Author: HackWatchit

The endpoint security landscape is evolving faster than many security teams can keep up. While organizations are being overwhelmed with alert fatigue from multiple disconnected tools, a new Frost & Sullivan report underscores that the future of cyber security belongs to consolidated workforce security platforms that reduce complexity. Frost & Sullivan’s 2025 Endpoint Security Radar Report positions Check Point Harmony Endpoint as a strong performer in the competitive marketplace. But more than just recognizing the efficacy of our technology, the report validates our entire philosophy around consolidated workforce security. The market is echoing this view with endpoint security spending expected…

? RAG, which stands for Retrieval-Augmented Generation, describes a process by which an LLM (Large Language Model) can be optimized by training it to pull from a more specific, smaller knowledge base rather than its huge original base. Typically, LLMs like ChatGPT are trained on the entire internet (billions of data points). This means they are prone to small errors and hallucinations. Here is an example of a situation where RAG could be used and be helpful: I want to build a US state tour guide chat bot, which contains general information about US states, such as their capitals, populations,…

Captain Mark I. Kuperman has announced his appointment as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Ninth District. He shared the news on LinkedIn and brings to the position an extensive career in operational leadership, interagency coordination, and maritime safety and security, both domestically and abroad. Kuperman, who is also a contributing author to HSToday, most recently served as Commander of Coast Guard Sector Eastern Great Lakes. In that role, he was responsible for a vast and complex area of responsibility that spanned three states, nearly 600 miles of U.S. shoreline, and a significant stretch of the U.S.-Canada maritime…

Elon Musk’s Twitter (surely no-one really calls it X?) is suing New York State. Why? Because apparently being asked to explain how your social media platform handles hate speech and misinformation is an unconstitutional burden. New York state’s law requires social media companies to report how they moderate hate speech and disinformation. It doesn’t require censorship or even impose fines. It just says “Tell us what your moderation policies are, and how you enforce them.” Which seems reasonable to me. But Twitter argues that this is a free speech violation. Clearly it’s less worried about the real danger posed by…

Brian Fehrman // In our experience, we see many Windows environments in which the local Administrator password is the same for many machines. We refer to this as Wide-Spread Local Administrator Re-use. This type of configuration is extremely advantageous to an attacker. Once the attacker has the local Administrator password for one computer, they can usually pivot to other computers in the environment with ease and begin retrieving other user credentials and potentially sensitive information on the systems. In some cases, only the Administrator hash is needed to pivot with that account. We typically start with a non-privileged user when…

Trellix Advanced Research Center exposed a sophisticated APT malware campaign dubbed OneClik, targeting the oil and gas and energy sectors. The attackers rely on phishing and abuse of Microsoft ClickOnce to deliver payloads. While the campaign bears hallmarks of Chinese-affiliated threat actors, attribution remains tentative. OneClik reflects a broader shift toward ‘living off the land’ techniques, embedding malicious activity within legitimate cloud and enterprise tools to bypass conventional defenses. ClickOnce is a Microsoft [dot]NET deployment technology that allows self-updating applications to install and run from remote sources. Although intended for ease of deployment, adversaries can abuse ClickOnce for stealthy code…

TikTok Shop scams have become harder to ignore as more users fall for shady sellers, fake job offers, or copycat profiles posing as legit brands. Scammers have been quick to take advantage of the platform’s growth, especially as it continues expanding into more countries. In this guide, we’ll break down how TikTok protects buyers, some common scams you might run into on TikTok Shop, and how to avoid them. We’ll also explain what to do if you’ve already been scammed and how to report fraudsters to TikTok. Is it safe to order from the TikTok Shop? Ordering from TikTok Shop…

Organizations are approaching secure access service edge (SASE) adoption from two main directions: network-led or security-led transformation. Both approaches ultimately converge on the same SASE outcome with a unified, cloud-delivered platform for more secure, performant access to applications and data from anywhere. The choice depends on whether your business’s primary challenge is network agility or security complexity. In practice, successful SASE transformations often require balancing both priorities for a fully integrated solution. Here’s how these approaches differ. Network-Led Transformation to SASE Network-led transformation is often initiated by the need to modernize and optimize the network. This generally starts with an…

A sophisticated malicious campaign that researchers call OneClik has been leveraging Microsoft’s ClickOnce software deployment tool and custom Golang backdoors to compromise organizations within the energy, oil, and gas sectors. The hackers rely on legitimate AWS cloud services (AWS, Cloudfront, API Gateway, Lambda) to keep the command and control (C2) infrastructure hidden. ClickOnce is a deployment technology from Microsoft that allows developers to create self-updating Windows-based applications, reducing user interaction to a minimum. Security researchers at cybersecurity company Trellix analyzed three variants of the campaign (v1a, BPI-MDM, and v1d), all of them deploying “a sophisticated Golanguage backdoor” called RunnerBeacon via…