Insights

28 Mar

Thread Hijacking: Phishes That Prey on Your Curiosity

Information, Insights

Thread hijacking attacks. They happen when someone you know has their email account compromised, and you are suddenly dropped into an existing conversation between the sender and someone else. These missives draw on the recipient’s natural curiosity about being copied on a private discussion, which is modified to include a malicious link or attachment. Here’s the story of a thread hijacking attack in which a journalist was copied on a phishing email from the unwilling…

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27 Mar

Apple Released Security Updates for Safari and macOS

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Apple released security updates to address a vulnerability (CVE-2024-1580) in Safari and macOS. A cyber threat actor could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system.  CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following advisories and apply the necessary updates:  Safari 17.4.1 macOS Sonoma 14.4.1   macOS Ventura 13.6.6

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26 Mar

Recent ‘MFA Bombing’ Attacks Targeting Apple Users

Information, Insights

Several Apple customers recently reported being targeted in elaborate phishing attacks that involve what appears to be a bug in Apple’s password reset feature. In this scenario, a target’s Apple devices are forced to display dozens of system-level prompts that prevent the devices from being used until the recipient responds “Allow” or “Don’t Allow” to each prompt. Assuming the user manages not to fat-finger the wrong button on the umpteenth password reset request, the scammers…

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25 Mar

CISA and FBI Release Secure by Design Alert to Urge Manufacturers to Eliminate SQL Injection Vulnerabilities

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint Secure by Design Alert, Eliminating SQL Injection Vulnerabilities in Software. This Alert was crafted in response to a recent, well-publicized exploitation of SQL injection (SQLi) defects in a managed file transfer application that impacted thousands of organizations. Additionally, the Alert highlights the prevalence of this class of vulnerability. Despite widespread knowledge and documentation of SQLi vulnerabilities over the past two decades, along with…

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22 Mar

Mozilla Drops Onerep After CEO Admits to Running People-Search Networks

Information, Insights

The nonprofit organization that supports the Firefox web browser said today it is winding down its new partnership with Onerep, an identity protection service recently bundled with Firefox that offers to remove users from hundreds of people-search sites. The move comes just days after a report by KrebsOnSecurity forced Onerep’s CEO to admit that he has founded dozens of people-search networks over the years. Mozilla Monitor. Image Mozilla Monitor Plus video on Youtube. Mozilla only…

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21 Mar

Ivanti Releases Security Updates for Neurons for ITSM and Standalone Sentry

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Ivanti has released security advisories to address vulnerabilities in Ivanti Neurons for ITSM and Standalone Sentry. A cyber threat actor could exploit these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.  CISA encourages users and administrators to review the following Ivanti advisories and apply the necessary updates:  CVE-2023-46808 (Authenticated Remote File Write) for Ivanti Neurons for ITSM CVE-2023-41724 (Remote Code Execution) for Ivanti Standalone Sentry

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21 Mar

CISA, FBI, and MS-ISAC Release Update to Joint Guidance on Distributed Denial-of-Service Techniques

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released an updated joint guide, Understanding and Responding to Distributed Denial-Of-Service Attacks, to address the specific needs and challenges faced by organizations in defending against DDoS attacks. The guidance now includes detailed insight into three different types of DDoS techniques:  Volumetric, attacks aiming to consume available bandwidth.  Protocol, attacks which exploit vulnerabilities in network protocols.  Application, attacks targeting…

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21 Mar

Protecting Model Updates in Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning

Insights

In our second post we described attacks on models and the concepts of input privacy and output privacy. ln our last post, we described horizontal and vertical partitioning of data in privacy-preserving federated learning (PPFL) systems. In this post, we explore the problem of providing input privacy in PPFL systems for the horizontally-partitioned setting. Models, training, and aggregation To explore techniques for input privacy in PPFL, we first have to be more precise about the…

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20 Mar

The Not-so-True People-Search Network from China

Information, Insights

It’s not unusual for the data brokers behind people-search websites to use pseudonyms in their day-to-day lives (you would, too). Some of these personal data purveyors even try to reinvent their online identities in a bid to hide their conflicts of interest. But it’s not every day you run across a US-focused people-search network based in China whose principal owners all appear to be completely fabricated identities. Responding to a reader inquiry concerning the trustworthiness…

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19 Mar

CISA and Partners Release Joint Fact Sheet for Leaders on PRC-sponsored Volt Typhoon Cyber Activity

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA, the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other U.S. and international partners are issuing a joint fact sheet, People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Activity: Actions for Critical Infrastructure Leaders. Partners of this publication include:  U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA)  U.S. Department of Treasury   Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD’s) Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)  Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS)…

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