Weekend Update

A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.


The US is reportedly seeding Russia’s power grid with malware

The US is alleged to have been quietly planting malware throughout Russia’s energy networks in response to years of Russian attacks on its own power grid.

My comment:  Anybody who wonders why the bad guys are always attacking the US, well, it’s because we are doing it to them.  Who started it?  Your guess is as good as mine.  But no one is “innocent” in this game.


The Invention of BASIC Honored in Historical Marker

The programming language BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), which was invented at Dartmouth College in 1964, was recently honored by the State of New Hampshire with a road side historical marker.  BASIC was one of the first programming languages that was easily understood and learned by anyone.  It also provided the foundation for the launch of Microsoft, DOS, and the Windows operating system.  Visual BASIC is still in use today.


Mozilla Security Updates for Firefox and Firefox ESR

Original release date: June 18, 2019

Mozilla has released security updates to address a vulnerability in Firefox and Firefox ESR. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system. This vulnerability was detected in exploits in the wild.  The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages users and administrators to review the Mozilla Security Advisory for Firefox 67.0.3 and Firefox ESR 60.7.1 and apply the necessary updates.


Google launches new Chrome protection from bad URLs

The “Suspicious Site Reporter” extension lets users easily report dubious sites, while a new warning flags potential typosquatting pages.


Will Facebook Bring Crypto-Currency To The Masses with Libra?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that earlier this week Facebook announced plans for a new global cryptocurrency for absolutely everyone called Libra.

Slated to launch in 2020, Libra’s success will be decided by the interaction of three things – its financial architecture (which is complex and novel), how this affects its popularity and take up, and the consequences of how it might be used and misused.


NIST Releases Report on Managing IoT Risks

Original release date: June 26, 2019

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the Considerations for Managing Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity and Privacy Risks report. The publication—the first in a planned series on IoT—aims to help federal agencies and other organizations manage the cybersecurity and privacy risks associated with individual IoT devices.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages information security and privacy practitioners to review NISTIR 8228 for more information and CISA’s Tip on Securing IoT for best practices.


 

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About the Author:

I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com
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