Google Patches 14 Chrome Bugs Ahead of Pwn2Own, Pays $30k in Special Rewards

Just two days before the annual Pwn2Own contest is set to begin at CanSecWest, Google has patched a huge set of serious vulnerabilities in its Chrome browser. In addition to the 14 high-risk flaws fixed in Chrome, the company also handed out rewards of $10,000 each to three researchers who...

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 Exploit Bypasses ASLR and DEP, Drops Signed Malicious File

Attackers are using a previously unknown exploitation technique that bypasses both ASLR and DEP to exploit the unpatched Adobe Reader bug that Adobe warned users about on Wednesday. The exploit works on machines running either Windows Vista or Windows 7 and is also dropping a file on compromised...

Mozilla Patches Firefox DLL Load Hijacking Bug

Mozilla has joined Apple in being among the first to fix the DLL load hijacking attack vector that continues to haunt hundreds of Windows applications. The open-source group released Firefox 3.6.9 with patches for a total of 15 vulnerabilities 11 rated critical, including the publicly known DLL...

Microsoft to Share Vulnerability Details with Governments

Microsoft today announced plans to share pre-patch details on software vulnerabilities with governments around the world under a new program aimed at securing critical infrastructure and government assets from hacker attacks. The program, codenamed Omega, features a Defensive Information Sharing...

Scammers Target NFT Discord Channel

Discord a public chat application designed for gamers has grown popular among crypto owners all over the world. Attackers are targeting the Discord servers of several popular nonfungible token NFT projects. Josh Fraser founder of Origin protocol shared a thread on Twitter earlier this month,...

Ozzy Osbourne NFTs Used to Bite Off Chunk of Crypto Coin

Ozzy Osbourne and his famously enterprising wife and manager, Sharon, decided to launch a new non-fungible token NFT collection called CryptoBatz — but the rollout was clouded. Scammers quickly found they could use an abandoned vanity Discord URL to drain potential buyers’ crypto wallets...

Apple iPhone Malware Tactic Causes Fake Shutdowns to Enable Spying

In the world of mobile malware, simply shutting down a device can often wipe out any bad code, given that persistence after rebooting is a challenge for traditional malicious activity. But a new iPhone technique can hijack and prevent any shut-down process that a user initiates, simulating a real...

1.1M Compromised Accounts Found at 17 Major Companies

There have been more than 1.1 million online accounts compromised in a series of credential-stuffing attacks against 17 different companies, according to a New York State investigation. Credential-stuffing attacks, such as last year’s attack on Spotify, use automated scripts to try high volumes o...

How to Defend against App Impersonation in 2021

Most users who install applications through legitimate channels such as the Google Play Store or the Apple Store do so with complete trust that their information is safe from malicious attacks. This makes sense, because they’re the official app stores for across the globe. However, despite tight...

6M Sky Routers Left Exposed to Attack for Nearly 1.5 Years

Sky, a U.K. broadband provider, left about 6 million customers’ underbellies exposed to attackers who could remotely sink their fangs into their home networks: a nice, soft attack surface left that way for nearly 18 months as the company tried to fix a DNS rebinding vulnerability in customers’...

Netflix Bait: Phishers Target Streamers with Fake Service Signups

The past year’s massive migration of movie and television audiences to streaming services has provided scammers with a sweet opportunity to launch phishing attempts to lure would-be subscribers into giving up their payment information. Where there’s payment data, cybercriminals are sure to follow...

The Best Ransomware Response, According to the Data

Ransomware has become part of the cost of doing business, and driving down that cost can be the difference between recovery and catastrophe. A data analysis from Fox-IT, part of NCC Group, offers some best practices for how to minimize the fallout of a ransomware attack, after creating a dataset ...

War-Driving Technique Allows Wi-Fi Password-Cracking at Scale

War-driving – the process of driving around mapping residential Wi-Fi networks in hopes of finding a vulnerability to exploit – can still pay off for attackers, apparently: A CyberArk researcher recently found he could easily slice open about 70 percent of Wi-Fi network passwords in one Tel Aviv...

Gigabyte Allegedly Hit by AvosLocker Ransomware

The AvosLocker ransomware gang is claiming that it breached tech giant Gigabyte and has leaked a sample of what it claims are files stolen from the Taiwanese company’s network. It’s offering to sell the rest. On Wednesday, the gang posted a “press release” announcing that it had purportedly gutte...

How to Prevent Account Takeovers in 2021

Data breaches and hacking put internet users at risk of account takeover, if cybercriminals successfully gain access to valid login credentials. There are reckoned to be in excess of 8.4 million discrete passwords currently circulating online, more than 3.5 billion of which are tied to active...

ProtonMail Forced to Log IP Address of French Activist

The privacy-hugging, end-to-end encryption-providing email provider ProtonMail was forced to log the IP address of a French activist and turn it over to Europol, according to a French police report that came to light over the weekend. The activist was arrested as a result. In the wake of the news...

What’s Next for T-Mobile and Its Customers? – Podcast

What’s the opposite of a resilient operation? It’s when your wireless carrier gets breached for the sixth time in a few years, you try to change your PIN online, and the site tells you “No can do.” As of Wednesday, T-Mobile had confirmed its sixth breach over the last three years. The purported...

Cutting Through the Noise from Daily Alerts

According to a survey run on IR and SOC teams, analysts are required to keep track of an average of 6.8 threat intelligence feeds and manually handle an excessive number of alerts. The average security operations team receives over 11,000 alerts per day. Most of an analyst’s time almost 70% is...

Hacked Data for 69K LimeVPN Users Up for Sale on Dark Web

The VPN provider known as LimeVPN has been hit with a hack affecting 69,400 user records, according to researchers. A hacker claims to have stolen the company’s entire customer database before knocking its website offline Threatpost confirmed that as of press time, the website was down. The stole...

Insider Versus Outsider: Navigating Top Data Loss Threats

It’s no surprise that cloud adoption has increased considerably in the last year, as organizations sought to adapt to the rapid transition to remote work amid the pandemic. However, what’s shocking is that despite the many advantages cloud and software-as-a-service SaaS applications provide...

Experian API Leaks Most Americans’ Credit Scores

A researcher is claiming that the credit scores of almost every American were exposed through an API tool used by the Experian credit bureau, that he said was left open on a lender site without even basic security protections. Experian, for its part, refuted concerns from the security community...

Malware Gangs Partner Up in Double-Punch Security Threat

Cybergangs are joining forces under the guise of affiliate groups and “as-a-service” models, warns Maya Horowitz, the director of threat intelligence research with Check Point Research. She said the trend is driving a new and thriving cybercriminal underground economy. Several malware gangs have...

Feds Issue Recommendations for Maritime Cybersecurity

The White House has released cybersecurity guidance for securing the Maritime Transportation System MTS, which operates along 25,000 miles of coastal and inland waterways in the United States. The document points out that the MTS encompasses “361 ports, 124 shipyards, more than 3,500 maritime...

Rana Android Malware Updates Allow WhatsApp, Telegram IM Snooping

Researchers have discovered new samples of a previously discovered Android malware, which is believed to be linked to the APT39 Iranian cyberespionage threat group. The new variant comes with new surveillance capabilities – including the ability to snoop on victims’ Skype, Instagram and WhatsApp...

Think-Tanks Under Attack by Foreign APTs, CISA Warns

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA and the FBI have issued a warning on what they say are persistent, continued cyberattacks by advanced persistent threat APT actors targeting U.S. think-tanks. The attackers are looking to steal sensitive information, acquire user credentia...

Microsoft Revamps ‘Invasive’ M365 Feature After Privacy Backlash

Microsoft has announced what it calls a more privacy-friendly version of its Productivity Score enterprise feature, following backlash from security experts who condemned it as a “full-fledged workplace surveillance tool.” The Productivity Score feature, which was launched as part of the Microsof...

Robot Vacuums Suck Up Sensitive Audio in ‘LidarPhone’ Hack

Researchers have uncovered a new attack that lets bad actors snoop in on homeowners’ private conversations – through their robot vacuums. The vacuums, which utilize smart sensors in order to autonomously operate, have gained traction over the past few years. The attack, called “LidarPhone” by...

Feds: Iran Behind 'Proud Boys' Email Attacks on Democratic Voters

Federal officials claim that Iranian threat actors are behind two separate email campaigns that assailed Democratic voters this week with threats to “vote for Trump or else.” The campaigns claimed to be from violent extremist group Proud Boys. Two specific email campaigns — one on Tuesday Oct. 20...

Facebook 'SilentFade' Malware Attack Stole Credentials For Years

Facebook has detailed a wide-scale Chinese malware campaign that targeted its ad platform for years and siphoned $4 million from users’ advertising accounts. The campaign was addressed by the social media’s security teams after it first became active. Dubbed SilentFade short for “Silently running...

Emotet Emails Strike Thousands of DNC Volunteers

On Thursday, hundreds of U.S. organizations were targeted by an Emotet spear-phishing campaign, which sent thousands of emails purporting to be from the Democratic National Committee and recruiting potential Democratic volunteers. Emotet has historically utilized a variety of lure themes leveragi...

Data Breaches Expose Vets, COVID-19 Patients

A pair of healthcare-related data breaches at high-profile government agencies has impacted tens of thousands of people. First, a cyberattack at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs VA has impacted about 46,000 veterans, exposing their financial information. And another incident, at the U.K.’s...

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...

DDoS Attacks Cresting Amid Pandemic

The number of distributed denial-of-service DDoS attacks spiked in the second quarter of 2020, researchers said. According to the latest Kaspersky quarterly DDoS attacks report, DDoS events were three times more frequent in comparison to the second quarter last year up 217 percent, and were up 30...

DJI Drone App Riddled With Privacy Issues, Researchers Allege

Leading commercial drone maker DJI is hitting back against researcher allegations that its Android mobile application is riddled with privacy holes. One includes that the app continues to run in the background even after it’s been closed and collects sensitive data from users without consent. The...

Cisco, Zoom and Others Must Bolster Security, Say Privacy Chiefs

Global privacy commissioners issued a joint public decry against leading video conferencing companies such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Zoom to demand the companies beef up their security and privacy strategies. The critique was delivered via an open letter published by data protection and...

Podcast: Would You Use A Contact-Tracing Coronavirus App?

As a world afflicted by the coronavirus pandemic begins to re-open restaurants, retail stores and more, public-health officials remain concerned about the spread of the virus. Technology for contact-tracing apps, intended to help citizens trace whether they were exposed to someone who has tested...

Leaked NHS Docs Reveal Roadmap, Concerns Around Contact-Tracing App

A COVID-19 contact-tracing app to be rolled out by the UK’s National Health Service NHS has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to sensitive documents being leaked via a public Google Drive link. Contact tracing has emerged as a top idea for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and is consider...

GoDaddy Hack Breaches Hosting Account Credentials

UPDATE GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, is warning customers that attackers may have obtained their web hosting account credentials. An “unauthorized individual” was able to access users’ login details in an intrusion that the company said took place back in October — the compa...

U.S. Universities Hit With 'Adult Dating' Spear-Phishing Attack

Several U.S. universities have been targeted in a widespread spear-phishing attack that uses adult dating as a lure. In reality, the emails spread the Hupigon remote access trojan RAT, known to be leveraged by state-sponsored threat actors. Researchers from Proofpoint warned that the ongoing...

Community Housing Nonprofit Hit with $1.2M Loss in BEC Scam

A non-profit community housing collective has been swindled out of more than $1.2 million in a business email compromise BEC campaign. Red Kite Community Housing, a coop housing association in High Wycombe, U.K. outside of London announced in a recent website notice that £932,000 of the money pai...

Evil TeamViewer Attacks Under the Guise of the U.S. State Department

UPDATE A targeted, email-borne attack against embassy officials and government finance authorities globally is making use of a malicious attachment disguised as a top-secret U.S. document. It weaponizes TeamViewer, the popular remote-access and desktop-sharing software, to gain full control of th...

Chrome in Android Leaks Device Fingerprinting Info

Google has issued a partial fix for an Android issue dating back to 2015 – after originally rejecting the bug report on the grounds of the mobile OS “working as intended.” The issue – which still doesn’t have a CVE designation despite being partially addressed as a problem – has to do with how...

Adobe Flash Zero-Day Leveraged Via Office Docs in Campaign

An Adobe Flash Player zero-day exploit has been spotted in the wild as part of a widespread campaign, researchers said on Wednesday. Adobe has just issued a patch for the previously unknown critical flaw. The vulnerability, CVE-2018-15982, is a use-after-free flaw enabling arbitrary code executio...

Fresh Approach to WiFi Cracking Uses Packet-Sniffing

Legacy WiFi just became a little less safe, according to Jens Steube, the developer of the password-cracking tool known as Hashcat. He has found a faster, easier way to crack some WPA/WPA2-protected WiFi networks. Hackers have compromised the WPA/WPA2 encryption protocols in the past, but it’s an...

APT15 Pokes Its Head Out With Upgraded MirageFox RAT

The elusive APT15 cyber-espionage group, believed to be affiliated with the Chinese government, has been spotted for the first time in many months, mounting a highly targeted spy campaign using an upgraded version of the Mirage remote access trojan. This is the first evidence of the China-linked...

Malicious Docker Containers Earn Cryptomining Criminals $90K

UPDATE Seventeen malicious Docker containers earned cryptomining criminals $90,000 in 30 days in what could be a harbinger of things to come. The figure may seem tame compared to some of the larger paydays that cryptojackers have earned. But, researchers at Kromtech Security Center warn container...

Outlook Bug Allowed Hackers to Use .RTF Files To Steal Windows Passwords

A vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook allowed hackers to steal a user’s Windows password just by having the target preview an email with a Rich Text Format RTF attachment that contained a remotely hosted OLE object. The bug was patched by Microsoft as part of its April Patch Tuesday fixes, over a...

Paper Spells Out Tech, Legal Options for Encryption Workarounds

FBI Director James Comey’s dogged attachment to the argument that strong encryption hinders criminal investigations by law enforcement is heading into its third year with little signs of abatement. That insistence comes despite three years of arguments to the contrary from security experts, who...

Nagios Core Patches Root, RCE Vulnerabilities

Nagios Core has been updated to take care of two critical vulnerabilities that can be pinned together to attack servers hosting the open source IT infrastructure monitoring software. The flaws were privately disclosed by researcher Dawid Golunski of Legal Hackers, who said the vulnerabilities can...