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March 26, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Researchers have discovered a pair of nasty phishing campaigns that are making use of Microsoft’s Azure Blob Storage in a bid to steal the recipient’s Microsoft and Outlook account credentials. Both campaigns are noteworthy in that they utilize well-constructed landing pages that have SSL certificates and a windows.net domain, which combine to make them look […]
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March 22, 2019 by Vertical Axion
If you own a retail business, an attack known as “credential stuffing” is the latest online threat to be concerned about. If you’re not sure what that is, read on and prepare to be dismayed. According to the 2019 State of the Internet, Retail Attacks, and TPI Traffic Report published by Akamai, there has been […]
March 19, 2019 by Vertical Axion
As if your stressed IT staff didn’t have enough to deal with, there’s a new threat to be on the lookout for. Researchers at the antivirus company Avast have discovered a new strain of malware that can spread by way of Skype and Facebook Messenger spam messages. The malware, called “Rietspoof” is described as a […]
March 18, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Much discussion has been had about the fact that hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and their methods ever-increasing in their complexity. While that’s certainly true, more complex isn’t always better. Take, for example, the malware called Separ, which is a credential-siphoning bit of code, first detected in late 2017. Separ has benefitted from ongoing development […]
March 15, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Another week, another data breach. This time, the target of the breach was North Country Business Products (NCBP), a company that makes point of sale (POS) terminals for businesses. Although NCBP was the target, they weren’t the ultimate victims of the breach. Hackers infiltrated NCBP’s network and installed malware onto the company’s POS terminals. These […]
March 14, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s a new macOS security flaw you and your staff need to be aware of. It was discovered by Jeff Johnson, the developer of the Underpass app for both Mac and iOS, and the StopTheMaddness Safari browser extension. Fortunately, the new flaw is not one that can be exploited remotely. Users would have to be […]
March 12, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Do you use VFEmail? If so, we’ve got bad news for you. Hackers have successfully attacked the system and wiped all data from all of its servers in the US. All data on those servers has been lost. That means every email you had in your inbox and everything you had archived is gone. According […]
March 11, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Do you use the photography network 500PX? If so, be advised that it has been breached by hackers. If you were a 500PX user on or before July 5, 2018, you are among the impacted users. The company discovered evidence of the breach on February 8th, and overall, to this point, their handling of the […]
March 9, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Linux users, beware of the security flaw known as “Dirty Sock” and identified as CVE-2019-7304. This critical security flaw was discovered by security researcher Chris Moberly, who disclosed the details to the makers of the Ubuntu distribution last month. The flaw resides in the REST API for the Snapd service. That is a universal Linux […]
March 8, 2019 by Vertical Axion
In 2015, macOS Security Expert Patrick Wardle reported an almost shockingly simple method hackers could employ to get around the Mac Gatekeeper system, which is the first line of defense against malware. He simply bundled two executable files: One signed and one not signed. Apple promptly fixed this weakness when Wardle reported it, but the hackers […]
March 7, 2019 by Vertical Axion
America might run on Dunkin’, but the company has just taken another big hit. For the second time in recent months, hackers have gained access to an unknown number of DD Perks user accounts. What makes this issue even worse is the fact that the hackers were able to breach the system in exactly the […]
March 4, 2019 by Vertical Axion
How much does a successful ransomware attack cost a victim on average? The numbers will terrify you. Based on the latest statistics compiled by Coveware, each incident of a compromised computer costs a whopping $6,733, which is a hefty 13 percent increase from just one quarter ago. Part of the increase stems from the fact […]
March 2, 2019 by Vertical Axion
A small but growing number of people have been making the switch to MS Office clones like Apache’s OpenOffice and LibreOffice. The thinking is that they can get the same core functionality but avoid many (if not most of) the costs, bugs, flaws and weaknesses that have plagued Microsoft’s offering. This situation is often seen […]
February 28, 2019 by Vertical Axion
For the last several years, industry experts have been sounding the alarm about password security. We’ve known for quite some time that one of the biggest weak spots in corporate security is the fact that employee passwords are notoriously weak. Millions have been spent on security education. Seminars have been held on the dangers of […]
February 26, 2019 by Vertical Axion
An independent security researcher named Henze has discovered a potentially devastating macOS exploit that’s been dubbed Keychain, and he has posted a video demonstrating it in action. Henze has discovered other vulnerabilities in the past, so Apple was quick to take note. Here’s the problem, though: he’s frustrated that Apple’s Bug Bounty program only applies […]
February 25, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Several months ago, Facebook announced a new feature that would be coming soon to Messenger. Initially, the company didn’t set a timetable for the often asked for delete functionality, but it recently made its way into the code base and is now ready for use. Granted, it’s got limitations, but is a big step in […]
February 23, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Given the rate of increase in the number of hacking attacks, it was predicted early on that 2018 would be another record setting year. That came with more hack attempts and more successful attacks than were seen in 2017. Sadly, that prediction proved to be correct. What few people had anticipated, however, was how big […]
February 22, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Google has a new extension for its Chrome browser, and it’s one you should strongly consider getting for all of your devices at home and in the office. The extension is called ‘Password Checkup,’ and has exactly one purpose. It securely checks your logins against a breach database in real time as you’re logging onto […]
February 19, 2019 by Vertical Axion
At one point or another, everybody has done it. You open a browser and type in the URL of a site you visit frequently. In doing so, your finger slips and you mistype it. Sometimes, nothing comes of it except that you get an error message. Knowing that, increasing numbers of hackers have gotten into […]
February 16, 2019 by Vertical Axion
In the world of hacking, steganography ranks as one of the most difficult methodologies to detect. If you’re not familiar with the term, it is the practice of embedding executable code inside images, which makes it virtually impossible to detect. The reason is simple: Virus scanners are built around the idea of searching for text […]
February 13, 2019 by Vertical Axion
The first browser update of 2019 is officially out. Both Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox browsers are getting a raft of security fixes that will help make Mac, Linux and Windows users safer and more secure. The latest build of Chrome addresses nearly sixty CVE-level flaws, seventeen of which are rated as being “high” severity, […]
February 12, 2019 by Vertical Axion
Apple’s latest iOS release contained a feature that wowed and excited its massive user base. Group FaceTime. It was heralded as ‘the next Big Thing’ in the Apple ecosystem. Unfortunately, there are problems, and the company has been forced to temporarily disable the feature while they wrestle with a major security flaw. A bug in […]
February 11, 2019 by Vertical Axion
When was the last time you conducted a company wide audit on all the software running on all the machines tied to your firm’s network? If you’re not sure the answer to that question, it’s almost certainly been too long. The risk, at least according to the latest survey from Avast, is that there are […]
February 9, 2019 by Vertical Axion
There’s a new strain of ransomware making the rounds, and it’s a nasty piece of work. Called Phobos by its creators, the latest threat on the ransomware scene first made an appearance in December of 2018. While details are sketchy, what we know so far about it is grim indeed. Researchers at CoveWare have been […]