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The US government's $6 Billion firewall is nothing but a big blunder. Dubbed EINSTEIN , the nationwide firewall run by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not as smart as its name suggests. An audit conducted by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has claimed that the firewall used by US government agencies is failing to fully meet its objectives and leaving the agencies open to zero-day attacks. EINSTEIN, which is officially known as the US' National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS) and has cost $5.7 Billion to develop, detects only 6 percent of today's most common security vulnerabilities and failed to detect the rest 94 percent. How bad is EINSTEIN Firewall in reality? In a series of tests conducted last year, Einstein only detected 29 out of 489 vulnerabilities across Flash, Office, Java, IE and Acrobat disclosed via CVE reports published in 2014, according to a report [ PDF ] released by the GAO late las

As the most wonderful time of the year has come - Christmas , it has brought with itself the time of online shopping. According to National Retail Federation , more than 151 million people shopped in store, but more than 100 Million shopped online during Cyber Monday sales and even why wouldn't it be so given the vast conveniences of online shopping. It is quite visible in these days that more and more people are heading towards online shopping rather than the malls to purchase gifts for Christmas. However, the main question arises: Is it safe to do so? Especially with so many users sharing credit card information online. Here are some tips that you have to keep in mind before providing your credit card number and clicking, ' BUY ' 1. DO NOT CLICK On Suspicious Links Malicious links are sent by scammers who look more real than the original ones. As these links are specifically of the well-known sites like eBay and Flipkart, many online users fal

Over the past two years, a shocking  51% of organizations surveyed in a leading industry report have been compromised by a cyberattack.  Yes, over half.  And this, in a world where enterprises deploy  an average of 53 different security solutions  to safeguard their digital domain.  Alarming? Absolutely. A recent survey of CISOs and CIOs, commissioned by Pentera and conducted by Global Surveyz Research, offers a quantifiable glimpse into this evolving battlefield, revealing a stark contrast between the growing risks and the tightening budget constraints under which cybersecurity professionals operate. With this report, Pentera has once again taken a magnifying glass to the state of pentesting to release its annual report about today's pentesting practices. Engaging with 450 security executives from North America, LATAM, APAC, and EMEA—all in VP or C-level positions at organizations with over 1,000 employees—the report paints a current picture of modern security validation prac

Billions of dollars are spent in securing business operations, and yet attackers still find ways to breach a network. With the ever increasing growth in security attacks across all threat vectors, you should consider these New Year's resolutions to help solve your security challenges in 2016: Take stock of what you have Segment your Network Setup controls with ACLs Secure protocols, network ports, & services Monitor account activity Monitor servers & databases Make sure that your applications are secured Ensure security policies are in place Measure effectiveness and ensure your security products are doing their job Add threat intelligence into your security operations As you prepare for 2016 and reflect on all the security news stories from this year, these ten resolutions need to be on your " to-do " list: 1. Take stock of what you have Knowing the genetic makeup of your environment is the key to securing your IT systems. It is critical to have an updated invento

Simply put, threat intelligence is knowledge that helps you identify security threats and make informed decisions. Threat intelligence can help you solve the following problems: How do I keep up to date on the overwhelming amount of information on security threats…including bad actors, methods, vulnerabilities, targets, etc.? How do I get more proactive about future security threats? How do I inform my leaders about the dangers and repercussions of specific security threats? Threat Intelligence: What is it? Threat intelligence has received a lot of attention lately. While there are many different definitions, here are a few that get quoted often: Threat intelligence is evidence-based knowledge, including context, mechanisms, indicators, implications and actionable advice, about an existing or emerging menace or hazard to assets that can be used to inform decisions regarding the subject's response to that menace or hazard. – Gartner   The set of data collected, assessed and app

Yes, Let's Encrypt is now one step closer to its goal of offering Free HTTPS certificates to everyone. Let's Encrypt  – the free, automated, and open certificate authority (CA) – has announced that its Free HTTPS certificates are Now Trusted and Supported by All Major Browsers . Let's Encrypt enables any website to protect its users with free SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security) certificates that encrypt all the Internet traffic passed between a site and users. Not only free, but the initiative also makes HTTPS implementation easier for all website or online shopping site owner to ensure its users that their browser activities and transactions are safe from snoopers. Let's Encrypt issued its first free HTTPS certificate last month and was working with other major browsers to recognize its certificate as a trusted authority. Let's Encrypt achieved a New Milestone Let's Encrypt has received cross-signatures from SSL

Imagine you are sitting in your office and working on something confidential. Once you are done, you send a command to print that document. But, What if...  ...the whole confidential document send to a hacker attacking from the air? Sounds pity but may be your Boss fires you immediately if that confidential data is leaked or misused. This is no more an imagination now, as a group of researchers has done exactly the same. Researchers from Singapore have devised a unique set up consisting of a Drone that carries a smartphone running two custom apps that are capable of intercepting wireless printer transmissions, even from outside an office building. In short, hackers can gain access to your corporate network by using a smartphone-equipped drone to hack your printer. The project was developed by the researchers at iTrust , a research center at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. They developed two applications: Cybersecurity Patrol – To d

While the Indian people continue to struggle for Net Neutrality, a new problem surrounded them with the release of the latest policy for ' National Encryption Policy ' by the Indian Government. If you delete your WhatsApp Messages or Emails that you receive or send before 90 days, it might be a crime and you can End-up In Jail. If the new National Encryption Policy implements that come up with weird suggestions — one should not delete WhatsApp conversation, Gmail or any email for 90 days, it would be an Internet Disaster. With the aim to 'provide confidentiality of information' and ensure 'protection of sensitive or proprietary information', the draft policy, proposed by an so-called ' expert panel ' from the Department of Electronics and Information Technology ( DeitY ) , requires: Access to your Private Data The government wants to have access to all your encrypted information including your personal emails, text and voice messages, and data stored in a privat

In Part I of this  two-part series from The Hacker News , the First Four list of Top Brutal Cyber Attacks shows that whoever you are, Security can never be perfect. As attackers employ innovative hacking techniques and zero-day exploits, the demand for increased threat protection grows. In this article, I have listed another three cyber attacks, as following: #5 Car Hacking Driving a car is a network's game now! ' Everything is hackable ,' but is your car also vulnerable to Hackers ? General Motors' OnStar application and cars like Jeep Cherokee, Cadillac Escalade, Toyota Prius, Dodge Viper, Audi A8 and many more come equipped with more advanced technology features. These cars are now part of the technology very well known as the " Internet of Things ". Recently two Security researchers, Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller demonstrated that Jeep Cherokee could be hacked wirelessly over the internet to hijack its steering, brakes, and transmi

If you believe that your organization is not at real risk of cyber attack, then you are absolutely wrong. Incidents of massive data breaches, advanced cyber attacks coming from China , groups like Syrian Electronic Army , Hacking Point of Sale machines at retailers such as Target have splashed across the news in the last one year. Whether a Government Agency or Private Company, Small or a Large Tech Company.... ...It's no secret that No one is Immune to Cyber Attacks . This article is the first in a two-part series from The Hacker News , listing first four out of  Top 7 Brutal Cyber Attacks. And here we go... #1 "Hacking Team" Data Breach Hacking Team , the controversial spyware company, recently been hacked by some unidentified hackers that exposed over 400 gigabytes of its internal sensitive data on the Internet. Milan (Italy) based IT firm 'Hacking Team' sells intrusion and surveillance software solutions to Governments and Law Enforcement agen

China Police has arrested nearly 15,000 people on suspicion of cyber crimes as part of an operation dubbed " Cleaning the Internet ," according to reports. According to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the suspects have been arrested for their involvement in cyber crimes that " jeopardized Internet security ." In July, China launched a six-month campaign codenamed " Cleaning the Internet " to fight online criminal activities. Under the program, the police investigated 7,400 cases, including hacking, online fraud and the illegal sale of personal information, spread over 66,000 websites, the official website of the ministry stated . "For the next step, the public security organs will continue to increase their investigation and crackdown on cyber crimes," according to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. The MPS did not clear exactly when the arrests took place but said the program also took down major online

We found a high concern for cybersecurity tactics and an increased awareness of the challenges that it brings. This week, we shared lots of stories with our readers, and to help them in identifying the biggest malware threats to their online safety. We are here with the outline of our last week stories, just in case you missed any of them ( ICYMI ). We recommend you read the entire thing ( just click ' Read More ' because there's some valuable advice in there as well ). Here's the list: ➢ How Hackers Can Hack Your Gmail Accounts? Getting smarter in their phishing tactics, hackers have found out ways to fool Gmail's tight security system by bypassing its two-step verification. Hackers are now using text messages and phone-based phishing attacks to circumvent Gmail's security and take over your Gmail accounts. — Read more . ➢ Not Just Windows 10, Windows 7 and 8 Also Spy on You Laughing at controversial data mining and privacy invasion featur

Internet of Things (IoT) with the purpose of providing convenience to the users enabled every object in the universe to be as smart as a whip. By assigning IP address to all sorts of devices, ranging from household appliances, machines, medical devices and sensors to other day-to-day objects, and putting them all together on a standardised network is a common Internet of Things (IoT) practice. Is Internet of Things Secure? In my previous articles, I gave you a glance of the most vulnerable smart cities that are increasingly adopting devices connected to the Internet in an attempt to add convenience and ease to daily activities. By 2020, there will be more than 45 Billion Internet-connected devices that will transform the way we live and work. The bottom line: As the number of IoT enabled systems increases, the complexity of handling them increases; leading to an introduction of new risk and vulnerabilities associated with them. Security of Internet of