Facebook Drops Default Facial Recognition Tag Suggestions

Facebook is giving users more control over a facial recognition feature used by the company to help identify, or Tag, people on its platform. Starting Tuesday, the company said it would allow its users to opt-out of the Tag Suggestions feature, while at the same time the company is attempting to...

Data Leak Impacts Millions of Yves Rocher Cosmetics Company Customers

UPDATE Cosmetics giant Yves Rocher is warning that a giant data leak exposed the personal data of millions of its customers and reams of sensitive internal company information to the public. The data exposure stems from a database left unprotected by a third-party consultant to the firm...

Google Squashes High-Severity Blink Browser Engine Flaw

Google is urging users of its Chrome browser to update after a high-severity vulnerability – which could enable remote attackers to execute code and carry out other malicious attacks – was uncovered. The vulnerability CVE-2019-5869, a use-after-free flaw, specifically exists in Blink, an...

Streamlining Patch Management: Expert Advice

Patch management has been a song of constant sorrows for system administrator. There have been improvements. But still, 80 percent of enterprise systems feature unpatched CVE vulnerabilities, according CA Veracode’s State of Software Security. The good news is, software patching has gotten better...

WordPress Plugin Flaws Exploited in Ongoing Malvertising Campaign

A widespread and ongoing malicious advertising campaign is exploiting several recently-disclosed WordPress plugin vulnerabilities to redirect website visitors to booby-trapped landing pages. Researchers at Wordfence said that they recently discovered bad actors injecting code into websites with t...

Cisco DNA Center Critical Flaw Opens Access to Internal Services

Cisco is urging customers to update after discovering a critical vulnerability in its Digital Network Architecture DNA Center, which could allow an unauthenticated attacker to access critical internal services. Overall, Cisco issued fixes for 25 vulnerabilities across its various products: Two...

SAS 2019: 4 Stuxnet-Related APTs Form Gossip Girl, an 'Apex Threat Actor'

SINGAPORE – The infamous Stuxnet family of industrial sabotage malware is likely the work of a mysterious “supra-group” that Chronicle researchers Juan Andres Guerrero Saad and Silas Cutler have dubbed Gossip Girl; and it’s a group that turns out to be larger and far busier than previously known...

New Mirai Samples Grow the Number of Processor Targets

New samples of the Mirai malware have been identified, targeting an array of embedded processors and architectures within connected devices. Researchers said that they discovered new Mirai samples in February 2019, capable of infecting IoT devices running Altera Nios II, OpenRISC, Tensilica Xtens...

Nvidia Fixes 8 High-Severity Flaws Allowing DoS, Code Execution

Nvidia has released fixes for eight high-severity vulnerabilities in its Linux for Tegra driver packages. The worst of these flaws could allow information disclosure, denial of service and code execution on impacted systems. Overall, the chipmaker on Tuesday released patches for 13 flaws that...

Old Tech Spills Digital Dirt on Past Owners

In a test of how well businesses wipe data on old devices, Rapid7 researcher Josh Frantz purchased 85 old gadgets from businesses. In total, he paid $600 for an aging collection of old computers, flash drives, phones and hard drives. What he discovered was that despite decades of the infosec...

RSA Conference 2019: Picking Apart the Foreshadow Attack

SAN FRANCISCO – Starting off with a bang with Spectre and Meltdown, 2018 was the year of speculative execution vulnerabilities in CPUs, which wreaked havoc in the IT industry. One of these attacks, dubbed Foreshadow, could allow unauthorized disclosure of information. Foreshadow impacts the Intel...

libssh Authentication Bypass Makes it Trivial to Pwn Rafts of Servers

The libssh open-source project has issued an update to address an authentication bypass vulnerability in the server code — to say that it’s trivial to exploit is an understatement. The flaw CVE-2018-10933 exists in libssh versions 0.6 and above being used in server mode – and it allows anyone to...

Privacy Regulation Could Be a Test for States’ Rights

When the California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA passed in June, security experts applauded the state legislation as a win for consumers. The ruling gave residents certain rights around how their personal data can be stored, accessed, sold and deleted. But months later in September, the U.S. Chamber...

“Unbreakable” Smart Lock Tapplock Issues Critical Security Patch

Tapplock, a smart padlock that received positive reviews and media hype when it was released earlier this year, has issued a critical patch after researchers discovered several security issues enabling them to easily hack into and unlock the device. The $100 lock is Bluetooth-based and can be...

Attacks Heating Up Against Apache Struts 2 Vulnerability

Public attacks and scans looking for exposed Apache webservers have ramped up dramatically since Monday when a vulnerability in the Struts 2 web application framework was patched and proof-of-concept exploit code was introduced into Metasploit. The vulnerability, CVE-2017-5638, was already under...

MS Windows Token Kidnapping Problems Resurface

Microsoft’s problems with Token Kidnapping .pdf on the Windows platform aren’t going away anytime soon. More than a year after Microsoft issued a patch to cover privilege escalation issues that could lead to complete system takeover, a security researcher plans to use the Black Hat conference...

Coming on MS Patch Tuesday: 10 bulletins, 6 critical

Microsoft plans to ship 10 security bulletins next Tuesday June 9, 2009 with fixes for a wide range of code execution vulnerabilities affecting Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Six of the ten bulletins will be rated “critical,” Microsoft’s highest severity rating. See the advance...

Fancy Bear Uses Nuke Threat Lure to Exploit 1-Click Bug

Advanced persistent threat group Fancy Bear is behind a phishing campaign that uses the specter of nuclear war to exploit a known one-click Microsoft flaw. The goal is to deliver malware that can steal credentials from the Chrome, Firefox and Edge browsers. The attacks by the Russia-linked APT ar...

Voicemail Scam Steals Microsoft Credentials

Attackers are using an oft-used and still effective lure to steal credentials to key Microsoft apps by sending emails notifying potential victims that they have a voicemail message, researchers have found. A team from Zscaler ThreatLabZ has been monitoring a campaign since May that targets key...

China-linked APT Flew Under Radar for Decade

Researchers have identified a small yet potent China-linked APT that has flown under the radar for nearly a decade running campaigns against government, education and telecommunication organizations in Southeast Asia and Australia. Researchers from SentinelLabs said the APT, which they dubbed Aoq...

Microsoft Accounts Targeted by Russian-Themed Credential Harvesting

While legitimate concerns abound about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict sparking a far-reaching cyberwarfare conflagration around the globe, small-time crooks are also ramping up their efforts amid the crisis. Phishing emails to Microsoft users warning of Moscow-led account hacking have started to...

Critical Cisco Bugs Open VPN Routers to Cyberattacks

UPDATE Critical security vulnerabilities in Cisco’s Small Business RV Series routers could allow privilege escalation, remote code execution RCE with root privileges on the devices and more. The RV series is a set of affordable VPN appliances that enable remote workers to connect to a company...

Yanluowang Ransomware Tied to Thieflock Threat Actor

A threat actor previously tied to the Thieflock ransomware operation may now be using the emerging Yanluowang ransomware in a series of attacks against U.S. corporations, researchers have found. Researchers from Symantec, a division of Broadcom Software, found ties between Thieflock and Yanluowan...

BQE Web Suite Billing App Rigged to Inflict Ransomware

Threat actors have been caught exploiting a now-patched zero-day critical vulnerability in a popular timeclock and billing system, to take over vulnerable servers and inflict companies’ networks with ransomware. Discovered by Huntress Labs earlier this month, the ongoing attacks focus on an...

Google Crushes YouTube Cookie-Stealing Channel Hijackers

Google has caught and brushed off a bunch of cookie-stealing YouTube channel hijackers who were running cryptocurrency scams on the ripped-off channels. In a Wednesday post, Ashley Shen, with Google’s Threat Analysis Group TAG, said that TAG attributes the assaults to a group of attackers recruit...

GriftHorse Money-Stealing Trojan Takes 10M Android Users for a Ride

More than 10 million Android users have been saddled with a malware called GriftHorse that’s trojanizing various applications and secretly subscribing victims to premium mobile services – a type of billing fraud that researchers categorize as “fleeceware.” Zimperium uncovered more than 130...

Financial Cybercrime: Following Cryptocurrency via Public Ledgers

This is Part II of a two-part series on how cybercrooks embrace and use cryptocurrency. To read Part I, please click here. While Bitcoin transactions are anonymous, it’s possible to follow the money through public ledgers to see what those transactions actually are and how they flow. This allows ...

Amazon’s Plan to Track Worker Keystrokes: A Sign of Controls to Come?

Data theft, insider threats and imposters accessing sensitive customer data have apparently gotten so bad inside Amazon, the company is considering rolling out keyboard-stroke monitoring for its customer-service reps. A confidential memo from inside Amazon explained that customer service credenti...

Critical Security Bugs Fixed in Virtual Learning Software

Netop, the company behind a popular software tool designed to let teachers remotely access student computers, has fixed four security bugs in its platform. Researchers said that the critical vulnerabilities in the company’s Netop Vision Pro system could allow attackers to hijack school networks,...

Five Critical Android Bugs Patched, Part of Feb. Security Bulletin

Google patched five critical bugs in its Android operating system as part of its February Security Bulletin. Two of the flaws were remote code execution vulnerabilities found within the Android media framework and system. Three additional critical Qualcomm bugs were reported by Google and patched...

Ransomware and IP Theft: Top COVID-19 Healthcare Security Scares

Healthcare cybersecurity threats have been under the spotlight this past year, in particular with the rise of COVID-19 and the budgetary and resource strains that has put on hospitals. Beau Woods, a Cyber Safety Innovation Fellow with the Atlantic Council, founder and CEO of Stratigos Security an...

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...

Ring's Flying In-Home Camera Drone Escalates Privacy Worries

Ring’s newly announced robot drone – a connected device that flies around homes taking security footage – is causing privacy experts’ concerns to take off. Amazon on Thursday unveiled the Always Home Cam as part of its Ring division, which will cost $249.99 and starts shipping next year. The...

Cisco Critical Flaw Patched in WAN Software Solution

Cisco patched a critical flaw in its wide area network WAN software solution for enterprises, which if exploited could give remote, unauthenticated attackers administrator privileges. The flaw exists in Cisco Virtual Wide Area Application Services vWAAS, which is software that Cisco describes as ...

E.U. Authorities Crack Encryption of Massive Criminal and Murder Network

European law-enforcement officials have shut down an encrypted Android-based communications platform used exclusively by criminals to plot murders, traffic illegal drugs, commit money laundering and plan other organized crimes. An international law-enforcement team from the France and the...

Shadow IT: Why It’s Still a Major Risk in Today’s Environments

Shadow IT is nothing new. Employees have long adopted software applications or cloud services without the knowledge or approval of their organization’s IT department, most often in search of easier ways to get their jobs done. People typically utilize unsanctioned apps not because they’re seeking...

WhatsApp Axes COVID-19 Mass Message Forwarding

In an effort to stem what it says is misinformation being spread on its platform, WhatsApp is limiting the number of recipients to which its users can forward certain messages about the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, users of the Facebook-owned messaging app can only forward messages with double arrows ...

Apple Update Fixes WebKit Flaws in iOS, Safari

Apple has released a slew of patches across its iOS and macOS operating systems, Safari browser, watchOS, tvOS and iTunes. The most serious flaw in this latest security update, released Tuesday, exists in the WebKit and could enable remote code execution. Of the CVEs disclosed, 30 affected Apple’...

Working from Home: COVID-19's Constellation of Security Challenges

As the threat of coronavirus continues to spread, businesses are sending employees home to work remotely, and students are moving to online classes. But with the social distancing comes a new threat – a cyber-related one. As organizations rush to shift their businesses and classes online,...

Small Tax-Preparation Firms at Higher Risk this Tax Season, Report

This tax season crooks are targeting users with a new crop of scams that include leveraging remote desktop software and compromising small tax-prep company websites. “If you have the word ‘tax’ in your domain name; you’re a target this year,” warns Sherrod DeGrippo, senior director of threat...

Charming Kitten Uses Fake Interview Requests to Target Public Figures

The Iran-based hacking group Charming Kitten has resurfaced with a new campaign that uses fake interviews to target public figures to launch phishing attacks and steal victims’ email-account information. In a report released Wednesday, security researchers at Certfa Lab say they discovered the...

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...

Travelex Knocked Offline by System-Wide Malware Attack

A “computer virus” has forced foreign currency exchange giant Travelex to shut down its online services and its app – leaving its retail locations to carry out tasks manually and many customers stranded without travel money. Its global banking partners have also been left adrift with no way to bu...

Apple Fixes ‘AirDoS’ Bug That Cripples Nearby iPhones, iPads

Apple fixed a bug in its file-swapping feature AirDrop, Tuesday, which allows nearby hackers to render iPhones and iPads inoperable. The bug opens the door for a type of denial-of-service attack, allowing an attacker to infinitely spam all nearby iPhones and iPads with AirDrop share popup...

Platinum APT Shines Up New Titanium Backdoor

APT threat group Platinum has a shiny new plaything: A custom trojan backdoor dubbed Titanium. The backdoor’s name, aside from keeping with the silvery metal theme, comes from password to one of the self-executable archives found in the code. According to Kaspersky researchers who analyzed the...

New Presentation Template: Incident Response Reporting for Management

Every security professional knows it’s only a matter of time before their organization is breached. And even though most security-conscious organizations have implemented procedures and products to facilitate the incident response process, many security decision-makers find much more of a challen...

Cyber-Risk Business Cases: Using Economic Impact to Justify TIG Investment

It sure is a difficult time to be a network defender. According to one industry report, as many as 85,000 malicious websites are launched daily, along with 8 million spam and phishing attacks; and, there are anywhere from 30-50 million malicious domains out there at any time. Scale seems to be...

Half of Android Handsets Susceptible to Clever SMS Phishing Attack

Over half of all Android handsets are susceptible to a clever over-the-air SMS phishing attack that could allow an adversary to route all internet traffic through a rogue proxy, as well as hijack features such as a handset’s homepage, mail server and directory servers for synchronizing contacts a...

FDA Warns of Potentially Fatal Flaws in Medtronic Insulin Pumps

The Food and Drug Administration FDA has issued an emergency alert, warning that Medtronic MiniMed insulin pumps are vulnerable to potentially life-threatening cyberattacks. Specifically impacted are Medtronic’s MiniMed insulin pumps, the MiniMed 508 insulin pump and MiniMed Paradigm series insul...

Malspam Campaigns Distribute HawkEye Keylogger, Post Ownership Change

The HawkEye malware kit and information-stealer has been spotted in a newfound slew of campaigns after a recent ownership change. While the keylogger has been in continuous development since 2013, in December a thread on a hacking site noted an ownership change, after which posts on hacking forum...