Tag Archives: breaches

Leaked Age Verification IDs from Discord Data Breaches | Gaming News

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Discord, the popular video game chat platform, has informed users about a data breach that has potentially compromised the personal information required for age verification.

Last week, the company reported that unauthorized individuals accessed one of Discord’s third-party customer service providers, impacting “a limited number of users” who interacted with customer service or the trust and safety teams.

Compromised data could encompass usernames, email addresses, billing details, the last four digits of credit card numbers, IP addresses, and messages exchanged with customer support.

According to Discord, the alleged attackers “gained access to a small number of government ID images (e.g., driver’s licenses, passports, etc.) from users who submitted appeals regarding their age verification.

The affected users were informed as of last week.

“If any ID is accessed, it will be explicitly mentioned in the email you receive,” Discord stated.

The support system was reportedly exploited to retrieve user data in an attempt to extort a financial ransom from Discord, the company clarified.

Discord mentioned that the third-party provider has since revoked access to the ticketing system and has initiated an internal investigation in collaboration with law enforcement.

Users who received the notification indicated that the attack likely occurred on September 20th.

With over 200 million active users each month, Discord continues to grow.

Earlier this year, Discord began verifying user ages in the UK and Australia using facial age verification tools. The company stated that age verification face and ID images are “deleted immediately afterwards,” but according to their website, users can reach out to the trust and safety team for a manual review if verification fails.

Under the upcoming social media ban for users under 16, effective December 10, the Australian government specified that platforms like Discord will have various ways to verify user ages and hopes to address unfavorable decisions swiftly.

As part of the age verification scheme, the platform can request an ID document, though it is not the sole method of age verification available under their policy.

Australia’s Privacy Committee has confirmed that it has been notified of the breach involving Discord.

Discord has been contacted for further comments.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Government Under Scrutiny Following Examination of 11 Significant UK Data Breaches | Data Protection

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The government is under pressure to clarify why it has not yet acted on all recommendations from the 2023 review. This includes findings concerning Afghans, victims of child sexual abuse, and 6,000 disability claimants working alongside the British military.

On Thursday, the Minister finally published an information security review. This move followed a 2023 leak involving personal data of approximately 10,000 military personnel from Northern Ireland’s police service.

The Cabinet Office’s review of 11 public sector data breaches revealed three overarching themes affecting entities such as HMRC, the Metropolitan Police, Benefits Systems, and the MOD.

  • Insufficient control over incidental downloads and the aggregation of sensitive data.

  • Disclosure of sensitive information through “wrong recipient” emails and improper use of BCC.

  • Undisclosed personal data emerging from spreadsheets set for release.

The review was released 22 months after the database of 18,700 Afghans was finalized just a month following its publication and was praised by Chi Onwurah, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. However, she remarked:

Data breaches concerning Afghans have instilled fear among those concerned for their safety under the Taliban and those wary of the UK government, which promised relocation to thousands of Afghans under a confidential plan.

The government reported that it has acted on 12 of the 14 recommendations aimed at enhancing data security. Onwurah stated: “There are still questions that the government must address regarding the review. Why have only 12 out of the 14 recommendations been executed?”

“For governments to leverage technology to boost the economy and fulfill their aspirations of public sector transformation, they must earn their citizens’ trust in safeguarding their data.

Intelligence Commissioner John Edwards urged the government to “encourage the broader public sector to expedite the organization of its practices to secure Whitehall.”

He emphasized to Cabinet Secretary Pat McFadden on Thursday, “It is imperative that the government fully actualizes the recommendations from the Information Security Review.”

It remains unclear which of the 14 recommendations are still pending implementation. The full list includes collaboration with the National Cybersecurity Centre to disseminate existing guidance on the technical management of “official” labeled products and services, marking of “official” information, launching a “behavioral impact communication campaign” to combat ongoing deficiencies in information processing, and the necessity for a “review of sanctions related to negligence.”

McFadden and Peter Kyle, the secretaries of state for science, innovation, and technology, communicated to Onwurah in a letter on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the government stated: “This review concluded in 2023 under the previous administration.

“Safeguarding national security, particularly government data security, remains one of our top priorities. Since taking office, we have introduced plans to enhance inter-sector security guidance, update enforcement training for civil servants, and improve the digital infrastructure throughout the public sector, aligning with the shift towards modern digital governance.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Understanding Signal: The App Linked to Security Breaches in War Planning

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Signal, a popular messaging app, has recently come under scrutiny for reports that senior Trump administration officials used the platform to plan wars and inadvertently included journalists in messaging groups.

Launched in 2014 and boasting hundreds of millions of users, the app is favored by journalists, activists, privacy experts, and politicians.

The use of the app by government officials led to intelligence report violations occurring outside of the secure government channels typically used for classified, highly sensitive war plans. This incident raises concerns about the security of Signal and the reasons behind government officials using it. (In general, federal officials are not authorized to install Signal on government-issued devices.)

Here’s what you need to know.

Signal is an encrypted messaging application used for secure communication. It encrypts messages end-to-end, ensuring that the content remains encrypted until it reaches the intended recipient. This method protects users from interception and ensures message confidentiality.

Users can set Signal messages to disappear after a set period of time. They can also enable a feature to auto-delete messages in individual chats.

Signal is owned by an independent nonprofit organization in the U.S. called the Signal Foundation. It is funded through user contributions and grants.

Founded in 2018 with a $50 million donation from Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, the Signal Foundation was established after Acton left WhatsApp due to a dispute with Facebook. Acton teamed up with Moxie Marlinspike, the cryptographer behind Signal’s security system, to create the Signal Foundation, which is structured to prevent data selling incentives.

“There are numerous reasons why Signal is crucial,” wrote Marlinspike, who resigned from the foundation’s board in 2022. “One important reason is to avoid mistakenly adding the Vice President of the U.S. to group chats for coordinating sensitive military operations. This must not be overlooked.”

Yes, Signal is widely regarded as the most secure messaging app due to its encryption technology and other privacy features.

The encryption technology used by Signal is open source, allowing external experts to review and identify any vulnerabilities. This technology is also utilized by services like WhatsApp.

When Signal was targeted by foreign hackers, its encryption technology proved effective. Although there were attempts to compromise user accounts, the encryption remained intact.

In case of a security breach, Signal minimizes user data retention to protect user privacy. Unlike other messaging platforms, Signal does not store user contacts or unnecessary information.

While Signal is secure, it may not be suitable for discussing sensitive military operations if a user’s device is compromised, potentially exposing message content. Government officials should use authorized communication systems to prevent inadvertent disclosures.

Signal representatives have not responded to requests for comment.

Generally, Signal text messages are secure, but users should exercise caution when adding new contacts, similar to other social platforms.

When creating group chats, users should verify that they are including the correct contacts to ensure message confidentiality.

Source: www.nytimes.com

British Safety Council’s findings reveal that AI safety devices are easily susceptible to breaches

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The UK’s new Artificial Intelligence Safety Authority has discovered that the technology can mislead human users, produce biased results, and lacks safeguards against the dissemination of harmful information.

Announced by the AI Safety Research Institute, initial findings of research into advanced AI systems, also known as large language models (LLMs), revealed various concerns. These AI systems power tools like chatbots and image generators.

The institute found that basic prompts can bypass LLM safeguards and be used to power chatbots such as ChatGPT for “dual-use” tasks, which refers to using a model for both military and civilian purposes.

According to AISI, “Using basic prompting techniques, users were able to instantly defeat the LLM’s safeguards and gain assistance with dual-use tasks.” The institute also mentioned that more advanced “jailbreak” techniques could be used by relatively unskilled attackers within a few hours.

The research showed that LLM models can be useful for beginners planning cyberattacks and are capable of creating social media personas for spreading disinformation.

When comparing AI models to web searches, the institute stated that they provide roughly the same level of information, but AI models tend to produce “hallucinations” or inaccurate advice.

The image generator was found to produce racially biased results. Additionally, the institute discovered that AI agents can deceive human users in certain scenarios.

AISI is currently testing advanced AI systems and evaluating their safety, while also sharing information with third parties. The institute focuses on the misuse of AI models, their impact on humans, and their ability to perform harmful tasks.

AISI clarified that it does not have the capacity to test all released models and is not responsible for declaring these systems “secure.”

The institute emphasized that it is not a regulator but conducts secondary checks on AI systems.

Source: www.theguardian.com