Bank of Valletta suspended all operations in wake of cyber attack
In a relatively rare indecent, a large bank has temporarily ceased all operations after threat actors breached its systems. On Wednesday morning, the Maltese Bank of Valletta (BOV) discovered that hackers were making illicit transfers totaling €13 million ($14.65 million) to various accounts overseas. While the bank blocked the transfers
U.S. Senators Announce Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Bills
U.S. senators recently introduced two bipartisan bills intended to make it easier for government agencies to overcome the cybersecurity skills gap and prevent an increase of unfilled jobs. Last week, two Republican and two Democratic Senators reintroduced the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act, which outlines the development of a program
Why it’s time to make cybersecurity a national priority
In order for the United States to become a dominant cybersecurity force, cybersecurity needs to be made a national priority, according to Eric Trexler, vice president of global governments and critical infrastructure at Forcepoint. Trexler believes that just like America won the space race through a massive national effort, the US
Devastating Cyberattack on Email Provider Destroys 18 Years of Data
An unidentified threat actor has managed to cause “catastrophic destruction” to the infrastructure of US email provider VFEmail by breaking into the firm’s systems and wiping customer email data going back 18 years, together with all backup copies. Since the attacker did not reach out to the company and did
Pentagon to funnel tens of millions into cyber training for American soldiers
The US government is financing significant expansions of its cyber training facilities for American soldiers. The Pentagon will allocate millions of dollars to various plans that seem in line with the military’s increased focus on offensive hacking operations. Last week, thee solicitations were released by the US army outlining expansions
Microsoft, Adobe Both Close More Than 70 Security Issues
As part of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft and Adobe each released over 70 fixes for security flaws in their products. One of the Microsoft patches addresses a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Microsoft’s Exchange server, which is likely to be under active exploitation. According to Dustin Childs of Trend Micro, the flaw “allows
What Happens If Russia Cuts Itself Off From The Internet
Russia plans to test the independence of the country’s internet, known as Runet, by disconnecting it from the global Internet. The plan is the result of a new law that was proposed in the Russian parliament in December of last year. Under the law, Russian Internet service providers (ISPs) need to
Double-Stuffed: Dunkin’ Hit by Another Credential-Stuffing Attack
For the second time in three months, Dunkin’ Donuts has stopped a credential stuffing attack targeting it’s loyalty program. The company believes the attackers aimed to compromise loyalty accounts by trying out login credentials for user accounts with other companies that have suffered a data breach. Credential stuffing takes advantage of
Trump gave the military freer rein for offensive hacking. Security experts say that’s a good idea.
According to a new Washington Post survey conducted among government, business and academic leaders, 60% of cyber security experts support President Trump’s decision to provide the US Secretary of Defense with increased autonomy for authorizing offensive cyber operations. The US President signed a directive for this plan in August of last
Trump signs executive order prioritising AI development
The US government has committed itself to playing a leading role in the global proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that launches the American AI Initiative under supervision of the National Science and Technology Council Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (NSTC Select Committee).