China denies iPhone ban for officials but notes its ‘security incidents’

Just hours after Apple wrapped up its annual product launch for the hotly anticipated iPhone 15, the Chinese government denied reports that it had banned officials from using the smartphones — and then noted recent “security incidents” involving the devices. Read More …

Sri Lanka: Report called over cyberattack on government sites

The Ministry of Technology said an investigation was called into the cyberattack that transpired on the 26th of August 2023. The statement added that the cyberattack, which targeted email systems under the ‘gov.lk’ domain, resulted in substantial data loss and Read More …

A peek into APT36’s updated arsenal

In July 2023, Zscaler ThreatLabz discovered new malicious activity perpetuated by the Pakistan-based advanced persistent threat group (APT36). APT36 is a sophisticated cyber threat group with a history of conducting targeted espionage operations in South Asia. Zscaler ThreatLabz observed APT36 Read More …

Analyzing Cuba ransomware

The group’s offensives first got on Kaspersky researchers radar in late 2020. Back then, the cybercriminals had not yet adopted the moniker “Cuba”; they were known as “Tropical Scorpius”. Cuba mostly targets organizations in the United States, Canada and Europe. Read More …

Storm-0558: Understanding How Microsoft Failed to Protect Itself

You’re undoubtedly familiar with the so-called Storm-0558 attacks from July 2023. If not a quick recap: these attacks (widely attributed as the work of the Chinese government) compromised a number of high-value Exchange Online mailboxes, including the US Secretary of Read More …

Apple shares fall after China reportedly bans iPhone use by government officials

Apple stocks fell after China reportedly banned officials at central government agencies from using or bringing iPhones and other foreign-branded devices into the office. In recent weeks, Chinese officials were given the instructions by their superiors in workplace chat groups Read More …

South Africa: Unprecedented cyber attacks target government entities

The incidence of spyware attacks has shown a significant surge of over 20% within South Africa with regard to 2023. The majority of these reported attacks have been concentrated on governmental websites and systems, thereby potentially engendering substantial instability to Read More …

UK: Electoral Commission failed basic security test before hack

The Electoral Commission has confirmed it failed a basic cyber-security test around the same time hackers gained entry to the organisation. A whistleblower told the BBC that the Commission was given an automatic fail during a Cyber Essentials audit. Last Read More …

Earth Estries Targets Government, Tech for Cyberespionage

Earlier this year, Trend Micro researchers discovered a new cyberespionage campaign by a hacker group we named Earth Estries. Based on their observations, Earth Estries has been active since at least 2020. The researchers also found some overlaps between the Read More …

Russian and Chinese cyber attack on Foreign Office was kept secret from public

Hackers from Russia and China infiltrated the Foreign Office’s emails and internal messages without the public’s knowledge, it has been revealed. The major security breach meant cyber attackers were able to see the day-to-day business of the government department in Read More …