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5 Cybersecurity Firms Provide Large Pool of Government-Funded Espionage Resources
China's cyberespionage campaigns, viewed as an extension of the communist regime's wider geopolitical moves, rely on civilian hackers from domestic security firms for much of their success. Researchers say these groups face off in intense rivalries for lucrative government contracts.

New Security Measures Follow High-Profile Hacks of Snowflake Customers
Data warehousing platform Snowflake rolled out default MFA - as well as a 14-character password minimum - to shore up security in the wake of a series of cyberattacks in June that hit high-profile customers including Santander Bank, Advance Auto Parts, LA Unified School District and Neiman Marcus.

At-Large Wu Song, 39, Faces 28-Count Criminal Indictment
U.S. federal prosecutors indicted a Chinese national employed by a state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate with a yearslong phishing campaign aimed at extracting software developed for NASA. Prosecutors said Song began sending out targeted emails in 2017.

Attackers Could Exploit Flaw to Run Malicious Code on Google' s, Customers' Servers
Google patched a critical remote execution vulnerability in its cloud platform Cloud Composer service, "CloudImposer," which could have allowed attackers to compromise millions of servers, say researchers from Tenable. The CloudImposer vulnerability could lead to the Jenga Tower effect.

Authentication requiring stored credentials is not only vulnerable to phishing and other compromises, but using these credentials can also be cumbersome for busy clinicians, said Tina Srivastava, co-founder of Badge, a provider of deviceless, tokenless authentication technology.

Series C Funds to Fuel AI Research, Government Sector Investment and Global Growth
Strider Technologies has raised $55 million in a Series C funding round to strengthen its AI capabilities and fuel global expansion efforts. The money will enhance the company’s AI-driven insights, support business with government agencies, and fuel international expansion in Europe and Asia.

Also: Mastercard's Big Acquisition and US Election Security Efforts
In the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discussed the fallout from the CrowdStrike global IT outage on endpoint security tools, Mastercard's monumental acquisition of Recorded Future to bolster its cybersecurity portfolio, and the latest efforts by U.S. officials to secure the 2024 election.

Inquiry Launched to Determine the Company's Compliance With GDPR
The Irish data regulator launched an investigation to determine Google's compliance with a European privacy law when it was developing its PaLM 2 artificial intelligence model. Google launched the multilingual generative AI model last year.

Over-Deployment of Tools Raises Security and Operational Concerns
Excessive deployment of remote access tools in operational technology environments expands attack surfaces and creates operational challenges, warn security researchers from Claroty. Remote access tools are essential, but they introduce numerous potential vulnerabilities that threat actors exploit.

Biden Administration Hits Russian Media With More Sanctions for Covert Operations
The U.S. Department of State announced additional sanctions Friday against the Kremlin news outlet RT after officials received new information from employees of the organization that revealed how it has become a key component in the Russian military machine.

Also: Critical WHOIS Vulnerability Exposes Internet Security Flaw in .mobi Domains
This week, cyberthreats rising in Mexico; FBI warned of BEC scams; U.K. police arrested hacking suspect; Avis, Slim CD, Medicare and Fortinet disclosed breaches; Highline public schools reopened after cyberattack; a critical flaw was found in WHOIS; and Konni upped attacks on Russia, South Korea.

British Government Says Data Centers Are 'Essential for Functioning of Society'
The U.K. government on Thursday designated data centers as part of its critical national infrastructure in a move intended to prevent the loss of sensitive user data during disruptive cyberattacks. A newly announced data center security team will monitor and anticipate potential cyberthreats.

New Report Warns of Continued Delays and Deficiencies in Federal GPS Modernization
The Space Force is suffering from years of delays, setbacks and shortcomings in its Global Positioning System modernization program, according to a Government Accountability Office report, which found major deficiencies and testing issues that could hinder the United States competitiveness in space.

Company Focused on Safe Deployment Practices, Reducing Kernel Mode Dependencies
Cutting kernel mode dependencies and adopting safe deployment practices will make endpoint systems more resilient and secure for Windows customers. Tuesday's meeting came two months after a faulty CrowdStrike update disrupted 8.5 million Windows machines and caused $5.4 billion in direct losses.

Deal Will Help Mastercard Offer Greater Protection, Trust for Digital Transactions
Mastercard plans to buy threat intelligence firm Recorded Future for $2.65 billion to enhance cyber resilience and offer greater protection and trust around digital transactions. The deal will enhance Mastercard's identity, fraud prevention services by helping businesses identify and mitigate risk.

More Competition, Ownership Turnover Among Peers Create an Appealing Time to Sell
Hellman & Friedman has met with several investments banks in recent weeks and will choose one to run the sale process for Paramus, New Jersey-based Checkmarx, in which it hopes to get at least $2.5 billion, Calcalist reported. The private equity firm bought Checkmarx for $1.15 billion in April 2020.

Report: North Korean, Russian, Chinese, Iranian Actors Are Targeting Research Orgs
Russian state hackers are targeting think tanks studying strategic interests and the defense sector, warned the French cyber agency. A hacking group that officially is Unit 26165 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate appears to be Russia's most prolific targeter of think tanks.

NoName Specializes in Long-Tail Exploits
Up-and-coming online criminal extortion group RansomHub appears to have a new affiliate - NoName, a midtier actor whose main claim to fame so far has been impersonating the LockBit ransomware-as-a-service operation. NoName is known for exploiting years-old vulnerabilities.

State Officials, Security Experts Warn of Increased Cyberthreats Ahead of Vote
Election security experts told Information Security Media Group the United States continues to lack adequate federal funding and resources to support state and local election information technology security efforts amid heightened global tensions and an ever-expanding threat landscape.