Security News > 2022 > January

After last week's website defacements, Ukraine is now being targeted by boot record-wiping malware that looks like ransomware but with one crucial difference: there's no recovery method. The malware itself wipes the target Windows system's master boot record, rendering it inoperable, and its main executable is "Often" named stage1.

Telegram users are currently experiencing issues around the world, with users unable to use the desktop and mobile apps. When attempting to access Telegram's app, users are seeing "Updating" or "Connecting" error messages.

There's a problem with the implementation of the IndexedDB API in Safari's WebKit engine, which could result in leaking browsing activity in real-time and even user identities to anyone exploiting this flaw. IndexedDB is a widely used browser API that is a versatile client-side storage system with no capacity limits.

Umbrella company Parasol Group has confirmed why it shut down part of its IT last week: it found unauthorised activity from an intruder. Tech freelancers suspected a cyberattack was to blame for the blackout and sure enough the Group wrote to customers at the close of last working week to explain in more detail what had happened.

Researchers Ryan Ellis and Yuan Stevens provide a window into the working lives of hackers who participate in "Bug bounty" programs­ - programs that hire hackers to discover and report bugs or other vulnerabilities in their systems. This report illuminates the risks and insecurities for hackers as gig workers, and how bounty programs rely on vulnerable workers to fix their vulnerable systems.

In the wake of last week's attention-grabbing defacements of many Ukrainian government websites, Microsoft researchers have revealed evidence of a malware operation targeting multiple organizations in Ukraine, deploying what seems to be ransomware but is actually Master Boot Records wiper malware. Late on Saturday, Microsoft shared information and IOCs related to a malware campaing targeting Ukrainian organizations.

The new CIR service will extend that reach significantly to encompass local businesses, large businesses and SMEs while the new Cyber Incident Exercising Service will target large and medium organizations as well as central and regional UK Government. The government body is currently selecting its Assured Scheme Partners with whom it intends to work with to devise the operating model and to help determine how it will implement its technical standards across both services.

Many organizations are looking for AI to make sense of tremendous amounts of unstructured data that has been collected about people, transactions, systems, and social connections. Video surveillance systems are a major concern, with AI now being able to identify and track people from networks of connected camera systems.

Organisations have work to do if they want to attract and retain diverse talent in their security operations teams, according to SOC.OS and Sapio Research. 23% or respondents said they're struggling to incentivise, motivate and retain their SecOps teams.

Baby Boomers play a critical role in accelerating zero trust security frameworks due to experience in integrating legacy technologies into cloud and hybrid IT environments, an Appgate study reveals. The study, based on desk research and in-depth focus groups conducted by prominent intergenerational issues author and speaker Henry Rose Lee, examines differences between Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials and ways to harness individual strengths to develop more effective cybersecurity strategies.