Threat Source (April 4)

Welcome to this week’s Threat Source newsletter — the perfect place to get caught up on all things Talos from the past week. If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to register for this year’s Talos Threat Research Summit — our second annual conference by defenders, for defenders. This year’s Summ...

Researchers: Facebook's Data-Leveraging Scandal Puts Users on Notice

On the heels of reports that Facebook leveraged its users’ data in its relationships with other companies, researchers say that the tech space needs to re-assess the value of data as it relates to user privacy measures. However, they also said that users need to take steps themselves to safeguard...

Scranos: New Rapidly Evolving Rootkit-Enabled Spyware Discovered

A new powerful rootkit-enabled spyware operation has been discovered wherein hackers are distributing multifunctional malware disguised as cracked software or trojanized app posing as legitimate software like video players, drivers and even anti-virus products. While the rootkit malware—dubbed...

A week in security (April 8 – 14)

Last week on Labs, we said hello to Baldr, a new stealer on the market, we wondered who is managing the security of medical management apps, discussed the different perceptions of personal information, and we looked at fake Instagram assistance apps found on Google Play that are stealing password...

Russia Fines Facebook $47 Over Citizens' Data Privacy Dispute

Yes, you read that right! Russia has fined Facebook with 3,000 rubles, roughly $47, for not complying with the country's controversial Data Localization law. It's bizarre and unbelievable, but true. In December last year, Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor sent notifications to Twitter and...

Russia Fines Facebook $47 Over Citizens' Data Privacy Dispute

Yes, you read that right! Russia has fined Facebook with 3,000 rubles, roughly $47, for not complying with the country's controversial Data Localization law. It's bizarre and unbelievable, but true. In December last year, Russian Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor sent notifications to Twitter and...

Threat Source (April 11)

Newsletter compiled by Jonathan Munshaw. Welcome to this week’s Threat Source newsletter — the perfect place to get caught up on all things Talos from the past week. If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to register for this year’s Talos Threat Research Summit — our second annual conference by...

A Year Later, Cybercrime Groups Still Rampant on Facebook

Almost exactly one year ago, KrebsOnSecurity reported that a mere two hours of searching revealed more than 100 Facebook groups with some 300,000 members openly advertising services to support all types of cybercrime, including spam, credit card fraud and identity theft. Facebook responded by...

A week in security (April 1 – 7)

Last week, Malwarebytes Labs took readers on a brief tour of some of the world's most notable data privacy laws, explored how gamers can protect themselves against cyberthreats, and offered thoughts about the reports that a 23-year-old Chinese woman gained access to President Donald Trump’s...

Facebook Won't Stop Being Sketchy, and More Security News This Week

Plus: Mar-a-Lago mishaps, Airbnb's creepy camera problem, tax-season phishing scams, and more...

Podcast: Chris Vickery on UpGuard's Discovery of Millions of Facebook Records

Data collection and security was thrust to the forefront this week after researchers with UpGuard disclosed that hundreds of millions of Facebook records were found in two separate publicly-exposed app datasets. The two publicly-exposed datasets included one controlled by Mexican media company...

Facebook Boots 74 Cybercrime Groups From Platform

Facebook has booted more than 70 cybercrime groups off its platform that were peddling illicit services – from email spamming tools to stolen credentials and payment information sales – in plain sight. Researchers said a simple search on Facebook for keywords like “spam,” “CVV” or more returned...

Facebook Let Dozens of Cybercrime Groups Operate in Plain Sight

Who needs the dark web? Researchers found 74 groups offering stolen credit cards and hacking tools with simple Facebook searches...

Hiding in Plain Sight

This blog was written by Jon Munshaw and Jaeson Schultz. Cisco Talos is continually working to ensure that our threat intelligence not only accounts for the latest threats but also new versions of old threats, such as spam. This often means pursuing cybercriminals wherever they congregate. Howeve...

Facebook Exposed Dataset Debacle: Who's Really To Blame?

UPDATE The discovery of millions of Facebook records leaked from publicly-exposed AWS storage buckets has left researchers wondering where the responsibility lies. The two separate datasets, disclosed Wednesday by researchers at Upguard, were held by two app developers, Cultura Colectiva and At t...

BasBanke: Trend-setting Brazilian banking Trojan

BasBanke is a new Android malware family targeting Brazilian users. It is a banking Trojan built to steal financial data such as credentials and credit/debit card numbers, but not limited to this functionality. The propagation of this threat began during the 2018 Brazilian elections, registering...

Private data of 540 million Facebook users exposed in plain text

By Waqas Unprotected Amazon Web Services has a new victim and it's Facebook users. It’s just been a year since the Cambridge Analytics scandal made headlines the world in which Facebook failed to secure its users’ information. Now the cybersecurity firm UpGuard’s researchers have identified the...

Facebook Exposed Data Again, but This Viral Cat Can Save Lives

Catch up on the most important news today in 2 minutes or less...

Third-Party Apps Exposed Over 540 Million Facebook Records

A cybersecurity firm found that two different third-party Facebook apps left millions of records about users sitting unprotected on Amazon’s servers...

540 Million Facebook User Records Found On Unprotected Amazon Servers

It's been a bad week for Facebook users. First, the social media company was caught asking some of its new users to share passwords for their registered email accounts and now… ...the bad week gets worse with a new privacy breach. More than half a billion records of millions of Facebook users hav...