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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 May 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 03 May 2024:
-Most Attacks Impacting SMB’s Target Older, Unpatched Vulnerabilities
-91% of Ransomware Victims Paid At least One Ransom in the Past Year, as 1 in 5 Ransomware Attacks Triggers Lawsuit
-BEC and Fund Transfer Fraud Top Insurance Claims
-Correlating Cyber Investments with Business Outcomes
-Vulnerability Exploitation up 180%, 68% of Breaches involved Humans and Supply Chain Weak Link
-MOVEit & Change Healthcare Attacks Designated as Cyber Catastrophe Loss Events by Insurer
-Securing Your Organisation’s Supply Chain: Reducing the Risks of Third Parties
-Why Remote Desktop Tools are Facing an Onslaught of Cyber Threats
-95% of Organisations Revamped Cyber Security Strategies in the Last Year: Make Sure Yours is Right
-Human Factor a Significant Risk for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.
-Microsoft CEO Says it is Putting Security Above All Else in Major Refocus
-Ending the Culture of Silence in Cyber Security; Three Ways to Empower Teams
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
Most Attacks Impacting SMB’s Target Older, Unpatched Vulnerabilities
Attackers continue to aggressively target small and mid-size businesses using specific high-profile vulnerabilities dating back a decade or more, network telemetry shows. Findings have shown that this is due to these vulnerabilities featuring in a wide range of products. Due to their prevalence, they can often become missed by organisations conducting patch management and therefore leave the organisation open.
For this reason it is critical that all organisations, including smaller organisations, have internal as well as external vulnerability scanning. You might believe your systems are patched up to date but there is no way to confirm without scanning , or to know which patches might have been missed.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine]
91% of Ransomware Victims Paid At least One Ransom in the Past Year, as 1 in 5 Ransomware Attacks Triggers Lawsuit
Ransomware attacks saw a significant surge in 2023, following a dip in 2022. The number of victims increased by 66% from 2022 to 2023, with 91% of those affected paying at least one ransom. 58% of organisations have been targeted six times or more.
The Sophos State of Ransomware 2023 report highlighted ransom payments rose by 500%; nearly two-thirds exceeded $1m or more, with an average payment of $2m. Furthermore, 30% of the demands were for over $5m.
In the US, 18% of incidents led to litigation, with 123 lawsuits filed in 2023 and 355 over five years. Data breaches, affecting 283.3 million records, primarily triggered these lawsuits, especially in healthcare and finance sectors. The resolution rate is 59%, with the highest settlement at $8.7m. Regulatory fines added nearly $10m to the financial impact. These figures underscore the significant financial implications of ransomware attacks and the urgent need for robust cyber security measures.
Sources: [ZD Net] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Security Magazine] [PrNewsWire] [Infosecurity Magazine]
BEC and Fund Transfer Fraud Top Insurance Claims
Cyber Insurer Coalition's 2024 Cyber Claims Report highlights a significant trend in cyber security threats, identifying email-based fraud as the predominant cause of insurance claims in 2023, accounting for 53% of all claims. Business email compromise (BEC) and funds transfer fraud (FTF) topped the list, contributing to 28% of claims and increasing claim amounts by 24% to an average loss exceeding $278,000. In contrast, ransomware, while less frequent at 19% of claims, also saw a rise in both frequency and severity, with average losses climbing to over $263,000. The report also notes a 13% year-on-year surge in overall claims, with substantial losses tied to compromised network security devices and a notable vulnerability in organisations using exposed remote desktop protocols.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Correlating Cyber Investments with Business Outcomes
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented stringent new rules compelling organisations to report significant cyber incidents within four days and to annually disclose details concerning their cyber security risk management, strategy, and governance. These mandates are seen as giving “more teeth to the idea that cyber security is a business problem” and “bringing an element of cyber security to the boardroom” according to cyber security solutions provider SecurityGate. Highlighted in the "Cybersecurity Insights" podcast, experts argue for simplifying cyber security strategies, advocating sustained resource allocation over reactive measures, and emphasising the importance of training over expensive solutions. These steps are deemed crucial for enhancing organisational resilience and security in a landscape where cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated and pervasive.
Source: [InfoRisk Today]
Verizon: Vulnerability Exploitation up 180%, 68% of Breaches involved Humans and Supply Chain Weak Link
Verizon has released the findings of its 17th Annual Data Breach Investigations Report, which showed security incidents doubled year over year in 2023 to a record high 30,458 security events and 10,626 confirmed breaches. Some of the key takeaways from the 100-page report include zero-day attacks on unpatched systems and devices rising 180% in 2023, most breaches (68%) involving a non-malicious human element and the median time for users to fall for phishing emails falling just south of 60 seconds. In its first inclusion as a separate metric, supply chain attacks were found to contribute to 15% of all attacks.
Sources: [MSSP Alert] [Verizon]
MOVEit & Change Healthcare Attacks Designated as Cyber Catastrophe Loss Events by Insurer
Verisk’s Property Claim Services (PCS) has recently identified the MOVEit and Change Healthcare cyber attacks as significant Cyber Catastrophe Loss Events. These designations are part of PCS’s Global Cyber solution, which tracks cyber incidents and their potential impact on the insurance market. The designation indicates that each attack is anticipated to result in insurance industry losses exceeding USD 250 million.
The MOVEit attack, linked to the Russian-affiliated group Cl0p, compromised over 2,700 organisations globally, affecting up to 90 million individuals. The Change Healthcare attack, attributed to the ALPHV/Blackcat gang, notably disrupted UnitedHealth Group’s operations, with projected costs and lost revenue totalling up to USD 1.6 billion. These designations highlight the escalating scale and financial impact of cyber incidents on global markets.
Source: [Reinsurance News]
Securing Your Organisation’s Supply Chain: Reducing the Risks of Third Parties
Nearly every organisation is part of a supply chain, where a significant amount of data is transferred. When data leaves your infrastructure, its security depends on the third party. The risks of a cyber incident increases as the supply chain increases.
Organisations need to mitigate the risks that their third party brings. This requires an understanding of the supply chain actors, and performing cyber security assessments of the most critical ones. The objective is to ensure that your organisation is satisfied with the third party’s security controls, or to work together to remediate any gaps.
Source: [Help Net Security]
Why Remote Desktop Tools are Facing an Onslaught of Cyber Threats
In the era of hybrid work, remote desktop tools have become crucial yet vulnerable points within corporate networks, attracting significant cyber criminal attention. A study by Barracuda Networks underscores the challenges of securing these tools. Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is particularly susceptible; it is targeted in 98% of these types of attacks due to its use of multiple, sometimes unsecured ports. VNC attacks predominantly exploit weak password practices, notably through brute force methods. Conversely, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) accounts for about 1.6% of these attacks but is favoured for more extensive network breaches, often involving ransomware or crypto mining. The study highlights a pressing need for robust endpoint management and heightened security measures to mitigate these threats.
Source: [ITPro]
95% of Organisations Revamped Cyber Security Strategies in the Last Year: Make Sure Yours is Right
A recent report found that 95% of companies have altered their cyber security strategies in the last twelve months. This was driven by keeping pace with the shifting regulatory landscape (98%), the need to meet customer expectations for data protection and privacy (89%), and the rise of AI-driven threats and solutions (65%). Almost half (44%) of non-security executives do not understand the regulatory requirements their organisation must adhere to.
When it came to reporting, the study found that security teams aren’t reporting on key operational metrics that define whether their security investments and strategy changes have a measurable impact. It is evident that there is a disconnect between security and non-security professionals when it comes to the business strategy.
Sources: [Business Wire] [Security Magazine]
Human Factor a Significant Risk for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.
A survey of business and IT security in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) conducted by LastPass found that roughly one in five business leaders admits to circumventing security policies, as do one in 10 IT security leaders. The survey found that password management is critically important to cyber security, with nearly half (47%) reporting recent breaches due to compromised passwords.
Sources: [Beta News] [Business Wire]
Microsoft CEO Says it is Putting Security Above All Else in Major Refocus
Following a series of high-profile attacks in recent months and a report by the US Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), Microsoft’s CEO has revealed it will now focus its efforts on an increase in the commitment to security. Investigating a summer 2023 attack, Microsoft was deemed to have made a series of “avoidable errors”, including the failure to detect several compromises, the CSRB said.
Sources: [TechRadar]
Ending the Culture of Silence in Cyber Security; Three Ways to Empower Teams
A recent discussion on workplace errors highlights the significant repercussions of cyber breaches compared to typical office mistakes. In the UK, nearly a third of businesses face cyber attacks weekly, with each breach costing approximately £4,000. However, a concerning trend is that 41% of these breaches are not reported to internal leadership, often due to fears among staff about the consequences of admitting faults. A three-pronged approach has been suggested to foster a blame-free culture: providing tailored and evolving cyber training, establishing safe zones for admitting mistakes, and implementing robust recovery plans. This approach not only prepares employees to handle potential breaches more effectively but also encourages them to report incidents promptly, reducing the overall impact and aiding quicker recovery. Such strategies are essential for maintaining resilience against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Source: [Minute Hack]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report: 5 Takeaways | MSSP Alert
Verizon DBIR: Vulnerability exploitation in breaches up 180% | TechTarget
Verizon DBIR: Basic Security Gaffes Cause Breach Surge (darkreading.com)
95% of Organisations Revamped Their Cyber Security Strategies in the Last Year | Business Wire
95% of organisations adjusted cyber security strategies this past year | Security Magazine
1 in 5 US Ransomware Attacks Triggers Lawsuit - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Are Enterprises Overconfident About Cyber Security Readiness? (govinfosecurity.com)
How CISOs Can Contend with Increasing Scrutiny from Regulators (informationweek.com)
Correlating Cyber Investments with Business Outcomes (inforisktoday.com)
Ending The Culture of Silence In Cyber Security – 3 Ways To Empower Teams - Minutehack
97% of security leaders have increased SaaS security budgets - Help Net Security
The rise in CISO job dissatisfaction – what’s wrong and how can it be fixed? | CSO Online
Should Cyber Security Leadership Finally be Professionalized? - SecurityWeek
What needs to change to overcome nonchalant security approaches | TechRadar
Agile by Design: Cyber Security at the Heart of Transformation (noeticcyber.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Q1 2024 Ransomware Report: 21% Increase in Q1 2023 Ransomware Activity (corvusinsurance.com)
91% of ransomware victims paid at least one ransom in the past year, survey finds | ZDNET
1 in 5 US Ransomware Attacks Triggers Lawsuit - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
There was an 81% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks | Security Magazine
Ransom recovery costs reach $2.73 million - Help Net Security
Cactus Ransomware Group Targets Qlik Sense Servers | Decipher (duo.com)
How AI and data protection intersect in today's threat era - SiliconANGLE
Better hygiene may mitigate the need to ban ransomware payments | Computer Weekly
Ukrainian REvil Hacker Sentenced to 13 Years and Ordered to Pay $16 Million (thehackernews.com)
How Businesses Should Grapple With Ransomware Threats (eetimes.eu)
Cyber security consultant arrested after allegedly extorting IT firm (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Victims
Change Healthcare breached via Citrix portal with no MFA | TechTarget
Almost all US hospitals took financial hit from Change hack, AHA says | Reuters
Another major pharmacy chain shuts following possible cyber attack | TechRadar
Hack That Paralyzed US Health Care Turns Up Scrutiny on Insurer (claimsjournal.com)
Cyber attack to cost Western Isles Council half a million pounds (holyrood.com)
LockBit publishes confidential data stolen from Cannes hospital in France (therecord.media)
French hospital CHC-SV refuses to pay LockBit extortion demand (bleepingcomputer.com)
'Cybersecurity incident' closes London Drugs' pharmacies • The Register
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
AI-driven phishing attacks deceive even the most aware users - Help Net Security
US Post Office phishing sites get as much traffic as the real one (bleepingcomputer.com)
If you receive a Shein mystery box, do not open it | TechRadar
Why the automotive sector is a target for email-based cyber attacks - Help Net Security
BEC
BEC and Fund Transfer Fraud Top Insurance Claims - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Other Social Engineering
FBI warns of fake verification schemes targeting dating app users (bleepingcomputer.com)
A Lot of People Are Falling for Those 'Your Package Cannot Be Delivered' Texts | PCMag
Artificial Intelligence
AI-driven phishing attacks deceive even the most aware users - Help Net Security
AI is creating a new generation of cyber attacks - Help Net Security
Combating the Rising Tide of AI-Driven Cyber Crime (cryptopolitan.com)
Businesses turn to generative AI but many don't have policies on it (betanews.com)
How AI and data protection intersect in today's threat era - SiliconANGLE
Understanding emerging AI and data privacy regulations - Help Net Security
To understand the risks posed by AI, follow the money – O’Reilly (oreilly.com)
From Risk to Resilience: Managing Data Security in AI-Driven Enterprises | Inc.com
Cyber security experts face AI risks, deepfakes, burnout | Fortune
US Government Releases New AI Security Guidelines for Critical Infrastructure (thehackernews.com)
Why Using Microsoft Copilot Could Amplify Existing Data Quality and Privacy Issues - SecurityWeek
2FA/MFA
Malware
New "Goldoon" Botnet Targets D-Link Routers With Decade-Old Flaw (thehackernews.com)
New SOHO router malware aims for cloud accounts, internal company resources - Help Net Security
Guarding the Gates: The Growing Abundance of Linux Malware - VMRay
Bogus npm Packages Used to Trick Software Developers into Installing Malware (thehackernews.com)
Millions of Malicious 'Imageless' Containers Planted on Docker Hub Over 5 Years (thehackernews.com)
ZLoader Malware Evolves with Anti-Analysis Trick from Zeus Banking Trojan (thehackernews.com)
New Cuttlefish malware infects routers to monitor traffic for credentials (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Powerful 'Brokewell' Android Trojan Allows Attackers to Takeover Devices - SecurityWeek
Google Prevented 2.28 Million Malicious Apps from Reaching Play Store in 2023 (thehackernews.com)
New Wpeeper Android malware hides behind hacked WordPress sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft warns of "Dirty Stream" attack impacting Android apps (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
NCSC: New UK law bans default passwords on smart devices (securityaffairs.com)
A glaring Android TV security flaw might put your Gmail at risk | Android Central
Data Breaches/Leaks
PSNI data breach: Almost 5,000 officers and staff in legal action - BBC News
Kaiser Permanente data breach may have impacted 13.4 million patients (securityaffairs.com)
FBCS data breach impacted 2M individuals (securityaffairs.com)
States shares health debt data of 5,000 in an email | Guernsey Press
Qantas app exposed sensitive traveller details to random users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Data of over 25,000 people stolen in 2023 breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Australian pubgoers' personal info posted to leak site • The Register
Monash Health data breach exposes sexual assault and family violence claims (smh.com.au)
Panda Restaurant Group disclosed a data breach (securityaffairs.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
AI is creating a new generation of cyber attacks - Help Net Security
Combating the Rising Tide of AI-Driven Cyber Crime (cryptopolitan.com)
Router Roulette: Cyber Criminals and Nation-States Sharing Compromised Networks | Trend Micro (US)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
How insider threats can cause serious security breaches - Help Net Security
Ex-NSA Employee Sentenced to 22 Years for Trying to Sell U.S. Secrets to Russia (thehackernews.com)
Insurance
Cyber facility in capacity raise as risk severity grows (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Hack That Paralyzed US Health Care Turns Up Scrutiny on Insurer (claimsjournal.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
New SOHO router malware aims for cloud accounts, internal company resources - Help Net Security
97% of security leaders have increased SaaS security budgets - Help Net Security
Encryption
UK's Investigatory Powers Bill approved to become law • The Register
Ten years of Heartbleed: Lessons learned | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Linux and Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Change Healthcare breached via Citrix portal with no MFA | TechTarget
Okta warns of "unprecedented" credential stuffing attacks on customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
NCSC: New UK law bans default passwords on smart devices (securityaffairs.com)
New Cuttlefish malware infects routers to monitor traffic for credentials (bleepingcomputer.com)
How to use a YubiKey to log into Windows and macOS (xda-developers.com)
Social Media
How TikTok Grew From a Fun App for Teens Into a Potential National Security Threat - SecurityWeek
Facebook at 20: Contemplating the Cost of Privacy (darkreading.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Ending The Culture Of Silence In Cyber Security – 3 Ways To Empower Teams - Minutehack
Everyone's an Expert: How to Empower Your Employees for Cyber Security Success (thehackernews.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK's Investigatory Powers Bill approved to become law • The Register
UK rolls out new consumer safeguards for smart devices (betanews.com)
FCC fines major wireless carriers over illegal location data sharing - Help Net Security
Understanding emerging AI and data privacy regulations - Help Net Security
CISA's incident reporting requirements go too far, trade groups and lawmakers say | CyberScoop
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Cyber security experts face AI risks, deepfakes, burnout | Fortune
The rise in CISO job dissatisfaction – what’s wrong and how can it be fixed? | CSO Online
Agencies to turn toward ‘skill-based hiring’ for cyber and tech jobs, ONCD says | CyberScoop
Cyber Security Degrees, Are They Really Worth It? | HackerNoon
Beyond the Buzz: Rethinking Alcohol as a Cyber Security Bonding Ritual - SecurityWeek
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Ukrainian REvil Hacker Sentenced to 13 Years and Ordered to Pay $16 Million (thehackernews.com)
Police shuts down 12 fraud call centres, arrests 21 suspects (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber security consultant arrested after allegedly extorting IT firm (bleepingcomputer.com)
CEO who sold fake Cisco devices to US military gets 6 years in prison (bleepingcomputer.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Nation State Actors
China
‘Honeypots’ and influence operations: China’s spies turn to Europe (ft.com)
Philippines Pummelled by Cyber Attacks & Misinformation Tied to China (darkreading.com)
Germany grapples with wave of spying threats from Russia and China - BBC News
How TikTok Grew From a Fun App for Teens Into a Potential National Security Threat - SecurityWeek
Think tank: Tech companies spread China's propaganda • The Register
China's attacks on critical infrastructure ‘tip of the iceberg' | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Chinese Hackers Have Been Probing DNS Networks Globally for Years: Report - SecurityWeek
Muddling Meerkat hackers manipulate DNS using China’s Great Firewall (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chinese government website security has big problems • The Register
Espionage breaches account for 25% in APAC, report reveals (securitybrief.co.nz)
Russia
Router Roulette: Cyber Criminals and Nation-States Sharing Compromised Networks | Trend Micro (US)
Russian Hackers Target Industrial Systems in North America, Europe - SecurityWeek
Pro-Russia hacktivists attacking vital tech in water and other sectors, agencies say | CyberScoop
Germany grapples with wave of spying threats from Russia and China - BBC News
Ukraine Targeted in Cyber Attack Exploiting 7-Year-Old Microsoft Office Flaw (thehackernews.com)
Germany Warns Of Consequences For Alleged Russian Cyber Attack (rferl.org)
Hackers Claim to Have Infiltrated Belarus’ Main Security Service - SecurityWeek
Military Tank Manual, 2017 Zero-Day Anchor Latest Ukraine Cyber Attack (darkreading.com)
Sweden prepares for Eurovision amidst fears of protests, cyber attacks and unrest | Euronews
Ex-NSA Employee Sentenced to 22 Years for Trying to Sell U.S. Secrets to Russia (thehackernews.com)
Two British men charged with helping Russian intelligence - BBC News
Two hackers in Ukraine accused of spreading Russian propaganda (therecord.media)
Iran
North Korea
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
When is One Vulnerability Scanner Not Enough? (thehackernews.com)
Vulnerability exploitation nearly tripled in 2023 (telecoms.com)
Vulnerabilities
Cisco devices again targeted by state-linked threat campaign - TechCentral.ie
Okta warns of "unprecedented" credential stuffing attacks on customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
1,200+ Vulnerabilities Detected In Microsoft Products In 2023 (gbhackers.com)
Most attacks affecting SMBs target five older vulnerabilities | CSO Online
Severe Flaws Disclosed in Brocade SANnav SAN Management Software (thehackernews.com)
UnitedHealth hackers took advantage of Citrix vulnerability to break in, CEO says (yahoo.com)
Palo Alto Updates Remediation for Max-Critical Firewall Bug (darkreading.com)
WordPress plugin vulnerability poses severe security risk, allows for site takeovers | TechSpot
Ukraine Targeted in Cyber Attack Exploiting 7-Year-Old Microsoft Office Flaw (thehackernews.com)
New R Programming Vulnerability Exposes Projects to Supply Chain Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Grafana Tool Vulnerability Let Attackers Inject SQL Queries (gbhackers.com)
Microsoft says April Windows updates break VPN connections (bleepingcomputer.com)
NTLM auth traffic spikes after Windows Server patch • The Register
New "Goldoon" Botnet Targets D-Link Routers With Decade-Old Flaw (thehackernews.com)
Four Critical Vulnerabilities Expose HPE Aruba Devices to RCE Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Ten years of Heartbleed: Lessons learned | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
1,400 GitLab Servers Impacted by Exploited Vulnerability - SecurityWeek
Tools and Controls
Why remote desktop tools are facing an onslaught of cyber threats | ITPro
Correlating Cyber Investments With Business Outcomes (inforisktoday.com)
When is One Vulnerability Scanner Not Enough? (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft CEO says it is "putting security above all else" in major refocus | TechRadar
Can automating security relieve CISO pressure? (techinformed.com)
10 Critical Endpoint Security Tips You Should Know (thehackernews.com)
Businesses turn to generative AI but many don't have policies on it (betanews.com)
Ending The Culture Of Silence In Cyber Security – 3 Ways To Empower Teams - Minutehack
Organisations Struggle with Zero Trust: Gartner | MSSP Alert
Tech Tip: Why Haven't You Set Up DMARC Yet? (darkreading.com)
97% of security leaders have increased SaaS security budgets - Help Net Security
DPRK's Kimsuky APT Abuses Weak DMARC Policies, Feds Warn (darkreading.com)
How to Red Team GenAI: Challenges, Best Practices, and Learnings (darkreading.com)
Chinese Hackers Have Been Probing DNS Networks Globally for Years: Report - SecurityWeek
Muddling Meerkat hackers manipulate DNS using China’s Great Firewall (bleepingcomputer.com)
Why LLMs are predicting the future of compliance and risk management | VentureBeat
Other News
Microsoft CEO says it is "putting security above all else" in major refocus | TechRadar
A Season Of Health Breaches, A Season Of Changes (forbes.com)
Bank of England tells payment firms to step up disruption mitigation plans (yahoo.com)
NCSC updates warning over hacktivist threat to CNI | Computer Weekly
The EU's Strategy for a Cyber Secure Digital Single Market | UpGuard
To Damage OT Systems, Hackers Tap USBs, Old Bugs & Malware (darkreading.com)
During National Small Business Week, Take Steps to Secure Your Business | CISA
At Microsoft, years of security debt come crashing down | Cybersecurity Dive
Sweden prepares for Eurovision amidst fears of protests, cyber attacks and unrest | Euronews
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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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 29 March 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 29 March 2024:
-Only 3% of Organisations Globally are Fully Prepared for Cyber Threats
-China Cyber Attacks a Reminder Beijing Poses ‘Constant and Sophisticated’ Threat to Western Cyber Security
-Companies With Advanced Cyber Security Performance Deliver Nearly Four Times’ Higher Shareholder Return Than Their Peers
-Hackers Hit High-Risk Individuals’ Personal Accounts
-Cyber Security Threats in International Relations: Are We Prepared for a Digital Pearl Harbour?
-High Net Worths Urged to Improve Digital Hygiene in Fight Against Cyber Crime
-Key Lessons from Microsoft’s Password Spray Hack: Secure Every Account
-Mitigating Third-Party Risk Requires a Collaborative, Thorough Approach
-IT Leaders Struggle to Keep up With Emerging Threats, as 92% of IT Leaders Say Cyber Threats Are on the Rise, 51% See AI Attacks for the First Time
-Only 5% of Boards Have Cyber Security Expertise
-Google’s New AI Search Results Promotes Sites Pushing Malware and Scams
-Report Calls Out Cyber Risks to Financial Sector Fuelled by AI
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
Only 3% of Organisations Globally are Fully Prepared for Cyber Threats
A new report released by Cisco found that only 3% of organisations globally are considered to be at a “mature” level of readiness that is needed to be resilient against today’s cyber threats. In contrast, 80% of the companies surveyed felt moderately to very confident in their ability to defend against a threat.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents expect a cyber incident to disrupt their business in the next 12 to 24 months. For many, this was based on past experience, with more than half of respondents saying that they had experienced a cyber security incident in the last 12 months, and of those, more than half of said it cost them at least $300,000. To address this, 97% of companies expect to increase their cyber security budgets in the next 12 months.
Sources: [PR Newswire] [SiliconANGLE]
China Cyber Attacks a Reminder Beijing Poses ‘Constant and Sophisticated’ Threat to Western Cyber Security
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has now implicated a Chinese-backed hacking group, APT31, in attempts to target a group of MPs. Whilst this shows how advanced the threat from China has become, it should not be a surprise. It has been alleged that the hacking campaign targeted a broad swathe of private individuals, as well as strategically important companies and government officials. Geopolitical tensions are at an all-time high, as Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted by the campaign says, “we must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist party as it really is, not as we would wish it to be.”
Sources: [Sky News] [GovInfoSecurity] [The Guardian]
Companies With Advanced Cyber Security Performance Deliver Nearly Four Times’ Higher Shareholder Return Than Their Peers
A recent report underscores the pivotal role of cyber security in financial performance, revealing that companies with genuinely advanced levels of cyber security maturity generate a 372% higher shareholder return compared to those with lower levels of maturity, as observed over a five-year period. Notably, companies with engaged board members and specialised risk committees achieve superior cyber security performance. Despite regulatory requirements, only 3% of UK organisations have a cyber security expert on their board, emphasising the need for greater board-level engagement in cyber risk management. Industries like healthcare and financial services lead in cyber security ratings, underscoring the correlation between regulatory environments and cyber security performance.
Source: [Business Wire] [Computer Weekly]
Hackers Hit High-Risk Individuals’ Personal Accounts
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning that attackers faced with well-managed corporate cyber security defences, are instead turning their efforts to compromise high-risk individuals’ devices and accounts.
A high-risk individual is anyone who has access to or influence over sensitive information. For an attacker, these individuals can present a less complex route. They already know the individual has access to the data they want, it is just a case of compromising that individual.
Source: [Gov Info Security]
Cyber Security Threats in International Relations: Are We Prepared for a Digital Pearl Harbour?
Cyber security threats have reached unprecedented levels, posing significant risks to organisations and nations worldwide, with global costs predicted to soar to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, a significant increase from $6 trillion in 2021. Recent reports from IBM Security X-Force reveal that organisations face an average of 270 cyber attacks per year, equivalent to an attack every business day, underlining the persistent nature of the threat and reinforcing the old question of ‘when’ not 'if' an organisation will get hit.
The report warns of the possibility of large-scale, coordinated attacks, akin to a “Digital Pearl Harbor,” on vital infrastructure such as power grids and financial markets, with ransomware-based attacks being identified as a major risk. The emergence of cyber warfare blurs the distinction between espionage and acts of war, underscoring the need for international standards and agreements. Despite the focus on cyber threats, many organisations have risk management gaps.
Source: [Eurasia Review]
High Net Worths Urged to Improve Digital Hygiene in Fight Against Cyber Crime
High net worth individuals and their families are often targets for cyber criminals who seek to steal their money, identity, intellectual property and corporate data, and attacks are increasing. With the current state of the world, there is significant information that is publicly available. This, added to the fact that many high-net-worth individuals have lesser security controls than corporations, makes them a more lucrative target.
As these types of attacks continue to increase, it is important for individuals to ensure they are demonstrating good cyber hygiene through actions including the adoption of multi-factor authentication, limiting unnecessary social media from themselves and their family (including holidays) and understanding current tactics to be able to spot and mitigate them.
Source: [Financial Times]
Key Lessons from Microsoft’s Password Spray Hack: Secure Every Account
Earlier this year, Microsoft discovered they had been the victim of a hack orchestrated by Russian-state hackers. The attack was not highly sophisticated; in fact, it involved simply spraying passwords into an old, inactive account. Password spraying is a simple brute force technique, which has the attacker trying the same password against multiple accounts. In this case, it was enough to be able to allow attackers to commit further exfiltration.
Picture your organisation: can you guarantee that no account is using the password “Password123”? Whilst organisations may focus on protecting privileged accounts, the attack shows that every account needs to be secured, as they are all entry points to your organisation. To combat this, organisations should look to implement robust password policies and multi-factor authentication.
Source: [The Hacker News]
Mitigating Third-Party Risk Requires a Collaborative, Thorough Approach
Mitigating third-party risk may seem daunting when considering the slew of incoming regulations coupled with the increasingly advanced tactics of cyber criminals. However, most organisations have more agency and flexibility than they think they do. Third-party risk management can be built on top of existing risk governance practices and security controls that are currently implemented in the organisation. Understanding the vendor landscape, categorising vendors based on criticality, and developing tailored governance plans are crucial steps. Contractual obligations, tailored to industry standards, play a pivotal role in ensuring security measures are upheld. Additionally, establishing a robust exit strategy is imperative to safeguard data integrity post-partnership. By fostering a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement, organisations can navigate the complexities of third-party risk management effectively.
Source: [Dark Reading]
IT Leaders Struggle to Keep up With Emerging Threats, as 92% of IT Leaders Say Cyber Threats Are on the Rise, 51% See AI Attacks for the First Time
A recent survey of over 800 IT and security leaders highlights the escalating threat landscape fuelled by emerging technologies, with AI-powered attacks identified as the most serious and challenging. 92% of respondents report a year-over-year increase in cyber attacks with 95% noting heightened sophistication.
Organisations reported facing AI-powered attacks (51%), deepfake technology and supply chain attacks (both 36%), cloud jacking (35%), Internet of Things (IoT) attacks and 5G network exploits (both 34%), and fileless attacks (24%). But it is not just newer attacks; organisations are still contending with prevalent attacks like phishing, malware, and ransomware. The survey found that 84% of respondents say that phishing and smishing have become more difficult to detect with the rise in popularity of AI-powered tools, revealing that AI-powered phishing is their top concern (42%) when it comes to AI security.
With so many constantly evolving threats, and with new ones being added to the mix all the time, it is becoming more and more difficult for IT leaders to keep on top of these emerging threats.
Source: [Beta News] [The Fast Mode]
Only 5% of Boards Have Cyber Security Expertise
There is a concerning gap in cyber expertise on corporate boards, with only 5% of businesses having a cyber expert onboard, despite a direct correlation between strong cyber security and higher financial performance. Countries like France have 10% representation while Canada lags behind at just 1%. Integration of cyber experts into specialised risk committees significantly boosts cyber security performance. Furthermore, advanced security ratings translate to significantly better financial returns over three and five-year periods, underlining the pivotal role of cyber security in overall business health.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Google’s New AI Search Results Promotes Sites Pushing Malware and Scams
Earlier this month, Google began rolling out a feature called Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) in its search results, which provides AI-generated quick summaries, including site recommendations. These results, however, are pushing scams and malware. BleepingComputer found that the listed sites promoted by SGE tend to use the .online top level domain, the same HTML templates, and the same sites to perform redirects, stating “This similarity indicates that they are all part of the same SEO [search engine optimisation] poisoning campaign that allowed them to be part of the Google index.” When clicking on the site in the Google search results, visitors will go through a series of redirects until they reach a scam site. This matter highlights the need for users to stay cognisant, even when using AI to improve quality of life.
Source: [Bleeping Computer]
Report Calls Out Cyber Risks to Financial Sector Fuelled by AI
A recent report by the US Department of the Treasury has identified AI-driven cyber fraud as the primary concern for financial institutions. Smaller firms, in particular, struggle with AI development, which intensifies security concerns. Despite a focus on cyber security, risk management lapses are common across institutions. The report further notes that nearly a third of these institutions are yet to address the evolving tactics of threat actors, including social engineering, malvertising, and QR code phishing. More than 2 in 5 have pointed to the increasing use of generative AI for scaling and automating attacks as a lingering risk factor. The report emphasises that, even without mandates, there’s an urgent need for financial institutions to bolster their risk management and cyber security practices to counter these AI-driven threats.
Source: [CyberScoop]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Hackers Hit High-Risk Individuals' Personal Accounts (govinfosecurity.com)
Only 5% of Boards Have Cyber Security Expertise - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Wealthy urged to improve digital hygiene in fight against cyber crime (ft.com)
How threat intelligence data maximizes business operations - Help Net Security
IT leaders struggle to keep up with emerging threats (betanews.com)
More than half of organisations fall victim to cyber attacks (betanews.com)
Microsoft: 87% of UK Businesses Are Unprepared for Cyber Attacks (techrepublic.com)
Shareholders win when businesses do better at cyber | Computer Weekly
Getting Security Remediation on the Boardroom Agenda (darkreading.com)
New Cyber Threats to Challenge Financial Services Sector in 2024 (darkreading.com)
The cyber security skills shortage: A CISO perspective | CSO Online
Cyber security essentials during M&A surge - Help Net Security
Companies told cyber security has to be cross business concern (emergingrisks.co.uk)
It's Time to Stop Measuring Security in Absolutes (darkreading.com)
True Cost of a Cyber Security Breach for Your Business - Converge
35 cyber security statistics to lose sleep over in 2024 (techtarget.com)
3 Challenges CISOs Face in 2024 as Cyber Threats Explode | Corporate Counsel (law.com)
Cyber security plans should centre on resilience | MIT Sloan
Debunking compliance myths in the digital era - Help Net Security
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Ransomware: lessons all companies can learn from the British Library attack - Exponential-e Blog
78% of organisations plan to increase ransomware protection | Security Magazine
Rising ransomware attacks amplify World Backup Day's importance (securitybrief.co.nz)
Building Resiliency in the Face of Ransomware - Security Boulevard
Worldwide Agenda Ransomware Wave Targets VMware ESXi Servers (darkreading.com)
US offers $10 million bounty for info on 'Blackcat' hackers who hit UnitedHealth (yahoo.com)
Healthcare Under Ransomware Attacks - Part 1: BlackCat/AlphV - VMRay
Healthcare Under Ransomware Attacks - Part 2: LockBit - VMRay
Healthcare Under Ransomware Attacks - Part 3: Rhysida - VMRay
Ransomware Victims
Hackers threaten to publish huge cache of NHS Scotland data - BBC News
Alleged sale of Communication Workers Union’s users data (marcoramilli.com)
Scullion LAW becomes victim of cyber attack | Scottish Legal News
Panera Bread experiencing nationwide IT outage since Saturday (bleepingcomputer.com)
Clorox audit flagged systemic flaws in cyber security at manufacturing plants (detroitnews.com)
Big Issue working with NCSC, NCA and Met Police to investigate cyber incident - IT Security Guru
Western Isles council tax bills delayed due to cyber attack - BBC News
Vietnam Securities Broker Suffered Cyber Attack That Suspended Trading (darkreading.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
'Darcula' Phishing-as-a-Service Operation Bleeds Victims Worldwide (darkreading.com)
New StrelaStealer Phishing Attacks Hit Over 100 Organisations in EU. and US (thehackernews.com)
New MFA-bypassing phishing kit targets Microsoft 365, Gmail accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
US organisations targeted with emails delivering NetSupport RAT - Help Net Security
Scammers steal millions from FTX, BlockFi claimants - Help Net Security
Security awareness training meets a new obstacle: Generative AI | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Alert: New Phishing Attack Delivers Keylogger Disguised as Bank Payment Notice (thehackernews.com)
Russia's Cozy Bear tries to phish Germans with party invites • The Register
Iran-Linked MuddyWater Deploys Atera for Surveillance in Phishing Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Artificial Intelligence
Treasury report calls out cyber risks to financial sector fuelled by AI | CyberScoop
Google's new AI search results promotes sites pushing malware, scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Four generative AI cyber risks that keep CISOs up at night — and how to combat them - SiliconANGLE
Security awareness training meets a new obstacle: Generative AI | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Artificial intelligence now the biggest cyber threat - study (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Microsoft: 87% of UK Businesses Are Unprepared for Cyber Attacks (techrepublic.com)
Scammers exploit tax season anxiety with AI tools - Help Net Security
Experts Warn of Cyber Risk Due to Rapid AI Tool Evolution (govinfosecurity.com)
Over A Third of IT Leaders Are Ill-Equipped to Cope With AI-Powered Attacks - IT Security Guru
Beware of rogue chatbot hacking incidents (securityintelligence.com)
The Unique AI Cyber Security Challenges in the Financial Sector | Decipher (duo.com)
AI weaponisation becomes a hot topic on underground forums - Help Net Security
AI bots hallucinate software packages and devs download them • The Register
Threat Report: Examining the Use of AI in Attack Techniques (darkreading.com)
Hackers exploit Ray framework flaw to breach servers, hijack resources (bleepingcomputer.com)AWS CISO: Pay Attention to How AI Uses Your Data (darkreading.com)
2FA/MFA
New MFA-bypassing phishing kit targets Microsoft 365, Gmail accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple customers are being targeted by "MFA Bombing" password reset attack (xda-developers.com)
Malware
New StrelaStealer Phishing Attacks Hit Over 100 Organisations in E.U. and US. (thehackernews.com)
Google's new AI search results promotes sites pushing malware, scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
39,000 Websites Infected in 'Sign1' Malware Campaign - SecurityWeek
ConnectWise ScreenConnect attacks deliver malware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
US organisations targeted with emails delivering NetSupport RAT - Help Net Security
Python devs are being targeted by this massive infostealing malware campaign | TechRadar
TheMoon bot infected 40,000 devices in January and February (securityaffairs.com)
Viruses are the most popular type of malware - and Apple devices are most at risk | TechRadar
New Phishing Attack Delivers Keylogger Disguised as Bank Payment Notice (thehackernews.com)
SpyCloud Report: 61% of Data Breaches in 2023 Were Malware Related | Business Wire
DarkGate Malware Campaign Exploits Patched Microsoft Flaw - Security Boulevard
Iran-Linked MuddyWater Deploys Atera for Surveillance in Phishing Attacks (thehackernews.com)
AI bots hallucinate software packages and devs download them • The Register
Mobile
In-app browsers still a privacy, security, and choice issue • The Register
Thousands of phones and routers swept into proxy service, unbeknownst to users | Ars Technica
Apple lawsuit: US officials say iPhone ‘monopoly’ undermines security | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Hackers Reveal Method to Bypass Hotel Keycard Locks in Seconds • iPhone in Canada Blog
Pump the brakes: National security concerns surround connected cars - Nextgov/FCW
Insurer unveils policy covering drivers from connected car hacks and data leaks (therecord.media)
Data Breaches/Leaks
AT&T won’t say how its customers’ data spilled online | TechCrunch
SpyCloud Report: 61% of Data Breaches in 2023 Were Malware Related | Business Wire
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
UN probing 58 alleged crypto heists by North Korea worth $3 billion (therecord.media)
Scammers steal millions from FTX, BlockFi claimants - Help Net Security
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insurance
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
Key Lesson from Microsoft's Password Spray Hack: Secure Every Account (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft to shut down 50 cloud services for Russian businesses (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cloud Account Hijacking: How it Works and How to Prevent It (techtarget.com)
67% of businesses sync on-premises passwords to cloud environments | Security Magazine
Identity and Access Management
Tackling DORA Compliance With a Focus on PAM - IT Security Guru
Organisations Grapple With Identity Pain Points | Decipher (duo.com)
Encryption
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Apple users targeted by annoying 'Reset Password' attack | Mashable
67% of businesses sync on-premises passwords to cloud environments | Security Magazine
Social Media
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Security awareness training meets a new obstacle: Generative AI | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Cyber security training costs surge as firms battle skills gaps | ITPro
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Cyber security shake-up: How to prepare for EU's NIS2 and DORA (siliconrepublic.com)
techUK Raise Internet Snooping Concerns Over UK IP Act Amendments - ISPreview UK
Cyber security Agency Proposes First Incident-Reporting Rules (2) (bloomberglaw.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Backup and Recovery
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Nation State Actors
China
US and UK accuse China of cyber operations targeting domestic politics | CyberScoop
UK ‘turning up to a gunfight with a wooden spoon’ over China cyber-attacks (scotsman.com)
China hack on MPs worse than Government admitted, with at least 30 targeted (inews.co.uk)
New Zealand follows UK in accusing China of hacking its parliament | The Independent
Finland confirms APT31 hackers behind 2021 parliament breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
China linked to UK cyber-attacks on voter data, Dowden to say - BBC News
Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks | Evening Standard
After '10,000 malicious emails,' US sanctions 7 Chinese nationals in alleged cyber crimes - UPI.com
SNP MP claims Scottish universities 'overdependent' on Chinese money | The National
China-Linked Group Breaches Networks via Connectwise, F5 Software Flaws (thehackernews.com)
Fake reporters and death threats: China spy tactics from Hong Kong dissidents (inews.co.uk)
Is Cyber Warfare Heating Up? Biden Administration, UK Take Aim At Chinese Hackers | IBTimes
What to make of China’s massive cyber-espionage campaign (economist.com)
Pump the brakes: National security concerns surround connected cars - Nextgov/FCW
UK says Chinese cyber attacks ‘part of large-scale espionage campaign’ (thenextweb.com)
Why cyber indictments and sanctions matter | The Strategist (aspistrategist.org.au)
Chinese hackers target family members to surveil hard targets | CyberScoop
Russia
Microsoft to shut down 50 cloud services for Russian businesses (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russia's Cozy Bear tries to phish Germans with party invites • The Register
Iran
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Spyware vendors behind 75% of zero-days targeting Google | TechTarget
On the Increase: Zero-Days Being Exploited in the Wild (databreachtoday.co.uk)
NVD slowdown leaves thousands of vulns without analysis data • The Register
Can Compensating Controls Be the Answer in a Sea of Vulnerabilities? - Security Boulevard
Vulnerabilities
Patch Now: Critical Fortinet RCE Bug Under Active Attack (darkreading.com)
SQL injection vulnerability in Fortinet software under attack | TechTarget
GitHub Developers Hit in Complex Supply Chain Cyber Attack (darkreading.com)
MacOS 14.4.1 makes it once again safe to update your Mac | ZDNET
Apple Security Bug Opens iPhone, iPad to RCE (darkreading.com)
Apple finally reveals the serious security issues it patched in iOS 17.4.1 - PhoneArena
Mozilla fixes two Firefox zero-day bugs exploited at Pwn2Own (bleepingcomputer.com)
China-Linked Group Breaches Networks via Connectwise, F5 Software Flaws (thehackernews.com)
Double trouble for DNSSEC though the devil is in the details • The Register
Worldwide Agenda Ransomware Wave Targets VMware ESXi Servers (darkreading.com)
Tools and Controls
How threat intelligence data maximises business operations - Help Net Security
IT leaders struggle to keep up with emerging threats (betanews.com)
78% of organisations plan to increase ransomware protection | Security Magazine
Rising ransomware attacks amplify World Backup Day's importance (securitybrief.co.nz)
Why Endpoint Security Tools Are Still Such a Challenge (inforisktoday.com)
Security awareness training meets a new obstacle: Generative AI | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Cyber security training costs surge as firms battle skills gaps | ITPro
Organisations Grapple with Identity Pain Points | Decipher (duo.com)
Enterprise cyber security's lateral movement 'blind spot' [Q&A] (betanews.com)
Cyber security plans should center on resilience | MIT Sloan
Cyber Security Agency Proposes First Incident-Reporting Rules (2) (bloomberglaw.com)
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Wealthy urged to improve digital hygiene in fight against cyber crime (ft.com)
Security experts raise questions about UK cyber funding in wake of Electoral Commission hack | ITPro
8 cyber security predictions shaping the future of cyber defence - Help Net Security
Active adversary dwell time: The good (and bad) news | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Cyber Threat to US Power Grids Escalating as Election Approaches (yahoo.com)
Are We Ignoring the Cyber Security Risks of Undersea Internet Cables? | HackerNoon
How to Prevent Your Company from Being Hacked in 2024 - DevX
Pentagon Looks to Finalise Cyber Security Rules for Defence Industrial Base - ClearanceJobs
US and Japan plan biggest upgrade to security pact in over 60 years
Finland to host NATO tech centers, revamp cyber security strategy (defensenews.com)
French cyber defence chief warns Paris Olympics a 'target' (techxplore.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 10 February 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 10 February 2023:
-Companies Banned from Paying Hackers After Attacks on Royal Mail and Guardian
-Fraud Set to Be Upgraded as a Threat to National Security
-98% of Attacks are Not Reported by Employees to their Employers
-UK Second Most Targeted Nation Behind America for Ransomware
-Financial Institutions are Suffering from Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks
-An Email Attack Can End Up Costing You Over $1 Million
-Cyber Crime Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
-Surge of Swatting Attacks Targets Corporate Executive and Board Members
-Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Loom
-Pro-Russian Hacktivist Group is Only Getting Started, Experts Warn
-Crypto Investors Lost Nearly $4 Billion to Hackers in 2022
-PayPal and Twitter Abused in Turkey Relief Donation Scams
-Mysterious Leak of Booking.com Reservation Data is Being Used to Scam Customers
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 Companies Banned from Paying Ransomware Hackers After Attacks on Royal Mail and Guardian
British companies have been banned from paying ransomware hackers after a spate of attacks on businesses including Royal Mail and the Guardian newspaper.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday unveiled sanctions on seven Russian hackers linked to a gang called Conti, effectively banning any payments to the group.
Thursday’s sanctions are the first of their kind to be specifically targeted against Russian ransomware gang members.
The actions follow a spate of high-profile attacks on businesses and amid warnings from GCHQ that Russian and Iranian hackers are stepping up actions in Britain.
Fraud Set to Be Upgraded as a Threat to National Security
Fraud is to be reclassified as a threat to national security under UK government plans that will force police chiefs to devote more officers to solving the crime.
It will be elevated to the same status as terrorism, with chief constables mandated to increase resources and combine capabilities in a new effort to combat a fraud epidemic that now accounts for 30 per cent of all crime.
It will be added to the strategic policing requirement, which means that forces will be required by ministers to treat fraud as a major priority alongside not only terrorism, but also public disorder, civil emergencies, serious and organised crime, cyber attacks and child sexual abuse.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/04/fraud-set-upgraded-threat-national-security/
98% of Attacks are Not Reported by Employees to their Employers
Cyber attackers are increasingly using social engineering tactics to lure employees into opening malicious emails in an attempt to trick them into providing login credentials, updating bank account information and paying fraudulent invoices. Worryingly, research conducted by security provider Abnormal has found that 98% of attacks on organisations are not reported to the organisation’s security team. In addition to this, the report found that the volume of business email compromise attacks are spiking, growing by 175% over the past two years. The report also found that nearly two-thirds of large enterprises experiencing a supply chain compromise attack in the second half of 2022.
UK Second Most Targeted Nation Behind America for Ransomware
Security research team Kraken Labs released their report earlier this week, which found that of the 101 different countries that registered victims of ransomware, the UK had registered the second highest number of victims behind the US. Currently, there are over 60 ransomware groups, with the top 3 accounting for a third of all ransomware attacks.
Financial Institutions are Suffering from Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks
This week security provider Contrast Security released its Cyber Bank Heists report, an annual report that exposes cyber security threats facing the financial sector. The report warns financial institutions that security must be a top-of-mind issue amid rising geopolitical tensions, increased destructive attacks utilising wipers and a record-breaking year of zero-day exploits. The report involved a series of interviews with financial sector security leaders and found some notable results. Some of the results include 64% of leaders seeing an increase in application attacks, 72% of respondents planning to increase investment in application security in 2023, 60% of respondents falling victim to destructive attacks and 50% of organisations detecting campaigns which aimed to steal non-public market information.
An Email Attack Can End Up Costing You Over $1 Million
According to a report by security provider Barracuda Network, 75% of organisations had fallen victim to at least one successful email attack in the last 12 months, with those affected facing potential costs of over $1 million for their most expensive attack. The fallout from an email security attack can be significant, with the report finding 44% of those hit had faced significant downtime and business disruption. Additionally financial services greatly impacted by the loss of valuable data (59%) and payments made to attackers (51%). When it came to organisations preparation, 30% felt underprepared when dealing with account takeover and 28% felt unprepared for dealing with business email compromise.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/10/email-attack-damage-1-million/
Cyber Crime Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
Global risks from population pressures and climate change to political conflicts and industrial supply chain challenges characterised 2022. Cyber criminals used this turmoil to exploit these trending topics, including significant events, public affairs, social causes, and anywhere else opportunity appeared. According to security researchers at Zscaler TheatLabz, 2023 will see a rise in Crime-as-a-service (CaaS), supply chains will be bigger targets than ever, there will be a greater need for defence in depth as endpoint protection will not be enough and finally, there will be a decrease in the time between initial compromise and the final stage of an attack.
https://www.darkreading.com/zscaler/cybercrime-shows-no-signs-of-slowing-down
Surge of Swatting Attacks Targets Corporate Executive and Board Members
Swatting is the act of deceiving an emergency service with the purpose of the service then sending an emergency response, often armed, to a targeted persons address. Security provider Black Cloak has found that swatting incidents are now beginning to target C-suite executives and corporate board members, with the number of incidents increasing over the last few months. Malicious actors are using information from the dark web, company websites and property records to construct their swatting attacks.
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Loom
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making it easier for threat actors to create sophisticated and malicious email campaigns. In their report, security provider Vade found that Q4 of 2022 saw a 36% volume increase in phishing campaigns compared to the previous quarter, with over 278.3 million unique phishing emails in that period. The researchers found in particular, new AI tools such as ChatGPT had made it easy for anyone, including those with limited skills, to conduct a sophisticated phishing campaign. Furthermore, the ability of ChatGPT to tailor phishing to different languages is an area for concern.
https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/bolstered-chatgpt-tools-phishing-surged-ahead
Pro-Russian Hacktivist Group is Only Getting Started, Experts Warn
A pro-Russian hacktivist group's low-level distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on US critical infrastructure could be a precursor to more serious cyber attacks, health care and security officials warned this week. A DDoS attack involves overwhelming a targeted service, service or network with traffic in an attempt to disrupt it. Earlier this week Killnet, a politically motivated Russian hacking group, overloaded and took down some US healthcare organisations. The attack came after threatening western healthcare organisations for the continued NATO support of Ukraine.
https://www.axios.com/2023/02/03/killnet-russian-hackers-attacks
Crypto Investors Lost Nearly $4 Billion to Hackers in 2022
Last year marked the worst year on record for cryptocurrency hacks, according to analytic firm Chainalysis’ latest report. According to the report, hackers stole $3.8 billion in 2022, up from $3.3 billion the previous year. De-centralised finance products, which are products that have no requirement for an intermediary or middle-man accounted for about 82% of all crypto stolen.
PayPal and Twitter Abused in Turkey Relief Donation Scams
Scammers are now exploiting the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria. This time, stealing donations by abusing legitimate platforms such as PayPal and Twitter. It has been identified that multiple scams are running which call for fundraising, linking the victim to a legitimate PayPal site. The money however, is kept by the scammer.
Mysterious Leak of Booking.com Reservation Data is Being Used to Scam Customers
For almost 5 years, Booking.com customers have been on the receiving end of a continuous series of scams that demonstrate criminals have obtained travel plans amongst other personally identifiable information that were provided to Booking.com. The scams have involved users receiving fake emails purporting to be from Booking.com with genuine travel details that victims had provided. These emails contain links to malicious URL’s that look nearly identical to the Booking.com website. These then display the victim’s expected travel information, requiring them to input their card details. Some of the scams have developed and involve scammers sending WhatsApp messages after payment has been made, purporting to be from hotels which have been booked by the victims.
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online
US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek
UK second most targeted nation behind America for Ransomware - IT Security Guru
Hackers who breached ION say ransom paid; company declines comment | Reuters
New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)
Massive ESXiArgs ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)
Royal Ransomware adds support for encrypting Linux, VMware ESXi systems-security affairs
Ongoing VMware ESXi Ransomware Attack Highlights Inherent Virtualisation Risks (darkreading.com)
Lessons Learned on Ransomware Prevention from the Rackspace Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek
Ransomware Revolution: 4 Types of Cyber Risks in 2023 (trendmicro.com)
Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget
Linux version of Royal Ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nevada Ransomware has released upgraded locker - Help Net Security
Italy, France and Singapore Warn of a Spike in ESXI Ransomware-security affairs
Massive ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide | CSO Online
LockBit ransomware gang claims Royal Mail cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Linux variant of Clop Ransomware uses a flawed encryption-security affairs
After Hive takedown, could the LockBit ransomware crew be the next to fall? | CyberScoop
Russia-Linked Ransomware Gang Claims Responsibility for Royal Mail Attack (gizmodo.com)
Largest Canadian bookstore Indigo shuts down site after cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers hit Vesuvius, UK engineering company shuts down affected systems • Graham Cluley
MKS Instruments falls victim to ransomware attack | CSO Online
North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | CyberScoop
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)
Employees Fail to Report 98% of Email Cyber Hacks To Security Teams, Study Finds - MSSP Alert
An email attack can end up costing you over $1 million - Help Net Security
What SOCs Need to Know About Water Dybbuk A BEC Actor Using Open-Source Toolkits (trendmicro.com)
How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)
Cyber criminals exploit volatile job market for targeted email attacks - Help Net Security
'Phishing-as-a-service' kits drive uptick in theft: One business owner's story (cnbc.com)
Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)
NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Malware
Hacker develops new 'Screenshotter' malware to find high-value targets (bleepingcomputer.com)
Threat group targets over 1,000 companies with screenshotting and infostealing malware | CSO Online
ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
Hackers backdoor Windows devices in Sliver and BYOVD attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
GuLoader Malware Using Malicious NSIS Executables to Target E-Commerce Industry (thehackernews.com)
Novel Banking Trojan 'PixPirate' Targets Brazil - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New QakNote attacks push QBot malware via Microsoft OneNote files (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gootkit Malware Adopts New Tactics to Attack Healthcare and Finance Firms (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek
Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register
'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
Android 14 to block malware from abusing sensitive permissions (bleepingcomputer.com)
UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)
Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
Tor and I2P networks hit by wave of ongoing DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs
Internet of Things – IoT
Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Security manufacturer’s smart cameras went dark for two hours (mybroadband.co.za)
Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Remotely Tamper With Dahua Security Cameras - SecurityWeek
NIST Picks IoT Standard for Small Electronics Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)
Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica
TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate confirm data breach affecting 20M customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
20 Million Users Impacted by Data Breach at Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder - SecurityWeek
Over 12% of analysed online stores expose private data, backups (bleepingcomputer.com)
'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)
Reddit Suffers Security Breach Exposing Internal Documents and Source Code (thehackernews.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Minister: Cyber crimes Now 20% of Spain’s Registered Offenses - SecurityWeek
Finland’s Most-Wanted Hacker Nabbed in France – Krebs on Security
Australian Man Sentenced for Scam Related to Optus Hack - SecurityWeek
Bungling Optus scammer was no criminal mastermind • Graham Cluley
Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto investors lost nearly $4 billion to hackers in 2022 (cnbc.com)
Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Avraham Eisenberg in court accused of crypto exchange crash • The Register
Crypto Drainers Are Ready to Ransack Investor Wallets (darkreading.com)
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
FTX Being Advised by Cyber security Firm Sygnia on Hack Inquiry, CEO Ray Says (coindesk.com)
Scammers steal $4 million in crypto during in-person meeting • The Register
Enigma Stealer Targets Cryptocurrency Industry with Fake Jobs (trendmicro.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Another RAC staffer nabbed for sharing road accident data • The Register
Ex-Ubiquiti worker pleads guilty to data theft, extortion, and smear plot (bitdefender.com)
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
PayPal and Twitter abused in Turkey relief donation scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)
Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica
As V-Day nears: Romance scams cost victims $1.3B last year • The Register
What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)
Father killed himself after falling victim to romance scam | News | The Times
'Brushing' scams send people free items, but could be a warning sign about a data breach - ABC News
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
Banks leave doors open for scammers with flaws in online security | This is Money
Trio Arrested in COVID PPE Fraud Probe - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs
Impersonation Attacks
What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)
HTML smuggling campaigns impersonate well-known brands to deliver malware | CSO Online
AML/CFT/Sanctions
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online
US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek
Insurance
Tackling the New Cyber Insurance Requirements: Can Your Organisation Comply? (thehackernews.com)
How to Optimise Your Cyber Insurance Coverage (darkreading.com)
Dark Web
BlackSprut: Darknet Drug Market Advertises On Billboards In Moscow (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Have we learnt nothing from SolarWinds supply chain attacks? • The Register
Vulnerability Provided Access to Toyota Supplier Management Network - SecurityWeek
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Cloud Apps Still Demand Way More Privileges Than They Use (darkreading.com)
Amazon S3 to apply security best practices for all new buckets - Help Net Security
Why Some Cloud Services Vulnerabilities Are So Hard to Fix (darkreading.com)
Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)
7 Critical Cloud Threats Facing the Enterprise in 2023 (darkreading.com)
Hybrid/Remote Working
Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)
Predictions For Securing Today's Hybrid Workforce (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
It Isn't Time to Worry About Quantum Computing Just Yet (darkreading.com)
UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)
API
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Biometrics
Social Media
Twitter Implements API Paywall, but Will That Solve Its Enormous Bot Crisis? (darkreading.com)
Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Infosec Launches New Office Comedy Themed Security Awareness Training Series (darkreading.com)
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)
While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security
Prioritising Cyber security Regulation Harmonisation (darkreading.com)
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Quarter of CFOs Have Suffered $1m+ Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)
Trends that impact on organisations' 2023 security priorities - Help Net Security
With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)
Optimising Cyber security Investments in a Constrained Spending Environment (darkreading.com)
Surge of swatting attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online
Lessons From the Cold War: How Quality Trumps Quantity in Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Data Protection
Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)
While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security
Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
European Police Arrest 42 After Cracking Covert App - SecurityWeek
Eurocops shut down Exclu encrypted messaging app • The Register
Finnish psychotherapy extortion suspect arrested in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
Steps To Planning And Implementation Of Data Privacy (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica
Artificial Intelligence
Adversaries Using OpenAI’s ChatGPT Chatbot for Cyber Attacks? Here are Some Clues - MSSP Alert
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)
IT Leaders Reveal Cyber Fears Around ChatGPT - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)
ChatGPT's potential to aid attackers puts IT pros on high alert - Help Net Security
Hackers are selling a service that bypasses ChatGPT restrictions on malware | Ars Technica
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica
Jailbreak Trick Breaks ChatGPT Content Safeguards (darkreading.com)
Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Google's Bard AI bot mistake wipes $100bn off shares - BBC News
$120bn wiped off Google after Bard AI chatbot gives wrong answer (telegraph.co.uk)
Why ChatGPT Isn't a Death Sentence for Cyber Defenders (darkreading.com)
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
What is hybrid warfare? Inside the centre dealing with modern threats - BBC News
DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)
Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)
The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security
Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Spies, Hackers, Informants: How China Snoops on the US - SecurityWeek
US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register
Nation State Actors
Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)
With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)
Microsoft: Iran Unit Behind Charlie Hebdo Hack-and-Leak Op - SecurityWeek
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register
DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)
SNP MP Stewart McDonald's emails hacked by Russian group - BBC News
Australia to remove Chinese surveillance cameras amid security fears - BBC News
Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
UN Experts: North Korean Hackers Stole Record Virtual Assets - SecurityWeek
Mysterious Russian satellites are now breaking apart in low-Earth orbit | Ars Technica
The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security
Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs
NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)
US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register
North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | Cyber scoop
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities and exposures to rise to 1,900 a month in 2023: Coalition | CSO Online
Patching & Passwords Lead the Problem Pack for Cyber-Teams (darkreading.com)
Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget
How to fix the top 5 cyber security vulnerabilities | TechTarget
20 Powerful Vulnerability Scanning Tools In 2023 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Vulnerabilities
High-Severity Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Patched in VMware Workstation - SecurityWeek
New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)
GoAnywhere MFT Users Warned of Zero-Day Exploit - SecurityWeek
Serious security hole plugged in infosec tool binwalk | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)
Cisco fixed command injection bug in IOx Application Hosting Environment-security affairs
Vulnerability In F5 BIG-IP May Cause DoS And Code Execution (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
GoAnywhere MFT zero-day flaw actively exploited-security affairs
Exploitation attempts for Oracle E-Business Suite flaw observed after PoC release-security affairs
Critical vulnerability patched in Jira Service Management Server and Data Center | CSO Online
Warning: Hackers Actively Exploiting Zero-Day in Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT (thehackernews.com)
Exploit released for actively exploited GoAnywhere MFT zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)
Patch Released for Actively Exploited GoAnywhere MFT Zero-Day - SecurityWeek
Unpatched Security Flaws Disclosed in Multiple Document Management Systems (thehackernews.com)
SonicWall warns web content filtering is broken on Windows 11 22H2 (bleepingcomputer.com)
OpenSSL Fixes Multiple New Security Flaws with Latest Update (thehackernews.com)
Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
Tools and Controls
Other News
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
How to Think Like a Hacker and Stay Ahead of Threats (thehackernews.com)
Surge of swatting a attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online
Bermuda: Major Internet And Power Outage Strikes (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 September 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 September 2022
-79% Of Companies Only Invest in Cyber Security After Hacking Incidents
-Nearly Half of Breaches During First Half of 2022 Involved Stolen Credentials
-Outdated Infrastructure Not Up to Today’s Ransomware Challenges
-Ghost Data Increases Enterprise Business Risk
-Detected Cyber Threats Surge 52% in 1H 2022
-An Interview with Initial Access Broker Wazawaka: ‘There Is No Such Money Anywhere as There is in Ransomware’
-Cyber Crime Underground More Dangerous Than Organisations Realize
-New Ransomware Group BianLian Activity Exploding
-Can Your Passwords Withstand Threat Actors’ Dirty Tricks?
-Ransomware Gangs’ Favourite Targets
-Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimize 130 Firms
-Organisations Are Spending Billions on Malware Defence That’s Easy to Bypass
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
79% Of Companies Only Invest in Cyber Security After Hacking Incidents
The British cyber security company Tanium published a survey on investments in digital protection in UK companies with alarming results: 79% of them only approve investments in cyber security after suffering a data breach; 92% experienced a data attack or breach, of which 74% occurred in 2021. Leadership reticence is also high, with 63% of leaders convinced cyber security is only a concern after an attack.
The complexity of the situation has grown with the digital transformation of work. If it streamlines many processes, it can also open up serious security gaps. A sensitive point is the “home office”: companies need effective solutions to eliminate gaps that may appear between employees’ computers (often shared devices) and the company’s internal network.
Putting in solutions is just the beginning of a necessary strategy and investment effort in virtual protection. Complex scams based on phishing, reverse engineering, and backdoor-type malicious programs (“planted” discreetly on a device and sometimes inactive for months) often combine real-world and virtual-world fraud.
The escalation of corporate data hijacking appears in this scenario. The most notorious case at a global level of such an incident, with a million-dollar ransom demand, was launched in 2021 on Colonial Pipeline. This US company paid $40 million to regain control over strategic data after fuel supplies through its pipelines to several states were threatened for days.
Nearly Half of Breaches During First Half of 2022 Involved Stolen Credentials
According to a new report by Acronis, a Switzerland-based cyber security company, nearly half of breaches during the first six months of 2022 involved stolen credentials.
The goal of stealing credentials is to launch ransomware attacks. According to the report, these “continue to be the number one threat to large and medium-sized businesses, including government organisations.”
Attackers usually use phishing techniques to extract these credentials. In the first half of the year, over 600 malicious email campaigns made their way across the internet, of which 58% were phishing attempts and 28% featured malware.
Acronis also added that “as reliance on the cloud increases, attackers have homed in on different entryways to cloud-based networks.”
Additionally, cyber criminals now also target unpatched or software vulnerabilities to extract data, with a recent increase on Linux operating systems and managed service providers (MSPs) and their network of SMB customers.
The third vector spotted by Acronis was “non-traditional entry avenues” such as cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance (DeFi) systems.
Outdated Infrastructure Not Up to Today’s Ransomware Challenges
A global research commissioned by Cohesity reveals that nearly half of respondents say their company depends on outdated, legacy backup and recovery infrastructure to manage and protect their data. In some cases, this technology is more than 20 years old and was designed long before today’s multicloud era and onslaught of sophisticated cyber attacks plaguing enterprises globally.
Challenges pertaining to outdated infrastructure could easily be compounded by the fact that many IT and security teams don’t seem to have a plan in place to mobilise if and when a cyber attack occurs. Nearly 60% of respondents expressed some level of concern that their IT and security teams would be able to mobilise efficiently to respond to the attack.
These are just some of the findings from an April 2022 survey, conducted by Censuswide, of more than 2,000 IT and SecOps professionals (split nearly 50/50 between the two groups) in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. All respondents play a role in the decision-making process for IT or security within their organisations.
IT and security teams should raise the alarm bell if their organisation continues to use antiquated technology to manage and secure their most critical digital asset – their data.
Cyber criminals are actively preying on this outdated infrastructure as they know it was not built for today’s dispersed, multicloud environments, nor was it built to help companies protect and rapidly recover from sophisticated cyber attacks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/30/outdated-infrastructure-manage-data/
Ghost Data Increases Enterprise Business Risk
IT has to get its hands around cloud data sprawl. Another area of focus should be on ghost data, as it expands the organisation's cloud attack surface.
Cloud sprawl is a big issue for organisations, with business teams spinning up cloud systems and services on their own, often without IT oversight. That leads to cloud data sprawl as data is scattered across different environments. If IT doesn’t know about the cloud systems and services, then IT is also not managing the data being collected, processed, and stored there.
We all know about shadow IT, the systems and network devices in the organisation’s environment that IT is not managing. Similarly, shadow data refers to unmanaged data store copies and snapshots or log data that are not part of IT’s backup and recovery strategy. Researchers at Cyera estimate that 60% of the data security posture issues that are present in cloud accounts stem from unsecured sensitive data.
Then there is the problem of ghost data. When data gets deleted from cloud systems, it isn’t fully gone. Copies linger in backups or snapshots of data stores. Ghost data refers to those copies left behind after the original has been deleted, and Cyera’s recent analysis show that enterprises have quite a lot of it.
After scanning the three major cloud providers (Amazon Web Services, Azure, and Google Cloud), Cyera researchers found that over 30% of scanned customer cloud data stores are ghost data and more than 58% contain sensitive, or very sensitive, data. For example, researchers found unsecured database snapshots in non-production environments that contained sensitive customer data where the original database had been destroyed. Researchers also uncovered sensitive personal and authentication data in plain text where the production data and application were no longer in use.
Ghost data usually has no business value - the data was deleted for a reason - and having it around unnecessarily increases business risk. Attackers don’t care if they get their hands on the original sensitive information or the copy because to them, all data has value, regardless of the form it takes.
https://www.darkreading.com/edge-threat-monitor/ghost-data-increases-enterprise-business-risk
Detected Cyber Threats Surge 52% in 1H 2022
A leading cyber security vendor blocked 63 billion threats in the first half of 2022 alone, over 50% more than the same period a year ago.
The findings come from the Trend Micro 2022 Midyear Cybersecurity Report and illustrate the scale of the challenge facing network defenders.
Trend Micro highlighted the persistent threat posed by ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups as one that will continue to cause major challenges for organisations in the years to come.
It said detections of prolific groups such as LockBit and Conti increased by 500% year-on-year in 1H 2022. Such groups will continue to adapt their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) in the race for profits.
The report warned of a surge in threats targeting Linux systems, for example. It said detections of attacks on Linux servers and embedded systems grew 75% year-on-year in the first half of 2022. Both SMBs and larger organisations are now a target, it claimed.
Many RaaS groups exploit vulnerabilities as a primary attack vector. Their job is getting easier as the number of published common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) continues to grow strongly.
Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative published advisories on 944 vulnerabilities in the first half of 2021, a 23% year-on-year increase. The number of critical bug advisories it published soared by 400% over the same period.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/detected-cyberthreats-surge-52-in/
An Interview with Initial Access Broker Wazawaka: ‘There Is No Such Money Anywhere as There is in Ransomware’
Last April, a ransomware group threatened to expose police informants and other sensitive information if the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not pay a demand.
The brazen attack was the work of a gang known as Babuk, which in early 2021 gained a reputation for posting stolen databases on its website from victims that refused to pay a ransom. Just days after it tried to extort the Metropolitan Police Department, Babuk announced it was closing its ransomware affiliate program, and would focus on data theft and extortion instead.
Earlier this year, cyber security journalist Brian Krebs uncovered details about one man behind the operation named Mikhail Matveev, who was also connected to a number of other groups and identities, including the handle ‘Wazawaka.’ According to Krebs, Matveev had become more unhinged than usual, “publishing bizarre selfie videos” and creating a Twitter account to share exploit code.
Matveev talked to Recorded Future about his interaction with other hackers, details about ransomware attacks he’s been involved in, and how he settled on the name Babuk.
Click the link below for the full interview but the long and short is ransomware has created a criminal ecosystem the likes of which the world has never seen.
Cyber Crime Underground More Dangerous Than Organisations Realise
Kela, a cyber threat intelligence specialist, found in a new study of some 400 security pros in the US that organisations are more at risk from the “cyber crime underground” than they realise.
The Israel-based company surveyed security team members responsible for gathering cyber crime threat intelligence daily to better understand if they’re proactively scanning the dark web and other cyber crime sources, what tools they’re using and the gaps they see in their cyber crime threat intelligence approach. Nearly 60% of the respondents do not believe their current cyber crime prevention is effective, the results showed.
Here are the study’s key findings:
69% are concerned about threats from the cyber crime underground.
54% wouldn’t be surprised to find their organisation’s data on the cyber crime underground.
Only 38% believe that they’re very likely to detect it if it was released.
48% have no documented cyber crime threat intelligence policy in place.
Only 41% believe their current security program is very effective.
49% are not satisfied with the visibility they have of the cyber crime underground.
Of the 51% who were satisfied with their visibility into the cyber crime underground, 39% were still unable to prevent an attack.
Additional training and proficiency in cyber crime intelligence investigations is the most needed capability.
New Ransomware Group BianLian Activity Exploding
A new ransomware group operating under the name BianLian emerged in late 2021 and has become increasingly active since.
The threat actor already has twenty alleged victims across several industries (insurance, medicine, law and engineering), according to a research paper from US cyber security firm Redacted, published on September 1, 2022. The majority of the victim organisations have been based in Australia, North America and the UK.
The research team has given no attribution yet but believes the threat actor “represents a group of individuals who are very skilled in network penetration but are relatively new to the extortion/ransomware business.”
BianLian uses a custom toolkit, including homemade encryptors and encryption backdoors. Both, as well as the command-and-control (C&C) software the hackers use, are written in Go, an increasingly popular programming language among ransomware threat actors.
Troublingly, the Redacted team of researchers has found evidence that BianLian is likely now trying to up their game.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/new-ransomware-group-bianlian/
Can Your Passwords Withstand Threat Actors’ Dirty Tricks?
Password security hinges on the answer to that seemingly simple question. Unfortunately, you can’t know the answer until you’ve engaged a ruthless penetration tester to find out if your environment can stand up to the frighteningly good password cracking skills of today’s most nefarious hackers.
The whole purpose of hiring skilled penetration testers (“pentesters”) is to find out if your environment is truly impenetrable — and if it’s not, exactly how you should shore up your defences. Good pentesters and red teamers spend their time trying to simulate and emulate the real bad actors. After all, what’s the point of pressure-testing your IT infrastructure if you don’t use the same pressure that you’ll face in the real world?
You should “train like you fight.” Without sparring, how can you expect to jump into a boxing ring and go a few rounds with a skilled boxer? That’s the entire point of goal-based penetration testing and red/purple team engagements that simulate real-world threat actors.
Password cracking will continue to evolve – and so should your penetration testing tactics and plans. By the time you get to your fourth or fifth round with a quality pentesting consultancy, your risk mitigation will have dramatically improved — which means you’ll be able to move on to the next stage of security maturity.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/30/stand-up-to-password-cracking/
Ransomware Gangs’ Favourite Targets
Barracuda released its fourth-annual threat research report which looks at ransomware attack patterns that occurred between August 2021 and July 2022.
For the 106 highly publicised attacks our researchers analysed, the dominant targets are still five key industries: education (15%), municipalities (12%), healthcare (12%), infrastructure (8%), and financial (6%). The number of ransomware attacks increased year-over-year across each of these five industry verticals, and attacks against other industries more than doubled compared to last year’s report.
While attacks on municipalities increased only slightly, the analysis over the past 12 months showed that ransomware attacks on educational institutions more than doubled, and attacks on the healthcare and financial verticals tripled. Many choose not to disclose when they get hit.
This year, researchers dug in deeper on these highly publicised attacks to see which other industries are starting to be targeted. Service providers were hit the most, and ransomware attacks on automobile, hospitality, media, retail, software, and technology organisations all increased as well.
Most ransomware attacks don’t make headlines, though. Many victims choose not to disclose when they get hit, and the attacks are often sophisticated and extremely hard to handle for small businesses.
As ransomware and other cyber threats continue to evolve, the need for adequate security solutions has never been greater. Many cyber criminals target small businesses in an attempt to gain access to larger organisations. As a result, it is essential for security providers to create products that are easy to use and implement, regardless of a company’s size.
Additionally, sophisticated security technologies should be available as services, so that businesses of all sizes can protect themselves against these ever-changing threats. By making security solutions more accessible and user-friendly, the entire industry can help to better defend against ransomware and other cyber attacks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/31/ransomware-attack-patterns/
Tentacles of ‘0ktapus’ Threat Group Victimise 130 Firms
Over 130 companies were tangled in sprawling phishing campaign that spoofed a multi-factor authentication system.
Targeted attacks on Twilio and Cloudflare employees are tied to a massive phishing campaign that resulted in 9,931 accounts at over 130 organisations being compromised. The campaigns are tied to focused abuse of identity and access management firm Okta, which gained the threat actors the 0ktapus moniker, by researchers.
The primary goal of the threat actors was to obtain Okta identity credentials and multi-factor authentication (MFA) codes from users of the targeted organisations. These users received text messages containing links to phishing sites that mimicked the Okta authentication page of their organisation.
114 US-based firms were impacted, with additional victims of sprinkled across 68 additional countries. The full scope of the attack is still unknown but the 0ktapus campaign has been incredibly effective, and the full scale of it may not be known for some time.
The 0ktapus attackers are believed to have begun their campaign by targeting telecommunications companies in hopes of winning access to potential targets’ phone numbers.
While unsure exactly how threat actors obtained a list of phone numbers used in MFA-related attacks, one theory researchers posit is that 0ktapus attackers began their campaign targeting telecommunications companies.
https://threatpost.com/0ktapus-victimize-130-firms/180487/
Organisations Are Spending Billions on Malware Defence That’s Easy to Bypass
Last year, organisations spent $2 billion on products that provide Endpoint Detection and Response, a relatively new type of security protection for detecting and blocking malware targeting network-connected devices. EDRs, as they're commonly called, represent a newer approach to malware detection. Static analysis, one of two more traditional methods, searches for suspicious signs in the DNA of a file itself. Dynamic analysis, the other more established method, runs untrusted code inside a secured "sandbox" to analyse what it does to confirm it's safe before allowing it to have full system access.
EDRs—which are forecasted to generate revenue of $18 billion by 2031 and are sold by dozens of security companies—take an entirely different approach. Rather than analyse the structure or execution of the code ahead of time, EDRs monitor the code's behaviour as it runs inside a machine or network. In theory, it can shut down a ransomware attack in progress by detecting that a process executed on hundreds of machines in the past 15 minutes is encrypting files en masse. Unlike static and dynamic analyses, EDR is akin to a security guard that uses machine learning to keep tabs in real time on the activities inside a machine or network.
Despite the buzz surrounding EDRs, new research suggests that the protection they provide isn't all that hard for skilled malware developers to circumvent. In fact, the researchers behind the study estimate EDR evasion adds only one additional week of development time to the typical infection of a large organisational network. That's because two fairly basic bypass techniques, particularly when combined, appear to work on most EDRs available in the industry.
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware Research: 10 Key Findings, Five Ways to Defend Against Hijackers - MSSP Alert
LockBit ransomware gang gets aggressive with triple-extortion tactic (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Golang-based 'Agenda Ransomware' Can Be Customized For Each Victim (thehackernews.com)
Chile and Montenegro Floored by Ransomware - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Researchers Detail Emerging Cross-Platform BianLian Ransomware Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Ragnar Locker Brags About TAP Air Portugal Breach (darkreading.com)
Police ‘negotiating with hackers’ who hit Paris hospital computer system | World | The Times
Advanced cyber-attack: NHS doctors' paperwork piles up - BBC News
Another Ransomware For Linux Likely In Development - Security Affairs
Montenegro hit by ransomware attack, hackers demand $10 million (bleepingcomputer.com)
Should ransomware payments be banned? A few considerations - Help Net Security
Researchers Spot Snowballing BianLian Ransomware Gang Activity (darkreading.com)
Ragnar Locker continues trend of ransomware targeting energy sector | CSO Online
BlackCat ransomware claims attack on Italian energy agency (bleepingcomputer.com)
Italian Oil Major Becomes Victim Of Ransomware Attack | OilPrice.com
Damart clothing store hit by Hive ransomware, $2 million demanded (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gloucester Council planning site still disrupted from cyber attack - BBC News
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Malware
Malicious Cookie Stuffing Chrome Extensions with 1.4 Million Users | McAfee Blog
A study on malicious plugins in WordPress Marketplaces - Security Affairs
BumbleBee a New Modular Backdoor Evolved From BookWorm (trendmicro.com)
Malicious Chrome Extensions Plague 1.4M Users (darkreading.com)
Mobile
Mobile banking apps put 300,000 digital fingerprints at risk • The Register
Researcher unveils smart lock hack for fingerprint theft (techtarget.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Skyrocketing IoT Bug Disclosures Put Pressure on Security Teams (darkreading.com)
Singapore clocks higher ransomware attacks, warns of IoT risks | ZDNET
ieGeek Vulnerabilities still prevalent in 2022 - Amazon Ft. IG20 (realinfosec.net)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Okta Says Customer Data Compromised in Twilio Hack | SecurityWeek.Com
Neopets says hackers had access to its systems for 18 months (bleepingcomputer.com)
Akasa Air Suffers Data Leak on First Day of Operation- IT Security Guru
Samsung says hackers obtained some customer data in newly disclosed breach | Engadget
Millions of student loan accounts exposed in data breach | TechRadar
Russian streaming platform confirms data breach affecting 7.5M users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
FBI: Crooks stole $1b+ in cryptocurrency already this year • The Register
Ukraine takes down cyber crime group hitting crypto fraud victims (bleepingcomputer.com)
FBI: Crooks are using these DeFi flaws to steal your money | ZDNET
Windows malware delays coinminer install by a month to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Crypto-Crooks Spread Trojanized Google Translate App in Watering-Hole Attack (darkreading.com)
Hackers Use ModernLoader to Infect Systems with Stealers and Cryptominers (thehackernews.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Insurance
Cyber insurance has been around for 25 years. It’s still a bit of a mess. (slate.com)
Travelers, Policyholder Agree to Void Current Cyber Policy (insurancejournal.com)
Cyber Frauds Skyrocket: Can Cyber Insurance Protect You in Real World? Experts Explain (news18.com)
Google Cloud, Microsoft and AWS dive into cyber insurance - Protocol
Cyber Insurance Price Hike Hits Local Governments Hard (insurancejournal.com)
Insurers must rethink handling of cyber attacks on states | Financial Times (ft.com)
Cyber insurance on rise as attacks surge | Mint (livemint.com)
Dark Web
German man charged for trying to hire fake contract killer on darkweb | Euronews
NATO Investigates Dark Web Leak of Data Stolen From Missile Vendor (darkreading.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
Cloud/SaaS
1 in 3 organisations don't know if their public cloud data was exfiltrated - Help Net Security
Real-World Cloud Attacks: The True Tasks of Cloud Ransomware Mitigation (darkreading.com)
Encryption
CISA: Prepare now for quantum computers, not when hackers use them (bleepingcomputer.com)
Homomorphic encryption: a holy grail for privacy, explained (fastcompany.com)
API
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
LastPass source code breach – do we still recommend password managers? – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Social Media
Social media is ruining our lives and the public are finally waking up (telegraph.co.uk)
Thousands lured with blue badges in Instagram phishing attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Privacy
Trident Royal Navy staff reveal sensitive data on fitness app | News | The Times
Cops wanted to keep mass surveillance app secret; privacy advocates refused | Ars Technica
US telcos admit to storing, handing over location data • The Register
Facebook moves to settle Cambridge Analytica lawsuit | TechCrunch
Homomorphic encryption: a holy grail for privacy, explained (fastcompany.com)
Nobody’s special to the WFH software spies | Comment | The Times
Travel
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Scammers Targeting Thousands Of Children As Young As Six, Figures Show (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Over a Third of Parents Do Not Know What Online Accounts Their Children Use - IT Security Guru
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Why Russia's cyber war in Ukraine hasn't played out as predicted (newatlas.com)
Ukraine's army of hackers failed to thwart Russia and quickly gave up | New Scientist
Moscow gridlock as hackers send dozens of taxis to Hotel Ukraine (telegraph.co.uk)
Finland To Offer Businesses Cybersec Vouchers In Wake Of Nato-related (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
China-linked APT40 used ScanBox Framework in a long-running espionage campaign - Security Affairs
Montenegro says Russian cyber attacks threaten key state functions (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google says it cut off Russian disinformation sites from its vast ad display network - CyberScoop
Ex-spies banned from arms exports for UAE hack-for-hire work • The Register
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
FBI deploys cyber team to Montenegro following massive cyber attack | The Hill
Montenegro Sent Back to Analog by Unprecedented Cyber Attacks | Balkan Insight
Nation State Actors – China
Chinese Hackers Target Energy Firms in South China Sea | SecurityWeek.Com
China-linked APT40 targets wind turbines, Aust. government • The Register
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerabilities
Apple Quietly Releases Another Patch for Zero-Day RCE Bug (darkreading.com)
Google Chrome emergency update fixes new zero-day used in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
URGENT! Apple slips out zero-day update for older iPhones and iPads – Naked Security (sophos.com)
WordPress 6.0.2 Patches Vulnerability That Could Impact Millions of Legacy Sites | SecurityWeek.Com
Critical hole in Atlassian Bitbucket needs patching now • The Register
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Former Cyber criminal: These Are the Biggest Threats on the Internet (businessinsider.com)
Stuxnet explained: The first known cyber weapon | CSO Online
Infra Used in Cisco Hack Also Targeted Workforce Management Solution (thehackernews.com)
Okta Impersonation Technique Could be Utilized by Attackers | SecurityWeek.Com
Remote Work Cyber Security: 12 Risks and How to Prevent Them (techtarget.com)
Does your cyber crime prevention program work? - Help Net Security
Does Blockchain really offer Better Digital Security? - IT Security Guru
IT and Employees Don’t Always See Eye to Eye on Cyber Security - IT Security Guru
New Cyber Security Regulations Are Coming. Here’s How to Prepare. (hbr.org)
Cyber security budget breakdown and best practices (techtarget.com)
How Just-in-Time privilege elevation prevents data breaches and lateral movement - Help Net Security
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 31 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 31 December 2020: SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared; Threat actor selling 368.8 million records from 26 data breaches; The Worst Hacks of 2020; Nasty Strain of malware is back and hits 100K recipients per day; Ransomware in 2020: A Banner Year for Extortion; Russia’s global hacking efforts are going to unwind in 2021
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared
The Russia-linked SolarWinds hack which targeted US government agencies and private corporations may be even worse than officials first realized, with some 250 federal agencies and business now believed affected.
Microsoft has said the hackers compromised SolarWinds’ Orion monitoring and management software, allowing them to “impersonate any of the organisation’s existing users and accounts, including highly privileged accounts.” The Times reports that Russia exploited layers of the supply chain to access the agencies’ systems.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/2/22210667/solarwinds-hack-worse-government-microsoft-cybersecurity
Threat actor is selling 368.8 million records from 26 data breaches
Security experts reported that a threat actor is selling user records allegedly stolen from twenty-six companies on a hacker forum.
The total volume of data available for sale is composed of 368.8 million stolen user records.
For some of these companies, the data breaches have not been previously disclosed, including Teespring.com, MyON.com, Chqbook.com, Anyvan.com, Eventials.com, Wahoofitness.com, Sitepoint.com, and ClickIndia.com.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112842/data-breach/data-breaches-records-sale.html
The Worst Hacks of 2020, a Surreal Pandemic Year
WHAT A WAY to kick off a new decade. 2020 showcased all of the digital risks and cybersecurity woes you've come to expect in the modern era, but this year was unique in the ways Covid-19 radically and tragically transformed life around the world. The pandemic also created unprecedented conditions in cyberspace, reshaping networks by pushing people to work from home en masse, creating a scramble to access vaccine research by any means, generating new fodder for criminals to launch extortion attempts and scams, and producing novel opportunities for nation-state espionage.
https://www.wired.com/story/worst-hacks-2020-surreal-pandemic-year/
A Nasty Strain of malware is back and hits 100K recipients per day
The Emotet banking trojan has been active at least since 2014, the botnet is operated by a threat actor tracked as TA542. In the middle-August, the malware was employed in fresh COVID19-themed spam campaign Recent spam campaigns used messages with malicious Word documents, or links to them, pretending to be an invoice, shipping information, COVID-19 information, resumes, financial documents, or scanned documents.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112650/malware/december-emotet-redacted.html
Ransomware in 2020: A Banner Year for Extortion
From attacks on the UVM Health Network that delayed chemotherapy appointments, to ones on public schools that delayed students going back to the classroom, ransomware gangs disrupted organizations to inordinate levels in 2020. Remote learning platforms shut down. Hospital chemotherapy appointments cancelled. Ransomware attacks in 2020 dominated as a top threat vector this past year. Couple that with the COVID-19 pandemic, putting strains on the healthcare sector, and we witnessed ransomware exact a particularly cruel human toll as well. Attacks had an impact on nearly all sectors of the global economy – costing business $20 billion collectively and creating major cybersecurity headaches for others.
https://threatpost.com/ransomware-2020-extortion/162319/
Ransomware Is Headed Down a Dire Path
AT THE END of September, an emergency room technician in the United States gave WIRED a real-time account of what it was like inside their hospital as a ransomware attack raged. With their digital systems locked down by hackers, health care workers were forced onto backup paper systems. They were already straining to manage patients during the pandemic; the last thing they needed was more chaos. "It is a life-or-death situation," the technician said at the time.
The same scenario was repeated around the country this year, as waves of ransomware attacks crashed down on hospitals and health care provider networks, peaking in September and October. School districts, meanwhile, were walloped by attacks that crippled their systems just as students were attempting to come back to class, either in person or remotely. Corporations and local and state governments faced similar attacks at equally alarming rates.
https://www.wired.com/story/ransomware-2020-headed-down-dire-path/
Russia’s global hacking efforts are going to unwind in 2021
Russia has become adept at using cyberattacks and digital-media manipulation to influence events in other countries. We know there was Russian digital interference in the 2016 US general election and the 2017 presidential election in France: both involved fake social-media accounts and “hack-and-leak” operations to steal emails. The UK government has not investigated whether, as must be probable, Russia had also been using its tools of covert subversion during the Scottish independence and Brexit referenda, but it has said that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general election through the online dissemination of illicitly acquired government documents, thought to relate to US/UK trade negotiations.
Threats
IOT
FBI Warn Hackers are Using Hijacked Home Security Devices for ‘Swatting’
Malware
New Golang worm turns Windows and Linux servers into monero miners
Emotet malware hits Lithuania's National Public Health Centre
GitHub-hosted malware calculates Cobalt Strike payload from Imgur pic
Vulnerabilities
Cross-layer attacks: New hacking technique raises DNS cache poisoning, user tracking risk
Windows Zero-Day Still Circulating After Faulty Fix
Backdoor account discovered in more than 100,000 Zyxel firewalls, VPN gateways
Data Breaches
T-Mobile warns customers of second data breach in less than a year
Kawasaki discloses security breach, potential data leak
Finland says hackers accessed MPs' emails accounts
Organised Crime
21 arrests in nationwide cyber crackdown
Nation State Actors
India: A Growing Cyber Security Threat
Denial of Service
Citrix devices are being abused as DDoS attack vectors
Privacy
Mapped: The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide
Cryptocurrency
Voyager cryptocurrency broker halted trading due to cyber attack
Other News
Brexit deal mentions Netscape browser and Mozilla Mail
6 Questions Attackers Ask Before Choosing an Asset to Exploit
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 December 2020: Cyber crime costs the world more than $1 trillion, 50% increase from 2018; One of the world's largest security firms breached; Chinese Breakthrough in Quantum Computing a Warning for Security Teams; Ransom payouts hit record-highs, surging 178% in a year; Ransomware Set to Continue to Evolve
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
Cyber crime costs the world more than $1 trillion, a 50% increase from 2018
Cyber crime costs the world economy more than $1 trillion, or just more than one percent of global GDP, which is up more than 50 percent from a 2018 study that put global losses at close to $600 billion. Beyond the global figure, the report also explored the damage reported beyond financial losses, finding 92 percent of companies felt effects beyond monetary losses.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/12/07/cybercrime-costs-world/
FireEye, one of the world's largest security firms, discloses security breach
FireEye, one of the world largest security firms, said today it was hacked and that a "highly sophisticated threat actor" accessed its internal network and stole hacking tools FireEye uses to test the networks of its customers.
The firm said the threat actor also searched for information related to some of the company's government customers.
The attacker was described as a "highly sophisticated threat actor, one whose discipline, operational security, and techniques lead us to believe it was a state-sponsored attack."
Chinese Breakthrough in Quantum Computing a Warning for Security Teams
China’s top quantum-computer researchers have reported that they have achieved quantum supremacy, i.e., the ability to perform tasks a traditional supercomputer cannot. And while it’s a thrilling development, the inevitable rise of quantum computing means security teams are one step closer to facing a threat more formidable than anything before.
https://threatpost.com/chinese-quantum-computing-warning-security/161935/
Ransom payouts hit record-highs, surging 178% in a year
Average ransom payouts increased by 178% in the third quarter of this year, from $84,000 (£63,000) to almost £234,000, compared with the year before. Ransomware payments reached record-highs in 2020 as employees shifted to remote working to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, creating more attack vectors for hackers.
Ransomware Set for Evolution in Attack Capabilities in 2021
Ransomware is set to evolve into a greater threat in 2021 as service offerings and collaborations increase. The year turned out “different than predicted” and the shift to working from home also impacted the e-crime landscape. “This created an industrialization of e-crime groups and their abilities to extend from single groups into business pipelines”
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-evolution-capabilities/
How Organisations Can Prevent Users from Using Breached Passwords
There is no question that attackers are going after your sensitive account data. Passwords have long been a target of those looking to compromise your environment. Why would an attacker take the long, complicated way if they have the keys to the front door?
https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/how-organizations-can-prevent-users.html
Threats
Ransomware
Hackers demand $34.7 million in Bitcoin after ransomware attack on Foxconn
Ransomware forces hosting provider Netgain to take down data centers
Ransomware-struck schools reject £1m demand from crims in timely reminder to always mind the air-gap
Phishing
IOT
Malware
Qbot malware switched to stealthy new Windows autostart method
Microsoft exposes Adrozek, malware that hijacks Chrome, Edge, and Firefox
Social media sharing icons could harbor info-stealing malware
All-new Windows 10 malware is excellent at evading detection
Rana Android Malware Updates Allow WhatsApp, Telegram IM Snooping
Vulnerabilities
Critical, Unpatched Bugs Open GE Radiological Devices to Remote Code Execution
Amnesia:33 vulnerabilities impact millions of smart and industrial devices
Expert discloses zero-click, wormable flaw in Microsoft Teams
Data Breaches
FireEye, one of the world's largest security firms, discloses security breach
Hackers leak data from Embraer, world's third-largest airplane maker
Threat Actors
Insider Threats
Other News
Reports Published in the Last Week
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.