Interview with Kaspersky Chief Malware Expert Alex Gostev

The last year has seen a lot of changes in the threat landscape, with the emergence of a number of new cyber espionage tools such as Gauss and Flame, as well as an increase in the volume of malware targeting mobile platforms such as Android. Recently, Alex Gostev, the chief malware expert at...

Microsoft Patches Windows Flaw Exploited by Duqu

Microsoft on Tuesday released 13 security bulletins, including three for critical flaws in Windows Media and in the Windows kernel-mode drivers. The company had planned on releasing 14 bulletins in December’s Patch Tuesday shipment, but officials said that one of the planned fixes was causing a...

Microsoft researching new (secure) browser

Microsoft’s research unit is investing resources in a new Web browser that could eventually signal a shift away from the ubiquitous Internet Explorer. According to a research paper released this week, the project is called Gazelle and is positioned as a secure web browser constructed as a...

‘Long Live Log4Shell’: CVE-2021-44228 Not Dead Yet

Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, stated in a public news interview that the now-infamous Log4j flaw is the “the most serious vulnerability that she has seen in her career.” It’s not a stretch to say the whole security industry would agree...

Zero Day in Ubiquitous Apache Log4j Tool Under Active Attack

An excruciating, easily exploited flaw in the ubiquitous Java logging library Apache Log4j could allow unauthenticated remote code execution RCE and complete server takeover — and it’s being exploited in the wild. The flaw first turned up on sites that cater to users of the world’s favorite game,...

eCh0raix Ransomware Variant Targets QNAP, Synology NAS Devices

Operators of the nearly-year-old eCh0raix ransomware strain that’s been used to target QNAP and Synology network-attached storage NAS devices in past, separate campaigns have, gotten more efficient. According to researchers, both have put out a new variant that can target either vendors’ devices ...

5 Steps to Improving Ransomware Resiliency

The ransomware landscape is evolving, and ransomware is now one of the most popular for cybercriminals and damaging types of malwares. The JBS, Colonial Pipeline and Kaseya attacks are the recent high-profile examples of the impact of ransomware and the monumental consequences it can have: Shifts...

HPE Fixes Critical Zero-Day in SIM

Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE has fixed a critical zero-day remote code execution RCE flaw in its HPE Systems Insight Manager SIM software for Windows that it originally disclosed in December. HPE SIM is a tool that enables remote support automation and management for a variety of HPE servers,...

Google Patches Actively Exploited Flaw in Chrome Browser

Google has fixed a high-severity vulnerability in its Chrome browser and is warning Chrome users that an exploit exists in the wild for the flaw. The vulnerability is one of 47 security fixes that the tech giant rolled out on Tuesday in Chrome 89.0.4389.72, including patches for eight high-severi...

Tenda Router Zero-Days Emerge in Spyware Botnet Campaign

Two former Tenda router zero-days are anchoring the spread of a Mirai-based botnet called Ttint. In addition to denial-of-service DoS attacks, this variant also has remote-access trojan RAT and spyware capabilities. According to 360Netlab, the botnet is unusual in a few ways. For one, on the RAT...

Cloud Providers, CDNs Team Up to Battle Internet Routing Attacks

A group of tech giants – including Akamai, Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Netflix – are banding together to battle route hijacking, route leaks and IP address-spoofing attacks targeting internet users. They’re coming together under a program was introduced this...

Biggest Malware Threats of 2019

One out of five computer users were subject to at least one malware-class web attack in 2019. This past year cities such as New Orleans were under ransomware siege by the likes of malware Ryuk. Zero-day vulnerabilities were also in no short supply with targets such as Google Chrome and Operation...

Romanian Duo Receives Jailtime For Infecting 400,000 With Malware

A Romanian duo has been sentenced to jailtime for infecting 400,000 computers with malware that stole credentials and financial information, and scammed victims out of millions of dollars. The two Romanian hackers, Bogdan Nicolescu, 37, and Radu Miclaus, 37, were sentenced to 20 years and 18 year...

Innovative PureLocker Ransomware Emerges in Targeted Attacks

The PureLocker ransomware – so-called because it’s written in the PureBasic programming language – has been spotted being used in targeted attacks against both Windows and Linux-based production servers at enterprises. Researchers said it shows unusual characteristics that underscore the innovati...

Avast Network Breached As Hackers Target CCleaner Again

Czech antivirus vendor Avast on Monday warned that hackers were able to access its internal network using a temporary VPN account. Avast said that it believes that the intrusion, first detected on Sept. 25, was likely targeting its CCleaner business in a supply chain attack. CCleaner, which is...

Slack Initiates Mass Password Reset

Popular workspace collaboration platform Slack is in the middle of asking tens of thousands of users to reset their passwords after a security breach. The move is actually in response to new information that has come to light regarding a 2015 compromise, when hackers infiltrated Slack’s networks ...

Full Insight into the Internal Environment with Cynet Free Visibility

Organizational IT security teams have the enormous job of protecting their assets while monitoring and eliminating exposed attack surfaces. Achieving real-time visibility and doing so quickly and efficiently is integral to this, unfortunately though, it eats into resources, frequently requiring...

Microsoft: Russia's Fancy Bear Working to Influence EU Elections

As the May elections for European Parliament loom, Russia-linked APT groups are amping up their efforts to target journalists, think-tanks, non-governmental organizations and other members of civil society, according to Microsoft. The tech giant said on Tuesday that it has observed a recent serie...

Microsoft Tries to Boost SDL Adoption

Microsoft is trying to boost adoption of the software security practices in its Security Development Lifecycle by releasing a revised set of instructions to make implementation of the process easier and faster. At the Black Hat DC conference on Tuesday, the company announced the release of its...

Mitel VoIP Bug Exploited in Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware groups are abusing unpatched versions of a Linux-based Mitel VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol application and using it as a springboard plant malware on targeted systems. The critical remote code execution RCE flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-29499, was first report by Crowdstrike in April a...

Critical Cisco Contact Center Bug Threatens Customer-Service Havoc

A critical security bug affecting Cisco’s Unified Contact Center Enterprise UCCE portfolio could allow privilege-escalation and platform takeover. Cisco UCCE is an on-premises customer-service platform capable of supporting up to 24,000 customer-service agents using channels that include inbound...

Nvidia Warns: Severe Security Bugs in GPU Driver, vGPU Software

Nvidia has disclosed a group of security vulnerabilities in the Nvidia graphics processing unit GPU display driver, which could subject gamers and others to privilege-escalation attacks, arbitrary code execution, denial of service DoS and information disclosure. Meanwhile, the Nvidia virtual GPU...

Google Project Zero Cuts Bug Disclosure Timeline to a 30-Day Grace Period

Google Project Zero will now give organizations a 30-day grace period to patch zero-day flaws it discovers in a new disclosure policy revealed this week aimed at speeding up the time it takes for patches to be adopted. Known for discovering a number of high-profile zero days—in Google’s own...

Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome Roll Out Password Protection Tools

Two major browsers –Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome – are rolling out default features, which they say will better help notify users if their password has been compromised as part of a breach or database exposure. Edge and Chrome’s moves signify a bigger push by browsers to solve the big “passwo...

Apple Manufacturer Foxconn Confirms Cyberattack

Foxconn Technology Group confirmed Tuesday that a November cyberattack knocked some of its U.S. operations offline. The incident is reportedly a ransomware attack carried out by a cybergang attempting to extort $34 million from the global manufacturing powerhouse. “We can confirm that an...

VMware Rolls a Fix for Formerly Critical Zero-Day Bug

VMware has patched a zero-day bug that was disclosed in late November – an escalation-of-privileges flaw that impacts Workspace One and other platforms, for both Windows and Linux operating systems. VMware has also revised the CVSS severity rating for the bug to “important,” down from critical. T...

Lawsuit Claims Google Collects Minors’ Locations, Browsing History

Google was slapped with a lawsuit this week that alleges that it has been covertly collecting data of students via its G Suite for Education program, which offers its productivity services to students for free. Google’s G Suite for Education program formerly known as Google Education offers free...

Ashley Madison Breach Extortion Scam Targets Hundreds

Nearly five years after the high-profile Ashley Madison data breach, hundreds of impacted website users are being targeted by a new extortion attack this past week. The 2015 data breach of the adultery website led to 32 million accounts being publicly dumped online, including victims’ names,...

sLoad Malware Revamped as Powerful 'StarsLord' Loader

The sLoad malware downloader, a PowerShell-based trojan first spotted in May 2018, has a new, polished version that comes with “more powerful features, posing even higher risk,” Microsoft researchers are warning. After discovering it being used in several campaigns over the holidays, researchers...

MegaCortex Ransomware Revamps for Mass Distribution

A dangerous enterprise-focused ransomware, MegaCortex, has been retooled to become a weapon for wide-scale attacks. Previously used only in manual, post-network-exploitation, targeted campaigns on carefully selected targets, MegaCortex now has a second variant that adds automation to the kill...

POS Malware Found at 102 Checkers Restaurant Locations

The popular Checkers and Rally’s drive-through restaurant chain was attacked by Point of Sale POS malware impacting 15 percent of its stores across the U.S. Checkers is one of the largest drive-through restaurants in the U.S., operating in 28 states and headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The securi...

Qualcomm Critical Flaw Exposes Private Keys For Android Devices

Researchers have uncovered a side-channel attack that enables a bad actor to extract sensitive data from Qualcomm’s secure keystore. The critical flaw impacts most modern Android devices that use Qualcomm chips. The issue stems from an issue in Qualcomm technology, dubbed the Qualcomm Secure...

Spam Campaigns Spread Trickbot Malware with Tax Lure

Hackers pushing the TrickBot banking trojan are exploiting tax season by pushing malicious Microsoft Excel spreadsheet documents via spam campaigns. Researchers said that they discovered the malware in three different campaigns since Jan. 27, 2019. These campaigns target victims with emails...

Preinstalled Mobile Security App on Xiaomi Handsets Delivered Vulnerabilities, Not Protection

Preinstalled apps on mobile phones can be just as annoying as crapware found on new PCs. Now a report from security experts at Check Point Research suggest those preinstalled mobile apps may be more than just annoying – they can also be a security risk. Check Point found that a security app calle...

Researcher Says NSA's Ghidra Tool Can Be Used for RCE

Ghidra, a free, open-source software reverse-engineering tool that was released by the National Security Agency at RSA, has been found to be a potential conduit to remote code-execution. Ghidra is a disassembler written in Java; software that breaks down executable files into assembly code that c...

Threatpost Poll: Are Password Managers Too Risky?

Do you use a password manager? Or do you think they pose too much of a risk, holding all the keys to the kingdom? Weigh in with our poll, below. A little background: There have been vulnerabilities found before in this kind of software, which is meant to take the headache out of remembering...

Coffee Meets Bagel Dating App Warns Users of Breach

Popular dating app Coffee Meets Bagel has sent its users an email notifying them that their data may have been “acquired by an unauthorized party.” The news comes days after a massive database containing the information of around 6.2 million Coffee Meets Bagel users showed up on the Dark Web. Use...

Microsoft Considering Public-Key Pinning for Internet Explorer

Microsoft is considering adding public-key pinning–an important defense against man-in-the-middle attacks–to Internet Explorer. The feature is designed to help protect users against the types of MITM attacks that rely on forged certificates, which comprise a large portion of those attacks...

Oracle Patches 88 Vulnerabilities, Including Some that Allow Remote Exploits Without Authentication

Oracle yesterday released 88 security fixes for vulnerabilities — including several that allow for remote access without authentication — across its portfolio as part of its quarterly Critical Patch Update. “Due to the threat posed by a successful attack, Oracle strongly recommends that customers...

Sysrv-K Botnet Targets Windows, Linux

Unpatched vulnerabilities in the Spring Framework and WordPress plugins are being exploited by cybercriminals behind the Sysrv botnet to target Linux and Windows systems. The goal, according to researchers, is to infect systems with cryptomining malware. The botnet variant is being called Sysrv-K...

Microsoft Takedown Domains Used in Cyberattack Against Ukraine

Microsoft seized seven domains it claims were part of ongoing cyberattacks by what it said are state-sponsored Russian advanced persistent threat actors that targeted Ukrainian-related digital assets. The company obtained court orders to take control of the domains it said were used by Strontium,...

Mysterious Custom Malware Collects Billions of Stolen Data Points

Researchers have uncovered a 1.2-terabyte database of stolen data, lifted from 3.2 million Windows-based computers over the course of two years by an unknown, custom malware. The heisted info includes 6.6 million files and 26 million credentials, and 2 billion web login cookies – with 400 million...

A Cyber 'Vigilante' is Sabotaging Emotet's Return

The banking trojan Emotet has returned after a five-month hiatus. But, in an amusing twist, one cyber vigilante is thwarting the malware’s comeback. Researchers say a mysterious vigilante is fighting the threat actors behind the malware’s comeback by replacing malicious Emotet payloads with...

U.S. Nuclear Contractor Hit with Maze Ransomware, Data Leaked

A U.S. military contractor involved in the maintenance of the country’s Minuteman III nuclear arsenal has been hit by the Maze ransomware, according to reports – with the hackers making off with reams of sensitive information. The company, Westech International, has a range of contracts with the...

Critical WordPress e-Learning Plugin Bugs Open Door to Cheating

Researchers have disclosed critical-severity flaws in three popular WordPress plugins used widely by colleges and universities: LearnPress, LearnDash and LifterLMS. The flaws, now patched, could allow students to steal personal information, change their grades, cheat on tests and more. The...

Fake Skype, Signal Apps Used to Spread Surveillanceware

Cybercriminals are increasingly peddling booby-trapped version of popular apps such as Skype and Signal that contain surveillanceware. Apurva Kumar, security intelligence engineer at Lookout, said that one such surveillanceware family that’s been spotted using this tactic is Monokle, a...

Microsoft Leaves 250M Customer Service Records Open to the Web

UPDATE Misconfigured Microsoft cloud databases containing 14 years of customer support logs exposed 250 million records to the open internet for 25 days. The account info dates back as far as 2005 and is as recent as December 2019 — and exposes Microsoft customers to phishing and tech scams...

7 Tips for Maximizing Your SOC

It takes a special sort of person to be a security analyst. The person must be detail-oriented, curious, intelligent and hard-working, and with a quick reaction time as constant attacks unfold. These analysts have deep expertise that they use during their long shifts to sort through what’s worth...

Cryptomining Crook Steals Game Developer’s Identity to Carry Out Dirty Work

A 29-year-old cybercriminal assumed the guise of a prominent California video-game developer and eSports tournament organizer to throw authorities off his cryptomining track, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Matthew Ho, a citizen of Singapore, allegedly used the developer’s stole...

Google Assistant Audio Privacy Controls Updated After Outcry

Google is unveiling new privacy controls for the Google Assistant virtual assistant, after the company came under fire earlier this year for eavesdropping on users’ personal audio snippets – without their permission. The tech giant on Monday promised more transparency around the audio data that i...