Microsoft Publishes Workaround for Oracle Outside In Vulnerability

Microsoft gave its users steps earlier this week to sidestep a vulnerability in one of Oracle’s Outside In libraries. The company published some mitigations for the bug, but said it isn’t aware of any active attacks against it yet. The Oracle technology is licensed by software developers like...

FEMA: State, Local Officials Not Prepared to Respond to Cyberattack

A report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA finds that state and local government officials in the U.S. are pessimistic about their ability to respond to a cyberattacks. The National Preparedness Report NPR was commissioned by the Obama Administration. It found that, although the...

IE 9 Falls to Pair of Zero Days at Pwn2Own

The same team from VUPEN that took down Google Chrome on Wednesday has succeeded in compromising Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7, using two separate bugs. The success at the Pwn2Own contest was the result of a heap overflow bug in IE as well as a separate bug in the browser’s protected mode. The...

Google Fixes Six High-Risk Bugs in New Chrome Release

Google has released a new version of its Chrome browser, fixing six high-risk security bugs in the process and paying out $8,500 in bug bounties along the way. The latest version of Chrome, version 10.0.648.204, also includes a number of other new features for some of the supported platforms. The...

The Oracle Quarterly Patch Update

January 18th marks the 6th anniversary of the Oracle Critical Patch Update CPU in its current form as a quarterly patch. For those who remember, before the CPU, Oracle released patches as Security Alerts, the last being Security Alert 68 at the end of August 2004. In the past 6 years, CPUs have...

VMware ESXi Servers Encrypted by Lightning-Fast Python Script

Researchers have discovered a new Python ransomware from an unnamed gang that’s striking ESXi servers and virtual machines VMs with what they called “sniper-like” speed. Sophos said on Tuesday that the ransomware is being used to compromise and encrypt VMs hosted on an ESXi hypervisor in operatio...

Oh FCUK! Fashion Label, Medical Diagnostics Firm Latest REvil Victims

U.K.-based fashion brand French Connection, which advertises under the acronym “FCUK,” confirmed that it has been compromised by ransomware group REvil. Just hours later, Brazilian medical diagnostics firm Grupo Fleury announced it had the same misfortune. The twin attacks reveal shifting...

STEM Audio Table Rife with Business-Threatening Bugs

The STEM Audio Table conference-room speaker has a security vulnerability that would allow unauthenticated remote code execution RCE as root – paving the way for eavesdropping on conversations, denial of service, lateral movement throughout enterprise networks and more. And, there are multiple...

Podcast: The State of Ransomware

Last month, ransomware group DarkSide targeted operator Colonial Pipeline Co., disrupting fuel supply in the Eastern part of the U.S. The attack on a major U.S. oil pipeline had widespread ripples: it prompted President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency and caused substantial pain at gas...

Buer Malware Tool Rewritten in E-Z Rust Language

A variant of the Buer malware, which is being distributed in emails disguised as DHL support shipping notices, comes with a fresh code rewrite in the popular Rust language and looks like it may be in the process of prepping for rental to other cybercrooks. Join Threatpost for “Fortifying Your...

Novel Email-Based Campaign Targets Bloomberg Clients with RATs

A new email-based campaign by an emerging threat actor aims to spread various remote access trojans RATs to a very specific group of targets who use Bloomberg’s industry-based services. Cisco Talos Intelligence researchers discovered the campaign, dubbing it and its perpetrator “Fajan,” and...

Ransomware Attack Creates Dutch Cheese Shortages

An Easter weekend ransomware attack on a food-logistics firm in the Netherlands has caused shortages of prepackaged cheese in supermarkets across the country. The largest Dutch grocery store chain had some bad news for a cheese-mad nation. “Due to a technical malfunction, there is limited...

COVID-Related Threats, PowerShell Attacks Lead Malware Surge

Surging numbers of COVID-themed attacks, PowerShell trojans, along with the SolarWinds compromise and the continued spread of Sunburst malware were major contributors to a massive spike in the number of observed attacks in the wild during the last half of 2020, which McAfee’s said averaged 588...

ProtonVPN CEO Blasts Apple for 'Aiding Tyrants’ in Myanmar

In a blog post filled with a passionate defense of human rights and internet privacy, Andy Yen, the CEO of secure internet provider ProtonVPN, blasted Apple for blocking its latest update and accused the tech juggernaut of helping the global spread of authoritarianism by “giving in to tyrants.” Y...

Post-Cyberattack, Universal Health Services Faces $67M in Losses

The cyberattack that hit Universal Health Services UHS in September has cost the healthcare service provider a whopping $67 million in damages, according to financial statements. A fourth-quarter earnings report last week from UHS highlighted the “significant incremental labor expense” needed to...

Firewall Vendor Patches Critical Auth Bypass Flaw

Germany-based cybersecurity company Genua has fast-tracked a fix for a critical flaw in one of its firewall products. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow local attackers to bypass authentication measures and log in to internal company networks with the highest level of privileges. Genua...

Finnish IT Giant Hit with Ransomware Cyberattack

A major Finnish IT provider has been hit with a ransomware attack that has forced the company to turn off some services and infrastructure in a disruption to customers, while it takes recovery measures. Norwegian business journal E24 reported the attack on Espoo, Finland-based TietoEVRY on Tuesda...

Android Devices Prone to New Botnet’s DDoS Onslaught

Researchers are warning a new botnet is recycling the Mirai malware framework and is now targeting Android devices in order to launch distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks. The botnet is dubbed Matryosh after a Matryoshka Russian nesting doll due to many of its functions being “nested” in...

LogoKit Simplifies Office 365, SharePoint 'Login' Phishing Pages

A newly-uncovered phishing kit, dubbed LogoKit, eliminates headaches for cybercriminals by automatically pulling victims’ company logos onto the phishing login page. This gives attackers the tools needed to easily mimic company login pages, a task that can sometimes be complex. Cybercriminals hav...

Data from August Breach of Amazon Partner Juspay Dumped Online

Data from a breach that occurred five months ago involving Juspay, which handles payments for Amazon and other online retailers in India, has been dumped online, a researcher has found. Security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia discovered data of 35 million Indian credit-card holders from a breach...

Google Services Weaponized to Bypass Security in Phishing, BEC Campaigns

A spike in recent phishing and business email compromise BEC attacks can be traced back to criminals learning how to exploit Google Services, according to research from Armorblox. Social distancing has driven entire businesses into the arms of the Google ecosystem looking for a reliable, simple w...

New Grelos Skimmer Variants Siphon Credit Card Data

Just as seasonal online shopping kicks into high gear, new variants of the point-of-sale Grelos skimmer malware have been identified. Variants are targeting the payment-card data of online retail shoppers on dozens of compromised websites, researchers warn. The Grelos skimmer malware has been...

'Among Us' Mobile Game Under Siege by Attackers

The meteoric rise of the game Among Us appears to be outpacing its developer’s ability to keep up with malicious actors. On Sunday night, a specific ongoing attack forced InnerSloth, the company behind the game, to hastily roll out an update designed to kick bad actors off the game’s servers —...

Travelex, Other Orgs Face DDoS Threats as Extortion Campaign Rages On

Companies worldwide have continued to receive extortion emails threatening to launch a distributed denial-of-service DDoS attack on their network, unless they pay up – with British foreign-exchange company Travelex reportedly being one recent high-profile threat recipient. Researchers said that...

Android Malware Bypasses 2FA And Targets Telegram, Gmail Passwords

Researchers have uncovered a threat group launching surveillance campaigns that target victims’ personal device data, browser credentials and Telegram messaging application files. One notable tool in the group’s arsenal is an Android malware that collects all two-factor authentication 2FA securit...

Zoom Faces More Legal Challenges Over End-to-End Encryption

Video-conferencing behemoth Zoom has been hit with yet another lawsuit stemming from its claim to offer end-to-end encryption for sessions. The suit, filed in a Washington D.C. court PDF this week by a nonprofit advocacy group called Consumer Watchdog, alleges that the company falsely told users...

Amazon Fixes Alexa Glitch That Could Have Divulged Personal Data

UPDATE Vulnerabilities in Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant platform could allow attackers to access users’ personal information, like home addresses – simply by persuading them to click on a malicious link. Researchers with Check Point found several web application flaws on Amazon Alexa subdomain...

Microsoft Warns on OAuth Attacks Against Cloud App Users

Against the backdrop of widespread remote working and the increased use of collaboration apps, attackers are ramping up application-based attacks that exploit OAuth 2.0, Microsoft is warning. OAuth is an open standard for access delegation, commonly used as a way for people to sign into services...

44M Digital Wallet Items Exposed in Key Ring Cloud Misconfig

Key Ring, creator of a digital wallet app used by 14 million people across North America, has exposed 44 million IDs, charge cards, loyalty cards, gift cards and membership cards to the open internet, researchers say. The Key Ring app allows users to upload scans and photos of various physical...

High-Severity Flaws Plague Intel Graphics Drivers

Intel has issued security patches for six high-severity vulnerabilities in its Windows graphics drivers which, if exploited, could enable escalation of privilege, denial of service DoS and information disclosure. The graphics driver is software that controls how graphic components work with the...

Loyalty Cards Targeted in Tesco Clubcard Attack

U.K. supermarket giant Tesco is warning on a credential-stuffing attack that potentially affects 600,000 members of its Clubcard loyalty program. It said that it detected cybercriminals trying out different name and password combos, gleaned from a database of stolen usernames and passwords for...

RSAC 2020: Blockchain is 'Garbage In', Voting Needs Paper Ballots

SAN FRANCISCO – Cryptography is at the heart of security, especially here at this week’s RSAC 2020. And during the event’s annual Cryptographer’s Panel, industry leaders broke down their top crypto-concerns, including privacy regulations, election security and blockchain. Privacy is clearly a top...

Katie Moussouris: The Bug Bounty Conflict of Interest

Since the launch of the Hack the Pentagon program in 2016, bug bounty programs continue to increase in popularity – however, as more programs are created, some companies are forgetting the real reason behind bug bounties. Instead of aiming to make their systems more secure, companies are viewing...

Google Chrome To Bar HTTP File Downloads

Google Chrome will soon restrict certain files, like PDFs or executables, from being downloaded via an HTTP connection, if they are loaded on HTTPS webpages. HTTPS indicates that a website has an encrypted connection. When connecting to an HTTP website, browsers merely look up the IP address and...

Google Boots Security Camera Maker From Nest Hub After Private Images Go Public

China-based electronics company Xiaomi said it has fixed a “cache update” issue for its Xiaomi Mijia smart camera after a Reddit user claims that attempts to view Xiaomi camera footage on his Google Nest Hub instead showed videos of strangers. The issue was first reported by a user on Reddit who...

IoT Company Wyze Leaks Emails, Device Data of 2.4M

An exposed Elasticsearch database, owned by Internet of Things IoT company Wyze, was discovered leaking connected device information and emails of millions of customers. Wyze makes smart home cameras and connected devices like connected bulbs and plugs, which can be integrated with smart home...

Top Mobile Security Stories of 2019

Top Mobile Security Stories of 2019 Cybercriminals are increasingly and successfully targeting mobile users, as our look back on the Top 10 2019 mobile security stories show. For enterprises that are embracing an ever-more-mobile workforce, escalating mobile attack vectors significantly widen the...

Smart TVs: The Cyberthreat Lurking in Your Living Room, Feds Warn

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales of smart TVs are likely prodigious this Thanksgiving weekend – but consumers need to be aware of the hole they can punch in home cyber-defenses. That’s the word from the FBI, which warned that smart TVs, which hook up to the internet to allow users to access ap...

Security Firms, Nonprofits Team to Fight Stalkerware

The scourge of so-called “stalkerware” has accelerated as mobile cyberattacks in general have become more common, and it’s something that’s being addressed through a security industry collaboration that launched this week. The term “stalkerware” refers to both surreptitious spyware available on t...

Galaxy S10 Fingerprint Sensor Thwarted With Screen Protector: Report

UPDATE Samsung has acknowledged that anyone can bypass the Galaxy S10 fingerprint sensor using a third-party case after a woman alleged that a $3 smartphone screen protector allowed unauthorized users to dupe her Samsung Galaxy S10’s fingerprint recognition sensor – giving access to her phone and...

How to Prepare for Misconfigurations Clouding the Corporate Skies

Cloud-based storage and infrastructure provides myriad benefits for any organization, like letting them avoid the costs of expensive hardware and granting them quick access to infrastructure as needed. Companies can use cloud services for minutes or years, depending on their needs. However, there...

Streaming Video Fans Open to TV Hijacking

A suite of critical remote code-execution vulnerabilities in a streaming TV platform could expose entire databases of subscribers’ personal info and financial details – and could open the door to attackers hijacking the service, streaming any content they wish to customer screens. According to...

Microsoft Outlook Breach Widens in Scope, Impacting MSN And Hotmail – Report

UPDATE A recently-disclosed Microsoft email-platform breach is reportedly much worse than previously thought, now impacting a large number of Outlook accounts as well as MSN and Hotmail email accounts. On Friday, a slew of Outlook users reported receiving notifications from Microsoft. The...

Amazon Auditors Listen to Echo Recordings, Report Says

Amazon is under fire after a bombshell report revealed the company employs thousands of auditors to listen to Echo users’ voice recordings. The team exists to help improve Amazon Alexa’s comprehension of human speech, so the voice command device responds better to commands, according to a Wednesd...

Researcher Claims Iranian APT Behind 6TB Data Heist at Citrix

A researcher has attributed a recently publicized attack on Citrix’ internal network to the Iranian-linked group known as IRIDIUM – and said that the data heist involved 6 terabytes of sensitive data. Resecurity posted a blog on Friday indicating that it detected a targeted attack and data breach...

Apple Disables Group FaceTime Following Major Privacy Glitch

Apple has made Group FaceTime temporarily unavailable following a major flaw discovered on Monday evening. The bug allows anyone with iOS to FaceTime other iOS users and listen in on their private conversations – without the user on other end rejecting or accepting the call. The bug makes use of ...

XBash Malware Packs Double Punch: Destroys Data and Mines for Crypto Coins

Researchers have discovered a new sophisticated malware family in the wild, which wrecks havoc on Windows and Linux systems with a combination of data destructive ransomware and malicious cryptomining. The malware, dubbed by Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 researchers who discovered it as Xbash, has...

High-Severity Flaws in Cisco Secure Internet Gateway Service Patched

Two high-severity vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Cisco’s security platform that could allow an attacker to gain administrative privileges – and take full control of the impacted machine. The glitches, disclosed Wednesday, affect two parts of Cisco Umbrella, a secure internet gateway that...

Social Media Privacy Dominates Apple iOS 12, macOS Launches

Social media privacy is top of mind for Apple on the heels of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica controversy. On Monday, Apple released the latest versions of its desktop and mobile operating systems at the Worldwide Developers Conference WWDC, which addresses a bevy of security and privacy concern...

Intel’s ‘Virtual Fences’ Spectre Fix Won’t Protect Against Variant 4

Spectre and Meltdown fixes for Intel chips announced in March, to be embedded into new CPUs, do not address the newly disclosed Variant 4, sources said. Intel introduced hardware-based safeguards to its new chips to protect against the Spectre and Meltdown flaws that rocked the silicon industry...