Cyber Bites

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed the Secure Cyber Risk Aggregation and Measurement (SCRAM) program to help organisations learn from past cyberattacks without exposing data to competitors or any reputational damages. This is so security professionals can gain insight into what went wrong without worrying that the data could be breached if the information is sent to a third-party. “In the past, the only way to aggregate and share information about...

The instant-messaging site WhatsApp has announced that it has fixed six previously undisclosed vulnerabilities after they were revealed on a security advisory news website. This site will continue to update a comprehensive list of WhatsApp security updates and associated Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE). It is believed WhatsApp remediated the majority of the flaws on the same day with one taking more time. Thankfully for WhatsApp users, there were no signs of cybercriminals using the...

Users have been warned to delete the apps immediately to avoid being signed up to subscriptions that could cost thousands. In the last year, the same malware has been found hiding in hundreds of apps and the six apps together have accounted for 200,000 installs.      

The popular messaging app, WhatsApp announced six new bugs affecting its systems. Although the company managed to fix five of the six on the same day, the sixth took a few days to stabilise. These new glitches are being outlined on a website committed to security advisory (https://www.whatsapp.com/security/advisories) and will now be a one-stop-shop for users to see a list of security updates for the messaging app. It is possible that some of theses bugs...

The threat detection start-up, Cygilant, recently experienced ransomware attacks. Cygilant’s Chief Financial Officer, Christina Lattuca, said the company was “aware of a ransomware attack impacting a portion of Cygilant’s technology environment" in an official statement. “Our Cyber Defense and Response Center team took immediate and decisive action to stop the progression of the attack. We are working closely with third-party forensic investigators and law enforcement to understand the full nature and impact of the attack....

  The app was available for three weeks on the official Android Play Store and was able to spy on thousands of users during this time. In order to gain installs, NEXTA LIVE claimed to be Nexta, an independent Belarusian news agency which exposed police brutality and abuse during the country’s recent anti-government protests.

The prevalence of Russian hackers in the 2016 Presidential election has sparked much controversy over the last four years but could these attacks have been prevented? In 2016 the Democratic National Committee's server was hacked by the well know Russian hacker group, Fancy Bear, allowing them access to large amounts of data which they could change, remove or take for their own purposes. However, this information only came out after the election during the US...

Followers were asked through a number of tweets to donate cryptocurrency to a relief fund supposedly set up by Modi's office. Twitter reported being aware of such activity and set about putting precautions in place in order to secure the account. This is the most recent high-profile Twitter breach following similar attacks in July targeting Joe Biden, US presidential candidate, and Tesla's Elon Musk. The account is Prime Minister Modi's official Twitter handle which boasts...

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla TSLA -4.7% confirmed in a tweet that the company dealt with a potentially harmful attack planned by Russian National to install ransomware software on Tesla’s computer network. The ransomware attack would have encrypted Tesla’s files exposing them to the hacker’s servers. However, the Tesla employee notified the $1 million bitcoin bribe to authorities leading the FBI to arrest Russian hacker Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov on August 22 in LA. Kriochkov...

In a recent document published in 2019, the FBI has identified potential threats and challenges for law enforcement around the usage of smart doorbell cameras, such as Ring. This document outlines how homeowners that use such technologies can hinder the privacy of police officers because of its ability to notify users who is outside their house, capturing their image. The document was found by technology company The Inception when it was leaked on BlueLeaks, in...