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Google on Thursday announced that it will start testing a new feature called "Tracking Protection" beginning January 4, 2024, to 1% of Chrome users as part of its efforts to  deprecate third-party cookies  in the web browser. The setting is designed to limit "cross-site tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default," Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox at Google,  said . The tech giant noted that participants for Tracking Protection will be selected at random and that chosen users will be notified upon opening Chrome on either a desktop or an Android device. The goal is to restrict third-party cookies (also called "non-essential cookies") by default, preventing them from being used to track users as they move from one website to the other for serving personalized ads. While several major browsers like Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox have either already placed  restrictions  on third-party cookies via features ...

A novel multi-platform threat called  NKAbuse  has been discovered using a decentralized, peer-to-peer network connectivity protocol known as  NKN  (short for New Kind of Network) as a communications channel. "The malware utilizes NKN technology for data exchange between peers, functioning as a potent implant, and equipped with both flooder and backdoor capabilities," Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky  said  in a Thursday report. NKN, which has over 62,000 nodes, is  described  as a "software overlay network built on top of today's Internet that enables users to share unused bandwidth and earn token rewards." It incorporates a blockchain layer on top of the existing TCP/IP stack. While threat actors are known to take advantage of emerging communication protocols for command-and-control (C2) purposes and evade detection, NKAbuse leverages blockchain technology to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and function as an imp...

Cybersecurity researchers have identified a set of 116 malicious packages on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that are designed to infect Windows and Linux systems with a custom backdoor. "In some cases, the final payload is a variant of the infamous  W4SP Stealer , or a simple clipboard monitor to steal cryptocurrency, or both," ESET researchers Marc-Etienne M.Léveillé and Rene Holt  said  in a report published earlier this week. The  packages  are estimated to have been downloaded over 10,000 times since May 2023. The threat actors behind the activity have been observed using three techniques to bundle malicious code into Python packages, namely via a test.py script, embedding PowerShell in setup.py file, and incorporating it in obfuscated form in the  __init__.py file . Irrespective of the method used, the end goal of the campaign is to compromise the targeted host with malware, primarily a backdoor capable of remote command execution, da...

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...

A pro-Hamas threat actor known as  Gaza Cyber Gang  is targeting Palestinian entities using an updated version of a backdoor dubbed Pierogi. The findings come from SentinelOne, which has given the malware the name Pierogi++ owing to the fact that it's implemented in the C++ programming language unlike its Delphi- and Pascal-based predecessor. "Recent Gaza Cybergang activities show consistent targeting of Palestinian entities, with no observed significant changes in dynamics since the start of the Israel-Hamas war," security researcher Aleksandar Milenkoski  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. Gaza Cyber Gang, believed to be  active since at least  2012, has a history of striking targets throughout the Middle East, particularly Israel and Palestine, often leveraging spear-phishing as a method of initial access. Some of the  notable   malware   families  in its  arsenal   include  BarbWire, DropBook, LastCon...

The Iranian state-sponsored threat actor known as  OilRig  deployed three different downloader malware throughout 2022 to maintain persistent access to victim organizations located in Israel. The three new downloaders have been named ODAgent, OilCheck, and OilBooster by Slovak cybersecurity company ESET. The attacks also involved the use of an updated version of a known OilRig downloader dubbed  SampleCheck5000  (or SC5k). "These lightweight downloaders [...] are notable for using one of several legitimate cloud service APIs for [command-and-control] communication and data exfiltration: the Microsoft Graph OneDrive or Outlook APIs, and the Microsoft Office Exchange Web Services (EWS) API," security researchers Zuzana Hromcová and Adam Burgher  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. By using well-known cloud service providers for command-and-control communication, the goal is to blend with authentic network traffic and cover up the group's attack...

Network penetration testing plays a crucial role in protecting businesses in the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity. Yet, business leaders and IT pros have misconceptions about this process, which impacts their security posture and decision-making.  This blog acts as a quick guide on network penetration testing, explaining what it is, debunking common myths and reimagining its role in today's security landscape.  What is network penetration testing? Network penetration testing  is a proactive approach to cybersecurity in which security experts simulate cyberattacks to identify gaps in an organization's cyberdefense. The key objective of this process is to identify and rectify weaknesses before hackers can exploit them. This process is sometimes called "pentesting" or "ethical hacking."  Network pentesting checks for chinks in an organization's armor to help mitigate cyber-risks and protect against data, financial and reputational losses.  Differe...

Threat actors affiliated with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) have targeted unpatched JetBrains TeamCity servers in widespread attacks since September 2023. The activity has been tied to a nation-state group known as  APT29 , which is also tracked as BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), and The Dukes. It's notable for the supply chain attack  targeting SolarWinds  and its customers in 2020. "The SVR has, however, been observed using the initial access gleaned by exploiting the TeamCity CVE to escalate its privileges, move laterally, deploy additional backdoors, and take other steps to ensure persistent and long-term access to the compromised network environments," cybersecurity agencies from Poland, the U.K., and the U.S.  said . The vulnerability in question is  CVE-2023-42793  (CVSS score: 9.8), a critical security flaw that could be weaponized by unauthenticated attackers to achieve remote code exe...

A previously unknown hacker outfit called  GambleForce  has been attributed to a series of SQL injection attacks against companies primarily in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region since at least September 2023. "GambleForce uses a set of basic yet very effective techniques, including SQL injections and the exploitation of vulnerable website content management systems (CMS) to steal sensitive information, such as user credentials," Singapore-headquartered Group-IB  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. The group is estimated to have targeted 24 organizations in the gambling, government, retail, and travel sectors across Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. Six of these attacks were successful. The modus operandi of GambleForce is its exclusive reliance on open-source tools like dirsearch , sqlmap , tinyproxy , and redis-rogue-getshell at different stages of the attacks with the ultimate goal of exfiltrating ...

Microsoft on Wednesday said it obtained a court order to seize infrastructure set up by a group called Storm-1152 that peddled roughly 750 million fraudulent Microsoft accounts and tools through a network of bogus websites and social media pages to other criminal actors, netting the operators millions of dollars in illicit revenue. "Fraudulent online accounts act as the gateway to a host of cybercrime, including mass phishing, identity theft and fraud, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks," Amy Hogan-Burney, the company's associate general counsel for cybersecurity policy and protection,  said . These cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) offerings, per Redmond, are designed to get around identity verification software across various technology platforms and help minimize the efforts needed to conduct malicious activities online, including phishing, spamming, ransomware, and fraud, effectively lowering the barriers to entry for attackers. Multiple threat actors,...