October, 2018

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Facebook Is Using Your Two-Factor Authentication Phone Number to Target Advertising

Schneier on Security

From Kashmir Hill : Facebook is not content to use the contact information you willingly put into your Facebook profile for advertising. It is also using contact information you handed over for security purposes and contact information you didn't hand over at all, but that was collected from other people's contact books, a hidden layer of details Facebook has about you that I've come to call "shadow contact information.

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Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

Krebs on Security

Most of us have been trained to be wary of clicking on links and attachments that arrive in emails unexpected, but it’s easy to forget scam artists are constantly dreaming up innovations that put a new shine on old-fashioned telephone-based phishing scams. Think you’re too smart to fall for one? Think again: Even technology experts are getting taken in by some of the more recent schemes (or very nearly).

Scams 279
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New Pluralsight Course: Adapting to the New Normal: Embracing a Security Culture of Continual Change

Troy Hunt

I take more pleasure than I probably should in watching the bewilderment within organisations as the technology landscape rapidly changes and rushes ahead of them. Perhaps "pleasure" isn't the right word, is it more "amusement"? Or even "curiosity"? Whichever it is, I find myself rhetorically asking "so you just expected everything to stay the same forever, did you?

Banking 213
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30k+ Pentagon Employees Compromised in Data Breach

Adam Levin

The credit card data and travel records of roughly 30,000 employees of the U.S. Defense Department have been compromised in a data breach. The hack was first detected on October 4th, but may have occurred months ago and could have affected more accounts than initially reported. Despite this, the Pentagon has tried to downplay the potentially wider scope of the incident.

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How to Avoid Pitfalls In Automation: Keep Humans In the Loop

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

Automation is transforming finance but without strong financial oversight it can introduce more risk than reward. From missed discrepancies to strained vendor relationships, accounts payable automation needs a human touch to deliver lasting value. This session is your playbook to get automation right. We’ll explore how to balance speed with control, boost decision-making through human-machine collaboration, and unlock ROI with fewer errors, stronger fraud prevention, and smoother operations.

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GAO Report on Equifax

Adam Shostack

I have regularly asked why we don’t know more about the Equifax breach, including in comments in “ That Was Close! Reward Reporting of Cybersecurity ‘Near Misses’ ” These questions are not intended to attack Equifax. Rather, we can use their breach as a mirror to reflect, and ask questions about how defenses work, and learn things we can bring to our own systems.

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GUEST ESSAY: Pentagon’s security flaws highlighted in GAO audit — and recent data breach

The Last Watchdog

Being the obvious target that it is, the U.S. Department of Defense presumably has expended vast resources this century on defending its digital assets from perennial cyber attacks. Related: Why carpet bombing email campaigns endure. And yet two recent disclosures highlight just how brittle the military’s cyber defenses remain in critical areas. By extension these developments are yet another reminder of why constantly monitoring and proactively defending business networks must be a prime direct

LifeWorks

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When Security Researchers Pose as Cybercrooks, Who Can Tell the Difference?

Krebs on Security

A ridiculous number of companies are exposing some or all of their proprietary and customer data by putting it in the cloud without any kind of authentication needed to read, alter or destroy it. When cybercriminals are the first to discover these missteps, usually the outcome is a demand for money in return for the stolen data. But when these screw-ups are unearthed by security professionals seeking to make a name for themselves, the resulting publicity often can leave the breached organization

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Weekly Update 108

Troy Hunt

I'm in Texas! And I've had enough BBQ to last me a very long time. I'm here doing a couple of speaking events and other related things as well as taking some time out with my wife to see the sites. As such, it's a bit quieter this week but there's still a couple of things I reckon are worthy of discussion. Just before jumping on the plane over here I pushed out a blog post on how my approach to callbacks in HIBP broke Mozilla's service which in turn broke my Azure Function.

InfoSec 206
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Amazon Employee Fired for Leaking Customer Data, Exposing a Search Flaw or Both?

Adam Levin

Amazon revealed a breach of customer data last week, but it wasn’t a data breach of the usual variety. Rather than falling prey to a cyberattack or having hackers exploit unsecured code, customer emailed addresses were leaked by an employee to an online reseller in exchange for money. What you need to know: 1.) A crime was committed, and 2.) It still counts as a data compromise.

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The Architectural Mirror (Threat Model Thursdays)

Adam Shostack

A few weeks ago, I talked about “ reflective practice in threat modeling “, thinking about how we approach the problems we face, and asking if our approaches are the best we can do. Sometimes it’s hard to reflect. It’s hard to face the mirror and say ‘could I have done that better?’ That’s human nature. Sometimes, it can be easier to learn from an analogy, and I’ll again go to physical buildings as a source.

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Why Giant Content Libraries Do Nothing for Your Employees’ Cyber Resilience

Many cybersecurity awareness platforms offer massive content libraries, yet they fail to enhance employees’ cyber resilience. Without structured, engaging, and personalized training, employees struggle to retain and apply key cybersecurity principles. Phished.io explains why organizations should focus on interactive, scenario-based learning rather than overwhelming employees with excessive content.

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GUEST ESSAY: A guide to implementing best security practices — before the inevitable breach

The Last Watchdog

The United States has experienced the most cybersecurity breaches in the world and the Equifax Breach was one of the first to be considered a “mega breach.”. The headlines immediately attempted to lay the blame, in large part, on the fact that Equifax’s chief information security officer was a music major and did not have a background in technology.

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How DNA Databases Violate Everyone's Privacy

Schneier on Security

If you're an American of European descent, there's a 60% you can be uniquely identified by public information in DNA databases. This is not information that you have made public; this is information your relatives have made public. Research paper : "Identity inference of genomic data using long-range familial searches." Abstract: Consumer genomics databases have reached the scale of millions of individuals.

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Naming & Shaming Web Polluters: Xiongmai

Krebs on Security

What do we do with a company that regularly pumps metric tons of virtual toxic sludge onto the Internet and yet refuses to clean up their act? If ever there were a technology giant that deserved to be named and shamed for polluting the Web, it is Xiongmai — a Chinese maker of electronic parts that power a huge percentage of cheap digital video recorders (DVRs) and Internet-connected security cameras.

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Weekly Update 109

Troy Hunt

Last one before home time! But it has been an epic trip and as I say in the video, this is by far my most enjoyable trip to the US yet after probably a dozen over the last few years (that includes Hawaii, too). Given the interest after my pointing out a couple of little differences in the US compared to the rest of the world last week, after the usual tech and infosec intro this week I decided to focus a big whack of this week's video on what some of differences look like.

InfoSec 201
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Zero Trust Mandate: The Realities, Requirements and Roadmap

The DHS compliance audit clock is ticking on Zero Trust. Government agencies can no longer ignore or delay their Zero Trust initiatives. During this virtual panel discussion—featuring Kelly Fuller Gordon, Founder and CEO of RisX, Chris Wild, Zero Trust subject matter expert at Zermount, Inc., and Principal of Cybersecurity Practice at Eliassen Group, Trey Gannon—you’ll gain a detailed understanding of the Federal Zero Trust mandate, its requirements, milestones, and deadlines.

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Hackers Hold Instagram Influencers’ Accounts Hostage with Ransomware

Adam Levin

High-profile Instagram accounts are being targeted by ransomware attacks and phishing schemes, with evidence suggesting that many account holders are paying the attackers. According to a Motherboard report, hackers are infiltrating and gaining access to Instagram accounts by posing as representatives from branding giants to purport a proposed partnership with the victim.

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CVE Funding and Process

Adam Shostack

I had not seen this interesting letter (August 27, 2018) from the House Energy and Commerce Committee to DHS about the nature of funding and support for the CVE. This is the sort of thoughtful work that we hope and expect government departments do, and kudos to everyone involved in thinking about how CVE should be nurtured and maintained.

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NEW TECH: Silverfort extends ‘adaptive multi-factor authentication’ via key partnerships

The Last Watchdog

Tel Aviv, Israel-based Silverfort continues to make inroads into proving the efficacy of its innovative approach to multi-factor authentication, or MFA, in corporate settings. Related: Why a ‘zero-trust’ approach to security is necessary. One recent validation comes from two long established, and much larger cybersecurity vendors – Checkpoint and Palo Alto Networks – that have recently begun integrating Silverfort’s innovative MFA solution into their respective malware detection and

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Chinese Supply Chain Hardware Attack

Schneier on Security

Bloomberg is reporting about a Chinese espionage operating involving inserting a tiny chip into computer products made in China. I've written ( alternate link ) this threat more generally. Supply-chain security is an insurmountably hard problem. Our IT industry is inexorably international, and anyone involved in the process can subvert the security of the end product.

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Prevent Data Breaches With Zero-Trust Enterprise Password Management

Keeper Security is transforming cybersecurity for people and organizations around the world. Keeper’s affordable and easy-to-use solutions are built on a foundation of zero-trust and zero-knowledge security to protect every user on every device. Our next-generation privileged access management solution deploys in minutes and seamlessly integrates with any tech stack to prevent breaches, reduce help desk costs and ensure compliance.

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Supply Chain Security 101: An Expert’s View

Krebs on Security

Earlier this month I spoke at a cybersecurity conference in Albany, N.Y. alongside Tony Sager , senior vice president and chief evangelist at the Center for Internet Security and a former bug hunter at the U.S. National Security Agency. We talked at length about many issues, including supply chain security, and I asked Sager whether he’d heard anything about rumors that Supermicro — a high tech firm in San Jose, Calif. — had allegedly inserted hardware backdoors in technology s

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Weekly Update 107

Troy Hunt

It's another "business as usual" week; past events, upcoming events, major security news, someone forgetting to renew a certificate and a new Pluralsight course. Actually, thinking about it more, this is possibly the most normal week I can remember, which is kinda disconcerting considering the (potential) impact of some of that news. Next week I'll be back in the US and in Texas so the schedule may be a little erratic, but I'll do what I can to pump out another update on time and with more of th

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Healthcare.gov Breach Affects 75,000

Adam Levin

The personal information of roughly 75,000 people was leaked in a data breach of the Healthcare.gov system October 13. The centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the breach October 19, after detecting “anomalous activity in the Federally Facilitated Exchanges,” but offered assurances that Healthcare.gov is still active and operational.

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Measuring ROI for DMARC

Adam Shostack

I’m pleased to be able to share work that Shostack & Associates and the Cyentia Institute have been doing for the Global Cyber Alliance. In doing this, we created some new threat models for email, and some new statistical analysis of. It shows the 1,046 domains that have successfully activated strong protection with GCA’s DMARC tools will save an estimated $19 million to $66 million dollars from limiting BEC for the year of 2018 alone.

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Optimizing The Modern Developer Experience with Coder

Many software teams have migrated their testing and production workloads to the cloud, yet development environments often remain tied to outdated local setups, limiting efficiency and growth. This is where Coder comes in. In our 101 Coder webinar, you’ll explore how cloud-based development environments can unlock new levels of productivity. Discover how to transition from local setups to a secure, cloud-powered ecosystem with ease.

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MY TAKE: Cyber attacks on industrial controls, operational technology have only just begun

The Last Watchdog

“May you live in interesting times.” The old Chinese proverb–some consider it a blessing and others a curse–certainly describes the modern-day cyber landscape. Related: 7 attacks that put us at the brink of cyber war. In today’s geopolitical terrain, nation-state backed cyber criminals are widening their targets and starting to zero in on their adversaries’ business and industrial sectors, using more and more sophisticated weaponry to do so.

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China's Hacking of the Border Gateway Protocol

Schneier on Security

This is a long -- and somewhat technical -- paper by Chris C. Demchak and Yuval Shavitt about China's repeated hacking of the Internet Border Gateway Protocol (BGP): " China's Maxim ­ Leave No Access Point Unexploited: The Hidden Story of China Telecom's BGP Hijacking.". BGP hacking is how large intelligence agencies manipulate Internet routing to make certain traffic easier to intercept.

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How Do You Fight a $12B Fraud Problem? One Scammer at a Time

Krebs on Security

The fraudsters behind the often laughable Nigerian prince email scams have long since branched out into far more serious and lucrative forms of fraud, including account takeovers, phishing, dating scams, and malware deployment. Combating such a multifarious menace can seem daunting, and it calls for concerted efforts to tackle the problem from many different angles.

Scams 238
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China's Five Steps for Recruiting Spies in the US

WIRED Threat Level

A series of high-profile cases involving alleged Chinese recruits shows how the country identifies and develops potential spies stateside.

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The Importance of User Roles and Permissions in Cybersecurity Software

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.

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Better Late than Never? U.S. Bolsters Cybersecurity Ahead of Elections

Adam Levin

One of the most discussed topics of this year’s election cycle is how best to protect the elections themselves from hackers and other outside influence. Following the multitude of hacks , leaked emails , data breaches , and disinformation campaigns that marred the 2016 elections, Congress has allocated $380 million to states requesting cybersecurity assistance.

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Does PCI Matter?

Adam Shostack

There’s an interesting article at the CBC, about how in Canada, “ More than a dozen federal departments flunked a credit card security test :” Those 17 departments and agencies continue to process payments on Visa, MasterCard, Amex, the Tokyo-based JCB and China UnionPay cards, and federal officials say there have been no known breaches to date.

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GUEST ESSAY: Supply chain vulnerabilities play out in latest Pentagon personnel records breach

The Last Watchdog

It is disheartening, but not at all surprising, that hackers continue to pull off successful breaches of well-defended U.S. government strategic systems. Related podcast: Cyber attacks on critical systems have only just begun. On Friday, Oct. 12, the Pentagon disclosed that intruders breached Defense Department travel records and compromised the personal information and credit card data of U.S. military and civilian personnel.

Risk 133
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Are the Police using Smart-Home IoT Devices to Spy on People?

Schneier on Security

IoT devices are surveillance devices, and manufacturers generally use them to collect data on their customers. Surveillance is still the business model of the Internet, and this data is used against the customers' interests: either by the device manufacturer or by some third-party the manufacturer sells the data to. Of course, this data can be used by the police as well; the purpose depends on the country.

IoT 270
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Next-Level Fraud Prevention: Strategies for Today’s Threat Landscape

Speaker: Sierre Lindgren

Fraud is a battle that every organization must face – it’s no longer a question of “if” but “when.” Every organization is a potential target for fraud, and the finance department is often the bullseye. From cleverly disguised emails to fraudulent payment requests, the tactics of cybercriminals are advancing rapidly. Drawing insights from real-world cases and industry expertise, we’ll explore the vulnerabilities in your processes and how to fortify them effectively.