Dennis Fisher

About

Dennis Fisher is a journalist with more than 13 years of experience covering information security.

Authentication Bypass Bug Hits Siemens Energy Automation Device

An authentication bypass vulnerability in a Siemens device that’s used in energy automation systems could allow an attacker to gain control of the device. The vulnerability is in the Siemens SICAM MIC, a small telecontrol system that performs a number of functions and includes an integrated Web server and several other features.  “The devices consist of […]

Coalition of Security Companies Forms to Oppose Wassenaar Rules

A large group of security companies have formed a coalition to oppose the proposed rules from the Department of Commerce that would regulate the export of so-called intrusion software, a broad term that researchers and legal experts are concerned would limit security research and development. The rules proposed by the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security in […]

Oracle Patches Java Zero Day

Oracle has released its quarterly patch update, which includes fixes for nearly 200 vulnerabilities. The most notable bug fixed in this release is the Java zero day that’s been used in an ongoing attack campaign. The massive release from Oracle has patches for a long list of products, but the Java vulnerabilities are the heart […]


A new version of the nasty TeslaCrypt ransomware is making the rounds, and the creators have added several new features, including an improved encryption scheme and some details designed to mimic CryptoWall. TeslaCrypt is among the more recent variants of ransomware to emerge and the malware, which is a variant of CryptoLocker, is unique in […]

In its latest transparency report, CloudFlare says that the number of subpoenas it has received has remained steady since last year, but the volume of court orders has more than doubled since the second half of last year. While much of the data from CloudFlare’s report for the first half of 2015 closely mirrors the […]

As the zero days in Adobe Flash continue to pile up, Mozilla has taken the unusual step of disabling by default all versions of Flash in Firefox. The move is a temporary one as Adobe prepares to patch two vulnerabilities in Flash that were discovered as a result of the HackingTeam document dump last week. […]

A researcher has uncovered a pair of vulnerabilities in the Kaseya VSA IT management platform, including an open redirect that could be used to force users to visit an attacker-controlled sites. Kaseya VSA is a platform designed to handle a wide variety of IT management tasks, including audit, inventory, security, patch management, backup and recovery, […]

Several new versions of PHP have been released, all of which contain a number of bug fixes, most notably a patch for the so-called BACKRONYM vulnerability in MySQL. That bug in MySQL is caused by a problem with the way that the database software handles requests for secure connections. Researchers at Duo Security disclosed the […]

Security researchers and software vendors have spent decades trying to work out the process of vulnerability disclosure, with limited success. Now the federal government is joining the fray in hopes of getting the two sides to play nice. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a unit of the Department of Commerce, is launching what it […]