Notices by Danny Palmer (dannyjpalmer@infosec.exchange)

A financially motivated group of hackers is having a roaring success targeting Salesforce instances for “large-scale data theft and subsequent extortion” using social engineering techniques, warned Google this week.

The group has “demonstrated repeated success in breaching networks by having its operators impersonate IT support personnel in convincing telephone-based social engineering engagements” including within what it described as “English-speaking branches of multinational corporations.”

https://www.thestack.technology/vicious-vishers-villainise-ventures-via-salesforce/

Lots of interesting points in NCSC CEO Richard Horne's CYBERUK speech, but I thought it was particularly interesting...

"We also know that being fit for the contest requires diversity. Historically, our industry has not been a beacon of diversity and inclusion. Thankfully, that is beginning to change.

"I’m proud of the 85,000 girls who have participated in CyberFirst...taking the first step in their cyber security career.
And I’m proud to have the first female director of GCHQ, Anne Keast-Butler, as my boss.

"But we have a long way to go.
Genuine diversity is not yet part of the DNA of our industry... and that must change."

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/speech/cyberuk-2025-ncsc-ceo-keynote-speech

A press mailing list quote on behalf of a cybersecurity CEO I just recieved in my inbox 'regarding the revocation of Chris Krebs’ security clearance' is, uh, something...

"There is a lot to this story that has not seen the light of day yet.

"This is an example of a security professional getting involved in politics and paying the price of picking sides rather than staying on mission.

"It's a message to the rest of the IC community to stay out of politics."

O_o

@GossiTheDog Okay, definitely need this now.

@HauntedOwlbear "strange and complicated by design"

I of course, approve. 😁

Good morning this Monday to everyone except the job advert for an editorial content position which says the applicant must be a "complete crypto degen!" 🚩🚩🚩

Finding this whole looking for work thing to be pretty demoralising right now. 15 years of experience working in journalism and editorial, a decade with a focus on cybersecurity and it feels like that while I've carved myself a niche in this space by being good at writing about it (i guess?), the fact it is niche means there's very little opportunity out there right now.

A background in journalism and writing means I don't have a technical background, so moving into actual cybersecurity seems like a no go, while it feels like there's also very little demand for journalism/editorial in the space I focus on. (As evident two roles I had in cybersecurity editorial being eliminated in the last two years)

15 years of experience, 15 years of fighting tooth and nail to be in this space and now we're right back to the beginning.

Maybe it's because it's a Monday morning and I feel like I'm lacking purpose at the moment, but just... feels bad man.

After almost two years in the role, I recently received the unfortunate news that my job as Head of Editorial for [well-known cybersecurity] company is being eliminated because of corporate realignment.

I'm really sad and still in shock tbh. And I also need to find another job now in order to pay to keep a roof over my head, I guess?

Not really sure what the future holds but before I was in the job I'm now no longer have, I was a cybersecurity journalist for many, many years at ZDNet ( a role which was also taken out from under me when the whole senior editorial team was eliminated by new owners... who went onto sell the site at a big loss) so hopefully I'm still remembered from that.

(Google doesn't remember me though, my knowledge panel isn't a thing anymore)

I know I'm rambling now, but yeah - editorial, content, writing, journalism, that's my thing. Hopefully someone out there in the tech/cyber space needs that? Please. 🥺

Seems not ideal...

“The loss of skilled cyber professionals to the private sector is leaving critical roles unfilled, weakening national defences against cyber attacks”, the report stated.

https://www.cityam.com/public-sector-pay-gap-threatens-uk-cyber-resilience/

@GossiTheDog You know what, I'm going to take that advice and not click.

Just the President calling the people who prosecuted a dark web kingpin 'scum'. Cool, cool, everything's normal, cool, cool...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o

@babe Oh man, at some point someone really said 'yeah, we need jiggle physics, please'. 😳

So, apparently Thames Water is still using IT systems from the 1980s, which doesn't seem very ideal or secure for a critical infrastructure operator in 2024.

“The software we use is older than me, and some of the hardware is older than my dad,” says Siddharth*. He is one of a team fighting a daily battle to sustain ancient IT infrastructure at Thames Water."

Then later...

"The use of Lotus Notes is a signal of how starved of investment technology at the company has been since it was privatised in the late 1980s. Other examples of obsolete or near obsolete technology include wide reliance on 2G technologies, arrays of meters that remain analogue and require manual checks, and hardware that is often more than 30 years old." #infosec

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/18/thames-waters-it-falling-apart-and-is-hit-by-cyber-attacks-sources-claim

Gosh, i hope this is Abe Simpson levels of rambling...

O2 has today unveiled the newest member of its fraud prevention team, ‘Daisy’. As ‘Head of Scammer Relations’, this state-of-the-art #AI Granny’s mission is to talk with fraudsters and waste as much of their time as possible with human-like rambling chat to keep them away from real people, while highlighting the need for consumers to stay vigilant as the UK faces a fraud epidemic.

https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/o2-unveils-daisy-the-ai-granny-wasting-scammers-time/

@HauntedOwlbear Seconded.

@HauntedOwlbear Ohhh, I picked up Gideon recently. It's definitely on my too read pile.

@GossiTheDog Props to them for being somewhat open about this! Other councils have previously tried to just.. not talk about anything.

@HauntedOwlbear Well, it is almost spooky season.

I'm so pleased to announce that the Big Editorial Project™ I've recently alluded to is live. Say Hello to The Inference!

Drawing on my experience as a journalist, the long-form editorial features on The Inference analyze data, trends, and perspectives from experts and thought leaders around the technology industry, including cybersecurity companies, AI firms, academics and more (Much like in my past role, i'm very much open to pitches and ideas!)

In-depth features were my favourite part of my previous role - and
it's nice to have something I can point to and say 'Hey look, that's me!' again. :)

https://darktrace.com/the-inference

@ryanc :(

I've tended to get the notifications from my GP/pharmacy about vaccinations in late September or so usually, if that's any help?