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CacheWarp Attack: New Vulnerability in AMD SEV Exposes Encrypted VMs

A group of academics has disclosed a new "software fault attack" on AMD's Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) technology that could be potentially exploited by threat actors to infiltrate encrypted virtual machines (VMs) and even perform privilege escalation. The attack has been codenamed CacheWarp (CVE-2023-20592) by researchers from the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security and the

Microsoft Warns of Fake Skills Assessment Portals Targeting IT Job Seekers

A sub-cluster within the infamous Lazarus Group has established new infrastructure that impersonates skills assessment portals as part of its social engineering campaigns. Microsoft attributed the activity to a threat actor it calls Sapphire Sleet, describing it as a "shift in the persistent actor's tactics." Sapphire Sleet, also called APT38, BlueNoroff, CageyChameleon, and CryptoCore, has a

Red Canary Mac Monitor - An Advanced, Stand-Alone System Monitoring Tool Tailor-Made For macOS Security Research

By: Zion3R

Red Canary Mac Monitor is an advanced, stand-alone system monitoring tool tailor-made for macOS security research, malware triage, and system troubleshooting. Harnessing Apple Endpoint Security (ES), it collects and enriches system events, displaying them graphically, with an expansive feature set designed to surface only the events that are relevant to you. The telemetry collected includes process, interprocess, and file events in addition to rich metadata, allowing users to contextualize events and tell a story with ease. With an intuitive interface and a rich set of analysis features, Red Canary Mac Monitor was designed for a wide range of skill levels and backgrounds to detect macOS threats that would otherwise go unnoticed. As part of Red Canary’s commitment to the research community, the Mac Monitor distribution package is available to download for free.

Requirements

  • Processor: We recommend an Apple Silicon machine, but Intel works too!
  • System memory: 4GB+ is recommended
  • macOS version: 13.1+ (Ventura)

How can I install this thing?

Homebrew? brew install --cask red-canary-mac-monitor

  • Go to the releases section and download the latest installer: https://github.com/redcanaryco/mac-monitor/releases
  • Open the app: Red Canary Mac Monitor.app
  • You'll be prompted to "Open System Settings" to "Allow" the System Extension.
  • Next, System Settings will automatically open to Full Disk Access -- you'll need to flip the switch to enable this for the Red Canary Security Extension. Full Disk Access is a requirement of Endpoint Security.
  • ️ Click the "Start" button in the app and you'll be prompted to reopen the app. Done!


Install footprint

  • Event monitor app which establishes an XPC connection to the Security Extension: /Applications/Red Canary Mac Monitor.app w/signing identifier of com.redcanary.agent.
  • Security Extension: /Library/SystemExtensions/../com.redcanary.agent.securityextension.systemextension w/signing identifier of com.redcanary.agent.securityextension.systemextension.

Uninstall

Homebrew? brew uninstall red-canary-mac-monitor. When using this option you will likely be prompted to authenticate to remove the System Extension.

  • From the Finder delete the app and authenticate to remove the System Extension. You can't do this from the Dock. It's that easy!
  • You can also just remove the Security Extension if you want in the app's menu bar or by going into the app settings.
  • (1.0.3) Supports removal using the ../Contents/SharedSupport/uninstall.sh script.

How are updates handled?

Homebrew? brew update && brew upgrade red-canary-mac-monitor. When using this option you will likely be prompted to authenticate to remove the System Extension.

  • When a new version is available for you to download we'll make a new release.
  • We'll include updated notes and telemetry summaries (if applicable) for each release.
  • All you, as the end user, will need to do is download the update and run the installer. We'll take care of the rest .

How to use this repository

Here we'll be hosting:

  • The distribution package for easy install. See the Releases section. Each major build corresponds to a code name. The first of these builds is GoldCardinal.
  • Telemetry reports in Telemetry reports/ (i.e. all the artifacts that can be collected by the Security Extension).
  • Iconography (what the symbols and colors mean) in Iconography/
  • Updated mute set summaries in Mute sets/
  • AtomicESClient is a seperate, but very closely related project showing the ropes of Endpoint Security check it out in: AtomicESClient/

Additionally, you can submit feature requests and bug reports here as well. When creating a new Issue you'll be able to use one of the two provided templates. Both of these options are also accessible from the in-app "Help" menu.

How are releases structured?

Each release of Red Canary Mac Monitor has a corresponding build name and version number. The first release has the build name of: GoldCardinal and version number 1.0.1.

What are some standout features?

  • High fidelity ES events modeled and enriched with some events containing further enrichment. For example, a process being File Quarantine-aware, a file being quarantined, code signing certificates, etc.

  • Dynamic runtime ES event subscriptions. You have the ability to on-the-fly modify your event subscriptions -- enabling you to cut down on noise while you're working through traces.

  • Path muting at the API level -- Apple's Endpoint Security team has put a lot of work recently into enabling advanced path muting / inversion capabilities. Here, we cover the majority of the API features: es_mute_path and es_mute_path_events along with the types of ES_MUTE_PATH_TYPE_PREFIX, ES_MUTE_PATH_TYPE_LITERAL, ES_MUTE_PATH_TYPE_TARGET_PREFIX, and ES_MUTE_PATH_TYPE_TARGET_LITERAL. Right now we do not support inversion. I'd love it if the ES team added inversion on a per-event basis instead of per-client.

  • Detailed event facts. Right click on any event in a table row to access event metadata, filtering, muting, and unsubscribe options. Core to the user experience is the ability to drill down into any given event or set of events. To enable this functionality we’ve developed “Event facts” windows which contain metadata / additional enrichment about any given event. Each event has a curated set metadata that is displayed. For example, process execution events will generally contain code signing information, environment variables, correlated events, etc. Below you see examples of file creation and BTM launch item added event facts.

  • Event correlation is an exceptionally important component in any analyst's tool belt. The ability to see which events are "related" to one-another enables you to manipulate the telemetry in a way that makes sense (other than simply dumping to JSON or representing an individual event). We perform event correlation at the process level -- this means that for any given event (which have an initiating and/or target process) we can deeply link events that any given process instigated.

  • Process grouping is another helpful way to represent process telemetry around a given ES_EVENT_TYPE_NOTIFY_EXEC or ES_EVENT_TYPE_NOTIFY_FORK event. By grouping processes in this way you can easily identify the chain of activity.

  • Artifact filtering enabled users to remove (but not destroy) events from view based on: event type, initiating process path, or target process path. This standout feature enables analysts to cut through the noise quickly while still retaining all data.

    • Lossy filtering (i.e. events that are dropped from the trace) is also available in the form of "dropping platform binaries" -- another useful technique to cut through the noise.





  • Telemetry export. Right now we support pretty JSON and JSONL (one JSON object per-line) for the full or partial system trace (keyboard shortcuts too). You can access these options in the menu bar under "Export Telemetry".
  • Process subtree generation. When viewing the event facts window for any given event we’ll attempt to generate a process lineage subtree in the left hand sidebar. This tree is intractable – click on any process and you’ll be taken to its event facts. Similarly, you can right click on any process in the tree to pop out the facts for that event.
  • Dynamic event distribution chart. This is a fun one enabled by the SwiftUI team. The graph shows the distribution of events you're subscribed to, currently in-scope (i.e. not filtered), and have a count of more than nothing. This enables you to very quickly identify noisy events. The chart auto-shows/hides itself, but you can bring it back with the: "Mini-chart" button in the toolbar.


Some other features

  • Another very important feature of any dynamic analysis tool is to not let an event limiter or memory inefficient implementation get in the way of the user experience. To address this (the best we currently can) we’ve implemented an asynchronous parent / child-like Core Data stack which stores our events as “entities” in-memory. This enables us to store virtually unlimited events with Mac Monitor. Although, the time of insertions does become more taxing as the event limit gets very large.
  • Since Mac Monitor is based on a Security Extension which is always running in the background (like an EDR sensor) we baked in functionality such that it does not process events when a system trace is not occurring. This means that the Red Canary Security Extension (com.redcanary.agent.securityextension) will not needlessly utilize resources / battery power when a trace is not occurring.
  • Distribution package: The install process is often overlooked. However, if users do not have a good understanding of what’s being installed or if it’s too complex to install the barrier to entry might be just high enough to dissuade people from using it. This is why we ship Mac Monitor as a notarized distribution package.

Can you open source Mac Monitor?

We know how much you would love to learn from the source code and/or build tools or commercial products on top of this. Currently, however, Mac Monitor will be distributed as a free, closed-source tool. Enjoy what's being offered and please continue to provide your great feedback. Additionally, never hesitate to reach out if there's one aspect of the implementation you'd love to learn more about. We're an open book when it comes to geeking out about all things implementation, usage, and research methodology.



N. Korea's BlueNoroff Blamed for Hacking macOS Machines with ObjCShellz Malware

The North Korea-linked nation-state group called BlueNoroff has been attributed to a previously undocumented macOS malware strain dubbed ObjCShellz. Jamf Threat Labs, which disclosed details of the malware, said it's used as part of the RustBucket malware campaign, which came to light earlier this year. "Based on previous attacks performed by BlueNoroff, we suspect that this malware was a late

WebSecProbe - Web Security Assessment Tool, Bypass 403

By: Zion3R


A cutting-edge utility designed exclusively for web security aficionados, penetration testers, and system administrators. WebSecProbe is your advanced toolkit for conducting intricate web security assessments with precision and depth. This robust tool streamlines the intricate process of scrutinizing web servers and applications, allowing you to delve into the technical nuances of web security and fortify your digital assets effectively.


WebSecProbe is designed to perform a series of HTTP requests to a target URL with various payloads in order to test for potential security vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. Here's a brief overview of what the code does:

  • It takes user input for the target URL and the path.
  • It defines a list of payloads that represent different HTTP request variations, such as URL-encoded characters, special headers, and different HTTP methods.
  • It iterates through each payload and constructs a full URL by appending the payload to the target URL.
  • For each constructed URL, it sends an HTTP GET request using the requests library, and it captures the response status code and content length.
  • It prints the constructed URL, status code, and content length for each request, effectively showing the results of each variation's response from the target server.
  • After testing all payloads, it queries the Wayback Machine (a web archive) to check if there are any archived snapshots of the target URL/path. If available, it prints the closest archived snapshot's information.

Does This Tool Bypass 403 ?

It doesn't directly attempt to bypass a 403 Forbidden status code. The code's purpose is more about testing the behavior of the server when different requests are made, including requests with various payloads, headers, and URL variations. While some of the payloads and headers in the code might be used in certain scenarios to test for potential security misconfigurations or weaknesses, it doesn't guarantee that it will bypass a 403 Forbidden status code.

In summary, this code is a tool for exploring and analyzing a web server's responses to different requests, but whether or not it can bypass a 403 Forbidden status code depends on the specific configuration and security measures implemented by the target server.

 

pip install WebSecProbe

WebSecProbe <URL> <Path>

Example:

WebSecProbe https://example.com admin-login

from WebSecProbe.main import WebSecProbe

if __name__ == "__main__":
url = 'https://example.com' # Replace with your target URL
path = 'admin-login' # Replace with your desired path

probe = WebSecProbe(url, path)
probe.run()



Predictive AI in Cybersecurity: Outcomes Demonstrate All AI is Not Created Equally

Here is what matters most when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity: Outcomes.  As the threat landscape evolves and generative AI is added to the toolsets available to defenders and attackers alike, evaluating the relative effectiveness of various AI-based security offerings is increasingly important — and difficult. Asking the right questions can help you spot solutions

North Korean Hackers Targeting Crypto Experts with KANDYKORN macOS Malware

State-sponsored threat actors from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been found targeting blockchain engineers of an unnamed crypto exchange platform via Discord with a novel macOS malware dubbed KANDYKORN. Elastic Security Labs said the activity, traced back to April 2023, exhibits overlaps with the infamous adversarial collective Lazarus Group, citing an analysis of the

The Dangerous Mystery of Hamas’ Missing ‘Suicide Drones’

Hamas has long touted its military drones, but little is known about the true scale of the threat. The answer may have consequences for people on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border.

Exploring the Realm of Malicious Generative AI: A New Digital Security Challenge

Recently, the cybersecurity landscape has been confronted with a daunting new reality – the rise of malicious Generative AI, like FraudGPT and WormGPT. These rogue creations, lurking in the dark corners of the internet, pose a distinctive threat to the world of digital security. In this article, we will look at the nature of Generative AI fraud, analyze the messaging surrounding these creations,

Microsoft Warns of Cyber Attacks Attempting to Breach Cloud via SQL Server Instance

Microsoft has detailed a new campaign in which attackers unsuccessfully attempted to move laterally to a cloud environment through an SQL Server instance. "The attackers initially exploited a SQL injection vulnerability in an application within the target's environment," security researchers Sunders Bruskin, Hagai Ran Kestenberg, and Fady Nasereldeen said in a Tuesday report. "This allowed the

Microsoft's AI-Powered Bing Chat Ads May Lead Users to Malware-Distributing Sites

By: THN
Malicious ads served inside Microsoft Bing's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot are being used to distribute malware when searching for popular tools. The findings come from Malwarebytes, which revealed that unsuspecting users can be tricked into visiting booby-trapped sites and installing malware directly from Bing Chat conversations. Introduced by Microsoft in February 2023, Bing Chat is an 

Apple Rushes to Patch 3 New Zero-Day Flaws: iOS, macOS, Safari, and More Vulnerable

By: THN
Apple has released yet another round of security patches to address three actively exploited zero-day flaws impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari, taking the total tally of zero-day bugs discovered in its software this year to 16. The list of security vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2023-41991 - A certificate validation issue in the Security framework that could allow a

New AMBERSQUID Cryptojacking Operation Targets Uncommon AWS Services

By: THN
A novel cloud-native cryptojacking operation has set its eyes on uncommon Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings such as AWS Amplify, AWS Fargate, and Amazon SageMaker to illicitly mine cryptocurrency. The malicious cyber activity has been codenamed AMBERSQUID by cloud and container security firm Sysdig. "The AMBERSQUID operation was able to exploit cloud services without triggering the AWS

Hook: New Android Banking Trojan That Expands on ERMAC's Legacy

By: THN
A new analysis of the Android banking trojan known as Hook has revealed that it's based on its predecessor called ERMAC. "The ERMAC source code was used as a base for Hook," NCC Group security researchers Joshua Kamp and Alberto Segura said in a technical analysis published last week. "All commands (30 in total) that the malware operator can send to a device infected with ERMAC malware, also

Microsoft Uncovers Flaws in ncurses Library Affecting Linux and macOS Systems

By: THN
A set of memory corruption flaws have been discovered in the ncurses (short for new curses) programming library that could be exploited by threat actors to run malicious code on vulnerable Linux and macOS systems. "Using environment variable poisoning, attackers could chain these vulnerabilities to elevate privileges and run code in the targeted program's context or perform other malicious

How Cyberattacks Are Transforming Warfare

There is a new battlefield. It is global and challenging to defend. What began with a high-profile incident back in 2007, when Estonia was hit by hackers targeting its government and commercial sector, has evolved into cyber warfare that is being waged constantly worldwide. Today, cyberattacks have become the norm, transforming how we think about war and international conflict as a whole.  From

Beware: MetaStealer Malware Targets Apple macOS in Recent Attacks

By: THN
A new information stealer malware called MetaStealer has set its sights on Apple macOS, making the latest in a growing list of stealer families focused on the operating system after MacStealer, Pureland, Atomic Stealer, and Realst. "Threat actors are proactively targeting macOS businesses by posing as fake clients in order to socially engineer victims into launching malicious payloads,"

Mac Users Beware: Malvertising Campaign Spreads Atomic Stealer macOS Malware

By: THN
A new malvertising campaign has been observed distributing an updated version of a macOS stealer malware called Atomic Stealer (or AMOS), indicating that it’s being actively maintained by its author. An off-the-shelf Golang malware available for $1,000 per month, Atomic Stealer first came to light in April 2023. Shortly after that, new variants with an expanded set of information-gathering

Everything You Wanted to Know About AI Security but Were Afraid to Ask

There’s been a great deal of AI hype recently, but that doesn’t mean the robots are here to replace us. This article sets the record straight and explains how businesses should approach AI. From musing about self-driving cars to fearing AI bots that could destroy the world, there has been a great deal of AI hype in the past few years. AI has captured our imaginations, dreams, and occasionally,

Learn How Your Business Data Can Amplify Your AI/ML Threat Detection Capabilities

In today's digital landscape, your business data is more than just numbers—it's a powerhouse. Imagine leveraging this data not only for profit but also for enhanced AI and Machine Learning (ML) threat detection. For companies like Comcast, this isn't a dream. It's reality. Your business comprehends its risks, vulnerabilities, and the unique environment in which it operates. No generic,

New Variant of XLoader macOS Malware Disguised as 'OfficeNote' Productivity App

By: THN
A new variant of an Apple macOS malware called XLoader has surfaced in the wild, masquerading its malicious features under the guise of an office productivity app called "OfficeNote." "The new version of XLoader is bundled inside a standard Apple disk image with the name OfficeNote.dmg," SentinelOne security researchers Dinesh Devadoss and Phil Stokes said in a Monday analysis. "The application

This Malware Turned Thousands of Hacked Windows and macOS PCs into Proxy Servers

By: THN
Threat actors are leveraging access to malware-infected Windows and macOS machines to deliver a proxy server application and use them as exit nodes to reroute proxy requests. According to AT&T Alien Labs, the unnamed company that offers the proxy service operates more than 400,000 proxy exit nodes, although it's not immediately clear how many of them were co-opted by malware installed on

The Vulnerability of Zero Trust: Lessons from the Storm 0558 Hack

While IT security managers in companies and public administrations rely on the concept of Zero Trust, APTS (Advanced Persistent Threats) are putting its practical effectiveness to the test. Analysts, on the other hand, understand that Zero Trust can only be achieved with comprehensive insight into one's own network.  Just recently, an attack believed to be perpetrated by the Chinese hacker group

TelegramRAT - Cross Platform Telegram Based RAT That Communicates Via Telegram To Evade Network Restrictions

By: Zion3R


Cross Platform Telegram based RAT that communicates via telegram to evade network restrictions


Installation:

1. git clone https://github.com/machine1337/TelegramRAT.git
2. Now Follow the instructions in HOW TO USE Section.

HOW TO USE:

1. Go to Telegram and search for https://t.me/BotFather
2. Create Bot and get the API_TOKEN
3. Now search for https://t.me/chatIDrobot and get the chat_id
4. Now Go to client.py and go to line 16 and 17 and place API_TOKEN and chat_id there
5. Now run python client.py For Windows and python3 client.py For Linux
6. Now Go to the bot which u created and send command in message field

HELP MENU:

HELP MENU: Coded By Machine1337
CMD Commands | Execute cmd commands directly in bot
cd .. | Change the current directory
cd foldername | Change to current folder
download filename | Download File From Target
screenshot | Capture Screenshot
info | Get System Info
location | Get Target Location

Features:

1. Execute Shell Commands in bot directly.
2. download file from client.
3. Get Client System Information.
4. Get Client Location Information.
5. Capture Screenshot
6. More features will be added

Author:

Coded By: Machine1337
Contact: https://t.me/R0ot1337


Apple Sets New Rules for Developers to Prevent Fingerprinting and Data Misuse

By: THN
Apple has announced plans to require developers to submit reasons to use certain APIs in their apps starting later this year with the release of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10 to prevent their abuse for data collection. "This will help ensure that apps only use these APIs for their intended purpose," the company said in a statement. "As part of this process, you'll need

pyFUD - Multi Clients FUD Reverse Shell

By: Zion3R

python3 based multi clients reverse shell.


Warning:

1. Don't Upload Any Payloads To VirusTotal.com Bcz This tool will not work
with Time.
2. Virustotal Share Signatures With AV Comapnies.
3. Again Don't be an Idiot!

Installation:

1. git clone https://github.com/machine1337/pyFUD
2. python3 server.py (enter your ip,port and start the server)
3. client.py (Edit IP AND PORT To Put Your Own IP,Port)

Usage:

1. python3 server.py
2. Now Compile client.py to exe (make sure change ip and port in it)

Features:

1. Very Simple And Fully Undectable Reverse Shell
2. Multi Client Handling
3. Persistent Shell
3. auto-reconnect
5. U can Convert client.py to exe using pyinstaller tool in windows.

Warning:

Use this tool Only for Educational Purpose And I will Not be Responsible For ur cruel act.


The Alarming Rise of Infostealers: How to Detect this Silent Threat

A new study conducted by Uptycs has uncovered a stark increase in the distribution of information stealing (a.k.a. infostealer or stealer) malware. Incidents have more than doubled in Q1 2023, indicating an alarming trend that threatens global organizations. According to the new Uptycs' whitepaper, Stealers are Organization Killers, a variety of new info stealers have emerged this year, preying

Rust-based Realst Infostealer Targeting Apple macOS Users' Cryptocurrency Wallets

By: THN
A new malware family called Realst has become the latest to target Apple macOS systems, with a third of the samples already designed to infect macOS 14 Sonoma, the upcoming major release of the operating system. Written in the Rust programming language, the malware is distributed in the form of bogus blockchain games and is capable of "emptying crypto wallets and stealing stored password and

macOS Under Attack: Examining the Growing Threat and User Perspectives

As the number of people using macOS keeps going up, so does the desire of hackers to take advantage of flaws in Apple's operating system.  What Are the Rising Threats to macOS? There is a common misconception among macOS fans that Apple devices are immune to hacking and malware infection. However, users have been facing more and more dangers recently. Inventive attackers are specifically

Apple Rolls Out Urgent Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Impacting iPhones, iPads and Macs

By: THN
Apple has rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari to address several security vulnerabilities, including one actively exploited zero-day bug in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-38606, the shortcoming resides in the kernel and permits a malicious app to modify sensitive kernel state potentially. The company said it was addressed with improved state management. "

Apple & Microsoft Patch Tuesday, July 2023 Edition

Microsoft Corp. today released software updates to quash 130 security bugs in its Windows operating systems and related software, including at least five flaws that are already seeing active exploitation. Meanwhile, Apple customers have their own zero-day woes again this month: On Monday, Apple issued (and then quickly pulled) an emergency update to fix a zero-day vulnerability that is being exploited on MacOS and iOS devices.

On July 10, Apple pushed a “Rapid Security Response” update to fix a code execution flaw in the Webkit browser component built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Ventura. Almost as soon as the patch went out, Apple pulled the software because it was reportedly causing problems loading certain websites. MacRumors says Apple will likely re-release the patches when the glitches have been addressed.

Launched in May, Apple’s Rapid Security Response updates are designed to address time-sensitive vulnerabilities, and this is the second month Apple has used it. July marks the sixth month this year that Apple has released updates for zero-day vulnerabilities — those that get exploited by malware or malcontents before there is an official patch available.

If you rely on Apple devices and don’t have automatic updates enabled, please take a moment to check the patch status of your various iDevices. The latest security update that includes the fix for the zero-day bug should be available in iOS/iPadOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, and Safari 16.5.2.

On the Windows side, there are at least four vulnerabilities patched this month that earned high CVSS (badness) scores and that are already being exploited in active attacks, according to Microsoft. They include CVE-2023-32049, which is a hole in Windows SmartScreen that lets malware bypass security warning prompts; and CVE-2023-35311 allows attackers to bypass security features in Microsoft Outlook.

The two other zero-day threats this month for Windows are both privilege escalation flaws. CVE-2023-32046 affects a core Windows component called MSHTML, which is used by Windows and other applications, like Office, Outlook and Skype. CVE-2023-36874 is an elevation of privilege bug in the Windows Error Reporting Service.

Many security experts expected Microsoft to address a fifth zero-day flaw — CVE-2023-36884 — a remote code execution weakness in Office and Windows.

“Surprisingly, there is no patch yet for one of the five zero-day vulnerabilities,” said Adam Barnett, lead software engineer at Rapid7. “Microsoft is actively investigating publicly disclosed vulnerability, and promises to update the advisory as soon as further guidance is available.”

Barnett notes that Microsoft links exploitation of this vulnerability with Storm-0978, the software giant’s name for a cybercriminal group based out of Russia that is identified by the broader security community as RomCom.

“Exploitation of CVE-2023-36884 may lead to installation of the eponymous RomCom trojan or other malware,” Barnett said. “[Microsoft] suggests that RomCom / Storm-0978 is operating in support of Russian intelligence operations. The same threat actor has also been associated with ransomware attacks targeting a wide array of victims.”

Microsoft’s advisory on CVE-2023-36884 is pretty sparse, but it does include a Windows registry hack that should help mitigate attacks on this vulnerability. Microsoft has also published a blog post about phishing campaigns tied to Storm-0978 and to the exploitation of this flaw.

Barnett said it’s while it’s possible that a patch will be issued as part of next month’s Patch Tuesday, Microsoft Office is deployed just about everywhere, and this threat actor is making waves.

“Admins should be ready for an out-of-cycle security update for CVE-2023-36884,” he said.

Microsoft also today released new details about how it plans to address the existential threat of malware that is cryptographically signed by…wait for it….Microsoft.

In late 2022, security experts at Sophos, Trend Micro and Cisco warned that ransomware criminals were using signed, malicious drivers in an attempt to evade antivirus and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.

In a blog post today, Sophos’s Andrew Brandt wrote that Sophos identified 133 malicious Windows driver files that were digitally signed since April 2021, and found 100 of those were actually signed by Microsoft. Microsoft said today it is taking steps to ensure those malicious driver files can no longer run on Windows computers.

As KrebsOnSecurity noted in last month’s story on malware signing-as-a-service, code-signing certificates are supposed to help authenticate the identity of software publishers, and provide cryptographic assurance that a signed piece of software has not been altered or tampered with. Both of these qualities make stolen or ill-gotten code-signing certificates attractive to cybercriminal groups, who prize their ability to add stealth and longevity to malicious software.

Dan Goodin at Ars Technica contends that whatever Microsoft may be doing to keep maliciously signed drivers from running on Windows is being bypassed by hackers using open source software that is popular with video game cheaters.

“The software comes in the form of two software tools that are available on GitHub,” Goodin explained. “Cheaters use them to digitally sign malicious system drivers so they can modify video games in ways that give the player an unfair advantage. The drivers clear the considerable hurdle required for the cheat code to run inside the Windows kernel, the fortified layer of the operating system reserved for the most critical and sensitive functions.”

Meanwhile, researchers at Cisco’s Talos security team found multiple Chinese-speaking threat groups have repurposed the tools—one apparently called “HookSignTool” and the other “FuckCertVerifyTimeValidity.”

“Instead of using the kernel access for cheating, the threat actors use it to give their malware capabilities it wouldn’t otherwise have,” Goodin said.

For a closer look at the patches released by Microsoft today, check out the always-thorough Patch Tuesday roundup from the SANS Internet Storm Center. And it’s not a bad idea to hold off updating for a few days until Microsoft works out any kinks in the updates: AskWoody.com usually has the lowdown on any patches that may be causing problems for Windows users.

And as ever, please consider backing up your system or at least your important documents and data before applying system updates. If you encounter any problems with these updates, please drop a note about it here in the comments.

Apple Issues Urgent Patch for Zero-Day Flaw Targeting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

By: THN
Apple has released Rapid Security Response updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The WebKit bug, cataloged as CVE-2023-37450, could allow threat actors to achieve arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. The iPhone maker said it addressed the issue with improved checks

Apple’s secret is out: 3 zero-days fixed, so be sure to patch now!

All Apple users have zero-days that need patching, though some have more zero-days than others.

Apple patches everything, including a zero-day fix for iOS 15 users

Got an older iPhone that can't run iOS 16? You've got a zero-day to deal with! That super-cool Studio Display monitor needs patching, too.

Serious Security: The Samba logon bug caused by outdated crypto

Enjoy our Serious Security deep dive into this real-world example of why cryptographic agility is important!

Apple megaupdate: Ventura out, iOS and iPad kernel zero-day – act now!

Ventura hits the market with 112 patches, Catalina's gone missing, and iPhones and iPads get a critical kernel-level zero-day patch...

Move over Patch Tuesday – it’s Ada Lovelace Day!

Hacking on actual computers is one thing, but hacking purposefully on imaginary computers is, these days, something we can only imagine.

Zoom for Mac patches critical bug – update now!

There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. Or at least between the TOC and the TOU...

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Cleaner One Pro Speeds Up Your Mac: Part 2

In Part 1 of this blog, we introduced Trend Micro Cleaner One Pro, a one-stop shop to help you speed up your Mac, highlighting the Quick Optimizer, the Main Console, and the Cleaning Tools. In Part 2, we resume the discussion of how to make your Mac run faster with the remaining Cleaner One Pro features: System and Application Management, Privacy Protection, and Other Options.

System and Application Management

Startup Manager

Your Mac may get sluggish after a year or two of usage and you may find that booting up takes a lot longer. Doing a Startup Manager scan can help you reduce slowdown due to unwanted startup programs and services, to help your Mac boot faster.

Upon completing the scan, Startup Manager will identify apps under two categories: Login Items and Launch Agents.

Login Items are apps that run automatically upon login. You can manage these apps by enabling them to run automatically or disabling them to make your Mac more efficient. If you don’t need autorun, you can remove the apps from the list.

Launch Agents are background services that run automatically on System startup for the extension features of apps. You can manage these services by letting them run automatically or by disabling them to make your Mac boot faster. Similarly, you can remove these agents if you don’t need them or they’re broken.

 

App Manager

When a user installs an app that doesn’t meet their expectations, they’ll never use it again. In many cases, they remove the app by simply dragging it into the trash, assuming the action completely removes the app, but this is not always true. When you uninstall an app, there are often associated files left on your Mac, even after you have emptied the Trash. They’re known as leftovers.

Leftovers are an app’s associated files and folders that can include different languages, log files, agents, or processes that might try to start an application. App Manager aims to resolve this and helps you clean up your Mac by completely removing app leftovers. App Manager detects all app leftovers automatically so you can remove them with just one click.

 

Privacy Protection

File Shredder

Data security and privacy are especially important and managing these applies to anyone collecting and keeping data. Data that has reached its retention limit needs to be permanently removed from your file system and to be sure it can’t be recovered you need to overwrite the file with random series of binary data multiple times. This process is often referred to as shredding. With File Shredder, you can remove sensitive files from your hard disk without worrying that they can be recovered.

 

Other Options

Preferences

Preferences allows you to manage how the Cleaner One Pro app performs. In Preferences, you’ll see General, Notifications, Memory, Duplicates, Whitelists and Auto Select.

On the General tab, you can choose Auto start at login and other options according to how you would like Cleaner One Pro to behave during startup.

 

On the Notifications tab, you can disable the notification about smart memory optimization.

 

Cleaner One Pro is also equipped with a Smart Memory Optimization feature on the Memory tab. This feature uses artificial intelligence. You can set auto clean when your available memory is low or when an app is closed.

 

The Duplicates, Whitelists and Auto Select tabs work when you use the Duplicate Files feature on the main console. When there are too many duplicate files on your Mac, you can set the rules on the minimum file size, as well as which files to exempt or prioritize during deletion.

 

Air Support One

If you need technical assistance about Cleaner One Pro, click the robot icon either in the Apple Menu window or on the Main Console.

A chat support person will attend to your concerns or suggestions when using Cleaner One Pro. In case there is no available support engineer, you can send an email by clicking Send Email. Make sure to provide the correct email address.

More Tools

Aside from Cleaner One Pro for Mac, we offer Antivirus One for Mac—as well as Cleaner One for iPhone, which you can download by scanning the QR Code. You can also submit your ideas for Other Tools by clicking the panel.

 

An Optimized Mac

As you use your Mac over time, you need to maintain it to keep it running smoothly. Trend Micro Cleaner One Pro can clean up your disk space, help boost performance, and solve other Mac issues you might encounter during your daily work. As you consider it for your Mac, you may have remaining questions:

What’s the difference between the Free version and the Paid version? The Free version of Cleaner One Pro includes the Memory Optimizer, basic CPU and Network Monitoring, a Junk Files Cleaner, a Big Files Scanner, a Disk Map, and the Startup Manager. The Paid upgrade of Cleaner One Pro unlocks more features, including more Advanced CPU/Network Monitoring, a Duplicate Finder, a Similar Photos Scanner, an App Manager, and a File Shredder.

Is it safe to use Cleaner One Pro? Cleaner One Pro is notarized by Apple, which assures its users both security and privacy.

How can I download Cleaner One Pro? Cleaner One Pro is distributed via the official Trend Micro website and other authorized channels. Note that Cleaner One Pro is also available for Windows. To make it easy for the readers of this blog series, we’ve provided the download links here: Download Mac VersionDownload Windows Version

Go to Cleaner One Windows or to Cleaner One Mac for more information or to purchase the apps.

The post Cleaner One Pro Speeds Up Your Mac: Part 2 appeared first on .

Cleaner One Pro Speeds Up Your Mac: Part 1

Mac users have to be wary of malware.

The Mac has always been pretty easy to use, but even the most ardent Mac supporters know there comes a time when their Mac is no longer new and they notice slowdowns in its performance, particularly after intensive use. They’d like a handy one-stop tool to help them optimize memory and CPU performance, free up disk space, and generally speed up their Mac, since they don’t want to dig around in the MacOS for buried utilities they don’t know how to use. Fortunately, Trend Micro has a solution for that.

Trend Micro Cleaner One Pro is an easy-to-use, all-in-one disk cleaning and optimization utility that can help you boost your Mac’s performance. Cleaner One Pro includes a number of Mac housecleaning tools such as a Memory Optimizer, a Junk Files cleaner, a Big Files scanner, a Duplicate Files finder, an App Manager, a File Shredder, and a Disk Map. These functions are all rolled into an easy-to-use interface that helps you visualize your Mac’s usage, while freeing up memory and storage on your Mac.

In this two-part blog, we will show you how you can use Cleaner One Pro to make your Mac run faster, walking you through its features. In Part 1, we focus on Quick Optimizer, the Main Console, and the Cleaning Tools. In Part 2, we’ll focus on System and Application Management, Privacy Protection, and some Other Options.

Quick Optimizer

Once you’ve installed Cleaner One Pro, its Quick Optimizer appears in the Apple Menu, with handy tools to speed up your Mac. Click the icon and it displays a Console that monitors your Memory, Junk Files, CPU, and Network Usage, while letting you Optimize your Memory Usage and Clean your Junk Files with just one click. System Optimizer opens a Window onto the contents of your Mac for more detailed management.

Memory Optimizer

There are applications running in the background of your Mac that take up physical memory and affect its performance. The Memory Optimizer gives you control over how your computer consumes its memory resources—and you can free up your Mac’s memory in seconds with just one click on the Optimize button. If you want to see which apps are taking up significant memory, you can click the three-dot icon next to Memory Usage. It will show your Mac’s memory usage by app, in descending order. Click the Information (i) icon in the Memory Usage window for a breakdown of the types of memory being used.

Junk Files Cleaner

Junk files, temporary files, system files and other non-essential items will accumulate on your Mac over time. These files take up a lot of space on your hard drive and may degrade the performance of your Mac as you reach higher disk usage. Click the Clean button and the Junk Files cleaner quickly removes application cache, system log files, update files, temporary files and hidden leftover files. You can also see the details of the identified Junk Files by clicking the three-dot icon next to Junk Files.

CPU Usage Monitor

When your computer starts to run slowly it’s helpful to have a snapshot of its CPU usage. With this feature, you can see which apps are using significant CPU resources and how much percentage they’re using. It also let you know how long your computer has been up and running, since system reliability can degrade if it’s been awhile since you restarted your Mac.

Network Usage Monitor

If you want to keep an eye on your bandwidth consumption and avoid exceeding data caps, it’s useful to know the real-time download and upload speeds on your Mac. The Network Usage Monitor also provides a view of other network related information such as your Wi-Fi signal quality.

The Main Console

The Main Console is the core workplace in Trend Micro Cleaner One Pro and provides the following features, which are presented here grouped by purpose:

  • Cleaning Tools (Junk Files, Big Files, Duplicate Files, Similar Photos and Disk Map)
  • Application Management (Startup Manager and App Manager)
  • Privacy Protection (File Shredder)

To access the Main Console, click System Optimizer in the Cleaner One Pro Apple Menu. The first time you do, you’ll need to authorize full access to your disk, so Cleaner One Pro can access more junk files. Simply click Grant Access in the System Optimizer window and watch the video or follow the written instructions. Complete the steps by closing Cleaner One Pro, then reload it. You’re now ready to begin optimizing.

Cleaning Tools

Junk Files

The hard drive on your Mac holds the entire Mac operating system and important files including your data. As you use your Mac, over time its hard drive will accumulate junk files. These junk files are generated by the system and other programs. Cleaner One Pro is equipped with advanced and efficient algorithms that scan and remove junk files within seconds. Click Scan to scan for Junk Files and when the scan is done, either check a whole category or individual items in the category, then click Remove.

Big Files

You may have a lot of clutter on your Mac in the form of big or old files that you probably no longer need and may have just forgotten about. Removing big unused files can recover a lot of disk space, but it could be time-consuming to delete them if done manually. Also, it is hard to select files for deletion if you don’t know the proper context— where the files are stored or how important they may be.

Big Files scanner provides a big file collector where you can easily spot and remove these files if you don’t need them anymore. Additionally, if you hover your mouse on a file, you’ll see a magnifier and a lock icon. Once you click the magnifier icon, you’ll locate the actual file. If you click the lock icon, the file will be added to the Ignore List, which will be locked.

Disk Map

Disk Map is a significant tool that helps you analyze the usage of your storage in a visual and interactive map. It quickly scans your drive and builds a visualization of files on the target folder of your Mac, allowing you to easily navigate the system. With Disk Map, you can find out the date when the file/folder was created, modified, and last opened. Furthermore, hovering your mouse on a folder then clicking the magnifier icon will direct you to the file’s location.

Duplicate Files

Another practice that you are probably comfortable doing is backing-up important files, photos, program installation files and apps on your hard drive. While this is a good practice, it creates duplicate files on your Mac that eventually add clutter and consume disk space. It’s also hard to find files in name searches when you have too many of them.

The Duplicate Files function lets you select a source folder where it will inspect and identify duplicate files on your Mac. In the scan results, an option called “Auto Select” helps you automatically select duplicate files. The information provided by “Auto Select” is listed below:

  • Folder where duplicate files are located
  • Dates modified
  • Similar file names
  • Other qualifications

You can choose Remove to Trash or Delete Permanently on the confirmation page.

Similar Photos

Often, you organize pictures of travels and life events, and also keep a copy to ensure you don’t lose those captured moments. But as digital photos pile up, often similar to others on your drive, they take up a lot of space. To assist you cleaning these up, use Similar Photos, and then choose your photo library to scan the photos on your Mac.

The result will display similar photos and you can choose the ones you don’t need, and the files will be added in the selected list. Click the Remove button to completely delete them from your hard drive.

That’s it for now! The second part of this blog will take up the remaining toolsets of Trend Micro Cleaner One Pro.

 Go to Cleaner One Mac for more information or to purchase the app.

 

 

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