Researchers discover how far-right coronavirus protest websites are organized

More evidence that a group of conservative political activists is operating a network of websites meant to inflame pandemic-related tension in the U.S. and solicit donations has been uncovered by a Seattle-based cybersecurity company. Threat intelligence firm DomainTools released research Friday indicating that pro-gun activist Aaron Dorr appears to be using widely available software to operate dozens of websites, many of which include “reopen” in the URL. DomainTools researchers have conducted a technical examination of “reopen” sites — like “ReopenMN” and “ReopenWI” — to determine just how consolidated the sites are, despite the appearance that they exist as standalone entities. The sites are registered to local gun advocacy groups and utilize One Click Politics, a digital organizing service that allows a single person to manage dozens of websites, run email promotion and collect money. The network starts with Dorr’s personal website on top, at least 13 gun rights coalition groups on the […]

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Who’s Behind the “Reopen” Domain Surge?

The past few weeks have seen a large number of new domain registrations beginning with the word “reopen” and ending with U.S. city or state names. The largest number of them were created just hours after President Trump sent a series of all-caps tweets… Continue reading Who’s Behind the “Reopen” Domain Surge?

Sipping from the Coronavirus Domain Firehose

Security experts are poring over thousands of new Coronavirus-themed domain names registered each day, but this often manual effort struggles to keep pace with the flood of domains invoking the virus to promote malware and phishing sites, as well as non-existent healthcare products and charities. As a result, domain name registrars are under increasing pressure to do more to combat scams and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading Sipping from the Coronavirus Domain Firehose

A coronavirus-tracking app locked users’ phones and demanded $100

You can always count on hackers to exploit a terrible situation to try to make a buck. A new Android app that promises to deliver up-to-date figures on the coronavirus pandemic includes a strain of malicious software that locks up a user’s phone and demands an extortion fee. The ransomware app, called CovidLock, threatens to erase everything on an infected phone if victims don’t pay $100 in bitcoin within 48 hours, according to the security firm DomainTools. The number of users affected remains unclear. The app is not available in the Google Play store, and was accessible on a standalone website. DomainTools has said it intends to release a decryption tool for affected victims, while Reddit users claim to already have deciphered the password to release locked data. The program only represents scammers’ latest attempt to use concerns around the COVID-19 virus to defraud anxious technology users. Scams, misinformation campaigns, attempted hacks […]

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Fake Covid-19 tracker app delivers ransomware, disinformation abounds

As Covid-19 spreads across the globe and countries do their best to slow down the infection rate, cybercriminals’ onslaught against worried users is getting more intense by the day. The latest scheme includes a malicious Android tracker app that … Continue reading Fake Covid-19 tracker app delivers ransomware, disinformation abounds

Security pros anticipate automation will reduce IT security headcount, but not replace human expertise

The majority of companies (77 percent) continue to use or plan to use automation in the next three years, according to a Ponemon Institute and DomainTools survey. The biggest takeaway in this year’s study is that 51 percent of respondents now believe t… Continue reading Security pros anticipate automation will reduce IT security headcount, but not replace human expertise

2020: A year of deepfakes and deep deception

Over the past year, deepfakes, a machine learning model that is used to create realistic yet fake or manipulated audio and video, started making headlines as a major emerging cyber threat. The first examples of deepfakes seen by the general public were… Continue reading 2020: A year of deepfakes and deep deception

Cyber threats continue to evolve, but security teams remain confident

Coming off of a year of major data breaches making headline news, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that security teams are losing the cybersecurity battle, a DomainTools survey reveals. Security teams remain confident Security pros are reporting real p… Continue reading Cyber threats continue to evolve, but security teams remain confident

DomainTools Allies With Splunk to Combat Cybersecurity Threats

DomainTools has integrated its cybersecurity threat investigation tools with the security information event management (SIEM) platform from Splunk. Corin Imai, senior security advisor for DomainTools, said that as more organizations employ Splunk as b… Continue reading DomainTools Allies With Splunk to Combat Cybersecurity Threats