Three Indian-American researchers have shown that the fingerprint-based security systems used in smartphones and other gadgets are way more vulnerable to hacking than we imagined.
Pegasus, which is capable of attacking both Android and iOS, has been around for three years and is considered one of the most sophisticated spyware in the market.
'The phone numbers of over 40 Indian journalists appear on a leaked list of potential targets for surveillance, and forensic tests have confirmed that some of them were successfully snooped upon by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware,' report Anuj Srivas and Kabir Agarwal in The Wire.
There are 7 key rules one can follow to ensure that the chances of such fraud are almost reduced to a negligible level when shopping online, says Anil Rego
The standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament has showed no signs of easing after it erupted on the opening day of the Monsoon session on July 19.
Sources said the two Acts will be amended to provide for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and for the opening of bank accounts.
The CBI has booked five people for allegedly posing as Microsoft tech support and siphoning off USD 400,000 (Rs 3.37 crore as per current rates) retirement funds of a US citizen, officials said on Friday.
Avoid clicking on any unknown links from strangers. Use a different, secure password for each social media account you have.
Sheeja Anand, a native of Payyavoor in Kannur district of Kerala, was injured in the missile strikes on Ashkelon, a coastal city in the southern part of Israel on Saturday, while she was on a video call with her husband, her family said.
He has also sought a direction to the Centre to take suitable steps to protect Indian citizens from the use of cyber-weapons or malware such as Pegasus.
"NSO is a private company, it is not a governmental project and therefore even if it is designated, it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government," Israel's Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday evening.
'The attack prima facie constitutes an act of cyber-terrorism,' the petition stated, 'that has several grave political and security ramifications, especially considering that the devices of government ministers, senior political figures and Constitutional functionaries which may contain sensitive information have been targeted.'
The Income Tax department on Tuesday issued an advisory asking taxpayers not to share their personal financial details over email or phone.
The petition, likely to come up for hearing within next few days, sought to investigate if the illegal hacking into the phones using the Pegasus spyware represented an attempt by agencies and organisations to muzzle and chill the exercise of free speech and expression of dissent in India.
The quarrel between Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation Managing Director Roopa, an Indian Police Service officer, and Indian Administrative Service officer Sindhuri, the Muzrai Department Commissioner, reached the office of the Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, with both submitting petitions seeking action against each other.
Personal details of about 533 million Facebook users globally, including 6.1 million from India, were allegedly leaked online and posted for free on hacking forums, according to a cybersecurity executive. The leaked details allegedly include names, phone numbers and other details of users of Facebook, a social media giant that had 2.80 billion monthly active users (MUAs) as of December 31, 2020.
Apple Inc, the iconic maker of iPhone and iPad, has temporarily shut down its developer site after a hacker last week tried to steal personal information about the most valued technology firm's software developers.
A Taiwanese cyber security expert has claimed to have compromised server of China based smartphone maker Xiaomi but the company called it a hoax.
WhatsApp, last month, sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, accusing it of helping those buying its spyware Pegasus break into the phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents.
Pawan Kumar Soni, a 55-year-old farmer based in Sri Ganganagar City in Rajasthan, became a victim of a cyber fraud when his 26-year-old son Harsh Vardhan opened a link from a phishing message that flashed on his mobile phone.
Unlike Israeli company NSO, whose sale of Pegasus cyber tech grabbed worldwide attention, and other manufacturers of offensive-cyber products, Cellebrite operates in a grey area between security exports and civilian ones.
Ten tips that will protect your private photos from falling prey to Internet hackers
Post your financial planning queries for rediffGURU and financial planning expert, Colonel Sanjeev Govila.
The Supreme Court-appointed committees, entrusted with the probe of unauthorised use of Pegasus, have given a slew of recommendations including amending laws to protect citizens' right to privacy and ensure the nation's cyber security.
According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant would hear on August 5 three separate petitions seeking probe into the reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli spyware Pegasus.
The sources said the Pakistani side, which spoke to the Border Security Force officials in the noon over phone, 'denied any hand' in the killing of Head Constable Narender Singh on September 18.
The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the government over the Pegasus snooping controversy and demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Prahlad Singh Patel, as also former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among those whose phone numbers were listed as potential targets for hacking through an Israeli spyware sold only to the government agencies, an international media consortium reported on Monday.
The parliamentary panel on information technology will question government officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, the committee chairman and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, and asserted that it is the "most important issue" for many members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader also claimed that the entire controversy was an "international conspiracy by the Left-wing organisations, including Amnesty International," to defame the Narendra Modi-led Central government.
Use a "virtual credit card" for every online transaction when you can't pay cash on delivery.
Personal information such as name, gender, email address and phone numbers of some Akasa Air passengers has been leaked to "unauthorised individuals", the airline stated on Sunday. India's newest carrier said it self-reported this incident to Indian Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-In, which is the government-authorised nodal agency tasked to deal with matters of this nature. However, Akasa Air asserted that there was no "intentional hacking attempt, but that the situation was reported by a research expert through a journalist for which we are grateful".
Domino's India data that included sensitive customer information such as their names, phone numbers, and credit card details has allegedly been breached and put on sale on the dark web. According to tweets by Israel-based Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, Alon Gal, the data is worth 13 terabytes (TB). He tweeted on Sunday that the data includes as many as 180 million order details, including 1 million credit card details. The data, said Gal, was up for sale on the dark web. The threat actor, he said, was asking for $550,000 for the data.
The cyber intelligence firm said that the breach includes sensitive information such as email, phone, home address, qualification, work experience etc.
The SC, in October last year, had ordered a probe into the alleged use of the spyware.
It asked users to be alert against all attempts of phishing through fake domains, emails and text messages that promise registration for a jab against the pandemic.
The Bharatiya Janata Party rejected this was any sort of demonetisation and instead reminded the Congress that even during the rule of Manmohan Singh, old currency notes were taken off circulation.
BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn't sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
The spokesperson said Farhad Mohammad Sheikh, alias Babla, was arrested on Saturday evening.
The Wire news portal, in the third part of its revelations from the international collaborative journalistic investigation called the Pegasus Project, reported that those marked as potential targets for surveillance include Ambedkarite activist Ashok Bharti; academic and chronicler of life in Naxal-dominated regions Bela Bhatia; railway union leader Shiv Gopal Mishra and Delhi-based labour rights activist Anjani Kumar.
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