The New Security Paradigms Workshop (NSPW) is an annual, small invitation-only workshop for researchers in information security and related disciplines. NSPW's focus is on work that challenges the dominant approaches and perspectives in computer security. In the past, such challenges have taken the form of critiques of existing practice as well as novel, sometimes controversial, and often immature approaches to defending computer systems.
The 33rd USENIX Security Symposium will take place on August 14–16, 2024, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The USENIX Security Symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, system programmers, and others interested in the latest advances in the security and privacy of computer systems and networks.
Reconnaissance is one of the most time-consuming parts of network attack planning for adversaries. As Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are exposed to the public, attackers spend less time finding attack vectors into the API's network, making APIs an easier target for breaches. If poorly designed, APIs can increase a network's attack surface and cause serious security issues. Since microservice architectures are increasingly replacing monolithic software architectures, APIs are more common than ever.
Researchers have discovered a new ransomware strain called "HardBit" that uses new obfuscation methods to avoid analysis. Cybereason researchers found that HardBit ransomware 4.0 added passphrase protection. The passphrase must be provided during runtime for proper ransomware execution. HardBit, which emerged in October 2022, is a financially motivated ransomware group that uses double extortion to generate illicit revenues. This article continues to discuss findings regarding the HardBit ransomware.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has released a new Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CSI) titled "Advancing Zero Trust Maturity Throughout the Automation and Orchestration Pillar" to help organizations detect cyber threats and respond to threats more quickly. This report is the NSA's final CSI in a series pertaining to the seven pillars of the US Department of Defense (DoD) Zero Trust (ZT) framework.
A second Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability has been found in OpenSSH in an analysis of the recently discovered "regreSSHion" flaw. The regreSSHion bug, discovered by Qualys, was believed to impact millions of OpenSSH servers. Openwall founder Alexander Peslyak has found another regreSSHion-related issue, which is a race condition in signal handling involving the 'privsep' child process. This article continues to discuss findings regarding the recently discovered OpenSSH bug.
Barracuda researchers found cybercriminals using URL protection services to hide phishing links. The company observed phishing campaigns using three URL protection services to mask phishing URLs and send victims to credential-stealing websites. Researchers estimate these campaigns have targeted hundreds of companies. URL protection services prevent users from visiting malicious websites via phishing links. This article continues to discuss cybercriminals' abuse of legitimate URL protection services.
According to a recent paper by University of Missouri researcher Prasad Calyam and collaborators from Amrita University in India, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots can pass a cybersecurity exam but should not be relied on for complete protection. Using a standard certified ethical hacking exam, the team tested OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard. Certified ethical hackers use the same methods as malicious hackers to find and fix security vulnerabilities. Ethical hacking exams measure a person's understanding of attacks, system protection, and security breach response.
One of the most widely used network protocols, Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), is vulnerable to a newly discovered attack called "Blast-RADIUS." This complex attack enables adversaries to gain control over various environments, including industrial controllers, telecommunications services, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and more. RADIUS is supported by almost all switches, routers, access points, and Virtual Private Network (VPN) concentrators shipped in the past 20 years.
A smartphone's unique Bluetooth fingerprint could be used to track the device's user. To eliminate this vulnerability, a team of researchers at UC San Diego has developed a simple firmware update that completely hides the Bluetooth fingerprint. The researchers developed a method that involves multiple layers of randomization. This article continues to discuss the researchers' development of a firmware update that hides a device's Bluetooth fingerprint.