By Deeba Ahmed
The NFT market’s claim to fame is undoubtedly the Bored Apes Yacht Club yet someone is offering endless…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: This AI Can Generate Unique and Free Bored Ape NFTs

The NFT market’s claim to fame is undoubtedly the Bored Apes Yacht Club yet someone is offering endless free versions of these rare collectibles, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Yannic Kilcher, a machine learning expert has developed an AI that generates an infinite number of unique apes for free. The Bored Apes is a collection of around 10000 Bored Apes NFTs, which merely comprise different variations of ape images. Still, it has become the face of NFTs, which are extremely expensive and, to be honest, quite funny.

**Details of the Process**

Kilcher uploaded a video on YouTube to explain the process of ape generation using Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to the video, the AI uses the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) technique, and the procedure involves using two neural networks.

One of these networks is used to generate an image, and the other differentiates the image from an actual image to determine which is fake. Over time, the generator can create images that could easily pass as authentic. In the end, the generator can produce pretty convincing fake apes.

Kilcher scraped the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection in his YouTube video, trained Nvidia’s StyleGAN2 neural network on the dataset, and created near-perfect and fungible bored apes.

> “The quality of my system is not very good, there are often visible artifacts.”
> 
> Yannic Kilcher

Yannic Kilcher on YouTube

According to TNW, the app can generate apes based on user-provided images. It harnesses OpenAI Clip of the same model that powers the DALL-E 2 image generator. The generated images appear starkly similar to the actual NFT collection. Kilcher noted that a particular ape could be generated once only with this AI. You will get a different, unique ape as you refresh the page.

**More NFT News on Hackread.com**

1.  Official website of Banksy hacked for fake NFT scam
2.  Hackers Hijacked Official Ferrari Subdomain to Host NFT Scam
3.  OpenSea vulnerability allowed crypto theft with malicious NFTs
4.  Hot wallet hack: Hackers steal $18.7m from Animoca’s Lympo NTF platform

This AI Can Generate Unique and Free Bored Ape NFTs

By Waqas
Hackers targeted Russian television channels’ program names right before Vladimir Putin’s speech on Victory Day to commemorate the…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Russian TV Schedules Hacked on Victory Day to Show Anti-War Messages

Hackers targeted Russian television channels’ program names right before Vladimir Putin’s speech on Victory Day to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union in WWII.

Victory Day event is celebrated to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union in WWII. However, this time a surprise was in store for Russians watching the Victory Day coverage. Someone hacked various Russian channels’ Victory Day coverage schedule and posted anti-war and pro-Ukrainian messages.  

**Anti-War Message Appears Ahead of Putin’s Address to Nation**

As people were waiting to hear the address of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday morning, local television channels’ schedule was suddenly altered to display this message:

>  “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”

BBC Monitoring’s senior digital journalist Francis Scarr also tweeted about this incident, explaining that the online Russian TV schedule page got hacked. Every program’s name was changed to the same message.

**Which channels were Affected?**

The anti-war call appeared when Russians were waiting to watch the annual Victory Day military parade on Red Square, followed by an address by Putin. The hacking affected online viewers of channels transmitted by MTS mobile operators, Rostelecom, NTV Plus, and Wink, while the incident impacted Russians across the country.

As per BBC, all major Russian channels, including NTV-Plus, Rossiya, and Channel One, were affected, while The Washington Post claims that the same message appeared on other platforms, including Yandex and Ru Tube. Furthermore, the hack also impacted children’s TV channels and the Russian defense ministry’s station, Zvezda.

> This morning the online Russian TV schedule page was hacked
> 
> The name of every programme was changed to "On your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war" pic.twitter.com/P2uCNz8cqa
> 
> — Francis Scarr (@francis\_scarr) May 9, 2022

**How did the Hacking happen?**

According to Reuters, it isn’t currently clear how the messages appeared on the live page. However, this isn’t the first time Russian television channels have been hacked. In March 2022, as reported by Hackread.com, the Anonymous hacktivist collective hacked into Russian state television to broadcast gruesome war footage from Ukraine.

“A cyberattack was carried out on Russian TV broadcasting channels, because of which subscribers could have extremist inscriptions in the broadcast grid. Now our IT specialists are promptly eliminating the consequences of a hack so that subscribers can receive services and watch TV programs and movies as quickly as possible,” MTS representative in Siberia stated.

**Ukraine’s Response**

Ahead of Vladimir Putin’s address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky released a video to commemorate the Victory Day with this statement:

“We won then. We will win now, too! And Khreshchatyk will see the parade of victory – the victory of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine!”

**More Anonymous Hacks for OpRussia**

*   Confirmed: Anonymous Hacks Central Bank of Russia; Leaks 28GB of Data
*   Anonymous & its affiliates hacked 90% of Russian misconfigured databases
*   Anonymous NB65 Breach State-Run Russian Broadcaster; Leak 786GB of Data
*   Anonymous hacked Russian TV and streaming services with Ukraine war footage
*   Anonymous sent 7 million texts to Russians plus hacked 400 of their security cams

I am a UK-based cybersecurity journalist with a passion for covering the latest happenings in cyber security and tech world. I am also into gaming, reading and investigative journalism

Russian TV Schedules Hacked on Victory Day to Show Anti-War Messages

By Deeba Ahmed
After the hijacking, hackers hosted the Mint Your Ferrari NFT scam on the luxury automaker’s official website. Italian…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Hackers Hijacked Official Ferrari Subdomain to Host NFT Scam

**After the hijacking, hackers hosted the Mint Your Ferrari NFT scam on the luxury automaker’s official website.**

Italian luxury automobile manufacturer Ferrari’s official website was hacked to promote a fake NFT collection. Interestingly, the company recently announced launching its official NFT collection, and hackers probably took advantage of this news. The fake NFT collection was presented as the official one to trap potential buyers.

**Details of the NFT Scam**

White hat hacker Sam Curry claims that attackers hijacked the subdomain ‘forms.ferrari.com’ of the company’s official website and hosted an NFT scam titled Mint Your Ferrari. The ethical hacker and bug bounty hunter also posted a screenshot of the hijacked website on Twitter.

Image credit: Sam Curry

Reportedly, the attackers lured visitors to purchase NFT tokens, claiming that it was Ferrari’s official 4458-horsepower NFT series that the company launched on the Ethereum network.

In December 2021, Screen Rant reported that the Ferrari collection would be launched in collaboration with a tech firm named Velas. Scammers marketed the fake NFT collection as akin to owning a Ferrari on the digital space and an instant gateway to the larger Ferrari metaverse.

**More NFT Scam News**

1.  Official website of Banksy hacked for fake NFT scam
2.  Phishing scam: NFTs Worth $1.7M Stolen from OpenSea Users
3.  Hot wallet hack: Hackers steal $18.7m from Animoca’s Lympo NTF platform

**How Attackers Hijacked the Subdomain?**

Further probe revealed that scammers exploited a flaw in the Adobe Experience Manager on the official website of Ferrari to hijack its subdomain and host the encrypted NFT scam content.

“After looking a bit deeper… it seems this was an Adobe Experience Manager exploit. You can still find the remnants of the unhacked site by dorking around a bit,” Curry explained.

Scammers seem to have failed to rake in a high amount from the victims. It is reported that the hacked site also prompted users to connect their MetaMask wallet to the site. Since Ferrari recently announced its plan to debut its official Metaverse, the scam seemed legit to unsuspecting users.

However, scammers made about $800, as noted by Twitter user Rebcesp who claimed the NFT scam’s Ethereum wallet received $884. The loss was minuscule since the fraud was quickly discovered, and the subdomain was shut down.

At the time of publishing this article, the compromised subdomain displayed the error code: HTTP 403 error code. It seems like just one person got scammed who sent 0.3ETH or roughly $800. The funds were transferred to Tornado Cash by the scammer.

Hackers Hijacked Official Ferrari Subdomain to Host NFT Scam

By Waqas
The Anonymous affiliated Network Battalion aka NB65 group has allegedly targeted a Russian payment processing platform Qiwi and…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Anonymous NB65 Claims Hack on Russian Payment Processor Qiwi

The Anonymous affiliated Network Battalion aka NB65 group has allegedly targeted a Russian payment processing platform Qiwi and leaked 7 million payment card data as proof of hack.

On May 1st, 2022, NB65, one of the Anonymous affiliate hacktivist groups published a tweet in which it claimed to have gained access to Qiwi’s databases. For your information, QIWI plc is a Russian giant that provides payment and financial services in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

It is worth noting that NB65 is the same group that had hacked Russian state-run television and radio broadcaster VGTRK aka All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in April 2022 and leaked 786GB worth of data online.

As for the attack on Qiwi, NB65 also tweeted that it managed to extract 10.5TB of data comprising 30 million payment records and filtered 12.5 million credit cards of Qiwi customers. The group also posted a statement revealing that the attack was aimed at disrupting the Russian financial system.

> “Qiwi, in your last press release, you clearly stated that the sanctions against the Russian financial system did not affect your business in any way. Well, it will definitely affect your business.”
> 
> NB65 – Anonymous

NB65 also stated that they encrypted the platform’s networks with a ransomware kit. Furthermore, the group threatened to release one million records every day after the 3-day contract period expires, and the platform fails to reach out to them.

Tweets sent out by NB65 (Image: Hackread.com)

As seen by Hackread.com, on May 5th, 2022, NB65 tweeted two download links and claimed that they contain “7 million card numbers along with the full table of payment records.” Although one of the links was expired, here is what the functional download link contained:

Alleged payment card data with expiry date stolen from Qiwi (Image: Hackread.com)

**Qiwi Denies Hacking Claim**

In a statement to TASS Russian News Agency, Qiwi denied the claim that NB65 hacked the platform. The company also said that its payment services are functioning normally, and customer data is also safe.

I am a UK-based cybersecurity journalist with a passion for covering the latest happenings in cyber security and tech world. I am also into gaming, reading and investigative journalism

Anonymous NB65 Claims Hack on Russian Payment Processor Qiwi

By Deeba Ahmed
The malware Raspberry Robin is distributed via external drives and uses Microsoft Standard installer to execute malicious commands.…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: USB-based Wormable Raspberry Robin Malware Targeting Windows Installer

The malware Raspberry Robin is distributed via external drives and uses Microsoft Standard installer to execute malicious commands.

Red Canary’s Detection Engineering team has discovered a new worm-like Windows malware being distributed via removable USB drives. The malware was detected in several customer networks, mainly in the manufacturing and technology sectors.

**About Raspberry Robin**

Red Canary intelligence analysts attributed the malware to the Raspberry Robin cluster, noting that the worm leverages “Windows Installer” to access QNAP-linked domains and download a malicious DLL.

Raspberry Robin’s activity was first documented in September 2021. The operator’s objective is unclear, and researchers are also clueless about when and how the external drives get infected. They suspect that this infection occurs offline.

**Attack Chain Details**

> Raspberry Robin’s attack chain starts with connecting an infected external/USB drive to a Windows device. Researchers noted that adversaries use msiexec.exe to deliver malware while “Raspberry Robin uses msiexec.exe to attempt external network communication to a malicious domain for C2 purposes.
> 
> Lauren Podber and Stef Rand  
> Red Canary

The external drive is equipped with the worm payload that appears as a .LNK shortcut file in a legit folder. The worm creates a new process using cmd.exe to read/execute the malicious file on the USB drive.

According to Red Canary’s blog post, once this is done, the worm launches explorer.exe and msiexec.exe. The latter is used to establish network communication with a rogue domain and for downloading/installing the DLL library file.

Raspberry Robin event outline (Red Canary)

This DLL file is loaded and executed using legitimate Windows utilities like rundll32.exe, fodhelper.exe, and odbcconf.exe to bypass the UAC (User Account Control). Researchers also detected an outbound C2 contact involving regsvr32.exe, dllhost.exe, and rundll32.exe processes to IP addresses linked with Tor nodes.

Regarding why the worm installs a malicious DLL, the researchers were unclear. They hypothesized that it could be done to maintain persistence on the infected machine.

**More Windows Malware News**

1.  Beware of Fake Windows 11 Update Delivering Malware
2.  LodaRAT Windows malware now hunting Android devices
3.  New malware tool can steal files from air-gapped PCs using USBs
4.  PyMICROPSIA Windows malware steals browsing data, records audio
5.  Fake Windows website dropped Redline malware as Windows 11 upgrade

USB-based Wormable Raspberry Robin Malware Targeting Windows Installer

By Deeba Ahmed
Attackers from the Ukrainian IT army successfully disrupted alcohol shipments in Russia by targeting EGAIS, the country’s primary…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: DDoS Attacks by Hacktivists Disrupted Russian Alcohol Supply Chain

Attackers from the Ukrainian IT army successfully disrupted alcohol shipments in Russia by targeting EGAIS, the country’s primary online portal for alcohol distribution.

According to Russian news portal Vedomosti, Ukrainian hacktivists took down Russia’s central alcohol distribution platform called Unified State Automated Alcohol Accounting Information System or EGAIS, with DDoS attacks launched on May 2nd and 3rd.

EGAIS is an important portal since, as per the law, all alcohol producers and distributors must register their shipments at EGAIS. Therefore, an attack on this platform caused extensive service blockage across Russia.

**Details of the Attack**

Reportedly, three sites belonging to the platform received DDoS attacks. When checked on May 4th, two EGAIS sites gave the error “the server stopped responding,” and the third didn’t work.

The attacks began on May 2nd and the next day system failures became more obvious. Wine trader Fort claimed that service disruption occurred on May 4th while the Union of Alcohol Producers, Igor Kosarev, and Ladoga representative claimed the same.

Fort’s executive director, Alexander Lipilin, stated that 70% of the invoices failed to be uploaded to EGAIS on May 4th. Strong alcoholic beverages producer Beluga Group didn’t report any problems with EGAIS.

The problem got partially resolved on the morning of May 4th. Out of the 1,500 documents queued in Ladoga, 600 were sent to the system. The problem is expected to be fully fixed within the next two days.

CIFFRA (Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets) director, Vadim Drobiz, stated that the EGAIS attack didn’t affect the end consumer as stores had stocked alcohol before the holidays.

**Widespread Impact of the Attack**

The entire EGAIS system got paralyzed, and as a result, the alcohol supply chain was disrupted during the May holidays. Vedomosti further noted that the DDoS attacks continued until May 4th, due to which manufacturers and suppliers couldn’t contact technical support to address delays or fix invoices and complete orders.

According to Russian news portal Vedomosti, shipments to retail chains failed for many companies; factories didn’t receive a tank full of alcohol while restaurants couldn’t upload receipts. 

> “Due to a large-scale failure, factories cannot accept tanks with alcohol, and customers, stores, and distributors cannot receive finished products that have already been delivered to them,” Vedomosti reported.

One of the companies impacted by the closure of the EGAIS portal announced to suspend all purchases as its warehouses were full. The outage mainly affected Vodka distribution, but wine companies also reported service disruption.

**Ukrainian Hacktivists Claim Responsibility**

Ukrainian hacktivists, particularly the Disbalancer group, claimed responsibility for the attack and announced their plans to launch more attacks on the platform. It is worth noting that the Ukrainian IT Army earlier announced to target EGAIS servers on its Telegram channel, including the portals check.egais.ru, egais.ru, and service.egais.ru. 

Ukrainian IT Army is a special cyber force that recruits volunteers from across the globe to launch cyberattacks against Russian infrastructure/entities.

**More DDoS Attack Stories**

1.  Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo hit by DDoS attack
2.  Imperva mitigated a series of massive ransom DDoS attacks
3.  DDoS Attack and Data Wiper Malware hit Computers in Ukraine
4.  Cloudflare Successfully Thwarted One of The Largest DDoS Attacks
5.  Microsoft Azure customer hit by largest ever 3.47 Tbps DDoS attack
6.  DDoS attacks on Minecraft event crippled the Internet of a European country

DDoS Attacks by Hacktivists Disrupted Russian Alcohol Supply Chain

By Owais Sultan
Launched in 2009, Bitcoin was the first-ever digital coin that marked the beginning of a cryptocurrency era. It…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: The Operational Structure of Bitcoin

Launched in 2009, Bitcoin was the first-ever digital coin that marked the beginning of a cryptocurrency era. It is a decentralized digital currency, not controlled by any authority like a bank. Instead, Bitcoin’s electronic system is powered by a peer-to-peer network where the currency is directly traded and exchanged between users.

A web of thousands of computers verifies the Bitcoin transactions by recording each one of them on a public distributed ledger, accessible to everyone. Bitcoin has established its value as a change-resistant, secure, and decentralized payment protocol. 

It is noteworthy that this digital coin has significantly grown in worth by more than 460,000% since its launch. Bitcoin, which once traded below $10, is currently hovering around $46,000. Although the pricing of Bitcoin depends on a variety of factors, including its fixed 21 million supply and corresponding demand, its value is determined by the high-value people give it.

**The working mechanism of Bitcoin**

The operational technology of Bitcoin is the Blockchain protocol that contains a string of data blocks with information about each Bitcoin transaction. A new block is added to the chain through the mining process when a new transaction is broadcasted. Once the new block is minted, the latest information becomes available to all network participants. In other words, the data gets imprinted on a public ledger.

This distributed ledger technology makes it almost impossible to amend the already-present data, due to the hashing of all previous blocks. Thus, tampering with any data would necessitate the alteration of all the previous blocks, which is impractical without taking control of 51% of the whole system. 

**What are the primary uses of Bitcoin? **

Like fiat currencies, Bitcoin can be used for purchasing various items; however, currently, only a limited number of merchants are accepting it as a mode of payment. Moreover, many services allow the linking of debit cards to your crypto wallet, making it possible to use Bitcoin with a debit or credit card.

Besides these applications, Bitcoin trading and HODLing (in other words, long-term holding) are the two most popular use cases of this digital currency, attributable to its high volatility and liquidity. Some prefer to seek financial benefits by learning how to trade Bitcoin, while others choose to hold it long-term, as they believe its worth is set to significantly increase over time.

Bitcoin mining with its subsequent rewards is also one of the most popular ways to take advantage of this digital currency. 

**Proof-of-work – The basis of Bitcoin mining**

Mining is the process by which new blocks are added to the Bitcoin blockchain, and proof of work is the consensus mechanism that miners follow to verify transactions and maintain the integrity of the network. According to the PoW protocol, miners must solve complex computational puzzles to validate transactions. As an incentive, the system grants them block rewards to appreciate their efforts in supporting the network.

Proof of work ensures the viability of the Bitcoin system by checking that there is no double-spending of coins and that all the transactions are consistent with previous information. The decentralized blockchain technology, with its proof of work protocol, makes it possible for the Bitcoin network to run smoothly and securely, without any central control.  

**More Crypto and Blockchain Topics**

1.  Security Tips For Trading Cryptocurrency Online
2.  The Advantages of a More Secure and Safer Blockchain
3.  5 Things to Consider When Getting into Cryptocurrency
4.  How Will Blockchain Technology Revolutionize Logistics?
5.  How Blockchain Can Revolutionize Personal Data Storage?

Owais takes care of Hackread's social media from the very first day. At the same time He is pursuing for chartered accountancy and doing part time freelance writing.

The Operational Structure of Bitcoin

By Waqas
Let’s take a closer look at what a dark web search engine is, how to find them and…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: What Are Dark Web Search Engines and How to Find Them?

**Let’s take a closer look at what a dark web search engine is, how to find them and what are some of the best dark web search engines out there.**

The web is full of information. To find that information, you need search engines. The dark web search engine is one of the best ways to find information that is hidden from the public. There are many different dark web search engines, and they each have their specialty.

To understand what they do, their strengths, and how to find them, you need to know a little bit about the dark web (also known as the hidden web). The **dark web** is a network of Onion websites and services that are only accessible through the Tor browser.

There are many uses for the dark web, but one of the most common is finding hidden information. That’s where dark web search engines come in. They let you find sites that aren’t easily accessible by the general public but are useful for finding information about things like hacking, drugs, leaked data, and other activities a lot of which can be illegal.

Let’s take a closer look at what a dark web search engine is, how to find them and what are some of the best dark web search engines out there.

**What is a Dark Web Search Engine?**

A dark web search engine is a tool that lets you find hidden information on the dark web. There are many different types of dark web search engines, and each has its specialty. For example, some have better searching capabilities than others. Some specialize in finding surveillance tools or tips and tricks for journalists to tackle government-led surveillance and censorship while some search engines will find sites with illegal content like drugs or cybercrime activities. Others are more generalized and will find almost anything on the dark web.

**How to Find Dark Web Search Engines**

There are many dark web search engines, which can be a bit overwhelming. You will be able to find them by doing a little research. However, there are some common searches that you can do to help with your search. One of the most popular is “Dark Web Search Engine” on Google. This will give you a list of websites that allow you to search the dark web.

But since you are on Hackread.com, you don’t have to Google it. We got you. Here are 5 best dark web search engines:

**Best Dark Web Search Engine in 2022**

As mentioned earlier, there are several dark web search engines with different searching algorithms. We are listing 5 of the best dark web search engines that are known for displaying appropriate and desired results.

**Ahmia.fi**

Ahmia.fi remains reliable and also has a policy against any “abuse material”, something different from many other dark web search engines that also index websites featuring child sexual abuse content. Ahmia is also available on the **surface web** and supports searches on the i2p network as well. You can visit Ahmia’s .Onion domain **here**. 

**The Hidden Wiki**

The Hidden Wiki is not a literal search engine but it is very useful. You see, whenever you make a search query on a dark web search engine, you’re bound to see 20 spammy links and then maybe 1 legitimate one. This can make it a time-consuming process to search.

However, this Wiki helps solve this by providing a directory list of websites on the dark web allowing you to easily access them. A **surface web version** is also available. Other websites that offer similar content include **TorLinks** and **OnionLinks**. You can visit The Hidden Wiki by following its .Onion link **here**. 

**Haystak**

Claiming to have indexed over 1.5 billion pages which includes more than 260,000 websites, Haystak indeed would stand out to be a resourceful engine on the list. It also has a paid version which offers several additional features such as searching using regular expressions, browsing now-defunct onion sites, and accessing their API. 

You can’t bet them to have your best interests at hand though considering one of these features allows you to access a database of stolen credit card information and email addresses as well. You can visit Haystak by following its .Onion link **here**. 

**Torch**

This one too is one of those search engines that have lasted for long enough(since 1996) but the search results are not impressive. In the query above, I wanted to know Facebook’s onion URL, a very simple piece of information. Yet, it reported everything but that showing how far these search engines have to go to improve.

On the other hand, it is fast and can come in handy regardless. Nevertheless, you can visit Torch by following its .Onion link **here**. 

**DuckDuckGo**

A long-time foe of Google; you’re bound to find this on almost every dark web search engine list. Yet, it reports surface web search results in more than those from the dark web and so the only good point we’re left with is the anonymity it offers. We couldn’t find 1 dark web search result through a couple of random queries.

So DuckDuckGo deserves our honorable mention kudos to its privacy-focused rather than business-oriented vision. You can visit DuckDuckGo by visiting its .Onion link **here**. 

**More Dark Web Topics**

1.  Authorities seize world’s biggest dark web child abuse site
2.  179 Dark Web vendors arrested, 500kg worth of drugs seized
3.  Twitter Goes on Tor with New Dark Web Domain to Evade Censorship
4.  DoJ seizes $1 billion in Bitcoin linked to Silk Road dark web marketplace
5.  CIA Wants Russians to Share Secret Info with the Agency via its Darknet Site

**How Safe Are Dark Web Search Engines?**

Even though dark web search engines are useful for finding information that isn’t accessible to the general public, they can be dangerous. If you are going to use a dark web search engine, it’s important to make sure you don’t use it from your normal computer. You might accidentally be putting your passwords, crypto funds, and other personal information at risk with these search engines.

Plus, some sites on the dark web may have malware that can infect your computer and steal information. However, what’s worse is that some results can lead to highly explicit and disturbing content that you may not be ready for such as child abuse, gore, torture, violence, threatening, terrorism, or other types of illicit content.

Therefore, keep your searches legal and limited to what you are looking for and **avoid using proxies** as hackers can easily infect them with malware or use them to steal your crypto funds.

The safest way to access a dark web search engine is through an anonymous browser like Tor. This browser will help protect your identity and personal data while browsing the dark web. It is also recommended that along with the **Tor browser** you should connect your device to a **VPN**.

Those who are not interested in the Tor browser can use an alternative browser such as:

*   12P
*   Whonix
*   Globus
*   Freepto
*   Disconnect

A full list of Tor browser alternatives is available here.

**How to Use Dark Web Search Engines**

Dark web search engines use complex software to crawl the dark web and index all of the information they find. Once indexed, these search engines allow you to find that information through a search engine interface.

However, not all dark web search engines are created equal. To maximize your searching ability, it’s important to understand what each dark web search engine is best at finding. Some popular dark web search engines include Grams or The Hidden Wiki, each one has its strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Grams search engine is infamously known for illegal drugs while The Hidden Wiki is better for things like eBooks and articles about privacy. No matter which dark web search engine you choose, it will provide you with access to sites that are hidden from the general public but are useful for finding specific types of information.

**Summing up**

To remain safe, be sure to steer clear of search results that may lead you to illegal sites. Always use a reliable VPN and keep your Tor browser up to date to avoid cyber criminals from snooping in.

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What Are Dark Web Search Engines and How to Find Them?

By Waqas
CIA’s darknet website will be accessible to Russians through the Tor internet browser. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: CIA Wants Russians to Share Secret Info with the Agency via its Darknet Site

**CIA’s darknet website will be accessible to Russians through the Tor internet browser.**

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States has issued instructions for Russians unhappy with their president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and trying to get in touch with the agency.

The CIA has published a comprehensive guide in English and Russian languages on how Russian citizens can share secrets with the agency. The guidelines appeared on the agency’s Instagram page on Monday. 

> “Our global mission demands that individuals can contact us securely from anywhere.”
> 
> CIA

**About CIA’s Darknet Site**

The step-by-step guide explains how “concerned Russians” can access the CIA’s darknet site, which is exactly like its regular homepage but can be accessed only via the encryption-based Tor anonymity browser.

It is worth noting that the CIA’s darknet site was launched in 2019 and is accessible through The Onion Router, aka Tor browser. The browser routes internet traffic across multiple third parties to hide the user’s location and identity.

Once downloaded, the browser requires users to enter a long string of characters followed by .onion to strip away any tracking of users’ digital activities, such as through cookies.

**More Darknet aka Dark Web News**

1.  Latest Top 6 Dark Web Search Engines for 2022
2.  Tor Anonymity: Things NOT To Do While Using Tor
3.  Records with data on 129M Russian car owners sold on dark web
4.  Russian Dark Web Market Hydra Taken Down; $25M in BTC Seized
5.  Twitter Goes on Tor with New Dark Web Domain to Evade Censorship

**CIA Urges Russian Tipsters to be Careful**

The CIA claims that it isn’t safe to directly engage America in the Russian domestic issues “physically or virtually,” hence, it has requested Russians to contact them securely via Tor since it will protect them from Russian snooping.

“There are concerned Russians who are desperately trying to reach the CIA,” a CIA official quoted by AP, declining to mention how many Russians have tried to contact the agency so far.

CIA has requested “tipsters” to provide their full name and country from where they are contacting the agency, their official position, and the information they intend to deliver. The agency asked the tipsters not to use their office or home computer to connect with the agency.

Moreover, the CIA urged Russians to use a VPN based out of Russia, China, or any country that’s not a US ally and avoid using free VPN services to evade online monitoring.

I am a UK-based cybersecurity journalist with a passion for covering the latest happenings in cyber security and tech world. I am also into gaming, reading and investigative journalism

CIA Wants Russians to Share Secret Info with the Agency via its Darknet Site

By Deeba Ahmed
The Indian government recently passed a new law that mandates all internet service providers to collect and store…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: India to Collect User Data from VPNs, Data Centers, and Cloud Service Providers

The Indian government recently passed a new law that mandates all internet service providers to collect and store user data for the past five years.

As per the press release of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In, under the Information Technology Act 2000 provisions of sub-section (6) of section 70B, the agency will collect information from service providers including VPNs, data centers, intermediaries, and body corporate. 

All VPN service providers, VPS (virtual private server) providers, cloud service providers, Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, and practices used by virtual asset service providers, custodian wallet service providers, and virtual asset exchange providers will have to follow the new directives that come into effect on June 27th, 2022.

The new law, according to the press release, aims to fill the gaps that cause hindrance in incident analysis and ensure “safe & trusted Internet in the country.”

**What Information Will be Collected?**

The new directions cover various aspects of synchronizing ICT system clocks, maintaining ICT system logs, mandatory reporting of cyber incidents within six hours, and providing subscriber/customer registration details.

Furthermore, the agency noted that service providers would collect records of financial transactions for a period of 5 years to offer optimum security in payments and financial markets.

A look at directions released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Indian and CERT-In, Data Centers, VPS and VPN service providers, and Cloud service providers will have to collect and store the following data for at least five years or longer.

1.  Date and period of hire
2.  Purpose of subscribing to services
3.  Verified contact numbers and address
4.  Ownership patterns of customers/subscribers using their services
5.  Authenticated names of customers and subscribers using their services
6.  IPs allotted to the customers/subscribers or being used by the members
7.  IP address, email address, and time stamp used when registering or on-boarding

**VPN Providers Refuse to Oblige**

The new directives risk compromising user privacy and undermine the unique selling point of VPNs, which is safeguarding users’ digital footprint. CERT-IN requires government organizations, all service providers, data centers, and body corporate to enable logs of their ICT systems and securely maintain them for 180 days.

However, some reports suggest that three mainstream VPN service providers may not follow the new policy. According to Surfshark, which observes a no-logs policy, the company is currently investigating the implications of the new regulations and aims to continue its no-logs policy.

ProtonVPN stated that the new VPN requirements would erode civil liberties, and they will never take measures that weaken or threaten users’ privacy. ExpressVPN also clarified that they are “fully committed to protecting users’ privacy and would never log user activity.

A full transcript of the law can be accessed here .

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Source

HackRead