Tag Archive for: stock

New Jersey Takes Stock of Cybersecurity Threats, Protections


There’s a cybersecurity concern that often doesn’t get enough attention, according to New Jersey CISO Michael Geraghty. That’s systemic cybersecurity risk, where an attack on one organization has effects that ripple out across the wider sector.

“Most of the time we think of, let’s say, a school system gets hit with ransomware, a system has to shut down, and it’s a localized incident,” said Geraghty, who is also director of the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC).

But attacks like the recent ransomware incident that disrupted Change Healthcare show just how hard systemic impacts can hit. Through that attack, actors were able to affect hospitals across the country.


“Here we have one organization — Change Healthcare — where it’s an individual organization that’s affecting the rest of the health-care system in the United States,” Geraghty said.

UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare is a major medical claims processor. BlackCat ransomware struck the company, leading to a prolonged outage that left many hospitals and other health-care providers struggling to submit claims to insurance. Many have been running low on funds. The CEO of independent physician practices network Aledade told the Washington Post that about a quarter of U.S. physician practices are in severe financial distress.

Systemic risk is especially high in sectors where many players rely on the same vendor or technology. That’s what’s made Change Healthcare, MOVEit and Citrix Bleed nationwide events.

New Jersey organizations suffered from the latter two, with MOVEit compromising the personal info of more than 1 million residents, based on incidents reported to NJCCIC, per the state’s 2024 Threat Assessment report. And Citrix Bleed disrupted New Jersey hospitals, forcing problems ranging from slow patient care to postponed surgeries.

In contrast, election infrastructure is highly diversified, so a single attack would not have wide-scale impacts on election security, Geraghty said. He added that vendor and technology diversification is just one possible security approach, and that organizations…

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WinRAR patches zero-day bug that targeted stock and crypto traders


The developers behind file compression software WinRAR have patched a zero-day vulnerability that allowed hackers to install malware onto unsuspecting victims’ computers, enabling them to hack into their crypto and stock trading accounts.

On Aug. 23, Singapore-based cybersecurity firm Group-IB reported a zero-day vulnerability in the processing of the ZIP file format by WinRAR.

The zero-day vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-38831 was exploited for approximately four months, allowing hackers to install malware when a victim clicked on files in an archive. The malware would then allow hackers to breach online crypto and stock trading accounts, according to the report.

Using the exploit, the threat actors were able to create malicious RAR and ZIP archives that displayed seemingly innocent files such as JPG images or PDF text documents. These weaponized ZIP archives were then distributed on trading forums targeting crypto traders, offering strategies such as “best Personal Strategy to trade with Bitcoin.”

“Once extracted and executed, the malware allows threat actors to withdraw money from broker accounts. This vulnerability has been exploited since April 2023.”

The report confirmed that the malicious archives found their way onto at least eight public trading forums infecting at least 130 devices, however, the victim’s financial losses were unknown.

WinRar exploit infection chain. Source: Group-IB

On execution, the script launches a self-extracting (SFX) archive that infects the target computer with various malware strains, such as the DarkMe, GuLoader and Remcos RAT.

These provide the attacker with remote access privileges on the infected computer. DarkMe malware has previously been used in crypto and financially motivated attacks.

The researchers notified RARLABS which patched the zero-day vulnerability in WinRAR version 6.23, released on Aug. 2.

Related: Crypto investors under attack by new malware, reveals Cisco Talos

In August, smartphone giant BlackBerry identified several malware families that actively aimed to hijack computers to mine or steal cryptocurrencies.

The same month also revealed a newly discovered remote access tool called HVNC (Hidden Virtual Network Computer) that…

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Why Stock Market Has Been Stable During Economic Chaos: Quants


  • Amid a chaotic few months in the US economy, the stock market has remained relatively stable.
  • Quant funds, which use computer models to trade, are helping calm the markets, The Wall Street Journal reported.
  • Here’s how quant funds work and the impact they’re having on the market.

Economic pandemonium has swept our financial systems for the last few months: We entered the year with stubborn inflation; the March collapse of Silicon Valley Bank spurred fear for investors, business owners, and bankers alike; and recent discussions on breaching the debt ceiling have caused uncertainty about the future of Social Security or potential job loss, among other scares.

Yet still, the stock market has remained somewhat calm. 

In fact, the S&P is up nearly 10% year to date, as of May 29. Meanwhile, the VIX, also known as the volatility index, has remained below 20 — a level that suggests a relatively stable market — every trading day but two since March 28. 

That stability is at least in part thanks to quant funds, according to The Wall Street Journal. Quant funds, or quantitative hedge funds, are investment funds that use computer-created algorithms, mathematical models, and artificial intelligence to make stock predictions.

While some investors have stepped back from equity…

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Intech Investment Management LLC Has $761,000 Stock Holdings in Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS)


Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZSGet Rating) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,144 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Zscaler were worth $761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 557,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,476,000 after buying an additional 68,982 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 1st quarter worth approximately $244,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Zscaler by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zscaler during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,232,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Zscaler by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 121,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.33% of the company’s stock.

Zscaler Stock Performance

ZS opened at $125.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.54. Zscaler, Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.93 and a 52 week high of $194.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZSGet Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $387.60 million for the quarter, compared to…

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