Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 17 May 2024

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

Social Engineering is the Biggest Cyber Threat, as Study Finds Most Workers Have Clicked on a Suspicious Email Link

According to a recent report, half of office workers have clicked on a link or attachment within a suspicious email sent to their work address within the last 12 months, and of those that interacted with the email, half of them claimed to be confident in their ability to identify phishing emails.

With 68% of breaches involving the human element, your organisation must be cognisant of its employees. Hackers know that no matter what your tech stack is, you will always have employees and where there is an employee, there is a way into your organisation. It is far cheaper to exploit an employee who already has the access you require, than to develop a new exploit. It only takes one human to make a mistake by granting access to an attacker.  

When it came to training, only 41% of respondents said their employer had provided formal cyber security awareness training and 79% said their previous training is not sufficient to keep pace with modern cyber threats.

Source: [HackerNoon] [BusinessPlus]

Business Leaders are Stressing Out Over Pace of Technological Change, as Cyber Security Incidents Seen as Main Business Disruptor

A recent report commissioned by BT reveals that 86% of UK business leaders suffer from 'tech-related stress,' particularly concerning AI and cyber security, a phenomenon they have termed as 'Bytmares.' The report found that 59% of business leaders worry about the rapid and relentless pace of tech advancement, and whether appropriate controls are in place to protect it.

According to a different survey, 74% of business leaders view cyber security incidents as the main disruptive threat to their organisations either currently or over the next twelve months. This was followed by cloud computing, internet of things and artificial intelligence.

These findings highlight the critical importance of robust cyber security measures in today’s interconnected world. As organisations increasingly rely on digital infrastructure, safeguarding sensitive data and systems becomes paramount. Cyber threats can disrupt operations, compromise customer trust, and result in financial losses. Remember, cyber security is not just an IT concern; it is a strategic imperative for every organisation.

Sources: [Beta News] [Telecoms] [Verdict]

ICO Warns That Many UK Businesses Neglect Basic Cyber Security: More Ransomware and Cyber Attacks Last Year Than Ever Before

A recent update from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has revealed that ransomware attacks in the UK have surpassed all previous years, up 52% from the previous year. The report found that finance, retail and education sectors are suffering the most incidents.

The leading causes of breaches include phishing, brute force attacks, errors and supply chain attacks. The ICO noted that many organisations still neglect basic cyber security measures and has called for enhanced efforts to combat the escalating threat, emphasising the importance of foundational controls.

Sources: [Tech Monitor] [Government Business] [The Record Media] [Tech Monitor]

Data Breaches are Getting Worse, Many are Employee Errors or Social Engineering Attacks

The latest Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) highlights that employee error is the leading cause of cyber security incidents in the EMEA region, accounting for 49% of cases. The top reasons for these incidents are “miscellaneous errors, system intrusion, and social engineering,” making up 87% of all breaches. Hackers primarily target personal information (64%), internal data (33%), and login credentials (20%). Despite zero-day vulnerabilities being a significant threat, with exploitation rising to 14% of breaches, the report emphasises the critical need for ongoing employee training and awareness to mitigate these risks.

Source: [TechRadar]

Why Cyber Insurance isn’t a Substitute for Cyber Risk Management

While cyber insurance can be beneficial in mitigating financial loss from cyber attacks, it is not a substitute for comprehensive cyber risk management. Many firms with cyber insurance have still fallen victim to attacks, highlighting that cyber insurance primarily transfers residual risk. Effective cyber risk management includes conducting proper risk assessments and implementing robust cyber security controls. Cyber insurance cannot resolve issues like business disruption, breach of client confidentiality, and compliance with legal obligations; this stresses the need for proactive measures and independent assurance to protect against cyber threats.

Source: [ Law Society of Scotland]

China Presents Defining Challenge to Global Cyber Security, Says GCHQ

A recent speech by the new director of the UK’s GCHQ highlighted China's growing cyber threat, describing it as an "epoch-defining challenge." She warned that China's destabilising actions undermine global internet security. The current head of the UKs’ NCSC echoed these concerns, pointing to the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group Volt Typhoon which has infiltrated critical sectors like energy and transportation. The National Cyber Director at the White House added that China’s cyber capabilities pose a significant threat to global infrastructure, particularly in crisis scenarios, as Chinese hackers increasingly use sophisticated techniques to pre-position within networks.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

Botnet Sent Millions of Emails in LockBit Black Ransomware Campaign

Since April, millions of phishing emails have been sent through a botnet known as “Phorpiex” to conduct a large-scale LockBit Black ransomware campaign. In a warning from New Jersey’s Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, it was explained that the attackers use ZIP attachments containing an executable that deploys the LockBit Black payload, which encrypts the recipients' systems if launched. The emails are sent from 1,500 unique IP addresses worldwide.

Sources: [Bleeping Computer]

Global Financial Stability at Risk Due to Cyber Threats, IMF warns

A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report highlights the severe threat cyber attacks pose to global financial stability, revealing that nearly 20% of reported cyber incidents in the past two decades targeted the financial sector, causing $12 billion in direct losses. Since 2020, these attacks have led to an estimated $2.5 billion in direct losses. The report underscores that cyber incidents threaten financial institutions' operational resilience, potentially leading to funding challenges and reputational damage. The IMF calls for bolstered cyber security measures, including stress testing, information-sharing arrangements, and enhanced national cyber security strategies to mitigate these growing risks.

Source: [World Economic Forum]

Ongoing Campaign Bombards Enterprises with Spam Emails and Phone Calls

An ongoing social engineering campaign that is bombarding enterprises with spam calls and emails has been uncovered. The campaign involves a threat actor overwhelming a user’s email with junk, followed by a call offering to assist in removing the junk. From here, the threat actor aims to convince the victim to download remote monitoring and management software such as AnyDesk or Microsoft’s built in Quick Assist feature to allow the attacker remote access to the victim’s machine.

Source: [The Hacker News]

Santander Data Breach via Third-Party Provider Impacted Customers and Employees

A recent disclosure by the Spanish bank Santander revealed a data breach at a third-party provider affecting customers in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay. Unauthorised access to a database hosted by the provider compromised information on all current and some former employees, but did not include transactional data, online banking details, or passwords. Santander said they swiftly implemented measures to contain the incident, blocking access to the compromised database and enhancing fraud prevention controls. The bank assured that its operations and systems remain unaffected, allowing customers to continue transacting securely. The number of impacted individuals remains unspecified.

There is a continued trend in third party providers being used as the soft underbelly to attack larger and better defended organisations, requiring all organisations to consider the security controls of their third parties.

Source: [securityaffairs.com]

40% of Cyber Teams Have Held Back from Reporting Cyber Attacks Over Fear of Losing Jobs

Recent research has revealed that 40% of cyber teams have not reported a cyber attack due to the fear of losing their job. Unfortunately, this leaves businesses at risk of being non-compliant, without even knowing so. When it came to challenges faced by organisations, it was found that nearly 20% of companies say a lack of qualified talent is a key challenge to overcoming cyber attacks and 32% did not have the resources to hire new staff. This is not to say however, they are unable to outsource some of their cyber function to cyber specialists. This lack of allocated resources prevents the organisation from being confident that any incidents have been appropriately remediated.

Source: [Business Wire]

Digital Resilience – a Step Up from Cyber Security

In an increasingly digital world, many organisations are unaware of how truly reliant they are on digital technology, and the accompanying risks. As we move toward an even more digitally dependent future, the need for digital resilience is more critical than ever. Digital resilience refers to the ability to maintain, change, or recover technology-dependent operations. Organisations should begin with an internal audit to assess their digital resilience, involving all departments and ensuring senior management oversight, as board involvement is essential for effective cyber security programmes.

Digital resilience goes beyond cyber security to encompass change management, business resilience, and operational risk. Implementing digital resilience strategies requires continuous adaptation, cross-functional collaboration, and embedding resilience thinking throughout the organisation. Businesses must integrate digital resilience into their strategic planning to ensure ongoing competitiveness and adaptability in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Sources: [CSO Online] [CSO Online]

UK Lags Europe on Exploited Vulnerability Remediation

A new report by Bitsight reveals that UK organisations lag behind their European counterparts in remediating software flaws listed in the US ‘Known Exploited Vulnerability’ (KEV) catalogue. UK organisations take an average of 225 days to address KEVs, compared to 220 days for European entities and just 21 days for German organisations. Non-KEV vulnerabilities are patched at an even slower rate, with UK entities taking over two years (736 days) to patch. Globally, the average time to resolve KEVs is around six months (180 days). Despite fewer KEVs detected in UK environments (30% versus 43% in Europe), the slow remediation poses significant risks, emphasising the need for faster and more proactive cyber security measures, specifically robust vulnerability scanning and patching.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

Cyber Threats Demand More Focus Says Zurich, as UK Insurance And NCSC Join Forces to Fight Ransomware Payments

A recent discussion at the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) conference highlighted the increasing importance of cyber security for businesses, driven by the surge in cyber attacks and the use of AI by criminal gangs. Zurich Resilience Solutions UK noted that businesses face greater scrutiny from underwriters over their cyber exposures.

BIBA, together with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), and the International Underwriting Association (IUA), have united with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in a joint effort to tackle ransom payments. As a result of their collaboration, they have published new best practice guidance, which aims to reduce the number of payments being made by UK victims as well as the disruption businesses face.

Source: [Emerging Risks] [NCSC] [Infosecurity Magazine]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• ICO calls on all organisations to boost their cyber security amid growing threat of cyber attacks | Practical Law (thomsonreuters.com)

• Firms neglecting cyber security basics - ICO - CIR Magazine

• Why cyber insurance isn’t a substitute for cyber risk management. | Law Society of Scotland (lawscot.org.uk)

• Business leaders consider cyber security main disruptor – Q1 2024 survey - Verdict

• 40% of Cyber Teams Have Not Reported Cyber Attacks Over Fear of Losing Jobs, According to New VikingCloud Research | Business Wire

• The Growing Cyber Security Disconnect Leaves Enterprises Exposed (forbes.com)

• Cyber Security Is a Top Investor Concern | HackerNoon

• Cyber threats demand more focus – Zurich (emergingrisks.co.uk)

• Digital resilience – a step up from cyber security | CSO Online

• Keep it secret, keep it safe: the essential role of cyber security in document management | CSO Online

• Cyber anxiety on the rise in the UK (betanews.com)

• UK business leaders are stressing out over pace of technological change (telecoms.com)

• Dancing on the Head of a Pin: Corporate Boards, Committees and Cyber Security Risk Management | The Volkov Law Group - JDSupra

• 44% of Cyber Security Professionals Struggle with Regulatory Compliance - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cyber attacks threaten global financial stability, IMF warns | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• BISO: Enhancing cyber security in modern enterprises - SiliconANGLE

• Dell Data Breach Underscores Cost of Cyber Security Complacency (pymnts.com)

• What Is Cyber Risk Quantification? | HackerNoon

• Cyber and Financial Crime, Through the FBI Lens (govinfosecurity.com)

• A Third of CISOs Have Been Dismissed “Out of Hand” By the Board - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Maximizing cyber security ROI: A strategic approach | TechRadar

• Many CISOs don't feel they get the right respect from their board | TechRadar

• Cyber high on agenda at BIBA amid concerns over threats (emergingrisks.co.uk)

• Lloyd’s updates cyber war wordings - Reinsurance News

• Are you meeting your cyber insurance requirements? - Help Net Security

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Botnet sent millions of emails in LockBit Black ransomware campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)

• UK hit by more ransomware and cyber attacks last year than ever before (therecord.media)

• The ups and downs (and ups again) of the ransomware risk - Digital Journal

• Hackers Target Children of Corporate Executives in Ransomware Attacks (businessinsider.com)

• CISA: Black Basta ransomware breached over 500 orgs worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber attacks leave significant financial impact on hacked organisations (kwch.com)

• As the FBI Closes In, Scattered Spider Attacks Finance, Insurance Orgs (darkreading.com)

• UK Insurance and NCSC Join Forces to Fight Ransomware Payments - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK insurance industry begins to acknowledge role in tackling ransomware (therecord.media)

• The UK may not have a choice on a ransomware payment ban | Computer Weekly

• 64% Jump in Ransomware Claims on Remote Access Tools, Report Shows (claimsjournal.com)

• Cyber Criminals Exploiting Microsoft's Quick Assist Feature in Ransomware Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Organisations struggle to defend against ransomware - Help Net Security

• Ransomware statistics that reveal alarming rate of cyber extortion - Help Net Security

• Most ransomware-hit enterprises report to authorities, but level of support varies | ZDNET

• Ransomware negotiator weighs in on the payment debate • The Register

• OODA Loop - The Social Engineering Tactics of Ransomware-as-a-Service Operator Black Basta

• INC ransomware source code selling on hacking forums for $300,000 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• What is ransomware recovery? | Definition from TechTarget

• Ransomware Defence Strategies: Never Trust a Criminal (inforisktoday.com)

Ransomware Victims

• More than 470 legal actions against HSE over cyber attack (rte.ie)

• It's been a bad week for public cyber security | TechRadar

• Christie's Just Postponed the Rare Watches Auction Due to Cyber Attack (robbreport.com)

• Singing River Health System: Data of 895,000 stolen in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Repeat Offenders: Black Basta’s Latest Healthcare Cyber Attack (informationweek.com)

• E-prescription provider MediSecure impacted by a ransomware attack (securityaffairs.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Social Engineering is the Biggest Cyber Threat | HackerNoon

• Most Workers Have Clicked on a Suspicious Email Link (businessplus.ie)

• Botnet sent millions of emails in LockBit Black ransomware campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Stay In The Loop On Emerging And Evolving Email Threat Trends (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Collaboration tools are now at the frontline in the battle against phishing (securitybrief.co.nz)

• 5 Common Phishing Vectors and Examples - 2024 (cybersecuritynews.com)

BEC

• Visualizing Global Losses from Financial Scams (visualcapitalist.com)

Other Social Engineering

• Social Engineering is the Biggest Cyber Threat | HackerNoon

• Low-tech tactics still top the IT security risk chart | CSO Online

• Ongoing Campaign Bombards Enterprises with Spam Emails and Phone Calls (thehackernews.com)

• What is vishing and quishing, and how do you protect yourself? | PCWorld

• Beware of fake calls, ward off cyber criminals: Govt - The Statesman

• OODA Loop - The Social Engineering Tactics of Ransomware-as-a-Service Operator Black Basta

Artificial Intelligence

• UK Government Unveils New AI Cyber Security Measures as ICO Details Importance of Data Protection | The Fintech Times

• UK agency releases tools to test AI model safety | TechCrunch

• Security industry struggles to consolidate against AI threats - SiliconANGLE

• Cyber Security Races to Unmask New Wave of AI Deepfakes (darkreading.com)

• Only one-third of firms deploy safeguards against generative AI threats, report finds | CIO Dive

• CISOs Reconsider Their Roles in Response to GenAI Integration - Security Boulevard

• AI's rapid growth puts pressure on CISOs to adapt to new security risks - Help Net Security

• Insider Risk in the Generative AI Era - InfoRiskToday

• AI-driven attacks seen as chief cloud security threat | TechTarget

• Concern over AI cyber threats among UK infrastructure organisations | Security News (sourcesecurity.com)

• The Cyber Security Survival Guide For Generative AI (forbes.com)

2FA/MFA

• How to Prevent Attacks that Bypass MFA - InfoRiskToday

Malware

• Malware was almost 50% of threat detections in Q1 2024 | Security Magazine

• North Korean Hackers Deploy New Golang Malware 'Durian' Against Crypto Firms (thehackernews.com)

• FIN7 Hacker Group Leverages Malicious Google Ads to Deliver NetSupport RAT (thehackernews.com)

• Microsoft fixes Windows zero-day exploited in QakBot malware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ebury botnet malware infected 400,000 Linux servers since 2009 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kimsuky hackers deploy new Linux backdoor via trojanized installers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Man destroys his laptop after downloading 1,000 viruses to see which anti-virus software works the best (unilad.com)

Mobile

• Malicious Android Apps Pose as Google, Instagram, WhatsApp to Steal Credentials (thehackernews.com)

• Google Issues Critical Update For Millions Of Pixel Users (forbes.com)

• Apple Patch Day: Code Execution Flaws in iPhones, iPads, macOS - Security Week

• Threat actors may have exploited a zero-day in older iPhones, Apple warns (securityaffairs.com)

• Apple warns of increased iPhone security risks – Computerworld

• Apple and Google agree on standard to alert people when unknown Bluetooth devices may be tracking them | TechCrunch

• Protect against iPhone trojan GoldPickaxe: How-to - 9to5Mac

• Unwanted Tracking Alerts Rolling Out to iOS, Android - Security Week

• Apple blocked $7 billion in fraudulent App Store purchases in 4 years (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Android boosting security with Theft Detection Lock, factory reset protection  (9to5google.com)

• Data Privacy: All the Ways Your Cellphone Carrier Tracks You and How to Stop It

• Your Android phone could have stalkerware — here’s how to remove it | TechCrunch

Internet of Things – IoT

• Attack makes autonomous vehicle tech ignore road signs • The Register

• Millions of IoT Devices at Risk From Integrated Modem (darkreading.com)

• Prison for cyber security expert selling private videos from inside 400,000 homes (bitdefender.com)

• IoT Vulnerabilities and BotNet Infections: A Risk for Executives - Security Boulevard

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Over 5.3 billion data records exposed in April 2024 | Computer Weekly

• MoD contractor hacked by China failed to report breach for months | Hacking | The Guardian

• Data breaches are getting worse - and many are coming from a familiar source | TechRadar

• Notorious threat actor IntelBroker claims the hack of the Europol (securityaffairs.com)

• Hacker claims another breach into Dell systems | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Dell Data Breach Underscores Cost of Cyber Security Complacency (pymnts.com)

• Hacker claims to have stolen Dell customer data, twice. Here's how to protect yourself | ZDNET

• Santander Data Breach Impacts Customers, Employees - Security Week

• Employee data breaches up 41% - Personnel Today

• The legal sector's data breach conundrum: insights from ICO's latest report - Solicitors Journal

• JPMorgan Chase Suffers Data Breach Affecting Personal Information of 451,809 Customers - The Daily Hodl

• JPMorgan Fixes Security Flaw, Affects 450K Retirement Plans | Entrepreneur

• Europol confirms incident after data break-in claims • The Register

• Largest non-bank lender in Australia warns of a data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Guernsey data breaches: More than 1,000 people affected - BBC News

• Up to 120,000 affected by data breach at City of Helsinki (helsinkitimes.fi)

• Billion-Dollar Bank Sued After Revealing Massive Data Breach Affecting Thousands of Customers, Exposing Account Details, Social Security Numbers and Medical Information: Report - The Daily Hodl

• Okta’s security chief on the company’s own cyber attack and how the ‘battleground’ has shifted (therecord.media)

• Camden Council cyber attack warning after NRS Healthcare cyber attack | Ham & High (hamhigh.co.uk)

• Lessons learned from high-profile data breaches | TechTarget

• Zscaler Confirms Only Isolated Test Server Was Hacked - Security Week

• Nissan North America data breach impacts over 53,000 employees (bleepingcomputer.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• FBI, DoJ Shut Down BreachForums, Launch Investigation (darkreading.com)

• Cyber and Financial Crime, Through the FBI Lens (govinfosecurity.com)

• FBI working towards nabbing Scattered Spider hackers, official says | Reuters

• Low-tech tactics still top the IT security risk chart | CSO Online

• The Growing Cyber Threat Landscape: Insights into State-Sponsored and Criminal Cyber Activities | HackerNoon

• Top 5 Most Dangerous Cyber Threats in 2024 (darkreading.com)

• Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• North Korean Hackers Deploy New Golang Malware 'Durian' Against Crypto Firms (thehackernews.com)

• Tornado Cash cryptomixer dev gets 64 months for laundering $2 billion (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US brothers arrested for stealing $25m in crypto in just 12 seconds - BBC News

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Low-tech tactics still top the IT security risk chart | CSO Online

• Data breaches are getting worse - and many are coming from a familiar source | TechRadar

• Insider Risk in the Generative AI Era - InfoRiskToday

• The Human Element in Cyber Security: Safeguarding your organisation (thebusinessmagazine.co.uk)

• CISOs call to ditch the 'stigma of blame' in cyber security (computing.co.uk)

Insurance

• Why cyber insurance isn’t a substitute for cyber risk management. | Law Society of Scotland (lawscot.org.uk)

• NCSC guide to help businesses facing ransomware demands (biba.org.uk)

• UK insurance industry begins to acknowledge role in tackling ransomware (therecord.media)

• UK Insurance and NCSC Join Forces to Fight Ransomware Payments - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Lloyd’s provides tighter guidance on cyber war wordings | Insurance Insider

• Cyber high on agenda at BIBA amid concerns over threats (emergingrisks.co.uk)

• Are you meeting your cyber insurance requirements? - Help Net Security

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Most Companies Affected by Software Supply Chain Attacks in the Last Year, Struggling to Detect and React Effectively - IT Security Guru

• Santander: a data breach at a third-party provider impacted customers and employees (securityaffairs.com)

• MoD contractor hacked by China failed to report breach for months | Hacking | The Guardian

• Okta’s security chief on the company’s own cyber attack and how the ‘battleground’ has shifted (therecord.media)

Cloud/SaaS

• How to create a cloud security policy, step by step | TechTarget

• AI-driven attacks seen as chief cloud security threat | TechTarget

• Singapore Cyber Security Update Puts Cloud Providers on Notice (darkreading.com)

• Secrecy Concerns Mount Over Spy Powers Targeting US Data Centres | WIRED

Encryption

• You want us to think of the children? Couldn't agree more • The Register

Linux and Open Source

• Ebury botnet malware infected 400,000 Linux servers since 2009 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kimsuky hackers deploy new Linux backdoor via trojanized installers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Establishing a security baseline for open source projects - Help Net Security

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• The 10 most common 4-digit PIN numbers — are you at risk of a cyber attack? (nypost.com)

Social Media

• It’s time to ban TikTok for the sake of our democracy and security (politicshome.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• The Future of Security Awareness - GovInfoSecurity

• The Human Element in Cyber Security: Safeguarding your organisation (thebusinessmagazine.co.uk)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Singapore Cyber Security Update Puts Cloud Providers on Notice (darkreading.com)

• Clock is ticking for companies to prepare for EU NIS2 Directive | CSO Online

• Nigeria Halts Cyber Security Tax After Public Outrage (darkreading.com)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• Clock is ticking for companies to prepare for EU NIS2 Directive | CSO Online

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• The cyber security skills shortage: A CISO perspective | CSO Online

• Why cyber security staff burn out, and what to do about it (computing.co.uk)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• As the FBI Closes In, Scattered Spider Attacks Finance, Insurance Orgs (darkreading.com)

• FBI, DoJ Shut Down BreachForums, Launch Investigation (darkreading.com)

• Most ransomware-hit enterprises report to authorities, but level of support varies | ZDNET

• Prison for cyber security expert selling private videos from inside 400,000 homes (bitdefender.com)

• Tornado Cash cryptomixer dev gets 64 months for laundering $2 billion (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US brothers arrested for stealing $25m in crypto in just 12 seconds - BBC News

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

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

• Lloyd’s updates cyber war wordings - Reinsurance News

• Civil society under increasing threats from ‘malicious’ state cyber actors, US (therecord.media)

Nation State Actors

China

• Cyber threat landscape permanently altered by Chinese operations, US officials say (therecord.media)

• GCHQ boss says China's 'genuine' cyber threat 'weakens security of internet for all' | Science & Tech News | Sky News

• Tracking the Progression of Earth Hundun's Cyber espionage Campaign in 2024 | Trend Micro (US)

• When Chinese Nationalist Hackers Go Rogue (globelynews.com)

• Can't blame all Chinese cyber attacks on the government - Asia Times

• How the West has struggled to keep up with China’s spy threat - BBC News

• Stifling Beijing in cyber space big focus for UK operatives • The Register

• China focuses on non-military ways to take Taiwan, reports warn - Washington Times

• It’s time to ban TikTok for the sake of our democracy and security (politicshome.com)

• Asian Threat Actors Use New Techniques to Attack Familiar Targets (darkreading.com)

• Chinese Crime Ring Uses Franchise Model to Grow Fake Online Shops (businessinsider.com)

• Three men charged with aiding Hong Kong intelligence service, says Met | UK news | The Guardian

Russia

• Russia is ramping up sabotage across Europe (economist.com)

• File Not Found: Russia Is Hacking Evidence of Its War Crimes - War on the Rocks

• NATO Draws a Cyber Red Line in Tensions With Russia - Security Week

• Pro-Russia hackers targeted Kosovo government websites (securityaffairs.com)

• Russian Actors Weaponize Legitimate Services in Multi-Malware Attack - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK 'increasingly concerned' about Russian intelligence links to hacktivists (therecord.media)

• To the Moon and back(doors): Lunar landing in diplomatic missions (welivesecurity.com)

• New backdoors on a European government's network appear to be Russian (therecord.media)

• 'Russian' hackers deface potentially hundreds of local British news sites (therecord.media)

• Investigation: How Russia's Warplanes Get Their 'Brain Power' From The West, Despite Sanctions

• The Three Seas Initiative: A Vanguard in Digitization and Cyber Security | Warsaw Institute

Iran

• Iran most likely to launch destructive cyber attack on US • The Register

North Korea

• Asian Threat Actors Use New Techniques to Attack Familiar Targets (darkreading.com)

• North Korean Hackers Deploy New Golang Malware 'Durian' Against Crypto Firms (thehackernews.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Not Just MOVEit: 2023 Was a Banner Year for Zero-Days (inforisktoday.com)

• (Cyber) Risk = Probability of Occurrence x Damage (thehackernews.com)

• Critical vulnerabilities take 4.5 months on average to remediate - Help Net Security

• The Fall of the National Vulnerability Database (darkreading.com)

• Backlogs at National Vulnerability Database prompt action from NIST and CISA | CSO Online

• UK Lags Europe on Exploited Vulnerability Remediation - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Log4J shows no sign of fading, spotted in 30% of CVE exploits - Help Net Security

• NIST Confusion Continues as Cyber Pros Complain CVE Uploads Stopped - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Heartbleed: When Is It Good to Name a Vulnerability? (darkreading.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Google Chrome emergency update fixes 6th zero-day exploited in 2024 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google patches third exploited Chrome zero-day in a week (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Threat actors may have exploited a zero-day in older iPhones, Apple warns (securityaffairs.com) 

• Microsoft Patches 61 Flaws, Including Two Actively Exploited Zero-Days (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber Criminals Exploiting Microsoft's Quick Assist Feature in Ransomware Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Microsoft fixes Windows zero-day exploited in QakBot malware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Log4J shows no sign of fading, spotted in 30% of CVE exploits - Help Net Security

• D-Link Routers Vulnerable to Takeover Via Exploit for Zero-Day (darkreading.com)

• New Wi-Fi Vulnerability Enables Network Eavesdropping via Downgrade Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Intel Publishes 41 Security Advisories for Over 90 Vulnerabilities  - Security Week

• Google Issues Critical Update For Millions Of Pixel Users (forbes.com)

• Apple Patch Day: Code Execution Flaws in iPhones, iPads, macOS - Security Week

• CISA and FBI Issue Alert on Path Traversal Vulnerabilities - Security Boulevard

• VMware Patches Severe Security Flaws in Workstation and Fusion Products (thehackernews.com)

• Firefox 126: Telemetry, privacy feature, and security fixes - gHacks Tech News

• SAP Patches Critical Vulnerabilities in CX Commerce, NetWeaver - Security Week

• Adobe Patches Critical Flaws in Reader, Acrobat - Security Week

• Cisco Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA

• Microsoft shares temp fix for Outlook encrypted email reply issues (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Tools and Controls

• Why cyber insurance isn’t a substitute for cyber risk management. | Law Society of Scotland (lawscot.org.uk)

• Digital resilience – a step up from cyber security | CSO Online

• Dancing on the Head of a Pin: Corporate Boards, Committees and Cyber Security Risk Management | The Volkov Law Group - JDSupra

• How To Implement Threat Modeling To Protect Your Business - Minutehack

• How to create a cloud security policy, step by step | TechTarget

• Hackers use DNS tunneling for network scanning, tracking victims (bleepingcomputer.com)

• AWS CISO: In AI gold rush, folks forget application security • The Register

• What Is Cyber Risk Quantification? | HackerNoon

• Best Practices for Preparing for a Cyber Breach | ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More

• Ridding your network of NTLM | CSO Online

• Maximizing cyber security ROI: A strategic approach | TechRadar

• What is ransomware recovery? | Definition from TechTarget

• The Human Element in Cyber Security: Safeguarding your organisation (thebusinessmagazine.co.uk)

• Addressing the Cyber Security Vendor Ecosystem Disconnect (darkreading.com)

• The Future of Security Awareness - GovInfoSecurity

• Microsoft Deploys Generative AI for US Spies | WIRED

• How to Think About Foundation Models for Cyber Security | Andreessen Horowitz (a16z.com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Learning from the mistakes of others – A retrospective review | ICO

• 2024 Browser Security Report (layerxsecurity.com)

• At-Bay's 2024 InsurSec Report [Download Now]

• Kaspersky’s Incident Response Analyst report 2023 (kasperskycontenthub.com)

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Other News

• Microsoft president summoned to House over security blunders • The Register

• National Cyber Security Centre: Tech market not working - The Business Magazine

• Critical infrastructure security needs everyone's help • The Register

• Your Hospital Is Under Cyber Attack. Now What? (newsweek.com)

• BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone on UK Router Security and Upgrades - ISPreview UK

• Hackers use DNS tunnelling for network scanning, tracking victims (bleepingcomputer.com)

• NCSC CTO: Broken market must be fixed to usher in new tech • The Register

• Public Sector IT is Broken: Turning the System Back On - IT Security Guru

• The Cyber Security Implications Of Gen Z’s Tech-Savvy Lifestyle (forbes.com)

• Fortify Your Digital Defences: Top Home Cyber Security Strategies for Personal Protection | HackerNoon

• Classes cancelled as 'sinister' school cyber attacks rise - BBC News

• Irony abounds as UK NCSC’s simple door codes revealed • The Register

• Candidates to get cyber security support amid general election interference fears (nation.cymru)

• NCSC launches Share and Defend capability | UKAuthority

• Too many ICS assets are exposed to the public internet - Help Net Security

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

·         OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 April 2024

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

UK Cyber Breaches Survey Finds Business Falling Short on Cyber, as Half Suffer Breach and Many Fail to Report

Half of UK businesses experienced a cyber breach last year, according to a survey by the UK Government. The figure could be much higher however, as the survey found only 34% report breaches externally.

It is said that a cyber incident is a matter of when, not if. Nonetheless, 78% of organisations lack a dedicated response plan outlining actions to be taken in the event of a cyber incident and only 11% review their immediate suppliers for risks. To improve cyber resilience, there needs to be a paradigm shift.

Sources: [Computer Weekly] [Computing] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Info Risk Today]

Cyber Attacks Cost Financial Firms $12bn Says IMF

A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report has highlighted significant financial losses in the financial services sector, totalling $12 billion over the last two decades due to cyber attacks, with losses accelerating post-pandemic. The number of incidents and the scale of extreme losses have sharply increased, prompting the IMF to urge enhanced cross-border cooperation to uphold the stability of the global financial system.

The report underscores the critical threat that cyber attacks pose to financial stability, particularly for banks in advanced economies which are more exposed to such risks. With major institutions like JP Morgan facing up to 45 billion cyber threats daily, the IMF emphasises the need for international collaboration to effectively manage and mitigate these risks.

Source: [Finextra]

The Cyber Attack Stopped by a Microsoft Engineer Was Scarier Than We Realise

A critical security breach was narrowly avoided when a Microsoft developer detected suspicious activity in XZ Utils, an open-source library crucial to internet infrastructure. This discovery revealed that a new developer had implanted a sophisticated backdoor in the software, potentially giving unauthorised access to millions of servers worldwide. This incident has intensified scrutiny on the vulnerabilities of open-source software, which is largely maintained by unpaid or underfunded volunteers and serves as a backbone for the internet economy. The situation has prompted discussions among government officials and cyber security experts about enhancing the protection of open-source environments. This close call, described by some as a moment of "unreasonable luck," underscores the pressing need for sustainable support and rigorous security measures in the open-source community.

Source: [Inc.com]

UK Government Urged to Get on ‘Front Foot’ with Ransomware Instead of ‘Absorbing the Punches’

Amidst a rising tide of ransomware attacks affecting wide range of UK services, officials in Westminster are being pressured to enhance funding for operations aimed at disrupting ransomware gangs. The current strategy focuses on bolstering organisational cyber security and recovery preparedness, a stance under the second pillar of the UK's National Cyber Strategy known as resilience. However, this approach has not curbed the frequency of incidents, which have steadily increased over the past five years, impacting sectors including the NHS and local governments. In contrast to the proactive disruption efforts seen in the US, the UK has yet to allocate new funds for such measures, despite successful disruptions like the recent takedown of the LockBit gang by the US National Crime Agency, which underscored the potential benefits of increased resources for cyber crime disruption.

Source: [The Record Media]

74% of Employees Falling Victim to Phishing Attacks Hit with Disciplinary Actions

The Egress 'Email Threat Landscape 2024' report reveals a surge in phishing attacks, with 94% of companies falling victim to this type of crime in this past year alone, leading to increasingly complex cyber security challenges. According to the report, 96% of these companies suffered significant repercussions, including operational disruption and data breaches, with common attack vectors being malicious URLs, and malware or ransomware attachments.

The human cost is also notable, with 74 per cent of employees involved in attacks having faced disciplinary actions, dismissals, or voluntary departures, underscoring the severity of the issue and the heightened vigilance among companies in addressing the phishing threat. Financial losses primarily stem from customer churn, which accounts for nearly half of the total impact. Amidst rising attacks through compromised third-party accounts, Egress advocates for stronger monitoring and defence strategies to protect critical data and reduce organisational and individual hardships.

Source: [The Fintech Times]

Why Are Many Businesses Turning to Third-Party Security Partners?

In 2023, 71% of organisations reported being impacted by a cyber security skills shortage, leading many to scale back their cyber security initiatives amid escalating threats. To bridge the gap, businesses are increasingly turning to third-party security partnerships, reflecting a shift towards outsourcing crucial cyber security operations to handle complex challenges more efficiently. This approach is driven by the need to fill technical and resource gaps in the face of a severe workforce shortfall, with an estimated 600,000 unfilled security positions in the US alone. Moreover, these strategic partnerships allow organisations to leverage external expertise for scalable and effective security solutions, alleviating the burden of staying updated with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Source: [Help Net Security]

74% of Businesses with up to 500 Employees are Concerned About Cyber Security as Attacks Rise

According to a recent poll by the US Chamber of Commerce, 60% of small businesses expressed concerns about threats, with 58% concerned about a supply chain breakdown. The highest concern came from businesses with 20-500 employees (74%). Despite such concern, only 49% had trained staff on cyber security. When it came to the impact of a cyber event, 27% of respondents say they are one disaster or threat away from shutting down their business.

Sources: [Malwcv arebytes][Marketplace] [US Chamber]

LastPass: Hackers Targeted Employee in Failed Deepfake CEO Call

LastPass recently reported a thwarted voice phishing attack targeting one of its employees using deepfake audio technology to impersonate CEO Karim Toubba. The attack, conducted via WhatsApp, was identified by the employee as suspicious due to the unusual communication channel and clear signs of social engineering, such as forced urgency. Despite the failure of this particular attempt, LastPass has shared the incident publicly to highlight the growing use of AI-generated deepfakes in executive impersonation schemes. This incident underscores a broader trend, as indicated by alerts from both the US Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI, pointing to an increase in sophisticated cyber attacks employing deepfake technology for fraud, social engineering, and potential influence operations.

Source: [Bleepingcomputer]

Most Cyber Criminal Threats are Concentrated in Just a Few Countries

Oxford researchers have developed the world's first cyber crime index to identify global hotspots of cyber criminal activity, ranking countries based on the prevalence and sophistication of cyber threats. The index reveals that a significant portion of cyber threats is concentrated in a few countries, with Russia and Ukraine positioned at the top, with the USA and the UK also ranking prominently. The results indicate that countries like China, Russia, Ukraine, the US, Romania, and Nigeria are among the top hubs for activities ranging from technical services to money laundering. This tool aims to refine the focus for cyber crime research and prevention efforts, although the study acknowledges the need for a broader and more representative sample of expert opinions to enhance the accuracy and applicability of the findings. The index underscores that while cyber crime may appear globally fluid, it has pronounced local concentrations.

Sources: [ThisisOxfordshire] [Phys Org]

Why Incident Response is the Best Cyber Security ROI

The Microsoft Incident Response Reference Guide predicts that most organisations will encounter one or more major security incidents where attackers gain administrative control over crucial IT systems and data. While complete prevention of cyber attacks may not be feasible, prompt and effective incident response is essential to mitigate damage and protect reputations. However, many organisations may not be adequately budgeting for incident response, and the recent UK Government report found that 78% of organisations do not have formalised incident response plans, risking prolonged recovery and increased costs. Cyber crime damages hit $23b in 2023, but the true costs of incidents includes non-financial damage such as reputational harm. If a cyber incident is a matter of when, not if, then a prepared incident response plan is the best cyber security ROI.

Black Arrow works with organisations of all sizes and sectors to design and prepare for managing a cyber security incident; this can include an Incident Response Plan and an educational tabletop exercise for the leadership team that highlights the proportionate controls to help the organisation prevent and mitigate an incident.

Source: [CSO Online]

Ransomware Attacks are the Canaries in the Cyber Coal Mine

A recent report has found that ransomware attacks were up 110% compared to the prior month, stating that unreported attacks were up to 6 times higher. The report found that tactics are increasingly using data extortion, with 92% of attacks utilising this method.

Sources: [Silicon Republic] [The Hill]

Cyber Security is Crucial, but What is Risk and How do You Assess it?

Cyber security is an increasingly sophisticated game of cat and mouse, where the landscape is constantly shifting. Your cyber risk is the probability of negative impacts stemming from a cyber incident, but how do you assess risk?

One thing to understand is that there are a multitude of risks: risks from phishing, risks from insiders, risks from network attacks, risks of supply chain compromise, and of course, nation states. To understand risk, an organisation must first identify the information that it needs to protect, to avoid only learning of the information asset’s existence from a successful attacker. Once all assets are identified, then organisations should conduct risk assessments to identify threats and an evaluation the potential damage that can be done.

Sources: [Security Boulevard] [International Banker]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber attacks cost financial firms $12bn says IMF (finextra.com)

• UK business falling short on cybersecurity warns government report (computing.co.uk)

• Half of UK Businesses Hit by Cyber Incident in Past Year - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 60% of small businesses are concerned about cyber security threats | Malwarebytes

• Cyber attacks on small businesses are on the rise - Marketplace

• What is cyber security risk & how to assess - Security Boulevard

• Cyber Security Regulations Aren’t Static—Your Practices Can’t Be Either (forbes.com)

• Why Cyber Security Is More Crucial Today Than Ever Before (internationalbanker.com)

• Large cyber attack could cause 'cyber run' or market sell-offs, warns IMF - FStech Financial Sector Technology

• Why are many businesses turning to third-party security partners? - Help Net Security

• CISO Perspectives on Complying with Cyber Security Regulations (thehackernews.com)

• Why incident response is the best cyber security ROI | CSO Online

• Why Intelligence Sharing Is Vital to Building a Robust Collective Cyber Defence Program -  Security Week

• Privacy Versus Cyber – What is the Bigger Risk? | Jackson Lewis P.C. - JDSupra

• Large businesses struggle to tackle cyber threats (betanews.com)

• Resilience And Antifragility Are The Best Strategies For 2024 (forbes.com)

• The state of secrets security: 7 action items for better managing risk - Security Boulevard

• Board Oversight and Cyber Breach Response: What Involvement Strikes the Right Balance? | Alston & Bird - JDSupra

• Compliance & Cyber Security – Working and Worrying Together About the Intersection of People and Technology | NAVEX - JDSupra

• Former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan and lessons learned from the infamous 2016 Uber breach | CSO Online

• Why cyberpsychology is such an important part of effective cyber security | CSO Online

• Cyber Security in the Evolving Threat Landscape (securityaffairs.com)

• How CISOs can make themselves ready to serve on the board | CSO Online

• CISOs Need A Data-Driven Approach To Offensive Security (forbes.com)

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Ransomware surged 110pc last month, report claims (siliconrepublic.com)

• UK government urged to get on ‘forward foot’ with ransomware instead of ‘absorbing the punches’ (therecord.media)

• Ransomware attacks are the canaries in the cyber coal mine | The Hill

• Ransomware gang’s new extortion trick? Calling the front desk | TechCrunch

• Frameworks, Guidelines & Bounties Alone Won't Defeat Ransomware (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware group maturity should influence ransom payment decision - Help Net Security

• Proactive and Reactive Ransomware Protection Strategies - Security Boulevard

• How can the energy sector bolster its resilience to ransomware attacks? - Help Net Security

• CL0P's Ransomware Rampage - Security Measures for 2024 (thehackernews.com)

• Should You Pay a Ransomware Attacker? - Security Boulevard

• LockBit struggles to maintain relevance amid rise of impersonators and new ransomware groups - SiliconANGLE

• DragonForce Ransomware - What You Need To Know | Tripwire

• LockBit copycat DarkVault spurs rebranding rumour | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Ransomware payouts hit all-time high, but that’s not the whole story (securityintelligence.com)

Ransomware Victims

• Vet chain CVS hit by cyber attack | Evening Standard

• Second ransomware gang says it’s extorting Change Healthcare • The Register

• Targus says it is facing major cyber attack, global operations hit | TechRadar

• Optics giant Hoya hit with $10 million ransomware demand (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Panera Bread week-long IT outage caused by ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Attackers Using Obfuscation Tools to Deliver Multi-Stage Malware via Invoice Phishing (thehackernews.com)

• 74% of Employees Falling Victim to Phishing Attacks Hit With Disciplinary Actions; Egress Reveals | The Fintech Times

• Honeytrap sext scandal MP William Wragg will keep Tory whip (thetimes.co.uk)

• How malicious email campaigns continue to slip through the cracks - Help Net Security

• TA547 Phishing Attack Hits German Firms with Rhadamanthys Stealer (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber Criminals Invade Inboxes: What Small Businesses Can Do (pymnts.com)

• Phishing Detection and Response: What You Need to Know - Security Boulevard

Other Social Engineering

• Cyber Criminals Target Victims Using Social Engineering Techniques (ic3.gov)

• Honeytrap sext scandal MP William Wragg will keep Tory whip (thetimes.co.uk)

• LastPass: Hackers targeted employee in failed deepfake CEO call (bleepingcomputer.com)

Artificial Intelligence

• UK Warned Of AI Misinformation Targeting 2024 Polls, Nation-State Hackers Raise Stakes - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) - Benzinga

• China is using generative AI to carry out influence operations (securityaffairs.com)

• What Lies Ahead for Cyber Security in the Era of Generative AI? - IT Security Guru

• AI risks under the auditor's lens more than ever - Help Net Security

• Speed of AI development is outpacing risk assessment | Ars Technica

• AI and GDPR: How is AI being regulated? | TechTarget

• Malicious PowerShell script pushing malware looks AI-written (bleepingcomputer.com)

• LastPass: Hackers targeted employee in failed deepfake CEO call (bleepingcomputer.com)

• AI-as-a-Service Providers Vulnerable to PrivEsc and Cross-Tenant Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• How Artificial Intelligence Is Fuelling Incel Communities (yahoo.com)

2FA/MFA

• How Hackers Can Hijack 2FA Calls with Sneaky Call Forwarding (404media.co)

Malware

• Attackers Using Obfuscation Tools to Deliver Multi-Stage Malware via Invoice Phishing (thehackernews.com)

• From PDFs to Payload: Bogus Adobe Acrobat Reader Installers Distribute Byakugan Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Urgent Security Alert! Hackers Hijacked Notepad++ Plugin (gbhackers.com)

• 1.2 million people fooled by fake MidJourney Facebook page used to spread malware — don’t fall for this | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Sophisticated Latrodectus Malware Linked to 2017 Strain (inforisktoday.com)

• Critical Flaws Leave 92,000 D-Link NAS Devices Vulnerable to Malware Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Famous YouTube Channels Hacked to Distribute Infostealers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Bing ad posing as NordVPN aims to spread SecTopRAT malware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• ScrubCrypt used to drop VenomRAT along with many malicious plugins (securityaffairs.com)

• Hackers Use Malware to Hunt Software Vulnerabilities - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Unit 42: Malware-initiated scanning attacks on the rise | TechTarget

• RUBYCARP hackers linked to 10-year-old cryptomining botnet (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Raspberry Robin Returns: New Malware Campaign Spreading Through WSF Files (thehackernews.com)

• Malicious PowerShell script pushing malware looks AI-written (bleepingcomputer.com)

• TA547 Phishing Attack Hits German Firms with Rhadamanthys Stealer (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• Our phones are under threat more than ever — but many of us still don't have mobile security protection | TechRadar

• Apple Warns of iPhone "Mercenary Attack" Across 92 Countries (cnet.com)

• The next wave of mobile threats - Help Net Security

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• How Nation-State DDoS Attacks Impact Us All (darkreading.com)

• DDoS Protection Needs Detective and Preventive Controls (darkreading.com)

• French cities knocked offline by 'large-scale cyber attack' • The Register

Internet of Things – IoT

• Amazon Removes a Feature From Fire TVs Over Security Concerns | Cord Cutters News

• Over 90,000 LG Smart TVs may be exposed to remote attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• EV Charging Stations Still Riddled With Cyber Security Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

• UK town halls given green light to use Chinese CCTV — despite Westminster ban – POLITICO

• Hotel check-in terminal leaks rafts of guests' room codes • The Register

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Many of the world's biggest companies reported data breaches last year | TechRadar

• US Data Breach Reports Surge 90% Annually in Q1 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 37% of publicly shared files expose personal information - Help Net Security

• Acuity confirms hackers stole non-sensitive govt data from GitHub repos (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Home Depot confirms third-party data breach exposed employee info (bleepingcomputer.com)

• AT&T now says data breach impacted 51 million customers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• DOJ data on 340,000 individuals stolen in consulting firm hack | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Taxi software vendor exposes personal details of nearly 300K • The Register

• Employee credentials leaked in Microsoft security lapse (techmonitor.ai)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Russia ranked biggest cyber crime threat to rest of the world | Tech News | Metro News

• Oxford research uncovers world cyber crime hotspots | thisisoxfordshire

• Cyber crooks poison GitHub search to fool developers | Computer Weekly

• Zambia Busts 77 People in China-Backed Cyber Crime Op (darkreading.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Google sues crypto investment app makers over alleged massive "pig butchering" scam (bitdefender.com)

• Fugitive CEO at the center of 2022 crypto crash found liable for fraud | Cryptocurrencies | The Guardian

• Hackers deploy crypto drainers on thousands of WordPress sites (bleepingcomputer.com)

• RUBYCARP hackers linked to 10-year-old cryptomining botnet (bleepingcomputer.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• 74% of Employees Falling Victim to Phishing Attacks Hit With Disciplinary Actions; Egress Reveals | The Fintech Times

• Microsoft employees exposed internal passwords in security lapse | TechCrunch

• Insider Threats Surge Amid Growing Foreign Interference - Security Boulevard

Insurance

• US insurers using drones to deny home insurance policies • The Register

• Cyber Insurance: Sexy? No. Important? Critically yes. - Security Boulevard

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Why a near-miss cyber attack put US officials and the tech industry on edge - The Japan Times

• DOJ data on 340,000 individuals stolen in consulting firm hack | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Combatting Supply Chain Cyber Threats: Safeguarding Data and Protecting Digital Supply Chains | Foley & Lardner LLP - JDSupra

Encryption

• How cryptographers finally cracked one of the Zodiac Killer’s hardest codes | Popular Science (popsci.com)

Linux and Open Source

• The Cyber Attack Stopped by a Microsoft Engineer Was Scarier Than We Realize | Inc.com

• Supply chain attack sends shockwaves through open-source community | CyberScoop

• German state ditches Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice | ZDNET

• Open source foundations unite on common standards for EU’s Cyber Resilience Act | TechCrunch

• Who’s the bigger cyber security risk – Microsoft or open source? (reason.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Reusing passwords: The hidden cost of convenience (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft employees exposed internal passwords in security lapse | TechCrunch

• CISA says Sisense hack impacts critical infrastructure orgs (bleepingcomputer.com)

Social Media

• A TikTok Whistleblower Got DC’s Attention. Do His Claims Add Up? | WIRED

• 1.2 million people fooled by fake MidJourney Facebook page used to spread malware — don’t fall for this | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Famous YouTube Channels Hacked to Distribute Infostealers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Cyber Security Regulations Aren’t Static—Your Practices Can’t Be Either (forbes.com)

• Open source foundations unite on common standards for EU’s Cyber Resilience Act | TechCrunch

• Understanding CISA’s New Draft Rules for Cyber Attack Reporting | Morgan Lewis - Tech & Sourcing - JDSupra

• Spy Law Needs Fixing Now to Stop Overreach—Not a Backdoor Boost (bloomberglaw.com)

• AI and GDPR: How is AI being regulated? | TechTarget

• CISA: 300,000+ Small Entities Covered By Proposed Cyber Reporting Regs | MSSP Alert

• CISO Perspectives on Complying with Cyber Security Regulations (thehackernews.com)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• HIPAA Fundamentals for Providers | Tucker Arensberg, P.C. - JDSupra

• Process and Control Today | NIS2 – cyber security directive from the EU. Get ready! (pandct.com)

• DORA Compliance Checklist | UpGuard

Backup and Recovery

• Seven ways to be sure you can restore from backup | Computer Weekly

Data Protection

• 37% of publicly shared files expose personal information - Help Net Security

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Want to make cyber security much stronger? Become a mentor | CSO Online

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Zambia Busts 77 People in China-Backed Cyber Crime Op (darkreading.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• UK Warned Of AI Misinformation Targeting 2024 Polls, Nation-State Hackers Raise Stakes - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) - Benzinga

• State-backed cyber attacks, AI deepfakes: Top UK election cyber risks (cnbc.com)

• China is using generative AI to carry out influence operations (securityaffairs.com)

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

Nation State Actors

• How Nation-State DDoS Attacks Impact Us All (darkreading.com)

• Foreign Interference Drives Record Surge in IP Theft - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

China

• A TikTok Whistleblower Got DC’s Attention. Do His Claims Add Up? | WIRED

• Chinese Groups Deploy New TTPs to Exploit Ivanti Vulnerabilities - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• China is using generative AI to carry out influence operations (securityaffairs.com)

• Zambia Busts 77 People in China-Backed Cyber Crime Op (darkreading.com)

• Honeytrap sext scandal MP William Wragg will keep Tory whip (thetimes.co.uk)

• How China is Hacking America (newsweek.com)

• UK town halls given green light to use Chinese CCTV — despite Westminster ban – POLITICO

• China flooding Britain with fake stamps in act of 'economic warfare' (telegraph.co.uk)

Russia

• Germany to launch cyber military branch to combat Russian threats (therecord.media)

• US says Russian hackers stole federal government emails during Microsoft cyber attack | TechCrunch

• Macron: Russia will target Paris Olympics (insidethegames.biz)

• Cyber attack on TV channel BabyTV: Toddlers suddenly exposed to Russian propaganda | NL Times

• Czechia explains how Russia is trying to arrange sabotage on European railways | European Pravda (eurointegration.com.ua)

• Cyber security in 2023: Estonia's year of advanced threats (e-estonia.com)

• Oxford research uncovers world cyber crime hotspots | thisisoxfordshire

• Most cyber criminal threats are concentrated in just a few countries, new index shows (phys.org)

• Extensive Russian criminal record leak conducted by hacktivist group | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

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

• Top Israeli spy chief exposes his true identity in online security lapse | Israel | The Guardian

• Extensive Russian criminal record leak conducted by hacktivist group | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Apple Updates Spyware Alert System to Warn Victims of Mercenary Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Apple mercenary spyware attack: Exclusive: Apple warns users of "mercenary spyware" attack; India, 91 other countries impacted - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

• Apple Warns of iPhone "Mercenary Attack" Across 92 Countries (cnet.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Zero-Day Attacks on the Rise: Google Reports 50% Increase in 2023 - Security Boulevard

• How exposure management elevates cyber resilience - Help Net Security

• Company Offering $30 Million for Android, iOS, Browser Zero-Day Exploits -  Security Week

• Hackers Use Malware to Hunt Software Vulnerabilities - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Unit 42: Malware-initiated scanning attacks on the rise | TechTarget

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft Fixes 149 Flaws in Huge April Patch Release, Zero-Days Included (thehackernews.com)

• Patch Tuesday: Code Execution Flaws in Multiple Adobe Software Products -  Security Week

• Chinese Groups Deploy New TTPs to Exploit Ivanti Vulnerabilities - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• SAP's April 2024 Updates Patch High-Severity Vulnerabilities -  Security Week

• Microsoft Plugs Gaping Hole in Azure Kubernetes Service Confidential Containers -  Security Week

• Two new bugs can bypass detection and steal SharePoint data | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• New SharePoint flaws help hackers evade detection when stealing files (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers Claiming of Working Windows 0-Day LPE Exploit (cybersecuritynews.com)

• Microsoft fixes five security vulnerabilities in Edge 123 - Neowin

• Cisco Warns of Vulnerability in Discontinued Small Business Routers -  Security Week

• Urgent Security Alert! Hackers Hijacked Notepad++ Plugin (gbhackers.com)

• +16K Ivanti VPN gateways still vulnerable to RCE CVE-2024-21894 (securityaffairs.com)

• Over 92,000 exposed D-Link NAS devices have a backdoor account (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Company Offering $30 Million for Android, iOS, Browser Zero-Day Exploits -  Security Week

• Critical 'BatBadBut' Rust Vulnerability Exposes Windows Systems to Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Intel and Lenovo servers impacted by 6-year-old BMC flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Critical Flaws Leave 92,000 D-Link NAS Devices Vulnerable to Malware Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Fortinet Patches Critical RCE Vulnerability in FortiClientLinux -  Security Week

• Researchers Resurrect Spectre v2 Attack Against Intel CPUs -  Security Week

• AI-as-a-Service Providers Vulnerable to PrivEsc and Cross-Tenant Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Severe Vulnerabilities Discovered in Software to Protect Internet Routing (prleap.com)

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Tools and Controls

• Seven ways to be sure you can restore from backup | Computer Weekly

• Why incident response is the best cyber security ROI | CSO Online

• Why Intelligence Sharing Is Vital to Building a Robust Collective Cyber Defence Program -  Security Week

• Improving Dark Web Investigations with Threat Intelligence | Recorded Future

• What Lies Ahead for Cyber Security in the Era of Generative AI? - IT Security Guru

• What is cyber security risk & how to assess - Security Boulevard

• Your Guide to Threat Detection and Response - Security Boulevard

• Report finds 90% of cyber attacks in 2023 exploited RDP (securitybrief.co.nz)

• How exposure management elevates cyber resilience - Help Net Security

• Phishing Detection and Response: What You Need to Know - Security Boulevard

• The state of secrets security: 7 action items for better managing risk - Security Boulevard

• How Red Team Exercises Increases Your Cyber Health | Trend Micro (US)

• How Google’s 90-day TLS certificate validity proposal will affect enterprises - Help Net Security

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Cyber security breaches survey 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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Other News

• Third of charities experienced a cyber breach last year, government reports (civilsociety.co.uk)

• Hackers Exploit Magento Bug to Steal Payment Data from E-commerce Websites (thehackernews.com)

• OODA Loop - The Water Sector Is Being Threatened.  That Should Worry Everyone

• Anticipated Cyber Threats During the 2024 Olympics & How to Proactively Secure Your Business - Security Boulevard

• France Bracing for Cyber Attacks During Summer Olympics - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

• Risk & Repeat: Cyber Safety Review Board takes Microsoft to task | TechTarget

• The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is a Warning | Proceedings - April 2024 Vol. 150/4/1,454 (usni.org)

• Report finds 90% of cyber attacks in 2023 exploited RDP (securitybrief.co.nz)

• Scandal and cyber security in Westminster | Crooked Media

• Financial sector cyber security at the helm of investor protection | Mint (livemint.com)

• US Health Dept warns hospitals of hackers targeting IT help desks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Only 1% Singapore companies are “mature” in cyber threat readiness but 99% plan to increase their cyber security budget in the next 12 months - Singapore News (theindependent.sg)

• Former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan and lessons learned from the infamous 2016 Uber breach | CSO Online

• Software-Defined Vehicle Fleets Face a Twisty Road on Cyber Security (darkreading.com)

• Independent Pharmacies Must Prioritize Cyber Security (drugtopics.com)

• Devious 'man in the middle' hacks on the rise: How to stay safe | PCWorld

• Top 10 Attacker Techniques: What do They Mean for MSSPs? | MSSP Alert

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 September 2023

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

66 Percent of Businesses Don't Understand Their Cyber Risks

A survey has found that 67% of organisations have experienced a breach requiring attention within the last two years, despite having traditional security measures in place. Worryingly, 66% self-reported having limited visibility and insight into their cyber risk profiles.

83% of organisations agreed that a comprehensive cyber risk reduction strategy would yield a reduction in the likelihood of a significant cyber incident occurring, yet a number of organisations are finding it difficult to implement this and as a result are looking for outside assistance too. The report found that 93 percent of organisations plan to offload specific segments of cyber risk reduction workstreams or projects to security service providers within the next two years.

Source: [Beta News]

Massive Supplier Cyber Breach Puts London’s Metropolitan Police on Red Alert After Officer and Staff Details Hacked

All 47,000 personnel working for the Met Police were warned of the risk their photos, names and ranks having been stolen when cyber crooks penetrated the IT systems of a contractor printing warrant cards and staff passes. The supplier had access to names, ranks, photos, vetting levels and pay numbers of officers and staff, but did not hold information such as addresses, phone numbers or financial details.

The attack shows the importance of understanding the supply chain, and what access your supplier has access to. Without knowing who has your data, and what data, you will be left clueless if a breach on a supplier occurs.

Sources [Data Breaches] [UKAuthority]

Pay our Ransom Instead of a GDPR Fine, Cyber Crime Gang Tells Targets, as Attacks Against Small Businesses Ramp Up

Ransomware actors are always evolving their tactics, with gangs now telling victims if they don’t pay, then they will face fines under data protection laws. Additionally, small businesses are on the radar, partially due to them being easier targets for actors; some gangs have shifted from asking for millions from a large organisation, to requesting small ransoms from multiple small businesses.

As a result in both the number and sophistication of ransomware attacks, 80% of organisations expect their spending to increase. Not every organisation has an unlimited budget and so it is important that organisations are able to prioritise and allocate their budget effectively, to give them the most protection that their budget allows, especially small to medium-sized businesses.

Sources [Dark Reading] [The Record] [Security Magazine]

Survey Finds In-house Counsel Cyber Anxiety Skyrocketing

In a recent report, only 25% of legal professionals said they felt fully prepared to deal with a cyber attack, with 78% ranking the task of shielding their organisation from cyber attacks as the greatest regulatory concern over the next 12 months; previously, this figure was only 30% in 2021.

There has been a growing number of attacks, due to the sensitive data that is held and the number of attacks will continue to rise. With regulatory concerns adding to this, in-house counsel should be looking to have their concerns heard and drive the organisation to bolster their defences, and this may include outsourcing expert advice to make sure it is done correctly.

Source: [Law.com]

58% of Malicious Emails Contained Spoofed Content

According to a recent report, 58% of malicious emails contained spoof content and spam emails had increased by 30% from Q1 to Q2 2023. The report identified a surge in the number of uses of QR codes as a primary attack method, showing that attack methods are evolving, and in some cases, choosing not to use traditional methods.

The report reinforces the need for constant user education training, to reduce the risk of an employee falling for a phishing email. With this training, new evolving techniques such as that with QR codes, should also be addressed.

Source: [Security Magazine]

Cyber Attacks Remain a Top Concern for Organisations Across All Industries

Cyber attacks remain a top threat to organisations’ ability to do business across all industries. When asked in a recent report, 18% of respondents reported that cyber attacks threatened or disrupted their business.

With cyber attacks being a huge concern, many organisations have an incident response plan in place; yet despite this, nearly one quarter (23%) of companies surveyed have either never conducted tests or are unsure if their teams have tested. Cyber incidents are a matter of when, not if, and a strong incident response plan is always needed and can prevent a bad situation from being made worse by doing the wrong things in the immediate aftermath of an attack.

Source: [Business Wire]

BYOD Security Gap: Survey Finds 49% of European Firms Unprotected

A recent survey found that a concerning 49% of European businesses are operating without having a formal bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, highlighting a lack of visibility and control over such devices. The report found that organisations are concerned about compliance-based issues, with 43% noting increased worries.

The benefits of BYOD are clear, allowing organisations to save money and eliminate the need for multiple devices. But without a formal BYOD policy, organisations are risking having employees bring in devices that are effectively invisible to IT. This means that the vulnerabilities that come with it, and the risks it can bring, also go unnoticed. To mitigate the risk, a formalised BYOD policy is required.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

13% of Employees Admit to Falling for Phishing Attacks Working at Home, 9% Would Wait to Report After the Weekend

In a recent report, it was found that 13% of employees admitted they had fallen for a phishing attack whilst working from home. Rather worryingly, 21% said they would continue working business as usual in the event of falling victim to a phishing attack whilst working remotely on a Friday, with 9% indicating they’d wait until after the weekend to report it, effectively, giving the attacker a 48 hour period in which they go unnoticed, if the employee even remembers to report it on the Monday.

It is important that users are educated, both on spotting phishing attacks and the reporting process, so that organisations can be best protected. By providing regular and effective user training, employees will be at less risk of falling victim to a phishing attack, even from home. Additionally, by understanding the reporting process and why there is a need to report as soon as possible, organisations will shorten their detection time.

Source: [Security Magazine]

Numbers Don't Lie: Exposing the Harsh Truths of Cyber Attacks in New Report

In their most recent quarterly report, BlackBerry focused on a 90-day window, identifying over 1.5 million malware-based attacks, over 200,000 unique attacks, 17,000 attacks per day and 12 per minute to name a few. The report found that financial institutions were amongst the most targeted.

Source: [The Hacker News]

Kroll’s Breach Highlights SIM-Swapping Risk

A recent supply chain breach at Kroll, the risk and financial advisory firm, affected downstream customers and exposed personal information on hundreds of claimants in bankruptcy proceedings. The breach occurred when a threat actor had transferred an employee’s phone number to a device in the attackers possession, which was then subsequently used to access sensitive information.

In this attack, the actor had convinced T-Mobile to port the employee’s number over, allowing the actor to access files containing bankruptcy details. A mitigation recommended for this is to ask your network provider if they offer port freeze or number lock, to protect it from unauthorised transfer.

Source [Dark Reading]

Reducing The Risk of AI, What Can You Do?

Threat actors' use of generative AI has fuelled a significant rise in attacks worldwide during the last 12 months according to a recent report. Yet despite this, AI is still seen as a positive thing for organisations, with the power of generative AI quickly realised.

Certainly, AI can be used in the organisation to increase efficiency and automate tasks, but it must be used with vigilance. Organisations implementing AI should have governance over the usage of AI to eliminate the chance of data leaking. This governance may include policies, procedures and approved AI software.

Sources: [CSO Online] [UKTech News]

Debunking Popular Cyber Security Myths

At a time when cyber security is a constant feature in the news and our daily lives, it is important to debunk a few myths surrounding it. One of the biggest, is the assumption that cyber defence is all about the technical controls; in fact, 89% of cyber attacks involved social engineering. The prevalence of social engineering further shows that strong passwords, firewalls and antivirus are not enough; what’s the use in having a password that takes years to crack if you hand it over to someone?

When we think cyber security, we often think of external threat actors, but insider risk is a real threat: whether by malicious actions, negligence or misunderstanding, those inside your organisation can be a real risk to your organisation.

So what’s the take home? Cyber is more than just technology, and it is not just an outside attacker. Organisations’ cyber efforts should focus on more than just the technical requirements; by having things such as user education training, organisations can mitigate their cyber risk.

Sources: [Forbes] [Trend Micro]

3 Malware Loaders Responsible for 80% of Intrusions

Three malware loaders, QBot, SocGholish, and Raspberry Robin, are responsible for 80 percent of observed attacks on computers and networks so far this year. The malware are all distributed differently; Qbot is typically deployed through a phishing email, SocGholish is downloaded without user interaction, and Raspberry Robin is through USB devices.

Sources: [The Register] [Infosecurity Magazine]

MOVEit Hack Shows Attackers Still Use Old Tricks

SQL injection has been around for a quarter of a century, yet it still features amongst the top 10 list of security vulnerabilities. In fact, SQL injection was the method of attack for the infamous MOVEit hacks, which has impacted over 700 organisations, with the number still growing.

The MOVEit attack highlights just how easily old, over-looked vulnerabilities can be used to target an organisation. Consider your organisation now: are there any legacy systems or software in place?

Source: [Dark Reading]

Barracuda Thought it Drove 0-day Hackers out of Customers’ Networks. It was Wrong.

In late May, security vendor Barracuda had released a patch for their email security gateway (ESG), which was being actively exploited. Having already accounted for this, the threat actors utilised a new attack, which meant infected devices would reinfect themselves, effectively negating Barracuda’s patch. Unfortunately, this meant that for a while, Barracuda thought it was in the clear, when it was still under attack.

Upon realising this, Barracuda’s security advisory changed from recommending a patch to requiring an immediate replacement of compromised ESG appliances, regardless of the patch level. This shows the need for organisations to keep up to date with the latest threat intelligence, as missing the second update could mean infected devices are still in the wild, with organisations under the false perception that they were safe.

Source: [Ars Technica]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber Attacks and Other Threats Remain a Top Concern for Organisations Across All Industries, Finds InformationWeek’s State of Cyber Risk and Resiliency Report | Business Wire

• 66 percent of businesses don't understand their cyber risks (betanews.com)

• Survey of In-House Counsel Finds Cyber Anxiety Skyrocketing | Law.com

• Numbers Don't Lie: Exposing the Harsh Truths of Cyber Attacks in New Report (thehackernews.com)

• SEC Probe Targets SolarWinds Executives - DevX

• Cyber Security Enters Conversation About Executive Pay - WSJ

• Cyber defence makes up majority of cyber security budgets | Security Magazine

• How international cyber security frameworks can help CISOs | CSO Online

• Balancing risk and compliance: implications of the SEC’s new cyber security regulations | CSO Online

• SEC cyber attack regulations prompt 10 questions for CISOs | TechTarget

• Should Senior IT Professionals Be Accountable for Professional Decisions? (darkreading.com)

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• 80% of organisations expect ransomware spending to increase | Security Magazine

• Akira Ransomware gang targets Cisco ASA without Multi-Factor Auth (securityaffairs.com)

• Citrix NetScaler Alert: Ransomware Hackers Exploiting Critical Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• MOVEit Was a SQL Injection Accident Waiting to Happen (darkreading.com)

• Nearly 1,000 Organisations, 60 Million Individuals Impacted by MOVEit Hack - SecurityWeek

• Ransomware With an Identity Crisis Targets Small Businesses, Individuals (darkreading.com)

• Pay our ransom instead of a GDPR fine, cyber crime gang tells its targets (therecord.media)

• Ransomware Attack Cleanup Costs: $11M So Far for Rackspace (govinfosecurity.com)

• LogicMonitor customers who didn’t change default passwords were hit by hackers (databreaches.net)

• LockBit 3.0 Ransomware Builder Leak Gives Rise to Hundreds of New Variants (thehackernews.com)

• Deconstructing ransomware, cyber criminals and their modus operandi | TechRadar

• Ransomware Evolution: Smaller Actors, Bigger Impact (govinfosecurity.com)

• Ransomware hackers dwell time drops to 5 days, RDP still widely used (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Making Sense of Ransomware Attack Statistics in 2023 | ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More

• Financial Firms Breached in MOVEit Cyber Attacks Now Face Lawsuits (darkreading.com)

• Should Companies Pay After Ransomware Attacks? Is It Illegal? (techtarget.com)

• How Ransomware Groups Respond to External Pressure (inforisktoday.com)

• Decoding the DNA of Ransomware Attacks: Unveiling the Anatomy Behind the Threat (trellix.com)

• Rackspace Faces Massive Cleanup Costs After Ransomware Attack (darkreading.com)

• EDITORIAL | Time to Cut Off North Korea from Funding Sources for its Missiles | JAPAN Forward (japan-forward.com)

• International ransomware gangs are evolving their techniques. The next generation of hackers will target weaknesses in cryptocurrencies (theconversation.com)

• 8 Types of Ransomware: Examples of Past and Current Attacks (techtarget.com)

• Black Basta Besting Your Network? (securityintelligence.com)

Ransomware Victims

• Financial Firms Breached in MOVEit Cyber Attacks Now Face Lawsuits (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware Attack Cleanup Costs: $11M So Far for Rackspace (govinfosecurity.com)

• St Helens Council still dealing with suspected cyber-attack - BBC News

• Rhysida claims ransomware attack on Prospect Medical, threatens to sell data (bleepingcomputer.com)

• University of Michigan shuts down network after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Social Security Numbers leaked in ransomware attack on Ohio History Connection (malwarebytes.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Phishing as a service continues to plague business users - SiliconANGLE

• 58% of malicious emails contained spoof content | Security Magazine

• 13% of employees admit to falling for phishing attacks working at home | Security Magazine

• Top 5 most abused brands by hackers

• New phishing attacks target FTX users following Kroll data breach – Cryptopolitan

• Phishing-as-a-Service Gets Smarter: Microsoft Sounds Alarm on AiTM Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Spain warns of LockBit Locker ransomware phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US govt email servers hacked in Barracuda zero-day attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• QR Code' Surge in Popularity Brings Along a Rise in QR-Linked Phishing Scams | Metaverse Post (mpost.io)

• Rising Phishing Scams Impact Small Businesses Relying on Social Media (smallbiztrends.com)

• Can You Spot Phishing Emails? Test Your Awareness With These Quizzes (makeuseof.com)

• How to Spot Phishing Emails & Tips to Avoid Them | Proofpoint US

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Kroll Suffers Data Breach: Employee Falls Victim to SIM Swapping Attack (thehackernews.com)

• New phishing attacks target FTX users following Kroll data breach – Cryptopolitan

• 3 Cryptocurrency Firms Suffer Data Breach After Kroll SIM Swapping Attack - SecurityWeek

Artificial Intelligence

• Cyber security agency gives AI chatbot warning (uktech.news)

• Why generative AI is a double-edged sword for the cyber security sector | VentureBeat

• IT leaders alarmed by generative AI's SaaS security implications - Help Net Security

• Is Bias in AI Algorithms a Threat to Cloud Security? (darkreading.com)

• Shifting Cyber Security: The Impact and Implications of LLMs (inforisktoday.com)

• Vendors Training AI With Customer Data is an Enterprise Risk (darkreading.com)

• Advanced Malware: Why AI Can't Help All Hackers (inforisktoday.com)

• Hacking the future: Notes from DEF CON’s Generative Red Team Challenge | CSO Online

• Building cyber resilience in an age of AI (betanews.com)

• How to minimize data risk for generative AI and LLMs in the enterprise | VentureBeat

• Google launches tool to identify AI-generated images - Help Net Security

2FA/MFA

• Akira Ransomware gang targets Cisco ASA without Multi-Factor Auth (securityaffairs.com)

AITM/MITM

• Microsoft Warns of Adversary-in-the-Middle Uptick on Phishing Platform - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Malware

• These 3 loaders were behind 80% of intrusions this year • The Register

• 20+ Malware Statistics You Need to Know in 2023 (techreport.com)

• Cisco Talos Research: New Lazarus Group Attack Malware Campaign Hits UK & US Businesses (techrepublic.com)

• 'Whiffy Recon' Malware Transmits Device Location Every 60 Seconds (darkreading.com)

• Infamous Raccoon Stealer Malware Returns - DevX

• Top 3 Malware Threatening Businesses in Q2 2023 (cybersecuritynews.com)

• Malware Unleashed: Public Sector Hit in Sudden Surge, Reveals New Research (darkreading.com)

• KmsdBot Malware Gets an Upgrade: Now Targets IoT Devices with Enhanced Capabilities (thehackernews.com)

• Japan's JPCERT warns of new 'MalDoc in PDF' attack technique (securityaffairs.com)

• Advanced Malware: Why AI Can't Help All Hackers (inforisktoday.com)

• DarkGate Malware Activity Spikes as Developer Rents Out Malware to Affiliates (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers are now hiding malicious Word documents in PDFs — how to stay safe | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• DreamBus malware exploits RocketMQ flaw to infect servers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kaspersky malware report for Q2 2023 | Securelist

• Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google - The Verge

• APT Attacks From 'Earth Estries' Hit Gov't, Tech With Custom Malware (darkreading.com)

• CISA and International Partners Release Malware Analysis Report on Infamous Chisel Mobile Malware | CISA

• SapphireStealer Malware: A Gateway to Espionage and Ransomware Operations (thehackernews.com)

• Battling malware in the industrial supply chain

Mobile

• Kroll's Crypto Breach Highlights SIM-Swapping Risk (darkreading.com)

• This new Android malware can unlock your phone and drain your bank accounts | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Privacy Regulator Warns of Surging Number of “Text Pest” Cases - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Is Mobile Hacking Still a Big Threat in 2023? (makeuseof.com)

• New Android MMRat malware uses Protobuf protocol to steal your data (bleepingcomputer.com)

• What Are Overlay Attacks? How Do You Protect Against Them? (makeuseof.com)

• New Android Banking Trojan Targets Southeast Asia Region (inforisktoday.com)

• China-Linked BadBazaar Android Spyware Targeting Signal and Telegram Users (thehackernews.com)

• Five Eyes Report: New Russian Malware Targeting Ukrainian Military Android Devices - Security Week

• Chinese APT Uses Fake Messenger Apps to Spy on Android Users (inforisktoday.com)

• 8 Ways To Boost Your Android Phone's Security (slashgear.com)

Botnets

• Online exclusive: Rise of the botnets (securitymiddleeastmag.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• DDoS attacks rise 40% in Q2 2023, affecting banks, gaming & e-commerce | Security Magazine

BYOD

• BYOD Security Gap: Survey Finds 49% of European Firms Unprotected - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• KmsdBot Malware Gets an Upgrade: Now Targets IoT Devices with Enhanced Capabilities (thehackernews.com)

• The power of passive OS fingerprinting for accurate IoT device identification - Help Net Security

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Metropolitan Police reports supplier cyber breach | UKAuthority

• UK: Metropolitan Police on red alert after details of officers and staff hacked in massive security breach (databreaches.net)

• Kroll Suffers Data Breach: Employee Falls Victim to SIM Swapping Attack (thehackernews.com)

• American Express admits APAC employees' data leak, blames a third-party payroll service

• National Safety Council data leak: Credentials of NASA, Tesla, DoJ, Verizon, and 2K others leaked by workplace safety organisation (securityaffairs.com)

• Leaseweb is restoring ‘critical’ systems after security breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• French employment agency Pôle emploi data breach impacted 10M peopleSecurity Affairs

• Mom’s Meals discloses data breach impacting 1.2 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 3 Cryptocurrency Firms Suffer Data Breach After Kroll SIM Swapping Attack - Security Week

• Paramount discloses data breach following security incident (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Another data breach at Forever 21 leaks details of 500,000 current and former employees (bitdefender.com)

• Cost of a data breach 2023: Financial industry impacts (securityintelligence.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Moscow helping cyber criminals operate with 'near impunity': report | The Province

• Hacking gangs launch cyber crime syndicate the Five Families (techmonitor.ai)

• Microsoft weighs in on Russian-led UN cyber crime treaty • The Register

• ‘Billion Dollar Heist’: The Wild Story That Should Have Us All Petrified (thedailybeast.com)

• New Research Exposes Airbnb as Breeding Ground For Cyber Crime - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Microsoft: UN treaty creates 'ideal conditions' for cyber crime (telecomstechnews.com)

• Cyber Criminals use research contests to create new attack methods - Help Net Security

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Kroll data breach exposes info of FTX, BlockFi, Genesis creditors (bleepingcomputer.com)

• International ransomware gangs are evolving their techniques. The next generation of hackers will target weaknesses in cryptocurrencies (theconversation.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• New Research Exposes Airbnb as Breeding Ground For Cyber Crime - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Classiscam Spreads: $64.5M Scheme Targets 79 Countries - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Impersonation Attacks

• Top 5 most abused brands by hackers

• New York Times Spoofed to Hide Russian Disinformation Campaign (darkreading.com)

Deepfakes

• 4 Strategies to Safeguard the Finance Industry Against Deepfake Onslaught (darkreading.com)

Insurance

• Insurers End Tussle Over Ransomware Attack Coverage - Law360 UK

• Delinea Research Reveals a Cyber Insurance Gap (darkreading.com)

• Understand the fine print of your cyber insurance policies - Help Net Security

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• American Express admits APAC employees' data leak, blames a third-party payroll service

• Met should thoroughly investigate cyber security practices, say experts | Evening Standard

Cloud/SaaS

• CrowdStrike CTO: 'Rookie mistakes' are hurting cloud security | TechTarget

• Better SaaS Security Goes Beyond Procurement (darkreading.com)

• How to secure your cloud-based business without cloud-security expertise - Partner Content - Security - iTnews

• Experts Uncover How Cyber Criminals Could Exploit Microsoft Entra ID for Elevated Privilege (thehackernews.com)

• Considerations for Reducing Risk When Migrating to the Cloud (darkreading.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• 13% of employees admit to falling for phishing attacks working at home | Security Magazine

Identity and Access Management

• The Rising Tide of Identity-Based Attacks - GovInfoSecurity

Encryption

• Quantum threats loom in Gartner's 2023 Hype Cycle for data security | VentureBeat

• How Quantum Computing Will Impact Cyber Security - Security Week

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• National Safety Council data leak: Credentials of NASA, Tesla, DoJ, Verizon, and 2K others leaked by workplace safety organisation (securityaffairs.com)

• Four common password mistakes hackers love to exploit (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers Launch Brute-Force Attack Cisco ASA SSL VPNs (cybersecuritynews.com)

• 3 out of 4 cyber attacks in the education sector are associated with a compromised on premises user or admin account - IT Security Guru

• LogicMonitor customers who didn’t change default passwords were hit by hackers (databreaches.net)

Biometrics

• Police Scotland digital strategy seeks real-time biometrics within 5 years | Biometric Update

• Elon Musk's X to collect biometric data, work and school history - The Japan Times

• Home Office and MoD seeking new facial-recognition tech | Computer Weekly

Social Media

• ICO calls social media firms to protect people's data from scraping (bleepingcomputer.com)

• EU safety laws start to bite for TikTok, Instagram and others - BBC News

• How the EU Digital Services Act affects Facebook, Google and others | Technology sector | The Guardian

• Rising Phishing Scams Impact Small Businesses Relying on Social Media (smallbiztrends.com)

• X Plans to Collect Biometric Data, Job and School History (1) (bloomberglaw.com)

• Anonymous Sudan hacks X to put pressure on Elon Musk over Starlink - BBC News

• Hackers Are Selling Hacked Police Emails to Try to Grab Personal Data From TikTok, Facebook (404media.co)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Can You Spot Phishing Emails? Test Your Awareness With These Quizzes (makeuseof.com)

• Cyber awareness education is a change-management initiative | CSO Online

Cyber Bullying, Cyber Stalking and Sextortion

• Privacy Regulator Warns of Surging Number of “Text Pest” Cases - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Pay our ransom instead of a GDPR fine, cyber crime gang tells its targets (therecord.media)

• SEC Probe Targets SolarWinds Executives - DevX

• New law could turn UK into a hacker's playground | Computerworld

• Changes to UK Surveillance Regime May Violate International Law (justsecurity.org)

• EU safety laws start to bite for TikTok, Instagram and others - BBC News

• Draft Cyber Security Audit and Risk Assessment Regulations Issued by CPPA | Mintz - JDSupra

• SEC’s New Cyber Security Rule—Including Key Disclosure Requirements | Smith Gambrell Russell - JDSupra

• Balancing risk and compliance: implications of the SEC’s new cyber security regulations | CSO Online

• Legal Liability for Insecure Software Might Work, but It's Dangerous (darkreading.com)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• What are the Cyber Security Standards of Basel III? | UpGuard

• Best practices for MITRE ATT&CK(R) mapping. (thecyberwire.com)

• Is the new OWASP API Top 10 helpful to defenders? - Help Net Security

• How international cyber security frameworks can help CISOs | CSO Online

Data Protection

• ICO calls social media firms to protect people's data from scraping (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Are you properly protecting your employees' personal information? | Burr & Forman - JDSupra

• Data Protection: One of These Incidents Is Not Like the Other | Troutman Pepper - JDSupra

• Draft Cyber Security Audit and Risk Assessment Regulations Issued by CPPA | Mintz - JDSupra

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Addressing Cyber Security's Talent Shortage & Its Impact on CISOs (darkreading.com)

• Unfilled Cyber Security Positions Threaten the Future of Businesses Everywhere | Inc.com

• How the Talent Shortage Impacts Cyber Security Leadership (securityintelligence.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Two Men Arrested Following Poland Railway Hacking - Security Week

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Police Scotland digital strategy seeks real-time biometrics within 5 years | Biometric Update

• Privacy Regulator Warns of Surging Number of “Text Pest” Cases - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Expert shares stark safety warning over Twitter updates | Tech News | Metro News

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• New York Times Spoofed to Hide Russian Disinformation Campaign (darkreading.com)

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

Russia

• 'Five Eyes' nations release technical details of Sandworm malware 'Infamous Chisel' | CyberScoop

• New York Times Spoofed to Hide Russian Disinformation Campaign (darkreading.com)

• NCSC, SBU reveal overt Russian cyber campaign as cyber war continues to evolve | ITPro

• Czech banks hit by Russian cyber attacks – EURACTIV.com

• Cyber security experts lament west’s failure to learn lessons from Ukraine | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Russian 'hybrid' war threatens NATO's eastern flank, Poles warn - Washington Times

• Microsoft weighs in on Russian-led UN cyber crime treaty • The Register

• Five Eyes Report: New Russian Malware Targeting Ukrainian Military Android Devices - Security Week

• Anonymous Sudan hacks X to put pressure on Elon Musk over Starlink - BBC News

• Russian APT Intensifies Cyber Espionage Activities - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• CISA and International Partners Release Malware Analysis Report on Infamous Chisel Mobile Malware | CISA

China

• Microsoft signing keys keep getting hijacked, to the delight of Chinese threat actors | Ars Technica

• China-Based APT Flies Under Radar in Espionage Attacks | Decipher (duo.com)

• China-Linked Flax Typhoon Cyber Espionage Targets Taiwan's Key Sectors (thehackernews.com)

• Barracuda flaw: FBI warns customers over ineffective patch | ITPro

• Almost a third of compromised Barracuda ESGs were govt owned • The Register

• James Cleverly's China cyber security talks unlikely to spur change (techmonitor.ai)

• Japan’s cyber security agency suffers months-long breach | Financial Times (ft.com)

• China-Linked BadBazaar Android Spyware Targeting Signal and Telegram Users (thehackernews.com)

• APT Attacks From 'Earth Estries' Hit Gov't, Tech With Custom Malware (darkreading.com)

• Chinese APT Uses Fake Messenger Apps to Spy on Android Users (inforisktoday.com)

North Korea

• Cisco Talos Research: New Lazarus Group Attack Malware Campaign Hits UK & US Businesses (techrepublic.com)

• North Korea’s Lazarus Group hits organisations with two new RATs | CSO Online

• Lazarus Group Debuts Tiny Trojan for Espionage Attacks (databreachtoday.co.uk)

• Cyber Scams Keep North Korean Missiles Flying – Analysis – Eurasia Review

• North Korea’s Lazarus hackers behind recent crypto heists: FBI (therecord.media)

• North Korean hackers behind malicious VMConnect PyPI campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• New law could turn UK into a hacker's playground | Computerworld

• 40% of Log4j Downloads Still Vulnerable (securityintelligence.com)

• How did Clop get its hands on the MOVEit zero day? (therecord.media)

Vulnerabilities

• Cisco fixes 3 high-severity DoS flaws in NX-OS and FXOS software (securityaffairs.com)

• Citrix NetScaler Alert: Ransomware Hackers Exploiting Critical Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• Critical Vulnerability Alert: VMware Aria Operations Networks at Risk from Remote Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Microsoft Teams attack exposes collab platform security gaps | TechTarget

• Barracuda flaw: FBI warns customers over ineffective patch | ITPro

• Barracuda thought it drove 0-day hackers out of customers’ networks. It was wrong. | Ars Technica

• CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog | CISA

• Exploit released for Juniper firewall bugs allowing RCE attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Chrome 116's second point update addresses a security issue - gHacks Tech News

• Forminator WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Affects Up To 400,000+ Websites (searchenginejournal.com)

• Threat actors started exploiting Juniper flaws shortly after PoC release (securityaffairs.com)

• Hackers Launch Brute-Force Attack Cisco ASA SSL VPNs (cybersecuritynews.com)

• Splunk Patches High-Severity Flaws in Enterprise, IT Service Intelligence - Security Week

• This WordPress plugin with 5 million users could have a serious security flaw | TechRadar

• Cyber Attackers Swarm OpenFire Cloud Servers With Takeover Barrage (darkreading.com)

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Tools and Controls

• BYOD Security Gap: Survey Finds 49% of European Firms Unprotected - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Why generative AI is a double-edged sword for the cyber security sector | VentureBeat

• Cyber defence makes up majority of cyber security budgets | Security Magazine

• Ransomware hackers dwell time drops to 5 days, RDP still widely used (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Think twice before accepting notifications on Chrome: threats on the rise | Cybernews

• Considerations for Reducing Risk When Migrating to the Cloud (darkreading.com)

• Enterprise dark web monitoring: Why it's worth the investment | TechTarget

• Phishing Simulations Boost Cyber Awareness and Defences | Mimecast

• Is the new OWASP API Top 10 helpful to defenders? - Help Net Security

• Here's What Your Breach Response Plan Might Be Missing (darkreading.com)

• The Middleware Threats to Microsoft's Monopoly | HackerNoon

• Why Traditional Firewalls Are Not Adequate for Your Network Security (makeuseof.com)

• Combining EPP and EDR tools can boost your endpoint security (securityintelligence.com)

• Automated Threat Hunting: AI Helps Spot Shady Network Activity (readwrite.com)

• Detecting the Undetected: The Risk to Your Info (securityintelligence.com)

• National Grid plots ‘honeypots’ to catch hackers as cyber attacks ramp up (telegraph.co.uk)

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Other News

• Cyber attacks reveal threat to democracy (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)

• Hackers Use $30 Gear To Bring Poland's Railways To A Grinding Halt

• When lives rely on equipment, cyber security is essential | Healthcare IT News

• Think twice before accepting notifications on Chrome: threats on the rise | Cybernews

• Rising cyber incidents challenge healthcare organisations - Help Net Security

• Updated Best Practice Playbook for Healthcare Cyber Threats (inforisktoday.com)

• Navigating Legacy Infrastructure: A CISO's Actionable Strategy for Success (thehackernews.com)

• Legal Liability for Insecure Software Might Work, but It's Dangerous (darkreading.com)

• 3 out of 4 cyber attacks in the education sector are associated with a compromised on premises user or admin account - IT Security Guru

• 69% of educational organisations suffered cyber attack in the past year - Netwrix survey

• Claroty's 2023 Global Healthcare Cyber Security Study Exposes Widespread Vulnerabilities And Impact (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Out-Of-Office: How To Ensure Cyber Security During Vulnerable Periods (forbes.com)

• Debunking The Top Five Cyber Security Myths (forbes.com)

• Manufacturing firms hit by the worst encryption rate in three years (manufacturing-today.com)

• Cyber Attacks Targeting E-commerce Applications (thehackernews.com)

• Industrial networks need better security as attacks gain scale | ZDNET

• National Grid plots ‘honeypots’ to catch hackers as cyber attacks ramp up (telegraph.co.uk)

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

·         OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23rd June 2023

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

• Cyber Security Industry Still Fighting to Recruit and Retain Talent

Cyber security teams are struggling to find the right talent, with the right skills, and to retain experienced employees. The situation is only likely to worsen, as inflation and a tight labour market push up wages. Universities produce graduates with a strong focus on technical knowledge, but not always the broader skills they need to operate in a business environment. This includes the lack of communications skills, understanding of how businesses operate and even emotional intelligence. One solution is to outsource to a corporate cyber security provider or outsource to infill shortages whilst trying to recruit permanent staff.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybersecurity-industry-recruit/

• How the MOVEit Breach Shows Hackers' Interest in Corporate File Transfer Tools

The world of managed file transfer (MFT) software has become a lucrative target for ransom-seeking hackers, with significant breaches including those of Accellion Inc's File Transfer Appliance in 2021 and Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT earlier this year. These MFT programs, corporate versions of popular file sharing programs like Dropbox or WeTransfer, are highly desirable to hackers for the sensitive data they often transfer between organisations and partners. The recent mass compromise tied to Progress Software Corp's MOVEit transfer product has prompted governments and companies worldwide to scramble in response.

Hackers are shifting their tactics, with an increasing focus on MFT programs which typically face the open internet, making them more vulnerable to breaches. Once inside these file transfer points, hackers have direct access to a wealth of data. In addition, there's a noticeable shift from ransomware groups encrypting a company's network and demanding payment to unscramble it, to a simpler tactic of pure extortion by threatening to leak the data.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/how-moveit-breach-shows-hackers-interest-corporate-file-transfer-tools-2023-06-16/

• Attackers Discovering Exposed Cloud Assets within Minutes

The shift to cloud services, increased remote work, and reliance on third-parties has led to widespread use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications. This has also opened avenues for attackers to exploit weak security configurations and identities. Over the past year, attackers have intercepted authorisation tokens, bypassed multifactor authentication, and exploited misconfigured systems, targeting critical applications like GitHub, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, and Okta. A study revealed alarmingly fast rates of breach discovery and compromise of exposed cloud assets, with assets being discovered within as little as two minutes for some and others within an hour.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/366542352/Attackers-discovering-exposed-cloud-assets-within-minutes

https://www.darkreading.com/dr-tech/growing-saas-usage-means-larger-attack-surface

• Majority of Users Neglect Best Password Practices

The latest Password Management Report by Keeper Security has shed light on the concerning state of password security practices. The survey found that only 25% of respondents used solid and unique passwords. In comparison, 34% admitted to using repeat variations of passwords, and 30% still relied on simple and easily guessable passwords. The survey also found that 44% of individuals who claimed to have well-managed passwords still admitted to using repeated variations, while 20% acknowledged having had at least one password involved in a data breach or available on the dark web. The document also revealed that 35% of respondents feel overwhelmed when it comes to improving their cyber security. Furthermore, 10% admitted to neglecting password management altogether. More generally, Keeper Security said the survey’s findings highlight a significant gap between perception and reality regarding password security.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/users-neglect-best-password/

• One in Three Workers Susceptible to Phishing

More than one in three workers in the UK and Ireland are susceptible to falling for phishing attacks, according to the new 2023 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report by KnowBe4. The study found that 35% of users who had received no security training were prone to clicking on suspicious links or engaging in fraudulent actions. Regular training and continual reinforcement can get this figure down but even with training very few organisations ever get click rates down to zero, and you only need one person to click to cause potentially devastating consequences.

Globally, ransomware was responsible for 24% of all data breaches in 2023, with human error accounting for 74% of these incidents. Phishing attacks can often lead to significant reputational damage, financial loss and disruption to business operations.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/one-in-three-phishing/

• Ransomware Misconceptions Abound, to the Benefit of Attackers

There is a common ransomware misperception that there's no capability to fight this all too common hostage taking of business data. This is not true. Proactive organisations are increasingly making more strategic use of threat intelligence to prevent or disrupt attacks.

Ransomware has evolved into a massive, often state-sponsored, industry where operators buy, develop, and resell ransomware code, infiltrate networks, and collect ransoms. The perception that a speedy response is critical to prevent data encryption and loss is outdated; attackers now focus on data exfiltration, using ransomware as a distraction. They often target smaller organisations that are linked to larger ones through supply chains, using them as stepping stones. It is important to use in-depth defence measures, including email security to prevent phishing and efficient detection and response systems to identify and recover from changes.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/ransomware-misconceptions-abound-to-the-benefit-of-attackers

• Threat Actors Scale and Commoditise Uncommon Tools and Techniques

Proofpoint’s 2023 Human Factor report highlights significant developments in the cyber attack landscape in 2022. Following two years of pandemic-induced disruption, cyber criminals returned to their usual operations, honing their social engineering skills and commoditising once sophisticated attack techniques. There was a noticeable increase in brute-force and targeted attacks on cloud tenants, conversational smishing attacks, and multifactor authentication (MFA) bypasses. Microsoft 365 formed a large part of organisations' attack surfaces and faced broad abuse, from Office macros to OneNote documents.

Despite some advances in security controls, threat actors continue to innovate and scale their bypasses. Techniques like MFA bypass and telephone-oriented attack delivery are now commonplace. Attackers consistently exploit people, who remain the most critical variable in the attack chain.

https://www.proofpoint.com/uk/newsroom/press-releases/proofpoints-2023-human-factor-report-threat-actors-scale-and-commoditise

• Goodbyes are Difficult, IT Offboarding Processes Make Them Harder

A recent survey found that 68% of organisations recognise the offboarding process as a major cyber security risk, but only 36% have adequate controls in place to secure data access when employees depart. The study revealed that 60% of organisations have discovered former employees still had access to corporate applications after leaving, and 52% have had security incidents linked to former employees. Interestingly, IT professionals are not always alerted when employees leave, leading to access not being revoked and IT assets being mishandled 34% of the time.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/06/19/it-offboarding-processes/

• Security Budget Hikes are Missing the Mark, CISOs Say

Misguided expectations on security spend are causing problems for CISOs despite notable budget increases. A recent report found that while most CISOs are experiencing noteworthy increases in security funding, impractical expectations of budget holders are leading to significant amounts being spent on what’s hitting the headlines instead of strategic, business-centric investment in security defences. This lack of understanding shows that a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that information security receives the attention it deserves, especially in the boardroom.

The report found that just 9% of CISOs said information security is always in the top three priorities on the boardroom’s meeting agenda, and less than a quarter (22%) of CISOs are actively participating in business strategy and decision-making processes. Talking to the board about cyber security in a way that is productive can be a significant challenge for CISOs, and failing to do so effectively can result in confusion, disillusionment, and a lack of cohesion among directors, the security function, and the rest of the organisation.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3700073/security-budget-hikes-are-missing-the-mark-cisos-say.html

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/06/22/average-cybersecurity-budget-increase/

• Understanding Cyber Resilience: Building a Holistic Approach to Cyber Security

In today’s interconnected world, the threat of cyber attacks is a constant concern for organisations of all sizes and across all industries. Cyber resilience entails not only making it difficult for attackers to infiltrate your systems but also ensuring that your organisation can bounce back quickly and continue operations successfully.

Cyber resilience offers a holistic approach to cyber security, emphasising the ability to withstand and recover from cyber attacks. By adopting the right mindset, leveraging advanced technology, addressing cyber hygiene, and measuring key metrics, organisations can enhance their cyber resilience. Additionally, collaboration within industries and proactive board engagement are crucial for effective risk management. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organisations must prioritise cyber resilience as an ongoing journey, continuously adapting and refining their strategies to stay ahead of malicious actors.

https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/understanding-cyber-resilience-building-a-holistic-approach-to-cybersecurity/

• Emerging Ransomware Group 8Base Releasing Confidential Data from SMBs Globally

A ransomware group that operated under the radar for over a year has come to light in recent weeks, thanks to a series of business data leaks on the Dark Web. Since at least April 2022, 8base has been conducting double-extortion attacks against small and midsized businesses (SMBs). It all came to a head in May, when the group dumped data belonging to 67 organisations on the cyber underground.

Not much is known yet about the group's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), likely due to the low profile of their victims. The victims span science and technology, manufacturing, retail, construction, healthcare, and more, with victims from as far afield as India, Peru, Madagascar and Brazil, amongst others.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/emerging-ransomware-8base-doxxes-smbs-globally

• Financial Firms to Build Resilience in Face of Growing Cyber-Threats

Cyber resilience is now a key component of operational resilience for the UK’s financial markets, according to a Bank of England official. Cyber attacks have increased by 38% in 2022, and the range of firms and organisations being impacted seems to grow broader and broader.

Regulators want to see how financial firms will cope with an attack, and its impact on the wider financial services ecosystem. Similar work is being done at an international level by the G7, which has its own cyber expert group. In the UK, the main tools for improving resilience are threat intelligence sharing, better coordination between firms, regulators, the Bank and the Treasury, and penetration testing including CBEST. Financial services firms should have scenario specific playbooks, to set out how to contain intruders and stop them spreading to clients and counterparties. In the past, simulation exercises have been used to model terrorist incidents and pandemics and they are now being used to model cyber attacks.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/financial-firms-to-build-resilience/

• Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber Security Expertise at Board Level

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to introduce a rule requiring demonstration of cyber security expertise at the board level for public companies. A recent study found that currently up to 90% of companies in the Russell 3000 lack even a single director with the necessary cyber expertise. The simplest and speediest solution would be to promote the existing CISO, provided they have the appropriate qualities and experience, to the board but that would require transplanting a focused operational executive into a strategic business advisory role. A credible alternative is to bring in a cyber focused Non-Executive Director with the appropriate skills and experience.

https://www.securityweek.com/fulfilling-expected-sec-requirements-for-cybersecurity-expertise-at-board-level/

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Why assessing third parties for security risk is still an unsolved problem | CSO Online

• How DORA Will Force Financial Firms to Adopt Cyber Resilience - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Navigating the Complex World of Cyber security Compliance - MSSP Alert

• Security budget hikes are missing the mark, CISOs say | CSO Online

• Understanding Cyber Resilience: Building A Holistic Approach To Cyber security (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• How to Weather the Coming Cyber security Storm - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Certifications are no guarantee of security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Increased spending doesn't translate to improved cyber security posture - Help Net Security

• Placing People & Realism at the Center of Your Cyber security Strategy (darkreading.com)

• CISOs’ New Stressors Brought on by Digitalization: Report - SecurityWeek

• Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber security Expertise at Board Level - SecurityWeek

• Decrypting Cyber Risk Quantification (trendmicro.com)

• From details to big picture: how to improve security effectiveness | CIO

• IT Staff Increasingly Saddled with Data Protection Compliance (darkreading.com)

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Explainer: How MOVEit breach shows hackers' interest in corporate file transfer tools | Reuters

• Embattled consulting firm PwC swept up in global cyber breach of file service MOVEit by cyber crime group C10p (afr.com)

• Ransomware Misconceptions Abound, to the Benefit of Attackers (darkreading.com)

• US Offers $10m Reward For MOVEit Attackers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Data leak at Australian law firm spooks government, business • The Register

• Moveit hack: attack on BBC and BA offers glimpse into the future of cyber crime (theconversation.com)

• Fresh Ransomware Gangs Emerge As Market Leaders Decline (darkreading.com)

• Emerging Ransomware Group 8Base Doxxes SMBs Globally (darkreading.com)

• A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs

• Rorschach Ransomware: What You Need to Know (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware is only getting faster: Six steps to a stronger defence (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware gang preys on cancer centers, triggers alert | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Ransomware attacks pose communications dilemmas for local governments | CSO Online

• LockBit Developing Ransomware for Apple M1 Chips, Embedded Systems (darkreading.com)

Ransomware Victims

• MOVEit victim list | KonBriefing.com

• PwC and EY impacted by MOVEit cyber attack (cshub.com)

• Australian Government Says Its Data Was Stolen in Law Firm Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek

• Hackers threaten to release photos of Beverly Hills plastic surgery patients (bitdefender.com)

• Norton Parent Says Employee Data Stolen in MOVEit Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek

• BlackCat gang threatens to leak plastic surgery photos • The Register

• Reddit confirms BlackCat ransomware gang stole its data • The Register

• Adur and Worthing Councils investigating after contractor data breach | The Argus

• Iowa’s largest school district confirms ransomware attack, data theft (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers warn University of Manchester students’ of imminent data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)

• MOVEit cyber attack: US Energy Department gets two ransom notices as MOVEit hack claims more victims - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

• USDA is investigating a 'possible data breach' related to global Russian cyber criminal hack | CNN

• Avast, Norton Parent Latest Victim of MOVEit Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)

• MOVEit Vulnerability Breaches Targeted Fed Agencies (trendmicro.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• One in Three UK&I Workers Susceptible to Phishing - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cyber crime: what does psychology have to do with phishing? – podcast | Science | The Guardian

• Hackers Will Be Quick to Bypass Gmail's Blue Check Verification System (darkreading.com)

• UPS discloses data breach after exposed customer info used in SMS phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Insurance companies neglect basic email security - Help Net Security

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• The Simplest Social Engineering Hack Of Them All | Hackaday

• Attackers Create Synthetic Security Researchers to Steal IP (darkreading.com)

Artificial Intelligence

• Civil servants told not to share state secrets with ChatGPT, leaked guidance reveals (telegraph.co.uk)

• How generative AI is creating new classes of security threats | VentureBeat

• Over 100,000 Stolen ChatGPT Account Credentials Sold on Dark Web Marketplaces (thehackernews.com)

• ‘With hackers adopting AI, it’s a cat-and-mouse game’ | Mint (livemint.com)

• ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security

• Biden Discusses Risks and Promises of Artificial Intelligence With Tech Leaders in San Francisco - SecurityWeek

• The next wave of cyber threats: Defending your company against cyber criminals empowered by generative AI | VentureBeat

• Google Tells Employees to Stay Away from Its Bard Chatbot (gizmodo.com)

Malware

• Experts Uncover Year-Long Cyber Attack on IT Firm Utilising Custom Malware RDStealer (thehackernews.com)

• Attacker seizes abandoned S3 bucket to launch malicious payloads | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Hackers use fake OnlyFans pics to drop info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Researchers Discover New Sophisticated Toolkit Targeting Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)

• Mysterious Mystic Stealer Spreads Like Wildfire in Mere Months (darkreading.com)

• Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• To kill BlackLotus malware, patching is a good start, but... • The Register

• Microsoft Teams bug allows malware delivery from external accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• APT37 hackers deploy new FadeStealer eavesdropping malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ScarCruft Hackers Exploit Ably Service for Stealthy Wiretapping Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Chinese Hacker Group 'Flea' Targets American Ministries with Graphican Backdoor (thehackernews.com)

• USB Drives Spread Spyware as China's Mustang Panda APT Goes Global (darkreading.com)

• NSA shares tips on blocking BlackLotus UEFI malware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese malware accidentally infects networked storage • The Register

• ChamelDoH: New Linux Backdoor Utilising DNS-over-HTTPS Tunneling for Covert CnC (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• New Version of Android GravityRAT Spyware Targets WhatsApp Backups - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• SMS delivery reports can be used to infer recipient's location (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Apple fixes zero-days used to deploy Triangulation spyware via iMessage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• This Android app with over 50,000 installs steals your files and microphone recordings — what to do | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Android spyware camouflaged as VPN, chat apps on Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)

Botnets

• Romanian cyber crime gang Diicot builds DDoS botnet with Mirai variant | CSO Online

• New Condi malware builds DDoS botnet out of TP-Link AX21 routers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Mirai botnet targets 22 flaws in D-Link, Zyxel, Netgear devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Police crack down on DDoS-for-hire service active since 2013 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers behind Microsoft outage most likely Russian-backed group aiming to ‘drive division’ in the west | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• European Investment Bank hit by cyber attack after Russian hackers vow to bring down financial system (telegraph.co.uk)

• New Condi malware builds DDoS botnet out of TP-Link AX21 routers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Zeeland port website hit by DDOS attack, possibly by Russian hackers | NL Times

• From Cryptojacking to DDoS Attacks: Diicot Expands Tactics with Cayosin Botnet (thehackernews.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Thousands left vulnerable after severe weakness is discovered in home security system's mobile app | TechSpot

• Romanian cyber crime gang Diicot builds DDoS botnet with Mirai variant | CSO Online

• Smart Pet Feeders Expose Personal Data - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Security for embedded devices is ignored by too many companies, expert says | Fierce Electronics

• Our cities are becoming increasingly automated—and we’re not ready (fastcompany.com)

• US Military Personnel Receiving Unsolicited, Suspicious Smartwatches - SecurityWeek

• Mirai botnet targets 22 flaws in D-Link, Zyxel, Netgear devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Data leak at Australian law firm spooks government, business • The Register

• Australian Government Says Its Data Was Stolen in Law Firm Ransomware Attack - SecurityWeek

• 3CX data exposed, third-party to blame - Security Affairs

• Mondelez says crooks stole staff data in security breach • The Register

• UPS discloses data breach after exposed customer info used in SMS phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Reddit hackers threaten to leak data stolen in February breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Australia Inc roiled by raft of cyber attacks since late 2022 - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

• SSD missing from SAP datacenter turns up on eBay • The Register

• Millions of UK University Credentials Found on Dark Web - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Smart Pet Feeders Expose Personal Data - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Hackers warn University of Manchester students’ of imminent data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Darknet Parliament is now a thing | Cybernews

• Crypto and Cyber Security: A Complex Relationship (analyticsinsight.net)

• Moveit hack: attack on BBC and BA offers glimpse into the future of cyber crime (theconversation.com)

• Cyber attackers Got More Creative Post-Pandemic, Proofpoint Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• The Great Exodus to Telegram: A Tour of the New Cyber crime Underground (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber crime Doesn't Take a Vacation (darkreading.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Crypto and Cyber Security: A Complex Relationship (analyticsinsight.net)

• Blockchain security: Everything you should know for safe use | TechTarget

• From Cryptojacking to DDoS Attacks: Diicot Expands Tactics with Cayosin Botnet (thehackernews.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Cost-of-Living Crisis increasing chances of Insider threats - IT Security Guru

• Preventing breaches through cyber awareness: How every federal employee contributes to cyber security | Federal News Network

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Influencers in firing line as France tackles scams - BBC News

• Keep Job Scams From Hurting Your Organisation (darkreading.com)

• Job Seekers, Look Out for Job Scams (darkreading.com)

Impersonation Attacks

• Attackers Create Synthetic Security Researchers to Steal IP (darkreading.com)

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• EU agrees new sanctions against Russia, targeting Chinese companies suspected of circumvention | Euronews

Dark Web

• Darknet Parliament is now a thing | Cybernews

• Over 100,000 Stolen ChatGPT Account Credentials Sold on Dark Web Marketplaces (thehackernews.com)

• Millions of UK University Credentials Found on Dark Web - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Capita faces first legal Letter of Claim over mega breach • The Register

• Why assessing third parties for security risk is still an unsolved problem | CSO Online

• 3CX data exposed, third-party to blame - Security Affairs

• Mondelez says crooks stole staff data in security breach • The Register

• Untangling the web of supply chain security with Tony Turner - Help Net Security

Software Supply Chain

• CISA SBOM standards efforts stymied by confusion, inertia | TechTarget

Cloud/SaaS

• Growing SaaS Usage Means Larger Attack Surface (darkreading.com)

• Explainer: How MOVEit breach shows hackers' interest in corporate file transfer tools | Reuters

• A new threat to financial stability lurks in the cloud | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Cloud CISO Perspectives: Early June 2023 | Google Cloud Blog

• Hackers behind Microsoft outage most likely Russian-backed group aiming to ‘drive division’ in the west | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Western Digital Blocks Unpatched Devices From Cloud Services - SecurityWeek

• Attacker seizes abandoned S3 bucket to launch malicious payloads | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Attackers discovering exposed cloud assets within minutes | TechTarget

• Cloud-native security hinges on open source - Help Net Security

• Hybrid Microsoft network/cloud legacy settings may impact your future security posture | CSO Online

• US cyber ambassador says China can win on AI, cloud • The Register

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Home working puts confidential data at risk, GCHQ warns law firms (telegraph.co.uk)

Shadow IT

• Ending the ‘forever war’ against shadow IT | CIO

Identity and Access Management

• The future of passwords and authentication - Help Net Security

Encryption

• Intel to start shipping a quantum processor | Ars Technica

• Quantum hacking alert: Critical vulnerabilities found in quantum key distribution (techxplore.com)

• The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips | Ars Technica

• Physics - Long-Range Quantum Cryptography Gets Simpler (aps.org)

API

• Why API Security Could Be the Next Big Thing in Cyber - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Open Source

• Hackers infect Linux SSH servers with Tsunami botnet malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Beware bad passwords as attackers co-opt Linux servers into cyber crime – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Cloud-native security hinges on open source - Help Net Security

• ChamelDoH: New Linux Backdoor Utilising DNS-over-HTTPS Tunneling for Covert CnC (thehackernews.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Majority of Users Neglect Best Password Practices: Keeper Security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Forging a Path to Account Takeover: Copy Password Reset Link Vulnerability worth $$$$. | by Manav Bankatwala | Jun, 2023 | InfoSec Write-ups (infosecwriteups.com)

• The future of passwords and authentication - Help Net Security

• These are the most hacked passwords. Is yours on the list? | ZDNET

• Beware bad passwords as attackers co-opt Linux servers into cyber crime – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Social Media

• Influencers in firing line as France tackles scams - BBC News

• Reddit hackers threaten to leak data stolen in February breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Preventing breaches through cyber awareness: How every federal employee contributes to cyber security | Federal News Network

• Security Training Fail Impacting Digital Transformation - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Security Training Needs to Nudge, Not Nag - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Digital Transformation

• Security Training Fail Impacting Digital Transformation - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security

• Bill allowing CISA to assist foreign governments passes Senate committee | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Fulfilling Expected SEC Requirements for Cyber security Expertise at Board Level - SecurityWeek

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• The significance of CIS Control mapping in the 2023 Verizon DBIR - Help Net Security

• What is PCI Compliance? 12 Requirements and More Explained | Definition from TechTarget

Secure Disposal

• SSD missing from SAP datacenter turns up on eBay • The Register

Data Protection

• ChatGPT and data protection laws: Compliance challenges for businesses - Help Net Security

• Consumer Data: The Risk and Reward for Manufacturing Companies (darkreading.com)

• IT Staff Increasingly Saddled with Data Protection Compliance (darkreading.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• 8 notable entry-level cyber security career and skills initiatives in 2023 | CSO Online

• UK military is struggling to recruit tech experts, says report | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Certifications are no guarantee of security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The Quintessential Toolkit: Five Essential Skills For Advancing In The Cyber security Realm (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Cyber security Industry Still Fighting to Recruit and Retain Talent - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• It’s Time to Think Creatively to Combat Skills Shortages - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Google announces $20 million investment for cyber clinics | CyberScoop

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Police crack down on DDoS-for-hire service active since 2013 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Megaupload duo will go to prison at last, but Kim Dotcom fights on… – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• SMS delivery reports can be used to infer recipient's location (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US Military Personnel Receiving Unsolicited, Suspicious Smartwatches - SecurityWeek

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

• Killnet Threatens Imminent SWIFT, World Banking Attacks (darkreading.com)

• A Newly Named Group of GRU Hackers is Wreaking Havoc in Ukraine | WIRED

• Hackers behind Microsoft outage most likely Russian-backed group aiming to ‘drive division’ in the west | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• UK Pledges Millions in Cyber-Defence Aid to Ukraine - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• European Investment Bank hit by cyber attack after Russian hackers vow to bring down financial system (telegraph.co.uk)

• Russia sent its reserve team to wipe Ukrainian hard drives • The Register

• Russian APT Group Caught Hacking Roundcube Email Servers - SecurityWeek

• Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan a ‘bear in wolf’s clothing’ | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Russian APT28 hackers breach Ukrainian govt email servers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Strategies for staying ahead of modern cyber warfare - CyberTalk

• German intelligence services point to increased hybrid security threats – EURACTIV.com

Nation State Actors

• Microsoft Pins Early June DDoS Attacks on Russian-linked Cyber Crew - MSSP Alert

• US DOJ Launches Cyber Unit to Prosecute Nation-State Threat Actors - SecurityWeek

• Cooperation or Competition? China’s Security Industry Sees the US, Not AI, as the Bigger Threat - SecurityWeek

• US Military Personnel Receiving Unsolicited, Suspicious Smartwatches - SecurityWeek

• USB Drives Spread Spyware as China's Mustang Panda APT Goes Global (darkreading.com)

• CISA orders govt agencies to patch bugs exploited by Russian hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US Cyber Ambassador says China can win on AI, cloud • The Register

• Cadet Blizzard emerges as a novel and distinct Russian threat actor | Microsoft Security Blog

• State-Backed Hackers Employ Advanced Methods to Target Middle Eastern and African Governments (thehackernews.com)

• The Israeli weapons and spyware falling into the hands of despots | Financial Times (ft.com)

• The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips | Ars Technica

• Zeeland port website hit by DDOS attack, possibly by Russian hackers | NL Times

• A Russian national charged for committing LockBit Ransomware attacks - Security Affairs

• Hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan a ‘bear in wolf’s clothing’ | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• APT37 hackers deploy new FadeStealer eavesdropping malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ScarCruft Hackers Exploit Ably Service for Stealthy Wiretapping Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• 20-Year-Old Chinese APT15 Finds New Life in Foreign Ministry Attacks (darkreading.com)

• Chinese Hacker Group 'Flea' Targets American Ministries with Graphican Backdoor (thehackernews.com)

• North Korean APT targets defectors, activists with infostealer malware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• RedEyes Group Targets Individuals with Wiretapping Malware - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• US Justice Department Launches New National Security Cyber Section - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• China-sponsored APT group targets government ministries in the Americas | CSO Online

• Chinese malware accidentally infects networked storage • The Register

• Trellix Detects Leading Threat Actor Countries Behind Nation-State Activity - MSSP Alert

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Vulnerability Management

• Guess what happened to this US agency that didn't patch? • The Register

• EU Council mulls pan-European platform to handle cyber vulnerabilities – EURACTIV.com

• The Benefits of Red Zone Threat Intelligence - SecurityWeek

Vulnerabilities

• VMware warns of critical vRealize flaw exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft Teams Vulnerability: The GIFShell Attack (latesthackingnews.com)

• Zero-Day Alert: Apple Releases Patches for Actively Exploited Flaws in iOS, macOS, and Safari (thehackernews.com)

• Patch Now: Cisco AnyConnect Bug Exploit Released in the Wild (darkreading.com)

• Zyxel addressed critical flaw CVE-2023-27992 in NAS Devices - Security Affairs

• Microsoft Teams bug allows malware delivery from external accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chrome and Its Vulnerabilities - Is the Web Browser Safe to Use? - SecurityWeek

• Critical WordPress Plugin Vulnerabilities Impact Thousands of Sites - SecurityWeek

• SMB Edge Devices Walloped With Asus, Zyxel Patch Warnings (darkreading.com)

• VMware fixes vCenter Server bugs allowing code execution, auth bypass (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Azure AD 'Log in With Microsoft' Authentication Bypass Affects Thousands (darkreading.com)

• Western Digital Blocks Unpatched Devices From Cloud Services - SecurityWeek

• Risk & Repeat: Mandiant sheds light on Barracuda ESG attacks | TechTarget

• ASUS warns router customers: Patch now, or block all inbound requests – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Firmware Backdoor Discovered in Gigabyte Motherboards, Hundreds of Models Affected - CPO Magazine

• Apple fixes zero-days used to deploy Triangulation spyware via iMessage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• A (cautionary) tale of two patched bugs, both under exploit • The Register

• Millions of GitHub repos likely vulnerable to RepoJacking, researchers say (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Windows 11 KB5027231 also breaks Chrome for Cisco, WatchGuard EDR users (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Gaps in Azure Service Fabric’s Security Call for User Vigilance (trendmicro.com)

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Tools and Controls

• Getting Over the DNS Security Awareness Gap (darkreading.com)

• Zscaler CEO: Firewalls Are Going The Way Of The Mainframe | CRN

• The future of passwords and authentication - Help Net Security

• Understanding Cyber Resilience: Building A Holistic Approach To Cyber security (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Increased spending doesn't translate to improved cyber security posture - Help Net Security

• Placing People & Realism at the Center of Your Cyber security Strategy (darkreading.com)

• Security investments that help companies navigate the macroeconomic climate - Help Net Security

• The Benefits of Red Zone Threat Intelligence - SecurityWeek

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Proofpoint’s 2023 Human Factor Report: Threat Actors Scale and Commoditise Uncommon Tools and Techniques | Proofpoint UK

• Trellix Detects Leading Threat Actor Countries Behind Nation-State Activity - MSSP Alert

• The Threat Report: June 2023 | Trellix

• Navigating The Cyber Threat Landscape: Key Insights From Trellix ARC's Q1 2023 Report (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

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Other News

• Boris Johnson’s notebooks cause national security alarm (thetimes.co.uk)

• ‘It could be taken down by an enthusiastic child’: Whitehall wide open to cyber attack, warn campaigners | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Keep it, Tweak it, Trash it – What to do with Aging Tech in an Era of Consolidation - SecurityWeek

• Cyber attacks on OT, ICS Lay Groundwork for Kinetic Warfare (darkreading.com)

• Why CISOs should be concerned about space-based attacks | CSO Online

• Legal firms urged to strengthen cyber defences with latest... - NCSC.GOV.UK

• 6 Attack Surfaces You Must Protect (darkreading.com)

• GCHQ’s top hacker James Babbage quits to join NCA in blow to UK cyber force (telegraph.co.uk)

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 May 2023

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

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber Crime Recruitment and Insider Threats

Across all sectors employees are feeling the ramifications of economic uncertainty, coupled with ransomware attacks continuing to evolve and become more sophisticated, and with this, cyber crime gangs are increasing their recruitment efforts. All the while, the cyber security skills gap persists and continues to widen for most organisations. This has the potential to create a perfect storm in terms of insider threats.

Insider threats can be malicious or unintentional, and they might come from current or former employees, business partners, board members or consultants. A recent report found that the past two years have seen a 44% rise in insider incidents. There is no quick fix to solve the insider threat problem. At a time when many businesses are struggling with visibility issues brought on by digital transformation and vendor sprawl, what’s needed is planning. Reducing the risk associated with insider threats requires a multifaceted approach.

https://www.securityweek.com/triple-threat-insecure-economy-cybercrime-recruitment-and-insider-threats/

• Ensuring Security Remains/Becomes Everyone’s Responsibility

In the same way as organisations believe that everyone is somewhat responsible for keeping costs reasonable, why would an organisation not think the same of cyber security, especially as cyber security is not just a technology problem: it is a business problem. One of the best methods for ensuring that security is everyone’s responsibility is to make cyber a top-down issue, with the board and C-suite setting the tone for security; they should provide clear direction and guidance, prioritising security as a business objective.

Other methods that can help ensure security as everyone’s responsibility include integrating it into the functions of roles, creating a security culture, providing awareness and training and rewarding employees for responses such as reporting phishing attacks.

https://cisoseries.com/20-ways-to-ensure-security-remains-becomes-everyones-responsibility/

• Insured Companies More Likely to be Ransomware Victims, Sometimes More Than Once

Companies with cyber insurance are more likely to get hit by ransomware, more likely to be attacked multiple times, and more likely to pay ransoms, according to a recent survey of IT decision makers.

According to the survey by Barracuda Networks, 77% of organisations with cyber insurance were hit at least once, compared to 65% without insurance. Of those with insurance, 39% paid the ransom. Worryingly, the survey found that insured companies were also 70% more likely to be hit multiple times. Repeat victims were also more likely to pay the ransom, and less likely to use backup systems to help them recover.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3696350/insured-companies-more-likely-to-be-ransomware-victims-sometimes-more-than-once.html

• Software Supply Chain Attacks Hit 61% of Firms

More than three-fifths (61%) of businesses have been directly impacted by a software supply chain threat over the past year, according to a new report. The report pointed to open source software as a key source of supply chain risk. Open source is now used by 94% of companies in some form, with over half (57%) using multiple open source platforms, the report revealed.

Organisations may be putting themselves at further risk by not having a full view of the software which is used within their corporate environment. One of the first things an organisation seeking to reduce their risk of a software supply chain attack should do is to understand their attack surface and maintain a record of the software which they use.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/software-supply-chain-attacks-hit/

• More than 2.25 Million Exposed Assets on the Dark Web Tied to Fortune 1000 Employees

In a newly released 2023 Fortune 1000 Identity Exposure Report, an analysis of the dark net exposure of employees across 21 industries, including technology, financial, retailing and media, researchers analysed 2.27 billion exposed dark web assets. These assets included more than 423 million records containing personally identifiable information (PII) found in data breaches and exfiltrated from malware-infected devices tied directly to Fortune 1000 employees’ email addresses.  

Additional findings include 27.48 million pairs of credentials with Fortune 1000 corporate email addresses and plain text passwords, and a 62% re-use rate of passwords amongst Fortune 1000 employees. Whilst the research focuses on Fortune 1000 employees, it is unlikely that these are the only employees who are exposed on the dark web. Organisations should be aware of how such PII could include their own employees, and how to avoid password re-use in the corporate environment.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/more-than-2-25-million-exposed-assets-on-the-dark-web-tied-to-fortune-1000-employees/

• Law Enforcement Crackdowns and New Techniques are Forcing Cyber Criminals to Pivot

Researchers say that law enforcement crackdowns and new investigative tools are putting pressure on cyber criminals, but challenges for defenders remain. It can seem like cyber criminals are running rampant across the world's digital infrastructure, launching ransomware attacks, scams, and outright thefts with impunity. Over the last year, however, US and global authorities seized $112 million from cryptocurrency investment scams, disrupted the Hive ransomware group, broke up online illegal drug marketplaces, and sanctioned crypto money launderers, among other operations to crack down on internet-enabled crimes. With such pressure, financially motivated threat actors are pivoting to crimes that have a higher rate of success, such as selling data instead of extorting, and romance scams and pig butchering (building rapport and trust with victims over time only to steal from them) are replacing the old get-rich schemes.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3696748/law-enforcement-crackdowns-and-new-techniques-are-forcing-cybercriminals-to-pivot.html

• Talking Security Strategy: Why Cyber Security Requires a Seat at the Boardroom Table

Cyber security is no longer a fringe issue for businesses. What was once a siloed function is now woven into the fabric of any successful business. Any business still treating its cyber security initiatives as a side project is setting itself up to fail. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has laid to rest any doubts about the importance of cyber security with new regulations around how boards of directors should approach it. The regulations, which are in the process of being finalised, will require companies to openly report any serious cyber security attack and explain who on their board is responsible for dealing with it. The regulations also will require businesses to include board of directors' cyber security experience and credentials as part of any public disclosure.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/talking-security-strategy-cybersecurity-has-a-seat-at-the-boardroom-table

• How Incident Response Rehearsals and Readiness Exercises Can Aid Incident Response

Incident response rehearsals and readiness exercises can aid organisations by identifying security gaps, testing communications in the event of a cyber attack, and understanding roles in reducing response times. All of which benefits the business objectives of the organisation.

The importance for organisations to understand who their adversaries are and how they operate against their enterprise environments cannot be overstated. An organisation's approach to cyber security testing and resilience improvements in the face of an increasingly volatile threat landscape must be underpinned around this perspective.

Rehearsals should look to leverage scenarios based on evolving and emerging attacker techniques, tactics and procedures (TTPs), with different levels of complexity; this allows an organisation to constantly sharpen their technique and update rehearsals to reflect the current attack environment. These TTPs should be driven by an intelligence-led and risk-based approach. Additionally, organisations need to set metrics for understanding the results of rehearsals, which in turn should be used in established feedback channels to drive improvement in the organisation’s incident response.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/5-ways-security-testing-can-aid-incident-response 

• Ransomware’s Real Goals are to Exploit Internet Facing Apps, Mine Intellectual Property and Grab Sensitive Information

The majority of ransomware attacks in 2022 were intended to unearth personal data, mine intellectual property and grab other sensitive information rather than financial extortion or data encryption, Kaspersky said in a new report.

Most attacks started off as exploiting public facing applications (43%), data from compromised user accounts (24%) and malicious emails (12%). The goal was to snatch information the cyber crews could leverage into bigger and more lucrative scores. The report also revealed that the longest-running ransomware attacks began with the exploitation of public-facing applications, with just over 2% of them lasting for a year and more.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/ransomwares-real-goals-are-exploit-internet-facing-apps-mine-intellectual-property-grab-sensitive-info/

• Organisations’ Cyber Resilience Efforts Fail to Keep Up with Evolving Threats

A steady increase in cyber attacks and an evolving threat landscape are resulting in more organisations turning their attention to building long-term cyber resilience; however, many of these programs are falling short and fail to prove teams’ real-world cyber capabilities, according to Immersive Labs. The report found that while 86% of organisations have a cyber resilience program, 52% of respondents say their organisation lacks a comprehensive approach to assessing cyber resilience.

Organisations have taken steps to deploy cyber resilience programs; however, 53% of respondents indicate the organisation’s workforce is not well-prepared for the next cyber attack and just over half say they lack a comprehensive approach to assessing cyber resilience. These statistics indicate that although cyber resilience is a priority and programs are in place, their current structure and training are ineffective.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/18/cyber-resilience-programs-shortcomings/

• Fraudsters Send Fake Invoice, Follow Up with Fake Executive Confirmation

Fraudsters are trying out a new approach to convince companies to pay bogus invoices: instead of hijacking existing email threads, they are creating convincing ones themselves. The fraud attempt begins with an email containing a payment request for a fake invoice. The recipient, an employee in a company’s finance department, reads the email and checks who sent it. The sender’s email address looks like it belongs to one of the company’s trusted vendors, and the VP of Finance has been CC-ed. Soon after, the “VP of Finance” replies to the email thread, and asks the employee (by name) to pay this at the earliest convenience.

Most organisations view social engineering methods as a one step process; however, threat actors are employing multiple layers. In this case, adding management to increase authenticity. Businesses looking to bolster their resilience should look to ensure that these kinds of attacks are addressed in their organisation’s user education and awareness training.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/16/payment-request-fraud/

• Capita Warns Customers They Should Assume Data was Stolen

Outsourcing giant Capita is warning customers to assume that their data was stolen in a cyber attack that affected its systems in early April. This includes the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the largest private pension scheme in the UK, which holds pensions of over 500,000 individuals. A total of 350 UK corporate retirement schemes are believed to be impacted. The cyber attack, originally described to be a technical problem, has been reported to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/capita-warns-customers-they-should-assume-data-was-stolen/

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber security Often Overlooked as Key Factor for Business Success, New Study Says - MSSP Alert

• Cyber Risk Management in 2023: The People Element (trendmicro.com)

• Is Your Cyber security “Too” Good? (securityintelligence.com)

• Cyber risk: Can banks win the arms race? | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Security breaches push digital trust to the fore | CSO Online

• Cyber-Resilience Programs Failing on Poor Visibility - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 5 Ways Security Testing Can Aid Incident Response (darkreading.com)

• Organisations reporting cyber resilience are hardly resilient: Study | CSO Online

• Organisations' cyber resilience efforts fail to keep up with evolving threats - Help Net Security

• Keeping a competitive edge in the cyber security ‘game’ | CyberScoop

• UK NCSC, ICO debunk 6 cyber attack reporting myths | CSO Online

• An Executive's Guide To The Cyber crime Underground (forbes.com)

• Accelerating Security Risk Management (trendmicro.com)

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• 20 Ways to Ensure Security Remains/Becomes Everyone’s Responsibility (cisoseries.com)

• Talking Security Strategy: Cyber security Has a Seat at the Boardroom Table (darkreading.com)

• ‘Attackers only have to get it right once’: how cyber security burst into the boardroom | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber crime Recruitment and Insider Threats - SecurityWeek

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Insured companies more likely to be ransomware victims, sometimes more than once | CSO Online

• Ransomware payments nearly double in one year | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Ransomware’s Real Goals are Exploit Internet Facing Apps, Mine Intellectual Property, Grab Sensitive Info - MSSP Alert

• The Week in Ransomware - May 12th 2023 - New Gangs Emerge (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New trends in ransomware attacks shape the future of cyber security - Help Net Security

• Russia-affiliated CheckMate ransomware quietly targets popular file-sharing protocol-Security Affairs

• Bl00dy Ransomware Gang Strikes Education Sector with Critical PaperCut Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• ABB 'suffers cyber attack' by ransomware gang Black Basta (techmonitor.ai)

• Why Amazon S3 is a ransomware target and how to protect it | TechTarget

• Experts question San Bernardino's $1.1M ransom payment | TechTarget

• Manufacturers Targeted as Ransomware Victim Numbers Spike 27% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware corrupts data, making restoration harder • The Register

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• VPN vulnerability linked to ransomware attack on Law Society: PDPC - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)

• New 'MichaelKors' Ransomware-as-a-Service Targeting Linux and VMware ESXi Systems (thehackernews.com)

• Philadelphia Inquirer operations disrupted after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware gang steals data of 5.8 million PharMerica patients (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New RA Group ransomware targets US orgs in double-extortion attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware Prevention – Are Meeting Password Security Requirements Enough (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US Offers $10 Million Bounty for Capture of Notorious Russian Ransomware Operator (thehackernews.com)

• Qilin Ransomware Operation Outfits Affiliates With Sleek, Turnkey Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)

• Qilin's Dark Web Ransomware Targets Critical Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware-as-a-service groups pay affiliates top dollar • The Register

• Russian ransomware affiliate charged with attacks on critical infrastructure (bleepingcomputer.com)

• This new ransomware group is targeting big businesses - here's what you need to know | TechRadar

• Warning Issued About BianLian Ransomware Attacks By CISA & FBI (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• FBI confirms BianLian ransomware switch to extortion only attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 'Strictly limit' remote desktop to avoid BianLian ransomware • The Register

• MalasLocker ransomware targets Zimbra servers, demands charity donation (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian national indicted for ransomware attacks against the US | CSO Online

• A different kind of ransomware demand: Donate to charity to get your data back | CyberScoop

• Introducing the DRM-Report Q1 2023: Unveiling the Current State of Ransomware - -Security Affairs-Security Affairs

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• What the Email Security Landscape Looks Like in 2023-Security Affairs

• New Phishing-as-a-Service Platform Lets Cyber criminals Generate Convincing Phishing Pages (thehackernews.com)

• Ongoing Facebook phishing campaign without a sender and (almost) without links

• Google's .zip Top Level domain is already used in phishing attacks - gHacks Tech News

• New ZIP domains spark debate among cyber security experts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Exploring the tactics of phishing and scam websites in 2023 - Help Net Security

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Fraudsters send fake invoice, follow up with fake exec confirmation - Help Net Security

• Insider threats surge across US CNI as attackers exploit human factors | CSO Online

• Microsoft Teams Features Amp Up Orgs' Cyber attack Exposure (darkreading.com)

• Social Engineering Risks Found in Microsoft Teams - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Researchers show ways to abuse Microsoft Teams accounts for lateral movement | CSO Online

Artificial Intelligence

• 10 Types of AI Attacks CISOs Should Track (darkreading.com)

• New Google search tool will distinguish real images from AI-generated phonies | ZDNET

• AI-Powered Tools Threaten Password Strength, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• AI Is About to Be Everywhere: Where Will Regulators Be? (darkreading.com)

• Zut alors! Raclage crapuleux! Clearview AI in 20% more trouble in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Generative AI Empowers Users but Challenges Security (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before Congress, Calls for New Agency to Regulate Artificial Intelligence - SecurityWeek

• BatLoader Impersonates ChatGPT and Midjourney in Cyber-Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Security Vulnerabilities of ChatGPT-Generated Code (trendmicro.com)

• 3 Ways Hackers Use ChatGPT to Cause Security Headaches (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT is about to revolutionize cyber security | VentureBeat

• Mitigating Dark Web Risks: The Role Of AI And Machine Learning (forbes.com)

2FA/MFA

• The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Factor Authentication - Security Boulevard

Malware

• Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware | Ars Technica

• XWorm Malware Exploits Follina Vulnerability in New Wave of Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Atomic malware steals Mac passwords, crypto wallets, and more • Graham Cluley

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Lancefly APT Custom Backdoor Targets Government and Aviation Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• No more macros? No problem, say attackers, we'll adapt • The Register

• Infostealer Malware Surges: Stolen Logs Up 670% on Russian Market - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The new info-stealing malware operations to watch out for (bleepingcomputer.com)

• DangerousPassword - A Malware Attack Pattern to Infect Devices (gbhackers.com)

• Stealthy MerDoor malware uncovered after five years of attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers Using Golang Variant of Cobalt Strike to Target Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)

• New ZIP domains spark debate among cyber security experts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Infamous cyber crime marketplace offers pre-order service for stolen credentials - Help Net Security

• BatLoader Impersonates ChatGPT and Midjourney in Cyber-Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Once Again, Malware Discovered Hidden in npm (darkreading.com)

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

Mobile

• Lemon Group Uses Millions of Pre-Infected Android Phones to Enable Cyber crime Enterprise (darkreading.com)

• Parental control app with 5 million downloads vulnerable to attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Apple blocked 1.7 million apps for privacy, security issues in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Converso walks back E2EE claims, yanks app from stores • The Register

• OilAlpha: Emerging Houthi-linked Cyber Threat Targets Arabian Android Users (thehackernews.com)

• Google Announces New Rating System for Android and Device Vulnerability Reports - SecurityWeek

• Millions of Smartphones Distributed Worldwide With Preinstalled 'Guerrilla' Malware - SecurityWeek

Botnets

• Beware Bots: Human Internet Traffic Dives to Lowest Level in Eight Years, New Report Finds - MSSP Alert

• Latest variant of RapperBot botnet adds cryptojacking capabilities-Security Affairs

• Bad bots are coming for APIs - Help Net Security

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Polish news websites hit by DDoS attacks | Reuters

• Europe: The DDoS battlefield - Help Net Security

Internet of Things – IoT

• Netgear Routers' Flaws Expose Users to Malware, Remote Attacks, and Surveillance (thehackernews.com)

• Why 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is both the savior and the scourge of the smart home - The Verge

• Hackers infect TP-Link router firmware to attack EU entities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese Hackers Mustang Panda Attacks TP-Link Routers (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Unpatched Wemo Smart Plug Bug Opens Countless Networks to Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)

• Government Publishes Playbook to Enhance Smart City Security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Is your car safe from a cyber attack? | E&T Magazine (theiet.org)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• UK's largest private pension scheme hit by Capita attack • The Register

• Capita warns customers they should assume data was stolen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• More than 2.25 Million Exposed Assets on the Dark Web Tied to Fortune 1000 Employees - MSSP Alert

• MP’s laptop stolen from Welcome Break spot 'not covered by CCTV' | UK News | Metro News

• Discord discloses data breach after support agent got hacked (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Data of 237,000 US government employees breached - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)

• Toyota: Car location data of 2 million customers exposed for ten years (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Toyota's bungling of customer privacy is becoming a pattern • The Register

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Exposed Ferrari Website to Hackers - SecurityWeek

• Personal info of 90k hikers leaked by French tourism company La Malle Postale-Security Affairs

• Ransomware gang steals data of 5.8 million PharMerica patients (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Airline exposes passenger info to others due to a 'technical error' (bleepingcomputer.com)

• University admission platform exposed student passports-Security Affairs

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• An Executive's Guide To The Cyber crime Underground (forbes.com)

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Former Ubiquiti Employee Gets 6 Years in Jail for $2 Million Crypto Extortion Case (thehackernews.com)

• How Cyber criminals Adapted to Microsoft Blocking Macros by Default (darkreading.com)

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Lemon Group Uses Millions of Pre-Infected Android Phones to Enable Cyber crime Enterprise (darkreading.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Atomic malware steals Mac passwords, crypto wallets, and more • Graham Cluley

• Hacker admits he was connected to 'tens of thousands’ laptops to mine crypto (finbold.com)

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Latest variant of RapperBot botnet adds cryptojacking capabilities-Security Affairs

• North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan - Nikkei | Reuters

• DangerousPassword - A Malware Attack Pattern to Infect Devices (gbhackers.com)

• Landmark crypto rules make exchanges liable for customer losses in EU | Ars Technica

• 8220 Gang Exploiting Oracle WebLogic Flaw to Hijack Servers and Mine Cryptocurrency (thehackernews.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber crime Recruitment and Insider Threats - SecurityWeek

• Avoiding Reputational Damage By Conquering Insider Threats (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Insider threats surge across US CNI as attackers exploit human factors | CSO Online

• Ex-Apple engineer accused of stealing self-driving car secrets - BBC News

• Identity crimes: Too many victims, limited resources - Help Net Security

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Fraudsters send fake invoice, follow up with fake exec confirmation - Help Net Security

• Exploring the tactics of phishing and scam websites in 2023 - Help Net Security

• Edinburgh coffee shop owner devastated after losing £100,000 life savings to cyber criminals in internet scam | Edinburgh News (scotsman.com)

• How To Avoid Mother's Day Scams By Protecting Your Purse And Heart (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• US Says VoIP Firm Delivered Billions of Scam Robocalls - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

• This Is Catfishing on an Industrial Scale | WIRED

• Admin of the darknet carding platform Skynet Market pleads guilty-Security Affairs

• 18-year-old charged with hacking 60,000 sports betting accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• How China came to dominate the black market for money laundering (telegraph.co.uk)

Insurance

• Insured companies more likely to be ransomware victims, sometimes more than once | CSO Online

Dark Web

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Infamous cyber crime marketplace offers pre-order service for stolen credentials - Help Net Security

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Mitigating Dark Web Risks: The Role Of AI And Machine Learning (forbes.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Capita warns customers they should assume data was stolen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Capita hit by new data breach incident | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Another security calamity for Capita: Unsecured AWS bucket • The Register

• UK's largest private pension scheme hit by Capita attack • The Register

• Discord Informs Users of Data Breach Involving Customer Support Provider - SecurityWeek

• Preparing for federal supply chain security standardization - Help Net Security

Software Supply Chain

• Software Supply Chain Attacks Hit 61% of Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Security experts share cloud auditing best practices | TechTarget

• Stop worrying about cloud-lock-in, and outages: Gartner • The Register

• Microsoft Azure VMs Hijacked in Cloud Cyber attack (darkreading.com)

• Why High Tech Companies Struggle with SaaS Security (thehackernews.com)

• Sticking to traditional security playbook is mistake for cloud security: Palo Alto Networks SVP (techrepublic.com)

• Capita hit by new data breach incident | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Why Amazon S3 is a ransomware target and how to protect it | TechTarget

• Microsoft lets Azure AD choose authentication method • The Register

Encryption

• Converso walks back E2EE claims, yanks app from stores • The Register

• Protect against current and future threats with encryption | TechTarget

API

• Bad bots are coming for APIs - Help Net Security

• Attack automation becomes a prevalent threat against APIs - Help Net Security

Open Source

• EU attempts to secure software could hurt open source • The Register

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Open-source Cobalt Strike port 'Geacon' used in macOS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Malicious open-source components threatening digital infrastructure - Help Net Security

• Congress looks to expand CISA's role, adding responsibilities for satellites and open source software | CyberScoop

• Enhancing open source security: Insights from the OpenSSF on addressing key challenges - Help Net Security

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Time Taken For Hackers to Crack Passwords Revealed - IT Security Guru

• AI-Powered Tools Threaten Password Strength, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• Passkeys may not be for you, but they are safe and easy—here’s why | Ars Technica

• Ransomware Prevention – Are Meeting Password Security Requirements Enough (bleepingcomputer.com)

• KeePass 2.X Master Password Dumper allows retrieving the KeePass master password-Security Affairs

Social Media

• Former TikTok official says China had access to app data | Al Arabiya English

• Ongoing Facebook phishing campaign without a sender and (almost) without links

• Twitter wrong to block tweets during Turkey election - Wikipedia founder - BBC News

• Twitter sued over Saudi spying that allegedly landed popular user in prison [Updated] | Ars Technica

Training, Education and Awareness

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Parental control app with 5 million downloads vulnerable to attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• EU attempts to secure software could hurt open source • The Register

• AI Is About to Be Everywhere: Where Will Regulators Be? (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before Congress, Calls for New Agency to Regulate Artificial Intelligence - SecurityWeek

• Preparing for federal supply chain security standardization - Help Net Security

Secure Disposal

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• How I Got Started: Offensive Security

• Open source and Linux skills are still in demand in a dark economy | ZDNET

• Top 10 Ideas for Addressing the Cyber security Skills Gap in 2023 (analyticsinsight.net)

• Google Cloud CISO on why the Google Cyber security Certificate matters - Help Net Security

• Improving cyber mindfulness - IT Security Guru

• The Future is (Cyber) Mindful - IT Security Guru

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

• Identity crimes: Too many victims, limited resources - Help Net Security

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Admin of the darknet carding platform Skynet Market pleads guilty-Security Affairs

• 18-year-old charged with hacking 60,000 sports betting accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian national indicted for ransomware attacks against the US | CSO Online

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• The UK’s Secretive Web Surveillance Program Is Ramping Up | WIRED

• WhatsApp allows users to lock sensitive chats - Help Net Security

• Apple blocked 1.7 million apps for privacy, security issues in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google details its next steps for wiping out Chrome tracking cookies | Engadget

• Zut alors! Raclage crapuleux! Clearview AI in 20% more trouble in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Pakistan shut down the internet - but that didn't stop the protests - BBC News

• Twitter wrong to block tweets during Turkey election - Wikipedia founder - BBC News

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

• Cyber Warfare Escalates Amid China-Taiwan Tensions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New APT Group Red Stinger Targets Military and Critical Infrastructure in Eastern Europe (thehackernews.com)

• China's 'Satellite Killer' Spacecraft Threatens To Puncture US Military In Space By Crippling Its Recon, Navigation & EW Satellites

• President Zelensky imposes sanctions against the Russian IT sector-Security Affairs

• 4 Countries Join NATO Cyber Defence Center - SecurityWeek

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Nation State Actors

• Former TikTok official says China had access to app data | Al Arabiya English

• Cyber Warfare Escalates Amid China-Taiwan Tensions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New APT Group Red Stinger Targets Military and Critical Infrastructure in Eastern Europe (thehackernews.com)

• Russia-affiliated CheckMate ransomware quietly targets popular file-sharing protocol-Security Affairs

• Gatewatcher unveils research into advanced persistent threats | Data Centre Solutions

• China's 'Satellite Killer' Spacecraft Threatens To Puncture US Military In Space By Crippling Its Recon, Navigation & EW Satellites

• How China came to dominate the black market for money laundering (telegraph.co.uk)

• Lancefly APT Custom Backdoor Targets Government and Aviation Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Researchers Uncover Powerful Backdoor and Custom Implant in Year-Long Cyber Campaign (thehackernews.com)

• North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan - Nikkei | Reuters

• Hackers infect TP-Link router firmware to attack EU entities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese Hackers Mustang Panda Attacks TP-Link Routers (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Cyble — Cisco Routers Exploited by Russian State-Sponsored Attackers

• DOJ links Iran, China and Russia to five IP theft-related cases | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Microsoft will take nearly a year to finish patching new 0-day Secure Boot bug | Ars Technica

• Remote updates on motherboards could lead to bricked servers • The Register

• Hacking Groups Rapidly Weaponizing N-Day Vulnerabilities (gbhackers.com)

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Microsoft Advisories Are Getting Worse (darkreading.com)

• How to build a better vulnerability management program | TechTarget

• Google Announces New Rating System for Android and Device Vulnerability Reports - SecurityWeek

• How to Protect Your Organisation From Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Hackers target Wordpress plugin flaw after PoC exploit released (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Critical Flaws in Cisco Small Business Switches Could Allow Remote Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• KeePass flaw allows retrieval of master password, PoC is public (CVE-2023-32784) - Help Net Security

• Apple fixes three new zero-days exploited to hack iPhones, Macs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• XWorm Malware Exploits Follina Vulnerability in New Wave of Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Details Disclosed for Exploit Chain That Allows Hacking of Netgear Routers - SecurityWeek

• CVE-2023-0008 PAN-OS: Local File Disclosure Vulnerability in the PAN-OS Web Interface (paloaltonetworks.com)

• Arm confident Cortex-M is secure after side-channel attack • The Register

• Microsoft Follina Bug Is Back in Meme-Themed Cyber attacks Against Travel Orgs (darkreading.com)

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Remote updates on motherboards could lead to bricked servers • The Register

• Microsoft will take nearly a year to finish patching new 0-day Secure Boot bug | Ars Technica

• Microsoft pulls Defender update fixing Windows LSA Protection bug (bleepingcomputer.com)

• WordPress 6.2.1 Released with Fixes for 5 Security Vulnerabilities – WP Tavern

• 8220 Gang Exploiting Oracle WebLogic Flaw to Hijack Servers and Mine Cryptocurrency (thehackernews.com)

• Cisco Says PoC Exploits Available for Newly Patched Enterprise Switch Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

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Tools and Controls

• Organisations' cyber resilience efforts fail to keep up with evolving threats - Help Net Security

• Hacking Groups Rapidly Weaponizing N-Day Vulnerabilities (gbhackers.com)

• Cyber-Resilience Programs Failing on Poor Visibility - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 5 Ways Security Testing Can Aid Incident Response (darkreading.com)

• Organisations reporting cyber resilience are hardly resilient: Study | CSO Online

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• Passkeys may not be for you, but they are safe and easy—here’s why | Ars Technica

• Not-Too-Safe Boot: Remotely Bypassing Endpoint Security Solutions (AV/EDR/…) and Anti-Tampering Mechanisms – Zero-Day Zone (zerodayzone.com)

• The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Factor Authentication - Security Boulevard

• Open-source Cobalt Strike port 'Geacon' used in macOS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

• Protect against current and future threats with encryption | TechTarget

• Can AI Decision-Making Be Trusted for Cyber security? (analyticsinsight.net)

• 'Strictly limit' remote desktop to avoid BianLian ransomware • The Register

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

• Key Metrics In Evaluating DevOps Threat Matrix (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• ChatGPT is about to revolutionize cyber security | VentureBeat

• A Requirements-Driven Approach to Cyber Threat Intelligence | Mandiant

• Embedding Security by Design: A Shared Responsibility (darkreading.com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• UK Cyber security Landscape: challenges and opportunities | Expel

• Kaspersky Incident Response report 2022 | Securelist

• The State of Pentesting 2023 Report | Cobalt

• Introducing the DRM-Report Q1 2023: Unveiling the Current State of Ransomware - -Security Affairs-Security Affairs

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Other News

• Heightened cyber attacks threat before Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik – EURACTIV.com

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

• 12 common network protocols and their functions explained | TechTarget

• Pentagon Hacking Fears Fueled by Microsoft's Monopoly on Military IT (newsweek.com)

• Ukraine, Ireland, Japan and Iceland join NATO CCDCOE-Security Affairs

• Web entity activity reveals insights into internet security - Help Net Security

• Microsoft Security highlights from RSAC 2023 - Microsoft Security Blog

• Top 5 Cyber security Predictions and Statistics for 2023 (analyticsinsight.net)

• No more macros? No problem, say attackers, we'll adapt • The Register

• Not-Too-Safe Boot: Remotely Bypassing Endpoint Security Solutions (AV/EDR/…) and Anti-Tampering Mechanisms – Zero-Day Zone (zerodayzone.com)

• Researchers show ways to abuse Microsoft Teams accounts for lateral movement | CSO Online

• Rebinding Attacks Persist With Spotty Browser Defences (darkreading.com)

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 May 2023

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

• Boards Need Better Conversations About Cyber Security

In a survey by Harvard Business Review, 65% of directors believed their organisations were at risk of a cyber attack within the next 12 months, and almost half believed they were unprepared to cope with such an attack. Boards that struggle with their role in providing oversight for cyber security create a security problem for their organisations. By not focusing on resilience, boards fail their companies and their stakeholders.

Regarding board interactions with CISOs, just 69% of responding board members see eye-to-eye with their chief information security officers (CISOs). Fewer than half (47%) of members serve on boards that interact with their CISOs regularly, and almost a third of them only see their CISOs at board presentations. This is worrying, as this leaves little time for leaders to have a meaningful dialogue about cyber security.

As a result, boards need to discuss their organisations’ cyber security-induced risks and evaluate plans to manage those risks frequently; the CISO should be involved in this. With the right conversations about keeping the organisation resilient, they can take the next step to provide adequate cyber security oversight. To bring more cyber security into the board room, board members may need to gain expertise, whether through frequent training or development programmes.

https://hbr.org/2023/05/boards-are-having-the-wrong-conversations-about-cybersecurity

• Uber’s Ex-Security Chief Sentenced for Security Breach

Earlier this week, Uber’s former head of cyber security, Joseph Sullivan, faced several years of prison time for covering up a massive security breach at the ride-hailing company seven years ago. When it actually came to sentencing he managed to avoid jail but received three years of probation and 200 hours of community service, despite pleas from the prosecution to throw him in jail.

The case highlights the seriousness of covering up a security breach, as at one point the ex-security chief was looking at 24-30 months of jail time. With increasing regulations and focus on cyber security, it is unlikely that this is a one-off incident.

https://gizmodo.com/uber-security-joe-sullivan-sentenced-prison-data-breach-1850403347

• Global Cyber Attacks Rise by 7% in Q1 2023

Weekly cyber attacks have increased worldwide by 7% in Q1 2023 compared to the same period last year, with each firm facing an average of 1,248 attacks per week according to Check Point’s latest research. The report highlights a number of sophisticated campaigns including using ChatGPT for code generation to help less-skilled threat actors effortlessly launch cyber attacks.

The Check Point report also shows that 1 in 31 organisations worldwide experienced a ransomware attack weekly over the first quarter of 2023. To defend against such threats, the security researchers recommended a series of cyber safety tips, such as keeping computers and servers up-to-date, conducting regular cyber awareness training and utilising better threat prevention tools, among others.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-cyber-attacks-rise-7-q1-2023/

• Three-Quarters of Firms Predict a Breach in the Coming Year

Most global organisations anticipate suffering a data breach or cyber attack in the next 12 months. Trend Micro’s six-monthly Cyber Risk Index (CRI) was compiled from interviews with 3,729 global organisations.

While results of the index score move in a positive direction showing organisations are taking steps to improve cyber preparedness, most responding organisations are pessimistic about the year ahead.

Respondents pointed to both negligent insiders and mobile users, and a lack of trained staff, as a key cause of concern going forward. Alongside cloud infrastructure and virtual computing environments, these comprised the top five infrastructure risks.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/threequarters-firms-predict-breach/

• The Costly Threat That Many Businesses Fail to Address

Insider attacks such as fraud, sabotage, and data theft plague 71% of businesses, according to a recent report. The report found companies that allow excessive data access are much more likely to suffer insider attacks. However, only 57% of companies limit data appropriately while 31% allow employees access to more data than necessary and 12% allow employees access to all company data.

Alarmingly, of the companies that have experienced insider attacks, one in three (34%) report that the attack involved an employee with privileged access. Data theft was the most common type of insider attack, reported by 38% of businesses.

Insider attacks can damage businesses’ reputations, finances, and competitiveness, and therefore companies should take a proactive approach in preventing these incidents.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/02/insider-attacks-damage/

• European Data at Risk with Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber Attack Volumes

Recent research revealed that European IT and security leaders may be dangerously over-confident in their ability to avoid cyber attacks and mitigate the risk of serious data compromise. The findings reveal that most organisations have suffered a serious cyber attack in the last two years, with over half of respondents saying their company suffered an attack 1 to 3 times in this time period. Worryingly, 20% of respondents claim to have been attacked 4 to 6 times. Only 18% managed to avoid an attack altogether.

Worryingly, three-quarters (76%) of those interviewed admit they’re taking a tick-box approach to GDPR compliance, which involves doing the bare minimum on data privacy and security. Although most (97%) have a contingency plan in place should they get breached, a quarter (26%) have not tested it.

Around two-thirds of respondents say their organisation considers customer (66%) and financial data (63%) to be “risky.” But the figure drops to 60% for employee data, and even further for intellectual property (45%) and health data (28%). Alarmingly, health-related data is classified as a special category data by GDPR, meaning it requires more protection.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/05/03/european-data-at-risk-with-tick-box-gdpr-compliance-and-high-cyberattack-volumes

• Understanding Cyber Threat Intelligence for Business Security

Cyber threat intelligence is not a solution itself, but a crucial component of any mature security programme, enabling organisations to gain insights into the motives, targets and behaviours of threat actors. As such, it is crucial for businesses looking to protect themselves from the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.

Some of the benefits of effective cyber threat intelligence to a business include early threat detection, improved response, regulation compliance, competitive advantage and cost savings. It is important to highlight that an organisation does not need to come up with their own cyber threat intelligence initiative, it can instead be purchased as a service.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/05/04/understanding-cyber-threat-intelligence-for-business-security

• Hackers Are Finding Ways to Evade Latest Cyber Security Tools

As hacking has gotten more destructive and pervasive, new defensive tools continue to be developed. One such tool is called endpoint detection and response (EDR) software, it’s designed to spot early signs of malicious activity on laptops, servers and other devices known as “endpoints” on a computer network — and block them before intruders can steal data or lock the machines.

Experts however, claim hackers have developed workarounds for some forms of the technology, allowing them to slip past products that have become the gold standard for protecting critical systems. Security software is not enough on its own, it is just one of the layers of defence that organisations should employ as part of their cyber resilience; there is no silver bullet.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hackers-finding-ways-evade-latest-131600565.html

• Study Shows a 27% Spike in Publicly Known Ransomware Victims

A report released this week highlights a 27% increase in publicly known ransomware victims in the first quarter of the year. Some of the report’s key findings include the fact that manufacturing, technology, education, banking, finance, and healthcare organisations are the largest to be exposed to ransomware.

The report identified an increase in the use of “double extortion” as an attack model. This method is where ransomware groups not only encrypt files but also exfiltrate data. The top five most active ransomware threat actors are LockBit, Clop, AlphV, Royal and BianLian.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/guidepoint-study-shows-a-27-spike-in-public-ransomware-victims/

• Data Loss Costs Are Going Up – and Not Just for Those Who Choose to Pay Thieves

A recent report found while the number of ransomware incidents that firms responded to dipped in early 2022, it came roaring back toward the end of the year and into early 2023. With this came higher ransom demands and, eventually, payments. The largest ransom demand last year was more than $90 million, with the largest payment exceeding $8 million. Both were larger than in 2021 (more than $60 million and $5.5 million respectively).

Ransomware groups are upping their attacks all the time and you don’t want to be an easy target.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/02/data_breach_costs_rise/

• Give NotPetya-hit Merck that $1.4B, Appeals Court Tells Insurers

In a significant ruling this week a court in the US found that pharmaceutical company Merck's insurers can't use an "act of war" clause to deny the pharmaceutical giant an enormous payout to clean up its NotPetya infection from 2017. The ruling will also undoubtedly affect the language used in underwriting policies, especially when it comes to risks such as ransomware and cyber warfare.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/merck_14bn_insurance_payout_upheld/

• 4 Ways Leaders Should Re-evaluate Their Cyber Security's Focus

The technology industry has long been building walls around structured data and communications—with little consideration of how employees use that information. Outlined below are four 4 ways leaders can better protect raw data.

• Recognise that priorities have evolved.

• Understand that security burdens have changed.

• Understand why, despite best efforts, criminals are still successful.

• Evaluate the ways in which you are protecting your most vulnerable data.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/05/02/4-ways-leaders-should-reevaluate-their-cybersecuritys-focus/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Data loss costs go up, and not just from ransom shakedowns • The Register

• Pension watchdog probes Capita data hack (thetimes.co.uk)

• To Fight Ransomware, Move Beyond Detection to Real-Time Response, Fortinet Study Says - MSSP Alert

• Using Threat Intelligence to Get Smarter About Ransomware – Security Week

• Merck's $1.4B NotPetya insurance payout upheld by court • The Register

• GuidePoint Study Shows a 27% Spike in Public Ransomware Victims - MSSP Alert

• Rapture, a Ransomware Family With Similarities to Paradise (trendmicro.com)

• The Tragic Fallout From a School District’s Ransomware Breach | WIRED

• Hackers leak images to taunt Western Digital's cyber attack response (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ‘Big game hunting’ hackers ALPHV claim major breach of law firm HWL Ebsworth (afr.com)

• FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Legitimate Software Abuse: A Disturbing Trend in Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)

• US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals – Security Week

• BlackCat group releases screenshots of stolen Western Digital data | CSO Online

• Ransomware Attack Affects Dallas Police, Court Websites – Security Week

• Studies show ransomware has already caused patient deaths | TechTarget

• Cold storage giant Americold outage caused by network breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Brightline Hack Exposes Data of Over 780,000 Child Mental Health Patients - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Payment software giant AvidXchange suffers its second ransomware attack of 2023 | TechCrunch

• Ransomware Attack Disrupts IT Network at Hardenhuish School - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• City of Dallas hit by Royal ransomware attack impacting IT services (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware gang hijacks university alert system to issue threats (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber attack cost conveyancing giant £7m - but the insurers paid up | News | Law Gazette

• Bitmarck Halts Operations Due to Cyber security Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Teiss - News - Lockbit 3.0 targets Fullerton India, demands a £2.3 million ransom

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Malicious HTML Attachment Volumes Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• A Comprehensive Look At Email-Based Threats In 2023 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• How to Spot a ChatGPT Phishing Website (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Crooks show they don't need ChatGPT to scam victims • The Register

Malware

• ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Ads Abused to Lure Corporate Workers to LOBSHOT Backdoor (darkreading.com)

• Mac malware-for-hire steals passwords and cryptocoins, sends “crime logs” via Telegram – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Security experts are using malware's own code to protect potential victims | TechSpot

• New Decoy Dog Malware Toolkit Uncovered: Targeting Enterprise Networks (thehackernews.com)

• How to Detect and Remove a Keylogger From Your Computer (howtogeek.com)

• Hackers start using double DLL sideloading to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Anatomy of a Malicious Package Attack (darkreading.com)

Mobile

• Android Apps Fail to Protect User Data During Device Transfer - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch, rapidly screws up • The Register

• Google fought a mountain of malware in 2022 | Android Central

• Google Bans Thousands of Play Store Developer Accounts to Block Malware (darkreading.com)

• Digital Intruders – Top Ways Hackers Can Breach Your Smartphone’s Security (freecodecamp.org)

• Smartphone owners warned about ‘shoulder-surfing’ thieves (thetimes.co.uk)

Botnets

• Cyber criminals use proxies to legitimise fraudulent requests - Help Net Security

• Bot Attacks Are Easy to Launch, Human Security Reports - MSSP Alert

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• What’s the Difference Between a DOS and DDoS Attack? (howtogeek.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Top 5 IoT Security Risks In 2023 - The Cyber Express

• Hackers exploit 5-year-old unpatched flaw in TBK DVR devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

• CISA warns of Mirai botnet exploiting TP-Link routers • The Register

• Drone goggles maker claims firmware sabotaged to ‘brick’ devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Three-Quarters of Firms Predict Breach in Coming Year - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cyber attack sparks fears that criminals could target UK gun owners for firearms | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• UK Gun Owners May Be Targeted After Rifle Association Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Kodi Forum Data Breach - Lessons Learned, Actions Taken | News | Kodi

• T-Mobile suffered the second data breach in 2023 - Security Affairs

• Sensitive data is being leaked from servers running Salesforce software | Ars Technica

• ChatGPT Confirms Data Breach, Raising Security Concerns (securityintelligence.com)

• Sensitive files about Royal Navy submarine reportedly found in pub toilet | Royal Navy | The Guardian

• Millions of patients’ data confirmed stolen after Fortra mass-hack | TechCrunch

• TikTok security breach allowed attackers to leak personal information (ynetnews.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• SpecTor operation: 288 individuals arrested in the seizure of marketplace Monopoly Market-Security Affairs

• US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals – Security Week

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Man Gets Four Years for Stealing Bitcoin Seized by Feds - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Mac malware-for-hire steals passwords and cryptocoins, sends “crime logs” via Telegram – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Crooks broke into AT&T email accounts to empty their crypto wallets - Security Affairs

• Level Finance crypto exchange hacked after two security audits (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers stole $93M from crypto projects in April (cryptoslate.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• The costly threat that many businesses fail to address - Help Net Security

• The hidden security risks in tech layoffs and how to mitigate them | CSO Online

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Hackers swap stealth for realistic checkout forms to steal credit cards (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Advanced Fee Fraud Surges by Over 600% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cyber criminals use proxies to legitimize fraudulent requests - Help Net Security

• UK to ban all cold calls selling financial products - BBC News

• Smartphone owners warned about ‘shoulder-surfing’ thieves (thetimes.co.uk)

• UK intelligence agencies to step up anti-fraud efforts | Financial Times (ft.com)

• National Crime Agency urged to crush rogue US candy stores (thetimes.co.uk)

• Clampdown on cold calls and mass texting technology announced in UK | Scams | The Guardian

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Dark Web

• Why the Things You Don't Know about the Dark Web May Be Your Biggest Cyber security Threat (thehackernews.com)

• SpecTor operation: 288 individuals arrested in the seizure of marketplace Monopoly Market - Security Affairs

• FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals – Security Week

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• How to keep calm and carry on in a supply chain attack • The Register

• Pension watchdog probes Capita data hack (thetimes.co.uk)

• SolarWinds: The Untold Story of the Boldest Supply-Chain Hack | WIRED

• DOJ Detected SolarWinds Breach Months Before Public Disclosure | WIRED

• Aviva says it thinks customer data secure after Capita cyber attack (proactiveinvestors.co.uk)

Cloud/SaaS

• Using just-in-time access to reduce cloud security risk - Help Net Security

• Cloud security threats are growing faster than ever | TechRadar

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Employees Using ‘Productivity Theater’ To Protect Against Surveillance, Study Finds (forbes.com)

• White House seeks information on tools used for automated employee surveillance | Computerworld

Attack Surface Management

• Reigning in ‘Out-of-Control’ Devices – Security Week

Encryption

• The UK’s online safety bill will not keep us safe | Financial Times (ft.com)

API

• Report shows 92% of orgs experienced an API security incident last year | VentureBeat

• Researchers Discover 3 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure API Management Service (thehackernews.com)

• OpenAI Threatens Popular GitHub Project With Lawsuit Over API Use | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

• 5 API security best practices you must implement - Help Net Security

• Enterprise Strategy Group Research Reveals 75% of Organisations Change or Update APIs on a Daily or Weekly Basis (darkreading.com)

• Top API vulnerabilities organisations can't afford to ignore - Help Net Security

Open Source

• Unpaid open source maintainers struggle with increased security demands - Help Net Security

• Anatomy of a Malicious Package Attack (darkreading.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Your passwords could be cracked using thermal cameras powered by AI | TechRadar

• Your Google Account is getting rid of its password (androidpolice.com)

• PSA. Don’t share your password in your app’s release notes • Graham Cluley

Social Media

• TikTok security breach allowed attackers to leak personal information (ynetnews.com)

• Twitter outage logs you out and won’t let you back in (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Meta kills over 1,000 ChatGPT-related malicious spoofs • The Register

• Strike 3: FTC says Meta still failing to protect privacy • The Register

Malvertising

• Google Ads Abused to Lure Corporate Workers to LOBSHOT Backdoor (darkreading.com)

• LOBSHOT: A Stealthy, Financial Trojan and Info Stealer Delivered through Google Ads (thehackernews.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• European Data at Risk With Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber attack Volumes- IT Security Guru

• UK readers may lose access to Wikipedia amid online safety bill requirements | UK news | The Guardian

• White House unveils AI rules to address safety and privacy | Computerworld

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Hackers Are Finding Ways to Evade Latest Cyber security Tools (yahoo.com)

• Global Cyber Attacks Rise by 7% in Q1 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• There’s No Silver Bullet for Cyber security (hbr.org)

• European Data at Risk With Tick-box GDPR Compliance and High Cyber attack Volumes- IT Security Guru

• Data loss costs go up, and not just from ransom shakedowns • The Register

• Boards Are Having the Wrong Conversations About Cyber security (hbr.org)

• Three-Quarters of Firms Predict Breach in Coming Year - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Uber Ex-Security Chief Joe Sullivan to Be Sentenced for Breach (gizmodo.com)

• Trends and Insights from the New Global Threat Intelligence Report - MSSP Alert

• Why Your Detection-First Security Approach Isn't Working (thehackernews.com)

• How Strategic Threat Intelligence Elevates a Cyber security Program (accelerationeconomy.com)

• Benefits and Challenges of Data Analytics in Cyber security (analyticsinsight.net)

• Reducing Your Attack Surface: A Practical Approach To Vulnerability Remediation And Management (forbes.com)

• What the Cyber security Industry Can Learn From the SVB Crisis (darkreading.com)

• 4 Ways Leaders Should Reevaluate Their Cyber security's Focus (forbes.com)

• Optimising Cyber Security Costs In A Recession (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Malicious content lurks all over the web - Help Net Security

• Microsoft Digital Defence Report: Key Cyber crime Trends (darkreading.com)

• Closing up holes: Infoseccers on being less reactive • The Register

• Organisations brace for cyber attacks despite improved preparedness - Help Net Security

• Global Cyber Risk Lowers to Moderate Level in 2H' 2022 (trendmicro.com)

• Japan’s ‘myth of security’ raises cyber attack risk | Financial Times (ft.com)

Secure Disposal

• Your decommissioned routers could be a security disaster | Network World

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• The importance of being certified • The Register

• UK Cyber Security Council launches certification mapping tool - Help Net Security

• DHS’ cyber talent management system slowly gaining traction | Federal News Network

• The warning signs for security analyst burnout and ways to prevent - Help Net Security

• Google Launches Cyber security Career Certificate Program (darkreading.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• SpecTor operation: 288 individuals arrested in the seizure of marketplace Monopoly Market - Security Affairs

• FBI Uncovers 9 Crypto Exchanges In Ransomware Laundering (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• US, Ukraine Shut Down Cryptocurrency Exchanges Used by Cyber criminals - SecurityWeek

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Open Banking: A Perfect Storm for Security and Privacy? - SecurityWeek

• Employees Using ‘Productivity Theater’ To Protect Against Surveillance, Study Finds (forbes.com)

• Apple and Google Team Up to Stop Unwanted Tracking by AirTags, Other Devices - CNET

• White House seeks information on tools used for automated employee surveillance | Computerworld

• Strike 3: FTC says Meta still failing to protect privacy • The Register

Artificial Intelligence

• 5 ways threat actors can use ChatGPT to enhance attacks | CSO Online

• Workers are secretly using ChatGPT, AI, with big risks for companies (cnbc.com)

• AI will do 'real damage', warns Microsoft chief (telegraph.co.uk)

• Microsoft’s chief economist says A.I. can be dangerous | Fortune

• It's time to harden AI and ML for cyber security | TechTarget

• Stop using generative-AI tools, Samsung orders staff | Digital Trends

• ChatGPT Confirms Data Breach, Raising Security Concerns (securityintelligence.com)

• How To Secure Web Applications Against AI-assisted Cyber Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• PrivateGPT Tackles Sensitive Info in ChatGPT Prompts (darkreading.com)

• Meta kills over 1,000 ChatGPT-related malicious spoofs • The Register

• How AI is reshaping the cyber security landscape - Help Net Security

• White House unveils AI rules to address safety and privacy | Computerworld

• How to Spot a ChatGPT Phishing Website (darkreading.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Is misinformation the newest malware? | CSO Online

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

• Hackers use fake ‘Windows Update’ guides to target Ukrainian govt (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian APT Hacked Tajikistani Carrier to Spy on Government, Public Services - SecurityWeek

• Cat and mouse game: Russian satellite appears to chase US military satellite in space (firstpost.com)

• Russian APT Nomadic Octopus hacked Tajikistani carrier - Security Affairs

• Russia’s APT28 targets Ukraine with bogus Windows updates • The Register

• Russian spy network smuggles sensitive EU tech despite sanctions | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Finnish newspaper hides Ukraine news reports for Russians in online game | Censorship | The Guardian

• Meta Unravels Social Media Cyber Espionage Operations In South Asia (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

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Nation State Actors

• APT groups muddying the waters for MSPs | WeLiveSecurity

• China’s Hackers Vastly Outnumber US. Cyber Agents by 50 to 1, FBI Director Testifies - MSSP Alert

• Chinese APT Uses New 'Stack Rumbling' Technique to Disable Security Software - SecurityWeek

• China 'Innovated' Its Cyber attack Tradecraft, Mandia Says (darkreading.com)

• 'BellaCiao' Showcases How Iran's Threat Groups Are Modernizing Their Malware (darkreading.com)

• APT41 Subgroup Plows Through Asia-Pacific, Utilizing Layered Stealth Tactics (darkreading.com)

• APT41’s PowerShell Backdoor Download Files From Windows (cyber securitynews.com)

• US Chamber of Commerce warns of major increase in risks for businesses in China | CNN Business

• China’s ‘men in black’ step up scrutiny of foreign corporate sleuths | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Microsoft says Iranian hackers combine influence ops with hacking for maximum impact | CyberScoop

• BouldSpy Android Spyware: Iranian Government's Alleged Tool for Spying on Minority Groups (thehackernews.com)

• Attack on Security Titans: Earth Longzhi Returns With New Tricks (trendmicro.com)

• North Korean APT Gets Around Macro-Blocking With LNK Switch-Up (darkreading.com)

• ‘We have survived!’: China’s Huawei goes local in response to US sanctions | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Apple is a Chinese company | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Meta Unravels Social Media Cyber Espionage Operations In South Asia (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• China labels USA ‘Empire of hacking’ citing old WikiLeaks • The Register

• Kimsuky hackers use new recon tool to find security gaps (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Reducing Your Attack Surface: A Practical Approach To Vulnerability Remediation And Management (forbes.com)

Vulnerabilities

• WordPress Vulnerability Hits +1 Million Using Header & Footer Plugin (searchenginejournal.com)

• Cisco discloses a bug in Prime Collaboration Deployment solution - Security Affairs

• Cisco Warns of Critical Vulnerability in EoL Phone Adapters - SecurityWeek

• Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch, rapidly screws up • The Register

• Zyxel Firewall Devices Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution Attacks — Patch Now (thehackernews.com)

• Researchers Uncover New BGP Flaws in Popular Internet Routing Protocol Software (thehackernews.com)

• AMD TPM Exploit: faulTPM Attack Defeats BitLocker and TPM-Based Security (Updated) (msn.com)

• Chrome 113 Released With 15 Security Patches - SecurityWeek

• Netgear Vulnerabilities Lead to Credentials Leak, Privilege Escalation - SecurityWeek

• Researchers Discover 3 Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure API Management Service (thehackernews.com)

• Apple Releases First-Ever Security Updates for Beats, AirPods Headphones - SecurityWeek

• Some of the top AMD chips are suffering a serious security flaw | TechRadar

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Tools and Controls

• How Strategic Threat Intelligence Elevates a Cyber security Program (accelerationeconomy.com)

• 86 percent of developers knowingly deploy vulnerable code (betanews.com)

• The hidden security risks in tech layoffs and how to mitigate them | CSO Online

• Benefits and Challenges of Data Analytics in Cyber security (analyticsinsight.net)

• Reigning in ‘Out-of-Control’ Devices – Security Week

• ViperSoftX info-stealing malware now targets password managers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• The pros and cons of VPNs for enterprises | TechTarget

• It's time to harden AI and ML for cyber security | TechTarget

• Using just-in-time access to reduce cloud security risk - Help Net Security

• Using multiple solutions adds complexity to your zero trust strategy - Help Net Security

• Your decommissioned routers could be a security disaster | Network World

• Wanted Dead or Alive: Real-Time Protection Against Lateral Movement (thehackernews.com)

• 5 API security best practices you must implement - Help Net Security

• 3 questions CISOs expect you to answer during a security pitch | TechCrunch

• Level Finance crypto exchange hacked after two security audits (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 4 Principles for Creating a New Blueprint for Secure Software Development (darkreading.com)

• How To Secure Web Applications Against AI-assisted Cyber Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• AppSec Making Progress or Spinning Its Wheels? (darkreading.com)

• Windows admins can now sign up for ‘known issue’ email alerts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Top API vulnerabilities organisations can't afford to ignore - Help Net Security

• How AI is reshaping the cyber security landscape - Help Net Security

• Getting cyber-resilience right in a zero-trust world starts at the endpoint | VentureBeat

• Practical Protection: Limiting the Damage from Local Admin Accounts (practical365.com)

• To Fight Cyber Extortion and Ransomware, Shift Left (trendmicro.com)

• Using Threat Intelligence to Get Smarter About Ransomware – Security Week

• New Generative AI Tools Aim to Improve Security (darkreading.com)

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Other News

• Firmware Looms as the Next Frontier for Cyber security (darkreading.com)

• Open Banking: A Perfect Storm for Security and Privacy? – Security Week

• Malicious content lurks all over the web - Help Net Security

• How Public-Private Information Sharing Can Level the Cyber security Playing Field (darkreading.com)

• Eric Idle tells RSAC to look in the bright side of life • The Register

• Your decommissioned routers could be a security disaster | Network World

• FBI Focuses on Cyber security With $90M Budget Request (darkreading.com)

• Google will remove secure website indicators in Chrome 117 (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 07 April 2023

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

• 15 Million Public-Facing Services Vulnerable to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Over 15 million publicly facing services are susceptible to at least one of the 896 vulnerabilities listed in CISA's KEV (known exploitable vulnerabilities) catalogue. The findings are particularly worrying because the examined vulnerabilities are known and highlighted in CISA's KEV catalogue as actively exploited by hackers, so any delays in their patching maintain a large attack surface, giving threat actors numerous potential targets.

Over half of those 7 million instances were vulnerable to one of the 137 CVEs concerning Microsoft Windows, making this component a top priority for defenders and an excellent target for attackers. Almost half of those are over five years old, so roughly 800,000 machines have not applied security updates for a significant period of time.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/15-million-public-facing-services-vulnerable-to-cisa-kev-flaws/

• New Research Highlights Increased Security Risks Posed by Remote Working and BYOD

New research has highlighted the increased threats associated with remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies faced by organisations. The results of the survey show that with remote and hybrid working, personal and work tasks blur together and the boundaries between the two have become more porous. The data shows that 32% of remote and hybrid workers use apps or software not approved by IT and 92% of remote employees perform work tasks on their personal tablet or smartphone devices. These devices, apps and software, along with the corporate data being accessed, are not visible to IT, thereby dramatically increasing an organisation’s risk posture.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/04/03/new-research-highlights-increased-security-risks-posed-by-remote-working-and-bring-your-own-device-policies/

• Lack of Security Employees Makes SMBs Sitting Ducks for Cyber Attacks

Cyber security is a growing concern among all businesses but lack of security expertise in SMBs is leaving smaller firms open to attack. Cyber threats are more real and prevalent than ever before and the risk to businesses includes not only exposure of customer data and a decrease in trust, but also losses in revenue.

54% of small businesses say they are more concerned about cyber security now than one year ago yet 38% of SMBs said they had zero employees dedicated to security as part of their role, and 42% had just one employee working on security. Even without a traditional security role, there should be someone responsible for making security decisions in every organisation.

A lack of time to focus on security and keeping up with changing threats are amongst the biggest challenges for businesses.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/04/04/smbs-security-posture/

• IT and Security Pros Pressured to Keep Quiet About Data Breaches

It is not possible to stop every bad thing from happening. Alarmingly, when something does go wrong IT/security professionals are being told to keep a breach confidential, even when they knew it should be reported. More than 42% of IT/security professionals reporting this happening to them, and a worrying 30% said they have kept a breach confidential.

At 71%, IT/security professionals in the US were the most likely to say they have been told to keep quiet followed by the UK at 44%.

52% of global organisations have experienced a data breach or data leak in the last 12 months. The US led at 75% (or 23% higher than average) followed by the UK at 51.4%.

Infosec professionals are increasingly worried about their company facing legal action due to a breach being handled incorrectly.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/04/06/pressure-keeping-breaches-confidential/

• Phishing Emails are Seeing a Huge Rise, So Stay on Your Guard

Phishing attacks are up 5x year-on-year, researchers say. A report from Cofense analysed data received from 35 million people across the world, finding there has been a 569% increase in phishing attacks to 2022 and 478% increase to credential phishing. With the increased frequency, intensity and sophistication of these threats small and medium-sized businesses should be particularly wary of phishing and other forms of email-borne cyber attacks as their numbers have grown explosively over the last year, experts have warned. Organisations should keep eyes open for Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks as this type continues to be one of the top crimes for the eighth year in a row.

https://www.techradar.com/news/phishing-emails-are-seeing-a-huge-rise-so-stay-on-your-guard

• Ransomware Attacks Skyrocket as Threat Actors Double Down on Global Attacks

New studies have found that ransomware exploits are increasing, and a large percentage of victims are being hit multiple times. The NCC Group noted that there were 240 ransomware attacks in February 2023, a 45% increase from the record-high number of attacks in January. North America accounted for 47% of the global ransomware attacks, with Europe following (23%). Another report found that of all organisations hit by ransomware in the last 12 months, 28% were reported to be hit twice or more. Of the organisations breached, 69% reported phishing as the initial access vector.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/nccgroup-ransomware-attacks-up-february/

• MSPs a Favoured Target of Supply Chain and Infrastructure Attacks

With the backdrop of increasing cyber attacks on supply chains, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are increasingly being favoured by attackers due to their pivotal role in the supply chain and access to the organisations they are serving.

When measured by sector, MSPs are the hardest hit by hackers in supply chain attacks.

ConnectWise’s cyber research unit analysed some 440,000 incidents that impacted MSPs and their clients and found that Lockbit led among the most prolific ransomware hijackers targeting MSPs, (42% of all ransomware attacks) followed by Cl0p at 11%. Whilst numerous other ransomware gangs also directly targeted MSPs in 2022.

Third party risk assessments should be carried out for all organisations in your supply chain and this is especially true of MSPs and external IT providers given the level of access they have into your systems and data.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/msps-a-favored-target-of-supply-chain-and-infrastructure-attacks-connectwise-reports/

• Fake Ransomware Gang Targets Organisations with Empty Data Leak Threats

Fake extortionists are piggybacking on data breaches and ransomware incidents, threatening companies with publishing or selling allegedly stolen data unless they get paid. Sometimes the actors add the menace of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack if the message recipient does not comply with the instructions in the messages. It is possible that victims are selected from publicly available sources, such as the initial attacker’s data leak site, social media, news reports, or company disclosures; in some cases a fake extortionist could learn about ransomware victims that have yet to disclose the cyber attack, making it more likely for victims to believe them.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-ransomware-gang-targets-us-orgs-with-empty-data-leak-threats/

• GCHQ Updates Security Guidance for Boards

The UK’s leading cyber security agency GCHQ, has urged the country’s business leaders to “get to grips” with cyber risk after releasing an updated toolkit to help them do so. GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said its updated Cyber Security Board Toolkit is designed to boost the confidence of senior execs when discussing security with key stakeholders from the organisation.

Given the potentially serious impact breaches can have on business operations and growth, the agency wants boards to treat cyber risk with the same urgency as other business risks in areas such as financial and legal.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/gchq-updates-security-guidance/

• More than 60% of Organisations have been Hit with Unplanned Downtime on a Monthly Basis

A recent report found that 52% of organisations had suffered a data breach in the past two years, an increase from 49% in 2022. In addition, 62% of organisations reported that business critical applications suffered from unplanned downtime due to a cyber security incident on at least a monthly basis, an increase from 54% in 2022. Other key findings include downtime costing roughly 2.7% of annual revenue, 39% of organisations believing cyber security incidents directly harmed their competitive position and 31% noting that it had reduced shareholder revenue. As a result of the impact, 95% of organisations reported that they had planned to increase their security budget over the next 2 years.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/splunk-details-increase-in-data-breaches-downtime-due-to-cybersecurity-issues/

• For Cyber Crime Gangs, Professionalisation Comes With “Corporate” Headaches

Today’s largest cyber crime gangs are operating like large enterprises, with $50 million dollars in annual revenue and around 80% of operating expenses going towards wages. Researchers have found that small, medium and especially large cyber crime gangs are operating just like their legitimate counterparts, from their managerial structure to employee benefits. The research highlights a worrying level of sophistication within cyber crime gangs; we are no longer dealing with the lone attacker in a dark room, but in some cases an enterprise with clear objectives.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/cybercrime-professionalization-gangs-corporate-headaches

• UK’s Offensive Hacking Unit Takes on Military Opponents and Terrorist Groups

Britain’s newly created offensive hacking unit, the National Cyber Force (NCF), has said it is engaged daily in operations to disrupt terrorist groups and military opponents of the UK. Operational details remain unclear, however the NCF says it is engaged in techniques to “undermine the tradecraft” of Russian, Chinese and other state-sponsored hackers and in “technical disruption” against terrorist groups, for example to prevent the dissemination of online propaganda. This news comes after the recent leak of files for Moscow, which had tasked an IT company to develop cyber warfare tools aimed at taking down infrastructure networks and scouring the internet for vulnerabilities.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/03/uks-offensive-hacking-unit-takes-on-military-opponents-and-terrorist-groups

• Man Kills Himself After an AI Chatbot 'Encouraged' Him to Sacrifice Himself to Stop Climate Change

A man reportedly took his own life following a six-week-long conversation about the climate crisis with an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Reports found that the chatbot had fed the mans worries about climate change, which had worsened his anxiety and later led to suicidal thoughts. The AI chatbot failed to dissuade the man from committing suicide and had in fact encouraged him to act on the thoughts and join the AI chatbot so “they could live together, as one person, in paradise”. This is despite the efforts made to limit these kind of events.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-

• Hackers Exploit WordPress Plugin Flaw That Gives Full Control of Millions of Sites

Hackers are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability in a widely used WordPress plugin that gives them the ability to take complete control of millions of sites, researchers said. The vulnerability is in Elementor Pro, a premium plugin running on more than 12 million sites powered by WordPress.  Despite the vulnerability being fixed, many have not installed the patch. Worryingly, this is a common theme in cyber; many organisations remain vulnerable due to them not having an efficient patching process and as a result, a number of the most exploited vulnerabilities have available patches.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/hackers-exploit-wordpress-plugin-flaw-that-gives-full-control-of-millions-of-sites/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Ransomware attacks up sharply in February (techrepublic.com)

• Fake ransomware gang targets U.S. orgs with empty data leak threats (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Money Message ransomware demands million dollar ransoms (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Rorschach – A New Sophisticated and Fast Ransomware - Check Point Research

• ALPHV ransomware exploits Veritas Backup Exec bugs for initial access (bleepingcomputer.com)

• LockBit leaks data stolen from South Korean National Tax Service-Security Affairs

• UK outsourcing services provider Capita suffered a cyber incident-Security Affairs

• March ransomware disclosures spike behind Clop attacks | TechTarget

• Protect Your Company: Ransomware Prevention Made Easy (thehackernews.com)

• Dish Faces Investor Lawsuit Over Ransomware Attack, Downgrades From Equity Analysts | Next TV

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Scammers Are Using ChatGPT to Write Emails That Aren't Riddled With Typos (futurism.com)

• Phishing emails are seeing a huge rise, so stay on your guard | TechRadar

• Cyber Police of Ukraine arrested members of a gang that defrauded EU citizens of $4.33M-Security Affairs

• YouTube warns of email scam from seemingly authentic account | Science & Tech News | Sky News

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Cyber Police of Ukraine arrested members of a gang that defrauded EU citizens of $4.33M-Security Affairs

2FA/MFA

• Hackers steal crypto assets by defeating 2FA with rogue browser extension | CSO Online

Malware

• WinRAR SFX archives can run PowerShell without being detected (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Malware and machine learning: A match made in hell - Help Net Security

• Arid Viper Hacking Group Using Upgraded Malware in Middle East Cyber Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Flood of malicious packages results in NPM registry DoS - Help Net Security

• Hackers Using Self-Extracting Archives Exploit for Stealthy Backdoor Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Researcher Tricks ChatGPT into Building Undetectable Steganography Malware (darkreading.com)

• Typhon info-stealing malware devs upgrade evasion capabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Tax preparation and e-file service eFile.com compromised to serve malware-Security Affairs

• The hidden picture of malware attack trends - Help Net Security

Mobile

• Google publishes April Android Security Bulletin, but Pixel updates are once again missing (androidpolice.com)

• Android's April 2023 Updates Patch Critical Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

BYOD

• New Research Highlights Increased Security Risks Posed by Remote Working and BYOD - IT Security Guru

Internet of Things – IoT

• Hackers can open Nexx garage doors remotely, and there's no fix (bleepingcomputer.com)

• HP to patch critical bug in LaserJet printers within 90 days (bleepingcomputer.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Splunk Details Increase in Data Breaches, Downtime Due to Cyber security Issues - MSSP Alert

• Nearly 5 million hit in massive loan data breach — see if you’re affected | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• Data Breach Strikes Western Digital (darkreading.com)

• Uber driver info stolen in yet another third-party breach • The Register

• High-cost lender TMX Finance data breach affects nearly 5 million customers | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• ChatGPT linked to alleged leak of confidential information at Samsung (interestingengineering.com)

• Law Firm for Uber Loses Drivers' Data to Hackers in Yet Another Breach (darkreading.com)

• Marketplace 600K Records Leaked By Database Snafu (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Hacker claims breach of US immigration services | Cybernews

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• For Cyber Crime Gangs, Professionalization & ‘Corporate’ Headaches (darkreading.com)

• Fight Mercenaries with these Cyber security Principles (trendmicro.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• DoJ Recovers $112M in Crypto Stolen With Romance Scams (darkreading.com)

• Hackers steal crypto assets by defeating 2FA with rogue browser extension | CSO Online

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Re-evaluating immature and ineffective insider risk management programs - Help Net Security

• Employees are as likely as cyber-criminals to cause cyber-incidents | The Independent

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• The staggering cost of identity fraud for financial services - Help Net Security

• New dark web market STYX focuses on financial fraud services (bleepingcomputer.com)

• What CISOs Can Do to Build Trust & Fight Fraud in the Metaverse (darkreading.com)

• Feds seize $112m in currency tied to 'pig-butchering scams • The Register

• Stop online counterfeiters dead in their tracks - Help Net Security

Deepfakes

• Misinformation, mistakes and the Pope in a puffer: what rapidly evolving AI can – and can’t – do | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

• Welcome to the era of viral AI generated 'news' images | CNN Business

Insurance

• Experts Urge Empathy, Thoughtfulness for Insurers in Challenging Cyber Landscape (insurancejournal.com)

Dark Web

• New dark web market STYX focuses on financial fraud services (bleepingcomputer.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• MSPs a Favoured Target of Supply Chain and Infrastructure Attacks, ConnectWise Reports - MSSP Alert

• APT group Winter Vivern exploits Zimbra webmail flaw to target government entities | CSO Online

• Risk & Repeat: Inside the 3CX supply chain attack | TechTarget

• 10-year-old Windows bug with 'opt-in' fix exploited in 3CX attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Automation, Cyber security, Integration Top the List of Priorities for MSPs in 2023 - MSSP Alert

• Capita: Cyber attack caused pre-weekend outage • The Register

• Western Digital Hit By Network Security Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Log4j bug abused in new 'proxyjacking' attacks to resell bandwidth, abuse enterprise cloud | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Google Drive does a surprise rollout of file limits, locking out some users | Ars Technica

• Modular "AlienFox" Toolkit Used to Steal Cloud Service Credentials - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Capita: Cyber attack caused pre-weekend outage • The Register

• Shadow data slipping past security teams - Help Net Security

• Think Before You Share the Link: SaaS in the Real World (thehackernews.com)

• Western Digital Hit By Network Security Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• New Research Highlights Increased Security Risks Posed by Remote Working and BYOD - IT Security Guru

• Unapproved Apps Used By 32% of Remote Workers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Shadow IT

• Shadow data slipping past security teams - Help Net Security

Identity and Access Management

• "It's The Service Accounts, Stupid": Why Do PAM Deployments Take (almost) Forever To Complete? (thehackernews.com)

• The high cost of insecure authentication methods - Help Net Security

• 3 Fronts in the Battle for Digital Identity (darkreading.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Takedown of notorious hacker marketplace selling your identity to criminals | Europol (europa.eu)

• Stolen credential warehouse Genesis Market seized by FBI • The Register

Social Media

• TikTok to Comply With US Law, Protect User Data From China - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• TikTok fined £12.7m for illegally processing children’s data | TikTok | The Guardian

• Twitter's recommendation algorithm opens platform to manipulation, bot attacks, researcher finds | CyberScoop

• TikTok bans explained: Everything you need to know (techtarget.com)

• YouTube warns of email scam from seemingly authentic account | Science & Tech News | Sky News

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• TikTok fined £12.7m for illegally processing children’s data | TikTok | The Guardian

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• TikTok fined £12.7m for illegally processing children’s data | TikTok | The Guardian

• UK data regulator issues warning over generative AI data protection concerns | CSO Online

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• 42% of IT leaders told to maintain breach confidentiality | TechTarget

• GCHQ Updates Security Guidance for Boards - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Splunk Details Increase in Data Breaches, Downtime Due to  Issues - MSSP Alert

• 5 strategies to manage  risks in mergers and acquisitions | CSO Online

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• What is PCI DSS 12 requirements? | Definition from TechTarget

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Ex-GCHQ chief criticises Treasury for advertising head of cyber security job with £50k salary (telegraph.co.uk)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Cyber Police of Ukraine arrested members of a gang that defrauded EU citizens of $4.33M-Security Affairs

• Stolen credential warehouse Genesis Market seized by FBI • The Register

• Spain's most dangerous and elusive hacker now in police custody (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Genesis Market: Popular cyber crime website shut down by police - BBC News

• FBI obtained detailed database exposing 60,000 users of the cyber crime bazaar Genesis Market | CyberScoop

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• NYPD ignored 93 percent of surveillance law rules • The Register

Artificial Intelligence

• Welcome to the era of viral AI generated 'news' images | CNN Business

• Misinformation, mistakes and the Pope in a puffer: what rapidly evolving AI can – and can’t – do | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

• Scammers Are Using ChatGPT to Write Emails That Aren't Riddled With Typos (futurism.com)

• ChatGPT, the AI Revolution, and the Security, Privacy and Ethical Implications - SecurityWeek

• ChatGPT banned in Italy | The Independent

• Man ends his life after an AI chatbot 'encouraged' him to sacrifice himself to stop climate change | Euronews

• Malware and machine learning: A match made in hell - Help Net Security

• ChatGPT linked to alleged leak of confidential information at Samsung (interestingengineering.com)

• UK data regulator issues warning over generative AI data protection concerns | CSO Online

• Researcher Tricks ChatGPT into Building Undetectable Steganography Malware (darkreading.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Misinformation, mistakes and the Pope in a puffer: what rapidly evolving AI can – and can’t – do | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

• ChatGPT could increase 'threat vector' for cyber attacks and misinformation, experts warn: 'Deepfake generator' | Fox Business

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

• UK’s offensive hacking unit takes on military opponents and terrorist groups | Cyberwar | The Guardian

• Russian pro-war military blogger killed in blast at St Petersburg cafe | Russia | The Guardian

• China opens national security probe into Micron products • The Register

• CISA adds bugs exploited by commercial surveillance spyware to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog-Security Affairs

• Vulkan Playbook Leak Exposes Russia's Plans for Worldwide Cyberwar (darkreading.com)

• Chinese 'spy balloon' that flew over US gathered intelligence from sensitive military sites, officials say | US News | Sky News

• UK Discloses Offensive Cyber Capabilities Principles - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Britain’s cyberwarfare chief reveals his identity | The Economist

Nation State Actors

• APT group Winter Vivern exploits Zimbra webmail flaw to target government entities | CSO Online

• UK’s offensive hacking unit takes on military opponents and terrorist groups | Cyberwar | The Guardian

• Vodafone warned of ‘profound national security questions’ over merger with Chinese-owned Three (telegraph.co.uk)

• Russian pro-war military blogger killed in blast at St Petersburg cafe | Russia | The Guardian

• China opens national security probe into Micron products • The Register

• Report: Chinese State-Sponsored Hacking Group Highly Active - SecurityWeek

• Vulkan Playbook Leak Exposes Russia's Plans for Worldwide Cyberwar (darkreading.com)

• Chinese 'spy balloon' that flew over US gathered intelligence from sensitive military sites, officials say | US News | Sky News

• The other Chinese apps taking the US and UK by storm - BBC News

• TikTok to Comply With US Law, Protect User Data From China - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• China probes Micron for cyber security risks, urges Japan to stay out of US chip export curbs  | TechCrunch

• Google TAG Alerts Of ARCHIPELAGO Cyber attacks Linked To North Korea (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• 15 million public-facing services vulnerable to CISA KEV flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 10-year-old Windows bug with 'opt-in' fix exploited in 3CX attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Millions still exposed despite available fixes - Help Net Security

• Microsoft to admins: Auto-review your Autopatch alerts • The Register

Vulnerabilities

• Log4j bug abused in new 'proxyjacking' attacks to resell bandwidth, abuse enterprise cloud | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Hackers exploit WordPress plugin flaw that gives full control of millions of sites | Ars Technica

• CISA adds bugs exploited by commercial surveillance spyware to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog-Security Affairs

• HP to patch critical bug in LaserJet printers within 90 days (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Prevent and detect Adobe ColdFusion exploitation (CVE-2023-26360, CVE-2023-26359) - Help Net Security

• Chrome 112 Patches 16 Security Flaws - SecurityWeek

• QNAP Zero-Days Leave 80K Devices Vulnerable to Cyber attack (darkreading.com)

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Tools and Controls

• How can organisations bridge the gap between DR and cyber security? - Help Net Security

• Let’s pump the brakes on the rush to incorporate AI into cyber security | CSO Online

• The high cost of insecure authentication methods - Help Net Security

• How AI is transforming cyber security for better and worse - Help Net Security

• 3 Fronts in the Battle for Digital Identity (darkreading.com)

• What RASP Should Have Been (darkreading.com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Bitdefender 2023 Cybersecurity Assessment | Bitdefender

• Annual Report: Leading Anti-Phishing Solutions | Cofense

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Other News Misc/Other Misc attacks

• Maintaining Data Integrity With Growing Cyber security Concerns (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Keeper Security April Fools - IT Security Guru

• Travel visa delays after UK’s crime records office hit by cyber ‘incident’ | Evening Standard

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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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 03 March 2023

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

• It’s Time to Evaluate Your Security Education Plan with the Rise in Social Engineering Attacks

Security provider Purplesec found 98% of attacks in 2022 involved an element of social engineering. Social engineering attacks can take many forms including phishing, smishing, vishing and quishing and it’s vital to educate your organisation on how to best prepare for these. Education plans should focusing on educating all levels of users, including those at the top. These plans should also be tested to allow organisations to assess where they are at and identify where they can improve.

https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/as-social-engineering-attacks-skyrocket-evaluate-your-security-education-plan

• Mobile Users are More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks

A report conducted by mobile security provider Lookout focused on the impact of mobile phishing. Some of the key findings from the report included that more than 50% of personal devices were exposed to a mobile phishing attack every quarter, the percentage of users falling for multiple mobile phishing links increasing and an increased targeting of highly regulated industries such as insurance, banking and financial services. It is likely that this has resulted from the increase in relaxed bring your own device (BYOD) policies.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/mobile-users-more-susceptible-to-phishing-attacks-than-two-years-ago/

• Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber Crime

Phishing attacks are at an all-time high and the usage of Phishing as a Service (PaaS) opens this attack technique to virtually anyone. The sale of “phishing kits” and usage of artificial intelligence has further increased the availability of this attack technique. In response, organisations should look to improve their email security, cloud security and education programs for employees.

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/23/c/phishing-as-a-service-phaas.html

• Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes

The average time it takes for a threat actor to move laterally from a compromised host within an organisation dropped 14% between 2012 and 2022 down to 84 minutes, according to a report by security provider Crowdstrike. With the reduction in time it takes a threat actor to move across systems, organisations have even less time to enact their incident response plans and contain breaches effectively, putting further pressure on the incident response team. By responding quickly, organisations can minimise the cost and damage of a breach. The report from Crowdstrike found that organisations were facing increasing difficulty in detecting suspicious activity as attackers are choosing to use valid organisation credentials rather than malware, to gain access to an organisation’s systems.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/attacker-breakout-time-drops-just/

• Attackers are Developing and Deploying Exploits Faster Than Ever

A report from security provider Rapid7 found that over 56% of vulnerabilities were exploited within seven days of public disclosure. Worryingly, the median time for exploitation in 2022 was just one day. The finding from the report highlights the need for organisations to not only conduct threat intelligence to be aware of vulnerabilities but to also look to employ patches where possible in a timely manner.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/attackers-developing-deploying-exploits/

• Old Vulnerabilities are Haunting Organisations and Aiding Attackers

Known vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities for which patches have already been made available, are one of the primary attack vectors for threat actors. Vulnerability management vendor Tenable found that the top exploited vulnerabilities were originally disclosed as far back as 2017 and organisations that had not applied these patches were at increased risks of attack.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/known-exploitable-vulnerabilities/

• Scams Drive Nearly $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022

Americans lost $8.8 billion to fraud last year, with imposter scams responsible for $2.8 billion of that amount, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Losses to business imposters were particularly damaging, climbing to $660 million from the previous year. Interestingly, the FTC found that younger people reported losing money to fraud the most often.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/investment-scams-drive-9bn-in/

• Economic Pressure are Increasing Cyber Security Risks and a Recession Would Only Further This

The World Economic Forum’s recent report found that 93% of cyber security leaders and 86% of business leaders think it is moderately or very likely that global geopolitical instability will lead to a catastrophic cyber event in the next two years. Reinforcing this, a report from (ISC)² found that 80% of business executives believe a weakening economy will increase cyber threats and a recession will only amplify this.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3689008/economic-pressures-are-increasing-cybersecurity-risks-a-recession-would-amp-them-up-more.html

• Cyber Security in this Era of Polycrisis

A year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the geopolitical context is increasingly tense and volatile. The world faces several major crises in what has been coined a 'polycrisis,' a cluster of global shocks with compounding effects. This, along with increasing geopolitical tensions causes a rise in risk from cyber attacks. In fact, the European Union Agency for Cyber Security (ENISA) recently issued an alert regarding actors conducting malicious cyber activities against businesses and governments in the European Union and findings from Google show a 300% increase in state-sponsored cyber attacks targeting users in NATO countries.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/cybersecurity-in-an-era-of-polycrisis/

• Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions

Research provider TRM labs found that some major Russian-linked ransomware crime gangs have rebranded their activities in 2022 to avoid sanctions. To strengthen their anonymity, two major ransomware crime gangs LockBit and Conti restructured their activities. Conti is reported to have restructured into three smaller groups named Black Besta, BlackByte, Karakurt. LockBit on the other hand launched LockBit 3.0, which is focused on monetary gain. Additionally, the report found that Russian-speaking darknet markets had amassed over $130 million in sales.

https://cryptopotato.com/russian-ransomware-projects-rebranded-to-avoid-western-sanctions-report/

• Ransomware Attacks Ravaged Big Names in February

Despite the apparent slight drop in ransomware activity last month, several high profile targets of various industries were hit; this ranges from the likes of the US Marshal Service, retailer WH Smith, satellite provider Dish and many more. These attacks reinforce the concept that any organisation can be a victim, regardless of industry.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/365532056/Ransomware-attacks-ravaged-big-names-in-February

• Firms Who Pay Ransoms Subsidise New Attacks

A report from security provider Trend Micro found that whilst only a relatively small number of ransomware victims pay their extorters, those that do pay are effectively funding 6-10 new attacks. The report also found that attackers are aware of which industries and countries pay ransoms more often, so organisations belonging to those industries and countries may find themselves an even more attractive target.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/firms-pay-ransom-subsidise-10/

• How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber Crime

A report from threat intelligence provider Recorded Future has highlighted the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on cyber. Recorded Future explain how a number of threat actor groups fled during the war and in addition to differing political views between groups, there has been a disruption to the cyber environment. In fact, Recorded Future found that Russian-language dark web marketplaces have taken a major hit and the prediction is that the epicentre of cyber crime may shift to English-speaking dark web forums, shops and marketplaces.

https://www.darkreading.com/analytics/ukraine-war-fault-line-cybercrime-forever

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Firms Who Pay Ransom Subsidise 10 New Attacks: Report - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Well-funded security systems fail to prevent cyber attacks in US and Europe: Report | CSO Online

• Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions: Report (cryptopotato.com)

• New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online

• Ransomware Attacks: Don’t Let Your Guard Down - SecurityWeek

• Ransomware attacks ravaged big names in February | TechTarget

• Cyber Insurance Market Back From Brink After Onslaught of Ransomware Attacks (insurancejournal.com)

• Royal Mail schools LockBit in leaked negotiation (malwarebytes.com)

• 'Ethical hacker' among ransomware suspects arrested • The Register

• Wiper malware goes global, destructive attacks surge - Help Net Security

• A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 3 (trendmicro.com)

• New Exfiltrator-22 post-exploitation kit linked to LockBit ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• PureCrypter malware hits govt orgs with ransomware, info-stealers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Bitdefender Releases Free Decryptor for MortalKombat Ransomware Strain (thehackernews.com)

• Dish Network confirms ransomware attack behind multi-day outage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US Marshals Ransomware Hit Is 'Major' Incident (darkreading.com)

• The DoJ Disruption of the Hive Ransomware Group Is a Short-Lived Win (darkreading.com)

• Vice Society publishes data stolen during Vesuvius ransomware attack • Graham Cluley

• US Cybersecurity Agency Raises Alarm Over Royal Ransomware's Deadly Capabilities (thehackernews.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online

• Mobile Users More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks than Two Years Ago - MSSP Alert

• Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber crime (trendmicro.com)

• Phone Attacks and MFA Bypass Drive Phishing to New Heights - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Managed XDR Exposes Spear-Phishing Campaign Targeting Hospitality Industry Using RedLine Stealer (trendmicro.com)

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online

• Expert strategies for defending against multilingual email-based attacks - Help Net Security

• Hackers Target Young Gamers: How Your Child Can Cause Business Compromise (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• As Social Engineering Attacks Skyrocket, Evaluate Your Security Education Plan (darkreading.com)

• The Top 5 New Social Engineering Attacks in 2023 - (ISC)² Blog (isc2.org)

• How to Prevent Callback Phishing Attacks on Your Organization (bleepingcomputer.com)

2FA/MFA

• Phone Attacks and MFA Bypass Drive Phishing to New Heights - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Malware

• RIG Exploit Kit still infects enterprise users via Internet Explorer (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Exfiltrator-22 Post-Exploitation Toolkit Nips At Cobalt Strike's Heels (darkreading.com)

• Malicious package flood on PyPI might be sign of new attacks to come | CSO Online

• Iron Tiger hackers create Linux version of their custom malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Parallax RAT Targeting Cryptocurrency Firms with Sophisticated Injection Techniques (thehackernews.com)

• It's official: BlackLotus malware can bypass secure boot • The Register

• Threat actors target law firms with GootLoader and SocGholish--Security Affairs

• Managed XDR Exposes Spear-Phishing Campaign Targeting Hospitality Industry Using RedLine Stealer (trendmicro.com)

Mobile

• Mobile Users More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks than Two Years Ago - MSSP Alert

• Mobile Banking Trojans Surge, Doubling in Volume (darkreading.com)

• Privacy Concerns Raised Over Android Apps' Data Safety Labels - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption - BBC News

• Phone Attacks and MFA Bypass Drive Phishing to New Heights - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Don't be fooled by a pretty icon, malicious apps hide in plain sight - Help Net Security

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Danish Hospitals Struck By Cyber attack From ‘Anonymous Sudan’ (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• LastPass Says DevOps Engineer Home Computer Hacked - SecurityWeek

• LastPass Reveals Second Attack Resulting in Breach of Encrypted Password Vaults (thehackernews.com)

• Stanford University discloses data breach affecting PhD applicants (bleepingcomputer.com)

• More than 200 cyber attacks with theft of personal data reported to Irish authorities in a year (thejournal.ie)

• Threat actors leak Activision employee data on hacking forum--Security Affairs

• 10 US states that suffered the most devastating data breaches in 2022 - Help Net Security

• Australian orgs lodged 497 data breach notices in back half of 2022 - Security - iTnews

• WH Smith targeted by cyber attack with hackers accessing data on current and former employees | Business News | Sky News

• API Security Flaw Found in Booking.com Allowed Full Account Takeover - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Hatch Bank discloses data breach after GoAnywhere MFT hack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• GunAuction site was hacked and data of 565k accounts were exposed--Security Affairs

• Chick-fil-A confirms accounts hacked in months-long "automated" attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• What GoDaddy's Years-Long Breach Means for Millions of Clients (darkreading.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions: Report (cryptopotato.com)

• Russian IT “Brain Drain” Decentralizes Cyber crime - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Economic pressures are increasing cybersecurity risks; a recession would amp them up more | CSO Online

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Cryptocurrency Bitcoin mining rig found in school crawlspace • The Register

• Highly evasive cryptocurrency miner targets macOS--Security Affairs

• Parallax RAT Targeting Cryptocurrency Firms with Sophisticated Injection Techniques (thehackernews.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Economic pressures are increasing cybersecurity risks; a recession would amp them up more | CSO Online

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Investment Scams Drive $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Economic pressures are increasing cybersecurity risks; a recession would amp them up more | CSO Online

• How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (vice.com)

• FTC reveals alarming increase in scam activity, costing consumers billions - Help Net Security

• Resecurity identified the investment scam network Digital Smoke - Help Net Security

• Pig butchering scam explained: Everything you need to know (techtarget.com)

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions: Report (cryptopotato.com)

Insurance

• Cyber Insurance Market Back From Brink After Onslaught of Ransomware Attacks (insurancejournal.com)

• The future of cyber insurance - IT Security Guru

Dark Web

• Sale of Stolen Credentials and Initial Access Dominate Dark Web Markets (darkreading.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Third-party risks overwhelm traditional ERM setups - Help Net Security

• Third-Party Risks: Challenges for MSSPs and How to Overcome Them - MSSP Alert

• Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)

Software Supply Chain

• Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)

• SBOM is a 'massive galaxy of mess' for supply chain security • The Register

• IBM Contributes Supply Chain Security Tools to OWASP (darkreading.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• How to Tackle the Top SaaS Challenges of 2023 (thehackernews.com)

• Cloud incident response: Frameworks and best practices | TechTarget

• Security teams have no control over risky SaaS-to-SaaS connections - Help Net Security

• It only takes one over-privileged identity to do major damage to a cloud - Help Net Security

• SCARLETEEL hackers use advanced cloud skills to steal source code, data (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)

• Google Cloud Platform allows data exfiltration without a (forensic) trace - Help Net Security

• What Happened in That Cyber attack? With Some Cloud Services, You May Never Know (darkreading.com)

• Public SaaS Assets Are a Major Risk For Medium, Large Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New Report: Inside the High Risk of Third-Party SaaS Apps (darkreading.com)

Containers

• Hackers Exploit Containerized Environments to Steals Proprietary Data and Software (thehackernews.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Work-From-Home Regulations Are Coming. Companies Aren’t Ready. (mit.edu)

• How to work from home securely, the NSA way (malwarebytes.com)

Encryption

• Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption - BBC News

API

• Application Security vs. API Security: What is the difference? (thehackernews.com)

• API Security Flaw Found in Booking.com Allowed Full Account Takeover - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Open Source

• Iron Tiger hackers create Linux version of their custom malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Should organisations swear off open-source software altogether? | VentureBeat

• Top 10 open source software risks for 2023 | CSO Online

• IBM Contributes Supply Chain Security Tools to OWASP (darkreading.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• LastPass Says DevOps Engineer Home Computer Hacked - SecurityWeek

• Critical Vulnerabilities Allowed Booking.com Account Takeover - SecurityWeek

• Sale of Stolen Credentials and Initial Access Dominate Dark Web Markets (darkreading.com)

Social Media

• White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek

• EU Parliament bans staff from using TikTok over ‘cybersecurity concerns’ – POLITICO

• TikTok answers three big cyber-security fears about the app - BBC News

• Meta says $725M deal ends all Cambridge Analytica claims; one state disagrees | Ars Technica

Training, Education and Awareness

• As Social Engineering Attacks Skyrocket, Evaluate Your Security Education Plan (darkreading.com)

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Hackers Target Young Gamers: How Your Child Can Cause Business Compromise (darkreading.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• UK seeks to ‘focus’ espionage bill to head off Lords rebellion | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Cyber resilience in focus: EU act to set strict standards - Help Net Security

• Work-From-Home Regulations Are Coming. Companies Aren’t Ready. (mit.edu)

• White House to Take Aggressive Stance Mandating Private Industry Make Systems Cyber Safe - MSSP Alert

• ML practitioners push for mandatory AI Bill of Rights - Help Net Security

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Third-party risks overwhelm traditional ERM setups - Help Net Security

• Economic pressures are increasing cybersecurity risks; a recession would amp them up more | CSO Online

• CISOs Share Their 3 Top Challenges for Cybersecurity Management (darkreading.com)

• The Importance of Recession-Proofing Security Operations (darkreading.com)

• Third-Party Risks: Challenges for MSSPs and How to Overcome Them - MSSP Alert

• Decrypting Cyber Risk Quantification (trendmicro.com)

• How to de-risk your digital ecosystem | CSO Online

• CISO Conversations: Code42, BreachQuest Leaders Discuss Combining CISO and CIO Roles - SecurityWeek

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• CISA releases free ‘Decider’ tool to help with MITRE ATT&CK mapping (bleepingcomputer.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Gartner Prediction: Nearly Half of Cybersecurity Pros Will Change Jobs by 2025 - MSSP Alert

• Top 7 cybersecurity jobs in high demand (cointelegraph.com)

• Growing Demand For Skilled Cybersecurity Workforce In Digital Age (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Dutch cyber security professionals experience stress akin to soldiers in war zone, claims expert | Computer Weekly

• Partnering With a Cybersecurity Vendor Can Help You Recruit Top Talent - MSSP Alert

• CISOs Are Stressed Out and It's Putting Companies at Risk (thehackernews.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• 'Ethical hacker' among ransomware suspects arrested • The Register

• The DoJ Disruption of the Hive Ransomware Group Is a Short-Lived Win (darkreading.com)

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• UK seeks to ‘focus’ espionage bill to head off Lords rebellion | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Press greets Home Office redraft of national security bill with scepticism | Media | The Guardian

• Privacy Concerns Raised Over Android Apps' Data Safety Labels - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The Air Force Is Now Using Facial Recognition Drones (gizmodo.com)

• How dog tracker apps are snooping on humans, according to cyber security experts (telegraph.co.uk)

Artificial Intelligence

• Generative AI Changes Everything We Know About Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT is bringing advancements and challenges for cybersecurity - Help Net Security

• How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (vice.com)

• ML practitioners push for mandatory AI Bill of Rights - Help Net Security

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says | China | The Guardian

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

• Cyber security must be tightened up in this era of polycrisis | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• Russian IT “Brain Drain” Decentralizes Cyber crime - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber crime, Possibly Forever (darkreading.com)

• Russia-Ukraine War: A Year of Cyber Shortfalls (foreignpolicy.com)

• 'A year of cyberwar' with Russia: An inside look from a top Ukrainian cybersecurity official | CyberScoop

• Evaluating the Cyberwar Set Off by Russian Invasion of Ukraine (darkreading.com)

• CISA Calls For Increased Vigilance One Year After Ukraine's Russian Invasion - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• CERT of Ukraine: Russia-linked APT backdoored multiple govt sites-Security Affairs

• White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek

• Russian charged with smuggling US counterintel tech • The Register

• Cyber security in wartime: how Ukraine's infosec community is coping | CSO Online

• China's BlackFly Targets Materials Sector in 'Relentless' Quest for IP (darkreading.com)

• 'Hackers' Behind Air Raid Alerts Across Russia: Official - SecurityWeek

• Belgium’s cyber security agency links China to spear phishing attack on MP | Financial Times (ft.com)

• China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says | China | The Guardian

• China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors | WIRED

Nation State Actors

• Cyber security must be tightened up in this era of polycrisis | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• Russian IT “Brain Drain” Decentralizes Cyber crime - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber crime, Possibly Forever (darkreading.com)

• Hacker group defaces Russian websites to display the Kremlin on fire | TechCrunch

• Russia-Ukraine War: A Year of Cyber Shortfalls (foreignpolicy.com)

• CISA Calls For Increased Vigilance One Year After Ukraine's Russian Invasion - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• CERT of Ukraine: Russia-linked APT backdoored multiple govt sites-Security Affairs

• Evaluating the Cyberwar Set Off by Russian Invasion of Ukraine (darkreading.com)

• White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek

• Russian charged with smuggling US counterintel tech • The Register

• Cyber security in wartime: how Ukraine's infosec community is coping | CSO Online

• EU Parliament bans staff from using TikTok over ‘cybersecurity concerns’ – POLITICO

• China's BlackFly Targets Materials Sector in 'Relentless' Quest for IP (darkreading.com)

• 'Hackers' Behind Air Raid Alerts Across Russia: Official - SecurityWeek

• Belgium’s cyber security agency links China to spear phishing attack on MP | Financial Times (ft.com)

• 'A year of cyberwar' with Russia: An inside look from a top Ukrainian cybersecurity official | CyberScoop

• China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says | China | The Guardian

• China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors | WIRED

• TikTok answers three big cyber-security fears about the app - BBC News

• Russia bans foreign messaging apps in government organisations (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese hackers use new custom backdoor to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Unpatched old vulnerabilities continue to be exploited: Report | CSO Online

• All CVEs Are Not Created Equal (darkreading.com)

Vulnerabilities

• A world of hurt for Fortinet and ManageEngine after users fail to install patches | Ars Technica

• Cisco ClamAV anti-malware scanner vulnerable to serious security flaw | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)

• Popular IBM file transfer tool vulnerable to cyber attacks, CISA says - The Record from Recorded Future News

• Hackers are actively exploiting Zoho ManageEngine flaw-Security Affairs

• All In One SEO WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Affects Up To 3+ Million (searchenginejournal.com)

• CISA warns of hackers exploiting ZK Java Framework RCE flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Security Defects in TPM 2.0 Spec Raise Alarm - SecurityWeek

• Cisco patches critical Web UI RCE flaw in multiple IP phones (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Aruba Networks fixes six critical vulnerabilities in ArubaOS (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft releases Windows security updates for Intel CPU flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Tools and Controls

• LastPass Reveals Second Attack Resulting in Breach of Encrypted Password Vaults (thehackernews.com)

• Well-funded security systems fail to prevent cyber attacks in US and Europe: Report | CSO Online

• The Future of Network Security: Predictive Analytics and ML-Driven Solutions (thehackernews.com)

• Microsoft announces automatic BEC, ransomware attack disruption capabilities - Help Net Security

• How to use zero trust and IAM to defend against cyber attacks in an economic downturn | VentureBeat

• Zero trust: building a mixed estate - NCSC.GOV.UK

• Pentesting No Longer Driven by Regulatory Compliance, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• Application Security vs. API Security: What is the difference? (thehackernews.com)

• A new AI-based tool to detect DDoS attacks

• CISA Shares Advice to Improve Networks' Monitoring and Hardening - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Microsoft a Leader in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms - Microsoft Security Blog

• Accurately assessing the success of zero-trust initiatives | TechTarget

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Other News

• Attackers are developing and deploying exploits faster than ever - Help Net Security

• Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Moving target defence must keep cyber attackers guessing - Help Net Security

• Covert cyber attacks on the rise as attackers shift tactics for maximum impact - Help Net Security

• Dormant accounts are a low-hanging fruit for attackers - Help Net Security

• Dish Network goes offline after likely cyber attack, employees cut off (bleepingcomputer.com)

• News Corp says state hackers were on its network for two years (bleepingcomputer.com)

• UK won the Military Cyberwarfare exercise Defence Cyber Marvel-Security Affairs

• To Safeguard Critical Infrastructure, Go Back to Basics (darkreading.com)

• Feds accuse Google of destroying evidence in antitrust case • The Register

• Microsoft recommending you scan more Exchange server files • The Register

• CISA director urges tech sector to stop shipping unsafe products | CyberScoop

• Developers can make a great extension of your security team - Help Net Security

• 2023 Browser Security Report Uncovers Major Browsing Risks and Blind Spots (thehackernews.com)

• Uncovering the most pressing cybersecurity concerns for SMBs - Help Net Security

• Wiz execs: Most overhyped security tool is technology itself • The Register

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Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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