Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
I know what you did last summer, MuddyWater blending in the crowd (SecureList) This report details a collection of tools used by MuddyWater threat actor on its targets after initial infection. It also details deceptive techniques used to divert investigations once attack tools have been deployed inside victim systems.
Large electric transformers are subject to cyber attacks which can cause outages of months to years (Control Global) Large electric transformers are critical to maintaining the grid. However, they are cyber vulnerable to long-term damage. Yet, the electric industry has not done near enough to address these critical vulnerabilities.
Old Vulnerabilities Are Still Good Tricks for Today's Attacks (BleepingComputer) The value of a security vulnerability drops significantly the moment it gets patched but the bad guys will keep exploiting it for as long as they can find victims that are worth the effort.
()
Google Is Giving the Boot to a Major Play Store Developer With More Than 600 Million Installs (Gizmodo) Google has begun purging the Play Store of apps made by DO Global, a Chinese firm that makes Android apps and is partially backed by Baidu, after a BuzzFeed News report indicated it was committing massive ad fraud.
Apple: We Removed Parental Control Apps for Security Reasons (Infosecurity Magazine) Apple: We Removed Parental Control Apps for Security Reasons. Cupertino giant claims invasive MDM feature was to blame
P2P Weakness Exposes Millions of IoT Devices (KrebsOnSecurity) A peer-to-peer (P2P) communications technology built into millions of security cameras and other consumer electronics includes several critical security flaws that expose the devices to eavesdropping, credential theft and remote compromise, new research has found.
GitHub-Hosted Magecart Card Skimmer Found on Hundreds of Stores (BleepingComputer) Malicious actors compromised the Magento installations of a few hundred e-commerce websites and injected them with Magecart skimmer scripts hosted on GitHub.
Docker Hub Database Hack Exposes Sensitive Data of 190K Users (BleepingComputer) An unauthorized person gained access to a Docker Hub database that exposed the the user names and hashed passwords for approximately 190,000 users. In addition, a small percentage of users have had their GitHub and Bitbucket tokens for Docker autobuilds leaked as well.
New Side-Channel Attack Extracts Private Keys From Some Qualcomm Chips (Decipher) Researchers from NCC Group developed an attack that can pull private keys from the hardware-backed keystore in some Qualcomm chips.
Hacker Can Kill Car Engines Around the World (Security Boulevard) A hacker with the username “L&M” has infiltrated two GPS vehicle-tracking services, ProTrack and iTrack, gaining access to more than 27,000 accounts in South Africa, Morocco, India, the Philippines, and other countries.
Tech Support Scam Employs New Trick by Using Iframe to Freeze Browsers (TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog) We discovered a new technical support scam (TSS) campaign that makes use of iframe in combination with basic pop-up authentication to freeze a user’s browser. Since this technique is new and unfamiliar, it can potentially evade detection.
Crypto Mining Malware Has Plummeted Since Coinhive Closure (Ethereum World News) Along with crypto prices, mining malware has also tanked recently but not because of the bear market.
Opinion | Metro, please don’t fall for China’s trap and buy their rail cars (Washington Post) Whoever builds the next trains will be a day-to-day partner with WMATA.
How a social media network could bring down your business (IT PRO) Employees are devoting more than three hours per week to sites proven to be hotbeds of malware
Brit events and info biz Incisive Media admits open server port may have left readers deets exposed (Register) Home of CRN UK, Computing and others warn remaining readers to update their freakin' passwords
City officials: No hacking, no ransom demanded in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport malware incident (WTOC) Ransomware demand at the center of the Cleveland Hopkins Airport cyber attack.
The Investigator | Technical outages at Cleveland Hopkins Airport apparently caused by hack (WKYC) The day-to-day operation of the airport is running just fine. The same goes for security.
Ransomware Hits Yet Another U.S. Airport (Forbes) Cybercriminals have hit another major U.S. airport with ransomware
Cyber attack: Virus Ryuk disrupts The Watertown Daily Times' Sunday paper delivery (International Business Times, Singapore Edition) The news outlet beleives that this is the same virus which affected Tribune Publishing in December 2018 and Stewart, Fla. on April 13, 2019.
Cyber attack disrupts Sunday paper delivery (Watertown Daily Times) A cyber attack on the Watertown Daily Times discovered Saturday afternoon has prohibited the newspaper from publishing a print edition today.
Watch: Hackers send explicit messages to riders on hacked e-scooters (HackRead) Lime believes that hackers somehow managed to swap the audio files on eight of the e-scooters.
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
Security flaw lets attackers recover private keys from Qualcomm chips (ZDNet) Firmware patches have been released earlier this month, 46 Qualcomm chipsets impacted.
Microsoft Confirms Change To Windows 10 Passwords That Nobody Saw Coming (Forbes) Microsoft has been recommending a password policy that is at best problematical and at worst, according to many security experts, downright insecure. The Windows 10 May update looks like it will finally change all that...
Cyber Trends
Quarterly Impostor Email Attacks Aimed at Financial Services Organizations Increased More than 60% Year-Over-Year (Proofpoint) Billions of dollars lost in email fraud by exploiting people in financial institutions to steal money and information.
2019 Global Data Risk Report (Varonis) A report on the state of data security based on an inside look at data risk assessments performed on more than 700 corporate networks.
Pros Feel Aligned with Board, Still Fear a Phish (Infosecurity Magazine) Security professionals feel they are seeing eye to eye with stakeholders, report says.
Why we need to secure mission critical communications in a 5G connected world (Commsmea) Christophe Calvez, head of security, Secure Land Communications at Airbus, discusses.
Invasion of the Influencers (Medium) We’re under social media assault from paid personalities willing to sell us anything — even a music festival that doesn’t exist.
The Rise and Fall of Facebook’s Memory Economy (WIRED) The social network monetizes your nostalgia today, but that digital oil reservoir won’t last forever.
The five lessons learned in cyber space this week as experts gather in Glasgow (Herald Scotland) Some of the smartest people in the world of internet security, including leaders of global electronic intelligence agencies, met in Glasgow this…
Nobody Knows What ‘Troll’ Means Anymore—Least of All Mueller (WIRED) I have spent much of my career writing about trolls. I still find the word impossible to define.
Opinion | The Devastating Consequences of Being Poor in the Digital Age (New York Times) When someone who is living paycheck to paycheck falls victim to an online fraud or a breach, the cascade of repercussions can be devastating.
The Penetrating Gaze of the Instagram Shame Silo (WIRED) That thing you're really into but don't really love talking about? The Gram knows. Oh, it knows.
Marketplace
ZeroNorth Raises $10M to Help Enterprises Proactively Manage Software and Infrastructure Risk (BusinessWire) ZeroNorth, the security industry’s first provider of orchestrated risk management, today launched with a $10 million Series A investment.
Is Huawei a National Security Proxy for China? - Security Boulevard (Security Boulevard) Despite concerns, the U.K. is allowing Huawei to participate in the U.K.'s 5G rollouts. The U.S., however, wants no part of Huawei's tech.
Zuckerberg warns of authoritarian data localization trend (TechCrunch) If free nations demand companies store data locally, it legitimizes that practice for authoritarian nations, which can then steal that data for their own nefarious purposes, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He laid out the threat in a new 93-minute video of a discussion with Sapiens autho…
Google Gives Free Security Keys to Activists, But Not if You’re in Iran or Syria (Motherboard) Sources and a document show how Google bars nonprofits from telling activists in certain countries about their products.
Who Owns Huawei? The Company Tried to Explain. It Got Complicated. (New York Times) The Chinese tech giant wants to put to rest concerns that it is susceptible to influence by the country’s government. That has been no easy task.
Slack warns investors of a high risk of cyber-attacks impacting stock performance (ZDNet) Slack fears nation-state hackers above all, expects to see attacks, warns of potential stock hit.
E*Trade Is Close to Launching Cryptocurrency Trading (Bloomberg) The brokerage giant will offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trades. Service will compete with startups like Coinbase and Robinhood
Canadian manufacturers should collaborate on cyber security, says government expert (IT World Canada) Canadian manufacturers should work together to identify and solve cyber security problems as well as to avoid government imposing
Raytheon is moving to bridge the UK's cyber-skills gap with new apprenticeships (TechRadar) Preparing the next generation to tackle tomorrow's cyber threats
Products, Services, and Solutions
IIoT/ICS Security App from CyberX Now Available on Cortex (CyberX) CyberX, the IIoT and ICS security company, announced the availability of its “IIoT/ICS Asset Visibility & Threat Monitoring App” on Cortex™ - the industry’s only open and integrated AI-based continuous security platform.
ImmuniWeb Launches Free Website Security and PCI DSS Compliance Test (Yahoo) The non-intrusive online test quickly assesses relevant PCI DSS requirements, verifies CMS security and runs a privacy check
Cyxtera Augments the Power of Total Fraud Protection with Risk Orchestrator (PR Newswire) Cyxtera Technologies, the secure infrastructure company, announced today at the company's second annual user conference...
Elcomsoft Improves Full Disk Encryption Workflow, Allows Faster Access to Encrypted Evidence (AiThority) ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. releases a major update of Elcomsoft System Recovery, a bootable tool for unlocking Windows accounts and accessing encrypted volumes.
Acronis Cyber Platform APIs to spark new channel business (SearchITChannel) Starting in October, Acronis will make available APIs for the Acronis Cyber Platform. The aim is to expand its ecosystem of third-party integrations and services for Acronis partners.
Fear the Man in the Middle? This company wants to sell quantum key distribution (Ars Technica) The future of VPNs may be fighting quanta with quanta.
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
How to Respond to a Cyber Attack on Your Business (HackRead) Cyber security affects businesses of all sizes, and in every industry. Today it is a board-level agenda item, which has been placed at number three on the Lloyds Risk Register (2013).
What is "reasonable security"? And how to meet the requirement (CSO Online) Privacy regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA require companies to provide "reasonable security" to protect customers' personal information. Here's how you might best achieve that standard.
The new electronic warfare tool cyber units will need (Fifth Domain) There has been some discussion regarding the need for electronic warfare enabled cyber capabilities.
The Threat Hunting Architecture (Infosecurity Magazine) Threat hunting is the proactive process of looking for signs of malicious activity
How to evaluate SOC-as-a-service providers (CSO Online) Not every organization that needs a security operations center can afford to equip and staff one. A number of providers provide SOC as a service. Here's what you need to know about them.
How a data-driven approach to security helps a small healthcare team embrace automation (CSO Online) Not-for-profit Martin's Point Health Care created a data-driven security framework to automate how threats are evaluated.
Fort Bragg issues apology for freaking everyone out with a fake cyber attack (Task & Purpose) Fort Bragg officials issued an apology late Thursday, after realizing shutting off power to tens of thousands of post residents created alarm on the post and generated some rather bizarre conspiracy theories in the surrounding communit
The SIM Swap Fix That the US Isn't Using (WIRED) While foreign phone carriers are sharing data to stop SIM swap fraud, US carriers are dragging feet.
How to combat the threat of Android malware (Popular Science) It’s almost impossible to read the news these days without seeing yet another article on the rising threat of Android malware. But at the same time, a new report from AV-Comparatives has been making the rounds for its finding that most Android antivirus apps are terrible scams. So what’s a security-conscious user to do?
What AI Can Tell From Listening to You (Wall Street Journal) Artificial intelligence promises new ways to analyze people’s voices—and determine their emotions, physical health, whether they are falling asleep at the wheel and much more.
Leadership Advice, Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence (Wall Street Journal) We asked an algorithm to create pearls of wisdom on leadership. The results were indeed thought-provoking.
Will AI Destroy More Jobs Than It Creates Over the Next Decade? (Wall Street Journal) Decide the answer for yourself, as two experts square off on this crucial question.
What AI Will Do to Corporate Hierarchies (Wall Street Journal) The conventional wisdom says we can expect a more centralized structure. The author says the conventional wisdom has it wrong.
Design and Innovation
Can the Pentagon sell Silicon Valley on AI as ethical war? (C4ISRNET) At a Defense Innovation Board listening session, Pentagon Counsel makes case for military AI, to some public skepticism.
The Pentagon Wants Your Thoughts About AI but May Not Listen (WIRED) Some folks in Silicon Valley are vocal about limiting the use of AI in warfare, but the Defense Department is under no obligation to heed any recommendations.
Inside the room where Facebook decides what 2.3bn people can and can't say (The Telegraph) It’s around 9:
737 MAX, FB data, and the demise of the ethical engineer (TechCrunch) Whatever happened to the ethics of engineering? We’ve seen just one disastrous news story after another these past few years, almost all knowable and preventable. Planes falling out of the sky. Nuclear power plants melting down. Foreign powers engorging on user data. Environmental testing thrashed.…
Academia
University of Virginia Wins Raytheon-Sponsored Cyber Defense Competition; John DeSimone Quoted (ExecutiveBiz) A team of University of Virginia students has been named winner of this year's National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition sponsored by Raytheon as well as other commercial firms, educational institutions and government agencies.
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Singapore Is Aggressively Pursuing Cybersecurity (SIGNAL Magazine) The tiny Asian country has fully embraced cybersecurity to protect its vital maritime, banking and aviation sectors, as well as its citizens.
Will China’s ‘Digital Silk Road’ Lead to a Authoritarian 5G Cyberspace (Chaing Ri Times) China is set to connect developing countries in Asia and Africa with next-generation data technology, while companies in the West fall behind. But can Beijing be trusted with the future of the internet?
China Inflames U.K. Split From U.S. Over Huawei, As Security Leak Is Investigated (Forbes) As U.S. and U.K. intelligence-sharing arrangements adjust to the U.K.'s decision to allow Huawei into its 5G network against Washington's advice, China has inflamed tensions by publishing an open letter to the U.K., encouraging the decision to hold despite U.S. pressure.
China’s place in UK interests is growing, as Huawei leak shows (South China Morning Post) China has not loomed large in the British consciousness until recently, but with Brexit on the horizon, Huawei tech and investment look inviting enough for the UK to disregard US concerns.
Beijing defends Huawei amid 5G row (BBC News) The UK should make "independent" decisions about whether to work with the tech firm, China's ambassador says.
Philippines ‘has no evidence Huawei is security risk’ (South China Morning Post) Acting communications minister Eliseo Rio says that in 10 years of operations the tech giant has given Manila no cause for concern.
Five Eyes Must Lead on 5G (War on the Rocks) 5G wireless technology is going to change the world. The challenge for policymakers is to ensure that our nations benefit from 5G’s promise while
Crackdown on lords in pay of Russians and Chinese (Times) Ministers are to launch a sweeping clean-up of public life in an effort to stem the tide of “red money” from Russia and China swirling through parliament, lobbying firms and the City. In a...
The Spies Who Came In From the Continent (Foreign Policy) How Brexit could spell the end of Britain’s famed advantage in intelligence.
Naming and shaming nations that launch cyberattacks does work, say intel chiefs (ZDNet) Cybersecurity agencies explain when and why they attribute cyberattacks to other nations.
Cyber Command paying closer attention to overseas networks in its national defense mission (Federal News Network) U.S. Cyber Command’s National Mission Force says one major measure of success will be how much relevant threat data it can supply to the FBI and DHS.
CBP’s New Social Media Surveillance: A Threat to Free Speech and Privacy (Just Security) Customs and Border Protection's efforts to map networks and activities of Americans through data monitoring pose a serious threat to the rights of free speech and association.
The growing backlash against facial recognition tech (Vox) Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are all mired in controversy over it.
On Cybersecurity: What’s Next for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security? (Security Boulevard) Back in early March of this year, I was honored to speak with Jeanette Manfra after the National Cyber Security’s Alliance’s annual luncheon at the RSA
Toward a More Constructive Encryption Debate (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) Encryption policy has long been a contentious topic for cybersecurity experts, law enforcement officials, and privacy advocates dating back to the Crypto Wars of the 1990s.
State of Washington Expands Breach Notice Laws (Infosecurity Magazine) Companion bills try to give citizens the right to know what data companies are collecting.
How lobbyists rewrote Washington state’s privacy law (POLITICO) Washington state was writing European-style legislation. Then corporate lobbyists got involved.
Analysis | The Cybersecurity 202: Democrats rally around pledge not to use hacked documents (Washington Post) And they're already using it to hammer Trump.
Leader urges police to fight smuggling, control cyberspace (Tehran Times) Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that police forces should fight smuggling of goods and counter those who undermine security in the cyberspace.
Like Guns, Social Media Is a Weapon That Should Be Regulated (WIRED) In the wake of the massacres in Sri Lanka, the government imposed a social media blackout. This may be a turning point in the way we think about how to control big platforms.
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Sri Lanka militants set off bombs during raid, killing 15 (AP NEWS) Militants linked to Easter suicide bombings opened fire and set off explosives during a raid by Sri Lankan security forces on a house in the country's east, leaving behind...
Sri Lanka on alert for attacks as archbishop slams poor church... (Reuters) Sri Lankan security officials have warned that Islamist militants behind Easter ...
Indian police uncovered Easter massacre plot, but Sri Lanka didn't act (KATU) While monitoring the usual channels, Indian police stumbled upon something extraordinary: a detailed plot for what would become the bloodiest Islamic State group-linked attack in South Asia.
Sri Lanka’s reaction to terror blasts was chaotic, says US agent (TImes) It was “a shit show”, one American intelligence agent admitted. “They’re getting on top of things now but the start of the week was chaos,” he said. The hordes of grieving Sri Lankans crowding into...
Sri Lanka Is Already Drawing the Wrong Lessons From the Attacks (Foreign Policy) Responding to the recent violence with typical policies to counter violent extremism could make things far worse.
‘Hundreds of pieces of one person’: The death toll in Sri Lanka was wrong — this might be why. (Washington Post) Officials lowered the death toll by about one-third on Thursday. Forensic experts explain the gruesome reason why.
A Russian company's secret plan to quell protests in Sudan (CNN) When anti-government protests erupted in Sudan at the end of last year, the response of President Omar al-Bashir came straight from the dictators' playbook -- a crackdown that led to scores of civilian deaths.
Warrantless Wiretapping Suit Is ‘Grave’ Risk to National Security (Bloomberg Law) National security would be jeopardized if a class action challenging the National Security Agency’s warrantless communications surveillance program continued, a federal court ruled.
Marco Rubio: FBI kept successful hacking secret from Florida elections officials (Tampa Bay Times) The confirmation by Rubio, a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, elevates concerns about the security of elections in a state of 13 million voters.
Russian Hackers Were ‘In a Position’ to Alter Florida Voter Rolls, Rubio Confirms (New York Times) Slipped into the long anticipated Mueller report was a single line that has caused a stir in the state over vulnerabilities in election systems.
FBI Director Christopher Wray Says Russia Remains a Threat to 2020 Election (The Daily Beast) ‘That’s not just in an election cycle threat. It is pretty much a 365 day a year threat,’ Wray said.
F.B.I. Warns of Russian Interference in 2020 Race and Boosts Counterintelligence Operations (New York Times) Russia’s malign influence campaign during the 2018 elections was a rehearsal for the presidential campaign, the F.B.I. director warned.
Rosenstein fires back at critics over Mueller report (Washington Post) As he prepares to leave the Justice Department, the deputy attorney general had harsh words for politicians and the press now that the investigation is over.
‘I can land the plane’: How Rosenstein tried to mollify Trump, protect Mueller and save his job (Washington Post) The deputy attorney general has come under fire for steps some see as too protective of the president.
Michael Isikoff: Media Should Have Had ‘More Skepticism’ About Steele Dossier (Daily Caller) Michael Isikoff says that the press should have had "more skepticism" about the former British spy's infamous dossier.
Espionage accusations in Assange case, Ecuador under United Nations investigation (KentWired.com) In a letter to former WikiLeaks’ spokesperson Daniel Domscheit-Berg it appears the United States Department of Justice is investigating Julian Assange for his publishing activities through WikiLeaks. Mr. Domscheit-Berg, who
Data Protection Commission opens statutory inquiry into Facebook (Data Protection Commission) The Data Protection Commission was notified by Facebook that it had discovered that hundreds of millions of user passwords, relating to users of Facebook, Facebook Lite and Instagram, were stored by Facebook in plain text format in its internal servers. We have this week commenced a statutory inquiry in relation to this issue to determine whether Facebook has complied with its obligations under relevant provisions of the GDPR.
Hamas Sophisticating Its Bitcoin Donations System (Crowdfund Insider) Israeli civic-defence groups have been sounding the alarm since January that the militant Palestinian-liberation organization Hamas has started raising funds via Bitcoin. And while donations of Bitcoins to Hamas so far pale in comparison to the millions of dollars Hamas is believed to receive from
What Should We Do About the Past Crimes of Reformed Hackers? (Slate Magazine) We need to create a path for people like Marcus Hutchins to use their talents for good.
Cops can try suspect’s fingers on locked iPhones found at crime scene (Naked Security) A Massachusetts federal district judge gave cops a warrant to force-unlock iPhones with the suspect’s fingers.
