CyberWire Daily

AMNESIA:33 vulnerabilities infest the IoT supply chain. Lawful intercept spyware allegedly finds its way from Mexican police into the hands of drug cartels. Finland’s parliament approves exclusion of telecom equipment on security grounds. The US National Defense Authorization Act’s cyber provisions. Online fraud seems to have become a side hustle. Ben Yelin responds to Supreme Court arguments in a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act case. Our guest is Darren Mar-Elia from Semperis on group policy security. And Moscow police are looking for the crooks who hacked secure delivery lockers.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/235 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NSA warns that Russian state-sponsored actors are actively exploiting patched VMware vulnerabilities in the wild. A CISA alert puts Iran on notice. DeathStalker hired guns are now active in North America. Darknet contraband markets are experiencing the sort of pressure and consolidation legitimate markets undergo. Rick Howard checks in with the hash table on CSO and CISO roles. My continued conversation with Betsy Carmelite from Booz Allen on their 2021 Cyber Threat Trends Report. And a weird shift in North Korean propaganda...is Pyongyang having a Hallmark moment?For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/234 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director of Cyber Security Insights at Verve Industrial aka self-proclaimed industrial cybersecurity geek Ron Brash shares his journey through the industrial cybersecurity space. From taking his parents 286s and 386s to task to working for the "OG of industrial cybersecurity," Ron has pushed limits. Starting off in technical testing, racing through university at 2x speed, and taking a detour through neuroscience with machine learning, Ron decided to return to critical infrastructure working with devices that keep the lights on and the water flowing. Ron hopes his work makes an impact and his life is memorable for those he cares about. We thank Ron for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While SSL/TLS encryption is the industry standard for protecting data in transit from prying eyes, encryption has, itself, become a threat. It is often leveraged by attackers to sneak malware past security tools that do not fully inspect encrypted traffic. As the percentage of traffic that is encrypted continues to grow, so do the opportunities for attackers to deliver threats through encrypted channels.To better understand the use of encryption and the volume of encrypted traffic that is inspected, Zscaler's research team, ThreatLabZ, analyzed encrypted traffic across the Zscaler cloud for the first nine months of 2020, assessing its use within specific industries. The study also set out to analyze the types of attacks that use encryption and the extent of the current risk. Returning to Research Saturday this week to discuss the report is Zscaler's CISO and VP of Security Research, Deepen Desai.The research can be found here: 2020: The State of Encrypted Attacks Blog 2020: The State of Encrypted Attacks Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Predictions for 2021 focus on ransomware: it’ll be better, more aggressive, bigger, and a greater problem in every way. Cyberespionage and the cold chain. Cybercriminal interest in COVID-19 vaccines extends to both theft and fraud. Johannes Ullrich on the .well-known Directory. Our guest is Michael Magrath from OneSpan on what the financial sector needs to consider now that we’re post-election season. And what’s one effect of the pandemic? Dog fraud. Ask the Better Business Bureau.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/233 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese intelligence services are prospecting think tanks and prospective members of the next US Administration. Spearphishing the vaccine cold chain. Expect vaccine-themed phishing. After a temporary, pre-US election suppression, TrickBot’s back. Holiday shopping season is bot-season. Consumers are thought likely to get upset about smart device privacy in 2021. Awais Rashid from Bristol University on privacy at scale. Our guest is JP Perez-Etchegoyen from Onapsis on the risk associated with interconnected cloud and SaaS apps. And suppose you’re a cybercriminal...we know, but suppose. What do you tell your sweetie you do for a living?For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/232 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Shadow Academy prospects universities in a domain shadowing campaign. Notes on Turla’s Crutch, an information-stealing backdoor. Bismuth was using crytpojacking as misdirection. CISA and the FBI warn think tanks that cyberspies are after them. North Korean cyberespionage is interested in COVID-19 treatments. Our guest is Carey O’Connor Kolaja from AU10TIX on combating fraud in the financial services and payment industry. David Dufour from Webroot has 2021 predictions. And a member of the Apophis Group gets eight years in prison.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/231 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cryptojacking from Hanoi. Dormant networks rise again, for no easily discernible reason (but it doesn’t look good). A gang is hitting German victims with the Gootkit banking Trojan, and sometimes mixing it up with a REvil ransomware payload. Conti ransomware hits IoT chipmaker. SCOTUS reviews the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. A few predictions for 2021. Ben Yelin on Congress passing an IoT security bill. Our guest is Stephen Harvey from BitSight, who’s tracking the correlation between companies with strong cybersecurity and financial success. And it may be back to school tomorrow in Baltimore County.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/230 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

North Korean operators phish a major pharma company. The Bandook backdoor is back, and probably being distributed by mercenaries. A school district cancels classes after a ransomware attack. Man U continues to work on recovering its systems. Former CISA Director says there are no signs of foreign manipulation of US elections. Rick Howard wonders what exactly all those CISOs do. Betsy Carmelite from Booz Allen with insights from their 2021 Cyber Threat Trends Report. And Cyber shopping and the forever sales.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/229 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cybersecurity attorney Camille Stewart shares how her childhood affinity for making contracts pointed to her eventual career as an attorney. Having a computer scientist father contributed to Camille's technical acumen and desire to include technology in her life's work. Camille has worked various facets of cybersecurity law from the private sector, federal government, on the Hill and in the Executive Branch, and now as part of Big Tech as Head of Security Policy and Election Integrity for Google Play and Android where she creates policy geared towards making sure users are safe on their platform and equipped to make informed decisions.. We thank Camille for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices