Nothing is more difficult than making predictions. Instead of trowing out wild ideas what might be coming, will be making educated guesses based on what has happened during the last 12 months and several years before that.
The past year has seen a rapid increase in the adoption of up-and-coming technologies. Everyday items are getting
smarter and more connected. Companies are saving millions with new technologies and cities are racing to
implement smart solutions. 5G promises to bring wireless high speed broadband to everywhere. On the other hand those solutions add new kinds of vulnerabilities. Competing in today’s digital marketplace requires that organizations are cyber-savvy. 2020 is when cybersecurity gets even weirder, so get ready.
Here are some trends and predictions for cyber security in 2020:
Cyber Attacks: Cyberattacks grow in volume and complexity.Many countries that are going to emerge as major threats in the 2020s. Nation-state backed cyber groups have been responsible for major incidents over the last decade. And now more countries want the same power. Cyberattacks range from targeting your database to steal information that can be sold on the dark web, to hijacking unused CPU cycles on your devices to mine for cryptocurrencies, or trying to infect vulnerable systems so they can be used later as part of a botnet.
IoT security: IoT security is still getting worse until it starts to get better. IoT security is an extremely hot topic right now and will be hot for many years to come. Industrial IoT risk has been discussed a lot. Physics dictates local application deployment, because the control rate of most industrial systems is 10 milliseconds or below. Smart Building Security Awareness Grows. The risks of the IoT in financial services are great. An explosion in IoT devices significantly raises the threat level. Gartner predicted that the world will see nearly 21 billion IoT devices by next year and it would be nice if all of them would be secure, but many of them unfortunately are not secure. Hackers are continually looking for ways to exploit device vulnerabilities. From smart TV’s, IP cameras, and smart elevators, to hospital infusion pumps and industrial PLC controllers, IoT and OT (Operational Technology) devices are inherently vulnerable and easy to hack. Why? Because IoT security is complicated and security should consider and integrated with IoT deployments. Gartner Says Worldwide IoT Security Spending Will Reach $1.9 Billion in 2019, and will raise to $ 3.1 billion in 2021, making it one of the fastest growing segments in cybersecurity industry. IoT landscape is complex, and so are the security solutions. These tackle the different challenges of IoT- device hardening, encryption, discovery, data protection, malware and anomaly detection, policy enforcement and more. You might have to do a little work with your internet of things devices to stay secure. A failure by many IoT device manufacturers to follow cryptographic best practices is leaving a high proportion of the devices vulnerable to attack. One in every 172 active RSA certificates are vulnerable to attack. It is a good idea to build a separate network segments for IoT devices so that they are isolated from the normal office network. FBI recommends that you keep your IoT devices on a separate network.
IoT privacy: Silicon Valley Is Listening to Your Most Intimate Moments. The world’s biggest companies got millions of people to let temps analyze some very sensitive recordings made by your “smart” speakers and smart phones. A quarter of Americans have bought “smart speaker” devices such as the Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod. Consulting firm Juniper Research Ltd. estimates that by 2023 the global annual market for smart speakers will reach $11 billion, and there will be about 7.4 billion voice-controlled devices in the wild. That’s about one for every person on Earth. The question is, then what? Having microphones that listen all the time is concerning. Also some attackers are terrifying homeowners and making them feel violated in their own homes.
Medical systems security: Cyberattacks on Medical Devices Are on the Rise—and Manufacturers Must Respond. Attacks on networked medical devices, and the data they collect and transmit, can be costly. Patient safety is a critical concern, especially with devices such as defibrillators and insulin pumps that could cause patient harm or death if they malfunction. It’s shocking that a few years after WannaCry and NotPetya, the healthcare industry is still not prepared to deal with ransomware attacks. Many hospitals and healthcare networks that have been hit by ransomware over the past few months.
Surveillance cameras: Surveillance cameras are capturing what we do on the streets, at airports, in stores, and in much of our public space. China’s Orwellian video surveillance gets a bad rap but the US isn’t far behind as US has nearly the same ratio of security cameras to citizens as China.And the numbers are growing all over the world. One billion surveillance cameras will be deployed globally by 2021, according to data compiled by IHS Markit. Russia is building one of the world’s largest facial recognition networks and it may even be bigger than China’s 200 million camera system. China’s installed base is expected to rise to over 560 million cameras by 2021, representing the largest share of surveillance devices installed globally, with the US rising to around 85 million cameras. Now US, like China, has about one surveillance camera for every four people (in 2018 China had 350 million cameras and USA 70 million). Surveillance cameras are getting better, smaller and cheaper and can be installed almost anywhere. It would be very easy to sneak another device onto a hotel’s Wi-Fi network, stream that video over the internet to the computer.
Facial recognition: Private companies and governments worldwide are already experimenting with facial recognition technology. Facial recognition software is touted as making us safer. But mass surveillance has downsides of major proportions. Massive errors found in facial recognition tech. Facial recognition systems can produce wildly inaccurate results, especially for non-whites. Russia is building one of the world’s largest facial recognition networks. Individuals, lawmakers, developers – and everyone in between – should be aware of the rise of facial recognition, and the risks it poses to rights to privacy, freedom, democracy and non-discrimination.
Shut off Internet: Worrying worldwide trend employed by various governments: preventing people from communicating on the web and accessing information. Amid widespread demonstrations over different issues many countries have started cutting Internet connections from people. Some countries, namely China, architected their internet infrastructure from the start with government control in mind. Russia is aiming to this direction. Iran, India, Russia. For better or worse, an internet blackout limits the government’s ability to conduct digital surveillance on citizens.
Security First: Implementing Cyber Best Practices Requires a Security-First Approach. Competing in today’s digital marketplace requires that organizations be cyber-savvy. The best defense is to start with a security-driven development and networking strategy that builds a hardened digital presence from the ground up. This not only ensures that your online services and web applications are protected from compromise, but also enables security to automatically evolve and adapt right alongside the development of your digital presence, rather than it having to be constantly rigged and retrofitted to adapt to digital innovation.
Zero Trust Network Access: Many of the most damaging breaches have been the result of users gaining access to unauthorized levels of network resources and devices. Zero Trust is an enforceable, identity-driven access policy that includes seamless and secure two-factor/OTP authentication across the organization. Zero Trust Network Access ensures that all users and devices are identified, profiled, and provided appropriate network access. It also ensures that new devices are automatically assigned to appropriate network segments based on things like device profiles and owners. When combined with Network Access Control (NAC), organizations can also discover, identify, grant appropriate access, and monitor devices, thereby enhancing your access and segmentation strategy.
Anti-virus software: Only Half of Malware Caught by Signature AV. The percentage of malware that successfully bypassed signature-based antivirus scanners at companies’ network gateways has increased significantly, either by scrambling
code known as “packing” using basic encryption techniques or by the automatic creation of code variants. It seems that new approaches like machine learning and behavioral detection are necessary to catch threats. Meanwhile, network attacks have risen, especially against older vulnerabilities.
Ransomware attacks: Ransomware will remain a major threat in the coming year, as the criminal business model continues to flourish. That’s a move that security professionals have long condemned, warning that paying the ransom in a ransomware attack could end up causing more turmoil for victims – as well as inspire other cybercriminals to launch ransomware attacks. Microsoft never encourage a ransomware victim to pay. What to do with this is question. How much does a large-scale ransomware attack cost, as opposed to just hiring an adequate number of skilled IT personnel, and having disaster recovery plans in place? There is no complete security solution that could stop all attacks, but you should have decent protection. It would seem prudent to have adequate staff and offline BACKUPS to deal with this kind of situation, so decent recovery would be possible. Having no backup system is the gamble many companies and public entities seem to be playing. Good backups helps to recover from ransom attacks. There are new tactics coming to use in ransomware. A new Snatch ransomware strain that will reboot computers it infects into Safe Mode to disable any resident security solutions. Another new tactic by ransomware developers is to release a victim’s data if they do not pay the ransom – they will publish data that they steal to a competitor if the ransom is not paid.
Public sector: Public Sector Security Is Lagging. The state of cybersecurity and resilience in the public sector needs an
urgent boost in many countries. U.S. citizens rely on state governments and local municipalities to provide a host of services everything from access to public records, law enforcement protection, education and welfare to voting and election services. Cybercriminals have been targeting state and local governments with ransomware tools, which infect an organization’s computer networks and lock up critical files.
Consumer confidence: Winning consumer confidence is crucial to the development of new digital services. In a PwC study, consumers are prepared to share personal information if it is of sufficient value to them. On the other hand, consumer confidence also needs to be earned that you keep the information safe.
API security: APIs now account for 40% of the attack surface for all web-enabled apps. It’s a good time to pay attention to API security, since some recent high-profile breaches have involved API vulnerabilities. OWASP, the Open Web Application Security Project known for its top 10 list of web application vulnerabilities, published the release candidate version of its API Security Top 10 list at the end of September 2019. Also it’s almost 2020 and some sysadmins are still leaving Docker admin ports exposed on the internet.
Skills gap: Security teams are already grappling with serious challenges due to the growing cybersecurity skills gap, are being tasked to secure an ever-expanding network footprint. Security teams are often left to secure virtual and cloud environments, the implementation of SaaS services, DevOps projects, the growing adoption of IoT, mobile workers, and an expanding array of personal connected devices after they have already been implemented. They often do not have enough people and enough knowledge on those new technologies to do their work well. The cybersecurity unemployment rate is zero, with over 1 million jobs currently unfilled, a number that is expected to climb to 3.5 million by 2021. 145% Growth is Needed to Meet Global Demand.
Think Like Your Adversary: Cybersecurity leaders need to access the potential vulnerabilities (from the mindset of the adversary) and devise effective defensive countermeasures unique to their company’s needs. Programmers Should Think like Hackers. Security must be taken into account in all programming steps.
Third party security: Most Companies Don’t Properly Manage Third-Party Cyber Risk. It’s been established that good cybersecurity requires not just an internal assessment of an organization’s own security practices, but also a close look at the security of the partners that businesses rely upon in today’s modern, interconnected world. Developing a Third-Party Cyber Risk Management (TPCRM) strategy is becoming more common with every news headline regarding a major breach that stemmed from a company’s relationship with a third-party.
Privacy and surveillance: Fears Grow on Digital Surveillance. Americans are increasingly fearful of monitoring of their online and offline activities, both by governments and private companies. More than 60 percent of US adults believe it is impossible to go about daily life without having personal information collected by companies or the government. Google and Facebook help connect the world and provide crucial services to billions. But their system can also be used for surveillance. Amnesty International says Facebook and Google’s omnipresent surveillance is inherently incompatible with the right to privacy and is a danger to human rights. The claim is that the companies’ surveillance-based business model is inherently incompatible with the right to privacy and poses a threat to a range of other rights including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of thought, and the right to equality and non-discrimination. Amnesty International has called for a radical transformation of the tech giants’ core business model and said that Google and Facebook should be forced to abandon what it calls their surveillance-based business model because it is “predicated on human rights abuse.”
5G: Forecasting that 2020 will be “the year of 5G” no longer qualifies as a bold prediction. Billions of dollars’ worth of 5G rollouts are scheduled for the coming year, which will bring the emergent technology to countries around the world. The arrival of 5G will fuel an explosion of never-before-seen IoT machines, introducing uncharted vulnerabilities and opening the door for cyber-criminals to compromise our increasingly intertwined cities. Claims that 5G offers “better security” for IoT may not ring true.
5G security: The new 5G mobile networks will be the backbone of future digitalized operations. Therefore, it is also important to ensure the security and immunity of 5G networks.The Council of the European Union has warned member states that the introduction of 5G networks poses increased security risks while also bringing economic and infrastructure benefits. ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity has published a ThreatLandscape for 5G Networks, assessing the threats related to the fifth generation of mobile telecommunications networks (5G). Organised cybercrime, rogue insiders and nation-state-backed hackers are among the groups that could soon be targeting 5G networks. Claims that 5G offers “better security” for IoT may not ring true – with the technology remaining vulnerable to SIM-jacking attacks within private Industry 4.0-style deployments. 5G SIM-swap attacks could be even worse for industrial IoT than now. Criminals can convince telcos to port a victim’s number to a new SIM card controlled by the criminal. Trust your hardware or operator? Pah, you oughta trust nobody. Do not put all your security and identification to this SIM card.
DNS Over HTTPS (DoH): DoH encrypted DNS queries are already set to arrive in Chrome and Firefox web browsers. Microsoft Will Bring DNS Over HTTPS (DoH) to Windows 10 in an attempt to keep user traffic as private as possible. DoH support in Windows means encrypted DNS queries. Microsoft says that DoH doesn’t require DNS centralization if adoption is broad among operating systems and Internet service providers alike.
Firewall configuration: Now, more than ever, it is important to automate firewall processes to prevent misconfigurations and data breaches. Gartner has warned that “50% of enterprises will unknowingly and mistakenly have exposed some IaaS storage services, network segments, applications or APIs directly to the public internet, up from 25% at YE18.”. This is a human problem, not a firewall problem.
Bot attacks: Bots are being used to take over user accounts, perform DDoS attacks, abuse APIs, scrape unique content and pricing information and more. Organizations are Failing to Deal With Rising Bot Attacks.
Network security: Networks are continually growing in complexity and the cyberattack surface is constantly expanding. The network perimeter of today is elastic, expanding and contracting with the demands of both users and the business. In a rush to adopt digital business practices, many of these new network expansion projects are often being implemented ad hoc by individual lines of business. Routers sit at the edge of the network and see everything and they can be utilized to Making the Network the First Line of Defense. A critical step in building a stronger security posture and more robust data protection strategy is a 24×7 facility whose mission is to monitor, detect, investigate and resolve active threats. Cybercriminals only need to be successful once in finding a way to access the network – but the security team needs to monitor everything on the network and be right all the time to ensure security. Today’s core network is continually adapting to the introduction of new devices, applications, and workflows, along with shifting network configurations to support business requirements, requiring the use of advanced, intent-based segmentation.
Security-Driven Networking: Security-Driven Networking is a new, strategic approach to security that enables the seamless expansion of network environments and services without ever compromising on security. Essentially, it begins by crafting a comprehensive security policy that covers the entire organization. It outlines the protocols, enforcement and inspection technologies, policies, and protections required to be in place before any new network environment or solution is even placed on the drawing board. It requires the selection and full integration of security tools that not only work together to share and correlate intelligence and coordinate a unified response to threats, but that also work seamlessly across the widest variety of environments possible.
Critical infrastructure: Determined threat actors have, for some time, been extending their toolsets beyond Windows, and even beyond PC systems. In recent years, we have seen a number of high-profile attacks on critical infrastructure facilities and these have typically been aligned to wider geo-political objectives. Expect targeted attacks on critical infrastructure facilities to increase. APT33 has shifted targeting to industrial control systems software. We need to be worried about Cyber-Physical Security of the Power Grid. To protect this infrastructure you need to prioritize strategic risks that affect critical infrastructure: Concern yourself with the most important hacks, Understand the critical pieces of your infrastructure and Know your inter-dependencies.
Payment security: Payment security backslides for second straight year in 2019. Verizon’s 2019 Payment Security Report found that full compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) fell to36.7% globally, down from 52.5% in 2018. At the same time EU’s PSD2 (Payments Services Directive) lays down regulatory requirements for companies that provide payment services, including the use of personal data by new fintech companies that are not part of the established banking community. Security of online, including mobile, payments is a key aspect of the legislation. Nevertheless, as banks will be required to open their infrastructure and data to third parties. Although SSLv3 has been considered obsolete and insecure for a long time, a large number of web servers still support its use.
Election security: Nowadays, no elections can be held any longer without debate on influencing voters through online services. There are on-going accusations of Russian interference in US elections and fears about a possible reboot of this in the run-up to the 2020 elections. U.S. military cyber experts are plotting strategy in a fight against potential Russian and other cyberattacks ahead of the 2020 American and Montenegrin elections. As the 2020 Presidential election looms closer in the United
States, a key focus will be on securing election infrastructure to prevent tampering. Most of the largest US voting districts are still vulnerable to email spoofing. Also disinformation campaigns for political purposes are deeply rooted in cybercriminal endeavors. It’s quite possible that we will see changes to legislation and policy, as governments look to define more clearly what is and what isn’t allowed. Hacking is considered to be the biggest tech threats to 2020 elections in USA. Legislators are working on new laws, but it is not going to be enough in an era when technology is turning out entirely new attack surfaces.
False Flags: The use of false flags has become an important element in the playbook of several APT groups. This can be used to try to deflect attention away from those responsible for the attack or what is really happening.
Common attack tools: Cyber actors continually use commodity malware, scripts, publicly available security tools or administrator software during their attacks and for lateral movement, making attribution increasingly difficult.
Vulnerability disclosure: Most “white hat” cyber engineers seem to be driven by a sense of social responsibility best expressed as, “If you find something, say something.” Across the industry, the ethos is to share information quickly, whether the problem is a newly discovered exploit or an evolving cyber threat. The goal is to impel the affected vendor—hardware or software—to take quick action and produce a fix. There are good and bad ways to make vulnerabilities known. A premature “full disclosure” of a previously unknown issue can unleash the forces of evil, and the “black hats” often move faster than vendors or enterprise IT teams. The preferred path is a “responsible” or “coordinated” disclosure that happens behind the scenes. Public announcements occur after a specified period of time—typically 90 or 120 days. But things don’t work this way always.
Ransomware: Cybercriminals have become more targeted in their use of ransomware. It is inevitable that the cybercriminals will also attempt to diversify their attacks to include other types of devices besides PCs or servers. There is a Ransomware ‘Crisis’ in US Schools and in many cities in USA.
Supply chain: Use of supply chains will continue to be one of the most difficult delivery methods to address. It is likely that attackers will continue to expand this method through manipulated software containers, for example, and abuse of packages and libraries. Medium-sized companies are being targeted even more heavily by cyber criminals. They are often the weakest link in supply chains that include large corporations. There is the growth of counterfeit electronics.
Mobile: The main storage for our digital lives has moved from the PC to mobiles over last 10 years. Several countries have started demanding their own software (maybe in some cases also malware) to be installed to all smart phones. Putin signs law making Russian apps mandatory on smartphones, computers.
Android: Today 80% of Android apps are encrypting traffic by default. To ensure apps are safe, apps targeting Android 9 (API level 28) or higher automatically have a policy set by default that prevents unencrypted traffic for every domain. The heterogeneity of the Android versions will continue to be a problem in the coming year.
DDoS attacks: DNS amplification attacks continue to dominate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, while mobile devices make up a larger share of traffic. The number of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks rose 86% in the third quarter compared to a year ago. DNS amplification attacks accounted for 45% of the attacks, while HTTP
floods and TCP SYN attacks accounted for 14%. Mobile Devices Account for 41% of DDoS Attack Traffic.
Business security: Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) increasingly recognize that a reactive security posture is no longer sufficient for protecting their networks. Breaches will happen. Companies should treat cyberattacks “as a matter of when” and not “whether.” Inside threads are still a big issue as Employees are one of your biggest assets, but human beings are the weakest link in the security chain. Data leaks help attackers to craft more convincing social engineering attacks. Plan proper incident management because Quick, reliable, multichannel communication is a vital part of any incident management solution. Cybercriminals often choose very small companies as their targets because small businesses rarely spend significant money on security systems. Medium-sized companies are being targeted even more heavily by cyber criminals. They are often the weakest link in supply chains that include large corporations.
Cyber insurance: Cyber Has Emerged as a Risk That is Not Specifically Covered by Other Insurance Policies. Since business is now urged to take a risk management approach to cyber security, it is natural and inevitable that cyber insurance should be considered as part of the mix. Cyber insurance is set to grow.
New encryption: The problem with encrypted data is that you must decrypt it in order to work with it. There is a powerful solution to this scenario: homomorphic encryption. Homomorphic encryption makes it possible to analyze or manipulate encrypted data without revealing the data to anyone. Just like many other populr forms of encryption, homomorphic encryption uses a public key to encrypt the data. There are three main types of homomorphic encryption: partially homomorphic encryption (keeps sensitive data secure by only allowing select mathematical functions to be performed on encrypted data); somewhat homomorphic encryption (supports limited operations that can be performed only a set number of times); fully homomorphic encryption (this is the gold standard of homomorphic encryption that keeps information secure and accessible). Cryptographers have known of the concept of homomorphic encryption since 1978 but Gentry established the first homomorphic encryption scheme in 2009.The biggest barrier to widescale adoption of homomorphic encryption is that it is still very slow. Duality, a security startup co-founded by the creator of homomorphic encryption, raises $16M.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The buzzword for 2019 that we have all heard a thousand times was Artificial Intelligence, AI. The term AI is often interchanged with machine learning. There is a lot of research to examine AI applications on cyber security. As cyberattacks grow in volume and complexity, hopefully artificial intelligence (AI) is helping under-resourced security operations analysts stay ahead of threats. Cybersecurity tools currently use this data aggregation and pattern analysis in the field of heuristic modeling: THE TRUE FUNCTION OF AI WILL BE TO DETERMINE WITH A LONG ARC OF TIME AND DATA, WHAT “NORMAL” LOOKS LIKE FOR A USER. AI can act as an advisor to analysts, helping them quickly identify and connect the dots between threats. Finnish cyber security company F-Secure is making research on AI agents and on that Mikko Hyppönen says that AI should not used to try to imitate humans and that artificial intelligence-based attacks are expected in the near future. Another Finnish cyber security company Nixu says that Artificial intelligence is going to revolutionize cyber security. According to Orlando Scott-Cowley from Amazon Web Services machine learning is the new normal in cyber security. Advanced Machine Learning layers are to be integrated into the latest Windows cybersecurity products. Leaders in artificial intelligence warn that progress is slowing, big challenges remain, and simply throwing more computers at a problem isn’t sustainable.
2020 problems: Has your business prepared for the ‘2020 problem’? Software updates for Windows 7 will end on January 14, 2020. As of Jan. 14, 2020, Windows 7 and Server 2008 technical support and software updates will no longer be available from Windows Update. There will no longer be updates for Office 2010. Some business users can buy extended security update support with extra money for some time. Python will stop supporting Python version 2 on January 1, 2020. Beginning on January 1, 2020, un-patched Splunk platform instances will be unable to recognize timestamps from events where the date contains a two-digit year. December 2019 Patch Tuesday was the last time Microsoft ever offered security updates for devices running Windows 10 Mobile.
Crypto wars continue: A decades-old debate: Government officials have long argued that encryption makes criminal investigations too hard. Governments all over the world say that Encrypted communication is a huge issue for law enforcement and the balance between the privacy of citizens and effective policing of criminal activity is top of mind for governments, technology companies, citizens and privacy organisations all over the world. The international police organization Interpol plans to condemn the spread of strong encryption. Top law enforcement officials in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, the larger group will cite difficulties in catching child sexual predators as grounds for companies opening up user communications to authorities wielding court warrants. Congress warns tech companies: Take action on encryption, or we will. US lawmakers are poised to “impose our will” if tech companies don’t weaken encryption so police can access data.
Do not weaken encryption: Companies, they say, should build in special access that law enforcement could use with a court’s permission. Technologists say creating these back doors would weaken digital security for everyone. Unfortunately, every privacy protection mechanism is subject to abuse by the morally challenged. That’s just a truth that must be accepted and overcome. Invading the privacy of the masses in order to catch criminals is unacceptable. Remember three things: One, that strong encryption is necessary for personal and national security. Two, that weakening encryption does more harm than good. And three, law enforcement has other avenues for criminal investigation than eavesdropping on communications and stored devices. If back-doors are added to encryption, they will be abused. If You Think Encryption Back Doors Won’t Be Abused, You May Be a Member of Congress. Bad encryption can have business consequences. Apple and Facebook told the committee that back doors would introduce massive privacy and security threats and would drive users to devices from overseas. In Australia 40% of firms say they have lost sales say they have lost sales or other commercial opportunities as a result of the encryption law being in place.
2FA: The second authentication factor might be a minor inconvenience, but it provides a major security boost. With past years riddled with security breaches, it is high time we evaluated the way we secure our online presence. Two factors are much better than one, but can still be hacked. Attacks that phish 2FA to access email accounts cost $100-$400; such attacks can be prevented with physical security keys. Also some physical security keys can be hacked as they turn to be less secure that what they were told to be in the advertisements.
Myth of sophisticated hacker in news: It’s the latest lexical stretch for an adjective that’s widely used in reports of cybersecurity incidents — and widely loathed by researchers as a result. If everything is sophisticated, nothing is sophisticated.
New security models: Google moved from perimeter-based to cloud-native security. Google’s architecture is the inspiration and template for what’s widely known as “cloud-native” today—using microservices and containers to enable workloads to be split into smaller, more manageable units for maintenance and discovery. Google’s cloud-native architecture was developed prioritizing security as part of every evolution.
Hacktivists: Hacktivists seek to obtain private information about large companies in order to embarrass or expose the company’s controversial business practices. Many companies are a treasure trove for personal information, whether they realize it or not. Experian is predicting that the emerging cannabis industry will experience an increase in data breaches and cybersecurity threats in 2020.
RCS messaging: RCS, expanded as Rich Communications Services, is a protocol that aims to replace SMS.RCS messaging has rolled out to Android users in the US. The update brings a lot of new features like chat, send hi-res videos and photos and create group chat. One criticism of RCS is that it doesn’t provide end-to-end encryption. RCS could be also better in many other security aspects. Researchers have discovered that the RCS protocol exposes most users to several cyber attacks. These risks are said to be mitigated by implementing the protocol with the security perspective in mind. The standard itself allows for poor security implementation, but GSMA advises its members to deploy rcs with the most secure settings possible.
Data breaches: Billions of Sensitive Files Exposed Online all the time. During the first six months of 2019, more than 4 billion records were exposed by data breaches. That’s a shocking statistic that’s made even more so when you realize that passwords were included in droves. On December 4, a security researcher discovered a treasure trove of more than a billion plain-text passwords in an unsecured online database. Many businesses wrongly assume they are too small to be on the radar of the threat actors. The truth is that it is all about the data, and small businesses often have less well-guarded data stores. All organizations are exposed to security breaches: from large multinationals to SMEs and public administrations. A common thread is unsecured cloud-based databases that left the sensitive information wide open for anyone to access online.
Phishing: Phishing remains 1 of the most pervasive online threats. Phishing emails are still managing to catch everyone out. Phishing e-mails which are used to steal credentials usually depend on user clicking a link which leads to a phishing website that looks like login page for some valid service. Google Chrome now offers better protection against it as safe Browsing displays warning messages to users ahead of visiting dangerous websites and before downloading harmful applications. New advanced ways to phish are taken to use.With dynamite phishing, the cyber criminals read the email communication from a system already infected with an information stealer. The infected user’s correspondents then receive malicious emails that quote the last “real” email between the two parties and look like a legitimate response from the infected user. Attacks that phish 2FA to access email accounts cost $100-$400; such attacks can be prevented with physical security keys.
Windows: Microsoft Doesn’t Back Up the Windows Registry Anymore. It’s still possible to perform Windows Registry backups, but the option is disabled by default. It’s time to disconnect RDP from the internet as brute-force attacks and BlueKeep exploits usurp convenience of direct RDP connection. Microsoft is ready to push a full-screen warning to Windows 7 users
who are still running the OS after January 14.
Linux: Support for 32 bit i386 architecture will be dropped by many Linux distributions. It turns out that there are essentially no upstream development resources dedicated to x86_32 Linux. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was badly broken.
Drones: Turkey is getting military drones armed with machine guns. Drone hacking happens. There is now Dronesploit – Metasploit for drones. Metasploit-style CLI framework tailored for tinkering with everybody’s favourite unmanned flying objects.
World market war: China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment. China has ordered the replacement of all foreign PC hardware and operating systems in state offices over the next three years. This will mean that China to ditch all Windows PCs by 2022.China has already some of their own Linux distros like Kylin and Deepin. Many western countries are more or less banning Huawei teleocm equipment.
Cloud security: Traditional security tools and methodologies are ill-suited to protect cloud native’s developer-driven and infrastructure-agnostic multicloud patterns. The vision as laid out by these renown analysts is straightforward. The legacy “data center as the center of the universe” network and network security architecture are obsolete and has become an inhibitor to the needs of digital business. They describe the underpinning shift to cloud infrastructure, a digital transformation that has been underway for ten years. They also point out that the corporate network cannot protect end users who consume cloud applications from any location and any device without the contorting, expensive, backhaul of traffic through the corporate data center. Gartner coins a new term for the future of security and networks, SASE (pronounced sassy), Secure Access Service Edge, which is not anything really new. SASE promises to create a ubiquitous, resilient, and agile secure network service—globally. Most of the stolen data incidents in the cloud are related to simple human errors rather than concerted attacks. Expect that through 2020, 95% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault. A common thread is unsecured cloud-based databases that left the sensitive information wide open for anyone to access online. Also it’s almost 2020 and some sysadmins are still leaving Docker admin ports exposed on the internet.
Autocracy as a service: Now Any Government Can Buy China’s Tools for Censoring the Internet. “Autocracy as a service” lets countries buy or rent the technology and expertise they need, as they need it. China offers a full-stack of options up and down the layers of the internet, including policies and laws, communications service providers with full internet.
Geopolitics: US-China Tech Divide Could Cause Havoc. It is possible that world’s next major conflict can start in cyberspace. USA has ordered to ban certain hardware from China (Huawei and ZTE). China orders ban on US computers and software. Chinese government to replace foreign hardware and software within three years. Who needs who more?
International cyber politics: Lack of international standards for proper behavior in cyberspace prevents the United States and allies from policing adversaries as they wish to. US can’t ‘enforce standards that don’t exist’. We have international norms in the maritime; we don’t have those in cyber. It makes it difficult to enforce standard that don’t exist, and to therefore hold nations accountable for nefarious behavior. NATO did confirm in 2017 that it could invoke Article 5 of its charter should one or more member nations find themselves under a serious cyberattack that threatens critical military and civilian infrastructure.
Sources:
https://pentestmag.com/iot-security-its-complicated/
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https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/09/dronesploit_framework/
https://www.securityweek.com/blunt-effect-two-edged-sword-vulnerability-disclosures
https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/8.0.0/ReleaseNotes/FixDatetimexml2020
https://threatpost.com/email-voted-a-weak-link-for-election-security-with-dmarc-lagging/150909/
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/04/council_of_eu_5g_risks/
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/05/major-voting-districts-vulnerable-email-security/
https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2019/12/241053-hack-for-hire/fulltext
http://read.uberflip.com/i/1180978-siliconexpert-growth-of-counterfeit-electronics-3/0?acctid=6759
https://www.zdnet.com/article/2020-is-when-cybersecurity-gets-even-weirder-so-get-ready/
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/09/china_orders_ban_on_us_computers_and_software/
https://www.securityweek.com/case-cyber-insurance
https://www.eetimes.eu/ai-will-empower-industry-4-0-when-it-arrives/
https://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/security/2019-the-ransomware-tsunami/
https://blog.paloaltonetworks.com/2019/12/cloud-native-security-platform-age/
https://github.com/dhondta/dronesploit/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/1-in-every-172-active-rsa-certificates-are-vulnerable-to-exploit/
https://nationalcybersecurity.com/hacking-the-biggest-tech-threats-to-2020-elections/
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/12/17/bluekeep-time-disconnect-rdp-internet/
https://www.eff.org/wp/behind-the-one-way-mirror
https://www.gdatasoftware.com/blog/2019/12/35671-early-detection-and-repulsion-of-dangerous-attacks
https://www.is.fi/digitoday/tietoturva/art-2000006342803.html
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/30/duality-cybersecurity-16-million/
https://www.wired.com/story/sobering-message-future-ai-party/
https://security.googleblog.com/2019/12/an-update-on-android-tls-adoption.html?m=1
https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-all-android-users-in-the-us-just-got-rcs-next-gen-sms/
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2019/12/scaring_people_.html
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2019-June/001261.html
https://lwn.net/ml/oss-security/CALCETrW1z0gCLFJz-1Jwj_wcT3+axXkP_wOCxY8JkbSLzV80GA@mail.gmail.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-australia-46463029
https://cyware.com/news/rcs-technology-most-users-are-vulnerable-to-hacking-b53f9a6f
https://hub.packtpub.com/core-python-team-confirms-sunsetting-python-2-on-january-1-2020/
https://www.cnet.com/news/congress-warns-tech-companies-take-action-on-encryption-or-we-will/
https://cyware.com/news/rcs-technology-most-users-are-vulnerable-to-hacking-b53f9a6f
https://edri.org/facial-recognition-and-fundamental-rights-101/
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/10/insider-threats-startups-protect/
https://uk.pcmag.com/windows-10/121518/microsoft-doesnt-back-up-the-windows-registry-anymore
https://threatpost.com/ransomware-attack-new-jersey-largest-hospital-system/151148/
https://chiefexecutive.net/bridge-cybersecurity-skills-gap/
https://systemagic.co.uk/has-your-business-prepared-for-the-2020-problem/
https://news.yahoo.com/massive-errors-found-facial-recognition-tech-us-study-215334634.html
https://www.securityweek.com/most-companies-dont-properly-manage-third-party-cyber-risk
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/11/21/hyoty-panee-jakamaan-tietonsa-luottamus-ratkaisee/
https://pentestmag.com/advice-for-a-cybersecurity-leader-think-like-your-adversary/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/google-facebook-surveillance-privacy/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol30/1404/2019/en/
https://www.securityweek.com/compromised-connection-5g-will-unite-cities-and-also-put-them-risk
https://www.securityweek.com/amnesty-international-calls-facebook-google-rights-abusers
https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-will-bring-dns-over-https-doh-windows
https://www.securityweek.com/cybersecurity-workforce-gap-145-growth-needed-meet-global-demand
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/11/19/successful-soc/
https://www.securityweek.com/making-network-first-line-defense
https://techbeacon.com/security/how-prioritize-strategic-risks-affect-critical-infrastructure
https://www.securityweek.com/transitioning-security-driven-networking-strategy
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/16/5g_iot_report/
https://www.securityweek.com/us-montenegro-plot-cyber-warfare-ahead-2020-elections
https://www.securityweek.com/fears-grow-digital-surveillance-us-survey
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/attack-on-online-retail/31786/
https://www.securityweek.com/implementing-cyber-best-practices-requires-security-first-approach
https://securelist.com/advanced-threat-predictions-for-2020/95055/
https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/smart-building-security-awareness-grows/d/d-id/1336597
https://www.cisomag.com/the-future-of-ai-in-cybersecurity/
https://www.ibm.com/security/artificial-intelligence
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/12/13/2fa-double-down-your-security/
https://cannatechtoday.com/experian-predicts-an-increase-in-global-cannabis-industry-data-breaches/
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/11/21/f-secure-tutkimaan-tekoalyagentteja/
https://www.securityweek.com/ongoing-research-project-examines-application-ai-cybersecurity
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10151-mikko-hypponen-tekoalyn-ei-pida-matkia-ihmista
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10124-nixu-selvitti-tekoaly-mullistaa-kyberturvan
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/10120-kyberturvassa-koneoppiminen-on-uusi-normaali
https://www.is.fi/digitoday/tietoturva/art-2000006316233.html
https://www.cyberscoop.com/apt33-microsoft-iran-ics/
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/exploits-and-vulnerabilities/2019/11/exploit-kits-fall-2019-review/
https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/enisa-news/enisa-draws-threat-landscape-of-5g-networks/
https://systemagic.co.uk/has-your-business-prepared-for-the-2020-problem/
https://smartgrid.ieee.org/newsletters/november-2019/the-cyber-physical-security-of-the-power-grid
https://www.wired.com/story/un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres-internet-risks/
https://codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/russia-facial-recognition-networks/
https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/9/21002515/surveillance-cameras-globally-us-china-amount-citizens
https://www.wired.com/story/iran-internet-shutoff/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-recommends-that-you-keep-your-iot-devices-on-a-separate-network/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-interpol-encryption-exclusive-idUSKBN1XR0S7
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/to-the-point/does-facial-recognition-software-threaten-our-freedom
1,468 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft, IBM, Nvidia, and others released an open framework to help security analysts detect, counter, and remediate threats against machine learning systems
Microsoft and MITRE release framework to help fend off adversarial AI attacks
https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/22/microsoft-and-mitre-release-framework-to-help-fend-off-adversarial-ai-attacks/
Microsoft, the nonprofit MITRE Corporation, and 11 organizations including IBM, Nvidia, Airbus, and Bosch today released the Adversarial ML Threat Matrix, an industry-focused open framework designed to help security analysts to detect, respond to, and remediate threats against machine learning systems. Microsoft says it worked with MITRE to build a schema that organizes the approaches employed by malicious actors in subverting machine learning models, bolstering monitoring strategies around organizations’ mission-critical systems.
According to a Gartner report, through 2022, 30% of all AI cyberattacks will leverage training-data poisoning, model theft, or adversarial samples to attack machine learning-powered systems. Despite these reasons to secure systems, Microsoft claims its internal studies find most industry practitioners have yet to come to terms with adversarial machine learning. Twenty-five out of the 28 businesses responding to the Seattle company’s recent survey indicated they don’t have the right tools in place to secure their machine learning models.
The Adversarial ML Threat Matrix — which was modeled after the MITRE ATT&CK Framework — aims to address this with a curated set of vulnerabilities and adversary behaviors that Microsoft and MITRE vetted to be effective against production systems. With input from researchers at the University of Toronto, Cardiff University, and the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, Microsoft and MITRE created a list of tactics that correspond to broad categories of adversary action
Tomi Engdahl says:
Catching Lazarus: Threat Intelligence to Real Detection Logic – Part
Two
https://labs.f-secure.com/blog/catching-lazarus-threat-intelligence-to-real-detection-logic-part-two/
In this second blog post, we will continue to share actionable
detection insights for blue teams to defend their organization against
the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group Lazarus Group. The
remaining techniques in the defense evasion phase will be covered in
this blog post, as well as the Credential Access, Lateral Movement and
Command & Control phases. The actions performed within these later
phases allow threat actors to establish a greater foothold on the
target organization’s network, and are therefore critically important
for defenders to detect.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to
Search Mobile Phones
https://www.upturn.org/reports/2020/mass-extraction/
To search phones, law enforcement agencies use mobile device forensic
tools (MDFTs), a powerful technology that allows police to extract a
full copy of data from a cellphone all emails, texts, photos,
location, app data, and more which can then be programmatically
searched. This report documents the widespread adoption of MDFTs by
law enforcement in the United States. Based on 110 public records
requests to state and local law enforcement agencies across the
country, our research documents more than 2, 000 agencies that have
purchased these tools, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Securing medical devices: Can a hacker break your heart?
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2020/10/23/securing-medical-devices-hack-heart/
Why are connected medical devices vulnerable to attack and how likely
are they to get hacked? Here are five digital chinks in the armor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Device Takeovers Surge 100 Percent in 2020
https://threatpost.com/iot-device-takeovers-surge/160504/
The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an explosion in the number of
connected devices, have led to a swelling in IoT infections observed
on wireless networks. IoT devices are now responsible for 32.72
percent of all infections observed in mobile and Wi-Fi networks up
from 16.17 percent in 2019. And researchers with Nokia’s Threat
Intelligence Lab said, in the Threat Intelligence Report 2020 released
this week, that they believe that number of IoT infections will
continue to grow “dramatically” as connected devices continue to
populate in homes and enterprise settings alike. Nokia Threat
Intelligence Report 2020: https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/210088
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.wired.com/story/maddie-stone-project-zero-reverse-engineering/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yksi keino olisi edellyttää kaikilta toimijoilta tietoturvan ja -suojan standardien ehdotonta noudattamista. Esimerkiksi ISO on julkaissut hiljattain uuden laajennoksen tietoturvan johtamisjärjestelmän standardiinsa. Monilla yrityksillä on jo käytössä ISO 27001 -mukainen tietoturvan johtamisjärjestelmä, mutta uusi ISO/IEC 27701 -laajennos liittää siihen nyt mukaan myös tietosuojan.
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11315-vastaamo-osoitti-ettei-tietoturva-toimi
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2020/10/25/tietoturvaviikon-livelahetykset-taalta/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia: hyökkäykset IoT-laitteisiin lisääntyvät
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11310-nokia-hyokkaykset-iot-laitteisiin-lisaantyvat
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft, MITRE Release Adversarial Machine Learning Threat Matrix
https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-mitre-release-adversarial-machine-learning-threat-matrix
Microsoft and MITRE, in collaboration with a dozen other organizations, have developed a framework designed to help identify, respond to, and remediate attacks targeting machine learning (ML) systems.
Such attacks, Microsoft says, have increased significantly over the past four years, and are expected to continue evolving. Despite that, however, organizations have yet to come to terms with adversarial machine learning, Microsoft says.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by the tech giant among 28 organizations has revealed that most of them (25) don’t have the necessary tools to secure machine learning systems and are explicitly looking for guidance.
“We found that preparation is not just limited to smaller organizations. We spoke to Fortune 500 companies, governments, non-profits, and small and mid-sized organizations,” Microsoft says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The state of privacy in Europe: what changed in 2020?
https://cybernews.com/editorial/the-state-of-privacy-in-europe-what-changed-in-2020/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=rm&utm_content=privacy_europe_change&fbclid=IwAR0vLeZWsWU8gruhtVrhQbobCQFm2eQJY73gz0O97A33p02SFHFi8WXGUg4
Across the EU, this has been an eventful year in the world of privacy, with new regulations, controversial court rulings and conflict with major internet platforms.
One of the biggest changes has been the demise of Privacy Shield, the arrangement under which EU data has in the past been legally transferred to the US.
That thorn in Facebook’s side, Austrian campaigner Max Schrems, this summer challenged Privacy Shield’s validity on the grounds that US national security laws did not protect EU citizens’ data from government spies – and won.
The decision has left EU-US data transfers in doubt. Many organisations are now attempting to use mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) to legitimise their activities – but this, too has come under question.
“The court was explicit that you cannot use the SCCs when the recipient in the US falls under these mass surveillance laws,” says Schrems. “It seems US companies are still trying to convince their EU customers of the opposite. This is more than shady.”
Unsurprisingly, these rulings have not been welcomed by the internet giants.
Surveillance concerns
In another major privacy-related judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently ruled that France, the UK, Belgium and other European countries cannot require internet service providers to store all their customers’ traffic and location data for intelligence purposes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cyberattacks Evolve As The Hospitality And Travel Industry Adapts
https://blogs.akamai.com/2020/10/cyberattacks-evolve-as-the-hospitality-and-travel-industry-adapts.html
The Hospitality and Travel (H&T) industry is easy prey for threat
actors as the industry has undergone a major shift in recent years; in
a bid to gain competitive advantage and keep up with online travel
aggregators, many H&T companies are becoming completely digitized.
Reservation apps, payment processing systems, loyalty programs linked
to other digital platforms for easy redemption of rewards, and complex
corporate networks all increase the likelihood of an attack. At the
same time, across the world, large volumes of business emails are sent
out every day from hotels, restaurants, travel providers and airlines
on safety measures, well-being messages, and changes in loyalty
programs related to the COVID-19 situation;. this makes the H&T
industry low-hanging fruit because of the value and volume of the
personally identifiable information that these organizations hold.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Voiko Vastaamon tietomurto olla hybridivaikuttamista? Asiantuntijan
mukaan vastaus saattaa löytyä kiristyksen kohteista
https://www.is.fi/digitoday/tietoturva/art-2000006699911.html
Euroopan hybridiuhkien torjunnan osaamiskeskuksen johtaja Teija
Tiilikainen arvioi, että nykytiedon valossa kiristäjän tai kiristäjien
todelliset motiivit löytyvät taloudellisen hyödyn tavoittelusta.
Informaatiovaikuttaminen ja historian tahallinen väärintulkinta ovat
poliittisia apuvälineitä, joilla menneisyys saadaan toimimaan
nykyisyyden päämäärien eteen
https://ulkopolitist.fi/2020/10/26/informaatiovaikuttaminen-ja-historian-tahallinen-vaarintulkinta-ovat-poliittisia-apuvalineita-joilla-menneisyys-saadaan-toimimaan-nykyisyyden-paamaarien-eteen/
Nykyään tieto kulkee bitteinä ja digitaalisen tiedon muokkaaminen on
helppoa. Kuten professorit Martti Lehto ja Jarno Limnéll ovat
todenneet: “2020-luvun kybermaailman suurimmat taistelut kaydaan
ihmisten mielissa.” Keskeiseen rooliin nousee tämän vuoksi
informaatio, jolla vaikutetaan ihmisten mieliin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jaettu tilanneymmärrys osa kansallista kyberturvallisuutta
https://www.upseeriliitto.fi/sotilasaikakauslehti/5_2020/jaettu_tilanneymmarrys_osa_kansallista_kyberturvallisuutta
Artikkeli perustuu Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulussa tehtyyn tutkielmaan,
joka käsittelee jaettua tilanneymmärrystä kansallisen
kyberturvallisuuden verkostoissa. Nykypäivän verkottuneessa ja
globaalissa maailmassa kyberturvallisuus on yksi toimintavarmuuden
tae, joka muodostuu julkisen, yksityisen että kolmannen sektorin
toimijoiden verkostoissa. Näissä verkostoissa korostuu yhteistyön ja
tiedonvaihdon merkitys kyberuhkien torjunnassa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/10/26/inside-the-top-secret-doughnut-a-visit-to-gchq/
Tomi Engdahl says:
What were the biggest changes for European privacy in 2020? Here’s a concise overview of how the EU privacy landscape changed over the year, including new regulations, controversial court rulings, and conflicts with major internet platforms.
The state of privacy in Europe: what changed in 2020?
https://cybernews.com/editorial/the-state-of-privacy-in-europe-what-changed-in-2020/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=rm&utm_content=privacy_europe_change&fbclid=IwAR11zqiyywJQsIgHeFimKKj6TS0nMqV51rB18ik3KCdJ4u4DSNBMTYfl0xg
Tomi Engdahl says:
2020 ELECTION
Trump campaign website hacked
A message posted on the site said the “world has had enough of the fake news” spread by the president and threatened to release dirt on the Trump family.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-campaign-website-hacked-n1245038
President Donald Trump’s campaign website appeared to fall victim to hackers Tuesday night.
“This site was seized,” read a message that was briefly posted on a page at donaldjtrump.com. The “world has had enough of the fake news spreaded daily” by the president, it continued.
The message said it had information that “discredits” the president and his family, and it demanded cryptocurrency to either release or withhold the information.
The site soon appeared to go offline, and it was restored without the hacked message a short time later.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China database tracks US nuclear scientists
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/china-database-tracks-us-nuclear-scientists-20200916-p55w4d
Profiles of more than 16,000 military personnel from Australia, the United States, South Korea and Britain appear on a leaked Chinese database, which has a heavy focus on those connected to Washington’s nuclear program.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Datan määrä kasvaa ja se on arvokasta saalista “Yksittäinen yritys ei
voi ajatella niin, että ei meillä ole mitään suojattavaa tai emme me
voi olla kenenkään mielenkiinnon kohteena”
https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/datan-maara-kasvaa-ja-se-on-arvokasta-saalista-yksittainen-yritys-ei-voi-ajatella-niin-etta-ei-meilla-ole-mitaan-suojattavaa-tai-emme-me-voi-olla-kenenkaan-mielenkiinnon-kohteena/fc5109a7-65f7-4746-8e43-6a1c5f238ca1
Elinkeinoelämän keskusliiton johtavan asiantuntijan Markku Rajamäen
mukaan datan määrä kasvaa koko ajan, ja siksi valmistautuminen on
yrityksille yhä tärkeämpää. “Yksittäinen yritys ei voi ajatella niin,
että ei meillä ole mitään suojattavaa tai emme me voi olla kenenkään
mielenkiinnon kohteena. Siellä voi olla sellaista joka jollekin voi
olla arvokasta rikollisessa mielessä”, Rajamäki sanoo.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Uusi työkalu johdolle kyberuhkien hallintaan
https://www.kyberturvallisuuskeskus.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/uusi-tyokalu-johdolle-kyberuhkien-hallintaan
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen
kehittämä Kybermittari auttaa yritysjohtoa saamaan kyberriskit
kattavammin hallintaan ja turvaamaan liiketoiminnan jatkuvuuden.
Tomi Engdahl says:
2020 DDOS EXTORTION CAMPAIGN — A SEQUEL MORE THRILLING THAN THE
ORIGINAL
https://blogs.akamai.com/2020/10/2020-ddos-extortion-campaign-a-sequel-more-thrilling-than-the-original.html
As you might imagine, as the go-to enterprise DDoS mitigation experts,
our phones have been “ringing off the hook” as the global extortion
DDoS campaign sequel rages on. It’s bigger, badder, and features a
broader cast of criminal characters than seen previously with last
year’s extortion-related activity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moving To “Ransomware-as-a-Service”: Operator “REvil” Dishes in
Periodical-Style Q&A
https://www.flashpoint-intel.com/blog/cybercrime/revil-moves-to-ransomware-as-a-service/
On October 24, 2020, a lengthy, Q&A-style interview with a
spokesperson for the ransomware operator, REvil, was posted on the
Russian-based YouTube and Telegram channel called “Russian OSINT.”.
This interview was particularly illuminating because of just how
corporate and “business-like” cybercriminal organizations like REvil
have become.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As cybercrime services are becoming increasingly customer-orientated and easy to use, the Crimeware-as-a-Service model is beginning to dominate the criminal landscape. What are the dangers of CaaS? And, more importantly, what can be done to combat it?
The Crimeware-as-a-Service model is sweeping over the cybercrime world. Here’s why
https://cybernews.com/security/crimeware-as-a-service-model-is-sweeping-over-the-cybercrime-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=rm&utm_content=crimeware_as_a_service&fbclid=IwAR3JAxSdA0d2X2YECFkF4IHe7VS3w24_V93SFJIsVoPsVVAzhKbRykadnDY
Crimeware-as-a-Service (or Cybercrime-as-a-Service) has increasingly enabled both technically inexperienced criminals and advanced threat actors to rapidly arrange sophisticated attacks.
The term Crimeware-as-a-Service (CaaS) refers to the practice in the cybercriminal ecosystem to provide products and services to other cybercriminals.
This model facilitates the activities of cybercriminal groups and helps criminals to carry out complex attacks without the need for advanced technical skills.
CaaS has decreased the barrier of entry for new, less savvy threat actors, and now represents an optimum choice for advanced attackers that want to conduct hit-and-run operations.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.securityweek.com/trump-campaign-website-broken-hackers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some Ballot Requests May Be Affected by County Cyber Attack
https://www.securityweek.com/some-ballot-requests-may-be-affected-county-cyber-attack
A hacker attack against an upstate New York county’s computer system raised concern that some emailed absentee ballot applications may not be processed, but the state Board of Elections said voting won’t be affected overall.
The cyber attack on Oct. 18 encrypted about 200 computers operated by Chenango County and hackers demanded ransom of $450 per computer to unlock the files, Herman Ericksen, the county’s information technology director, said Monday. “We are not paying the ransom,” he said.
Last week, the county board of elections released a public statement urging anyone who had sent an absentee ballot application by email since Oct. 15 to call the board to verify it had been received. The statement said the cyber attack would not otherwise impact voting because “the board has redundancies in place that will allow the secure and effective administration of the general election.”
“It was not an attack on the election system,” said state Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin.
Erickson said affected computers are being wiped clean to remove the malware and all software is being reinstalled. The county’s email system was down for several days but is back in operation, he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.kyberturvallisuuskeskus.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/uusi-tyokalu-johdolle-kyberuhkien-hallintaan
Tomi Engdahl says:
You’ve open sourced your relational database manager with PostgreSQL – but how can you keep it secure?
We’ll help you manage risk while chasing your RDBMS dreams
https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/20/postgresql/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba to sell off-the-shelf quantum key distribution kit and eventually offer it as-a-service
Wait until the ‘We need backdoors’ crowd hears about this
https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/20/toshiba_qkd/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/nsa-top-25-vulnerabilities-actively-abused-by-chinese-hackers/
https://media.defense.gov/2020/Oct/20/2002519884/-1/-1/0/CSA_CHINESE_EXPLOIT_VULNERABILITIES_UOO179811.PDF
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomi julkisti näkemyksensä kansainvälisestä oikeudesta kyberympäristössä
Kyberympäristö on maailmanlaajuinen tietojärjestelmien kokonaisuus, jossa sähköisessä muodossa olevaa tietoa käsitellään tietotekniikan avulla. Kyberympäristön erityispiirteet voivat herättää kysymyksiä joidenkin kansainvälisten säännösten käytännön soveltamiseen liittyen. Tämän vuoksi tarvitaan tiivistä kansainvälistä yhteistyötä ja näkemysten vaihtoa siitä, miten kansainvälinen oikeus tietyissä kysymyksissä sääntelee informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologioiden käyttöä valtioiden toimesta. Siksi Suomi nyt liittyy niiden valtioiden joukkoon, jotka ovat tuoneet julki kantojansa kansainvälisestä oikeudesta kyberympäristössä.
https://um.fi/ajankohtaista/-/asset_publisher/gc654PySnjTX/content/suomi-julkisti-n-c3-a4kemyksens-c3-a4-kansainv-c3-a4lisest-c3-a4-oikeudesta-kyberymp-c3-a4rist-c3-b6ss-c3-a4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloudflare Offers ‘Isolated’ Cloud-Based Browser, Plus a Network-as-a-Service Solution
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/20/10/17/2326236/cloudflare-offers-isolated-cloud-based-browser-plus-a-network-as-a-service-solution?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
Cloudflare has released the beta of its new “browser isolation” service, which runs a web browser in the cloud,
Cloudflare wants to run your web browser in the cloud
By Anthony Spadafora 16 October 2020
Web-based threats can’t affect your system or network if they’re isolated in the cloud
https://www.techradar.com/in/news/cloudflare-wants-to-run-your-web-browser-in-the-cloud
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11251-missa-on-koodia-siella-on-haavoittuvuuksia#ETNartikel
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Find Vulnerabilities in Code: Bad Words
https://btlr.dev/blog/how-to-find-vulnerabilities-in-code-bad-words
This is the first of several posts about how to find vulnerabilities in code. At a high level, the process looks like this
find dangerous functionality
find a path from input you control to that dangerous functionality
craft input to the program that makes it misbehave
We’ll start with the first part: how to find dangerous functionality. In my experience, 80% of the bugs are in about 20% of the code. If anything, it’s more like 90 / 10. Since you usually need to understand the code thoroughly to find novel vulnerabilities, deciding which 20% to focus on is critical. One way I do this is by focusing on clusters of “bad words”.
I’ll show you what I mean with a quick story
Tomi Engdahl says:
Back to Basics: Pandemic Cybersecurity Trends and Solutions
https://www.securityweek.com/back-basics-pandemic-cybersecurity-trends-and-solutions
Tomi Engdahl says:
Application Security Posture Management Firm Enso Security Emerges From Stealth
https://www.securityweek.com/application-security-posture-management-firm-enso-security-emerges-stealth
Enso Security, a company that claims to have built the first application security posture management (ASPM) platform, emerged from stealth mode on Wednesday with $6 million in seed funding.
Enso Security says it has developed a platform designed to help organizations manage application security at scale, providing all the capabilities the company’s founders wished for as application security practitioners.
Users of the Enso platform can also perform custom queries to obtain insight on applications based on their data attributes.
The platform integrates with development and security products from dozens of vendors, including Graylog, Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub, Checkmarx, Jira, Sumo Logic, Acunetix, Splunk, Azure, Monday, Elastic, Nginx and HackerOne.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Brief Introduction to the Nessus Vulnerability Scanner
https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/a-brief-introduction-to-the-nessus-vulnerability-scanner/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The U.S. National Security Agency is rebuffing efforts by a leading Congressional critic to determine whether it is continuing to place so-called back doors into commercial technology products, in a controversial practice that critics say damages both U.S. industry and national security.
The NSA has long sought agreements with technology companies under which they would build special access for the spy agency into their products, according to disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Spy agency ducks questions about ‘back doors’ in tech products
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-congress-insight/spy-agency-ducks-questions-about-back-doors-in-tech-products-idUSKBN27D1CS
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. National Security Agency is rebuffing efforts by a leading Congressional critic to determine whether it is continuing to place so-called back doors into commercial technology products, in a controversial practice that critics say damages both U.S. industry and national security.
The NSA has long sought agreements with technology companies under which they would build special access for the spy agency into their products, according to disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and reporting by Reuters and others.
These so-called back doors enable the NSA and other agencies to scan large amounts of traffic without a warrant. Agency advocates say the practice has eased collection of vital intelligence in other countries, including interception of terrorist communications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
I think we have to assume that commercial (especially non- open source) products are NSA compromised
The NSA is Refusing to Disclose its Policy on Backdooring Commercial Products
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2020/10/the-nsa-is-refusing-to-disclose-its-policy-on-backdooring-commercial-products.html
Senator Ron Wyden asked, and the NSA didn’t answer:
Tomi Engdahl says:
Y’all out here looking for the wrong kinda bugs?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Six ways to reduce the risk from human-operated ransomware attacks
https://pwc.blogs.com/cyber_security_updates/2020/10/six-ways-to-reduce-the-risk-from-human-operated-ransomware-attacks.html
Based on our understanding of the TTPs used by these attackers, and
our experience preventing, detecting and responding to attacks, we
have published a new whitepaper called Responding to the growing
threat of human-operated ransomware attacks. In this article we’ve
summarised the six areas we recommend CISOs and security professionals
focus on for security improvement. You can download the full
whitepaper for pragmatic, actionable recommendations on how to reduce
the risk from these attacks. PDF:
https://www.pwc.co.uk/cyber-security/pdf/responding-to-growing-human-operated-ransomware-attacks-threat.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keeping ransomware cash away from your business
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/cybercrime/2020/10/keeping-ransomware-cash-away-from-your-business/
A ransomware gang has made headlines for donating a big chunk of
stolen funds to two charities. Two separate donations given to
Children International and The Water Project rang tills to the tune of
$10, 000 each. Their reason was that they’re targeting “only large
profitable corporations, we think it’s fair that some of the money
they’ve paid will go to charity. No matter how bad you think our work
is, we are pleased to know that we helped change someone’s life.”.
This has raised several questions outside the usual “Is it morally
right to pay a ransom” debate. It’s a whole new world of “Is it
morally acceptable for ransomware authors to donate ill-gotten gains
to charities, Robin Hood style?”
Tomi Engdahl says:
How does an illicit cybercrime market evolve: A longitudinal study
https://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2020/10/28/how-does-an-illicit-cybercrime-market-evolve-a-longitudinal-study/
Online underground marketplaces are an essential part of the
cybercrime economy. They often act as a cash-out market, enabling the
trade in illicit goods and services between pseudonymous members. To
understand their characteristics, previous research mostly uses vendor
ratings, public feedback, sometimes private messages, friend status,
and post content. However, most research lacks comprehensive (and
important) data about transactions made by the forum members.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DDoS attacks in Q3 2020
https://securelist.com/ddos-attacks-in-q3-2020/99171/
If Q2 2020 surprised us with an unusually high number of DDoS attacks
for this period, the Q3 figures point to a normalization. Judging by
the number of unique targets, in comparison with last quarter,
cybercriminals were more attracted by European, and less by the Asian
countries, such as Japan and South Korea, although interest in China
is still high and continues to grow in terms both of unique targets
and of attacks. Growth was observed in the number of short and
ultra-short attacks, as well as multi-day ones. The sharp contrast
between the highest and lowest number of attacks per day is curious.
Taken together, these indicators mark Q3 2020 out as somewhat
contradictory from a DDoS viewpoint.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SMBGhost – the critical vulnerability many seem to have forgotten to
patch
https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/SMBGhost+the+critical+vulnerability+many+seem+to+have+forgotten+to+patch/26732/
You probably remember that back in March, Microsoft released a patch
for a vulnerability in SMBv3 dubbed SMBGhost (CVE-2020-0796), since at
that time, it received as much media attention as was reasonable for a
critical (CVSS 10.0) vulnerability in Windows, which might lead to
remote code execution. I’m unsure what method Shodan uses to determine
whether a certain machine is vulnerable to SMBGhost, but if its
detection mechanism is accurate, it would appear that there are still
over 103 000 affected machines accessible from the internet. This
would mean that a vulnerable machine hides behind approximately 8% of
all IPs, which have port 445 open.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trump’s official campaign website vandalized by hackers who ‘had
enough of the President’s fake news’
https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/28/trump_website_hacked/
Well, that narrows down the list of suspects to just a few billion
people
Tomi Engdahl says:
WannaCry: How the Widespread Ransomware Changed Cybersecurity
https://securityintelligence.com/articles/wannacry-worm-ransomware-changed-cybersecurity/
If I had polled cybersecurity experts on their way to work on May 12,
2017, most of them would have said they knew a major cybersecurity
event loomed. Yet, on that day no one expected that they were walking
into the perfect storm in the form of WannaCry ransomware, the most
damaging cyberattack to date when they traveled by car, train or ferry
to their respective offices that spring morning.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Welcome to ThreatPursuit VM: A Threat Intelligence and Hunting Virtual
Machine
https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/10/threatpursuit-vm-threat-intelligence-and-hunting-virtual-machine.html
ThreatPursuit Virtual Machine (VM) is a fully customizable,
open-sourced Windows-based distribution focused on threat intelligence
analysis and hunting designed for intel and malware analysts as well
as threat hunters to get up and running quickly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Threat Hunting as an Official Cybersecurity Discipline
https://www.secureworks.com/blog/threat-hunting-as-an-official-cybersecurity-discipline
Now that threat hunting is recognized as an official discipline by
NIST, Secureworks explains what that means for companies who want to
implement threat hunting, supplement their own programs, or partner
with others.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Sysop” on kylmähermoinen kaveri, joka mahdollistaa tor-verkon huumekaupan eikä tee virheitä – nyt hän sulkee foorumin, mutta kauppa jatkuu
Tulli ja poliisi ovat yksimielisiä siitä, että internetin huumekauppa ei pääty tähän.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11619659
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomen turvallisuuden suurimmat uhat – kyberhyökkäys, Venäjä vai ilmastonmuutos? Katso Ylen erikoislähetys klo 15
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11619911
Hallitus julkaisee ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittisen selontekonsa iltapäivällä.