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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 December 2022

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 December 2022:

-LastPass Users: Your Info and Password Vault Data are Now in Hackers’ Hands

-Ransomware Attacks Increased 41% In November

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

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

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

-UK Security Agency Wants Fresh Approach to Combat Phishing

-GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges

-Companies Overwhelmed by Available Tech Solutions

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

-UK Privacy Regulator Names and Shames Breached Firms

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/

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Botnets

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

BYOD

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Attack Surface Management

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Artificial Intelligence

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

Reports Published in the Last Week

Other News

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.

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‘Don’t get scammed online this Christmas’ - Guernsey Press 17 December 2021

‘Don’t get scammed online this Christmas’ - Guernsey Press 17 December 2021

‘Don’t get scammed online this Christmas’

https://guernseypress.com/news/2021/12/17/dont-get-scammed-online-this-christmas/

Bruce McDougall, a director at local firm Black Arrow Cyber Consulting, pictured, said online shopping was the norm for many people and that trend had been further accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But he urged people to take care when shopping online.

‘People accessing and buying from websites that they do not know run a greater chance of being the victim of an attack,’ said Mr McDougall.

‘Some websites give you the opportunity to sign in using your Google or Facebook account, but that is sometimes a fake screen that allows the attacker to skim off your credentials and then use them maliciously.’

A lot of people also use the same email address and password for different sites – which means that if an attacker knows a person’s log-on details for Facebook, they could try to use those same credentials to access that individual’s email account or Amazon account.

He said that there were three simple actions that could help increase security online.

‘Use multi-factor authentication. This is where you have to enter more than one piece of information to confirm your identity. For example, in addition to entering your username and password, you would enter a code that is generated from your phone.

‘If you have to use your fingerprint to access the phone that will give you the code, then that is an even greater level of security.

‘So, even if the attacker has harvested your username and password, they cannot access your account because they do not have your phone with the code.’

Using a different password for each website and account is also important.

‘Never recycle passwords. Follow the current best practice, which is to use a string of three random words, but make sure this is not text from a song or other well-known phrase.

‘Surprisingly, it can take years for a computer to crack a password made up of three random words. The problem is that many people try to create a complicated password themselves but in reality they are following a predictable pattern that attackers already know.’

Finally, Mr McDougall said that when making payments online, people should use their credit card rather than their debit card to get better buyer protection.

‘Some providers can give you a disposable single-use virtual credit card that you can use for purchases online, which means that even if the card number falls into the wrong hands, they cannot use the number to extract money from you.’

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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 November 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 November 2021

-70% Of IT Pros Say Security Hygiene Has Gotten Harder Over Past Two Years

-As Digital Shopping Surges, Researchers Predict 8 Million Daily Attacks

-More Ransomware Attacks Up to September Than Whole of 2020

-Ransomware Warning: Hackers See Holidays And Weekends As A Great Time To Attack

-Suspect Arrested In 'Ransom Your Employer' Criminal Scheme

-The Newer Cyber Crime Triad: Trickbot-Emotet-Conti

-Threat Actors Find And Compromise Exposed Services In 24 Hours

-Does Your Company Employ A CISO? Many Are Operating Without Security Leadership

-New Malware Is Capable Of Evading Almost All Antivirus Products

-Interpol Arrests Over 1,000 Suspects Linked To Cyber Crime

-Researchers Warn Of Severe Risks From ‘Printjack’ Printer Attacks

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

70% Of IT Pros Say Security Hygiene Has Got Harder Over Past Two Years

A new report from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) and JupiterOne warns of inadequate security hygiene and posture management practices at many organizations. The research found that 86% of organizations believe they follow best practices for security hygiene and posture management. However, 70% of organizations said they use more than ten security tools to manage security hygiene and posture management, which raises concerns about data management and operations overhead.

In addition, 73% of security professionals admitted that they still depend on spreadsheets to manage security hygiene and posture at their organizations. As a result, 70% of respondents said that security hygiene and posture management had become more difficult over the past two years as their attack surfaces have grown.

https://venturebeat.com/2021/11/19/report-70-of-it-pros-say-security-hygiene-has-gotten-harder-over-past-two-years/

As Digital Shopping Surges, Researchers Predict 8 Million Daily Attacks

Arkose Labs released new data on the latest fraud trends, revealing increased threats during the holidays, rising bot attacks, and a resurgence in attacks on travel companies. As shoppers fill their online carts, account takeover (ATO) attacks and gift-card fraud remain persistent.

The report shares the top six fraud-fighting trends from the previous 3 months and provides data highlighting that no digital business is immune from attack. Financial industries saw 32 percent more attacks than in the first half of 2021.

Retail and travel attacks increased 63 percent in Q3, and gaming saw a spate of fake new accounts being set up for fraudulent purposes. Media and streaming businesses saw 60 percent of malicious activity targeting logins, and 20 percent of these attacks originating from human fraud farms.

Technology platforms see 91 percent of all attacks powered by bots. Overall, attacks are increasing in every industry, and they are growing more sophisticated.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/22/threats-during-holidays/

More Ransomware Attacks Up to September Than Whole of 2020

Most UK business leaders expect cyber-threats to surge next year, with ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), cloud and supply chain attacks all predicted to increase, according to PwC.

The findings come from the consulting giant’s 2022 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey and were distilled from interviews with 257 business and technology executives in the UK.

Although most (63%) respondents said they expect security budgets to increase next year, even more (66%) predicted cyber-threats would rise. Ransomware (61%), BEC (61%), malware via software updates (63%), and cloud compromise (64%) were among the most notable.

Bobbie Ramsden-Knowles, crisis and resilience partner at PwC UK, claimed the firm’s threat intelligence team has tracked more ransomware incidents globally up to September this year than for the whole of 2020.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/more-ransomware-attacks-september/

Ransomware Warning: Hackers See Holidays And Weekends As A Great Time To Attack

Just because you're taking a break, that doesn't mean hackers will be too.

Ahead of the holidays cyber agencies have released a warning to stay vigilant on holidays and weekends, because hackers don't plan on taking a holiday break.

Warnings remind organisations that ransomware attackers often choose to launch attacks on holidays and weekends, specifically when businesses are likely to be closed.

Recent history tells us that this could be a time when these persistent cyber actors halfway across the world are looking for ways—big and small—to disrupt the critical networks and systems belonging to organizations, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Some of the worst ransomware attacks happened on holidays and weekends.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/security-warning-ransomware-attackers-are-working-on-the-holidays-even-if-you-arent/

Suspect Arrested In 'Ransom Your Employer' Criminal Scheme

A Nigerian man has been arrested in connection to a scheme attempting to lure insiders to deploy ransomware on employer systems.

On November 22, security expert Brian Krebs reported that the man, Oluwaseun Medayedupin, was arrested by Nigerian authorities on Friday.

The suspect is allegedly linked to a 'ransom your employer' scheme investigated by Abnormal Security in August.

Customers of the cybersecurity firm were sent emails with the subject "Partnership affiliate offer," requesting that the recipient considered becoming an accomplice in a cyberattack.

The emails offered a 40% cut of an anticipated $2.5 million ransomware payment in Bitcoin (BTC), made after the recipients installed the DemonWare ransomware on their employer's systems.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/suspect-arrested-in-ransom-your-employer-criminal-scheme/

The Newer Cyber Crime Triad: Trickbot-Emotet-Conti

Advanced Intelligence researchers argue that the restarting of the Emotet botnet was driven by Conti ransomware gang.

Early this year, law enforcement and judicial authorities worldwide conducted a joint operation, named Operation Ladybird, which disrupted the EMOTET botnet. At the time the investigators have taken control of its infrastructure in an international coordinated action.

This operation was the result of a joint effort between authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust.

The law enforcement agency was able to take over at least 700 servers used as part of the Emotet botnet’s infrastructure. The FBI collected millions of email addresses used by Emotet operators in their malware campaigns as part of the cleanup operation.

The Emotet banking trojan has been active at least since 2014, the botnet is operated by a threat actor tracked as TA542. The infamous banking trojan was also used to deliver other malicious code, such as Trickbot and QBot trojans, or ransomware such as Conti, ProLock, Ryuk, and Egregor.

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/124807/cyber-crime/trickbot-emotet-conti-triad.html

Threat Actors Find And Compromise Exposed Services In 24 Hours

Researchers set up 320 honeypots to see how quickly threat actors would target exposed cloud services and report that 80% of them were compromised in under 24 hours.

Malicious actors are constantly scanning the Internet for exposed services that could be exploited to access internal networks or perform other malicious activity.

To track what software and services are targeted by threat actors, researchers create publicly accessible honeypots. Honeypots are servers configured to appear as if they are running various software as lures to monitor threat actors' tactics.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/threat-actors-find-and-compromise-exposed-services-in-24-hours/

Does Your Company Employ A CISO? Many Are Operating Without Security Leadership

45% of companies do not employ a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), a Navisite research found. Of this group, 58% think their company should hire a CISO.

Only 40% of respondents stated their cybersecurity strategy was developed by a CISO or member of the security team, with 60% relying on other parts of their organization, including IT, executive leadership and compliance.

130 security, IT and compliance professionals were polled in the US to determine their perceptions on the state of cybersecurity leadership and readiness within their organizations. More than 80% of respondents described their job title as either executive leadership or management, with more than 60% of respondents coming from mid-sized organizations between 100-5,000 employees.

Why you should employ a CISO?

·       21% of respondents admit their company does not have a dedicated person or staff whose sole responsibility is security/cybersecurity.

·       75% of respondents said their company experienced an increase in overall cybersecurity threat volume in the last year.

·       80% of respondents felt their company exhibited strong cybersecurity leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

·       70% of respondents expressed confidence in the effectiveness of their cybersecurity program—but that confidence dropped to 58% for companies without a CISO.

·       47% of survey takers believe their company spends too little on cybersecurity.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/23/employ-ciso/

New Malware Is Capable Of Evading Almost All Antivirus Products

There’s a new JavaScript downloader on the prowl that not only distributes eight different Remote Access Trojans (RATs), keyloggers and information stealers, but is also able to bypass detection by a majority of security tools, experts have warned.

Cyber security researchers at HP Wolf Security named the malware RATDispenser, noting that while JavaScript downloaders typically have a lower detection rate than other downloaders, this particular malware is more dangerous since it employs several techniques to evade detection.

“It’s particularly concerning to see RATDispenser only being detected by about 11% of antivirus systems, resulting in this stealthy malware successfully deploying on victims’ endpoints in most cases,” noted Patrick Schlapfer, Malware Analyst at HP.

https://www.techradar.com/news/new-malware-is-capable-of-evading-almost-all-antivirus-products

Interpol Arrests Over 1,000 Suspects Linked To Cyber Crime

Interpol has coordinated the arrest of 1,003 individuals linked to various cyber-crimes such as romance scams, investment frauds, online money laundering, and illegal online gambling.

This crackdown results from a four-month action codenamed ‘Operation HAEICHI-II,’ which took place in twenty countries between June and September 2021.

These were Angola, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On the financial aspect of the operation, the authorities have also intercepted nearly $27,000,000 and froze 2,350 banking accounts linked to various online crimes.

As the Interpol announcement details, at least ten new criminal modus operandi were identified in HAEICHI-II, indicative of the evolving nature of cyber-crime.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/legal/interpol-arrests-over-1-000-suspects-linked-to-cyber-crime/

Researchers Warn Of Severe Risks From ‘Printjack’ Printer Attacks

A team of Italian researchers has compiled a set of three attacks called 'Printjack,' warning users of the significant consequences of over-trusting their printer.

The attacks include recruiting the printers in DDoS swarms, imposing a paper DoS state, and performing privacy breaches.

As the researchers point out, modern printers are still vulnerable to elementary flaws and lag behind other IoT and electronic devices that are starting to conform with cybersecurity and data privacy requirements.

By evaluating the attack potential and the risk levels, the researchers found non-compliance with GDPR requirements and the ISO/IEC 27005:2018 (framework for managing cyber-risks).

This lack of in-built security is particularly problematic when considering how omnipresent printers are, being deployed in critical environments, companies, and organizations of all sizes.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/researchers-warn-of-severe-risks-from-printjack-printer-attacks/

Threats

Ransomware

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Phishing

Malware

Mobile

IOT

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

Fraud & Financial Crime

Insurance

Nation State Actors

Cloud

Passwords

Parental Controls

 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.

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Antony Cleal Antony Cleal

Black Arrow Cyber Tip Tuesday - Christmas Eve 2019 - Christmas Giving

Welcome to a special Christmas Eve 2019 Black Arrow Cyber Tip Tuesday. Christmas is a time for giving so we thought it would be an ideal time to mention the services we give free of charge to help protect Guernsey and the local community. 1. Mentoring - anyone looking to move into cyber or already in cyber wanting to progress their careers can join our mentoring program for a number of one to one meetings to see where our experience and guidance can help them get started or 2. Free 30 minute chats for Startups and Entrepreneurs - new startups and entrepreneurs can ask us for a free 30 minute consultation to help ensure they are getting the fundamentals of cyber security in place to protect their growing businesses. 3. Free pro bono advisory services for charities and non-profits - we provide one day a month to charities in Guernsey to help them take appropriate steps and implement the most cost effective measures, where possible utilising no or low cost solutions, to protect themselves. Black Arrow Cyber Consulting wishes everyone a Happy Christmas and a safe, secure and prosperous 2020

Welcome to a special Christmas Eve 2019 Black Arrow Cyber Tip Tuesday.

Christmas is a time for giving so we thought it would be an ideal time to mention the services we give free of charge to help protect Guernsey and the local community.

  1. Mentoring: if you are looking to start or progress your career in cyber security, you could be eligible for our mentoring program consisting of a rolling series of one to one meetings to see where our experience and guidance can help you.

  2. Free 30 minute chats for Startups and Entrepreneurs: a free 30 minute consultation for new startups and entrepreneurs to help ensure they are getting the fundamentals of cyber security in place to protect their growing business.

  3. Free pro bono advisory services for charities and non-profits: we are giving one day every month to support those that support our communities in Guernsey, to help them protect themselves, using where possible, or where appropriate, low or no cost solutions.

Black Arrow Cyber Consulting wishes everyone a Happy Christmas and a safe, secure and prosperous 2020

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