55 Savushkina Street in St. Petersberg, Russia, said to be the former headquarters of the Internet Research Agency, which allegedly was part of Project Lakhta. (Photo: Google)

Feds Charge Russian With Midterm Election Interference

Jeremy Kirk • October 22, 2018

A Russian national has been charged with coordinating a four-year campaign to spread divisive themes aimed at disrupting the U.S. political system. "Project Lakhta" allegedly employed hundreds of individuals who created bogus accounts on such platforms as Facebook and Twitter to sow false narratives.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Update: NIST Preparing Privacy Framework

Latest

Authentication

Heads-Up: Patch 'Comically Bad' libSSH Flaw Now

Jeremy Kirk • October 19, 2018

Attention admins: If you use libSSH - one of the open-source flavors of Secure Shell, or SSH - patch now. The advice follows the disclosure of a vulnerability that one expert, Paul Ducklin of Sophos, terms "comically bad."

Cybersecurity

UK Cyberattack Investigations: An Analysis

Nick Holland • October 19, 2018

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of the results of over 1,000 cyberattack investigations in the U.K. Also: an update on the proposed NIST privacy framework and a report on voter registration information for sale on the dark web.

Cybercrime

US Voter Records for Sale on Hacker Forum

Jeremy Kirk • October 16, 2018

A batch of U.S. voter registration records from 20 states has appeared for sale online in what appears to be an illegitimate offering. While it's far from the largest-ever seen leak of voter data, the incident again highlights the lax controls too often applied to voter records.

Encryption & Key Management

Tech Companies Bristle at Australia's Crypto Legislation

Jeremy Kirk • October 15, 2018

The disagreements continue over Australia's efforts to pass legislation that would help law enforcement counter encryption. Technology companies and civil liberties organizations contend the latest draft of legislation would allow for too much secrecy and imperil privacy and security.

Cybersecurity

RSA President on the Case for a Risk-Based Security Model

Geetha Nandikotkur • October 15, 2018

CISOs and other security practitioners are embracing the idea of a business-driven security model that takes a risk-oriented approach, says Rohit Ghai, president of RSA. "Cybersecurity conversations are becoming business conversations rather than technology conversations."

Breach Response

Facebook Clarifies Extent of Data Breach

Howard Anderson • October 12, 2018

Facebook now says that 20 million fewer accounts were breached than it originally believed, but the attackers accessed extensive sensitive personal information on nearly half of those affected.

Endpoint Security

Review Shows Glaring Flaws In Xiongmai IoT Devices

Jeremy Kirk • October 12, 2018

Millions of internet-of-things devices made by the Chinese company Xiongmai and sold in stores such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart still have glaring security problems, a security consultancy warns. The findings come two years after the Mirai botnet targeted Xiongmai devices.

Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery

Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure From Cyberattacks

Nick Holland • October 12, 2018

The biggest challenge for any critical infrastructure facing potential cyberattacks is devising ways to maintain business continuity, says cybersecurity specialist Prashant Pillai, who calls for building resilience into network design. He'll be a speaker at ISMG's Security Summit: London, to be held Oct. 23.

An Assessment of Google's Data Leak

Nick Holland • October 12, 2018

An in-depth report on the exposure of personal details for 500,00 Google+ accounts leads the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report. Also featured: an update on mitigating the risk of business email compromises and tips for protecting critical infrastructure.

Governance

Network vs. Endpoint Security: Striking the Right Balance

Varun Haran • October 12, 2018

With so much focus on endpoint security, it's important not to overlook the importance of network-level security controls, says Lawrence Orans, research vice president at Gartner.

Anti-Malware

GandCrab Ransomware Partners With Crypter Service

Mathew J. Schwartz • October 11, 2018

The notorious GandCrab ransomware-as-a-service gang has released the latest version of its crypto-locking malware, backed by crypter service and exploit toolkit partnerships. But the gang's marketing savvy belies shoddy code-development practices, security firm McAfee finds.

Anti-Malware

Magecart Card-Stealing Gang Hits 'Shopper Approved' Plug-In

Mathew J. Schwartz • October 10, 2018

A notorious group of payment card-stealing gangs called Magecart has been tied to another series of online attacks, this time against Shopper Approved, an e-commerce service used by thousands of sites to gather reviews from customers.