Attackers Target 1M+ WordPress Sites To Harvest Database Credentials

Attackers were spotted targeting over one million WordPress websites in a campaign over the weekend. The campaign unsuccessfully attempted to exploit old cross-site scripting XSS vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins and themes, with the goal of harvesting database credentials. The attacks were...

Nation-State Attacks Drop in Latest Google Analysis

Google has registered a significant drop in government-backed cyberattacks against its properties and the people who use its products. Google sends out warnings if it detects that an account is a target of government-backed phishing or malware attempts. For 2019, the internet giant sent almost...

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...

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...

The Unhappiest Subscribers on Earth? Disney+ Accounts Hacked & Hijacked

The highly anticipated Disney+ streaming service launched last week – and was promptly targeted by hackers looking to compromise users’ accounts. Around 4,000 customer account credentials have shown up for sale on hacking forums for around $3 each, according to reports. An investigation by ZDNet...

Facebook Records User Audio, Sparking Privacy Questions

Facebook has admitted that it has been transcribing audio chats between its users on its Messenger platform. Sources said that it’s paying hundreds to third-party outside contractors to do so. The latter calls into question Facebook’s data-handling practices when it comes to being open with its...

Apple Upgrades Bug Bounty Program: Adds Macs, $1M Reward

LAS VEGAS – Apple is giving its bug bounty program a much-needed makeover. The device manufacturer in a Thursday Black Hat USA 2019 session said it will open the historically private program to all researchers in the fall. In addition, it plans to drastically boost some rewards for vulnerabilitie...

Data Security in the Cloud: How to Lock Down the Next-Gen Perimeter

With businesses continuing their digital migrations to cloud services and applications, IT is finding itself wrestling with how to keep companies’ data safe. The challenge? The cloud has created a next-generation, virtual perimeter. Businesses are using infrastructure-as-a-service IaaS, cloud...

Critical Flaw in Cisco Elastic Services Controller Allows Full System Takeover

A critical vulnerability in the Cisco Elastic Services Controller could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to take full control of impacted systems – merely by sending a crafted request. Cisco Elastic Services Controller is a virtual network functions manager, which enables businesses to...

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...

LokiBot Trojan Spotted Hitching a Ride Inside .PNG Files

A spam campaign pushing the info-stealing LokiBot trojan leverages a novel technique to avoid detection. According to researchers, the spam messages include malicious .zipx attachment hidden inside a .PNG file that can slip past some email security gateways. According to Trustwave SpiderLabs, tha...

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...

Microsoft Mistakenly Leaks Secure Boot Key

Update Opponents of the government’s constant talk about intentional backdoors and exceptional access finally may have their case study as to why it’s such a bad idea. Two researchers operating under aliases my123 and slipstream this week posted a report—accompanied by a relentless chiptune—that...

Amazon Web Services Combing Third Parties for Credentials

Amazon Web Services is actively searching a number of sources, including code repositories and application stores, looking for exposed credentials that could put users’ accounts and services at risk. A week ago, a security consultant in Australia said that as many as 10,000 secret Amazon Web...

Researchers Investing in EMET Bypasses More than Hackers

Exploits bypassing Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, or EMET, are quickly becoming a parlor game for security researchers. With increasing frequency, white hats are poking holes in EMET, and to its credit, Microsoft has been quick to not only address those issues but challenge a...

New Bug in Internet Explorer Used in Targeted Attacks

There’s a new flaw in all of the current versions of Internet Explorer that is being used in some targeted attacks right now. Microsoft has confirmed the bug and said it is working on a fix, but has no timeline for the patch release yet. The company did not rule out an emergency out-of-band patch...

Cisco Confirms Network Breach Via Hacked Employee Google Account

Cisco Systems revealed details of a May hack by the Yanluowang ransomware group that leveraged a compromised employee’s Google account. The networking giant is calling the attack a “potential compromise” in a Wednesday post by the company’s own Cisco Talos threat research arm. “During the...

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,...

Are You Guilty of These 8 Network-Security Bad Practices?

They say the first step in addressing a serious issue is admitting you have a problem. And so it is with network security. The ongoing explosion of ransomware events and breaches many of which the public never hears about is elevating network security to a top corporate priority. Employees are...

Mimecast Confirms SolarWinds Hack as List of Security Vendor Victims Snowball

The Mimecast certificate compromise reported earlier in January is part of the sprawling SolarWinds supply-chain attack, the security firm has confirmed. Mimecast joins other cybersecurity vendors like CrowdStrike, Fidelis, FireEye, Malwarebytes, Palo Alto Networks and Qualys in being targeted in...

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...

Evil Corp Returns With New Malware Infection Tactic

Cybercrime group Evil Corp a.k.a. Dudear is back in action after a short hiatus, with a technique in its arsenal not previously used by the group to distribute malware. Microsoft on Thursday said that it observed emails from the cybercriminal gang utilizing HTML redirectors. Microsoft is unclear...

New Muhstik Botnet Attacks Target Tomato Routers

A new variant of the Muhstik botnet has appeared, this time with scanner technology that for the first time can brute-force web authentication to attack routers using Tomato open-source firmware, researchers have found. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 discovered the new variant...

Critical Bug in WordPress Plugins Open Sites to Hacker Takeovers

UPDATE Security researchers are warning users of two WordPress plugins – made by Brainstorm Force – that they need to patch a “major” vulnerability that could allow hackers to gain administrative access to any website using the plugins. According to Brainstorm Force, it is only aware of one...

Gustuff Android Banker Switches Up Technical Approach

An Instagram-initiated campaign using the Gustuff Android mobile banking trojan has rolled out in October, featuring an updated version of the malware that lowers its detection profile. How the cybercriminals are rolling out the campaign is the same as a previous offensive seen in June, according...

CISOs: Support vendor security ops for best cloud results

Data from McKinsey Insights suggests that many CISOs are uneasy about increasing dependence on SaaS applications and the security risks – real or perceived – the cloud represents. Their apprehension isn’t slowing down cloud adoption. As McKinsey put it, “Most companies … will eventually confront...

TikTok Scammers Cash In On Adult Dating, Impersonation Tricks

As social media platform TikTok becomes the top App Store download in 2019 – and the number three app download on Google Play and on platforms overall – scammers are looking to cash in on the troves of younger users of the popular platform. Tenable researcher Satnam Narang, who has been tracking...

Protecting Against Ransomware Attacks: A Checklist

Sometimes all it takes is a malicious email to infect an entire municipality with ransomware, freezing important city systems from water utilities or websites. That was the case with the Florida city of Riviera Beach, which paid hackers $600,000 after being hit by a ransomware attack that downed...

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 ...

Google Home Captures Porn and More, Unbeknownst to Users

Google Home smart speakers and the Google Assistant virtual assistant have been caught eavesdropping without permission — capturing and recording highly personal audio of domestic violence, confidential business calls — and even some users asking their smart speakers to play porn on their connect...

Chinese Spy Group Mixes Up Its Malware Arsenal with Brand-New Loaders

The Chinese-language cyber-espionage group known as APT10 has apparently added to its malware bag of tricks, with two never-before-seen malware loader variants used in April campaigns against government and private organizations in Southeast Asia. Also, the campaigns featured modified versions of...

Top 5 Configuration Mistakes That Create Field Days for Hackers

Sometimes it’s the little things that lead to big consequences. When it comes to cybersecurity, hacks more often than not stem from minor missteps – or even completely preventable, obvious mistakes. Common security mistakes and overlooked misconfigurations can open the door for attackers to drop...

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...

Attackers Completely Destroy VFEmail's Secure Mail Infrastructure

A catastrophic, smash-and-destroy cyberattack has eliminated the U.S. infrastructure for secure email service VFEmail. It’s a rare example of a purely destructive offensive, apparently unmotivated by financial gain or espionage goals. An attacker wiped out the company’s U.S. servers on Monday...

APT28 Using EternalBlue to Attack Hotels in Europe, Middle East

Russian-speaking cyberespionage group APT28, also known as Sofacy, is believed to be behind a series of attacks last month against travelers staying in hotels in Europe and the Middle East. APT28 notably used the NSA hacking tool EternalBlue as part of its scheme to steal credentials from busines...

Black Hole Exploit Kit Targeting Java CVE-2012-1723 Flaw

A new fork of the Black Hole exploit kit is making quick work of a recently patched Java vulnerability and security researchers say that the attackers are registering new sites quickly to exploit users with vulnerable browsers. The CVE-2012-1723 Java vulnerability that the Black Hole exploit kit ...

Attackers Can Use 'Self-Destruct' Feature to Kill Flame

The attackers behind Flame can easily clean up compromised computers, according to research by security firm Symantec who found that some attackers have been able to use command-and-control C&C servers to completely remove the malware from certain machines. According to a post on Symantec’s...

Firewall Bug Under Active Attack Triggers CISA Warning

Software running Palo Alto Networks’ firewalls is under attack, prompting U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA to issue a warning to public and federal IT security teams to apply available fixes. Federal agencies urged to patch the bug by September 9. Earlier this month, Pal...

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...

Russia Issues Its Own TLS Certs

Russia is offering its own trusted Transport Layer Security TLS certificate authority CA to replace certificates that need to be renewed by foreign countries. As it is, a pile of sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is gumming up its citizen’s access to websites. As it is...

DarkSide Getting Taken to ‘Hackers’ Court’ For Not Paying Affiliates

Cybercriminals who have worked as affiliates with ransomware group DarkSide, responsible for the Colonial Pipeline attack, are having a tough time getting paid for their work now that the group has had its operations interrupted; so, they’re turning to admins of the group’s Dark Web criminal foru...

Bitcoin Stealers Hide in 700+ Ruby Developer Libraries

About 760 malicious libraries, bent on stealing Bitcoin, have been identified so far in the open-source Ruby programming language code base. According to Tomislav Maljic, threat analyst at ReversingLabs, cybercriminals have been using simple typosquatting to carry out their plan – which is the...

Adobe Fixes 'Important' Flaws in ColdFusion, After Effects and Digital Editions

Adobe released security patches for vulnerabilities in its ColdFusion, After Effects and Digital Editions applications. If exploited, the flaws could enable attackers to view sensitive data, gain escalated privileges, and launch denial-of-service attacks. Each of the bugs were rated...

News Wrap: PoC Exploits, Cable Haunt and Joker Malware

This week’s news wrap podcast breaks down the biggest Threatpost security stories of the week, including: Various proof-of-concept exploits being released for serious vulnerabilities this week – including for the recently-patched crypto-spoofing vulnerability found by the National Security Agency...

Hackers Deface U.S. Gov Website With Pro-Iran Messages

UPDATE A U.S. government website was vandalized late Saturday by hackers who posted images of a bloodied President Donald Trump being punched in the face and pro-Iran messages. The defaced website was the Federal Depository Library Program FDLP website, which makes U.S. federal government...

TikTok Banned By U.S. Army Over China Security Concerns

With backlash swelling around TikTok’s relationship with China, the United States Army this week announced that U.S. soldiers can no longer have the social media app on government-owned phones. TikTok, a social media app used to create and share short form videos, is owned by Beijing-based parent...

Alabama Hospitals Pay Up in Ransomware Attack

An Alabama hospital system has paid its attackers in a ransomware attack that knocked its systems offline on Oct. 1. Officials at the DCH Health System didn’t say how much the hospitals paid for the decryption key, but noted that they have started a “methodical” process of system restoration. “We...

Dangerous Cryptomining Worm Racks Up 850K Infections, Self-Destructs

A French and U.S. law-enforcement effort has neutralized 850,000 infections by a cryptomining worm known as Retadup, by causing the threat to destroy itself. The worm has been distributing the malicious XMRig cryptocurrency miner to computers running the Windows operating system, mostly in Latin...

Apple iOS Patch Blunder Opens Updated iPhones to Jailbreaks

Apple’s most recent operating system update, iOS 12.4, accidentally unpatched a fix that had been issued in a previous update — leaving devices vulnerable to code execution and privilege-escalation attacks. The flaw also allows phones to be jailbroken — and a public jailbreak has just been releas...