Around the corner at the International Spy Museum's new facility at L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, DC, that is. Our 6th Annual Women in Cybersecurity Reception takes place October 24. The Women in Cyber Security Reception highlights and celebrates the value and successes of women in the cybersecurity industry. The event focuses on networking, and it brings together leaders from the private sector, academia and government from across the region, and women at varying points in their careers. It's not a marketing event; it's just about creating connections. If you're interested in getting an invitation to this year's event, tell us a little bit about yourself and request one here. A very limited number of sponsorship opportunities remain, so please let us know if you're interested.

We brought together a team of experts and wrote the definitive guide to everything you need to know about threat intelligence. Whether you work in vulnerability management, incident response, or another part of cybersecurity, our book has something for you. Get your free copy of “The Threat Intelligence Handbook” now.
Cyber espionage campaigns attributed to North Korea, China. A Steam 0-day is reported. Texas ransomware updates. Fútbol hacktivism.
Researchers at Anomali report finding an active North Korean cyber espionage campaign directed against universities, think tanks, and foreign ministries. The infection method is phishing, with the malicious payload taking victims to fake websites. In some instances the bogus sites masqueraded as login pages for government diplomatic portals. The threat group is thought to be connected to Pyongyang's missile program.
FireEye describes ongoing cyber espionage directed against the healthcare sector. The researchers associate the campaign with the Chinese government. It seems to have two goals. First, the operators are interested in simply acquiring large quantities of personal information, a goal many such campaigns have. Second, the campaign appears to be particularly interested in cancer research.
A researcher has disclosed a second zero-day vulnerability in Valve's Steam platform. The issue is thought to affect more than 96 million users worldwide, Bleeping Computer reports.
Detailed information about the coordinated ransomware attack that hit local-government targets in Texas last Friday remain sparse, but Ars Technica and WIRED have compilations of what's known so far. Twenty-three organizations have been affected. The attacks came from a single source authorities decline to name. The affected organizations also haven't been specified, although a few names have leaked. In general larger counties and cities seem to have been more resilient.
ESPN reports that impassioned and very disappointed fans of Veracruz's losing fútbol side have hacked the club president's Twitter account because he's "tarnishing the badge," and because doing so is their first step in "taking back their club."
Today's issue includes events affecting Australia, China, European Union, Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States.
Bring your own context.
Advice to buck up and protect yourself from ransomware.
"There are basically two factors in terms of why ransomware still even is a thing. If everyone had proper backups, ransomware would never have been a thing - just simple as that. There'd be no profit for it because everyone would just be, like, 'hit the restore button.' That's how it should be. The second factor, of course, is the whole controversy of paying the bad guys. That's what keeps them going. But there'd be no reason to pay them if you had backups."
—Michael Gillespie of Emsisoft, and also proprietor of the ID Ransomware website, on Hacking Humans, 8.22.19.
Thus, two points: first, backup is easier and cheaper than you may think. And, second, paying ransom fuels a bandit economy.
Cybersecurity is a business risk, not an IT problem, and a critical part of business strategy. Security should not be an afterthought. Taking a proactive approach facilitates board-level cyber initiative buy in, supports traction across business units, establishes management alignment for key priorities, and manages data complexity. Let Edwards Performance Solutions better structure and position your cybersecurity program – making it a business asset for continued success.
In today's podcast, out later this afternoon, we talk with our partners at Terbium Labs, as Emily Wilson continues her discussion of phishing kits. And our guest, Stewart Kantor, CFO and co-founder of Ondas Networks, discusses the ins and outs of securing licensed spectrum.
And Hacking Humans is up. In this episode, "Backups backups backups," Joe describes a primitive (but effective) phishing scheme being tracked by Bleeping Computer. Dave shares news from a Black Hat presentation on phishing stats from Google. The catch of the day is a friendly invitation from Hawaii. Our guest is Michael Gillespie from Emsisoft describing the ID Ransomware project.