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Pharmacy Giant Hit By Data Breach Affecting 3.6 Million Customers

Dis-Chem, a pharmacy retailer, announced that it has been affected by a data breach that exposed the personal details of roughly 3.6 million customers. Dis-Chem released a statement explaining how it contracted with a third-party service provider and operator for certain managed services, including a database. the database contained personal information that is necessary for…
Surprised? Modern “Smart” Farm Machinery Vulnerable to Cyber-Attackers

Infosecurity Magazine reports that: A new risk analysis published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence warns that smart farm machinery is vulnerable to malicious attackers, which could have significant implications for global supply chains. The analysis explains how hackers can leverage flaws in agricultural hardware that is used to plant and harvest crops, as well…
Microsoft says this botnet is growing fast and hunting for servers with weak passwords

Microsoft has witnessed as 254% increase in activity of the botnet XorDDoS. XorDDoS is an eight-year-old network of infected Linux machines that is leveraged by threat actors to conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against Linux users. The botnet conducts automated password-guessing attacks spanning thousands of Linux servers, seeking matching admin credentials utilized on…
Argentina found guilty of massacre of Qom and Moqoit people

In a landmark criminal trial in Argentina, the state has been found guilty of the massacre of over 400 indigenous people almost 100 years ago. In 1924, authorities shot and killed Qom and Moqoit communities who were protesting inhumane conditions working and living on a cotton plantation. Responsibility of the attack had never been acknowledged…
Rwanda expects first 50 asylum seekers transferred from UK by end of May

Rwanda is expecting to receive the first group of 50 asylum seekers from Britain by the end of May. The British government had announced plans in April to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda, but lawyers were expected to prevent their removal from Britain earlier this month. The British government has begun to notify those…
Shoigu: Russia to build military bases in response to NATO moves

Defense Minister Segei Shoigu of Russia said Moscow will create new military bases in the western part of the country in response to Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO. Russia believes these bids to join NATO are among an increase in military threats along Russia’s northwestern border. The military threats cited also included the…
Australia election 2022: Cost of living worries voters

Voters will head to the polls on Saturday in Australia with rising prices on their minds. The cost of living in Australia is at a 21 year high and the inflation rate in Australia is at 5.1%. The wage growth is at just 2.3%, meaning the inflation is leaving less money in people’s pockets each…
Israeli lawmaker resigns over ‘harassment’ of Palestinians, plunging government into parliamentary minority

Israel’s government lost its parliamentary majority on Thursday after an Arab-Israeli lawmaker resigned. Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi is a lawmaker of the left wing Meretz party and accused the leaders of fueling tensions between Israel and Palestine. She opposes the government’s shift right and accused it of harassing her society. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett now only…
New Chainalysis tool tracks stolen crypto across multiple chains

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has released a new tool to track transactions across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and multiple blockchains. Chainalysis launched a beta version of its Storyline software on Wednesday. Touted as a “Web3-native blockchain analysis tool,” Storyline aims to track and visualize smart contract transactions with a focus on nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and DeFi…
Russia to legalise cryptocurrency as means of payment ‘sooner or later’

Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has said that the country will sooner or later legalise cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, suggesting that the government and central bank may be moving closer to settling their differences. The Russian minister was asked at a forum whether he believed cryptocurrencies would become legal as a…
Cyberattacks and misinformation activity against Ukraine continues say security researchers

The cyber offensive against Ukraine continues with malware attacks and the spread of misinformation, according to security researchers. So far, Russian, pro-Russian, and Belarusian cyberattackers have employed the most comprehensive array of methods to achieve “tactical and strategic objectives, directly linked to the conflict itself,” according to research by security company Mandiant. However, the impact…
Axie Infinity hack highlights DPRK cryptocurrency heists

Despite how enormous it was, the Axie Infinity heist marked only the latest chapter in the story of North Korean financial cybercrime. Sky Mavis, the developer of popular nonfungible token (NFT) video game Axie Infinity, lost hundreds of millions of dollars in assets when they were stolen by hackers on March 23. The attack occurred via…
Recovering from a cybersecurity earthquake: The lessons organizations must learn

It’s been over a year since the SolarWinds supply chain hack sent shockwaves through thousands of organizations worldwide, but this cybersecurity earthquake is by no means over. More recently we’ve seen aftershocks fueled by the Log4Shell and Spring4Shell vulnerabilities, which impacted organizations using the Log4j library and the Spring Core framework. We had seen supply…
Will a Proof-of-Stake Ethereum Lead to More Centralization?

When Ethereum eventually shifts from its current proof-of-work method to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, it will rely on validators rather than on miners to validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. In order to run a validator and earn staking rewards, participants must stake 32 ETH, which is worth roughly $65,800 at current prices. Lido…
Personal Information of Nearly Two Million Texans Exposed

According to a public notice released by the Texas Department of Insurance, the personal information of roughly two million Texans was left exposed on the internet for three years due to a programming issue. The department stated that the details of workers who have filed compensation claims were left unsecured online. The security incident was…
Patch these vulnerable VMware products or remove them from your network, CISA warns federal agencies

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned companies that certain VMware products affected by newly disclosed critical flaws. The CISA recommends that these products be patched or removed from the network entirely to mitigate the risks posed by the vulnerabilities. The removal of the products if they cannot be patched is based on…
Togo authorities say 15 assailants died in ‘terrorist’ attack

In a terrorist attack in the north of Togo that occurred lsat week, 15 assailants and eight soldiers were killed. Togo’s military are deployed in the north of the country to contain security threats from armed groups coming from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The armed groups in these countries are linked to al-Qaeda and…
Global stock markets fall as growth fears rattle investors

Following sharp falls in the US and Asia stock markets, fears of rising prices and slowing economies have made an impact on UK and European stock markets as well. The FTSE 100 index of leading companies decreased by 2.5% on Thursday and the main stock markets in France and Germany had similar declines. The US…
Google Moves Employees Out of Russia

Google has moved the bulk of its employees out of Russia, according to people familiar with the matter, ending the company’s commercial presence in the country for the near future. Most of Google’s Russian employees opted to leave the country and continue to work for Google outside Russia, with a large number ending up in Dubai,…
5 Years That Altered the Ransomware Landscape

The ransomware landscape has evolved considerably since WannaCry dramatically drove home the potential severity of the threat five years ago on May 12. What has changed somewhat less over the same period is enterprise preparedness in the face of ransomware attacks. Ransomware emerged and has remained entrenched as one of the most difficult security issues for…
German BaFin official calls for ‘innovative’ EU-wide DeFi regulation

Birgit Rodolphe, executive director at Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), has called for innovative and uniform regulation of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space throughout the European Union. BaFin is Germany’s financial regulatory body responsible for regulating banks, insurance firms and financial institutions including cryptocurrency companies. BaFin is the issuer of “crypto custody licenses,” a permit…
What the War in Ukraine Means

Amid the largely kinetic activity involving the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, numerous shifts in the cyber landscape are occurring. Leading up to the military invasion, Putin made overtures of cyber recourse to his global opponents. Over the last week, the cyber tables turned against him. In addition to Ukraine’s cyber offensive operations, Russia has…
Ernst & Young Unveils Supply Chain Manager on Polygon Network

Big Four accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young has unveiled its blockchain-based supply chain manager that is built for the Polygon network and that is aimed at solving bottlenecks in tracing products as they come to market. The EY OpsChain Supply Chain Manager, which is now available in a beta version, is the first…
Hezbollah and allies lose parliamentary majority in Lebanon election

In Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, the Iran-backed Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement and its allies lost their majority number of seats. The results of Sunday’s election shows that the bloc’s candidates won 62 of 128 seats, three fewer than it needed to maintain a majority. While Hezbollah itself retained its own seats, its ally party President Michel…
Turkey threatens to block Finland and Sweden Nato bids

Just hours after Finland and Sweden announced that they were considering seeking membership in NATO, Turkey’s president restated his opposition to the move. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the two nations should not attempt to send delegations to Turkey in an attempt to gain membership in Nato and convince the country of their bids…
Ransomware Hits American Healthcare Company Omnicell

Omnicell, a multinational healthcare company, has recently confirmed that it suffered from a data breach following a reported ransomware incident. According to a statement released in the company’s quarterly 10-Q filing, Omnicell detected the ransomware attack and disclosed it on May 9. More details are expected to be released in the next few weeks as…
Russian soldier pleads guilty in first war crimes trial of Ukraine conflict

The first war crimes trial in Ukraine was held since the war began. In the trial, a 21-year-old soldier pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian. The attack was against a 62-year-old man only a few days after the invasion began. After pleading guilty, he will face a life sentence. The soldier, Vadim Shishimarin, was…
Over 100,000 people officially missing or disappeared in Mexico

More than 100,000 people have been registered as missing or disappeared in Mexico according to data from the Interior Ministry’s National Registry of Missing People. The registry dates back to 1964 and continues through to this day. Since 1964, 100,023 people have been registered missing, 24,700 women and over 74,700 men along with 516 people…
Vulnerabilities found in Bluetooth Low Energy gives hackers access to numerous devices

Cybersecurity researchers at NCC Group have found a critical flaw in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) receivers. The flaw may grant cyber criminals access to a range of devices, including phones, laptops, cars, and houses. NCC Group details how BLE uses proximity to authenticate that the user is within a close distance to the device. As…
Wizard Spider hackers hire cold callers to scare ransomware victims into paying up

Security researchers at PRODAFT published the results of its investigation into Wizard Spider, a threat actor that is believed to be associated with the Grim Spider and Lunar Spider hacking groups. The report was released on Wednesday and details the group’s illegal activities, including the practice of hiring cold callers to scare victims into paying…
Only DevSecOps can save the metaverse

Defined as a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on enhancing social connections through conventional personal computing and virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, the metaverse was once a fringe concept that few thought much, if anything, about. But more recently it was thrust into the limelight when Facebook decided to rebrand as Meta, and…
U.S. Government Issues Warning About Undercover North Koreans Working in the Crypto and IT Industries

The U.S. government is increasingly alarmed about the thousands of North Korean tech workers that are being dispatched to American IT companies, including crypto firms, to earn revenue for North Korea and its weapons programs, violating U.S. and UN sanctions. In a new advisory, the government outlined methods to detect undercover North Korean workers, who gain…
Russia’s War on Ukraine Will Leave Scars on U.S., World Economies

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dealt a blow to the global economy—weakening the postpandemic recovery and aggravating already-high inflation. Even if the worst fears of rising geopolitical tensions and larger economic disruptions do not materialize, private forecasters anticipate an inflationary slump for the world economy. In this context, the U.S. economy faces significant headwinds from higher…
Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘cannot move forward’ without more information.

Elon Musk raised further doubts about the future of his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Tuesday, saying “this deal cannot move forward” until he gets more details about the volume of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Mr. Musk, who is carrying out a public tweet-by-tweet negotiation for the influential social media platform, has…
Ransomware – a burgeoning geopolitical weapon?

Today, ransomware is treated mostly as a criminal problem, but there is an argument to be made for treating it as a geopolitical issue too. As such a cheap and easy way to steal money from large businesses, it’s no wonder that the CEO of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre called it “the most…
Israeli police will investigate ‘events’ surrounding funeral of Palestinian journalist says Minister

Israeli police have publicly announced that they will hold an investigation into events that occurred during the funeral procession of deceased Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The funeral occurred on Friday, and was marked by violent events committed on the part of those participating. Abu Akleh’s death has been highly controversial, as the journalist…
Microsoft Identifies Botnet Variant Targeting Windows and Linux Systems

Microsoft has reportedly discovered a new variant of the Sysrv botnet, which possesses the ability to deploy coin miners on Windows and Linux systems. Microsoft Security Intelligence released a string of posts on Twitter discussing the discovery, which it has named Sysrv-K, and how it is exploiting vulnerabilities in the Spring Framework and WordPress to…
US Manufacturing Giant Parker Hit by Conti Ransomware Gang

Parker-Hannifin Corporation, a US manufacturing company, has confirmed that it was impacted by a data breach that has exposed employees’ personally identifiable information (PII). According to the firm, Conti ransomware actors published the stolen data last month after claiming responsibility for the attack. Parker-Hannifin is one of the largest motion control technologies companies in the…
FBI says hackers used malicious PHP code to grab credit card data

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has warned that an unknown threat actor is scraping credit card data from the checkout process of US businesses. The campaign targeting the e-commerce industry is leveraging the malicious PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) code into the business’ online checkout page. Then, the inputted information is forwarded to an actor-controller…
Guinea Bissau president dissolves parliament in new political row

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau has dissolved the parliament and announced that parliamentary elections will be held this year to resolve an ongoing political crisis. There has been tension between the parliament and presidency of the nation for months. Embalo stated the differences between him and the parliament were persistent and unresolvable and described…
Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol, Prime Minister tells crisis-hit nation

Ranil Wickremisighe was appointed as Sri Lanka’s new prime minister on Thursday and announced on Monday the country was on its last day of petrol. The country’s power minister warned citizens to not join the long lines for fuel that have increased during the weeks of anti-government protests. In an address to the nation, Wickremesignhe…
Crypto is crumbling, and DeFi hacks are getting worse

Until recently, DeFi seemed like it was on an exponential trajectory upwards. With the collective value of crypto peaking near $3 trillion, hackers saw a big opportunity. The only thing that may slow them down is the precipitous drop in the value of the tokens they’re going after. DeFi hacks have been getting worse and worse,…
Russian hackers declare war on 10 countries after failed Eurovision DDoS attack

Russian-linked hackers have claimed to have disrupted the infrastructure of Italy’s State Police anti-cyber crime arm after it thwarted hacking attempts on the Eurovision Song Contest. Hackers from the Killnet group announced in the early hours of Monday morning that claims made by Italian State Police referred to the disruption of cyber attacks over the…
5 Questions Every CSO Should Ask Amidst the Ukraine-Russia Conflict

The world is facing unprecedented geo-political challenges that are impacting businesses everywhere. Amidst the financial strain brought on by the global pandemic, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia continues to surge on — and so have fears of disruptive implications if the hostilities extend to the cyber theater. Since the conflict began, governments have continued to…
The Ukraine-Russia War’s Impact On The Supply Chain: Why MRO Optimization Is A Top Priority

If the Pandemic crippled the global supply chain, the war in Ukraine knocked it to its knees. The greatest supply chain challenge today is a prolonged Ukraine-Russia war. Beyond uncertainty, it creates barriers in the market, disrupting the movement of commodities like auto parts, oil, and grain. Moreover, this profound impact on our supply chains…
Time’s Up: Cryptocurrency Has Become a National Security Issue

Rather than issuing largely symbolic sanctions on North Korea whenever there is a major Pyongyang-affiliated hack, U.S officials should focus their efforts on regulating the entire cryptocurrency industry. Last month, the FBI announced that North Korean hackers had stolen more than $600 million in cryptocurrency from an online gaming company, Axie Infinity, in March 2022.…
Italian Police Foil Pro-Russia Attacks on Eurovision

Italian law enforcement authorities have reportedly mitigated efforts by pro-Russian hackers who sought to disrupt the Eurovision Song Contest over the weekend. The final of the annual competition took place in Turin on Saturday, without Russia, who was banned this year due to its invasion of Ukraine. The eventual winner of the contest was Ukraine’s…
Afghan resistance attack Taliban, sparking reprisals in Panjshir

The Taliban has been having clashes with resistance forces in Panjshir province, leading them to be accused of human rights abuses. Local residents in the area to the north of Kabul have witnessed elderly relatives being shot along with neighbors being beat until they fall unconscious by the Taliban. The resistance fighting in this area…
Former Somali president returns to power, vows to return Somalia to stability

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected by Somalia’s parliament as the country’s tenth president on Sunday. Mohamud was previously the president of Somalia from September 2012 to February 2017, he is the first leader of the country to be elected twice as Somalia’s president. Mohamud promised to work on stable politics to promote stability and agreements…
EU Agrees New Cybersecurity Legislation for Critical Services Organizations

This month, the European Union (EU) has reached an agreement on new legislation that will enact cybersecurity standards for critical industry organizations in order to protect the infrastructure of the EU from cyberattacks. The new directive falls into the EU’s existing rules on the security of network and information systems (NIS Directive) and will replace…
Over 20,000 Zyxel Firewalls Still Exposed to Critical Bug

According to security researchers, over 20,000 Zyxel Firewalls remain vulnerable to critical bug that was patched by the vendor back in April. The flaw lies in the ATP series, VPN series, and USG FLEX series of the firewall product. Security company Rapid7 discovered and disclosed the vulnerability in April of this year, tracked as CVE-2022-30525.…
This phishing attack delivers three forms of malware. And they all want to steal your data

Cybersecurity researchers at Fortinet have released information regarding a phishing campaign targeting Microsoft Windows users. The phishing campaign leverages three different forms of malware, all of which are designed to steal sensitive information and credentials from victims. The malware types used in the campaign are AveMariaRAT, BitRAT, and PandoraHVNC, a trojan malware. By inserting malicious…
Russian soldiers seen shooting dead unarmed civilians

CCTV footage has revealed that Russian soldiers are targeting and shooting dead unarmed Ukrainian civilians in the ongoing conflict between the two countries that has resulted in millions of refugees fleeing the country. The BBC has obtained footage of Lenoid Pliats, a bicycle shop security guard, and his boss being shot in the back by…
Palestinians vow to stay on West Bank land despite defeat in decades-old legal battle

On Friday, the leader of a Palestinian village council located in the West Bank vowed to remain in place and to continue fighting eviction from the land. The Israeli military has claimed the West Bank as a firing range despite a Supreme Court decision against the Palestinians in a case that has been battled in…
Threat Actors Use Telegram to Spread ‘Eternity’ Malware-as-a-Service

Threat actors are using the Telegram messaging platform to spread the Eternity malware, according to researchers. An account promoting the project was detected by security researchers and has amassed more than 50 subscribers. The channel offers a range of threat activity, from information stealing to cryptocurrency mining to ransomware. The malware-as-a-service offering allows aspiring attackers…
Oklahoma City Indian Clinic Data Breach Affects 40,000 Individuals

This week, the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic(OKCIC) announced that it had suffered from a data breach that exposed personally identifiable information of roughly 40,000 individuals. The clinic identified a security incident that affected its computer system on May 12, according to a notice posted on the clinic’s website. The OKCIC also confirmed that they had…
Costa Rica Declares National Emergency Following Conti Cyber-Attack

After suffering from a cyberattack perpetrated by the notorious Conti ransomware gang, Costa Rica’s government has declared a national emergency. The Conti group is believed to be linked to the Russian state, and has publicly claimed responsibility for the incident. The Conti group allegedly disrupted IT systems spanning several Costa Rican ministries and threatened to…
A Vision For The Next Generation Of The World Wide Web

When Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues developed upon the work started by ARPANET with TCP/IP, they gave us back in 1990 the basis of the modern internet that we see today. As with all life-changing technologies, this was developed further, and by 1999, “Web 2.0” was a term that was becoming common usage. Web 2.0 heralded…
Crypto Lending: Unregulated crypto-backed loans get popular, but not without risks

While it is already known that cryptocurrency is becoming even more popular as an investment, it is evidently gaining traction globally as a mode of payment too – albeit not without factoring in related risks. Crypto lending refers to a type of ‘DeFi’, or decentralized finance, which allows investors to lend their cryptocurrencies to different…
Blockchain security firm accuses token of crypto rug pull resulting in $1.3 million in losses

While Thursday saw more volatility than usual in the cryptocurrency sector, the losses experienced by most Bitcoin and Ethereum investors were nothing compared to those seen by people who owned the Day of Defeat token. The altcoin saw its value drop 94.68% on Thursday, according to CertiK, a blockchain security firm and auditor. That resulted…