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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 March 2024

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 08 March 2024:

-FBI Reports Cyber Crime Losses Reached $12.5 billion in 2023, Ransomware Losses Surged by 74%, Average Ransomw Demand Reaching $600k

-Capita Plans £100 Million in Cost Cuts as it Continues to Grapple With 2023 Cyber Attack, Resulting in Significant Job Losses

-Employment Law Firm Sues IT Company Over Ransomware Attack

-Stolen Passwords are a Hacker Goldmine

-Phishing Attacks Up 40 Percent in 2023; Attackers Leverage Social Engineering for Greater Success

-Business Leaders Don’t Even Know They’ve Been Hacked

-Rising Cyber Security Risks: Insider Threat Main Concern Among Mid-Market Firms

-Security Risks Plague SMEs in Shift to Remote Working

-After Collecting $22 Million, Ransomware Group Stages FBI Takedown

-Cyber Attacks Remain Chief Concern for Businesses

-Two New Ransomware Groups Join Forces to Launch Joint 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

FBI Reports Cyber Crime Losses Reached $12.5 billion in 2023, Ransomware Losses Surged by 74%, Average Ransom Demand Reaching $600k

An FBI report into the cost of cyber crime has found that estimated losses in the US alone reached $12.5 billion in 2023. Ransomware accounted for $59.6 million, a 74% increase from the previous year’s report. Of note, the FBI report only deals with complaints made to the FBI; it therefore excludes other countries, and relies on the US organisations to identify that they have been impacted. It is therefore likely that the figure in the US, let alone globally, is significantly higher.

Sources: [Security Boulevard] [Security Week] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Tripwire] [Security Affairs]

Capita Plans £100 Million in Cost Cuts as it Continues to Grapple With 2023 Cyber Attack, Resulting in Significant Job Losses

In the aftermath of a significant cyber attack in 2023, Capita faces a steep financial hurdle with reported losses amounting to £106.6 million. Originally forecasted at £25 million, the revised figure underscores the substantial impact of the breach. Capita’s response strategy, including significant investments in recovery and cyber security bolstering, emphasises the escalating costs associated with data breaches. CEO Adolfo Hernandez announced plans for a substantial cost reduction of over £100 million, indicating the critical need for efficiency improvements to mitigate the financial strain. Capita’s experience serves as a potent reminder of the critical importance of robust cyber resilience strategies. These strategies are not just about preventing attacks, but also about mitigating the potentially devastating financial consequences should a breach occur.

Source: [ITPro]

Employment Law Firm Sues IT Company Over Ransomware Attack

A law firm in California has sued an IT solutions company, saying that after hiring the company to install a network system and server, the law firm suffered a ransomware attack. The law firm found that not long after the network was installed, they were unable to access their data, and when they had gone to retrieve a cloud backup, they had found this was already deleted, forcing them to pay the ransom to get their data back. The law firm is accusing the IT company of negligence and breach of contract and is seeking damages of at least $1 million.

Source: [Law360]

Stolen Passwords are a Hacker Goldmine

Passwords are not only crucial for organisational security, but they also come with significant costs and vulnerabilities. From the time spent by service desks on resets, to the expense of security incidents and breaches, the financial toll is substantial. Weak or reused passwords heighten the vulnerability, with breaches involving stolen credentials costing an average of $4.45 million. Cyber threats are evolving, with hackers increasingly favouring stolen user accounts over traditional malware. This shift, underscored by a notable 71% increase in attacks leveraging valid login credentials in 2023 as reported by CrowdStrike and IBM, highlights the repercussions of compromised credentials. Embracing technologies like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO), along with employee education, can bolster security while alleviating financial strains. Robust identity management and zero-trust security frameworks are essential to mitigate risks further, especially in the face of rising cloud intrusions. Proactive investments in password security software such as password managers can help streamline operations and enhance overall organisational resilience against these evolving threats.

Sources: [Bleeping Computer] [Axios] 

Phishing Attacks Up 40 Percent in 2023; Attackers Leverage Social Engineering for Greater Success

Kaspersky recently released their annual spam and phishing report in which they identified over 709 million attempts to access phishing and scam websites, a 40% increase from the previous year. It should be noted that this number is just related to Kaspersky’s identification; the figure is likely far greater. With reports identifying that 90% of phishing involves social engineering, it is important to understand how it is leveraged.

Phishing attacks generally include an element of trust; for example, a bad actor impersonating a reputable brand or providing details about an individual that makes the attack more credible. Often, social engineering will rely on human characteristics, such as urgency, emotion and habit to try to manipulate the target to perform particular actions. Whilst the tools may change, the basis is the same; a successful phish requires user interaction. To mitigate the impact of phishing in corporate environments, organisations must stay informed about the latest adversarial activity and prioritise security measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and providing employee awareness and education training that goes beyond ticking boxes.

Sources: [Beta News] [CSO Online] [Security Boulevard] [DarkReading]

Business Leaders Don’t Even Know They’ve Been Hacked

A survey of over 10,000 business leaders across various industries has found that a number of business leaders know little when it comes to their organisation’s cyber security landscape, with 1 in 10, “unsure” and unable to provide a definitive answer as to whether their organisation has had a data breach in 2023. The report highlights that there are a number of leadership positions that are not receiving sufficient information about their organisation’s data security situation.

Receiving regular reports with metrics about the organisation’s cyber security posture is key to organisations achieving and maintaining a solid level of governance, something that is required in various standards and regulations.

Source: [Tech.Co]

Rising Cyber Security Risks: Insider Threat Main Concern Among Mid-Market Firms

According to the 2023 CyberArk Identity Security Threat Landscape Report, insider threats are on the rise, with 68% of organisations reporting an increased frequency in the past year. These threats, considered one of the top concerns over the next 12 months, stem from within an organisation where authorised employees exploit their access to steal or leak sensitive data. Factors such as flexible working, an increase in job transitions, workforce reductions, third-party relationships, economic uncertainties, and employee stress levels further compound these challenges. Negligence, accounting for 62% of insider incidents, plays a significant role; these threats aren’t always malicious but can also be negligent or accidental. As these threats evolve, the potential consequences, including revenue loss and reputational damage, are becoming more apparent to business leaders. To mitigate risks, companies must prioritise improving identity security, particularly in controlling privileged access, and embrace a Zero Trust approach. This ensures full visibility and control over access to sensitive data, safeguarding critical assets and enhancing cyber resilience in an increasingly volatile landscape. Other key identified threats include AI-related risks, ransomware, deep fakes, and malware.

Sources: [TechRadar] [Comms Business]

C-Suite Executives: An Attacker’s Dream?

Cyber criminals are increasingly focusing on high-value targets, particularly C-suite executives who hold extensive organisational access. These executives, often overlooked in security practices and training, have become vulnerable links. The cyber security landscape of 2023 saw significant advancements but also revealed vulnerabilities, exacerbated by global conflicts and strategic cyber attacks. Cyber actors are now targeting entities with high return potential, with ransomware attackers tailoring their strikes to maximise revenues, often from smaller organisations. Interestingly, while automation is on the rise, cyber criminals are opting for a human touch, with human operatives often behind attacks. A report last year showed a nearly 30% spike in fraud specifically targeting senior executives, highlighting the vulnerability of the C-suite. This emphasises the need for robust cyber resilience strategies to safeguard these high-value targets.

Source: [SecurityBrief New Zealand]

Security Risks Plague SMEs in Shift to Remote Working

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working surged, offering businesses newfound flexibility and cost efficiencies. However, this paradigm shift comes with its own set of security challenges, particularly impacting startups and small businesses. The inherent flexibility of remote work exposes companies to risks like unauthorised access, IP theft, and malware. These threats are especially potent for SMEs, jeopardising their financial stability and reputation. Robust security measures include VPNs, enforcing regular software updates, and employee training to mitigate these risks. By embracing these strategies, SMEs can navigate the remote work landscape securely, unlocking its benefits while safeguarding against potential threats.

Source: [SecurityBrief New Zealand]

After Collecting $22 Million, Ransomware Group Stages FBI Takedown

The ransomware group responsible for facilitating a huge attack against a US prescription drug company for $22 million has gone dark, days after receiving the payment and standing accused of scamming their own affiliate out of their share of the gains. Days after the payment was made, AlphV’s public website started displaying a message saying it had been seized by the FBI as part of an international law enforcement action. Ransomware researchers have since said that it has not actually been seized, but appears to be a ploy to exit scam affiliates of the ransomware group. This proves the old adage that there really is no honour among thieves.

Source: [Ars Technica]

Cyber Attacks Remain Chief Concern for Businesses

A recent report has underscored the growing concern among UK corporate businesses regarding cyber attacks as the primary fraud threat in the upcoming year, with 73% of respondents expressing worry. As businesses grapple with the shift to hybrid and remote work models, ensuring robust counter-fraud measures and internal controls is imperative to safeguarding workforces regardless of location. This situation emphasises the critical importance of investing in employee training to combat evolving fraud threats. It highlights the far-reaching consequences that fraud can have on organisations and underscores the necessity of fostering an anti-fraud culture across all levels of the enterprise.

Source: [TheHRDirector]

Two New Ransomware Groups Join Forces to Launch Joint Attacks

Two ransomware groups, Ghostsec and Stormous, have joined forces to conduct double extortion ransomware attacks on various businesses across multiple countries. As part of this, their new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) program, STMX_GhostLocker, provides various options for their affiliates. GhostSec is already part of a coalition called the five families, involving 4 other entities. The group ventured into RaaS last year, offering services for as little as $269.99 per month.

Source: [The Hacker News]

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Other Social Engineering

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

Linux and Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

Nation State Actors

China

Russia

North Korea

Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

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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Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 February 2024

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 02 February 2024:

-The Financial Sector Is Plagued by Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks That Demand a Defensive Paradigm Shift

-The $10 Billion Cyber Insurance Industry Sees a Dangerous Year in Cyber Crime Ahead. AI, Ransomware, and War are its Biggest Concerns

-Microsoft Says Russian Hackers Used Known Identified Tactics to Breach Senior Exec Emails

-Old Methods, New Tricks: Cyber Criminals Are Still Using Social Engineering to Steal Your Credentials

-UK Government Unveils New Cyber Threat Guidelines as 32% of Firms Suffer Attacks in Past Year

-94% of Organisations Would Pay a Ransom, Despite Having ‘Do Not Pay’ Policies, as 79% Faced an Attack in 2023

-Interpol Arrests More than 30 Cyber Criminals in Global Operation

-Divide and Succeed: Splitting IT and Security Makes Business Sense

-Ransomware Groups Gain Clout with False Attack Claims

-Payment Fraud is Hitting Organisations Harder Than Ever Before

-Chinese Hacking Operations Have Entered a Far More Dangerous Phase, US Warns

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

The Financial Sector is Plagued by Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks That Demand a Defensive Paradigm Shift

A series of interviews with senior cyber executives and decision makers around the world gave insights into the attacks seen in the financial sector. The findings include 77% of financial organisations detecting campaigns to steal non-public market information, 48% falling victim to attacks solely focused on destroying data and 45% of organisations believing they were a victim of an attack which they were unable to detect. The financial sector remains a valuable target for cyber criminals and as such, organisations within this sector must proactively protect themselves.

Source: [PR News Wire]

The $10 Billion Cyber Insurance Industry Sees a Dangerous Year in Cyber Crime Ahead. AI, Ransomware, and War are its Biggest Concerns

A recent report by insurance broker Woodruff Sawyer sheds light on pressing concerns from the perspective of the insurance industry. Amidst ongoing global conflicts and the rise of AI-driven cyber threats, the boundaries between war and cyber attacks are blurring. Insurers are increasingly wary, with many opting not to provide coverage, particularly against war-related risks. The survey reveals a grim outlook, with 56% of clients anticipating a significant increase in cyber risks in 2024, primarily driven by ransomware and war associated threats. The challenge lies in defining and navigating these evolving risks, leaving clients uncertain about their cyber security strategies. Additionally, updated US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules mandating rapid disclosure of cyber breaches add further complexity to the cyber security landscape, warranting close monitoring by insurers. As cyber threats continue to evolve in a turbulent world, the insurance industry faces unprecedented challenges in safeguarding against cyber risks.

Source: [Fortune]

Microsoft Says Russian Hackers Used Known Identified Tactics to Breach Senior Exec Emails

Hackers allegedly linked to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) breached a legacy non-production test tenant account in Microsoft last November, before pivoting into their senior executives’ email accounts. Microsoft only discovered the incident on 12 January. In a blog post, Microsoft said that the attackers had used a password spray attack on a limited number of accounts. One of these accounts was a legacy, non-production test account that had elevated access to the Microsoft corporate environment, and the ability to create malicious OAuth applications with access to other corporate mailboxes, leading to them accessing senior executives’ emails. Microsoft has since confirmed that multi-factor authentication was not enabled. Microsoft has previously warned the public about this exact scenario, writing that attackers “compromise user accounts to create, modify, and grant high privileges to OAuth applications that they can misuse to hide malicious activity.”

Sources: [The Record] [Bleeping Computer]

Old Methods, New Tricks: Cyber Criminals Are Still Using Social Engineering to Steal Your Credentials

2023 showed us that despite all the advancements in cyber security, most threat actors are simply just logging in. To do this an attacker needs credentials, often gained through phishing, the most common social engineering tactic. The emergence and utilisation of artificial intelligence has only made this easier, the point being that now virtually anyone can conduct a sophisticated phishing campaign, and with huge success. But what can organisations do? Focus on their human firewall. Social engineering will remain, and organisations need to ensure that their staff are consistently trained to be vigilant, as well as regular updated training on current trends. Users should ensure that they don’t reuse passwords across accounts, nor use easy to guess passwords or patterns. Users should be encouraged to use password managers to enable better, and more manageable, password hygiene. Where possible, multi factor authentication should be enforced.

Sources: [Security Boulevard] [Beta News] [Security Intelligence]

UK Government Unveils New Cyber Threat Guidelines as 32% of Firms Suffer Attacks in Past Year

The UK government is urging organisations to prioritise cyber threats as a key business risk, on par with financial and legal challenges. They have released new guidelines, the Cyber Governance Code of Practice, aimed at directors and senior leaders to elevate cyber security as a focal point in business operations. The code recommends clear roles and responsibilities, customer protection, and plans to respond to cyber attacks. It also emphasises the need for employees to possess adequate cyber awareness and skills. As cyber security incidents rise, a report found that 77% of financial services organisations have experienced a cyber attack. Other figures also show that 32% of firms have suffered a cyber breach or attack in the past year alone. These guidelines align with the UK Government’s National Cyber Strategy, aiming to protect and promote online security in the country. With the financial sector experiencing underperforming cyber security providers, organisations need to strengthen their anti-fraud defences, possibly incorporating cyber risk ratings for a more robust security posture.

Source: [The Fintech Times]

94% of Organisations Would Pay a Ransom, Despite Having ‘Do Not Pay’ Policies, as 79% Faced an Attack in 2023

A recent study has found that 94% of organisations would pay a ransomware demand, even if they had a ‘do not pay’ policy, in the event of an attack. The study found that 79% had suffered a ransomware related attack in the second half of 2023. When it came to resilience, only 21% had full confidence in their organisation’s cyber resilience and ability to address today’s escalating cyber challenges and threats, and 23% reported that they would need over three weeks to recover data and restore business processes. A common theme in the study was the belief that senior and executive management do not fully understand the serious risks, with only 35% of respondents believing risks were fully understood.

Sources: [Beta News] [ Security Magazine] [MSSP Alert]

Interpol Arrests More than 30 Cyber Criminals in Global Operation

This week, international law enforcement announced that it detained 31 suspected cyber criminals and identified 1,300 malicious servers which were used to conduct phishing attacks and distribute malware. The operation, labelled “Synergia” was in response to “the clear growth, escalation and professionalisation of transnational cyber crime and the need for coordinated action against new cyber threats” Interpol said. Nearly 60 law enforcement agencies and several private companies were involved in the operation.

Sources: [The Record]

Divide and Succeed: Splitting IT and Security Makes Business Sense

Maintaining year-round security hygiene is important to protect both consumers and organisations. Cyber attacks, like the recent one on 23andMe, often exploit vulnerabilities that persist due to incomplete patching and compromised credentials. Many organisations cite time constraints as the primary reason for not updating security features. Ideally, in any organisation, and indeed in all organisations that have reached a level of maturity in this space, security and IT teams should be separate; however, this is not really achievable in many organisations and hence the responsibility to protect ultimately falls on IT teams. Overburdened IT teams, and IT teams whose primary focus is on operational IT, further compound the issue, spending significant time managing data requests and analysing data, leading to cyber security risks. As consumers become more privacy-conscious, businesses must review and adapt their data privacy policies to build trust. Additionally, the growing use of artificial intelligence poses new risks, necessitating the development of company-wide AI policies to protect data privacy. While privacy legislation remains fragmented, staying proactive by updating data privacy policies, understanding data usage, and fortifying cyber security defences is crucial for organisations.

Source: [Digital Journal]

Ransomware Groups Gain Clout with False Attack Claims

A concerning trend is on the rise: fake breach claims by ransomware groups. Cyber criminals are leveraging the dark web and social media to spread misinformation about alleged breaches, triggering unwarranted cyber investigations and generating unwanted, and unwarranted, negative publicity for the alleged victim. Recent incidents involving Technica Corp and Europcar exemplify this growing threat. While these claims often lack credible evidence, they serve as a means for ransomware operators to gain attention and clout in the cyber criminal world. These groups resort to false claims to maintain relevance. Cyber security teams must adapt to this new ransomware misinformation communication strategy and exercise caution when evaluating breach claims.

Source: [Dark Reading]

Payment Fraud is Hitting Organisations Harder Than Ever Before

According to research, 96% of companies in the US were targeted with at least one fraud attempt in the past year. 36% who suffered said the average loss they experienced was more than $1 million and for 25%, this was more than $5 million. The study found misaligned perception as despite the number falling victim, only 5% believed they could not keep up with fraud. Of concern, 75% of C-level finance leaders said they would stop doing business with an organisation that fell victim to payment fraud.

Source: [Help Net Security]

Chinese Hacking Operations Have Entered a Far More Dangerous Phase, US Warns

In the US, the directors of the FBI, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), have stated that China’s cyber activity is moving beyond the last decade’s spying and data theft toward direct attacks on critical infrastructure. It was identified that Chinese nation-state actors were planting malware on network routers and other internet-connected devices that, if triggered, could disrupt water, power, rail and other critical services, possibly causing widespread chaos, or even injury or deaths as a result.

Source: [Defense One]

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Insurance

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Identity and Access Management

Linux and Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

Nation State Actors

China

Russia

Iran

Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 January 2024

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 19 January 2024:

-World Economic Forum and UN Warn of Growing ‘Cyber Insecurity’ Amid Heightened Threat Landscape

-Cyber Attacks Reveal Fragility of Financial Markets as Attacks on Financial Services Sector Surge

-Researcher Uncovers One of The Biggest Password Dumps in Recent History

-Email Nightmare: 94% of Firms Hit by Phishing Attacks in 2023

-75% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware in 2023

-The Dangers of Quadruple Blow Ransomware Attacks

-Human Error and Insiders Expose Millions in UK Law Firm Data Breaches

-It’s a New Year and a Good Time for a Cyber Security Checkup

-Applying the Tyson Principle to Cyber Security: Why Attack Simulations are Key to Avoiding Disaster

-Cyber Threats Top Global Business Risk Concern for 2024

-Generative AI has CEOs Worried About Cyber Security, PwC Survey Says

-With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too

-Digital Resilience – a Step Up from Cyber Security

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

World Economic Forum and UN Warn of Growing ‘Cyber Insecurity’ Amid Heightened Threat Landscape

The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) have highlighted “cyber insecurity” as one of the most critical challenges facing organisations worldwide. A recent report reveals that over 80% of surveyed organisations feel more exposed to cyber crime than in the previous year, leading to calls for increased collaboration across sectors and borders to enhance business resilience. The study shows a growing gap in cyber resilience between organisations, with small and medium-sized enterprises facing declines of 30% in cyber resilience. Moreover, the cyber skills shortage continues to widen, with only 15% of organisations optimistic about improvements in cyber education and skills.

The report also underscores the impact of generative AI on cyber security, emphasising the need for ongoing innovation in digital security efforts. According to a separate report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there has been a significant uptick in the use of large language model-based chatbots, deepfake technology, and automation tools in cyber fraud operations. These technologies pose a significant threat to the formal banking industry and require focused attention from authorities to counter their impact. The convergence of these trends underscores the urgency and complexity of the cyber security landscape.

Sources: [ITPro] [The Debrief]

Cyber Attacks Reveal Fragility of Financial Markets as Attacks on Financial Services Sector Surge

The financial sector is facing an increased risk from cyber attacks, with cyber security now being listed as the top systemic risk according to a Bank of England survey. Cyber attacks rose by 64% in 2023, with a shift towards AI-facilitated ransomware attacks and Vendor Email Compromise (VEC), which rose 137%, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, which rose by 71%, both of which exploit human error and pose a severe threat to the industry.

However, there is a lack of readiness by financial organisations to manage cyber attacks due to sophisticated attacks, talent shortages, and insufficient cyber defence investments. Ransomware incidents reported to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority doubled in 2023, making up 31% of cyber incidents, up from 11% in 2022. The financial sector remains a prime target for cyber criminals, especially ransomware groups.

Sources: [ITPro] [Law Society] [Security Brief] [Financial Times]  [Infosecurity Magazine]

Researcher Uncovers One of The Biggest Password Dumps in Recent History

Researchers have found that nearly 71 million unique stolen credentials for logging into websites such as Facebook, Roblox, eBay, Coinbase and Yahoo have been circulating on the Internet for at least four months. The massive amount of data was posted to a well-known underground market that brokers sales of compromised credentials.

Whilst there is a large number of re-used passwords in the data dump, it appears to contain roughly 25 million new passwords and 70 million unique email addresses. This serves as a crucial reminder about properly securing accounts, such as not reusing passwords, using a password manager and securing accounts with multi factor authentication.

Source: [Ars Technica]

Email Nightmare: 94% of Firms Hit by Phishing Attacks in 2023

Email security remained at the forefront of cyber related issues for decision-makers, with over nine in ten (94%) having to deal with a phishing attack, according to email security provider Egress. The top three phishing techniques used in 2023 were malicious URLs, malware or ransomware attachments, and attacks sent from compromised accounts. 96% of targeted organisations were negatively impacted by these attacks, up 10% from the previous year.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

75% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware in 2023

A recent report found that 75% of participants suffered at least one ransomware attack last year, and 26% were hit four or more times. The report noted that of the 25% who claimed to not have been hit, some could have been a victim but may not have the facilities to detect and therefore be aware as such. Ransomware remains a security threat and no organisation is immune.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

The Dangers of Quadruple Blow Ransomware Attacks

With the introduction of new regulatory requirements like NIS 2.0 and changes to US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) statutes, organisations are now mandated to promptly report cyber incidents, sometimes with deadlines as tight as four days. However, attackers are evolving their tactics to exploit these regulations. They add a new level of coercion by threatening to report non-compliant organisations to the regulator, thereby increasing the pressure on their victims. This was first seen last year as a ransomware gang AlphV reported one of its victims, MeridianLink, to the SEC for failing to report a successful cyber attack.

This coercive strategy places immense pressure on companies, especially as they grapple with data encryption, data exfiltration, and public exposure threats. In response to these evolving threats and regulatory pressures, organisations must invest in cyber resilience. This enables them to effectively respond to attacks, communicate with regulators, and recover services promptly, ultimately fortifying their defences against future threats.

Source: [TechRadar]

Human Error and Insiders Expose Millions in UK Law Firm Data Breaches

UK law firms are falling victim to data breaches primarily because of insiders and human error, according to an analysis of data from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). According to research, 60% of data breaches in the UK legal sector where the result of insider actions. In total, breaches led to the exposure of information of 4.2 million people. Often, even those organisations that implement measures to prevent breaches will still miss insider risk. Insider risk is not always malicious; it can also be negligence or due to a lack of knowledge, and it is important to protect against it.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

It’s a New Year and a Good Time for a Cyber Security Checkup

2023 brought a slew of high-profile vulnerabilities and data breaches impacting various sectors, including healthcare, government, and education. Notable incidents included ransomware attacks, such as the MOVEit, GoAnywhere, and casino operator breaches, along with the exploitation of unpatched legacy vulnerabilities like Log4j and Microsoft Exchange. Furthermore, new regulatory requirements from the likes of the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and state security and privacy laws, added to the complexity. As we enter 2024, it is crucial for organisations, regardless of size, to reassess their cyber security strategies, incorporating lessons learned and adapting to new requirements. Comprehensive cyber security programs encompass people, operations and technology, addressing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

Black Arrow can help with comprehensive and impartial assessments including gap analyses and security testing. These provide you with the objective assurance you need to understand whether your controls are providing you with your intended security and risk management.

Source: [JDSupra]

Applying the Tyson Principle to Cyber Security: Why Attack Simulations are Key to Avoiding Disaster

Mike Tyson’s famous adage “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," is something we too often see in the world of security. When it comes to cyber security, preparedness is not just a luxury but a necessity. Far too often, unrealistic expectations in cyber defences create a false sense of security, leading to dire consequences when the reality of an attack hits. No-one wants to be testing their defences and implementing their response plan for the first time during a real incident.

In comes the benefit of incident and attack simulations: a reality check of your defences in a safe environment. Regular tabletop war-gaming exercises that simulate the fall out of an attack for senior leadership, can help to build muscle memory for when something does happen. They make sure everyone knows what to do, and crucially also not to do, when such an event happens for real. A deeper exercise would be a simulated attack that can be systematic and controlled, to mimic a real attacker and then adapted as attackers change their tactics, techniques, and procedures. From simulations, organisations can assess how their defences performed, applying insights and measuring and refining their defences for the event of a real attack.

Source: [The Hacker News]

Cyber Threats Top Global Business Risk Concern for 2024

Cyber related incidents, including ransomware attacks, data breaches and IT disruptions are the biggest concern for companies globally in 2024, according to a recent report by Allianz. The report highlights that these risks are a concern for businesses of all sizes, but the resilience gap between large and small companies is widening, “as risk awareness among larger organisations has grown since the pandemic with a notable drive to upgrade resilience.” Smaller businesses lack the time and resources that larger organisations have available, and as such need to carefully select and prioritise their resilience efforts.

Source: [Insurance Journal]

Generative AI has CEOs Worried About Cyber Security, PwC Survey Says

A recent PwC global survey found that when it comes to generative AI risks, 64% of CEOs said they are most concerned about its impact on cyber security, with over half of the total interviewed stating concerns about generative AI spreading misinformation in their company.  When we think of generative AI, we often worry about outside risk and the impact it can have for attackers, but the risk can also be internal, with things such as accidental disclosure by employees to unregulated generative AI. There is a necessity for organisations to govern the usage of AI in their corporate environment, to prevent such risks.

Source: [Quartz]

With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, the cyber insurance market is experiencing significant changes that will impact businesses in the coming months with experts predicting that cyber insurance costs are on the verge of an upward trend. The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote work and the cloud disrupted the cyber insurance market, leading to rising costs and reduced coverage options. In 2022, a temporary respite saw lower premiums, but 2023 has seen a resurgence in attacker activity, making it a challenging year for insurers. Cyber insurance remains a critical component of risk management, with the industry expected to continue growing despite higher rates. For businesses, understanding the evolving landscape of cyber insurance and ensuring adequate coverage is crucial in the face of escalating cyber threats.

Source: [Dark Reading]

Digital Resilience: a Step Up from Cyber Security

In today's digital landscape, the focus on digital resilience is paramount for organisations. While cyber security has garnered attention, digital resilience is the new frontier. Digital resilience involves an organisation's ability to maintain, adapt, and recover technology-dependent operations. As we increasingly rely on digital technology and the internet of things, understanding the critical role of technology in core business processes is vital. It goes beyond cyber security, encompassing change management, business resilience, operational risk, and competitiveness. Digital resilience means being ready to adopt new technology and swiftly recover from disruptions. Recognising its value and managing it at the senior level is crucial for long-term success in our rapidly evolving digital world. Moreover, amid a rising number of cyber attacks, addressing the statistic that only 18% of UK businesses provided cyber security training to employees last year is essential. Bridging this knowledge gap through cyber hygiene, a culture of cyber security, and robust safety measures will strengthen an organisation's cyber resilience against evolving threats.

Black Arrow supports organisations of all sizes in designing and delivering proportionate user education and awareness programmes, including in-person and online training as well as simulated phishing campaigns. Our programmes help secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation. 

Sources: [CSO Online] [Financial Times]

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Insurance

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Backup and Recovery

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

Nation State Actors

China

Russia

Iran

Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 14 July 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 14 July 2023:

-Cyber Attacks Are a War We'll Never Win, but We Can Defend Ourselves

-Helping Boards Understand Cyber Risks

-Enterprise Risk Management Should Inform Cyber Risk Strategies

-Law Firms at High Risk of Attack as Ransomware Groups Begin to Focus Attention

-20% of Malware Attacks Bypass Antivirus Protection

-Ransomware Payments and Extortion Spiked Compared to 2022

-AI, Trust, and Data Security are Key Issues for Finance Firms and Their Customers

-Caution: Microsoft Warns of Office Zero-Day Attacks with No Patch Available

-Scam Page Volumes Surge 304% Annually

-Financial Industry Faces Soaring Ransomware Threat

-The Need for Risk-Based Vulnerability Management to Combat Threats

-Government Agencies Breached in Microsoft 365 Email Attacks

-Concerns Raised as Report Questions UK’s “Completely Inadequate” Defence to Threats from China

-Hackers Backed by North Korea have Stolen Billions of Dollars Over the Last Five Years

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 Are a War We'll Never Win, But We Can Defend Ourselves

The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving, with hackers becoming more creative in their exploitation of businesses and personal data. As the frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks increase, it's clear that the cyber security war is an endless series of battles that demand constant innovation and vigilance. Recognising the necessity of having built-in security, organisations should integrate security measures into their systems and foster a culture of security awareness.

Acknowledging that breaches are an inevitable risk, an orchestrated team response, well-practiced recovery plan, and effective communication strategy are key to managing crises. Organisations must also invest in proactive security measures, including emerging technologies to spot intrusions early. Ultimately, cyber security isn't just a technical concern, it's a cultural and organisational imperative, requiring the incorporation of security measures into every aspect of an organisation's operations and philosophy.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/cyberattacks-are-a-war-we-ll-never-win-but-we-can-defend-ourselves

  • Helping Boards Understand Cyber Risks

A difference in perspective is a fundamental reason board members and the cyber security team are not always aligned. Board members typically have a much broader view of the organisation’s goals, strategies, and overall risk landscape, where CISOs are responsible for assessing and mitigating cyber security risk.

It’s often a result of the board lacking cyber security expertise among its members, the complexity with understanding the topic and CISOs who focus too heavily on technical language during their discussions with the board which can cause a differing perspective. For organisations to be most effective in their approach to cyber security, they should hire CISOs or vCISOs who wear more than one hat and are able to understand cyber in context to the business. In addition, having cyber expertise on the board will pay dividends; this can be achieved by direct hiring or upskilling of board members.

Black Arrow supports clients as their vCISO or Non-Executive Director (NED) with specialist experience in cyber security risk management in a business context.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/11/david-christensen-plansource-board-ciso-communication/

  • Enterprise Risk Management Should Inform Cyber Risk Strategies

While executives and boards once viewed cyber security as a primarily technical concern, many now recognise it as a major business issue. A single serious data breach could result in debilitating operational disruptions, financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties.

Cyber security focuses on protecting digital assets from threats, while enterprise risk management adopts a wider approach, mitigating diverse risks across several domains beyond the digital sphere. Rather than existing in siloes, enterprise risk management and cyber risk management strategies should complement and inform each other. By integrating cyber security into their risk management frameworks, organisations can more efficiently and effectively protect their most valuable digital assets.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Enterprise-risk-management-should-inform-cyber-risk-strategies

  • Law Firms at High Risk of Attack as Ransomware Groups Begin to Focus Attention

Three of the largest US law firms have been newly hit by the Cl0p cyber syndicate as part of dozens of ransomware attacks across industries that so far have affected more than 16 million people. All three law firms feature on Cl0p’s leak site, which lists organisations who Cl0p have breached.

This comes as the UK National Cyber Security (NCSC) noted in a report the threat to the legal sector. Law firms are a particularly attractive target for the depth of sensitive personal information they hold from individuals and companies, plus the dual threat of publishing it publicly should a ransom demand go unmet. In Australia, law firm HWL Ebsworth confirmed several documents relating to its work with several Victorian Government departments and agencies had been released by cyber criminals to the dark web following a data breach announced in April 2023.

The extortion of law firms allows extra opportunities for an attacker, including exploiting opportunities for insider trading, gaining the upper hand in negotiations and litigation, or subverting the course of justice. Based on the above, it is no wonder the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the UK found that 75% of the law firms they visited has been a victim of a cyber attack.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-breaches-and-attacks/ransomware/cl0p-hackers-hit-three-of-the-biggest-u-s-law-firms-in-large-ransomware-attack/

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/10/law-firm-cyberattack/

  • 20% of Malware Attacks Bypass Antivirus Protection

In the first half of 2023, researchers found that 20% of all recaptured malware logs had an antivirus program installed at the time of successful malware execution. Not only did these solutions not prevent the attack, they also lack the automated ability to protect against any stolen data that can be used in the aftermath.

The researchers found that the common entry points for malware are permitting employees to sync browser data between personal and professional devices (57%), struggling with shadow IT due to employees' unauthorised use of applications and systems (54%), and allowing unmanaged personal or shared devices to access business applications (36%).

Such practices expose organisations to subsequent attacks, like ransomware, resulting from stolen access credentials. Malware detection and quick action on exposures are critical; however, many organisations struggle with response and recovery with many firms failing to have robust incident response plans.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/13/malware-infections-responses/

  • Ransomware Payments and Extortion Spiked Compared to 2022

A recent report from Chainalysis found that ransomware activity is on track to break previous records, having extorted at least $449.1 million through June. For all of 2022, that number didn’t even reach $500 million. Similarly, a separate report using research statistics from Action Fraud UK, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud, found cyber extortion cases surged 39% annually.

It’s no wonder both are on the rise, as the commonly used method of encrypting data behind a ransom is being combined with threatening to leak data; this gives bad actors two opportunities to gain payment. With this, the worry about the availability of your data now extends to the confidentiality and integrity of it.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyber-extortion-cases-surge-39/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-payments-on-record-breaking-trajectory-for-2023/

  • AI, Trust, and Data Security are Key Issues for Finance Firms and Their Customers

Business leaders have been warned to expect more instability and uncertainly following on from the unpredictable nature of events during the past few years, from COVID-19 to business restructurings, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI). A recent report found that customers feel they lack appropriate guidance from their financial providers during times of economic uncertainty; the lack of satisfactory experience and a desire for a better digital experience is causing 25% of customers to switch banks.

The report also found that 23% of customers do not trust AI and 56% are neutral. This deficit in trust can swing in either direction based on how Financial Services Institutions (FSIs) use and deliver AI-powered services. While the benefits of AI are unclear, an increased awareness of personal data security has made trust between providers and customers more crucial than ever. In fact, 78% of customers say they would switch financial service providers if they felt their data was mishandled.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ai-trust-and-data-security-are-key-issues-for-finance-firms-and-their-customers/

  • Caution: Microsoft Warns of Office Zero-Day Attacks with No Patch Available

Russian spies and cyber criminals are actively exploiting still-unpatched security flaws in Microsoft Windows and Office products, according to an urgent warning from Microsoft. While Microsoft recently released patches for 130 vulnerabilities, including 9 criticals, 6 which are actively being exploited (see our advisory here), a series of remote code execution vulnerabilities were not addressed, and attackers have been actively exploiting them because the patches are not yet available.

An attacker could create a specially crafted Microsoft Office document that enables them to perform remote code execution in the context of the victim. All an attacker would have to do is to convince the victim to open the malicious file. Microsoft have stated that a security update may be released out of cycle to address these flaws.

https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-warns-of-office-zero-day-attacks-no-patch-available/

  • Scam Page Volumes Surge 304% Annually

Security researchers have recorded a 62% year-on-year increase in phishing websites and a 304% surge in scam pages in 2022. The Digital Risk Trends 2023 report classifies phishing as a threat resulting in the theft of personal information and a scam as any attempt to trick a victim into voluntarily handing over money or sensitive information.

It found that the average number of instances in which a brand’s image and logo was appropriated for use in scam campaigns increased 162% YoY, rising to 211% in APAC. Scams are also becoming more automated, as the ever-increasing number of new tools available to would-be cyber criminals has lowered the barrier of entry. We expect to see AI also play a greater role in scams in the future.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/scam-page-volumes-surge-304/

  • Financial Industry Faces Soaring Ransomware Threat

The financial industry has been facing a surge in ransomware attacks over the past few years, said cyber security provider SOCRadar in a threat analysis post. This trend started in the first half of 2021, when Trend Micro saw a staggering 1,318% increase in ransomware attacks targeting banks and financial institutions compared to the same period in 2020. Sophos also found that over half (55%) of financial service firms fell victim to at least one ransomware attack in 2021, a 62% increase from 2020.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/financial-industry-faces-soaring/

  • The Need for Risk-Based Vulnerability Management to Combat Threats

Cyber attacks are increasing as the number of vulnerabilities found in software has increased by over 50% in the last 5 years. This is a result of unpatched and poorly configured systems as 75% of organisations believe they are vulnerable to a cyber attack due to unpatched software. As vulnerabilities continue to rise and security evolves, it is becoming increasingly apparent that conventional vulnerability management programs are inadequate for managing the expanding attack surface. In comparison, a risk-based strategy enables organisations to assess the level of risk posed by vulnerabilities. This approach allows teams to prioritise vulnerabilities based on their assessed risk levels and remediate those with higher risks, minimising potential attacks in a way that is continuous, and automated.

By enhancing your vulnerability risk management process, you will be able to proactively address potential issues before they escalate and maintain a proactive stance in managing vulnerabilities and cloud security. Through the incorporation of automated threat intelligence risk monitoring, you will be able to identify significant risks before they become exploitable.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/the-need-for-risk-based-vulnerability-management-to-combat-threats/

  • Government Agencies Breached in Microsoft 365 Email Attacks

Microsoft disclosed an attack against customer email accounts that affected US government agencies and led to stolen data. While questions remain about the attacks, Microsoft provided some details in two blog posts on Tuesday, including attribution to a China-based threat actor it tracks as Storm-0558. The month long intrusion began on 15 May and was first reported to Microsoft by a federal civilian executive branch (FCEB) agency in June.

Microsoft said attackers gained access to approximately 25 organisations, including government agencies. While Microsoft has mitigated the attack vector, the US Government Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was first to initially detect the suspicious activity. The government agency published an advisory that included an attack timeline, technical details and mitigation recommendations. CISA said an FCEB agency discovered suspicious activity in its Microsoft 365 (M365) environment sometime last month.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/366544735/Microsoft-Government-agencies-breached-in-email-attacks

  • Concerns Raised as Report Questions UK’s “Completely Inadequate” Defence to Threats from China

Britain’s spy watchdog has slammed the UK Government for a “completely inadequate” response to Chinese espionage and interference which risked an “existential threat to liberal democratic systems”. In a bombshell 207 page report, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee issued a series of alarming warnings about how British universities, the nuclear sector, Government and organisations alike were being targeted by China.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/britain-risk-china-intelligence-security-committee-report-government-b1094118.html

  • Hackers Backed by North Korea have Stolen Billions of Dollars Over the Last Five Years

Hackers have developed a list of sophisticated tricks that allow them to weasel their way into the networks of possible targets, including organisations. Sometimes a North Korean hacker would pose as a recruitment officer to get an employee’s attention. The cyber criminal would then share an infected file with the unsuspecting company employee. This was the case of the famous 2021’s Axie Infinity hack that allowed the North Koreans to steal more than $600 million after one of the game developers was offered a fake job by the hackers.

https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/security/north-korea-stolen-crypto/

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

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

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Attack Surface Management

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Travel

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

Russia

China

Iran

North Korea

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

OT/ICS Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 August 2022

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 August 2022

-Average Cost of Data Breaches Hits Record High of $4.35 Million: IBM

-Researchers Warns of Large-Scale Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) Attacks Targeting Enterprise Users

-UK NHS Suffers Outage After Cyber Attack on Managed Service Provider

-A Third of Organisations Experience a Ransomware Attack Once a Week

-Ransomware Products, Services Ads on Dark Web Show Clues to Danger

-Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, How Malware Tricks Users and Antivirus

-Microsoft Accounts Targeted with New MFA-Bypassing Phishing Kit

-Cyber Attack Prevention Is Cost-Effective, So Why Aren’t Businesses Investing to Protect?

-Securing Your Move to the Hybrid Cloud

-Lessons from the Russian Cyber Warfare Attacks

-Four Sneaky Attacker Evasion Techniques You Should Know About

-Zero-Day Defence: Tips for Defusing the Threat

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

  • Average Cost of Data Breaches Hits Record High of $4.35 Million: IBM

The global average cost of data breaches reached an all-time high of $4.35 million in 2022 compared with $4.24 million in 2021, according to a new IBM Security report. About 60% of the breached organisations raised product and services prices due to the breaches.

The annual report, conducted by Ponemon Institute and analysed and sponsored by IBM Security, is based on the analysis of real-world data breaches experienced by 550 organisations globally between March 2021 and March 2022.

According to the report, about 83% of the organisations have experienced more than one breach in their lifetime, with nearly half of the costs reported to be incurred more than a year after the breach.

The report revealed that ransomware and destructive attacks represented 28% of breaches among the critical infrastructure organisations studied, indicating that threat actors are specifically targeting the sector to disrupt global supply chains. The critical infrastructure sector includes financial services, industrial, transportation, and healthcare companies.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3668655/average-cost-of-data-breaches-hits-record-high-of-435-million-ibm.html#tk.rss_news

  • Researchers Warns of Large-Scale Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) Attacks Targeting Enterprise Users

A new, large-scale phishing campaign has been observed using adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) techniques to get around security protections and compromise enterprise email accounts.

It uses a technique capable of bypassing multi-factor authentication. The campaign is specifically designed to reach end users in enterprises that use Microsoft's email services.

Prominent targets include fintech, lending, insurance, energy, manufacturing, and federal credit union verticals located in the US, UK, New Zealand, and Australia.

This is not the first time such a phishing attack has come to light. Last month, Microsoft disclosed that over 10,000 organisations had been targeted since September 2021 by means of AitM techniques to breach accounts secured with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

The ongoing campaign, effective June 2022, commences with an invoice-themed email sent to targets containing an HTML attachment, which includes a phishing URL embedded within it.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/08/researchers-warns-of-large-scale-aitm.html

  • UK NHS Suffers Outage After Cyber Attack on Managed Service Provider

The UK National Health Service (NHS) 111 emergency services were affected by a significant and ongoing outage triggered by a cyber attack that hit the systems of British managed service provider (MSP) Advanced.

Advanced's Adastra client patient management solution, which is used by 85% of NHS 111 services, was hit by a major outage together with several other services provided by the MSP, according to a status page.

"There was a major outage of a computer system that is used to refer patients from NHS 111 Wales to out-of-hours GP providers," the Welsh Ambulance Services said. "This system is used by Local Health Boards to coordinate these services for patients. The ongoing outage is significant and has been far-reaching, impacting each of the four nations in the UK."

The UK public was advised to access the NHS 111 emergency services using the online platform until the incident is resolved.

While no details were provided regarding the nature of the cyber attack, based on the wording, it is likely that this was a ransomware or data extortion attack.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/uk-nhs-suffers-outage-after-cyberattack-on-managed-service-provider/

  • A Third of Organisations Experience a Ransomware Attack Once a Week

Ransomware attacks show no sign of slowing. According to new research published by Menlo Security, a third of organisations experience a ransomware attack at least once a week, with one in 10 experiencing them more than once a day.

The research, conducted among 500+ IT security decision makers at US and UK organisations with more than 1,000 employees, highlights the impact this is having on security professionals’ own wellbeing. When asked what keeps them awake at night, 41% of respondents say they worry about ransomware attacks evolving beyond their team’s knowledge and skillset, while 39% worry about them evolving beyond their company’s security capabilities.

Their biggest concern, however, is the risk of employees ignoring corporate security advice and clicking on links or attachments containing malware (46%). Respondents worry more about this than they do their own job security, with just a quarter (26%) of respondents worried about losing their job.

According to the report, around half of organisations (61% US and 44% UK) have been the victim of a successful ransomware attack in the last 18 months, with customers and prospects the most likely entry point for an attack.

Partners/suppliers and employees/contractors are also seen as serious security risks, although one in 10 admit they are unable to identify how the attacks got in. The top three ransomware attack vectors are email (54%), web browsers via a desktop or laptop (49%) and mobile devices (39%).

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/04/organizations-experience-ransomware-attack/

  • Ransomware Products and Services Ads on Dark Web Show Clues to Danger

Why is ransomware’s destructive potential so daunting? Some clues are in the “for sale” ads. In an examination of some 35 million dark web URLs, a provider of machine identity management and a forensic specialist found some 475 web pages peddling sophisticated ransomware products and services with a number of high profile crews hawking ransomware-as-a-service.

The work is a joint effort between the Salt Lake City-based Venafi and Forensic Pathways, which took place between November 2021 and March 2022. Researchers used Forensic’s Dark Search Engine to carry out the investigation.

Here are some of the research findings:

  • 87% of the ransomware found on the dark web has been delivered via malicious macros to infect targeted systems.

  • 30 different “brands” of ransomware were identified within marketplace listings and forum discussions.

  • Many strains of ransomware being sold — such as Babuk, GoldenEye, Darkside/BlackCat, Egregor, HiddenTear and WannaCry — have been successfully used in high-profile attacks.

  • Ransomware strains used in high-profile attacks command a higher price for associated services. For example, the most expensive listing was $1,262 for a customised version of Darkside ransomware, which was used in the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

  • Source code listings for well-known ransomware generally command higher price points. For example, Babuk source code is listed for $950 and Paradise source code is selling for $593.

Ransomware Sold for as Little as $1: In addition to a variety of ransomware at various price points, a wide range of services and tools that help make it easier for attackers with minimal technical skills to launch ransomware attacks are for sale on the dark web, Venafi said. Services with the greatest number of listings include those offering source code, build services, custom development services and ransomware packages that include step-by-step tutorials.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-breaches-and-attacks/ransomware/ransomware-products-services-ads-on-dark-web-show-clues-to-danger/

  • Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing: How Malware Tricks Users and Antivirus

One of the primary methods used by malware distributors to infect devices is by deceiving people into downloading and running malicious files, and to achieve this deception, malware authors are using a variety of tricks.

Some of these tricks include masquerading malware executables as legitimate applications, signing them with valid certificates, or compromising trustworthy sites to use them as distribution points.

According to VirusTotal, a security platform for scanning uploaded files for malware, some of these tricks are happening on a much larger scale than initially thought.

The platform has compiled a report presenting stats from January 2021 until July 2022, based on the submission of two million files daily, illustrating trends in how malware is distributed.

  • Abusing legitimate domains: Distributing malware through legitimate, popular, and high-ranking websites allows threat actors to evade IP-based blocklists, enjoy high availability, and provide a greater level of trust.

  • Using stolen code-signing certificates: Signing malware samples with valid certificates stolen from companies is a reliable way to evade AV detection and security warnings on the host. Of all the malicious samples uploaded to VirusTotal between January 2021 and April 2022, over a million were signed, and 87% used a valid certificate.

  • Disguised as popular software: Masquerading a malware executable as a legitimate, popular application has seen an upward trend in 2022. Victims download these files thinking they’re getting the applications they need, but upon running the installers, they infect their systems with malware. The most mimicked applications are Skype, Adobe Acrobat, VLC, and 7zip.

  • Lacing legitimate installers - Finally, there’s the trick of hiding malware inside legitimate application installers and running the infection process in the background while the real apps execute in the foreground. Based on VirusTotal stats, this practice also appears to be on the rise this year, using Google Chrome, Malwarebytes, Windows Updates, Zoom, Brave, Firefox, ProtonVPN, and Telegram as lures.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/wolf-in-sheep-s-clothing-how-malware-tricks-users-and-antivirus/

  • Microsoft Accounts Targeted with New MFA-Bypassing Phishing Kit

A new large-scale phishing campaign targeting credentials for Microsoft email services use a custom proxy-based phishing kit to bypass multi-factor authentication.

Researchers believe the campaign's goal is to breach corporate accounts to conduct BEC (business email compromise) attacks, diverting payments to bank accounts under their control using falsified documents.

The phishing campaign's targets include fin-tech, lending, accounting, insurance, and Federal Credit Union organisations in the US, UK, New Zealand, and Australia.

The campaign was discovered by Zscaler's ThreatLabz researchers, who report that the operation is still ongoing, and the phishing actors register new phishing domains almost daily.

Starting in June 2022, Zscaler's analysts noticed a spike in sophisticated phishing attempts against specific sectors and users of Microsoft email services.

Some of the newly registered domains used in the campaign are typo-squatted versions of legitimate domains.

Notably, many phishing emails originated from the accounts of executives working in these organisations, whom the threat actors most likely compromised earlier.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-accounts-targeted-with-new-mfa-bypassing-phishing-kit/

  • Cyber Attack Prevention Is Cost-Effective, So Why Aren’t Businesses Investing to Protect?

Cyber attacks like ransomware, BEC scams and data breaches are some of the key issues businesses are facing today, but despite the number of high-profile incidents, many boardrooms are reluctant to free up budget to invest in the cyber security measures necessary to avoid becoming the next victim.

In a Help Net Security interview, Former Pentagon Chief Strategy Officer Jonathan Reiber, VP Cyber security Strategy and Policy, AttackIQ, discusses how now, more than ever, companies need to protect themselves from cyber threat actors. He offers insight for CISOs, from talking to the Board to proper budget allocation.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/01/cyberattack-prevention-investing/

  • Securing Your Move to the Hybrid Cloud

The combination of private and public cloud infrastructure, which most organisations are already using, poses unique security challenges. There are many reasons why organisations adopt the public cloud, from enabling rapid growth without the burden of capacity planning to leveraging flexibility and agility in delivering customer-centric services. However, this use can leave companies open to threats.

Since regulatory requirements or other preferences dictate that certain applications remain on private (on-prem) infrastructure, many organisations choose to maintain a mix of private and public infrastructure. Additionally, organisations typically use multiple cloud providers simultaneously or preserve the option to move between providers. However, this hybrid approach presents unique and diverse security challenges. Different cloud providers and private cloud platforms may offer similar capabilities but different ways of implementing security controls, along with disparate management tools.

The question then becomes: How can an organisation maintain consistent governance, policy enforcement and controls across different clouds? And how can it ensure that it maintains its security posture when moving between them? Fortunately, there are steps professionals can take to ensure that applications are continuously secure, starting from the early stages of development and extending throughout the lifecycle.

https://threatpost.com/secure-move-cloud/180335/

  • Lessons from the Russian Cyber Warfare Attacks

Cyber warfare tactics may not involve tanks and bombs, but they often go hand-in-hand with real combat.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a prime example. Before Russian troops crossed the border, Russian hackers had already taken down Ukrainian government websites. And after the conflict started, the hacktivist group Anonymous turned the tables by hacking Russian media to shut down propaganda about the war.

In these unprecedented times of targeted attacks against governments and financial institutions, every organisation should be on heightened alert about protecting their critical infrastructure and digital attack surface.

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a backdrop, two Trend Micro security experts recently discussed cyber warfare techniques and how they’re an important reminder for every business to proactively manage cyber risk.

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/22/h/russian-cyber-warfare-attacks.html

  • Four Sneaky Attacker Evasion Techniques You Should Know About

Remember those portrayals of hackers in the 80s and 90s where you just knew when you got pwned? A blue screen of death, a scary message, a back-and-forth text exchange with a hacker—if you got pwned in a movie in the 80s and 90s, you knew it right off the bat.

What a shame that today’s hackers have learned to be quiet when infiltrating an environment. Sure, “loud” attacks like ransomware still exist, but threat actors have learned that if they keep themselves hidden, they can usually do far more damage. For hackers, a little stealth can go a long way. Some attack tactics are inherently quiet, making them arguably more dangerous as they can be harder to detect. Here are four of these attack tactics you should know about.

  1. Trusted Application Abuse: Attackers know that many people have applications that they inherently trust, making those trusted applications the perfect launchpad for cyber attacks. Threat actors know that defenders and the tools they use are often on the hunt for new malware presenting itself in environments. What isn’t so easy to detect is when the malware masquerades under legitimate applications.

  2. Trusted Infrastructure Abuse: Much like trusted application abuse, trusted infrastructure abuse is the act of using legitimate, publicly hosted services and toolsets (such as Dropbox or Google Drive) as part of the attack infrastructure. Threat actors know that people tend to trust Dropbox and Google Drive. As a result, this makes these tools a prime means for threat actors to carry out malicious activity. Threat actors often find trusted infrastructure abuse easy because these services aren’t usually blocked at an enterprise’s gateway. In turn, outbound communications can hide in plain sight.

  3. Obfuscation: Although cyber security has more than its fair share of tedious acronyms, the good news is that many terms can be broken down by their generic dictionary definitions. According to dictionary.com, this is what obfuscate means: “To make something unclear, obscure or difficult to understand.” And that’s exactly what it means in cyber security: finding ways to conceal malicious behaviour. In turn, this makes it more difficult for analysts and the tools they use to flag suspicious or malicious activity.

  4. Persistence: Imagine writing up documentation using your computer, something you may well do in your role. You’ve spent a ton of time doing the research required, finding the right sources and compiling all your information into a document. Now, imagine not hitting save on that document and losing it as soon as you reboot your computer. Sound like a nightmare—or perhaps a real anxiety-inducing experience you’ve been through before? Threat actors agree. And that’s why they establish persistence. They don’t want all of their hard work to get into your systems in the first place to be in vain just because you restart your computer. They establish persistence to make sure they can still hang around even after you reboot.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-guests/four-sneaky-attacker-evasion-techniques-you-should-know-about/

  • Zero-Day Defence: Tips for Defusing the Threat

Because they leave so little time to patch and defuse, zero-day threats require a proactive, multi-layered approach based on zero trust.

The recent Atlassian Confluence remote code execution bug is just the latest example of zero-day threats targeting critical vulnerabilities within major infrastructure providers. The specific threat, an Object-Graph Navigation Language (OGNL) injection, has been around for years but took on new significance given the scope of the Atlassian exploit. And OGNL attacks are on the rise.

Once bad actors find such a vulnerability, proof-of-concept exploits start knocking at the door, seeking unauthenticated access to create new admin accounts, execute remote commands, and take over servers. In the Atlassian case, Akamai's threat research team identified that the number of unique IP addresses attempting these exploits grew to more than 200 within just 24 hours.

Defending against these exploits becomes a race against time worthy of a 007 movie. The clock is ticking and you don't have much time to implement a patch and "defuse" the threat before it's too late. But first you need to know that an exploit is underway. That requires a proactive, multi-layered approach to online security based on zero trust.

What do these layers look like? There are a number of different practices that security teams — and their third-party Web application and infrastructure partners — should be aware of.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/zero-day-defense-tips-for-defusing-the-threat

Threats

Ransomware

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Other Social Engineering; SMishing, Vishing, etc

Malware

Mobile

Internet of Things – IoT

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

AML/CFT/Sanctions

Dark Web

Software Supply Chain

Cloud/SaaS

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Privacy

Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

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

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

Other News

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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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2022

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2022

-One Tenth of UK Staff Bypass Corporate Security

-Majority Of Data Security Incidents Caused by Insiders

-One-Third of UK Firms Suffer A Cyber Attack Every Week

-Russia's Cyber Criminals Fear Sanctions Will Erase Their Wealth

-86% Of Organisations Believe They Have Suffered a Nation-State Cyber Attack

-Multiple Hacking Groups Are Using the War in Ukraine As A Lure In Phishing Attempts

-4 Ways Attackers Target Humans to Gain Network Access

-Security Incidents Reported to FCA Surge 52% in 2021

-NCSC Suggests Rethinking Russian Supply Chain Risks

-25% Of Workers Lost Their Jobs In The Past 12 Months After Making Cyber Security Mistakes: Report

-Attackers Compromise 94% Of Critical Assets Within Four Steps Of Initial Breach

-UK Spy Chief Warns Russia Looking for Cyber Targets

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

  • One Tenth of UK Staff Bypass Corporate Security

A new study from Cisco has found that a tenth of UK employees actively circumvent their organisation’s security measures.

The network technology company polled over 1000 UK professionals working for organisations that allow hybrid working, in order to better understand the potential security risks of the modern, flexible workplace.

The research has revealed that many hybrid workers do not see cyber security as their responsibility, with many actively finding workarounds or engaging in risky behaviours such as password reuse.

19% of employees said they reuse passwords for multiple accounts and applications, with only 15% using password managers.

The problem seems to stem from user friction in existing security measures. Only 44% of survey participants said they found it easy to securely access their IT equipment.

A majority said they would be willing to use biometric authentication, a reflection of how enterprise security is still catching up to consumer functionality.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/28/one-tenth-of-uk-staff-bypass-corporate-security/

  • Majority Of Data Security Incidents Caused by Insiders

New research from Imperva has revealed that 70% of EMEA organisations have no insider risk strategy, despite 59% of data security incidents being caused by employees.

The shocking revelation comes as part of a wider study carried out by Forrester: Insider Threats Drive Data Protection Improvements. The study involved interviewing 150 security and IT professionals in EMEA.

An insider threat is defined by Imperva as originating from “inappropriate use of legitimate authorised user accounts” by either their rightful owner or a threat actor who has managed to compromise them.

The study found that insider threats were responsible for 59% of incidents impacting sensitive data in the past 12 months. This supports a previous Imperva analysis of the most significant breaches of the past five years, revealing that 24% were caused by either human error or compromised credentials.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/04/01/majority-of-data-security-incidents-caused-by-insiders/

  • One-Third of UK Firms Suffer a Cyber Attack Every Week

Cyber attacks and related incidents at UK organisations continue their seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory, with new statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealing that 31% of businesses and 26% of charity organisations now experience incidents on a weekly basis.

The data, contained in the annual cyber security breaches survey report, paints a stark picture of the scale of the threat facing the average organisation, and the urgent need to boost standards and defences.

It is vital that every organisation takes cyber security seriously as more and more business is done online and we live in a time of increasing cyber risk.  No matter how big or small your organisation is, you need to take steps to improve digital resilience.

Some 20% of businesses and 19% of charities said they had experienced a negative outcome as a direct consequence of an attack. The average cost of an attack, spread out across all organisations, now works out at £4,200, or £19,400 if only medium and large businesses are considered, although there is probably a vast amount of under-reporting, so the true figures are certainly higher.

Meanwhile, 35% of businesses and 38% of charities said they had experienced some kind of negative impact during the incident, such as service downtime.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252515288/One-third-of-UK-firms-suffer-a-cyber-attack-every-week

  • Russia's Cyber Criminals Fear Sanctions Will Erase Their Wealth

Punitive economic sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine had crooks discussing the best ways to adapt to the new reality.

Members of Russian-language underground forums are not immune to the latest news. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent economic sanctions against Moscow got forum users to discuss how to live in this new world they find themselves in.

According to a report by the Digital Shadows Photon team, dark web forums are teeming with questions on how to ensure the safety of funds held in Russia-based accounts.

One user sought advice on what to do with dollars held in a Russian bank, with others suggesting converting dollars to rubles for a few months.

"I hope you were joking about [holding the funds in rubles for] half a year? After half a year, your rubles will only be good for lighting a fire, they will not be good for anything else," a forum user responded.

https://cybernews.com/news/russias-cybercriminals-fear-sanctions-will-erase-their-wealth/

  • 86% Of Organisations Believe They Have Suffered a Nation-State Cyber Attack

A new study by Trellix and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has revealed that 86% of organisations believe they have fallen victim to a nation-state cyber attack.

The research surveyed 800 IT decision-makers in Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and US.

It has also been revealed that 92% of respondents have faced, or suspect they have faced, a nation-state backed cyber attack in the past 18 months, or anticipate one in the future.

Russia and China were identified as the most likely suspects behind said attacks. 39% of organisations that believe they have been hit with a nation-state cyber attack believe Russia were the perpetrators.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/29/86-of-organisations-believe-they-have-suffered-a-nation-state-cyberattack/

  • Multiple Hacking Groups Are Using the War in Ukraine as A Lure in Phishing Attempts

Hostile hacking groups are exploiting Russia's invasion of Ukraine to carry out cyber attacks designed to steal login credentials, sensitive information, money and more from victims around the world.

According to cyber security researchers at Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), government-backed hackers from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as various unattributed groups and cyber criminal gangs, are using various themes related to the war in Ukraine to lure people into becoming victims of cyber attacks.

In just the last two weeks alone, Google has seen several hacking groups looking to take advantage of the war to fulfil their malicious aims, whether that's stealing information, stealing money, or something else.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-multiple-hacking-groups-are-using-the-war-in-ukraine-as-a-lure-in-phishing-attempts/

  • 4 Ways Attackers Target Humans to Gain Network Access

Since the day we started receiving email, we hope that our antivirus or endpoint protection software alerts us to problems. In reality, it often does not. When technology fails, it’s likely because the attacker made an end run around it by targeting humans. Here are four ways they do it:

1. The targeted human attack

2. Fraudulent wire transfer email

3. Tricking users into handing over credentials

4. Bypassing multi-factor authentication

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3654850/4-ways-attackers-target-humans-to-gain-network-access.html#tk.rss_news

  • Security Incidents Reported to FCA Surge 52% in 2021

The number of cyber security incidents reported to the UK’s financial regulator surged by over 50% last year after a significant increase in cyber-attacks, according to new figures from Picus Security.

The security vendor submitted Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to compile its latest report, Cyber Security Incidents in the UK Financial Sector.

The 52% year-on-year increase in “material” security incidents reported to the FCA seems to have been driven by cyber-attacks, which comprised nearly two-thirds (65%) of these reports.

Picus Security claimed that the rest are likely explained by “system and process failures and employee errors.”

In addition, a third of incident reports were about corporate or personal data breaches, and a fifth involved ransomware.

Picus Security explained that to qualify as a material incident, there needs to have been a significant loss of data, operational IT outages, unauthorized IT access, and/or an impact on a large number of customers.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/security-incidents-reported-fca/

  • NCSC Suggests Rethinking Russian Supply Chain Risks

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the UK has urged organisations to reconsider the risks associated with “Russian-controlled” parts of their supply chains.

Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC argued that “Russian law already contains legal obligations on companies to assist the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and the pressure to do so may increase in a time of war. We also have hacktivists on each side, further complicating matters, so the overall risk has materially changed.”

Levy has suggested that while there is currently nothing to suggest that the Russian state intends to force commercial providers to sabotage UK interests, that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/30/ncsc-suggests-rethinking-russian-supply-chain-risks/

  • 25% Of Workers Lost Their Jobs in The Past 12 Months After Making Cyber Security Mistakes: Report

For business leaders, there is never a good time for their employees to make mistakes on the job. This is especially true now for workers who have anything to do with the cyber security of their companies and organisations. Given the growing risks of cyber attacks across the world and the increased threats posed by Russia in the aftermath of their invasion of Ukraine, these are certainly perilous times.

Indeed, a new study released by email security company Tessian found that one in four employees (26%) lost their job in the last 12 months after making a mistake that compromised their company’s security.

According to the second edition of Tessian’s Psychology of Human Error report, people are falling for more advanced phishing scams—and the business stakes for mistakes are much higher.

The study also found that:

  • Two-fifths (40%) of employees sent an email to the wrong person, with almost one-third (29%) saying their business lost a client or customer because of the error

  • Over one-third (36%) of employees have made a mistake at work that compromised security and fewer are reporting their mistakes to IT.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/03/29/25-of-workers-lost-their-jobs-in-the-past-12-months-after-making-cybersecurity-mistakes-report/?sh=d47cdfa49b26

  • Attackers Compromise 94% of Critical Assets Within Four Steps of Initial Breach

New research from XM Cyber analysing the methods, attack paths, and impacts of cyber attacks has discovered that attackers can compromise 94% of critical assets within just four steps of initial breach points. The hybrid cloud security company’s Attack Path Management Impact Report incorporates insights from nearly two million endpoints, files, folders, and cloud resources throughout 2021, highlighting key findings on attack trends and techniques impacting critical assets across on-prem, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments.

The findings showed that 75% of an organisation’s critical assets are open to compromise in their current security state, while 73% of the top attack techniques used last year involved mismanaged or stolen credentials. Just over a quarter (27%) of most common attack techniques exploited a vulnerability or misconfiguration.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3655633/attackers-compromise-94-of-critical-assets-within-four-steps-of-initial-breach.html

  • UK Spy Chief Warns Russia Looking for Cyber Targets

A UK intelligence chief warned that the Kremlin is hunting for cyber targets and bringing in mercenaries to shore up its stalled military campaign in Ukraine.

Jeremy Fleming, who heads the GCHQ electronic spy agency, praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “information operation” for being highly effective at countering Russia’s massive disinformation drive spreading propaganda about the war.

While there were expectations that Russia would launch a major cyber attack as part of its military campaign, Fleming said such a move was never a central part of Moscow’s standard playbook for war.

“That’s not to say that we haven’t seen cyber in this conflict. We have — and lots of it,” Fleming said in a speech in Canberra, Australia, according to a transcript released in London on Wednesday.

He said GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre has picked up signs of “sustained intent” by Russia to disrupt Ukrainian government and military systems.

“We’ve seen what looks like some spillover of activity affecting surrounding countries,” Fleming said. “And we’ve certainly seen indicators which suggest Russia’s cyber actors are looking for targets in the countries that oppose their actions.”

He provided no further details. He said the UK and other Western allies will continue to support Ukraine in beefing up its cyber security defences.

https://www.securityweek.com/uk-spy-chief-warns-russia-looking-cyber-targets

Threats

Ransomware

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Other Social Engineering

Malware

Mobile

IoT

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

Supply Chain

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare

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.

Read More
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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 November 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 November 2021:

-Covid Impact Heightens Risk Of Cyber Security Breaches

-81% of Organisations Experienced Increased Cyber-Threats During COVID-19

-Phishing Attacks Grow 31.5% Over 2020, Social Media Attacks Continue To Climb

-Threat from Organised Cybercrime Syndicates Is Rising

-Ransomware Gangs Are Using These 'Ruthless' Tactics As They Aim For Bigger Payouts

-Firms Will Struggle to Secure Extended Attack Surface in 2022

-Millions Of Home Wi-Fi Routers Threatened By Malware — What To Do

-Vulnerabilities Associated With Ransomware Increased 4.5% In Q3 2021

-80% Of Organisations Experienced Employees Misusing And Abusing Access To Business Apps

-Gen Z Is Behaving Recklessly Online - And Will Live To Regret It

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

Covid Impact Heightens Risk Of Cyber Security Breaches

CYBER SECURITY breaches are the biggest staff-related risk as Covid-19 and recruitment difficulties continue to impact workplaces, according to a survey of Channel Island employers.

Seven out of ten senior HR professionals and business leaders saw a cyber security breach as the greatest staff-related risk for a regulated financial services business – way ahead of employees leaving (16%) and employees working from home (10%). Some 57% of employers said Covid-19 had changed their policies, procedures and systems ‘moderately’, with 29.5% reporting ‘significant’ changes, according to the research undertaken at a virtual employment conference organised by Walkers last month.

https://guernseypress.com/news/2021/11/12/covid-impact-heightens-risk-of-cyber-security-breaches/

81% of Organisations Experienced Increased Cyber Threats During COVID-19

More than four in five (81%) organisations experienced increased cyber-threats during the COVD-19 pandemic, according to a new study by McAfee and FireEye.

The global survey of 1451 IT and line of business decision-makers found that close to half (43%) have suffered from downtime due to a cyber concern. This resulted in costs of $100,000 for some organisations.

Despite the increased threat landscape and the fact that over half (57%) of organisations saw a rise in online/web activity, 24% of respondents revealed they have had their technology and security budgets reduced over this period.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/81-orgs-cyber-threats-covid19/

Phishing Attacks Grow 31.5% Over 2020, Social Media Attacks Continue To Climb

Phishing remains the dominant attack vector for bad actors, growing 31.5 percent over 2020, according to a PhishLabs report. Notably, attacks in September 2021 were more than twice as high as the previous year.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/11/phishing-attacks-grow-2020/

Threat from Organised Cyber Crime Syndicates Is Rising

Europol reports that criminal groups are undermining the EU’s economy and its society, offering everything from murder-for-hire to kidnapping, torture and mutilation.

From encrypting communications to fencing ill-gotten gains on underground sites, organised crime is cashing in on the digital revolution.

The latest organised crime threat assessment from Europol issues a dire warning about the corrosive effect the rising influence of criminal syndicates is having on both the economy and society of the European Union. And it’s all happening online.

https://threatpost.com/organised-cybercrime-syndicates-europol/176326/

Ransomware Gangs Are Using These 'Ruthless' Tactics As They Aim For Bigger Payouts

More sophisticated ransomware attacks are on the way as cyber criminals tailor campaigns to raise the chances of a ransom payment.

Ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated as cyber criminals continue to develop new techniques to make campaigns more effective and increase their chances of successfully demanding a ransom payment.

According to the European law enforcement agency Europol there was a 300% increase in the number of ransom payments between 2019 and 2020 alone – and that doesn't account for 2021 being another bumper year for cyber criminals launching ransomware attacks, as they've taken advantage of security vulnerabilities presented by the rise in remote working. 

Europol's Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCT) shows that while cybercrime, including malware and DDoS attacks, continues to evolve, it's ransomware attacks that have been a significant amount of disruption over the course of the past year.

https://www.ZDNet.com/article/ransomware-gangs-are-now-using-ruthless-tactics-as-they-aim-for-bigger-payouts/

Firms Will Struggle to Secure Extended Attack Surface in 2022

Companies are relying more heavily on third parties, remote employees, and partners, expanding their attack surface area beyond traditional boundaries.

In 2022, much of cybersecurity will boil down to managing the security of relationships, as companies adapt to the post-pandemic remote workforce and the increased use of third-party providers, a panel of analysts stated at the Forrester Research Security & Risk 2021 Conference.

Among five predictions for the coming year, the analysts argued that companies' attempts to manage remote employees would stray into intrusive territory, causing workers to push back and hampering security-focused monitoring, such as that for insider threats. Other predictions maintain that 60% of security incidents in the next year will come from issues with third parties, while the cybersecurity workforce will suffer from burnout and join what's been called the "Great Resignation," the recent trend of workers leaving the workforce.

https://www.darkreading.com/risk/firms-will-struggle-to-secure-extended-attack-surface-in-2022

Millions Of Home Wi-Fi Routers Threatened By Malware — What To Do

Netgear, Linksys, D-Link routers among those targeted

There's a nasty new piece of malware out there targeting Wi-Fi routers, and you'll want to make sure yours is fully updated so it doesn't get infected.

The AT&T researchers who discovered the malware are calling it BotenaGo, and it's apparently different from the Mirai botnet malware that's been attacking routers since 2016. BotenaGo packs in exploits for 33 different known vulnerabilities in 12 different router brands, including D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, Tenda, Totolink, Zyxel and ZTE. A full list is on the AT&T Cybersecurity blog post.

To avoid infection, ensure you update your router with the latest firmware.

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/news/botenago-router-malware

Vulnerabilities Associated With Ransomware Increased 4.5% In Q3 2021

Ransomware groups are continuing to grow in sophistication, boldness, and volume, with numbers up across the board since Q2 2021, a report by Ivanti, Cyber Security Works and Cyware reveals.

This last quarter saw a 4.5% increase in CVEs associated with ransomware, a 4.5% increase in actively exploited and trending vulnerabilities, a 3.4% increase in ransomware families, and a 1.2% increase in older vulnerabilities tied to ransomware compared to Q2 2021.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/10/vulnerabilities-associated-with-ransomware/

80% Of Organisations Experienced Employees Misusing And Abusing Access To Business Apps

Organisations continue to operate with limited visibility into user activity and sessions associated with web applications, despite the ever-present risk of insider threats and credential theft, a CyberArk research reveals.

While the adoption of web applications has brought flexibility and increased productivity, organisations often lag in implementing the security controls necessary to mitigate risk of human error or malicious intent.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/08/user-activity-visibility/

Gen Z Is Behaving Recklessly Online - And Will Live To Regret It

Handing out personal information could be a slippery slope

Members of Generation Z, the cohort of people born in the first decade of the 21st century, care about digital privacy, but their desire for online fame and popularity is greater, a new study from ExpressVPN suggests.

The VPN provider surveyed 1,500 young adults from the US to evaluate their online habits and attitudes towards social media, and identified a troubling pattern that could have dire consequences.

The survey found that Generation Z isn’t trusting of the social media platforms they frequent, expressing concern that platforms may be using their images for facial recognition (67%) and wariness about oversharing personal information (66%).

https://www.techradar.com/news/gen-z-is-behaving-recklessly-online-and-will-live-to-regret-it

Threats

Ransomware

BEC

Phishing

Other Social Engineering

Malware

Mobile

IOT

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

Insider Threats

DoS/DDoS

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

Nation State Actors

Cloud

Privacy

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 October 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 October 2021

-Many Organisations Lack Basic Cyber Hygiene Despite High Confidence In Their Cyber Defences

-83% Of Ransomware Victims Paid Ransom: Survey

-Report: Ransomware Affected 72% Of Organizations In Past Year

-Ransomware: Looking For Weaknesses In Your Own Network Is Key To Stopping Attacks

-A Hacker Warns: Give Up Trying To Keep Me Out — And Focus On Your Data

-Cyber Risk Trends Driving The Surge In Ransomware Incidents

-US Ransomware Victims Paid $600 Million to Hackers in 1H of 2021

-Hacking Group Created Fake Cyber Security Companies To Hire Experts And Involve Them In Ransomware Attacks Tricking Them Of Conducting A Pentest

-Nearly Three-Quarters of Organizations Victimized by DNS Attacks in Past 12 Months

-Cyber Crime Matures As Hackers Are Forced To Work Smarter

-Hackers Stealing Browser Cookies to Hijack High-Profile YouTube Accounts

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

Many Organisations Lack Basic Cyber Hygiene Despite High Confidence In Their Cyber Defences

A new report released this week analysed IT security leaders’ perceived threat of ransomware attacks and the maturity of their cyber security defences. The report found that while 81% of those surveyed consider their security to be above average or exceptional, many lack basic cyber hygiene – 41% lack a password complexity requirement, one of the cheapest, easiest forms of protection, and only 55.6% have implemented multi-factor authentication (MFA). https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/21/organizations-cyber-hygiene/

83% Of Ransomware Victims Paid Ransom

A new survey of 300 US-based IT decision-makers found that 64% have been victims of a ransomware attack in the last 12 months, and 83% of those attack victims paid the ransom demand.

Cybersecurity company ThycoticCentrify released its "2021 State of Ransomware Survey & Report" on Tuesday, featuring the insights of IT leaders who have dealt with ransomware attacks over the last year. https://www.zdnet.com/article/83-of-ransomware-victims-paid-ransom-survey/

Ransomware Affected 72% Of Organisations In Past Year

72% of organisations were affected by ransomware at least once within the past twelve months, with 18% impacted more than six times in the past year. Organizations of all sizes were affected nearly to the same extent, with the exception of those with more than 25,000 employees. https://venturebeat.com/2021/10/20/report-ransomware-affected-72-of-organizations-in-past-year/

Ransomware: Looking For Weaknesses In Your Own Network Is Key To Stopping Attacks

Ransomware is a major cybersecurity threat to organisations around the world, but it's possible to reduce the impact of an attack if you have a thorough understanding of your own network and the correct protections are in place.

While the best form of defence is to stop ransomware infiltrating the network in the first place, thinking about how the network is put together can help slow down or stop the spread of an attack, even if the intruders have successfully breached the perimeter. https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-looking-for-weaknesses-in-your-own-network-is-key-to-stopping-attacks/

A Hacker Warns: Give Up Trying To Keep Me Out — And Focus On Your Data

There is a misconceived notion that the security arena is a battlefield. It is not. It is a chess board and requires foresight and calculated pawn placement to protect the king — your data. If your main focus lies on keeping hackers out of your environment, then it’s already check mate. Your mission should be to buy time, slow hackers down and ultimately contain an attack.

Businesses must therefore make it as hard as possible for adversaries to exploit the relationships that allow them to move laterally through the corporate network. They can do this by distrusting anyone within their data’s environment and repeatedly corroborating that all users are who they say they are, and that they act like it too. That last part is crucial, because while identities are easy to compromise and imitate, behaviours are not. https://www.ft.com/content/93cec8b6-3fe9-4e9e-800a-62e13a0e2eac

Cyber Risk Trends Driving The Surge In Ransomware Incidents

During the COVID-19 crisis, another outbreak took place in the cyber space: a digital pandemic driven by ransomware. In a recent report, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) analyzes the latest risk developments around ransomware and outlines how companies can strengthen their defenses with good cyber hygiene and IT security practices

The increasing frequency and severity of ransomware incidents is driven by several factors:

·         Growing number of different attack patterns such as double and triple extortion campaigns

·         Criminal business model around ‘ransomware as a service’ and cryptocurrencies

·         Recent skyrocketing of ransom demands

·         Rise of supply chain attacks.

Not all attacks are targeted. Criminals also adopt a scattergun approach to exploit those businesses that aren’t addressing or understanding the vulnerabilities they may have. Businesses must understand the need to strengthen their controls.

Cyber intrusion activity globally jumped 125% in the first half of 2021 compared to the previous year, according to Accenture, with ransomware and extortion operations one of the major contributors behind this increase. According to the FBI, there was a 62% increase in ransomware incidents in the US in the same period that followed an increase of 20% for the full year 2020. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/18/five-ransomware-trends/

US Ransomware Victims Paid $600 Million to Hackers in 1H of 2021

US Ransomware victims coughed up nearly $600 million to cyber hijackers in the first six months of 2021, further stamping cyber extortionists as an “increasing threat” to the U.S. financial, business and public sectors, a recent report released by the Treasury Department said.

Data gathered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) derived from financial institutions’ Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) revealed that the 635 reports filed for the first six months of this year is already 30 percent greater than the 487 filed for all of last year. Some 458 financial transitions have been reported as of June 30, 2021 with the total value of suspicious activity reported in ransomware-related SARs during the first six months of 2021 amounting to $590 million, or 42 percent more than the $416 million filed for all of 2020. https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/victims-paid-600-millon-1h-2021/

Hacking Group Created Fake Cyber Security Companies To Hire Experts And Involve Them In Ransomware Attacks Tricking Them Of Conducting A Pentest

The FIN7 hacking group is attempting to enter in the ransomware business and is doing it with an interesting technique. The gang is creating fake cyber security companies that hire experts requesting them to carry out pen testing attacks under the guise of pentesting activities.

FIN7 is a Russian criminal group that has been active since mid-2015, it focuses on restaurants, gambling, and hospitality industries in the US to harvest financial information that was used in attacks or sold in cybercrime marketplaces.

One of the companies created by the cyber criminal organizations with this purpose is Combi Security, but researchers from Gemini Advisory discovered other similar organizations by analyzing the site of another fake cybersecurity company named Bastion Security. https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/123673/cyber-crime/fin7-fake-cybersecurity-firm.html

Nearly Three-Quarters of Organisations Victimized by DNS Attacks in Past 12 Months

Domain name system (DNS) attacks are impacting organizations at worrisome rates. According to a new survey from the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) conducted in September 2021, 72% of study participants reported experiencing a DNS attack within the last 12 months. Among those targeted, 61% have seen multiple attacks and 11% said they have been victimized regularly. While one-third of respondents recovered within minutes, 58% saw their businesses disrupted for more than an hour, and 14% took several hours to recover. https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/nearly-three-quarters-of-organizations-victimized-by-dns-attacks-in-past-12-months

Cyber Crime Matures As Hackers Are Forced To Work Smarter

An analysis of 500 hacking incidents across a wide range of industries has revealed trends that characterize a maturity in the way hacking groups operate today.

Researchers at Kaspersky have focused on the Russian cybercrime underground, which is currently one of the most prolific ecosystems, but many elements in their findings are common denominators for all hackers groups worldwide.

One key finding of the study is that the level of security on office software, web services, email platforms, etc., is getting better, browser vulnerabilities have reduced in numbers, and websites are not as easy to compromise and use as infection vectors today.

This has resulted in making web infections too difficult to pursue for non-sophisticated threat groups.

The case is similar with vulnerabilities, which are fewer and more expensive to discover.

Instead, hacking groups are waiting for a PoC or patch to be released, and then use that information to create their own exploits. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cybercrime-matures-as-hackers-are-forced-to-work-smarter/

Hackers Stealing Browser Cookies to Hijack High-Profile YouTube Accounts

Since at least late 2019, a network of hackers-for-hire have been hijacking the channels of YouTube creators, luring them with bogus collaboration opportunities to broadcast cryptocurrency scams or sell the accounts to the highest bidder.

That's according to a new report published by Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), which said it disrupted financially motivated phishing campaigns targeting the video platform with cookie theft malware. The actors behind the infiltration have been attributed to a group of hackers recruited in a Russian-speaking forum. https://thehackernews.com/2021/10/hackers-stealing-browser-cookies-to.html

Threats

Ransomware

BEC

Phishing

Malware

Mobile

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Insider Threats

Dark Web

Supply Chain

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

Nation State Actors

Cloud

Privacy

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 15 October 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 15 October 2021

-The Human Element Is the Weakest Link

-Ransomware is the Biggest Cyber Threat to Business: Most Firms Still Aren't Ready for It

-Most Known Ransomware Targets Windows Devices

-67% of Organisations Have Been Hit by Ransomware at Least Once

-Russian Cyber Crime Gang Targets Finance Firms With Stealthy Macros

-70% of Businesses Can’t Ensure the Same Level of Protection for Every Endpoint

-Over 90% of Firms Suffered Supply Chain Breaches Last Year

-Ransomware Attacks Preparedness Lagging, Despite Organisations Being Aware of The Risks

-6 Things to Know About 'Killware,' Cyber Security's Next Big Threat

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

The Human Element Is the Weakest Link

Within the last week, Facebook has become the subject of a whistleblowing campaign featuring thousands of documents alleging malpractice. Despite their size and expected security controls, these documents have been exfiltrated without detection, lending credence to the idea of the insider threat. https://www.darkreading.com/risk/the-human-element-is-the-weakest-link

Ransomware is the Biggest Cyber Threat to Business But Most Firms Still Aren't Ready for It

Ransomware is still the most significant cyber security threat facing organisations – ranging from critical national infrastructure providers and large enterprises to schools and local businesses – but it's a threat that can be countered. https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-is-now-the-most-urgent-cyber-threat-to-business-but-most-firms-arent-ready-for-it/

Most Known Ransomware Targets Windows Devices

Recently conducted research shows that 95% of identified ransomware is targeting Windows machines. Furthermore, the stats show that Israel are submitting by far the most ransomware samples, followed by South Korea, Vietnam, and China, with the UK in 10th place. https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/14/googles_virustotal_malware/

67% of Organisations Have Been Hit by Ransomware at Least Once

A recent report found that two-thirds of surveyed organizations have suffered a ransomware attack, with about half having been hit multiple times, and 16% having been hit three or more times. https://threatpost.com/podcast-67-percent-orgs-ransomware/175339/

Russian Cyber Crime Gang Targets Finance Firms With Stealthy Macros

A new phishing campaign dubbed MirrorBlast is deploying weaponized Excel documents that are extremely difficult to detect to compromise financial service organizations. The most notable feature of MirrorBlast is the low detection rates of the campaign's malicious Excel documents by security software, putting firms that rely solely upon detection tools at high risk. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/russian-cybercrime-gang-targets-finance-firms-with-stealthy-macros/  

70% of Businesses Can’t Ensure the Same Level of Protection for Every Endpoint

Recent research found that 86% of UK respondents believe it is not possible to fully prevent ransomware and malware attacks from compromising their organisations. It also found that the rise in the number of endpoints that businesses need to protect continues to be a key source of risk exposure. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/15/endpoint-protection-level/

Over 90% of Firms Suffered Supply Chain Breaches Last Year

A recent survey polled 1200 IT and procurement leaders responsible for supply chain and cyber risk management. Those polled came from global companies with 1,000+ employees and were used to compile its report: Managing Cyber Risk Across the Extended Vendor Ecosystem. The report revealed the average number of breaches experienced in the past 12 months grew from 2.7 in 2020 to 3.7 in 2021 – a 37% year-on-year increase. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/90-firms-supply-chain-breaches/

Cyber Security Shortcomings Exposed By The Pandemic

According to a survey by SecureAge, 48% of businesses have experienced a cyber breach during the COVID-19 pandemic and another 8% ‘were not sure’. In addition, 16% of employees said they personally had to deal with a cyber security incident during the same period. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/13/cybersecurity-shortcomings/

6 Things to Know About 'Killware,' Cyber Security's Next Big Threat

Threat actors are adopting a “killware” cyber model, which launches attacks on critical infrastructure with the intent to cause harm. Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary for Homeland Security, told USA Today he is worried about killware because it has the potential to kill. Hackers breached a water system in February this year, which was considered an unsuccessful attempt to distribute contaminated water to residents of Florida. "[The] attack was not for financial gain but rather purely to do harm,” he said. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/cybersecurity/6-things-to-know-about-killware-cybersecurity-s-next-big-threat.html

2021 Nastiest Malware: Here to Stay and Ever Evolving

This year was yet another year with COVID-19 and malware running rampant in the headlines. Be it in person or online, the world is still struggling in the fight against viruses. This year took another turn for the worse when attacks on critical infrastructure and supply chains became a hot trend. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/10/12/nastiest-malware-2021/

Threats

Ransomware

BEC

Phishing

Malware

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

Dark Web

Supply Chain

DoS/DDoS

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

Nation State Actors

Privacy

Other News

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 June 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 June 2021: World’s Biggest Meat Producer JBS Pays $11m Ransom; New Type Of Ransomware Could Be 10 Times As Dangerous; Lewd Phishing Lures Aimed At Business Explode; UK Schools Forced To Shut Following Ransomware; COVID-19 Has Transformed Work, But Cyber Security Is Not Keeping Pace; Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack Stemmed From Old VPN Password; Evil Corp Rebrands Ransomware To Escape Sanctions; Billions Of Passwords Leaked Online From Past Data Breaches

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

World’s Biggest Meat Producer JBS Pays $11m Cyber Crime Ransom

JBS, the world’s biggest meat processor, has paid an $11m (£7.8m) ransom after a cyber attack shut down operations, including abattoirs in the US, Australia and Canada. While most of its operations have been restored, the Brazilian-headquartered company said it hoped the payment would head off any further complications including data theft. JBS, which supplies more than a fifth of all beef in the US, reportedly made the payment in bitcoin.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/10/worlds-biggest-meat-producer-jbs-pays-11m-cybercrime-ransom

Jackware: A New Type Of Ransomware Could Be 10 Times As Dangerous

Between the attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS, which disrupted nearly half of the East Coast’s gasoline supply for a week and threatened 20% of the U.S. meat market, respectively, consumers are finally experiencing the first physical impacts to their daily lives from cyber attacks. As bad as these attacks are, they could get a lot worse. Cyber criminals are constantly evolving, and what is keeping many security professionals up at night is the growing risk of “jackware” — a new type of ransomware that could be 10 times more dangerous because instead of encrypting Windows computers and servers. Jackware hijacks the actual physical devices and machines that make modern life possible. It’s only a matter of when we will see these attacks happen

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ransomware-jackware-115229732.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Lewd Phishing Lures Aimed At Business Explode

Attackers have amped up their use of X-rated phishing lures in business email compromise (BEC) attacks. A new report found a stunning 974-percent spike in social-engineering scams involving suggestive materials, usually aimed at male-sounding names within a company. The Threat Intelligence team with GreatHorn made the discovery and explained it’s not simply libido driving users to click on these suggestive scams. Instead, these emails popping up on people’s screens at work are intended to shock the user, opening the door for them to make a reckless decision to click. It’s a tactic GreatHorn called “dynamite phishing.”

https://threatpost.com/lewd-phishing-lures-business-explode/166734/

UK Schools Forced To Shut Following Critical Ransomware Attack

Two schools in the south of England have been forced to temporarily close their doors after a ransomware attack that encrypted and stole sensitive data. The Skinners' Kent Academy and Skinners' Kent Primary School were attacked on June 2, according to a statement on the trust’s website which said it is currently working with third-party security experts, the police, and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). It revealed that on-premises servers were targeted at the Tunbridge Well-based schools. As student and staff emergency contact details, medical records, timetables, and registers were encrypted by the attackers, the decision was taken to close on Monday.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/schools-shut-ransomware-attacl/

Emerging Ransomware Targets Dozens Of Businesses Worldwide

An emerging ransomware strain in the threat landscape claims to have breached 30 organisations in just four months since it went operational by riding on the coattails of a notorious ransomware syndicate. First observed in February 2021, "Prometheus" is an offshoot of another well-known ransomware variant called Thanos, which was previously deployed against state-run organisations in the Middle East and North Africa last year. The affected entities are believed to be government, financial services, manufacturing, logistics, consulting, agriculture, healthcare services, insurance agencies, energy and law firms in the U.S., U.K., and a dozen more countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.

https://thehackernews.com/2021/06/emerging-ransomware-targets-dozens-of.html

COVID-19 Has Transformed Work, But Cyber Security Is Not Keeping Pace, Report Finds

An international survey of tech professionals from the Thales Group finds some bleak news for the current state of data security: the COVID-19 pandemic has upended cyber security norms, and security teams are struggling to keep up. The problems appear to be snowballing; lack of preparation has led to a scramble resulting in poor data protection practices, outdated security infrastructure not receiving needed overhauls, a jumble of new systems that only make matters worse and priority misalignment between security teams and leadership.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/covid-19-has-transformed-work-but-cybersecurity-isnt-keeping-pace-report-finds/

Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack Was The Result Of An Old VPN Password

It took only one dusty, no-longer-used password for the DarkSide cyber criminals to breach the network of Colonial Pipeline Co. last month, resulting in a ransomware attack that caused significant disruption and remains under investigation by the U.S. government and cyber security experts. Attackers used the password to a VPN account that was no longer in use but still allowed them to remotely access Colonial Pipeline’s network, Charles Carmakal, senior vice president at FireEye’s cyber security consulting firm Mandiant, told Bloomberg in an interview, according to a published report on the news outlet’s website.

https://threatpost.com/darkside-pwned-colonial-with-old-vpn-password/166743/

Evil Corp Rebrands Ransomware To Escape Sanctions

Threat actors behind a notorious Russian cyber crime group appear to have rebranded their ransomware once again in a bid to escape US sanctions prohibiting victims from paying them. Experts took to Twitter to point out that a leak site previously run by the Babuk group, which famously attacked Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), had rebranded to “PayloadBin.” The Babuk group claimed that it was shutting down its affiliate model for encrypting victims and moving to a new model back in April. A ‘new’ ransomware variant with the same name has also been doing the rounds of late, but according to CTO of Emsisoft, Fabian Wosar, it’s nothing more than a copycat effort by Evil Corp.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/evil-corp-rebrands-ransomware/

Billions Of Passwords Leaked Online From Past Data Breaches

A list of leaked passwords discovered on a hacker forum may be one of the largest such collections of all time. A 100GB text file leaked by a user on a popular hacker forum contains 8.4 billion passwords, likely gathered from past data breaches.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/billions-of-passwords-leaked-online-from-past-data-breaches/

Threats

Ransomware

Phishing

Other Social Engineering

Malware

Mobile

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency

Nation State Actors

Denial of Service

Charities

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.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 14 May 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 14 May 2021: Two Thirds Of CISOs Expect Damaging Cyber Attack In Next 12 Months; Ransomware - Don't Pay, It Just Shows Cyber Criminals That Attacks Work; Most Significant Cyber Attacks 2006-2020; The Shape Of Fraud And Cyber Crime, 10 Things We Learned From 2020; US Pipeline Ransomware Serves As Warning To Persistent Corporate Inertia Over Security; Ransomware Attackers Now Using Triple Extortion Tactics; AXA Pledges To Stop Reimbursing French Ransomware Victims; Cyber Experts Warn Over Online Wine Scams

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

Two Thirds Of CISOs Across World Expect Damaging Cyber Attack In Next 12 Months

More than 1,000 CISOs around the world have expressed concerns about the security ramifications of the massive shift to remote work since the beginning of the pandemic. One hundred CISOs from the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, and Singapore were interviewed for the report, with many highlighting significant problems in the current cyber security landscape.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/two-thirds-of-cisos-across-world-expect-damaging-cyberattack-in-next-12-months/

Ransomware: Don't Pay Up, It Just Shows Cyber Criminals That Attacks Work, Warns Home Secretary

For victims of ransomware attacks, paying the ransom does not guarantee that their network will be restored – and handing money to criminals only encourages them to try their luck infecting more companies with the file-encrypting malware. The impact of ransomware attacks continues to rise as cyber criminals encrypt networks, while also blackmailing victims with the prospect of stolen data being published, to generate as much money as possible from extortion.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-dont-pay-the-ransom-it-just-encourage-cyber-criminals-that-attacks-work-warns-home-secretary/

The Most Significant Cyber Attacks From 2006-2020, By Country

Committing a cyber crime can have serious consequences. In the US, a cyber criminal can receive up to 20 years in prison for hacking into a government institution if it compromises national security. Yet, despite the consequences, cyber criminals continue to wreak havoc across the globe. But some countries seem to be targeted more than others. Using data from SpecOps Software, this graphic looks at the countries that have experienced the most significant cyber attacks over the last two decades.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cyber-attacks-worldwide-2006-2020/

The Shape Of Fraud And Cyber Crime: 10 Things We Learned From 2020

While it remains true that the older you are, the greater the financial loss, why would fraudsters target the young, who are arguably less well off? The answer lies in volume. Criminals have been offsetting higher monetary gain for higher attack rates, capitalising on the fact that the young are perhaps both more liberal with personal information (and privacy in general) and, at the same time, heavy digital users (social media, surveys, games, and so on). In fact, it is scary to see how much value the humble email address can have for criminals. We often forget that once obtained, it can be used further down the line to commit more fraud.

https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/The-shape-of-fraud-and-cyber-crime-10-things-we-learned-from-2020

Is Third-Party Software Leaving You Vulnerable To Cyber Attacks?

When companies buy digital products, they expect them to be secure. In most cases, they do not test for vulnerabilities down the digital supply chain — and do not even have adequate processes or tools to do so. Hackers have taken note, and incidents of supply chain cyber attacks, which exploit weaknesses within the digital supply chain to break into organisations’ internal networks, are on the rise. As a result, there have been many headline incidents that not only bring shame to the companies involved, but rachet up the visibility of these threats to top executives who want to know their offerings are secure.

https://hbr.org/2021/05/is-third-party-software-leaving-you-vulnerable-to-cyberattacks

US Pipeline Ransomware Attack Serves As Fair Warning To Persistent Corporate Inertia Over Security

Organisations that continue to disregard the need to ensure they have adopted basic cyber security hygiene practices should be taken to task. This will be critical, especially as cyber criminals turn their attention to sectors where cyber threats can result in real-world risks, as demonstrated in the US Colonial Pipeline attack. In many of my conversations with cyber security experts, there is a shared sense of frustration that businesses still are failing to get some of the most basic things right. Default passwords are left unchanged, frontline staff and employees are still falling for common scams and phishing attacks, and major businesses think nothing of using technology that are decades old.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-pipeline-ransomware-attack-serves-as-fair-warning-to-persistent-corporate-inertia-over-security/

Ransomware Attackers Are Now Using Triple Extortion Tactics

The number of organisations affected by ransomware so far this year has more than doubled, compared with the same period in 2020, according to the report. Since April, Check Point researchers have observed an average of 1,000 organisations impacted by ransomware every week. For all of 2020, ransomware cost businesses worldwide around $20 billion, more than 75% higher than the amount in 2019. The healthcare sector has been seeing the highest volume of ransomware with around 109 attacks per organization each week. Amid news of a ransomware attack against gas pipeline company Colonial Pipeline, the utilities sector has experienced 59 attacks per organization per week. Organisations in the insurance and legal sector have been affected by 34 such attacks each week.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ransomware-attackers-are-now-using-triple-extortion-tactics/

AXA Pledges To Stop Reimbursing Ransom Payments For French Ransomware Victims

Insurance company AXA has revealed that, at the request of French government officials, it will end cyber insurance policies in France that pay ransomware victims back for ransoms paid out to cyber criminals. While unconfirmed, the Associated Press reported that the move was an industry first. AXA is one of the five biggest insurers in Europe and made the decision as ransomware attacks become a daily occurrence for organisations across the world.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/axa-pledges-to-stop-reimbursing-ransom-payments-for-french-ransomware-victims/

The Dystopic Future Of Cyber Security And The Importance Of Empowering CISOs

Over a decade ago, in 2007, the first iPhone was released and with it emerged an ecosystem of apps that continues to expand to this day. This was a watershed moment, not solely for the technology industry, but civilization. It was a catalyst for what was to come. Suddenly, every consumer could access the internet at a touch of a button, and the accumulation of their data by private companies began en masse. It was at this point that data was established as an increasingly valuable commodity, and in turn, became a heightened exploitation risk. It also instigated a wave of innovation that has yet to break and is only growing rapidly in pace. In this state, technology providers, users, and manufacturers get excited about new functionalities, new features, new developments, while little thought is given to the negative consequences that could arise as a result. Indeed, fear has no place in the state of innovation as it is this primal thinking that inhibits creativity.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/blogs/the-dystopic-future-of/

Cyber Security Experts Warn Over Online Wine Scams

Online wine scams became a bigger threat as cyber criminals sought to take advantage of more people and businesses organising virtual drinks and ordering bottles on the internet in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions, suggests the report. So-called ‘phishing emails’ were a particular concern, according to findings published in April by US-based group Recorded Future in partnership with Area 1 Security. From January 2020 onwards, the authors found a significant rise in legitimate wine-themed web domain registrations using terms like Merlot, Pinot, Chardonnay or Vino.

https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/cyber-security-experts-warn-over-online-wine-scams-457647/

Threats

Ransomware

BEC

Phishing

Other Social Engineering

Malware

Mobile

IOT

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Supply Chain

Nation State Actors

Privacy

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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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 December 2020

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 December 2020: The great hack attack - SolarWinds breach exposes big gaps in cyber security; A wake-up for the world on cyber security; White House activates cyber emergency response; US nuclear weapons agency targeted; UK companies targeted; Increasing Risk of Cyber Attacks; millions of users install malicious browser extensions; C19 Vaccines sold on dark web

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.

Top Cyber Headlines of the Week

The great hack attack: SolarWinds breach exposes big gaps in cyber security

Until this week, SolarWinds was a little known IT software group from Texas. Its deserted lobby has a framed magazine article from a few years ago when it was on a list of America’s “Best Small Companies”.

Now the Austin-based company is at the heart of one of the biggest and most startling cyber hacks in recent history, with ramifications that extend into the fields of geopolitics, espionage and national security.

For nine months, sophisticated state-backed hackers have exploited a ubiquitous SolarWinds software product in order to spy on government and business networks around the world, including in the US, UK, Israel and Canada. Wielding innovative tools and tradecraft, the cyber spies lurked in email services, and posed as legitimate staffers to tap confidential information stored in the cloud.

The bombshell revelations have sent 18,000 exposed SolarWinds customers scrambling to assess whether outsiders did indeed enter their systems, what the damage was and how to fix it.

https://www.ft.com/content/c13dbb51-907b-4db7-8347-30921ef931c2

A wake-up for the world on cyber security

Imagine intruders break into your home and loiter undetected for months, spying on you and deciding which contents to steal. This in essence is the kind of access that hackers, assumed to be Russian, achieved in recent months at US government institutions including the Treasury and departments of commerce and homeland security, and potentially many US companies. If the fear in the Cold War was of occasional “moles” gaining access to secrets, this is akin to a small army of moles burrowing through computer systems. The impact is still being assessed, but it marks one of the biggest security breaches of the digital era.

https://www.ft.com/content/d3fc0b14-4a82-4671-b023-078516ea714e

US government, thousands of businesses now thought to have been affected by SolarWinds security attack

Thousands of businesses and several branches of the US government are now thought to have been affected by the attack on software firm SolarWinds.

The Austin-based company has fallen victim to a massive supply chain attack believed to be the work of state-sponsored hackers.

Along with the US treasury and commerce departments, the Department of Homeland Security is now thought to have been affected by the attack. In a statement to the SEC today, SolarWinds said it had notified 33,000 customers of its recent hack, but that only 18,000 of these used the affected version of its Orion platform.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/solarwinds-suffers-massive-supply-chain-attack

White House activates cyber emergency response under Obama-era directive

In the wake of the SolarWinds breach, the National Security Council has activated an emergency cyber security process that is intended to help the government plan its response and recovery efforts, according to White House officials and other sources.

The move is a sign of just how seriously the Trump administration is taking the foreign espionage operation, former NSC officials told CyberScoop.

The action is rooted in a presidential directive issued during the Obama administration known as PPD-41, which establishes a Cyber Unified Coordination Group (UCG) that is intended to help the U.S. government coordinate multiple agencies’ responses to the significant hacking incident.

The UCG is generally led by the Department of Justice — through the FBI and the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force — as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security.

https://www.cyberscoop.com/solarwinds-white-house-national-security-council-emergency-meetings/

Hackers targeted US nuclear weapons agency in massive cyber security breach, reports say

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Energy Department, which safeguard the US stockpile of nuclear weapons, have had their networks hacked as part of the widespread cyber espionage attack on a number of federal agencies.

Politico reports that officials have begun coordinating notifications about the security breach to the relevant congressional oversight bodies.

Suspicious activity was identified in the networks of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation, and the Richland Field Office of the Department of Energy.

Officials with direct knowledge of the matter said hackers have been able to do more damage to the network at FERC, according to the report.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/hackers-nuclear-weapons-cybersecurity-b1775864.html

Microsoft warns UK companies were targeted by SolarWinds hackers

Microsoft has warned that some of its UK customers have been exposed to the malware used in the Russia-linked SolarWinds hack that targeted US states and government agencies.

More than 40 of the tech giant's customers are thought to have used breached SolarWinds software, including clients in Britain, the US, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, Israel, and the UAE.

The company would not name the victims, but said they include government agencies, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and IT firms. Microsoft said four in five were in the US, with nearly half of them tech companies.

“This is not ‘espionage as usual,’ even in the digital age,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft's president. “Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world.”

The attackers, believed to be working for the Russian government, got into computer networks by installing a vulnerability in Orion software from SolarWinds.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/12/18/microsoft-warns-uk-companies-targeted-solarwinds-hackers/

Society at Increasingly High Risk of Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks are becoming easier to conduct while conversely security is getting increasingly difficult, according to Kevin Curran, senior IEEE member and professor of cyber security, Ulster University, during a virtual media roundtable.

“Any company you can think of has had a data breach,” he commented. “Whenever a data breach happens it weakens our credentials because our passwords are often reused on different websites.”

He observed that the art of hacking doesn’t necessarily require a significant amount of technical expertise anymore, and bad actors can receive substantial help from numerous and readily accessible tools online. “You don’t have to spend seven years in college to learn how to hack, you just have to know about these sites and what terms to use,” noted Curran.

A number of legitimate online mechanisms that can help damaging attacks to be launched by hackers were highlighted by Curran in his presentation. These include Google Dorks, which are “search strings which point to website vulnerabilities.” This means vulnerable accounts can be identified simply via Google searches.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/society-increasingly-risk-cyber/

Three million users installed 28 malicious Chrome or Edge extensions

More than three million internet users are believed to have installed 15 Chrome, and 13 Edge extensions that contain malicious code, security firm Avast said today.

The 28 extensions contained code that could perform several malicious operations, including:

-redirect user traffic to ads

-redirect user traffic to phishing sites

-collect personal data, such as birth dates, email addresses, and active devices

-collect browsing history

-download further malware onto a user's device

But despite the presence of code to power all the above malicious features, Avast researchers said they believe the primary objective of this campaign was to hijack user traffic for monetary gains.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/three-million-users-installed-28-malicious-chrome-or-edge-extensions/

Vaccines for sale on dark web as criminals target pandemic profits

Black market vendors were offering coronavirus vaccines for sale on hidden parts of the internet days after the first Covid-19 shot was approved this month, as criminals seek to profit from global demand for inoculations.

One such offer on the so-called dark web, traced by cyber security company Check Point Software, was priced at $250 with the seller promising “stealth” delivery in double-wrapped packaging. Shipping from the US via post or a leading courier company would cost $20, with an extra $5 securing overnight delivery.

https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6

Threats

Ransomware

Phishing

IoT

Malware

Vulnerabilities

Data Breaches

Organised Crime

Nation State Actors

Privacy

Other News

Reports Published in the Last Week

As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Cyber Briefing 23 October 2020: Ransomware Continues to Evolve; Infected IoT Up 100%; Brute Force Attacks Up with more Open RDP Ports; 40% Unsure on Mobile Phishing; Most Imitated Phishing Brands

Cyber Briefing 23 October 2020: Ransomware Variants Evolve as Crooks Chase Bigger Paydays; Infected IoT Surges 100% in a Year; Brute Force Attacks Up Due To More Open RDP Ports; 40% of Users Not Sure What Mobile Phishing Is; Microsoft Most Imitated Phishing Brand Q3 2020; DDoS Triples as Ransoms Re-Emerge; Exploited Chrome Bug Fixed; WordPress Forces Security Update; The Most Worrying Vulns Around Today

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.

Threats

Ransomware

This week has been busy with ransomware related news, including new charges against Russian state-sponsored hackers and numerous attacks against well-known organisations.

In 2017, there was an attack utilizing the NotPetya ransomware to destroy data on systems worldwide. This week, the US govt indicted six Russian intelligence operatives [source], known to be part of the notorious 'Sandworm' group, for hacking operations, including NotPetya.

Ransomware variants continue to evolve as crooks chase bigger paydays

The number of ransomware attacks which threaten to leak stolen data if the victim doesn't pay a ransom to get their encrypted files and servers back is growing – and this is being reflected in the changing nature of the cyber criminal market.

Analysis by cyber security researchers found that over the last three months – between July and September - 80 percent of ransomware attacks combined with data dumps were associated with four families of ransomware – Maze, Sodinokibi, Conti and Netwalker.

The period from April to June saw just three ransomware families account for 80 percent of alerts – DoppelPaymer, Maze and Sodinokibi.

The way DoppelPayer has dropped off and how Conti and NetWalker have suddenly emerged some of the most prolific threats shows how the ransomware space continues to evolve, partly because of how successful it has already become for the crooks behind it. [source]

Why this matters:

Maze was the first major family of ransomware to add threats of data breaches to their ransom demands and other ransomware operators have taken note – and stolen the additional extortion tactic.

There is an inherent competitive nature that has befallen the ransomware landscape. The saturated ransomware market pushes ransomware developers to cut through the noise and gain the best ransomware title and this drives more affiliates to carry out their work and, thus, more successful attacks to reach their goal: to make as much money as possible.

DoppelPaymer's activity has dropped over the last few months – although it still remains active - enabling Conti and NetWalker to grab a larger slice of the pie.

Notable ransomware victims of the last week

French IT giant Sopra Steria hit by Ryuk ransomware

French IT services giant Sopra Steria suffered a cyber attack on October 20th, 2020, that reportedly encrypted portions of their network with the Ryuk ransomware.

Sopra Steria is a European information technology company with 46,000 employees in 25 countries worldwide. The company provides a wide range of IT services, including consulting, systems integration, and software development.

The firm has said that the attack has hit all geographies where they operate and have said it will take them several weeks to recover.

Numerous sources have confirmed that it was Ryuk ransomware threat actors who were behind the attack. This hacking group is known for its TrickBot and BazarLoader infections that allow threat actors to access a compromised network and deploy the Ryuk or Conti ransomware infections.

BazarLoader is increasingly being used in Ryuk attacks against high-value targets due to its stealthy nature and is less detected than TrickBot by security software.

When installed, BazarLoader will allow threat actors to remotely access the victim's computer and use it to compromise the rest of the network.

After gaining access to a Windows domain controller, the attackers then deploy the Ryuk ransomware on the network to encrypt all of its devices, as illustrated in the diagram above. [Source1] [source2]

The Nefilim ransomware operators have posted a long list of files that appear to belong to Italian eyewear and eyecare giant Luxottica.

Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world’s largest company in the eyewear industry (which owns brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Apex by Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, Eyemed vision care plan, and Glasses.com. Its best known brands are Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley) and employs over 80,000 people and generated 9.4 billion in revenue for 2019.

The company was hit by a cyber attack and some of the web sites operated by the company were not reachable, including Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, EyeMed, and Pearle Vision.

Reports indicate that the firm was using a Citrix ADX controller device vulnerable to a critical vulnerability and it is believed that a threat actor or actors exploited the above flaw to infect the systems at the company with ransomware. This appears to have subsequently confirmed with Nefilim ransomware operators having posted a long list of files that appear to belong to Luxottica. [source]

Why this matters:

The analysis of the leaked files revealed that they contain confidential information regarding the recruitment process, professional resumes, and info about the internal structures of the Group’s human resource department. The ransomware operators also published a message which accuses Luxottica of having failed the properly manage the attack.

In the past months, the number of ransomware attacks surged, numerous ransomware gangs made the headlines targeting organisations worldwide and threatening victims with releasing the stolen data if the ransom was not paid.

Extortion is the new thing in cyber crime right now, more so than in the past. Companies cannot hide the cyber attack anymore. Now it’s more about how to manage the breach from the communication perspective. Defending companies from these types of attacks becomes even more strategic: data leak damages can generate tremendous amount of costs for companies worldwide.

Other notable ransomware victims this week include:

  • Barnes & Noble hit by Egregor ransomware, strange data leaked [source]

  • Montreal's STM public transport system hit by ransomware attack [source]

  • WastedLocker ransomware hits US-based ski and golf resort operator Boyne Resorts (WastedLocker was the same one used in the attack on Garmin in July) [source]

Other Threats

Infected IoT Device Numbers Surge 100% in a Year

The volume of infected Internet of Things (IoT) devices globally has soared by 100% over the past year, according to new data from Nokia.

It revealed that infected IoT devices now comprise nearly a third (32.7%) of the total number of devices, up from 16.2% in the 2019 report.

Nokia argued that infection rates for connected devices depend dramatically upon the visibility of the devices on the internet.

In networks where devices are routinely assigned public facing internet IP addresses there is a higher infection rate. In networks where carrier grade NAT is used, the infection rate is considerably reduced, because the vulnerable devices are not visible to network scanning.

With the introduction of 5G well underway, it is expected that not only the number of IoT devices will increase dramatically, but also the share of IoT devices accessible directly from the internet will increase as well, and rates of infection rising accordingly. [source]

Brute force attacks increase due to more open RDP ports

While leaving your back door open while you are working from home may be something you do without giving it a second thought, having unnecessary ports open on your computer or on your corporate network is a security risk that is sometimes underestimated. That’s because an open port can be subject to brute force attacks.

A brute force attack is where an attacker tries every way he can think of to get in. Including throwing the kitchen sink at it. In cases where the method they are trying is to get logged in to your system, they will try endless combinations of usernames and passwords until a combination works.

Brute force attacks are usually automated, so it doesn’t cost the attacker a lot of time or energy. Certainly not as much as individually trying to figure out how to access a remote system. Based on a port number or another system specific property, the attacker picks the target and the method and then sets his brute force application in motion. He can then move on to the next target and will get notified when one of the systems has swallowed the hook.

RDP attacks are one of the main entry points when it comes to targeted ransomware operations. To increase effectiveness, ransomware attacks are getting more targeted and one of the primary attack vectors is the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Remote desktop is exactly what the name implies, an option to remotely control a computer system. It almost feels as if you were actually sitting behind that computer. Which is exactly what makes an attacker with RDP access so dangerous. [source]

Why this matters:

Because of the current pandemic, many people are working from home and may be doing so for a while to come. Working from home has the side effect of more RDP ports being opened. Not only to enable the workforce to access company resources from home, but also to enable IT staff to troubleshoot problems on the workers’ devices. A lot of enterprises rely on tech support teams using RDP to troubleshoot problems on employee’s systems.

But ransomware, although prevalent, is not the only reason for these types of attacks. Cyber criminals can also install keyloggers or other spyware on target systems to learn more about the organization they have breached. Other possible objectives might be data theft, espionage, or extortion.

Phishing

Two in five employees are not sure what a mobile phishing attack is

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly changed the way people work and accelerated the already growing remote work trend. This has also created new security challenges for IT departments, as employees increasingly use their own personal devices to access corporate data and services.

These changes, where employees, IT infrastructures, and customers are everywhere – has led to employees not prioritising security in their new world of work, and the current distributed remote work environment has also triggered a new threat landscape, with malicious actors increasingly targeting mobile devices with phishing attacks.

A new study looking at the impact that lockdown has had on employees working habits polled 1,200 workers across the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand showed that many employees were unaware of how to identify and avoid a phishing attack, and over two in five (43%) of employees are not even sure what a phishing attack is. [source]

Microsoft is Most Imitated Brand for Phishing Attempts in Q3 2020

The latest Check Point ‘Q3 Brand Phishing Report’, highlighting the brands that hackers imitated the most to lure people into giving up personal data, reveals the brands which were most frequently imitated by criminals in their attempts to steal individuals’ personal information or payment credentials during July, August and September.

In Q3, Microsoft was the most frequently targeted brand by cyber criminals, soaring from fifth place (relating to 7% of all brand phishing attempted globally in Q2 of 2020) to the top of the ranking. 19% of all brand phishing attempts related to the technology giant, as threat actors sought to capitalise on large numbers of employees still working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time in 2020, DHL entered the top 10 rankings, taking the second spot with 9% of all phishing attempts related to the company. [source]

Top phishing brands in Q3 2020

  • Microsoft (19%)

  • DHL (9%)

  • Google (9%)

  • PayPal (6%)

  • Netflix (6%)

  • Facebook (5%)

  • Apple (5%)

  • Whatsapp (5%)

  • Amazon (4%)

  • Instagram (4%)

Phishing Lures Shifting from COVID-19 updates to Job Opportunities

Researchers are seeing a pivot in the spear-phishing and phishing lures used by cybercriminals, to entice potential job candidates as businesses start to open up following the pandemic.

Cyber criminals cashed in on the surge of COVID-19 earlier this year, with email lures purporting to be from healthcare professionals offering more information about the pandemic. However, as the year moves forward, bad actors are continuing to swap up their attacks and researchers are now seeing ongoing email based attacks that tap into new job opportunities as businesses start to open up. [source]

Denial of Service Attacks

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attacks Triple in Size as Ransom Demands Re-Emerge

The last quarter of 2020 has seen a wave of web application attacks which have used ransom letters to target businesses across a number of industries.

According to research from Akamai, the largest of these attacks sent over 200Gbps of traffic at their targets as part of a sustained campaign of higher Bits Per Second (BPS) and Packets Per Second (PPS) than similar attacks had displayed a few weeks prior.

Prior to August most of these attacks were targeting the gaming industry but since then these attacks abruptly swung to financial organisations, and later in the cycle, multiple other verticals.

Akamai explained that none of the vectors involved in these series of attacks were new, as most of the traffic was generated by reflectors and systems that were used to amplify traffic. However, multiple organisations began to receive targeted emails with threats of DDoS attacks, where this would be launched unless a ransom amount was paid. A small DDoS would be made against the company to show that the attackers were serious, and then there was a threat of a 1Tbps attack if payment was not made.

Many extortion DDoS campaigns start as a threat letter, and never progress beyond that point but this this campaign has seen frequent ‘sample’ attacks that prove to the target that criminals have the capability to make life difficult.

Many of the extortion emails ended up being caught by spam filters, and not all targets are willing to admit they’ve received an email from the attackers.

Why this matters:

This extortion DDoS campaign is not over and the criminals behind this campaign are changing and evolving their attacks in order to throw off defenders and the law enforcement agencies that are working to track them down.

Vulnerabilities

New Google Chrome version fixes actively exploited zero-day bug

Google released Chrome 86.0.4240.111 this week to address five security vulnerabilities, one of which is being actively exploited.

The announcement from Google stated they they were aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2020-15999 exists in the wild.

This new version of Chrome started rolling out to the entire userbase. Users on Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop users can upgrade to Chrome 86 by going to Settings -> Help -> About Google Chrome.

The Google Chrome web browser will then automatically check for the new update and install it when available.

Adobe releases another out-of-band patch, squashing critical bugs across creative software

Adobe has released a second out-of-band security update to patch critical vulnerabilities across numerous software products.

The patch, released outside of the tech giant's typical monthly security cycle, impacts Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Marketo, Animate, After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, InDesign, and the Creative Cloud desktop application on Windows and macOS machines.

The vulnerabilities across the different products variously could result in privilege escalation, cross-site scripting (XSS), which could be weaponised to deploy malicious JavaScript in a browser session, or otherwise could result in arbitrary code execution.

Last week, Adobe released a separate set of out-of-band security fixes impacting the Magento platform. On October 15, Adobe said the patch resolved nine vulnerabilities, eight of which are critical -- including a bug that could be abused to tamper with Magento customer lists. [source]

WordPress deploys forced security update for dangerous bug in popular plugin

The WordPress security team has taken a rare step last week and used a lesser-known internal capability to forcibly push a security update for a popular plugin called Loginizer, which provides security enhancements for the WordPress login page, but that was found to contain a dangerous SQL injection bug that could have allowed hackers to take over WordPress sites running older versions of the plugin. [source]

Why this matters:

Remote attackers to run code against the WordPress database — in what is referred to as an unauthenticated SQL injection attack.

These are the most worrying vulnerabilities around today

Failure to patch once again leaves organisations open to attacks

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has published a new cyber security advisory in which it details 25 of the most dangerous vulnerabilities actively being exploited in the wild by Chinese state-sponsored hackers and other cyber criminals.

Unlike zero-day vulnerabilities where hardware and software makers have yet to release a patch, all of the vulnerabilities in the NSA's advisory are well-known and patches have been made available to download from their vendors. However, the problem lies in the fact that organisations have yet to patch their systems, leaving them vulnerable to potential exploits and attacks.

The NSA provided further details on the nature of the vulnerabilities in its advisory while urging organisations to patch them immediately.

Most of the vulnerabilities listed below can be exploited to gain initial access to victim networks using products that are directly accessible from the Internet and act as gateways to internal networks. The majority of the products are either for remote access or for external web services and should be prioritised for immediate patching. The full list can be found here.

The first bug in the list, tracked as CVE-2019-11510, relates to Pulse Secure VPN servers and how an unauthenticated remote attacker can expose keys or passwords by sending a specially crafted URI to perform an arbitrary file reading vulnerability.

Another notable bug from the list, tracked as CVE-2020-5902, affects the Traffic Management User Interface (TMUI) of F5 BIG-IP proxies and load balancers and it is vulnerable to a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability that if exploited, could allow a remote attacker to take over an entire BIG-IP device.

The Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway systems are vulnerable to a directory traversal bug, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, that can lead to remote code execution where an attacker does not need to possess valid credentials for the device.

The advisory also mentions BlueKeep, SigRed, Netlogon, CurveBall and other more well-known vulnerabilities.

To avoid falling victim to any potential attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities, the NSA recommends that organisations keep their systems and products updated and patched as soon as possible after vendors release them. [source]

Miscellaneous Cyber News of the Weeks

Hackers Can Clone Millions of Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia Keys

Owners of cars with keyless start systems have learned to worry about so-called relay attacks, in which hackers exploit radio-enabled keys to steal vehicles without leaving a trace. Now it turns out that many millions of other cars that use chip-enabled mechanical keys are also vulnerable to high-tech theft. A few cryptographic flaws combined with a little old-fashioned hot-wiring—or even a well-placed screwdriver—lets hackers clone those keys and drive away in seconds.

Researchers this week revealed new vulnerabilities in the encryption systems used by immobilisers, the radio-enabled devices inside of cars that communicate at close range with a key fob to unlock the car's ignition and allow it to start. Specifically, they found problems in how Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia implement their encryption system. A hacker who swipes a relatively inexpensive RFID reader/transmitter device near the key fob of any affected car can gain enough information to derive its secret cryptographic value. That, in turn, would allow the attacker to spoof the device to impersonate the key inside the car, disabling the immobiliser and letting them start the engine.

The researchers say the affected car models include the Toyota Camry, Corolla, and RAV4; the Kia Optima, Soul, and Rio; and the Hyundai I10, I20, and I40, amongst others. [source]

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.

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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 18 Sept 2020: Higher cyber losses; old MS Office exploit; banking Trojan given away free; new Bluetooth flaw; IoT risks; DDoS attacks up; US charge Iranians & Russians

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 18 September 2020: Cyber losses increasing in frequency & severity, decade-old MS Office exploit, Cerberus banking Trojan released for free to attackers, Bluetooth vulnerability affects billions of devices, The Internet of Things devices that could put you at risk from hackers

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.

Cyber losses are increasing in frequency and severity

Research by a cyber insurance provider in North America shows cyber attacks have increased in number and severity since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The changes that organisations implemented to facilitate remote work have given cyber criminals new opportunities to launch campaigns exploiting mass uncertainty and fear.

The severity of ransomware attacks has increased since the beginning of COVID-19, with researchers having observed a 47% increase on top of a 100% increase in Q1 2020.

Researchers also found that newer strains of ransomware have been particularly malicious, with costly ransom demands and criminal actors threatening to expose an organisation’s data if they don’t pay. They report that the average demand from attackers using the Maze variety of ransomware is approximately six times larger than the overall average.

Researchers also reported a 35% increase in funds transfer fraud and social engineering claims filed by their policyholders since the pandemic began. Reported losses from these types of attack have ranged from the low thousands to well above $1 million per event.

Additionally, COVID-19 has resulted in a notable surge of business email compromise. The insurer observed a 67% increase in the number of email attacks during the pandemic.

Why this matters:

The report refers to North America but the findings are applicable to us all. They indicate that the most frequent types of losses incurred by victims were from ransomware (41%), funds transfer loss (27%), and business email compromise incidents (19%) — accounting for 87% of reported incidents and 84% of the insurer’s claim pay-outs in the first half of 2020.

Clearly with the landscape getting worse, firms more likely to fall victim, and with losses increasing all the time, firms should ensure they are taking these threats seriously.

Read more: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/09/14/cyber-losses-are-increasing-in-frequency-and-severity/

Hackers have revived a decade-old Microsoft Office exploit - and they’re having a field day

Hackers have ramped up attempts to abuse a decade-old Microsoft Office flaw with the help of creative new email scams, new research has found.

According to analysis commissioned by NordVPN, attempts to exploit the vulnerability (CVE-2017-11882) rose by 400% in the second quarter of the year - with further growth expected.

Why this matters:

If exploited successfully, the memory corruption bug could allow attackers to execute code on the target device remotely. This is especially problematic if the affected user’s account has administrative privileges, in which case the hacker could seize control of the system.

Read more: https://www.techradar.com/news/hackers-have-revived-a-decade-old-microsoft-office-exploit-and-theyre-having-a-field-day

Cerberus banking Trojan source code released for free to cyber attackers

The source code of the Cerberus banking Trojan has been released as free malware on underground hacking forums following a failed auction.

The leaked code, distributed under the name Cerberus v2, presents an increased threat for smartphone users and the banking sector at large. 

Why this matters:

Cerberus is a mobile banking Trojan designed for the Google Android operating system. In circulation since at least July 2019, the Remote Access Trojan (RAT) is able to conduct covert surveillance, intercept communication, tamper with device functionality, and steal data including banking credentials by creating overlays on existing banking, retail, and social networking apps.

The malware is able to read text messages that may contain one-time passcodes (OTP) and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes, thereby bypassing typical 2FA account protections. OTPs generated through Google Authenticator may also be stolen.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/cerberus-banking-trojan-source-code-released-for-free-to-cyberattackers/

Critical Bluetooth security vulnerability could affect billions of devices worldwide

A new security flaw in the Bluetooth software stack discovered over the summer has the potential to affect billions of smartphones, laptops and IoT devices using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.

The new vulnerability has been given the name BLESA (Bluetooth Low Energy Spoofing Attack) by the team of seven academic researchers at Purdue University who first discovered it.

Unlike the recently discovered BLURtooth vulnerability that deals with how Bluetooth devices pair with one another, BLESA was found in the reconnection process. Reconnections occur when two BLE devices move out of range and then move back into range. Normally BLE devices check the cryptographic keys negotiated during the pairing process when reconnecting.

The research team found that the official BLE specification did not contain strong-enough language to describe the reconnection process properly leading to two systemic issues making their way into BLE software implementations.

The first deals with the fact that authentication during device reconnection is optional as opposed to mandatory while the second relates to how authentication can potentially be circumvented if a user's BLE device fails to force another device to authenticate the cryptographic keys sent while reconnecting.

Why this matters:

Billions of devices could be vulnerable to these BLESA attacks where a nearby attacker bypasses reconnection verification and sends spoofed data to a BLE device with incorrect information. This can lead both humans and automated processes to make incorrect decisions when it comes to allowing two devices to reconnect with one another.

Read more: https://www.techradar.com/news/critical-bluetooth-security-vulnerability-could-affect-billions-of-devices-worldwide

Coffee machines, cuddly toys and cars: The Internet of Things devices that could put you at risk from hackers

Connected teddy bears, connected coffee machines and connected cars are just some of the unusual Internet of Things (IoT) devices being insecurely connected to corporate networks that could leave whole organisations open to cyber attacks.

A research paper by Palo Alto Networks details the surge in IoT devices being connected to corporate networks and their wide variety.

Some of the most common irregular devices being connected to organisations' networks include connected vehicles, connected toys and connected medical devices, with connected sports equipment such as fitness trackers, gaming devices and connected cars also being deployed.

These devices are being connected because they can often help people through the working day or help manage aspects of their personal life, but they're also creating additional problems for the corporate network.

Why this matters:

In many cases, these 'shadow IoT' devices are being added to the network without the knowledge of the security team.

This could potentially leave the corporate network vulnerable because not only do some IoT devices have poor security that means they can easily be discovered and exploited, but some workplaces still have flat networks and if a device is compromised then an attacker can move from the IoT product to another system.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/coffee-machines-cuddly-toys-and-cars-the-internet-of-things-devices-which-could-put-you-at-risk-from-hackers/

DDoS Attacks Skyrocket as Pandemic Bites

More people being online during lockdowns and more people working from home has proven to be lucrative for DDoS type attacks.

The first half of 2020 saw a significant uptick in the number of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks compared to the same period last year — a phenomenon that appears to be directly correlated to the global coronavirus pandemic.

One firm’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) saw a 151 percent increase in DDoS activity in the period, including one of the largest and longest attacks they had has ever mitigated – that attack came in at 1.17 terabits-per-second (Tbps), and lasted five days and 18 hours.

These figures are representative of the growing number, volume and intensity of network-type cyber attacks as organizations shifted to remote operations and workers’ reliance on the internet increased.

Why this matters:

DDoS attacks are getting bigger, with a “noticeable spike” in volume: The number of attacks sized 100Gbps and above grew a whopping 275 percent. Emblematic of this is a 2.3Tbps attack targeting an Amazon Web Services client in February – the largest volumetric DDoS attack on record. And the aforementioned 1.17Tbps attack was 192 percent bigger than the largest attack mitigated during the first half of 2019.

Read more: https://threatpost.com/ddos-attacks-skyrocket-pandemic/159301/

US charges two Russians for stealing $16.8m via cryptocurrency phishing sites

The US Department of Justice has filed charges this week against two Russian nationals for orchestrating a multi-year phishing operation against the users of three cryptocurrency exchanges.

The two suspects stand accused of creating website clones for the Poloniex, Binance, and Gemini cryptocurrency exchanges, luring users on these fake sites, and collecting their account credentials. These phishing operations began around June 2017.

US officials said the Russian duo — made up of Danil Potekhin (aka cronuswar) and Dmitrii Karasavidi; residents of Voronezh and Moscow, respectively — used the stolen credentials to access victim accounts and steal their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) crypto-assets.

Why this matters:

In total, US officials estimated the victims in the hundreds. Court documents cite 313 defrauded Poloniex users, 142 Binance victims, and 42 users at Gemini. Losses were estimated at $16,876,000.

Whilst bitcoin has waned in popularity after its highs a few years back there is still value in holdings held in different exchanges and these holdings remain popular targets for attackers.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-charges-two-russians-for-stealing-16-8m-via-cryptocurrency-phishing-sites/

US charges two Iranian hackers for years-long cyber-espionage, cybercrime spree

The US has also filed charges against and is seeking the arrest of two Iranian nationals believed to have carried out cyber-intrusions at the behest of the Iranian government and for their own personal financial gain.

In an indictment unsealed this week, prosecutors accused Hooman Heidarian and Mehdi Farhadi, both from Hamedan, Iran, of launching cyber-attacks against a wide range of targets since at least 2013.

Past victims included several US and foreign universities, a Washington think tank, a defense contractor, an aerospace company, a foreign policy organization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and foreign government and other entities the defendants identified as rivals or adversaries to Iran, with most targets located in the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

US officials said Heidarian and Farhadi focused on gaining access to their victims' accounts, computers, and internal networks, from where they stole confidential data and communications pertaining to topics such as national security, foreign policy, nuclear energy, and aerospace.

Why this matters:

Financial data and personally identifiable information wasn't off-limits, and the two also stole intellectual property, such as unpublished scientific research.

In addition, the two also targeted and stole personal information and communications of Iranian dissidents, human rights activists, and opposition leaders, according to George M. Crouch Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark Division.

Prosecutors believe that some of the stolen data was handed over to Iranian government intelligence officials, but that other information was also sold on black markets for the hackers' personal gains.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/us-charges-two-iranian-hackers-for-years-long-cyber-espionage-cybercrime-spree/

Alert issued to UK universities and colleges about spike in cyber attacks

British universities and colleges have been warned about a spike in ransomware attacks targeting the education sector by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ.

Academic institutions are being urged to follow NCSC guidance following a sharp increase in attacks which have left some teachers fearing they won't be able to accept students when term begins.

Last week staff at Newcastle University warned Sky News they had "no idea how we are going to welcome students in three weeks' time" following one such ransomware attack, which has impacted IT services across the whole university.

Similar attacks in which criminal hackers infiltrated computer networks and stole data before encrypting the machines and demanding a ransom payment to unlock them again, have hit Northumbria University, Bolton Sixth Form College, Leeds City College and others in August alone.

Speaking to Sky News, NCSC's director of operations Paul Chichester said the agency had seen an increase in the "utterly reprehensible" attacks over the past 18 months and was concerned they would disrupt young people's education.

Why this matters:

There are more than a dozen criminal groups which are currently earning millions by encrypting their victim's computer networks and then leaking stolen documents online to pressure the victims into paying up.

Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/alert-issued-to-uk-universities-and-colleges-about-spike-in-cyber-attacks-12073450

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.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 04 September 2020: CEOs could become personally liable for cyber attacks, DDoS extortion, WordPress flaw exploited, Business Email Compromise now $80k, printers at risk

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 04 September 2020: CEOs could soon be personally liable for cyber attacks, DDoS Extorters Demand Ransoms from Firms, Hackers exploiting a critical WordPress flaw, Average Business Email Compromise (BEC) attempts are now $80k, Iran based Pioneer Kitten APT Sells Corporate Network Access, Nearly A Million Printers At Risk Of Attack - Thousands Hacked To Prove It

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.

CEOs could soon be personally liable for cyberattacks

Within four years, the majority of CEOs will be held personally responsible for cyberattacks that lead to injury and other physical damage.

This is according to a new report from Gartner, which asserts that liability for cyber-physical security incidents will “pierce the corporate veil to personal liability” for 75 percent of CEOs by 2024.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are described as digital systems that interact with the physical world, such as IoT devices or operational technologies (OT).

“Regulators and governments will react promptly to an increase in serious incidents resulting from failure to secure CPSs, drastically increasing rules and regulations governing them,” said Katell Thielemann, Research Vice President at Gartner.

“In the US, the FBI, NSA and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have already increased the frequency and details provided around threats to critical infrastructure-related systems, most of which are owned by private industry. Soon, CEOs won’t be able to plead ignorance or retreat behind insurance policies.”

Why this matters:

CPS attacks with fatalities will incur costs to businesses of more than $50 billion within the next three years, Gartner predicts. Irrespective of the value of human life, businesses are looking at major costs in terms of compensation, litigation, insurance, regulatory fines and reputation loss.

Technology leaders need to help CEOs understand the risks that CPSs represent and the need to dedicate focus and budget to securing them. The more connected CPSs are, the higher the likelihood of an incident occurring.

Read more: https://www.itproportal.com/news/ceos-could-soon-be-personally-liable-for-cyberattacks/

Global DDoS Extorters Demand Ransom from Firms

Security experts are warning of a new global DDoS-related extortion campaign targeting businesses operating in the e-commerce, finance and travel sectors.

Researchers said they had been tracking the threat actors since mid-August, with victims in North America, APAC and EMEA. Emails are typically delivered claiming to come from state-sponsored groups such as Fancy Bear and Lazarus Group, as well as the  “Armada Collective.”

The latter group has been linked to similar extortion emails sent in previous years.

The ransom emails threaten to launch DDoS attacks against the recipient organization of over 2Tbps, if payment of anywhere between 10 and 20BTC ($113,000-226,000) is not made. They also threaten to increase the ransom by 10BTC for each deadline missed.

Also included in the messages are the Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) or IP addresses of servers or services that the group says it will target if their demands are not met.

Why this matters:

DDoS attacks take businesses legitimate online operations offline by flooding them with traffic such that legitimate traffic can’t get through, or they are so swamped with traffic that services can’t cope. Depending on the type of business and how reliant they are on their online presence these types of attacks could prevent firms from operating entirely.

Recipients of the emails were urged not to pay the ransom

Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-ddos-extorters-ransom-notes/

Hackers are exploiting a critical flaw affecting >350,000 WordPress sites

Hackers are actively exploiting a vulnerability that allows them to execute commands and malicious scripts on Websites running File Manager, a WordPress plugin with more than 700,000 active installations, researchers said on Tuesday. Word of the attacks came a few hours after the security flaw was patched.

Why this matters:

Attackers are using the exploit to upload files hidden in an image, which from there provides a convenient interface that allows them to run commands in the directory where the File Manager plugin resides. Hackers may be able to exact more damage by uploading scripts that can carry out actions on other parts of a vulnerable site.

Read more: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/09/hackers-are-exploiting-a-critical-flaw-affecting-350000-wordpress-sites/

Phishing attacks surge during the pandemic

In yet another example of cyber criminals exploiting world events, the frequency of phishing threats has risen considerably since the start of the pandemic, with companies experiencing an average of 1,185 attacks every month.

New research reveals that more than half (53 percent) of over 300 IT professionals surveyed by Cyber security Insiders say they had witnessed an increase in phishing activity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why this matters:

The report also shows that 38 percent of respondents report that a co-worker has fallen victim to an attack within the last year. As a result, 15 percent of organizations are now left spending anywhere from one to four days remediating malicious attacks during what is already a difficult time for many.

Read more: https://betanews.com/2020/09/01/phishing-surges-during-pandemic/

Average Business Email Compromise (BEC) attempts are now $80k, but one group is aiming for $1.27m per attack

BEC scammer groups are growing more brazen. The average sum that a BEC group will try to steal from a targeted company is now around $80,000 per attack, according to an industry report published on Monday.

The number is up from $54,000, the average sum that BEC groups tried to obtain from victims in Q1 2020, as reported by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), an industry coalition made up of more than 2,200 organizations from the cyber-security industry, government, law enforcement, and NGOs sector.

One of the largest industry group of its kind, the APWG has been releasing quarterly reports on the state of phishing operations since 2004.

Why this matters:

Most of these reports have usually centred on email phishing attacks that focus on stealing login credentials and distributing malware. However, since the mid-2010s, BEC fraud has been slowly taking more and more space in APWG's reports, as BEC fraud has become today's top cybercrime trend.

BEC, or Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, usually begin with phishing, with an email sent to a company's employee. The end goal is to dupe the employee into paying fake invoices or transferring funds to an account controlled by the attackers.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/average-bec-attempts-are-now-80k-but-one-group-is-aiming-for-1-27m-per-attack/

Iran based Pioneer Kitten APT Sells Corporate Network Access

An APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) group known as Pioneer Kitten, linked to Iran, has been spotted selling corporate-network credentials on hacker forums.

Pioneer Kitten is a hacker group that specialises in infiltrating corporate networks using open-source tools to compromise remote external services. Researchers observed an actor associated with the group advertising access to compromised networks on an underground forum in July, according to a blog post earlier this week.

Pioneer Kitten’s work is related to other groups either sponsored or run by the Iranian government, which were previously seen hacking VPNs and planting backdoors in companies around the world.

Why this matters:

The credentials would let other cybercriminal groups and APTs perform cyberespionage and other nefarious cyber-activity. It is also noteworthy to see a group operating on behalf of or closed with a Nation State, in this case Iran, appearing to potential attempt to diversify their revenue streams through sales of stolen credentials.

Read more: https://threatpost.com/pioneer-kitten-apt-sells-corporate-network-access/158833/

Nearly A Million Printers At Risk Of Attack, Thousands Hacked To Prove It

Roughly 28,000 printers recently gave their owners an unexpected lesson in cybersecurity. Seemingly unprompted, the printers whirred to life and produced a 5-step guide to keeping hackers at bay.

“This printer has been hacked,” the message began ominously. Fortunately for the “victims” it was a group of ethical hackers behind the attack. A team of researchers from CyberNews was out to remind the public about the potential peril of connected devices.

To get the ball rolling, the team scoured the globe for printers that were vulnerable. They found more than 800,000 in total using a search engine called Shodan.

Shodan is a tool that’s leaned on by both security researchers and cyber criminals. In the past it’s been used to identify thousands of at-risk surveillance cameras, security alarm systems and hundreds of wind turbines and solar devices.

Why this matters:

Vulnerable devices within your networks can present a vulnerability to other devices on your network too and can be an easy point of entry for attackers.

Many firms do a good job of updating desktops and laptops when operating system updates come out, but too many firms neglect networking devices such as routers, modems and switches, and other devices on their networks such as printers.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2020/08/31/800000-printers-vulnerable-28000-hacked/#4b7c9b87d8a9
or: https://cybernews.com/security/we-hacked-28000-unsecured-printers-to-raise-awareness-of-printer-security-issues/

WhatsApp reveals six previously undisclosed vulnerabilities on new security site

Facebook -owned WhatsApp has revealed six previously undisclosed vulnerabilities, which the company has now fixed. The vulnerabilities are being reported on a dedicated security advisory website that will serve as the new resource providing a comprehensive list of WhatsApp security updates and associated Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE).

WhatsApp said five of the six vulnerabilities were fixed in the same day, while the remaining bug took a couple of days to remediate. Although some of the bugs could have been remotely triggered, the company said it found no evidence of hackers actively exploiting the vulnerabilities.

Why this matters:

WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular apps, with more than two billion users around the world. But it’s also a persistent target for hackers, who try to find and exploit vulnerabilities in the platform. As with all software updates should be applied as soon as possible to ensure that fixes that remediate known vulnerabilities are fixed.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/03/whatsapp-security-flaws/

Attackers are trying to exploit a high-severity zero day in Cisco gear

Telecoms and data-centre operators take note: attackers are actively trying to exploit a high-severity zero day vulnerability in Cisco networking devices, the company warned over the weekend.

The security flaw resides in Cisco’s iOS XR Software, an operating system for carrier-grade routers and other networking devices used by telecommunications and data-centre providers. In an advisory published on Saturday, the networking-gear manufacturer said that a patch is not yet available and provided no timeline for when one would be released.

Why this matters:

Zero days do not yet have patches available although the vulnerability is publicly known and in some cases, as in this case, already being targeted by malicious actors.

Read more: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/attackers-are-trying-to-exploit-a-high-severity-zeroday-in-cisco-gear/

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.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 31 July 2020: 386M user records stolen, Twitter spear-phishing, Garmin may have paid ransom, 27% of consumers hit with Covid19 phishing scams, Netflix phishing scam

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 31 July 2020: 386M user records stolen, Twitter says attack was spear-phishing, Criminals still exploiting COVID19, Netwalker ransomware, Garmin may have paid ransom, QNAP NAS devices infected, Hackers exploit networking vulns, 27% of consumers hit with pandemic-themed phishing scams, New Netflix phishing scam

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.

386 million user records stolen in data breaches — and they're being given away for free

A notorious hacker or group of hackers is giving away copies of databases said to contain 386 million user records, after posting links to the databases on a marketplace used by cyber criminals.

The threat actor, who goes by the name ShinyHunters, claims to have data stolen from 18 different websites in the past seven months. According to reports, ShinyHungers last week began uploading the databases to a forum where anyone can download them free of charge.

ShinyHunters is believed to have played a role in high-profile data breaches at HomeChef, Promo.com, Mathway, Chatbooks, Dave.com, Wattpad and even Microsoft's GitHub account. Many of these records were previously offered for sale online.

Why this matters:

Any details stolen from one site or service will be used against other sites and services, this is why it is critical that passwords are not reused across different sites and that all passwords are unique. Using multi factor authentication is also very effective at safeguarding against these types of attacks.

Read more here: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/shinyhunters-breach-giveaway

Twitter says spear-phishing attack on employees led to breach

Twitter said a large hack two weeks ago targeted a small number of employees through a phone “spear-phishing” attack.

The social media platform said the hackers targeted about 130 accounts, tweeted from 45, accessed the inboxes of 36, and were able to download Twitter data from seven.

Attackers also targeted specific employees who had access to account support tools, Twitter said. The company added it has since restricted access to its internal tools and systems.

Twitter suffered a major security breach on 15 July that saw hackers take control of the accounts of major public figures and corporations, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Apple.

The hack unfolded over the course of several hours, and in the course of halting it, Twitter stopped all verified accounts from tweeting – an unprecedented measure.

Publicly available blockchain records show the apparent scammers received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency.

Why this matters?

It is nearly always a lot easier for attackers to attack your users than it is to attack your systems. IT controls alone cannot protect against social engineering attacks so making sure your staff are trained so they don’t fall for social engineering attacks is a critical part of your defence.

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/30/twitter-breach-hackers-spear-phishing-attack

Cyber-Criminals Continue to Exploit #COVID19 During Q2

Cyber-criminals’ exploitation of the COVID-19 pandemic to target individuals and businesses has continued unabated during the second quarter of 2020, according to one Cyber Security firm’s Q2 2020 Threat Report published today. The findings highlight how the crisis is defining the cybersecurity landscape in Q2 in a similar way as it did in Q1 after the pandemic first struck.

The firm observed a continuous focus on phishing using COVID-19 lures in this period. This included criminals taking advantage of the rise in online shopping that has occurred during the pandemic, with a 10-fold increase in phishing emails impersonating one of the world’s leading package delivery services found in comparison to Q1.

The shift to remote working as a result of the pandemic has also led to increased targeting of Remote Desktop Protocol’s in recent months.

Ransomware tactics were found to be “rapidly developing” in this period, with operators moving away from doxing and random data leaking towards auctioning the stolen data on dedicated underground sites.

Why does this matter?

The Coronavirus crisis gave criminals an efficient lure to bait phishing emails with and for as long as it is working they will continue to exploit this crisis. It’s like we always say “cyber criminals will never let a good crisis or tragedy go to waste”

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyber-criminals-exploit-covid/

FBI Releases Flash Alert on Netwalker Ransomware

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) released a flash alert in which it warned organisations about the dangers of Netwalker ransomware.

The FBI said that it had received notifications of attacks involving Netwalker against U.S. and foreign government organisations along with entities operating in the healthcare and education sectors.

In its alert, the FBI noted that those responsible for Netwalker had used COVID-19 phishing emails and unpatched vulnerabilities affecting VPN apps to gain entry into an organisation. The malicious actors had then used their crypto-malware to harvest administrator credentials and steal data from their victims. Ultimately, the attackers uploaded that stolen information to a file-sharing service.

Once they had come into possession of a victim’s data, the nefarious individuals activated the ransomware’s encryption routine. This step led the threat to encrypt all connected Windows-based devices and information before dropping a ransom note on the infected machine.

Why does this matter?

Ransomware remains one of the biggest risks for all firms, organisations and individuals, and the majority of the time the ransomware infection will stem from a phishing email that a user within an organisation clicked on. As with all social engineering attacks IT controls alone are of limited effectiveness and defending against these attacks comes down to educating your users and instilling in them the importance of the role they play in defending an organisation.

Read more here: https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/fbi-releases-flash-alert-on-netwalker-ransomware/

Garmin may have paid hackers ransom, reports suggest

Fitness wearable and Navtech supplier Garmin may have given in to the demands of cyber criminals who encrypted its systems with ransomware, according to news reports that suggest the firm has obtained a decryption key to recover its files, strongly suggesting it has either paid up, or brokered some kind of deal.

In a statement issued four days after its services first went offline, Garmin finally confirmed it had been the victim of a cyber attack, having previously limited its response to saying it was experiencing an outage. It has not yet confirmed it was the victim of a ransomware incident, although this is now all but certain.

A spokesperson said: “Garmin today announced it was the victim of a cyber attack that encrypted some of our systems on July 23, 2020. As a result, many of our online services were interrupted including website functions, customer support, customer-facing applications, and company communications. We immediately began to assess the nature of the attack and started remediation,” said the firm.

“We have no indication that any customer data, including payment information from Garmin Pay, was accessed, lost or stolen. Additionally, the functionality of Garmin products was not affected, other than the ability to access online services.

Why does this matter?

Ransomware can affect firms of any size, from the smallest to the largest, no firm or organisation is immune and even firms that are spending millions or tens of millions on advanced protections and controls can still fall victim. These types of attacks go after the people working for an organisation, not the organisations technical infrastructure and technical controls are of limited use in defending against these types of attacks. An organisation needs to ensure their users are efficient at spotting phishing emails, it only takes one user clicking on one malicious email to take down a multinational corporation.

Read more here: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252486775/Garmin-may-have-paid-hackers-ransom-reports-suggest

Cyber-security agencies from the UK and the US say 62,000 QNAP NAS devices have been infected with the QSnatch malware

The UK NCSC and US CISA published a joint security alert this week about QSnatch, a strain of malware that has been infecting network-attached storage (NAS) devices from Taiwanese device maker QNAP.

In alerts  by the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the two agencies say that attacks with the QSnatch malware have been traced back to 2014, but attacks intensified over the last year when the number of reported infections grew from 7,000 devices in October 2019 to more than 62,000 in mid-June 2020.

Of these, CISA and the NSCS say that approximately 7,600 of the infected devices are located in the US, and around 3,900 in the UK.

Why this matters?

Vulnerable devices can be used to steal credentials (usernames and passwords) and exfiltrate information from devices on the network. It is important to keep devices up to date with the latest security patches to close any vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-says-62000-qnap-nas-devices-have-been-infected-with-the-qsnatch-malware/

Hackers actively exploit high-severity networking vulnerabilities

Hackers are actively exploiting two unrelated high-severity vulnerabilities that allow unauthenticated access or even a complete takeover of networks run by FTSE100/Fortune 500 companies and government organisations.

The most serious exploits are targeting a critical vulnerability in F5’s Big-IP advanced delivery controller, a device that’s typically placed between a perimeter firewall and a Web application to handle load balancing and other tasks. The vulnerability, which F5 patched three weeks ago, allows unauthenticated attackers to remotely run commands or code of their choice. Attackers can then use their control of the device to hijack the internal network it’s connected to.

Why this matters?

Vulnerable devices such as this can be used to gain access to internal networks. It is important to keep devices up to date with the latest security patches to close any vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. When a vendor releases updates they should be installed as soon as possible, ideally having been tested before updates are applied in your live environment.

Read more here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/07/hackers-actively-exploit-high-severity-networking-vulnerabilities/

27% of consumers hit with pandemic-themed phishing scams

Phishing is the top digital fraud scheme worldwide related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research.

Among consumers reporting being targeted with digital COVID-19 schemes globally, 27% said they were hit with pandemic-themed phishing scams.

Identity fraud is a primary way fraudsters leverage stolen consumer data from phishing and other social engineering schemes. It can have long-term impacts for consumers such as the compromise of multiple online accounts and bringing down credit scores, which we anticipate will increase during pandemic reconstruction.

To better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on consumers, 7,384 adults in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S. have been surveyed between June 30 and July 6, 2020.

It asked the consumers if they had been targeted by digital COVID-19 fraud and if so, which digital fraud scheme(s) related to COVID-19 were they targeted with. Globally, 32% said they had been targeted by digital fraud related to COVID-19 with the below being the top types of COVID-19 fraud they faced:

Top global online COVID-19 scams targeting consumers:

Why this matters?

Whatever works for criminals they will continue doing. Until consumers, as well as businesses, get better at detecting these scams and get better at spotting phishing emails criminals will carry on using the latest crisis or tragedy to get users to click on malicious emails and open their networks to attackers.

Read more here: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/07/24/pandemic-themed-phishing-scams/

New Netflix phishing scam uncovered - here’s how to stay safe

Security analysts have uncovered a dangerous and highly convincing new Netflix phishing scam, capable of evading traditional email security software.

The phishing email masquerades as a billing error alert, pressing the victim to update their payment details within 24 hours or have their Netflix subscription voided.

The link provided in the email redirects to a functioning CAPTCHA form, used in legitimate scenarios to distinguish between humans and AI. Although this step adds a layer of friction to the process, it serves to enhance the sense of legitimacy the attacker is attempting to cultivate.

After handing over account credentials, billing address and payment card information, the victim is then redirected to the genuine Netflix home page, unaware their data has been compromised.

Why does this matter?

Phishing campaigns like this cast a wide net and only need a small number of victims to fall for it to turn a profit, and that means these types of scams are not going to go away any time soon. If no one fell for them they would stop. Always question any email that urges you to take action quickly under the guise of some threat.

Read more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/dangerous-new-netflix-phishing-scam-hits-the-scene-heres-what-you-need-to-know

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.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 10 July 2020: firms concerned by cloud security: most already breached, 15 Billion passwords on sale, routers present huge risk, BMW cust breach, NK hackers target retail

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 10 July 2020: firms concerned by cloud security: most already breached, 15 Billion passwords on sale, routers present huge risk, BMW cust breach, NK hackers target retail

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.

Majority of firms concerned about public cloud security, most have suffered breach

Most businesses are worried about the current state of their public cloud security, with 70% admitting they have experienced a breach over the past year including 93% in India, where this figure is highest worldwide. Companies that used more than one public cloud platforms reported more security incidents than their peers that used only one platform.

In addition, system misconfigurations enabled 66% of cyber attacks either because attackers were able to exploit a misconfigured system or tap flaws in the firewall applications to steal credentials of cloud provider accounts. Data loss or leak was the biggest security concern, with 44% of organisations pointing to this as a top focus area, according to Sophos' State of Cloud Security 2020 study.

The survey polled 3,521 IT managers across 26 markets including 158 in Singapore, 227 in India, 162 in China, 148 in Australia, 126 in Japan, 191 in the UK, and 413 in the US. These respondents used services from at least one of the following public cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMWare Cloud on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. They also might have used Google Cloud and IBM Cloud.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/majority-of-firms-concerned-about-public-cloud-security-most-have-suffered-breach/

15 Billion Stolen Passwords On Sale On The Dark Web, Research Reveals

There are more than 15 billion stolen account credentials circulating on criminal forums within the dark web, a new study has revealed.

Researchers discovered usernames, passwords and other login information for everything from online bank accounts, to music and video streaming services.

The majority of exposed credentials belong to consumers rather than businesses, the researchers found, resulting from hundreds of thousands of data breaches.

Unsurprisingly, the most expensive credentials for sale were those for bank and financial services. The average listing for these was £56 on the dark web – a section of the internet notorious for criminal activity that is only accessible using specialist software.

Researched stated that the sheer number of credentials available is staggering.

Read more here: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/security-passwords-dark-web-digital-shadows-a9607871.htm

Check your router now - it could be a huge security risk

Many of the most popular home routers available to buy today feature a worrying number of security flaws and vulnerabilities, new research has found and your router might be the biggest security hole in your network.

A report from Germany discovered that the firmware present in a large number of leading routers was susceptible to hugely damaging security issues.

Many routers were found to never have received a single security firmware update in their lifetime, despite the risk that this could pose to users at home and at work, and were vulnerable to hundreds of well-known security issues.

The study looked at 127 home routers from seven brands (Netgear, ASUS, AVM, D-Link, Linksys, TP-Link and Zyxel), examining the product firmware for any known security vulnerabilities.

46 of the products it tested had not received any kind of security update within the past 12 months, with some vendors shipping firmware updates without fixing known vulnerabilities, and one set of products not seeing a firmware update for more than five years.

Read more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/check-your-router-now-it-could-be-a-huge-linux-security-risk

Data Breach Affects 384,319 BMW Customers in the U.K.

Researchers at an intelligence firm discovered that a hacker group “KelvinSecurity” compromised the personal information of 384,319 BMW customers in the U.K. and put them for sale on various darknet forums.

The hacker group claimed that they got the BMW database from a call centre that handles customers’ information of various automobile brands. The stolen database contains over 500,000 customer records dated between 2016 and 2018, affecting U.K. owners of other car manufacturers, including Honda, Mercedes, SEAT, and Hyundai in the U.K.

The exposed BMW owners’ information included sensitive information such as surnames, emails, vehicle registration numbers, residential address, dealer names, car registration information, names of dealerships. The researchers also discovered multiple databases exposed by KelvinSecurity, including data related to the U.S. government contractors and the Russian military weapons development. The hacker group also exposed over 28 databases on various darknet forums for free, affecting organizations in Iran, Australia, Mexico, U.S., Sweden, Indonesia, and France.

Read more here: https://cisomag.eccouncil.org/bmw-data-breach/

SurveyMonkey Phishers Go Hunting for Office 365 Credentials

Security researchers are warning of a new phishing campaign that uses malicious emails from legitimate SurveyMonkey domains in a bid to bypass security filters.

The phishing emails in question are sent from a real SurveyMonkey domain but crucially have a different reply-to domain.

Within the body of the email is a hidden redirect link appearing as the text ‘Navigate to access statement’ with a brief message ‘Please do not forward this email as its survey link is unique to you’” it explained. Clicking on the link redirects to a site hosted on a Microsoft form submission page. This form asks the user to enter their Office 365 email and password. If the user is not vigilant and provides their credentials, the user account would be compromised.

The attack is effective for several reasons: its use of a legitimate SurveyMonkey email sender, the concealing of the phishing site URL and the description of the email as unique to every user.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/surveymonkey-phishers-office-365/

Microsoft takes legal action against COVID-19-related cybercrime

This week a Court in the US unsealed documents detailing Microsoft’s work to disrupt cybercriminals that were taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to defraud customers in 62 countries around the world. The civil case has resulted in a court order allowing Microsoft to seize control of key domains in the criminals’ infrastructure so that it can no longer be used to execute cyberattacks.

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) first observed these criminals in December 2019, when they deployed a sophisticated, new phishing scheme designed to compromise Microsoft customer accounts. The criminals attempted to gain access to customer email, contact lists, sensitive documents and other valuable information. Based on patterns discovered at that time, Microsoft utilized technical means to block the criminals’ activity and disable the malicious application used in the attack. Recently, Microsoft observed renewed attempts by the same criminals, this time using COVID-19-related lures in the phishing emails to target victims.

Read more here: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/07/07/digital-crimes-unit-covid-19-cybercrime/

North Korea's Lazarus hackers are planting skimmers on US and European retail websites, researchers warn

Researchers claim to have found evidence to suggest that North Korean state-sponsored actors are planting skimmers on the web stores of many American and European retailers in efforts to steal payment card details of unsuspecting shoppers.

The activities have been ongoing since at least May 2019, the researchers say, and can be attributed to hackers linked with the North Korean-backed Lazarus group.

The new research shows that in the last year, Lazarus has been able to infiltrate web stores of many retailers, such as international fashion chain Claire's.  The group has also developed a global exfiltration network that uses authentic websites to transfer stolen assets to attackers. These websites are first hijacked and then repurposed to mask the malicious activities of the hackers.

Read more here: https://www.computing.co.uk/news/4017355/north-korea-lazarus-hackers-planting-skimmers-us-european-retail-websites-researchers-warn

British Army ‘to be slashed by 20,000 troops to make way for cyber warfare’

In a clear indication of the expectations of how future conflicts will be fought the British Army could be cut by more than a quarter under spending review plans dawn up by UK defence chiefs.

Up to 20,000 troops could be let go, while airfields are closed and helicopters are taken out of service. The Royal Marines commando brigade may also be disbanded and Royal Navy minesweepers could also be axed.

Security sources have claimed Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings has been pushing to divert a sizeable amount of money from the army to fund cyber warfare, space and artificial intelligence projects.

Read more here: https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/06/army-slashed-20000-troops-make-way-cyber-warfare-12950143/

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.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 26 June 2020: Covid changes infosec landscape, ransomware actors lurk post attack, hacker earns millions, rogue bank staff steal $3.2m, massive DDoS against European bank

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 26 June 2020: Covid changes infosec landscape, ransomware actors lurk post attack, hacker earns millions, rogue bank staff steal $3.2m, massive DDoS against European bank

If you’re pressed for time watch the 60 second quick fire video summary of the top Cyber and InfoSec stories from the last week:

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.

Businesses believe the pandemic will change the security landscape forever

After Covid-19, nothing will ever be the same again, at least in terms of how businesses approach cyber security. This is according to a new report based on a poll of 6,700 infosec professionals around the world.

The report states that 81 percent expect long-term changes to the way their business operates, mostly because of remote working.

With this in mind, examining how remote employees approach cyber security will become paramount if an organisation is to maintain a strong security posture.

A third of respondents said they worry employees may feel more relaxed about cyber security than when they are working out of the office. Employees may also be less likely to follow protocol at home, particularly when it comes to identifying and flagging suspicious activity.

Further, almost a third (31 percent) fear employees might unintentionally leak sensitive data or fall prey to a phishing scam and a quarter are afraid staff might fall victim to malware attacks.

Of the largest risks associated with remote working, respondents singled out “using untrusted networks” as the most significant. Other people accessing employees' company devices, the use of personal messaging services for work, and the unintentional sharing of company data are also high on the list of risks.

Read more: https://www.itproportal.com/news/businesses-believe-the-pandemic-will-change-the-security-landscape-forever/

Ransomware operators lurk on your network after their attack

When a company suffers a ransomware attack, many victims feel that the attackers quickly deploy the ransomware and leave so they won't get caught. Unfortunately, the reality is much different as threat actors are not so quick to give up a resource that they worked so hard to control.

Instead, ransomware attacks are conducted over time, ranging from a day to even a month, starting with a ransomware operator breaching a network.

This breach is through exposed remote desktop services, vulnerabilities in VPN software, or via remote access given by malware such as TrickBot, Dridex, and QakBot.

Once they gain access, they use tools such as Mimikatz, PowerShell Empire, PSExec, and others to gather login credentials and spread laterally throughout the network.

As they gain access to computers on the network, they use these credentials to steal unencrypted files from backup devices and servers before deploying the ransomware attack.

Once the ransomware is deployed, many victims believe that while their network is still compromised, they think the ransomware operators are now gone from the system.

This belief is far from the truth, as illustrated by a recent attack by the Maze Ransomware operators.

Read the full article here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-operators-lurk-on-your-network-after-their-attack/

Prolific Hacker Made Millions Selling Network Access

A notorious Russian cyber-criminal made over $1.5m in just the past three years selling access to corporate networks around the world, according to a new report.

The study profiles the work of “Fxmsp” on underground forums where he published his first ad selling access to business networks in 2017.

Over the following years he would compromise banks, hotels, utilities, retailers, tech companies and organisations in many more verticals.

In just three years he claimed to have compromised over 130 targets in 44 countries, including four Fortune 500 firms. Some 9% of his victims were governments.

The report calculated the $1.5m figure purely from publicised sales, although 20% of those Fxmsp compromised were made through private sales, meaning the hacker’s trawl is likely to be even bigger.

Fxmsp even hired a sales manager in early 2018.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/infamous-hacker-millions-selling/

Rogue Postbank employees steal master encryption key; make off with $3.2 million

South Africa's Postbank has been forced to replace 12 million bank cards after a calamitous security breach that saw the bank's master encryption key printed off in plain, unencrypted language.

According to internal documents acquired by the Sunday Times of South Africa, the 36-digit code security key “allows anyone who has it to gain unfettered access to the bank’s systems, and allows them to read and rewrite account balances, and change information and data on any of the bank’s 12-million cards".

The master key was apparently printed out on plain paper in a data centre in Pretoria in 2018, enabling the fraudsters to make over 25,000 fraudulent transactions, mostly from cards used by people receiving social benefits from the government.

The crime, which is being pinned on a number of rogue bank employees, went unnoticed for months. More than $3.2 million was stolen in the raid.

The cost to the bank of replacing all the compromised cards is expected to reach $58 million.

Read more here: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/36059/rogue-postbank-employees-steal-master-encryption-key-make-off-with-32-million

Massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack launched against European bank

This week, security firm Akamai mitigated what it claims to be the “largest ever packet per second (pps) DDoS attack”, launched against an unnamed European bank.

The attack reportedly generated 809 million packets per second (Mpps) - a new high for pps-focused attacks, and well over double the size of the previous record attack identified by the Akamai platform.

What also makes this DDoS attack unique is the “massive increase” in the quantity of source IP addresses observed. During the attack, Akamai identified more than 600 times average number of source IP addresses per minute, suggesting the attack was highly distributed in nature.

Further, most of the traffic came from previously unknown IP addresses (96.2 percent), which could indicate the assault was driven by an emerging botnet. Given that most of the source IP addresses could be identified within large ISPs via AS lookups, Akamai believes most of the devices used were compromised end user machines.

The speed at which the attack reached its peak was also remarkable. The company claims it grew from normal traffic levels to 418 Gbps in seconds, and took roughly two minutes to hit 809 Mpps. The attack lasted for a total of 10 minutes and was fully mitigated.

Read more here: https://www.itproportal.com/news/massive-ddos-attack-launched-against-european-bank/

'Unstoppable' Malware Uses Bitcoin To Retrieve Secret Messages - Report

Glupteba, a sneaky malware that can be controlled from afar includes a range of components to cover its tracks, and it updates itself using encrypted messages hidden in the Bitcoin blockchain.

The Glupteba bot is a malware campaign that creates backdoors with full access to contaminated devices, which are added to its growing botnet. The analysis describes it as a “highly self-defending malware” with “enhancing features that enable the malware to evade detection.”

The most interesting aspect of Glupteba is that it uses the Bitcoin blockchain as a communication channel for receiving updated configuration information, given that bitcoin transactions can also include a comment of up to 80 characters.

Glupteba uses this messaging space for encrypted messages. These messages contain secrets, such as command-and-control server names, thus cleverly hiding them in the public blockchain - in plane sight.

Read more: https://cryptonews.com/news/unstoppable-malware-uses-bitcoin-to-retrieve-secret-messages-6947.htm

Woman who deliberately deleted firm’s Dropbox is sentenced

58-year-old Danielle Bulley may not look like your typical cyber criminal, but the act of revenge she committed against a company had just as much impact as a conventional hacker breaking into a business’s servers and causing havoc.

Bulley has been successfully prosecuted under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act after deleting thousands of important files from a company that went on to collapse.

She was a director of a business called Property Press that produced a weekly property newspaper focused on south east Devon. Things turned sour, and Bulley resigned her position at the firm in 2018 before the company went into liquidation. However, fellow director Alan Marriott started a new business venture – without Bulley’s involvement – using the assets of the old firm.

Things clearly didn’t sit well with Bulley after her departure from the business, and several months after her resignation she managed to gain unauthorised access to the new company’s Dropbox account.

More than 5,000 documents were permanently erased, and the company claimed that the damage to business was so great that it could no longer operate, with people losing their jobs and a loss of almost £100,000.

The Police warned other companies of the threat which can be posed by former employees:

Ex-employees can pose a serious risk to a business because they are familiar with the company’s IT infrastructure and procedures. This can make it easier for them to carry out cyber crimes against their former organisation.

If someone is leaving your company, especially if they are quitting your firm under something of a cloud, you would be wise to check that they don’t know your business’s passwords or have retained access to sensitive information.

Passwords should be changed, and additional authentication methods should be in place to prevent unauthorised access. Dropbox, for instance, provides a two-step verification feature which all users would be wise to enable.

Read more: https://hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com/blog/woman-who-deliberately-deleted-firms-dropbox-is-sentenced-23552.html

EasyJet Lawsuit Over Data Breach Attracts 10,000 Passengers

EasyJet Plc faces a lawsuit over a data breach disclosed last month that potentially exposed private details of 9 million passengers.

More than 10,000 people have joined the suit since it was filed last month, according to the law firm handling the lawsuit. Victims are entitled to as much as £2,000 in compensation, meaning the case could be worth as much as £18 billion.

EasyJet said last month that the email addresses and travel data of about 9 million customers were taken by hackers in one of the biggest privacy breaches to hit the airline industry. The credit card details of roughly 2,200 people was also accessed.

“This is a monumental data breach and a terrible failure of responsibility that has a serious impact on EasyJet’s customers, who are coming forward in their thousands,” the law firm said in a statement. “This is personal information that we trust companies with, and customers should expect that every effort is made to protect their privacy.”

Read more here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-24/easyjet-lawsuit-over-data-breach-attracts-10-000-passengers

Twitter apologises for business data breach

Twitter has emailed its business clients to tell them that personal information may have been compromised.

Unbeknownst to users, billing information of some clients was stored in the browser's cache, it said.

In an email to its clients, Twitter said it was "possible" others could have accessed personal information.

The personal data includes email addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of clients' credit card numbers.

The tech company says that there is no evidence that clients' billing information was compromised.

Read more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53150157

Huge Data Dump of Police Files Dubbed “Blue Leaks” Leaked Online

Nearly 270 gigabytes worth of sensitive files including FBI, “fusion center” and police department data from across the US dubbed “Blue Leaks” has been stolen and leaked online on June 19 by a collective called DDoSecrets.

Fusion centres are hubs for threat and intelligence sharing. The concept was created after September 11, in a bid by the Department of Homeland Security to improve cooperation between state, local, and territorial law enforcement

The National Fusion Centre Association (NFCA) says that the data was taken after a security breach at web development firm Netsential in Houston, Texas. It includes 490 documents pertaining to the UK. Computer Business Review was not immediately able to open these to assess the contents.

DDoSecrets stated that the Blue Leaks archive spans “ten years of data from over 200 police departments, fusion centres and other law enforcement training and support resources […] among the hundreds of thousands of documents are police and FBI reports, bulletins, guides and more”.

Read more here: https://www.cbronline.com/news/blue-leaks-data-dump

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.

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Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 19 June 2020: Widespread Office 365 phishing attacks, new cyber storm as businesses reopen, cyber spies use LinkedIn, largest ever DDoS attack, Ripple20 IoT vulns

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 19 June 2020: Widespread Office 365 phishing attacks, new cyber storm as businesses reopen, cyber spies use LinkedIn, largest ever DDoS attack, Ripple20 IoT vulns

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.

If you’re pressed for time watch the 60 second quick fire video summary of the top Cyber and InfoSec stories from the last week:

Office 365 Phishing Campaign Exploits Samsung, Adobe and Oxford Servers

Over the last few years, the adoption of Office 365 in the corporate sector has significantly increased. Its popularity has attracted the attention of cyber criminals who launch phishing campaigns specifically to attack the platform. As 90% of cyber-attacks start with a phishing campaign, Office 365 is an attractive target for threat actors who work to evade the continuously introduced security solutions.

Recently, a seemingly unsophisticated Office 365 phishing campaign caught our attention. The attackers abused an Adobe Campaign redirection mechanism, using a Samsung domain to redirect victims to an O365 themed phishing website. The hackers took advantage of the fact that access to a reputable domain, such as Samsung’s, would not be blocked by security software.

To expand their campaign, the attackers also compromised several websites to inject a script that imitates the same mechanism offered by the Adobe redirection service. Further investigation revealed that the actors behind the campaign implemented a few other interesting tricks to hide the phishing kit and avoid detection at each stage of the attack.

Read more here: https://research.checkpoint.com/2020/phishing-campaign-exploits-samsung-adobe-and-oxford-servers/

Guernsey Police warn businesses in Guernsey using Office 365 also targeted by scammers

Guernsey Police are warning local businesses about an online scam targeting users of Office 365.

Officers have been in contact with several businesses using the service who have fallen victim to phishing scams which have allowed hackers access to their email inbox.

The hackers then distribute malicious links to their contacts.

Police say using multi-factor authentication can help keep personal data safe.

Anyone who receives an unexpected email from someone they trust containing a link should contact them directly to make sure they sent it.

Read more: https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2020-06-18/guernsey-businesses-using-office-365-targeted-by-scammers/

As Businesses Reopen, A New Storm Of Cybercrime Activity Looms

There is nothing ordinary about the amount of disruption that will impact our lives moving forward as countries and states reopen following the coronavirus pandemic. In the context of the cloud, disruptions caused by COVID-19 have opened the door to another type of virus: cybersecurity threats. Today we are witnessing a rapid rise of opportunistic cybercriminal activity taking advantage of the chaos created by COVID-19.

Focal concerns about economic recovery and a potential second wave of human infection are abounding. Still, the concern for many companies should also include heightened cybersecurity threats that can easily break companies before they have a chance to relaunch. For the many companies that are already fighting to remain afloat due to challenges faced during COVID-19, a cybersecurity breach could quickly mean the end. As businesses navigate this “new normal,” they must address weaknesses in their IT strategies exposed by COVID-19 and consider implementing a better preparedness plan to avoid long-term damage.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilsayegh/2020/06/18/as-businesses-reopen-a-new-storm-of-cybercrime-activity-looms/#44f38a9a1a4b

Microsoft: COVID-19 malware attacks were barely a blip in total malware volume

Microsoft says that despite all the media headlines over the past few months, malware attacks that abused the coronavirus (COVID-19) theme have barely been a blip in the total volume of threats the company sees each month.

These COVID-19 attacks included emails carrying malicious file attachments (also referred to as malspam) and emails containing malicious links that redirect users to phishing sites or malware downloads.

According to Microsoft's Threat Protection Intelligence Team, the first attacks abusing a COVID-19 lure started after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on January 30.

As the world yearned to learn more about this new disease, attacks intensified, and they peaked in March when most of the world's countries enforced stay-at-home measures.

"The week following [the WHO] declaration saw these attacks increase eleven-fold," Microsoft said. "By the end of March, every country in the world had seen at least one COVID-19 themed attack."

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-covid-19-malware-attacks-were-barely-a-blip-in-total-malware-volume/

Cyber spies use LinkedIn to hack European defence firms

LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers posed as recruiters working for U.S. defence giants Collins Aerospace and General Dynamics (GD.N) on LinkedIn to break into the networks of military contractors in Europe, cyber security researchers said on Wednesday.

The cyber spies were able to compromise the systems of at least two defence and aerospace firms in Central Europe last year by approaching employees with pseudo job offers from the U.S. firms.

The attackers then used LinkedIn’s private messaging feature to send documents containing malicious code which the employees were tricked into opening.

The researcher declined to name the victims, citing client confidentiality, and said it was unclear if any information was stolen. General Dynamics and Collins Aerospace, which is owned by Raytheon Technologies RTX.N, declined immediate comment.

The researchers were unable to determine the identity of the hackers but said the attacks had some links to a North Korean group known as Lazarus, which has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of orchestrating a string of high-profile cyber heists on victims including Sony Pictures and the Central Bank of Bangladesh.

Read more here: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-linkedin-hacks/cyber-spies-use-linkedin-to-hack-european-defence-firms-idUKKBN23O2L7

Australian PM says nation under serious state-run 'cyber attack' – Microsoft, Citrix, Telerik UI bugs 'exploited'

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called a snap press conference to reveal that the nation is under cyber-attack by a state-based actor, but the nation’s infosec advice agency says that while the attacker has gained access to some systems it has not conducted “any disruptive or destructive activities within victim environments.”

Morrison said the attack has targeted government, key infrastructure and the private sector, and was sufficiently serious that he took the courteous-in-a-crisis, but not-compulsory step, of informing the leader of the opposition about the incident. He also said that the primary purpose of the snap press conference was to inform and educate Australians about the incident.

But Morrison declined to state whether Australian defence agencies have identified the source of the attack and said evidence gathered to date does not meet the government’s threshold of certainty to name the attacker.

Read more here: https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/19/australia_state_cyberattack/

Google removes 106 Chrome extensions for collecting sensitive user data

Google has removed 106 malicious Chrome extensions that have been caught collecting sensitive user data.

The 106 extensions are part of a batch of 111 Chrome extensions that have been identified as malicious in a report published this week.

These extensions posed as tools to improve web searches, convert files between different formats, as security scanners, and more.

But in reality the extensions contained code to bypass Google's Chrome Web Store security scans, take screenshots, read the clipboard, harvest authentication cookies, or grab user keystrokes (such as passwords).

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-removes-106-chrome-extensions-for-collecting-sensitive-user-data/

AWS stops largest DDoS attack ever

Amazon has revealed that its AWS Shield service was able to mitigate the largest DDoS attack ever recorded at 2.3 Tbps back in February of this year.

The company's new AWS Shield Threat Landscape report provided details on this attack and others mitigated by its AWS Shield protection service.

While the report did not identify the AWS customer targeted in the DDoS attack, it did say that the attack itself was carried out using hijacked CLDAP (Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) web servers and lasted for three days.

https://www.techradar.com/news/aws-stops-largest-ddos-attack-ever

Ripple20 Vulnerabilities Affect Hundreds of Millions of IoT Devices

Zero-day vulnerabilities have been discovered that could impact millions of IoT devices found in data centres, power grids, and elsewhere.

The flaws, dubbed Ripple20, includes multiple remote code execution vulnerabilities and affects "hundreds of millions of devices (or more)."

Researchers named the vulnerabilities Ripple20 to reflect the widespread impact they have had as a natural consequence of the supply chain "ripple-effect" that has seen the widespread dissemination of the software library and its internal flaws.

"A single vulnerable component, though it may be relatively small in and of itself, can ripple outward to impact a wide range of industries, applications, companies, and people," wrote researchers.

Ripple20 reached critical IoT devices involving a diverse group of vendors from a wide range of industries. Affected vendors range from one-person boutique shops to Fortune 500 multinational corporations, including HP, Schneider Electric, Intel, Rockwell Automation, Caterpillar, and Baxter.

Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ripple20-vulnerabilities-discovered/

Unpatched vulnerability identified in 79 Netgear router models

A whopping 79 Netgear router models are vulnerable to a severe security flaw that can let hackers take over devices remotely.

The vulnerability has been discovered by two security researchers independently, namely Adam Nichols from cyber-security GRIMM and a security researcher going by the nickname of d4rkn3ss, working for Vietnamese internet service provider VNPT.

According to Nichols, the vulnerability impacts 758 different firmware versions that have been used on 79 Netgear routers across the years, with some firmware versions being first deployed on devices released as far back as 2007.

This lack of proper security protections opens the door for an attacker to craft malicious HTTP requests that can be used to take over the router.

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/unpatched-vulnerability-identified-in-79-netgear-router-models/

New Mac malware uses 'novel' tactic to bypass macOS Catalina security

Security researchers have discovered a new Mac malware in the wild that tricks users into bypassing modern macOS app security protections.

In macOS Catalina, Apple introduced new app notarization requirements. The features, baked in Gatekeeper, discourage users from opening unverified apps — requiring malware authors to get more creative with their tactics.

As an example, researchers have discovered a new Trojan horse malware actively spreading in the wild via poisoned Google search results that tricks users into bypassing those protections themselves.

The malware is delivered as a .dmg disk image masquerading as an Adobe Flash installer. But once it's mounted on a user's machine, it displays instructions guiding users through the malicious installation process.

Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/06/18/new-mac-malware-uses-novel-tactic-to-bypass-macos-catalina-security

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