Threats, Cyberattacks & Vulnerabilities
Top Stories
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Tip
06 Oct 2026
White-glove security training closes executive vulnerability gap
Executives present a unique security vulnerability. White-glove security training provides personalized strategies against impersonation, deepfake and spear phishing attacks. Continue Reading
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Video
05 Oct 2026
Threat summer 2026: Editors discuss top cyber incidents
In this edition of the Reporters' Notebook video series, our cybersecurity reporters explore their picks for the most significant security incidents over the summer of 2026. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jan 2021
FBI warns against vishing attacks targeting enterprises
Though the FBI vishing warning references attacks that began in December 2019, the alert is reminiscent of the Twitter social engineering attacks that took place last July. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jan 2021
Tenable: Vulnerability disclosures skyrocketed over last 5 years
New research from Tenable shows a dramatic increase in vulnerability disclosures since 2015, as well as concerning data about data breaches, ransomware threats and unpatched bugs. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jan 2021
Capitol building breach poses cybersecurity risks
While security experts are divided on the level of risk, they agree there is a potential for threats after rioters stormed the Capitol building and ransacked offices. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jan 2021
SolarWinds confirms supply chain attack began in 2019
SolarWinds and CrowdStrike published updates Monday that added new information for the timeline of the supply chain attack and how threat actors first gained access. Continue Reading
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Podcast
08 Jan 2021
Risk & Repeat: SolarWinds attacks come into focus
This week's Risk & Repeat podcast discusses the fallout from the SolarWinds backdoor attacks as new victims and additional information have come to light. Continue Reading
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News
06 Jan 2021
The SolarWinds attacks: What we know so far
The SolarWinds attacks have left a massive impact on security, tech and the world at large, and events are still unfolding nearly a month after the initial disclosure. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jan 2021
10 of the biggest cyber attacks of 2020
Here is a list of 10 of the largest cyber attacks of a pandemic-dominated 2020, including several devastating ransomware incidents and a massive supply chain attack. Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jan 2021
Ransomware 'businesses': Does acting legitimate pay off?
Ransomware gangs such as Maze have portrayed themselves almost like penetration testing firms and referred to victims as 'clients.' What's behind this approach? Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Dec 2020
What is bloatware? How to identify and remove it
Unwanted pre-installed software -- also known as bloatware -- has long posed security threats for computers and other devices. Here are strategies for how to detect bloatware and uninstall the potential threat. Continue Reading
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News
23 Dec 2020
Security measures critical for COVID-19 vaccine distribution
The COVID-19 vaccine supply chain is already under attack, which comes as no surprise to experts. The biggest potential threats, however, are still to come. Continue Reading
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News
21 Dec 2020
SolarWinds backdoor infected tech giants, impact unclear
Reports that technology giants were also affected by the SolarWinds backdoor malware have been confirmed by several major vendors, though there's no evidence they were breached. Continue Reading
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News
17 Dec 2020
CISA: SolarWinds backdoor attacks are 'ongoing'
A joint statement from the FBI, CISA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence says the SolarWinds backdoor attacks are 'ongoing' and have comprised federal agencies. Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2020
SolarWinds struggles with response to supply chain attack
Security researchers discovered the Orion DLL component containing the backdoor used was still present in updates on SolarWinds' website as recently as Monday night. Continue Reading
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News
14 Dec 2020
SolarWinds backdoor used in nation-state cyber attacks
Nation-state hackers conducted a supply chain attack on SolarWinds and planted a backdoor in software updates issued to customers such as FireEye and various government agencies. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Dec 2020
Technology a double-edged sword for U.S. election security
Technologies were weaponized to undermine the 2020 U.S. presidential election, but IT systems have also helped to identify fraud and verify results in a hotly contested election. Continue Reading
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News
11 Dec 2020
FBI, CISA warn of growing ransomware attacks on K-12 schools
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that cyber attacks targeting K-12 schools are expected to continue through the 2020 - 2021 school year. Continue Reading
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News
08 Dec 2020
Forescout reports 33 new TCP/IP vulnerabilities
The lack of consistent updates (and the open source nature of the stacks) make the Amnesia:33 vulnerabilities difficult to fix as well as make it difficult to comprehend the full impact. Continue Reading
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News
08 Dec 2020
New Microsoft Teams RCE vulnerability also wormable
In his GitHub post, researcher Oskars Vegeris discussed Microsoft classifying the vulnerability as 'Important' rather than 'Critical,' despite it being exploitable via RCE. Continue Reading
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News
08 Dec 2020
Salesforce advised users to skip Chrome browser updates
Salesforce recommended users dealing with mixed content issues to skip Chrome upgrades or roll back to older versions of the browser, but the vendor later removed those steps. Continue Reading
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News
07 Dec 2020
Russian state-sponsored hackers exploit VMware vulnerability
The NSA issued a cybersecurity advisory warning government agencies to mitigate as soon as possible, as the vulnerability was disclosed and patched last week. Continue Reading
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News
03 Dec 2020
Updated Trickbot malware threatens firmware security
Despite recent takedown efforts, the operators behind the malicious botnet are back with a new module called 'TrickBoot' that detects UEFI/BIOS firmware vulnerabilities. Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2020
Ransomware attack shuts down Baltimore County schools
Ransomware incapacitated Baltimore County Public Schools' network just before Thanksgiving, but the school system said students' Chromebooks and Google accounts were not impacted. Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2020
Online education vendor K12 hit with ransomware, pays ransom
A spokesperson for K12 told SearchSecurity that based on the current status of the investigation, the attack did not affect student devices or school networks. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Nov 2020
What are the biggest hardware security threats?
Hardware security threats -- and strategies to overcome them -- are evolving as enterprises increasingly install autonomous capabilities for smart building and IoT projects. Continue Reading
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News
18 Nov 2020
Sophos: Ransomware 'heavyweights' demand sky-high payments
Sophos principal research scientist Chet Wisniewski explains the presence of 'weight classes' in ransomware and offers his thoughts on its future. Continue Reading
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News
17 Nov 2020
CrowdStrike: Ransomware hit 56% of organizations in last year
A new survey from CrowdStrike revealed more than half of 2,200 respondents' organizations were hit with a ransomware attack at least once in the past 12 months. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Nov 2020
How to use the Mitre ATT&CK framework for cloud security
Learn how to use the Mitre ATT&CK security framework to keep your enterprise cloud environment -- whether AWS, GCP, Azure, Azure AD or Microsoft 365 -- secure. Continue Reading
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News
12 Nov 2020
25,000 criminal reports: Vastaamo breach sets new precedent
The recent data breach at the Vastaamo Psychotherapy Centre in Finland shows threat actors are willing to threaten and extort patients directly, setting a dangerous new precedent. Continue Reading
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News
12 Nov 2020
Life after Maze: Is Egregor ransomware next?
Cybersecurity experts have noted similarities between newly discovered Egregor ransomware and the now-defunct Maze, but it's unclear whether the same threat actors are involved. Continue Reading
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News
09 Nov 2020
CISA: No election hacking, but plenty of misinformation
Election Day in the U.S. occurred with no evidence of cyber attacks or voting machine hacks, but CISA has its hands full with disinformation and conspiracy theories. Continue Reading
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News
04 Nov 2020
SaltStack discloses critical vulnerabilities, urges patching
The SaltStack vulnerabilities, disclosed Tuesday, allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of the popular open source software. Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2020
Maze gang shuts down its ransomware operation
Maze ransomware has shut down, according to an announcement it posted Sunday, although some evidence suggests that Maze operators have resumed attacks under a different name. Continue Reading
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News
29 Oct 2020
FBI, CISA warn of impending ransomware attacks on hospitals
Trickbot and Ryuk ransomware actors are targeting hospitals and other healthcare providers, according to a joint cybersecurity advisory from the CISA and the FBI. Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2020
'Lives at stake': How ransomware impacts hospitals
Some ransomware gangs pledged to not target medical facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, but hospitals are still getting hit. And the attacks affect more than just IT systems. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2020
Iranian hackers pose as far-right group to threaten U.S. voters
The FBI said Russia and Iran have obtained voter information, and Iranian hackers have also been sending threatening emails to voters that appeared to be from a far-right group. Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2020
Microsoft: 94% of Trickbot's infrastructure disabled
In a new blog post, Microsoft said its legal takedown last week, which sought to decrease Trickbot activity, disabled the vast majority of the botnet's servers. Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2020
NSA issues advisory against Chinese state-sponsored hackers
Among the 25 vulnerabilities listed in the NSA advisory, numerous were critical and carried a CVSS score either at or close to 10, the highest possible. Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2020
Twitter hackers posed as IT staff, used VPN issues as a lure
A report by New York State's Department of Financial Services found that hackers breached Twitter's network by posing as IT support and obtaining credentials through vishing. Continue Reading
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News
13 Oct 2020
Trickbot takedown: Will it make a dent in ransomware attacks?
A court order allowed Microsoft and several partners to take down the Trickbot botnet, which is commonly used to deploy ransomware, but it's unclear how long the impact will last. Continue Reading
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News
12 Oct 2020
Hackers exploit Netlogon flaw to attack government networks
CISA issued an alert stating those government networks that were targeted by the APT were close to election systems and the activity may pose some risk to those systems. Continue Reading
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News
05 Oct 2020
Surge in ransomware attacks threatens student data
Ransomware attacks are not the only threats facing K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cybercriminals are stealing and exposing students' personal data as well. Continue Reading
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News
01 Oct 2020
Potential ransomware-related death still under investigation
German authorities say they are still investigating the death of a patient in connection with a ransomware attack on Düsseldorf University Hospital in Germany last month. Continue Reading
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News
28 Sep 2020
IBM: Ransomware attacks surged in Q2, ransom demands rising
IBM Security examined several concerning ransomware for this year, as well as an exponential increase in ransom demands and massive spike in attacks during the spring. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2020
Microsoft detects Netlogon vulnerability exploitation in the wild
While Microsoft released a patch last month for the Netlogon flaw, the company said it detected threat actors using exploits for the critical vulnerability. Continue Reading
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News
23 Sep 2020
FBI: Disinformation attacks on election results 'likely'
Foreign threat actors and cybercriminals are "likely" to spread disinformation around 2020 election results through social media and also alter election-related websites. Continue Reading
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News
21 Sep 2020
Cyber attacks on schools increasing amid remote learning shift
The pandemic forced schools to make a quick transition to remote learning with little resources and weak security postures, and threat actors have increased their attacks. Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2020
Maze ransomware gang uses VMs to evade detection
A Sophos investigation into a Maze ransomware attack revealed that threat actors borrowed an attack technique pioneered by Ragnar Locker operators earlier this year. Continue Reading
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News
10 Sep 2020
Disinformation, mail-in ballots top election security concerns
While there have been no major cyberattacks this election season, threat actors are waging disinformation campaigns around hot-button issues like mail-in ballots. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2020
Intel patches critical flaw in Active Management Technology
Intel's Patch Tuesday featured four security advisories, including a critical flaw in Active Management Technology that could allow an attacker privilege escalation. Continue Reading
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News
02 Sep 2020
CISA and FBI say there have been no hacks on voter databases
After a false Russian news report circulated on the internet, CISA and the FBI released a joint statement that denied any hacks to election security. Continue Reading
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News
01 Sep 2020
Big ransomware attacks overshadowing other alarming trends
Large ransomware attacks on major enterprises have dominated the news, but security experts say there are other alarming trends. Continue Reading
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News
31 Aug 2020
Cisco issues alert for zero-day vulnerability under attack
Cisco discovered attempted exploitation of a high-severity vulnerability found in the IOS XR software used in some of its networking equipment. Continue Reading
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News
27 Aug 2020
North Korea's 'BeagleBoyz' target banks with ATM cash-out attacks
The U.S. Government issued a joint alert for an ATM cash-out scheme run by a newly identified North Korean nation-state hacking group known as 'BeagleBoyz.' Continue Reading
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News
27 Aug 2020
Maze ransomware 'cartel' expands with new members
Two more ransomware groups have apparently joined the Maze 'cartel' in an effort to expose victims' data on leak sites and shame them into paying expensive ransoms. Continue Reading
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News
25 Aug 2020
'Meow' attacks top 25,000 exposed databases, services
One month after the notorious 'meow' attacks were first detected, the threat to misconfigured databases exposed on the internet shows little sign of slowing down. Continue Reading
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News
24 Aug 2020
FBI and CISA issue vishing campaign warning
The FBI and CISA have issued a joint advisory related to a vishing campaign that began in mid-July, with numerous attacks that gained access to corporate VPN credentials. Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2020
Claroty: 70% of ICS vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable
Out of 365 ICS vulnerabilities that were disclosed by the National Vulnerability Database in the first half of 2020, Claroty found more than 70% can be remotely exploited. Continue Reading
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News
18 Aug 2020
Apache Struts vulnerabilities allow remote code execution, DoS
The Apache Software Foundation issued security advisories last week for two Apache Struts vulnerabilities that were originally patched but not fully disclosed last fall. Continue Reading
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News
12 Aug 2020
Kaspersky reveals 2 Windows zero-days from failed attack
Kaspersky prevented an attack against a South Korean company back in May that used two zero-day vulnerabilities. One, arguably the more dangerous, focused on Internet Explorer. Continue Reading
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News
07 Aug 2020
10 years after Stuxnet, new zero-days discovered
A decade after Stuxnet, SafeBreach Labs researchers discovered new zero-day vulnerabilities connected to the threat, which they unveiled at Black Hat USA 2020. Continue Reading
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News
06 Aug 2020
CISA chief: Ransomware could threaten election security
During a Black Hat USA 2020 session, CISA Chief Christopher Krebs said ransomware attacks on city, state and local governments are a major concern for election security. Continue Reading
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News
06 Aug 2020
Ripple20 vulnerabilities still plaguing IoT devices
Months after Ripple20 vulnerabilities were reported, things haven't gotten much better, say experts at Black Hat USA 2020. In fact, the world may never be fully rid of the flaws. Continue Reading
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News
05 Aug 2020
Matt Blaze warns of election security challenges amid COVID-19
In his Black Hat USA 2020 keynote, security researcher Matt Blaze discussed the challenges facing U.S. elections this year and what must be done to solve them. Continue Reading
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News
04 Aug 2020
Twitter breach raises concerns over phone phishing
The alleged mastermind behind the Twitter breach has been arrested, and the method of social engineering attack has also been revealed: phone phishing, or vishing. Continue Reading
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Podcast
04 Aug 2020
Risk & Repeat: Sophos warns of evolving ransomware threats
Dan Schiappa and Chester Wisniewski of Sophos join the Risk & Repeat podcast to discuss how ransomware groups are evolving and embracing innovative evasion techniques. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jul 2020
'Meow' attacks continue, thousands of databases deleted
More than one week later, the mysterious attacks on insecure databases on ElasticSearch, MongoDB and others have not only persisted but grown, with no explanation. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jul 2020
'BootHole' bug puts most Linux, Windows systems in jeopardy
Hardware security vendor Eclypsium discovered a bootloader vulnerability that bypasses Secure Boot protection and affects a majority of modern Linux and Windows systems. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jul 2020
Emotet botnet hacked, malware replaced with humorous GIFs
Malware distribution network Emotet has been hacked by a potential threat actor of unknown origin, with malware payloads now being replaced with GIFs of James Franco and others. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jul 2020
Digital ad networks tied to malvertising threats -- again
Adsterra and Propeller Ads were implicated in past malvertising threats such the Master134 campaign. Now the two ad networks are linked to new malicious activity. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jul 2020
'Meow' attacks wipe more than 1,000 exposed databases
A new threat has hit more than 1,000 unsecured databases on ElasticSearch, MongoDB and other platforms, destroying data and replacing files with a single word: meow. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jul 2020
Evasive phishing campaign hid inside Google cloud services
A new report by Check Point Software Technologies revealed attackers were abusing Google Cloud Functions to hide their phishing links within public cloud services. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jul 2020
Twitter breach caused by social engineering attack
Twitter was breached last Wednesday though a social engineering attack. Forty-five accounts were hijacked and up to eight accounts may have had their private messages stolen. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jul 2020
'SigRed' alert: Experts urge action on Windows DNS vulnerability
Experts are urging organizations to take immediate action on SigRed, a 17-year-old Windows DNS server vulnerability discovered by Check Point Research and patched by Microsoft. Continue Reading
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Podcast
17 Jul 2020
Risk & Repeat: Twitter breach leads to account hijacking
This week's Risk & Repeat podcast discusses how threat actors gained access to Twitter's internal systems and hijacked the accounts of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and others. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jul 2020
RSA finds two-thirds of phishing attacks directed at Canada
RSA Security researchers found that nearly 70% of phishing attacks were directed at users in Canada, while the majority of attacks come from U.S.-based ISPs and hosting providers. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jul 2020
Cybercriminals auction off admin credentials for $3,000
Threat actors are auctioning off domain administrator accounts, selling access to the highest bidder for an average of $3,139 and up to $140,000, according to Digital Shadows. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2020
How cyber warfare laws limit risk on a digital battleground
Retired Navy cryptologist implores enterprises to build key cyber warfare laws into their infosec strategy to improve survivability on the digital battleground in his new book. Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2020
Microsoft seizes malicious domains used in COVID-19 phishing
Microsoft went to court to seize several malicious domains that were used by cybercriminals in extensive phishing and BEC attacks on Office 365 accounts amid the current pandemic. Continue Reading
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News
06 Jul 2020
Critical F5 Networks vulnerability under attack
A critical remote code execution vulnerability that was disclosed and patched just days ago is already being exploited by threat actors. Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
Microsoft fixes Windows Codecs flaws with emergency patches
Microsoft addressed two vulnerabilities, one rated critical and the other rated important, after being alerted by a researcher with Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative. Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2020
Snake ransomware poses unique danger to industrial systems
The new ransomware family known as Snake, or Ekans, is designed for organizations with industrial control systems and has already struck at least two enterprises. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jun 2020
Record-setting DDoS attacks indicate troubling trend
Akamai Technologies recently mitigated two of the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded on its platform, including a massive 809 million packets per second attack against a bank. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2020
Maze ransomware hit biggest target yet with LG breach
The operators of Maze ransomware claim to have breached LG, offering three screenshots as proof. One of those screenshots features LG product source code. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jun 2020
Open source vulnerabilities down 20% in 2019
Snyk recently released its fourth annual 'State of Open Source Security' report, which analyzed open source statistics, vulnerability trends and security culture. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2020
MSPs scramble to bolster security amid ransomware spike
After a flurry of devastating ransomware attacks in 2019, MSPs and vendor partners are improving security to prevent history from repeating during the pandemic. Continue Reading
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Podcast
19 Jun 2020
Risk & Repeat: Vault 7 report slams CIA security practices
This week's Risk & Repeat podcast discusses the CIA's internal task force report on the Vault 7 leak, which blasted the agency for a variety of serious security lapses. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2020
New Cisco Webex vulnerability exposes authentication tokens
Trustwave SpiderLabs researchers disclosed a vulnerability in Cisco Webex software that leaks information stored in memory, including authentication tokens. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2020
ZDI drops 10 zero-day vulnerabilities in Netgear router
Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative published 10 vulnerabilities in Netgear's R6700 router that have gone unpatched for seven months. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jun 2020
CIA unaware of Vault 7 theft until WikiLeaks dump
An internal CIA report from the Wikileaks Task Force blasted the agency over the leak of the Vault 7 cyberweapons, which exposed dangerous hacking tools and vulnerabilities. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2020
Italian company implicated in GuLoader malware attacks
While analyzing the network dropper GuLoader, researchers found an almost identical commercial software tool called CloudEye offered by a legitimate-looking Italian company. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2020
Overcome AWS security vulnerabilities with VPCs, IAM
Securing network access in AWS requires the right rules to be in place. Learn more about Virtual Private Clouds and how implementing them can prevent common cloud security attacks. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
New 'Thanos' ransomware weaponizes RIPlace evasion technique
Recorded Future's Insikt Group uncovered a new ransomware-as-a-service tool named 'Thanos' that's the first ransomware to use the hard-to-detect RIPlace technique. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2020
Maze ransomware builds 'cartel' with other threat groups
Operators behind the Maze ransomware posted data leaks from competing ransomware gangs to their victim shaming website, suggesting they have joined forces. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jun 2020
'CallStranger' vulnerability affects billions of UPNP devices
A new vulnerability in the Universal Plug and Play protocol could be used to exfiltrate enterprise data and launch DDoS attacks, and patches may not arrive for a long time. Continue Reading
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News
08 Jun 2020
CISA warns Microsoft SMB v3 vulnerability is under attack
CISA issued an alert Friday about attacks on a Microsoft Server Message Block v3 vulnerability and a proof-of-concept code that exploits the flaw in unpatched systems. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2020
Chinese, Iranian hackers targeted Trump and Biden campaigns
Shane Huntley, director of Google's Threat Analysis Group, announced that two state-backed APT groups targeted campaign staff for both Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Continue Reading
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Podcast
05 Jun 2020
Risk & Repeat: Are ransomware groups joining forces?
This week's Risk & Repeat podcast discusses the prospect of ransomware gangs working together and what it could mean for enterprises and the overall threat landscape. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2020
Attacks on Exim vulnerability continue one year later
Though the Exim mail transfer agent vulnerability was publicly disclosed in June 2019, a significant number of unpatched versions remain online and are at risk of attacks. Continue Reading
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News
02 Jun 2020
VMware vulnerability enables takeover of cloud infrastructure
A new vulnerability in VMware Cloud Director allowed any user to obtain control of any virtual machine on a public or private cloud, according to ethical hacking firm Citadelo. Continue Reading
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News
29 May 2020
Cisco servers breached through SaltStack vulnerabilities
Threat actors exploited critical SaltStack flaws, which were disclosed and patched last month, in a Cisco product to breach several of the networking company's salt-master servers. Continue Reading