Security News

Microsoft's final batch of security patches for 2020 shipped today with fixes for at least 58 documented vulnerabilities affecting a wide range of OS and software products. The December security updates include fixes for code execution vulnerabilities in the company's flagship Windows operating system and serious problems in Microsoft Sharepoint, Microsoft Exchange, HyperV, and a Kerberos security feature bypass.

NCSC, the cybersecurity arm of the UK's GCHQ intelligence service, urges organizations to make sure that all Microsoft SharePoint products in their environments are patched against CVE-2020-16952 to block takeover attempts. The server-side include vulnerability was reported by information security specialist Steven Seeley of Qihoo 360 Vulcan Team who found that it affects Microsoft SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016, Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2013 Service Pack 1, and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019.

The Sharepoint link you're expected to click to access the One Note file does look suspicious because there's no clear connection between the sender's company and the location of the One Note lure. It's only at this stage that the crooks present their call-to-action link - the click that they didn't want to put directly ino the original email, where it would have stood out more obviously as a phishing scam.

Details and PoC for critical SharePoint RCE flaw releasedA "Wormable" remote code execution flaw in the Windows DNS Server service temporarily overshadowed all the other flaws patched by Microsoft on July 2020 Patch Tuesday, but CVE-2020-1147, a RCE affecting Microsoft SharePoint, was also singled out as critical and requiring a speedy fix. Microsoft releases new encryption, data security enterprise toolsMicrosoft has released several new enterprise security offerings to help companies meet the challenges of remote work.

Tracked as CVE-2020-1147 and considered critical severity, the bug occurs when the software doesn't check the source markup of XML file input. "The vulnerability is found in the DataSet and DataTable types which are.NET components used to manage data sets," the software giant revealed in an advisory published last week.

Last week, a "Wormable" remote code execution flaw in the Windows DNS Server service temporarily overshadowed all the other flaws patched by Microsoft on July 2020 Patch Tuesday, but CVE-2020-1147, a RCE affecting Microsoft SharePoint, was also singled out as critical and requiring a speedy fix. Implementing the offered security updates has since become even more urgent, as more exploitation details and a PoC have been released on Monday.

A new phishing campaign is targeting investment brokers with fraudulent emails aimed at stealing their Microsoft SharePoint and Office credentials, by invoking the identity of a credible financial regulatory organization. The "Widespread, ongoing phishing campaign" is using emails that claim to be from specific officers at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in an attempt to direct investment brokers to give up their Microsoft Office or SharePoint passwords, according to a post on the organization's website.

Phishers are trying to trick investment brokers into sharing their Microsoft Office or SharePoint login credentials by impersonating FINRA, a non-governmental organization that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. Phishers target investment brokers with malicious emails.

The UN suffered a major data breach last year after it failed to patch a Microsoft SharePoint server, it emerged this week. According to the outlet, internal UN staffers announced the compromise on 30 August 2019, explaining that the "Entire domain" was probably compromised by an attacker who was lurking on the UN's networks.

According to the confidential document, at least 42 U.N. servers were compromised in Geneva and Vienna, potentially exposing staff personnel data and sensitive documents for other organizations collaborating with the U.N. "Although it is unclear what documents and data the hackers obtained in the 2019 incident, the report implies that internal documents, databases, emails, commercial information and personal data may have been available to the intruders - sensitive data that could have far-reaching repercussions for staff, individuals and organisations communicating with and doing business with the U.N.," Ben Parker, with The New Humanitarian, said on Wednesday. Servers in three separate locations were compromised: the U.N. office at Vienna; the U.N. office at Geneva; and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights headquarters, also in Geneva.