Whatsapp has released new updates that allow call participants to mute anyone on the call and new privacy features that will enable users to selectively hide their last seen, about and profile pictures. Former Amazon employee Paige Thompson was found guilty of seven counts of computer and wire fraud for carrying out the Capital One hack in July 2019.
Latest leaks around the Motorola Razr 3 reveal that Moto’s third-gen foldable might be using the same battery as its predecessor. Security researchers have observed a new phishing campaign that’s dropping the ‘Matanbuchus’ malware to install Cobalt Strike beacons on infected machines.
Last but not least, QNAP is warning users of another wave of DeadBolt ransomware attacks against the company’s NAS devices and has urged users to update their devices to the latest security firmware.
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Whatsapp’s new call and privacy updates
- Whatsapp now allows call participants to mute each other. The feature will allow anyone on a Whatsapp call to mute other users.
- Participants on calls will also see an indicator telling that a person has joined a call, something Whatsapp states will be beneficial during large calls.
- The text messaging app has also announced new privacy features that allow users to select people from their contacts list and either allow or block them from seeing their last seen status, profile photo and about section.
- The feature is rolling out to both Android and iOS devices incrementally.
H/t: AndroidCentral
Former Amazon employee convicted in Capital One hack
- Former Amazon Web Services (AWS) employee Paige Thompson was found guilty of seven counts of computer and wire fraud linked to the July 2019 Captial One hack by a US District Court in Seattle.
- Thompson, who went by the online moniker “Erratic”, was arrested for hacking Capital One back in July 2019.
- The hack was one of the largest ever recorded, leaking names, birthdays, social security numbers, email addresses and phone numbers of over 100 million people in the US and Canada.
- The DOJ states that Thompson developed a tool to scan AWS for misconfigured accounts and then used them to access Capital One systems and dozens of other AWS accounts.
- Additionally, Thompson was also accused by the DOJ of hacking into companies’ servers to install crypto mining software that transferred any earnings to her crypto wallets.
H/t: The Verge
Motorola Razr 3 to use the same battery as its predecessor
- Latest leaks around the Motorola Razr 3 reveal that the phone will be using the same 2800 mAh battery as its predecessor, the Moto Razr 5G.
- The phone is rumoured to be a significant upgrade over the second-generation clamshell foldable from Motorola, considering it’s rumoured to release with the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.
- The new SoC also means that while the phone might have the same battery as its predecessor, it will likely last longer as the new chip relies on a more efficient 4nm process.
- The phone is expected to release in late July or August and will cost around $1200.
H/t: PhoneArena
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New phishing campaign is dropping Cobalt Strike beacons
- Security researchers have observed a new phishing campaign that’s deploying the Matanbuchus malware which in turn installs Cobalt Strike beacons on infected devices.
- Matanbuchus is a malware-as-a-service project that was first spotted in February earlier this year. Advertisements on the dark web promoted the malware as a $2500 loader that launches malicious executables directly into system memory.
- Threat analyst Brad Duncan captured and studied a sample of the malware. The campaign involves emails containing the zip attachment containing an HTML file which in turn downloads another zip archive that contains the malware’s MSI package.
- The malicious package is digitally signed under “Westeast Tech Consulting, Corp”. The security certificate is issued by DigiCert.
- The use of Cobalt Strike as a beacon in Matanbuchus attacks was first reported by DCSC, a German cybersecurity company on May 23, 2022.
H/t: BleepingComputer
QNAP NAS devices are under attack from the DeadBolt ransomware, again
- QNAP has warned users of another rising wave of DeadBolt ransomware attacks against the company’s NAS devices.
- The company urged customers to update their devices’ QTS or QuTS hero operating systems to the latest update.
- The ransomware works by encrypting all the files on the infected NAS running outdated versions of the Linux-based QTS 4, the OS running on QNAP’s NAS devices.
- This latest outbreak is at least the fourth attempt by the DeadBolt gang against QNAP devices this year. The previous attacks happened in January, March and May.
- Out of the 778 known exploited vulnerabilities listed by the US government’s CISA, 10 involve QNAP devices and eight revolve around NAS devices in general.
H/t: The Register
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