Livejournal Hacked!
The email below and a couple more very similar to it were caught in my spam filter. A couple of things became evident right off the bat. That is not the password to my email. But it is the password and email address that was associated with this Livejournal account.
Over all my years doing things with computers it has been my habit never to use the same password for more than one thing. That rule applied to setting up this Livejournal account as well.
That leads us to only one possible conclusion. Live journal was hacked. There is no other source anywhere that combination of passwords and email can be found together.
Live Journal is now a Russian owned company. As such they probably do not have to report data breaches. This assumes they know they've been hacked. Perhaps they don't know. But in anycase the first heads up I got was the scam emails.
Just a heads up, people.
I'm kind of bummed that I missed out on that naughty stuff the scammer wrote about...
SCAM EMAIL STARTS HERE:
Dear user of xxxxxxxxx.com!
I am a spyware software developer.
Your account has been hacked by me in the summer of 2018.
I understand that it is hard to believe, but here is my evidence:
- I sent you this email from your account.
- Password from account xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.com: [Livejournal password] (on moment of hack).
The hacking was carried out using a hardware vulnerability through which you went online (Cisco router, vulnerability CVE-2018-0296).
I went around the security system in the router, installed an exploit there.
When you went online, my exploit downloaded my malicious code (rootkit) to your device.
This is driver software, I constantly updated it, so your antivirus is silent all time.
Since then I have been following you (I can connect to your device via the VNC protocol).
That is, I can see absolutely everything that you do, view and download your files and any data to yourself.
I also have access to the camera on your device, and I periodically take photos and videos with you.
At the moment, I have harvested a solid dirt... on you...
I saved all your email and chats from your messangers. I also saved the entire history of the sites you visit.
I note that it is useless to change the passwords. My malware update passwords from your accounts every times.
I know what you like hard funs (adult sites).
Oh, yes .. I'm know your secret life, which you are hiding from everyone.
Oh my God, what are your like... I saw THIS ... Oh, you dirty naughty person ... :)
I took photos and videos of your most passionate funs with adult content, and synchronized them in real time with the image of your camera.
Believe it turned out very high quality!
So, to the business!
I'm sure you don't want to show these files and visiting history to all your contacts.
Transfer $836 to my Bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet: 1Bt4psBJmjfVTcW6eYiJZ6HEbpFgKkBSX4
Just copy and paste the wallet number when transferring.
If you do not know how to do this - ask Google.
My system automatically recognizes the translation.
As soon as the specified amount is received, all your data will be destroyed from my server, and the rootkit will be automatically removed from your system.
Do not worry, I really will delete everything, since I am “working” with many people who have fallen into your position.
You will only have to inform your provider about the vulnerabilities in the router so that other hackers will not use it.
Since opening this letter you have 48 hours.
If funds not will be received, after the specified time has elapsed, the disk of your device will be formatted,
and from my server will automatically send email and sms to all your contacts with compromising material.
I advise you to remain prudent and not engage in nonsense (all files on my server).
Good luck!