AV Vendors should try to get better - Not Cheat

Tencent is one vendor that attempted to cheat 

From the article:

As part of our research, we found that all the tools we're using for the performance benchmark were "whitelisted" using their name (Eg "AcroRd32.exe"), so the Tencent scan engine won't check them anymore," Marx said.

This only applied to exactly the programs we're using (some are well know, like Acrobat Reader, but some are less commonly used).

"The "whitelist" was even extended from month to month by exactly the tools we used for the next benchmark, so this optimisation was clearly focusing on our tests only."

Once the tools were renamed, Tencent product performance decreased significantly, confirming the test-specific optimisations.

Follow the link below for more details

http://www.crn.com.au/News/403708,second-chinese-security-vendor-caught-cheating.aspx

Microsoft LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution) - Something worth trying

Remember:

"Layered Security" is the common sense approach.
So, this is one additional layer
But , on the downside it makes Active Directory a more attractive Honey pot

Windows admins have long used a common local account with the same password on computers in the same domain. This provides attackers with a single point of failure to target; one password affords access to every machine. What the LAPS tool does is set a random password for the common local admin account on machines in the same domain, Microsoft said

Try the following link for more details:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/3062591.aspx

USB KillSwitch - Interesting idea , maybe useful

From the article:

"USBKill" is a script that turns an innocent-looking thumb drive into a kill switch that, when unplugged, forces computers to shut down.

"USBKill waits for a change on your usb ports, then immediately kills your computer," Hephaestos says in a Github document.

For More details check the link below:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/05/usbkills_laptops_to_beat_the_heat/

UBER Hacked?

Change your password now!

From the article:

“It was crazy,” Stephanie Crisco told the publication. “I used Uber for the first time Thursday night. On Friday morning I received a notification on my phone that my driver was en route. I didn't request a driver. I clicked on the notification and it said that the ride was cancelled but the pickup was in London.”

she wasn't alone in reporting Uber account problems. Many other users have posted on Twitter, saying that their Uber accounts have been hijacked by unknown individuals who took rides using their accounts.

The easiest thing you can do to protect your Uber account right now is actually to follow Uber's advice and change your Uber password to something unique, so hackers who have stolen credentials from other services can’t reuse them on Uber.

For More details check the link below:

http://bgr.com/2015/05/04/uber-username-and-password-change/

FREE - Source Code Audit Tool - GRAUDIT v1.9

From the Article:

Graudit is a simple script and signature sets that allows you to find potential security flaws in source code using the GNU utility grep. It’s comparable to other static analysis applications and source code auditing tool sets like RATS, SWAAT and flaw-finder while keeping the technical requirements to a minimum and being very flexible.



Check the following link for more information:
http://www.darknet.org.uk/2015/05/graudit-v1-9-download-grep-source-code-auditing-tool/

Another day another CC Breach - Hard Rock Cafe takes a hard hit

With whatever is happening around we should:

1. Watch all credit card transactions.
2. Keep the phone numbers ready to cancel them

it is only a matter of time that it happens to one of us (oh, it already happened to me)


From the article:

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, a 640-room hotel in Las Vegas, has warned payment cards may have been compromised over an eight-month period ending early last month.

The hotel said the card details were exposed between Sept. 2, 2014 and April 2 this year. 

Check the following link for more information:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2918057/hard-rock-hotel-and-casino-warns-of-possible-payment-card-hack.html

Sally Beauty Breached (Again???)

Approximately one year ago they had Credit Card data breach.

They are breached again?
Did they learn any lessons at all



From the Article

Last week, KrebsOnSecurity began hearing from multiple financial institutions about a pattern of fraudulent charges on cards that were all recently sally used at Sally Beauty locations in various states. 

The company also sent out an urgent alert today to its employees, asking associates to direct any customers with credit card issues to the Sally Beauty Web site or to call customer service. “We hadn’t gotten an email like that since last year when we had our breach,” the Sally Beauty employee said on condition of anonymity.

check this link for more details:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/05/sally-beauty-card-breach-part-deux/

Link to the previous Breach article:

http://martin-news-bytes.blogspot.com/2014/03/beauty-chain-sally-beauty-turns-ugly.html