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Reimagining Network Pentesting With Automation

Network penetration testing plays a crucial role in protecting businesses in the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity. Yet, business leaders and IT pros have misconceptions about this process, which impacts their security posture and decision-making.  This blog acts as a quick guide on network penetration testing, explaining what it is, debunking common myths and reimagining its role in

BazaCall Phishing Scammers Now Leveraging Google Forms for Deception

The threat actors behind the BazaCall call back phishing attacks have been observed leveraging Google Forms to lend the scheme a veneer of credibility. The method is an "attempt to elevate the perceived authenticity of the initial malicious emails," cybersecurity firm Abnormal Security said in a report published today. BazaCall (aka BazarCall), which was first

Researchers Unmask Sandman APT's Hidden Link to China-Based KEYPLUG Backdoor

Tactical and targeting overlaps have been discovered between the enigmatic advanced persistent threat (APT) called Sandman and a China-based threat cluster that's known to use a backdoor referred to as KEYPLUG. The assessment comes jointly from SentinelOne, PwC, and the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team based on the fact that the adversary's Lua-based malware LuaDream and KEYPLUG have

Playbook: Your First 100 Days as a vCISO - 5 Steps to Success

In an increasingly digital world, no organization is spared from cyber threats. Yet, not every organization has the luxury of hiring a full-time, in-house CISO. This gap in cybersecurity leadership is where you, as a vCISO, come in. You are the person who will establish, develop, and solidify the organization's cybersecurity infrastructure, blending strategic guidance with actionable

N. Korea's Kimsuky Targeting South Korean Research Institutes with Backdoor Attacks

The North Korean threat actor known as Kimsuky has been observed targeting research institutes in South Korea as part of a spear-phishing campaign with the ultimate goal of distributing backdoors on compromised systems. "The threat actor ultimately uses a backdoor to steal information and execute commands," the AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC) said in an

Ransomware-as-a-Service: The Growing Threat You Can't Ignore

Ransomware attacks have become a significant and pervasive threat in the ever-evolving realm of cybersecurity. Among the various iterations of ransomware, one trend that has gained prominence is Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS). This alarming development has transformed the cybercrime landscape, enabling individuals with limited technical expertise to carry out devastating attacks.

Hacking the Human Mind: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in the 'First Line of Cyber Defense'

Humans are complex beings with consciousness, emotions, and the capacity to act based on thoughts. In the ever-evolving realm of cybersecurity, humans consistently remain primary targets for attackers. Over the years, these attackers have developed their expertise in exploiting various human qualities, sharpening their skills to manipulate biases and emotional triggers with the objective of

Sierra:21 - Flaws in Sierra Wireless Routers Expose Critical Sectors to Cyber Attacks

A collection of 21 security flaws have been discovered in Sierra Wireless AirLink cellular routers and open-source software components like TinyXML and OpenNDS. Collectively tracked as Sierra:21, the issues expose over 86,000 devices across critical sectors like energy, healthcare, waste management, retail, emergency services, and vehicle tracking to cyber threats, according

Scaling Security Operations with Automation

In an increasingly complex and fast-paced digital landscape, organizations strive to protect themselves from various security threats. However, limited resources often hinder security teams when combatting these threats, making it difficult to keep up with the growing number of security incidents and alerts. Implementing automation throughout security operations helps security teams alleviate

Qakbot Takedown Aftermath: Mitigations and Protecting Against Future Threats

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI recently collaborated in a multinational operation to dismantle the notorious Qakbot malware and botnet. While the operation was successful in disrupting this long-running threat, concerns have arisen as it appears that Qakbot may still pose a danger in a reduced form. This article discusses the aftermath of the takedown, provides mitigation

DJVU Ransomware's Latest Variant 'Xaro' Disguised as Cracked Software

A variant of a ransomware strain known as DJVU has been observed to be distributed in the form of cracked software. "While this attack pattern is not new, incidents involving a DJVU variant that appends the .xaro extension to affected files and demanding ransom for a decryptor have been observed infecting systems alongside a host of various commodity loaders and infostealers," Cybereason

Tell Me Your Secrets Without Telling Me Your Secrets

The title of this article probably sounds like the caption to a meme. Instead, this is an actual problem GitGuardian's engineers had to solve in implementing the mechanisms for their new HasMySecretLeaked service. They wanted to help developers find out if their secrets (passwords, API keys, private keys, cryptographic certificates, etc.) had found their way into public GitHub repositories. How

Mirai-based Botnet Exploiting Zero-Day Bugs in Routers and NVRs for Massive DDoS Attacks

An active malware campaign is leveraging two zero-day vulnerabilities with remote code execution (RCE) functionality to rope routers and video recorders into a Mirai-based distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet. “The payload targets routers and network video recorder (NVR) devices with default admin credentials and installs Mirai variants when successful,” Akamai said in an advisory

Why Defenders Should Embrace a Hacker Mindset

Today’s security leaders must manage a constantly evolving attack surface and a dynamic threat environment due to interconnected devices, cloud services, IoT technologies, and hybrid work environments. Adversaries are constantly introducing new attack techniques, and not all companies have internal Red Teams or unlimited security resources to stay on top of the latest threats. On top of that,

Discover 2023's Cloud Security Strategies in Our Upcoming Webinar - Secure Your Spot

In 2023, the cloud isn't just a technology—it's a battleground. Zenbleed, Kubernetes attacks, and sophisticated APTs are just the tip of the iceberg in the cloud security warzone. In collaboration with the esteemed experts from Lacework Labs, The Hacker News proudly presents an exclusive webinar: 'Navigating the Cloud Attack Landscape: 2023 Trends, Techniques, and Tactics.' Join us for an

CISA Adds Three Security Flaws with Active Exploitation to KEV Catalog

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added three security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-36584 (CVSS score: 5.4) - Microsoft Windows Mark-of-the-Web (MotW) Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability CVE-2023-1671 (CVSS score: 9.8) -

Experts Uncover DarkCasino: New Emerging APT Threat Exploiting WinRAR Flaw

A hacking group that leveraged a recently disclosed security flaw in the WinRAR software as a zero-day has now been categorized as an entirely new advanced persistent threat (APT). Cybersecurity company NSFOCUS has described DarkCasino as an "economically motivated" actor that first came to light in 2021. "DarkCasino is an APT threat actor with strong technical and learning ability, who is good

CISA and FBI Issue Warning About Rhysida Ransomware Double Extortion Attacks

The threat actors behind the Rhysida ransomware engage in opportunistic attacks targeting organizations spanning various industry sectors. The advisory comes courtesy of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). "Observed as a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS)

Russian Hackers Linked to 'Largest Ever Cyber Attack' on Danish Critical Infrastructure

Russian threat actors have been possibly linked to what's been described as the "largest cyber attack against Danish critical infrastructure," in which 22 companies associated with the operation of the country's energy sector were targeted in May 2023.  "22 simultaneous, successful cyberattacks against Danish critical infrastructure are not commonplace," Denmark's SektorCERT said [PDF]. "The

New Ransomware Group Emerges with Hive's Source Code and Infrastructure

The threat actors behind a new ransomware group called Hunters International have acquired the source code and infrastructure from the now-dismantled Hive operation to kick-start its own efforts in the threat landscape. "It appears that the leadership of the Hive group made the strategic decision to cease their operations and transfer their remaining assets to another group, Hunters

Experts Expose Farnetwork's Ransomware-as-a-Service Business Model

Cybersecurity researchers have unmasked a prolific threat actor known as farnetwork, who has been linked to five different ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) programs over the past four years in various capacities. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which attempted to infiltrate a private RaaS program that uses the Nokoyawa ransomware strain, said it underwent a "job interview" process with the

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

Microsoft Defender Thwarts Large-Scale Akira Ransomware Attack

Microsoft on Wednesday said that a user containment feature in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint helped thwart a "large-scale remote encryption attempt" made by Akira ransomware actors targeting an unknown industrial organization in early June 2023. The tech giant's threat intelligence team is tracking the operator as Storm-1567. The attack leveraged devices that were not onboarded to Microsoft

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 

Associated-Threat-Analyzer - Detects Malicious IPv4 Addresses And Domain Names Associated With Your Web Application Using Local Malicious Domain And IPv4 Lists

By: Zion3R


Associated-Threat-Analyzer detects malicious IPv4 addresses and domain names associated with your web application using local malicious domain and IPv4 lists.


Installation

From Git

git clone https://github.com/OsmanKandemir/associated-threat-analyzer.git
cd associated-threat-analyzer && pip3 install -r requirements.txt
python3 analyzer.py -d target-web.com

From Dockerfile

You can run this application on a container after build a Dockerfile.

Warning : If you want to run a Docker container, associated threat analyzer recommends to use your malicious IPs and domains lists, because maintainer may not be update a default malicious IP and domain lists on docker image.
docker build -t osmankandemir/threatanalyzer .
docker run osmankandemir/threatanalyzer -d target-web.com

From DockerHub

docker pull osmankandemir/threatanalyzer
docker run osmankandemir/threatanalyzer -d target-web.com

Usage

-d DOMAIN , --domain DOMAIN Input Target. --domain target-web1.com
-t DOMAINSFILE, --DomainsFile Malicious Domains List to Compare. -t SampleMaliciousDomains.txt
-i IPSFILE, --IPsFile Malicious IPs List to Compare. -i SampleMaliciousIPs.txt
-o JSON, --json JSON JSON output. --json

DONE

  • First-level depth scan your domain address.

TODO list

  • Third-level or the more depth static files scanning for target web application.
Other linked github project. You can take a look.
Finds related domains and IPv4 addresses to do threat intelligence after Indicator-Intelligence v1.1.1 collects static files

https://github.com/OsmanKandemir/indicator-intelligence

Default Malicious IPs and Domains Sources

https://github.com/stamparm/blackbook

https://github.com/stamparm/ipsum

Development and Contribution

See; CONTRIBUTING.md



Navigating Legacy Infrastructure: A CISO's Actionable Strategy for Success

Every company has some level of tech debt. Unless you’re a brand new start-up, you most likely have a patchwork of solutions that have been implemented throughout the years, often under various leadership teams with different priorities and goals. As those technologies age, they can leave your organization vulnerable to cyber threats. While replacing legacy technologies can be costly, those

Cyber Attacks Strike Ukraine's State Bodies in Espionage Operation

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of cyber attacks targeting state bodies in the country as part of an espionage campaign. The intrusion set, attributed to a threat actor tracked by the authority as UAC-0063 since 2021, leverages phishing lures to deploy a variety of malicious tools on infected systems. The origins of the hacking crew are presently unknown. In

GoldenJackal: New Threat Group Targeting Middle Eastern and South Asian Governments

Government and diplomatic entities in the Middle East and South Asia are the target of a new advanced persistent threat actor named GoldenJackal. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which has been keeping tabs on the group's activities since mid-2020, characterized the adversary as both capable and stealthy. The targeting scope of the campaign is focused on Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq,

Google Uncovers APT41's Use of Open Source GC2 Tool to Target Media and Job Sites

A Chinese nation-state group targeted an unnamed Taiwanese media organization to deliver an open source red teaming tool known as Google Command and Control (GC2) amid broader abuse of Google's infrastructure for malicious ends. The tech giant's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) attributed the campaign to a threat actor it tracks under the geological and geographical-themed moniker HOODOO, which is

[eBook] A Step-by-Step Guide to Cyber Risk Assessment

In today's perilous cyber risk landscape, CISOs and CIOs must defend their organizations against relentless cyber threats, including ransomware, phishing, attacks on infrastructure, supply chain breaches, malicious insiders, and much more. Yet at the same time, security leaders are also under tremendous pressure to reduce costs and invest wisely.  One of the most effective ways for CISOs and

The Best Defense Against Cyber Threats for Lean Security Teams

H0lyGh0st, Magecart, and a slew of state-sponsored hacker groups are diversifying their tactics and shifting their focus to… You. That is, if you're in charge of cybersecurity for a small-to-midsize enterprise (SME). Why? Bad actors know that SMEs typically have a smaller security budget, less infosec manpower, and possibly weak or missing security controls to protect their data and

2022 Top Five Immediate Threats in Geopolitical Context

As we are nearing the end of 2022, looking at the most concerning threats of this turbulent year in terms of testing numbers offers a threat-based perspective on what triggers cybersecurity teams to check how vulnerable they are to specific threats. These are the threats that were most tested to validate resilience with the Cymulate security posture management platform between January 1st and

Pylirt - Python Linux Incident Response Toolkit


With this application, it is aimed to accelerate the incident response processes by collecting information in linux operating systems.


Features

Information is collected in the following contents.

/etc/passwd

cat /etc/group

cat /etc/sudoers

lastlog

cat /var/log/auth.log

uptime/proc/meminfo

ps aux

/etc/resolv.conf

/etc/hosts

iptables -L -v -n

find / -type f -size +512k -exec ls -lh {}/;

find / -mtime -1 -ls

ip a

netstat -nap

arp -a

echo $PATH

Installation

git clone https://github.com/anil-yelken/pylirt

cd pylirt

sudo pip3 install paramiko

Usage

The following information should be specified in the cred_list.txt file:

IP|Username|Password

sudo python3 plirt.py

Contact

https://twitter.com/anilyelken06

https://medium.com/@anilyelken



How to Protect Yourself From Tailgating Attacks

Holding the door for someone might open the way to a cyberattack. For anyone who works in a secure building or workplace, they might want to rethink that courtesy. The hackers and thieves behind piggybacking and tailgating attacks count on it. 

Piggyback and tailgating attacks occur when an unauthorized person gains access to a restricted workplace, one that requires some form of ID to enter. While quite similar, these attacks have an important difference: 

  • Piggybacking occurs when a person knowingly allows an unauthorized person into a restricted location—such as holding a secured door open for them. 
  • Tailgating occurs when an unauthorized person slips into a restricted area without someone knowing—perhaps because someone left a secured door ajar. 

In both cases, these unauthorized entries can put businesses and organizations at risk. They give potential bad actors all kinds of access to sensitive information and devices.  

Trade secrets get stolen this way, as does customer information. In yet more malicious cases, bad actors might gain entry with the intent of sabotaging technology or hijacking a network. And of course, bad actors might do harm to people or property. 

Businesses and organizations that find themselves at risk include those that: 

  • Have many employees, often moving inside and out of the premises. 
  • Have multiple entrance points into a building. 
  • Receive deliveries of food, packages, and documents regularly. 
  • Employ a sizable number of subcontractors. 
  • Lack training in physical and cybersecurity protocols. 

Different businesses and organizations have different forms of security in place. You might be among the many who use a smart badge or some form of biometric security to enter a building or certain areas within a building. 

However, determined bad actors will look for ways around these measures. With piggyback and tailgating attacks, it’s far easier for them to follow someone into a workplace than it is to break into a workplace. 

Common types of piggybacking and tailgating attacks 

Bad actors will simply walk in when someone holds the door for them. It’s as simple as that. Additionally, they’ll try several different tricks by: 

  • Posing as a delivery driver bringing in packages or food. 
  • Claiming they work in the building and that they left their ID at home. 
  • Carrying a bulky load of boxes and hoping you’ll open the door to help. 
  • Disguising themselves as a vendor, like a service worker or IT consultant. 
  • Similarly, disguising themselves as an executive or V.I.P. who’s in a hurry. 

In all, piggybacking and tailgating attacks rely on social engineering—playing off people’s innate courtesy, willingness to help, or even discomfort with conflict. Essentially, the attacker manipulates human nature. 

How to prevent piggybacking and tailgating attacks 

A good portion of prevention falls on the owner of the building, whether that’s a business, organization, or a landlord. It falls on them to install security hardpoints like badge scanners, keypad locks, biometric scanners, and so on to keep the property secure. Moreover, employers owe it to themselves and their employees to train them on security measures.  

Yet you can take further steps to prevent a piggybacking or tailgating attack on your workplace. Some steps include: 

  • Don’t hold the door for anyone you don’t recognize as an employee. 
  • Direct strangers who appear lost to a reception area. 
  • Always close secure doors and ensure they lock. 
  • Report any issues with a secure door, such as if it doesn’t close properly or closes too slowly. 

Also consider the security of your devices or any other sensitive information you work with. If a bad actor slips into your workplace, you can take other steps to prevent theft or damage. 

  • Use a lock screen on your computer to prevent access to networks and files. 
  • Consider tethering your laptop to your desk with a laptop lock to prevent grab-and-run theft. 
  • Securely store any printed materials.  
  • Keep your personal items on your person, like your keys, smartphone, and other valuables. 

Don’t hold the door 

Some aspects of piggybacking and tailgating prevention seem like they go against our better nature. We want to be kind, helpful, and sometimes we’d simply rather avoid confrontation. Again, piggybackers and tailgaters count on that. Yet a door is only as secure as the person who uses it—or who opens it for someone else.  

The post How to Protect Yourself From Tailgating Attacks appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Top Cyber Threats Facing E-Commerce Sites This Holiday Season

Delivering a superior customer experience is essential for any e-commerce business. For those companies, there's a lot at stake this holiday season. According to Digital Commerce 360, nearly $1.00 of every $4.00 spent on retail purchases during the 2022 holiday season will be spent online, resulting in $224 billion in e-commerce sales. To ensure your e-commerce site is ready for the holiday rush

Undersea Cables and Cyber Physical Risks.

Cyber security implies protecting the confidentiality, availability and integrity of computer systems and networks. Often security researchers and security teams focus on threats to software and the risks associated with authenticating and managing users. However, computing systems are built upon a tall stack of computing resources.  

Each layer within the stack is exposed to specific threats which need to be considered as part of a cyber security strategy. As the threat landscape evolves and exposure to risk changes, organizations need to review their threat exposure and consider if current mitigations are sufficient for their needs. 

The recent disruption of the Nord Stream submarine gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea by an apparent act of sabotage highlights the risks to infrastructure located beneath the waves. The telecommunications infrastructure that carries internet traffic between countries and continents is often provided by submarine cables. These cables are relatively few in number but carry vast amounts of internet and enterprise traffic, potentially from many different service providers. 

The seabed is a challenging environment for infrastructure. Sea water is corrosive, the pressure on the ocean floor can be extreme, while earthquakes, ship’s anchors and dredging provide additional risks to may result in the severing of a cable. Submarine cables are only expected to achieve a lifespan in the region of 25 years before failure.  

Repairing or replacing a submarine cable is expensive and time consuming. It may be many months before a failed cable can be repaired or replaced. In the absence of a functioning cable, internet connections must be rerouted to avoid disruption. However, this risks saturating the remaining infrastructure and adversely affecting the quality of connections.  

Organizations that require high availability international or intercontinental network connections should review their exposure to the risk of submarine cables failure. The nature of this risk will depend on how services are currently delivered.  

  1. Services may be delivered by a single service provider with a guaranteed level of service. In this case, organizations should review their provider’s contingencies in case of loss of one or more submarine cables and verify that these meet requirements.
  2. Piecemeal connections delivered by multiple providers may have been assembled to satisfy needs. Organizations should verify that this connectivity is able to support network requirements if one or more of the connections are unavailable. Organizations should seek to avoid single points of failure such as landing stations or conduits that may be shared by what otherwise appear to be independent connections.
  3. Software-defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) is often used to route traffic in the most efficient manner to meet requirements. The flexibility of the approach implies that the loss of any single physical path would not lead to the loss of connectivity, but the increased flow of data within remaining paths may lead to a degradation in connection quality. Organizations should model how the loss of an undersea cable would affect their services and check if additional redundancy is necessary. 

At the time of writing there is no specific threat to undersea infrastructure. Other than attacks against terrestrial cables, no cable damage has been shown to be due to sabotage. Nevertheless, the Secretary General of NATO has stressed the importance of undersea cables to civilian society and military capability [1]. The British Chief of Defense Staff has warned how seriously intentional damage to telecommunications cables would be taken [2]. 

Physical infrastructure can not be taken for granted. Organizations would do well to review the impact of one or more submarine cables being taken out of service. Preparing response plans and contingencies in advance ensures that disruption is kept to a minimum in the event that such a scenario occurs.  

[1]. Press Conference (22 Oct 2020), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. 

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_178946.htm?selectedLocale=en 

[2]. “Chief of Defence Staff: Russia cutting underwater cables could be ‘an act of war’” (8 Jan 2022), Forces.net. 

https://www.forces.net/news/chief-defence-staff-russia-cutting-underwater-cables-could-be-act-war 


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Cybercrime’s Most Wanted: Four Mobile Threats that Might Surprise You

By: McAfee

It’s hard to imagine a world without cellphones. Whether it be a smartphone or a flip phone, these devices have truly shaped the late 20th century and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But while users have become accustomed to having almost everything they could ever want at fingertips length, cybercriminals were busy setting up shop. To trick unsuspecting users, cybercriminals have set up crafty mobile threats – some that users may not even be fully aware of. These sneaky cyberthreats include SMSishing, fake networks, malicious apps, and grayware, which have all grown in sophistication over time. This means users need to be equipped with the know-how to navigate the choppy waters that come with these smartphone-related cyberthreats. Let’s get started.

Watch out for SMSishing Hooks

If you use email, then you are probably familiar with what phishing is. And while phishing is commonly executed through email and malicious links, there is a form of phishing that specifically targets mobile devices called SMSishing. This growing threat allows cybercriminals to utilize messaging apps to send unsuspecting users a SMSishing message. These messages serve one purpose – to obtain personal information, such as logins and financial information. With that information, cybercriminals could impersonate the user to access banking records or steal their identity.

While this threat was once a rarity, its the rise in popularity is two-fold. The first aspect is that users have been educated to distrust email messages and the second is the rise in mobile phone usage throughout the world. Although this threat shows no sign of slowing down, there are ways to avoid a cybercriminal’s SMSishing hooks. Get started with these tips:

  1. Always double-check the message’s source. If you receive a text from your bank or credit card company, call the organization directly to ensure the message is legit.
  2. Delete potential SMSishing Do not reply to or click on any links within a suspected malicious text, as that could lead to more SMSishing attempts bombarding your phone.
  3. Invest in comprehensive mobile security. Adding an extra level of security can not only help protect your device but can also notify you when a threat arises.

Public Wi-Fi Woes  

Public and free Wi-Fi is practically everywhere nowadays, with some destinations even having city-wide Wi-Fi set up. But that Wi-Fi users are connecting their mobile device to may not be the most secure, given cybercriminals can exploit weaknesses in these networks to intercept messages, login credentials, or other personal information. Beyond exploiting weaknesses, some cybercriminals take it a step further and create fake networks with generic names that trick unsuspecting users into connecting their devices. These networks are called “evil-twin” networks. For help in spotting these imposters, there are few tricks the savvy user can deploy to prevent an evil twin network from wreaking havoc on their mobile device:

  1. Look for password-protected networks. As strange as it sounds, if you purposely enter the incorrect password but are still allowed access, the network is most likely a fraud.
  2. Pay attention to page load times. If the network you are using is very slow, it is more likely a cybercriminal is using an unreliable mobile hotspot to connect your mobile device to the web.
  3. Use a virtual private network or VPN. While you’re on-the-go and using public Wi-Fi, add an extra layer of security in the event you accidentally connect to a malicious network. VPNs can encrypt your online activity and keep it away from prying eyes. 

Malicious Apps: Fake It till They Make It

Fake apps have become a rampant problem for Android and iPhone users alike. This is mainly in part due to malicious apps hiding in plain sight on legitimate sources, such as the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. After users download a faulty app, cybercriminals deploy malware that operates in the background of mobile devices which makes it difficult for users to realize anything is wrong. And while users think they’ve just downloaded another run-of-the-mill app, the malware is hard at work obtaining personal data.

In order to keep sensitive information out of the hands of cybercriminals, here are a few things users can look for when they need to determine whether an app is fact or fiction:

  1. Check for typos and poor grammar. Always check the app developer name, product title, and description for typos and grammatical errors. Often, malicious developers will spoof real developer IDs, even just by a single letter or number, to seem legitimate.
  2. Examine the download statistics. If you’re attempting to download a popular app, but it has a surprisingly low number of downloads, that is a good indicator that an app is most likely fake.
  3. Read the reviews. With malicious apps, user reviews are your friend. By reading a few, you can receive vital information that can help you determine whether the app is fake or not.

The Sly Operation of Grayware

With so many types of malware out in the world, it’s hard to keep track of them all. But there is one in particular that mobile device users need to be keenly aware of called grayware. As a coverall term for software or code that sits between normal and malicious, grayware comes in many forms, such as adware, spyware or madware. While adware and spyware can sometimes operate simultaneously on infected computers, madware — or adware on mobile devices — infiltrates smartphones by hiding within rogue apps. Once a mobile device is infected with madware from a malicious app, ads can infiltrate almost every aspect on a user’s phone. Madware isn’t just annoying; it also is a security and privacy risk, as some threats will try to obtain users’ data. To avoid the annoyance, as well as the cybersecurity risks of grayware, users can prepare their devices with these cautionary steps:

  1. Be sure to update your device. Grayware looks for vulnerabilities that can be exploited, so be sure to always keep your device’s software up-to-date.
  2. Beware of rogue apps. As mentioned in the previous section, fake apps are now a part of owning a smartphone. Use the tips in the above section to ensure you keep malicious apps off of your device that may contain grayware.
  3. Consider a comprehensive mobile security system. By adding an extra level of security, you can help protect your devices from threats, both old and new.

The post Cybercrime’s Most Wanted: Four Mobile Threats that Might Surprise You appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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