Cyber Defense Advisors

Cyber News

  • by
  • August 16, 2024

Google to Remove App that Made Google Pixel Devices Vulnerable to Attacks

A large percentage of Google’s own Pixel devices shipped globally since September 2017 included dormant software that could be used to stage nefarious attacks and deliver various kinds of malware. The issue manifests in the form of a pre-installed Android app called “Showcase.apk” that comes with excessive system privileges, including the ability to remotely execute […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

NationalPublicData.com Hack Exposes a Nation’s Data

A great many readers this month reported receiving alerts that their Social Security Number, name, address and other personal information were exposed in a breach at a little-known but aptly-named consumer data broker called NationalPublicData.com. This post examines what we know about a breach that has exposed hundreds of millions of consumer records. We’ll also […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

NIST Releases First Post-Quantum Encryption Algorithms

From the Federal Register: After three rounds of evaluation and analysis, NIST selected four algorithms it will standardize as a result of the PQC Standardization Process. The public-key encapsulation mechanism selected was CRYSTALS-KYBER, along with three digital signature schemes: CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON, and SPHINCS+. These algorithms are part of three NIST standards that have been finalized: […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

SolarWinds Releases Patch for Critical Flaw in Web Help Desk Software

SolarWinds has released patches to address a critical security vulnerability in its Web Help Desk software that could be exploited to execute arbitrary code on susceptible instances. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-28986 (CVSS score: 9.8), has been described as a deserialization bug. “SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java deserialization […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

Russian-Linked Hackers Target Eastern European NGOs and Media

Russian and Belarusian non-profit organizations, Russian independent media, and international non-governmental organizations active in Eastern Europe have become the target of two separate spear-phishing campaigns orchestrated by threat actors whose interests align with that of the Russian government. While one of the campaigns – dubbed River of Phish – has been attributed to COLDRIVER, an […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

Identity Threat Detection and Response Solution Guide

The Emergence of Identity Threat Detection and Response Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) has emerged as a critical component to effectively detect and respond to identity-based attacks. Threat actors have shown their ability to compromise the identity infrastructure and move laterally into IaaS, Saas, PaaS and CI/CD environments. Identity Threat Detection and Response solutions […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

RansomHub Group Deploys New EDR-Killing Tool in Latest Cyber Attacks

A cybercrime group with links to the RansomHub ransomware has been observed using a new tool designed to terminate endpoint detection and response (EDR) software on compromised hosts, joining the likes of other similar programs like AuKill (aka AvNeutralizer) and Terminator. The EDR-killing utility has been dubbed EDRKillShifter by cybersecurity company Sophos, which discovered the […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

GitHub Vulnerability ‘ArtiPACKED’ Exposes Repositories to Potential Takeover

A newly discovered attack vector in GitHub Actions artifacts dubbed ArtiPACKED could be exploited to take over repositories and gain access to organizations’ cloud environments. “A combination of misconfigurations and security flaws can make artifacts leak tokens, both of third party cloud services and GitHub tokens, making them available for anyone with read access to […]

Cyber News
  • by
  • August 15, 2024

New Cyber Threat Targets Azerbaijan and Israel Diplomats, Stealing Sensitive Data

A previously unknown threat actor has been attributed to a spate of attacks targeting Azerbaijan and Israel with an aim to steal sensitive data. The attack campaign, detected by NSFOCUS on July 1, 2024, leveraged spear-phishing emails to single out Azerbaijani and Israeli diplomats. The activity is being tracked under the moniker Actor240524. “Actor240524 possesses […]

Cyber News