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Under attack: How hackers could remotely target your pacemaker

Once again, researchers have uncovered security flaws that could allow malicious hackers to attack implanted medical devices, such as heart pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, with the potential to deliver fatal shocks. In a newly-published paper, "On the (in)security of the Latest Generation Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators and How to Secure...
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FBI's Expanded Hacking & Surveillance Powers Take Effect Under Rule 41

Changes that expand the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) hacking and surveillance powers took effect on 1 December under Rule 41. Previously, it was an established fact of criminal procedure that a judge's warrants pertained only to a suspected criminal's misdeeds in particular district. If the subject committed crimes in multiple districts,...
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How “Peter Parker’s” Mirai Variant Took Down 900,000 Routers

What happens when service providers issue routers with remotely exploitable flaws? This weekend, we saw a glimpse of what is possible when attackers attempted to load Mirai-based malware on routers through a vulnerability in an exposed remote management protocol. Although the attackers probably failed in their ultimate goal of creating a large...
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Hacking the Human at BSides Philly: Social Engineering Basics

My talk at BSides Philly on December 3 is called "Hacking the Human: Social Engineering Basics," and it's about providing a social engineering foundation for people to adapt to their individual situation and needs. "Teach a man to fish" and all that, you know? Over the course of the talk I reference many thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, and...
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The 5 Most Significant DDoS Attacks of 2016

On the cusp of 2017, one thing's clear: distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks made their mark in 2016. Arbor Networks tracked 124,000 DDoS attacks each week between January 2015 and June 2016. Furthermore, 274 of the attacks observed in the first half of 2016 reached over 100 Gbps (as compared to 223 in all of 2015), while 46 attacks...
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Cerber 5.0.1 Starts the Horrors of Christmas Ransomware

Christmas is around the corner, and cyber criminals are as restless as Santa’s dwarves. All big ransomware families are being updated on quite a regular basis, leaving users breathless and file-less. The Cerber ransomware family is an excellent example of a crypto family constantly being renewed. Cerber 5.0.1 is now making its rounds in the wild,...
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Who Will Follow Facebook In Buying Customer Leaked Databases?

Facebook has taken the privacy of their customers seriously, as their Chief Security Officer (CSO) Alex Stamos has stated that the company has engaged in black market purchases of leaked or hacked databases that contain Facebook account credentials. A Preface To The Facebook Black Market Trade Facebook has publicly disclosed that it has bought...
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What the Cloud Can Do to Improve IT Security

Cloud computing has come a long way in just a few years. Now, most businesses use some sort of cloud service, whether it be for a specific software application, infrastructure requirements, or more. The cloud certainly represents the way many companies are choosing to operate, but some have shown reluctance to adopt cloud solutions. One of the major...
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TeleCrypt Ransomware Decryption Utility Released

Researchers have released a decryption utility that victims of TeleCrypt ransomware can use to restore access to their files. The Delphi-written trojan first reared its ugly head in the beginning of November 2016. Most crypto-ransomware samples communicate with their command-and-control (C&C) servers over HTTP-based protocols to send information...
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Hacker Mindset: The Mystery of Cybersecurity Attribution

In my ongoing blog series “Hacker Mindset,” I explore an attacker's assumptions, methods and theories, including how information security professionals can apply this knowledge to increase cybervigilance on the systems and networks they steward. In this article, I examine attribution and its relation to information systems and crime. Methodology...
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Women in Information Security: Jess Dodson

Women in information security are a fascinating group of people. I should know, being one myself. But being female in a quickly growing male-dominated industry poses its own challenges. And those of us who pursue security and IT in spite of gender stereotypes have unique strengths and insight. I first interviewed Tiberius Hefflin, a Scottish...
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Malicious Image Distributing Nemucod Downloader to Facebook Users

A malicious image file is distributing the Nemucod malware downloader to unsuspecting users via Facebook chat. Threat intelligence analyst Bart Blaze heard about the malware campaign from a friend. They told him they had received a message on Facebook chat that contained only a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file, which is an XML-based vector image...
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Enter .Aesir - The Newest Variant of Locky Ransomware

Readers beware! The .Aesir Virus File Ransomware is becoming one of the biggest threats to your online security. We have recently become aware of a change in one of the most infamous cyber threats’ behavioral patterns. It would appear that the all-too-well known Locky ransomware virus has changed its format. Victims are now seeing their encrypted...
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Could Technology Have Helped Prevent the Tesco Bank Breach?

A few well-known UK brands have hit the headlines recently as a result of a breach or security issue. For instance, Tesco Bank announced 40,000 customer accounts were affected by a “sophisticated” attack. Half of those had money taken from them. As a result, Tesco Bank could incur a severe penalty imposed by regulators. That fee would be in addition...