SaaS Compliance through the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework is one of the world's most important guidelines for securing networks. It can be applied to any number of applications, including SaaS.  One of the challenges facing those tasked with securing SaaS applications is the different settings found in each application. It makes it difficult to develop a

Russian Turla Hackers Target Polish NGOs with New TinyTurla-NG Backdoor

The Russia-linked threat actor known as Turla has been observed using a new backdoor called TinyTurla-NG as part of a three-month-long campaign targeting Polish non-governmental organizations in December 2023. "TinyTurla-NG, just like TinyTurla, is a small 'last chance' backdoor that is left behind to be used when all other unauthorized access/backdoor mechanisms have failed or been

4 Ways Hackers use Social Engineering to Bypass MFA

When it comes to access security, one recommendation stands out above the rest: multi-factor authentication (MFA). With passwords alone being simple work for hackers, MFA provides an essential layer of protection against breaches. However, it's important to remember that MFA isn't foolproof. It can be bypassed, and it often is.  If a password is compromised, there are several options

Microsoft Warns of Widening APT29 Espionage Attacks Targeting Global Orgs

Microsoft on Thursday said the Russian state-sponsored threat actors responsible for a cyber attack on its systems in late November 2023 have been targeting other organizations and that it's currently beginning to notify them. The development comes a day after Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) revealed that it had been the victim of an attack perpetrated by a hacking crew

NoaBot: Latest Mirai-Based Botnet Targeting SSH Servers for Crypto Mining

A new Mirai-based botnet called NoaBot is being used by threat actors as part of a crypto mining campaign since the beginning of 2023. “The capabilities of the new botnet, NoaBot, include a wormable self-spreader and an SSH key backdoor to download and execute additional binaries or spread itself to new victims,” Akamai security researcher Stiv Kupchik said in a report shared with The

How Hackers Phish for Your Users' Credentials and Sell Them

Account credentials, a popular initial access vector, have become a valuable commodity in cybercrime. As a result, a single set of stolen credentials can put your organization’s entire network at risk. According to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, external parties were responsible for 83 percent of breaches that occurred between November 2021 and October 2022.&

Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware

The prolific threat actor known as Scattered Spider has been observed impersonating newly hired employees in targeted firms as a ploy to blend into normal on-hire processes and takeover accounts and breach organizations across the world. Microsoft, which disclosed the activities of the financially motivated hacking crew, described the adversary as "one of the most dangerous financial criminal

1Password Detects Suspicious Activity Following Okta Support Breach

Popular password management solution 1Password said it detected suspicious activity on its Okta instance on September 29 following the support system breach, but reiterated that no user data was accessed. "We immediately terminated the activity, investigated, and found no compromise of user data or other sensitive systems, either employee-facing or user-facing," Pedro Canahuati, 1Password CTO, 

Google Adopts Passkeys as Default Sign-in Method for All Users

Google on Tuesday announced the ability for all users to set up passkeys by default, five months after it rolled out support for the FIDO Alliance-backed passwordless standard for Google Accounts on all platforms. "This means the next time you sign in to your account, you'll start seeing prompts to create and use passkeys, simplifying your future sign-ins," Google's Sriram Karra and Christiaan

Microsoft is Rolling out Support for Passkeys in Windows 11

Microsoft is officially rolling out support for passkeys in Windows 11 today as part of a major update to the desktop operating system. The feature allows users to login to websites and applications without having to provide a username and password, instead relying on their device PIN or biometric information to complete the step. Based on FIDO standards, Passkeys were first announced in May

Are You Willing to Pay the High Cost of Compromised Credentials?

Weak password policies leave organizations vulnerable to attacks. But are the standard password complexity requirements enough to secure them? 83% of compromised passwords would satisfy the password complexity and length requirements of compliance standards. That’s because bad actors already have access to billions of stolen credentials that can be used to compromise additional accounts by

Iranian Nation-State Actors Employ Password Spray Attacks Targeting Multiple Sectors

Iranian nation-state actors have been conducting password spray attacks against thousands of organizations globally between February and July 2023, new findings from Microsoft reveal. The tech giant, which is tracking the activity under the name Peach Sandstorm (formerly Holmium), said the adversary pursued organizations in the satellite, defense, and pharmaceutical sectors to likely facilitate

Key Cybersecurity Tools That Can Mitigate the Cost of a Breach

IBM's 2023 installment of their annual "Cost of a Breach" report has thrown up some interesting trends. Of course, breaches being costly is no longer news at this stage! What’s interesting is the difference in how organizations respond to threats and which technologies are helping reduce the costs associated with every IT team’s nightmare scenario.  The average cost of a breach rose once again

It's a Zero-day? It's Malware? No! It's Username and Password

As cyber threats continue to evolve, adversaries are deploying a range of tools to breach security defenses and compromise sensitive data. Surprisingly, one of the most potent weapons in their arsenal is not malicious code but simply stolen or weak usernames and passwords. This article explores the seriousness of compromised credentials, the challenges they present to security solutions, and the

What's the State of Credential theft in 2023?

At a little overt halfway through 2023, credential theft is still a major thorn in the side of IT teams. The heart of the problem is the value of data to cybercriminals and the evolution of the techniques they use to get hold of it. The 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) revealed that 83% of breaches involved external actors, with almost all attacks being financially motivated

Local Governments Targeted for Ransomware – How to Prevent Falling Victim

Regardless of the country, local government is essential in most citizens' lives. It provides many day-to-day services and handles various issues. Therefore, their effects can be far-reaching and deeply felt when security failures occur. In early 2023, Oakland, California, fell victim to a ransomware attack. Although city officials have not disclosed how the attack occurred, experts suspect a

AIOS WordPress Plugin Faces Backlash for Storing User Passwords in Plaintext

All-In-One Security (AIOS), a WordPress plugin installed on over one million sites, has issued a security update after a bug introduced in version 5.1.9 of the software caused users' passwords being added to the database in plaintext format. "A malicious site administrator (i.e. a user already logged into the site as an admin) could then have read them," UpdraftPlus, the maintainers of AIOS, 

Microsoft Warns of Widescale Credential Stealing Attacks by Russian Hackers

Microsoft has disclosed that it's detected a spike in credential-stealing attacks conducted by the Russian state-affiliated hacker group known as Midnight Blizzard. The intrusions, which make use of residential proxy services to obfuscate the source IP address of the attacks, target governments, IT service providers, NGOs, defense, and critical manufacturing sectors, the tech giant's threat

Over 100,000 Stolen ChatGPT Account Credentials Sold on Dark Web Marketplaces

Over 101,100 compromised OpenAI ChatGPT account credentials have found their way on illicit dark web marketplaces between June 2022 and May 2023, with India alone accounting for 12,632 stolen credentials. The credentials were discovered within information stealer logs made available for sale on the cybercrime underground, Group-IB said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "The number of

KeePass Exploit Allows Attackers to Recover Master Passwords from Memory

A proof-of-concept (PoC) has been made available for a security flaw impacting the KeePass password manager that could be exploited to recover a victim's master password in cleartext under specific circumstances. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-32784, impacts KeePass versions 2.x for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and is expected to be patched in version 2.54, which is likely to be released early

Solving Your Teams Secure Collaboration Challenges

In today's interconnected world, where organisations regularly exchange sensitive information with customers, partners and employees, secure collaboration has become increasingly vital. However, collaboration can pose a security risk if not managed properly. To ensure that collaboration remains secure, organisations need to take steps to protect their data. Since collaborating is essential for

Google Introduces Passwordless Secure Sign-In with Passkeys for Google Accounts

Almost five months after Google added support for passkeys to its Chrome browser, the tech giant has begun rolling out the passwordless solution across Google Accounts on all platforms. Passkeys, backed by the FIDO Alliance, are a more secure way to sign in to apps and websites without having to use a traditional password. This, in turn, can be achieved by simply unlocking their computer or

Google Authenticator App Gets Cloud Backup Feature for TOTP Codes

Search giant Google on Monday unveiled a major update to its 12-year-old Authenticator app for Android and iOS with an account synchronization option that allows users to back up their time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) to the cloud. "This change means users are better protected from lockout and that services can rely on users retaining access, increasing both convenience and security,"

Preventing Insider Threats in Your Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is a powerful authentication and directory service used by organizations worldwide. With this ubiquity and power comes the potential for abuse. Insider threats offer some of the most potentials for destruction. Many internal users have over-provisioned access and visibility into the internal network. Insiders' level of access and trust in a network leads to unique

Does Your Help Desk Know Who's Calling?

Phishing, the theft of users' credentials or sensitive data using social engineering, has been a significant threat since the early days of the internet – and continues to plague organizations today, accounting for more than 30% of all known breaches. And with the mass migration to remote working during the pandemic, hackers have ramped up their efforts to steal login credentials as they take

A Hackers Pot of Gold: Your MSP's Data

A single ransomware attack on a New Zealand managed service provider (MSP) disrupted several of its clients' business operations overnight, most belonging to the healthcare sector. According to the country's privacy commissioner, "a cyber security incident involving a ransomware attack" in late November upended the daily operations of New Zealand's health ministry when it prevented the staff

Beware: Tainted VPNs Being Used to Spread EyeSpy Surveillanceware

Tainted VPN installers are being used to deliver a piece of surveillanceware dubbed EyeSpy as part of a malware campaign that started in May 2022. It uses "components of SecondEye – a legitimate monitoring application – to spy on users of 20Speed VPN, an Iranian-based VPN service, via trojanized installers," Bitdefender said in an analysis. A majority of the infections are said to originate in

Fortinet and Zoho Urge Customers to Patch Enterprise Software Vulnerabilities

Fortinet has warned of a high-severity flaw affecting multiple versions of FortiADC application delivery controller that could lead to the execution of arbitrary code. "An improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command vulnerability in FortiADC may allow an authenticated attacker with access to the web GUI to execute unauthorized code or commands via specifically crafted HTTP

LastPass Admits to Severe Data Breach, Encrypted Password Vaults Stolen

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

Critical Security Flaw Reported in Passwordstate Enterprise Password Manager

Multiple high-severity vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Passwordstate password management solution that could be exploited by an unauthenticated remote adversary to obtain a user's plaintext passwords. "Successful exploitation allows an unauthenticated attacker to exfiltrate passwords from an instance, overwrite all stored passwords within the database, or elevate their privileges within

Cybercrime (and Security) Predictions for 2023

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

Google Adds Passkey Support to Chrome for Windows, macOS and Android

Google has officially begun rolling out support for passkeys, the next-generation passwordless login standard, to its stable version of Chrome web browser. "Passkeys are a significantly safer replacement for passwords and other phishable authentication factors," the tech giant's Ali Sarraf said. "They cannot be reused, don't leak in server breaches, and protect users from phishing attacks." The

CISA Warns of Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities Affecting Mitsubishi Electric PLCs

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) this week released an Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisory warning of multiple vulnerabilities in Mitsubishi Electric GX Works3 engineering software. "Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow unauthorized users to gain access to the MELSEC iQ-R/F/L series CPU modules and the MELSEC iQ-R series OPC UA server

What the CISA Reporting Rule Means for Your IT Security Protocol

The new Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) requires CISA to create rules regarding cyber incident reporting by critical infrastructure organizations. The RFI and hearings precede a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that CISA must publish sooner than 24 months from the enactment of CIRCIA, which the President signed into law in March. The sessions and

LastPass Suffers Another Security Breach; Exposed Some Customers Information

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

Why Ransomware in Education on the Rise and What That Means for 2023

The breach of LA Unified School District (LAUSD) highlights the prevalence of password vulnerabilities, as criminal hackers continue to use breached credentials in increasingly frequent ransomware attacks on education. The Labor Day weekend breach of LAUSD brought significant districtwide disruptions to access to email, computers, and applications. It's unclear what student or employee data the

Google Rolling Out Passkey Passwordless Login Support to Android and Chrome

Google on Wednesday officially rolled out support for passkeys, the next-generation authentication standard, to both Android and Chrome. "Passkeys are a significantly safer replacement for passwords and other phishable authentication factors," the tech giant said. "They cannot be reused, don't leak in server breaches, and protect users from phishing attacks." The feature was first announced in

IT Security Takeaways from the Wiseasy Hack

Last month Tech Crunch reported that payment terminal manufacturer Wiseasy had been hacked. Although Wiseasy might not be well known in North America, their Android-based payment terminals are widely used in the Asia Pacific region and hackers managed to steal passwords for 140,000 payment terminals. How Did the Wiseasy Hack Happen? Wiseasy employees use a cloud-based dashboard for remotely

Shopify Fails to Prevent Known Breached Passwords

A recent report revealed that ecommerce provider, Shopify uses particularly weak password policies on the customer-facing portion of its Website. According to the report, Shopify's requires its customers to use a password that is at least five characters in length and that does not begin or end with a space.  According to the report, Specops researchers analyzed a list of a billion passwords

Stop Worrying About Passwords Forever

So far 2022 confirms that passwords are not dead yet. Neither will they be anytime soon. Even though Microsoft and Apple are championing passwordless authentication methods, most applications and websites will not remove this option for a very long time. Think about it, internal apps that you do not want to integrate with third-party identity providers, government services, legacy applications,

Over 1,800 Android and iOS Apps Found Leaking Hard-Coded AWS Credentials

Researchers have identified 1,859 apps across Android and iOS containing hard-coded Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials, posing a major security risk. "Over three-quarters (77%) of the apps contained valid AWS access tokens allowing access to private AWS cloud services," Symantec's Threat Hunter team, a part of Broadcom Software, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Interestingly, a

Hackers Breach LastPass Developer System to Steal Source Code

Password management service LastPass confirmed a security incident that resulted in the theft of certain source code and technical information. The security breach is said to have occurred two weeks ago, targeting its development environment. No customer data or encrypted passwords were accessed, although the company provided no further details regarding the hack and what source code was stolen.

Credential Theft Is (Still) A Top Attack Method

Credential theft is clearly still a problem. Even after years of warnings, changing password requirements, and multiple forms of authentication, password stealing remains a top attack method used by cyber criminals. The latest report from the Ponemon Institute shares that 54% of security incidents were caused by credential theft, followed by ransomware and DDoS attacks. 59% of organizations

What the Zola Hack Can Teach Us About Password Security

Password security is only as strong as the password itself. Unfortunately, we are often reminded of the danger of weak, reused, and compromised passwords with major cybersecurity breaches that start with stolen credentials. For example, in May 2022, the popular wedding planning site, Zola, was the victim of a significant cybersecurity breach where hackers used an attack known as credential

Slack Resets Passwords After a Bug Exposed Hashed Passwords for Some Users

Slack said it took the step of resetting passwords for about 0.5% of its users after a flaw exposed salted password hashes when creating or revoking shared invitation links for workspaces. "When a user performed either of these actions, Slack transmitted a hashed version of their password to other workspace members," the enterprise communication and collaboration platform said in an alert on 4th

Stop Putting Your Accounts At Risk, and Start Using a Password Manager

Image via Keeper Right Now, Get 50% Off Keeper, the Most Trusted Name in Password Management. In one way or another, almost every aspect of our lives is online, so it’s no surprise that hackers target everything from email accounts to banks to smart home devices, looking for vulnerabilities to exploit. One of the easiest exploits is cracking a weak password. That’s why using a strong, unique

Racoon Stealer is Back — How to Protect Your Organization

The Racoon Stealer malware as a service platform gained notoriety several years ago for its ability to extract data that is stored within a Web browser. This data initially included passwords and cookies, which sometimes allow a recognized device to be authenticated without a password being entered. Racoon Stealer was also designed to steal auto-fill data, which can include a vast trove of

Atlassian Rolls Out Security Patch for Critical Confluence Vulnerability

Atlassian has rolled out fixes to remediate a critical security vulnerability pertaining to the use of hard-coded credentials affecting the Questions For Confluence app for Confluence Server and Confluence Data Center. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-26138, arises when the app in question is enabled on either of two services, causing it to create a Confluence user account with the username "

Google Improves Its Password Manager to Boost Security Across All Platforms

Google on Thursday announced a slew of improvements to its password manager service aimed at creating a more consistent look and feel across different platforms. Central to the changes is a "simplified and unified management experience that's the same in Chrome and Android settings," Ali Sarraf, Google Chrome product manager, said in a blog post. The updates are also expected to automatically