HBO MAX & discovery+ combined service launching May 23

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HBO MAX & discovery+ combined service launching May 23
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Today, Warner Bros Discovery has announced that its new combined streaming service will launch in the US on May 23. The service, as had been widely reported, will be called simply Max.

Since Warner Media and Discovery merged, there was talk about a combined streaming service, and that day has come. Originally, Warner Bros Discovery planned to merge discovery+ completely within HBO MAX. But it became a better idea to merge the two into a new service instead.

While the company has announced a lot of things today, there’s still a lot that we don’t know about Max. Like, how much it’ll cost. It would be surprising to see it come in cheaper than the current HBO MAX pricing. We’re expecting something around $15-$20 for ad-supported and $20 or more for ad-free. Keep in mind that it will have a ton of content, arguably a lot more than Netflix.

Goodbye, HBO

Surprisingly, WBD is going to be getting rid of HBO. HBO, which stands for Home Box Office, first launched in 1972, as a premium movie channel that was ad-free on cable. It then morphed into a streaming service, and finally after AT&T bought Time Warner, it was rebranded as HBO MAX, and added all of the Warner Bros content onto HBO MAX, as well as adding some licensed content.

Now, HBO is done. It’ll simply be called “Max”. Which is an interesting position for the company to take. As HBO and Discovery are both household names. And either one being used in the name for the new service would have been a good idea. But we’ll have to see how this works out when the service launches next month.

What’s interesting here is that while Max will be the new combined service, WBD is keeping discovery+ around. And that’s because it has a pretty loyal following. And getting customers that prefer reality TV who are paying about $5 per month, to now pay double, triple or even quadruple, is going to be a hard sell. So discovery+ customers, you’ll be able to stick with discovery+.


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US, India and China Most Targeted in DDoS Attacks, StormWall Q1 2023 Report

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US, India and China Most Targeted in DDoS Attacks, StormWall Q1 2023 Report
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StormWall projects a 170% increase in DDoS Attacks by the end of 2023 and urges businesses to implement mitigation strategies.

Leading cybersecurity provider, StormWall, has released a comprehensive report on the state of Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS attacks) in Q1 2023. The report, based on an analysis of attacks on StormWall’s clients across various sectors, reveals a significant increase of 47% in DDoS attacks compared to the same period last year.

The findings, shared with Hackread.com, highlight a worrisome trend of botnet usage and a growing practice of smokescreening to conceal multi-vector attacks.

The study reveals that attackers are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure and services, including logistical services, payment processing hubs, and banking systems, in an attempt to impact a larger number of users. The average attack strength reached a peak of 1.4 Tbps, and the longest attack lasted for 4 days.

Among the sectors targeted, the financial industry experienced the highest number of attacks, accounting for 34% of the total and witnessing a staggering 68% increase compared to Q1 2022. E-commerce also faced significant challenges, enduring 22% of the attacks and experiencing a 51% increase from the previous year. Telecommunications remained a popular target, with 16% of the attacks and a 47% year-over-year increase.

The use of botnets in DDoS attacks continues to gain traction, with over 38% of attacks leveraging networks of compromised devices. Additionally, the practice of smokescreening, where DDoS attacks are used as decoys in multi-vector assaults, increased by 28% compared to the previous year.

The report also reveals that more destructive HTTP attacks are becoming increasingly accessible to run. As a result, 82.3% of DDoS attacks targeted the application layer (L7), while 11.7% were directed at the transport (L4) and network (L3) layers of the OSI model. DNS was targeted in 2.3% of the attacks, and the remaining 3.7% were aimed at other targets.

Geographically, the United States (17.6% attack share), India (14.2%), and China (11.7%) remain the most targeted countries. However, the United Arab Emirates saw a notable surge in attacks, with the proportion nearly doubling from 3.8% in Q1 2022 to 6.4% in the current year. Russia and Ukraine, on the other hand, experienced a decline in DDoS activity as hacktivism subsided.

Did you know that in 2021, the United States and China both held the position of being the top countries with the most exposed cloud servers due to misconfiguration? India ranked fifth in this regard. Read more…

US, India and China Most Targeted in DDoS Attacks, StormWall Q1 2023 Report
Targeted industries and countries

StormWall’s report emphasizes the escalating threat of DDoS attacks, as evidenced by the significant rise in attack volume, strength, and duration. With threat actors constantly adapting their tactics and integrating DDoS attacks within multi-vector incidents, organizations need to address not only outages from overburdened servers but also data breaches, ransomware, and other associated threats.

Based on data analysis from client-targeted attacks, StormWall projects a further 170% increase in DDoS attacks by the end of 2023. In light of these alarming findings, the company strongly recommends that all businesses seek professional DDoS protection to safeguard their online assets in the upcoming year.

  1. Significant increase in demand for stolen YouTube credentials
  2. DDoS attacks hitting BLM movement see widespread increase
  3. Vulnerable phones, IoT Devices: 400% increase in infection rate
  4. 400% increase in cryptomining malware attacks against iPhones
  5. Israel Faces Fresh Wave of Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure

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Is Your Digital Ad Campaign at Risk?

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Is Your Digital Ad Campaign at Risk?
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Bot Invasion

The rise of digital ad fraud has been a nightmare for businesses and marketers alike. Sophisticated bots can easily imitate human behavior and generate fake clicks, views, and impressions, costing companies millions of dollars in wasted ad spending. Is your digital ad campaign safe from these malicious bots?

How Sophisticated Bots Kill Your Digital Ad Campaigns? 

Makes Brands Susceptible to Ad Fraud 

Attackers often make attempts to defraud digital advertising networks by using malicious bots. This is usually done for financial gain. The idea is to make advertising networks think the fake activity is real user behavior.

Advertisers pay for ads so that their products reach wider audiences. But advertising fraud only causes brands to waste precious monetary resources. 

The cost of digital ad fraud has grown exponentially in the past 4 years (2018 to 2022). Globally, it has grown from USD 35 billion in 2018 to USD 100 billion towards the end of 2022. Global losses from advertising fraud in 2020 alone were USD 35 billion. 

EHA

Here are some ways in which scammers perform ad fraud.

  • Illicit traffic sourcing: Traffic sourcing isn’t seen as a malicious activity per se. Brands use it to improve their visibility. However, it does leave them open to the risk of fraud. They cannot be sure if they are sourcing real or bot impressions. 
  • Ad scams: Attackers may orchestrate ad scams instead of clicking on your ads and manipulating your metrics. They may use your ads to lead users to spoofed domains or perform phishing using your ads. In either case, it hurts your brand reputation. 

Manipulated Metrics

Companies spend millions of precious dollars every month on digital ads. However, their digital marketing efforts often don’t lead to the intended results. And they waste at least a portion of their investments on ads. Why? 

This is because the metrics mislead them. They cannot confidently say if their clicks are coming from legitimate users, good bots, or malicious bots. Data suggests that 20% of ad impressions in 2019 came from fraudulent sources. 

Sophisticated bots today can mimic human behavior and clicks. So, these bots end up manipulating data disguised as legitimate traffic. Companies use these manipulated metrics for decision-making, impacting their entire sales funnel. 

For instance, you run an ad campaign for your Christmas clothing line. You want to know more about customer preferences this season and personalize their shopping experiences, discounts, etc. 70% of your clicks come from bots, and only 30% come from actual target audiences. Plus, bots don’t have preferences and randomly click on things. 

As a result, your lead attribution reports and user analytics are misleading. You will also not have a proper baseline to understand the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) when your clicks come from bots. 

Click Frauds That Drive Up PPC Costs

Competitors often use click fraud bots to drive up PPC costs for your company. These bots click on ads multiple times to drive up what your company pays for search terms. In some cases, website owners/operators may leverage click fraud to increase revenues for their own websites too.

Ad publishers also use click fraud to charge you more for ad space. They deploy bad bots to click on your ads and show these inflated traffic numbers, charging you more. So, you pay higher ad charges for poor-quality traffic. Only 12% of brands’ 267 million ad impressions paid to publishers could be matched/attributed!

These bots can even mess with A/B testing by clicking on everything they are programmed to. So, you will not only waste money on A/B testing but also be unable to optimize your campaigns.

Whether used by competitors, ad publishers, or website operators, click fraud:

• Renders the digital ad campaign useless

• Makes the leads unusable

• Lowers conversion rates

• Skews the performance metrics

• Drives up PPC costs and advertising budgets

The more sophisticated click fraud bots can pace the time spent on the website and even fill out basic forms to mimic human behavior. As a result, it becomes harder to detect this bot traffic.

Hard to Detect Sophisticated Bot Activity

Sophisticated bots used in digital advertising frauds and scams leverage advanced techniques. And they are hard to detect using regular security defenses. Here are some techniques used by attackers:

Pixel Stuffing: Attackers stuff the entire ad into a 1-pixel space but charge the brand for the full ad. They place these crammed ads into other ads. The viewer may not know they see multiple ads, but the brands are shown falsified brand impressions.

Ad Stacking: Like pixel stuffing, scammers place multiple unviewable ads on each other. Only the top ad is visible, but the publisher charges the brand for the impressions.

Geo Masking: Scammers spoof location data to trick advertisers into paying more for low-quality traffic.

Event Spoofing: Attackers use advanced bots to fire fake clicks to capture booking, signup, or registration events. The advertiser believes it to be a legitimate install without any real event occurring.

Click Spamming: Attackers infect user devices with malware when they download an infected app/visit an infected site. The malware will generate clicks for advertisers without the user’s knowledge.

How to Detect Bot Traffic and Secure Your Digital Advertising Campaigns?

Detecting bot traffic, especially sophisticated bots, is challenging but not impossible. Here are some tell-tale signs that bad bots are ruining your ad campaigns:

  • High click rates but low conversions
  • High bounce rates
  • High cart abandonment
  • Unfamiliar traffic sources
  • Form filled with fake information
  • Same cookie returns in regular intervals despite IP rotation
  • Geo mismatches
  • Inconsistent browser sessions

A bot management solution can help prevent digital ad fraud by identifying and blocking suspicious traffic. It can also provide real-time analytics and insights to help advertisers optimize their campaigns and reduce the risk of fraud.

When selecting a bot management solution, it is important to choose one that offers advanced features, such as:

  • Self-learning AI
  • Deep analytics
  • Behavioral analysis
  • Reputation Monitoring
  • Fingerprinting
  • Workflow validation
  • Intelligent automation
  • Managed by certified security experts

Such intelligent, fully managed bot mitigation solutions will detect and stop bot traffic from wreaking havoc on your digital ads. Even the most complex bots cannot evade such advanced solutions. These solutions only increase the friction for bad bots, not legitimate users, and good bots.

These features can help improve fraud detection accuracy and reduce false positives, saving money and improving your return on investment.

Such a solution will be able to analyze and evaluate traffic and clicks to detect anomalous behaviors. Since such solutions are automated, they can find anomalies in real-time at a much faster pace. Security experts can write custom rules to thwart fraud attempts by sophisticated bots.

With the actionable report, you can transparently classify invalid traffic and receive comprehensive insights about bot traffic on your web applications.

You can monitor automated activities based on user agents, geographies, referrers, and attacked pages. Advanced analytics provide a deep comprehension of the malicious traffic’s specific characteristics.

In addition to using a bot management solution, advertisers should take other steps to prevent digital ad fraud, such as

  • Monitoring your campaigns regularly
  • Using secure ad networks
  • Staying up to date on the latest fraud prevention techniques.

Conclusion

Sophisticated bots are ruining digital ad campaigns across the globe. You must act today to ensure your advertising investments aren’t wasted. Stop the stealthy bots of today with a next-gen bot management solution.

Leverage intelligent, fully managed bot management solutions, like AppTrana, to protect your brand and digital advertising campaigns. 


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Best Buy having a huge sale on ROCCAT Gaming Peripherals

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Best Buy having a huge sale on ROCCAT Gaming Peripherals
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Through April 29, Best Buy is discounting a number of ROCCAT Gaming Peripherals. Some of which are over 50% off. So if you’ve been looking to get your hands on some ROCCAT gaming peripherals like gaming mice, keyboards and more, now is definitely the time to pick a few up.

ROCCAT Gaming Mice

In this sale right now, Best Buy has the ROCCAT Kone Pro ultralight wired gaming mouse, which is now just $40. That’s 50% off of its regular price. This is a really impressive gaming mouse with a 19k DPI.

Also available in this sale is the ROCCAT Burst Pro lightweight wired gaming mouse. It’s now on sale for $33, down from $60. That’s not quite 50% off, but pretty close. This one has a bit lower DPI than the Kone Pro.

For those that are ambidextrous out there, the ROCCAT Kone XP wired optical gaming mouse is also on sale. This one is discounted to $70, for just $20 off. Not a huge discount, but this is a newer mouse.

ROCCAT Gaming Keyboards

There’s not a lot of gaming keyboards from ROCCAT on sale right now, but there are a few. Like the ROCCAT Magma full-size wired gaming keyboard. This one is on sale for $40, down from $60. It is not a mechanical keyboard, in fact it’s a silent membrane. Which explains its pricing here.

Those looking for a smaller keyboard, the ROCCAT Vulcan II Mini 65% wired gaming keyboard is on sale for $110. Saving you $40 off of its regular price.

ROCCAT Gaming Headsets

Finally, when it comes to gaming headsets, there’s quite a few on sale. This includes the ROCCAT Syn Pro Air, which is now on sale for $80. This one offers RGB an 3D audio.

Also on sale, and a bit cheaper, is the ROCCAT Elo X, which is now just $35. This one is a wired headset, and works on all platforms. The ROCCAT Elo Air is also on sale for $70. Which is a 7.1-channel wireless surround sound PC headset.

These are just some of the many ROCCAT gaming peripherals on sale right now over at Best Buy, you can check them all out at the link below.

ROCCAT Sale – Best Buy


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Samsung extends partnership with antivirus maker McAfee

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Samsung extends partnership with antivirus maker McAfee
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Samsung has extended its years-long partnership with antivirus software maker McAfee. With this extension, Galaxy devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops, will continue to ship with McAfee’s online protection tool built-in. The two firms originally signed this partnership almost a decade ago.

“Today, McAfee Corp., a global leader in online protection, announced the extension of its nine-year partnership with Samsung to protect consumers’ personal data and information from online threats,” the antivirus maker announced in a press release on Tuesday. The company didn’t explicitly mention the tenure of this extension. But it appears McAfee will remain the built-in malware protection tool in Galaxy devices for several years to come.

All Samsung Galaxy devices ship with McAfee antivirus built-in

According to research by McAfee Labs, 537 new and unique online threats are discovered every minute. If you’re not careful enough, or if your device isn’t secure enough, you could be the victim of these threats. To that end, Android OS and other mobile platforms already offer a robust set of security measures to keep your device safe. Samsung wants to give Galaxy users an additional layer of security by shipping its Galaxy devices with McAfee antivirus built-in.

McAfee has powered the built-in anti-malware tool in Samsung Galaxy devices for almost a decade now. After originally signing the partnership nine years back, the two firms extended the deal in early 2018. Five years later, they have now signed another extension to give Galaxy users continued protection against various online threats. The likes of the Galaxy S23 series and Galaxy Book 3 series all come with McAfee-powered antivirus solution pre-installed.

If you haven’t noticed that McAfee is powering the online protection features on your Galaxy device, you can check through the Settings app. Go to the “Device protection” section and you should find “Powered by McAfee” somewhere there. This anti-malware solution regularly scans your Galaxy device in the background to keep it safe from threats while browsing the web or using banking apps. McAfee claims it blocks more than 22,000 threats every minute.

“When purchasing the latest Samsung product, the last thing users want to think about is its security,” said Gagan Singh, COO at McAfee. “Consumers should be able to enjoy what the internet has to offer, from banking to browsing social media, with the benefit of protections against potential risks online. Our almost decade-long partnership with Samsung extends our award-winning online protection to Samsung’s customers and advances our mission to empower consumers to live their lives online with confidence.”


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WhatsApp Settings may soon become way easier to navigate

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WhatsApp Settings may soon become way easier to navigate
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Ah, WhatsApp: a staple of modern online communication! Regardless if you are in need of texting, calling or video conferencing, the Meta-owned messaging app can get it done. This is likely why the app makes its way on most of the best smartphones out there.

But there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration too. For example, end-to-end encryption is appreciated by users. But the constant stream of new features, introduced by regular updates, is also key in keeping WhatsApp in a leading position.

Often enough, though, with new features, new options get introduced too. These ultimately make the WhatsApp Settings menu their home, and as such, it has gotten a tad cluttered over the years. The latest WhatsApp Beta for Android, however, seems to be aiming to fix that issue with the implementation of a search bar. 

The team of WABetaInfo — often responsible for spotting hidden WhatsApp features — has shared a report about the latest Beta update for Android, namely version 2.23.8.20. This version introduces a functional search bar in the Settings menu of the messaging app.

It seems to work pretty similarly to the search bar in Android’s very own Settings app, where users can type in keywords in order to find a specific setting quickly, instead of browsing through everything with the hopes of finding it “manually”.

This addition is great not only because it alleviates the hassle of searching for that one setting you need to get to, but also because it is pretty much future-proof. More features are bound to come to WhatsApp and the search bar is likely to work for them as well, making it more valuable for the user experience. 

All that being said, the Settings search bar is currently rolling out for the Beta version of the app. While we don’t know when it will reach the live version of WhatsApp, if you are excited to try it out, you can always enroll in the Beta testing group on Android.


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Pay $20K To Infect Android Devices via Google Play

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Pay $20K To Infect Android Devices via Google Play
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Infect Android Devices

In recent times, it has been observed by the security researchers at Kaspersky’s SecureList that the official Google Play store’s security has become increasingly vulnerable to the schemes of the threat actors. 

These shady actors have exploited various loopholes to develop tools that can effectively Trojanize the existing Android applications, making them susceptible to exploitation. 

Methodology

While here, the most shocking and alarming thing is that the threat actors are selling all these malicious wares for excessive sums of up to $20,000 on the dark web.

A recent study conducted between 2019 and 2023 revealed a concerning trend in cybersecurity. 

EHA

The research has uncovered a prosperous marketplace where buyers and sellers engage in the trading of:- 

  • App developer accounts
  • Botnets
  • Malicious Android applications

Certain wares, especially those extremely useful, are sometimes going for several thousands of dollars. As far as hiding malware and unwanted programs are concerned, the following categories are the most popular:

Malicious Services Offered

Various products, services, and deals are available on the dark web for customers with different needs and budgets, just like they are on legitimate online marketplaces.

Apart from this, threat actors have been observed buying a range of illicit products on the dark web, with developers’ Google Play accounts and source code for app development tools being among the most popular.

These accounts are often obtained through shady means, such as hacking or the use of stolen identities, enabling the threat actors to upload their malicious innovations to Google Play.

To be listed in Apple’s or Google’s app stores, software must undergo intensive testing before being uploaded.

Below we have mentioned all the major services offered in these marketplaces:-

  • Google Play loaders
  • Binding service
  • Malware obfuscation
  • Installations
  • Other illicit services

Average Prices

During the research analysis, the security analysts discovered a wide range of price tags offered on the dark web for Google Play-related services.

For hassle-free trading and proceedings, they also accept payments through various methods. There are also some sellers who hold auctions as a means of selling their goods.

There are several options for providing services, including sharing the final profit, renting services, and selling them for a one-time fee.

Here below, we have mentioned all the average price tags:-

  • A loader can cost between $2,000 and $20,000.
  • A binding service usually costs about $50 to $100 or $65 per file.
  • Obfuscation of 50 files may cost around $440.
  • The average price tag for installation ranges between $0.25 to $1.

Recommendations

The following steps should be taken to stay protected against mobile threats:-

  • Installing apps from unknown sources should not be enabled.
  • Don’t grant an app permissions that it doesn’t need to perform its main functions without checking its permissions.
  • Protect your device from malicious apps and adware with a reliable security solution.
  • When an update becomes available for your operating system and important apps, immediately update them.
  • Always use strong and unique passwords.
  • Ensure to enable the 2FA wherever possible.

Struggling to Apply The Security Patch in Your System? – 
Try All-in-One Patch Manager Plus

Related Read:


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Android App Trojans Sold on Dark Web for $25-$20,000

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Android App Trojans Sold on Dark Web for $25-$20,000
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Researchers analyzed both clear and dark web hacking forums and discovered that Russian language threat actors are particularly interested in buying and selling these exploits.

The Google Play app store’s security mechanisms are being compromised by cybercriminals who are developing tools to trojanize Android apps and sell them on underground cybercrime marketplaces.

A recent blog post from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, published on April 10th, 2023, revealed findings from an extensive study of Clear Net and Dark Web forums, highlighting the vulnerabilities in app store security – Most of these forums are Russian speaking.

The blog post stated that despite the vetting process for software uploaded to Google or Apple app stores, no security solution can be considered 100% foolproof. Every scanning mechanism has inherent flaws that can be exploited by threat actors, allowing them to upload malware to Google Play.

Researchers at Kaspersky monitored activities between 2019 and 2023 and found a thriving market on the Dark Web for buyers and sellers exchanging access to app developer accounts, infected Android apps, and botnets, with prices ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

One of the methods used by attackers to infect apps with malware involves uploading a harmless app to the app store to gain approval and attract a large number of users. Once the app is approved, the attackers release an update to the app that contains malicious code.

Another method is compromising legitimate app developers by hijacking their accounts and infecting existing apps with malware. Weak password policies and lack of two-factor authentication (2FA) make these accounts easy targets for cybercriminals.

Credential leaks are also used to obtain login details to breach accounts and corporate development systems. Kaspersky researchers found that access to a Google Play account can be purchased for as little as $60, while more lucrative accounts, services, or tools come with a higher price tag.

Loaders, which deploy malicious code into Android apps, are particularly sought-after products on the Dark Web marketplace, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on their capabilities and complexity.

Sellers often highlight features like user-friendly UI, victim country filters, easy-to-use control panels, and compatibility with the latest Android OS to attract buyers. Some sellers even offer video tutorials for their products.

Android App Trojans Sold on Dark Web for $25-$20,000
What cybercriminals are offering (Image: Kaspersky)

The blog post also revealed that cybercriminals may supplement trojanized apps with functionality to detect debuggers or sandbox environments. If a suspicious environment is detected, the loader may stop its operations or notify the cybercriminal, indicating that it has likely been discovered by security investigators.

In addition to loaders, other illegal services offered on Dark Web forums include Virtual Private Servers for redirecting traffic or controlling compromised devices, with prices starting at $300, and web injectors, available for $25 to $80. Cybercriminals can also obfuscate their malware for $440, while the cost of processing a single file is around $30.

Kaspersky emphasized that while Google Play does not allow the selling of malicious applications on its platform, app takeovers and infected applications on official stores are still available due to loopholes in enterprise security and innovative hacking methods.

Therefore, users are advised to avoid installing unknown apps and to check for permissions to ensure that apps only access the required functions.

The increasing trend of cybercriminals exploiting the flaws in Google Play app store security to sell malicious apps on the Dark Web highlights the ongoing “cat and mouse game” between security scanners and attackers.

Despite efforts to patch vulnerabilities, attackers continue to find new flaws, underscoring the need for constant vigilance and strong security measures to protect app stores and users from malware threats.

  1. Hackers selling Bitcoin ATM Malware on Dark Web
  2. Hacking tools and phishing pages sold on dark web for $2
  3. Teen “Hackers” on Discord Selling Malware for Quick Cash
  4. Amazon Still Selling T95 TV Box with Pre-Installed Malware
  5. Fraud & hacking guides are the most sold item on dark web

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Galaxy S21 FE & A53 5G widely getting April update in the US

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Galaxy S21 FE & A53 5G widely getting April update in the US
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More Samsung Galaxy smartphones are receiving the April 2023 Android security patch in the US. The Galaxy S21 FE and Galaxy A53 5G are the latest to join the party. This month’s security update has already reached dozens of other Galaxy models stateside.

Samsung usually releases the latest updates for its Galaxy devices in international markets first before bringing them to the US. But it has mostly been the other way around this month. The April SMR (Security Maintenance Release) debuted in the US for many devices before other markets.

The Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and Galaxy Note 20 series are among those. The story is the same for the Galaxy S21 FE and Galaxy A53 5G as well.

The April SMR for the Galaxy S21 FE is rolling out widely in the US. The update for the carrier-locked units comes with the firmware build number G990USQS6EWC3, while that for the unlocked variants is G990U1UES5EWC2. Samsung isn’t pushing anything apart from this month’s security fixes to the device (more on that later). Galaxy S21 FE users in other markets can also expect to receive the latest security patch over the next few days.

Coming to the Galaxy A53 5G, Samsung began seeding the April SMR to this premium mid-range device in the US last week. But the initial rollout was limited to unlocked units in Puerto Rico. The company has now expanded the rollout to the mainland US, starting with carrier-locked units on Comcast’s network. The new firmware version for the phone is A536USQS4CWC8 (via). The updated build number for the unlocked Galaxy A53 5G in Puerto Rico is A536U1UEU4CWC4.

The April update for Galaxy devices patches more than 70 vulnerabilities

This month’s security update for Galaxy devices is one of the biggest releases in recent months. It contains patches for more than 70 vulnerabilities. These include at least four critical Android OS flaws and one critical Galaxy-specific flaw. The vast majority of the remaining fixes are labeled “high-severity” by Google and Samsung. Overall, the April SMR patches 23 Galaxy-specific and 50 Android OS issues.

All of these security fixes should be available to all users of the aforementioned Galaxy devices in the US within the next few days. As usual, you can check for updates from the Settings app. Go to the Software update menu and tap on Download and install. If you don’t see any updates today, wait a few days and check again.


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iPhone 15 Pro may not offer solid-state buttons after all

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iPhone 15 Pro may not offer solid-state buttons after all
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Pretty much everyone knows by now that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are expected to feature solid-state buttons. Plenty of sources said it, reliable sources. Well, there has been a change in plans, it seems. Apple allegedly ditched the solid-state buttons plan for the iPhone 15 Pro series.

The iPhone 15 Pro may not feature solid-state buttons after all

Why is that? Well, it seems like the company ran into some technical issues. This information comes from multiple sources, actually, reliable sources. The Haitong Tech analyst, Jeff Pu, shared the news (via 9to5Mac), and Ming-Chi Kuo reported something similar.

PU said that this change came into action due to a more complex design. The new buttons would require three new haptics engines inside the iPhone. Apple needs time to sort out the issues, and manufacture the needed parts. So, we’ll probably have to wait until next year’s ‘Pro’ iPhones.

While PU specifically talked about the volume buttons, Ming-Chi Kuo seems to be referring to solid-state buttons in general. So, the power/lock button will likely stay physical as well. We’re not sure about the customizable action button that is rumored to replace the mute switch, however.

This is a rather weird turn of events, that’s for sure

This is all rather weird. The iPhone 15 Pro CAD-based renders did appear, showing solid-state buttons, and the action button too. Apple seemed ready to implement the changes, but it seems like the company will have to backtrack.

It will be interesting to see whether Apple will keep the mute switch, or make the change to the action button. Either way, this is not supposed to mess with Apple’s release cycle. The new iPhones are expected to launch in September, as expected, despite this road bump. Apple will once again launch four models, the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max (which could carry the ‘Ultra’ name instead).


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