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North Korean information technology (IT) workers who obtain employment under false identities in Western companies are not only stealing intellectual property, but are also stepping up by demanding ransoms in order to not leak it, marking a new twist to their financially motivated attacks. "In some instances, fraudulent workers demanded ransom payments from their former employers after gaining insider access, a tactic not observed in earlier schemes," Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) said in an analysis published this week. "In one case, a contractor exfiltrated proprietary data almost immediately after starting employment in mid-2024." The activity, the cybersecurity company added, shares similarities with a threat group it tracks as Nickel Tapestry, which is also known as Famous Chollima and UNC5267 . The fraudulent IT worker scheme, orchestrated with the intent to advance North Korea's strategic and financial interests, refers to an insider threat...

In the modern enterprise, data security is often discussed using a complex lexicon of acronyms—DLP, DDR, DSPM, and many others. While these acronyms represent critical frameworks, architectures, and tools for protecting sensitive information, they can also overwhelm those trying to piece together an effective security strategy. This article aims to demystify some of the most important acronyms in data security today and offer practical guidance to help businesses navigate the data security landscape and protect their most valuable assets with confidence. What's driving data security? In today's ever-evolving digital landscape, data security has become a top priority for businesses of all sizes. As data continues to be the most valuable asset for organizations, the need to protect it from breaches, unauthorized access, and other security threats grows. But what exactly is driving businesses to prioritize data security? From compliance with regulations to safeguarding intellectual pr...

A nascent threat actor known as Crypt Ghouls has been linked to a set of cyber attacks targeting Russian businesses and government agencies with ransomware with the twin goals of disrupting business operations and financial gain. "The group under review has a toolkit that includes utilities such as Mimikatz, XenAllPasswordPro, PingCastle, Localtonet, resocks, AnyDesk, PsExec, and others," Kaspersky said . "As the final payload, the group used the well-known ransomware LockBit 3.0 and Babuk." Victims of the malicious attacks span government agencies, as well as mining, energy, finance, and retail companies located in Russia. The Russian cybersecurity vendor said it was able to pinpoint the initial intrusion vector in only two instances, with the threat actors leveraging a contractor's login credentials to connect to the internal systems via VPN. The VPN connections are said to have originated from IP addresses associated with a Russian hosting provider...

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...

Picture your company's data as a vast, complex jigsaw puzzle—scattered across clouds, devices, and networks. Some pieces are hidden, some misplaced, and others might even be missing entirely. Keeping your data secure in today's fast-evolving landscape can feel like an impossible challenge. But there's a game-changing solution: Data Security Posture Management (DSPM). Think of it as a high-tech, super-powered lens that reveals your entire data puzzle—helping you find every piece, fix vulnerabilities, and secure everything with confidence. Join Our Webinar " Building a Successful Data Security Posture Management Program ," to Unlock the Full Potential of DSPM: Uncover Every Hidden Piece: DSPM shows you exactly where your critical data resides, even the parts you didn't know were there, so you can take control and secure it. Shield Your Data from Threats: Like a vigilant security guard, DSPM detects potential risks and helps you fend off attacks before they cause da...

Cybersecurity and intelligence agencies from Australia, Canada, and the U.S. have warned about a year-long campaign undertaken by Iranian cyber actors to infiltrate critical infrastructure organizations via brute-force attacks. "Since October 2023, Iranian actors have used brute force and password spraying to compromise user accounts and obtain access to organizations in the healthcare and public health (HPH), government, information technology, engineering, and energy sectors," the agencies said in a joint advisory. The attacks have targeted healthcare, government, information technology, engineering, and energy sectors, per the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). Another notable tactic out...

Threat actors are leveraging fake Google Meet web pages as part of an ongoing malware campaign dubbed ClickFix to deliver infostealers targeting Windows and macOS systems. "This tactic involves displaying fake error messages in web browsers to deceive users into copying and executing a given malicious PowerShell code, finally infecting their systems," French cybersecurity company Sekoia said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Variations of the ClickFix (aka ClearFake and OneDrive Pastejacking) campaign have been reported widely in recent months , with threat actors employing different lures to redirect users to bogus pages that aim to deploy malware by urging site visitors to run an encoded PowerShell code to address a supposed issue with displaying content in the web browser. These pages are known to masquerade as popular online services, including Facebook, Google Chrome, PDFSimpli, and reCAPTCHA, and now Google Meet as well as potentially Zoom - meet.googl...

Microsoft has disclosed details about a now-patched security flaw in Apple's Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) framework in macOS that has likely come under exploitation to get around a user's privacy preferences and access data. The shortcoming, codenamed HM Surf by the tech giant, is tracked as CVE-2024-44133 (CVSS score: 5.5). It was addressed by Apple as part of macOS Sequoia 15 by removing the vulnerable code. HM Surf "involves removing the TCC protection for the Safari browser directory and modifying a configuration file in the said directory to gain access to the user's data, including browsed pages, the device's camera, microphone, and location, without the user's consent," Jonathan Bar Or of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said . Microsoft said the new protections are limited to Apple's Safari browser, and that it's working with other major browser vendors to further explore the benefits of hardening local configuration file...

The Russian threat actor known as RomCom has been linked to a new wave of cyber attacks aimed at Ukrainian government agencies and unknown Polish entities since at least late 2023. The intrusions are characterized by the use of a variant of the RomCom RAT dubbed SingleCamper (aka SnipBot or RomCom 5.0), said Cisco Talos, which is monitoring the activity cluster under the moniker UAT-5647. "This version is loaded directly from the registry into memory and uses a loopback address to communicate with its loader," security researchers Dmytro Korzhevin, Asheer Malhotra, Vanja Svajcer, and Vitor Ventura noted . RomCom, also tracked as Storm-0978, Tropical Scorpius, UAC-0180, UNC2596, and Void Rabisu, has engaged in multi-motivational operations such as ransomware, extortion, and targeted credential gathering since its emergence in 2022. It's been assessed that the operational tempo of their attacks has increased in recent months with an aim to set up long-term persisten...

Cybersecurity researchers have gleaned additional insights into a nascent ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) called Cicada3301 after successfully gaining access to the group's affiliate panel on the dark web. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB said it contacted the threat actor behind the Cicada3301 persona on the RAMP cybercrime forum via the Tox messaging service after the latter put out an advertisement, calling for new partners into its affiliate program. "Within the dashboard of the Affiliates' panel of Cicada3301 ransomware group contained sections such as Dashboard, News, Companies, Chat Companies, Chat Support, Account, an FAQ section, and Log Out," researchers Nikolay Kichatov and Sharmine Low said in a new analysis published today. Cicada3301 first came to light in June 2024, with the cybersecurity community uncovering strong source code similarities with the now-defunct BlackCat ransomware group. The RaaS scheme is estimated to have compromised no less th...