Content by Mathew J. Schwartz

Equifax Gets a New CISO

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 13, 2018

After suffering one of the worst data breaches in history, in which 145.5 million U.S. consumers' personal details were stolen, credit bureau Equifax has hired Jamil Farshchi to serve as its new CISO. Farshchi joins from Home Depot, which hired him after suffering a massive data breach.

Attribution Games: Don't Rush to Blame

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 13, 2018

Following the online attack against the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games in South Korea, some pundits were quick to guess that Russia was involved. But some attribution experts call the rush to attribute any cyberattack premature or even "irresponsible."

Hackers Win Olympic Gold Medal for Disruption

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 12, 2018

Hackers crashed the Winter Olympics, apparently by using destructive malware dubbed "Olympic Destroyer." The attack resulted in the Pyeonchang 2018 website being offline for 12 hours and WiFi unavailable during the opening ceremony, but organizers say no competitions were disrupted.

Equifax Confirms 'Probable' Breached Data Was Indeed Stolen

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 12, 2018

Equifax says that its digital forensic investigators have found that while its tally of 145.5 million U.S. breach victims hasn't changed, more of them had their email addresses, tax identification numbers and driver's license information exfiltrated.

Google Set to Name and Shame Sites Lacking HTTPS

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 9, 2018

Google is prepping its Chrome browser to brand as "not secure" every site a user tries to visit that does not use HTTPS encryption by default. The move is meant to push more sites to use HTTPS to secure communications and help block eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Lauri Love: UK Blocks Suspected Hacker's US Extradition

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 9, 2018

Leading the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report: England's Court of Appeal rejects U.S. extradition request for suspected hacker Laurie Love. Also, what took Uber and Partners Health so long to come clean about their respective data breaches?

Feds Dismantle Ukrainian's $530 Million Carding Empire

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 8, 2018

The U.S. Department of Justice, in one of its biggest-ever cybercrime disruptions, shuttered the Infraud Organization, an online forum prosecutors tied to $530 million in losses. Thirteen suspects - in Australia, France, Italy, Kosovo, Serbia, the U.K. and the U.S. - have been arrested.

Flash Hack: Adobe Updates Plug-in After Zero-Day Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 7, 2018

A hacking team dubbed "Group 123" with apparent ties to the government of North Korea has been exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in the Flash browser plug-in, likely to hack high-value targets. Adobe has released an emergency Flash update with security fixes. Or organizations could simply stop using Flash.

Feds Charge Two ATM Jackpotting Malware Suspects

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 6, 2018

The Department of Justice has charged two men, arrested in Connecticut near the scene of a jackpotting attack against a drive-up ATM, with bank fraud stemming from a malware attack. Police say they recovered $9,000 in $20 bills, as well a black box and other equipment from the suspects' car.

Accused Russian Botnet Mastermind Extradited to US

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 5, 2018

Russian citizen Peter Levashov, arrested last year while vacationing in Spain, appeared Friday in U.S. federal court to face charges that he owned and operated the Kelihos botnet and distributed spam, banking Trojans and ransomware for profit. Levashov has pleaded not guilty.

British Hacking Suspect Avoids Extradition

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 5, 2018

Lauri Love, a British man accused of 2012 and 2013 hack attacks against U.S. government computers - including systems operated by the Federal Reserve, U.S. Army and NASA - has won his legal bid to quash a U.S. extradition request. But he still faces a potential trial in England.

Fitness Dystopia in the Age of Self-Surveillance

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 5, 2018

Orwell got it wrong: People are less likely to surrender their privacy to a totalitarian state than to the lure of sharing holiday snaps, cat videos or the route and time they took for their latest cycling, jogging or kiteboarding outing, as captured by a wearable fitness device.

Darknet Markets: For Cybercriminals, Paranoia Reigns

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 2, 2018

Leading the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report: Inside the darknet marketplaces that serve cybercrime-as-a-service buyers and sellers. Also, why the healthcare sector remains so bad at detecting data breaches and blocking ransomware.

US Data Breaches Hit All-Time High

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 1, 2018

The number of data breaches reported by U.S. organizations reached an all-time high last year. In 2017, organizations that described how bad their breach was - and one-third did not - collectively lost 14 million payment cards and 158 million Social Security numbers, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Cybercrime as a Service: Tools + Knowledge = Profit

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  February 1, 2018

On cybercrime forums and darknet marketplaces, there's an abundant supply of cybercrime products and services and lots of demand, plus prices remain low, says Flashpoint's Liv Rowley. All that's needed to leverage the products and services to make a profit, she says, is a bit of knowledge.