January 4, SecurityWeek – (International) BlackEnergy malware used in Ukraine power grid attacks. Researchers from ESET reported that the BlackEnergy malware, which previously targeted Ukrainian government entities and U.S. critical infrastructure companies, and a Secure Shell (SSH) backdoor have been targeting news media and electrical power companies in the Ukraine after researchers found that the malware was planted on the networks of several regional power companies and news companies via a destructive plugin called KillDisk that attempted to make the operating system (OS) unbootable and use sec_service.exe to sabotage an industrial’s control system (ICS) software. Source
January 4, SecurityWeek – (International) Mac OS X, iOS registered most disclosed vulnerabilities in 2015. A data report from CVE Details states that Apple’s desktop and mobile operating systems (OS) have the most distinct vulnerabilities publicly disclosed in 2015 including its Mac OS X with 384 security flaws, as well as its iOS with 375 security issues, among others. Apple patched several vulnerabilities in its products and is working to mitigate future flaws. Source
January 3, Softpedia – (International) Ransom32 is a JavaScript-based ransomware that uses Node.js to infect users. A researcher from Emsisoft discovered a new ransomware dubbed Ransom32 that uses the NW.js platform to infiltrate a victim’s computer and lock their files away via distributed spam email campaigns, disguised as unpaid invoices and delivery notifications that are imbedded with a self-extracting WinRAR archive containing files used to steals a victim’s information. The ransomware has only infected Microsoft Window systems. Source