The average daily ransom amounts paid from April to June, of which 99 percent were paid in bitcoin. (Source: Coveware)

Ransomware: As GandCrab Retires, Sodinokibi Rises

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 17, 2019

With the GandCrab ransomware-as-service gang promising to retire - and free decryptors now aiding victims - rival Sodinokibi has already stepped into the void, security experts warn. Driven also by attackers wielding Ryuk, Dharma and Phobos, ransom payments by victims have been surging.

Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Insider Medicaid Fraud Case: 'An Important Reminder'

Managing Third-Party Risks: CISOs' Success Strategies

Latest

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Senators Scrutinize Facebook's Cryptocurrency Plans

Scott Ferguson • July 16, 2019

At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers grilled a Facebook executive about the company's plans to launch a cryptocurrency. One Democratic senator said Facebook "does not respect the power of the technologies they are playing with - like a toddler who has gotten his hands on a book of matches."

Application Security

Security Flaw Exposed Valid Airline Boarding Passes

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 16, 2019

A vulnerability in global airline check-in software used by 500 airlines could have been exploited to download other individuals' valid boarding passes, potentially giving them access to restricted airport spaces, warns security expert David Stubley. The flaw in Amadeus travel software has now been fixed.

Application Security

How a Big Rock Revealed a Tesla XSS Vulnerability

Jeremy Kirk • July 16, 2019

Software vulnerabilities sometimes have an uncanny knack of revealing themselves, even when a bug hunter is looking someplace else. Sam Curry's probing eventually revealed a cross-site scripting flaw in a Tesla service, which netted him a $10,000 bounty.

Endpoint Security

Broadcom Reportedly Suspends Bid for Symantec

Scott Ferguson • July 15, 2019

Broadcom has reportedly suspended its effort to acquire Symantec after the two companies failed to agree on a price for the deal. The negotiations had been ongoing for several weeks.

Cybercrime

'Sea Turtle' DNS Hijackers Expand Reach

Jeffrey Burt • July 15, 2019

The group behind the Sea Turtle espionage campaign that was exposed in April is expanding its geographic reach and claiming new victims, according to researchers with Cisco's Talos unit.

Account Takeover

Payment Fraud: Criminals Enroll Stolen Cards on Apple Pay

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 15, 2019

Fraudsters continue to get new tricks up their sleeves. Criminals are increasingly using Apple Pay, setting up mobile call centers to socially engineer victims as well as tricking consumers via fake e-commerce sites that never fulfill orders, fraud-fighting experts warn.

Security Operations

The Future SOC: Harmonizing Detection and Response

Jeremy Kirk • July 12, 2019

The success of security operations centers will depend on how well they blend key technologies - including detection, user behavior analytics and orchestration, says Haiyan Song of Splunk, who offers strategic insights.

Active Defense & Deception

Analysis: The Significance of GDPR Fines

Nick Holland • July 12, 2019

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report analyzes the significance of fines against British Airways and Marriott for violations of the EU's GDPR. Also featured are discussions of California's privacy law as a model for other states and the next generation of deception technologies.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Leak Confirms Google Speakers Often Record Without Warning

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 12, 2019

George Orwell's "1984" posited a world in which Big Brother monitored us constantly via "telescreens." But thanks to our "smart" AI home assistants - from Google, Amazon and others - we're increasingly installing the monitoring equipment ourselves, and it may "hear" much more than we realize.

Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Report: Ransomware Targets QNAP Storage Devices

Akshaya Asokan • July 11, 2019

A new ransomware strain called eCh0raix is targeting enterprise storage devices sold by QNAP Network by exploiting vulnerabilities in the gear and bypassing weak credentials using brute-force techniques, warns security firm Anomali.

Cybercrime

RiskIQ: Magecart Group Targeting Unsecured AWS S3 Buckets

Scott Ferguson • July 11, 2019

A cybercriminal gang associated with the umbrella organization known as Magecart has been inserting malicious JavaScript into unsecured Amazon Web Service S3 buckets to skim payment card data, according to research published by RiskIQ. So far, 17,000 infected domains have been identified.

Endpoint Security

Apple Issues Silent Update to Remove Old Zoom Software

Jeremy Kirk • July 11, 2019

Apple has taken an extraordinary move to protect its users from a yet-to-be-disclosed vulnerability that could compromise Macs that have the Zoom video conferencing software installed. It released a silent update to remove a vulnerable left-behind local web server, which likely has a remote code execution flaw.