According to statements by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the People’s Republic of China-backed (PRC) hacking group Salt Typhoon, which attacked telecommunications providers last month, is still infiltrating the providers and it is “impossible for us to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full eviction.” One reason is that the hackers
Cybersecurity
Public Urged to Encrypt Mobile Phone Messaging and Calls
On December 4, 2024, four of the five members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group (the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) law enforcement and cyber security agencies (Agencies) published a joint guide for network engineers, defenders of communications infrastructure and organizations with on-premises enterprise equipment (the Guide). The Agencies strongly encourage applying the…
Enfield, NH Victim of $742K Wire Fraud Scheme
The Town of Enfield, New Hampshire, appears to have been the victim of a man-in-the-middle scheme involving the transfer of $742,000 to a fraudulent bank account. The town is constructing a new $7.2 million public safety building. An employee was tricked into sending the payment to a fraudulent bank account instead of the construction company…
Chinese Manufactured Batteries Pose Cybersecurity Threat to Critical Infrastructure
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, released its annual report to Congress this month. The 793-page report responds to the Commission’s mandate to “monitor, investigate, and report to Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.” The report is…
Joint Advisory Lists Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities
On November 12, 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Security Agency, along with its security partners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, issued the cybersecurity advisory “2023 Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities,” outlining top vulnerabilities impacting companies across the free world.
The…
The Impact of Stolen Credentials
This week, Schneider Electric confirmed that it is investigating a security incident involving its JIRA internal development platform. The attacker group, “Grep,” allege that it stole 40 GB of data from the JIRA platform by using stolen credentials, including “75,000 unique email addresses and full names for Schneider Electric employees and customers.” Grep posted on…
Scary Halloween News: Jumpy Pisces Using Play Ransomware to Attack Organizations
Unit 42 recently reported that it has identified “Jumpy Pisces, a North Korean state-sponsored threat group associated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, as a key player in a recent ransomware incident.” Its investigation indicates “with moderate confidence that Jumpy Pisces, or a faction of the group, is now collaborating with…
Microsoft Report Highlights Attacks Against Healthcare Organizations
On October 22, 2024, Microsoft issued a threat trend research report entitled “US Healthcare at risk: Strengthening resilience against ransomware attacks.” In it, Microsoft declares that ransomware attacks against the healthcare sector are “emerging as one of the most significant” cybersecurity threats to healthcare organizations. The attack surface of hospitals “grows more complex” with digital…
Three More States Sue TikTok Alleging Harm to Young Users
Following in the footsteps of Nebraska, the Attorneys General of North Carolina, California, and New Jersey filed complaints against TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, Ltd., on October 8, 2024.
The suits are lengthy and full of allegations against TikTok and how it is responsible for a “profound mental health crisis” of American teenagers. The…
Woeful Lack of Training for Chatbot Use in Workplace
A new US National Cybersecurity Alliance survey shows that over one-third (38%) of “employees share sensitive work information with artificial intelligence (AI) tools without their employer’s permission.” Not surprisingly, “Gen Z and millennial workers are more likely to share sensitive work information without getting permission.”
The problem with employees sharing workplace data with chatbots is…