As the world is preparing for the winter of 2022, energy efficiency and availability becomes a major concern for all countries and governments. The electric grid is a vital sector, and any malfunctions will create ripple effects on any nation’s economy. As the grid is heavily dependent on cyber-enabled technologies and a vast chain of suppliers, contractors and partners, the ability to safeguard...

During my time as a cybersecurity admin, I had the authority to decide what was going to be done, but I didn’t have the access to configure or install my own software. To make matters worse, despite having authority over the implementation, I was also held accountable for failures but again, without the necessary access to fix issues. This created a lot of tension between myself and the teams I...

Malicious hackers, hell-bent on infiltrating an organisation, have no qualms about exploiting even the most tragic events. Take, for instance, the horrific crowd crush that occurred in Seoul's nightlife district of Itaweon on 29 October, when over 150 people were killed during Halloween festivities. Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) reports this week that it saw a North Korean government-backed...

Tripwire's October 2022 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft and Adobe. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Chromium and Microsoft Edge based on Chromium. These patches resolve over 10 issues such as user-after-free, insufficient policy enforcement, and out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities. Up next are patches for Microsoft...

It’s no surprise that industrial environments have become increasingly valuable targets for malicious behavior. The State of Security has featured many cybersecurity events across myriad industrial verticals, including but not limited to chemical manufacturing, transportation, power generation and petrochemical. Several of these industries have taken great strides in improving their defense...

In the world of security, authentication, and authorization methodologies are foundational aspects of defense. Authentication techniques protect against unlawful entry to systems through the verification of a user, and authorization either grants or denies the verified user’s access level. For example, if an employee from the finance department requests records from the administration department...

Digital payment systems are quickly becoming the norm. The speed and convenience of apps like PayPal and Apple Pay have led businesses and consumers to move away from cash, but this efficiency comes at a cost. These digital platforms are also attractive to cybercriminals. Mitigating any vulnerability starts with understanding how threat actors target it. With that in mind, here’s how...

All of us at Tripwire’s Vulnerability Exposure and Research Team (VERT) are constantly looking out for interesting stories and developments in the infosec world. Here’s what cybersecurity news stood out to us during the week of November 28th, 2022. I’ve also included some comments on these stories. UEFI bugs disabled Secure Boot Acer has fixed a high-severity vulnerability that could enable local...

Identity governance, also known as access governance, is an integral part of any enterprise data protection and compliance framework. Seamless and timely access to required systems or resources can significantly increase employees’ productivity and performance. However, excessive privileges or unmonitored user access can often lead to internal and external cybersecurity threats, such as insider...

Researchers investigating a newly-discovered botnet have admitted that they "accidentally" broke it. In November, security experts at Akamai described a Golang-based botnet that they had discovered, hijacking PCs via SSH and weak credentials in order to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and mine cryptocurrency. The botnet, which the researchers called KmsdBot attacked both...

One thing is for certain in football, surprises do happen. Whether it is Saudi Arabia beating Argentina or Germany losing to Japan in the World Cup 2022, football is a sport full of excitement. But have you ever thought that football can teach us many great lessons about cybersecurity? Football can be a great teachable moment for cybersecurity Football is a great sport to watch, and it's also a...

As the industrial sectors become more cyber-aware, OT visibility has become an important force towards protecting critical infrastructure. Yet, as OT Security progresses, the expansion of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) adds new challenges to maintaining pace with OT visibility. What once was a Whack-a-Mole game between security and its adversaries, now seems to be the same game between...

Recently, Tripwire held its Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group virtual event. Tripwire has customers spanning the entire energy industry, including small, medium, and large city municipals, cooperatives, and investor-owned utilities and energy companies. The information shared in these sessions offered valuable insights for both very mature customers, as well as new customers that are still...

Many people remember where they were during historic events. Whether it is a personal, or a public occurrence, it’s just human nature to remember these significant moments. Every profession also has its share of memorable events. In medicine, those who were in the profession will remember where they were when they heard about the first heart transplant or the discovery of a cure for a particular...

Zero trust is a security approach which replaces the traditional network edge. Since network resources can be anywhere – on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid of both – zero trust is built towards an identity-centric approach. This places people and resources at the heart of the security architecture. What is a zero-trust model? The most important thing about cybersecurity is the mindset embedded...

As the years go by, technology continues to evolve, and as we rely more and more on smart devices and the online space, there becomes greater risks of cyberattacks. If you work as a cybersecurity professional, then you are fighting the good fight, but it isn’t always easy. The job is unpredictable, and it requires odd hours and constant vigilance. The gig can be so tough that there is now a...

The healthcare industry has been a favored target for cybercriminals for many years. In the first half of 2022 alone, 324 attacks against healthcare organizations have been reported. Attackers have primarily focused on large hospitals in years past, but there has been a sudden switch to smaller healthcare companies and specialty clinics. There seems to be a clear trend in attacks against the...

Have you ever had to set up your Gmail account on a secondary device, such as your tablet, and when you tried to login, verification prompts were sent to your original device to confirm that the login attempt was done by you? You confirmed the login, and that ended it. That is exactly what happened to an Uber employee whose account was compromised. However, the Uber employee was not setting up...

UK police are texting 70,000 people who they believe have fallen victim to a worldwide scam that saw fraudsters steal at least £50 million from bank accounts. 200,000 people in the UK, including the elderly and disabled, are thought to have been targeted by conmen who masqueraded as highstreet banks. Scammers paid a subscription to a service called iSpoof.cc that allowed them to disguise their...

In the business world, compliance means making sure that companies of all sizes are meeting the standards set by regulatory or oversight groups in various laws and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, and GDPR. Sometimes, an organization will self-impose its compliance by adhering to guidance and frameworks from organizations such as NIST, ISACA, ISO, and other advisory bodies. When it comes to...