browser security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The landscape of browser security has undergone significant changes over the past decade. While Browser Isolation was once considered the gold standard for protecting against browser exploits and malware downloads, it has become increasingly inadequate and insecure in today's SaaS-centric world. The limitations of Browser Isolation, such as degraded browser performance and inability to tackle modern web-borne threats like phishing and malicious extensions, necessitate a shift towards more advanced solutions. These are the findings of a new report, titled " The Dark Side of Browser Isolation and the Next Generation of Browser Security " ( Download here ). The Roots of Browser Isolation In the past, traditional signature-based antiviruses were commonly used to protect against on-device malware infections. However, they failed to block two main types of threats. The first, browser exploit, especially in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The second, drive-by malware down

Google on Wednesday rolled out fixes to address a new actively exploited zero-day in the Chrome browser. Tracked as  CVE-2023-5217 , the high-severity vulnerability has been described as a  heap-based buffer overflow  in the VP8 compression format in  libvpx , a free software  video codec  library from Google and the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). Exploitation of such buffer overflow flaws can result in program crashes or execution of arbitrary code, impacting its availability and integrity. Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw on September 25, 2023, with fellow researcher Maddie Stone  noting  on X (formerly Twitter) that it has been abused by a commercial spyware vendor to target high-risk individuals. No additional details have been disclosed by the tech giant other than to acknowledge that it's "aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-5217 exists in the wild." The latest discovery b

As the adoption of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, continues to surge, so does the risk of data exposure. According to Gartner's "Emerging Tech: Top 4 Security Risks of GenAI" report, privacy and data security is one of the four major emerging risks within generative AI.  A new webinar  featuring a multi-time Fortune 100 CISO and the CEO of LayerX, a browser extension solution, delves into this critical risk. Throughout the webinar, the speakers will explain why data security is a risk and explore the ability of DLP solutions to protect against them, or lack thereof. Then, they will delineate the capabilities required by DLP solutions to ensure businesses benefit from the productivity GenAI applications have to offer without compromising security.  The Business and Security Risks of Generative AI Applications GenAI security risks occur when employees insert sensitive texts into these applications. These actions warrant careful consideration, because the inserted data b

Google has announced plans to add a new feature in the upcoming version of its Chrome web browser to proactively alert users when an extension they have installed has been removed from the Chrome Web Store. The feature, set for release alongside Chrome 117, allows users to be notified when an add-on has been unpublished by a developer, taken down for violating Chrome Web Store policy, or marked as malware. The tech giant said it intends to highlight such extensions under a "Safety check" category in the "Privacy and security" section of the browser settings page. "When a user clicks 'Review,' they will be taken to their extensions and given the choice to either remove the extension or hide the warning if they wish to keep the extension installed," Oliver Dunk, a developer relations engineer for Chrome extensions,  said . "As in previous versions of Chrome, extensions marked as malware are automatically disabled." The development co

More and more organizations are choosing Google Workspace as their default employee toolset of choice. But despite the productivity advantages, this organizational action also incurs a new security debt. Security teams now have to find a way to adjust their security architecture to this new cloud workload. Some teams may rely on their existing network security solutions. According to a  new guide , this is a hit and a miss. Network solutions, the guide claims, just don't cover all SaaS and browsing requirements. Meanwhile, Google offers a wide range of native security functionalities built-in to Chrome. These functionalities enable the organization to leverage the browser for consolidating security, simplifying operations and reducing costs. If you're wary about trusting Chrome with your security, then the guide is recommended to read. In great detail, it explains which security features Chrome offers users. These include: Forcing users to sign into Chrome, to ensure the

Four security vulnerabilities in the ScrutisWeb ATM fleet monitoring software made by Iagona could be exploited to remotely break into ATMs, upload arbitrary files, and even reboot the terminals. The shortcomings were  discovered  by the Synack Red Team (SRT) following a client engagement. The issues have been addressed in ScrutisWeb version 2.1.38. "Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to upload and execute arbitrary files," the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)  said  in an advisory published last month. ScrutisWeb  is a web browser-based solution for monitoring banking and retail ATM fleets, including gleaning information system status, detecting low paper alerts, shutting down or restarting a terminal, and remotely modifying data. Details of the four flaws are as follows - CVE-2023-33871  (CVSS score: 7.5) - A directory traversal vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated user to directly access

Google has announced plans to add support for quantum-resistant encryption algorithms in its Chrome browser, starting with version 116. "Chrome will begin supporting  X25519Kyber768  for establishing symmetric secrets in  TLS , starting in Chrome 116, and available behind a flag in Chrome 115," Devon O'Brien  said  in a post published Thursday. Kyber was  chosen  by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the candidate for general encryption in a bid to tackle future cyber attacks posed by the advent of quantum computing.  Kyber-768  is roughly the security equivalent of  AES-192 . The encryption algorithm has already been adopted by  Cloudflare ,  Amazon Web Services , and IBM. X25519Kyber768 is a hybrid algorithm that combines the output of  X25519 , an elliptic curve algorithm widely used for key agreement in TLS, and Kyber-768 to create a strong session key to encrypt TLS connections. "Hybrid mechanism

Increasing cyber threats and attacks have made protecting organizational data a paramount concern for businesses of all sizes. A group of experts have recognized the pressing need for comprehensive browser security solutions and collaborated to develop "The Definitive  Browser Security RFP Template . " This resource helps streamline the process of evaluating and procuring browser security platforms. It provides organizations with a standardized approach to enhance their security posture by protecting the key employee workspace - the browser. The Importance of a Standardized RFP Template The RFP (Request for Proposal) template offers numerous advantages for organizations seeking robust browser security solutions. By promoting standardization, the RFP template ensures a consistent structure and format for proposals, saving time and effort for both the procurement team and vendors. Moreover, it facilitates clear and specific instructions to vendors, resulting in higher-qualit

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of malware called  Rilide  that targets Chromium-based web browsers to steal sensitive data and steal cryptocurrency. "It exhibits a higher level of sophistication through modular design, code obfuscation, adoption to the  Chrome Extension Manifest V3 , and additional features such as the ability to exfiltrate stolen data to a Telegram channel or interval-based screenshot captures," Trustwave security researcher Pawel Knapczyk  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. Rilide was  first documented  by the cybersecurity company in April 2023, uncovering two different attack chains that made use of Ekipa RAT and Aurora Stealer to deploy rogue browser extensions capable of data and crypto theft. It's sold on dark web forums by an actor named "friezer" for $5,000. The malware is equipped with a wide range of features that allow it to disable other browser add-ons, harvest browsing history and cookies,

Mozilla has announced that some add-ons may be blocked from running on certain sites as part of a new feature called  Quarantined Domains . "We have introduced a new back-end feature to only allow some extensions monitored by Mozilla to run on specific websites for various reasons, including security concerns," the company  said  in its Release Notes for Firefox 115.0 shipped last week. The company said the openness afforded by the add-on ecosystem could be exploited by malicious actors to their advantage. "This feature allows us to prevent attacks by malicious actors targeting specific domains when we have reason to believe there may be malicious add-ons we have not yet discovered," Mozilla  said  in a separate support document. Users are expected to have more control over the setting for each add-on, starting with Firefox version 116. That said, it can be disabled by loading "about:config" in the address bar and setting "extensions.quarantined

The case for browser fingerprinting: personalizing user experience, improving fraud detection, and optimizing login security Have you ever heard of browser fingerprinting? You should! It's an online user identification technique that collects information about a visitor's web browser and its configuration preferences to associate individual browsing sessions with a single website visitor.  With browser fingerprinting, many pieces of data can be collected about a user's web browser and device, such as screen resolution, location, language, and operating system. When you stitch these pieces together, they reveal a unique combination of information that forms every user's visitor ID or "digital fingerprint." Websites can use the visitor ID in various ways, including personalizing the user's experience, improving fraud detection, and optimizing login security. This article discusses the case for browser fingerprinting and how to use it safely on your websi

A new information-stealing malware called  Mystic Stealer  has been found to steal data from about 40 different web browsers and over 70 web browser extensions. First advertised on April 25, 2023, for $150 per month, the malware also targets cryptocurrency wallets, Steam, and Telegram, and employs extensive mechanisms to resist analysis. "The code is heavily obfuscated making use of polymorphic string obfuscation, hash-based import resolution, and runtime calculation of constants,"  InQuest  and  Zscaler  researchers said in an analysis published last week. Mystic Stealer, like many other crimeware solutions that are offered for sale, focuses on pilfering data and is implemented in the C programming language. The control panel has been developed using Python. Updates to the malware in May 2023 incorporate a loader component that allows it to retrieve and execute next-stage payloads fetched from a command-and-control (C2) server, making it a more formidable threat. C2 co

The revolutionary technology of GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, has brought significant risks to organizations' sensitive data. But what do we really know about this risk? A  new research  by Browser Security company LayerX sheds light on the scope and nature of these risks. The report titled "Revealing the True GenAI Data Exposure Risk" provides crucial insights for data protection stakeholders and empowers them to take proactive measures. The Numbers Behind the ChatGPT Risk By analyzing the usage of ChatGPT and other generative AI apps among 10,000 employees, the report has identified key areas of concern. One alarming finding reveals that 6% of employees have pasted sensitive data into GenAI, with 4% engaging in this risky behavior on a weekly basis. This recurring action poses a severe threat of data exfiltration for organizations. The report addresses vital risk assessment questions, including the actual scope of GenAI usage across enterprise workforces, the relati

In today's digital landscape, browser security has become an increasingly pressing issue, making it essential for organizations to be aware of the latest threats to browser security. That's why the Browser Security platform LayerX is hosting  a webinar  featuring guest speaker Paddy Harrington, a senior analyst at Forrester and the lead author of Forrester's browser security report "Securing The Browser In The World Of Anywhere Work ". During this webinar, Harrington will join LayerX CEO, to discuss the emergence of the browser security category, the browser security risk and threat landscape, and why addressing browser security can wait no longer. The webinar will also cover browser security solutions, explaining their pros, cons, and differences, and how organizations can work more securely in the browser. Additionally, the session will focus on using browser security solutions as a cost-saver for security teams. Participants will also get an exclusive opport

The browser serves as the primary interface between the on-premises environment, the cloud, and the web in the modern enterprise. Therefore, the browser is also exposed to multiple types of cyber threats and operational risks.  In light of this significant challenge, how are CISOs responding? LayerX, Browser Security platform provider, has polled more than 150 CISOs across multiple verticals and geolocations. They asked them about their security practices for SaaS access, BYOD, phishing, browser data loss and browser security. The results of this extensive poll can be found in the report "2023 Browser Security Survey". In this article, we bring a taste of the report. You can read all the results and analysis here . Main Highlights Organizations in the cloud are exposed to web-borne attacks. 87% of all-SaaS adopters and 79% of CISOs in a hybrid environment experienced a web-borne security threat in the past 12 months. Account takeover is a top concern. 48% list credential phis

In the short time since their inception, ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms have rightfully gained the reputation of ultimate productivity boosters. However, the very same technology that enables rapid production of high-quality text on demand, can at the same time expose sensitive corporate data. A recent  incident , in which Samsung software engineers pasted proprietary code into ChatGPT, clearly demonstrates that this tool can easily become a potential data leakage channel. This vulnerability introduces a demanding challenge for security stakeholders, since none of the existing data protection tools can ensure no sensitive data is exposed to ChatGPT. In this article we'll explore this security challenge in detail and show how browser security solutions can provide a solution. All while enabling organizations to fully realize ChatGPT's productivity potential and without having to compromise on data security.  The ChatGPT data protection blind spot: How can you govern

Google on Tuesday rolled out emergency fixes to address another actively exploited high-severity zero-day flaw in its Chrome web browser. The flaw, tracked as  CVE-2023-2136 , is  described  as a case of  integer overflow  in  Skia , an open source 2D graphics library. Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw on April 12, 2023. "Integer overflow in Skia in Google Chrome prior to 112.0.5615.137 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a crafted HTML page,"  according  to the NIST's National Vulnerability Database (NVD). The tech giant, which also fixed seven other security issues with the latest update, said it's aware of active exploitation of the flaw, but did not disclose additional details to prevent further abuse. The development marks the second Chrome zero-day vulnerability to be exploited by malicious actors th

Google on Friday released out-of-band updates to resolve an actively exploited zero-day flaw in its Chrome web browser, making it the first such bug to be addressed since the start of the year. Tracked as  CVE-2023-2033 , the high-severity vulnerability has been described as a  type confusion issue  in the V8 JavaScript engine. Clement Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has been credited with reporting the issue on April 11, 2023. "Type confusion in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 112.0.5615.121 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page,"  according  to the NIST's National Vulnerability Database (NVD). The tech giant  acknowledged  that "an exploit for CVE-2023-2033 exists in the wild," but stopped short of sharing additional technical specifics or indicators of compromise (IoCs) to prevent further exploitation by threat actors. CVE-2023-2033 also appears to share similarities with  CVE-2022-1096