Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Academics Discover New CPU Side-Channel Attack Named BranchScope (BleepingComputer) A team of academics from four US universities have discovered a new side-channel attack that takes advantage of the speculative execution feature in modern processors to recover data from users' CPUs.
Intel CPUs Vulnerable to New 'BranchScope' Attack (SecurityWeek) Researchers have discovered a new side-channel attack method called "BranchScope" that can be launched against devices with Intel processors.
New vulnerability in Intel CPUs uncovered by security researchers (Computing) New branch prediction processor attack found affecting computer CPUs
Intel shrugs off ‘new’ side-channel attacks on branch prediction units and SGX (Register) Been there, mitigated that, got the class actions, says Chipzilla
Canadian Firm Linked to Cambridge Analytica Exposed Source Code (SecurityWeek) Canadian advertising and software development firm AggregateIQ denies ties to controversial Cambridge Analytica, but leaked source code suggests otherwise
AggregateIQ accused of using purloined Facebook data to target US voters (Computing) AgreggateIQ is latest company to be drawn into Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal
New "ThreadKit" Office Exploit Builder Emerges (SecurityWeek) A newly discovered Microsoft Office document exploit builder kit called ThreadKit has been used for the distribution of a variety of malicious payloads.
CSRA hit by job recruiting scam (Baltimore Business Journal) Scammers posing as CSRA Inc. executives and board members have been conducting fake interviews with job candidates in hopes of getting their banking information and other personal credentials.
Tax-themed email campaigns steal credentials and spread banking Trojans, RATs, and ransomware (Proofpoint) In 2018, Proofpoint researchers have observed another strong season for tax-themed email lures, and the payloads of these campaigns are representative of broader malware trends and highlight notable differences compared to last year.
In-Browser Cryptojacking Is Getting Harder to Detect (BleepingComputer) Cryptojacking actors find new ways to evade detection by antivirus solutions, ad blockers, and dedicated browser extensions.
Coin Miner Reports Outrank Ransomware by Two Orders of Magnitude, According to Bitdefender Telemetry (Security Boulevard) Bitdefender telemetry revealed that from September 2017 until February 2018, ransomware reports have followed a descending curve, while coin miner reports have increased by 130 percent by January 2018.
Mayor of Atlanta Holds Press Conference on Cyber Attack (WSB Radio) Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms and other city leaders held a news conference at City Hall Monday afternoon updating the public on the hacking issue which persists at City Hall.
Atlanta employees now allowed to turn on computers after cyber attack (WSBTV) City of Atlanta workers are using their computers for the first time Tuesday following last week's ransomware attack.
Officials: Atlanta beginning to recover from cyberattack (MDJOnline.com) The city of Atlanta is making progress as it recovers from last week’s cyberattack in which one or more hackers installed ransomware on the city’s computer system.
A Cyberattack Hobbles Atlanta, and Security Experts Shudder (New York Times) Atlanta’s city government has been struggling for days with ransomware that has crippled its computer networks and forced it back to doing business with ink and paper.
Statistics Say Don't Pay the Ransom; but Cleanup and Recovery Remains Costly (SecurityWeek) A survey of 500 security and risk professionals found that fifty-three percent of U.S companies infected by ransomware in 2017 blamed legacy AV for failing to detect the ransomware.
Baltimore 911 dispatch system hacked, investigation underway, officials confirm (Baltimore Sune) Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was hacked by an unknown actor or actors over the weekend, prompting a temporary shutdown of automated dispatching and an ongoing investigation into the breach, Mayor Catherine Pugh’s office confirmed to The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday.
This security firm found rogue crypto mining infecting 1,000 customers (MIT Technology Review) Darktrace’s AI tools found one crypto side business operating under the floorboards of a bank’s data center.
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
Microsoft's Windows 7 Meltdown fixes from January, February made PCs MORE INSECURE (Register) You'll want to install the March update. Like right now – if you can avoid broken networking
Facebook Wants Security Researchers to Hunt Down Apps That Misuse User Data (BleepingComputer) In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal, Facebook has announced important changes to its app platform, along with improvements to its official bug bounty program that will incentivize and reward security researchers for hunting down third-party Facebook apps that misuse user data.
Cyber Trends
What the Internet of Things means for consumer privacy (Economist Intelligence Unit) What the Internet of Things means for consumer privacy discusses the findings of an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research programme, sponsored by ForgeRock, that explores the privacy concerns and priorities of global consumers stemming from the Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies.
iPass Mobile Security Report: Half of Organizations Suspect Their Mobile Workers Have Been Hacked in the Last 12 Months (iPass) Cafés see highest number of Wi-Fi related incidents
The Top Vulnerabilities Exploited by Cybercriminals (SecurityWeek) Cybercriminals are shifting their focus from Adobe to Microsoft consumer products, and are now concentrating more on targeted attacks than on web-based exploit kits.
Analysis of 560 incidents demonstrates need for cyber resilience (Help Net Security) Many entities face the same types of security incidents – some are viewed as handling the incident well, and for some it’s a disruptive and costly lesson. The ones that fare better have prepared for an incident and use lessons-learned from prior incidents.
You can't hide from this top trend at RSA Conference, no matter where you operate (Help Net Security) While the speakers have yet to take the podium, based on the sessions announced, one can expect GDPR-related conversations to permeate the walls of the Moscone Center in San Francisco and venture into boardrooms and C-Suite offices alike across the world.
Most top UK firms fail to disclose cyber risk testing details (ComputerWeekly) Most of the largest UK companies do not reveal their testing of cyber protection plans and do not share security updates with the board regularly, a Deloitte report reveals.
Arab Countries Facing The Highest Number Of Cyber Attacks (Forbes Middle East) Saudi Arabia faces the highest number of cyber attacks in the Arab region
Marketplace
3 Top NASDAQ Cybersecurity Stocks Year-to-Date (Investing News Network) As Q1 2018 nears its end, here's a look back at the top performing cybersecurity stocks on the NASDAQ year-to-date.
Raytheon's big bet in government services is on itself. Don't expect a major M&A play. (Washington Business Journal) Raytheon Co. hasn’t followed the lead of other big defense companies and sold off its $6.2 billion government services business. Does it want to double down on the space a la General Dynamics?
Thales Launches Its Offer on All Gemalto Shares (BusinessWire) Regulatory News: With the publication of the Offer Document today and with reference to the joint press release dated 17 December 2017, Thales (Eurone
Eurobites: Proximus Snaps Up Managed Security Specialist (Light Reading) Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom goes large on FTTH; Hrvatski Telekom gets symmetrical in Croatia; Facebook faces European flak.
Products, Services, and Solutions
Verizon Risk Report Transforms Security Decision Making (GlobeNewswire News Room) Risk assessment framework enables better security decisions based on unparalleled cyber-threat data
RSA® to Resell RiskLens’ Flagship Application as RSA Archer Cyber Risk Quantification® (GlobeNewswire News Room) RiskLens, the leading provider of cyber risk quantification solutions, today announced that the company’s Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) application will be re-sold as the RSA Archer Cyber Risk Quantification® solution.
McAfee Enhances Product Portfolio, Unveils New Security Operations Centers (SecurityWeek) McAfee unveiled a new version of the Enterprise Security Manager (ESM 11), and enhancements to its Behavioral Analytics, Investigator, Advanced Threat Defense, and Active Response products.
Aporeto Launches First Comprehensive Microservices Security Solution (Aporeto) Aporeto Enterprise 2.0 Introduces Application Identity to Make Security Infrastructure Agnostic Aporeto, a Zero Trust security solution for microservices, containers and the cloud, today announced the release of Aporeto Enterprise 2.0
WISeKey and Japanese Toppan Printing Team Up to Securely Connect Inert Objects to the Internet (IoT Business News) WISeKey's VaultIC NFC security module combined with Toppan's smart tag technology provides objects with secure data processing capability for authentication and customer engagement. WISeKey and Toppan Printing Co., today announced that they are collaborating to provide
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
VirusBay Aims To Make Malware Analysis More Social (BleepingComputer) For those looking to learn about and share malware samples, a site called VirusBay may be what you are looking for. VirusBay's goal is to make malware analysis more social by providing a place for researchers to upload samples, request samples, and discuss them with other researchers.
Accountants can help companies meet SEC demand for cybersecurity disclosures (Accounting Today) CPAs can provide attest services to make sure businesses are taking steps to mitigate tech risks.
Parallax Primer: How to dodge a spear-phishing attack (The Parallax) Spear phishing differs from its more prevalent counterpart, phishing, in that it casts a smaller, more targeted net. Its tactics are also much more sophisticated.
Using deception to gain enterprise IoT attack visibility (Help Net Security) IoT devices make easy targets for automated scanning to develop large botnets when default access remains unchanged or open vulnerabilities exist.
The malicious uses of AI: Why it's urgent to prepare now (TechRepublic) In an extensive report, 26 experts offer artificial intelligence security analysis and tips on forecasting, prevention, and mitigation. They note the AI-security nexus also has positive applications.
Closer to the fight: Inside the Corps’ plan to deploy tech experts alongside grunts (Marine Corps Times) Being close to the fight isn’t just for grunts anymore.
Why The Army's New Palantir Contract Won’t Fix Battlefield Intelligence (Task & Purpose) The change in battlefield intelligence systems brought by Palantir presents the military intelligence community a great opportunity to modernize
Design and Innovation
Microsoft’s neo-N[*]zi s[*]xbot was a great lesson for makers of AI assistants (MIT Technology Review) Yandex’s head of machine intelligence says Microsoft’s Tay showed how important it is to fix AI problems fast.
Why Does Data Exfiltration Remain an Almost Unsolvable Challenge? (SecurityWeek) Enterprises must embrace AI technologies that evolve with our organizations, strengthen its defenses over time, and identify data exfiltration tactics before our sensitive information is long past the network perimeter.
Once you understand the blockchain, you wonder why no one thought of it before (Dezeen) The blockchain may not be pretty, but it is a design classic
Research and Development
DARPA to use artificial intelligence to help commanders in ‘gray zone’ conflicts (Military Times) The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program aimed at gauging what the adversary is up to during 'gray-zone' conflicts.
Academia
Booz Allen Forms Partnership for Cyber Education Effort in Saudi Arabia (GovCon Wire) Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) has entered into a partnership w
College of Southern Idaho board endorses bachelor's degree proposal (Twin Falls Times-News) College of Southern Idaho trustees endorsed a proposal Monday to offer two bachelor’s degrees — possibly starting in fall 2019.
Registration Opens Today for U.S. Cyber Challenge's Annual Cyber Quests Competition (US Cyber Challenge) U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) opened registration today for the 2018 Cyber Quests online competition. The annual Cyber Quests competition determines who qualifies for the
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Russia warns government over ‘senseless’ diplomat expulsion (Times) Leo Varadkar has defended the government’s decision to expel a Russian diplomat, saying that it was done “in solidarity” with the UK. The Russian ambassador in Dublin said that the decision was...
Britain shared ‘unprecedented’ intelligence over spy attack (Times of Israel) NATO, Belgium join 25 other countries and expel Russian intelligence agents amid growing response to killing of ex-spy
Nato slashes Russia staff after poisoning (BBC News) It joins more than 20 countries that have made the same move after a nerve agent attack in the UK.
NATO joins wave of Russian diplomat expulsions (Military Times) NATO on Tuesday joined a wave of countries and groups expelling Russian diplomats over the nerve-agent attack on a former spy in Britain. Russia denounced the actions as “boorish” and pledged to retaliate.
These are the countries expelling Russian diplomats (CNN) More than 20 countries are expelling Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in the UK.
Mattis: Poisoning in Britain is 'attempted murder' by Russia (Military Times) The poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter amounts to “attempted murder” by the Russian government and furthers a pattern of Russian efforts to divide the U.S.-led Western alliance, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.
Why this round of expulsions may bring US, Russia to breaking point (The Christian Science Monitor) The expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the US and the anticipated retaliation in kind from Moscow is expected to fuel hostile narratives and heighten public suspicions, leaving dwindling channels of communication. Allegations of espionage seem likely to lengthen the rupture.
Has a New Cold War Really Begun? (Foreign Affairs) Contemporary politics is full of false analogies, and the return of the Cold War seems to be one of them.
Fewer Russian spies in U.S. but getting harder to track (Reuters) The U.S. decision to expel 60 alleged spies is unlikely to cripple Russian spying in the United States because others have wormed and hacked their way into American companies, schools, and even the government, current and former U.S. officials said.
Kicking Out Russian Spies May Give US Intel Black Eye (The Cipher Brief) "We need to find better ways to push back against specifically Vladimir Putin."
Is counter-attack justified against a state-sponsored cyber attack? It's a legal grey area (The Conversation) The international community should set bright line rules on appropriate responses to cyber attacks before an expansive reading of the “self-defense” clause triggers war.
To Learn How to Protect America From Digital Threats, Look to Europe (Defense One) European nations are charting the way, adopting whole-of-society methods for dealing with this new challenge.
China hackers ordered to report software holes to spy agency (Financial Times) Beijing looks to tighten grip over internet, data and technolog
Regulator aims to shield US telecoms networks from cyberespionage (South China Morning Post) Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has proposed new rules to bar use of funds from a government programme on companies that pose ‘a national security threat’ to US telecoms networks
U.S. Government to Carriers: You Want Federal Funds? Better Ditch Huawei. (Entrepreneur) FCC chairman Ajit Pai is proposing eliminating government subsidies for U.S. telecom carriers that buy from suppliers that could pose a national security risk.
In U.S. Brawl With Huawei, Rural Cable Firms Are an Unlikely Loser (Wall Street Journal) A brawl between the U.S. government and Huawei is putting America’s rural internet providers in a bind. Many of them rely on Chinese telecom equipment, which faces potential new restrictions from the FCC and Congress.
Homeland Security Chief Warns Adversaries Against Election Meddling (New York Times) In a closed-door meeting, Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security chief, also vowed retaliation against nations that interfere in the midterm elections this year.
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Zuckerberg's refusal to testify before UK MPs 'absolutely astonishing' (the Guardian) Chair of committee investigating fake news urges Facebook head to ‘think again if he has any care for users’
DOJ moves to dismiss Kaspersky lawsuit against congressional ban (TheHill) The Department of Justice is pushing back on Kaspersky Lab’s lawsuit claiming that Congress acted unlawfully in its decision to ban products from the Russian-based global cybersecurity firm.
FTC Confirms It's Investigating Facebook For Possible Privacy Violations (NPR) The agency will look at whether the social network violated a 2011 consent decree when users' data was revealed to political strategists.
FBI has unit solely devoted to its 'going dark' problem (Cyberscoop) The FBI has formed a unit to specifically address law enforcement's efforts to bypass encryption on various internet-connected devices.
IG finds communications failures in FBI handling of San Bernardino shooter’s phone (Federal Times) The Inspector General report found that although the FBI director was truthful in his 2016 testimonies that the FBI was incapable of unlocking the phone, lack of communication meant that some avenues to do so were not pursued.
€1 Billion Stolen From Banks Worldwide and Laundered via Cryptocurrency (Finance Magnates) Europol arrests the leader of the criminal gang responsible.
Trump fundraiser sues Qatar over hacked emails (Reuters) Elliott Broidy, a top Republican fundraiser, sued Qatar on Monday, accusing the Gulf state of pilfering and leaking emails in retribution for his attempts to influence the Trump administration in favor of regional rivals of Qatar.
Singapore's data breach fines are the most brutal in Asia (Singapore Business Review) It enforces fines of up to $1m for non-compliance with data protection rules.
Ex-Goldman Sachs Coder Asks Appeals Court to Toss Theft Conviction (New York Law Journal) Hearing an appeal by a former Goldman Sachs computer engineer convicted of stealing code from the bank New York Court of Appeals judges Tuesday questioned defendant Sergey Aleynikov’s assertion that he did not make a tangible copy of the code because he had saved it on a hard drive.
Hynes Agrees to $40K Fine for Political Use of City Email as Brooklyn DA (New York Law Journal) Former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes has agreed to pay a $40000 fine for improper use of his official email account during his failed 2013 run for a seventh term in office.
Corporate Cybersecurity: What Are Your Legal and Ethical Obligations? (TG Daily) While personal cybersecurity is important, corporate cybersecurity, as we’ve seen over the last two years, is doubly so. With breaches occurring too often, and personal information leaked, it’s now more vital than ever that a company secure its clients’ information and uphold ethical and legal standards of information security.
