Online materials for a Cambridge University course

Professor Ross Anderson of Cambridge University has published the materials, including videos, of his undergraduate course Software and Security Engineering. If you haven't been in academic security courses, or it is a long time since you have been in such classes, this course may seem interesting to you.

Ransomware with exfiltration capabilities

As we basically know, ransomware is all about blocking the victim's access to his/her files in exchange for ransom. However, this is not the case for a new instance of ransomware named DoppelPaymer. Recently, a bunch of proprietary documents were leaked by criminals behind the DoppelPaymer after Visser Precision, a contractor company in the aerospace market, declined to pay a ransom. In general, it is not a good idea to pay the ransom when you are hit by ransomware. However, ransomware with exfiltration capabilities may be more convincing for the victims to pay the ransom.

About bug bounty programs

According to Schneier on Security, recent research shows that bug bounty programs may be used to buy silence. That means some companies expect the researchers to be silent about their vulnerabilities in exchange for a payout.