A Tumultuous Week for Federal Cybersecurity Efforts

Image: Shutterstock. Greg Meland. President Trump last week issued a flurry of executive orders that upended a number of government initiatives focused on improving the nation's cybersecurity posture. The president fired all advisors from the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Safety Review...

Trump Terminates DHS Advisory Committee Memberships, Disrupting Cybersecurity Review

The new Trump administration has terminated all memberships of advisory committees that report to the Department of Homeland Security DHS. "In alignment with the Department of Homeland Security's DHS commitment to eliminating the misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our...

Find the helpers

Welcome to this week's edition of the Threat Source newsletter. "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" ― Fred Rogers There's no world where following Mr. Roger's advice is wrong...

On the Cyber Safety Review Board

When an airplane crashes, impartial investigatory bodies leap into action, empowered by law to unearth what happened and why. But there is no such empowered and impartial body to investigate CrowdStrikes faulty update that recently unfolded, ensnarling banks, airlines, and emergency services to t...

On the CSRB’s Non-Investigation of the SolarWinds Attack

ProPublica has a long investigative article on how the Cyber Safety Review Board failed to investigate the SolarWinds attack, and specifically Microsofts culpability, even though they were directed by President Biden to do so...

US Cyber Safety Review Board on the 2023 Microsoft Exchange Hack

The US Cyber Safety Review Board released a report on the summer 2023 hack of Microsoft Exchange by China. It was a serious attack by the Chinese government that accessed the emails of senior US government officials. From the executive summary: The Board finds that this intrusion was preventable...

What is XDR ?

Unpacking XDR: Broadened Acknowledgment and Response In the perpetually advancing domain of digital protection, new lingo and philosophies constantly emerge. Among the more recent additions is XDR, an acronym for Extended Detection and Response. This passage will provide a detailed insight into...

The Microsoft Intune Suite fuels cyber safety and IT efficiency

Today marks a significant shift in endpoint management and security. Were launching the Microsoft Intune Suite, which unifies mission-critical advanced endpoint management and security solutions into one simple bundle. The new Intune Suite can simplify our customers’ endpoint management experienc...

The Microsoft Intune Suite fuels cyber safety and IT efficiency

Today marks a significant shift in endpoint management and security. Were launching the Microsoft Intune Suite, which unifies mission-critical advanced endpoint management and security solutions into one simple bundle. The new Intune Suite can simplify our customers’ endpoint management experienc...

Iranian Hackers Exploiting Unpatched Log4j 2 Bugs to Target Israeli Organizations

Iranian state-sponsored actors are leaving no stone unturned to exploit unpatched systems running Log4j to target Israeli entities, indicating the vulnerability's long tail for remediation. Microsoft attributed the latest set of activities to the umbrella threat group tracked as MuddyWater aka...

Tax Day Fraud: “Identity Theft Subscriptions” in High Demand on the Dark Web

With billions of stolen usernames, passwords, banking information and more circulating on the dark web, identity theft is an evolving and lucrative business, one notorious for exploiting vulnerable times and vulnerable populations. COVID-19 was no exception, opening up a world of new opportunitie...

Stalkerware and online stalking are accepted by Americans. Why?

Despite warnings from domestic abuse networks, privacy rights advocates, and a committed faction of cybersecurity vendors, Americans may be accepting and minimizing online stalking behaviors, including the use of invasive apps that can pry into a user’s text messages, emails, photos, videos, and...

New SchoolSafety.gov Provides Cyber Guidance for K-12 Schools

The Federal School Safety Clearinghouse just launched its website: SchoolSafety.gov. This website—a collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services—features a fact sheet on Cyber Safety Considerations for K-12...

Safer Internet Day

February 11, 2020, is Safer Internet Day, a worldwide event aimed at promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for all users, especially children and teens. This year's theme—Together for a better internet—encourages everyone to play their part in creating a safer, more secure...

Cyber Safety for Students

As summer break ends, many students will return to school with mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Although these devices can help students complete schoolwork and stay in touch with family and friends, there are risks associated with using them. However, there are simple...

16-Year-Old Boy Who Hacked Apple's Private Systems Gets No Jail Time

An Australian teenager who pleaded guilty to break into Apple's private systems multiple times over several months and download some 90GB of secure files has avoided conviction and will not serve time in prison. An Australian Children's Court has given the now 19-year-old adult defendant, who was...

Back-to-School Cyber Safety

As summer break ends, many students will return to school with mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Although these devices can help students with their schoolwork and stay in touch with family and friends, there are risks associated with using them. However, there are simpl...

Safer Internet Day

February 6, 2018, is Safer Internet Day SID, a worldwide event aimed at promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for all users, especially children and teens. This year's SID theme—Create, Connect and Share Respect: A better Internet starts with you—encourages everyone to play...

Protecting Your Children with Parental Controls

Chances are, your kids have never known a world when the internet wasn’t there—which is both good and bad news. On the one hand, it means these digital natives take to the online world much quicker than you or I ever did. On the other, it also means they’re less likely to question what they see o...

A week in security (July 17 – July 23)

Over the last week, we have covered Play Protect, android’s new security system and how the Dutch police ran Hansa Market after the take down of Alpha Bay, both major players on the Dark Web. We also provided some tips on how to stay cyber safe this summer. We also saw how the Terror exploit kit...