Cyber Security
Botnet Buster Finds IoT Command and Control Centers
Did you know that your home smart devices could be soldiers in a malicious robot army called a botnet? Smart devices range from refrigerators that let you peer inside them remotely to baby monitors that let you check on your baby from wherever you are in the house. To criminals, these, along with wireless printers, wearable health monitors, and countless other internet-connected household and office devices look like a vast army of docile robots waiting to do their dark bidding.
Healthcare OT Facilities Remain Exposed as Industry Experienced 68 Attempted Ransomware Attacks in Q3
Last month saw an alarming rise in cyber attacks against healthcare facilities. Ransomware attacks across the globe locked 68 care providers out of their respective networks during Q3 of this year alone, threatening patient safety and privacy. Experts fear that patients will suddenly be unable to receive critical care at a targeted facility without a holistic whole-facility cybersecurity approach.
Arcules Achieves SOC 2 Type II Compliance
Arcules announced that it has completed its System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II certification. The process affirms Arcules’ information security practices, policies, procedures, and operations meet the SOC 2 standards for security, availability, and confidentiality. SOC 2 is an auditing procedure that ensures service providers securely manage customer data. Developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), SOC 2 defines criteria for managing customer data based on trust principles.
Monitoring of Energy Networks: How to Make it Easy and Secure
Cloud and cyber security in critical energy applications – Digitalization and IoT is a clear trend within power plants and substations, just as it is in industrial automation. The Smart Grid is certainly a driving factor, but there are also other reasons for this change. Operators often find that only having data available in the control room is insufficient. Instead, they want to monitor transformers remotely, implement new maintenance concepts from anywhere, optimize utilization and commissioning, or retrieve environmental data online.
oneM2M Invites Contributions on Future Roadmap for IoT Systems
oneM2M is currently finalizing a set of specifications for Release 4 of the standard while conducting parallel work on features to include in Release 5. Some of the new features under discussion include the topics of AI for Internet of Things (IoT) systems, tools for data licensing and, controls to guarantee adherence to privacy regulation such as GDPR and PIPA (Korea). Participation in oneM2M’s technical standardization activities is open to organizations across the world.
DHS S&T Launches Series 3 of Virtual Whole-of-Government R&D Showcase
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) launched the third installment of the Virtual Whole-of-Government R&D Showcase. This unique four-part series highlights how S&T and its partners across government are mobilizing research and development (R&D) teams to reduce risks from natural and human-induced disasters; accelerating breakthrough discoveries; and helping the nation prepare against future threats and unknowns.
Ontic Expands Investigations and Case Management
Ontic announced the expansion of its Protective Intelligence platform to fully integrate a new Investigations and Case Management offering. Purpose-built for corporate security and physical threat investigations teams, the new Ontic solution enables them to research, document, track, report and recommend preventive measures for cases in order to mitigate future incidents.
ComNet Launch Razberi Monitor Software for Cybersecurity
ComNet announced the launch of Razberi Monitor software. Razberi Monitor is the latest addition to the ComNet product portfolio and the first solution to be rolled out from the recently acquired Razberi brand. Razberi Monitor™ is a software platform that provides a top-down view of the physical security network and ecosystem without IT resources. It monitors and manages all the system components for both cybersecurity and system health, and can be deployed from the cloud or on-premise.
Genetec Warns Older Legacy Access Control Systems Cyber-attacks
“Legacy access control systems use outdated technology that leaves them vulnerable to cyber threats, and can cause damage beyond the door,” cautions Thibault Louvet, Director – Access Control Product Group at Genetec Inc. With the average cost of a data breach being US$3.9* million in damages, it’s never been more important for organizations to be educated on the risks associated with legacy systems and the advantages that a new cyber-secure access solution can offer.
Cybersecurity Experts Releases Cyber Defense Guide for CEOs
ProtectedBy.AI, has released Stay Cyber Safe: What Every CEO Should Know About Cybersecurity. The book is authored by leading cybersecurity experts, JT Kostman, Ph.D., and Brian Gallagher, who are the co-founders of ProtectedBy.AI. Stay Cyber Safe is available on Amazon and has already reached the No. 1 spot on Amazon’s Best-Selling Books list for Information Management during the first week of pre-lease sales. Due to its success Amazon has decided to release and ship early sales.
Infosec and CISA to Provide Free Tools to Fight Ransomware
Following several notable ransomware incidents in 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the nation’s risk advisor dedicated to building the national capacity to defend against cyberattacks, and Infosec, the leading cybersecurity education company, are sharing no-cost resources to help businesses keep their organization secure. Now more than ever, ransomware is a key challenge for organizations of all sizes, with 10% of all data breaches involving ransomware.
Wirepas announces game-changing connectivity system for smart tracking
Wirepas announced the release of Wirepas Massive Tracking. The new smart tracking software suite embeds Wirepas Massive – the company’s large-scale mesh connectivity software for massive IoT. Deploying wired positioning infrastructure across large spaces like warehouses, construction sites, campuses or hospitals is costly and time consuming. Wirepas Massive Tracking solves exactly these issues. A smart tracking system in a 100,000 m² facility can be installed in a single day, without disrupting site operations.
Phison and Cigent Partnership Sets New Standard in Cybersecurity
Phison Electronics Corp and Cigent Technology, unveiled design details behind the partnership that has delivered the industry’s first and only line of self-defending storage devices with cybersecurity built into the firmware itself to protect against ransomware, data theft and malicious insider theft. Phison’s innovative and robust NAND flash solutions support a broad range of applications including embedded, consumer, enterprise and automotive.
Millennials and Gen Zers are Most Likely to Fall for Phishing Emails, Study Finds
There is a common misconception that older people, who tend to have less experience with new technologies, are easier to scam online. Recent data findings suggest that just the opposite is true. According to data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team, Millennials and Gen Zers in the United States are more likely to fall for phishing emails than their older counterparts. More than one-fifth of people from Generation Z and the Millennial generation have been tricked by phishing emails in the past.
Infosec and Sandler Bring Cyber Education to 1,000s of Organizations
Infosec announced it has partnered with Sandler Partners to offer its award-winning cyber awareness and training platforms to Sandler’s worldwide network of expert technology sales partners. Sandler Partners can now empower the human side of their clients’ security strategy with engaging, role-based cyber education from Infosec IQ and Infosec Skills. Infosec’s SaaS-based cyber education platforms feature training for the entire enterprise from the accounting department to the security operations center.
TrustGrid Develops Opt-In Vaccine Passport Application
TrustGrid Pty announced a new use case for its platform to provide citizens with a secure digital vaccine passport that can be stored on their smartphone. TrustGrid™ has been used for the last five years by the Australian state government to secure a digital driver’s license ecosystem. Designed using distributed ledger technology, TrustGrid is an opt-in system where citizens can authenticate their identity and vaccination status and receive a QR code to show as proof of vaccination.
New Infosec IQ Cybersecurity Culture Survey Quantifies Security Beliefs, Sentiments
Infosec released one of the industry’s first cybersecurity culture assessment tools. The new Infosec IQ Cybersecurity Culture Survey introduces an actionable, scalable way to analyze and measure employee attitudes and perceptions towards security practices, policies and training strategies across five cultural domains. The Infosec IQ Cybersecurity Culture Survey collects employee feedback and scores organizations across these five domains
Cybersecurity Training Lags, While Hackers Capitalize on COVID-19
Ninety percent of companies faced an increase in cyber attacks due to the pandemic, according to a survey of 1,000 CXO’s conducted in June 2020. 93% of these CXO’s said they were forced to delay security projects in order to help manage their company’s transition to remote work. TalentLMS partnered with Kenna Security, an industry-leading penetration testing and vulnerability management firm, to survey 1,200 employees on their cybersecurity habits, knowledge of best practices, and ability to recognize security threats.
Notify.com Enhances Emergency Notification Security
Notify.com announced an upgraded version of its Emergency Notification platform. In previous versions, a Hashing algorithm known as MD5 was utilized to secure confidential data. This new version has upgraded from MD5, to the more secure SHA256 Hash. Notify.com is an acknowledgement-based notification platform. Every message sent to users —whether it be a PUSH notification, SMS text message, Email or Voice phone call— will be tracked by Notify.com, in real time, for positive acknowledgement by the user.
IoT Malware Attacks Worldwide Surge by 66% to Over 50 Million in 2020
From wearables and baby monitors to defibrillators and industrial robots — Internet of Things (IoT) devices are slowly taking over our lives both in personal and business settings. However, so are cyber threats related to these devices. According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, based on the Global Cyberattack Trends report by SonicWall, in 2020, malware attacks on IoT devices spiked by 66% compared to 2019.