Tag Archives: Microsoft

NSA Official: Support for Compromised Dual EC Algorithm Was ‘Regrettable’

In a new article in an academic math journal, the NSA’s director of research says that the agency’s decision not to withdraw its support of the Dual EC_DRBG random number generator after security researchers found weaknesses in it and questioned its provenance was a “regrettable” choice. Michael Wertheimer, the director of researcher at the National […]

New Emomet Variant Targets Banking, Email Credentials

Security researchers are tracking a new version of the Emomet malware that is targeting users’ banking credentials and also has the ability to steal email usernames and passwords, which are then used to send spam from compromised accounts. The new variant of Emomet has mostly been seen targeting users in Germany, but researchers at Microsoft […]

Hackers claim Christmas day outage of Sony PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox networks

PSN offlineEarlier this month, as the Sony Entertainment breach was making headlines, Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) was knocked offline due to an alleged hacking attack. On Christmas morning, just as kids everywhere were unwrapping their new PlayStation and Xboxes, the PSN and Microsoft’s Xbox Live network were both disrupted leading to speculation that they were once again hacked. A group calling themselves Lizard Squad claiming responsibility for the attacks via Twitter.

As of now, PlayStation is still offline and PSN is directing users to their @AskPlayStation Twitter account for updates.

Xbox Live Status reports that its core services are running, but there is limited access to apps for IGN, Maxim, and MLG.tv.

Related article: Sony PlayStation Network down due to hacker attack

Microsoft Releases Critical Out-of-Band Patch for Kerberos Bug

UPDATE–Microsoft on Tuesday released a rare out-of-band patch for a critical vulnerability in several versions of Windows and Windows Server, including Windows 8 and 8.1. The Ms14-068 vulnerability is a flaw in the Kerberos implementation in Windows that could enable an attacker to elevate his privileges on a machine from user to administrator. The bug is […]