CyberSecurity in the News

• This article was written by Drake Bennett and published on bloomberg.com on August 18, 2023, at 7:00 am.

• This article appeared to be truthful and informative with few ads. 

• It was written slightly informally but I liked this style as it still was informative. 

• The links and citations provided were not relevant to the topic. The article referenced Microsoft and I would have liked to have a link to the reference. 

Summary:

Though this article did not provide one specific cyber attack it is very informative. QR codes are something we as a society accept as second nature. Whether ordering food, sending money, or scanning a flyer, we rarely give QR codes a second thought. We can protect ourselves from falling for a spoof QR code by accessing the original source first. What do I mean by that? An example given in the article was a QR code at a job fair, before scanning look at the company's official web page. Does it appear to match up with the information the poster is providing? Is the QR code leading you to (say a job application) readily available on said website? There are many ways to check your sources and use caution to avoid a potential cyber attack. 

• This article was written by Bill Toulas on August 15, 2023 and 5:21 pm and published on bleepingcomputer.com.

• This article appeared to be truthful and accurate providing several links, sources, and quotes while upholding an overall professional and informative tone. 

• This article was very informative and professional. 

• There were several links within the article directing readers to the sources of quotes, facts, and statements. 

Summary:

The article describes a mass takeover of LinkedIn accounts, even accounts with multiple security measures had to be restricted whilst this was occurring to prevent more damage.  Owners of these accounts were the ones most affected as their accounts were shut down for days to weeks. During this attack, some account owners were even sent ransom demands. LinkedIn users have been urged to set up two-factor authentication, create more difficult passwords, and revise personal security measures. This article also provides a comment section at the bottom of the page and after reading through it it's easy to see how some who are not made aware of the importance of security measures can be taken advantage of more easily. The commenters who had two-factor authentication previously set up did not experience as much of a set back as those who did not.