Newly-released research indicates that ransomware attacks reached a record high in May, with the surge primarily fueled by a massive increase in the number of attacks perpetrated by the LockBit ransomware group and its affiliates.

Read more in my article on the Exponential-e blog.

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The LockBit ransomware group returned the fold to launch 176 attacks in May 2024 following a law enforcement takedown, NCC Group found

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Falling in love in the internet age is a whole different ball game to the social-media-free ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Awkward calls on the home phone, sending cards in the mail, and making mixtapes were all key relationship milestones back in the days of roller skates. But fast forward to the new millennium and dating is a whole different sport.

No longer are teens relying on their friends and family for introductions to new love interests, it’s all doable online thanks to the plethora of available dating apps and social media platforms. So it’s no surprise that research confirms that meeting online has officially displaced the traditional ways romantic partnerships were formed.

But how does it actually work? How do teens really connect online? Is it just about the dating apps? What about Instagram? Don’t they also use messaging apps to meet? And what does ‘benching’ and ‘beta-testing’ mean?

Ah, yes I know it can feel overwhelming but don’t stress – I got you! I’ve put together all the key information you need to know if you have kids who are starting their online dating journey.

It’s Not Just About Dating Apps

When many of us think about online dating, we think about the major dating apps like Tinder and Bumble however that’s actually not where it all happens. In fact, many teens inform me that it really is all about Instagram, Snapchat, and increasingly, TikTok. I am reliably informed that these social media platforms give you a more authentic understanding of someone – great! But, in my opinion, there are potential safety issues with using social media to attract a mate. Particularly, if you have a young, inexperienced teen on your hands.

In order for people to be able to follow you on these platforms (and send you messages), you need to have your profile set to public. So, if you have a young, naïve teen who has their social media accounts set to public to ramp up their love life, then I consider this to be a safety concern. They can receive messages from anyone which is not ideal.

Relationships Develop Online – Even If They First Meet In Person

In 2024, chances are your teens will not meet a potential mate in real life (IRL) – it all happens online. But even on the rare chance they do first meet in person, or they eyeball someone they fancy across the school playground, the relationship will develop online. That’s where the magic happens!

So instead of multiple landline telephone calls to friends to ‘suss out’ their crush, they spend multiple hours researching their crush online. They’ll check out and dissect their photos and posts, find all their social media accounts, and then, depending on their level of courage, they may follow all their accounts. Colloquially, this is often referred to as ‘social media stalking’.

Liking Posts and Commenting Is How To Get Noticed

Once they’ve built up the courage, teens may start liking the posts of their crush. Some may even go back over old social media posts and photos from several years back to demonstrate their level of interest. This is known as ‘deepliking’. Some teens think this is an effective strategy, others consider this to be off-putting – each to their own!! But the goal here is to put yourself on the radar of your crush.

Now, once the ‘likes’ have gathered some momentum, the teen may decide it’s time to ‘slide into their crush’s DM’s’. Ah – there’s that expression. All it really means is that your teen will send a direct message to their love interest – usually on a social media app such as Instagram or TikTok.

But they may not even need to ‘slide into the DM’s’. I am reliably informed that if you like a few posts of a potential love interest and then, they like a few of yours, you’re flirting and there’s definitely a spark!! The love interest may then just be the one initiating interest.

Be Prepared For A Lot Of Messaging

Now, if there is a spark and the crush has replied, the next phase is messaging – and a lot of it! Potentially 1000’s of messages. I have first-hand experience of paying a telephone bill for someone (no names) who was super smitten with a girl in the days before unlimited data. All I can say is ouch!!!

Now this messaging may take place on a social media app, a messaging app such as WhatsApp, Messenger, or even via text. Or possibly even a combination of them all!! The key here is to keep the messaging going to suss out whether there is a vibe!

But the messaging stage is where it can get messy and confusing. It’s not unusual for teens to be messaging with several potential love interests at once – essentially keeping their options open. Some refer to this as ‘beta-testing’, I would refer to it as disrespectful and probably exhausting – but hey, I’m old school! But this is often a reality for many teens, and it can be quite demoralising to feel like you’re being ‘managed’.

Let’s Make It Instagram Official

Now, this is a big moment. When your teen and their crush have decided they are exclusive and officially a thing, the next step is to let the world know and make it official. So, they may choose to update their status on their social media platforms to ‘in a relationship’. But if they are after a softer launch, they may simply post a pic of each other, or even together.

Is Sexting Really a Thing?

Believe it or not, some teens may never actually meet in real life (IRL) but still be in a relationship. If this is the case then it’s more likely that sexting will be part of the relationship. Research shows that 1 in 3 Aussie teens (aged 14 to 17) have some experience with sexting ie sending, receiving, being asked, and asking for nude pics however I think in reality, it is likely more – not everyone answers surveys honestly!

So, yes sexting does happen and while I wish it just didn’t, we can’t put our heads in the sand. So, I encourage all parents to remind their kids that once they send an image they lose control of it, that not all relationships last forever, and that they should never be coerced into doing something they are not comfortable with. Stay tuned for further posts with more sexting tips!

Some Good Things Will Come To An End

At the risk of being a cynic, chances are your child’s teen relationships will probably not last a lifetime. So, how do you break up when you’re a digital native?

Well, before the break-up phase, ‘benching’ can occur. This happens when one partner no longer wants to meet up with the other in person. It may also be the moment when your teen’s messages are no longer returned – this is called LOR – left on read. Most of us would call this ghosting. But regardless of what you call it, it’s not a nice feeling.

Call me old fashioned but I am a big fan of breaking up with your love in person and my boys know that. Tapering off contact or telling someone that the relationship is over via text is disrespectful, in my opinion.

Picking Up The Pieces

Helping kids through heartache is tough – I’ve been there!! If your teen is finding life post-relationship hard, why don’t you suggest they delete their social media apps for a week or 2? It’s hard to move on from someone when you are still receiving messages and/or seeing their notifications. It may even be worth unfriending or unfollowing the ex as well.

So, even though the landscape has changed, and the mixtapes have gone, please don’t forget that dating and romance can be super tricky when you are a teen. Not only are you dealing with matters of the heart but in the world’s biggest public forum – the internet. So be kind, gentle, and supportive! And be grateful for the simplicity of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

Alex xx

The post How Teens Date in the Digital Age appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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The French cybersecurity agency has warned that Russian-aligned threat actor has been targeting public organizations for years

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Kids engage online far differently than adults. Between group chats, social apps, and keeping up with digital trends, their interests, and attention spans constantly shift, which means online privacy concerns get sidelined. Here are a few ways to move online privacy center stage.

7 Tips to Help Kids Protect Their Privacy

1. Make Privacy Fun and Relatable

Few things will put kids to sleep faster than talking with parents about online stuff like privacy. So, flip the script. Talk about the things they love online—shopping, TikTok, and group chats. Why? Because all that daily fun could come to a screeching halt should a bad actor get a hold of your child’s data. Establishing strong digital habits allows your child to protect what they enjoy including their Venmo account, video games, and midnight chatting. Doing simple things such as maximizing privacy settings on social networks, limiting their social circles to known friends, and refraining from oversharing, can dramatically improve digital privacy.

2. Strong Relationship = Online Safety

We say it often: The best way to keep your kids safe online is by nurturing a strong relationship with them. A healthy parent-child connection is at the heart of raising kids who can make good choices online. Connect with your child daily. Talk about what’s important to them. Listen. Ask them to show you their favorite apps. Soon, you’ll discover details about their online life and gain the trust you need to discuss difficult topics down the road.

3. Layer Up Your Protection

According to the latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which examined the state of cybersecurity in 2023, some 68% of global breaches, regardless of whether they included a third party or not, involved a non-malicious human action, such as a person making an error or becoming a victim of a social engineering attack. For that reason, consider putting an extra layer of protection between your family and cyberspace. A few ways to do that:

Consider comprehensive security software to protect family devices from viruses, malware, and identity theft.
Think about parental controls to block inappropriate websites and apps, establish time limits, and monitor potential behaviors that could compromise privacy.
Stay informed on digital trends, scams, digital literacy, and new technologies.

4. Build Your Digital Offense

A good digital offense is the best way to guard yourself and your family against those out to misuse your data. Offensive tactics and habits include using strong passwords, maximizing privacy settings on social networks, using a VPN, and boosting security on the many IoT devices throughout your home.

5. Deep Clean Your Digital House

Get in the habit of deep cleaning your technology and bring your kids into the routine. Here’s how:

Together, remove unused apps from all devices
Add Multi-Factor Authentication to your account passwords
Update all device software
Wipe social profiles (including posts) clean of personal or family information such as full names, school names, birthdates, ages, addresses, phone numbers, emails, or location patterns. Do it together and even throw in a few rewards.

5. Create a Family Cybersecurity Plan

Establish rules and guidelines for online behavior, and make sure everyone in the family understands the importance of protecting their personal information.

6. Stay Engaged

Keep the conversation about online safety ongoing. Regularly check in with your kids about their online experiences and encourage them to speak up if they encounter anything suspicious or uncomfortable.

Level Up Family Cybersecurity

It’s hard to slow down and get serious about online privacy if you’ve never experienced a breach or online theft of some kind. However, chances are, the dark side of online living will impact your family before long. Ready to go deeper? Dig into these cybersecurity tips for every age and stage.

The post How to Get Kids Focused on Their Online Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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Interesting summary of various ways to derive the public key from digitally signed files.

Normally, with a signature scheme, you have the public key and want to know whether a given signature is valid. But what if we instead have a message and a signature, assume the signature is valid, and want to know which public key signed it? A rather delightful property if you want to attack anonymity in some proposed “everybody just uses cryptographic signatures for everything” scheme.

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The content of this post is solely the responsibility of the author.  LevelBlue does not adopt or endorse any of the views, positions, or information provided by the author in this article. 

Business owners are increasingly recognizing its positive impact on business growth.

Many marketing and sales strategies use different accounts on a single platform. However, despite its effectiveness in business, not all platforms allow multi-accounting. That’s where residential proxy comes in as an effective solution for multi-accounting.

What Proxy Server is the Best for Multi-Accounting?

There are several types of proxy servers. You can divide them into datacenter servers, residential servers, or a mix of both. Below, we look at these types and see which is better for this marketing tactic.

1. Datacenter

An online datacenter generates and stores the IP addresses of datacenter proxies. As such, they are cloud-generated IPs and often more detectable than residential ones. These proxies aren’t affiliated with any ISP (Internet Server Provider).

However, they still provide complete IP authenticity and anonymity. Remember that datacenter IPs are generally part of a large IP pool. Unless they’re dedicated servers, several users can access them.

2. Residential

Residential proxies differ from datacenter ones on a fundamental level, as they source their IPs from ISPs. The IP address a residential server uses belongs to an actual device. As such, it’s more authentic-looking than datacenter-generated ones.

This increases its security, geo-targeting abilities, and anonymity. It’s often the better choice for multi-accounting because it better mimics a real user’s behavior.

3. Rotating

Rotating proxies are a sub-type of proxy that generates a new IP address for every new connection. You can also set it to generate new IPs within a specific timeframe. Residential rotating proxies are the best option for creating several accounts, as they help avoid IP bans.

Its IP rotation lets you manage different accounts from a single device by changing the IP address. As such, it’s our first choice for when you need to manage various logins on platforms.

Benefits of Creating Multiple Accounts

You might wonder why you need to create multiple logins for one platform. Before we discuss why proxies will benefit you, let’s discuss the advantages of multi-accounting.

● Increased Brand Exposure

Managing multiple social media accounts can increase your brand exposure. By liking, sharing, and reposting your content, you spread it further than a single account can. These operations mean you can better engage with clients and create logins dedicated to specific aspects of your brand.

● Improved Customer Stickiness

Clients are more loyal to brands that treat them better. By interacting more with clients and facilitating quick sales, you can build trust in the brand. Multiple e-commerce and social media logins ensure you can always complete a sale.

● Branch Out Your Market Share

With different logins, you can create accounts geared towards several markets. This helps you grow your market share by releasing various products and services to specific customers. It also enhances your geo-targeted marketing campaigns to become more effective and far-reaching.

● Boosts Marketing Efforts

Boosting your marketing efforts will optimize the user experience. That, in turn, improves your sales conversion rate and search engine rankings. All this will increase your direct traffic from social media logins to your website. Overall, it improves the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.

Why Should I Use Proxies for Multiple Accounts?

While managing many accounts can be beneficial, it can also lead to challenges. That’s why residential proxies, especially rotating ones, are the ideal partner to use in this case.

1. Avoid IP Bans

Most social media and e-commerce platforms will ban an IP if they see many logins connected to that address. The detection software can’t differentiate between harmless and harmful bot activity. Multiple accounts linked to a single device look like bot activity to them; thus, they block it.

However, these proxy servers will help you avoid IP bans. You can change your IP address so it doesn’t seem you’re connecting from one device. You can assign a specific IP to an account or rotate IPs so it looks like a new user each time.

2. Enhanced Anonymity

Residential IPs look like actual users while hiding your IP address behind a home device’s IP. As such, these servers enhance your anonymity and security while using them. A significant issue many businesses encounter is keeping their logins safe from hackers.

Yet, using a proxy server will help solve that problem. If hackers try to track your account or digital footprint, they can only track the proxy server’s location. This means your device and servers remain safe during all your activities.

3. Target Specific Geo-Locations

The best proxy providers ethically source residential IPs worldwide. As such, you can change your geo-location to almost any place and expand your market reach. Creating accounts for other markets can be challenging, as traveling to the market often requires traveling.

Extensive research is also needed to determine what the target audience wants. Yet, with proxies, you can access resources in the location as if you’re a local. This minimizes your expenses, as you don’t need to travel. It further targets specific locations with social media and e-commerce accounts.

4. Efficiently Manage Different Accounts

Whether you’re a business owner with several branches or a marketing manager, there comes a time when you have to operate many accounts. It often means you need multiple devices and locations to manage it to avoid IP bans and constant captchas.

With proxies, you can bypass these issues. They consolidate all your accounts on one device and manage them using a single person. You change the IP based on the account you’re accessing. They also allow an uninterrupted connection with 99.99% uptime.

Implement Effective Strategies to Boost Your Operations

A residential proxy, especially a rotating one, is the ideal tool to boost your multi-accounting operations. It delivers various benefits, such as increased geo-targeting capability. You can also enjoy better anonymity, fewer IP bans, and better efficiency.

Managing multiple logins can help you organically grow your business. Still, it’s also fraught with challenges when done without help. Proxies lets you independently manage these accounts in a streamlined manner.

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A cryptocurrency exchange claims to have been extorted after ‘researchers’ exploited a vulnerability to steal millions

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