Facebook and Instagram Users Affected by Latest Password Incident
Facebook has recently revealed their platform (and Instagram) have stored countless copies of user passwords in plaintext. Pedro Canahuati, VP of Engineering at Facebook, has confirmed “hundreds of millions” of users were affected.
Specifically, the passwords were never visible to anyone outside of Facebook and the company has found no evidence of employees abusing user passwords. While the issue has now been resolved, Facebook and Instagram have encouraged users to change their passwords.
2019 Cybersecurity Statistics Published by Cyber Defense Magazine
Cyber Defense Magazine has recently compiled a comprehensive list of statistics relevant to cybersecurity. A selection of the most telling facts includes:
- Small businesses are often at risk, with 43% of all attacks aimed at smaller business
- Global costs of online crime are expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021
- Malware attacks, on average, cost upwards of $2 million
- Job openings specific to cybersecurity have increased 74% over the previous five years
World Wide Web Inventor Tim Berners-Lee Makes Mention of Dysfunctional Internet
In a letter published during early March, Tim Berners-Lee said he understands concerns the web is no longer a “force for good” and shared three reasons the internet is becoming dysfunctional, reports CNBC.
Among the reasons, Berners-Lee called on governments to translate laws and regulations for the digital age. Furthermore, Tim Berners-Lee called out ad-based revenue models and their proclivity to spread misinformation and clickbait.
FireEye Reports Russian Hackers will Target Upcoming European Elections
Security firm FireEye reports that Russian government-sponsored hackers are targeting various upcoming European elections. FireEye’s report suggests the hacker targeting will be specifically focused on NATO member states.
Security companies commonly refer to the primary groups as APT28 and Sandworm Team, both of which are sponsored by the Russian state. They are known to target media outlets in France and Germany, in addition to political opposition groups in Russia and European government organizations.
Latest Google Chrome Update Now Allows Privacy Search Engine Option
Perhaps in an effort to address growing concerns surrounding data privacy, Google’s latest Chrome update allows users to switch to DuckDuckGo as a primary default search engine. In other words, Google Chrome will allow users to default to a different search engine than Google itself.
DuckDuckGo places an emphasis on user privacy and blocks advertising trackers, while keeping search history private. In the report from Forbes, it is mentioned DuckDuckGo “likes to keep things simple” and doesn’t share any searcher data of personal information.
