Black Widow & PrintNightmare: Cybersecurity News from the Week of 07/05/21

Published: July 14, 2021, 7:50am

This week, we provide updates to some of the big news from the last two roundups, including problems with the patches deployed for the PrintNightmare vulnerability and an uptick in scams related to a recent major supply chain attack. In addition, we’ll take a brief look at how cybercriminals are getting increasingly creative by pushing malware and scams through pop culture, such as leveraging blockbuster movie promotions.

• Nightmare Continues: PrintNightmare Vulnerability Patch Problems
• Criminals Leverage Supply Chain Attack to Create Malware and Backdoors
• Black Widow Buffs Bitten by Backdoor Bluffs

Final Words

As the recent supply chain attack demonstrates, if a vulnerability is discovered, it is almost a given that cybercriminals will be taking advantage of the bug and putting organizations at risk within just a few hours of the bug’s announcement. Not only are criminals quickly adapting malware to newly announced vulnerabilities, but they’re also rapidly innovating to stay ahead of impending regulation–sometimes spending months or years tracking regulatory discussions to figure out ways to take advantage of regulatory language. For example, one recent study found that criminals were tracking impending customer authentication regulations in Europe, with the intent of quickly being able to hack businesses that re-design security around new rules.

When it comes to threat awareness, detection, and protection, it’s critical to remember that cybercriminals are innovative and ingenious, and they understand that being nimble is critical to business success. Staying one step ahead of criminals takes time, patience, and commitment. Visibility across the enterprise and tools like analytics, application security, and endpoint detection–and continuous oversight of the risk management lifecycle with managed security services and security program management–are critical to prevent, mitigate, and manage cyberthreats and attacks.

Staying one step ahead of criminals takes time, patience and commitment, and organizations will get out of it what they put into it.