Security threats evolve just as fast as the technologies used to stop them. New and modified attack strategies are constantly in the works. To make matters worse, the attack surface within corporate networks is expanding. The push to work from home increased vulnerable points of entry by introducing multitudes of new endpoint devices. The move to cloud-based services and infrastructure has further resulted in a broader and more challenging landscape to defend.

Observing the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we can clearly see that cyberattacks leveraging malware are an important part of modern hybrid war strategy. While conventional warfare is conducted on the battlefield and limited by several factors, cyber warfare continues in cyber space, offering the chance to infiltrate and damage targets far behind the frontlines. Russia utilized cyberattacks during the initial phase of the invasion in February.

In this post, we’ll look at the security blindspots of lockfile injection that a Ruby gem might expose via its Gemfile.lock. As a prelude to that, we will open up with a brief introduction to Ruby and third-party dependencies management around RubyGems and Bundler. Web developers often work on Ruby projects, but are mostly referring to them as the popular open source web application framework Ruby on Rails.

It seems like every week another household brand announces that they’ve been the victim of a data breach. Recently, cloud communications company Twilio announced that its internal systems were breached after attackers obtained employee credentials using an SMS phishing attack. Around the same time, Cloudflare, a content delivery network and DDoS mitigation company, reported that its employees were also targeted but their systems were not compromised.

According to Gartner, 20 percent of organizations have experienced at least one attack on IoT tech in the past three years. Unsecured network connections with Internet access compromise data privacy. Through them, third parties can gain remote control over the device.

At the heart of almost every business interaction lies trust. Whether logging in to a website, providing information over the phone, or interacting via email, trust is essential when the communication involves money, sensitive data, or both. To win a victim’s trust, gain access to a secure system, receive sensitive data, or insert malicious software, cybercriminals use various tools and tactics to mask their identity or disguise their devices. These tactics are the foundation of a spoofing attack.

Managing a small business can often feel like having 100 tabs open at once. Between handling client relations, organising taxes, and keeping up with day-to-day operations, cybersecurity (particularly data security) tends to fall along the wayside. Not because business owners don’t care, but because there is simply too much to care about. For small businesses, priorities often lie with directing their resources toward creating sustainable revenue streams.