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2 Million Credit Cards Stolen From Popular Sandwich Shop

By now, we’ve seen enough large-scale Point of Sale (POS) credit card thefts that patterns are beginning to emerge.  Some companies follow the general arc of the narrative better than others, and deserve credit for doing so, but in the end, the story is about the same. That’s certainly the case with Jason’s Deli.  Recently, […]

Mac Computers Battling New Malware For Hijacking DNS

It’s official, the first macOS malware of 2018 is here.  Discovered by an independent security researcher and dubbed “OSX/MaMi,” the code is functionally similar to DNSChanger malware. The researcher posted his findings on the Malwarebytes forum and none other than Patrick Wardle (an ex-NSA hacker) analyzed it, having this to say: “OSX/MaMi isn’t particularly advanced […]

Use Of Bots Has Increased Fake Account Creations

The ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report 2017 is out, and is a troubling read for anyone who has anything to do with data security.  As a fraud prevention company protecting nearly a billion and a half users around the world, they’re uniquely positioned to know, and their insights on the threat landscape is invaluable. Their main finding […]

Intel Chips Face Another Possible Vulnerability

Intel’s year isn’t getting off to a very good start.   Just after the discovery of a pair of critical vulnerabilities that have been in their chipsets for more than a decade comes the discovery of yet another serious flaw that could impact millions of laptops around the world. A Finnish data security firm called “F-Secure” […]

Inappropriate Ads Found In Some Game Apps for Kids

Normally, Google’s robust series of checks and audits are pretty good at catching malicious code and preventing it from making its way to the Play Store.  Sometimes, however, something slips through anyway despite the company’s best efforts. This latest one is particularly bad. Researchers from Check Point have identified a new strain of malware called […]

Do Not Use These Chrome Extensions

Do you use any of the following Chrome browser extensions? Change HTTP Request Header Nyoogle – (a custom logo for Google) Stickies – (a Post-It note for Chrome) Lite Bookmarks If so, you’re not alone.  These four extensions have a combined user base of more than half a million. Recently, security researchers from ICEBRG (a […]

Backdoor In Certain Lenovo Switches Discovered

Does your company utilize either RackSwitch or BladeCenter networking switches?  Are those switches running ENOS (the Enterprise Network Operating System)?  If so, there’s a backdoor in your network you weren’t aware of.  Even worse, it’s been there since 2004. Engineers at Lenovo recently discovered the backdoor in the firmware when they conducted an internal security […]

Vulnerabilities Found In Some GPS Services

A duo of researchers stumbled across a series of vulnerabilities in literally hundreds of GPS services that leave sensitive GPS tracking data open to hackers.  Dubbed “Trackmageddon” by the researchers, the vulnerabilities span a range of weaknesses that include default or easy-to-guess passwords, IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) issues, insecure API endpoints, and data collection […]

Electronic Device Search Rules Better Defined By US Customs

There’s a constant tug of war playing out on the national stage.  On one side, privacy advocates are pushing for greater autonomy for end users, and hard limits to the types of searches that law enforcement agencies are allowed to conduct. On the other side are the government agencies themselves, which often cite national security […]

New Wifi Standard WPA3 May Be Coming

Remember the KRACK WiFi (WPA2) vulnerability, discovered by Mathy Vanhoef?  It turns out that his discovery was a catalyst for action.  Recently, the WiFi Alliance, which is the industry’s standards organization, released details about its new WPA3 protocol.     Here’s a quick rundown of the changes you can expect to see in the months […]

A Visionary Approach to Your Security

The purpose of an IT partner isn’t just to fix something when it is broken, it is to keep your people working and your data secure. Astral moves beyond traditional managed services by addressing all the key areas of cybersecurity in today’s complex landscape.

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