Malware

03 Nov

Espionage campaign loads VPN spyware on Android devices via social media

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

A new espionage campaign, dubbed SandStrike, has been detected using malicious VPN apps to load spyware on Android devices, cybersecurity company Kaspersky reports. It’s an example of how APT (advanced persistent threat) actors are constantly updating old attack tools and creating new ones to launch new malicious campaigns, particularly against mobile devices. “In their attacks, they use cunning and unexpected methods: SandStrike, attacking users via a VPN service, where victims tried to find protection and…

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03 Nov

White House ransomware summit highlights need for borderless solutions

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

The US White House this week convened its Second International Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit (CRI), bringing together leaders from 36 countries and the European Union in person to build on the work of its first ransomware summit in 2021. At a press briefing before the Summit, a White House spokesperson said, “While the United States is facilitating this meeting, we don’t view this solely as a US initiative. It’s an international partnership that spans most…

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03 Nov

Making the case for security operation automation

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

According to ESG research, 52% of organizations believe that security operations are more difficult today than they were two years ago, due to factors such as the dangerous threat landscape, growing attack surface, and the volume/complexity of security alerts. In analyzing this data, I see a common theme: scale. Security teams must be able to scale operations to deal with the increasing volume of everything coming at them. Faced with a global cybersecurity skills shortage,…

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02 Nov

OpenSSL Releases Patches for Two High Severity Vulnerabilities

Attacks, Malware

Patches have been released by most of the major Linux distributions. While the severity of one of the vulnerabilities was downgraded, both are still rated as high severity. Organizations should apply the OpenSSL patch via standard system package update systems such as apt, yum, rpm, dnf, and pacman.The Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre has created a useful resource for system administrators to determine if the operating systems or software they manage are vulnerable and if…

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02 Nov

Malicious Android Apps With 1M+ Installs Found on Google Play

Attacks, Malware

To keep adware away from devices, avoid installing apps from unofficial Android stores. Reading user reviews and monitoring battery usage and network data activity also helps determine if the device is running suspicious software. Keeping Google’s Play Protect feature active is also a good way to keep the device safer. Any Android devices that have one of the above apps present should remove that app and run a full system scan using Play Protect or…

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02 Nov

United States Government Employees Exposed to Mobile Attacks from Outdated Mobile Operating Systems

Attacks, Malware

With bring your own device (BYOD) policies becoming more and more common in the workplace, this report is a prime example of how an organization may be left vulnerable if these policies are not properly implemented. Organizations need to ensure that employees are properly updating devices in an efficient manner. Failure to keep devices current could lead to those devices becoming the vector for initial access within an environment. An attacker may use a compromised…

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02 Nov

Azul detects Java vulnerabilities in production apps

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Java services company Azul has unveiled Azul Vulnerability Detection, a SaaS product that leverages the Azul JVM to continuously monitor Java applications for security vulnerabilities. Azul Vulnerability Detection, introduced November 2, is an agentless cloud service designed for production use. It addresses enterprise risk around software supply chain attacks and eliminates false positives while not impacting performance, Azul said. Accessible from azul.com, Azul Vulnerability Detection identifies code running in the Azul JVM and maps it…

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02 Nov

GAO report: government departments need dedicated leaders to oversee privacy goals

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a comprehensive report in late September 2022 that discussed the need for dedicated privacy leadership within the departments and agencies of the executive branch of government if goals surrounding privacy are to be achieved. The report highlighted how this void in leadership was in essence putting at risk well-intentioned plans and procedures for protecting the personal identifiable information (PII) held within those entities. The GAO recommended that Congress…

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02 Nov

Netacea launches malicious bot intelligence service to help customers tackle threats

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Cybersecurity vendor Netacea has announced the launch of a new Business Logic Intelligence Service (BLIS) designed to give customers actionable insight to help them tackle malicious bot activity and security threats. The firm said that the tiered, fee-based service will provide organizations with bot threat intelligence based on research including analysis of dark web forums and marketplaces. Earlier this year, the 2022 Imperva Bad Bot Report revealed an uptick in malicious bot activity driving online…

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02 Nov

How to securely manage LAPS on a Windows network

Data Breaches, Malware, Social Engineering

Passwords have always been a pain point in securing computing infrastructure. Complexity and length are key components of a strong password, but both make it inherently difficult for a human to remember. Additionally, passwords should be changed periodically, fine when you’re working with a handful of devices, but when your network is distributed geographically with hundreds, or thousands of computers things get more complex. Fortunately, Microsoft has had a solution to this problem in the…

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