Category Archives: Security

ISIL Defacements Exploiting WordPress Vulnerablities – update now

The FBI has warned that ISIL is exploiting vulnerabilities in WordPress sites running out-of-date versions of WordPress or old versions of certain plugins or themes to deface the sites. The FBI’s statement: http://www.ic3.gov/media/2015/150407-1.aspx Sucuri’s writeup with mention of specific plugins to check: http://blog.sucuri.net/2015/04/fbi-public-service-annoucement-defacements-exploiting-wordpress-vulnerabilities.html The current version of WordPress (as of 4/8/2015) is 4.1.1. If you… Read More »

1/28/2015: reboots to patch for GHOST vulnerability

We are patching and rebooting all linux servers for the ‘GHOST‘ security vulnerability. Reboots aren’t needed often with linux, but because this patch replaces a library (glibc) that is used by many programs on each server, a reboot is required.

Don’t let your email account get hijacked – tips

Email accounts are prime targets for spammers, who can no longer send spam directly from malware-infected computers because of improved spam filtering and steps that major providers like Verizon/Comcast/Cox have taken. If a spammer can hijack an email account, he’ll be able to send spam at high speed from a legitimate account until he gets… Read More »

eBay passwords compromised

According to Ars Technica, encrypted eBay passwords and other information have been stolen by cyberattackers. If you have an eBay account, change your password ASAP. If your eBay password is one you’ve used on other services, including your accounts with HIS, change those passwords too, and don’t use the same password on more than one… Read More »

Resolved: spam.his.com backlog 5/19/2014

Starting at 6:30 AM on Monday, 5/19/2014, multiple servers were hit with a high-volume spam flood from a Russian botnet that had hijacked user email accounts. The volume was so high that spam.his.com, which filters both incoming and outgoing mail, became backlogged and mail delivery became very slow. We identified the problem shortly after 7 AM and… Read More »

Heartbleed OpenSSL bug – should you change your passwords?

You may have read about the bug in OpenSSL that allowed attackers to access random 64k byte chunks of memory. This bug was reported by CERT on Monday, April 7, 2014. Software vendors supplied patches on April 7 and 8. A few of our SSL servers were vulnerable, and we had all patches applied and were… Read More »

Microsoft Ending Support for Windows XP and Office 2003 4/8/2014

Windows XP has reached end-of-life, and there will be no updates or security patches for XP after April 8, 2014. The bad news is that CERT estimates that 30% of all internet-connected PCs are still running XP, so a lot of people are going to be exposed to the latest malware with no help from… Read More »

FYI: CryptoLocker virus

CryptoLocker is a new virus that affects Windows PCs – if you get infected, a screen pops up telling you that your stored documents and images have been encrypted, and if you don’t pay $300 within 72 hours, the key required to decrypt your files will be destroyed and you’ll be out of luck. There… Read More »

ALERT: major brute-force password-guessing attack on WordPress sites underway

There’s a significant attack by a botnet on WordPress sites, where the bots are trying to guess the passwords of common admin logins. More info: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/04/huge-attack-on-wordpress-sites-could-spawn-never-before-seen-super-botnet/ If you are using WordPress and are using a common username or a common password, change it immediately to something less obvious. Update your WordPress admin password when in… Read More »

Warning: ‘Webmail Account Warning’ message is bogus.

This bogus email is making the rounds and seems to be slipping past spam filters at the moment. If you get one of these messages, delete it. The link in the message takes you to a form that asks you to enter your email address and password. If you do this, you can count on… Read More »