Suspicious Activity Related to Google Fi Accounts

It seems like there were some suspicious activities detected in a server that contains some Google Fi customer data. This affects users of the Google Fi mobile phone network. Droid Life suggests here that the "primary network provider" that Google Fi refers in their email is very likely to be T-Mobile. A subsidiary of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile has suffered several data breaches in recent times including these incidents. Follow this link for an actively updated list at Firewall Times:

1. January 2023: Affected 37 million T-Mobile customers
2. August 2021: Affected about 77 million T-Mobile customers
3. December 2020: Affected about 200,000 T-Mobile customers
4. March 2020: Affected about T-Mobile employees
5. November 2019: Affected about 1 million T-Mobile customers
6. August 2018: Affected about 2 million T-Mobile customers
7. October 2017: Affected about 70 million T-Mobile customers
8. October 2015: Affected about 15 million T-Mobile customers
9. November 2009: Affected millions T-Mobile customers

Google Fi does not possess its cellular network infrastructure; instead, it collaborates with T-Mobile and UScellular to deliver its services. Moreover, Google Fi operates independently from Google's mobile operating system, Android.

The full text of the email from Google Fi is below.

From: googlefi-noreply@google.com

Date: Jan 31, 2023, 7:32 AM

Subject: Important information about your Google Fi account

Dear Google Fi customer,

We’re writing to let you know that the primary network provider for Google Fi recently informed us there has been suspicious activity relating to a third party system that contains a limited amount of Google Fi customer data.

There is no action required by you at this time.

This system is used for Google Fi customer support purposes and contains limited data including when your account was activated, data about your mobile service plan, SIM card serial number, and active or inactive account status.

It does not contain your name, date of birth, email address, payment card information, social security number or tax IDs, driver’s license or other form of government ID, or financial account information, passwords or PINs that you may use for Google Fi, or the contents of any SMS messages or calls.

Our incident response team undertook an investigation and determined that unauthorized access occurred and have worked with our primary network provider to identify and implement measures to secure the data on that third party system and notify everyone potentially impacted. There was no access to Google's systems or any systems overseen by Google.

If you are an active Fi user, please note that your Google Fi service continues to work as usual and was not interrupted by this issue.

What does this mean for me?

The accessed information included your phone number and limited technical information. This includes information about when your account was activated, SIM card serial number, account status (for example, whether your plan is active or inactive), and limited details about the mobile service plan and options provided by your Google Fi service (such as unlimited SMS or international roaming).

For more information

As always, be alert for phishing attempts. For more about best practices, see our advice on how to avoid phishing.

Read more about keeping your Google Fi information safe.

We’re always here for our customers and available to offer support. If you have any questions or require assistance, please see this Help Center article for contact options and reference issue ID 267187948.

Sincerely,

Google Fi Team

China unveils 500 megapixel camera that can identify every face in a crowd of tens of thousands

Chinese scientists have developed a 500 megapixel facial recognition camera four times more detailed than the human eye that can identify individuals from crowds of tens of thousands in streets or at sports stadiums.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/26/china-unveils-500-megapixel-camera-can-identify-every-face-crowd/

Yatra.com website data was breach in September 2013

Indian online travel agency, Yatra.com's website data was breached on September 1, 2013, it has been confirmed this week in July 2018. Nearly 5 million records including email addresses, plaintext passwords, full names, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, PINs and physical addresses. In November 2013, the data was publicly shared across several sites and forums.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

To check if you have been impacted by the data breach check Have I Been Pwned.

Sources: Firefox, GBHackers, Have I Been Pwned.

Equifax reveals the full horror of its data breach

146.6 million names, 146.6 million dates of birth, 145.5 million social security numbers, 99 million address information and 209,000 payment cards (number and expiry date) exposed, the company said there were also 38,000 American drivers' licenses and 3,200 passport details lifted, too.

https://www.theregister.com/2018/05/08/equifax_breach_may_2018/

AVG's LinkScanner Drop Zone Provides Real-time Protection Against Online Threats

The AVG LinkScanner Drop Zone - part of the LinkScanner technology in AVG's Anti-Virus and Internet Security products - is an online application that lets you ensure that individual web pages you are about to visit are safe.

If you are a voracious web surfer, and you often encounter links to various pages across the internet, then often you do want to ensure the safety-level of web pages beforehand.

The LinkScanner technology stops threats before they get onto your PC by inspecting web pages in real time before you open them. In addition to blocking dangerous websites while you’re surfing, LinkScanner verifies the safety of web links delivered by Google, Yahoo, and MSN searches, delivering a safety verdict on all search results with an easy-to-read safety rating.

LinkScanner examines the web page in real time to see whether it’s hiding any suspicious downloads. To inspect the threat level that a web page exposes you to, just submit the URL of the web page to the AVG LinkScanner Drop Zone web site using the text box below or you can use the form at AVG's own Online Web Page Scanner web page.

The Windows Security Nightmare

I just stumbled upon this article that closely resonates with my personal experiences with different versions of the Windows operating system throughout the years starting with Windows 95. It all starts with a fresh installation, but as I install and uninstall various programs, things gradually deteriorate. Eventually, the registry becomes cluttered with unnecessary files, forcing me to perform a clean install. However, this comes with a drawback – all the previously applied security updates are lost, leaving the system vulnerable to worms and malware. In this journey from one Windows version to another, this has been a common theme with them all: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows Me and presently Windows XP. Here is a Sydney Morning Herald article written by Usman Latif.