social media Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Cyber Protection Group

New Instagram “Privacy Policy” is a Hoax

August 23, 2019

Deadline day is hitting Instagram. Will a post on your feed actually protect your data from being used against you in court? Let’s find out. If you scrolled through your Instagram feed within the last week, you may have come across a post like this: This “contract” popped up on hundreds of thousands of account across the app. Users who posted this picture ranged from everyday users to celebrities. Some of the high profile “posters” include: Judd Apatow, Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts, Debra Messing, Taraji p Henson, Beyoncé’s mom, and Wacka Flocka Flame (via @TaylorLorenz on Twitter). This lead to the post spreading fear and confusion… Read More

Fake iPhone Lightning Cords Could Allow Hackers to Take Over Your Devices

August 16, 2019

cords Have you ever borrowed a charger cable? You may want to think about it the next time your iPhone is on 10%. Hacker Summer Camp Last week in Las Vegas, Black Hat 2019 took place. This conference brings tech giants, programmers, security professionals and more together to share ideas and innovation in the field. Throughout the conference, expos and panels are happening so that researchers can share their work and bring awareness to the need for cyber security. One researcher that caught the attention of many goes by the name MG. This researcher crafted a malicious tool of attack, and made it look completely harmless. Further, he… Read More

AT&T Employees Bribed to Unlock Devices and Install Malware

August 9, 2019

From an Outsider to an Insider AT&T discovered that from 2012 to 2018 that their own employees took bribes from an outsider and worked against the company. To begin, news of the attack on AT&T began to make headlines when the Department of Justice released a statement regarding the issue. To summarize, the DOJ charged a Pakistani man for bribing AT&T employees with over one million dollars to unlock customer devices and install malware. Further, as investigations began, more details emerged about the person responsible. Law enforcement placed Muhammad Fahd, a 34 year old man from Pakistan under arrest earlier this year in Hong Kong. Continuing, officials extradited Fahd this… Read More

Capital One Data Breach

July 30, 2019

Capital One Data Breach Capital One is one of the biggest banks in the United States. So, when the news broke of their data breach yesterday (July 29, 2019) customers and the population in general began to panic. What Happened? To begin, Capital One released a statement informing customers and the public of a data breach. In the statement, the bank reported that roughly 100 million US customers and 6 million Canadian customers were among the affected in the data breach. The customer information at risk includes, “credit card applications, including names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income”. Continuing, within that… Read More

Is FaceApp putting your privacy at risk?

July 19, 2019

FaceApp Have you ever wondered what you would look like in 50 years? The FaceApp can give you a glimpse into your wrinkle-filled future in exchange for one thing… your privacy. What is FaceApp? FaceApp – AI Face Editor is the application that everyone on social media is using, liking and sharing at the moment. FaceApp is available in the Apple App Store as well as the Google Play Store and is free to download. Within the app, it provides a… Read More

DNA Testing Kits and Privacy Concerns

July 12, 2019

DNA Testing Kits DNA testing kits like 23andMe, AncestryDNA and FamilyTreeDNA have been purchased and used by many to discover more information about ancestors and their heritage. Consumers purchase kits from various brands as gifts for friends and family as well as buying such kits out of genuine curiosity. DNA test kits are able to open doors to the past and allow people to connect with their genealogy in a whole new way. All in all, such DNA test kits services are in high-demand these days, but an even higher demand exists for the data within the kit. Let’s take a look at what happens to your DNA after receiving… Read More

Ransomware: The Basics

July 5, 2019

Ransomware Within the past month, countless city governments, corporations and individuals have fallen victim to a ransomware attack. For example, three city governments in Florida are dealing with ransomware attacks currently. Along with being attacked and losing their data, they are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get it back because they did not properly prepare for such an event. Continuing, in order to get a better understanding of how anything can be vulnerable to this type of attack, let us break down exactly what ransomware is. What is Ransomware? By definition, ransomware is, “malware planted illegally in a computer or mobile device that disables its operation or… Read More

Technology Accessories Under $50

June 28, 2019

Technology Accessories Browsing the Web If you are anything like me, you love to browse Amazon. It is almost impossible to not find what you are looking for, plus a couple of items you didn’t even know you needed. Plus, with Amazon Prime and free two-day shipping, it’s hard to resist. When I was in the market for a new MacBook Pro charger, I stumbled across a cord organizer for said charger. Just like that, the organizer made it’s way into my cart and I proceeded to check out. Finding new tech accessories like the charger organizer inspired me to browse through what other tech accessories Amazon has to offer.… Read More

Using a Password Manager – Part 1

June 21, 2019June 21, 2019

password manager If you are like me, then you may struggle with trying to remember your password for the many social media, banking and other online accounts you have. The Login Struggle With everything being online based these days, a username and password is an essential part of paying bills, connecting with others and maintaining security. As I sat at my computer trying to remember my email password, I decided to explore the realm of password managers. I have always been curious about using one to store all of my passwords. I then decided to conduct some research on password managers to see if using one would useful or… Read More

How Instagram Chooses Ads for your Account

June 14, 2019June 14, 2019

Instagram Ads Whether we like it or not, ads are popping up all over social media, quite literally. Now, a user cannot even scroll through five photos on Instagram, for example, without seeing an ad. But, nonetheless, millions of users continue to post, like and share on Instagram. As the endless scrolling continues, a user might begin to notice that the ads showing up in their feed are products or accounts they might be interested in. How does this happen? According to Instagram, they “use information about what you do on Instagram and Facebook (parent company) and on third-party sites and apps” to cater ads to users. Further, a user… Read More