[From the desk of Paul Davis – his opinions and no-one else’s]
So make sure you are updating your Microsoft CRLs since somebody has stolen some Finish certs. Also they are trying to ramp the Andromeda botnet so keep your eyes open.
And now for the news:
Microsoft warns of fake SSL certificate for Windows Live
Microsoft has warned that an SSL certificate for the domain live.fi has been “improperly issued” and could be used to spoof content and perform phishing attacks or man in the middle attacks.
All supported versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system are vulnerable, but the fake certificate will be revoked for all subscribers to Microsoft’s automatic update service.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=61102862d7&e=20056c7556
Malware and DDoS Were the Most Common Attack Types in 2014: IBM
IBM today released the 2015 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Quarterly, a report that details the security incidents, financial malware trends, risky Android apps, and vulnerability disclosures seen in 2014. In 2014, the most commonly attacked industries were computer services (28.7%), retail (13%), government (10.7%), education (8%), and financial markets (7.3%). A majority of the security incidents observed by the company were in the United States, which is likely a result of the country’s stringent data breach disclosure laws, IBM said. The company estimates that over 1 billion data records were leaked last year.
According to IBM, malware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks took the lead last year in terms of volume. SQL injection attacks are still efficient when it comes to extracting valuable information from Web servers and applications, but point-of-sale (PoS) malware has also helped cybercriminals steal a lot of records in the last year.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=60cada988c&e=20056c7556
The Andromeda botnet is ballooning once again
Cybercriminals are, once again, trying to swell the number of computers compromised by the Andromeda backdoor. This will allow them to control the machines and download additional malware at the behest of the highest paying customer/renter.
But, if you have recently received an unsolicited email with a DOC file that instructed you to enable Word macros in order to see its contents, chances are good that your computer has become part of it.
The researchers documented two separate spam campaigns that targeted Polish and German users and used different stages to download, unpack and run the exact same executable (msnjauzge.exe).
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=5fd8ef0b46&e=20056c7556
SDN Benefits For The SME
One SDN benefit that small and midsize enterprises can leverage is in tuning the network to support application performance. Large enterprises use application packages that have teams dedicated to tuning performance, and networks can be tweaked to provide maximum performance. SMEs don’t usually have access to teams like this. Software packages are purchased off-the-shelf and any customizations that occur must be done by the SME.
SDN can expedite troubleshooting for networks of any size. By having information about forwarding tables throughout the network, you can determine the state of the network at any point in time.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=2397891712&e=20056c7556
UK BUSINESSES NEED TO STEP UP TO REALITY OF DATA BREACHES
A new Experian whitepaper has revealed just how prepared UK businesses are in the event of a data breach, with the findings indicating that many are underestimating their readiness to cope.
The data breach landscape is not a positive one. One in five of those surveyed had experienced a data breach in the last two years, affecting nearly 40% of british consumers.
Only one third have specific budgets set aside to deal with data breaches, in spite of 81% saying they are concerned about the financial impact of recovering from a breach. Worryingly, 39% have no reporting procedures in place for lost data or devices (e.g. company laptops or phones) and Less than half (43%) have data breach or cyber insurance policies in place.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=a2144debf5&e=20056c7556
Keep IAM simple and collaborate to succeed, says Gartner
“In the age of digital business, the scope and scale of IAM is going to increase, and the only way to succeed is to work together,” he told the Gartner IAM Summit 2015 in London. Collaboration will have to improve across the IAM ecosystem, which is made up of suppliers, consultants, implementers and client project leaders, said Alan [ Alan, research vice-president at Gartner].
IAM should be simple, business-driven and secure, said Felix Gaehtgens, research director at Gartner.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=49be4b18b7&e=20056c7556
Microsoft to add ‘enterprise grade’ biometric security to Windows 10
With Windows 10, coming later this fall, Microsoft plans to go big with biometric technology. The new OS will introduce system support for biometric authentication, the company says, “using your face, iris, or fingerprint to unlock your devices … with technology that is much safer than traditional passwords.”
At the WinHEC conference in China today, Microsoft executives showed off the new feature, called Windows Hello. At first glance, it sounds like Microsoft’s response to TouchID — biometric authentication that can use a fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor, or other biometric sensor to provide instant access to a Windows 10 device. Show your face or touch a finger, Microsoft says, and you’ll be instantly authenticated on the local device.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=636f1beda1&e=20056c7556
Redmond boffins’ infosec trick will ship better code, faster
Security boffins from Microsoft and North Carolina State University have developed a method to help software developers better identify attack surfaces and therefore ship code more quickly.
The technique is called “attack surface approximation” and is detailed in the paper Approximating Attack Surfaces with Stack Traces (pdf) to be presented in May. The team says stack traces from user-initiated crashes allow attack surfaces to be measured as it indicates a user’s activity which puts a system under stress, highlights direct and indirect entry points, and provides automatically generated control and data flow graphs.
Link: http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=39c2e9f6ff&e=20056c7556
============================================================
Feedback, questions? Our mailing address is: ** dailynews@paulgdavis.com (mailto:dailynews@paulgdavis.com)
If someone forwarded this email to you and you want to be added in,
please click this: ** Subscribe to this list (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a)
** Unsubscribe from this list (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage2.com/unsubscribe?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a&e=20056c7556&c=ec9dddd7d6)
** Update subscription preferences (http://paulgdavis.us3.list-manage.com/profile?u=45bf3caf699abf9904ddc00e3&id=e09452545a&e=20056c7556)