cybersecurity – Newswire Report

Security News This Week: A Notorious Spyware Vendor Wants to Track Coronavirus Spread

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020 NewsEditorcoronavirus, COVID-19, cybersecurity, Hacking, Iran, security, security roundup, vulnerabilities

Everybody's worried about Zoom this week. As the video conferencing software rocketed to 200 million users amid widespread shelter-in-place orders, security and privacy pros have catalogued a litany of issues. It's probably perfectly fine for most people! But especially if you need true end-to-end encrypted meetings, maybe give Zoom a minute to get its act together. Zoom's not the only one benefiting from novel coronavirus quarantines. Online credit card skimmers have stepped up their activity now that everyone's shopping from home, according to data from security company RiskIQ. The most…

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Security News This Week: Chinese Hacking Surges Amid Coronavirus Crisis

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 NewsEditorChina, cybersecurity, Hacking, malware, security roundup

As the world continues to adjust to the reality of the new coronavirus, scammers are increasingly taking advantage as well. But one Twitch streamer has been calling them out before a live audience of thousands. And as health care systems become increasingly overwhelmed, the Army Corps of Engineers has drawn up plans to convert hotels, dorms, and even convention centers into makeshift hospitals. In non-Covid-19 news, Google security researchers spotted sophisticated hackers using new fewer than five so-called zero days in attacks against North Korea. (That's a lot.) Researchers at…

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Security News This Week: Ransomware Groups Promise Not to Hit Hospitals Amid Pandemic

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020 NewsEditorcybersecurity, Hacking, malware, ransomware, security roundup, vulnerabilities

The news at large this week has understandably focused on the new coronavirus that continues to spread throughout the world. It's slowly seeping into the world of cybersecurity as well, as hackers and scammers take advantage of confusion, anxiety, and lax work from home set-ups to stir up trouble. The need for information has spurred partnerships between encrypted messaging app WhatsApp and several governments; on Friday, the World Health Organization announced that it, too, would use the ubiquitous Facebook subsidiary to provide reliable, up-to-date information. The White House, meanwhile, has…

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How a Hacker’s Mom Broke Into a Prisonand the Warden’s Computer

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 NewsEditorcybersecurity, hacks, Prison

John Strand breaks into things for a living. As a penetration tester, he gets hired by organizations to attack their defenses, helping reveal weaknesses before actual bad guys find them. Normally, Strand embarks on these missions himself, or deploys one of his experienced colleagues at Black Hills Information Security. But in July 2014, prepping for a pen test of a South Dakota correctional facility, he took a decidedly different tack. He sent his mom. In fairness, it was Rita Strand's idea. Then 58, she had signed on as chief financial…

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Google’s Giving Out Security Keys to Help Protect Campaigns

February 15, 2020February 15, 2020 NewsEditorcampaigns, cybersecurity, Elections, Google, two-factor authentication

Malign foreign influence operations during the 2016 United States presidential election season raised awareness about the need for some improvement, many are still "You’ve got to get people to take the time to actually turn it on, so we’re going to be working with campaigns and helping them," says Michael Kaiser, president and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns. "Hardening your accounts is really something that every campaign needs, and not only the campaign workers themselves, but the spouse of the candidate, friends, family. There are a lot of different folks…