News Briefs

Microsoft Releases Patches to Fix Close to a Hundred Flaws, Including for Unsupported Windows XP

Microsoft has released security updates for close to a hundred security vulnerabilities in a number of Windows operating systems. more

Russian Interference More Vigorous than Assumed, Over 39 States Targeted During Election

"Voter databases and software systems in an overwhelming number of states -- 39 to be exact -- were targeted by Russian cyberattacks over the summer and fall of 2016," Allegra Kirkland reporting today in TPM more

Major Flaw Found in WannaCry Raises Questions on Whether it was Really a Ransomware

An extensive analysis of WannaCry seems to indicate attackers would be unable to determine which users have paid the ransom and they cannot decrypt on a per-user basis. more

Canadian Internet Registration Authority Launches Cloud-Based DNS Firewall Service

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has announced the launch of a security service called D-Zone DNS Firewall -- a cloud-based cybersecurity solution -- to protect Canadian organizations from rasomware and malware. more

Al Jazeera Under Systematic Cyberattack

The websites and digital platforms of Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network are undergoing systematic and continual hacking attempts, the news agency reported a few hours ago on its website. more

NTIA Issues RFC, Asks for Input on Dealing With Botnets and DDoS Attacks

NTIA issued a Request for Comments today asking for broad input from "all interested stakeholders, including private industry, academia, civil society, and other security experts," on actions against botnets and distributed attacks. more

Major Regulatory Changes Needed as Safety and Security Merge, Warns European Commission Report

As we increasingly move towards an IoT world, vendors of safety-critical devices will be patching their systems just as regularly as phone and computer vendors do now. Researchers warn that many regulators who previously thought only in terms of safety will have to start thinking of security as well. more

Trump Administration Doubles Down on Surveillance

The White House has expressed its full support on the need for permanent reauthorization of Section 702, created "to address an intelligence-collection gap that resulted from the evolution of technology in the years after FISA became law in 1978." more

At Least One U.S. Voting Software Supplier Cyberattacked by Russians, According to Leaked Document

Russia's military intelligence agency launched a cyberattack just days before Election Day 2016 on a U.S. software supplier that provides voting services and systems, according to a top secret report posted Monday by The Intercept. more

European Countries Continue to Lead IPv6 Adoption, Reports Akamai

Akamai Technologies released its First Quarter, 2017 State of the Internet Report last week based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform. more

China’s New Cybersecurity Law Will Be in Effect Starting Thursday

According to the official news agency, Xinhua, implementation of China's controversial Cybersecurity Law will begin on June 1, requiring strict data surveillance and storage for companies operating in the county. more

Emoji in Domain Names Bad Idea Warns ICANN Security Advisory Group

Coca-Cola received a fair amount of press for using a number of emoji domains for its 2015 marketing campaign in Puerto Rico. And other companies including Budweiser, Honda and Ray-Ban followed suit, registering various emoji domains to tap into the youth market. However, the increasing interest in their use has raised some questions and concerns. more

5G Frequency Fees Are Waived in Singapore to Help Drive Market Tests

Singapore government has waived telecom frequency fees for 5G trials until December 2019 in order to catalyze market growth and discovery of potential use cases. more

Al-Jazeera, HuffPost Arabi Among 21 News Sites Blocked by Egypt, Plus Possible Legal Action

At least 21 news sites critical of the government in Egypt, including the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera and Huffington Post’s Arabic-language site HuffPost Arabi, have been blocked. more

Emergency Patch Issued for Samba, WannaCry-type Bug Exploitable with One Line of Code

The team behind the free networking software Samba has issued and emergency patch for a remote code execution vulnerability. more