Cybersecurity News
Oil-and-Gas APT Pivots to U.S. Power Plants
Researchers say that physically disruptive attacks aren't imminent, but an increased focus on U.S. electrical-grid operators doesn't bode well.
Man jailed for using data breach info leaks to claim over $12 million in IRS tax refunds
Information leaked due to data breaches was used to file fraudulent tax returns.Cybersecurity acquisitions run rampant this week: Who has bought what?
As a new year unfolds, so do portfolio changes and acquisition deals in the cybersecurity sector.Skype audio graded by workers in China with 'no security measures'
Exclusive: former Microsoft contractor says he was emailed login after minimal vetting
A Microsoft programme to transcribe and vet audio from Skype and Cortana, its voice assistant, ran for years with “no security measures”, according to a former contractor who says he reviewed thousands of potentially sensitive recordings on his personal laptop from his home in Beijing over the two years he worked for the company.
The recordings, both deliberate and accidentally invoked activations of the voice assistant, as well as some Skype phone calls, were simply accessed by Microsoft workers through a web app running in Google’s Chrome browser, on their personal laptops, over the Chinese internet, according to the contractor.
Continue reading...Google details its three-year fight against the Bread (Joker) malware operation
Google says it removed more than 1,700 Android apps infected with Bread (Joker) malware since 2017.Reporting an Incident
Bad guys are very persistent, eventually anyone can make a mistake. If a phone call from the "Help Desk" doesn't sound quite right, if an email seems suspicious or if a program you installed starts acting funny, ask for help! In addition, perhaps you lost a work laptop or a USB drive. The sooner you report an incident, the sooner we can help resolve the problem.Attackers Increase Focus on North American Electric Utilities: Report
Electric utilities continue to be a target of nation-state attackers, even before the latest tensions between Iran and the United States, says a critical-infrastructure security firm.Chinese Malware Found Preinstalled on US Government-Funded Phones
Researchers found unremovable malware preinstalled in the Unimax U686CL, a budget Android device sold by Assurance Wireless.Dixons Carphone fined £500,000 for massive data breach
‘Systemic failures’ found in the retailer’s management and protection of customer data
Dixons Carphone has been hit with the maximum possible fine after the tills in its shops were compromised by a cyber-attack that affected at least 14 million people.
The retailer discovered the massive data breach last summer and a subsequent investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found the attacker had installed malicious software on 5,390 tills in branches of its Currys PC World and Dixons Travel chains.
Continue reading...50+ orgs ask Google to take a stance against Android bloatware
Privacy organizations ask Google to introduce new OEM rules for Android bloatware.Lawmakers Prod FCC to Act on SIM Swapping
Crooks have stolen tens of millions of dollars and other valuable commodities from thousands of consumers via "SIM swapping," a particularly invasive form of fraud that involves tricking a target's mobile carrier into transferring someone's wireless service to a device they control. But the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the entity responsible for overseeing wireless industry practices, has so far remained largely silent on the matter. Now, a cadre of Senate lawmakers is demanding to know what, if anything, the agency might be doing to track and combat SIM swapping.Exploit Fully Breaks SHA-1, Lowers the Attack Bar
Users of GnuPG, OpenSSL and Git could be in danger from an attack that's practical for ordinary attackers to carry out.
TrickBot Group Adds New PowerShell-Based Backdoor to Arsenal
PowerTrick is sort of a custom-version of PowerShell Empire and can be used to download additional malware, SentinelOne says.Online Skimming and Payment Security
On the blog, we cover basic questions with Christopher D. Roberti, Senior Vice President for Cyber, Intelligence, and Security Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and PCI SSC SVP, Engagement Officer for Market Intelligence and Stakeholder Engagement Troy Leach, about this growing threat to businesses across the U.S. and how to better protect yourself from this dangerous threat.
AWS Issues 'Urgent' Warning for Database Users to Update Certs
Users of AWS Aurora, DocumentDB, and RDS databases must download and install a fresh certificate and rotate the certificate authority.4 Ring Employees Fired For Spying on Customers
Ring said that four employees were fired because they for inappropriate access to customers' connected video feeds.
Unremovable malware found preinstalled on low-end smartphone sold in the US
Malwarebytes said it found malware pre-installed on Unimax U673c handsets, sold by Assurance Wireless (Virgin Mobile) in the US.California’s Tough New Privacy Law and Its Biggest Challenges
The California Consumer Privacy Act has been adopted, but the largest U.S. privacy regulation fails to address how companies can know where their data is.