On December 13, 2020, FireEye announced that threat actors had compromised SolarWinds’s Orion IT monitoring and management software and used it to distribute a software backdoor to dozens of that company’s customers, including several high profile U.S. government agencies. Many are referring to the SolarWinds-SUNBURST campaign incidents as the long-prophesied “Cyber Pearl Harbor.” We agree, but it is important to be clear as to why this is the case. Game Changing Attack Vector This campaign…

Jack Wallen takes one more opportunity to remind Android device owners to use those phones with a great deal of caution; otherwise, they could become victims of malware. Image: Google The year 2020 is coming to a close. In fact, this is the very last piece I will pen for TechRepublic this year, and wow, has it been a doozy of a year. Don’t worry, I’m not about to go off on the train wreck…

McAfee, the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, announced the winners of its distinguished SIA Partner Awards. The 2020 awards recognize partners who demonstrated innovation, strategic value, and market leadership in their respective market segments which are a complement to the McAfee solution portfolio. 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone that has required organizations to be flexible and rethink how they deploy security to ensure their critical assets remain protected. The McAfee SIA program enables organizations…

IT security teams need to educate employees about the psychological techniques cybercriminals often use in social engineering attacks. Image: iStockphoto/Chainarong Prasertthai You are walking down the street and notice a person looking skyward–odds are you will keep going. The next day, you are out walking the dog and spot four people looking upward. More than likely, you will stop and look up. Why? Find out by reading this excerpt from The Wisdom of Crowds. Next…

A man from New York City has been charged with waging a grim cyber-stalking campaign against a female college student.  Desmond Babloo Singh allegedly created over 100 accounts on social media platforms and email services and used them to harass a former classmate of his sister for whom he claimed to have developed romantic feelings.  Nineteen-year-old Singh professed his love to the unnamed victim via an Instagram story in February 2020. When she didn’t return his affections,…

The infamous advanced persistent threat group (APT) Lazarus is behind two recent cyber-attacks that targeted two separate entities related to COVID-19 research. In one attack, a Ministry of Health body was hit with malware. The other incident involved the use of a different kind of malware against a pharmaceutical company that is developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The company is authorized to produce and distribute the vaccine. The attacks, which both occurred in…

The European Court of Human Rights has fallen victim to a cyber-attack after publishing a ruling regarding the fate of an incarcerated Turkish political leader.  According to Bloomberg, hackers struck at the Court’s website on Tuesday, knocking it offline for approximately 16 hours. The website has now been restored, and the order is one again accessible to the public. The attack came shortly after the Court published a grand chamber ruling on December 22 demanding that…

2020 has been quite the year for many, and through it all, we’re reflecting on everything we are thankful for. This includes the incredible stories and invaluable perspectives that come from our McAfee team members around the world. As the year ends, we’re counting down the top 10 most read Life at McAfee blog stories. These are the stories from our team members that you love to read, and we love to tell!    10. One Team Member Selflessly Provides Relief to Covid 19’s Front Line  Image © by Christian Beier When COVID-19 hit Germany, Heiko jumped into action and made an impact on his…

Semperis has announced the appointment of Igor Baikalov as its chief scientist to lead the enterprise identity protection company’s research division. In his new role, Baikalov is tasked with developing identity-centric models of cyber-attacks as well as enhancing the cyber-resiliency of hybrid identity stores through the application of identity analytics and machine learning. He joins Semperis following over 30 years’ experience working in data analysis and enterprise application development, covering areas such as insider threats and risk…