Sandra Long’s Post

Witness a current wave of account breaches hitting LinkedIn, where attackers are executing either lockouts or complete takeovers, leaving users locked out and frustrated. The responsiveness of LinkedIn's support is questioned as users struggle to gain access. In the absence of an official statement from LinkedIn, signs point to delayed support responses stemming from overwhelming demand, as observed through user accounts on Twitter and Reddit. Check out the latest blog for actionable steps to shield your account against potential breaches. #linkedin #breachprevention #cyberattacks https://hubs.ly/Q0205b2h0

LinkedIn for months has been targeted in a wave of account hacks resulting in many accounts being locked out for security reasons or ultimately hijacked by attackers. I am currently locked out of Jeanee Rose Andrewartha account, which is the fifth time since end of May 2023. I do have 2 factor authentication, but Linkedin will ask me to verify my identity before releasing the account back to me. In which time, not only is my profile completely removed, but all my messages, and posts. The time to process this, can be 2 weeks and others have reported longer. Tara Lemieux posted on Linkedin today. "Threat actor “USDoD” posts massive LinkedIn data breach including profile data, combo lists, DMs, WND connections to external feeds and specifically targeting government personnel. Link to her post https://lnkd.in/gtwXRcBi This would be a really good time to set up two factor authentication and change your passwords to protect your Linkedin account. Have you had issues with your Linkedin Account? On Twitter, it appears the number of people reporting issues of being locked out or hacked is increasing. LIKE and SHARE Stay in touch by FOLLOWING and hitting the BELL to receive notifications I will be back on my main account, hopefully soon. **Another interesting thing, is how many bots are posting on Linkedin and Twitter to offer restore accounts for a fee. Note most of these will have zero connections/followers **

*Disclaimer: Dissociation from a Malicious Tweet Posted from my Hacked Twitter Account* Dear [Twitter/Followers/Community], I am writing this post to address a recent incident involving my Twitter account. It has come to my attention that a malicious tweet was posted from my account, containing content that I strongly disapprove of and do not endorse in any way. I want to make it absolutely clear that I was not the author of that tweet, and my account was hacked by unknown individuals. As someone who values integrity, respect, and responsible social media usage, I am deeply troubled by this unfortunate event. I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to anyone who may have been offended, shocked, or harmed by the content of that tweet. I assure you that it is not a reflection of my beliefs, values, or character. Cybersecurity is an ever-present concern in our increasingly interconnected world, and unfortunately, I fell victim to a hacking attempt. I want to emphasize that I take this matter seriously, and I am actively working with the appropriate authorities and security experts to investigate the incident and prevent any future breaches. In light of this incident, I urge everyone to remain vigilant when it comes to their online security. Please take necessary precautions to protect your social media accounts, such as enabling two-factor authentication, regularly updating passwords, and being cautious of suspicious emails, links, or messages. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to those who have reached out with their understanding, support, and encouragement during this challenging time. Your kindness means a great deal to me, and it reinforces my commitment to maintaining a positive and respectful online presence. Once again, I sincerely apologize for any distress caused by the tweet that was posted from my compromised Twitter account. I want to assure you that I am taking all necessary steps to rectify the situation and secure my account. Moving forward, I will continue to use my platform responsibly and promote a safe and inclusive digital environment. Thank you for your understanding. Sincerely, Maxwell Wonuigwe

Happy Friday and a happy new edition of Tech News digest! 💥 This week surprised us with a wide range of events in the tech world. Without further ado, here are our favorite picks: 1️⃣ One week in, Threads have become Twitter’s biggest threat! 🧵💥 In just one week, #threadsapp has become a formidable competitor to #Twitter, as reported by Engadget. This innovative messaging app has quickly gained popularity, offering users a more focused and intimate social experience. Find out how Threads is shaking up the social media landscape here 👉 https://lnkd.in/d64dnUtF 2️⃣ Nothing Phone 2: a roundup of every tease about the upcoming phone! 📱✨ Get ready for the highly anticipated Nothing Phone 2! The Verge has gathered all the tantalizing rumors, specs, and features surrounding this upcoming device. Nothing, the tech company founded by Carl Pei, is aiming to deliver a unique smartphone experience. Explore the exciting possibilities of the #nothingphone2 👉 https://lnkd.in/dvVQ4cys 3️⃣ Twitter starts sharing ad revenue with verified creators! 🐦💰 Good news for verified creators on Twitter! TechCrunch reports that #Twitter has started sharing ad revenue with verified creators, acknowledging their contribution to the platform. This move incentivizes content creators and fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between them and the social media giant. Learn more about this positive development here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dPjVCRUx 4️⃣ Ransomware attacks on the rise again! 💻🔓 WIRED informs us that ransomware attacks are experiencing a concerning resurgence in 2023. Organizations and individuals alike need to stay vigilant and prioritize #cybersecurity measures to protect themselves from this growing threat. Stay informed and take proactive steps to safeguard your digital assets. Read more about the rise in ransomware attacks here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eh8eNjrv See you next time with another fascinating piece of news! 😉 #qamadness

Per IT Governance, there have been 79 security incidents in June (totaling 607 for the year) accounting for 14,353,113 compromised records in June alone. There have been 466,078,044 breached records year to date, with Twitter (X) being the biggest with 220,000,000 records breached. Several organizations rely on backup media and technologies in the defense/recovery from breaches for a few of the following reasons: Offline storage Long-term retention Cost-effectiveness Air-gapped systems Data isolation Organizations should regularly assess their backup strategies to ensure they meet the evolving challenges of data breaches and security threats. Using technologies like S2’s Invenire helps mitigate the risk of data breaches through fully managed metadata portal providing insights into an organizations data breach defense. #databreach #twitter #genworth

Last week Motzei Shabbos as I checked my email after a nice restful twenty-five hours of my weekly technology diet, I was shocked to learn that my LinkedIn account had been hacked by someone in Singapore. I watched email after email come in that my password had been changed, my primary email address had been changed, and even my two-factor authentication phone number had been changed. This effectively meant that I was no longer the owner of my own account. I immediately alerted LinkedIn about this, and after a full week, many emails back and forth, and having provided them with my state ID, they restored my access to my account and locked out the hacker. After creating a new password and verifying all of my information, my priority was to find out who the hacker had contacted through my account and to let them know that they were not interacting with me but rather with a vile impersonator. I quickly went through all of the recent connections and DMs, and shot out messages warning all the users of what had happened and to assume that all communications within the past week from my account had been from the hacker. After taking care of all this I spent some time going through my account and the recent communications in detail. What I learned from this about hackers today was extremely eye-opening. Here are some of things I learned: 1) No matter how well you lock down your account you can be hacked 2) The hacker did a lot of research of my past communications and communication style and used that knowledge to mimic me when reaching out to contacts - they even used Jewish topics when communicating with users that appeared Jewish 3) The hacker worked very quickly, connecting with and contacting many people multiple times in a very short timespan 4) The hacker’s main objective was to get people to communicate with them outside of LinkedIn by getting their personal email address and cellphone number - and shockingly, most people readily shared this information with them 5) That LinkedIn is way slower and not as good at thwarting hackers as other services such as Twitter - in a similar situation a while ago, Twitter quickly locked my account and alerted me before anything could happen 6) That it takes a lot of time and work to restore your account and undo the damage done by the hacker My takeaway is; hacking is bound to happen, the best you can do is to be careful and diligent and not to stress too much about it.

In 2020, Twitter account of Elon Musk was hacked to promote a bitcoin scam, followed by compromise of other celebrity accounts, including those of Obama, Bill Gates, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Apple, Uber, etc. A total of 130 high profile accounts in one single shot. When this news surfaced, everyone had one intriguing question: Who did this, and how was it possible to land such a large scale hack? Everyone thought it must be the work of a sophisticated and advanced threat actor. But it turns out that the 'mastermind' was a 17-year-old teenager! 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱: 1) The attacker starts with LinkedIn searches for Twitter employees who might have access to internal admin tools > uses LinkedIn's job recruiter feature to obtain the phone numbers of those targeted profiles. 2) The attacker now calls those employees convinces them they are authorized Twitter IT staff > directs them to a site mimicking internal Twitter VPN. 3) This is the most interesting part: As soon as an employee enters their credentials in the fake VPN site, attacker enters those same credentials into the real Twitter VPN portal > So employee receives the real OTP > Enters that into the fake VPN site > the attacker steals the OTP > attacker is now in the Twitter internal network. 4) Using the internal admin tool, the attacker searches celebrity accounts resets their email address resets their password > posts tweets about bitcoin scam. There are, of course, several lessons from this story: 1) Need for zero trust implementation involving risk-based sign-ins. 2) Need for conditional policies at device level. 3) Need for securing admin accounts. 4) Need for employee training. And so on and so forth. But the key takeaway is: If a teenager with no resources can bring down a company like Twitter to its knees, imagine what threat actors with nation state funding & sophisticated knowledge can do! That just puts into context the enormous challenge that enterprises face in the current world. The teenager started with a LinkedIn search and ended up taking over Twitter. That's something from almost nothing. Cybersecurity is a game of unpredictability. No system is impervious. No threat is too improbable. #cyberattacks #informationsecurity #cybersecurity #securitymonitoring #incidentresponse #networksecurity #cyberdefense #cybercrime #cybersecurityframework #NIST #OTP #GDPR

Strengthen Your Online Security: 5 Ways to Respond to Latest Leak of Information Twitter made significant headlines in 2022 after billionaire Elon Musk bought the popular social media platform. Within weeks, he undertook several rounds of high-profile layoffs and controversial content moderation, attracting the ire of everyday users, free speech advocates, and government regulators alike. Now, Twitter could face further scrutiny after a data hack exposed the records of 235 million accounts and the email addresses used to register them. Although not a traditional compromise of passwords or financial information, the leak was achieved through a so-called scraping attack, which exploited a flaw in Twitter’s security infrastructure. As the Washington Post reports, it might set “the stage for anonymous handles to be linked to real-world identities.” CMIT Solutions suggests the following strategies to protect digital identities and keep online information safe: • Strengthen your passwords for social media accounts.  • Update email logins and usernames so they’re different than the one you use for Twitter.  • If it isn’t already activated, turn on multi-factor authentication or login verification for every online account. • Know how to spot suspicious emails. • Back up your data. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gUewPyFk We understand the need to protect digital privacy while maintaining an online presence. We enable everyday employees to work safely while empowering business decision-makers to make the best investment in cybersecurity. Contact us: https://lnkd.in/ddJdHK6 Call us: 212.616.3663| 201.255.7377 #data #security #email #infrastructure #socialmedia #cmitsolutions #cybersecurity #hackers #business #work #privacy #digital