Malware

03 Jan

Recently Discovered Linux Malware Packs 30 Plugin Exploits for WordPress

Attacks, Malware

WordPress is a very common website platform because it is free and easy to use, but this also makes it a more desirable target for threat actors. Keeping a WordPress site up to date is crucial. Fortunately, WordPress does have an automatic update feature which Binary Defense strongly recommends that users enable. Because many plug-ins are community created and distributed, often times critical updates can be slow to release, if an update comes at all.…

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03 Jan

Netgear WiFi Routers Receive Update For Critical Vulnerability

Attacks, Malware

Users of the above Netgear devices should update their firmware as soon as possible. Netgear support documentation provides update instructions for affected users: 1. Visit NETGEAR Support: https://www.netgear.com/support/2. Start typing your model number in the search box, then select your model from the drop-down menu as soon as it appears.3. If you do not see a drop-down menu, make sure that you entered your model number correctly, or select a product category to browse for…

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03 Jan

PyTorch suffers supply chain attack via dependency confusion

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Users who deployed the nightly builds of PyTorch between Christmas and New Year’s Eve likely received a rogue package as part of the installation that siphoned off sensitive data from their systems. The incident was the result of an attack called dependency confusion that continues to impact package managers and development environments if hardening steps are not taken. “If you installed PyTorch nightly on Linux via pip between December 25, 2022, and December 30, 2022,…

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03 Jan

LockBit apologizes for ransomware attack on hospital, offers decryptor

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

LockBit, a prominent ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation, has apologized for an attack on the Toronto-based Hospital for Sick Children, also known as SickKids, and offered a free decryptor.  SickKids, a major pediatric teaching hospital, announced on December 19 that it had called a Code Grey system failure, as it was responding to a cybersecurity incident that was affecting several network systems at the hospital. The incident impacted some internal clinical and corporate systems, as well as…

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02 Jan

Ransomware ecosystem becoming more diverse for 2023

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

The ransomware ecosystem has changed significantly in 2022, with attackers shifting from large groups that dominated the landscape toward smaller ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operations in search of more flexibility and drawing less attention from law enforcement. This democratization of ransomware is bad news for organizations because it also brought in a diversification of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), more indicators of compromise (IOCs) to track, and potentially more hurdles to jump through when trying to negotiate…

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01 Jan

PyTorch: Machine Learning toolkit pwned from Christmas to New Year

Information, Malware

by Paul Ducklin PyTorch is one of the most popular and widely-used machine learning toolkits out there. (We’re not going to be drawn on where it sits on the artifical intelligence leaderboard – as with many widely-used open source tools in a competitive field, the answer seems to depend on whom you ask, and which toolkit they happen to use themselves.) Originally developed and released as an open-source project by Facebook, now Meta, the software…

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30 Dec

US Congress funds cybersecurity initiatives in FY2023 spending bill

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

On December 23, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds government operations through the fiscal year 2023. On December 29, President Biden signed it. The 4,155-page bill reflects an already agreed-upon $858 billion for defense spending and an additional $800 billion for non-defense spending, including several prominent cybersecurity items. US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), chair of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, said, “This bill is a…

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29 Dec

S3 Ep115: True crime stories – A day in the life of a cybercrime fighter [Audio + Text]

Information, Malware

by Paul Ducklin A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CYBERCRIME FIGHTER Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Paul Ducklin talks to Peter Mackenzie, Director of Incident Response at Sophos, in a cybersecurity session that will alarm, amuse and educate you, all in equal measure. Click-and-drag on the soundwaves below to skip to any point. You can also listen directly on Soundcloud. Intro and outro music by Edith Mudge. You can listen…

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29 Dec

Thousands of Citrix Servers Vulnerable to Patched Critical Flaws

Attacks, Malware

It is highly recommended to patch any Citrix devices in an organization’s environment as soon as possible if they are vulnerable to either of these vulnerabilities. Since at least one of them is known to have threat actors actively exploiting it, the sooner the devices can be patched, the less chance that a threat actor will be able to compromise it and spread throughout an organization. It is recommended that organizations update their Citrix applications…

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29 Dec

Royal Ransomware Claims Attack on Intrado Telecom Provider

Attacks, Malware

To protect against ransomware attacks, organizations should: · Regularly back up data, air gap backups, and password-protect backup copies offline. · Ensure copies of critical data are not accessible for modification or deletion from the system where the data resides. · Implement network segmentation. · Implement a recovery plan to maintain and retain multiple copies of sensitive or proprietary data and servers in a physically separate, segmented, secure location · Install updates/patches operating systems, software,…

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