LinkedIn’s Service Pages for freelancers adds features to showcase credibility
LinkedIn has added the ability to include LinkedIn Page (your organization’s page) info and media to Service Pages, according to an email shared by Matt Navarra.
Services Pages (shown above) appear in LinkedIn’s Service Marketplace, a Fiverr and Upwork competitor where SEO and PPC freelancers can market their services.
Display your LinkedIn Page details on your Service Page. This enables freelancers that work at an SMB to highlight that connection, potentially bringing more visibility for the organization while vouching for their own expertise.
“[This feature] is specifically focused on small operators,” Andrew Hutchinson wrote for SocialMediaToday, adding, “The page linking feature is only available for single-admin LinkedIn Company Pages, and is available via the desktop version of the site only at this stage.”
Add media to spotlight your portfolio. “Use this section to give prospective clients a preview of what you can do by highlighting your favorite projects or press related to your services,” LinkedIn wrote in the email. Freelancers can use this to showcase their thought leadership, case studies and more.
Source: LinkedIn’s Service Pages for freelancers adds features to showcase credibility
UpdraftPlus 1.22.3 Patches Severe Vulnerability Through Forced Security Update from WordPress.org
UpdraftPlus, a plugin that allows users to backup to various cloud providers, has patched a severe security vulnerability that would allow logged-in users to download a site’s latest backups. The patched version (1.22.3) was sent out via a forced auto-update, a measure reserved for severe vulnerabilities that affect a large number of users. UpdraftPlus is active on more than 3 million WordPress sites.
The vulnerability was discovered by Jetpack Scan Security researcher Marc Montpas during an internal audit. UpdraftPlus explained the vulnerability to users in an advisory after the update went out:
“This defect allows any logged-in user on a WordPress installation with UpdraftPlus active to exercise the privilege of downloading an existing backup, a privilege which should have been restricted to administrative users only. This was possible because of a missing permissions check on code related to checking current backup status. This allowed the obtaining of an internal identifier which was otherwise unknown, and could then be used to pass a check upon permission to download.”
The issue affects both the paid and free versions of the plugin. A fix was pushed to paid customers within an hour of receiving the report. Every version of the free plugin between 1.16.7 and 1.22.3 is vulnerable. UpdraftPlus claims the majority of sites have been updated. WordPress.org stats show that ~35% of Updraft users have not updated to the latest, which leaves more than a million installations still vulnerable.
Source: UpdraftPlus 1.22.3 Patches Severe Vulnerability Through Forced Security Update from WordPress.org
Google testing questions and answers in the Google Maps interface
Google is testing displaying the questions and answers feature in the Google Maps interface that it initially launched in 2017 for local panels in Google Search. Now some are able to see the questions and answers box in Google Maps local listings for businesses, although I cannot personally replicate this.
What it looks like. Allie Margeson posted a screenshot of this on Twitter:
Previously. Google only launched this officially in desktop search, on mobile search, or on Android Google Maps. This was not available in the Google Maps interface on desktop. Here is what it looks like in on desktop search:
Source: Google testing questions and answers in the Google Maps interface
TrickBot malware has been taken over by this notorious criminal gang
After evading law enforcement’s takedown attempts over the past four years, TrickBot’s days are now numbered as it will soon be replaced by the BazarBackdoor malware.
The reason being is that the top members of TrickBot have joined the Conti ransomware syndicate according to a new report from the cybercrime and adversarial disruption firm Advanced Intelligence (AdvIntel).
For those unfamiliar, TrickBot is a Windows malware platform that utilizes multiple modules to conduct a variety of malicious activities such as information and password stealing, infiltrating Windows domains, gaining access to corporate networks and delivering malware. The developers of TrickBot have partnered with ransomware gangs to take over and infect millions of devices around the world since 2016.
While the Ryuk ransomware gang first partnered with TrickBot to gain access to its technology, the group was replaced by the Conti ransomware gang which has been using its malware over the course of the past year to gain access to corporate networks. According to AdvIntel, the group that managed the various TrickBot campaigns is an elite division of cybercriminals known as Overdose which has brought in at least $200m from its nefarious activities online.
Source: TrickBot malware has been taken over by this notorious criminal gang
Snapchat launches a real-time location sharing feature
Snapchat on Friday announced a buddy system-like feature that allows its users to share their real-time location with friends for a period of time.The safety feature is being rolled out as more people are returning to school campuses, traveling, going out on dates and otherwise resuming what they did before the pandemic, the company said. The feature, which is similar to Apple (AAPL)’s Find My app, allows users to share their real-time locations with a friend for 15 minutes, one hour or up to eight hours.Snapchat partnered with It’s On Us, a nonprofit founded in 2014 to combat sexual assault on campuses, in creating the feature.
Since 2017, Snapchat has allowed users to share their locations with friends on its Snap Map feature, which updates a location only when the user has the app open. The company said 250 million users utilize Snap Map each month.
Last May, Snapchat said it reached 500 million monthly active users. According to a survey conducted by the company, 78% of its US app users wouldn’t hesitate to share their locations on Snap Map, and most do it as a safe way to connect to others.
Source: Snapchat launches a real-time location sharing feature
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