WhatsApp Security Improvement: Encrypted Backups
WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned company, is a mobile application that allows users to send text messages, voice calls, and share documents with other WhatsApp users. You may wonder why the app …
Apple ‘FORCEDENTRY’ Zero-Day – Patch Now!
The Citizen Lab, a Canadian privacy and cybersecurity activist group, announced a zero-day security hole in Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. The lab gave the attack the nickname …
United Nations (UN) Breached
In the spring and summer of 2021, hackers stealthily entered the United Nation’s (UN) proprietary project management software, Umoja, accessing the network and stealing critical data to be used in …
T-Mobile Breach Affects Nearly All US Customers
T-Mobile, a self-proclaimed leader in 5G, is a CyberHoot worst of the worst for cybersecurity breaches. While preparing this article on the latest 54 million subscriber breach, we found no …
Japanese Crypto Exchange Robbed of $100,000,000
Recently, cryptocurrency exchanges, the place where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies on the Internet, have been under active and successful attack. In one case, a Chinese cryptocurrency exchange called …
Microsoft Edge’s ‘Super Duper Secure Mode’
Microsoft’s Edge Vulnerability Research Team recently published details on a new feature in development called “Super Duper Secure Mode” (SDSM). SDSM is designed to improve security without notable performance losses. …
CISA Advisory (ICSA-21-119-04)
August 19th, 2021: CyberHoot has received notification of critical risks to our national cybersecurity. A critical vulnerability has been made public by CISA, known as “BadAlloc”. Details of the vulnerabilities …
BazarCaller – Vishing Gang
BazarCaller is a new cybercrime gang that uses Vishing to trick its victims into handing over information or access to a device. Vishing is the malicious practice of making phone …
Microsoft Patch Tuesday
On the second Tuesday of each month since 2003, Microsoft has released security-related updates to Windows (desktop and server), Office, and related products. Updates and patches aren’t only released on …
CISA’s Top Vulnerabilities in 2020 and 2021
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) teamed up with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and the U.S. Federal Bureau …
Ransomware, Backups, and Testing your Plan
The news headlines seem to be filled with ransomware attacks of late. Business owners are taking note and asking their Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and IT departments to improve their …
Pegasus Spyware
NSO, the Israeli technology company has been working with governments around the world by selling them robust surveillance systems. The tool, named Pegasus, unlocks the contents of a victim’s cellphone …
Microsoft’s PrintNightmare Vulnerability
Microsoft’s released an Out-Of-Band (OOB) emergency patch, affecting windows systems’ print-spooler subsystem. These printing issues are being called PrintNightmare by the media. The vulnerabilities are being tracked in CVE-2021-1675 and …
Nextdoor App Security
A new social media service, Nextdoor, is gaining steam as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform is used to share trusted information about one’s neighborhood, to give …
Kaseya RMM Spreads Ransomware
Update and Correction – 3:30pm 7/3/21: CyberHoot has confirmed from Kaseya and other cybersecurity news sources that Webroot was not and is not a risk from this Kaseya ransomware event. Only Kaseya …
How Secure Are Payment Apps?
Cash is King, for now. The use of electronic payment applications has been steadily growing, according to a recent survey by the US Federal Reserve, cash payments accounted for only …
Bipartisan Cybersecurity Bill Impending
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are scrambling to introduce legislation addressing overwhelming spikes in ransomware and other cyberattacks on critical organizations like Colonial Pipeline and JBS. Until recently, the US federal …
FBI Recovers Colonial Bitcoin Payment
In May of 2021, the United States’ largest pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, halted operations due to a ransomware attack. At the time, Colonial Pipeline carried 45% of the fuel used on the …
JBS Ransomware Attack Shows Importance of Backups
[Update on JBS Ransomware attack: June 10, 2021 CyberHoot learned that backups and a strong disaster recovery plan weren’t responsible for a quick ransomware recovery at JBS meats as was …
FBI: Watch Out For Fake Job Listings
Fake Job listings are collecting PII by the thousands of applicants. Be wary of offers too good to be true. Demand in person or video-based interviews and ask lots of questions.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) In A Nutshell
A phrase that has been making waves in the financial world is Decentralized Finance (aka: DeFi). DeFi uses cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to manage financial transactions outside the control of …
Pipeline Breach Prompts Texas To Require Cybersecurity Training
May 17, 2021: Following the Ransomware Attack on the Colonial Pipeline, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took action and announced that he was signing a new cybersecurity law that penalizes those …
Ransomware Shuts Down Largest U.S. Pipeline
The United States’ largest pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, halted operations due to a ransomware attack. Colonial Pipeline carries 45% of the fuel used on the U.S. East Coast, running from Texas …
Apple Zero-Day – Cybersecurity Advisory
May 4th, 2021: Apple has released IOS updates for 4 critical issues that impact all Mac, iOS, iPad, and Watch products. “Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary …
Apple AirDrop Vulnerability
Security researchers in Germany have put out a press release about research findings to be presented at Usenix 2021. They presented findings proving that “Apple AirDrop shares more than files”. …
What Was 2020’s Most Expensive Cybercrime?
Reading the latest FBI report might convince you that Business Email Compromise was the largest cybercrime in 2020. Ransomware proves them wrong by a factor of at least 5 if not more. Both are scourges that SMBs need to protect themselves from. Become more aware to become more secure.
Israel Launches ‘Stuxnet 3.0’ On Iran
Iran announced that a blackout occurred at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Iran blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges. Israel …
Booking.com Fined Following Vishing Attack
Summary Message: Working out your Breach Notification during a Breach is a recipe for disaster. Back in December of 2018, Booking.com experienced a breach, where the company was exploited through …
Facebook Exploit – Cybersecurity Advisory
April 2021: CyberHoot received notification of a hacking forum publishing the stolen phone numbers and personal data of 533 million Facebook users. The data was initially part of a breach …
UK Census Smishing Attack
As many know, the United States had its decennial (every ten years) census in 2020, helping determine and record population statistics all over our country; questions around race, sex, and …
Instagram Scams: How To Avoid Them
Since Instagram’s official launch in 2010, it’s seen more than 1 billion accounts opened with users sharing close to 100 million photos every day. Instagram’s popularity skyrocketed since its launch …
Twitter Steganography Risks
Steganography is the interesting but potentially dangerous technique of hiding data or malware code secretly within an ordinary, non-secret file or message to avoid detection. The use of steganography can …
Why NFTs Are The Future
The popular musician Grimes sold some animations she made with her brother Mac on a website called ‘Nifty Gateway’. Some were one-offs, while others were authentic limited editions, all were …
US Treasury Bans Ransomware Payments
Oct.1st, 2020: The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warned organizations that making ransomware payments is illegal. These payments violate US economic sanctions banning the support of …
Apple’s New Privacy Initiative
Apple’s tracking-optional iOS 14.5 update provides privacy-preserving features, giving users the ability to opt-out of being followed around the Internet via “trackers” in their apps. This privacy-driven iOS 14.5 update …
FTC Warns of ‘Romance Scammers’
For people searching for love online, it has become a little difficult due to scammers’ hell-bent on catfishing vulnerable people. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning about such …
Canada Rules Clearview AI’s Illegal
Clearview AI has created one of the broadest and most powerful facial recognition databases in the world. Their application allows a user (law enforcement we hope) to upload a photo of …
Emotet Operation Takedown
In January of 2021, law enforcement and judicial authorities across the globe disrupted one of the most notable botnets of the past decade: Emotet. Investigators have taken control of its …
Security Advisory – Apple and Linux/Unix
February 1st, 2021 Update: All Apple MacOS products are also at risk for the sudo privilege escalation vulnerability details in CVE-2021-3156. Patch these operating systems as soon as you have …
WordPress Site Risks
WordPress websites account for more than one-third of all websites on the Internet. WordPress is both flexible and powerful and runs some of the most used Internet sites such as …
Ubiquiti Security Breach
Ubiquiti, a large vendor of cloud-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as Wi-Fi Access Points, Video Recorders, and Security Cameras recently faced a security incident. Ubiquiti stated an incident …
Chrome Extension Privacy Concerns
Browser extensions are tools that help with spelling/grammar, finding deals, storing passwords, or blocking ads; users don’t consider helpful tools being malicious in any form at all. Have you installed …
PayPal Smishing Attack
A PayPal text message phishing campaign was discovered that attempts to steal your account credentials and other sensitive information. This form of phishing attack, through text messages, is called Smishing. Hackers …
Ransomware Task Force Forming
The damaging effects of ransomware hit $11.5 billion in 2019, and doubled in 2020 as new, more damaging strains of ransomware (Maze, Sodinokibi, Ryuk, Dharma) hit companies even harder. Older …
IRS Impersonation Attack
Fake IRS Tax Forms This week, AbnormalSecurity reported an attack on an estimated 15-50 thousand email inboxes with a phishing attack. The attack’s purpose was to gain personal information that …
IRS Pin Protection in 2021
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced this week that in January 2021 taxpayers can apply for an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN). This single-use code is designed to …
Close Proximity iPhone Hack
Google’s Project Zero cybersecurity researcher (and white-hat hacker) Ian Beer published an article in December of 2020, outlining how hackers can break into nearby iPhones to steal personal data. The …
‘Smart’ Doorbell Vulnerabilities
The holiday season is officially upon us. Now is a good time to find great deals but proceed with caution: be wary of “too good to be true” deals. CyberHoot …
HTTPS-Only Mode Introduced by Firefox
For those that don’t know, the webpage you’re reading this article on features the security protocol of ‘HTTPS’ for example, https://cyberhoot.com/; meaning all data leaving this webpage to and from your …
Be Wary of ‘Black Friday’ Scams
Finally, we’ve made it through the majority of 2020 and into the Holiday season, allowing us to celebrate by getting together with family and friends and perhaps do a little …
