Varsha Sewlal on Data Protection Framework Compliance

Suparna Goswami • December 8, 2021

Ensuring compliance with the data protection framework is one of the big challenges for enterprises in South Africa, says Varsha Sewlal, the executive officer for legal, policy, research and information technology analysis and the deputy information officer with the Information Regulator South Africa. She discusses

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Training & Security Leadership

FBI Seizes Bitcoins From Alleged REvil Ransomware Affiliate

Latest

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Canada Busts Suspect Tied to 'Multiple Ransomware Attacks'

Mathew J. Schwartz • December 8, 2021

Canadian police have arrested Matthew Philbert on suspicion of being tied to multiple ransomware and malware attacks that amassed domestic victims. Separately, a U.S. indictment charges Philbert with perpetrating an attack against the state of Alaska that breached personal and medical information.

Governance & Risk Management

Hacking the US Government - Legally

Jeremy Kirk • December 8, 2021

Most federal executive branch agencies in the U.S. now have vulnerability disclosure policies. John Jackson and Jackson Henry of the security research group Sakura Samurai say those policies ensure they don't get into legal trouble for helping improve cybersecurity.

Breach Notification

Incident Response: Best Practices in the Age of Ransomware

Mathew J. Schwartz • December 6, 2021

Good news on the breach prevention and incident response front: More businesses are getting more mature practices in place, although as attackers continue to improve their efforts, so too must defenders, says incident response expert Rocco Grillo of consultancy Alvarez & Marsal.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Mandiant: SolarWinds Attackers Continue to Innovate

Prajeet Nair • December 6, 2021

A suspected Russian group blamed for the SolarWinds compromise in 2020 is continuing to innovate and is infiltrating technology services and resellers, according to a new report from Mandiant. Mandiant says the group, which it calls UNC2452 and Microsoft calls Nobelium, practices "top-notch operational security."

Access Management

Missouri Governor's Hack Accusation Loses Steam

Jeremy Kirk • December 6, 2021

In October, Missouri's governor accused a journalist of hacking after he alerted the state to exposed personal information on a state education website. Now, emails reveal that state planned on thanking him before it chose to pursue prosecution and that the FBI immediately dismissed the incident.

3rd Party Risk Management

Alert: 'Cuba' Ransomware Slams Critical Sector Organizations

Prajeet Nair • December 4, 2021

The FBI warns that the "Cuba" ransomware-wielding attackers have extorted $43.9 million in ransom payments from victims after compromising at least 49 organizations across five critical infrastructure sectors - financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing and IT - since early November.

Account Takeover Fraud

ISMG Editors: Are We Close to Cracking Cybercrime Ecosystem?

Anna Delaney • December 3, 2021

In the latest weekly update, four editors at Information Security Media Group discuss important cybersecurity issues, including how the FBI has seized bitcoins from an alleged REvil ransomware affiliate, how to mitigate risks from BIN attacks and the latest COVID-19 trends globally.

Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery

Need to Negotiate a Ransomware Payoff? Newbies: Start Here

Anna Delaney • December 3, 2021

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of best practices for negotiating a ransom payment. Also featured: Busting Zero Trust myths and the dangers of mythologizing defenders.

Analytics

Using Behavioral Biometrics to Secure Against Digital Fraud

Geetha Nandikotkur • December 2, 2021

A risk-based approach to secure against digital fraud requires putting in the correct security controls in proportion to the organizational risk, which is determined by understanding the customer's subconscious habits, says Australia-based Tim Dalgleish, senior director, a global advisory, at BioCatch.

Video

Overcoming the Hesitancy to Move to the Cloud

Suparna Goswami • December 2, 2021

"Enterprises are reluctant to move to the cloud because they are concerned about the infrastructure and data security that cloud vendors are going to offer," says Deepak Prasad, customer engineer, security specialist at Google Cloud. He gives advice on making the digital transformation journey smoother

Cybercrime

Report: Aberebot-2.0 Hits Banking Apps and Crypto Wallets

Soumik Ghosh • December 1, 2021

A new variant of the Aberebot banking Trojan has been discovered by Cyble's researchers. Christened Aberebot-2.0, the latest malware version not only uses more advanced spying capabilities, it also has increased its target list to 213 banking apps and nine crypto wallets in 22 countries.

Cybercrime

Banish Sequential Numbering: How to Combat 'BIN Attacks'

Suparna Goswami • December 1, 2021

In order to identify BIN attacks, it is important for payment card brands to leverage AI and automated systems for monitoring transaction data to look for unusual patterns, says Keri Crane, advisory technical product manager with Jack Henry & Associates. She also discusses mitigation tips.