Clickjacking Campaign Exploits European Cookie Law

The article talks about an exploit which makes use of the European law that requires web users to be notified when a website wants to install cookies on their machine called clickjacking. They typically conceal a transparent page within an authentic web page (or in this case, a cookie popup notification) which causes the user to think that he is clicking the visible button (i.e the cookie notification), but instead it is a legitimate advert. Therefore abusing both the advertiser and the ad network hosting which costs advertisers and ad networks a lot of money while online crooks are profiting from bogus Pay Per Click traffic.

The article furthers our knowledge on cookies and explains how it can be exploited by people in real life and how cookies can pose as a threat and a real problem to advertisers and ad network hosts. 

By: Lim Chen Wei

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How cyber thieves trade your birthday for profit in a part of the Internet you can’t find

Cyber thieves have exploited the vulnerabilities in computer networks to gain access to large amount of personal data. They are able to make huge profits out of it, even when prices of these data are sold at a relatively low price today. Cyber thieves trade stolen personal information in a “dark Web”, which are inconspicuous to Google and other search engines. These personal data include birth dates and identification numbers, which are enough to apply loans and credit cards without our knowledge.

This article highlights how our own personal data can be easily sold in illegal marketplaces without our permission. Corporations should also increase the level of data protection and security of their users. It is also important for us to learn how to protect ourselves from such hacks as much as possible.

By: Yang Jia Jia

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FBI's war on encryption is unnecessary because the Internet of Things will spy on us just fine

This article talks about the "war on encryption" whereby governments are scared that with the advancements and adoption of technological architectures, it is increasingly harder to track down terrorists and kidnappers due to the advanced encryption on communications that limits the government's ability. However, it is believe that because of how freely everyone is sharing and revealing their personal data through the Internet, these acts as accessible sources for intelligence agencies and will help in the government efforts of tracking and surveilling communications.

This article is relevant to the topic of Security and it shows the dilemma involved in this area of focus. Firstly, with the adoption of encryption software, it is believe to solve security issues yet the government feels that it is providing a platform for terrorist oraganisations to go under the radar and conduct their wars. Yet, the recent lessons on how easily personal data and information are shared on the internet can result in security issues are instead thought to be able to bypass these "encryptions" and help solve the problem.

By: Sim Chong Ying Brendan

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