The CyberWire Daily Briefing, 4.8.20

Special Section

News for the cybersecurity community during the COVID-19 emergency

Privacy concerns run neck-and-neck with public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UK and US cybersecurity agencies issue joint advice.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued a joint public warning about ways in which the pandemic and the emergency measures put in place to contain it have given rise to a wave of cyberattacks. “Both APT groups and cybercriminals are likely to continue to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic over the coming weeks and months. Threats observed include:

“Phishing, using the subject of coronavirus or COVID-19 as a lure,
“Malware distribution, using coronavirus- or COVID-19- themed lures,
“Registration of new domain names containing wording related to coronavirus or COVID-19, and
“Attacks against newly—and often rapidly—deployed remote access and teleworking infrastructure.”

The advisory summarizes the threats the agencies are seeing, and it offers brief but useful guidance on how individuals and enterprises might deal with them. Much of the malicious activity is being carried by email. CISA’s Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Bryan Ware, said, “As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve, bad actors are using these difficult times to exploit and take advantage of the public and business. Our partnerships with the NCSC and industry have played a critical role in our ability to track these threats and respond. We urge everyone to remain vigilant to these threats, be on the lookout for suspicious emails and look to trusted sources for information and updates regarding COVID-19. We are all in this together and collectively we can help defend against these threats.”

The NCSC’s cover note adds some sensible overarching cautionary advice: “This is a fast-moving situation and this advisory does not seek to catalogue all COVID-19 related malicious cyber activity. You should remain alert to increased activity relating to COVID-19 and take proactive steps to protect yourself and your organisation.”

India cautions against (and prosecutes) disinformation.

Reuters reports that the Indian government has asked both Facebook and TikTok to remove users they determine to be spreading misinformation about COVID-19. The authorities are particularly concerned about mis- or disinformation directed at Muslim audiences. According to the Mumbai Mirror, the authorities are serious about prosecuting those who promulgate “fake news” and “hateful posts” in social media. One-hundred-thirty-two cases are open, and thirty-five arrests have been made so far.

Zoom scrambles for better privacy and security as it receives close scrutiny.

ZDNet writes that Zoom, the teleconferencing service whose use exploded during the current pandemic emergency, has brought in Alex Stamos, formerly Facebook’s security chief and subsequently a fellow at Stanford, as an independent security consultant. Stamos emphasized in a blog post that he’s neither an employee nor an executive at Zoom, but that he’s attracted to the challenge of how a low-friction collaboration platform might scale without presenting attackers with an equally low-friction opportunity.

Taiwan has banned Zoom entirely, largely because of the company’s ties with Chinese enterprises, and because, the Register notes, Zoom sends much of its traffic through China.

Government contact tracking apps rack up a mixed privacy record.

Zoom is far from the only service struggling with privacy. Many governments are scrambling to find ways of tracking contacts at scale during the pandemic. As Computing reports, there’s a general search for tools that can do this in ways that don’t compromise individual privacy, but so far the apps being deployed aren’t inspiring confidence in this respect. Researchers at ZeroFox report that the governments of Italy, Colombia, and Iran have stumbled badly with respect to the privacy protections of the mobile apps they’ve pushed out. It seems reasonable to assume that this is a more general problem.

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

Bitdefender researchers today reported their discovery and assessment of a major Internet-of-things botnet. They call it “dark_nexus,” after a string it prints in its banner. They add that while the new botnet incorporates some code from both Qbot and Mirai, it’s significantly more capable than these (and other) competitors. Intended for distributed denial-of-service, dark_nexus is regularly updated and designed to be unusually persistent. Bitdefender thinks it’s the work of a known botnet wrangler (nom-de-hack “greek.Helios”) who advertises DDoS services in various social media.

SecurityWeek reports that it remains unclear whether the April 1st Border Gateway Protocol hijack that saw traffic from more than two-hundred networks routed through the Russian state telco Rostelecom was intentional or accidental.

One of the more interesting features of yesterday’s BlackBerry Cylance report on a decade-long record of RAT-herding by five related threat groups working on behalf of the Chinese government is its identification of a possible front company. World Wired Labs is the purveyor of the nominally legitimate administrative, incident response, and parental monitoring tool NetWire. The researchers assess NetWire as a Remote Access Trojan. Legitimate tools can certainly be abused, but World Wired Labs seems curiously elusive, with suspiciously vague contact information. It's based, for example, as the researchers put it, “somewhere in Belize.”

NSO Group in its ongoing litigation with Facebook claims, basically, that spyware doesn’t spy; spies do. It doesn’t, the Guardian reports, operate the technology it sells.

Hey, everybody: researchers at Stanford have just discovered and operationalized a new biometric modality.

Mandiant FireEye M-Trends 2020 Report: Insights from the Front Lines

Notes.

Today's issue includes events affecting Australia, Bahrain, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States.

Bring your own context.

Comments on work-life balance, from what's perhaps a surprising source.

"There are definitely diminishing returns whether or not we like to accept it just because as, you know, cybersecurity professionals, we like to overcome those challenges. And one of them is going harder and faster than everybody else. So at NSA, we understand the benefits of work-life balance, and so we have programs within the agency that are available to the workforce to help them with that work-life balance. So it's not just managing stress within the workplace but anything outside of work. So whether it's at home or, you know, just other activities that you have, we realize that helping people balance those activities will help them be happier and more productive at work, but we also want them to be happy and productive at work and then take that home with them, where they're also happy at home."

—Dr. Celeste Paul, human factors and cybersecurity researcher and senior computer scientist at the National Security Agency, on the CyberWire Daily Podcast, 4.6.20.

But on reflection, that source really isn't so surprising. Who would understand that constant focus on work is subject to diminishing returns better than a combat support organization?

CSO Perspectives, now available to CyberWire Pro subscribers.

CyberWire Pro, our new subscription program designed for security professionals and all others who want to stay abreast of cybersecurity news, launched a new offering this week: CSO Perspectives. This new service—available as both a weekly column and a podcast—features Rick Howard, the CyberWire's CSO, Chief Analyst and Senior Fellow, who offers an informed, nuanced perspective on the ideas, strategies and technologies that senior cybersecurity executives grapple with daily. Reevaluating the network defender's core tenets in the face of technological change and threat actors' evolving strategies and sorting through the deluge of marketing claims and buzzwords, CSO Perspectives will inform and challenge readers and listeners to think critically about cybersecurity. CSO Perspectives will also be available in the CyberWire Daily Podcast feed for its inaugural three weeks.

Tips for Healthcare Providers to Achieve Cyber Resilience in a COVID-19 World

Healthcare organizations are on the frontline of COVID-19 pandemic. With a huge surge in demand and a massive increase in the volume of communications, the potential for fraud, phishing, and other threats is more severe than ever. Join our webinar on April 29, to hear from Olga Polishchuck, LookingGlass’ Senior Director of Threat Analysis and Investigations on:

COVID-19 exploitation threats, schemes, and campaigns
Emerging and ongoing trends that could impact healthcare organizations
How to remain cyber resilient

Podcast Summary

In today's CyberWire Daily Podcast, out later this afternoon, we speak with our partners at the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, as Joe Carrigan describes how COVID-19 is reinforcing TLS 1.0. Our guest is Pedram Amini from InQuest, who tells us about winning the Cyber Tank contest.

And Caveat is also up. In this week's episode, "Heat maps and surveillance temptations," Dave has a fascinating application of anonymized data to show travel patterns during the coronavirus pandemic. Ben discusses the temptation to increase surveillance during this pandemic, and later in the show my conversation with Professor Yehuda Lindell, CEO and co-founder of Unbound Tech on government requests for data: What does it mean for your organization?

— The cybersecurity community during the COVID-19 emergency

COVID-19 Exploited by Malicious Cyber Actors (CISA) This is a joint alert from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). This alert provides information on exploitation by cybercriminal and advanced persistent threat (APT) groups of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic. It includes a non-exhaustive list of indicators of compromise (IOCs) for detection as well as mitigation advice.

Advisory: COVID-19 exploited by malicious cyber actors (NCSC) Practical advice for individuals and organisations on how to deal with COVID-19 related malicious cyber activity.

Police warn of COVID-19 phishing scam (CBC) Ottawa police are warning the public about a new phishing scam that preys on people's fears during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cyber Security Attacks Increases With Coronavirus Outbreak In India: Report (Gizbot) Cyber security attacks increase with coronavirus outbreak in India. All you need to know.

Cyber crooks beware: 132 cases lodged against fake news, hateful posts over social media, 35 persons arrested so far (Mumbai Mirror) As many as 132 cases have been registered against the circulation of fake news and hateful posts over social media platforms during the lockdown period across the state, a top official from the state's apex cyber crime investigation unit said.

India asks TikTok, Facebook to remove users spreading coronavirus misinformation (Reuters) India has told Facebook and Chinese video app TikTok to remove users found to be spreading misinformation about the coronavirus following concern about videos intended to mislead Muslims, according to a government source and a letter seen by Reuters.

Malicious coronavirus-themed emails are lucrative for crooks, FBI warns (CyberScoop) If you’re not already skeptical of emails asking for money in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI wants you to remember this: It’s a common scam these days.

FBI warns potential for increased risk of child exploitation (WNCT) Your children are likely to use a computer, phone, or tablet more right now as they take classes online, play games, and use social media. The FBI wants parents to keep a cl…

How Does COVID-19 Impact the Privacy of Health and Personal Information? (McLane Middleton) Businesses face difficult decisions when an employee, customer, student, or vendor. has or may have COVID-19. They are obliged to protect the privacy of the affe…

Official Government COVID-19 Mobile Apps Hide a Raft of Threats (Threatpost) Android apps launched for citizens in Iran, Colombia and Italy offer cyberattackers new attack vectors.

Iran, Colombia and Italy Put Citizens at Risk with COVID-19 Mobile Apps (ZeroFOX) Technical analysis of three government COVID-19 mobile apps, the associated privacy concerns, vulnerabilities and backdoors.

Porous Coronavirus apps by governments put citizen data at risk (SC Magazine) People's privacy and data security face risk of attacks from cyber-criminals who tap unsecured official Coronavirus Android apps

Covid-19: the race to create privacy-focused contact tracing tools (Computing) As authorities seek technological solutions to the pandemic, experts fear the consequences for civil liberties

Democratic senators question Google over decision to release coronavirus location data (TheHill) Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) raised concerns on Tuesday around potential privacy violations involved in Google’s decision last week to share anonymized location data to help track movement during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 (coronavirus) Malware: New OT and IoT Security Tools (Nozomi Networks) The world has changed dramatically over the last few months. At the end of 2019, almost no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country, infecting at least 1M people that we know about, and many more that we do not.

The ‘Chinese Virus’ Spread Along the New Silk Road (Foreign Policy) Western democracies may lose the coronavirus propaganda war, but China certainly won’t win it.

Taiwan Bans Government Use of Zoom Over Cybersecurity Concerns (Bloomberg) Taipei joins SpaceX in halting use of video-conferencing app. Researchers say Zoom routes data via servers in China.

China and Taiwan aren't great friends. Zoom sends chats through China. So Taiwan has banned Zoom (Register) Government and local business told to buy local, but slum it with Google or Microsoft if you must

Login details of verified Zoom accounts posted on Dark Web (HackRead) Apps and communication channels like Skype, Google Hangouts, Slack, and Zoom have recently seen a substantial rise in the number of downloads and visits because people are forced to stay indoors and practice self-isolation.

Video service Zoom taking security seriously: U.S. government memo (Rueters) Video conferencing company Zoom has been responsive to concerns over its software, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a memo recently distributed to top government cybersecurity officials and seen by Reuters.

Zoom's legal perils mount as Democrats call for FTC probe (POLITICO) Zoom’s prominence in Americans’ daily life has soared as millions heed calls from U.S. officials to self-isolate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Zoom sued for overstating, not disclosing privacy, security flaws (Reuters) Zoom Video Communications Inc was slapped with a class action suit by one of its shareholders on Tuesday, accusing the video-conferencing app of overstating its privacy standards and failing to disclose that its service was not end-to-end encrypted.

Microsoft offers free Skype video chat as Zoom’s privacy nightmare continues (New York Post) If you’ve been working from in the past few weeks, the chances are that you attended at least one meeting via Zoom video call. Zoom rose rapidly to popularity during the COVID-19 crisis, as it’s an…

How false claims about 5G health risks spread into the mainstream (the Guardian) Perfect storm of conditions helped nonsense theories about 5G and coronavirus to take hold

The World Is Addicted to Pandemic Porn (Foreign Policy) The insatiable appetite for disaster information is psychologically understandable—and politically dangerous.

Instagram Draws Surge in Offers of Coronavirus Masks With Potential Risks (Wall Street Journal) Thousands of accounts are hawking medical face masks that could be fraudulent, according to a research report, a sign that Facebook is struggling to prevent users from taking advantage of the pandemic.

Facebook Hampers Do-It-Yourself Mask Efforts (New York Times) The social network said it had made an “error” in threatening to ban the organizers of hand-sewn masks from posting or commenting on its site.

Israel cyber chief: We are protecting vaccine efforts from hacking (The Jerusalem Post) Infected persons alerts database delayed by week to secure privacy; Guarding Passover Zoom seders from attack

Australian government says it is hacking criminals who are exploiting the pandemic (CyberScoop) As governments around the world consider their options for cracking down on scammers exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, Australia is touting a muscular approach in cyberspace.

Cybersecurity Concerns when Considering Furloughs (JD Supra) Due to the changing and challenging economic circumstances brought on by COVID-19, companies are now having to consider furloughing employees. All...

Kaspersky UK channel boss on the opportunities for security providers post-COVID-19 (CRN) Andy Bogdan foresees opportunities for cybersecurity market in a post-pandemic world

How Has the Coronavirus Pandemic Impacted Cybersecurity Professionals? (SecurityWeek) Ninety-five percent of security professionals surveyed say they are facing additional challenges with increased attacks and remote working demands as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Free Cybersecurity Healthcare Assessment (RiskRecon) RiskRecon and H-ISAC have partnered to provide all healthcare organizations free cybersecurity rating assessments through December 31, 2020.

Cybersecurity during the pandemic: Try these security solutions for free! (Help Net Security) In order to help organizations address cybersecurity during the pandemic, a number of vendors provide free (time-limited) access to their solutions.

Facebook pledges $15M in small business grants to Bay Area companies (Silicon Valley Business Journal) The Menlo Park social media giant previously announced $100 million in grants to small and medium-sized businesses nationwide. Now the company says 15 percent of that money will go to Bay Area companies.

Cyber Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities

Who is World Wired Labs and why are they selling an Android trojan? (CyberScoop) BlackBerry Cylance researchers think they've found a possible shell company for Chinese hackers known as the Winnti group.

Russian Telco Hijacked Internet Traffic of Major Networks - Accident or Malicious Action? (SecurityWeek) Russian telecommunications provider Rostelecom diverted the traffic from more than 200 networks - including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Cloudflare - to Russian servers on April 2, 2020

Dark_nexus botnet outstrips other malware with new, potent features (ZDNet) Researchers have found a botnet that borrows from Qbot and Mirai but goes much further in terms of power.

Please, just stop downloading apps from unofficial stores: Android users hit with 'unkillable malware' (Register) Picked up xHelper 'matryoshka' trojan? Best to just nuke the site from orbit

Email provider got hacked, data of 600,000 users now sold on the dark web (ZDNet) Italian email provider Email.it confirms security breach.

A local government payments provider exposed years of transactions (TechCrunch) Exclusive: The data has already been posted on a popular hacking forum.

If you don't cover your Docker daemon API port you'll have a hell of a time... because cryptocreeps are hunting for it (Register) Kinsing malware infections surge – so please check your configurations

Radio frequency: An invisible espionage threat to enterprises (Help Net Security) You can’t see it, but corporate airspaces are under attack via radio frequencies. Chris Risley, CEO at Bastille Networks, discusses radio frequency threats.

Fuji Electric V-Server Lite (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 7.8 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low skill level to exploit Vendor: Fuji Electric Equipment: V-Server Lite Vulnerability: Heap-based Buffer Overflow 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to gain elevated privileges for remote code execution.

KUKA.Sim Pro (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 4.3 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low skill level to exploit Vendor: KUKA Equipment: Sim Pro Vulnerability: Improper Enforcement of Message Integrity During Transmission in a Communication Channel 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could result in a loss of integrity in external 3D models fetched from remote servers.

Synergy Systems & Solutions HUSKY RTU (Update A) (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 9.8 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low skill level to exploit Vendor: Synergy Systems & Solutions (SSS) Equipment: HUSKY RTU --------- Begin Update A Part 1 of 3 ---------

Advantech WebAccess/NMS (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 9.8 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely/low skill level to exploit Vendor: Advantech Equipment: WebAccess/NMS Vulnerabilities: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type, SQL Injection, Relative Path Traversal, Missing Authentication for Critical Function, Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference, OS Command Injection 2.

GE Digital CIMPLICITY (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 6.0 ATTENTION: Low skill level to exploit Vendor: GE Digital Equipment: CIMPLICITY Vulnerability: Improper Privilege Management 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an adversary to modify the systemwide CIMPLICITY configuration, leading to the arbitrary execution of code.

HMS Networks eWON Flexy and Cosy (CISA) 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 6.1 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely Vendor: HMS Networks Equipment: eWON Flexy and Cosy Vulnerability: Cross-site Scripting 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could initiate a password change. 3. TECHNICAL DETAILS 3.1 AFFECTED PRODUCTS The following eWON products are affected:

Boeing discovers two new flaws in the flight control software of 737 MAX (Computing) New issues won't affect the plane's planned return to service by mid-year, the company says

Irish Watchdog Warns Of Ad Giants Culling Health Sites' Data (Law360) Visitors to Irish health care websites may inadvertently be sharing details of their illnesses and other sensitive information with online advertising juggernauts Google and Facebook, a new report from Ireland's Data Protection Commission has found.

Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates

Tails, the security-focused OS, adds support for Secure Boot (ZDNet) Tails, an OS recommended by Edward Snowden, is now capable of booting on systems where UEFI Secure Boot is enabled.

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How to mitigate the privacy issues of video conferencing platforms (Computing) Legal experts from Kemp Little explain what individuals and organisations should do to mitigate some of the many privacy concerns inherent in some of the major video conferencing platforms available today

Cyber Trends

Encryption becomes commonplace, so does data proliferation (SC Magazine) Encryption is no longer a requirement but a proactive business choice, as proliferation of data grows, found study

The 2020 Third-Party Risk Management Study: The 3rd Rail of Security & Compliance (Prevalent) In February 2020, Prevalent and Shared Assessments partnered together to study current trends, challenges and initiatives impacting third-party risk practitioners.

2020's Most (And Least) Cyber-Secure States (Webroot) Is your state one of the most at risk? You might live in a safe neighborhood, but crime statistics don’t tell the whole story – especially when it comes to cybercrime.

New Ransomware Innovations Bring Shame (Security Boulevard) As if ransomware wasn’t a big enough problem already, it just evolved from a costly nuisance into a full-fledged data breach designed to shame companies

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Marketplace

Accenture Acquires Revolutionary Security, Provider of Cybersecurity Services for Critical Infrastructure (Accenture) Acquisition enhances Accenture Security’s critical infrastructure protection capabilities to deliver advanced cyber defense management

GoDaddy goes vertical with Neustar registry acquisition (Domain Name Wire) GoDaddy buys its first registry, implements governance model for conflicts of interest, and promises to keep domain prices in check. GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) is acquiring Neustar’s domain name registry services business and renaming it GoDaddy Registry, the company announced today. Neustar directly manages .biz, .us, and several other domains, and provides technical registry services for …

StorMagic Enters Security Market With Introduction of Encryption Key Management Solution (BusinessWire) StorMagic enters security market with acquisition of KeyNexus, announces new SvKMS encryption key management product for the edge, datacenter & cloud.

LogRhythm Strengthens Executive Team with Appointment of Chief Revenue (PRWeb) LogRhythm, the company powering today's security operations centers (SOCs), today announced the appointment of Mitchell Rowe as chief revenue officer (CRO).

Kudelski Security Hires Seasoned Leader for US Security Services (Kudelski Security) Ernie Anderson joins to lead consolidated approach to cybersecurity services, including strategy, technology and staff augmentation services

SecureSky Accelerates as it Expands its Board of Directors (PR Newswire) SecureSky, a leader in cloud security and compliance solutions, announced that veteran executive William E. Fisher has joined the company's...

Former Facebook CSO Alex Stamos to join Zoom as outside security consultant (ZDNet) Zoom also announces the creation of a CISO Council and Advisory Board to help its CEO through the current security and user privacy-related issues.

Products, Services, and Solutions

Untangle Extends Partnership with Webroot to Deliver Greater Visibility and Control Across the Network (Yahoo) New Product Integration to Help Address Channel Partner Cybersecurity Needs

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ConnectWise Certify™ Enables TSPs to Become Go-To Security Experts (Security Boulevard) Industry’s first intensive and customized cybersecurity training TAMPA, Fla. (April 7, 2020) – ConnectWise, the leading provider of intelligent software

Curtiss-Wright’s NSA Approved DTS1 Storage Device Qualifies for Extended Operating Temperature Range (Army Technology) Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division, a trusted leading supplier of rugged data storage and protection solutions, has announced that its Data...Read More...

Avast launches all-new mobile browser with complete data encryption (TownNews) Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in digital security products, has released an Android version of Avast Secure Browser to extend its platform

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Virsec and CyVolve Partner to Deliver Advanced Cybersecurity for Healthcare and Regulated Industries in the US, Europe and Middle East (Yahoo) Virsec and CyVolve Partner to Deliver Advanced Cybersecurity for Healthcare and Regulated Industries In the US, Europe and Middle East

Unisys Always-On Access™ Powered by Stealth™ Provides Fast, Encrypted Remote Access for Workers (Unisys) Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced the general availability of Unisys Always-On Access™ (AOA), powered by Stealth™, its award-winning Unisys Stealth® security software that provides unmatched protection to users working remotely from home or from alternative facilities.

Technologies, Techniques, and Standards

CMMC explained: What defense contractors need to know (CSO Online) The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a unified standard for implementing cybersecurity across the defense industrial base, which includes over 300,000 companies in the supply chain.

"Cyber Physical Systems" Need Securing: But Many Don't Even Know... (Computer Business Review) IT, OT and the IoT are converging into cyber physical systems that represent a sprawling attack surface for malicious actors. Nozomi Networks' CEO says...

4 Ways to Maintain Cybersecurity for Your Business During Remote Work (Thomas) The sudden and massive uptick in remote work is leaving businesses extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks, here are four steps your business should be taking to ensure data is protected.

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Design and Innovation

Council Post: When It Comes To Health Data, Should We Value Privacy Over Innovation? (Forbes) There is an inherent tension between health data sharing, interoperability and innovation.

Research and Development

Happy developers in mature teams make secure software: Study (SC Magazine) Happy developers working in teams with mature DevSecOps practices make more secure software, survey showed; Workplace happiness tangible, says psychologist

Academia

Norwich launches two new online bachelor’s degree programs (Vermont Business Magazine) Vermont Business Magazine As part of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies (CGCS) 2020 new program initiative, Norwich announced the new online Bachelor of Science in Data Analytics program and the online Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Information Systems program, both of which are set to begin in September 2020.

Legislation, Policy, and Regulation

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Huawei laments US plans to crimp its global chip supply (CRN Australia) Huawei executive described plans as "unfortunate".

Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement

NSO Group points finger at state clients in WhatsApp spying case (The Guardian) In court filing, Israeli spyware company says it does not operate technology it provides

Nearly One-Third of People Believe Cryptocurrency is Used Primarily for Illegal Purchases, but Actual Purchases May Be More Boring (Yahoo) What people believe cryptocurrency is used to purchase strongly differs from what is actually purchased with cryptocurrency, according to new survey data from Visual Objects, a portfolio website.

Two schoolkids sue Google for collecting biometrics (Naked Security) The suit is about biometrics and children’s privacy in Google’s education apps, which are suddenly, wildly popular now due to COVID-19.

Industry Events

For a complete running list of events, please visit the Event Tracker.

Upcoming Events

National Cyber League (NCL) Spring Season (Various locations, Mar 19 - May 15, 2020) The National Cyber League (NCL) is a defensive and offensive puzzle-based, capture-the-flag style cybersecurity competition. Its virtual training ground helps high school and college students prepare and test themselves against cybersecurity challenges that they will likely face in the workforce. All participants play the games simultaneously during Preseason, Individual Game and Team Game. NCL allows players of all levels to enter. Between easy, medium and hard challenges, students have multiple opportunities to really shine in areas as they excel. Registration for the Spring Season closes March 20, 2020.

SecureWorld Houston (Houston, Texas, USA, Apr 15, 2020) Join your fellow InfoSec professionals for high-quality, affordable cybersecurity training and collaboration. Earn 6-12 CPE credits through 30+ educational elements, learning from nationally recognized industry leaders. Attend featured keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and solution vendor displays—all while networking with local peers.

OFFZONE 2020 (Moscow, Russia, Apr 16 - 17, 2020) This year, cybersecurity specialists, researchers and enthusiasts will meet at the Loft Hall #2. As usual, the focus will be not on business, but on practical issues, fresh research results, and the most relevant cyberthreat experience. As in previous years, the conference will have an additional dimension — an enthralling story-line lived out by the participants in the course of 2 days. The first OFFZONE located visitors in a disaster survival bunker. The second conference brought participants together to revive lost computing power, knowledge and technology. And this year, visitors to OFFZONE 2020 will be connected to unique artificial intelligence that accumulates all their skills and experience. Does the program really selflessly help people or pursue its own goals? Find out at OFFZONE 2020!

SecureWorld Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, Apr 21, 2020) Join your fellow InfoSec professionals for high-quality, affordable cybersecurity training and collaboration. Earn 6-12 CPE credits through 30+ educational elements, learning from nationally recognized industry leaders. Attend featured keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and solution vendor displays—all while networking with local peers.

SecureWorld Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Apr 23, 2020) Join your fellow InfoSec professionals for high-quality, affordable cybersecurity training and collaboration. Earn 6-12 CPE credits through 30+ educational elements, learning from nationally recognized industry leaders. Attend featured keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and solution vendor displays—all while networking with local peers.

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Tracking the "dark_nexus" botnet. BGP hijack mystery. Herding RATs. Spyware doesn't spy; spies do? COVID-19 notes.