Security News
The modular botnet known as Cyclops Blink, linked to the same advanced persistent threat behind the NotPetya wiper attacks, is expanding its device targeting to include ASUS routers. "Our investigation shows that there are more than 200 Cyclops Blink victims around the world. Typical countries of infected WatchGuard devices and ASUS routers are the United States, India, Italy, Canada, and a long list of other countries, including Russia."
Multiple ASUS router models are vulnerable to the Russia-linked Cyclops Blink malware threat, causing the vendor to publish an advisory with mitigations for the security risk. Cyclops Blink is a malware linked to the Russian-backed Sandworm hacking group that has historically targeted WatchGuard Firebox and other SOHO network devices.
A flaw in ASUS's ROG Armoury Crate hardware management app could have allowed low-privileged users to execute code as administrator. Federico discovered the vuln after taking a close look at ROG Armoury Crate, finding a DLL hijacking vuln that allowed ordinary users to execute code with SYSTEM privileges after pasting a crafted file into a directory used by the app.
ASUS has released BIOS updates for over two hundred motherboard models to automatically enable the built-in TPM 2.0 security process so that users can upgrade to Windows 11. When Microsoft first announced Windows 11, one of the biggest surprises was the new requirement that computers would need a TPM 2.0 security processor to install or upgrade to the new operating system.
CyberLink announced a partnership with ASUS, by integrating its FaceMe AI facial recognition engine into ASUS's Tinker Board 2 single-board computer. The fruit of a close collaboration between the ASUS IoT and CyberLink's FaceMe team, this joint solution provides ready-to-use, fully integrated facial-recognition capabilities for security, access control, visitor management and contactless experiences for retail, public services, hospitality and more.
ASUS announced the introduction of a comprehensive server portfolio based on the latest AMD EPYC 7003 series processors. The new ASUS RS720A, RS700A, RS520A and RS500A-E11 series servers offer refreshed designs based on both dual-socket and single-socket AMD EPYC 7003 series processors.
McAfee announced a five-year extended global agreement to be the provider of consumer security on ASUS. ASUS customers who purchase a new PC will receive a comprehensive security service pre-installed on their new PC, an optimized user experience, and will receive security tips and recommendations about how to stay protected from the latest threats. According to the recent McAfee Labs Threats Report: November 2020, 419 threats were discovered every minute representing a 12% increase from the first quarter of 2020.
As part of the partnership, ASUS is equipping its ASUS PE200U edge computer with Innodisk's next-generation flash storage, the out-of-band management-enabled Innodisk InnoAGE SSD. This solution allows customers to roll out more reliable and secure edge devices and IoT infrastructure than ever before. The Innodisk InnoAGE's unique out-of-band signaling technology combined with ASUS IoT Cloud Console address this challenge by allowing device operators to effortlessly manage their IoT devices remotely.
Innodisk and ASUS announced a new strategic partnership between the two companies. As part of the partnership, ASUS is equipping its ASUS PE200U and PE200S edge computers with Innodisk's next-generation flash storage, the out-of-band management-enabled Innodisk InnoAGE SSD. This solution allows customers to roll out more reliable and secure edge devices and IoT infrastructure than ever before.
Some vendors of low-cost devices are responsive to bug reports and publish security fixes promptly, which leads to another problem with the IoT ecosystem, namely that many consumers take a "Set and forget" attitude to these devices. So even if your home router gets updated reguarly with security improvements, when was the last time you went and checked if your device actually has the latest firmware version installed?