Of Cyberattacks

Microsoft Teams Fixing One Of Its Video Feed Issues

Microsoft Teams is working on an upgrade that will place all call participants in a 16:9 ratio, allowing for a smoother transition when turning the video feed on and off. The update will also offer users several other customization options, such as changing their grid size by choosing one of several predefined options. It is currently listed in the official Microsoft 365 roadmap as being "in development" for now and will initially only be available for Windows desktop users.

Microsoft Is Building A Cryptocurrency Wallet Into Its Edge Browser

Microsoft is building a cryptocurrency wallet for its Edge browser, with plans to ship it to consumers eventually. Screenshots of the crypto wallet leaked online last week. It has "simplified experiences that make Web3 easier to interact with" and "integrated security features to protect you from unsecure addresses or apps." Microsoft employees recently got access to the crypto wallet, and it has already proved controversial internally. Microsoft Edge will advertise the ability to purchase cryptocurrency from Coinbase and MoonPay through the built-in crypto wallet, as well as connect decentralized apps to the wallet feature and support collecting and storing non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The appearance of this Edge crypto wallet comes just days after Microsoft added a giant Bing button to its Edge browser in an effort to push people toward its search engine. Microsoft has also faced criticism over adding a buy now, pay later financing options into Edge, its aggressive prompts to stop you from using Chrome, and the way Windows 11 initially made it harder to change default browsers.

Most Companies Still Aren't Ready To Handle A Major Cyberattack

Cisco surveyed 6,700 private sector cybersecurity leaders across 27 markets to determine how many firms have set up solutions to protect endpoints across five areas: identity, devices, network, application workloads, and data. The findings revealed that 17% of firms are ready to tackle a cyberattack, while 80% expect a cybersecurity incident in the next 12 to 24 months, and 59% experienced one over the last year. Companies should establish a baseline of 'readiness' across the five security pillars to protect against future attacks, and 85% of the respondents plan on increasing their security budgets by at least 10% this year.

New research from cybersecurity experts Secureworks has found that Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are now the most common type of attack, dethroning ransomware. The company believes this explosive growth in BEC attacks has its roots in successful phishing campaigns, which account for a third (33%) of incidents where an initial access vector (IAV) could be established. Additionally, hackers are looking for system and application vulnerabilities, zero-day or otherwise, and BEC is easier to pull off due to their low-skill attacks. To stay safe from BEC attacks, organizations should educate their employees to spot phishing emails, set up a strong email security system, use multi-factor authentication, and keep email access to themselves. The news follows a warning from the FBI in May 2022 that BEC had grown into a $43 billion industry.

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Crypto Stealers Target .NET Developers In New Campaign

Cybersecurity researchers from JFrog recently spotted an active campaign in which malicious packages were uploaded to the NuGet repository for .NET developers to download and use. When activated, the packages download and run a PowerShell dropper called init.ps1, which changes the endpoint's settings to allow PowerShell scripts to be executed without restrictions. This feature alone was enough of a red flag to warrant the package's elimination, but if allowed to operate unabated, the package will download and execute a "completely custom executable payload" for the Windows environment. To build up their legitimacy, the hackers used typosquatted their NuGet repository profiles and inflated the download numbers of the malicious packages to make it seem more legitimate. However, this is not a fully reliable indicator of the attack's success.

Nvidia, Chat GPT And RTX 4000 SFF Bug Fixes

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the company's accelerating focus on AI during the GTC 2023 keynote address on Tuesday, March 21. The 78-minute keynote was heavily enterprise-focused, with almost all of the event devoted to cloud computing and server-based technology. However, there was some talk of more consumer-focused products like ChatGPT, the viral large language model that everyone uses to do everything from write spec scripts to homework or even pass law exams. Nvidia's focus on AI and ChatGPT is especially important for AI, as its introduction is really an inflexion point for AI going mainstream. Nvidia's GPU architecture features advanced tensor cores essential to machine learning data processing and the adversarial generative techniques used to produce images through Stable Diffusion and text through ChatGPT.

Nvidia is smart to place itself at the centre of it all, as it's the only processor maker with the tensor core technology essential to the task of generative AI, to the point of having an effective monopoly on the tech. Nvidia hasn't said its plans for the future, so this all remains to be seen.

In other news, Nvidia has announced the Nvidia RTX 4000 Small Form Factor (SFF) Ada Generation, a compact graphics card that can fit in smaller PC cases. It has 6,144 CUDA cores, 192 Tensor cores, 48 RT cores, and 20GB GDDR6 memory, making it an attractive proposition for anyone who wants to fit a powerful GPU into a compact PC. However, it is not a gaming GPU and is instead aimed at compact workstations. Nvidia's RTX 4000 SFF is a compact, powerful GPU aimed at creative professionals, with increased memory bandwidth and DLSS 3 upscaling. It can handle modern games but is likely to be expensive and difficult to install in some PC cases. Third-party manufacturers like Zotac, Gigabyte, and Asus could be inspired to produce small RTX 4000 gaming GPUs.

Meta Security Manager Reportedly Hacked By Greek Intelligence Agency

Artemis Seaford, a former security policy manager at Meta, was reportedly surveilled by Greece's national intelligence agency with the help of spyware called Predator. The Times reports Seaford was also a victim of a yearlong wiretap. Predator is developed by Cytrox and can monitor text messages, calls, photos, and videos on a target's phone. In 2021, Meta notified 50,000 Facebook and Instagram users that their accounts were getting spied on by "surveillance-for-hire" companies. Meta's cyber security report indicated that the company removed 300 accounts with links to Cytrox, but it is unclear if Seaford's case is related.

Seaford's phone was infected with Predator spyware after she scheduled an appointment to receive a covid booster shot through the Greek government's web portal. People with knowledge of the situation tell the Times that Seaford had been wiretapped by Greek national intelligence in August, a potential explanation for the method in which her phone was hacked. Seaford has filed a lawsuit against the unknown individuals responsible for the attack and requested that the Greek Authority for the Protection of the Privacy of Telecommunications investigate whether the national intelligence agency wiretapped her phone.