Insights

Lamborghini Carjackers Lured by $243M Cyberheist

The parents of a 19-year-old Connecticut honors student accused of taking part in a $243 million cryptocurrency heist in August were carjacked a week later — while out house-hunting in a brand new Lamborghini. Prosecutors say the couple was beaten and briefly kidnapped by six young men who traveled from Florida as part of a botched plan to hold the parents for ransom. Image: ABC7NY.  youtube.com/watch?v=xoiaGzwrunY Late in the afternoon of Aug. 25, 2024 in…

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Patch Tuesday, October 2024 Edition

Microsoft today released security updates to fix at least 117 security holes in Windows computers and other software, including two vulnerabilities that are already seeing active attacks. Also, Adobe plugged 52 security holes across a range of products, and Apple has addressed a bug in its new macOS 15 “Sequoia” update that broke many cybersecurity tools. One of the zero-day flaws — CVE-2024-43573 — stems from a security weakness in MSHTML, the proprietary engine of…

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CISA and FBI Release Fact Sheet on Protecting Against Iranian Targeting of Accounts Associated with National Political Organizations

Today, CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released joint fact sheet, How to Protect Against Iranian Targeting of Accounts Associated with National Political Organizations. This fact sheet provides information about threat actors affiliated with the Iranian Government’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeting and compromising accounts of Americans to stoke discord and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions. IRGC actors have previously gained and continue to seek access to personal and business accounts…

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Scalability Challenges in Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning

This post is part of a series on privacy-preserving federated learning. The series is a collaboration between NIST and the UK government’s Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA), previously known as the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. Learn more and read all the posts published to date at NIST’s Privacy Engineering Collaboration Space or RTA’s blog.  Introduction In this post, we talk with Dr. Xiaowei Huang and Dr. Yi Dong (University of Liverpool), Dr. Mat Weldon (UK Office of…

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Microsoft Releases October 2024 Security Updates

Microsoft released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following and apply necessary updates: Microsoft Security Update Guide for October

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Avoid Scams After Disaster Strikes

As hurricanes and other natural disasters occur, CISA urges individuals to remain on alert for potential malicious cyber activity. Fraudulent emails and social media messages—often containing malicious links or attachments—are common after major natural disasters. Exercise caution in handling emails with hurricane-related subject lines, attachments, or hyperlinks. In addition, be wary of social media pleas, texts, or door-to-door solicitations relating to severe weather events. Before responding, ensure hurricane-related guidance is from trusted sources, such as…

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A Single Cloud Compromise Can Feed an Army of AI Sex Bots

Organizations that get relieved of credentials to their cloud environments can quickly find themselves part of a disturbing new trend: Cybercriminals using stolen cloud credentials to operate and resell sexualized AI-powered chat services. Researchers say these illicit chat bots, which use custom jailbreaks to bypass content filtering, often veer into darker role-playing scenarios, including child sexual exploitation and rape. Image: Shutterstock. Researchers at security firm Permiso Security say attacks against generative artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure…

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Staff Stories Spotlight Series: Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024

This blog is part of a larger NIST series during the month of October for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, called ‘Staff Stories Spotlight.’ Throughout the month of October this year, Q&A style blogs will be published featuring some of our unique staff members who have interesting backgrounds, stories to tell, and projects in the world of cybersecurity.  Credit: NIST This year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme is ‘Secure our World.’ How does this theme resonate with you,…

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ASD’s ACSC, CISA, FBI, NSA, and International Partners Release Guidance on Principles of OT Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Organizations

Today, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC)—in partnership with CISA, U.S. government and international partners—released the guide Principles of Operational Technology Cybersecurity. This guidance provides critical information on how to create and maintain a safe, secure operational technology (OT) environment. The six principles outlined in this guide are intended to aid organizations in identifying how business decisions may adversely impact the cybersecurity of OT and the specific risks associated with those…

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Crooked Cops, Stolen Laptops & the Ghost of UGNazi

A California man accused of failing to pay taxes on tens of millions of dollars allegedly earned from cybercrime also paid local police officers hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him extort, intimidate and silence rivals and former business partners, a new indictment charges. KrebsOnSecurity has learned that many of the man’s alleged targets were members of UGNazi, a hacker group behind multiple high-profile breaches and cyberattacks back in 2012. A photo released by…

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