Public accounting firm Wright, Moore, DeHart, Dupuis & Hutchinson (WMDDH) recently started notifying over 127,000 individuals that their personal information was stolen in a July 2023 data breach.  The incident was identified on July 11, 2023, when unusual network activity was observed on WMDDH’s network.  However, it took roughly ten months for WMDDH to determine who the compromised personal information belonged to and an additional two months to identify contact information for the impacted individuals.

According to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), over a third (34%) of English schools and colleges were hit by a cyber incident in the previous academic year 2023/24.  The exam watchdog found that 20% of schools and colleges were unable to recover immediately following an incident, with 4% taking more than half a term to return to normal operations.  Additionally, 9% of headteachers admitted they had experienced a “critically damaging” cyberattack in the last academic year.

The State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) published its "Russian Cyber Operations (H1 2024)" analysis, which revealed that Russian hackers are using messaging apps to steal personal data from Ukrainian servicemen. The research noted that hackers' capabilities are growing, and cyberspace is indeed a battlefield. Since corporate services are often secure, hackers are utilizing messaging apps such as Signal to steal data. This article continues to discuss key findings from the analysis of Russian cyber operations.

Recent attacks on walkie-talkies and pagers in Lebanon bring further attention to security vulnerabilities in everyday technology. These incidents emphasize the need for people to understand device risks and take precautions in a digital world. Research findings indicate a rise in cyber threats and privacy breaches. The recent attacks in Lebanon have raised new concerns about technology security in an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents significant challenges. This article continues to discuss the Lebanon device attacks and how to avoid such attacks.

Government agencies from the Five Eyes countries released guidance on detecting Active Directory (AD) intrusions. According to the agencies, Microsoft AD, a popular enterprise authentication and authorization solution, is a valuable target for malicious actors. This article continues to discuss the joint guidance for identifying AD compromises.

A National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) and CybSafe survey found that over a third of employees who use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for work tasks send sensitive data to AI applications without their employer's knowledge. The "Oh, Behave! 4th Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors Report" included insights from more than 7,000 participants. The report delved into the personal and workplace use of AI, attitudes toward AI usage and AI-generated content, and AI security training. This article continues to discuss key findings from the report regarding AI use and security.

Researcher Simone Margaritelli has detailed an unpatched vulnerability that was expected to pose a significant threat to Linux systems but turned out to be less severe. The unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability said to affect all GNU/Linux systems had been assigned a CVSS score of 9.9, leading the cybersecurity industry to believe it would be a high-impact issue. Margaritelli found zero-day Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) vulnerabilities that enable remote, unauthenticated attackers to execute code on vulnerable Linux and Unix-like systems.

According to Microsoft, the threat actor "Storm-0501" now targets hybrid cloud environments, expanding its strategy to compromise all victim assets. In 2021, the threat actor became a "Sabbath" ransomware affiliate. They later used "Hive," "BlackCat," "LockBit," and "Hunters International" file-encrypting malware. They recently used "Embargo" ransomware in attacks against US health, government, manufacturing, transportation, and law enforcement organizations. This article continues to discuss Storm-0501's shift in tactics.