Introduction: This article provides an overview of various techniques that can be used to mitigate Format String vulnerabilities. In addition to the mitigations that are offered by the compilers & operating systems, we will also discuss preventive measures that can be used while writing programs in languages susceptible to Format String vulnerabilities. Techniques to prevent […]
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Introduction: IoT Manufacturers Favor Convenience over Security Because IoT security is still an afterthought, cybercriminals in general consider smart devices a “low-hanging fruit” – a target easy to compromise and manipulate. Security (and privacy) by design is key for IoT, and probably the only effective way for a smart gadget to protect its communications is […]
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Introduction: Knowing the Notions Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) incorporates technologies such as machine learning, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, sensor data, Big Data, etc. This article will focus predominantly on the consumer Internet of Things (IoT) and how it relates to Operational Technology (OT). Operational Technology (OT) is a term that defines a specific category of […]
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How public-key cryptography works Public-key or asymmetric cryptography is one of the two main types of encryption algorithms. Its names come from the fact that it uses two different encryption keys: a public one and a private one. Public and private keys The private key used in public-key cryptography is a random number with certain […]
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Introduction to hash functions Hash functions are one of the most extensively-used cryptographic algorithms in blockchain technology. They are cryptographic (but not encryption) algorithms that are designed to protect data integrity. In a nutshell, a hash algorithm is a mathematical function that transforms any input into a fixed size output. To be cryptographically secure — […]
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This week, we welcome Ryan Benson, Director of Service Offerings at deepwatch, to discuss the State of the Managed Detection & Response Market! In the Leadership and Communications section, 6 types of CISO and the companies they thrive in, What are the habits of highly effective CISOs, Cybersecurity is Not a Four-Letter Word, and more!
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This week, Mike, Matt, and John talk about The Difference Between Finding Vulns & Securing Apps! In the Application Security News, 6 Things to Know About the Microsoft 'Zerologon' Flaw, You can bypass TikTok's MFA by logging in via a browser, Instagram RCE: Code Execution Vulnerability in Instagram App for Android and iOS, and more!
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Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about how threat actors are bundling Windscribe VPN installers with backdoors. Also, read about a new strain of Android malware that comes with a wide array of features allowing it to steal credentials from 226 applications.
Read on:
Windows Backdoor Masquerading as VPN App Installer
This article discusses findings covered in a recent blog from Trend Micro where company researchers warn that Windows users looking to install a VPN app are in danger of downloading one that’s been bundled with a backdoor. The trojanized package in this specific case is the Windows installer for Windscribe VPN and contains the Bladabindi backdoor.
The Evolution of Malicious Shell Scripts
The Unix-programming community commonly uses shell scripts as a simple way to execute multiple Linux commands within a single file. Many users do this as part of a regular operational workload manipulating files, executing programs and printing text. However, as a shell interpreter is available in every Unix machine, it is also an interesting and dynamic tool abused by malicious actors.
Microsoft Says It Detected Active Attacks Leveraging Zerologon Vulnerability
Hackers are actively exploiting the Zerologon vulnerability in real-world attacks, Microsoft’s security intelligence team said on Thursday morning. The attacks were expected to happen, according to security industry experts. Multiple versions of weaponized proof-of-concept exploit code have been published online in freely downloadable form since details about the Zerologon vulnerability were revealed on September 14 by Dutch security firm Secura BV.
Stretched and Stressed: Best Practices for Protecting Security Workers’ Mental Health
Security work is stressful under the best of circumstances, but remote work presents its own challenges. In this article, learn how savvy security leaders can best support their teams today — wherever they’re working. Trend Micro’s senior director of HR for the Americas, Bob Kedrosky, weighs in on how Trend Micro is supporting its remote workers.
Exploitable Flaws Found in Facial Recognition Devices
To gain a more nuanced understanding of the security issues present in facial recognition devices, Trend Micro analyzed the security of four different models: ZKTeco FaceDepot-7B, Hikvision DS-K1T606MF, Telpo TPS980 and Megvii Koala. Trend Micro’s case studies show how these devices can be misused by malicious attackers.
New ‘Alien’ Malware Can Steal Passwords from 226 Android Apps
Security researchers have discovered and analyzed a new strain of Android malware that comes with a wide array of features allowing it to steal credentials from 226 applications. Named Alien, this new trojan has been active since the start of the year and has been offered as a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) offering on underground hacking forums.
Government Software Provider Tyler Technologies Hit by Possible Ransomware Attack
Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based provider of software and services for the U.S. government, started informing customers this week of a security incident that is believed to have involved a piece of ransomware. Tyler’s website is currently unavailable and in emails sent out to customers the company said its internal phone and IT systems were accessed without authorization by an “unknown third party.”
U.S. Justice Department Charges APT41 Hackers Over Global Cyberattacks
On September 16, 2020, the United States Justice Department announced that it was charging five Chinese citizens with hacking crimes committed against over 100 institutions in the United States and abroad. The global hacking campaign went after a diverse range of targets, from video game companies and telecommunications enterprises to universities and non-profit organizations. The five individuals were reportedly connected to the hacking group known as APT41.
Phishers are Targeting Employees with Fake GDPR Compliance Reminders
Phishers are using a bogus GDPR compliance reminder to trick recipients – employees of businesses across several industry verticals – into handing over their email login credentials. In this evolving campaign, the attackers targeted mostly email addresses they could glean from company websites and, to a lesser extent, emails of people who are high in the organization’s hierarchy.
Mispadu Banking Trojan Resurfaces
Recent spam campaigns leading to the URSA/Mispadu banking trojan have been uncovered, as reported by malware analyst Pedro Tavares in a Twitter post and by Seguranca Informatica in a blog post. Mispadu malware steals credentials from users’ systems. This attack targets systems with Spanish and Portuguese as system languages.
A Blind Spot in ICS Security: The Protocol Gateway Part 3: What ICS Security Administrators Can Do
In this blog series, Trend Micro analyzes the impacts of the serious vulnerabilities detected in the protocol gateways that are essential when shifting to smart factories and discusses the security countermeasures that security administrators in those factories must take. In the final part of this series, Trend Micro describes a stealth attack method that abuses a vulnerability as well as informs readers of a vital point of security measures required for the future ICS environment.
Major Instagram App Bug Could’ve Given Hackers Remote Access to Your Phone
Check Point researchers disclosed details about a critical vulnerability in Instagram’s Android app that could have allowed remote attackers to take control over a targeted device just by sending victims a specially crafted image. The flaw lets attackers perform actions on behalf of the user within the Instagram app, including spying on victim’s private messages and deleting or posting photos from their accounts, as well as execute arbitrary code on the device.
Addressing Threats Like Ryuk via Trend Micro XDR
Ryuk has recently been one of the most noteworthy ransomware families and is perhaps the best representation of the new paradigm in ransomware attacks where malicious actors go for quality over sheer quantity. In 2019, the Trend Micro Managed XDR and Incident Response teams investigated an incident concerning a Trend Micro customer that was infected with the Ryuk ransomware.
What are your thoughts on the Android Instagram app bug that could allow remote access to user’s phones? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.
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This week, Dr. Doug talks the Tesla outage, Microsoft Redux, Lokibot, Wicked Panda, Maze, Facebook gone forever, Magic Swords, and enchanted codpieces!
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This week, first we talk Enterprise News, ExaGrid releases version 6.0 with Time-Lock for Ransonware Recovery Feature, Microsoft overhauls 'Patch Tuesday', Palantir to begin New York trading on September 30th, Accenture acquires SALT Solutions to build cloud-based industrial IoT platforms, and Code42 Incydr: A cloud-native product that mitigates insider data exposure and exfiltration! In our second segment, we welcome Edward Wu, Principal Data Scientist of ExtraHop, and Ted Driggs, Head of Product at ExtraHop, to discuss Demystifying AI & ML for Cybersecurity! In our final segment, we welcome Jeff Capone, CEO & Co-Founder of SecureCircle, for an interview on ZeroTrust Data Security!
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This week, we welcome Chas Ballew, Co-Founder and CEO at Aptible, to discuss Reducing the Headache of Audit Prep With Automation! In the second segment, we welcome back Priya Chaudhry, Jedi Warrior Princess and Criminal Defense Trial Lawyer at ChaudhryLaw PLLC, to discuss the Legal Review of CFAA Supreme Court Case!
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This week, we welcome Corey Thuen, Founder of Gravwell, to discuss The Power of Context & Collaboration in a Data Driven World! In the second segment, Michael Santarcangelo and Sam Estrella join us to discuss the anatomy of an acquisition! A listener request, Michael will walk us through the Security Weekly acquisition by CyberRisk Alliance to understand the key criteria, processes, and challenges of an acquisition, especially during COVID-19!
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This week, Dr. Doug talks Zerologon, Wicked Panda, OSINT, Doom found to run on Xbox, and Dark Overlord! Jason Wood returns for Expert Commentary on why to Think Twice Before Using Facebook, Google, or Apple to Sign In Everywhere!
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This week, we welcome Justin Massey, Product Manager, Security Monitoring at Datadog, to discuss Visualizing and Detecting Threats For Your Custom Application! In the Application Security News, Microsoft announces new Project OneFuzz framework, an open source developer tool to find and fix bugs at scale, Bluetooth Spoofing Bug Affects Billions of IoT Devices, Firefox bug lets you hijack nearby mobile browsers via WiFi, Safeguarding Secrets Within the Pipeline, and more!
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This week, we welcome we welcome Mike Ware, Senior Director of Technology at Synopsys, to talk about the Key Findings From The Newly Released BSIMM11 Report! In our second segment, we welcome James Spiteri, Solutions Architect and Cyber Security Specialist Global Solutions Lead at Elastic, to discuss how Elastic Security Opens Public Detections Rules Repo! In the Security News, Three Cybersecurity Lessons from a 1970s KGB Key Logger, MFA Bypass Bugs Opened Microsoft 365 to Attack, How Hackers Can Pick Your LocksJust By Listening, U.S. House Passes IoT Cybersecurity Bill, the Largest Hacking Campaign Since 2015 Targeted Magento Stores Via Unpatched Bug, and 5 Security Lessons Humans Can Learn From Their Dogs!
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This week, Dr. Doug discusses Microsoft OneFuzz, Tik Tok, QAnon, Mozi, and more news from the sunny shores of Venus!
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Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about how solutions from 32 Amazon Web Services partners – including Trend Micro – are now available for AWS customers to use with their deployments of AWS Outposts. Also, read about a data breach at U.S. office-supply retailer Staples.
Read on:
Boosting Impact for Profit: Evolving Ransomware Techniques for Targeted Attacks
As described in Trend Micro’s 2020 Midyear Roundup, the numbers pertaining to ransomware no longer tell the full story. While the number of infections, company disclosures, and ransomware families has gone down, the estimated amount of money exchanged for the retrieval of encrypted data has steadily gone up. By going after institutions and companies with the urgent need to retrieve their data and get their systems running again, cybercriminals are able to demand exorbitant amounts of ransom.
AWS Outposts Ready Launches with 32 Validated Partners
Solutions from 32 Amazon Web Services partners, including Trend Micro, are available now for AWS customers to use with their deployments of AWS Outposts, the on-premises version of the industry’s leading public cloud.
Analysis of a Convoluted Attack Chain Involving Ngrok
The Trend Micro Managed XDR team recently handled an incident involving one of Trend Micro’s customers. The incident revealed how a malicious actor incorporated certain techniques into an attack, making it more difficult for blue teams and security researchers alike to analyze the chain of events in a clean and easily understandable manner. In this blog, Trend Micro further analyzes the attack.
39% of Employees Access Corporate Data on Personal Devices
A large proportion of employees are using their own devices to access data belonging to their company, according to a new study by Trend Micro. Researchers found that 39% of workers use personal smartphones, tablets, and laptops to access corporate data, often via services and applications hosted in the cloud.
In this blog series, Trend Micro analyzes the impacts of the serious vulnerabilities detected in the protocol gateways and shares the security countermeasures that security administrators in smart factories must take. In the second part of this series, Trend Micro presents an overview of the verification methods, results of this research, and describes “flaws in the protocol conversion function,” one of the security risks revealed through Trend Micro’s experiments.
Staples Hit by Data Breach: What to Do Now
U.S. office-supply retailer Staples says its recent data breach affected fewer than 2,500 customers. Australian security researcher Troy Hunt, who runs the HaveIBeenPwned website, used his Twitter account to post a copy of an email message sent to an unknown number of Staples online customers.
“Zerologon” and the Value of Virtual Patching
A new CVE was released recently that has made quite a few headlines – CVE-2020-1472, also known as Zerologon. This CVE can allow an attacker to take advantage of the cryptographic algorithm used in the Netlogon authentication process and impersonate the identity of any computer when trying to authenticate against the domain controller.
Billions of Devices Vulnerable to New ‘BLESA’ Bluetooth Security Flaw
Billions of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and IoT devices are using Bluetooth software stacks that are vulnerable to a new security flaw disclosed this summer. Named BLESA (Bluetooth Low Energy Spoofing Attack), the vulnerability impacts devices running the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol. BLE is a slimmer version of the original Bluetooth (Classic) standard but designed to conserve battery power while keeping Bluetooth connections alive as long as possible.
California Elementary Kids Kicked Off Online Learning by Ransomware
As students head back to the classroom, the wave of ransomware attacks against schools is continuing. The latest is a strike against a California school district that closed down remote learning for 6,000 elementary school students, according to city officials. The cyberattack, against the Newhall School District in Valencia, affected all distance learning across 10 different grade schools.
Mobile Messengers Expose Billions of Users to Privacy Attacks
When installing a mobile messenger like WhatsApp, new users can instantly start texting existing contacts based on the phone numbers stored on their device. For this to happen, users must grant the app permission to access and regularly upload their address book to company servers in a process called mobile contact discovery. A new research study shows that currently deployed contact discovery services severely threaten the privacy of billions of users.
Should employees be able to access company data via their personal devices? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.
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This week, first we talk Enterprise News, discussing Acunetix new data retention policies, 5 things you should ask your web app pen test provider, Microsoft's open source tool for sniffing out Windows 10 bugs, Datadog unveils support for distributed tracing for AWS Step Functions via AWS X-Ray, and Gravwell's Data Fusion platform breaks the mold of legacy data ingestion engines! In our second segment, we welcome Ferruh Mavituna, CEO of Netsparker, to discuss Current Security Needs Of Modern Enterprise Companies! In our final segment, we welcome Jimmy Mesta, Director of Security Research at Signal Sciences, to discuss Securing Enterprise Digital Transformations!
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This week, we welcome David King, Founding Member and Owner at Cyber Support Alliance and Governing Goliath Media, to discuss How We Lost the Cybersecurity War (and What Happens Next), in this two part interview!
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Coronavirus has caused a major shift to our working patterns. In many cases these will long outlast the pandemic. But working from home has its own risks. One is that you may invite ransomware attacks from a new breed of cyber-criminal who has previously confined his efforts to directly targeting the corporate network. Why? Because as a remote worker, you’re increasingly viewed as a soft target—the open doorway to extorting money from your employer.
So how does ransomware land up on your front doorstep? And what can a home worker do to shut that door?
The new ransomware trends
Last year, Trend Micro detected over 61 million ransomware-related threats, a 10% increase from 2018 figures. But things have only gotten worse from there. There has been a 20% spike in ransomware detections globally in the first half of 2020, rising to 109% in the US. And why is that?
At a basic level, ransomware searches for and encrypts most of the files on a targeted computer, so as to make them unusable. Victims are then asked to pay a ransom within a set time frame in order to receive the decryption key they need to unlock their data. If they don’t, and they haven’t backed-up this data, it could be lost forever.
The trend of late, however, has been to focus on public and private sector organizations whose staff are working from home (WFH). The rationale is that remote workers are less likely to be able to defend themselves from ransomware attacks, while they also provide a useful stepping-stone into high-value corporate networks. Moreover, cybercriminals are increasingly looking to steal sensitive data before they encrypt it, even as they’re more likely to fetch a higher ransom for their efforts than they do from a typical consumer, especially if the remote employee’s data is covered by cyber-insurance.
Home workers are also being more targeted for a number of reasons:
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What’s the attack profile of the remote working threat?
In short, the bad guys are now looking to gain entry to the corporate network you may be accessing from home via a VPN, or to the cloud-hosted systems you use for work or sharing files, in order to first steal and then encrypt company data with ransomware as far and wide as possible into your organization. But the methods are familiar. They’ll
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How can I prevent ransomware when working from home?
The good news is that you, the remote worker, can take some relatively straightforward steps up front to help mitigate the cascading risks to your company posed by the new ransomware. Try the following:
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How Trend Micro can help
In short, to close the cyber front door to ransomware, you need to protect your home network and all your endpoints (laptops, PCs, mobile devices) to be safe. Trend Micro can help via
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With these tools, you, the remote worker, can help shut the front door to ransomware, protecting your work, devices, and company from data theft and encryption for ransom.
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This week, Dr. Doug talks Candiru fish, Office Phishing attacks with a twist, Fancy Bear, Zhenhua data leaks, TikTok and Oracle, and Big Eyed Beans from Venus! Jason Wood returns for Expert Commentary on a Russian hacker selling a how-to video on exploiting unsupported Magento installations to skim credit card details for $5,000!
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This week, we welcome back John Loucaides, VP of Research & Development at Eclypsium, to discuss Cracks in the Foundation: Understanding the New Endpoint Challenge! In the Leadership and Communications section, we're playing 3 questions - Does Your Board Really Understand Your Cyber Risks?, How can the C-suite support CISOs in improving cybersecurity?, Think You're Spending Enough on Security?, and more!
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This week, we welcome Frank Catucci, Sr. Director GTP of Application Security at Gartner, to discuss The People & Process of DevOps! In the Application Security News, BLURtooth vulnerability lets attackers overwrite Bluetooth authentication keys, Microsoft Patch Tuesday, Sept. 2020 Edition, XSS->Fix->Bypass: 10000$ bounty in Google Maps, Academics find crypto bugs in 306 popular Android apps, none get patched, using CRYLOGGER to detect crypto misuses dynamically, Remote Code Execution as SYSTEM/root via Backblaze, and more!
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When we published our 2020 Predictions report in December, we didn’t realize there was a global pandemic brewing that would give cybercriminals an almost daily news cycle to take advantage of in their attacks against people and organizations around the world. Malicious actors have always taken advantage of big news to use as lures for socially engineered threats, but these events tend to be fairly short news cycles.
When Covid-19 started making headlines in early 2020, we started seeing new threats using this in the attacks. As you see below, April was the peak month for email-based Covid-19 related threats.
The same was true for phishing URLs related to Covid-19, but for files using Covid-19 in their naming convention, the peak month in the first half was June.
Impact on Cybercrime
The constant 24×7 news around cases, cures and vaccines makes this pandemic unique for cybercriminals. Also, the shift to remote working and the challenges posed to supply chains all gave cybercriminals new content they could use as lures to entice victims into infecting themselves.
As we’ve seen for many years now, email-based threats were the most used threat vector by malicious actors, which makes sense as the number one infection vector to penetrate an organization’s network is to use a socially engineered email against an employee.
We even saw malicious mobile apps being developed using Covid-19 as a lure, as you see below.
In this case it was supporting potential cures for the virus, which many people would have wanted.
Other Highlights in 1H 2020
While Covid-19 dominated the threat landscape in the 1H 2020, it wasn’t the only thing that defined it. Ransomware actors continued their attacks against organizations, but as we’ve been seeing over the past year, they’ve become much more selective in their victims. The spray and pray model using spam has been shifted to a more targeted approach, similar to how nation-state actors and APT groups perform their attacks. Two things showcase this trend:
2. The ransom amounts have increased significantly over the years, showing ransomware actors are selecting their victims around how much they feel they can extort them for and whether they are more likely to pay a ransom.
Home network attacks are another interesting aspect of the threat landscape in the first half of this year. We have millions of home routers around the world that give us threat data on events coming into and out of home networks.
Threat actors are taking advantage of more remote workers by launching more attacks against these home networks. As you see below, the first half of 2020 saw a marked increase in attacks.
Many of these attacks are brute force login attempts as actors try to obtain login credentials for routers and devices within the home network, which can allow them to do further damage.
The above are only a small number of security events and trends we saw in just six months of 2020. Our full roundup of the security landscape so far this year is detailed out in our security roundup report – Securing the Pandemic-Disrupted Workplace. You can read about all we found to help prepare for many of the threats we will continue to see for the rest of the year.
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Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about Trend Micro’s midyear roundup report which found that published vulnerabilities in the first half of 2020 grew to 786, compared to 583 during the same time period last year. Also, read about vulnerabilities in Cisco’s Jabber app that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.
Read on:
1H 2020 Cyber Security Defined by Covid-19 Pandemic
When thinking about 2020 security predictions, no one thought that there was a global pandemic brewing that would give cybercriminals an almost daily news cycle to take advantage of in their attacks against people and organizations around the world. While Covid-19 dominated the threat landscape in the first half of 2020, it wasn’t the only threat that defined it. Learn more about the 2020 threat landscape in Trend Micro’s recent blog.
Cisco Jabber Bug Could Let Hackers Target Windows Systems Remotely
Networking equipment maker Cisco has released a new version of its Jabber video conferencing and messaging app for Windows that includes patches for multiple vulnerabilities—which, if exploited, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. The flaws, which were uncovered by cybersecurity firm Watchcom during a pentest, affect all currently supported versions of the Jabber client (12.1-12.9) and has since been fixed by the company.
The Life Cycle of a Compromised (Cloud) Server
Trend Micro Research has developed a go-to resource for all things related to cybercriminal underground hosting and infrastructure. This week, Trend Micro released the second report in a three-part series which details the what, how, and why of cybercriminal hosting. Trend Micro dives into the common life cycle of a compromised server from initial compromise to the different stages of monetization preferred by criminals.
Instagram ‘Help Center’ Phishing Scam Pilfers Credentials
Turkish-speaking cybercriminals are sending Instagram users seemingly legitimate messages from the social media company, with the aim of stealing their Instagram and email credentials. Trend Micro researchers said that the campaign has been targeting hundreds of celebrities, startup business owners, and other entities with sizeable followings on Instagram.
What is a VPN and How Does it Increase Your Online Security and Privacy?
The number of VPN users has grown considerably over the past few years. According to a report from Go-Globe, 25% of netizens worldwide have used a VPN at least once in the last 30 days. Recently, VPN usage has surged in many countries and its popularity may see VPN usage surpass the estimated profit of USD$27.10 billion by the end of 2020. In this blog, Trend Micro takes a deeper look at all of the benefits a VPN can provide.
First Half of 2020 Led to Nearly 800 Disclosed Vulnerabilities: Report
Published vulnerabilities in January through June of 2020 grew to 786, compared to 583 during the same time period last year, according to Trend Micro’s midyear cybersecurity report. Bad actors most often targeted enterprise software, including Apache Struts and Drupal frameworks, between 2017 and the first half of this year. In this article, Trend Micro’s director of global threat communications, Jon Clay, shares his thoughts on the first half of 2020.
A Blind Spot in ICS Security: The Protocol Gateway Part 1: Importance of the Protocol Gateway
Trend Micro released a white paper summarizing potential protocol gateway security risks in early August. This blog series follows up on that paper, analyzing the impacts of the serious vulnerabilities detected in the protocol gateways essential when shifting to smart factories and outlining the security countermeasures that security administrators in factories must take. In the first blog of this series, part one describes the importance of the protocol gateway in ICS environments.
Evilnum Group Targets FinTech Firms with New Python-Based RAT
Evilnum, a group known for targeting financial technology companies, has added new malware and infection tricks to its arsenal, researchers warn. The group is suspected of offering APT-style hacker-for-hire services to other entities, a growing and worrying trend that’s changing the threat landscape.
Are Employees the Weakest Link in Your Security Strategy?
Email is the number one threat vector. Data from Trend Micro Smart Protection Network shows that for the first five months of 2020, 92% of all the cyberthreats leveraging Covid-19 were spam or phishing email messages. Email scams can have a big impact, both on the organization and the individual. This was highlighted in a recent report from BBC News where a finance professional from Glasgow, Scotland was targeted by a business email compromise (BEC) scam.
55% of Cybersquatted Domains are Malicious or Potentially Fraudulent
In a single month, cyber-squatters registered almost 14,000 domain names, more than half of which went on to host malicious or likely fraudulent content, Palo Alto Networks states in a report released this week. The company, which collected information on newly registered domains in December 2019, found 13,857 domains classified by its software as cybersquatting based on lexical analysis.
What are your thoughts on Evilnum’s APT-style hacker-for-hire services? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.
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This week, we welcome we welcome David Asraf, C++ Developer at Vicarius, and Roi Cohen, Co-Founder & VP Sales at Vicarius, to discuss The Patchless Horseman! In our second segment, we welcome back Sumedh Thakar, President and Chief Product Officer at Qualys, to talk about Building Security Into the DevOps Lifecycle! In the Security News, Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Jabber for Windows, Expert found multiple critical issues in MoFi routers, TeamTNT Gains Full Remote Takeover of Cloud Instances, Bluetooth Bug Opens Devices to Man-in-the-Middle Attacks, Former NSA chief General Keith Alexander is now on Amazon’s board, and the Legality of Security Research is to be Decided in a US Supreme Court Case!
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This week, Dr. Doug talks Cisco patching Jabber Flaw, Insider Threats are huge, BLURtooth, Apple COVID-19 opt ins, and pretty much everyone is trying to interfere with the election!
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Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, read about this month’s Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft. Also, learn about Trend Micro’s Worry-Free XDR: a new version of its XDR platform designed to extend the power of correlated detection and response beyond the endpoint for smaller businesses.
Read on:
Exposed Docker Server Abused to Drop Cryptominer, DDoS Bot
Malicious actors continue to target environments running Docker containers. Trend Micro recently encountered an attack that drops both a malicious cryptocurrency miner and a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) bot on a Docker container built using Alpine Linux as its base image. A similar attack was also reported by Trend Micro in May; in that previous attack, threat actors created a malicious Alpine Linux container to also host a malicious cryptocurrency miner and a DDoS bot.
Microsoft Fixes 129 Vulnerabilities for September’s Patch Tuesday
Microsoft released patches for 129 CVEs (common vulnerabilities and exposures) as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday rollout. Dustin Childs from Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative shared that this marks seven consecutive months of more than 110 bugs fixed and brings the yearly total close to 1,000.
Purple Fox EK Relies on Cloudflare for Stability
A year ago, Trend Micro talked about Purple Fox malware being delivered by the Rig exploit kit. Malwarebytes later found evidence that it had its own delivery mechanism, and thus named it the Purple Fox exploit kit. Trend Micro recently found a spike in the Purple Fox exploit kit with improved delivering tactics in our telemetry. Some of the improvements include use of full HTTPS infrastructure based on Cloudflare as frontend, fully encrypted landing page, and disguised redirection.
New Raccoon Attack Could Let Attackers Break SSL/TLS Encryption
A group of researchers has detailed a new timing vulnerability in Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that could potentially allow an attacker to break the encryption and read sensitive communication under specific conditions. Dubbed “Raccoon Attack,” the server-side attack exploits a side-channel in the cryptographic protocol (versions 1.2 and lower) to extract the shared secret key used for secure communications between two parties.
War of Linux Cryptocurrency Miners: A Battle for Resources
The Linux ecosystem is regarded as more secure and reliable than other operating systems, which possibly explains why Google, NASA, and the US Department of Defense (DoD) utilize it for their online infrastructures and systems. Unfortunately, the adoption of Linux systems is also an attractive target for cybercriminals. In this blog, learn about the ruthless battle for computing power among the different cryptocurrency-mining malware that target Linux systems.
Trend Micro’s XDR Offerings Simplify and Optimize Detection and Response
Trend Micro announced Worry-Free XDR is a new version of its XDR platform designed to extend the power of correlated detection and response beyond the endpoint for smaller businesses. This unmatched channel offering is available now as a standalone or managed solution tailored for SMBs.
Securing Enterprise Security: How to Manage the New Generation of Access Control Devices
Enterprises are increasingly deploying contactless security solutions to control access to their spaces, especially now in the midst of a pandemic. These solutions mostly rely on devices that use facial recognition to manage entry to enterprise premises in an effective and efficient manner. Considering that these access control devices are the first line of defense for employees and assets on enterprise premises, Trend Micro set out to test the security of the devices and to find out whether they are susceptible to cyber as well as physical attacks.
Zeppelin Ransomware Returns with New Trojan on Board
The Zeppelin ransomware has sailed back into relevance, after a hiatus of several months. A wave of attacks were spotted in August by Juniper Threatlab researchers, making use of a new trojan downloader. These, like an initial Zeppelin wave observed in late 2019, start with phishing emails with Microsoft Word attachments (themed as “invoices”) that have malicious macros on board. Once a user enables macros, the infection process starts.
Published New Ebook: Strategic Investment to Secure Smart Factories
Security is undergoing a digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. As the fusion of the cyber world and the physical world progresses, various security issues are mounting. Manufacturing executives must view security as a management issue, not as a system issue. Trend Micro has published an ebook that focuses on security issues in the convergence of IT and OT.
Ransomware Accounted for 41% of All Cyber Insurance Claims in H1 2020
Ransomware incidents have accounted for 41% of cyber insurance claims filed in the first half of 2020, according to a report published today by Coalition, one of the largest providers of cyber insurance services in North America. The high number of claims comes to confirm previous reports from multiple cybersecurity firms that ransomware is one of today’s most prevalent and destructive threats.
What do you think about the Zeppelin ransomware attacks and the rise in ransomware overall? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.
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