Security News

The burgeoning smart home device market has given rise to digital intrusion and potential energy market manipulation on a massive scale. By 2025, it's been estimated that there will be 481 million smart homes worldwide, according to a Statista's 2020 Digital Market Outlook.

A pair of cyberattacks on high-profile targets - the owner of the Jack Daniels distillery and the iconic Ritz London hotel - have resulted in the exposure of sensitive information. The Ritz London disclosed a data breach of its own, which it said it became aware of on Aug. 14.

Canadian authorities said almost 15,000 online accounts for various government services have been targeted in three recent waves of credential-stuffing attacks. Of the 9,041 accounts GCKey accounts that were targeted, a third were used to access various services and are being further examined for suspicious activity, according to the government.

A newly released threat report, tracking the biggest trends in the cybercriminal landscape, shows that attackers have been capitalizing on the global pandemic in various ways - from ransomware to web-based malware. Derek Manky, Chief, Security Insights & Global Threat Alliances at Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs, said that the semi-annual FortiGuard Labs Global Threat Landscape Report [PDF] for the first half of 2020, released Wednesday, illustrates an "Unprecedented cyber threat landscape."

Less than 50% of security leaders understand the relationship between a cybersecurity threat and how it directly affects a specific business risk, while not enough security leaders believe in a coordination with business stakeholders' needs, regarding cost, performance, and risk-reduction objectives. There's not enough discussion on cybersecurity strategy: 47% of security leaders frequently discuss cybersecurity with business execs, and 42% of business executives rarely, "If ever," consult with security leaders on business strategies.

A wave of bogus job offer emails from leading aerospace and defense companies is actually a cybercrime campaign designed to harvest information about professionals in sensitive industries. Discovered by McAfee Advanced Threat Research, the campaign appears to have begun in April 2020 and was detected until mid-June, and there are telltale signs that the campaign is being orchestrated by known North Korean hacking groups.

CWT, a giant in the corporate travel agency world with a global clientele, may have faced payment of $4.5 million to unknown hackers in the wake of a ransomware attack. A CWT spokesperson declined to comment on whether the ransom was paid, or any technical details of the attack, or how it was able to recover so quickly.

Data breaches are now costing companies nearly $4 million according to a new report from IBM Security and the Ponemon Institute released Wednesday. On average, breaches now cost organizations $3.86 million per attack, with the United States having the highest average cost per breach and healthcare being the most heavily hit industry.

Expert suggests universities take extra care to prevent attacks while students are learning from home. TechRepublic's Karen Roby spoke with Carlos Morales of VP and general manager of DDoS Security Services at NetScout Systems, which provides application and network performance management products, about security concerns with remote learning at universities.

Expert suggests universities take extra care to prevent attacks while students are learning from home.