Cyber Tales - Story behind cyber security stories

Are you concerned that your Amazon Echo device is storing too much personal data? You’re not alone. In a world where data theft is an ongoing issue, it’s vital that we keep our data safe. But could our friendly voice assistant, Alexa, be jeopardising our data security? In this episode, we uncover the ways in which Amazon Echo uses our personal data, where our data goes and what is it used for – with input from voice assistant experts Vinaya, Deepak and Shabab

Can Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa make a huge purchase you don’t want? Could they record your conversations without your knowledge? Will they read your emails, and accidentally send out sensitive messages to your personal and professional contacts? We explore these big security concerns, and more, to figure out if you are trading convenience for security when you use an AI-driven digital assistant. Tune into this podcast, and learn whether you need to tell your phone, “Siri, stop listening!”

Are your private photos being uploaded to Russian servers? You might be at risk if you are one of the 80 million users of the popular application FaceApp. A software developer recently claimed that if you downloaded FaceApp, the software would immediately vacuum up every photo on your phone and store them on Russian servers. Scary, isn’t it? We sat down with our experts to explore these claims. Tune into this podcast to see if you are safe, or if you need to delete your FaceApp ASAP.

Are you about to become a prime target for hackers? Cybercriminals have slowed their attacks on individuals, and they are now launching fewer direct attacks on corporate networks. Instead, they have begun to focus their attacks on a few key leadership roles at high-value enterprises. Have you received more direct attacks against your corporate email addresses, profiles, and accounts? Have you already been compromised? Tune into this podcast to make sure you don’t give criminals easy access to your company’s crown jewels.

Is Google using Chrome to get at your data? With the biggest share of the browser market, your shiny Chrome app could have a dark side that puts your confidential information in danger. For better or for worse, Google is everywhere and so is its Chrome software. But while Google has been beating the drum about making life easier for Chrome users, privacy issues have been surfacing. Have you been affected by Chrome’s automatic login and automatic data sync features? Is it just Google failing to communicate properly, or is conspiracy theory now turning into reality? Tune into this podcast and find out!

If data is the new oil, Google has some of the biggest refineries in the world. Raw data in, insights and analysis out, but what about privacy and confidentiality? Google information also powers advertising designed to target you as an individual. How? By using your personal data, preferences, and often many more of your intimate details. Trust is just one issue. Monopolistic practices, data snooping, and unauthorized data sharing are others. Is Google evil? Is it time to call in the Jedi Knights to save the world? Find out how far the tentacles of the Google Empire reach in this podcast and what you should be looking out for.

Personally Identifiable Information or PII can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Phishing, identity theft, and cyber extortion are just some of the threats. But how much do you think about data security when using chauffeuring services like Uber? Join us in this podcast to find out about the policies for data retention and the security issues that affect you directly, and your rights regarding data deletion. With our panel of experts, we pick the Uber privacy case apart. And put it back together with handy tips about how you can better safeguard your personal data. Get the details here!

Have you received threatening email recently? You’re not alone. We talk about how it happens and what you can do to stop it affecting you. First, find out about even supposedly reputable Internet actors that make it difficult for you to protect your privacy. Get the lowdown on the way that password and email files are hacked and resold for phishing scams. Hear about how malware can worm its way into your PC or mobile. Then listen as we explain smart, safe ways to set up your passwords, use protection like 2FA, and deal with emails that menace you (breathe sigh of relief HERE!).

Are mobile banking apps safe? We discuss app risks and threats that could seriously affect your banking well-being if you don’t watch out for them. We also run through the differences between mobile and desktop banking, and why the banking sector may be making a rod for its own back by trying to be too helpful to customers using mobiles. Find out with us how to avoid pitfalls like downloading fake apps and see how to identify authentic versions. Make sure that your money stays safe in your account, out of reach of thieves and hackers!

There may be far more of you, personally, on the web than you think. In this podcast, we discuss how social media giants and other popular internet firms collect huge amounts of data… on you! Ostensibly, they do this to better know you and meet your needs. However, the danger is in the abuse of that data. The Facebook - Cambridge Analytica case is still echoing in cyberspace. On a brighter note, however, data privacy is being reinforced. Individuals can ask that their personal data be erased from organizations like Facebook and Google. Join us and see how these developments could affect you.

Roll up, roll up, online buyers and sellers! We dive into the world of Amazon to see if users are adequately protected in their transactions. While the online retailing leader has several built-in safeguards, there are still ways that users can game the system. Is your credit card safe? Can you trust product reviews? What should you look for in Amazon product pages to pick products and vendors most likely to meet your needs, honestly and efficiently? We also take a quick peek at certain social media and improvements they still need to make in cyber security and data privacy.

Election rigging hit the news recently, with horror stories of the Cambridge Analytica company exploiting data on 50 million people, all from a quiz-master using Facebook. We tell you how that quiz data was used to produce psychographic profiles whose tentacles stretched back into Facebook’s huge database of links and Likes. How it was made ready for manipulation of behavior in key votes and referendums. Has social media therefore become a hidden surveillance state? Which apps on Facebook might already have your data and be threatening your privacy? Find out how to check and what you can do about it!

A bitcoin and blockchain information bonanza awaits you in this podcast. To find out what’s really going on and what you can, should or cannot do, we’ve invited our special guest Narayan Neelakantan, the co-founder and CEO of Block Armour. Listen to Narayan tell it like it is, including why banks are now so interested in blockchain and what’s at stake security-wise when buying digital currency. He also explains how sneaky operators could be stealing your computer power to become the next bitcoin billionaires. All this, plus our roundup of the high points of recent IT and cyber security news.

How much does your grocer know about you, or your travel agent, or your taxi driver? If you’re buying and booking online, it could be a lot more than you think. In this month’s podcast, we look at the impact of ecommerce on our data privacy. Buying preferences, personal profile, it can all be analyzed to second-guess what you want to purchase next. Or, as in the current Facebook data sharing scandal, for figuring out how you plan to vote in the next election. We also bring you another highly select news roundup with fingerprint faking (look out, Aadhaar!) and ransomware for robots (a new twist on ransomware robbery).

This month’s podcast covers drones that won’t leave you alone, real-world holdups to rob people of virtual currency, the fight against fake news, and updates on that hot digital potato, Aadhaar. Despite government guidelines and best practices, Aadhaar still has significant fear, uncertainty and doubt to contend with. Recent events like government gas subsidies being automatically gobbled up by Airtel bank accounts don’t help its reputation either. However, with your trusty Paladion podcast panel, you’ll find out here about smart moves to protect your Aadhaar security and decide whether to link your Aadhaar to your own phone numbers and bank accounts.

Which is scarier, malware that figures out your behaviour and adapts to it, or your Aadhaar number out on the web for all to see? In this podcast, we discuss both possibilities and recent events connected with them. We also run through a few of the things designed to protect your Aadhaar personal information. They include random number generation, biometrics, and last but not least, your right to privacy! Join us and find out more, including how expensive it can be for enterprises and organizations that leak personal information or lose it through being hacked. That sounds like good motivation for being more careful, but is it enough?

As we move into 2018, we look at how the privacy and security wars are likely to be fought. Will users ever be safe from criminal hacking AND government snooping? At least one mega-messaging platform is trying right both those wrongs, while a social media leader just upped the stakes against social engineering. We also look back on winners and losers of 2017. For those who got burned, there are lessons to be learned. Biometrics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are just some of the possibilities we discuss for preventing the world’s worst hacks of last year from happening again this year.

This week, we go beneath the hood of WhatsApp and investigate the popular chat app’s approach to privacy and conversation security. Our experts explain which data WhatsApp does not copy, which it keeps, and what steps you can take to keep your WhatsApp conversations as secure as possible. Finally, we discuss WhatsApps future monetization strategy, and how the app’s purchase by Facebook may impact your privacy when chatting on the app.   In news, we discuss Uber’s recent data hack, and how other criminals stole a Mercedes by learning how to hack the car’s keyless entry. We also examine how a security researcher uncovered a set of security flaws in many popular email clients that could turn you into a spammer without your consent. 

Learn how you can stay safe when using free file transfer services such as WeTransfer, Dropbox, SendThisFile, etc. In this latest podcast, our experts discuss: how attackers are exploiting free file transfer services to infect your systems, inherent vulnerabilities in the transfer process, the privacy these services provide, and steps you can take to ensure your files are protected during a transfer. In news, you will hear about the latest Whatsapp Attack that affected over 1 million users, vulnerabilities in the Amazon Key, and the newly formed Global Cyber Alliance. 

This week, we dig into another data-collecting giant: Facebook. We talk about the different kinds of data Facebook collects from its users, the ways Facebook uses this data, and new developments in Facebook’s ability to recognize your face and read your emotions—and how Facebook is exploiting these new capabilities to better support their advertising network.  In news, one of the world’s biggest accountancy firms has fallen victim to a cyber-attack. We discuss what simple steps you could take to stay protected, and the newest successful attack developed by the hacker community.

This week, we talk all about Google. Specifically—just how much of your data Google stores, and what you can do about it. We bring on two experts to explain more than just stored search histories. Our experts discuss the data Google collects from Chrome, YouTube, and Android, and what Google is really doing with all this data. We close out explaining how you can protect all the data Google collects from you. In news, we talk about how Equifax could have prevented their image-shattering breach. We also discuss security flaws found in the most unlikely of places—pacemakers.

In this week’s episode, we look at security on Android and iOS operating systems. Our experts discuss security features these providers have put together, vulnerabilities you should be aware of, protecting data on your mobile phones, security on app stores, app permissions you should be wary of, and more. In news, we talk about a new attack trend termed the Dog in the Middle Attack or DiTM and a new password standard issued by the NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology in the US that might surprise you all. 

Last week, we discussed some successful social engineering techniques cyber criminals still use. This week, we dive dipper into social engineering and get expert tips from experts on how to combat social engineering. How to spot emails that seem to be from your friend or boss? How to identify a genuine phone call from your banker? And more. In news, the IOT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017, yet another HBO hack, and Three Square Market implants Micro Chips in its employees.

This week we discuss the widely popular technique cyber criminals use to gain access to your account credentials; social engineering. This could be to gain access to your email account, your bank account and pin, and even your personal information such as DOB and Mother’s Maiden name. Our hosts share accounts of clever social engineering tactics that has worked with people who are aware and other aspects of this technique. In news, we have credit card fraud in Bengaluru using advanced card skimmers, the latest Ransomware attack LeakerLocker targeting Android phones and more.

In this week’s episode, we explore Payment apps such as Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Payzapp, Citi Pay, etc. We answer questions like; how does it work, how to access and use these apps, security innovation these apps have brought, POS machines that support these payments, what happens if you lose your phone loaded with these payment apps, and more. In this week’s news, we talk about the latest victim of the Erebus Ransomware, how hackers can steal your passwords if you are using an EEG headset, and Microsoft’s artificial intelligence to fight windows malware.

In this week’s episode we talk about the future of contactless cards. The popularity of contactless cards is gaining rapidly. The current year so far has seen more contactless transactions then anytime earlier. While consumer’s find contactless card payments a very convenient mode to make a purchase, very few are actually aware of the risks associated with it. Paladion cyber security experts Hari and Balaji discuss the pros and cons of contactless cards.

In this week’s episode we ask the question, how secure is your mobile phone? Many people now do everything on their smart phones, but you may be putting yourself at risk every time you open an app or use WiFi. We will discuss what it is about your phone that makes it a target for hackers, what some companies are doing to protect you, and most importantly, what you can do to protect yourself. We will also look at cyber stories from around the world including an incident of an online password manager getting hacked, a game that teaches kids to become responsible internet users, as well as more fallout from the WannaCry ransomware.

In this episode we look at the one of the most used and possibly most misunderstood aspects of modern business – cloud computing. We’ll trace the origins of shared networks and discuss whether or not turning all of your most precious data over to a third party makes you safer or more vulnerable to attacks. We will also let you know the various services the cloud has to offer and we’ll predict what cloud computing may look like in the future.  

In the 8th episode, we look at security around an electronic voting machine (EVM), vulnerabilities in the system, the extent of impact hacking an EVM machine can have, and the future of electronic voting. We also cover the recent Wanna Cry Ransomware threat and discuss what went wrong and how it was able spread so quickly.  

In this week’s episode we look at the growing threat of malware. In 2016, a new malware was developed every 4.6 seconds and the cyber security world has been forced to keep up. We will discuss what malware is, how it has changed and developed and what the experts are doing to keep us safe. We will also give our listeners tips on how they can stay safe from the latest malware invasion. In this episode we’ll also let you know why it may finally be ok to forget your PIN, what you’re doing that lets hackers inside your smart phone, and how your music headphones might be selling your personal information.  

In this episode we discuss how hackers have made using your payment card in person just as risky as paying online. We will look at the methods hackers use to steal your information, including how they are able to get your card data and how they can steal your PIN. We’ll also discuss some of the more sophisticated attacks on payment cards and provide a checklist you can use to stay safe. In this episode we also explain the latest phishing strategies and look at the new malware destroying IoT devices.

In this episode we examine why Bitcoin is the chosen currency of cyber criminals. We discuss the journey Bitcoin took to become the ultimate financial tool of the criminal world as well as the technology behind it. We will also reveal the truth behind Bitcoin’s supposed anonymity. Is Bitcoin the future or is law enforcement closing in on this once untouchable crypto currency? Also in this episode, the true cost of cyber security incidents, how hackers robbed a bank with smart phones, and why Israel is teaching children cyber security skills.

In February 2016, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA was hit by a ransomware attack that ultimately cost them $17,000 when cyber attackers were effectively able to shut down the hospital unless they paid up. In this episode, we discuss the increased targeting of both small and large organizations and enterprises, how ransomware works, and what you can do to prevent your organization from being the next target. Also in this episode: Making your mobile device more secure, the curious case of a police department being held up by cyber criminals, and why you may not have to prove you’re not a robot when you log in to websites anymore.

Today, we’re going to talk about something that affects all of us, thanks to the government’s insistence on Aadhaar. We are talking of biometric authentication, or the use of fingerprints, iris scans, voice recognition and so on, to secure your data. We will be looking at how this works and if there are security risks involved in biometrics. Fingerprints have been used as ID for centuries! People still sign cheques and documents using fingerprints, and many of us have fingerprint scanners installed in office entrances. Plus, we use fingerprint to my phone.So, what has changed now to make fingerprints so newsworthy?

Using a debit or credit card or any kind of plastic money comes with its set of risks. In fact, stealing credit card data was the first big trend in the history of cyber-attacks. We’ve come a long way since then and built solid defense systems. But with e-commerce taking off in a big way in the past few years, usage of credit and debit cards to make online transactions has grown sharply. This exposes us to a new level of risks and threats, which is only increasing as more and more people go cashless. It’s time we examined them with the people who know all about this and get a wider perspective.

How secure are digital wallets? Online security is something that doesn’t just worry Snowden, it affects all of us, especially, when it concerns our money. In fact, after demonetisation in India, cash hasn’t been easily available, forcing everyone to use cashless options like digital wallets. Suddenly, digital wallets like Paytm, Mobiwik, Freecharge have become mainstream and we’re using them to buy everything from vegetables to an airline ticket. We had been using the alternate payment methods like credit and debit cards, Internet banking and ATMs etc for years. We always had the choice of using these new methods or cash. We had time to learn these at our own pace. Now suddenly with cash disappearing overnight and mobile-wallets being the only viable option – isnt the shift too abrupt? Our Podcast describes this key shift, how this impact could lead to security concerns and what are the key pointers to keep in mind while using digital wallets.