#Banking as a Service Provider

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

"taken" style action movie where a man searches for his wife. as he fights baddies in gunfights and hand-to-hand combat, it's slowly revealed that:

his wife hasn't been kidnapped

their marriage is not healthy or functional

this guy isn't rescuing his wife, he's hunting her down

his wife is a crime boss, those are her henchpeople he's fighting in a john-wick bloodbath

the tension builds until, drenched in blood, our protagonist steps forward for the final showdown. he pulls a manila envelope from his bullet-torn jacket and throws it at his wife's feet. he's just spent an entire trilogy biting & killing & maiming....all so he can deliver his shit wife her divorce papers

[finacussolutions]

[kindafooey]

Oh oh also in addition to calling a well-known banker a tax evader, here's some more absolutely unhinged things to say in a bank-sponsored interview that Mr Käärijä very much said in the Aktia webinar:

When asked about his first debit card - a service provided by banks - he said that switching to using a card instead of actual cash he could physically hold and measure in his hand messed with his sense of how much value money holds, implying it as one of the root causes for the irresponsible financial decisions in his youth

He also off-handedly called pension funds - also a service provided by banks, and a huge source of profit for them too - a scam and straight up told young listeners that if they ever invest in one, they're never going to see that money again

[kittlyns]

Fuck two-factor authentication, it's fucked that you literally cannot log into your accounts, even knowing the password, from another device if you don't have access to your phone

[tradefinancecompany]

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[thecranewivesrpf]

hour 2 and a half of education hell 2. I have an hour and a half left here. free me from my prison

[jcmarchi]

Infostealers: What are they & far-reaching effects on data security - CyberTalk

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/infostealers-what-are-they-far-reaching-effects-on-data-security-cybertalk/

Infostealers: What are they & far-reaching effects on data security - CyberTalk

By Hendrik De Bruin, Security Engineer, Check Point Software Technologies.

Infostealers…ransomware’s lesser-known cousin

When it comes to malware, ransomware usually steals the limelight, largely because of the direct, devastating impact that ransomware often causes. However, ransomware’s lesser-known cousin, the “infostealer,” is slowly but surely gaining ever-more attention.

Over the last few years, we have noticed a massive increase in the usage of infostealers. In fact, some research suggests as much as 5,900% growth since 2018. Statistics also indicate that during 2023, over 10 million devices were compromised by info stealing malware, reflecting an increase of 643% over the past three years.

An infostealer is a type of malware designed to infiltrate computer systems, not for purposes of data encryption like ransomware or data deletion like “wipers”, but specifically designed to steal sensitive information.

These malicious programs exfiltrate various data, including login credentials, session cookies, financial information, and personally identifiable information (PII). After harvesting and capturing the sensitive information, the infostealer sends it back to remote servers controlled by cyber criminals.

Once cyber criminals obtain the sensitive information, it is sold on the dark web to various nefarious actors, such as “Initial Access Brokers” who use the info to facilitate larger attacks, like ransomware attacks.

Infostealers…And their real-life impact

To showcase the impact that infostealers can have and to reinforce that infostealers deserve more attention, we can look at two recent incidents: a breach reported at Ticketmaster and at a major European bank.

In both cases, malicious actors gained access to information stored at a third-party service provider called Snowflake. Snowflake offers a cloud-based data storage and analytics service, often referred to as “data-as-a-service”.

During these breaches, attackers simply used credentials — which were most likely obtained through infostealers — to access associated Snowflake accounts, leading to the sale of information belonging to more than 550 million Ticketmaster customers on the dark web.

The info was sold by a group known as “ShinyHunters”, a known player in the infostealer business that’s notorious for using legitimate credentials to obtain initial access.

The ShinyHunters group also claims to have information related to 30 million customers and 28 million credit card numbers associated with the breached banking institution.

Although we focus on these two instances here, they reflect two of at least 165 Snowflake customer accounts that were accessed by this specific threat actor using credentials harvested through infostealers.

How can organisations protect themselves?

Although there may have been various security oversights involved with the two aforementioned breaches, I believe the following three factors played the biggest role:

Another factor that often plays a role when it comes to SaaS security is the popular misconception that the Cloud Service Provider is responsible for your data in the cloud. In reality, YOU as the customer remain responsible and accountable for the security of and access control to data in the cloud.

1. Lack of end user email and browser protection – Among cyber criminals, the most popular means of malware delivery are through email and internet downloads. Not having adequate email and browser security allowed for the initial delivery of the malware.

2. Lack of endpoint protection – Endpoint devices were not properly secured against malware such as infostealers, allowing the malware to be deployed on devices.

3. Lack of SaaS security – The absence of additional security controls, such as Multi-Factor Authentication, allowed for easy access using stolen credentials.

Let’s unpack the items listed above to get a better understanding of how each played a role in the mentioned breaches.

Email and browser protection

Infostealers are typically delivered through internet downloads, phishing emails and or other social engineering attacks.

Your first line of defense for the delivery of infostealers lies in the deployment of email security and anti-phishing solutions such as Harmony Email and Collaboration, which will prevent the delivery of phishing emails and emails containing malware.

Further, should a malicious email be delivered containing a malicious link, having adequate browser protection should prevent the browser from accessing the link and malware from being downloaded.

Internet access control and browser security solutions, such as Harmony SASE Internet Access, will prevent the download of malicious files and restrict corporate password re-use on non-corporate websites.

Corporate password re-use and other password best practices

Although passwords should NEVER be used as the only means of authentication, we often still find this to be the case for various organisations and applications. NIST and other similar institutions provide various guidelines and best practices related to passwords. However, it is also important to note that other than corporate password re-use restrictions, none of these password recommendations from NIST or other similar institutions would have really offered protection from infostealers; mainly because infostealers exfiltrate cleartext passwords.

If you still rely on passwords, the following guidelines from NIST may assist you:

Increase password length – Password length matters more than complexity.

Avoid corporate password re-use – Ensuring that corporate passwords aren’t re-used for other platforms, such as social media, will keep your corporate credentials and systems protected from external credential breaches.

Breached password protection – Ensure that attempted password updates do not contain known breached passwords

Password rotation – Contrary to popular beliefs, the NIST advises against rotating passwords too often and regards 30 to 60 days as too often. Ninety days may be a fair compromise.

Endpoint protection and response

From an endpoint perspective, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) remains as one of the primary defenses against malware such as infostealers. EDR solutions typically include both signature-based detection mechanisms as well as behaviour based detection mechanisms, which include analyses of data to detect suspicious activity, such as indicators of compromise (IOCs).

A solution like Check Point’s Harmony Endpoint leverages Check Point’s ThreatCloud; a dynamically updated service based on an innovative global network of threat sensors and organisations that share threat data. It collaboratively fights against modern malware by aggregating and analysing big data telemetry and millions of Indicators of Compromise (IoCs).

Over 50 AI-based engines analyze this data. These engines detect and neutralize novel threats, ensuring that both known and unknown threats are addressed and prevented.

Multi-factor authentication

Most Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings have multi-factor authentication available as a configurable option. If your organisation is making use of SaaS offerings, it is critical that multi-factor authentication is configured. Password authentication alone is NOT adequate and should never be used, especially not on publicly exposed SaaS applications.

Although multi-factor authentication may not have completely eliminated the chances of these breaches occurring, it would have at the very least forced far greater costs and efforts onto the attackers. These efforts would also have to involve additional threat vectors, thereby increasing the probability of detection.

The adoption of cloud services, in combination with the “hybrid workforce” has significantly increased organisations’ attack surfaces, leading to greater exposure, risk and complexities. To overcome this, organisations are looking at adopting solutions such as Zero-Trust and SASE.

Zero-Trust

Zero-Trust, at its core, revolves around the idea of NO ACCESS or ZERO ACCESS, unless we can explicitly identify the device, the individual using the device and the security posture associated with both the device and the user. Zero Trust also enforces further concepts such as “least privilege.”

Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is still often perceived as being a very costly, time consuming and difficult exercise. However, modern solutions, such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), really simplify the implementation of Zero Trust.

In this specific instance, SASE with Secure Internet Browsing would have prevented the download of malware or infostealers from the internet.

The deployment of SASE would also allow organisations to further secure their SaaS applications by enforcing IP address based access restrictions on the SaaS application itself.

This will ensure access to the SaaS application ONLY if the device adheres to corporate security posture restrictions and your identity have the appropriate permissions.

In Conclusion

The threat posed by infostealers deserves the same attention as that posed by ransomware, and perhaps even more so, as infostealers often serve as enablers for much larger cyber attacks and breaches.

In the past, we have observed credentials obtained from infostealers being used for initial access during other malicious activities. These stolen credentials open a broader exploitation landscape, which could include personal accounts, corporate accounts, and even infrastructure access through VPNs and cloud management interfaces.

Protection from the risks posed by infostealers require a holistic approach, bringing us back to “good ole” “defense-in-depth”.

First, prevent the initial delivery of infostealers by protecting end users from malicious emails, websites and malware via email and internet access security controls.

Secondly, should email and internet access security controls fail, having an endpoint detection and response solution deployed should prevent the infostealer from being installed on devices and/or prevent credentials from being exfiltrated.

Other controls, such as Zero-Trust frameworks and SASE, further support the concept of defense in depth by preventing access; even with adequate credentials should other factors such as geo-location, device posture and so forth not check out.

Professional services, such as penetration testing, external attack surface assessments and continuous threat exposure management can also assist in reducing the risk posed by infostealers, as they can highlight weak security controls, such as password-only authentication.

For more insights from Hendrik de Bruin, please see CyberTalk.org’s past coverage. Lastly, to receive cyber security thought leadership articles, groundbreaking research and emerging threat analyses each week, subscribe to the CyberTalk.org newsletter.

[ejointech]

Understanding SIM Pool Technology: A Comprehensive Guide !

In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile communication, SIM pool technology has emerged as a game-changer. This comprehensive guide delves into the intricacies of SIM pools, their functionalities, benefits, and applications, providing you with a detailed understanding of why they are crucial for businesses that rely on extensive mobile communication.

What is a SIM Pool?

A SIM pool is a centralized system that manages and distributes SIM cards across multiple devices or modems, enabling efficient use of mobile resources. It allows businesses to optimize their SIM card usage by dynamically allocating SIM cards to devices based on real-time needs. This technology is particularly useful for organizations that handle large volumes of SMS or voice traffic.

How Does a SIM Pool Work?

A SIM pool operates by connecting a large number of SIM cards to a network of modems or devices through a centralized management system. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of its operation:

SIM Card Insertion: Multiple SIM cards are inserted into a SIM pool server or chassis.

Network Registration: Each SIM card registers with the mobile network, ready to send and receive data.

Dynamic Allocation: The SIM pool management software dynamically allocates available SIM cards to devices or modems based on current demand.

Load Balancing: The system balances the load among the available SIM cards, ensuring optimal performance and preventing overuse of any single SIM card.

Monitoring and Control: The management software continuously monitors the performance and usage of each SIM card, allowing for efficient control and management.

Applications of SIM Pool Technology

SIM pool technology is versatile and finds applications in various fields, including:

1. Bulk SMS Services

For businesses that rely on sending bulk SMS, SIM pools offer a reliable and efficient solution. They enable the simultaneous use of multiple SIM cards, significantly increasing the volume of messages that can be sent in a short period.

2. Call Centers

In call centers, SIM pool technology helps manage and distribute outgoing calls efficiently. It ensures that SIM cards are used optimally, reducing the risk of network congestion and improving call quality.

3. Remote Monitoring and IoT

SIM pools are crucial in remote monitoring and IoT applications, where numerous devices need to connect to the mobile network. They allow for the efficient distribution of SIM cards, ensuring all devices remain connected and functional.

4. Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Businesses engaged in mobile marketing campaigns benefit from SIM pool technology by sending targeted messages to a large audience without overloading individual SIM cards. This ensures timely delivery and improves campaign effectiveness.

Advantages of Using SIM Pools

The adoption of SIM pool technology offers several advantages, making it a preferred choice for various applications:

1. Cost Efficiency

By optimizing the use of SIM cards, businesses can reduce the cost associated with purchasing and maintaining a large number of individual SIM cards. SIM pools allow for the efficient use of available resources, lowering operational costs.

2. Improved Resource Management

SIM pools provide centralized control and management of SIM cards, ensuring they are used efficiently. This reduces the risk of underutilization or overuse, leading to better resource management.

3. Enhanced Performance and Reliability

With load balancing and dynamic allocation, SIM pool technology ensures optimal performance and reliability. It prevents any single SIM card from being overloaded, improving overall system stability.

4. Scalability

SIM pools offer scalability, allowing businesses to easily expand their SIM card capacity as needed. This makes them suitable for growing businesses that require flexible and scalable communication solutions.

Choosing the Right SIM Pool Solution

When selecting a SIM pool solution, consider the following factors to ensure it meets your specific needs:

1. Capacity

Evaluate the capacity of the SIM pool in terms of the number of SIM cards it can manage. Choose a solution that aligns with your current needs and future growth plans.

2. Compatibility

Ensure the SIM pool solution is compatible with your existing hardware and software. It should support the devices and networks you use for communication.

3. Management Features

Look for advanced management features such as real-time monitoring, automated alerts, and detailed reporting. These features enhance the efficiency and control of your SIM card usage.

4. Security

Security is crucial when dealing with mobile communication. Ensure the SIM pool solution offers robust security measures to protect your data and prevent unauthorized access.

Setting Up a SIM Pool

Setting up a SIM pool involves several key steps:

Install the SIM Pool Server: Set up the SIM pool server or chassis in a suitable location with adequate network connectivity.

Insert SIM Cards: Insert the SIM cards into the slots provided in the SIM pool server.

Connect to Network: Connect the server to your network, ensuring it has access to the necessary mobile networks.

Configure Management Software: Install and configure the SIM pool management software, setting up parameters such as load balancing rules and monitoring thresholds.

Test the System: Conduct thorough testing to ensure the SIM pool is functioning correctly and efficiently distributing SIM cards to connected devices.

Troubleshooting Common SIM Pool Issues

Despite their efficiency, SIM pools can encounter issues. Here are some common problems and their solutions:

1. Network Registration Failures

Solution: Ensure the SIM cards are active and have sufficient balance. Check for network coverage and verify the configuration settings.

2. Uneven Load Distribution

Solution: Review the load balancing settings in the management software. Adjust the rules to ensure even distribution of SIM card usage.

3. Connectivity Issues

Solution: Check the network connections and ensure the server is properly connected. Restart the server and devices if necessary to resolve connectivity issues.

4. Software Malfunctions

Solution: Ensure the management software is up to date. Reinstall the software if necessary and check for any configuration errors.

Future Trends in SIM Pool Technology

As technology continues to evolve, SIM pool technology is expected to incorporate new features and capabilities. Some emerging trends include:

1. Integration with Cloud Services

Future SIM pools may offer integration with cloud services, enabling remote management and control of SIM cards from anywhere in the world.

2. Advanced Analytics

Enhanced analytics capabilities will allow businesses to gain deeper insights into SIM card usage patterns, helping them optimize their communication strategies.

3. Enhanced Security Measures

With the increasing importance of data security, future SIM pools will likely offer advanced encryption and authentication protocols to safeguard communication.

Conclusion

SIM pool technology is revolutionizing the way businesses manage mobile communication. By providing centralized control, efficient resource management, and scalability, SIM pools are essential for organizations that rely on extensive mobile communication. Understanding their functionalities, applications, and future trends can help businesses leverage SIM pool technology to enhance their communication infrastructure.

Welcome to visit: www.ejointech.cn for more information.

[jenovacomplete]

a failed update from billion-dollar cybersecurity firm crowdstrike has crashed windows machines worldwide today (july 19th 2024), leaving everything from airport terminals to checkout machines to delivery apps to banks stuck with a blue screen of death. here's a screenshot from downdetector (au) to illustrate:

the issue appears to be with crowdstrike falcon, a form of antivirus software widely used in the corporate world -- with emphasis on the world. there have been reports from the us, uk, australia, germany, india, france, japan and more. places affected include (but are not limited to) supermarkets, banks, basically every airline, public transport networks, major broadcasters, emergency services, corporate offices, healthcare providers and stock exchanges.

(woolies pic via archiestaines9 on twitter; s3pirion; akothari. yes that is masahiro sakurai of smash bros fame)

emergency service lines are currently experiencing problems within the american states of alaska, arizona, indiana, minnesota, new hampshire and ohio. similar problems likely plague other areas of the world, they just haven't been reported on yet. australian emergency services are operating, and critical infrastructure remains stable. be sure to check in with the local news stations still online for more updates.

welcome to y2k............................. 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[finacussolutions]

[heritageposts]

Medical Aid for Palestinians

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees. We provide immediate medical aid to those in great need, while also developing local capacity and skills to ensure the long-term development of the Palestinian healthcare system.

you can read more about their ongoing emergency response here

Responding to this emergency situation, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)’s team on the ground in Gaza are releasing all of our pre-positioned stocks, worth $570,000 USD (approximately £465,000), to ensure hospitals and emergency responders have the supplies they need to cope with an unprecedented influx of casualties. The list of supplies provided by MAP includes essential drugs and disposables, lab reagents and support for Gaza’s blood bank services. Some of these supplies are already being delivered to Al Awda Hospital.

If you have money to spare, please consider donating