Microsoft has officially resumed blocking Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros by default across Office apps, weeks after temporarily announcing plans to roll back the change. “Based on our review of customer feedback, we’ve made updates to both our end user and our IT admin documentation to make clearer what options you have for different
Month: July 2022
Ever hear of a crime called skimming? It may not be as dramatic a crime as assault or Ponzi schemes, but it can cause significant problems to you as your savings account can be wiped out in a flash. Picture a scrawny nerd tampering with an automated teller machine (ATM)—the machine you use with your
This week HP released their report The Evolution of Cybercrime: Why the Dark Web is Supercharging the Threat Landscape and How to Fight Back, exploring how cyber-criminals are increasingly operating in a quasi-professional manner, with malware and ransomware attacks being offered on a ‘software-as-a-service’ basis. The report’s findings showed how cybercrime is being supercharged through “plug and
by Paul Ducklin The phrase Office macros is a harmless-sounding, low-tech name that refers, in real life, to program code you can squirrel away inside Office files so that the code travels along with the text of a document, or the formulas of a spreadsheet, or the slides in a presentation… …and even though the
ESET research shows yet again that macOS is not immune to malware and why some users can benefit from Apple’s Lockdown Mode This week, ESET researchers published their findings about a piece of malware that targets Mac users. Called CloudMensis, this previously unknown backdoor spies on users of the compromised Mac devices and collects information
Network security company SonicWall on Friday rolled out fixes to mitigate a critical SQL injection (SQLi) vulnerability affecting its Analytics On-Prem and Global Management System (GMS) products. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-22280, is rated 9.4 for severity on the CVSS scoring system and stems from what the company describes is an “improper neutralization of special
Sextortion is something no parent wants to think could happen to their child, nor a topic most of us would ever imagine we’d need to discuss in our homes. However, according to the latest FBI reports, sextortion is a digital threat to children that, woefully, is on the rise. According to the FBI, there has
China has fined global mobility technology platform Didi Global around $1.2bn (8.026 billion yuan) for violating the country’s network security law, data security law and personal information protection law. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s cybersecurity regulator, also fined two Didi executives 1 million yuan each for the infringements. The announcement came a
by Paul Ducklin LISTEN NOW Click-and-drag on the soundwaves below to skip to any point. You can also listen directly on Soundcloud. With Doug Aamoth and Paul Ducklin. Intro and outro music by Edith Mudge. You can listen to us on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and anywhere that good podcasts are found.
A never-before-seen Linux malware has been dubbed a “Swiss Army Knife” for its modular architecture and its capability to install rootkits. This previously undetected Linux threat, called Lightning Framework by Intezer, is equipped with a plethora of features, making it one of the most intricate frameworks developed for targeting Linux systems. “The framework has both
There’s no denying that the internet fills a big part of our days. Whether playing, working, or studying, we rely on staying connected. But just as there’s a lot of good that comes with the internet, it can also make us susceptible to cybercriminals. This is especially true if you’re using your phone on public
Unpatched flaws in popular GPS devices could allow attackers to disrupt and track vehicles, security researchers have warned. Security company BitSight described six ‘severe’ vulnerabilities in the MiCODUS MV720 GPS tracker, a popular device designed for vehicle fleet management and theft protection. The BitSight research came alongside a warning from the US Department of Homeland
by Paul Ducklin As the English translation of the Baroque-era German rendering of the Ancient Greek philosophical saying goes: Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small/Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all. Today, this saying is usually applied in respect of the judicial process, noting that
Listen to Cameron Camp, Juraj Jánošík, and Filip Mazán discuss the use of machine learning in cybersecurity, followed by Cameron’s insights into the security of medical devices At this year’s RSA Conference in San Francisco, the speakers and vendors on the expo floor often presented artificial intelligence as the solution that can help the cybersecurity
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
The internet provides plenty of fun and exciting opportunities for you and your family, from sharing on social media to online shopping. To help you enjoy every minute of it, though, it’s good to be aware of what less savory characters are up to. And they sure have been busy. In fact, the U.S. Federal
The Albanian government has been hit with a “massive cyber-attack,” forcing its websites offline. In a statement shared with local news outlets, the government blamed the incident on a synchronized “attack from abroad.” The press release continued: “In order to not allow this attack to damage our information system, the National Agency of Information Society
Previously unknown macOS malware uses cloud storage as its C&C channel and to exfiltrate documents, keystrokes, and screen captures from compromised Macs In April 2022, ESET researchers discovered a previously unknown macOS backdoor that spies on users of the compromised Mac and exclusively uses public cloud storage services to communicate back and forth with its
Cybersecurity researchers have taken the wraps off a previously undocumented spyware targeting the Apple macOS operating system. The malware, codenamed CloudMensis by Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET, is said to exclusively use public cloud storage services such as pCloud, Yandex Disk, and Dropbox for receiving attacker commands and exfiltrating files. “Its capabilities clearly show that the
The UK government has set out proposals for a new AI rulebook to unleash innovation and boost public trust in the technology, according to a policy paper published today by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The report outlines the government’s approach to regulating the technology in the UK, with proposed rules addressing
by Paul Ducklin Remember Log4Shell? It was a dangerous bug in a popular open-source Java programming toolkit called Log4j, short for “Logging for Java”, published under a liberal, free source code licence, by the Apache Software Foundation. If you’ve ever written software of any sort, from the simplest BAT file on a Windows laptop to
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned of cyber criminals building rogue cryptocurrency-themed apps to defraud investors in the virtual assets space. “The FBI has observed cyber criminals contacting U.S. investors, fraudulently claiming to offer legitimate cryptocurrency investment services, and convincing investors to download fraudulent mobile apps, which the cyber criminals have used
Your mobile phone can do so many things, thanks to the wonders of technology. One of those things is having very accurate information about your location. In fact, some apps have to know your location to work. Of course, you can’t expect Google Maps to function as it should without tracking your location. But you’re
North Korean threat actors are targeting small and mid-sized businesses with ransomware, according to Microsoft Security researchers. The group of actors, going by the name H0lyGh0st, have been developing and conducting cross-national malware attacks for over a year, performing successful attacks as early as September 2021. As well as using a ransomware payload, the group – tracked
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
So much of our personal and professional lives are online — from online banking to connecting with friends and family to unwinding after a long day with our favorite movies and shows. The internet is a pretty convenient place to be! Unfortunately, it can also be a convenient place for cybercriminals and identity theft. One
This week the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Cyber Safety Review Board’s (CSRB) first report into the December 2021 Log4j event, where a number of vulnerabilities were reported with this Java-based logging framework. The report’s methodology included a mixture of interviews and requests for information over a 90-day period, engaging with approximately 80 organizations and individuals
Why downloading pirated video games may ultimately cost you dearly and how to stay safe while gaming online Video games can be expensive, so downloading popular games for free instead of parting with your hard-earned cash may sound like a great idea. But are you aware of the dangers that downloading pirated video games and
Following the launch of a new “Data safety” section for the Android app on the Play Store, Google appears to be readying to remove the app permissions list from both the mobile app and the web. The change was highlighted by Esper’s Mishaal Rahman earlier this week. The Data safety section, which Google began rolling
A virtual private network (VPN) is a tool that hides your geolocation and protects your privacy while you’re online. It does this by creating an encrypted tunnel from your home network to a VPN provider’s server. When you buy an internet plan, your internet service provider (ISP) gives your equipment (like your router and modem)