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September 26, 2019 by Vertical Axion
The FBI’s statistics on BEC (Business Email Compromise) are alarming to say the least. Over the last twelve months, the law enforcement agency has witnessed a 100 percent increase in the identified global exposed business losses attributable to BEC. Between June 2016 and July 2019, there were a total of 166,349 BEC incidents reported to […]
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September 25, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Twelve years ago, Google introduced a new feature to Google Calendar that allowed users to share their calendars with others. It’s a great feature and invaluable in a corporate environment because it gives teams an easy way to collaborate. Google itself even touted the “make it pubic” feature of their calendar as being a cool […]
September 24, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Over the last two years, ransomware attacks have become increasingly common against businesses of all shapes and sizes. While the attack vector saw a dip in popularity last year, this year it has come roaring back to the fore with several new strains of ransomware being developed and enjoying widespread use by hackers around the […]
September 21, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Kaspersky Lab has recently issued a warning that should alarm and dismay students around the world. Based on the findings of some of the company’s researchers, they’ve discovered a new surge in malware masquerading as legitimate digital textbooks. Given the staggering price of physical textbooks, many students have changed to acquiring digital copies of the […]
September 20, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There is grim news for users of the online marketplace Poshmark, which is a thriving community where people buy and sell used clothing and other accessories. Recently it has come to light that the login details of more than 36 million of the company’s 40 million members were acquired by an unauthorized third-party. Worse, those […]
September 19, 2019 by Vertical Axion
You’ve almost certainly been seeing stories on the internet this year about the growing trend of Deep Fakes. They are videos that are expertly engineered to give the appearance of some prominent figure or another saying something that he or she never actually said. It’s a clever, computer generated ruse. The reason it’s been making […]
September 16, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Ransomware roared onto the global stage in 2017. Companies and government agencies around the world felt the impact with widespread campaigns like NotPetya and WannaCry. By 2018, the number of ransomware attacks had begun to fall off while hackers found new tools to attack with, shifting toward cryptojacking, credential theft, and trojan malware. Granted, ransomware […]
September 15, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Do you use the PDF Creator App called CamScanner? If you do, you’ve got plenty of company. Since the app was first published in 2010, it has been downloaded more than a hundred million times. Unfortunately, Google recently pulled it from the Play store when they discovered that it began delivering malware to user devices. […]
September 14, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s some good news for Enterprise users who are still using Windows 7. By now, almost everyone is aware that the company is bringing support for the aging operating system to a close. The original time frame for formally ending support and for ending the issuance of security updates was set for as soon as […]
September 12, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Hackers have used poisoned documents to deliver malware payloads for years. Recently though, researchers at the security company Cofense have spotted a new twist to the ploy, aimed squarely at HR departments. The recently detected campaign uses fake resume attachments to deliver Quasar Remote Administration Tool. It is affectionately known as RAT to any unsuspecting Windows user […]
September 11, 2019 by Vertical Axion
An old hacking technique is getting new attention from hackers around the world, and it underscores the fact that people must exercise extreme caution when it comes to deciding who to trust and where to download files from. Hackers have long been in the business of spoofing legitimate sites; making exact replicas of popular websites […]
September 10, 2019 by Vertical Axion
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a warning that all taxpayers should be aware of. The agency has received a growing number of reports concerning unsolicited email messages bearing the subject lines: Electronic Tax Return Reminder Automatic Income Tax Reminder These messages are not from the IRS, but rather, from spammers trying to steal your […]
September 7, 2019 by Vertical Axion
This year stands to shatter last year’s record in terms of the number of successful hacks against businesses and government agencies. It seems that the hackers have a new favored tool: The ransomware attack. According to statistics gathered by Malwarebytes, attacks against government and business are up by a whopping 365 percent. IBM’s consumer statistics […]
September 6, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s a mix of good news and bad news concerning the security of smart devices in general, and smart medical devices specifically. As most people are aware, the Internet of Things (IoT) has a serious problem. The overwhelming majority of such devices have little to no security and are incredibly easy to hack. The good […]
September 5, 2019 by Vertical Axion
This year hasn’t been good for users of Open Source software, which at one level or another, includes just about everybody. Unfortunately, a recent grim discovery makes it unlikely that we’ll see the number of attacks decline any time soon. Not long ago, two new back doors were discovered in more than a dozen libraries […]
August 30, 2019 by Vertical Axion
When surveying the state of your company’s security, it’s important to understand what your biggest risks are. According to the 2019 Application Report published by F5 Labs, the answer is simple. Fully 71 percent of all web-related data breaches in 2018 specifically targeted customers’ financial information. The single biggest culprit? Formjacking. According to F5’s Senior […]
August 29, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Recently, an independent researcher named Bob Diachenko worked collaboratively with Comparitech. They discovered an unsecured database containing nearly 700,000 hotel records belonging to Choice Hotels. Unfortunately, although Diachenko reported his finding to the company, hackers had beaten him to the punch and had already downloaded the file. They are now demanding a ransom for its […]
August 28, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Google recently released a large-scale password study that will probably give every IT manager in the country heartburn. The results of their study indicate that a disturbing percentage of users continue to use passwords after they’ve been warned that those passwords have been compromised. One of the most common tactics hackers employ is called ‘password […]
August 26, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Wormable bugs are an ongoing concern for Microsoft. Recently, the company released a set of patches for two newly discovered ‘BlueKeep-Like vulnerabilities” that impact a wide range of Windows Operating Systems. These bugs plague the company’s remote desktop services and permit malware to spread rapidly from one device to another. Remote Desktop Services is an […]
August 24, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Do you employ a biometric security solution at your company to control building access? If your solution employs BioStar 2 technology (which is often integrated into third-party systems such as Nedap’s AEOS access control system), you have cause for concern. Recently, researchers from vpnMentor announced that they uncovered a massive database. It is about 23 […]
August 23, 2019 by Vertical Axion
A security researcher known as “_MG_” on Twitter has invented a modified Apple Lightning cable that could allow a hacker to remotely access any Mac computer using them. He demonstrated his new invention, dubbed the “OM.G Cable” at the Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas recently. The Lightning Cable is used by Apple owners […]
August 21, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Researchers at CheckMarx recently discovered some serious security flaws in the popular LeapPad Ultimate tablet. The tablet was designed by LeapFrog to provide kids in the UK and Europe with a safe environment to access games, videos and educational apps. The researchers had this to say about their discovery: “The first thing we found […]
August 20, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Grim news comes out of Russia, as reported by Microsoft. The tech giant has been tracking the activities of a Russian hacking group that goes by the name of Strontium. Their other names include APT28 and Fancy Bear. Microsoft has confirmed that the group was behind a new attack that took place in April of […]
August 19, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Hardly a week goes by that we don’t see another major data breach making the headlines. The latest company to fall victim to hackers is CafePress. They are well-known on the internet for offering a platform where users can create their own customized coffee mugs, tee shirts and the like. The company didn’t make a […]
