This Week in Security News: How Researchers Used an App Store to Demonstrate Hacks on a Factory and Microsoft Again Surpasses 100 Vulnerabilities on Patch Tuesday

Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, read about how researchers at Trend Micro used an app store to demonstrate hacks on a manufacturing facility. Also, learn about this month’s patch activity from Microsoft.

Read on:

How Two Researchers Used an App Store to Demonstrate Hacks on a Factory

When malicious code spread through the networks of Rheinmetall Automotive, it disrupted plants on two continents, temporarily costing up to $4 million each week. While awareness of these type of threats has grown, there’s still a risk that too many organizations view such attacks as isolated incidents, rather than the work of a determined attacker. Federico Maggi, a senior researcher at Trend Micro, set out to dispel that mindset.

#LetsTalkSecurity: Hacker Adventures  

This Week, Rik Ferguson, Vice President of Security Research at Trend Micro, hosted the second episode of #LetsTalkSecurity featuring Jayson E. Street, Vice President at SphereNY. This series explores security and how it impacts our digital world. In discussion with some of the brightest and most influential minds in the community, Trend Micro explores this fascinating topic. Check out this week’s episode and follow the link to find information about upcoming episodes and guests.

Microsoft Again Surpasses 100 Vulnerabilities on Patch Tuesday

For the third consecutive month Microsoft issued a hefty list of Patch Tuesday security updates covering 111 CVEs with 16 making the critical list. This is the third month Microsoft has had more than 100 vulnerabilities listed in its monthly security rollup, but unlike the last few months, May’s list does not contain any vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild.

Principles of a Cloud Migration – Security W5H – The WHERE

Where do we add security in the cloud? Start by removing the thinking that security controls are tied to specific implementations. You don’t need an intrusion prevention wall that’s a hardware appliance much like you don’t need an agent installed to do anti-malware. This blog puts the focus on your configuration, permissions, and other best practices.

Securing Smart Manufacturing

Trend Micro recently published a report that surveys the Industry 4.0 attack surface, finding that within the manufacturing operation, the blending of IT and OT exposes additional attack surfaces. In the current report on rogue robots, Trend Micro collaborated with the Politecnico di Milano to analyze the range of specific attacks today’s robots face, and the potential consequences those attacks may have.

Package Delivery Giant Pitney Bowes Confirms Second Ransomware Attack in 7 Months

Package and mail delivery giant Pitney Bowes suffered its second ransomware attack in seven months. The incident came to light after a ransomware gang known as Maze published a blog post claiming to have breached and encrypted the company’s network. The Maze crew provided proof of access in the form of 11 screenshots portraying directory listings from inside the company’s computer network.

Tropic Trooper’s Back: USBferry Attack Targets Air-Gapped Environments

Trend Micro recently found that Tropic Trooper’s latest activities center around targeting Taiwanese and the Philippine military’s physically isolated networks through a USBferry attack. Trend Micro also observed targets among military/navy agencies, government institutions, military hospitals, and a national bank. The group employs USBferry, a USB malware that performs different commands on specific targets, maintains stealth in environments, and steals critical data through USB storage.

Texas Courts Won’t Pay Up in Ransomware Attack

A ransomware attack has hit the IT office that supports Texas appellate courts and judicial agencies, leading to their websites and computer servers being shut down. The office said that it will not pay the ransom requested by the cybercriminals. Specifically affected is the Office of Court Administration, which is the IT provider for the appellate courts and state judicial agencies within the Texas Judicial Branch.

New MacOS Dacls RAT Backdoor Show Lazarus’ Multi-Platform Attack Capability

Trend Micro found an application sample in April called TinkaOTP that seemed like a normal one-time password authentication tool. However, further investigation showed the application bearing a striking resemblance to Dacls remote access trojan (RAT), a Windows and Linux backdoor that 360 Netlab discovered in December 2019.

Facebook Awards Researcher $20,000 for Account Hijacking Vulnerability

Security researcher Vinoth Kumar says Facebook awarded him $20,000 after he discovered and reported a Document Object Model-based cross-site scripting (DOM XSS) vulnerability that could have been exploited to hijack accounts. The researcher says he discovered the vulnerability in the window.postMessage() method, which is meant to safely enable cross-origin communication between Window objects.

Cloud Security: Key Concepts, Threats, and Solutions

Enterprises may be migrating requirements to the cloud, starting fully in the cloud (going “cloud native”), or mastering their cloud-based security strategy. Regardless of what stage of the cloud journey a company is in, cloud administrators should be able to conduct security operations like performing vulnerability management, identifying important network events, carrying out incident response, and gathering and acting on threat intelligence — all while keeping many moving parts in compliance with relevant industry standards.

From Bugs to Zoombombing: How to Stay Safe in Online Meetings

Forced to now work, study, and socialize at home, the online digital world has become essential to our communications — and video conferencing apps have become our “face-to-face” window on the world. The problem is that as users flock to these services, the bad guys are also waiting to disrupt or eavesdrop on chats, spread malware, and steal data. In this blog, Trend Micro explores some of the key threats out there and how users can stay safe while video conferencing.

Surprised by Texas courts’ decision not to pay the ransom in its latest ransomware attack? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.

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