October 25, 2022

Bleeping Computer: Typosquat campaign mimics 27 brands to push Windows, Android malware

Bleeping Computer: Typosquat campaign mimics 27 brands to push Windows, Android malware. “A massive, malicious campaign is underway using over 200 typosquatting domains that impersonate twenty-seven brands to trick visitors into downloading various Windows and Android malware. Typosquatting is an old method of tricking people into visiting a fake website by registering a domain name similar to that used by genuine brands.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
June 20, 2022

The Guardian: Russian palaces, villas and yachts linked to Putin by email leak – in pictures, maps and video

The Guardian: Russian palaces, villas and yachts linked to Putin by email leak – in pictures, maps and video. “An investigation by the the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the news website Meduza has identified a group of 86 apparently unconnected companies or not for profit organisations that appear to hold over $4.5bn (£3.7bn) of assets where a common private email address, LLCInvest.ru, appears to be in use.”

Ukraine 0
June 18, 2022

TechCrunch: Yandex shifts focus to ya.ru as it heads for media exit in Russia

TechCrunch: Yandex shifts focus to ya.ru as it heads for media exit in Russia. “TechCrunch has learned that Russia search giant Yandex is to switch from using yandex.ru as its main front page for Russian-speaking users to ya.ru — a less trafficked domain it’s owned since 2000 that, historically, has only hosted a basic search engine page. Imagine if Google decided to de-emphasize google.com in favor of a less popular domain it also owns and you’ll get an inkling of how big a shift this looks to be for the Russian internet landscape.”

Ukraine 0
April 10, 2022

TechCrunch: Microsoft seizes domains used by Russian spies to target Ukraine

TechCrunch: Microsoft seizes domains used by Russian spies to target Ukraine. “Microsoft has successfully seized domains used by APT28, a state-sponsored group operated by Russian military intelligence, to target institutions in Ukraine. The tech giant said in a blog post on Thursday that Strontium — Microsoft’s moniker for APT28 or ‘Fancy Bear,’ a hacking group linked to Russia’s GRU — used the domains to target multiple Ukrainian institutions, including media organizations, as well as government institutions and think tanks involved in foreign policy in the U.S. and Europe.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
March 19, 2022

Mashable: Loser.com ‘honors’ Putin with Wikipedia page redirect

Mashable: Loser.com ‘honors’ Putin with Wikipedia page redirect. “The URL often redirects visitors to whomever its owner, Brian Connelly, deems as the biggest ‘loser’ of the moment. Connelly has previously shared that he registered Loser.com back in 1995. Unsure of what type of website to develop for the domain name, he has been using redirects in order to troll world-renowned losers ever since.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
March 18, 2022

Dark Reading: Domain Codex Launches New Search Engine Tool for Researching Domain Intelligence

Dark Reading: Domain Codex Launches New Search Engine Tool for Researching Domain Intelligence. “Domain Codex allows users to search deep data on domain-related information on more than 20 data points across root domains, allowing a broad and extensive search of domain intelligence data. With Domain Codex, users can quickly identify domains by mix and match data points of interest and easily correlate and compare other domains sharing similar or identical data,mmaking it a one-of-a-kind tool for intelligence research.” Really nice filter selection. Limited free tier for use.

New Resources 0
March 4, 2022

Mashable: Sketchy domains try to trick Ukraine supporters out of would-be donations

Mashable: Sketchy domains try to trick Ukraine supporters out of would-be donations . “Scammers and other bad actors are once again up to their old tricks in search of ill-gotten profits, and this time they’ve set their sights on Ukraine. In order to take advantage of the ongoing war in the country, they’re using an old, reliable tool to trick internet users: Domain names.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
January 11, 2022

MakeUseOf: The 9 Best Websites to Look Up WHOIS Information for Free

MakeUseOf: The 9 Best Websites to Look Up WHOIS Information for Free. “Typical WHOIS data can include a name, address, email, phone number, administrative and technical contacts, or other important personally-identifying information.” If the registration data isn’t being protected by anonymity features. BUT it’s also important to check WHOIS data to learn things like when a domain was registered. I’ve never seen that information masked.

Useful Stuff 0
October 10, 2021

Read that link carefully: Scammers scoop up misspelled cryptocurrency URLs to rob your wallet (Washington Post)

Washington Post: Read that link carefully: Scammers scoop up misspelled cryptocurrency URLs to rob your wallet. “Wwwblockchain.com isn’t a typo. Nor is hlockchain.com or blpckchain.com. Those sites are set up to dupe Internet users trying to reach Blockchain.com, a website that lets users buy and sell cryptocurrency. And there’s big money in little typos.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
October 1, 2021

Associated Press: Africa internet riches plundered, contested by China broker

Associated Press: Africa internet riches plundered, contested by China broker. “Millions of internet addresses assigned to Africa have been waylaid, some fraudulently, including through insider machinations linked to a former top employee of the nonprofit that assigns the continent’s addresses. Instead of serving Africa’s internet development, many have benefited spammers and scammers, while others satiate Chinese appetites for pornography and gambling. New leadership at the nonprofit, AFRINIC, is working to reclaim the lost addresses. But a legal challenge by a deep-pocketed Chinese businessman is threatening the body’s very existence.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
September 25, 2021

Washington Post: Fallout begins for far-right trolls who trusted Epik to keep their identities secret

Washington Post: Fallout begins for far-right trolls who trusted Epik to keep their identities secret. “In the real world, Joshua Alayon worked as a real estate agent in Pompano Beach, Fla., where he used the handle ‘SouthFloridasFavoriteRealtor’ to urge buyers on Facebook to move to ‘the most beautiful State.’ But online, data revealed by the massive hack of Epik, an Internet-services company popular with the far right, signaled a darker side. Alayon’s name and personal details were found on invoices suggesting he had once paid for websites with names such as racisminc.com, whitesencyclopedia.com, christiansagainstisrael.com and theholocaustisfake.com.”

Tweaks & Updates 0

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