Author: HackWatchit

Jordan has been hanging around the tech industry for 25 years now and was baited hook, line, and sinker by Napster. He’s been part of the Black Hills Information Security team for a decade in various capacities and has been a part of Antisyphon Training’s amazing growth trajectory as an instructor. tl;dr: Install Wifiphisher on Kali and run a basic attack.  This crappy little copy/paste-able operation resulted in a functional Wifiphisher virtual environment on Kali (as of January 22, 2024).   apt-get install -y libnl-3-dev libnl-genl-3-dev libssl-dev python3-virtualenv cd /opt/ git clone https://github.com/wifiphisher/wifiphisher.git cd wifiphisher virtualenv -p python3 env source env/bin/activate…

Bitcoin mining revenue remained stable at around $1.4 billion in January, per a new TheMinerMag report by Head of rResearch, Wolfie Zhao.Network activity registered at 780 EH/s following a period in which the overall hashrate advanced from 642 EH/s in September to 779 EH/s in December. Public mining companies, responsible for roughly 35 percent of total Bitcoin rewards, saw their combined market share decline to 30 percent in January amid operational curtailments, while private operators and other firms adjusted capacity in response to a shifting competitive landscape.A network difficulty adjustment in early February spurred an uptick in capacity output among…

A Dallas, Texas-based clinical research firm had its database exposed, containing sensitive personal healthcare records of over 1.6 million individuals – all without any security authentication. A misconfigured healthcare database containing over 1.6 million records related to medical surveys was recently discovered to be publicly accessible online without any encryption, password protection or security authentication. The database belonged to DM Clinical Research, a Texas-based network of clinical trial sites. This was revealed to Hackread.com by cybersecurity expert Jeremiah Fowler who discovered the database and published their findings with Website Planet on 18 February 2025. The database contained a treasure trove…

Senate lawmakers demand answers from the White House about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team’s access to sensitive government data and classified information after its personnel led by Elon Musk plowed its way through several federal agencies. In a letter sent to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with seven other senators, asked if Musk’s team had the necessary clearances to access sensitive government facilities, systems and records at the U.S. Agency for International Development, Treasury Department, Office of Personnel Management and other agencies. “DOGE seems to have unimpeded access to…

An unknown leaker has released what they claim to be an archive of internal Matrix chat logs belonging to the Black Basta ransomware operation. ExploitWhispers, the individual who previously uploaded the stolen messages to the MEGA file-sharing platform, which are now removed, has uploaded it to a dedicated Telegram channel. It’s not yet clear if ExploitWhispers is a security researcher who gained access to the gang’s internal chat server or a disgruntled member. While they never shared the reason behind this move, cyber threat intelligence company PRODAFT said today that the leak could directly result from the ransomware gang’s alleged attacks…

In this Help Net Security interview, Chester Wisniewski, Director and Global Field CISO at Sophos, discusses the shifting ransomware landscape, the risks posed by quantum decryption threats, and the role of vendor security validation. Wisniewski notes that cyber resilience is more crucial than mere defense, with AI playing a key role in managing threats, and calls for ongoing improvements, transparency, and proactive measures. With ransomware payments decreasing, some cybercriminals are shifting toward data-centric extortion rather than just encryption. How should companies adjust their incident response and business continuity planning to address this shift? To begin, I am not sure that…

What is malware? A dictionary-like definition is “malicious software that attacks computers, smartphones, and other connected devices.” In fact, “malware” is a mash-up of “malicious software.” It describes any type of software or code specifically designed to exploit a connected device or network without consent. And, unsurprisingly, hackers design most of it for financial gain. What kinds of malware are there? Think of malware as an umbrella term that covers an entire host of “bad stuff,” such as: Spyware that tracks activity, like what you type and where you type it. (Think snooping on your bank account logins. Ransomware that…

Security Analyst, Malware Researcher, New Technology Researcher Evangelist This article originally featured in the very first issue of our PROMPT# zine — Choose Wisely. You can find that issue (and all the others) here: https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/prompt-zine/ I remember a day when a customer (now a friend) bragged that the deployed application allowlisting policies at his organization were highly secure, thorough, and well vetted. Naturally, I asked about the process he undertook to create such a thing. My friend replied, “We started by considering all of the Microsoft Windows operating systems and applications to be hostile. Everything was blocked and we built…

The Health-ISAC published its 2025 Health Sector Cyber Threat Landscape that underscores the formidable cybersecurity challenges that plagued the health sector in 2024 and anticipates an even more daunting landscape in 2025. Last year, the healthcare sector faced significant challenges as ransomware, nation-state espionage, and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) vulnerabilities emerged as top concerns. Healthcare systems worldwide struggled with a rise in ransomware attacks, where cybercriminals used increasingly advanced methods to disrupt operations and demand ransoms. The Health-ISAC 2025 Health Sector Cyber Threat Landscape report highlights the persistent threat posed by nation-state actors, who have intensified their efforts in…