infected system | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Microsoft and the FBI have taken down a botnet that controlled millions of infected PCs, which was responsible for massive bank fraud.  Botnets are networks of computers infected with viruses that let them be controlled by hackers. The outfit runs the Citadel Botnets and is believed to have stolen more than $500 million from bank accounts over the past 18 months. Citadel is one of the biggest botnets in operation today. Citadel is a banking Trojan that has been in existence since 2011. As with most banking Trojans, Citadel is a full crimeware kit, providing the attackers with payload builders, a command and control (C&C) server infrastructure, and configuration scripts to target various banks. Citadel infected as many as 5 million PCs around the world including here in Australia and according to Microsoft, was used to steal from dozens of financial institutions, including American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, eBay's PayPal, HSBC, JPM

Cyber criminals  are using popular note-taking app Evernote as Command-and-Control Server to give commands to the malware installed on infected PCs using botnets. TrendMicro uncovered a malware detected as " BKDR_VERNOT.A " tried to communicate with Command-and-Control Server using Evernote. Malware delivered via an executable file that installs the malware as a dynamic-link library. The installer then ties the DLL into a legitimate running process, hiding it from casual detection. Once installed, BKDR_VERNOT.A can perform several backdoor commands such as downloading, executing, and renaming files. It then gathers information from the infected system, including details about its OS, timezone, user name, computer name, registered owner and organization. Researchers  also pointed out that the backdoor may have also used Evernote as a location to upload stolen data. " Unfortunately, during our testing, it was not able to login using the credentials embedded in the

As a vCISO, you are responsible for your client's cybersecurity strategy and risk governance. This incorporates multiple disciplines, from research to execution to reporting. Recently, we published a comprehensive playbook for vCISOs, "Your First 100 Days as a vCISO – 5 Steps to Success" , which covers all the phases entailed in launching a successful vCISO engagement, along with recommended actions to take, and step-by-step examples.  Following the success of the playbook and the requests that have come in from the MSP/MSSP community, we decided to drill down into specific parts of vCISO reporting and provide more color and examples. In this article, we focus on how to create compelling narratives within a report, which has a significant impact on the overall MSP/MSSP value proposition.  This article brings the highlights of a recent guided workshop we held, covering what makes a successful report and how it can be used to enhance engagement with your cyber security clients.