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From Now On, Only Default Android Apps Can Access Call Log and SMS Data

From Now On, Only Default Android Apps Can Access Call Log and SMS Data

Oct 09, 2018
A few hours ago the company announced its "non-shocking" plans to shut down Google+ social media network following a "shocking" data breach incident. Now to prevent abuse and potential leakage of sensitive data to third-party app developers, Google has made several significant changes giving users more control over what type of data they choose to share with each app. The changes are part of Google's Project Strobe —a "root-and-branch" review of third-party developers access to Google account and Android device data and of its idea around apps' data access. Restricted Call Log and SMS Permissions for Apps Google announced some new changes to the way permissions are approved for Android apps to prevent abuse and potential leakage of sensitive call and text log data by third-party developers. While the apps are only supposed to request permission those are required for functioning properly, any Android app can ask permission to access y
Google+ is Shutting Down After a Vulnerability Exposed 500,000 Users' Data

Google+ is Shutting Down After a Vulnerability Exposed 500,000 Users' Data

Oct 08, 2018
Google is going to shut down its social media network Google+ after the company suffered a massive data breach that exposed the private data of hundreds of thousands of Google Plus users to third-party developers. According to the tech giant, a security vulnerability in one of Google+'s People APIs allowed third-party developers to access data for more than 500,000 users, including their usernames, email addresses, occupation, date of birth, profile photos, and gender-related information. Since Google+ servers do not keep API logs for more than two weeks, the company cannot confirm the number of users impacted by the vulnerability. However, Google assured its users that the company found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or that the profile data was misused by any of the 438 developers that could have had access. "However, we ran a detailed analysis over the two weeks prior to patching the bug, and from that analysis, the Profiles of up to 500,00
Making Sense of Operational Technology Attacks: The Past, Present, and Future

Making Sense of Operational Technology Attacks: The Past, Present, and Future

Mar 21, 2024Operational Technology / SCADA Security
When you read reports about cyber-attacks affecting operational technology (OT), it's easy to get caught up in the hype and assume every single one is sophisticated. But are OT environments all over the world really besieged by a constant barrage of complex cyber-attacks? Answering that would require breaking down the different types of OT cyber-attacks and then looking back on all the historical attacks to see how those types compare.  The Types of OT Cyber-Attacks Over the past few decades, there has been a growing awareness of the need for improved cybersecurity practices in IT's lesser-known counterpart, OT. In fact, the lines of what constitutes a cyber-attack on OT have never been well defined, and if anything, they have further blurred over time. Therefore, we'd like to begin this post with a discussion around the ways in which cyber-attacks can either target or just simply impact OT, and why it might be important for us to make the distinction going forward. Figure 1 The Pu
New Exploit for MikroTik Router WinBox Vulnerability Gives Full Root Access

New Exploit for MikroTik Router WinBox Vulnerability Gives Full Root Access

Oct 08, 2018
A known vulnerability in MikroTik routers is potentially far more dangerous than previously thought. A cybersecurity researcher from Tenable Research has released a new proof-of-concept (PoC) RCE attack for an old directory traversal vulnerability that was found and patched within a day of its discovery in April this year. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2018-14847, was initially rated as medium in severity but should now be rated critical because the new hacking technique used against vulnerable MikroTik routers allows attackers to remotely execute code on affected devices and gain a root shell. The vulnerability impacts Winbox—a management component for administrators to set up their routers using a Web-based interface—and a Windows GUI application for the RouterOS software used by the MikroTik devices. The vulnerability allows "remote attackers to bypass authentication and read arbitrary files by modifying a request to change one byte related to a Session ID.&qu
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Automated remediation solutions are crucial for security

websiteWing SecurityShadow IT / SaaS Security
Especially when it comes to securing employees' SaaS usage, don't settle for a longer to-do list. Auto-remediation is key to achieving SaaS security.
How to Start a Career in Cybersecurity: All You Need to Know

How to Start a Career in Cybersecurity: All You Need to Know

Oct 08, 2018
Cybersecurity is one of the most dynamic and exciting fields in tech, combining cutting-edge information technology with crime fighting. It's also an industry in serious need of qualified professionals. Estimates show that there are over one million unfilled cybersecurity jobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of information security analysts will grow 28 percent from 2016 to 2026, "much faster than the average for all occupations." This presents a massive opportunity for people looking to break into the industry. If you want to join the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, Springboard has done all of the research for you in building the Cybersecurity Career Track . Here's what you need to know: Key Roles in Cybersecurity First, we have to drill down to the different roles and specialties within cybersecurity so you know which might be the best fit for you. There are three broad categories of roles here, analysts, engineers and archite
Silk Road Admin Pleads Guilty – Could Face Up to 20 Years in Prison

Silk Road Admin Pleads Guilty – Could Face Up to 20 Years in Prison

Oct 06, 2018
An Irish national who helped run the now-defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road pleaded guilty on Friday to drug trafficking charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Gary Davis , also known as Libertas, was one of the site administrators and forum moderators for Silk Road, then-largest underground marketplace on the Internet used by thousands of users to sell and buy drugs and other illegal goods and services. Silk Road went down after the law enforcement raided its servers in 2013 and arrested its founder Ross William Ulbricht , who has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on multiple counts related to the underground drug marketplace. The FBI also seized Bitcoins (worth about $33.6 million, at the time) from the website. Those Bitcoins were later sold in a series of auctions by the United States Marshals Service (USMS). According to a press release published by US Department of Justice, Davis helped the black market website "r
Chinese Spying Chips Found Hidden On Servers Used By US Companies

Chinese Spying Chips Found Hidden On Servers Used By US Companies

Oct 04, 2018
A media report today revealed details of a significant supply chain attack which appears to be one of the largest corporate espionage and hardware hacking programs from a nation-state. According to a lengthy report published today by Bloomberg, a tiny surveillance chip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, has been found hidden in the servers used by nearly 30 American companies, including Apple and Amazon. The malicious chips, which were not part of the original server motherboards designed by the U.S-based company Super Micro, had been inserted during the manufacturing process in China. The report, based on a 3-year-long top-secret investigation in the United States, claims that the Chinese government-affiliated groups managed to infiltrate the supply chain to install tiny surveillance chips to motherboards which ended up in servers deployed by U.S. military, U.S. intelligence agencies, and many U.S. companies like Apple and Amazon. "Apple made its discovery of suspi
Wi-Fi Gets Simplified Version Numbers and Next Version is Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi Gets Simplified Version Numbers and Next Version is Wi-Fi 6

Oct 03, 2018
Do you know what is the latest version of Wi-Fi? It's okay if you don't know. It is — Wi-Fi is 802.11ac. I am sure many of us can't answer this question immediately because the Wi-Fi technology doesn't have a traditional format of version numbers… at least until yesterday. The Wi-Fi Alliance—the group that manages the implementation of Wi-Fi—has today announced that the next version of WiFi standard, which is 802.11ax, will use a simpler naming scheme and will be called WiFi 6. Wi-Fi 6, based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard, will offer higher data rates, increased capacity, good performance—even in dense environments (such as stadiums or public venues) and improved power efficiency, making it perfect choice for smart home and IoT uses). Of course, the updated version names of all previous Wi-Fi standards will now be: 802.11b → Wi-Fi 1 802.11a → Wi-Fi 2 802.11g → Wi-Fi 3 802.11n → Wi-Fi 4, 802.11ac (current) → Wi-Fi 5 This new straightforward approach
Bank Servers Hacked to Trick ATMs into Spitting Out Millions in Cash

Bank Servers Hacked to Trick ATMs into Spitting Out Millions in Cash

Oct 03, 2018
The US-CERT has released a joint technical alert from the DHS, the FBI, and Treasury warning about a new ATM scheme being used by the prolific North Korean APT hacking group known as Hidden Cobra . Hidden Cobra, also known as Lazarus Group and Guardians of Peace, is believed to be backed by the North Korean government and has previously launched attacks against a number of media organizations, aerospace, financial and critical infrastructure sectors across the world. The group had also reportedly been associated with the WannaCry ransomware menace that last year shut down hospitals and big businesses worldwide, the SWIFT Banking attack in 2016, as well as the Sony Pictures hack in 2014. Now, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of the Treasury have released details about a new cyber attack, dubbed " FASTCash ," that Hidden Cobra has been using since at least 2016 to cash out ATMs by compromising the bank server. FASTCash Hack
Facebook Finds 'No Evidence' Hackers Accessed Connected Third-Party Apps

Facebook Finds 'No Evidence' Hackers Accessed Connected Third-Party Apps

Oct 03, 2018
When Facebook last weekend disclosed a massive data breach—that compromised access tokens for more than 50 million accounts —many feared that the stolen tokens could have been used to access other third-party services, including Instagram and Tinder, through Facebook login. Good news is that Facebook found no evidence "so far" that proves such claims. In a blog post published Tuesday, Facebook security VP Guy Rosen revealed that investigators "found no evidence" of hackers accessing third-party apps with its "Login with Facebook" feature. "We have now analyzed our logs for all third-party apps installed or logged in during the attack we discovered last week. That investigation has so far found no evidence that the attackers accessed any apps using Facebook Login," Rosen says. This does not mean that the stolen access tokens that had already been revoked by Facebook do not pose any threat to thousands of third-party services using Face
Google Announces 5 Major Security Updates for Chrome Extensions

Google Announces 5 Major Security Updates for Chrome Extensions

Oct 02, 2018
Google has made several new announcements for its Chrome Web Store that aims at making Chrome extensions more secure and transparent to its users. Over a couple of years, we have seen a significant rise in malicious extensions that appear to offer useful functionalities, while running hidden malicious scripts in the background without the user's knowledge. However, the best part is that Google is aware of the issues and has proactively been working to change the way its Chrome web browser handles extensions. Earlier this year, Google banned extensions using cryptocurrency mining scripts and then in June, the company also disabled inline installation of Chrome extensions completely. The company has also been using machine learning technologies to detect and block malicious extensions. To take a step further, Google announced Monday five major changes that give users more control over certain permissions, enforces security measures, as well as makes the ecosystem more t
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