Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 December 2022

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 Set to Become ‘Uninsurable’, Says Zurich Chief

The chief executive of one of Europe’s biggest insurance companies has warned that cyber attacks, rather than natural catastrophes, will become “uninsurable” as the disruption from hacks continues to grow.

Insurance executives have been increasingly vocal in recent years about systemic risks, such as pandemics and climate change, that test the sector’s ability to provide coverage. For the second year in a row, natural catastrophe-related claims are expected to top $100bn. 

But Mario Greco, chief executive at insurer Zurich, told the Financial Times that cyber was the risk to watch. “What will become uninsurable is going to be cyber,” he said. “What if someone takes control of vital parts of our infrastructure, the consequences of that?” Recent attacks that have disrupted hospitals, shut down pipelines and targeted government departments have all fed concern about this expanding risk among industry executives. Focusing on the privacy risk to individuals was missing the bigger picture, Greco added: “First off, there must be a perception that this is not just data . . . this is about civilisation. These people can severely disrupt our lives.” 

Spiralling cyber losses in recent years have prompted emergency measures by the sector’s underwriters to limit their exposure. As well as pushing up prices, some insurers have responded by tweaking policies so clients retain more losses. There are exemptions written into policies for certain types of attacks. In 2019, Zurich initially denied a $100mn claim from food company Mondelez, arising from the NotPetya attack, on the basis that the policy excluded a “warlike action”. The two sides later settled. In September, Lloyd’s of London defended a move to limit systemic risk from cyber attacks by requesting that insurance policies written in the market have an exemption for state-backed attacks.

https://www.ft.com/content/63ea94fa-c6fc-449f-b2b8-ea29cc83637d

Your Business Should Compensate for Modern Ransomware Capabilities Right Now

The “if, not when” mentality surrounding ransomware may be the biggest modern threat to business longevity. Companies of all sizes and across all industries are increasingly common targets for ransomware attacks, and we know that 94% of organisations experienced a cyber security incident last year alone. Yet, many enterprises continue to operate with decades-old security protocols that are unequipped to combat modern ransomware. Leaders have prioritised improving physical security measures in light of the pandemic — so why haven’t ransomware protections improved?

Maybe it’s the mistaken notion that ransomware attacks are declining. In reality, Q1 of 2022 saw a 200% YoY increase in ransomware incidents. Meanwhile, the rise in Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) offerings suggests that cyber threats have become a commodity for bad actors.

The RaaS market presents a new and troubling trend for business leaders and IT professionals. With RaaS — a subscription ransomware model that allows affiliates to deploy malware for a fee — the barrier to entry for hackers is lower than ever. The relatively unskilled nature of RaaS hackers may explain why the average ransomware downtime has plummeted to just 3.85 days (compared to an average attack duration of over two months in 2019).

While the decrease in attack duration is promising, the rise of RaaS still suggests an inconvenient truth for business leaders: All organisations are at risk. And in time, all organisations will become a target, which is why it’s time for IT and business leaders to implement tough cyber security protocols.

https://venturebeat.com/security/your-business-should-compensate-for-modern-ransomware-capabilities-right-now/

• Reported Phishing Attacks Have Quintupled

In the third quarter of 2022, the international Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) consortium observed 1,270,883 total phishing attacks; the worst quarter for phishing that APWG has ever observed. The total for August 2022 was 430,141 phishing sites, the highest monthly total ever reported to APWG.

Over recent years, reported phishing attacks submitted to APWG have more than quintupled since the first quarter of 2020, when APWG observed 230,554 attacks. The rise in Q3 2022 was attributable, in part, to increasing numbers of attacks reported against several specific targeted brands. These target companies and their customers suffered from large numbers of attacks from persistent phishers.

Threat researchers at the cyber security solution provider Fortra noted a 488 percent increase in response-based email attacks in Q3 2022 compared to the prior quarter. While every subtype of these attacks increased compared to Q2, the largest increase was in Advance Fee Fraud schemes, which rose by a staggering 1,074 percent.

In the third quarter of 2022, APWG founding member OpSec Security found that phishing attacks against the financial sector, which includes banks, remained the largest set of attacks, accounting for 23.2 percent of all phishing. Attacks against webmail and software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers remained prevalent as well. Phishing against social media services fell to 11 percent of the total, down from 15.3 percent.

Phishing against cryptocurrency targets — such as cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers — fell from 4.5 percent of all phishing attacks in Q2 2022 to 2 percent in Q3. This mirrored the fall in value of many cryptocurrencies since mid-year.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/28/reported-phishing-attacks-quintupled/

• Ransomware, DDoS See Major Upsurge Led by Upstart Hacker Group

Cyber threat actors Cuba and Royal are driving a 41% boom in ransomware and other attacks hitting industry and consumer goods and services.

According to the Global Threat Intelligence team of information assurance firm NCC Group, November saw a 41% increase in ransomware attacks from 188 incidents to 265. In its most recent Monthly Threat Pulse, the group reported that the month was the most active for ransomware attacks since April this year.

Key takeaways from the study:

• Ransomware attacks rose by 41% in November.

• Threat group Royal (16%) was the most active, replacing LockBit as the worst offender for the first time since September 2021.

• Industrials (32%) and consumer cyclicals (44%) remain the top two most targeted sectors, but technology experienced a large 75% increase over the last month.

• Regional data remains consistent with last month — North America (45%), Europe (25%) and Asia (14%)

• DDoS attacks continue to increase.

Recent examples in the services sector include the Play ransomware group’s claimed attack of the German H-Hotels chain, resulting in communications outages. This attack reportedly uses a vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange called ProxyNotShell, which as the name implies, has similarities to the ProxyShell zero-day vulnerability revealed in 2021.

Also, back on the scene is the TrueBot malware downloader (a.k.a., the silence.downloader), which is showing up in an increasing number of devices. TrueBot Windows malware, designed by a Russian-speaking hacking group identified as Silence, has resurfaced bearing Ransom.Clop, which first appeared in 2019. Clop ransomware encrypts systems and exfiltrates data with the threat that if no ransom is forthcoming, the data will show up on a leak site.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ransomware-ddos-major-upsurge-led-upstart-hacker-group/

• Videoconferencing Worries Grow, With SMBs in Cyber Attack Crosshairs

Securing videoconferencing solutions is just one of many IT security challenges small businesses are facing, often with limited financial and human resources.

It's no secret that the acceleration of work-from-home and distributed workforce trends — infamously spurred on by the pandemic — has occurred in tandem with the rise of video communications and collaboration platforms, led by Zoom, Microsoft, and Cisco.

But given that videoconferencing now plays a critical role in how businesses interact with their employees, customers, clients, vendors, and others, these platforms carry significant potential security risks, researchers say.

Organisations use videoconferencing to discuss M&A, legal, military, healthcare, intellectual property and other topics, and even corporate strategies. A loss of that data could be catastrophic for a company, its employees, its clients, and its customers.

However, a recent report on videoconferencing security showed that 93% of IT professionals surveyed acknowledged security vulnerabilities and gaping risks in their videoconferencing solutions.

Among the most relevant risks is the lack of controlled access to conversations that could result in disruption, sabotage, compromise, or exposure of sensitive information, while use of nonsecure, outdated, or unpatched videoconferencing applications can expose security flaws.

The risks include the potential for interruptions, unauthorised access, and perhaps most concerning, the opportunity for a bad actor to acquire sensitive information.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/videoconferencing-worries-grow-with-smbs-in-cyberattack-crosshairs

• Will the Crypto Crash Impact Cyber Security in 2023? Maybe.

With the implosion of the FTX exchange putting a punctuation mark on the cryptocurrency crash of 2022, one of the natural questions for those in the cyber security world is, how will this rapid decline of cryptocurrency valuations change the cyber crime economy?

Throughout the most recent crypto boom, and even before then, cyber criminals have used and abused cryptocurrency to build up their empires. The cryptocurrency market provides the extortionary medium for ransomware; it's a hotbed of scams against consumers to steal their wallets and accounts. Traditionally, it's provided a ton of anonymous cover for money laundering on the back end of a range of cyber criminal enterprises.

Even so, according to cyber security experts and intelligence analysts, while there certainly have been some shifts in trends and tactics that they believe are loosely tied to the crypto crash, the jury's still out on long-term impacts.

Regardless of crypto values, cyber criminals this year have definitely become more sophisticated in how they use cryptocurrencies to monetise their attacks including the use by some ransomware groups taking advantage of yield farming within decentralised finance (DeFi), as an example.

The concept of yield farming is the same as lending money, with a contract in place that clearly shows how much interest will need to be paid. The advantage for ransomware groups is that the 'interest' will be legitimate proceeds, so there will be no need to launder or hide it.

Threat actors are increasingly turning toward 'stablecoins,' which are usually tied to fiat currencies or gold to stem their volatility. In many ways, the downturn in crypto values has increased the risk appetite of cyber criminals and is spurring them into more investment fraud and cryptocurrency scams.

https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/crypto-crash-impact-cybersecurity-2023-maybe

• The Worst Hacks of 2022

The year was marked by sinister new twists on cyber security classics, including phishing, breaches, and ransomware attacks.

With the pandemic evolving into an amorphous new phase and political polarisation on the rise around the world, 2022 was an uneasy and often perplexing year in digital security. And while hackers frequently leaned on old chestnuts like phishing and ransomware attacks, they still found vicious new variations to subvert defences.

Technology magazine Wired looked back on the year's worst breaches, leaks, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, and digital takeovers. If the first years of the 2020s are any indication, the digital security field in 2023 will be more bizarre and unpredictable than ever. Stay alert, and stay safe out there.

Russia Hacking Ukraine

For years, Russia has pummelled Ukraine with brutal digital attacks causing blackouts, stealing and destroying data, meddling in elections, and releasing destructive malware to ravage the country's networks. Since invading Ukraine in February, though, times have changed for some of Russia's most prominent and most dangerous military hackers. Shrewd long-term campaigns and grimly ingenious hacks have largely given way to a stricter and more regimented clip of quick intrusions into Ukrainian institutions, reconnaissance, and widespread destruction on the network—and then repeated access over and over again, whether through a new breach or by maintaining the old access.

Twilio and the 0ktapus Phishing Spree

Over the summer, a group of researchers dubbed 0ktapus went on a massive phishing bender, compromising nearly 10,000 accounts within more than 130 organisations. The majority of the victim institutions were US-based, but there were dozens in other countries as well.

Ransomware Still Hitting the Most Vulnerable Targets

In recent years, countries around the world and the cyber security industry have increasingly focused on countering ransomware attacks. While there has been some progress on deterrence, ransomware gangs were still on a rampage in 2022 and continued to target vulnerable and vital social institutions, including health care providers and schools. The Russian-speaking group Vice Society, for example, has long specialised in targeting both categories, and it focused its attacks on the education sector this year.

The Lapsus$ Rampage Continues

The digital extortion gang Lapsus$ was on an intense hacking spree at the beginning of 2022, stealing source code and other sensitive information from companies like Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, and Microsoft and then leaking samples as part of apparent extortion attempts. Lapsus$ has a sinister talent for phishing, and in March, it compromised a contractor with access to the ubiquitous authentication service Okta.

LastPass

The beleaguered password manager giant LastPass, which has repeatedly dealt with data breaches and security incidents over the years, said at the end of December that a breach of its cloud storage in August led to a further incident in which hackers targeted a LastPass employee to compromise credentials and cloud storage keys.

Vanuatu

At the beginning of November, Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific, was hit by a cyber attack that took down virtually all of the government's digital networks. Agencies had to move to conducting their work on paper because emergency systems, medical records, vehicle registrations, driver's license databases, and tax systems were all down.

Honourable Mention: Twitter-Related Bedlam

Twitter has been in chaos mode for months following Elon Musk's acquisition of the company earlier this year. Amidst the tumult, reports surfaced in July and then again in November of a trove of 5.4 million Twitter users' data that has been circulating on criminal forums since at least July, if not earlier. The data was stolen by exploiting a vulnerability in a Twitter application programming interface, or API.

https://www.wired.com/story/worst-hacks-2022/

• Geopolitical Tensions Expected to Further Impact Cyber Security in 2023

Geopolitics will continue to have an impact on cyber security and the security posture of organisations long into 2023.

The impact of global conflicts on cyber security was thrust into the spotlight when Russia made moves to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine’s Western allies were quick to recognise that with this came the threat of Russian-backed cyber-attacks against critical national infrastructure (CNI), especially in retaliation to hefty sanctions. While this may not have materialised in the way many expected, geopolitics is still front of mind for many cyber security experts looking to 2023.

Russia has always been among a handful of states recognised for their cyber prowess and being the source of many cyber criminal gangs. As previously mentioned, we have failed to see a significant cyber-attack, at least one comparable to the Colonial Pipeline incident, in 2022. However the cyber security services provider, e2e-assure, warned: “We have underestimated Russia’s cyber capability. There is a wide view that Russian cyber activity leading up to and during their invasion of Ukraine indicated that they aren’t the cyber power we once thought. Patterns and evidence will emerge in 2023 that shows this wasn’t the case, instead Russia was directing its cyber efforts elsewhere, with non-military goals (financial and political).”

NordVPN, the virtual private network (VPN) provider, warns that the cyber-war is only just starting: “With China’s leader securing his third term and Russia’s war in Ukraine, many experts predict an increase in state-sponsored cyber-attacks. China may increase cyber-attacks on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other countries opposing the regime. Meanwhile, Russia is predicted to sponsor attacks on countries supporting Ukraine.”

We are used to seeing cyber-attacks that encrypt data and ask for ransom, but it is likely in this era of nation-state sponsored attacks we could experience attacks for the sake of disruption.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/geopolitical-tensions-impact/

• Fraudsters’ Working Patterns Have Changed in Recent Years

Less sophisticated fraud — in which doctored identity documents are readily spotted — has jumped 37% in 2022, according to the identify verfication provider Onfido. Fraudsters can scale these attacks on an organisation’s systems around the clock.

It is estimated that the current global financial cost of fraud is $5.38 trillion (£4.37 trillion), which is 6.4% of the world’s GDP. With most fraud now happening online (80% of reported fraud is cyber-enabled), Onfido’s Identity Fraud Report uncovers patterns of fraudster behaviour, attack techniques, and emerging tactics.

Over the last four years, fraudsters’ working patterns have dramatically changed. In 2019, attacks mirrored a typical working week, peaking Monday to Friday and dropping off during the weekends. Yet over the last three years, fraudulent activity started to shift so that levels of fraud span every day of the week.

In 2022, fraud levels were consistent across 24 hours, seven days a week. With technology, fraudsters are more connected across the globe and are able to traverse regions and time zones, and can easily take advantage of businesses’ closed hours when staff are likely offline. This hyperconnectivity means there are no more ‘business hours’ for fraudsters and sophisticated fraud rings — they will scam and defraud 24/7.

“As criminals look to take advantage of digitisation processes, they’re able to commit financial crimes with increasing efficiency and sophistication, to the extent that financial crime and cyber crime are now invariably linked,” said Interpol. “A significant amount of financial fraud takes place through digital technologies, and the pandemic has only hastened the emergence of digital money laundering tools and other cyber-enabled financial crimes.”

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/29/less-sophisticated-fraud/

• Hacktivism is Back and Messier Than Ever

Throughout 2022, geopolitics has given rise to a new wave of politically motivated attacks with an undercurrent of state-sponsored meddling.

During its brutal war in Ukraine, Russian troops have burnt cities to the ground, raped and tortured civilians, and committed scores of potential war crimes. On November 23, lawmakers across Europe overwhelmingly labelled Russia a “state sponsor” of terrorism and called for ties with the country to be reduced further. The response to the declaration was instant. The European Parliament’s website was knocked offline by a DDoS attack.

The unsophisticated attack—which involves flooding a website with traffic to make it inaccessible—disrupted the Parliament’s website offline for several hours. Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet claimed responsibility for the attack. The hacktivist group has targeted hundreds of organisations around the world this year, having some limited small-scale successes knocking websites offline for short periods of time. It’s been one player in a bigger hacktivism surge.

Following years of sporadic hacktivist activity, 2022 has seen the re-emergence of hacktivism on a large scale. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine spawned scores of hacktivist groups on both sides of the conflict, while in Iran and Israel, so-called hacktivist groups are launching increasingly destructive attacks. This new wave of hacktivism, which varies between groups and countries, comes with new tactics and approaches and, increasingly, is blurring lines between hacktivism and government-sponsored attacks.

https://www.wired.com/story/hacktivism-russia-ukraine-ddos/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Custom-Branded Ransomware: The Vice Society Group and the Threat of Outsourced Development - SentinelOne

• Jersey school locked out of systems as hackers demand "ransom" | Bailiwick Express Jersey

• Vice Society Ransomware Attackers Adopt Robust Encryption Methods (thehackernews.com)

• Global counter-ransomware task force to become active in January - CyberScoop

• Fool Me Thrice? How to Avoid Double and Triple Ransomware Extortion (darkreading.com)

• Rackspace criticized for PR response to ransomware attack (expressnews.com)

• After ransomware hits Colombian energy firm, Moody’s says low patch rate suggests inadequacies in cyber practices | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Ransomware, DDoS see major upsurge led by upstart hacker group (techrepublic.com)

• 6 Ways to Protect Your Organisation Against LAPSUS$ (darkreading.com)

• Your business should compensate for modern ransomware capabilities right now | VentureBeat

• Vice Society Adds Custom-branded Payload PolyVice to its Arsenal | Cyware Alerts - Hacker News

• Hackers stole data from multiple electric utilities in recent ransomware attack | CNN Politics

• Ransomware attack at Louisiana hospital impacts 270,000 patients (bleepingcomputer.com)

• The mounting death toll of hospital cyber attacks - POLITICO

• Royal ransomware claims attack on Intrado telecom provider (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Healthcare Providers and Hospitals Under Ransomware's Siege (darkreading.com)

• 2023 Predictions: Expect More Supply Chain Attacks, Ransomware-as-a-Service Kits in 2023 - MSSP Alert

• Guardian Australia staff sent home after cyber attack takes out systems (theage.com.au)

• Queensland University hit by cyber attack | PerthNow

• Dumfries Arnold Clark garages hit by company-wide cyber attack - Daily Record

• Ransom Deadline Given By LockBit In Port Of Lisbon Attack (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Reported phishing attacks have quintupled - Help Net Security

• 6 Ways to Protect Your Organisation Against LAPSUS$ (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Linkedin Is Full Of Job Scams – Be Careful Out There (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Malware

• GuLoader implements new evasion techniques - Security Affairs

• PrivateLoader PPI Service Found Distributing Info-Stealing RisePro Malware (thehackernews.com)

• 2022 sees over 5000 times new Windows malware vs macOS, over 60 times vs Linux - Neowin

• APT Hackers Turn to Malicious Excel Add-ins as Initial Intrusion Vector (thehackernews.com)

• New information-stealing malware is being spread by fake pirate sites | TechSpot

Mobile

• Hackers steal $8 million from users running trojanized BitKeep apps (bleepingcomputer.com)

• EarSpy: Spying on Phone Calls via Ear Speaker Vibrations Captured by Accelerometer | SecurityWeek.Com

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Cyber criminals create new methods to evade legacy DDoS defences - Help Net Security

Internet of Things – IoT

• Anker admits Eufy camera security issues | TechRadar

• Smart Home Cyber security Hubs: Protecting Endpoints in Your Smarthome (compuquip.com)

• Google Home speakers allowed hackers to snoop on conversations (bleepingcomputer.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• BetMGM discloses security breach impacting 1.5 Million customers - Security Affairs

• Massive Twitter data leak investigated by EU privacy watchdog (bleepingcomputer.com)

• LastPass finally admits: Those crooks who got in? They did steal your password vaults, after all… – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Massive EDiscovery Provider Shut Down Over 'Unauthorized Access' - Above the LawAbove the Law

• Data of 400 Million Twitter users up for sale - Security Affairs

• Ten significant data breaches from 2022 (smartermsp.com)

• It’s all in the (lack of) details: 2022’s badly handled data breaches | TechCrunch

• Military device with biometric database of 2K people sold on eBay for $68 | Ars Technica

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• 'Cyber crime has surpassed drug trafficking' - Rediff.com India News

• Labour attacks delays to online safety bill as it highlights Christmas scams | Cyber crime | The Guardian

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• FTX collapse shows crypto is 'too dangerous' not to regulate, Bank of England deputy governor says | Business News | Sky News

• How ‘brazen’ multibillion-dollar crypto fraud fell to pieces | Business | The Times

• BTC.com lost $3 million worth of cryptocurrency in cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers steal $8 million from users running trojanized BitKeep apps (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Bitcoin Mining Pool Btc.com Suffers $3 Million Cyber attack – Mining Bitcoin News

• Crypto wallet BitKeep lost over $9M over a cyber attack - Security Affairs

• Case for blockchain in financial services dented by failures | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Digital Assets Of $9.9 Million Stolen In BitKeep Cyber Attack (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Crypto platform 3Commas admits hackers stole API keys (bleepingcomputer.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Linkedin Is Full Of Job Scams – Be Careful Out There (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Scam complaints from Revolut users more than double since 2020 (telegraph.co.uk)

• Labour attacks delays to online safety bill as it highlights Christmas scams | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Fraudsters’ working patterns have changed in recent years - Help Net Security

• Experts warn of attacks exploiting WordPress gift card plugin - Security Affairs

• North Korean Hackers Created 70 Fake Bank, Venture Capital Firm Domains | SecurityWeek.Com

• Ukraine shuts down fraudulent call center claiming 18,000 victims (bleepingcomputer.com)

Insurance

• Zurich chief warned that cyber attacks will become uninsurable - Security Affairs

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• 2023 Predictions: Expect More Supply Chain Attacks, Ransomware-as-a-Service Kits in 2023 - MSSP Alert

Software Supply Chain

• Why Attackers Target GitHub, and How You Can Secure It (darkreading.com)

• Improving Software Supply Chain Cyber security (trendmicro.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Google: With Cloud Comes APIs & Security Headaches (darkreading.com)

Identity and Access Management

• Enterprises waste money on identity tools they don't use - Help Net Security

• Steps To Planning And Implementation Of PAM Solutions (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Encryption

• US passes the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act – and why not? – Naked Security (sophos.com)

API

• Crypto platform 3Commas admits hackers stole API keys (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google: With Cloud Comes APIs & Security Headaches (darkreading.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Extracting Encrypted Credentials From Common Tools (darkreading.com)

Biometrics

• Military device with biometric database of 2K people sold on eBay for $68 | Ars Technica

Social Media

• TikTok User Data Has Been Compromised (giantfreakinrobot.com)

• Elon Musk ‘orders Twitter to remove suicide prevention feature’ | Twitter | The Guardian

• Massive Twitter data leak investigated by EU privacy watchdog (bleepingcomputer.com)

• TikTok parent company ByteDance revealed the use of TikTok data to track journalists - Security Affairs

• Meta settles Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725m - BBC News

• TikTok bans haven't really banned much of anything - The Washington Post

• Twitter restores suicide prevention feature | Twitter | The Guardian

• Data of 400 Million Twitter users up for sale - Security Affairs

• Hacker claims to be selling Twitter data of 400 million users (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Piers Morgan’s Twitter account abuses queen and Ed Sheeran in apparent hack | Piers Morgan | The Guardian

• US House boots TikTok from government phones • The Register

Malvertising

• Hackers abuse Google Ads to spread malware in legit software (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber criminals using search engine ads to direct users to sites with malware, FBI warns | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Privacy

• The Threat of Predictive Policing to Data Privacy and Personal Liberty (darkreading.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• FTX collapse shows crypto is 'too dangerous' not to regulate, Bank of England deputy governor says | Business News | Sky News

• US passes the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act – and why not? – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• IBM and 70 Global Banks Co-Create New Cyber security, Risk Framework (accelerationeconomy.com)

• Economic uncertainty compels IT leaders to rethink their strategy - Help Net Security

• 3 important changes in how data will be used and treated - Help Net Security

• 2022 Top Five Immediate Threats in Geopolitical Context (thehackernews.com)

Secure Disposal

• For Sale on eBay: A Military Database of Fingerprints and Iris Scans - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• How to Get Your First Job in InfoSec (freecodecamp.org)

• IT Jobs: How To Become An Information Security Analyst (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• ‘There's a career in cyber security for everyone,’ Microsoft Security CVP says | Fortune

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Ukraine shuts down fraudulent call centre claiming 18,000 victims (bleepingcomputer.com)

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Google Home speakers allowed hackers to snoop on conversations (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Police in China can track protests by enabling ‘alarms’ on Hikvision software | China | The Guardian

• The Threat of Predictive Policing to Data Privacy and Personal Liberty (darkreading.com)

• Meta settles Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725m - BBC News

• 78% of Employers Are Using Remote Work Tools to Spy on You (entrepreneur.com)

• Germany: Police surveillance software a legal headache – DW – 12/22/2022

Artificial Intelligence

• Code-generating AI can introduce security vulnerabilities, study finds | TechCrunch

• AI cyber attacks are a ‘critical threat’. This is how NATO is countering them | Euronews

Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• 2022 Top Five Immediate Threats in Geopolitical Context (thehackernews.com)

• Ukraine marks a turning point for cyberwarfare – POLITICO

• Russia’s Cyberwar Foreshadowed Deadly Attacks on Civilians | WIRED

• Hacktivism Is Back and Messier Than Ever | WIRED

• Hundreds of Russian cyber attacks on CHPPs, regional power plants prevented - SBU

• Ukrainian Hackers Gather Data on Russian Soldiers, Minister Says - Bloomberg

• North Korean hackers targeted nearly 1,000 South Korean foreign policy experts

• German double agent ‘passed Ukraine intelligence to Russia’ (telegraph.co.uk)

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Hundreds of Russian cyber attacks on CHPPs, regional power plants prevented - SBU

• Russian mobile calls, internet seen deteriorating after Nokia, Ericsson leave – EURACTIV.com

Nation State Actors – China

• US House boots TikTok from government phones • The Register

• Police in China can track protests by enabling ‘alarms’ on Hikvision software | China | The Guardian

• Chinese-backed company instructs US law firm after UK blocked microchip factory takeover (telegraph.co.uk)

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• BlueNoroff APT Hackers Using New Ways to Bypass Windows MotW Protection (thehackernews.com)

• North Korean Hackers Created 70 Fake Bank, Venture Capital Firm Domains | SecurityWeek.Com

• North Korean hacking outfit impersonating venture capital firms | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• North Korean hackers targeted nearly 1,000 South Korean foreign policy experts

Nation State Actors – Iran

• An Iranian group hacked Israeli CCTV cameras, defence was aware but didn’t block it - Security Affairs

Nation State Actors – Misc

• APT Hackers Turn to Malicious Excel Add-ins as Initial Intrusion Vector (thehackernews.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Log4Shell remains a big threat and a common cause for security breaches | CSO Online

• After ransomware hits Colombian energy firm, Moody’s says low patch rate suggests inadequacies in cyber practices | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Patch now: Serious Linux kernel security hole uncovered | ZDNET

• Microsoft Patches Azure Cross-Tenant Data Access Flaw | SecurityWeek.Com

• Critical Linux Kernel flaw affects SMB servers with ksmbd enabled - Security Affairs

• Critical “10-out-of-10” Linux kernel SMB hole – should you worry? – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Log4Shell remains a big threat and a common cause for security breaches | CSO Online

• Thousands of Citrix servers vulnerable to patched critical flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Netgear warns users to patch recently fixed WiFi router bug (bleepingcomputer.com)

• CISA Warns of Active exploitation of JasperReports Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)

• Several DoS, Code Execution Vulnerabilities Found in Rockwell Automation Controllers | SecurityWeek.Com

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Tools and Controls

• Understanding current XDR elements and options | TechTarget

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Other News

• Cyber crime Top 10 Rankings: China is No. 1 While US Records Highest Rate of Security Breaches - MSSP Alert

• AI cyber attacks are a ‘critical threat’. This is how NATO is countering them | Euronews

• Review: 10 Biggest Hacks And Cyber Security Threats Of 2022 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Modern technology and cyber recovery will intersect in the next generation of attacks - Help Net Security

• New information-stealing malware is being spread by fake pirate sites | TechSpot

•  Ten significant data breaches from 2022 (smartermsp.com)

• Trend Micro: Expect 2023 to Bring Uncertainty to Cyber Attackers and Defenders - MSSP Alert

• After the Uber Breach: 3 Questions All CISOs Should Ask Themselves (darkreading.com)

• Top 10 Cyber Security Predictions For 2023 Based On Expert Responses (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• The Five Stories That Shaped Cyber security in 2022 | SecurityWeek.Com

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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

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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 23 December 2022

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

• LastPass Admits Attackers have an Encrypted Copy of Customers’ Password Vaults 

Password locker LastPass has warned customers that the August 2022 attack on its systems saw unknown parties copy encrypted files that contain the passwords to their accounts.

In a December 22nd update to its advice about the incident, LastPass brings customers up to date by explaining that in the August 2022 attack “some source code and technical information were stolen from our development environment and used to target another employee, obtaining credentials and keys which were used to access and decrypt some storage volumes within the cloud-based storage service.” Those creds allowed the attacker to copy information “that contained basic customer account information and related metadata including company names, end-user names, billing addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and the IP addresses from which customers were accessing the LastPass service.”

The update reveals that the attacker also copied “customer vault” data, the file LastPass uses to let customers record their passwords. That file “is stored in a proprietary binary format that contains both unencrypted data, such as website URLs, as well as fully-encrypted sensitive fields such as website usernames and passwords, secure notes, and form-filled data.” The passwords are encrypted with “256-bit AES encryption and can only be decrypted with a unique encryption key derived from each user’s master password”.

LastPass’ advice is that even though attackers have that file, customers who use its default settings have nothing to do as a result of this update as “it would take millions of years to guess your master password using generally-available password-cracking technology.” One of those default settings is not to re-use the master password that is required to log into LastPass. The outfit suggests you make it a complex credential and use that password for just one thing: accessing LastPass.

LastPass therefore offered the following advice to individual and business users: If your master password does not make use of the defaults above, then it would significantly reduce the number of attempts needed to guess it correctly. In this case, as an extra security measure, you should consider minimising risk by changing passwords of websites you have stored.

LastPass’s update concludes with news it decommissioned the systems breached in August 2022 and has built new infrastructure that adds extra protections.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/23/lastpass_attack_update/

• Ransomware Attacks Increased 41% In November

Ransomware attacks rose 41% last month as groups shifted among the top spots and increasingly leveraged DDoS attacks, according to new research from NCC Group.

A common thread of NCC Group's November Threat Pulse was a "month full of surprises," particularly related to unexpected shifts in threat actor behaviour. The Cuba ransomware gang resurged with its highest number of attacks recorded by NCC Group. Royal replaced LockBit 3.0 as the most active strain, a first since September of last year.

These factors and more contributed to the significant jump in November attacks, which rose from 188 in October to 265.

"For 2022, this increase represents the most reported incidents in one month since that of April, when there were 289 incidents, and is also the largest month-on-month increase since June-July's marginally larger increase of 47%," NCC Group wrote in the report.

Operators behind Royal ransomware, a strain that emerged earlier this year that operates without affiliates and utilises intermittent encryption to evade detection, surpassed LockBit 3.0 for the number one spot, accounting for 16% of hack and leak incidents last month.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/252528505/NCC-Group-Ransomware-attacks-increased-41-in-November

• The Risk of Escalation from Cyber Attacks Has Never Been Greater

In 2022, an American dressed in his pyjamas took down North Korea’s Internet from his living room. Fortunately, there was no reprisal against the United States. But Kim Jong Un and his generals must have weighed retaliation and asked themselves whether the so-called independent hacker was a front for a planned and official American attack.

In 2023, the world might not get so lucky. There will almost certainly be a major cyber attack. It could shut down Taiwan’s airports and trains, paralyse British military computers, or swing a US election. This is terrifying, because each time this happens, there is a small risk that the aggrieved side will respond aggressively, maybe at the wrong party, and (worst of all) even if it carries the risk of nuclear escalation.

This is because cyber weapons are different from conventional ones. They are cheaper to design and wield. That means great powers, middle powers, and pariah states can all develop and use them.

More important, missiles come with a return address, but virtual attacks do not. Suppose in 2023, in the coldest weeks of winter, a virus shuts down American or European oil pipelines. It has all the markings of a Russian attack, but intelligence experts warn it could be a Chinese assault in disguise. Others see hints of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. No one knows for sure. Presidents Biden and Macron have to decide whether to retaliate at all, and if so, against whom … Russia? China? Iran? It's a gamble, and they could get unlucky.

Neither country wants to start a conventional war with one another, let alone a nuclear one. Conflict is so ruinous that most enemies prefer to loathe one another in peace. During the Cold War, the prospect of mutual destruction was a huge deterrent to any great power war. There were almost no circumstances in which it made sense to initiate an attack. But cyber warfare changes that conventional strategic calculus. The attribution problem introduces an immense amount of uncertainty, complicating the decision our leaders have to make.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/12/the-risk-of-escalation-from-cyberattacks-has-never-been-greater/

• FBI Recommends Ad Blockers as Cyber Criminals Impersonate Brands in Search Engine Ads

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week raised the alarm on cyber criminals impersonating brands in advertisements that appear in search engine results. The agency has advised consumers to use ad blockers to protect themselves from such threats.

The attackers register domains similar to those of legitimate businesses or services, and use those domains to purchase ads from search engine advertisement services, the FBI says in an alert. These nefarious ads are displayed at the top of the web page when the user searches for that business or service, and the user might mistake them for an actual search result.

Links included in these ads take users to pages that are identical to the official web pages of the impersonated businesses, the FBI explains. If the user searches for an application, they are taken to a fake web page that uses the real name of the program the user searches for, and which contains a link to download software that is, in fact, malware.

“These advertisements have also been used to impersonate websites involved in finances, particularly cryptocurrency exchange platforms,” the FBI notes. Seemingly legitimate exchange platforms, the malicious sites prompt users to provide their login and financial information, which the cyber criminals then use to steal the victim’s funds.

“While search engine advertisements are not malicious in nature, it is important to practice caution when accessing a web page through an advertised link,” the FBI says.

Businesses are advised to use domain protection services to be notified of domain spoofing, and to educate users about spoofed websites and on how to find legitimate downloads for the company’s software.

Users are advised to check URLs to make sure they access authentic websites, to type a business’ URL into the browser instead of searching for that business, and to use ad blockers when performing internet searches. Ad blockers can have a negative impact on the revenues of online businesses and advertisers, but they can be good for online security, and even the NSA and CIA are reportedly using them.

https://www.securityweek.com/fbi-recommends-ad-blockers-cybercriminals-impersonate-brands-search-engine-ads

• North Korea-Linked Hackers Stole $626 Million in Virtual Assets in 2022

South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, estimated that North Korea-linked threat actors have stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets in the past five years.

According to the spy agency, more than half the crypto assets (about 800 billion won ($626 million)) have been stolen this year alone, reported the Associated Press. The Government of Pyongyang focuses on crypto hacking to fund its military program following harsh UN sanctions.

“South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said North Korea’s capacity to steal digital assets is considered among the best in the world because of the country’s focus on cyber crimes since UN economic sanctions were toughened in 2017 in response to its nuclear and missile tests.” reported the AP agency. North Korea cannot export its products due to the UN sanctions imposed in 2016 and 1017, and the impact on its economy is dramatic.

The NIS added that more than 100 billion won ($78 million) of the total stolen funds came from South Korea. Cyber security and intelligence experts believe that attacks aimed at the cryptocurrency industry will continue to increase next year. National Intelligence Service experts believe that North Korea-linked APT groups will focus on the theft of South Korean technologies and confidential information on South Korean foreign policy and national security.

Data published by the National Intelligence Service agency confirms a report published by South Korean media outlet Chosun early this year that revealed North Korean threat actors have stolen around $1.7 billion (2 trillion won) worth of cryptocurrency from multiple exchanges during the past five years.

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/139909/intelligence/north-korea-cryptocurrency-theft.html

• UK Security Agency Wants Fresh Approach to Combat Phishing

The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has called for a defence-in-depth approach to help mitigate the impact of phishing, combining technical controls with a strong reporting culture.

Writing in the agency’s blog, technical director and principal architect, “Dave C,” argued that many of the well-established tenets of anti-phishing advice simply don’t work. For example, advising users not to click on links in unsolicited emails is not helpful when many need to do exactly that as part of their job.

This is often combined with a culture where users are afraid to report that they’ve accidentally clicked, which can delay incident response, he said. It’s not the user’s responsibility to spot a phish – rather, it’s their organisation’s responsibility to protect them from such threats, Dave C argued.

As such, they should build layered technical defences, consisting of email scanning and DMARC/SPF policies to prevent phishing emails from arriving into inboxes. Then, organisations should consider the following to prevent code from executing:

• Allow-listing for executables

• Registry settings changes to ensure dangerous scripting or file types are opened in Notepad and not executed

• Disabling the mounting of .iso files on user endpoints

• Making sure macro settings are locked down

• Enabling attack surface reduction rules

• Ensuring third-party software is up to date

• Keeping up to date about current threats

Additionally, organisations should take steps such as DNS filtering to block suspicious connections and endpoint detection and response (EDR) to monitor for suspicious behaviour, the NCSC advised.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-security-agency-combat-phishing/

• GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges

An Android banking malware named 'Godfather' has been targeting users in 16 countries, attempting to steal account credentials for over 400 online banking sites and cryptocurrency exchanges.

The malware generates login screens overlaid on top of the banking and crypto exchange apps' login forms when victims attempt to log into the site, tricking the user into entering their credentials on well-crafted HTML phishing pages.

The Godfather trojan was discovered by Group-IB analysts, who believe it is the successor of Anubis, a once widely-used banking trojan that gradually fell out of use due to its inability to bypass newer Android defences. ThreatFabric first discovered Godfather in March 2021, but it has undergone massive code upgrades and improvements since then.

Also, Cyble published a report yesterday highlighting a rise in the activity of Godfather, pushing an app that mimics a popular music tool in Turkey, downloaded 10 million times via Google Play. Group-IB has found a limited distribution of the malware in apps on the Google Play Store; however, the main distribution channels haven't been discovered, so the initial infection method is largely unknown.

Almost half of all apps targeted by Godfather, 215, are banking apps, and most of them are in the United States (49), Turkey (31), Spain (30), Canada (22), France (20), Germany (19), and the UK (17).

Apart from banking apps, Godfather targets 110 cryptocurrency exchange platforms and 94 cryptocurrency wallet apps.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/godfather-android-malware-targets-400-banks-crypto-exchanges/

• Companies Overwhelmed by Available Tech Solutions

92% of executives reported challenges in acquiring new tech solutions, highlighting the complexities that go into the decision-making process, according to GlobalDots.

Moreover, some 34% of respondents said the overwhelming amount of options was a challenge when deciding on the right solutions, and 33% admitted the time needed to conduct research was another challenge in deciding.

Organisations of all varieties rely on technology more than ever before. The constant adoption of innovation is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity to stay on par in today’s fast-paced and competitive digital landscape. In this environment, IT and security leaders are coming under increased pressure to show ROIs from their investment in technology while balancing operational excellence with business innovation. Due to current market realities, IT teams are short-staffed and suffering from a lack of time and expertise, making navigating these challenges even more difficult.

The report investigated how organisations went about finding support for their purchasing decisions. Conferences, exhibitions, and online events served as companies’ top source of information for making purchasing decisions, at 52%. Third-party solutions, such as value-added resellers and consultancies, came in second place at 48%.

54% are already using third parties to purchase, implement, or support their solutions, highlighting the value that dedicated experts with in-depth knowledge of every solution across a wide range of IT fields provide.

We are living in an age of abundance when it comes to tech solutions for organisations, and this makes researching and purchasing the right solutions for your organisation extremely challenging.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/20/tech-purchasing-decisions/

• Nine in 10 Third-party Contractors, Freelancers Use Personal, Unmanaged Devices Likely to be Infected

Talon Cyber Security surveyed 258 third-party providers to better understand the state of third-party working conditions, including work models, types of devices and security technologies used, potentially risky actions taken, and how security and IT tools impact productivity.

Looking at recent high-profile breaches, third parties have consistently been at the epicenter, so they took a step back with their research to better understand the potential root causes. The findings paint a picture of a third-party work landscape where individuals are consistently working from personal, unmanaged devices, conducting risky activities, and having their productivity impacted by legacy security and IT solutions.

Here’s what Talon discovered:

• Most third parties (89%) work from personal, unmanaged devices, where organisations lack visibility and cannot enforce the enterprise’s security posture on. Talon pointed to a Microsoft data point that estimated users are 71% more likely to be infected on an unmanaged device.

• With third parties working from personal devices, they tend to carry out personal, potentially risky tasks. Respondents note that at least on occasion, they have used their devices to:

  • Browse the internet for personal needs (76%)

  • Indulge in online shopping (71%)

  • Check personal email (75%)

  • Save weak passwords in the web browser (61%)

  • Play games (53%)

  • Allow family members to browse (36%)

  • Share passwords with co-workers (24%)

• Legacy apps such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions are prominent, with 45% of respondents using such technologies while working for organisations.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/nine-in-10-third-party-contractors-freelancers-use-personal-unmanaged-devices-likely-to-be-infected/

• UK Privacy Regulator Names and Shames Breached Firms

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has taken the unusual step of publishing details of personal data breaches, complaints and civil investigations on its website, according to legal experts.

The data, available from Q4 2021 onwards, includes the organisation’s name and sector, the relevant legislation and the type of issues involved, the date of completion and the outcome.

Given the significance of this development, it’s surprising that the ICO has (1) chosen to release it with limited fanfare, and (2) buried the data sets on its website. Indeed, it seems to have flown almost entirely under the radar.

Understanding whether their breach or complaint will be publicised by European regulators is one of – if not the – main concern that organisations have when working through an incident, and the answer has usually been no. That is particularly the understanding or assumption where the breach or complaint is closed without regulatory enforcement. Now, at least in the UK, the era of relative anonymity looks to be over.

Despite the lack of fanfare around the announcement, this naming and shaming approach could make the ICO one of the more aggressive privacy regulators in Europe. In the future, claimant firms in class action lawsuits may adopt “US-style practices” of scanning the ICO database to find evidence of repeat offending or possible new cases.

The news comes even as data reveals the value of ICO fines issued in the past year tripled from the previous 12 months. In the year ending October 31 2022, the regulator issued fines worth £15.2m, up from £4.8m the previous year. The sharp increase in the value of fines shows the ICO’s increasing willingness selectively to crack down on businesses – particularly those that the ICO perceives has not taken adequate measures to protect customer and employee data.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-privacy-regulator-names-and/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• 20 companies affected by major ransomware attacks in 2021 | TechTarget

• NCC Group: Ransomware attacks increased 41% in November | TechTarget

• Conti Team One Splinter Group Resurfaces as Royal Ransomware with Callback Phishing Attacks (trendmicro.com)

• Adversarial risk in the age of ransomware - Help Net Security

• Guardian newspaper hit by suspected ransomware attack, staff told not to come to office - The Record by Recorded Future

• FIN7 hackers create auto-attack platform to breach Exchange servers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Agenda Ransomware Variant, Written in Rust, Aiming at Critical Infrastructure (thehackernews.com)

• Ransomware Groups to Increase Zero-Day Exploit-Based Access Methods in the Future - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware Uses New Exploit to Bypass ProxyNotShell Mitigations | SecurityWeek.Com

• New Microsoft Exchange exploit chain lets ransomware attackers in (CVE-2022-41080) - Help Net Security

• British newspaper The Guardian says it’s been hit by ransomware | TechCrunch

• Play ransomware actors bypass ProxyNotShell mitigations | TechTarget

• Preventing Cryptocurrency Cyber Extortion (trendmicro.com)

• FIN7 Cyber crime Syndicate Emerges as Major Player in Ransomware Landscape (thehackernews.com)

• Vice Society ransomware gang is using a custom locker - Security Affairs

• NIO suffers user data breach, hacker demands $2.25 million worth of bitcoin - CnEVPost

• German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp targeted in a cyber attack - Security Affairs

• Paying Ransom: Why Manufacturers Shell Out to Cyber criminals (darkreading.com)

• France Seeks to Protect Hospitals After Series of Cyber attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

• Fire and rescue service in Victoria, Australia, confirms cyber attack - Security Affairs

• Ransomware hits Leiden University - Techzine Europe

• Play Ransomware Gang Lay Claims For Cyber Attack On H-Hotels (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Evolving threats and broadening responses to Ransomware in the UAE - Security Boulevard

• Cyber Incident Causes System Failures at Canadian Children’s Hospital - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Five Best Practices for Consumers to Beat Phishing Campaigns This Holiday Season - CPO Magazine

• Hackers continue to exploit hijacked MailChimp accounts in cyber crime campaigns (bitdefender.com)

• Holiday Spam, Phishing Campaigns Challenge Retailers (darkreading.com)

• Email hijackers scam food out of businesses, not just money • The Register

• Telling users to ‘avoid clicking bad links’ still isn’t working - NCSC.GOV.UK

• UK Security Agency Calls for Fresh Approach to Combat Phishing - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• “Suspicious login” scammers up their game – take care at Christmas – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Simple Steps to Avoid Phishing Attacks During This Festive season | Tripwire

• Web3 IPFS Currently Used For Phishing (trendmicro.com)

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Telling users to ‘avoid clicking bad links’ still isn’t working - NCSC.GOV.UK

• What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Amplified security trends to watch out for in 2023 - Help Net Security

2FA/MFA

• Why Security Teams Shouldn't Snooze on MFA Fatigue (darkreading.com)

• Comcast Xfinity accounts hacked in widespread 2FA bypass attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

Malware

• DarkTortilla malware spreads on phishing sites masquerading as legitimate domains | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Malicious ‘SentinelOne’ PyPI package steals data from developers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Glupteba Botnet Continues to Thrive Despite Google's Attempts to Disrupt It (thehackernews.com)

• Ukraine's DELTA military system users targeted by info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Sophisticated DarkTortilla Malware Serves Imposter Cisco, Grammarly Pages (darkreading.com)

• Trojanized Windows 10 installers compromised the Ukrainian government | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Raspberry Robin Worm Targets Telcos & Governments (darkreading.com)

• Detecting Windows AMSI Bypass Techniques (trendmicro.com)

• Raspberry Robin worm drops fake malware to confuse researchers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Number of command-and-control servers spiked in 2022: report - The Record by Recorded Future

Mobile

• GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Godfather makes banking apps an offer they can’t refuse • The Register

• Beware: Cyber criminals Launch New BrasDex Android Trojan Targeting Brazilian Banking Users (thehackernews.com)

• T-Mobile hacker gets 10 years for $25 million phone unlock scheme (bleepingcomputer.com)

Botnets

• Glupteba Botnet Continues to Thrive Despite Google's Attempts to Disrupt It (thehackernews.com)

• Zerobot malware now spreads by exploiting Apache vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Flaws within IoT devices exploited by the Zerobot botnet (izoologic.com)

• Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• How AI/ML Can Thwart DDoS Attacks (darkreading.com)

• DDoS Attacks are Slowly Growing in the Technology Era (analyticsinsight.net)

• Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)

BYOD

• Nine in 10 Third-party Contractors, Freelancers Use Personal, Unmanaged Devices Likely to be Infected - MSSP Alert

Internet of Things – IoT

• Millions of IP cameras around the world are unprotected | TechRadar

• Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)

• Eufy has removed privacy-focused language from its website amid ongoing security camera fiasco (androidpolice.com)

• Throw away all your Eufy cameras right now | Android Central

• Read what Anker’s customer support is telling worried Eufy camera owners - The Verge

• Amazon Ring Cameras Used in Nationwide ‘Swatting’ Spree, US Says - Bloomberg

• Connected homes are expanding, so is attack volume - Help Net Security

• Security Risks, Serious Vulnerabilities Rampant Among XIoT Devices in the Workplace - CPO Magazine

• Researchers Develop AI-powered Malware Classification for 5G-enabled IIoT - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• LastPass users: Your info and password vault data are now in hackers’ hands | Ars Technica

• Okta's source code stolen after GitHub repositories hacked (bleepingcomputer.com)

• McGraw Hill's S3 buckets exposed 100,000 students' grades • The Register

• NIO suffers user data breach, hacker demands $2.25 million worth of bitcoin - CnEVPost

• Notice of Recent Security Incident - The LastPass Blog

• Shoemaker Ecco leaks over 60GB of sensitive data for 500+ days - Security Affairs

• Restaurant CRM platform ‘SevenRooms’ confirms breach after data for sale (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Leading sports betting firm BetMGM discloses data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• MP blasts water firm over cyber attack that saw customers' details leaked to dark web - Staffordshire Live (staffordshire-live.co.uk)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• 'Russian hackers' help two New York men game JFK taxi system - CyberScoop

• Hackers Mined a Single Software Flaw for a Year in NY Cyber attack - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

• What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security

• [FIN7] Fin7 Unveiled: A deep dive into notorious cyber crime gang - PRODAFT

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Microsoft bans cryptomining in Azure | TechRadar

• FTX's alleged run-of-the-mill frauds depended entirely on crypto (yahoo.com)

• GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Preventing Cryptocurrency Cyber Extortion (trendmicro.com)

• Two associates of Sam Bankman-Fried plead guilty to fraud charges in FTX fall | FTX | The Guardian

• North Korea-linked hackers stole $626M in virtual assets in 2022 - Security Affairs

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Amplified security trends to watch out for in 2023 - Help Net Security

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• FTX's alleged run-of-the-mill frauds depended entirely on crypto (yahoo.com)

• “Suspicious login” scammers up their game – take care at Christmas – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Fraudulent ‘popunder’ Google Ad campaign generated millions of dollars • The Register

• Over 67,000 DraftKings Betting Accounts Hit by Hackers (gizmodo.com)

• What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security

• T-Mobile hacker gets 10 years for $25 million phone unlock scheme (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Ad fraud campaign used adult content to make millions (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Two associates of Sam Bankman-Fried plead guilty to fraud charges in FTX fall | FTX | The Guardian

• Inside The Next-Level Fraud Ring Scamming Billions Off Holiday Retailers (darkreading.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• teiss - Supply Chain Security - Hacking the supply chain

• Supply Chain Risks Got You Down? Keep Calm and Get Strategic! (darkreading.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Microsoft bans cryptomining in Azure | TechRadar

• McGraw Hill's S3 buckets exposed 100,000 students' grades • The Register

• AWS simplifies Simple Storage Service to prevent data leaks • The Register

• Organisations Warned of New Attack Vector in Amazon Web Services - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New Brand of Security Threats Surface in the Cloud (darkreading.com)

• Google WordPress Plug-in Bug Allows AWS Metadata Theft (darkreading.com)

• Dealing with cloud security shortfalls - Help Net Security

• It’s time to fill those cloud security gaps • The Register

• Security on a Shoestring? Cloud, Consolidation Best Bets for Businesses (darkreading.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Remote Workers Are Blowing the Whistle, Employees Exposing Companies

Attack Surface Management

• Nine in 10 Third-party Contractors, Freelancers Use Personal, Unmanaged Devices Likely to be Infected - MSSP Alert

Encryption

• Biden Signs Post-Quantum Cyber security Guidelines Into Law (darkreading.com)

API

• APIs are placing your enterprise at risk - Help Net Security

Open Source

• Open source vulnerabilities add to security debt - Help Net Security

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• LastPass admits attackers copied password vaults • The Register

• LastPass users: Your info and password vault data are now in hackers’ hands | Ars Technica

• Notice of Recent Security Incident - The LastPass Blog

Social Media

• Meta Takes Down Over 200 Covert Influence Operations Since 2017 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Social media use can put companies at risk: Here are some ways to mitigate the danger | CSO Online

• Colleges Move To Ban TikTok on Campus (gizmodo.com)

Malvertising

• Fraudulent ‘popunder’ Google Ad campaign generated millions of dollars • The Register

• Don't click too quick! FBI warns of malicious search engine ads | Tripwire

• FBI Recommends Ad Blockers as Cyber criminals Impersonate Brands in Search Engine Ads | SecurityWeek.Com

• Google Ad fraud campaign used adult content to make millions (bleepingcomputer.com)

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Buggy parental-control apps could allow device takeover • The Register

• Bfore.Ai Releases 'The King, The Knight & The Snowball' - Cyber security Book for Children (darkreading.com)

• Children And The Dangers Of The Virtual World (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• TSB fined nearly $60m for platform migration disaster • The Register

• FTC Fines Fortnite Maker Epic Games $275 Million for Violating Children's Privacy Law (thehackernews.com)

• UK Privacy Regulator Names and Shames Breached Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• FCC proposes record-breaking $300 million fine against robocaller (bleepingcomputer.com)

• France Fines Microsoft 60 Million Euros Over Advertising Cookies | SecurityWeek.Com

• The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Make sure your company is prepared for the holiday hacking season - Help Net Security

• Rethinking Risk After the FTX Debacle (darkreading.com)

• The benefit of adopting a hacker mindset for building security strategies - Help Net Security

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• CISO roles continue to expand beyond technical expertise - Help Net Security

• UK secret services wants ‘corkscrew thinkers’ for new cyber force | News | The Times

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Swatting spree suspects charged after compromising Ring cams • The Register

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Not Big Brother, but close: a surveillance expert explains some of the ways we’re all being watched, all the time (theconversation.com)

• France Fines Microsoft 60 Million Euros Over Advertising Cookies | SecurityWeek.Com

• What is surveillance capitalism? - Definition from WhatIs.com (techtarget.com)

• Google Maps: Important reason you should blur your house on Street View (ladbible.com)

• Blur Your House ASAP if It's on Google Maps. Here's Why - CNET

Artificial Intelligence

• Threat Modeling in the Age of OpenAI's Chatbot (darkreading.com)

• This is how OpenAI's ChatGPT can be used to launch cyber attacks (techmonitor.ai)

• How AI/ML Can Thwart DDoS Attacks (darkreading.com)

• Bfore.Ai Releases 'The King, The Knight & The Snowball' - Cyber security Book for Children (darkreading.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Sophisticated DarkTortilla Malware Serves Imposter Cisco, Grammarly Pages (darkreading.com)

Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Cyber Warfare Is Getting Real | WIRED

• State level cyber attacks – Why and how (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)

• The risk of escalation from cyber attacks has never been greater | Ars Technica

• Ukraine's DELTA military system users targeted by info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Trojanized Windows 10 installers compromised the Ukrainian government | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• NATO-Member Oil Refinery Targeted in Russian APT Blitz Against Ukraine (darkreading.com)

• Russian APT Gamaredon Changes Tactics in Attacks Targeting Ukraine | SecurityWeek.Com

• Kremlin-linked hackers tried to spy on oil firm in NATO country, researchers say | CNN Politics

• ‘Our weapons are computers’: Ukrainian coders aim to gain battlefield edge | Ukraine | The Guardian

• The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times

• UK secret services wants ‘corkscrew thinkers’ for new cyber force | News | The Times

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• UK orders sale of Russian-backed broadband firm Upp over ‘security risk’ | Telecommunications industry | The Guardian

• Dark Web Profile: Killnet - Russian Hacktivist Group - SOCRadar

Nation State Actors – China

• Apple accused of censoring apps in Hong Kong and Russia • The Register

• The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• North Korea-linked hackers stole $626M in virtual assets in 2022 - Security Affairs

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Vulnerability Management

• Open source vulnerabilities add to security debt - Help Net Security

• Ransomware Groups to Increase Zero-Day Exploit-Based Access Methods in the Future - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Top 5 Vulnerabilities Routinely Exploited by Threat Actors in 2022 (socradar.io)

• Over 50 New CVE Numbering Authorities Announced in 2022 | SecurityWeek.Com

• A Guide to Efficient Patch Management with Action1 (thehackernews.com)

• Digging into the numbers one year after Log4Shell | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Critical Windows code-execution vulnerability went undetected until now | Ars Technica

• FoxIt Patches Code Execution Flaws in PDF Tools | SecurityWeek.Com

• Old vulnerabilities in Cisco products actively exploited in the wild - Security Affairs

• OWASSRF: CrowdStrike Identifies New Method for Bypassing ProxyNotShell Mitigations

• Microsoft reports macOS Gatekeeper has an 'Achilles' heel • The Register

• Microsoft will turn off Exchange Online basic auth in January (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cisco’s Talos security bods predict new wave of Excel Hell • The Register

• Microsoft pushes emergency fix for Windows Server Hyper-V VM issues (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware Groups to Increase Zero-Day Exploit-Based Access Methods in the Future - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware Uses New Exploit to Bypass ProxyNotShell Mitigations | SecurityWeek.Com

• New Microsoft Exchange exploit chain lets ransomware attackers in (CVE-2022-41080) - Help Net Security

• Zerobot malware now spreads by exploiting Apache vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Two New Security Flaws Reported in Ghost CMS Blogging Software (thehackernews.com)

• Critical Security Flaw Reported in Passwordstate Enterprise Password Manager (thehackernews.com)

• This critical Windows security flaw could be as serious as WannaCry, experts claim | TechRadar

• Google WordPress Plug-in Bug Allows AWS Metadata Theft (darkreading.com)

• Microsoft Details Gatekeeper Bypass Vulnerability in Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)

Tools and Controls

• Companies overwhelmed by available tech solutions - Help Net Security

• Is Enterprise VPN on Life Support or Ripe for Reinvention? | SecurityWeek.Com

Reports Published in the Last Week

• National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Annual Review 2022: Highlights and Thoughts | Tripwire

Other News

• 'Sextortion,' Business Disruption, and a Massive Attack: What Could Be in Store for 2023 (darkreading.com)

• The Growing Risk Of Malicious QR Codes (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• NASA infosec again falls short of required standard • The Register

• US Joint Cyber Force Elevated to Newest Subordinate Unified Command - MSSP Alert

• The Rise of the Rookie Hacker - A New Trend to Reckon With (thehackernews.com)

• What enumeration attacks are and how to prevent them | TechTarget

• US consumers seriously concerned over their personal data | CSO Online

• The FBI is worried about wave of crime against small businesses (cnbc.com)

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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

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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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