Author: Jarrett Imler

    What is Cryptojacking?   With any opportunity to make a monetary gain, criminals will always commit malicious activities to get an advantage, cheat, or even steal for their own benefit.  Cryptocurrency and mining is no different.  Mining crypto presents an opportunity to make money, profit, and invest.  However, like any other financial opportunities, attackers exploit others to acquire crypto mining resources to mine, or cryptojacking.  What is cryptojacking?   Cryptojacking For an attacker to use other systems for cryptocurrency mining, they must gain access into a system like any other attack.  However, this form of attack is called “Cryptojacking.”  Cryptojacking can be defined as malicious cryptocurrency mining using… Read More

  Microsoft Exchange Server Exploits   Recently, Microsoft teams scrambled together to push out patches for multiple zero-day vulnerabilities on Microsoft Exchange Server exploits.  Attackers were able to exploit these vulnerabilities to gain remote control over the servers to steal email accounts, install malware or exfiltrate data.   The Attack To be able to exploit the vulnerabilities, there must be an open 443 port for the Microsoft exchange servers.  From there, the attacker or group can exploit four different vulnerabilities which include: CVE-2021-26855: Server Side Request Forgery vulnerability that permits attackers to send HTTP requests and authenticate themselves as the Microsoft Exchange Server CVE-2021-26857: Deserialization vulnerability that allows attackers to… Read More

  Cyber Protection Group hopes everyone stays warm, safe, and secure during this large winter storm!   Mac’s Newest Malware: Silver Sparrow Apple released a new line of macs which include their newly developed M1 processors.  However, attackers took no time at all to develop malware to run on these systems.  Recently, nearly 30,000 macs have been discovered harboring a piece of malware named, “Silver Sparrow.”   Mac Processors Until now, Apple used other manufacturers’ processors in their systems.  For the first time, Apple implemented their own manufactured processors into their newest lines of computers.  Named the M1 chip, Apple’s website claims “it delivers incredible performance, custom technologies, and revolutionary… Read More

  Top 10 IoT Vulnerabilities   Remember that brand new thermostat you bought?  You know, the one that you can control from your smartphone?  What if I told you that the thermostat, or any other IoT smart device in particular, is the reason a hacker was able to obtain all your personal sensitive information.  As the world transitions into smart homes and businesses, the new technologies advance faster than the security measures to protect them.  According to the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), here are the top 10 IoT vulnerabilities you can look for to secure your network.   1. Weak Guessable, or Hardcoded Passwords Most IoT devices come… Read More

    Kia Becomes The Newest Victim of Ransomware Just imagine, your family browses the lines of cars at your local car dealership, excited to make a new purchase.  After test driving numerous vehicles, you found it, the perfect vehicle.  When telling the salesman you are ready to buy and sign the papers, he tells you that his systems are down and can’t complete the transaction right now. However, can you imagine how disappointed you would be?  Unfortunately, Kia Motors America becomes the newest victim of ransomware.   Kia Motors America Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia Motors America owns nearly 800 car dealerships across the United States.  According to their… Read More

What is Cryptocurrency? Recently, cryptocurrency has seen an uproar in popularity in the media and social media platforms. Big names, like Elon Musk, continuously endorse cryptocurrencies and push for their advancements. Although cryptocurrency has been around since about 2009, most of the world does not understand what it is or how it works.  How do you acquire cryptocurrency and how does it even hold a real world value?     What is it? A cryptocurrency is a form of virtual monetary value that can be used like any ordinary currency.  It can act as payment for goods and services, stored in wallets, and invested into.  There are multiple forms of cryptocurrency… Read More

  The Pandemic and IoT Infections Remember that brand new thermostat you bought?  You know, the one that you can control from your smartphone?  What if I told you that the thermostat, or any other IoT smart device in particular, is the reason a hacker was able to obtain all your personal sensitive information.  As the world transitions into smart homes and businesses, the new technologies advance faster than the security measures to protect them.  Now in light of the recent pandemic, IoT infections grow even more.   The Great Increase Steadily, yet exponentially, more and more pieces of technology connect to the internet.  Any device that connects to the… Read More

What is Stalkerware? Check your pockets!  More than likely, you will find a piece of technology that connects you to everyone else in this world.  Nowadays everyone owns a smartphone.  However, with the ability to have any information at your fingertips comes the ability to spy on you and track you down.  Attackers use more and more forms of stalkerware to surveil someone at anytime.   What is Stalkerware? A form of malware, known as stalkerware (or spouseware and creepware), consist of tools, apps, programs, or software installed mostly on smartphones.  Stalkerware allows an attacker to surveil and monitor phone behavior of their victim without the victim’s consent.  The stalkerware… Read More

  Monday, January 25, 2021   The team at Cyber Protection Group experienced an internet outage last week.  We were not able to utilize our office systems, use our phone systems, or go about our routine work with our system outages.  Although a disruption to our work, we could still complete work remotely.  However, if it were another system or service that went down, we might not be able to properly do our jobs.   What are some simple things to think about in regards to a down system?   Maximum Acceptable Downtime The term, maximum acceptable downtime (MAO) designates the longest acceptable period of time for a system to… Read More

Happy New Year! With 2020 over, the world looks with high hopes for a bright new year.  Unfortunately in the cyber world, malware, vulnerabilities, and attacks continue to plague systems.  To stay prepared and protect ourselves against attackers, we can try to anticipate and make predictions for 2021.   Ransomware Attackers wreak havoc  across the globe by using ransomware attacks.  Hospitals, schools, businesses, and consumers never seem to stop finding that their devices and data are held for ransom.  However, attackers continue to create more advanced hacks against their targets.  In 2021 we can predict a large rise in the number of ransomware attacks.  In addition, the world should expect… Read More