Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Germany's domestic intelligence chief accuses Russia of cyberwarfare (Deutsche Welle) Germany's domestic intelligence agency has accused Russia of engaging in ongoing cyberwarfare. The aim, he said, is to steal information and to carry out sabotage against its enemies - both real and imagined
Germany points finger at Kremlin for cyber attack on the Bundestag (Financial Times) Germany has blamed Russia for a huge cyber attack last year on its parliament and has said that Moscow could be planning further assaults on its institutions
German Spy Service Says Russia Behind Major Cyber Attacks (AFP via SecurityWeek) Germany's domestic secret service said Friday it had evidence that Russia was behind a series of cyber attacks, including one that targeted the German parliament last year
'Pawn Storm' APT Campaign Rolls On With Attacks in Germany, Turkey (Dark Reading) Offices of German chancellor Angela Merkel among those targeted in recent attacks, Trend Micro says
U.S. official: ISIS declares state of emergency in self-declared capital (CNN) U.S. military officials are closely watching social media and news reports that say ISIS believes it may soon come under siege in Raqqa, Syria, its self-declared capital
U.S. envoy in anti-ISIS battle: 'perverse caliphate' shrinking (Associated Press via Military Times) The Obama administration's diplomatic point man in the international fight against the Islamic State group says the extremists have been losing control over territory and that "this perverse caliphate is shrinking." Brett McGurk, a presidential envoy to the 66-member anti-ISIS coalition, told a news conference Sunday that the tide is turning against extremists, both online and on the battle field
Islamic State, growing stronger in Libya, sets its sights on fragile neighbor Tunisia (Washington Post) The families arrived at the cemetery in the night carrying the bullet-riddled corpses of their sons and brothers, residents recalled. One by one, the bodies were placed in unmarked graves, outcasts even in death
Al Qaeda Turns to Syria, With a Plan to Challenge ISIS (New York Times) Al Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan, badly weakened after a decade of C.I.A. drone strikes, has decided that the terror group’s future lies in Syria and has secretly dispatched more than a dozen of its most seasoned veterans there, according to senior American and European intelligence and counterterrorism officials
Bangladesh Bank Theft: New York Fed Stands By Transfer Procedures (Dark Reading) Bank replies to US lawmaker query whether transfer of funds should have been blocked
Bangladesh bank cyber attack connected to Sony hack, claim forensics experts (Inquirer) Bespoke malware looks strangely familiar
Malware attacks on two banks have links with 2014 Sony Pictures hack (IDG via CSO) Security researchers have found a long chain of coding coincidences linking attempted fraud over the SWIFT network to the 2014 Sony Pictures hack
Vietnam bank says interrupted cyber heist using SWIFT messaging (Reuters) Vietnam's Tien Phong Bank said that it interrupted an attempted cyber heist that involved the use of fraudulent SWIFT messages, the same technique at the heart of February's massive theft from the Bangladesh central bank
Commercial Bank of Ceylon Hacked? (InfoRisk Today) Sri Lankan bank's data is latest to be dumped By Bozkurtlar
Anonymous Shut Down 5 More Banking Websites for OpIcarus (HackRead) Anonymous OpIcarus is underway and the new targets include banking sites in France, UAE, Philippine, Tunisia, Trinidad and Tobago!
Banking Trojan has infected at least 40K Android users worldwide (SC Magazine) Hundreds of different banking Trojans attack Android users, one being Android.SmsSpy.88.origin, which was first spotted in 2014
36 firms at risk from that unpatched 2010 SAP vuln? Try 500+ (Register) Fixing Java-related bug trickier than it sounds, claims ERP security firm
CAUTION: The SSL blind spot is growing (IT Brief) The use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption is growing fast, and that’s a good thing for protecting user privacy and business communications. However, it’s also good news for hackers and cybercriminals because SSL provides a great hiding place for malware. In fact, research from Gartner forecasts that 50% of all network attacks will hide in encrypted traffic by 2017
Petya ransomware is now double the trouble (IDG via CSO) The master boot record killer now can install a second file-encrypting program
Cerber Ransomware On The Rise, Fueled By Dridex Botnets (Threatpost) FireEye spotted a massive uptick in Cerber ransomware attacks delivered via a rolling wave of spam
Malware-Laced Porn Apps Behind Wave of Android Lockscreen Attacks (Threatpost) Incidents of Android lockscreen malware masquerading as porn apps are a growing concern to security analysts who are forecasting an uptick in attacks. Once infected, Android users bitten by this malware appear to be locked out of their device and are forced to undergo a complex extraction of the app to win back control of their phone or tablet
Meteocontrol Web'log 100/Light/Pro/Pro Unlimited Access Command Shell Feature Privilege Escalation (VulDB) A vulnerability has been found in Meteocontrol WEB'log 100/Light/Pro/Pro Unlimited and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown function of the component Access Command Shell Feature. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privilege escalation vulnerability. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The weakness was shared 05/14/2016. This vulnerability was named CVE-2016-2297. The attack can be initiated remotely. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available
World's oldest hacking profession doesn't rely on internet (CNBC) As the number of reported data breaches continues to blitz U.S. companies — over 6 million records exposed already this year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center — IT budgets are ballooning to combat what corporations see as their greatest threat: faceless, sophisticated hackers from an outside entity
Spam Emails Getting Nastier, Kaspersky Lab Warns (TechWeek Europe) Spam levels are falling, but Kaspersky Lab says that malicious emails are increasingly becoming malicious and criminalised
Cyber-attack shuts down Lake Havasu City website (ABC 15) A cyber-attack has temporarily shut down Lake Havasu City's website. City officials say they believe the attack started with an infected email
Pornhub said to be compromised, shell access available for $1,000 (CSO) On Saturday evening, an underground researcher running the 1x0123 Twitter account offered command injection abilities and shell access to a subdomain on Pornhub for a mere $1,000 USD. See updates at the bottom of this story. On Sunday evening, Pornhub called this incident a hoax
SQL Injection Flaw: Hardcore Fetish Forum Hacked, 100k Users’ Data Leaked (HackRead) The Rosebutt Board (NSFW forum) has faced a massive data breach — the leaked data also includes .gov emails — if you are at work don’t search for this forum!
Apple Deletes App That Informed Users If Their iPhone is Hacked (HackRead) The usual search keywords on Google about hacking are hacking tools, how to hack or how to know if I am hacked. Well, one can’t find answers for every question but a German IT security researcher Stefan Esser developed an app informing users if their iPhone has been secretly hacked, jailbroken or being spied by malicious actors but it looks like Apple didn’t like the idea of ”information for all” and deleted the app because according to the Apple’s review team the System and Security info app didn’t compliance with the App store review guidelines
iOS app detecting phones jailbroken by malware booted from App Store (Help Net Security) The System and Security Info iOS app by German IT security outfit SektionEins has been pulled from Apple’s App Store less than a week after it was made available
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
That was quick - Android May security update already hitting Galaxy S7, S7 edge units on AT&T (Phone Arena) Google released the May security update for Android on May 2, but AT&T is already pushing the important security patch to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Yes, that was a relatively quick and pleasant surprise!
Bye Bye, Flash! Google Chrome Plans To Go HTML5 By Default (F-Secure) As was reported last week, the development team behind Google’s Chrome browser is planning to go “HTML5 by Default” during Q4 2016
5 ways Microsoft has improved SharePoint security (Network World via CSO) Revamped SharePoint platform enables more granular security controls, hybrid cloud and on-premise auditing, and BYO encryption keys
Cyber Trends
New FireEye Research Reveals the Impact of High-Profile Security Breaches on U.S. Consumers' Trust of Brands (Marketwired) FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE), the leader in stopping today's advanced cyber attacks, today released the results of new research that finds high-profile data breaches are negatively impacting consumer trust in major brands. The FireEye commissioned research -- conducted by independent technology market research specialist Vanson Bourne with a survey of 2,000 adults within the U.S. in April 2016 -- confirms the rising public concerns of data privacy.
Want to keep your password safe? Give up chocolate… (Naked Security) A recent large-scale study of 1,208 people by the Université du Luxembourg has revealed how the potency of social engineering attacks can be increased with the help of a little chocolate
Infoblox Network Protection Survey: Organizations Utilizing Best Practices Enjoy Outsized Business Outcomes (Marketwired) Survey highlights what works and doesn't work for improving the agility, efficiency, and security of enterprise networks
Many Americans refrain from shopping, stating opinions online (Help Net Security) Recently released results of a survey by the US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have revealed that security and privacy fears stopped 45 percent of polled households from conducting financial transactions, buying goods or services, posting on social networks, or expressing opinions on controversial or political issues via the Internet
Security spending rises in areas ineffective against multi-stage attacks (Help Net Security) Vormetric announced the results of the Financial Services Edition of the 2016 Vormetric Data Threat Report (DTR). This edition extends earlier findings of the global report, focusing on responses from IT security leaders in financial services, which details IT security spending plans, perceptions of threats to data, rates of data breach failures and data security stances
Security startup confessions: Limited funds and their impact on security (Help Net Security) My name is Kai Roer and I am a co-founder of a European security startup, and these are my confessions. I hope you will learn from my struggles, and appreciate the choices startups make when security matters. I will share experiences from my own startups (my first was in 1994), and things I have learned by watching and advising numerous other startups around the world
Nigeria Records Significant Improvement in E-Transactions and Cyber Fraud (VenturesAfrica) According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), electronic transactions, also known as e-transactions, in the country have seen a significant improvement. The level of fraud has dropped, while the value of e-transactions in the country has risen significantly when compared to its status in 2014
Marketplace
How much security is enough? (Fedscoop) With a CISO on their board of directors, organizations could gain a better understanding of the cyberthreats their systems face
Read This Before Investing In Cybersecurity Stocks (Motley Fool) Interested in buying a few beaten-down cybersecurity stocks? Read this first
Symantec to slash enterprise security portfolio and cut 1,200 jobs (CRN) Security vendor to consolidate SKUs and streamline workforce as part of plans to save $400m
Symantec Stock Seen Sliding to $14 (Barron's) Investors could be overestimating the cyber-security firm’s ability to cut costs while returning to growth
Hackers Find Dozens of Ways into Pentagon Servers—with Permission (Newsweek) The Pentagon asked hackers to take a crack at its servers, and in response 1,400 hackers found 90 ways in, according to a tweet from the CEO of HackerOne on Friday. “Hack the Pentagon” was a test run of a bug bounty program, which allow hackers and the public at large to find and report problems with servers and websites
How much is a security flaw worth? An inside look into Yahoo’s bug bounty program (Christian Science Monitor Passcode) As companies try to balance the need to be transparent with outside researchers while protecting their own sensitive business information, the often opaque bug valuation process can be controversial
Twitter Picks Russia Over the U.S. (Wall Street Journal) The company cuts off the CIA. But selling data to Vladimir Putin? That’s fine
New Mossad ad quizzes would-be cyberspies (Times of Israel) HEX code in newspaper ad leads to webpage where potential recruits are invited to take part in a digital game of hide and seek
VA wants to scan dark web for stolen data (Federal Times via C4ISR & Networks) Navigating the Internet has become a routine thing since the invention of strong search engines like Google but not everything on the web is indexed and searchable. Websites that aren’t meant to be found — from criminal sites to backend systems not meant for public consumption — are part of what’s known as the “dark web"
So You Want to Fund a Startup? Here’s What You Need to Know (Wired) When big startups go public and all those early investors become gazillionaires, it’s like: “Why can’t that be me?” Now, with a little bit of luck, it can! Thanks to the newly approved JOBS Act rules, which go into effect today, you no longer have to make $200K a year or have a net worth of $1 million to invest in a startup—you just need to have some cash
Five minutes with … Ken McCreedy, the Maryland Commerce Department's senior director for cyber security and aerospace (Baltimore Sun) Ken McCreedy spent 26 years in the Army, rising to garrison commander at Fort Meade, before his recent appointment to oversee the cybersecurity office at Maryland's Department of Commerce. But the now-retired colonel's career nearly took an entirely different path
vArmour Named by Gartner as a "Cool Vendor in Cloud and Emerging Technology Security" (Marketwired) vArmour, the leading data center and cloud security company providing application-aware micro-segmentation with advanced security analytics, today announced that Gartner has named the company a "Cool Vendor in Cloud and Emerging Technology Security, 2016"
buguroo Named a Gartner 2016 Cool Vendor (Globe Newswire) Gartner analysts select innovative, impactful and intriguing companies for the ‘Cool Vendor’ reports
Niara Named a Cool Vendor in 2016 User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), Fraud Detection and User Authentication by Gartner (Marketwired via Yahoo! Finance) Niara, a provider of security analytics for attack detection and incident response, today announced that it has been named a Cool Vendor in the 2016 Cool Vendors in UEBA, Fraud Detection and User Authentication1 report by Gartner, Inc
Products, Services, and Solutions
LightEdge Announces IBM vSOC Partnership (Lightedge) LightEdge Solutions is IBM’s first vSOC Partner in the Americas
Fortinet expands managed security services partnership with CITIC Telecom CPC in APAC (MIS Asia) Fortinet-- a cybersecurity solutions provider --and CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited-- a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Telecom International Holdings Limited (SEHK: 1883) --have expanded their managed security services (MSS) across Asia Pacific (APAC)
Fujitsu enhances Global Managed Security Service (Telecompaper) Fujitsu announced that it has enhanced its Global Managed Security Service, which provides unified support in response to cyber-attacks across the lifecycle, including detection and prevention, analysis and countermeasures, and enhanced security resilience
Turkey-based Comodo develops new tailor-made software (Daily Sabah) A world leader in cybersecurity, Turkish firm Comodo is currently developing tailor-made software for corporations with a $30-million-investment in research and development
IBM, Samsung SDS to cooperate on security services (ZDNet) Big Blue and Samsung SDS will provide cloud-based security solutions for clients in the energy and utility industry
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
Researchers crack new version of CryptXXX ransomware (IDG via CSO) An updated decryptor tool can help users recover files affected by the CryptXXX ransomware program
CISO Playbook: Games of War & Cyber Defenses (Dark Reading) Limiting incident response planning to hypothetical table-top scenarios is far too risky in today's threat environment. But with cyberwar gaming you can simulate the experience of a real attack
7 reasons to gamify your cybersecurity strategy (CSO) Gamification relies on the competitive nature of people to help harden the company’s security
Don't dump your perimeter security (SC Magazine) While perimeter security has certainly changed over the years, it would be negligent to suggest that companies not protect the edge of their network as best as they can
How threat intelligence sharing can help deal with cybersecurity challenges (TechCrunch) In the ever-shifting landscape of cyberthreats and attacks, having access to timely information and intelligence is vital and can make a big difference in protecting organizations and firms against data breaches and security incidents
Research and Development
New Method of Producing Random Numbers Could Improve Cybersecurity (UT News) With an advance that one cryptography expert called a "masterpiece," University of Texas at Austin computer scientists have developed a new method for producing truly random numbers, a breakthrough that could be used to encrypt data, make electronic voting more secure, conduct statistically significant polls and more accurately simulate complex systems such as Earth's climate
Meet IBM’s Brain-Inspired Neurosynaptic Processor (Engineering) The future of exascale computing just got a lot closer. Enter the IBM TrueNorth processor, a brain-inspired chip at the forefront of cognitive computing and simulation
OkCupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science (Wired) On May 8, a group of Danish researchers publicly released a dataset of nearly 70,000 users of the online dating site OkCupid, including usernames, age, gender, location, what kind of relationship (or sex) they’re interested in, personality traits, and answers to thousands of profiling questions used by the site
Academia
JALC earns national designation regarding cyber defense training (Southern Illinoisan) John A. Logan College has recently been designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two-Year Education school by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security
IUP offering cybersecurity summer camp (Indiana Gazette) Indiana University of Pennsylvania is offering a free Cybersecurity Camp for middle and high school students and teachers from June 13 to 17 on the IUP campus
Cybersecurity sleuths learn to think like hackers (CNET) Kids around the US are competing in cybersecurity contests. To win, they need the same skills as the hackers they're trying to catch
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
How Israel is turning part of the Negev Desert into a cyber-city (Washington Post) Here in the middle of the Negev Desert, a cyber-city is rising to cement Israel’s place as a major digital power. The new development, an outcropping of glass and steel, will concentrate some of the country’s top talent from the military, academia and business in an area of just a few square miles. No other country is so purposefully integrating its private, scholarly, government and military cyber-expertise
CJ defends introduction of Cyber Crime Act (Daily News) The CJ made the remarks here at a meeting with Tanzanians living in the UK over the weekend, saying three out of every four people including children in Tanzania own mobile phones, thus a need for such act to protect every section in the community
Coordinator Christopher Painter Travels to Mexico to Engage on Cyber Policy (Imperial Valley News) Representatives from across the U.S. Government with expertise on a range of cyber issues traveled to Mexico City, Mexico May 12-13, 2016 to meet with partners from the Mexican government, academia, and the private sector
Senators will introduce a bill to limit government hacking warrants (IDG via CSO) The legislation would block a rule change letting judges issue remote hacking warrants
GOP lawmakers back effort to screen social media accounts for security clearances (Washington Times) Republican lawmakers voiced support Friday for authorities to look more closely at things like the Facebook and Instagram accounts of applicants for government security clearances — a day after the Obama administration issued new guidelines for using publicly-available social-media information in federal background checks
Where the candidates stand on cyber issues (Engadget) Execute Snowden, hate on the NSA and everybody blame China!
OPM cybersecurity strong a year after hack, official says (FierceGovernmentIT) Almost a year after the announcement that hackers had breached the Office of Personnel Management, the agency's cybersecurity approach looks very different, an OPM official said this week
Navy Wants to Get Cyber Right — the First Time (FedTechMagazine) Navy CIO Rob Foster wants to test more cybersolutions before they enter Navy infrastructure
Navy cyber commander nominated as service intel chief (C4ISR & Networks) Navy Vice Adm. Jan Tighe on May 13 was nominated by Defense Secretary Ash Carter for assignment as deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., according to a Defense Department release
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Everything We Know About How the FBI Hacks People (Wired) Recent headlines warn that the government now has greater authority to hack your computers, in and outside the US. Changes to federal criminal court procedures known as Rule 41 are to blame; they vastly expand how and whom the FBI can legally hack. But just like the NSA’s hacking operations, FBI hacking isn’t new. In fact, the bureau has a long history of surreptitiously hacking us, going back two decades
Report: France saw Paris attack coming, failed to stop it (CBS News) A French newspaper says France changed its military strategy last year and started airstrikes in Syria because of concerns months before the attacks on Paris that ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud was plotting to target a concert and take hostages
Let’s Go Crazy: The FTC and FCC Launch “Parallel” Investigations Into Security Updates of Mobile Communications Industry (National Law Review) Earlier this week, the FTC and FCC announced “parallel” investigations into how carriers and mobile device makers release information on vulnerabilities, and how and when mobile security patches are distributed
Hackers have their sights on Hong Kong, cyber security experts warn (South China Morning Post) Frank Tong Fuk-kay, chief executive of the government-funded Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, say Hong Kong at ‘serious risk’
Роскомнадзор в досудебном порядке может закрыть около четырех тысяч сайтов (РИА Новости via Россия сегодня) Роскомнадзор может разделегировать около четырех тысяч сайтов, за пропаганду употребления наркотиков или распространение экстремистских материалов, сообщил РИА Новости пресс-секретарь ведомства Вадим Ампелонский
Putin Gets His Scalps (American Interest) One of Russia’s most influential privately held business media outlets, RBC, announced today that its top editorial talent was being shown the door
So long .SE, The Pirate Bay loses domain name court battle in Sweden (HackRead) After a long battle, the Pirate Bay has to say bye to its .se domain!
ThePirateBay.se is now ThePirateBay.org (HackRead) Good news for the Pirate Bay fans — though the Pirate Bay’s .se domain is now a thing of past, the .org domain is up and running!
Navy officer accused of spying faces court-martial (Navy Times) The Navy officer accused of spying will face a general court-martial and is to appear at an arraignment in Norfolk, Virginia,. on May 17
Classified Documents Stolen From Israel Police Cybersecurity Expert (Haaretz) Thief presumably used a grabber tool to filch the folder from a table through an open window, together with the officer’s house and car keys
Legal Expert: Poor InfoSec Culture to Blame in TCS vs. Epic (InfoRisk Today) India's 'Naavi' urges NASSCOM to adopt self-regulation
Government Spy Truck Guided As Google Street View Car on the Prowl in Philadelphia (HackRead) In a modern technology case of do not judge a book by its cover, a Philadelphia Police surveillance van designed as a Google Maps car has been on the move in the city all this time
