Security News

Google on Monday announced that it's simplifying the process of enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) for users with personal and Workspace accounts. Also called, 2-Step Verification (2SV), it...

LSA Whisperer consists of open-source tools designed to interact with authentication packages through their unique messaging protocols. "Many authentication packages generally support their internal APIs, known as package calls, and relatively few are documented or used outside of Microsoft. I wanted to document as many of these calls as possible and implement a tool for interacting with them so we could identify which would provide value for red team assessments," Evan McBroom, Senior Software Engineer at SpecterOps, told Help Net Security.

Setting up MFA can seem daunting for consumers just beginning to clean up their security postures. In this Help Net Security video, Larry Kinkaid, Manager, Cybersecurity Consulting at BARR Advisory, shares tips for consumers who need simple, accessible ways to secure their private data.

Passwordless authentication solutions are often components of larger identity and access management platforms offering capabilities like password management, single sign-on and multi-factor authentication. Top passwordless authentication solutions comparison.

MFA software solutions provide multi-factor authentication for individual end-users, organizational workforces and customer-facing applications. Software Solution category Authentication types Hosting options Pricing Google Authenticator Individual MFA Mobile app, software token, mobile push, risk-based Cloud-based Free Cisco Duo Workforce MFA Mobile app, software token, hardware token, mobile push, WebAuthn, biometric Cloud-based Free MFA for up to 10 users; plans start at $3/user/month.

Passwordless technology is gaining traction due to the dizzying number of passwords that the average user accumulates. Passwordless authentication is a way to verify user identities without relying on a manually entered password.

Cisco has fixed two high-severity vulnerabilities affecting its Cisco Secure Client enterprise VPN and endpoint security solution, one of which could be exploited by unauthenticated, remote attackers to grab users' valid SAML authentication token."The attacker could then use the token to establish a remote access VPN session with the privileges of the affected user," Cisco says, but notes that "Individual hosts and services behind the VPN headend would still need additional credentials for successful access."

Passwordless authentication is a more secure method of granting access to systems. Passwordless authentication allows users to access a system without the need to provide a password.

A threat actor specializing in establishing initial access to target organizations' computer systems and networks is using booby-trapped email attachments to steal employees' NTLM hashes. "User authentication in Windows is used to prove to a remote system that a user is who they say they are. NTLM does this by proving knowledge of a password during a challenge and response exchange without revealing the password to anyone," Microsoft said in a recent post that announced their goal to deprecate NTLM use in favor of Kerberos - a more modern, extensible and secure authentication protocol.

The hacking group known as TA577 has recently shifted tactics by using phishing emails to steal NT LAN Manager authentication hashes to perform account hijacks. NTLM hashes are used in Windows for authentication and session security and can be captured for offline password cracking to obtain the plaintext password.