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Articles by Topher Tebow
PSA: Intentionally Leaving Backdoors in Your Code Can Lead to Fines and Jail Time
In the cybersecurity field, we talk a lot about threat actors and vulnerable code, but what doesn’t get discussed enough is intentional vulnerabilities and becoming your own threat actor. Even when making decisions with the best of intentions, it is possible to work against your own best interests. One area we see this in comes from website developers trying to safeguard their work.
The WordPress Ecosystem is Becoming More Secure with Responsible Disclosure Becoming More Common
The Wordfence 2022 State of WordPress Security Report was released on January 24th, 2023. One area that we reviewed in this report were the vulnerabilities disclosed in 2022. Keeping in mind that some vulnerabilities affected multiple plugins, themes, and WordPress core, a total of 2,370 vulnerabilities were reported in 2022.
PSA: Your Site Isn’t Hacked By This Bitcoin Scam, Keep the Money
On January 19th, 2023, a member of the Wordfence Threat Intelligence team received an email from their personal blog, claiming the site had been hacked, and we received two reports from Wordfence users who received the same message. The email claimed that the site had been hacked due to a vulnerability on the site. The email went on to demand about $3,000 worth of Bitcoin to prevent the malicious actor from damaging the site’s reputation.
Holiday Attack Spikes Target Ancient Vulnerabilities and Hidden Webshells
Winter brings a number of holidays in a short period of time, and many organizations shut down or run a skeleton crew for a week or more at the end of the year and beginning of the new year. This makes it easier for would-be attackers to find success as systems are not as closely monitored. This means that during major holidays it is not uncommon to see spikes in attack attempts.
Configuration Probing: Your Backups Might Be Your Greatest Weakness
Configuration files exist to make life easier for developers and website operators. In a world without configuration files, every instance of code that depended on a database connection could potentially require the connection details to be hard coded or manually entered. Other reusable data would be defined multiple times, causing code bloat and possible performance issues.
What Does The Fox Hack? Breaking Down the Anonymous Fox F-Automatical Script
While performing routine security research, one of our threat analysts discovered the latest version of a Command and Control (C2) script, which is referred to as F-Automatical within the script’s code and was commonly known as FoxAuto in older versions. This is the seventh version of this automatic C2 script that is developed and distributed by a threat group called Anonymous Fox.
Cross-Site Scripting: The Real WordPress Supervillain
Vulnerabilities are a fact of life for anyone managing a website, even when using a well-established content management system like WordPress. Not all vulnerabilities are equal, with some allowing access to sensitive data that would normally be hidden from public view, while others could allow a malicious actor to take full control of an affected website.
Ukrainian Website Threat Landscape Throughout 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 20, 2022. By mid-March it was clear the cyber-war had begun, and the attacks have been consistent ever since. Prior to this, on March 1, 2022, Wordfence reported on an attack campaign on Ukrainian university websites. In response, we deployed our real-time threat intelligence to all sites running Wordfence with a .ua top-level domain (TLD).
How to Deal With Deep Fakes
Your CEO Isn't Real: How to Deal With Deep Fakes The history of deep fake technology is surprisingly long. Researchers at academic institutions have been developing deep fake tech since the early 1990s. The idea is even older, as popular science fiction-like the 1987 film The Running Man-can attest. But deep fakes are no longer relegated to the realm of sci-fi; they are, in fact, more present in our daily lives than you might realize.
Cyber Threats to Avoid in 2022
Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive. By Topher Tebow, Senior Cybersecurity Researcher, Acronis Everything changed in 2020. COVID-19 sent us all home, and with that came a slew of cybersecurity hurdles that most companies were not prepared for. In 2021, we saw a continuation of work-from-home, even if it was only part-time. Will 2022 be a return to normal, a continuation of uncertainty, or a new normal?
I Triggered a Ransomware Attack
I Triggered a Ransomware Attack - Here's What I Learned Ransomware attacks are perceived as complicated, confusing and dangerous. While all those things are true, there are also some basic truths about ransomware attacks that can be used to stop an attack quickly, minimizing or eliminating the damage they cause. Conti is a form of ransomware that has often targeted health care organizations and retailers, and perfectly demonstrates the basic behaviors exhibited by ransomware.
Is There Hope for ICS and Supply Chain Security?
Is There Hope for ICS and Supply Chain Security? Industrial control systems (ICS) have been the target of countless cyberattacks in recent years. Some of these attacks have an extortion goal in mind, while others seem to be nothing more than a test to see if the attacker is able to access and disrupt systems. As malicious actors become more clever in their tactics, we are also seeing an increase in supply chain attacks, complicating matters even further.
Cybersecurity Predictions For 2021
Preparing for the “next normal” By Topher Tebow, Cybersecurity Analyst (Malware), Acronis For cybersecurity professionals, this year began more or less like any other. Fast forward to April, and nearly half of the American workforce was working from home — relying on remote access tools and cloud services for everyday business needs. It’s been a time of great challenges and opportunities.
Security Boulevard
As most schools continue to provide online learning during COVID-19, here are some ways to keep students and systems protected Remote work has become a way of life for many office and call center employees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the school year began this fall for most students, it became clear that many schools would be at least partially remote for the foreseeable future.
Securing Healthcare Data in a COVID World
Healthcare data is some of the most personal information any of us have. In the midst of the global pandemic, many people whose information would not have entered medical systems normally are being hospitalized and data about them is being collected. With protected health information such a lucrative target for cybercriminals, are we living in a new age of identity theft and exposed secrets, or can we take steps to keep our information safe?
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