Facebook Disrupts Spy Effort Aimed at Uyghurs

Facebook has taken on a group of hackers in China that target the Uyghur ethnic group with cyberespionage activity. The hacking group, known as Earth Empusa or Evil Eye, was targeting activists, dissidents and journalists involved in the Uyghur community, primarily those living abroad in Australi...

Active Exploits Hit WordPress Sites Vulnerable to Thrive Themes Flaws

Attackers are actively exploiting two recently-patched vulnerabilities in a popular suite of tools for WordPress websites from marketing platform Thrive Themes. Thrive Themes offers various products to help WordPress websites “convert visitors into leads and customers.” Its suite of products,...

Purple Fox Malware Targets Windows Machines With New Worm Capabilities

A malware that has historically targeted exposed Windows machines through phishing and exploit kits has been retooled to add new “worm” capabilities. Purple Fox, which first appeared in 2018, is an active malware campaign that until recently required user interaction or some kind of third-party...

Hobby Lobby Exposes Customer Data in Cloud Misconfiguration

Arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has suffered a cloud-bucket misconfiguration, exposing a raft of customer information, according to a report. An independent security researcher who goes by the handle “Boogeyman” uncovered the issue and reported it to Motherboard in an online chat, according ...

Teen Behind Twitter Bit-Con Breach Cuts Plea Deal

Thanks to a new plea deal with the Florida State Attorney’s Office, the 18-year-old behind last summer’s breach of Twitter’s high-profile accounts will not be charged as an adult, and instead will serve his sentence in juvenile detention. Graham Ivan Clark was arrested seven months ago, and has...

WestRock Ransomware Attack Hinders Packaging Production

WestRock – the second-largest packaging company in the U.S. – continues to restore its systems, two weeks after it discovered it was the victim of a ransomware attack. WestRock, which has more than 320 manufacturing facilities globally, creates packaging supplies for a bevy of high-profile client...

ADT Tech Hacks Home-Security Cameras to Spy on Women

Former ADT employee Telesforo Aviles took note when there were attractive women at a home he serviced in the Dallas area. Then he would add his personal email address to their accounts so he could have around-the-clock access to their most private moments, according to the U.S. Attorneys’ Office...

New Year, New Ransomware: Babuk Locker Targets Large Corporations

Only a few days into the new year, one of the first new ransomware strains of 2021 has been discovered. Dubbed Babuk Locker, the ransomware appears to have successfully compromised five companies thus far, according to new research. The research author, Chuong Dong, a computer science student at...

Microsoft Caught Up in SolarWinds Spy Effort, Joining Federal Agencies

UPDATE Microsoft has become the latest victim of the ever-widening SolarWinds-driven cyberattack that has impacted rafts of federal agencies and tech targets. Its president, Brad Smith, warned late Thursday to expect many more victims to come to light as investigations continue. Adversaries were...

Nuclear Weapons Agency Hacked in Widening Cyberattack

The Energy Department and its National Nuclear Security Administration NNSA, which is the agency that maintains the U.S. nuclear stockpile, have been compromised as part of the widespread cyberattack uncovered this week stemming from the massive SolarWinds hack. An exclusive report by Politico...

IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act Passed, Heads to President's Desk

Security experts are applauding the recent stamp of approval by the U.S. Senate on a groundbreaking internet-of-things IoT security regulatory effort. The IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, which was led in bipartisan sponsorship by Reps. Will Hurd R-Texas and Robin Kelly D-Ill., would require th...

Widespread Scans Underway for RCE Bugs in WordPress Websites

Millions of malicious scans are rolling across the internet, looking for known vulnerabilities in the Epsilon Framework for building WordPress themes, according to researchers. According to the Wordfence Threat Intelligence team, more than 7.5 million probes targeting these vulnerabilities have...

Carnival Corp. Ransomware Attack Affects Three Cruise Lines

Hackers accessed personal information of guests, employees and crew for three cruise line brands and the casino operations of Carnival Corp. in a ransomware attack the company suffered on Aug. 15, officials have confirmed. Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line and Seabourn were the brands...

Office 365: A Favorite for Cyberattack Persistence

Threat actors are consistently leveraging legitimate services and tools from within Microsoft Office 365 to pilfer sensitive data and launch phishing, ransomware, and other attacks across corporate networks from a persistent position inside the cloud-based suite, new research has found. Office 36...

DDoS Attacks Skyrocket as Pandemic Bites

The first half of 2020 saw a significant uptick in the number of distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks compared to the same period last year — a phenomenon that appears to be directly correlated to the global coronavirus pandemic. Neustar’s Security Operations Center SOC saw a 151 percent...

Bug in Google Maps Opened Door to Cross-Site Scripting Attacks

A researcher earned a double-payment totaling $10,000 for a cross-site scripting XSS bug he found in Google Maps. He earned $5,000 initially. But when Google’s patch fell short, the researcher earned a second $5,000 for discovering the bypass to the fix. Zohar Shachar, head of application securit...

The Sounds a Key Make Can Produce 3D-Printed Replica

Security researchers have given a whole new meaning to “picking a lock,” demonstrating that they can use audio and signal-processing technology to listen to the sounds a key makes when it opens a lock and then 3D-print a duplicate from a recording. The attack, called SpiKey, leverages any basic...

Augmenting AWS Security Controls

Has the onslaught of lackluster webinars over the past few months left you wanting more? Are you seeking practical, relevant, and usable information and advice on how to stay secure in the cloud? Well, you’re in luck! DivvyCloud, the leading provider of cloud and container security and compliance...

OilRig APT Drills into Malware Innovation with Unique Backdoor

A series of cyberattacks on a telecom company in the Middle East has signaled the return of the OilRig APT. The attacks also revealed a revised backdoor tool in the group’s arsenal, called RDAT. The attacks were observed in April by Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42. Researchers there said that the...

Going Down the Spyware Rabbit Hole with SilkBean Mobile Malware

In this in-depth Threatpost podcast Christoph Hebeisen, who leads the Security Intelligence Research Division at Lookout, shares a behind-the-scenes look at how his team discovered and tracked three never-before-seen surveillanceware tools, dubbed SilkBean, GoldenEagle and CarbonSteal. Hebeisen...

The Enemy Within: How Insider Threats Are Changing

Insider threats are ramping up – with new kinds of concerns in this category beginning to emerge. This is happening against a heady backdrop: Makeshift home offices, a cavalcade of new distractions and a tectonic shift to the cloud have recently collided to create an entirely new world for...

Email Sender Identity is Key to Solving the Phishing Crisis

Email is in crisis. Despite massive advancements in perimeter and endpoint defenses, email remains a cybersecurity weak link for many companies. Why? Email is at the heart of everything we do online. It’s an essential line of communication for one-on-one and group conversations, both...

EasyJet Hackers Take Off with Travel Details for 9M Customers

European budget airline EasyJet has been hacked, with attackers making off with personal details for 9 million customers. It was, the airline said, a “highly sophisticated attack” that exposed the email addresses and travel itineraries of the victims, along with payment-card information for 2,208...

RATicate Group Hits Industrial Firms With Revolving Payloads

Researchers have unearthed a new cybercrime group, RATicate, which is behind several waves of malspam attacks targeting industrial companies with various information-stealing payloads – from LokiBot to Agent Tesla. At least six separate campaigns have been tied to RATicate, with the first wave...

Innovative Spy Trojan Targets European Diplomatic Targets

A fresh malware trojan has emerged, built from the same code base as the stealthy COMPFun remote access trojan RAT. The malware is using spoofed visa applications to hit diplomatic targets in Europe and may be the work of the Turla APT. According to researchers at Kaspersky, the fake visa...

$100K Paid Out for Google Cloud Shell Root Compromise

Google has awarded its inaugural annual top prize for the Google Cloud Platform GCP, for vulnerabilities found in the Google Cloud Shell. The find — a container escape that leads to host root access and the ability to use privileged containers — has earned $100,000 for Dutch researcher Wouter ter...

Phishing Attack Skirts Detection With YouTube

Researchers are warning of an increase in phishing emails that use YouTube redirect links, which help attackers skirt traditional defense measures. If certain malicious URLs are blocked by web browser phishing filters, attackers commonly use a redirector URL to bypass these filters and redirect t...

Firefox Bug Opens iPhone AirPods to Third-Party Snooping

Five high-severity bugs were fixed in the Firefox web browser with the release of version 74 by the Mozilla Foundation on Tuesday. In addition, Mozilla reported a quirky moderate-severity flaw that allows hackers to target iPhone users and collect data tied to connected AirPods, if in use. In...

Zynga Faces Lawsuit Over Massive Words with Friends Breach

Mobile game developer Zynga could face a class-action lawsuit stemming from a massive data breach last September, which impacted 218 million users of the Words with Friends mobile app. The news comes as other big names face security incidents: T-Mobile and Carnival Cruise Lines have admitted this...

High-Severity Cisco Webex Flaws Fixed

Cisco Systems has patched two high-severity vulnerabilities in its popular Webex video conferencing platform, which if exploited could allow an attacker to execute code on affected systems. Two multimedia players tied to the Webex platform are impacted. First is the Cisco Webex Network Recording...

Forrester: Keeping Smart Cities Safe From Hacks

SAN FRANCISCO – Municipalities today are dealing with an unanticipated number of cyberthreats, Merritt Maxim, an analyst at Forrester, said last week at the RSA Conference 2020. Local and state governments are increasingly being targeted by ransomware attacks, phishing emails and business email...

Ring Mandates 2FA After Rash of Hacks

Connected doorbell-maker Ring is now requiring two-factor authentication 2FA for all users when they sign into their accounts. The new requirement comes after Ring faced a backlash in December following a rash of disturbing hacks and security issues tied to the smart doorbell. While Amazon-owned...

Gamaredon APT Improves Toolset to Target Ukraine Government, Military

The Gamaredon advanced persistent threat APT group has been supercharging its operations lately, improving its toolset and ramping up attacks on Ukrainian national security targets. Vitali Kremez, head of SentinelLabs, said in research released on Wednesday that he has been tracking an uptick in...

Google Sets Record High in Bug-Bounty Payouts

Google paid out $6.5 million in bug-bounty rewards in 2019, which doubles the internet behemoth’s previous annual top total. It has also highlighted additional bonuses that are now in effect for Chrome and Android. Last year saw some notable changes for Google’s Vulnerability Reward Programs VRPs...

Cynet Empowers IT Resellers and Service Providers to Become Fully Qualified MSSPs

As cyber incidents increase in scope and impact, more and more organizations come to realize that outsourcing their defenses is the best practice—significantly increasing the Managed Security Service Provider MSSP market opportunities. Until recently, IT integrators, VARs, and MSPs haven’t...

The Best Templates for Posting Cybersecurity Jobs

The cybersecurity of a company is heavily reliant upon the skills and knowledge of the people who install, manage and operate its security products. This means that recruiting and nurturing the best security team possible should be a CISO’s top priority. Cynet’s Ultimate Cybersecurity Job Posting...

Amazon's Blink Smart Security Cameras Open to Hijack

Multiple high-severity vulnerabilities have been discovered in Amazon-owned Blink XT2 security camera systems, which if exploited could give attackers complete control over them. The internet of things IoT cameras not to be confused with the Blink open-source browser engine, consist of a wireless...

ThreatList: Admin Rights for Third Parties is the Norm

Organizations are continuing to fall down on the job when it comes to addressing cybersecurity risk around third parties; in fact, 61 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they’re unsure if partners, contractors, suppliers and others are accessing or attempting to access unauthorized dat...

Most Americans Fail Cybersecurity Quiz

When it comes to two-factor authentication and secure web browsing, most Americans don’t know their HTTPS from their 2FA to save their digital bacon: A Pew Research Center study found most Americans don’t have a firm grasp of cybersecurity issues core to protecting their data. Click to enlarge. I...

Choice Hotels Breach Showcases Need for Shared Responsibility Model

Hospitality giant Choice Hotels fell victim to hackers this week, thanks to a MongoDB database that was left open to the internet containing 700,000 customer records. The situation highlights supply-chain data-security risk, given that the data was being held by a third-party vendor — and brings ...

Recently-Patched Adobe ColdFusion Flaw Exploited By APT

An Adobe ColdFusion vulnerability, patched two months ago, was being exploited in the wild by a China-linked APT group, researchers found. The vulnerability, CVE-2018-15961, is a critical unrestricted file upload bug that could also lead to arbitrary code-execution, researchers at Volexity, who...

ThreatList: Credential Theft Spikes by Triple Digits in U.S.

Credential theft was substantially up in the United States during the third quarter – even as declines were charted in Europe and Asia. What credentials go for on the Dark Web. Periodic analysis from Blueliv shows a whopping 141 percent increase in compromised credentials from North American...

Schneider Electric Patches Critical RCE Vulnerability

Researchers discovered a critical remote code execution vulnerability in two Schneider Electric industrial control related products that could give attackers the ability to disrupt or shut down plant operations. Tenable Research, who discovered the vulnerability CVE-2018-8840 and created a...

Google Awards Record $112,500 Bounty for Android Exploit Chain

Prolific bug hunter Guang Gong has earned the highest-ever payout for a vulnerability in the history of Google’s Android Security Rewards program, which began in 2015. He earned a combined $112,500 for the disclosure of an Android exploit chain impacting Google’s Pixel handset that could allow an...

WordPress Delivers Second Patch For SQL Injection Bug

A bug exploitable in WordPress 4.8.2 and earlier creates unexpected and unsafe conditions ripe for a SQL injection attack, exposing sites created on the content management system to takeover. WordPress released WordPress 4.8.3 Tuesday, which mitigates the vulnerability. “This is a security releas...

Adobe Fixes Six Vulnerabilities in Flash, Connect

Adobe fixed six vulnerabilities in two products, one of the company’s smallest security bulletins in recent memory, as part of its regularly scheduled round of updates on Tuesday. Included are fixes for the company’s Flash Player software platform, including a critical vulnerability CVE-2017-3099...

Adobe Patches Flash Zero Day Under Attack

Adobe today released an emergency Flash Player update that includes a patch for a vulnerability being exploited in targeted attacks. The vulnerability, CVE-2016-7855, was privately disclosed by Neel Mehta and Billy Leonard of the Google Threat Analysis Group. Mehta was one of four researchers...

Neverquest Trojan Gets Big Summer Update

The once prolific banking Trojan Neverquest received a major code revamp over the summer and is now armed with modifications that can more adeptly hijack a victim’s PC, inject code into webpages and steal credentials. The update represents a significant enough change to the malware that researche...

Cerber Ransomware On The Rise, Fueled By Dridex Botnet

Starting in April security experts at FireEye spotted a massive uptick in Cerber ransomware attacks delivered via a rolling wave of spam. Researchers there link the Cerber outbreaks to the fact that attackers are now leveraging the same spam infrastructure credited for making the potent Dridex...

Adobe Emergency Update Patches Flash Zero Day

As promised earlier this week, Adobe today released an updated version of Flash Player that includes a patch for a zero-day vulnerability. Adobe said it is aware of the existence of a public exploit for CVE-2016-4117, but said the flaw has not been publicly attacked. The vulnerability affects Fla...