Tag Archives: security

Windows 0-day was exploited by North Korea to install advanced rootkit

Getty Images reader comments 32 A Windows zero-day vulnerability recently patched by Microsoft was exploited by hackers working on behalf of the North Korean government so they could install custom malware that’s exceptionally stealthy and advanced, researchers reported Monday. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-38193, was one of six zero-days—meaning vulnerabilities known or actively exploited before… Read More »

Google’s threat team confirms Iran targeting Trump, Biden, and Harris campaigns

Enlarge / Roger Stone, former adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, center, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. Getty Images reader comments 62 Google’s Threat Analysis Group confirmed Wednesday that they observed a threat actor backed by the Iranian government targeting Google accounts associated with US presidential campaigns, in… Read More »

Nashville man arrested for running “laptop farm” to get jobs for North Koreans

reader comments 33 Federal authorities have arrested a Nashville man on charges he hosted laptops at his residences in a scheme to deceive US companies into hiring foreign remote IT workers who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in income to fund North Korea’s weapons program. The scheme, federal prosecutors said, worked by getting US… Read More »

512-bit RSA key in home energy system gives control of “virtual power plant”

reader comments 78 When Ryan Castellucci recently acquired solar panels and a battery storage system for their home just outside of London, they were drawn to the ability to use an open source dashboard to monitor and control the flow of electricity being generated. Instead, they gained much, much more—some 200 megawatts of programmable capacity… Read More »

Students scramble after security breach wipes 13,000 devices

Getty Images reader comments 14 Students in Singapore are scrambling after a security breach wiped notes and all other data from school-issued iPads and Chromebooks running the mobile device management app Mobile Guardian. According to news reports, the mass wiping came as a shock to multiple students in Singapore, where the Mobile Guardian app has… Read More »

Mac and Windows users infected by software updates delivered over hacked ISP

reader comments 49 Hackers delivered malware to Windows and Mac users by compromising their Internet service provider and then tampering with software updates delivered over unsecure connections, researchers said. The attack, researchers from security firm Volexity said, worked by hacking routers or similar types of device infrastructure of an unnamed ISP. The attackers then used… Read More »

Cloudflare once again comes under pressure for enabling abusive sites

Getty Images reader comments 7 A familiar debate is once again surrounding Cloudflare, the content delivery network that provides a free service that protects websites from being taken down in denial-of-service attacks by masking their hosts: Is Cloudflare a bastion of free speech or an enabler of spam, malware delivery, harassment and the very DDoS… Read More »

Mysterious family of malware hid in Google Play for years

reader comments 21 A mysterious family of Android malware with a demonstrated history of effectively concealing its myriad spying activities has once again been found in Google Play after more than two years of hiding in plain sight. The apps, disguised as file-sharing, astronomy, and cryptocurrency apps, hosted Mandrake, a family of highly intrusive malware… Read More »

Hackers exploit VMware vulnerability that gives them hypervisor admin

Getty Images reader comments 51 Microsoft is urging users of VMware’s ESXi hypervisor to take immediate action to ward off ongoing attacks by ransomware groups that give them full administrative control of the servers the product runs on. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-37085, allows attackers who have already gained limited system rights on a targeted… Read More »

97% of CrowdStrike systems are back online; Microsoft suggests Windows changes

Enlarge / A bad update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon security software crashed millions of Windows PCs last week. CrowdStrike reader comments 91 CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said Thursday that 97 percent of all Windows systems running its Falcon sensor software were back online, a week after an update-related outage to the corporate security software delayed flights… Read More »