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The European Union's data protection authority on Tuesday called for a ban on the development and the use of Pegasus-like commercial spyware in the region, stating that the technology's "unprecedented level of intrusiveness" could endanger users' right to privacy. "Pegasus constitutes a paradigm shift in terms of access to private communications and devices, which is able to affect the very essence of our fundamental rights, in particular the right to privacy," the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)  said  in its preliminary remarks. "This fact makes its use incompatible with our democratic values." Pegasus  is a piece of highly advanced military-grade intrusion software developed by Israeli company NSO Group that's capable of breaking into smartphones running Android and iOS, turning the devices into a remote monitoring tool capable of extracting sensitive information, recording conversations, and tracking users' movements....

Researchers have revealed details of a now-patched high-severity security vulnerability in Apache Cassandra that, if left unaddressed, could be abused to gain remote code execution (RCE) on affected installations. "This Apache security vulnerability is easy to exploit and has the potential to wreak havoc on systems, but luckily only manifests in non-default configurations of Cassandra," Omer Kaspi, security researcher at DevOps firm JFrog,  said  in a technical write-up published Tuesday. Apache Cassandra is an open-source, distributed, NoSQL database management system for managing very large amounts of structured data across commodity servers. Tracked as  CVE-2021-44521  (CVSS score: 8.4), the vulnerability concerns a specific scenario where the configuration for user-defined functions ( UDFs ) are enabled, effectively allowing an attacker to leverage the  Nashorn  JavaScript engine, escape the sandbox, and achieve execution of untrusted code. Speci...

Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit over the company's use of cookies to allegedly track Facebook users' internet activity even after they had logged off from the platform. In addition, the social media company will be required to delete all of the data it illegally collected from those users. The development was first reported by  Variety . The decade-old case, filed in 2012, centered around Facebook's use of the proprietary "Like" button to track users as they visited third-party websites – regardless of whether they actually used the button – in violation of the federal wiretapping laws, and then allegedly compiling those browsing histories into profiles for selling the information to advertisers. Based on the terms of the proposed settlement, users who browsed non-Facebook websites that included the "Like" button between April 22, 2010, and September 26, 2011, will be covered. "Reaching a settlement in this cas...

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...

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the inner workings of ShadowPad , a sophisticated and modular backdoor that has been adopted by a growing number of Chinese threat groups in recent years, while also linking it to the country's civilian and military intelligence agencies. "ShadowPad is decrypted in memory using a custom decryption algorithm," researchers from Secureworks said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "ShadowPad extracts information about the host, executes commands, interacts with the file system and registry, and deploys new modules to extend functionality." ShadowPad is a remote access trojan capable of maintaining persistent access to compromised computers and executing arbitrary commands and next-stage payloads. It also shares noticeable overlaps with the PlugX malware and has been put to use in high-profile attacks against NetSarang, CCleaner, and ASUS, causing the operators to shift tactics and update their defensive measures. ...

Remote workplace trend is getting the upper hand in 2022. A recent survey by IWG (the International Workplace Group) determined that 70% of the world's professionals work remotely at least one day a week, with 53% based outside their workplace at least half of the week. Taking this into consideration, organizations have started looking for reliable partners that can deliver services and support consistently, for example, to install new hybrid infrastructure solutions while trusting them with the everyday functioning of their IT. So far, MSPs have been meeting this demand by offering multiple solutions that help employees work remotely without any problems. What are the main cybersecurity solutions remote workers need? Multi-Factor Authentication Virtual Private Network DNS Filtering to secure DNS traffic Why is a web filtering important and what are the main features necessary for MSPs? Managed service providers have been struggling with finding the right web filtering ...

Entities in the aviation, aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, and defense industries have been targeted by a persistent threat group since at least 2017 as part of a string of spear-phishing campaigns mounted to deliver a variety of remote access trojans (RATs) on compromised systems. The use of commodity malware such as AsyncRAT and NetWire, among others, has led enterprise security firm Proofpoint to a "cybercriminal threat actor" codenamed TA2541 that employs "broad targeting with high volume messages." The ultimate objective of the intrusions is unknown as yet. Social engineering lures used by the group does not rely on topical themes but rather leverages decoy messages related to  aviation , logistics, transportation, and travel. That said, TA2541 did briefly pivot to  COVID-19-themed lures  in the spring of 2020, distributing emails concerning cargo shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) or testing kits. "While TA2541 is consistent i...

A new version of the MyloBot malware has been observed to deploy malicious payloads that are being used to send sextortion emails demanding victims to pay $2,732 in digital currency. MyloBot , first detected in 2018, is known to  feature  an array of sophisticated anti-debugging capabilities and propagation techniques to rope infected machines into a botnet, not to mention remove traces of other competing malware from the systems. Chief among its methods to evade detection and stay under the radar included a delay of 14 days before accessing its command-and-control servers and the facility to execute malicious binaries directly from memory. MyloBot also leverages a technique called  process hollowing , wherein the attack code is injected into a suspended and hollowed process in order to circumvent process-based defenses. This is achieved by unmapping the memory allocated to the live process and replacing it with the arbitrary code to be executed, in this case a decod...

Google on Monday rolled out fixes for eight security issues in the Chrome web browser, including a high-severity vulnerability that's being actively exploited in real-world attacks, marking the first zero-day patched by the internet giant in 2022. The shortcoming, tracked  CVE-2022-0609 , is described as a  use-after-free  vulnerability in the Animation component that, if successfully exploited, could lead to corruption of valid data and the execution of arbitrary code on affected systems. "Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2022-0609 exists in the wild," the company  said  in a characteristically brief statement acknowledging active exploitation of the flaw. Credited with discovering and reporting the flaw are Adam Weidemann and Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG). Also addressed by Google four other use-after-free flaws impacting File Manager, Webstore API,  ANGLE , and GPU, a heap buffer overflow bug in Tab Grou...

Spain's National Police Agency, the Policía Nacional, said last week it dismantled an unnamed cybercriminal organization and arrested eight individuals in connection with a series of SIM swapping attacks that were carried out with the goal of financial fraud. The suspects of the crime ring masqueraded as trustworthy representatives of banks and other organizations and used traditional phishing and smishing techniques to obtain personal information and bank data of victims before draining money from their accounts. "They usurped the identity of their victims through the falsification of official documents and tricked employees of telephone stores into getting the duplicate of SIM cards, cards where they received security confirmation messages from banks that allowed them to empty their victims' accounts," the authorities  said . Seven of the arrests were made in Barcelona and one in Seville. As many as 12 bank accounts were frozen as part of the illicit operation....

Technical details have been disclosed regarding a number of security vulnerabilities affecting Moxa's MXview web-based network management system, some of which could be chained by an unauthenticated adversary to achieve remote code execution on unpatched servers. The five security weaknesses "could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute code on the hosting machine with the highest privileges available: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM," Claroty security researcher Noam Moshe  said  in a report published this week. Moxa  MXview  is designed for configuring, monitoring, and diagnosing networking devices in industrial networks. The flaws, which affect versions 3.x to 3.2.2 of the network management software, were rectified in  version 3.2.4 or higher  following a coordinated disclosure process in October 2021. "Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to create or overwrite critical files to execute code, gain access to the p...

Adobe on Sunday rolled out patches to contain a critical security vulnerability impacting its Commerce and Magento Open Source products that it said is being actively exploited in the wild. Tracked as  CVE-2022-24086 , the shortcoming has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 on the vulnerability scoring system and has been characterized as an " improper input validation " issue that could be weaponized to achieve arbitrary code execution.  It's also a pre-authenticated flaw, meaning it could be exploited without requiring any credentials. Additionally, the California-headquartered company pointed out that the vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker with non-administrative privileges. The flaw affects Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source 2.4.3-p1 and earlier versions as well as 2.3.7-p2 and earlier versions. Adobe Commerce 2.3.3 and lower are not vulnerable. "Adobe is aware that CVE-2022-24086 has been exploited in the wild in very limited attacks targeting Ad...

A previously unknown hacking group has been linked to targeted attacks against human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics, and lawyers across India in an attempt to plant "incriminating digital evidence." Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne attributed the intrusions to a group it tracks as " ModifiedElephant ," an elusive threat actor that's been operational since at least 2012, whose activity aligns sharply with Indian state interests. "ModifiedElephant operates through the use of commercially available remote access trojans (RATs) and has potential ties to the commercial surveillance industry," the researchers  said . "The threat actor uses spear-phishing with malicious documents to deliver malware, such as  NetWire ,  DarkComet , and simple keyloggers." The primary goal of ModifiedElephant is to facilitate long-term surveillance of targeted individuals, ultimately leading to the delivery of "evidence" on the victim...

French data protection regulators on Thursday found the use of Google Analytics a breach of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws in the country, almost a month after a  similar decision  was reached in Austria. To that end, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) ruled that the transatlantic movement of Google Analytics data to the U.S. is not "sufficiently regulated" citing a violation of  Articles 44 et seq.  of the data protection decree, which govern the transfers of personal data to third countries or international entities. Specifically the independent administrative regulatory body highlighted the lack of equivalent privacy protections and the risk that "American intelligence services would access personal data transferred to the United States if the transfers were not properly regulated." "[A]lthough Google has adopted additional measures to regulate data transfers in the context of the Google An...

Apple on Thursday released security updates for  iOS, iPadOS ,  macOS , and  Safari  to address a new WebKit flaw that it said may have been actively exploited in the wild, making it the company's third zero-day patch since the start of the year. Tracked as CVE-2022-22620, the issue concerns a use-after-free vulnerability in the WebKit component that powers the Safari web browser and could be exploited by a piece of specially crafted web content to gain arbitrary code execution.  "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited," the company said in a terse statement acknowledging in-the-wild attacks leveraging the flaw. The iPhone maker credited an anonymous researcher for discovering and reporting the flaw, adding it remediated the issue with improved memory management. The updates are available for iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod ...

A peer-to-peer Golang botnet has resurfaced after more than a year to compromise servers belonging to entities in the healthcare, education, and government sectors within a span of a month, infecting a total of 1,500 hosts. Dubbed FritzFrog , "the decentralized botnet targets any device that exposes an SSH server — cloud instances, data center servers, routers, etc. — and is capable of running any malicious payload on infected nodes," Akamai researchers said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The new wave of attacks commenced in early December 2021, only to pick up pace and register a 10x growth in its infection rate in a month's time, while peaking at 500 incidents per day in January 2022. The cybersecurity firm said it detected infected machines in a European television channel network, a Russian manufacturer of healthcare equipment, and multiple universities in East Asia. FritzFrog was  first documented  by Guardicore in August 2020, elaborating the botnet...

"…well, of course!" is what you might think. It's a biological threat, so how could it affect digital assets? But hang on. Among other effects, this pandemic has brought about a massive shift in several technological areas. Not only did it force numerous organizations - that up to now were reluctant - to gear up in cyber to go digital, all at once, oftentimes with hastily pieced together strategies. It also made remote working (and the involved tools) grow in double-digits, causing the good old perimeter (which was already in a questionable state due to cloud adaption) to be basically shattered. The office is now anywhere. And that means access to data needs to be everywhere too.  Keeping all of this in mind, the general assumption was that in the wake of the pandemic we would face a virtual nightmare with vulnerable users, compromised corporate networks en masse and the end of the (digital) world. But let's look at some interesting numbers of what  actually  happ...

Image Source: TechPrivacy Cybersecurity authorities from Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. have published a joint advisory warning of an increase in sophisticated, high-impact ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure organizations across the world in 2021. The incidents singled out a broad range of sectors, including defense, emergency services, agriculture, government facilities, IT, healthcare, financial services, education, energy, charities, legal institutions, and public services. "Ransomware tactics and techniques continued to evolve in 2021, which demonstrates ransomware threat actors' growing technological sophistication and an increased ransomware threat to organizations globally," the agencies  said  in the  joint bulletin . Spear-phishing, stolen or brute-forced Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials, and exploitation of software flaws emerged as the top three initial infection vectors that were used to deploy ransomware on compromised netwo...

A special law enforcement operation undertaken by Russia has led to the seizure and shutdown of four online bazaars that specialized in the theft and sales of stolen credit cards, as the government continues to take active measures against harboring cybercriminals on its territory. To that end, the domains operated by the card fraud forms and marketplaces, Ferum Shop, Sky-Fraud, Trump's Dumps, and UAS, were confiscated and plastered with a banner that warned "theft of funds from bank cards is illegal." Also embedded into the HTML source code was a message asking, "Which one of you is next?" The seizures were orchestrated by the Department "K," a division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation that focuses primarily on information technology-related crimes, according to  Flashpoint . In a related development, state-owned news agency TASS  said  that six Russian individuals were being charged with "the illegal circulation o...

Critical security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in a WordPress plugin known as PHP Everywhere that's used by more than 30,000 websites worldwide and could be abused by an attacker to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. PHP Everywhere is  used  to flip the switch on PHP code across WordPress installations, enabling users to insert and execute PHP-based code in the content management system's Pages, Posts, and Sidebar. The three issues, all rated 9.9 out of a maximum of 10 on the CVSS rating system, impact versions 2.0.3 and below, and are as follows - CVE-2022-24663  - Remote Code Execution by Subscriber+ users via shortcode CVE-2022-24664  - Remote Code Execution by Contributor+ users via metabox, and CVE-2022-24665  - Remote Code Execution by Contributor+ users via gutenberg block Successful exploitation of the three vulnerabilities could result in the execution of malicious PHP code that could be leveraged to achieve a complete site tak...

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Tuesday  announced  the arrest of a married couple in connection with conspiring to launder cryptocurrency worth $4.5 billion that was siphoned during the  hack  of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex in 2016. Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, both of New York, are alleged to have "stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions," with the law enforcement getting hold of over $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency by following the money trails, resulting in the "largest financial seizure ever." Prosecutors charged the couple not for the hack itself, but rather for receiving the stolen bitcoin into a digital wallet under their ownership, a part of which was laundered to conceal the activities and the movement of the money. In 2019, Israeli authorities apprehended two brothers, Eli and Assaf Gigi, over their supposed involvement in the 2016 security breach. "Bitfinex will work with the Do...