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...

Three men have been arrested in Nigeria, suspected of being members of an organised cybercrime gang that has targeted over 500,000 government agencies and private sector companies around the world. The group, dubbed TMT by threat researchers at Group-IB, is said to have engaged in attacks against businesses since at least 2017, tricking company...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The notion that the time we are living in now is “unprecedented” is a common one, but historians and philosophers alike will happily note that things are rarely so different that we can’t learn a lot from the past. Despite IT often being dominated by forward-thinking individuals developing novel and innovative new designs, a lot of the problems and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Digital attack attempts in industrial environments are on the rise. In February 2020, IBM X-Force reported that it had observed a 2,000% increase in the attempts by threat actors to target Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT) assets between 2018 and 2020. This surge eclipsed the total number of attacks against...

One significant negative implication of technology's continual evolution is proportional advancement in nefarious internet activities, particularly cyber attacks. The past few years have seen a rising sophistication in cyber attacks at levels never experienced before. The worst fact is that attacks will likely only continue to get more advanced. To...

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...

The Lazarus group leveraged a supply chain attack to target users located in South Korea with custom malware. On November 16, ESET disclosed that the Lazarus group conducted its supply chain attack by abusing WIZVERA VeraPort. This application helps users in South Korea manage the installation of additional computer security software when they...

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...

Compliance is very important to any organization. Organizations have many standards to choose from including PCI, CIS, NIST and so on. Oftentimes, there are also multiple regulations that are applicable in any country. So, organizations need to commit some time and resources in order to apply security standards and achieve compliance. Even so,...