How a super cyber-sleuth helped crack the huge Yahoo hack

As the tech world reverberated on Thursday over Yahoo’s announcement a day earlier that it had been hacked – again – and that the intrusion affected more than one billion users, attention focused on the cyber-whisperer who first spotted the digital break-in and alerted authorities.
Andrew Komarov, a noted cyber-security researcher with InfoArmor based in Scottsdale, Arizona, not only discovered the latest stolen cache of Yahoo user information and turned it over to the government, which in turn notified Yahoo. But he also discovered one of the most troubling aspects of the hack:
More than 150,000 U.S. government and military employees were among the victims of the massive data breach, the second announced by Yahoo since October. That means the names, passwords, telephone numbers, security questions, birth dates, and backup e-mail addresses of government workers were now compromised, creating a window for bad actors and foreign spies to identify employees doing sensitive and high-security work here and overseas, posing a threat to national security.
“We found that the Yahoo dump had a very big number of users who worked for the government or military and used Yahoo for personal purposes,” Komarov said in an interview Thursday. Hackers, he said, could easily find the secondary email used for password recovery and that would lead them to the user’s governmental – and perhaps high-security – identity. “And it wasn’t just the US users; we found a big number of government employees in the UK, Australia and Canada, too.”
Bloomberg News reviewed the database that Komarov discovered and confirmed a sample of the accounts for accuracy. The thought that employees of government agencies like the NSA may have had their personal information stolen immediately sent chills through the security community. Lonny Anderson, former technology director for the NSA, told Bloomberg “we went to great lengths to keep the fact people worked at NSA as low-profile as we possibly could. The last thing we’d want is an alpha list of NSA employees.”
The story of how Komarov discovered the hack reads like a spy thriller played out in the dark reaches of the Internet’s criminal community. As his company’s website puts it: “When bad actors breach usernames, passwords, or email accounts they can gain root access to networks, systems, applications and data to steal proprietary information, cause catastrophic disruption of business and facilitate widespread fraud. InfoArmor goes where the criminals lurk to monitor the bad actors on dark web forums and gathers intelligence from these dark/closed sources.”
In the Yahoo case, the web where the bad guys roamed was very dark indeed. Since government and military employees had given their work information to Yahoo, the 2013 hack into the search giant’s digital vault produced a gold mine for the hackers. Last August, Komarov got wind of the database that hackers had taken from Yahoo and were trying to sell online, asking for $300,000 for a cache of logins for up to a billion users.
As the chief intelligence officer for InfoArmor, Komarov gets paid to infiltrate cybercrime rings and assist law enforcement and his private-industry clients to safeguard their private data and, if it’s stolen, to track it down. In this case, Komarov had been on the trail of a group of cybercriminals in Eastern Europe that he calls Group E. Earlier this year, he discovered that the group was putting a huge Yahoo stash up for sale, selling the database to three different buyers. He intercepted the database in the middle of the sales and found that two of the buyers were huge underground spamming groups.
The third, however, was more troubling and set off a red flag for the cyber-sleuth from Arizona.
Komarov saw that this buyer had made an unusual request of the seller:  The buyer produced a list of ten names of U.S. and foreign government officials and industry executives, asking Group E to verify that their logins were included in the stolen online loot or else no deal. This signaled to Komarov that the buyer must be an agency involved in foreign intelligence.
“The third buyer was potentially a foreign intelligence organization because the questions they were asking were very specific,” he said, referring to the request that the seller verify that specific government employees’ names were included in the dump. ”This was very concerning to me because with any state-supported actor these government and military employees would be their first target. And since the incidence was not disclosed by Yahoo for three years, that means people were using the Yahoo database to possibly monitor these individuals.”
While it’s unknown whether specific government workers were – or are still – being digitally followed by foreign spies, Komarov calls the matter “‘really serious.”
“I have no doubt that someone among those 150,000 US employees in the database have already been compromised,” he said.
In a press release, Yahoo said, “As we previously disclosed in November, law enforcement provided us with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data. We analyzed this data with the assistance of outside forensic experts and found that it appears to be Yahoo user data. Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, we believe an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts. We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016.”
Komarov, who’s been acclaimed by his fellow cyber detectives as one of the best in the business, has worked for private and public sectors, investigating major financial crimes, human and drug trafficking cases and has been involved in collaborating with anti-terrorism operations with International law enforcement agencies. Among other accomplishments, Komarov was responsible for cracking open two high-profile malware cases that were used in several attacks against US retailers. In 2014, Mr. Komarov was listed in “Reboot 25: Threat seekers,” a compilaiton of the top threat intelligence researchers by SC Magazine.
In the Yahoo case, Komarov said the suspects have probably never even met in person, but are experienced hackers who choose as their targets data-rich email providers like Yahoo whose accounts are desirable because they’re easy to sell and they sell for a lot. Other victims have included Dropbox and MySpace, along with popular Russian social-media site VK.com.
The Yahoo hack is particularly worrisome, considering how bad guys who get their hands on the government employee data and target inviduals working for, say, the FBI or CIA.
“The Yahoo hack makes cyber espionage extremely efficient,” Komarov told Bloomberg this week. “Personal information and contacts, e-mail messages, objects of interest, calendars and travel plans are key elements for intelligence-gathering in the right hands. The difference of the Yahoo hack between any other hack is in that it may really destroy your privacy, and potentially have already destroyed it several years ago without your knowledge.”

Read carefully and digest before you bid your marriage goodbye --- Divorcees' Advise

 

Just because someone has divorced doesn't mean he or she didn't walk away from a failed marriage without learning some valuable lessons on marriage. Quite the opposite, actually. It's in failure that we often garner our most strength and wisdom.

Divorced people have "burned" and emerged, and most often for the best. We know better - we want better. We understand marriage in an intimate yet difficult way. Some of us wish we did things differently - some of us wish we had married a better fit. No matter what the tale, you can learn a lot about the value and delicacies of marriage from someone who loved and lost.

• Your marriage is not as good as your vows. It's what you put into it each day.
• The roots of your love need to run deep from the start. If the love is attraction- or surface-based, the love will die.
• The grass is not always greener. Even if it looks more lush, you don't know the quality of the soil. Therefore, attend to the garden of your marriage, lest it get overrun by weeds.
• It's more than the ring. Can you imagine growing old or being sick with this person?
• It's best to cool off alone before throwing down harsh words in a fight.
• If your partner backs away and avoids talking, you may have to wait for them to come back around. Patiently.
• Marriage is not always exciting. Finding the joy in the day-to-day will serve your marriage well.
• A good marriage means getting your hands dirty. Participating each day. Not expecting perfection.
• We are all under construction as works in progress. Accept your partner as long as he or she is working on it.
• Intimacy is the one thing that separates your marriage from your other relationships. Nurture it.
• A good marriage requires two people who are both still learning about life and each other.
• Sometimes, marriage requires you to bend down and tie your partner's shoes when he or she just can't do it.
• Expect there to be some serious storms in your marriage. You might question your love for your partner and feel alone at times.
• But good marriages have two partners who work through tough times and see the light of a brand-new, better day.
• A good partnership is simple, really. It just feels easy - most of the time.
• f your partner feels like he or she has an eye, hold, or lock on you, it's not love. It's toxic control.
• Love is letting the other party rest sometimes and be lazy. We can't be our best selves 24/7.
• And the simple little gestures you do or DON'T do each day add up . . . or subtract.
• Doing those little gestures can lead to great changes for the good in a marriage.
• Creating lots of joy, love, and more time to connect and "deposit" in each other's love accounts is important.
• Don't be surprised if you two have issues that can feel as if they're taking a long time to get over.
• In marriage, as in life, slow and steady wins the race rather than rushed and hasty.
• There will be small, tiny moments in your marriage that will feel like heaven. Enjoy that paradise. Savor it.
• And let both of you enjoy the fruits of your life. Each of you deserves many bites of happiness.
• Never let anyone else in your intimate emotional space. Those little "affairs" do so much damage to a marriage.
• Decide each day to be true to yourself and your partner. Your word and deeds are all your partner has to go on.

Why and How to Refocus --- Dr. Mensah Otabil

To focus on something is to make it the center of your attention. It is when something becomes a prime target as well as a priority.
No matter how well focused we are at any given time, we tend to lose our focus over time. When that happens, we need to refocus. We need to reset our priorities and pursue the important things in our lives.
Many of us have lost focus concerning the priorities we set for ourselves this year.
Today, I want to encourage you to REFOCUS.
Usually when we start something new we seem focused. When we start a relationship, a venture or an activity, we start with a focus. We start a New Year with focus.
However, in the passage of time, we tend to lose focus and drift away from the thing that used to hold our attention.
The Galatian church had such a problem that made the Apostle Paul write in…
Galatians 5:7–9 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
The Apostle Paul was surprised at how the Galatian church had lost focus. They started well. Then they were hindered or frustrated.
In verse nine he shows that the things that hindered them started as, ‘a little leaven’, which ends up leavening the whole lump.
What are the ‘little leavens’ in your life hindering you from running well.
These ‘little leavens’ can make us lose our focus in life.
FIVE ENEMIES OF FOCUS
• Distractions – when other things become priority. A distraction is a new attraction that occupies your attention. Has something else taken over your time and priorities this year?
• Disorder – when we lack discipline. Disorder clutters our lives. It happens when we place things in the wrong place. Take a look at your life. Do you have the discipline to keep the non-essentials out of your life?
• Delays – when things don’t happen fast enough. One of the main reasons why we lose focus is because something we wanted got delayed. As a result of the delay, we stopped moving ahead and just waited. Don’t allow delays to derail your focus.
• Discouragements – when we suffer setbacks. Sooner or later something will discourage you. You will suffer a setback. That setback can make you lose the drive you had from the beginning. When things don’t go the way you want it, learn to encourage yourself.
• Doubts – when we think we’re not capable. This is when we really lose our focus in life. We lose confidence in ourselves. We belittle our own efforts and feel as if what we want in life will never become are reality.
Have you lost focus?
Do you need the ‘lenses’ of your life readjusted?
Jesus did that for a man once…
Mark 8:22–25 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
Three conditions are associated to this man that Jesus met in Bethsaida.
The first condition is…
• NO VISION: he depended on others to lead him. When the blind man had no vision, he was led by the hand. He followed other people’s vision. He could not direct himself. People with no vision become followers of other people’s vision.
I pray that God will give you your own vision. You will not be a follower of other people’s agenda. You will be a follower of God’s agenda for your life.
The second condition is…
• UNFOCUSED VISION: he misinterpreted what he saw. After Jesus touched him the first time the blind man saw men as trees walking. He saw something but what he saw was not accurate. His vision was not focused. When you see men as trees, you will treat them like trees.
People with unfocused vision distort the meaning of what they see. When they see an opportunity, they call it danger. When they’re faced with a Goliath they see defeat instead of promotion to the throne.
Are you misinterpreting the things you see?
I pray that every distortion in your vision will be cleared. May the Lord deliver you from every spirit of deception and fear as you enter the New Year.
The third condition is…
• CLEAR VISION: he saw things, as they should be. Jesus touched him a second time so he could have clear vision. I believe Jesus wants to give you a second touch. He wants to clear up our vision. He wants to help us refocus. Whose with clarity of vision see things the way God wants them to see it.
He wants to remove the things that cloud your vision. He wants to give you clarity.
Receive a second touch for clarity in the coming year, in Jesus' name!
In the name of Jesus, I declare, ‘clarity, clarity, clarity’ over your life. Your vision will be clear. Your purpose will be clear. Your assignment will be clear.
Assignment: Ask God to show you the one thing He wants you to focus on.
In 2013, Jesus wants to help your refocus. He wants to bring fulfillment into your life. I pray that whatever blinded you in the past will be removed from you.
You will not be blinded by fear and failure. Instead, God will give you grace to jump over every hindrance in your way. You will not be led by others. You will be led by divine vision. You will see clearly. You will achieve your purpose.
RECEIVE CLARITY, NOW, IN JESUS’ NAME!!!

86 year-old jewelry thief arrested

 

Payne, 86, was arrested Tuesday for trying to steal a $2,000 diamond necklace from a Von Maur department store in the Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Ga.

Payne allegedly slipped the necklace into her back pocket and tried to leave the store, Dunwoody police reported.

Payne's decades of theft were chronicled in a 2013 documentary called "The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne." The Jewelers' Security Alliance, an industry trade group, sent out bulletins as early as the 1970s warning about her, according to the Associated Press.

In November 2013, she swiped a $22,500 diamond-and-white-gold ring from El Paseo Jewelers in Palm Desert. She pleaded guilty to one felony count each of burglary and grand theft and was sentenced to four years in custody - two in county jail, two under mandatory supervision.

A Riverside County judge ordered her to stay away from all jewelry stores during that time. A district attorney's spokesman at the time said the D.A. objected to the sentence and argued for a maximum of six years in custody.

"The judge tempered punishment with compassion about her age," one of her attorneys, Gretchen von Helms, said at the time. "He took into account the taxpayers' pocketbook. And do we really need to incarcerate a nonviolent offender - yes, a repeat offender, that's true - who's ill, who has emphysema, who's elderly?"

She was previously convicted in 2011 for stealing a ring in San Diego and another in Santa Monica. She was released from prison roughly three months before the Palm Desert theft.

Last October, Payne was arrested in Atlanta after she allegedly stole a pair of $690 Christian Dior earrings from a Saks Fifth Avenue department store in a mall, according to the Journal-Constitution.  

Police received a call about this week's alleged theft just before 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, the Journal-Constitution reported. 

Online records from the DeKalb County, Ga., jail show that Payne was arrested on suspicion of theft by shoplifting but do not provide bond information. A spokesman for the DeKalb County district attorney's office said Tuesday morning that she had not yet been charged.

"I have no idea why she would go out and do this," Sonjia Williams, a spokeswoman for Payne, told NBC News. "She knows better."

How God Saved Michael Phelps

 
Whether you love sports or not, you might have heard the name Michael Phelps. The Olympic athlete star who achieved 28 medals including 23 gold in swimming from five Olympic games (including Rio Olympics 2016). Phelps has written his name as the most medal wins by an athlete in the Olympics history.

Phelps, started his Olympics career in 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, when he was just 15-years-old as the youngest American swimmer ever participated in the Olympics in 68-years. But he had to wait for another Olympic summer to achieve his first Olympic medal. In 2004 Olympic Games held at Athens, Greece, Phelps became the superstar winning six gold and two bronze medals. Phelps also scored eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing games. In 2012 London Olympics, Phelps achieved 6 medals, four of which were gold. Each success made Phelps much more popular along with a huge fan base. But even the greatest success couldn’t make him happier in life.

In September 2014, Phelps had reached a situation of no return.

Phelps told ESPN, “I was a train wreck. I was like a time bomb, waiting to go off. I had no self-esteem, no self-worth. There were times where I didn’t want to be here. It was not good. I felt lost.”. During this time, photos of Phelps smoking marijuana and drinking spread across social media. He was arrested two times for drunk driving. All these had made him down. He struggled with suicidal thoughts.

Phelps Realizes The Power of God.

However, God stepped into his situation, through his Christian friend and NFL star, Ray Lewis. Lewis gave him a call and inspired him. “This is when we fight. This is when real character shows up. Don’t shut down. If you shut down we all lose.” Lewis could able to convince Phelps to seek help at the Meadows rehab center. He also gave him ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ a book written by Pastor Rick Warren. Phelps read the book and it transformed him completely. Lewis received a call from Phelps “Man this book is crazy! The thing that’s going on…oh my gosh…my brain, I can’t thank you freaking enough, man. You saved my life.” The biggest super star in the Olympic games history had realized there is a power which is greater than himself and the purpose of his life.

Phelps stayed at the rehab till November 2014 and left as a changed man.

Phelps returned to his training and attended the recent 2016 Rio Olympics, the American golden fish won 6 medals including 5 gold and 1 silver. Michael Phelps, the 31-year-old American is much stronger than before, swimming to the next milestone with the power of God.