Bad actors that include nation-state groups to financially-motivated cybercriminals from across the globe are targeting the maximum-severity but easily exploitable React2Shell flaw, with threat researchers see everything from probes and backdoors to botnets and cryptominers.

The post Attackers Worldwide are Zeroing In on React2Shell Vulnerability appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The exploitation efforts by China-nexus groups and other bad actors against the critical and easily abused React2Shell flaw in the popular React and Next.js software accelerated over the weekend, with threats ranging from stolen credentials and initial access to downloaders, crypto-mining, and the NoodleRat backdoor being executed.

The post Exploitation Efforts Against Critical React2Shell Flaw Accelerate appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Chinese-sponsored groups are using the popular Brickstorm backdoor to access and gain persistence in government and tech firm networks, part of the ongoing effort by the PRC to establish long-term footholds in agency and critical infrastructure IT environments, according to a report by U.S. and Canadian security offices.

The post China Hackers Using Brickstorm Backdoor to Target Government, IT Entities appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Security and developer teams are scrambling to address a highly critical security flaw in frameworks tied to the popular React JavaScript library. Not only is the vulnerability, which also is in the Next.js framework, easy to exploit, but React is widely used, including in 39% of cloud environments.

The post Dangerous RCE Flaw in React, Next.js Threatens Cloud Environments, Apps appeared first on Security Boulevard.

A threat group dubbed ShadyPanda exploited traditional extension processes in browser marketplaces by uploading legitimate extensions and then quietly weaponization them with malicious updates, infecting 4.3 million Chrome and Edge users with RCE malware and spyware.

The post ShadyPanda’s Years-Long Browser Hack Infected 4.3 Million Users appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The FBI says that account takeover scams this year have resulted in 5,100-plus complaints in the U.S. and $262 million in money stolen, and Bitdefender says the combination of the growing number of ATO incidents and risky consumer behavior is creating an increasingly dangerous environment that will let such fraud expand.

The post FBI: Account Takeover Scammers Stole $262 Million this Year appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The Russian state-sponsored group behind the RomCom malware family used the SocGholish loader for the first time to launch an attack on a U.S.-based civil engineering firm, continuing its targeting of organizations that offer support to Ukraine in its ongoing war with its larger neighbor.

The post Russian-Backed Threat Group Uses SocGholish to Target U.S. Company appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Microsoft mitigated what it called a record-breaking DDoS attack by bad actor using the Aisuru botnet, a collection of about 300,000 infected IoT devices. The size of the attack and the botnet used in it is the latest example of a DDoS environment that continues to scale in pace with the internet.

The post Microsoft Fends Off Massive DDoS Attack by Aisuru Botnet Operators appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Google is suing the Smishing Triad group behind the Lighthouse phishing-as-a-service kit that has been used over the past two years to scam more than 1 million people around the world with fraudulent package delivery or EZ-Pass toll fee messages and stealing millions of credit card numbers. Google also is backing bills in Congress to address the threat.

The post Google Uses Courts, Congress to Counter Massive Smishing Campaign appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The Business of Secrets: Adventures in Selling Encryption Around the World by Fred Kinch (May 24, 2004)

From the vantage point of today, it’s surreal reading about the commercial cryptography business in the 1970s. Nobody knew anything. The manufacturers didn’t know whether the cryptography they sold was any good. The customers didn’t know whether the crypto they bought was any good. Everyone pretended to know, thought they knew, or knew better than to even try to know.

The Business of Secrets is the self-published memoirs of Fred Kinch. He was founder and vice president of—mostly sales—at a US cryptographic hardware company called Datotek, from company’s founding in 1969 until 1982. It’s mostly a disjointed collection of stories about the difficulties of selling to governments worldwide, along with descriptions of the highs and (mostly) lows of foreign airlines, foreign hotels, and foreign travel in general. But it’s also about encryption...

The post Book Review: The Business of Secrets appeared first on Security Boulevard.

What Is a Hash Function? A hash function is an arithmetic function that transforms an input (or a ‘message’) into a string of a predetermined number of bytes. The output, such as a hash code or a hash value, is often an equivalent of the data inputs provided. It is used to describe hash functionsRead More

The post What is a Hash Function in Cryptography? appeared first on EncryptedFence by Certera - Web & Cyber Security Blog.

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Intel is suing a former employee who the chipmaker claims downloaded almost 18,000 corporate files days before leaving the company. The software engineer was told he was being let go effective July 31, likely part of Intel's larger effort to shed 15% of its workforce.

The post Intel Sues Ex-Employee It Claims Stole 18,000 Company Files appeared first on Security Boulevard.

AI agents are increasingly being used to search the web, making traditional bot mitigation systems inadequate and opening the door for malicious actors to develop and deploy bots that impersonate legitimate agents from AI vendors to launch account takeover and financial fraud attacks.

The post Radware: Bad Actors Spoofing AI Agents to Bypass Malicious Bot Defenses appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Threat actors are working with organized crime groups to target freight operators and transportation companies, infiltrate their systems through RMM software, and steal cargo, which they then sell online or ship to Europe, according to Proofpoint researchers, who saw similar campaigns last year.

The post Hackers Targeting Freight Operators to Steal Cargo: Proofpoint appeared first on Security Boulevard.

So long and thanks for all the fish: Peter Williams admits to selling unpatched iPhone bugs to a shady Russian broker.

The post US Defense Contractor Boss Sold Zero Days to Russia — Cops a Plea appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Signal has just rolled out its quantum-safe cryptographic implementation.

Ars Technica has a really good article with details:

Ultimately, the architects settled on a creative solution. Rather than bolt KEM onto the existing double ratchet, they allowed it to remain more or less the same as it had been. Then they used the new quantum-safe ratchet to implement a parallel secure messaging system.

Now, when the protocol encrypts a message, it sources encryption keys from both the classic Double Ratchet and the new ratchet. It then mixes the two keys together (using a cryptographic key derivation function) to get a new encryption key that has all of the security of the classical Double Ratchet but now has quantum security, too...

The post Signal’s Post-Quantum Cryptographic Implementation appeared first on Security Boulevard.

A critical security flaw in Microsoft's WSUS feature is being actively exploited in the wild by threat actors who could gain access into unpatched servers, remotely control networks, and use them to deliver malware or do other damage. Microsoft is urging organizations to apply a patch to their systems.

The post Critical Microsoft WSUS Security Flaw is Being Actively Exploited appeared first on Security Boulevard.