Malware researchers discovered a new malicious campaign for Android devices that replaces legitimate apps with tainted copies built to push advertisements or hijack valid ad events.
Around 25 million devices have already been infected with what researchers have dubbed “Agent Smith,” after users installed an app from an unofficial Android store.
So everything we just said about metamorphic and polymorphic malware also applies to metamorphic and polymorphic ransomware.
Metamorphic and Polymorphic Malware Families
With consistent functionalities regardless of code, malware is often grouped into families so security teams can look for similar functions and code segments in efforts to protect their organizations. Some of the most well-known malware families include:
Today, thanks to extraordinary sleuthing by the F.B.I. and some of the world’s premier cybersecurity experts, there are answers to these questions. They offer an unsettling reminder of the remarkable sophistication of a growing network of cybercriminals and nation states — and the vulnerability of not just our computers, but the internet itself.
It infected 10 million computers. So why did cybergeddon never arrive?
Credit Credit Cathryn Virginia
For as smart as artificial intelligence systems seem to get, they’re still easily confused by hackers who launch so-called adversarial attacks — cyberattacks that trick algorithms into misinterpreting their training data, sometimes to disastrous ends.
In order to bolster AI’s defenses from these dangerous hacks, scientists at the Australian research agency CSIRO say in a press release they’ve created a sort of AI “vaccine” that trains algorithms on weak adversaries so they’re better prepared for the real thing — not entirely unlike how vaccines expose our immune systems to inert viruses so they can fight off infections in the future.
Cyberattack blocked 911 dispatchers from logging calls, as a growing number of U.S. municipalities are taken hostage.
A hacking group linked to the Russian government has been attempting to breach the U.S. power grid, Wired reports.
Security experts from the non-profit group the Electric Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) and security firm Dragos tracked the hackers — and warn that the group has been probing the grid for weaknesses, searching for ways that they could access U.S. systems.
Even though there are no signs that the group has succeeded in accessing the power grid, the attacks still have experts worried. And that’s partly because of the history of this particular hacking group: Xenotime, who created the infamous Triton malware. In late 2017, Triton attacked critical infrastructure such as the industrial control systems used in power plants, and it could have been used to cause massive destruction through tampering with power plant controls. That lead it to be labeled the “world’s most murderous malware.”