The Flexbooker Data Breach | Cyber news

The Flexbooker Data Breach | Cyber News

FlexBooker, a digital scheduling platform or online appointment scheduling tool helps in booking appointments, employee calendar synching, automatic time zone conversion, having waitlist feature, integrate other video calling applications. Many tax companies, food and beverage companies and manufacturer companies use FlexBooker within their organization around globe. It helps as smarter way to deal with business. 

In January 2022, FlexBooker accepted and apologized for a data breach occurred in last December, that involved the sensitive information of 3.7 million users including full names, email addresses, phone numbers and appointment details. There were some partial credit card data available along with hash password value. 

The company told that, the customer database which was maintained at ZDNet in an Amazon server.  The Flexbooker have mis-configured the AWS account. That AWS server was compromised by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.  However within next 12 hours Felxbooker have restored their backup and were able to operate normally.

A hacker group known as “Uawrongteam” has claimed responsibility for this DDoS attack. During this incident, the system data storage was accessed and downloaded. After downloading, the data were leaked on an online forum which was a dedicated trading of hacking data in dark web. As per hackers, the database was filled with around 10 million lines of customer information (demographic data).

Things need to be considered to keep safe organizational data:

• Always use encryption for data at rest and in transit.
• Organization should review user access policy and user access list on regular interval.
• Customer should use strong password and change that regularly.
• Passwords should be protected.
• Build effective backup system and recovery system in place on a high priority.
• Protect your system from unexpected power outage.
• Use firewall and antivirus to protect the sensitive data.
• Customers should be aware that, they should not give their personal data unless it’s mandatory to provide.
• As well human error cannot be ignored so continuously educating your work force through training programme is vital to protect the organization from data breach.

So concern about privacy is important!! Never Keep it under estimated. 

-DR

Understanding Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality Basic understanding

Many of us must have experienced Virtual reality or VR box using with mobiles. VR is the use of computer technology to build simulated  environments or programming environment having intelligent interfaces. Virtual reality places the user inside a three-dimensional experience and in which an apparently real situation associated to space and time factor is virtually emulated. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed in and interact with 3D worlds.

Technology

VR technology commonly consists of different types of gadgets such as headsets, specialized data globes, camera, vive controller, joysticks and motion trackers. Driven by applications or web-based VR, the technology is accessible via a web browser.

Virtual reality (VR) is an all-enveloping artificial and fully immersive experience that obscures the natural world. 

The key features of VR:

Believable:

Virtual Reality primarily focuses on creating an environment, where user need to believe it first when presented before them or otherwise the illusion rendered by virtual reality would tend to disappear.

Interactive: 

virtual reality systems focus on generating a thrust with the user in terms of interaction and giving realistic experience.

Immersive: 

The immersive experience gives the viewer the experience to manipulate or interact with the imagination or the virtual world.

There are many types of VR available such as;

• Fully Immersive
• Non-immersive
• Augmented Reality
• Collaborative VR
• Web based VR

Fully Immersive

A fully immersive VR experience is obtained based on the integration of three different aspects. In the first case, a virtual world needs to be developed based on the application of a computer simulation that encourages the users to fully explore and get immersed in such. Secondly, an effective computer is needed that helps in easily tracking the movements of the users on a real-time framework and thereby adjust the experience of the latter. Finally, in the third case, a hardware needs to be linked to the computer that contributes in immersing the users inside the virtual or simulated world. It gives 360 degree feelings to the user that they are in a environment.

Non-immersive VR

In non-immersive VR, it provides a computer generated environment without feeling of being deeply involved in the virtual world.

Augmented reality (AR) 

AR came in to picture now a days that enhances users’ real-world views with digital covers that comes with highly visual and interactive artificial objects. In AR, the real world is viewed directly or via a device such as a camera to create a visual and adds to that vision with computer-generated inputs such as still graphics, audio or video. 

AR is different from VR because it adds to the real-world experience rather than creating a new experience from scratch.

Collaborative VR

Collaborative VR or collaborative environment is where collaboration occurs from remote location such as virtual meeting room for meetings.

Example: Facebook, The wild, Arthur, Hoppin, Moot Up, Glue, etc.

Web based VR

Web VR is something you can experience the VR in your browser. It provides better performance as well, it supports both VR and AR. 

Examples of web based VR are, showroom, Zoo, Interspace sudio, Konterball etc. 

So this is only basics about the virtual reality presented for your understanding. 

Thanks!!

-DR