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Did you know it's now possible to build blockchain applications, known also as decentralized applications (or "dApps" for short) in native Python? Blockchain development has traditionally required learning specialized languages, creating a barrier for many developers… until now. AlgoKit , an all-in-one development toolkit for Algorand, enables developers to build blockchain applications in pure Python. This article will walk you through the benefits of building blockchain applications, why Python is an ideal choice for dApp development, how to set up your blockchain development environment, and how to start building secure blockchain applications in native Python.  Why build blockchain applications?  Blockchain application development goes far beyond creating a decentralized database and peer-to-peer transactions. It unlocks a new level of trust, security, and efficiency for various applications. Guarantee tamper-proof records: Blockchain creates an immutable and transpar...

A 22-year-old Russian national has been indicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in staging destructive cyber attacks against Ukraine and its allies in the days leading to Russia's full-blown military invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Amin Timovich Stigal, the defendant in question, is assessed to be affiliated with the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU). He remains at large. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Concurrent with the action, the U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information pertaining to his whereabouts or the malicious cyber attacks he is associated with. "The defendant conspired with Russian military intelligence on the eve of Russia's unjust and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to launch cyberattacks targeting the Ukrainian government and later targeting its allies, including the United States,...

A critical security flaw has been disclosed in Fortra FileCatalyst Workflow that, if left unpatched, could allow an attacker to tamper with the application database. Tracked as CVE-2024-5276, the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 9.8. It impacts FileCatalyst Workflow versions 5.1.6 Build 135 and earlier. It has been addressed in version 5.1.6 build 139. "An SQL injection vulnerability in Fortra FileCatalyst Workflow allows an attacker to modify application data," Fortra said in an advisory published Tuesday. "Likely impacts include creation of administrative users and deletion or modification of data in the application database." It also emphasized that successful unauthenticated exploitation requires a Workflow system with anonymous access enabled. Alternatively, it can also be abused by an authenticated user. Users who cannot apply the patches immediately can disable the vulnerable servlets – csv_servlet, pdf_servlet, xml_servlet, and json_servlet – in...

A newly disclosed critical security flaw impacting Progress Software MOVEit Transfer is already seeing exploitation attempts in the wild shortly after details of the bug were publicly disclosed. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-5806 (CVSS score: 9.1), concerns an authentication bypass that impacts the following versions - From 2023.0.0 before 2023.0.11 From 2023.1.0 before 2023.1.6, and  From 2024.0.0 before 2024.0.2 "Improper authentication vulnerability in Progress MOVEit Transfer (SFTP module) can lead to Authentication Bypass," the company said in an advisory released Tuesday. Progress has also addressed another critical SFTP-associated authentication bypass vulnerability (CVE-2024-5805, CVSS score: 9.1) affecting MOVEit Gateway version 2024.0.0. Successful exploitation of the flaws could allow attackers to bypass SFTP authentication and gain access to MOVEit Transfer and Gateway systems. watchTowr Labs has since published additional technical specifi...

Threat actors with suspected ties to China and North Korea have been linked to ransomware and data encryption attacks targeting government and critical infrastructure sectors across the world between 2021 and 2023. While one cluster of activity has been associated with the ChamelGang (aka CamoFei), the second cluster overlaps with activity previously attributed to Chinese and North Korean state-sponsored groups, cybersecurity firms SentinelOne and Recorded Future said in a joint report shared with The Hacker News. This includes ChamelGang's attacks aimed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Presidency of Brazil in 2022 using CatB ransomware , as well as those targeting a government entity in East Asia and an aviation organization in the Indian subcontinent in 2023. "Threat actors in the cyber espionage ecosystem are engaging in an increasingly disturbing trend of using ransomware as a final stage in their operations for the purposes of financia...

The heightened regulatory and legal pressure on software-producing organizations to secure their supply chains and ensure the integrity of their software should come as no surprise. In the last several years, the software supply chain has become an increasingly attractive target for attackers who see opportunities to force-multiply their attacks by orders of magnitude. For example, look no further than 2021's Log4j breach, where Log4j (an open-source logging framework maintained by Apache and used in a myriad of different applications) was the root of exploits that put thousands of systems at risk.  Log4j's communication functionality was vulnerable and thus provided an opening for an attacker to inject malicious code into the logs which could then be executed on the system. After its discovery, security researchers saw millions of attempted exploits, many of which turned into successful denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. According to some of the latest research by Gartner, close t...

Apple has released a firmware update for AirPods that could allow a malicious actor to gain access to the headphones in an unauthorized manner. Tracked as CVE-2024-27867, the authentication issue affects AirPods (2nd generation and later), AirPods Pro (all models), AirPods Max, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Fit Pro. "When your headphones are seeking a connection request to one of your previously paired devices, an attacker in Bluetooth range might be able to spoof the intended source device and gain access to your headphones," Apple said in a Tuesday advisory. In other words, an adversary in physical proximity could exploit the vulnerability to eavesdrop on private conversations. Apple said the issue has been addressed with improved state management. Jonas Dreßler has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw. It has been patched as part of AirPods Firmware Update 6A326, AirPods Firmware Update 6F8, and Beats Firmware Update 6F8. The development comes two week...

Multiple content management system (CMS) platforms like WordPress, Magento, and OpenCart have been targeted by a new credit card web skimmer called Caesar Cipher Skimmer. A web skimmer refers to malware that is injected into e-commerce sites with the goal of stealing financial and payment information .  According to Sucuri, the latest campaign entails making malicious modifications to the checkout PHP file associated with the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress ("form-checkout.php") to steal credit card details. "For the past few months, the injections have been changed to look less suspicious than a long obfuscated script," security researcher Ben Martin said , noting the malware's attempt to masquerade as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. Specifically, it utilizes the same substitution mechanism employed in Caesar cipher to encode the malicious piece of code into a garbled string and conceal the external domain that's used to host the payload. ...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated version of an Android banking trojan called Medusa that has been used to target users in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S. The new fraud campaigns, observed in May 2024 and active since July 2023, manifested through five different botnets operated by various affiliates, cybersecurity firm Cleafy said in an analysis published last week. The new Medusa samples feature a "lightweight permission set and new features, such as the ability to display a full-screen overlay and remotely uninstall applications," security researchers Simone Mattia and Federico Valentini said. Medusa, also known as TangleBot, is a sophisticated Android malware first discovered in July 2020 targeting financial entities in Turkey. It comes with capabilities to read SMS messages, log keystrokes, capture screenshots, record calls, share the device screen in real-time, and perform unauthorized fund transfers using overlay a...