Archive for the ‘cybercrime/malcode’ category: Page 137
Nov 23, 2020
Gene editing technologies and applications for insects
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, cybercrime/malcode, genetics
Initially discovered in bacteria, CRISPR-based genome editing endonucleases have proven remarkably amenable for adaptation to insects. To date, these endonucleases have been utilized in a plethora of both model and non-model insects including diverse flies, bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, and grasshoppers, to name a few, thereby revolutionizing functional genomics of insects. In addition to basic genome editing, they have also been invaluable for advanced genome engineering and synthetic biology applications. Here we explore the recent genome editing advancements in insects for generating site-specific genomic mutations, insertions, deletions, as well as more advanced applications such as Homology Assisted Genome Knock-in (HACK), potential to utilize DNA base editing, generating predictable reciprocal chromosomal translocations, and development gene drives to control the fate of wild populations.
Nov 23, 2020
GoDaddy Employees Used in Attacks on Multiple Cryptocurrency Services
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cryptocurrencies, cybercrime/malcode
Fraudsters redirected email and web traffic destined for several cryptocurrency trading platforms over the past week. The attacks were facilitated by scams targeting employees at GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.
The incident is the latest incursion at GoDaddy that relied on tricking employees into transferring ownership and/or control over targeted domains to fraudsters. In March, a voice phishing scam targeting GoDaddy support employees allowed attackers to assume control over at least a half-dozen domain names, including transaction brokering site escrow.com.
Nov 21, 2020
Botnets have been silently mass-scanning the internet for unsecured ENV files
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cybercrime/malcode, internet
Threat actors are looking for API tokens, passwords, and database logins usually stored in ENV files.
Nov 19, 2020
Ransomware attack brings Columbus County’s website down
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cybercrime/malcode
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) — What was initially reported as a website ‘outage’ by Columbus County turns out to be something more sinister, a directed attack at the county’s web hosting service.
Nov 18, 2020
Ransomware attack forces web hosting provider Managed.com to take servers offline
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cybercrime/malcode
Nov 18, 2020
Majority of APAC firms pay up in ransomware attacks
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cybercrime/malcode
Despite expert advice against paying up, most victims of ransomware attacks in the region, including 88% in Australia and 78% in Singapore, have paid the ransom in full or in part, and the number of such attacks is only going to keep climbing amidst accelerated digital transformation efforts and remote work.
Nov 17, 2020
CubeSats: Tiny Platforms for Orbiting Optics
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cybercrime/malcode, satellites
Small, boxy satellites are ridesharing their way into outer space—and may lead to important advances in laser communications and cybersecurity.
Nov 15, 2020
New method ensures complex programs are bug-free without testing
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: cybercrime/malcode
A team of researchers have devised a way to verify that a class of complex programs is bug-free without the need for traditional software testing. Called Armada, the system makes use of a technique called formal verification to prove whether a piece of software will output what it’s supposed to. It targets software that runs using concurrent execution, a widespread method for boosting performance, which has long been a particularly challenging feature to apply this technique to.
The collaborative effort between the University of Michigan, Microsoft Research, and Carnegie Mellon was recognized at ACM’s Programming Language Design and Implementation (PDLI 2020) with a Distinguished Paper Award.
Concurrent programs are known for their complexity, but have been a vital tool for increasing performance after the raw speed of processors began to plateau. Through a variety of different methods, the technique boils down to running multiple instructions in a program simultaneously. A common example of this is making use of multiple cores of a CPU at once.
Nov 14, 2020
Ransomware Gang Devises Innovative Extortion Tactic
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: cybercrime/malcode, innovation
The gang behind the Ragnar Locker ransomware posted an ad on Facebook in an attempt to publicly shame a victim so it would pay a ransom. Security experts say the innovative tactic is indicative of things to come.
See Also: Palo Alto Networks Ignite 20: Discover the Future of Cybersecurity, Today
Earlier this week, the cyber gang hacked into a random company’s Facebook advertising account and then used it to buy an ad containing a press release stating Ragnar Locker had breached the Italian liquor company Campari and demanded it pay the ransom or see its data released. The security firm Emsisoft provided an image of the ad to Information Security Media Group.