Microsoft Releases Five Bulletins For September Patch Tuesday

Microsoft on Tuesday released again the five security bulletins for its September Patch Tuesday. None of the fixes being released today is rated critical, with all five being rated important. Three of the bulletins fix flaws that could result in code execution. Microsoft also updated the security...

Defeating Ransomware-as-a-Service? Think Intel-Sharing

The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack put a glaring spotlight on the ransomware scourge – and, in particular, on the rise of ransomware-as-a-service RaaS. That attack was perpetrated by DarkSide, a RaaS platform that purportedly first surfaced last August. While the group now claims they’re don...

Google Boots 164 Apps from Play Marketplace for Shady Ad Practices

Google has removed 164 apps, downloaded a total of 10 million times, from its Google Play marketplace because they were delivering “disruptive” ads, considered malicious. Last year, the tech giant banned apps that delivered this type of advertising, called out-of-context ads. But the problem...

BRATA Android RAT Steals Banking Info in Real Time

A powerful Android remote access tool RAT family dubbed BRATA is proliferating, with at least 20 different variants cropping up since it was first spotted in January. The majority of the binaries have been found in the official Google Play store, masquerading as updates for the instant messaging...

News Wrap: Facebook Regulation, Verizon DBIR, Hidden Airbnb Cameras

From a massive data-breach report that showed surprising – and disturbing – cybercrime trends, to an op-ed in the New York Times that took aim at Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Threatpost editors Lindsey O’Donnell and Tom Spring break down this week’s biggest news. This weeks topics include:...

Nvidia Warns Windows Gamers on GPU Driver Flaws

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia has issued three patches for high-severity vulnerabilities in its GPU display driver, which could lead to information disclosure, escalation of privileges and denial of service DoS in impacted Windows gaming devices. Nvidia’s graphics driver for Windows is used in device...

Wipro Confirms Hack and Supply Chain Attacks on Customers

IT systems consulting behemoth Wipro Ltd. has confirmed that its network was hacked and used for mounting attacks on its customers. After multiple unnamed sources independently told Brian Krebs that a “multi-month intrusion” occurred and is likely the work of an advanced persistent threat APT act...

Adobe Fixes 43 Critical Acrobat and Reader Flaws

Adobe issued patches for 43 critical vulnerabilities in Acrobat and Reader – including a fix for a zero-day flaw that researchers at 0patch temporarily fixed on Monday. That bug could enable bad actors to steal victims’ hashed password values. Overall, Adobe patched 75 important and critical...

Chafer APT Takes Aim at Diplomats in Iran with Improved Custom Malware

UPDATE An Iran-linked APT known as Chafer has been spotted targeting various entities based in Iran with an enhanced version of a custom malware that takes a very unique approach to communication by using the Microsoft Background Intelligent Transfer Service BITS mechanism over HTTP. Meanwhile th...

Two Nasty Outlook Bugs Fixed in Microsoft’s Feb. Patch Tuesday Update

Microsoft issued 50 security fixes as part of its February Patch Tuesday release, covering vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Edge and its JavaScript engine ChakraCore. Fourteen of the vulnerabilities are labeled as critical, 34 as important and two as moderate. Two notable...

CGI Script Vulnerability 'Httpoxy' Allows Man-in-the-Middle Attack

An old scripting vulnerability that impacts a large number of Linux distributions and programing languages allows for man-in-the-middle attacks that could compromise web servers. The vulnerability, which affects many PHP and CGI web-apps, was revealed Monday in tandem with the release of a bevy...

Office 365 Vulnerability Exposed Any Federated Account

A severe vulnerability in the way Microsoft Office 365 handles federated identities via SAML put an attacker in position to have access to any account and data, including email messages and files stored in the cloud-based service. Microsoft pushed through a mitigation to the service on Jan. 5,...

Microsoft Warns Customers Away From RC4, SHA-1

The RC4 and SHA-1 algorithms have taken a lot of hits in recent years, with new attacks popping up on a regular basis. Many security experts and cryptographers have been recommending that vendors begin phasing the two out, and Microsoft on Tuesday said that is now recommending to developers that...

Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimize 130 Firms

Targeted attacks on Twilio and Cloudflare employees are tied to a massive phishing campaign that resulted in 9,931 accounts at over 130 organizations being compromised. The campaigns are tied to focused abuse of identity and access management firm Okta, which gained the threat actors the 0ktapus...

Zero-Day Bug Impacts Problem-Plagued Cisco SOHO Routers

Cisco Systems said it will not fix a critical vulnerability found in three of its SOHO router models. The bug, rated 9.8 in severity out of 10, could allow unauthenticated remote users to hijack targeted equipment and gain elevated privileges within effected systems. The three Cisco router models...

Adobe Fixes Critical ColdFusion Flaw in Emergency Update

In an unscheduled security update, Adobe is warning of a critical security flaw in its ColdFusion platform, used for building web applications. The security alert comes two weeks after Adobe’s regularly-scheduled updates. During these updates, the tech company issued patches for a slew of critica...

Blackrota Golang Backdoor Packs Heavy Obfuscation Punch

Researchers have discovered a new backdoor written in the Go programming language Golang, which turned their heads due to its heavy level of obfuscation. The backdoor, called Blackrota, was first discovered in a honeypot owned by researchers, attempting to exploit an unauthorized-access...

Microsoft Zaps Actively Exploited Zero-Day Bug

Microsoft has issued fixes for 36 CVEs for December 2019 Patch Tuesday across a range of products, with seven of them rated critical in severity – and one that’s already being exploited in the wild as a zero-day bug. The computing giant’s scheduled security update this month is relatively light,...

IoT Smartwatch Exposes Kids' Personal, GPS Data

Researchers are warning parents that a children’s connected smartwatch has vulnerabilities that leak users’ personal and GPS data, and allow attackers to listen in on and manipulate conversations. Worse, the smartwatch in question, SMA M2, is currently used by 5,000 children worldwide. Chinese...

DDoS Attacks Target Amazon, SoftLayer and Telecom Infrastructure

The last 30 days has seen a renewed increase in distributed denial-of-service DDoS activity, according to researchers, who said that they have observed a number of criminal campaigns mounting TCP reflection DDoS attacks against corporations. Researchers at Radware said that the list of victims...

5G and IoT: How to Approach the Security Implications

When it comes to the next generation of mobile networks, 5G promises a more Internet of Things-friendly ecosystem with vast improvements over the current capabilities of 4G – however, its intersection with IoT will also raise the stakes on cybersecurity. The benefits of 5G are myriad: Not only wi...

Intel CPUs Vulnerable to Sensitive Data Leakage in NetCAT Attack

Researchers have identified a new side-channel attack impacting all modern Intel server processors made since 2012. The vulnerability could allow bad actors to sniff out encrypted passwords as they are being typed into a secure shell session SSH; but, luckily, such an attack would be difficult to...

DEF CON 2019: MacOS Gets a Malware Beatdown in Attack Demo

LAS VEGAS – On Friday, Mac security researcher Patrick Wardle showed how an attacker can repurpose someone else’s Mac malware, create false attribution flags and sidestep Mac anti-malware defenses with ease. The attack scenarios were his own and meant to serve as cautionary examples and reasons w...

The Modern-Day Heist: IP Theft Techniques That Enable Attackers

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 in Buckinghamshire, U.K., was orchestrated by a gang of 15 robbers that devised and executed a well-laid-out plan over the course of several months. Fast-forward 56 years and we’re still seeing gangs of modern-day robbers orchestrating elaborate plans – only in 201...

Microsoft Sues British Electronic Dealer in Alleged Counterfeit Scam

Microsoft announced today it is suing Britain’s second-largest electronics retailer Comet for allegedly creating and selling more than 94,000 back-up discs of its Windows Vista and Windows XP product. Comet Group PLC allegedly produced counterfeit versions of the software in a factory in Hampshir...

Microsoft, Adobe Exploits Top List of Crooks’ Wish List

A year-long study into the underground market for exploits in cybercriminal forums shows that crooks are salivating for Microsoft bugs, which are far and away the most requested and most sold exploits. According to researchers see chart below Microsoft products made up a whopping 47 percent of th...

2 More Google Chrome Zero-Days Under Active Exploitation

Google is asking Chrome desktop users to prepare to update their browsers once again as two more zero-day vulnerabilities have been identified in the software. Both allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to compromise an affected system via the web. And both are being actively exploited in the...

New JhoneRAT Malware Targets Middle East

Researchers are warning of a new remote access trojan RAT, dubbed JhoneRAT, which is being distributed as part of an active campaign, ongoing since November 2019, that targets victims in the Middle East. Once downloaded, the RAT gathers information on the victims’ computers and is also able to...

Magento Warns E-Commerce Sites to Upgrade ASAP to Prevent Attacks

The popular e-commerce platform Magento is urging web administrators to install its latest security update in order to defend against malicious attacks in the wild that could exploit a critical remote code-execution vulnerability. While the company didn’t specify what kinds of potential attacks...

News Wrap: DejaBlue Bugs and Biometrics Data Breaches

On the heels of Black Hat USA 2019 and DEF CON, Threatpost editors break down the biggest news of this past week ended Aug. 16, from Patch Tuesday craziness to publicly-exposed databases. That includes: Microsoft’s August Patch Tuesday release featuring four BlueKeep-like critical remote...

Newly-Identified BEC Cybergang Targets U.S. Enterprise Victims

LONDON, U.K. – Researchers have identified a highly-sophisticated Nigerian business email compromise gang targeting U.S enterprises and government institutions. The cybercrime group, dubbed Scattered Canary, has evolved over the past 10 years from a one-man shop working Craigslist scams into a...

ZombieLoad Pioneer: The Story Behind Intel’s Latest Side Channel Flaw

The release of a new speculative execution vulnerability called ZombieLoad last week follows a similar disclosure path as Meltdown and Spectre. Threatpost caught up with one of the researchers behind the discovery of ZombieLoad to find out how. ZombieLoad was discovered and reported by Michael...

ZuoRAT Can Take Over Widely Used SOHO Routers

A novel multistage remote access trojan RAT that’s been active since April 2020 is exploiting known vulnerabilities to target popular SOHO routers from Cisco Systems, Netgear, Asus and others. The malware, dubbed ZuoRAT, can access the local LAN, capture packets being transmitted on the device an...

Another Destructive Wiper Targets Organizations in Ukraine

Researchers have discovered yet another destructive data-wiping malware targeting organizations in Ukraine, the third to be found in as many weeks attacking systems in the country that’s currently defending itself against a Russian physical invasion. A team from cybersecurity firm ESET on Monday...

Russian APTs Furiously Phish Ukraine – Google

While Russia is fighting a physical war on the ground against Ukraine, advanced persistent threat APT groups affiliated with or backing Vladimir Putin’s government are ramping up phishing and other attacks against Ukrainian and European targets in cyberspace, Google is warning. Researchers from...

LockBit, BlackCat, Swissport, Oh My! Ransomware Activity Stays Strong

Law enforcement, C-suite executives and the cybersecurity community at-large have been laser-focused on stopping the expensive and disruptive barrage of ransomware attacks — and it appears to be working, at least to some extent. Nonetheless, recent moves from the LockBit 2.0 and BlackCat gangs,...

Carnival Cruise Cyber-Torpedoed by Cyberattack

Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise-ship operator, has sprung another leak: For the second time in a year, attackers have breached email accounts and accessed personal, financial and health information belonging to guests, employees and crew. Carnival has quite the armada: Its cruise brand...

Emotet Takedown Disrupts Vast Criminal Infrastructure; NetWalker Site Offline

UPDATE The virulent malware known as Emotet – one of the most prolific malware strains globally – has been dealt a blow thanks to a takedown by an international law-enforcement consortium. Meanwhile, the NetWalker ransomware has also been subjected to partial disruption, according to the U.S...

MacOS Users Targeted By OceanLotus Backdoor

A macOS backdoor variant has been uncovered that relies of multi-stage payloads and various updated anti-detection techniques. Researchers linked it to the OceanLotus advanced persistent threat APT group. The Vietnam-backed OceanLotus also known as APT 32 has been around since at least 2013, and...

Critical Industrial Flaws Pose Patching Headache For Manufacturers

While patch management already presents challenges for enterprises, it’s even more of a headache for manufacturers and other industrial firms – who may even need to shut down entire factory operations in order to apply fixes. Sharon Brizinov, the principal vulnerability researcher with Claroty, h...

Theory: 'Simple Hack' Behind Bezos’ Alleged Compromising Images

Researchers are shooing away theories of an elaborate “deep state” hacking plot against Jeff Bezos tied to the alleged tawdry images of him and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez. They say, alleged images that Bezos claims that the National Enquirer is threatening to release were likely obtained via a...

Microsoft App Store Sizzling with New ‘Electron Bot’ Malware

A backdoor malware that can take over social-media accounts – including Facebook, Google and Soundcloud – has infiltrated Microsoft’s official store by cloning popular games such as Temple Run or Subway Surfer. The backdoor, dubbed Electron Bot, gives attackers complete control over compromised...

TurkeyBombing Puts New Twist on Zoom Abuse

Millions of family and friends, forced to spend Thanksgiving socially distant, are being targeted by cybercriminals as they turn to video platforms like Zoom to virtually be together. In this ongoing attack, cybersecurity experts warn, victims are targeted with a Zoom-related and...

Vastaamo Breach: Hackers Blackmailing Psychotherapy Patients

Cybercriminals have hacked the systems of psychotherapy giant Vastaamo – and are now reaching out to therapy patients, threatening to dump their patient files if they do not pay a ransom. Finland-based Vastaamo, which has more than 40,000 psychotherapy patients, said on its website that its...

APT36 Taps Coronavirus as 'Golden Opportunity' to Spread Crimson RAT

A Pakistani-linked threat actor, APT36, has been using a decoy health advisory that taps into global panic around the coronavirus pandemic to spread the Crimson RAT. The functionalities of the Crimson RAT include stealing credentials from victims’ browsers, capturing screenshots, collecting...

Hack of High-End Hotel Smart Locks Shows IoT Security Fail

LAS VEGAS – A vulnerability in a popular IoT lock key – used chiefly by a high-end hotel in Europe – allowed researchers to break into hotel rooms. The locks in question are dubbed “mobile keys” because of their reliance on mobile phones as opposed to card-based access such as those based on...

StrongPity APT Returns with Retooled Spyware

UPDATE The APT group behind the sophisticated malware known as StrongPity a.k.a. Promethium has mounted a fresh spyware campaign that is still ongoing as of July 2019. The group has retooled with new malware to control compromised machines, according to researchers. “The new malware samples first...

Critical WordPress Plugin Flaw Allows Complete Website Takeover

A critical vulnerability in popular WordPress plugin Simple Social Buttons enables non-admin users to modify WordPress installation options – and ultimately take over websites. Simple Social Buttons enables users to add social-media sharing buttons to various locations of their websites. The plug...

Sony Smart TV Bug Allows Remote Access, Root Privileges

As the number of smart TVs grows, so does the number of vulnerabilities inside of them. On Thursday, security researchers revealed that eight Sony Bravia smart TV models are vulnerable to three separate bugs, one rated critical. The flaws – a stack buffer overflow, a directory traversal and a...

Badlock Bug in Samba SMB Protocol

Despite the Badlock hype machine cranked up high, we don’t know much about this impending soul-crushing vulnerability other than it could be bad, it could be in the Windows Server Message Block and it already has its own requisite logo and website. Nonetheless, we have a little more than two week...