Visa, a global payment processor has warned that hackers are on the rise in deploying web shells in infected servers to steal credit card information from online customers. A kind of tools  (scripts or programs) Web Shells are used by hackers to infiltrate into compromised, deploy remote execute arbitrary commands or codes, traverse secretly within victim's compromised network, or attach extra payloads (malicious). Since last year, VISA has witnessed an increase in the use of web shells to deploy java-script-based files termed as credit card skimming into breached online platforms in digital skimming (also known as web skimming, e-skimming, or Magecart attacks).  

Chinese hackers are infiltrating into residents' house security cameras, shooting them having sex and selling the footage online. However shocking this crime may sound, it's pretty common nowadays, according to South China Morning Post. It reports, "the videos are priced based on how exciting they are and are sold via social media, according to an undercover investigative report aired by the television station on Monday. Video clips involving nudity or sexual acts are priced at 50 yuan (US$8) each, while those “normal ones shot in hotel rooms” are 20 yuan (US$3), said an unidentified seller of these videos in the report."  

It is the first SD-WAN-class development that supports Russian encryption algorithms and is included in the Russian software registry.

Sberbank's press service reports that the technology can allow state institutions and companies of any industry to build a corporate network in minutes, provide a stable connection to regional branches and home offices and protect the data transmitted between them. A single device replaces multiple types of network equipment and includes automatic use of various information security features.

The development consists of two parts: the hardware, which is installed in the offices of the enterprise, and the cloud, where the hardware is managed. The solution can reduce the cost of deploying and maintaining the network by about 2.5 times, as well as reduce the cost of personnel, local installation and manual configuration of each device separately.

"In fact, we have created a universal platform for organizations that combines many network devices at once, including information security tools. BI.ZONE Secure SD-WAN requires no special skills, any employee can connect it to the company's network in a few minutes, and its cost is almost three times cheaper than traditional solutions. Thanks to the cryptographic protection the development is suitable for government agencies, banks and other organizations that work with confidential and personal data or payment information," said Director of Managed Services Unit at BI.ZONE.

The new development is included in the register of Russian software, so it is suitable for organizations that adhere to the import substitution policy. Also, for some organizations, the opportunity to work on a service model with outsourcing of network security management tasks will be an advantage.

 The Central Bank of Russia has warned of the emergence of a group of hackers investigating vulnerabilities in banks' mobile applications.

The Bank of Russia has detected a shift in hackers' attention from the banking infrastructure to customers' financial mobile applications in order to steal data or money from their accounts. The regulator suggests that a highly skilled hacker group has emerged in the financial market specializing in the deep analysis of mobile applications in order to detect and exploit weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

The survey is based on information exchange between the Central Bank and financial market participants. 818 organizations, including 365 banks, are currently included to it.

"The data available to the Bank of Russia suggests the emergence of at least one group of attackers focused on the skilled hacking of financial mobile applications," the survey said.

The Central Bank cited two examples in which cybercriminals discovered vulnerabilities in mobile apps and used them for hacking. As a result, in the first case, a server containing files with the personal data of a bank's customers - more than 100,000 lines - was published on the Web: Name, gender, mobile phone number, email address, place of work, account and bank card number, account type, currency. In the second case, the hackers managed to steal money by logging into the bank's mobile app and, when making a transfer, substituting their account number with that of another bank customer, who became the victim.

"These two examples are not the only cases of attacks on mobile applications of financial institutions that have occurred recently," the review specifies. In this regard, the Central Bank has recommended banks to strengthen the protection of mobile components of remote service systems.

U.S. authorities found no evidence that hackers affiliated with foreign governments were able to block voters from voting, alter votes, interfere with the counting or timely transmission of election results, alter technical aspects of the voting process, or otherwise compromise the integrity of voter registration or ballot information submitted during the 2020 federal election.

This is reported in a joint report by the US Department of Justice (including the FBI) ​​and the Department of Homeland Security (including the Cyber ​​and Infrastructure Security Agency).

According to the report, "as part of Russia's and Iran's extensive campaigns against critical infrastructure, the security of several networks to manage some election functions was indeed compromised. But it had no meaningful impact on the integrity of voter data, the ability to vote, the counting of votes, or the timely transmission of election results. Iran's claims to undermine public confidence in the U.S. election infrastructure were false or exaggerated".

However, experts have identified several incidents in which malicious actors linked to the governments of Russia, China and Iran significantly affected the security of networks linked to U.S. political organizations, candidates and campaigns during the 2020 federal election. In most cases, it is unclear whether the attackers sought access to the networks for foreign political interests or for operations related to election interference.

In a number of cases, the attackers collected at least some information that they might have published in order to exert influence. However, no evidence of publishing, modifying or destroying this information was found.

"We found no evidence (either through intelligence gathering on the foreign attackers themselves, through monitoring the physical security and cybersecurity of voting systems across the country, or through post-election audits or any other means) that a foreign government or other parties compromised the election infrastructure to manipulate the election results," the report authors summarized.