Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about Trend Micro’s midyear roundup report which found that published vulnerabilities in the first half of 2020 grew to 786, compared to 583 during the same time period last year. Also, read about vulnerabilities in Cisco’s Jabber app that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code.
Read on:
1H 2020 Cyber Security Defined by Covid-19 Pandemic
When thinking about 2020 security predictions, no one thought that there was a global pandemic brewing that would give cybercriminals an almost daily news cycle to take advantage of in their attacks against people and organizations around the world. While Covid-19 dominated the threat landscape in the first half of 2020, it wasn’t the only threat that defined it. Learn more about the 2020 threat landscape in Trend Micro’s recent blog.
Cisco Jabber Bug Could Let Hackers Target Windows Systems Remotely
Networking equipment maker Cisco has released a new version of its Jabber video conferencing and messaging app for Windows that includes patches for multiple vulnerabilities—which, if exploited, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code. The flaws, which were uncovered by cybersecurity firm Watchcom during a pentest, affect all currently supported versions of the Jabber client (12.1-12.9) and has since been fixed by the company.
The Life Cycle of a Compromised (Cloud) Server
Trend Micro Research has developed a go-to resource for all things related to cybercriminal underground hosting and infrastructure. This week, Trend Micro released the second report in a three-part series which details the what, how, and why of cybercriminal hosting. Trend Micro dives into the common life cycle of a compromised server from initial compromise to the different stages of monetization preferred by criminals.
Instagram ‘Help Center’ Phishing Scam Pilfers Credentials
Turkish-speaking cybercriminals are sending Instagram users seemingly legitimate messages from the social media company, with the aim of stealing their Instagram and email credentials. Trend Micro researchers said that the campaign has been targeting hundreds of celebrities, startup business owners, and other entities with sizeable followings on Instagram.
What is a VPN and How Does it Increase Your Online Security and Privacy?
The number of VPN users has grown considerably over the past few years. According to a report from Go-Globe, 25% of netizens worldwide have used a VPN at least once in the last 30 days. Recently, VPN usage has surged in many countries and its popularity may see VPN usage surpass the estimated profit of USD$27.10 billion by the end of 2020. In this blog, Trend Micro takes a deeper look at all of the benefits a VPN can provide.
First Half of 2020 Led to Nearly 800 Disclosed Vulnerabilities: Report
Published vulnerabilities in January through June of 2020 grew to 786, compared to 583 during the same time period last year, according to Trend Micro’s midyear cybersecurity report. Bad actors most often targeted enterprise software, including Apache Struts and Drupal frameworks, between 2017 and the first half of this year. In this article, Trend Micro’s director of global threat communications, Jon Clay, shares his thoughts on the first half of 2020.
A Blind Spot in ICS Security: The Protocol Gateway Part 1: Importance of the Protocol Gateway
Trend Micro released a white paper summarizing potential protocol gateway security risks in early August. This blog series follows up on that paper, analyzing the impacts of the serious vulnerabilities detected in the protocol gateways essential when shifting to smart factories and outlining the security countermeasures that security administrators in factories must take. In the first blog of this series, part one describes the importance of the protocol gateway in ICS environments.
Evilnum Group Targets FinTech Firms with New Python-Based RAT
Evilnum, a group known for targeting financial technology companies, has added new malware and infection tricks to its arsenal, researchers warn. The group is suspected of offering APT-style hacker-for-hire services to other entities, a growing and worrying trend that’s changing the threat landscape.
Are Employees the Weakest Link in Your Security Strategy?
Email is the number one threat vector. Data from Trend Micro Smart Protection Network shows that for the first five months of 2020, 92% of all the cyberthreats leveraging Covid-19 were spam or phishing email messages. Email scams can have a big impact, both on the organization and the individual. This was highlighted in a recent report from BBC News where a finance professional from Glasgow, Scotland was targeted by a business email compromise (BEC) scam.
55% of Cybersquatted Domains are Malicious or Potentially Fraudulent
In a single month, cyber-squatters registered almost 14,000 domain names, more than half of which went on to host malicious or likely fraudulent content, Palo Alto Networks states in a report released this week. The company, which collected information on newly registered domains in December 2019, found 13,857 domains classified by its software as cybersquatting based on lexical analysis.
What are your thoughts on Evilnum’s APT-style hacker-for-hire services? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.
