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Subdomains help organizations sort different sections of their websites neatly. Looking at the subdomains of some websites, for example, we usually see subdomains like shop[.]domain[.]com and blog[.]domain[.]com, which help users navigate the sites efficiently. But we couldn't help but notice subdomains that might be revealing a lot about a company's Internet infrastructure and resources. more
Cyber attackers are very skilled at infiltration. They'd find ways into a house through cracks and holes that the homeowner doesn't know about. Analogically speaking, that's what the new cyber attack group dubbed "Hafnium" did when they identified several zero-day Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities to get into target networks. With thousands of users for every Microsoft Exchange server, the attack has far-reaching implications. First, it establishes the presence of a new threat actor group in town. What else could they be up to? more
A recent survey conducted by the Neustar International Security Council confirmed the heightened interests on domain name system (DNS) security. The survey reveals that over three-quarters of cybersecurity professionals anticipate increases in DNS attacks, especially with more people shopping online amid the pandemic. Yet, close to 30% have reservations about their ability to respond to these attacks. more
When a brand goes so far as to ask a domain name registrar for Whois (the registration contact details) of a potentially abusive domain name, there's likely a lot at stake. Most often, the request is prompted by consumer safety concerns, such as the risk to consumers posed by a malicious site. Other times, the demand has a simple goal: to have a dialog with the registrant about the use of trademarks or other intellectual property in order to avoid extreme action. more
Over the last few years, it's become clear that abuse of the Domain Name System -- whether in the form of malware, botnets, phishing, pharming, or spam -- threatens to undermine trust in the Internet. At Public Interest Registry, we believe that every new .ORG makes the world a better place. That means anything that gets in the way of that is a threat, and that includes DNS Abuse. more
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The reason being "data is the new gold" in this digital world, and the more sensitive some data is, the more value it has. There is no more sensitive data than personally identifiable information because it contains enough information to identify you digitally. Examples of personally identifiable information include name, email, contact number, address, social security number, tax file number, banking or financial information, and more such data that helps identify you. more
As the world becomes more and more reliant on electronics, it's worth a periodic reminder that a large solar flare could knock out much of the electronics on earth. Such an event would be devastating to the Internet, satellite broadband, and the many electronics we use in daily life. A solar flare is the result of periodic ejections of matter from the sun into space. Scientists still aren't entirely sure what causes solar flares, but they know that it's somehow related to shifts in the sun's magnetic field. more
Clarivate has once again surveyed global business leaders about the importance of domain names to their organizations, including the role of domains as intellectual property (IP) assets. The 2020 survey followed up on our 2019 survey, revealing key year-over-year trends in how organizations manage, secure and budget for domain names. In this blog, we review key trends from the new report. more
In previous posts in this series, I've discussed a number of applications of cryptography to the DNS, many of them related to the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). In this final blog post, I'll turn attention to another application that may appear at first to be the most natural, though as it turns out, may not always be the most necessary: DNS encryption. (I've also written about DNS encryption as well as minimization in a separate post on DNS information protection.) more
In my last article, I described efforts underway to standardize new cryptographic algorithms that are designed to be less vulnerable to potential future advances in quantum computing. I also reviewed operational challenges to be considered when adding new algorithms to the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). In this post, I'll look at hash-based signatures, a family of post-quantum algorithms that could be a good match for DNSSEC from the perspective of infrastructure stability. more
On January 14, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2020 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Notorious Markets List, or NML). This publication enumerates online and physical markets that have been reported to engage in trademark, counterfeiting, and copyright infringement at scale. For the first time, the NML documents show how internet platforms play a part in bringing illicit goods into the US. more
As chance has it, the attempt by NTIA to create a fake Trump Open 5G Security Framework MAGAverse as they headed out the door on 15 January is being followed this week by the global meeting of 3GPP SA3 (Security) to advance the industry's real open 5G security Framework. Designated TSGS3-102e (the 102nd meeting, occurring electronically), it continues the practice of assembling companies, organisations, and agencies from around the world every 8 to 12 weeks to focus on 5G security for current and future releases of 5G infrastructure. more
We all use the Internet daily. Practically every element of our reality has its equal in the virtual realm. Friends turn into social media contacts, retail establishments to e-commerce shops, and so on. We can't deny that the way the Internet was designed, to what it has become, differs much. One example that we'll tackle in this post is the seeming loss of connection between domains and their distinguishable owners. more
A name collision occurs when a user attempts to resolve a domain in one namespace, but it unexpectedly resolves in a different namespace. Name collision issues in the public global Domain Name System (DNS) cause billions of unnecessary and potentially unsafe DNS queries every day. A targeted outreach program that Verisign started in March 2020 has remediated one billion queries per day to the A and J root name servers, via 46 collision strings. more
In my previous post, I described the first broad scale deployment of cryptography in the DNS, known as the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). I described how a name server can enable a requester to validate the correctness of a "positive" response to a query -- when a queried domain name exists -- by adding a digital signature to the DNS response returned. more
A financially motivated threat group called "Roaming Mantis" was seen targeting Android and iOS device users through malicious SMS communications. The messages sent Android phone users to download pages while iOS users were redirected to credential-stealing login pages. more
Agent Tesla, an infamous data stealer, has been plaguing Internet users since 2014. Much has been revealed about the malware, but the world didn't come to know about one of its more adept campaign perpetrators -- Hagga -- until last year. more
Months after TikTok launched its marketplace in September 2021, several users have raised concerns about the authenticity of the products they purchased. The complaints mainly pertain to beauty products, such as sunscreens, lip glosses, and makeup brushes. Aside from being ripped off, consumers may be exposed to more danger. more
A group of researchers recently discovered a new Android banking Trojan they called "Revive" since threat actors designed it to restart if it stops working. Once a device is infected, hackers can intercept messages, including online banking one-time passwords (OTPs). Revive also enables attackers to steal login credentials since it can read and store everything the user types on the infected device. more
Scammers and counterfeiters are always on the lookout for quick gains. And the more expensive the fake item, the bigger the possible gain. It’s no wonder then why they’re looking to mimic the world’s most popular luxury jewelers. more
The Koobface Gang gained notoriety from 2008 to the 2010s for spreading malware via Facebook and other social networks. Believe it or not, the gang amassed millions of dollars from their online scams while hiding in plain sight in St. Petersburg, Russia. After being publicly identified in 2012, the gang members shut down their operations. more
Aoqin Dragon, like the mythical character it's named after, has recently been unearthed after nearly a decade of flying under the cybersecurity community's radar. Now believed to have been active since 2013, the advanced persistent threat (APT) group has targeted various organizations in the government, education, and telecommunications sectors. more