Security News

Criminal IP Becomes VirusTotal IP and URL Scan Contributor
2023-11-21 15:01

Notably, Criminal IP, a Cyber Threat Intelligence search engine developed by AI SPERA, has integrated its IP address and URL scans into VirusTotal. VirusTotal aggregates data from various antivirus engines, website scanners, file and URL analysis tools, and user contributions.

Massive cybercrime URL shortening service uncovered via DNS data
2023-10-31 15:23

A threat actor that security researchers call Prolific Puma has been providing link shortening services to cybercriminals for at least four years while keeping a sufficiently low profile to...

CIA exposed to potential intelligence interception due to X's URL bug
2023-10-18 13:00

An ethical hacker has exploited a bug in the way X truncates URLs to take over a CIA Telegram channel used to receive intelligence. Kevin McSheehan, who uses the online handle "Pad," spotted the issue after hovering over the link to the CIA's Telegram channel displayed on its X social media profile.

New Python URL Parsing Flaw Could Enable Command Execution Attacks
2023-08-12 06:03

A high-severity security flaw has been disclosed in the Python URL parsing function that could be exploited to bypass domain or protocol filtering methods implemented with a blocklist, ultimately resulting in arbitrary file reads and command execution. "Urlparse has a parsing problem when the entire URL starts with blank characters," the CERT Coordination Center said in a Friday advisory.

Apple's Safari Private Browsing Now Automatically Removes Tracking Parameters in URLs
2023-06-12 04:36

Apple is introducing major updates to Safari Private Browsing, offering users better protections against third-party trackers as they browse the web. "Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections go even further to help prevent websites from using the latest techniques to track or identify a user's device," the iPhone maker said.

Microsoft probes complaints of Edge leaking URLs to Bing
2023-04-26 21:08

You might want to think twice before typing anything into Microsoft's Edge browser, as an apparent bug in a recent release of Redmond's Chromium clone appears to be funneling URLs you visit back to the Bing API. The issue, identified by Redditor HackerMcHackface in the r/browsers subreddit last week, appears to be related to an opt-out content aggregation feature in Edge, called Collections, which offers suggestions for online creators that users may want to follow. Beginning with Microsoft Edge build 112.0.1722.34, the Redditor notes that the default behavior had changed.

Microsoft opens up Defender threat intel library with file hash, URL search
2023-04-18 19:30

Security researchers and analysts can now search Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Defender database using file hashes and URLs when pulling together information for network intrusion investigations and whatnot. "Often, analysts must go to multiple repositories to obtain the critical data sets they need to assess a suspicious domain, host, or IP address," Redmond wrote earlier about Defender Threat Intelligence, aka Defender TI. "DNS data, WHOIS information, malware, and SSL certificates provide important context to indicators of compromise, but these repositories are widely distributed and don't always share a common data structure, making it difficult to ensure analysts have all relevant data needed to make a proper and timely assessment of suspicious infrastructure."

Microsoft Defender shoots down legit URLs as malicious
2023-03-29 18:31

Microsoft's at-times-glitchy Defender service is again causing headaches for IT admins by flagging legitimate URLs as malicious. One Register reader told us: "Our organization has received hundreds of malicious URL alerts from Office 365 for zoom.us links. These false positives take us a long time to investigate. Microsoft finally admitted that this is affecting hundreds of accounts and tenants worldwide."

Microsoft Defender mistakenly tagging URLs as malicious
2023-03-29 15:38

Microsoft Defender is mistakenly flagging legitimate links as malicious, and some customers have already received dozens of alert emails since the issues began over five hours ago. "We're investigating an issue where legitimate URL links are being incorrectly marked as malicious by the Microsoft Defender service. Additionally, some of the alerts are not showing content as expected," Microsoft said.

Top 50 most impersonated brands by phishing URLs
2023-03-15 04:00

Today, phishing is the fastest growing Internet crime, and a threat to both consumers and businesses. Finance, technology, and telecom brands were the most commonly impersonated industries, notably for the unprecedented access and financial benefit that bank accounts, email and social media, and phone companies can give attackers, according to Cloudflare.