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VERT Threat Alert: December 2015 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses 12 new Microsoft Security Bulletins. VERT is actively working on coverage for these bulletins in order to meet our 24-hour SLA and expects to ship ASPL-648 on Wednesday, December 9th.Ease of Use (published exploits) to Risk TableAutomated Exploit Easy Moderate Difficult MS15-131 MS15-135 Extremely...
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WebEx Android App Users Told to Update ASAP, Due to Risk of Attack

There are often (quite rightly) concerns raised about operating system vulnerabilities on smartphones, and the need for users to patch their devices with the latest software. But the truth is that probably a bigger risk to the typical mobile user are the actual apps that they choose to run on them. Have they been coded reliably, are they taking...
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Unnecessary Risks: Vulnerabilities in ICS Devices

The NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection standards are the most effective tools for securing the electrical supply today. If you think that's a controversial statement, let me explain why I make it. Cybersecurity in the context of the electrical supply is synonymous with reliability. The cyber-risks to electric utilities are ultimately risks to...
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Open Source Router Updates Its Own Security, Analyzes Network Traffic

This open source, crowdfunded router boasts a unique set of features, including the ability to update its own security and analyze the traffic between the Internet and the host network. Based on the Latin word for "tower", the Turris Omnia router is open source and runs OpenWrt, a free operating system that not only provides Omnia's users with the...
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My SecTor Story: Root Shell on the Belkin WeMo Switch

*Updated 12/7/2015 – NOTE: The WeMo attack vector described in this article was resolved with WeMo firmware release 2.00.8643. Customers are encouraged to install the latest update immediately. There were many activities hosted at SecTor 2015. My favorite activity was the Internet of Things Hack Lab sponsored by Tripwire. The term Internet of...
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5 Ransomware Safety Tips for Online Retailers

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, cybercriminals have developed a destructive new form of ransomware that targets the websites of online retailers. According to independent security journalist Brian Krebs, fraudsters have been leveraging the malware – dubbed ‘Linux.Encoder.1’ – to essentially hold a site’s files, pages and images for...
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"Onion-Layered" Incidents Among Top Cybercrime Trends Observed by IBM

Security researchers with IBM have named "onion-layered" security incidents one of the top cybercrime trends they are observing in Q4 2015. In their report IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Quarterly, 4Q 2015, the researchers explain that an onion-layered security incident involves a second, more damaging and sophisticated attack that follows an...
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Cloud Computing: Putting Your Files on Someone Else’s Computer

If your organization decides to put their corporate files – or their customers’ files – onto someone else’s computer, i.e., implement cloud computing, what security effort should those organizations undertake to ensure the safety of their data? That is the question that we find our customers looking to Tripwire to help them answer. As a Tripwire...
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A LastPass Hack with a Happy Ending

In September, Black Hat Europe announced an interesting talk that entitled “Even the LastPass will be stolen, deal with it”. As reported in an earlier article, it was anticipated (based on the description on the conference announcement) that the “Remember Password” option was the likely attack vector. The presentation was delivered last week, and as...
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Are iPhones or Androids More of a Security Risk?

Blondes vs brunettes, Kirk or Picard, and the Oxford comma... these are some of the most burning issues that people just can't agree on. And another is whether iPhones are better than Android phones. Both sides have their fervent fans and supporters, and are capable of making convincing arguments to back their point of view. But now a new study ...
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VERT Threat Alert: November 2015 Patch Tuesday Analysis

Today’s VERT Alert addresses 12 new Microsoft Security Bulletins. VERT is actively working on coverage for these bulletins in order to meet our 24-hour SLA and expects to ship ASPL-643 on Wednesday, November 11th. Ease of Use (published exploits) to Risk Table Automated Exploit Easy ...
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TLS Extended Master Secret Extension: Fixing a Hole in TLS

Few Internet technologies are relied upon as heavily as TLS/SSL, yet it has been widely known for years that this fundamental security protocol does not do enough to effectively protect communications. The most visible failing of TLS is the reliance on public key infrastructure (PKI) in which every certification authority (CA) becomes a potential...
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Down But Never Out: Security Parallels from the 2015 World Series

In the early morning hours of Monday, November 1st, the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 major league baseball World Series. To be sure, the team secured its championship against the expectations of most. In the fifth game, the Royals trailed behind the New York Mets 0-2. Everyone expected that the Mets would win, but then things changed. At the top...
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Mainframe Insecuritites or Hack the Gibson. No, Really!

You can hack a toaster, a TV and a car... but a mainframe? Isn’t everything on Windows and Linux? Who still uses mainframes (specifically IBM’s flagship System Z running Z/OS)? They’re obsolete, specialized and cumbersome, just like the stuff that runs on them: TSO, JES, Walker, CICS, VTAM, MVS, IMS. And they’re pretty much sequestered from all the...
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Empowering Pipeline SCADA Cybersecurity

Our nation depends heavily on the more than 2.3 million miles of pipelines in the United States that move oil, gas and other liquid products cross country to delivery points, such as airports, refineries, homes, and businesses. At an average of every 40 miles for natural gas pipelines, there are compressor stations that move the gas further along...
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Point of Sale Cyber Crime: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

In spite of continuous efforts to improve the security of credit card transactions by both the financial services and retail industries, we see nearly endless headlines about new card data breaches. Banks want to improve security to avoid incurring the expenses associated with fraudulent purchases and investigations efforts. Consumers want, to improve...
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Security Nightmare of Driverless Cars

The fear of malicious actors taking control of glaring flaws in smart cars is on the rise. This threat is therefore considered to be one of the major technical challenges confronting the automotive industry today. Car Manufacturers Initially, car manufacturers were not very familiar with the cyber security community. From a hacker’s perspective,...