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Before yesterdaySecurity

Inside a scammers’ lair: Ukraine busts 40 in fake bank call-centre raid

By Naked Security writer
When someone calls you up to warn you that your bank account is under attack - it's true, because THAT VERY PERSON is the one attacking you!

PyTorch: Machine Learning toolkit pwned from Christmas to New Year

By Paul Ducklin
The bad news: the crooks have your SSH private keys. The good news: only users of the "nightly" build were affected.

Twitter data of “+400 million unique users” up for sale – what to do?

By Paul Ducklin
If the crooks have connected up your phone number and your Twitter handle... what could go wrong?

LastPass finally admits: Those crooks who got in? They did steal your password vaults, after all…

By Paul Ducklin
The crooks now know who you are, where you live, which computers are yours, where you go online... and they got those password vaults, too.

France Fines Microsoft €60 Million for Using Advertising Cookies Without User Consent

By Ravie Lakshmanan
France's privacy watchdog has imposed a €60 million ($63.88 million) fine against Microsoft's Ireland subsidiary for dropping advertising cookies in users' computers without their explicit consent in violation of data protection laws in the European Union. The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) noted that users visiting the home page of its Bing search engine did not

LastPass Admits to Severe Data Breach, Encrypted Password Vaults Stolen

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The August 2022 security breach of LastPass may have been more severe than previously disclosed by the company. The popular password management service on Thursday revealed that malicious actors obtained a trove of personal information belonging to its customers that include their encrypted password vaults by using data siphoned from the earlier break-in. Among the data stolen are "basic

The Equifax Breach Settlement Offer is Real, For Now

By BrianKrebs

Millions of people likely just received an email or snail mail notice saying they’re eligible to claim a class action payment in connection with the 2017 megabreach at consumer credit bureau Equifax. Given the high volume of reader inquiries about this, it seemed worth pointing out that while this particular offer is legit (if paltry), scammers are likely to soon capitalize on public attention to the settlement money.

One reader’s copy of their Equifax Breach Settlement letter. They received a check for $6.97.

In 2017, Equifax disclosed a massive, extended data breach that led to the theft of Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, addresses and other personal information on nearly 150 million people. Following a public breach response perhaps best described as a giant dumpster fire, the big-three consumer credit reporting bureau was quickly hit with nearly two dozen class-action lawsuits.

In exchange for resolving all outstanding class action claims against it, Equifax in 2019 agreed to a settlement that includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the breach.

Affected consumers were eligible to apply for at least three years of credit monitoring via all three major bureaus simultaneously, including Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Or, if you didn’t want to take advantage of the credit monitoring offers, you could opt for a cash payment of up to $125.

The settlement also offered reimbursement for the time you may have spent remedying identity theft or misuse of your personal information caused by the breach, or purchasing credit monitoring or credit reports. This was capped at 20 total hours at $25 per hour ($500), with total cash reimbursement payments not to exceed $20,000 per consumer.

Those who did file a claim probably started receiving emails or other communications earlier this year from the Equifax Breach Settlement Fund, which has been messaging class participants about methods of collecting their payments.

How much each recipient receives appears to vary quite a bit, but probably most people will have earned a payment on the smaller end of that $125 scale — like less than $10. Those who received higher amounts likely spent more time documenting actual losses and/or explaining how the breach affected them personally.

So far this week, KrebsOnSecurity has received at least 20 messages from readers seeking more information about these notices. Some readers shared copies of letters they got in the mail along with a paper check from the Equifax Breach Settlement Fund (see screenshot above).

Others said they got emails from the Equifax Breach Settlement domain that looked like an animated greeting card offering instructions on how to redeem a virtual prepaid card.

If you received one of these settlement emails and are wary about clicking the included links (good for you, by the way), copy the redemption code and paste it into the search box at myprepaidcenter.com/redeem. Successfully completing the card application requires accepting a prepaid MasterCard agreement (PDF).

The website for the settlement — equifaxbreachsettlement.com — also includes a lookup tool that lets visitors check whether they were affected by the breach; it requires your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security Number.

But be aware that phishers and other scammers are likely to take advantage of increased public awareness of the payouts to snooker people. Tim Helming, security evangelist at DomainTools.com, today flagged several new domains that mimic the name of the real Equifax Breach Settlement website and do not appear to be defensively registered by Equifax, including equifaxbreechsettlement[.]com, equifaxbreachsettlementbreach[.]com, and equifaxsettlements[.]co.

In February 2020, the U.S. Justice Department indicted four Chinese officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for perpetrating the 2017 Equifax hack. DOJ officials said the four men were responsible for carrying out the largest theft of sensitive personal information by state-sponsored hackers ever recorded.

Equifax surpassed Wall Street’s expectations in its most recent quarterly earnings: The company reported revenues of $1.24 billion for the quarter ending September 2022.

Of course, most of those earnings come from Equifax’s continued legal ability to buy and sell eye-popping amounts of financial and personal data on U.S. consumers. As one of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax collects and packages information about your credit, salary, and employment history. It tracks how many credit cards you have, how much money you owe, and how you pay your bills. Each company creates a credit report about you, and then sells this report to businesses who are deciding whether to give you credit.

Americans currently have no legal right to opt out of this data collection and trade. But you can and also should freeze your credit, which by the way can make your credit profile less profitable for companies like Equifax — because they make money every time some potential creditor wants a peek inside your financial life. Also, it’s probably a good idea to freeze the credit of your children and/or dependents as well. It’s free on both counts.

FTC Fines Fortnite Maker Epic Games $275 Million for Violating Children's Privacy Law

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Epic Games has reached a $520 million settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that the Fortnite creator violated online privacy laws for children and tricked users into making unintended purchases in the video game. To that end, the company will pay a record $275 million monetary penalty for breaching the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by

Cybercrime (and Security) Predictions for 2023

By The Hacker News
Threat actors continue to adapt to the latest technologies, practices, and even data privacy laws—and it's up to organizations to stay one step ahead by implementing strong cybersecurity measures and programs.  Here's a look at how cybercrime will evolve in 2023 and what you can do to secure and protect your organization in the year ahead.  Increase in digital supply chain attacks  With the

Why PCI DSS 4.0 Should Be on Your Radar in 2023

By The Hacker News
Protecting customer data is critical for any business accepting online payment information. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), created by leading credit card companies, establishes best practices for protecting consumers' information. By adhering to these standards, businesses can ensure that their customer's personal and financial information is secure.  The PCI DSS

FBI’s Vetted Info Sharing Network ‘InfraGard’ Hacked

By BrianKrebs

InfraGard, a program run by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to build cyber and physical threat information sharing partnerships with the private sector, this week saw its database of contact information on more than 80,000 members go up for sale on an English-language cybercrime forum. Meanwhile, the hackers responsible are communicating directly with members through the InfraGard portal online — using a new account under the assumed identity of a financial industry CEO that was vetted by the FBI itself.

On Dec. 10, 2022, the relatively new cybercrime forum Breached featured a bombshell new sales thread: The user database for InfraGard, including names and contact information for tens of thousands of InfraGard members.

The FBI’s InfraGard program is supposed to be a vetted Who’s Who of key people in private sector roles involving both cyber and physical security at companies that manage most of the nation’s critical infrastructures — including drinking water and power utilities, communications and financial services firms, transportation and manufacturing companies, healthcare providers, and nuclear energy firms.

“InfraGard connects critical infrastructure owners, operators, and stakeholders with the FBI to provide education, networking, and information-sharing on security threats and risks,” the FBI’s InfraGard fact sheet reads.

In response to information shared by KrebsOnSecurity, the FBI said it is aware of a potential false account associated with the InfraGard Portal and that it is actively looking into the matter.

“This is an ongoing situation, and we are not able to provide any additional information at this time,” the FBI said in a written statement.

KrebsOnSecurity contacted the seller of the InfraGard database, a Breached forum member who uses the handle “USDoD” and whose avatar is the seal of the U.S. Department of Defense.

USDoD’s InfraGard sales thread on Breached.

USDoD said they gained access to the FBI’s InfraGard system by applying for a new account using the name, Social Security Number, date of birth  and other personal details of a chief executive officer at a company that was highly likely to be granted InfraGard membership.

The CEO in question — currently the head of a major U.S. financial corporation that has a direct impact on the creditworthiness of most Americans — told KrebsOnSecurity they were never contacted by the FBI seeking to vet an InfraGard application.

USDoD told KrebsOnSecurity their phony application was submitted in November in the CEO’s name, and that the application included a contact email address that they controlled — but also the CEO’s real mobile phone number.

“When you register they said that to be approved can take at least three months,” USDoD said. “I wasn’t expected to be approve[d].”

But USDoD said that in early December, their email address in the name of the CEO received a reply saying the application had been approved (see redacted screenshot to the right). While the FBI’s InfraGard system requires multi-factor authentication by default, users can choose between receiving a one-time code via SMS or email.

“If it was only the phone I will be in [a] bad situation,” USDoD said. “Because I used the person[‘s] phone that I’m impersonating.”

USDoD said the InfraGard user data was made easily available via an Application Programming Interface (API) that is built into several key components of the website that help InfraGard members connect and communicate with each other.

USDoD said after their InfraGard membership was approved, they asked a friend to code a script in Python to query that API and retrieve all available InfraGard user data.

“InfraGard is a social media intelligence hub for high profile persons,” USDoD said. “They even got [a] forum to discuss things.”

To prove they still had access to InfraGard as of publication time Tuesday evening, USDoD sent a direct note through InfraGard’s messaging system to an InfraGard member whose personal details were initially published as a teaser on the database sales thread.

That InfraGard member, who is head of security at a major U.S. technology firm, confirmed receipt of USDoD’s message but asked to remain anonymous for this story.

USDoD acknowledged that their $50,000 asking price for the InfraGard database may be a tad high, given that it is a fairly basic list of people who are already very security-conscious. Also, only about half of the user accounts contain an email address, and most of the other database fields — like Social Security Number and Date of Birth — are completely empty.

“I don’t think someone will pay that price, but I have to [price it] a bit higher to [negotiate] the price that I want,” they explained.

While the data exposed by the infiltration at InfraGard may be minimal, the user data might not have been the true end game for the intruders.

USDoD said they were hoping the imposter account would last long enough for them to finish sending direct messages as the CEO to other executives using the InfraGuard messaging portal. USDoD shared the following redacted screenshot from what they claimed was one such message, although they provided no additional context about it.

A screenshot shared by USDoD showing a message thread in the FBI’s InfraGard system.

USDoD said in their sales thread that the guarantor for the transaction would be Pompompurin, the administrator of the cybercrime forum Breached. By purchasing the database through the forum administrator’s escrow service, would-be buyers can theoretically avoid getting ripped off and ensure the transaction will be consummated to the satisfaction of both parties before money exchanges hands.

Pompompurin has been a thorn in the side of the FBI for years. Their Breached forum is widely considered to be the second incarnation of RaidForums, a remarkably similar English-language cybercrime forum shuttered by the U.S. Department of Justice in April. Prior to its infiltration by the FBI, RaidForums sold access to more than 10 billion consumer records stolen in some of the world’s largest data breaches.

In November 2021, KrebsOnSecurity detailed how Pompompurin abused a vulnerability in an FBI online portal designed to share information with state and local law enforcement authorities, and how that access was used to blast out thousands of hoax email messages — all sent from an FBI email and Internet address.

Update, 10:58 p.m. ET: Updated the story after hearing from the financial company CEO whose identity was used to fool the FBI into approving an InfraGard membership. That CEO said they were never contacted by the FBI.

Update, 11:15 p.m. ET: The FBI just confirmed that it is aware of a potential false account associated with the InfraGard portal. The story now includes their full statement.

This is a developing story. Updates will be noted here with timestamps. 

COVID-bit: the wireless spyware trick with an unfortunate name

By Paul Ducklin
It's not the switching that's the problem, it's the switching of the switching!

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Credit card skimming – the long and winding road of supply chain failure

By Paul Ducklin
Don't keep calling home to a JavaScript server that closed its doors eight years ago!

Iranian Hackers Strike Diamond Industry with Data-Wiping Malware in Supply-Chain Attack

By Ravie Lakshmanan
An Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Agrius has been attributed as behind a set of data wiper attacks aimed at diamond industries in South Africa, Israel, and Hong Kong. The wiper, referred to as Fantasy by ESET, is believed to have been delivered via a supply-chain attack targeting an Israeli software suite developer as part of a campaign that began in February 2022.

Google Rolls Out New Chrome Browser Update to Patch Yet Another Zero-Day Vulnerability

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Search giant Google on Friday released an out-of-band security update to fix a new actively exploited zero-day flaw in its Chrome web browser. The high-severity flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-4262, concerns a type confusion bug in the V8 JavaScript engine. Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with reporting the issue on November 29, 2022. Type confusion

Researchers Disclose Supply-Chain Flaw Affecting IBM Cloud Databases for PostgreSQL

By Ravie Lakshmanan
IBM has fixed a high-severity security vulnerability affecting its Cloud Databases (ICD) for PostgreSQL product that could be potentially exploited to tamper with internal repositories and run unauthorized code. The privilege escalation flaw (CVSS score: 8.8), dubbed "Hell's Keychain" by cloud security firm Wiz, has been described as a "first-of-its-kind supply-chain attack vector impacting a

How To Help Your Family Protect Their Online Data

By Alex Merton-McCann

Whether you’re standing around the water cooler at work, waiting for your kids at the school gate or sitting around the dinner table, data breaches are without doubt the hot topic of conversation. In late September, we were all shaken when news of the biggest Australian data breach to date broke – a record 10 million Optus customers had their details stolen. But unfortunately, the data breach stories have continued with Medibank, Energy Australia, and, most recently, Woolworths also reporting that private customer data had been stolen. 

Inevitably, many of us are feeling vulnerable worrying that our private identifying information (and our family’s) such as our Medicare and Drivers Licence details have potentially been stolen. We’ve all read the stories about victims of identity theft and are, rightly concerned, that it could happen to us. So, if you’re unsure as to what to do next – don’t worry – I’ve got you! In fact – I’m going to give you two action plans. The first is for those who have been personally affected by a data breach (or consider it highly likely they were affected) and the second, is a long-term plan to help you protect yourself and your family’s data online. 

What To Do If You’ve Been Affected By A Data Breach 

If you or a family member has been contacted by a company and informed that your private details have been compromised, then you need to caffeine up and bring your entire focus to this situation. And if you’re still awaiting the call but you’re thinking it’s likely you’re affected, then my advice is to assume you are. It never hurts to be too cautious when you’re dealing with a potential identity theft situation. So, here’s your plan: 

  1. If you think you’ve been affected, contact the company directly. Hopefully they can confirm whether you’re affected and identify what information was stolen eg drivers licence, birthdate, address, Medicare details. 
  2. If your drivers licence, passport or Medicare details have been stolen, then you are able to apply for new documents. You may need to apply for a Commonwealth Victim’s Certificate first. Do this as soon as possible. 
  3. Contact your bank and credit card providers and inform them that you have been the victim of a data breach and ask them to monitor accounts for suspicious activity. Also ask them to put additional verification methods in place, particularly for over the phone authentication. You may also want to do this for your superannuation accounts, MyGov and Centrelink accounts too. 
  4. Change your passwords for affected accounts immediately.  
  5. Do not click on links in text messages or emails claiming to be from the company that was affected by the data breach. If you are unsure, contact the company directly to verify the communication. 
  6. Monitor your bank accounts daily for suspicious or any unexpected activity. Also check your telephone and utilities accounts. Contact your bank or provider if you notice anything that looks a little suspect. 

What To Do To Ensure Your Online Data Is As Secure As Possible 

So, now it’s time to think long term. We all know prevention is key. So, what can we do to protect ourselves to minimise the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft (if and when) the next data breach occurs? Here’s your plan: 

1. Refine Your Password Strategy 

As we all know, it’s often the simplest things that can have the biggest impact. Ensuring you have a different but super complex password or passphrase for each of your online accounts is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself online. I appreciate that this may take a lot of work to implement but it’s so worth it. And here’s why – if you’re the victim of a data breach and your login details are stolen then you could be in a world of pain if you have just one password for all your accounts. Because within seconds of stealing your details, a hacker could potentially access your bank accounts, credit card accounts and online shopping sites where your credit card is saved – you get the picture! You see why it makes such sense! If it all feels a little overwhelming, why not use a password manager? Password managers can create and remember passwords that no human could even think of – genius! 

2. Use Multi-Factor Authentication When It’s Offered – Always! 

In summary, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) makes a hacker’s life a lot harder. In short, it requires the user to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to an account or app. This might be a text, email or even a code generated by an authentication app. So, even if a hacker has your password and username, if they can’t access the last piece of the puzzle, then you’re safe!!! 

3. Invest in A Top Tier Identity, Security and Protection Solution  

McAfee has just released a super-duper solution to help Aussies protect themselves online. McAfee+ is an all-in-one privacy, identity and device protection solution. Not only does it feature identity monitoring and a password manager but also an unlimited VPN, a file shredder, a protection score and parental controls. And the Rolls Royce version called McAfee+ Advanced, also offers subscribers additional identity protections including access to licensed restoration experts who can help you repair your identity and credit. It also gives subscribers access to lost wallet protection which help you cancel and replace your ID, credit cards if they are lost or stolen. 

4. Do A Little Cyber-Hygiene!  

Limiting your exposure online will also reduce the chance of being affected by a data breach. So, take some time to delete accounts you no longer use. Perhaps you had a side hustle on eBay a few years back but hadn’t bothered to close your accounts – well, now is the time. Close down those old eBay (and PayPal) accounts and any other accounts or subscriptions that you no longer use. 

And next time you purchase something from a new website, consider conducting your transaction as a guest only and not creating an account on their website. If there’s no benefit beyond saving a minute or two when you check out, why store your credit card number, address, and other identifying info on a website that may eventually be breached? 

If there is ever a time to take the management of your online data seriously, it’s now. Assuming that you won’t be a victim of a data breach and that ‘things like that don’t happen to you’ just doesn’t cut it. So, be proactive: sort out your passwords, turn on 2-factor authentication and practice some good quality cyber hygiene! And do yourself a favour and invest in some top-notch privacy and identity protection program like McAfee+ so you can continue living your best life online!  

The post How To Help Your Family Protect Their Online Data appeared first on McAfee Blog.

LastPass admits to customer data breach caused by previous breach

By Paul Ducklin
Seems that the developer account that the crooks breached last time gave indirect access to customer data this time round.

Hackers Leak Another Set of Medibank Customer Data on the Dark Web

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Medibank on Thursday confirmed that the threat actors behind the devastating cyber attack have posted another dump of data stolen from its systems on the dark web after its refusal to pay a ransom. "We are in the process of analyzing the data, but the data released appears to be the data we believed the criminal stole," the Australian health insurer said. "While our investigation continues there

LastPass Suffers Another Security Breach; Exposed Some Customers Information

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Popular password management service LastPass said it's investigating a second security incident that involved attackers accessing some of its customer information. "We recently detected unusual activity within a third-party cloud storage service, which is currently shared by both LastPass and its affiliate, GoTo," LastPass CEO Karim Toubba said. GoTo, formerly called LogMeIn, acquired LastPass

French Electricity Provider Fined for Storing Users’ Passwords with Weak MD5 Algorithm

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The French data protection watchdog on Tuesday fined electricity provider Électricité de France (EDF) €600,000 for violating the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) said the electric utility breached European regulation by storing the passwords for over 25,800 accounts by hashing them using the 

Australia Passes Bill to Fine Companies up to $50 Million for Data Breaches

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The Australian government has passed a bill that markedly increases the penalty for companies suffering from serious or repeated data breaches. To that end, the maximum fines have been bumped up from the current AU$2.22 million to AU$50 million, 30% of an entity's adjusted turnover in the relevant period, or three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information,

Cisco Joins the Launch of Amazon Security Lake

By Jessica Bair

Cisco supports the Open Cybersecurity Schema Framework and is a launch partner of AWS Security Lake

The Cisco Secure Technical Alliance supports the open ecosystem and AWS is a valued technology alliance partner, with integrations across the Cisco Secure portfolio, including SecureX, Secure Firewall, Secure Cloud Analytics, Duo, Umbrella, Web Security Appliance, Secure Workload, Secure Endpoint, Identity Services Engine, and more.

Cisco Secure and AWS Security Lake

We are proud to be a launch partner of AWS Security Lake, which allows customers to build a security data lake from integrated cloud and on-premises data sources as well as from their private applications. With support for the Open Cybersecurity Schema Framework (OCSF) standard, Security Lake reduces the complexity and costs for customers to make their security solutions data accessible to address a variety of security use cases such as threat detection, investigation, and incident response. Security Lake helps organizations aggregate, manage, and derive value from log and event data in the cloud and on-premises to give security teams greater visibility across their organizations.

With Security Lake, customers can use the security and analytics solutions of their choice to simply query that data in place or ingest the OCSF-compliant data to address further use cases. Security Lake helps customers optimize security log data retention by optimizing the partitioning of data to improve performance and reduce costs. Now, analysts and engineers can easily build and use a centralized security data lake to improve the protection of workloads, applications, and data.

Cisco Secure Firewall

Cisco Secure Firewall serves as an organization’s centralized source of security information. It uses advanced threat detection to flag and act on malicious ingress, egress, and east-west traffic while its logging capabilities store information on events, threats, and anomalies. By integrating Secure Firewall with AWS Security Lake, through Secure Firewall Management Center, organizations will be able to store firewall logs in a structured and scalable manner.

eNcore Client OCSF Implementation

The eNcore client provides a way to tap into message-oriented protocol to stream events and host profile information from the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. The eNcore client can request event and host profile data from a Management Center, and intrusion event data only from a managed device. The eNcore application initiates the data stream by submitting request messages, which specify the data to be sent, and then controls the message flow from the Management Center or managed device after streaming begins.

These messages are mapped to OCSF Network Activity events using a series of transformations embedded in the eNcore code base, acting as both author and mapper personas in the OCSF schema workflow. Once validated with an internal OCSF schema the messages are then written to two sources, first a local JSON formatted file in a configurable directory path, and second compressed parquet files partitioned by event hour in the S3 Amazon Security Lake source bucket. The S3 directories contain the formatted log are crawled hourly and the results are stored in an AWS Security Lake database. From there you can get a visual of the schema definitions extracted by the AWS Glue Crawler, identify fieldnames, data types, and other metadata associated with your network activity events. Event logs can also be queried using Amazon Athena to visualize log data.

Get Started

To utilize the eNcore client with AWS Security Lake, first go to the Cisco public GitHub repository for Firepower eNcore, OCSF branch.

Download and run the cloud formation script eNcoreCloudFormation.yaml.

The Cloud Formation script will prompt for additional fields needed in the creation process, they are as follows:

Cidr Block:  IP Address range for the provisioned client, defaults to the range shown below

Instance Type:  The ec2 instance size, defaults to t2.medium

KeyName  A pem key file that will permit access to the instance

AmazonSecurityLakeBucketForCiscoURI: The S3 location of your Data Lake S3 container.

FMC IP: IP or Domain Name of the Cisco Secure Firewall Mangement Portal

After the Cloud Formation setup is complete it can take anywhere from 3-5 minutes to provision resources in your environment, the cloud formation console provides a detailed view of all the resources generated from the cloud formation script as shown below.

Once the ec2 instance for the eNcore client is ready, we need to whitelist the client IP address in our Secure Firewall Server and generate a certificate file for secure endpoint communication.

In the Secure Firewall Dashboard, navigate to Search->eStreamer, to find the allow list of Client IP Addresses that are permitted to receive data, click Add and supply the Client IP Address that was provisioned for our ec2 instance.  You will also be asked to supply a password, click Save to create a secure certificate file for your new ec2 instance.

Download the Secure Certificate you just created, and copy it to the /encore directory in your ec2 instance.

Use CloudShell or SSH from your ec2 instance, navigate to the /encore directory and run the command bash encore.sh test

You will be prompted for the certificate password, once that is entered you should see a Successful Communication message as shown below.

Run the command bash encore.sh foreground

This will begin the data relay and ingestion process. We can then navigate to the S3 Amazon Security Lake bucket we configured earlier, to see OCSF compliant logs formatted in gzip parquet files in a time-based directory structure. Additionally, a local representation of logs is available under /encore/data/* that can be used to validate log file creation.

Amazon Security Lake then runs a crawler task every hour to parse and consume the logs files in the target s3 directory, after which we can view the results in Athena Query.

More information on how to configure and tune the encore eStreamer client can be found on our official website, this includes details on how filter certain event types to focus your data retention policy, and guidelines for performance and other detailed configuration settings. 

Participate in the public preview

You can participate in the AWS Security Lake public preview. For more information, please visit the Product Page and review the User Guide. 

re:Invent 

While you are at AWS re:Invent, go see a demo video of the Security Lake integrations in the Cisco Booth #2411, from November 29 to December 2, 2022, at the Cloud, Network and User Security with Duo demo station.

Learn more about Cisco and AWS on the Cisco Secure Technical Alliance website for AWS.

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Seyed Khadem-Djahaghi, who spend long hours working with the beta to develop this integration and is the primary for developer of eNore.


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What Are Tailgating Attacks and How to Protect Yourself From Them

By McAfee

Whether you’re spending time on the web or working in the office, you want peace of mind knowing that you are in a safe environment. While most of us know to take precautions when online — protecting ourselves from things like phishing attacks and other cyber threats — we should also attend to our physical security. 

One concern is tailgating — a social engineering attack where someone gets physical access to a business to take confidential information or do other harm. 

Here are some ways to protect yourself from tailgating attacks, such as an unauthorized person following you into a restricted area while on the job. 

What is a tailgating attack?

Tailgating is a type of social engineering attack where an unauthorized person gains physical access to an off-limits location — perhaps a password-protected area — where they might steal sensitive information, damage property, compromise user credentials or even install malware on computers. 

Piggybacking” is closely related to tailgating, but it involves consent from the duped employee. So, while a worker might be unaware that someone has tailgated them into a restricted area with piggybacking, the hacker might convince a worker to provide access because they are posing as, say, a delivery driver. 

Who’s at risk of tailgating attacks?

Companies, particularly at risk of being targeted by tailgating scams, include those: 

  • With many employees, often moving inside and out of the premises 
  • With multiple entrance points into a building 
  • That receive deliveries of food, packages, documents, and other things regularly 
  • That have many subcontractors working for them 
  • Where employees aren’t thoroughly trained in physical and cybersecurity protocols 

Generally speaking, companies with robust security systems in place — including using biometrics, badges, or other identity and information security measures — are better protected from tailgating and piggybacking attacks.  

But that’s not to say that some smooth-talking fraudster can’t talk someone into letting them in or finding some way around those protections. 

What are common tailgating methods?

Common types of tailgating attacks that you should be aware of on the job include:  

  • Someone walking behind you into a secure area, depending on your common courtesy to keep the door open for them 
  • A courier or delivery driver who aren’t what they seem 
  • Someone with their hands full of items to trick you into opening the door for them 
  • A person who claims they’ve lost their work ID or forgotten it at home, so that you grant them admittance 

How to protect yourself from tailgating attacks 

Protecting yourself from tailgating attacks is partly a matter of learning about the issue, raising your level of awareness on the job, and depending on your employer, putting in place more effective security systems.  

Some solutions include: 

Increased security training

Many companies know how to train employees to recognize, avoid, and cope with online security issues but may forget to provide the same diligence to physical security. How to spot and deal with threats should be part of this training, plus cultivating an awareness of surroundings and people who might be out of place.   

Management should offer a clearly stated security policy taught to everyone, which might insist that no one be allowed into a secure area without the proper pass or identification. As the security policy is updated, all employees should be aware of changes and additions. 

These security measures should be part of an overall protection program, like McAfee+, which includes antivirus software, a firewall, identity monitoring, password management, web protection, and more. 

Smart badges and cards

If you have a large business spread over several floors, it can be hard for employees to know who works there and who doesn’t, leaving them susceptible to tailgating and piggybacking attacks. Requiring smart badges and cards to access restricted areas can help cut back on unauthorized intrusions and provide better access control. 

Building fully staffed reception areas with dedicated security personnel could also be part of a larger security system. 

Biometric scanners

Biometric scanners are an even more advanced way to provide proper authentication for a worker’s identity. They scan a unique physical or audible feature of a person and compare it to a database for approved personnel.  

Examples of biometric security include: 

  • Voice recognition 
  • Iris recognition 
  • Fingerprint scans 
  • Facial recognition 
  • Heart-rate sensors 

Understanding social engineering

One reason people are vulnerable to physical and cyberattacks is that they lack education on social engineering and the kinds of threats it poses.  

Workers need to understand the full range of social engineering techniques and know-how to protect themselves, whether in their social media accounts or physical work environment.  

For their part, companies can use simulated phishing emails and tailgating attacks to raise awareness and underline how to follow protocols in dealing with them. 

Video surveillance

If there are many ways to enter a business, it may make sense to put video surveillance on all entrances. Advanced video surveillance systems can use artificial intelligence (AI) and video analytics to scan the faces of people entering and compare them to a database of employee features. 

Discover how McAfee can help keep devices secure from hacking

Whether at work or at home, people want to be secure from attacks by cybercriminals who seek to take personal information. 

To add a layer of security to all their connected devices — including computers, smartphones, and tablets — an increasing number of people are turning to the comprehensive coverage of McAfee+ 

Features range from advanced monitoring of possible threats to your identity, automatic implementation of virtual private networks (VPNs) to deal with unsafe networks, and personal data clean-up, removing your information from high-risk data broker sites. 

McAfee protection allows you to work and play online with greater peace of mind. 

The post What Are Tailgating Attacks and How to Protect Yourself From Them appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Irish Regulator Fines Facebook $277 Million for Leak of Half a Billion Users' Data

By Ravie Lakshmanan
Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) has levied fines of €265 million ($277 million) against Meta Platforms for failing to safeguard the personal data of more than half a billion users of its Facebook service, ramping up privacy enforcement against U.S. tech firms. The fines follow an inquiry initiated by the European regulator on April 14, 2021, close on the heels of a leak of a "collated

McAfee Personal Data Cleanup: Your Partner in Living a More Private Online Life

By McAfee

Do yourself a favor: Open a new browser tab and head to your search engine of choice. Type in your full name and home address. Then, see what pops up. 

Are the results sparking an ember of unease in the back of your brain? Whether you’re a private person online or you’re comfortable sharing your daily life updates on social media, there are likely to be several personal details about you on sites that shouldn’t have that information. Some of these sites may be data brokerage websites.  

Data brokerage sites are legal and are mostly used by annoying advertisers, though cybercriminals may also use them maliciously. The average person has their information for sale on 31 data brokerage sites, and 95% of people have their personal information on sale without their permission. 

So how do you scrub the internet of your personal details to keep your identity secure? McAfee Personal Data Cleanup is a service that prevents your personal information from being collected and sold online. Here’s why you should consider taking a few easy steps now to give you peace of mind about the security of your personally identifiable information (PII). 

Make Your Attack Surface as Small as Possible 

Attack surface is a term usually applied to corporate security, but it’s a great visualization for everyday people going about their personal online errands and entertainment. An attack surface is the number of possible entry points a cybercriminal could weasel their way through to get at your valuable and private information. Entry points include your social media profiles, your online shopping accounts, and data brokerage sites. The fewer entry points you have, the harder it is for cybercriminals to find and exploit them. 

While Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are generally revered as the piece of PII to guard most closely, a cybercriminal can still damage your identity with just your name and an address, email address, or phone number. For example, they can request new passwords or multifactor authentication one-time passcodes to break their way into online banking or shopping accounts. Security breaches are happening to huge companies all over the world. All it takes is for your SSN to be leaked in one of them, for a cybercriminal to piece together your digital clone and use it to harm your identity or credit. 

Personal Data Cleanup minimizes your attack surface by removing as much PII as possible that’s floating around the internet, just waiting for someone to buy it.  

Give Yourself a Blank Online Slate 

When you’re aware of how many unauthorized vendors are selling your PII, it could be the wakeup call you need start adopting more cautious online habits. For instance, oversharing on social media leaks a lot of valuable details that a savvy criminal can then use to take educated guesses at your passwords or craft a social engineering plot catered just to you. 

The present is as good a time as any to start protecting your identity for the future; however, getting started is often the most difficult step. It can seem overwhelming to reach out to every data brokerage site individually and request they remove your info. Personal Data Cleanup can be your partner not only in beginning the cleanup process but in monitoring your data security to keep your online presence as minimal as possible. The service scans the internet’s riskiest sites and then, before deleting your information from these sites, runs it by you to confirm. Then, it will continually monitor those same sites, as your information will likely reappear every two to four months. 

Cleaning Up Your Data Is So Easy, There’s No Reason Not To 

Do not underestimate the tenacity of a cybercriminal. Even for people who have the attitude that their PII is bound to be somewhere online and that it’s no big deal, McAfee Personal Data Cleanup manages three key steps in the data removal process: scanning, removing, and monitoring. So, even if you’re not convinced that data brokerage sites are a threat, the process is too easy to put off any longer! 

For those who are concerned about their online privacy, full-service Personal Data Cleanup is included in McAfee+ Ultimate, which is the complete package to let you live your online life in private. McAfee+ Ultimate also includes identity monitoring and identity theft resolution services, unlimited VPN, credit lock, and much more.  

In 2021, more than 1.4 million identity theft complaints were filed to the Federal Trade Commission.1 Identity theft can occur to anyone, so take steps today, starting with data brokerage sites, to live a more secure and more private digital life. 

1Federal Trade Commission, “New Data Shows FTC Received 2.8 Million Fraud Reports from Consumers in 2021 

The post McAfee Personal Data Cleanup: Your Partner in Living a More Private Online Life appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Indian Government Publishes Draft of Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022

By Ravie Lakshmanan
The Indian government on Friday released a draft version of the much-awaited data protection regulation, making it the fourth such effort since it was first proposed in July 2018. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, as it's called, aims to secure personal data, while also seeking users' consent in what the draft claims is "clear and plain language" describing the exact kinds of

Black Friday and retail season – watch out for PayPal “money request” scams

By Paul Ducklin
Don't let a keen eye for bargains lead you into risky online behaviour...

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