TEL AVIV - As part of a sophisticated scheme involving spam proliferation and click monetization, over 8,000 domains and 13,000 sub-domains once owned by major, legitimate brands and institutions have been hijacked to allow millions of spam emails to bypass standard security blocks for nefarious gain. This coordinated malicious activity – dubbed “SubdoMailing” – has been going on since at least September 2022, according to Guardio Labs, the Israeli security … [Read more...]
10 Billion Connections to Malicious Domains Blocked by NSA in 2023 via “PDNS”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Security Agency (NSA) noted that 10 billion user connections to known malicious or suspicious domains were blocked over the course of the past year as part of the agency’s efforts, according to its 2023 Cybersecurity Year in Review report released on Tuesday. The NSA‘s annual report is a public account of the agency’s work with government partners, defense industrial base (DIB) entities, and foreign partners to help keep the nation secure, … [Read more...]
“Prolific Puma” Created 75k Unique Domain Names Since April 2022 Used for Scams
SANTA CLARA, CA - Researchers from security vendor Infoblox have uncovered an actor known as “Prolific Puma” that has been revealed as having provided link shortening services for countless cyber criminals for a span of time of at least four years or longer, an act that has likely been responsible for an immense number of scams targeting innocent people. As an example of how Prolific Puma lives up to the "prolific” part of their name, the actor reportedly … [Read more...]
FEDs Seize 17 Domains Suspected of Being Used for Fraud in U.S. by North Korea
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, the United States Justice Department announced it has seized 17 website domains utilized by North Korean information technology (IT) workers to purportedly evade government sanctions, conduct cyberattacks and defraud U.S. businesses, with the millions of dollars in illicit proceeds generated from such activities being used to fund North Korea's weapon development program. The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that the … [Read more...]
Popular Domain Name Software BIND Patched to Correct Severe Vulnerabilities
NEWMARKET, NH - In an effort to address what has been referred to as “severe security vulnerabilities,” the nonprofit Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) has released a series of patches for multiple versions of BIND 9, a popular suite of software utilized for interacting with the Domain Name System (DNS). The issues with BIND – which stands for Berkeley Internet Name Domain – were uncovered by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and … [Read more...]
PharMerica Discloses Data Breach That Exposes Info of Nearly 6 Million People
LOUISVILLE, KY - PharMerica, a national pharmacy network owned by BrightSpring Health, has informed nearly 6 million of their members that Social Security numbers, names, birthdates, medical information, and more was exposed in a data breach. The information was stolen between March 12 and March 13. If exploited, cybercriminals can use this information to commit identity theft. On March 14, 2023, we learned of suspicious activity on our computer network. Upon discovering … [Read more...]
NextGen Healthcare Confirms Breach Of Over 1 Million Individuals’ Personal Info
ATLANTA, GA - A security incident has surfaced and you may or may not have been affected. NextGen Healthcare, a healthcare solutions provider, suffered a data breach that exposed the personal information of over 1 million individuals. According to the company, Hackers had access to NextGen systems from March 29 to April 14, 2023, compromising personal information such as full names, addresses, birthdates, and social security numbers. If exploited, cybercriminals can use … [Read more...]
Critical Vulnerability Exposes over 700,000 Sites Using WP Divi, Extra, and Divi Builder
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - This morning, the Wordfence Threat Intelligence Team published details about a critical vulnerability discovered in two themes by Elegant Themes, Divi and Extra, as well as the Divi Builder plugin. Combined, these products are installed on an estimated 700,000 sites. Elegant Themes provides some of the most popular WordPress themes in the world and includes a visual page builder. We initially reached out to Elegant Themes on July 23, 2020 and, … [Read more...]
How Expired Domain Names Have Been Used to Redirect to Malicious Websites
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Expired domains or domain names which have not been renewed by their previous owner are encountered by all of us often – most times we just don’t notice it. When we do, we open a website only to find out it no longer exists. We are redirected to a site with links on it, or it showcases a sales page for auction of the domain name. These types of websites are generally considered harmless, but recent research proves otherwise. In a report released by … [Read more...]
It’s Only A Matter of Time Until You Need to Be Licensed to Operate A Web Server
PALM BEACH, FL – I have been thinking about this off and on for a few years now, but I have never really posted or written about it. That is because it is an awful prediction that I hate the idea of, but I think it is going to eventually happen. Here it goes…. I predict that to operate a web server sometime in the near future, you will be required to have a license, or have passed a basic course in IT security or Cybersecurity intrusion mitigation. Not at the single site … [Read more...]
10 Simple Yet Effective Security Tips To Keep You Cyber Safe and Worry Less in 2020
PALM BEACH, FL - There is no shortage of security breaches and data leaks reported in the news this past year. As we all move into 2020, here are some simple tips to help keep you stay cyber safe, so you can worry less and have more to look forward to this year. Don't Shorten 2020 in Dates You shouldn’t shorten the year 2020 when signing things. Scammers can easily change the abbreviated date, for example from “3/30/20” to “3/30/2018”. Make sure to write out the full … [Read more...]
Data of 267 Million Facebook Users Exposed in Online Database; Found on Hacker Forum
PALM BEACH, FL - Data security researchers discovered an online database containing the names, phone numbers, and Facebook IDs of 267 million Facebook users available for download on a hacker forum. The database was not password protected and had been posted on December 12th. On December 14th, the researchers contacted the internet service provider that was hosting the database and the database was removed on December 19th. According to the Associated Press, a … [Read more...]
Malicious Web Code Added To Macy’s Website Leads to Critical Data Breach
PALM BEACH, FL - Right at the start of the year's busiest shopping season, retailer Macy's notified impacted customers (by letter) that an unauthorized third party was able to access sensitive customer payment information from the Macys.com checkout and wallet pages. The following information may have been accessed if it was typed into the affected web-pages by a customer: Payment card numbersPayment card security codesPayment card expiration datesFull … [Read more...]
What Are the Key Benefits for “Dot Brand” nGTLD Owners; What’s In It for Them?
PALM BEACH, FL – Although I am not a huge fan of new gTLDs or even “Dot Brands”, today I watched a video by the Chief Marketing Officer of Afilias domain registry, Roland LaPlante, who explained ‘in detail’ the value of owning your own “dot BRAND.” LaPlante discusses the benefits in marketing, user security and what is likely one of the most desirable aspects achieved for the owning brand; “full control” of their own corporate space. I believe it is the best explanation … [Read more...]
Wild West Domains Must Still Be on List of Registrars Which Facilitate Email Spam
PALM BEACH, FL – Way, way, way back in 2009, Brian Krebs from Krebs on Security, a popular security website came up with a list of the top ten domain registrars (highlighted in a Washington Post article) which facilitate the majority of spam via email, and Wild West Domains, owned by GoDaddy held a spot on that list. Out of roughly 900 accredited domain name registrars at the time, spammers registered Web sites advertised in junk e-mail mostly through the following top … [Read more...]