A new AI Scam Could Get Your Gmail Account Hacked; Internet Archive breach compromises 31 million accounts; Windows 11 24H2 Update Eats Up 9GB of Space With Files You Can’t Delete; Windows Users Exposed to 600 Million Attacks Daily… and more!
We’re moving our weekly newsbytes to Thursday.
Every day, we scan the tech world for interesting news, sometimes from outside the tech world. Every Thursday, we feature news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Thursday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
A new ‘super-realistic’ AI scam could get your Gmail account hacked
A Microsoft security expert warns Gmail users of a new convincing social engineering attack.
The advent of generative AI has opened up all kinds of opportunities, but it has also ramped up various risks and dangers.
We’ve previously seen hackers who can use AI-generated codes, phishing emails, or even deepfakes to make even more realistic fraud attempts — ones that even security experts can easily fall for.
In a recent Forbes report, Sam Mitrovic — a security consultant for Microsoft — talks about his experience with a new “super-realistic AI scam call” and warns that all Gmail account users could be targeted.
How the new AI scam call worksThe scam is similar to standard phishing methods, but it has a much higher chance of success thanks to its use of AI.
First, Mitrovic received a message asking him to restore his Gmail account. In addition to the included confirmation link, Mitrovic also received a call that purported to come directly from Google. At first, he didn’t pick up, assuming that Google wouldn’t make such a call.
But a week later, he got another call — and this time he answered. On the other end was the American-sounding voice of an alleged Google support employee…
Internet Archive breach compromises 31 million accounts – what you need to know
A DDoS attacker that knocked the popular archive site offline has stolen millions of usernames, email addresses, and encrypted passwords.
The Internet Archive has been hit by a cyberattack that has taken the site down and impacted 31 million accounts. Late Wednesday, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle revealed that a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack affected the site, leading to its defacement via a JavaScript library and a breach of usernames, email addresses, and salted passwords.
Users who browsed the site were greeted with the following message:
“Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!”
HIBP refers to the website Have I Been Pwned…
This Windows 11 24H2 bug eats up 9GB of your drive – and you can’t delete it
Have you noticed that your Windows 11 machine has less free space on it after installing the 24H2 update? Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy. Reports are coming in that the update process leaves around 9GB of files sitting on your drive, and the worst bit is that you can’t just delete them.
Have you noticed that your Windows 11 machine has less free space on it after installing the 24H2 update? Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy. Reports are coming in that the update process leaves around 9GB of files sitting on your drive, and the worst bit is that you can’t just delete them.
Windows 11 24H2 is hogging people’s storage space
As spotted by Windows Latest, people are reporting a strange bug where updating to Windows 11 24H2 leaves around 9GB of files sitting around on the PC’s drive, which are undeletable. These files can be found within the Windows Update cache, which is where the operating system stores everything it needs to carry out an update.
Windows users are exposed to over 600 million cyber attacks every day
A new report from Microsoft reveals just how widespread cyber threats have become.
Microsoft recently released the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024, this year’s edition of the company’s annual cybersecurity report. In the 114-page document, Microsoft reveals — among other things — just how much cyber threats have grown over the past year.
Cybercriminals have gained access to better resources, including the incorporation of AI tools to bolster their arsenal. They’re now better equipped to create fake images, videos, and audio recordings to trick people, to flood job applications with AI-created “perfect” résumés to physically access companies, and much more.
But hackers can also use your use of AI services to attack you. For example, they can use cross-prompt injection attacks (XPIA) to send fake input to the AI tools you use, which allows them to take over your computer or steal your personal data.
According to the report, Microsoft customers are exposed to over 600 million cyber attacks daily, which range from ransomware and phishing to various forms of identity theft…
Passkeys in Windows 11 are about to get safer and easier to use
According to a new Developer Blog post, Microsoft is expanding its support for passkeys on Windows 11 soon, with plans to let you choose how your passkeys are saved and where they’re stored. A new API will also allow third-party password managers like 1Password or Bitwarden to integrate more seamlessly into the Windows passkey experience.
With Windows Hello, users will be prompted to complete a one-time setup for each passkey-friendly website using their Microsoft account. Once that’s done, you can log in across all your Windows 11 devices using whichever authentication method you prefer — PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition.
All passkeys will be secured with end-to-end encryption and use your PC’s TPM (Trusted Platform Module) to keep them protected…
Thanks for reading this week’s Thursday Newbytes. We hope these articles were informative, interesting, fun, and helpful. Darcy & TC
