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The concept of "passwordless" authentication has been gaining significant industry and media attention. And for a good reason. Our digital lives are demanding an ever-increasing number of online accounts and services, with security best practices dictating that each requires a strong, unique password in order to ensure data stays safe. Who wouldn't want an easier way? That's the premise behind one-time passwords (OTP), biometrics, pin codes, and other authentication methods presented as passwordless security. Rather than remembering cumbersome passwords, users can authenticate themselves using something they own, know, or are. Some examples include a smartphone, OTP, hardware token, or biometric marker like a fingerprint. While this sounds appealing on the surface, the problem is that, when you dig deeper, these passwordless solutions are still reliant on passwords. This happens in two primary ways: Passwordless Solutions Rely on Passwords as a Fallback If you ha

A Mac malware campaign targeting Xcode developers has been retooled to add support for Apple's new M1 chips and expand its features to steal confidential information from cryptocurrency apps. XCSSET came into the spotlight in  August 2020  after it was found to spread via modified Xcode IDE projects, which, upon the building, were configured to execute the payload. The malware repackages payload modules to imitate legitimate Mac apps, which are ultimately responsible for infecting local Xcode projects and injecting the main payload to execute when the compromised project builds. XCSSET modules come with the capabilities to steal credentials, capture screenshots, inject malicious JavaScript into websites, plunder user data from different apps, and even encrypt files for a ransom.  Then in March 2021, Kaspersky researchers  uncovered  XCSSET samples compiled for the new Apple M1 chips, suggesting that the malware campaign was not only ongoing but also that adversaries are  activ

Imagine a world where the software that powers your favorite apps, secures your online transactions, and keeps your digital life could be outsmarted and taken over by a cleverly disguised piece of code. This isn't a plot from the latest cyber-thriller; it's actually been a reality for years now. How this will change – in a positive or negative direction – as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on a larger role in software development is one of the big uncertainties related to this brave new world. In an era where AI promises to revolutionize how we live and work, the conversation about its security implications cannot be sidelined. As we increasingly rely on AI for tasks ranging from mundane to mission-critical, the question is no longer just, "Can AI  boost cybersecurity ?" (sure!), but also "Can AI  be hacked? " (yes!), "Can one use AI  to hack? " (of course!), and "Will AI  produce secure software ?" (well…). This thought leadership article is about the latter. Cydrill  (a

A high-level manager and systems administrator associated with the FIN7 threat actor has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday. Fedir Hladyr , a 35-year-old Ukrainian national, is said to have played a crucial role in a criminal scheme that compromised tens of millions of debit and credit cards, in addition to aggregating the stolen information, supervising other members of the group, and maintaining the server infrastructure that FIN7 used to attack and control victims' machines. The development comes after Hladyr pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking in September 2019. He was arrested in Dresden, Germany, in 2018 and extradited to the U.S. city of Seattle. Hladyr has also been ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution. "This criminal organization had more than 70 people organized into business units and teams. Some were hackers, others developed the malwa

People talk about the cybersecurity job market like it's a monolith, but there are a number of different roles within cybersecurity, depending not only on your skill level and experience but on what you like to do. In fact, Cybercrime Magazine came up with a list of  50 cybersecurity job titles , while CyberSN, a recruiting organization, came up with its own list of  45 cybersecurity job categories . Similarly, OnGig.com, a company that helps firms write their job ads, analyzed 150 cybersecurity job titles and came up with its  own top 30 list . This article is based on research I did with Springboard, one of the  first cybersecurity bootcamps with a job guarantee  and 1:1 mentorship. In particular, CyberSeek.org, a joint industry initiative looking at the cybersecurity job market, offers an  interactive list  of not only the various positions within cybersecurity but offers you a career path showing how you can get promoted. The complicated part is that these titles and roles

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday issued an  advisory  warning of multiple vulnerabilities in the OpENer  EtherNet/IP  stack that could expose industrial systems to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, data leaks, and remote code execution. All OpENer commits and versions prior to February 10, 2021, are affected, although there are no known public exploits that specifically target these vulnerabilities. The four security flaws were discovered and reported to CISA by researchers Tal Keren and Sharon Brizinov from operational technology security company Claroty. Additionally, a fifth security issue identified by Claroty was previously disclosed by Cisco Talos ( CVE-2020-13556 ) on December 2, 2020. "An attacker would only need to send crafted ENIP/CIP packets to the device in order to exploit these vulnerabilities," the researchers  said . CVE-2020-13556 concerns an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Ethernet/IP server that cou

The U.S. and U.K. on Thursday formally attributed the supply chain attack of IT infrastructure management company SolarWinds with "high confidence" to government operatives working for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). "Russia's pattern of malign behaviour around the world – whether in cyberspace, in election interference or in the aggressive operations of their intelligence services – demonstrates that Russia remains the most acute threat to the U.K.'s national and collective security," the U.K. government  said  in a statement. To that effect, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia for "undermining the conduct of free and fair elections and democratic institutions" in the U.S. and for its role in facilitating the sprawling SolarWinds hack, while also barring six technology companies in the country that provide support to the cyber program run by Russian Intelligence Services. The com

Multiple one-click vulnerabilities have been discovered across a variety of popular software applications, allowing an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code on target systems. The issues were discovered by Positive Security researchers Fabian Bräunlein and Lukas Euler and affect apps like Telegram, Nextcloud, VLC, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Bitcoin/Dogecoin Wallets, Wireshark, and Mumble. "Desktop applications which pass user supplied URLs to be opened by the operating system are frequently vulnerable to code execution with user interaction," the researchers  said . "Code execution can be achieved either when a URL pointing to a malicious executable (.desktop, .jar, .exe, …) hosted on an internet accessible file share (nfs, webdav, smb, …) is opened, or an additional vulnerability in the opened application's URI handler is exploited." Put differently; the flaws stem from an insufficient validation of URL input that, when opened with the help of the u

A malicious program intended to cause havoc with IT systems—malware—is becoming more and more sophisticated every year. The year 2021 is no exception, as recent trends indicate that several  new variants of malware  are making their way into the world of cybersecurity. While smarter security solutions are popping up, modern malware still eludes and challenges cybersecurity experts.  The evolution of malware has infected everything from personal computers to industrial units since the 70s. Cybersecurity firm  FireEye's network was attacked  in 2020 by hackers with the most sophisticated form of hacking i.e., supply chain. This hacking team demonstrated world-class capabilities to disregard security tools and forensic examination, proving that anybody can be hacked. Also, the year 2021 is already witnessing a bump in  COVID-19 vaccine-related phishing attacks .  Let's take a look at the trends that forecast an increase in malware attacks: COVID-19 and Work-from-Home (WFH) 

Cybercriminals are resorting to search engine poisoning techniques to lure business professionals into visiting seemingly legitimate Google sites that install a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) capable of carrying out a wide range of attacks. The attack works by leveraging searches for business forms such as invoices, templates, questionnaires, and receipts as a stepping stone toward infiltrating the systems. Users attempting to download the alleged document templates are  redirected , without their knowledge, to a malicious website that hosts the malware. "Once the RAT is on the victim's computer and activated, the threat actors can send commands and upload additional malware to the infected system, such as ransomware, a credential stealer, a banking trojan, or simply use the RAT as a foothold into the victim's network," researchers from eSentire  said  in a write-up published on Tuesday. The cybersecurity firm said it discovered over 100,000 unique web pages that co