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Why It May Be Illegal to Pay Ransomeware and Why a Ban on Payments Won't Work

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raindog308
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Jul 19, 2022
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If your organization's data is being held for ransom by hackers, should you pay up?  The universal consensus is that you shouldn't because it encourages criminals.  But an earlier question needs to be: is it legal to pay? They answer is not as straight-forward as you might assume.  Let's assume your companies servers are locked up by thieves and although you don't want you pay, you decide you have no choice. How are you m...

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Why It May Be Illegal to Pay Ransomeware and Why a Ban on Payments Won't Work

Your Wordpress Has Been Scanned. Hope You Weren't Hacked.

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raindog308
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Jul 18, 2022
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Wordfence reports that hackers are widely attempting to exploit a vulnerability that they reported over three months ago.  According to The Register: Wordfence disclosed the flaw almost three months a...

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Your Wordpress Has Been Scanned. Hope You Weren't Hacked.

ALMOST GONE: Save 90% on Shodan.io! Only $5 Lifetime!

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raindog308
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Jul 17, 2022
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LowEndTalk member @Chuck alerted the community to a terrific deal: you can get a full access lifetime membership for Shodan.io for only $5 - that's 90% off the list price! However the deal expires at...

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ALMOST GONE: Save 90% on Shodan.io! Only $5 Lifetime!

Retbleed: Your x86 Speculative Attack Du Jour

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raindog308
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Jul 12, 2022
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"Today Intel released two security advisories addressing 2 medium severity vulnerabilities reported by academic researchers from ETH Zurich who have labeled their side-channel attack as “Retbleed” due...

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Retbleed: Your x86 Speculative Attack Du Jour

Low End Detectives: IP Address of Low End Talk Phishing Attacker Revealed In Just 5 Minutes!

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Not_Oles
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Apr 15, 2022
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The Phishing Attack On April 9, 2022, some not-so-nice ungentleman went phishing. As announced on Low End Talk, phishing emails were received by several Low End Talk members. The phishing emails false...

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Low End Detectives: IP Address of Low End Talk Phishing Attacker Revealed In Just 5 Minutes!

You Need to Update Chrome ASAP

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raindog308
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Mar 26, 2022
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Word is out of a new vulnerability in Chrome, and it sounds serious.  If your browser has an update, you should definitely restart to apply to reach version 99.0.4844.84.  New updates are out for Wind...

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You Need to Update Chrome ASAP

Okta Hacked, Stock in Flames

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raindog308
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Mar 23, 2022
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Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA), which provides digital identity authentication services to big companies, confirmed Tuesday that it had suffered a security breach.  Their stock plunged nearly 9% as reports piled...

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Okta Hacked, Stock in Flames

FREE Root Shells on Linux Servers Thanks to polkitd Vulnerability

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raindog308
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Jan 26, 2022
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A new vulnerability that affects many Linux systems has been revealed: Pwnkit. This attack uses a vulnerability in polkitd to allow any user to escalate his privileges to root.  There are patches for...

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FREE Root Shells on Linux Servers Thanks to polkitd Vulnerability

HostSolutions.ro Hack Update

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raindog308
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Dec 27, 2021
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As a quick followup to our story from a couple days ago about the HostSolutions.ro hack, owner Marius has now commented on LowEndTalk, confirming the breach and adding some details. The entire thread...

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HostSolutions.ro Hack Update

HostSolutions.ro Hacked

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raindog308
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Dec 25, 2021
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News broke on Christmas Eve that HostSolutions.ro has been hacked.  Community member @MikaelStrang posted the email below that he received from a hacker claiming to have the HostSolutions WHMCS databa...

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HostSolutions.ro Hacked

Gartner Makes Bold Prediction: War in the G20 by 2024

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raindog308
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Dec 18, 2021
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Gartner, one of the world's major IT consulting firms, recently shared their "Top Strategic Predictions for 2022 and Beyond" at a conference.  Most of the content concerned economic and technological...

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Gartner Makes Bold Prediction: War in the G20 by 2024

log4Shell Vulnerability: "Worst Hack in History"

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raindog308
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Dec 14, 2021
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Vulnerabilities don't get much worse than cases where typing the right characters into a chat box gives you remote access to the world's Minecraft servers.  Whoops. It's been termed the worst hack in...

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log4Shell Vulnerability:

RHEL 9 Goes Beta

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raindog308
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Nov 06, 2021
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Now that (hopefully?) the CentOS Stream debacle and the subsequent rise of Alma and Rocky Linux is behind us, there's news from RedHat that RHEL 9 has gone beta.  Is this the love child that will fina...

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RHEL 9 Goes Beta

Locking Down Access to Your VPS

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raindog308
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Oct 12, 2021
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There are a number of ways you can restrict access to your VPS. Passwords (specifically, good passwords) is the most basic method. Restricting access to ssh keys only is better. You can use Google Aut...

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Locking Down Access to Your VPS

How to Audit Every Command Run on Your Linux System

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raindog308
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Oct 07, 2021
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Periodically I've had auditors come to me and say "can you tell me what this user on this system did between such-and-such dates/times" and my answer is usually no. By default, Linux systems don't log...

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How to Audit Every Command Run on Your Linux System

The Syniverse Hack: Why Using SMS for 2FA is a Bad Idea

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raindog308
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Oct 05, 2021
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Security gurus have suggested for years that relying on SMS for two-factor authentication is a bad idea.   Reasons include Your phone may be stolen Many people allow SMS messages to be displayed on lo...

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The Syniverse Hack: Why Using SMS for 2FA is a Bad Idea

Microsoft Says Passwords are Passé

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raindog308
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Sep 18, 2021
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Are passwords a dying breed? In a blog post published September 15, Microsoft Vice President of Security, Compliance, and Identity Vasu Jakkal entitled "The passwordless future is here for your Micros...

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Microsoft Says Passwords are Passé

Easy Operating System Detection with nmap

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raindog308
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Sep 18, 2021
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Recently I was doing some discovery at work of some systems we inherited.  I didn't yet have access but wanted to determine what type of OS was involved so I could coordinate with the proper teams. Yo...

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Easy Operating System Detection with nmap

T-Mobile Leaks Almost 50 Million People's SSNs and Driver's Licenses

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raindog308
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Aug 19, 2021
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T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that a "a bad actor had compromised T-Mobile systems": "Some of the data accessed did include customers’ first and last names, date of birth, SSN, and driver’s license/...

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T-Mobile Leaks Almost 50 Million People's SSNs and Driver's Licenses

Report Reveals cPanel/WHM Suffers "Multiple Vulnerabilities"

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raindog308
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Aug 17, 2021
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Security research firm Fortbridge has released a report claiming to have discovered "multiple vulnerabilities in cPanel/WHM". The report states: "Our team has found multiple vulnerabilities in cPanel/...

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Report Reveals cPanel/WHM Suffers

Get Notified via Email Whenever Someone Logs In To Your VPS

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raindog308
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Aug 08, 2021
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In this tutorial we'll show you how to configure your VPS so that every time someone logs in, you receive an email alerting you to this fact. This is kind of a "lowend intrusion detection system" thou...

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Get Notified via Email Whenever Someone Logs In To Your VPS

Comment Free For All: Hacking in the Movies

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raindog308
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Jul 28, 2021
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I once watched an episode of Law & Order with a friend who is an attorney. From the moment the action switched from the police to the prosecutors, he was tied up in knots, shouting at the screen a...

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Comment Free For All: Hacking in the Movies

How to Stiff-Arm Brutes and Protect Your Server with Fail2Ban

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raindog308
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Jul 20, 2021
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Bruce force attacks are attempts to guess common passwords by repeatedly trying to login to your server.  SSH is the most common target but FTP, IMAP, POP3, and other password-based systems can be tar...

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How to Stiff-Arm Brutes and Protect Your Server with Fail2Ban

Insurers Tire of Paying Ransom to Cyber Crooks

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raindog308
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Jul 20, 2021
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Loss ratios in the cyber insurance world have skyrocketed in recent years - surging 400% year over year.  They have hit 70% of paid premiums, which some industry commentators are saying is unsustainab...

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Insurers Tire of Paying Ransom to Cyber Crooks

Beware Black Hat Cookie Stuffing Affiliate Marketing

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raindog308
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Jul 18, 2021
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Hey, you just browsed my site And this is a crazy Here's a cookie you didn't ask for So make me some money maybe! -- Cookie Monster, Share It Maybe (sort of) In the LowEnd hosting world, many provider...

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Beware Black Hat Cookie Stuffing Affiliate Marketing

Seven Years in the Making: Interview with Jordan Smith of BillingServ

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raindog308
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May 26, 2021
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Our interview series has featured a lot of industry leaders and we continue today by talking with Jordan Smith, founder and director of BillingServ.  He's also known as @Jord on LowEndTalk where he is...

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Seven Years in the Making: Interview with Jordan Smith of BillingServ

Guide to Understanding File Permissions in Linux

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raindog308
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May 16, 2021
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Since very early in its history, Unix systems have supported file and directory permissions. This security mechanism allow users to make their files private from other users, and for administrators to...

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Guide to Understanding File Permissions in Linux

STU Telecom is Launching an IP Reputation Service

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raindog308
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May 06, 2021
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Stuart Elvish from STU Telecom reached out to us to tell us a little about a new IP reputation service they're rolling out.  They submitted a nice writeup and invitation to LEB members to try out the...

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STU Telecom is Launching an IP Reputation Service
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