In addition, a non-existent Swiss biologist and a new bug already in your phone
The anonymous service Tor has been blocked by the Russian government and impersonated by an unknown bad guy. The Russian Federal Bureau of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media Supervision (Roskomnadzor) blocked the main Tor site last week, cutting off the services of approximately 300,000 active Tor users in the country. Roskomnadzor claims that the sharing of illegal content is the reason for the prevention. “This is equivalent to banning the Internet because people share illegal content,” commented Avast security evangelist Luis Corrons. “We all agree that certain types of content may be illegal-child pornography is a good example-what the authorities must do is to enforce the law and prosecute those who violate the law, rather than prohibiting the provision of anonymous and widely used tools by citizens Some countries try to protect themselves from authoritarian governments.”
Tor maintains its anonymity through relay nodes. Researchers have discovered that criminals have set up hundreds of malicious Tor relay nodes that have been active since 2017. If the user’s traffic passes through one of the malicious nodes, privacy will be compromised. Because the disguised nodes pretend to have different identities, this type of attack is called a witch attack, named after the 1970 TV movie, which tells about A woman with 16 different personalities.For more information about this story, see Ars Technica.
China tries Covid misinformation campaign on Meta
Meta deleted 524 Facebook accounts, 20 Facebook pages, four Facebook groups, and 86 Instagram accounts as part of an investigation into an influence operation allegedly initiated by the Chinese government to disseminate information about Covid research Error message. The movement revolved around a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards, who claimed that the United States is putting pressure on scientists from the World Health Organization who are studying the origin of the virus. According to the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, Wilson Edwards does not exist. After announcing the news, Meta deleted these posts and started an investigation.For more information, see edge.
Ransomware affiliate arrested in Romania
A 41-year-old suspect was arrested in Craiova, Romania on suspicion of participating in international ransomware activities. The arrest was made after a joint investigation by Europol, the FBI and Romanian authorities ended. One of the goals of this ransomware campaign is a large IT company that provides services in the retail, energy, and utility sectors. The authorities have not yet released the name of the suspect. The suspects are considered “ransomware affiliates”, which means they will not create ransomware, but rent it.For more information about this story, see record.
The UK Online Security Act proposes stricter rules
As the British government considered the proposed online security bill, a new parliamentary report called for stricter rules and increased specific fraud and crime. For example, if the social media platform is found guilty, the report requires the company’s designated senior management to take personal responsibility for the crime in court.The 191-page report also states that all pornographic websites need to ensure that children cannot access them. The bill covers paid advertising scams and false advertising, and “also covers the potentially harmful effects of algorithms. The bill is expected to be submitted in early 2022. Parliament. For more information, see BBC News.
Billions of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips have coexistence vulnerabilities
Researchers have proven that it is possible to extract the password and manipulate the traffic on the Wi-Fi chip by locating the Bluetooth component of the device. Although Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are two separate services on the device, they share the same resources, such as antennas or wireless spectrum. Using multiple flaws in the chip architecture and protocol, these shared resources can be used as a bridge to launch lateral attacks, including code execution, memory reads, and denial of service. Because the “coexistence vulnerability” takes advantage of the physical architecture of the chip, the threat will remain until a new chip is created. at the same time, Beep computer It is recommended that users delete unnecessary Bluetooth device pairings, delete unused Wi-Fi networks from the settings, and use cellular networks instead of Wi-Fi in public places.
take an examThis week’s “must read” on the Avast blog
When it comes to cybersecurity trends and threats, what can we expect to see in the new year? Listen to Avast experts’ predictions and warnings on 2022 audio deep-fake, optimized ransomware activity and encrypted malware.
