Profile of Jai Vijayan

Freelance writer News & Commentary Posts: 374

Jai Vijayan is a seasoned technology reporter with over 20 years of experience in IT trade journalism. He was most recently a Senior Editor at Computerworld, where he covered information security and data privacy issues for the publication. Over the course of his 20-year career at Computerworld, Jai also covered a variety of other technology topics including Big Data, Hadoop, Internet of Things, E-voting and data analytics. Prior to Computerworld, Jai covered technology issues for The Economic Times in Bangalore, India. Jai has a Master's degree in Statistics and lives in Naperville, IL.

'GhostHook' Foils Windows 10 64-bit's Kernel Protection

6/22/2017
Microsoft says an attacker needs kernel-level access before they can use the 'GhostHook' technique to install a rootkit.
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WannaCry Forces Honda to Take Production Plant Offline

6/21/2017
Work on over 1,000 vehicles affected at automaker's Sayama plant in Japan while systems were restored.
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Organizations Are Detecting Intrusions More Quickly

6/20/2017
But almost every other metric in Trustwave's 2017 global cybersecurity report card is headed in the wrong direction.
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FIN10 Threat Actors Hack and Extort Canadian Mining, Casino Industries

6/16/2017
Previously unknown threat actor has extracted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Canadian companies in a vicious cyberattack campaign that dates back to 2013, FireEye says.
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NSA Reportedly Confident North Korea Was Behind WannaCry

6/15/2017
But some say no evidence exists to unequivocally pin blame for attacks on Pyongyang.
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US Warns of North Korea's Not-So-Secret 'Hidden Cobra' DDoS Botnet

6/14/2017
Reclusive government behind DDoS infrastructure is targeting organizations around the world US-CERT says.
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First Malware Designed Solely for Electric Grids Caused 2016 Ukraine Outage

6/12/2017
Attackers used CrashOverride/Industroyer to cause a partial power outage in Kiev, Ukraine, but it can be used anywhere, say researchers at Dragos and ESET.
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Move Over, Mirai: Persirai Now the Top IP Camera Botnet

6/8/2017
Mirai's success has spawned a flurry of similar IoT malware.
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RIG Exploit Kit Takedown Sheds Light on Domain Shadowing

6/7/2017
Threat actors hid tens of thousands of shadow domains behind legitimate domains to carry out malicious activity.
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Outdated Software Commonplace on Enterprise Endpoints

6/6/2017
Enterprises that stick with older versions of operating systems and other software are missing out on security features in newer versions, Duo Security says.
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OneLogin Breach Reignites Concerns over Password Managers

6/1/2017
Entrusting all your passwords to a single organization creates a single point of failure, experts say in the wake of a new data breach at OneLogin.
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A Nation State-Looking Cyberattack that Wasn't

5/31/2017
Symantec researchers uncover a cybercrime campaign with all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored campaign that didn't even make much money for the attackers.
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Cybercriminals Regularly Battle it Out on the Dark Web

5/30/2017
People operating criminal services on Tor and other darknets attack each other frequently, a study by Trend Micro shows.
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New Samba Bug Dangerous But No WannaCry

5/25/2017
The administrators of the open-source Samba software have fixed a newly discovered vulnerability that lets attackers upload malicious files to vulnerable systems and servers.
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Split Tunnel SMTP Exploit Bypasses Email Security Gateways

5/25/2017
Attackers can inject malicious payloads directly to email server via email encryption appliances, Securolytics says.
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Data Breach, Vulnerability Data on Track to Set New Records in 2017

5/23/2017
There are so far 1,254 publicly reported data breaches and 4,837 published vulnerabilities in the first quarter of this year.
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APT3 Threat Group a Contractor for Chinese Intelligence Agency

5/18/2017
Recorded Future says its research shows clear link between cyber threat group and China's Ministry of State Security.
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NSA Tools Behind WannaCry Being Used In Even Bigger Attack Campaign

5/18/2017
Attackers have been using NSAs EternalBlue and Double Pulsar to distribute AdylKuzz cryptocurrency malware to hundreds of thousands of systems, Proofpoint says.
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ShadowBrokers To Launch Monthly Subscription Service for Exploits

5/16/2017
Think of it like a wine of the month club for attack tools and new exploits threat group says.
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APT28, Turla Nation-State Groups Deployed Multiple 0Days in Recent Attacks

5/11/2017
Attack campaigns by APT28, Turla, and an unidentified group showcase easy availability of zero-days.
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The Long Tail of the Intel AMT Flaw

5/10/2017
Organizations impacted by easily exploitable privilege escalation vulnerability may need time to apply firmware patches, analysts say.
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And Now a Ransomware Tool That Charges Based On Where You Live

5/6/2017
Malware is designed to charge more for victims in countries with a higher cost of living, Recorded Future says.
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Blackmoon Banking Trojan Goes Modular

5/5/2017
Threat actors have begun using a new and unique framework to deliver malware to web users in South Korea, Fidelis says.
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Netflix Incident a Sign of Increase in Cyber Extortion Campaigns

5/3/2017
Attackers using threats of data exposure and DDoS disruptions to try and extort ransoms from organizations.
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DDoS Attacks Surge, Organizations Struggle to Respond

5/2/2017
Organizations often discover a DDoS attack only after being alerted to the fact by a third-party or customer, Neustar survey shows.
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Verizon DBIR Shows Attack Patterns Vary Widely By Industry

4/27/2017
It’s not always the newest or the most sophisticated threat you need to worry about, Verizon’s breach and security incident data for 2016 shows.
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Exploits Targeting Corporate Users Surged Nearly 30% In 2016

4/21/2017
At same time, number of attacks targeting software vulnerabilities in systems used by consumers declined over 20%, Kaspersky Lab says in new report.
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APT Attack Activity Occurs at 'Low, Consistent Hum,' Rapid7 Finds

4/20/2017
Organizations in industries aligned to nation-state interests are main targets of nation-state attack threats, new quarterly threat report shows.
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CISOs, Board Members Have Widely Divergent Views on Cybersecurity

4/18/2017
Boards often want a lot more business-relevant reporting than CISOs provide, Focal Point Data Risk study shows.
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Ransomware, Mac Malware Dominate Q1 Threat Landscape

4/14/2017
Cerber, somewhat unexpectedly, emerged as the biggest ransomware threat, Malwarebytes found.
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95% of Organizations Have Employees Seeking to Bypass Security Controls

4/13/2017
Use of TOR, private VPNs on the rise in enterprises, Dtex report shows.
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New Breed of DDoS Attack On the Rise

4/13/2017
Akamai Networks since October has detected and mitigated at least 50 DDoS attacks using Connectionless LDAP.
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China-Based Threat Actor APT10 Ramps Up Cyber Espionage Activity

4/6/2017
Customers of managed security service providers, website of US trade lobby group targeted in separate campaigns
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Pegasus For Android Spyware Just As Lethal As iOS Version

4/6/2017
Researchers from Lookout, Google describe it as highly sophisticated tool for targeted surveillance purposes.
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FCC Privacy Rule Repeal Will Have Widespread Security Implications

4/4/2017
Concerns over the action are sending VPN sales soaring, some vendors say.
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'Sundown' Rises as New Threat in Depleted Exploit Kit Landscape

3/31/2017
New exploits and obfuscation tactics have made once second-tier EK a potent threat, researchers from Cisco Talos say.
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Insider Threat Fear Greater Than Ever, Survey Shows

3/29/2017
More than half of security pros say insider threat incidents have become more frequent in the past 12 months.
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Cerber Ransomware Now Evades Machine Learning

3/29/2017
New variant has been broken into separate harmless-looking components to fool ML-based detection systems, Trend Micro says.
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Apple: Mac, iPhone Bugs That CIA Allegedly Exploited Were Fixed Years Ago

3/24/2017
New WikiLeaks data dump describes "Sonic Screwdriver," other CIA exploits for Mac desktops and iPhones
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Sandia Testing New Intrusion Detection Tool That Mimics Human Brain

3/24/2017
Neuromorphic Data Microscope can spot malicious patterns in network traffic 100 times faster than current tool, lab claims.
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Windows 'DoubleAgent' Attack Turns AV Tools into Malware

3/22/2017
Zero-day attack exploits a legitimate process in Windows, according to Cybellum; AV vendors downplay threat.
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New Metasploit Extension Available for Testing IoT Device Security

3/21/2017
RFTransceiver extension for the Metasploit Hardware Bridge API will let organizations detect and scan wireless devices operating outside 802.11 spec.
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Bug Bounty Programs are Growing Up Fast and Paying More

3/20/2017
As more organizations crowdsource the vulnerability-hunting of their software, the process itself has become more formal, as well as more lucrative for researchers.
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New MagikPOS Malware Targets Point-of-Sale Systems In US & Canada

3/17/2017
Malware uses a remote access Trojan to sniff out potential victims first, Trend Micro says.
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What Businesses Can Learn From the CIA Data Breach

3/16/2017
Just because threats like malicious insiders, zero-days, and IoT vulnerabilities are well-understood doesn’t mean organizations have a handle on them.
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Stockpiling 0-Day Bugs Not So Dangerous After All, RAND Study Shows

3/10/2017
A RAND Corp. study of more than 200 zero-days shows that benefits of disclosure can often be more modest than perceived.
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Attacks Under Way Against Easily Exploitable Apache Struts Flaw

3/9/2017
Enterprises urged to upgrade now to more secure versions of Web application framework.
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Researchers Find Multiple Critical Flaws In Confide Secure Messaging App

3/8/2017
All flaws have been fixed, says maker of app purportedly used for secret communications by political operatives in DC.
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'Entire Hacking Capacity Of CIA' Dumped On Wikileaks, Site Claims

3/7/2017
Leaked data tranche of 8,700 documents purportedly includes tools that turn smart TVs into covert surveillance devices.
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Attackers Employ Sneaky New Method to Control Trojans

3/3/2017
A new malware sample shows threat actors have begun using DNS TXT record and queries for C2 communications, Cisco Talos says,
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Cloudflare Breach Had Potential To Be Much Worse

3/2/2017
An initial analysis shows no personal data was leaked and most customers not impacted, Cloudflare's CEO says.
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New Version Of Dridex Banking Trojan Uses ‘AtomBombing’ To Infect Systems

3/1/2017
It’s the first malware to use a newly disclosed code-injection method to break into to Windows systems
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Massive Necurs Spam Botnet Now Equipped to Launch DDoS Attacks

2/28/2017
With more than one million active bots at any time, a Necurs-enabled DDoS attack could dwarf such an attack by the Mirai botnet.
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Cloudflare Leaked Web Customer Data For Months

2/24/2017
Potential scope of issue evokes comparisons to Heartbleed.
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Survey: Most Attackers Need Less Than 12 Hours To Break In

2/23/2017
A Nuix study of DEFCON pen testers shows that the usual security controls are of little use against a determined intruder
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Exploit Kit-Based Attacks Decline Dramatically

2/23/2017
But it's too soon to call this downward trend a permanent shift, experts say.
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At Least 70 Organizations Targeted In Sophisticated Cyber Surveillance Operation

2/17/2017
Most of the targets are in Ukraine, though a few have been spotted in Russia and elsewhere, CyberX says
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Ransomware Growth Fueled By Russian-Speaking Cybercriminals

2/16/2017
Individuals and groups from Russian-speaking countries responsible for a lot of ransomware activity, Kaspersky Lab says.
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Russian-Speaking Rasputin Breaches Dozens Of Organizations

2/15/2017
Attacker behind Election Assistance Commission hack now using SQL injection as his weapon of choice against universities and government agencies.
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CrowdStrike Fails In Bid To Stop NSS Labs From Publishing Test Results At RSA

2/14/2017
NSS results are based on incomplete and materially incorrect data, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says.
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Alleged Russian Hacker With Ties To ‘Notorious Cybercriminals’ Arrested In LA

2/10/2017
Alexander Tverdokhlebov is being held on charges of conspiring with another hacker to steal money from online bank accounts.
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Threat Hunting Becoming Top Of Mind Issue For SOCs

2/9/2017
Nearly 80% of the respondents in a LinkedIn poll said that threat hunting already is, or should be a top-level initiative.
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Organizations In 40 Countries Under ‘Invisible’ Cyberattacks

2/8/2017
Unknown threat actors are stealing sensitive financial data using memory resident malware crafted from legitimate tools, Kaspersky Lab warns.
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Cloud Storage The New Favorite Target Of Phishing Attacks

2/7/2017
2016 data shows that phishing scams involving brands like Google and DropBox will soon overtake scams involving financial companies, PhishLabs says.
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Windows SMB Zero-Day Exploit On The Loose

2/3/2017
Vulnerability allows remote attackers to trigger denial-of-service conditions on several Windows client versions.
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Metasploit Can Now Be Directly Linked To Hardware For Vulnerability Testing

2/2/2017
New hardware bridge extends penetration testing tools capabilities into physical world.
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Netgear Addresses Password Bypass Vulns In 31 Router Models

2/1/2017
Company has made patches, workarounds available to mitigate password bypass threat that potentially impacted 1 million devices, Trustwave says.
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Google Paid $3 Million To Bug Hunters In 2016

1/31/2017
Search engine giant an example of the growing number of organizations benefiting from bug bounty programs.
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Are Security Concerns Over Trump’s Android, Twitter Use Overblown?

1/27/2017
Security experts say it’s hard to know for sure without further details.
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Most Companies Still Willing To Pay Ransom To Recover Data, Survey Shows

1/26/2017
St. Louis Public Library system becomes latest example of growing number refusing to do so
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Google Removes Ransomware-Laden App From Play Store

1/25/2017
Incident is believed to be first time threat actors have snuck ransomware into Google’s official mobile app store.
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Meet Ripper.cc, A Reputation Service For Cybercriminals

1/24/2017
Ripper.cc offers a service to help protect the genuine cybercriminals from the scammers in their midst.
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Corporate Legal Counsels Fret Over Cybersecurity

1/20/2017
BDO Consulting survey shows in-house legal executives cite data breaches, cross-border data transfers, as risks with e-discovery.
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Number Of Data Breach Disclosures Jumped 40% in 2016

1/19/2017
Though there were no mega breaches, 2016 had more breaches on record than any previous year, according to a new report.
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Mobile Security Gap Threatens Enterprises

1/18/2017
Rush to release, rapid growth in mobile malware is exacerbating the problem, two reports show.
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Dangerous New Gmail Phishing Attack Gaining Steam

1/17/2017
None of the usual browser indicators of fraudulent websites are present in this method of phishing.
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WhatsApp Denies It Has Backdoor For Decrypting Messages

1/13/2017
‘Backdoor’ is really a feature for ensuring messages are not lost in certain situations, company claims.
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Shadow Brokers Calls It Quits After Failing To Get Buyers For NSA Exploits

1/12/2017
But group says it is still willing to dump its collection of Linux and Windows tools if it gets 10,000 bitcoins.
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Shadow Brokers Offers Database Of Windows Exploits For Sale

1/10/2017
Notorious hacking crew claims tools are from NSA-affiliated Equation Group, and include plugin for tampering with event logs.
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Cyber Deterrence Should Be Key Focus For Trump Administration, Task Force Says

1/6/2017
Time for US to strengthen consequences for cyberattacks, CSIS says in recommendations to incoming administration.
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‘Ghost Hosts’ Bypass URL Filtering

1/5/2017
Malware authors have found a way to evade URL-blocking systems by swapping bad domain names with unknown ones.
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FTC Launches Contest For Technology Tool To Protect Home IoT Devices

1/4/2017
IoT Home Inspector Challenge will award $25,000 for best proposal
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Newly Discovered Android Trojan Hijacks Routers

1/3/2017
Switcher takes advantage of Android users to infect WiFi routers in 'dangerous new trend.'
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Threat Actors Bring Ransomware To Industrial Sector With New Version of KillDisk

12/29/2016
Disk-erasing malware has been tweaked to encrypt data instead and to ask for a Bitcoin payment.
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'Alice' Malware Loots ATMs

12/21/2016
Trend Micro has an alert about a new bare-bones ATM malware family it recently uncovered.
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Panasonic Inflight Entertainment System Vulnerable To Attack

12/20/2016
Flaws could theoretically allow access to aircraft control systems, IOActive says in disputed report.
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Spammers Work Up A Hailstorm

12/19/2016
In their constant effort to evade anti-spam filters, spammers have devised a new way to deliver junk mail to your inbox.
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5 Ways The Cyber-Threat Landscape Shifted In 2016

12/19/2016
IoT botnets and turnkey phishing services were just some of the ways the bad guys stayed ahead in 2016
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Obama: US Will Retaliate Against Russian Cyberattacks In Proportional Manner

12/16/2016
US action will include both covert and explicit response, President says. Meanwhile, a Russian-speaking hacker was discovered behind a data breach of the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
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1 Billion Users Exposed In Another Record Breach From Yahoo

12/15/2016
Security experts slam Yahoo for the newly disclosed August 2013 intrusion, and fresh questions arise about Verizon's plans to acquire the company.
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Survey: Majority Of Businesses Would Pay Ransomware Attackers

12/14/2016
Nearly 70% of ransomware victims surveyed by IBM said they paid between $10K and $40K to retrieve their data.
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Microsoft Patches Dangerous Backdoor In Skype For Mac OS X

12/13/2016
Vulnerability would have let attackers record calls, intercept and read messages, and siphon out all kinds of data, Trustwave says.
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Obama Orders Inquiry Into Cyberattacks On Democratic Party Websites

12/9/2016
President wants U.S. intelligence to provide report before he leaves office Jan. 20.
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Data Theft At ThyssenKrupp Highlights Industrial Espionage Threat

12/8/2016
German conglomerate confirms it was a victim of a cyberattack in which intellectual property belonging to some of its businesses was stolen.
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Researchers Find Backdoors, Bugs In Sony, White Box IP Cameras

12/7/2016
New vulnerabilities discovered by SEC Consult and Cybereason highight increasing IoT threat to enterprises.
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Most iOS Apps In Enterprises Not Using Apple Encryption Feature

12/7/2016
Despite a January 1, 2017 deadline, not many app vendors have switched on the Apple App Transport Security, according to a study by Appthority.
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'Frighteningly Easy' Hack Guesses Full Credit Card Details In 6 Seconds

12/2/2016
Attack works only on Visa network, Newcastle University researchers say.
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Organizations In Saudi Arabia Reportedly Hit In Destructive New Shamoon Attacks

12/1/2016
Thousands of computers at country’s main civil aviation authority and other entities rendered unusable by same malware that destroyed 30,000 computers at Aramco in 2012.
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In Break From Usual, Threat Actors Use RAT To Steal POS Data

11/30/2016
New NetWire RAT version comes with keylogger for stealing a lot more than just credit and debit card data.
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Deutsche Telekom Attacks Suggest Mirai Threat Poised To Become Much Larger

11/29/2016
With attack, Mirai has added an exploit targeting Web service vulnerability.
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