WiFi hotspot

More than half of organizations suffer mobile attacks

Over half (57 percent) of organizations suspect their mobile workers have been hacked, or caused a mobile security issue, in the last 12 months according to a new study.

The study by mobile connectivity specialist iPass shows that public Wi-Fi is the most common source of incidents, with 81 percent of respondents saying they had seen Wi-Fi related security incidents in the last year.

By Ian Barker -
Meltdown

Meltdown patches from Microsoft made Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 less secure

If you're running Windows 7 and you've not yet installed the March updates, now is very much the time to do so. It turns out that the Meltdown patches released in January and February actually opened up a security hole in both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

A Swedish security researcher found that the patches changed access permissions for kernel memory, making it possible for anyone to read from and write to user processes, gain admin rights and modify data in memory.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
network

New asset management platform lets businesses see and secure devices

One of the basic problems businesses face in preventing attacks is effective discovery and identification of their technology assets.

This is made worse by the growth of BYOD and Internet of Things devices. Israel-based Axonius is looking to solve this problem with the launch of its Cybersecurity Asset Management Platform to enable customers to see and secure all their devices.

By Ian Barker -
vulnerability bomb

Top vulnerabilities shift focus from Adobe to Microsoft

A new report from threat intelligence specialist Recorded Future looks at the changing way in which attackers are using vulnerabilities.

In contrast to previous years, most of the criminal exploit kits and phishing campaigns seen in 2017 have favored Microsoft products, rather than the Adobe Flash vulnerabilities which previous research showed as being the most popular.

By Ian Barker -
machine learning AI

McAfee brings machine learning to enterprise security

Cyber security company McAfee is announcing an expanded product portfolio that evolves security operations capabilities and allows for rapid response to today’s threats.

McAfee's updated Enterprise Security Manager (McAfee ESM 11) uses a new data architecture optimized for scalability, performance, faster search, and collaboration. This is combined with the newly launched McAfee Behavioral Analytics, and enhanced McAfee Investigator, McAfee Advanced Threat Defense, and McAfee Active Response.

By Ian Barker -
Ransomware sign

Almost six out of 10 organizations suffer ransomware attacks

New research reveals that 56 percent of surveyed decision makers from IT and risk, fraud or compliance functions report that their organization has suffered a ransomware attack in the last 12 months, compared to under half (48 percent) who said the same in 2016.

The study of 500 businesses in the UK, France, Germany and USA commissioned by SentinelOne and carried out by Vanson Bourne shows 69 percent say the most successful ransomware attack resulted in the attacker being able to encrypt some data, with five percent paying the ransom to decrypt the data.

By Ian Barker -
Internet of things

Unsecured third-party IoT devices could pose major risks for organizations

According to new research, 97 percent believe unsecured IoT devices could be catastrophic for their organization, yet just 29 percent actively monitor for related third-party risks.

The study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and risk assurance body Shared Assessments shows 81 percent of respondents say that a data breach caused by an unsecured IoT device is likely to occur in the next two years.

By Ian Barker -
DDoS attack start

Cryptocurrency industry hit hard by DDoS attacks

Although it's relatively new, the cryptocurrency industry was the fifth most attacked by DDoS in the final quarter of 2017.

Imperva's latest Global DDoS Threat Landscape Report finds the spike in cryptocurrency prices has attracted the attention of attackers. Also the number of exchanges has increased to 190, up from 70 in Q3.

By Ian Barker -
Attack route

Legacy defenses can't keep pace with new cyber threats

Attacks such as ransomware are able to bypass legacy security solutions because organizations are neglecting to patch, update, or replace their current products according to a new report.

The study from cyber security company Webroot also shows cryptojacking gaining ground, with over 5,000 websites being compromised with JavaScript cryptocurrency miner CoinHive to mine Monero since September 2017.

By Ian Barker -
training key

Lack of investment in security training adds to skills gap

Cyber security is seen as one of the biggest threats to business. Yet employees are not being supported by their organizations when it comes to investing in their continued education and career development.

Crowd sourced IT and security training solution Cybrary, along with cyber security research body the Cyentia Institute, have produced a report looking at the cyber skills gap.

By Ian Barker -
Mobile phone malware

Malicious mobile apps decrease in final quarter of 2017

A new report from digital threat management company RiskIQ states malicious mobile apps declined at the end of 2017.

To reach these findings the firm analyzed 120 mobile app stores and it puts the decline down largely to a decrease in the inventory of AndroidAPKDescargar, the most prolific dealer of blacklisted apps.

By Ian Barker -
Computer bug

Netflix bug bounty program offers top rewards of $15,000

As much as we'd like to think otherwise, no software is free of security issues. That's why it's important for tech companies to play an active role in finding and fixing as many bugs as possible before they're exploited. Implementing a bug bounty program can be very effective, as the product is exposed to various testing mindsets and approaches which can uncover some nasty surprises.

Netflix, which has over 100 million users across the globe, today introduces its first bug bounty program that's open to the public, with rewards that can reach $15,000 for the most-valuable findings that security researchers report.

By Mihăiță Bamburic -
AMD

AMD admits to new batch of critical processor flaws and promises fixes

AMD has confirmed that some of its processors contain vulnerabilities after they were found by CTS Labs researchers. In all, 13 critical flaws were found, including RyzenFall, MasterKey, Fallout and Chimera. They affect a range of AMD products.

The flaws are not dissimilar to the previous Meltdown/Spectre vulnerabilities, and CTS Labs gave AMD just 24 hours' notice before going public. The chipmaker says that patches are on the way, and tries to suggest that the vulnerabilities are not a cause for major concern.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Kaspersky Labs logo

Kaspersky Lab plans Swiss data center to quell fears about Russian connections

The US has repeatedly voiced concerns about Kaspersky Labs, expressing distrust of the Russian company. So concerned is the Trump administration about possible ties to the Russian government, that Kaspersky software is banned from official computers.

This is clearly something that the company is not happy with, and it has already launched a lawsuit against the US government. In a bid to silence those who say that data is being fed to the Kremlin, Kaspersky is planning to open a data center in Switzerland.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Cyber attack

The nine biggest threats organizations face in the next two years

The foundations of the digital world are set to be shaken in the next two years according to the findings of a new report from the Information Security Forum (ISF).

The Threat Horizon 2020 report highlights nine major threats, broken down into three themes, that organizations can expect to face by 2020 as a result of  developments in technology.

By Ian Barker -
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