Information

10 Nov

Intel Sued Over ‘Downfall’ CPU Vulnerability 

Information, News

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Intel over its handling of speculative execution vulnerabilities found in its CPUs, particularly the recently disclosed attack method named Downfall.  A 112-page class action complaint was filed this week by plaintiffs represented by Bathaee Dunne. News of a Bathaee Dunne-led lawsuit against Intel over the Downfall vulnerability emerged in late August, when the law firm announced that it was preparing to file a complaint. The plaintiffs say…

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09 Nov

‘BlazeStealer’ Malware Delivered to Python Developers Looking for Obfuscation Tools

Information, Malware, News

Malicious Python packages posing as obfuscators have been targeting developers with malware that takes control over the infected systems, application security firm Checkmarx warns. Featuring names that start with ‘pyobf’ and masquerading as tools typically used by developers, the malicious packages deploy a payload dubbed ‘BlazeStealer’, to control the victim’s system and spy on them. BlazeStealer, Checkmarx has discovered, fetches a malicious script to enable a Discord bot and provide the attackers with control over…

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08 Nov

FBI Highlights Emerging Initial Access Methods Used by Ransomware Groups 

Information, News

The FBI has released a fresh warning on ransomware operators compromising third-party vendors and services to abuse them for initial access to victim environments. Threat actors have been observed exploiting vulnerabilities in vendor-controlled remote access to servers and abusing legitimate system management tools to elevate permissions in victim organizations’ networks, the Bureau says. “The FBI continues to track reporting of third-party vendors and services as an attack vector for ransomware incidents,” the agency notes in…

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07 Nov

Navigating the security and privacy challenges of large language models

Information

Business Security Organizations that intend to tap the potential of LLMs must also be able to manage the risks that could otherwise erode the technology’s business value Phil Muncaster 06 Nov 2023  •  , 5 min. read Everyone’s talking about ChatGPT, Bard and generative AI as such. But after the hype inevitably comes the reality check. While business and IT leaders alike are abuzz with the disruptive potential of the technology in areas like customer…

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07 Nov

Federal Push for Secure-by-Design: What It Means for Developers

Information, News, Uncategorized

Secure-by-design as a requirement is coming. Developers should start preparing for it now. The March 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) includes, “In setting cybersecurity regulations for critical infrastructure, regulators are encouraged to drive the adoption of secure-by-design principles…” There are two important elements to this. The concept of secure-by-design is introduced but not defined; and it is implied that this undefined concept will be enforced on the critical infrastructure by regulations that are yet to…

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06 Nov

Who’s Behind the SWAT USA Reshipping Service?

Information, Insights

Last week, KrebsOnSecurity broke the news that one of the largest cybercrime services for laundering stolen merchandise was hacked recently, exposing its internal operations, finances and organizational structure. In today’s Part II, we’ll examine clues about the real-life identity of “Fearlless,” the nickname chosen by the proprietor of the SWAT USA Drops service. Based in Russia, SWAT USA recruits people in the United States to reship packages containing pricey electronics that are purchased with stolen…

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06 Nov

Exploitation of Critical Confluence Vulnerability Begins

Information, News

The first in-the-wild exploitation attempts targeting a recent vulnerability in Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Confluence Server were observed over the weekend, threat intelligence firm GreyNoise warns. Patched a week ago, the critical security defect tracked as CVE-2023-22518 (CVSS score of 9.1) is an improper authorization flaw that could lead to “significant data loss”, Atlassian warned. The issue impacts all Confluence versions. Less than five days after releasing the patch, Atlassian issued a second warning,…

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05 Nov

The mysterious demise of the Mozi botnet – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Information

Video Various questions linger following the botnet’s sudden and deliberate demise, including: who actually initiated it? 03 Nov 2023 This week, ESET researchers described what they had aptly called “a fascinating case of cyberforensics” – the sudden and mysterious shutdown of the Mozi botnet. One of the world’s most notorious IoT botnets experienced a sudden drop in activity in August, first in India and then in China. This ultimately led the researchers to the discovery…

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03 Nov

Okta Hack Blamed on Employee Using Personal Google Account on Company Laptop

Data Breaches, Information, News

Okta is blaming the recent hack of its support system on an employee who logged into a personal Google account on a company-managed laptop, exposing credentials that led to the theft of data from multiple Okta customers. A brief post-mortem from Okta security chief David Bradbury said the internal lapse was the “most likely avenue” for the breach that ensnared hundreds of Okta customers, including cybersecurity companies BeyondTrust and Cloudflare. “We can confirm that from…

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02 Nov

Russian Reshipping Service ‘SWAT USA Drop’ Exposed

Information, Insights

The login page for the criminal reshipping service SWAT USA Drop. One of the largest cybercrime services for laundering stolen merchandise was hacked recently, exposing its internal operations, finances and organizational structure. Here’s a closer look at the Russia-based SWAT USA Drop Service, which currently employs more than 1,200 people across the United States who are knowingly or unwittingly involved in reshipping expensive consumer goods purchased with stolen credit cards. Among the most common ways…

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