Spam, spam, spam. (Image: Eddie Awad/CC BY 2.0)

Sweepstakes Spam Hackers Used Microsoft Infrastructure

Prajeet Nair • September 23, 2022

Hackers behind a campaign of deceptive sweepstakes spam hacked their way into Azure cloud accounts that lacked multifactor authentication and obtained admin privileges for Exchange servers. Microsoft advises turning on MFA and other measures such as conditional access.

Breach Notification

US Indicts, Sanctions 3 Iranian Nationals for Ransomware

Latest

Governance & Risk Management

Fortinet, VMware, Cisco Drive SD-WAN Gartner Magic Quadrant

Michael Novinson • September 23, 2022

Perennial leaders Fortinet and VMware and a surging Cisco set themselves apart from the pack in SD-WAN, according to the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant. Fortinet and VMware again took the gold and silver in ability to execute, with Cisco leapfrogging both Versa and Palo Alto to capture the bronze.

Multi-factor & Risk-based Authentication

ISMG Editors: How a Teen's Hack of Uber Adds to MFA Crisis

Anna Delaney • September 23, 2022

In the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discuss the industrywide implications of a teenager hacking into Uber's internal systems, key trends in the new Gartner SD-WAN Magic Quadrant report, and how ethics and security culture are center stage due to recent CISO revelations at Uber and Twitter.

Security Operations

Malwarebytes Gets $100M Weeks After Laying Off 14% of Staff

Michael Novinson • September 22, 2022

Private equity firm Vector Capital invested $100 million in Malwarebytes a month after the antivirus stalwart laid off 125 employees to focus on smaller customers. The funds will help the vendor reduce clients' attack surfaces and accelerate momentum with MSPs and channel partners.

Cybercrime

Capital One Moves Past 2019 Hacking Incident

David Perera • September 22, 2022

Credit card giant Capital One is moving past its 2019 hacking incident as federal regulators stop requiring quarterly updates on efforts to improve cybersecurity and a federal judge signs off on a $190 million settlement in a proposed class action lawsuit.

Security Operations

Darktrace's Nicole Eagan on How AI Predicts, Prevents Hacks

Michael Novinson • September 22, 2022

Darktrace's Cybersprint acquisition allowed the cybersecurity AI vendor to move from focusing solely on internal threats to also defending the external attack surface, Nicole Eagan says. The company says AI will give an outside-in view of the victim and simulate how the attacker will behave.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Iranian Hackers Accessed Albania's Network for 14 Months

Prajeet Nair • September 22, 2022

Iranian hackers rambled across the Albanian government's network for 14 months before launching a ransomware and disk wiper attack in July, says the U.S. government. Iran exploited a Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability to gain access and then harvested credentials and exfiltrated data.

Leadership & Executive Communication

Profiles in Leadership: Errol Weiss

Tom Field • September 22, 2022

Errol Weiss, chief security officer of Health-ISAC for the past three years, watched the healthcare sector undergo a historic revolution in the digital delivery of services to patients. Also in that time, the attack surface grew exponentially. How can entities best defend it?

Endpoint Security

It's 2022. Do You Know Where Your Old Hard Drives Are?

Anna Delaney • September 22, 2022

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report discusses financial giant Morgan Stanley's failure to invest in proper hard drive destruction oversight, the future of ransomware and the gangs that have attacked organizations in recent years, and the methods required to secure new payments systems.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Universities Urged to Defend Sensitive Research From Hackers

Michael Novinson • September 21, 2022

Cyberattacks against universities have forced academia to implement new rules and processes to safeguard sensitive research from adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran. Texas A&M set up an office in 2016 to oversee security around scholarship, and the office works to prevent foreign influence.

Governance & Risk Management

Public Water Systems at Cybersecurity Risk, Lawmakers Hear

David Perera • September 21, 2022

Public water systems in the United States will continue connecting control systems to the internet despite the risks, members of the House Homeland Security Committee heard today. Water systems need network connectivity for remote repairs, said an official with the National Rural Water Association.

Big Data Security Analytics

SentinelOne's $100M Venture Capital Fund Seeks Data Startups

Michael Novinson • September 21, 2022

SentinelOne is taking on top rival CrowdStrike in the venture arena, unveiling a $100 million fund to support security and data startups of all sizes. S Ventures will give the company broader reach in adjacent markets and enable high-value integrations that can grow over time.

Endpoint Security

Online Attack Disrupts Michigan School District for 2nd Day

Mihir Bagwe • September 21, 2022

School is out for more than 3,000 students of a suburban Detroit district undergoing its second day of forensics analysis following an online attack. Students have been told not to use district-issued Chromebooks. Federal authorities have warned that school districts are targets of ransomware gangs.