Double Agent attack can turn antivirus into malware
A zero-day attack called Double Agent can take over antivirus software on Windows machines and turn it into malware that encrypts files for ransom, exfiltrates data or formats the hard drives. Based on a 15-year-old feature in Windows from XP through Windows 10, the attack is effective against all 14 vendors’ antivirus products tested by…
SMS phishing for the masses
Phishing remains one of the top threats that affects both consumers and businesses thanks to ever evolving tricks. While ‘classic’ phishing emails remain a problem, they can somewhat be thwarted via spam filters, whereas SMS phishing scams are much more difficult to protect against. Case in point, here’s a fraudulent text message purporting to be from RBC, a…
IRS issues new tax scam warnings, FSA tool suspended due to security concerns
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a new warning to businesses, taxpayers, and tax prep professionals about Phishing scams targeting the sensitive information they work with on a daily basis. Soon after, the IRS and the US Department of Education suspended a tool that helps people obtain financial aid for college. The warning from…
UK follows US ban of electronic devices in cabins on some flights
The U.K. is joining the U.S. in its ban restricting passengers from bringing some electronic devices onto flights from the Middle East. Phones, laptops, and tablets that are larger than 16 cm (6.3 inches) in length and wider than 9.3 cm will no longer be allowed in the cabin on select flights coming from several…
What modern cyber attacks actually look like
Sometimes, your data protection tools may actually be providing a false sense of security. A Venafi survey of 500 CIOs found that they were wasting millions of dollars on cyber security solutions that couldn’t differentiate between malicious and authorized keys and certificates, Information Age reported. As a result, 90 percent of respondents said they expect their organization to…
Shift your perspective on cybercrime to realize how well you’re doing
A report recently surfaced placing the global impact of cybercrime at a staggering $450B. Naturally, it pressed on the tender wound and supplied further evidence that we are woefully unprepared, globally, to tackle such a complex challenge. In 2016 “cybercrime cost the global economy over $450 billion, over 2 billion personal records were stolen and…
3 overlooked endpoints for cyber attacks and how to protect them
You probably think you have endpoint security covered. After all, organizations have been securing end-user desktop and laptop computers for decades with anti-virus software and other cyber security programs. Because of these steps, you think you’re not at risk of an endpoint-initiated attack. However, NTT Security’s 2015 Global Threat Intelligence Report found that 70 percent…
BrandPost: Protecting against IoT-powered cyberthreats
Last October, long-standing predictions that the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) would form a launching pad for new cyberattacks hit home in a big way. As many as 100,000 malware-infected IoT devices flooded two major internet service providers with superfluous traffic in a broad distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Among the many commercial websites impacted were Twitter, Amazon and Netflix.
Data breaches: Playing by a new set of rules?
The regulator can come in and fine your organization. In fact, it could get even worst because you will become the victim of abnormal churn rate. You know that term to describe the number of customers that will leave you because they just don’t trust you anymore. Within the last year we have seen examples…
Five Steps to Protect Your Critical Data From Insider Threats
As companies around the world turn their attention to advanced threats endangering their most sensitive data, one category is commanding much-deserved attention: insider threats. With 44.5 percent of attacks perpetrated by malicious insiders, guarding against these incidents is becoming a pressing concern. An effective way to tackle insider threats is with an integrated approach that…