patch updates

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Even celebrity status can’t protect your data

At the beginning of September, a news story broke that Selena Gomez had her Instagram hacked. Why does the Instagram of a celebrity matter this time? Because this hack goes much further.
Instagram won’t confirm just how many accounts were affected, but the hackers claim they have information on 6 million users. They used this information to set up a site called Doxagram, where you could pay to search for the private contact information of these users. These accounts included almost all of the 50 most followed Instagram accounts. People like Rihanna, Emma Watson, Floyd Mayweather, and even the official account of the white house.

Kaspersky Labs reported to Facebook that there was a flaw within the Instagram mobile app password reset option. However, it was in a 2016 version of the app, so if you have kept Instagram up to date, you should be protected.

This is just another lesson why it’s so critical to keep up to date on software patches. Any vulnerability, even in an unsuspecting, non-business software like Instagram, could lead to a major breach.

Affected Piriform products:

• CCleaner v5.33.6162
• CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191

The software has since been updated to remove the malware, but the damage has been done. Piriform says that they fixed things “before any known harm was done” and that no sensitive data was collected. While that might be true, it doesn’t mean the hackers didn’t accomplish their goals. They go access to a massively used software and that, in turn, gave them a back door into businesses that use it.

Third-Party Updates

Every month we see a bevy of new third party updates, and are always enhancing our library of supported vendors. Special requests and additions are welcomed. This month’s releases include:

Below are a list of third-party software updates for the month:

Start Patching

Start a free, 14-day trial of Syxsense, which helps organizations from 50 to 10,000 endpoints monitor and manage their environment, all from just a web browser. An email will be automatically sent to the address you provide.

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1 Million Targeted by Chrome Extension Hack

Even experts aren’t exempt from deceptive phishing attacks. It’s being reported that the developers of several extensions had their login credentials stolen.

It’s the second time in a week that Chrome users have been targeted by extension hijacks. The first involved an extension called CopyFish with around 30,000 installs. That attack may have been a test intended to see how many fraudulent ad views could be pumped through before Google intervened and returned control of the extension to its rightful owners.

Extensions reported so far:

• Web Developer version 0.4.9
• Chrometana version 1.1.3
• Infinity New Tab version 3.12.3
• CopyFish version 2.8.5
• Web Paint version 1.2.1
• Social Fixer 20.1.1
• TouchVPN
• Betternet VPN

Once the attackers had access to the developers accounts for these extensions, they began modifying the code. It seems their goal was to gain control over victims’ browsers and then if the victim had a Cloudflare account, steal that information.

It’s important to keep your browser’s up to date and review extensions before you install them.

The Source of NotPetya

Just after the outbreak of NotPetya, several entities seemed to point at software distribution provider MeDoc as one of the main sources of the outbreak. They claim that their software was a victim of a hack that then led to it being the vessel for initial distribution of NotPetya. From there, it spread through updates of MeDoc and began infecting more and more victims. This sort of event is known as a ‘supply chain attack’.

The compromise of a software distribution method is extremely dangerous for businesses. Before you know it, a vulnerability can be spread to every device accessible via the hacked distribution software. How do you prevent such a disaster? One way could be the activation of two-factor authentication for login to your IT management software. This can help prevent the software from being compromised in the first place.

Don’t leave something that could infect your entire environment unsecured.

Third-Party Updates

Every month we see a bevy of new third party updates, and are always enhancing our library of supported vendors. Special requests and additions are welcomed. This month’s releases include:

Below are a list of third-party software updates for the month:

Get Started

Start a free, 14-day trial of Syxsense, which helps organizations from 50 to 10,000 endpoints monitor and manage their environment, all from just a web browser. An email will be automatically sent to the address you provide.