A U.K. national has pleaded guilty in the U.S. in connection with the July 2020 Twitter attack affecting numerous high-profile accounts and defrauding other users of the platform.
Joseph James O'Connor, who also went by the online alias PlugwalkJoe, admitted to "his role in cyberstalking and multiple schemes that involve computer hacking, including the July 2020 hack of Twitter," the U.S.
The U.S. government on Tuesday announced the court-authorized disruption of a global network compromised by an advanced malware strain known as Snake wielded by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
Snake, dubbed the "most sophisticated cyber espionage tool," is the handiwork of a Russian state-sponsored group called Turla (aka Iron Hunter, Secret Blizzard, SUMMIT, Uroburos, Venomous Bear,
Microsoft has rolled out Patch Tuesday updates for May 2023 to address 38 security flaws, including two zero-day bugs that it said is being actively exploited in the wild.
Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) said the volume is the lowest since August 2021, although it pointed out that "this number is expected to rise in the coming months."
Of the 38 vulnerabilities, six are rated Critical
U.S. authorities have announced the seizure of 13 internet domains that offered DDoS-for-hire services to other criminal actors.
The takedown is part of an ongoing international initiative dubbed Operation PowerOFF that's aimed at dismantling criminal DDoS-for-hire infrastructures worldwide.
The development comes almost five months after a "sweep" in December 2022 dismantled 48 similar services
A gambling company in the Philippines was the target of a China-aligned threat actor as part of a campaign that has been ongoing since October 2021.
Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET is tracking the series of attacks against Southeast Asian gambling companies under the name Operation ChattyGoblin.
"These attacks use a specific tactic: targeting the victim companies' support agents via chat
In the fast-paced cybersecurity landscape, product security takes center stage. DevSecOps swoops in, seamlessly merging security practices into DevOps, empowering teams to tackle challenges. Let's dive into DevSecOps and explore how collaboration can give your team the edge to fight cyber villains.
Application security and product security
Regrettably, application security teams often intervene
The advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as SideWinder has been accused of deploying a backdoor in attacks directed against Pakistan government organizations as part of a campaign that commenced in late November 2022.
"In this campaign, the SideWinder advanced persistent threat (APT) group used a server-based polymorphism technique to deliver the next stage payload," the BlackBerry
Iranian nation-state groups have now joined financially motivated actors in actively exploiting a critical flaw in PaperCut print management software, Microsoft disclosed over the weekend.
The tech giant's threat intelligence team said it observed both Mango Sandstorm (Mercury) and Mint Sandstorm (Phosphorus) weaponizing CVE-2023-27350 in their operations to achieve initial access.
"This
Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new ransomware strain called CACTUS that has been found to leverage known flaws in VPN appliances to obtain initial access to targeted networks.
"Once inside the network, CACTUS actors attempt to enumerate local and network user accounts in addition to reachable endpoints before creating new user accounts and leveraging custom scripts to automate
Are you concerned about ransomware attacks? You're not alone. In recent years, these attacks have become increasingly common and can cause significant damage to organizations of all sizes. But there's good news - with the right security measures in place, such as real-time MFA and service account protection, you can effectively protect yourself against these types of attacks.
That's why we're
The threat actors behind the ransomware attack on Taiwanese PC maker MSI last month have leaked the company's private code signing keys on their dark website.
"Confirmed, Intel OEM private key leaked, causing an impact on the entire ecosystem," Alex Matrosov, founder and CEO of firmware security firm Binarly, said in a tweet over the weekend.
"It appears that Intel Boot Guard may not be
Digital storage giant Western Digital confirmed that an "unauthorized third party" gained access to its systems and stole personal information belonging to the company's online store customers.
"This information included customer names, billing and shipping addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers," the San Jose-based company said in a disclosure last week.
"In addition, the database
The suspected Pakistan-aligned threat actor known as SideCopy has been observed leveraging themes related to the Indian military research organization as part of an ongoing phishing campaign.
This involves using a ZIP archive lure pertaining to India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to deliver a malicious payload capable of harvesting sensitive information, Fortinet
Threat hunting is an essential component of your cybersecurity strategy. Whether you're getting started or in an advanced state, this article will help you ramp up your threat intelligence program.
What is Threat Hunting?
The cybersecurity industry is shifting from a reactive to a proactive approach. Instead of waiting for cybersecurity alerts and then addressing them, security organizations are
An ongoing phishing campaign with invoice-themed lures is being used to distribute the SmokeLoader malware in the form of a polyglot file, according to the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA).
The emails, per the agency, are sent using compromised accounts and come with a ZIP archive that, in reality, is a polyglot file containing a decoy document and a JavaScript file.
The
An advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Dragon Breath has been observed adding new layers of complexity to its attacks by adopting a novel DLL side-loading mechanism.
"The attack is based on a classic side-loading attack, consisting of a clean application, a malicious loader, and an encrypted payload, with various modifications made to these components over time," Sophos researcher
Users of Advanced Custom Fields plugin for WordPress are being urged to update version 6.1.6 following the discovery of a security flaw.
The issue, assigned the identifier CVE-2023-30777, relates to a case of reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) that could be abused to inject arbitrary executable scripts into otherwise benign websites.
The plugin, which is available both as a free and pro
Various sectors in East Asian markets have been subjected to a new email phishing campaign that distributes a previously undocumented strain of Android malware called FluHorse that abuses the Flutter software development framework.
"The malware features several malicious Android applications that mimic legitimate applications, most of which have more than 1,000,000 installs," Check Point said in
Italian corporate banking clients are the target of an ongoing financial fraud campaign that has been leveraging a new web-inject toolkit called drIBAN since at least 2019.
"The main goal of drIBAN fraud operations is to infect Windows workstations inside corporate environments trying to alter legitimate banking transfers performed by the victims by changing the beneficiary and transferring
The North Korean state-sponsored threat actor known as Kimsuky has been discovered using a new reconnaissance tool called ReconShark as part of an ongoing global campaign.
"[ReconShark] is actively delivered to specifically targeted individuals through spear-phishing emails, OneDrive links leading to document downloads, and the execution of malicious macros," SentinelOne researchers Tom Hegel
Third-party apps such as Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, HotJar, and JQuery have become critical tools for businesses to optimize their website performance and services for a global audience. However, as their importance has grown, so has the threat of cyber incidents involving unmanaged third-party apps and open-source tools. Online businesses increasingly struggle to maintain complete visibility
PHP software package repository Packagist revealed that an "attacker" gained access to four inactive accounts on the platform to hijack over a dozen packages with over 500 million installs to date.
"The attacker forked each of the packages and replaced the package description in composer.json with their own message but did not otherwise make any malicious changes," Packagist's Nils Adermann said
A new Android subscription malware named Fleckpe has been unearthed on the Google Play Store, amassing more than 620,000 downloads in total since 2022.
Kaspersky, which identified 11 apps on the official app storefront, said the malware masqueraded as legitimate photo editing apps, camera, and smartphone wallpaper packs. The apps have since been taken down.
The operation primarily targets users
Cisco has warned of a critical security flaw in SPA112 2-Port Phone Adapters that it said could be exploited by a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on affected devices.
The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-20126, is rated 9.8 out of a maximum of 10 on the CVSS scoring system. The company credited Catalpa of DBappSecurity for reporting the shortcoming.
The product in question makes it possible
Three new security flaws have been disclosed in Microsoft Azure API Management service that could be abused by malicious actors to gain access to sensitive information or backend services.
This includes two server-side request forgery (SSRF) flaws and one instance of unrestricted file upload functionality in the API Management developer portal, according to Israeli cloud security firm Ermetic.
"
Cybersecurity researchers have found a way to exploit a recently disclosed critical flaw in PaperCut servers in a manner that bypasses all current detections.
Tracked as CVE-2023-27350 (CVSS score: 9.8), the issue affects PaperCut MF and NG installations that could be exploited by an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
While the flaw was patched by the
IT and cybersecurity teams are so inundated with security notifications and alerts within their own systems, it’s difficult to monitor external malicious environments – which only makes them that much more threatening.
In March, a high-profile data breach hit national headlines when personally identifiable information connected to hundreds of lawmakers and staff was leaked on the dark web. The
Three different threat actors leveraged hundreds of elaborate fictitious personas on Facebook and Instagram to target individuals located in South Asia as part of disparate attacks.
"Each of these APTs relied heavily on social engineering to trick people into clicking on malicious links, downloading malware or sharing personal information across the internet," Guy Rosen, chief information
Meta said it took steps to take down more than 1,000 malicious URLs from being shared across its services that were found to leverage OpenAI's ChatGPT as a lure to propagate about 10 malware families since March 2023.
The development comes against the backdrop of fake ChatGPT web browser extensions being increasingly used to steal users' Facebook account credentials with an aim to run
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
A Chinese state-sponsored hacking outfit has resurfaced with a new campaign targeting government, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing entities based in Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Fiji after more than six months of no activity.
Trend Micro attributed the intrusion set to a cyber espionage group it tracks under the name Earth Longzhi, which is a subgroup within APT41 (aka HOODOO
An international law enforcement operation has resulted in the arrest of 288 vendors who are believed to be involved in drug trafficking on the dark web, adding to a long list of criminal enterprises that have been shuttered in recent years.
The effort, codenamed Operation SpecTor, also saw the authorities confiscating more than $53.4 million in cash and virtual currencies, 850 kg of drugs, and
Almost half of MSP clients fell victim to a cyberattack within the last 12 months. In the SMB world, the danger is especially acute as only 50% of SMBs have a dedicated internal IT person to take care of cybersecurity. No wonder cybercriminals are targeting SMBs so heavily. No wonder SMBs are increasingly willing to pay a subscription or retainer to gain access to expert C-level cyber-assistance
Apple and Google have teamed up to work on a draft industry-wide specification that's designed to tackle safety risks and alert users when they are being tracked without their knowledge or permission using devices like AirTags.
"The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across Android and
Threat actors are actively exploiting an unpatched five-year-old flaw impacting TBK digital video recording (DVR) devices, according to an advisory issued by Fortinet FortiGuard Labs.
The vulnerability in question is CVE-2018-9995 (CVSS score: 9.8), a critical authentication bypass issue that could be exploited by remote actors to gain elevated permissions.
"The 5-year-old vulnerability (CVE-
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
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered weaknesses in a software implementation of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) that could be weaponized to achieve a denial-of-service (DoS) condition on vulnerable BGP peers.
The three vulnerabilities reside in version 8.4 of FRRouting, a popular open source internet routing protocol suite for Linux and Unix platforms. It's currently used by several
A new Android surveillanceware possibly used by the Iranian government has been used to spy on over 300 individuals belonging to minority groups.
The malware, dubbed BouldSpy, has been attributed with moderate confidence to the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA). Targeted victims include Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, Azeris, and Armenian Christian groups.
"The spyware
The telecom industry has always been a tantalizing target for cybercriminals. The combination of interconnected networks, customer data, and sensitive information allows cybercriminals to inflict maximum damage through minimal effort.
It’s the breaches in telecom companies that tend to have a seismic impact and far-reaching implications — in addition to reputational damage, which can be
In yet another instance of how threat actors are abusing Google Ads to serve malware, a threat actor has been observed leveraging the technique to deliver a new Windows-based financial trojan and information stealer called LOBSHOT.
"LOBSHOT continues to collect victims while staying under the radar," Elastic Security Labs researcher Daniel Stepanic said in an analysis published last week.
"One
The North Korean threat actor known as ScarCruft started experimenting with oversized LNK files as a delivery route for RokRAT malware as early as July 2022, the same month Microsoft began blocking macros across Office documents by default.
"RokRAT has not changed significantly over the years, but its deployment methods have evolved, now utilizing archives containing LNK files that initiate
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added three flaws to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation.
The security vulnerabilities are as follows -
CVE-2023-1389 (CVSS score: 8.8) - TP-Link Archer AX-21 Command Injection Vulnerability
CVE-2021-45046 (CVSS score: 9.0) - Apache Log4j2 Deserialization of Untrusted
An analysis of over 70 billion DNS records has led to the discovery of a new sophisticated malware toolkit dubbed Decoy Dog targeting enterprise networks.
Decoy Dog, as the name implies, is evasive and employs techniques like strategic domain aging and DNS query dribbling, wherein a series of queries are transmitted to the command-and-control (C2) domains so as to not arouse any suspicion.
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Just a few short years ago, lateral movement was a tactic confined to top APT cybercrime organizations and nation-state operators. Today, however, it has become a commoditized tool, well within the skillset of any ransomware threat actor. This makes real-time detection and prevention of lateral movement a necessity to organizations of all sizes and across all industries. But the disturbing truth
A Vietnamese threat actor has been attributed as behind a "malverposting" campaign on social media platforms to infect over 500,000 devices worldwide over the past three months to deliver variants of information stealers such as S1deload Stealer and SYS01stealer.
Malverposting refers to the use of promoted social media posts on services like Facebook and Twitter to mass propagate malicious
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of cyber attacks perpetrated by Russian nation-state hackers targeting various government bodies in the country.
The agency attributed the phishing campaign to APT28, which is also known by the names Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, Sednit, and Sofacy.
The email messages come with the subject line "
Google disclosed that its improved security features and app review processes helped it block 1.43 million bad apps from being published to the Play Store in 2022.
In addition, the company said it banned 173,000 bad accounts and fended off over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions through developer-facing features like Voided Purchases API, Obfuscated Account ID, and Play Integrity
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has officially made a return to Italy after the company met the data protection authority's demands ahead of April 30, 2023, deadline.
The development was first reported by the Associated Press. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, tweeted, "we're excited ChatGPT is available in [Italy] again!"
The reinstatement comes following Garante's decision to temporarily block
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released an Industrial Control Systems (ICS) medical advisory warning of a critical flaw impacting Illumina medical devices.
The issues impact the Universal Copy Service (UCS) software in the Illumina MiSeqDx, NextSeq 550Dx, iScan, iSeq 100, MiniSeq, MiSeq, NextSeq 500, NextSeq 550, NextSeq 1000/2000, and NovaSeq 6000 DNA
Threat actors are advertising a new information stealer for the Apple macOS operating system called Atomic macOS Stealer (or AMOS) on Telegram for $1,000 per month, joining the likes of MacStealer.
"The Atomic macOS Stealer can steal various types of information from the victim's machine, including Keychain passwords, complete system information, files from the desktop and documents folder, and
Stopping new and evasive threats is one of the greatest challenges in cybersecurity. This is among the biggest reasons why attacks increased dramatically in the past year yet again, despite the estimated $172 billion spent on global cybersecurity in 2022.
Armed with cloud-based tools and backed by sophisticated affiliate networks, threat actors can develop new and evasive malware more quickly
Networking equipment maker Zyxel has released patches for a critical security flaw in its firewall devices that could be exploited to achieve remote code execution on affected systems.
The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-28771, is rated 9.8 on the CVSS scoring system. Researchers from TRAPA Security have been credited with reporting the flaw.
"Improper error message handling in some firewall versions
A significant number of victims in the consumer and enterprise sectors located across Australia, Japan, the U.S., and India have been affected by an evasive information-stealing malware called ViperSoftX.
ViperSoftX was first documented by Fortinet in 2020, with cybersecurity company Avast detailing a campaign in November 2022 that leveraged the malware to distribute a malicious Google Chrome
An ongoing Magecart campaign has attracted the attention of cybersecurity researchers for leveraging realistic-looking fake payment screens to capture sensitive data entered by unsuspecting users.
"The threat actor used original logos from the compromised store and customized a web element known as a modal to perfectly hijack the checkout page," Jérôme Segura, director of threat intelligence at
South Korean education, construction, diplomatic, and political institutions are at the receiving end of new attacks perpetrated by a China-aligned threat actor known as the Tonto Team.
"Recent cases have revealed that the group is using a file related to anti-malware products to ultimately execute their malicious attacks," the AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC) said in a report
Google on Wednesday said it obtained a temporary court order in the U.S. to disrupt the distribution of a Windows-based information-stealing malware called CryptBot and "decelerate" its growth.
The tech giant's Mike Trinh and Pierre-Marc Bureau said the efforts are part of steps it takes to "not only hold criminal operators of malware accountable, but also those who profit from its distribution.
A little-known Russian-speaking cyber-espionage group has been linked to a new politically-motivated surveillance campaign targeting high-ranking government officials, telecom services, and public service infrastructures in Tajikistan.
The intrusion set, dubbed Paperbug by Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT, has been attributed to a threat actor known as Nomadic Octopus (aka DustSquad).
"The
Remote Access Trojans (RATs) have taken the third leading position in ANY. RUN's Q1 2023 report on the most prevalent malware types, making it highly probable that your organization may face this threat.
Though LimeRAT might not be the most well-known RAT family, its versatility is what sets it apart. Capable of carrying out a broad spectrum of malicious activities, it excels not only in data
The threat actors behind RTM Locker have developed a ransomware strain that's capable of targeting Linux machines, marking the group's first foray into the open source operating system.
"Its locker ransomware infects Linux, NAS, and ESXi hosts and appears to be inspired by Babuk ransomware's leaked source code," Uptycs said in a new report published Wednesday. "It uses a combination of ECDH on
Microsoft has confirmed that the active exploitation of PaperCut servers is linked to attacks that are designed to deliver Cl0p and LockBit ransomware families.
The tech giant's threat intelligence team is attributing a subset of the intrusions to a financially motivated actor it tracks under the name Lace Tempest (formerly DEV-0950), which overlaps with other hacking groups like FIN11, TA505,
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