Microsoft Corp. today launched a new online security application for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers designed to keep individuals and families safer online. Called “Microsoft Defender for individuals,” the security app offers online security through a unified view into a user’s protections across their personal phones and computers. Microsoft Defender isn’t new, but the ...

Software-as-a-service buying platform startup Vendr Inc. revealed today that it has raised $150 million in new funding to accelerate platform development and to help organizations cut costs when it comes to managing software. The Series B round was co-led by Craft Ventures and SoftBank, with Sozo Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Sound Ventures, Tiger Global and Y Combinator also participating. Although ...

Researchers at cybersecurity company Lookout Inc. today detailed a previously unknown form of enterprise-grade Android surveillanceware that is being used by the government of Kazakhstan. The surveillanceware, dubbed “Hermit,” is believed to have been developed by Italian spyware vendor RCS Lab S.p.A. and Tykelab Srl. RCS Lab is a developer that is known to have past dealings with Syria ...

A new report from threat intelligence startup Digital Shadows Ltd. has found that 24 billion stolen and breached usernames and passwords are available on the dark web, the shady corner of the internet where illicit goods and services are sold. That’s a 65% increase from two years ago and is the equivalent of nearly four credentials for ...

Microsoft Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire cybersecurity threat analysis company Miburo for an undisclosed price. Founded in 20011, Miburo offers cyberthreat analysis and research specializing in the detection and response to foreign information operations. Foreign information operations, in this context, are primarily state-sponsored media attempting to influence opinion in other countries. Miburo ...

Researchers at Akamai Technologies Inc. today said they have discovered a new peer-to-peer botnet and SSH worm that has been actively breaching Linux servers. Dubbed “Panchan,” the botnet and SSH worm was first spotted in March and is written in the Golang programming language. Panchan utilizes built-in concurrency features to maximize spreadability and execute malware modules ...

A recently discovered spear-phishing campaign has been targeting former Israeli officers, high-ranking military personnel, the head of a security think tank and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. Detailed today by researchers from Check Point Software Technologies Inc., the attack used custom phishing infrastructure and an array of fake email accounts to impersonate trusted partners, a ...

Content delivery network provider Cloudflare Inc. revealed today that it has managed to detect and mitigate a 26 million-request-per-second distributed denial-of-service attack, the largest such attack on record for HTTPS, a secure way to send a web server and a browser. The strike, which took place last week, targeted a customer website using Cloudflare’s free plan. ...

According to multiple reports, U.S. technology company and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. is in talks to acquire some or all of the controversial Israeli spyware maker NSO Group Ltd. The Guardian reported today that the negotiations involve L3Harris acquiring only NSO’s surveillance technology and possibly transferring some NSO personnel to L3Harris. Other reports, such as ...

The Rust Foundation, a foundation set up to support the development of the increasingly popular open-source Rust programming language, today announced the first recipients of awards for its inaugural Community Grants Program. The Rust Foundation Community Grants Program is a mechanism to provide funds to the Rust development community to support their work. Financial support granted ...