-Atlantic community that these rules and norms will be defended," Harris said. Ratcheting up the rhetoric, Harris accused Putin of feigning "ignorance and innocence" while simultaneously working to fabricate a false pretext for an invasion. Harris warned the "playbook" of Russian aggression is "too familiar to us all." "We now receive reports of what appears to be provocations and we see Russia spreading disinformation, lies and propaganda. Nonetheless, in a deliberate and coordinated effort, we together are one, exposing the truth and two, speaking with a unified voice," Harris said. Harris emphasized the US maintains an "ironclad" commitment to Article 5 of NATO, which says that if any alliance member is attacked, every other member will consider it an attack against all members and will take any swift action to retaliate."We will not stop with economic measures," Harris said. "We will further reinforce our NATO allies on the eastern flank."Biden formally approved the deployment of 3,000 US troops to Poland, Germany and Romania in order to bolster NATO countries in Eastern Europe as tens of thousands of Russian troops are amassed along Ukraine's border. The President has stressed these troops will not be deployed to fight inside Ukraine and are instead there to show support to NATO allies feeling threatened by Russia's military moves. "Today, the United States, our allies and our partners are closer together," Harris said. A high-stakes momentThe vice president's emphasis on Russia-Ukraine tensions follows several efforts by the United States on Friday to publicize Russia's aggressive actions in the region and attempt to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine under the guise of false pretenses. Biden said that he is now convinced Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine, adding that the US believes Russian forces intend to attack Ukraine "in the coming week" or sooner and that an attack will target the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.It was a major rhetorical shift for the President, who had previously indicated that he believed Putin had not yet made up his mind about an invasion. Still, Biden emphasized on Friday, there was room for diplomacy. Russian misinformation is building up to a false justification for Putin to order an invasion, Biden said, accusing Russia of cease fire violations in the "rapidly escalating crisis."The White House on Friday also blamed Russia for a massive cyberattack on Ukraine earlier in the week and warned that Russia could face extensive sanctions if it invades Ukraine, with Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council, calling them "the most severe measures we've ever contemplated against Russia."This story has been updated with additional reaction and background information. CNN's Maegan Vazquez, Natasha Bertrand, Tim Lister, Eva McKend and Lindy Royce-Bartlett contributed to this report.
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If you believe that your organization is not at real risk of cyber attack, then you are absolutely wrong.
Incidents of massive data breaches, advanced cyber attacks coming from China, groups like Syrian Electronic Army, Hacking Point of Sale machines at retailers such as Target have splashed across the news in the last one year.
Whether a Government Agency or Private Company, Small or a Large Tech Company....
...It's no secret that No one is Immune to Cyber Attacks.
This article is the first in a two-part series from The Hacker News, listing first four out of Top 7 Brutal Cyber Attacks.
And here we go...
#1 "Hacking Team" Data Breach
Hacking Team, the controversial spyware company, recently been hacked by some unidentified hackers that exposed over 400 gigabytes of its internal sensitive data on the Internet.
Milan (Italy) based IT firm 'Hacking Team' sells intrusion and surveillance software solutions to Governments and Law Enforcement agencies worldwide.
Hacking Team is infamous for its commercial surveillance tool named as Remote Control System (RCS), which is capable of spying activities and remotely accessing target system's microphone and camera.
However, sometimes even Hackers get Hacked! So same happened with Hacking Team when hackers not only defaced Hacking Team's own Twitter account but also leaked:
Executive Emails
Source codes for Hacking and Spyware Tools
Zero-day exploits, including for Flash, Internet Explorer
Government client list with date of purchase and amount paid
…Marking the attack as one of the biggest cyber attacks on any Company.
One of the aspects of the data breach showed the lack of protection implementations within the organization and using weak passwords.
#2 Ashley Madison Data Breach
TIP: No website can guarantee privacy of your identity, Credit card details, personal photos or any other information. [Read more]
Two months ago, Toronto-based Ashley Madison website, popular as an online Married Dating portal for extramarital affairs with the tagline "Life is Short. Have an Affair," was hacked by 'The Impact Team'.
Hackers allegedly gained access to millions of its customers information database and posted 10GB of personal data for its tens of Millions of customers, including their names and email addresses.
Frequently followed by another leak, where hackers released another 20GB of company's internal data, including personal e-mails from the CEO of Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life, Noel Biderman, along with the source code for its website and mobile apps.
The breach came just two months after an attack on another scandalous site, Adult Friend Finder where again millions of people's very personal data were left exposed on the Internet.
The Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder hacking cases raise serious questions about what these dating websites are doing to ensure the security of their users' personal information.
#3 The Sony Pictures Hack
Remember last year when you were able to download and watch unreleased movies of Sony Pictures Entertainment?
Annie, Mr. Turner, Still Alice, To Write Love On Her Arms, and Brad Pitt's "Fury"...
...were leaked online on torrent websites, following a massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures last year by the Guardians of Peace (GOP) hacking group.
The hack wasn't limited to unreleased movies — the unknown hackers leaked about 200 gigabytes of confidential data belonging to Sony Pictures from movie scripts to sensitive employees data, celebrity's' phone numbers and their travel aliases, making it the most severe hack in the History.
The massive cyber attack on the company was in response to the release of "The Interview" — a controversial North Korean-baiting film, where hackers threatened 9/11 Type attack at Theaters showing this movie.
As a result, Sony had to shut down its services for weeks. However, it struggled to solve the issue by pulling "The Interview" from theaters and eventually putting it up on Netflix.
But, things have not changed much for Sony. This was the second time Sony was targeted, and the intensity of the attack was such that even after taking the best measures, a subsequent amount of the company's data was leaked to WikiLeaks.
#4 'Fappening' and 'Snappening'
When a surge of Nude Photos of Celebrities were leaked and went viral in August of 2014, the Internet had a meltdown.
Unknown Hacker was able to break into third-party applications connected to services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Apple's iCloud that led to a major incident known as "The Fappening".
The Fappening mainly attacked female celebrities and leaked very private photographs of them, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Kirsten Dunst, Avril Lavigne and many others.
Within a month of "The Fappening," another similar incident called "The Snappening" happened that leaked more than 100,000 nude videos and images of the Snapchat users.
In The Fappening, the Naked Pictures were allegedly retrieved due to a "brute force" security flaw in Apple's iCloud file storage service. However, Apple denied it.
In case of The Snappening, Snapchat's servers were not breached. Instead, the nude pictures of users were compromised due to third-party apps used to send and receive Snaps.
However, both the incidents marked as the biggest hacks of one of its kind.
Further Read: Part II — Top 7 Brutal Cyber Attacks Proves that No One is Immune to Hacking.
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New upgrades have been made to a Python-based "self-replicating, polymorphic bot" called Necro in what's seen as an attempt to improve its chances of infecting vulnerable systems and evading detection.
"Although the bot was originally discovered earlier this year, the latest activity shows numerous changes to the bot, ranging from different command-and-control (C2) communications and the addition of new exploits for spreading, most notably vulnerabilities in VMWare vSphere, SCO OpenServer, Vesta Control Panel and SMB-based exploits that were not present in the earlier iterations of the code," researchers from Cisco Talos said in a deep-dive published today.
Said to be in development as far back as 2015, Necro (aka N3Cr0m0rPh) targets both Linux and Windows devices, with heightened activity observed at the start of the year as part of a malware campaign dubbed "FreakOut" that was found exploiting vulnerabilities in network-attached storage (NAS) devices running on Linux machines to co-opt the machines into a botnet for launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and mining Monero cryptocurrency.
In addition to its DDoS and RAT-like functionalities to download and launch additional payloads, Necro is designed with stealth in mind by installing a rootkit that hides its presence on the system. What's more, the bot also injects malicious code to retrieve and execute a JavaScript-based miner from a remote server into HTML and PHP files on infected systems.
While previous versions of the malware exploited flaws in Liferay Portal, Laminas Project, and TerraMaster, the latest variants observed on May 11 and 18 feature command injection exploits targeting Vesta Control Panel, ZeroShell 3.9.0, SCO OpenServer 5.0.7, as well as a remote code execution flaw impacting VMWare vCenter (CVE-2021-21972) that was patched by the company in February.
A version of the botnet, released on May 18, also includes exploits for EternalBlue (CVE-2017-0144) and EternalRomance (CVE-2017-0145), both of which abuse a remote code execution vulnerability in Windows SMB protocol. These new additions serve to highlight that the malware author is actively developing new methods of spreading by taking advantage of publicly disclosed vulnerabilities.
Also of note is the incorporation of a polymorphic engine to mutate its source code with every iteration while keeping the original algorithm intact in a "rudimentary" attempt to limit the chances of being detected.
"Necro Python bot shows an actor that follows the latest development in remote command execution exploits on various web applications and includes the new exploits into the bot," Talos researchers said. "This increases its chances of spreading and infecting systems. Users need to make sure to regularly apply the latest security updates to all of the applications, not just operating systems."
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Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book, "Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party." Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN)Will Rogers once quipped, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."That joke has bite in 2020 as Democrats are terrified that they will tear themselves apart before the election ever takes place. The tumult of the Iowa caucuses seemed to symbolize the worst nightmares. Bernie Sanders is the current favorite for the nomination, but several frontrunners have the money and organizational support to take this competition all the way to the convention. And with the decision still apparently far off, the factions within the party will continue to go after each other with hammer and tong. In the party's worst-case scenario, President Trump is the last person standing as Democrats are bloodied and beaten up by what they do to themselves.But those fears don't have to be realized. Political parties can survive the most intense factionalism. With a skillful leader guiding them, parties can even use internal divisions as a source of electoral strength.It's unanimous: a horrible night for BloombergThis is what happened in the 1980 election. A former governor of California, Republican Ronald Reagan, brought the conservative movement into the halls of power by defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter. Most historians consider this a turning point that shifted American politics to the right and changed the national debate in ways that continue to influence us today. Read MoreReagan's Republican Party faced deep fault lines of its own. The conservative movement that had swept through the nation in the 1970s, of which Reagan was a part, consisted of a multiplicity of factions -- all of which opposed the persistence of American liberalism. There was the religious right, which consisted of Evangelical Christians who had decided to mobilize politically to fight abortion, champion "traditional" cultural values, and defend the tax-exempt status for largely white private academies.The business community also increased its presence in Washington, seeking deregulation of policies that impacted industry as well as tax reductions that would lower the burden on corporations and wealthy Americans. Meanwhile, neoconservative Democrats and hawkish conservatives wanted to see a buildup of military spending and an end to Richard Nixon's policy of détente, which had eased relations with the Soviets and China. The most radical 2020 candidateThe factions of conservatism were not always in agreement and, in many cases, were at odds over public policy. While the Republicans did not have nearly as many candidates as Democrats do today, Reagan was challenged by two formidable opponents. There was George H.W. Bush, who had served in a number of major jobs in Washington -- including CIA director -- and who blasted Reagan's economic theories as "voodoo economics."Then there was Illinois Republican John Anderson, a skilled moderate who had supported civil rights and environmental protection and could boast of deep experience on Capitol Hill. His "campaign of ideas" held great appeal to moderates who feared that Reagan's extremism would lead him to suffer the same fate as Barry Goldwater in 1964.Yet what made Reagan so effective as a candidate in 1980 was that he could find ways to unite the factions of conservatism into a temporary, albeit fragile, alliance. Reagan, who was a master communicator from his acting career in Hollywood, honed in on two key themes that cut across the conservative divide: tax cuts and anti-communism. Above all, he consistently prioritized cutting down the progressive income tax system and boosting the defense budget. After fiasco, Iowa results matter lessReagan also used Carter as a focal point for his supporters, understanding that Republican outrage about the possibility of two terms would overwhelm any discomfort that different parts of his coalition had with each other. Throughout the fall campaign, Reagan kept returning to Carter in his ads and speeches, blaming the President for the miserable economy and pointing to the administration's inability to free the American hostages in Iran. In one of his most potent quips, with the Statue of Liberty behind him, Reagan told followers at a rally that, "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his." The campaign worked. Reagan defeated Carter in a landslide, winning 489 Electoral College votes to Carter's 49, and 50.7% of the popular vote. The defeat was stunning for Carter and the Democratic Party. "Despite pre-election polls that had forecast a fairly close election," Hendrick Smith wrote in The New York Times, "the rout was so pervasive and so quickly apparent that Mr. Carter made the earliest concession statement of a major Presidential candidate since 1904, when Alton B. Parker bowed to Theodore Roosevelt."Get our free weekly newsletterSign up for CNN Opinion's new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and FacebookThe tensions within the conservative movement never disappeared. They would flare early in Reagan's first term, as some elements in his coalition, such as the religious right, felt the president was ignoring their concerns. But Reagan would continue to find ways to keep them united enough, going on to win a second term and seeing his Vice President succeed him in 1989. Factionalism is a difficult challenge for any party. But it need not be a barrier to victory. And in 2020, Democrats can look back to one of their most devastating opponents, Ronald Reagan, to see how the problem can be overcome.
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Here we are with our weekly roundup, briefing this week's top cyber security threats, incidents and challenges.
This week has been very short with big news from shutting down of two of the largest Dark Web marketplaces and theft of millions of dollars in the popular Ethereum cryptocurrency to the discovery of new Linux malware leveraging SambaCry exploit.
We are here with the outline of this week's stories, just in case you missed any of them. We recommend you read the entire thing (just click 'Read More' because there's some valuable advice in there as well).
Here's the list of this Week's Top Stories:
1. Feds Shuts Down AlphaBay and Hansa Dark Web Markets — Dream Market Under Suspicion
On Thursday, Europol announced that the authorities had shut down two of the largest criminal Dark Web markets — AlphaBay and Hansa — in what's being called the largest-ever international operation against the dark web's black market conducted by the FBI, DEA and Dutch National Police.
Interestingly, the federal authorities shut down AlphaBay, but before taking down Hansa market, they took control of the Dark Web market and kept it running for at least a month in an effort to monitor the activities of its visitors, including a massive flood of Alphabay refugees.
After the shutdown of both AlphaBay and Hansa, Dream Market has emerged as the leading player, which has been in business since 2013, but it has now been speculated by many dark web users that Dream Market is also under police control.
For detailed information — Read more.
2. New Ransomware Threatens to Send Your Internet History to All Your Friends
After WannaCry and Petya ransomware outbreaks, a new strain of ransomware has been making the rounds on the Google Play Store in bogus apps, which targets Android mobile phone users.
Dubbed LeakerLocker, instead of encrypting files on your device, this Android ransomware secretly collects personal images, messages and browsing history and then threatens to share them with your contacts if you don't pay $50 (£38).
For more detailed information on the LeakerLocker ransomware — Read more.
3. New CIA Leaks — Smartphone Hacking and Malware Development
WikiLeaks last week published the 16th batch of its ongoing Vault 7 leak, revealing the CIA's Highrise Project that allowed the spying agency to stealthy collect and forwards stolen data from compromised smartphones to its server through SMS messages.
This week, the whistleblowing organisation revealed about a CIA contractor — Raytheon Blackbird Technologies — who was responsible for analysing advanced malware and hacking techniques being used in the wild by cyber criminals.
For more detailed information on Highrise Project and its contractor Raytheon Blackbird Technologies — Read More.
4. Three Back-to-Back Multi-Million Dollar Ethereum Heist in 20 Days
This week, an unknown hacker stole nearly $32 Million worth of Ethereum – one of the most popular and increasingly valuable cryptocurrencies – from wallet accounts linked to at least three companies by exploiting a critical vulnerability in Parity's Ethereum Wallet software.
This was the third Ethereum cryptocurrency heist that came out two days after an alleged hacker stole $7.4 Million worth of Ether from trading platform CoinDash and two weeks after someone hacked into South Korean cryptocurrency exchange and stole more than $1 Million in Ether and Bitcoins from user accounts.
For more detailed information about the Ethereum Heist — Read More.
5. Critical Gnome Flaw Leaves Linux PCs Vulnerable
This week has been bad for Linux users as well. A security researcher discovered a code injection vulnerability in the thumbnail handler component of GNOME Files file manager that allowed hackers to execute malicious code on targeted Linux machines.
German researcher Nils Dagsson Moskopp dubbed the vulnerability Bad Taste (CVE-2017-11421) and also released proof-of-concept (PoC) code on his blog to demonstrate the vulnerability.
For more details about the Bad Taste vulnerability and its PoC — Read More.
6. New Malware Exploits SambaCry to Hijack NAS Devices
Despite being patched in late May, the SambaCry vulnerability is currently being leveraged by a new piece of malware to target the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, particularly Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances.
SambaCry is a 7-year-old critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability (CVE-2017-7494) in Samba networking software that could allow a hacker to remotely take full control of a vulnerable Linux and Unix machines.
The flaw was discovered and patched two months ago, but researchers at Trend Micro warned that the flaw had been actively exploited by the SHELLBIND malware that mostly targets NAS devices used by small and medium-size businesses.
For more detailed information on the SHELLBIND malware — Read More.
7. Devil's Ivy — Millions of Internet-Connected Devices At Risk
This week, researchers at the IoT-focused security firm Senrio discovered a critical remotely exploitable vulnerability in an open-source software development library used by major IoT manufacturers that eventually left millions of smart devices vulnerable to hacking.
Dubbed Devil's Ivy, the vulnerability (CVE-2017-9765) in the gSOAP toolkit (Simple Object Access Protocol) — an advanced C/C++ auto-coding tool for developing XML Web services and XML application.
The researchers also released proof-of-concept (PoC) video demonstrating the RCE on a security camera manufactured by Axis Communications.
For more detailed information on the Devil's Ivy and PoC video — Read More.
8. "Ubuntu Linux for Windows 10 Released" — Sounds So Weird?
Downloading an entire operating system has just become as easy as downloading an application for Windows 10 users, as Microsoft last week announced the availability of popular Linux distro 'Ubuntu' in the Windows App Store.
While the company announced its plans to launch Fedora and SUSE Linux as well on Windows Store, the company did not reveal exactly when its users can expect to see these two flavours of Linux distro on the App Store.
For detailed information on how to install and run Ubuntu on Windows 10 — Read More.
9. Over 70,000 Memcached Servers Vulnerable to Hacking
It's been almost eight months since the Memcached developers have patched several critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in the software, but tens of thousands of servers running Memcached application are still vulnerable.
Cisco's Talos intelligence and research group last year discovered three critical RCE vulnerabilities in Memcached — a moderhttps://thehackernews.com/2017/07/segway-hoverboard-hacking.htmln open-source and easily deployable distributed caching system that allows objects to be stored in memory.
The vulnerability exposed major websites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, to hackers, but the team of researchers scanned the internet on two different occasions and found that over 70,000 servers are still vulnerable to the attacks, including ransomware attacks similar to the one that hit MongoDB databases in late December.
For more in-depth information on the Memcached vulnerabilities — Read More.
10. Tor Launches Bug Bounty Program for Public
After its intention to launch a public bug bounty program in late December 2015, the Tor Project has finally launched a "Bug Bounty Program," encouraging hackers and security researchers to find and privately report bugs that could compromise the anonymity network.
The bug bounty reports will be sent through HackerOne — a startup that operates bug bounty programs for companies including Yahoo, Twitter, Slack, Dropbox, Uber, General Motors – and even the U.S. Department of Defense for Hack the Pentagon initiative.
For detailed information on bug bounty prices and types of valid vulnerabilities — Read More.
Other Important News This Week
Besides these, there were lots of incidents happened this week, including:
Microsoft's smart move to help take down cyber espionage campaigns conducted by "Fancy Bear" hacking group.
A new credential stealing malware found being sold for as cheap as $7 on underground forums.
Cisco patched a highly critical RCE vulnerability in its WebEx browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, which could allow attackers to execute malicious code on a victim's computer remotely.
Windows 10 now let you Reset forgotten password directly from your computer's Lock Screen.
Several critical vulnerabilities in Segway Ninebot miniPRO could allow hackers to remotely take "full control" over the hoverboard within range and leave riders out-of-control.
Ashley Madison's parent company Ruby Corp has agreed to pay a total of $11.2 Million to roughly 37 million users whose personal details were exposed in a massive data breach two years ago.
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Many be many of you are not aware about this, but Facebook having a Secure Files Transfer service for their Employees at https://files.fb.com and Hacker reported a very critical password reset vulnerability.
Nir Goldshlager, a researcher told 'The Hacker News' that how he defeat Facebook's Secure Files Transfer service and help Facebook by reporting them about this issue in a responsible non-disclosure way till patch.
After analyzing the site, he found that the script Facebook is using is actually "Accellion Secure File Sharing Service" script and so next he download the demo version of service from Accellion website and explore the source codes and file locations.
He found that, there is a user registration page also available in source, that was also on files.fb.com. Unfortunately Facebook had removed the Sign up option (link) from homepage, but forget to remove the registration page from its actual location i.e (/courier/web/1000@/wmReg.html).
So this way, Goldshlager was able to make an account on the site for further pentest. He found that the demo source code of the service is encrypted by ionCube PHP Encoder, and decryption of many parts of the source code was not possible by him.
Source code of a web application is like a treasure for a penetration tester, once you have source code, you can look for many critical web application vulnerabilities easily. Anyway, he drop that idea because source code is encrypted.
There is a Password Recovery page (wmPassupdate.html) also available on site, which was actually allowing anyone to reset the passwords of any account. Goldshlager notice that when one request to reset the password of his account, the page was validating the user by a cookie called "referer" that contained the email ID of same logged in user but encrypted in Base64.
Finally, Goldshlager hack the Facebook Employees Secure Files Transfer service by tampering the values of cookies equals to the victim email ID and Password parameters. This way he was able to reset the password of Facebook Employees using this critical flaw. Flaw was reported by him and now patched by Facebook.
Video Demonstration by Nir Goldshlager
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(CNN)As the Olympic and Paralympic movement grapples with Tokyo 2020's postponement amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, Mallory Weggemann understands. She is built for adaptation."As Paralympic athletes this is our job," Weggemann told CNN Sport. "We are constantly in a fight with our bodies and we are constantly finding ways to adapt."On January 21, 2008, Weggemann went to the hospital to receive an epidural injection -- her third -- to help treat back pain caused by postherpetic neuralgia. The injections were supposed to help with debilitating pain. Instead, they left her a paraplegic -- with complete loss of movement from her abdomen down. "There is a piece of me that feels like this isn't that different from when I was paralyzed or when my arm injury happened," added Weggemann, referring to another debilitating setback in 2014 when she sustained permanent nerve damage to her left arm after a fall. Read More"I'm leaning on the knowledge that I've gotten through these things before. It's okay for us to feel the emotions. Right now I am controlling what I can control."READ: Japanese PM and IOC chief agree to postpone 2020 Olympics until 2021Mallory Weggemann of USA smiles at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.A competitive swimmer since the age of 7, Weggemann found herself back in pool only three months after her life-altering injury. In the four years that followed, she broke 34 American records, 15 world records and became a two-time Paralympic medalist at the London Paralympic Games in 2012, winning a gold and bronze medal. Most Paralympic athletes have stories like these. They are always credited for their ability to "inspire." But in times like these, they are in a unique position to offer even more."Paralympians understand mental fortitude. For so many of us, our daily lives are ever-evolving," added Weggemann."That is part of our DNA. If you become a Paralympian, you have mastered that. You know how to handle an ever changing environment. For us, it's our bodies. Our impairments bring uncertainty and that's our normal. "From a training standpoint, many of us have been in situations like this before. Our daily fight is getting back to the point where we can perform the tasks needed to live and train."'Grieving process'Even so, Weggemann admits Tuesday's official announcement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took its toll. The two sides agreed to push the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics back by a year.It's another devastating setback in a seven-year comeback she had been mounting since her last injury."It really is the best decision for the health and public safety of all. I think there will be a grieving process for many athletes," she added."While I am beyond grateful cancellation isn't on the table and that decisions are being made to keep everyone safe and healthy, it still brings a level of heartbreak."Weggemann says she is "constantly in a fight" with her body.After the coronavirus brought the sports world to a full stop in what felt like a matter of days, the decision to move forward with the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo was the last, and by far the largest, looming question mark.IOC Thomas Bach offered a four-week timetable to make a decision, but pressure from national governing bodies and many individual athletes forced answers sooner rather than later. There is still much we don't know about this novel virus, including the possibility of another surge that could result from a global coming together of 11,000 athletes from across the world.For thousands of athletes like Mallory, it's another bump in an Olympic road that began long ago. The emotions are mixed. Key qualifying events had already been canceled across a variety of sports. The US Olympic and Paralympic training centers in Colorado Springs and Lake Placid had closed their doors last week for at least 30 days, leaving hundreds of athletes to find other options. Weggeman had to have equipment from a local gym donated to her garage. The recovery facilities which she depends on for recovery and the soft tissue work post workout also were shuttered. JUST WATCHED'Queen of the Ball' fights for equality in basketballReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'Queen of the Ball' fights for equality in basketball 03:55Not forgetting all the hard work and sacrifice lost."I was with my coach and his family on Monday (March 16) and we were making a plan for when the pools would close. When I realized I didn't have a pool, I just broke. All of us have so many emotions wrapped up in this. "It's hard not to go down the rabbit hole of thinking about the worst. I've been fighting for seven years to get back to this point."We got married after Rio and our entire future has been around planning for Tokyo," added Weggemman, who is married to Jeremy Synder. "We've put having children on hold. We've put our entire lives on hold."Given her character, Weggemann is already searching for positives."Obviously, whatever Tokyo looks like, we are 100% committed. In a perfect world, I would have loved to see them still happen safely. The Olympics and Paralympics could be what we need to bring the world together again," she said."As athletes, we are all in the same boat. Every single one of us is in this together. We've all committed a lot to this dream."After her arm injury in 2014, Weggemann fought like crazy to make it to the Rio Games, only to walk away without a medal.She was pulled out of the water for a year and a half, while she underwent two major surgeries in 2017 to remove muscles from her arms.Every day while she was bedridden, she never lost sight of her dream for Tokyo. She's been fighting for another shot at the Paralympic podium since she first sat atop the one in London back in 2012. Now the fight continues for another year."As Paralympians, this is when we shine. This is what we've been through our entire lives."
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Story highlightsU.S. ship graveyard now flourishing nature siteMallows Bay bidding for sanctuary statusSome vessels date back to American Civil War (CNN)They were built to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to aid the allied effort in World War I, but wound up unused, abandoned, stripped and finally scuttled.Almost a century on, the "ghost fleet" of Mallows Bay in the Potomac River, 30 miles south of Washington D.C., is positively brimming with life again.Nature has taken hold amid the rotting hulls and rusted bows of the scores of historic vessels, with flora and fauna inundating the areas where sailors and passengers once stood. "It has become this really amazing mecca for wildlife," Joel Dunn, president and CEO of Chesapeake Conservancy, told CNN. "You've got these osprey nests on the front of the boats, and heron rookeries, bats breeding in the hull of the ships -- it's a really rich wildlife and historical location." Read More Did you hear the news? This morning President Obama announced that for the first time since 2000, @NOAA has identified two new marine areas for possible designation as national marine sanctuaries. Learn more about the nominations and watch the President's announcement on our website, sanctuaries.noaa.gov! Top photo: A shipwreck in Mallows Bay-Potomac River, one of the two nominated sites being considered for sanctuary designation. (Credit: Don Shomette) Bottom photo: The wreck of the Northerner, which lies 130 feet below the surface in Wisconsin-Lake Michigan, one of the two nominated sites being considered for sanctuary designation. (Credit: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society) #MarineSanctuary #MarineProtectedArea #Environment #Conservation #Shipwreck #LakeMichigan #PotomacRiver A photo posted by US National Marine Sanctuaries (@noaasanctuaries) on Oct 5, 2015 at 7:15am PDT Located near Nanjemoy in Charles County, Maryland, Mallows Bay is not only treasured by locals -- it could be on the brink of wider recognition thanks to efforts to designate it a national marine sanctuary. It is one of two sites -- the other is on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin -- being considered for sanctuary status by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).The announcement made by President Obama in October 2015 was the first time since 2000 that an official nomination for national marine sanctuary status had been made. If successful, Mallows Bay will join 14 existing ecological havens including the Florida Keys and Thunder Bay in Lake Huron -- one of the five Great Lakes -- where nearly 100 vessels have been discovered to date, earning it the nickname "Shipwreck Alley." Don Shomette, a marine archeologist helping efforts to get Mallows Bay listed as a protected site, is quietly confident the bid will succeed. "I took some folks from NOAA down there and they were stunned when they saw the place," Shomette told CNN. "We have 185 archeologically-documented shipwrecks in a 14-square-mile area, which makes it one of the most densely-populated places in the western world for historic vessels." Ghosts from the past Shomette is the author of "Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay And Other Tales of the Lost Chesapeake" -- a book borne of a deep-rooted attachment to the site which began on a camping trip with his father in the 1950s."I was just into my teens. We went down the river in a small boat and camped at an old civil war wharf -- which is still there," Shomette recalls."We told ghost stories that night and the next morning the river was covered with fog — you couldn't see more than two feet. Over 220 ghost ships lay rotting in the waters of Mallows Bay. I've lived in DC for over a decade and never knew they were there, less than an hour's drive south of the city. This ship is from the 1920s but many of the ships are wooden hulled giants dating back to the Revolutionary War. Accessible only by kayak or skiff, most Washingtonians live their whole lives never seeing this place. That might soon change. Mallows Bay was just nominated to be one of our nation's newest @noaasanctuaries -- I hope it happens. Yesterday's paddle was certainly the most spectacular day trip I've ever done. And more people should explore it. Stay tuned for a small piece I'm writing about this magical place. Thanks to #onepatientman (seen here) for getting me out on the water, broken foot and all. #mallowsbay #paddle #kayak #orukayak #getoutthere #water #potomac #dc #history #ships #noaa #sanctuaries #preserve #water @natgeocreative @orukayak A photo posted by CLARE FIESELER (@clarefieseler) on Dec 14, 2015 at 4:32am PST "We started downriver and ran into a waterman and he said: 'Are you boys going to see the ghost fleet?' And it sent shivers down my spine. "About 10 minutes later we came underneath the bow of one of the ships looming out of the fog. It was just one of those memorable moments in a young boy's life."Several years later, Shomette conducted a painstaking survey of the site which revealed the presence of a confederate blockade runner from the American Civil War. Another, the Accomac, a steel-hulled ferry built in 1928, saw service in World War II before winding up in Mallows Bay in 1973 after it was decommissioned following a fire on board.The majority of ships clustered in Mallows Bay, however, date back to the early 20th century. The so-called "ghost fleet" was part of an unprecedented shipbuilding program undertaken by the U.S. to assist its European allies during World War I. "When America entered the war in April 1917, two out of four ships leaving a British, French or Italian port was being sunk," Shomette explains. "So the process of continuing the war was going to go in Germany's favor."Germany's tactic of "unrestricted submarine warfare" targeted not just military vessels but merchant and passenger ships too — the R.M.S. Lusitania, torpedoed in May 1915, was the most high-profile sinking, killing around 1,200 on board -- 10% of them Americans.'A million men building ships'With the allies needing boats, and fast, President Woodrow Wilson answered the call for help, setting up the Emergency Fleet Corporation to build and operate merchant and military fleets."Within a year we had a million men building ships, cutting the timber, mining the iron for them, building the machinery for them. At one point we became the greatest shipbuilding nation in the history of the world," Shomette says. "We had to create from nothing a shipping industry that was going to build a thousand wooden ships in 18 months -- normally it would take a year and a half to build a wooden steam ship." At Hog Island in Pennsylvania, one of three major steel shipyards built by the government, 50 shipways extended for a mile and a quarter down the Delaware River. At its peak, its 30,000-strong workforce was launching vessels every five to six days. Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest corners Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersNew kid in town – Billionaires who want to escape to the ends of the Earth would need a boat fit for an army; a warship that can sail the seven seas, and in style. Step forward, the SeaXplorer -- the toughest superyacht on the planet.Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersUncharted territory – It has been designed by Damen Group, one of the world's leading luxury shipbuilders, which also creates vessels fit for war. The Dutch firm hopes SeaXplorer will blur the lines between the two -- billing it as "the first purpose-built, Polar Code-compliant range of expedition yachts, with true global capability -- from extreme polar to remote tropical areas."Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersCloser to the action – "Our warships are very capable vessels that outperform any others, in terms of speed and range. But there's no luxury accommodation, purely just for crew," SeaXplorer's marketing manager Victor Caminada tells CNN. "That triggered us to see what a luxury vessel would require -- much more storage, spare parts. You need to be more self-sufficient than on usual superyachts when in tropical destinations, and even more so in areas where there's ice."Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersIce cool – Vessels breaking their way through Antarctic ice may be nothing new -- but for a luxury ship, it's unheard of. The SeaXplorer, however, is able to break new ground. Its designers say the patented Sea Axe double-acting hull means it can thrust through challenging ice up to a meter thick -- a result of thousands of hours invested into research and development.Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersBreaking the mould – "Few vessels can break through ice and the ones that can are not luxury yachts, they're 'ice-bergers,' which are effective but not very comfortable," Caminada explains. "With this concept, we have combined the two and added on superyacht accommodation for the owners to stay in."Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersNew frontier – Damen Group says 90% of superyachts never venture any further than the Mediterranean or Caribbean Seas. So will the yachting crowd be in any hurry to ditch the harbors of Monte Carlo and Saint-Tropez and sample more severe conditions?"Not everyone is into sitting in front of an anchor in Central Bay," Caminada says. "People, particularly young people, think there is a new way of having an extreme luxury holiday in a very cool fashion -- with the SeaXplorer now they can go to places they really haven't been able to visit before."Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersPart of the family – SeaXplorer comes in a range of three options, from 65 meters (213 feet) in length to 100 meters (328 feet). The smallest holds 32 guests and crew, while the largest caters for 80 people and weighs 7,000 gross tons.Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersGadgets galore – For a glorified warship, the SeaXplorer comes loaded with its fair share of billionaire toys. The 100 boasts two helicopters, two lifeboats, four zodiacs, one expedition RHIB, one dive support boat, one luxury tender, two submersibles and four wave-runners to have some fun with. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersEarth's explorer – "People like to do new things, and one of those is to visit new places and do expeditions," Caminada says. "A younger generation of superyacht owners, or potential owners, want to do things like go in a helicopter or go skiing, or look at marvelous wildlife. But until now, superyachts have not been capable of doing that. This is the first boat of its kind."Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersStylish sailing – "You can visit all these new places with a level of comfort never seen before," Caminada says of the SeaXplorer's on-board experience, which includes a dive center, gym, sauna and swimming pool, as well as observation and sky lounges.Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersAll yours – The SeaXplorer can be ready for use within four years of signing on the dotted line. But how much will the world's toughest superyacht cost?"We've received very serious inquiries and are speaking to potential clients soon," Caminada says. "Unfortunately, we're not allowed to publish the price! But I can say it's a very sophisticated vessel with very high-end technology, which makes it expensive..."Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Opulent icebreaker can reach earth's remotest cornersExpanding horizons – "It's a whole new clientele that this concept is going to appeal to," Caminada adds. "It's uncharted territory and it's going to be an eye-opener to a lot of people who are not into the traditional yachting world -- they might think, 'Now, this is something I'd like to do with a boat.'"Hide Caption 12 of 12Contracts to build the wooden cargo ships were sent out to shipyards across the U.S. There were eight different designs ranging between 270-300 feet (80-90 meters) in length. Nearly 400 were completed before the end of the war in November 1918. A handful were sold, some finding work ferrying cargo up and down the Pacific coast and to South America, Shomette says. But for longer, transatlantic trips they were considered uneconomical because of their size -- they could only carry around 1,800 tons of freight.In 1922, the majority were sold for a song to the Western Marine & Salvage company, which set about stripping out reusable metals and parts before burning and sinking the remains. The company went bust at the start of the Great Depression in 1929, and wildcat salvagers moved in to pick away at the scraps. In the early 1940s, Bethlehem Steel -- America's largest shipbuilder at the time -- set about what proved to be another doomed salvage operation.Back to natureThe vessels have since slowly slipped into nature's grasp, in some places completely consumed, almost unidentifiable. "At low tide all you see is these forest of things sticking up and at the north end of the bay," Shomette says. "It looks like shore, but it's ships -- bow to stern, bow to stern -- I call these the flowerpot ships. Each of those ships have become islands -- some have trees 30-40 feet tall ... It's very exotic, it's just beautiful." In the wider Chesapeake Bay area, ospreys have thrived in recent years after almost being wiped out by the pesticide DDT during the mid-20th century. The unique habitat of Mallows Bay has helped them and other birds of prey rebound in population since the agricultural insecticide was banned in the U.S. in the early 1970s. Photos: Ghostly underwater photo gallery Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryStrike a pose – It's not a ghostly apparition, but one of the photographs by Viennese artist Andreas Franke, which was displayed aboard sunken ship USNS General Hoyt S.Vandenberg and only accessible to competent divers. Hide Caption 1 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryWater works – After four months sitting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the photos became discolored with salt stains and algae. "The sea life had created new images. It's very cool, they almost look like Polaroids," said Franke.Hide Caption 2 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryPacking a punch – The pictures have now been displayed in a gallery on land; the Studios of Key West. "They're stunning photographs technically. But it also starts to veer into performance art," gallery director, Jed Dodd, said.Hide Caption 3 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryTime travel – The 12 images all feature the Vandenberg, which was a U.S. military transport ship during World War Two. In the 1960s it was used by the Navy as a missile range vessel, and in 1998 it starred in the sci-fi film Virus. Hide Caption 4 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryBrave new world – Sunk in 2009, the Vandenberg is now the second-largest artificial reef in the world, boasting a diverse range of marine animals and plant life.Hide Caption 5 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryDivers' paradise – "If you're a diver and you see a gallery down there, it's absolutely unique, something you'd never expect. The cool thing is, the shots are done on the same boat they're hanging from," Franke said.Hide Caption 6 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryDiving new depths – More than 10,000 divers visited the underwater gallery. "It's unique. Nobody has ever done a photography exhibition underwater before," said Dodd.Hide Caption 7 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryA new perspective – "One of the cool things with an underwater gallery is you're floating, so you can see the artworks from so many different angles," Franke said.Hide Caption 8 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryInspiring images – The Vandenberg's rich history gave Franke inspiration for his World War Two era scenes. A huge team of models, make-up artists and costume designers helped create the evocative photos in studio.Hide Caption 9 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryTesting times – Despite being protected between two sheets of plexiglass and sealed with silicon in a steel frame, the images were not left completely untouched by the ocean.Hide Caption 10 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryInteresting effect – "At the beginning we did one test on a smaller print and after two months it had no marks. But the bigger images were a little more flexible and more susceptible to water -- they're only 95% perfect but I'm still so happy with them," Franke said.Hide Caption 11 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo gallerySea here – "What works so beautifully is how the water has seeped in -- it's almost as if the ocean has become a collaborative partner in the process," Dodd said.Hide Caption 12 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryThe fish fantastic – "It's a huge empty ship with fish swimming around -- at 27 meters below the surface, the sunlight is this beautiful blue green color. I shot the models in the studio with the same lens, so the images matched," Franke said.Hide Caption 13 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryWork of art – Franke went diving on the Vandenberg six times, taking more than 1,000 photographs which he then whittled down to the final 12.Hide Caption 14 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryLights, camera, action – "I used an underwater camera to shoot open locations where I thought I could add people in," Franke said. Hide Caption 15 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryOcean is key – "For a place like Key West, where you're never more than a few blocks from the beach, people have a very special relationship with the water," Dodd said.Hide Caption 16 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryBaroque Barbados – Franke's latest project features 12 images on the sunken SS Stavronikita, off the coast of Barbados. Hide Caption 17 of 18 Photos: Ghostly underwater photo galleryEerie imagery – The artist was inspired by the Caribbean country's history as an English settlement and the abundance of coral. "The European style fits better with the yellow tones and growth," he said.Hide Caption 18 of 18 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle An image of what the $450 million superyacht "A" will look like when building is complete. The 143-meter vessel will boast cutting edge technology and a 54-strong crew to look after those on board.Hide Caption 1 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle The brainchild of Russian billionaire Andrey Milnichenko, who is worth an estimated $9 billion, it was designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck and has a glass observation pod at the base of the vessel.Hide Caption 2 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Want to make sure your superyacht is at the front of the shipping register? The alphabetically-aware Melnichenko christened "A" so to make sure no boat could appear in front of it.Hide Caption 3 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle "A" is at the vanguard of boat design, following on from the 2013-built Solandge. It features a large covered swimming pool and an outdoor jacuzzi. The are three jet skis, two speedboats and a golden staircase centrally on board.Hide Caption 4 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle While Solandge has a cinema, Quattroelle houses an art gallery. It also has superyacht staples such as a vast swimming pool, jet skis, a speedboat and a large gym. Oh, and an eight-person spa.Hide Caption 5 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Lit up in the night sky of Nice's harbour is Katara, owned by the Emir of Qatar. A 124-meter bed of luxury, it is one of the most closely guarded secrets on the seas.Hide Caption 6 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle A crew of 55 is on board Al Mirqab to look after its 24 guests. Entertainment options include a cinema to more than one outdoor bar, an indoor swimming pool and an outdoor jacuzzi. It belongs to Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, of Qatar.Hide Caption 7 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle It is a feature of the Monaco Grand Prix for Force India team owner Vijay Mallya's boat Indian Empress to be moored in the harbor and to host a party or two. There have been rumors Mallya sold the boat but those remained unconfirmed.Hide Caption 8 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle A former World War II frigate, it was most famous as the yacht of Aristotle Onassis who revamped it at a cost of $4m and named it Christina O after his daughter. It underwent a more recent $50m refit and can be hired out.Hide Caption 9 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Nirvana is built over six decks with a 7.5-meter swimming pool and a helicopter pad on the sundeck. Much smaller than the other yachts, it can host 12 guests in all with a master deck boasting a smaller pool and private deck.Hide Caption 10 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Eclipse is the motor yacht of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and is a staggering 163.5 meters long. Squeezed into that are two helicopter pads, two swimming pools, a disco, 24 guest cabins and a submarine that can submerge 50 meters.Hide Caption 11 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle The first of two entries from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. With a glass-bottom swimming pool, recording studio and submarine it is the height of luxury but is also loaned out for scientific research projects.Hide Caption 12 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Allen's second-choice vessel is Tatoosh, a mere snip at $100m when he bought it in 2001. It created headlines when the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea hired it for £400,000 so the rapper Eve could perform for him.Hide Caption 13 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, emir of Dubai, owns this 158-meter monster named Dubai. The maximum 24 guests on board can enjoy the cinema, disco, gym, helicopter and submarine should they so desire.Hide Caption 14 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle The ninth largest yacht in the world when built, the Lady Moura has since slipped out of the top 30. Owned by Saudi Arabian businessman Dr Nasser al-Rashid, it houses a pool that can be indoors or out as the weather befits. It famously ran aground at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.Hide Caption 15 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle The good news is Serene can be hired, the bad news is that apparently cost Bill Gates $5m when he did so. Owned by Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Scheffler, the build cost $330m.Hide Caption 16 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Built in 1989, this 90-meter boat is in the ownership of the crown prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan. At capacity it requires a staff of 71.Hide Caption 17 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Covering eight floors, Topaz is thought to have cost in the region of $500m and stretches to 147m in length. Made in Germany, it's home is supposedly in the Cayman Islands but boasts owners from the United Arab Emirates.Hide Caption 18 of 19 Photos: Super yachts: From A to Quattroelle Once in the ownership of Oracle boss Larry Ellison, this boat was formerly known as Katana but now boasts the title Enigma and is owned by Aidan Barclay, the son of British billionaire David Barclay, who owns the Daily Telegraph. Enigma has a top speed of 30 knots.Hide Caption 19 of 19"They're sort of symbols for the Chesapeake Bay in a sense and a symbol for what the environmental movement can do when they put their minds to it," conservancy chief Dunn says. "To be able to see them on every dock, post and shipwreck in the Chesapeake is heartening and a story of great educational value for the public at large."Local streams also support rare fish species such as the longnose gar and the warmouth, says Dunn, and Chesapeake Bay is an important nursery habitat for striped bass."The Potomac River is a treasured resource. It's one of the major contributors of freshwater to the Chesapeake and it has this wonderful combination of history, recreational opportunities and natural beauty," Dunn adds. For Shomette, the educational benefits are key to the overall strategy plan. Along with encouraging more tourists to visit the area, he wants to see more kids kayaking around the vessels, like he did all those years ago, watching the ships and wildlife evolve. "One of the things we want to do is adopt a ship for the high schools, so a school can go out to its ship to find out what plants are growing, what features are devolving, what features are disappearing, occupation of birds," he says. "It would also contribute to the long-term assessment of that ship." Several hurdles remain before Shomette and Dunn can start celebrating, but they have reason to be optimistic of a positive decision next year.According to the Chesapeake Conservancy, more than 60 local organizations and constituents have already backed the proposal, and the response from two public meetings held locally in November has further buoyed their mood. "After the environmental impact statement and the public comment period, which is over on January 15, we can move forward. And hopefully we will have a dedication, if everything goes right, on the anniversary of the U.S. entry into WWI. "It's why we built the greater part of the vessels that are there." Click here for more information on the historic vessels in Mallows Bay
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It's been over a week since Wikileaks promised to hand over more information on hacking tools and tactics of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the affected tech companies, following a leak of a roughly 8,761 documents that Wikileaks claimed belonged to CIA hacking units.
"We have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out," WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange said during a Facebook Live press conference last week.
However, it looks like the things aren't that easier for tech companies as they look.
After days of waiting, Assange made its first contact with Apple, Microsoft, and Google this week and finally made his intentions clear – no sharing of bugs and vulnerabilities the CIA is or was allegedly taking advantage of until certain demands are met.
Multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Motherboard that Assange sent an email to Apple, Google, Microsoft and other companies mentioned in the Vault 7 Leak this week and instead of reporting the bugs and exploits found in the leaked CIA documents, he made some demands.
A document included in the email listed "a series of conditions" that the tech companies need to fulfill before gaining access to the actual technical details and code of the hacking tools the anti-secrecy organization has in its possession.
Although the exact conditions are still unclear, one of the sources mentioned a 90-day disclosure deadline, which would require tech companies to issue a patch for the vulnerabilities within a three-month timeframe.
It's also not clear if any of the affected tech companies plan to comply with Wikileaks' demands.
While major tech companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft said that their recent security updates had already fixed the bugs mentioned in Vault 7, they would probably need to check out what WikiLeaks has in its store to ensure proper deployment of patches.
What will happen next is entirely unclear, but since the CIA has had its hacking arsenal public, the best option for the agency is to personally disclose all those loopholes and exploits to the affected companies to keep itself and its citizens safe from hackers as well as foreign government.
"WikiLeaks and the government hold all the cards here, there's not much the tech companies can do on their own besides rabidly looking through their code to look for any issues that might be related," one of the anonymous sources said.
Vault 7 is just the beginning of WikiLeaks' Year Zero disclosure, as the group promised to release more from the government and intelligence agencies in coming weeks.
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Story highlightsThe gangsters were on trial for the murders of car drivers Several people were also injured in the incidentMoscow (CNN)Three gang members were killed after they disarmed guards and opened fire in a courthouse in the Russian capital, Moscow, state media reported. The three were part of a group of five gangsters from the GTA street gang, who tried to seize the guards' weapons in an elevator, Russia Interior Ministry spokeswoman Tatiana Petrova told state-run news agency TASS. They were defendants being taken to trial at the Regional Court in the outskirts of Moscow at the time, she said. "Three of the arrested were killed while trying to flee the scene when the elevator was forcibly stopped, two were wounded," Petrova said. A bailiff and armed guard also suffered bullet wounds in the attack, lawyer Sofia Rubasskaya, who was in the building at the time, told TASS. At least two policemen were also wounded."We were at a different session when heard shots fired. More than 20 shots were made. We began to be evacuated. I saw a wounded woman bailiff, her face in blood. Later somebody said that an armed guard had been injured," Rubasskaya said. Read MoreThe incident is not thought to be terrorist related and the court has resumed its hearings, TASS reported. The members of the GTA Gang, which took its name after a computer game, are charged with the murders of car drivers in the Moscow and neighboring Kaluga regions in 2012 and 2014, Russian media reports. CNN's Angela Dewan and Carol Jordan contributed to this report.
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Paris (CNN)The United States is not interested in pursuing dialogue with Iran despite President Trump's insistence he is willing to sit down for talks, according to one of the European nations attempting to mediate between the two sides.French authorities -- among other European nations -- continue to search for a way to defuse growing tensions between the US and Iran. But the French say they see "no signal the US is interested in dialogue," a defense source in Paris told CNN.Asked if France would be part of an anti-Iran coalition, which the Trump administration seems to be attempting to construct, the source said that while the French authorities regarded themselves as "good allies," they would not "automatically" follow Washington's line on Iran."We have our own goals... our own interests," the source added.The White House has been approached for comment.Read MoreIt seems likely that acting American defense secretary Mark Esper will hear concerns from French Defense Minister Florence Parly at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels Wednesday.French forces in the Persian Gulf continue to carry out joint exercises with the US, including providing force protection for American aircraft carriers. When asked if that cooperation would continue if there were to be a confrontation the French source said: "We are not at that point yet."At a press briefing, French intelligence services said they did not believe that the US drone, which was shot down by Iran last week, had violated Iranian air space or rules of operation. Iran plans to speed up uranium enrichmentIran said Wednesday it will speed up its enrichment and stockpile of low-grade uranium after its 10-day deadline for European countries to circumvent US sanctions expires on Thursday, the country's Atomic Energy Organization said.Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman, said that after the deadline passes, Iran will exceed the uranium production limit of 300 kilograms, as well as accelerate uranium enrichment to 3.7% -- which is above the 3.67% mandated in the nuclear deal, agreed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.Iran says it will break the uranium stockpile limit agreed under nuclear deal in 10 days Kamalvandi said it would only take one or two days for Iran to cross the 3.7% limit, according to Iranian State TV IRIB. Iran is "fully prepared to speed up its efforts to improve its nuclear industry in order to help economic development of the country," he said, IRIB reported.Under the nuclear deal, Iran was permitted to stockpile limited amounts of enriched uranium and heavy water produced in that process, exporting any excess. Doing so has become extremely difficult after the US revoked waivers that allowed Iran to export those excess stockpiles, effectively forcing Iran to halt enrichment or ignore the limits -- which it is now doing.The spokesman signaled that the remaining European signatories -- France, Germany, and the UK -- still had time to fulfill their obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but added that requesting more time would mean they either cannot -- or do not want to -- carry out their commitments, IRIB reported.July 7th marks another deadline set by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani to further scale back the country's commitment to the deal if the remaining signatories don't ease restrictions on Iran's banking and oil sectors.CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Bethlehem Feleke in Atlanta contributed reporting.
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The popular copy and paste website 'Pastebin' created a decade ago for software developers and even by hackers groups to share source code, dumps and stolen data, has more recently been leveraged by cyber criminals to target millions of users.
Compromising a website and then hosting malware on it has become an old tactic for hackers, and now they are trying their hands in compromising vast majority of users in a single stroke. Researchers have discovered that hackers are now using Pastebin to spread malicious backdoor code.
According to a blog post published yesterday by a senior malware researcher at Sucuri, Denis Sinegubko, the hackers are leveraging the weakness in older versions of the RevSlider, a popular and a premium WordPress plugin. The plugin comes packaged and bundled into the websites' themes in such a way that many website owners don't even know they have it.
In order to exploit the vulnerability, first hackers look for a RevSlider plugin in the target website and once discovered, they use a second vulnerability in Revslider and attempt to upload a malicious backdoor to the website.
"Technically, the criminals used Pastebin for what it was built for – to share code snippets," Sinegubko wrote in a blog post. "The only catch is that the code is malicious, and it is used in illegal activity (hacking) directly off of the Pastebin website."
Security researchers came across a segment of code that injects the content of a Base64-encoded $temp variable into a WordPress core wp-links-opml.php file. Researchers noticed some code is being downloaded from the legitimate Pastebin.com website and is dependent on using a parameter, wp_nonce_once, that disguises the fact that it calls upon an actual Pastebin file.
The wp_nonce_once parameter, which is commonly used to protect against unexpected or duplicate requests, also makes the malicious code difficult to block, and at the same time "adds flexibility to the backdoor," the researcher claims.
This means that the malicious backdoor can be tricked to download and execute any code snippet hosted on Pastebin — even those that don't exist at the time of injection — you just need to pass a request through that wp-links-opml.php file.
So far, it's unclear exactly how widespread this malicious backdoor is, but the impact could be much dangerous when it comes to Pastebin which has 1.5 million active user accounts as of last year.
Founded in 2002, Pastebin was initially developed as an open online forum where computer developers could share programming code. But the site's gradual appeal to hackers of all ranks made it increasingly difficult to monitor the site for bad behavior. Many hacker groups share data stolen from famous companies via the service and some pastes are also known to be used in malware attacks, which may contain encrypted addresses and even base64-encoded malicious binary code.
Last month security researchers at Sucuri discovered a new type of malware threat, dubbed SoakSoak, that was modifying files in WordPress websites that used an older version of "Slider Revolution," aka RevSlider, a slideshow plugin. At the time, the search engine giant Google blacklisted over 11,000 websites it spotted spreading the malware.
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Story highlightsMercedes star Lewis Hamilton crashes out of opening day of testing WednesdayProblem traced to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear caliperMarussia appoints Brazil's Luis Razia as its second drive for new seasonRazia replaces Timo Glock and will partner Britain's Max ChiltonLewis Hamilton endured a nightmare start to testing his new Mercedes after driving straight off the track at Jerez on his first day following a hydraulic problem Wednesday.The 2008 world champion, who left McLaren at the end of last season, was on his 15th lap of timed testing when his car went off the track and hit a barrier of tires.Hamilton's accident, which prevented him from returning to action, follows teammate Nico Rosberg's disastrous run which was ended by a minor fire Tuesday.Webber vows to battle Vettel for F1 titleThe German's car was found to have been suffering with electrical problems, while Mercedes took to Twitter to give an update on Hamilton's setback."Lewis suffered a loss of rear brake pressure, the front brakes enabled him to slow the car but he couldn't avoid the barrier," said Mercedes on Twitter. Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 cars Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Pastor Maldonado took the new Williams for a spin at Barcelona on February 19 following the launch at Circuit de Catalunya.Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – The new Infiniti Red Bull Racing RB9 was launched at the Austrian-owned Formula One team's English headquarters in Milton Keynes on February 3.Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Mark Webber, left, and triple world champion Sebastian Vettel pose with the Red Bull they will be driving this year.Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Title rivals Ferrari launched the new F138 which they hope will power Fernando Alonso to glory in 2013.Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – British team McLaren unveiled its car on January 31. New driver Sergio Perez (right) poses with 2009 world champion Jenson Button and the new MP4-28.Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Former McLaren star Lewis Hamilton, left, and new teammate Nico Rosberg pose with the new Mercedes W04 on February 4.Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Sauber's new C32 was launched in Switzerland on February 2. It will be driven by Perez's replacement Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg, who left Force India in 2012.Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Force India's Paul Di Resta with the new VJM06 which was launched on February 1 at Silverstone. His new teammate had yet to be named.Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Charles Pic and Dutch rookie Giedo van der Garde launched Caterham's new CT03 car on the first day of preseason testing at Circuito de Jerez on February 5.Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: F1 teams unveil 2013 carsF1 teams unveil 2013 cars – Romain Grosjean was third-fastest on the opening day in Jerez for Lotus, which was the first team to launch its new car -- the E21 -- on January 28. Hide Caption 10 of 10 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in Brazil Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilSuper Seb – Sebastian Vettel celebrates after securing his third consecutive Formula One title. The Red Bull racer claimed a sixth place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix to win the championship by three points from Fernando Alonso.Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilShades of glory – Fernando Alonso was looking cool and relaxed before heading into battle at Interlagos. The Ferrari driver, who started the day 13 points adrift of championship leader and title rival Vettel, qualified in eighth before being upgraded to seventh following the 10-place grid penalty meted out to Williams' Pastor Maldonado. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilChasing history – Vettel began the day aiming to become the youngest ever triple world champion in Formula One. The German, 25, started fourth on the grid with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on pole. A top four finish would be good enough for Vettel to win the title irrespective of where rival Alonso finished.Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilPole sitter – Hamilton started the day on pole position ahead of his McLaren teammate Jenson Button. Brazil holds fond memories for Hamilton, who won the drivers' title at Interlagos back in 2008.Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilDamaged goods – Vettel suffered a nightmare start on the opening lap after being hit on the fourth turn and suffering damage to his car. His team radio swiftly brought news, telling the German: "There is visible damage. It is not front wing, we cannot fix it." The incident left Vettel at the back of the grid but by the 24th lap of 71, the safety car had been called to clear debris from the track with the Red Bull racer having clawed his way back to fifth place.Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilRunning wide – Alonso lost grip on the first turn of the circuit as tension soared during a pulsating race at Interlagos. The Ferrari man, who last won the title back in 2006, was hoping to collect his third championship trophy by sneaking past Vettel.Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilHamilton's hopes dashed – Hamilton had led at Interlagos before a collision with Force India's Nico Hulkenburg forced him out of the race and allowed teammate Jenson Button to pass and claim victory.Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilJoy for Jenson – Button salutes the crowd at Interlagos following his victory. He said: "First of all I want to congratulate the whole team. This is the perfect way to end the season. We have had ups and downs and to end on a high bodes well for 2013."Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilThe new Schumacher? – Michael Schumacher congratulates fellow German Vettel on his title triumph. Seven-time world champion Schumacher finished seventh in his final race before retirement. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilParty time – Vettel celebrates with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone following his title win in Brazil.Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: 2012 F1 season climax in BrazilGive me five! – Vettel celebrates with his team and admirers after a pulsating race at Interlagos. There's sure to be a big party after another fantastic season for the German driver and the Red Bull team.Hide Caption 11 of 11 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel? Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Case for greatness – Sebastian Vettel celebrates with his team and admirers after a pulsating race at Interlagos in Brazil. But where does the Red Bull driver rank in the pantheon of F1's virtuosos?Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Dizzying denouement – On Sunday, Vettel fought off feisty toreador Fernando Alonso to capture the drivers' title in a dizzying denouement and join an elite band of Formula One world champions.Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Hard drive – It is mark of Vettel's greatness that he had come to from behind at Interlagos after a nightmare start on the opening lap when he was hit on the fourth turn and suffered damage to his car. It left Vettel at the back of the grid but by the 24th lap the Red Bull racer had clawed his way back to fifth place.Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Schumacher verdict – "Even if he appears to have a car that makes it possible for him, nevertheless he has to do it," said seven-time world champon Michael Schumahcer of Vettel's achievements.Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Special driver – "He's going for it 200% and it's a very tough job," added Schumacher of Vettel's talent. "He managed to pull it out and that is the extra effort that comes from him and to do this so consistently is very special."Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Newey genius – The 2012 season demonstrated that if you want to get ahead in F1 make sure you have a good engineer in your team. Arguably there is no better engineer in the sport than Adiran Newey.Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Schumacher domination – "Schumacher had five consecutive titles but that was in a period when Ferrari had influence on tyre development," said former McLaren GP winner John Watson.Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Rare talent – "The interesting part is that this championship has been so hard-fought and it didn't really come together until the last races,"said 1978 champion Mario Andretti. "This season has been one of the best in memory. Vettel is one of the rare talents that don't come along very often."Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Best designed car – "Vettel is making the most of the best design in F1," added Andretti.who is one of only two American drivers to have won the Formula One title. Here Andretti (R) is seen talking to Stirling Moss, during the championship winning season in 1978.Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?F1's dark days – When Schumacher won his first world title with Benetton in 1994 it was also one of F1's darkest periods. The German won the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 where both Simtek racer Roland Ratzenberger and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna lost their lives. Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Ecclestone acclaim – Vettel celebrates with Formule One supremo Bernie Ecclestone following his title win in Brazil.Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Prost record – Vettel is now chasing after Frenchman Alain Prost , who won four drivers' titles.Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?The slaughter era – "Fangio is my hero," said former McLaren GP winner Watson. "Why I respect him is that he won five world championships in an era when motor racing was fundamentally a slaughter."Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: How good is Sebastian Vettel?Vettel's quest – Vettel aims to join Prost next year -- then five-time winner Fangio and Schumacher's magnificent seven are all that are ahead of him in his quest for total greatness.Hide Caption 14 of 14"Obvious damage to the front wing and nose; we're checking the car over now. Lewis himself is fine."Update from Jerez, we have traced the problem to the hydraulic brake line connecting to the right-rear caliper."Hamilton is expected to return to the track on Friday following the collision, which saw the car career on straight for some 70 meters at 280 kilometers per hour.Ferrari ready for Red Bull fightMeanwhile, Russian team Marussia has replaced Timo Glock with Brazil's Luis Razia as its second driver for the 2013 season.The 23-year-old, who finished as runner-up in last season's GP2 series, will partner fellow rookie Max Chilton when the campaign starts in Australia on March 17. "It's fantastic to be back with the Marussia F1 Team and with pretty much the same group of people I worked with back in 2010 when I was reserve driver," Razia told the Marussia website.Glock's F1 future in doubt after leaving Marussia"I am very proud to take the step up to a Formula 1 race seat, particularly with the team I began this journey with, since they helped show me what it takes to progress to the highest level. "The past two seasons in GP2 have been all about proving that I have what it takes and that I'm ready. "I am also looking forward to the first race in Melbourne and I'm excited to be racing alongside Max, who I competed against last season.
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Easy Router PIN Guessing with new WiFi Setup vulnerability
There is a newly discovered vulnerability in the WiFi Protected Setup standard that reduces the number of attempts it would take an attacker to brute-force the PIN for a wireless router's setup process. The flaw results in too much information about the PIN being returned to an attacker and makes the PIN quite weak, affecting the security of millions of WiFi routers and access points. Security researcher Stefan Viehbock discovered the vulnerability (PDF) and reported it to US-CERT.
The problem affects a number of vendors' products, including D-Link, Netgear, Linksys and Buffalo. "I noticed a few really bad design decisions which enable an efficient brute force attack, thus effectively breaking the security of pretty much all WPS-enabled Wi-Fi routers. As all of the of the more recent router models come with WPS enabled by default, this affects millions of devices worldwide" Viehbock said.
"One authentication attempt usually took between 0.5 and 3 seconds to complete. It was observed that the calculation of the Diffie-Hellman Shared Key (needs to be done before generating M3) on the AP took a big part of the authentication time. This can be speeded up by choosing a very small DH Secret Number, thus generating a very small DH Public Key and making Shared Key calculation on the AP's side easier.," he says.
"When the PIN authentication fails the access point will send an EAP-NACK message back to the client. The EAP-NACK messages are sent in a way that an attacker is able to determine if the first half of the PIN is correct. Also, the last digit of the PIN is known because it is a checksum for the PIN. This design greatly reduces the number of attempts needed to brute force the PIN. The number of attempts goes from 108 to 104 + 103 which is 11,000 attempts in total," the US-CERT advisory says.
Viehbock also developed a Python tool to brute-force the PINs. He hasn't released the tool yet, but says he may do so once the code is in better shape. None of the affected vendors have released fixes or workarounds for the bug, but Viehbock says in his paper that disabling WPS looks to be the main practical mitigation, Implementing long lock-out times for multiple authentication failures would help as well.
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