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Cisco has once again fixed four  previously disclosed critical bugs  in its Jabber video conferencing and messaging app that were inadequately addressed, leaving its users susceptible to remote attacks. The vulnerabilities, if successfully exploited, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on target systems by sending specially-crafted chat messages in group conversations or specific individuals. They were reported to the networking equipment maker on September 25 by Watchcom , three weeks after the Norwegian cybersecurity firm publicly disclosed multiple security shortcomings in Jabber that were found during a penetration test for a client in June. The new flaws, which were uncovered after one of its clients requested a verification audit of the patch, affects all currently supported versions of the Cisco Jabber client (12.1 - 12.9). "Three of the four vulnerabilities Watchcom  disclosed in September  have not been sufficiently mitigated,&qu

A Russian threat actor known for its malware campaigns has reappeared in the threat landscape with yet another attack leveraging COVID-19 as phishing lures, once again indicating how adversaries are adept at repurposing the current world events to their advantage. Linking the operation to a sub-group of APT28 (aka Sofacy, Sednit, Fancy Bear, or STRONTIUM), cybersecurity firm Intezer said the pandemic-themed phishing emails were employed to deliver the Go version of Zebrocy (or Zekapab) malware. The cybersecurity firm told The Hacker News that the campaigns were observed late last month. Zebrocy is delivered primarily via phishing attacks that contain decoy Microsoft Office documents with macros as well as executable file attachments. First spotted in the wild in 2015 , the operators behind the malware have been found to overlap with GreyEnergy , a threat group believed to be the successor of BlackEnergy aka Sandworm , suggesting its role as a sub-group with links to Sofacy and

Super Low RPO with Continuous Data Protection: Dial Back to Just Seconds Before an Attack Zerto , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, can help you detect and recover from ransomware in near real-time. This solution leverages continuous data protection (CDP) to ensure all workloads have the lowest recovery point objective (RPO) possible. The most valuable thing about CDP is that it does not use snapshots, agents, or any other periodic data protection methodology. Zerto has no impact on production workloads and can achieve RPOs in the region of 5-15 seconds across thousands of virtual machines simultaneously. For example, the environment in the image below has nearly 1,000 VMs being protected with an average RPO of just six seconds! Application-Centric Protection: Group Your VMs to Gain Application-Level Control   You can protect your VMs with the Zerto application-centric approach using Virtual Protection Groups (VPGs). This logical grouping of VMs ensures that your whole applica

Cybersecurity researchers disclosed a dozen new flaws in multiple widely-used embedded TCP/IP stacks impacting millions of devices ranging from networking equipment and medical devices to industrial control systems that could be exploited by an attacker to take control of a vulnerable system. Collectively called " AMNESIA:33 " by Forescout researchers, it is a set of 33 vulnerabilities that impact four open-source TCP/IP protocol stacks — uIP, FNET, picoTCP, and Nut/Net — that are commonly used in Internet-of-Things (IoT) and embedded devices. As a consequence of improper memory management,  successful exploitation  of these flaws could cause memory corruption, allowing attackers to compromise devices, execute malicious code, perform denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, steal sensitive information, and even poison DNS cache. In the real world, these attacks could play out in various ways: disrupting the functioning of a power station to result in a blackout or taking smoke a

There seems to be a new ransomware story every day - a new ransomware attack, a new ransomware technique, criminals not providing encryption keys after receiving ransom payments, private data being publicly released by ransomware attackers—it never ends. Just last month, the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a report warning of an imminent threat of ransomware attacks on US hospitals and health care providers. The list of ransomware variants is long and growing, including Maze, Ragnar Locker, Netlocker, Wastedlocker, FTCode, Tycoon, TrickBot, REvil, and many more. Ransomware uses a variety of techniques to infect systems and ultimately steal and/or encrypt a company's files. Many of the techniques are known, but new, unknown techniques can arrive at any moment. SMEs Are Particularly Vulnerable A recent whitepaper about new ways XDR platform protects from ransomware [ download here ] n

21st-century technology has allowed Cybercriminals to use sophisticated and undetectable methods for malicious activities. In 2020 alone, a survey revealed that  65% of US-based companies were vulnerable to email phishing and impersonation attacks . This calls for upgrading your organization's security with DMARC, which if not implemented, will enable cyber-attackers to: Instigate money transfers from vulnerable employees via spoofed emails while impersonating senior executives in your company Send fake invoices to your employees and partners Deal in illegal goods via your domain  Spread Ransomware Impersonate customer support to steal confidential customer or partner information Such situations can have long-lasting consequences on your business. From inflicting a blow on thebrand's reputation and credibility among its partners and customer base to loss of valuable company information and millions of dollars, the risks are countless. What is Domain Spoofing? Domain

A cybercrime group known for targeting e-commerce websites unleashed a "multi-stage malicious campaign" earlier this year designed with an intent to distribute information stealers and JavaScript-based payment skimmers. In a new report published today and shared with The Hacker News, Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB attributed the operation to the same group that's been linked to a separate attack aimed at online merchants using password-stealing malware to infect their websites with  FakeSecurity JavaScript-sniffers  (JS-sniffers). The campaign progressed in four waves, starting in February and ending in September, with the operators relying on specially-crafted phishing pages and lure documents laced with malicious macros to download Vidar and Raccoon information stealers onto victim systems. The ultimate goal of the attack, the researchers noted, was to steal payment and user data via several attack vectors and tools to deliver the malware. The fake we

There is no question that attackers are going after your sensitive account data. Passwords have long been a target of those looking to compromise your environment. Why would an attacker take the long, complicated way if they have the keys to the front door? No matter how extensive your security solutions are, protecting the various systems in your environment, your organization may likely be an easy target without proper password security. An especially vulnerable type of password is a  breached password , a.k.a "pwned" password. What is a breached password? How do you discover breached passwords in your environment? How can organizations effectively protect their end-users from using these types of passwords? The Danger of Compromised Accounts The  IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report  2020 noted compromised credentials as one of the primary contributors to malicious data breaches in the report's key findings. It noted: "Stolen or compromised credentials were the

Cybersecurity researchers on Thursday disclosed details of a previously undiscovered in-memory Windows backdoor developed by a hacker-for-hire operation that can execute remotely malicious code and steal sensitive information from its targets in Asia, Europe, and the US. Dubbed " PowerPepper " by Kaspersky researchers, the malware has been attributed to the  DeathStalker  group (formerly called Deceptikons), a threat actor that has been found to hit law firms and companies in the financial sector located in Europe and the Middle East at least since 2012. The hacking tool is so-called because of its reliance on steganographic trickery to deliver the backdoor payload in the form of an image of ferns or peppers. The espionage group first came to light  earlier this July , with most of their attacks starting with a spear-phishing email containing a malicious modified LNK (shortcut) file that, when clicked, downloads and runs a PowerShell-based implant named Powersing. While

A number of high-profile Android apps are still using an unpatched version of Google's widely-used app update library, potentially putting the personal data of hundreds of millions of smartphone users at risk of hacking. Many popular apps, including Grindr, Bumble, OkCupid, Cisco Teams, Moovit, Yango Pro, Microsoft Edge, Xrecorder, and PowerDirector, are still vulnerable and can be hijacked to steal sensitive data, such as passwords, financial details, and e-mails. The bug, tracked as  CVE-2020-8913 , is rated 8.8 out of 10.0 for severity and impacts Android's Play Core Library versions prior to  1.7.2 . Although Google addressed the vulnerability in March,  new findings  from Check Point Research show that many third-party app developers are yet to integrate the new Play Core library into their apps to mitigate the threat fully. "Unlike server-side vulnerabilities, where the vulnerability is patched completely once the patch is applied to the server, for client-side

Multiple botnets are targeting thousands of publicly exposed and still unpatched Oracle WebLogic servers to deploy crypto miners and steal sensitive information from infected systems. The attacks are taking aim at a recently patched WebLogic Server vulnerability, which was released by Oracle as part of its  October 2020 Critical Patch Update  and subsequently again in November ( CVE-2020-14750 ) in the form of an out-of-band security patch. As of writing, about 3,000 Oracle WebLogic servers are accessible on the Internet-based on stats from the Shodan search engine. Oracle  WebLogic  is a platform for developing, deploying, and running enterprise Java applications in any cloud environment as well as on-premises. The flaw, which is tracked as CVE-2020-14882, has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of a maximum rating of 10 and affects WebLogic Server versions 10.3.6.0.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0, 12.2.1.4.0, and 14.1.1.0.0. Although the issue has been addressed, the release of  proof-of-concep

CISOs with small security teams hold an intensive juggling act. They're responsible for sustaining the company's security resilience, ensuring compliance is adhered to and implementing privacy controls. In between these tasks, they need to follow up on board updates, lead cross-team communications and collaboration, and fight fires that may or may not be related to cybersecurity. All the while, they're doing this with a small security team, trying to get the most out of existing resources, preventing team burnout, and most likely taking an active, hands-on approach to ensure that all the goals are met. While each CISO has their game plan, what's certain is that CISOs with small security teams are all about efficiency. Efficiency takes on various forms based on each CISO's background, capacity, industry, and even company culture. In the e-Book "10 CISOs With Small Security Teams Share Their Must Dos and Don'ts"  (Download it here) , CISOs of teams

Set of must-have online security tools that we believe may make a real difference to your cybersecurity program and improve your 2021 budget planning. In September, Gartner published a  list  of "Top 9 Security and Risk Trends for 2020" putting a bold emphasis on the growing complexity and size of the modern threat landscape. Incomplete visibility of external Attack surfaces led to the dramatic increase in disastrous breaches and data leaks during 2020, compromising PII and other sensitive data of millions of victims. These incidents stemmed from sophisticated intrusions by malicious nation-state actors and APT hacking groups, human error, and widespread misconfigurations exposing unprotected cloud storage or databases with confidential data to the Internet. Gartner's security analysts recommend automating laborious security tasks and processes, amid the ongoing shortage of cybersecurity skills, and promptly addressing emerging cloud and containers security risks.  G

Many of us here would love to turn hacking into a full-time career. To make that dream come true, you need to master your subject and earn some key certifications. To speed up this process, you might want to take a little guidance from the experts. Featuring 98 hours of content from top instructors,  The Ultimate 2020 White Hat Hacker Certification Bundle  is the ultimate launchpad for your career. It provides an incredible introduction to white hat hacking and helps you become a CompTIA-certified professional. The courses in this bundle are separately worth $1,345, but The Hacker News has put together a special deal for readers. Special Offer  — For a limited time, you can  pick up all 10 courses for just $39.90  with this bundle. That's a 97% saving on the full price! According to Cybersecurity Ventures, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by next year. If you want to take advantage of this gold rush, now is an excellent time to start studying. Perfect for

VMware has released temporary workarounds to address a critical vulnerability in its products that could be exploited by an attacker to take control of an affected system. "A malicious actor with network access to the administrative configurator on port 8443 and a valid password for the configurator admin account can execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system," the virtualization software and services firm noted in its  advisory . Tracked as CVE-2020-4006, the  command injection  vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10 and impacts VMware Workspace One Access, Access Connector, Identity Manager, and Identity Manager Connector. While the company said patches for the flaw are "forthcoming," it didn't specify an exact date by when it's expected to be released. It's unclear if the vulnerability is under active attack. The complete list of products affected are as follows: VMware Workspace One Access (versi