Amazon Employees Given 'Broad Access' to Personal Alexa Info

Employees at Amazon can access geolocation information for Alexa users, according to reports – thus uncovering their home addresses and even satellite pictures of their houses generated from a service such as Google Earth. Alexa is the built-in voice assistant shipped with devices like Amazon Ech...

Misunderstanding APT Indicators of Compromise

Threatpost Op-Ed is a regular feature where experts contribute essays and commentary on what’s happening in security and privacy. Today’s contributors are Dave Dittrich and Katherine Carpenter. Reports of APT activities detail compromises spanning multiple organizations, sectors, industry...

China APT Gang Targets Hong Kong Media via Dropbox

An APT gang linked to China and alleged to be responsible for targeted attacks against foreign governments and ministries, has now pointed its focus inward at China’s autonomous territory Hong Kong. An August attack against several media companies in Hong Kong was carried out shortly after a...

Microsoft Adds New Exploit Mitigations to IE 10

Windows 8 is still off on the horizon somewhere, but the new version of Internet Explorer that’s coming with it–IE 10–already is in consumer preview and it includes some major changes to the exploit mitigations. In addition to the existing implementations of ASLR, DEP and others technologies in...

Microsoft Fixes Critical IE, Windows Bugs with February Patch Tuesday

Microsoft released nine security updates Tuesday, four critical; five important, fixing 21 different holes in various applications with its February patch release. The four critical fixes deal with vulnerabilities in the company’s Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET Framework and Silverlight program...

Microsoft to Release Emergency Fix for ASP.NET DoS Flaw

UPDATED Microsoft on Thursday plans to release an emergency out-of-band update to address a vulnerability in ASP.NET that could allow an attacker to consume all of the resources on a vulnerable server with a single specially designed HTTP request. The vulnerability affects a wide range of Web...

Navy Warship’s Facebook Page Hacked to Stream ‘Age of Empires’ Gaming

The official Facebook page of a destroyer-class Navy warship, the USS Kidd, has gone rogue: Someone has taken over the page in order to…stream Age of Empires play. Age of Empires is a real-time online multiplayer strategy game in which the objective is to advance one’s civilization. Players “buil...

Energy Giant Shell Is Latest Victim of Accellion Attacks

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is the latest victim of a series of attacks on users of the Accellion legacy File Transfer Appliance FTA product, which already has affected numerous companies and been attributed to the FIN11 and the Clop ransomware gang. “Shell has been impacted by a data-security...

DanaBot Malware Roars Back into Relevancy

Researchers are warning that a new fourth version of the DanaBot banking trojan has surfaced after months of mysteriously going quiet. The latest variant, still under analysis by researchers, is raising concerns given the number of past DanaBot effective campaigns. From May 2018 to June 2020,...

Adobe Fixes 7 Critical Flaws, Blocks Flash Player Content

Adobe Systems has patched seven critical vulnerabilities, which impact Windows, macOS and Linux users. The impact of the serious flaws range from arbitrary code execution to sensitive information disclosure. The software company’s regularly scheduled Tuesday security updates impact a slew of its...

COVID-19 Vaccine-Maker Hit with Cyberattack, Data Breach

COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has shut down its plants in Brazil, India, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. following a cyberattack, according to reports. The Indian company is the contractor for Russia’s “Sputinik V” COVID-19 vaccine, which is about to enter Phase 2 human...

IBM AI-Powered Data Management Software Subject to Simple Exploit

The IBM’s next-gen data-management software suffers from a shared-memory vulnerability that researchers said could lead to other threats — as demonstrated by a new proof-of-concept exploit for the bug. The IBM Db2 is a family of hybrid data-management products containing artificial intelligence,...

Critical Zoho Zero-Day Flaw Disclosed

UPDATE A zero-day vulnerability has been disclosed in the IT help desk ManageEngine software made by Zoho Corp. The serious vulnerability enables an unauthenticated, remote attacker to launch attacks on affected systems. Zoho has now released a security update addressing the vulnerability. As of...

News Wrap: Office 365 Voicemail Phish and Bed Bath and Beyond Breach

Threatpost editors Tara Seals and Lindsey O’Donnell break down the top security news of this week, from data breaches to advanced persistent threat APT activity. Top stories include: A Microsoft alert that APT group Fancy Bear has targeted anti-doping authorities and sporting organizations around...

10 Steps for Ransomware Protection

Just the thought of ransomware is enough to keep CISOs and security teams up at night. Victims are caught in an awful choice between paying a ransom to a criminal who may or may not release their captured network and data, or potentially spending millions of dollars to remove the ransomware on...

What You Need to Know About Next Gen EDR

Endpoint Detection & Response EDR is the main mode of cybersecurity utilized by many organizations. Already recognized in 2012 as its own category, EDR was pushed as the ideal response to the rapidly changing threatscape that until then had been dealt with though not so successfully primarily...

Intel Patches High-Severity Flaw in Processor Diagnostic Tool

Intel has patched a high-severity vulnerability in its processor diagnostic tool, which could allow local attackers to launch several malicious attacks on affected devices, such as escalation of privilege or denial of service. The Intel Processor Diagnostic tool is a free product that allows user...

Second Florida City Pays Hackers $500k Post-Ransomware Attack

UPDATE A city in Florida has paid hackers almost $500,000 after suffering a ransomware attack that locked down its email systems and servers – only the latest municipality to be hit by ransomware and pay the ransom. The Florida municipality, Lake City, has a population of 12,046 and is located in...

Cisco Patches Critical Flaw In ASR 9000 Routers

Cisco has rushed out patches for a critical vulnerability in its ASR 9000 routers that could give remote, unauthenticated attackers access to the devices – as well as the power to launch denial-of-service DoS attacks against them. The flaw is specifically in Cisco Aggregation Services Routers ASR...

What are Data Manipulation Attacks, and How to Mitigate Against Them

Conventional wisdom says that once an attacker is in the system, moving laterally from network to network, the damage is already done. The adversary has found a way in and more than likely identified the data they’re after. They simply need to exfiltrate it, the last step of the kill chain, to la...

'Dropping Elephant' APT Attackers Targets Old Windows Flaws

Don’t judge an APT by its exploits alone. That’s the takeaway from a report that details a unique advanced persistent threat that leverages a kludge of unsophisticated, outdated and rudimentary attack tools to conduct cyber espionage. The target of the attacks are government and diplomatic agenci...

New IE Zero Day Found Targeting Military Intelligence

Attackers were able to compromise the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars’ website this week and serve up a previously unknown zero day exploit in Internet Explorer 10, and while motivation behind the campaign is still unclear, experts are speculating its aim was to procure military intelligence...

Richard Boscovich on the Zeus Botnet Takedown

Dennis Fisher talks with Richard Boscovich of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit about the operation to take down the Zeus botnet, how the company works with partners and law enforcement on these operations and the importance of getting the word out to consumers about the danger of botnets. Podcas...

Citrix SD-WAN Bugs Allow Remote Code Execution

Three security bugs in the Citrix software-defined SD-WAN platform would allow remote code-execution and network takeover, according to researchers. The flaws affect the Citrix SD-WAN Center in versions before 11.2.2, 11.1.2b and 10.2.8. They consist of an unauthenticated path traversal and shell...

Joker Trojans Flood the Android Ecosystem

More variants of the Joker Android malware are cropping up in Google Play as well as third-party app stores, in a trend that researchers say points to a relentless targeting of the Android mobile platform. Researchers at Zscaler have found 17 different samples of Joker being regularly uploaded to...

Overlay Malware Exploits Chrome Browser, Targets Banks and Heads to Spain

Researchers are warning of a remote overlay malware attack that leverages a fake Chrome browser plugin to target the accounts of banking customers in Spain. Grandoreiro is a type of remote overlay banking trojan, designed to help attackers overtake devices and display a full-screen overlay image...

Critical, Unpatched 'MDhex' Bugs Threaten Hospital Devices

A collection of six cybersecurity vulnerabilities in a range of GE Healthcare devices for hospitals has been discovered. Dubbed “MDhex” by the researchers at CyberMDX who discovered them, the bugs would allow attackers to disable the devices, harvest personal health information PHI, change alarm...

Data Breach Affects 63 Landry's Restaurants

Dining giant Landry’s disclosed a data breach, Thursday, warning that malware had infected its order-entry systems to steal customers’ payment card information. Landry’s, which owns over 600 popular American restaurants across 35 states, such as Del Frisco’s Grill, McCormick & Schmick’s, Rainfore...

The Case for Cyber-Risk Prospectuses

Sometimes our investments lose money. It’s not for lack of trying, indeed most investment firms make money off the growth of our investments. But despite best intentions and detailed investment plans, we sometimes end up with less than that with which we started. This can be due to outside forces...

Linux Bug Opens Most VPNs to Hijacking

A vulnerability in most Linux distros has been uncovered that allows a network-adjacent attacker to hijack VPN connections and inject rogue data into the secure tunnels that victims are using to communicate with remote servers. According to researchers at University of New Mexico and Breakpointin...

Google Triples Some Bug Bounty Payouts

Google is upping the ante for its Chrome bug bounty rewards program, doubling payouts from $15,000 to $30,000 for “high-quality” reports. It is also tripling baseline payouts for Chrome to $15,000. The bug-bounty pay raise is part of Google’s Chromium open-source project, which supplies the vast...

News Wrap: Which Companies Are Doing Privacy Right and Which Aren't?

The Threatpost team breaks down the top data privacy-related news this week, including: Google’s acknowledgement that G Suite passwords had been stored in plaintext – since 2005. The database of golfing app Game Golf left misconfigured, exposing millions of data points on games played plus...

Ransomware Behind Norsk Hydro Attack Takes On Wiper-Like Capabilities

LockerGoga, the malware that took down Norsk Hydro last week, has taken the industrial world by storm, as researchers race to uncover more about the mysterious ransomware that crippled several of the aluminum maker’s plants. Questions still remain about how the malware first infects the system it...

RSA Conference 2019: NIST's Privacy Framework Starts to Take Shape

Data privacy has been thrust into the limelight with the passage of the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe last year and a string of high-profile consumer privacy snafus. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has plans to help companies address data privacy with the...

Mac "CookieMiner" Malware Aims to Gobble Crypto Funds

A newly-discovered malware is targeting Mac users’ web cookies and credentials in hopes of withdrawing funds on their cryptocurrency exchange accounts. The malware, discovered this month and aptly named “CookieMiner,” collects cryptocurrency-related cookies – in addition to compromised credential...

Cryptojacking Campaign Exploits Drupal Bug, Over 400 Websites Attacked

UPDATE – Hundreds of websites running on the Drupal content management system – including those of the San Diego Zoo and the National Labor Relations Board – have been targeted by a malicious cryptomining campaign taking advantage of unpatched and recently revealed vulnerabilities. The attacks,...

End of Life Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10 Security Support

Anxiety was high around April 8, 2014 when Microsoft officially closed the door on security support for Windows XP. Many envisioned black hats worldwide stockpiling exploits waiting for the day when XP machines would be left permanently exposed. The anticipated malware apocalypse, however, never...

Patched Windows Machines Exposed to Stuxnet LNK Flaw All Along

A five-year-old Microsoft patch for the .LNK vulnerability exploited by Stuxnet failed to properly protect Windows machines, leaving them exposed to exploits since 2010. Microsoft today is expected to release a security bulletin, MS15-020, patching the vulnerability CVE-2015-0096. It is unknown...

Microsoft Extends SHA-2, TLS Support for Windows

One by one, tech companies have been tossing aside the SHA-1 cryptographic algorithm like the unreliable collision-prone mess that it is. Microsoft was among the first to steer its customers away from SHA-1 and established an internal edict that its developers would no longer use it for...

August 2013 Microsoft Patch Tuesday Security Updates

Microsoft took less than a month to incorporate an Oracle Outside In patch and fix a critically rated remote code execution bug in Exchange Servers. The Microsoft patch is among three critical bulletins—eight overall—released today as part of its August 2013 Patch Tuesday security updates. Oracle...

MS Denies Windows 7 Backdoor Allegations

Microsoft today denied that it has built a backdoor into Windows 7, a concern that surfaced yesterday after a senior National Security Agency NSA official testified before Congress that the agency had worked on the operating system. “Microsoft has not and will not put ‘backdoors’ into Windows,” a...

Microsoft explains how ActiveX in Office is abused by attackers

On the Microsoft Secure Windows Iniative blog, software engineer Chengyun discusses the default behaviour of ActiveX controls embedded in Office documents. The software giant also provides information on how can an attacker abuse ActiveX and how Office users can change the behavior of ActiveX...

Sandworm APT Hunts for ASUS Routers with Cyclops Blink Botnet

The modular botnet known as Cyclops Blink, linked to the same advanced persistent threat APT behind the NotPetya wiper attacks, is expanding its device targeting to include ASUS routers. Further, it’s likely that the botnet’s purpose is far more sinister than the average Mirai-knockoff’s penchant...

WordPress Sites Abused in Aggah Spear-Phishing Campaign

Threat actors are using compromised WordPress websites to target manufacturers across Asia with a new spear-phishing campaign that delivers the Warzone RAT, a commodity infostealer available widely for purchase on criminal forums, researchers have found. The threat group Aggah, believed to be...

Cisco Fixes High-Severity Webex, Security Camera Flaws

Cisco has issued patches for high-severity vulnerabilities plaguing its popular Webex video-conferencing system, its video surveillance IP cameras and its Identity Services Engine network administration product. Overall, Cisco on Wednesday issued the three high-severity flaws along with 11...

Black Lives Matter Emails Deliver TrickBot Malware

Cyberattackers are seizing upon the 24-hour news cycle again in order to capitalize on the current zeitgeist – this time with a fake Black Lives Matter malspam campaign that distributes the TrickBot malware. According to Swiss security firm Abuse.ch, threat actors are posing as government...

Data Breach Occurs at Agency in Charge of Secure White House Communications

Hackers have compromised the Department of Defense DoD agency in charge of securing and managing communications for the White House, leaking personally identifiable information PII of employees and leading to concerns over the safety of the communications of top-level U.S. officials in the run-up...

MTTD and MTTR: Two Metrics to Improve Your Cybersecurity

For any organization to protect itself from cyberattacks and data breaches, it’s critical to discover and respond to cyber threats as quickly as possible. Shutting the window of vulnerabilities promptly makes the difference between a mild compromise and a catastrophic data breach. Understanding...

Religious Website Data Exposed for Months

Religious website service Clover Sites exposed customer data for at least six to seven months, with the dataset found twice in two separate, insecure cloud databases. Clover offers a content management system for building and managing faith-based websites, with a “Clover Donations” module for...

Unpatched Bug Under Active Attack Threatens WordPress Sites with XSS

An unpatched vulnerability in the Rich Reviews plugin for WordPress is putting an estimated 16,000 sites in danger of stored cross-site scripting XSS attacks. Sites running the plugin are vulnerable to unauthenticated plugin option updates, which can be used to deliver malware payloads; and...