Midnight Web by Rahul Banerjee

  The Illusion of VPN Encryption Many people believe that VPN encryption is a solid shield against prying eyes. However, for 99% of internet users, this encryption doesn’t add much protection. Most websites and apps already encrypt connections using HTTPS or TLS protocols, which provide strong protection without the need for a VPN. VPN encryption simply adds another layer that, in many cases, is redundant. Even worse, you have to trust your VPN provider to keep your data safe. If they are logging your activity (and most do), they can see everything you do online. Not just them any server they use could potentially access your data, too. And you have no way of auditing their practices or ensuring they are living up to their privacy claims. You essentially trust a middleman with your sensitive data, and that’s never a good idea. VPNs Were Never Designed for Consumer Privacy It’s important to understand the origin of VPNs. They were primarily designed for businesses to securely connec...

  What is Android System SafetyCore? Android System SafetyCore is an app automatically installed by Google on Android devices as part of their security and child protection updates introduced in October 2024. Its primary function is to scan and categorize content on your phone, helping users avoid undesirable material. It requires at least 2GB of RAM and Android 9 or newer to run, and is also compatible with Android Go devices. You won’t find it in your app drawer, as it only appears in the system app list. SafetyCore reportedly scans images and videos locally to flag inappropriate content, but Google clarifies that it only scans images shared through the Messages app. Should You Be Concerned About SafetyCore? Despite Google’s assurances that all scanning is done locally with no data sent off your device, the app's sudden, unannounced appearance and its deep system access have raised concerns. It feels intrusive, as users weren’t given a clear heads-up, and many wonder why it...

Tata Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of Tata Motors, has temporarily suspended some of its IT services following a ransomware attack that disrupted its network. The company, which specializes in automotive design, aerospace engineering, and R&D, employs over 11,000 people across 18 locations worldwide. In a notification to India’s national stock exchange, Tata Technologies confirmed that the attack had impacted certain IT assets but assured that these have now been restored. The company emphasized that its client delivery services remained fully operational, and no customer operations were affected. “As a precautionary measure, some IT services were suspended temporarily,” the company stated, “but has now been restored. Our Client delivery services have remained fully functional and unaffected throughout.” A thorough investigation is underway in partnership with cybersecurity experts, though no major ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the attack. It remains unc...

  AI has made incredible strides, and GPT has undoubtedly been the star of the show—writing essays, debugging code, and even cracking jokes. But what if I told you there’s a new contender that’s not just competing with GPT but surpassing it? Enter  DeepSeek R1 , the AI that’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. DeepSeek R1 isn’t just another language model. It’s smarter, faster, and more versatile than GPT, and the data backs it up. In this blog, we’ll explore the facts, figures, and real-world applications that position DeepSeek R1 as a true game-changer. Are you ready for the ultimate AI showdown? Let’s dive in.   Overview of AI Models DeepSeek: Domain-specific AI (medical, legal, technical). Strengths: High accuracy in niche areas, robust privacy. Weaknesses: Limited general-purpose use, high computational costs. ChatGPT: General-purpose conversational AI. Strengths: Versatile, user-friendly. Weaknesses: Less depth in specialized domains, occasional inac...

  Many of us are aware that apps collect data, but do you know what happens to that information? Some companies sell it, others use it for targeted ads, or to help you connect with nearby users. However, there are even more ways this data can be used. In a troubling situation, hackers have gained access to the data collected by thousands of apps, and they are threatening to release it to the public. This data includes personal information like customer lists, details about businesses, and even location history gathered from smartphones. According to a report from 404Media, the hackers have warned that millions of users' personal data has been compromised. They gave Gravy Analytics, the company collecting this data, just 24 hours to respond before they begin releasing it. Gravy's subsidiary, Venntel, has previously sold similar data to the U.S. government for immigration-related operations at the border. Wired published a list of thousands of apps that collected this data, inclu...

                                       DarkBERT is the first AI language model designed specifically for the Dark Web. A language model is an AI system that understands human language and has a lot of knowledge, which helps it solve many tasks related to language. DarkBERT is especially good at working with the messy and hard-to-understand data found on the Dark Web. Unlike other language models that have trouble with the strange words and different formats on the Dark Web, DarkBERT has been trained to understand this type of content. It improves its skills by using a method called Masked Language Modeling (MLM) on text collected from the Dark Web, using a version of the RoBERTa model. One big challenge in training DarkBERT is gathering the right data. The company S2W is well-known for its ability to collect and analyze data from the Dark Web, even including hidden or copied websites. ...

India faced a surge in cyber-attacks in 2024, with threats like ransomware, phishing, and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks impacting businesses, banks, and public services. These incidents have sparked calls for stronger data protection laws. Nearly 370 million malware attacks and over one million ransomware cases were reported during the year. Key industries like healthcare, hospitality, and banking were hit the hardest, with Telangana and Tamil Nadu identified as hotspots. From January to June alone, there were 135,173 phishing attacks related to financial services, such as e-commerce, banking, and payment systems a 175% increase compared to 2023, as per a Kaspersky report. This rise was fueled by the growing use of digital platforms and AI-driven scams. A summary of the major cyber-attacks that shook India in 2024: January SPARSH Portal Data Leak : A breach exposed sensitive information of defense personnel from the pension administration portal, with cr...