Issue 44 December 1st 2025

Welcome

Hello and Welcome!

Be sure to attend our monthly meetings. Lots of good information there. Register for our Thursday December 4th Virtual Meeting on our site ISC2CT.org

Also come Join our (ISC)2 Connecticut Chapter Discord Server

Upcoming events:

"CPE 2026 Cybersecurity Practitioners Event | Feb, 13 2026 | Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT Immerse yourself in a comprehensive day exploring the forefront of cybersecurity. An event for Practitioners and be sure to challenge yourself in the CTF. Registration Link

TryHackMe Advent of Cyber 2025 | December 2025 Learn cyber security for free, with 24 beginner friendly challenges. Starting December 1st, with over $150,000 in prizes! Registration Link

SANS Holiday Hack Challenge™ 2025 | Closes on January 5, 2026 Join the global cybersecurity community in the most festive and challenging event of the year! The SANS Holiday Hack Challenge cyber range offers FREE, high-quality, and super fun hands-on cybersecurity challenges designed for all skill levels. Play to learn or practice your skills and stand a chance to win exciting prizes for the top entries Registration Link

Upcoming Training:

NII Certified Professional Forensic Analyst CPFA| December 8-10th, 2025 Online $159 (Regular participant) $129 (ISC2 members) $99 (Returning Participant/Clients) The Certified Professional Forensics Analyst (CPFA) training is focused on comprehensive coverage of all aspects of digital forensics and incident response. It is designed to ensure that all aspects have a reallife scenario-based approach explaining the start to end of digital forensics investigation, incident detection, and response. Registration

Thank you to our Sponsors

Quinnipiac University is committed to helping advance the field of cybersecurity through its School of Computing & Engineering. To support the growth of professionals within cybersecurity and computing, Quinnipiac offers flexible online and on-campus opportunities that deliver practical skills you can immediately apply on the job. Both its MS in Cybersecurity and MS in Computer Science programs feature hands-on experience in lab settings that simulate real-world scenarios. To learn more about these exciting opportunities, Visit Quinnipiac University ...

Cyber News

A Simple WhatsApp Security Flaw Exposed 3.5 Billion Phone Numbers

By plugging tens of billions of phone numbers into WhatsApp’s contact discovery tool, researchers found “the most extensive exposure of phone numbers” ever—along with profile photos and more.

Post-heist reports reveal the password for the Louvre's video surveillance was 'Louvre,' and suddenly the dumpster-tier opsec of videogame NPCs seems a lot less absurd

Is leaving the safe combination on a post-it note that much worse?

MS Teams Guest Access Can Remove Defender Protection When Users Join External Tenants

Attackers exploit Teams guest access and unprotected external tenants to bypass Microsoft Defender safeguards

With AI Reshaping Entry-Level Cyber, What Happens to the Security Talent Pipeline?

Automation is rewriting early-career cybersecurity work, raising urgent questions about how the next generation of security professionals will gain real-world expertise.

Microsoft Fixes Windows Kernel Zero Day in November Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has patched a zero-day vulnerability in the Windows Kernel under active exploitation by threat actors

Recent 7-Zip Vulnerability Exploited in Attacks

Threat actors are exploiting a recently patched 7-Zip vulnerability that leads to remote code execution (RCE), NHS England warns.

When Attacks Come Faster Than Patches: Why 2026 Will be the Year of Machine-Speed Security

Over 60% of new CVEs are exploited within 48 hours—automation now defines who wins the cyber race.

Battering down the doors - this $50 hacking kit is enough to break Intel and AMD's toughest chip defenses, so be on your guard

A cheap attack with big consequences.

Private data at risk due to seven ChatGPT vulnerabilities

Tenable research has identified seven vulnerabilities in ChatGPT that could enable an attacker to exfiltrate private information from users' memories and chat histories.

Drilling Down on Uncle Sam’s Proposed TP-Link Ban

The U.S. government is reportedly preparing to ban the sale of wireless routers and other networking gear from TP-Link Systems, a tech company that currently enjoys an estimated 50% market share among home users and small businesses.