News

Privacy regulator taking a closer look at data privacy and PaLM 2

The European Union's key regulator for data privacy, Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC), has launched a cross-border inquiry into Google's AI model to ascertain if it complies with the bloc's rules.…

What kind of OS can be hijacked by clicking a link at just the right time? Microsoft's

In this week's Patch Tuesday Microsoft alerted users to, among other vulnerabilities, a flaw in Windows Installer that can be exploited by malware or a rogue user to gain SYSTEM-level privileges to hijack a PC.…

It could lead to a costly BEC situation

Palo Alto's Unit 42 threat intel team wants to draw the security industry's attention to an increasingly common tactic used by phishers to harvest victims' credentials.…

Get essential insights for IT security compliance and effectiveness from SANS

Webinar  As cybersecurity threats evolve, so do the regulations designed to protect businesses.…

Academically interesting technique for poking holes in paywalled tech specs

An anti-piracy system to protect online video streams from unauthorized copying is flawed – and can be broken to allow streamed media from Amazon, Netflix, and others to be saved, replayed, and spread at will, we're told.…

Augmented reality meets warped reality

A defense ministry official from Belarus has claimed augmented reality game Pokémon GO was a tool of Western intelligence agencies.…

Would paying a ransom - or better security - have been cheaper and safer?

A US healthcare giant will pay out $65 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by its own patients after ransomware crooks stole their data – including their nude photographs – and published at least some of them online.…

No class: Black Suit ransomware gang boasts of 200GB haul from one raid

Cybercriminals closed some schools in America and Britain this week, preventing kindergarteners in Washington state from attending their first-ever school day and shutting down all internet-based systems for Biggin Hill-area students in England for the next three weeks.…

You hate to see it

The Meow ransomware group has grabbed the second most active gang spot in an unexpected surge in activity following a major brand overhaul.…

Allegedly swiped more than 5.2M files and threatens to publish the lot

Ransomware gang Hunters International reportedly claims to have stolen more than 5.2 million files belonging to the London branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), a Chinese state-owned bank and financial service corporation, and set a deadline of September 13 to release all the data.…

A really big oh sh*t moment, for sure

For C-suite execs and security leaders, discovering your organization has been breached, your critical systems locked up and your data stolen, then receiving a ransom demand, is probably the worst day of your professional life.…

What happens at Black Hat…

While trying to escape the Las Vegas heat during Black Hat last month, watchTowr Labs researchers decided to poke around for weaknesses in the WHOIS protocol. They claim to have found a way to undermine certificate authorities, which the world trusts to keep the internet safe by verifying the identity of websites.…

ISC2 argues security training needs to steer toward what hiring managers want

The shortfall between the number of working security professionals and the number of security job openings has reached 4.8 million – a new high, according to cyber security non-profit ISC2.…

Minister reckons dedicated cops necessary to protect digital transactions

India has announced a plan to train a specialized wing of 5000 "Cyber Commandos" in the next five years, as part of its efforts to address cyber crime.…

CISA wants you to leap on Citrix and Ivanti issues. Adobe, Intel, SAP also bid for patching priorities

Patch Tuesday  Another Patch Tuesday has dawned, as usual with the unpleasant news that there are pressing security weaknesses and blunders to address.…

Elderly people report the greatest losses

The FBI just dropped its annual report examining the costs of crypto-related cybercrime, painting a predictably grim picture as total losses in the US exceeded $5.6 billion in 2023 – a 45 percent year-on-year increase.…

Beijing aimed research at immediate needs – like blocking leaks – while the US sought abstract knowledge

China has an undeniable lead in quantum networking technology – a state of affairs that should give the US pause, despite its lead in quantum computing.…

It promised vanishing messages, but now 'it's privacy theater'

Video  A popular privacy feature in WhatsApp is "completely broken and can be trivially bypassed," according to developers at cryptowallet startup Zengo.…

US alarmed by heightened Kremlin naval activity worldwide

Russia's naval activity near undersea cables is reportedly drawing the scrutiny of US officials, further sparking concerns that the Kremlin may be plotting to "sabotage" underwater infrastructure via a secretive, dedicated military unit called the General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI).…

'Insider wrongdoing' to blame for the breach

Avis Rent A Car System has alerted 299,006 customers across multiple US states that their personal information was stolen in an August data breach.…