Identity Protection | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Sometimes, it turns out that the answers we struggled so hard to find were sitting right in front of us for so long that we somehow overlooked them. When the Department of Homeland Security, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in coordination with the FBI, issues a cybersecurity warning and prescribes specific action, it's a pretty good idea to at least read the joint advisory. In their advisory AA24-242A, DHS/CISA and the FBI told the entire cybercriminal-stopping world that to stop ransomware attacks, organizations needed to implement phishing-resistant MFA and ditch SMS-based OTP MFA.  The Best Advice I Never Followed  This year, we have experienced an astonishing surge in ransomware payments, with the average payment increasing by a staggering 500%. Per the "State of Ransomware 2024" report from cybersecurity leader Sophos, the average ransom has jumped by 5X reaching $2 million from $400,000 last year. Even more troubling, RISK &...

The interest in passwordless authentication has increased due to the rise of hybrid work environments and widespread digitization. This has led to a greater need for reliable data security and user-friendly interfaces. Without these measures, organizations are at risk of experiencing data breaches, leaks, and significant financial losses.  While traditional password-based systems offer protection, they are susceptible to security threats like phishing and identity theft which drives the consideration of going passwordless. Additionally, users often have difficulty remembering multiple passwords, which further jeopardizes security as they tend to reuse the same one for accessing multiple business systems and devices. However, passwordless methods such as biometrics, smartcards, and multi-factor authentication prioritize both data security and user satisfaction. Nevertheless, not all passwordless authentication systems are the same and exhibit their own challenges.  The need...

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

SaaS applications contain a wealth of sensitive data and are central to business operations. Despite this, far too many organizations rely on half measures and hope their SaaS stack will remain secure. Unfortunately, this approach is lacking and will leave security teams blind to threat prevention and detection, as well as open to regulatory violations, data leaks, and significant breaches. If you understand the importance of SaaS security, and need some help explaining it internally to get your team's buy-in, this article is just for you — and covers:  Why SaaS data needs to be secured Real-world examples of SaaS apps attacks The attack surface of SaaS apps Other types of less suitable solutions including CASB or manual audit ROI of an SSPM What to look for in the right SSPM Download the full SSPM Justification Kit e-book or request the kit in presentation format with your logo! What Is in Your SaaS Data? Nearly all business operations run through SaaS. So does HR, sa...

Attackers are increasingly using new phishing toolkits (open-source, commercial, and criminal) to execute adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks. AitM enables attackers to not just harvest credentials but steal live sessions, allowing them to bypass traditional phishing prevention controls such as MFA, EDR, and email content filtering. In this article, we're going to look at what AitM phishing is, how it works, and what organizations need to be able to detect and block these attacks effectively. What is AitM phishing? AitM phishing is a technique that uses dedicated tooling to act as a proxy between the target and a legitimate login portal for an application.  As it's a proxy to the real application, the page will appear exactly as the user expects, because they are logging into the legitimate site – just taking a detour via the attacker's device. For example, if accessing their webmail, the user will see all their real emails; if accessing their cloud file store then all the...

Learn about critical threats that can impact your organization and the bad actors behind them from Cybersixgill's threat experts. Each story shines a light on underground activities, the threat actors involved, and why you should care, along with what you can do to mitigate risk.  In the current cyber threat landscape, the protection of personal and corporate identities has become vital. Once in the hands of cybercriminals, compromised credentials and accounts provide unauthorized access to corporations' sensitive information and an entry point to launch costly ransomware and other malware attacks. To properly mitigate threats stemming from compromised credentials and accounts, organizations need identity intelligence. Understanding the significance of identity intelligence and the benefits it delivers is foundational to maintaining a secure posture and minimizing risk.  There is a perception that security teams and threat analysts are already overloaded by too much data. ...

Identity theft isn't just about stolen credit cards anymore. Today, cybercriminals are using advanced tactics to infiltrate organizations and cause major damage with compromised credentials. The stakes are high: ransomware attacks, lateral movement, and devastating data breaches. Don't be caught off guard. Join us for a groundbreaking webinar that will change the way you approach cybersecurity. Gain insider knowledge on Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) , the latest technology designed to protect your identity like never before. In this power-packed session, you'll discover: Hidden Vulnerabilities in Your Security: Learn why traditional solutions are falling short and how ITDR fills these critical gaps. Top Features of ITDR Solutions: Get an insider's perspective on what sets the best ITDR solutions apart. ITDR in Action: See real-world scenarios where ITDR has thwarted sophisticated identity-based attacks. Future Trends in Identity Security: Stay a...

Cloud communications provider Twilio has revealed that unidentified threat actors took advantage of an unauthenticated endpoint in Authy to identify data associated with Authy accounts, including users' cell phone numbers. The company said it took steps to secure the endpoint to no longer accept unauthenticated requests. The development comes days after an online persona named ShinyHunters published on BreachForums a database comprising 33 million phone numbers allegedly pulled from Authy accounts. Authy, owned by Twilio since 2015, is a popular two-factor authentication (2FA) app that adds an additional layer of account security. "We have seen no evidence that the threat actors obtained access to Twilio's systems or other sensitive data," it said in a July 1, 2024, security alert. But out of an abundance of caution, it's recommending that users upgrade their Android (version 25.1.0 or later) and iOS (version 26.1.0 or later) apps to the latest version. It...

At the heart of every application are secrets. Credentials that allow human-to-machine and machine-to-machine communication. Machine identities outnumber human identities by a factor of 45-to-1 and represent the majority of secrets we need to worry about. According to CyberArk's recent research , 93% of organizations had two or more identity-related breaches in the past year. It is clear that we need to address this growing issue. Additionally, it is clear that many organizations are OK with using plaintext credentials for these identities in private repos, thinking they will stay private. However, poor hygiene in private code leads to public leaks, as we see in the news too often. Given the scope of the problem, what can we do?  What we really need is a change in our processes, especially around the creation, storage, and working with machine identities. Fortunately, there is a clear path forward, combining existing secrets management solutions and secret detection and remediat...

Attackers are increasingly making use of "networkless" attack techniques targeting cloud apps and identities. Here's how attackers can (and are) compromising organizations – without ever needing to touch the endpoint or conventional networked systems and services.  Before getting into the details of the attack techniques being used, let's discuss why these attacks are becoming more prevalent.  SaaS adoption is changing the make-up of company IT  The SaaS revolution and  product-led growth  have had a huge impact on the structure of company networks, and where core business systems and data reside.  Most organizations today are using tens to hundreds of SaaS applications across business functions. Some are entirely SaaS-native, with no traditional network to speak of, but most have adopted a hybrid model with a mixture of on-premise, cloud, and SaaS services forming the...

We all know passwords and firewalls are important, but what about the invisible threats lurking beneath the surface of your systems? Identity Threat Exposures (ITEs) are like secret tunnels for hackers – they make your security way more vulnerable than you think. Think of it like this: misconfigurations, forgotten accounts, and old settings are like cracks in your digital fortress walls. Hackers exploit these weaknesses to steal login information, gain sneaky access, and move around your systems unnoticed, whether they're in the cloud or on-site. This upcoming webinar,  " Today's Top 4 Identity Security Threat Exposures: Are You Vulnerable? "  isn't just for tech experts—it's about protecting your business.  We'll use real-world examples and insights from Silverfort's latest report to show you the hidden dangers of ITEs. You'll learn about: The Top 4 Identity Threats You Might Be Overlooking:  We'll name them and explain why they're ...

In this article, we will provide a brief overview of Silverfort's platform, the first (and currently only) unified identity protection platform on the market. Silverfort's patented technology aims to protect organizations from identity-based attacks by integrating with existing identity and access management solutions, such as AD (Active Directory) and cloud-based services, and extending secure access controls like Risk-Based Authentication and MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) to all their resources. This includes on-prem and cloud resources, legacy systems, command-line tools and service accounts. A recent report by Silverfort and Osterman Research revealed that  83% of organizations worldwide have experienced data breaches due to compromised credentials . Many organizations admit that they are underprotected against identity-based attacks, such as lateral movement and ransomware. Resources like command-line access tools and legacy systems, which are widely used, are particular...