Security News
Federal agencies participating in the Office of Management and Budget's Data Center Optimization Initiative report that they are on track with previously announced plans to close hundreds of outdated data centers, but many of the facilities that will continue to operate are at increased risk of being hacked, the U.S. Government Accountability Office warned last week. The new GAO study reveals that due to the lack of reporting requirements for key facilities and lack of proper documentation of decisions on which facilities are exempt from DCOI, agencies might remain exposed to vulnerabilities and oversight of consolidation, and optimization efforts may be impaired.
On Tuesday, researchers reported two malware campaigns connected to the coronavirus: One that uses a phishing email to spread Remcos RAT and malware payloads and the other using a Microsoft Office document to drop a backdoor onto a victim's computer. One campaign is in the form of a phishing email with a PDF offering coronavirus safety measures, according to research from ZLab-Yoroi Cybaze.
On Tuesday, researchers reported two malware campaigns connected to the coronavirus: One that uses a phishing email to spread Remcos RAT and malware payloads and the other using a Microsoft Office document to drop a backdoor onto a victim's computer. One campaign is in the form of a phishing email with a PDF offering coronavirus safety measures, according to research from ZLab-Yoroi Cybaze.
More than half of city and state employees in the United States are more concerned about cyberattacks than they are of other threats, a new study discovered.
Although businesses are increasingly at risk for cyberattacks on their mobile devices, many aren't taking steps to protect smartphones and tablets. These companies were twice as likely to be compromised as those that didn't take precautions.
Millions of people are eagerly anticipating this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo-and so are cyberattackers. "Events like the Olympics serve as an amplifier for cybercrime," said Emily Wilson, vice president of research at Terbium Labs.
U.S. and U.K. officials are blaming the Russian military for launching an October 2019 cyberattack on the country of Georgia that crippled at least 2,000 government, news media and court websites over the course of one day. A few hours after the U.S. and U.K. released their statements about Georgia on Thursday, the New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials had recently warned U.S. lawmakers that Russia has already taken steps to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.
Georgian authorities on Thursday accused Russia's military intelligence of launching a large-scale cyberattack that targeted the government and private organizations with the goal of destabilizing the ex-Soviet nation. Georgia's Foreign Ministry said the Oct. 28 cyberattack was "Targeted at Georgia's national security and intended to harm Georgian citizens and government structures by disrupting and paralyzing the functionality of various organizations, causing anxiety among the general public."
The Council later confirmed that it had been hit with a cyberattack affecting its internal and external-facing IT systems, with the notable exception of property tax payments. The Council is back to working from pen and paper and able to field only urgent emails and telephone enquiries.
Iran repelled a cyberattack on Saturday that disrupted the country's internet services for an hour, a telecommunications ministry official said. "At 11:44 a distributed denial-of-service attack disrupted the internet services of some mobile and fixed operators for an hour," tweeted Sajad Bonabi.