Is China waging a cyber war with Taiwan?
Nation-state hacking groups based in China have sharply ramped up cyberattacks against Taiwan this year, according to multiple reports. With geopolitical tensions and a trade war acting as a backdrop, China-led cyberattacks on Taiwan are rising sharply, according to multiple security reports. In the latest report about alleged China-sponsored cyberattacks on Taiwan, Kate Morgan, a…
Microsoft pledges cybersecurity overhaul to protect products and services
Microsoft launches the Secure Future Initiative to usher in “next generation” of cybersecurity to better protect customers against escalating cybersecurity threats. Microsoft has announced the launch of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) to improve the built-in security of its products and platforms to better protect customers against escalating cybersecurity threats. The new initiative will bring…
Microsoft: 0ktapus Cyberattackers Evolve to ‘Most Dangerous’ Status
“One of the most dangerous financial criminal groups” — and growing in sophistication. That is Microsoft’s assessment of the 0ktapus cyberattack collective, which was most recently in the news for carrying out the strikingly disruptive MGM and Caesars Entertainment ransomware hits. The English-speaking group (aka Scatter Swine, UNC3944 or, as Microsoft calls it, “Octo Tempest”)…
Microsoft Blames Nation-State Threat Actor for Confluence Zero-Day Attacks
A note from Redmond linked the ongoing attacks to an APT group tracked as Storm-0062 and warned that malicious activity dates back to September 14, a full three weeks before Atlassian’s public disclosure of the issue. “Microsoft has observed nation-state threat actor Storm-0062 exploiting CVE-2023-22515 in the wild since September 14, 2023. CVE-2023-22515 was disclosed…
Fast-Growing Dropbox Campaign Steals Microsoft SharePoint Credentials
Threat actors are using messages sent from Dropbox to steal Microsoft user credentials in a fast-growing business email compromise (BEC) campaign. The effort evades natural language processing (NLP)-based security scans, and demonstrates the rapid evolution of these types of attacks. Researchers at Check Point Harmony observed more than 5,000 of the attacks — in which…
Microsoft Adds Passkeys to Windows 11
In a major update to its Windows 11 operating system this week, Microsoft has integrated Passkeys alongside Windows Hello, its biometric authentication tool. Passkeys creates a unique credential that allows users to authenticate with their face, fingerprint, or a PIN in a more secure process than the traditional password. Microsoft’s passkeys will be available on…
Microsoft Adding New Security Features to Windows 11
Windows 11 feature updates are released in the second half of each calendar year. The latest update, 23H2, is being gradually rolled out to users, with Microsoft expecting the new features to reach all devices by the release of the November 2023 security updates. However, customers with eligible devices running Windows 11 version 22H2 can…
Cyber Hygiene: A First Line of Defense Against Evolving Cyberattacks
Basic security hygiene is more impactful than you may realize. While industry headlines are often dominated by emerging tech and the latest software or hardware solutions, base-level security hygiene still protects against 98% of attacks. This includes measures such as applying zero-trust principles or keeping systems up to date with the latest security patches. However,…
Iranian Nation-State Actors Employ Password Spray Attacks Targeting Multiple Sectors
Iranian nation-state actors have been conducting password spray attacks against thousands of organizations globally between February and July 2023, new findings from Microsoft reveal. The tech giant, which is tracking the activity under the name Peach Sandstorm (formerly Holmium), said the adversary pursued organizations in the satellite, defense, and pharmaceutical sectors to likely facilitate intelligence…
Zero Day Summer: Microsoft Warns of Fresh New Software Exploits
As part of its scheduled batch of Patch Tuesday security fixes, Redmond’s security response team flagged the two zero-days — CVE-2023-36761 and CVE-2023-36802 — in the “exploitation detected” category and urged Windows sysadmins to urgently apply available fixes. The most serious of the two bugs is described as a privilege escalation flaw in Microsoft Streaming…
