Another week has gone by as we all work remotely. It takes some getting used to, but we are all (hopefully) getting by.
Despite some good intentions by a few hackers, attacks still persist, even in regions hardest-hit by the Coronavirus. In Italy, attackers took down the country’s social security website. In addition, on Wednesday, Microsoft warned several dozen hospitals with vulnerable gateways that sophisticated ransomware attacks may gain access to their networks. Also this week, Marriott Hotels announced another major data breach. The company suffered its first data breach back in 2018. Unfortunate timing for sure.
Read on to get updated on all the top cybersecurity news.
Top Global Cybersecurity Stories
Reuters (April 1, 2020) Italy's social security website hit by hacker attack
"Computer hackers have attacked Italy’s social security website, forcing it to shut down on Wednesday just as people were starting to apply for coronavirus benefits, the head of the welfare agency said.
Pasquale Tridico said his INPS agency had received some 339,000 applications for the 600 euro ($655) so far, but that hackers had compromised access to the site.
'In the last few days we have suffered several hacker attacks that produced a major breakdown,' Tridico told state broadcaster RAI. 'They continued today and we had to close the website.'"
FierceHealthcare (April 1, 2020) Microsoft warns hospitals of sophisticated ransomware attacks targeting remote workforce
"Microsoft is warning hospitals that sophisticated ransomware attacks are trying to exploit remote workers to gain access to their networks.
As healthcare organizations move their nonessential employees to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, ransomware operators are trying to find vulnerabilities in network devices like gateway and virtual private network (VPN) appliances.
Through Microsoft’s network of threat intelligence sources, the tech giant identified several dozen hospitals with vulnerable gateway and VPN appliances in their infrastructure, Microsoft's Threat Protection Intelligence Team wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
The company sent targeted notifications to these hospitals with information about the vulnerabilities, how attackers can take advantage of them and a strong recommendation to apply security updates that will protect them from exploits of these particular vulnerabilities and others."
Dark Reading (April 1, 2020) Data from 5.2M Marriott Loyalty Program Members Hit by Breach
"Marriott International has notified some 5.2 million guests that their personal information could have been accessed in the breach of an internal application used to help provide guest services. According to the company, the breach was active from mid-January until the end of February of this year.
The information involved in the leak is part of the data kept on guests as part of Marriott's Bonvoy loyalty program. The affected information includes contact details (such as name, mailing address, email address, and phone number), loyalty account information (including account number and points balance, but not passwords), additional personal details (such as company, gender, and birthday day and month), partnerships and affiliations (including linked airline loyalty programs and numbers), and preferences (for example, stay/room preferences and language preference)."
The Daily Swig (April 1, 2020) Zoom simplifies privacy policy in a bid to head off security concerns
"Zoom has been criticized over aspects of its data collection practices and privacy policy by critics including some in the infosec industry, academics, and consumer rights group Consumer Reports.
But do any of these criticisms hold weight? Is Zoom ready for business use on a global scale? We take a closer look into the hugely popular remote conferencing app."
ZDNet (April 1, 2020) Windows 10 alert: Zoom client can leak your network login credentials
"On the heels of Zoom's iPhone privacy blunder, a security researcher has found that attackers can use the Zoom Windows client's group chat feature to share links that will leak the Windows network credentials of anyone who clicks on them.
Zoom is under extra scrutiny as usage of the video conference app has surged during the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
The group chat feature lets users send messages to other participants in a meeting and converts URLs into hyperlinks for the recipient to open a web page in a browser.
But as BleepingComputer reports, the Zoom client not only converts normal URLs into a clickable link but also Windows networking Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths."
HelpNetSecurity (April 1, 2020) Are ransom payers fueling ransomware?
"A new CyberEdge Group report uncovered two trends that are stimulating record-setting ransomware attacks:
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More ransom payers are successfully recovering their data. In 2018, only 49 percent of ransom payers successfully recovered their data. That number rose to 61 percent in 2019. Today, 67 percent of ransom payers have recovered their data.
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More payments are incentivizing the ransomware industry. In 2018, only 39 percent of ransomware victims actually paid the ransom. In 2019, that number rose to 45 percent. Today, an alarming 58 percent of victimized organizations have paid ransoms."
ZDNet (March 31, 2020) Latin American IT security market to see growth in 2020
"The IT security market is expected to grow 12% in 2020 with spend reaching US$ 4 billion in Latin America, according to analyst firm IDC.
Even though intended spend in security - 57% of the Latin organizations interviewed by IDC indicated this is a priority - is quite different to actual investment, the research company predicts that companies will be directing resources to security initiatives in the months to come despite the challenges.
'Companies are open and are discussing security issues, but when it comes to investing, there are limitations and budgets to be preserved', said research and consulting manager at Enterprise at IDC Brazil, Luciano Ramos. "Organizations need to expand their perception of security as a business enabler.'"
Other Industry News
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US Government Sites Give Bad Security Advice
The IoT and the Road to 20 Billion Devices: How the IoT Coevolves with Its Enabling Technologies
Mentorship Key to Bringing Women into Cybersecurity
How to Secure Your Kubernetes Deployments
The Future of Cybersecurity in Europe
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