Sat.Jul 20, 2019 - Fri.Jul 26, 2019

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Attorney General William Barr on Encryption Policy

Schneier on Security

Yesterday, Attorney General William Barr gave a major speech on encryption policy -- what is commonly known as "going dark." Speaking at Fordham University in New York, he admitted that adding backdoors decreases security but that it is worth it. Some hold this view dogmatically, claiming that it is technologically impossible to provide lawful access without weakening security against unlawful access.

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What You Should Know About the Equifax Data Breach Settlement

Krebs on Security

Big-three credit bureau Equifax has reportedly agreed to pay at least $650 million to settle lawsuits stemming from a 2017 breach that let intruders steal personal and financial data on roughly 148 million Americans. Here’s a brief primer that attempts to break down what this settlement means for you, and what it says about the value of your identity.

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Weekly Update 149

Troy Hunt

What. A. Week. I've been in San Fran meeting with a whole bunch of potential purchasers for HIBP and it's been. intense. Daunting. Exciting. It's actually an amazing feeling to see my "little" project come to this where I'm sitting in a room with some of the most awesome tech companies whilst flanked by bankers in suits. I try and give a bit of insight into that in this week's video, keeping in mind of course that I'm a bit limited by how much detail I can go into right now.

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NSA Announces New Cybersecurity Directorate

Adam Levin

The U.S. National Security Agency announced the formation of a new Cybersecurity Directorate earlier this week. Effective October 1, the directorate’a mission is will be the creation of a “major organization that unifies NSA’s foreign intelligence and cyber defense missions,” according to the agency’s website. It will be led by Anne Neuberger, the former NSA deputy director of operations and lead of the Russia Small Group.

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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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Hackers Expose Russian FSB Cyberattack Projects

Schneier on Security

More nation-state activity in cyberspace, this time from Russia : Per the different reports in Russian media, the files indicate that SyTech had worked since 2009 on a multitude of projects since 2009 for FSB unit 71330 and for fellow contractor Quantum. Projects include: Nautilus -- a project for collecting data about social media users (such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn).

Media 262
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The Unsexy Threat to Election Security

Krebs on Security

Much has been written about the need to further secure our elections, from ensuring the integrity of voting machines to combating fake news. But according to a report quietly issued by a California grand jury this week, more attention needs to be paid to securing social media and email accounts used by election officials at the state and local level.

Media 244

LifeWorks

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Equifax Comes to $700 Million Settlement for Data Breach

Adam Levin

Equifax has reached a settlement for the 2017 data breach that exposed the Social Security numbers and personal information of nearly 150 million people. The proposed deal with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys representing 48 states would cost the company a maximum of $700 million and would bring to a close several investigations as well as settle all class action lawsuits against the company. . $175 million of the proposed fine wou

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Software Developers and Security

Schneier on Security

According to a survey : "68% of the security professionals surveyed believe it's a programmer's job to write secure code, but they also think less than half of developers can spot security holes." And that's a problem. Nearly half of security pros surveyed, 49%, said they struggle to get developers to make remediation of vulnerabilities a priority. Worse still, 68% of security professionals feel fewer than half of developers can spot security vulnerabilities later in the life cycle.

Software 254
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Happy Apollo Day!

Adam Shostack

Today is the 50th Anniversary of “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” It’s an event worth celebrating, in the same way we celebrate Yuri’s Night. The holy days — the holidays — that we celebrate say a great deal about us. They shape who we are. The controversies that emerge when we try to add (Martin Luther King) or remove a holiday (Columbus Day) are controversies because they express who we are, and how that could be changing.

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German firms BASF, Siemens, Henkel hit by cyber attacks

Security Affairs

A new wave of cyber attacks carried out by a China-linked APT group hit German blue-chip companies BASF, Siemens, Henkel and others. On Wednesday, German blue-chip companies BASF, Siemens, Henkel along with a host of others confirmed they had been targeted by a wave of cyber attacks. German media reported that the cyber attacks were launched by China-linked cyberespionage group.

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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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Facebook Had a Bad News Day, Great Q2 Earnings

Adam Levin

If ever the shrug emoji belonged in a blog post, today is the day. The tech giant reached a $5 billion settlement for misrepresenting the way it handles user privacy, the SEC fined it $100 million for lying to investors about the risks associated with the misuse user information, and, still later in the day, Facebook admitted that it was the target of an FTC anti-trust investigation.

Risk 114
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Science Fiction Writers Helping Imagine Future Threats

Schneier on Security

The French army is going to put together a team of science fiction writers to help imagine future threats. Leaving aside the question of whether science fiction writers are better or worse at envisioning nonfictional futures, this isn't new. The US Department of Homeland Security did the same thing over a decade ago, and I wrote about it back then: A couple of years ago, the Department of Homeland Security hired a bunch of science fiction writers to come in for a day and think of ways terrorists

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Valuing CyberSecurity Research Datasets

Adam Shostack

There was a really interesting paper at the Workshop on the Economics of Information Security. The paper is “ Valuing CyberSecurity Research Datasets.” The paper focuses on the value of the IMPACT data sharing platform at DHS, and how the availability of data shapes the research that’s done. On its way to that valuation, a very useful contribution of the paper is the analysis of types of research data which exist, and the purposes for which it can be used: Note that there has b

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0v1ru$ hackers breach FSB contractor SyTech and expose Russian intel projects

Security Affairs

SyTech , a contractor for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) has been hacked, attackers stole data about interna l projects. Attackers have hacked SyTech, a contractor for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), and exfiltrated data about interna l projects. According to the Russian media, SyTech has been working with FSB since 2009, in particular, they contributed to several projects for FSB unit 71330 and for fellow contractor Quantum.

Hacking 111
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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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Adware Is the Malware You Should Actually Be Worried About

WIRED Threat Level

For all the attention on sophisticated nation-state attacks, the malware that’s most likely to hit your phone is much more mundane.

Adware 110
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Insider Logic Bombs

Schneier on Security

Add to the "not very smart criminals" file : According to court documents, Tinley provided software services for Siemens' Monroeville, PA offices for nearly ten years. Among the work he was asked to perform was the creation of spreadsheets that the company was using to manage equipment orders. The spreadsheets included custom scripts that would update the content of the file based on current orders stored in other, remote documents, allowing the company to automate inventory and order management

Software 236
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The War for Cyber Talent Will Be Won by Retention not Recruitment

Dark Reading

Six steps for creating a work environment that challenges, stimulates, rewards, and constantly engages employees fighting the good fight against cybercriminals.

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A flaw in LibreOffice could allow the hack of your PC

Security Affairs

LibreOffice users have to know that their unpatched computers could be hacked by simply opening a specially crafted document. Bad news for LibreOffice users, the popular free and open-source office suite is affected by an unpatched remote code execution vulnerability. Recently, LibreOffice released the latest version 6.2.5 that addresses two severe flaws tracked as CVE-2019-9848 and CVE-2019-9849.

Hacking 111
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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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How to Get Your Equifax Settlement Money

WIRED Threat Level

A settlement with the FTC means Equifax will pay victims of its breach $125 or more. Make sure it pay ups.

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Protecting America’s Critical Infrastructure

Thales Cloud Protection & Licensing

From taking a shower, to brewing your coffee, and watching the news, your morning routine is fueled by the energy sector. If you’re like millions of other Americans, your TV is connected to the Internet and uses technology generated from the nation’s power grid. But the energy sector also underpins our emergency and response systems, our hospitals and healthcare, our schools, our businesses, and virtually everything we do as a society.

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DEF CON Invites Kids to Crack Campaign Finance Portals

Dark Reading

DEF CON's Voting Village and AI Village team up with r00tz Asylum to let kids explore simulated campaign financial disclosure portals and disinformation campaigns.

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New APT34 campaign uses LinkedIn to deliver fresh malware

Security Affairs

The APT24 group continues its cyber espionage activity, its members were posing as a researcher from Cambridge to infect victims with three new malware. Experts at FireEye have uncovered a new espionage campaign carried out by APT34 APT group ( OilRig , and HelixKitten. Greenbug ) through LinkedIn. Members of the cyberespionage group were posing as a researcher from Cambridge and asking victims to join their social network.

Malware 111
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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.

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Browser Extensions Scraped Data From Millions of People

WIRED Threat Level

Slack passwords, NSO spyware, and more of the week's top security news.

Spyware 104
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VLC Media Player Plagued By Unpatched Critical RCE Flaw

Threatpost

A patch does not yet exist for a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in VLC Media Player that could enable remote code execution.

Media 94
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Louisiana Declares Cybersecurity State of Emergency

Dark Reading

A series of attacks on school district systems leads the governor to declare the state's first cybersecurity state of emergency.

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China-Linked APT15 group is using a previously undocumented backdoor

Security Affairs

ESET researchers reported that China-linked cyberespionage group APT15 has been using a previously undocumented backdoor for more than two years. Security researchers at ESET reported that China-linked threat actor APT15 (aka Ke3chang , Mirage , Vixen Panda , Royal APT and Playful Dragon) has been using a previously undocumented backdoor for more than two years.

Malware 110
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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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The Marines’ New LMADIS Drone-Killer Aced Its First Test

WIRED Threat Level

Last week’s US strike of an Iranian drone is the first reported successful use of LMADIS, the Marines’ new energy weapon.

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Rare Steganography Hack Can Compromise Fully Patched Websites

Threatpost

Attackers are hiding PHP scripts in EXIF headers of JPEG images to hack websites, just by uploading an image.

Hacking 86
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Companies' 'Anonymized' Data May Violate GDPR, Privacy Regs

Dark Reading

New study found that any database containing 15 pieces of demographic data could be used to identify individuals.

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Hackers breach 62 US colleges by allegedly exploiting Ellucian Banner Web flaw

Security Affairs

Hackers breached at least 62 college and university networks exploiting a flaw in Ellucian Banner Web Tailor, a module of the Ellucian Banner ERP. US Department of Education warned that hackers have breached at least 62 college and university networks by exploiting a vulnerability in the Ellucian Banner Web Tailor module of the Ellucian Banner ERP. The module is used by colleges and universities to customize their web applications.

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The Tumultuous IT Landscape Is Making Hiring More Difficult

After a year of sporadic hiring and uncertain investment areas, tech leaders are scrambling to figure out what’s next. This whitepaper reveals how tech leaders are hiring and investing for the future. Download today to learn more!