So now it’s not just Cambridge Analytica who’s been caught and suspended for slurping data from Facebook under the covers. Two more companies have been caught doing the same thing and as a result getting the same punishment. Here’s the first one:
Facebook is suspending a data analytics firm called CubeYou from the platform after CNBC notified the company that CubeYou was collecting information about users through quizzes. CubeYou misleadingly labeled its quizzes “for non-profit academic research,” then shared user information with marketers. The scenario is eerily similar to how Cambridge Analytica received unauthorized access to data from as many as 87 million Facebook user accounts to target political marketing. CubeYou, whose CEO denies any deception, sold data that had been collected by researchers working with the Psychometrics Lab at Cambridge University, similar to how Cambridge Analytica used information it obtained from other professors at the school for political marketing.
Lovely. Now the second one has a Canadian connection (and I say that with my head hanging in shame):
Facebook says it has suspended Canadian political consultancy AggregateIQ from its platform, after reports emerged alleging its involvement in a global controversy over misuse of personal social media information for political ends.
Victoria, B.C.-based AggregateIQ has been linked with Cambridge Analytica, the political campaigning firm at the centre of a data scandal, according to documents obtained by The Guardian in the United Kingdom. The Canadian firm has also been targeted by federal and British Columbia investigations into whether the company broke privacy laws or used unauthorized data.
And:
AggregateIQ has also been linked to the campaign in the U.K. to leave the European Union, and the firm was used to sidestep Brexit campaign spending limits, according to CBC News, citing a whistleblower and documents.
Lovely. Both of these is going to really turn up the heat on Mark Zuckerberg and company. In fact, it will likely make his trip to Washington that much more stressful for him. Plus in the case of AggregateIQ, politicians are really going to turn up the heat to make him testify in front of them sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, you get to find out (if you haven’t already) if your data is caught up in this mess. Read this Time story for more details.
A New Mac Backdoor Is Out There To Pwn You
Posted in Commentary with tags Security on April 9, 2018 by itnerdHere’s another reminder that Macs do get malware and you have to protect yourself accordingly. There’s a new piece of malware that installs a nasty backdoor in your Mac via a phishing email that contains an booby trapped MS Word document. It was discovered by Trend Micro and is linked to a group called OceanLotus which is also known as APT32 which has been fingered with attacks against human rights organizations, media organizations, research institutes, and maritime construction firms with a connection to Vietnam. Oh yeah, they’ve state sponsored too.
This backdoor is kind of nasty. Once installed, malicious files downloaded and installed to enable persistence will ensure the malware loads at startup. It also collects information relating to the operating system, submits data to the malware’s command control (C&C) servers, and also receives instructions from the malware’s operators. Information sent to the C&C server is both scrambled and encrypted and is decoded on the other side.
Antivirus companies are likely updating their definition files to stop infections. But seeing as the only way this malware can get into your system is if you fall victim to the phishing email, I would say that you take the advice of Wired so that you don’t become a victim of this or any other phishing based malware.
Leave a comment »