A week in security (June 26 – July 2)

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A week in security (June 26 – July 2)
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Last week on Malwarebytes Labs:

Stay safe!

Malwarebytes EDR and MDR removes all remnants of ransomware and prevents you from getting reinfected. Want to learn more about how we can help protect your business? Get a free trial below.

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This Is the Best Price We’ve Seen

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This Is the Best Price We’ve Seen
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Best Buy has a really great deal right now on the HP Victus 15 gaming laptop. You can pick it up for just $649, that’s going to save you $250 off of its regular price. That does also bring it down to an all-time low.

HP Victus 15 – Best Buy

Why you should buy the HP Victus 15

The HP Victus 15.6″ Full HD 144Hz Gaming Laptop is a great option for gamers on a budget. It’s currently on sale for $649, which is a great deal for a laptop with this level of performance.

Here are some of the reasons why you should buy the HP Victus 15:

  • Powerful performance: The Victus 15 is powered by an Intel Core i5-13420H processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. This combination of hardware is more than enough to handle even the most demanding games.
  • Vivid display: The Victus 15 has a 15.6″ Full HD display with a 144Hz refresh rate. This means that you’ll be able to enjoy smooth and fluid gameplay.
  • Sleek design: The Victus 15 has a sleek and stylish design. It’s made of a durable plastic material that can withstand everyday use.
  • Long battery life: The Victus 15 has a long battery life, so you can game for hours on a single charge.

If you’re looking for a powerful and affordable gaming laptop, the HP Victus 15 is a great option. It’s currently on sale for $649, so don’t miss out on this great deal.

Here are some additional reasons why you should buy the HP Victus 15:

  • It has a comfortable keyboard and touchpad.
  • It comes with a number of ports, including USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and an SD card reader.
  • It has a built-in webcam and microphone.
  • It runs Windows 11 Home.

Overall, the HP Victus 15 is a great choice for gamers on a budget. It’s powerful, stylish, and has a long battery life. If you’re looking for a new gaming laptop, I recommend taking a look at the HP Victus 15.

HP Victus 15 – Best Buy


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Of sharks, surveillance, and spied on emails

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Of sharks, surveillance, and spied on emails
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This week on Lock and Code, we speak with Matthew Guargilia about the NSA’s broad powers to sweep up Americans’ emails, DMs, messages, and all manner of digital communications.

In the United States, when the police want to conduct a search on a suspected criminal, they must first obtain a search warrant. It is one of the foundational rights given to US persons under the Constitution, and a concept that has helped create the very idea of a right to privacy at home and online. 

But sometimes, individualized warrants are never issued, never asked for, never really needed, depending on which government agency is conducting the surveillance, and for what reason. Every year, countless emails, social media DMs, and likely mobile messages are swept up by the US National Security Agency—even if those communications involve a US person—without any significant warrant requirement. Those digital communications can be searched by the FBI. The information the FBI gleans from those searches can be used can be used to prosecute Americans for crimes. And when the NSA or FBI make mistakes—which they do—there is little oversight. 

This is surveillance under a law and authority called Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. 

The law and the regime it has enabled are opaque. There are definitions for “collection” of digital communications, for “queries” and “batch queries,” rules for which government agency can ask for what type of intelligence, references to types of searches that were allegedly ended several years ago, “programs” that determine how the NSA grabs digital communications—by requesting them from companies or by directly tapping into the very cables that carry the Internet across the globe—and an entire, secret court that, only has rarely released its opinions to the public. 

Today, on the Lock and Code podcast, with host David Ruiz, we speak with Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia about what the NSA can grab online, whether its agents can read that information and who they can share it with, and how a database that was ostensibly created to monitor foreign intelligence operations became a tool for investigating Americans at home. 

As Guariglia explains:

“In the United States, if you collect any amount of data, eventually law enforcement will come for it, and this includes data that is collected by intelligence communities.”

Tune in today.

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, plus whatever preferred podcast platform you use. 

Show notes and credits:

Intro Music: “Spellbound” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music: “Good God” by Wowa (unminus.com)


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release date, specs, price & more – updated July 3, 2023

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release date, specs, price & more – updated July 3, 2023
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The Google Pixel 8 Pro is the company’s upcoming flagship handset. It will launch alongside the Google Pixel 8, which we’ve already previewed in a separate article. The Pixel 8 Pro will be the best Google has to offer, though, a level above the vanilla Pixel 8 model. Details regarding the phone have been trickling in for a while now, though the device will become official later this year, most likely in October.

Having said that, we’re here to take a closer look at the Pixel 8 Pro, and see what it’ll have to offer. Below, you’ll find a lot of information about the device, based on what leaked thus far. We’ll add more information as it leaks out, of course. So, if you’re interested in the Pixel 8 Pro, well, read on.

This article will be regularly updated with new information on the Google Pixel 8 Pro (this is a preview article) — both official teasers and credible leaks, rumors, and insider claims — as it becomes available in the run-up to the release of the upcoming Android smartphone. The last update was made on July 3, 2023.

When will the Google Pixel 8 Pro be released?

The Pixel 8 Pro will almost certainly launch in October. Google still did not confirm anything, but that’s the usual timeframe for new Pixel flagship launches. The Pixel 7 series arrived on October 6, and chances are the Pixel 8 phones will follow in October too. There’s always a chance Google will change things up, but that’s not as likely. In any case, we won’t be sure until Google officially confirms the launch date.

What models are coming?

Google will reveal both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro during the event. We’ve already talked about the Pixel 8, so we’re here to focus on the ‘Pro’ model. Chances are that the device will end up offering 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, while we’ll get more than one storage option. We’re not sure what those storage options will be just yet, though. Google will certainly go up to 512GB or maybe even 1TB this time around. The Pixel 7 Pro was available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models. Don’t expect expandable storage to be a part of the picture, though.

How much will the Google Pixel 8 Pro cost?

We still don’t have any information regarding the Pixel 8 Pro price. The Pixel 7 Pro launched with an $899 price tag, which was considered a good price point last year. If Google can make it happen again, that would be great, as flagship phones are immensely expensive these days. If we had to guess, we’d say that the starting price tag will either be the same, or the Pixel 8 Pro will be a bit more expensive at $949 or $999.

What will the Google Pixel 8 Pro look like?

The Google Pixel 8 Pro surfaced in CAD-based renders back in March. Those images gave us a good idea of what to expect from the device. Its design won’t be too much different than the Pixel 7 Pro’s. The device will be a bit more rounded, however, and its camera visor will look slightly different. Its display will be either flat or very slightly curved. The bezels will be thin, and all its physical buttons will be located on the right-hand side. The power/lock button will sit above the volume rocker buttons.

The device will be made out of metal and glass, almost certainly. Its camera visor on the back will connect with the frame on the sides, and will be covered by metal, as was on the Pixel 7 Pro. The back side of the phone will be slightly curved towards the edges. The camera visor will once again protrude quite a bit on the back. Google’s logo will be visible on the back, but it won’t be too flashy or anything like that.

You can check out the images below to see what the phone will look like for yourself. It will be larger than the Pixel 8, that’s for sure, and it’ll be easy to recognize thanks to a different setup inside the camera visor. The device is tipped to measure around 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.7mm (12mm including the camera bump). The Pixel 8 Pro is coming in Jade, Licorice, Porcelain, and Sky color variants.

What specs will the Google Pixel 8 Pro have?

The Pixel 8 Pro will be fueled by the Google Tensor G3 SoC. That chip will be a considerable improvement over the Tensor G2. Not only will it come with newer Arm cores, across the board, but it will have a different cores setup, and support UFS 4.0 flash storage. More changes will be implemented, and even though it won’t be the most powerful chip on the market, it will be a major improvement over its predecessor. That chip will also be included inside the Pixel 8.

The Pixel 8 Pro will likely feature a 6.7-inch QHD+ (2992 x 1344) LTPO AMOLED display. Unlike the one in its predecessor, this one will be flat. That display will offer a 120Hz refresh rate, adaptive. Max brightness will be 1,600 nits, by the way. Google is expected to offer plenty of RAM here, probably 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. UFS 4.0 flash storage will also be included, up to 512GB or 1TB of storage. Don’t expect expandable storage to be on offer here, though, because it won’t be.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro will come with a bigger battery than its predecessor. It will include a 4,950mAh battery, compared to a 4,926mAh unit in the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s not a huge difference, but any improvement is welcomed. It will also support faster wired charging at 27W, compared to 23W the Pixel 7 Pro offered. Wireless charging speed will remain the same.

What about the cameras? Well, the Pixel 8 Pro is tipped to include an improved main camera sensor over the Pixel 7 Pro. In fact, detailed Pixel 8 Pro camera specs surfaced. The phone is said to include a 50-megapixel main camera. Samsung’s ISOCELL GN2 sensor will be used, thus improving upon the ISOCELL GN1 which was used in the Pixel 6 and 7 series. A new 64-megapixel ultrawide camera will be used (Sony’s IMX787 sensor). That is the same sensor Google used in the Pixel 7a, but for the main camera. The telephoto camera will seemingly remain the same, and offer 5x optical zoom. A 10.8-megapixel selfie camera was also mentioned.

Should you wait to buy the Google Pixel 8 Pro?

So, should you wait for the Pixel 8 Pro or get the Pixel 7 Pro now? Well, the Pixel 7 Pro can be bought at a discount at the time of writing this article, but we’d suggest waiting a bit. The Tensor G3 will bring various improvements to the table, and if the Pixel 8 Pro ends up sporting a new camera setup as well, it’ll be worth the wait. Let’s just hope that Google doesn’t plan to raise the price up, or at least doesn’t plan to raise it by much. Not a single price rumor surfaced thus far, so all we can do at this point is wait.


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We have a leak of the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera module

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We have a leak of the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera module
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We’re not far from the launch of the next phone from Nothing, and we have a pretty good idea of how this phone’s going to look. While that’s true, another leak won’t hurt. Thanks to Paras Guglani, we have a leak of Nothing Phone (2)’s camera module.

So far, the Nothing Phone (2) looks like it’s going to share some major design characteristics with its predecessor. It appears that it will have the same general shape and it will retain the transparent aesthetic that we see with other Nothing devices.

Also, the Glyph Interface, the most defining aspect of the Nothing Phones, looks to be largely unchanged. It still has the same general shape. The only change is the fact that there are sections taken out of the LEDs. This could make it a bit difficult to differentiate this phone from the first generation.

Here’s a leak of the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera module

The picture of the Nothing Phone (2) is coming together. So far, we’ve been seeing a mixture of leaked images from leakers and teasers from the company. Now, this next leak helps confirm that this phone is going to have a dual camera package.

In the image, which looks just like the kind of image that Carl Pei would post to Twitter, we see the Nothing Phone (2)’s camera module. It matches what we’ve seen so far with the segmented LED strip. We can also see that the top camera’s lens is wider than that of the bottom.

Notrhing Phone 2 camera island leak

There’s not much more that we can glean from this image, but that’s not a problem. The phone is going to get its official announcement on July 11th. That’s not too far from now, so we’ll find out more information about this phone then.

When this phone launches, because of the flagship-grade processor, it’s expected to be much more expensive than the Nothing Phone (1). We’re looking at a price of around $800 for the base model. Let’s hope that there’s enough change in this device to justify the price hike.


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Nothing Phone users can expect some exclusive features

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Nothing Phone users can expect some exclusive features
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Carl Pei and the Nothing crew are fleshing out the Nothing experience. The burgeoning ecosystem doesn’t have much to offer that you won’t find elsewhere, but the company CEO is looking to change that. According to a new tweet from Carl Pei, the company is planning on bringing some exclusive features for Nothing users.

While Nothing does have a few years under its belt and a handful of products, the company is still brand-new in the grand scheme of things. It’s still got a ways to go if it wants to truly create an identity of its own. The Nothing Phone stands apart from the crowd because of its unique hardware, but what about the software driving it?

Nothing might bring exclusive features for its users

Carl Pei just posted a tweet on Monday explaining that the company is thinking of bringing features that only work between Nothing products. The keyword here is “thinking”. He didn’t give any specifics as to what the company could potentially bring. We’re not even sure that the company will bring anything. It seems that it’s still in the spitball stage.

He ended the tweet by asking the users if they had friends or family using the Nothing Phone (1) who could use exclusive features. This is a smart move, as the company could get a good idea of what the people would like to see. The Nothing community is still relatively small, so that will make it easier to read the majority of the requests.

At this point, we’re not sure if the company is talking about features only for the Nothing Phones or for the entire ecosystem of devices. This isn’t unheard of; Samsung does much the same thing with its Galaxy devices. While it’s an ecosystem based on very little proprietary software, Samsung has been able to bring some exclusivity into the Galaxy ecosystem.

As for what features to expect, that’s still up in the air. We’ll have to wait to see what Carl Pei has in store for Nothing fans.


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Google Fact Check Explorer now allows users to verify images online

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Google Fact Check Explorer now allows users to verify images online
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Ever since the advent of the internet, bad actors have been using morphed and photoshopped images to spread misinformation and wreak havoc. However, with the launch of image generator AIs like Stable Diffusion, where anyone can generate images from a text prompt, this problem is now bigger than ever. Now, in an effort to solve this issue, Google has announced a range of updates for its Fact Check Explorer, which will allow users to fact-check images and verify their credibility.

Launched during the Global Fact 10 conference held in Seoul, South Korea, the new update will allow users to upload an image and determine if fact checkers have analyzed it before. This process not only allows users to verify an image but also helps combat the spread of misleading visual content.

“At Google, we support this effort by developing tools and resources to aid people in assessing information online. We’re dedicated to helping people identify misinformation online and supporting fact-checking and those who do it for the long term,” said Avneesh Sud, Software Engineer at Google Research.

Addressing manipulation

In addition to helping people determine if images are legitimate or not, the company is also introducing a new feature that provides fact checkers with contextual information and timelines for images. Therefore, when using the new Google Fact Check Explorer, users will have access to references and be able to track the evolution of topics associated with a specific image over time.

However, it is important to note that these features are still in beta, but Google is actively working to expand access to various professionals, including journalists.

Furthermore, Google is establishing a Global Fact Check Fund, which will provide support to over 35 fact-checking organizations across 45 countries. Administered by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and in collaboration with YouTube, this step represents the company’s efforts to combat misinformation and promote the dissemination of accurate information. 

google fact check images


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Police Bust International Phone Scam Gang Targeting Elderly

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Police Bust International Phone Scam Gang Targeting Elderly
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The alleged ringleader of the phone scam gang, which preyed on elderly individuals through fraudulent phone calls, has also been arrested.

A major international law enforcement operation has resulted in the apprehension of multiple suspects, including the alleged ringleader of an organized crime group that preyed on elderly individuals through fraudulent phone calls, as confirmed by Europol.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom arrested the suspected head of the criminal network near London, while authorities in Poland and Germany carried out simultaneous raids across several locations in Europe. During the raids, law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, electronic devices, gold bars, coins, jewellery, and $160,000 in cash.

Throughout the investigation, approximately 70 individuals have been taken into custody. The modus operandi of the scam included fraudsters calling elderly victims, posing as police officers or officials authorities, and informing them that their relative was involved in a fatal accident.

The phone would then be handed to another individual who would create a sense of urgency and panic by screaming for help. This tactic aimed to coerce the victim into complying with the fraudster’s demands to hand over money, purportedly to prevent the detention of their fake relative.

Another part of the scam involved physically sending a person to the victim’s residence to collect the money. Typically, these individuals were unwitting trapped as part of squaring scams recruited through online job platforms, according to Europol.

In total, Europol estimated that hundreds of elderly individuals fell victim to this criminal gang, resulting in losses of up to $5 million ($5.4 million). According to Europol, the dismantling of the group may have prevented additional losses of approximately $1.4 million ($1.5 million).

Europol warned that these scams can deceive victims into losing substantial amounts of money while inflicting severe emotional distress and eroding trust in legitimate authorities.

The shutdown of this highly sophisticated scam is not unexpected, considering the rigorous crackdown by British authorities on cybercriminals and scammers. In November 2022, the UK’s largest bank call scam, iSpoof, was dismantled when its infrastructure was seized. Subsequently, in May 2023, the mastermind behind the operation was apprehended in London and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

  1. Europol Busts Crypto Fraud Call Centers
  2. Europol nabs 106 criminals involved in SIM swapping
  3. Europol busts VPNLab VPN used by ransomware gang
  4. NCA infiltrates cybercrime market with fake DDoS sites
  5. Europol arrests 6 over malware counter anti-virus platform

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Ultimate Member Plugin Zero-Day Risks 200K+ WordPress Sites

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Ultimate Member Plugin Zero-Day Risks 200K+ WordPress Sites
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Heads up, WordPress admins! Researchers have caught a zero-day vulnerability in the Ultimate Member WordPress plugin, which hackers are exploiting to gain elevated privileges on target websites. Until the patch arrives, uninstalling the plugin is the only viable option to protect your websites.

Ultimate Member Plugin Zero-Day Actively Exploited

According to a recent post from Wordfence, a severe security issue affects the Ultimate Member plugin that criminal hackers have started exploiting to target websites.

Ultimate Member is a dedicated WordPress plugin offering user profile and membership features for websites. The plugin facilitates the creation of catchy profiles and online communities with swift membership registrations.

Currently, the plugin’s official WordPress page boasts over 200,000 active installations. While this indicates the usefulness of the plugin and its subsequent popularity, it also suggests how any vulnerabilities in this plugin can directly impact thousands of websites globally.

One such critical severity vulnerability recently caught the attention of the Wordfence team. As observed, they noticed a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2023-3460; CVSS 9.8) that allowed rogue admin registrations.

Specifically, the flaw existed because the plugin used a predefined list of banned user meta keys that an adversary may bypass by adding slashes to the user meta key. An unauthenticated attacker may set the wp_capabilities user meta value to ‘administrator’ to gain admin access to the website.

Wordfence team observed numerous instances of active exploitation of this vulnerability, where the attackers created rogue accounts with usernames ‘wpenginer,’ ‘wpadmins,’ ‘wpengine_backup,’ ‘se_brutal,’ and ‘segs_brutal.’ The researchers have also shared the indicators of compromise in their post.

Patch Still Pending To Arrive Despite Efforts

Following the bug discovery and exploitation detection, the plugin developers started working on patching the flaw. However, their efforts were seemingly unsuccessful, as the vulnerability affects even the latest version 2.6.6.

According to the developers, the team has been working on fixing the vulnerability since Ultimate Member version 2.6.3. The following versions (2.6.4, 2.6.5, and 2.6.6) also aimed at ‘partially closing’ the flaw. However, they are still working on addressing the issue completely, which means the vulnerability still risks all websites.

Hence, until a patch arrives, the only workaround to protect websites from potential attacks is to disable/uninstall the plugin. Besides, the plugin developers urge the users to keep checking for updates.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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The Tweet rate is breaking other Twitter apps

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The Tweet rate is breaking other Twitter apps
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Not too long ago, Elon Musk made a change to Twitter that limited the number of tweets that a person is allowed to see in a day. This tweet limit caused an uproar among users, and it’s breaking third-party Twitter apps.

That’s right. When it comes to making bad decisions regarding Twitter, Elon Musk is batting 1,000. Ever since the billionaire took the helm, Twitter has been spiraling out of control. Twitter Blue is more expensive, the verification badge doesn’t mean anything, and much more. But hey, at least your tweets can be up to 25,000 characters long.

Now, his next home run limits the number of tweets that a user can view on the platform. If you’re a verified user, then you’re limited to viewing 8,000 tweets in a day. If you’re an unverified user, then the number drops significantly. Unverified users can only view 800 tweets a day. If you’re a new unverified user, then don’t expect to see more than 300 tweets per day.

In a tweet, Musk mentioned that this is due to data scraping. He also said that this is going to be temporary. That’s good news, but he didn’t give us any insight as to when it’s going to end.

The tweet limit is breaking Twitter apps

This limit doesn’t only affect the first-party Twitter platform. There are third-party apps and services that you can use to view your tweets. Well, they’re subject to the limit as well.

Services like Tweetdeck are experiencing issues loading tweets. When trying to load different columns, you’d only get the spinning “loading” wheel. A report from Waxy (via Engadget) states that the Twitter web app is sending requests in an infinite loop. This could be because of a bug in the Twitter web app, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

A new beta version of Tweetdeck seems to fix that issue, but that victory was short-lived. Tweetdeck is still subject to the same tweet limit. So, after it loads the limited number of tweets, it won’t function. With a service like Tweetdeck, one that displays a ton of tweets at a time, it’s not hard to cap out your tweets.

Right now, we’re all just waiting to see how the company plans on making this situation better. Undoubtedly, people are upset about this limit. Even paying for Twitter Blue doesn’t get rid of the limit.


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