News

Also, US offering $2.5M for Belarusian hacker, Backpage kingpins jailed, additional MOVEit victims, and more

in brief  A series of IP cameras still used all over the world, despite being well past their end of life, have been exploited to create a new Mirai botnet. …

The ransomware gang recruits high-profile affiliates from LockBit and ALPHV

As RansomHub continues to scoop up top talent from the fallen LockBit and ALPHV operations while accruing a smorgasbord of victims, security and law enforcement agencies in the US feel it's time to issue an official warning about the group that's gunning for ransomware supremacy.…

Relax, it's just a drill. This time at least.

US Army Special Forces, aka the Green Berets, have been demonstrating their hacking chops in the recent Swift Response 24 military exercises in May, the military has now confirmed.…

Infosec hounds say they spotted vulnerability during routine travel in the US

Updated  Cybersecurity researchers say they've found a vulnerability that allowed them to skip US airport security checks and even fly in the cockpit on some scheduled flights.…

Farsi-language posts target possibly-pro-Israel individuals

Government-backed Iranian actors allegedly set up dozens of fake recruiting websites and social media accounts to hunt down double agents and dissidents suspected of collaborating with the nation’s enemies, including Israel.…

Apparently made over 100 fake crime reports and bomb threats

The US government has indicted two men for allegedly reporting almost 120 fake emergencies or crimes in the hope of provoking action by armed law enforcement agencies.…

Google researchers note the similarities, can't find a link

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has spotted a disturbing similarity in attack tactics used by commercial spyware vendors and Russia-linked attack gangs.…

Sordid search history 'evidence' in case that could see him spend 35 years for extortion and wire fraud

A former infrastructure engineer who allegedly locked IT department colleagues out of their employer's systems, then threatened to shut down servers unless paid a ransom, has been arrested and charged after an FBI investigation.…

Google revises Chrome Vulnerability Rewards Program with higher payouts for bug hunters

Google's Chrome Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) is now significantly more rewarding – with a top payout that's at least twice as substantial.…

French police reckon financial system targeted during Summer Games

Nearly four weeks after the cyberattack on dozens of French national museums during the Olympic Games, the Brain Cipher ransomware group claims responsibility for the incident and says 300 GB of data will be leaked later today.…

Total revenue for Q2 grew 32 percent

CrowdStrike's major meltdown a month ago doesn't look like affecting the cyber security vendor's market dominance anytime soon, based on its earnings reported Wednesday.…

CrowdStrike, other vendors, friendly govt reps…but not anyone would can tell you what happened

op-ed  Microsoft will host a security summit next month with CrowdStrike and other "key" endpoint security partners joining the fun — and during which the CrowdStrike-induced outage that borked millions of Windows machines will undoubtedly be a top-line agenda item. …

If you haven't deployed August's patches, get busy before others do

Windows users who haven't yet installed the latest fixes to their operating systems will need to get a move on, as code now exists to exploit a critical Microsoft vulnerability announced by Redmond two weeks ago.…

The government-backed crew also enjoys ransomware as a side hustle

Iranian government-backed cybercriminals have been hacking into US and foreign networks as recently as this month to steal sensitive data and deploy ransomware, and they're breaking in via vulnerable VPN and firewall devices from Check Point, Citrix, Palo Alto Networks and other manufacturers, according to Uncle Sam.…

Authorities probing unwanted intrusion; hard questions ahead

Dick's Sporting Goods, America's largest retail chain for outdoorsy types, has admitted that it suffered a cyberattack last week.…

Prompt injection, ASCII smuggling, and other swashbuckling attacks on the horizon

Microsoft has fixed flaws in Copilot that allowed attackers to steal users' emails and other personal data by chaining together a series of LLM-specific attacks, beginning with prompt injection.…

Sword or plowshare? That depends on whether you're an attacker or a defender

Sponsored Feature  Artificial intelligence: saviour for cyber defenders, or shiny new toy for online thieves? As with most things in tech, the answer is a bit of both.…

Phew! Consumer-grade tracking devices are good for more than finding your keys and stalking

Theft of packages is an ongoing problem, so one California woman tried a high tech solution to the problem – and her use of Apple’s consumer-grade AirTags tracking devices led to two arrests.…

Ground stations are the perfect place for the Great Firewall to block things China finds unpleasant

The multiple constellations of broadband-beaming satellites planned by Chinese companies could conceivably run the nation's "Great Firewall" content censorship system, according to think tank The Australian Strategic Policy Institute. And if they do, using the services will be dangerous.…

More of a storm in a teacup

Today's news that Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX) security system is open to abuse may be overstated.…