A federal court has sentenced the man behind the 'Guccifer' moniker to four years in prison for hacking a number of high-profile targets. On 1 September, U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris handed down a sentence of 52 months in prison to Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania. According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice,...

Ransomware is having quite the year. According to the FBI, crypto-malware authors extorted more than 200 million USD from users in the first three months of 2016. They're well on their way to raking in over one billion dollars by the end of the year. Part of the reason ransomware developers are doing so well, the FBI explains in a letter, is because...

One of the world's leading wire and cable manufacturers, Leoni AG, has been swindled out of a jaw-dropping 40 million Euros (approximately US $44 million) after it was targeted by an email scammer. As Softpedia reports, a young woman working in the finance department of Leoni's factory in Bistrita, Romania, received an email in mid-August claiming...

Fraudsters are leveraging an emerging social engineering technique called "angler phishing" to fool victims into handing over their PayPal credentials. Researchers at security firm Proofpoint, who discovered this particular campaign, elaborate on what sets angler phishing apart from ordinary phishing attacks: "The attack technique takes its name...

It certainly has been another long week in cybersecurity. First, news that a third party hacked a group allegedly connected to the NSA and made off with secret “hacking tools” rocked the industry. It was shortly followed by news of cyber attacks in the form of smart email “bombs” raining down upon the mailboxes of .gov employees in a way very...

American file hosting service Dropbox said a data dump of approximately 60 million users' records is real. A spokesperson for the company said the records, which include email addresses as well as hashed and salted passwords, are the same as those affected by a security incident that occurred several...

Organizations face all sorts of risks that threaten to derail their progress and inhibit future growth. The headlines likely don’t provide much comfort as you read about another major company becoming a victim of a massive security breach. There’s a lot to worry about out there, and the tiniest mistake can quickly be exploited, putting your business...

There's no hiding it. The days are getting cooler. The sun's setting earlier. And the leaves are beginning to change. Summer's gone as quickly as it came, which means one thing and one thing only: it's back-to-school season. Soon, kids around the world will be starting up a new year of classes. That means they'll be chatting on line, looking for...

Linux users are reporting a new ransomware called "FairWare" played a part in taking down their websites. News of the ransomware first surfaced in a post on Bleeping Computer's forums. According to the victim, attackers likely brute-forced or intercepted the password for their Linux machine. Once they acquired access, the baddies logged into the...

The challenges facing security professionals certainly aren’t getting any easier – nor are they likely to do so anytime soon. Not only are the skills and knowledge that we need to operate evolving at an ever-relentless pace but also rapidly diversifying far beyond the familiar technical and governance areas we have been used to. When it seems that...

Demonstrating to employees that security is there to make their life easier, not harder, is the first step in developing a sound security culture. But before we discuss the actual steps to improve it, let’s first understand the root causes of a poor security culture. Security professionals must understand that bad habits and behaviours tend to be...

It's no secret the security community is witnessing a boom in sophisticated techniques and attack campaigns. Some of the most advanced threats circulating in the wild today leverage polymorphic malware that changes its form based upon the environment in which it activates. As a result, signature-based detection solutions have a difficult time...

You, a creative entrepreneur with a great idea, finally launch a business. As a startup, having your own website is essential in conducting business. Startups must always take extra precaution when it comes to their web security. Because startups are the perfect targets for hackers, your website should be protected as soon as it is ready to go live....

PlayStation and PSP owners can now add an extra layer of security to their accounts by enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), announced the electronics and gaming company on Wednesday. Users who choose to activate the additional security feature will sign in to their accounts using their passwords,...

The Government Savings Bank (GSB) of Thailand shut down nearly half of its ATMs following a malware attack that cost it 12 million baht, or about $378,000. On 23 August, GSB shut down approximately 47 percent of its ATM network when it disabled service to approximately 3,300 of its 7,000 machines....

This year, I was fortunate enough to attend the DEF CON 24 security conference, one of The State of Security's top 11 infosec conferences, which took place August 4-7, 2016, at Paris and Bally's in Las Vegas. Here's a summary of my experience. Cyber Grand Challenge An interesting addition to the unofficial first day of DEF CON this year was the...

No one today is immune to the cybersecurity talent shortage. Whether you’re a company or individual, you feel the pain of a shortage of good IT security staff members. Companies feel the pain of trying to maintain an adequate staff, who need to be educated enough to maintain the company's environment and to avoid the risk of breaches and regulatory...

American video game development company Epic Games has announced someone hacked its forums, making it twice in one year. On 22 August, the Cary-based organization disclosed the breach on its website: "We believe a recent Unreal Engine and Unreal Tournament forum compromise revealed email addresses and other data entered into the forums, but no...

We are moving into an era of inter-connectivity with billions of devices, including a previously disconnected industry of automotive vehicles. Vehicles were not designed with computer security in mind, and that worked just fine for the last few decades. However, now we are at a point where we can take an "unhackable" 1997 Honda Civic and add in a...

Security configuration management (SCM) is central to an endpoint detection and response (EDR) strategy. It allows organizations to keep track of changes to their network devices, including those implemented by an unauthorized actor. As I discuss in another blog post, one of the most important features of an SCM program is the creation of a "secure...