News

You may not need to go full Juggalo for the sake of privacy

Researchers at cyber-defense contractor PeopleTec have found that facial-recognition algorithms' focus on specific areas of the face opens the door to subtler surveillance avoidance strategies.…

Microsoft starts 2025 as it hopefully doesn't mean to go on

Devices that have Citrix's Session Recording software installed are having problems completing this month's Microsoft Patch Tuesday update, which includes important fixes.…

US, Japan, South Korea vow to intensify counter efforts

North Korean blockchain bandits stole more than half a billion dollars in cryptocurrency in 2024 alone, the US, Japan, and South Korea say.…

Plus: Excel hell, angst for Adobe fans, and life's too Snort for Cisco

Patch Tuesday  The first Patch Tuesday of 2025 has seen Microsoft address three under-attack privilege-escalation flaws in its Hyper-V hypervisor, plus plenty more problems that deserve your attention.…

Hey, Xi: Zài jiàn!

The FBI, working with French cops, obtained nine warrants to remotely wipe PlugX malware from thousands of Windows-based computers that had been infected by Chinese government-backed criminals, according to newly unsealed court documents.…

Packages removed, vendor said to have apologized to AI code editor as onlookers say it could have been a test

Developer security company Snyk is at the center of allegations concerning the possible targeting or testing of Cursor, an AI code editor company, using "malicious" packages uploaded to NPM.…

That niche forum running for 20 years – get ready, there's work to do

Analysis  A little more than two months out from its first legal deadline, the UK’s Online Safety Act is causing concern among smaller online forums caught within its reach. The legislation, which came into law in the autumn of 2023, applies to search services and services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other.…

Stronger proposals may also see private sector applying for a payment 'license'

A total ban on ransomware payments across the public sector might actually happen after the UK government opened a consultation on how to combat the trend of criminals locking up whole systems and taxpayers footing the bill.…

Ransomware 'not off the table,' Arctic Wolf threat hunter tells El Reg

Miscreants running a "mass exploitation campaign" against Fortinet firewalls, which peaked in December, may be using an unpatched zero-day vulnerability to compromise the equipment, according to security researchers who say they've observed the intrusions.…

This is what happens when you publish PoCs immediately, hm?

"Several cloud deployments" are already compromised following the disclosure of the maximum-severity vulnerability in Aviatrix Controller, researchers say.…

Scumbags stole API keys, then started a hacking-as-a-service biz, it is claimed

Microsoft has sued a group of unnamed cybercriminals who developed tools to bypass safety guardrails in its generative AI tools. The tools were used to create harmful content, and access to the tools were sold as a service to other miscreants.…

It's fixed, mostly, after Europeans had a manic Monday

Microsoft's multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Azure and Microsoft 365 (M365) was offline for four hours during Monday's busy start for European subscribers.…

'Sweden has changed,' PM warns as trio of warships join defense efforts

Sweden has committed to sending naval forces into the Baltic Sea following yet another suspected Russian attack on underwater cables in the region.…

'Codefinger' crims on the hunt for compromised keys

A new ransomware crew dubbed Codefinger targets AWS S3 buckets and uses the cloud giant's own server-side encryption with customer provided keys (SSE-C) to lock up victims' data before demanding a ransom payment for the symmetric AES-256 keys required to decrypt it.…

Unauthorized activity detected, but no backdoors found

UK domain registry Nominet is investigating a potential intrusion into its network related to the latest Ivanti zero-day exploits.…

PLUS: Data broker leak reveals extent of info trading; Hot new ransomware gang might be all AI, no bark; and more

Infosec in brief  Gravy Analytics, a vendor of location intelligence info for marketers which reached a settlement with US authorities last year over its alleged unlawful sale of location, has reportedly been hacked – potentially exposing millions of smartphone users.…

Gee, wonder why Beijing is so keen on the – checks notes – Committee on Foreign Investment in the US

Chinese cyber-spies who broke into the US Treasury Department also stole documents from officials investigating real-estate sales near American military bases, it's reported.…

Details of afflictions and care plastered online

BayMark Health Services, one of the biggest drug addiction treatment facilities in the US, says it is notifying some patients this week that their sensitive personal information was stolen.…

Screenshot showed it wasn't a possible attack – unless you qualify everything Google does as a threat

On Call  Velkomin, Vælkomin, Hoş geldin, and welcome to Friday, and therefore to another edition of On Call – The Register's end-of-week celebration of the tech support tasks you managed to tackle without too much trauma.…

Beware the IoT that doesn’t get a security tag

The White House this week introduced a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for technology products so that consumers can have some assurance their smart devices aren't spying on them.…