U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (Photo: Federalreserve via Flickr)

US Federal Reserve Issues Report on Digital Dollar

Dan Gunderman • January 21, 2022

The Federal Reserve has published its long-awaited discussion paper on a central bank digital currency. In it, the Fed points to the innovative qualities of digital currencies, but stresses potential risks to the nation's financial system, including heightened cyberthreats and privacy concerns.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Russia Arrests 14 Suspected REvil Ransomware Group Members

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Cybercrime

Suspected REvil Ransomware Spinoff 'Ransom Cartel' Debuts

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 24, 2022

Has the notorious REvil, aka Sodinokibi, ransomware operation rebooted as "Ransom Cartel"? Security experts say the new group has technical and other crossovers with REvil. But whether the new group is a spinoff of REvil, bought the tools, or is simply copying how they work, remains unclear.

Application Security

Twitter: Head of Security Reportedly Fired; CISO to Leave

Prajeet Nair • January 22, 2022

Twitter has said it is firing Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, the network security expert it hired in November 2020 as head of security. The security team changes - the CISO is also set to depart - follow "an assessment of how the organization was being led," according to a corporate memo shared with The New York Times.

3rd Party Risk Management

New FS-ISAC Program Boosts Supply Chain Security Dialogue

Devon Warren-Kachelein • January 21, 2022

FS-ISAC is piloting a new program called the Critical Providers Program that is aimed to heighten the conversation between leaders of security firms and their third-party partners. The program leverages the Connect platform, and Akamai Technologies plays a key role.

Cybercrime

EU Plans to Build Its Own DNS Infrastructure

Mihir Bagwe • January 21, 2022

The European Union has initiated plans to build its own high-performance and secure DNS resolution infrastructure to reduce reliance on a few public DNS resolvers operated by non-EU entities. The service, named DNS4EU, is to be made available to all EU citizens and organizations.

Application Security

ISMG Editors: Will Ransomware Kill Cyber Insurance?

Anna Delaney • January 21, 2022

In the latest weekly update, four ISMG editors discuss the state of cyber insurance today and why its future is uncertain; applying a security-by-design reliability model to analyze vulnerabilities; and how Russia takes down members of the REvil ransomware group as cyber aggressions in Ukraine rise.

3rd Party Risk Management

From the Trenches: Remediating Widespread Apache Log4j Flaw

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 21, 2022

Although flaws in Apache Log4j software that need remediating remain widespread in organizations, "some of them are aware of the issue, some of them aren't aware of the issue, and likely this issue is going to be persisting with us for many, many years," says Jeff Macko, an offensive security expert at Kroll.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Crypto.com Confirms Breach, Nearly $34 Million in Losses

Dan Gunderman , Devon Warren-Kachelein • January 21, 2022

Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com confirms that its platform fell victim to a multimillion-dollar cyberattack. In a postmortem entry on its site, Crypto.com says unauthorized withdrawals targeted Ethereum and Bitcoin of 483 users. Associated losses were near $34 million.

Application Security

Ukraine Cyber Attacks: A Case of Hacktivism?

Anna Delaney • January 21, 2022

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of whether the cyberattacks that hit Ukraine's government agencies last week are attributable to any group or nation-state along with updates to the cybersecurity executive order and illicit cryptocurrency trends.

Endpoint Security

Israeli Officials Deny Claims of Improper Spyware Use

Dan Gunderman • January 20, 2022

New developments have emerged in the case of the Israel Police allegedly using the flagship spyware of NSO Group, Pegasus, on its own citizens, with reported targets including critics of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others. Following a bombshell local report, high-ranking Israeli officials have...

Application Security

Log4Shell Update: VMware Horizon Targeted

Prajeet Nair • January 19, 2022

Attackers have been actively targeting Log4j vulnerabilities, or Log4Shell, vulnerabilities in the servers of virtualization solution VMware Horizon to establish persistent access via web shells, according to an alert by the U.K. National Health Service.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

JPMorgan Chase Invests $12 Billion in Security Updates

Devon Warren-Kachelein • January 19, 2022

JPMorgan Chase will earmark $12 billion for technological updates - including cloud migration, upgrading legacy architecture, data strategy, and emerging technologies. About half of this budget will go toward security modernization, while the other half will be invested into digital innovation.

Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP)

McAfee Enterprise and FireEye Products Rebrand as Trellix

Mathew J. Schwartz • January 19, 2022

Endpoint detection and response software news: The entity formerly known as McAfee Enterprise and FireEye Products has a new name: Trellix. Think of a "security trellis to businesses across the globe, giving them support they need to keep them safe," says CEO Bryan Palma. Will customers and prospects buy in?