From The Blog

Online gaming is pretty much the way game developers want to go these days. However, online modes come with risks. With Arner Bros. Games it was Back 4 Blood’s online only progression created such a massive backlash they had to backtrack on their online push. Now we see something more serious than fan backlash, Remote Code Execution bugs in Dark Souls.

The Ultimate Kronos Group was the target of a Ransomware attack in Late 2021 coincidentally at the same time the Log4Shell vulnerability was disclosed. Kronos has not disclosed how the ransomware got into their environment, nor has it been revealed who might be behind the attack. Original estimates were that Kronos would be able to restore the impacted systems and be back online in a few weeks. Now, a bit more than a month later, there have been no real updates on the situation and many organizations are still feeling the effects.

APT group 41 also known as Winnti has been tied to a wonderful new piece of malware that does not infect your operating system, but the UEFI firmware on your device. The malware in question has been dubbed MoonBounce by the security researchers at Kaspersky who are responsible for finding it. APT41 has been in operation for a while and is identified by their tactics techniques and protocols (TTPs) which include stealthy attacks meant to maintain a long-term presence for information gathering on the target.

It is no secret that the NSA and DoD (Department of Defense) and other Government agencies have an issue with security. Over the last few years their security has been about as effect as using a sieve to carry water. The top 10 list of security faux paus include such wonders as the Snowden leak and the OPM breach. However, when I see the White House (any administration) send out memorandums telling Government agencies to tighten up security I laugh a bit.

Thursday, 20 January 2022 17:15

DecryptedTech's Privacy Policy

Thursday, 20 January 2022 15:03

Cloud vendors and the security tax

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SaaS is the de facto way of doing business for the SMB (and even for the enterprise). The costs of building your own infrastructure and maintaining it are just too high for most. Instead, it is easier and more cost effective to let someone else handle it. Buying a spot in Amazon Webs Service, Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure it not complicated and the tools to help you set up your new business infrastructure are well done (if not always well documented). When you use these services, you do expect them to provide security, but what you may find out is that not all cloud vendors think that should come as part of the package. In fact, many look at them as little more than a way to gain extra revenue and not something that just should be done.

The current threat landscape has user account compromise and endpoint takeover as the most common first acts in a security event. The methods used to accomplish this are varied but include such blockbusters as poisoned websites and URLs embedded in email. Once the website is processed the exploit kicks off and things tend to go downhill from there. The most common item abused in your web browser is its ability to process scripts (especially JavaScript). Now Microsoft says they have a way to knock out as much as 45% of exploit attempts related to JavaScript and WebAssembly when using their Chromium based Edge browser.

Remember the days when browsing the internet was simple, all you had to worry about was clearing your cookies and browser history and you were fine. Ok, so it was never truly that simple, but you get my point. Now as internet surfers become more concerned about tracking and companies find new ways to follow you even more, things have gotten a bit crazy. Microsoft’s Edge wants to remember everything you do as does Chrome and Safari. This is presented as giving you a more complete and speedy internet experience, in reality it just creates a trove of data about you that can be used for good or bad.

Monday, 17 January 2022 19:43

Reports of Stalking Via Apple Airtags

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It seems that Apple may have an issue with their AirTags, the small tracking devices that use the Apple device network to help you find items that you have put trackers on. They are similar although much more effective than items like Tile. The problem is that since these trackers can ping out to any Apple device, there was a chance that they could be used for shady purposes. This possibility was brought up when they were launched and surprisingly, Apple listened. They added in methods to detect if someone is tracking you using an AirTag. True, not releasing something like this would have been better, but some protection is better than nothing.

Monday, 17 January 2022 14:40

Security and the Small Business Owner

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“InfoSec” is a term that is most often associated with the enterprise class organization. However, information security is something that every business should be practicing. As we have talked about before the importance of building a security culture in even the smallest business is vital. Having good security practices for your business secures your revenue and your customers’ data (and money). A breach to a one 1-4 employee business can mean the end of the business. The downside is that most security tools are priced outside of the small business range or require a minimum license purchase that ends up having the same effect. So, what is a small business owner to do when it comes to ensuring they have a secure environment?