Security News > 2021
According to Kaspersky's "The State of Stalkerware 2020" report, there were 53,870 mobile users within its telemetry who were affected by stalkerware during the year. This is despite the fact that Google banned stalkerware apps from Google Play last year.
I checked in with Morgan Wright, chief security advisor for SentinelOne, a cybersecurity provider; Chris Roberts, hacker in residence at Semperis, a cybersecurity provider; and Alexander García-Tobar, CEO and co-founder of Valimail, a secure email provider, to obtain their insights on what the new administration's cybersecurity priorities should be. As a leader in identity-based anti-phishing solutions, Valimail is particularly focused on email security best practices, as well as email security within the U.S. election infrastructure.
American telecommunications provider T-Mobile has disclosed a data breach after an unknown number of customers were apparently affected by SIM swap attacks. The FBI shared guidance on how to defend against SIM swapping following an increase in the number of SIM hijacking attacks targeting cryptocurrency adopters and investors.
The prolific North Korean APT known as Lazarus is behind a spear-phishing campaign aimed at stealing critical data from defense companies by leveraging an advanced malware called ThreatNeedle, new research has revealed. The elaborate and ongoing cyberespionage campaign used emails with COVID-19 themes paired with publicly available personal information of targets to lure them into taking the malware bait, according to Kaspersky, which first observed the activity in mid-2020.
A hacking group called 'Hotarus Corp' has hacked Ecuador's Ministry of Finance and the country's largest bank, Banco Pichincha, where they claim to have stolen internal data. The ransomware gang first targeted Ecuador's Ministry of Finance, the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas de Ecuador, where they deployed a PHP-based ransomware strain to encrypt a site hosting an online course.
Bots - basically autonomous programs on the web - have emerged amid widespread frustration with the online world of vaccine appointments. The most notable bots scan vaccine provider websites to detect changes, which could mean a clinic is adding new appointments.
Even as more and more people get vaccinated against COVID-19 despite a slow rollout, most companies have business travel plans on hold at least for now. Brian Kropp, chief of research in the Gartner HR research, said that executives are still very early in their planning process around starting normal business travel.
In early 2021, a Chinese threat actor tracked as TA413 attempted to hack into the Gmail accounts of Tibetan organizations using a malicious browser extension, researchers with cybersecurity firm Proofpoint have discovered. In January and February 2021, the group was observed delivering the FriarFox extension, customized to specifically target the Firefox browser and provide attackers with access to and control of victims' Gmail accounts.
Researchers at Cequence Security track bots across the internet, and the company's hacker-in-residence, Jason Kent, told Threatpost that sneaker bots are plaguing new shoe releases, like the Adidas Yeezy "Ash Blues" released in late February, and creating legions of frustrated customers who can't get new products. While regular shoppers are stuck working through a retailer's web interface, Kent said these sneaker bots get in through the site's API, a much more efficient route to scoop up product.
With a stalkerware app on your phone, another person can spy on your activities and view your personal information, Kaspersky says. A report released Friday by Kaspersky explains how stalkerware works and how you can protect yourself against it.