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PlushDaemon compromises supply chain of Korean VPN service

ESET researchers provide details on a previously undisclosed China-aligned APT group that we track as PlushDaemon and one of its cyberespionage operations: the supply-chain compromise in 2023 of VPN software developed by a South Korean company, where the attackers replaced the legitimate installer with one that also deployed the group’s signature implant that we have named SlowStepper – a feature-rich backdoor with a toolkit of more than 30 components. Key points of this blogpost: PlushDaemon…

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Trump 2.0 Brings Cuts to Cyber, Consumer Protections

One month into his second term, President Trump’s actions to shrink the government through mass layoffs, firings and withholding funds allocated by Congress have thrown federal cybersecurity and consumer protection programs into disarray. At the same time, agencies are battling an ongoing effort by the world’s richest man to wrest control over their networks and data. Image: Shutterstock. Greg Meland. The Trump administration has fired at least 130 employees at the federal government’s foremost cybersecurity…

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UEFI Secure Boot: Not so secure

ESET researchers uncover a vulnerability in a UEFI application that could enable attackers to deploy malicious bootkits on unpatched systems 16 Jan 2025 ESET researchers have uncovered a vulnerability that, if exploited, would allow bad actors to circumvent UEFI Secure Boot and deploy malicious UEFI bootkits such as Bootkitty or BlackLotus on vulnerable systems. Tracked as CVE-2024-7344, the security flaw affects most UEFI-based systems and its exploitation would lead to the execution of untrusted code…

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DeceptiveDevelopment targets freelance developers

Cybercriminals have been known to approach their targets under the guise of company recruiters, enticing them with fake employment offers. After all, what better time to strike than when the potential victim is distracted by the possibility of getting a job? Since early 2024, ESET researchers have observed a series of malicious North Korea-aligned activities, where the operators, posing as headhunters, try to serve their targets with software projects that conceal infostealing malware. We call…

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Fake job offers target software developers with infostealers

A North Korea-aligned activity cluster tracked by ESET as DeceptiveDevelopment drains victims’ crypto wallets and steals their login details from web browsers and password managers 20 Feb 2025 ESET researchers have observed a malicious campaign where North Korea-aligned threat actors, posing as headhunters, target freelance software developers with info-stealing malware. The activities – named DeceptiveDevelopment and going back to at least November 2023 – involve spearphishing messages that are being distributed on job-hunting and freelancing…

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Under lock and key: Protecting corporate data from cyberthreats in 2025

Business Security Data breaches can cause a loss of revenue and market value as a result of diminished customer trust and reputational damage Phil Muncaster 21 Jan 2025  •  , 5 min. read There were over 3,200 data compromises in the United States in 2023, with 353 million victims, including those affected multiple times, according to the US Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). Each one of those individuals might be a customer that decides to…

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Going (for) broke: 6 common online betting scams and how to avoid them

Don’t roll the dice on your online safety – watch out for bogus sports betting apps and other traps commonly set by scammers Phil Muncaster 28 Jan 2025  •  , 5 min. read Online gambling is big business. Topping revenue of $84bn in 2023, the business of online casinos, virtual poker and sports betting is on the rise. It’s been helped in no small part by the Supreme Court, whose ruling several years ago effectively…

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The evolving landscape of data privacy: Key trends to shape 2025

Business Security Incoming laws, combined with broader developments on the threat landscape, will create further complexity and urgency for security and compliance teams Phil Muncaster 23 Jan 2025  •  , 5 min. read As Data Privacy Week (January 27-31) and Data Protection Day (January 28) approach, it’s the perfect time to spotlight the critical role data protection plays in the success of modern organizations. In fact, privacy and data protection go hand-in-hand with cybersecurity. Important…

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Brian Greene: Until the end of time | Starmus highlights

WeLiveScience The renowned physicist explores how time and entropy shape the evolution of the universe, the nature of existence, and the eventual fate of everything, including humanity 29 Jan 2025 What is our place in the cosmic unfolding? How did we come to be, and where are we ultimately going in the grand scheme of time? These are some of the deepest existential questions that the renowned theoretical physicist and best-selling author Brian Greene explored…

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No, you’re not fired – but beware of job termination scams

Some employment scams take an unexpected turn as cybercriminals shift from “hiring” to “firing” staff Phil Muncaster 18 Feb 2025  •  , 5 min. read Most of us are in a job or looking for one. Or both. That’s largely why employment and work-from-home scams are so popular among cybercriminals (and even some state-aligned threat actors). The schemes typically lure the user by offering amazing job or casual employment opportunities. But in reality, all the…

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