UK Considers Limited Role for Huawei in 5G Rollout: Report

Ishita Chigilli Palli • January 24, 2020

U.K. officials reportedly are considering a proposal to allow China's Huawei to play a limited role in providing certain equipment for the country's 5G rollout, which would defy calls from the U.S. for a complete ban of telecom gear from the company.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Google CEO Backs EU's Proposed Facial Recognition Ban

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Cybercrime

Stolen Payment Card Trafficking Mastermind Pleads Guilty

Scott Ferguson • January 24, 2020

Aleksey Burkov, who was extradited from Israel to the U.S. in November, plead guilty this week to several federal charges related to his site "Cardplanet," which trafficked in stolen payment card data.

Cybercrime

Hackers Target European Energy Firm: Researchers

Scott Ferguson • January 24, 2020

Hackers who may have ties to Iran have recently turned their attention to the European energy sector, using open source tools to target one firm's network as part of an cyberespionage operation, according to the security firm Recorded Future.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Analysis: New Details on the Hacking of Jeff Bezos' iPhone

Nick Holland • January 24, 2020

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report offers an analysis of fresh details on the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' iPhone. Also featured: an update on Microsoft's exposure of customer service records; a hacker's take on key areas of cyber hygiene.

Anti-Phishing, DMARC

Emotet Malware Alert Sounded by US Cybersecurity Agency

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 23, 2020

Emotet malware alert: The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says it's been "tracking a spike" in targeted Emotet malware attacks. It urges all organizations to immediately put in place defenses to not just avoid infection, but also detect lateral movement in their networks by hackers.

Cybercrime

Investigators: Saudis Hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Phone

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 22, 2020

The mobile phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was hacked via a malicious file sent directly from the official WhatsApp account of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, investigators have concluded. While the Saudis deny involvement, the United Nations has called for an immediate investigation.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Updated FTCODE Ransomware Now Steals Credentials, Passwords

Scott Ferguson • January 22, 2020

FTCODE, a ransomware strain that has been active since at least 2013, has recently been revamped to include new features, including the ability to steal credentials and passwords from web browsers and email clients, according to two research reports released this week.

Governance

Citrix Releases First Patches to Fix Severe Vulnerability

Scott Ferguson • January 20, 2020

Citrix has released the first of several patches that address a vulnerability in its Application Delivery Controller and Gateway products that was discovered by researchers in December. If left unpatched, the vulnerability is remotely exploitable and could allow access to applications and internal networks.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

How Cybercriminals Are Converting Cryptocurrency to Cash

Ishita Chigilli Palli • January 20, 2020

Cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to turn illicitly gained cryptocurrency into cash, which raises new concerns about enforcing anti-money laundering laws, according to a report by Chainalysis.

Application Security

Microsoft Warns of Zero-Day Internet Explorer Exploits

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 20, 2020

Microsoft says it's prepping a patch to fix a memory corruption flaw in multiple versions of Internet Explorer that is being exploited by in-the-wild attackers, and it's issued mitigation guidance. Security firm Qihoo 360 says the zero-day flaw has been exploited by the DarkHotel APT gang.

Active Defense & Deception

Sizing Up Today's Deception Technology

Nick Holland • January 20, 2020

Deception technology is evolving as a powerful asset in the cybersecurity arsenal, providing significant advantages in being able to monitor an attacker's behavior, says Joseph Krull, senior analyst at Aite Group.

Cybercrime

'WeLeakInfo' Website Shut Down

Scott Ferguson • January 17, 2020

Law enforcement agencies in five countries have shut down WeLeakInfo.com, which allegedly provided cybercriminals with access to over 12 billion personal records culled from 10,000 data breaches.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

BEC Fraudsters Targeting Financial Documents: Report

Scott Ferguson • January 17, 2020

As business email compromise schemes continue to evolve, some cybercriminals are focusing on accessing companies' financial documents, which provide useful information to support the theft of money, according to a new report from security firm Agari.