Microsoft has shared technical details about a now-fixed, actively exploited critical security vulnerability affecting SolarWinds Serv-U managed file transfer service that it has attributed with “high confidence” to a threat actor operating out of China. In mid-July, the Texas-based company remedied a remote code execution flaw (CVE-2021-35211) that was rooted in Serv-U’s implementation of the
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Two new senior cybersecurity appointments have been announced by the United States Department of Homeland Security. Former lead solution engineer at Salesforce, David Larrimore, has been named as the Department’s chief technology officer. Between 2016 and 2019, Larrimore occupied the same position at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component. Other roles held by Larrimore include an
You open your laptop and see an email from a healthcare organization that you don’t recognize. The subject line reads “URGENT – PROOF OF VACCINATION NEEDED.” Impulsively, you open the email and click on the link. You’re redirected to a website that asks you to enter your name, date of birth, Social Security Number, and a photo of
Smartphones are kids’ trusty companions both in- and outside the classroom, and as they return to their desks, we’ve prepared some handy tips on how to keep their devices secure. While in some parts of the world kids have already returned to their classrooms, in virtual form or in person, in others they are just gearing
Apple is temporarily hitting the pause button on its controversial plans to screen users’ devices for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after receiving sustained blowback over worries that the tool could be weaponized for mass surveillance and erode the privacy of users. “Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers, and others, we have decided
by Paul Ducklin [02’00”] Security code flushes out security bugs. [15’48”] Recursion: see recursion. [26’34”] Phishing (and lots of it). [33’09”] Oh! No! The Windows desktop that got so big it imploded. With Paul Ducklin and Doug Aamoth. Intro and outro music by Edith Mudge. LISTEN NOW Click-and-drag on the soundwaves below to skip to
Tech giant Apple has announced that eight US states will start accepting driver’s licenses and other state IDs that are stored on iPhones and Apple Watch. Arizona and Georgia will be the first states to allow their residents to use this system, and will be followed by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma and Utah. The
Welcome back to our executive blog series, where we’re sitting down with some of the pivotal players behind McAfee Enterprise to hear their takes on today’s security trends, challenges, and opportunities for enterprises across the globe. Q: Do you have a role model? If so, who is it? Well, there are work and there are
Dubbed Safety Mode, the feature will temporarily block authors of offensive tweets from being able to contact or follow users. Twitter has unveiled a new feature called Safety Mode aimed at curbing abusive behavior, by autoblocking any unwanted tweets and other forms of online harassment. Currently the feature is available to a handful of users.
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details about a new malware family that relies on the Common Log File System (CLFS) to hide a second-stage payload in registry transaction files in an attempt to evade detection mechanisms. FireEye’s Mandiant Advanced Practices team, which made the discovery, dubbed the malware PRIVATELOG, and its installer, STASHLOG. Specifics about the
by Paul Ducklin A researcher at vulnerability and red-team company Rapid7 recently uncovered a pair of risky security bugs in a digital home security product. The first bug, reported back in May 2021 and dubbed CVE-2021-39276, means that an attacker who knows the email address against which you registered your product can effectively use your
A team of researchers at a UK university have designed a new device, which they claim will mitigate the risk of malicious USB drives. The “external scanning device” was designed at Liverpool Hope University and will soon go into production, having been granted a patent by the Indian government. It has been engineered to overcome
The federal agency urges organizations to ditch the bad practice and instead use multi-factor authentication methods The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added the use of single-factor authentication to its brief list of bad practices that it considers to be exceptionally risky when it comes to cybersecurity. “Single-factor authentication is a common low-security
A set of new security vulnerabilities has been disclosed in commercial Bluetooth stacks that could enable an adversary to execute arbitrary code and, worse, crash the devices via denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Collectively dubbed “BrakTooth” (referring to the Norwegian word “Brak” which translates to “crash”), the 16 security weaknesses span across 13 Bluetooth chipsets from 11
The number of ransomware attacks surged by 288% between the first and second quarters of 2021 as double extortion attempts grew, according to the latest data from NCC Group. Analyzing incidents dealt with by its own Research Intelligence and Fusion Team (RIFT) throughout 2021, the firm claimed nearly a quarter (22%) of data leaks in
As you know, McAfee Enterprise’s MVISION Unified Cloud Edge (UCE) was the was the first of all the SASE vendors to implement the MITRE ATT&CK Framework for Cloud last year. An important aspect of Gartner’s SASE Framework (link) is the ability for effective Threat Protection and Resolution in the Cloud. MVISION UCE takes this to
ESET’s cybersecurity expert Marc-Étienne Léveillé analyses in-depth the Quebec’s vaccine proof apps VaxiCode and VaxiCode Verif. The launch of the mobile applications allowing the storage and verification of the vaccination passport by the Quebec government (VaxiCode and VaxiCode Verif) has caused a lot of ink to flow last week. It is with good reason; the
Cybersecurity could be described as a marathon for security teams that spend most of their time building sustained defenses that prevent threats day after day. However, they must be ready to hit a sprint whenever an attack succeeds since attack duration, and the resulting damages are directly correlated. Reacting to a successful attack is a
by Paul Ducklin You must have had that happy feeling (happiest of all when it’s still a day or two to payday and you know that your balance is paper-thin) when you’re withdrawing money from a cash machine and, even though you’re still nervously watching the ATM screen telling you that your request is being
Scores of ransomware attacks on US schools and colleges last year may have cost them over $6bn, according to a new report published today. Security testing site Comparitech analyzed the 77 attacks reported by educational institutions nationwide in 2020 and calculated the cost to these victims from estimated downtime and recovery time. Rransom costs are
Now more than ever, it’s critical to be mission-ready for the next cyber threat. Our digital-first, post-pandemic world is shifting back to a new normal. But the threats are still here. Mission-Ready And according to many reports, the threats have – and are continuing to – increase. McAfee Enterprise’s Advanced Threat Research recently published a
New vulnerabilities have been discovered in Fortress S03 Wi-Fi Home Security System that could be potentially abused by a malicious party to gain unauthorized access with an aim to alter system behavior, including disarming the devices without the victim’s knowledge. The two unpatched issues, tracked under the identifiers CVE-2021-39276 (CVSS score: 5.3) and CVE-2021-39277 (CVSS
The US Air Force has chosen a town nicknamed “Danger City” to be the location for the Air National Guard’s first Cyber Warfare Wing. Mansfield has around 50,000 inhabitants and is situated in the northeastern part of Ohio, midway between Columbus and Cleveland. According to local beer-maker, the Phoenix Brewing Company, the town earned its ominous nickname
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP has easily exploitable security loopholes. Email routing protocols were designed in a time when cryptographic technology was at a nascent stage (e.g., the de-facto protocol for email transfer, SMTP, is nearly 40 years old now), and therefore security was not an important consideration. As a result, in most email
American multinational technology corporation Microsoft has warned thousands of its cloud computing customers that their data could be accessed, altered or erased, according to a report by Reuters. Customers were warned that threat actors could even delete their main database by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Azure’s flagship Cosmos DB database that has been named ChaosDB. The alleged
More senior adults are taking advantage of the array of wearable technology that helps them stay connected to healthcare providers and monitor their physical health and safety. But that newfound convivence comes with risk and, for many, the genuine fear of falling prey to an online hacker. Protection + Peace of Mind Wearable technology brings seniors both power and peace of mind. Many elderly consumers rely on wearable technology to monitor critical blood glucose levels, heart
Not all heroes wear capes. Cybersecurity professionals are digital warriors who use their knowledge and skill to battle malicious hackers. Sounds like an exciting career, right? If the comic-book comparisons aren’t working for you, perhaps some figures will. According to ZipRecruiter, the average salary of a cybersecurity professional is just over $100,000 a year. The
An entertaining new campaign has been launched to combat the sea of misinformation about coronavirus vaccines on social media that was branded an “infodemic” by the World Health Organization. The Instagram-based campaign was created by healthcare agency FCB Health New York IPG and non-profit group GMHC and is fronted by drag queen and influencer Miz
“My phone’s been hacked!” Words you probably don’t want to hear or say. Ever. Your phone gets to be like an old friend after a while. You have things laid out the way you like, your favorite apps are at the ready, and you have the perfect home screen and wallpaper all loaded up. So,
It might be tempting to blame the record-high costs of data breaches on the COVID-19 pandemic alone. But dig deeper and a more nuanced picture emerges. Any narrative about cybersecurity in 2020 is naturally going to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. This once-in-a-generation crisis and the digital transformation it accelerated both broadened corporate attack surfaces