Category Archives: The Coming Storm

ConnectWise Quietly Patches Flaw That Helps Phishers

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ConnectWise, a self-hosted, remote desktop software application that is widely used by Managed Service Providers (MSPs), is warning about an unusually sophisticated phishing attack that can let attackers take remote control over user systems when recipients click the included link. The warning comes just days after the company quietly patched a vulnerability that makes it easier for phishers to launch these attacks. Continue reading ConnectWise Quietly Patches Flaw That Helps Phishers→

U.S. Govt. Apps Bundled Russian Code With Ties to Mobile Malware Developer

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A recent scoop by Reuters revealed that mobile apps for the U.S. Army and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were integrating software that sends visitor data to a Russian company called Pushwoosh, which claims to be based in the United States. But that story omitted an important historical detail about Pushwoosh: In 2013, one of its developers admitted to authoring the Pincer Trojan, malware designed to surreptitiously intercept and forward text messages from Android mobile devices. Continue reading U.S. Govt. Apps Bundled Russian Code With Ties to Mobile Malware Developer→

Report: Big U.S. Banks Are Stiffing Account Takeover Victims

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When U.S. consumers have their online bank accounts hijacked and plundered by hackers, U.S. financial institutions are legally obligated to reverse any unauthorized transactions as long as the victim reports the fraud in a timely manner. But new data released this week suggests that for some of the nation’s largest banks, reimbursing account takeover victims has become more the exception than the rule. Continue reading Report: Big U.S. Banks Are Stiffing Account Takeover Victims→

Glut of Fake LinkedIn Profiles Pits HR Against the Bots

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A recent proliferation of phony executive profiles on LinkedIn is creating something of an identity crisis for the business networking site, and for companies that rely on it to hire and screen prospective employees. The fabricated LinkedIn identities — which pair AI-generated profile photos with text lifted from legitimate accounts — are creating major headaches for corporate HR departments and for those managing invite-only LinkedIn groups. Continue reading Glut of Fake LinkedIn Profiles Pits HR Against the Bots→

Microsoft: Two New 0-Day Flaws in Exchange Server

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Microsoft Corp. is investigating reports that attackers are exploiting two previously unknown vulnerabilities in Exchange Server, a technology many organizations rely on to send and receive email. Microsoft says it is expediting work on software patches to plug the security holes. In the meantime, it is urging a subset of Exchange customers to enable a setting that could help mitigate ongoing attacks. Continue reading Microsoft: Two New 0-Day Flaws in Exchange Server→

Fake CISO Profiles on LinkedIn Target Fortune 500s

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Someone has recently created a large number of fake LinkedIn profiles for Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) roles at some of the world’s largest corporations. It’s not clear who’s behind this network of fake CISOs or what their intentions may be. But the fabricated LinkedIn identities are confusing search engine results for CISO roles at major companies, and they are being indexed as gospel by various downstream data-scraping sources. Continue reading Fake CISO Profiles on LinkedIn Target Fortune 500s→

Botched Crypto Mugging Lands Three U.K. Men in Jail

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Three men in the United Kingdom were arrested this month after police responding to an attempted break-in at a residence stopped their car as they fled the scene. The authorities found weapons and a police uniform in the trunk, and say the trio intended to assault a local man and force him to hand over virtual currencies.  Continue reading Botched Crypto Mugging Lands Three U.K. Men in Jail→

Sounding the Alarm on Emergency Alert System Flaws

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging states and localities to beef up security around proprietary devices that connect to the Emergency Alert System — a national public warning system used to deliver important emergency information, such as severe weather and AMBER alerts. The DHS warning came in advance of a workshop to be held this weekend at the DEFCON security conference in Las Vegas, where a security researcher is slated to demonstrate multiple weaknesses in the nationwide alert system. Continue reading Sounding the Alarm on Emergency Alert System Flaws→

It Might Be Our Data, But It’s Not Our Breach

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A cybersecurity firm says it has intercepted a large, unique stolen data set containing the names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security Numbers and dates of birth on nearly 23 million Americans. The firm’s analysis of the data suggests it corresponds to current and former customers of AT&T. The telecommunications giant stopped short of saying the data wasn’t theirs, but it maintains the records do not appear to have come from its systems and may be tied to a previous data incident at another company. Continue reading It Might Be Our Data, But It’s Not Our Breach→

Class Action Targets Experian Over Account Security

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A class action lawsuit has been filed against big-three consumer credit bureau Experian over reports that the company did little to prevent identity thieves from hijacking consumer accounts. The legal filing cites liberally from an investigation KrebsOnSecurity published in July, which found that identity thieves were able to assume control over existing Experian accounts simply by signing up for new accounts using the victim’s personal information and a different email address. Continue reading Class Action Targets Experian Over Account Security→