Security

A new variant of the wiper malware AcidRain, known as AcidPour, has been discovered by SentinelOne’s threat intelligence team, SentinelLabs. AcidRain is destructive wiper malware attributed to Russian military intelligence. In May 2022, AcidRain was used in a broad-scale cyber-attack against Viasat’s KA-SAT satellites in Ukraine. The malware rendered KA-SAT modems inoperative in Ukraine and

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Wednesday the designation of two individuals and two entities for their involvement in aiding the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR) in a foreign malign influence campaign.  The campaign notably included attempts to impersonate legitimate media outlets. Under Secretary of the

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a stark warning yesterday to leaders of critical infrastructure organizations regarding the imminent threat posed by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actors known as “Volt Typhoon.” In collaboration with the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other US government and

Threat researchers have revealed a new cyber-attack using cloaked emails to deceive machine learning (ML) systems, enabling the infiltration of enterprise networks. An advisory published by SlashNext today called the tactic a “Conversation Overflow” attack, a method that circumvents advanced security measures to deliver phishing messages directly into victims’ inboxes. The malicious emails consist of two

A Moldovan national has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison by US Senior District Judge James Moody Jr. Sandu Boris Diaconu, 31, was given the sentence for his involvement in conspiracy to commit access device and computer fraud, as well as for possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.  According to a

Security researchers have noticed a substantial increase in software-as-a-service (SaaS) assets, with an average of 286,000 new assets generated weekly in 2023, an 189% surge from the previous year.  The data comes from DoControl’s 2024 State of SaaS Data Security Report, which also suggested one in six employees was found to have shared company data

Protected health information and personal details of over a million Irish citizens were accidently exposed by the Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) during the COVID pandemic, according to an AppOmni security researcher. This information included individuals’ vaccine status and type received, which could have been accessed by anyone who registered to the HSE COVID Vaccination

Something mysterious is happening at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that could make many organizations vulnerable to threat actors. Since February 12, 2024, NIST has almost completely stopped enriching software vulnerabilities listed in its National Vulnerability Database (NVD), the world’s most widely used software vulnerability database. Tom Pace, CEO of firmware

The US House of Representatives has approved a bill on Wednesday, compelling ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to divest the social media platform or face a complete ban in the United States.  The vote witnessed a landslide victory, with 352 members of Congress supporting the bill while only 65 opposed it. The bill, expedited

Internet security experts have detected and blocked nearly 13,000 fake investment platform domains across more than 7000 IPs in January 2024, a 25% increase from December 2023. The figure comes amid growing concerns over the escalating threat of online investment scams, which continue to prey on unsuspecting individuals worldwide.  According to data from the Federal Trade

A recent study conducted by Kaspersky Security Assessment experts has revealed the most prevalent vulnerabilities in corporate web applications developed in-house. Spanning the years between 2021 and 2023, the study identified numerous flaws, predominantly in the realms of access control and data protection, across a significant number of applications. Of particular concern were vulnerabilities related

Security researchers have uncovered a trend involving the exploitation of 1-day vulnerabilities, including two in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN.  The flaws, identified as CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2023-21887, were quickly exploited by multiple threat actors, leading to various malicious activities. Tracking these exploits, the Check Point Research (CPR) team said it encountered a cluster of activities attributed

A sophisticated cyber-espionage campaign by the China-aligned APT group Evasive Panda (also known as BRONZE HIGHLAND and Daggerfly) has been observed targeting Tibetans across various countries and territories.  The operation, which has been ongoing since at least September 2023, exploits both a targeted watering hole tactic and a supply-chain compromise involving trojanized installers of Tibetan

UnitedHealth Group has published a timeline to restore Change Healthcare’s systems following the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware attack, which has led to delays to patient care across the US. The healthcare conglomerate, which owns Change Healthcare, said it expects key pharmacy and payment systems to be restored and available by March 18. In the meantime, UnitedHealth is

A novel phishing campaign leveraged legitimate Dropbox infrastructure and successfully bypassed multifactor authentication (MFA) protocols, new research from Darktrace has revealed. The attack highlights the growing exploitation of legitimate popular services to trick targets into downloading malware and revealing log in credentials. The findings also show how attackers are becoming adept at evading standard security

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new cyber-threat involving fraudulent Skype, Google Meet and Zoom websites aimed at spreading malware.  The campaign, uncovered in December 2023 by Zscaler’s ThreatLabz, saw perpetrators distributing the SpyNote remote access Trojan (RAT) to Android users and NjRAT and DCRat to Windows users. These malicious URLs and files were identified on

The TA4903 group has been observed engaging in extensive spoofing of both US government agencies and private businesses across various industries. While primarily targeting organizations within the United States, TA4903 occasionally extends its reach globally through high-volume email campaigns. The overarching objective of these campaigns, as reported by Proofpoint in a new advisory published today, is

The hacking group GhostSec has seen a significant increase in its malicious activities over the past year, according to research conducted by Cisco Talos.  This surge includes the emergence of GhostLocker 2.0, a new variant of ransomware developed by the group using the Golang programming language.  GhostSec, in collaboration with the Stormous ransomware group, has

Researchers have developed a computer worm that targets generative AI (GenAI) applications to potentially spread malware and steal personal data. The new paper details the worm dubbed “Morris II,” which targets GenAI ecosystems through the use of adversarial self-replicating prompts, leading to GenAI systems delivering payloads to other agents. Once unleashed, the worm is stored

The UK Home Office has breached data protection law by using electronic tags to monitor migrants, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The regulator said the government department failed to sufficiently assess the privacy intrusion of the continuous collection of individuals’ location information. It noted that 24/7 access to people’s movement is likely to

Read more on Ivanti vulnerabilities: Eight government agencies from the Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US) issued an urgent warning on February 29 about the active exploitation of Ivanti product vulnerabilities. Specifically, the joint advisory assessed that cyber threat actors are exploiting previously identified vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure

US President Joe Biden has warned that Chinese manufactured automobiles could be used to steal sensitive data of US citizens and critical infrastructure. The White House statement announced it will be conducting an investigation into the impact of “connected vehicles” containing technology from China on US national security. “I have directed my Secretary of Commerce

Leading drug distributor Cencora has disclosed a cybersecurity incident where data from its information systems was compromised, potentially containing personal information.  The breach was discovered on February 21 2024, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing published on the same day. “Upon initial detection of the unauthorized activity, the Company immediately took containment steps

A joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command and international partners has raised alarms regarding Russian state-sponsored cyber actors’ exploitation of compromised Ubiquiti EdgeRouters. Identified as the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS), these actors, also known

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a significant vulnerability in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress. The vulnerability affects the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, which boasts over 4 million active installations, and presents a risk of unauthenticated site-wide stored XSS (cross-site scripting). This could potentially allow unauthorized access to sensitive information or privilege escalation on affected WordPress sites via

A recent joint advisory released by CISA in collaboration with the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and other domestic and international partners sheds light on the evolving tactics of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) cyber actors. Referred to by various aliases such as APT29, Midnight Blizzard, the Dukes or Cozy Bear, this group has

Almost four in five (78%) of organizations who paid a ransom demand were hit by a second ransomware attack, often by the same threat actor, according to Cybereason’s Ransomware: The Cost to Business Study 2024. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of these organizations were asked to pay more the second time. Of the 78% breached a second

Serco Leisure has been ordered to stop using facial recognition technology (FRT) and fingerprint scanning to monitor employee attendance by the UK’s data protection enforcement authority. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the company unlawfully processed biometric data of more than 2000 employees across 38 sporting and leisure facilities under UK data protection law. Serco

Read more about LockBit Ransomware: LockBit Takedown: What You Need to Know about Operation Cronos LockBit Infrastructure Disrupted by Global Law Enforcers LockBit and Royal Mail Ransomware Negotiation Leaked LockBit Remains Top Global Ransomware Threat “We know who he is. We know where he lives. We know how much he is worth. LockbitSupp has engaged

Cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky have uncovered a new phishing campaign that specifically targets small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).  The attack method involves exploiting the email service provider (ESP) SendGrid to gain access to client mailing lists, subsequently utilizing stolen credentials to send out convincing phishing emails. These emails are crafted to appear authentic, posing a