UC Berkeley – Network Securitas

June 27, 2017

‘Petya’ Ransomware Outbreak Goes Global

This post was originally published on this siteA new strain of ransomware dubbed “Petya” is worming its way around the world with alarming speed. The malware is spreading using a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that the software giant patched in March 2017 — the same bug that was exploited by the recent and prolific WannaCry ransomware strain. The ransom note that gets displayed on screens of Microsoft Windows computers infected with Petya. According to multiple news reports, Ukraine appears to be among the hardest hit by Petya. The country’s government, some domestic banks and largest power companies all warned today that they […]

May 7, 2018

Study: Attack on KrebsOnSecurity Cost IoT Device Owners $323K

This post was originally published on this siteA monster distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) against KrebsOnSecurity.com in 2016 knocked this site offline for nearly four days. The attack was executed through a network of hacked “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices such as Internet routers, security cameras and digital video recorders. A new study that tries to measure the direct cost of that one attack for IoT device users whose machines were swept up in the assault found that it may have cost device owners a total of $323,973.75 in excess power and added bandwidth consumption. My bad. But really, none of […]

September 12, 2018

U.S. Mobile Giants Want to be Your Online Identity

This post was originally published on this siteThe four major U.S. wireless carriers today detailed a new initiative that may soon let Web sites eschew passwords and instead authenticate visitors by leveraging data elements unique to each customer’s phone and mobile subscriber account, such as location, customer reputation, and physical attributes of the device. Here’s a look at what’s coming, and the potential security and privacy trade-offs of trusting the carriers to handle online authentication on your behalf. Tentatively dubbed “Project Verify” and still in the private beta testing phase, the new authentication initiative is being pitched as a way […]

August 6, 2020

Hacked Data Broker Accounts Fueled Phony COVID Loans, Unemployment Claims

This post was originally published on this siteA group of thieves thought to be responsible for collecting millions in fraudulent small business loans and unemployment insurance benefits from COVID-19 economic relief efforts gathered personal data on people and businesses they were impersonating by leveraging several compromised accounts at a little-known U.S. consumer data broker, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. In June, KrebsOnSecurity was contacted by a cybersecurity researcher who discovered that a group of scammers was sharing highly detailed personal and financial records on Americans via a free web-based email service that allows anyone who knows an account’s username to view all […]