(866) 695-2175 | Experiencing an IT Emergency?
Blog
July 13, 2020 by Vertical Axion
The University of San Francisco (UCSF) is the latest organization to fall victim to hackers, running afoul of a group utilizing the Netwalker ransomware strain. UCSF is a research university whose recent efforts have been focused on health sciences generally and COVID-19-related research specifically. On June 3rd, 2020, Netwalker published a notice on a site […]
Read more »
Tagged
July 11, 2020 by Vertical Axion
You probably aren’t familiar with the name Ata Hakcil. He’s a computer engineering student who recently conducted one of the largest password security surveys currently available. To conduct his research, he collected a number of username and password “data dumps” from the Dark Web and analyzed the passwords he found there. Hakcil was able to […]
July 10, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Hackers are constantly on the lookout for new ways of causing mayhem and stealing data. Recently, researchers have unearthed a new technique to be on guard against. A few hackers have begun embedding credit card stealing scripts inside favicon meta data. If you’re not familiar with the term, you definitely know what a favicon is. […]
July 9, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Does your company make use of VMware products? If so, be advised that a pair of researchers from Synacktiv recently reported a series of critical security flaws in VMware’s ESXi, Workstation and Fusion products. The recent discovery prompted the company to issue an emergency security patch to address those issues. The most serious of the […]
July 8, 2020 by Vertical Axion
If you have computers on your corporate network that rely on NVIDIA hardware and software, be advised that the company recently released security updates to address serious security vulnerabilities found in CUDA and GPU Display drivers and Virtual GPU Management software. These are security flaws that could lead to an escalation of privileges, denial of […]
July 7, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Researchers have discovered a devilishly clever new stain of malware currently in use by hackers around the world. The new strain is appropriately called “Lucifer,” and has been making life quite difficult for IT professionals managing Windows environments. The malware exploits critical vulnerabilities in Windows-based systems to launch DDoS attacks and install cryptojacking code. The […]
July 6, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Eleven years ago, Microsoft embarked on a bold experiment to emulate Apple. They opened a number of brick and mortar retail stores. Unfortunately, their stores never caught on quite the same way that the Apple Store did, and the rise of the global pandemic only made matters worse for the tech giant. In light of […]
July 4, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Big changes are in the works for Apple’s venerable MacOS, as the company prepares for a future where the desktop OS shares increasing amounts in common with both iOS and iPadOS. A recent preview of the latest desktop OS reveals an interface that has been completely overhauled, along with redesigned app icons and a number […]
July 3, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Recently, Microsoft’s Defender ATP Research Team issued guidance relating to defending against attacks that target Exchange servers. They are coming under increasing attack based on the latest Microsoft statistics, which show a marked increase in the use of web shells on on-premises Exchange servers. The company is currently tracking multiple ongoing attacks, some of which […]
July 2, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Do you rely on Cisco’s Webex Meetings app for video conferencing? If so, be advised that the company found and addressed a pair of high severity security flaws that could allow hackers to remotely execute code on vulnerable machines. The two issues are being tracked as CVE-2020-3263 and CVE-2020-3342. They impact Cisco Webex Meetings Desktop […]
June 30, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Tens of millions of workers have been forced to work from home as the COVID-19 virus rampages around the globe. That has naturally increased reliance on internet connectivity and disrupted a number of longstanding, well-established working routines. Some of the changes have been for the better, including not having to fight traffic during the daily commute, […]
June 29, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft hasn’t had great luck with its Windows 10 updates in recent months. Often, in their quest to improve the OS in one area, they inadvertently break something else. The company’s June 9th update is a classic case in point. On installing the update, a small number of Windows 10 users began experiencing issues with […]
June 27, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Rumors were recently swirling around cellphone carrier T-Mobile. Fears were running rampant that a massive DDOS attack may be underway on the heels of a major outage. The rumors spread like wildfire through the internet. At one point, even a US Senator got involved, retweeting a rumor that the attack was supposedly based out of […]
June 26, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Tech companies both big and small are always looking for new ways to protect their customers from the threat of malware.While that’s not something that hardware vendors are known for, Intel has leapt into the fray with a recent announcement. Their planned “Tiger Lake” mobile processers will offer CPU-level malware protection features. Tom Garrison is […]
June 25, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Do you use the VLC Media Player to watch downloaded movies and other videos? If so, be aware that researchers have discovered a serious security flaw in the code that allows for remote code execution, which could compromise your system. The vulnerability is being tracked as CVE-2020-13428 and is described as a buffer overflow issue. […]
June 24, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Claire’s Jewelry and Accessories is the latest company to fall victim to hackers. According to a recent disclosure made by the company, both the retail giant’s main website, and the website of their subsidiary, Icing, were compromised. They were hit by what appears to be a Magecart attack. The company’s disclosure reads in part as […]
June 23, 2020 by Vertical Axion
A group of highly organized scammers have commandeered a pair of Youtube channels and renamed them to “SpaceX Live” and “SpaceX” in order to capitalize on the popularity of Elon Musk and his SpaceX company. SpaceX made headlines recently with their manned launch out of Florida. Over the course of just two days, the scammers […]
June 22, 2020 by Vertical Axion
In 2019, a new strain of ransomware called Thanos burst onto the scene and has since been spreading quietly and seeing increased adoption by hackers around the world. The code has been traced to a Russian hacker going by the name Nosophorus, who has been offering the software as ‘Ransomeware-as-a-service’ on Russian-speaking forums on the […]
June 20, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Recently, a number of Roku streaming channels mysteriously stopped working, leaving customers scratching their heads trying to figure out what went wrong. After some research, Roku’s support staff discovered that the issue stemmed from a global certificate expiration. They advised impacted customers to update their certificates manually by visiting the company’s website and following the […]
June 18, 2020 by Vertical Axion
When was the last time you applied a Windows 10 security patch? If you haven’t patched since March 10th, it would be an excellent idea to do so as quickly as possible. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a dire warning concerning a newly discovered security flaw. The flaw […]
June 13, 2020 by Vertical Axion
A new study was published by researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University’s Security and Privacy Institute and was presented at the 2020 IEEE Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection. The study has grim news for IT Security Professionals. The key finding in the report is that only about one third of users will change their […]
June 12, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Mozilla’s Firefox browser, like most modern browsers, has a built-in password management feature that allows you to save passwords for sites you log into on a regular basis. Since the browser stores the information, that’s one less thing you have to remember. That allows you the convenience of one click access to the sites you […]
June 10, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Recently, Cisco disclosed the existence of four serious security flaws in their routers that use iOS and iOS XE software. One of the four, CVE-2020-3227 is rated at a severity of 9.8 out of 10. It allows a remote attacker without credentials to execute commands to the operating software without proper authorization, which in turn, […]
June 8, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft recently issued a security advisory about a new strain of ransomware that’s been cropping up with increasing frequency in India, Iran and the US. Called PonyFinal, one of the things that differentiates this strain from the pack is that it’s deployed in what the company describes as human-operated ransomware attacks. Most of the ransomware […]
