LastPass: ‘Horse Gone Barn Bolted’ is Strong Password

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 23:41:09 +0000

The password manager service LastPass is now forcing some of its users to pick longer master passwords. LastPass says the changes are needed to ensure all customers are protected by their latest security improvements. But critics say the move is little more than a public relations stunt that will do nothing to help countless early adopters whose password vaults were exposed in a 2022 breach at LastPass.

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FBI Hacker Dropped Stolen Airbus Data on 9/11

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2023 00:22:05 +0000

In December 2022, KrebsOnSecurity broke the news that a cybercriminal using the handle “USDoD” had infiltrated the FBI’s vetted information sharing network InfraGard, and was selling the contact information for all 80,000 members. The FBI responded by reverifying all InfraGard members and by seizing the cybercrime forum where the data was being sold. But on Sept. 11, 2023, USDoD resurfaced after a lengthy absence to leak sensitive employee data stolen from the aerospace giant Airbus, while promising to visit the same treatment on top U.S. defense contractors.

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Experts Fear Crooks are Cracking Keys Stolen in LastPass Breach

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2023 00:21:07 +0000

In November 2022, the password manager service LastPass disclosed a breach in which hackers stole password vaults containing both encrypted and plaintext data for more than 25 million users. Since then, a steady trickle of six-figure cryptocurrency heists targeting security-conscious people throughout the tech industry has led some security experts to conclude that crooks likely have succeeded at cracking open some of the stolen LastPass vaults.

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Why is .US Being Used to Phish So Many of Us?

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:38:11 +0000

Domain names ending in “.US” — the top-level domain for the United States — are among the most prevalent in phishing scams, new research shows. This is noteworthy because .US is overseen by the U.S. government, which is frequently the target of phishing domains ending in .US. Also, .US domains are only supposed to be available to U.S. citizens and to those who can demonstrate that they have a physical presence in the United States.

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U.S. Hacks QakBot, Quietly Removes Botnet Infections

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2023 18:35:25 +0000

The U.S. government today announced a coordinated crackdown against QakBot, a complex malware family used by multiple cybercrime groups to lay the groundwork for ransomware infections. The international law enforcement operation involved seizing control over the botnet’s online infrastructure, and quietly removing the Qakbot malware from tens of thousands of infected Microsoft Windows computer systems.

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Tourists Give Themselves Away by Looking Up. So Do Most Network Intruders.

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2023 17:45:28 +0000

In large metropolitan areas, tourists are often easy to spot because they’re far more inclined than locals to gaze upward at the surrounding skyscrapers. Security experts say this same tourist dynamic is a dead giveaway in virtually all computer intrusions that lead to devastating attacks like ransomware, and that more organizations should set simple virtual tripwires that sound the alarm when authorized users and devices are spotted exhibiting this behavior.

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Meet the Brains Behind the Malware-Friendly AI Chat Service ‘WormGPT’

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2023 17:37:23 +0000

WormGPT, a private new chatbot service advertised as a way to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help write malicious software without all the pesky prohibitions on such activity enforced by ChatGPT and Google Bard, has started adding restrictions on how the service can be used. Faced with customers trying to use WormGPT to create ransomware and phishing scams, the 23-year-old Portuguese programmer who created the project now says his service is slowly morphing into “a more controlled environment.” The large language models (LLMs) made by ChatGPT parent OpenAI or Google or Microsoft all have various safety measures designed to prevent people from abusing them for nefarious purposes — such as creating malware or hate speech. In contrast, WormGPT has promoted itself as a new LLM that was created specifically for cybercrime activities.

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How Malicious Android Apps Slip Into Disguise

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2023 11:22:55 +0000

Researchers say mobile malware purveyors have been abusing a bug in the Google Android platform that lets them sneak malicious code into benign mobile apps and evade security scanning tools. Google says it has updated its app malware detection mechanisms in response to the new research.

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Russia Sends Cybersecurity CEO to Jail for 14 Years

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:29:40 +0000

The Russian government today handed down a treason conviction and 14-year prison sentence on Iyla Sachkov, the former founder and CEO of one of Russia’s largest cybersecurity firms. Sachkov, 37, has been detained for nearly two years under charges that the Kremlin has kept classified and hidden from public view, and he joins a growing roster of former Russian cybercrime fighters who are now serving hard time for farcical treason convictions.

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CISA Order Highlights Persistent Risk at Network Edge

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:40:09 +0000

The U.S. government agency in charge of improving the nation’s cybersecurity posture is ordering all federal civilian agencies to take new measures to restrict access to Internet-exposed networking equipment. The directive comes amid a surge in attacks targeting previously unknown vulnerabilities in widely used security and networking appliances.

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