Vulnerability

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gullible artificial intelligence as a critical flaw

AI gives the game away

The latest threat for companies using large language (LLM) AI software to replace human staff is the software’s innate gullibility. LLM software can be likened to some cowardly bank clerk in an old Western hold-up who not only willingly opens a back door for the bad guys but also willingly tells them the combination of the safe. The methods for persuading LLMs into naively disclosing the keys to the corporate kingdom are known as ‘LLM Jailbreak’ techniques. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers have named one such LLM Jailbreak, “Bad Likert Judge”.

unsecure pcs placing organizations at risk

Unsecured PCs and laptops put organizations at risk

Tech giant HP has issued a stark warning that most global organizations fail to secure the hardware and firmware of PCs, laptops and printers, “weakening cybersecurity posture for years to come.” According to a new report from HP’s Wolf Security Unity, 68 percent of IT and security decision-makers (ITSDMs) report that investment in hardware and firmware security is often overlooked in the total cost of ownership (TCO) for devices. “This is leading to costly security headaches, management overheads, and inefficiencies further down the line,” says HP.

the digital currency time bomb

The data currency time bomb

Corporations are not only amassing huge amounts of personal data on their customers as never before but also trading that data, frequently without the customer’s knowledge. As yet, the general public is largely unaware of the uses to which their personal information is being put or whose hands it ends up in. At the same time, companies holding the data must tread an increasingly complex regulatory minefield. According to Chris Diebler, Security VP at cybersecurity company DataGrail: “Companies are all terrified of not having enough data as data is the new currency. However, companies need to think seriously about reducing these vast mountains of data. The value of data must be balanced against the cost and security risk of maintaining it." Companies that fail to secure personal data effectively or trade customer data with third parties face considerable potential brand damage when the details are obtained by bad actors and they suffer identity theft or financial fraud as a consequence.

Dr. Sanjaya Kumar, MD, CEO of SureShield, Inc.

How can companies deal with data overload?

Sanjaya Kumar, MD, is the CEO of cybersecurity company SureShield, Inc. Dr. Kumar has more than 25 years of healthcare compliance, risk management, and security experience. In an exclusive interview with Cyber Intelligence, he outlines the challenge presented by the current environment of data overload and some of the steps organizations should take to mitigate the associated risks from it.

black friday scams on the rise

Scammers circling Black Friday shoppers

Scammers have stolen £11.4 billion from UK citizens over the last 12 months. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s (GASA) latest report, The State of Scams in the UK, conducted in association with the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, Cifas, this represents an increase of £4 billion over the previous year. With the Black Friday sales bonanza looming on both sides of the Atlantic, the findings come as a timely warning to online shoppers. GASA and Cifas anticipate a further spike in scam attempts this week and re-urging consumers to remain vigilant.  The warning comes as 1 in 7 (15 percent) consumers surveyed said they lost cash to criminals in 2024, an increase from 10 percent in 2023. The average loss per victim was £1,400, and only 18 percent of victims recovered all their money.

united states water supply is under cyber threat

US water supply threatened by cyber-attacks

The USA’s drinking water is under threat. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 97 drinking water systems serving around 27 million users have critical or high-risk cybersecurity. Although the EPA’s latest report focuses on the potential financial costs of cyber-attacks, there is also strong evidence that such attacks could also result in significant loss of life, with thousands or even millions of people being deliberately poisoned by terrorists or a hostile foreign power. “We estimate that a [California] state-wide water service disruption could potentially cost at least $61 billion in lost revenue per day,” says the EPA report, Cybersecurity Concerns Related to Drinking Water Systems. 

cybercriminals bypassing multi-factor authentication

Cybercriminals crack MFA defenses

Cybercriminals are now using social engineering techniques developed to crack passwords to break through multi-factor authentication (MFA) defenses, such as sending a code to another device, such as the user’s smartphone. According to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) report, Not all types of MFA are created equal...: “Attackers have realized that many of the same social engineering techniques that tricked us into handing over passwords can also be updated to overcome some methods of MFA. We’ve seen the success of attacks against MFA-protected accounts increasing over the past couple of years.”

blind side cyber attacks

Sharp rise in blindside cyber-attacks

More than one in five cybersecurity professionals report having had a cyber hit requiring immediate attention despite having threat-based detection and response security measures in place. According to a survey conducted by cybersecurity firm Criticalstart, 2024 Cyber Risk Landscape Peer Report, 2023’s figure of 83 percent represents a 21 percent increase from 2023. Criticalstart also reports a sharp rise in the cost of data breaches. The average cost of a data breach reached an all-time high of $4.45 million in 2023 - a 15 percent increase over the past three years. Organizations with under 500 employees reported an average breach-impact increase from $2.92 million to $3.31 million—a rise of 13.4%.

second microsoft outage

Latest Microsoft outage ‘triggered’ by a cyber-attack

A second outage of several Microsoft services in two weeks, this one attributed to a cyber-attack, is fuelling further questions about the underlying security of the Windows operating system. According to Microsoft:  "While the initial trigger event was a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack... initial investigations suggest that an error in the implementation of our defenses amplified the impact of the attack rather than mitigating it.” Services affected included Outlook, Azure, and Microsoft 365, with some people complaining on social media that they were unable to work. Starbucks customers also reported issues with the Starbucks app in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa and other cities. The disruption caused by this latest outage is, however, minor compared with the Windows outage caused by a mishandled CrowdStrike security upgrade, which resulted in canceled flights and marooned passengers in major international airports around the world last week.

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