Category: Cyber Heads-up

Overview Assura does a significant amount of penetration tests for our clients and we like to communicate the trends that we see as we do these. During the last three, we’ve seen a recurring severe configuration vulnerability using the Smart Install feature of devices running Cisco’s IOS and IOS XE operating systems pop up and felt the… Continue reading Cisco Smart Install Feature Still Poses Significant Security Vulnerability

Overview If you haven’t already heard about these in the press, we’re here to tell you about them. On Tuesday of this week (14 January 2020), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released advisory number AA20-014A: Critical Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. CryptoAPI spoofing vulnerability – CVE-2020-0601: This vulnerability affects… Continue reading PATCH NOW: Two Severe Vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s First “Patch Tuesday” of 2020

Overview If you’re in IT (and haven’t been living under a rock), you know that today is the day that Microsoft officially ends extended support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008R2. We went through this back in April of 2014 and July of 2015 when the same thing happened with Windows… Continue reading Today is the Day that Windows 7 and Server 2008/r2 Security Updates End

Overview Our friends and partners at Dark Web intelligence firm IntSights have an excellent (and relatively short) threat briefing about Iranian cyber threat actors and the tactics they use for cyber espionage and warfare. The briefing includes recommendations for mitigation of these threats. The briefing can be downloaded at https://wow.intsights.com/rs/071-ZWD-900/images/Threat%20Brief_Iran.pdf A list of Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)… Continue reading Iranian Espionage/Cyber Warfare Threat Briefing

Overview On Monday, January 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released Alert AA20-006A, warning about potential cyberattacks on U.S. companies by the nation of Iran. The alert includes an overview of the threat profile of Iranian state-sponsored offensive cyber activities, tactics used by Iranian Advanced Persistent Threats… Continue reading DHS Releases Alert for Potential Iranian Cyber Attacks in Response to U.S. Military Strike in Baghdad

Good afternoon – Overview Last night US-CERT (the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Response Team) announced the public disclosure by researchers at endpoint security protection company Bitdefender of a new CPU-level information compromise vulnerability. Dubbed “SWAPGS”, the vulnerability is used to execute a “side channel” attack similar to the Spectre vulnerability announced (along with… Continue reading New Major Flaw Found in Intel and (Possibly) AMD Processors

Good morning! This week, we’ve got a doozie for you. As usual, the bad guys are busy trying to find their next way into a system they don’t belong in. Read on to find out more about them, and our take on what exactly is going on. Alert 1: Microsoft OneNote Audio Note Phishing Emails … Continue reading Cyber Heads-Up: Week of July 29th

Good morning- Overview Today (Monday, July 15, 2019) marks the start of Amazon Prime Day. Prime Day, which runs through tomorrow is a once-a-year event where Amazon.com places numerous items on sale at steep discounts. It is also a “prime” opportunity for scammers to send phishing emails and perpetrate other scams that can put your… Continue reading Beware Amazon Prime Day Scams

Good morning- Last week was a very active week in the world of cyber threats. Hacked antivirus software vendors, Microsoft’s unusual release of a security patch for Windows XP, Linux Kernel zero-day, WhatsApp being used to deliver spyware, Google issuing a recall on its Titan security keys, and the SHA-1 hash is officially dangerous. We’ll… Continue reading Cyber Heads-up: Week of May 20, 2019