News – March 2024


  • Secure by Design Alert Eliminating SQL Injection Vulnerabilities in Software

    March 25, 2024

    SQL injection – or SQLi – vulnerabilities remain a persistent class of defect in commercial software products. Despite widespread knowledge and documentation of SQLi vulnerabilities over the past two decades, along with the availability of effective mitigations, software manufacturers have continued to develop products with this defect, which puts many customers at risk. CISA and the ...

  • New Golang Trojan Installs Certificate for Comms Evasion

    March 25, 2024

    This week, the Sonicwall Capture Labs threat research team analyzed a new Golang malware sample. It uses multiple geographic checks and publicly available packages to screenshot the system before installing a root certificate to the Windows registry for HTTPS communications to the C2. There is currently no malware family affiliated, but the IP and URL addresses ...

  • Chinese hackers targeted UK’s Electoral Commission and politicians, say security services

    March 25, 2024

    Chinese state-backed hackers were responsible for two “malicious” digital campaigns targeting the UK’s democratic institutions and politicians, the security services have found. The UK holds China responsible for a prolonged cyber-attack on the Electoral Commission during which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Two individuals and a front company linked to ...

  • High Court order will deliver ‘swift management’ of compensation claims by those affected by PSNI data breach

    March 24, 2024

    Claims by officers and civilian staff following a major PSNI data breach will be managed in a “swift” manner following a High Court order being granted, it has been suggested. Following the granting of a Group Litigation Order (GLO), thousands of claims by those impacted by last year’s data breach can now be dealt with, the ...

  • GM stops sharing driver data with brokers amid backlash

    March 22, 2024

    After public outcry, General Motors has decided to stop sharing driving data from its connected cars with data brokers. Last week, news broke that customers enrolled in GM’s OnStar Smart Driver app have had their data shared with LexisNexis and Verisk. Those data brokers in turn shared the information with insurance companies, resulting in some drivers ...

  • APT29 Uses WINELOADER to Target German Political Parties

    March 22, 2024

    In late February 2024, Mandiant identified APT29 — a Russian Federation backed threat group linked by multiple governments to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) — conducting a phishing campaign targeting German political parties. Consistent with APT29 operations extending back to 2021, this operation leveraged APT29’s mainstay first-stage payload ROOTSAW (aka EnvyScout) to deliver a new backdoor ...

  • Air Europa says customer data may have been compromised in October breach

    March 22, 2024

    Spanish airline Air Europa said on Friday personal data of its customers may have been compromised in a security incident that was detected in October last year. The company’s investigation showed that name, ID card or passport details, date of birth, telephone number, email address and nationality details could have been leaked, Air Europa told its ...

  • UK: ‘Mass surveillance’ fears over law change plans

    March 22, 2024

    The UK tech industry has deep concerns over government plans to amend a law dubbed a “snooper’s charter”. Ministers insist their changes to the Investigatory Powers Act is intended to keep UK citizens safe. But, in a statement, trade body techUK said the changes were neither balanced nor proportionate. It warns that citizens’ privacy, security and safety ...

  • UN General Assembly adopts landmark resolution on artificial intelligence

    March 21, 2024

    The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted a landmark resolution on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will also benefit sustainable development for all. The Assembly called on all Member States and stakeholders “to refrain from or cease the use of artificial intelligence systems that are impossible to operate in ...

  • Unpatchable vulnerability in Apple chip leaks secret encryption keys

    March 21, 2024

    A newly discovered vulnerability baked into Apple’s M-series of chips allows attackers to extract secret keys from Macs when they perform widely used cryptographic operations, academic researchers have revealed in a paper published Thursday. The flaw—a side channel allowing end-to-end key extractions when Apple chips run implementations of widely used cryptographic protocols—can’t be patched directly because ...