Fake news has become a menace that we face every. Hardly a day goes by without us witnessing an online miscreant(s) trying to trick unsuspecting users with all sort of malicious ploy.
Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson is the latest victim of a death hoax. The fake news of Mr. Bean's death which began to spread on social media networks on Wednesday, 18 July, 2018 comes with a headlines that reads:
"FOX BREAKING NEWS: 'Mr. BEAN (Rowan Atkinson)' died at 62 After Crashing his Car on Attempt perfecting a Stun - Today July, 2017".
According to news reports, clicking on the video link would lead users to an error page claiming that the computer is in a lockdown. The user will be told to contact a support number to unlock the system.
However, the support number is a fake number meant to extract personal data such as credit card details, bank account information and other personal data of the victim.
As it is a common demam isu on social media network, fans began to troop in, bombarding their condolence messages on different social media platforms which even helped in fueling the scam. Such was it that the it became one of the trending topics on Google and other search engines.
A 21-year-old woman has been charged for the hacking and leaking of the private pictures of popular American celebrity Pop singer and actress, Selena Gomez.
Susan Atrach from Ridgerfield Park, New Jersey, has been slammed with 11 felony counts charge which includes; 1 count of gaining unauthorised access to a computer and taking files without permission, 5 counts of committing fraud and obtaining money/data/property illegally using the compromised computer. Five counts of identity theft and leaking of the personal data on the Internet.
Atrach is also accused of sharing personal file of Ms. Gomez with her friends.
Also Read: Indians using free Wifi to Watch Porn at Rail Stations ---- IndiaTime
According to a press release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, Atrach on several occasions hacked into the email accounts of Ms. Gomez and her associate. Atrach is accused of having had unauthorised access to the email accounts from June 2015 to February 2018 during which she stole Ms. Gomez personal data and leaked several of them online.
"The defendant is accused of accessing the vcictim's account several times from June 2015 through February 2016. She then allegedly obtained stored media that she posted online ans shared with other people," Deputy District Attorney Ben Forer of the Cyber Crime Division who is the prosecutor of the case said.
You might be wondering how Ms. Selena Gomez's Apple iCloud and Yahoo email account got compromised. Well, Atrach hacked the accounts by using available information about the Pop star which were online to answer the secret questions attached to the accounts.
If eventually found guilty, Atrach will be facing a maximum of 6 years and 8 months sentence. Bail will be at the rate of $250,000. The accused will be arraigned before the magistrate on the 27th of August.
We always advise online account users to use strong passwords and not the one that can be easily guessed. Another way to fortify our login is to enable two-factor authentication on our accounts. Finally, avoid clicking on suspicious links or opening attachments that you aren't sure of their source.
Fake news has become a menace that we face every. Hardly a day goes by without us witnessing an online miscreant(s) trying to trick unsuspecting users with all sort of malicious ploy.
Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson is the latest victim of a death hoax. The fake news of Mr. Bean's death which began to spread on social media networks on Wednesday, 18 July, 2018 comes with a headlines that reads:
"FOX BREAKING NEWS: 'Mr. BEAN (Rowan Atkinson)' died at 62 After Crashing his Car on Attempt perfecting a Stun - Today July, 2017".
According to news reports, clicking on the video link would lead users to an error page claiming that the computer is in a lockdown. The user will be told to contact a support number to unlock the system.
However, the support number is a fake number meant to extract personal data such as credit card details, bank account information and other personal data of the victim.
As it is a common demam isu on social media network, fans began to troop in, bombarding their condolence messages on different social media platforms which even helped in fueling the scam. Such was it that the it became one of the trending topics on Google and other search engines.
After successfully testing and delivering Internet service to remote places in Kenya using flying balloons, Alphabet's Loon on Thursday announced that it would deploy its system of balloons across Kenya so as to boost high-speed Internet access coverage to both rural and urban areas.
The technology which was developed by Alphabet's X lab is known as Project Loon. Loon is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company which owns Google.
According to reports, Loon is to beam high-speed Internet access with Telkom Kenya starting next year. This will be the company's commercial first deal in Africa.
Also Read: Kenya Airtel free unlimited internet trick on XP Psiphon and Http injector
This same technology was used by US telecom operators to provide connectivity to more than 250,000 people after the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico last year.
Loon's mission is to connect people everywhere by inventing and integrating audacious technologies,'said Alastair Westgarth, the chief executive of Loon.
Telkom Kenya comes behind market leader Safaricom and Bharti Airtel in Kenya. However, Telkom Kenya hopes the technology will help achieve full Internet coverage of its population.
"We will work very hard with Loon, to deliver the first commercial mobile service, as quickly as possible, using Loon's ballon-powered Internet in Africa," Chief executive of Telkom Kenya, Aldo Mareuse said.
The Loon service uses balloons which are powered by an on-board solar panel to provide 4G coverage to areas with lower population densities.
Project Loon researchers even say that it is possible to use machine learning to predict weather systems. This allows the firm to control where the balloons goes so as to focus on a particular region instead of traveling around the globe.
Kenya has a population of over 45 million people with telecom operators covering just the towns and cities while the vast part of rural Kenya are left out. This deal will definitely give Telkom Kenya an edge over the major operators.
The spread of fake news and misinformation is one of the major downside of social media. Social has is one of the major source of circulating information around the world, and thus, some abuse that privilege to use it for the dissemination of false news. One country in which the spread of false news is rampant is India.
Whatsapp in an effort to tackle the spread of false news and phishing links on its platform, is testing a feature called "Suspicious Link Indicator" in Android beta version 2.18.221. This new feature which is mean't to limit the amount of forwarded messages per users, has a FAQ page by WhatsApp detailing how it works.
Also Read: Indian WhatsApp group admin arrested for posting fake content
According to WABetainfo, this new update is expected to warn users of any link before they open it. Users will be alerted by WhatsApp for the second time if the link has a suspicious character. Two options will be provided to the user which are; Open Link and Go back. The suspicious character will be high lighted in the dialogue box when the user try to open the link.
India which is the second-most populous country in the world has witnessed a rise in violence and killings due to the spread of false news and rumours from social media networks (most especially WhatsApp). WhatsApp said Indians forward more messages and videos more than any other market in the world
Sometime last week, WhatsApp said that it was planning to limit message forwarding capabilities for Indian users. The Facebook owned social media platform plans to lower the rate of forwarded messages to 5 and also the removal of quick shortcut from media messages..
For now, the Suspicious Link Detection feature isn't available on iOS and Windows phones but will be rolled out in future updates on those platforms.
After successfully testing and delivering Internet service to remote places in Kenya using flying balloons, Alphabet's Loon on Thursday announced that it would deploy its system of balloons across Kenya so as to boost high-speed Internet access coverage to both rural and urban areas.
The technology which was developed by Alphabet's X lab is known as Project Loon. Loon is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company which owns Google.
According to reports, Loon is to beam high-speed Internet access with Telkom Kenya starting next year. This will be the company's commercial first deal in Africa.
Also Read: Kenya Airtel free unlimited internet trick on XP Psiphon and Http injector
This same technology was used by US telecom operators to provide connectivity to more than 250,000 people after the hurricane that struck Puerto Rico last year.
Loon's mission is to connect people everywhere by inventing and integrating audacious technologies,'said Alastair Westgarth, the chief executive of Loon.
Telkom Kenya comes behind market leader Safaricom and Bharti Airtel in Kenya. However, Telkom Kenya hopes the technology will help achieve full Internet coverage of its population.
"We will work very hard with Loon, to deliver the first commercial mobile service, as quickly as possible, using Loon's ballon-powered Internet in Africa," Chief executive of Telkom Kenya, Aldo Mareuse said.
The Loon service uses balloons which are powered by an on-board solar panel to provide 4G coverage to areas with lower population densities.
Project Loon researchers even say that it is possible to use machine learning to predict weather systems. This allows the firm to control where the balloons goes so as to focus on a particular region instead of traveling around the globe.
Kenya has a population of over 45 million people with telecom operators covering just the towns and cities while the vast part of rural Kenya are left out. This deal will definitely give Telkom Kenya an edge over the major operators.
The spread of fake news and misinformation is one of the major downside of social media. Social has is one of the major source of circulating information around the world, and thus, some abuse that privilege to use it for the dissemination of false news. One country in which the spread of false news is rampant is India.
Whatsapp in an effort to tackle the spread of false news and phishing links on its platform, is testing a feature called "Suspicious Link Indicator" in Android beta version 2.18.221. This new feature which is mean't to limit the amount of forwarded messages per users, has a FAQ page by WhatsApp detailing how it works.
Also Read: Indian WhatsApp group admin arrested for posting fake content
According to WABetainfo, this new update is expected to warn users of any link before they open it. Users will be alerted by WhatsApp for the second time if the link has a suspicious character. Two options will be provided to the user which are; Open Link and Go back. The suspicious character will be high lighted in the dialogue box when the user try to open the link.
India which is the second-most populous country in the world has witnessed a rise in violence and killings due to the spread of false news and rumours from social media networks (most especially WhatsApp). WhatsApp said Indians forward more messages and videos more than any other market in the world
Sometime last week, WhatsApp said that it was planning to limit message forwarding capabilities for Indian users. The Facebook owned social media platform plans to lower the rate of forwarded messages to 5 and also the removal of quick shortcut from media messages..
For now, the Suspicious Link Detection feature isn't available on iOS and Windows phones but will be rolled out in future updates on those platforms.
