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Ace Security News

Europol report identifies the most threatening criminal networks in the EU

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AceSecurityDesk – The analysis of 821 criminal networks has resulted in the development of an ABCD framework pinpointing their main characteristics

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published:Apr.13: 2024: Europol News: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/YouMeUs2ย 

Serious organised crime continues to represent a major threat to the internal security of the European Union (EU). To effectively prioritise resources and guide policy action, law enforcement and policymakers need to build a clear understanding of the most threatening criminal networks active in, and affecting, the EU. 

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Europolโ€™s new report, published today, entitledย โ€œDecoding the EUโ€™s most threatening criminal networksโ€, delves into the characteristics of the criminal networks that pose the highest threat.

This Europe-wide analysis focuses on criminal actors in a first-of-its-kind mapping of the most threatening criminal networks. It describes, in detail, how the most threatening criminal networks are organised, which criminal activities they engage in, and how and where they operate. It also assesses which of their characteristics increase the threat posed by these networks.

This mapping report is one of the key deliverables of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union which strongly encouraged the efforts of Europol in this respect. It will be an essential tool to fight organised crime, a top EU priority, as outlined in the recent roadmap presented by the European Commission.

Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the presentation of the main findings of the report, Europolโ€™s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, said:

Criminals thrive in secrecy, but we are changing that. This Europol report is the most extensive study on key criminal networks ever undertaken at the European level by law enforcement. Thanks to the collaboration of all EU Member States and 17 Europol partner countries, we are shining a light on the activities of the most threatening criminal networks in the EU. This data, now centralised at Europol, will give law enforcement agencies the edge they need to better target and conduct cross-border criminal investigations.

The Belgian Minister of Home Affairs, Annelies Verlinden, said:

We are introducing a new tool in the battle against serious and organised crime โ€“ a testament to the power of unity and innovation within the European Union. This report represents a significant milestone for our Belgian Presidency, and indeed, for the entire European community, reflecting our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the safety and security of our citizens. While this report is a very important achievement in itself, it is just the beginning. Considerable work and further steps are required in the coming months and years.

The Belgian Minister of Justice, Paul Van Tigchelt, said:8nuy

Combating organised crime is an absolute priority for the Belgian Presidency and this is an important new weapon in that fight. We now have, for the first time, all crucial data on the most threatening criminal networks in one location – with Europol. The next step is for the various police forces of the Member States to continue to enrich this centralised information so we can further prosecute and dismantle these networks.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said:

Organised crime is one of the biggest threats we face today, threatening society with corruption and extreme violence. We need to know what weโ€™re fighting โ€“ thatโ€™s why mapping organised crime is a key objective of our EU organised crime strategy and the roadmap I launched last October. The result is this important report showing the criminal threat posed by over 800 criminal networks with tens of thousands of members. I congratulate Europol on this important report.

The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said:

The impact of these findings will have significant implications for justice systems across the EU and the rule of law. Judges and prosecutors can only fight organised crime if they are free from intimidation, threats or attempts to influence their professional integrity. We must assure that this is the case. As the most threatening criminal networks run borderless criminal operations, cooperation between experts is vital. This is why the Commission will be supporting proposals for a new EU judicial network, to be placed at Eurojust, with a focus on organised crime, including High Value Targets.

A unique dataset

This analysis is based on a unique dataset which was shared with Europol specifically for this purpose, and complemented with additional information already shared with Europol as the European hub for criminal information.

All EU Member States and 17 of Europolโ€™s partner countries contributed data to identify the most threatening criminal networks in Europe. This resulted in a unique dataset of 821 highest-risk criminal networks, with extensive information on all aspects that describe them and help assess their threat.

These criminal networks, whose membership exceeds 25 000 individuals, were selected based on criteria around the threat they pose. These networks are active in a range of crime areas, from drug trafficking to migrant smuggling, property crime and others.

Trends around the most threatening criminal networks were identified by Europol through the analysis of the full dataset of 821 networks.

The ABCD of the most threatening criminal networks

Through a comprehensive analysis of 821 criminal networks, an ABCD framework was developed, shedding light on their fundamental characteristics. By categorising key aspects of these groups into four distinct dimensionsโ€”A for Agile, B for Borderless, C for Controlling, and D for Destructiveโ€”the ABCD framework offers valuable insights into their modus operandi, structures, and operational patterns.

The most threatening networks are:

  • Agile:ย They exhibit a remark agility to adapt their criminal business processes to opportunities and challenges, including those challenges posed by law enforcement. They are able to extensively infiltrate and misuse legal business structures. This helps their criminal businesses thrive, allows them to launder their criminal profits and shields them from detection. 86 % of the most threatening criminal networks make use of legal business structures, the vast majority in the EU.
  • Borderless: The most threatening criminal networks run borderless criminal operations. Their activities touch upon many countries in the world, and their composition is very international, with network members from many countries in the EU and the world. A total of 112 nationalities were represented among the members of the 821 most threatening criminal networks, with 68% of the networks composed of members of multiple nationalities. However, looking at the locations of their core activities, the vast majority maintain a strong geographical focus and do not extend their core activities too broadly.
  • Controlling: The highest-risk criminal networks exert strong control and focus over their criminal operations. They tend to specialise in one main criminal business; truly polycriminal networks are the exception rather than the norm. The leadership of 82% of the most threatening criminal networks is settled either in the main country of activity, or the country of origin of the key members.
  • Destructive: The criminal activities and corruptive practices of the most threatening criminal networks are inflicting significant damage to the EUโ€™s internal security, rule of law and economy. Half of the most threatening criminal networks are involved in drug trafficking as the/a main criminal activity. More than 70 % of networks engage in corruption to facilitate criminal activity or obstruct law enforcement or judicial proceedings. 68% of networks use violence and intimidation as an inherent feature of their modus operandi.

The threat posed by these networks is pervasive and complex. There is a need for a concerted, sustained, multilateral response and joint cooperation.

The ABCD of criminal networks highlights important elements to guide policy and operational action. It is a starting point for future analysis of criminal actors and will be further elaborated in forthcoming Europol analytical products, such as the EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2025.

This data, now centralised at Europol, will assist national law enforcement authorities to better target and conduct their cross-border criminal investigations.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Ace Business News

Fake stamps circulating in the UK are originating from China, a senior MP has told the BBC.ย 

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AceBusinessDesk – Fake UK stamps blamed on Chinese-made counterfeits: Reports suggest a rise in complaints that stamps bought from legitimate stores are being deemed counterfeit Anyone who receives a letter with a fake stamp is charged ยฃ5 by Royal Mail. Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith told BBC Breakfast: “China is behind it.”

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.12: 2024: Stamps join the digital world with barcodes By Nick Edser: Business reporter TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

A real stamp and a fake stamp
The genuine stamp on the left is difficult to distinguish from the fake on the right

A Royal Mail spokesman said:

โ€œ We are working hard to remove counterfeit stamps from circulation.” Consumers are being warned to look out for strange perforations around the edge of a stamp, a shine to the surface or the colour looking off.

An investigation by the Daily Telegraph foundย that four Chinese companies had offered to print up to one million counterfeit stamps a week, with each stamp being sold for as little as 4p each before being sent to the UK.

The fakes have been found for sale on various websites, the paper said, and they were also bought by small retailers who did not realise they were counterfeit.

Alan Mendoza, from think tank the Henry Jackson Society, told BBC Breakfast:

โ€œ We don’t know the extent on whether the Chinese government are involved – but what we do know is that Chinese firms are involved.” 

Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said:

โ€œ It is key to prevent counterfeit stamps entering our supply chain in the UK. โ€œ The Royal Mail must do everything possible to prevent counterfeits entering our circulation and must establish where they are coming from and how they are entering our marketplace.”

Two letters that Christine sent incurred ยฃ5 fees

Christine told the BBC’s Watchdog that she had bought eight stamps from the Post Office based inside her local convenience store โ€œ I sent one to my son, and he sent me a message later in the month saying thank you, but unfortunately there was a ยฃ5 demand on the envelope,” she said. Another card sent to a friend’s granddaughter also led to a ยฃ5 fee. “Because it was two of them that made me quite indignant,” Christine said. However, the chance of getting a counterfeit stamp is low, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, David Gold, told Watchdog. โ€œ People should understand that the overwhelming majority of stamps on sale are legitimate,” he said. โ€œ The number of [counterfeit] stamps that we are spotting account for less than 0.1% of the total stamps going through the network.” Barcoded stamps were introduced in 2022 to cut down on the sale of fakes and Mr Gold said this had reduced the number of counterfeits by 90%. However, he admitted that even he struggled to spot a fake. “The reality is counterfeiters now are so good at what they do that even I… can’t tell the difference just by looking at them.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said:

โ€œ We regularly monitor online marketplaces to detect suspicious activity, such as sales of heavily discounted stamps and work closely with retailers and law enforcement agencies to identify those who produce counterfeit stamps.”

Tips to avoid buying fake stamps

Royal Mail suggests several ways to reduce the chances of ending up with fake stamps:

  • Beware of discounts:ย Online sellers promoting what appears to be a “too good to be true” offer might be selling counterfeits
  • Use well known shops: Buy stamps from a Royal Mail-approved outlet such as the Post Office, reputable High Street retailers or the Royal Mail website
  • Spot the signs: Counterfeits which can have an unusually shiny surface, unusual colouration or inaccurate perforations, but this is not always the case
  • Report it: If you suspect you have been a victim of stamp fraud complete the Royal Mail’s online form or call the company’s customer services team on 03457 740 740.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Ace Security News

Apple iPhone ALERT WARNED Users in 92 countries received notification of a spyware attack

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AceSecurityDesk – The company wouldn’t divulge how it detected the incidents.

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.12: 2024: Endgadget News by Sarah FieldingThu, Apr 11, 2024 at 11:45 AM GMT+1: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

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Some iPhone users got a very concerning alert to their devices on Wednesday. Apple sent notifications to individuals in 92 countries warning them that they may have been the target ofย mercenary spywareattacks,ย TechCrunchย reports.

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โ€œ Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID -xxx-,” the message read.

Apple’s alertย went on to share additional information about theย incident. “This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do.

Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning โ€” please take it seriously,” the alert continued. Apple explained that it couldn’t provide any information about what prompted the message out of concern that additional information would help attackers avoid future detection. The company uses internal information and investigations to pinpoint attacks.

This instance is hardly the first timeย Appleย has had to send this sort of notification.

Since 2021, individuals in over 150 countries have received similar messages, including a warning to some journalists and politicians in India last October. However, it’s unclear which countries individuals received alerts in this time around.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Ace Security News

DuckDuckGo unveils a $10 Privacy Pro plan with a no-log VPN

Screenshot of DuckDuckGo's VPN feature.
DuckDuckGo

AceSecurityDesk – You’ll also get personal information removal and identity theft restoration services.

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.12: 2024: Endgadget News by Kris HoltThu, Apr 11, 2024 at 1:00 PM GMT+1: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

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Many web browser companies offer VPNs these days, includingย Google,ย Mozillaย andย Opera. DuckDuckGo is the latest to join the fray, with aย Privacy Proย plan that includes three services.

Along with a VPN, you’ll get personal information removal and identity theft restoration services for $10 per month or $100 per year. The subscription is only available in the US for now. The Privacy Pro features are built directly into theย DuckDuckGoย browser, so you won’t need to install separate apps.

DuckDuckGo says it won’t keep VPN logs to help maintain user privacy.

As such, it says it has “no way to tie what you do while connected to the DuckDuckGo VPN to you as an individual โ€” or to anything else you do on DuckDuckGo, like searching.” DuckDuckGo is using the open-source WireGuard protocol to encrypt your traffic and route it through VPN servers. As it stands, the company has VPN servers across the US, Europe and Canada. It plans to add more over time.

Screenshot of DuckDuckGo's VPN feature.
DuckDuckGo

One subscription will cover up to five desktop and mobile devices.

Rather than using an account, you’ll have a random ID that you’ll need to keep safe. If you wish, you can add an email address for easier authorization across devices. Still, you won’t need to hand over any personally identifiable information to DuckDuckGo โ€” the company is using Stripe, Google Play and the Apple App Store to handle payments.

DuckDuckGo’s focus on protecting user privacy extends to the personal information removal tool, which removes details such as your full name, home address, and birthday from people search sites and data broker services.

The details you provide during the setup process stay on your device and requests to remove your personal information start directly from your desktop (for now, you need a Windows or Mac computer to set up and manage the personal information removal tool).

DuckDuckGo says this is a first for a service of its ilk, as your details aren’t stored on remote servers.

To help it build the tool, DuckDuckGo bought data removal service Removaly in 2022. The personal information removal service will regularly re-scan people search sites and data brokers to see if your info pops up again, and deal with it accordingly.

As for the identity theft restoration service, Duck Duck Go will connect you with an advisor from Iris, its partner, if your identity is stolen.@acenewsservices

The advisor will help with restoring any stolen accounts and financial losses, as well as fixing your credit report. Moreover, they can help you cancel and replace important documents such as your driverโ€™s license, bank cards and passport. Iris can also provide you with a cash advance if you’re far from home and stuck due to identity theft.

Again, you won’t have to provide any of your personal information upfront. You’ll only need to provide an advisor with those details if you need help after having your identity stolen.

Expanding privacy protections through these services is a logical way for DuckDuckGo to try and boost its bottom line. Privacy Pro seems reasonably priced compared to some of the alternatives too โ€” Mozilla’s personal information removal service alone costs $9 per month.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Australian News

Australian Optus customers lose $10,000, digital identity in phone porting, SIM-swap scam

AceSecurityDesk – Fraudsters made quick work of stealing $10,000 from Townsville business owner Andrew Ryder’s bank account and completely trashing his digital identity in March.

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.12: 2024: ABC Business News: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe@acenewsservices

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A text that reads OPTUS: We haven't received a response from you for the SIM replacement request for this mobile.
Mr Ryder was surprised to get a text from Optus saying his number was being moved to another SIM.(ABC North Qld: Chloe Chomicki)normal

It all happened within 24 hours once Mr Ryder’s phone number was illegally transferred to another device.

“I’ve had a credit line opened against my name [and] I’ve lost access to my email accounts, my Google account and my Facebook account,” Mr Ryder said. โ€œ The money was from my rainy-day account, so I consider myself fortunate there, but my digital identity has been completely trashed.” Mr Ryder, who is also an army veteran, was a victim of a popular method of fraud via phone porting and SIM-swapping.

Impersonating customers

Phone porting is a legitimate practice people use to move a phone number from one telecommunication provider to another. But if fraudsters have enough information, they can contact another telco, set up an account in a person’s name, and ask to transfer their number.

SIM-swap fraud occurs when a person contacts a provider and asks to activate a new SIM card with their number.

Both methods were used by the criminal who began targeting Mr Ryder on March 19. He received a text from his provider Optus, which read that the telco was processing his request to move his phone number to a new SIM-card. โ€œ I called Optus, they wanted me to identify myself on the phone and I’m thinking I’m not sure if I’m talking to the scammers or Optus at this stage,” Mr Ryder said.

Quick work

Before he could make it into his local Optus branch to speak with staff face to face, his phone lost service, indicating the number had been moved to another SIM. โ€œ I contacted my banks and asked them to shut my account and they investigated it and said there appears to be $10,000 taken out,” Mr Ryder said.

The fraudster had called the bank impersonating Mr Ryder and, using his phone number, repeated a security code the bank sent via text message.

The bank did ask the person what Mr Ryder did in the army, a spontaneous question, which took 20 seconds for the person on the phone to answer. โ€œ That’s easily found online. You just have to Google my name and that information comes up so that should have been an alarm for them, but it wasn’t.”

A man in a pink shirt with a laptop looking unimpressed
Andrew Ryder lost $10,000 to fraudsters who used phone-porting and SIM-swap methods.(ABC News: ABC North Qld: Chloe Chomicki)

The bank, which Mr Ryder asked not to be named to protect his personal information, initially told him he may not be repaid about the $10,000.

However, the bank did agree to reimburse the money after questions were raised by the ABC.

“We have reimbursed Mr Ryder and reassured him that we have taken appropriate steps to ensure his funds are not at risk,” a spokesperson said.

Optus said it had protections to prevent SIM-swap and phone porting fraud, but it occurred when passwords and personal information had been stolen.

“Our customer care experts acted quickly when made aware of this issue and the customer has now regained control of their mobile number,” a spokesperson said.

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Mr Ryder’s phone number was illegally ported despite new rules requiring telcos to use multifactor ID authentication, which came into effect in mid-2020.

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An Australian Communications and Media Authority spokesperson said data from government sources indicated that mobile porting fraud had dropped by 95 per cent because of the new rules.

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“There is no indication these types of scams are rising, however, in some cases scammers may still be able to defraud someone where they have stolen a person’s identity,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Ryder is unsure what personal information the fraudsters had before they compromised his phone number.

“I’ve had to reassess my whole concept of what information I keep online,” he said.

A middle aged man wearing a long sleeve pink shirt putting life jacket into a tub on a boat.
Mr Ryder uses social media to promote his boat and jet ski licensing business. (ABC North Qld: Chloe Chromic Kind)

He said he would like to minimise his digital footprint, but social media was how most of his customers contacted him to obtain their boat and jet ski licensing.

“I’m just trying to get secure so I can lay down at night not thinking I’m going to wake up with no money in my account,” Mr Ryder said.

Bank statements indicate that Mr Ryder’s phone number was ported from Optus to ETEL, a small provider in Sydney that used the Optus network.

ETEL said it sent a unique verification code via SMS to ensure the customer seeking to port their phone number was in possession of the device. 

โ€œ The person initiating the port would require direct access to a SIM card with that phone number already on it,” a spokesperson said.ย 

“For someone to gain access to the SIM, the handset would have to be stolen or someone may have done a SIM swap at the original provider.” The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman said it encouraged telcos to remain vigilant to the rising threat of fraud and scams.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Australian News

What is being done to crack down on text scammers in Australia?

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AceSecurityDesk – You’ve probably noticed scammers love sending text messages: It’s the most popular scam delivery method by far, according to figures from the consumer watchdog.

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.08: 2024: ABC Security News: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

Hands hold a mobile phone displaying a scam text message.
How often do you wake up to a new scam text on your phone?(ABC News: Lily Nothling)normal

By exploiting our trust in institutions, whether it’s the bank, the post office, or a toll company, they have stolen tens of millions of dollars from Australians.

Steps are being made to tighten the screws, but tackling the problem feels a bit like a whack-a-mole for authorities trying to crack down on the “scourge”.

How hard are Australians getting hit?

It’s been relentless and reports of scam text messages only increased last year. There was a 37 per cent increase in text scams reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2023 compared to the previous year. Australians reported that they lost about $26.9 million in 2023 to the scam delivery method, with 110,000 instances of scam texts reported. But the criminals did not pull in as much money as the year before. In 2022 Australians reported losses of $28.5 million from 80,000 reported text messages. In the first two months of this year, text messages are still the top delivery method, with 16,795 notifications logged so far.  

Where are these texts coming from?

Scammers use the same methods as reputable businesses to blast messages to our phones, according to Samantha Yorke from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). โ€œ These are basically just businesses that have technology that allows an organisation or a person to send a very high number of text messages in a very quick period of time,” she says. โ€œ

Computer equipment with aerials at the front, keyboard at the top and sim cards at the back.
Unfortunately, these businesses are also being used by bad actors.”Sim card equipment seized by NSW Police. (Supplied: NSW Police)

Ms Yorke says people might suspect shady actors working overseas are the culprits, but a homegrown industry has emerged.

She points to the recent arrest of an alleged scammer Sydney man who allegedly sent millions of ‘suspicious’ messages faces court. โ€œ I think the inclination is to assume that these scammers are often offshore โ€ฆ but actually there are homegrown scammers as well,” she says. โ€œ An industry that we shouldn’t be proud of here in Australia. โ€œ They’re everywhere, unfortunately.”

What’s being done to stop them?@acenewsservices

While tens of thousands of texts are reported to the ACCC, phone companies are blocking hundreds of millions of them. More than 430 million messages since the introduction of a 2022 industry code aimed at cracking down on fraud, Ms Yorke says. The code is about 35 pages long, but she says the most important requirement is that the names attached to text messages are verified.

A graphic showing a cartoon woman handing over money to a thief.
Businesses have been breached for sending millions of messages in breach of new scam rules.(Supplied: Pixabay)

Last month, ACMA found that five businesses had breached the industry code.

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“They had each allowed customers of theirs to send bulk SMS messages using these abbreviated business names in the message headers instead of the actual phone number,” she says. Basically, this means scammers can impersonate companies and government organisations. โ€œ This code requires businesses that are sending these SMS is to check that they’re not being sent by scammers,” Ms Yorke says. โ€œ The five businesses that the ACMA breached last month were not doing that.” Ms Yorke says the companies have been given a formal direction to follow the code and could be hit with fines of up to $250,000 if breaches continue.

So why are we still getting the texts?

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Ms Yorke says it’s a complex issue and there’s no silver bullet. โ€œ They’re very agile, which is frustrating,” she says. The ACMA is working to set up a registry of trusted organisations able to send texts with their business name. Ms Yorke says it’s important because texts messages have become hard to trust. โ€œ Some banks, for instance, are now only communicating with their customers through their banking app,” she says. 

A man in a beanie stands on a rooftop.
Telstra cyber security expert Darren Pauli.(Supplied)

What else are companies doing about it?ย 

Telstra customers are able to dob in scam texts to the phone company via a 7226 reporting number, the company’s cyber security expert Darren Pauli says. So far customers have reported 250,000 text messages to the “message content-based” system. He says that means customers need to forward suspect messages to the reporting number so Telstra can learn what scammers are sending. โ€œ If you send it as soon as you get it, it’s like a times-10 impact multiplier,” Mr Pauli says.

What is being done to crack down on text scammers in Australia?

How long will crooks keep targeting phones?ย 

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He says the future looks bleak, but telecommunications companies have a “moral obligation” to protect customers. โ€œ I mean, Australia Post inspects its mail for dangerous goods, right?” Mr Pauli says. โ€œ It’s not necessarily responsible for it, but there’s an obligation there, I guess โ€” a moral obligation.” He says other companies are also working hard to crack down on scam messages. Optus does not have a scam reporting number, but in a statement a spokesperson said it had a number of anti-scam measures that have resulted in 137 million scam messages being blocked since December 2020.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Ace Security News

Some of the Most Popular Websites Share Your Data With Over 1,500 Companies Online

AceSecurityDesk – Cookie pop-ups now show the number of โ€œpartnersโ€ that websites may share data with. Here’s how many of these third-party companies may get your data from some of the most popular sites online

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.07: 2024: The Wired News By Matt BurgessMar 20, 2024 2:25 PM: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Linkย https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

3D rendering of laptops with neon screens

Everywhere you go online, youโ€™re being tracked. Almost every time you visit a website, trackers gather data about your browsing and funnel it back into targeted advertising systems, which build up detailed profiles about your interests and make big profits in the process. In some places, youโ€™re tracked more than others.

In a little-noticed change at the end of last year, thousands of websites started being more transparent about how many companies your data is being shared with. In November, those infuriating cookie pop-upsโ€”which ask your permission to collect and share dataโ€”began sharing how many advertising โ€œpartnersโ€ each website is working with, giving a further glimpse of the sprawling advertising ecosystem. For many sites, itโ€™s not pretty.

A WIRED analysis of the top 10,000 most popular websites shows that dozens of sites say they are sharing data with more than 1,000 companies, while thousands of other websites are sharing data with hundreds of firms.

Quiz and puzzle website JetPunk tops the pile, listing 1,809 โ€œpartnersโ€ that may collect personal information, including โ€œbrowsing behavior or unique IDs.โ€

More than 20 websites from publisher Dotdash Meredithโ€”including Investopedia.com, People.com, and Allrecipes.comโ€”all say they can share data with 1,609 partners.

The newspaper The Daily Mail lists 1,207 partners, while internet speed-monitoring firm Speedtest.net, online medical publisher WebMD, and media outlets Reuters, ESPN, and BuzzFeed all state they can share data with 809 companies. (WIRED, for context, lists 164 partners.) These hundreds of advertising partners include dozens of firms most people have likely never heard of.

โ€œ You can always assume all of them are first going to try and disambiguate who you are,โ€ saysย Midas Nouwens, an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, who has previouslyย built tools to automatically opt out of tracking by cookie pop-upsย and helped with the website analysis.

The data collected can vary by website, and the cookie pop-ups allow some control over what can be gathered; however, the information can include IP addresses, fingerprinting of devices, and various identifiers. โ€œOnce they know that, they might add you to different data sets, or use it for enrichment later when you go to a different site,โ€ Nouwens says.

Theย online advertising world is a messy, murky space, which can involve networks of companies building profiles of people to show you tailored adsย the second you open a webpage.

For years,ย strongย privacy lawsย in Europe, such as the GDPR, have resulted in websites showing cookie consent pop-ups that ask forย permission to store cookiesย that collect data on your device. In recent years, studies have shown that cookie pop-ups have includedย dark patterns,ย disregarded peopleโ€™s choices, and are ignored by people. โ€œEvery single person weโ€™ve ever observed in user testing doesn’t read any of this. They find the fastest way they can to close it out,โ€ says Peter Dolanjski, a product director at the privacy-focused search engine and browserย DuckDuckGo. โ€œSo they end up in a worse privacy state.โ€

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For the website analysis, Nouwens scraped the 10,000 most popular websites and analyzed whether the collected pop-ups mentioned partners and, if so, the number they disclosed.

WIRED manually verified all the websites mentioned in this story, visiting each to confirm the number of partners they displayed. We looked at the highest total number of partners within the whole data set, and the highest number of partners for the top 1,000 most popular websites. The process, which is only a snapshot of how websites share data, provides one view of the complex ecosystem. The results can vary depending on where in the world someone visits a website from.

It also only includes websites using just one system to display cookie pop-ups. Many of the worldโ€™s biggest websitesโ€”think Google, Facebook, and TikTokโ€”use their cookie pop-ups.

However, thousands of websites, including publishers and retailers, use third-party technology, made by consent management platforms (CMPs), to show the pop-ups. These pop-ups largely follow standards from the marketing and advertising group IAB Europe, which details the information that should be included in the cookie pop-ups.

Inย November 2023, IAB Europe updated itsย Transparency and Consent Framework, in response toย rulings saying it didnโ€™t comply with Europeโ€™s GDPR, to include the provision that companies should disclose how many partners they’re sharing user data with on the first pages of their websites.

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Townsend Feehan, the CEO of IAB Europe, says the update โ€œincludes a number of meaningful iterations,โ€ which provide people with more information about what data may be shared and include changes such as making a โ€œreject allโ€ option prominently available. โ€œThe addition of the number of vendors corresponds to a recommendation made by the CNIL [the French data privacy regulator] and is meant to help end-users to have a reasonable expectation, before they even access the secondary layer of the CMP, of how many vendors feature on the transparency pop-up,โ€ Feehan says.

However, adding the number of companies data is shared with becomes meaningless if the number is too large, Nouwens says.

โ€œ If itโ€™s anything more than five, or maybe 10, it becomes untenable,โ€ the researcher adds. โ€œThat’s still too many for anybody to really form an opinion on considering how opaque and complex this whole data processing pipeline is.โ€ While individual websites may say data can be shared with hundreds of third-party companies, they may not be doing it directly themselvesโ€”the owner of one tracker may ultimately share that data with other advertising companies. The majority of websites contacted for this story did not respond to a request for comment about their data sharing; however, those that did showed the complexity of the advertising industry.

A BuzzFeed spokesperson says they approved all of theย IABโ€™s list of vendors, resulting in 809 partners being shown, but the spokesperson says, in reality, the number of partners it works with is 220.

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Paul Evans, managing director at news discovery platform NewsNow, says that it only has โ€œdirect relationships with a handfulโ€ of advertising exchanges, and its 1,298 disclosed figure is the total of the partners those firms work with.

โ€œ We have limited insight into, and ability to influence, their operations, terms of business, or the partners they choose to work with,โ€ Evans says, also pointing towardย Googleโ€™s long-running aim to remove third-party cookiesย from its Chrome browser later this year.

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โ€œ We expect the technical opportunities for our ad exchangesโ€™ partners to process our usersโ€™ data (even with our users’ consent) will decrease, while the ease with which our users can deny consent will increase,โ€ Evans says.

While the disclosures may not provide as much transparency as intended, itโ€™s also possible to analyze the number of trackers that are directly placed on websites. DuckDuckGo keeps a record of the companies that have theย biggest tracking footprint across the web.

For example, while WebMD and ESPN disclose 809 partners on their cookie pop-ups, DuckDuckGoโ€™s data shows there are 96 and 33 trackers present on their websites when they were scanned. Among the most common trackers, Google has its technology on 79 percent of websites, while those from five other companies are on more than 20 percent of websites. โ€œ For the end user, the reality is, there is a myriad of tracking that happens, thereโ€™s a myriad of techniques through which it happens,โ€ DuckDuckGoโ€™s Dolanjski says. Using a privacy browser, making your searches private, and adopting a few basic practices can help keep you more private online.

At Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency, we value transparency and accountability. We want to inform you that we are not responsible for any external content, links, or posts. Nonetheless, we are dedicated to providing exceptional services and sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

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Categories
Ace Security News

DuckDuckGo Browser Upgrade: Privately sync your bookmarks and passwords across devices

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AceSecurityDesk says hereโ€™s a way to use a more secure browser than Google Chrome with DuckDuckGo giver it a try and get free hidden email as well

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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.07: 2024: Spread Privacy News by Tim Raybould14 Feb 2024: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

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  • Now live: Sync bookmarks, passwords, and Email Protection settings between DuckDuckGo browsers on phones, tablets, and computers, privately and securely.
  • Our new Sync & Backup feature is designed with your privacy and security in mind. You donโ€™t need to create an account or sign in to use it, and DuckDuckGo never sees your bookmarks or passwords. 
  • The DuckDuckGo browser is our privacy-respecting alternative to Chrome and other browsers โ€“ use it every day to visit websites and search the web. Get it here for Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android devices.

Ditching Chrome for the DuckDuckGo browser is easier than ever.@acenewsservices

Have you been waiting to try the DuckDuckGo browser? Maybe youโ€™re using our browser on your phone but havenโ€™t tried the Windows or Mac version?  Now is the perfect time to make DuckDuckGo the default browser on all your devices, thanks to our latest improvement: Sync & Backup. You could already import bookmarks and passwords from other browsers into DuckDuckGo, but now you can privately sync those bookmarks and passwords between DuckDuckGo browsers on multiple devices.

Bring your passwords and bookmarks with you โ€“ without compromising your privacy.

When you use Chrome, thereโ€™s a good chance youโ€™re signed in with your Google account โ€“ because theyโ€™re constantly pressuring you to do so! There is a convenience in that; all your bookmarks, passwords, and favorites follow you wherever you browse, whether youโ€™re using your computer, phone, or tablet. But thereโ€™s a problem. This also gives Google implicit permission to collect even more data about your browsing activity than they would otherwise have and use it for targeted advertising that can follow you around.

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At DuckDuckGo, we donโ€™t track you; thatโ€™s our privacy policy in a nutshell. Weโ€™ve developed our privacy-respecting import and sync functions without requiring a DuckDuckGo account โ€“ and without compromising your personal data.

Our built-in password manager stores and encrypts your passwords locally on your device. Our private sync is end-to-end encrypted. (When you use private sync, your data stays securely encrypted throughout the syncing process, because the unique key needed to decrypt it is stored only on your devices.) Your passwords are completely inaccessible to anyone but you. That includes us: DuckDuckGo cannot access your data at any time.

What can Sync & Backup do?

  • Privately sync and access the bookmarks and passwords saved in your DuckDuckGo browsers โ€“ including any youโ€™ve imported from other browsers โ€“ across multiple devices.
  • Back up passwords, bookmarks, and favorites in case your device is lost or damaged.
  • Migrate your bookmarks and passwords to a new device.
  • Sync your Email Protection account between devices.

Ready to give it a try? Hereโ€™s where to startโ€ฆ

The first step is to download our free browser on one or more devices. (The feature works across most Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone devices โ€“ if youโ€™ve got our browser, you can use Sync & Backup!) If youโ€™re already using the browser, check that itโ€™s up to date. Next, head to the browserโ€™s Settings, choose Sync & Backup > Sync With Another Device and follow the instructions under Begin Syncing.

If youโ€™re on a mobile phone or tablet, you can link devices with a QR code; on desktop computers, youโ€™ll manually enter an alphanumeric code.

Laptop and phone showing a Sync & Backup QR code
Sync passwords and bookmarks between devices by scanning a QR code or manually entering a unique alphanumeric code โ€“ no signing in necessary.

Only working with one device? Choose Sync and Back Up This Device from the โ€œSingle-Device Setupโ€ section. Once your sync is complete, you can see a list of all your synced devices, edit device nicknames, and fine-tune your settings.

Laptop and phone showing list of synced devices in browser settings
See a list of your synced devices โ€“ and add new ones! โ€“ under your browserโ€™s Settings > Sync & Back Up.

Once youโ€™re set up, youโ€™ll want to save your Recovery PDF in a secure place. This document contains your Recovery Code, a unique code that will let you access your synced data if your devices are lost or damaged. This is especially important because of our secure end-to-end encryption; your Recovery Code contains the unique, locally generated encryption key that keeps your data private from everyone โ€“ including us! If you lose your devices, your Recovery Code is the only way to access your data from a new phone or computer.

Laptop showing a Sync Recovery Code and data recovery instructions
With your Recovery Code, you can restore bookmarks, favorites, and other DuckDuckGo settings on a replacement device if yours is lost or damaged.

What else can the DuckDuckGo browser do?

The DuckDuckGo browser comes with the features you expect from a go-to browser โ€“ it even banishes any ads we find that run on creepy trackers, without the need for an outside ad blocker. It also handles cookie pop-ups for you where we can. Plus, over a dozen powerful privacy protections are not offered in most popular browsers by default. This uniquely comprehensive set of privacy protections helps protect your online activities, from searching to browsing, emailing, and more.โ€Œโ€Œโ€Œโ€Œ

Our privacy protections work without you having to know anything about the technical details or deal with complicated settings. Just switch your browser to DuckDuckGo across all your devices, and youโ€™ll get privacy by default. 

For more detailed instructions on how to use the new sync function โ€“ or to peek under the hood of any of DuckDuckGoโ€™s privacy protections! โ€“ you can find more information on our Help Pages.

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