All Posts in #CyberSecurity

February 11, 2025 - Comments Off on Govt’s Ignite National Tech Fund website hacked, quickly restored.

Govt’s Ignite National Tech Fund website hacked, quickly restored.

The website of the Ignite National Tech Fund, a government-backed startup incubator, was hacked on Monday evening, raising serious concerns about the government and the security of its websites and other platforms. The hacking of the website resulted in the website being inaccessible – or accessible with great difficulty – for several hours, with animated cartoons being used to break into the website. Ignite officials claimed that not only had the website been restored, however, but that security measures had been fortified in response.

What Ignite and other government officials were not able to publicly discuss, however, were the identity of the parties responsible for the hack, or what weaknesses in the system had been exploited. Whether this was due to an in-depth investigation yet to be undertaken, or other reasons pertaining to security, has yet to be seen.

January 27, 2025 - Comments Off on NTISB warns users to avoid 16 malicious VPN and AI browser extensions

NTISB warns users to avoid 16 malicious VPN and AI browser extensions

The National Telecom and Information Technology Security Board (NITSB) highlighted 16 potentially malicious browser extensions for users to avoid.

According to the NITSB, the extensions identified, which include VPN and AI extensions, contain potential threats of hacking and data breaches. The list of extensions identified includes AI Assistant — ChatGPT and Gemini for Chrome, Bard AI Chat Extension, GPT 4 Sum­mary with OpenAI, Search CoPilot AI Assistant for Chrome, Wayin AI, VPNCity, Internxt VPN, Vidniz Flex Video Rec­order, VidHelper Video Downloader, Bookmark Favicon Changer, UVoice, Reader Mode, Parrot Talks, Primus, Trackker — Online Keylogger Tool, AI Shop Buddy, and Rewards Search Automation.

These extensions were among the targets of a large-scale data and credential theft attack by hackers last month. The advisory by NITSB urged users to avoid these extensions, only use trusted and extensively-reviewed extensions, and to read permissions carefully before granting them.

The use of VPNs has skyrocketed in Pakistan since the X ban last February, which is a reason for the surge in demand for VPN browser extensions as well.