Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
OpIsrael Reborn: Israel-Russia-Ukraine Chambers of Commerce and Industry website hacked (HackRead) The Pro-Palestinian online hacktivist AnonGhost has announced a series of cyber attacks with aim to destroy Israeli cyber space. These cyber attacks will be conducted under the banner of OpIsrael Reborn
Iranian group hacks U.S. Government owned Clarkston City, Georgia website (HackRead) The notorious Iranian hackers from Ashiyane Digital Security Team have hacked and defaced the official website of United States government City of Clarkston, Georgia
Supporter of Anonymous Hacktivists Hacks Vodafone Egypt Sub-Domains (HackRead) A hacker going with the handle of 'Ali El Top' hacked and defaced two official sub-domains of Vodafone Egypt last Thursday (04/09/2014). Hacker left a message along with a deface picture of Anonymous hacktivists on sub-domains belonging to Vodafone's web hosting services for its customers
China's cyber spying 'production line' approach no game for amateurs (SC Magazine) Chinese cyber-spying production line shares tools and tactics between different groups suggesting cooperation or at least similar training
WikiLeaks exposes chats and list of countries being spied through FinFisher (HackRead) WikiLeaks has exposed secret conversation and list of countries who had their citizens being spied by their own governments through German-based Gamma Group International's FinFisher spyware
Treasure Map: The NSA Breach of Telekom and Other German Firms (Spiegel) When it comes to choosing code names for their secret operations, American and British agents demonstrate a flare for creativity
Edward Snowden reveals tapping of major Australia-New Zealand undersea telecommunications cable (Brisbane Times) A major undersea telecommunications cable that connects Australia and New Zealand to North America has been tapped to allow the United States National Security Agency and its espionage partners to comprehensively harvest Australian and New Zealand internet data
JPMorgan says no cyber attack-related customer fraud seen (Reuters) JPMorgan Chase & Co said it had not seen any unusual customer fraud related to a recent cyber attack on the bank
Former Home Depot Managers Depict 'C-Level' Security Before the Hack (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Home Depot's (HD) in-store payment system wasn't set up to encrypt customers' credit- and debit-card data, a gap in its defenses that gave potential hackers a wider window to exploit, according to interviews with former members of the retailer's security team
PoS RAM Scraper Malware: The Overnight Sensation (Trend Micro Simply Security) There's a saying in show business that it takes years to become an overnight sensation. Point-of-Sale (POS) RAM Scraper Malware has arguably become the overnight sensation of cyberattacks this year. From Target and Neiman Marcus to Home Depot, PoS RAM Scraper Malware has become the malware story du jour
Dyre Straits: Why This Cloud Attack's Different (InformationWeek) Dyre is a new breed of Trojan, attacking cloud apps and using the cloud as a delivery vehicle
64-bit Version of MIRAS Used in Targeted Attack (TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog) We have been investigating the MIRAS malware family, which was recently linked to attacks that targeted a Europe-based IT company. Our analysis shows that MIRAS, or BKDR64_MIRAS.B is a 64-bit malware that was used for the data exfiltration stage in a targeted attack. MIRAS is available in 32-bit (BKDR_MIRAS.B) and 64-bit (BKDR64_MIRAS.B) Windows operating systems
Context hacks into Canon IoT Printer to run Doom (Dark Reading) Ability to compromise internet-connected devices raises more questions about IoT security
PhishLabs Researchers Intercept Vawtrak a Fresh Variant of Neverquest (Spamfighter News) PhishLabs the security company has just discovered the infamous banker Trojan Neverquest in some newer variations dubbed Vawtrak which alongside stealing online banking credentials also target certain gaming, retail and social media websites
Beware geeks bearing gifts: Steam-draining nasty spreads via Twitch (Register) Eskimo infection will drop you right Inuit
Dragonfly malware targeting pharmaceutical companies (Help Net Security) The recently revealed Dragonfly (Havex) malware is likely targeting the pharmaceutical sector, not the energy sector as previously believed, according to Belden
Security researcher finds Facebook Messenger is loaded with 'spyware type code' [updated] (BGR) As if you didn't already have enough reasons to hate Facebook Messenger, now you have another one. Security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski tells Motherboard that he spent some time picking apart Facebook Messenger earlier this week and found that it's positively loaded with "spyware type code" designed to track everything you do
Hacked Brazilian Newspaper Site Targets Router DNS Settings (Threatpost) The website for one of Brazil's biggest newspapers has been compromised with malware that tries to change the victim's router DNS settings
Sprint, Windstream traffic routing errors hijacked other ISPs (IDG via CSO) Internet traffic routing errors made by U.S. operators Sprint and Windstream on the same day last week underscore a long-known Internet weakness, posing both security and reliability issues
Bitcoin cyber blackmailers strike Colfax pizzeria (Auburn Journal) Rogue encrypted cells hold business hostage for cloud currency
EMP, Debunked: The Jolt That Could Fry The Cloud (InformationWeek) An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from the sun or a high-altitude nuclear blast could change life as we know it, but how worried should you really be? Here's a primer
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
Firefox sneaks out an "inbetweener" update, with security improvements rather than fixes (Naked Security) Here's a quick note to remind all Firefox users that Mozilla just snuck out a point release's newsletter
Four Vulnerabilities Patched in Integraxor SCADA Server (Threatpost) Four different remotely exploitable vulnerabilities were recently discovered and patched in a popular SCADA server
Microsoft discontinues support for Microsoft Security Essentials (STIX) We all look for software updates and other fresh features in a program. But, we should significantly consider the information and news provided under each software update and features
Cyber Trends
Cyber security pro: Finland under hybrid warfare attack (Yle Uutiset) Cyber security professor Jarno Limnéll says that hybrid warfare — wherein traditional and unconventional warfare methods are combined — is affecting Finns on a daily basis. The "attacks" are executed on the threshold of war and peace, and Limnéll says the most insidious form of hybrid war is the kind that operates undetected
Fortress finance pulls up the virtual drawbridge (BusinessDayLive) Western investors have largely shrugged off the military conflict in Ukraine, pushing global markets higher. But, deep inside some financial institutions and intelligence services, a debate is bubbling that investors should watch. This revolves not around boots and tanks but the cyber world
Adopting a Multi-Pronged Approach to Cyber Risk (Insurance Networking News) Insurers must catch up with other sectors in responding to cyber threats, says a panel of Deloitte experts
Why Apple Pay could succeed where others have had underwhelming results (Ars Technica) Not because Apple is a huge and influential company, but because the timing is right
Editorial: Apple's New Products Ratchet Up Need for Privacy Protection (Government Technology) The time is ripe for new encryption technology that stays one step ahead of the National Security Agency and individual hackers
75% of mobile apps will fail basic security tests (Help Net Security) Through 2015, more than 75 percent of mobile applications will fail basic security tests, according to Gartner. Enterprise employees download from app stores and use mobile applications that can access enterprise assets or perform business functions, and these applications have little or no security assurances. These applications are exposed to attacks and violations of enterprise security policies
Enterprise Annexation of Endpoint Security (NetworkWorld) When it comes to strong cybersecurity, endpoints and servers have often been second-class citizens when compared to the network
Security Ops Confidence Levels Drop (Dark Reading) Survey shows most organizations unable to keep up with new and emerging threats from state-sponsored attackers
Target tops the list of most epic privacy fails (Naked Security) Privacy has always been a hot topic for us at Naked Security, but recently the news seems to have gone from bad to worse
Lieberman Study: IT Pros Anticipate Attacks (Channelnomics) Yet another security study has confirmed our fears: Cyber-attacks are escalating rapidly and, more important, confidence in our IT security net is low
Catbird Study Reveals That Private Cloud Security Keeps IT Up At Night (HostReview) A survey among IT professionals identifies the primary security concerns in cloud-based data management
Secunia Vulnerability Review 2014 (InfoWorld) Critical security vulnerabilities are on the rise and the sheer volume is staggering. This 2014 Security Vulnerability Report reveals data on global trends. Learn how the primary attack vectors are shifting, why there's an increase of vulnerabilities in Windows 7, and how to be on the watch for risks in PDF readers, browsers and the top 50 software applications
This World Map Shows Every Device Connected To The Internet (Business Insider) A striking map created by John Matherly at search engine Shodan shows significant disparities in internet access across the world
Marketplace
Veracode Secures $40M In Funding As IPO Looms (Dark Reading) Security firm plans to increase investments in sales, marketing, and research and development
CyberArk Software on deck for $80 million IPO (BetaBoston) CyberArk Software is looking to be Boston tech's next initial public offering this year with the disclosure of its expected IPO terms
EMC: VMware Not For Sale (InformationWeek) Contrary to a New York Post report and an investor's pressure, EMC says it's not considering selling off its VMware virtualization subsidiary
HP buys cloud provider Eucalyptus, Marten Mickos to lead HP Cloud (IT World) Eucalyptus CEO Marten Mickos will head HP's Helion cloud services and software
FireEye: Price Matters (Seeking Alpha) FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE), an enterprise security provider, is a prime example of how price matters when buying a stock. One could probably have easily argued that the stock was overvalued at over $95 back in March, but what about now with the stock sitting at levels around initial trading following the IPO back last September?
Cisco, Check Point Gain Security Appliance Share (Investor's Business Daily) The security appliance market saw solid growth in the second quarter, with worldwide revenue up 7% and unit shipments up 5% year over year. The big vendors got bigger as the smaller players shrank in terms of factory sales, market research firm IDC reported Thursday
Check Point eyes local SME market (ITWeb) SMEs know they need security but don't want the headache of managing it themselves, says Doros Hadjizenonos, Check Point's sales manager for SA. Israel-headquartered security solutions provider Check Point Software Technologies is looking to tap into the South African SME market
Espionage, theft, virtual war: Good news for Israel's cyber industry (Haaretz) Israel has emerged as a center for defending people, organizations and even countries against cyber attacks. The question is how to maintain the edge
$5b in US Army Intelligence Support Contracts, 2014-2019 (Defense Industry Daily) Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir, VA issues up to $5.04 billion worth of indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contracts for global intelligence support services
Air Force wants a better way to map and analyze its networks (Defense Systems) The Air Force is looking for new technologies for cyber situational awareness under a newly consolidated program called Mission Awareness for Mission Assurance, or MAMA
Agiliance Wins Three 2014 Golden Bridge Awards (BusinessWire) RiskVision platform receives Gold and Bronze Award for innovations in GRC and risk management; management team honored with Bronze Award for its industry achievements
Rambus Expands Cryptography Research Division Leadership Team (BusinessWire via Investor's Business Daily) Appointments of Dr. Simon Blake-Wilson, Philippe Martineau, and Ron Perez strengthen industry-leading team
Intelligence officials find career afterlife as cybersecurity booms (Bloomberg via Vancouver Sun) As the fourstar general in charge of U.S. digital defences, Keith Alexander warned repeatedly that the financial industry was among the likely targets of a major attack
Chesapeake Innovation Center cuts ribbon on new home (Technical.ly Baltimore) The Anne Arundel County incubator moved, in part, to be closer to the Army's Fort Meade
Products, Services, and Solutions
ApplePay: The Security Pros & Cons (Credit Blog) ApplePay, the new mobile payments service introduced by Apple this week, could ultimately set the security and privacy benchmarks for digital wallets much higher
Facebook wants to know why you hate specific adverts (Naked Security) Facebook has announced yet more slants to its constant ad fiddling
FireHost Fuses Security and Compliance in Unique Compliance-as-a-Service Offering (Dark Reading) To help businesses protect their data and exceed PCI, HIPAA, and other regulatory requirements, secure cloud leader FireHost has announced the most complete compliance-as-a-service (CaaS) offering, making the fast-growing company the only cloud provider in the industry to deliver such a service
FireMon claim ROI for customers inside a year (CRN) Report by TechValidate shows 54 per cent of FireMon customers achieve ROI in 12 months
Upland's FileBound Receives Enterprise-Ready Rating from the Skyhigh CloudTrust Program (Security IT Business Net) Upland Software, Inc., a leader in cloud-based Enterprise Work Management applications, today announced that it has been awarded the Skyhigh CloudTrust rating of enterprise-ready for its FileBound document and workflow automation application
BitDefender and Kaspersky Antivirus — A comparison guide (STIX) You know where to look for new updates and features of a software program. But, many of us do not check latest news and information related to that software updates and features you are searching for, which is very important
New data center protects against solar storms and nuclear EMPs (Computerworld) Data loss from an electromagnetic pulse is the bigger worry
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
How Boston Children's Hospital hit back at Anonymous (CIO via CSO) Hackers purportedly representing Anonymous hit Boston Children's Hospital with phishing and DDoS attacks this spring. The hospital fought back with vigilance, internal transparency and some old-fashioned sneakernet. That — and a little bit of luck — kept patient data safe
Emerging cloud threats and how to address them (Help Net Security) As organizations deploy and harness private, community and hybrid clouds, they encounter new types of threats, along with the old ones they've been battling for years
Gas Utility Group Shares Info to Repel Cyber, Physical Attacks (Natural Gas Intel) The American Gas Association (AGA) has launched a program to help protect natural gas utilities from cyber and physical attacks
Social engineering audits on the rise: What this means for CIOs and CSOs (Tech Republic) A social engineering audit looks for internal data or security breaches. The uptick in these audits is a reminder to C-level execs that security is an inside as well as an outside responsibility
The Easy-to-Miss Basics of Network Defense (TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog) Last month we released a paper on backdoor techniques which highlighted the importance of setting up your network properly to detect and block C&C communication. In this post, I will share some rules that IT administrators can proactively implement in order to set up "basic defense" for their network. I say basic here because these rules are not meant to cover all types of suspicious activity within the network — just some that I think are more likely to be missed
Three Things Apple Can Do to Fix iCloud's Awful Security (Wired) Apple's reality distortion field makes for epic product launches. But it doesn't keep sext-snatching hackers out of your iCloud account
Are credential dumps are worth reviewing? (Internet Storm Center) It's been reported that around five million Gmail email addresses were released on to a forum early on in the week. In the file, next to each email address, was a password
Data Security Systems and the Prevention of Identy Theft (IP Watchdog) In the world of data security, 2014 will likely go down as one of the rockiest years in history. We have previously covered recent cyber attacks and data breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus, among others, as well as ways businesses can tighten up data security to prevent against breaches
Why Email Is Worth Saving (Dark Reading) What if an Internet-scale, federated policy, authentication, and enforcement framework for trusted email delivery were available? It is
9 Resources to Stay Current on Security Threats (eSecurity Planet) These nine online resources will keep security pros informed about the latest threats
Research and Development
The Future of Cryptography Is… Outdated Nokia Phones? (Popular Mechanics) Physicists create cryptographically-secure random numbers using only a discontinued Nokia phone and the physical properties of light
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Super cyber intelligence body soon, announces IT Minister (The Hindu) India will soon get an overarching body for cyber intelligence and security, IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Saturday
Exclusive: White House delays release of security-strategy doctrine (Washington Examiner) Even before President Obama's "no strategy" gaffe and this week's major speech laying out a plan to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, White House staffers were working to update a long overdue national security strategy doctrine
Despite Obama's Pledge to Curb It, NSA Mass Surveillance Wins Rubber Stamp (National Journal) Mass surveillance just earned another 90-day blank check, nine months after President Obama promised to rein in the NSA's spying powers
Justice Sotomayor says technology could lead to "Orwellian world" (Ars Technica) "We are capable of being in that Orwellian world," Supreme Court Justice says
Warning: You May Have Already Been Hacked (FedTech) One senator is requesting FBI data to determine which federal agencies have not fallen victim to hackers
Key wrong to use cyber protection to justify spying (Scoop) John Key is trying to scare and confuse New Zealanders by saying mass surveillance by the GCSB is needed to achieve the country's cyber protection, the Green Party said today
Croatia Builds New Mobile Government on IBM Mainframe — citizens can now access critical services in just minutes (PRNewswire via MarketWatch) IBM (NYSE: IBM) and APIS IT Ltd., the company that provides strategic, professional and implementation services to the public and Government sector organizations of the Republic of Croatia, today announced the deployment of a new IT infrastructure that will modernize the delivery of government services to the citizens of Croatia
Cuomo and Christie Bring Together Bi-State Group of Law Enforcement and Security Agencies to Enhance Preparedness and Coordination (Long Island News) All relevant public safety agencies will meet with FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to ensure coordination at highest levels
Army Cyber Leader Touts Hacking Skills (GovInfoSecurity) Greg Conti relishes 'playful' aspects of learning about IT
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Holder Says Private Suit Risks State Secrets (New York Times) In his first year in office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. put new limits on when the government could dismiss lawsuits in the name of protecting national security. Now, in what he has said is likely his final year, Mr. Holder has claimed broad authority to do just that in a case unlike any other
Huawei Discovers Corruption After Internal Investigation (TechWeekEurope) Over a hundred Huawei staffers reportedly implicated in making and receiving bribes, after CEO admits internal investigation
Huawei's Massive Bribery Exposed, Targeting Corrupt Officials? (New Tang Dynasty) Mainland Chinese media recently exposed millions of bribes in the business of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. 116 employees' involvement in the corruption was found at the leading telecommunications equipment company. Although some media said it's a rumor, the party mouthpiece not only reproduced the report of the corruption, but also published an opinion article saying corruptions of private enterprises need management from the outside. Huawei's CEO has a military and state security background. Is the explosion of the bribery case just a self-examination? Or is it the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) high level that wants to crackdown on "big tigers?"
HP Russia guilty of government bribery using "secret slush fund" (Ars Technica) HP subsidiaries bribed police, prosecutors, and a state-run oil company
Edward Snowden did not raise concerns about surveillance programs: National Security Agency (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) The US National Security Agency (NSA) says it has been was unable to find evidence that whistleblower Edward Snowden ever raised concerns internally about its sweeping surveillance programs
Supreme Court ruling has wiped out 11 "do it on a computer" patents so far (Ars Technica) The balance of power is changing as courts vigorously apply Alice v. CLS Bank
Solihull teenager arrested over government cyber-attack (BBC) An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a "significant" cyber-attack on the Home Office
Serial hacker pleads guilty to bank bitcoin blackmail (Naked Security) A 22-year-old with a lengthy history of convictions pleaded guilty last week to charges of blackmail and fraud, after threatening to reveal details of thousands of phished bank accounts if the bank involved refused to pay up
