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Microsoft Blocks Lebanon-Based Hackers Targeting Israel

The hackers were abusing Microsoft’s file hosting service, OneDrive, to target private and government organizations in Israel.

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microsoft blocks lebanon-based hackers targeting israel

Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has successfully identified and disabled an attack orchestrated by a Lebanon-based activity group called Polonium.

The group was abusing Microsoft’s file hosting service, OneDrive, to target private and government organizations in Israel. Based on its tools and techniques, it seems that Polonium is affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

“Polonium has targeted or compromised more than 20 organizations based in Israel and one intergovernmental organization with operations in Lebanon over the past three months,” explains MSTIC.

The good news is that all legitimate OneDrive accounts are completely safe because the attack didn’t involve any security issues or vulnerabilities. Instead, Polonium used the file hosting service for command and control to execute part of their attack operation.

Polonium’s targets include primarily organizations in critical manufacturing, IT, and defense industry. “In at least one case, Polonium’s compromise of an IT company was used to target a downstream aviation company and law firm in a supply chain attack that relied on service provider credentials to gain access to the targeted networks.”

MSTIC is still actively investigating how Polonium gained initial access to many of their victims, but it knows that most victims were running Fortinet appliances. Based on this fact, MSTIC suspects that the CVE-2018-13379 vulnerability was used to gain access inside the targeted organizations.

Also Read: Is Your Phone Hacked? How To Find Out & Protect Yourself

While the threat has been contained, there are certain actions MSTIC recommends all organizations to take to protect themselves, such as confirming that Microsoft Defender Antivirus is updated, enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), and blocking in-bound traffic from specific IP addresses.

This isn’t the first instance of threat actors using OneDrive and other similar file hosting services to achieve their nefarious goals. Last year, for example, Microsoft discovered that OneDrive was used to host malware files commonly used to launch Conti ransomware attacks.

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Samsung Galaxy Ring Wearable Will Launch In Eight Sizes

A recent Korean report reveals the model numbers of the new health tracking device, as well as details of its key features.

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samsung galaxy ring wearable will launch in eight sizes

The global launch of the Samsung Galaxy Ring is hotly anticipated, with details about the next-gen wearable gradually emerging since the company’s teaser announcement back in January. Now, a report has also unveiled the model numbers for the device, suggesting it will be available in eight different sizes.

While Samsung has yet to divulge detailed specs and features of the Galaxy Ring, it’s likely to feature an array of health and sleep monitoring functionalities, while boasting a battery life of up to nine days on a single charge.

As per a Galaxy Club report, there are currently eight confirmed variants of the Galaxy Ring: SM-Q500, SM-Q501, SM-Q502, SM-Q505, SM-Q506, SM-Q507, SM-Q508, and SM-Q509.

However, the mystery shrouding two absent model numbers persists, leaving speculation as to whether they signify additional sizes or if Samsung plans to unveil a later ninth variant of the ring, as previously hinted. There’s conjecture that these models may correspond to US ring sizes 5 and above, commencing with the SMQ500, with subsequent numbers potentially indicating larger ring sizes, possibly reaching up to size 13, aligning with model number SM-Q509.

Also Read: Adobe Reveals New AI Tools That Will Wow Photoshop Novices

Recent Korean reports have shed light on how Samsung’s Mobile eXperience division (MX) collaborated with the Home Appliance department to integrate Samsung Food with the Galaxy Ring: Tailored for daily activity tracking, the Galaxy Ring, when paired with Samsung Food and an intelligent Samsung refrigerator featuring AI vision, delivers personalized dietary guidance based on calorie intake and BMI.

Samsung is banking on the user-friendly interface and high durability of the ring to redefine the healthcare wearables landscape. Meanwhile, Apple is also making strides in the development of a smart ring, aimed at monitoring users’ health biometrics discreetly when worn on the finger. According to the Electronic Times report, Apple has been closely monitoring market interest in this more inconspicuous alternative to a traditional watch.

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