Security News > 2020

Despite all the new technologies, strategies, and artificial intelligence being employed by security experts and threat actors alike, one thing remains constant: the human element. Most organizations continue to invest the largest chunk of their security budget on protecting the network perimeter rather than focusing on security controls which can protect against the leading attack vector: privileged access abuse.

Adobe failed to release security updates on March 2020 Patch Tuesday, but has pushed them out this Tuesday, for Acrobat and Reader, Photoshop, ColdFusion, Experience Manager, Bridge, and Genuine Integrity Service. The heftiest updates are those for Photoshop and Acrobat and Reader for Windows and macOS. The Photoshop updates fix 16 vulnerabilities that could be exploited for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user and 6 that could lead to disclosure of information.

There are ways to protect yourself from this type of malware, as described by Cybereason. In a blog post published on Wednesday entitled "Just Because You're Home Doesn't Mean You're Safe," Cybereason discussed the different types of coronavirus-themed malware and how and where they're being used.

Most ransomware is deployed after hours, and usually several days after the initial compromise, newly published research from FireEye reveals. While performing an analysis of dozens of incidents between 2017 and 2019, FireEye discovered common characteristics related to infection vectors, dwell time, and time of day of ransomware deployment, while also identifying innovations that operators adopted to maximize profits.

Adobe has released out-of-band updates addressing critical vulnerabilities in its Photoshop and Acrobat Reader products, which if exploited could allow arbitrary code-execution. In this most recent group, Adobe Photoshop had the most vulnerabilities fixed, with 22 CVEs addressed overall, 16 of which were critical: "Adobe has released updates for Photoshop for Windows and macOS. These updates resolve multiple critical and important vulnerabilities," according to Adobe's advisory.

A town clerk in the English county of Shropshire has been the subject of the first ever successful Freedom of Information prosecution after lying to a member of the public who made an FoI request. She pleaded guilty last week to breaking section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by deleting a recording of a council meeting that was requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

The abrupt move of millions of people to working remotely has sparked an unprecedented volume of attacks to trick people into giving up credentials to attackers, according to security researchers. The pandemic has created a perfect storm for cyberattacks, with millions of people working in unfamiliar, less secure circumstances and eager for information about the virus and new organizational policies being implemented.

Attorney General William Barr vowed in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that there would be swift and severe action if a foreign government is behind disinformation campaigns aimed at spreading fear in the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic or a denial of service attack on the networks of the Department of Health and Human Services. Barr told the AP the federal government would take action against anyone who was trying to take advantage of the crisis or against foreign governments that could be trying to spread misinformation and stoke fear or slow down the U.S. response to the virus.

Authorities in the United States and Israel are eyeing ways to use mobile-phone and other location-based data to help control the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, raising serious privacy concerns about the practice of using and sharing people's personal data during the time of a global health crisis. The government is mulling this potential compiling of people's personal and location-specific data with the purpose of mapping the spread of infection and using this knowledge to provide solutions to the problem, according to the report.

Cynet has revealed new data, showing that the Coronavirus now has a significant impact on information security and that the crisis is actively exploited by threat actors. In light of these insights, Cynet has shared a few ways to best prepare for the Coronavirus derived threat landscape and provides a solution to protect employees that are working from home with their personal computers, because of the coronavirus.