Malware

US Congress funds cybersecurity initiatives in FY2023 spending bill

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

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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Thousands of Citrix Servers Vulnerable to Patched Critical Flaws

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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Royal Ransomware Claims Attack on Intrado Telecom Provider

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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Google Ads Used to Spread Malware

Companies with well-known brand names should continuously monitor domain name registrations to identify potential typo-squatting attacks impersonating their brand name. The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy can be used by companies to reclaim brand-infringing domains. If the infringing domain is being used to deliver malware, most domain registrars will honor a request for an immediate take-down of the offending domain. Binary Defense Counterintelligence services include monitoring of typo-squatting domain names and review of impersonating websites.…

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$8,000,000 In Cryptocurrency Stolen by Trojanized BitKeep App

BitKeep recommends that anyone who may have installed the trojanized app should first download the official app from a trusted source like the Google Play Store, create a new wallet, and transfer all funds to it before removing the malicious version of the app. Any wallets created via the malicious app should be treated as compromised. In general, Binary Defense recommends only installing applications from the official app stores, such as Google Play for Android…

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Ransomware attack at Louisiana hospital impacts 270,000 patients

Data breaches involving healthcare or insurance information could result in insurance fraud. In addition to the normal precautions such as placing a freeze request with the major credit bureaus and monitoring financial accounts for unusual transactions, victims of medical data breaches should also be aware that identity thieves might attempt to get expensive medical procedures using their stolen insurance information. Carefully check “Explanation of Benefits” (EOB) forms or online claims notifications and promptly inform health…

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Netwrix Acquires Remediant for PAM Technology

Data security software vendor Netwrix has acquired Remediant, an early-stage startup working on technology in the PAM (privileged access management) category. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.  Remediant, based in San Francisco and backed by Dell Technologies Capital and ForgePoint Capital, raised $15 million in Series A venture capital funding in August 2019. Remediant, founded in 2015 by security practitioners Paul Lanzi  and Tim Keeler, built a PAM software product that offered continuous…

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Log4Shell remains a big threat and a common cause for security breaches

The Log4Shell critical vulnerability that impacted millions of enterprise applications remains a common cause for security breaches a year after it received patches and widespread attention and is expected to remain a popular target for some time to come. Its long-lasting impact highlights the major risks posed by flaws in transitive software dependencies and the need for enterprises to urgently adopt software composition analysis and secure supply chain management practices Log4Shell, officially tracked as CVE-2021-44228,…

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Threat Actor Accessed Unencrypted Customer Metadata, LastPass Reports

The primary risk introduced by this breach is the combination of the unencrypted metadata with customer account information. With those two pieces of information, malicious actors can put together a profile of websites the exposed customers have accounts on, combine that with open source intelligence (OSINT) from social media, and perform activities such as spearphishing, vishing, or other social engineering techniques against employees. Additional social engineering awareness training may be effective over the next couple…

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