Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
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Online Security

Learn about online security, how to avoid hacking, and more by checking our content, on our website

racing-game

GTA V On the Radar – New Exploit Lets Hackers Kill You in Single-Player Mode

GTA V is a game that every gamer was waiting for, it is the latest entry from the best-seller saga “Grand Theft Auto”. This particular game had a lot of expectations to fulfil since it was going to be the final release for the past generation of consoles.

With that in mind, the game surpassed any expectations and went beyond that. With an online feature focused on online interactions, it was incredibly fun and had the best game modes that any fan could wish for, however, there were a lot of glitches and errors that went under the radar of the developers.

The “Sudden Death” Incident in Single-Player

A Twitch streamer was speed-running the single-player story of GTA V like he always does, but in this case, while he was in the middle of it, his game car completely stopped and his character got out of the vehicle just to die immediately.

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At first, it seemed that this particular player had found an odd glitch within his playthrough of GTA V, but the truth was that this death was the cause of a Modder, and all while he was playing the single-player.

How Did This Incident happen?

This particular twitch streamer told us that he was playing the online mode early that week, and he reported that a hacker was harassing him and a friend. One of the main assumptions was that the same hacker used a modding tool to mess with the speed run of such player.

Not only was he the first victim of this attack, but two of his friends also suffered this and it was hard for them to play the game properly. After that, it was rumoured that this type of attack was being seen in other speed runners, almost making the game impossible to play.

Apparently, these hackers found the data mining process of the game and, with the help of the modding tool kits, they were able to mess with the game of the players that were connected to the internet and playing the single player mode since they were slightly connected.



What Was the Final Solution?

When the information came out, a lot of users chose to remain offline and turn off the internet connection of their home consoles or PC. With that, the hackers weren’t able to interfere with the game. But this left the players completely offline and without any way of connecting to the internet while playing.

Luckily for us, Rockstar found a quick solution to this problem and it was fixed in a quick patch that was introduced weeks after this event. They were surprised that these hacking attempts were successful in the first place since they were confident with the safety of their servers, as well as the data of their players.

This GTA event is incredibly interesting and also shows us how far a hacker will go to try to mess with the personal experience of a player, but thanks to Rockstar this problem is now in the past.

kids-playing

The Untold Truth – How Videogame Loot Boxes Are Promoting Child Gambling

Modern multiplayer games often rely on new techniques to reward the player for their achievements, and while most of the rewards come from the victories you get while playing, there are a lot of elements that can be purchased online in a lot of these multiplayer games using real currency.

Such is the case of games with a loot box mechanic which gives the player the chance to get an upper edge. However, this also means that certain players are at risk of developing gambling habits.

Loot Boxes and Rare Odds

One of the main objectives of using a loot box in a videogame is the chance of getting a rare or unique item that’s impossible to get in the game otherwise. However, the chance of getting such items is determined by small odds which can make it almost impossible to get at all.

Multiple videogames introduce loot crates and loot boxes with overpowered or desirable items and features and lower their odds that are around 10% and such. With the odds of getting such item being so low, it is easier for the player to spend a considerable amount of money in multiple loot boxes for the chance of getting a specific item.

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Promoting Child Gambling through Loot Boxes

This is when we face a real problem. While the chances of getting the desirable item is so low, it often gives a little reward to the player in the way of another item. Kids are often drawn to the feeling of being rewarded by opening a loot box and when they obtain the item that they truly wanted they are likely to buy another loot box.

Loot boxesare often seen as a way to get a rush each time you obtain an item just by opening a simple box. Since loot boxes are limited in the game, a lot of kids that haven’t got their item in the loot box have the option of buying it online, making it a way to spend their money to get what they want, thus wasting their money anyway.This particular phenomenon is seen in kids around the age of 11-14, as well as teenagers.

But loot boxes and gambling go beyond that since there are multiple websites that gambles with betting on an item of small odds and seeing how much you can get if your bet is correct, making it yet another way to gamble with loot boxes.



Most of the multiplayer games that we’ve seen nowadays possess a loot box mechanic as a way to reward the player for their win or by buying it online, giving them a chance to acquire not only regular but rare items as well.

There’s no doubt that loot boxes are a concerning subject when we talk about online videogames and the way they reward their players, and with a lot of videogames having this mechanic it’s time to put a stop to it.

minecraft-city

Parental Control – Everything You Need to Know About Minecraft

Minecraft is a popular sandbox video game that caused a mass sensation since the day it was released. A great and unique concept filled with imagination made the game perfect for a younger audience that wanted to explore their creativity and have a good time.

The Beginnings of Minecraft

While Minecraft was first introduced as a game for all audiences, everybody guessed that it was going to be popular for the mature audience, due to its weird and almost outdated graphics as it did not look so great at first glance.

But, as time went by, a lot of people became interested in the game and the unique elements that it possesses, for that, it spread quickly as one of the best indie games today.

Minecraft and Young Gamers

As we stated earlier, the game captivated a lot of young gamers who wanted to explore and enjoy the little world that Minecraft represents, and after that, the game received great online features. It quickly became something else for many and the way a lot of gamers played it evolved.

Is Minecraft Safe for My Kid?

This is a question that is often asked by concerned parents who are afraid of the popularity of the game and how it affects the behaviour of the child, and it is obvious that they want to know what their kids are exposed to.

First of all, Minecraft is a pretty harmless game in comparison with the other bestseller video games on the market. It also has an offline mode that is completely safe from the weird interactions with other users.

The main concern might be the multiplayer experience, and luckily, there are a lot of family-friendly servers that are safe for our kids.

Minecraft is a fun experience that any type of gamer can enjoy and this includes kids, so just keep your eyes open and see what kind of server is ideal for your child.

Parental Controls - Rules, Tools, and Child Cell Phone Safety

From Visually.

finance-desk

4 Pro Tips on How to Protect Your Financial Information Online

The internet is already part of almost all of our daily activities. While there are more advances in the technological process and in international networks, even more, the internet comes close to our lives to be important.

That is why most systems around the world have started to integrate new technologies that ensure the total balance of a virtual platform, in order to keep users safer.

Online banking has also begun to follow in the footsteps of large industries, and has gradually implemented all systems to the Internet. And many times, we usually see the advantages that these network systems provide.

But we also need to see the drawbacks and find solutions to prevent the damage that could be caused. In this article, we will review the most used tips to keep financial accounts secure within the Internet.

Safe Computers

When doing banking it is advisable to opt for computers that we use habitually (at your home or at work), avoiding the use of public computers or free and open Wi-Fi networks that could capture personal data.

If it’s strictly necessary to use it, it would be best to change the bank passwords as soon as possible to avoid any theft of personal data and thus keep your accounts safe and free of any attack within the online world.

Keys

We should never archive keys, account numbers, passwords, card numbers or other confidential data on any computer as there are drawbacks where a partner has the audacity to steal the data and enter all our bank accounts.

It is necessary to save all the data in a safe place where no person can access it, nobody else but you. This is one of the main tips if we want to have the best security.

Bank Security

Once inside the digital banking we should know that the portal of a digital bank has certificates that guarantee the security of the system. To extend confidence, other measures have been developed.

These include the blocking of the accounts against anomalous movements, notices against suspicious facts, the request of numerical passwords sent to the mobile device or the introduction of certain coordinates at the time to perform operations, among other things to detect bad operations.

Check Accounts

Digital banking allows you to access the accounts at any time to check periodically that no foreign movements occur, and that the date and time of connection correspond to the last session started.

And it is necessary for each person to keep most of their accounts updated and verified every so often to minimize the risks that might exist by having a bank account susceptible to stealing personal data. You always have to do a deep check of the accounts.

Once we have finished our operations, we must always close the session and the navigator. This way we will finish the online transactions correctly, with few drawbacks and sure that everything went well.

These tips are fundamental and represent the best way to keep our financial accounts safe and free of any possible attacks.

Basic Tips to Protect Your Digital Life

From Visually.

hacker-dark-room

Into the Rabbit Hole – The Truth Behind Online Casino Security

The world of online casinos is growing exponentially, and more companies are entering a sector that is on the rise. It's not a surprise, and online casinos have become a lot more enjoyable that is much more accessible from our homes.

That's why many people are actively betting and wagering at online casinos. In the 21st century, it is interesting to see how the bets are evolving to the point where social interaction is not necessary.

In this article, we have a list of safe online casinos you can be at ease with because they meet all the necessary requirements to be a legal casino. However, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the information in this sector, which will help you stay safe no matter where you choose to play.

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Licenses Information

All legitimate casinos will present a stamp of their licensing agency on their website. Some licenses are considered more credible than others, and the authorities of the United Kingdom, Malta, Costa Rica, Kahnawake, and any European location are the most reliable.

In Spain, of course, DGOJ is the highest authority in this matter and the most reliable one of all.

The licensing information is usually shown at the bottom of a casino's home page, so we recommend that before making a deposit at an online casino, check all of the terms and conditions and verify that you have the seal to verify Safe Play security.

Software

Most online casinos do not create their own games. On the contrary, they receive games from several software developers. This should be an important factor for all players because there are more and better software vendors which mean more and better games to help the gaming industry grow and capture new customers.

It is necessary to take into account the new software developers and to verify in advance the majority of their games to know if they are reliable or not.

Illegal Casinos

A small minority of casino websites is determined to ruin everything for everyone. These brands are known to exploit players, deny profits or carry out financial crimes, including money laundering and fraud.

This is a very small percentage, but that is why we have emphasized the fact that you have to review all the terms and conditions, and especially the authorized seal so that users do not have fear at the moment of withdrawing the money.

Terms and Conditions

Too often, players are immersed directly into playing at an online casino without reading the terms and conditions of the page. Whenever money changes its holder, it is important to know exactly where you are depositing it and especially when you will be able to withdraw it. The terms and conditions of an online casino should be easy to locate if not, that is a bad sign.



These would be the main tips to be taken into account when entering an online casino. In many cases, there are scams that cannot be discovered by the police. That is why you have to be very careful and follow these tips.

get-out-of-here

Check Twice! – Avoid Being a Victim of This New Phishing Technique

When we get access to any kind of website through Facebook login, generally assume that everything is going to be fine because we are accustomed to entering the site with no problems as it seems to be absolutely legit to trust the familiar blue icon.

Now, rules have changed a bit with the new technique some hackers are getting into use and abuse.

Phishing Is Easy to Do

This operational criminal tactic ends up stealing your vital personal information and sending it to hackers so they can do whatever they want with your data. They give a new name to the word phishing.

No matter how vigilant users are they could easily fall for this method of data collection. It was found that cybercriminals were publishing links to services and blogs which sent visitors to read articles or get discounted goods through the login using the Facebook account button.

Once you click on this button two possible things can happen, you're getting redirected to Facebook or getting served with Facebook on a pop-up window so you can enter your profile through showing Facebook credentials.

Later on, it was pointed out the malevolent blogs and services are showing users a very close to reality phoney Facebook prompt but once they click this, their info gets stolen.

What Happens with The Info?

This info can be stolen for many purposes such as bank account theft, industrial spying, privacy invasion and whatever it might attempt against trustful technology users.

This fake Facebook prompt is specially designed to look and feel exactly as the real deal so users click on it confidently to realize that once they do, they could easily be victims of malware.

Malware Breach

Malware is the root of all phishing attacks because thanks to this malicious software, hackers have their way into all the information they can get and get paid for.

As a matter of fact, interaction with this phoney Facebook login prompt is so real that you can drag it anywhere and even click on exit as if it was a real button so people don't know what they're getting into.

The only way to protect yourself against this malware attack is to drag the login prompt to the edge of the pop-up window, this way you get to detect if it's real by checking if it disappears a little towards the border of the window.

It's always a good practice to authenticate with two factors in order to prevent hacker attacks once they got your information. That way the security breaches can be minimized.

Cybersecurity companies invest millions on trying to avoid all kinds of schemes that destroy the trust of the customers in computer products but we can also do our own in order to keep safe and to take good care of our hardware and software.

It's quite important to realize how easy we could lose our means of work and entertainment by having a sloppy guarding technique in our equipment. Let's not allow hackers to do that.

How to Detect a Phishing Email

From Visually.

lock-laptop

3 Easy Steps on How to Protect Your Personal Data

There are many cases of online security being perpetrated by anonymous hackers in order to get your personal information, financial data and other belongings that might be important for you.

The truth is that it is almost impossible to be totally secured from hackers and you are more likely to suffer from a hacking attempt if you are sloppy enough not to have protection and proper security.

With that in mind, in order to finally be completely secure and avoid as many hackers as you can, you should follow these tips to be a little more relieved when it comes to your online data, as well your privacy online.

Think A Little More About Security Questions

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One of the best ways to recover your password is to answer some personal questions that might go from your favourite superhero when you were a child, to the name of your dog. These questions are really standard and serve the purpose of recovering your password if you ever forget it, but most hackers use these questions to obtain your password.

To avoid being hacked through these questions, you need to choose the ones that only you know, or even put your own answers and put an answer that only you can know. This way you’ll stop worrying about hacking attempts.

Dedicated Email for Passwords Only

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Another intelligent move if you truly want to be secure from all hacking attempts, is to create a new email that only you know, and use it as a way to recover your passwords or want to use a two-step authentication system.

Not only having a dedicated email for these type of things is incredibly useful, but it is also a smart move if you want to protect your most important data, in addition, it would be great for you to write down the password of such email in case you forget it, and make sure the password is different from the ones you use with other accounts.

Being careful with your personal data is not a joke, neither avoiding hacking attempts, so follow these tips and you will be safe.

Create A Strong Password

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Easy and reliable advice is to possess a great password. Your password can be anything you want, but if what you want is good protection against hackers, we recommend at least 10 characters, that includes both upper- and lower-case letters, as well a great combination of numbers and symbols.

The password doesn’t need to make sense, it can be a random combination of numbers and symbols, and the best way to really be secure is to write it down on a trusty notepad to help you a little bit.

Another smart move you can make is to use a password manager, since they are often secure and can help you enter your password almost automatic, and they also remember all the passwords you use in any type of website, so you can be safer while you browse the internet.

hacker-hoodie

The Major Flaw of SHARE it And How Hackers Are Taking Advantage of It

Today there are many applications created for our devices that get the necessary requirements to become indispensable in our lives. One of them is ShareIt, an application capable of sharing videos, photos, and files through all our devices with fast movements and in a short time of waiting.

It is one of the most useful applications that have been created today and has become one of the most popular applications.

In the market of applications there are few that meet these features, but just like it has such good reviews, there are also bad things. Recently a very serious vulnerability has been discovered in the application that allows hackers to infiltrate the systems of users that have the application and can steal data. It is a big problem that attacks the personal data of millions of people.

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Vulnerable Users

The vulnerabilities had been discovered in December 2017 and have begun to be corrected immediately by the team in charge of the company, although the technical details about the errors were revealed a few months ago to the surprise of many users.

Network security specialists mention that the details were kept hidden due to the impact of the vulnerability, ease of operation and wide range of attack that users could suffer.

Vulnerabilities can be exploited in a shared Wi-Fi network so hackers may intercept a device's traffic, among other malicious and counterproductive tasks it has been discovered that the attacker can even gain access.

Access is obtained due to no restrictions on the storage of the compromised device and hackers get all the data stored on a hard disk that could compromise the lives of many people, that is why the work to solve the problem.

Exploit

To exploit the vulnerability, some simple processes are used where the attacker simply sends a curl command that references the path of the target file. After that, the specialists emphasize that you must know the exact location of the file to which it is pointed and, if not, you can simply copy all the files inside the memory and delete them in its entirety with a simple movement.

It is a very serious flaw and the experts are looking for the best way to solve problems.



The experts developed a proof of concept (nicknamed DUMPit!) with which they managed to download about 3000 different files (about 2 GB of information) in less than 8 minutes and thus made sure that the attackers had easy access to the data of the users, it was a test where good results were achieved to solve the problem.

This is how these problems have managed to create complete chaos within the user base of the ShareIt application. Experts are already solving most of the problems currently and a solution is expected to arrive in the coming days.