Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 March 2022

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

• Morgan Stanley Client Accounts Breached in Social Engineering Attacks

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management says some of its customers had their accounts compromised in social engineering attacks.

The account breaches were the result of vishing (aka voice phishing), a social engineering attack where scammers impersonate a trusted entity (in this case Morgan Stanley) during a voice call to convince their targets into revealing sensitive information such as banking or login credentials.

The company said in a notice sent to affected clients that, "on or around February 11, 2022," a threat actor impersonating Morgan Stanley gained access to their accounts after tricking them into providing their Morgan Stanley Online account info.

After successfully breaching their accounts, the attacker also electronically transferred money to their own bank account by initiating payments using the Zelle payment service.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/morgan-stanley-client-accounts-breached-in-social-engineering-attacks/

• Ransomware Is Scary, But Another Scam Is Costing Victims Much, Much More

Business email compromise (BEC) remains the biggest source of financial losses, which totalled $2.4 billion in 2021, up from an estimated $1.8 billion in 2020, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Center (IC3).

The FBI says in its 2021 annual report that Americans last year lost $6.9 billion to scammers and cyber criminals through ransomware, BEC, and cryptocurrency theft related to financial and romance scams. In 2020, that figure stood at $4.2 billion.

Last year, FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 847,376 complaints about cybercrime losses, up 7% from 791,790 complaints in 2020.

BEC has been the largest source of fraud for several years despite ransomware attacks grabbing most headlines.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-is-scary-but-another-scam-is-costing-victims-much-much-more-says-fbi/#ftag=RSSbaffb68

• Phishing Kits Constantly Evolve to Evade Security Software

Modern phishing kits sold on cybercrime forums as off-the-shelf packages feature multiple, sophisticated detection avoidance and traffic filtering systems to ensure that internet security solutions won’t mark them as a threat.

Fake websites that mimic well-known brands are abundant on the internet to lure victims and steal their payment details or account credentials.

Most of these websites are built using phishing kits that feature brand logos, realistic login pages, and in cases of advanced offerings, dynamic webpages assembled from a set of basic elements.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/phishing-kits-constantly-evolve-to-evade-security-software/

• Ransomware Payment Demands Rose Dramatically in 2021

Ransomware attackers demanded dramatically higher ransom fees last year, and the average ransom payment rose by 78% to $541,010, according to data from incident response (IR) cases investigated by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42.

IR cases by Unit 42 also saw a whopping 144% increase in ransom demands, to $2.2 million. According to the report, the most victimised sectors were professional and legal services, construction, wholesale and retail, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Cyber extortion spiked, with 85% of ransomware victims — some 2, 556 organisations — having their data dumped and exposed on leak sites, according to the "2022 Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report."

Conti led the ransomware attack volume, representing some one in five cases Unit 42 investigated, followed by REvil, Hello Kitty, and Phobos.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/ransomware-payments-demands-rose-dramatically-in-2021

• 7 Suspected Members of LAPSUS$ Hacker Gang, aged 16 to 21, Arrested in UK

The City of London Police has arrested seven teenagers between the ages of 16 and 21 for their alleged connections to the prolific LAPSUS$ extortion gang that's linked to a recent burst of attacks targeting NVIDIA, Samsung, Ubisoft, LG, Microsoft, and Okta.

"The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation with its partners into members of a hacking group," Detective Inspector, Michael O'Sullivan, said in a statement shared with The Hacker News. "Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with this investigation and have all been released under investigation. Our enquiries remain ongoing."

The development, which was first disclosed by BBC News, comes after a report from Bloomberg revealed that a 16-year-old Oxford-based teenager is the mastermind of the group. It's not immediately clear if the minor is one among the arrested individuals. The said teen, under the online alias White or Breachbase, is alleged to have accumulated about $14 million in Bitcoin from hacking.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/03/7-suspected-members-of-lapsus-hacker.html

• Here's How Fast Ransomware Encrypts Files

Forty-two minutes and 54 seconds: that's how quickly the median ransomware variant can encrypt and lock out a victim from 100,000 of their files.

The data point came from Splunk's SURGe team, which analysed in its lab how quickly the 10 biggest ransomware strains — Lockbit, REvil, Blackmatter, Conti, Ryuk, Avaddon, Babuk, Darkside, Maize, and Mespinoza — could encrypt 100,000 files consisting of some 53.93 gigabytes of data. Lockbit won the race, with speeds of 86% faster than the median. One Lockbit sample was clocked at encrypting 25,000 files per minute.

Splunk's team found that ransomware variants are all over the map speed-wise, and the underlying hardware can dictate their encryption speeds.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/here-s-how-fast-ransomware-encrypts-files

• HEAT Attacks: A New Class of Cyber Threats Organisations Are Not Prepared For

Web malware (47%) and ransomware (42%) now top the list of security threats that organisations are most concerned about. Yet despite the growing risks, just 27% have advanced threat protection in place on every endpoint device that can access corporate applications and resources.

This is according to research published by Menlo Security, exploring what steps organisations are taking to secure themselves in the wake of a new class of cyber threats – known as Highly Evasive Adaptive Threats (HEAT).

As employees spend more time working in the browser and accessing cloud-based applications, the risk of HEAT attacks increases. Almost two-thirds of organisations have had a device compromised by a browser-based attack in the last 12 months. The report suggests that organisations are not being proactive enough in mitigating the risk of these threats, with 45% failing to add strength to their network security stack over the past year. There are also conflicting views on the most effective place to deploy security to prevent advanced threats, with 43% citing the network, and 37% the cloud.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/22/web-security-threats/

• The Cyber Warfare Predicted in Ukraine May Be Yet to Come

In the build-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the national security community braced for a campaign combining military combat, disinformation, electronic warfare and cyber attacks. Vladimir Putin would deploy devastating cyber operations, the thinking went, to disable government and critical infrastructure, blind Ukrainian surveillance capabilities and limit lines of communications to help invading forces. But that’s not how it has played out. At least, not yet.

The danger is that as political and economic conditions deteriorate, the red lines and escalation judgments that kept Moscow’s most potent cyber capabilities in check may adjust. Western sanctions and lethal aid support to Ukraine may prompt Russian hackers to lash out against the west. Russian ransomware actors may also take advantage of the situation, possibly resorting to cyber crime as one of the few means of revenue generation.

https://www.ft.com/content/2938a3cd-1825-4013-8219-4ee6342e20ca

• The Three Russian Cyber Attacks the West Most Fears

The UK's cyber authorities are supporting the White House's calls for "increased cyber-security precautions", though neither has given any evidence that Russia is planning a cyber-attack.

Russia has previously stated that such accusations are "Russophobic".

However, Russia is a cyber-superpower with a serious arsenal of cyber-tools, and hackers capable of disruptive and potentially destructive cyber-attacks.

Ukraine has remained relatively untroubled by Russian cyber-offensives but experts now fear that Russia may go on a cyber-offensive against Ukraine's allies.

"Biden's warnings seem plausible, particularly as the West introduced more sanctions, hacktivists continue to join the fray, and the kinetic aspects of the invasion seemingly don't go to plan," says Jen Ellis, from cyber-security firm Rapid7.

This article from the BCC outlines the hacks that experts most fear, and they are repeats of things we have already seen coming out of Russia, only potentially a lot more destructive this time around.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60841924

• Do These 8 Things Now to Boost Your Security Ahead of Potential Russian Cyber Attacks

The message comes as the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ramp up warnings about Russian hacking of everything from online accounts to satellite broadband networks. CISA's current campaign is called Shields Up, which urges all organisations to patch immediately and secure network boundaries. This messaging is being echoed by UK and other Western Cyber authorities:

The use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is being very strongly advocated. The White House and other agencies both sides of the Atlantic also urged companies to take seven other steps:

• Deploy modern security tools on your computers and devices to continuously look for and mitigate threats

• Make sure that your systems are patched and protected against all known vulnerabilities, and change passwords across your networks so that previously stolen credentials are useless to malicious actors

• Back up your data and ensure you have offline backups beyond the reach of malicious actors

• Run exercises and drill your emergency plans so that you are prepared to respond quickly to minimize the impact of any attack

• Encrypt your data so it cannot be used if it is stolen

• Educate your employees to common tactics that attackers will use over email or through websites

• Work with specialists to establish relationships in advance of any cyber incidents.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/white-house-warns-do-these-8-things-now-to-boost-your-security-ahead-of-potential-russian-cyberattacks/

• Cyber Crime Victims Suffered Losses of Over $6.9B in 2021 in the US Alone

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported a record-breaking year for 2021 in the number of complaints it received, among which business email compromise (BEC) attacks made up the majority of incidents.

IC3 handled 847,376 complaint reports last year — an increase of 7% over 2020 — which mainly revolved around phishing attacks, nonpayment/nondelivery scams, and personal data breaches. Overall, losses amounted to more than $6.9 billion.

BEC and email account compromises ranked as the No. 1 attack, accounting for 19,954 complaints and losses of around $2.4 billion.

"In 2021, heightened attention was brought to the urgent need for more cyber incident reporting to the federal government. Cyber incidents are in fact crimes deserving of an investigation, leading to judicial repercussions for the perpetrators who commit them," Paul Abbate, deputy director of the FBI wrote in the IC3's newly published annual report.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/fbi-cybercrime-victims-suffered-losses-of-over-6-9b-in-2021

• Expanding Threat Landscape: Cyber Criminals Attacking from All Sides

Research from Trend Micro warns of spiralling risk to digital infrastructure and remote workers as threat actors increase their rate of attack on organisations and individuals.

“Attackers are always working to increase their victim count and profit, whether through quantity or effectiveness of attacks,” said Jon Clay, VP of threat intelligence at Trend Micro.

“Our latest research shows that while Trend Micro threat detections rose 42% year-on-year in 2021 to over 94 billion, they shrank in some areas as attacks became more precisely targeted.”

Ransomware attackers are shifting their focus to critical businesses and industries more likely to pay, and double extortion tactics ensure that they are able to profit. Ransomware-as-a-service offerings have opened the market to attackers with limited technical knowledge – but also given rise to more specialisation, such as initial access brokers who are now an essential part of the cybercrime supply chain.

Threat actors are also getting better at exploiting human error to compromise cloud infrastructure and remote workers. Trend Micro detected and prevented 25.7 million email threats in 2021 compared to 16.7 million in 2020, with the volume of blocked phishing attempts nearly doubling over the period. Research shows home workers are often prone to take more risks than those in the office, which makes phishing a particular risk.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/22/threat-actors-increase-attack/

---

Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Infections Follow Precursor Malware – Lumu • The Register

• Ransomware, Malware-as-a-Service Dominate Threat Landscape | SecurityWeek.Com

• Serious Security: DEADBOLT – The Ransomware That Goes Straight For Your Backups – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• AvosLocker Ransomware - What You Need To Know | The State of Security (tripwire.com)

• What the Conti Ransomware Group Data Leak Tells Us (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware Demands And Payments Increase With Use Of Leak Sites (computerweekly.com)

• Ten Notorious Ransomware Strains Put to The Encryption Speed Test (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Lockbit Wins Ransomware Speed Test, Encrypts 25k Files/Min • The Register

• Talos warns of BlackMatter-linked BlackCat Ransomware • The Register

• Report: 89% of Organizations Say Kubernetes Ransomware Is A Problem Today | VentureBeat

• Top Russian Meat Producer Hit with Windows BitLocker Encryption Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Greece's Public Postal Service Offline Due To Ransomware Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers Demand $15 Million Ransom from TransUnion After Cracking "password" Password (bitdefender.com)

• Lawsuit Claims Kronos Breach Exposed Data For 'Millions' (techtarget.com)

• Estonian Man Sentenced To Prison For Role In Cyber Intrusions, Ransomware Attacks - CyberScoop

Phishing & Email

• New Phishing Toolkit Lets Anyone Create Fake Chrome Browser Windows (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Browser-in-the-Browser Attack Makes Phishing Nearly Invisible | Threatpost

• 'Unique Attack Chain' Drops Backdoor in New Phishing Campaign (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering

• Social Engineering Attacks To Dominate Web3, The Metaverse | ZDNet

Malware

• Malicious Microsoft Excel Add-Ins Used to Deliver RAT Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• BitRAT Malware Now Spreading As A Windows 10 License Activator (bleepingcomputer.com)

Mobile

• URL Rendering Trick Enabled WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage Phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Downloaders Currently the Most Prevalent Android Malware (darkreading.com)

• Experts Uncover Campaign Stealing Cryptocurrency from Android and iPhone Users (thehackernews.com)

• Android Password-Stealing Malware Infects 100,000 Google Play Users (bleepingcomputer.com)

IoT

• Botnet of Thousands of MikroTik Routers Abused in Glupteba, TrickBot Campaigns (thehackernews.com)

• Honda Civics Vulnerable To Remote Unlock, Start Hack • The Register

• How to Secure Your Home WiFi Router - The Washington Post

Data Breaches/Leaks

• UK MoD's Capita-Run Recruitment Portal Support Offline • The Register

• Background Check Company Sued Over Data Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Over 40,000 London Voters Have Data Leaked to Strangers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Who is LAPSUS$, the Gang Hacking Microsoft, Samsung, and Okta? (gizmodo.com)

• Hackers Are Targeting European Refugee Charities -Ukrainian Official | Reuters

• Hackers Steal From Hackers By Pushing Fake Malware On Forums (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Oxford Teen Accused Of Making More Than £10m As A Leader Of International Cyber Gang (telegraph.co.uk)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

• An Investigation of Cryptocurrency Scams and Schemes (trendmicro.com)

• Global Regulators Monitor Crypto Use in Ukraine War | Reuters

• Cryptocurrency Companies Impacted by HubSpot Breach (techtarget.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• 6 Types Of Insider Threats And How To Prevent Them (techtarget.com)

• HP Staffer Blew $5m On Personal Expenses With Company Card • The Register

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Internet Crime in 2021: Investment Fraud Losses Soar - Help Net Security

• NFT Fraud in the UK Soars 400% in 2021 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• DeFiance Capital Founder Loses $1.7M in NFTs To Phishing Scam - Decrypt

Insurance

• How The Increase in Ransomware Has Impacted The Cyber Insurance Market - Help Net Security

• Cyber Insurance and War Exclusions (darkreading.com)

Dark Web

• Dark Web Drug Peddler Gets Nine Years - Infosecurity Magazine

Supply Chain

• 'Secrets Sprawl' Haunts Software Supply Chain Security | SecurityWeek.Com

Cloud

• As Breaches Soar, Companies Must Turn to Cloud-Native Security Solutions For Protection - Help Net Security

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

• The Top 5 Things the 2022 Weak Password Report Means for IT Security (bleepingcomputer.com)

Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare

• Russia Preparing To Conduct Cyber Attacks, White House warns - IT Security Guru

• New Mustang Panda Hacking Campaign Targets Diplomats, ISPs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Vidar Spyware Is Now Hidden in Microsoft Help Files | ZDNet

• FCC Adds Kaspersky To Covered List Due To Unacceptable Risks To Security - Security Affairs

---

Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Internet Sanctions Against Russia Pose Risks, Challenges For Businesses | CSO Online

• Is It Safe To Use Russian-Based Kaspersky Antivirus? No, And Here's Why (komando.com)

• Anonymous Leaked 28gb of Data Stolen from The Central Bank of Russia - Security Affairs

• President Biden Says Russia Exploring Revenge Cyber Attacks • The Register

• Analysis: Putin's next escalation could be a direct cyberattack on the West - CNNPolitics

• Russia-backed Hackers Bypassed MFA, Exploited Print Vulnerability - MSSP Alert

• Hackers Around The World Deluge Russia's Internet With Simple, Effective Cyber Attacks (nbcnews.com)

• Anonymous Targets Western Companies Still Active in Russia - Security Affairs

• Ukrainian Enterprises Hit with the DoubleZero Wiper - Security Affairs

• NATO, G-7 Leaders Promise Bulwark Against Retaliatory Russian Cyber Attacks (cyberscoop.com)

• Russia Hacked Ukrainian Satellite Communications, Officials Believe - BBC News

• Russia-linked InvisiMole APT Targets State Organizations Of Ukraine - Security Affairs

• Corrupted Open-Source Software Enters the Russian Battlefield | ZDNet

• Nestlé Says 'Anonymous' Data Leak Actually A Self-Own • The Register

Nation State Actors – China

• Another Chinese Hacking Group Spotted Targeting Ukraine Amid Russia Invasion (thehackernews.com)

• Chinese APT Combines Fresh Hodur RAT with Complex Anti-Detection | Threatpost

• Mustang Panda Hacking Group Takes Advantage Of Ukraine Crisis In New Attacks | ZDNet

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• Dual North Korean Hacking Efforts Found Attacking Google Chrome Vulnerability for 6 Weeks - CyberScoop

---

Vulnerabilities

• CISA Adds 66 Vulnerabilities To List Of Bugs Exploited In Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Issues Urgent Chrome Update to Patch Actively Exploited Zero-Day Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• Three Critical RCE Flaws Affect Hundreds of HP Printer Models - Security Affairs

• Critical Sophos Firewall vulnerability allows remote code execution (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Vulnerabilities Found in 250 HP Printer Models | CSO Online

• VMware Fixes Carbon Black Command Injection, Upload Bugs • The Register

• Western Digital Fixes Critical Bug Giving Root On My Cloud NAS Devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

---

Sector Specific

Health/Medical/Pharma Sector

• Scottish Mental Health Charity SAMH Targeted In Cyber Attack - BBC News

• 12,000 Sensitive Patient Images Leaked - IT Security Guru

• Over 1 Million Impacted in Data Breach at Texas Dental Services Provider | SecurityWeek.Com

Retail/eCommerce

• For Magecart groups and other credit-card skimmers, old and new opportunities abound - CyberScoop

Transport and Aviation

• SATCOM Networks on High Alert After US Govt Warning • The Register

Energy & Utilities

• US Charges Four Russians Over Hacking Campaign on Energy Sector - BBC News

Education and Academia

• Heriot-Watt University in Second Week of Outage • The Register

---

Reports Published in the Last Week

• The 2022 State of Cyber Assets Report (jupiterone.com)

• 2022 Weak Password Report - Specops Software

---

Other News

• A Better Grasp of Cyber Attack Tactics Can Stop Criminals Faster (bleepingcomputer.com)

• The Chaos (and Cost) of the Lapsus$ Hacking Carnage | SecurityWeek.Com

• Soldiers told to use Signal instead of WhatsApp for security | The Times

• Cyber Security Compliance: Start With Proven Best Practices - Help Net Security

• Only 27% of Orgs Have Advanced Threat Protection on Endpoints | VentureBeat

• Okta Breach Leads To Questions On Disclosure, Reliance On Third-Party Vendors - CyberScoop

• The Challenges Audit Leaders Need To Look Out For This Year - Help Net Security

• South Korean DarkHotel Hackers Targeted Luxury Hotels in Macau (thehackernews.com)

• ISACA: Two-Thirds of Cybersecurity Teams Are Understaffed - Infosecurity Magazine

• Security Teams are Responsible for Over 165k Assets - Infosecurity Magazine

---

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 March 2022

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Guernsey Cyber Security Warning for Islanders and Businesses

There has been a rise in cyber-attacks since the war in Ukraine began, according to the States of Guernsey and a cyber-security firm.

The States said: "We have seen a noticeable increase in the number of phishing emails since the war began."

The Channel Islands see more than 10 million cyber attacks every month, according to research by Guernsey firm Black Arrow Cyber Consulting.

It encouraged vigilance, as the islands are not immune to these attacks.

A States spokesman said: "The whole community needs to remain vigilant against such emails, which are designed to appear to be from reputable sources in order to dupe people into providing personal information or access to their device via the clicking of a link."

Bruce McDougall, from Black Arrow Cyber Consulting, said: "Criminals don't let a good opportunity go to waste. So they're conducting scams encouraging people to make false payments in the belief they're collecting for charities."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-60763398

CISOs Face 'Perfect Storm' Of Ransomware and State-Supported Cyber Crime

As some nations turn a blind eye, defence becomes life-or-death matter

With ransomware gangs raiding network after network, and nation states consciously turning a blind eye to it, today's chief information security officers are caught in a "perfect storm," says Cybereason CSO Sam Curry.

"There's this marriage right now of financially motivated cyber crime that can have a critical infrastructure and economic impact," Curry said during a CISO roundtable hosted by his endpoint security shop. "And there are some nation states that do what we call state-ignored sanctioning," he continued, using Russia-based REvil and Conti ransomware groups as examples of criminal operations that benefit from their home governments looking the other way. 

"You get the umbrella of sovereignty, and you get the free license to be a privateer in essence," Curry said. "It's not just an economic threat. It's not just a geopolitical threat. It's a perfect storm."

It's probably not a huge surprise to anyone that destructive cyber attacks keep CISOs awake at night. But as chief information security officers across industries — in addition to Curry, the four others on the roundtable spanned retail, biopharmaceuticals, electronics manufacturing, and a cruise line — have watched threats evolve and criminal gangs mature, it becomes a battle to see who can innovate faster; the attackers or the defenders.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/18/ciso_security_storm/

Four Key Risks Exacerbated by Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has altered the emerging risk landscape, and it requires enterprise risk management (ERM) leaders to reassess previously established organisational risk profiles in at least four key areas, according to Gartner.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the velocity of many risks we have tracked on a quarterly basis in our Emerging Risks survey,” said Matt Shinkman, VP with the Gartner Risk and Audit Practice.

“As ERM leaders reassess their organisational risk models, they must also ensure a high frequency of communication with the C-Suite as to the critical changes that require attention now.”

There are four major areas of risk that ERM leaders should continually monitor and examine their mitigation strategies as part of a broader aligned assurance approach as the war continues: Talent Risk, Cyber Security Risk, Financial Risk and Supply Chain Risk

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/17/erm-leaders-risk/

These Four Types of Ransomware Make Up Nearly Three-Quarters of Reported Incidents

Any ransomware is a cyber security issue, but some strains are having more of an impact than others.

Ransomware causes problems no matter what brand it is, but some forms are noticeably more prolific than others, with four strains of the malware accounting for a combined total of almost 70% of all attacks.

According to analysis by cyber security company Intel 471, the most prevalent ransomware threat towards the end of 2021 was LockBit 2.0, which accounted for 29.7% of all reported incidents. Recent victims of LockBit have included Accenture and the French Ministry of Justice. 

Almost one in five reported incidents involved Conti ransomware, famous for several incidents over the past year, including an attack against the Irish Healthcare Executive. The group recently had chat logs leaked, providing insights into how a ransomware gang works. PYSA and Hive account for one in 10 reported ransomware attacks each.

"The most prevalent ransomware strain in the fourth quarter of 2021 was LockBit 2.0, which was responsible for 29.7% of all reported incidents, followed by Conti at 19%, PYSA at 10.5% and Hive at 10.1%," said the researchers.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/these-four-types-of-ransomware-make-up-nearly-three-quarters-of-reported-incidents/

Critical Infrastructure Threat as Ransomware Groups Target 'Enemies of Russia'

The cyber crime underground has fractured into pro-Ukraine and pro-Russia camps, with the latter increasingly focused on critical national infrastructure (CNI) targets in the West, according to a new report from Accenture.

The consulting giant’s Accenture Cyber Threat Intelligence (ACTI) arm warned that the ideological schism could spell mounting risk for Western organisations as pro-Kremlin criminal groups adopt quasi-hacktivist tactics to choose their next victims.

Organisations in the government, media, finance, insurance, utilities and resources sectors should be braced for more attacks, said ACTI.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/critical-infrastructure-threat/

Cyber Insurance War Exclusions Loom Amid Ukraine Crisis

An expanding threat landscape is testing the limits of cyber insurance coverage.

The industry experienced a rapid maturation over the past three years as enterprises required a broader umbrella of insurance coverage to combat increasing cyber risks. While demands and premiums continue to rise, one recent area of contention involves war and hostile acts, an exclusion that's becoming harder to categorize.

A judgment in December, coupled with the Russian invasion last month that posed potential cyber retaliations to Ukraine allies, highlighted shortcomings in insurance policies when it comes to cyber conflicts.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/252514592/Cyber-insurance-war-exclusions-loom-amid-Ukraine-crisis

Zelenskyy Deepfake Crude, But Still Might Be a Harbinger of Dangers Ahead

Several deepfake video experts called a doctored video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that went viral this week before social media platforms removed it a poorly executed example of the form, but nonetheless damaging.

Elements of the Zelenskyy deepfake — which purported to show him calling for surrender — made it easy to debunk, they said. But that won’t always be the case.

https://www.cyberscoop.com/zelenskyy-deepfake-troubles-experts/

Cyber Crooks’ Political In-Fighting Threatens the West

They’re choosing sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, beckoning previously shunned ransomware groups and thereby reinvigorating those groups’ once-diminished power.

A rift has formed in the cyber crime underground: one that could strengthen, rather than cripple, the cyber-onslaught of ransomware.

According to a report, ever since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, “previously coexisting, financially motivated threat actors divided along ideological factions.”

“Pro-Ukrainian actors are refusing to sell, buy, or collaborate with Russian-aligned actors, and are increasingly attempting to target Russian entities in support of Ukraine,” wrote researchers from Accenture’s Cyber Threat Intelligence (ACTI). “However, pro-Russian actors are increasingly aligning with hacktivist-like activity targeting ‘enemies of Russia,’ especially Western entities due to their claims of Western warmongering.”

What might otherwise seem like a good thing – bad guys fighting bad guys – may in fact pose an increased threat to the West.

https://threatpost.com/cybercrooks-political-in-fighting-threatens-the-west/178899/

Cloud-Based Email Threats Surge 50% in 2021

There was a 50% year-on-year surge in cloud-based email threats in 2021, but a drop in ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) detections as attacks became more targeted, according to Trend Micro.

The security vendor’s 2021 roundup report, Navigating New Frontiers, was compiled from data collected by customer-installed products and cloud-based threat intelligence.

It revealed that Trend Micro blocked 25.7 million email threats targeting Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 users last year, versus 16.7 million in 2020.

The number of phishing attempts almost doubled during the period, as threat actors continued to target home workers. Of these, 38% were focused on stealing credentials, the report claimed.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cloudbased-email-threats-surge-2021/

Millions of New Mobile Malware Strains Blitzed Enterprise in 2021

Researchers uncovered more than two million new mobile malware samples in the wild last year, Zimperium said in a new report.

Those threats spanned some 10 million mobile devices in at least 214 countries, the Dallas, Texas-based solution provider said in its newly released 2022 Global Mobile Threat Report. Indeed, mobile malware proved in 2021 to be the most prevalent security threat to enterprises, encountered by nearly 25 percent mobile endpoints among Zimperium’s customers worldwide. The 2.3 million new mobile strains Zimperium’s researchers located amount to nearly 36,000 new strains of malware weekly and roughly 5,000 each day.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-services-and-products/mobile/millions-of-new-mobile-malware-strains-blitzed-enterprises-in-2021/

UK Criminal Defence Lawyer Hadn't Patched When Ransomware Hit

Criminal defence law firm Tuckers Solicitors is facing a fine from the UK's data watchdog for failing to properly secure data that included information on case proceedings which was scooped up in a ransomware attack in 2020.

The London-based business was handed a £98,000 penalty notice by the Information Commissioner's Office under Article 83 of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation 2018.

The breach was first noted by Tuckers on August 23 2020 when part of its IT system became unavailable. On closer inspection, resident techies found a note from the attackers confirming they had compromised part of the infrastructure. The Microsoft Exchange server was out of action and two days' worth of emails were lost, as detailed by the company blog at the time.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/15/brit_solicitor_fined_for_failing/

Russian Ransomware Gang Retool Custom Hacking Tools of Other APT Groups

A Russian-speaking ransomware outfit likely targeted an unnamed entity in the gambling and gaming sector in Europe and Central America by repurposing custom tools developed by other APT groups like Iran's MuddyWater, new research has found.

The unusual attack chain involved the abuse of stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to the victim network, ultimately leading to the deployment of Cobalt Strike payloads on compromised assets, said Felipe Duarte and Ido Naor, researchers at Israeli incident response firm Security Joes, in a report published last week.

Although the infection was contained at this stage, the researchers characterized the compromise as a case of a suspected ransomware attack.

The intrusion is said to have taken place in February 2022, with the attackers making use of post-exploitation tools such as ADFind, NetScan, SoftPerfect, and LaZagne. Also employed is an AccountRestore executable to brute-force administrator credentials and a forked version of a reverse tunneling tool called Ligolo.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/03/russian-ransomware-gang-retool-custom.html

The Massive Impact of Vulnerabilities in Critical Infrastructure

Recent cyber events have shown how extremely vulnerable critical infrastructure is. What are the biggest security concerns?

In any world conflict, one of the primary threats posed is cyber actors disabling or destroying the core infrastructure of the adversary. Based on the global reaction to the current world conflict, countries fear reprisals. The worry is that there will be collateral damage to the critical infrastructure of other countries not directly involved in the current conflict.

Today, services such as healthcare systems, power grids, transportation and other critical industries are increasingly integrating their operational technology with traditional IT systems in order to modernize their infrastructure, and this has opened up a new wave of cyber attacks. Though businesses are ramping up their security initiatives and investments to defend and protect, their efforts have largely been siloed, reactive, and lack business context. Lack of visibility of risk across the estate is a huge problem for this sector.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/15/critical-infrastructure-security/

---

Threats

Ransomware

• Nearly 34 Ransomware Variants Observed in Hundreds of Cyber Attacks in Q4 2021 (thehackernews.com)

• Franchises, Partnerships Emerge in Ransomware-as-a-Service Operations | ZDNet

• Dozens of Ransomware Variants Used In 722 Attacks Over 3 Months (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Conti Leak: A Ransomware Gang's Chats Expose Its Crypto Plans | WIRED

• 6 Reasons Not to Pay Ransomware Attackers (darkreading.com)

• Google Blows Lid Off Conti, Diavol Ransomware Access-Broker Ops | Threatpost

• SEC Filings Show Hidden Ransomware Costs And Losses | CSO Online

• Exotic Lily Sells Ransomware Groups Access To Targets • The Register

• New "Initial Access Broker" Working with Conti gang - IT Security Guru

• Google Exposes Tactics Of A Conti Ransomware Access Broker (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Avoslocker Ransomware Gang Targets US Critical Infrastructure - Security Affairs

• How Prepared Are Organisations To Face A Ransomware Attack On Kubernetes? - Help Net Security

• Experts Find Some Affiliates of BlackMatter Now Spreading BlackCat Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• The Lapsus$ Hacking Group Is Off to a Chaotic Start | WIRED

• Bridgestone Cyber Attack Timeline and Ransomware Recovery Details - MSSP Alert

• Automotive Giant Denso Confirms Hack, Pandora Ransomware Group Takes Credit | ZDNet

Phishing & Email

• Massive Phishing Campaign Uses 500+ Domains To Steal Credentials (bleepingcomputer.com)

• How CAPTCHA Puzzles Cloak Phishing Page URLs In Emails • The Register

• Microsoft the No. 1 Most-Spoofed Brand in Phishing Attacks (darkreading.com)

• 76,000 Scams Taken Down Through Email Reporting - IT Security Guru

• Phony Instagram ‘Support Staff’ Emails Hit Insurance Company | Threatpost

• NCSC Catches 10 Million Phishes (computerweekly.com)

• This Browser-In-The-Browser Attack Is Perfect For Phishing • The Register

Malware

• New "B1txor20" Linux Botnet Uses DNS Tunnel and Exploits Log4J Flaw (thehackernews.com)

• Attacker Uses Websites' Contact Forms To Spread BazarLoader Malware | TechRepublic

• Gh0stCringe RAT Targeting Database Servers in Recent Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

• Cyclops Blink Malware Sets Up Shop in ASUS Routers • The Register

• DirtyMoe Botnet Gains New Exploits in Wormable Module to Spread Rapidly (thehackernews.com)

• Linux Botnet Exploits Log4j Flaw To Hijack Arm, x86 Systems • The Register

• New Threat: B1txor20, A Linux Backdoor Using DNS Tunnel (360.com)

• Russian Cyclops Blink Botnet Launches Assault Against Asus Routers | ZDNet

• Uncovering Trickbot’s Use of IoT Devices In Command-And-Control Infrastructure - Microsoft Security Blog

• TrickBot Malware Abusing MikroTik Routers as Proxies for Command-and-Control (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• Mobile Threats Skyrocket (darkreading.com)

• 2021 Mobile Security: Android More Vulnerabilities, iOS More Zero-Days (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Mobile Devices See 466% Annual Increase in Zero-Day Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 'Escobar' Android malware steals your 2FA codes — and takes over your phone | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Thousands of Secret Keys Found in Leaked Samsung Source Code | SecurityWeek.Com

• Scammers Have 2 Clever New Ways To Install Malicious Apps on iOS Devices | Ars Technica

• Threat Intel Report: Who Is Behind Staggering 190GB Samsung Galaxy Hack? (forbes.com)

• Android Trojan Persists On The Google Play Store Since January (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Mobile App Data Found Exposing API’s & Data In 1,000’s Of Cloud Databases - Information Security Buzz

IoT

• Smart Devices Spy On You – 2 Computer Scientists Explain How The Internet Of Things Can Violate Your Privacy (theconversation.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Who's Who In The Cyber Criminal Underground | CSO Online

• Financially Motivated Threat Actors Willing To Go After Russian Targets - Help Net Security

• A Third of Malicious Logins Originate in Nigeria - Infosecurity Magazine

• Phishers Exploit Ukraine Conflict To Solicit Crypto - IT Security Guru

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• MITRE and Partners Build Insider Threat Knowledge Base | CSO Online

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• UK Shoppers Face More Identity Checks When Buying Online | Consumer affairs | The Guardian

Supply Chain

• Container Vulnerability Opens Door For Supply Chain Attacks (techtarget.com)

DoS/DDoS

• Israeli Govt Sites Hit By Huge DDoS Attack • The Register

Cloud

• How Cloud Services Become Weapons In Russia-Ukraine Cyber Conflict | ZDNet

• The Next Big Cyber Security Threat Is Connected SaaS Platforms (thenextweb.com)

Privacy

• Smart Devices Are Spying on You Everywhere, And That's a Problem (sciencealert.com)

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

• NVIDIA Staff Shouldn’t Have Chosen Passwords Like These… • Graham Cluley

• Attackers Using Default Credentials To Target Businesses, Raspberry Pi And Linux Top Targets - Help Net Security

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• CafePress Fined For Covering Up Customer Info Leak • The Register

• Meta Fined €17 Million by Irish Regulator for GDPR Violations | CSO Online

Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare

• Would 'Cyber Geneva Conventions' Defuse Online Aggression? (darkreading.com)

---

Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Conti Leaks Reveal the Ransomware Group’s Links to Russia | WIRED

• How The Cyber World Can Support Ukraine | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• Russia's Disinformation Uses Deepfake Video Of Zelenskyy Telling People To Lay Down Arms - Security Affairs

• FBI Warns of MFA Flaw Used By State Hackers For Lateral Movement (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ukraine Secret Service Arrests Hacker Helping Russian Invaders (thehackernews.com)

• Open Source Maintainer Sabotages Code to Wipe Russian, Belarusian Computers (vice.com)

• German Government Advises Against Using Kaspersky Antivirus (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russia Could Use Kaspersky Antivirus Software In Cyber Attacks In Europe, German Agency Warns | Euronews

• ‘It’s The Right Thing To Do’: The 300,000 Volunteer Hackers Coming Together To Fight Russia | Ukraine | The Guardian

• Ukraine's "IT Army" Hit With Info-Stealing Malware- IT Security Guru

• Viasat, Rosneft Hit By Cyber Attacks • The Register

• Mozilla Firefox Removes Russian Search Providers Over Misinformation Concerns (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Fake Antivirus Updates Used To Deploy Cobalt Strike in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ukrainian Hacktivists Allegedly Dumps Kaspersky Product Source Code Online (Updated) - Lowyat.NET

• New CaddyWiper Data Wiping Malware Hits Ukrainian Networks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Top Ukrainian Cyber Official Praises Volunteer Hacks On Russian Targets, Offers Updates - CyberScoop

• Anonymous Sent A Message To Russians: "Remove Putin" - Security Affairs

• Cyber Attacks Cripple Russian Websites After Ukraine Invasion (gizmodo.com)

• Russia Faces IT Crisis With Just Two Months Of Data Storage Left (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russia Labels Meta 'Extremist Organisation, Bans Instagram • The Register

Nation State Actors – China

• China-Linked Threat Actors Are Targeting The Government Of Ukraine - Security Affairs

• China Claims It Captured NSA Spy Tool That Already Leaked • The Register

Nation State Actors – Iran

• Researchers Find New Evidence Linking Kwampirs Malware to Shamoon APT Hackers (thehackernews.com)

---

Vulnerabilities

• CISA Adds 15 Vulnerabilities To List Of Flaws Exploited In Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Linux Bug in Netfilter Firewall Module Lets Attackers Gain Root Access (thehackernews.com)

• Apple Patch Day: Gaping Security Holes in iOS, macOS, iPadOS | SecurityWeek.Com

• OpenSSL Patches Denial-Of-Service Certificate Flaw • The Register

• OpenSSL Patches Infinite-Loop DoS Bug In Certificate Verification – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Nasty Linux Netfilter Firewall Security Hole Found | ZDNet

• SolarWinds Warns Of Attacks Targeting Web Help Desk Instances (bleepingcomputer.com)

• High-Severity Vulnerabilities Patched in BIND Server | SecurityWeek.Com

• QNAP Warns Severe Linux Bug Affects Most Of Its NAS Devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

---

Sector Specific

Financial Services Sector

• Top Threats For The Financial Sector - Help Net Security

• Hackers Target Bank Networks with new Rootkit to Steal Money from ATM Machines (thehackernews.com)

• Banks on Alert For Russian Reprisal Cyber Attacks on Swift | Ars Technica

• Fraudsters Use Intelligent Bots To Attack Financial Institutions (scmagazine.com)

• 70% of Financial Service Providers Are Implementing API Security - Help Net Security

• Report: Payment Fraud Attacks Against Fintech Companies Soar By 70% In 2021 - Information Security Buzz

Health/Medical/Pharma Sector

• Healthcare Cyber Security Trends: Organisations Not Quite Ready To Deal With Threats - Help Net Security

• Hospitals Warned Of 'Phone Calls And Emails From Hackers' As Russia-Ukraine War Rages - Manchester Evening News

• Nearly 300k Heart Patients’ Data Exposed - Infosecurity Magazine

Transport and Aviation

• Aircraft Disrupted by Satellite Jamming Following Russian Invasion - Infosecurity Magazine

• EU & US Agencies Warn That Russia Could Attack Satellite Communications - Security Affairs

---

Reports Published in the Last Week

• 2022 Global Mobile Threat Report: Key Insights on the State of Mobile Security - Zimperium Mobile Security Blog

---

Other News

• Does the Free World Need a Global Cyber Alliance? | SecurityWeek.Com

• Why EDR Is Not Sufficient To Protect Your Organisation - Help Net Security

• Public and Private Sector Security: Better Protection by Collaboration | SecurityWeek.Com

• The Importance Of Building In Security During Software Development - Help Net Security

• How Fast Can Organisations Respond To A Cyber Security Crisis? - Help Net Security

• Researcher Uses 379-Year-Old Algorithm To Crack Crypto Keys Found In The Wild | Ars Technica

• How Pen Testing Gains Critical Security Buy-in and Defence Insight (darkreading.com)

• DarkHotel APT Targets Wynn, Macao Hotels to Rip Off Guest Data | Threatpost

• When IT Spending Plans Don't Reflect Security Priorities (darkreading.com)

• Half of People Accept All Cookies Despite The Security Risk | TechRadar

• Business Is At Last Collaborating On Cyber Security | Financial Times (ft.com)

---

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

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

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

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