Cyber Defense Advisors

Year: 2025

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid and Efficient Solar Tech

Researchers are trying to use squid color-changing biochemistry for solar tech. This appears to be new and related research to a 2019 squid post. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.  

Cyber News

AI Vulnerability Finding

Microsoft is reporting that its AI systems are able to find new vulnerabilities in source code: Microsoft discovered eleven vulnerabilities in GRUB2, including integer and buffer overflows in filesystem parsers, command flaws, and a side-channel in cryptographic comparison. Additionally, 9 buffer overflows in parsing SquashFS, EXT4, CramFS, JFFS2, and symlinks were discovered in U-Boot and […]

Cyber News

Initial Access Brokers Shift Tactics, Selling More for Less

What are IABs? Initial Access Brokers (IABs) specialize in gaining unauthorized entry into computer systems and networks, then selling that access to other cybercriminals. This division of labor allows IABs to concentrate on their core expertise: exploiting vulnerabilities through methods like social engineering and brute-force attacks.  By selling access, they significantly mitigate the 

Cyber News

Ransomware reaches a record high, but payouts are dwindling

Will you be shedding a tear for the cybercriminals? Read more in my article on the Tripwire blog. 

Cyber News

Palo Alto Networks Warns of Brute-Force Attempts Targeting PAN-OS GlobalProtect Gateways

Palo Alto Networks has revealed that it’s observing brute-force login attempts against PAN-OS GlobalProtect gateways, days after threat hunters warned of a surge in suspicious login scanning activity targeting its appliances. “Our teams are observing evidence of activity consistent with password-related attacks, such as brute-force login attempts, which does not indicate exploitation of a 

Cyber News

SpyNote, BadBazaar, MOONSHINE Malware Target Android and iOS Users via Fake Apps

Cybersecurity researchers have found that threat actors are setting up deceptive websites hosted on newly registered domains to deliver a known Android malware called SpyNote. These bogus websites masquerade as Google Play Store install pages for apps like the Chrome web browser, indicating an attempt to deceive unsuspecting users into installing the malware instead. “The […]

Cyber News

OttoKit WordPress Plugin Admin Creation Vulnerability Under Active Exploitation

A newly disclosed high-severity security flaw impacting OttoKit (formerly SureTriggers) has come under active exploitation within a few hours of public disclosure. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-3102 (CVSS score: 8.1), is an authorization bypass bug that could permit an attacker to create administrator accounts under certain conditions and take control of susceptible websites. “The 

Cyber News

Reimagining Democracy

Imagine that all of us—all of society—have landed on some alien planet and need to form a government: clean slate. We do not have any legacy systems from the United States or any other country. We do not have any special or unique interests to perturb our thinking. How would we govern ourselves? It is […]

Cyber News

China-based SMS Phishing Triad Pivots to Banks

China-based purveyors of SMS phishing kits are enjoying remarkable success converting phished payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google. Until recently, the so-called “Smishing Triad” mainly impersonated toll road operators and shipping companies. But experts say these groups are now directly targeting customers of international financial institutions, while dramatically expanding their cybercrime […]

Cyber News