The number of DDoS attacks detected by Kaspersky was found to have dropped by 31% in Q4 2020, compared to Q3, with the decline believed to be connected to a rise in cryptomining. As online activity increased over the course of 2020, with users staying at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, DDoS attacks surged, with … Read more
The challenges are greater than ever. But security pros have learned a lot – and with luck, the right strategic defenses can help even the highest-value targets withstand severe attacks. Marc Andreessen had it right – software has eaten the world. As a result, the world can be hacked. Just look at the past few … Read more
Avoid paying off ransomware attackers by following these steps to ensure backups can restore infected systems. The best way to avoid paying ransom to attackers who have infected your systems with ransomware is to have those systems adequately backed up so you can wipe them and restore them from safe backups. Here are several options … Read more
Three tools from VMware’s portfolio — Workspace One, Carbon Black Cloud, and SASE — are now bundled, offering a suite of tools to simplify management of remote worker devices and applications. Providing secure access to vital applications has been a key challenge for businesses forced to adapt to remote working during the pandemic. And with … Read more
Hospital IT leaders are fending off more hackers looking to capitalize on the COVID-19 crisis for financial gain. Mt. San Rafael Hospital thwarted a ransomware attack on one of its sister facilities earlier this year before anything could be compromised. The organization is still working through the details of the hack, says CIO Michael Archuleta, … Read more
A set of vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi’s basic design offers a long-standing and widespread threat vector, but the probability of compromise remains low. Almost all Wi-Fi is potentially vulnerable to flaws that date back to 1997 when it became commercially available, but even the person who discovered the weaknesses says some of them are difficult to … Read more
Apple’s software engineering chief Craig Federighi recently said Macs aren’t yet as secure as iOS devices — should we be worried? Apple’s software engineering chief Craig Federighi recently told us that Macs aren’t yet as secure as iOS devices, but does this mean Mac users need to worry? What Federighi said Apple’s software lead was … Read more
A vulnerability in sudo can elevate unprivileged users to root privileges. Linux users should immediately patch a serious vulnerability to the sudo command that, if exploited, can allow unprivileged users gain root privileges on the host machine. Called Baron Samedit, the flaw has been “hiding in plain sight” for about 10 years, and was discovered earlier this month by … Read more
Ransomware is running rampant these days, but there are several ways Windows 10 users and admins can protect their PCs. Here’s what to do. CryptoLocker. WannaCry. Petya. Bad Rabbit. The ransomware threat isn’t going away anytime soon; the news brings constant reports of new waves of this pernicious type of malware washing across the world. It’s popular … Read more
How to tighten up security for backup systems and avoid malicious activities carried out by lone wolves. Least privilege—the idea that each person in your organization should have the least number of privileges they need in order to accomplish a given task—is an important security concept that needs to be implemented in your backup system. … Read more
