Security News

More Links Found Between North Korean and Russian Hacking Operations
2020-09-16 11:33

Security researchers with Intel 471 have identified connections between cyber-activities attributed to North Korean hackers and those of Russian cybercriminals. In a report published today, Intel 471 says malware that only the North Korean hackers use "Was very likely delivered via network accesses held by Russian-speaking cybercriminals."

Serious Security: Hacking Windows passwords via your wallpaper
2020-09-11 18:33

In the animation above, you can see how double-clicking a.theme file launches the Windows Settings app, automatically navigates to the Preferences > Themes section, and then opens, copies, selects and renders the new wallpaper file justatest. As Bohops and others have pointed out, you can use a Windows UNC path instead of a website name in a Theme file, which tells Windows to use its file-based networking instead of a regular HTTP connection to retrieve the file.

Hacking AI-Graded Tests
2020-09-04 06:02

The company Edgenuity sells AI systems for grading tests. Turns out that they just search for keywords without doing any actual semantic analysis.

Former Employee Admits Hacking, Damaging Cisco Systems
2020-08-28 14:17

A former Cisco employee has pleaded guilty to hacking charges related to him accessing the networking giant's systems and causing damage. A few months after he resigned from the company, he gained unauthorized access to Cisco's AWS cloud infrastructure and deployed code that caused over 450 virtual machines associated with the Cisco Webex Teams application to be deleted.

Texas Man Sentenced to 57 Months in Prison for Hacking Major Tech Firm
2020-08-14 18:34

Tyler C. King, a 31-year-old from Dallas, Texas, was sentenced this week to 57 months in prison for crimes related to the hacking of an unnamed major tech company based in New York. According to the Justice Department, King gained access to the technology firm's systems in 2015 with the help of Ashley St. Andria, who at the time was an employee of the company.

State-backed hacking, cyber deterrence, and the need for international norms
2020-08-14 05:00

It's a free for all, it seems, as the world has yet to decide on laws and norms regulating cyber attacks and cyber espionage in peacetime, and find a way to make nation-states abide by them. The US has been publicly attributing cyber espionage campaigns to state-backed APTs and regularly releasing technical information related to those campaigns, its legislators have been introducing legislation that would lead to sanctions for foreign individuals engaging in hacking activity that compromises economic and national security or public health, and its Department of Justice has been steadily pushing out indictments against state-backed cyber attackers and spies.

DEF CON 2020 Wrap-Up: Hacking Phones, Cars and Satellites
2020-08-11 13:13

Tens of researchers showcased their work last week at the DEF CON hacking conference. They presented research on hacking phones, cars, satellite communications, traffic lights, smart home devices, printers, and popular software services, among many others.

When it comes to hacking societies, Russia remains the master at sowing discord and disinformation online
2020-08-06 21:49

While China is the bête noire du jour of the US government, Russia is the master of spreading disinformation, fostering conflict, and derailing discourse online, the Black Hat security conference was told today. The basic methods of hacking public opinion are fairly simple, DiResta explained.

Doctor, doctor, got some sad news, there's been a bad case of hacking you: UK govt investigates email fail
2020-08-04 07:01

Former UK trade minister and current Conservative MP Dr. Liam Fox has been named as the source of hacked trade documents released during last year's British elections. A report from Reuters cited two anonymous sources who say that the 58 year-old Fox, who has since stepped down, had an email account taken over by Russian hackers, who then used it to obtain and release documents about Anglo-American trade talks.

Twitter Hacking for Profit and the LoLs
2020-07-22 20:25

New information suggests that at least two of them operated a service that resold access to Twitter employees for the purposes of modifying or seizing control of prized Twitter profiles. SWIMPING. My July 15 story observed there were strong indications that the people involved in the Twitter hack have connections to SIM swapping, an increasingly rampant form of crime that involves bribing, hacking or coercing employees at mobile phone and social media companies into providing access to a target's account.