Researchers at Secureworks report a resurgence of activity by the Iranian threat group called "Cobalt Dickens." The threat actor has been associated with the Mabna Group and others the US Department of Justice indicted in 2018 in connection with cyberespionage Justice said was conducted on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Secureworks says the latest activity consists of a phishing campaign directed against American and British universities.
In yesterday's round of Patch Tuesday releases, Microsoft fixed seventy-nine bugs, seventeen of which Redmond classified as "Critical." Adobe addressed critical vulnerabilities in Flash Player.
NormShield finds US election security wanting. Outdated operating systems are widely used, and election organizations are too readily susceptible to phishing.
US President Trump yesterday extended the "National Emergency With Respect To Foreign Interference In or Undermining Public Confidence In U.S. Elections" for one year. The extension maintains the provisions of Executive Order 13848, issued on September 12, 2018, in force.
The US Department of Justice has announced the results of Operation reWired, a round-up of business email compromise crooks that collared 281 (alleged) scammers in ten countries. It was a multi-national, multi-agency sweep: authorities in Nigeria, Ghana, Turkey, France, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom participated. $3.7 million were also seized at the conclusion of the four-month investigation.
Charles Kupperman, Fox News reports, will serve as interim National Security Advisor to the US President. Kupperman had been serving as deputy to the now-departed John Bolton. A search for a permanent replacement is in progress.