Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s December 2023 Security Updates . VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1086 on Wednesday, December 13th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2023-20588 AMD has released AMD-SB-7007 – Speculative Leaks Security Notice , which describes how some AMD processors can potentially return speculative data after a...

Tripwire's November 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft. First on the patch priority are patches for Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) that resolve elevation of privilege, remote code execution, and spoofing vulnerabilities. Next on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Office and Excel that resolve 3 remote code execution...

Tripwire recently held its annual Energy and NERC Compliance Working Group. This year's attendees included more than 200 Tripwire customer utility personnel representing over 80 different registered entities from all across the US and Canada. The company sizes ranged from public utility districts and city municipalities to medium and larger-sized investor-owned utilities, including many of the...

Server Message Block (SMB) protocol is a communication protocol that allows users to communicate with remote servers and computers, which they can open, share, edit files, and even share and utilize resources. With the expansion of telecommunications, this protocol has been a prime target for threat actors to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and devices. In 2017, we introduced 5 general...

What Is Secure Access Control? Secure access control, part of the broader field of user management , is a key concept in the realm of information security, particularly in the business environment. It refers to the process of selectively restricting and allowing access to a place or resource. In the context of information technology, it is a vital element of data protection, dictating who or what...

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s November 2023 Security Updates . VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1082 on Wednesday, November 15th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2023-36033 A vulnerability in the Microsoft Desktop Window Manager (DWM) could allow an attacker to gain SYSTEM level privileges. This vulnerability has been publicly...

More decision-makers are investing in grid modernization efforts, knowing that doing so is necessary for keeping pace with modern demands. For example, smart grid fault-detection sensors could warn utility company providers of problems in real time, preventing costly and inconvenient outages. Technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) can also improve stability. An IoT grid-monitoring approach...

What's the deal with CherryBlos? CherryBlos is a rather interesting family of Android malware that can plunder your cryptocurrency accounts - with a little help from your photos. Wait. I've heard of hackers stealing photos before, but what do you mean by malware stealing cryptocurrency via my photos? How does it do that? Well, imagine you have sensitive information - such as details related to...

Tripwire's October 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft. First on the patch priority is a patch for Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) that resolves a type confusion vulnerability. Next on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Office that resolve 3 elevation of privilege vulnerabilities. Next are patches that affect components...

Containers offer a streamlined application deployment and management approach. Thanks to their efficiency and portability, platforms like Docker and Kubernetes have become household names in the tech industry. However, a misconception lurks in the shadows as containers gain popularity - the belief that active vulnerability scanning becomes redundant once containers are implemented. This blog will...

In the world of cybersecurity, insider threats remain a potent and often underestimated danger. These threats can emanate not only from malicious actors within an organization but also from well-intentioned employees who inadvertently compromise security with a mis-click or other unwitting action. Having spent many years in system administrator-type roles, I'm actually surprised at how easy it...

Configuration management is vitally important as part of a sound cybersecurity strategy. We have previously published how patching alone is not enough, as that does not alter a system’s customized configuration. Misconfigurations can be as damaging to security as a deliberate attack on a system. As the manufacturer of Tripwire Enterprise (TE) , we thought that it would be prudent to help our...

There are countless tools and technologies available to help an organization stay on top of its IT assets, and a configuration management database (CMDB) is an extremely useful one. The database keeps track of relevant information regarding various hardware and software components and the relationships between them. It allows IT teams to have an organized view of configuration items (CIs) that can...

Attacks against industrial control systems (ICS) are on the rise. Cyberattacks are more prevalent, creative and faster than ever. So, understanding attackers’ tactics is crucial. The IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023 highlights that backdoor deployments enabling remote access to ICS systems were the most common type of attacker action in 2022. The positive news is that 67% of...

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s October 2023 Security Updates , which includes a recently introduced release notes format. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1077 on Wednesday, October 11th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs CVE-2023-41763 While this vulnerability is labeled as a Skype for Business Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability, the...

Compliance and security often go hand in hand as ideas that attempt to protect against cyber threats. While both compliance and security are designed to lower risk, they are not mutually inclusive—that is, not everything that is required for compliance will necessarily help with security, and not everything that bolsters security will necessarily put you in compliance. Both are vital to...

A joint cybersecurity advisory from the United States's National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has shone a light on the top ten most common cybersecurity misconfigurations found in large private and public organisations. The report aims to detail the weaknesses found in many large organisations, and the need for software makers to properly...

Tripwire's September 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft. First on the patch priority are patches for Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) that resolve 5 vulnerabilities such as out of bounds memory access, type confusion, and use after free. Next on the patch priority list this month are patches for Microsoft Office, Excel, Word, and Outlook. The...

Electric grids are part of every nation’s critical infrastructure. Every societal activity and business depends on reliable and safe electricity distribution. The US electric grid is a huge network of powerlines, distribution hubs, and renewable and non-renewable energy generators that is increasingly exposed to cyber-physical risks due to the accelerated reliance on cyber-enabled systems and IoT...

The evolution of the cyber threat landscape highlights the need for organizations to strengthen their ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate cyber risks before they evolve into security incidents. Known unpatched vulnerabilities are often exploited by criminals to penetrate Industrial Control Systems (ICS) environments and disrupt critical operations. Although the terms “patch management” and...