A new trojan leverages a fileless infection chain in that it never saves a file to the machine, thereby making analysis via a sandbox more difficult. It's unclear how the malware, detected by Trend Micro as JS_POWMET, initially arrives on a computer. Users could unknowingly download it from malicious websites. Alternatively, other malware could drop...

It's widely recognized that online advertisers know a lot about web users. The most "sophisticated" of these companies gather data on potential customers by tracking their behavior around the web. Specifically, they analyze what sites users visit and what links they click. They then compile that identifying information into a database, build upon it...

We’re all fairly knowledgeable about how to deal with security issues for email. We don’t open emails that come from someone we don’t know, for example, and if we do, we’re certainly wary about clicking on links. These same malicious tools can be used with social media posts to infect people’s computers and smart devices. But for some reason, people...

Phishers hacked an extension for Google Chrome and abused their ill-gotten access to push out spam to unsuspecting users. The security incident befell Copyfish, a type of software which allows users to extract text from images, video, and/or PDF documents. Only the program's Chrome extension suffered as a result of the attack. It's Firefox...

Virgin America has alerted thousands of employees that the company’s systems were breached, leading to the compromise of their personal data. The American airline, which was acquired by Alaska Air in 2016, notified workers via letter, stating that the incident occurred earlier this year. “On March 13, 2017, during security monitoring activities, our...

Hackers stole $8.4 million worth of Veritaseum tokens before dumping all of them just a few hours later. On 24 July, Veritaseum (VERI) founder and American entrepreneur Reggie Middleton confirmed the security incident in a post submitted to Bitcoin Forum: "We were hacked, possibly by a group. The hack seemed to be very sophisticated, but there is...

Take five seconds to think: Which of the two scenarios is the worst as an incident responder? In the first one, you have to analyze terabytes of logs by grepping audits, Windows events, proxy, intrusion prevention systems and mail as you try to pivot, correlate and understand what the heck happened. In the second one, you don't have any logs at all!...

A former student at the University of Iowa was arrested on computer-hacking charges for accessing copies of exams in advance, and altering grades for himself and his classmates. Chemistry major and wrestler Trevor Graves, 22, allegedly plugged keyloggers into university computers in classrooms and labs, allowing him to see whatever his professors...

Reports appeared on Tuesday that a new ransomware outbreak was hitting organisations in Russia and Ukraine. Victims included the Russian newswire Interfax, Ukraine's Odessa airport, and the Kiev subway system. Media outlets like Fontanka.ru found their website's disrupted by the attack, and urged readers to follow them on social media for updates...

The Iran Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (Iran CERTCC) has warned users of an ongoing distribution campaign for Tyrant ransomware. First spotted by G Data security researcher Karsten Hahn, the strain is currently making its way to unsuspecting users via modified versions of the Psiphon VPN app. Upon successful infection, Tyrant...

Microsoft has released a new feature called "Controlled Folder Access" that helps Windows users protect their data against ransomware. First announced in June 2017, Controlled Folder Access is an option in Windows Defender Security Center that went live in mid-October. Its purpose is to protect files contained in designated folders against...

At the U.S. Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year, more than 1,200 people connected to free WiFi networks with names like “I Vote Trump! Free Internet,” “I Vote Hillary! Free Internet,” and “Xfinitywifi.” They transferred gigabytes of data, doing things like checking e-mails and chatting. Some even shopped on Amazon or logged into...

419 scammers are tempting unsuspecting users with a fake offer of $60 million in exchange for adopting their teenage son. The scam begins when a user receives a Twitter DM from the account of someone who appears to serve in the armed forces. Such unexpected correspondence could (and should) strike the recipient as odd. But the United States, the...

OPSEC (Operational Security) is a term derived from the U.S. military and is an analytical process used to deny an adversary information that could compromise the secrecy and/or the operational security of a mission. The very process of performing OPSEC or protecting yourself from an adversary not only plays a very important role in both offensive...

A rogue website exposed several pieces of information pertaining to students who attend a high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. On 5 October, the Palo Alto United High School posted a "Notice of Data Breach" on its website. The message reads as follows:"Staff was notified this morning about a website that exposed information about Palo Alto High...

Yet another scam email campaign is now targeting customers of the Sydney-based energy provider Origin Energy with malware. In this new wave of attacks, customers receive scam emails asking them to view their bills online. Those messages use the energy provider's logos to try to convince a recipient they're legitimate. If the ploy works, the...

A hacker has reportedly stolen over $7 million in a matter of minutes from would-be investors, through what seems to have been an incredibly simple method. For days, online trading platform CoinDash was working hard on drumming up interest amongst people wanting to embrace the Ethereum cryptocurrency, using social media to let them know that its...

A researcher's Facebook post inadvertently exposed the confidential patient data of 31 new mothers. An Italian researcher who had been working on a study to improve the detection of pregnancies with a high risk of a complication known as preeclampsia is responsible for having caused the breach. On 2 July, the researcher updated his Facebook status...

The University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) has notified thousands of patients of a data breach that exposed their personal and medical information. On 22 June, UIHC sent out notification letters to 5,300 patients affected by the data breach. The University explains in these letters that it has not found any evidence suggesting bad actors misused...

The Phoenix Project, A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win might seem like a “techies-only” read at first glance, but it’s really a story that all business leaders (yes, even the technology-challenged) should invest in. Bill Palmer plays the hero of this fictional (yet all too realistic) story about a business dangerously close to...