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Four different malicious frameworks designed to attack air-gapped networks were detected in the first half of 2020 alone, bringing the total number of such toolkits to 17 and offering adversaries a pathway to cyber espionage and exfiltrate classified information. "All frameworks are designed to perform some form of espionage, [and] all the frameworks used USB drives as the physical transmission medium to transfer data in and out of the targeted air-gapped networks," ESET researchers Alexis Dorais-Joncas and Facundo Muñoz  said  in a comprehensive study of the frameworks. Air-gapping is a network security measure designed to prevent unauthorized access to systems by physically isolating them from other unsecured networks, including local area networks and the public internet. This also implies that the only way to transfer data is by connecting a physical device to it, such as USB drives or external hard disks. Given that the mechanism is one of the most common ways  ...

The computer virus Stuxnet, which some experts believe was created specifically to target Iran's nuclear facilities, could also threaten U.S. infrastructure, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. "That virus focused on specific software implementations, and those software implementations did exist in some U.S. infrastructure," Greg Schaffer, the department's assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, told reporters at a breakfast Monday morning. "So, there was the potential for some U.S. infrastructure to be impacted at some level." Schaffer described Stuxnet as a "very tiered, complex, and sophisticated virus" that has attracted worldwide attention because it specifically targeted supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems at Siemens plants, including those in Iran. Experts have suggested that the cost and manpower required to create such a virus indicate that a government, rather than a rog...

The problem is simple: all breaches start with initial access, and initial access comes down to two primary attack vectors – credentials and devices. This is not news; every report you can find on the threat landscape depicts the same picture.  The solution is more complex. For this article, we'll focus on the device threat vector. The risk they pose is significant, which is why device management tools like Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) are essential components of an organization's security infrastructure. However, relying solely on these tools to manage device risk actually creates a false sense of security. Instead of the blunt tools of device management, organizations are looking for solutions that deliver device trust . Device trust provides a comprehensive, risk-based approach to device security enforcement, closing the large gaps left behind by traditional device management solutions. Here are 5 of those limitations and how to ov...

The difference between cyber crime, cyber espionage, and cyber war is often just a matter of a few keystrokes, as they use the same techniques. Richard Clarke, chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, highlighted this during his keynote at the RSA Europe 2010 conference in London. Cyber Crime Cyber crime is not just a theory; it happens every day. Clarke explained that just two weeks ago, there were arrests of a cyber cartel in the US. However, those arrested were students acting as mules. These mules simply open a bank account and allow money to flow in and out of it, being the lowest level in the cyber crime hierarchy. Clarke elaborated that these cartels are often based in Moldova, Estonia, Belarus, or Russia. After lengthy investigations involving warrants to search computers and servers, crimes are traced back to these countries. However, cooperation from these countries is often nonexistent, making them effective cyber sanctuaries. As long as attacks happen outside their borders an...