Microsoft Introduces Linux-Like 'sudo' Command to Windows 11

Microsoft said it's introducing Sudo for Windows 11 as part of an early preview version to help users execute commands with administrator privileges. "Sudo for Windows is a new way for users to run elevated commands directly from an unelevated console session," Microsoft Product Manager Jordi Adoumie said. "It is an ergonomic and familiar solution for users who want to elevate a command

Critical Boot Loader Vulnerability in Shim Impacts Nearly All Linux Distros

The maintainers of shim have released version 15.8 to address six security flaws, including a critical bug that could pave the way for remote code execution under specific circumstances. Tracked as CVE-2023-40547 (CVSS score: 9.8), the vulnerability could be exploited to achieve a Secure Boot bypass. Bill Demirkapi of the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) has been&

Malicious PyPI Packages Slip WhiteSnake InfoStealer Malware onto Windows Machines

Cybersecurity researchers have identified malicious packages on the open-source Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that deliver an information stealing malware called WhiteSnake Stealer on Windows systems. The malware-laced packages are named nigpal, figflix, telerer, seGMM, fbdebug, sGMM, myGens, NewGends, and TestLibs111. They have been uploaded by a threat actor named "WS." "These

SystemBC Malware's C2 Server Analysis Exposes Payload Delivery Tricks

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on the command-and-control (C2) server workings of a known malware family called SystemBC. "SystemBC can be purchased on underground marketplaces and is supplied in an archive containing the implant, a command-and-control (C2) server, and a web administration portal written in PHP," Kroll said in an analysis published last week. The risk

Applying the Tyson Principle to Cybersecurity: Why Attack Simulation is Key to Avoiding a KO

Picture a cybersecurity landscape where defenses are impenetrable, and threats are nothing more than mere disturbances deflected by a strong shield. Sadly, this image of fortitude remains a pipe dream despite its comforting nature. In the security world, preparedness is not just a luxury but a necessity. In this context, Mike Tyson's famous adage, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in

New Variant of DLL Search Order Hijacking Bypasses Windows 10 and 11 Protections

Security researchers have detailed a new variant of a dynamic link library (DLL) search order hijacking technique that could be used by threat actors to bypass security mechanisms and achieve execution of malicious code on systems running Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11. The approach "leverages executables commonly found in the trusted WinSxS folder and exploits them via the classic DLL

Google Using Clang Sanitizers to Protect Android Against Cellular Baseband Vulnerabilities

Google is highlighting the role played by Clang sanitizers in hardening the security of the cellular baseband in the Android operating system and preventing specific kinds of vulnerabilities. This comprises Integer Overflow Sanitizer (IntSan) and BoundsSanitizer (BoundSan), both of which are part of UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer (UBSan), a tool designed to catch various kinds of

Russian Hackers Sandworm Cause Power Outage in Ukraine Amidst Missile Strikes

The notorious Russian hackers known as Sandworm targeted an electrical substation in Ukraine last year, causing a brief power outage in October 2022. The findings come from Google's Mandiant, which described the hack as a "multi-event cyber attack" leveraging a novel technique for impacting industrial control systems (ICS). "The actor first used OT-level living-off-the-land (LotL) techniques to

Malvertising Campaign Targets Brazil's PIX Payment System with GoPIX Malware

The popularity of Brazil's PIX instant payment system has made it a lucrative target for threat actors looking to generate illicit profits using a new malware called GoPIX. Kaspersky, which has been tracking the active campaign since December 2022, said the attacks are pulled off using malicious ads that are served when potential victims search for "WhatsApp web" on search engines. "The

High-Severity Flaws Uncovered in Atlassian Products and ISC BIND Server

Atlassian and the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) have disclosed several security flaws impacting their products that could be exploited to achieve denial-of-service (DoS) and remote code execution. The Australian software services provider said that the four high-severity flaws were fixed in new versions shipped last month. This includes - CVE-2022-25647 (CVSS score: 7.5) - A deserialization

Industrial Control Systems Vulnerabilities Soar: Over One-Third Unpatched in 2023

About 34% of security vulnerabilities impacting industrial control systems (ICSs) that were reported in the first half of 2023 have no patch or remediation, registering a significant increase from 13% the previous year. According to data compiled by SynSaber, a total of 670 ICS product flaws were reported via the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the first half of

Decoy Dog: New Breed of Malware Posing Serious Threats to Enterprise Networks

A deeper analysis of a recently discovered malware called Decoy Dog has revealed that it's a significant upgrade over the Pupy RAT, an open-source remote access trojan it's modeled on. "Decoy Dog has a full suite of powerful, previously unknown capabilities – including the ability to move victims to another controller, allowing them to maintain communication with compromised machines and remain

The Importance of Managing Your Data Security Posture

Data security is reinventing itself. As new data security posture management solutions come to market, organizations are increasingly recognizing the opportunity to provide evidence-based security that proves how their data is being protected. But what exactly is data security posture, and how do you manage it?  Data security posture management (DSPM) became mainstream following the publication

Microsoft Details Critical Apple macOS Vulnerability Allowing SIP Protection Bypass

Microsoft has shared details of a now-patched flaw in Apple macOS that could be abused by threat actors with root access to bypass security enforcements and perform arbitrary actions on affected devices. Specifically, the flaw – dubbed Migraine and tracked as CVE-2023-32369 – could be abused to get around a key security measure called System Integrity Protection (SIP), or “rootless,” which

CISA Issues Advisory on Critical RCE Affecting ME RTU Remote Terminal Units

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday released an Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisory about a critical flaw affecting ME RTU remote terminal units. The security vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-2131, has received the highest severity rating of 10.0 on the CVSS scoring system for its low attack complexity. "Successful exploitation of this

Microsoft Takes Legal Action to Disrupt Cybercriminals' Illegal Use of Cobalt Strike Tool

Microsoft said it teamed up with Fortra and Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC) to tackle the abuse of Cobalt Strike by cybercriminals to distribute malware, including ransomware. To that end, the tech giant's Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) revealed that it secured a court order in the U.S. to "remove illegal, legacy copies of Cobalt Strike so they can no longer be used by

CISA Warns of Critical ICS Flaws in Hitachi, mySCADA, ICL, and Nexx Products

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published eight Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories warning of critical flaws affecting products from Hitachi Energy, mySCADA Technologies, Industrial Control Links, and Nexx. Topping the list is CVE-2022-3682 (CVSS score: 9.9), impacting Hitachi Energy's MicroSCADA System Data Manager SDM600 that could allow an

CISA Alerts on Critical Security Vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released eight Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories on Tuesday, warning of critical flaws affecting equipment from Delta Electronics and Rockwell Automation. This includes 13 security vulnerabilities in Delta Electronics' InfraSuite Device Master, a real-time device monitoring software. All versions prior to 1.0.5 are

Honeypot-Factory: The Use of Deception in ICS/OT Environments

The recently published Security Navigator report of Orange Cyberdefense shows there has been a  rapid increase of attacks on industrial control systems (ICS) in the past few years. Looking a bit closer, most of the attacks seem to have spilt over from traditional IT. That's to be expected, as production systems are commonly connected to ordinary corporate networks at this point. Though the data

Gootkit Malware Adopts New Tactics to Attack Healthcare and Finance Firms

The Gootkit malware is prominently going after healthcare and finance organizations in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, according to new findings from Cybereason. The cybersecurity firm said it investigated a Gootkit incident in December 2022 that adopted a new method of deployment, with the actors abusing the foothold to deliver Cobalt Strike and SystemBC for post-exploitation. "The threat actor

PixPirate: New Android Banking Trojan Targeting Brazilian Financial Institutions

A new Android banking trojan has set its eyes on Brazilian financial institutions to commit fraud by leveraging the PIX payments platform. Italian cybersecurity company Cleafy, which discovered the malware between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, is tracking it under the name PixPirate. "PixPirate belongs to the newest generation of Android banking trojan, as it can perform ATS (

CISA Warns of Flaws in Siemens, GE Digital, and Contec Industrial Control Systems

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published four Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories, calling out several security flaws affecting products from Siemens, GE Digital, and Contec. The most critical of the issues have been identified in Siemens SINEC INS that could lead to remote code execution via a path traversal flaw (CVE-2022-45092, CVSS score: 9.9)

New GoTrim Botnet Attempting to Break into WordPress Sites' Admin Accounts

A new Go-based botnet has been spotted scanning and brute-forcing self-hosted websites using the WordPress content management system (CMS) to seize control of targeted systems. "This new brute forcer is part of a new campaign we have named GoTrim because it was written in Go and uses ':::trim:::' to split data communicated to and from the C2 server," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researchers Eduardo

How XDR Helps Protect Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructure is important for societal existence, growth, and development. Societies are reliant on the services provided by critical infrastructure sectors like telecommunication, energy, healthcare, transportation, and information technology. Safety and security are necessary for the optimal operation of these critical infrastructures. Critical infrastructure is made up of digital

This Android File Manager App Infected Thousands of Devices with SharkBot Malware

The Android banking fraud malware known as SharkBot has reared its head once again on the official Google Play Store, posing as file managers to bypass the app marketplace's restrictions. A majority of the users who downloaded the rogue apps are located in the U.K. and Italy, Romanian cybersecurity company Bitdefender said in an analysis published this week. SharkBot, first discovered towards

Google Identifies 34 Cracked Versions of Popular Cobalt Strike Hacking Toolkit in the Wild

Google Cloud last week disclosed that it identified 34 different hacked release versions of the Cobalt Strike tool in the wild, the earliest of which shipped in November 2012. The versions, spanning 1.44 to 4.7, add up to a total of 275 unique JAR files, according to findings from the Google Cloud Threat Intelligence (GCTI) team. The latest version of Cobalt Strike is version 4.7.2. Cobalt

Critical RCE Vulnerability Discovered in Popular Cobalt Strike Hacking Software

HelpSystems, the company behind the Cobalt Strike software platform, has released an out-of-band security update to address a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take control of targeted systems. Cobalt Strike is a commercial red-team framework that's mainly used for adversary simulation, but cracked versions of the software have been actively abused by ransomware

Critical Bug in Siemens SIMATIC PLCs Could Let Attackers Steal Cryptographic Keys

A vulnerability in Siemens Simatic programmable logic controller (PLC) can be exploited to retrieve the hard-coded, global private cryptographic keys and seize control of the devices. "An attacker can use these keys to perform multiple advanced attacks against Siemens SIMATIC devices and the related TIA Portal, while bypassing all four of its access level protections," industrial cybersecurity

Critical Remote Hack Flaws Found in Dataprobe's Power Distribution Units

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday released an industrial control systems (ICS) advisory warning of seven security flaws in Dataprobe's iBoot-PDU power distribution unit product, mostly used in industrial environments and data centers. "Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution on the Dataprobe

RTLS Systems Found Vulnerable to MiTM Attacks and Location Tampering

Researchers have disclosed multiple vulnerabilities impacting Ultra-wideband (UWB) Real-time Locating Systems (RTLS), enabling threat actors to launch adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks and tamper with location data. "The zero-days found specifically pose a security risk for workers in industrial environments," cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks disclosed in a technical write-up last week. "

Researchers Warn of Increase in Phishing Attacks Using Decentralized IPFS Network

The decentralized file system solution known as IPFS is becoming the new "hotbed" for hosting phishing sites, researchers have warned. Cybersecurity firm Trustwave SpiderLabs, which disclosed specifics of the spam campaigns, said it identified no less than 3,000 emails containing IPFS phishing URLs as an attack vector in the last three months. IPFS, short for InterPlanetary File System, is a

Google Adds Support for DNS-over-HTTP/3 in Android to Keep DNS Queries Private

Google on Tuesday officially announced support for DNS-over-HTTP/3 (DoH3) for Android devices as part of a Google Play system update designed to keep DNS queries private. To that end, Android smartphones running Android 11 and higher are expected to use DoH3 instead of DNS-over-TLS (DoT), which was incorporated into the mobile operating system with Android 9.0. DoH3 is also an alternative to

Hackers Targeting VoIP Servers By Exploiting Digium Phone Software

VoIP phones using Digium's software have been targeted to drop a web shell on their servers as part of an attack campaign designed to exfiltrate data by downloading and executing additional payloads. "The malware installs multilayer obfuscated PHP backdoors to the web server's file system, downloads new payloads for execution, and schedules recurring tasks to re-infect the host system," Palo

APT Hackers Targeting Industrial Control Systems with ShadowPad Backdoor

Entities located in Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Pakistan are in the crosshairs of an attack campaign that targets unpatched Microsoft Exchange Servers as an initial access vector to deploy the ShadowPad malware. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which first detected the activity in mid-October 2021, attributed it to a previously unknown Chinese-speaking threat actor. Targets include

What is the Essential Eight (And Why Non-Aussies Should Care)

In 2017, The Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) published a set of mitigation strategies that were designed to help organizations to protect themselves against cyber security incidents. These strategies, which became known as the Essential Eight, are designed specifically for use on Windows networks, although variations of these strategies are commonly applied to other platforms. What is

Researchers Uncover Malware Controlling Thousands of Sites in Parrot TDS Network

The Parrot traffic direction system (TDS) that came to light earlier this year has had a larger impact than previously thought, according to new research. Sucuri, which has been tracking the same campaign since February 2019 under the name "NDSW/NDSX," said that "the malware was one of the top infections" detected in 2021, accounting for more than 61,000 websites. Parrot TDS was documented in

Microsoft Warns of Web Skimmers Mimicking Google Analytics and Meta Pixel Code

Threat actors behind web skimming campaigns are leveraging malicious JavaScript code that mimics Google Analytics and Meta Pixel scripts in an attempt to sidestep detection. "It's a shift from earlier tactics where attackers conspicuously injected malicious scripts into e-commerce platforms and content management systems (CMSs) via vulnerability exploitation, making this threat highly evasive to