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OSquery , an open-source framework created by Facebook that allows organizations to look for potential malware or malicious activity on their networks, was available for Mac OS X and Linux environments until today. But now the social network has announced that the company has developed a Windows version of its osquery tool , too. When Facebook engineers want to monitor thousands of Apple Mac laptops across their organization, they use their own untraditional security tool called OSquery. OSquery is a smart piece of cross-platform software that scans every single computer on an infrastructure and catalogs every aspect of it. Then SQL-based queries allow developers and security teams to monitor low-level functions in real-time and quickly search for malicious behavior and vulnerable applications on their infrastructure. In simple words, OSquery allows an organization to treat its infrastructure as a database, turning OS information into a format that can be queried using SQL

A Security researcher has discovered a unique attack method that can be used to steal credentials from a locked computer ( but, logged-in ) and works on both Windows as well as Mac OS X systems. In his blog post published today, security expert Rob Fuller demonstrated and explained how to exploit a USB SoC-based device to turn it into a credential-sniffer that works even on a locked computer or laptop. Fuller modified the firmware code of USB dongle in such a way that when it is plugged into an Ethernet adapter, the plug-and-play USB device installs and acts itself as the network gateway, DNS server, and Web Proxy Auto-discovery Protocol (WPAD) server for the victim's machine. The attack is possible because most PCs automatically install Plug-and-Play USB devices, meaning "even if a system is locked out, the device [dongle] still gets installed," Fuller explains in his blog post . "Now, I believe there are restrictions on what types of devices are allowed to

The need for vCISO services is growing. SMBs and SMEs are dealing with more third-party risks, tightening regulatory demands and stringent cyber insurance requirements than ever before. However, they often lack the resources and expertise to hire an in-house security executive team. By outsourcing security and compliance leadership to a vCISO, these organizations can more easily obtain cybersecurity expertise specialized for their industry and strengthen their cybersecurity posture. MSPs and MSSPs looking to meet this growing vCISO demand are often faced with the same challenge. The demand for cybersecurity talent far exceeds the supply. This has led to a competitive market where the costs of hiring and retaining skilled professionals can be prohibitive for MSSPs/MSPs as well. The need to maintain expertise of both security and compliance further exacerbates this challenge. Cynomi, the first AI-driven vCISO platform , can help. Cynomi enables you - MSPs, MSSPs and consulting firms

If you think that the HTTP/2 protocol is more secure than the standard HTTP ( Hypertext Transfer Protocol ), then you might be wrong, as it took researchers just four months to discover four flaws in the HTTP/2 protocol. HTTP/2 was launched properly just in May last year after Google bundled its SPDY project into HTTP/2 in February in an effort to speed up the loading of web pages as well as the browsing experience of the online users. Now, security researchers from data center security vendor Imperva today at Black Hat conference revealed details on at least four high-profile vulnerabilities in HTTP/2 – a major revision of the HTTP network protocol that the today's web is based on. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to slow web servers by flooding them with innocent looking messages that carry a payload of gigabytes of data, putting the servers into infinite loops and even causing them to crash. The HTTP/2 protocol can be divided into three layers: The transmissio

Breaking News for Today: Antivirus company Avast Software is planning to acquire Dutch rival AVG Technologies for $1.3 Billion in cash. Avast announced today that it would buy Amsterdam-based AVG Technologies for $25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.3 Billion in an aim to expand its presence in the emerging markets. With more than 230 Million users worldwide, Avast provides free and paid security software packages for both PCs as well as mobile devices to businesses and individuals. The deal between the two popular security software companies will provide Avast with 400 Million endpoints -- devices that have some form of Avast or AVG application installed. Around 160 Million of those are mobile. However, AVG technologies was in controversies for updating its policy that clearly said that the company will be allowed to collect and sell users' "non-personal data" to online advertisers in order to "make money" from their "free of

In Brief The US Supreme Court has approved amendments to Rule 41, which now gives judges the authority to issue search warrants, not only for computers located in their jurisdiction but also outside their jurisdiction. Under the original Rule 41, let's say, a New York judge can only authorize the FBI to hack into a suspect's computer in New York. But the amended rule would now make it easier for the FBI to hack into any computer or network, literally anywhere in the world. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can now Hack your computers anywhere, anytime. The FBI appeared to have been granted powers to hack any computer legally across the country, and perhaps anywhere in the world, with just a single search warrant authorized by any United States judge. The U.S. Supreme Court approved yesterday a change in Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that would let U.S. judges issue warrants for remote access to electronic devices outside their jurisdict

Utah State computer systems are experiencing a massive cyber attack on up to 300 Million Hacking attempts per day due to National Security Agency's (NSA) data center in the state. Yes, 300,000,000 hacking attempts in a day! According to the statistical survey, it is evident that the computer systems in the US State of Utah began to experience the hacking attack a few years back, precisely, soon after the NSA revelations by global surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden. It is a less-known fact that the NSA has built its new data center near the city of Bluffdale, Utah. However, a couple of years back, when Snowden revealed the presence of the data center, the attacks have constantly been going on. The PRISM spying program by Big Brothers at NSA might have shifted the attention of hackers for the retaliation against mass-surveillance and flared up this heightened cyber attacks against the spying agency. According to Utah Commissioner of public safety, Keith S

Another 15-year-old teenager got arrested from the land of cakes, Scotland, by British Police for breaking into the FBI Systems on 16th February. Under the Britain's anti-hacking law, Computer Misuse Act 1990 , the boy has been arrested for his role in hacking and unauthorized access to the digital material. Federal Agents had fled to Glasgow in an attempt to carry out a raid on his home before proceeding with the boy's arrest. "He has since been released and is the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal," a Police Spokesman told a Scottish journal. As with the present scenario, reports say that the boy could be extradited to the United States to face the Intrusion and hacking charges. Second Member of the Hacking Group Arrested The suspect is believed to be an active member of the notorious hacking group called " Crackas with Attitude " aka "CWA", Motherboard confirms . Another member of the same group got arrested f

Netgear, one of the most popular router manufacturers, has been vulnerable to two different flaws that could allow hackers to compromise your corporate network and connected devices. Reported critical vulnerabilities reside in the Netgear's ProSafe NMS300 Model ( Network Management System ) – a centralized and comprehensive management application for network administrators that enables them to discover, monitor, configure, and report on SNMP-based enterprise-class network devices. SNMP ( Simple Network Management Protocol ) is a network management protocol which facilitates Netgear's ProSafe NMS300 application to gather data from various network devices such as servers, printers, hubs, switches, and routers. Remotely collected data includes CPU load, routing tables, and network traffic statistics. Serious Flaws in Network Management System A joint security dug conducted by Pedro Ribeiro ( Security Researcher of UK Based firm Agile Information ) along

The majority of Internet users are vulnerable to cyber threats because of their own weaknesses in setting up a strong password. But, are end-users completely responsible for choosing weak passwords? Give a thought. Recently we wrote an article revealing the list of Worst Passwords of 2015 that proved most of us are still using bad passwords, like ' 123456 ' or ' password ,' to secure our online accounts that when breached could result in critical information loss. If the end-user is to blame for weak password security, then the solution is to educate each and every Internet user to follow the best password security practice. But is that really possible? Practically, No. Even after being aware of best password security measures, do we really set strong passwords for every website? I mean EVERY. Ask yourself. Who's Responsible for allowing Users to Set a Weak Password? It's the websites and their developers, who didn't enforce a

As organizations expand their IT infrastructure to match their evolving business models and meet changing regulatory requirements, they often find that their networks have become extremely complex and challenging to manage. A primary concern for many IT teams is detecting threats in the mountain of event data being generated every day. Even a relatively small network can generate hundreds or thousands of events per second, with every system, application, and service generating events. The sheer volume of data makes it virtually impossible to identify manually and link those few events that indicate a successful network breach and system compromise, before the exfiltration of data. The AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM) platform is a solution to help IT teams with limited resources overcome the challenge of detecting threats in their network. USM platform accelerates and simplifies your ability to detect, prioritize, and respond to the most critical

Juniper Networks has announced that it has discovered " unauthorized code " in ScreenOS , the operating system for its NetScreen firewalls, that could allow an attacker to decrypt traffic sent through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). It's not clear what caused the code to get there or how long it has been there, but the release notes posted by Juniper suggest the earliest buggy versions of the software date back to at least 2012 and possibly earlier. The backdoor impacts NetScreen firewalls using ScreenOS 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18 and 6.3.0r12 through 6.3.0r20, states the advisory published by the company. However, there's no evidence right now that whether the backdoor was present in other Juniper OSes or devices. The issue was uncovered during an internal code review of the software, according to Juniper chief information officer Bob Worrall , and requires immediate patching by upgrading to a new version of the software just released today. &quo

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