Behind the Scenes: The Art of Safeguarding Non-Human Identities

In the whirlwind of modern software development, teams race against time, constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency. This relentless pace is fueled by an evolving tech landscape, where SaaS domination, the proliferation of microservices, and the ubiquity of CI/CD pipelines are not just trends but the new norm. Amidst this backdrop, a critical aspect subtly weaves into the

New ZenHammer Attack Bypasses RowHammer Defenses on AMD CPUs

Cybersecurity researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a new variant of the RowHammer DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) attack that, for the first time, successfully works against AMD Zen 2 and Zen 3 systems despite mitigations such as Target Row Refresh (TRR). "This result proves that AMD systems are equally vulnerable to Rowhammer as Intel systems, which greatly increases the attack

Telegram Offers Premium Subscription in Exchange for Using Your Number to Send OTPs

In June 2017, a study of more than 3,000 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students published by the National Bureau for Economic Research (NBER) found that 98% of them were willing to give away their friends' email addresses in exchange for free pizza. "Whereas people say they care about privacy, they are willing to relinquish private data quite easily when

Hackers Hit Indian Defense, Energy Sectors with Malware Posing as Air Force Invite

Indian government entities and energy companies have been targeted by unknown threat actors with an aim to deliver a modified version of an open-source information stealer malware called HackBrowserData and exfiltrate sensitive information in some cases by using Slack as command-and-control (C2). "The information stealer was delivered via a phishing email, masquerading as an invitation letter

CISA Warns: Hackers Actively Attacking Microsoft SharePoint Vulnerability

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a security flaw impacting Microsoft Sharepoint Server to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-24955 (CVSS score: 7.2), is a critical remote code execution flaw that allows an authenticated attacker with Site

Microsoft Edge Bug Could Have Allowed Attackers to Silently Install Malicious Extensions

A now-patched security flaw in the Microsoft Edge web browser could have been abused to install arbitrary extensions on users' systems and carry out malicious actions.  "This flaw could have allowed an attacker to exploit a private API, initially intended for marketing purposes, to covertly install additional browser extensions with broad permissions without the user's knowledge," Guardio

SASE Solutions Fall Short Without Enterprise Browser Extensions, New Report Reveals

As SaaS applications dominate the business landscape, organizations need optimized network speed and robust security measures. Many of them have been turning to SASE, a product category that offers cloud-based network protection while enhancing network infrastructure performance. However, a new report: "Better Together: SASE and Enterprise Browser Extension for the SaaS-First Enterprise" (

Critical Unpatched Ray AI Platform Vulnerability Exploited for Cryptocurrency Mining

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that threat actors are actively exploiting a "disputed" and unpatched vulnerability in an open-source artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Anyscale Ray to hijack computing power for illicit cryptocurrency mining. "This vulnerability allows attackers to take over the companies' computing power and leak sensitive data," Oligo Security researchers Avi

Alert: New Phishing Attack Delivers Keylogger Disguised as Bank Payment Notice

A new phishing campaign has been observed leveraging a novel loader malware to deliver an information stealer and keylogger called Agent Tesla. Trustwave SpiderLabs said it identified a phishing email bearing this attack chain on March 8, 2024. The message masquerades as a bank payment notification, urging the user to open an archive file attachment. The archive ("Bank Handlowy w Warszawie

Two Chinese APT Groups Ramp Up Cyber Espionage Against ASEAN Countries

Two China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) groups have been observed targeting entities and member countries affiliated with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as part of a cyber espionage campaign over the past three months. This includes the threat actor known as Mustang Panda, which has been recently linked to cyber attacks against Myanmar as well as

Sketchy NuGet Package Likely Linked to Industrial Espionage Targets Developers

Threat hunters have identified a suspicious package in the NuGet package manager that's likely designed to target developers working with tools made by a Chinese firm that specializes in industrial- and digital equipment manufacturing. The package in question is SqzrFramework480, which ReversingLabs said was first published on January 24, 2024. It has been downloaded 

U.S. Charges 7 Chinese Nationals in Major 14-Year Cyber Espionage Operation

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday unsealed indictments against seven Chinese nationals for their involvement in a hacking group that targeted U.S. and foreign critics, journalists, businesses, and political officials for about 14 years. The defendants include Ni Gaobin (倪高彬), Weng Ming (翁明), Cheng Feng (程锋), Peng Yaowen (彭耀文), Sun Xiaohui (孙小辉), Xiong Wang (熊旺), and Zhao Guangzong (

Crafting Shields: Defending Minecraft Servers Against DDoS Attacks

Minecraft, with over 500 million registered users and 166 million monthly players, faces significant risks from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, threatening server functionality, player experience, and the game’s reputation. Despite the prevalence of DDoS attacks on the game, the majority of incidents go unreported, leaving a gap in awareness and protection. This article explains

U.S. Sanctions 3 Cryptocurrency Exchanges for Helping Russia Evade Sanctions

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges for offering services used to evade economic restrictions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. This includes Bitpapa IC FZC LLC, Crypto Explorer DMCC (AWEX), and Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoy Otvetstvennostyu Tsentr Obrabotki Elektronnykh Platezhey (

CISA Alerts on Active Exploitation of Flaws in Fortinet, Ivanti, and Nice Products

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday placed three security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerabilities added are as follows - CVE-2023-48788 (CVSS score: 9.3) - Fortinet FortiClient EMS SQL Injection Vulnerability CVE-2021-44529 (CVSS score: 9.8) - Ivanti

Hackers Hijack GitHub Accounts in Supply Chain Attack Affecting Top-gg and Others

Unidentified adversaries orchestrated a sophisticated attack campaign that has impacted several individual developers as well as the GitHub organization account associated with Top.gg, a Discord bot discovery site. "The threat actors used multiple TTPs in this attack, including account takeover via stolen browser cookies, contributing malicious code with verified commits, setting up a custom

Key Lesson from Microsoft’s Password Spray Hack: Secure Every Account

In January 2024, Microsoft discovered they’d been the victim of a hack orchestrated by Russian-state hackers Midnight Blizzard (sometimes known as Nobelium). The concerning detail about this case is how easy it was to breach the software giant. It wasn’t a highly technical hack that exploited a zero-day vulnerability – the hackers used a simple password spray attack to take control of

New "GoFetch" Vulnerability in Apple M-Series Chips Leaks Secret Encryption Keys

A new security shortcoming discovered in Apple M-series chips could be exploited to extract secret keys used during cryptographic operations. Dubbed GoFetch, the vulnerability relates to a microarchitectural side-channel attack that takes advantage of a feature known as data memory-dependent prefetcher (DMP) to target constant-time cryptographic implementations and capture sensitive data

Iran-Linked MuddyWater Deploys Atera for Surveillance in Phishing Attacks

The Iran-affiliated threat actor tracked as MuddyWater (aka Mango Sandstorm or TA450) has been linked to a new phishing campaign in March 2024 that aims to deliver a legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solution called Atera. The activity, which took place from March 7 through the week of March 11, targeted Israeli entities spanning global manufacturing, technology, and

N. Korea-linked Kimsuky Shifts to Compiled HTML Help Files in Ongoing Cyberattacks

The North Korea-linked threat actor known as Kimsuky (aka Black Banshee, Emerald Sleet, or Springtail) has been observed shifting its tactics, leveraging Compiled HTML Help (CHM) files as vectors to deliver malware for harvesting sensitive data. Kimsuky, active since at least 2012, is known to target entities located in South Korea as well as North America, Asia, and Europe. According

German Police Seize 'Nemesis Market' in Major International Darknet Raid

German authorities have announced the takedown of an illicit underground marketplace called Nemesis Market that peddled narcotics, stolen data, and various cybercrime services. The Federal Criminal Police Office (aka Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) said it seized the digital infrastructure associated with the darknet service located in Germany and Lithuania and confiscated €94,000 ($102,107)

Russian Hackers Use 'WINELOADER' Malware to Target German Political Parties

The WINELOADER backdoor used in recent cyber attacks targeting diplomatic entities with wine-tasting phishing lures has been attributed as the handiwork of a hacking group with links to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), which was responsible for breaching SolarWinds and Microsoft. The findings come from Mandiant, which said Midnight Blizzard (aka APT29, BlueBravo, or

New StrelaStealer Phishing Attacks Hit Over 100 Organizations in E.U. and U.S.

Cybersecurity researchers have detected a new wave of phishing attacks that aim to deliver an ever-evolving information stealer referred to as StrelaStealer. The campaigns impact more than 100 organizations in the E.U. and the U.S., Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers said in a new report published today. "These campaigns come in the form of spam emails with attachments that eventually

AWS Patches Critical 'FlowFixation' Bug in Airflow Service to Prevent Session Hijacking

Cybersecurity researchers have shared details of a now-patched security vulnerability in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow (MWAA) that could be potentially exploited by a malicious actor to hijack victims' sessions and achieve remote code execution on underlying instances. The vulnerability, now addressed by AWS, has been codenamed FlowFixation by Tenable.

China-Linked Group Breaches Networks via Connectwise, F5 Software Flaws

A China-linked threat cluster leveraged security flaws in Connectwise ScreenConnect and F5 BIG-IP software to deliver custom malware capable of delivering additional backdoors on compromised Linux hosts as part of an "aggressive" campaign. Google-owned Mandiant is tracking the activity under its uncategorized moniker UNC5174 (aka Uteus or Uetus), describing it as a "former

Massive Sign1 Campaign Infects 39,000+ WordPress Sites with Scam Redirects

A massive malware campaign dubbed Sign1 has compromised over 39,000 WordPress sites in the last six months, using malicious JavaScript injections to redirect users to scam sites. The most recent variant of the malware is estimated to have infected no less than 2,500 sites over the past two months alone, Sucuri said in a report published this week. The attacks entail injecting rogue

Implementing Zero Trust Controls for Compliance

The ThreatLocker® Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform implements a strict deny-by-default, allow-by-exception security posture to give organizations the ability to set policy-based controls within their environment and mitigate countless cyber threats, including zero-days, unseen network footholds, and malware attacks as a direct result of user error. With the capabilities of the

U.S. Justice Department Sues Apple Over Monopoly and Messaging Security

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), along with 16 other state and district attorneys general, on Thursday accused Apple of illegally maintaining a monopoly over smartphones, thereby undermining, among other things, the security and privacy of users when messaging non-iPhone users. "Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its

Russian Hackers May Have Targeted Ukrainian Telecoms with Upgraded 'AcidPour' Malware

The data wiping malware called AcidPour may have been deployed in attacks targeting four telecom providers in Ukraine, new findings from SentinelOne show. The cybersecurity firm also confirmed connections between the malware and AcidRain, tying it to threat activity clusters associated with Russian military intelligence. "AcidPour's expanded capabilities would enable it to better

Russia Hackers Using TinyTurla-NG to Breach European NGO's Systems

The Russia-linked threat actor known as Turla infected several systems belonging to an unnamed European non-governmental organization (NGO) in order to deploy a backdoor called TinyTurla-NG (TTNG). "The attackers compromised the first system, established persistence and added exclusions to antivirus products running on these endpoints as part of their preliminary post-compromise actions," Cisco

Over 800 npm Packages Found with Discrepancies, 18 Exploit 'Manifest Confusion'

New research has discovered over 800 packages in the npm registry which have discrepancies from their registry entries, out of which 18 have been found to exploit a technique called manifest confusion. The findings come from cybersecurity firm JFrog, which said the issue could be exploited by threat actors to trick developers into running malicious code. "It's an actual threat since

AndroxGh0st Malware Targets Laravel Apps to Steal Cloud Credentials

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a tool referred to as AndroxGh0st that's used to target Laravel applications and steal sensitive data. "It works by scanning and taking out important information from .env files, revealing login details linked to AWS and Twilio," Juniper Threat Labs researcher Kashinath T Pattan said. "Classified as an SMTP cracker, it exploits SMTP

How to Accelerate Vendor Risk Assessments in the Age of SaaS Sprawl

In today's digital-first business environment dominated by SaaS applications, organizations increasingly depend on third-party vendors for essential cloud services and software solutions. As more vendors and services are added to the mix, the complexity and potential vulnerabilities within the SaaS supply chain snowball quickly. That’s why effective vendor risk management (VRM) is a

GitHub Launches AI-Powered Autofix Tool to Assist Devs in Patching Security Flaws

GitHub on Wednesday announced that it's making available a feature called code scanning autofix in public beta for all Advanced Security customers to provide targeted recommendations in an effort to avoid introducing new security issues. "Powered by GitHub Copilot and CodeQL, code scanning autofix covers more than 90% of alert types in JavaScript, Typescript, Java, and

Making Sense of Operational Technology Attacks: The Past, Present, and Future

When you read reports about cyber-attacks affecting operational technology (OT), it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and assume every single one is sophisticated. But are OT environments all over the world really besieged by a constant barrage of complex cyber-attacks? Answering that would require breaking down the different types of OT cyber-attacks and then looking back on all the

U.S. Sanctions Russians Behind 'Doppelganger' Cyber Influence Campaign

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday announced sanctions against two 46-year-old Russian nationals and the respective companies they own for engaging in cyber influence operations. Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze (Gambashidze), the founder of the Moscow-based company Social Design Agency (SDA), and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tupikin (Tupikin), the CEO and

Ivanti Releases Urgent Fix for Critical Sentry RCE Vulnerability

Ivanti has disclosed details of a critical remote code execution flaw impacting Standalone Sentry, urging customers to apply the fixes immediately to stay protected against potential cyber threats. Tracked as CVE-2023-41724, the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 9.6. "An unauthenticated threat actor can execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of the appliance

Atlassian Releases Fixes for Over 2 Dozen Flaws, Including Critical Bamboo Bug

Atlassian has released patches for more than two dozen security flaws, including a critical bug impacting Bamboo Data Center and Server that could be exploited without requiring user interaction. Tracked as CVE-2024-1597, the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 10.0, indicating maximum severity. Described as an SQL injection flaw, it's rooted in a dependency called org.postgresql:

New 'Loop DoS' Attack Impacts Hundreds of Thousands of Systems

A novel denial-of-service (DoS) attack vector has been found to target application-layer protocols based on User Datagram Protocol (UDP), putting hundreds of thousands of hosts likely at risk. Called Loop DoS attacks, the approach pairs "servers of these protocols in such a way that they communicate with each other indefinitely," researchers from the CISPA Helmholtz-Center for

Generative AI Security - Secure Your Business in a World Powered by LLMs

Did you know that 79% of organizations are already leveraging Generative AI technologies? Much like the internet defined the 90s and the cloud revolutionized the 2010s, we are now in the era of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI. The potential of Generative AI is immense, yet it brings significant challenges, especially in security integration. Despite their powerful capabilities,

TeamCity Flaw Leads to Surge in Ransomware, Cryptomining, and RAT Attacks

Multiple threat actors are exploiting the recently disclosed security flaws in JetBrains TeamCity software to deploy ransomware, cryptocurrency miners, Cobalt Strike beacons, and a Golang-based remote access trojan called Spark RAT. The attacks entail the exploitation of CVE-2024-27198 (CVSS score: 9.8) that enables an adversary to bypass authentication measures and gain administrative

New BunnyLoader Malware Variant Surfaces with Modular Attack Features

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated variant of a stealer and malware loader called BunnyLoader that modularizes its various functions as well as allow it to evade detection. "BunnyLoader is dynamically developing malware with the capability to steal information, credentials and cryptocurrency, as well as deliver additional malware to its victims," Palo Alto Networks

Ukraine Arrests Trio for Hijacking Over 100 Million Email and Instagram Accounts

The Cyber Police of Ukraine has arrested three individuals on suspicion of hijacking more than 100 million emails and Instagram accounts from users across the world. The suspects, aged between 20 and 40, are said to be part of an organized criminal group living in different parts of the country. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison. The accounts, authorities said, were

U.S. EPA Forms Task Force to Protect Water Systems from Cyberattacks

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it's forming a new "Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force" to devise methods to counter the threats faced by the water sector in the country. "In addition to considering the prevalent vulnerabilities of water systems to cyberattacks and the challenges experienced by some systems in adopting best practices, this Task Force in its deliberations

APIs Drive the Majority of Internet Traffic and Cybercriminals are Taking Advantage

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the connective tissue behind digital modernization, helping applications and databases exchange data more effectively. The State of API Security in 2024 Report from Imperva, a Thales company, found that the majority of internet traffic (71%) in 2023 was API calls. What’s more, a typical enterprise site saw an average of 1.5 billion API

From Deepfakes to Malware: AI's Expanding Role in Cyber Attacks

Large language models (LLMs) powering artificial intelligence (AI) tools today could be exploited to develop self-augmenting malware capable of bypassing YARA rules. "Generative AI can be used to evade string-based YARA rules by augmenting the source code of small malware variants, effectively lowering detection rates," Recorded Future said in a new report shared with The Hacker News.

Crafting and Communicating Your Cybersecurity Strategy for Board Buy-In

In an era where digital transformation drives business across sectors, cybersecurity has transcended its traditional operational role to become a cornerstone of corporate strategy and risk management. This evolution demands a shift in how cybersecurity leaders—particularly Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)—articulate the value and urgency of cybersecurity investments to their boards.&

Hackers Exploiting Popular Document Publishing Sites for Phishing Attacks

Threat actors are leveraging digital document publishing (DDP) sites hosted on platforms like FlipSnack, Issuu, Marq, Publuu, RelayTo, and Simplebooklet for carrying out phishing, credential harvesting, and session token theft, once again underscoring how threat actors are repurposing legitimate services for malicious ends. "Hosting phishing lures on DDP sites increases the likelihood

Suspected Russian Data-Wiping 'AcidPour' Malware Targeting Linux x86 Devices

A new variant of a data wiping malware called AcidRain has been detected in the wild that's specifically designed for targeting Linux x86 devices. The malware, dubbed AcidPour, is compiled for Linux x86 devices, SentinelOne's Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade said in a series of posts on X. "The new variant [...] is an ELF binary compiled for x86 (not MIPS) and while it refers to similar devices/

New Phishing Attack Uses Clever Microsoft Office Trick to Deploy NetSupport RAT

A new phishing campaign is targeting U.S. organizations with the intent to deploy a remote access trojan called NetSupport RAT. Israeli cybersecurity company Perception Point is tracking the activity under the moniker Operation PhantomBlu. "The PhantomBlu operation introduces a nuanced exploitation method, diverging from NetSupport RAT’s typical delivery mechanism by leveraging OLE (Object

E-Root Marketplace Admin Sentenced to 42 Months for Selling 350K Stolen Credentials

A 31-year-old Moldovan national has been sentenced to 42 months in prison in the U.S. for operating an illicit marketplace called E-Root Marketplace that offered for sale hundreds of thousands of compromised credentials, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced. Sandu Boris Diaconu was charged with conspiracy to commit access device and computer fraud and possession of 15 or more unauthorized

New DEEP#GOSU Malware Campaign Targets Windows Users with Advanced Tactics

A new elaborate attack campaign has been observed employing PowerShell and VBScript malware to infect Windows systems and harvest sensitive information. Cybersecurity company Securonix, which dubbed the campaign DEEP#GOSU, said it's likely associated with the North Korean state-sponsored group tracked as Kimsuky (aka Emerald Sleet, Springtail, or Velvet Chollima). "The malware payloads used in

Fortra Patches Critical RCE Vulnerability in FileCatalyst Transfer Tool

Fortra has released details of a now-patched critical security flaw impacting its FileCatalyst file transfer solution that could allow unauthenticated attackers to gain remote code execution on susceptible servers. Tracked as CVE-2024-25153, the shortcoming carries a CVSS score of 9.8 out of a maximum of 10. "A directory traversal within the 'ftpservlet' of the FileCatalyst Workflow

Hackers Using Sneaky HTML Smuggling to Deliver Malware via Fake Google Sites

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new malware campaign that leverages bogus Google Sites pages and HTML smuggling to distribute a commercial malware called AZORult in order to facilitate information theft. "It uses an unorthodox HTML smuggling technique where the malicious payload is embedded in a separate JSON file hosted on an external website," Netskope Threat Labs

WordPress Admins Urged to Remove miniOrange Plugins Due to Critical Flaw

WordPress users of miniOrange's Malware Scanner and Web Application Firewall plugins are being urged to delete them from their websites following the discovery of a critical security flaw. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-2172, is rated 9.8 out of a maximum of 10 on the CVSS scoring system and discovered by Stiofan. It impacts the following versions of the two plugins - Malware Scanner (

APT28 Hacker Group Targeting Europe, Americas, Asia in Widespread Phishing Scheme

The Russia-linked threat actor known as APT28 has been linked to multiple ongoing phishing campaigns that employ lure documents imitating government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Europe, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and North and South America. "The uncovered lures include a mixture of internal and publicly available documents, as well as possible actor-generated

Hackers Using Cracked Software on GitHub to Spread RisePro Info Stealer

Cybersecurity researchers have found a number of GitHub repositories offering cracked software that are used to deliver an information stealer called RisePro. The campaign, codenamed gitgub, includes 17 repositories associated with 11 different accounts, according to G DATA. The repositories in question have since been taken down by the Microsoft-owned subsidiary. "The repositories look

GhostRace – New Data Leak Vulnerability Affects Modern CPUs

A group of researchers has discovered a new data leakage attack impacting modern CPU architectures supporting speculative execution. Dubbed GhostRace (CVE-2024-2193), it is a variation of the transient execution CPU vulnerability known as Spectre v1 (CVE-2017-5753). The approach combines speculative execution and race conditions. "All the common synchronization primitives implemented

Third-Party ChatGPT Plugins Could Lead to Account Takeovers

Cybersecurity researchers have found that third-party plugins available for OpenAI ChatGPT could act as a new attack surface for threat actors looking to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. According to new research published by Salt Labs, security flaws found directly in ChatGPT and within the ecosystem could allow attackers to install malicious plugins without users' consent

Google Introduces Enhanced Real-Time URL Protection for Chrome Users

Google on Thursday announced an enhanced version of Safe Browsing to provide real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection and safeguard users from visiting potentially malicious sites. “The Standard protection mode for Chrome on desktop and iOS will check sites against Google’s server-side list of known bad sites in real-time,” Google’s Jonathan Li and Jasika Bawa said. “If we