Are You Being Tracked? Use these Codes to Find Out! Here’s how to detect if your phone conversations and messages are being tracked, and how to remove the privacy threats immediately. There are times when you may just have a gut feeling you’re being tracked, in the sense that someone is listening to your phone conversations or that the private messages you send and receive on your phone are being read by someone they aren’t intended to reach. This situation is real and can happen to anyone. The purpose of such tracking can be as innocent as a parent wanting to keep tabs on his/her child’s activities or as suspicious as a spouse keen to know what his/her partner is up to. There are many other reasons why smartphone tracking can take place. But mere gut feeling cannot confirm whether or not you’re being tracked, nor will it do anything to stop the process. Instead, you will need to understand how technology permits such tracking and how you can protect your ...

Tor Project Joined HackerOne to Launch Bug Bounty Program The Tor Project announces a bug bounty program with HackerOne, which has run similar programs to handsomely reward users who identify bugs in software. Within the world of technology, those who create new programs and software solutions put their products through rigorous tests before releasing them to the public. But times have changed. Now, technology companies have improved their capabilities to such an extent that they challenge users to detect bugs in their programs and they pay them for it. And there are many instances of companies doling out millions of dollars under such schemes, which are popularly called “bug bounty programs.” The latest to join this trend is the Tor Project, which has roped in HackerOne as its partner in this endeavor. Together, they’re prepared to reward the users of Tor (The Onion Router), if they can find out deficiencies in the browser. A Little About Tor & Hacke...

Bupa Employee Found Selling Medical Records on the Dark Web An employee at international health insurer Bupa stole thousands of customers’ data and posted it for sale on the dark web. Current advancements to the internet and all of its capacities bring about a sense of urgency when it comes to safeguarding online security, especially in situations where crucial information can be stolen and exploited. A testament to this lesson is evident in the repercussions of a recent data breach in the international health insurance company, Bupa. A Bupa employee managed to copy and steal data regarding more than 108,000 customers, then exposing a majority of that information on the dark web. The breach was spotted by DataBreaches.net after some of the stolen data were found posted on the site of a vendor going by the name of MoZeal. The dark web listing included a number of customers’ insurance details, such as registration IDs, contact information, names and even b...

Fake Tor Browser Used to Target Dark Web Users A fake Tor browser is circulating the dark web, luring visitors into placing orders on a supposed darknet marketplace only to have their money stolen. In what can only be termed as a scam to dupe those already involved in clandestine transactions, a fake browser disguised as Tor is leading unsuspecting dark web users into buying goods on a darknet marketplace called “Rodeo.” There is fear that none of the ordered contents will ever reach the buyers. Experts at the technical support site  Bleeping Computer  first uncovered the fraud scheme, and are actively investigating the situation. It is common knowledge that Tor is the default program used by dark net dwellers. This includes users who deal in all things illegal—from drugs to guns to stolen goods to even fake currencies. Dealers and buyers would access their respective .onion sites and enter into these transactions, making payments in Bitcoin or other cryptoc...

EU Report: Cryptocurrency Use Rare Among Organized Crime Groups A new report released by the European Union reveals that the use of digital currencies is beyond typical criminal operations. Organized crime has always thrived on illegitimately obtained wealth for illegal activities across the boundaries of nations. This has been the norm since time immemorial. In today’s technologically advanced world, virtual money has replaced physical cash for almost all exchanges and transactions. And accordingly, it has been rumored darkly by observers that cryptocurrency was being stolen by organized criminals and used for all their illegal activities. However, a recent report published by the European Union shows that organized crime groups have been stumbling in cryptocurrency stolen from the internet. This sounds like an intriguing new development for law enforcement in the region. The report states that members of the organized crime group have been inclined to use ...

How to Buy Bitcoin with Cash [11 easy steps] When it comes to both media and academia, one would think that publishing a paper in a sea of overflowing papers cannot make a difference, right? However, the paper entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System , supposedly published by a Japanese person named Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, did change the course of history. What exactly are Bitcoins? How do users buy them with cash and, moreover, stay safe in doing so? These are topics that will be delved into within the following posts. All that glitters isn’t gold: The Bitcoin Coins A few months after the paper was published, in January 2009, Bitcoin became defined as a cryptocurrency, a digital payment system. Bitcoin is basically electronic impulses complexly coded to have monetary value. As such, Bitcoin overturned the traditional federal banking system, evaded law enforcements and became a highly desired currency for general public. As they are d...

xDedic Marketplace Infamous for Selling Access to Hacked Servers The xDedic marketplace now has over 85,000 hacked RDP servers listed for sale or purchase for an average price of $6. After Kaspersky Labs ousted xDedic last summer for employing hacked servers for purchase or hire, many believed it was curtains for the marketplace. The exposé was meant to steer traffic away from the xDedic marketplace for dealing with illegitimately obtained servers. However, after just a few weeks offline,   the marketplace was back  doing what it apparently knows best: selling even more hacked servers for an average price of $6. Kaspersky’s  25-page report  revealed the initial number of hacked servers for sale or hire on xDedic marketplace to be around 70,000. After rising from its ashes, it was confirmed that the marketplace now has over 85,000 servers listed for sale or hire. The majority of the compromised servers suffer the same fatal flaw—they have open...

Former Bitcoin Exchange CEO Facing Trial in Japan Mark Karpeles, the CEO of once-popular BTC exchange Mt. Gox, pleads not guilty to having embezzled Bitcoins worth around $480 million in 2014. The popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been in the news for one reason or another over the past few months. The current hot topic is the legal proceedings going on in Tokyo—the trial of deposed CEO Mark Karpeles of Mt. Gox, the Bitcoin exchange that went under. He has been accused of having swindled thousands of Bitcoins that belonged to investors from across different continents. The case relates to the disappearance of over 850,000 in Bitcoin from the virtual treasury of then-popular Mt. Gox exchange. Following this loss, the exchange was declared bankrupt and pulled down from the web. It was claimed that the funds were lost due to a hack of the exchange, but people who lost Bitcoin don’t believe this. Mark Karpeles was at the helm of these affairs and has already been ...

UK Businessman Accused of Scamming Bitcoin Investors U.K. businessman Renwick Haddow has been charged with securities fraud after Bitcoin Store and Bar Works turned out to be Ponzi schemes. British businessman Renwick Haddow is in police custody after he was arrested and charged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with a multimillion-dollar Bitcoin scam and an alleged Ponzi scheme. The furtive scammer, who was living in New York at the time of the arrest, was reportedly running a fraudulent Bitcoin investment platform known as Bitcoin Store. He was also alleged to be behind a similarly fraudulent workspace creation firm known as Bar Works. According to reports, Haddow diverted all of the investors’ funds into accounts situated in Morocco and Mauritius. Smoke Screens  Following his arrest, the director of New York’s SEC office told The Guardian that Haddow secretly ran the two fake companies while keeping up elaborate s...