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The 5 Best Ways to Handle Sensitive Data

There are two significant trends occurring right now that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone reading this post. First, businesses are gathering and leveraging more and more data to improve their core services. Second, more compliance and regulatory standards are popping up from governments and private organizations. As these businesses realize that...
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Problem Solving - Lessons From Teaching Cybersecurity: Week 4

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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Montréal Public Transport Agency Discloses Ransomware Attack

A public transport agency operating in Montréal announced that a ransomware attack had affected its website and other systems. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) disclosed the infection on a web page it created to keep customers updated about its services while its main site remains offline: Since the afternoon of October 19, the STM has...
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More Effective Security Awareness: 3 Tips for NCSAM

It’s often said that humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity. Indeed, I’d have a hard time arguing that a computer that was sealed in a box, untouched by human hand, poses much of a security risk. But a computer that is unused has no purpose. It behooves security practitioners to get smarter about how we teach people to use those machines so...
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Ransomware Gang Donated Part of Ransom Demands to Charities

A budding ransomware group donated part of the ransom demands that it had previously extorted from its victims to two charities. On October 13, the Darkside ransomware group announced the donations in a blog post on its dark web portal. As quoted by ZDNet: As we said in the first press release - we are targeting only large profitable corporations....
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A Closer Look at the Attempted Ransomware Attack on Tesla

Cybersecurity is in the news again with the disclosure that Tesla, working in conjunction with the FBI, prevented a ransomware attack from being launched at its Gigafactory in Nevada. The cybercriminals targeted Tesla through one of its employees, whom they allegedly promised to pay $1 million in order to help them infect the company’s system with...
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IoT Devices: Privacy and Security in Abusive Relationships

A few weeks, ago, technology news site The Verge reported on a new Ring security camera that is in fact a drone that flies around inside your house. Available beginning next year, the ‘Always Home Cam’ is supposed to give its owners a total view of their home without the need for multiple cameras. Those worried about break-ins or other kinds of...
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3 Zones that Require Network Security for Industrial Remote Access

By now, we have a good understanding of what secure remote access (SRA) is and why organizations might choose to enable it for their OT environments. We also know that securing IT-OT collaboration, leveraging guidance from best practice frameworks and using an automated solution can help organizations to implement this type of access. Even so, we...
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Silent Librarian APT Targeting Universities with Spear Phishing Attacks

Security researchers discovered that an APT group known as "Silent Librarian" is actively targeting universities with spear phishing attacks. Malwarebytes learned in mid-September that Silent Librarian, also known as "TA407" and "COBALT DICKENS," had launched a new attack campaign. In its analysis of the operation, the security firm found that the...
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UAE’s Information Assurance Regulation – How to Achieve Compliance

For years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has committed itself to adopting information technology (IT) and electronic communication. The UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) noted that this policy has made the state’s government agencies and organizations more efficient as well as has improved the ability for individuals to...
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JavaScript Used by Phishing Page to Steal Magento Credentials

Digital attackers created a Magento phishing page that used JavaScript to exfiltrate the login credentials of its victims. Sucuri came across a compromised website using the filename "wp-order.php" during an investigation. This phishing page hosted what appeared to be a legitimate Magento 1.x login portal at the time of discovery. In support of this...
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SonicWall VPN Portal Critical Flaw (CVE-2020-5135)

Vulnerability Description Tripwire VERT has identified a stack-based buffer overflow in SonicWall Network Security Appliance (NSA). The flaw can be triggered by an unauthenticated HTTP request involving a custom protocol handler. The vulnerability exists within the HTTP/HTTPS service used for product management as well as SSL VPN remote access. ...
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Lessons From Teaching Cybersecurity: Week 3

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...
Blog

VERT Threat Alert: October 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses Microsoft’s October 2020 Security Updates. VERT is actively working on coverage for these vulnerabilities and expects to ship ASPL-909 on Wednesday, October 14th. In-The-Wild & Disclosed CVEs (October 2020 Patch Tuesday Analysis) CVE-2020-16938 This CVE describes an information disclosure in the Windows kernel that...
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Fake Windows Defender Antivirus Theme Used to Spread QBot

Digital attackers incorporated a fake Windows Defender Antivirus theme into a malicious document in order to distribute QBot malware. According to Bleeping Computer, the QBot gang began using a new template for their email attack campaigns' malicious documents beginning on August 25, 2020. The template adopted the disguise of a Windows Defender...
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How Cybersecurity Leaders Can Understand the Value of Their Organization’s Security Solutions

“Gartner projections show the growth in cybersecurity spending is slowing. Cybersecurity grew at 12% (CAGR) in 2018, and it is projected to decline to only 7% (CAGR) by 2023. Gartner clients are also reporting that after years of quarterly reporting on cybersecurity to their boards, that boards are now pushing back and asking for improved data and...