Profile of Jai Vijayan

Freelance writer News & Commentary Posts: 415

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.

Breach at Deloitte Exposes Emails, Client Data

9/25/2017
Intrusion may have resulted from company's failure to properly secure a key administrator account.
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PassGAN: Password Cracking Using Machine Learning

9/25/2017
Researchers demo how deep neural networks can be trained to generate passwords better than the best password-cracking tools.
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SEC Says Intruders May Have Accessed Insider Data for Illegal Trading

9/21/2017
2016 breach of the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database dents its reputation as a federal cybersecurity enforcer.
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Iranian Cyberspy Group Targets Aerospace, Energy Firms

9/20/2017
APT33 focused on gathering information to bolster Iran's aviation industry and military decision-making capability, FireEye says.
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10 Hot Cybersecurity Funding Rounds in Q3

9/20/2017
The first two quarters of 2017 have been the most active ever in five years from a cybersecurity investment standpoint. Here's how the third quarter has shaped up.
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Equifax Exec Departures Raise Questions About Responsibility for Breach

9/18/2017
Disclosed details suggest a failure by the technology team but senior executives and the board are not above responsibility as well, experts say.
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FTC Opens Probe into Equifax Data Breach

9/14/2017
Apache Struts flaw was known to be critical and should have been addressed, security researchers say.
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'Bashware' Undermines Windows 10 Security Via Linux Subsystem

9/13/2017
New WSL feature in Windows 10 gives attackers a way to run malware without being detected by any current endpoint security tools, Check Point says.
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Billions Of Bluetooth Devices Vulnerable To Code Execution, MITM Attacks

9/12/2017
IoT security vendor Armis this week disclosed a total of 8 zero-day bugs in Bluetooth implementations in Android, Windows, Linux, and IOS.
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Equifax Gets Slammed, Removes Forced Arbitration Clause from Credit Monitoring Offer

9/11/2017
Company's initial requirement that breach victims sign away their legal rights to get complimentary offer was one of several mistakes.
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7 Takeaways From The Equifax Data Breach

9/11/2017
The exposure of PII belonging to 143 million US consumers raises questions about the continued use of SSNs as identifiers, breach liability and app sec spending.
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Equifax Data Breach Prompts Calls For Tougher Security Requirements On Data Aggregators

9/8/2017
Credit report bureau discloses breach that exposed data on 143 million US consumers.
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Inaudible Voice Commands Can Control Siri, Alexa Other Digital Assistants

9/7/2017
Voice-capture system properties enable attackers to silently control them, say researchers at China's Zhejiang University.
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'Dragonfly' APT Now Able to Disrupt US Power Grid Operations, Symantec Warns

9/6/2017
Recent attacks on energy sector targets suggest Dragonfly group has access to computers that control operational systems.
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Data Breach Costs Vary Significantly by Organization

9/5/2017
Don't use publicly reported breach costs at other organizations as an estimate for what you might end up paying for a breach, Forrester says.
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Russian-Speaking Turla Group Uses New Tools to Target Embassies, Consulates

8/30/2017
Turla cyber espionage gang has been around for a long time and appears to be back in action after a temporary lull.
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7 Things to Know About Today's DDoS Attacks

8/30/2017
DDoS attacks are no longer something that just big companies in a few industries need to worry about. They have become a threat to every business.
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Massive Android DDoS Botnet Derailed

8/28/2017
WireX was being used to launch DDoS attacks against targets in multiple industries; Google removes 300 botnet-related apps from Play Store.
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Chinese National with Possible Links to OPM Breach Arrested

8/25/2017
Charging documents reveal sophistication — and a surprising degree of sloppiness.
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China, US Top List Of Countries With Most Malicious IPs

8/24/2017
Brazil has 20% more risky IPs than Russia, Recorded Future's analysis shows.
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ROPEMAKER Attack Turns Benign Emails Hostile Post-Delivery

8/22/2017
The intersection of email and Web technologies has given attackers a way to mess with your email after it has been delivered to your inbox, Mimecast says.
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Cybersecurity Firm root9B's Assets Up for Sale

8/21/2017
Move to foreclose comes after company defaulted on repayment terms for over $10.7 millions in loans it owes creditors.
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Russian-Speaking APT Engaged in G20 Themed Attack

8/18/2017
A newly discovered dropper for the KopiLuwak backdoor suggests that the Turla group is back at it again, Proofpoint says.
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'Pulse Wave' DDoS Attacks Emerge As New Threat

8/17/2017
DDoS botnets are launching short but successive bursts of attack traffic to pin down multiple targets, Imperva says.
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9 of the Biggest Bug Bounty Programs

8/11/2017
These programs stand out for the size of their rewards and how much they have paid in total to security researchers in bounties over the last several years.
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Carbon Black Refutes Claims of Flaw in its EDR Product

8/9/2017
Endpoint security firm responds to DirectDefense's report, noting that the information was shared voluntarily via a feature in the product that comes disabled by default.
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Konni Malware Campaign Targets North Korean Organizations

8/8/2017
For at least three years, an unknown threat actor has used the RAT to steal data and profile organizations in North Korea.
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WannaCry Hero Garners Security Industry Support Following Arrest

8/7/2017
US law enforcement arrested British security researcher Marcus Hutchins for allegedly developing and selling the Kronos banking Trojan.
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Steganography Use on the Rise Among Cyber Espionage, Cybercrime Groups

8/4/2017
At least three cyber espionage campaigns and several malware samples in recent months have employed ancient technique, Kaspersky Lab says.
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Symantec Sells Digital Certificate Business to DigiCert

8/3/2017
$950 million deal comes in the wake of Google sanctions on Symantec certs earlier this year.
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Proposed IoT Security Bill Well-Intentioned But Likely Hard To Enforce

8/2/2017
Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017 proposes minimum set of security controls for IoT products sold to government.
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Ransomware Attack on Merck Caused Widespread Disruption to Operations

7/31/2017
Pharmaceutical giant's global manufacturing, research and sales operations have still not be full restored since the June attacks.
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Wannacry Inspires Worm-like Module in Trickbot

7/28/2017
The malware is being primarily distributed via email spam in the form of spoofed invoices from an international financial services com, says Flashpoint.
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Adobe's Move to Kill Flash Is Good for Security

7/26/2017
In recent years, Flash became one of the buggiest widely used apps out there.
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Iranian Cyber Espionage Group CopyKittens Successful, But Not Skilled

7/25/2017
Despite being only moderately skilled, CopyKittens has exfiltrated large volumes of data since at least 2013.
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Voter Registration Data from 9 States Available for Sale on Dark Web

7/24/2017
Nearly 10 million voter records sold for just $4 over last few days, according to LookingGlass Cyber Solutions.
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Russian National Receives 5 Years In Jail For Role In 'Citadel' Attacks

7/20/2017
Mark Vartanyan is the second individual to be sent to prison in connection with Citadel.
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8 Things Every Security Pro Should Know About GDPR

6/30/2017
Organizations that handle personal data on EU citizens will soon need to comply with new privacy rules. Are you ready?
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Kaspersky Lab Faces More U.S. Scrutiny Over Potential Russian Govt. Influence

6/29/2017
Lawmaker proposes ban on DoD use of Moscow-based security vendor's products.
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Petya Or Not? Global Ransomware Outbreak Hits Europe's Industrial Sector, Thousands More

6/27/2017
With echoes of WannaCry, infections spread fast. Some security researchers describe malware as variant of Petya; others say it's a brand new sample.
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'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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