Sefnit Click-Fraud Malware Related to Mevade Tor Botnet

A malware family, likely developed by the same authors who built a massive botnet recently discovered on the Tor network, has been revived with a stealthy new click-fraud scam. Microsoft reports a rash of new click-fraud activity linked to the Sefnit malware, which was thought dead and buried as ...

Google Fixes Security Vulnerabilities with Chrome Update

Google released a stable channel update for its Chrome browser yesterday, resolving 12 vulnerabilities, one of which was considered ‘critical’, Google’s most severe rating, ten of which received second most severe ‘high’ ratings, and one receiving a third-in-line ‘medium’ rating. Google paid out ...

Google Fixes More Than a Dozen Flaws in Chrome 27

Google has released Chrome 27, a new version of its browser that includes a long list of security fixes, many of which are for high-risk vulnerabilities. The company handed out more than $14,000 in rewards to researchers who reported bugs fixed in the latest iteration of Chrome. Google’s security...

Ruby on Rails Patches DoS, Remote Execution Flaws

Web app framework Ruby on Rails patched two security flaws this week in the open source framework that could have led to denial of service attacks and remote execution vulnerabilities. With builds 3.2.12, 3.1.11 and 2.3.17, the framework fixed a serialized attributes YAML vulnerability...

Rocra Espionage Malware Campaign Uncovered After Five Years of Activity

For five years, it hid in the weeds of networks used by Eastern European diplomats, government employees and scientific research organizations, stealing data and infecting more machines in an espionage campaign rivaling Flame and others of its ilk. The campaign, called Rocra or Red October by...

The Rise of Cross-Platform Malware

For most of the recorded history of malware, viruses, Trojans and other malicious software have been specialists. Each piece of malware typically targeted one platform, be it Windows, OS X or now, one of the mobile platforms. But the last few months have seen the rise of cross-platform malware th...

RuggedCom Devices Have Hard-Coded SSL Keys

Siemens subsidiary RuggedCom’s Rugged Operating System ROS contains a vulnerability that could give an attacker the ability to decrypt SSL traffic between RuggedCom networking equipment and end-users, according to an ICS-CERT alert. Justin W. Clarke, a security researcher at Cylance Inc., disclos...

Carberp: It's Not Over Yet

On 20 March, Russian law enforcement agencies announced the arrest of a cybercriminal gang involved in stealing money using the Carberp Trojan. This is very good news, but unfortunately does not mark the end of the Carberp story. Evidently, those arrested were just one of the criminal gangs using...

Blackhole Exploit Kit's Dominance On Infected Hosts Could Push Rivals To the Cloud

The Blackhole exploit kit has a near monopoly on infected Web pages, according to Web security firm M86’s latest Security Labs Report, issued today. PDF The bi-annual report, which covers the last half of 2011, July to December, describe Blackhole as the source of a whopping 95 percent of all the...

Anatomy of the Duqu Attacks

Stuxnet has become the bogeyman of Internt security and cyberwar, showing up in marketing pitches, PowerPoint presentations and press releases from Washington to Silicon Valley to Tehran. But while Stuxnet has been garnering headlines for more than a year now, the far more serious threat in terms...

Google Fixes 27 Bugs in Chrome 15

Google has fixed more than two dozen vulnerabilities in its Chrome browser and also implemented a defense against the BEAST SSL attack. The bugs fixed in the new version of Chrome include 11 high-severity flaws. As part of its bug bounty program, Google paid more than $26,000 in rewards to...

New Remotely Exploitable Bug Found in Internet Explorer

Another serious remotely exploitable bug in Internet Explorer has cropped up, this one related to the way that IE handles a specific DLL library on pages that reference CSS files. There also is publicly available exploit code for the new bug. The vulnerability was disclosed initially on the Full...

Adobe Plugs Critical PDF Code Execution Flaw

Adobe today released an out-of-band security update to patch a pair of gaping holes that expose hundreds of millions of computer users to remote code execution attacks. The vulnerabilities are rated “critical” and affect Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat on all platforms — Windows, Mac and Linux. Th...

SMB2 Exploit Fitted into Metasploit; Attacks Likely

Fully functional exploit code for the still unpatched Windows SMB v2 vulnerability has been released to the public domain via the freely available Metasploit point-and-click attack tool, raising the likelihood for remote in-the-wild code execution attacks. The exploit, created and released by...

Serious Mac OS X Java vulnerability disclosed

There is an easily exploitable vulnerability in the Java implementation in Apple’s Mac OS X which could allow an attacker to run arbitrary code on a remote machine. The flaw, which is similar to a vulnerability that has been public for five months and affect other vendors’ products, affects even...

Adobe Cloud Abused to Steal Office 365, Gmail Credentials

Attackers are leveraging Adobe Creative Cloud to target Office 365 users with malicious links that appear to be coming legitimately from Cloud users but instead direct victims to a link that steals their credentials, researchers have discovered. Researchers from Avanan, a Check Point company, fir...

Threat Advisory: E-commerce Bots Use Domain Registration Services for Mass Account Fraud

While researching a recent large-scale bot campaign with CQ Prime Threat Research team lead, Dean Lendrum, we found attackers using domain parking and monetization services to register multiple domains, creating a large number of fake eCommerce accounts per domain. TL; DR ------ Analysis of...

Sprawling Active Attack Aims to Take Over 1.6M WordPress Sites

An active attack against more than 1.6 million WordPress sites is underway, with researchers spotting tens of millions of attempts to exploit four different plugins and several Epsilon Framework themes. The goal, they said, is complete site takeover using administrative privileges. The scope of t...

Cyber-Mercenary Group Void Balaur Attacks High-Profile Targets for Cash

Russian-language group Void Balaur, also tracked under the name Rockethack, has been identified as a prolific cyber-mercenary group, available for hire to break into the email and social-media accounts of high-profile, high-stakes targets around the world. After monitoring Void Balaur for more th...

Netgear SOHO Security Bug Allows RCE, Corporate Attacks

A high-severity security bug affecting several Netgear small office/home office SOHO routers could allow remote code execution RCE via a man-in-the-middle MiTM attack. The bug CVE-2021-40847 exists in a third-party component that Netgear includes in its firmware, called Circle – it handles the...

Bring Your APIs Out of the Shadows to Protect Your Business

Pankaj Gupta, Senior Director, Citrix APIs are immensely more complex to secure. What was previously one request to one server has become dozens or hundreds of requests to dozens or hundreds of entities. In the past, you defended one large application with a single front door. Now you must defend...

Poly Network Recoups $610M Stolen from DeFi Platform

A threat actor called “Mr. White Hat” has returned the $610 million they stole from the decentralized finance platform Poly Network. The breached company did everything from threaten to sic law enforcement on the attacker on up to its ultimate offer: the position of chief security officer in...

Memory Bugs in BlackBerry’s QNX Embedded OS Open Devices to Attacks

The potential danger from a raft of memory-allocation bugs discovered by Microsoft in April has now spread to older versions of multiple BlackBerry QNX products. The Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency CISA and BlackBerry warned in separate alerts Tuesday that threat actors can take...

Fuzz Off: How to Shake Up Code to Get It Right – Podcast

LAS VEGAS – In 2014, two teams of security researchers independently started fuzz testing OpenSSL. Within days, the advanced black-box software technique led to an exploitable vulnerability in OpenSSL: namely, the Heartbleed vulnerability. What is fuzzing? That’s what the FuzzCon event is all...

BIOPASS RAT Uses Live Streaming Steal Victims’ Data

Online gambling companies in China are being targeted by a new remote access trojan RAT which, in addition to its predictable features — like file assessment and exfiltration — takes the novel approach of using live streaming to spy on the screens of its victims. The malware was identified by a...

Bose Admits Ransomware Hit: Employee Data Accessed

High-end audio-tech specialist Bose has disclosed a ransomware attack, which it said rippled “across Bose’s environment” and resulted in the possible exfiltration of employee data. The incident began on March 7, according to a disclosure letter sent to the Attorney General’s Office in New...

American Express Fined Over Millions of Spam Messages

American Express Services Europe has been fined £90,000 $127,377 by a U.K. regulator, which found the company illegally blasted out 4 million marketing emails to customers who had opted out of receiving them. Critics said the fine, which is nominal for the multi-national financial brand, isn’t...

Employee Lockdown Stress May Spark Cybersecurity Risk

Stressed-out employees in a remote-working world could be a major contributor to poor cybersecurity postures for companies, according to a survey. Forcepoint polled 2,000 office workers in Germany and the U.K., to better understand cybersecurity practices among remote workers. Among other finding...

Podcast: Ransomware Attacks Exploded in Q4 2020

Ransomware attacks continue to plague companies, with researchers from Fortinet’s Fortiguard Labs saying they saw an explosion in ransomware activity towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Derek Manky According to Fortinet’s new “FortiGuard Labs Threat Report: Disruption Key Threat Trend ...

Hacker Tries to Poison Water Supply of Florida Town

A threat actor hacked into the computer system of the water treatment facility in Oldsmar, Fla., and tried to poison the town’s water supply by raising the levels of sodium hydroxide, or lye, in the water supply. The attack happened just two days before NFL’s Super Bowl LV was held nearby in Tamp...

Investment Scammers Prey on Dating App Users, Interpol Warns

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of a surge in dating app users with a sophisticated fraud scheme, which convinces victims to join in on an investment opportunity – and ultimately drains their wallets. The social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic is driving many to online interactions – notab...

T-Mobile Faces Yet Another Data Breach

T-Mobile USA has reported a data breach – its fourth in three years. The wireless carrier disclosed the breach last week via its website, saying that it detected and shut down “malicious, unauthorized access to some information” related to T-Mobile accounts. Specifically, that data consisted of...

Adobe Warns Windows, MacOS Users of Critical Acrobat and Reader Flaws

Adobe has fixed critical-severity flaws tied to four CVEs in the Windows and macOS versions of its Acrobat and Reader family of application software services. The vulnerabilities could be exploited to execute arbitrary code on affected products. These critical flaws include a heap-based buffer...

Crippling Cyberattacks, Disinformation Top Concerns for Election Day

What keeps researchers up at night leading up to Nov. 3 isn’t election-day winners and losers. Most cite possible attacks on local infrastructure, crippling ransomware incidents and disinformation campaigns. There are also many concerned voters this year. Election-related cybersecurity attacks ha...

BEC Attacks: Nigeria No Longer the Epicenter as Losses Top $26B

A study of more than 9,000 instances of business email compromise BEC attacks all over the world shows that the number has skyrocketed over the past year, and that the social-engineering scam has expanded well beyond its historic roots in Nigeria. The report from Agari’s Cyber Intelligence Divisi...

Grindr's Bug Bounty Pledge Doesn't Translate to Security

SAS@Home 2020– After a Grindr security flaw was disclosed this week, the dating site promised it would launch a bug-bounty program in an effort to “keep its service secure.” But Katie Moussouris, CEO of Luta Security and a bug bounty program expert, warned at this week’s SAS@home virtual event th...

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...

Jack Daniels, Ritz London Face Cyberattacks

A pair of cyberattacks on high-profile targets – the owner of the Jack Daniels distillery and the iconic Ritz London hotel – have resulted in the exposure of sensitive information. The maker behind Jack Daniels and other alcoholic beverages, Brown-Forman Corp., has suffered a recent cyberattack b...

Hackers Dump 20GB of Intel's Confidential Data Online

More than 20 gigabytes of proprietary data and source code from chipmaker Intel Corp. was dumped online by a third party, likely the result of a data breach from earlier this year. The announcement of the “first 20gb release in a series of large Intel leaks” was made by user and IT consultant...

Microsoft Revamps Windows Insider Preview Bug Bounty Program

Microsoft has revamped its Windows Insider Preview bug bounty program with higher rewards and an improved portal for bounty hunters to report flaws, in an effort to help sniff out more vulnerabilities on its platform. The Microsoft Windows Insider Preview bounty program is part of the Microsoft...

Encryption Under ‘Full-Frontal Nuclear Assault’ By U.S. Bills

Encryption expert Riana Pfefferkorn believes new proposed laws – the EARN IT Act and the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act – pose dire threats to cybersecurity and privacy. In this Threatpost interview, Pfefferkorn, who is associate director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity at the Stanford...

Apple Security Research Device Program Draws Mixed Reactions

Apple’s long anticipated Security Research Device program has launched, giving select security researchers access to testable iPhones that will make it easier for them to find iOS vulnerabilities. The program offers security researchers specially configured iPhones with shell access, and special...

Secret Service Creates Cyber Fraud Task Forces

The U.S. Secret Service has created the Cyber Fraud Task Forces CFTFs, aimed at preventing, detecting and mitigating complex cyber-enabled financial crime – including making arrests and convictions. The CFTF is the result of a formal merging of two of the Secret Service’s existing units into a...

Report: ‘BlueLeaks’ Exposes Sensitive Data From Police Departments

Thousands of sensitive police department files – including police and FBI reports – were published on Friday by DDoSecrets Distributed Denial of Secrets, a self-proclaimed “transparency collective” that publishes covert data. The almost 270 gigabytes of data, dubbed “BlueLeaks,” is reportedly fro...

Fighting Cyber Attacks With Game Theory

The role of cybersecurity defenders is usually unfair. They have disadvantages — as they have to continuously build up perimeters that protect their networks and prevent intrusions. An attacker only needs to discover a single flaw, a small hole in the wall, and breach entire complex defenses. How...

Hackers Dumpster Dive for Taxpayer Data in COVID-19 Relief Money Scams

Threat actors are using a combination of scams to obtain as well as buy and sell credentials for U.S. taxpayers to steal appropriations from the COVID-19 relief package as well as 2020 tax refunds, new research has found. Researchers from Secureworks Counter Threat Unit CTU have observed an...

Covid-19 Privacy Poll: Phone Tracking, Public Health and Surveillance

As the coronavirus pandemic accelerates, authorities worldwide are plotting ways to flatten the curve of infection rates using potentially privacy-busting measures such as phone tracking, facial recognition and other tech. In this Threatpost poll, we want your take on whether sacrificing personal...

Spread of Coronavirus-Themed Cyberattacks Persists with New Attacks

As the coronavirus blows up into a worldwide pandemic, threat actors continue to exploit the disease to spread malware. Just this week, cybersecurity professionals identified a bevy of new threats ranging from coronavirus-themed malware attacks, booby-trapped URLs and credential stuffing scams. O...

Privacy Experts Skeptical of Proposed Data Protection Agency

A new federal bureaucracy, the Data Protection Agency DPA, has been proposed to completely revamp how the U.S. government regulates data collection and misuse by big tech companies. However, while privacy experts call the agency a “good first step,” they remain skeptical about how effective it...

A Practical Guide to Zero-Trust Security

Employees are demanding that employers enable flexible workstyles. Apps are moving to the cloud. A company’s device and application mix are increasingly heterogeneous. All of these factors are breaking down the enterprise security perimeter, rendering traditional security approaches obsolete, and...