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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 10 May 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 10 May 2024:
-China Suspected of Hacking MoD, Through Its Payroll Provider
-Security Tools Fail to Translate Risks for Executives
-Gang Accused of MGM Hack Shifts Attacks to Finance Sector
-Are SMEs Paving the Way for Cyber Attacks on Larger Companies?
-Misconfigurations Drive 80% of Security Exposure, Report Finds
-Only 45% of Organisations Employ MFA Protections
-You Cannot Protect What You Do Not Know You Have, as Criminals are Exploiting Vulnerabilities Faster Than Ever
-The Rise and Stealth of The Socially Engineered Insider
-Over 70% of Staff Use AI At Work, But Only 30% of European Organisations Provide AI Training
-Don't Be the Weakest Link – You and Your Team's Crucial Role in Cyber Security
-Ransomware Activity Thrives, Despite Law enforcement Efforts
-NATO Warns of Russian Hybrid Warfare
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
China Suspected of Hacking UK Ministry of Defence, Through Its Payroll Provider
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed that over 270,000 personal details have been leaked after the MoD was hacked through its third-party payroll provider, SSCL. The affected systems have been pulled offline since the attack. SSCL’s website describes that it manages HR for the armed forces, the Metropolitan Police and other areas of British government. The commercial supply chain, and in particular HR and payroll providers, is increasing being used as the soft underbelly to attack larger and better protected organisations.
Sources: [LBC] [The Register] [Sky News]
Security Tools Fail to Translate Risks for Executives
Organisations are struggling with internal communication barriers, hindering their ability to address and mitigate cyber security threats, according to a report which found that seven out of 10 C-suite executives said their security teams talk in technical terms without providing business context. However, in contrast, 75% of CISO’s highlight the issue is rooted in security tools that cannot generate the insights C-level executives and boards can use to understand business implications. The role of a good CISO should be to take the output of these tools and turn that data into metrics the Boards can understand.
The issues highlight the necessity for organisations to have someone in their organisation, whether an employee or a third-party, who is able to ingest technical results and translate them into a style that the C-suite can understand for business risk management.
Source: [Help Net Security]
Gang Accused of MGM Hack Shifts Attacks to Finance Sector
The hacking group responsible for the infamous hack on MGM and Caesar’s Palace resorts is engaged in a new campaign targeting the financial sector. The group known as Scattered Spider has targeted 29 companies since 20 April this year, compromising at least 2 insurance companies so far. The research has stated that the attackers are purchasing lookalike domains that match the name of target companies, hosting fake log-in pages. Links to these are sent to employees, in an attempt to direct them there. The most recent attack took place just days ago, with more expected.
Sources: [Bloomberg Law] [Claims Journal]
Are SMEs Paving the Way for Cyber Attacks on Larger Companies?
A recent study highlights the escalating cyber threats facing businesses, particularly SMEs and supply chains. The study found that 32% of UK businesses, including 69% of large and 59% of mid-sized organisations, suffered a cyber attack last year. The situation is worse for SMEs, with weaker security systems and 77% lacking in-house cyber security. SMEs can become entry points for hackers targeting larger partners through interconnected supply chains. Meanwhile, Verizon’s latest data breaches report revealed a 68% increase in supply chain breaches, accounting for 15% of all breaches in 2023, up from 9% in 2022. These breaches are primarily driven by third-party software vulnerabilities exploited in ransomware and extortion attacks. Experts emphasise proactive cyber policies, vulnerability scans, and employee education for SMEs to bolster defences. They also urge organisations to consider third-party bugs as both vulnerability and vendor management problems, make better vendor choices, and use external signals like SEC disclosures in the United States to guide decisions. These measures can help prevent SMEs from becoming gateways for larger attacks and manage the rising threat of supply chain breaches.
Sources: [Insurance Times] [Dark Reading]
Misconfigurations Drive 80% of Security Exposure, Report Finds
A recent report has found that 80% of security exposures are caused by identity and credential misconfigurations, with a third of these putting critical assets at risk of a breach. According to the report, the majority of this is within an organisation’s network user management (Active Directory) and 56% of breaches that impact critical assets are within cloud platforms. There is often the misconception that cloud-based environments are secure by default, but misconfigurations can undo any security benefits and still leave you exposed. Just because someone else built and maintains your house, it is still your responsibility to lock the doors and windows.
Sources: [Security Magazine]
Only 45% of Organisations Employ MFA Protections
A recent report of IT decision-makers has found that 97% are facing challenges with identity verification and 52% are very concerned about credential compromise, followed by account takeover (50%). When it comes to reinforcing identity verification, only 45% used multi-factor authentication (MFA). By using MFA, organisations are forcing two identification verifications: simply knowing a username and password is not enough, especially given the speeds with which attackers can crack passwords, with average 8 character passwords able to be cracked in less than a minute. Whilst no control is 100% impenetrable, enabling MFA will aid in increasing your organisation's cyber resilience.
Source: [Help Net Security]
You Cannot Protect What You Do Not Know You Have, as Criminals are Exploiting Vulnerabilities Faster Than Ever
For many organisations, visibility of their information assets can be incredibly hard to obtain and maintain, with different tools, under-reporting and shadow IT contributing to the problem. Unfortunately, cyber criminals are getting faster at exploiting vulnerabilities, and if you do not know you have the vulnerability in your estate then you cannot patch against it. In their recent report, Fortinet found that attacks started on average 4.76 days after new exploits were publicly disclosed.
Interestingly though, while zero-day threats garner much attention (these are ‘new’ vulnerabilities that are being exploited by attackers but for which there are no security patches yet available), one third of all exploits are for older vulnerabilities. This highlights the need for a comprehensive and robust approach to network security and vulnerability management, beyond simply patching what Microsoft puts out once a month. To have effective patch management, organisations must know what they need to patch and therefore must have visibility of the corporate environment. A good starting block is the creation of a robust information asset register.
Sources: [Security Brief] [Help Net Security] [IT Security Guru]
The Rise and Stealth of The Socially Engineered Insider
Social engineering has become increasingly prevalent as the preferred tactic for foreign adversaries. Insiders are prime targets due to their privileged access to sensitive data. This is particularly affecting the technology, pharma, and critical infrastructure sectors. Advances in AI and social platforms have made it easier to exploit these vulnerabilities. These advances allow threat actors to tailor attacks with unprecedented speed and realism. Using methods like coercion or deception, these actors exploit employees to gain high-value data that can be weaponised. As a result, the threat landscape has become more complex, blurring the lines between internal and external risks. To bolster their defences, organisations are now investing in insider risk management and AI. They are also emphasising employee education and cross-sector collaboration.
Source: [Forbes]
Over 70% of Staff Use AI At Work, But Only 30% of European Organisations Provide AI Training
An ISACA study and the AI Security & Governance Report reveal a complex landscape of AI adoption and security. 73% of European organisations and 54% of global organisations use AI, with 79% increasing their AI budgets, however training and policy development lag behind. Only 30% offer limited training, 40% provide none, and a mere 17% have a comprehensive AI policy. Despite AI’s potential, 80% of data experts find it complicates security, with concerns high around generative AI exploitation (61% of respondents) and AI-powered attacks (over 50% of business leaders). Data poisoning and privacy issues persist, yet 85% of leaders express confidence in their data security strategies, with 83% revising privacy and governance guidelines. With 86% recognising a need for AI training within two years, the call for dynamic governance strategies and formal education is clear to manage evolving threats.
Sources: [Help Net Security] [IT Security Guru]
Don't Be the Weakest Link – You and Your Team's Crucial Role in Cyber Security
Cyber security success depends on more than just technology. Bad actors are always looking for the easiest entry point, meaning that employees’ everyday actions are crucial, when even one careless click or a weak password can be an open door for hackers. However, empowered with the right knowledge and tools, staff can become a robust defence. Nearly 80% of organisations have reported an increase in phishing attacks, but training programs like role-playing exercises and phishing simulations significantly reduce these risks. Effective cyber security also hinges on C-suite leaders promoting a security-first culture, ensuring all employees understand the risks and follow strict protocols like MFA and strong password policies. Consistent training and open communication are vital in fostering a resilient, security-aware workforce.
Source: [JDSupra]
Ransomware Activity Thrives, Despite Law enforcement Efforts
Despite the recent law enforcement takedowns on ransomware groups, ransomware remains rife. Whilst the takedown of a group can come as an initial relief in that the group has gone, it simply forces ransomware affiliates to diversify. This is reflected in ransomware continuing its growth in the first quarter of 2024, with 18 new leak sites, the largest number in a single quarter, emerging over this period. When comes to those at risk, both financial services and healthcare remain a prominent target.
Sources: [Help Net Security ] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Help Net Security]
NATO Warns of Russian Hybrid Warfare
NATO has issued a statement in which it describes it is “deeply concerned about Russia's hybrid actions and the threat that they constitute to NATO security”. The actions are described to include sabotage, acts of violence, cyber and electronic interference, and disinformation campaigns. This comes as many countries including the UK and US are due to have elections this year.
Sources: [EU Reporter] [Financial Times]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
You cannot protect what you do not understand (securitybrief.co.nz)
Security tools fail to translate risks for executives - Help Net Security
It Costs How Much?!? The Financial Pitfalls of Cyber Attacks on SMBs (thehackernews.com)
Now More Than Ever, it's Crucial for Companies to Get Cyber Security Right (newsweek.com)
Why SMBs are facing significant security, business risks - Help Net Security
Are SMEs paving the way for cyber attacks on larger companies? | Insurance Times
Don't Be the Weakest Link – Your Team's Crucial Role in Cyber Security | NAVEX - JDSupra
The Art Of Cyber Security Governance: Safeguarding Beyond Code (forbes.com)
CISOs Are Worried About Their Jobs & Dissatisfied With Their Incomes (darkreading.com)
92% of CISOs Question the Future of Their Role Amidst Growing AI Pressures | Business Wire
Three strategies for winning the cyber security arms race | Fintech Nexus
Rethinking Cyber Security Investment Amid Rising Threats (govinfosecurity.com)
CIOs and CFOs, two parts of the same whole - IT Security Guru
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Gang Accused of MGM Hack Turns Its Sights on Finance Sector (bloomberglaw.com)
Cybercrime Unicorns: What Everyone Needs to Know About Ransomware Gangs (pcmag.com)
Why Paying Should Be A Last Resort In Ransomware Attacks (forbes.com)
Ransomware activity is back on track despite law enforcement efforts - Help Net Security
Ransomware evolves from extortion to 'psychological attacks' • The Register
Russian Hacker Dmitry Khoroshev Unmasked as LockBit Ransomware Administrator (thehackernews.com)
Ransomware attacks impact 20% of sensitive data in healthcare orgs - Help Net Security
An overwhelming majority of organisations paid ransomware last year - eCampus News
The Growing Threat of Advanced Ransomware Attacks (inforisktoday.com)
Law enforcement seized Lockbit group's website again (securityaffairs.com)
Consultant charged with $1.5M extortion of IT giant • The Register
IT chiefs plan to spend and innovate their way out of ransomware swamp | TechRadar
Ransomware crooks SIM swap kids to pressure parents • The Register
Scattered Spider group a unique challenge for cyber cops, FBI leader says (therecord.media)
97% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware Worked with Law Enforcement (globenewswire.com)
CISA boss: Secure software needed to stop ransomware • The Register
Shields Up: How to Minimize Ransomware Exposure - Security Week
Ransomware Victims
UnitedHealth’s 'egregious negligence' led to that ransomware • The Register
Ascension healthcare takes systems offline after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
London Drugs president tight-lipped over recent cyber attack | CBC News
Boeing confirms attempted $200 million ransomware extortion attempt | CyberScoop
Cyber attack disrupts operations at major US health care network | CNN Business
City of Wichita Shuts Down Network Following Ransomware Attack - Security Week
Patient appointments imperilled by cyber attack on French radiologist (therecord.media)
Ransomware attack hits Brandywine Realty Trust | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Other Social Engineering
The Rise And Stealth Of The Socially Engineered Insider (forbes.com)
Iranian hackers harvest credentials through advanced social engineering campaigns | CSO Online
What is social engineering penetration testing? | Definition from TechTarget
Artificial Intelligence
Organisations go ahead with AI despite security risks - Help Net Security
Innovation, Not Regulation, Will Protect Corporations From Deepfakes (darkreading.com)
Strategies for preventing AI misuse in cyber security - Help Net Security
AI is changing the game when it comes to cyber security | ITPro
Why the Cyber Security Industry Is Obsessed With AI Right Now - CNET
LLMs & Malicious Code Injections: 'We Have to Assume It's Coming' (darkreading.com)
Cyber Security, Deepfakes and the Human Risk of AI Fraud (govtech.com)
Criminal Use of AI Growing, But Lags Behind Defenders - Security Week
2FA/MFA
Only 45% of organisations use MFA to protect against fraud - Help Net Security
UnitedHealth Attack: Stolen Credentials, No MFA | MSSP Alert
Malware
ZLoader Malware adds Zeus's anti-analysis feature (securityaffairs.com)
Russia-linked APT28 and crooks are still using the Moobot botnet (securityaffairs.com)
Iranian hackers pose as journalists to push backdoor malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
New 'Cuckoo' Persistent macOS Spyware Targeting Intel and Arm Macs (thehackernews.com)
Hijack Loader Malware Employs Process Hollowing, UAC Bypass in Latest Version (thehackernews.com)
Mirai Botnet Exploits Ivanti Connect Secure Flaws for Malicious Payload Delivery (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Mobile Banking Malware Surges 32% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Android bug can leak DNS traffic with VPN kill switch enabled (bleepingcomputer.com)
European Threat To End-To-End Encryption Would Invade Phones (forbes.com)
Ransomware crooks SIM swap kids to pressure parents • The Register
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Data Breaches/Leaks
How does a data breach affect you and why should you care? | TechRadar
Dell customer order database stolen, for sale on dark web • The Register
The Breach of a Face Recognition Firm Reveals a Hidden Danger of Biometrics | WIRED
Cyber attack: Large volume of data stolen in attack on Scottish health board (scotsman.com)
Security breach affects 6,000 German military VC meetings (avinteractive.com)
Security company exposes 1.2M guard and suspect records • The Register
Children's mental health records published after cyber attack - BBC News
Georgia education agency's MOVEit data theft impacted 800K • The Register
Data Brokers: What They Are and How to Safeguard Your Privacy - IT Security Guru
Zscaler Investigates Hacking Claims After Data Offered for Sale - Security Week
UK government departments reveal rise in data breaches & lost devices (datacentrenews.uk)
'Sophisticated' cyber attacks involving British Colombia government networks found | CBC News
Over 380K more NYC students had info leaked, bringing total to over 1M (nypost.com)
Dating apps kiss'n'tell all sorts of sensitive user info • The Register
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Hackers of all kinds are attacking routers across the world | TechRadar
These Dangerous Scammers Don’t Even Bother to Hide Their Crimes | WIRED
Massive webshop fraud ring steals credit cards from 850,000 people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Scattered Spider group a unique challenge for cyber cops, FBI leader says (therecord.media)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
The Rise And Stealth Of The Socially Engineered Insider (forbes.com)
Don't Be the Weakest Link – Your Team's Crucial Role in Cyber Security | NAVEX - JDSupra
Supply Chain and Third Parties
UK Military Data Breach a Reminder of Third-Party Risk (darkreading.com)
Details of UK military personnel exposed in huge payroll data breach | AP News
Firm at centre of MoD 'China' hack handles data for several Whitehall departments (inews.co.uk)
DBIR: Supply Chain Breaches Up 68% Year Over Year (darkreading.com)
The complexities of third-party risk management - Help Net Security
Cloud/SaaS
Encryption
Cop complaints won't stop E2EE, says encryption advocate • The Register
European Threat To End-To-End Encryption Would Invade Phones (forbes.com)
Linux and Open Source
Open-Source Cyber Security Is a Ticking Time Bomb (gizmodo.com)
Spies Among Us: Insider Threats in Open Source Environments (darkreading.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Iranian hackers harvest credentials through advanced social engineering campaigns | CSO Online
Microsoft introduces Passkeys support for consumer accounts - gHacks Tech News
Google Announces Passkeys Adopted by Over 400 Million Accounts (thehackernews.com)
UnitedHealth Attack: Stolen Credentials, No MFA | MSSP Alert
Hackers can crack average 8-character passwords in under a minute (newsbytesapp.com)
How secure is the “Password Protection” on your files and drives? - Help Net Security
Social Media
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
The EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox: Shaping Global Cyber Security Standards | UpGuard
The NIS2 Compliance Deadline Is Nearing. Are You Prepared? - Security Boulevard
Innovation, Not Regulation, Will Protect Corporations From Deepfakes (darkreading.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
How workforce reductions affect cyber security postures - Help Net Security
One in Four Tech CISOs Unhappy with Compensation - Security Boulevard
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Ransomware activity is back on track despite law enforcement efforts - Help Net Security
LockBit's seized darknet site resurrected by police, teasing new revelations (therecord.media)
LockBit leader unmasked and sanctioned - National Crime Agency
Israeli private investigator wanted for hacking in US is arrested in London | The Independent
German police bust Europe's 'largest' scam call centre – DW – 05/02/2024
Consultant charged with $1.5M extortion of IT giant • The Register
97% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware Worked with Law Enforcement (globenewswire.com)
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Israeli private investigator wanted for hacking in US is arrested in London | The Independent
Cyber Attacks on US Utilities: New Trends in Cyber Warfare - ClearanceJobs
'The Mask' Espionage Group Resurfaces After 10-Year Hiatus (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors
China
Firm at centre of MoD 'China' hack handles data for several Whitehall departments (inews.co.uk)
Lessons from LOCKED SHIELDS 2024 cyber exercise | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
China-Linked Hackers Used ROOTROT Webshell in MITRE Network Intrusion (thehackernews.com)
Russia
Malice from Moscow: NATO warns of Russian hybrid warfare - EU Reporter
Russia plotting sabotage across Europe, intelligence agencies warn (ft.com)
How Nato could respond after wave of Russian spy arrests across Europe (inews.co.uk)
EU, NATO denounce Russia's cyber attacks on Germany, Czechia (kyivindependent.com)
Russia Cyber Attack Germany's Ruling Party, Defence | Silicon UK
Foreign Ministry: Czech institutions targeted by GRU cyber attacks | Radio Prague International
Russia-linked APT28 and crooks are still using the Moobot botnet (securityaffairs.com)
Ukraine records increase in financially motivated attacks by Russian hackers (therecord.media)
Cyber War? EU rages over alleged Russian cyber attack on German’s ruling SPD (brusselssignal.eu)
Lessons from LOCKED SHIELDS 2024 cyber exercise | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
A (Strange) Interview With the Russian-Military-Linked Hackers Targeting US Water Utilities | WIRED
Russia says Germany using baseless 'hacker myths' to destroy ties | Reuters
Poland says it too was targeted by Russian hackers – POLITICO
Kaspersky denies claims it helped Russia with drones • The Register
Iran
Iranian hackers pose as journalists to push backdoor malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Iranian hackers harvest credentials through advanced social engineering campaigns | CSO Online
North Korea
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
Cyber criminals are getting faster at exploiting vulnerabilities - Help Net Security
Misconfigurations drive 80% of security exposures | Security Magazine
Patch management vs. vulnerability management: Key differences | TechTarget
What is Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RBVM)? (techtarget.com)
CISA’s KEV list improving private and public-sector patching • The Register
CISA Announces CVE Enrichment Project 'Vulnrichment' - Security Week
Vulnerabilities
Citrix Addresses High-Severity NetScaler Servers Flaw (darkreading.com)
Over 50,000 Tinyproxy servers vulnerable to critical RCE flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
Veeam fixes RCE flaw in backup management platform (CVE-2024-29212) - Help Net Security
LiteSpeed Cache WordPress plugin actively exploited in the wild (securityaffairs.com)
New BIG-IP Next Central Manager bugs allow device takeover (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft: April Windows Server updates also cause crashes, reboots (bleepingcomputer.com)
Android bug can leak DNS traffic with VPN kill switch enabled (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mirai Botnet Exploits Ivanti Connect Secure Flaws for Malicious Payload Delivery (thehackernews.com)
Tools and Controls
Behind Closed Doors: The Rise of Hidden Malicious Remote Access (cybereason.com)
Security tools fail to translate risks for executives - Help Net Security
Misconfigurations drive 80% of security exposures | Security Magazine
NSA, FBI Alert on North Korean Hackers Spoofing Emails from Trusted Sources (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft plans to lock down Windows DNS like never before. Here’s how. | Ars Technica
Novel attack against virtually all VPN apps neuters their entire purpose | Ars Technica
Strategies for preventing AI misuse in cyber security - Help Net Security
Shadow APIs: An Overlooked Cyber Risk for Orgs (darkreading.com)
What is social engineering penetration testing? | Definition from TechTarget
How workforce reductions affect cyber security postures - Help Net Security
What is Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RBVM)? (techtarget.com)
Top 10 physical security considerations for CISOs | CSO Online
IT chiefs plan to spend and innovate their way out of ransomware swamp | TechRadar
A SaaS Security Challenge: Getting Permissions All in One Place (thehackernews.com)
Tips for Controlling the Costs of Security Tools - The New Stack
Rethinking Cyber Security Investment Amid Rising Threats (govinfosecurity.com)
Microsoft confirms Windows 11 24H2 turns on Device Encryption by default (windowslatest.com)
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Microsoft overhaul treats security as ‘top priority’ after a series of failures - The Verge
The EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox: Shaping Global Cyber Security Standards | UpGuard
Complexity leads to trade-off between risk and innovation (betanews.com)
When has the UK faced cyber attacks in the past? | The Independent
Man-in-the-middle attack: The new cyber security threat | YourStory
Paris 2024 gearing up to face unprecedented cyber security threat | Reuters
38% of riskiest cyber physical systems neglected, warns Claroty report (securitybrief.co.nz)
Why undersea cables need high-priority protection • The Register
GAO: NASA Faces 'Inconsistent' Cyber Security Across Spacecraft (darkreading.com)
Cyber security regulations: Are non-compliant cars more vulnerable? | Autocar
Fujitsu sets aside £200m as calls mount for Post Office scandal payout
FE News | Why the education sector needs to do the homework on cyber security as attacks soar
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 April 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 26 April 2024:
-Coalition Finds More Than Half of Cyber Insurance Claims Originate in the Email Inbox
-Unmasking the True Cost of Cyber Attacks: Beyond Ransom and Recovery
-Why Cyber Security Should Be Driving Your Enterprise Risk Management Strategy
-Ransomware Double-Dip - Re-Victimisation in Cyber Extortion
-AI is a Major Threat and Many Financial Organisations Are Not Doing Enough to Fight the Threat
-6 out of 10 Businesses Struggle to Manage Cyber Risk
-'Junk Gun' Ransomware: New Low-Cost Cyber Threat Targets SMBs
-Penetration Testing Infrequency Leaves Security Gaps
-Bank Prohibited from Opening New Accounts After Regulators Lose Patience With Poor Cyber Security Governance
-The Psychological Impact of Phishing Attacks on Your Employees
-Where Hackers Find Your Weak Spots
-The Role of Threat Intelligence in Financial Data Protection
-Government Cannot Protect Business and Services from Cyber Attack, Decision Makers Say
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Coalition Finds More Than Half of Cyber Insurance Claims Originate in the Email Inbox
The 2024 Cyber Claims Report by insurer Coalition reveals critical vulnerabilities and trends affecting cyber insurance policyholders. Notably, over half of the claims in 2023 stemmed from funds transfer fraud (FTF) and business email compromise (BEC), underlining the critical role of email security in cyber risk management. The report also indicated heightened risks associated with boundary devices like firewalls and VPNs, particularly if they are exposed online and have known vulnerabilities. Additionally, the overall claims frequency and severity rose by 13% and 10% respectively, pushing the average loss to $100,000. These insights emphasise the necessity of proactive cyber security measures and the valuable role of cyber insurance in mitigating financial losses from cyber incidents.
Sources: [IT Security Guru] [Emerging Risks]
Unmasking the True Cost of Cyber Attacks: Beyond Ransom and Recovery
The global cost of cyber crime is expected to soar to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, a steep rise from $3 trillion in 2015, underscoring a significant improvement in the methods of cyber criminals, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. Beyond direct financial losses like ransomware payments, the hidden costs of cyber attacks for businesses include severe operational disruptions, lost revenue, damaged reputations, strained customer relationships, and regulatory fines. These incidents, further exacerbated by increased insurance premiums, collectively contribute to substantial long-term financial burdens. The report indicates that 88% of data breaches are attributable to human error, underscoring the importance of comprehensive employee training alongside technological defences. To combat these evolving cyber threats effectively, organisations must adopt a multi-pronged strategy that includes advanced security technologies, regular system updates, employee education, and comprehensive security audits.
According to another report from SiliconAngle, cyber insurance claims increased 13% year-over-year in 2023, with the 10% rise in overall claims severity attributed to mounting ransomware attack claims.
Sources: [The Hacker News] [Huntress] [SC Media]
Why Cyber Security Should Be Driving Your Enterprise Risk Management Strategy
Cyber security has transformed from a secondary concern into the cornerstone of corporate risk management. The historical view of cyber security as merely a component of broader risk strategies is outdated; it now demands a central role in safeguarding against operational, financial, and reputational threats. Many businesses, recognising the vital role of technology in all operations, have begun elevating the position of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to integrate cyber security into their overall enterprise risk frameworks. This shift not only enhances visibility and strategic alignment at the highest organisational levels but also fosters more robust defences against cyber threats. As such, adopting a cyber security-centric approach is crucial for compliance and long-term resilience in the face of growing digital threats.
Source: [Forbes]
Ransomware Double-Dip: Re-Victimisation in Cyber Extortion
A recent cyber security study reveals a troubling trend of re-victimisation among organisations hit by cyber extortion or ransomware attacks. Analysis of over 11,000 affected organisations shows recurring victimisation due to repeated attacks, data reuse among criminal affiliates, or cross-affiliate data sharing. Notably, cyber extortion incidents have surged by 51% year-on-year. Additionally, a separate study reports payments exceeding $1 billion and a 20% increase in ransomware attack victims since early 2023. These findings underscore the increasing sophistication and persistence of cyber criminals. Despite law enforcement efforts, adaptable cyber crime groups swiftly resume operations, complicating effective threat mitigation. Organisations must enhance their cyber security measures to avoid becoming repeated targets.
Sources: [Security Magazine] [The Hacker News] [SC Media]
AI is a Major Threat and Many Financial Organisations Are Not Doing Enough
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a major concern for organisations, especially for the financial services sector due to the information they hold. Recent reports have found that AI has driven phishing up by 60% and AI tools have been linked to data exposure in 1 in 5 UK organisations. But it is not just attackers utilising AI: a separate report found that 20% of employees have exposed data via AI.
Currently, many financial organisations are not doing enough to secure themselves to fight AI. In a recent survey, 69% of fraud-management decision makers, AML professionals, and risk and compliance leaders reported that criminals are more advanced at using AI for financial crime than firms are in defending against it.
Sources: [Verdict] [Beta News] [Infosecurity Magazine] [TechRadar] [Security Brief]
6 out of 10 Businesses Struggle to Manage Cyber Risk
A report has found that 6 in 10 businesses are struggling to manage their cyber risk and just 43% have confidence in their ability to address cyber risk. Further, 35% of total respondents worry that senior management does not see cyber attacks as a significant risk; the same percentage also reported a struggle in hiring skilled professionals. When it came to implementing their security policy, half of respondents found difficulty, and when it came to securing the supply chain, a third reported worries.
Given the inevitability of a cyber attack, organisations need to prepare themselves. Those that struggle to manage their cyber risk and/or hire skilled professions will benefit from outsourcing to skilled, reputable cyber security organisations who can guide them through the process.
Sources: [PR Newswire] [Beta News]
'Junk Gun' Ransomware: New Low-Cost Cyber Threat Targets SMBs
Sophos’ research reveals a concerning trend: ‘junk gun’ ransomware variants are now traded on the dark web. Rather than going the traditional route of selling or buying ransomware to or as an affiliate, attackers have now begun creating and selling unsophisticated ransomware variants for a one-time cost. Priced at a median of $375, they attract lower-skilled attackers, especially those targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). As major ransomware players fade, these variants pose significant threats, accounting for over 75% of cyber incidents affecting SMBs in 2023.
Source: [Security Brief] [Tripwire]
Penetration Testing Infrequency Leaves Security Gaps
Many organisations are struggling to maintain the balance between penetration testing and IT changes within the organisation, leaving security gaps according to a recent report. The report found that 73% of organisations reported changes to their IT environments at least quarterly, however only 40% performed penetration testing at the same frequency.
The issue arises where there is a significant duration during which changes have been implemented without undergoing assessment, leaving organisations open to risk for extended periods of time. Consider the situation in which an organisation moves their infrastructure from on-premise to the cloud: they now have a different IT environment, and with that, new risks.
Black Arrow always recommends that a robust penetration test should be conducted whenever changes to internet facing infrastructure have been made, and at least annually.
Source: [MSSP Alert]
Bank Prohibited from Opening New Accounts After Regulators Lose Patience with Poor Cyber Security Governance
A bank in India has been banned from signing up new customers, and instructed to focus on improving its cyber security after “serious deficiencies and non-compliances” were found within their IT environment. The compliances provided by the bank were described as “inadequate, incorrect or not sustained”. The bank is now subject to an external audit, which if passed, will consider the lifting of the restrictions placed upon them.
Source: [The Register]
The Psychological Impact of Phishing Attacks on Your Employees
Phishing remains one of the most prevalent attack vectors for bad actors, and its psychological impact on employees can be severe, with many employees facing a loss in confidence and job satisfaction as well as an increase in anxiety. In a study by Egress, it was found that 74% of employees were disciplined, dismissed or left voluntarily after suffering a phishing incident, which can cause hesitation when it comes to reporting phishing.
Phishing incidents and simulations where employees have clicked should be seen as an opportunity to learn, not to blame, and to understand why a phish was successful and what can be done in future to prevent it. Organisations should perform security education and awareness training to help employees lessen their chance of falling victim, as well as knowing the reporting procedures.
Source: [Beta News]
Where Hackers Find Your Weak Spots
A recent analysis highlights social engineering as a primary vector for cyber attacks, emphasising its reliance on meticulously gathered intelligence to exploit organisational vulnerabilities. Attackers leverage various intelligence sources; Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) for public data, Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) for social media insights, Advertising Intelligence (ADINT) from advertising data, Dark Web Intelligence (DARKINT) from the DarkWeb, and the emerging AI Intelligence (AI-INT) using artificial intelligence. These methods equip cyber criminals with detailed knowledge about potential victims, enabling targeted and effective attacks. The report underscores the critical importance of robust information management and employee training to mitigate such threats, specifically advocating for regular training, AI-use policies, and proactive intelligence gathering by organisations to protect against the substantial risks posed by social engineering.
Source: [Dark Reading]
The Role of Threat Intelligence in Financial Data Protection
The financial industry’s reliance on digital processes has made it vulnerable to cyber attacks. Criminals target sensitive customer data, leading to financial losses, regulatory fines, and reputational damage. To combat these threats such as phishing, malware, ransomware, and social engineering, financial institutions must prioritise robust cyber security measures. One effective approach is threat intelligence, which involves ingesting reliable threat data, customised to your sector and the technology you have in place, and dark web monitoring.
Source: [Security Boulevard]
Government Cannot Protect Business and Services from Cyber Attack, Decision Makers Say
According to a recent report, 66% of surveyed IT leaders expressed a lack of confidence in their government’s ability to defend people and enterprises from cyber attacks, especially those from nation state actors. This scepticism arises from the growing complexity of threats and the rapid evolution of cyber warfare. While governments play a critical role in national security, their agility in adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape leaves organisations finding themselves increasingly responsible for their own protection.
Source: [TechRadar] [Security Magazine]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Ransomware triggers cyber insurance claims increase | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Six out of 10 businesses struggle to manage cyber risk (betanews.com)
Email inbox cyber crime leaps as claims soar (emergingrisks.co.uk)
It Costs How Much?!? The Financial Pitfalls of Cyber Attacks on SMBs | Huntress
Why Cyber Security Should Be Driving Your Enterprise Risk Management Strategy (forbes.com)
Cyber attacks are on the rise, and that includes small businesses. Here's what to know | AP News
Cyber staff priority as threats continue – report (emergingrisks.co.uk)
UK government cannot protect businesses and services from cyber attacks, IT pros say | TechRadar
Why cyber attacks shouldn’t be viewed as isolated incidents - Raconteur
Bank banned from opening new accounts over IT risks • The Register
Battening down the hatches: Navigating third-party cyber threats | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Cyber Attacks Keep Rising. Here's What Small Businesses Need to Know | Inc.com
73% of SME security pros missed or ignored critical alerts - Help Net Security
Unmasking the True Cost of Cyber Attacks: Beyond Ransom and Recovery (thehackernews.com)
4 steps CISOs can take to raise trust in their business | TechTarget
NCSC Says Newer Threats Need Network Defence Strategy | Trend Micro (US)
Uncertainty is the most common driver of noncompliance - Help Net Security
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Ransomware triggers cyber insurance claims increase | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Report finds a near 20% increase in ransomware victims year-over-year | Security Magazine
Ransomware Double-Dip: Re-Victimization in Cyber Extortion (thehackernews.com)
'Junk gun' ransomware: New low-cost cyber threat targets SMBs (securitybrief.co.nz)
Mandiant: Attacker dwell time down, ransomware up in 2023 | TechTarget
Behavioural patterns of ransomware groups are changing - Help Net Security
Record ransomware attacks in March 2024, report finds (securitybrief.co.nz)
Ransomware payments drop to record low of 28% in Q1 2024 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers use developing countries as testing ground for new ransomware attacks (ft.com)
Ransomware Still On Rise Despite Better Defences, Firm Says - Law360
Hackers are using developing countries for ransomware practice | Ars Technica
Dark web inundated by cheap ransomware tools | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Unmasking the True Cost of Cyber Attacks: Beyond Ransom and Recovery (thehackernews.com)
Action needed amid escalating ransomware attacks, record-high payments | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
HelloKitty ransomware rebrands, releases CD Projekt and Cisco data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Rising Ransomware Issue: English-Speaking Western Affiliates (govinfosecurity.com)
CL0P ransomware gang is on the rise | Hogan Lovells - JDSupra
Proportion paying ransoms declines in Q1 2024, even as takings break a new record (computing.co.uk)
Megazord Ransomware Attacking Healthcare & Govt Entities (cybersecuritynews.com)
CISA ransomware warning program set to fully launch by end of 2024 | CyberScoop
Cyber Hygiene Helps Organisations Mitigate Ransomware-Related Vulnerabilities | CISA
Ransomware attacks rise in global food & agriculture sector (securitybrief.co.nz)
Ransomware Victims
Hackers Were in Change Healthcare 9 Days Before Attack (pymnts.com)
UnitedHealth BlackCat Attack Cost is $872M in Q1 | MSSP Alert
UnitedHealth admits breach could affect large chunk of US • The Register
Back from the Brink: UnitedHealth Offers Sobering Post-Attack Update (darkreading.com)
UnitedHealth Paid Ransom to Protect Patient Data | MSSP Alert
UNDP, City of Copenhagen Targeted in Data-Extortion Cyber Attack (darkreading.com)
Cannes Hospital Cancels Medical Procedures Following Cyber Attack - Security Week
Small medical practices will close because of Change cyber attack, says AMA | Healthcare IT News
HelloKitty ransomware rebrands, releases CD Projekt and Cisco data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sweden's liquor shelves to run empty this week due to ransomware attack (therecord.media)
Authentication failure blamed for Change Healthcare ransomware attack | CSO Online
Ransomware feared as Octapharma Plasma closes 150+ centers • The Register
Red Ransomware takes credit for Targus attack | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ransomware Gang Leaks Data Allegedly Stolen From Government Contractor - Security Week
Carpetright unable to trade after cyber attack - Retail Gazette
Street lights in Leicester City cannot be turned off due to a cyber attack (securityaffairs.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
The psychological impact of phishing attacks on your employees (betanews.com)
Hackers Create Legit Phishing Links With Ghost GitHub, GitLab Comments (darkreading.com)
Authorities investigate LabHost users after phishing service shut down | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
LA County Health Services: Patients' data exposed in phishing attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
BEC
Other Social Engineering
LastPass Users Lose Master Passwords to Ultra-Convincing Scam (darkreading.com)
Open Source Groups Warn of Social Engineering Backdoors | MSSP Alert
Artificial Intelligence
AI is a major threat and financial organisations are not doing enough to fight it | Biometric Update
Fifth of CISOs Admit Staff Leaked Data Via GenAI - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Five Eyes agencies publish report on AI security | Hogan Lovells - JDSupra
AI tools linked to data exposure in 1 in 5 UK organisations (securitybrief.co.nz)
CSOs say AI is 'biggest cyber threat' to organisations | TechRadar
Man arrested for 'framing colleague' with AI-generated voice • The Register
Microsoft Warns: North Korean Hackers Turn to AI-Fueled Cyber Espionage (thehackernews.com)
People doubt their own ability to spot AI-generated deepfakes - Help Net Security
A National Security Insider Does the Math on the Dangers of AI | WIRED
40% of organisations have AI policies for critical infrastructure | Security Magazine
GPT-4 can exploit real vulnerabilities by reading advisories • The Register
25 cyber security AI stats you should know - Help Net Security
Cyber Threats in the Age of AI: Protecting Your Digital DNA - Security Boulevard
6 security items that should be in every AI acceptable use policy | CSO Online
'Poisoned' data could wreck AIs in wartime, warns Army software acquisition chief - Breaking Defence
The use of AI in war games could change military strategy (theconversation.com)
2FA/MFA
Strengths & Weaknesses of MFA Methods Against Cyber Attacks | Duo Security
What is multi-factor authentication (MFA), and why is it important? - Help Net Security
Malware
ToddyCat APT Is Stealing Data on 'Industrial Scale' (darkreading.com)
Report says over 10 million devices were infected by data-stealing malware in 2023 - PhoneArena
New Brokewell malware takes over Android devices, steals data (bleepingcomputer.com)
GitLab affected by GitHub-style CDN flaw allowing malware hosting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft unmasks Russia-linked ‘GooseEgg’ malware (therecord.media)
Hackers hijack antivirus updates to drop GuptiMiner malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
eScan Antivirus Update Mechanism Exploited to Spread Backdoors and Miners (thehackernews.com)
Beware! Notorious Samurai Stealer Used in Targeted Attacks (cybersecuritynews.com)
Threat Actor Uses Multiple Infostealers in Global Campaign - Security Week
Seedworm Hackers Exploit RMM Tools to Deliver Malware (cybersecuritynews.com)
Antivirus updates hijacked to drop dangerous malware | TechRadar
Hackers infect users of antivirus service that delivered updates over HTTP | Ars Technica
Researchers sinkhole PlugX malware server with 2.5 million unique IPs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Millions of IPs remain infected by USB worm years after its creators left it for dead | Ars Technica
North Korea's Lazarus Group Deploys New Kaolin RAT via Fake Job Lures (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Report says over 10 million devices were infected by data-stealing malware in 2023 - PhoneArena
Ukrainian soldiers’ apps increasingly targeted for spying, cyber agency warns (therecord.media)
iPhone password reset attacks are real – how to protect yourself | Mashable
New Brokewell malware takes over Android devices, steals data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Godfather Banking Trojan Spawns 1.2K Samples Across 57 Countries (darkreading.com)
Give Your iPhone a Security Boost With This iOS 17.4 Feature - CNET
Data Breaches/Leaks
5.3M World-Check records may be leaked; how to check your records | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Hackers stole 7,000,000 people's DNA. But what can they do with it? | Tech News | Metro News
AT&T Offers All Customers Free Security Bundle After Data Breach (tech.co)
App bug exposes 1M neighbourhood watchers to data harvesters • The Register
Fifth of CISOs Admit Staff Leaked Data Via GenAI - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Rising Ransomware Issue: English-Speaking Western Affiliates (govinfosecurity.com)
Russian FSB Counterintelligence Chief Gets 9 Years in Cyber Crime Bribery Scheme – Krebs on Security
Authorities investigate LabHost users after phishing service shut down | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
To Catch a Cyber Criminal -- and the Fallout That Follows (informationweek.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
eScan Antivirus Update Mechanism Exploited to Spread Backdoors and Miners (thehackernews.com)
Lazarus On the Hunt: How North Korean Hackers are Targeting Crypto via LinkedIn (bitcoinist.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Most people still rely on memory or pen and paper for password management - Help Net Security
CesiumAstro claims former exec spilled trade secrets to upstart competitor AnySignal | TechCrunch
Insurance
Ransomware triggers cyber insurance claims increase | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Email inbox cyber crime leaps as claims soar (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Coalition: Insurance claims for Cisco ASA users spiked in 2023 | TechTarget
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Battening down the hatches: Navigating third-party cyber threats | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ransomware Gang Leaks Data Allegedly Stolen From Government Contractor - Security Week
Cloud/SaaS
How Attackers Can Own a Business Without Touching the Endpoint (thehackernews.com)
5 Hard Truths About the State of Cloud Security 2024 (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
How Attackers Can Own a Business Without Touching the Endpoint (thehackernews.com)
Identity-based security threats are growing rapidly: report | CSO Online
Encryption
Europol asks tech firms, governments to get rid of E2EE • The Register
How tech firms are tackling the risks of quantum computing | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Australian authorities call for Big Tech help with decryption • The Register
Linux and Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Most people still rely on memory or pen and paper for password management - Help Net Security
New Password Cracking Analysis Targets Bcrypt - Security Week
Brute Force Password Cracking Takes Longer - Don't Celebrate Yet (technewsworld.com)
Social Media
Dutch govt body: Don't use Facebook if unsure about privacy • The Register
North Korea's Lazarus Group Deploys New Kaolin RAT via Fake Job Lures (thehackernews.com)
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Preparing for NIS2: A Compliance Guide For Covered Entities | UpGuard
NIS2: Preparing for EU’s New Cyber Security Rules | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – JDSupra
Compliance in 2024: Cutting through the noise (federalnewsnetwork.com)
Google Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation Amid UK Regulatory Scrutiny (thehackernews.com)
A view from Brussels: To be sovereign, or not to be (iapp.org)
Cyber Security | UK Regulatory Outlook April 2024 - Lexology
Net neutrality has been restored in the US - Help Net Security
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Fortifying your business with ISO 27001 - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)
Preparing for NIS2: A Compliance Guide For Covered Entities | UpGuard
Taking Time to Understand NIS2 Reporting Requirements - Security Boulevard
Data Protection
Boost your data protection with insights from Dell's report - SiliconANGLE
A view from Brussels: To be sovereign, or not to be (iapp.org)
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Cyber staff priority as threats continue – report (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Three Ways Organisations Can Overcome the Cyber Security Skills Gap - Security Boulevard
Addressing the cyber skills shortage: 5 key steps to take | CSO Online
Five Essential Steps To Land Your First Cyber Security Job (forbes.com)
Expert Insight: Outdated Recruitment Methods Are Impeding The Global Cyber Army - IT Security Guru
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Authorities investigate LabHost users after phishing service shut down | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
To Catch a Cyber Criminal -- and the Fallout That Follows (informationweek.com)
Man arrested for 'framing colleague' with AI-generated voice • The Register
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
State-Sponsored Hackers Exploit Two Cisco Zero-Day Vulnerabilities for Espionage (thehackernews.com)
China
ToddyCat APT Is Stealing Data on 'Industrial Scale' (darkreading.com)
Chinese, Russian espionage campaigns increasingly targeting edge devices (therecord.media)
UK mulls fresh controls on 'sensitive tech' after China cyber claim (thenextweb.com)
FBI Director Wray Issues Dire Warning on China's Cyber Security Threat (darkreading.com)
Head of Belgian Foreign Affairs Committee says she was hacked by China | Reuters
New tool used in China-linked attacks against Asia-Pacific | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Dutch intelligence warns of stronger threats from China, jihadists and extremists | NL Times
MITRE breached by nation-state threat actor via Ivanti zero-days - Help Net Security
Ads on .gov.uk websites raise eyebrows over privacy • The Register
Russia
Microsoft: APT28 hackers exploit Windows flaw reported by NSA (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft issues warning over ‘GooseEgg’ tool used in Russian hacking campaigns | ITPro
Chinese, Russian espionage campaigns increasingly targeting edge devices (therecord.media)
Russia's Fancy Bear Pummels Windows Print Spooler Bug (darkreading.com)
Overflowing Water Tank Linked to Russian Cyber Attack (govtech.com)
Russia accused of jamming GPS signal on flights from UK causing route chaos (inews.co.uk)
Russian Sandworm hackers targeted 20 critical orgs in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian FSB Counterintelligence Chief Gets 9 Years in Cyber Crime Bribery Scheme – Krebs on Security
Campaigns and political parties are in the crosshairs of election meddlers | CyberScoop
Mandiant: Russia, Iran pose biggest threat to 2024 elections • The Register
Ukrainian soldiers’ apps increasingly targeted for spying, cyber agency warns (therecord.media)
MITRE breached by nation-state threat actor via Ivanti zero-days - Help Net Security
Ukraine participates in NATO cyber security exercise in Estonia / The New Voice of Ukraine (nv.ua)
Cyber attacks on Poland surged after election of pro-Ukraine regime (thenextweb.com)
Iran
Campaigns and political parties are in the crosshairs of election meddlers | CyberScoop
Mandiant: Russia, Iran pose biggest threat to 2024 elections • The Register
Iranian nationals charged with hacking US companies, Treasury and State departments | CyberScoop
The Biggest 2024 Elections Threat: Kitchen-Sink Attack Chains (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Hackers hijack antivirus updates to drop GuptiMiner malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Warns: North Korean Hackers Turn to AI-Fuelled Cyber Espionage (thehackernews.com)
North Korea's Lazarus Group Deploys New Kaolin RAT via Fake Job Lures (thehackernews.com)
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
Third-Party Software Patching: Your Cyber Armor in 2024 | MSSP Alert
Automated patch management: 9 best practices for success | TechTarget
Vulnerabilities Versus Intentionally Malicious Software Components - The New Stack
GPT-4 can exploit real vulnerabilities by reading advisories • The Register
CISA ransomware warning program set to fully launch by end of 2024 | CyberScoop
Vulnerabilities
22,500 Palo Alto firewalls "possibly vulnerable" to ongoing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Palo Alto Networks Discloses More Details on Critical PAN-OS Flaw Under Attack (thehackernews.com)
Russia's Fancy Bear Pummels Windows Print Spooler Bug (darkreading.com)
'MagicDot' Windows Weakness Allows Unprivileged Rootkit Activity (darkreading.com)
Microsoft: APT28 hackers exploit Windows flaw reported by NSA (bleepingcomputer.com)
MITRE says state hackers breached its network via Ivanti zero-days (bleepingcomputer.com)
GitLab affected by GitHub-style CDN flaw allowing malware hosting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Patches Critical Chrome Vulnerability - Security Week
Microsoft releases Exchange hotfixes for security update issues (bleepingcomputer.com)
PoC Exploit Released For Critical Oracle VirtualBox Vulnerability (gbhackers.com)
Critical Forminator plugin flaw impacts over 300k WordPress sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Major Security Flaw in Popular Keyboard Apps Puts Millions at Risk (cybersecuritynews.com)
Patch Now: CrushFTP Zero-Day Cloud Exploit Targets US Orgs (darkreading.com)
GitHub vulnerability leaks sensitive security reports | TechTarget
New Password Cracking Analysis Targets Bcrypt - Security Week
Maximum severity Flowmon bug has a public exploit, patch now (bleepingcomputer.com)
Tools and Controls
Seedworm Hackers Exploit RMM Tools to Deliver Malware (cybersecuritynews.com)
Third-Party Software Patching: Your Cyber Armour in 2024 | MSSP Alert
The Role of Threat Intelligence in Financial Data Protection - Security Boulevard
Automated patch management: 9 best practices for success | TechTarget
Rethinking How You Work with Detection and Response Metrics (darkreading.com)
Choosing SOC Tools? Read This First [2024 Guide] - Security Boulevard
Research Shows How Attackers Can Abuse EDR Security Products - SecurityWeek
What is multi-factor authentication (MFA), and why is it important? - Help Net Security
Strengths & Weaknesses of MFA Methods Against Cyber Attacks | Duo Security
Zero Trust Takes Over: 63% of Orgs Implementing Globally (darkreading.com)
5 Hard Truths About the State of Cloud Security 2024 (darkreading.com)
Explore CASB use cases before you decide to buy | TechTarget
SD-WAN: Don't Build a Dead End, Prepare for Future-Proof Secure Networking - SecurityWeek
Identity-based security threats are growing rapidly: report | CSO Online
Microsoft criticized for charging for security add-ons • The Register
5 insights from new Microsoft CNAPP guide | Microsoft Security Blog
The Peril of Badly Secured Network Edge Devices (inforisktoday.com)
VPNs, Firewalls' Nonexistent Telemetry Lures APTs (darkreading.com)
The first steps of establishing your cloud security strategy - Help Net Security
40% of organizations have AI policies for critical infrastructure | Security Magazine
Understand the Benefits and Limitations of Automated Tools in Penetration Testing (prweb.com)
World´s most advanced cyber defence exercise kicks off in Tallinn
CISA ransomware warning program set to fully launch by end of 2024 | CyberScoop
Reports Published in the Last Week
Mandiant's M-Trends Report Reveals New Insights from Frontline Cyber Investigations (prnewswire.com)
Boost your data protection with insights from Dell's report - SiliconANGLE
Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability (imf.org)
Cyber Security in the UK - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)
Other News
Why Educating HR Professionals on Cyber Risk Is Crucial (thehrdirector.com)
Network Threats: A Step-by-Step Attack Demonstration (thehackernews.com)
UK cyber agency NCSC announces Richard Horne as its next chief executive (therecord.media)
Internet cable at Cali airport cut in apparent sabotage • The Register
EU Statement – UN General Assembly 1st Committee: Cyber Security | EEAS (europa.eu)
Why Tourists Are Particularly Vulnerable To Cyber Attacks (maltatoday.com.mt)
AI Is Going Well For Microsoft, But Cyber Security Is Not - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) - Benzinga
Questions for IT and cyber leaders from the CSRB Microsoft report | Computer Weekly
World´s most advanced cyber defence exercise kicks off in Tallinn
Why Cyber Security Is Key To Solving Global Crises (forbes.com)
Colleges spending more than ever on cyber security efforts (insidehighered.com)
Foreign states targeting UK universities, MI5 warns - BBC News
Cyber resilience in the public sector: lessons for UK Councils (techinformed.com)
Digital Blitzkrieg: Unveiling Cyber Logistics Warfare (darkreading.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 January 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 05 January 2024:
-A “Ridiculously Weak“ Password Causes Disaster for Spain’s Number 2 Mobile Carrier
-Russia Kyivstar Hack Should Alarm West, Ukraine Security Chief Warns
-23andMe Tells Victim It’s Their Fault Their Data Was Breached
-Financial Sector Faces More Cyber Attacks Than Other Sectors
-An Innocent-Looking Instagram Trend Could Be a Gift to Hackers
-Cyber Criminals Shared Millions of Stolen Records During Holiday Break
-Law Firm that Handles Data Breaches was Itself Hit by Data Breach
-Nigerian Hacker Arrested for Stealing Millions from Charities
-Cyber Criminals Implemented Artificial Intelligence for Invoice Fraud
-Shadow IT Threatens Corporate Cyber Security, Study Reveals
-Escalating Cyber Threats: Bots, Fraud Farms, and Cryptojacking Surge
-Putin has Declared a Cyber War on Britain
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
A “Ridiculously Weak“ Password Causes Disaster for Spain’s Number 2 Mobile Carrier
Spain’s second largest mobile operator, Orange España, suffered a major outage after an unknown party obtained a “ridiculously weak” password and used it to access an account for managing the network that delivers the company’s internet traffic. The attacker had posted the account they had compromised, and researchers found that the associated system had been infected with a Raccoon type infostealer back in September of 2023. The compromised account was Orange’s RIPE administrator account, with the password “ripeadmin”. The incident led to a 50% drop in connections for a 4 hour period, and underscores the critical importance of robust cyber security measures, including strong passwords, and serves as a stark reminder that even seemingly minor oversights can lead to significant disruptions.
Source: [Ars Technica]
Russia Kyivstar Hack Should Alarm the West, Ukraine Security Chief Warns
If Ukraine's core telephone network can be taken out, organisations in the West could easily be next, Ukraine's SBU chief says. December's cyber attack on Ukrainian telecommunications operator Kyivstar by Russian-backed threat actor ‘Sandworm’ dealt a catastrophic blow to the telecoms provider, according to Illia Vitiuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine's (SBU) cyber security department. It is believed that although the attack took place in December 2023, the threat actors likely had access to Kyivstar systems since May 2023.
Source: [Dark Reading]
23andMe Tells Victims It’s Their Fault Their Data Was Breached
A cyber incident at DNA data firm 23andMe started with credential stuffing 14,000 user accounts. Credential stuffing is the process by which a malicious actor uses previously harvested usernames and passwords from earlier unrelated breaches to break into other sites and services. Many of the 14,000 accounts had opted-in for a feature whereby information is shared with relatives, which meant that once compromised, attackers had access to 6.9 million users: nearly half of the user base.
Facing over 30 lawsuits from victims, 23andMe is now blaming victims, according to letters seen by victims. 23andMe stated “users negligently recycled and failed to update their passwords following these past security incidents, which are unrelated to 23andMe”. This has caused divide in the cyber world; on one side, recycling and failing to update passwords is poor cyber hygiene and on the other hand, there are technical controls that could have better prevented this type of well known and common attack.
Source: [TechCrunch] [The Register]
Financial Sector Faces More Cyber Attacks Than Other Sectors
A recent study found that more than three-quarters (77%) of financial organisations detected an attack on their infrastructures in 2023, compared with around two-thirds (68%) of other sectors. In particular, the study found that financial workers were at a higher than average risk of phishing compared to other workers. Despite their target attractiveness, only three-quarters (73%) of the financial sector respondents said that they have a cyber security policy in place or will do so within the next year. A separate report from Kaspersky stated that the financial sector is poised to experience an influx of artificial intelligence based attacks 2024, adding to the fire.
Sources: [SC Media] [TechRadar ]
An Innocent-Looking Instagram Trend Could Be a Gift to Hackers
A recent trend that has picked up traction at the end of December on social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, encourages their followers to “get to know them better”. This trend gets people to answer a popular template, freely giving away personal information such as their height, date of birth, and various details that they feel strongly about including favourite food and phobias. While these questions may seem harmless, these sorts of personal details are used by companies for security questions, for example when a person wants to reset their password. Hackers can use this information to easily social engineer victims or impersonate them to get access to their accounts.
Source: [Business Insider]
Cyber Criminals Shared Millions of Stolen Records During Holiday Break
While many people unwind and enjoy their time off during the festive season, cyber criminals remain active. In fact, they leaked approximately 50 million records containing sensitive personal information during this period. These data breaches were not limited to the West; they had a global impact, affecting individuals in various countries such as Peru, Australia, South Africa, and more. It is important to note that not all the data leaks were recent; some appeared to be remnants of older incidents. For instance, some of the leaked data belonged to customers of the credit company Klarna, which was rumoured to have experienced a breach back in 2022, although it was never publicly confirmed. This ‘Free Leaksmas’ event, as it’s been dubbed, underscores the extensive global reach and serious consequences of these cyber criminal activities.
Sources: [Security Affairs] [Dark Reading]
Law Firm that Handles Data Breaches was Itself Hit by Data Breach
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, a law firm specialising in managing security incidents for other companies, has disclosed more details of the cyber attack it itself experienced in March 2023. The breach compromised the sensitive health and personal information of over 637,000 individuals. The stolen data was linked to client organisations and included the names of individuals alongside their social security numbers, medical details, and financial information. Despite the firm's expertise in cyber security, the attack highlights the pervasive risk of data breaches, even among those who advise on such matters. Orrick's delayed response and subsequent legal settlements underscore the importance of proactive security measures and swift action in the wake of a breach. This incident serves as a stark reminder to all organisations of the need for robust cyber defences and transparent communication strategies in today's digital landscape. The law firm has recently settled in principle to resolve four class action lawsuits that accused Orrick of failing to inform victims of the breach until months after the incident.
Source: [TechCrunch]
Nigerian Hacker Arrested for Stealing Millions from Charities
A Nigerian national, Olusegun Samson Adejorin, has been arrested for charges relating to business email compromise attacks that caused a charitable organisation in the US to lose more than $7.5 million. Adejorin had purchased a credential harvesting tool to steal login credentials, which were used to send emails to the charity’s financial service provider. The emails requested and authorised a transfer of $7.5 million, which the investment services provider believed it was paying to the charity whereas it was paying into a bank account controlled by the attacker.
Source: [Bleeping Computer]
Cyber Criminals Implemented Artificial Intelligence for Invoice Fraud
A cyber criminal gang known as GXC Team has been seen selling an artificial intelligence tool for creating fraudulent invoices. The tool, known as Business Invoice Swapper, scrutinises compromised emails that are fed to it, looking for emails which mention invoices or include invoice attachments. It then alters the details of the intended recipient to details specified by the perpetrator. This altered invoice then either replaces the compromised one, or is sent to a predetermined set of contacts.
Source: [Security Affairs]
Shadow IT Threatens Corporate Cyber Security, Study Reveals
With remote working becoming more and more prevalent, organisations are finding themselves at risk of cyber threats due to what is known as shadow IT; this is any software, hardware or IT resource used without the IT department’s approval, knowledge or oversight. A study by Kaspersky found of the 77% of companies that had suffered from cyber incidents over the past two years, 11% of these were directly caused by the unauthorised use of shadow IT.
Source: [Security Brief]
Escalating Cyber Threats: Bots, Fraud Farms, and Cryptojacking Surge
In the constantly evolving cyber threat landscape, 2023 has witnessed a notable surge in the use of bots, fraud farms, and cryptojacking. A new report found that 73% of web and app traffic this year has been attributed to malicious bots and fraud farms, indicating a significant shift towards automated cyber attacks. This trend poses a heightened risk to the ecommerce sector, where cyber criminals exploit API connections and third-party dependencies.
Furthermore, the surge in cryptojacking, marked by a 399% increase, reveals a diversifying strategy among cyber criminals, targeting critical infrastructure with sophisticated methods. These developments serve as a crucial reminder for organisations to bolster their cyber defences and adopt a proactive stance against these emerging and increasingly automated threats.
Source: [Help Net Security]
Putin has Declared a Cyber War on Britain
This year over 2 billion people will vote for new governments across the world, and it is crucial to be aware of upcoming threats to these elections from foreign powers. In particular, Russia is notorious for deploying bots, trolls, and deepfakes, which are techniques used to manipulate information and influence public opinion. These malicious actors are adept at spreading misinformation and disinformation, often with the goal of interfering in elections. With the upcoming UK General Election in 2024 and the US Presidential Election also falling this year, it is imperative to exercise caution and discernment when consuming online content. Not everything we see can be taken at face value.
Source: [Telegraph]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Thoughts for Boards: Key Issues in Corporate Governance for 2024 (harvard.edu)
Legal, compliance and privacy leaders anxious about rapid GenAI adoption - Help Net Security
Navigating the New Age of Cyber Security Enforcement (darkreading.com)
Facts and misconceptions about cyber security budgets - Help Net Security
Budget cuts take a toll on IT decision makers' mental health - Help Net Security
Consumers prepared to ditch brands after cyber security issues - Help Net Security
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Firms urged to stop ransomware payments as attacks become “astronomical” (emergingrisks.co.uk)
How ransomware could cripple countries, not just companies (economist.com)
New Black Basta decryptor exploits ransomware flaw to recover files (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sophos reports spike in ransomware groups using remote encryption (securitybrief.co.nz)
Cactus RANSOMWARE gang hit the Swedish retail and grocery provider Coop (securityaffairs.com)
Police locate missing Chinese student who was victim of ‘cyber kidnapping’ (msn.com)
Kai Zhuang: Cyber kidnapping in US illustrates growing crime trend - BBC News
Ban on ransomware payments? The alternative isn't working • The Register
December ransomware attacks disrupt healthcare organisations | TechTarget
Study: Ransomware Is Actually Killing One American Per Month (tech.co)
Zeppelin ransomware source code sold for $500 on hacking forum (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Victims
Hospitals ask courts to force cloud storage firm to return stolen data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Software Used by Hundreds of Museums Taken Down by Ransomware Attack (pcmag.com)
CTS cyber attack: Disruption to home sales now over - BBC News
Xerox says subsidiary XBS US breached after ransomware gang leaks data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber attackers breach trove of Victoria court recordings • The Register
Estes refuses to pay off ransomware crew, says data stolen • The Register
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Numerous backdoors deployed in new Kimsuky spear-phishing attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Russia's APT28 used new malware in a recent phishing campaign (securityaffairs.com)
SMTP Smuggling: New Flaw Lets Attackers Bypass Security and Spoof Emails (thehackernews.com)
CERT-UA Uncovers New Malware Wave Distributing OCEANMAP, MASEPIE, STEELHOOK (thehackernews.com)
UAC-0050 Group Using New Phishing Tactics to Distribute Remcos RAT (thehackernews.com)
Crypto phishing scams took almost $300M from 324K victims in 2023: Report (cointelegraph.com)
Artificial Intelligence
Cyber Criminals Implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Invoice Fraud (securityaffairs.com)
The Imperative of Cyber Security in the Era of AI (thefastmode.com)
Finance orgs to face increasingly prevalent AI cyber attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Enterprise cyber security in 2024: The AI play comes to the fore - Verdict
NIST Identifies Types of Cyber Attacks That Manipulate Behaviour of AI Systems | NIST
Use of generative AI in the legal profession accelerating despite accuracy concerns | ITPro
A New Kind of AI Copy Can Fully Replicate Famous People. The Law Is Powerless. - POLITICO
CISO Planning for 2024 May Struggle When It Comes to AI (darkreading.com)
Legal, compliance and privacy leaders anxious about rapid GenAI adoption - Help Net Security
AI Is Driving a Silent Cyber Security Arms Race (govtech.com)
Malware
Google accounts may be vulnerable to new hack, changing password won’t help | Cybernews
Malware abuses Google OAuth endpoint to ‘revive’ cookies, hijack accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft patches critical vulnerability used to install malware on Windows PCs - MSPoweruser
Microsoft disables Windows app installation, again • The Register
New Version of Meduza Stealer Released in Dark Web (securityaffairs.com)
Weak password and infostealer blamed for Orange Spain outage • The Register
Russia's APT28 used new malware in a recent phishing campaign (securityaffairs.com)
Russian Military Intelligence Blamed for Blitzkrieg Hacks (inforisktoday.com)
CERT-UA Uncovers New Malware Wave Distributing OCEANMAP, MASEPIE, STEELHOOK (thehackernews.com)
Kimsuky Hackers Deploying AppleSeed, Meterpreter, and TinyNuke in Latest Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Activity of Rugmi malware loader spikes | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Kronos Malware Reemerges with Increased Functionality (securityintelligence.com)
Malware attacks exploiting app installation protocol prompt deactivation | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
New Variant of DLL Search Order Hijacking Bypasses Windows 10 and 11 Protections (thehackernews.com)
29 malware families target 1,800 banking apps worldwide - Help Net Security
Google password resets not enough to stop this malware • The Register
UAC-0050 Group Using New Phishing Tactics to Distribute Remcos RAT (thehackernews.com)
New Bandook RAT Variant Resurfaces, Targeting Windows Machines (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Europe's Largest Parking App Provider Informs Customers of Data Breach - Security Week
How to prevent hackers from breaking into your Android, stealing bank info (nypost.com)
QR code hacking: How to protect yourself from rogue QR codes (androidpolice.com)
29 malware families target 1,800 banking apps worldwide - Help Net Security
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Study Finds IoT Cyber Security Risk Increased 400 Percent Last Year - RFID JOURNAL
4 essential smart home cameras tips to protect your sensitive data
Ukraine says Russia hacked web cameras to spy on targets in Kyiv (therecord.media)
Data Breaches/Leaks
23andMe tells victims it’s their fault that their data was breached | TechCrunch
Law firm that handles data breaches was hit by data breach | TechCrunch
Europe's Largest Parking App Provider Informs Customers of Data Breach - Security Week
Here we go again: 2023’s badly handled data breaches | TechCrunch
Over 900k Impacted by Data Breach at Defunct Boston Ambulance Service - Security Week
Data breach at healthcare tech firm impacts 4.5 million patients (bleepingcomputer.com)
'Cyber Toufan' Hacktivists Leaked 100-Plus Israeli Orgs in One Month (darkreading.com)
Cyber Attacks Are Back in Hollywood. Did Sony Hack Teach Us Nothing? (variety.com)
Accounting Firm Battling Cyber Security Lawsuit Seeks Dismissal (bloomberglaw.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Nigerian hacker arrested for stealing $7.5M from charities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers employ nuanced tactics to evade detection - Help Net Security
The law enforcement operations targeting cyber crime in 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
What’s It Like to Be the Victim of Cyber Crimes? (govtech.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto phishing scams took almost $300M from 324K victims in 2023: Report (cointelegraph.com)
Cryptocurrency wallet CEO loses $125,000 in wallet-draining scam | Tripwire
Cyber criminals set their sights on crypto markets - Help Net Security
Orbit Chain loses $86 million in the last fintech hack of 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Crypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried spared a second trial • The Register
Bitconned review — Netflix documentary about a fortune built on brazen lies
Hackers hijack govt and business accounts on X for crypto scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Insurance
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Online museum collections down after cyber attack on service provider (bleepingcomputer.com)
A new framework for third-party risk in the European Union | ITPro
Cloud/SaaS
Identity and Access Management
The password identity crisis: Evolving authentication methods in 2024 and beyond | VentureBeat
Active Directory Infiltration Methods Employed by Cyber Criminals (gbhackers.com)
Encryption
Quantum Risks and Rewards: Forward-Defending Cyber Security (govinfosecurity.com)
Saving Schrödinger’s Cat: Getting serious about post-quantum encryption in 2024 - Breaking Defence
Nearly 11 million SSH servers vulnerable to new Terrapin attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Linux and Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
A “ridiculously weak“ password causes disaster for Spain’s No. 2 mobile carrier | Ars Technica
23andMe tells victims it’s their fault that their data was breached | TechCrunch
The password identity crisis: Evolving authentication methods in 2024 and beyond | VentureBeat
Social Media
Instagram Trend Could Be a Gift to Hackers (businessinsider.com)
Cyber Attackers Target Nuclear Waste Company via LinkedIn (darkreading.com)
Cyber Criminals Flood Dark Web with X (Twitter) Gold Accounts (darkreading.com)
Hackers hijack govt and business accounts on X for crypto scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mandiant's Twitter Account Restored After Six-Hour Crypto Scam Hack (thehackernews.com)
Malvertising
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
New risk management framework helps with SEC mandate compliance | CSO Online
A new framework for third-party risk in the European Union | ITPro
Navigating the New Age of Cyber Security Enforcement (darkreading.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Cyber security skills gap poses threat to business protection measures (securitybrief.co.nz)
Many cyber security workers feel burnt out and worry about understaffing | TechRadar
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Police investigate virtual sex assault on girl's avatar - BBC News
The law enforcement operations targeting cyber crime in 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Additional cyber agents to be deployed by FBI | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Nation State Actors
China
BT Miss Deadline to Remove All Huawei Kit from UK Core Network UPDATE - ISPreview UK
Three Chinese balloons float near Taiwanese airbase • The Register
Russia
Russia Kyivstar Hack Should Alarm West, Ukraine Security Chief Warns (darkreading.com)
Russian hackers were inside Ukraine telecoms giant for months – cyber spy chief – Euractiv
Ukraine says Russia hacked web cameras to spy on targets in Kyiv (therecord.media)
UK exposes Russia for attempted political interference (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
Vladimir Putin has declared a cyber war on Britain (telegraph.co.uk)
Russia's APT28 used new malware in a recent phishing campaign (securityaffairs.com)
Russian Military Intelligence Blamed for Blitzkrieg Hacks (inforisktoday.com)
CERT-UA Uncovers New Malware Wave Distributing OCEANMAP, MASEPIE, STEELHOOK (thehackernews.com)
Massive missile strike disrupts Kyiv's internet and power supply (therecord.media)
The "Tallinn Mechanism" is Designed to Enhance Civilian Cyber Assistance to Ukraine
UAC-0050 Group Using New Phishing Tactics to Distribute Remcos RAT (thehackernews.com)
Iran
Multiple organisations in Iran breached by a mysterious hacker (securityaffairs.com)
Israel Battles Spike in Wartime Hacktivist, OT Cyber Attacks (darkreading.com)
Pilfered Data From Iranian Insurance and Food Delivery Firms Leaked Online (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Kimsuky Hackers Deploying AppleSeed, Meterpreter, and TinyNuke in Latest Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Numerous backdoors deployed in new Kimsuky spear-phishing attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
Apache ERP Zero-Day Underscores Dangers of Incomplete Patches (darkreading.com)
Vulnerability management remains a moving target | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft patches critical vulnerability used to install malware on Windows PCs - MSPoweruser
Google Patches Six Vulnerabilities With First Chrome Update of 2024 - Security Week
Apache ERP Zero-Day Underscores Dangers of Incomplete Patches (darkreading.com)
Ivanti warns critical EPM bug lets hackers hijack enrolled devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulnerabilities in Google Kubernetes Engine Could Allow Cluster Takeover - Security Week
Malware attacks exploiting app installation protocol prompt deactivation | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Qualcomm chip vulnerability enables remote attack by voice call | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Nearly 11 million SSH servers vulnerable to new Terrapin attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
WordPress Google Fonts Plugin Vulnerability Affects Up To +300,000 Sites (searchenginejournal.com)
January Android Security Bulletin Arrives, So Does Pixel Update (droid-life.com)
Tools and Controls
Why training LLMs with endpoint data will strengthen cyber security | VentureBeat
Cyber security challenges emerge in the wake of API expansion - Help Net Security
Are Security Appliances fit for Purpose in a Decentralized Workplace? - Security Week
Guarding against DDoS attacks during high-traffic periods | CSO Online
8 Hybrid Cloud Security Challenges and How to Manage Them (techtarget.com)
Active Directory Infiltration Methods Employed by Cyber Criminals (gbhackers.com)
Other News
IT and OT cyber security: A holistic approach (securityintelligence.com)
The FBI is adding more cyber focused agents to US embassies | CyberScoop
Hackers hit Australian state's court recording database | Reuters
Cyber Attacks Are Back in Hollywood. Did Sony Hack Teach Us Nothing? (variety.com)
Healthcare breach costs soar requiring new thinking for safeguarding data (securityintelligence.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 15 December 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 15 December 2023:
-MPs say UK Could be Brought to Standstill ‘At Any Moment’ as Scathing Report Calls for Greater Security Investment
-Gartner Finds 45% of Organisations Experienced Third Party-Related Business Interruptions
-Major Cyber Attack Paralyzes Ukraine's Largest Telecom Operator; Russia Expected to Ramp Up Attacks on Ukraine’s Allies
-81% of Companies had Malware, Phishing and Password Attacks in 2023
-Cyber Criminals Hit SMEs With Skills Once Limited to Nation State Actors
-Russian Cyber Actors are Exploiting a Known Vulnerability with Worldwide Impact
-Why Cyber Security Is a Competitive Advantage: Reaching Digital Success
-Ransomware-as-a-Service: The Growing Threat You Can't Ignore
-66% of Employees Prioritise Daily Tasks Over Cyber Security
-Cyber Attack on Irish Utility Cuts Off Water Supply for Two Days
-Who Is Responsible for Cyber Security? You.
-Many Popular Websites Still Cling to Password Creation Policies From 1985
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
MPs say UK Could be Brought to Standstill ‘At Any Moment’ as Scathing Report Calls for Greater Security Investment
According to the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS), the UK is one of the most targeted countries in the world for cyber attacks, predominantly coming from Russian-linked threat actors. The report describes the UK as being at high risk from catastrophic ransomware attacks, and warns that the country could face significant challenges in managing future attacks.
Further, the report noted that the UK’s regulatory frameworks are insufficient and large amounts of national infrastructure are still vulnerable to ransomware because of their reliance on legacy IT systems.
Sources: [ITPro] [Emerging Risks Media Ltd]
Gartner Finds 45% of Organisations Experienced Third Party-Related Business Interruptions
Despite increased investments in third-party cyber security risk management (TPCRM) over the last two years, 45% of organisations experienced third party-related business interruptions, according to a new Gartner survey. This is reinforced by a separate survey, in which 97% of respondents reported having suffered negative impacts from a breach in a third party or supplier partner in the last year; a figure that has remained unchanged for the past three years.
The results show that despite the increase in attention and investments in third party risk management, organisations are not carrying these out in a way that is decreasing the risk.
Sources: [CIR Magazine] [Gartner]
Major Cyber Attack Paralyzes Ukraine's Largest Telecom Operator; Russia Expected to Ramp Up Attacks on Ukraine’s Allies
Ukraine's biggest telecom operator Kyivstar has become the victim of a "powerful hacker attack," disrupting customer access to mobile and internet services. Its mobile app and website were down but they managed to restore some of its landline services on the same day of the attack. 24 million Kyivstar users have been urged to change all passwords following the attack.
So far, two Russia-aligned hacker groups have claimed responsibility for the hack: Killnet and Solntsepek. While Killnet have not provided any evidence of the attack, Solntsepek posted several screenshots of Kyivstar systems that it allegedly hacked, on its Telegram channel. The group said it “destroyed 10 thousand computers, more than 4 thousand servers, all cloud storage, and backup systems”.
Further, Russia is expected to ramp up their cyber campaign efforts targeting Ukraine’s allies as part of the ongoing conflict in the region. Last winter saw an increase in attacks that is likely to be repeated this year. The use of wiper malware to target critical national infrastructure (CNI) outside of Ukraine), similar to the attack on Kyivstar above, is just one tactic that could be deployed to disrupt Western allies’ ability, and motivation, to continue military support to Ukraine.
Sources: [Record Media] [New Voice of Ukraine] [Hacker news] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Gov Info Security]
81% of Companies had Malware, Phishing and Password Attacks in 2023
According to Verizon, 81% of organisations faced malware, phishing and password attacks last year, and these attacks were mainly targeted at users. Further, it was found that 62% percent of companies suffered a security breach connected to remote working. Certainly, attacks are not limited to particular sectors or organisations. Everyone can be a target and it is important to keep that in mind when focusing on securing the organisation; yet despite cyber security affecting everyone, 91% of CEOs/CFOs put the responsibility for cyber security squarely with IT.
Source: [Security Magazine]
Cyber Criminals Hit SMEs With Skills Once Limited to Nation State Actors
According to SentinelOne, mid-sized businesses are being targeted by cyber criminals who are displaying skills previously limited to expert government hackers. Cyber criminals are more organised than ever and have a better understanding of how businesses run; this, paired with technical acumen and AI, has created a difficult environment for medium-sized businesses who don’t possess the budget of a large organisation.
Sources: [Washington Times] [SiliconANGLE]
Russian Cyber Actors are Exploiting a Known Vulnerability with Worldwide Impact
The US National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and co-authoring agencies warn that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) cyber actors are exploiting a publicly known vulnerability to compromise victims globally, including in the United States and allied countries. To raise awareness and help organisations identify, protect, and mitigate this malicious activity, the authoring agencies have jointly released a Cyber Security Advisory (CSA) on SVR’s exploiting of JetBrain’s TeamCity software, widely used by developers and software providers.
The advisory warns that APT29, the notorious Russian group behind the 2020 SolarWinds hack, are actively exploiting this vulnerability, joining state-sponsored actors from North Korea. The exploit in TeamCity could give attackers enough access to manipulate a software's source code, sign certificates, and compile and deploy processes.
Sources: [NSA] [Dark Reading] [The Register]
Why Cyber Security Is a Competitive Advantage: Reaching Digital Success
In the tech-driven world, cyber security’s importance is paramount for protecting sensitive data and critical systems. Significant increases in vulnerabilities and breaches have led to stricter guidelines and regulations for most sectors; a trend we expect to see increasing with regulations becoming more and more stringent. Increased regulation can only be good for affected industries and sectors to drive increased security.
However, beyond regulatory compliance, cyber security is a critical competitive differentiator and should be seen as such, rather than simply as a tick box exercise to satisfy a regulator or viewed as an increase in regulatory burden. Data breaches can lead to severe financial setbacks and damage to a company's reputation and customer trust. The legal and financial consequences of non-compliance with cyber security regulations are significant.
Building a comprehensive cyber security strategy that includes risk assessments, incident response plans, and proactive measures is essential in this era of rapid vulnerability exploitation. Embracing cyber security is not just a choice but a necessity for success in the digital age.
Source: [Forbes]
Ransomware-as-a-Service: The Growing Threat You Can't Ignore
Ransomware attacks have become a significant and pervasive threat in the ever-evolving realm of cyber security. Among the various iterations of ransomware, one trend that has gained prominence is Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS). This latest ransomware business model allows inexperienced hackers to use on-demand tools for attacks, reducing time and cost. They pay a fee, choose a target, and launch an attack with the provider’s tools. The effects of RaaS are starting to be noticed, as a recent survey showed the time from network breach to file encryption has dropped below 24 hours for the first time.
Source: [Hacker News]
66% of Employees Prioritise Daily Tasks Over Cyber Security
According to a recent survey, 66% of respondents stated that completing daily tasks is more crucial than cyber security, such as cyber security training. The tasks that were being prioritised over cyber security training include monthly targets, manager-assigned tasks and emails.
The survey highlights the need for improved cyber security training in organisations, with 64% of employees wanting time for this training during work hours, and 43% referring more engaging methods like videos and interactive sessions. The data suggests a shift from the annual training model, with 29% receiving quarterly training, 13% semi-quarterly, and 11% monthly. Addressing these needs is crucial for cyber security readiness.
Source: [Security Magazine]
Cyber Attack on Irish Utility Cuts Off Water Supply for Two Days
Last week, a cyber attack on a small Irish water utility disrupted the water supply for two days, affecting 180 people. The water utility’s representatives said the hackers may have breached the system due to their firewall not being “strong enough”. However, in most cases, hackers target internet-exposed devices or controllers that are either not protected at all or protected by a default password. This follows a warning from the US Government about the CyberAv3ngers group, an Iranian affiliated threat actor, which has been actively attacking water facilities in multiple US states.
Source: [Security Week]
Who Is Responsible for Cyber Security? You.
Cyber security is a concern that should resonate with every member of the C-suite and senior staff because when it fails, the entire business is impacted. Recent examples like the “bleach breach” at Clorox and the cyber attack on MGM Resorts illustrate the financial and reputational consequences of cyber security incidents, with losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. To effectively address this, C-suite executives and their teams must actively support cyber security initiatives led by CIOs and CISOs. The introduction of new government regulations, such as those from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), require organisations to swiftly report and manage cyber security incidents, impacting various departments beyond just the security team. To succeed in this environment, organisations must make cyber security information accessible across teams, allocate budgets for cyber security, and view cyber security as a catalyst for innovation and growth rather than a burden. For this to happen every single person within an organisation, from the very top to the very bottom, has a role to play in keeping the organisation secure and no one can think that security is someone else’s job.
Source: [Forbes]
Many Popular Websites Still Cling to Password Creation Policies From 1985
Website security, particularly password creation policies and login practices, requires immediate attention. A study of over 20,000 websites uncovers significant vulnerabilities with 75% of websites permitting passwords even shorter than 8 characters (which was the recommendation all the way back in 2012), and 12% even allow single-character passwords. Furthermore, 40% limit password length to being far shorter than current recommendations, and worse 72% permit dictionary words or known breached passwords.
The study also reveals that a third of websites do not support special characters in passwords. Remarkably, many websites continue to adhere to outdated password policies from 2004 or even 1985, and only 5.5% comply with stricter modern guidelines. This underscores the immediate need for standardising and strengthening password policies across the web, as well as enhancing education and outreach efforts to address these critical security weaknesses. Such passwords can influence people’s password choice, which can then enter the corporate environment. This can lead to their account having a higher risk of compromise, and in turn, risks to the data belonging to the organisation.
Source: [Help Net Security]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
How C-Level Executives Can Increase Cyber Resilience (forbes.com)
Increased Cyber Regulation in the Offing as Attacks Mount (darkreading.com)
Ex-Uber CSO: Lessons Learned from the Breach and Legal Case (darkreading.com)
The SEC action against SolarWinds highlights how tough it can get for CISOs | CSO Online
How to Enlist the CFO as a Cyber Security Budget Ally | Mimecast
7 Must-Ask Questions for Leaders on Security Culture | MSSP Alert
Why Cyber Security Is A Competitive Advantage: Reaching Digital Success (forbes.com)
Cyber Security Attacks Are On the Rise — Is Your Business Prepared? | Entrepreneur
Tech prediction #2: Businesses will turn to Cyber Security as a Service - Digital Journal
Is Cyber Security as a Service (CSaaS) the Answer? (automation.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
UK Downplays Ransomware Threat at Its Peril, Says Committee (inforisktoday.com)
Ransomware Groups' Latest Tactic: Weaponized Marketing (inforisktoday.com)
Ransomware-as-a-Service: The Growing Threat You Can't Ignore (thehackernews.com)
Ransomware most wanted — part 2, LockBit & Clop (techinformed.com)
The end of ransomware payments: how businesses fit into the fight | ITPro
OpenText Cyber Security 2023 Global Ransomware Survey | MSSP Alert
Russian banker of Hive ransomware network arrested in Paris (databreaches.net)
US reveals email addresses used to send ransomware demands • The Register
Virtual Kidnapping: The Dark World of Cyber Extortion (govinfosecurity.com)
Ransomware Victims
Kraft Heinz launches investigation after ransomware gang claims to have stolen data - SiliconANGLE
Norton Healthcare disclosed a data breach after ransomware attack (securityaffairs.com)
Insomniac Reportedly Hacked, Blackmailed With Game Leaks And Doxing (thegamer.com)
BAUER Group is operational again after cyber attack | Corporate - EQS News (eqs-news.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
81% of companies had malware, phishing and password attacks in 2023 | Security Magazine
39% of security leaders cite phishing as most feared cyber attack | Security Magazine
Quishing is the new phishing: Why you need to think before you scan that QR code | ZDNET
Cyber Criminals Exploit OAuth Apps for BEC, Phishing Attacks (petri.com)
US reveals email addresses used to send ransomware demands • The Register
Dental Plan Administrator Fined $400K for Phishing Breach (govinfosecurity.com)
Artificial Intelligence
SMEs "losing" battle against AI-powered cyber attacks, say experts - Tech Monitor
ICO Warns of Fines for “Nefarious” AI Use - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
AI in 2024: More business use, more fraud risks | Premium | Compliance Week
Europe Reaches a Deal on the World’s First Comprehensive AI Rules - Security Week
The White House's private fears over the rise of AI in the Middle East (telegraph.co.uk)
Holiday Scams Propelled By Artificial Intelligence | Foodman CPAs & Advisors - JDSupra
Responsibly Implementing AI, the Unstoppable Force (darkreading.com)
How to stop Dropbox from sharing your personal files with OpenAI (cnbc.com)
Malware
81% of companies had malware, phishing and password attacks in 2023 | Security Magazine
Researchers Unveal GuLoader Malware's Latest Anti-Analysis Techniques (thehackernews.com)
Hacker Uses Infostealer Data to Gain Access to Brazil’s Police Portal | Info Stealers
Stealthy Linux rootkit found in the wild after going undetected for 2 years | Ars Technica
Lazarus Group Using Log4j Exploits to Deploy Remote Access Trojans (thehackernews.com)
Recruiters, beware of cyber crooks posing as job applicants! - Help Net Security
Iranian State-Sponsored OilRig Group Deploys 3 New Malware Downloaders (thehackernews.com)
29 malware families targeted 1800 banking apps in 61 countries | Security Magazine
Stealthy new botnet targets VPN devices and routers while staying disguised | TechRadar
Ten new Android banking trojans targeted 985 bank apps in 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Surge in deceptive simplicity exploitation by cyber attackers (securitybrief.co.nz)
Mobile
Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws (thehackernews.com)
Apple Testing New Stolen Device Protection Feature for iPhones - Security Week
Hackers outsmart Apple to install keyloggers on iPhones - PhoneArena
Android barcode scanner app exposes user passwords (securityaffairs.com)
New 5G Modem Flaws Affect iOS Devices and Android Models from Major Brands (thehackernews.com)
Six of the most popular Android password managers are leaking data | ZDNET
SpyLoan Scandal: 18 Malicious Loan Apps Defraud Millions of Android Users (thehackernews.com)
'5Ghoul' Vulnerabilities Haunt Qualcomm, MediaTek 5G Modems - Security Week
29 malware families targeted 1800 banking apps in 61 countries | Security Magazine
Ten new Android banking trojans targeted 985 bank apps in 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Apple: 2.5B Records Exposed, Marking Staggering Surge in Data Breaches (darkreading.com)
DNA companies should receive severe penalties for losing our data | TechCrunch
Why the 23andMe Data Breach Is Such a Disaster (gizmodo.com)
US nuclear research lab data breach impacts 45,000 people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ubiquiti users claim to have access to other people’s devices (securityaffairs.com)
2.5m people's data lost in Norton hospital ransomware hit • The Register
Dubai’s largest taxi app exposes 220K+ users (securityaffairs.com)
Toyota Financial Services discloses data breach (securityaffairs.com)
DonorView exposes 1M records for unknown time frame • The Register
Dental Plan Administrator Fined $400K for Phishing Breach (govinfosecurity.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cyber Crime Orgs Increasingly Use Human Trafficking to Staff Scam Mills (darkreading.com)
Interpol strikes slavers who force people to scam you online • The Register
Cyber criminals and nation states up their game in persistent global attacks - SiliconANGLE
Dark web forums reveal next year’s cyber security threats - Digital Journal
Trafficking for cyberfraud an increasingly globalized crime, Interpol says (nbcnews.com)
Kelvin Security hacking group leader arrested in Spain (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware most wanted — part 2, LockBit & Clop (techinformed.com)
New cyber crime market 'OLVX' gains popularity among hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
How cyber criminals are using Wyoming shell companies for global hacks | Reuters
Exploitation of the internet and the mind: How cyber criminals operate | TechRadar
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto Startup Ledger Users’ Wallets Drained in Hack - Bloomberg
Ledger says attacker conducted phishing attack on former employee - Blockworks
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
66% of employees prioritize daily tasks over cyber security | Security Magazine
Privilege elevation exploits used in over 50% of insider attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Employees are weaponizing private emails with colleagues | Fortune
Insurance
Supply Chain and Third Parties
UK firms increasing their focus on supply chain cyber risk – report - CIR Magazine
Manchester Public Schools Lose $180K to Hacked Vendor (govtech.com)
Software & Security: How to Move Supply Chain Security Up the Agenda (darkreading.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Multi-Cloud vs. Hybrid Cloud: The Main Difference (techtarget.com)
SAP's attempt to migrate security tools to cloud failed • The Register
Cloud engineer wreaks havoc on bank's network after firing • The Register
Linux and Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
81% of companies had malware, phishing and password attacks in 2023 | Security Magazine
Android barcode scanner app exposes user passwords (securityaffairs.com)
Six of the most popular Android password managers are leaking data | ZDNET
Many popular websites still cling to password creation policies from 1985 - Help Net Security
Social Media
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Increased Cyber Regulation in the Offing as Attacks Mount (darkreading.com)
ICO Warns of Fines for “Nefarious” AI Use - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How European countries are implementing new cyber security framework – EURACTIV.com
Cyber Solidarity Act moves ahead in EU Parliament with key committee vote – EURACTIV.com
Europe Reaches a Deal on the World’s First Comprehensive AI Rules - Security Week
FBI Issues Guidance for Delaying SEC-Required Data Breach Disclosure - Security Week
The SEC action against SolarWinds highlights how tough it can get for CISOs | CSO Online
SEC Cyber Security Breach Rule: What it Means for MSSPs | MSSP Alert
Ex-Uber CSO Joe Sullivan on why he ‘had to get over’ shock of data breach conviction | TechCrunch
Government plans to regulate to tackle datacentre threats | Computer Weekly
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Debate Roils Over Extent of Nation-State Cyber Involvement in Gaza (darkreading.com)
Think tank report labels NSO, Lazarus, 'cyber mercenaries' • The Register
Nation State Actors
China
Warning: Russia and China Target Cyber Security Weak Points (govinfosecurity.com)
Microsoft: Mystery Group Targeting Telcos Linked to Chinese APTs (darkreading.com)
China’s cyber intrusions have hit ports and utilities, officials say - The Washington Post
CISA unveils Google Workspace guidelines informed by Chinese breach of Microsoft | CyberScoop
Chinese APT Volt Typhoon Linked to Unkillable SOHO Router Botnet - Security Week
Stealthy new botnet targets VPN devices and routers while staying disguised | TechRadar
China warns its geographic data breach puts industry at risk (techinformed.com)
Russia
Major Cyber Attack Paralyzes Kyivstar - Ukraine's Largest Telecom Operator (thehackernews.com)
Hackers damaged some infrastructure of Ukraine’s Kyivstar telecom company (therecord.media)
Warning: Russia and China Target Cyber Security Weak Points (govinfosecurity.com)
UK government takes steps to thwart Russia's FSB hackers (techmonitor.ai)
Russian APT28 Hackers Targeting 13 Nations in Ongoing Cyber Espionage Campaign (thehackernews.com)
Global TeamCity Exploitation Opens Door to SolarWinds-Style Nightmare (darkreading.com)
Ukrainian intelligence takes down Russia's tax system in major cyber warfare operation
Russian foreign intelligence service spotted exploiting JetBrains vulnerability (therecord.media)
Leader of Russian hacktivist group Killnet ‘retires,' appoints new head (therecord.media)
Russian banker of Hive ransomware network arrested in Paris (databreaches.net)
Iran
Two-day water outage in remote Irish region caused by pro-Iran hackers (therecord.media)
Iranian State-Sponsored OilRig Group Deploys 3 New Malware Downloaders (thehackernews.com)
North Korea
Lazarus sub-group targets South Korean defence firms | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Lazarus hackers drop new RAT malware using 2-year-old Log4j bug (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lazarus Operation Blacksmith Attacking Organisations Worldwide (cybersecuritynews.com)
Think tank report labels NSO, Lazarus, 'cyber mercenaries' • The Register
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft's Final 2023 Patch Tuesday: 33 Flaws Fixed, Including 4 Critical (thehackernews.com)
New RCE vulnerability in Apache Struts 2 fixed, upgrade ASAP (CVE-2023-50164) - Help Net Security
Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws (thehackernews.com)
Adobe Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA
Chrome 120 Update Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities - Security Week
50K WordPress sites exposed to RCE attacks by critical bug in backup plugin (bleepingcomputer.com)
'5Ghoul' Vulnerabilities Haunt Qualcomm, MediaTek 5G Modems - Security Week
Lazarus hackers drop new RAT malware using 2-year-old Log4j bug (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sophos backports RCE fix after attacks on unsupported firewalls (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian foreign intelligence service spotted exploiting JetBrains vulnerability (therecord.media)
This is how to protect your computers from LogoFAIL attacks | ZDNET
Over 1,450 pfSense servers exposed to RCE attacks via bug chain (bleepingcomputer.com)
Tools and Controls
Attacks abuse Microsoft DHCP to spoof DNS records • The Register
Balancing AI advantages and risks in cyber security strategies - Help Net Security
What is Cyber security threat intelligence sharing (att.com)
The Cyber Security Conundrum: Best-Of-Breed Vs. Single Pane Of Glass (forbes.com)
Discord adds Security Key support for all users to enhance security (bleepingcomputer.com)
Modern Attack Surface Management (ASM) for SecOps (trendmicro.com)
Cyber Security Attacks Are On the Rise — Is Your Business Prepared? | Entrepreneur
Are business cyber security measures really fit for purpose? - Digital Journal
Which cyber security controls are organisations struggling with? - Help Net Security
Other News
UK must improve cyber risk management in face of catastrophic threats - Emerging Risks Media Ltd
Positive Technologies: successful cyber attacks on financial organisations have doubled (zawya.com)
Is macOS as secure as its users think? | Kaspersky official blog
The 3 Most Prevalent Cyber Threats of the Holidays (darkreading.com)
Over 3,800 Ministry of Defence passes lost or stolen (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron to step down in 2024 | Computer Weekly
Reflecting On The Evolution Of Cyber Security In 2023 (forbes.com)
Unveiling the Cyber Threats to Healthcare: Beyond the Myths (thehackernews.com)
This is how to protect your computers from LogoFAIL attacks | ZDNET
Polish train maker denies claims it geofenced trains • The Register
Positive Technologies: successful cyber attacks on financial organisations have doubled (zawya.com)
Cyber criminals continue targeting open remote access products - Help Net Security
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 December 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 08 December 2023:
-Cyber Attacks More Likely Than Fire or Theft, as Fifth of UK Businesses Fallen Victim To Cyber Attack in Past Year
-Russia Hacking: 'FSB in Years-Long Cyber Attacks on UK', Says Government
-NCSC CTO Cyber Security is Essential, Not Optional
-69% of Organisations Paid Ransoms, contributing to Inflation as Firms Increase Costs
-75% of Sports Related Passwords are Reused Across Accounts
-Ransomware in 2024: Anticipated Impact, Targets, and Landscape Shift
-Ransomware, Vendor Hacks Push Breach Number to Record High
-Nuclear Hack Creates Rising Fears of Cyber Vulnerability in Critical Infrastructure
-Thousands of House Purchases Frozen by Cyber Attack; Will They Complete Before Christmas?
-US Government Agency Was Hacked Thanks to 'End of Life' Software
-Digital Transformation, Security Implications, and their Effects on The Modern Workplace
-Third Party Breaches Shake up Energy Sector, with 90% Suffering from Third-Party Breach
-Report Reveals Sorry State of Cyber Security at UK Football Clubs
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Attacks More Likely Than Fire or Theft, as Fifth of UK Businesses Fallen Victim To Cyber Attack in Past Year
A survey of more than 1,200 UK businesses of all sizes across multiple industries conducted by Aviva found that a fifth of UK businesses were victims to cyber attacks in the past year. The report found that businesses were 67% more likely to have experienced a cyber incident than a physical theft and five times more likely to have experienced a cyber attack than a fire.
When it came to the fallout from a cyber attack, 31% of businesses experienced operational disruption and 20% admit to not being confident in knowing what to do should this happen. This lack of confidence rises to more than a quarter (27%) for small businesses, who appear to be the most vulnerable to such a risk. Financially, the average incident was found to cost £21,000, however this figure is likely to be more given the further implications that result from a cyber attack.
Sources: [Insurance Age] [theHRD] [Infosecurity Magazine]
Russia Hacking: 'FSB in Years-Long Cyber Attacks on UK', Says UK Government
The UK government has accused Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the KGB, of conducting a prolonged cyber hacking campaign since at least 2015, targeting politicians, journalists, academics, and others through sophisticated attacks that included the creation of false accounts. This accusation, part of a coordinated effort with the US, aims to disrupt FSB operations and raise awareness ahead of major elections. This comes as a recent report by Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 found that the Russia-linked APT28 group, also known as “Forest Blizzard” or “Fancybear,” has exploited a Microsoft Outlook vulnerability to target European NATO members. Active since 2007 and linked to the Russian military, APT28's recent campaigns have focused on government, energy, transportation, and NGOs in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. These incidents highlight the critical need for enhanced cyber security measures and international cooperation to counter sophisticated and evolving cyber threats, ensuring the security of sensitive sectors and the integrity of global democratic processes.
Sources: [BBC News] [ Security Affairs]
NCSC CTO: Cyber Security is Essential, Not Optional
Ollie Whitehouse, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the UK’s NCSC has argued in a recent keynote that extra security features should not be a premium feature, highlighting the importance of vendors adopting a secure-by-design method, rather than implementing security upcharges where vendors charge extra for users to secure their product.
The speech also noted that organisations should utilise the tools that are already available to them, on top of maintaining a focus on user awareness.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Dark Reading]
69% of Organisations Paid Ransoms, contributing to Inflation as Firms Increase Costs
According to a survey, 75% of respondents reported being targeted by ransomware in the past year, and of those, 69% paid the ransom. 54% of those who paid the ransom, suffered financial ramifications of $100,000 or more. It is unclear whether the research includes further implications such as regulatory fines, loss of work, reputational damage, and cost of down-time.
A separate study found that ransomware attacks costs are directly contributing to rising inflation in the UK, as businesses face an average increase of 17% to their costs following an attack. Cumulatively, 68% of the companies represented in the survey reported they had increased prices by at least 11% as a direct result of suffering an attack. In addition, of those falling victim to ransomware, 70% believed their business would have to close if they suffered another attack. When it came to the time lost to dealing with ransomware, companies took an average of two months to recover from an attack and 16% took between three and six months.
Sources: [ITPro] [Beta News] [Security Magazine]
75% of Sports Related Passwords are Reused Across Accounts
According to a recent Bitwarden report, 33% of Americans have used a sports-themed password. This figure rose to 49% for those ages 18-34. Of those, 75% admitted to using it across multiple accounts. Password re-use a common issue globally: by re-using passwords, users are multiplying the likelihood of being breached by an attacker. Additionally, this can crossover to the corporate environment, where users’ personal breached credentials can be utilised to get into their corporate account.
Sources: [Security Magazine] [Help Net Security]
Ransomware in 2024: Anticipated Impact, Targets, and Landscape Shift
As ransomware continues to rise, we can expect groups to evolve their attacks, operating on a larger scale for bigger profits, especially following large-scale supply chain attacks in the past 12 months. Ransomware has solidified its position as the predominant security threat in 2023, with a record number of victims. A recent report highlighted a 46% increase in cyber extortion and ransomware attacks compared to previous years. This trend shows ransomware evolving into a profitable microcosm, akin to a startup ecosystem, with more groups emerging as disruptors and newcomers. In response, organisations are increasingly turning to services that lend-out cryptocurrency, a frequent ransomware payment method. With changing tactics and the formation of new groups, it's crucial for leaders to prepare their 2024 security strategies now, ensuring they have a robust plan in place to counter ransomware threats to their organisations.
Sources: [Barrons] [Help Net Security] [Computer Weekly]
Ransomware, Vendor Hacks Push Breach Number to Record High
The world is experiencing a significant rise in data breaches, reaching a record high with more than 360 million individuals affected in the first eight months of 2023 in the US alone, according to a joint report from Apple and an MIT researcher. This alarming increase includes a notable surge in ransomware attacks, which have escalated by nearly 70% compared to 2022. The healthcare sector is particularly vulnerable, with 60% of organisations reporting ransomware attacks in 2023, an increase from 34% in 2021. The largest health data breach this year impacted 11 million people at HCA Healthcare. A critical factor in these breaches is the exploitation of third-party vendors, as seen in attacks on Progress Software's MOVEit and Fortra's GoAnywhere applications. These incidents highlight the urgent need for organisations to prioritise data security, especially in managing relationships with vendors, to protect sensitive information and mitigate the growing threat of cyber attacks.
Source: [Info Risk Today]
Nuclear Hack Creates Rising Fears of Cyber Vulnerability in Critical Infrastructure
News of one of the UK’s most high profile nuclear power stations, Sellafield, being hacked, with fears that highly sensitive information has been accessible for years, has led to new calls for the UK to tighten up security of its vital infrastructure. Rather worryingly, The Guardian have added that it discovered that authorities were unaware of its first compromise, but it has been detected as far back as 2015.
Sources: [Emerging Risks]
Thousands of House Purchases Frozen by Cyber Attack; Will They Complete Before Christmas?
Conveyancing firms across the UK faced significant disruption when they discovered blank screens on their computers due to a problem originating from CTS, a cloud hosting provider widely used for legal applications. This unexpected issue led many within these affected firms to hastily purchase new laptops to regain partial access to emails and documents, but their case management systems remained largely inaccessible. Firms had to devise manual workarounds to keep transactions moving, amidst concerns about the safety of client data and funds. While most firms have found ways to progress with exchanges and completions, the reliance on cumbersome manual processes and limited access to client data and financial systems has more than doubled the workload. This situation raises several questions about the preparedness and resilience of paperless (or paper-light) office environments, the adequacy of backup systems, and potential compensation for those inconvenienced. The immediate focus, however, is on collaborative efforts to ensure as many clients as possible can move into their new homes before Christmas.
Source: [Property Industry Eye]
US Government Agency Was Hacked Thanks to 'End of Life' Software
The US Cyber security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently issued a warning about two cyber attacks on an undisclosed federal agency, exploiting a vulnerability in outdated Adobe ColdFusion software. This software, now end-of-life, no longer receives updates, leaving the agency vulnerable and unable to apply security patches. The attacks, which occurred in June and July, appeared to be reconnaissance efforts to map the agency's network, with no evidence of malware installation or data exfiltration. However, it's unclear if the same hackers were behind both incidents. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detected and limited the hackers' activities. This situation underscores the significant risks associated with running end-of-life software, highlighting the need for organisations to update or replace such software to protect against potential cyber threats.
Source:[ TechCrunch]
Digital Transformation, Security Implications, and their Effects on The Modern Workplace
The vast majority of digital transformation projects will have implications for your cyber security, yet too often this is overlooked with the focus on delivery of the project or the functionality it will bring. Thinking about security after the fact is not only more expensive and less efficient, but can also mean dangerous gaps remaining open in the meantime. In this era, where remote work and public network access are prevalent, the lack of a robust cyber security framework significantly undermines the digital transformation process. Continuous employee education on digital threats and proactive cyber security measures are not just add-ons but essential components of a successful digital transformation. As businesses move towards 2024, integrating advanced cyber security practices is as crucial as adopting new technologies for a truly effective and secure digital transformation.
Source:[ Forbes]
Third Party Breaches Shake up Energy Sector, with 90% Suffering from Third-Party Breach
With 90% of the largest energy companies globally experiencing a third-party breach in the past 12 months, it is no wonder the sector is shaken. In the US, 100% of the top 10 US energy providers suffered a breach and in total, 98% of the organisations in the research used at least one third party vendor that had experienced a breach in the last two years.
Third-party breaches are a concern for any organisation. It is important to know who has access to your organisation’s data, and what security controls they have in place to protect it. Organisations can benefit from firstly identifying who has their information and then conducting supply chain risk assessments to understand what information is held and how it is protected.
Sources: [Help Net Security]
Report Reveals Sorry State of Cyber Security at UK Football Clubs
A new report reveals a concerning lack of cyber resilience within UK football clubs, extending from the Premier League downwards. The industry, increasingly targeted by cyber attacks, suffers from a disconnect between the perceived and actual risk levels. Key findings include a general lack of cyber maturity, outdated approaches to cyber security, and a scarcity of dedicated IT and cyber security roles, including Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). Despite significant financial investments in players, there's reluctance from club boards to allocate sufficient resources for cyber security. The report underscores the need for comprehensive training, increased awareness of security risks across all levels of club operations, and the hiring of dedicated cyber security professionals. This situation calls for an industry-wide standard for cyber security budgets, scaled according to the club's size and turnover, to adequately address these emerging digital threats.
Source: [Computer Weekly]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
A fifth of UK businesses victims of cyber attacks in past year - Insurance Age
Cyber Attacks More Likely Than Fire or Theft - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Digital Transformation And Its Effects On The Modern Workplace (forbes.com)
UK Cyber CTO: Vendors' Security Failings Are Rampant (darkreading.com)
Record-breaking 2023 highlights constant cyber threat (emergingrisks.co.uk)
2024 will see wave after wave of cyber attacks | theHRD (thehrdirector.com)
Doing More With Less: Cyber Security Tools And Budget Efficiency (forbes.com)
Why Invest? Building a Case for Increasing Cyber Security Budgets | UpGuard
SolarWinds lawsuit by SEC puts CISOs in the hot seat | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
CISOs are getting more help after cyber attacks, but often it isn't helping | TechRadar
Cyber and remote working: How Covid moved the cursor | Computer Weekly
Why effective cyber security is more important than ever for European family offices | Campden FB
Building cyber-resilience: Security, compliance, governance, and privacy - Digital Journal
Massive Consolidated Lawsuit Blazes Trail for Hacking Litigation (bloomberglaw.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
69% of organisations facing ransomware attacks paid the ransom | Security Magazine
2023 may have seen highest ransomware ‘body count’ yet | Computer Weekly
Cyber attacks surge in 2023, as millions fall victim to ransomware: Report (yahoo.com)
Ransomware attack costs are driving up inflation in the UK | ITPro
Ransomware ramped up against private sector in November | TechTarget
BlackCat threatens to directly extort vendor's customers • The Register
New wave of ransomware attacks plague US critical infrastructure post-Thanksgiving (axios.com)
How Ransomware Gangs Are Fueling a New Cyber Security Arms Race - Barron's (barrons.com)
Ransomware, Vendor Hacks Push Breach Number to Record High (inforisktoday.com)
Expert warns of Turtle macOS ransomware (securityaffairs.com)
Microsoft Warns of Malvertising Scheme Spreading CACTUS Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Linux version of Qilin ransomware focuses on VMware ESXi (bleepingcomputer.com)
LockBit Remains Top Global Ransomware Threat - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Wanted: top three most prolific ransomware gangs revealed! (techinformed.com)
Russian pleads guilty to running crypto-exchange used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware, Data Breaches Inundate OT & Industrial Sector (darkreading.com)
Ransomware Victims
60 US credit unions offline after cloud ransomware infection • The Register
'Thousands' affected by cyber attack on conveyancing platform (thenegotiator.co.uk)
Western Isles Council 'counting cost' of November's cyber attack - BBC News
Austal USA Investigates Cyber Attack Claimed by Ransomware Group (darkreading.com)
Almost 440K individuals affected by cyber attack on Proliance Surgeons (WA) | HealthLeaders Media
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Black Friday phishing attacks, and other cyber security news | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
US aerospace firm downed by spearphishing attack | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Booking.com users angry at firm's response to hacks - BBC News
Hershey warns of data breach following phishing attack (therecord.media)
This huge Russian phishing campaign is hitting targets across the world | TechRadar
ChatGPT builder helps create scam and hack campaigns - BBC News
Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT builder helps create scam and hack campaigns - BBC News
Artificial Intelligence: How It Can Target Your Firm’s Cyber Security Defences - Above the Law
Bank of England Will Review the Risks That AI Poses to UK Financial Stability - SecurityWeek
How do security leaders view AI and cyber risk insurance? • Foundry (foundryco.com)
Exploring the impact of generative AI in the 2024 presidential election - Help Net Security
Put guardrails around AI use to protect your org, but be open to changes - Help Net Security
Major Organisations Using 'Hugging Face' AI Tools Put at Risk by Leaked API Tokens - SecurityWeek
Proliferation of AI-driven Attacks Anticipated in 2024 (itsecuritywire.com)
Artificial Intelligence: How It Can Target Your Firm’s Cyber Security Defences - Above the Law
Researchers automated jailbreaking of LLMs with other LLMs - Help Net Security
Malware
Fake WordPress security advisory pushes backdoor plugin (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian Hacker Vladimir Dunaev Convicted for Creating TrickBot Malware (thehackernews.com)
Critical 'LogoFAIL' Bugs Offer Secure Boot Bypass for Millions of PCs (darkreading.com)
Agent Racoon Backdoor Targets Organisations in Middle East, Africa, and US (thehackernews.com)
Mac users are being targeted again with dangerous malware - here's what to know | TechRadar
Russian hacker pleads guilty to Trickbot malware conspiracy (bitdefender.com)
New Stealthy 'Krasue' Linux Trojan Targeting Telecom Firms in Thailand (thehackernews.com)
Hackers switch from email attacks to downloads (therecord.com)
Microsoft Warns of COLDRIVER's Evolving Evading and Credential-Stealing Tactics (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Android users warned about new threat after one victim loses $280K - PhoneArena
December Android updates fix critical zero-click RCE flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
94 Vulnerabilities Patched in Android with December 2023 Security Updates - SecurityWeek
Top mobile password managers could be exposing user details | TechRadar
Apple Commissions Data Breach Study to Highlight Need for End-to-End Encryption - SecurityWeek
Russian Hackers’ Lawsuit Reveals Weaknesses In Apple’s iOS 16 (forbes.com)
SpyLoan Android malware on Google Play downloaded 12 million times (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulns in Android WebView, Password Managers Can Leak User Credentials (darkreading.com)
New Bluetooth Flaw Let Hackers Take Over Android, Linux, macOS, and iOS Devices (thehackernews.com)
Apple and some Linux distros are open to Bluetooth attack • The Register
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
EU gets tough on cyber threat with sweeping security agreement (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Customizing Cyber Security For Critical Infrastructure In Smart Cities (forbes.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
23andMe to Book Up to $2M in Cyber Security Breach Expenses - MarketWatch
After hack, 23andMe gives users 30 days to opt out of class-action waiver | Ars Technica
23andMe updates user agreement to prevent data breach lawsuits (bleepingcomputer.com)
23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users | TechCrunch
23andMe: Data Breach Was a Credential-Stuffing Attack (darkreading.com)
Data breach debacle hits yet another UK public sector org • The Register
Fortune-telling website WeMystic exposes 13M+ user records (securityaffairs.com)
Hackers Claim to Have Stolen Data From Naval Shipyard Austal USA (maritime-executive.com)
Hershey warns of data breach following phishing attack (therecord.media)
Nissan is investigating cyber attack and potential data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
GST Invoice Billing Inventory exposes sensitive data to threat actors (securityaffairs.com)
Ransomware, Data Breaches Inundate OT & Industrial Sector (darkreading.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Record-breaking 2023 highlights constant cyber threat (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Police Arrests 1000 Suspected Money Mules - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Online crime risks are doubling: Are cyber criminal groups starting to merge? - Digital Journal
Russian pleads guilty to running crypto-exchange used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
North Korea's state hackers stole $3 billion in crypto since 2017 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Platypus exploiters walk free after claiming to be ‘ethical hackers’ (cointelegraph.com)
Russian pleads guilty to running crypto-exchange used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insurance
Cyber Attacks More Likely Than Fire or Theft - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How do security leaders view AI and cyber risk insurance? • Foundry (foundryco.com)
Brokers urged to deliver cyber threat message (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Hot Topics to Consider for 2024 D&O Questionnaires | Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner - JDSupra
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Third-party breaches shake the foundations of the energy sector - Help Net Security
Ransomware, Vendor Hacks Push Breach Number to Record High (inforisktoday.com)
60 US credit unions offline after cloud ransomware infection • The Register
Tipalti investigates claims of data stolen in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Major Organisations Using 'Hugging Face' AI Tools Put at Risk by Leaked API Tokens - SecurityWeek
BlackCat threatens to directly extort vendor's customers • The Register
Cloud/SaaS
60 US credit unions offline after cloud ransomware infection • The Register
Make a Fresh Start for 2024: Clean Out Your User Inventory to Reduce SaaS Risk (thehackernews.com)
Alert: Threat Actors Can Leverage AWS STS to Infiltrate Cloud Accounts (thehackernews.com)
More oversight needed for cloud in banking, say regulators - Tech Monitor
Encryption
Cracking Weak Cryptography Before Quantum Computing Does (darkreading.com)
HSBC tests protecting FX trading from quantum computer attacks (yahoo.com)
Apple Commissions Data Breach Study to Highlight Need for End-to-End Encryption - SecurityWeek
Linux and Open Source
New Bluetooth Flaw Let Hackers Take Over Android, Linux, macOS, and iOS Devices (thehackernews.com)
Apple and some Linux distros are open to Bluetooth attack • The Register
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
75% of sports-related passwords are reused across accounts | Security Magazine
New Relic admits attack on staging systems, user accounts • The Register
After hack, 23andMe gives users 30 days to opt out of class-action waiver | Ars Technica
23andMe: Data Breach Was a Credential-Stuffing Attack (darkreading.com)
Vulns in Android WebView, Password Managers Can Leak User Credentials (darkreading.com)
Top mobile password managers could be exposing user details | TechRadar
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
EU gets tough on cyber threat with sweeping security agreement (emergingrisks.co.uk)
More oversight needed for cloud in banking, say regulators - Tech Monitor
Bank of England Will Review the Risks That AI Poses to UK Financial Stability - SecurityWeek
SolarWinds lawsuit by SEC puts CISOs in the hot seat | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Russian Hacker Vladimir Dunaev Convicted for Creating TrickBot Malware (thehackernews.com)
Interpol Arrests Smuggler With New Biometric Screening Database (darkreading.com)
Russian pleads guilty to running crypto-exchange used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Nation State Actors
China
Sellafield nuclear site 'hit by cyber attacks from Russian and Chinese hackers' - Tech Monitor
Sellafield nuclear site under ‘robust scrutiny’ over cyber security fears (telegraph.co.uk)
UK government denies China/Russia nuke plant hack claim • The Register
Russia
Russia hacking: 'FSB in years-long cyber attacks on UK', says government - BBC News
NCSC exposes Russian cyber attacks on UK political processes | Computer Weekly
UK names FSB unit behind hack-and-leak campaigns, summons Russian ambassador (therecord.media)
2 Russian intel officers charged with hacking into US and British government agencies (nbcnews.com)
Russia's APT8 exploited Outlook 0day to target EU NATO members (securityaffairs.com)
Fancy Bear goes phishing in US, European high-value networks • The Register
This huge Russian phishing campaign is hitting targets across the world | TechRadar
Russian hacker pleads guilty to Trickbot malware conspiracy (bitdefender.com)
Microsoft Warns of COLDRIVER's Evolving Evading and Credential-Stealing Tactics (thehackernews.com)
Russian Hackers’ Lawsuit Reveals Weaknesses In Apple’s iOS 16 (forbes.com)
Iran
Breaches by Iran-Affiliated Hackers Spanned Multiple US States, Federal Agencies Say - SecurityWeek
US, Israel Warn of Iranian-Linked Cyber Attacks on Water Systems - Bloomberg
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
CISA says US government agency was hacked thanks to ‘end of life’ software | TechCrunch
CISA's Goldstein wants to ditch 'patch faster, fix faster' model | CyberScoop
Key drivers of software security for financial services - Help Net Security
Vulnerabilities
Sticking With Windows 10 Instead Of Upgrading? Get Ready To Pay For Security Updates (slashgear.com)
Quick: Update iPhones and Macs – WebKit security hole found • The Register
VMware Patches Critical Authentication Bypass Bug | Decipher (duo.com)
Critical 'LogoFAIL' Bugs Offer Secure Boot Bypass for Millions of PCs (darkreading.com)
Notepad++ Input Validation Flaw Leads Search Path Vulnerability (cybersecuritynews.com)
December Android updates fix critical zero-click RCE flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
94 Vulnerabilities Patched in Android With December 2023 Security Updates - SecurityWeek
Adobe ColdFusion flaw exploited in US government agency attacks (stackdiary.com)
Qualcomm Releases Details on Chip Vulnerabilities Exploited in Targeted Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Dangerous vulnerability in fleet management software seemingly ignored by vendor | CyberScoop
Future Intel, AMD and Arm CPUs Vulnerable to New 'SLAM' Attack: Researchers - SecurityWeek
Tools and Controls
Cyber Attacks More Likely Than Fire or Theft - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How to recover systems in the event of a cyber attack | Computer Weekly
How Financial Institutions Can Navigate the ‘Operational Resilience' imperative (finextra.com)
How to solve 2 MFA challenges: SIM swapping and MFA fatigue | TechTarget
Why you should create a physical security standard for your company (securitybrief.co.nz)
Why Invest? Building a Case for Increasing Cyber Security Budgets | UpGuard
New 'Pool Party' Process Injection Techniques Undetected by EDR Solutions - SecurityWeek
Best 10 Best Cyber Attack Maps - 2024 (cybersecuritynews.com)
Brokers urged to deliver cyber threat message (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Proactive, not reactive: the path to ensuring operational resilience in cyber security | CSO Online
Cyber Security: How to Demonstrate Resilience and Hygiene - Techopedia
Cyber Security Insurance: Once Optional, Now Essential (informationweek.com)
When Should You Replace A Cyber Security Vendor? (forbes.com)
Are companies falling behind on cyber security awareness training? | CTV News
Other News
NATO’s Flagship Cyber Exercise Concludes In Estonia – Eurasia Review
Ofcom publishes UK age verification proposals • The Register
Microsoft Hires New CISO in Major Security Shakeup - SecurityWeek
US aerospace companies are facing dangerous new cyber attacks | TechRadar
Report reveals sorry state of cyber security at UK football clubs | Computer Weekly
2023’s Dark Horse Cyber Story: Critical Infrastructure Attacks (govtech.com)
Nuclear hack creates rising fears of cyber vulnerability in critical services (emergingrisks.co.uk)
The World Depends on 60-Year-Old Code No One Knows Anymore | PCMag
Public sector has misplaced confidence in cyber security (securitybrief.co.nz)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 September 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 08 September 2023:
-More Than Half of UK Organisations Know They Aren’t Well Protected
-Generative AI Considered a Security Risk by 60% of Board Members: How Organisations Can Prepare
-Businesses Ignore Incident Response at Their Peril
-Blame Culture: An Organisation’s Ticking Time Bomb
-Spend to Save: CFO’s and Cyber Security Investment
-Cyber Security Tools Are New Targets for Attackers, including Nation-State Actors
-Attackers Access UK Military Data Through Third Party Supplier as Relentless Russian Cyber Attacks Raise Spectre of WW3
-Common Tactics Used by Threat Actors to Weaponise PDFs
-Years-old Microsoft Security Holes Still Hot Targets for Cyber Criminals
-Popular ‘As-a-Service’ Operations Have Earned Cyber Criminals over $64m
-71% of Organisations are Impacted by Cyber Security Skills Shortage
-Multiple Schools Hit by Cyber Attacks Before Term Begins
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
More Than Half of UK Organisations Know They Aren’t Well Protected
According to a recent report, just 49% of business leaders report their organisation is well or very well protected. Cyber security featured as the third highest-rated business priority, with increasing revenues and reducing costs forming the top two. One of the ways an organisation can reduce cost is to outsource, and 63% of respondents agreed, reporting that they wanted to work with an external cyber security partner to improve their security.
Even if you’re in the 49% of organisations that believes it is well protected, this can be a dangerous self-assessment based on a lack of experience and impartiality. Business leaders need independent assurance to ensure their security controls are appropriate and in line with the organisation’s risk appetite. It is essential to dispel assumptions, by investigating your security before an attacker does.
Black Arrow Cyber Consulting offers a free, no-obligation, introductory consultation to help you gain an unbiased perspective on how your current security approach could withstand an attacker. We help our clients to know the questions to ask of their external or internal IT provider, and how to leverage other security controls from existing resources.
Sources: [IT Security Guru][Beta News]
Generative AI Considered a Security Risk by 60% of Board Members. How Organisations Can Prepare
A recent report conducted by Proofpoint found that 60% of board members consider generative AI a security risk.
The rapid development and adoption of AI is double-edged in nature. Whilst it can yield positive benefits if used safely and responsibility within organisations, AI is also being used to great effect by malicious actors with AI abuse growing beyond phishing to increasing the efficacy of multistage attacks, being used to generated malware, and carrying out different types of social engineering attacks.
For this reason Boards and senior leaders are right to be concerned and should ensure appropriate measures are being taken.
Sources: [TheNationalNews] [SCMagazine] [CyberSecurityNews]
Further reading: [BusinessCloud.co.uk] [WIRED UK] [Help Net Security]
Businesses Ignore Incident Response at Their Peril
According to a UK Government report, a quarter of businesses don’t regard cyber incident response skills as essential and almost half said they weren’t confident they could put together an incident response plan. This led to 41% saying they were not very or not at all confident that they would be able to deal with a cyber security breach or attack.
Unfortunately, this leaves many organisations in a situation where they will have to learn the hard way about the implications of not having an incident response plan. A separate government report found that 37% of those hit by a cyber attack said it impacted operations and a quarter experienced negative consequences such as loss of money or data.
One of the ways organisations can circumnavigate their lack of confidence in their ability to construct an incident response plan is to use cyber security experts to construct it.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Blame Culture: An Organisation’s Ticking Time Bomb
An organisation’s attitude and responses to cyber security are almost as important as the actions taken to prevent cyber attacks. “Lessons learnt” are a common feature within mature and cyber resilient organisations. Incidents are a matter of when not if, and it is important that organisations know how to react.
Taking the example of a phishing attack, it is easy to blame the employee who opened it, potentially firing them. With phishing simulations, it is equally easy to discipline an employee who fell for it. The problem is, neither of these focus on what can be learned, such as why the employee fell for it in the first place. Additionally, there is the potential that employees become reserved or reticent about reporting potential events, due to the fear of being disciplined. This can be the difference between an organisation having an early detection of an incident and being able to invoke incident response plans sooner, or leaving the attacker in the system doing damage for longer before being reported.
Source: [ IT Security Guru]
Spend to Save: CFOs and Cyber Security Investment
For chief financial officers (CFOs), the increasing impact of data breaches creates a paradox. While more spending is necessary to combat these challenges, this spending isn’t directly tied to profit. Instead, cyber security spending is all about return on investment.
When looking at spending, CFOs need to keep in mind that the total cost of a breach is more than the initial currency loss: there is the knock-on effect of reputation and losses in customers. But it is not a case of spending more to protect more; spending must be tailored to the organisation and prioritise in terms of business needs.
Source: [Security Intelligence]
Cyber Security Tools Are New Targets for Attackers, Including Nation-State Actors
An increasing number of attacks by nation-state attackers are targeting cyber security tools in their campaigns. This includes the recent attacks on US officials which attacked and gained access through the firewalls of the victim. Security vendors, just like anyone, will have flaws in their software: there will be vulnerabilities. As such, organisations need to be aware of these vulnerabilities and when support runs out for their cyber security tools, to better protect themselves.
Source: [News Week]
Attackers Access UK Military Data Through Third Party Supplier as Relentless Russian Cyber Attacks Raise Spectre of WW3
Top secret military data from the UK’s Ministry of Defence was stolen and then sold by the ransomware gang LockBit. How, you might ask? Through a rogue Windows 7 PC that belonged to their fencing supplier, Zaun. The LockBit Ransom group conducted the attack on the supplier’s network, and Zaun admitted the group may have exfiltrated 10GB of data.
Many attackers have realised that if you cannot directly attack an organisation, then the supplier can present a way in. Organisations need to be sure of their suppliers’ security, and conduct third party security assessments to identify the risk the supplier may present to the organisation itself.
Black Arrow have helped many clients carry out third party risk assessments on a large number of suppliers and this can be done as a standalone offering or as part of a fractional CISO engagement.
Source: [The Register] [Tech Monitor]
Common Tactics Used by Threat Actors to Weaponise PDFs
PDFs are often seen as safe, something that cannot be used by an attacker, but that’s wrong. Actors are using this trustworthiness, as well as the difficulty in detection and ubiquity of PDFs, to weaponise them. Common tactics involve malicious hyperlinks within PDFs and macros that run when a PDF is opened, and in some cases attackers are disguising a malicious Word document as a PDF to evade detection.
Source: [Cyber Security News]
Years-old Microsoft Security Holes Still Hot Targets for Cyber Criminals
A recent report has found that Microsoft vulnerabilities as old as 6 years are still being exploited, with one recorded as being exploited as recently as 31 August. In fact, since this particular vulnerability was fixed, it has been used to deploy 467 different malware types. This is not the number of attacks, but the number of different types of malware used in attacks.
The concept isn’t just for Microsoft. Many organisations do not employ effective patching strategies, and as such leave the doors open to attackers. Sometimes, these doors are open for years.
Source: [The Register]
Popular ‘As-a-Service’ Operations Have Earned Cyber Criminals over $64m
As-a-service operations allow attackers to employ sophisticated attacks without the need for extensive knowledge; they simply just purchase the ability. Take phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), where an attacker with very limited cyber knowledge simply needs to purchase a phishing kit and they are then well-equipped to target organisations. This availability in tools creates a significant surge in the number of cyber criminals, with one scheme alone raking in $64.5 billion in illegal gains.
Source: [IT Security Guru]
71% of Organisations are Impacted by Cyber Security Skills Shortage
Most organisations (71%) report that they’ve been impacted by the cyber security skills shortage, leading to an increased workload for the cyber security team (61%), unfilled open job requisitions (49%) and high burnout among staff (43%). Further, 95% respondents state the cyber security skills shortage and its associated impacts have not improved over the past few years and 54% (up 10% from 2021) say it has got worse.
Organisations need to continue maintaining and improving their security while their cyber security positions remain unfilled. Black Arrow supports firms to achieve this by providing expert resources on a flexible basis for technical, governance and transformational positions.
Source: [Security Magazine] [Digital Journal]
Multiple Schools Hit by Cyber Attacks Before Term Begins
Ahead of the new school term, a number of schools have become the victim of serious cyber attacks. The education sector isn’t a new target, with previous ransomware reports finding the education sector to account for 16% of victims.
The education sector remains a target due to the valuable data they hold, large attack surfaces and frequently a lack of resources and budgets, something many small and medium-sized business may share.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
The importance of CISOs is not recognised by senior leadership - IT Security Guru
Blame Culture: An Organisation's Ticking Time Bomb - IT Security Guru
Spend to save: The CFO’s guide to cyber security investment (securityintelligence.com)
SEC tells companies to “show their work” on cyber security - Red Canary
Cyber security: a life cycle, not a destination | Hydrocarbon Engineering
Rising Physical Incidents Should Drive C-Level Investment & Action (forbes.com)
Compliance budgets under strain as inflation and workload grow - Help Net Security
Cyber Security pros battle discontent amid skills shortage - Help Net Security
CISOs weigh in on building security-focused culture | Healthcare IT News
How Do Some Companies Get Compromised Again and Again? (securityintelligence.com)
IAM, cloud security to drive new cyber security spending | CSO Online
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Ministry of Defence documents leaked by LockBit (techmonitor.ai)
Attackers access military data through fencing supplier • The Register
Ransomware attackers are targeting exposed Microsoft SQL databases, report says (therecord.media)
Ransomware and Data Breaches: Impacts Continue to Grow Louder (govtech.com)
Education Sector Heavily Targeted as the School Year Begins (databreaches.net)
Killware vs. Ransomware: What's the Difference? (makeuseof.com)
Is this the next target for international ransomware attacks? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
To Pay or Not to Pay? The Ransomware Dilemma (informationweek.com)
Snake Ransomware Endangers Your Data: How Can You Stop It? (makeuseof.com)
How to Prevent Ransomware: 6 Key Steps to Safeguard Assets (techtarget.com)
Ransomware Victims
LockBit Leaks Documents Filched From UK Defence Contractor (darkreading.com)
Ministry of Defence documents leaked in cyber attack (civilserviceworld.com)
Debenham High School IT system hit by cyber attack - BBC News
Highgate Wood School delays term by 6 days after cyber attack | This Is Local London
Cyber attack hits Wokingham's Maiden Erlegh School | Reading Chronicle
Ransomware gang claims credit for Sabre data breach | TechCrunch
Hackers claim to publish prominent Israeli hospital’s patient data (therecord.media)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
AI abuse grows beyond phishing to multistage cyber attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Google is enabling Chrome real-time phishing protection for everyone (bleepingcomputer.com)New phishing tool hijacked thousands of Microsoft business email accounts (therecord.media)
Beware of New Fileless Malware that Propagates Via Spam Mail (cybersecuritynews.com)
Spam is up, QR codes emerge as a significant threat vector - Help Net Security
From unsuspecting click to data compromise - Help Net Security
Alert: Phishing Campaigns Deliver New SideTwist Backdoor and Agent Tesla Variant (thehackernews.com)
Getting off the hook: 10 steps to take after clicking on a phishing link (welivesecurity.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Emerging threat: AI-powered social engineering - Help Net Security
Hackers Using ChatGPT to Generate Malware & Social Engineering Threats (cybersecuritynews.com)
How cyber criminals use look-alike domains to impersonate brands - Help Net Security
Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI considered a security risk by 60% of board members, survey finds (thenationalnews.com)
AI ‘triggers DeepTech anxiety for senior leaders’ (businesscloud.co.uk)
Emerging threat: AI-powered social engineering - Help Net Security
AI abuse grows beyond phishing to multistage cyber attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Hackers Using ChatGPT to Generate Malware & Social Engineering Threats (cybersecuritynews.com)
UK tech tsar warns of AI cyber threat to NHS | Financial Times (ft.com)
It's the summer of adversarial chatbots. Here's how to defend against them - SiliconANGLE
Will the AI Arms Race Lead to the Pollution of the Internet? (darkreading.com)
UK cyber chief urges ‘Security by Design’ in AI development (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
Generative AI’s Biggest Security Flaw Is Not Easy to Fix | WIRED UK
Developers have security, other generative AI concerns but use it anyway - ARN (arnnet.com.au)
How Companies Can Cope With the Risks of Generative AI Tools (darkreading.com)
3 ways to strike the right balance with generative AI - Help Net Security
Peril vs. Promise: Companies, Developers Worry Over Generative AI Risk (darkreading.com)
Experts Probe AI Risks Around Malicious Use, China Influence (govinfosecurity.com)
Beware: Deepfake Scams Could Target Your Next Zoom Meeting | Entrepreneur
Malware
Common Tactics Used by Threat Actors to Weaponise PDFs (cybersecuritynews.com)
'Atomic macOS Stealer' Malware Delivered via Malvertising Campaign - SecurityWeek
Hackers Using ChatGPT to Generate Malware & Social Engineering Threats (cybersecuritynews.com)
UNRAVELING EternalBlue: inside the WannaCry’s enabler (securityaffairs.com)
Malware configurations How to find and use them? (govinfosecurity.com)
Beware of New Fileless Malware that Propagates Via Spam Mail (cybersecuritynews.com)
New Python Variant of Chaes Malware Targets Banking and Logistics Industries (thehackernews.com)
New BLISTER Malware Update Fuelling Stealthy Network Infiltration (thehackernews.com)
Alert: Phishing Campaigns Deliver New SideTwist Backdoor and Agent Tesla Variant (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Hacking device Flipper Zero can spam nearby iPhones with Bluetooth pop-ups | TechCrunch
September Android updates fix zero-day exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hacker exploits security flaw to target iPhone users with 'notification attack' | Macworld
Botnets
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
DDoS attack took down the site of German financial agency BaFin (securityaffairs.com)
Mirai variant infects low-cost Android TV boxes for DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
CISA Releases Capacity Enhancement Guide to Strengthen Agency Resilience to DDoS Attack | CISA
BYOD
Internet of Things – IoT
Securing The IoT From The Threat China Poses To US Infrastructure (forbes.com)
Connected cars and cyber crime: A primer - Help Net Security
Hacking device Flipper Zero can spam nearby iPhones with Bluetooth pop-ups | TechCrunch
Mirai variant infects low-cost Android TV boxes for DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Why consumer drones represent a special cyber security risk (securityintelligence.com)
Like privacy? Then smart devices are a dumb idea • The Register
Maker of ‘smart’ chastity cage left users’ emails, passwords, and locations exposed | TechCrunch
Data Breaches/Leaks
Electoral Commission failed basic security test before hack - BBC News
Insurer fined $3M for exposing data of 650k clients for two years (bleepingcomputer.com)
Golf gear giant Callaway data breach exposes info of 1.1 million (bleepingcomputer.com)
Freecycle confirms massive data breach impacting 7 million users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Thousands of Popular Websites Leaking Secrets - SecurityWeek
Johnson & Johnson discloses IBM data breach impacting patients (bleepingcomputer.com)
Northern Ireland police chief quits in wake of data breach • The Register
Lawsuit blames Tesla for data breach it sued ex-staff over • The Register
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Popular 'As-a-Service' Operations Have Earned Cyber Criminals over $64m - IT Security Guru
Cyber Crime Tremors: Experts Forecast Qakbot Resurgence (govinfosecurity.com)
It might be too soon to claim victory against Qakbot | Computer Weekly
Cyber crime to cost Germany 206 billion euros in 2023, survey finds | Reuters
Cyber criminals coercing children in their own bedrooms | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
YouTuber Loses $60K Worth of Crypto After Showing Seed Phrases on Stream - Decrypt
Who Pulled Off a $41M Online Casino Heist? North Korea, FBI Says (vice.com)
Is this the next target for international ransomware attacks? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Bitcoin exchange exec admits he ignored anti-laundering laws • The Register
Cyber criminals target graphic designers with GPU miners (talosintelligence.com)
LastPass under fire again as users report stolen crypto keys and losses | Cybernews
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Popular 'As-a-Service' Operations Have Earned Cyber criminals over $64m - IT Security Guru
Fake YouPorn extortion scam threatens to leak your sex tape (bleepingcomputer.com)
Four Convicted in $18m Investment Fraud Scheme - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Global roaming fraud losses to surpass $8 billion by 2028 - Help Net Security
Airlines Battle Surge in Loyalty Program Fraud - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How We Track Crypto Money Laundering for Off-Chain Crime (chainalysis.com)
See Tickets Alerts 300,000 Customers After Another Web Skimmer Attack - SecurityWeek
Beware: Deepfake Scams Could Target Your Next Zoom Meeting | Entrepreneur
Impersonation Attacks
'Smishing Triad' Targeted USPS and US Citizens for Data Theft (securityaffairs.com)
How cyber criminals use look-alike domains to impersonate brands - Help Net Security
Deepfakes
Emerging threat: AI-powered social engineering - Help Net Security
Beware: Deepfake Scams Could Target Your Next Zoom Meeting | Entrepreneur
AML/CFT/Sanctions
How We Track Crypto Money Laundering for Off-Chain Crime (chainalysis.com)
Four Convicted in $18m Investment Fraud Scheme - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Bitcoin exchange exec admits he ignored anti-laundering laws • The Register
Insurance
Insights Into the Changing Landscape of Cyber Insurance - Frost Brown Todd | Full-Service Law Firm
Time and effort to obtain cyber insurance increasing for US businesses | CSO Online
Beazley expects to sponsor more cyber catastrophe bonds in 2024 - Artemis.bm
Lloyd’s categorises cyber war wordings in aggregation clarity push (insuranceinsider.com)
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Attackers access military data through fencing supplier • The Register
Ministry of Defence documents leaked by LockBit (techmonitor.ai)
Supply chain related security risks, and how to protect against them (malwarebytes.com)
5 ways to improve your supply chain security posture | IT Reseller Magazine (itrportal.com)
Overcoming Open Source Vulnerabilities in the Software Supply Chain (darkreading.com)
Creating a more cyber secure supply chain requires group effort - FreightWaves
Facing Third-Party Threats With Non-Employee Risk Management (darkreading.com)
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Step Up Your Defence Against Cloud-loving Cyber Criminals (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
IAM, cloud security to drive new cyber security spending | CSO Online
Hybrid/Remote Working
Attack Surface Management
What OSINT is, and why it’s dangerous | Kaspersky official blog
Armis report sheds light on top 10 targeted assets by cyber attackers - SiliconANGLE
Top 10 riskiest assets threatening global business - IT Security Guru
Encryption
Government denies U-turn on encrypted messaging row - BBC News
UK lawmakers back down on encryption-busting 'spy clause' | CyberScoop
API
Open Source
Software industry urged to assume risk on open source security | CIO Dive
Overcoming Open Source Vulnerabilities in the Software Supply Chain (darkreading.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
It's a Zero-day? It's Malware? No! It's Username and Password (thehackernews.com)
Chrome extensions can steal plaintext passwords from websites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hacker gains admin control of Sourcegraph and gives free access to the masses | Ars Technica
Passwords From The November 2022 LastPass Breach Being Cracked? - PC Perspective
LastPass under fire again as users report stolen crypto keys and losses | Cybernews
Maker of ‘smart’ chastity cage left users’ emails, passwords, and locations exposed | TechCrunch
75% of education sector attacks linked to compromised accounts - Help Net Security
Social Media
Malvertising
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Children's snack recalled after its website caught serving porn (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber criminals coercing children in their own bedrooms | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
An Overview of ENISA’s Risk Management Standards Report | UpGuard
SEC tells companies to “show their work” on cyber security - Red Canary
Verizon to pay feds $4M over cyber security lapse | Light Reading
Government denies U-turn on encrypted messaging row - BBC News
UK drops 'spy clause' for scanning encrypted messages • The Register
Models, Frameworks and Standards
An Overview of ENISA’s Risk Management Standards Report | UpGuard
CIS Benchmarks Communities: Where configurations meet consensus - Help Net Security
Explaining The New NIST Cyber Security Framework to the C-Suite
Backup and Recovery
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
71% of organisations are impacted by cyber security skills shortage | Security Magazine
Cyber Security Skills Gap set to cost UK £120 billion by 2023 - Essex-TV
6 free resources for getting started in cyber security - Help Net Security
Cyber professionals say industry urgently needs to confront mental health crisis | CyberScoop
Cyber security pros battle discontent amid skills shortage - Help Net Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
It might be too soon to claim victory against Qakbot | Computer Weekly
Cops drill into chat apps to thwart coke-smuggling ring • The Register
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Russia
Russia-linked attackers hit UK Ministry of Defence, leak stolen data | CSO Online
Meet the man leading the front-line effort in Ukraine's cyber war with Russia : NPR
China and Russia are pushing the boundaries of cyber attacks to harm other states - CityAM
Ukraine's CERT Thwarts APT28's Cyber Attack on Critical Energy Infrastructure (thehackernews.com)
Attackers access military data through fencing supplier • The Register
Russia-linked hack on Trident base sparks 'World War Three' warning from expert (yahoo.com)
Russia, China behind majority of cyber attacks targeting German businesses (aa.com.tr)
Elon Musk's Father Fears Possible Assassination Attempt on His Son (businessinsider.com)
Big Tech failed to police Russian disinformation: EU study • The Register
North Korea hackers going after Russian targets, Microsoft says, World News - AsiaOne
China
How China gets free intel on tech companies’ vulnerabilities | Ars Technica
Experts Probe AI Risks Around Malicious Use, China Influence (govinfosecurity.com)
How Microsoft's highly secure environment was breached (malwarebytes.com)
Securing The IoT From The Threat China Poses To US Infrastructure (forbes.com)
China and Russia are pushing the boundaries of cyber attacks to harm other states - CityAM
Russia, China behind majority of cyber attacks targeting German businesses (aa.com.tr)
German companies report more cyber attacks from Russia, China | Meta.mk
Microsoft finally explains cause of Azure breach: An engineer’s account was hacked | Ars Technica
South Korean Cyber Security Concerns Over Chinese-Made Cranes, Meteorological Gear | The Epoch Times
Huawei hits back in Portugal over 5G 'ban' with lawsuit - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com)
Iran
Hackers push anti-Iranian government messages to millions via breached app | CyberScoop
Iranian hackers breach US aviation org via Zoho, Fortinet bugs (bleepingcomputer.com)
North Korea
Lazarus hackers deploy fake VMware PyPI packages in VMConnect attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Warn of Cyber Weapons Used by Lazarus Group's Andariel Cluster (thehackernews.com)
Meet the man leading the front-line effort in Ukraine's cyber war with Russia : NPR
North Korean hackers target security researchers with new zero-day (therecord.media)
North Korea hackers going after Russian targets, Microsoft says, World News - AsiaOne
Who Pulled Off a $41M Online Casino Heist? North Korea, FBI Says (vice.com)
Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare
Nation-state 'hot zones' offer view of the future of cyber war – report - CIR Magazine
Lloyd’s categorises cyber war wordings in aggregation clarity push (insuranceinsider.com)
Cyber Security Tools Are New Targets For Nation-State Hackers (newsweek.com)
Multiple Nation-State Threat Actors Exploit CVE-2022-47966 and CVE-2022-42475 | CISA
Vulnerability Management
Years-old Microsoft bugs are still hot targets for criminals • The Register
Old vulnerabilities are still a big problem - Help Net Security
Overcoming Open Source Vulnerabilities in the Software Supply Chain (darkreading.com)
How China gets free intel on tech companies’ vulnerabilities | Ars Technica
Vulnerabilities
Apple discloses 2 actively exploited zero-days in iPhones, Macs (securityaffairs.com)
Google patches 4 high-rated security issues in latest Chrome 116 update - gHacks Tech News
Two flaws in Apache SuperSet allow to remotely hack servers (securityaffairs.com)
Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in BroadWorks Platform - SecurityWeek
Multiple Notepad++ Flaws Let Attackers Execute Arbitrary Code (cybersecuritynews.com)
Hackers exploit MinIO storage system to breach corporate networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
ASUS routers vulnerable to critical remote code execution flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)
September Android updates fix zero-day exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco SSO authentication bug patched - Security - Networking - iTnews
Multiple Nation-State Threat Actors Exploit CVE-2022-47966 and CVE-2022-42475 | CISA
Security or performance? Zenbleed forces you to choose | Digital Trends
Tools and Controls
Many businesses still aren't using BYOD protection | TechRadar
Insights Into the Changing Landscape of Cyber Insurance - Frost Brown Todd | Full-Service Law Firm
Spend to save: The CFO’s guide to cyber security investment (securityintelligence.com)
An Overview of ENISA’s Risk Management Standards Report | UpGuard
IOCs vs Artifacts How to Filter Out the Noise (govinfosecurity.com)
Time and effort to obtain cyber insurance increasing for US businesses | CSO Online
Chrome extensions can steal plaintext passwords from websites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Dangling DNS Used to Hijack Subdomains of Major Organisations - SecurityWeek
Why DNS Security Can Be Your Most Problematic Blind Spot (hyas.com)
Cyber Security Tools Are New Targets For Nation-State Hackers (newsweek.com)
Rising Physical Incidents Should Drive C-Level Investment & Action (forbes.com)
Why Cyber Security Risk Assessment Matters in the Banking Industry (securityintelligence.com)
Cut through cyber security vendor hype with these 6 tips | TechTarget
IAM, cloud security to drive new cyber security spending | CSO Online
Best practices for implementing a proper backup strategy - Help Net Security
Other News
Education Sector Heavily Targeted as the School Year Begins (databreaches.net)
Schools warned of cyberattack threat as new year begins | Science & Tech News | Sky News
Ways to protect WordPress sites and blogs from hacking | Kaspersky official blog
Insecure by design: What you need to know about defending critical infrastructure | CSO Online
Half of Switzerland's large companies have been the victim of a cyber attack | Euronews
Dangling DNS Used to Hijack Subdomains of Major Organizations - SecurityWeek
Securing the future: Safeguarding cyber-physical systems | CSO Online
25 Major Car Brands Get Failing Marks From Mozilla for Security and Privacy - SecurityWeek
Cyber security In Focus Ahead Of Berlin NATO Conference | OilPrice.com
10 old-school security principles that (still) rule | CSO Online
Surge in Hospital Hacks Endangers Patients, Cyber Official Says - WSJ
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23rd June 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 June 2023:
-How the MOVEit Breach Shows Hackers' Interest in Corporate File Transfer Tools
-Attackers Discovering Exposed Cloud Assets Within Minutes
-Majority of Users Neglect Best Password Practices
-One in Three Workers Susceptible to Phishing
-Ransomware Misconceptions Abound, to the Benefit of Attackers
-Threat Actors Scale and Commoditise Uncommon Tools and Techniques
-Goodbyes are Difficult, IT Offboarding Processes Make Them Harder
-Security Budget Hikes are Missing the Mark, CISOs Say
-Understanding Cyber Resilience: Building a Holistic Approach to Cyber Security
-Emerging Ransomware Group 8Base Releasing Data on SMBs Globally
-Cyber Security Industry Still Fighting to Recruit and Retain Talent
-Financial Firms to Build Resilience in Face of Growing Cyber-Threats
-Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber Security Expertise at Board Level
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Security Industry Still Fighting to Recruit and Retain Talent
Cyber security teams are struggling to find the right talent, with the right skills, and to retain experienced employees. The situation is only likely to worsen, as inflation and a tight labour market push up wages. Universities produce graduates with a strong focus on technical knowledge, but not always the broader skills they need to operate in a business environment. This includes the lack of communications skills, understanding of how businesses operate and even emotional intelligence. One solution is to outsource to a corporate cyber security provider or outsource to infill shortages whilst trying to recruit permanent staff.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybersecurity-industry-recruit/
How the MOVEit Breach Shows Hackers' Interest in Corporate File Transfer Tools
The world of managed file transfer (MFT) software has become a lucrative target for ransom-seeking hackers, with significant breaches including those of Accellion Inc's File Transfer Appliance in 2021 and Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT earlier this year. These MFT programs, corporate versions of popular file sharing programs like Dropbox or WeTransfer, are highly desirable to hackers for the sensitive data they often transfer between organisations and partners. The recent mass compromise tied to Progress Software Corp's MOVEit transfer product has prompted governments and companies worldwide to scramble in response.
Hackers are shifting their tactics, with an increasing focus on MFT programs which typically face the open internet, making them more vulnerable to breaches. Once inside these file transfer points, hackers have direct access to a wealth of data. In addition, there's a noticeable shift from ransomware groups encrypting a company's network and demanding payment to unscramble it, to a simpler tactic of pure extortion by threatening to leak the data.
Attackers Discovering Exposed Cloud Assets within Minutes
The shift to cloud services, increased remote work, and reliance on third-parties has led to widespread use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications. This has also opened avenues for attackers to exploit weak security configurations and identities. Over the past year, attackers have intercepted authorisation tokens, bypassed multifactor authentication, and exploited misconfigured systems, targeting critical applications like GitHub, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and Okta. A study revealed alarmingly fast rates of breach discovery and compromise of exposed cloud assets, with assets being discovered within as little as two minutes for some and others within an hour.
https://www.darkreading.com/dr-tech/growing-saas-usage-means-larger-attack-surface
Majority of Users Neglect Best Password Practices
The latest Password Management Report by Keeper Security has shed light on the concerning state of password security practices. The survey found that only 25% of respondents used solid and unique passwords. In comparison, 34% admitted to using repeat variations of passwords, and 30% still relied on simple and easily guessable passwords. The survey also found that 44% of individuals who claimed to have well-managed passwords still admitted to using repeated variations, while 20% acknowledged having had at least one password involved in a data breach or available on the dark web. The document also revealed that 35% of respondents feel overwhelmed when it comes to improving their cyber security. Furthermore, 10% admitted to neglecting password management altogether. More generally, Keeper Security said the survey’s findings highlight a significant gap between perception and reality regarding password security.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/users-neglect-best-password/
One in Three Workers Susceptible to Phishing
More than one in three workers in the UK and Ireland are susceptible to falling for phishing attacks, according to the new 2023 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report by KnowBe4. The study found that 35% of users who had received no security training were prone to clicking on suspicious links or engaging in fraudulent actions. Regular training and continual reinforcement can get this figure down but even with training very few organisations ever get click rates down to zero, and you only need one person to click to cause potentially devastating consequences.
Globally, ransomware was responsible for 24% of all data breaches in 2023, with human error accounting for 74% of these incidents. Phishing attacks can often lead to significant reputational damage, financial loss and disruption to business operations.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/one-in-three-phishing/
Ransomware Misconceptions Abound, to the Benefit of Attackers
There is a common ransomware misperception that there's no capability to fight this all too common hostage taking of business data. This is not true. Proactive organisations are increasingly making more strategic use of threat intelligence to prevent or disrupt attacks.
Ransomware has evolved into a massive, often state-sponsored, industry where operators buy, develop, and resell ransomware code, infiltrate networks, and collect ransoms. The perception that a speedy response is critical to prevent data encryption and loss is outdated; attackers now focus on data exfiltration, using ransomware as a distraction. They often target smaller organisations that are linked to larger ones through supply chains, using them as stepping stones. It is important to use in-depth defence measures, including email security to prevent phishing and efficient detection and response systems to identify and recover from changes.
Threat Actors Scale and Commoditise Uncommon Tools and Techniques
Proofpoint’s 2023 Human Factor report highlights significant developments in the cyber attack landscape in 2022. Following two years of pandemic-induced disruption, cyber criminals returned to their usual operations, honing their social engineering skills and commoditising once sophisticated attack techniques. There was a noticeable increase in brute-force and targeted attacks on cloud tenants, conversational smishing attacks, and multifactor authentication (MFA) bypasses. Microsoft 365 formed a large part of organisations' attack surfaces and faced broad abuse, from Office macros to OneNote documents.
Despite some advances in security controls, threat actors continue to innovate and scale their bypasses. Techniques like MFA bypass and telephone-oriented attack delivery are now commonplace. Attackers consistently exploit people, who remain the most critical variable in the attack chain.
Goodbyes are Difficult, IT Offboarding Processes Make Them Harder
A recent survey found that 68% of organisations recognise the offboarding process as a major cyber security risk, but only 36% have adequate controls in place to secure data access when employees depart. The study revealed that 60% of organisations have discovered former employees still had access to corporate applications after leaving, and 52% have had security incidents linked to former employees. Interestingly, IT professionals are not always alerted when employees leave, leading to access not being revoked and IT assets being mishandled 34% of the time.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/06/19/it-offboarding-processes/
Security Budget Hikes are Missing the Mark, CISOs Say
Misguided expectations on security spend are causing problems for CISOs despite notable budget increases. A recent report found that while most CISOs are experiencing noteworthy increases in security funding, impractical expectations of budget holders are leading to significant amounts being spent on what’s hitting the headlines instead of strategic, business-centric investment in security defences. This lack of understanding shows that a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that information security receives the attention it deserves, especially in the boardroom.
The report found that just 9% of CISOs said information security is always in the top three priorities on the boardroom’s meeting agenda, and less than a quarter (22%) of CISOs are actively participating in business strategy and decision-making processes. Talking to the board about cyber security in a way that is productive can be a significant challenge for CISOs, and failing to do so effectively can result in confusion, disillusionment, and a lack of cohesion among directors, the security function, and the rest of the organisation.
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3700073/security-budget-hikes-are-missing-the-mark-cisos-say.html
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/06/22/average-cybersecurity-budget-increase/
Understanding Cyber Resilience: Building a Holistic Approach to Cyber Security
In today’s interconnected world, the threat of cyber attacks is a constant concern for organisations of all sizes and across all industries. Cyber resilience entails not only making it difficult for attackers to infiltrate your systems but also ensuring that your organisation can bounce back quickly and continue operations successfully.
Cyber resilience offers a holistic approach to cyber security, emphasising the ability to withstand and recover from cyber attacks. By adopting the right mindset, leveraging advanced technology, addressing cyber hygiene, and measuring key metrics, organisations can enhance their cyber resilience. Additionally, collaboration within industries and proactive board engagement are crucial for effective risk management. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organisations must prioritise cyber resilience as an ongoing journey, continuously adapting and refining their strategies to stay ahead of malicious actors.
Emerging Ransomware Group 8Base Releasing Confidential Data from SMBs Globally
A ransomware group that operated under the radar for over a year has come to light in recent weeks, thanks to a series of business data leaks on the Dark Web. Since at least April 2022, 8base has been conducting double-extortion attacks against small and midsized businesses (SMBs). It all came to a head in May, when the group dumped data belonging to 67 organisations on the cyber underground.
Not much is known yet about the group's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), likely due to the low profile of their victims. The victims span science and technology, manufacturing, retail, construction, healthcare, and more, with victims from as far afield as India, Peru, Madagascar and Brazil, amongst others.
https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/emerging-ransomware-8base-doxxes-smbs-globally
Financial Firms to Build Resilience in Face of Growing Cyber-Threats
Cyber resilience is now a key component of operational resilience for the UK’s financial markets, according to a Bank of England official. Cyber attacks have increased by 38% in 2022, and the range of firms and organisations being impacted seems to grow broader and broader.
Regulators want to see how financial firms will cope with an attack, and its impact on the wider financial services ecosystem. Similar work is being done at an international level by the G7, which has its own cyber expert group. In the UK, the main tools for improving resilience are threat intelligence sharing, better coordination between firms, regulators, the Bank and the Treasury, and penetration testing including CBEST. Financial services firms should have scenario specific playbooks, to set out how to contain intruders and stop them spreading to clients and counterparties. In the past, simulation exercises have been used to model terrorist incidents and pandemics and they are now being used to model cyber attacks.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/financial-firms-to-build-resilience/
Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber Security Expertise at Board Level
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to introduce a rule requiring demonstration of cyber security expertise at the board level for public companies. A recent study found that currently up to 90% of companies in the Russell 3000 lack even a single director with the necessary cyber expertise. The simplest and speediest solution would be to promote the existing CISO, provided they have the appropriate qualities and experience, to the board but that would require transplanting a focused operational executive into a strategic business advisory role. A credible alternative is to bring in a cyber focused Non-Executive Director with the appropriate skills and experience.
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Why assessing third parties for security risk is still an unsolved problem | CSO Online
Navigating the Complex World of Cyber security Compliance - MSSP Alert
Security budget hikes are missing the mark, CISOs say | CSO Online
How to Weather the Coming Cyber security Storm - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Certifications are no guarantee of security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Increased spending doesn't translate to improved cyber security posture - Help Net Security
Placing People & Realism at the Center of Your Cyber security Strategy (darkreading.com)
CISOs’ New Stressors Brought on by Digitalization: Report - SecurityWeek
Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber security Expertise at Board Level - SecurityWeek
From details to big picture: how to improve security effectiveness | CIO
IT Staff Increasingly Saddled with Data Protection Compliance (darkreading.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Explainer: How MOVEit breach shows hackers' interest in corporate file transfer tools | Reuters
Ransomware Misconceptions Abound, to the Benefit of Attackers (darkreading.com)
US Offers $10m Reward For MOVEit Attackers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Data leak at Australian law firm spooks government, business • The Register
Fresh Ransomware Gangs Emerge As Market Leaders Decline (darkreading.com)
Emerging Ransomware Group 8Base Doxxes SMBs Globally (darkreading.com)
A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs
Rorschach Ransomware: What You Need to Know (darkreading.com)
Ransomware is only getting faster: Six steps to a stronger defence (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware gang preys on cancer centers, triggers alert | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ransomware attacks pose communications dilemmas for local governments | CSO Online
LockBit Developing Ransomware for Apple M1 Chips, Embedded Systems (darkreading.com)
Ransomware Victims
Australian Government Says Its Data Was Stolen in Law Firm Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek
Hackers threaten to release photos of Beverly Hills plastic surgery patients (bitdefender.com)
Norton Parent Says Employee Data Stolen in MOVEit Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek
BlackCat gang threatens to leak plastic surgery photos • The Register
Reddit confirms BlackCat ransomware gang stole its data • The Register
Adur and Worthing Councils investigating after contractor data breach | The Argus
Iowa’s largest school district confirms ransomware attack, data theft (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers warn University of Manchester students’ of imminent data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)
USDA is investigating a 'possible data breach' related to global Russian cyber criminal hack | CNN
Avast, Norton Parent Latest Victim of MOVEit Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)
MOVEit Vulnerability Breaches Targeted Fed Agencies (trendmicro.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Cyber crime: what does psychology have to do with phishing? – podcast | Science | The Guardian
Hackers Will Be Quick to Bypass Gmail's Blue Check Verification System (darkreading.com)
UPS discloses data breach after exposed customer info used in SMS phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)
Insurance companies neglect basic email security - Help Net Security
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Artificial Intelligence
How generative AI is creating new classes of security threats | VentureBeat
Over 100,000 Stolen ChatGPT Account Credentials Sold on Dark Web Marketplaces (thehackernews.com)
‘With hackers adopting AI, it’s a cat-and-mouse game’ | Mint (livemint.com)
ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security
Google Tells Employees to Stay Away from Its Bard Chatbot (gizmodo.com)
Malware
Attacker seizes abandoned S3 bucket to launch malicious payloads | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Hackers use fake OnlyFans pics to drop info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Discover New Sophisticated Toolkit Targeting Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)
Mysterious Mystic Stealer Spreads Like Wildfire in Mere Months (darkreading.com)
Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
To kill BlackLotus malware, patching is a good start, but... • The Register
Microsoft Teams bug allows malware delivery from external accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
APT37 hackers deploy new FadeStealer eavesdropping malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
ScarCruft Hackers Exploit Ably Service for Stealthy Wiretapping Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Chinese Hacker Group 'Flea' Targets American Ministries with Graphican Backdoor (thehackernews.com)
USB Drives Spread Spyware as China's Mustang Panda APT Goes Global (darkreading.com)
NSA shares tips on blocking BlackLotus UEFI malware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chinese malware accidentally infects networked storage • The Register
ChamelDoH: New Linux Backdoor Utilising DNS-over-HTTPS Tunneling for Covert CnC (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
SMS delivery reports can be used to infer recipient's location (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple fixes zero-days used to deploy Triangulation spyware via iMessage (bleepingcomputer.com)
Android spyware camouflaged as VPN, chat apps on Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
Romanian cyber crime gang Diicot builds DDoS botnet with Mirai variant | CSO Online
New Condi malware builds DDoS botnet out of TP-Link AX21 routers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mirai botnet targets 22 flaws in D-Link, Zyxel, Netgear devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Police crack down on DDoS-for-hire service active since 2013 (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Condi malware builds DDoS botnet out of TP-Link AX21 routers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Zeeland port website hit by DDOS attack, possibly by Russian hackers | NL Times
From Cryptojacking to DDoS Attacks: Diicot Expands Tactics with Cayosin Botnet (thehackernews.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Romanian cyber crime gang Diicot builds DDoS botnet with Mirai variant | CSO Online
Smart Pet Feeders Expose Personal Data - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Security for embedded devices is ignored by too many companies, expert says | Fierce Electronics
Our cities are becoming increasingly automated—and we’re not ready (fastcompany.com)
US Military Personnel Receiving Unsolicited, Suspicious Smartwatches - SecurityWeek
Mirai botnet targets 22 flaws in D-Link, Zyxel, Netgear devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Data leak at Australian law firm spooks government, business • The Register
Australian Government Says Its Data Was Stolen in Law Firm Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek
Mondelez says crooks stole staff data in security breach • The Register
UPS discloses data breach after exposed customer info used in SMS phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)
Reddit hackers threaten to leak data stolen in February breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Australia Inc roiled by raft of cyber attacks since late 2022 - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
SSD missing from SAP datacenter turns up on eBay • The Register
Smart Pet Feeders Expose Personal Data - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Hackers warn University of Manchester students’ of imminent data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Crypto and Cyber Security: A Complex Relationship (analyticsinsight.net)
Cyber attackers Got More Creative Post-Pandemic, Proofpoint Study Finds - MSSP Alert
The Great Exodus to Telegram: A Tour of the New Cyber crime Underground (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto and Cyber Security: A Complex Relationship (analyticsinsight.net)
Blockchain security: Everything you should know for safe use | TechTarget
From Cryptojacking to DDoS Attacks: Diicot Expands Tactics with Cayosin Botnet (thehackernews.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Influencers in firing line as France tackles scams - BBC News
Keep Job Scams From Hurting Your Organisation (darkreading.com)
Impersonation Attacks
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Capita faces first legal Letter of Claim over mega breach • The Register
Why assessing third parties for security risk is still an unsolved problem | CSO Online
Mondelez says crooks stole staff data in security breach • The Register
Untangling the web of supply chain security with Tony Turner - Help Net Security
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Growing SaaS Usage Means Larger Attack Surface (darkreading.com)
Explainer: How MOVEit breach shows hackers' interest in corporate file transfer tools | Reuters
A new threat to financial stability lurks in the cloud | Financial Times (ft.com)
Cloud CISO Perspectives: Early June 2023 | Google Cloud Blog
Western Digital Blocks Unpatched Devices From Cloud Services - SecurityWeek
Attacker seizes abandoned S3 bucket to launch malicious payloads | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Attackers discovering exposed cloud assets within minutes | TechTarget
Cloud-native security hinges on open source - Help Net Security
Hybrid Microsoft network/cloud legacy settings may impact your future security posture | CSO Online
US cyber ambassador says China can win on AI, cloud • The Register
Hybrid/Remote Working
Shadow IT
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
Quantum hacking alert: Critical vulnerabilities found in quantum key distribution (techxplore.com)
The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips | Ars Technica
Physics - Long-Range Quantum Cryptography Gets Simpler (aps.org)
API
Open Source
Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cloud-native security hinges on open source - Help Net Security
ChamelDoH: New Linux Backdoor Utilising DNS-over-HTTPS Tunneling for Covert CnC (thehackernews.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
The future of passwords and authentication - Help Net Security
These are the most hacked passwords. Is yours on the list? | ZDNET
Social Media
Influencers in firing line as France tackles scams - BBC News
Reddit hackers threaten to leak data stolen in February breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Digital Transformation
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security
Bill allowing CISA to assist foreign governments passes Senate committee | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber security Expertise at Board Level - SecurityWeek
Models, Frameworks and Standards
The significance of CIS Control mapping in the 2023 Verizon DBIR - Help Net Security
What is PCI Compliance? 12 Requirements and More Explained | Definition from TechTarget
Secure Disposal
Data Protection
ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security
Consumer Data: The Risk and Reward for Manufacturing Companies (darkreading.com)
IT Staff Increasingly Saddled with Data Protection Compliance (darkreading.com)
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
8 notable entry-level cyber security career and skills initiatives in 2023 | CSO Online
UK military is struggling to recruit tech experts, says report | Financial Times (ft.com)
Certifications are no guarantee of security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Google announces $20 million investment for cyber clinics | CyberScoop
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Police crack down on DDoS-for-hire service active since 2013 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Megaupload duo will go to prison at last, but Kim Dotcom fights on… – Naked Security (sophos.com)
A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Killnet Threatens Imminent SWIFT, World Banking Attacks (darkreading.com)
A Newly Named Group of GRU Hackers is Wreaking Havoc in Ukraine | WIRED
Russia sent its reserve team to wipe Ukrainian hard drives • The Register
Russian APT Group Caught Hacking Roundcube Email Servers - SecurityWeek
Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan a ‘bear in wolf’s clothing’ | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Russian APT28 hackers breach Ukrainian govt email servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Strategies for staying ahead of modern cyber warfare - CyberTalk
German intelligence services point to increased hybrid security threats – EURACTIV.com
Nation State Actors
Microsoft Pins Early June DDoS Attacks on Russian-linked Cyber Crew - MSSP Alert
US DOJ Launches Cyber Unit to Prosecute Nation-State Threat Actors - SecurityWeek
US Military Personnel Receiving Unsolicited, Suspicious Smartwatches - SecurityWeek
USB Drives Spread Spyware as China's Mustang Panda APT Goes Global (darkreading.com)
CISA orders govt agencies to patch bugs exploited by Russian hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
US Cyber Ambassador says China can win on AI, cloud • The Register
Cadet Blizzard emerges as a novel and distinct Russian threat actor | Microsoft Security Blog
The Israeli weapons and spyware falling into the hands of despots | Financial Times (ft.com)
The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips | Ars Technica
Zeeland port website hit by DDOS attack, possibly by Russian hackers | NL Times
A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs
Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan a ‘bear in wolf’s clothing’ | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
APT37 hackers deploy new FadeStealer eavesdropping malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
ScarCruft Hackers Exploit Ably Service for Stealthy Wiretapping Attacks (thehackernews.com)
20-Year-Old Chinese APT15 Finds New Life in Foreign Ministry Attacks (darkreading.com)
Chinese Hacker Group 'Flea' Targets American Ministries with Graphican Backdoor (thehackernews.com)
North Korean APT targets defectors, activists with infostealer malware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
China-sponsored APT group targets government ministries in the Americas | CSO Online
Chinese malware accidentally infects networked storage • The Register
Trellix Detects Leading Threat Actor Countries Behind Nation-State Activity - MSSP Alert
Vulnerability Management
Guess what happened to this US agency that didn't patch? • The Register
EU Council mulls pan-European platform to handle cyber vulnerabilities – EURACTIV.com
Vulnerabilities
VMware warns of critical vRealize flaw exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Teams Vulnerability: The GIFShell Attack (latesthackingnews.com)
Patch Now: Cisco AnyConnect Bug Exploit Released in the Wild (darkreading.com)
Zyxel addressed critical flaw CVE-2023-27992 in NAS Devices - Security Affairs
Microsoft Teams bug allows malware delivery from external accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chrome and Its Vulnerabilities - Is the Web Browser Safe to Use? - SecurityWeek
Critical WordPress Plugin Vulnerabilities Impact Thousands of Sites - SecurityWeek
SMB Edge Devices Walloped With Asus, Zyxel Patch Warnings (darkreading.com)
VMware fixes vCenter Server bugs allowing code execution, auth bypass (bleepingcomputer.com)
Azure AD 'Log in With Microsoft' Authentication Bypass Affects Thousands (darkreading.com)
Western Digital Blocks Unpatched Devices From Cloud Services - SecurityWeek
Risk & Repeat: Mandiant sheds light on Barracuda ESG attacks | TechTarget
ASUS warns router customers: Patch now, or block all inbound requests – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Firmware Backdoor Discovered in Gigabyte Motherboards, Hundreds of Models Affected - CPO Magazine
Apple fixes zero-days used to deploy Triangulation spyware via iMessage (bleepingcomputer.com)
A (cautionary) tale of two patched bugs, both under exploit • The Register
Millions of GitHub repos likely vulnerable to RepoJacking, researchers say (bleepingcomputer.com)
Windows 11 KB5027231 also breaks Chrome for Cisco, WatchGuard EDR users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gaps in Azure Service Fabric’s Security Call for User Vigilance (trendmicro.com)
Tools and Controls
Getting Over the DNS Security Awareness Gap (darkreading.com)
Zscaler CEO: Firewalls Are Going The Way Of The Mainframe | CRN
The future of passwords and authentication - Help Net Security
Increased spending doesn't translate to improved cyber security posture - Help Net Security
Placing People & Realism at the Center of Your Cyber security Strategy (darkreading.com)
Security investments that help companies navigate the macroeconomic climate - Help Net Security
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Boris Johnson’s notebooks cause national security alarm (thetimes.co.uk)
Keep it, Tweak it, Trash it – What to do with Aging Tech in an Era of Consolidation - SecurityWeek
Cyber attacks on OT, ICS Lay Groundwork for Kinetic Warfare (darkreading.com)
Why CISOs should be concerned about space-based attacks | CSO Online
Legal firms urged to strengthen cyber defences with latest... - NCSC.GOV.UK
GCHQ’s top hacker James Babbage quits to join NCA in blow to UK cyber force (telegraph.co.uk)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
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· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 May 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 May 2023:
- Boards Need Better Conversations About Cyber Security
- Uber’s Ex-Security Chief Sentenced for Security Breach
- Global Cyber Attacks Rise by 7% in Q1 2023
- Three-Quarters of Firms Predict Breach in Coming Year
- The Costly Threat That Many Businesses Fail to Address
- European Data at Risk with Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber Attack Volumes
- Understanding Cyber Threat Intelligence for Business Security
- Hackers Are Finding Ways to Evade Latest Cyber Security Tools
- Study Shows a 27% Spike in Publicly Known Ransomware Victims
- Data Loss Costs Are Going Up – and Not Just for Those Who Choose to Pay Thieves
- Give NotPetya-hit Merck that $1.4B, Appeals Court Tells Insurers
- 4 Ways Leaders Should Re-evaluate Their Cyber Security's Focus
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Boards Need Better Conversations About Cyber Security
In a survey by Harvard Business Review, 65% of directors believed their organisations were at risk of a cyber attack within the next 12 months, and almost half believed they were unprepared to cope with such an attack. Boards that struggle with their role in providing oversight for cyber security create a security problem for their organisations. By not focusing on resilience, boards fail their companies and their stakeholders.
Regarding board interactions with CISOs, just 69% of responding board members see eye-to-eye with their chief information security officers (CISOs). Fewer than half (47%) of members serve on boards that interact with their CISOs regularly, and almost a third of them only see their CISOs at board presentations. This is worrying, as this leaves little time for leaders to have a meaningful dialogue about cyber security.
As a result, boards need to discuss their organisations’ cyber security-induced risks and evaluate plans to manage those risks frequently; the CISO should be involved in this. With the right conversations about keeping the organisation resilient, they can take the next step to provide adequate cyber security oversight. To bring more cyber security into the board room, board members may need to gain expertise, whether through frequent training or development programmes.
https://hbr.org/2023/05/boards-are-having-the-wrong-conversations-about-cybersecurity
Uber’s Ex-Security Chief Sentenced for Security Breach
Earlier this week, Uber’s former head of cyber security, Joseph Sullivan, faced several years of prison time for covering up a massive security breach at the ride-hailing company seven years ago. When it actually came to sentencing he managed to avoid jail but received three years of probation and 200 hours of community service, despite pleas from the prosecution to throw him in jail.
The case highlights the seriousness of covering up a security breach, as at one point the ex-security chief was looking at 24-30 months of jail time. With increasing regulations and focus on cyber security, it is unlikely that this is a one-off incident.
https://gizmodo.com/uber-security-joe-sullivan-sentenced-prison-data-breach-1850403347
Global Cyber Attacks Rise by 7% in Q1 2023
Weekly cyber attacks have increased worldwide by 7% in Q1 2023 compared to the same period last year, with each firm facing an average of 1,248 attacks per week according to Check Point’s latest research. The report highlights a number of sophisticated campaigns including using ChatGPT for code generation to help less-skilled threat actors effortlessly launch cyber attacks.
The Check Point report also shows that 1 in 31 organisations worldwide experienced a ransomware attack weekly over the first quarter of 2023. To defend against such threats, the security researchers recommended a series of cyber safety tips, such as keeping computers and servers up-to-date, conducting regular cyber awareness training and utilising better threat prevention tools, among others.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-cyber-attacks-rise-7-q1-2023/
Three-Quarters of Firms Predict a Breach in the Coming Year
Most global organisations anticipate suffering a data breach or cyber attack in the next 12 months. Trend Micro’s six-monthly Cyber Risk Index (CRI) was compiled from interviews with 3,729 global organisations.
While results of the index score move in a positive direction showing organisations are taking steps to improve cyber preparedness, most responding organisations are pessimistic about the year ahead.
Respondents pointed to both negligent insiders and mobile users, and a lack of trained staff, as a key cause of concern going forward. Alongside cloud infrastructure and virtual computing environments, these comprised the top five infrastructure risks.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/threequarters-firms-predict-breach/
The Costly Threat That Many Businesses Fail to Address
Insider attacks such as fraud, sabotage, and data theft plague 71% of businesses, according to a recent report. The report found companies that allow excessive data access are much more likely to suffer insider attacks. However, only 57% of companies limit data appropriately while 31% allow employees access to more data than necessary and 12% allow employees access to all company data.
Alarmingly, of the companies that have experienced insider attacks, one in three (34%) report that the attack involved an employee with privileged access. Data theft was the most common type of insider attack, reported by 38% of businesses.
Insider attacks can damage businesses’ reputations, finances, and competitiveness, and therefore companies should take a proactive approach in preventing these incidents.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/02/insider-attacks-damage/
European Data at Risk with Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber Attack Volumes
Recent research revealed that European IT and security leaders may be dangerously over-confident in their ability to avoid cyber attacks and mitigate the risk of serious data compromise. The findings reveal that most organisations have suffered a serious cyber attack in the last two years, with over half of respondents saying their company suffered an attack 1 to 3 times in this time period. Worryingly, 20% of respondents claim to have been attacked 4 to 6 times. Only 18% managed to avoid an attack altogether.
Worryingly, three-quarters (76%) of those interviewed admit they’re taking a tick-box approach to GDPR compliance, which involves doing the bare minimum on data privacy and security. Although most (97%) have a contingency plan in place should they get breached, a quarter (26%) have not tested it.
Around two-thirds of respondents say their organisation considers customer (66%) and financial data (63%) to be “risky.” But the figure drops to 60% for employee data, and even further for intellectual property (45%) and health data (28%). Alarmingly, health-related data is classified as a special category data by GDPR, meaning it requires more protection.
Understanding Cyber Threat Intelligence for Business Security
Cyber threat intelligence is not a solution itself, but a crucial component of any mature security programme, enabling organisations to gain insights into the motives, targets and behaviours of threat actors. As such, it is crucial for businesses looking to protect themselves from the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.
Some of the benefits of effective cyber threat intelligence to a business include early threat detection, improved response, regulation compliance, competitive advantage and cost savings. It is important to highlight that an organisation does not need to come up with their own cyber threat intelligence initiative, it can instead be purchased as a service.
Hackers Are Finding Ways to Evade Latest Cyber Security Tools
As hacking has gotten more destructive and pervasive, new defensive tools continue to be developed. One such tool is called endpoint detection and response (EDR) software, it’s designed to spot early signs of malicious activity on laptops, servers and other devices known as “endpoints” on a computer network — and block them before intruders can steal data or lock the machines.
Experts however, claim hackers have developed workarounds for some forms of the technology, allowing them to slip past products that have become the gold standard for protecting critical systems. Security software is not enough on its own, it is just one of the layers of defence that organisations should employ as part of their cyber resilience; there is no silver bullet.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-finding-ways-evade-latest-131600565.html
Study Shows a 27% Spike in Publicly Known Ransomware Victims
A report released this week highlights a 27% increase in publicly known ransomware victims in the first quarter of the year. Some of the report’s key findings include the fact that manufacturing, technology, education, banking, finance, and healthcare organisations are the largest to be exposed to ransomware.
The report identified an increase in the use of “double extortion” as an attack model. This method is where ransomware groups not only encrypt files but also exfiltrate data. The top five most active ransomware threat actors are LockBit, Clop, AlphV, Royal and BianLian.
Data Loss Costs Are Going Up – and Not Just for Those Who Choose to Pay Thieves
A recent report found while the number of ransomware incidents that firms responded to dipped in early 2022, it came roaring back toward the end of the year and into early 2023. With this came higher ransom demands and, eventually, payments. The largest ransom demand last year was more than $90 million, with the largest payment exceeding $8 million. Both were larger than in 2021 (more than $60 million and $5.5 million respectively).
Ransomware groups are upping their attacks all the time and you don’t want to be an easy target.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/02/data_breach_costs_rise/
Give NotPetya-hit Merck that $1.4B, Appeals Court Tells Insurers
In a significant ruling this week a court in the US found that pharmaceutical company Merck's insurers can't use an "act of war" clause to deny the pharmaceutical giant an enormous payout to clean up its NotPetya infection from 2017. The ruling will also undoubtedly affect the language used in underwriting policies, especially when it comes to risks such as ransomware and cyber warfare.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/merck_14bn_insurance_payout_upheld/
4 Ways Leaders Should Re-evaluate Their Cyber Security's Focus
The technology industry has long been building walls around structured data and communications—with little consideration of how employees use that information. Outlined below are four 4 ways leaders can better protect raw data.
Recognise that priorities have evolved.
Understand that security burdens have changed.
Understand why, despite best efforts, criminals are still successful.
Evaluate the ways in which you are protecting your most vulnerable data.
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Data loss costs go up, and not just from ransom shakedowns • The Register
To Fight Ransomware, Move Beyond Detection to Real-Time Response, Fortinet Study Says - MSSP Alert
Using Threat Intelligence to Get Smarter About Ransomware – Security Week
Merck's $1.4B NotPetya insurance payout upheld by court • The Register
GuidePoint Study Shows a 27% Spike in Public Ransomware Victims - MSSP Alert
Rapture, a Ransomware Family With Similarities to Paradise (trendmicro.com)
The Tragic Fallout From a School District’s Ransomware Breach | WIRED
Hackers leak images to taunt Western Digital's cyber attack response (bleepingcomputer.com)
‘Big game hunting’ hackers ALPHV claim major breach of law firm HWL Ebsworth (afr.com)
FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Legitimate Software Abuse: A Disturbing Trend in Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)
US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals – Security Week
BlackCat group releases screenshots of stolen Western Digital data | CSO Online
Ransomware Attack Affects Dallas Police, Court Websites – Security Week
Studies show ransomware has already caused patient deaths | TechTarget
Cold storage giant Americold outage caused by network breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Payment software giant AvidXchange suffers its second ransomware attack of 2023 | TechCrunch
City of Dallas hit by Royal ransomware attack impacting IT services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware gang hijacks university alert system to issue threats (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber attack cost conveyancing giant £7m - but the insurers paid up | News | Law Gazette
Teiss - News - Lockbit 3.0 targets Fullerton India, demands a £2.3 million ransom
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Malicious HTML Attachment Volumes Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
A Comprehensive Look At Email-Based Threats In 2023 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Malware
ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Ads Abused to Lure Corporate Workers to LOBSHOT Backdoor (darkreading.com)
Security experts are using malware's own code to protect potential victims | TechSpot
New Decoy Dog Malware Toolkit Uncovered: Targeting Enterprise Networks (thehackernews.com)
How to Detect and Remove a Keylogger From Your Computer (howtogeek.com)
Hackers start using double DLL sideloading to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch, rapidly screws up • The Register
Google fought a mountain of malware in 2022 | Android Central
Google Bans Thousands of Play Store Developer Accounts to Block Malware (darkreading.com)
Digital Intruders – Top Ways Hackers Can Breach Your Smartphone’s Security (freecodecamp.org)
Smartphone owners warned about ‘shoulder-surfing’ thieves (thetimes.co.uk)
Botnets
Cyber criminals use proxies to legitimise fraudulent requests - Help Net Security
Bot Attacks Are Easy to Launch, Human Security Reports - MSSP Alert
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Hackers exploit 5-year-old unpatched flaw in TBK DVR devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
CISA warns of Mirai botnet exploiting TP-Link routers • The Register
Drone goggles maker claims firmware sabotaged to ‘brick’ devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Kodi Forum Data Breach - Lessons Learned, Actions Taken | News | Kodi
T-Mobile suffered the second data breach in 2023 - Security Affairs
Sensitive data is being leaked from servers running Salesforce software | Ars Technica
ChatGPT Confirms Data Breach, Raising Security Concerns (securityintelligence.com)
Millions of patients’ data confirmed stolen after Fortra mass-hack | TechCrunch
TikTok security breach allowed attackers to leak personal information (ynetnews.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crooks broke into AT&T email accounts to empty their crypto wallets - Security Affairs
Level Finance crypto exchange hacked after two security audits (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers stole $93M from crypto projects in April (cryptoslate.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
The costly threat that many businesses fail to address - Help Net Security
The hidden security risks in tech layoffs and how to mitigate them | CSO Online
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Hackers swap stealth for realistic checkout forms to steal credit cards (bleepingcomputer.com)
Advanced Fee Fraud Surges by Over 600% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cyber criminals use proxies to legitimize fraudulent requests - Help Net Security
UK to ban all cold calls selling financial products - BBC News
Smartphone owners warned about ‘shoulder-surfing’ thieves (thetimes.co.uk)
UK intelligence agencies to step up anti-fraud efforts | Financial Times (ft.com)
National Crime Agency urged to crush rogue US candy stores (thetimes.co.uk)
Clampdown on cold calls and mass texting technology announced in UK | Scams | The Guardian
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Dark Web
FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals – Security Week
Supply Chain and Third Parties
How to keep calm and carry on in a supply chain attack • The Register
SolarWinds: The Untold Story of the Boldest Supply-Chain Hack | WIRED
DOJ Detected SolarWinds Breach Months Before Public Disclosure | WIRED
Aviva says it thinks customer data secure after Capita cyber attack (proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
Cloud/SaaS
Using just-in-time access to reduce cloud security risk - Help Net Security
Cloud security threats are growing faster than ever | TechRadar
Hybrid/Remote Working
Employees Using ‘Productivity Theater’ To Protect Against Surveillance, Study Finds (forbes.com)
White House seeks information on tools used for automated employee surveillance | Computerworld
Attack Surface Management
Encryption
API
Report shows 92% of orgs experienced an API security incident last year | VentureBeat
Researchers Discover 3 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure API Management Service (thehackernews.com)
5 API security best practices you must implement - Help Net Security
Top API vulnerabilities organisations can't afford to ignore - Help Net Security
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Your passwords could be cracked using thermal cameras powered by AI | TechRadar
Your Google Account is getting rid of its password (androidpolice.com)
PSA. Don’t share your password in your app’s release notes • Graham Cluley
Social Media
TikTok security breach allowed attackers to leak personal information (ynetnews.com)
Twitter outage logs you out and won’t let you back in (bleepingcomputer.com)
Meta kills over 1,000 ChatGPT-related malicious spoofs • The Register
Strike 3: FTC says Meta still failing to protect privacy • The Register
Malvertising
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
European Data at Risk With Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber attack Volumes- IT Security Guru
White House unveils AI rules to address safety and privacy | Computerworld
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Hackers Are Finding Ways to Evade Latest Cyber security Tools (yahoo.com)
Global Cyber Attacks Rise by 7% in Q1 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
European Data at Risk With Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber attack Volumes- IT Security Guru
Data loss costs go up, and not just from ransom shakedowns • The Register
Boards Are Having the Wrong Conversations About Cyber security (hbr.org)
Uber Ex-Security Chief Joe Sullivan to Be Sentenced for Breach (gizmodo.com)
Trends and Insights from the New Global Threat Intelligence Report - MSSP Alert
Why Your Detection-First Security Approach Isn't Working (thehackernews.com)
How Strategic Threat Intelligence Elevates a Cyber security Program (accelerationeconomy.com)
Benefits and Challenges of Data Analytics in Cyber security (analyticsinsight.net)
What the Cyber security Industry Can Learn From the SVB Crisis (darkreading.com)
4 Ways Leaders Should Reevaluate Their Cyber security's Focus (forbes.com)
Optimising Cyber Security Costs In A Recession (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Malicious content lurks all over the web - Help Net Security
Microsoft Digital Defence Report: Key Cyber crime Trends (darkreading.com)
Closing up holes: Infoseccers on being less reactive • The Register
Organisations brace for cyber attacks despite improved preparedness - Help Net Security
Global Cyber Risk Lowers to Moderate Level in 2H' 2022 (trendmicro.com)
Japan’s ‘myth of security’ raises cyber attack risk | Financial Times (ft.com)
Secure Disposal
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
UK Cyber Security Council launches certification mapping tool - Help Net Security
DHS’ cyber talent management system slowly gaining traction | Federal News Network
The warning signs for security analyst burnout and ways to prevent - Help Net Security
Google Launches Cyber security Career Certificate Program (darkreading.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals - SecurityWeek
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Open Banking: A Perfect Storm for Security and Privacy? - SecurityWeek
Employees Using ‘Productivity Theater’ To Protect Against Surveillance, Study Finds (forbes.com)
Apple and Google Team Up to Stop Unwanted Tracking by AirTags, Other Devices - CNET
White House seeks information on tools used for automated employee surveillance | Computerworld
Strike 3: FTC says Meta still failing to protect privacy • The Register
Artificial Intelligence
5 ways threat actors can use ChatGPT to enhance attacks | CSO Online
Workers are secretly using ChatGPT, AI, with big risks for companies (cnbc.com)
AI will do 'real damage', warns Microsoft chief (telegraph.co.uk)
Microsoft’s chief economist says A.I. can be dangerous | Fortune
It's time to harden AI and ML for cyber security | TechTarget
Stop using generative-AI tools, Samsung orders staff | Digital Trends
ChatGPT Confirms Data Breach, Raising Security Concerns (securityintelligence.com)
How To Secure Web Applications Against AI-assisted Cyber Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
PrivateGPT Tackles Sensitive Info in ChatGPT Prompts (darkreading.com)
Meta kills over 1,000 ChatGPT-related malicious spoofs • The Register
How AI is reshaping the cyber security landscape - Help Net Security
White House unveils AI rules to address safety and privacy | Computerworld
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Hackers use fake ‘Windows Update’ guides to target Ukrainian govt (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian APT Hacked Tajikistani Carrier to Spy on Government, Public Services - SecurityWeek
Russian APT Nomadic Octopus hacked Tajikistani carrier - Security Affairs
Russia’s APT28 targets Ukraine with bogus Windows updates • The Register
Russian spy network smuggles sensitive EU tech despite sanctions | Financial Times (ft.com)
Finnish newspaper hides Ukraine news reports for Russians in online game | Censorship | The Guardian
Meta Unravels Social Media Cyber Espionage Operations In South Asia (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Nation State Actors
China’s Hackers Vastly Outnumber US. Cyber Agents by 50 to 1, FBI Director Testifies - MSSP Alert
Chinese APT Uses New 'Stack Rumbling' Technique to Disable Security Software - SecurityWeek
China 'Innovated' Its Cyber attack Tradecraft, Mandia Says (darkreading.com)
'BellaCiao' Showcases How Iran's Threat Groups Are Modernizing Their Malware (darkreading.com)
APT41 Subgroup Plows Through Asia-Pacific, Utilizing Layered Stealth Tactics (darkreading.com)
APT41’s PowerShell Backdoor Download Files From Windows (cyber securitynews.com)
US Chamber of Commerce warns of major increase in risks for businesses in China | CNN Business
China’s ‘men in black’ step up scrutiny of foreign corporate sleuths | Financial Times (ft.com)
Microsoft says Iranian hackers combine influence ops with hacking for maximum impact | CyberScoop
Attack on Security Titans: Earth Longzhi Returns With New Tricks (trendmicro.com)
North Korean APT Gets Around Macro-Blocking With LNK Switch-Up (darkreading.com)
Meta Unravels Social Media Cyber Espionage Operations In South Asia (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
China labels USA ‘Empire of hacking’ citing old WikiLeaks • The Register
Kimsuky hackers use new recon tool to find security gaps (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
WordPress Vulnerability Hits +1 Million Using Header & Footer Plugin (searchenginejournal.com)
Cisco discloses a bug in Prime Collaboration Deployment solution - Security Affairs
Cisco Warns of Critical Vulnerability in EoL Phone Adapters - SecurityWeek
Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch, rapidly screws up • The Register
Zyxel Firewall Devices Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution Attacks — Patch Now (thehackernews.com)
Researchers Uncover New BGP Flaws in Popular Internet Routing Protocol Software (thehackernews.com)
AMD TPM Exploit: faulTPM Attack Defeats BitLocker and TPM-Based Security (Updated) (msn.com)
Netgear Vulnerabilities Lead to Credentials Leak, Privilege Escalation - SecurityWeek
Researchers Discover 3 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure API Management Service (thehackernews.com)
Apple Releases First-Ever Security Updates for Beats, AirPods Headphones - SecurityWeek
Some of the top AMD chips are suffering a serious security flaw | TechRadar
Tools and Controls
How Strategic Threat Intelligence Elevates a Cyber security Program (accelerationeconomy.com)
86 percent of developers knowingly deploy vulnerable code (betanews.com)
The hidden security risks in tech layoffs and how to mitigate them | CSO Online
Benefits and Challenges of Data Analytics in Cyber security (analyticsinsight.net)
ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)
It's time to harden AI and ML for cyber security | TechTarget
Using just-in-time access to reduce cloud security risk - Help Net Security
Using multiple solutions adds complexity to your zero trust strategy - Help Net Security
Your decommissioned routers could be a security disaster | Network World
Wanted Dead or Alive: Real-Time Protection Against Lateral Movement (thehackernews.com)
5 API security best practices you must implement - Help Net Security
3 questions CISOs expect you to answer during a security pitch | TechCrunch
Level Finance crypto exchange hacked after two security audits (bleepingcomputer.com)
4 Principles for Creating a New Blueprint for Secure Software Development (darkreading.com)
How To Secure Web Applications Against AI-assisted Cyber Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
AppSec Making Progress or Spinning Its Wheels? (darkreading.com)
Windows admins can now sign up for ‘known issue’ email alerts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Top API vulnerabilities organisations can't afford to ignore - Help Net Security
How AI is reshaping the cyber security landscape - Help Net Security
Getting cyber-resilience right in a zero-trust world starts at the endpoint | VentureBeat
Practical Protection: Limiting the Damage from Local Admin Accounts (practical365.com)
To Fight Cyber Extortion and Ransomware, Shift Left (trendmicro.com)
Using Threat Intelligence to Get Smarter About Ransomware – Security Week
New Generative AI Tools Aim to Improve Security (darkreading.com)
Other News
Firmware Looms as the Next Frontier for Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Open Banking: A Perfect Storm for Security and Privacy? – Security Week
Malicious content lurks all over the web - Help Net Security
How Public-Private Information Sharing Can Level the Cyber security Playing Field (darkreading.com)
Eric Idle tells RSAC to look in the bright side of life • The Register
Your decommissioned routers could be a security disaster | Network World
FBI Focuses on Cyber security With $90M Budget Request (darkreading.com)
Google will remove secure website indicators in Chrome 117 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 September 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 September 2022:
-UK Organisations, Ukraine's Allies Warned of Potential "Massive" Cyber Attacks By Russia
-Cyber Criminals See Allure in BEC Attacks Over Ransomware
-Most Hackers Need 5 Hours or Less to Break Into Enterprise Environments
-Global Firms Deal with 51 Security Incidents Each Day
-Phishing Attacks Crushed Records Last Quarter, Driven by Mobile
-Why Paying the Ransom is Still the Most Common Response to a Ransomware Attack?
-Ransomware Attacks Continue Increasing: 20% of All Reported Attacks Occurred in the Last 12 Months
-More Than Half of Security Pros Say Risks Higher in Cloud Than On Premise
-How To Outsmart Increasingly Complex Cyber Attacks
-Top Issues Driving Cyber Security: Growing Number of Cyber Criminals, Variety of Attacks
-Cyber Threats Top Business Leaders' Biggest Concerns
-Fired Admin Cripples Former Employer's Network Using Old Credentials
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
UK Organisations, Ukraine's Allies Warned of Potential "Massive" Cyber Attacks By Russia
The head of the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Lindy Cameron has given an update on Russia’s cyber activity amid its war with Ukraine. Her speech at Chatham House last week came just a few days after Ukraine’s military intelligence agency issued a warning that Russia was “preparing massive cyber attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and its allies.” This coincides with a new Forrester report that reveals the extent to which the cyber impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has expanded beyond the conflict zone with malware attacks propagating into European entities.
Addressing Russian cyber activity this year, Cameron stated that, while we have not seen the “cyber-Armageddon” some predicted, there has been a “very significant conflict in cyber space – probably the most sustained and intensive cyber campaign on record – with the Russian State launching a series of major cyber attacks in support of their illegal invasion in February.”
Russian cyber forces from their intelligence and military branches have been busy launching a huge number of attacks in support of immediate military objectives.
Since the start of the year, the NCSC has been advising UK organisations to take a more proactive approach to cyber security in light of the situation in Ukraine. “There may be organisations that are beginning to think ‘is this still necessary?’ as in the UK we haven’t experienced a major incident related to the war in Ukraine. My answer is an emphatic yes,” Cameron said.
In response to significant recent battlefield set-backs, Putin has been reacting in unpredictable ways, and so we shouldn’t assume that just because the conflict has played out in one way to date, it will continue to go the same way, Cameron added. “There is still a real possibility that Russia could change its approach in the cyber domain and take more risks – which could cause more significant impacts in the UK.” UK organisations and their network defenders should therefore be prepared for this period of elevated alert with a focus on building long-term resilience, which is a “marathon not a sprint,” she said.
Cyber Criminals See Allure in BEC Attacks Over Ransomware
While published trends in ransomware attacks have been contradictory — with some firms tracking more incidents and other fewer — business email compromise (BEC) attacks continue to have proven success against organisations.
BEC cases, as a share of all incident-response cases, more than doubled in the second quarter of the year, to 34% from 17% in the first quarter of 2022. That's according to Arctic Wolf's "1H 2022 Incident Response Insights" report, published on 29 September, which found that specific industries — including financial, insurance, business services, and law firms, as well as government agencies — experienced more than double their previous number of cases, the company said.
Overall, the number of BEC attacks encountered per email box has grown by 84% in the first half of 2022, according to data from cyber security firm Abnormal Security.
Meanwhile, so far this year, threat reports released by organisations have revealed contradictory trends for ransomware. Arctic Wolf and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) have seen drops in the number of successful ransomware attacks, while business customers seem to be encountering ransomware less often, according to security firm Trellix. At the same time, network security firm WatchGuard had a contrary take, noting that its detection of ransomware attacks skyrocketed 80% in the first quarter of 2022, compared with all of last year.
The surging state of BEC landscape is unsurprising because BEC attacks offer cyber criminals advantages over ransomware. Specifically, BEC gains do not rely on the value of cryptocurrency, and attacks are often more successful at escaping notice while in progress. Threat actors are unfortunately very opportunistic.
For that reason, BEC — which uses social engineering and internal systems to steal funds from businesses — continues to be a stronger source of revenue for cyber criminals. In 2021, BEC attacks accounted for 35%, or $2.4 billion, of the $6.9 billion in potential losses tracked by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), while ransomware remained a small fraction (0.7%) of the total.
https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/cybercriminals-see-allure-bec-attacks-ransomware
Most Hackers Need 5 Hours or Less to Break Into Enterprise Environments
A new survey of 300 ethical hackers provides insight into not only the most common means of initial access, but how a complete end-to-end attack happens.
Around 40% of ethical hackers recently surveyed by the SANS Institute said they can break into most environments they test, if not all. Nearly 60% said they need five hours or less to break into a corporate environment once they identify a weakness.
The SANS ethical hacking survey, done in partnership with security firm Bishop Fox, is the first of its kind and collected responses from over 300 ethical hackers working in different roles inside organisations, with different levels of experience and specialisations in different areas of information security. The survey revealed that on average, hackers would need five hours for each step of an attack chain: reconnaissance, exploitation, privilege escalation and data exfiltration, with an end-to-end attack taking less than 24 hours.
The survey highlights the need for organisations to improve their mean time-to-detect and mean-time-to-contain, especially when considering that ethical hackers are restricted in the techniques they're allowed to use during penetration testing or red team engagements. Using black hat techniques, like criminals do, would significantly improve the success rate and speed of attack.
When asked how much time they typically need to identify a weakness in an environment, 57% of the polled hackers indicated ten or fewer hours: 16% responded six to ten hours, 25% three to five hours, 11% one to two hours and 5% less than an hour.
Global Firms Deal with 51 Security Incidents Each Day
Security operations (SecOps) teams are struggling to respond to dozens of cyber security incidents every single day, according to a new report from Trellix.
The security vendor polled 9000 security decision makers from organisations with 500+ employees across 15 markets to compile its latest study, ‘XDR: Redefining the future of cyber security’.
It found that the average SecOps team has to manage 51 incidents per day, with 36% of respondents claiming they deal with 50 to 200 daily incidents. Around half (46%) agreed that they are “inundated by a never-ending stream of cyber-attacks.”
Part of the problem is the siloed nature of security and detection and response systems, the study claimed. Some 60% of respondents argued that poorly integrated products mean teams can’t work efficiently, while a third (34%) admitted they have blind spots. It’s perhaps no surprise, therefore, that 60% admitted they can’t keep pace with the rapid evolution of security threats.
This could be having a major impact on the bottom line. The vast majority (84%) of security decision makers that Trellix spoke to estimated that their organisation lost up to 10% of revenue from security breaches in the past year.
Medium size businesses ($50–$100m in revenue) lost an average of 8% in revenue, versus 5% for large businesses with a turnover of $10bn–$25bn. That could mean hundreds of millions of dollars are being thrown away each year due to inadequate SecOps.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-firms-51-security-incidents/
Phishing Attacks Crushed Records Last Quarter, Driven by Mobile
Last quarter saw a record-shattering number of observed phishing attacks, fuelled in large part by attempts to target users on their mobile devices.
The latest Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) "Phishing Activity Trends Report" for the second quarter of 2022 found 1,097,811 observed phishing attacks, the most the group has ever measured in its history.
The financial sector remained the top target for phishing lures (27.6%), along with other bombarded sectors, including webmail and software-as-a-service providers, social media sites, and cryptocurrency.
But much of the rise in phishing volume is due to a new threat actor focus on mobile devices, specifically vishing (voice phishing) and smishing (SMS phishing) attacks, the report noted.
https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/phishing-attacks-crushed-records-last-quarter
Why Paying the Ransom is Still the Most Common Response to a Ransomware Attack
According to new data from Databarracks, 44% of the organisations who experienced a ransomware assault paid the demanded ransom. 22% made use of ransomware decryption software, while 34% restored data from backups.
The Databarracks 2022 Data Health Check produced the results. The annual report has been collecting data on ransomware, cyber, backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity from more than 400 UK IT decision-makers since 2008.
From the victim’s standpoint, it’s logical why you may pay a ransom. You are unable to handle orders or provide customer support, and losses mount swiftly. Downtime expenses can easily surpass the ransom.
Organisations may believe that paying the ransom will solve the issue more quickly, allowing them to resume operations as usual. This strategy is faulty for a number of causes.
First of all, there is no assurance that your data will be returned. Second, once criminals know an organisation is an easy target, they frequently attack it again. Finally, it conveys the incorrect message. By paying, you are assisting the crooks by demonstrating that their strategies are effective.
Ransomware Attacks Continue Increasing: 20% of All Reported Attacks Occurred in the Last 12 Months
Nearly a quarter of businesses have suffered a ransomware attack, with a fifth occurring in the past 12 months, according to a latest annual report from cyber security specialist Hornetsecurity.
The 2022 Ransomware Report, which surveyed over 2,000 IT leaders, revealed that 24% have been victims of a ransomware attack, with one in five (20%) attacks happening in the last year.
Cyber attacks are happening more frequently. Last year's ransomware survey revealed one in five (21%) companies experienced an attack; this year it rose by three percent to 24%.
Attacks on businesses are increasing, and there is a shocking lack of awareness and preparation by IT pros. The survey shows that many in the IT community have a false sense of security as bad actors develop new techniques.
The 2022 Ransomware Report highlighted a lack of knowledge on the security available to businesses. A quarter (25%) of IT professionals either don't know or don't think that Microsoft 365 data can be impacted by a ransomware attack.
Just as worryingly, 40% of IT professionals that use Microsoft 365 in their organisation admitted they do not have a recovery plan in case their Microsoft 365 data was compromised by a ransomware attack.
Microsoft 365 is vulnerable to phishing attacks and ransomware attacks, but with the help of third-party tools, IT admins can back up their Microsoft 365 data securely and protect themselves from such attacks.
Industry responses showed the widespread lack of preparedness from IT professionals and businesses. There has been an increase in businesses not having a disaster recovery plan in place if they do succumb to the heightened threat of a cyber attack.
In 2021, 16% of respondents reported having no disaster recovery plan in place. In 2022, this grew to 19%, despite the rise in attacks.
More Than Half of Security Pros Say Risks Higher in Cloud Than On Premise
A recent survey from machine identity solutions provider Venafi aimed to explore the complexity of cloud environments and the resulting impact on cyber security.
Venafi surveyed 1,101 security decision makers (SDMs) in firms with more than 1,000 employees and found that eighty-one percent of companies have experienced a cloud security incident in the last year. Forty-five percent have suffered at least four security incidents in the same period. More than half of security decision makers believe that security risks are higher in the cloud than on-premise.
Twenty-four percent of the firms have more than 10,000 employees. Ninety-two percent of the SDMs are at manager level or above, with 49% at c-suite level or higher.
Most of the firms surveyed believe the underlying issue is the increasing complexity of their cloud deployments. Since these companies already host 41% of their applications in the cloud, and expect to increase this to 57% over the next 18 months, the problem is only likely to worsen in the future.
The ripest target of attack in the cloud is identity management, especially machine identities. Each of these cloud services, containers, Kubernetes clusters and microservices needs an authenticated machine identity – such as a TLS certificate – to communicate securely. If any of these identities is compromised or misconfigured, it dramatically increases security and operational risks.
Respondents reported that the most common cloud incidents are security incidents during runtime (34%), unauthorised access (33%), misconfigurations (32%), vulnerabilities that have not been remediated (24%), and failed audits (19%).
Their primary operational concerns are hijacking of accounts, services or traffic (35%), malware or ransomware (31%), privacy/data access issues such as those from GDPR (31%), unauthorised access (28%), and nation state attacks (26%).
https://www.securityweek.com/more-half-security-pros-say-risks-higher-cloud-premise
How To Outsmart Increasingly Complex Cyber Attacks
Threat detection is harder today than it was two years ago. Next year will be harder than this year. Why? It’s a compounding effect from skills shortages and threat varieties that’s making it more challenging for any one product to handle key security wins. And cyber security is a constantly evolving sector with 2022 a devastating year for cyber security. Both hackers and security experts are always in a battle to outsmart each other.
Even for businesses with good IT departments, data protection can too quickly become an afterthought. Today’s threat landscape is growing, not just in the frequency of attacks (and the number of high-profile breaches recorded in the media) but so is the complexity of any given threat. A recent piece of research found that in 93 percent of cases, an external attacker can breach an organisation’s network perimeter and gain access to local network resources. Following increasing levels of cyber-attacks, it’s a case of “not if I will be hit by a ransomware attack,” but “when…” Organisations need to do something to mitigate the risk and protect their businesses, and they need to do it now.
Planning and executing a better defence to outsmart attackers and win more security battles doesn’t have to feel like a military operation – but it does require the right service coverage to remove blind spots and reduce emerging risks before they escalate.
https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/articles/how-to-outsmart-increasingly-complex-cyber-attacks/
Top Issues Driving Cyber Security: Growing Number of Cyber Criminals, Variety of Attacks
Fortifying cyber security defences remains a work in progress for many organisations, who acknowledge their shortcomings but have yet to commit the necessary resources to the effort, according to new research from CompTIA.
While a majority of respondents in each of seven geographic regions feels that their company’s cyber security is satisfactory, CompTIA’s “State of Cybersecurity” shows that a much smaller number rank the situation as “completely satisfactory.” Nearly everyone feels that there is room for improvement.
“Companies are aware of the threats they face and the potential consequences of an attack or breach,” said Seth Robinson, VP of industry research, CompTIA. “But they may be underestimating their exposure and how much they need to invest in cyber security. Risk mitigation is the key, the filter through which everything should be viewed.”
Two of the top three issues driving cyber security considerations are the growing volume of cyber criminals, cited by 48% of respondents, and the growing variety of cyber attacks (45%). Additionally, ransomware and phishing have quickly become major areas of concern as digital operations have increased and human error has proven more costly.
“Digital transformation driven by cloud and mobile adoption requires a new strategic approach to cyber security, but this poses significant challenges, both tactically and financially,” Robinson said. “As IT operations and strategy have grown more complex, so has the management of cyber security.”
As cyber security is more tightly integrated with business objectives, zero trust is the overarching policy that should be guiding modern efforts, though its adoption will not take place overnight because it requires a drastically different way of thinking and acting. The report suggests there is small progress in recognising a holistic zero trust approach, but better progress in adopting some elements that are part of an overarching zero trust policy.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/09/30/top-issues-driving-cybersecurity/
Cyber Threats Top Business Leaders' Biggest Concerns
Cyber threats are the number one concern for business decision makers, beating worries over economic uncertainty, rising energy costs and hiring, according to insurance provider Travelers. The firm polled over 1200 business leaders to compile its 2022 Travelers Risk Index report.
This is the third time in four years that cyber has emerged as the top concern, with more than half (57%) of respondents believing a future cyber-attack on their organisation is inevitable. A quarter (26%) said their company had already been a breach victim, the seventh successive year this figure has risen.
The top two cyber-related concerns were suffering a security breach (57%), and a system glitch causing computers to crash (55%). Becoming a cyber-extortion victim rose from eighth position to third this year.
However, despite general concern about cyber-threats, business decision-makers may also be guilty of overconfidence in their organisation’s security posture.
Nearly all respondents (93%) said they’re confident their company has implemented best practices to prevent or mitigate a cyber event. Yet most have not deployed endpoint detection and response tools (64%), they haven’t conducted a vendor cyber-assessment (59%), and don’t have an incident response plan (53%). Further, while 90% said they’re familiar with multi-factor authentication (MFA), only 52% had implemented it for remote access. This increasingly matters, not only to mitigate cyber-risk but also to reduce insurance premium costs and increase coverage.
Cyber attacks can shut down a company for a long period of time or even put it out of business, and it’s imperative that companies have a plan in place to mitigate any associated operational and financial disruptions.
Effective measures that have proven to reduce the risk of becoming a cyber victim are available, but based on these survey results, not enough companies are taking action. It’s never too late, and these steps can help businesses avoid a devastating cyber-event.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyberthreats-top-business-big/
Fired Admin Cripples Former Employer's Network Using Old Credentials
After being laid off, an IT system administrator disrupted the operations of his former employer, a high-profile financial company in Hawaii, hoping to get his job back.
Casey K Umetsu, aged 40, worked as a network admin for the company between 2017 and 2019, when his employer terminated his contract. The US Department of Justice says in a press release that the defendant pled guilty to accessing his former employer's website and making configuration changes to redirect web and email traffic to external computers.
To prolong the business disruption for several more days, Umetsu performed additional actions that essentially locked out the firm's IT team from the website administration panel. In the end, the victimised company learned who was responsible for the sabotage after reporting the cyber security incident to the FBI.
Umetsu is awaiting sentence for his wrongdoings on January 19, 2023. He faces a maximum of 10 years of prison time and a fine of up to $250,000.
While Umetsu's actions are condemnable, the company's security practices cannot be overlooked since Umetsu used credentials that should have been invalidated the moment he got fired.
Threats
Ransomware and Extortion
Ransomware data theft tool may show a shift in extortion tactics (bleepingcomputer.com)
The various ways ransomware impacts your organization - Help Net Security
New Royal Ransomware emerges in multi-million dollar attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Research: 20% of All Reported Ransomware Attacks Occurred in the Last 12 Months - MSSP Alert
BlackCat Ransomware Attackers Spotted Fine-Tuning Their Malware Arsenal (thehackernews.com)
Noberus ransomware gets info-stealing upgrades • The Register
SQL Server admins warned to watch for Fargo ransomware • The Register
BlackCat/ALPHV Gang Adds Wiper Functionality as Ransomware Tactic (darkreading.com)
Leaked LockBit 3.0 builder used by ‘Bl00dy’ ransomware gang in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
NCC Group: IceFire ransomware gang ramping up attacks (techtarget.com)
MS SQL servers are getting hacked to deliver ransomware to orgs - Help Net Security
Hackers Leak French Hospital Patient Data in Ransom Fight | SecurityWeek.Com
Oxford Health: Cyber attack continues to hit NHS trust's services - BBC News
LA School District Ransomware Attackers Now Threaten to Leak Stolen Data (darkreading.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Fake US govt job offers push Cobalt Strike in phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Germany arrests hacker for stealing €4 million via phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Capital One Phish Showcases Growing Bank-Brand Targeting Trend (darkreading.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
How cyber criminals use public online and offline data to target employees | CSO Online
Beware Revolut frozen card scams sent via SMS text • Graham Cluley
IRS warns Americans of massive rise in SMS phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malware
Office exploits continue to spread more than any other category of malware - Help Net Security
This credit card-stealing malware is spreading like wildfire | Digital Trends
Hacking group hides backdoor malware inside Windows logo image (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers now sharing cracked Brute Ratel post-exploitation kit online (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cobalt Strike malware campaign targets job seekers (techtarget.com)
New Botnet 'Chaos' Targeting Linux, Windows Systems (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Malware targets VMware users for espionage, Mandiant says • The Register
Chaos Malware Resurfaces With All-New DDoS & Cryptomining Modules (darkreading.com)
Quantum Builder tool helps criminals spread Windows RATs • The Register
Unit 42 finds polyglot files delivering IcedID malware (techtarget.com)
Hackers use PowerPoint files for 'mouseover' malware delivery (bleepingcomputer.com)
Does AI-powered malware exist in the wild? Not yet (techtarget.com)
New Erbium password-stealing malware spreads as game cracks, cheats (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lazarus APT continues to target job seekers with macOS malware - Security Affairs
APT28 relies on PowerPoint Mouseover to deliver Graphite malware - Security Affairs
Mobile
WhatsApp 0-Day Bug Let Hackers Execute an Arbitary Code Remotely (gbhackers.com)
Adware on Google Play and Apple Store installed 13 million times (bleepingcomputer.com)
Samsung facing class action suit after customer data leak • The Register
Inside a cyber attack method that targets your cellphone - The Washington Post
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Watchfinder warns customers that hackers stole their data • Graham Cluley
Shangri-La hotels Customer Database Hacked | SecurityWeek.Com
Hacker Behind Optus Breach Releases 10,200 Customer Records in Extortion Scheme (thehackernews.com)
Australia government wants Optus to pay for data breach | ZDNET
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Ukraine Arrests Cyber Crime Group for Selling Data of 30 Million Accounts (thehackernews.com)
New hacking group ‘Metador’ lurking in ISP networks for months (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Scams targeting crypto enthusiasts are becoming increasingly common - Help Net Security
Chaos Malware Resurfaces With All-New DDoS & Cryptomining Modules (darkreading.com)
Cyber sleuth alleges $160M Wintermute hack was an inside job (cointelegraph.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Identities Stolen From 1 In 4 Internet Users (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Fake Sites Siphon Millions of Dollars in 3-Year Scam (darkreading.com)
Here’s how crooks are using deepfakes to scam your biz • The Register
Deepfakes
Reshaping the Threat Landscape: Deepfake Cyber attacks Are Here (darkreading.com)
The deepfake danger: When it wasn’t you on that Zoom call | CSO Online
Software Supply Chain
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
Hackers are making DDoS attacks sneakier and harder to protect against | ZDNET
UK's MI5 website briefly hit by denial of service attack - BBC | Reuters
Chaos Malware Resurfaces With All-New DDoS & Cryptomining Modules (darkreading.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Cloud security trends: What makes cloud infrastructure vulnerable to threats? - Help Net Security
81% of Companies Suffered A Cloud Security Incident Last Year – (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
What Lurks in the Shadows of Cloud Security? (darkreading.com)
Open Source
Open source projects under attack, with enterprises as the ultimate targets - Help Net Security
Microsoft: Lazarus hackers are weaponizing open-source software (bleepingcomputer.com)
Numerous orgs hacked after installing weaponized open source apps | Ars Technica
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
The Country Where You Live Impacts Password Choices (darkreading.com)
Five Steps to Mitigate the Risk of Credential Exposure (thehackernews.com)
Social Media
Fake CISO Profiles on LinkedIn Target Fortune 500s – Krebs on Security
Ofcom chair says tech firms must prioritise safety alongside clicks | Ofcom | The Guardian
UK may fine TikTok $29 million for failing to protect children's privacy | Reuters
Training, Education and Awareness
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Cyber Warfare Rife in Ukraine, But Impact Stays in Shadows | SecurityWeek.Com
Mystery hackers are “hyperjacking” targets for insidious spying | Ars Technica
Cyber espionage group developed backdoors tailored for VMware ESXi hypervisors | CSO Online
Taiwanese citizens prepare for possible cyber war (axios.com)
Malware targets VMware users for espionage, Mandiant says • The Register
Espionage Group Wields Steganographic Backdoor Against Govs, Stock Exchange (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Researchers Identify 3 Hacktivist Groups Supporting Russian Interests (thehackernews.com)
APT28 relies on PowerPoint Mouseover to deliver Graphite malware - Security Affairs
Meta dismantles massive Russian network spoofing Western news sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – China
Chinese Cyberespionage Group 'Witchetty' Updates Toolset in Recent Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
China’s infosec researchers may have dodged vuln report ban` • The Register
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Lazarus Lures Aspiring Crypto Pros With Fake Exchange Job Postings (darkreading.com)
Microsoft: Lazarus hackers are weaponizing open-source software (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lazarus APT continues to target job seekers with macOS malware - Security Affairs
Lazarus hackers abuse Dell driver bug using new FudModule rootkit (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – Iran
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerabilities
Exchange Server zero-day being actively exploited • The Register
Microsoft Confirms Pair of Blindsiding Exchange Zero-Days, No Patch Yet (darkreading.com)
Cisco Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities in Networking Software | SecurityWeek.Com
Sophos fixes critical code injection bug under exploit • The Register
Zoho ManageEngine flaw is actively exploited, CISA warns | CSO Online
Lazarus hackers abuse Dell driver bug using new FudModule rootkit (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Quashes 5 High-Severity Bugs With Chrome 106 Update (darkreading.com)
Critical WhatsApp Bugs Could Have Let Attackers Hack Devices Remotely (thehackernews.com)
Go Update iOS, Chrome, and HP Computers to Fix Serious Flaws | WIRED
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
High-Profile Hacks Show Effectiveness of MFA Fatigue Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Poll Of IT Security Pros Suggests Gaps In UK Cyber Defence (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Why Organisations Need Both EDR and NDR for Complete Network Protection (thehackernews.com)
Lessons From the GitHub Cyber Security Breach (darkreading.com)
Data security trends: 7 statistics you need to know - Help Net Security
Why does a Legacy WAF Fail to “Catch” Sophisticated Attacks? (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Akamai finds 13 million malicious newly observed domains a month | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Opinion | The Uber Hack Exposes More Than Failed Data Security - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Cyber security Study Sees “Siloed” Security As Organisational Weak Spot - MSSP Alert
3 types of attack paths in Microsoft Active Directory environments - Help Net Security
97% of enterprises say VPNs are prone to cyber attacks: Study | CSO Online
65% of companies are considering adopting VPN alternatives - Help Net Security
Spoofing cyber attack can make cameras see things that aren’t there | New Scientist
Zero Trust is the Goal But Much Ground Yet to Cover, CompTIA Reports - MSSP Alert
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 24 June 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 24 June 2022:
-The NCSC Sets Out the UK’s Cyber Threat Landscape
-We're Now Truly in The Era of Ransomware as Pure Extortion Without the Encryption
-5 Social Engineering Assumptions That Are Wrong
-Gartner: Regulation, Human Costs Will Create Stormy Cyber Security Weather Ahead
-Ransomware Attacks - This Is the Data That Cyber Criminals Really Want to Steal
-Cloud Email Threats Soar 101% in a Year
-80% of Firms Suffered Identity-Related Breaches in Last 12 Months
-After Being Breached Once, Many Companies Are Likely to Be Hit Again
-Do You Have Ransomware Insurance? Look at the Fine Print
-The Price of Stolen Info: Everything on Sale On The Dark Web
-How Companies Are Prioritizing Infosec and Compliance
-Businesses Risk ‘Catastrophic Financial Loss’ from Cyber Attacks, US Watchdog Warns
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
The NCSC Sets Out the UK’s Cyber Threat Landscape
The current state of the UK’s cyber threat landscape was outlined by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), during a keynote address on the final day of Infosecurity Europe 2022.
They described the cyber threats posed by nation-states, particularly Russia and China. Russia remains “one of the world’s most prolific cyber actors and dedicates significant resources to conducting cyber operations across the globe.” The NCSC and international partner organisations have attributed a number of high-profile attacks related to the conflict to Russian state actors, including the Viasat incident on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Therefore, the NCSC recommends that organisations prepare for a dynamic situation that is liable to change rapidly.
The NCSC emphasised that a more significant long-term threat comes from China, citing GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming’s assertion that “Russia is affecting the weather, but China is shaping the climate.” She described the nation’s “highly sophisticated” activities in cyberspace, born out of its “increasing ambitions to project its influence beyond its borders.” This includes a keen interest in the UK’s commercial secrets.
In addition to nation-state attacks, the NCSC noted that cyber crime is continuing to rise, with ransomware a continuing concern. Attacks are expected to grow in scale, with threat actors likely to increasingly target managed service providers (MSPs) to gain access to a wider range of targets. More generally, cyber capabilities will become more commoditised over the next few years, meaning they are increasingly available to a larger group of would-be attackers who are willing to pay.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ncsc-uk-cyber-threat-landscape/
We're Now Truly in The Era of Ransomware as Pure Extortion Without the Encryption
Increasingly cyber crime rings tracked as ransomware operators are turning toward primarily data theft and extortion – and skipping the encryption step altogether. Rather than scramble files and demand payment for the decryption keys, and all the faff in between in facilitating that, simply exfiltrating the data and demanding a fee to not leak it all is just as effective. This shift has been ongoing for many months, and is now virtually unavoidable.
The FBI and CISA this month warned about a lesser-known extortion gang called Karakurt, which demands ransoms as high as $13 million. Karakurt doesn't target any specific sectors or industries, and the gang's victims haven't had any of their documents encrypted and held to ransom. Instead, the crooks claim to have stolen data, with screenshots or copies of exfiltrated files as proof, and they threaten to sell it or leak it publicly if they don't receive a payment.
Some of these thieves offer discounted ransoms to corporations to encourage them to pay sooner, with the demanded payment getting larger the longer it takes to cough up the cash (or Bitcoin, as the case may be).
Additionally, some crime groups offer sliding-scale payment systems. So you pay for what you get, and depending on the amount of ransom paid you get a control panel, you get customer support, you get all of the tools you need."
https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/25/ransomware_gangs_extortion_feature/
5 Social Engineering Assumptions That Are Wrong
Social engineering is involved in the vast majority of cyber attacks, but a new report from Proofpoint has revealed five common social engineering assumptions that are not only wrong but are repeatedly subverted by malicious actors in their attacks.
Threat actors don’t have conversations with targets.
Legitimate services are safe from social engineering abuse.
Attackers only use computers, not telephones.
Replying to existing email conversations is safe.
Fraudsters only use business-related content as lures.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Sherrod DeGrippo, Proofpoint’s Vice-President Threat Research and Detection, stated that the vendor has attempted to debunk faulty assumptions made by organisations and security teams so they can better protect employees against cyber crime. “Despite defenders’ best efforts, cyber criminals continue to defraud, extort and ransom companies for billions of dollars annually. Security-focused decision makers have prioritised bolstering defences around physical and cloud-based infrastructure, which has led to human beings becoming the most relied upon entry point for compromise. As a result, a wide array of content and techniques continue to be developed to exploit human behaviours and interests.”
Indeed, cyber criminals will go to creative and occasionally unusual lengths to carry out social engineering campaigns, making it more difficult for users to avoid falling victim to them.
Gartner: Regulation, Human Costs Will Create Stormy Cyber Security Weather Ahead
Security teams should prepare for what researchers say will be a challenging environment through 2023, with increased pressure from government regulators, partners, and threat actors.
Gartner kicked off its Security & Risk Management Summit with the release of its analysts' assessments of the work ahead, which Richard Addiscott, the company's senior director analyst, discussed during his opening keynote address.
“We can’t fall into old habits and try to treat everything the same as we did in the past,” Addiscott said. “Most security and risk leaders now recognise that major disruption is only one crisis away. We can’t control it, but we can evolve our thinking, our philosophy, our program, and our architecture.”
Topping Gartner's list of eight predictions is a rise in the government regulation of consumer privacy rights and ransomware response, a widespread shift by enterprises to unify security platforms, more zero trust, and, troublingly, the prediction that by 2025 threat actors will likely have figured out how to "weaponise operational technology environments successfully to cause human casualties”, the cyber security report said.
Ransomware Attacks - This Is the Data That Cyber Criminals Really Want to Steal
There are certain types of data that criminals target the most, according to an analysis of attacks.
Data theft and extortion has become a common – and unfortunately effective – part of ransomware attacks, where in addition to encrypting data and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, gangs steal information and threaten to publish it if a payment isn't received.
These so-called double extortion attacks have become an effective tool in the arsenal of ransomware gangs, who leverage them to force victims to pay up, even in cases where data could be restored from offline backups, because the threat of sensitive information being published is too great.
Any stolen data is potentially useful to ransomware gangs, but according to analysis by researchers at cyber security company Rapid7, of 161 disclosed ransomware incidents where data was published, some data is seen as more valuable than others.
According to the report, financial services is the sector that is most likely to have customer data exposed, with 82% of incidents involving ransomware gangs accessing and making threats to release this data. Stealing and publishing sensitive customer information would undermine consumer trust in financial services organisations: while being hacked in the first place would be damaging enough, some business leaders might view paying a ransom to avoid further damage caused by data leaks to be worth it.
The second most-leaked type of file in ransomware attacks against financial services firms, featuring in 59% of disclosures from victims, is employee personally identifiable information (PII) and data related to human resources.
Cloud Email Threats Soar 101% in a Year
The number of email-borne cyber-threats blocked by Trend Micro surged by triple digits last year, highlighting the continued risk from conventional attack vectors.
The vendor stopped over 33.6 million such threats reaching customers via cloud-based email in 2021, a 101% increase. This included 16.5 million phishing emails, a 138% year-on-year increase, of which 6.5 million were credential phishing attempts.
Trend Micro also blocked 3.3 million malicious files in cloud-based emails, including a 134% increase in known threats and a 221% increase in unknown malware.
The news comes as Proofpoint warned in a new report of the continued dangers posed by social engineering, and the mistaken assumptions many users make.
Many users don’t realise that threat actors may spend considerable time and effort building a rapport over email with their victims, especially if they’re trying to conduct a business email compromise (BEC) attack, it said.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cloud-email-threats-soar-101-in-a/
80% of Firms Suffered Identity-Related Breaches in Last 12 Months
Rapidly growing employee identities, third-party partners, and machine nodes have companies scrambling to secure credential information, software secrets, and cloud identities, according to researchers.
In a survey of IT and identity professionals from Dimensional Research, almost every organisation — 98% — experienced rapid growth in the number of identities that have to be managed, with that growth driven by expanding cloud usage, more third-party partners, and machine identities. Furthermore, businesses are also seeing an increase in breaches because of this, with 84% of firms suffering an identity-related breach in the past 12 months, compared with 79% in a previous study covering two years.
The number and complexity of identities organisations are having to manage and secure is increasing. Whenever there is an increase in identities, there is a corresponding heightened risk of identity-related breaches due to them not being properly managed and secured, and with the attack surfaces also growing exponentially, these breaches can occur on multiple fronts.
For the most part, organisations focus on employee identities, which 70% consider to be the most likely to be breached and 58% believe to have the greatest impact, according to the 2022 "Trends in Securing Digital Identities" report based on the survey. Yet third-party partners and business customers are significant sources of risk as well, with 35% and 25% of respondents considering those to be a major source of breaches, respectively.
https://www.darkreading.com/operations/identity-related-breaches-last-12-months
After Being Breached Once, Many Companies Are Likely to Be Hit Again
Cymulate announced the results of a survey, revealing that two-thirds of companies who have been hit by cyber crime in the past year have been hit more than once, with almost 10% experiencing 10 or so more attacks a year.
Research taken from 858 security professionals surveyed across North America, EMEA, APAC and LATAM across a wide range of industries including technology, banking, finance and government, also highlighted larger companies hit by cyber crime are experiencing shorter disruption time and damage to business with 40% reported low damage compared with medium-size businesses (less than 2,500 employees) which had longer recovery times and more business affecting damage.
Other highlights
40% of respondents admitted to being breached over the past 12 months.
After being breached once, statistics showed they were more likely to be hit again than not (66%).
Malware (55%), and more specifically ransomware (40%) and DDoS (32%) were the main forms of cyber attacks experienced by those surveyed.
Attacks primarily occurred via end-user phishing (56%), via third parties connected to the enterprise (37%) or direct attacks on enterprise networks (34%).
22% of companies publicly disclosed cyber attacks in the worst-case breaches, with 35% needing to hire security consultants, 12% dismissing their current security professionals and 12% hiring public relations consultants to deal with the repercussions to their reputations. Top three best practices for cyber attack prevention, mitigation and remediation include multi-factor authentication (67%), proactive corporate phishing and awareness campaigns (53%), and well-planned and practiced incident response plans (44%). Least privilege also ranked highly, at 43%.
29% of attacks come from insider threats – intentionally or unintentionally.
Leadership and cyber security teams who meet regularly to discuss risk reduction are more cyber security-ready – those who met 15 times a year incurred zero breaches whereas those who suffered six or more breaches met under nine times on average.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/06/21/companies-hit-by-cybercrime/
Do You Have Ransomware Insurance? Look at the Fine Print
Insurance exists to protect the insured party against catastrophe, but the insurer needs protection so that its policies are not abused – and that's where the fine print comes in. However, in the case of ransomware insurance, the fine print is becoming contentious and arguably undermining the usefulness of ransomware insurance.
In recent years, ransomware insurance has grown as a product field because organisations are trying to buy protection against the catastrophic effects of a successful ransomware attack. Why try to buy insurance? Well, a single, successful attack can just about wipe out a large organisation, or lead to crippling costs – NotPetya alone led to a total of $10bn in damages.
Ransomware attacks are notoriously difficult to protect against completely. Like any other potentially catastrophic event, insurers stepped in to offer an insurance product. In exchange for a premium, insurers promise to cover many of the damages resulting from a ransomware attack.
Depending on the policy, a ransomware policy could cover loss of income if the attack disrupts operations, or loss of valuable data, if data is erased due to the ransomware event. A policy may also cover you for extortion – in others, it will refund the ransom demanded by the criminal.
The exact payout and terms will of course be defined in the policy document, also called the "fine print." Critically, fine print also contains exclusions, in other words circumstances under which the policy won't pay out. And therein lies the problem.
https://thehackernews.com/2022/06/do-you-have-ransomware-insurance-look.html
The Price of Stolen Info: Everything on Sale on The Dark Web
What is the price for personal information, including credit cards and bank accounts, on the dark web?
Privacy Affairs researchers concluded that criminals using the dark web need only spend $1,115 for a complete set of a person’s account details, enabling them to create fake IDs and forge private documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses.
Access to other information is becoming even cheaper. The Dark Web Price Index 2022 – based on data scanning dark web marketplaces, forums, and websites, revealed:
Credit card details and associated information cost between $17-$120
Online banking login information costs $45
Hacked Facebook accounts cost $45
Cloned VISA with PIN cost $20
Stolen PayPal account details, with minimum $1000 balances, cost $20.
In December 2021, about 4.5 million credit cards went up for sale on the dark web, the study found. The average price ranged from $1-$20.
Scammers can buy full credit card details, including CVV number, card number, associated dates, and even the email, physical address and phone number. This enables them to penetrate the credit card processing chain, overriding any security countermeasures.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/06/22/stolen-info-sale-dark-web/
How Companies Are Prioritising Infosec and Compliance
New research conducted by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), examines the impact of the compliance budget on security strategy and priorities. It describes areas for which companies prioritise information security and compliance, which leaders control information security spending, how compliance has shifted the overall security strategy of the organisation, and the solutions and tools on which organisations are focusing their technology spending.
The findings cover three critical areas of an organisation’s security and compliance posture: information security and IT audit and compliance, data security and data privacy, and security and compliance spending.
One key takeaway is that merging security and compliance priorities addresses regulatory control gaps while improving the organisation’s security posture. Respondents revealed insights on how they handle compliance, who is responsible for compliance and security responsibilities, and what compliance-related security challenges organisations face.
Additional findings:
Companies found the need to shift their information security strategy to address compliance priorities (93%).
Information security and IT compliance priorities are generally aligned (89%).
Existing security tools have to address data privacy considerations going forward (76%).
Managing an organisation’s multiple IT environments and the controls that govern those environments is the greatest challenge in the IT audit and compliance space (39%).
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/06/24/companies-infosec-compliance-priorities/
Businesses Risk ‘Catastrophic Financial Loss’ from Cyber Attacks, US Watchdog Warns
A US Government watchdog has warned that private insurance companies are increasingly backing out of covering damages from major cyber attacks — leaving businesses facing “catastrophic financial loss” unless another insurance model can be found.
The growing challenge of covering cyber risk is outlined in a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which calls for a government assessment of whether a federal cyber insurance option is needed.
The report draws on threat assessments from the National Security Agency (NSA), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Department of Justice, to quantify the risk of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, identifying vulnerable technologies that might be attacked and a range of threat actors capable of exploiting them.
Citing an annual threat assessment released by the ODNI, the report finds that hacking groups linked to Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea pose the greatest threat to US infrastructure — along with certain non-state actors like organised cyber criminal gangs.
Given the wide and increasingly skilled range of actors willing to target US entities, the number of cyber incidents is rising at an alarming rate.
Threats
Ransomware
Attackers exploited a Mitel VOIP zero-day to compromise a network Security Affairs
Chinese hackers use ransomware as decoy for cyber espionage (bleepingcomputer.com)
If you don't store valuable data, ransomware is impotent • The Register
Ransomware-as-a-Service: Learn to Enhance Cyber security Approaches (analyticsinsight.net)
Mitigate Ransomware in a Remote-First World (thehackernews.com)
Delivery Firm Yodel Scrambling to Restore Operations Following Cyber attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Black Basta Ransomware Becomes Major Threat in Two Months | SecurityWeek.Com
These hackers are spreading ransomware as a distraction - to hide their cyber spying | ZDNet
Conti ransomware hacking spree breaches over 40 orgs in a month (bleepingcomputer.com)
Conti effectively created an extortion-oriented IT company, says Group-IB - Help Net Security
Conti ransomware finally shuts down data leak, negotiation sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Conti ransomware group's pulse stops, but did it fake its own death? | Malwarebytes Labs
Without Conti on the Scene, LockBit 2.0 Leads Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)
Cyber attack: Gloucester council services still not back to normal - BBC News
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Your email is a major source of security risks and it's getting worse | ZDNet
New Phishing Attack Infects Devices with Cobalt Strike- IT Security Guru
Voicemail phishing emails steal Microsoft credentials • The Register
The Risk of Multichannel Phishing Is on the Horizon (darkreading.com)
Cops arrests nine suspected of stealing millions via email • The Register
Cyber criminals Use Azure Front Door in Phishing Attacks - Security Affairs
Microsoft Exchange servers hacked by new ToddyCat APT gang (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber attackers Abuse QuickBooks Cloud Service in 'Double-Spear' Campaign (darkreading.com)
Other Social Engineering
Proofpoint: Social engineering attacks slipping past users (techtarget.com)
Inside a large-scale phishing campaign targeting millions of Facebook users - Help Net Security
Malware
RIG Exploit Kit Now Infects Victims' PCs With Dridex Instead of Raccoon Stealer (thehackernews.com)
Organisations Battling Phishing Malware, Viruses the Most (darkreading.com)
This Linux botnet has found a novel way of spreading to new devices | ZDNet
New 'Quantum' Builder Lets Attackers Easily Create Malicious Windows Shortcuts (thehackernews.com)
NSA warns against silly mistake in the fight against Windows malware | TechRadar
Mobile
This Android malware is so dangerous, even Google is worried | TechRadar
Google is notifying Android users targeted by Hermit government-grade spyware | TechCrunch
This phone-wiping Android banking trojan is getting nastier | ZDNet
BRATA Android Malware Group Now Classified As Advanced Persistent Threat - Infosecurity Magazine
Spurred by Roe overturn, senators seek FTC probe of iOS and Android tracking | Ars Technica
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
US Bank Data Breach Impacts Over 1.5 Million Customers - Infosecurity Magazine
CafePress fined $500,000 for breach affecting 23 million users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Hackers steal $100 million from California cryptocurrency firm - CNN
DARPA study finds blockchain not as decentralised as assumed • The Register
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
Microsoft 365 Users in US Face Raging Spate of Attacks (darkreading.com)
Getting a Better Handle on Identity Management in the Cloud (darkreading.com)
Researchers Uncover Ways to Break the Encryption of 'MEGA' Cloud Storage Service (thehackernews.com)
Identity and Access Management
Risky behaviour reduced when executives put focus on identity security - Help Net Security
Access management issues may create security holes (techtarget.com)
IAM Research: Inadequate Programs Leave Organisations Open to Cyber Attacks - MSSP Alert
Why 84% Of US Firms Hit With Identity-Related Breaches In 2021 – Information Security Buzz
Open Source
Open-source software risks persist, according to new reports | CSO Online
Less Than Half of Organisations Have Open Source Security Policy - Infosecurity Magazine
Blind trust in open source security is hurting us: Report | ZDNet
Training, Education and Awareness
Privacy
Privacy-focused Brave Search grew by 5,000% in a year (bleepingcomputer.com)
Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade reversal sparks calls for strengthening privacy - CyberScoop
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Do Privacy and Data Protection Regulations Create as Many Problems as They Solve? | SecurityWeek.Com
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Phishing gang behind millions in losses dismantled by police (bleepingcomputer.com)
Euro Police Target Crime Groups Grooming Ukrainian Refugees Online - Infosecurity Magazine
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Microsoft: Russian Cyber Spying Targets 42 Ukraine Allies | SecurityWeek.Com
Italian spyware firm is hacking into iOS and Android devices, Google says | Computerworld
NSO claims 'more than 5' EU states used its Pegasus spyware • The Register
#InfosecurityEurope2022: Geopolitical Tensions a “Danger” to Cyber security - Infosecurity Magazine
Examples of Cyber Warfare #TrendTalksBizSec (trendmicro.com)
Ukraine deploys a DDoS protection service to survive the cyberwar | VentureBeat
Lithuania warns of rise in DDoS attacks against government sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russia's APT28 Launches Nuke-Themed Follina Exploit Campaign (darkreading.com)
Ukrainian cyber security officials disclose two new hacking campaigns - IT Security Guru
Scalper bots out of control in Israel, selling state appointments (bleepingcomputer.com)
Research questions potentially dangerous implications of Ukraine's IT Army - CyberScoop
Lithuania under cyber-attack after ban on Russian railway goodsSecurity Affairs
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Russia Steps Up Cyber-Espionage Against Ukraine Allies - Infosecurity Magazine
Fancy Bear Uses Nuke Threat Lure to Exploit 1-Click Bug | Threatpost
Russian APT28 hacker accused of the NATO think tank hack in Germany - Security Affairs
Russia fines Google for spreading ‘unreliable’ info defaming its army (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – China
Chinese APT 'Bronze Starlight' Uses Ransomware to Disguise Cyberespionage | SecurityWeek.Com
Chinese Tropic Trooper APT spreads a hacking tool laced with a backdoor - Security Affairs
Chinese hackers target script kiddies with info-stealer trojan (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – Iran
Nation State Actors – Misc APT
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Cisco warns of security holes in its security appliances • The Register
Google Patches 14 Vulnerabilities With Release of Chrome 103 | SecurityWeek.Com
Cisco will not address critical RCE in end-of-life Small Business RV routers - Security Affairs
Google expert detailed a 5-Year-Old flaw in Apple Safari exploited in the wild - Security Affairs
Oracle spent 6 months to fix 'Mega' flaws in the Fusion Middleware - Security Affairs
Researchers criticize Oracle's vulnerability disclosure process (techtarget.com)
Critical PHP Vulnerability Exposes QNAP NAS Devices to Remote Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Sector Specific
Financial Services Sector
Flagstar Bank discloses data breach impacting 1.5 million customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
7 Cyber security Best Practices for Financial Services Firms - MSSP Alert
Why Financial Institutions Must Double Down on Open Source Investments (darkreading.com)
SMBs – Small and Medium Businesses
How tool sprawl is becoming a common issue for SMEs - Help Net Security
Middle market companies under attack: Threats coming from all directions - Help Net Security
#InfosecurityEurope2022: How Should SMEs Defend Against Cyber-Risks? - Infosecurity Magazine
Legal
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
Retail/eCommerce
Magecart attacks are still around. And they are becoming more stealthy | ZDNet
Newly Discovered Magecart Infrastructure Reveals the Scale of Ongoing Campaign- IT Security Guru
Manufacturing
CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Threat Intelligence Services Are Universally Valued by IT Staff (darkreading.com)
Security pros increasingly plan to adopt MDR services in the next 12 months - Help Net Security
Board members and the C-suite need secure communication tools - Help Net Security
Adobe Acrobat may block antivirus tools from monitoring PDF files (bleepingcomputer.com)
7 Ways to Avoid Worst-Case Cyber Scenarios (darkreading.com)
3 threats dirty data poses to the enterprise (techtarget.com)
Data recovery depends on how good your backup strategy is - Help Net Security
Unsecured APIs Could Be Costing Firms $75bn Per Year - Infosecurity Magazine
The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Presumption of Compromise (darkreading.com)
#InfosecurityEurope2022: Are You Prepared For The Next Big Crisis? - Infosecurity Magazine
Ongoing PowerShell security threats prompt a call to action (techtarget.com)
Despite known security issues, VPN usage continues to thrive - Help Net Security
Space-based assets aren’t immune to cyber attacks | CSO Online
Cyber security expert on how $13K of fuel was stolen from station (wtvr.com)
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 May 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 May 2022
-Cyber Scams Cost Victims $6.9b-Plus Worldwide in 2021
-Bad Actors Are Maximizing Remote Everything
-New Hacker Group Pursuing Corporate Employees Focused on Mergers and Acquisitions
-FBI: Business Email Compromise: The $43 Billion Scam
-Disgruntled Employees Cashing in On Confidential Information Over Dark Web
-Google Sees More APTs Using Ukraine War-Related Themes
-Cryptocurrency Regulators Are Scrambling to Catch Up with Hackers Who Are Swiping Billions
-Tackling the Threats Posed by Shadow IT
-Hackers Used the Log4j Flaw to Gain Access Before Moving Across a Company's Network, Say Security Researchers
-This Sneaky Hacking Group Hid Inside Networks For 18 Months Without Being Detected
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Scams Cost Victims $6.9b-Plus Worldwide in 2021
Cyber-scams cost victims around the globe at least $6.9 billion last year, according to the FBI's latest Internet Crime Report.
Since 2017, the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received an average of 552,000 complaints per year. This includes reports of extortion, identity theft, phishing, fraud, and a slew of other nefarious schemes that cost victims no less than $18.7 billion in losses over the five-year period.
Unsurprisingly, the volume of these crimes — and related costs — have grown every year; 2021 set records for the total number of complaints (847,376) as well as losses exceeding $6.9 billion, a jump from the $4.2 billion reported a year earlier.
As with earlier years, phishing attacks were by far the most commonly reported crimes, with 323,972 last year. A subset of this category, business email compromise (BEC), is proving very lucrative and cost victims almost $2.4 billion from 19,954 victims, according to the Feds.
BEC involves a cyber criminal compromising a legitimate email account, and then tricking a business or individual into transferring funds, sending employees' personal data, or unlocking cryptocurrency wallets. The fraudster then steals the cash, drains the crypto wallet and/or sells employees' identities and credentials on the dark web.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/05/fbi_cyber_scams/
Bad Actors Are Maximising Remote Everything
The rise of remote work and learning opened new opportunities for many people – as we’ve seen by the number of people who have moved to new places or adapted to “workcations.” Cyber criminals are taking advantage of the same opportunities – just in a different way. Evaluating the prevalence of malware variants by region reveals a sustained interest by cyber adversaries in maximising the remote work and learning attack vector.
As hybrid work and learning become embedded paradigms in our culture, there are fewer layers of protection between malware and would-be victims. And bad actors are gaining access to more tools to help them pull off their nefarious deeds – like exploit kits. At the same time, the attack surface has rapidly expanded and continues to do so.
That means enterprises must take a work-from-anywhere approach to their security. They need to deploy solutions capable of following, enabling and protecting users no matter where they are located. They need security on the endpoint (EDR) combined with zero trust network access (ZTNA) approaches.
https://threatpost.com/bad-actors-remote-everything/179458/
This Sneaky Hacking Group Hid Inside Networks For 18 Months Without Being Detected
A previously undisclosed cyber-espionage group is using clever techniques to breach corporate networks and steal information related to mergers, acquisitions and other large financial transactions – and they've been able to remain undetected by victims for periods of more than 18 months.
Detailed by cyber security researchers at Mandiant, who've named it UNC3524, the hacking operation has been active since at least December 2019 and uses a range of advanced methods to infiltrate and maintain persistence on compromised networks that set it apart from most other hacking groups. These methods include the ability to immediately re-infect environments after access is removed. It's currently unknown how initial access is achieved.
One of the reasons UNC3524 is so successful at maintaining persistence on networks for such a long time is because it installs backdoors on applications and services that don't support security tools, such as anti-virus or endpoint protection.
FBI: Business Email Compromise: The $43 Billion Scam
According to the FBI, business email compromise (BEC) and email account compromise (EAC) losses have surpassed $43 billion globally. BEC/EAC is a sophisticated scam that targets both businesses and individuals who perform legitimate transfer-of-funds requests.
The BEC/EAC scam continues to grow and evolve, targeting small local businesses to larger corporations, and personal transactions. Between July 2019 and December 2021, there was a 65% increase in identified global exposed losses, meaning the dollar loss that includes both actual and attempted loss in United States dollars.
The following information was derived from filings with financial institutions between June 2016 and December 2021:
Domestic and international incidents: 241,206
Domestic and international exposed dollar loss: $43,312,749,946
The following BEC/EAC statistics were reported in victim complaints to the IC3 between October 2013 and December 2021:
Total US victims: 116,401
Total US exposed dollar loss: $14,762,978,290
Total non-US victims: 5,260
Total non-US exposed dollar loss: $1,277,131,099
Disgruntled Employees Cashing in On Confidential Information Over Dark Web
Disgruntled employees are making hundreds of thousands of dollars by leaking confidential information over a new platform on the so-called dark web, cyber researchers have said.
Hidden in a part of the internet that is only accessible using special software, the Industrial Spy platform promises huge payouts to staff willing to hand over "dirty secrets" to competitors, according to experts at intelligence business Cyberint.
Industrial Spy currently has data on twelve companies from a range of industries available to people who sign up, Cyberint said.
The platform recently managed to sell two tranches of company data for $400,000 (£318,236) and $750,000 each.
An individual has advertised the platform to potential purchasers of the data on the dark web.
The post said: "With our information you could refuse partnership with an unscrupulous partner, reveal dirty secrets of your competitors and earn millions of dollars using insider information."
Cyber criminals have long approached employees individually and offered a bribe to release sensitive information such as internal data and passwords to access computer systems.
But this new platform allows employees to act on their own initiative to steal data and sell it online.
Google Sees More APTs Using Ukraine War-Related Themes
Researchers at Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) say the number of advanced threat actors using Ukraine war-related themes in cyber attacks went up in April with a surge in malware attacks targeting critical infrastructure.
According to Google, known state-backed APT groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, along with various unattributed groups have been using war-related themes in phishing and malware distribution campaigns.
Looking at the cyber attacks that target Eastern Europe, however, a new Google report notes there hasn't been a significant change from the normal levels of activity, despite the increased adoption of lures related to the Ukraine war.
https://www.securityweek.com/google-sees-more-apts-using-ukraine-war-related-themes
Cryptocurrency Regulators Are Scrambling to Catch Up with Hackers Who Are Swiping Billions
Just four months in, 2022 has been a banner year for hackers, and fraudsters targeting the industry have swindled more than $1 billion from cryptocurrency investors, according to separate estimates by cryptocurrency analysis firm Immunefi.
The rise in fraud has put US regulators on the offensive. The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which has positioned itself as the industry’s main regulator and enforcer, announced on Tuesday that it was going to double its staff working to resources to combat the rise in fraud.
“Crypto markets have exploded in recent years, with retail investors bearing the brunt of abuses in this space. Meanwhile, cyber-related threats continue to pose existential risks to our financial markets and participants,” Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement said in a statement. “The bolstered Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit will be at the forefront of protecting investors and ensuring fair and orderly markets in the face of these critical challenges.”
https://www.cyberscoop.com/cryptocurrency-sec-cybersecurity-bitcoin-regulation-enforcement/
Tackling the Threats Posed by Shadow IT
While remote technologies have allowed businesses to shift their workforces online, this flexibility has created a swathe of challenges for IT teams who must provide a robust security framework for their organisation – encompassing all the personnel and devices within their remit. In addition to the ever-increasing number of personal devices, corporate devices and programs, more and more applications are moving to the cloud as workloads become increasingly distributed across public clouds and software-as-a-service (SaaS).
This means IT teams are even harder pressed to secure and manage the complex environments they operate in. The unsanctioned use of corporate IT systems, devices, and software – known as shadow IT – has increased significantly during the shift to remote work, and recent research found almost one in seven (68%) are concerned about information security because of employees following shadow IT practices.
Shadow IT can allow hackers to steal employee and customer identities, company intellectual property, and cause companies to fail compliance audits. It can also open the door to enterprises accidentally breaking laws and exposes organisations to data exfiltration, malware, and phishing.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/05/shadow-it-risk/
Hackers Used the Log4j Flaw to Gain Access Before Moving Across a Company's Network, Say Security Researchers
State-backed hacking groups are some of the most advanced cyber attack operations in the world - but criminals don't need to rely on them if they can exploit unpatched cyber security flaws.
A North Korean hacking and cyber espionage operation breached the network of an engineering firm linked to military and energy organisations by exploiting a cyber security vulnerability in Log4j.
First detailed in December, the vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228) allows attackers to remotely execute code and gain access to systems that use Log4j, a widely used Java logging library.
The ubiquitous nature of Log4j meant cyber security agencies urged organisations globally to apply security updates as quickly as possible, but months on from disclosure, many are still vulnerable to the flaw.
According to cyber security researchers at Symantec, one of those companies that was still vulnerable was an undisclosed engineering firm that works in the energy and military sectors. That vulnerability resulted in the company being breached when attackers exploited the gap on a public-facing VMware View server in February this year. From there, attackers were able to move around the network and compromise at least 18 computers.
New Hacker Group Pursuing Corporate Employees Focused on Mergers and Acquisitions
[Explanatory note from Black Arrow: When a group of cyber attackers is identified by the cyber security community, it is given a code name usually composed of letters and digits. These groups are also sometimes referred to as APTs., or Advanced Persistent Threats, because the groups are highly skilled and are persistent in their attacks; they are often supported by their state government].
A newly discovered suspected espionage threat actor has been targeting employees focusing on mergers and acquisitions as well as large corporate transactions to facilitate bulk email collection from victim environments.
Mandiant is tracking the activity cluster under the uncategorised moniker UNC3524, citing a lack of evidence linking it to an existing group. However, some of the intrusions are said to mirror techniques used by different Russia-based hacking crews like APT28 and APT29.
"The high level of operational security, low malware footprint, adept evasive skills, and a large Internet of Things (IoT) device botnet set this group apart and emphasise the 'advanced' in Advanced Persistent Threat," the threat intelligence firm said in a report.
The initial access route is unknown but upon gaining a foothold, attack chains involving UNC3524 culminate in the deployment of a novel backdoor called QUIETEXIT for persistent remote access for as long as 18 months without getting detected in some cases.
https://thehackernews.com/2022/05/new-hacker-group-pursuing-corporate.html
Threats
Ransomware
US DoS Offers a Reward of Up To $15M For Info on Conti Ransomware Gang - Security Affairs
Trend Micro Discovers AvosLocker Can Disable Antivirus Software (techtarget.com)
Experts Analyse Conti and Hive Ransomware Gangs' Chats with Their Victims (thehackernews.com)
New Ransomware Strains Linked to North Korean Govt Hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
REvil Revival: Are Ransomware Gangs Ever Really Gone? (darkreading.com)
What We've Learned in the 12 Months Since the Colonial Pipeline Attack (darkreading.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Google SMTP Relay Service Abused for Sending Phishing Emails (bleepingcomputer.com)
US DoD Scammed Out of $23M in Phishing Attack on Jet-Fuel Vendors (darkreading.com)
1000s of Phishing Emails Sent from NHS Inboxes - IT Security Guru
Malware
This New Fileless Malware Hides Shellcode in Windows Event Logs (thehackernews.com)
Raspberry Robin Spreads Via Removable USB Devices - Security Affairs
Hackers Using PrivateLoader PPI Service to Distribute New NetDooka Malware (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
IoT
Unpatched DNS Bug Affects Millions of Routers and IoT Devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
What Should I Know About Defending IoT Attack Surfaces? (darkreading.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs
Crypto Hackers Stole More Than $370 Million In April Alone (vice.com)
Ferrari Subdomain Hijacked to Push Fake Ferrari NFT Collection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Supply Chain
Open Source
Open-Source Security: It's Too Easy to Upload 'Devastating' Malicious Packages, Warns Google | ZDNet
How Linux Became the New Bullseye for Bad Guys | SecurityWeek.Com
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
Good End User Passwords Begin with A Well-Enforced Password Policy - Help Net Security
55% of People Rely on Their Memory To Manage Passwords - Help Net Security
A Third of Americans Use Easy-to-Guess Pet Passwords (darkreading.com)
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Mandiant CEO: False-flag Ops a Red Line For Nation-States • The Register
Anonymous and Ukraine IT Army Continue to Target Russian Entities - Security Affairs
Pro-Ukraine Hackers Use Docker Images to DDoS Russian Sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russia Hammered by Pro-Ukrainian Hackers Following Invasion | Ars Technica
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Russia-Linked APT29 Targets Diplomatic and Government Organisations - Security Affairs
Russian Ransomware Group Claims Attack on Bulgarian Refugee Agency - CyberScoop
Russia Cyber Attacks Raise Questions About Hacking Red Lines - Bloomberg
Putin Threatens Supply Chains with Counter-Sanction Order • The Register
Russian Hackers Targeting Diplomatic Entities in Europe, Americas, and Asia (thehackernews.com)
China-linked APT Curious Gorge Targeted Russian Govt Agencies - Security Affairs
Russia-Ukraine War Prompts Security Best Practices Refresher (techtarget.com)
Nation State Actors – China
China-Linked Winnti APT Group Silently Stole Trade Secrets for Years: Report | SecurityWeek.Com
State-Backed Chinese Hackers Target Russia - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Chinese "Override Panda" Hackers Resurface With New Espionage Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Experts Uncover New Espionage Attacks by Chinese 'Mustang Panda' Hackers (thehackernews.com)
China Not Happy With South Korea Joining NATO Cyber Defense Center | SecurityWeek.Com
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Security Researchers: Here's How the Lazarus Hackers Start Their Attacks | ZDNet
VHD Ransomware Variant Linked to North Korean Cyber Army (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerabilities
CISA Adds Five Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalogue | CISA
Aruba and Avaya Network Switches Are Vulnerable to RCE Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco Issues Patches for 3 New Flaws Affecting Enterprise NFVIS Software (thehackernews.com)
F5 Warns of a New Critical BIG-IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)
May 2022 Patch Tuesday Forecast: Look Beyond Just Application and OS Updates - Help Net Security
Critical Cisco VM-Escape Bug Threatens Host Takeover (darkreading.com)
Researchers Disclose Years-Old Vulnerabilities in Avast and AVG Antivirus (thehackernews.com)
QNAP Releases Firmware Patches for 9 New Flaws Affecting NAS Devices (thehackernews.com)
Critical RCE Bug Reported in dotCMS Content Management Software (thehackernews.com)
Sector Specific
Financial Services Sector
Telecoms
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
Education and Academia
Other News
Car Rental Company Sixt Hit by a Cyber Attack that Caused Disruptions - Security Affairs
White House Says To Prepare For Cryptography-Cracking Quantum Computers - Information Security Buzz
CMS-Based Sites Under Attack: The Latest Threats and Trends - Help Net Security
Mozilla Finds Mental Health Apps Fail 'Spectacularly' at User Security, Data Policies | ZDNet
UK to Place Security Requirements on App Developers and Store Operators - Infosecurity Magazine
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 December 2020: Cyber crime costs the world more than $1 trillion, 50% increase from 2018; One of the world's largest security firms breached; Chinese Breakthrough in Quantum Computing a Warning for Security Teams; Ransom payouts hit record-highs, surging 178% in a year; Ransomware Set to Continue to Evolve
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
Cyber crime costs the world more than $1 trillion, a 50% increase from 2018
Cyber crime costs the world economy more than $1 trillion, or just more than one percent of global GDP, which is up more than 50 percent from a 2018 study that put global losses at close to $600 billion. Beyond the global figure, the report also explored the damage reported beyond financial losses, finding 92 percent of companies felt effects beyond monetary losses.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/12/07/cybercrime-costs-world/
FireEye, one of the world's largest security firms, discloses security breach
FireEye, one of the world largest security firms, said today it was hacked and that a "highly sophisticated threat actor" accessed its internal network and stole hacking tools FireEye uses to test the networks of its customers.
The firm said the threat actor also searched for information related to some of the company's government customers.
The attacker was described as a "highly sophisticated threat actor, one whose discipline, operational security, and techniques lead us to believe it was a state-sponsored attack."
Chinese Breakthrough in Quantum Computing a Warning for Security Teams
China’s top quantum-computer researchers have reported that they have achieved quantum supremacy, i.e., the ability to perform tasks a traditional supercomputer cannot. And while it’s a thrilling development, the inevitable rise of quantum computing means security teams are one step closer to facing a threat more formidable than anything before.
https://threatpost.com/chinese-quantum-computing-warning-security/161935/
Ransom payouts hit record-highs, surging 178% in a year
Average ransom payouts increased by 178% in the third quarter of this year, from $84,000 (£63,000) to almost £234,000, compared with the year before. Ransomware payments reached record-highs in 2020 as employees shifted to remote working to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, creating more attack vectors for hackers.
Ransomware Set for Evolution in Attack Capabilities in 2021
Ransomware is set to evolve into a greater threat in 2021 as service offerings and collaborations increase. The year turned out “different than predicted” and the shift to working from home also impacted the e-crime landscape. “This created an industrialization of e-crime groups and their abilities to extend from single groups into business pipelines”
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-evolution-capabilities/
How Organisations Can Prevent Users from Using Breached Passwords
There is no question that attackers are going after your sensitive account data. Passwords have long been a target of those looking to compromise your environment. Why would an attacker take the long, complicated way if they have the keys to the front door?
https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/how-organizations-can-prevent-users.html
Threats
Ransomware
Hackers demand $34.7 million in Bitcoin after ransomware attack on Foxconn
Ransomware forces hosting provider Netgain to take down data centers
Ransomware-struck schools reject £1m demand from crims in timely reminder to always mind the air-gap
Phishing
IOT
Malware
Qbot malware switched to stealthy new Windows autostart method
Microsoft exposes Adrozek, malware that hijacks Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
Social media sharing icons could harbor info-stealing malware
All-new Windows 10 malware is excellent at evading detection
Rana Android Malware Updates Allow WhatsApp, Telegram IM Snooping
Vulnerabilities
Critical, Unpatched Bugs Open GE Radiological Devices to Remote Code Execution
Amnesia:33 vulnerabilities impact millions of smart and industrial devices
Expert discloses zero-click, wormable flaw in Microsoft Teams
Data Breaches
FireEye, one of the world's largest security firms, discloses security breach
Hackers leak data from Embraer, world's third-largest airplane maker
Threat Actors
Insider Threats
Other News
Reports Published in the Last Week
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.