President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that limits the use of commercial spyware by federal agencies. According to Biden, commercial spyware poses a severe risk to U.S. government agencies. More: - The executive order lists several scenarios where U.S. federal agencies would not purchase spyware.
- These scenarios are:
- The purchase of commercial spyware by a foreign government or person to target the U.S. government.
- A commercial spyware vendor that uses or discloses sensitive data obtained from the cyber surveillance tool without authorization and operates under the control of a foreign government that's engaged in espionage activities aimed at the U.S.,
- A foreign threat actor that uses commercial spyware against activists and dissidents with the goal of limiting freedom of expression or perpetrating human rights abuses.
- A foreign threat actor uses commercial spyware to spy on a U.S. citizen without legal authorization, safeguards, or oversight.
- The sales of commercial spyware to governments that have a record of engaging in systematic acts of political repression and other human rights violations.
- According to a statement by the White House, this executive order will limit the use of commercial spyware from foreign governments around the world to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses, intimidate political opponents, limit freedom of expression, and monitor activists and journalists.
Zoom Out: - Last week, it was reported that Artemis Seaford, a former security policy manager at Meta, had her phone hacked by Greece's national intelligence agency using the Predator spyware.
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A U.S. court has sentenced a 31-year-old hacker to four years in prison for his involvement in numerous BEC cases, phishing campaigns, romance scams, etc. The threat actor caused over $1M in damages to individuals. More: - The 31-year-old hacker and his accomplices carried out romance scams by creating fake accounts on dating websites, engaging romantically with their victims, and then tricking them into transferring their funds overseas.
- These hacking campaigns lasted from December 2011 to January 2017.
- The threat actor stole as much as tens of thousands of dollars from some victims.
- The 31-year-old, a citizen of Nigeria, was arrested in Malaysia and extradited to Arizona.
- He pleaded guilty in December 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire, bank, and mail fraud.
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Microsoft has previewed a GPT-4 powered cybersecurity tool named Security Copilot. The software aims to help users determine whether they are at risk of being breached. More: - Security Copilot will gather data from other Microsoft products such as Sentinel, Defender, and Intune.
- This data will then be compiled and analyzed to give users more certainty regarding the security level of their digital infrastructure.
- According to Microsoft, users will be able to complete commands such as:
- ask Security Copilot about suspicious user logins over a specific period,
- direct it to create a PowerPoint presentation regarding a specific cyberattack,
- analyze URLs and code snippets, etc.
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Apple has published an urgent security bug patch for iOS and iPadOS. The flaw affects older devices like the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7. More: - According to Apple, a successful exploit of the flaw could lead hackers to gain remote arbitrary code execution capabilities.
- The company stated that some reports have claimed that this flaw has been exploited by hackers.
- This security update is available for the following devices:
- iPhone 6s (all models),
- iPhone 7 (all models),
- iPhone SE (1st generation),
- iPad Air 2,
- iPad mini (4th generation),
- and iPod touch (7th generation).
- The issue is tracked as CVE-2023-23529.
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Australian law authorities have arrested four hackers who stole $1.7M in a series of Business Email Compromise attacks. These cyberattacks occurred in 2020. More: - According to Australian law authorities, this group conducted different hacking campaigns, such as:
- BEC attacks,
- Facebook Marketplace scams,
- investment scams, etc.
- The group stole amounts ranging from $2,500 up to $500,000.The stolen money was then laundered through 180 bank accounts.
- A large number of these bank accounts were in South Africa.
- The threat actor managed to launder around $1.1M.
- The four individuals were arrested in the cities of Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
Zoom Out: - In 2022, Australian businesses lost over $98M from Business Email Compromise cyberattacks.
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- Right-Hand Cybersecurity, a Human Risk Management cybersecurity platform, has raised a $5M Series A. AZ-VC led the round.
- Google Chrome users are being breached through a malicious extension named AF. The extension cannot be found in Chrome's More Tools section, making it difficult to track for regular users.
- A new report from Cisco claims that only 15% of companies are adequately prepared to implement the necessary cybersecurity steps to protect their infrastructure.
- Hackers are distributing Remcos RAT via a new malware loader named DBatLoader. The campaign targets organizations in Europe.
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 |  | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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