CyberSecure Specialist

14 Mar

Government Entities Attacked by Threat Actor Using Recent Fortinet Exploit

Attacks, Malware

As always, companies should patch as soon as their vulnerability management process allows. Additionally, this is a reminder that the true criticality of a CVE is dependent on multiple factors, and depending on an organization’s specific environment, threat model, and attack surface area the vulnerability may be more relevant or dangerous than the assigned CVSS score. For detection, companies may be able to leverage netflow data compared against a baseline of normal netflow to identify…

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14 Mar

LA Housing Authority Discloses Data Breach After Ransomware Attack

Attacks, Malware

It is highly recommended that individuals who may have been affected by the breach to monitor their financial accounts and credit reports for any signs of fraudulent activity. Affected individuals should also take steps to protect themselves from identity theft, such as placing a fraud alert or security freeze on their credit reports. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/la-housing-authority-discloses-data-breach-after-ransomware-attack/

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14 Mar

5 signs you’ve fallen for a scam – and what to do next

Information

Here’s how to know you have fallen victim to a scam – and what to do in order to undo or mitigate the damage. Online fraud can be thought of as a price we pay for the ubiquity of digital services. These services make our lives easier, healthier, safer and more entertaining. But there are countless scammers out there waiting to steal our identities and money. Their ingenuity, our credulity and poor corporate security combine…

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14 Mar

Linux gets double-quick double-update to fix kernel Oops!

Information

by Paul Ducklin Linux has never suffered from the infamous BSoD, short for blue screen of death, the name given to the dreaded “something went terribly wrong” message associated with a Windows system crash. Microsoft has tried many things over the years to shake that nickname “BSoD”, including changing the background colour used when crash messages appear, adding a super-sized sad-face emoticon to make the message feel more compassionate, displaying QR codes that you can…

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14 Mar

Today, CISA is announcing the…

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA is announcing the creation of the Ransomware Vulnerability Warning Pilot (RVWP). Through the RVWP, CISA:      Proactively identifies information systems—belonging to critical infrastructure entities—that contain vulnerabilities commonly associated with ransomware intrusions. Notifies the owners of the affected information systems, which enables the owners to mitigate the vulnerabilities before damaging intrusions occur.  Review the RVWP webpage for details, including information on the authorities and services CISA leverages to enable RVWP notifications.  

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14 Mar

How the Best CISOs Drive Operational Resilience

Information, News

The last three years have been fueled by turbulent change — especially when it comes to an organization’s tech structure. The unanticipated global pandemic drastically accelerated digital transformation (DX) and a borderless workforce, forcing businesses to fast-track projects they had previously scheduled to take years. These years-long projects began to be completed in the matter of months, or even weeks, and propelled the industry forward momentously, but also highlighted that cybersecurity must be interwoven in…

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14 Mar

Universities and colleges cope silently with ransomware attacks

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Although some cybersecurity researchers say that ransomware attacks are on the downswing as cybercriminals face declining payments, a spate of recent ransomware attacks makes it feel like the scourge is continuing at the same, or even an elevated, pace. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the higher education sector, with at least eight colleges and universities in North America reporting ransomware attacks since December 2022. Among recent incidents are: On December 30, 2022 Bristol…

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14 Mar

ReversingLabs adds new context-based secret detection capabilities

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

ReversingLabs has added new secret detection capabilities to its software supply chain security (SSCS) tool to help developers prioritize remediation with context-based data on secrets. In a development environment, secrets refer to digital authentication credentials used in software components including login credentials, API tokens, and encryption keys. “We are using our knowledge of exposed secrets in the billions of files we’ve previously analyzed to provide that context,” said Tomislav Pericin, co-founder and chief software architect, ReversingLabs.…

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14 Mar

Amazon-owned Ring reportedly suffers ransomware attack

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Ring, a home security and smart home company owned by Amazon, has reportedly suffered a ransomware attack by Russia-linked ALPHV group, according to a tweet by VX-Underground. The ALPHV ransomware group, also known as BlackCat, has posted the company’s logo on its website along with a message that reads, “There’s always an option to let us leak your data.” The group has threatened to leak the stolen data if the company refuses to pay the ransom. It is…

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14 Mar

Can a quantum algorithm crack RSA cryptography? Not yet

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Every CISO has encryption implementation decisions to make at a variety of levels and instances as they sort the support needed for business operations such as production, sales, support, data retention, and communication. These decisions tend to lean heavily on the “ease of use” doctrine and ubiquitousness of the various product offerings being considered. Therefore the alarming report on “research” conducted by a pool of Chinese researchers on the “possibility” that RSA cryptographic algorithm was…

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