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Security Information

This page is dedicated to security, it includes local security information, as well as a number of syndicated security feeds, alerts, tools and news from major security portals. This page aims to provide a single security information access point, helping you stay current with recent security threats. You can check the SG Security FAQ and visit the SG Security forum with any questions you might have.

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Latest Security Advisories (US-CERT)

US-CERT has received multiple reports of Petya ransomware infections occurring in networks in many countries around the world. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users' access to the infected machine until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying the ransom, as this does not guarantee that access will be restored. Using unpatched and unsupported software may increase the risk of proliferation of cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware.

Petya ransomware encrypts the master boot records of infected Windows computers, making affected machines unusable. Open-source reports indicate that the ransomware exploits vulnerabilities in Server Message Block (SMB). US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review the US-CERT article on the Microsoft SMBv1 Vulnerability and the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-010. For general advice on how to best protect against ransomware infections, review US-CERT Alert TA16-091A. Please report any ransomware incidents to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the Digital Identity Guidelines document suite.The four-volume suite offers technical guidelines for organizations that use digital identity services.

US-CERT encourages information security practitioners in industry, government, and academic organizations to refer to the NIST blog post and SP 800-63 for more information.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released an alert warning of various types of scams targeting taxpayers this summer. The alert describes common features of these cyber crimes, including robocalls, demands for immediate payment, and threats to have taxpayers arrested immediately.

Taxpayers and tax professionals are encouraged to review the IRS alert and US-CERT's advice on Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released an alert on technical-support scams. In these schemes, deceptive tech-support operations offer to fix problems that don't exist, placing calls or sending pop-ups to make people think their computers are infected with viruses. Users should not give control of their computers to any stranger offering to fix problems.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to refer to the FTC Alert and the US-CERT Tip on Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its 2016 Internet Crime Report, describing the numbers and types of cyber crimes reported to IC3. Business Email Compromise (BEC), ransomware attacks, tech support fraud, and extortion are all common schemes affecting people in the U.S. and around the world.

US-CERT encourages users to review the 2016 Internet Crime Report and the FBI News Story for details and refer to the US-CERT Security Publication on Ransomware for information on defending against this particular threat.

Drupal has released an advisory to address several vulnerabilities in Drupal versions 7.x and 8.x. A remote attacker could exploit one of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review Drupal's Security Advisory and upgrade to version 7.56 or 8.3.4.

Cisco has released updates to address several vulnerabilities affecting multiple products. A remote attacker could exploit one of these vulnerabilities to take control of a system.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review the following Cisco Security Advisories and apply the necessary updates:

• Prime Infrastructure and Evolved Programmable Network Manager XML Injection Vulnerability cisco-sa-20170621-piepnm1
• Virtualized Packet Core Distributed Instance Denial-of-Service Vulnerability cisco-sa-20170621-vpc
• WebEx Network Recording Player Multiple Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities cisco-sa-20170621-wnrp

Mozilla has released a security update to address multiple vulnerabilities in Thunderbird. A remote attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to review the Mozilla Security Advisory for Thunderbird 52.2 and apply the necessary update.