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    29 May, 2020
    Career Choice Tip: Cybercrime is Mostly Boring
    Cybersecurity , , , , , , , , , , ,

    When law enforcement agencies tout their latest cybercriminal arrest, the defendant is often cast as a bravado outlaw engaged in sophisticated, lucrative, even exciting activity. But new research suggests that as cybercrime has become dominated by pay-for-service offerings, the vast majority of day-to-day activity needed to support these enterprises is in fact mind-numbingly boring and tedious, and that highlighting this reality may be a far more effective way combat cybercrime and steer offenders toward a better path. …

    Read MoreCareer Choice Tip: Cybercrime is Mostly Boring

    18 May, 2020
    This Service Helps Malware Authors Fix Flaws in their Code
    Cybersecurity , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Almost daily now there is news about flaws in commercial software that lead to computers getting hacked and seeded with malware. But the reality is most malicious software also has its share of security holes that open the door for security researchers or ne’er-do-wells to liberate or else seize control over already-hacked systems. Here’s a look at one long-lived malware vulnerability testing service that is used and run by some of the Dark Web’s top cybercriminals. …

    Read MoreThis Service Helps Malware Authors Fix Flaws in their Code

    8 May, 2020
    Meant to Combat ID Theft, Unemployment Benefits Letter Prompts ID Theft Worries
    Cybersecurity , , , ,

    Millions of Americans now filing for unemployment will receive benefits via a prepaid card issued by U.S. Bank, a Minnesota-based financial institution that handles unemployment payments for more than a dozen U.S. states. Some of these unemployment applications will trigger an automatic letter from U.S. Bank to the applicant. The letters are intended to prevent identity theft, but many people are mistaking these vague missives for a notification that someone has hijacked their identity. …

    Read MoreMeant to Combat ID Theft, Unemployment Benefits Letter Prompts ID Theft Worries

    7 May, 2020
    Tech Support Scam Uses Child Porn Warning
    Cybersecurity , , , ,

    A new email scam is making the rounds, warning recipients that someone using their Internet address has been caught viewing child pornography. The message claims to have been sent from Microsoft Support, and says the recipient’s Windows license will be suspended unless they call an “MS Support” number to reinstate the license, but the number goes to a phony tech support scam that tries to trick callers into giving fraudsters direct access to their PCs. …

    Read MoreTech Support Scam Uses Child Porn Warning

    23 Apr, 2020
    When in Doubt: Hang Up, Look Up, & Call Back
    Cybersecurity , ,

    Many security-conscious people probably think they’d never fall for a phone-based phishing scam. But if your response to such a scam involves anything other than hanging up and calling back the entity that claims to be calling, you may be in for a rude awakening. Here’s how one security and tech-savvy reader got taken for more than $10,000 in an elaborate, weeks-long ruse. …

    Read MoreWhen in Doubt: Hang Up, Look Up, & Call Back

    20 Apr, 2020
    Who’s Behind the “Reopen” Domain Surge?
    Cybersecurity , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    The past few weeks have seen a large number of new domain registrations beginning with the word “reopen” and ending with U.S. city or state names. The largest number of them were created just hours after President Trump sent a series of all-caps tweets urging citizens to “liberate” themselves from new gun control measures and state leaders who’ve enacted strict social distancing restrictions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s a closer look at who and what appear to be behind these domains. …

    Read MoreWho’s Behind the “Reopen” Domain Surge?

    7 Apr, 2020
    Microsoft Buys Corp.com So Bad Guys Can’t
    Cybersecurity , , , ,

    In February, KrebsOnSecurity told the story of a private citizen auctioning off the dangerous domain corp.com for the starting price of $1.7 million. Domain experts called corp.com dangerous because years of testing have shown whoever wields it would have access to an unending stream of passwords, email and other sensitive data from hundreds of thousands of Microsoft Windows PCs at major companies around the globe. This week, Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy the domain in a bid to keep it out of the hands of those who might abuse its awesome power. …

    Read MoreMicrosoft Buys Corp.com So Bad Guys Can’t

    2 Apr, 2020
    ‘War Dialing’ Tool Exposes Zoom’s Password Problems
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    As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to force people to work from home, countless companies are now holding daily meetings using videoconferencing services from Zoom. But without the protection of a password, there’s a decent chance your next Zoom meeting could be “Zoom bombed” — attended or disrupted by someone who doesn’t belong. And according to data gathered by a new automated Zoom meeting discovery tool dubbed “zWarDial,” a crazy number major corporations are setting up meetings without passwords enabled. …

    Read More‘War Dialing’ Tool Exposes Zoom’s Password Problems

    1 Apr, 2020
    Phish of GoDaddy Employee Jeopardized Escrow.com, Among Others
    Cybersecurity , , , , , , , ,

    A spear-phishing attack this week hooked a customer service employee at GoDaddy.com, the world’s largest domain name registrar, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. The incident gave the phisher the ability to view and modify key customer records, access that was used to briefly hijack domains for a half-dozen GoDaddy customers, including transaction brokering site escrow.com. …

    Read MorePhish of GoDaddy Employee Jeopardized Escrow.com, Among Others

    30 Mar, 2020
    Annual Protest to ‘Fight Krebs’ Raises €150K+
    Cybersecurity , , , ,

    In 2018, KrebsOnSecurity unmasked the creators of Coinhive — a now-defunct cryptocurrency mining service that was being massively abused by cybercriminals — as the administrators of a popular German language image-hosting forum. In protest of that story, forum members donated hundreds of thousands of euros to nonprofits that combat cancer (Krebs means “cancer” in German). This week, the forum is celebrating its third annual observance of that protest to “fight Krebs,” albeit with a Coronavirus twist. …

    Read MoreAnnual Protest to ‘Fight Krebs’ Raises €150K+