Aug 11, 2017

Latest Cyber Security Threats

According to the most recent alert by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) TA17-164A, the most recent infrastructure employed by the North Korea's denial-of-service(DDoS) botnet infrastructure aimed at targeting media, aerospace and financial services is a malware variant, Delta Charlie. The US government partners identified this malware and other internet protocol addresses associated with this cyber security activity named HIDDEN COBRA. In the alert, they have specified tools indicating malware and network signatures that if any administrator comes across, they should alert authorities immediately.

Tips to tackle security threats

Some of the indicators used by the system's actors include wiper malware, key loggers, DDoS botnets, and remote access tools. Applying strict cyber security strategies, however, protects you from the vulnerabilities listed in the alerts. An important point to note is that your security needs constant monitoring of system activity to note any inconsistencies. Frequently changing your password is a key measure of cyber security as well as authentication. Each time is ensuring that the password has characters and symbols to make it stronger, but the most important step is keeping track of the devices you use to log in to the companies systems. Public computers are vulnerable to key loggers, and only company computers should be used to access the information, especially for top officials.

Keep them Updated

Upgrade your applications and operating systems frequently. HIDDEN COBRA is prying on the vulnerabilities affecting applications such as Adobe Flash Player and Microsoft Silverlight. The alert recommends upgrading these applications to the latest versions or uninstalling them from the systems if they are no longer necessary. The tools employed by the North Korean network are capable of launching Domain Name System attacks that then perform some activities, including denial-of-service attacks. The best way system administrators can keep record is by reviewing the IP addresses and traffic from these locations to identify any malicious activity.