iot security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Nearly two dozen security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Advantech EKI industrial-grade wireless access point devices, some of which could be weaponized to bypass authentication and execute code with elevated privileges. "These vulnerabilities pose significant risks, allowing unauthenticated remote code execution with root privileges, thereby fully compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected devices," cybersecurity company Nozomi Networks said in a Wednesday analysis. Following responsible disclosure, the weaknesses have been addressed in the following firmware versions - 1.6.5 (for EKI-6333AC-2G and EKI-6333AC-2GD) 1.2.2 (for EKI-6333AC-1GPO) Six of the identified 20 vulnerabilities have been deemed critical, allowing an attacker to obtain persistent access to internal resources by implanting a backdoor, trigger a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, and even repurpose infected endpoints as Linux workstations to enable latera...

A threat actor named Matrix has been linked to a widespread distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) campaign that leverages vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in Internet of Things (IoT) devices to co-opt them into a disruptive botnet. "This operation serves as a comprehensive one-stop shop for scanning, exploiting vulnerabilities, deploying malware, and setting up shop kits, showcasing a do-it-all-yourself approach to cyberattacks," Assaf Morag, director of threat intelligence at cloud security firm Aqua, said . There is evidence to suggest that the operation is the work of a lone wolf actor, a script kiddie of Russian origin. The attacks have primarily targeted IP addresses located in China, Japan, and to a lesser extent Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, India, and the U.S. The absence of Ukraine in the victimology footprint indicates that the attackers are purely driven by financial motivations, the cloud security firm said. The attack chains are characterized by ...

We hear terms like "state-sponsored attacks" and "critical vulnerabilities" all the time, but what's really going on behind those words? This week's cybersecurity news isn't just about hackers and headlines—it's about how digital risks shape our lives in ways we might not even realize. For instance, telecom networks being breached isn't just about stolen data—it's about power. Hackers are positioning themselves to control the networks we rely on for everything, from making calls to running businesses. And those techy-sounding CVEs? They're not just random numbers; they're like ticking time bombs in the software you use every day, from your phone to your work tools. These stories aren't just for the experts—they're for all of us. They show how easily the digital world we trust can be turned against us. But they also show us the power of staying informed and prepared. Dive into this week's recap, and let's uncover the risks, the solutions, and the small steps we can all take to stay a...

New research has uncovered more than 145,000 internet-exposed Industrial Control Systems (ICS) across 175 countries, with the U.S. alone accounting for over one-third of the total exposures. The analysis , which comes from attack surface management company Censys, found that 38% of the devices are located in North America, 35.4% in Europe, 22.9% in Asia, 1.7% in Oceania, 1.2% in South America, and 0.5% in Africa. The countries with the most ICS service exposures include the U.S. (more than 48,000), Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Canada, Spain, China, Germany, France, the U.K., Japan, Sweden, Taiwan, Poland, and Lithuania. The metrics are derived from the exposure of several commonly-used ICS protocols like Modbus, IEC 60870-5-104, CODESYS, OPC UA, and others. One important aspect that stands out is that the attack surfaces are regionally unique: Modbus, S7, and IEC 60870-5-104 are more widely observed in Europe, while Fox, BACnet, ATG, and C-more are more commonly found in North Ame...

The frequency and sophistication of modern cyberattacks are surging, making it increasingly challenging for organizations to protect sensitive data and critical infrastructure. When attackers compromise a non-human identity (NHI), they can swiftly exploit it to move laterally across systems, identifying vulnerabilities and compromising additional NHIs in minutes. While organizations often take months to detect and contain such breaches, rapid detection and response can stop an attack in its tracks. The Rise of Non-Human Identities in Cybersecurity By 2025, non-human identities will rise to be the primary attack vector in cybersecurity. As businesses increasingly automate processes and adopt AI and IoT technologies, the number of NHIs grows exponentially. While these systems drive efficiency, they also create an expanded attack surface for cybercriminals. NHIs differ fundamentally from human users, making traditional security tools like multi-factor authentication and user behavior...

The malware known as Ngioweb has been used to fuel a notorious residential proxy service called NSOCKS, as well as by other services such as VN5Socks and Shopsocks5, new findings from Lumen Technologies reveal. "At least 80% of NSOCKS bots in our telemetry originate from the Ngioweb botnet, mainly utilizing small office/home office (SOHO) routers and IoT devices," the Black Lotus Labs team at Lumen Technologies said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Two-thirds of these proxies are based in the U.S." "The network maintains a daily average of roughly 35,000 working bots, with 40% remaining active for a month or longer." Ngioweb, first documented by Check Point way back in August 2018 in connection with a Ramnit trojan campaign that distributed the malware, has been the subject of extensive analyses in recent weeks by LevelBlue and Trend Micro , the latter of which is tracking the financially motivated threat actor behind the operation as Wate...

A security analysis of the OvrC cloud platform has uncovered 10 vulnerabilities that could be chained to allow potential attackers to execute code remotely on connected devices. "Attackers successfully exploiting these vulnerabilities can access, control, and disrupt devices supported by OvrC; some of those include smart electrical power supplies, cameras, routers, home automation systems, and more," Claroty researcher Uri Katz said in a technical report. Snap One's OvrC, pronounced "oversee," is advertised as a "revolutionary support platform" that enables homeowners and businesses to remotely manage, configure, and troubleshoot IoT devices on the network. According to its website, OvrC solutions are deployed at over 500,000 end-user locations. According to a coordinated advisory issued by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), successful exploitation of the identified vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to ...

The threat actors behind the AndroxGh0st malware are now exploiting a broader set of security flaws impacting various internet-facing applications, while also deploying the Mozi botnet malware. "This botnet utilizes remote code execution and credential-stealing methods to maintain persistent access, leveraging unpatched vulnerabilities to infiltrate critical infrastructures," CloudSEK said in a new report. AndroxGh0st is the name given to a Python-based cloud attack tool that's known for its targeting of Laravel applications with the goal of sensitive data pertaining to services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), SendGrid, and Twilio. Active since at least 2022, it has previously leveraged flaws in the Apache web server ( CVE-2021-41773 ), Laravel Framework ( CVE-2018-15133 ), and PHPUnit ( CVE-2017-9841 ) to gain initial access, escalate privileges, and establish persistent control over compromised systems. Earlier this January, U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence a...

Details have emerged about multiple security vulnerabilities in two implementations of the Manufacturing Message Specification ( MMS ) protocol that, if successfully exploited, could have severe impacts in industrial environments. "The vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to crash an industrial device or in some cases, enable remote code execution," Claroty researchers Mashav Sapir and Vera Mens said in a new analysis. MMS is an OSI application layer messaging protocol that enables remote control and monitoring of industrial devices by exchanging supervisory control information in an application-agnostic manner. Specifically, it allows for communication between intelligent electronic devices ( IEDs ) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems or programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The five shortcomings identified by the operational technology security company impact MZ Automation's libIEC61850 library and Triangle MicroWorks' TMW IEC 61...

A critical security flaw has been disclosed in the Microchip Advanced Software Framework (ASF) that, if successfully exploited, could lead to remote code execution. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-7490 , carries a CVSS score of 9.5 out of a maximum of 10.0. It has been described as a stack-based overflow vulnerability in ASF's implementation of the tinydhcp server stemming from a lack of adequate input validation. "There exists a vulnerability in all publicly available examples of the ASF codebase that allows for a specially crafted DHCP request to cause a stack-based overflow that could lead to remote code execution," CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) said in an advisory. Given that the software is no longer supported and is rooted in IoT-centric code, CERT/CC has warned that the vulnerability is "likely to surface in many places in the wild." The issue impacts ASF 3.52.0.2574 and all prior versions of the software, with the agency also noting th...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a never-before-seen botnet comprising an army of small office/home office (SOHO) and IoT devices that are likely operated by a Chinese nation-state threat actor called Flax Typhoon (aka Ethereal Panda or RedJuliett). The sophisticated botnet, dubbed Raptor Train by Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, is believed to have been operational since at least May 2020, hitting a peak of 60,000 actively compromised devices in June 2023. "Since that time, there have been more than 200,000 SOHO routers, NVR/DVR devices, network attached storage (NAS) servers, and IP cameras; all conscripted into the Raptor Train botnet, making it one of the largest Chinese state-sponsored IoT botnets discovered to-date," the cybersecurity company said in a 81-page report shared with The Hacker News. The infrastructure powering the botnet is estimated to have ensnared hundreds of thousands of devices since its formation, with the network powered by a three-tiered...

Nearly 1.3 million Android-based TV boxes running outdated versions of the operating system and belonging to users spanning 197 countries have been infected by a new malware dubbed Vo1d (aka Void). "It is a backdoor that puts its components in the system storage area and, when commanded by attackers, is capable of secretly downloading and installing third-party software," Russian antivirus vendor Doctor Web said in a report published today. A majority of the infections have been detected in Brazil, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Russia, Tunisia, Ecuador, Malaysia, Algeria, and Indonesia. It's currently not known what the source of the infection is, although it's suspected that it may have either involved an instance of prior compromise that allows for gaining root privileges or the use of unofficial firmware versions with built-in root access. The following TV models have been targeted as part of the campaign - KJ-SMART4KVIP (Android 10.1; KJ-SMA...