Two major US technology firms 'tricked out of $100m'

A Lithuanian man has been charged with tricking two US technology firms into wiring him $100m (£80.3m) through an email phishing scam.

Posing as an Asian-based manufacturer, Evaldas Rimasauskas tricked staff into transferring money into bank accounts under his control, US officials said.

The companies were not named but were described as US-based multinationals, with one operating in social media.

Officials called it a wake-up call for even “the most sophisticated” firms.

According to the US Department of Justice, Mr Rimasauskas, 48 – who was arrested in Lithuania last week – deceived the firms from at least 2013 up until 2015.

He allegedly registered a company in Latvia which bore the same name as an Asian-based computer hardware manufacturer and opened various accounts in its name at several banks.

‘Fake email accounts’

The DoJ said: “Thereafter, fraudulent phishing emails were sent to employees and agents of the victim companies, which regularly conducted multimillion-dollar transactions with [the Asian] company.”

The emails, which “purported” to be from employees and agents of the Asian firm, and were sent from fake email accounts, directed money for legitimate goods and services into Mr Rimasauskas’s accounts, the DoJ said.

The cash was then “wired into different bank accounts” in locations around the world – including Latvia, Cyprus, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary and Hong Kong.

He also “forged invoices, contracts and letters” to hide his fraud from the banks he used.

Officials said Mr Rimasauskas siphoned off more than $100m in total, although much of the stolen money has been recovered.

Acting US Attorney Joon H Kim said: “This case should serve as a wake-up call to all companies… that they too can be victims of phishing attacks by cybercriminals.

“And this arrest should serve as a warning to all cybercriminals that we will work to track them down, wherever they are, to hold them accountable.”

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I Got Lost For Hours In 'Darknet' For PSVR: Hands On

Darknet is not the type of VR game I would expect to hold my attention. When I imagine a great VR game, I usually envision a first-person game that makes me feel like I’m somewhere other than my living room. To me, virtual reality is about transporting me to a new place. I want to walk on the surface of Mars, and pilot a space ship, and shoot zombies in the face, and throw slushies at my customers. Darknet is none of those things, and yet I find myself drawn to its simple but challenging gameplay.

Hack The Mainframe

In Darknet, you become an elite hacker-for-hire with the tools needed to steal data from “the world’s most secure networks.” Your goody bag includes viruses, hydras, exploits, and worms, which help you get past the strongest security systems around. You must poke and prod at the target network to find vulnerabilities and take down the security measures one by one so that you can retrieve sensitive data and collect a bounty.

Of course, hacking in Darknet doesn’t resemble the real thing in any way, but don’t let the video game hacking trope scare you off; Darknet is a surprisingly fun puzzle game.

Darknet starts off with an easy to understand tutorial puzzle to get you familiarized with the controls and the game mechanics. The first tool you learn to use is the basic virus, which lets you take control of vulnerable nodes (represented as spheres on the map). When you deploy a virus to your target, the view zooms in to show a puzzle that you must solve so that you get control of the node’s core.

Each puzzle features a variety of blue hexagons that represent antivirus software, which is there to stop you from reaching the yellow core and taking control of the node. Antivirus software stops your viruses, but your viruses also knock out the antivirus programs. With enough viruses and a strategic delivery plan, you can reach the core of any node.

Node puzzles vary in difficulty. Some nodes are unprotected and can be cracked with a single virus; others are protected by shields and firewalls, which increase the difficulty and lower your chances of success. The difficulty of the puzzles increases in relation to the size of the node, too. Larger nodes have more complex puzzle structures with more antivirus applications than smaller nodes.

Uncontrolled nodes are usually orange, but you’ll notice that some of the larger nodes are blue instead. The large blue nodes are called Sentinels, and they provide additional protection for adjacent nodes. Sentinels power the shield and firewall layers on neighboring nodes. If you take control of a Sentinel, you also deplete the protections it provides to other nodes.

Spread The Infection

Once you have control of a node, you can use it as a jumping off point to launch the other attacks on the network. Hydras are the second class of cyber-weapon that you get access to. When you deploy a hydra into the network, it seeks and infects any adjacent unprotected node and continues to spread until a node with a shield stops it in its tracks. The third class of attack is called an exploit, and those are used to weaken the firewall protection of the network. You can use exploits to launch a directed attack towards a Sentinel node to remove one of its firewall layers. Sentinels sometimes have a layer of ice on them, too, which must be removed before you can take control. The exploit attacks can remove the ice for you.

The fourth and final class of cyber-weapon at your disposal is the worm, which you can deploy from a node you control. The worm infects a nearby node and nullifies the target’s shield protection. A worm won’t necessarily infect an adjacent node, though; it could skip the adjacent node and move to the next one.

The worm attack isn’t available to you at the start of the game. You must unlock the worm after collecting a few bounties. Remember, you’re a hacker-for-hire looking for a pay day. The missions you accept come with a bounty to collect once you’ve retrieved the desired data. Bounty missions pay you in BTC, which you can use to purchase upgrades. The worm upgrade will cost you 10 BTC, but it’s well worth the investment. Other upgrades include faster viruses, starting funds, and access to deeper levels of the web. 

BTC isn’t the only currency in the game. While you’re hacking, you’ll collect money from the nodes you control. That money doesn’t do you any good after a bounty mission is complete, but during the mission, you can use the money to purchase hacking applications. Each time you purchase a virus, hydra, exploit, or worm, the price of the next one will go up. You must continue to take control of additional nodes to help pay for more hacks so that you can gain access to more fortified targets. Fortunately, when you purchase a virus, it’s yours to keep for the duration of the bounty mission. You can deploy all your viruses every time you hack a node.

The ultimate goal of any bounty mission is to reach the central root node. The root node contains the data that you’re being paid to access, and it’s heavily fortified. Expect to find several firewalls and a shield protecting the root, and an array of sentinel nodes that you must get through before you can take control of the root node.

Once you finish a bounty mission and collect your reward, there are many more missions to chose from. Some bounty offers are more lucrative than others, but the more it pays, the tougher the challenge. And some of the bounties have time limit stipulations, which adds a psychological factor to throw you off your game and make you choke.

And therein lies the beauty of Darknet. The game is simple on its surface, yet it’s filled with challenges that keep you pressing on to beat the next one. I thought I was going to play Darknet for 20 minutes or so to get a feel for the game. Little did I know, three hours would pass before I gazed upon (actual) reality again.

Darknet is available on PlayStation VR for $14.99. You can also get the game on Oculus Rift and Gear VR.

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Sager NP8156 Gaming Laptop Review


The gaming laptops we’ve tested have all been from the usual suspects: Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Acer, and even Razer and Dell; all with design teams to customize and style systems with purpose. But some boutique systems shops source plain, barebones laptop shells or chassis from the likes of Clevo. Exhibit A: Sager. We’re testing the company’s NP8165, which comes equipped with an Intel Kaby Lake Core-i7 processor and Nvidia’s GTX 1060, and is based on the Clevo P650HP6-G.

Specifications

Packaging

Because the Sager NP8156 is based on a Clevo design, the packaging is really just a generic box. The laptop is secured with three pads of Styrofoam. You’ll find a disc with drivers and manuals, screws for your additional SSDs and HDDs, a (rather large) user’s guide, a warranty policy, and two extra thermal pads for the GPU’s VRAM. The 200W AC adapter is stored in a separate compartment inside the box.

Exterior

The crisp, minimalist lid design includes strategically beveled edges, giving the Sager NP8165 a clean, yet unmistakably gamer aesthetic. The exterior features a black, brushed metal finish. MSI’s laptops use brushed metal as well, but those models are a bit glossier, whereas the NP8165’s finish is much more muted, so fingerprints and smudges won’t be the issue they are on MSI’s laptops; but keeping the surface clean still isn’t easy. Finally, Sager stamps its company logo front and center on the Clevo-based chassis.

Inside, on the bottom half where the trackpad is located, we see the same brushed metal texture, but the area surrounding the keyboard and upward uses a matte black plastic construction. This could be the result of some cost-cutting, but the plastic construction doesn’t feel cheap. If anything, you won’t have to clean the plastic bits as much as the brushed metal surfaces.

The front, back, and side edges all use the same plastic construction. There are two exhaust vents: one on the back edge and one on the left edge. The back edge features an ornate, chrome border surrounding the rear exhaust and I/O ports. The exhaust vents aren’t the flamboyant designs we’ve found on many laptops.

The Sager NP8165’s bottom panel is constructed out of plastic as well. There are abundant air intake cutouts on each side of the bottom panel, but this doesn’t compromise the panel’s rigidity. In fact, the panel is quite sturdy. There’s an additional exhaust vent on the left side of the chassis. There are four rubber feet at each corner and two plastic feet at the top and bottom edges of the panel to elevate the NP8165 slightly. Overall, the chassis construction is robust; there are no flex points, and even the areas constructed out of plastic don’t feel flimsy.

The Sager NP8165 (or rather Clevo’s design team) receives top marks for excellent speaker placement. Too many laptop manufacturers place speakers on the front lip of the system. Normal usage, such as typing and using the trackpad, will naturally block the speakers and inhibit the audio experience. The NP8165’s speakers are placed right next to the hinge, making it pretty difficult to block the sound.

There isn’t much to say about the NP8165’s hinge. It’s a bit stiff, and it swings back by about 135°.

The NP8165’s right I/O consists of a Kensington lock, an RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port, USB 3.0 port, two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, two card readers for MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, a headphone jack, an SPDIF jack, and a microphone jack. The left side includes an HDMI 2.0 port, another USB 3.0 port, and two Mini Displayports. Finally, the backside has a final USB 3.0 port and the DC power input.


Display

The Sager NP8165 features a Full HD (1920×1080) matte IPS display with excellent viewing angles. The display also features G-Sync. The NP8165 can support three additional displays with its HDMI port and two Mini DisplayPorts.

Input Devices

The NP8165 features a scissor switches, a number pad, and customizable RGB lighting. The keys are well spaced and have a nice springy feedback. The RGB lighting features four levels of brightness, and the lighting areas are divided into the left and right hand sides and the number pad.

The trackpad is composed of several inputs. First is the trackpad, which is non-clickable. Tracking is decent, but the trackpad’s surface has a small bit of drag, and that introduces jerkiness when trying to make small, fine movements. Two separate buttons sit below the trackpad for left and right clicks. Separating the buttons from the trackpad eliminates issues like non-uniform clicking and dust traveling under the trackpad. Between the left and right click buttons is a fingerprint sensor for added security. The sensor is easy to setup, and logging in with it takes less than a second.

Interior

The bottom panel is secured to the chassis via 15 screws. Under the panel you get a clear view of the NP8165’s guts. Every laptop we’ve reviewed uses a unified cooling solution with heat pipes connected to both the GPU and CPU heat sinks. The NP8165’s cooling solution is split in two, with the CPU using one fan on the bottom left corner and the GPU using two fans on the bottom right. We’ll see if that makes a difference.

There are two memory slots in the middle, two 2.5″ SATA slots and one M.2 slot for storage on the top right, an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 above the GPU’s exhaust fans, and a 60WH battery on the top. There are a few thermal pads attached to the bottom cover that are intended for the GPU’s MOSFETs and inductors.

Software

Pressing Fn + / on the number pad opens the Control Center software, where you can adjust keyboard backlighting, create macro profiles, and track key usage statistics. Lighting effects include spectrum cycling, breathing, flashing, wave effects, and more.

MORE: Best Gaming Laptops

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[Daily Deal] 31% off the 64GB Sandisk Extreme SDXC memory card

The 64GB Sandisk Extreme SDXC memory card is on sale today with a 31% discount. With write speed up to 60MB/s, it can support burst shooting with a DSLR camera, and 4K UHD videos with U3 ratings. Transfers are also fast with up to 90MB/S read speeds. The Sandisk Extreme SDXC memory card has a UHS Video Speed Class 30 (V30) rating, meaning it’s ready for virtual reality and 360 degrees video recording. Get it today for just £19.99.

You may also be interested in the following offers

24% off the SanDisk Ultra Fit
The SanDisk Ultra Fit is a small USB 3.0 flash drive with a big 128GB capacity. It’s 10 times faster than any standard USB 2.0 drive and you can transfer a full-lengh HD movie in less than a minute. The Sandisk Ultra Fit comes with the SanDisk SecureAccess software to protect your files with a password and 128-bit encryption. Get it for just £27.99 with free delivery in the UK.

£68.39 for the 256GB Drive X1 Pro SSD
SSDs are the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade an aging computer. You don’t need to be an expert to install it: just replace your old hard drive and enjoy a smoother experience. The Drevo X1 Pro offers read speed up to 560MB/s, write speed up to 500MB/s. It supports TRIM and you can get it for just £68.39 with free delivery in the UK.

Save 71% and get the Rampow MFI Lightning Cable for £6.29.
Charge and sync your Apple devices with this Rampow MFI (Made For iPhone) Lightning Cable. It’s compatible with all 8 Pin Apple devices including the iPhone 5, 5C, 6, and later, but also iPod Nano 7, iPad mini 2, mini 3, mini 4, iPad Air, iPad Pro and later. The nylon cable provides additional protection against bent damage and the USB and Lightning casings are protected by an aluminium shell.

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'Sex assault' streamed on Facebook Live

The alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by five or six males was streamed on Facebook Live, according to Chicago Police.

Around 40 people were said to have been watching the stream at one point but nobody reported the incident to police.

A police spokesman said authorities first learned of what happened after the girl’s mother approached the head of police as he was leaving a station.

Detectives have questioned several people but no arrests have been made.

The girl had been missing for a day but has now been reunited with her family.

The video has since been removed.

‘Hideous crimes’

Supt Eddie Johnson was shown screenshots from the video by the girl’s mother.

He was said to be “visibly upset” after seeing the footage.

“Crimes like this are hideous and we do not allow that kind of content on Facebook,” a spokeswoman for the company said.

“We take our responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook very seriously and will remove videos that depict sexual assault and are shared to glorify violence.”

In January, Chicago police arrested four people following a separate incident in which a man’s alleged assault was live streamed, also on Facebook Live.

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How to buy flowers online for Mother's Day

How to buy flowers online for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is this Sunday 26 March 2017 in the UK, and your life will be on the line if you forget it. Here’s how to buy flowers online for Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is this Sunday in the UK, so you’ve no excuse to forget to buy flowers for your mum – here’s how

By

It’s that time of year that it’s traditional to spoil your mum with gratitude for all the things she does for you. If you’re not going to be seeing your mum in person this Sunday for Mother’s Day, you can at least send her a bunch of flowers to show you care. Organising that online couldn’t be easier – so now you’ve no excuse to forget. Also see: How to make personalised cards online.

How to buy flowers online

• Open your web browser and search for ‘flowers’. There are loads of choices, from Interflora and Serenata Flowers to eFlorist, Bunches, M&S, Next Flowers and even Moonpig.com. The latter might be a good choice if you want to send a personalised card at the same time, but you can choose whichever site you fancy.

• We’ve gone with Serenata Flowers because we’ve used it before, and because it has some good deals ahead of Mother’s Day – especially with the 5% voucher code we found online. (Don’t worry, your mum doesn’t know that.)

• Choose a website and look at the bouquets on offer. If you don’t know anything about choosing flowers, play it safe and go for one of the bestsellers. For example, Serenata Flowers is offering Aztec Sun as a bestseller at £24.99 with £5 off.

Buy flowers Aztec Sun

Buy flowers Aztec Sun

• Once you’ve chosen a bunch of flowers, just click on it to go to the product page. Now select what size bunch you want: Standard, Deluxe or Supersize. You’ll have to pay a little more to get a bigger bunch – the Aztec Sun costs £29.98 for Deluxe or £34.98 for Supersize.

• If you want to send a teddy, balloon, box of chocolates, vase or other with your flowers, select an item below your choice of bouquet size.

Buy gift mothers day online

Buy gift mothers day online

• Now choose a date for your delivery. Right now Serenata Flowers is offering guaranteed free courier delivery on Sunday 26 March, meaning your flowers will arrive between 8am and 6pm, and you’ll be informed of a one-hour delivery slot nearer the time.

• When you’re happy with your choices choose Order Now.

• If you didn’t choose an extra gift along with the flowers, you’ll be prompted to do so now. You can select one of the options if you want to, or to skip just scroll down and choose ‘Continue to checkout’.

• On the next screen enter your name, email address and phone number, then click Continue.

Enter your details

Enter your details

• You’ll now be asked for your mum’s name and address. Start typing the address or postcode into the field to get auto suggestions.

Recipient name

Recipient name

• Specify any special delivery instructions and select Mother’s Day as the occasion, then enter a gift message. This can be printed on a free default card, or you can choose something more appropriate for £2.99.

Gift message card

Gift message card

• When you’re done, click ‘Continue to Payment Details’.

• Before you buy anything online it’s a good idea to search for voucher codes online. We found a 5% off voucher for Serenata Flowers using the code EErd435QQ. To enter your voucher code click the voucher code link under your order details on the right side of the screen.

• Serenata Flowers accepts payment by Visa Electron, Switch, Solo, Mastercard and Maestro. Enter your card number, expiry date and security code, then click Pay. You should get an email receipt within a few minutes. And that’s it – easy!

Read next: This Mother’s Day give your mum tech support instead of flowers and chocolate

Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter.

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Abode home security system review: Flexible, easy to install, and readily expandable

DIY home security systems aren’t a new thing, but developers are slowly working the kinks out of what can often be a complicated system with lots of moving parts that, should a single component fail, could result in catastrophic consequences. That’s good news for homeowners concerned about their safety, but who might be shy about paying thousands of dollars for a traditional system.

Abode hit the scene three years ago, and it now offers a wide array of home security products that’s deep enough to outfit just about any home or business. At the core lies Abode’s Secure Bundle starter kit ($429 after the currently offered 40-percent discount), which includes the gateway, two door/window sensors, an indoor motion sensor with still camera, a remote control key fob, a backup cellular radio, and one year of professional monitoring and cellular backup. Those who prefer self monitoring can acquire the same hardware for $299, but the cellular radio won’t be activated.

The feature list is impressive, and Abode seems to have covered all the basics when it comes to contingency planning. The gateway is wired into your broadband router and runs on AC power, but it includes a back-up battery so a burglar can’t defeat the system by cutting the power to your home. The integrated cellular radio serves as a backup broadband connection (for the system only) if your primary internet service is disrupted. As I’ve already mentioned, however, you’ll need to sign up for a service plan if you want that feature activated. All the sensors are powered by replaceable batteries with battery lifespans of 3 to 10 years, according to Abode, depending on the specific device and usage.

abode alarm 2Abode

Abode’s door/window sensors aren’t exactly invisible, but they’re unobtrusive enough to allow for installing anywhere.

Abode has worked most of the kinks out of the installation process, which can be completed in a matter of 15 minutes, max. (The sole hiccup I encountered: Instructions to remove a plastic strip to activate the motion sensor’s batteries. In reality, the batteries had to be installed separately.) Naturally there’s an Android/iOS app that guides you through things: first the placement of your gateway, then setting up each sensor individually. All sensors attach via sticky tape, including the motion sensor with camera, which is designed to be mounted in a corner.

It can take some time to master the Abode app, but in simple terms, the alarm system offers three modes: standby, home, and away. In standby, everything is off, though the gateway conveniently chirps when a door or window is opened, just like a traditional alarm system. In home mode, only the door and window sensors are active. Away mode turns on everything, including the motion sensors. (Note that the motion sensor has hair-trigger sensitivity and would require precise placement to avoid false alarms caused by pets.) Geofencing features can be used to turn the alarm on and off automatically when your phone comes and goes, and in my testing these features worked perfectly.

The Abode system tracks everything, right down to doors opening and closing, even when the system is in standby, and any actions that take place while the alarm is activated generate both an email and a pop-up on your phone. By default, tracking all of this stuff is up to you, and the service stores logs, including photos and alert history, for just three days for free. Naturally, you are encouraged to subscribe to an enhanced service plan to activate extra features: $10 per month gets you 14 days of history and turns on the 3G cellular backup. A $30-per-month plan includes that feature, extends the history to 90 days, and activates 24/7 professional monitoring that can call you and/or the police if an alarm is tripped. None of the plans require you to sign a long-term contract, but Abode does offer discounts if you pay for service plans in one-year increments.

abode alarm 1 Abode

Abode’s hub attaches to your router via ethernet and houses an ear-shredding 93dB alarm.

The system features settings for entry and exit delays, chirping for a minute to give you time to get out or disable the alarm before the shrill, 93dB siren erupts. That said, it’s easier to disable the alarm before you come back into the house, either through the app or via the handy key fob, which is much more efficient. If you want to expand the system to include home control as well as home security, you can incorporate Nest smoke detectors, thermostats, and cameras; Amazon’s Echo; and a variety of ZigBee and Z-Wave devices (ranging from lighting to smart entry locks). Abode supports an IFTTT channel, too.

My biggest complaint with Abode is that the photo quality of the motion sensor camera is poor to the point of uselessness. I was unable to identify faces at a range of more than six feet, and asking a criminal to get that close and personal with an alarm sensor seems like asking too much.