Feds seek to up their cybersecurity game
The idea that the U.S. federal government could play a dominant and effective role in protecting the nation from malicious cyberattacks on everything from Internet of Things (IoT) devices to critical infrastructure to election voting systems might strike some people as absurd. Its catastrophic security failures are well known. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM)…
Researchers develop new technique to identify malware in embedded systems
A technique for detecting types of malware that use a system’s architecture to thwart traditional security measures has been developed by researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Texas at Austin. The new detection approach works by tracking power fluctuations in embedded systems. “Embedded systems are basically any computer that doesn’t have…
Legacy infrastructures and unmanaged devices top security risks in the healthcare industry
The proliferation of healthcare IoT devices, along with unpartitioned networks, insufficient access controls and the reliance on legacy systems, has exposed a vulnerable attack surface that can be exploited by cybercriminals determined to steal personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI), in addition to disrupting healthcare delivery processes. Published in the Vectra 2019…
IoT devices using CoAP increasingly used in DDoS attacks
IoT devices in synchronised attacks on targets represent a growing part of global Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) weapon arsenals. There is a significant potential for attackers to use an IoT-related protocol, the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), deployed on IoT devices to marshal attacks. The A10 Networks report on the state of DDoS weapons in…
Cybercrime could cost companies trillions over the next five years
Companies globally could incur $5.2 trillion in additional costs and lost revenue over the next five years due to cyberattacks, as dependency on complex internet-enabled business models outpaces the ability to introduce adequate safeguards that protect critical assets, according to Accenture. Based on a survey of more than 1,700 CEOs and other C-suite executives around…
The attack surface is growing faster than it has at any other point in the history of technology
Avast launched its annual Threat Landscape Report, detailing the biggest security trends facing consumers in 2019 as collected by the Avast Threat Labs team. Some of the key security trends that will evolve or continue to impact consumers in 2019 include: The dawn of adversarial AI We foresee the emergence of a class of attacks…
Helping researchers with IoT firmware vulnerability discovery
John Toterhi, a security researcher with IoT security company Finite State, believes that many of the security problems plaguing IoT devices are solvable problems through transparency. “Manufacturers who make their firmware public and follow GPL practices are doing themselves a huge favor: by making firmware public, manufacturers are enabling a world-wide network of the best…
Most consumers worry about cybercrime, but are not aware of what can be done about it
There is a high level of concern among consumers about the risks associated with cybercrime from their smart devices, and one in four claims to be a victim of a cyberattack. Yet, the vast majority of consumers are unaware of what they can do to protect themselves or feel they’ve already taken sufficient safety measures,…
USA and China identified as top cyber attack sources
NSFOCUS released its H1 Cybersecurity Insights report, which analyzed traffic from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018. Crypto miners Since the end of March, the number of crypto mining activities has risen sharply compared to the beginning of 2018. Among all crypto miners, WannaMine was the most active, responsible for more than 70 percent…
Hackers are finding creative ways to target connected medical devices
Hackers are leveraging error messages from connected medical devices — including radiology, X-ray and other imaging systems — to gain valuable insights, according to Zingbox. These insights are then used to refine the attacks, increasing the chance of successful hack. “Hackers are finding new and creative ways to target connected medical devices. We have to…