Major U.S. Pipeline Crippled in Ransomware Attack

A ransomware attack has halted pipeline activities for the Colonial Pipeline Co., which supplies the East Coast with roughly 45 percent of its liquid fuels. In a statement released on Saturday, Colonial Pipeline said it has temporarily halted pipeline operations in response to a cyberattack...

4 Ways Cyberattackers Hunt for Security Bugs

Blue teamers are in constant battle against hackers — faceless adversaries whose persistence can seem unending. But these actors have processes just like corporate operations, even if theirs are bootlegged. Attackers seek the path of least resistance: Gain access with as little effort as possible...

IcedID Circulates Via Web Forms, Google URLs

Website contact forms and Google URLs are being used to spread the IcedID trojan, according to researchers at Microsoft. Attackers are using “contact us” forms on websites to send emails targeting organizations with trumped-up legal threats, researchers said. The messages consistently mention a...

Hacker Sets Alleged Auction for Witcher 3 Source Code

The ransomware gang behind an attack on videogame developer CD Projekt Red may have made good on its promise to auction off the company’s data – including source code for Cyberpunk 2077 and an unreleased version of the Witcher 3. Or it may not have. The Twitter account @vxunderground, which bills...

Changing Employee Security Behavior Takes More Than Simple Awareness

Security awareness rarely leads to sustained behavior change on its own, according to a recent analysis – meaning that organizations need to proactively develop a robust “human-centered” security program to reduce the number of security incidents associated with poor security behavior. According ...

Some Apple Apps on macOS Big Sur Bypass Content Filters, VPNs

Security researchers are blasting Apple for a feature in the latest Big Sur release of macOS that allows some Apple apps to bypass content filters and VPNs. They say it is a liability that can be exploited by threat actors to bypass firewalls and give them access to people’s systems and expose...

Lax Security Exposes Smart-Irrigation Systems to Attack Across the Globe

More than 100 smart-irrigation systems deployed across the globe were installed without changing the factory’s default, passwordless setting, leaving them vulnerable to malicious attacks, according to recent findings from Israeli security research firm Security Joes. The researchers immediately...

MontysThree APT Takes Unusual Aim at Industrial Targets

SAS@Home 2020 – A series of highly targeted attacks by an APT group called MontysThree against industrial targets has been uncovered, with evidence that the campaign dates back to 2018. That’s according to researchers from Kaspersky, who noted that the group uses a variety of techniques to evade...

Doki Backdoor Infiltrates Docker Servers in the Cloud

A fresh Linux backdoor called Doki is infesting Docker servers in the cloud, researchers warn, employing a brand-new technique: Using a blockchain wallet for generating command-and-control C2 domain names. Doki however is meant to provide a persistent capability for code-execution on an infected...

Hosting Provider's Database of Crooked Customers Leaked

A hacker has leaked online the database of the largest free hosting service popular with cybercriminals, the result of a breach that took down the service earlier this year, according to a published report. A hacker going by the online name of “KingNull” uploaded on a file-hosting site a database...

News Wrap: Ransomware Extortion Tactics, Contact-Tracing App Security Worries

Threatpost editors discuss the top news stories of the week ended May 15, including: Recent ransomware attacks, including ones targeting healthcare giant Magellan, the IT office that supports Texas appellate courts and judicial agencies, and a popular law firm that works with several A-list...

ThreatList: Human-Mimicking Bots Spike, Targeting e-Commerce and Travel

Bad bots, bad bots, whatcha gonna do? Target e-commerce, the travel industry, media and online marketplaces, that’s what. Those are the top four verticals attacked by bots in the last year, according to data released on Wednesday from Radware, with e-commerce accounting for the most activity. In...

Responding to the New Normal: How to Prevent Added Risk in Your Business

Our world has shifted dramatically over the last few weeks. Many people have moved from shock to acceptance as the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has taken hold across the world, across our nation, in our states, in our communities, and even in our organizations. Companies are particularly vulnerable...

New Bill Proposes NSA Surveillance Reforms

A newly-introduced bill is proposing sweeping privacy reforms to a controversial government surveillance program, which has been previously used by the National Security Agency NSA to vacuum up the call records of millions of Americans. The “Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act” was...

ThreatList: A Third of Biometric Systems Targeted by Malware in Q3

Biometric security – which uses fingerprints, voice or facial recognition or retina identification to authenticate users to services – has crossed the chasm into the mainstream, thanks to the prevalence of features like fingerprint readers on laptops and FaceID for iPhones. However, researchers s...

McDonalds-Themed Facebook Ads Serve Up Banking Trojans

The Mispadu banking trojan is using a McDonalds malvertising tactic to ultimately steal payment-card data and online banking information. Written in Delphi, Mispadu targets Brazil and Mexico, uses pop-up windows and contains backdoor functionality. According to researchers at ESET, Mispadu spread...

Art Imitates Life: Lessons from the Final Season of Mr. Robot

Fair warning: if you aren’t caught up, there are spoilers for the first episode of the final season of Mr. Robot below. It’s an alien sensation to be watching the fourth and final season of Mr. Robot as a civilian: having worked as a technical consultant for the first three seasons of the show,...

Facebook Sues NSO Group Over Alleged WhatsApp Hack

Facebook has filed a lawsuit against Israeli company NSO Group, creator of the Pegasus spyware, alleging that it was behind the massive WhatsApp hack earlier this year. In May 2019, a zero-day vulnerability was found in WhatsApp’s messaging platform, exploited by attackers who were able to inject...

Apple Shares Some Browsing History with Chinese Company

Apple is sending some browsing history of iOS 13 Safari users to Tencent Holdings Limited, a Chinese multinational conglomerate. The data shared is tied to the Safari Safe Browsing technology. Revelations of the relationship have drawn criticism from security and privacy experts. Apple’s Safari...

Library-Themed University Phishing Attack Expands to Massive Scale

Indicating a campaign of massive scale, at least 20 new phishing domains targeting more than 60 universities in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States have cropped up, bent on lifting credentials from students heading back to school. The domains are...

Google Targets Data-Abusing Apps with Bug Bounty Launch

Google is looking to squash vulnerabilities on its Google Play app marketplace with a new bug-bounty program aimed at identifying data-abuse issues in Android apps and Chrome extensions. The company on Thursday announced the Developer Data Protection Reward Program, which, depending on the impact...

Zoom Zero-Day Bug Opens Mac Users to Webcam Hijacking

A zero-day vulnerability in the Zoom client for Mac allows a malicious website to hijack a user’s web camera without their permission. Up to 4 million workers that use the Zoom for Mac web-and videoconferencing service are at risk from a flaw in the collaboration client CVE-2019–13450, according ...

Latest Qbot Variant Evades Detection, Infects Thousands

Qbot, an information-stealing trojan that has been around for 10 years, has resurfaced again with a new phishing-based infection technique that is able to evade anti-spam defenses. Varonis Security Research spotted the fresh global Qbot campaign in March. Researchers said they have positively...

RSA Conference 2019: BEC Scammer Gang Takes Aim at Boy Scouts, Other Nonprofts

SAN FRANCISCO – A Nigeria-based scammer gang dubbed “Scarlet Widow” has been launching email fraud attacks against thousands of targets – including universities, the Salvation Army, and Boy Scouts of America. Researchers with Agari detailed the attack during an RSA Conference session on Tuesday...

Smart Ski Helmet Headphone Flaws Leak Personal, GPS Data

Researchers have found a slew of vulnerabilities in a pair of smart headphones designed to fit under ski helmets. The flaws could allow a bad actor to view victims’ personal information, track them and even listen to their private conversations via the headphones’ walkie-talkie function, which us...

Zero-Day Bug Patched by Microsoft, Part of December Patch TuesdZero-Day Bug Fixed by Microsoft in December Patch Tuesdayay

Microsoft has patched a zero-day vulnerability actively being used against older versions of the Windows operating system, as part of its December Patch Tuesday updates. According to the software giant, the vulnerability CVE-2018-8611 is an elevation-of-privilege EoP bug that affects Windows 7...

Innovative Phishing Tactic Makes Inroads Using Azure Blob

A fresh tactic for phishing Office 365 users employs credential-harvesting forms hosted on Azure Blob storage – signed with legitimate Microsoft SSL certificates to lend an air of legitimacy. Azure Blob Storage is a cloud storage solution for hosting unstructured data such as images, video or tex...

Intel CPUs Undermined By Fresh Speculative Execution Flaws

UPDATE Three new speculative execution design flaws in Intel CPUs were disclosed today, this time impacting Intel’s Software Guard Extensions SGX technology, its OS and system management mode SMM and hypervisor software. The three vulnerabilities would allow attacks on Intel Core and Xeon...

38 Android Devices Infected with Malware Preinstalled in Supply Chain

Mobile devices manufactured by a diverse set of handset makers were discovered to be loaded with malware pre-installed somewhere along the supply chain. Check Point Software Technologies said that it found 38 Android handsets were infected with adware, information-stealing malware and ransomware,...

April 2015 Microsoft Patch Tuesday Security Bulletins

Microsoft has patched a critical vulnerability in the Windows HTTP protocol stack, known as HTTP.sys, which could have devastating consequences once it’s inevitably publicly exploited. The bulletin, MS15-034, is one of four critical bulletins issued today by Microsoft. Experts warn that exploitin...

Fixes for IE, Flash Player in October Patch Tuesday Release

Microsoft and Adobe issued their monthly patch Tuesday releases today, and Microsoft posted eight bulletins, three of which are considered critical including the now-monthly cumulative Internet Explorer update, addressing 24 vulnerabilities in various products. Adobe has fixes for three...

Threatpost News Wrap, June 23, 2014

Dennis Fisher and Mike Mimoso discuss the latest security news, including the possible fork of TrueCrypt, Microsoft’s new information sharing platform, the FBI’s cybercrime task force and the US team’s crushing tie with Portugal. Download: digitalunderground156.mp3 Music by Chris Gonsalves...

Microsoft Advisory Warns of Word Zero-Day Attacks

Targeted attacks have been spotted against a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2010, leading Microsoft to issue a special security advisory and produce a Fix-it solution for users until a patch is ready. Microsoft also said that its Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit EMET is a temporar...

Malicious Java App is Cross-Platform Botnet

Java-related security issues have remained relatively quiet during the past few months, especially after a rocky start to 2013 seemingly had one Java flaw after another in the news. Things might be starting to ramp up again with the discovery of a cross-platform Java-based botnet. Researchers at...

In Possible Targeted Attack, Amnesty International Web Site Found Serving Malware

Amnesty International’s United Kingdom website was compromised late last week and was being used to exploit a known Java runtime environment hole on machines belonging to unwitting visitors to the site, according to Barracuda Labs researcher, Paul Royal. Citing historical data, Royal claims that...

Researcher Publishes Android Browser Exploit

UPDATE: A researcher at security firm Alert Logic has published code that could be used to compromise some versions of Google’s Android Operating System. The exploit, if properly adapted, could make Android phones vulnerable to remote attacks and compromises. Researcher MJ Keith published a Rever...

Microsoft Plugs IE Drive-By Download Flaws

Microsoft today shipped a cumulative Internet Explorer update with patches for 10 security holes, including a drive-by download vulnerability that’s already being used in malware attacks. The critical MS08-018 update patches security holes that could lead to code execution attacks on all versions...

Critical Flaw Found in Linux Kernel

There is a NULL pointer dereference flaw in the Linux kernel that can be exploited by attackers to gain root access to a vulnerable machine. The vulnerability is in version 2.6.21 of the Linux kernel and some Linux vendors already have taken steps to fix the vulnerability. Red Hat has released a...

Microsoft Cleans Up Bugs After Biggest Patch Release

After releasing its largest-ever group of security patches two weeks ago, Microsoft has done a little cleaning up. Over the past few days, the company has re-released two security updates and issued a workaround for a Windows CryptoAPI patch that caused Microsoft’s own instant-messaging server to...

Apple iOS Update Fixes Cringey iPhone 13 Jailbreak Exploit

As if the Log4Shell hellscape wasn’t already driving everybody starkers, it’s time to update iOS 15.2 and a crop of other Apple iGadgets, lest your iPhone get taken over by a malicious app that executes arbitrary code with kernel privileges. To paraphrase one mobile security expert, the iOS 15.2...

Google Chrome is Abused to Deliver Malware as Legit Windows 10 App

Crooks behind a newly identified malware campaign are targeting Windows 10 with malware that can infect systems via a technique that cleverly bypasses Windows cybersecurity protections called User Account Control UAC. Researchers from Rapid7 recently identified the campaign and warn the goal of t...

Twitter Suspends Accounts Used to Snare Security Researchers

Twitter has shuttered two accounts – @lagal1990 and @shiftrows13 – specifically used to trick security researchers into downloading malware in a long-running cyber-espionage campaign attributed to North Korea. The campaign was first discovered by the Google Threat Analysis Group TAG in January an...

REvil Affiliates Confirm Getting Screwed Out of Payments

A day after news broke about REvil having screwed their own affiliates out of ransomware payments – by using double chats and a backdoor that let REvil operators hijack ransom payments – those affiliates took to the top Russian-language hacking forum to renew their demands for REvil to fork over...

FIN7 ‘Pen Tester’ Headed to Jail Amid $1B in Losses

A so-called “pen-tester” for the financial cybergang known as FIN7 will spend seven years in the slammer after being convicted for payment-card theft. According to the Department of Justice, Andrii Kolpakov, a Ukrainian national, was also ordered to pay a tidy $2.5 million in restitution for his...

Amazon Sidewalk Poised to Sweep You Into Its Mesh

Tweet On June 8, Amazon, the Web giant with tentacles reaching into every nook and cranny of our lives, is going to stretch those tentacles out further by turning all its gadgets into little cell towers so they can help each other out with little slices of bandwidth. It’s created a new Wi-Fi...

Phishing Attacks Spawn Three New Malware Strains

Two waves of global financial phishing attacks that swamped at least 50 organizations in December have delivered three new malware families, according to a report from FireEye’s Mandiant cybersecurity team. On Tuesday, the team said that they’ve dubbed the hitherto-unseen malware strains...

Swiss Army knife For Information Security: What is Comprehensive Protection?

Written by Sergey Ozhegov, CEO of SearchInform In the early days of information security, we used to rely on antivirus and firewall in our arsenal. Once I even “caught” a leak with the help of the firewall logs: I noticed an atypically large data upload and found out that the user was uploading...

Nim-Based Malware Loader Spreads Via Spear-Phishing Emails

The TA800 threat group is distributing a malware loader, which researchers call NimzaLoader, via ongoing, highly-targeted spear-phishing emails. While previous Twitter analysis identified this loader as a mere variant of TA800’s existing BazaLoader malware, new research cites evidence that...

Newest Intel Side-Channel Attack Sniffs Out Sensitive Data

Intel processors are vulnerable to a new side-channel attack, which researchers said can allow attackers to steal sensitive information such as encryption keys or passwords. Unlike previous side-channel attacks, this attack does not rely on sharing memory, cache sets and other former tactics...

CES 2021 Gadgets: Worst in Privacy and Security Awards

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show was hampered by the pandemic, but that didn’t stop an expert panel from convening to award this year’s dubious CES 2021 Worst in Show honors in the context of gadget privacy and security. Overall trends from the week included ever-connected devices constantly...