IT Security Newsletter

IT Security Newsletter - 4/27/2022

Written by Cadre | Wed, Apr 27, 2022

Research points to a Chinese hacking effort targeting a Russian border unit

The Chinese government hacking group seen targeting European governments and non-governmental organizations in early March may have also been going after Russian government targets as well, researchers with Secureworks Counter Threat Unit reported Wednesday. The findings add new details to multiple threat intelligence reports in early March highlighting the concerted efforts of Chinese-linked hacking groups to target European diplomatic entities and NGOs. READ MORE...

Coca-Cola Investigating Hack Claims Made by Pro-Russia Group

Coca-Cola has launched an investigation after a cybercrime group claimed to have breached the company's systems, but the hackers' previous claims have been called into question. The beverage giant said it has notified law enforcement and is trying to "determine the validity of the claim." The hacker group, named Stormous, claims to have stolen more than 161 Gb of data from Coca-Cola, offering to sell it for $65,000 or 1.6 bitcoin. READ MORE...

American Dental Association hit by new Black Basta ransomware

The American Dental Association (ADA) was hit by a weekend cyberattack, causing them to shut down portions of their network while investigating the attack. The ADA is a dentist and oral hygiene advocacy association providing training, workshops, and courses to its 175,000 members. For many living in the USA, you will likely recognize the ADA Accepted seal on oral hygiene products, such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, indicating that the product is safe and contributes to oral health. READ MORE...

Emotet malware now installs via PowerShell in Windows shortcut files

The Emotet botnet is now using Windows shortcut files (.LNK) containing PowerShell commands to infect victims computers, moving away from Microsoft Office macros that are now disabled by default. The use of .LNK files is not new, as the Emotet gang previously used them in a combination with Visual Basic Script (VBS) code to build a command that downloads the payload. However, this is the first time that they utilized Windows shortcuts to directly execute PowerShell commands. READ MORE...

Musk's plans to make Twitter's algorithms public raises disinformation conundrum

Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion on Monday and he's already rolled out a to-do list for big changes at the company. One of the more novel suggestions he has put forward is making Twitter's algorithms available for pubic scrutiny. Sharing the code for Twitter's algorithms doesn't pose nearly the same risk as pulling open the hood on the company's entire technical infrastructure. READ MORE...

Millions of Java Apps Remain Vulnerable to Log4Shell

Four months after the discovery of the zero-day Log4Shell critical flaw, millions of Java applications still remain vulnerable to compromise, researchers have found. Researchers at security firm Rezilion analyzed the current potential attack surface for the vulnerability in the popular open-source Apache Struts framework that threatened to break the internet when it was discovered in December. READ MORE...

  • ...in 1981, Xerox PARC introduces the 8010 Star workstation, the first personal computer to ship with a mouse peripheral.
  • ...in 1988, singer/songwriter Lizzo (born Melissa Viviane Jefferson) is born in Detroit, MI.
  • ...in 1989, protesting students from Peking University take over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.
  • ...in 1994, Nelson Mandela wins the presidency in South Africa's first democratic and multiracial general election.