Profile of Jai Vijayan

Freelance writer News & Commentary Posts: 519

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.

Threat Actors Turn to Blockchain Infrastructure to Host & Hide Malicious Activity

4/23/2018
.bit domains are increasingly being used to hide payloads, stolen data, and command and control servers, FireEye says.
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Majority of Men Think Women Have Equal Opportunity to Advance in Cybersecurity Career

4/17/2018
Not so fast, say women.
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Cisco, ISARA to Test Hybrid Classic, Quantum-Safe Digital Certificates

4/13/2018
Goal is to make it easier for organizations to handle the migration to quantum computing when it becomes available.
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Attackers Exploit Cisco Switch Issue as Vendor Warns of Yet Another Critical Flaw

4/9/2018
Cisco says companies fixing previously known protocol issue should also patch against critical remote-code execution issue.
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Sears & Delta Airlines Are Latest Victims of Third-Party Security Breach

4/5/2018
An insecure ecosystem of third parties connected to an enterprise network poses a growing risk, security analysts say.
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Four Gas Pipeline Firms Hit in Attack on Their EDI Service Provider

4/5/2018
Attack a warning on vulnerabilities in energy networks, security analysts say.
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Criminals Targeting Magento Sites with Brute-Force Password Attacks

4/3/2018
Flashpoint says it is aware of at least 1,000 sites using Magento's e-commerce platform that have been recently compromised.
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Microsoft Rushes Out Fix for Major Hole Caused by Previous Meltdown Patch

3/30/2018
Issue affects Windows 7 x64 and Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 systems.
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University Networks Become Fertile Ground for Cryptomining

3/29/2018
Sixty percent of cryptomining detections in a Vectra study occurred on higher-education networks.
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Attackers Shift From Adobe Flaws to Microsoft Products

3/27/2018
Seven of the Top 10 most commonly exploited vulnerabilities in 2017 were Microsoft-related - not Adobe Flash as in years past, Recorded Future found.
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Leader of Cybercrime APT Behind $1.2 Billion in Bank Heists Arrested

3/26/2018
The Carbanak group has caused more financial losses to financial institutions than any other cybercrime group since it surfaced in 2013.
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AMD Will Release Fixes for New Processor Flaws in a Few Weeks

3/23/2018
Security firm that disclosed flaws accuses chipmaker of downplaying flaws; says timeline is overly optimistic.
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Criminals Using Web Injects to Steal Cryptocurrency

3/22/2018
Man-in-the-browser attacks targeting Blockchain.info and Coinbase websites, SecurityScorecard says.
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7 Ways to Protect Against Cryptomining Attacks

3/22/2018
Implementing basic security hygiene can go a long way in ensuring your systems and website don't get hijacked.
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Gartner Expects 2018 IoT Security Spending to Reach $1.5 Billion

3/21/2018
Regulations, breach concerns will push spending to over $3 billion by 2021, analyst firm says.
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New Method Proposed for Secure Government Access to Encrypted Data

3/19/2018
'Crumple Zones' in crypto mechanisms can make it possible — but astronomically expensive — to access encrypted data, say researchers from Boston University and Portland State University.
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Are DDoS Attacks Increasing or Decreasing? Depends on Whom You Ask

3/15/2018
Details on DDoS trends can vary, depending on the reporting source.
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New Hosted Service Lowers Barriers to Malware Distribution

3/14/2018
BlackTDS is a traffic distribution service for directing users to malware and exploit kits based on specific parameters.
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Malware Leveraging PowerShell Grew 432% in 2017

3/12/2018
Cryptocurrency mining and ransomware were other major threats.
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China's Vulnerability Database Altered to Hide Govt. Influence

3/9/2018
Recorded Future says move designed to hide fact that CNNVD routinely delays publication of high-risk flaws so government can assess them for offensive use.
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North Korea Threat Group Targeting Turkish Financial Orgs

3/8/2018
Hidden Cobra appears to be collecting information for a later strike, McAfee says.
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Intel SGX Can Be Used to Hide, Execute Malware

3/7/2018
The microprocessor giant's Software Guard Extensions security feature can be abused to implement virtually undetectable malware, Graz University researchers say.
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Design Weakness in Microsoft CFG Allows Complete Bypass

3/6/2018
Researchers from Italy's University of Padua will demo a new technique to evade Control Flow Guard, the widely deployed security mechanism, at Black Hat Asia.
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Insider Threat Seriously Undermining Healthcare Cybersecurity

3/5/2018
Two separate reports suggest insiders — of the malicious and careless variety — pose more of a problem in healthcare than any other sector.
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Number of Sites Hosting Cryptocurrency Miners Surges 725% in 4 Months

3/1/2018
The dramatic increase in cryptocurrency prices, especially for Monero, is behind the sudden explosive growth, says Cyren.
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New Android Malware Family Highlights Evolving Mobile Threat Capabilities

2/28/2018
RedDrop can steal data, record audio, and rack up SMS charges for victims, says Wandera.
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Memcached Servers Being Exploited in Huge DDoS Attacks

2/27/2018
Multiple vendors this week say they have seen a recent spike in UDP attacks coming in via port 11211.
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Threats from Mobile Ransomware & Banking Malware Are Growing

2/26/2018
The number of unique mobile malware samples increased sharply in 2017 compared to a year ago, according to Trend Micro.
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'OMG': New Mirai Variant Converts IoT Devices into Proxy Servers

2/23/2018
The new malware also can turn bots into DDoS attack machines, says Fortinet.
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Criminals Obtain Code-Signing Certificates Using Stolen Corporate IDs

2/22/2018
The certificates are available on demand at prices ranging from $299 to $1,599, says Recorded Future.
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Global Cybercrime Costs Top $600 Billion

2/21/2018
More than 50% of attacks result in damages of over $500K, two reports show.
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7 Cryptominers & Cryptomining Botnets You Can't Ignore

2/21/2018
Cryptominers have emerged as a major threat to organizations worldwide. Here are seven you cannot afford to ignore.
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Cybercrime Gang Ramps up Ransomware Campaign

2/15/2018
In the last few weeks, Gold Lowell group has collected over $350K after infecting victims with SamSam crypto malware, researchers at Secureworks found.
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Attackers Use Infected Plug-In to Install Cryptomining Tool on Over 4200 Websites

2/12/2018
Victims include UK's ICO, and National Health Service and USCourts.gov.
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New POS Malware Steals Data via DNS Traffic

2/8/2018
UDPoS is disguised to appear like a LogMeIn service pack, Forcepoint says.
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US, International Law Enforcement Shut Down Massive Cybercrime Marketplace

2/7/2018
The Infraud Organization was responsible for over $500 million in losses to institutions and individuals worldwide, the US Department of Justice says.
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Uber's Response to 2016 Data Breach Was 'Legally Reprehensible,' Lawmaker Says

2/6/2018
In Senate hearing, Uber CISO admits company messed up in not quickly disclosing breach that exposed data on 57 million people.
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Abusing X.509 Digital Certificates for Covert Data Exchange

2/5/2018
Newly discovered hack would allow attackers to send data between two systems during TLS negotiation, researchers say.
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7 Ways to Maximize Your Security Dollars

2/5/2018
Budget and resource constraints can make it hard for you to meet security requirements, but there are ways you can stretch your budget.
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Crypto-Mining Attacks Emerge as the New Big Threat to Enterprises

2/1/2018
Attackers looking to hijack systems for illegally mining digital currencies have begun eyeing business systems, security vendors say.
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Phishing Campaign Underscores Threat from Low Budget, Low Skilled Attackers

1/30/2018
For just over $1,000, a phishing operation successfully spied on members of the Tibetan community for 19 months, Toronto University's Citizen Lab found.
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Thieves Target ATMs In First US 'Jackpotting' Attacks

1/29/2018
Attackers have been getting ATMs to illegally dispense cash by tampering with their internal electronics, US Secret Service warns.
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Dutch Intel Agency Reportedly Helped US Attribute DNC Hack to Russia

1/26/2018
The General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands broke into Cozy Bear's network in 2014 and spotted the group launching attacks, de Volkskrant says.
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This Year's Pwn2Own Hackfest Will Offer Up to $2 Million in Rewards

1/25/2018
Microsoft is a partner at annual contest for the first time.
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Ransomware Actors Cut Loose on Health Care Organizations

1/24/2018
An attack on Allscripts last week that knocked out EHR services to 1,500 clients is the third reported incident just this month.
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Dark Caracal Campaign Breaks New Ground with Focus on Mobile Devices

1/23/2018
This is the first known global-scale campaign primarily focused on stealing data from Android devices, Lookout and EFF say.
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Satori Botnet Malware Now Can Infect Even More IoT Devices

1/22/2018
Latest version targets systems running ARC processors.
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Kaspersky Lab Seeks Injunction Against US Government Ban

1/19/2018
Revenues and reputation have taken a hit in the wake of the US Department of Homeland Security's decision to prohibit use of its products and services by the feds, the company says.
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Rogue Chrome, Firefox Extensions Hijack Browsers; Prevent Easy Removal

1/18/2018
Malwarebytes describes malicious extensions as 'one of a kind'
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Threats from Russia, North Korea Loom as Geopolitics Spills into Cyber Realm

1/17/2018
Threat actors from both nations ramped up their activities sharply in 2017, Flashpoint says in a new threat intelligence report.
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Kaspersky Lab Warns of Extremely Sophisticated Android Spyware Tool

1/16/2018
Skygofree appears to have been developed for lawful intercept, offensive surveillance purposes.
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Survey Suggests Many Are Still Waiting for Spectre, Meltdown Windows Updates

1/11/2018
Microsoft's insistence on a specific registry key setting for offering the updates on systems appears to be the issue, security vendor Barkly says.
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Cisco Adds Encrypted Traffic Analysis Function

1/10/2018
New Encrypted Traffic Analytics is designed to help enterprises inspect encrypted traffic for malicious activity without having to decrypt it first.
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Turla Cyberespionage Gang Employs Adobe Flash Installer

1/9/2018
In recent data theft campaigns, the APT group has been downloading malware from what appears to be legitimate Adobe URLs and IP addresses, ESET says.
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New Cryptocurrency Mining Malware Has Links to North Korea

1/8/2018
A malware tool for stealthily installing software that mines the Monero virtual currency looks like the handiwork of North Korean threat actors, AlienVault says.
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Vendors Rush to Issue Security Updates for Meltdown, Spectre Flaws

1/4/2018
Apple says all Mac and iOS systems are affected by new side-channel attack vulnerabilities.
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Open Source Components, Code Volume Drag Down Web App Security

1/3/2018
The number of new Web application vulnerabilities published last year was 212% greater than the number disclosed in 2016, Imperva says in a new report this week.
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Hackers Who Disabled Police Cameras Prior to Trump Inauguration Left Trail of Clues

1/2/2018
Romanian police last month arrested Mihai Isvanca, and Eveline Cismaru for allegedly breaking into 123 computers controlling surveillance cameras at DC's police department in 2017.
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Hit the Cyber Underground for the Hottest Travel Deals

12/22/2017
You can get everything from inexpensive flights and hotels to fake passports in the cyber underground, says Trend Micro.
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Russia's Fancy Bear APT Group Gets More Dangerous

12/21/2017
Encryption and code refreshes to group's main attack tool have made it stealthier and harder to stop, ESET says.
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Attack Attribution Tricky Say Some as US Blames North Korea for WannaCry

12/20/2017
There's not enough evidence to conclusively tie the rogue regime to the ransomware attacks, some security experts say.
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Another Cyberattack Spotted Targeting Mideast Critical Infrastructure Organizations

12/19/2017
Operation Copperfield appears focused on data theft and reconnaissance, Nyotron says.
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TRITON Attacker Disrupts ICS Operations, While Botching Attempt to Cause Physical Damage

12/14/2017
TRITON malware is discovered after an attack on a safety monitoring system accidentally triggered the shutdown of an industrial process at an undisclosed organization.
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Former Rutgers Student, Two Others Plead Guilty to Operating Mirai Botnet

12/13/2017
Trio faces up to five years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000
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Security Compliance: The Less You Spend the More You Pay

12/12/2017
The costs of complying with data protection requirements are steep, but the costs of non-compliance are even higher, a new study shows.
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Russian-Speaking 'MoneyTaker' Group Helps Itself to Millions from US Banks

12/11/2017
Banks in Latin America appear to be next big target, Group-IB says.
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Conficker: The Worm That Won't Die

12/7/2017
More than nine years after it infected millions of systems worldwide, the malware continues to be highly active, according to a Trend Micro report.
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NIST Releases New Cybersecurity Framework Draft

12/6/2017
Updated version includes changes to some existing guidelines - and adds some new ones.
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Bitcoin Sites Become Hot Targets for DDoS Attacks

12/5/2017
The Bitcoin industry is now one of the top 10 most-targeted industries for DDoS campaigns. Price manipulation could be one goal, Imperva says.
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NSA Employee Pleads Guilty to Illegally Retaining National Defense Secrets

12/4/2017
Nghia Hoang Pho faces up to eight years in prison for removing highly classified NSA data from workplace and storing it at home.
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Developers Can Do More to Up Their Security Game: Report

11/28/2017
Developers can play a vital role in accelerating the adoption of AppSec practices, security vendor says.
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New OWASP Top 10 List Includes Three New Web Vulns

11/21/2017
But dropping cross-site request forgeries from list is a mistake, some analysts say.
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North Korea's Lazarus Group Evolves Tactics, Goes Mobile

11/20/2017
The group believed to be behind the Sony breach and attacks on the SWIFT network pivots from targeted to mass attacks.
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Crooks Turn to Delivering Ransomware via RDP

11/16/2017
In a new twist to an old attack, threats actors are increasingly using the remote access protocol to install ransomware, Sophos says
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White House Releases New Charter for Using, Disclosing Security Vulnerabilities

11/15/2017
Updated Vulnerability Equities Process provides transparency into how government will handle new vulnerabilities that it discovers in vendor products and services.
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Microsoft Uses Neural Networks to Make Fuzz Tests Smarter

11/15/2017
Neural fuzzing can help uncover bugs in software better than traditional tools, company says.
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Frequent Software Releases, Updates May Injure App Security

11/13/2017
The more frequently you release apps, the more security vulnerabilities you are likely to introduce in the code, a new study confirms.
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Emerging IT Security Technologies: 13 Categories, 26 Vendors

11/13/2017
A rundown of some of the hottest security product areas, and vendors helping to shape them.
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AV Vendors Have Immunity for Malware-Blocking Decisions, Court Says

11/9/2017
Enigma Software Group had sued Malwarebytes for characterizing its anti-malware software as unsafe, but its case was dismissed.
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OceanLotus APT Group Unfolds New Tactic in Cyber Espionage Campaign

11/9/2017
The group has begun using compromised websites to profile and target entities of interest to the Vietnamese government, Volexity says.
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South America the Target of 'Sowbug' Cyber Espionage Group

11/7/2017
Diplomatic and government organizations in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina are being targeted by what Symantec says looks like a nation-state actor.
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It Takes a Buck to Make a Million on the Dark Web

11/6/2017
The cost for malware tools and services can add up, but the returns from cybercrime campaigns can be enormous, says Recorded Future.
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Will New Ownership Open New Opportunities for Digital Cert Vendors?

11/1/2017
Francisco Partners acquires majority stake in Comodo CA; DigiCert completes purchase of Symantec's SSL cert business.
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How Wireless Intruders Can Bypass NAC Controls

11/1/2017
A researcher at this month's SecTor conference will demonstrate the dangers of not employing EAP-TLS wireless security.
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Gaza Cybergang Acquires New Tools, Expands Operations

10/30/2017
Warning from Kaspersky Lab second in recent month involving heightened threat activity in Middle East and North Africa.
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Inmarsat Disputes IOActive Reports of Critical Flaws in Ship SATCOM

10/26/2017
Satellite communications provider says security firm's narrative about vulnerabilities in its AmosConnect 8 shipboard email service is overblown.
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Kaspersky Lab Collected, Then Deleted NSA File from a Home Computer

10/25/2017
Concerns over handling classified US data one of the reasons why Kaspersky Lab CEO ordered file deletion, company says.
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US Critical Infrastructure Target of Russia-Linked Cyberattacks

10/23/2017
Attacks have been under way since May, targeting energy, nuclear, aviation, water, and manufacturing, FBI and DHS say.
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Veracode: 75% Of Apps Have at Least One Vulnerability on Initial Scan

10/20/2017
But developers not the only ones to blame, company says.
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'BoundHook' Technique Enables Attacker Persistence on Windows Systems

10/19/2017
CyberArk shows how attackers can leverage Intel's MPX technology to burrow deeper into a compromised Windows system.
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Oracle Fixes 20 Remotely Exploitable Java SE Vulns

10/18/2017
Quarterly update for October is the smallest of the year: only 252 flaws to fix! Oracle advises to apply patches 'without delay.'
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Factorization Bug Exposes Millions Of Crypto Keys To 'ROCA' Exploit

10/17/2017
Products from Lenovo, HPE, Google, Microsoft, and others impacted by flaw in Infineon chipset.
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Secure Wifi Hijacked by KRACK Vulns in WPA2

10/16/2017
All modern WiFi access points and devices that have implemented the protocol vulnerable to attacks that allow decryption, traffic hijacking other attacks. Second, unrelated crypto vulnerability also found in RSA code library in TPM chips.
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Kaspersky Lab and the AV Security Hole

10/12/2017
It's unclear what happened in the reported theft of NSA data by Russian spies, but an attacker would need little help to steal if he or she had privileged access to an AV vendor's network, security experts say.
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North Korean Threat Actors Probe US Electric Companies

10/11/2017
September spear phishing attack appeared to be more reconnaissance activity than sign of impending attack, FireEye says.
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Cybercrime Meets Culture In Middle East, North African Underground

10/10/2017
Spirit of sharing and free malware a characteristic of crimeware markets in this region, Trend Micro says.
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SiteLock: Website Attacks Surged 186% in Q2

10/9/2017
Websites mostly belonging to small- to midsized firms got hit with more than 60 attacks per day on average, new analysis finds.
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Yahoo, Equifax Serve as Cautionary Tales in Discerning Data Breach Scope

10/4/2017
Both companies this week revealed that their previously disclosed breaches impacted a lot more people than previously thought.
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New Standards Will Shore up Internet Router Security

10/3/2017
The BGP Path Validation draft standards were designed to ensure that Internet traffic flows only along digitally signed, authorized paths.
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FBI Won't Have to Reveal iPhone-Cracking Tool Used in Terror Case

10/2/2017
Revealing vendor's name and pricing details a threat to national security, DC court says.
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