Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 14, 2020
Communications at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments were reportedly compromised by a supply chain attack on SolarWinds , a security vendor that helps the federal government and a range of Fortune 500 companies monitor the health of their IT networks. Given the breadth of the company’s customer base, experts say the incident may be just the first of many such disclosures.
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 18, 2020
The NSA has published an advisory outlining how “malicious cyber actors” are “are manipulating trust in federated authentication environments to access protected data in the cloud.” This is related to the SolarWinds hack I have previously written about , and represents one of the techniques the SVR is using once it has gained access to target networks.
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Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 19, 2020
I'm live again! Well, I was live having found enough connectivity in Port Douglas to go back to streaming. I'll still be here next week too and will plan on doing a Christmas morning stream from the same location. I talk a bunch about the trip and what I'm seeing in Aus in the latter part of this video, it's a truly amazing place I'm only just getting to really see extensively now.
Adam Levin
DECEMBER 30, 2020
Hackers are using internet-connected home devices to livestream “swatting” attacks, according to the FBI. Swatting is a dangerous prank where emergency services are called to respond to a life threatening situation that requires immediate intervention by police and/or S.W.A.T. teams. In a public service announcement issued December 29, the FBI warned that “offenders have been using stolen e-mail passwords to access smart devices with cameras and voice capabilities and carry out swatting attacks.
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Daniel Miessler
DECEMBER 3, 2020
The Lawfare Podcast is one of my few staples, and I just listened to another great episode on espionage against US buisnesses. My main takeaway was this: Foreign governments—and especially China—are pivoting from targeting other governments for their secrets, to instead going after private companies because that’s where most of the intellectual property is.
Anton on Security
DECEMBER 22, 2020
New Paper: “Future of the SOC: SOC People?—?Skills, Not Tiers” Back in August , we released our first Google/Chronicle?—?Deloitte Security Operations Center (SOC) paper titled “Future of the SOC: Forces shaping modern security operations” ( launch blog , paper PDF ) and promised a series of three more papers covering SOC people, process and technology.
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Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 31, 2020
In what is surely an unthinking cut-and-paste issue, page 921 of the Brexit deal mandates the use of SHA-1 and 1024-bit RSA: The open standard s/MIME as extension to de facto e-mail standard SMTP will be deployed to encrypt messages containing DNA profile information. The protocol s/MIME (V3) allows signed receipts, security labels, and secure mailing lists… The underlying certificate used by s/MIME mechanism has to be in compliance with X.509 standard… The processing rules for s/MIM
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 11, 2020
Well this is different; a weekly update bereft of neon studio lighting and instead done from the great outdoors, complete with all sorts of animal noises and a (probably) drunk green tree frog. I picked one of my favourite travelling companions to join me this week, a little guy I last did one of these with in a very different environment back in Oslo earlier this year.
Adam Levin
DECEMBER 23, 2020
Law enforcement agencies from the United States and Europe seized domain names and servers belonging to a virtual private network (VPN) provider long linked to online cybercrime. In a press release issued December 22, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider announced the action, called “Operation Nova,” which disrupted the activities of a so-called “bulletproof hosting service” in coordination with Europol and law enforcement agencies from Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Daniel Miessler
DECEMBER 9, 2020
I am often asked for my thoughts on the Bug Bounty / RECON / Asset Inventory / Attack Surface Management spaces. This is partially because I founded a company, called HELIOS, back in 2016, which I separated from at the end of 2018. And although I am no longer actively involved in the space I still follow it from a distance. Here’s how I understand the space and where it’s going.
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Joseph Steinberg
DECEMBER 14, 2020
The U.S. government instructed all of its civilian agencies to immediately shut off various popular network and system management products being exploited as part of an ongoing cyberattack. Russian government hackers are believed to have poisoned with malware updates of the SolarWinds Orion products used in many government agencies and in over 80% of the Fortune 500, introducing vulnerabilities that the hackers then exploited to conduct espionage and to pilfer extremely sensitive materials.
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 16, 2020
A key malicious domain name used to control potentially thousands of computer systems compromised via the months-long breach at network monitoring software vendor SolarWinds was commandeered by security experts and used as a “killswitch” designed to turn the sprawling cybercrime operation against itself, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. Austin, Texas-based SolarWinds disclosed this week that a compromise of its software update servers earlier this year may have resulted in malicious code
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 18, 2020
Gizmodo is reporting that schools in the US are buying equipment to unlock cell phones from companies like Cellebrite: Gizmodo has reviewed similar accounting documents from eight school districts, seven of which are in Texas, showing that administrators paid as much $11,582 for the controversial surveillance technology. Known as mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs), this type of tech is able to siphon text messages, photos, and application data from student’s devices.
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 4, 2020
It's a lighter weekly update this week, kinda feels like I'm still recovering from last week's epic IoT series TBH. It's also the last update from home before I go on my first decent trip since the whole pandemic thing started and as such, the next five updates will all come from other locations, some of them rather, uh, "remote". But there's still an hour of content today including the fact that it's HIBP's birthday ??
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Adam Levin
DECEMBER 16, 2020
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected–and do the best we can in a rapidly changing world. That’s always the case when it comes to cybersecurity. Here are 12 New Year Resolutions for a safer and more secure digital you in 2021: Think before you click that email link: 2020 was a record-breaking year for ransomware, malware, and phishing , and many, if not most of these attacks were launched with the click on a link in an email.
Tech Republic Security
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Cybercriminals do what they do for money, so why not make it unworthy of their time to attack your small or medium business?
Joseph Steinberg
DECEMBER 1, 2020
Social media users’ delight at receiving notification that their accounts have qualified for Verification (that is, receiving the often-coveted “blue check mark” that appears on the social media profiles of public figures) has become the latest target of criminal exploitation. Cybercrooks intent on stealing people’s identities (or worse) have begun sending well-crafted messages that both impersonate various major social-media providers, as well as mimic the instructions that such media platforms
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 10, 2020
Payment card processing giant TSYS suffered a ransomware attack earlier this month. Since then reams of data stolen from the company have been posted online, with the attackers promising to publish more in the coming days. But the company says the malware did not jeopardize card data, and that the incident was limited to administrative areas of its business.
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Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 17, 2020
The New York Times has more details. About 18,000 private and government users downloaded a Russian tainted software update – a Trojan horse of sorts – that gave its hackers a foothold into victims’ systems, according to SolarWinds, the company whose software was compromised. Among those who use SolarWinds software are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department, the Justice Department, parts of the Pentagon and a number of utility companies.
Troy Hunt
DECEMBER 26, 2020
Well that's Christmas down for another year, and a rather different one it was for so many of us around the world. I'm pumping this post out very quickly (a couple of days after recording) whilst midway along a very long drive. I'll share more about that on my New Year's Day broadcast so for now, here's the Christmas Day weekly update: References Ledger customers are receiving some super nasty protection emails (makes me think of the mob charging business to make sure "nothing happens to them.
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 13, 2020
One legacy of the ongoing global pandemic is that companies now realize that a secured and well-supported remote workforce is possible. Recently, the University of Illinois and the Harvard Business School conducted a study, and 16% of companies reported switching their employees to work at home from offices at least twice a week. Related: SASE translates into secure connectivity.
Tech Republic Security
DECEMBER 29, 2020
AI and machine learning have the potential to take a bite out of cybercrime, but let's not forget the human factor.
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.
Joseph Steinberg
DECEMBER 14, 2020
A former Cisco engineer was sentenced this past Wednesday (December 9, 2020) to 24 months in prison (and a $15,000 fine) for accessing Cisco’s network, and subsequently causing a service outage of Cisco’s WebEx Teams video conferencing service. Sudhish Kasaba Ramesh, who worked in California for Cisco from July 2016 to April 2018, pled guilty in August to charges emanating from his alleged accessing of Cisco’s network in September of 2018 (5 months after he left Cisco), and his subsequent
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 4, 2020
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said this week that beginning in 2021 it will allow all taxpayers to apply for an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN), a single-use code designed to block identity thieves from falsely claiming a tax refund in your name. Currently, IP PINs are issued only to those who fill out an ID theft affidavit, or to taxpayers who’ve experienced tax refund fraud in previous years.
Schneier on Security
DECEMBER 24, 2020
Interesting analysis of China’s efforts to identify US spies: By about 2010, two former CIA officials recalled, the Chinese security services had instituted a sophisticated travel intelligence program, developing databases that tracked flights and passenger lists for espionage purposes. “We looked at it very carefully,” said the former senior CIA official.
Adam Levin
DECEMBER 9, 2020
FireEye is a global leader in cybersecurity. The company disclosed this week that a data breach had occurred, announcing that “a highly sophisticated threat actor” compromised their systems and stole tools the company used to simulate cyberattacks and data breaches. . Here’s what you need to know: The threat actors responsible have yet to be identified.
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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.
The Last Watchdog
DECEMBER 8, 2020
Company networks have evolved rather spectacularly in just 20 years along a couple of distinct tracks: connectivity and security. We began the new millennium with on-premises data centers supporting servers and desktops that a technician in sneakers could service. Connectivity was relatively uncomplicated.
Tech Republic Security
DECEMBER 30, 2020
Collaboration between organizations and even countries might be the only way to have a positive impact on cybercrime, according to one expert.
Adam Shostack
DECEMBER 27, 2020
It’s easy to forget that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the moon for nearly a dozen years. Via DIY Photography.
Krebs on Security
DECEMBER 2, 2020
For at least the third time in its existence, OGUsers — a forum overrun with people looking to buy, sell and trade access to compromised social media accounts — has been hacked. An offer by the apparent hackers of OGUsers, offering to remove account information from the eventual database leak in exchange for payment. Roughly a week ago, the OGUsers homepage was defaced with a message stating the forum’s user database had been compromised.
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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