CyberSecure Specialist

25 May

Inactive accounts pose significant account takeover security risks

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Inactive and non-maintained accounts pose significant security risks to users and businesses, with cybercriminals adept at using information stolen from forgotten or otherwise non-upheld accounts to exploit active accounts. That’s according to Okta’s first Customer Identity Trends Report which surveyed more than 20,000 consumers in 14 countries about their online experiences and attitudes towards digital security and identity. It found that increasing identity sprawl can trigger significant account takeover (ATO) security risks due to accounts…

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25 May

CISA Warns of Hurricane/Typhoon-Related Scams

Attacks, Insights, Malware

CISA urges users to remain on alert for malicious cyber activity following a natural disaster such as a hurricane or typhoon, as attackers target potential disaster victims by leveraging social engineering tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Social engineering TTPs include phishing attacks that use email or malicious websites to solicit personal information by posing as a trustworthy organization, notably as charities providing relief. Exercise caution in handling emails with hurricane/typhoon-related subject lines, attachments, or hyperlinks…

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25 May

Digital security for the self‑employed: Staying safe without an IT team to help

Information

Nobody wants to spend their time dealing with the fallout of a security incident instead of building up their business Approximately one in seven people in Europe and the United States are self-employed, often realizing their dream to be in charge of their own destiny and having more freedom and control over their careers. But with nominally more freedom to shape the trajectory of their future comes extra jeopardy. This often means little or no…

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25 May

Ransomware tales: The MitM attack that really had a Man in the Middle

Information, Uncategorized

by Paul Ducklin It’s taken more than five years for justice to be served in this case, but the cops and the courts got there in the end. The UK law enforcement office SEROCU, short for South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, this week reported the peculiar tale of one Ashley Liles, the literal Man in the Middle whom we referred to in the headline. These days, we usually expand the jargon term MitM to…

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25 May

Drop in Insider Breaches Drives Decline in Intrusions at OT Organizations

Information, News

The 2023 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report published on Wednesday by Fortinet shows a drop in the number of intrusions at OT organizations. The report is based on a survey of 570 OT professionals, representing the manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, oil and gas, energy, chemical, and water sectors in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, India, South Africa, and Egypt. A vast majority of the respondents…

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25 May

Microsoft links attacks on American critical infrastructure systems to China

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Microsoft and a few American intelligence agencies have detected malware of Chinese origin deployed in critical infrastructure systems in Guam and elsewhere in the United States. The malicious activity, focused on post-compromise credential access and network security discovery, has been linked to Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored threat actor in China. “Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States,” Microsoft said in a…

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25 May

ChatGPT and data: Everything you need to know

Attacks, Data Breaches

Since OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT onto the world, opinion has been split between those who believe it will radically improve the way we live and work and those who are worried about its potential for disruption, particularly on the privacy of individuals and organizations. There have already been incidents where sensitive data has been leaked and employees have landed in hot water after entering confidential company information into the chatbot, with some countries even issuing a…

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25 May

IOTW: Luxottica confirms 2021 data leak of 70 million customers’ information

Attacks, Data Breaches

Italian eyewear brand Luxottica, parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley, has confirmed that the data of more than 70 million customers was accessed in 2021. The data was exposed after a third-party data storage provider used by Luxottica suffered a cyber attack. It has not currently been made public how the hackers gained access to its network, or which company the third party was. The data breach and theft was revealed after a malicious actor…

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25 May

Attributes of a mature cyber-threat intelligence program

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Earlier this year, ESG published a research report focused on how enterprise organizations use threat intelligence as part of their overall cybersecurity strategy. The research project included a survey of 380 cybersecurity professionals working at enterprise organizations (i.e., more than 1,000 employees). Survey respondents were asked questions about their organization’s cyber-threat intelligence (CTI) program – how it was staffed, what types of skills were most important, its challenges and strategies, spending plans, etc. I’ve written…

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25 May

6 ways generative AI chatbots and LLMs can enhance cybersecurity

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

The rapid emergence of Open AI’s ChatGPT has been one of the biggest stories of the year, with the potential impact of generative AI chatbots and large language models (LLMs) on cybersecurity a key area of discussion. There’s been a lot of chatter about the security risks these new technologies could introduce — from concerns about sharing sensitive business information with advanced self-learning algorithms to malicious actors using them to significantly enhance attacks. Some countries,…

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