Security News > 2021 > May
Facebook has pledged to make end-to-end encryption the default across all of its messaging services - though has told users not to expect it on Facebook Messenger or Instagram Direct until 2022 "At the earliest". Gail Kent, Facebook's policy director for Messenger, shared a blog post on 30 April outlining the social media company's plans to improve the security of its messaging apps following the surge in private messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Owners of Dell devices were informed on Tuesday that a firmware update driver present on a large number of systems is affected by a series of high-severity vulnerabilities. Dell says the vulnerabilities, caused by insufficient access control issues, can be exploited by a local, authenticated attacker for privilege escalation, denial of service, or information disclosure.
A new variant of the Buer malware loader has been detected, written in Rust. The most likely reason for the development of a Rust variant is to evade anti-malware detections that are based on features of the malware written in C. In the associated campaigns detected by Proofpoint, the malware is distributed by DHL-themed phishing emails and is used to deliver malicious Word or Excel documents.
Security researchers Ralf-Philipp Weinmann of Kunnamon, Inc. and Benedikt Schmotzle of Comsecuris GmbH have found remote zero-click security vulnerabilities in an open-source software component used in Tesla automobiles that allowed them to compromise parked cars and control their infotainment systems over WiFi. It would be possible for an attacker to unlock the doors and trunk, change seat positions, both steering and acceleration modes - in short, pretty much what a driver pressing various buttons on the console can do.
As scarcity and demand increase, gaining the online advantage through automation has taken hold as shopping bots invade online retailers to purchase desirable items, then resell them on the secondary market. As bots become more commonplace, human buyers are unleashing their dissatisfaction on the retailers through social media and taking their business elsewhere - but what happens when bots take over and there is nowhere else to turn?
A global-scale phishing campaign targeted worldwide organizations across an extensive array of industries with never-before-seen malware strains delivered via specially-tailored lures. UNC2529, as Mandiant threat researchers track the "Uncategorized" threat group behind this campaign, has deployed three new malware strains onto the targets' computers using custom phishing lures.
Innovative twists on banking scams and corporate-account hunters wielding increasingly clever lures, including those with COVID-19 vaccine promises, are likely to dominate the spam and phishing landscape throughout Q2 2021, according to researchers. Another particularly despicable COVID scam email specifically targeted people over 65 seeking a vaccine, the researchers added.
Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro on Monday announced a new endpoint security solution developed by TXOne Networks for devices in operational technology environments. Launched in 2018 as a joint venture between Trend Micro and industrial networking solutions provider Moxa, TXOne offers solutions for protecting industrial control systems against cyber threats.
A driver that's been pushed for the past 12 years to Dell computer devices for consumers and enterprises contains multiple vulnerabilities that could lead to increased privileges on the system. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of Dell computers, from desktops and laptops to tablets, received the vulnerable driver through BIOS updates.
Dubbed "Pingback," this malware targets Microsoft Windows 64-bit systems, and uses DLL Hijacking to gain persistence. Abuses real Windows service to load malicious DLL. Today, Trustwave senior architect Lloyd Macrohon and principal security researcher Rodel Mendrez, have released their findings on a novel Windows malware that exists as a 64-bit DLL. Of note is the malware sample's choice of the communication protocol being ICMP, which is also used by the popular ping command and the Windows traceroute utility.