news
Wintel TCO (Windows and Intel)
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ETH Zürich ☛ Branch Privilege Injection: Compromising Spectre v2 Hardware Mitigations by Exploiting Branch Predictor Race Conditions
Modern branch predictors prevent Spectre v2 attacks by associating predictions with the privilege domain they should be restricted to, or by providing barriers for invalidating predictions when switching contexts. Such branch predictors receive branch resolution and privilege domain feedback asynchronously, but it is unclear whether they always consider the correct order of events. In this paper, we introduce Branch Predictor Race Conditions ( BPRC ), a class of vulnerabilities where asynchronous branch predictor operations violate hardware-enforced privilege and context separation mechanisms in all recent Intel CPUs. Our analysis reveals three variants, breaching the security boundaries between user and kernel, guest and hypervisor, and across indirect branch predictor barriers. Leveraging BPRC, we introduce Branch Privilege Injection (BPI ), a new Spectre v2 primitive that injects arbitrary branch predictions tagged with kernel privilege from user mode. Our end-to-end BPI exploit leaks arbitrary kernel memory from up-to-date Linux systems across six generations of Intel CPUs, at 5.6 KiB/s on Intel Raptor Cove.
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The Register UK ☛ Intel data-leaking Spectre defenses scared off once again
Spectre refers to a set of hardware-level processor vulnerabilities identified in 2018 that can be used to break the security isolation between software. It does this by exploiting speculative execution - a performance optimization technique that involves the CPU anticipating future code paths (also known as branch prediction) and executing down those paths before they're actually needed.
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Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets
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The Register UK ☛ Unending ransomware attacks are a symptom, not the illness
We see only silence, deflection, and grudging admission as the undeniable effects multiply - which is a very familiar pattern. The only surprise is that there is no surprise. This isn't part of the problem, it is the problem. Like alcoholics, organizations cannot get better until they admit, confront, and work with others to mitigate the compulsions that bring them low. The raw facts are not in doubt; it's the barriers to admitting and drawing out their sting that perpetuate the problem.
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Cyble Inc ☛ Australia's Data Breaches Highest In Half A Decade: OAIC
Malicious or criminal attacks drove most of the reported breaches, accounting for 67% of incidents. Within that category, cyber incidents made up two-thirds. Ransomware attacks rose sharply—up 24%—and OAIC analysts say phishing and stolen credentials continue to lead the charge in initial access methods.
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The Record ☛ Alabama says ‘cybersecurity event’ could disrupt state government services
Gov. Kay Ivey made the announcement on Monday morning, and local media reported later in the day that the government’s response was ongoing. Ivey’s statement said “some state employee usernames and passwords were compromised," but "it is currently believed that no Alabamian’s personally identifiable information has been retrieved.”
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Security Week ☛ Marks & Spencer Says Data Stolen in Ransomware Attack
The incident forced the retail giant to suspend online purchases, which remain unavailable. The attack was claimed by the DragonForce ransomware group, which also targeted [sic] Co-op and Harrods.
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Security Week ☛ Suspected DoppelPaymer Ransomware Group Member Arrested
Authorities in Moldova on Monday announced the arrest of an individual suspected of being involved in DoppelPaymer ransomware attacks.
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Bitdefender ☛ Two years' jail for down-on-his-luck man who sold ransomware online
Mazhar, of Douglas, Cork, has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to offences related to his illegal online business that sold ransomware and other malware, as well as stolen credit card details, and false bank accounts.
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Federal News Network ☛ New cybersecurity law updates may be on the way
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is considering updates to a key cybersecurity law. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 expires this September. The intelligence committee last week received briefings from multiple agencies on how the law has worked out so far. The statute incentivizes private industry to share cyber threat data with the government. But Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford said the law needs to be updated to account for a decade of evolving technology and cyber threats.
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