Week in review: Securing ICS, and the reasons behind risky password practices
Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news and articles:
Yahoo breach was not state-sponsored, researchers claim
The massive 2014 Yahoo breach isn’t the work of state-sponsored hackers as the company has claimed to believe, say researchers from identity protection and threat intelligence firm InfoArmor. Instead, the breach was effected by a group of professional blackhats believed to be from Eastern Europe.
The psychological reasons behind risky password practices
A Lab42 survey highlights the psychology around why consumers develop poor password habits despite understanding the obvious risk, and suggests that there is a level of cognitive dissonance around our online habits.
Mobile security stripped bare: Why we need to start again
There are three main threat vectors for mobile devices: targeting and intercepting the communications to and from devices; targeting the devices’ external interfaces (Cellular, WiFI, Bluetooth, USB, NFC, Web etc.) for the purpose of device penetration and planting malicious code; and targeting the data on the device and the resources/functions the device/underlying OS provides access to such as microphone, camera, GPS, etc.
ICS-CERT releases new tools for securing industrial control systems
The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) has published newer versions of two tools that can help administrators with securing industrial control systems: the Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET), and a whitepaper on recommended practices for improving ICS cybersecurity with defense-in-depth strategies.
OS analysis tool osquery finally available for Windows
Nearly two years after Facebook open sourced osquery, the social networking giant has made available an osquery developer kit for Windows, allowing security teams to build customized solutions for Windows networks.
DefecTor: DNS-enhanced correlation attacks against Tor users
A group of researchers from Princeton University, Karlstad University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have devised two new correlation attacks that can be leveraged to deanonymize Tor users.
Incident response survival guide
Here are some steps that will allow organizations to minimize the damage when a security breach occurs.
D-Link DWR-932 router is chock-full of security holes
Security researcher Pierre Kim has unearthed a bucketload of vulnerabilities affecting the LTE router/portable wireless hotspot D-Link DWR-932. Among these are backdoor accounts, weak default PINs, and hardcoded passwords.
Enhance iMessage security using Confide
One of the new features in iOS 10 offers the possibility of deploying specially crafted applications within iMessage. Most users will probably (ab)use this new functionality for sending tiresome animations and gestures, but some applications can actually provide added value for iMessage communication.
Why digital hoarding poses serious financial and security risks
82 percent of IT decision makers admit they are hoarders of data and digital files. These include: unencrypted personal records, job applications to other companies, unencrypted company secrets and embarrassing employee correspondence.
Clear and present danger: Combating the email threat landscape
As long as organisations use email to send and receive files, malicious email attachments will continue to plague corporate inboxes.
Europol identifies eight main cybercrime trends
A significant proportion of cybercrime activity still involves the continuous recycling of relatively old techniques, security solutions for which are available but not widely adopted.
Microsoft equips Edge with hardware-based container
Windows Defender Application Guard is a lightweight virtual machine that prevents malicious activity coming from the web from reaching the operating system, apps, data, and the enterprise network.
Rise of the drones: Managing a new risk environment
More drones in the skies raise a number of new safety concerns, ranging from collisions and crashes to cyber-attacks and terrorism.
Swiss voters approve new surveillance law
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service will now be able to bug private property, phone lines, and wiretap computers (under certain conditions).
IoT-based DDoS attacks on the rise
As attackers are now highly aware of insufficient IoT security, many pre-program their malware with commonly used and default passwords, allowing them to easily hijack IoT devices. Poor security on many IoT devices makes them easy targets, and often victims may not even know they have been infected.
Public safety threat: Cyber attacks targeting smart city services
A new survey conducted by Dimensional Research assessed cyber security challenges associated with smart city technologies.