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Remote DoS Vulnerability Patched in Huawei 4G USB Modem

Chinese networking telecommunications equipment and services company Huawei has patched a vulnerability in its MBB (Mobile Broadband) product E3272s that if exploited could lead to denial-of-service attacks and remote arbitrary code execution. According to a security bulletin released by the company, "An attacker could send a malicious packet to...
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Understanding External Security Threats

Cyber security is now a board-level risk across the entire spread of industry. However, it is a broad subject with a large number of unknowns, and some might say there's no real way to ever discover or quantify those unknowns. Unfortunately, this can result in cyber security being poorly understood and boards vulnerable to being misled by ‘snake-oil...
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3 Tips on How to Create a Cyber Security Culture at Work

This October marks another iteration of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), a program designed to engage both the public and private sectors on good security practices via activities that encourage awareness and resiliency in the event of a national cyber incident. Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in cooperation...
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Building a Model for Endpoint Security Maturity

In today's world, our notion of endpoints has evolved from something with a user and a keyboard to something with exploitable vulnerabilities. This conceptualization therefore covers network connections beyond laptops, personal computers and mobile devices. Indeed, vulnerabilities arising from Internet of Things (IoT) appliances; automobiles, such...
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VERT Vuln School – SQL Injection 101

SQL injection is arguably the most severe problem web applications face. OWASP, an online community devoted to web application security, consistently classifies injection vulnerabilities as number one on their OWASP Top 10 Project. SQL injection vulnerabilities are a favorite amongst a number of “hactivist” groups whose aim is to cause disruption in...
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Managing Cyber Risks and Budgets

According to the 2015 Information Security Breaches Survey, 44 percent of both large and small organizations increased their security expenditure in 2015 compared with 53 percent and 27 percent in 2014, respectively. Despite the increase in expenditure, however, 90 percent of large organizations and 74 percent of small organizations reported that...
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15 Million T-Mobile Customers' Information Exposed in Experian Hack

Hackers have compromised the personal information of 15 million T-Mobile customers after successfully infiltrating one of Experian's servers. John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, has published a letter about the incident: "We have been notified by Experian, a vendor that processes our credit applications, that they have experienced a data breach. The...
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Homo Sapiens and the Human Equation of Ethics

I recall engaging into a conversation with a fellow security professional this year on the subject of where the CISO role should reside and to whom they should report.My opponent’s opinion was very much contrary to my own, vocalising the value of the CISO having full alignment with the main board and the company executive.I, on the other hand, feel...
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Targeted Security Risk Assessments Using NIST Guidelines

What a whirlwind the past few months have been for data security, breaches and hacking events. From the Wyndham v. FTC ruling to yet another breach by a BCBS affiliate, there is increasing pressure across the information security industry to push organizations to perform those pesky security risk assessments touted by the National Institute of...
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Russian AV Firm Firebombed for Malware Report

A Russian antivirus (AV) firm was firebombed back in 2014 as a result of a report it published on a particular malware sample. On December 18, 2013, the AV company Doctor Web published a news item announcing that Trojan.Skimmer.18 had been added to the company's virus database. Later that same day, the company received a threatening email presumably...
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Post Office Email Scams Target Denmark, Drop Crypt0l0cker Ransomware

The post office email scam is a time-tested method of attack among malicious actors. Indeed, when users see that they have received an email from an actor purporting to be their local post office, most of them buy into the familiarity of this governmental institution and click on a link without taking the time to inspect the sender address....
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Thousands of Medical Systems Exposed to Web Attacks, Find Researchers

Two security researchers uncovered thousands of medical systems exposed online that are vulnerable to web attacks. On Saturday, September 26, researchers Scott Erven and Mark Collao presented their findings at Derby Con 5.0 in a presentation entitled "Medical Devices: Pwnage and Honeypots." "We know medical devices are exposed to the Internet both...
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Securing the Smart Home (and Office)

Today, a segment will air on Crime Watch Daily where Tripwire Senior Security Researcher Craig Young and I reveal on camera how vulnerable smart homes can be when not properly secured. We show firsthand that the key weaknesses in most smart homes are a combination of insecure networks and default configurations, including systems that installers may...
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GreenDispenser ATM malware found in the wild, stealing cash from banks

Banks have another security headache on their hands, as ATM-infecting malware is becoming increasingly sophisticated in its attempt to help criminals audaciously empty out cash machines on the high street on demand, without having to have previously stolen the payment cards of legitimate customers. Dubbed GreenDispenser by researchers at Proofpoint,...