John McAfee now faces additional federal charges related to alleged cryptocurrency schemes. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

John McAfee Charged With Cryptocurrency Fraud

Scott Ferguson • March 8, 2021

Cybersecurity entrepreneur John McAfee, who already faces tax evasion charges, has now been indicted for allegedly using his vast social media following to run cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes as well as promote virtual currencies to investors without revealing his stake in them, federal prosecutors say.

Application Security

Accellion: How Attackers Stole Data and Ransomed Companies

3 North Koreans Indicted for Conspiring to Steal $1.3 Billion

Latest

COVID-19

COVID-19: Are We Rounding the Corner?

Tom Field • March 8, 2021

COVID-19 infection rates are down from their record highs, and vaccination numbers grow each day. Are we rounding the corner in this pandemic battle? Keep an eye on the virus variants, says pandemic expert Regina Phelps. We may be on the cusp of yet another surge.

Cybercrime

Phishing Attack Uses Fake Google reCAPTCHA

Akshaya Asokan • March 7, 2021

A Microsoft-themed phishing campaign is using phony Google reCAPTCHA in an attempt to steal credentials from senior employees of various organizations, a new report by security firm Zcaler says. The company says it prevented more than 2,500 phishing emails tied to the campaign.

Cybercrime

Supermicro and PulseSecure Issue Advisories on Trickboot

Doug Olenick • March 6, 2021

Supermicro and Pulse Secure have each issued advisories warning users that some of their products are vulnerable to an updated version of Trickbot malware that features a bootkit module, nicknamed Trickboot, which can search for UEFI/BIOS firmware vulnerabilities.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Mark of Ransomware's Success: $370 Million in 2020 Profits

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 5, 2021

Ransomware dominated the online-enabled crime landscape in 2020, some security experts say, thanks to the massive profits it's been generating and the relative ease of use for attackers - including support from a burgeoning cybercrime-as-a-service market.

3rd Party Risk Management

Accellion Appliance Zero-Day Attack Breaches: Key Takeaways

Anna Delaney • March 5, 2021

This edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of key takeaways from the breaches tied to flaws in the Accellion File Transfer appliance. Also featured: Equifax CISO Jamil Farshchi on transforming supply chain security, plus an analysis of how "work from anywhere" is affecting cybersecurity.

Breach Notification

Russian Cybercrime Forum 'Maza' Suffers Data Breach

Akshaya Asokan • March 4, 2021

The Russian carding and fraud discussion forum Maza has been breached, and hackers have leaked what appear to be legitimate members' details, including email addresses and forum credentials, threat-intelligence firms report. The breach and data leak follows a recent wave of attacks against cybercrime forums.

Governance & Risk Management

Lesson From SolarWinds Attack: It's Time to Beef Up IAM

Scott Ferguson • March 4, 2021

The SolarWinds supply chain attack should prompt federal agencies and others to rethink how they approach security issues - especially identity and access management, according to a breakdown of the attack presented this week by NIST and CISA.

Breach Notification

Qualys Gets 'Clopped' by Accellion-Exploiting Attackers

Mathew J. Schwartz • March 4, 2021

Qualys has confirmed that its Accellion File Transfer Appliance software was breached by zero-day-wielding attackers after stolen customer data appeared on the Clop ransomware gang's data leaks site. The security firm's public breach notification comes more than two months after the firm first learned it had been...

Identity & Access Management

Okta to Buy Auth0 for $6.5 Billion

Doug Olenick • March 4, 2021

The security firm Okta shook up the identity and access management market Wednesday by announcing a $6.5 billion deal to acquire the customer IAM technology supplier Auth0. Two other cybersecurity M&A deals were also announced this week.

Identity & Access Management

Changing Authentication for Employees

Suparna Goswami • March 4, 2021

New authentication models, including dynamic authorization and continuous authentication, that work well for consumers can be adopted for employees as well, says Thomas Malta, head of identity and access management at the Virginia-based Navy Federal Credit Union.

Cybercrime

Ursnif Trojan Targets Italian Bank Customer Data

Doug Olenick • March 3, 2021

Payment card information and other data for customers of at least 100 Italian banks and one payment processor were compromised using the Ursnif banking Trojan, according to Avast Threat Labs.

Application Security

Microsoft Patches Four Zero-Day Flaws in Exchange

Jeremy Kirk • March 3, 2021

Microsoft issued emergency software patches on Tuesday for four zero-day vulnerabilities in its Exchange email server. The alarming vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker into Exchange and possibly enable further lateral movement.