The largest Russian provider of digital services and services Rostelecom offered telecom operators to set traps for hackers - honeypots.

The concept of creating a new cyberattack warning system was presented at a meeting of the Information Security working group as part of the Digital Economy national project.

It is known that we are talking about creating special software that will simulate the vulnerability of the server, seeing which hackers try to hack the network of companies. At this time, the program will record all the actions of the attacker and send them to specialists. Experts of Rostelecom are sure that in this way it will be possible to collect information about new methods of hacking.

Operators must set these traps themselves and exchange data with other companies. At the same time, Rostelecom's concept does not imply state financing of the project, and the company does not specify the cost of the entire system.

According to the head of the Russian research center Kaspersky Lab Yuri Namestnikov, businessmen will incur minor expenses. Basically, the money will be used to select specialists and improve servers and security.

IT-experts call telecom operators one of the most interested users of honeypots.  Positive Technologies expert Dmitry Kasymov said that telecom operator can’t be called secure in principle. "During the conduction security audits, we identify many vulnerabilities that allow attackers to leave subscribers without communication, listen to their conversations and intercept SMS, use communication services at their expense and even bypass the operator's billing systems.

These security flaws are already being exploited by hackers, even for stealing money from Bank accounts," explained he.

So, many Russian mobile operators supported Rostelecom's initiative to create a system of honeypots, as the infrastructure of these telecommunications companies still suffers from cybercriminals.

However, Kaspersky Lab experts warn that misuse of the honeypot concept can be dangerous. If you do not configure this type of system properly, it can become a source of additional threats to the network infrastructure.

According to a recent inquiry conducted by the Wall Street Journal last week, the Cowlitz County PUD is amid more than 12 businesses that fell prey to a fresh cyber attack in the United States. Alice Dietz, spokesperson, Cowlitz County PUD, on Wednesday, authenticated that the company's firewall prevented the only corrupt e-mail that attackers transmitted. "We have pride in our Cybersecurity staff. We remain to achieve effective cyber safety standards. This is a classic instance of how serious Cowlitz County PUD is for its security," said Dietz in a statement.


No customer complaints regarding the attacks have appeared yet. The attackers that are still unidentified tried to download viruses on business networks across America using fraud e-mails. When the receivers open these phishing emails, the malware gets entry into the user's computer. The virus that was sent to businesses is called "Lookback." This malware lets attackers seize charge of target’s networks and take data. Very rare users at each business were attacked. The hackers checked the utility firms before launching the attack.

"We are unaware of the employee that was targeted nor do we know the contents of the emails," says Dietz. "Experts recognized a couple of times in July and August when attackers had sent phishing e-mails," reports the Washington Journal. Dietz further continues that their company only got a mail in August. The malicious email was blocked by the company's firewall protection. "Our staff was not aware of the "Lookback," it only surfaced when the FBI looked into the issue. However, the FBI research didn't find any malicious emails in the company's data system," Cowlitz County PUD GM Gary Huhta told the Washington Journal.

"The hackers forgot classifying data on victims shortly revealed on in a Hong Kong server," cyber-security experts described to the Washington Journal. "The company's safety mode itself obstructs e-mails from abroad," Dietz reported to The Daily News Businesses across the United States were attacked. "Another Washington business that was attacked was Klickitat County PUD, says the Washington Journal." The cyberattack was initially discovered by experts at Proofpoint, a Silicon Valley cyber safety firm.

Michael Costa

Michael Costa, Deputy Consulate General of Australia for South India, was the chief guest of the event.  The event started with welcome address speech by R. RamaMurthy, chairman of CSPF.

The speakers:

• Dr. R.K. RAGHAVAN- Former High Commissioner of India, Republic of Cyprus.
• Dr.R.SADAKATHULLAH– Former Regional Director,RBI,Chennai.
• Dr. S SATHIK-Former Vice Chancellor, University of Madras.
• SUGATA ROY – Specialist for Communication, Advocacy & Partnerships of UNICEF
• R. RAM KUMAR - CEO, Amvion Labs Pvt Ltd
• SURIYA - Head – Reeja Vajra APT Scan, CSPF Pte Ltd., Singapore

Finland is adapting to protect itself from a secret criminal organization warning to attack cyber-security if the country fails to pay Bitcoins as the ransom money. 

"Around two hundred Finland government bodies and districts participated in the preparation. The situation reportedly concerns a possible group of hackers asking Bitcoin ransom before prosecuting several attacks on cybersecurity," concludes the reports of YLE. The threats are said to be given by #Tietovuoto321, a crew of criminal hackers. According to reports, the group sent Bitcoin ransom blackmails to more than 200 Finnish government agencies, in response to which the Finland authorities have taken steps.


Organizations prepared for further warnings- The training Taisto is conducted by the Population Register Centre, aiming for supporting the technologization of the nation and computerized assistance in Finland. The Population Register Centre works for the Ministry of Finance. As of now, public agencies and bodies noticed their websites and cybersecurity vulnerable to hacking recently. Therefore, a training program is said to be scheduled in the coming days. "The voluntary bodies have reacted happily," says General Secretary, Population Register Centre. He further says, "The institutions in recent times have started waking up to new attacks daily and it is becoming a matter of concern for the nation."

Cases of Ransomware threats have increased- 
The attacks demanding ransoms have multiplied in recent times. Government bodies have become a simple target for hackers all around the world. In a new report published by Hard Fork, "The American government had to pay the hackers to recover their health institutions' data servers."In a data breach incident last month in Mexico, the hackers demanded Bitcoins valued $4.9 million from a government-owned oil company named Pemex.

But it's not all sad and gloomy. In a surprising change of events recently, a user sufferer of ransomware claimed vengeance on his enemies by hacking the database that supported their virus, publishing 1000 deciphering codes for other victims to help them get their money back. In the present times, it is quite difficult to completely divert such warnings in the actual course, but the training tries to support institutions' capacities to fight an invasion.

Airat Khairullin, the Minister of Digital Development of Public Administration, Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Tatarstan, told about the main directions of the Ministry's work, the center for digital transformation of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as about the work of the sovereign Internet in Tatarstan and correspondence in messengers.

"If someone tomorrow decides to physically block the DNS server system for Russia, our IP routing may be disrupted. Therefore, we are talking about allowing traffic to be routed at the junction of Russian and foreign providers."

According to him, Tatarstan has already created the appropriate infrastructure for the sustainable protection of the Internet from external attacks. Thus, all 10 thousand social objects of the Republic are connected to the Internet through the Data Processing Center (DPC) in the IT Park. There is a second data center for disaster resilience in the Council State.

"And technically, if the DPC of the IT Park is destroyed by fire or flood, we have a fault tolerance point, and within this logic, it is also a sovereign Internet," he said.
In an interview with journalists, Khairullin also shared that he uses popular messengers, including the Telegram blocked in Russia.

The Minister also commented on the statement of Pavel Durov regarding the insecurity of using WhatsApp and calls to remove it.

"Any application carries a vulnerability. The question of compromises is to be completely without a phone and use pigeon mail or use messengers," said Khairullin.

On November 12, the Prime Minister of the Republic signed a decree on the establishment of the Tatarstan Digital Technology Center. The new institution was created to improve the quality of life of Tatarstan citizens, accelerate the receipt of public services, as well as simplify the interaction between the state, society and business.

Recall that Khairullin previously said that 7 cyberattacks occur on the DPS every day. Therefore, to improve the security system next year, the Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan has planned a competition for white hat hackers who will have to try to find the shortcomings and vulnerabilities of the Republican website of public services and hack it. The exact date when this experiment will take place has not yet been determined.

Cyber-Security company Nyotron has caught a new way that lets hackers modify Microsoft files in a unique style that subsisting anti-ransomware are unable to identify.

Ransomware is one of the most common cyber-security menaces. "It is said to be the top 2 widely used technique used by hackers, as in the case of hijacking 28 computers appeared," confirms Verizon's data breach inquiry report. Unfortunately, for the present time, it is proving quite hard to be identified. The ransomware can permit attackers to avoid the present computer securities by depending on a data system, which is the ‘rename’ selection in the Windows operating system. This detour can be performed in just two rows of the cipher. That is how simple it is for hackers.



What is Ransomware? 

Ransomware is a sort of harmful virus, intended to reject entrance to a network system or information. For access to the data, the malware demands a ransom to be paid. It normally grows through fraud e-mails or by hitting an affected website that is unfamiliar. Ransomware is disastrous to a person or an institution.

"The firm has obeyed declaration disciplines and urged all safety businesspeople to discuss the issue. Moreover, to examine if the system is infected or not, the company has provided users a fresh new tool," says Nir Gaist, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Nyotron. Gaist further adds, "The unusual style of file alteration 'RIPlace' suggests that while technology might not ‘cover’ the virus, let's say, it helps adjust data on a computer stealthily. Therefore, from the warning player outlook, it is our only hope for identifying 'Ransomware.' The firm has also explained how the RIPlace technique allows ransomware to dodge the detection and infect computers despite Symantec Endpoint Protection and Windows Defender Antivirus software being installed.

"Recently, there was a vulnerability discovered in Canon cameras which allowed the hackers to perform ransomware attacks," say the experts from Check Point, a cyber-security company. The company examined if the DSLR's image transference custom could be misused to let an attacker hack the DSLR and affect it with the virus. However, the attacker, in this case, was obliged to be close to the camera to affect it. The issue sparked caution, as it could be used to exploit different kinds of devices.

The Creator of Telegram messenger Pavel Durov called WhatsApp application unsafe.
He recalled a recently discovered vulnerability that allowed hackers and government intelligence agencies to access user data.

"WhatsApp not only does not protect your messages, but this app is also constantly being used as a Trojan to track photos and messages unrelated to Messenger," wrote he on the Telegram channel.
According to Durov, the problem lies in the policy of Facebook, which owns WhatsApp.
Durov noted that his Telegram messenger did not encounter such vulnerabilities in six years of existence. At the same time, he doubted that WhatsApp makes mistakes in the security system due to system imperfections.

"It is very unlikely that someone can accidentally allow serious security failures, such convenient for surveillance, on a regular basis," said he.Therefore, Durov urged users to delete WhatsApp.

In addition, Durov claimed that WhatsApp, like Facebook, shared user information with almost everyone who claimed to be working for the government.

The words of the Creator of Telegram were commented by experts. Thus, the CEO of Digital platforms Arseny Shcheltsin noted that any messenger, including Telegram, has access to the files of the smartphone.

"Does the messenger use this data for its work? It's hard to say," said he.According to Shcheltsin, WhatsApp is trying to demonstrate its usefulness to investors and recoup millions of dollars in costs. And Mark Zuckerberg can consider data collection is an excellent format for the best advertising targeting.

Arseniy Poyarkov, a member of the State Duma’s expert council on the digital economy, advised users of Messengers to prepare in advance for the fact that their personal data can become available to anyone.

According to him, data leaks are almost always associated with careless actions of the user himself.
"Observing information hygiene: using VPN, foreign secure messengers, regularly deleting correspondence and unnecessary photos - you can feel safe with a high degree of confidence," concluded Poyarkov.

Illegal affair in Mac operating system proceeds to increase, with malware makers producing out bugs that aim users of the popular operating system Apple. Discovered by Trend Micro as 'backdoor.macOS.nukespeed,' a new modification of a Mac backdoor is associated with the cyber-criminal club Lazarus, which was recently infamous for targeting Korean organizations with a crafted MS Excel spreadsheet.


Connections to a first Lazarus routine- 

A malicious sample that was discovered by a twitter user named cyberwar_15 was analyzed, and the experts found that the virus used an embedded excel sheet to target the user. This kind of attack is similar to the one which was conducted by the Lazarus group. But, contrary to the earlier hack which includes many routines based on the Operating system the Excel sheet is running on, the embedded macro in this catalog will simply work a PowerShell text that joins to 3 C&C servers, established by the group Lazarus.

The Mac package also holds fake and genuine Flash Players- 

Aside from the examined specimen, Qianxin Technology and @cyberwar_15 also found an inhospitable Mac application package doubted to be connected to the crime as it yields alike C&C servers with crafted spreadsheets. But, this is merely a bait as the original flash player file is carried as a concealed Mac OS catalog. The package holds 2 adobe flash player files, one being a genuine version while the other a fake version named as 'trojan.macOS.nukesped.b.' The application will operate on the micro-size flash player file as its primary actor, which is the fake variant that simply acts as an 'adobe flash player'. To hide the malicious hacking activity, the virus runs the genuine flash player to do the trick.

Conclusion- 

• 
  

In contrast to Lazarus’ previous method that used macros to install a backdoor Mac file for the backdoor entry, the examples examined by TrendMicro show that hacks like these use a fake application as a decoy to run along with the malicious macOS attacks. The criminal groups like Lazarus have become a threat to cybersecurity, Lazarus has been expanding its reach of intervention by various programs.

A latest risky threat has been identified in both Android/iOS devices' WhatsApp version. The bug allows hackers to transmit tampered MP4 folders to WhatsApp users, which enables the Dos and Remote Code Execution Attack. Whatsapp is one of the most popular social media apps in the world, with billions of Android and ios users. The threat is categorized as a “Risky” vulnerability that struck a remote code block of MP4 files in the Whatsapp database. The bug exploits the user's device and manipulates a piece of information to hit the memory of WhatsApp Messenger.



The vulnerability allows hackers to use the bug on the user’s smartphone to take important data and also allows surveillance of user activity. “The bug can activate a stack-based buffer in the user's Whatsapp account by transmitting tampered MP4 folders. The problem was already breaking down the primary metadata of the MP4 files. This could lead to an RCE or DoS attack," says the Facebook advisory board on behalf of WhatsApp.

About RCE Vulnerability- 

In an RCE hack, attackers purposely misuse a primitive code performance vulnerability to run the virus. RCE can have harmful results on a network—by urging the affected system to execute code performance, the attacker can conduct his performing. The threat also enables hackers to execute the attack without any kind of verification. Known as CVE-2019-11931, the vulnerability can be tracked using the same. It is not the first time that such an attack has occurred on Whatsapp, another similar RCE attack was discovered last month that allowed hackers to steal files from users' WhatsApp account using wicked Gifs.

As of now, no factual details about the vulnerability are available. The experts are still inquiring about the issue. "No proof was found for the vulnerability that caused the exploit," said Whatsapp spokesperson to GBHackers. He further says, “WhatsApp is steadily striving to upgrade the safety of our assistance. We give open statements on possible problems that we have solved steadily with management friendly manners. In this case, there is no evidence to assume users were affected.”

Mobile applications with an electronic passport will not be able to completely replace a physical document. The FSB opposed the idea of placing the full document in smartphones.

The FSB considers it extremely unreliable to place the passport data of Russians in applications based on foreign operating systems iOS and Android, as they will not be able to guarantee the security of data and absolute access control from unauthorized persons. It will be possible to fully use the application as an identity card only when the domestic operating systems will function normally in Russia.

"There is a risk that Apple or Google developers will be able to access the data stored in the application", suggests Alexander Kruglov, senior analyst at Digital Security.

"Theoretically, there is such a possibility, since iOS or Android developers can insert a traffic analyzer into the next update of the system and collect user data", added he.

According to Kruglov, Apple, for example, refuses FBI requests to open access to iPhones of suspects.

It is worth noting that there is a Russian operating system Aurora created on the basis of the Finnish Sailfish. The state was going to supply officials and civil servants with phones with Aurora OS, they were going to spend 160 billion rubles (2,4 million $) on this. But there are practically no devices with preinstalled Aurora OS and applications for this operating system.

During a recent meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, it was decided that a smartphone app will appear and will be able to verify the identity of a citizen in most, but not all situations.

Most likely, citizens will be able to use the app only for simple services: for example, to verify the age when buying alcohol or cigarettes. But it will be possible to buy an apartment only through a card with a chip.

Earlier, E Hacking News reported that the Russian government has determined the basic parameters of the future e-passport. It will have two components - a plastic card with a chip and a mobile application. Documents of the new type will be issued to Russians from 2020 in Moscow. Paper passports will no longer be issued, but old documents will remain valid until their expiration date. The e-passport will become a universal carrier of information about a person, necessary for his identification.

According to the fresh news that has been coming from various experts, it has appeared that Chandrayaan-2 (also known as Mission Moon), a famous mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was attacked by hackers from North Korea. It also appears that the attacks were organized using a malware named Dtrack, which is connected to a club of North Korean hackers managed by the administration. "The malware was identified by the Financial Institute and Research Centers in 18 Indian states," confirms the reports by Kaspersky, a cybersecurity firm.


It is also said that the same malware was used to direct hacks on Kudankulam nuclear factory. The National Cyber Coordination Center that attempts to protect the nation from harmful cyber invasions recently received critical information from a US cybersecurity firm regarding the hack. It said that Kunankulam Nuclear Plant's master domain controllers alongside the ISRO were attacked by the hackers. Following this incident, Kaspersky's specialists detected the malware and notified the issue to the Indian government before the Chandrayaan-2 landing.

"The hack was organized using very simple and basic techniques like phishing emails, an unedited browser, and poor security that resulted in allowing the hackers to easily invade the devices," says Yash Kadakia in an interview, founder, Security Brigade, a cybersecurity firm in Mumbai. He further adds that a similar server was used to send spams to superior nuclear experts at the Nuclear Plant in Kudankulam which was also aimed by the hackers to pick other experts at ISRO later.

About Dtrack Malware- 
Generated by North Korean Hackers, the Dtrack malware provides a full command that permits the hackers to obtain data from the device. The virus can misuse devices with weak privacy and passwords. If the virus invades a device, it can obtain critical information like catalogs, IDs, user history, and IP addresses. "A high number of DTrack attacks were discovered. The hack was carried by Lazarus that has become a major concern for big corporations," said Konstantin Zykov about the virus who is a Researcher at Kaspersky Cybersecurity, at an event in Delhi.

As if it wasn't spooky enough on Halloween night, the Google Chrome technicians were further frightened to announce a critical update notification regarding various browser platforms. Then, what gave Chrome the creeps? Two security vulnerabilities were discovered, out of which one is a Zero-Day exploit in the open!


So, what is the whole story? 

According to Google, "the current Chrome browser (desktop version) is being refreshed to 78.0.3904.87 (a new version) throughout various platforms like Mac, Linux, and Windows. The critical update will begin to work soon. The chrome users are highly suggested to add these updates for safety, unlike the Windows 10 security updates (in which the users were told not to)." In the present time, it is not simple to obtain out any particular information about the two exploits involved, except that the Zero-Day exploit is already out in the wild affecting the update.
"Access to flaws and links can be restrained until most of the users are renewed with a solution. The constraints are also said to be kept under hold until the bug that exists (only if) within other party's archives on which alike projects are depending," justifies Google for the actions taken.

About the Zero-Day Exploit- 

The vulnerability is known as CVE-2019-13720, according to Google. The threat was described on October 29 by Anton Ivanov and Alexey Kulaev, researchers at Kaspersky. "As far as we know, the Chrome update by Google directs loopholes that an intruder could misuse to hack an exploited computer if wanted," said Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity, in a statement.

Both the vulnerabilities misuse memory exploitation to intensify chances on the engaged computer. The CVE-2019-13721 vulnerability affects the PDFium library which is responsible for creating PDF files. But it is the latter, CVE-2019-13720, which is said to be misused in open which has an impact on audio components and Google Chrome. "Luckily, the threat is not very severe as Google has promptly recognized the flaws. The chances of any real damage in the' Zero-Day room' are least" says Mike Thomspon, applications security specialist.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs will have units to combat crimes committed using IT-technologies. Units will be formed without increasing the staff.

This decision was made by Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, at a meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which was held as a video conference with all regions of the country. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance, Roskomnadzor, Rosfinmonitoring and a number of leading financial institutions.

The purpose of the creation of such units is to increase the efficiency of the prevention and suppression of crimes in the IT-sphere, as well as improving the skills and training of the most trained employees in identifying, revealing and investigating crimes committed using information and telecommunication technologies.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, every seventh crime in Russia is committed in the field of IT-technologies. Law enforcement agencies in recent years have noted an increase in the number of crimes committed using the Internet, including fraud, drug distribution, theft of funds and other crimes.

At the moment, Vladimir Kolokoltsev instructed the heads of operational headquarters to prepare documents that will determine the structure, powers and functions of the new units to combat cybercrime.

Currently, the Office “K” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is engaged in crimes in the field of information technology. In particular, the employees of this Department are engaged in the fight against illegal trafficking in electronic equipment and special technical equipment.

Earlier, E Hacking News reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will create a portal for complaints against hackers. The resource will be continuously and automatically collect data about the threats.

A new Android trojan tension has become a headliner after darting upon the detector of several cyber-security firms and disturbing the smartphone users, because of its re-installing peculiarity that has become a headache. The malware was located in March for the first time but it gradually developed to affect the android phones.


Hot as xHelper, it is a unique malware that has been detected by antivirus corporations. xHelper is quite dangerous as it has a self re-install origin, a process that makes it very difficult to eliminate from Android gadgets. The Trojan is said to have corrupted around 45,000 devices. "Every day, 131 different devices are corrupted, whereas, 2,400 devices are being affected every month," says Symantec, a cybersecurity company. Eliminating the xHelper assistance from your Android device is useless as the malware re-establishes itself despite the user completing a factory reset.

In the conclusion of a story, the Trojan provides for popup ads on devices simultaneously beside spams. These popup notices make profits for the bodies responsible for the deed. Also, the trojan-infected android devices are required to install various apps from the Google Play Store, once the damage has been done. The malware secures profit in the scheme of pay-per-download payments, once the application is installed on the android phone.

But it appears that the Trojan does not perform any lethal actions on the device. "xHelper is only confined to interfering popup ads and spams, it doesn't possess any severe threat to the device" claims the reports of Symantec and Malwarebytes. Besides, excluding the xHelper assistance from the Android OS devices won't do any relief as the malware re-fixes itself despite the user restoring the phone to factory reset settings. The matter of concern, though, is the point that android device users have been notified that while xHelper is momentarily only confined to popups, spams, and ads, it can, however, install different applications, which could extend a secondary degree trojan threat that can steal sensitive data such as personal information and banking credentials of the users.

In Russia, hackers may be involved in measures to strengthen control over the stability of credit institutions to cyber attacks. IT-auditors may be obliged in a test mode to crack the security systems of Russian banks with the involvement of white hackers.

Artem Sychev, Deputy head of the information security department of the Central Bank, said that the regulator, together with the FSB and the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, is currently developing standards to assess the quality of work of independent companies that verify the reliability of bank infrastructure.

The representative of the Central Bank refused to clarify any details, however, sources say that one of the main standards for IT auditors will be a "full simulation of cyber attacks" with the participation of specialists with the same skills as potential hackers.

It is assumed that during such tests, specialists will reproduce the actions of real attackers, from penetration into the company's network to gain full control over its infrastructure or individual applications.

The head of the information security department of the Moscow Credit Bank Vyacheslav Kasimov agreed that the only way to qualitatively assess the security of the Bank's IT system can only be a complete simulation of a hacker attack.

Banks often make checks of their stability not for themselves, but for the regulator, so it has the right to set its own rules for conducting IT-audit, said Viktor Dostov, head of the Electronic Money Association.

According to Dostov, additional control will strengthen the protection of Russian money in the conditions of regular leakage of information from credit organizations.

Earlier E Hacking News reported that the Central Bank has a new punishment for banks for poor cyber defense. It will launch a new feature for credit institutions, it will be the risk profile on the level of information security. Depending on the risk profile on the level of cyber security, the Central Bank will give recommendations to banks. A financial institution that receives a low-risk profile will have consequences ranging from enhanced supervision to penalties.

With more than 40 lakh attacks on IoT (Internet of Things) devices, India is among one of the Top 10 Victims Countries lists in the world. This can be a disappointment for Tech Freaks and companies that have just begun using IoT devices but don't consider protecting their IoT devices such as smart cameras. Hackers didn't even flinch while penetrating the systems. That's how simple the breakthrough was.


Simple methods like password guessing are used for getting the entry in IoT devices. Some sufferers of these attacks set passwords as naive as 'Admin.' And now, India has made it to the index of the top 10 countries that fell prey to IoT attacks in 2019. As shocking as the disturbance was, all of these hacks have happened in just the first half of the year. Nevertheless, it's ironical that India wasn't on this list at the same time last year. That is how distressing the circumstance has become.

In a study titled, 'IoT: A Malware Story,' Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company, says "There is an immense explosion in smart technologies like routers and smart cameras but people hardly care to guard them against cyber invasions, cyber safety solutions." This is due to a massive number of attacks happening in the first half of the year 2019. “Kasperky's honey pots (used as baits by the company to lure hackers) caught 10.5 crore invasions on IoT gadgets from 276,000 different IPs in contrast to 12 million invasions arising from 69,000 IPs in the very time previous year,” said its report.

The increase of IoT gadgets and lack of knowledge on cyber safety make this a sweet harvest for hackers. Invasions on IoT gadgets traversed 10-crore line in the first half of 2019, 9 times the number of attacks happened in the year 2018 at the same time. The Honey pots used as baits to catch the hackers have obtained fascinating knowledge about the manner of working of the hackers. Fortunately, the invasions on IoT gadgets are not complicated. However, lack of knowledge leads to attacks on IoT gadgets. Clicking on vulnerable links in IoT systems, hackers have sharpened their drives to ship into IoT devices and make a profit.

BlackBerry reveals Advance Persistence Threats and players targeting several enterprises. This entire time, the world had no clue about how widespread and common mobile malware is, and how it is being used for constant monitoring and reconnaissance. In truth, there are several hot actors and high-level safety threat that we didn't know until now. An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a long-time and pointed cyber invasion in which an invader gets entrance to a system and stays anonymous for a while.


The purpose of an APT intervention is usually to spy mobile actions and unlawfully take data instead of causing any harm to the company or the network. "It is Fertile, Prevalent and Multi-Platform," concludes Blackberry in a report titled 'Mobile Malware and APT Espionage.' The analysts recognized three superior harmful attacks, dawning essentially in countries like China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Iran, which further strengthens mobile malware, along with computer malware. The final aim is cyber spying and info retrieving, principally for business and administrative purposes. 

Opening up is a new harmful threat that Blackberry proclaims as BBCY-TA2. PWNDROID3, an earlier obscure android malware class, is being used for distributing a counterfeit bitcoin application. Following it is BBCY-TA3, a mobile malware that aims for westward and South Asian economic ventures in the telecommunications business. It also picks out almost all chemical production corporations across the globe, except for China. BlackBerry states it is yielding its relapse support with BBCY-TA2. Another Advance Persistence Threat is a class known as OCEANLOTUS, which uses a unique Android malware species PWNDROID1, via three spam mobile applications.

The whole show is that it makes BlackBerry Cylance CTO Eric Cornelius to the understanding that phone invasions are more conspicuous pervading of a danger than what people assumed. “This would come as a blow to the people when they discover how connected, and long-termed the attacks picking up mobile users are, as they have been simple prey for Advance Persistent Threat organizations. The reason being is the traditional lack of efficient safety resolutions for identifying and stopping mobile malware.”

NordVPN, a VPN provider has affirmed an intrusion on one of its servers in Finland, although the damage done was nothing serious. There were no dubious records on the server. “We don't trace, retrieve or distribute users' data. It is almost impossible for the attacker to obtain usernames and identifications and also, the hacker couldn't decipher the VPN traffic to different servers,” says the company.



"The only probable way to exploit website traffic was by doing an individual and complex MiTM breach to prevent a private connection that attempted to locate nordvpn.com," commented the company on its website. The attack happened in March 2018, when an unapproved user located the NordVPN server in Finland. They used an "unsafe remote administration system" that the data hub provider had forgotten.  The company didn't know of any such system. The server misused was attached to NordVPN's server record on January 31.

The service provider caught the violation and dismissed the account on 20th March without notifying the network provider NordVPN. The company discovered the attack several months back and immediately discontinued its engagement with the data center provider and cleansed all the details on the borrowed servers. It didn't reveal the infringement instantly because the company had to investigate the rest of its system to prevent the same incident from happening again. It also stimulated the decryption of our systems.

"This took a while because of the complex infrastructure and more than 3000 servers that our firm handles," says NordVPN. The problem didn't stir any of NordVPN's other servers. The company says that it would need engaged providers to reach more formidable safety measures. "We are also moving all of our data centers to RAM and this process would take another one year to complete," says NordVPN. While the break won't have any meaningful result on user secrecy, it will create a negative image of the company in the internet society. “NordVPN is multiplying measures on user privacy. We have supported an administration safety inspection and we are striving on a secondary no-records examination for the moment and are planning a fault munificence project." NordVPN will start autonomous surface scrutiny of its data systems to ensure it doesn't miss any loopholes.

Iranian authorities do not have information about the alleged use of Iranian devices by Russian hackers to carry out cyberattacks on dozens of countries around the world, said an official representative of the Iranian government Ali Rabiya.

A report by the UK’s National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) and the United States National Security Agency (NSA) reveals that the Turla hacking group, allegedly associated with “Russian entities", hacked software of Iranian hackers to cyber-spy and attack government and industry organizations in dozens of countries. The content of the document is published on the NCSC website.

It is claimed that, according to British intelligence services, the hacking campaign was most actively carried out in the Middle East. No evidence of cyberattacks is provided.

However, the Iranian government said they did not have information about Turla hackers.

According to political scientist Alexander Asafov, the assignment of the Turla hacker group to “Russian entities” is deliberately carried out by London and Washington, in order to “maintain an anti-Russian propaganda focus.”

"Even Western companies do not see any Russian connection in Turla's actions. But it’s not important for the propaganda of Britain and the USA,” the expert said.

Asafov added that by publishing such a report, London seeks to “support the image of bad Russia that he has already created” and wants to distract ordinary citizens from problems within the UK.

As noted by Asafov, reports of cybercrime for British and American politicians are a "universal tool."

A similar opinion is shared by the corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences Sergey Sudakov. According to him, it would now be beneficial for London to arrange a provocation.

At the same time, Iran, like Russia, is not the first time to be a central figure in Washington’s stories of "hacker attacks."

So, in early October, the American Corporation Microsoft said that allegedly Iranian hackers carried out an attack against the US political establishment and a number of other persons with the aim of "interfering" in the 2020 presidential election.

Sergei Sudakov believes that the next incident related to hacker attacks will also be attributed to Iranian and Russian hackers allegedly associated with the authorities of the Russian Federation and Iran.

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it would need 3 more months to finalize the process of updating and notifying the intermediary guidelines for social media in India, as per the reports by PTI. These new rules will be aimed at curbing the alleged exploitation of various social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp; major issues like fake news, hate speech, defamatory posts, and anti-national activities will be regulated by the updated guidelines which are expected by the last week of January.

After the top courts inquired about the steps taken on this subject, an affidavit had been filed, in which the government said that the country witnessed an exponential increase in the kind of posts and messages that incite hatred, disrupts social harmony and threatens country’s integrity, and therefore, a greater control over the internet is required to safeguard national security.

On the basis of the appeals filed by social media giants like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter, who argued that the cases will probably have national security implications, the court assembled all the related cases and transferred them to the High Courts. After the government provides the court a draft of revised intermediaries guidelines, the next hearing will take its course, which is expected on January 15.

The Internet has become a powerful tool which can potentially cause “unimaginable disruption to the democratic polity”, The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the court.

Although technology has facilitated economic growth and progress, it also heightened the concerns regarding social harmony and national security. “As the internet has emerged as a potent tool to cause unimaginable disruption to the democratic polity, it was felt that the extant rules be revised for effective regulation of intermediaries, keeping in view the ever-growing threats to individual rights and the nation’s integrity, sovereignty, and security,” remarked the ministry in the affidavit. “After collating and analyzing all the details from stakeholder participation and inter-ministerial consultation, the deponent has bonafide belief that a further period of three months would be required for finalizing and notifying the final revised rules in accordance with law.”

Prior to Tamil Nadu’s agreement on transferring the cases to the top courts, the Attorney Journal said, “WhatsApp and Facebook after coming to India can't say they can't decrypt information.”