Security News > 2021 > January
A researcher claimed last week that he managed to take control of the country code top-level domain for the Democratic Republic of Congo after an important domain name was left to expire. Fredrik Almroth, founder and researcher at web security company Detectify, decided to analyze the name server records used by all TLDs. These NS records specify the servers for a DNS zone.
"On Christmas Eve, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that it was responding to a significant cyber-attack affecting its contact centre, internal systems, processes and internal communications," it revealed. Certain systems have been "Isolated" but SEPA warned that security experts working with the Scottish government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre "Confirm we remain subject to an ongoing ransomware attack likely to be by international serious and organised cyber-crime groups intent on disrupting public services and extorting public funds."
The Ryuk ransomware criminal enterprise is estimated to be worth more than $150,000,000, security researchers say. Initially detailed in 2018 and believed to be operated by Russian cybercriminals, Ryuk has become one of the most prevalent malware families, being used in various high-profile attacks, such as the targeting of Pennsylvania-based UHS and Alabama hospital chain DCH Health System.
With less than three days until the inauguration of Joe Biden, the Trump Administration has reportedly revoked several licences that would allow Huawei to buy US-made tech, and plans to deny over 150 pending requests. In May 2019, the Trump Administration placed Huawei on an entity list, citing national security grounds.
Sadly, concerns about medical device IT security are a healthcare reality. Ripple20 for instance is a group of bugs found in June 2020, plaguing 53,000 medical device models.
Windows utility developer IObit was hacked over the weekend to perform a widespread attack to distribute the strange DeroHE ransomware to its forum members. Over the weekend, IObit forum members began receiving emails claiming to be from IObit stating that they are entitled to a free 1-year license to their software as a special perk of being a forum member.
Windows utility developer IObit was hacked over the weekend to perform a widespread attack to distribute the strange DeroHE ransomware to its forum members. Over the weekend, IObit forum members began receiving emails claiming to be from IObit stating that they are entitled to a free 1-year license to their software as a special perk of being a forum member.
A couple of researchers claim they have earned $50,000 from Apple for finding some serious vulnerabilities that gave them access to the tech giant's servers. Harsh Jaiswal and Rahul Maini, India-based bug bounty hunters who specialize in application security, said they discovered the flaws in recent months, being inspired by a group of researchers who in October reported receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from Apple for a total of 55 vulnerabilities, including ones that exposed source code, iCloud accounts, warehouse software, and employee and customer apps.
Joker's Stash, a large underground marketplace for stolen payment card data, has announced plans to shut down operations on February 15, 2021. The representatives of the carding service pointed out that, although the marketplace has become highly popular, the team is getting a "Well-deserved retirement."
WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal. The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to chat with customers can share data with Facebook, which could use the information for targeted ads, according to the social network.