Amended Law Paves Way for Cybercrime Crackdown

Geetha Nandikotkur • July 22, 2019

Both chambers of India's Parliament have passed new legislation that gives National Investigation Agency officers more power to take tough action against cybercrime and terrorism. Here's a rundown of the details.

Critical Infrastructure Security

Managing Third-Party Risks: CISOs' Success Strategies

Latest

Cyberwarfare / Nation-state attacks

Recent DNS Hijacking Campaigns Trigger Government Action

Scott Ferguson • July 22, 2019

A recent spate of attacks targeting domain name system protocols and registrars, including several incidents that researchers believe have ties to nation-state espionage, is prompting the U.S. and U.K. governments to issues warnings and policy updates to improve security.

Incident & Breach Response

Ex-NSA Contractor Harold Martin Hit With 9-Year Sentence

Akshaya Asokan • July 22, 2019

Former government contractor Harold Thomas Martin III has been sentenced to serve nine years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing and retaining classified and secret files and data from U.S. government agencies, including the National Security Agency and CIA.

Cybercrime

Equifax Negotiates Potential $700 Million Breach Settlement

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 22, 2019

Credit reporting giant Equifax has negotiated a proposed settlement that could reach $700 million to resolve federal and state probes into its massive 2017 data breach, as well as a nationwide class action lawsuit. The company's total post-breach tab is likely to exceed $2 billion.

Governance

2.3 Billion Files Exposed Online: The Root Causes

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • July 22, 2019

Misconfigured file storage technologies and a lack of basic security controls are the root causes for the inadvertent online exposure of 2.3 billion files worldwide that contain personal information, including sensitive medical data, says Harrison Van Riper, a security researcher at Digital Shadows.

Endpoint Security

Researchers Trick Cylance Into Giving Malware a Pass

Jeremy Kirk • July 19, 2019

An Australian cybersecurity company says it tricked BlackBerry's Cylance Protect anti-virus product into believing that some of the most pernicious types of malware, including WannaCry and the SamSam ransomware, were benign programs.

Governance

Security Solutions Planning: Right-Sizing Your Stack

Varun Haran • July 19, 2019

Planning your security programs to incorporate the right digital context - the IT environment, the business processes and the risks - is essential for success, says Avinash Prasad, vice president and head of the managed services business at Tata Communications.

Application Security

Tesla Vulnerability: A Bounty Hunter's Tale

Nick Holland • July 19, 2019

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report describes the accidental discovery of a Tesla software vulnerability. Also featured: an analysis of the latest ransomware trends and insights from former federal advisers Richard Clarke and Robert Knake on cyber resilience.

Phishing Scheme Targets Amex Cardholders

Akshaya Asokan • July 18, 2019

Researchers have uncovered a new type of phishing campaign that is targeting American Express card users. In these incidents, attackers are sending a hyperlink as part of a phony account update to access the victim's credentials and other account details, according to researchers at the security firm Cofense.

Governance

Despite BlueKeep Warnings, Many Organizations Fail to Patch

Jeffrey Burt • July 18, 2019

Weeks after Microsoft issued a patch for the BlueKeep vulnerability, which threatens devices running older versions of Windows, many organizations worldwide have yet to install patches despite alerts from the software giant, government agencies and cybersecurity companies, according to researchers at BitSight.

Cybercrime as-a-service

Suspected Rubella Toolkit Mastermind Arrested

Scott Ferguson • July 17, 2019

A 20-year-old Dutch man suspected of creating the Rubella Macro Builder toolkit and distributing it on underground forums has been arrested by the Dutch National Police, which received assistance from McAfee. Rubella and other toolkits enable attackers to distribute malware through weaponized Office documents.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Ransomware: As GandCrab Retires, Sodinokibi Rises

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 17, 2019

With the GandCrab ransomware-as-service gang promising to retire - and free decryptors now aiding victims - rival Sodinokibi has already stepped into the void, security experts warn. Driven also by attackers wielding Ryuk, Dharma and Phobos, ransom payments by victims have been surging.

Active Defense & Deception

How Deception Technology Is Evolving

Nick Holland • July 17, 2019

Deception technology is becoming more sophisticated, enabling organizations to battle against emerging threats, says Alissa Knight, senior analyst at Aite Group, a research and advisory company.