Here’s how cyber threats spill into everyday life: from hostage dramas to angry girlfriends
Last week, tech news showcased once again just how intertwined our digital and physical lives are.
By Cybernews
Last week, tech news showcased once again just how intertwined our digital and physical lives are.
On Monday, we kicked off the week by sharing the story about Russia’s aviation personnel data leak en masse. The secrets were spilled on the dark web on the 9th of May, when Russia celebrated the Soviet victory in the Second World War.
Our researchers, who confirmed the leaked data was legitimate, said that state-sponsored actors could use this information as a starting point for gathering detailed intelligence on the Russian aviation industry.
On Tuesday, another curious piece of information related to Russia’s war in Ukraine popped up. North Korea, which committed troops to assist Russia in 2024, is now seemingly launching attacks against government entities in Ukraine to determine whether Russia will request more troops in the ongoing war.
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You’d think they have a direct line with the Kremlin and can call and ask, wouldn’t you?
Closer to home, in Paris, another kidnapping attempt related to the crypto wealth made the headlines. Several masked men tried to kidnap the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the co-founder and CEO of Paymium, a French cryptoasset trading platform.
Witnesses’ videos look terrifying - we see an attempt to force the woman and the toddler into a van. Luckily for the family, the kid’s father fights like hell, and we also see a man throwing a fire extinguisher at the attackers.
On Thursday, we decided to cheer you up with a story from another side of the barricades. Our own Ernestas Naprys set up an experiment at home to see how far we could push home network security, block ads, trackers, and all sorts of dangerous links, before his girlfriend would notice anything.
“It was fine until her Reels stopped working, and she started suspecting me of spying on her,” he said.
We know he wasn’t. However, that did make her feel less secure. And, as Ernestas noted, you shouldn’t trust your internet provider, a public WiFi, or especially your boyfriend to provide settings for your connection.
On Friday, we brought you a curious story from Sophos about what criminals do with the money they steal from their victims. It turns out, they often direct stolen funds to brick-and-mortar companies and online firms. So everything from dating sites and cafes to taxi services and even cybersecurity companies goes.
“Turns out, threat actors increasingly operate a wide and growing variety of online and brick-and-mortar businesses to launder the ill-gotten proceeds of their activity,” the Sophos X-Ops researchers said.
