A Summer of Data Breach Discontent

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • August 16, 2019

When we look at many of the biggest healthcare data breaches reported so far this summer, two big culprits pop out: ransomware attacks and vendor mishaps. What other trends will emerge?

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Two More Lab Firms Say They Were AMCA Breach Victims

Latest

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Phishing Scheme Uses Google Drive to Avoid Security: Report

Akshaya Asokan • August 16, 2019

A newly identified phishing campaign used Google Drive to help bypass some email security features as attackers attempted to target a company in the energy industry, security firm Cofense reported this week.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

U.S. CyberDome Poised to Protect 2020 Elections

Tom Field • August 16, 2019

An A-list of cyber experts, including former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, has put its weight behind U.S. CyberDome, a nonpartisan initiative to protect presidential campaigns against foreign influence. Matthew Barrett, a former NIST leader and co-founder of CyberDome, outlines how this group is gearing up.

Account Takeover

The Renaissance of Deception Technology

Nick Holland • August 16, 2019

This edition of the ISMG Security Report discusses the latest improvements in deception technology and how best to apply it. Also featured: a report on the growth of mobile fraud, plus insights on Merck's experience recovering from a NotPetya attack.

Cybercrime

Prosecutors Allege Capital One Suspect Stole From Many Others

Scott Ferguson • August 15, 2019

Paige A. Thompson, who's been arrested on a charge of hacking into Capital One's network and taking the personal and financial data of 106 million individuals, is also suspected of stealing information from over 30 other organizations, according to new court documents.

Active Defense & Deception

Making the Most of an Investment in Deception Technology

Jeremy Kirk • August 15, 2019

Deception technology is attractive in that it offers - in theory - low false positives and critical clues to attackers' methodologies. But the benefits depend on its ability to fool attackers and whether organizations can spare the time to fine-tune it.

Biometrics

Biometric Security Vendor Exposes Fingerprints, Face Data

Jeremy Kirk • August 15, 2019

A South Korean company that makes a biometric access control platform exposed fingerprint, facial recognition data and personal information after leaving an Elasticsearch database open, security researchers say. They found 23GB of data belonging to organizations that use Suprema's BioStar 2 system.

Cybercrime

Cloud Atlas Uses Polymorphic Techniques to Avoid Detection

Jeffrey Burt • August 15, 2019

The group behind the Cloud Atlas cyber espionage campaigns, which were first detected five years ago, is now deploying polymorphic techniques designed to avoid monitoring and detection, according to researchers at Kaspersky Lab.

Governance

Microsoft Issues Patches for BlueKeep-Like Vulnerabilities

Akshaya Asokan • August 14, 2019

Microsoft has released a set of patches for two newly discovered BlueKeep-like vulnerabilities in a number of Windows operating systems. The "wormable" bugs in remote desktop services permit propagation of malware from one compromised device to others, the company reports.

3rd Party Risk Management

Choice Hotels: 700,000 Guest Records Exposed

Jeremy Kirk • August 14, 2019

Choice Hotels says about 700,000 guest records were exposed after one of its vendors copied data from its systems. Fraudsters discovered the unsecured database and tried to hold the hotel chain to ransom, which it ignored.

Application Security

Report: SEC Investigates First American Data Exposure

Jeremy Kirk • August 13, 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the exposure of personal and mortgage-related records from First American Financial Corp., according to security blogger Brian Krebs. First American spent $1.7 million on the incident in its second quarter, but investigations and lawsuits are looming.

Endpoint Security

SQLite Vulnerability Permits iOS Hack: Report

Akshaya Asokan • August 13, 2019

Security researchers at Check Point Software Technologies say they've uncovered an SQLite database vulnerability in Apple iOS devices that can run malicious code capable of stealing passwords and gaining persistent control on affected devices.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Elon Musk Wants to Hack Your Brain

Mathew J. Schwartz • August 13, 2019

The news that serial entrepreneur Elon Musk and scientists have unveiled Neuralink - a neuroscience startup that's been in stealth mode for two years and aims to create a new computer/brain interface - might make you ask: What took him so long? Before signing up, just make sure it's immune to ransomware.