Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

API abuse and web application bot attacks are often confused. This is understandable, as both involve automated interactions and are usually executed by bots. Both attack vectors are prevalent; criminals are always eager to disrupt the foundations on which businesses base their operations to achieve their malicious goals and they frequently automate their actions for maximum results.

An “Evil Proxy” is a malicious proxy server used by attackers to intercept and change the communication between a client and a legitimate server. It is also known as Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS), where the attackers attempt to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.

Path traversal, also known as directory traversal, occurs when a malicious user manipulates user-supplied data to gain unauthorized access to files and directories. Typically the attacker will be trying to access logs and credentials that are in different directories. Path traversal is not a new vulnerability and has been actively exploited since the 90s when web servers gained popularity, many relied on Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts to execute dynamic server-side content.

A phishing campaign is impersonating HR to target employees who are making annual insurance changes during the open enrollment period, according to researchers at Abnormal Security. The attackers are using legitimate notifications from Dropbox to send phishing messages, asking recipients to view a document on Dropbox regarding annual salary increases and open enrollment elections.

The threat group FIN7 is using the lure of generating nude images of favorite celebrities to get victims to download their NetSupport RAT. In any social engineering scam, there’s always the need to create some sense of urgency to act in order to make the potential victim take an action that enables the attack. In the case of a new attack by threat group FIN7, the urgency appears to be the desire to see deepfake nude images.

Even though cybersecurity is always changing, phishing attacks are still a threat that is getting worse. The goal of these attacks is to get people to give up private data like passwords, financial information, or company secrets by using social engineering tricks. As technology has improved, phishing schemes have grown more complex in 2024. They now use convincing methods to target both people and businesses. According to new studies, 91% of cyberattacks start with a phishing email.

The newly released single largest analysis of cyber attacks across all of 2023 show a strong tie between the use of phishing and techniques designed to gain credentialed access. I’ve stood on the “phishing is a problem” soapbox for many years, attempting to focus the attention of cybersecurity teams on the single largest problem within the organization: the employees that fall for social engineering tactics time and time again.

The holiday season is here, and with it comes the thrill of Black Friday deals and holiday shopping sprees. But it's not just shoppers who are gearing up – cybercriminals are ready to take advantage of the holiday rush, hoping to catch unsuspecting consumers off guard. While Trustwave generally focuses on protecting enterprises from cyberattacks and scams, we feel it’s important to help consumers, as well. After all, many people use work devices for online shopping and accessing social media.