Even ransomware stops for Christmas
An 81 percent drop recorded in Locky ransomware infections in December is thought to be down to the cyber criminals behind the malware taking a Christmas break.
Threat prevention company Check Point recorded the big drop in Locky infections as part of an eight percent overall decrease in the number of recognized malware attacks on organizations in December.
The list of most common passwords of 2016 includes a few surprises
Security breaches and data leaks are, obviously, a major concern, but they do have something of a silver lining. Leaks of passwords may open up the risk of individual accounts being targeted, but they also serve as a fascinating insight into the level of security people use for online services.
We all know someone who insists on using 'password' as their password, or something equally insecure such as '123456'. Keeper Security has published a list of the most common passwords used in 2016, and these old favorites remain firmly placed in the top 10. But there are a few surprises along the way, such as the weird popularity of '18atcskd2w'.
FBI-helping phone-cracking firm Cellebrite hit by 900GB hack
Cellebrite -- the Israeli security company famed for helping the FBI crack the iPhone at center of the San Bernardino case -- has been hit by hackers. The attack resulted in the theft of 900GB of data.
While the website Motherboard -- which was handed a copy of the data -- reports that "the cache includes customer information, databases, and a vast amount of technical data regarding Cellebrite's products", the company has downplayed the incident.
How to protect yourself from the WhatsApp 'backdoor'
Earlier today we reported about a security problem in WhatsApp that means it is possible for messages to be intercepted and read by others. The so-called 'backdoor' takes advantage of the fact that WhatsApp's implementation of end-to-end encryption makes it possible to resend encrypted messages using different security keys, allowing for third parties to read them.
What is concerning many people is the fact that (by default, at least) WhatsApp does not alert users when a message is resent using a different key -- which would be a warning of something going on. Here's what you need to do to ensure you are told when the key changes.
'Backdoor' in WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption leaves messages open to interception [Updated]
Facebook has long-claimed that its WhatsApp messaging service is completely secure and messages cannot be intercepted thanks to its use of end-to-end encryption. But researchers have unearthed what they call a serious security flaw that makes it possible to read encrypted messages.
Based on Open Whisper Systems' Signal Protocol, the unique security keys used to implement end-to-end encryption should keep messages secure. But WhatsApp can force offline users to generate new keys and this could allow Facebook -- and third parties -- to read messages.
European businesses are not ready for ransomware attacks
Ransomware was the number one way hackers attacked businesses in 2016, a new report by Radware confirms. Entitled Global Application and Network Security Report 2016-2017, it says 49 percent of European businesses confirmed cyber-ransom as the biggest motivator last year.
That basically represents a 100 percent increase compared to a year before, when it stood at 25 percent.
Yahoo's security is a huge mess
The latest reports on the data breach revelations at Yahoo, suggest that the company lost data for more than one billion users as far back as August 2013 and that the data is suspected to contain names, email addresses, hashed passwords, security questions and associated answers. In addition, Yahoo has stated that the attackers have accessed Yahoo proprietary code used to generate cookies for user access without credentials.
This major breach raises a number of questions, including: why did it take so long to identify and notify authorities about it? What are the implications for Yahoo users? What might this mean for Yahoo going forward? And what can other companies learn from these events?
Europe: we need more details from Yahoo about scanning emails for US intelligence
The European Union is not happy with the explanation Yahoo has given for scanning user emails for US intelligence. There is concern about how such surveillance could impact upon not only privacy, but also business between the EU and US, and trust has to be built from scratch as Donald Trump becomes president.
Yahoo -- which is on the verge of being sold to Verizon -- is not signed up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement that blocks the US from spying on European data. As such, the company has been acting on a previously-secret court order, gathering data for the NSA and FBI. Speaking with Reuters, the EU Justice Commissioner said she wants more information about what was gathered and why.
New platform detects and blocks attacks using behavior patterns
Traditional security solutions rely on detecting an attack based on existing information, which allows zero-day threats to slip through the net.
Israel-based Nyotron is launching a new generation of its PARANOID security platform designed to block attacks before they occur, regardless of threat type or method used to access the network.
Unsanctioned cloud use remains a problem for enterprises
A new report from cloud security company Netskope reveals that while enterprise cloud adoption continues to rise, unsanctioned use of services remains a problem.
The results show that half of all users of officially sanctioned cloud storage services like Box and Dropbox also have a personal instance of the same service. This can make detection of unauthorized copying of data more difficult.
Complaints about two-factor authentication are on the rise
Of companies that use two-factor authentication, 74 percent admit that they receive complaints about it from their users -- and nearly 10 percent of them just ‘hate it.’
This rather surprising information comes from a studty by access control company SecureAuth, carried out in conjunction with Amplitude Research, which surveyed 300 IT decision makers and cybersecurity professionals on industry perspectives and concerns over 2FA.
Public cloud has the greatest security implications say execs
A new survey reveals that 65 percent of senior IT and security executives think that the biggest security risks for business come from public clouds.
The study from IT solutions company BMC in conjunction with Forbes Insights also shows that 69 percent of respondents say digital transformation is forcing fundamental changes to existing cybersecurity strategies.
Cyberattacks against IoT devices tripled in 2016
It only takes one successful cyber-attack to seriously hurt a company, so it’s shocking to see that UK businesses suffered, on average, almost 230,000 cyber-attacks in 2016.
This is according to Beaming. The ISP says a third of attacks was targeting company databases, but two thirds were, in fact, attacking connected devices, such as security cameras or building control systems. Such devices can be controlled remotely, through the internet.
The biggest security threats in 2017
It’s that time of the year again: when the great and good of the cybersecurity industry reach for their crystal balls to anticipate what the threat landscape might look like in the next 12 months. We all know cybercriminals by and large don’t operate to annual deadlines.
But December still represents a good opportunity for us to point out what might be coming down the road. It’s what Trend Micro’s 1,200-strong global threat research team does all year round to ensure we’re prepared for anything the black hats can throw at us. The good news for the UK’s CISOs is that much of what we’ll see is a steady evolution from threats that will already be familiar to many. The bad news: that won’t make them any less dangerous.
EU wants to increase privacy in WhatsApp, Gmail and iMessage by preventing unwanted tracking
Facebook, Apple and Google face a drop in ad revenue if EU proposals to apply the same rules to online messaging services that currently apply to telecoms companies go through. In a nutshell, the proposals suggest that the likes of WhatsApp, Gmail and iMessage should ask for explicit user permission to allow tracking with a view to delivering targeted ads.
Google and Microsoft have already faced criticism for scanning emails and using the contents to tailor advertising to the recipient. The EU wants online message services to be subject to the ePrivacy Directive to help improve confidentiality and security.
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