Cyber Attacks

There are new reports that mention incidents of botnet attacks that leveraged Shellshock against certain institutions. A botnet is a network of infected computers/systems.

The backdoor malware MIRAS got an upgrade from just running in 32-bit Windows operating system versions to 64-bit ones, expanding its victim range to more users of the OS. MIRAS is the same malware family linked to attacks against a Europe-based IT company.

Threats analyst Bryant Tan shares some rules that IT administrators can proactively implement to set up “basic defense” for their network. These rules are not meant to cover all types of suspicious activity but are important in building a secure network.

A few rules that IT administrators can proactively implement to set up “basic defenses” for their network that are likely to be missed.

A list of five million Gmail accounts, paired with what appear to be passwords, was leaked in a popular Russian cryptocurrency forum.

Roughly a week after a massive batch of stolen and debit cards went on sale in the underground market pointing to a breach in large retail giant Home Depot, the company confirms that their payment systems have been compromised.

When attackers look at a target network, they focus on the flaws that they can exploit, then customize their attacks based on these. What can IT admins do knowing that the weakest link usually lie with people, passwords, and places that are considered secure?

United Postal Service (UPS) recently disclosed a widespread malware breach on 51 of its 4,470 franchise stores. This potentially compromised about 105,000 customer transactions between the period of March 26 and August 11, 2014 in most stores.

Targeted attacks are designed to circumvent existing policies and solutions within the target network, making detection a challenge. To do this, IT administrators need to know what to look for, and where to check for signs of compromise.