Another Day Another Possible Data Breach
August 19, 2016
Has the next Ashley Madison incident happened? International Business Times reports on breached information that has surfaced on the Dark Web. The article, Fling.com breach: Passwords and sexual preferences of 40 million users up for sale on dark web, sheds some light on what happened in the alleged 40 million records posted on the The Real Deal marketplace. One source claims the leaked data was old information. Another source reports a victim who says they never had an account with Fling.com. The article states,
“The leak is the latest in a long line of dating websites being targeted by hackers and follows similar incidents at Ashley Madison, Mate1, BeautifulPeople and Adult Friend Finder. In each of these cases, hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of sensitive records were compromised. While in the case of Ashley Madison alone, the release of information had severe consequences – including blackmail attempts, high-profile resignations, and even suicide. Despite claims the data is five years old, any users of Fling.com are now advised to change their passwords in order to stay safe from future account exploitation.”
Many are asking about the facts related to this data breach on the Dark Web — when it happened and if the records are accurate. We’re not sure if it’s true, but it is sensational. The interesting aspect of this story is in the terms of service for Fling.com. The article reveals Fling.com is released from any liability related to users’ information.
Megan Feil, August 19, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
There is a Louisville, Kentucky Hidden /Dark Web meet up on August 23, 2016.
Information is at this link: https://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Hidden-Dark-Web-Meetup/events/233019199/
Google has Made Web Sites Hot and Angry
April 7, 2015
Business Insider tells more about Google’s dominating behavior in “The Google Backlash Is Growing.” The backlash spawned from the FTC’s recently leaked report about how Google threatened to remove Web sites from search engine results if they did not allow Google to use their content.
“At the heart of the matter is the internal FTC report’s finding that Google was effectively blackmailing competing sites like Yelp and Amazon into using their data in its own search result. If they didn’t agree, they would get blacklisted from search results entirely.”
Google was facing a lawsuit, but they made some changes so they were able to escape…in the US. In Europe, an investigation is still underway. Some think the EU is harboring hostilities against a US company, but they are say it is not.
People in the US like Consumer Watchdog want the US Senate to reopen investigations to prove that Google is favoring its own services in search results and making competition appear in lower search rankings. Google, however, maintains its innocence and wants the matter to rest.
Is it not common business practice to downplay the competition? Not to say Google is innocent, but it makes logical sense to use that old school business tactic, especially when they control a whole lot of search.
Whitney Grace, April 7, 2015
Stephen E Arnold, Publisher of CyberOSINT at www.xenky.com
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