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Before yesterdaySecurity

From Austin to Sydney: How to Work From Anywhere

By Mary Kate Schmermund

SaaS Security Marketing Manager Laura O’Melia has always been interested in living and working internationally. After living in Austin, Texas for twenty years, O’Melia was ready for a new adventure and decided to move to Sydney, Australia with the support and encouragement of her manager and Cisco. The pandemic delayed her plans, but now that O’Melia’s settling into life and work in Australia, she shared how she made the move to work from anywhere and how you can, too.

Solving problems on a global scale in a flexible environment

What do you do?

O’Melia: I am on the Security Marketing team and focus on driving demand for our Zero Trust solution in the Asia-Pacific, Japan and China (APJC) region. I work closely with the Sales teams to do activities that will generate pipeline and educate prospects on our security solutions. I spend time finding new leads and trying new ways to engage with our top prospects while having fun along the way.

What do you like most about working at Cisco?

O’Melia: What I love most about working at Cisco is the amount of positive contributions we get to have on the world, from solving some of the world’s biggest problems around cybersecurity to giving money and resources to others in need. I also love the feeling of empowerment to create my own work/life balance as Cisco allows me the opportunity to have a flexible schedule.

What has been your career journey within Cisco?

O’Melia: I started at Duo Security in 2017. While working in Field Marketing, I was able to gain experience across many different teams. For example, I worked closely with a region in the U.S. as well as the Managed Service Provider team, which is a global team with a completely different business model. The needs differ greatly, from how we report and track metrics to the messaging and offers from one team to the next. I am now working in a very different market that is much larger and includes many more languages, so that brings a new level of understanding to how we show up in the market to achieve business goals.

Taking the leap to work anywhere

“Stepping outside of my comfort zone is one of my favorite things to do.”

– Laura O’Melia

What prompted you to relocate from Austin, Texas to Sydney, Australia?

O’Melia: Austin is great and was my home for 20 years, but I still wanted to gain international work experience to learn what it would be like somewhere else and compare it to what I know.

Stepping outside of my comfort zone is one of my favorite things to do, so when I heard Duo was expanding internationally and there was an opportunity in Australia, I was immediately interested. Everyone I know that has visited Australia always has absolutely wonderful things to say, so without ever having visited I agreed to take a long-term international two-year assignment.

How has Cisco supported your relocation?

O’Melia: I worked closely with my manager on the process from start to finish. We had the support of Cisco’s Mobility Services team, a group of Cisco employees that help with relocation services. We worked with immigration to obtain my work          visa. I was planning to relocate in March 2020 but as we know, the borders were closed and visas were not being processed for nearly two years. I was already in-role, so continued to support the APJC team from Austin.

When the time came, Cisco had a team of experts that I worked with to pack and ship my belongings and help get set up with an overseas bank. I also worked with a realtor to help me find a place to live, and the team even assists with my U.S. and Australian tax returns while I am away.

How has your work changed since relocating?

O’Melia: My role has expanded from doing lead-gen events for Duo in Australia and New Zealand to now being responsible for driving demand across the APJC region through digital campaigns and other marketing channels. I still strive to provide qualified leads to Sales and educate the market on our offerings. My goal is to help get Cisco Secure solutions into more doors to ultimately give users a better experience and stop the bad actors from doing harm.

What advice do you have for others who want to work from anywhere?

O’Melia: If you get the opportunity, take it. Everyone has their own path, but if you feel your career could benefit, even slightly, from the experience you will gain moving to another country and figuring things out far from what you know today, why not give it a try? You can learn so much from meeting and working with people that have a very different experience than you might know.

Ready for an adventure? If you want to solve global challenges through cybersecurity with the potential to work anywhere, check out our open roles.


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The Hunt for the Dark Web’s Biggest Kingpin, Part 4: Face to Face

By Andy Greenberg
The team uses a secret technique to locate AlphaBay’s server. But just as the operation heats up, the agents have an unexpected run-in with their target.

Twitter’s SMS Two-Factor Authentication Is Melting Down

By Lily Hay Newman
Problems with the important security feature may be some of the first signs that Elon Musk’s social network is fraying at the edges.

The Medibank Data Breach – Steps You Can Take to Protect Yourself

By McAfee

Hackers have posted another batch of stolen health records on the dark web—following a breach that could potentially affect nearly 8 million Australian Medibank customers, along with nearly 2 million more international customers. 

The records were stolen in October’s reported breach at Medibank, one of Australia’s largest private health insurance providers. Given Australia’s population of almost 26 million people, close to a third of the population could find themselves affected.  

The hackers subsequently issued ransomware demands with the threat of releasing the records. With their demands unmet, the hackers then started posting the records in batches, the first on November 8th and the latest dropping on November 14th. 

According to Medibank, the records and information could include diagnoses, a list of conditions, and further information such as: 

“[P]ersonal data such as names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, Medicare numbers for AHM customers (not expiry dates), in some cases passport numbers for our international students (not expiry dates), and some health claims data.” 

Medibank continues to keep its customers up to date on the latest developments on its website and further states they will contact customers, via email and post, to clarify what has been stolen and what has been published on the dark web.  

What should I do if I think my information was caught up in the Medibank breach? 

Any time a data breach occurs, it means that your personal information could end up in the hands of a bad actor. In the case of Medibank, the hackers posted the stolen information on the dark web, which unfortunately means that the likelihood of a potential scammer or thief obtaining this information is a near certainty. 

In light of this, there are a few steps you can take to protect yourself in the aftermath of a data breach, which involves a combination of preventative steps and some monitoring on your part. 

Report unauthorised use of your information or accounts immediately 

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil called for Australians to “Contact Services Australia if you believe there has been unauthorised activity in your Medicare account.” Further, Australians can take the following additional steps to protect themselves in the wake of identity theft. 

Keep an eye out for phishing attacks 

With some personal information in hand, bad actors may seek out more. They may follow up a breach with rounds of phishing attacks that direct you to bogus sites designed to steal your personal information—either by tricking you into providing it or by stealing it without your knowledge. So as it’s always wise to keep a skeptical eye open for unsolicited messages that ask you for information in some form or other, often in ways that urge or pressure you into acting. Always look out for phishing attacks, particularly after breaches. 

If you are contacted by Medibank, make certain the communication is legitimate. Bad actors may pose as Medibank to steal personal information. Do not click on links sent in emails, texts, or messages. Instead, go straight to the Medibank website or contact them by phone directly. 

Change your passwords and use a password manager 

While it does not appear that login information was affected, a password update is still a strong security move. Strong and unique passwords are best, which means never reusing your passwords across different sites and platforms. Using a password manager will help you keep on top of it all, while also storing your passwords securely. Moreover, changing your passwords regularly can reduce your risk in the event of a data breach. Namely, a breached password is no good to a hacker if you’ve changed it. 

Enable two-factor authentication 

While a strong and unique password is a good first line of defense, enabling two-factor authentication across your accounts will help your cause by providing an added layer of security. It’s increasingly common to see nowadays, where banks and all manner of online services will only allow access to your accounts after you’ve provided a one-time passcode sent to your email or smartphone. If your accounts support two-factor authentication, enable it. 

Consider using identity monitoring 

An identity monitoring service can monitor everything from email addresses to credit cards, bank account numbers and phone numbers for signs of breaches so you can take action to secure your accounts before they’re used for identity theft. Personal information harvested from data breaches can end up on dark web marketplaces where it’s bought by other bad actors so they can launch their own attacks. McAfee’s identity monitoring service helps you keep an eye on your personal info and provides alerts if your data is found, averaging 10 months ahead of similar services. 

Check your credit and consider a credit freeze 

When personal information gets released, there’s a chance that a hacker, scammer, or thief will put it to use. This may include committing fraud, where they draw funds from existing accounts, and theft, where they create new accounts in your name. This may include identity theft, where someone pretends to be you, generally to gain access to more information or services, and may escalate to identity fraud, where funds are stolen from your account. 

Another step that customers can take is to place a credit freeze on their credit reports with the major credit agencies in Australia— Equifax, illion, and Experian. This will help prevent bad actors from opening new lines of credit or take out loans in your name by “freezing” your credit report so that potential creditors cannot pull it for reference. Terms of freezing a credit report will vary, so check with each agency for details. 

Consider using comprehensive online protection 

A complete suite of online protection software can offer layers of extra security. Identity thieves generally focus on easy targets to save time. Elevated security across the majority of your data can make you a far more difficult target. In addition to more private and secure time online with a VPN, identity monitoring, and password management, this includes web browser protection that can block malicious and suspicious links that could lead you down the road to malware or a phishing scam—which antivirus protection can’t do alone. Additionally, McAfee offers support from a licensed recovery pro who can help you restore your credit, just in case. 

Should I replace my driver’s licence? 

Per Medibank, some victims of the breach may have had their driver’s licence number exposed. Given that a licence number is such a unique piece of personally identifiable information, anyone notified by Medibank that theirs may have been affected should strongly consider changing them. The process for replacing a licence document will vary depending on your state or territory.  

The recent Optus breach of September 2022 saw some states and territories propose making exceptions to the rules for attack victims, so look to your local government for guidance.  

The Medibank data breach – you have ways to protect yourself 

Not all data breaches make the news. Businesses and organizations, large and small, have all fallen victim to them, and with regularity. The measures you can take here are measures you can take even if you don’t believe you were caught up in the Medibank breach.  

However, you have every reason to act now rather than wait for additional news. Staying on top of our credit and identity has always been important, but given all the devices, apps, and accounts we keep these days leaves us more exposed than ever, which makes protection a must.  

The post The Medibank Data Breach – Steps You Can Take to Protect Yourself appeared first on McAfee Blog.

New "Earth Longzhi" APT Targets Ukraine and Asian Countries with Custom Cobalt Strike Loaders

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Entities located in East and Southeast Asia as well as Ukraine have been targeted at least since 2020 by a previously undocumented subgroup of APT41, a prolific Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT). Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which christened the espionage crew Earth Longzhi, said the actor's long-running campaign can be split into two based on the toolset deployed to attack its victims

Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms – The ABCs of MDR and XDR Security

By Nirav Shah

In the second part of this blog series on Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms, we covered Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) solutions, which included an overview of the evolution of endpoint security solutions. In this blog, we’ll go over Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions in more depth.

What are Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solutions? 

MDR solutions are a security technology stack delivered as a managed service to customers by third-parties such as cybersecurity vendors or Managed Service Providers (MSPs). They’re similar to Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) solutions since both solutions are managed cybersecurity services that use Security Operations Center (SOC) experts to monitor, detect, and respond to threats targeting your organization. However, the main difference between these two offerings is that MEDR solutions monitor only your endpoints while MDR solutions monitor a broader environment.

While MDR security solutions don’t have an exact definition for the types of infrastructure they monitor and the underlying security stack that powers them, they often monitor your endpoint, network, and cloud environments via a ‘follow the sun’ approach that uses multiple security teams distributed around the world to continually defend your environment. These security analysts monitor your environment 24/7 for threats, analyze and prioritize threats, investigate potential incidents, and offer guided remediation of attacks. This enables you to quickly detect advanced threats, effectively contain attacks, and rapidly respond to incidents.

More importantly, MDR security solutions allow you to augment or outsource your security to cybersecurity experts. While nearly every organization must defend their environment from cyberattacks, not every organization has the time, expertise, or personnel to run their own security solution. These organizations can benefit from outsourcing their security to MDR services, which enable them to focus on their core business while getting the security expertise they need. In addition, some organizations don’t have the budget or resources to monitor their environment 24/7 or they may have a small security team that struggles to investigate every threat. MDR security services can also help these organizations by giving them always-on security operations while enabling them to address every threat to their organization.

One drawback to deploying an MDR security service is that you become dependent on a third-party for your security needs. While many organizations don’t have any issues with this, some organizations may be hesitant to hand over control of their cybersecurity to a third-party vendor. In addition, organizations such as larger, more-risk averse companies may not desire an MDR service because they’ve already made cybersecurity investments such as developing their own SOC. Finally, MDR security solutions don’t have truly unified detection and response capabilities since they’re typically powered by heterogenous security technology stacks that lack consolidated telemetry, correlated detections, and holistic incident response. This is where XDR solutions shine.

What are Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions? 

XDR solutions unify threat monitoring, detection, and response across your entire environment by centralizing visibility, delivering contextual insights, and coordinating response. While ‘XDR’ means different things to different people because it’s a fairly nascent technology, XDR solutions usually consolidate security telemetry from multiple security products into a single solution. Moreover, XDR security solutions provide enriched context by correlating alerts from different security solutions. Finally, comprehensive XDR solutions can simplify incident response by allowing you to automate and orchestrate threat response across your environment.

These solutions speed up threat detection and response by providing a single pane of glass for gaining visibility into threats as well as detecting and responding to attacks. Furthermore, XDR security solutions reduce alert fatigue and false positives with actionable, contextual insights from higher-fidelity detections that mean you spend less time sifting through endless alerts and can focus on the most critical threats. Finally, XDR solutions enable you to streamline your security operations with improved efficiency from automated, orchestrated response across your entire security stack from one unified console.

A major downside to XDR security solutions is that you typically have to deploy and manage these solutions yourself versus having a third-party vendor run them for you. While Managed XDR (MXDR) services are growing, these solutions are still very much in their infancy. In addition, not every organization will want or need a full-fledged XDR solution. For instance, organizations with a higher risk threshold may be satisfied with using an EDR solution and/or an MDR service to defend their organization from threats.

Choosing the Right Cybersecurity Solution  

As I mentioned in the first and second parts of this blog series, you shouldn’t take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to cybersecurity since every organization has different needs, goals, risk appetites, staffing levels, and more. This logic holds true for MDR and XDR solutions, with these solutions working well for certain organizations and not so well for other organizations. Regardless, there are a few aspects to consider when evaluating MDR and XDR security solutions.

One factor to keep in mind is if you already have or are planning on building out your own SOC. This is important to think about because developing and operating a SOC can require large investments in cybersecurity, which includes having the right expertise on your security teams. Organizations unwilling to make these commitments usually end up choosing managed security services such as MDR solutions, which allows them to protect their organization without considerable upfront investments.

Other critical factors to consider are your existing security maturity and overall goals. For instance, organizations who have already made significant commitments to cybersecurity often think about ways to improve the operational efficiency of their security teams. These organizations frequently turn to XDR tools since these solutions reduce threat detection and response times, provide better visibility and context while decreasing alert fatigue. Moreover, organizations with substantial security investments should consider open and extensible XDR solutions that integrate with their existing tools to avoid having to ‘rip and replace’ security tools, which can be costly and cumbersome.

I hope this blog series on the different threat detection and response solutions help you make sense of the different cybersecurity acronyms while guiding you in your decision on the right security solution for your organization. For more information on MDR solutions, read about how Cisco Secure Managed Detection and Response (MDR) rapidly detects and contains threats with an elite team of security experts. For more information on XDR solutions, learn how the Cisco XDR offering finds and remediates threats faster with increased visibility and critical context to automate threat response.


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ESET APT Activity Report T2 2022

By Jean-Ian Boutin

An overview of the activities of selected APT groups investigated and analyzed by ESET Research in T2 2022

The post ESET APT Activity Report T2 2022 appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

The Hunt for the FTX Thieves Has Begun

By Andy Greenberg
Mysterious crooks took hundreds of millions of dollars from FTX just as it collapsed. Crypto-tracing blockchain analysis may provide an answer.

Elon Musk Introduces Twitter Mayhem Mode

By Dhruv Mehrotra
Plus: US midterms survive disinformation efforts, the government names the alleged Lockbit ransomware attacker, and the Powerball drawing hits a security snag.

Experts Uncover Two Long-Running Android Spyware Campaigns Targeting Uyghurs

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Two long-running surveillance campaigns have been found targeting the Uyghur community in China and elsewhere with Android spyware tools designed to harvest sensitive information and track their whereabouts. This encompasses a previously undocumented malware strain called BadBazaar and updated variants of an espionage artifact dubbed MOONSHINE by researchers from the University of Toronto's

VPN vs. DNS Security

By The Hacker News
When you are trying to get another layer of cyber protection that would not require a lot of resources, you are most likely choosing between a VPN service & a DNS Security solution. Let's discuss both.  VPN Explained VPN stands for Virtual Private Networks and basically hides your IP and provides an encrypted server by redirecting your traffic via a server run by a VPN host. It establishes a

‘Dark Ships’ Emerge From the Shadows of the Nord Stream Mystery

By Matt Burgess
Satellite monitors discovered two vessels with their trackers turned off in the area of the pipeline prior to the suspected sabotage in September.

Multiple High-Severity Flaws Affect Widely Used OpenLiteSpeed Web Server Software

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Multiple high-severity flaws have been uncovered in the open source OpenLiteSpeed Web Server as well as its enterprise variant that could be weaponized to achieve remote code execution. "By chaining and exploiting the vulnerabilities, adversaries could compromise the web server and gain fully privileged remote code execution," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said in a Thursday report. <!--adsense-->

Russian-Canadian National Charged Over Involvement in LockBit Ransomware Attacks

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced charges against a dual Russian and Canadian national for his alleged participation in LockBit ransomware attacks across the world. The 33-year-old Ontario resident, Mikhail Vasiliev, has been taken into custody and is awaiting extradition to the U.S., where is likely to be sentenced for a maximum of five years in prison. Vasiliev has been

Russia’s Sway Over Criminal Ransomware Gangs Is Coming Into Focus

By Lily Hay Newman
Questions about the Kremlin’s relationships with these groups remain. But researchers are finally getting some answers.

Lawsuit Seeks Food Benefits Stolen By Skimmers

By BrianKrebs

A nonprofit organization is suing the state of Massachusetts on behalf of thousands of low-income families who were collectively robbed of more than a $1 million in food assistance benefits by card skimming devices secretly installed at cash machines and grocery store checkout lanes across the state. Federal law bars states from replacing these benefits using federal funds, and a recent rash of skimming incidents nationwide has disproportionately affected those receiving food assistance via state-issued prepaid debit cards.

The Massachusetts SNAP benefits card looks more like a library card than a payment card.

On Nov. 4, The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of low-income families whose Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were stolen from their accounts. The SNAP program serves over a million people in Massachusetts, and 41 million people nationally.

“Over the past few months, thieves have stolen over a million SNAP dollars from thousands of Massachusetts families – putting their nutrition and economic stability at risk,” the MLRI said in a statement on the lawsuit. “The criminals attach a skimming device on a POS (point of sale) terminal to capture the household’s account information and PIN. The criminals then use that information to make a fake card and steal the SNAP benefits.”

In announcing the lawsuit, the MRLI linked to a story KrebsOnSecurity published last month that examined how skimming thieves increasingly are targeting SNAP payment card holders nationwide. The story looked at how the vast majority of SNAP benefit cards issued by the states do not include the latest chip technology that makes it more difficult and expensive for thieves to clone them.

The story also highlighted how SNAP cardholders usually have little recourse to recover any stolen funds — even in unlikely cases where the victim has gathered mountains of proof to show state and federal officials that the fraudulent withdrawals were not theirs.

Deborah Harris is a staff attorney at the MLRI. Harris said the goal of the lawsuit is to force Massachusetts to reimburse SNAP skimming victims using state funds, and to convince The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) — which funds the program that states draw from — to change its policies and allow states to replace stolen benefits with federal funds.

“Ultimately we think it’s the USDA that needs to step up and tell states they have a duty to restore the stolen benefits, and that USDA will cover the cost at least until there is better security in place, such as chip cards,” Harris told KrebsOnSecurity.

“The losses we’re talking about are relatively small in the scheme of total SNAP expenditures which are billions,” she said. “But if you are a family that can’t pay for food because you suddenly don’t have money in your account, it’s devastating for the family.”

The USDA has not said it will help states restore the stolen funds. But on Oct. 31, 2022, the agency released guidance (PDF) whose primary instructions were included in an appendix titled, Card Security Options Available to Households. Notably, the USDA did not mention the idea of shifting to chip-based SNAP benefits cards.

The recently issued USDA guidance.

“The guidance generally continues to make households responsible for preventing the theft of their benefits as well as for suffering the loss when benefits are stolen through no fault of the household,” Harris said. “Many of the recommendations are not practical for households who don’t have a smartphone to receive text messages and aren’t able to change their PIN after each transaction and keep track of the new PIN.”

Harris said three of the four recommendations are not currently available in Massachusetts, and they are very likely not currently available in other states. For example, she said, Massachusetts households do not have the option of freezing or locking their cards between transactions. Nor do they receive alerts about transactions. And they most certainly don’t have any way to block out-of-state transactions.

“Perhaps these are options that [card] processors and states could provide, but they are not available now as far as we know,” Harris said. “Most likely they would take time to implement.”

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) recently published Five Ways State Agencies Can Support EBT Users at Risk of Skimming. CLASP says while it is true states can’t use federal funds to replace benefits unless the loss was due to a “system error,” states could use their own funds.

“Doing so will ensure families don’t have to go without food, gas money, or their rent for the month,” CLASP wrote.

That would help address the symptoms of card skimming, but not a root cause. Hardly anyone is suggesting the obvious, which is to equip SNAP benefit cards with the same security technology afforded to practically everyone else participating in the U.S. banking system.

There are several reasons most state-issued SNAP benefit cards do not include chips. For starters, nobody says they have to. Also, it’s a fair bit more expensive to produce chip cards versus plain old magnetic stripe cards, and many state assistance programs are chronically under-funded. Finally, there is no vocal (or at least well-heeled) constituency advocating for change.

A copy of the class action complaint filed by the MLRI is available here.

S3 Ep108: You hid THREE BILLION dollars in a popcorn tin?

By Paul Ducklin
Patches, busts, leaks and why even low-likelihood exploits can be high-severity risks - listen now!

Elon Musk's Twitter Blue Verification Is a Gift to Scammers

By Matt Burgess
Anyone can get a blue tick on Twitter without proving who they are. And it’s already causing a ton of problems.

Russia’s New Cyberwarfare in Ukraine Is Fast, Dirty, and Relentless

By Andy Greenberg
Security researchers see updated tactics and tools—and a tempo change—in the cyberattacks Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency is inflicting on Ukraine.

REPEAT AND REFINE: HOW DO YOU GET TO CARNEGIE HALL? (Pt. 6 of “Why Don’t You Go Dox Yourself?”)

By Zoe Lindsey

Welcome back! In our last article, you cleared out your extraneous digital footprints by removing unnecessary accounts and opting-out of data broker services, and have finished a dedicated review of your online history. In this final section, we will answer the natural question encountered at the end of any journey: What’s next? 

Before becoming the series you’ve just read, I presented a version of this many times as a live talk at conferences and training sessions. After the first few talks, I noticed a consistent trend in the feedback when I was approached afterwards: people who said they felt anxious about how their online activity going forward might share more than they want. So I went back and added a final section to the talk, one that we’re going to cover together now: risk acceptance and the value of routine in good security.

POBODY’S NERFECT 

Some people think that the goal of good security is to eliminate risk. One of the first lessons you learn in this industry, though, is that eradicating every possible risk is very rarely practical, whether we’re talking about the individual or organizational level. This is because there are few choices one can make with zero possibility of a negative outcome, and because human beings are… human, and even with excellent discipline and good intent the best of us can mess up. 

The goal of good security strategy is instead to assess risk and find a healthy balance: to decide what is more or less important and valuable, to determine how damaging the worst-case scenario might be and weigh that against the potential benefits, and figuring out how much you can reasonably do to tip the balance and increase your odds of success. 

That’s fairly abstract, so let’s use a couple quick practical examples at both levels: 

  • Working with third-party vendors is a risk for companies, because they can only have so much control over that outside company’s policies and procedures and limited visibility into how well both are followed. But simply doing everything in-house and not relying on any suppliers or support externally is impossible for most businesses to survive. Instead, security teams focus on due diligence before vendor selection to make sure they’re choosing the best option, and work to make sure vendors can only access what they’re supposed to. 
  • Making new friends is a risk for individuals, because almost everyone has experienced the pain of a friendship souring and the heartache that can come with it. But simply going through life without personal connections isn’t terribly rewarding or likely to make us happy. Instead, we continually learn how to determine we can trust someone and the red flags that indicate trouble may lie ahead. 

I don’t know about you, but I grew up as a child of the internet, and the thought of never going online again isn’t one I’m likely to seriously consider. So rather than logging off forever, let’s focus on how we can both stay safe and stay connected. We’ve completed the “3 R’s” of the self-dox process: Review, Restrict, and Remove. But now, a surprise more shocking than the Spanish Inquisition itself: we’re going to add two final steps-Repeat and Refine.

THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND REPEAT 

Every good security plan includes a plan for routine follow-up. We know that staying offline forever isn’t practical, so the next best thing is to set up a reminder to go through an easier version of this checklist on a regular schedule. Why is it easier? In this review, you had to look back on your entire life up to the present, and next time you’ll just need to look back from then to… well… now! Depending on how active you are online and how likely you are to be doxxed, this might make sense to do on an annual basis, or split into abbreviated and more frequent quarterly reviews. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this review, but here are some typical checks you may want to consider: 

  • Some password managers have a built-in audit tool that will highlight re-used passwords or passwords that may have been captured in a data breach. Provided you’re generating new passwords for each account, you likely won’t have more than a handful of accounts or passwords surface in this review, so it shouldn’t take nearly as long as the first review. 
  • Repeat the HaveIBeenPwned search for your most important emails/usernames in case there are known password breaches that aren’t indexed by the password tool you use. 
  • Depending on how common your name is, it may be worth setting up a Google Alert for automatic notification when new search results for your name (or other contact info like phone number or email address) arise.  
  • Take a couple minutes to revisit the security and privacy settings of your top accounts. For social media, are your default permissions still restricted to the audience you want? Some services will automatically use the permissions for your last shared post if you change them, so it’s worth double checking.  
  • For all of your important accounts, if two-factor authentication wasn’t available when you completed this review, has it been added? Or are more secure options available, like switching to an authenticator app instead of receiving an SMS or code by email? Finally, check your activity for any new third-party sign-ins or apps that you no longer need. 
  • How up-to-date are your devices? Are there OS or browser updates pending for your laptop, desktop, or smart devices? Most of the tools or exploits someone might use to get access to your devices rely on security vulnerabilities that have since been patched by the software provider, but they continue to be successful because many people do not keep their devices up-to-date. Setting automatic updates is a great practice, but a quick inventory during your check-in will also be useful. 

Before we move on to our final (final, I promise!) step, let’s talk one more kind of repeating. A wifi repeater is a gadget that can connect to and boost the signal from a wireless network, helping to expand the network’s reach and keep a strong connection. In the same way, by sharing the lessons you’ve learned with your family and friends you will expand the reach of that security knowledge. Not only does that help keep the people you care about safer… but since we’ve seen how information shared about us by others can also be discovered by doxxers, it helps to increase your own safety as well! 

GOT TO ADMIT IT’S GETTING BETTER 

My goal in writing this series was to give a straightforward introduction and broadly-useful walkthrough of how to figure out what’s out there about you online. In the beginning of this series, I talked about how the level of risk for doxxing is not the same for everyone. You may want to go significantly further than we’ve covered in this guide if you are:

  • politically active 
  • in an important position 
  • the target of bullying/retaliation 
  • someone whose work requires an increased level of confidentiality like an investigative reporter 
  • a victim of identity theft

This can cover a wide range of additional steps like placing a freeze on your credit report, requesting a privacy removal from search engines, or even setting up dedicated secure devices/apps for communication online. The full scope of these additional protections is beyond what we can cover here, but I will again recommend the Self-Doxxing Guide from AccessNow and the Gender and Tech Safety Resource guide linked in the first post of this series as an excellent reference for where else you might want to check.  

Thank you for following along with me on this journey, and I hope that you found this guide and the resources shared have been helpful for you. Still have questions, or have you discovered any of the links/tools here are no longer available? Please let me know! Life comes at you fast on the web, and I want to make sure this guide continues to be relevant and helpful for a long time to come. You can drop me a line at zoe@duo.com, or find me on Twitter. Until then, happy trails and stay safe out there!  

If you can’t get enough security content and care deeply about making the web safer for everyone, we’d also love to hear from you. Please check out our open positions and how your passion can contribute to keeping people safe online. 


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Researchers Uncover PyPI Package Hiding Malicious Code Behind Image File

By Ravie Lakshmanan
A malicious package discovered on the Python Package Index (PyPI) has been found employing a steganographic trick to conceal malicious code within image files. The package in question, named "apicolor," was uploaded to the Python third-party repository on October 31, 2022, and described as a "Core lib for REST API," according to Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point. It has since been taken

Is Cybersecurity Awareness Month Anything More Than PR?

By The Hacker News
Cybersecurity Awareness Month has been going on since 2004. This year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month urged the public, professionals, and industry partners to "see themselves in cyber" in the following ways:  The public, by taking action to stay safe online. Professionals, by joining the cyber workforce. Cyber industry partners, as part of the cybersecurity solution. CISA outlined four "things

What Is Smishing and Vishing, and How Do You Protect Yourself?

By McAfee

Smishing and vishing are scams where criminals attempt to get users to click a fraudulent link through a phone text message, email, or voicemail. These scams are becoming increasingly popular as cybercriminals try to take advantage of people who are more likely to fall for them, such as those who aren’t as familiar with technology or who may be experiencing a crisis. 

Be aware that cybercrime and hacking can happen to anyone. Criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit people, and they know that others may not be cautious or recognize the warning signs of phishing scams when using the internet. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the different types of cybercrime and how to protect yourself. 

This article discusses how to protect yourself from smishing attempts and scams where criminals try to get you to click on a fraudulent link or respond to their voicemail message to steal your personal data. 

What is smishing?

Most people are familiar with phishing scams, where scammers try to trick you into giving them your personal or financial information by pretending to be a legitimate company or organization. But have you ever heard of smishing or vishing? 

Smishing is a type of phishing scam where attackers send SMS messages (or text messages) to trick victims into sharing personal information or installing malware on their devices. Vishing is almost identical to smishing, except cybercriminals use VoIP (Voice over IP) to place phone calls to trick victims instead of SMS (short message service) messages. 

Smishing messages often appear to be from a legitimate source, such as a well-known company or government agency. It may even include urgent language or threats in an effort to get victims to act quickly. In some cases, the message may also include a link that directs victims to a fake website where they are prompted to enter personal information or download malware. 

Examples of a smishing text message

Here are some examples of smishing text messages hackers use to steal your personal details: 

  • “We have detected unusual activity on your account. Please call this number to speak to a customer service representative.” 
  • “You have won a free gift card! Click here to claim your prize.” 
  • “Hi! We noticed that you’re a recent customer of ours. To finish setting up your account, please click this link and enter your personal information.” 
  • “Urgent! Your bank account has been compromised. Please click this link to reset your password and prevent any further fraud.” 
  • “Hey, it’s [person you know]! I’m in a bit of a bind and could really use your help. I sent you a link to my PayPal, could you send me some money?” 

How dangerous can smishing be?

If you fall for a smishing scam, you could end up giving away your personal information or money. Cybercriminals use smishing messages to get personal and financial information, like your credit card number or access to your financial services 

For example, one type of smishing scam is when you get a text message that looks like it’s from your bank. The message might say there’s been suspicious activity on your account and that you need to click on a link to verify your identity. If you do click on the link, you’ll be taken to a fake website where you’ll be asked to enter your banking information. Once the scammers have your login information, they have access to clean out your account. 

How can you protect yourself from smishing?

Smishing scams can be very difficult to spot, but there are some telltale signs to look for and steps to take to protect yourself. 

Recognize the signs of a smishing text

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from smishing scams is to be able to recognize the signs of a smishing text message. Here are some tips: 

  • Be suspicious of any text messages that ask for personal information or include a link. 
  • Look closely at the sender’s name and number. Fraudulent messages often come from spoofed numbers that may look similar to a legitimate number but with one or two digits off. 
  • Look for errors in spelling or grammar. This can be another sign that the message is not legitimate. 
  • Beware of any text messages that create a sense of urgency or are threatening in nature. Scammers often use these tactics to get you to act quickly without thinking. 
  • If you’re not expecting a message from the sender, be extra cautious. 
  • If you’re unsure whether a text message is legitimate, call the company or organization directly to verify. 

Filter unknown text messages

While you can’t avoid smishing attacks altogether, you can block spam text messages you receive on your mobile phone. iPhone and Android have cybersecurity tools like spam filters and phone number blocking to help protect you from phishing attacks and malicious links. 

To set up spam filters on your iPhone: 

  1. Go to the Settings App 
  2. Go to Messages 
  3. Find the Filter Unknown Senders option and turn it on 

To set up spam filters on your Android mobile device: 

  1. Go to the Messaging App 
  2. Choose Settings 
  3. Tap Spam Protection and turn on Enable Spam Protection 

Use McAfee Mobile Security 

McAfee Mobile Security is a mobile security app that helps protect your phone from malware, phishing attacks, and other online threats. McAfee Mobile Security is available for Android and iOS cell phones. 

One of the benefits of using McAfee Mobile Security is that it can help detect and block smishing attacks. With identity monitoring, McAfee Mobile Security monitors your sensitive information like email accounts, credit card numbers, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and more to protect against identity theft. They notify you if they find any security breaches. 

Other benefits include: 

  • Antivirus 
  • Secure VPN for privacy online 
  • Identity monitoring for up to 10 emails 
  • Guard your identity against risky Wi-Fi connections 
  • Safe browsing 
  • System Scan for the latest updates 

Keep your device and information secure with McAfee Mobile Security

These days, our lives are more intertwined with our mobile devices than ever. We use them to stay connected with our loved ones on social media, conduct our business, and even access our most personal, sensitive data. It’s no surprise that mobile cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important. 

McAfee Mobile Security is a comprehensive security solution that helps protect your device from viruses, malware, and other online threats. It also offers a variety of other features, like a secure VPN to protect your credit card numbers and other personal data 

Whether you’re browsing your favorite website, keeping up with friends on social media, or shopping online at Amazon, McAfee Mobile Security provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing your mobile device is safe and secure. 

So why wait? Don‘t let the smishers win. Get started today with McAfee Mobile Security and rest easy knowing your mobile device and sensitive information are protected. 

The post What Is Smishing and Vishing, and How Do You Protect Yourself? appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Toward the cutting edge: SMBs contemplating enterprise security

By James Shepperd

Survey finds SMBs, weary of security failures, curious about detection and response

The post Toward the cutting edge: SMBs contemplating enterprise security appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Citrix Issues Patches for Critical Flaw Affecting ADC and Gateway Products

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Citrix has released security updates to address a critical authentication bypass flaw in the application delivery controller (ADC) and Gateway products that could be exploited to take control of affected systems. Successful exploitation of the issues could enable an adversary to gain authorized access, perform remote desktop takeover, and even circumvent defenses against login brute-force

High-Severity Flaw Reported in Critical System Used by Oil and Gas Companies

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new vulnerability in a system used across oil and gas organizations that could be exploited by an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code. The high-severity issue, tracked as CVE-2022-0902 (CVSS score: 8.1), is a path-traversal vulnerability in ABB Totalflow flow computers and remote controllers. "Attackers can exploit this flaw to gain

Re-Focusing Cyber Insurance with Security Validation

By The Hacker News
The rise in the costs of data breaches, ransomware, and other cyber attacks leads to rising cyber insurance premiums and more limited cyber insurance coverage. This cyber insurance situation increases risks for organizations struggling to find coverage or facing steep increases. Some Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP's law firm clients, for example, reported a three-fold increase in insurance

New UEFI Firmware Flaws Reported in Several Lenovo Notebook Models

By Ravie Lakshmanan
PC maker Lenovo has addressed yet another set of three shortcomings in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware affecting several Yoga, IdeaPad, and ThinkBook devices. "The vulnerabilities allow disabling UEFI Secure Boot or restoring factory default Secure Boot databases (incl. dbx): all simply from an OS," Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET explained in a series of tweets. UEFI

Emergency code execution patch from Apple – but not an 0-day

By Paul Ducklin
Not a zero-day, but important enough for a quick-fire patch to one system library...

Cisco Secure Firewall on AWS: Build resilience at scale with stateful firewall clustering

By Anubhav Swami

Organizations embrace the public cloud for the agility, scalability, and reliability it offers when running applications. But just as organizations need these capabilities to ensure their applications operate where needed and as needed, they also require their security does the same. Organizations may introduce multiple individual firewalls into their AWS infrastructure to produce this outcome. In theory, this may be a good decision, but in practice—this could lead to asymmetric routing issues. Complex SNAT configuration can mitigate asymmetric routing issues, but this isn’t practical for sustaining public cloud operations. Organizations are looking out for their long-term cloud strategies by ruling out SNAT and are calling for a more reliable and scalable solution for connecting their applications and security for always-on protection.

To solve these challenges, Cisco created stateful firewall clustering with Secure Firewall in AWS.

 

Cisco Secure Firewall clustering overview

Firewall clustering for Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual provides a highly resilient and reliable architecture for securing your AWS cloud environment. This capability lets you group multiple Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual appliances together as a single logical device, known as a “cluster.”

A cluster provides all the conveniences of a single device (management and integration into a network) while taking advantage of the increased throughput and redundancy you would expect from deploying multiple devices individually. Cisco uses Cluster Control Link (CCL) for forwarding asymmetric traffic across devices in the cluster. Clusters can go up to 16 members, and we use VxLAN for CCL.

In this case, clustering has the following roles:

Figure 1: Cisco Secure Firewall Clustering Overview

The above diagram explains traffic flow between the client and the server with the insertion of the firewall cluster in the network. Below defines the roles of clustering and how packet flow interacts at each step.

 

Clustering roles and responsibilities 

Owner: The Owner is the node in the cluster that initially receives the connection.

    • The Owner maintains the TCP state and processes the packets. 
    • A connection has only one Owner. 
    • If the original Owner fails, the new node receives the packets, and the Director chooses a new Owner from the available nodes in the cluster.

Backup Owner: The node that stores TCP/UDP state information received from the Owner so that the connection can be seamlessly transferred to a new owner in case of failure.

Director: The Director is the node in the cluster that handles owner lookup requests from the Forwarder(s). 

    • When the Owner receives a new connection, it chooses a Director based on a hash of the source/destination IP address and ports. The Owner then sends a message to the Director to register the new connection. 
    • If packets arrive at any node other than the Owner, the node queries the Director. The Director then seeks out and defines the Owner node so that the Forwarder can redirect packets to the correct destination. 
    • A connection has only one Director. 
    • If a Director fails, the Owner chooses a new Director.

Forwarder: The Forwarder is a node in the cluster that redirects packets to the Owner. 

    • If a Forwarder receives a packet for a connection it does not own, it queries the Director to seek out the Owner 
    • Once the Owner is defined, the Forwarder establishes a flow, and redirects any future packets it receives for this connection to the defined Owner.

Fragment Owner: For fragmented packets, cluster nodes that receive a fragment determine a Fragment Owner using a hash of the fragment source IP address, destination IP address, and the packet ID. All fragments are then redirected to the Fragment Owner over Cluster Control Link.  

 

Integration with AWS Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB)

Cisco brought support for AWS Gateway Load Balancer (Figure 2). This feature enables organizations to scale their firewall presence as needed to meet demand (see details here).

Figure 2: Cisco Secure Firewall and AWS Gateway Load Balancer integration

 

Cisco Secure Firewall clustering in AWS

Building off the previous figure, organizations can take advantage of the AWS Gateway Load Balancer with Secure Firewall’s clustering capability to evenly distribute traffic at the Secure Firewall cluster. This enables organizations to maximize the benefits of clustering capabilities including increased throughput and redundancy. Figure 3 shows how positioning a Secure Firewall cluster behind the AWS Gateway Load Balancer creates a resilient architecture. Let’s take a closer look at what is going on in the diagram.

Figure 3: Cisco Secure Firewall clustering in AWS

Figure 3 shows an Internet user looking to access a workload. Before the user can access the workload, the user’s traffic is routed to Firewall Node 2 for inspection. The traffic flow for this example includes:

User -> IGW -> GWLBe -> GWLB -> Secure Firewall (2) -> GLWB -> GWLBe -> Workload

In the event of failure, the AWS Gateway Load Balancer cuts off existing connections to the failed node, making the above solution non-stateful.

Recently, AWS announced a new feature for their load balancers known as Target Failover for Existing Flows. This feature enables forwarding of existing connections to another target in the event of failure.

Cisco is an early adaptor of this feature and has combined Target Failover for Existing Flows with Secure Firewall clustering capabilities to create the industry’s first stateful cluster in AWS.

aws
Figure 4: Cisco Secure Firewall clustering rehashing existing flow to a new node

Figure 4 shows a firewall failure event and how the AWS Gateway Load Balancer uses the Target Failover for Existing Flows feature to switch the traffic flow from Firewall Node 2 to Firewall Node 3. The traffic flow for this example includes:

User -> IGW -> GWLBe -> GWLB -> Secure Firewall (3) -> GLWB -> GWLBe -> Workload

 

Conclusion

Organizations need reliable and scalable security to protect always-on applications in their AWS cloud environment. With stateful firewall clustering capabilities from Cisco, organizations can protect their applications while maintaining cloud benefits such as agility, scalability, and reliability.

Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Virtual is available in the AWS marketplace, providing features like firewalling, application visibility & control, IPS, URL filtering, and malware defense. Cisco offers flexible options for firewall licensing, such as pay-as-you-go (PAYG) and bring-your-own-license (BYOL). To learn more about how Cisco Secure Firewall clustering capabilities can help protect your AWS applications, see our additional resources, check out our 30-day free trial, or speak to your Cisco sales representative.

 

Additional Resources 

Cisco Secure Firewall Clustering in the Cloud

Building a Scalable Security Architecture on AWS with Cisco Secure Firewall and AWS Gateway Load Balancer

Introducing AWS Gateway Load Balancer Target Failover for Existing Flows

Secure Firewall for Public Cloud webpage


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Cisco Secure Endpoint – looking very positive in recent reports!

By Pat Correia

Lots of exciting things happening at Cisco, and for our customers, all to help them better prepare for what’s next. Case in point, we just returned from a very successful Cisco Partner Summit where the spotlight shined on cyber security. When our executives were on stage talking about solutions, the attendees heard a very catchy phrase; “if it’s connected, it’s protected.”  A cool phrase, but there is more to that phrase and much more behind it.   

To tie both connected and protected together, it’s good to note that Cisco is uniquely positioned as a security vendor with 80% of the worldwide internet traffic running through our network hardware and secured by our open platform, with hundreds of thousands of customers benefitting from automation, and from enriched and prioritized threat intel via our Extended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities. That means a vast amount of unique insights for our customers to become more resilient, stay ahead of threats, be more confident, and benefit from less risk. 

But there are questions, naturally!  

As examples of these questions above: 

 (1) what about proof points on the above? 

 (2) and do Cisco’s capabilities align with what customers want and need?  

Let’s find out on the first by bringing the XDR aspect of security into the discussion, and the second by observing responses from a Forrester Total Economic Impact ™ 

 (TEI) study commissioned by Cisco, both points utilizing our Secure Endpoint solution. 

XDR Proof Points via Secure Endpoint Test Results 

First off, in simple terms, XDR provides the benefit of integrating threat intel from all control points of the security platform and combines that into actionable insights for better, faster, and where appropriate, prioritized remediation of the most critical threats, i.e. XDR helps security teams to identify the threats that can do the most damage and enables the workflows to neutralize those threats first. 

And here is where the proof point comes in. One of the most critical components of XDR is endpoint security. And in the case of Cisco, it’s our Secure Endpoint solution. Cisco recently participated in the AV-Comparatives’ Endpoint Prevention and Response (EPR) Test. The AV-C test is described by that independent test organization as “… the most comprehensive test of EPR products ever performed.” Secure Endpoint was one of the 10 endpoint security products in the test that were subjected to 50 separate targeted attack scenarios, which used a variety of different techniques.  

Here are the highlights of the AV-C EPR report where Cisco Secure Endpoint: 

  • clearly achieved the highest ranking of 100% out of 10 vendors 
  • was the only vendor with 100% in all phases, for both active and passive responses, for all 50 separate targeted attack scenarios   
  • delivered the lowest TCO out of 10 products – $587 5-year TCO (per agent) 

Stunning results and confidence building for our customers that Cisco is effective in endpoint security. Read the complete AV-C EPR Test Report here.

And then, what about the second proof point – is Cisco providing what customers want & need? 

Customer Alignment Proof Points via Forrester Secure Endpoint TEI Report 

Cisco commissioned Forrester Consulting to perform an unbiased cost-benefit analysis of our Cisco Secure Endpoint product. The report yielded the highlights below, based upon a composite organization, and also includes 20+ outstanding customer quotes. 

Here’s the Forrester TEI Study bottom line for the composite organization: 

  • achieved ROI of up to 287% and saw payback <6 months  
  • After deploying Cisco Secure Endpoint and SecureX, the time to investigate and/or remediate is reduced by 50% 
  • customers modernized their security and reduced their risk of material breach and productivity loss   

Very good results and again, confidence building for our customers that Cisco is effective in endpoint security. Read the Forrester “The Total Economic Impact™ Of Cisco Secure Endpoint” Study here. 

One last thing, what about those customer quotes? Here are a couple of examples: 

“Having something take immediate action to quarantine something that could have propagated quickly and take down your network [is] a priceless piece.”  

Director of IT security, logistics 

“We wanted [a company that] is passionate and cares about us running through the night.” 

Director of IT security, logistics

To find out more, read Forrester’s “The Total Economic Impact™ Of Cisco Secure Endpoint” Study here. And if you are not familiar with Secure Endpoint, or would like to sign up for a free trial, check it out here.


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Don’t Get Caught Offsides with These World Cup Scams

By McAfee Labs

Authored by: Christy Crimmins and Oliver Devane

Football (or Soccer as we call it in the U.S.) is the most popular sport in the world, with over 3.5 billion fans across the globe. On November 20th, the men’s World Cup kicks off (pun intended) in Qatar. This event, a tournament played by 32 national teams every four years, determines the sport’s world champion. It will also be one of the most-watched sporting events of at least the last four years (since the previous World Cup). 

An event with this level of popularity and interest also attracts fraudsters and cyber criminals looking to capitalize on fans’ excitement. Here’s how to spot these scams and stay penalty-free during this year’s tournament. 

New Cup, who’s this? 

Phishing is a tool that cybercriminals have used for years now. Most of us are familiar with the telltale signs—misspelled words, poor grammar, and a sender email whose email address makes no sense or whose phone number is unknown. But excitement and anticipation can cloud our judgment. What football fan wouldn’t be tempted to win a free trip to see their home team participate in the ultimate tournament? Cybercriminals are betting that this excitement will cloud fans’ judgment, leading them to click on nefarious links that ultimately download malware or steal personal information. 

It’s important to realize that these messages can come via a variety of channels, including email, text messages, (also known as smishing) and other messaging channels like WhatsApp and Telegram. No matter what the source is, it’s essential to remain vigilant and pause to think before clicking links or giving out personal or banking information.  

For more information on phishing and how to spot a phisher, see McAfee’s “What is Phishing?” blog. 

Real money for fake tickets 

According to ActionFraud, the UK’s national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime, thousands of people were victims of ticket fraud in 2019—and that’s just in the UK. Ticket fraud is when someone advertises tickets for sale, usually through a website or message board, collects the payment and then disappears, without the buyer ever receiving the ticket.  

 

The World Cup is a prime (and lucrative) target for this type of scam, with fans willing to pay thousands of dollars to see their teams compete. Chances are most people have their tickets firmly in hand (or digital wallet) by now, but if you’re planning to try a last-minute trip, beware of this scam and make sure that you’re using a legitimate, reputable ticket broker. To be perfectly safe, stick with well-known ticket brokers and those who offer consumer protection. Also beware of sites that don’t accept debit or credit cards and only accept payment in the form of bitcoin or wire transfers such as the one on the fake ticket site below:  

The red box on the right image shows that the ticket site accepts payment via Bitcoin.  

Other red flags to look out for are websites that ask you to contact them to make payment and the only contact information is via WhatsApp. 

Streaming the matches 

Let’s be realistic—most of us are going to have to settle for watching the World Cup from the comfort of our own home, or the pub down the street. If you’re watching the tournament online, be sure that you’re using a legitimate streaming service. A quick Google of “FIFA World Cup 2022 Official Streaming” along with your country should get you the information you need to safely watch the event through official channels. The FIFA site itself is also a good source of information.  

Illegal streaming sites usually contain deceptive ads and malware which can cause harm to your device.  

Don’t get taken to the bank 

In countries or regions where sports betting is legal, the 2022 World Cup is expected to drive an increase in activity. There’s no shortage of things to bet on, from a simple win/loss to the exact minute a goal will be scored by a particular player. Everything is subject to wager.   

As with our previous examples, this increase in legitimate gambling brings with it an increase in deceptive activity. Online betting scams often start when users are directed to or search for gambling site and end up on a fraudulent one. After placing their bets and winning, users realize that while they may have “won” money, they are unable to withdraw it and are even sometimes asked to deposit even more money to make winnings available, and even then, they still won’t be. By the end of this process, the bettor has lost all their initial money (and then some, potentially) as well as any personal information they shared on the site.  

Like other scams, users should be wary of sites that look hastily put together or are riddled with errors. Your best bet (yes, again, pun intended) is to look for an established online service that is approved by your government or region’s gaming commission. Finally, reading the fine print on incentives or bonuses is always a good idea. If something sounds too good to be true, it’s best to double-check. 

For more on how you can bet online safely, and for details on how legalized online betting works in the U.S., check out our blog on the topic.  

Keep that Connection Secure 

Using a free public Wi-Fi connection is risky. User data on these networks is unprotected, which makes it vulnerable to cyber criminals. Whether you’re traveling to Qatar for a match or watching the them with friends at your favorite pub, if you’re connecting to a public Wi-Fi connection, make sure you use a trusted VPN connection. 

Give scammers a straight red card this World Cup 

For more information on scams, visit our scam education page. Hopefully, with these tips, you’ll be able to enjoy and participate in some of the World Cup festivities, after all, fun is the goal!  

The post Don’t Get Caught Offsides with These World Cup Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.

10 common security mistakes and how to avoid them

By Phil Muncaster

Do you put yourself at greater risk for successful attacks by making one of these security mistakes?

The post 10 common security mistakes and how to avoid them appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

Top 5 API Security Myths That Are Crushing Your Business

By The Hacker News
There are several myths and misconceptions about API security. These myths about securing APIs are crushing your business.  Why so? Because these myths are widening your security gaps. This is making it easier for attackers to abuse APIs. And API attacks are costly. Of course, you will have to bear financial losses. But there are other consequences too:  Reputational damage  Customer attrition

VMware Warns of 3 New Critical Flaws Affecting Workspace ONE Assist Software

By Ravie Lakshmanan
VMware has patched five security flaws affecting its Workspace ONE Assist solution, some of which could be exploited to bypass authentication and obtain elevated permissions. Topping the list are three critical vulnerabilities tracked as CVE-2022-31685, CVE-2022-31686, and CVE-2022-31687. All the shortcomings are rated 9.8 on the CVSS vulnerability scoring system. CVE-2022-31685 is an

How to Use Apple Pay or Google Wallet Instead of Plastic Cards

By Reece Rogers
Cash is safe—for now. Contactless payment methods, like Apple Pay or Google Wallet, are more of a threat to the existence of physical cards.

Silk Road drugs market hacker pleads guilty, faces 20 years inside

By Paul Ducklin
Jurisprudence isn't like arithmetic... two negatives never make a positive!

Amadey Bot Spotted Deploying LockBit 3.0 Ransomware on Hacked Machines

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The Amadey malware is being used to deploy LockBit 3.0 ransomware on compromised systems, researchers have warned. "Amadey bot, the malware that is used to install LockBit, is being distributed through two methods: one using a malicious Word document file, and the other using an executable that takes the disguise of the Word file icon," AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC) said in a

Cisco Secure Endpoint Crushed the AV-Comparative EPR Test

By Truman Coburn

The word is out! Cisco Secure Endpoint’s effectiveness is off the charts in protecting your enterprise environment.

This is not just a baseless opinion; however, the facts are rooted in actual test results from the annual AV-Comparative EPR Test Report published in October 2022. Not only did Secure Endpoint knock it out of the park in enterprise protection; but Cisco Secure Endpoint obtained the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per agent at $587 over 5 years. No one else was remotely close in this area. More to come on that later.

If you are not familiar with the “AV-Comparatives Endpoint Prevention and Response Test is the most comprehensive test of EPR products ever performed. The 10 products in the test were subjected to 50 separate targeted attack scenarios, which used a variety of different techniques.”

These results are from an industry-respected third-party organization that assesses antivirus software and has just confirmed what we know and believe here at Cisco, which is our Secure Endpoint product is the industry’s best of the best.

Leader of the pack

Look for yourself at where we landed. That’s right, Cisco Secure Endpoint smashed this test, we are almost off the quadrant as one of the “Strategic Leaders”.

We ended up here for a combination of reasons, with the top being our efficacy in protecting our customers’ environments in this real-world test that emulates multi-stage attacks similar to MITRE’s ATT&CK evaluations which are conducted as part of this process (click here for an overview of MITRE ATT&CK techniques). Out of all the 50 scenarios tested, Secure Endpoint was the only product that STOPPED 100% of targeted threats toward enterprise users, which prevented further infiltration into the organization.

Lowest Total Cost of Ownership

In addition, this test not only assesses the efficacy of endpoint security products but also analyzes their cost-effectiveness. Following up on my earlier remarks about achieving the lowest cost of ownership, the graph below displays how we stacked up against other industry players in this space including several well-known vendors that chose not to display their names due to poor results.

These results provide a meaningful proof point that Cisco Secure Endpoint is perfectly positioned to secure the enterprise as well as secure the future of hybrid workers.

Enriched with built-in Extended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities, Cisco Secure Endpoint has allowed our customers to maintain resiliency when faced with outside threats.

As we embark on securing “what’s next” by staying ahead of unforeseen cyber threats of tomorrow, Cisco Secure Endpoint integration with the complete Cisco Secure Solutions portfolio allows you to move forward with the peace of mind that if it’s connected, we can and will protect it.

Secure Endpoint live instant demo

Now that you have seen how effective Secure Endpoint is with live real-world testing, try it for yourself with one of our live instant demos. Click here to access instructions on how to download and install your demo account for a test drive.

Click here to see what analysts, customers, and third-party testing organizations have to say about Cisco Secure Endpoint Security efficacy, easy implementation and overall low total cost of ownership for their organization —and stay ahead of threats.


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U.S. Seizes Over 50K Bitcoin Worth $3.3 Billion Linked to Silk Road Dark Web

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday said it seized 50,676 Bitcoin in November 2021 that was stolen in the 2012 hack of the now-defunct Silk Road dark web marketplace. The bitcoin, which was obtained in 2012 and valued at $3.36 billion when it was discovered last year, is now worth $1.04 billion. Additionally recovered were $661,900 in cash, 25 Casascius coins with an approximate value

5 Reasons to Consolidate Your Tech Stack

By The Hacker News
The news surrounding the slowing economy has many wondering how much of an impact it will have on their businesses – and lives. And there's good reason to start preparing.  A recent survey by McKinsey & Company found that 85% of small and midsize businesses plan to increase their security spending heading into 2023, while Gartner recently projected that 2022 IT spending will only grow by 3%,

Experts Find URLScan Security Scanner Inadvertently Leaks Sensitive URLs and Data

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Security researchers are warning of "a trove of sensitive information" leaking through urlscan.io, a website scanner for suspicious and malicious URLs. "Sensitive URLs to shared documents, password reset pages, team invites, payment invoices and more are publicly listed and searchable," Positive Security co-founder, Fabian Bräunlein, said in a report published on November 2, 2022. The

Inside the ‘Election Integrity App’ Built to Purge US Voter Rolls

By Dhruv Mehrotra
True the Vote’s IV3 app is meant to catch election cheaters. But it has a fundamental flaw.

The Secret Ballot Is US Democracy’s Last Line of Defense

By Lily Hay Newman
Voter intimidation has cropped up in places across the nation, but the voting booth remains the one place where nobody can get to you.

IRS Seizes Another Silk Road Hacker’s $3.36 Billion Bitcoin Stash

By Andy Greenberg
A year after a billion-dollar seizure of the dark web market's crypto, the same agency found a giant trove hidden under a different hacker's floorboards.

Twitter’s Ex-Election Chief Is Worried About the US Midterms

By Chris Stokel-Walker
Edward Perez says that “manufactured chaos” by bad actors will be even riskier thanks to Elon Musk’s own mayhem.

TikTok Admits Staff in China Can Access Europeans’ Data

By Lily Hay Newman, Andrew Couts
Plus: Liz Truss’ phone-hacking trouble, Cash App’s sex-trafficking problem, and the rising cost of ransomware.

Researchers Uncover 29 Malicious PyPI Packages Targeted Developers with W4SP Stealer

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered 29 packages in Python Package Index (PyPI), the official third-party software repository for the Python programming language, that aim to infect developers' machines with a malware called W4SP Stealer. "The main attack seems to have started around October 12, 2022, slowly picking up steam to a concentrated effort around October 22," software supply chain

Microsoft Warns of Uptick in Hackers Leveraging Publicly-Disclosed 0-Day Vulnerabilities

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Microsoft is warning of an uptick among nation-state and criminal actors increasingly leveraging publicly-disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities for breaching target environments. The tech giant, in its 114-page Digital Defense Report, said it has "observed a reduction in the time between the announcement of a vulnerability and the commoditization of that vulnerability," making it imperative that

Your OT Is No Longer Isolated: Act Fast to Protect It

By The Hacker News
Not too long ago, there was a clear separation between the operational technology (OT) that drives the physical functions of a company – on the factory floor, for example – and the information technology (IT) that manages a company's data to enable management and planning.  As IT assets became increasingly connected to the outside world via the internet, OT remained isolated from IT – and the

CISA Warns of Critical Vulnerabilities in 3 Industrial Control System Software

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published three Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories about multiple vulnerabilities in software from ETIC Telecom, Nokia, and Delta Industrial Automation. Prominent among them is a set of three flaws affecting ETIC Telecom's Remote Access Server (RAS), which "could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information and

LinkedIn Adds Verified Emails, Profile Creation Dates

By BrianKrebs

Responding to a recent surge in AI-generated bot accounts, LinkedIn is rolling out new features that it hopes will help users make more informed decisions about with whom they choose to connect. Many LinkedIn profiles now display a creation date, and the company is expanding its domain validation offering, which allows users to publicly confirm that they can reply to emails at the domain of their stated current employer.

LinkedIn’s new “About This Profile” section — which is visible by clicking the “More” button at the top of a profile — includes the year the account was created, the last time the profile information was updated, and an indication of how and whether an account has been verified.

LinkedIn also said it is adding a warning to some LinkedIn messages that include high-risk content, or that try to entice the user into taking the conversation to another platform (like WeChat).

“We may warn you about messages that ask you to take the conversation to another platform because that can be a sign of a scam,” the company said in a blog post. “These warnings will also give you the choice to report the content without letting the sender know.”

In late September 2022, KrebsOnSecurity warned about the proliferation of fake LinkedIn profiles for Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) roles at some of the world’s largest corporations. A follow-up story on Oct. 5 showed how the phony profile problem has affected virtually all executive roles at corporations, and how these fake profiles are creating an identity crisis for the businesses networking site and the companies that rely on it to hire and screen prospective employees.

Reporting here last month also tracked a massive drop in profiles claiming to work at several major technology companies, as LinkedIn apparently took action against hundreds of thousands of inauthentic accounts that falsely claimed roles at these companies.

For example, on October 10, 2022, there were 576,562 LinkedIn accounts that listed their current employer as Apple Inc. The next day, half of those profiles no longer existed. At around the same time, the number of LinkedIn profiles claiming current roles at Amazon fell from roughly 1.25 million to 838,601 in just one day, a 33 percent drop.

For whatever reason, the majority of the phony LinkedIn profiles reviewed by this author were young women with profile photos that appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

“We’re seeing rapid advances in AI-based synthetic image generation technology and we’ve created a deep learning model to better catch profiles made with this technology,” LinkedIn’s Oscar Rodriguez wrote. “AI-based image generators can create an unlimited number of unique, high-quality profile photos that do not correspond to real people.”

It remains unclear who or what is behind the recent proliferation of fake executive profiles on LinkedIn, but likely they are from a combination of scams. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant (recently acquired by Googletold Bloomberg that hackers working for the North Korean government have been copying resumes and profiles from leading job listing platforms LinkedIn and Indeed, as part of an elaborate scheme to land jobs at cryptocurrency firms.

Identity thieves have been known to masquerade on LinkedIn as job recruiters, collecting personal and financial information from people who fall for employment scams.

Also, fake profiles also may be tied to so-called “pig butchering” scams, wherein people are lured by flirtatious strangers online into investing in cryptocurrency trading platforms that eventually seize any funds when victims try to cash out.

CLEANING UP THE CLUTTER (Pt. 5 of “Why Don’t You Go Dox Yourself?”)

By Zoe Lindsey

Welcome back! Previously in our Go Dox Yourself series, we walked through reviewing what information is available about you online, prioritizing those accounts that are most important or still active, and then restricting how much we share through those accounts and who gets to see it. That’s two out of our three steps — maybe good enough for Meatloaf, but not for us! You’re in the home stretch now, and this is the most straightforward-if-slow portion of the process — so let’s dive right in.

SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD (ACCOUNTS)

In the review step , along with the top accounts that you wrote out in your initial brain dump, we used some email search tricks and the free services NameCheckup.com and NameChk.com to dig up any unused, forgotten, or now obsolete accounts you might have previously registered under your email address or favorite username (or, as us ʼ80s kids used to say, your “handle.”)

dox
Example results on a username search from NameChk

We set those old accounts to the side to focus on your active and sensitive data first, but now it’s time to make Marie Kondo proud and clean out the junk drawers of our online life – if it doesn’t still serve you or spark joy, let’s kiss it goodbye!

In a perfect world, this would be as simple as logging in, going to your account settings and clicking a big ol’ “Cancel My Account” button. However, many sites opt to bury the cancelation settings behind a series of smokescreen menus, sometimes even including a half dozen unskippable “are you SURE you want to leave?” and “but we’ll give you a super good deal to stay!” surveys to click through first.

If you find yourself thwarted and your first search of “[Unwanted Service] cancel” doesn’t take you where you need to go, try checking out AccountKiller. This collaborative resource takes submissions of step-by-step deletion instructions and direct links to cancel for a tremendous number of sites, and even includes phone tree options and direct support numbers for canceling offline accounts as well.

The first pass of your delete list might well be longer than a CVS receipt, because these days the average person has 100 password-protected accounts to manage, but don’t worry! You don’t have to sprint to the finish line, and slow progress checking off a few accounts in short sessions over a few weeks will serve you better than a several-hour slog of trying to clear them all at once and burning out.

An important lesson in security is that operating at max capacity isn’t sustainable all the time, and planning for rest and overflow in our personal security planning is no different. Remember that the work you’re doing is cumulative, each small step is one more forward, and every account you clear now is one less that you’ll need to revisit later.

TAKING YOUR DATA OFF THE MARKET

You might notice that we’ve checked off most of the information from our initial brainstorm: emails, usernames, phone numbers, profile pictures… but so far, we haven’t done much with your location history: the cities you lived in and live now, the cities where you worked or went to school, and the city of your birth. Now that we’re going to see how much information on you is available through data brokers and public record sites, these details will be important to have handy.

For the unfamiliar, data brokers are companies which collect and bundle personal information for everything from ad customization to individual investigation. Brokers collect their data through a wide variety of methods, including:

  • Public record sites
  • Public social media content, and social media/demographic content collected through third party apps
  • Ad trackers, which collect data about your browsing activity across different sites (it is worth mentioning that this method is becoming less popular thanks to improvements by hardware and OS providers)
  • Location tracking, often collected by installed apps on a user’s smart device
  • In brick and mortar stores, retailers even use Bluetooth and WiFi trackers for more precise information on shopper’s habits and “hotspots” during a visit

These metrics and details are bundled and sold, either directly through lookup sites like we’ll review in just a moment, or in demographic bundles (for example, “Resilient Renters” or “Living on Loans: Young Urban Single Parents”). If you’ve ever walked through a car dealership window-shopping and suddenly found sponsored content for that car company in your feed, data brokers are the most likely reason.

For this step you should reference the previously-mentioned Personal Data Removal Workbook provided by Michael Bazzell through his company, IntelTechniques. Bazzell has maintained and updated this workbook for many years now, and it is by far the most comprehensive resource for keeping a handle on who is buying and selling your data.

One of the first things you’ll notice on opening the workbook is the sheer volume of businesses out there buying and selling your data: at time of writing, the current edition includes 220 separate brokers. But much like your initial account inventory likely included a select set of important accounts and a longer list of less-relevant ones, there are less than a dozen brokers who dominate most of the market and should be at the top of your list – and fortunately, they’re also at the top of the workbook! These sites are:

  • Acxiom: B2B (business-to-business) marketing service providing “customer intelligence” that can include personal info as well as demographic/interest information based on your online activity
  • BeenVerified: Search engine for public records, including email/phone/username lookup, vehicle information, and unclaimed property
  • Infotracer: Another public records search including even more information like political contributions, arrest records, and property records
  • Intelius: People-search tool utilized for background checks, private investigators, and public searches
  • Lexis Nexis: One of the oldest brokers, and more of a “big player” in the space working with law firms, government agencies, and large corporation for analytic and investigation needs
  • Radaris: Similar to BeenVerified and Intelius, covering public record searches of name, contact information, or property/location history
  • Spokeo: Branded as a “white pages service”, focused on name/address/email/phone-based searches
  • TruePeopleSearch: Phone, name, and email based searches
  • Whitepages: Another comprehensive search site covering many types of public records

Aside from covering most of the market for data and analytics intelligence, these primary sites often act as “feeders” for smaller providers that are either directly affiliated or collect information for their own databases from the largest providers. Which means that as you remove your data from these sites, you’ll not only check off another box on your list, but you may also reduce the number of hits you find for your information on smaller sites as you work your way down.

Congratulations: if you’ve been following along, you’ve just made it through your self-doxxing! Hopefully you’re feeling much better informed and aware of what tracks you’ve left online, and addressed who you do and do not want to have your… addresses. Join us soon for our wrap-up post where we’ll recap with takeaway lessons, as well as good habits and check-ins to keep you safe going forward.

Care about keeping people and their data safe online? Check out our open roles.


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Ways You Can See Yourself as a Mentally Stronger Cybersecurity Professional

By Shailaja Shankar

As we wrapped up October, we also put the final touches on a flurry of activities to celebrate Cyber Security Awareness Month. The tradition of October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month goes back to 2004 when Congress and the White House tasked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) to join forces to help individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data became more commonplace. There is no question that the scale and severity of threats have only increased exponentially in the nearly two decades we have been actively participating in cybersecurity awareness.

This year’s theme was “See Yourself in Cyber” to reinforce the fact that that while cybersecurity is technology-driven, ultimately, it’s really all about people that makes it real. So, this month is all about sharing information across the cybersecurity industry with individuals and companies around the world so we can all be more effective together. That gives me a great opportunity to discuss a related issue that profoundly impacts professionals who work in cybersecurity every single day: mental health.

State of mental health in cybersecurity

Working in cybersecurity can be a stressful endeavor, which is why I’m so proud to be part of this global network of professionals who have dedicated our work lives to this important mission. We must be ever vigilant and on guard against threats and bad actors, both known and unknown. It is this ever-changing world of cybersecurity work that only compounds the stress level. The possibilities of work-related depression and burnout are real and becoming more common. According to this Forbes column, more than half of cybersecurity professionals in the US and Europe are on medication to help improve work-related mental health.

I wrote extensively about ways we can help our colleagues and employees work through mental health issues in this blog last May commemorating the official Mental Health Awareness Month. The key takeaways I closed with are worth repeating.

  1. It’s OK not to be OK. We should never treat mental health issues as a stigma because struggling is a human experience that nobody is immune to.
  2. Combating cybersecurity threats is an “always-on” task. We must acknowledge this so that we can find ways to load balance responsibilities among different individuals and teams effectively.
  3. We MUST be better at taking care of each other. We must pay attention to the cues, sometimes subtle, that colleagues who are struggling send out. Likewise, we must be bold enough to open up and ask for help when we are struggling. Finally, we must learn to disengage from the serious responsibilities of working in cybersecurity and devote dedicated time to time with friends, family, and non-work-related activities.

From a technology point of view, we at Cisco Secure are committed to the goal of helping organizations become more security resilient. We know that unpredictability is the nature of working in cybersecurity.  But by being more resilient I firmly believe that we can help organizations to be able to withstand the ever-changing threat landscape and ultimately emerge stronger.

Naturally, our goal is to extend the benefits of resilience downstream to the cybersecurity pros who are on the frontlines of battling threats and bad actors. To that end, there are a couple of resources I’d like to point to. One, the American Psychological Association offers a few very helpful ways people can develop more resilience with regards to mental health. Two, Cisco offers great resources to help you either enter the cybersecurity field or enhance your career through advanced training education. Additionally, Cisco has made a commitment to the White House as part of the Cyber Workforce and Education Summit to train more than 200,000 students to join the cybersecurity field over the next three years.

Next time…

November 16 happens to be the UN International Day for Tolerance. Like the word resilience, tolerance can take on several different meanings. But I want to take the opportunity to apply it to another critical issue impacting the cybersecurity industry: the need for a more diverse and inclusive workforce. I covered some of these themes in one of the earliest blogs I posted after joining Cisco. I look forward to providing additional perspectives with some of the latest trends and stats we are seeing within Cisco Secure.

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