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Details have emerged about three now-patched security vulnerabilities in Dynamics 365 and Power Apps Web API that could result in data exposure. The flaws, discovered by Melbourne-based cybersecurity company Stratus Security, have been addressed as of May 2024. Two of the three shortcomings reside in Power Platform's OData Web API Filter , while the third vulnerability is rooted in the FetchXML API . The root cause of the first vulnerability is the lack of access control on the OData Web API Filter, thereby allowing access to the contacts table that holds sensitive information such as full names, phone numbers, addresses, financial data, and password hashes. A threat actor could then weaponize the flaw to perform a boolean-based search to extract the complete hash by guessing each character of the hash sequentially until the correct value is identified. "For example, we start by sending startswith(adx_identity_passwordhash, 'a') then startswith( adx_identity_p...

In the past year, cross-domain attacks have gained prominence as an emerging tactic among adversaries. These operations exploit weak points across multiple domains – including endpoints, identity systems and cloud environments – so the adversary can infiltrate organizations, move laterally and evade detection. eCrime groups like SCATTERED SPIDER and North Korea-nexus adversaries such as FAMOUS CHOLLIMA exemplify the use of cross-domain tactics, leveraging advanced techniques to exploit security gaps across interconnected environments.  The foundation of these attacks is built around the exploitation of legitimate identities. Today's adversaries no longer "break in"; they "log in" – leveraging compromised credentials to gain access and blend seamlessly into their targets. Once inside, they exploit legitimate tools and processes, making them difficult to detect as they pivot across domains and escalate privileges. The Current State of Identity Security The rise in cross-domain...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious package on the npm package registry that masquerades as a library for detecting vulnerabilities in Ethereum smart contracts but, in reality, drops an open-source remote access trojan called Quasar RAT onto developer systems. The heavily obfuscated package, named ethereumvulncontracthandler , was published to npm on December 18, 2024, by a user named "solidit-dev-416." As of writing, it continues to be available for download. It has been downloaded 66 times to date. "Upon installation, it retrieves a malicious script from a remote server, executing it silently to deploy the RAT on Windows systems," Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko said in an analysis published last month. The malicious code embedded into ethereumvulncontracthandler is obscured with multiple layers of obfuscation, leveraging techniques like Base64- and XOR-encoding, as well as minification to resist analysis and detection efforts. ...

SaaS Adoption is Skyrocketing, Resilience Hasn't Kept Pace SaaS platforms have revolutionized how businesses operate. They simplify collaboration, accelerate deployment, and reduce the overhead of managing infrastructure. But with their rise comes a subtle, dangerous assumption: that the convenience of SaaS extends to resilience. It doesn't. These platforms weren't built with full-scale data protection in mind . Most follow a shared responsibility model — wherein the provider ensures uptime and application security, but the data inside is your responsibility. In a world of hybrid architectures, global teams, and relentless cyber threats, that responsibility is harder than ever to manage. Modern organizations are being stretched across: Hybrid and multi-cloud environments with decentralized data sprawl Complex integration layers between IaaS, SaaS, and legacy systems Expanding regulatory pressure with steeper penalties for noncompliance Escalating ransomware threats and inside...

German prosecutors have charged three Russian-German nationals for acting as secret service agents for Russia. The individuals, named Dieter S., Alexander J., and Alex D., have been accused of working for a foreign secret service. Dieter S. is also alleged to have participated in sabotage operations as well as taking pictures of military installations with an aim to endanger national security. Dieter S. was originally arrested by the Federal Criminal Police Office (aka Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) alongside Alexander J. on espionage charges. In late October 2024, Dieter S. was also charged with being a fighter of an armed unit of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). According to the Office of the Federal Prosecutor (aka Generalbundesanwalt), Dieter S. was in contact with an individual who belonged to the Russian secret service and was also part of the armed unit of DPR. "From October 2023, Dieter S. exchanged information with the person about possible sabotage actions in...

Threat hunters have disclosed a new "widespread timing-based vulnerability class" that leverages a double-click sequence to facilitate clickjacking attacks and account takeovers in almost all major websites. The technique has been codenamed DoubleClickjacking by security researcher Paulos Yibelo. "Instead of relying on a single click, it takes advantage of a double-click sequence," Yibelo said . "While it might sound like a small change, it opens the door to new UI manipulation attacks that bypass all known clickjacking protections, including the X-Frame-Options header or a SameSite: Lax/Strict cookie." Clickjacking , also called UI redressing, refers to an attack technique in which users are tricked into clicking on a seemingly innocuous web page element (e.g., a button), leading to the deployment of malware or exfiltration of sensitive data. DoubleClickjacking is a variation of this theme that exploits the gap between the start of a click and the...

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday leveled sanctions against two entities in Iran and Russia for their attempts to interfere with the November 2024 presidential election. The federal agency said the entities – a subordinate organization of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Moscow-based affiliate of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) – sought to influence the electoral outcome and divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns. "As affiliates of the IRGC and GRU, these actors aimed to stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election," it noted in a press release. In August 2024, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) jointly accused Iran of attempting to undermine democratic processes, including b...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a final rule carrying out Executive Order (EO) 14117, which prevents mass transfer of citizens' personal data to countries of concern such as China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. "This final rule is a crucial step forward in addressing the extraordinary national security threat posed of our adversaries exploiting Americans' most sensitive personal data," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "This powerful new national-security program is designed to ensure that Americans' personal data is no longer permitted to be sold to hostile foreign powers, whether through outright purchase or other means of commercial access." Back in February 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order to address the national security risk posed by unauthorized access to Americans' sensitiv...

The United States Treasury Department said it suffered a "major cybersecurity incident" that allowed suspected Chinese threat actors to remotely access some computers and unclassified documents.  "On December 8, 2024, Treasury was notified by a third-party software service provider, BeyondTrust, that a threat actor had gained access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service used to remotely provide technical support for Treasury Departmental Offices (DO) end users," the department said in a letter informing the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. "With access to the stolen key, the threat actor was able to override the service's security, remotely access certain Treasury DO user workstations, and access certain unclassified documents maintained by those users." The federal agency said it has been working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered three security weaknesses in Microsoft's Azure Data Factory Apache Airflow integration that, if successfully exploited, could have allowed an attacker to gain the ability to conduct various covert actions, including data exfiltration and malware deployment. "Exploiting these flaws could allow attackers to gain persistent access as shadow administrators over the entire Airflow Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said in an analysis published earlier this month. The vulnerabilities, albeit classified as low severity by Microsoft, are listed below - Misconfigured Kubernetes RBAC in Airflow cluster Misconfigured secret handling of Azure's internal Geneva service, and Weak authentication for Geneva Besides obtaining unauthorized access, the attacker could take advantage of the flaws in the Geneva service to potentially tamper with log data or send fake logs to avoid raising suspicion when c...

The United States Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has proposed new cybersecurity requirements for healthcare organizations with an aim to safeguard patients' data against potential cyber attacks. The proposal, which seeks to modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, is part of a broader initiative to bolster the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, the OCR said. The rule is designed to strengthen protections for electronic protected health information (ePHI) by updating the HIPAA Security Rule's standards to "better address ever-increasing cybersecurity threats to the healthcare sector." To that end, the proposal, among other things, requires organizations to conduct a review of the technology asset inventory and network map, identify potential vulnerabilities that could pose a threat to electronic information systems, and establish procedures to restore the loss of certa...

Every week, the digital world faces new challenges and changes. Hackers are always finding new ways to breach systems, while defenders work hard to keep our data safe. Whether it's a hidden flaw in popular software or a clever new attack method, staying informed is key to protecting yourself and your organization. In this week's update, we'll cover the most important developments in cybersecurity. From the latest threats to effective defenses, we've got you covered with clear and straightforward insights. Let's dive in and keep your digital world secure. ⚡ Threat of the Week Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Flaw Under Attack — Palo Alto Networks has disclosed a high-severity flaw impacting PAN-OS software that could cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition on susceptible devices by sending a specially crafted DNS packet. The vulnerability (CVE-2024-3393, CVSS score: 8.7) only affects firewalls that have the DNS Security logging enabled. The company said it's aware of...