The SEC's Twitter got hacked

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Good Morning!

It’s been a busy week for cybercrime, and we’ve got a few topics we want to cover. Here’s the topics for this week :

• SEC X(Twitter) account HACKED

• EBAY to pay $3 million due to cyberstalking

• FTC bans Data Brokers from selling your precise location

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Now back to our topics…

The SEC got hacked!

Last week the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commerce fell victim to what was most likely a phishing exploit that resulted in their “X” (formerly known as twitter) account being compromised. The hackers quickly made a post announcing that Bitcoin spot ETF’s were now approved to be listed on national exchanges. This led to a quick spike in the market price of Bitcoin. The post was quickly deleted within an hour, and the SEC made a subsequent post explaining that they had been compromised.

The majority of compromises begin with phishing campaigns. This event goes to show that even government agencies are susceptible to phishing exploits. Enable multi-factor authentication on all accounts to make sure you don’t get got.

EBAY Employees found guilty of cyberstalking

In 2019, Ina & David Steiner were subjected to a weird case of corporate intimidation and cyberstalking by 7 employees of EBAY. What sparked this nightmare for the Steiners is a blog post that Ina wrote highlighting that EBAY was losing sellers on the platform, hand over fist, to Amazon. So at the CEO’s direction, Ebay’s Chief Communication Officer and 6 other employees began a campaign of torment. These guys sent :

• a book on surviving the death of a spouse

• a bloody pig mask

• a fetal pig

• a funeral wreath

• live insects

Plus other forms of cyberbullying through twitter and the couple’s blog site. Recently, Ebay has agreed to pay $3 million in damages and the 7 employees are all facing prison time.

FTC protects your location privacy

Outlogic, a data collection site that specializes in geo-tracking, has been ordered by the FTC to stop selling location data to advertisers, government contractors, and researchers. Prior to this settlement, Outlogic (formerly known as X-Mode Social) would auction off user data to the highest bidder with no consent. This practice posed a significant privacy infringement on individuals, allowing companies to access sensitive information about users' frequented locations, including hospitals and churches. Banning the sale of location data is a step in the right direction for internet privacy.

The internet is full of risks, ranging from phishing scams to cyberstalking and privacy breaches. But we've got your back! Keeping you informed about all things cybercrimes, so you Don't Get Got!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s read. If you noticed, I tried a different structure. I’m playing with the idea of multiple topics one week and a deep dive the following week. What do we think?

P.S. Your experiences matter. If you've encountered a scam or have insights to share, we invite you to connect with us. Let's build a community that stands against cyber threats.

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