Cyber Security News & Trends

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This week, SonicWall CEO Bill Conner appears on the Chertoff Group podcast, our threat researchers release details on the dramatic rise in PDF-related cyberattacks, and there’s an ongoing legal fight over whether a cyberattack can be considered an act of war.


SonicWall Spotlight

SonicWall Detects, Reports Dramatic Rise in Fraudulent PDF Files in Q1 2019 – SonicWall Press Release

  • SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers are reporting a substantial increase of fraudulent PDF files. The fraud campaign takes advantage of recipients’ trust in PDF files as a “safe” file format that is widely used and relied upon for business operations.

‘Chase & Capture’: The Chertoff Group Hosts SonicWall CEO Bill Conner on Latest Podcast – Podcast

  • SonicWall CEO Bill Conner speaks on the latest Chertoff Group Insights & Intelligence podcast, “Chase & Capture: Inside the Tactical Advances between Cybercriminals and the Security Industry.” He joins host Katie Montgomery to discuss the SonicWall 2019 Cyber Threat Report.

Of Billions and Trillions: Firewalls, Threats and Sonicwall’s Thriving Business – Sify Finance

  • With around one billion malware attacks detected a week, AI and machine learning are just part of how SonicWall are raising the cybersecurity bar – SonicWall’s Bob Vankirk and Debashish Mukherjee are interviewed by Sify Finance.

Old-school cruel: Dodgy PDF email attachments enjoying a renaissance – The Register (UK)

  • The Register investigates the findings of the SonicWall Capture Labs showing a substantial increase of fraudulent PDF files.

The State of Cyber Arms Race: Unmasking the Threats Coming in 2019 – SonicWall Webcast

  • SonicWall’s John Gordineer presents a Webinar sharing the findings of the 2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report and discusses and analyses what this intelligence tells us about the Cyber Arms Race.

Mar-a-Lago Malware Event: A Study in What NOT to do With Unknown USB Keys    – SonicWall Blog

  • Don’t plug it in. Critical advice from SonicWall’s Brook Chelmo on what to do, and what not to do, if you find a USB key lying around your workplace.

Cyber Security News

Big Companies Thought Insurance Covered a Cyberattack. They May Be Wrong. – New York Times

  • Zurich Insurance have refused to pay out on a cyberattack insurance claim by Mondelez, citing a “war exemption.” Mondelez originally made the claim after losing business while infected by NotPetya ransomware but, after the United States government tied the NotPetya attack to the Kremlin, Zurich classified the cyberattack as collateral war damage. Mondelez are pursuing a case against Zurich Insurance in the courts.

Facebook Uploaded Email Contacts of 1.5m Users Without Consent – The Guardian

  • Facebook admitted to “unintentionally” uploading the address books of 1.5 million users without their consent, blaming a legacy verification program. They say they will delete the data and notify those affected.

Data on Thousands of Law Enforcement Personnel Exposed in Breach – Dark Reading

  • Hackers leaked personal information on the FBI, police officers, Secret Service and other federal employees after a breach of three websites associated with the FBI National Academy, a 501(c)(3) organization.

A Hacker Has Dumped Nearly One Billion User Records Over the Past Two Months – ZDNet

  • A hacker calling themselves Gnosticplayers has stolen and published almost a billion user records over the past two months. ZDNet investigates the hacker community, finding that some hackers are not only motivated by money but by fame and a desire to be remembered.

In Case You Missed It

SonicWall Staff