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Headlines

In Cambodia, Indian citizens were lured into jobs and then forced to take part in cyber fraud schemes — according to the Indian government, which says it is currently rescuing its citizens from so-called cyber-scam factories. Apparently, more than 5,000 Indians were caught up in these kinds of operations, representing a disturbing dimension of the cyber-fraud world. In recent months, governments in the Philippines and China announced similar rescue operations.

Those numbers only include Indians. The UN says the in August 2023, 100,000 total people in Cambodia were forced to work in cyber-fraud. In Myanmar, that number shot up to 120,000.

In a surprise turn of events, BlackBerry reported profits for the fourth quarter, ending on February 29. The boost in revenue is in part credited to an increase in cybersecurity services, as headlines continue to be dominated by major hacks and cybercrime. In the US, shares of the company rose 6.4% in light of the news. While analysts predicted an average of a 3 cents per share loss, the actual figure came out to a respectable 3 cents per share adjusted net profit. Their cybersecurity unit saw a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue.

Despite the good news, the company cut 200 jobs in February. It’s an ominous sign that despite growth in profit, BlackBerry is not seeing growth in the company. Their own projections through 2025 still predict losses in the ballpark of 3 to 7 cents per share.

IntelBroker recently posted a database that allegedly contains sensitive data for 10,000 Home Depot employees. The post appeared on BreachForums, a notorious place to find illicit data. IntelBroker explains, “In April 2024, Home Depot suffered a data breach that exposed the corporate information belonging to 10K employees of the company. Compromised data: full names and email addresses.”

Emails attached to names are not the most dangerous kind of data to get a hold of, but there are still ways that threat actors can misuse that information.

Interesting Read

In a year of major elections around the world, fighting against disinformation campaigns continues to be a top priority — that’s what Shamlo Naidoo covers in this article for DarkReading. There has been a growing anxiety around the influence of the internet and social media on how people get and understand the news. But with a slew of new, easy-to-use tech that could be used to create compelling misinformation (like generative AI), the importance of fighting for truth has never been more important or more difficult.

This article goes over the role cybersecurity professionals play in this battle of information.

Employment Tip: Build Experience with Freelance Roles

If you have skills in cybersecurity, chances are you can build experience on your resume through freelance opportunities. Make sure you use reputable and transparent platforms to find freelance work. If you do, you can likely find roles to earn side money as well as improve your work history in the eyes of future employers. It also provides valuable on-the-ground experience.

For the latest openings in cybersecurity careers, check CybersecurityHQ.

Stay Safe, Stay Secure.

The CybersecurityHQ Team