Cybersecurity Expert

Article by Greg Foss, Senior Cyber Security Strategist, VMware Carbon Black Wherever there is disruption, cybercriminals see opportunity. Alongside the devastating health and economic impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic, we have also seen a huge escalation in ransomware attacks as people shifted to working from home. VMware Carbon Black threat researchers have recorded a 900% year on year increase in ransomware attacks in the first half of 2020. Attacks are not only more frequent, but they are also more sophisticated, as adversaries strive to maximise the revenue potential from each hit. As modular and more extensive malware has become ubiquitous, adversaries are diversifying and adopting more strategic and multi-stage tactics. They’ve identified factors such as high financial and regulatory penalties and reputational damage that offer more leverage to extort money from victims. As a result, it is now easier than ever for criminals with minimal skill to execute highly impactful ...

Article by  Beau Peters When the pandemic struck, online bad actors took it as an opportunity to double-down on their attacks through ransomware, malware, and social engineering. Newly remote workers and remotely connected workplaces had to adapt rapidly to a greater digital threat as well as a public health crisis. Now, cybersecurity may just be the most important aspect of financial technology (fintech) in the modern world. With 2020 being the worst year on record in terms of files exposed in data breaches , a thorough security approach is necessary to combat modern dangers. Fintech relies on cybersafety more than any other digital platform. Luckily, new tech trends could help keep our financial data safe even with an increase in risk. Here’s what you should know.  The Rising Risks The widespread shift to a work-from-home (WFH) economy left countless networks vulnerable to cyber attacks. Hastily implemented cloud data processes and security needs failing to keep pace with te...

Linux and Unix operating systems require regular patching like any IT system, but as security professionals, ethical hackers, and criminal hackers will tell you, regular Linux and Unix patching is often neglected. CVE-2021-3156 sudo Vulnerability Last week (26th January 2021) a new critical rated Linux\Unix vulnerability was made public under  CVE-2021-3156 . Specifically, the vulnerability is within the 'sudo' program, which is an abbreviation of ' superuser do ', well that's how I remember it. Sudo is a powerful and fundamental program found within all Linux and Unix distributions, allowing users to execute programs with the security privileges of another user. A typical use of sudo is where you need to run a program with privilege level (i.e. administrator) access rights. The sudo 'heap overflow' vulnerability was discovered by Qualys researchers, the exploit  allows any unprivileged user to gain root level (i.e. administrative) privileges.   Qualys has p...

A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, January 2021. Throughout January further details about the scale and sophistication of SolarWinds suspected nation-state hack came to light. A growing number of cybersecurity vendors like CrowdStrike, Fidelis, FireEye, Malwarebytes, Palo Alto Networks, Qualys and Mimecast all confirming as being targeted in the supply-chain espionage attack. The  finger of suspicion is pointing directly at Russia, with the Russian backed hacking group APT29 'Fancy Bear' cited as the culprits by many security researchers and intelligence analysts. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr both publically stated they believe Moscow are behind the attack, as did the chairs of the Senate and House of Representatives' intelligence committees.  US government investigators and Microsoft have uncovered additional evidence, con...