Attackers Target CVE-2012-0754 Adobe Flash Bug

An Adobe Flash vulnerability fixed last month is being used in targeted attacks right now, with attackers attempting to persuade victims to open a malicious Word document that contains the payload for the Flash bug. The vulnerability has been patched for nearly a month, but history has shown that...

Ongoing Targeted Attack Campaign Going After Defense, Aerospace Industries

Researchers have identified a strain of malware that’s being used in a string of targeted attacks against defense contractors, government agencies and other organizations by leveraging exploits against zero-day vulnerabilities. The attacks may have been going on since 2009 in some form and the...

New Java Vulnerability Coming Bundled With Exploit Kits

A recently discovered Java vulnerability that’s been circulating throughout the hacking underground has begun to show up alongside the BlackHole exploit kit, according to a post on Brian Krebs’ KrebsonSecurity blog. The National Vulnerability Database claims the vulnerability is found in the Java...

End of Support for XP SP2 is End of an Era

Microsoft’s announcement this week that it is preparing to end support for machines running Windows XP SP2 not only represents a challenge for the thousands of businesses still running SP2, but also is the end of an era for both Microsoft and its customers. By the time Microsoft drops support for...

Attacks Continuing Against IE Flaw as Microsoft Preps Patch

Microsoft officials said on Sunday that they are continuing to investigate the attacks that are exploiting the unpatched flaw in Internet Explorer, but that the attacks right now are limited to specifically targeted activity against enterprise networks. The company said that it doesn’t look like...

Adobe Zaps Dangerous Flash Player Bugs

Adobe has shipped a critical Flash Player update to fix at least seven documented security vulnerabilities that expose nearly every computer user to dangerous hacker attacks. The Flash Player 10.0.42.34 update is available for all platforms Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Here are the raw details:...

Microsoft Confirms SMB2 Flaw, Heightens Severity

Microsoft has issued a formal security advisory to confirm the remote reboot flaw in its implementation of the SMB2 protocol, going a step further to warn that a successful attack could lead to remote code execution and full system takeover. The vulnerability, which was originally released as a...

Phishing Attacks Skyrocket with Microsoft and Facebook as Most Abused Brands

The bloom is back on phishing attacks with criminals doubling down on fake messages abusing popular brands compared to the year prior. Microsoft, Facebook and French bank Crédit Agricole are the top abused brands in attacks, according to study on phishing released Tuesday. The study by Vade...

Bad Actors Are Maximizing Remote Everything

The rise of remote work and learning opened new opportunities for many people – as we’ve seen by the number of people who have moved to new places or adapted to “workcations.” Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the same opportunities – just in a different way. Evaluating the prevalence of...

Surge in Malicious QR Codes Sparks FBI Alert

Menus, event ticket sales, quick site access — QR codes have become a common way to interact as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the smart little matrix bar codes are easily tampered with and can be used to direct victims to malicious sites, the FBI warned in an alert. QR codes are the...

GoDaddy Breach Widens to Include Reseller Subsidiaries

The GoDaddy breach affecting 1.2 million customers has widened – it turns out that various subsidiaries that resell GoDaddy Managed WordPress were also affected. The additional affected companies are 123Reg, Domain Factory, Heart Internet, Host Europe, Media Temple and tsoHost. The world’s larges...

Top Steps for Ransomware Recovery and Preparation

When it comes to ransomware attacks, it’s no longer a question of if or even when, but how often. A business falls victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds, making ransomware the fastest-growing type of cybercrime. Businesses today need to not only think about strategies to prevent...

Cream Finance DeFi Platform Rooked For $29M

Cream Finance is the latest decentralized finance DeFi platform for cryptocurrency trading to take a major financial hit at the hands of hackers, losing nearly $19 million in an attack this week on its “flash loan” feature. The attacker was able to steal nearly $29 million before being discovered...

Black Hat: New CISA Head Woos Crowd With Public-Private Task Force

LAS VEGAS – Just weeks after the U.S. Senate confirmed Jen Easterly to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, the new director spoke at Black Hat USA 2021 on Thursday, albeit virtually, announcing a major public-private partnership to fight cybercrime. Called the Joint...

Windows Container Malware Targets Kubernetes

Windows containers have been victimized for over a year by the first known malware to target Windows containers. The ongoing campaign pierces Kubernetes clusters so as to plant backdoors, allowing attackers to steal data and user credentials, or even hijack an entire databases hosted in a cluster...

‘Agrius’ APT Launches Wiper Attacks Against Israelis

A new attack group called Agrius is launching damaging wiper attacks against Israeli targets, which researchers said are hiding behind ransomware to make their state-sponsored activities appear financially motivated. Sentinel Labs analysts said they have been tracking Agrius’ operations in Israel...

Clearview Facial-Recognition Technology Ruled Illegal in Canada

Canadian authorities have found that the collection of facial-recognition data by Clearview AI is illegal because it violates federal and provincial privacy laws, representing a win for individuals’ privacy and potentially setting a precedent for other legal challenges to the controversial...

Agent Tesla Trojan 'Kneecaps' Microsoft's Anti-Malware Interface

Researchers have identified new versions of the Agent Tesla remote access trojan RAT that target the Windows anti-malware interface used by security vendors to protect PCs from attacks. The newly discovered variants have also adopted new obfuscation capabilities, raising the stakes for businesses...

WordPress Pop-Up Builder Plugin Flaw Plagues 200K Sites

Developers of a plugin, used by WordPress websites for building pop-up ads for newsletter subscriptions, have issued a patch for a serious flaw. The vulnerability could be exploited by attackers to send out newsletters with custom content, or to delete or import newsletter subscribers. The plugin...

Einstein Healthcare Network Announces August Breach

Einstein Health Network, a Pennsylvania-based company operating medical rehab, outpatient and primary care centers, announced a breach of its employee email system, which exposed patient personal and medical information. The company waited more than five months to make the compromise public...

Telegram Bots at Heart of Classiscam Scam-as-a-Service

A new automated scam-as-a-service has been unearthed, which leverages Telegram bots in order to steal money and payment data from European victims. The scam, which researchers call Classiscam, is being sold as a service by Russian-speaking cybercriminals, and has been used by at least 40 separate...

SolarWinds Hack Potentially Linked to Turla APT

New details on the Sunburst backdoor used in the sprawling SolarWinds supply-chain attack potentially link it to previously known activity by the Turla advanced persistent threat APT group. Researchers at Kaspersky have uncovered several code similarities between Sunburst and the Kazuar backdoor...

FBI Warn Hackers are Using Hijacked Home Security Devices for 'Swatting'

Stolen email passwords are being used to hijack smart home security systems to “swat” unsuspecting users, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned this week. The announcement comes after concerned device manufacturers alerted law enforcement about the issue. Swatting is a dangerous prank where...

Most-Wanted Threatpost Stories of 2020

As 2020 draws to a close, it’s clear that work-from-home security, ransomware, COVID-19-themed social engineering and attacks by nation-states will go down as defining topics for the cybersecurity world for the year. Threatpost also took a retrospective view on what readers were most interested...

Facebook Debuts Bug Bounty ‘Loyalty Program’

Facebook has lifted the curtain on what it claims is an industry first: A loyalty program as part of its bug-bounty offering, which aims to further incentivize researchers to find vulnerabilities in its platform. The loyalty program, called “Hacker Plus,” offers bonuses on top of bounty awards,...

OldGremlin Ransomware Group Bedevils Russian Orgs

A new cybercriminal group called OldGremlin has been targeting Russian companies – including banks, industrial enterprises and medical firms – with ransomware attacks. OldGremlin relies on a bevy of tools, including custom backdoors called TinyPosh and TinyNode, to gain an initial foothold in the...

APIs Are the Next Frontier in Cybercrime

Application Programming Interface API usage has exploded, and cybercriminals are increasingly taking advantage of API security flaws to commit fraud and steal data. APIs, which are used to create connections between software programs and perform integrations, make everything a bit easier — from...

Chris Vickery: AI Will Drive Tomorrow’s Data Breaches

From malicious hacks to accidental misconfigurations, Chris Vickery has seen it all. But as cybercriminals continue to innovate, Vickery, the director of risk research with UpGuard, said one emerging security threat will “blindside” the world: “fakeable” voices. More bad actors using artificial...

Supreme Court Phish Targets Office 365 Credentials

A highly-targeted phishing attack pretends to deliver subpoenas, but actually ends up collecting victims’ Office 365 credentials. The ongoing campaign has slipped by Office 365 and gateway security controls to hit several C-Suite level victims thus far. The phishing emails spoof the U.S. Supreme...

Microsoft Shells Out $100K for IoT Security

Microsoft has launched a bug-bounty program for its Azure Sphere offering, which is a security suite for the internet of things IoT that encompasses hardware, OS and cloud elements. The top reward will come in at $100,000. The Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge is an expansion of a program...

Ransomware Attack Takes Down Toll Group Systems, Again

Australian transportation and logistics giant Toll Group has been hit by a ransomware attack – for the second time in three months. The company said a relatively new form of ransomware known as Nefilim had targeted its systems. Toll Group, a subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings, is a freight and...

New PoetRAT Hits Energy Sector With Data-Stealing Tools

A never-before-seen remote access trojan RAT has been discovered in a set of campaigns targeting the energy sector, with a slew of post-exploitation tools to log keystrokes, record footage from webcams and steal browser credentials. Researchers called the malware “PoetRAT” due to various referenc...

COVID-19 CISO Checklist for Securing a Remote Workforce

The Coronavirus crisis introduces a heavy burden on the CISO with the joint impact of a mass transition to working remotely coupled with a surge of cyberattacks that strive to monetize the general chaos. Security vendors, unintendedly, contribute to this burden by a relentless generation of noise...

Trend Micro Fixes Critical Flaws Under Attack

Trend Micro has released security updates patching five vulnerabilities in its endpoint security solutions, Apex One and OfficeScan XG for Windows. Specifically, Apex One 2019 and OfficeScan XG SP1 and XG are affected by four critical-severity and one high-severity flaws. Two of these...

Convincing Google Impersonation Opens Door to MiTM, Phishing

An attack that uses homographic characters to impersonate domain names and launch convincing but malicious websites takes minutes and a bare modicum of skill — while reaping high rates of success in luring victims, according to an independent researcher. Researcher Avi Lumelsky set out to see how...

FC Barcelona Suffers Likely Credential-Stuffing Attack on Twitter

Just ahead of its Champion’s League Round of 16 appearance next week, FC Barcelona’s official Twitter account was hacked in an apparent credential-stuffing attack. The strike resulted in account takeover and bogus tweets being sent out. The hacking collective known as OurMine, which made headline...

Video: Zoom Researcher Details Web Conference Security Risks, 2020 Threats

Research unveiled this week at CPX 360, a security event hosted by Check Point, disclosed vulnerabilities discovered in Zoom’s enterprise video conferencing platform. Zoom issued a bevy of security fixes after researchers said the company’s platform used weak authentication that made it possible...

California Adopts Strictest Privacy Law in U.S.

A landmark privacy rights bill took effect Jan. 1, 2020 in California and will have broad implications for U.S. consumers and businesses. The California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA mandates strict requirements for companies to notify users about how their user data will be used and monetized along...

Smart Krampus-3PC Malware Targets iPhone Users Online

A malicious web redirect campaign affecting iPhone users has impacted more than 100 publisher websites, including online newspapers and international weekly news magazines. According to The Media Trust’s Digital Security & Operations DSO team, iPhone users visiting any of the impacted websites we...

Consumer Data Privacy Rights: Emerging Tech Blurs Lines

LAS VEGAS – From drones to facial recognition, new technology applications are introducing unique consumer privacy issues for civil society — and U.S. lawmakers and legal teams are struggling to keep up. Privacy is a fundamental human right for consumers, but new ways in which data is collected a...

ThreatList: Data Breaches Batter Stock Prices at Public Companies, For Months

Much has been made of the fallout that companies face after a data breach. But for public companies, shaken investor confidence adds a whole new dimension to recovery concerns. A recent study from Comparitech shows that share prices for large breached companies will hit a low point approximately ...

Android Malware Plaguing 45K Devices Remains a Mystery

Researchers are on the hunt for the infection vector behind a mysterious mobile malware that has infected over 45,000 Android devices in the past six months. Researchers said they have detected a surge in detections of the malware, dubbed Xhelper, which can hide itself from users, download...

New Threat Actor Fraudulently Buys Digital Certificates to Spread Malware

Researchers have identified a new threat actor that is using impersonation fraud to purchase digital certificates that are then used for the spread of malware. Security firm ReversingLabs identified a bad actor that deceives certificate authorities into selling them legitimate digital certificate...

Elderly China Chopper Tool Still Going Strong in Multiple Campaigns

A nine-year-old web shell used for providing remote access to web servers for cyberattackers is staying very active despite its advanced age in cyber-years, anyway. Researchers said they’ve spotted it being used in several recent campaigns – all with disparate goals. The tool, known as China...

How to Maximize the Value of Your Cybersecurity Investment

When it comes to developing a successful cybersecurity program in 2019, simply purchasing and deploying cybersecurity technology is only the first step in deriving value from the investment. Maximizing value and capitalizing on these efforts requires a series of defined processes and no shortage ...

RSA Conference 2019: Data-Wiping Cyberattacks Plague Financial Firms

Over a quarter of surveyed financial institutions reported that they were targeted by destructive cyberattacks over the past year, bent on completely destroying data. That’s according to a new Carbon Black report unveiled at RSA this year. The report, “Modern Bank Heists: The Bank Robbery Shifts ...

Oracle Fixes 301 Flaws in October Critical Patch Update

Oracle has released a critical patch update addressing more than 300 vulnerabilities across several of its products – including one flaw with a CVSS 3.0 score of 10 that could allow the takeover of the company’s software package, Oracle GoldenGate. Of the 301 security flaws that were fixed in thi...

ThreatList: Microsoft IIS Sees Triple-Digit Spike in Cyberattack Volume

Internet Information Services IIS, an extensible web server originally created by Microsoft for use with the Windows NT family, saw a whopping 782x increase in cyberattacks during the second quarter, according to analysis. According to eSentire’s latest threat report based on data gathered from...

Bluetooth Bug Allows Man-in-the-Middle Attacks on Phones, Laptops

A slew of vendors that have built Bluetooth pairing into their devices without requiring public key validation are issuing fixes for their products. Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology have identified a cryptography-related security vulnerability CVE-2018-5383 in the Bluetooth...

Adobe Issues Over 100 Patches for Flash, Acrobat and Reader

Adobe fixed a slew of critical vulnerabilities in its Flash Player and Acrobat products as part of its regularly scheduled update on Tuesday morning. Overall, the company issued a 112 fixes for vulnerabilities in its products spanning from Flash Player two bugs, Acrobat and Reader 104 bugs, and...