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Encore: Matt Devost: Solving hard problems and pursuing your passions. [CEO] [Career Notes] Jan 21, 2024

Show notes

CEO, Matt Devost, describes many firsts in his career including hacking into systems on an aircraft carrier at sea. He shares how he enjoys solving hard problems and the red teamer perspective, and how he was able to translate those into a career. For those interested in cybersecurity, Matt advises opportunities for self-directed learning including heading down to your basement and building your own lab. Our thanks to Matt for sharing his story with us.

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Two viewpoints on the National Cybersecurity Strategy. [Special Edition] Jan 21, 2024

Show notes

Earlier this month, the White House released the National Cybersecurity Strategy, the first issued since 2018. The strategy refocuses roles, responsibilities, and resource allocations in the digital ecosystem, with a five pillar approach. Those pillars are: defending critical infrastructure, disrupting threat actors, shaping market forces to drive security and resilience, investing in a resilient future, and forging international partnerships.

We wanted to delve into the strategy and its intended effects further, so Dave Bittner spoke with representatives from industry and inside government. Dave first speaks with Adam Isles, Principal and Head of Cybersecurity Practice at The Chertoff Group, sharing industry's take on the strategy. Following that conversation, Dave had a discussion with Steve Kelly, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology at the National Security Council, for a look at the strategy from inside the White House.

Links to resources:

Point of View: 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy The Chertoff Group's blog
National Cybersecurity Strategy 2023

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A firewall wake up call. [Research Saturday] Jan 20, 2024

Show notes

Jon Williams from Bishop Fox is sharing their research on "It’s 2024 and Over 178,000 SonicWall Firewalls are Publicly Exploitable." SonicWall published advisories for CVE-2022-22274 and CVE-2023-0656 a year apart after finding that NGFW series 6 and 7 devices are affected by two unauthenticated denial-of-service vulnerabilities.

The research states "Our research found that the two issues are fundamentally the same but exploitable at different HTTP URI paths due to reuse of a vulnerable code pattern." They also found that when they scanned SonicWall firewalls with management interfaces exposed to the internet, they found that 76% are vulnerable to one or both issues.

The research can be found here:

It’s 2024 and Over 178,000 SonicWall Firewalls are Publicly Exploitable

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New malware, new threats. Jan 19, 2024

Show notes

Microsoft warns of an Iranian cyberespionage group. The CyberSafety Review Board receives critical reviews of its own. VMWare warns of active product exploitation. Tax info gets leaked in accounting firm breach. Kansas State University reports a cyber incident. CISA adds Citrix Netscaler vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Councils in the UK suffer online disruptions. Cyber insurance can be a double edged sword. More email security breaches lead to firings. In our Solution Spotlight, N2K President Simone Petrella speaks with Michelle Amante of the Partnership for Public Service With an update on the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative. And it’s shields up for Generation Z.

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CyberWire Guest

On the Solution Spotlight, N2K President Simone Petrella speaks with Michelle Amante of the Partnership for Public Service sharing an update on the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative and how federal agencies and early career existing talent that may be interested in the program’s offerings.

Selected Reading

Microsoft: Iranian hackers target researchers with new MediaPl malware (Bleeping Computer)

Cyber Safety Review Board needs stronger authorities, more independence, experts say (Cyberscoop)

VMware vCenter Server Vulnerability Exploited in Wild (SecurityWeek)

ELO accounting data breach sparks tax fraud (Cybernews)

Cyber attacks on Kent councils disrupt online services (BBC)

Kansas State University suffered a serious cybersecurity incident (SecurityAffairs)

CISA urges urgent patching of two actively exploited Citrix NetScaler vulnerabilities (Malwarebytes)

Cyber Insurance in the Age of Ransomware: Protection or Provocation? (SOCRadar)

Four-in-ten employees sacked over email security breaches as firms tackle “truly staggering” increase in attacks (IT Pro)

Think boomers are most vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks? Wrong. It's actually Gen Z (CBC)

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A credential dump hits the online underground. Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

A massive credential dump hits the online underground. CISA and the FBI issue joint guidance on drones. TensorFlow frameworks are prone to misconfigurations. Swiss federal agencies are targets of nuisance DDoS. Cybercriminals hit vulnerable Docker servers. Quarkslab identifies PixieFAIL in UEFI implementations. Google patches Chrome zero-day. The Bigpanzi botnet infects smart TVs. Proofpoint notes the return of TA866. In our Threat Vector segment, David Moulton dives into the evolving world of AI in cybersecurity with Kyle Wilhoit, director of threat research at Unit 42. And we are shocked- SHOCKED! - to learn that Facebook is tracking us.

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CyberWire Guest

This segment of Threat Vector dives into the evolving world of AI in cybersecurity with Kyle Wilhoit, director of threat research at Unit 42. This thought-provoking discussion, hosted by David Moulton, director of thought leadership at Unit 42, ffocuses on the current state and future trends of AI in cyberthreats. Discover how AI is reshaping the landscape of cyberattacks, the role of generative AI in threat actor tactics, and the challenges of attribution in AI-driven cyberattacks. Visit Unit 42 by Palo Alto Networks to learn more.

Check out the Threat Vector podcast and follow it on your favorite podcast app.

Selected Reading

Researcher uncovers one of the biggest password dumps in recent history (Ars Technica)

Troy Hunt: Inside the Massive Naz.API Credential Stuffing List (Troy Hunt)

Feds warn China-made drones pose risk to US critical infrastructure (SC Media)

TensorFlow CI/CD Flaw Exposed Supply Chain to Poisoning Attacks (The Hacker News)

Swiss Government Reports Nuisance-Level DDoS Disruptions (Data Breach Today)

Malware Exploits 9Hits, Turns Docker Servers into Traffic Boosted Crypto Miners (HACKREAD)

PixieFail: Nine flaws in UEFI open-source reference implementation (Security Affairs)

Update Chrome! Google patches actively exploited zero-day vulnerability (Malwarebytes)

Cybercrime crew infects 172,000 smart TVs and set-top boxes (Risky Biz News)

Russian threat group COLDRIVER expands its targeting of Western officials to include the use of malware (Google Threat Analysis Group)

Security Brief: TA866 Returns with a Large Email Campaign (Proofpoint)

Each Facebook User Is Monitored by Thousands of Companies (Consumer Reports)

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Exploring the cosmic frontier: Unveiling the future of space law. [Caveat] Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

Bryce Kennedy, President of the Association of Commercial Space Professionals (ACSP), is sharing what is on horizon in space law. Bryce is also a space lawyer and a regular contributor to our T-Minus daily space podcast right here on the N2K podcast network.

You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here.

While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney.

Caveat Briefing

A companion weekly newsletter is available CyberWire Pro members on the CyberWire's website. If you are a member, make sure you subscribe to receive our weekly wrap-up of privacy, policy, and research news, focused on incidents, techniques, tips, compliance, rights, trends, threats, policy, and influence ops delivered to you inbox each Thursday.

Got a question you'd like us to answer on our show? You can send your audio file to caveat@thecyberwire.com. Hope to hear from you.

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Maximum severity vulnerability needs critical updates. Jan 17, 2024

Show notes

Atlassian issues critical updates. CISA and the FBI warn of AndroxGh0st. A GPU vulnerability hits major manufacturers. A Foxconn subsidiary in Taiwan gets hacked. Australians suffer breached credit cards through credential stuffing. A parade of horrible hackers and scammers. CISO accountability is highlighted at ShmooCon. Cybersecurity VC funding plummets. On the Learning Layer, N2K’s Executive Director of Product Innovation Sam Meisenberg lets us in on an A+ tutoring session. Don’t ask ChatGPT to handle your Amazon product listings.

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CyberWire Guest

On the Learning Layer with N2K’s Executive Director of Product Innovation Sam Meisenberg lets us in on an A+ tutoring session he held with Jaden Dicks.

Selected Reading

Atlassian’s Confluence Data Center and Server Affected by Critical RCE Vulnerability, CVE-2023-22527: Patch Now (SOCRadar)

FBI, CISA warn of AndroxGh0st botnet for victim identification and exploitation (Security Affairs)

A new vulnerability affecting Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm GPUs could expose AI data (TechSpot)

Taiwan’s Foxconn subsidiary faces cyberattack (Taiwan News)

15,000 Aussies Affected After Binge, The Iconic Hacked (Pedestrian)

Hackers post disturbing videos to online forum used by UC Irvine students (ABC7)

Heartless scammers prey on hundreds of lost pet owners, demanding ransoms or else… (Bitdefender)

As hacks worsen, SEC turns up the heat on CISOs (TechCrunch)

Cybersecurity Startup Funding Hits 5-Year Low, Drops 50% From 2022 (Crunchbase)

Amazon Is Selling Products With AI-Generated Names Like "I Cannot Fulfill This Request It Goes Against OpenAI Use Policy" (Futurism)

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Vulnerabilities and security risks. Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

Ivanti products are under active zero-day exploitation. Phemedrone is a new open-source info-stealer. Bishop Fox finds exposed SonicWall firewalls. GitLab and VMware patch critical vulnerabilities. The Secret Service foils a phishing scam. Europol shuts down a cryptojacking campaign. Ransomware hits a Majorca municipality. RUSI looks at ransomware. Ben Yelin explains the New York Times going after OpenAI over the data scraping. And the sad case of an Ohio lottery winner.

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CyberWire Guest

Guest and partner Ben Yelin joins us today to discuss “The Most Critical Elements of the FTC’s Health Breach Rulemaking.” Ben is the Program Director for Public Policy & External Affairs at the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security and Co-Host of N2K’s Caveat Podcast.

Selected Reading

Ivanti Connect Secure zero-days now under mass exploitation (Bleeping Computer)

Windows SmartScreen flaw exploited to drop Phemedrone malware (Bleeping Computer)

Over 178,000 SonicWall next-generation firewalls (NGFW) online exposed to hack (Security Affairs)

GitLab Fixes Password Reset Bug That Allows Account Takeover (Security Boulevard)

Patches Available for a Critical Vulnerability in VMware Aria Automation: CVE-2023-34063 (Malware News)

US court docs expose fake antivirus renewal phishing tactics (Bleeping Computer)

Hacker spins up 1 million virtual servers to illegally mine crypto (Bleeping Computer)

Ransomware gang demands €10 million after attacking Spanish council (The Record)

Ransomware: Victim Insights on Harms to Individuals, Organisations and Society (Royal United Services Institute)

Cybersecurity incident delays payouts for big Ohio Lottery winners (Beacon Journal)

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Putting a dent in the cybersecurity workforce gap. [Special Edition] Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

In this special edition of Solution Spotlight, N2K President, Simone Petrella is talking with ISC2 CEO Clar Rosso about putting a dent in the cybersecurity workforce gap through empowerment, breaking down barriers and expanding DE&I initiatives.

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Encore: Examining the current state of security orchestration. [CyberWire-X] Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

In this encore episode of CyberWire-X, N2K’s CSO, Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow, Rick Howard, is joined by guest Rohit Dhamankar, Fortra's Vice President of Product Strategy, and Hash Table member Steve Winterfeld, Akamai's Advisory CISO to discuss CISO initiatives such as vendor consolidation, automation, and attack surface management as a way to determine if it’s possible to achieve both increased security maturity and decreased operational load. This session covers common mistakes when adopting security technologies, including the pros and cons of AI, and how to better collaborate together.

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