Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

The U.S. government — along with a number of leading security companies — recently warned about a series of highly complex and widespread attacks that allowed suspected Iranian hackers to siphon huge volumes of email passwords and other sensitive data from multiple governments and private companies. But to date, the specifics of exactly how that attack went down and who was hit have remained shrouded in secrecy.

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Adam Levin

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Facebook’s long string of privacy scandals may (finally) have some meaningful repercussions by way of a multi-billion dollar fine from the Federal Trade Commission. The social media giant has been under investigation by the FTC since March 2018 in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which affected 87 million users and may have been a pivotal influence in the 2016 election campaign.

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Media Technology Government 248

Schneier on Security

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

A research group at NATO's Strategic Communications Center of Excellence catfished soldiers involved in an European military exercise -- we don't know what country they were from -- to demonstrate the power of the attack technique. Over four weeks, the researchers developed fake pages and closed groups on Facebook that looked like they were associated with the military exercise, as well as profiles impersonating service members both real and imagined.

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Adam Shostack

FEBRUARY 9, 2019

The Seattle Times has a story today about how “ 50 years ago today, the first 747 took off and changed aviation.” It’s true. The 747 was a marvel of engineering and luxury. The book by Joe Sutter is a great story of engineering leadership. For an upcoming flight, I paid extra to reserve an upper deck seat before the last of the passenger-carrying Queens of the Skies retires.

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How many people would you trust with your house keys? Chances are, you have a handful of trusted friends and family members who have an emergency copy, but you definitely wouldn’t hand those out too freely. You have stuff that’s worth protecting—and the more people that have access to your belongings, the higher the odds that something will go missing.

Cybersecurity

Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Experts at Exploit detection service EdgeSpot detected several PDF documents that exploit a zero-day flaw in Chrome to harvest user data. Exploit detection service EdgeSpot spotted several PDF documents that exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Chrome to harvest data on users who open the files through the popular web browser. The experts initially detected the specially-crafted PDF files in December 2018.

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WIRED Threat Level

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Roman Dobrokhotov has been playing a dangerous game for a Russian reporter: identifying agents of the GRU military intelligence agency.

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eSecurity Planet

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

A third of companies are unprepared for some of the most damaging cyber attacks, such as APTs, insider threats, ransomware and DDoS attacks.

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Schneier on Security

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

In Gmail addresses, the dots don't matter. The account "bruceschneier@gmail.com" maps to the exact same address as "bruce.schneier@gmail.com" and "b.r.u.c.e.schneier@gmail.com" -- and so on. (Note: I own none of those addresses, if they are actually valid.). This fact can be used to commit fraud : Recently, we observed a group of BEC actors make extensive use of Gmail dot accounts to commit a large and diverse amount of fraud.

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Accountability Scams 215

Dark Reading

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

The constant stresses from advanced malware to zero-day vulnerabilities can easily turn into employee overload with potentially dangerous consequences. Here's how to turn down the pressure.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

Security experts found a serious flaw tracked CVE-2019-5736 affecting runc , the default container runtime for Docker, containerd , Podman, and CRI-O. Aleksa Sarai, a senior software engineer at SUSE Linux GmbH, has disclosed a serious vulnerability tracked CVE-2019-5736 affecting runc , the default container runtime for Docker, containerd , Podman, and CRI-O.

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Advertising Engineering Hacking Software 109

Advertiser: Revenera

In a recent study, IDC found that 64% of organizations said they were already using open source in software development with a further 25% planning to in the next year. Most organizations are unaware of just how much open-source code is used and underestimate their dependency on it. As enterprises grow the use of open-source software, they face a new challenge: understanding the scope of open-source software that's being used throughout the organization and the corresponding exposure.

Risk

WIRED Threat Level

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Opinion: Cryptocurrencies are useless. Blockchain solutions are frequently much worse than the systems they replace. Here's why.

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Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Email provider VFEmail has suffered what the company is calling “catastrophic destruction” at the hands of an as-yet unknown intruder who trashed all of the company’s primary and backup data in the United States. The firm’s founder says he now fears some 18 years’ worth of customer email may be gone forever. Founded in 2001 and based in Milwaukee, Wisc., VFEmail provides email service to businesses and end users.

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Threatpost

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

Armed with an impressive bag of exploits and other tricks for propagation, researchers believe the new trojan could be the catalyst for an upcoming, major cyber-offensive.

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Schneier on Security

FEBRUARY 28, 2019

After years of claiming that the Terrorist Screening Database is kept secret within the government, we have now learned that the DHS shares it "with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities.". Critics say that the watchlist is wildly overbroad and mismanaged, and that large numbers of people wrongly included on the list suffer routine difficulties and indignities because of their inclusion.

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The healthcare industry has massively adopted web tracking tools, including pixels and trackers. Tracking tools on user-authenticated and unauthenticated web pages can access personal health information (PHI) such as IP addresses, medical record numbers, home and email addresses, appointment dates, or other info provided by users on pages and thus can violate HIPAA Rules that govern the Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates.

Healthcare

Dark Reading

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Vulnerable plugin for a remote management tool gave attackers a way to encrypt systems belonging to all customers of a US-based MSP.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Most of us know MITRE and the ATT&CK framework that they have come up with. What a splendid job they have done for the cyber security community by bringing most of the key attack vectors under an organized framework that segregates these attack vectors in various stages of a typical attack. Moreover, not only they have orchestrated the key attack vectors but the mitigation and detection guidance for each attack vector are also part of this framework.

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WIRED Threat Level

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

With $60 and a few fake Facebook accounts, researchers were able to identify service members in a military exercise, track their movement, and even persuade them to disobey orders.

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Accountability 91

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Fraud investigators say they’ve uncovered a sophisticated new breed of credit card skimmers being installed at gas pumps that is capable of relaying stolen card data via mobile text message, thereby enabling fraudsters to collect it from anywhere in the world. One interesting component of this criminal innovation is a small cellphone and Bluetooth-enabled device hidden inside the contactless payment terminal of the pump, which appears to act as a Bluetooth hub that wirelessly gathers card

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Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

Cybersecurity

Threatpost

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Researchers are urging Ring users to update to the latest version of the smart doorbell after a serious flaw triggered privacy concerns.

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Schneier on Security

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

I had not heard about this case before. Zurich Insurance has refused to pay Mondelez International's claim of $100 million in damages from NotPetya. It claims it is an act of war and therefor not covered. Mondelez is suing. Those turning to cyber insurance to manage their exposure presently face significant uncertainties about its promise. First, the scope of cyber risks vastly exceeds available coverage, as cyber perils cut across most areas of commercial insurance in an unprecedented manner: d

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Dark Reading

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

We examine the issue of fallibility from six sides: end users, security leaders, security analysts, IT security administrators, programmers, and attackers.

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Cybersecurity 97

Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

Google patched a critical flaw in its Android OS that allows an attacker to send a specially crafted PNG image file to hack a target device, Opening an image file on your smartphone could allow attackers to hack into your Android device due to three critical vulnerabilities, CVE-2019-1986, CVE-2019-1987, and CVE-2019-1988. The flaws affect millions of Android devices running versions of the Google OS, ranging from Android 7.0 Nougat to the latest Android 9.0 Pie.

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Hacking Advertising Mobile Manufacturing 107

Speaker: Erika R. Bales, Esq.

When we talk about “compliance and security," most companies want to ensure that steps are being taken to protect what they value most – people, data, real or personal property, intellectual property, digital assets, or any other number of other things - and it’s more important than ever that safeguards are in place. Let’s step back and focus on the idea that no matter how complicated the compliance and security regime, it should be able to be distilled down to a checklist.

WIRED Threat Level

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

New reports say that Robert Mueller will be "wrapping up" his investigation soon. Here's what that might actually mean.

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Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

Godaddy.com , the world’s largest domain name registrar, recently addressed an authentication weakness that cybercriminals were using to blast out spam through legitimate, dormant domains. But several more recent malware spam campaigns suggest GoDaddy’s fix hasn’t gone far enough, and that scammers likely still have a sizable arsenal of hijacked GoDaddy domains at their disposal.

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Threatpost

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Dunkin’ Donuts may have just launched its first double-filled doughnut, but another doubling up is not quite as tasty. The chain has suffered its second credential-stuffing attack in three months. Like the first incident, the attack targeted pastry aficionados that have DD Perks accounts, which is Dunkin’s loyalty program. Names, email addresses, 16-digit DD Perks […].

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Schneier on Security

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

It's only a prototype, but this USB cable has an embedded Wi-Fi controller. Whoever controls that Wi-Fi connection can remotely execute commands on the attached computer.

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Speaker: William Hord, Vice President of ERM Services

A well-defined change management process is critical to minimizing the impact that change has on your organization. Leveraging the data that your ERM program already contains is an effective way to help create and manage the overall change management process within your organization. Your ERM program generally assesses and maintains detailed information related to strategy, operations, and the remediation plans needed to mitigate the impact on the organization.

Risk

Dark Reading

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

VPNs are critical for information security. But simply having these cozy security tunnels in the toolkit isn't enough to keep an organization's data safe.

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VPN Information Security 97

Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

Security experts at BitDefender have released a new version of the GandCrab decryptor able to decrypt versions of GandCrab 1, 4 and 5. Security experts at BitDefender have released a new version of the GandCrab decryptor that could be used to decrypt versions of GandCrab 1, 4 and 5, including the latest version 5.1. The GandCrab decryptor is available for free from BitDefender and from the NoMoreRansom project.

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WIRED Threat Level

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

The social media app will pay $5.7 million to settle the allegations, and be required to delete videos uploaded by anyone under 13.

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Media 103

Krebs on Security

FEBRUARY 23, 2019

Payroll software provider Apex Human Capital Management suffered a ransomware attack this week that severed payroll management services for hundreds of the company’s customers for nearly three days. Faced with the threat of an extended outage, Apex chose to pay the ransom demand and begin the process of restoring service to customers. Roswell, Ga. based Apex HCM is a cloud-based payroll software company that serves some 350 payroll service bureaus that in turn provide payroll services to s

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Within the past few years, ransomware attacks have turned to critical infrastructure, healthcare, and government entities. Attackers have taken advantage of the rapid shift to remote work and new technologies. Add to that hacktivism due to global conflicts and U.S. elections, and an increased focus on AI, and you have the perfect recipe for a knotty and turbulent 2024.

Cybersecurity