The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is asking organizations that deliver essential internet services to quickly apply updates and patches to their networks after news emerged this week detailing what are thought to be the largest-ever distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. […]

The late-day warning on Monday from President Biden and White House national security officials that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure targets appeared to turn many heads in the Federal cybersecurity community that is by now long-used to receiving and generating cybersecurity advisories. […]

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched a new webpage featuring a catalog of free cybersecurity tools and resources that the agency hopes will serve as a “one-stop resource where organizations of all sizes can find free public and private sector resources to reduce their cybersecurity risk.” […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released draft guidance on securing internet of things (IoT) devices for small business and home applications so that manufacturers can create products that only transmit data in approved ways. […]

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are becoming significantly more frequent and voluminous as attacks have become multi-vectored and transformative over time, according to an April 24 Neustar whitepaper. […]

According to the Nexusguard Q3 2018 Threat Report, 65.5 percent of distributed denial-of-service attacks were launched against communications service providers (CSPs) in the third quarter of 2018. […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) today announced the seizure of 15 domains associated with distributed denial-of-service-for-hire services, as well as criminal charges against three individuals who facilitated the domains. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) is seeking comment on a draft set of technical guidance and recommendations to improve the security and robustness of interdomain traffic exchange. […]

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 28 signed into law S.B. 327, which will ban companies from selling Internet-connected devices with weak or default passwords, such as “Password” or “1234567.” Instead, beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, all devices must have a “preprogrammed password [that] is unique to each device manufactured.” A primary concern with weak pre-programmed passwords is that users don’t change them to strong, unique passwords after purchasing the device. […]

Akamai today released an Attack Spotlight recounting how it mitigated the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in its history. Earlier this year, an Akamai client, an unnamed software company, was the target of a massive DDoS attack–one that broke the 1 terabyte per second threshold for the first time. […]

Welcome to MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]

Bot-driven cyberattacks and other fast-spreading malware have been making some pretty big waves of late. The Mirai botnet, for example, launched several record-setting Distributed Denial-of-Service–DDoS–attacks starting in September 2016. […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking nominations for new members of various Federal boards, including the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). NIST listed the eight Federal advisory boards with openings, which also include the NIST Smart Grid Committee, and the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology, in a Federal Register notice. […]

Not all bots are bad. But in the wrong hands, botnets can be commanded to do some very nefarious things, like Distributed Denial of Service–DDoS–attacks to disrupt and bring down websites. There are also malware-based bots that are increasingly being used to steal data and personal information. […]

Organizations will be able to alert one another about incoming distributed denial of service attacks through one network “sooner rather than later,” according to Erin Chapman, program manager at Galois. The company is working with the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate to create a tool that will help partners stop DDoS attacks from spreading. […]