Welcome to the first edition of Ironshare’s Cyber Round-up, where we take a look back at the events of last week and handpick some of the news, posts, views, and highlights from the world of Security.
We came across an article which was posted late last year by Dr Ian Levy from the National Cyber Security Centre called ‘The serious side of pranking’. The article describes a real-world example of how Dr Levy was the target of a mock Spear-phishing attack by the prankster James Linton.This is a great post that describes the simplicity involved with launching such an attack, and how easy it could be to fall victim to it. A must read for anyone, not just us security guys:https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/serious-side-pranking
After months of anticipation the Wi-Fi Alliance officially launched the new Wi-Fi Security standard WPA3 on the 25th June 2018. WPA3 or Wi-Fi Protected Access version 3, has been dubbed the Next Generation in Wi-Fi network security.The new standard includes new features that simplifies Wi-Fi security while also improving its strength through new cryptographic support. WPA3 has been eagerly awaited since the news earlier this year that the KRACK security flaw (Key Reinstallation Attack) had been found in the existing WPA2 standard.Don’t expect WPA3 to be available immediately though, expect this later on this year, as the vendors begin to integrate the new standard into their Wi-Fi products. Official release:https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-introduces-wi-fi-certified-wpa3-security
This week we have added a Cyber Glossary to our website, we know how difficult it can be to keep up with the changes in the IT and Cyber Security industry, so we thought it would be good to cover some of the basics by providing a simple A to Z of common Cyber terms.We will look to keep this updated over time, so if there are any comments, or anything you feel is missing please let us know using the comments section at the bottom of this articles page. You can find the Cyber Glossary here:https://www.ironshare.co.uk/technical/cyber-glossary/
A couple of key updates came out of the Cisco Talos Group this week:Cryptocurrency Mining WhitepaperThe first was an article releasing a new whitepaper that discusses the mining of Cryptocurrency. At this stage Crypto Mining is the biggest rising malware threat we have seen during 2018. This whitepaper covers what Crypto Mining is, how it can affect your organisation, and importantly how you can use the Cisco Security product line to prevent its presence in your network and devices.https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/07/blocking-cryptomining.htmlMalicious MDM Advanced Mobile Malware Campaign - Part 2Over the past months Talos has been investigating a targeted malware attack in India that uses malicious Mobile Device Management services to trick users into enrolling and compromise their mobile devices (smart phones etc.). Part 2 of this series of posts goes into depth on the infrastructure used by the actors and the potential links to previous malware campaigns and known actor groups.Warning this is a technical blog post so not for everyone.https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/07/Mobile-Malware-Campaign-uses-Malicious-MDM-Part2.html
If you are a Microsoft Office 365 customer, then hopefully you are aware that Microsoft will be removing support for the older versions of TLS encryption (Transport Layer Security). Versions 1.0 and 1.1 will be retired as of October 31st 2018.If you are not prepared for this then we recommend getting on it immediately, so you do not lose access to your services. All the latest browsers and clients support TLS 1.2, so you should be fine if you keep up to date.For more information see:https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4057306/preparing-for-tls-1-2-in-office-365
In a move to promote a more secure internet Google have made changes to their Chrome browser that will now alert you when you access an unencrypted website using the clear text HTTP protocol.Google state that this change will make it easier for users to know whether their personal information is safe as it travels across the internet.From Chrome v68 all HTTP sites are marked as ‘Not Secure’ in your browsers address bar, which turns to a red warning notice if you start to input your personal information.https://www.blog.google/products/chrome/milestone-chrome-security-marking-http-not-secure/That’s it for our first edition so please stayed tuned for our next instalment.
To keep up to date with our news and posts why not join our mailing list by using the link to subscribe: http://bit.ly/IronMailListYou can also follow us using the social media links provided.If your business needs to improve its security, kick-start your Cyber plans with our Free Cyber Assessment: http://bit.ly/IronFreeCyberReviewIronshare – Security SimplifiedEdition #1 – 27th July 2018
Stuart Hare is a Technologist with a passion for helping people in all aspects of IT & Cyber Security. Stuart is the Founder of Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing consultancy and managed services.
Samuel is a Security Analyst with Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing Security consultancy and managed services.
Joshua is working as a Managed Service Lead with Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing Security consultancy and managed services.
