The hackers who ran a cryptocurrency scam using high-profile, verified Twitter accounts, including those belonging to Joe Biden, Apple, Bill Gates, Uber and Barack Obama, accessed the direct messages (DMs) of 36 accounts and downloaded account data from eight accounts via “Your Twitter Data.” There is no indication that the DMs of any former or…
Former Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would take harsh action against any nation-state that attempted to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, “whether by hacking voting systems and databases, laundering money into our political system, systematically spreading disinformation, or trying to sow doubt about the integrity of our elections.”…
By using search engines dedicated to scanning all open ports, or scanning the ports themselves, hackers can remotely take control of critical private and public U.S. infrastructure run largely by industrial control systems (ICS) that weren’t built with security in mind. American water and energy providers are particularly vulnerable to cyberattack because their legacy ICSs…
Warnings by officials in the U.S., U.K. and Canada that Russia’s Cozy Bear, APT29, is actively trying to steal Covid-19 vaccine research by hacking vaccine trials and dropping WellMess and WellMail malware proves at least two things: Russia military intelligence is still going hard against U.S. targets, and the health care industry, particularly during the…
The EU court decision in the Schrems II case that effectively kills the Privacy Shield pact hammered out four years ago between the U.S. and EU could cripple multinational companies’ ability to operate as they scramble to scrutinize their data transfer mechanisms. “This is a stunning and completely unexpected decision. In invalidating the Privacy Shield framework,…
The recent U.K. ban on the use of Huawei technology in its 5G wireless network is likely as much about salvaging the deteriorating U.S.-U.K. Sino relationship and restoring trade normalcy as it is about security. “There are clearly legitimate security concerns around Huawei, particularly given that as a result of the trade ban, equipment will…
Edicts by Wells Fargo, India and the U.S. military forbidding use of popular Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, may portend a national ban and raise questions if such a prohibition would be practical and enforceable, and what the greater implications would be. Owned by Beijing-based internet technology company ByteDance, TikTok has been downloaded more than 2…
Microsoft has seized a number of phishing domains in an attempt to disrupt cybercriminals who recently switched targets to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to a civil suit brought by the tech giant, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order that let Microsoft take control of…
Another Texas-based government institution may have fallen victim to ransomware actors. According to a reliable source, the cybercriminals behind the malicious encryptor NetWalker have published online evidence of an attack on Trinity Metro, a transit agency that operates bus and commuter rail transportation services in Fort Worth and its nearby Tarrant County suburbs. Trinity Metro…
The crowded ransomware market is now home to three newly discovered players that recently gained the attention of security researchers and malware analysts — including one that targets Mac users and another blamed for a recent attack on the Texas Department of Transportation. Dubbed OSX.EvilQuest, the Mac ransomware was observed being distributed on a Russian…
