Lohrman on Security
DECEMBER 23, 2021
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.
Daniel Miessler
DECEMBER 18, 2021
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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Joseph Steinberg
DECEMBER 7, 2021
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
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 19, 2021
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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Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 16, 2021
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.
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 2, 2021
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.
Cyber Security Informer brings together the best content for cyber security professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Lohrman on Security
DECEMBER 5, 2021
Underestimating, or not properly preparing for, adversaries can lead to big trouble — in both football and cybersecurity. So what can cyber teams learn from “The Game”?
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 16, 2021
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.
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 7, 2021
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
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 3, 2021
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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Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 7, 2021
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.
Joseph Steinberg
DECEMBER 20, 2021
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
Lohrman on Security
DECEMBER 12, 2021
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.
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 2, 2021
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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Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 15, 2021
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.
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 14, 2021
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.
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 20, 2021
Citizen Lab published another report on the spyware used against two Egyptian nationals. One was hacked by NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The other was hacked both by Pegasus and by the spyware from another cyberweapons arms manufacturer: Cytrox. We haven’t heard a lot about Cytrox and its Predator spyware. According to Citzen Lab: We conducted Internet scanning for Predator spyware servers and found likely Predator customers in Armenia, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Madagascar, Oman, Saud
Anton on Security
DECEMBER 10, 2021
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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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.
Lohrman on Security
DECEMBER 19, 2021
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.
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 20, 2021
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.
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 17, 2021
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.
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 8, 2021
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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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.
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 9, 2021
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.
Anton on Security
DECEMBER 20, 2021
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 ).
Tech Republic Security
DECEMBER 14, 2021
Log4j is a serious vulnerability that has swept across the IT landscape quickly. Here's a single command you can run to test and see if you have any vulnerable packages installed.
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 6, 2021
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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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.
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 24, 2021
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
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 13, 2021
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
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 6, 2021
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.
Javvad Malik
DECEMBER 3, 2021
I’m no writer of novels, but I allowed myself to be influenced by national November novel writing month and thought it would be a good idea to attempt a blog a day through the month. In the end, I wrote 17 blogs during November, the most I’ve written in a long time, perhaps ever. There are another 3 which ended up in drafts that will likely never see the light of day.
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?
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