CyberSecure Specialist

20 Mar

CISA kicks off ransomware vulnerability pilot to help spot ransomware-exploitable flaws

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Last week, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the launch of the Ransomware Vulnerability Warning Pilot (RVWP) program to “proactively identify information systems that contain security vulnerabilities commonly associated with ransomware attacks.” Once the program identifies vulnerable systems, regional CISA personnel will notify them so they can mitigate the flaws before attackers can cause too much damage.  CISA says it will seek out affected systems using existing services, data sources, technologies, and…

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20 Mar

Why You Should Opt Out of Sharing Data With Your Mobile Provider

Data Breaches, Information, Insights

A new breach involving data from nine million AT&T customers is a fresh reminder that your mobile provider likely collects and shares a great deal of information about where you go and what you do with your mobile device — unless and until you affirmatively opt out of this data collection. Here’s a primer on why you might want to do that, and how. Image: Shutterstock Telecommunications giant AT&T disclosed this month that a breach…

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20 Mar

Millions Stolen in Hack at Cryptocurrency ATM Manufacturer General Bytes

Information, News

Cryptocurrency ATM manufacturer General Bytes over the weekend disclosed a security incident that resulted in the theft of millions of dollars’ worth of funds. The attackers, the company says, exploited a vulnerability in the master service interface that Bitcoin ATMs use to upload videos, which allowed them to upload a JavaScript script and execute it with batm user privileges. “The attacker scanned the Digital Ocean cloud hosting IP address space and identified running CAS services…

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20 Mar

BianLian ransomware group shifts focus to extortion

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Ransomware group BianLian has shifted the main focus of its attacks away from encrypting the files of its victims to focusing more on extortion as a means to extract payments from victims, according to cybersecurity firm Redacted. The shift in the operating model comes as a result of Avast’s release of a decryption tool that allowed a victim of the BianLian ransomware gang to decrypt and recover their files without paying any ransom. The decryption…

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18 Mar

Huawei Has Replaced Thousands of US-Banned Parts With Chinese Versions: Founder

Information, News

Chinese technology giant Huawei has replaced thousands of product components banned by the United States with homegrown versions, its founder has said, according to a transcript of a recent speech released by a Shanghai university. A leading supplier of telecom gear, smartphones and other advanced equipment, Huawei has been repeatedly targeted by Washington in recent years over cybersecurity and espionage concerns. The administration of former president Donald Trump effectively barred American companies from doing business…

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18 Mar

Banking turmoil opens opportunities for fraud – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Information

Scammers are looking to cash in on the chaos that has set in following the startling meltdowns of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the crisis at Credit Suisse When mayhem, panic and chaos set in – as has been the case following the meltdowns of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank and the struggles of Credit Suisse in recent days – cybercriminals jump in and seize the opportunity. In this video, Tony…

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17 Mar

Feds Charge NY Man as BreachForums Boss “Pompompurin”

Information, Insights

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week arrested a New York man on suspicion of running BreachForums, a popular English-language cybercrime forum where some of the world biggest hacked databases routinely show up for sale. The forum’s administrator “Pompompurin” has been a thorn in the side of the FBI for years, and BreachForums is widely considered a reincarnation of RaidForums, a remarkably similar crime forum that the FBI infiltrated and dismantled in 2022.…

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17 Mar

SVB collapse is a scammer’s dream: Don’t get caught out

Information

How cybercriminals can exploit Silicon Valley Bank’s downfall for their own ends – and at your expense Big news events and major crises usually trigger an avalanche of follow-on phishing attempts. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are perhaps the most obvious examples, but the most recent one is the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The mid-sized US lender and a key financer of tech start-ups held tens of billions of dollars’…

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17 Mar

Dangerous Android phone 0-day bugs revealed – patch or work around them now!

Information

by Paul Ducklin Google has just revealed a fourfecta of critical zero-day bugs affecting a wide range of Android phones, including some of its own Pixel models. These bugs are a bit different from your usual Android vulnerabilities, which typically affect the Android operating system (which is Linux-based) or the applications that come along with it, such as Google Play, Messages or the Chrome browser. The four bugs we’re talking about here are known as…

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17 Mar

BianLian Ransomware Gang Shifts Focus to Pure Data Extortion

Attacks, Malware

CPR’s analysis revealed that the gang has already targeted several organizations, including a large US-based medical testing laboratory, and a multinational pharmaceutical company, among others. The group’s modus operandi involves exfiltrating data, encrypting it, and then publishing it on their data leak site if the victim refuses to pay the ransom. CPR warns that BianLian’s shift in tactics could inspire other ransomware groups to follow suit, creating more problems for organizations already grappling with the…

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