October 03, 2020

Years-Long ‘SilentFade’ Attack Drained Facebook Victims of $4M

“Our investigation uncovered a number of interesting techniques used to compromise people with the goal to commit ad fraud,” said Sanchit Karve and Jennifer Urgilez with Facebook, in a Thursday analysis unveiled this week at the Virus Bulletin 2020 conference. “The attackers primarily ran malicious ad campaigns, often in the form of advertising pharmaceutical pills and spam with fake celebrity endorsements.” Facebook said that SilentFade was not downloaded or installed by using Facebook or any of its products. It was instead usually bundled with potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). PUPs are software programs that a user may perceive as unwanted; they may use an implementation that can compromise privacy or weaken user security. In this case, researchers believe the malware was spread via pirated copies of popular software (such as the Coreldraw Graphics graphic design software for vector illustration and page layout, as seen below). Once installed, SilentFade stole Facebook credentials and cookies from various browser credential stores, including Internet Explorer, Chromium and Firefox.

How to be great at people analytics

Most companies still face critical obstacles in the early stages of building their people analytics capabilities, preventing real progress. The majority of teams are still in the early stages of cleaning data and streamlining reporting. Interest in better data management and HR technologies has been intensive, but most companies would agree that they have a long way to go. Leaders at many organizations acknowledge that what they call their “analytics” is really basic reporting with little lasting impact. For example, a majority of North American CEOs indicated in a poll that their organizations lack the ability to embed data analytics in day-to-day HR processes consistently and to use analytics’ predictive power to propel better decision making.3 This challenge is compounded by the crowded and fragmented landscape of HR technology, which few organizations know how to navigate. So, while the majority of people analytics teams are still taking baby steps, what does it mean to be great at people analytics? We spoke with 12 people analytics teams from some of the largest global organizations in various sectors—technology, financial services, healthcare, and consumer goods—to try to understand what teams are doing, the impact they are having, and how they are doing it.

6 Data Management Tips for Small Business Owners

You might not have the vast resources and people-power of your larger competitors, but even small e-commerce organizations can glean useful insights from data if it is presented in an engaging way. Rather than relying on raw, potentially overwhelming databases full of indecipherable figures, you should aim to generate reports which showcase pertinent trends visually. This should let you analyze information more precisely and without needing to spend hours sifting through spreadsheets. In addition, data visualization has the benefit of making it straightforward to share your findings with others, whether or not they have a background in data science and analysis. A chart or graph can express everything you need to get across in a presentation about sales projections, site performance, and customer satisfaction, without needing lengthy verbal explanations as well. While the biggest scandals involving data loss and theft tend to hit the headlines whenever they involve major organizations and internationally recognized brands, that does not mean that smaller firms are immune from scrutiny in this respect.

Metasploit — A Walkthrough Of The Powerful Exploitation Framework

If you hack someone without permission, there is a high chance that you will end up in jail. So if you are planning to learn hacking with evil intentions, I am not responsible for any damage you cause. All my articles are purely educational. So, if hacking is bad, why learn it in the first place? Every device on the internet is vulnerable by default unless someone secures it. It's the job of the penetration tester to think like a hacker and attack their organization’s systems. The penetration tester then informs the organization about the vulnerabilities and advises on patching them. Penetration testing is one of the highest-paid jobs in the industry. There is always a shortage of pen-testers since the number of devices on the internet is growing exponentially. I recently wrote an article on the top ten tools you should know as a cybersecurity engineer. If you are interested in learning more about cybersecurity, check out the article here. Right. Enough pep talk. Let’s look at one of the coolest pen-testing tools in the market — Metasploit. ... Metasploit is an open-source framework written in Ruby. It is written to be an extensible framework, so that if you want to build custom features using Ruby, you can easily do that via plugins.

IoT in Manufacturing: The Success Story Nobody's Talking About

Efficient manufacturing processes rely almost entirely on predictability. Factory operators need to know how long each step in a process takes, what resources are needed, and how long the process can operate continuously before needing breaks for maintenance and other periodic tasks. That overarching need for predictability makes it difficult for operators to know how the addition of new equipment might impact output. It also makes them hesitant to make changes to existing equipment, even if they’re all but certain that the changes would be an improvement. That brings us to another vital and emerging use of IoT technology in manufacturing. Factory operators are using the myriad data streaming from their connected devices to make precise computer models of their industrial equipment. These digital twins, as they’re known, allow operators to test any proposed equipment tweaks or replacements to see the exact effect they’ll have on the output. This helps them to make seamless upgrades and changes to their processes without fear of upsetting the delicate balance that ensures predictability. If the question is whether IoT is living up to its promise and proving useful in manufacturing – the answer is a resounding yes.

Digital Transformation Can Be Risky. Here’s What You Need To Know

The business mantra “culture eats strategy for breakfast” applies differently when you’re talking about digital transformation, said Pam Hrubey, managing director in consulting services at Crowe. For example, an American-headquartered durable goods company acquired businesses across the globe. The company needed to upgrade equipment and streamline IT processes, but it chose to begin the transformation by attempting to align cultures between the parent company and the businesses abroad. Its initial process led to discontent among international workers who ended up feeling like outsiders because they were not made aware that the goal was to sync technology and processes. “To transform a business practice or to change a business model, you have to have a robust plan,” Hrubey said. “When you start with culture you often confuse people if you don’t have a plan in place, if people don’t understand what change is planned or why a change is necessary.” Companies also need to understand that a transformation affects the entire organization and might include stakeholders across departments. “So many different people in the company need to come together to do it right,” said Czerwinski.

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