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What is the Windows Security Account Manager (SAM)?

To most people, the process of logging into a Microsoft Windows machine is a simple process of entering a username and a password. However, for a cybersecurity professional, the process is a carefully orchestrated mechanism. Unfortunately, throughout the history of the various Windows operating system versions, criminals have also sought ways to...
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Critical flaw found in WordPress plugin used on over 300,000 websites

A WordPress plugin used on over 300,000 websites has been found to contain vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to seize control. Security researchers Ulyses Saicha and Sean Murphy found two critical flaws in the POST SMTP Mailer plugin. The first flaw made it possible for attackers to reset the plugin's authentication API key and view...
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The Evolution of Anomaly Detection and the Importance of Configuration Monitoring in Cybersecurity

Back in 1992, when I was more concerned about my acne breakouts and being selected for the Junior cricket team, a freshman at Purdue University was studying the impact of the 1988 Morris Worm event and how it brought about unwarranted changes on Unix systems as it propagated across the network, resulting in the first Denial of Service (DoS) attack....
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VERT Threat Alert: January 2024 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s January 2024 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-1088 as soon as coverage is completed. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs There were no in-the-wild or disclosed CVEs included in the January Patch Tuesday drop. CVE Breakdown by Tag While...
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Tripwire Patch Priority Index for December 2023

Tripwire's December 2023 Patch Priority Index (PPI) brings together important vulnerabilities for Microsoft and Google. First on the patch priority are patches for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) that resolve elevation of privilege, remote code execution, and information disclosure vulnerabilities. Please note that CVE-2023-7024...
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How to Reduce Your Attack Surface

What is an Attack Surface? An attack surface is the total number of channels, pathways, or areas that threat actors can utilize to gain unauthorized access to networks. The result is that they can obtain private information or carry out a cyber-attack. An attack surface comprises the organizational assets a threat actor can exploit to gain...
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The History of Patch Tuesday: Looking back at the first 20 years

One of the most critical aspects of cybersecurity is ensuring that all software is kept up to date with the latest patches. This is necessary to cover any vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could take advantage of in order to infiltrate an organization and launch an attack. With the volume of updates and the effort needed to install and configure...
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VERT Threat Alert: December 2023 Patch Tuesday Analysis

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...
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Tripwire Patch Priority Index for November 2023

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...
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Guarding the Grid: Navigating the Current and Future Landscape of Utility Cybersecurity

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...
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SMB Protocol Explained: Understanding its Security Risks and Best Practices

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...
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Secure Access Control in 2024: 6 Trends to Watch Out For

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...
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VERT Threat Alert: November 2023 Patch Tuesday Analysis

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...
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CherryBlos, the malware that steals cryptocurrency via your photos - what you need to know

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...
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Tripwire Patch Priority Index for October 2023

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...
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Container Security Essentials: Vulnerability Scanning and Change Detection Explained

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...
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A Scary Story of Group Policy Gone Wrong: Accidental Misconfigurations

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...
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5 Tripwire Enterprise Misconfigurations to Avoid

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...
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What is a CMDB?

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...
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VERT Threat Alert: October 2023 Patch Tuesday Analysis

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...