Tag Archive for: Success

Indian Business Leaders Say Hybrid Cloud is Critical to Modernization, Yet Security, Skills and Compliance Concerns Impede Success

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New market research from IBM revealed that in India 85% of respondents have adopted a hybrid cloud approach which can help drive digital transformation, yet the majority of responding organizations are struggling with the complexity to make all their cloud environments work together. As organizations face skills gaps, security challenges, and compliance obstacles, only 30% of Indian respondents manage their hybrid cloud environments holistically – which can create blind spots and put data at risk.

The IBM Transformation Index: State of Cloud commissioned by IBM and conducted by independent research firm, The Harris Poll, was created to help organizations map their cloud transformation and empower them to self-classify their progress. Built on a foundation that leverages insights from experienced cloud professionals, enterprises can use the Index to gain measurable metrics that can help quantify their progress and uncover areas of opportunity and growth. The Index consisted of more than 3,000 business and technology decision-makers from 12 countries and across 15 industries including financial services, manufacturing, government, telecommunications and healthcare, to understand where organizations are advancing, or merely emerging, on their transformation journeys.

The Index points to a strong correlation between hybrid cloud adoption and progress in digital transformation. In fact, 76% of those surveyed think it’s difficult to realize the full potential of a digital transformation without having a solid hybrid cloud strategy in place. At the same time, only 39% of Indian respondents said that they have proven the benefits of the cloud and are now focused on using it more fully. So, why the disconnect? A sample of findings include:

  • Compliance: Businesses believe ensuring compliance in the cloud is currently too difficult– especially as we see enforcement of regulatory and compliance requirements heat up across the globe.
  • Security: While businesses have embraced a variety of security techniques to secure workloads in the cloud, concerns about security still remain.
  • Skills: As organizations face the realities of a talent shortage, they are failing to implement a holistic…

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Monero Mining Malware Finds Success at Top of Google Search

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  • Nitrokod is currently featured at the top of Google search results for popular apps, including Translate
  • The malware maliciously mines monero using users’ computer resources, echoing once-prolific CoinHive

An insidious malware campaign targeting users searching for Google applications has infected thousands of computers globally to mine privacy-focused crypto monero (XMR).

You’ve probably never heard of Nitrokod. Israeli-based cyber intelligence firm Check Point Research (CPR) stumbled upon the malware last month. 

In a report on Sunday, the firm said Nitrokod initially masks itself as a free software, having found remarkable success at the top of Google search results for “Google Translate desktop download.”

Also known as cryptojacking, mining malware has been used to infiltrate unsuspecting user’s machines since at least 2017, when they rose to prominence alongside crypto’s popularity.

CPR previously detected well-known cryptojacking malware CoinHive, which also mined XMR, in November of that year. CoinHive was said to be stealing 65% of an end-user’s total CPU resources without their knowledge. Academics calculated the malware was generating $250,000 per month at its peak, with the bulk of it going to less than a dozen individuals.

As for Nitrokod, CPR believes it was deployed by a Turkish-speaking entity sometime in 2019. It operates across seven stages as it moves along its path to avoid detection from typical antivirus programs and system defenses. 

“The malware is easily dropped from software found on top Google search results for legitimate applications,” the firm wrote in its report.

Softpedia and Uptodown were found to be two major sources of fake applications. Blockworks has reached out to Google to learn more about how it filters these kinds of threats.

Image source: Check Point Research

After downloading the application, an installer executes a delayed dropper and continuously updates itself on every restart. On the fifth day, the delayed dropper extracts an encrypted file. 

The file then initiates Nitrokod’s final stages, which sets about scheduling tasks,…

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Cyber programs at The Citadel help crack the code for success

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By Alaina Rink, CGC ’22

When Cadet Noah Wells, ’22, and Staff Sergeant Ryan Skibicki, ’21, met in Computer Science 305, they had no idea that they would land dream jobs within two months of each other. They say The Citadel’s commitment to rigorous academics and principled leadership in cybersecurity made them preferred candidates.

Wells, a triple major in Cyber Operations, Computer Science and Mathematics, will begin his career in McLean, VA as a Cyber New Professional with The MITRE Corporation, a company he discovered at a cybersecurity conference. He says he opened the conversation with, “Hey, want to give me a job?” and was soon fast-tracked on the applicant list because of his involvement with The Citadel’s cyber department, research projects and his personal convictions for a more inclusive world. He is also one of the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service recipients.

Skibicki was already an active duty Marine when he decided to major in Computer Science with a minor in Cybersecurity. He said, “I had no idea about computer science before I came to The Citadel. The small class sizes allow students to pursue in-depth answers to their questions.” In December, Skibicki received a Cybersecurity contract through Military Occupational Specialties. He is one of four MECEPS to receive this competitive contract the first year it became eligible to their program. Skibicki will commission in April and complete more classified training before receiving further orders.

Wells and Skibicki are both in The Citadel’s first Department of Defense Cyber Institute and specifically credit Shankar Banik, Ph.D., for diligently working on the relevance and application of the curriculum. This institute is funded through a Department of Defense appropriation to the National Security Agency included in the 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

While The Citadel is committed to educating its future leaders in cybersecurity, it also seeks to inform present industry leaders. On February 24th and 25th, The Citadel will host the Jack Voltaic Conference Series which works to align current cybersecurity stakeholders in order to strengthen critical systems. The theme…

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University-run Summer Camps are a Success

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The University ran two summer camps for high school students: physics and cybercrime investigation. Read about them, here.

UNIVERSITY HOLDS CYBERCRIME INVESTIGATION CAMP

i-cybercrime-summercamp1.jpgNineteen high school students received hands-on training in investigating and thwarting cybercrimes from experts in the much-in-demand field of cyber security at The University of Scranton’s first Cybercrime Investigation Summer Camp. Run by faculty of the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Criminology, the camp took place July 13-15 in the University’s Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime on campus.

Through lectures, exercises, case discussions, the University’s data center tour, computer simulations and a capture-the-flag competition, the students learned about cyber threats, cybercriminal profiling, cyber law, cyber security and how to conduct a cyber forensics investigation. They also learned about the various roles and responsibilities assumed by professionals working in the growing field.

The job outlook for cybersecurity analysts is predicted to increase by 31 percent for the period between 2019 and 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annual median salary for cybersecurity analysts in 2020 was $103,900. The University offers a major in cybercrime and homeland security.

The camp was offered free of charge to participants through support from the University’s College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office and the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Read on, here.

UNIVERSITY HOLDS PHYSICS SUMMER CAMP

i-physics-camp.jpgHigh school students were introduced to the extraordinary world of physics at a summer camp hosted at The University of Scranton. The three-day camp for 9th and 10th grade high school students, taught by University physics faculty members, included mini-lectures and hands-on activities to introduce basic physics concepts of electricity and magnetism, as well as dramatic real-life examples of these principals in action.

At the camp, which took place July 19-21, 12 high school students learned about types of waves, oscilloscopes, magnetic coils, loudspeakers and software defined radio. They built a generator, a motor, and learned to use cutting…

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