Research Saturday

Researchers at Guardicore Labs have been tracking an unusual cryptominer that seems to be based in China and is targeting Windows MS-SQL and phpMyAdmin servers. Some elements of the exploit make use of sophisticated components previously associated with nation-state actors. Ophir Harpaz and Daniel Goldberg are members of the Guardicore Labs team, and they join us to explain their findings. The res...

Researchers at Netscout's ASERT Team have been tracking the growth of botnets originating in Egypt and targeting routers in South Africa. The payload is a variant of the Hakai DDoS bot. Richard Hummel is threat intelligence manager at Netscout, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research is here: https://www.netscout.com/blog/asert/realtek-sdk-exploits-rise-egypt Learn more abou...

Synopsys recently published the 2019 edition of their Open Source Security and Risk Analysis (OSSRA) Report, providing an in-depth look at the state of open source security, compliance, and code quality risk in commercial software. Tim Mackey is principal security strategist within the Synopsys Cyber Research Center, and he joins us to share their findings. The research can be found here: https://...

Researchers at Cloudflare have been examining HTTPS interception, a technique that weakens security, and have developed tools to help detect it.  Nick Sullivan is head of cryptography at Cloudflare, and he joins to us share their findings. The research can be found here: https://blog.cloudflare.com/monsters-in-the-middleboxes/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers at Zscaler have been tracking look-alike apps in third-party Android app stores that carry malicious code. Deepen Desai is VP of security research and operations and Zscaler, and he joins us to share their findings.  The original research can be found here: https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/research/third-party-android-store-sms-trojan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Researchers at AT&T Alien Labs have been tracking a new malware family they've named "Xwo" that's scanning systems for default credentials and vulnerable web services.  Tom Hegel is security researcher with AT&T Alien Labs, and he share their findings. The original research is here: https://www.alienvault.com/blogs/labs-research/xwo-a-python-based-bot-scanner Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Adrian Bednarek is a senior research analyst at Independent Security Evaluators. He and his colleagues looked at weak private cryptocurrency keys on the Ethereum blockchain in an attempt to discover how and why they are being generated as well as how bad actors are taking advantage of them. The original research is here: https://www.securityevaluators.com/casestudies/ethercombing/ Learn more about...

Chronicle researchers Juan Andres Guerrero Saade and Silas Cutler recently published research tracking the development of the Stuxnet family of malware, which ultimately led them to the GOSSIPGIRL Supra Group of threat actors.  Juan Andres Guerrero Saade joins us to share their findings. The research can be found here: https://medium.com/chronicle-blog/who-is-gossipgirl-3b4170f846c0 Learn more abo...

Researchers at Symantec have been tracking an espionage group known as Elfin (aka APT 33) that has targeted dozens of organizations over the past three years, primarily focusing on Saudi Arabia and the United States.  Alan Neville is a principal threat intelligence analyst at Symantec, and he joins us to share their findings. The research can be found here: https://www.symantec.com/blogs/threat-in...

Researchers at Blackberry Cylance have been tracking payload obfuscation techniques employed by OceanLotus (APT32), specifically steganography used to hide code within seemingly benign image files. Tom Bonner is director of threat research at Blackberry Cylance, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://www.cylance.com/en-us/lp/threat-research-and-in...

Researchers at Cisco Talos have been tracking what they believe is a state-sponsored attack on DNS systems, targeting the Middle East and North Africa. This attack has the potential to erode trust and stability of the DNS system, so critical to the global economy. Craig Williams is director of Talos Outreach at Cisco, and he joins us to share their findings.  The original research can be found her...

Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel have developed techniques to infiltrate medical imaging system networks and alter 3D medical scans within, fooling both human and automated examiners with a high rate of success.  Yisroel Mirsky is a cybersecurity researcher and project manager at Ben Gurion University, and he joins us to share what his team discovered. The original research can be fo...

Researchers have discovered a number of vulnerabilities in the SwissPost e-vote system which could allow undetectable manipulation of votes.  Dr Vanessa Teague is Associate Professor and Chair, Cybersecurity and Democracy Network at the Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia. She joins us to explain her team's findings. The original research is here: https://people.eng...

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab Security and Privacy Institute claim to have made an important breakthrough in establishing root of trust (RoT) to detect malware in computing devices. Virgil Gligor is one of the authors of the research, and he joins us to share their findings. Link to original research -  https://www.ndss-symposium.org/ndss-paper/establishing-software-root-of-tru...

Joep Gommers from EclecticIQ joins us to share their research tracking the information operations and and security methods they've been tracking that Russians have been using in advance of the recently held elections in Ukraine. The research can be found here: https://www.eclecticiq.com/resources/fusion-center-report-situational-awareness-ukraine-elections Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Researchers at Pen Test Partners recently examined a variety of third-party automotive security systems and found serious security issues, potentially giving bad actors the ability to locate, disable or meddle with multiple vehicle systems. Ken Munro is a security researcher with Pen Test Partners, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://www.pentes...

Investigators from McAfee's advanced threat research unit, working with partners at Coveware, have reevaluated hasty attributions of Ryuk ransomware to North Korea and have explored the inner workings of the threat. John Fokker is head of cyber investigations in McAfee's Advanced Threat research unit. He join us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://securingtomo...

Akamai's Larry Cashdollar joins us to describe an exploit he recently came across while researching MageCart incidents. It's a remote command execution vulnerability affecting ThinkPHP, a popular web framework. The original research can be found here: https://blogs.akamai.com/sitr/2019/01/thinkphp-exploit-actively-exploited-in-the-wild.html   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Vitali Kremez is a Director of Research at Flashpoint. His team discovered that the recently disclosed intrusion suffered in December 2018 by Chilean interbank network Redbanc involved PowerRatankba, a malware toolkit with ties to North Korea-linked group Lazarus. The intrusion represents the latest known example of Lazarus-affiliated tools being deployed within financially motivated activity targ...

Researchers at Zscaler have been tracking a variety fake versions of the popular Fortnite game on the Google Play store, along with associated scams. Deepen Desai is head of security research at Zscaler, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/research/fake-fortnite-apps-scamming-and-spying-android-gamers Learn more about your...

Researchers at security firm Cylance have been tracking a threat group targeting the Rosneft Russian oil company. As Cylance uncovered details, suspicions shifted from state-sponsored espionage to business email compromise.  Kevin Livelli is director of threat intelligence at Cylance, and he joins us to share what they found. The original research can be found here: https://threatvector.cylance.co...

Researchers at Symantec have been tracking Seedworm, a cyber espionage group targeting the Middle East as well as Europe and North America. The threat group targets government agencies, oil & gas facilities, NGOs, telecoms and IT firms. Al Cooley is director of product management at Symantec, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://www.symantec.com...

The team at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 recently published research tracking trends in how organizations are addressing cloud security, along with tips for improvement.  Ryan Olson is VP of threat intelligence at Palo Alto Networks, and he joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit-42-cloud-security-trends-tips/ Learn more ab...

Researchers at Trend Micro recently published their look inside online underground marketplaces in the Middle East and North Africa, where criminals are buying and selling malware, laundering money and event booking their next discount vacation. Jon Clay is director of global threat communications at Trend Micro, and he joins us with their findings.  The original research can be found here: https:...

Researchers from Duo Security have been analyzing the behavior of Twitter bots in a series of posts on their web site. Their most recent dive into the subject explores amplification bots, which boost the impact of tweets through likes and retweets. Jordan Wright is a principal R&D engineer at Duo Security, and he joins us to share their findings. Link to the original research -  https://duo.com/la...