Latest

Data Loss

Facebook Takes $3 Billion Hit, Anticipating FTC Fine

Jeremy Kirk  •  April 25, 2019

Facebook has set aside $3 billion from its first quarter profit to pay for what is likely to be a record-breaking fine from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. But will mega-fines lead to the reform of tech giants' questionable privacy and security practices?

Cybercrime

Intelligence Agencies Seek Fast Cyber Threat Dissemination

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 25, 2019

The director of Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency said at this week's CyberUK conference that declassifying and putting "time-critical, secret information" for stopping online threats into the public's hands "in a matter of seconds" is an imperative.

Governance

'ShadowHammer' Spreads Across Online Gaming Supply Chain

Scott Ferguson  •  April 24, 2019

A sophisticated supply-chain attack dubbed Operation ShadowHammer is becoming more pervasive, with the group targeting online gamers, security researchers at Kaspersky Lab warn.

ATM Fraud

'Silence' Cybercrime Gang Targets Banks in More Regions

Scott Ferguson  •  April 23, 2019

Known for targeting banks and ATMs in Russia and other Eastern European countries, the "Silence" gang apparently is now expanding into other regions, using a combination of custom malicious tools and "living-off-the-land" techniques, researchers report.

Application Security

Facebook Marketplace Flaw Revealed Seller's Exact Location

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 23, 2019

Facebook has fixed a security vulnerability in its digital marketplace that could have been abused to identify the precise location of a seller, and by extension, their goods. Police warn that thieves regularly trawl location data to find the owners and locations of high-value items.

Anti-Fraud

The FBI's RAT: Blocking Fraudulent Wire Transfers

Jeremy Kirk  •  April 23, 2019

Fraud, e-hustles and social engineering attacks continues to proliferate, the FBI's latest report into the state of internet crime confirms. But over the past year, a new FBI tactic for quickly stopping fraudulent wire transfers has notched notable successes.

Breach Response

Facebook Password, Email Contact Mishandling Worsens

Jeremy Kirk  •  April 19, 2019

Two security issues disclosed by Facebook over the past month are worse than first thought, adding to a harrowing series of data-handling mishaps by the social network. Millions of Instagram users had their plain-text passwords stored, and 1.5 million people had their email contact lists uploaded without consent.

Cybercrime

Leak Exposes OilRig APT Group's Tools

Scott Ferguson  •  April 19, 2019

A set of malicious tools, along with a list of potential targets and victims, belonging to an APT group dubbed OilRig has leaked online, exposing some of the organization's methods and goals, analysts say.

Cybercrime

Not So 'Smart' - Child Tech Has Hackable Flaws

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 19, 2019

A warning that a smartwatch marketed to parents for tracking and communicating with their children could be coopted by hackers leads the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report. It also reviews how a DNS hijacking campaign is hitting organizations and how "dark patterns" trick users.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

10 Highlights: Cryptographers' Panel at RSA Conference 2019

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  April 17, 2019

From blockchains and surveillance to backdoors and GDPR, a group of leading cryptographers rounded up the top cybersecurity and privacy matters of the day at the cryptographers' panel held at the recent RSA Conference 2019 in San Francisco.

DDoS

Ecuador Hit With 'Cyberattacks' After Assange's Arrest

Scott Ferguson  •  April 17, 2019

The government of Ecuador has been hit with millions of "cyberattacks" following its withdrawal of asylum protection for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his arrest by British police last week, an Ecuadorian official says.

Cybercrime

Silk Road 2.0 Operator Sentenced to Prison

Scott Ferguson  •  April 15, 2019

An unemployed British man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for his role in operating the Silk Road 2.0 darknet site, which succeeded the original Silk Road website after the FBI closed it in 2013, U.K. authorities say.