Category: Cyber Security
Applications open for Magamba Defend Defenders $1000 Design-athon
Magamba and Defend Defenders are calling on you security experts to participate in a design-athon. You will be helping to innovate and redesign a digital security toolkit and you could win US$1000 for your troubles. Here is everything you need to know about the design-athon. Title : Magamba Defend Defenders Design-athonDate : 16 to 22 […]
You’re not too small to be a victim, protect your business from DDoS attacks
Picture this: It’s Black Friday and it’s time to take advantage of the massive sale on your favourite online shop. You’ve been receiving emails all month in the run-up to the day and you’ve bookmarked several items that you just have to have – and their prices for one day only are ridiculously low. You […]
Apple is building a lockdown mode to protect users from govt spyware attacks
Apple has announced that it is working on a lockdown mode that is aimed at protecting high-risk users like journalists and political activists from government spyware attacks. The measure is to counter government-grade spyware from makers like NSO Group, Candiru and Cytrox who have built programs that manoeuvre around a device’s security protections in order […]
Kaspersky finds cybersecurity backdoor targetting African govts & NGOs
Kaspersky experts have brought to light a poorly detected SessionManager backdoor that was set up as a malicious module within the Internet Information Services (IIS), a popular web server edited by Microsoft. Once propagated, SessionManager enables a wide range of malicious activities, starting from collecting emails to complete control over the victim’s infrastructure. First leveraged […]
Beware the scam, you won’t get a UK VISA by sharing an ad on WhatsApp
Listen, I get it if you are thinking about jumping ship. There’s nothing about rampant inflation, power cuts, unemployment and political turmoil that screams, ‘stay in Zimbabwe.’ Every single day something makes you ask yourself, ‘what am I still doing in this BLEEPING country?’ It takes a certain kind of person to stay in Zimbabwe, […]
The sex tape link Facebook hackers have hit Zim, here’s how to secure your account
The Facebook hacks are out of control, over the weekend two people I friended had their accounts hacked and they both had the same sex tape line from some “IG model”. I don’t them very well but it was suspicious that both had the same link tagging 98 other people they knew. This, at least […]
SA’s Shoprite attacked by ransomware gang in 3 countries
Last week, one of Africa’s biggest retailers, Shoprite, was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack. According to a report by TechCrunch, a group called RansomHouse has claimed responsibility for the attack which compromised customer data in Zambia, Namibia and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). A ransomware attack is that which holds a user’s information hostage, through encryption, […]
Here’s your citizen’s guide to the Cyber Security & Data Protection Act
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe has today unveiled a guide to the Cyber Security and Data Protection Act. This outline is there so that ordinary Zimbabweans will be able to understand what the new act entails. This Guide intends to assist ordinary citizens, data protection advocates, human rights advocates, media organisations and […]
Digital rights and inclusion forum calls for more digital transparency & protection across Africa
While many governments in Africa have made welcome progress toward digital transformation in the last year, more work needs to be done towards offering transparency, digital inclusion, and the protection of digital rights to citizens across the continent. This was the main finding of the Londa report, launched recently at the Digital Rights and Inclusion […]
You can now delete last 15 minutes of Google history on Android with one tap
Listen, there is no judgement. We don’t need to know about those search results you want to wipe off the face of the earth. It’s no one’s business that you searched ‘how to clone your partner’s WhatsApp.’ Or that you went into the weeds after that search, looking into prenups, breach of promise to marry […]
Scammers can now convincingly fake browser windows, including URL. You can protect against that
Man, just when we think we have this cybersecurity thing figured out someone throws a wrench in the works. One of the easiest ways to see if a website is shady is no longer as solid as it once was. Conventional wisdom says checking the URL is one of the surest ways to spot an […]
“95% of cybersecurity breaches are traced to human error” – World Economic Forum
A security system is as strong as its weakest link: and in Information Security, that link is the human factor. Employees present an elevated risk for corporations’ information resources. According to the 2022 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, about 95% of cyber-attacks can be traced back to human negligence or human-based attacks such as […]
2FA halved account breaches according to Google
Early last year Google rolled out Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), or as the company calls it two-step verification automatically as an extra layer of security for its users. 2FA is when you use an additional method to verify your identity/account entry, this can be through a One Time Password (OTP) via SMS, call or through an […]
How to avoid scammers when buying vehicles abroad
The internet has made it simple and seamless to visit an online retail store, browse through its goods, add one or two products of your choice to a shopping cart, and click to buy. But with simplicity comes bigger challenges, topping the list is security concerns. Zimbabwe is no longer a car assembling country and […]
Forcing users to change passwords regularly is STUPID, especially now in 2022
At some point, security experts frantically scrambled to figure out a way to protect the masses online from ever complex hackers. See, hackers have been getting more daring as their skill sets have improved over the years. Security experts crunched the numbers and saw one way we could reduce our chances of getting hacked – […]
Apple’s Safari has a bug that can leak browser history & Google account info
Apple users on Mac, iOS and iPadOS are vulnerable to a bug that can leak their browser history and some of their Google account information. According to a report by 9to5Mac, the bug was disclosed by FingerprintJS, a browser fingerprinting library that queries browser attributes, and said that the vulnerability was found in Safari 15 […]
Title deed fraudsters on the prowl, check if you still own your house/stand
If you own a vacant or an unoccupied property in Zimbabwe my suggestion is verify if you still own that property. With the Zimbabwean property market being dominated by absent buyers, due to over four million Zimbabweans who are now scattered all over the world. Zimbabwe’s fraudsters have found a niche in the market and […]
No, you have not won £990,000. Don’t fall for the Covid grant scam
We have talked about various online scams here on Techzim. We have discussed how you can protect yourself from them and I hope we are all helping those in our circle of acquaintances who may fall victim. Two of the main weaknesses we all have that scammers exploit are greed and desperation. When we are […]
Guy hacks UZ and allocates accommodation to students, netting US$3000 in the process
It’s fitting that on the day we are celebrating Computer Security Day we talk about the hacking of UZ. It is reported that one Martin Magomana (36) unlawfully gained access to the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) computer network recently. We are not sure how much access he had and so cannot know the full extent […]
As we celebrate Computer Security Day let’s remind each other of these good habits
Every single one of us relies on some computer for our daily activities. For some, work means sitting in front of a computer. And with the work-from-home shift, this number is quite large now. For some, entertainment is the goal in this era of social distancing and limited gatherings. So pocket computers have been a […]
IFC partners with Liquid Intelligent Technologies to improve Africa’s digital infrastructure
The IFC (International Finance Corporation) has partnered with Liquid Intelligent Technologies to expand data centre capacity and the rollout of fiber-optic cable on the continent. The partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa’s leading independent fiber and digital services provider, strives to increase digital connectivity and inclusion in Africa and to support the region’s growing digital […]
Big Brother is watching: the govt’s social media prefects are back
There truly is nothing new under the sun. Not even in a dynamic place like the little teapot we call home, Zimbabwe. It was only a few years ago that we were making fun of the former finance minister, Chinamasa, when he was made ‘social media prefect.’ Turns out his legacy lives on, the social […]
Liquid & Orange partner to expand network reach across Africa
Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Orange, today announced a new partnership to leverage each other’s existing networks in Africa, allowing them even greater access and opportunity to build their businesses throughout the continent. This partnership will give Liquid access to Orange’s extensive network in West Africa, including the new Djoliba network. Likewise, it will give Orange […]
Facebook sues hacker who scraped the data of 178 million users
On Friday Facebook filed a lawsuit against Ukrainian national Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko on allegations that he scraped the data of 174 million users. The hack/scrap according to a report by The Record was done by abusing Facebook Messenger’s called Contact Import. The feature basically allows users to synchronize their mobile phone contacts with Messenger to […]
Liquid named best African Wholesale Carrier for 10th year in a row
Liquid Intelligent Technologies was awarded the Best African Wholesale Carrier for the 10th consecutive year at The Global Carrier Awards ceremony in London last night. The annual awards are the most prestigious in the wholesale telecoms industry and the most prominent global celebration of the wholesale market. They recognise innovation, vision, and excellence to award the best companies, projects, and partnerships […]
[Download] MISA Report on Cybersecurity in SADC & its implications on human rights
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has released a report on Cybersecurity in SADC and the implications it has on human rights. The report focuses on established and proposed cybersecurity legislation in the SADC community and how they have impacted human rights. MISA also compares the regional cyber laws with what exists in other […]
Company that routes billions of U.S. SMS messages says it was hacked for five years
According to a report by Ars Technica, Syniverse a company that routes hundreds of billions of SMS messages was the victim of a five-year hack. Syniverse, in a disclosure to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), said that they noticed in May 2021 that someone had unauthorised access to its systems since 2016. After finding […]
Hackers are toppling Belarus gvt, let’s reassess Zimbabwe’s vulnerability to same attack
Earlier this month we discussed the story unfolding in Belarus. We read about how a hacker group called the Belarus Cyber Partisans in conjunction with current and former security officials (BYPOL) cyber-attacked their government. It’s a great story, read it here. In that story the conclusion I made was that the Zimbabwe government was safe […]
Dandemutande has more on the way on top of Facebook powered Wi-Fi hotspots
Dandemutande is probably the most soft-spoken internet provider in Zimbabwe. Most would be forgiven for thinking that the mobile internet, broadband and VSAT market only consists of ZOL and TelOne. This is of course incorrect because, in terms of market presence, Dandemutande is up there with the other players. The company yesterday held a launch […]
Apple releases important security patches for its devices in a bid to thwart the NSO group
If you are a regular reader of Techzim or just love to read and know about tech then you are probably familiar with the Israeli company known as NSO Group. No? This security company has a product known as the Pegasus suite which it sells to governments and authorities around the world. The software allows […]