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Insider Threats: Risk Assessment Considerations for Remote Work

The outbreak of COVID-19 has led many businesses to transition a large number of employees to remote work. The shift could end up becoming a long-term trend; it’s expected to continue after the pandemic ends. Therefore, it is more important than ever to develop strategies for managing and responding to risks within your organization. Internal risk...
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Back-to-Work Phishing Campaign Targeting Corporate Email Accounts

A phishing campaign used what appeared to be back-to-work notifications in order to compromise recipients' corporate email accounts. Near the end of November, Abnormal Security detected one of the campaign's attack emails. That message masqueraded as an internal notification from the recipient's company. It did so by using spoofing techniques to...
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Hacking Christmas Gifts: Putting IoT Under the Microscope

If high-tech gadgets are on your holiday shopping list, it is worth taking a moment to think about the particular risks they may bring. Under the wrong circumstances, even an innocuous gift may introduce unexpected vulnerabilities. In this blog series, VERT will be looking at some of the Internet’s best-selling holiday gifts with an eye toward their...
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Emerging Public Cloud Security Challenges in 2020 and Beyond

According to last year’s Gartner forecast, public cloud services are anticipated to grow to $USD 266.4 billion by the end of this year, up from $USD 227.8 billion just a year ago. Clearly, cloud computing is making its way to cloud nine, (See what I did there?) leveraging the sweet fruits of being in the spotlight for a decade. However, the threats...
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Is Cybersecurity Smart Enough to Protect Automated Buildings?

Hacked air conditioning and plummeting elevators? Imagine that you are in an elevator in a high rise building when suddenly the elevator starts to plummet with no apparent stopping mechanism other than the concrete foundation below. While this may sound like something from a Hollywood movie, consider the idea that a securely tethered, fully...
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5 Digital Threats to Watch Out for on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Widely regarded as the official start to the Christmas shopping season, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are exciting because many retailers announce limited-time sales that promise huge savings to die-hard consumers. Not even the pandemic looks like it will dent consumers’ enthusiasm. In September 2020, for instance, Bloomberg shared research from...
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Lessons From Teaching Cybersecurity: Week 8

As I had mentioned previously, this year, I’m going back to school. Not to take classes, but to teach a course at my alma mater, Fanshawe College. I did this about a decade ago and thought it was interesting, so I was excited to give it another go. Additionally, after a friend mentioned that their kid wanted to learn Python, I developed an Intro to...
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Advocating for Hackers with Chloe Messdaghi

Chloe Messdaghi, VP of Strategy at Point3, advocate and activist joins the show to explain common misconceptions about the hacking community and how we can do better to combat those stigmas. She also unpacks the diversity challenges specifically in the infosec industry. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7G9cXfVFeFxCfoEdhZlHOk?si...
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Apple-Notarized Malware: What It Is and How It Affects Mac Users

Malicious actors are targeting Apple. Although Apple introduced a notarization mechanism to scan and prevent malicious code from running on Apple devices, attackers have found ways to circumvent this process. Such Apple-notarized malware constitutes a threat to macOS users. Let us start by exploring what Apple notarization is. We will then discuss...
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New Mount Locker Ransomware Version Targeting TurboTax Files

A new version of the Mount Locker crypto-ransomware strain is specifically targeting victims' TurboTax files. As reported by Bleeping Computer, Advanced Intel's Vitali Kremez came across a new Mount Locker sample that specifically sought out files used by the TurboTax tax preparation software. In particular, Kremez observed the sample going after...
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Egregor Ransomware Attack Hijacks Printers to Spit Out Ransom Notes

So, you're a ransomware gang and you want to ensure that you have caught the attention of your latest corporate victim. You could simply drop your ransom note onto the desktop of infected computers, informing the firm that their files have been encrypted. Too dull? You could lock infected PCs and display a ghoulish skull on a bright red...
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Phishers Using Redirector Sites with Custom Subdomains for Evasion

Malicious actors launched a phishing attack that's using redirector websites with custom subdomains in order to evade detection. On November 16, Microsoft Security Intelligence tweeted out that it had spotted the phishing attack attempting to lure in recipients with emails disguised as password update reminders, helpdesk tickets and other seemingly...
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Adventures in MQTT Part II: Identifying MQTT Brokers in the Wild

The use of publicly accessible MQTT brokers is prevalent across numerous verticals and technology fields. I was able to identify systems related to energy production, hospitality, finance, healthcare, pharmaceutical manufacturing, building management, surveillance, workplace safety, vehicle fleet management, shipping, construction, natural resource...
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WebNavigator Browser Released by Well-Known Search Hijackers

Security researchers found several clues linking the WebNavigator web browser to well-known search hijackers. A Chromium-based browser, WebNavigator promises users that it'll simplify their web browsing experience by providing "quick access" to their bookmarks. The browser also claims to yield quick search results by starting up with Windows and by...
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Zoom Releases New Security Features to Counter Zoombombing

Zoom released new security features to help its users counter disruptive meeting intrusions, otherwise known as "Zoombombing." Matt Nagel, security & privacy PR lead at the American communications technology company, announced in a blog post on November 16 that Zoom had released two new anti-Zoombombing features over the previous weekend. The...