Daily Edition · Page 5

THE DAILY INDEX

Technology, AI, software, security, crypto and business

ATTACKS & VULNERABILITIES

TLDR InfoSec

ANDROID APPS MISUSING NFC AND HCE TO STEAL PAYMENT DATA ON THE RISE

Zimperium researchers discovered over 760 malicious Android apps exploiting Near-Field Communication (NFC) and Host Card Emulation (HCE) to steal payment data through NFC relay attacks, showing dramatic growth since April 2024. These apps impersonate trusted financial institutions and trick users into setting them as default NFC payment handlers, then use command-and-control servers to relay card terminal requests and exfiltrate EMV data to Telegram channels. The campaign has targeted over 20 institutions globally using 70+ C2 servers, primarily focusing on Russian banks but also affecting European banks, Brazilian institutions, and services like Google Pay.

YOU'LL NEVER SEE ATTRITION REFERENCED IN AN RCA

Public incident reports intentionally omit staff attrition as a contributing factor to reassure customers that issues are being resolved, since mentioning workforce issues could undermine confidence and create liability. Internal analyses also rarely consider attrition, focusing instead on technical details rather than organizational factors that increase system vulnerability. Attrition is like smoking and lung cancer - it's a risk factor that heightens the likelihood of failures without being necessary or sufficient on its own.

MOSIP ON AWS: TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE EXPLORING ARCHITECTURE, IMPLEMENTATION, AND DEPLOYMENT MODELS

AWS and Atos developed a cloud-based digital identity platform using MOSIP, addressing security challenges with multi-layered defenses like AWS Shield, WAF, CloudFront, segmented VPCs, and dedicated CloudHSM. It offers four hybrid deployment models for data sovereignty, from fully cloud to on-premises, with security controls such as data encryption, role-based access via OAuth2, and monitoring through GuardDuty and CloudWatch. Security teams should evaluate hybrid cloud architectures for sensitive government systems, implement defense-in-depth with hardware security modules, and use Infrastructure-as-Code for consistent security controls.

CAN'T HIDE IN 3D

Time-Terrain-Behavior (TTB) mapping can be used to transform logs and security events into a 3D landscape to create a visual threat landscape. The x-axis is set as the terrain layer and measures how many different tools detected an entity, the y-axis measures how many different time periods an entity was active in, and the z-axis measures how many different actions an entity performs. This post works through applying this methodology to the Splunk BOTS v2 scenario.

USING GHIDRA TO PATCH MY KEYBOARD'S FIRMWARE

In this post, a researcher demonstrates firmware reverse engineering on the Epomaker Galaxy100 keyboard using Ghidra to bypass VIA configuration limitations and modify key mappings. The technical approach involved extracting firmware via DFU mode (Fn+L+Esc), setting up proper memory mapping in Ghidra for ARM Cortex-M3 architecture, locating USB HID keycode tables through pattern matching, and directly patching binary offsets to swap function key layers. Security professionals can apply these techniques for embedded device analysis, firmware modification workflows, and understanding how consumer hardware implements bootloader protections and keycode handling mechanisms.

CHINA-LINKED HACKERS EXPLOITED LANSCOPE FLAW AS A ZERO-DAY IN ATTACKS

Chinese cyber-espionage group Bronze Butler (Tick) exploited CVE-2025-61932, a critical request origin verification flaw in Motex Lanscope Endpoint Manager versions 9.4.7.2 and earlier, as a zero-day vulnerability for several months before it was patched in October. The attackers exploited this vulnerability to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution with SYSTEM privileges, deploying an updated Gokcpdoor malware variant that features multiplexed command-and-control communication and DLL sideloading for evasion, along with tools such as goddi Active Directory dumper and 7-Zip for data exfiltration to cloud storage services. Organizations using Lanscope Endpoint Manager must immediately upgrade to patched versions, as no workarounds exist, while security teams should monitor for indicators of Bronze Butler activity, including Gokcpdoor malware, OAED Loader, and connections to ports 38000/38002.

METROPOLITAN POLICE HAILS FACIAL RECOGNITION TECH AFTER RECORD YEAR FOR ARRESTS

London's Metropolitan Police credits live facial recognition technology with enabling 962 arrests over the past year. While officials cite improved public safety and broad support, privacy advocates raise concerns about racial bias, noting 80 percent of false alerts involved Black individuals. The report claims these disparities are not statistically significant, yet critics argue for better oversight and legal safeguards to protect civil rights.

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