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Take money away from ransomware attacks

Meanwhile … a 60 Minutes story said that cybersecurity investigators worry ransomware attacks may worsen as young, Western hackers work with Russians. Even though this only targets businesses big and small as well as government agencies, we are the collateral damage. Hexagon Center and HX Weekly are here to keep us on our toes.

Further … Students turning to cyberfraud as huge phishing site infiltrated, police reveal

📰 Headline Highlights 📰

• Roku Says More Than 500,000 Accounts Were Compromised in a Cyberattack

• FBI Warns of Massive Toll Services Smishing Scam

• Cisco: Hacker breached multifactor authentication message provider on April 1

• Daixin ransomware gang claims attack on Omni Hotels

• Creating sexually explicit deepfakes to become a criminal offence

• T-Mobile, Verizon workers get texts offering $300 for SIM swaps

• Police take down $249-a-month global phishing service used by 2,000 hackers

• 180k Impacted by Data Breach at Michigan Healthcare Organization

• Advanced Phishing Kit Adds LastPass Branding for Use in Phishing Campaigns

• Frontier Communications Shuts Down Systems Following Cyberattack

In other news, Russian disinformation efforts around US elections ‘kicked into gear over the last 45 days’: Microsoft. And don’t forget the story we shared from The Guardian about China using AI to disrupt elections in multiple nations.

MUST READ: This is a Tweet sent out by the hacker group that breached Change Healthcare, announcing the sale of the (our) data mined in the attack.

🤷‍♀️ What now?

Did you receive a call from the IRS or FCC or Social Security?

I received a call today from the FCC. Except … it was an audio FaceTime call. It is just as crucial for you to not answer it as it is for you to not fall for it. Government agencies and law enforcements do not call you out of the blue. (Although they may visit you at your home.)

Pay attention to what is being asked of you. If you are contacted from a familiar company and they request you move your money “to protect it,” withdraw money to purchase gold bars, visit a Bitcoin ATM or purchase a gift cards, this is a scam.

If you're reading this and think you have been scammed, do the following:

• Contact your relevant financial institution immediately

• Report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

• Contact Hexagon Center or reply to this email.

Information in this section is from an email newsletter sent by San Diego County Credit Union.

Hexagon Center’s work seems to be more and more important each passing day as we receive stories of experiences that people have of being scammed. Hexagon Center is not only here to warn you before you get scammed/breached/compromised but also to help you restore normalcy in your lives.

Despite our limited resources and the many things we have to juggle at this time, we are pushing forward in helping other avoid falling victim to cyber criminals.

Inside Hexagon

The biggest challenge that Hexagon Center faces is to convince everyone that they are all targets of these cyber attackers. All that the bad actors have to do is to succeed once but their targets have to be vigilant ALL the time.

Most people don’t think they will fall victim to cyber predators. However, we are all vulnerable to these bad actors, including the Hexagon Center. Even though Hexagon Center helps victims of these criminals, it is always better, less time, less money to NOT fall victim at all.

To help people be more aware of cybersecurity, Hexagon Center has created the Hexagon Network. Additionally, all volunteers of Hexagon Center will be part of the Hexagon Network.

Glossary/Legend:

• Cyber Attackers and Cyber Predators - these terms refer to people who use any kind of technology, including cell phones, to prey on us.

• Automated bad bots - Bots that do everything from web scraping, account takeovers, spreading spam and launching denial of service attacks. Strengthen your accounts by having high security logins where available and be extra-cautious of suspicious traffic.

• Phishing Attack - a type of cyber attack where a malicious actor sends a fake message that appears to come from a trusted source.

• Smishing - the fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.

• SIM Swap - also known as a SIM hijacking attack, is a type of fraud where cybercriminals trick a cellular service provider into switching a victim's phone number to a SIM card they control. This allows the criminal to gain access to the victim's bank accounts, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information. The main aim of SIM swapping is usually to exploit two-factor authentication.

• DRP - Disaster Response Plan. A plan on what to do in times when there is a disaster and you have lost your devices.

• Ransomware - is a set of technologies that allow computers to perform advanced functions. AI combines math, computer science, and cognitive science to mimic human behavior.

• FaceTime - audio/video chat app only available on Apple devices.

• Deepfake - A synthetic media that has been manipulated to replace one person's likeness with another. Deepfakes are created by a special type of machine learning called "deep" learning. They can be videos, photos, or audio recordings that appear real but have been manipulated with AI.

HOUSEKEEPING

Spread cybersecurity culture

Do you have any suggestions on how we can further share this newsletter? Tell your friends and family about us by sharing with them the Hexagon Center official website:

hexagoncenter.org

You may reply to this newsletter or email us at
[email protected]

Send us any questions or things you want to talk about. Please share some fun facts with us. We welcome feedback and suggestions.

Hexagon Center is formed as a nonprofit corporation in California for public benefit,
in the process of attaining 501(C)(3) status.

_DISCLAIMER

_{Cybersecurity is an ever-changing field, and threats may evolve. While Hexagon Center strives to provide accurate and timely information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. Users are responsible for implementing their security measures and staying informed about the latest cybersecurity developments.}

_{SEE MORE DISCLAIMER HERE}