Why Is Cyber Insurance Off to Slow Start in India?

Suparna Goswami • September 21, 2017

Because a growing number of organizations in India are being hit by cyberattacks, the case for buying cyber insurance appears to be stronger than ever. Nevertheless, security experts say only a handful of the largest companies have made the investment in this insurance so far. Why is that the case?

Breach Response

AXA Insurance Reports Singapore Breach

Latest

Breach Notification

Equifax's May Mega-Breach Might Trace to March Hack

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 21, 2017

Hackers behind the mega-breach at Equifax stole data in May, but they - or other attackers - penetrated the credit bureau's systems in March, exploiting a vulnerability for which Apache Struts had issued a patch, just four days prior.

Anti-Malware

Part of FTC Complaint Against D-Link Dismissed

Jeremy Kirk • September 21, 2017

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed three of six counts in a complaint filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against IoT manufacturer D-Link that alleges its sloppy security practices deceived consumers. The FTC has until Oct. 20 to amend the complaint.

CISO

Why Adding Technical Experts to Boards Is Urgent

Tracy Kitten • September 20, 2017

Given the current threat environment, it's urgent that organizations add technical experts to their boards of directors to help ensure the development of effective cybersecurity strategies, says Art Coviello, retired chairman of RSA.

Anti-Malware

Avast Distributed Trojanized CCleaner Windows Utility

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 18, 2017

For one month, the installer for a widely used, free Windows utility called CCleaner also installed a malicious payload that was designed to allow attackers to push additional malware onto infected PCs, warns Cisco Talos. Developer Piriform, owned by Avast, has released updates that expunge the malware.

Breach Preparedness

Top Democrat Likens Equifax to Enron as FTC Launches Probe

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 16, 2017

Equifax is facing increased scrutiny from Congress, including a bill that would mandate free credit freezes for consumers, on demand. But a true fix would require Congress to give U.S. government consumer watchdogs more power.

DDoS

US Sanctions Iranian Nationals Over DDoS Bank Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 15, 2017

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions against 11 individuals and organizations linked to Iran, some of whom have been accused of helping to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against dozens of U.S. banks from 2011 to 2013.

Anti-Malware

CDDC: One Secure Screen for Classified, Secret and Public Networks

Jeremy Kirk • September 15, 2017

Researchers in Australia says they've conquered a thorny problem: how to view information stored on multiple air-gapped networks at the same time without security or usability concerns. They've created a device, called the Cross Domain Desktop Compositor, that's been tested by the Australian Department of Defense.

Breach Preparedness

Gauging Equifax's Future in Wake of Massive Breach

Eric Chabrow • September 15, 2017

Top IT security and information risk experts, including former RSA Executive Chairman Art Coviello, analyze the struggles Equifax faces in the wake of a massive data breach in the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report.

Breach Notification

Equifax's Colossal Error: Not Patching Apache Struts Flaw

Jeremy Kirk • September 14, 2017

Equifax made an error that led to one of the largest and most sensitive data breaches of all time, and the mistake was elementary: The credit bureau failed to patch a vulnerability in Apache Struts - a web application development framework - in a timely manner.

Anti-Malware

Report: North Korea Seeks Bitcoins to Bypass Sanctions

Mathew J. Schwartz • September 14, 2017

In cryptocurrency we trust: The government of North Korea has been turning to bitcoin exchange heists and cryptocurrency mining - potentially using malware installed on other countries' systems - to evade sanctions and fund the regime, security experts say.

Anti-Malware

Kaspersky Software Ordered Removed From US Gov't Computers

Eric Chabrow • September 13, 2017

The Trump administration is directing U.S. federal executive branch agencies to remove anti-virus software from Russian-owned Kaspersky Lab from their computers within 90 days. Kaspersky denies "inappropriate" ties to Russian government.