Malware – what are the threats? Malware can come from and in a variety of attack vectors. Besides using ‘traditional’ methods of spreading malware, adversaries can leverage more sophisticated methods to turn your Power System into a ‘malware host’. The key target is your data. Data is valuable, and organisations have paid at least $602 million to...

Three million Android users may have lost money and had their devices infected by spyware, after the discovery that the official Google Play store has been distributing apps infected by a new family of malware. French security researcher Maxime Ingrao described last week on Twitter how he had discovered the new malware, named "Autolycos", and how...

Microsoft has shared details of a widespread phishing campaign that not only attempted to steal the passwords of targeted organisations, but was also capable of circumventing multi-factor authentication (MFA) defences. The attackers used AiTM (Attacker-in-The-Middle) reverse-proxy sites to pose as Office 365 login pages which requested MFA codes,...

Apple has previewed a new feature which aims to harden high-risk users from the serious threat of being spied upon by enemy states and intelligence agencies. "Lockdown Mode" is scheduled to arrive later this year with the release of Apple iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. It's an optional feature for users who believe their computers and smartphones face a...

What is Black Basta?Black Basta is a relatively new family of ransomware, first discovered in April 2022.Although only active for the past couple of months, the Black Basta ransomware is thought to have already hit almost 50 organisations - first exfiltrating data from targeted companies, and then encrypting files on the firm's computer systems...

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has warned the public about a spate of fake messages, sent out as SMS text messages, fraudulently telling recipients that they have been exposed to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In a tweet, the NHS said that it had seen reports of text messages that claimed to come from the NHS, telling recipients that they...

Law enforcement agencies around the world appear to have scored a major victory in the fight against fraudsters, in an operation that seized tens of millions of dollars and seen more than 2000 people arrested. Operation "First Light 2022", running for two months from March 8 2002 until May 8 2022, saw 76 countries clamp down on organised crime...

Apple says that it protected many millions of users from being defrauded to the tune of nearly $1.5 billion dollars in the last year, by policing its official App Store. According to a newly published report by Apple, over 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps and app updates were stopped in their tracks due to the company's fraud prevention...

The great thing about working in the world of cybersecurity is that there's always something new. You may think you've seen it all, and then something comes along that completely surprises you. And that's certainly true of the GoodWill ransomware, which security firm CloudSEK described this week. In fact, the GoodWill ransomware stands out so much...

Spanish police say that they have dismantled a phishing gang operating across the country, following the arrest of 13 people and the announcement that they are investigating a further seven suspects. According to police, the phishing ring defrauded some 146 victims, stealing at least 443,600 Euros from online bank accounts. Victims were tricked...

It should be hard for malicious hackers to break into systems, but all too often it isn't. That's a takeaway from a joint cybersecurity advisory issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the NSA and FBI, and their counterparts in Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom. The advisory, which is titled ...

Over US $43 billion has been lost through Business Email Compromise attacks since 2016, according to data released this week by the FBI. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued a public service announcement on May 4 2022, sharing updated statistics on Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks which use a variety of social engineering...

If your company is worried about the financial hit of paying a ransom to cybercriminals after a ransomware attack, wait until they find out the true cost of a ransomware attack. Because the total costs of recovering from the ransomware attack are likely to be much, much higher. That's the finding of a new study by researchers at Check Point, who...

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 April 18, 2022. I’ve also included some comments on these stories. CISA Alert on ICS, SCADA Devices Highlights Growing...

Sometimes referred to as Sodinokibi, the notorious REvil ransomware-as-a-service (RAAS) enterprise was responsible for a series of high profile attacks against the likes of the world's biggest meat supplier JBS Foods and IT service firm Kaseya. However, it looked like its activities had come to a halt after law enforcement agencies pushed REvil...

Agencies of the US Government have issued a joint warning that hackers have revealed their capability to gain full system access to industrial control systems that might help enemy states sabotage critical infrastructure. In a joint cybersecurity advisory issued by the Department of Energy, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA...

A new report, which surveyed 1200 IT security professionals in 17 countries around the world, has shone a light on a dramatic rise in the number of organisations willing to pay ransoms to extortionists. The ninth annual Cyberthreat Defense Report (CDR), produced by CyberEdge Group, shows that not only has there been a substantial increase in the...

What is this AvosLocker thing I’ve heard about? AvosLocker is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) gang that first appeared in mid-2021. It has since become notorious for its attacks targeting critical infrastructure in the United States, including the sectors of financial services, critical manufacturing, and government facilities. In March 2022, the...

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 March 14, 2022. I’ve also included some comments on these stories. Most Orgs Would Take Security Bugs Over Ethical Hacking...

With just a few weeks until the April 15 deadline for US individuals and businesses to file their tax returns, scammers are as busy as ever. Security researchers at Cofsense have warned that they have seen a number of malicious email campaigns which pose as communications from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The emails which purport to come...