General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data standard that was widely used in the early 2000s. The first encryption algorithm for that standard was GEA-1, a stream cipher built on three linear-feedback shift registers and a non-linear combining function. Although the algorithm has a 64-bit key, the effective key length is only 40 bits, due to “an exceptional interaction of the deployed LFSRs and the key initialization, which is highly unlikely to occur by chance.”

GEA-1 was designed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute in 1998. ETSI was — and maybe still is — under the auspices of SOGIS: the Senior Officials Group, Information Systems Security. That’s basically the intelligence agencies of the EU countries.

Details are in the paper: “Cryptanalysis of the GPRS Encryption Algorithms GEA-1 and GEA-2.” GEA-2 does not have the same flaw, although the researchers found a practical attack with enough keystream.

Hacker News thread.

Paul van Oorschot’s webpage contains a complete copy of his book: Computer Security and the Internet: Tools and Jewels. It’s worth reading.

How well can you predict, prevent and respond to ever-changing cyberthreats? How do you know that your security efforts measure up? The stakes are high if this is difficult to answer and track.  Imagine if you had one place where you found a comprehensive real time security posture that tells you exactly where the looming current cyber risks are and the impact?  Let’s consider a recent and relevant cyber threat.

Take, for example, the May 7th DarkSide ransomware attack that shut down Colonial Pipeline’s distribution network. That well-publicized attack spurred considerable interest in cybersecurity assessments. Ransomware doesn’t just cost money—or embarrassment—it can derail careers. As news spread, we fielded numerous calls from executives wondering: Are my systems protected against DarkSide?

Until recently, discovering the answer to such questions has required exercises such as white hat penetration testing or the completion of lengthy or sometimes generic security posture questionnaires. And we know how that goes — your results may vary from the “norm,” sometimes quite a bit.

To empower you to ask and confidently answer the “am I protected” questions, we developed MVISION Insights Unified Posture Scoring to provide real-time assessments of your environment from device to cloud and threat campaigns targeting your industry.

With the score, you’ll know at a glance: Have you done enough to stave off the most likely risks? In general, the better controls you set for your endpoints, networks and clouds, the lower your risk of breaches and data loss—and the better your security posture score. A CISO from a large enterprise recently stated that the “most significant thing for a CISO to solve is to become confident in the security score.”

Risk and Posture

Assessing risk is about determining the likelihood of an event. A risk score considers where you’re vulnerable and based on those weaknesses how likely is it that a bad actor will exploit it? That scoring approach helps security teams determine whether to apply a specific tool or countermeasures.

However, a posture score goes a step further when it considers your current environment’s risk but also whether you’ve been able to withstand attacks. Where have you applied protections to suppress an attack? It enables you to ask: what’s the state of your defensive posture?

Security posture scoring may answer other critical questions such as:

• What are the assets and what is their criticality (discover and classify)?
• What are the threats (events perpetrated by threat actors in the context of the critical assets and vulnerabilities)?
• What is the likelihood of breach (target by industry, region, other historical perspective)?
• How vulnerable is my environment (weaknesses in the infrastructure)?
• Can my controls counter & protect my cyber assets (mitigating controls against the vulnerabilities)?
• What is the impact of a breach (business assessment based on CIA: confidentiality, integrity & availability)?

Knowing these answers also makes security posture scoring useful for compliance risk assessment, producing a benchmark that enables your organization to compare its industry performance and also choose which concerns to prioritize. The score can also serve as an indicator of whether your organization would be approved for cyber insurance or even how much it may have to pay.

Some organizations use security posture scoring to help prepare for security audits. But it can also be used in lieu of third-party assessments—applying recommended assessments instead of expensive penetration testing.

Scoring Points at Work

No doubt, the pandemic and working from home have exacerbated security posture challenges. According to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), a “growing attack surface” from cloud computing and new digital devices are complicating security posture management. So is managing “inexperienced remote workers,” who may be preyed upon by various forms of malware. This can lead not only to management headaches, says ESG, but also to “vulnerabilities and potential system compromises.”

About one year ago we released the initial version of MVISION Insights posture scoring —focused on endpoint assessments. A security score was assigned based on your preparedness to thwart looming threats and the configuration of your McAfee endpoint security products. It enabled predictive assessments based on security posture aligned to campaign-specific threat intelligence.

Customers are tired of piecing together siloed security and demand a unified security approach reflected in our MVISION XDR powered by MVISION Insights. We expanded the scoring capability to also assess cloud defenses, including your countermeasures and controls. Derived from MVISION Cloud Security Advisor, the cloud security posture is weighted average of visibility and control for IaaS, SaaS,and shadow IT. There is an option to easily pivot to MVISION Cloud Security Advisor.  The Unified Security posture score is weighted average of the endpoint and cloud security posture score delivering a more robust and comprehensive assessment with the ability to drill down on specifics to enhance your security from device to cloud. Many endpoint wanna-be XDR vendors cannot provide this critical aggregated security assessment across vectors.

Becoming more robust is what all of us must do. When organizations face the jeopardy of “Ransomware-as-a-Service” payments that may scale up to $2 million, understanding how best to manage your security posture is no longer simply a nice to have, it’s become an operational imperative.

Click here to learn more about Security Posture Scoring from a few practitioners in our LinkedIn Live session.

The post Testing to Ensure Your Security Posture Never Slouches appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

The gig economy has become more prevalent in today’s world with the appeal and necessity of flexible work opportunities. Many take advantage of short-term contracts, side jobs, and freelance work to retain more control over how they spend their day and earn their income. However, the proliferation of these flexible work opportunities has transcended into the dark web, allowing individuals to conduct nefarious activities. Rather than contracting handyman or moving services on the dark web, you can find hackers contracting their website hacking services or buyers placing ads looking for a hacker to hire. These acts pose significant risks to online users, given the amount of stolen personal information on dark websites. Take a look at the activities you can expect to find on the dark web and the steps you can take to safeguard your online privacy.

Watch Out for These Dark Web Criminal Activities 

The dark web is part of the public internet that search engines do not index. In other words, what happens on the dark web, stays on the dark web with no traceable records. Most people don’t realize that the dark web is not illegal despite its association with criminal activities. However, the dark web has retained a criminal reputation since it is challenging to track what goes on. As a result, criminals will often frequent the dark web to conduct a variety of illegal transactions, including hacking services. 

Researchers are discovering an uptick in activity on dark web forums that includes buying and selling black hat hacking services. 90% of the activity on these forums is from people looking to hire hackers to infiltrate websites and steal databases. Additionally, 4% of the people frequenting dark web forums requested hacking services related to website hacking and malicious code injection. 

Another 7% of people on the dark web are hackers contracting out their services and tools. These services and tools include web shells, a file uploaded to a server that an attacker can use to execute operating system commands, as well as access to administrative website interfaces and ready-made exploits. Many of the services offered on these forums range in specialties such as site infiltration to data extraction. As a result, they often attract a variety of customers with numerous requests. 

Further, many of the ads seeking hacking services are aimed at database hacking. Those targeting databases are often financially incentivized hackers and companies out to steal their competitor’s information. Databases remain a popular target for hackers since they contain a significant amount of personal information ranging from first and last names to credit card numbers. Cybercriminals can then use this information to commit numerous crimes such as monetary theft, unemployment and tax relief fraud, and identity theft.

For example, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had to suspend approximately 800,000 accounts after discovering matching credentials for sale on the dark web. In a previous data breach, hackers used login credentials to access taxpayer accounts, apply for COVID-19 relief funds, and reroute the funds into their bank accounts. Taxpayers could not log in to their accounts without first taking the necessary steps to regain safe access.

5 Steps to Take After a Data Breach 

Users must protect their online presence and information as these criminal activities continue to escalate in demand. Here are the five must-dos after discovering a data breach to retain your online security.

1. Leverage security software 

Be one of the first to know about a data breach by leveraging security software such as McAfee Total Protection. A comprehensive security solution that includes dark web monitoring actively monitors the dark web for data breaches and exposed information. This information includes but is not limited to your date of birth, email addresses, credit card numbers, and personal identification numbers. Robust security software also provides steps for remediation after a data breach to guide the user to regain control and integrity of their data and privacy.

2. Stay in the know 

Companies are required to notify their customers of a data breach under the PIPEDA legislature. Be on the lookout for breach notices from relevant companies since they are often the first to know about a data breach impacting their online customers. 

Create news alerts for companies that have access to your information to stay notified of the latest events. Additionally, create notifications for your bank and other financial accounts to monitor for suspicious activity such as unauthorized transactions or a drop in credit score. You will be better prepared to mitigate any cybersecurity threats with the right security software and knowledge of the latest risks.  

3. Change your credentials 

Looking back to the 800,00 taxpayers whose accounts were suspended, they could not regain access without first changing their login credentials. Changing your login credentials such as your usernames, passwords, and security questions is a critical first step to take after any data breach.

Changing your credentials prevents hackers from accessing your personal information and ensures that you regain control over your account security. The chances of a hacker accessing your data are exceptionally high if you use the same credentials across different accounts. Thus, it’s essential to change your usernames and passwords regularly to ensure your information remains secure. 

4. Update your passwords 

Just as important as changing your password regularly is changing your password following best practices. Create stronger passwords by using a combination of the following: 

• Upper case letters 
• Lower case letters 
• Numbers 
• Symbols 

Long passwords with a minimum of 12 characters are also more effective than shorter passwords since it makes it more difficult for a hacker to guess. In sum, ensure all passwords are long, complex, and only used once. Use a password manager with a built-in generator like the one included in McAfee’s Total Protection solution to make it easier to access and manage passwords. 

5. Enable multifactor authentication 

If your credentials are exposed in a data breach, using multifactor authentication will ensure hackers cannot access your information using only your login credentials. So even if your username and password are exposed, there is still a layer of security that hackers will not be able to bypass. Block out unauthorized login attempts by enabling multifactor authentication wherever applicable.  

Safeguard Against Dark Web Activities  

The dark web continues to be a primary destination for cybercrime. Online users must remain cautious about the information they retain in their online accounts and the websites with access to their personal information. Your data security and privacy are not always a guarantee, but the more precautions you take with your online safety, the better protected you will be.  

Stay Updated 

To stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

The post The Rise of the Dark Web Gig Economy appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

A new piece of tech often tops the list of Father’s Day gifts. And while things such as wearable fitness devices, smart speakers, smart outlets, or any number of other connected gadgets and do-dads are popular picks, one thing often gets overlooked—protecting those devices from hacks and attacks. 

We live in a day and age when even connected lightbulbs can be hacked. The reality is that gift-worthy tech like home cameras, speakers, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices can fall prey to bad actors. The reason why is relatively straightforward. Each connected thing on your home network presents a possible entry point for an attacker.  

By compromising even the most innocuous of devices, like the humble lightbulb, an attacker can inject malware into your network that can then compromise high-value items like your phones and computers—along with the data on them. So, if you’re wondering why on Earth anyone would want to hack a lightbulb, that’s one reason why. 

Protecting your privacy, identity, data, and smart devices  

Your network is only as safe as the least secure device that’s on it. And the sad fact is that many consumer IoT devices simply aren’t that secure. Their hardware can be limited, leaving little room for security measures onboard, and they can use transmission protocols that are less than robust. Further, they can use default usernames and passwords that people neglect to update, making them easy to access as doing a search online for those credentials. Secure data storage can be an issue as well, whether that’s a video from a security camera or health data from a fitness device that’s stored in the cloud.  

The list of possible IoT device vulnerabilities goes on. Certainly, some manufacturers are more stringent about security than others. However, adding any IoT device to your network also adds risk. And with more and more of these devices entering our homes, dedicated hackers have more targets available to them than ever before.  

In all, estimates project that the world will have nearly 40 billion IoT devices in the next four years across homes and businesses alike. And like our computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, all of them will need protection. Including the connected devices that you give dad. 

Seven Ways to Protect Your IoT Devices 

As you’re shopping for the best tech gift for dad, making sure his IoT devices are secure as possible may be the best gift of all. Right off the bat, the challenge with our IoT devices is that you don’t protect them the same way you can protect our computers, phones, and tablets, Namely, there isn’t always a way to install security software on them. What to do? In fact, we can show you several ways to tighten up the security of your new and existing IoT devices. What’s more, following these steps can also improve the overall security of your network too. 

1. Do your IoT homework 

Just because that new smart device that you want to give to dad can connect to the internet doesn’t mean that it’s secure. Before you purchase, read up on reviews and comments from other customers. Look for news articles about the device manufacturer too. The fact of the matter is that some IoT device manufacturers are much better at baking security protocols into their devices than others, so check out their track record to see if you can uncover any issues with their products or security practices. Information such as this can help you make an even more informed choice. 

2. Don’t use the default—Set a strong, unique password 

As mentioned above, one issue with many IoT devices is that they often come with a default username and password. This could mean that your device, and thousands of others just like it, all share the same credentials, which makes it painfully easy for a hacker to gain access to them as those default usernames and passwords are often published online. 

When you purchase an IoT device, set a fresh password using a strong method of password creation.  And keep those passwords safe. Instead of keeping them on a notebook or on sticky notes, consider using a password manager. It acts as a database for all your passwords and stores new codes as you create them. As always, don’t store them in an unprotected file on your computer, which can be subject to a hack or data loss. 

3. Use two-factor authentication 

Our banks, and even some of the online gaming platforms we use, use two-factor authentication to make sure that we’re logging in we really are who we say we are. The two factors break down like this: 

• Your first factor is the username and password combo you have. 
• The second factor in the mix is something you own, like your mobile phone.  

Thus, when you log in with your username and password and then get a prompt to enter a security code that was sent to your mobile phone, that’s two-factor authentication at work. If your IoT device supports two-factor authentication, put it to use and get that extra layer of security. 

4. Secure your internet router 

Your router acts as the internet’s gateway into your home. From there, it works as a hub that connects all your devices—computers, tablets, and phones, along with your IoT devices as well. With all that data and information flowing through it, it’s vital to keep your router secure.  

As we mentioned above, the first thing to do is change the default password and name of your router if you haven’t done so already. Again, use a strong method of password creation. Also, change the name of your router. When you choose a new one, go with name that doesn’t give away your address or identity. Something unique and even fun like “Pizza Lovers” or “The Internet Warehouse” are options that mask your identity and are memorable for you too.  

While you’re at it, make sure that your router’s network security is set to WPA2-PSK [AES]. As of today, that’s the strongest level of protection available for home wireless networks. If your router doesn’t offer it, you may want to consider purchasing or renting one from your provider that does. 

5. Set up a guest network specifically for your IoT devices 

Just as you can offer your guests secure access that’s separate from your own devices, creating an additional network on your router allows you to keep your computers and smartphones separate from IoT devices. This way, if an IoT device is compromised, a hacker will still face the task of accessing your primary network to get at your computers and smartphones, along with the data and info that you have stored on them. You may also want to consider investing in an advanced internet router that has built-in protection and can secure and monitor any device that connects to your network. 

6. Update! 

As with our computers, laptops, phones, tablets, and apps, make sure you have the latest software updates for your IoT devices. The reasons here are the same: one, they’ll make sure you’re getting the latest functionality from your device; and two, updates often contain security upgrades. If there’s a setting that lets you receive automatic updates, enable it so that you always have the latest. 

7. Protect your phone 

You’ve probably seen that you can control a lot of your connected things with your smartphone. We’re using them to set the temperature, turn our lights on and off, and even see who’s at the front door. With that, it seems like we can add the label “universal remote control” our smartphones—so protecting our phones has become yet more important. Whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, get security software installed on your phone so you can protect all the things it accesses and controls—in addition to you and the phone as well. 

And protect your other things too 

And of course, let’s not forget our computers and laptops. While we’ve been primarily talking about IoT devices here, it’s a good reminder that computers and laptops need protection too. Using a strong suite of security software like McAfee® Total Protection, can help defend your entire family from the latest threats and malware, make it safer to browse, and look out for your privacy too. 

Stay Updated  

To stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats, follow @McAfee_Home  on Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook. 

The post Father’s Day Gift Ideas: Protecting the Tech You Give to Dad appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

What does ‘good customer service’ mean to you in 2021? A friendly greeting when you enter a shop? Quickly fixing any issues with deliveries? Or, perhaps the company you entrust with your data maintaining strong security and privacy practices?

It’s been a long time since digital technology was a special interest topic. Product launches, business deals, and new innovations were once reported on only in industry magazines – now, you’d be hard pressed to find a mainstream newspaper that doesn’t have some kind of technology section. We’ve quickly become used to the fact that when the tech giants talk, everybody listens.

More recently, however, it’s become clear that the internet has taken another step towards the centre of the public conversation. While new devices and technological advancements are still (mostly) kept in separate sections of the media or tagged on to the end of the TV news, problems with technology often land straight on the front page.

Outside observers have spent decades treating hacks and attacks as something arcane, as a distant problem that only the technologists can understand and only they have to deal with. Consumers, meanwhile, were left to hope that any issue would soon be fixed – whether that’s waiting for access to their files to be restored or trying again the next day to get into a website.

Cybersecurity is now everything-security

A few recent stories have underlined that those days are, or should be, behind us. In just the last two months, ransomware attacks have interrupted the operations of pipelines, food producers and the health sector. For many, this has been followed as a story about the international nature of cybercrime and claims that cryptocurrencies are enabling new types of attack.

For those communities reliant on the targeted organisations, however, these cyber-attacks can mean higher costs when fueling their cars to get to work, or product shortages in their weekly shop. We know that there’s a lot of technical interest in analysing ransomware such as DarkSide, or the many other groups attacking sectors like manufacturing, oil and gas, and healthcare. We always need to remember, however, that the focus is not just how these attacks work, but how we can prevent the real-world impacts they have on people’s daily lives.

These are extreme examples: they are incredibly high-value targets, which criminal groups will go to extraordinary lengths in order to disrupt, and which have national consequences when they are affected. Services like online retail and customer support can be disrupted in just the same way. From the perspective of the people who use these services, however, the fact that these were ransomware attacks doesn’t matter. Whether it’s due to attacks, accidents, or mismanagement, what matters is the betrayal of trust and the knock-on effects of service loss.

Customer experience means more than a nice interface

Examples like this are why I believe that we should see cybersecurity as a much wider foundation than we do, underpinning not just a business’s IT infrastructure, but its reputation, its revenue and, yes, its customer experience.

In crowded markets, customer experience is often the key differentiator between competing businesses. A lot of the disruption that we’ve seen in many sectors thanks to the growth of digital and online approaches has come down to a better, more premium customer experience. Whole industries have arisen around easier ways to order taxis, listen to music, and buy food.

As consumers continue to seek better, simpler experiences, they will (and, I think, should) also start paying close attention to how businesses respond to such incidents and maximise service levels. Key things that shoppers might want to look for when weighing up their choices include:

• Does the company meet (or even exceed) data privacy standards, and is this detailed in a simple manner that is understandable to its customers?
• Is the company transparent about who they share your data with, and why, before asking for it?
• Has the company been open when it has experienced a security incident?

Businesses, meanwhile, should be looking at how the efforts they take around cybersecurity can form part of the way they build customer confidence. By communicating clearly about the defensive measures we take – and, vitally, framing them in terms of the outcomes they have on people’s lives, not just the technical details – we can all help to make the public savvier about how they can make sure they truly rely on the services they rely on.

The post Why Security is Now the Foundation of Good Customer Experience appeared first on McAfee Blogs.

US Convicts Russian Malware-masker

Deloitte Acquires Terbium Labs

IAB Tech Lab Accused of “World’s Largest Data Breach”

Members of Clop Ransomware Gang Arrested in Ukraine