United States Improves Critical Infrastructure Security

  United States Improves Critical Infrastructure Security by Passing Five Bills The cyber security incident that recently affected Colonial Pipeline showed the extreme need to protect our critical infrastructure.  Ransomware successfully hindered the delivery of fuel to a large portion of the East Coast.  Colonial Pipelines and other critical infrastructure could prevent cyber security incidents with enhanced security that prepares themselves for the imminent attacks.  Finally, the United States House Committee on Homeland Security recently passed five bills to increase cyber defenses for United State organizations and critical infrastructure.   Why Attack Critical Infrastructure? People and organizations not only depend on critical infrastructure, they need the critical infrastructure.  These organizations… Read More

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Hacking Group Stops Oil Pipeline and Breaks 45% of the United States Oil Supply

    Hacking Group Stops Oil Pipeline and Breaks 45% of the United States Oil Supply When you hear about a cyber attack, generally you assume that some sort of IT infrastructure suffered damage.  Your assumptions might include servers, web applications, or even the business processes that those systems support.  However, ransomware disables the largest pipeline in the United States in a recent attack.  This attack goes to show that as cyber attacks evolve, the cyber world can be used to inflict damage on the physical world and its infrastructure.   The Victim On May 7, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline suffered a ransomware attack that brought the pipeline’s operations to… Read More

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What is Penetration Testing and Why Do You Need It?

    What is Penetration Testing and Why Do You Need It? Across all your systems, applications, and software on your network lay vulnerabilities. Malicious attackers can exploit vulnerabilities and serious damage.  These vulnerabilities can lead to data loss, system downtime, financial loss, malware, and even ransomware.   Most of the time, organizations can easily remediate these vulnerabilities; however, if you do not know of their existence, how can you fix it?   What is Penetration Testing Penetration Testing is a practice conducted on systems in order to find exploitable vulnerabilities.  By finding vulnerabilities, organizations can stay proactive in their security stance.  With the knowledge and understanding of the exploitable… Read More

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Thousands of Driver’s Licenses Exposed Online due to Unsecured Amazon Server

  Welcome back all for another article in CPG’s cyber attack of the week series! Today, we are diving into a recent attack somewhere across the world.  Security researchers recently discovered roughly 50,000 New South Wales driver’s licenses and other connected documents in an unsecured Amazon server.    NSW Faces Attack on Driver’s Licenses To begin, this particular attack is so recent, that coverage and available information on the attack is scarce. But, that is what we are here for at CPG; ready to uncover and review any and all details surrounding the attack.  Recently, security researcher Bob Diachenko discovered the misconfigured s3 bucket online. He took to Twitter to… Read More

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UCSF Pays over a Million Dollars in Ransom to Hackers

   “We therefore made the difficult decision to pay some portion of the ransom, approximately $1.14 million…”   UCSF Under Attack On June 3rd, 2020, The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) announced a portion of their school faced a data breach. The portion of UCSF affected is the UCSF School of Medicine.  Reports indicate that the ransomware used to attack the school traces back to Netwalker Ransomware. After the discovery of the security incident and data encryption, UCSF decided to pay over one million dollars in ransom, for a decryption key.  Now, let’s take a look at the incident in greater detail, to understand the attack in its entirety. … Read More

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Bug Bounty Programs – Where is the Money At?

  Due to COVID-19, many in the tech and cyber world are looking for their next project. Looks like it is time to start hunting some hacks…    Bug bounty hunting is a term that is thrown around a lot in the tech world. Many are familiar with the practice, but others may just be getting started.  Bug bounty hunting is the practice of finding critical flaws in software for a company, and being rewarded monetarily for such efforts. Basically, find the issues that could potentially bring a company down and get paid for it.  So today, CPG is taking a look at a few of the top bug bounty programs… Read More

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“Fun” Facebook Questionnaire Posts are Putting Users in Danger

  What was the make and model of your first car? How many pets did you have growing up?   It’s all fun and games until your Facebook account is hacked… Due to the amount of people unemployed and/or simply working from home due to COVID-19, social media activity is at an all time high. From live streams on Instagram to millions of what fictional character am I? quiz results, people are posting now more than ever.  Continuing, while all of the posts on the internet may seem menial and an easy way to pass the time, many people do not understand the danger a simple post can be. This… Read More

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costco

Cyber Attack of the Week 07 – Scammers Target Loyal Costco Customers

  It appears that scammers are at it again. And this time, they have decided to wrap our poor, sweet, Costco into the mix…      Dealin’ and Scammin’ at Costco Welcome back everyone for a new article in CPG’s cyber attack of the week series. Today, we are taking a look at a scam that targets Costco customers.  To begin, Costco is a type of wholesale operation where members of the store have the opportunity to buy items in bulk, at a lower cost (most of the time). Costco is similar to Sam’s Club, as well as other wholesale retailers.  Now, many people sign up for a Costco membership… Read More

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prime minister

UK Prime Minister Leaks Meeting ID on Zoom

  Have you ever wondered what major government officials discuss behind closed doors? Well, now is your chance to find out!   Picture This Imagine holding one of the highest government positions in the UK as prime minister. Just imagine all the duties and responsibilities that entails. Now, when in a position of power, security of information is of the utmost importance, right? This includes things like communications, files and so much more.  Now, think about this: what if someone was able to just randomly listen in on the conversations you have with other members of the government. Even further, what if a random person listened in on a mitigation… Read More

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covid-19

Cyber Attack of the Week 04 – Healthcare Agencies Targeted during COVID-19 Outbreak

  What happens when a healthcare agency is “infected”? Happy Friday, everyone! Sometimes, I think about the irony of that greeting when I’m getting ready to introduce and review a cyber attack. But nonetheless, this week we have two attacks on our hands.    CHUPD Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, cyber criminals are not taking a day off; not even for a pandemic. Further, the victims this week happen to be two forms of health care agencies. The first is The Champaign Urbana Public Health District, based in Illinois. Their website, which provides much information and resources on COVID-19, became the target of a ransomware attack.    Here’s the Breakdown: Who:… Read More

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