Since late April, an unknown hacker has been conducting online hacks every day. He remotely connects to victims’ computers, watches them through webcams of their own devices, and live hacks into email accounts, social networking pages and other personal information that he can reach. We figured out why such hacks occur and how to protect yourself from intruders.
In late April, a popular Internet community posted an announcement of unusual broadcasts – an unknown person connects to computers of unsuspecting people, watches them with their own webcams and, eventually, seizes control. The hacker comments on what is happening, revealing email account data, social networking page addresses, and the username for a Skype account. After this, the audience of about 500-1000 people arranges a real harassment of the victim: they flood the person with phone calls, write in personal messages and on the wall of the personal page in “Facebook”.
In addition, if a person has a Web-money wallet or Steam game program installed – the hacker deletes purchased games, and also gives his viewers the opportunity to gut them: they transfer funds, take away serial keys, game money or clothes. The attacker often includes obscene videos on the screens of his victims and turns on loud music if he has the opportunity. On average, an attack on a user lasts 5 to 10 minutes, then either the victim is disconnected, or the audience loses interest, and the hacker looks for another infected computer.
Streamer harasses his victims on social networks in partnership with viewers
In his broadcasts, the hacker said that he made money from hacks, and that he streams for fun. However, he is collecting donations and promises to turn on his own webcam for $300.
The streamer uses the LuminosityLink connection program to remotely connect to the victims’ computers; his victims are not notified that someone is trying to connect to them – everything happens completely unnoticed. At the same time, most people exposed to the attack have the MediaGet utility for downloading torrent files installed.
“The LuminosityLink program works according to the client-server scheme. The attacker put the server part on his computer and spread the client to other users,” he said.
One of those who were attacked by the hacker told uss that his computer did not have antivirus installed and also had the MediaGet program. During the attack, the streamer and his viewers spammed the victim’s account in “Facebook” and Skype. However, the user turned off his computer quickly enough.
“To begin with, using my phone, I closed the wall and “Facebook” messages, and then, having lost complete control over the computer, I realized that it was the “iron” and turned off the computer. Then I formatted the hard drives and reinstalled the operating system,” he explained.
Attackers can connect to the user’s device in several ways
Attackers can connect to a device in several ways. For example, a user downloads and installs software that looks legitimate but is malicious, or that is legitimate but has extra functionality that can be exploited by an intruder.
This often happens to users who download Baidu Antivirus – it also installs a lot of additional software.
No device today is without vulnerabilities
As for mobile devices, they can also be vulnerable to hackers. For any popular device or software, there are vulnerabilities, whether it is Windows, Linux, OS X, Android or iOS. Programmers are sure that the main security guarantor here is to use only official stores, such as Google Play or AppStore.
When installing it, you need to control the permissions that the program asks for – why, for example, would a program for counting the water you drink have access to a microphone? Don’t follow links in emails that come from suspicious recipients, surf the Internet carefully and read small text. Do not click on links in SMS, which say that your card is blocked. Using unprotected wireless networks is also unsafe.
There are subscriptions that work through wap-click technology. All you have to do is press the “Watch Movie” button on your smartphone or tablet, and the money is automatically deducted from your cell phone account.
The same applies to modern smart TVs, which are also subject to hacking. They run Linux or Android-based operating systems, so the vulnerabilities for next-generation TVs are the same as for mobile devices. In the case of TVs, it’s a good idea to carefully check USB devices on your computer before connecting them.
