PossibleThreat Articles

Articles for the experts…

Month: July 2022

ComputerWorld Independent 

Apple slaps hard against ‘mercenary’ surveillance-as-a-service industry

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Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2022 06:17:00 -0700

Apple has struck a big blow against the mercenary “surveillance-as-a-service” industry, introducing a new, highly secure Lockdown Mode to protect individuals at the greatest risk of targeted attacks. The company is also offering millions of dollars to support research to expose such threats.

Starting in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura, and available now in the latest developer-only betas, Lockdown Mode hardens security defenses and limits the functionalities sometimes abused by state-sponsored surveillance hackers. Apple describes this protection as “sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.”

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Microsoft backs off facial recognition analysis, but big questions remain

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Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2022 03:00:00 -0700

Microsoft is backing away from its public support for some AI-driven features, including facial recognition, and acknowledging the discrimination and accuracy issues these offerings create. But the company had years to fix the problems and didn’t. That’s akin to a car manufacturer recalling a vehicle rather than fixing it.

Despite concerns that facial recognition technology can be discriminatory, the real issue is that results are inaccurate. (The discriminatory argument plays a role, though, due to the assumptions Microsoft developers made when crafting these apps.)

Let’s start with what Microsoft did and said. Sarah Bird, the principal group product manager for Microsoft’s Azure AI, summed up the pullback last month in a Microsoft blog. 

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Security TrendMicro 

Unpacking Cloud-Based Cryptocurrency Miners That Abuse GitHub Actions and Azure Virtual Machines

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Credit to Author: Magno Logan| Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We investigate cloud-based cryptocurrency miners that leverage GitHub Actions and Azure virtual machines, including the cloud infrastructure and vulnerabilities that malicious actors exploit for easy monetary gain.

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Security TrendMicro 

Brand-New HavanaCrypt Ransomware Poses as Google Software Update App, Uses Microsoft Hosting Service IP Address as C&C Server

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Credit to Author: Nathaniel Morales| Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We recently found a new ransomware family, which we have dubbed as HavanaCrypt, that disguises itself as a legitimate Google Software Update application and uses a Microsoft web hosting service IP address as its command-and-control (C&C) server to circumvent detection.

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