CIP Cyber Security Brief

Cyber News

Monday, 14 January 2019

As a valued member of the CIP network, you receive this information which is gathered from current, open source data supplied through contacts within diplomatic posts, law enforcement agencies & UK intelligence services.

This brief is supplied in partnership with Dilitas, a UK-based International Risk & Security Management company. This information is intended to keep you informed of current security situations and risks within the UK and internationally. Please forward this briefing to colleagues.

Briefing

  • The largest collection of breached data in history has been discovered, comprising more than 770m email addresses and passwords posted to a popular hacking forum in mid-December. The 87GB data dump was discovered by the security researcher Troy Hunt, who runs the Have I Been Pwned breach-notification service. Hunt, who called the upload Collection #1, said it was probably “made up of many different individual data breaches from literally thousands of different sources”, rather than representing a single hack of a very large service. LINK

  • A database containing resumes of more than 200 million Chinese people has been found exposed online. Security firm Hackenproof said the "very detailed" information lacked even the most basic security protections. LINK

  • Private tweets sent by users of Twitter's Android app could have been exposed publicly for years. Twitter said it had discovered a security flaw which meant "protected" tweets became public when some changes were made to accounts. LINK

  • Bitcoin is one of the most popular internet currencies. The DEA said the virtual currency is being used in the illegal trafficking of narcotics like fentanyl to avoid detection.LINK

  • US authorities on Tuesday charged eight people in a scheme to trade on and profit from stolen corporate information hacked from a government database, court papers showed. The alleged scheme, which involved suspects in Ukraine, Russia and the United States, pulled in more than $4.1 million ill-gotten gains from trading on securities filings before they became public, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. LINK

  • The Democratic National Committee claims that in the days after the 2018 midterm elections it was likely targeted by a group of Russian intelligence hackers, according to court documents filed overnight. LINK

  • Banks and financial institutions in West Africa have been hit by four different hacking campaigns last year, according to a report published ... by US cyber-security giant Symantec. LINK

  • A man has been charged with flying a drone near Heathrow Airport on 24 December. George Rusu is accused of using a drone on a field near the runway just days after a scare at Gatwick grounded more than 1,000 flights. LINK

  • The virtual currency used by millions of gamers who play "Fortnite" has become popular with money-laundering cybercriminals, according to reports. LINK

  • Things got a little weird in the online pirate-themed survival game “Atlas” on Thursday after hackers allegedly compromised an admin’s Steam account and used it to spawn planes, tanks, and whales. LINK

About CIP

CIP are specialist cybersecurity and digital risk consultants, global leaders in PKI discovery and management via the Whitethorn product suite. CIP security consultants work across defence, financial services, CNI and manufacturing to address critical risk, protect hard-won assets and enable communities of trust.

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