Cisco fixes unauthorized access flaws in access points, wireless LAN controllers

Cisco Systems released critical security updates for several products, including access points and wireless LAN controllers, in order to fix vulnerabilities that could give remote attackers access to devices.The Cisco Aironet 1830e, 1830i, 1850e and 1850i series access points contain a default account with a static password that attackers can use to gain unauthorized access, the company said in an advisory.Fortunately, the account does not have administrative privileges, so the vulnerability is only rated as high impact instead of critical.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco fixes unauthorized access flaws in access points, wireless LAN controllers

Cisco Systems released critical security updates for several products, including access points and wireless LAN controllers, in order to fix vulnerabilities that could give remote attackers access to devices.The Cisco Aironet 1830e, 1830i, 1850e and 1850i series access points contain a default account with a static password that attackers can use to gain unauthorized access, the company said in an advisory.Fortunately, the account does not have administrative privileges, so the vulnerability is only rated as high impact instead of critical.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Defense One: Islamic State has written its own encrypted communications app

The Islamic State is deploying its own encrypted communications app for Android, an eventuality predicted by experts who oppose efforts of governments to require encryption backdoors so they can find out what criminals are saying to teach other.The app, called lrawi.apk, employs what is described as rudimentary encryption and was available for download last month on a Web site where Islamic State supporters could download it and another app for distributing propaganda, according to a story posted by Defense One.The creation of such an encryption app has been considered a likely outcome of laws being proposed internationally requiring backdoors that would allow service providers to fulfill court orders to decrypt private communications of their customers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Signature Update #2645

Update #2645 (02/14/2016) HIGH APP:CA:ARCSRV:PORTMAPPER-3 APP: Computer Associates BrightStor ARCserve Backup Portmapper (3) HIGH DHCP:SERVER:SC-DHCLIENT-BOF-3 DHCP: ISC DHCP dhclient script_write_params Stack Buffer Overflow (3) HIGH DHCP:SERVER:ISC-DHCLIENT-BOF-4 DHCP: ISC DHCP dhclient script_write_params Stack Buffer Overflow (4) HIGH SCAN:CANVAS:HELIUM-AGENT-1 SCAN: Canvas Helium Agent (1) MEDIUM HTTP:MISC:MS-IIS-DOS-1 HTTP: Microsoft IIS Denial of Service (1) HIGH APP:CA:ARCSRV:PORTMAPPER-4 APP: Computer... Read more →

An Improved Way to use YAML with Vagrant

In this post, I’d like to share with you an improved way to use YAML with Vagrant. I first discussed the use of YAML with Vagrant in a post on simplifying multi-machine Vagrant environments, where I simply factored out variable data into an external YAML file. The original approach I described had (at least) one significant drawback, though, which this new approach adddresses.

(By the way, this “improved” way is probably just a matter of better coding. I’m not an expert with Ruby, so Ruby experts may look at this and find it to be quite obvious.)

Here’s the original snippet of a Vagrantfile that I shared in that first Vagrant/YAML post:

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# # vi: set ft=ruby :
# Specify minimum Vagrant version and Vagrant API version
Vagrant.require_version ">= 1.6.0"
VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = "2"
# Require YAML module
require 'yaml'
# Read YAML file with box details
servers = YAML.load_file('servers.yaml')
# Create boxes
Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
# Iterate through entries in YAML file
servers.each do |servers|
config.vm.define servers["name"] do |srv|
 Continue reading

This is how much spear phishing costs companies

New research from messaging security provider Cloudmark and technology research company Vanson Bourne provides new insight into IT professionals' views and experiences with spear phishing attacks, as well as the security and financial impact of these attacks on their organizations."With the wealth of information about individuals and organizations now available online, cybercriminals can easily craft targeted attacks to gain access to valuable personal and financial information. Spear phishing has emerged as one of the largest threats facing enterprises today," said George Riedel, CEO of Cloudmark.Vanson Bourne surveyed 300 IT decision makers at organizations with more than 1,000 employees in the U.S. and the U.K. to assess the impact of spear phishing attacks, as well as what measures enterprises were taking to combat them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Industry group certifies five new manufacturers of DOCSIS 3.1 modems

The DOCSIS 3.1 cable Internet standard just moved a little bit closer to American homes, with the news today that industry research group CableLabs has certified five new manufacturers of DOCSIS 3.1 modems.Askey, Castlenet, Netgear, Technicolor and Ubee Interactive were all approved by CableLabs to manufacture DOCSIS 3.1 hardware, the group said in its announcement, which was issued less than a month after Comcast successfully tested a modem using the new technology in a consumer environment. CableLabs credited “highly effective collaboration” from vendors for the quick turn-around.+ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Microsoft: Upgrade to IE11 even if you dump our browser + Alternative education can help close IT skills gapTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

High-tech plays big role in transportation safety wish list

In its annual Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, safety officials said they want to see more high-tech answers to car-crash prevention and operator monitoring capabilities.+More on Network World: Will your car become a mini-data center? IBM thinks that’s just the beginning+The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) annual wish list looks at what it considers to be the nation’s top transportation safety concerns. It has for years spoken out about distracted driving and the need to remove any and all items from car driver compartments that might cause crashes. And this years list included yet another call for more action.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

60% of companies cannot detect compromised credentials, survey says

Sixty percent of companies cannot detect compromised credentials, according to Rapid7’s incident detection and response survey results. Rapid7 That is just one of the "yikes" revealed when 271 security professionals from all size organizations and industries responded to the survey so Rapid7 could learn more about challenges to security teams, strategic initiatives, and current security tools being used. It is little wonder why over 90% of respondents admitted to being worried about attacks that use compromised credentials.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here