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Read the full article for key points from Intruder's VP of Product, Andy Hornegold's recent talk on exposure management. If you'd like to hear Andy's insights first-hand,  watch Intruder's on-demand webinar . To learn more about reducing your attack surface , reach out to their team today.   Attack surface management vs exposure management Attack surface management (ASM) is the ongoing process of discovering and identifying assets that can be seen by an attacker on the internet, showing where security gaps exist, where they can be used to perform an attack, and where defenses are strong enough to repel an attack. If there's something on the internet that can be exploited by an attacker, it typically falls under the realm of attack surface management. Exposure management takes this a step further to include data assets, user identities, and cloud account configuration. It can be summarized as the set of processes that allow organizations to continually and consistently eval...

The threat actors behind a recently observed Qilin ransomware attack have stolen credentials stored in Google Chrome browsers on a small set of compromised endpoints. The use of credential harvesting in connection with a ransomware infection marks an unusual twist, and one that could have cascading consequences, cybersecurity firm Sophos said in a Thursday report. The attack, detected in July 2024, involved infiltrating the target network via compromised credentials for a VPN portal that lacked multi-factor authentication (MFA), with the threat actors conducting post-exploitation actions 18 days after initial access took place. "Once the attacker reached the domain controller in question, they edited the default domain policy to introduce a logon-based Group Policy Object (GPO) containing two items," researchers Lee Kirkpatrick, Paul Jacobs, Harshal Gosalia, and Robert Weiland said . The first of them is a PowerShell script named "IPScanner.ps1" that's desi...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new information stealer that's designed to target Apple macOS hosts and harvest a wide range of information, underscoring how threat actors are increasingly setting their sights on the operating system. Dubbed Cthulhu Stealer, the malware has been available under a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model for $500 a month from late 2023. It's capable of targeting both x86_64 and Arm architectures. "Cthulhu Stealer is an Apple disk image (DMG) that is bundled with two binaries, depending on the architecture," Cado Security researcher Tara Gould said . "The malware is written in Golang and disguises itself as legitimate software." Some of the software programs it impersonates include CleanMyMac, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Adobe GenP, the last of which is an open-source tool that patches Adobe apps to bypass the Creative Cloud service and activates them without a serial key. Users who end up launching the unsigned file af...

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 33-year-old Latvian national living in Moscow, Russia, has been charged in the U.S. for allegedly stealing data, extorting victims, and laundering ransom payments since August 2021. Deniss Zolotarjovs (aka Sforza_cesarini) has been charged with conspiring to commit money laundering, wire fraud and Hobbs Act extortion. He was arrested in Georgia in December 2023 and has since been extradited to the U.S. as of this month. "Zolotarjovs is a member of a known cybercriminal organization that attacks computer systems of victims around the world," the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a press release this week. "Among other things, the Russian cybercrime group steals victim data and threatens to release it unless the victim pays ransom in cryptocurrency. The group maintains a leaks and auction website that lists victim companies and offers stolen data for download." Zolotarjovs is believed to have been an active member of the e-crime group, engaging with ot...

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a hardware backdoor within a particular model of MIFARE Classic contactless cards that could allow authentication with an unknown key and open hotel rooms and office doors. The attacks have been demonstrated against FM11RF08S, a new variant of MIFARE Classic that was released by Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics in 2020. "The FM11RF08S backdoor enables any entity with knowledge of it to compromise all user-defined keys on these cards, even when fully diversified, simply by accessing the card for a few minutes," Quarkslab researcher Philippe Teuwen said . The secret key is not only common to existing FM11RF08S cards, the investigation found that "the attacks could be executed instantaneously by an entity in a position to carry out a supply chain attack." Compounding matters further, a similar backdoor has been identified in the previous generation, FM11RF08, that's protected with another key. The backdoor has been obse...

SolarWinds has issued patches to address a new security flaw in its Web Help Desk (WHD) software that could allow remote unauthenticated users to gain unauthorized access to susceptible instances. "The SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) software is affected by a hardcoded credential vulnerability, allowing [a] remote unauthenticated user to access internal functionality and modify data," the company said in a new advisory released today. The issue, tracked as CVE-2024-28987 , is rated 9.1 on the CVSS scoring system, indicating critical severity. Horizon3.ai security researcher Zach Hanley has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw. Users are recommended to update to version 12.8.3 Hotfix 2 , but applying the fix requires Web Help Desk 12.8.3.1813 or 12.8.3 HF1. The disclosure comes a week after SolarWinds moved to resolve another critical vulnerability in the same software that could be exploited to execute arbitrary code (CVE-2024-28986, CVSS score: 9.8). ...

Details have emerged about a China-nexus threat group's exploitation of a recently disclosed, now-patched security flaw in Cisco switches as a zero-day to seize control of the appliances and evade detection. The activity, attributed to Velvet Ant, was observed early this year and involved the weaponization of CVE-2024-20399 (CVSS score: 6.0) to deliver bespoke malware and gain extensive control over the compromised system, facilitating both data exfiltration and persistent access. "The zero-day exploit allows an attacker with valid administrator credentials to the Switch management console to escape the NX-OS command line interface (CLI) and execute arbitrary commands on the Linux underlying operating system," cybersecurity company Sygnia said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Velvet Ant first caught the attention of researchers at the Israeli cybersecurity company in connection with a multi-year campaign that targeted an unnamed organization located in Eas...

As many as 15,000 applications using Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Application Load Balancer (ALB) for authentication are potentially susceptible to a configuration-based issue that could expose them to sidestep access controls and compromise applications. That's according to findings from Israeli cybersecurity company Miggo, which dubbed the problem ALBeast . "This vulnerability allows attackers to directly access affected applications, particularly if they are exposed to the internet," security researcher Liad Eliyahu said . ALB is an Amazon service designed to route HTTP and HTTPS traffic to target applications based on the nature of the requests. It also allows users to "offload the authentication functionality" from their apps into the ALB. "Application Load Balancer will securely authenticate users as they access cloud applications," Amazon notes on its website. "Application Load Balancer is seamlessly integrated with Amazon Cognit...

What is Continuous Attack Surface Penetration Testing or CASPT? Continuous Penetration Testing or Continuous Attack Surface Penetration Testing (CASPT) is an advanced security practice that involves the continuous, automated, and ongoing penetration testing services of an organization's digital assets to identify and mitigate security vulnerabilities. CASPT is designed for enterprises with an evolving attack surface where periodic pentesting is no longer sufficient. Unlike traditional penetration testing, which is often performed annually or semi-annually, CASPT is an ongoing process that integrates directly into the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring that vulnerabilities are discovered and addressed in real-time or near-real-time. CASPT is a proactive security measure designed to stay ahead of potential attackers by continuously evaluating the security posture of an organization. It enables security teams to identify critical entry points that could be exploited b...