The good news is Dell’s not detected any attacks in the wild. However, now bad actors have a new challenge, a puzzle to solve, a game with payoffs for them, and potential tragedy for their targets. Dell urges companies to install the update immediately.

Executives decide whether to accept the risk or provide teams with time to implement the two-step solution from Dell.

To exploit the security weakness, bad actors might effectively social engineer at least one user to click on a malicious link, open an infected attachment, or grant access to someone pretending to be a technical support professional.

Alternatively, the attacker can steal or guess the user’s password. For example, we are auditing a business right now and discovered the following passwords: Password, Password!, Password1, and Password123. Users choosing those passwords is NOT the IT professional’s fault.

Please forward this to your associates so they know that Dell is urging all affected customers to address this problem immediately.

Time is your team’s most precious asset, and this fix takes time. Discuss ways they can postpone other projects to address the problem before attackers start exploiting the vulnerability to potentially:

• Shut down systems
• Spread ransomware
• Threaten to expose stolen data
• Delete your data stored in the cloud or on your servers
• Or otherwise devastate organizations

Dell recommends acting immediately: dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000186019/dsa-2021-088-dell-client-platform-security-update-for-dell-driver-insufficient-access-control-vulnerability

During the recent Pwn2own competition, a team demonstrated exploiting Exchange servers. With the new knowledge, attackers infiltrated servers before IT Professionals could apply patches. The Dell vulnerability could have the same outcome. Keep in mind that there are vastly more Dell computers in businesses than there are on-prem Exchange servers.

Interestingly, the vulnerability only exists if the IT Team is applying Dell’s patches and updates. However, if your team is not using Dell’s other security updates, that is a problem too. They might not have enough time and need your understanding when they need to reprioritize their tasks, have additional help, or automate some processes they must do manually.

The post Urgent Security Patch for Hundreds of Millions of Dell Computers appeared first on Foster Institute.

A big problem is that security patches that protect against these kinds of breaches never reach users’ Android devices because of something known as Android fragmentation. When Google releases security patches, the patches are sent to device manufacturers, who are then responsible for releasing the patches for their different models. Some do not release the patches, or do so after a long delay.

Google is taking steps to help mitigate the problem, such as scanning phones and apps to look for Gooligan code and forcing resets of credentials to Google accounts. But so far that hasn’t been enough to protect those million users that have had their accounts hacked.

So, what can you do? Always stay up to date with the latest Android versions and patches. Choose a brand that has a track record for releasing patches every 30 days. Blackberry is one of those brands, but few people use those devices. If 30 days is too long to wait, consider using the Google Pixel line of Android phones since, because Google makes the devices, patches and upgrades should be available for download immediately upon release. Note: Brand names are mentioned to provide value to you. We do not receive any kind of compensation for mentioning brands. Another strategy is to install as few apps as possible on your device. Each app is a potential security issue and many people have installed apps that they realize are not essential, and some apps are rarely, if ever used.

Please forward this to anyone you know that uses Android devices and would like to be more secure.

The post 1 Million Android User Accounts Reported Hacked appeared first on Foster Institute.

Yesterday, someone told me their security was good since they only get infected by a few viruses each year.

Even a single infection means there is a possibility that their machines are already infected.

If one virus can get in, other undetectable viruses can too.

Unless security protections are very poor on a network or computer, visible virus infections are rare these days.

People who see virus infections need to act, including patching their Internet facing applications and enabling click-to-play. Those features already come with Windows and applications so there is nothing to buy or download. For more information, see foster institute dot come slash blog.

If you know someone whose computers on their network catch viruses, tell them the viruses are more like chest pain, not like the common cold. Infections are the sign of some greater damage that is about to, or already has, occurred.

The post Only One Virus is a Huge Problem appeared first on Foster Institute.

The application inventory shows how many machines have a specific program installed on them, such as:

Qty – Application
18 – Adobe Flash Player version 11
22 – Adobe Flash Player version 16
79 – Adobe Flash Player version 20
29 – Mozilla Firefox version 38.0.1
99 – Mozilla Firefox version 44.0.2

Your list will be longer.

Notice that there are three versions of Adobe Flash Player and two versions of Firefox.

As you can imagine, more recent versions of software are generally the most secure. Most organizations such as Adobe and Mozilla recommend that you always use the most recent versions of their tools.

Using the most secure versions of applications is especially important for programs that interface directly to the Internet, such as Flash, Java, and your browsers.

Ask your IT Professionals to update, when possible, those kind of applications. Then, they can show you an updated application inventory report, one that shows the machines being all up-to-date. And, you’ll be able to sleep better at night.

Please forward this email message to everyone you care about…

The post Security Version 2.0 appeared first on Foster Institute.