Information Technology Security

By  KrebsOnSecurity When KrebsOnSecurity recently explored how cybercriminals were using hacked email accounts at police departments worldwide to obtain warrantless Emergency Data Requests (EDRs) from social media firms and technology providers, many security experts called it a fundamentally unfixable problem. But don’t tell that to Matt Donahue, a former FBI agent who recently quit the agency to launch a startup that aims to help tech companies do a better job screening out phony law enforcement data requests — in part by assigning trustworthiness or “credit ratings” to law enforcement authorities worldwide. A sample Kodex dashboard Image: Kodex.us Donahue is co-founder of Kodex , a company formed in February 2021 that builds security portals designed to help tech companies “manage information requests from government agencies who contact them, and to securely transfer data & collaborate against abuses on their platform.” The 30-year-old Donahue said he left the FBI in April ...

By Kate Gibson, CBS If you get a text message that looks to be from yourself, don't click on it. That's the sage advice of experts and of Verizon, which has received numerous complaints about customers getting spam text messages that seem to come from their own phone numbers.  Verizon's community forum includes a thread published on Sunday that details a recent increase in "spoof" texts informing recipients that they've paid their March bill and can get a free gift by clicking a link.  "We can't block ourselves... what's the solution Verizon?" asked one customer of the wireless giant. Another who reported getting the same message said the "link goes to a Russian State-Operated Live TV broadcast." I’ve seen a significant increase in spam texts, including spoofed messages, that appear to come from my own mobile number. @VerizonSupport @Verizon can’t your network determine if a message from its own accounts is legitimate? This seems...