Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s July 2023 Security Updates, which include a new release notes format. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1064 on Wednesday, July 12th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2023-32046 A vulnerability in MSHTML could allow an attacker to execute code in the...

Have you heard of the NIS Directive? The full name is quite a mouthful, "DIRECTIVE (EU) 2022/2555 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 December 2022 on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union". The informal name has been shortened to the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive. The aim of the directive...

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has always been a massive security undertaking for any organization that has worked to fully implement its recommendations. One interesting aspect that seems to be overlooked is the focus on the Requirements, and while minimizing the testing necessities. Not only is testing part of the full...

Over the following years, the costs associated with cybercrime, projected at $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, will exceed the estimated worldwide cybersecurity spending—$267.3 billion annually by 2026. Leadership needs to change its perspective on managing cyber risks instead of just spending more money to match the losses incurred. Cyber risk...

Tripwire's June 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft and Progress MOVEit. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for the Progress MOVEit Transfer application. An exploit targeting the MOVEit vulnerability CVE-2023-34362 has been recently added to the Metasploit Exploit Framework. Next...

The past few years have been among the most challenging for most businesses. Lockdowns, staff reductions, and reduced revenues resulted in the demise of many businesses. For those who remained, the new onuses brought about by supply chain concerns and inflation present even greater reasons for maximum resilience in order to survive. With all the...

  Most data crimes are the result of online compromises. This makes sense, as the criminals don’t need to know any of the old, dirty, hands-on techniques such as lock-picking, dumpster diving, or any other evasive maneuvers to carry out a successful attack. However, this doesn’t mean that the old methods are completely defunct. Physical security is...

The Department of Defense (DoD) introduced the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) in 2019. This framework outlined a series of security standards contractors must meet to win DoD contracts, so it’s a big concern for many companies. However, four years later, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification rollout has yet to take effect. ...

It’s no secret that the U.S. power grid is one of the main foundations of the nation’s economy, infrastructure, and daily way of life. Now that almost everything is digitized, it is hinging on it even more. We wouldn’t be able to use even most vending machines (not to mention cell towers or the internet) without a working electrical supply, and the...

The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA or GLB Act), or financial modernization act, is a bi-partisan federal regulation passed in 1999 to modernize the financial industry. It repealed vast swathes of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and the Bank Holding Act of 1956, allowing commercial banks to offer financial services such as investments or insurance. It also...

At the turn of the most recent century, the financial world was in a moment of unregulated growth, which lead to some serious corporate misdeeds in the United States. This presented the opportunity for two senators to enact a new law to ensure accurate and reliable financial reporting for public companies in the US. The result was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act...

The NSA has published a guide about how to mitigate against attacks involving the BlackLotus bootkit malware, amid fears that system administrators may not be adequately protected against the threat. The BlackLotus UEFI bootkit made a name for itself in October 2022, when it was seen being sold on cybercrime underground forums for $5,000. The news...

If you’re busy securing the perimeter, mandating strong authentication practices, and restricting software downloads, you may be missing the mark. (Just to be clear: if you are doing those things, keep it up. You’re off to a good start, and none of what follows here replaces classic and vital cybersecurity measures.) Protecting your organization from...

Digital technology is becoming an increasingly essential part of nearly every industry, and supply chains are no exception. In recent years, supply chains have become more dependent on digital solutions, from manufacturing, packing, and shipping processes, to storing records in the cloud.  While digital technology increases speed, efficiency, and...

Cybercrime has become a dominant concern for many businesses, as well as individuals. Cybercriminals will target any business, and any individual if they can realize a profit from their minimal efforts. One of the ways that criminals achieve their goals is through the use of malware that garners a fast profit, such as ransomware. More enterprising...

We often hear how a company was compromised by a sophisticated attack. This characterization contains all the romantic thrill of a spy movie, but it is usually not how most companies are victimized. Most breaches usually happen as a result of malware entering the environment. The need to protect against malware is addressed in progressive degrees in...

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s June 2023 Security Updates, which include a new release notes format. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1060 on Wednesday, June 14th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs There were no in-the-wild or disclosed CVEs in the June Patch Tuesday drop. CVE Breakdown by...

In April 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsen won the open creative award for his photographic entry entitled, Pseudomnesia: The Electrician. But, the confusing part of the event for the judges and the audience was that he refused to receive the award. The reason was that the photograph was generated by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. It was...

What is the SEC? Founded 85 years ago at the height of the Great Depression, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a clear mission: to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Put simply, the SEC aims to protect US investors by maintaining a fair market. The SEC doesn’t work...

Tripwire's May 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft. First on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Edge. These patches resolve elevation and security feature bypass vulnerabilities. Up next are 3 patches for Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, and Access that resolve remote code...