Unlike judges on a cooking competition show, threat actors aren’t picky when it comes to the ingredients they use as part of their cyberattack schemes.

A recent report from mobile security firm Zimperium unveiled some of the ways attackers are performing privilege escalation, a type of cyberattack wherein a threat actor gains unauthorized access to higher-level permissions through seemingly legitimate apps.

Escalator. According to Zimperium researchers, some attackers are performing privilege escalations through original equipment manufacturer (OEM) permissions. OEM permissions can be abused when a malicious app pretends to be a system application, or when a regular app is compromised and leverages inherited OEM permissions.

Zimperium noted that attackers may target preinstalled apps for privilege escalation attacks because they often have “elevated privileges.” Kern Smith, Zimperium VP of global solutions engineering, told IT Brew that attackers may be attracted to attacks that rely on these apps because they can be performed at scale.

How privileges lead to potential attacks.—BM

While some recent cyberattacks targeting retailers—like Victoria’s Secret, Dior, North Face, Adidas, Whole Foods, and the UK’s Co-op—have involved moves like credential stuffing and network reconnaissance, some cyber tactics are more theatrical than technical.

A data breach of UK retailer Marks & Spencer, its CEO said, reportedly involved social engineering and tricking a third-party provider into providing access.

The cybercriminal collective Scattered Spider, which the UK’s National Crime Agency is currently eyeing as it investigates the wave of retailer breaches, is known for its effective impersonations. (In a memorable 2023 attack against Las Vegas’s Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts, one that many attribute to Scattered Spider, a “smooth-talking” hacker reportedly duped a help-desk worker to hand over credentials.)

Pros who spoke to IT Brew recommended ways to prep teams for aggressive social engineering.

Why social engineering is everyone’s problem.—BH

A cloud bill is likely not a one-page print. And if yours is, you may just be at your local CVS.

The cost-management homepage for Amazon Web Services features windows, bar graphs, recommended actions, summaries, and trends.

Such a data-filled view can be a “scary-looking dashboard,” according to George Crosby, founder of Cogito Group, a consultancy that tries to ease the fright and find ways for clients to cut cloud costs.

Crosby and Deloitte Principal Chris Hughes spoke to IT Brew about how to be ready for the cloud check when it arrives.

Use it or lose it! Cloud costs can include a variety of computing, network, and storage services. Crosby recommends searching a platform’s dashboard for top drivers and then drilling into their causes.

A cost-management homepage prominently features monthly cost breakdowns, with colors for each service used: Say, the computing platform Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Relational Database Service, or application-deployment tool Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS.

Cutting cloud costs can get complicated.—BH