As expected, the start of 2021 has seen unprecedented movement in the U.S. with 22 states introducing comprehensive privacy legislation and even more introducing specific-use legislation. To date, hundreds of privacy bills were introduced across the states; to give some perspective, more than 50 privacy bills were introduced in New York alone. Undoubtedly a hot topic, it seemed anyone with an idea for a privacy bill put it in writing and introduced it to their…

US Imprisons “Sadistic” Sextortionist A man from California has been sent to prison for cyberstalking two people and threatening to murder them unless they performed sex acts on him. US Judge Dolly Gee described the actions of Covina resident Carl De Vera Bennington as "sadistic" and "cruel” before handing him a custodial sentence. One of the victims of 34-year-old Bennington was just a teenager when he began targeting her. The cyberstalking took place over a period of…

Nine new DNS-related vulnerabilities have been identified across TCP/IP stacks embedded in millions of devices. Background On April 13, 2021, researchers at Forescout and JSOF published a report called NAME:WRECK. The report details the discovery of nine Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerabilities across four widely used open-source TCP/IP stacks. Conservative estimates suggest that the flaws are present in over 100 million devices. NAME:WRECK is the third TCP/IP report to stem from research conducted through PROJECT:MEMORIA;…

Jack Wallen shows you how to add an SSH tarpit to Ubuntu Server with the help of endlessh. Image: iStock/http://www.fotogestoeber.de In your never-ending quest to secure your Linux servers, you’ve probably found a lot of times the breaches happen through SSH. No matter how secure it is, it can still be cracked. That’s why you might need to consider setting up a tarpit for that service. Essentially, a tarpit will run on the standard SSH…

Targeting global companies, the attackers are likely seeking confidential data on the distribution and storage of the coronavirus vaccines, says IBM Security X-Force. Image: iStock/gopixa Cybercriminals have been expanding a phishing campaign designed to steal critical information from companies involved with COVID-19 vaccines, security group IBM Security X-Force said on Thursday. In a new report, X-Force said it recently discovered a series of phishing emails targeting 44 companies across 14 countries, all involved in the…

Relations between the United States and Russia have soured following the imposition of new sanctions by the Biden administration on America’s former Cold War enemy. The measures were introduced today in retaliation for cyber-attacks and election interference that the United States says were carried out by Russia. President Joe Biden announced the sanctions earlier today in one of the more than 50 executive orders he has signed during his first four months in power.  In the order, Biden…