After the Riot, the US Capitol’s IT Staff Faces ‘a Security Mess’

After Wednesday’s invasion by protesters, America’s Capitol building is now grappling with “the process of securing the offices and digital systems after hundreds of people had unprecedented access to them,” writes Wired. Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike shares their report: Rioters could have bugged congressional offices, exfiltrated data from unlocked computers, or installed malware on exposed devices. In the rush to evacuate…

Twitter Names Famed Hacker ‘Mudge’ as Head of Security

Social media giant Twitter, under increased threat of regulation and plagued by serious security breaches, is appointing one of the world’s best-regarded hackers to tackle everything from engineering missteps to misinformation. From a report: The company on Monday named Peiter Zatko, widely known by his hacker handle Mudge, to the new position of head of security, giving him a broad mandate…

Security Blueprints of Many Companies Leaked in Hack of Swedish Firm Gunnebo

Brian Krebs: In March 2020, KrebsOnSecurity alerted Swedish security giant Gunnebo Group that hackers had broken into its network and sold the access to a criminal group which specializes in deploying ransomware. In August, Gunnebo said it had successfully thwarted a ransomware attack, but this week it emerged that the intruders stole and published online tens of thousands of sensitive documents…

Charges Dropped Against Pentesters Paid To Break Into Iowa Courthouse

Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against two security professionals who were arrested and jailed last September for breaking into an Iowa courthouse as part of a contract with Iowa’s judicial arm. From a report: The dismissal, which was announced on Thursday, is a victory not only for Coalfire Labs, the security firm that employed the two penetration testers, but the security…