Adobe has released an out-of-band update to address a critical vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader products. This vulnerability affects both Windows and Mac platforms and could allow an attacker remote access to vulnerable systems. Users are encouraged to review their systems and apply the necessary patches. If you are a Cyber Tech Cafe MyIT client, please note that this update has already been applied in your environment. If you would like more information about our MyIT managed services options for your organizations, let us know. Additional information can be found at the US CERT and Adobe websites.

Criminals continue to evolve and find new ways to take advantage of unsuspecting targets. One method that seems to be gaining popularity is for these criminals to simply send an email to their target claiming that they're already compromised and then demand a ransom in exchange for not doing more (emailing compromising photos to contacts, etc.). From the criminals perspective, it's much easier (no need to actually 'hack' their target, no need to develop ransomware, etc.) and much safer (other than the email, there's no real trail back to the criminal). From the targets perspective though, as long as they can get past the panic and 'fight or flight' stage, it's much easier to avoid. Below is a screenshot of an email that we received in a honeypot account as…

Microsoft has released an update for a zero day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that can grant an attacker full access to a victim computer simply by having the target visit a malicious website. The bug ( CVE-2018-8653) was reported by Google. Cyber Tech Cafe MyIT customers are already patched against the vulnerability. Additionally, signatures for the attack have already been released by ESET and Fortinet as an added layer of protection. Additional Resources Microsoft TechNet - https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2018/12/19/december-2018-security-update-release-2/ESET - https://www.welivesecurity.com/2018/12/20/microsoft-emergency-patch-internet-explorer-zero-day/ThreatPost - https://threatpost.com/microsoft-ie-zero-day-gets-emergency-patch/140185/ https://threatpost.com/microsoft-ie-zero-day-gets-emergency-patch/140185/ Brian Krebs - https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/12/microsoft-issues-emergency-fix-for-ie-zero-day/