Week in review: Apple closes OS X backdoor, cyber crooks go after enterprise millions, and what happens to data after a breach

Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news and articles:

How to protect from threats against USB enabled devices
USB can be an effective and simple route to infection.

TorLocker victims can decrypt most files without paying ransom
The malware’s implementation of cryptography algorithms is flawed.

eBook: The shortcut guide to network management
This eBook outlines real-world technologies and processes to implement centralized management and monitoring of your network infrastructure.

What happens to data after a breach?
Bitglass undertook an experiment geared towards understanding what happens to sensitive data once it has been stolen. In the experiment, stolen data traveled the globe, landing in five different continents and 22 countries within two weeks.

Cyber crooks go after enterprise millions with Dyre malware, social engineering
The campaign, dubbed “Dyre Wolf” is still active, and starts with spear-phishing emails delivered to enterprise employees, some of which are tricked into downloading an attachment that contains the Upatre downloader.

The need for end-user visibility in a Bring Your Own Anything environment
Pedro Bados, CEO of Nexthink, suggests that the oft-used acronym BYOD is no longer sufficient, and should perhaps be replaced with BYO* – bring your own anything and everything.

Scammers deliver malware via fake Steam game pages
Aside from being regularly targeted with phishing scams, fake giveaways leading to online surveys, and having malware pushed on them via Steam chat, gamers using the popular gaming platform are now also in danger of downloading malicious software masquerading as legitimate games from specially set-up Steam game pages.

New crypto-ransomware “quarantines” files, downloads info-stealer
Trend Micro researchers have found and analyzed a new piece of crypto-ransomware: CryptVault encrypts files, makes them look like files quarantined by an AV solution, asks for ransom and, finally, downloads info-stealer malware.

Snapchat blocks third-party apps from accessing its APIs
While Snapchat expressly forbids the use of third-party apps to send and receive snaps, the reality is that, until recently, it couldn’t enforce that ban.

Firefox loses opportunistic encryption feature due to critical flaw
Less than a week after it made Firefox 37 available for download, Mozilla has pulled one of the security features it implemented.

122 online forums compromised to redirect visitors to Fiesta exploit kit
These are not highly popular forums, but gather a respectable number of users who like to discuss DIY projects, animals, wrestling, scuba diving, news regarding PS3, and so on. They are powered by either vBulletin or by IP Board online forum software, new vulnerabilities for which are often found and publicly disclosed.

Russian hackers executed the US State Department, White House network breaches
The October 2014 breaches of some of the computer systems of the US State Department and the White House have been executed by Russian hackers, unnamed US officials familiar with the investigation told CNN reporters.

HardSploit: Dedicated hardware pentesting tool
As Internet of Things adoption is gaining momentum, and we hear time and time again that making it secure will be the biggest challenge, French IT security consultancy Opale Security has come out with a plan for a tool that will allow auditors to audit IoT and industrial device, SCADA systems and basic electronic products used in everyday life.

Cybercrime gets easier, attribution gets harder
Redirect chains, code recycling and a host of other techniques are allowing threat actors to remain anonymous, making attribution time consuming, difficult and ultimately unreliable.

Polymorphic Beebone botnet sinkholed in international police operation
Initial figures show that over 12,000 computers have been infected, however it is likely there are many more. The botnet does not seem the most widespread, however the malware is a very sophisticated one, allowing multiple forms of malware to compromise the security of the victims’ computers.

MitM, DoS bugs in Network Time Protocol squashed
Many products of diverse manufacturers incorporate a version of the ntpd package. Cisco has already released software updates that address these two vulnerabilities.

DARPA to create software systems that last 100 years
DARPA announced it will launch an ambitious four-year research project to investigate the fundamental computational and algorithmic requirements necessary for software systems and data to remain robust and functional in excess of 100 years.

Test your cybersecurity knowledge and decision-making skills
Trend Micro has released an educational simulation designed to highlight the security challenges faced when real-world business demands must be constantly weighed against security, risk and a diminishing budget.

Latest OS X update closes backdoor that allows root access
On Thursday Apple released another batch of updates for a variety of its products. The security update for OS X Yosemite (10.10.3) includes a fix for a four-year-old “backdoor API to root privileges” in OS X’ Admin framework.

Qualys experts and customers to present security best practices at RSA Conference 2015
The Qualys CEO Philippe Courtot will deliver the opening keynote presentation at CSA Summit during RSA Conference 2015. Qualys experts will present multiple track sessions during the RSA Conference.

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