December, 2021

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The Top 22 Security Predictions for 2022

Lohrman on Security

What will the New Year bring in cyber space? Here’s your annual roundup of the top security industry forecasts, trends and cybersecurity prediction reports for calendar year 2022.

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The Subsequent Waves of log4j Vulnerabilities Aren’t as Bad as People Think

Daniel Miessler

If you’re reading this you’re underslept and over-caffeinated due to log4j. Thank you for your service. I have some good news. I know a super-smart guy named d0nut who figured something out like 3 days ago that very few people know. Once you have 2.15 applied—or the CLI implementation to disable lookups—you actually need a non-default log4j2.properties configuration to still be vulnerable!

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Open Source Pwned Passwords with FBI Feed and 225M New NCA Passwords is Now Live!

Troy Hunt

In the last month, there were 1,260,000,000 occasions where a service somewhere checked a password against Have I Been Pwned's (HIBP's) Pwned Password API. 99.7% of the time, that check went no further than one of hundreds of Cloudflare edge nodes spread around the world (95% of the world's population is within 50ms of one). It looks like this: There are all sorts of amazing Pwned Passwords use cases out there.

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CyberSecurity and Artificial Intelligence Expert Joseph Steinberg To Speak at AI Summit

Joseph Steinberg

CyberSecurity and Artificial Intelligence Expert, Joseph Steinberg, will lead a panel discussion on the intersection of CyberSecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to take place on Thursday, December 9, 2021, the second and final day of the AI Summit being held in person in New York’s Javits Center. Steinberg’s session, entitled Key Challenges for Security Leaders Now and Beyond – Not Just Technical Competence , will feature a discussion with four other notable figures from the w

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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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Smart Contract Bug Results in $31 Million Loss

Schneier on Security

A hacker stole $31 million from the blockchain company MonoX Finance , by exploiting a bug in software the service uses to draft smart contracts. Specifically, the hack used the same token as both the tokenIn and tokenOut, which are methods for exchanging the value of one token for another. MonoX updates prices after each swap by calculating new prices for both tokens.

Internet 363
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NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20 Million SIM Swap Theft

Krebs on Security

A 24-year-old New York man who bragged about helping to steal more than $20 million worth of cryptocurrency from a technology executive has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Nicholas Truglia was part of a group alleged to have stolen more than $100 million from cryptocurrency investors using fraudulent “SIM swaps,” scams in which identity thieves hijack a target’s mobile phone number and use that to wrest control over the victim’s online identities.

LifeWorks

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Stealing More SRE Ideas for Your SOC

Anton on Security

As we discussed in “Achieving Autonomic Security Operations: Reducing toil” (or it’s early version “Kill SOC Toil, Do SOC Eng” ), your Security Operations Center (SOC) can learn a lot from what IT operations learned during the SRE revolution. In this post of the series, we plan to extract the lessons for your SOC centered on another SRE principle?—?

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A Password Manager Isn't Just for Christmas, It's for Life (So Here's 50% Off!)

Troy Hunt

I was having a coffee with a good mate the other day. He's not a techie (he runs a pizza restaurant), but somehow, we ended up talking about passwords. Because he's a normal person, he has the same 1 or 2 or 3 he uses everywhere and even without telling me what they were, I knew they were terrible. Actually, I'll rephrase that: because he was a normal guy; he's not normal anymore because yesterday I carved out some time to give him an early Christmas present: Today I spent an

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GUEST ESSAY: Why the arrests of cyber criminals in 2021 will incentize attackers in 2022

The Last Watchdog

In 2021, law enforcement continued making a tremendous effort to track down, capture and arrest ransomware operators, to take down ransomware infrastructure, and to claw back ransomware payments. Related: The targeting of supply chains. While some of these efforts have been successful, and may prevent more damage from being done, it is important to realize that headline news is a lightning rod for more attacks.

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Someone Is Running Lots of Tor Relays

Schneier on Security

Since 2017, someone is running about a thousand — 10% of the total — Tor servers in an attempt to deanonymize the network: Grouping these servers under the KAX17 umbrella, Nusenu says this threat actor has constantly added servers with no contact details to the Tor network in industrial quantities, operating servers in the realm of hundreds at any given point.

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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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Who Is the Network Access Broker ‘Babam’?

Krebs on Security

Rarely do cybercriminal gangs that deploy ransomware gain the initial access to the target themselves. More commonly, that access is purchased from a cybercriminal broker who specializes in acquiring remote access credentials — such as usernames and passwords needed to remotely connect to the target’s network. In this post we’ll look at the clues left behind by “ Babam ,” the handle chosen by a cybercriminal who has sold such access to ransomware groups on many occa

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Banks Must Report Cyber Incidents Beginning in May 2022

Lohrman on Security

U.S. financial institutions are leaders in global cyber defense. Recently approved rules will mandate the reporting of security incidents next year. We explore the topic with cybersecurity expert Michael McLaughlin.

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Everything Encrypted Will Soon Become Decryptable: We Must Prepare Now For The Era Of Quantum Computers

Joseph Steinberg

Nearly every piece of data that is presently protected through the use of encryption may become vulnerable to exposure unless we take action soon. Today’s computers – which are obviously the tools that we use to encrypt and decrypt data – carry out all of their activities by representing both commands and information using bits – with a single physical “bit” element either having an electrical charge (and, logically, being considered, therefore, a 1) or lacking such a charge (and, as such, indic

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When is a Scrape a Breach?

Troy Hunt

A decade and a bit ago during my tenure at Pfizer, a colleague's laptop containing information about customers, healthcare providers and other vendors was stolen from their car. The machine had full disk encryption and it's not known whether the thief was ever actually able to access the data. It's not clear if the car was locked or not.

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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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GUEST ESSAY: Ransomware pivot 2021: attackers now grab, threaten to leak sensitive data

The Last Watchdog

Ransomware attacks have reached a record high this year, with nearly 250 attacks recorded to date and months to go. As we’ve seen with major attacks like Kaseya and Colonial Pipeline, cybercriminals have continued to innovate, developing new tools and tactics to encrypt and exfiltrate data. Related: Kaseya breach worsens supply chain worries. Where previously ransomware gangs relied solely on the attack’s disruption to daily business to be enough for the victim to pay the ransom, today’s stakes

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Google Shuts Down Glupteba Botnet, Sues Operators

Schneier on Security

Google took steps to shut down the Glupteba botnet, at least for now. (The botnet uses the bitcoin blockchain as a backup command-and-control mechanism, making it hard to get rid of it permanently.) So Google is also suing the botnet’s operators. It’s an interesting strategy. Let’s see if it’s successful.

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Microsoft Patch Tuesday, December 2021 Edition

Krebs on Security

Microsoft , Adobe , and Google all issued security updates to their products today. The Microsoft patches include six previously disclosed security flaws, and one that is already being actively exploited. But this month’s Patch Tuesday is overshadowed by the “ Log4Shell ” 0-day exploit in a popular Java library that web server administrators are now racing to find and patch amid widespread exploitation of the flaw.

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2021 Cyber Review: The Year Ransomware Disrupted Infrastructure

Lohrman on Security

2021 will be remembered as the most disruptive year so far when it came to cyber attacks, with ransomware impacting businesses and governments — including critical infrastructure — as never before.

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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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SOC Technology Failures?—?Do They Matter?

Anton on Security

SOC Technology Failures?—?Do They Matter? img src: [link] Most failed Security Operations Centers (SOCs) that I’ve seen have not failed due to a technology failure. Lack of executive commitment, process breakdowns, ineffective workforces (often a result from poor management and lack of commitment … again) and talent shortages have killed more SOCs than any and all technology failures.

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Weekly Update 274

Troy Hunt

As I start out by saying this week's video, it's very summer here and not a day goes by without multiple pool visits. Next week's video is going to be from somewhere epically amazing out of this world that I've wanted to go to for a long time now so stay tuned for that one as I go mobile again. Somehow, today's video stretched out beyond an hour with what felt like a list of pretty minor discussion points, but plenty of good questions and commentary along the way.

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GUEST ESSAY: Introducing ‘killware’ — malware designed to contaminate, disrupt critical services

The Last Watchdog

Within the past year, we have seen a glut of ransomware attacks that made global news as they stymied the operations of many. In May, the infamous Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack disrupted nationwide fuel supply to most of the U.S. East Coast for six days. Related: Using mobile apps to radicalize youth. But the danger has moved up a notch with a new, grave threat: killware.

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Thieves Using AirTags to “Follow” Cars

Schneier on Security

From Ontario and not surprising : Since September 2021, officers have investigated five incidents where suspects have placed small tracking devices on high-end vehicles so they can later locate and steal them. Brand name “air tags” are placed in out-of-sight areas of the target vehicles when they are parked in public places like malls or parking lots.

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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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Canada Charges Its “Most Prolific Cybercriminal”

Krebs on Security

A 31-year-old Canadian man has been arrested and charged with fraud in connection with numerous ransomware attacks against businesses, government agencies and private citizens throughout Canada and the United States. Canadian authorities describe him as “the most prolific cybercriminal we’ve identified in Canada,” but so far they’ve released few other details about the investigation or the defendant.

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The 10 worst tech stories of 2021

Tech Republic Security

Have fond memories of 2021? They probably don't include these 10 stories or the products and services surrounding them.

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Anton’s Security Blog Quarterly Q4 2021

Anton on Security

Sometimes great old blog posts are hard to find (especially on Medium ) , so I decided to do a periodic list blog with my favorite posts of the past quarter or so. Here is the next one. The posts below are ranked by lifetime views. This covers both Anton on Security and my posts from Google Cloud blog , and our Cloud Security Podcast too ( subscribe ).

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Weekly Update 275

Troy Hunt

I'd say this is probably the most epic scene I've ever done one of these videos from and equally, the main topic of the day around Pwned Passwords and the work done with the FBI and NCA is the most epic thing I've done for a very long time. On reflection, I feel like this is the first major step towards HIBP growing up and becoming self-sufficient; that Pwned Passwords piece is now owned by the community, supported by the community, contributed to by 2 of the world's foremost

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IDC Analyst Report: The Open Source Blind Spot Putting Businesses at Risk

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.

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GUEST ESSAY: How the FIDO Alliance helps drive the move to passwordless authentication

The Last Watchdog

For IT leaders, passwords no longer cut it. They’re expensive, difficult for employees to keep track of, and easy for hackers to utilize in cyberattacks. So why are they still around? Related: IT pros support passwordless access. This traditional authentication method is challenging to get rid of, mostly because it’s so common. Every new account you sign up for, application you download, or device you purchase requires a password.

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NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware Used Against US State Department Officials

Schneier on Security

NSO Group’s descent into Internet pariah status continues. Its Pegasus spyware was used against nine US State Department employees. We don’t know which NSO Group customer trained the spyware on the US. But the company does: NSO Group said in a statement on Thursday that it did not have any indication their tools were used but canceled access for the relevant customers and would investigate based on the Reuters inquiry. “If our investigation shall show these actions indeed happe

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Inside Ireland’s Public Healthcare Ransomware Scare

Krebs on Security

The consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published lessons learned from the disruptive and costly ransomware attack in May 2021 on Ireland’s public health system. The unusually candid post-mortem found that nearly two months elapsed between the initial intrusion and the launching of the ransomware. It also found affected hospitals had tens of thousands of outdated Windows 7 systems, and that the health system’s IT administrators failed to respond to multiple warning signs

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Check for Log4j vulnerabilities with this simple-to-use script

Tech Republic Security

If you're not certain whether your Java project is free from Log4j vulnerabilities, you should try this easy-to-use scanning tool immediately.

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Beware of Pixels & Trackers on U.S. Healthcare Websites

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.