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• Researchers earn thousands for exposing mobile device exploits at Pwn2Own (cyberscoop.com)
  The competition exposed bugs in mobile devices made by Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi. Hackers went home with thousands of dollars and some swee…
• How sloppy OPSEC gave researchers an inside look at the exploit industry (cyberscoop.com)
  New information from Lookout has given the public unique insights into how nation-states buy and develop surveillance exploits.
• How hackers are extorting Instagram users and throwing away the key (cyberscoop.com)
  Trend Micro research on the phishing of Instagram users underscores how hackers are exploiting the value of social-media brands.
• Apple patches FaceTime flaw, and two exploited zero days in new security update (cyberscoop.com)
  An Apple update released Thursday includes fixes for three vulnerabilities hackers already have exploited, including the FaceTime flaw.
• New code-validation project tries to spot the next industrial supply chain attack (cyberscoop.com)
  A new DHS-funded project traces the provenance of software code.
• Up to 40 percent of traffic on ticket sites is automated. Here's why that's bad for security. (cyberscoop.com)
  Bad bots made up 39.9 percent of ticket-buying traffic between September and December 2018, according to Distil Networks.
• Report: Adobe zero-day exploit similar to HackingTeam tool (cyberscoop.com)
  Adobe has issued an out-of-bound patch for the bug, which allows for an attacker to execute malicious code on a victims' system.
• Zerodium offers $2 million for iOS zero-days (cyberscoop.com)
  A startup company famous for purchasing zero-days is increasing bounties for anyone who discovers one in Apple operating systems or messagi…
• 20-year-old pleads guilty to DDoS-for-hire scheme that netted $550,000 (cyberscoop.com)
  Sergiy Usatyuk and a co-conspirator enabled attackers to use only a web browser to launch a DDoS attack capable of knocking target sites of…
• Hackers turn Bangladeshi embassy website into cryptomining scheme (cyberscoop.com)
  In the case of the Bangladesh Embassy in Cairo, attackers used the website to mine cryptocurrency, according to research published Wednesda…
• A researcher made an elite hacking tool out of the info in the Vault 7 leak (cyberscoop.com)
  Australian researcher Wayne Ronaldson has built an elite-level hacking tool out of the Vault 7 dump, and will present his tool at the 2019…
• Inside a Chinese hacking group's very flexible playbook (cyberscoop.com)
  APT27, also known as Bronze Union, dusted off and upgraded a couple of long-available digital weapons to carry out intrusions in 2018, Secu…
• D.C. Metro system beefs up supply-chain cybersecurity provisions for new railcars (cyberscoop.com)
  U.S. senators have raised security concerns about a new Metro railcar project. The NIST cybersecurity framework will be part of the process…
• Ukraine’s president accuses Russia of launching cyberattack against election commission (cyberscoop.com)
  Ukrainians go to the polls on March 31; analysts have warned that Moscow could attempt to interfere.
• Third suspect in Methbot, 3ve case to plead not guilty after extradition from Malaysia (cyberscoop.com)
  Sergey Ovsyannikov is accused of leading the 3ve and Methbot advertising scams, using hidden browsers to load ads on websites that did not…
• North Korean hackers go on phishing expedition before Trump-Kim summit (cyberscoop.com)
  Ahead of this week's summit, North Korean hackers are targeting Korean speakers with spearphishing emails.
• For many crooks, malware is out and PowerShell attacks are in, IBM says (cyberscoop.com)
  Fifty-seven percent of the cyberattacks detected by IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence used common applications like PowerShell or PsExec, com…
• Security ills of health care sector draw senator's attention (cyberscoop.com)
  Hackers have haunted the industry for years, leveraging medical devices to steal valuable personal information or launch highly publicized…
• Stanislov Lisov pleads guilty to conspiracy for role in NeverQuest malware creation (cyberscoop.com)
  Stanislov Lisov created the NeverQuest banking malware that was used against hundreds of financial institutions and used to steal $885,000,
• U. of Washington Medicine learned it exposed info on 974k people after a patient found their data (cyberscoop.com)
  The information in question become inaccessible on Dec. 4, 2018 “due to an internal human error,” the hospital system said.
• DNC updates cybersecurity advice to protect candidates from hackers in 2020 (cyberscoop.com)
  The checklist is straightforward security advice driven by an awareness of current threats.
• CRXcavator allows you to check the code powering those Chrome extensions (cyberscoop.com)
  Duo Security released Thursday a beta version of a tool, CRXcavator, that screens Google Chrome extensions for malicious code.
• Blind Eagle, a new APT group, poses as Colombia's Cyber Police to steal business secrets (cyberscoop.com)
  Blind Eagle has been posing as Colombian institutions like the National Cyber Police and the Office of the Attorney General to steal intell…
• These scammers claim to have videos of your most private moments (cyberscoop.com)
  The threat intelligence company Digital Shadows examined 790,000 "sextortion" attempts sent to 89,000 email recipients to find that digital…
• Researchers paint different portraits of hackers behind Ryuk ransomware (cyberscoop.com)
  Analysts poring over Ryuk are coming to different conclusions, highlighting the subjective side of cyberthreat studies.
• Complex court battle for Methbot, 3ve cybercrime suspects only is getting started (cyberscoop.com)
  Lawyers asked for more time to review discovery materials in a case where the evidence is "extremely voluminous" and comes in multiple lang…
• Australian parliament hacked by “sophisticated state actor," prime minister says (cyberscoop.com)
  A “sophisticated state actor” has breached the Australian parliament’s computer network, the country’s prime minister told lawmakers Monday.
• That battery-saving app may have used your device to mine Monero, Symantec says (cyberscoop.com)
  Microsoft has removed the apps from its store.
• Kaspersky sales in North America fell by 25 percent in 2018, despite global revenue growth (cyberscoop.com)
  Global revenue for Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab increased by 4 percent last year despite sales in North America falling by 25 percent, the co…
• Splunk to exit Russian market amid growing government scrutiny (cyberscoop.com)
  The timing of the announcement comes amid growing Russian government scrutiny of foreign companies, particularly security firms.
• Update from No More Ransom helps victims of GandCrab attacks (cyberscoop.com)
  GrandCrab "surpassed all other strains of ransomware in 2018," says Europol, which helped the No More Ransom project develop the decryption…
• Hacking tools used by North Korea's Lazarus Group aimed at Russian targets (cyberscoop.com)
  Check Point cautions that while it’s “problematic” to definitively pinpoint who’s responsible for such an attack, its “analysis reveals int…
• Serious flaw found and patched in WordPress, but it might lurk in plugins (cyberscoop.com)
  The bug appears in WordPress instances prior to version 4.9.9 and was exploitable for as long as six years, the RIPS Technologies researche…
• Password manager report gets researcher booted from Bugcrowd (cyberscoop.com)
  "We are always happy to discuss feedback and suggestions with the researcher as well as to discuss reinstatement," Bugcrowd said.
• Here's the latest evidence that security burnout is very real (cyberscoop.com)
  A survey by Osterman Research and the domain name vendor Nominet found that security practitioners are very aware of the professional conse…
• For foreign hackers, 2018 was all about subtlety, CrowdStrike says (cyberscoop.com)
  Russian hackers need just 19 minutes to move through breached networks, the cybersecurity company said.
• NSO Group founders buy back their spyware company (cyberscoop.com)
  NSO Group says its spyware is for hunting terrorists, but the surveillance software has also been used to target journalists and dissidents.
• Researchers found a way to hack those ubiquitous electric scooters (cyberscoop.com)
  A researcher with San Francisco-based Zimperium discovered a way to manipulate a Xiaomi M365 scooters via the device's Bluetooth connection.
• Facebook scrubs accounts spreading disinformation in Moldova ahead of heated election (cyberscoop.com)
  Some users spreading disinformation were government empoloyees, Facebook said.
• Hard drives in accused CIA leaker's case were 'misplaced' after jailhouse search, prosecutors say (cyberscoop.com)
  The government, as a result, said it plans to provide Schulte with another copy of the discovery materials in a reproduction.
• Democrats ask Trump administration to publish 2018 election security report (cyberscoop.com)
  2018 midterm security efforts have been hailed as a success, but some lawmakers are calling for a public report on that work in the interes…
• Former Air Force intelligence officer charged with espionage (cyberscoop.com)
  A former U.S. Air Force intelligence agent has been charged with espionage, with the DOJ alleging she defected to Iran in order to recruit…
• Two hackers charged for DDoS attacks, threats to LAX (cyberscoop.com)
  One of the accused is already serving time, while the other was arrested Tuesday morning.
• With eyes squarely on the cloud, Symantec acquires Israeli network security firm Luminate (cyberscoop.com)
  The Silicon Valley cybersecurity giant said it is acquiring Luminate Security because of its strength in zero-trust security and "software…
• Atlantic Council holding worldwide events to combat the rise of disinformation (cyberscoop.com)
  The Atlantic Council is organizing a series of events and listening sessions next month where security experts can advise lawmakers on how…
• Right country, wrong group? Researchers say it wasn’t APT10 that hacked Norwegian software firm (cyberscoop.com)
  The hack of Visma was done by APT10, according to Recorded Future and Rapid7. Or was it? Other researchers say it had all the hallmarks of…
• WordPress plugin patches flaw that gave hackers potential access to 40,000 websites (cyberscoop.com)
  The plugin Simple Social Buttons allows Wordpress users to distribute content on social media platforms. The flaw was discovered by a secur…
• Instagram data from 14 million profiles found in unsecured database, researcher says (cyberscoop.com)
  Information about more than 14 million Instagram accounts is being kept in an unsecured database that could render users vulnerable to hack…
• Carbonite acquires long-running cybersecurity firm Webroot (cyberscoop.com)
  Boston-based Carbonite is putting up about $618.5 million in cash to buy Webroot. It's the latest in a string of acquisitions for Carbonite.
• U.S. busts Romanian cybercrime ring that phished Americans, laundered millions of dollars (cyberscoop.com)
  The scheme involved an elaborate amount of social-engineering with a dose of phishing.