Stealthy WIRTE hackers target governments in the Middle East
A stealthy hacking group named WIRTE has been linked to a government-targeting campaign conducting attacks since at least 2019 using malicious Excel 4.0 macros. The primary targeting scope includes high-profile public and private entities in the Middle East, but researchers also observed targets in other regions. Kaspersky analyzed the campaign, toolset, and methods, and concluded with low confidence that WIRTE has pro-Palestinian motives and is suspected to be part of the 'Gaza Cybergang'. READ MORE...
Ecommerce retailers facing a 350% increase in fraudulent online orders
As the holiday shopping season hits full stride, ecommerce retailers across Europe face a new era of malicious attacks spurred by a COVID-inspired transformation in ecommerce and a 350% increase in fraudulent online orders, according to data published by Signifyd. Retailers can expect a more perilous fraud landscape through the holiday shopping season and beyond. The heightened threat is thanks in part to the growing sophistication and diversification of organized fraud rings. READ MORE...
Project Zero Flags High-Risk Zoom Security Flaw
Video conferencing software giant Zoom has shipped patches for a pair of security defects that expose Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android users to malicious hacker attacks. The flaws, discovered and reported by Google Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich, affect the company's flagship Zoom Client for Meetings on all major platforms and could be exploited for code execution attacks. READ MORE...
Google Play apps downloaded 300,000 times stole bank credentials
Researchers said they've discovered a batch of apps downloaded from Google Play more than 300,000 times before the apps were revealed to be banking trojans that surreptitiously siphoned user passwords and two-factor authentication codes, logged keystrokes, and took screenshots. The apps-posing as QR scanners, PDF scanners, and cryptocurrency wallets-belonged to four separate Android malware families that were distributed over four months. READ MORE...
Ransomware gang targeting schools, hospitals reinvents itself to avoid scrutiny
An under-the-radar ransomware group that's been attacking schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure has tried to cover its tracks by rebranding, according to findings from researchers at Mandiant. Sabbath, a rebrand of the ransomware group Arcane, "is unfortunately not slowing down" in its attacks, Tyler McLellan, principal analyst at Mandiant, said in a statement. "They picked up their pace right into November 2021, when its public shaming portal mysteriously went offline." READ MORE...
Shape-Shifting 'Tardigrade' Malware Hits Vaccine Makers
An APT has attacked two separate vaccine manufacturers this year using a shape-shifting malware that appears at first to be a ransomware attack but later shows to be far more sophisticated, researchers have found. Dubbed Tardigrade by the Bioeconomy ??Information Sharing and Analysis Center (BIO-ISAC), the attacks used malware that can adapt to its environment, conceal itself, and even operate autonomously when cut off from its command-and-control server (C2). READ MORE...
Phishing Remains the Most Common Cause of Data Breaches, Survey Says
Phishing, malware, and denial-of-service attacks remained the most common causes for data breaches in 2021. Data from Dark Reading's latest Strategic Security Survey shows that more companies experienced a data breach over the past year because of phishing than any other cause. The percentage of organizations reporting a phishing-related breach is slightly higher in the 2021 survey (53%) than in the 2020 survey (51%). READ MORE...
- ...in 1835, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pen name Mark Twain, is born in Missouri.
- ...in 1955, actor Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in multiple animated TV series and video games, is born in Westbury, NY.
- ...in 1982, Michael Jackson's "Thriller", the best-selling album of all time, is released.
- ...in 1995, Operation Desert Storm officially ends, more than four years after the end of its six-week combat phase in January/February 1991.
