A week in security (December 23 – 29)

Credit to Author: Malwarebytes Labs| Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2019 16:55:11 +0000

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we continued our retrospective coverage with a look at how lawmakers in the United States treated online privacy this year, finding trends in multiple federal bills introduced in the Senate. Then we took a little break for the holidays.

Now an annual tradition for close to a decade, SplashData unveiled this year’s most popular passwords, with “123456” and “123456789” taking the top two spots. Fan favorites “password1” and “admin” and “qwerty” also ranked high, with dark horse candidates “princess” and “dragon” also making the list. (Source: HackRead)
The popular chat messaging app ToTok reportedly functions as a deeply invasive spying tool operated by the government of the United Arab Emirates. (Source: New York Times)
The “chief operations optimist” at 1Password provided a fun look at password security by comparing it to the lessons learned in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” (Source: Dark Reading)
The US Coast Guard disclosed that the IT network for a Maritime Transportation Security Act facility was shut down following a Ryuk ransomware attack. (Source: Bleeping Computer)
Cybersecurity researchers warned individuals about five now-patched vulnerabilities in the Google Chrome browser that could have allowed threat actors to remotely execute code. (Source: Threatpost)
A San Antonio mental health services provider and a New Mexico hospital suffered malware attacks immediately before the US holidays. (Source: Bleeping Computer)
A North Carolina couple breathed a sigh of relief when learning that the noises coming downstairs in the middle of the night were not caused by an intruder, but by…their Roomba. (Source: Ars Technica)

Stay safe, everyone!