Malware is an unwanted code that somehow made its way onto your computer in order to perform functions designed with malicious intent. Sometimes these programs slow down a machine or cause it to crash entirely. The creators may then demand a ransom in order to fix the machine. Sometimes malware uploads information to remote servers, giving someone access to your saved data or vital credentials that you type, such as passwords and credit card numbers. People tend to create malware for Windows because that’s the operating system found on the most PCs. This increases the odds that a virus will spread from one computer to another. Virus makers tend to target less technical users that are easier to fool with bogus web banners and phishing scams. Viruses also spread among people who know how to pirate music and TV shows but don’t understand how these files may be infected. There are antivirus programs for Linux, but even their purpose is often to help protect Windows users. One piece of malware has recently made news for targeting the Linux desktop. EvilGNOME runs on the GNOME desktop environment by pretending to be an extension. GNOME is the most common Linux desktop environment, found as the default interface on two of the most popular Linux distros, Ubuntu and Fedora, and on computers that ship directly from Linux manufacturers such as System76 and Purism. Legitimate extensions allow you to alter many aspects of the GNOME desktop. The malware known as EvilGNOME is able to take screenshots and record audio from your PC’s microphone. It can also upload your personal files. A more detailed breakdown is available in a report by Intezer Labs, who gave EvilGNOME its name. This malware didn’t attract attention for being particularly likely to impact large numbers of people. It was considered newsworthy because it existed at all. Linux is relatively rare on desktops, but it’s the most prominent operating system found on servers powering the web and managing much of the world’s digital infrastructure. Follow this thread on OUR FORUM.

Hundreds of millions of phone numbers linked to Facebook accounts were left exposed on an unprotected server in the latest massive security breach to plague the embattled tech giant. Up to 419 million phone numbers were stored on a database housed on multiple servers including the numbers of an estimated 133 million US-based users alone. The revelation comes just weeks after Facebook was slapped with a record $5 billion fine by the US Federal Trade Commission for violating users’ privacy rights.
Each phone record was tied to a user’s unique Facebook ID (a long, public number associated with the account), which can then quickly and easily be used to ascertain yet more personal information such as a user’s name, gender and location by country.
This, in turn, can expose users to spam calls and allow hackers to launch SIM-swapping attacks whereby cell phone carriers are tricked into providing a target’s phone number to an attacker. The unscrupulous hacker can then force-reset the password on any online account registered with that number.
This particular method of attack was used against none other than Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, whose own Twitter account was hijacked. The company announced on Wednesday that it was temporarily disabling the text-to-tweet function due to “vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by mobile carriers.”

Read more: Facebook privacy breach: Hundreds of millions of users’ phone numbers exposed.