Officials say the ransomware attack didn't compromise state government networks. (Photo of a Texas state capital building in Austin by TSLAC, via Flickr/CC)

Texas Pummeled by Coordinated Ransomware Attack

Mathew J. Schwartz • August 19, 2019

State officials in Texas say that at least 23 local government entities have fallen victim to a coordinated ransomware attack unleashed on Friday morning. Security experts say attackers continue to pummel local governments, and illicit profits have been rising.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Broadcom Reaches $10.7B Deal to Buy Symantec Enterprise

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Cybercrime

European Central Bank Closes a Website Following Hack

Scott Ferguson • August 16, 2019

The European Central Bank has closed one of its websites after its IT staff found that a hacker compromised some personal information on the site and also planted malware.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Phishing Scheme Uses Google Drive to Avoid Security: Report

Akshaya Asokan • August 16, 2019

A newly identified phishing campaign used Google Drive to help bypass some email security features as attackers attempted to target a company in the energy industry, security firm Cofense reported this week.

Account Takeover

The Renaissance of Deception Technology

Nick Holland • August 16, 2019

This edition of the ISMG Security Report discusses the latest improvements in deception technology and how best to apply it. Also featured: a report on the growth of mobile fraud, plus insights on Merck's experience recovering from a NotPetya attack.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Cleaning Up After Ransomware Attacks Isn't Easy

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • August 15, 2019

The experiences of two healthcare organizations that are still recovering from recent ransomware attacks after they refused to pay a ransom illustrate the challenges these incidents pose long after the initial attack.

Biometrics

Biometric Security Vendor Exposes Fingerprints, Face Data

Jeremy Kirk • August 15, 2019

A South Korean company that makes a biometric access control platform exposed fingerprint, facial recognition data and personal information after leaving an Elasticsearch database open, security researchers say. They found 23GB of data belonging to organizations that use Suprema's BioStar 2 system.

Cybercrime

Cloud Atlas Uses Polymorphic Techniques to Avoid Detection

Jeffrey Burt • August 15, 2019

The group behind the Cloud Atlas cyber espionage campaigns, which were first detected five years ago, is now deploying polymorphic techniques designed to avoid monitoring and detection, according to researchers at Kaspersky Lab.

Governance

Microsoft Issues Patches for BlueKeep-Like Vulnerabilities

Akshaya Asokan • August 14, 2019

Microsoft has released a set of patches for two newly discovered BlueKeep-like vulnerabilities in a number of Windows operating systems. The "wormable" bugs in remote desktop services permit propagation of malware from one compromised device to others, the company reports.

3rd Party Risk Management

Choice Hotels: 700,000 Guest Records Exposed

Jeremy Kirk • August 14, 2019

Choice Hotels says about 700,000 guest records were exposed after one of its vendors copied data from its systems. Fraudsters discovered the unsecured database and tried to hold the hotel chain to ransom, which it ignored.

Encryption & Key Management

Health Data Breaches Involving Unencrypted Devices Reported

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee • August 13, 2019

While health data breaches stemming from the loss or theft of unencrypted devices have nosedived in recent years, a handful of recent incidents serve as a reminder that these devices still can pose risks to patient data.

Application Security

Report: SEC Investigates First American Data Exposure

Jeremy Kirk • August 13, 2019

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the exposure of personal and mortgage-related records from First American Financial Corp., according to security blogger Brian Krebs. First American spent $1.7 million on the incident in its second quarter, but investigations and lawsuits are looming.

Endpoint Security

SQLite Vulnerability Permits iOS Hack: Report

Akshaya Asokan • August 13, 2019

Security researchers at Check Point Software Technologies say they've uncovered an SQLite database vulnerability in Apple iOS devices that can run malicious code capable of stealing passwords and gaining persistent control on affected devices.

Endpoint Security

Unsecure Drivers Allow for Easy Windows Hacking: Report

Akshaya Asokan • August 12, 2019

Researchers from the security firm Eclypsium have identified 40 poorly designed drivers from 20 hardware and BIOS vendors that can give attackers numerous way to hack into various versions of Windows.