David Bisson

The State of Security

The Egregor ransomware gang struck TransLink, the authority responsible for managing Metro Vancouver’s transportation network. On December 1, TransLink announced that certain issues were affecting its phones, online services and payment systems. The authority later confirmed that it had suffered a ransomware attack and that those responsible for the infection ... Read More

A global phishing campaign targeted organizations associated with the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) cold chain. Discovered by IBM Security X-Force, the operation began in September 2020 by targeting multiple entities that support the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP). A program created by Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, CCEOP aims to cultivate ... Read More

U.S. law enforcement learned that email attackers are using auto-forwarding rules to help them to perpetrate Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. In a Private Industry Notification published on November 25, the FBI revealed that some BEC scammers are now updating the auto-forwarding rules in the web-based client of an email ... Read More

An Indian national received a prison sentence of 20 years for having created a call center scheme that preyed upon U.S. individuals. On November 30, U.S. District Judge David Hittner handed down a 20-year prison sentence to Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, aka Hitesh Hinglaj, 44, of Ahmedabad, India. The sentence stemmed ... Read More

A phishing campaign used what appeared to be back-to-work notifications in order to compromise recipients’ corporate email accounts. Near the end of November, Abnormal Security detected one of the campaign’s attack emails. That message masqueraded as an internal notification from the recipient’s company. It did so by using spoofing techniques ... Read More

A new version of the Mount Locker crypto-ransomware strain is specifically targeting victims’ TurboTax files. As reported by Bleeping Computer, Advanced Intel’s Vitali Kremez came across a new Mount Locker sample that specifically sought out files used by the TurboTax tax preparation software. In particular, Kremez observed the sample going ... Read More

Malicious actors launched a phishing attack that’s using redirector websites with custom subdomains in order to evade detection. On November 16, Microsoft Security Intelligence tweeted out that it had spotted the phishing attack attempting to lure in recipients with emails disguised as password update reminders, helpdesk tickets and other seemingly ... Read More

Security researchers found several clues linking the WebNavigator web browser to well-known search hijackers. A Chromium-based browser, WebNavigator promises users that it’ll simplify their web browsing experience by providing “quick access” to their bookmarks. The browser also claims to yield quick search results by starting up with Windows and by ... Read More

Zoom released new security features to help its users counter disruptive meeting intrusions, otherwise known as “Zoombombing.” Matt Nagel, security & privacy PR lead at the American communications technology company, announced in a blog post on November 16 that Zoom had released two new anti-Zoombombing features over the previous weekend ... Read More

The Lazarus group leveraged a supply chain attack to target users located in South Korea with custom malware. On November 16, ESET disclosed that the Lazarus group conducted its supply chain attack by abusing WIZVERA VeraPort. This application helps users in South Korea manage the installation of additional computer security ... Read More