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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 April 2024

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 05 April 2024:

-Corporations with Effective Cyber Governance Create 4 Times More Value, Boosting Shareholder Returns

-Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled

-Half of British SMEs Have Lost Data in Past Five Years: Threat Indicators Show 2024 Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023

-Researchers Report Sevenfold Increase in Data Theft Cases, as 17 billion Personal Records Exposed in Breaches in 2023

-AI Abuse and Misinformation Campaigns Threaten Financial Institutions

-Security Teams are ‘Overconfident’ About Handling Next-Gen Threats

-AI Makes Phishing Attacks Accessible to Basic Users

-Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise

-73% Brace for Cyber Security Impact on Business in Next Two Years

-To Stay Ahead of Ransomware Businesses Need to Adopt An Offensive Security Mindset

-Cyber Security Imperative for Protecting Executives

-The Increasing Role of Cyber Security Experts in Complex Legal Disputes

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

Corporations with Effective Cyber Governance Create 4 Times More Value, Boosting Shareholder Returns

According to a recent report, companies who demonstrated an advanced level of cyber security performance generated a shareholder return 372% higher than their peers over a 5 year period. The report highlighted that having board committees focused on specialised risk and audit compliance produced the best outcomes; however, it was found that only a small number of those surveyed had done this. Financial institutions and healthcare had the highest cyber security ratings, highlighting the correlation between regulatory environments and cyber security performance.

Sources: [Help Net Security ] [Dark Reading]

Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled

The number of security and ransomware incidents reported to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) surged in 2023, according to a freedom of information request. 31% of these incidents were categorised as ransomware, which had double the number of reports as the previous year. To note, these statistics address the number of ransomware incidents involving financial services that were disclosed: the number of actual incidents could be far higher.

Sources: [Digital Journal] [Digital Journal]

Half of British SMEs Have Lost Data in Past Five Years: Threat Indicators Show 2024 Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023

According to a new report, since 2019 nearly half (48%) of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have lost access to data, potentially costing billions. The report found that nationwide, the number of businesses that lost data temporarily or permanently could amount to more than 800,000. Unfortunately, the report found that half of respondents assessed were relying on flawed backup processes, with a quarter not backing up data at all.

A number of organisations assume that they are backing data up automatically and that these backups are safe, but it is an assumption that can have cost. Added to this, some organisations are not aware that their backups can be changed, or deleted, by a malicious actor; a situation better mitigated by implementing immutable backups.

To better their situation, organisations need to understand the cause of a breach, map their data and understand where it is stored, follow the 3,2,1 rule (three copies of data, two separate locations, one in the cloud), consider immutable backups and monitor their backups. An effective backup policy will help.

Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Security Week] [IT Security Guru]

Researchers Report Sevenfold Increase in Data Theft Cases, as 17 billion Personal Records Exposed in Breaches in 2023

According to a global threat intelligence report, data breach incidents rose by 34.5% in 2023, with 17 billion personal records compromised throughout the year. The research also observed a 429% spike in stolen or leaked personal data in the first two months of 2024. In a separate report, Kaspersky found that roughly 10 million devices encountered data-stealing malware in 2023, a sevenfold increase since 2020.

The reports highlight the importance of ensuring that precautions and mitigations are undertaken to thwart attackers. This should include enabling multi-factor authentication, strong and unique passwords, and using a password manager.

Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Infosecurity Magazine]

AI Abuse and Misinformation Campaigns Threaten Financial Institutions

According to the Financial Services Information Sharing Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), cyber threats relating to generative AI in financial services are a consistent concern, with threat actors using generative AI to write malware and other types of attacks. In some cases, attackers are injecting contaminated data into the large language models used by AI, in order to supply it with misinformation which will in turn feed back to financial institutions.

Not all risks are malicious, however. In some cases where generative AI uses enormous datasets, this can contain privileged information or biased data, which can in turn cost financial firms the trust of regulators, consumers and investors. The FS-ISAC stated “As we look ahead to a critical year marked by emerging technology and heightened geopolitical tensions, the best way to maintain the integrity, security, and trust of the sector is through global information sharing.”

Source: [Help Net Security]

Security Teams are ‘Overconfident’ About Handling Next-Gen Threats

In a new study of more than 8,000 cyber security decision makers, Cisco found that nearly three-quarters of organisations anticipated a cyber incident to disrupt their business in the next two years and 80% said they felt at least “moderately confident” in their ability to defend against emerging threats. In contrast, Cisco’s own analysis rated the maturity of these organisations, finding 71% were deemed to be rated as ‘formative’ or ‘beginner’, the two lowest categories.

Source: [CSO Online]

AI Makes Phishing Attacks Accessible to Basic Users

One of the big selling points of AI is its ability to allow even an unsophisticated user to advance their capability and operate at a far more damaging level. Crucially AI can enable a completely non-technical user to understand and produce technical output. Unfortunately, many cyber criminals have realised this and are using AI to sharpen the efficacy of their phishing emails. With AI, phishing emails can now be created without telltale grammatical errors, and can be convincingly formatted to use a certain style to resonate with given target audience, such as a board level executive. AI is also enabling these phishing campaigns to be replicated across languages and geographies, giving malicious actors wider nets than ever before. Whilst low sophistication ‘Nigerian Prince’ type phishing emails are still doing the rounds they are largely being replaced by much more convincing and devious legitimate looking emails.

Source: [The Economic Times]

Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise

According to a report, more than 500 industrial operational technology (OT) sites worldwide suffered physical consequences as the result of a cyber attack last year, a near 20% rise from the previous year. The report found that some of the attacks cost the organisation up to $100 million in damages.

Attacks on utilities, water, energy, and other critical national infrastructure (CNI) have seen a sharp rise over the last year, against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and actions by nation state aggressors such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, as well as hacktivist groups and other malicious actors.

Threats to IT may be better known than threats to OT, but the latter can result in very serious real world consequences, ultimately leading to potential mass loss of life events.

Source: [Dark Reading]

73% Brace for Cyber Security Impact on Business in Next Two Years

A survey has found that 73% of organisations are expecting a business disruption relating to a cyber incident in the next 12 to 24 months. Part of this was based on previous experiences, with 54% experiencing a cyber incident in the last 12 months, and 52% of those impacted reporting costs of at least $300,000. 87% reported issues with talent, and 46% reported having more than 10 unfilled roles related to cyber security.

Source: [Help Net Security]

To Stay Ahead of Ransomware Businesses Need to Adopt An Offensive Security Mindset

2023 was the most lucrative year yet for ransomware attacks and it was also the year that saw the biggest shift in ransomware tactics, with the majority of ransomware actors now implementing data exfiltration and extortion, in addition to encryption. As it is getting harder for organisations to defend against these attacks and to stay ahead of ransomware, organisations need to develop an offensive security mindset, working out how an attacker might gain access to their systems. This includes keeping up with the latest tactics, communicating this throughout the organisation and running threat-led attack simulations.

Source: [IBTimes]

Cyber Security Imperative for Protecting Executives

The stakes are high in cyber security, and particularly for executives whose positions amplify the potential fall out and damage from cyber incidents. The variety of sensitive information that they have access to, and their authority in the organisation, makes them a desirable target for business email compromise.

Organisations need to implement a robust security culture, led by executives, to foster an environment where cyber threats are understood and mitigated. As part of this, training needs to be given to the whole organisation, including executives.

Executives may have historically excluded themselves from security controls, yet ironically it is this exclusion and their position in the organisation that makes them such a lucrative target.

Source: [Forbes]

The Increasing Role of Cyber Security Experts in Complex Legal Disputes

Expert witnesses have been known to play significant roles in matters where their valuable insight is required. In today’s world, with the number of high-stake crimes now involving technology, cyber security professionals have become some of the most sought-after experts.

Disputes involving highly complex cyber crimes typically require more technical experience than is on hand, and the contributions of a cyber expert are significant in uncovering critical evidence and shaping the legal strategy, as well as explaining cyber security in the courtroom.

Source: [JDSupra]

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Artificial Intelligence

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Insurance

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Identity and Access Management

Linux and Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Backup and Recovery

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

Nation State Actors

China

Russia

Iran

North Korea

Tools and Controls

Other News

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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

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

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 28th July 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 28 July 2023:

-Half of UK businesses Struggle to Fill Cyber Security Skills Gap as Companies Encounter Months-long Delays in Filling Critical Security Positions

-Deloitte Joins fellow Big Four MOVEit victims PWC, EY as MOVEit Victims Exceeds 500

-Why Cyber Security Should Be Part of Your ESG Strategy

-Lawyers Take Frontline Role in Business Response to Cyber Attacks

-Organisations Face Record $4.5M Per Data Breach Incident

-Cryptojacking Soars as Cyber Attacks Diversify

-Ransomware Attacks Skyrocket in 2023

-Blocking Access to ChatGPT is a Short-Term Solution to Mitigate AI Risk

-Protect Your Data Like Your Reputation Depends on It (Because it Does)

-Why CISOs Should Get Involved with Cyber Insurance Negotiation

-Companies Must Have Corporate Cyber Security Experts, SEC Says

-Over 400,000 Corporate Credentials Stolen by Info-stealing Malware

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

  • Half of UK Businesses Struggle to Fill Cyber Security Skills Gap

Half of UK businesses have a cyber security skills gap that they are struggling to fill amid a challenging labour market, according to data published by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which found that there were more than 160,000 cyber security job postings in the last year – a 30% increase on the previous period. In all, the UK requires an additional 11,200 people with suitable cyber skills to meet the demands of the market, the report estimates.

In a separate report, it was found that a lack of executive understanding and an ever-widening talent gap is placing an unsustainable burden on security teams to prevent business-ending breaches. When asked how long it takes to fill a cyber security role, 82% of organisations report it takes three months or longer, with 34% reporting it takes seven months or more. These challenges have led one-third (33%) of organisations to believe they will never have a fully-staffed security team with the proper skills.

With such a gap, some organisations have turned to outsourcing cyber security roles, such as chief information security officers (CISOs), leading to a rise in virtual CISOs (vCISO). With outsourcing, organisations can ensure that they are easily able to pick up and use cyber security experts, greatly reducing the delay were they to hire. Black Arrow supports clients as their vCISO with specialist experience in cyber security risk management in a business context.

https://www.uktech.news/cybersecurity/uk-cybersecurity-skills-gap-20230725

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/26/security-teams-executive-burden/

  • Deloitte Joins Fellow Big Four MOVEit victims PWC, EY as Victims Exceed 500

The global auditing and accounting firm Deloitte appeared alongside a further 55 MOVEit victims that were recently named by the Cl0p ransomware gang, making them the third Big Four accounting firm to be affected and amongst over 500 organisations in total with that number expected to continue to increase.

Research by Kroll has also uncovered a new exfiltration method used by Cl0p in their the MOVEit attacks, highlighting constant efforts by the ransomware gang. Worryingly, it has been reported that Cl0p have made between $75-100 million from ransom payments and it is expected this, along with the victim count, will rise.

https://cybernews.com/security/deloitte-big-four-moveit-pwc-ey-clop/

https://www.kroll.com/en/insights/publications/cyber/moveit-vulnerability-investigations-uncover-additional-exfiltration-method

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/clop-could-make-100m-moveit/

  • Why Cyber Security Should Be Part of Your ESG Strategy

Organisations need to consider cyber security risks in their overall environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy amid growing cyber threats and regulatory scrutiny. The ESG programme is, in many ways, a form of risk management to mitigate the risks to businesses, societies and the environment, all of which can be impacted by cyber security. The investment community has been singling out cyber security as one of the major risks that ESG programmes will need to address due to the potential financial losses, reputational damage and business continuity risks posed by a growing number of cyber attacks and data breaches.

Various ESG reporting frameworks have emerged in recent years to provide organisations with guidelines on how they can operate ethically and sustainably, along with metrics that they can use to measure their progress. There are also specific IT security standards and frameworks, including ISO 27001 and government guidelines. Some regulators have gone as far as mandating the adoption of baseline security standards by critical infrastructure operators and firms in industries like financial services, but that does not mean organisations outside of regulated sectors are less pressured to shore up their cyber security posture.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366545432/Why-cyber-security-should-be-part-of-your-ESG-strategy

  • Lawyers Take Frontline Role in Business Response to Cyber Attacks

Cyber security risk has shot to the top of general counsels’ agendas as the sophistication and frequency of attacks has grown. According to security company Sophos’s State of Ransomware 2023 report, 44% of UK businesses surveyed said they had been hit with ransomware in the past year. Of those affected, 33% said their data was encrypted and stolen and a further 6% said that their data was not encrypted but they experienced extortion.

In-house lawyers have a key role around the boardroom table when dealing with a breach including war-gaming and discussing cases in which a company will pay a ransom. The advent of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation in Europe, and equivalents elsewhere, demands that businesses hit by a data breach notify a regulator, and the individuals whose data was stolen, or both, depending on certain factors. This has led to far greater exposure of cyber incidents which companies previously could have tried to deal with privately.

https://www.ft.com/content/2af44ae8-78fc-4393-88c3-0d784a850331

  • Organisations Face Record $4.5M Per Data Breach Incident

In a recent report conducted by IBM, the average cost per data breach for US business in 2023 jumped to $4.45 million, a 15% increase over three years. In the UK, the average cost was found to be £3.4 million, rising to £5.3 million for financial services. It is likely that the cost per breach will maintain a continual rise, with organisations struggling to crack down on cyber crime, something threat groups like Cl0p are taking advantage of.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/orgs-record-4.5m-data-breach-incident

https://uk.newsroom.ibm.com/24-07-2023-IBM-Security-Report-Cost-of-a-Data-Breach-for-UK-Businesses-Averages-3-4m

  • Cryptojacking Soars as Cyber Attacks Diversify

According to a recent report, a variety of attacks have increased globally, including cryptojacking (399%), IoT malware (37%) and encrypted threats (22%). This reflects the increase in actors who are changing their methods of attacks. The report found that we can expect more state-sponsored activity targeting a broader set of victims in 2023, including SMBs, government entities and enterprises.

Cryptojacking, sometimes referred to as malicious cryptomining, is where an attacker will use a victim’s device to mine cryptocurrency, giving the attacker free money at the expense of your device, network health and electricity.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/27/cryptojacking-attacks-rise/

  • Ransomware Attacks Skyrocket in 2023

Ransomware attacks surged by 74% in Q2 2023 compared to the first three months of the year, a new report has found. The significant increase in ransomware over April, May and June 2023 suggests that attackers are regrouping. In July 2023, the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis found that in the first half of 2023, ransomware attackers extorted $176m more than the same period in 2022, reversing a brief downward trend in 2022.

The report also observed an uptick in “pure extortion attacks,” with cyber criminals increasingly relying on the threat of data leaks rather than encrypting data to extort victims. Such schemes may not trigger any ransomware detection capability but could potentially be picked up by a robust Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-skyrocket-q2/

  • Blocking Access to ChatGPT is a Short-Term Solution to Mitigate AI Risk

Despite the mass adoption of generative AI, most companies don’t know how to assess its security, exposing them to risks and disadvantages if they don’t change their approach. A report found that for every 10,000 enterprise users, an enterprise organisation is experiencing approximately 183 incidents of sensitive data being posted to ChatGPT per month. Worryingly, despite the security issues, only 45% have an enterprise-wide strategy to ensure a secure, aligned deployment of AI across the entire organisation.

Blocking access to AI related content and AI applications is a short term solution to mitigate risk, but comes at the expense of the potential benefits that AI apps offer to supplement corporate innovation and employee productivity. The data shows that in financial services and healthcare nearly 1 in 5 organisations have implemented a blanket ban on employee use of ChatGPT, while in the technology sector, only 1 in 20 organisations have done likewise.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/28/chatgpt-exposure/

https://www.techradar.com/pro/lots-of-sensitive-data-is-still-being-posted-to-chatgpt

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/25/generative-ai-strategy/

  • Protect Your Data Like Your Reputation Depends on It (Because it Does)

Data breaches can be incredibly costly. Be it lawsuits, regulatory fines, or a fall in stock price, the financial consequences of a breach can bring even the largest organisation to its knees. However, in the face of economic damage, it’s too easy to overlook the vast reputational impacts that often do more harm to a business. After all, it’s relatively easy to recoup monetary losses, less so to regain customer trust.

It’s important to remember that reputational damage isn’t limited to consumer perceptions. Stakeholder, shareholder, and potential buyer perception is also something that needs to be considered. By having effective defence in depth controls including robust data loss prevention (DLP) solutions in place, organisations can reduce the risk of a breach from happening.

https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/protect-your-data-like-your-reputation-depends-on-it-because-it-does/

  • Why CISOs Should Get Involved with Cyber Insurance Negotiation

Generally negotiating cyber insurance policies falls to the general counsel, chief financial officer, or chief operations officer. Having the chief information security officer (CISO) at the table when negotiating with insurance brokers or carriers is a best practice for ensuring the insurers understand not only which security controls are in place, but why the controls are configured the way they are and the organisation's strategy. That said, often best practices are ignored for reasons of expediency and lack of acceptance by other C-suite executives.

Sometimes being the CISO can be a no-win position. According to a recent survey more than half of all CISOs report to a technical corporate officer rather than the business side of the organisation. This lack of recognition by the board can diminish the CISO's ability to deliver business-imperative insights and recommendations, leaving operations to have a more commanding influence on the board than cyber security. Too often the CISO gets the responsibility to protect the company without the authority and budget to accomplish their task.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/why-cisos-should-get-involved-with-cyber-insurance-negotiation

  • Companies Must Have Corporate Cyber Security Experts, SEC Says

A recent report has found that only five Fortune 100 companies currently list a security professional in the executive leadership pages of their websites. This is largely unchanged from five of the Fortune 100 in 2018. One likely reason why a great many companies still don’t include their security leaders within their highest echelons is that these employees do not report directly to the company’s CEO, board of directors, or chief risk officer.

The chief security officer (CSO) or chief information security officer (CISO) position traditionally has reported to an executive in a technical role, such as the chief technology officer (CTO) or chief information officer (CIO). But workforce experts say placing the CISO/CSO on unequal footing with the organisation’s top leaders makes it more likely that cyber security and risk concerns will take a backseat to initiatives designed to increase productivity and generally grow the business.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently implemented new regulations necessitating publicly traded companies to report cyber attacks within four business days, once they're deemed material incidents. While the SEC is not presently advocating for the need to validate a board cyber security expert's credentials, it continues to insist that cyber security expertise within management be duly reported to them. The increased disclosure should help companies compare practices and may spur improvements in cyber defences, but meeting the new disclosure standards could be a bigger challenge for smaller companies with limited resources.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/companies-must-have-corporate-cybersecurity-experts-sec-says

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sec-now-requires-companies-to-disclose-cyberattacks-in-4-days/

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/07/few-fortune-100-firms-list-security-pros-in-their-executive-ranks/

  • Over 400,000 Corporate Credentials Stolen by Info-stealing Malware

Information stealers are malware that steal data stored in applications such as web browsers, email clients, instant messengers, cryptocurrency wallets, file transfer protocol (FTP) clients, and gaming services. The stolen information is packaged into archives called 'logs,' which are then uploaded back to the threat actor for use in attacks or sold on cyber crime marketplaces. Worryingly, employees use personal devices for work or access personal stuff from work computers, and this may result in many info-stealer infections stealing business credentials and authentication cookies. A report has found there are over 400,000 corporate credentials stolen, from applications such as Salesforce, Google Cloud and AWS. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the number containing OpenAI credentials; this is alarming as where AI is used without governance, the credentials may leak things such as internal business strategies and source code.

With such an array of valuable information for an attacker, it is no wonder incidents involving info stealers doubled in Q1 2023. Organisations can best protect themselves by utilising password managers, enforcing multi-factor authentication and having strict usage controls. Additionally, user awareness training can help avoid common infection channels such as malicious websites and adverts.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-400-000-corporate-credentials-stolen-by-info-stealing-malware/

https://www.scmagazine.com/news/infostealer-incidents-more-than-doubled-in-q1-2023

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Artificial Intelligence

Malware

Mobile

Botnets

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

BYOD

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Cloud/SaaS

Shadow IT

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Travel

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Russia

China

North Korea

Misc/Other/Unknown

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 March 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Briefing 03 March 2023:

-It’s Time to Evaluate Your Security Education Plan Amongst the Rise in Social Engineering Attacks

-Mobile Users are More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks

-Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber Crime

-Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes

-Attackers are Developing and Deploying Exploits Faster Than Ever

-Old Vulnerabilities are Haunting Organisations and Aiding Attackers

-Scams Drive Nearly $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022

-Economic Pressure are Increasing Cyber Security Risks and a Recession Would Only Further This

-Cyber Security in This Era of Polycrisis

-Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions

-Ransomware Attacks Ravaged Big Names in February

-Firms Who Pay Ransom Subsidise New Attacks

-How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber Crime

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

  • It’s Time to Evaluate Your Security Education Plan with the Rise in Social Engineering Attacks

Security provider Purplesec found 98% of attacks in 2022 involved an element of social engineering. Social engineering attacks can take many forms including phishing, smishing, vishing and quishing and it’s vital to educate your organisation on how to best prepare for these. Education plans should focusing on educating all levels of users, including those at the top. These plans should also be tested to allow organisations to assess where they are at and identify where they can improve.

https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/as-social-engineering-attacks-skyrocket-evaluate-your-security-education-plan

  • Mobile Users are More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks

A report conducted by mobile security provider Lookout focused on the impact of mobile phishing. Some of the key findings from the report included that more than 50% of personal devices were exposed to a mobile phishing attack every quarter, the percentage of users falling for multiple mobile phishing links increasing and an increased targeting of highly regulated industries such as insurance, banking and financial services. It is likely that this has resulted from the increase in relaxed bring your own device (BYOD) policies.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/mobile-users-more-susceptible-to-phishing-attacks-than-two-years-ago/

  • Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber Crime

Phishing attacks are at an all-time high and the usage of Phishing as a Service (PaaS) opens this attack technique to virtually anyone. The sale of “phishing kits” and usage of artificial intelligence has further increased the availability of this attack technique. In response, organisations should look to improve their email security, cloud security and education programs for employees.

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/23/c/phishing-as-a-service-phaas.html

  • Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes

The average time it takes for a threat actor to move laterally from a compromised host within an organisation dropped 14% between 2012 and 2022 down to 84 minutes, according to a report by security provider Crowdstrike. With the reduction in time it takes a threat actor to move across systems, organisations have even less time to enact their incident response plans and contain breaches effectively, putting further pressure on the incident response team. By responding quickly, organisations can minimise the cost and damage of a breach. The report from Crowdstrike found that organisations were facing increasing difficulty in detecting suspicious activity as attackers are choosing to use valid organisation credentials rather than malware, to gain access to an organisation’s systems.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/attacker-breakout-time-drops-just/

  • Attackers are Developing and Deploying Exploits Faster Than Ever

A report from security provider Rapid7 found that over 56% of vulnerabilities were exploited within seven days of public disclosure. Worryingly, the median time for exploitation in 2022 was just one day. The finding from the report highlights the need for organisations to not only conduct threat intelligence to be aware of vulnerabilities but to also look to employ patches where possible in a timely manner.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/attackers-developing-deploying-exploits/

  • Old Vulnerabilities are Haunting Organisations and Aiding Attackers

Known vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities for which patches have already been made available, are one of the primary attack vectors for threat actors. Vulnerability management vendor Tenable found that the top exploited vulnerabilities were originally disclosed as far back as 2017 and organisations that had not applied these patches were at increased risks of attack.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/known-exploitable-vulnerabilities/

  • Scams Drive Nearly $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022

Americans lost $8.8 billion to fraud last year, with imposter scams responsible for $2.8 billion of that amount, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Losses to business imposters were particularly damaging, climbing to $660 million from the previous year. Interestingly, the FTC found that younger people reported losing money to fraud the most often.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/investment-scams-drive-9bn-in/

  • Economic Pressure are Increasing Cyber Security Risks and a Recession Would Only Further This

The World Economic Forum’s recent report found that 93% of cyber security leaders and 86% of business leaders think it is moderately or very likely that global geopolitical instability will lead to a catastrophic cyber event in the next two years. Reinforcing this, a report from (ISC)² found that 80% of business executives believe a weakening economy will increase cyber threats and a recession will only amplify this.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3689008/economic-pressures-are-increasing-cybersecurity-risks-a-recession-would-amp-them-up-more.html

  • Cyber Security in this Era of Polycrisis

A year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the geopolitical context is increasingly tense and volatile. The world faces several major crises in what has been coined a 'polycrisis,' a cluster of global shocks with compounding effects. This, along with increasing geopolitical tensions causes a rise in risk from cyber attacks. In fact, the European Union Agency for Cyber Security (ENISA) recently issued an alert regarding actors conducting malicious cyber activities against businesses and governments in the European Union and findings from Google show a 300% increase in state-sponsored cyber attacks targeting users in NATO countries.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/cybersecurity-in-an-era-of-polycrisis/

  • Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions

Research provider TRM labs found that some major Russian-linked ransomware crime gangs have rebranded their activities in 2022 to avoid sanctions. To strengthen their anonymity, two major ransomware crime gangs LockBit and Conti restructured their activities. Conti is reported to have restructured into three smaller groups named Black Besta, BlackByte, Karakurt. LockBit on the other hand launched LockBit 3.0, which is focused on monetary gain. Additionally, the report found that Russian-speaking darknet markets had amassed over $130 million in sales.

https://cryptopotato.com/russian-ransomware-projects-rebranded-to-avoid-western-sanctions-report/

  • Ransomware Attacks Ravaged Big Names in February

Despite the apparent slight drop in ransomware activity last month, several high profile targets of various industries were hit; this ranges from the likes of the US Marshal Service, retailer WH Smith, satellite provider Dish and many more. These attacks reinforce the concept that any organisation can be a victim, regardless of industry.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/365532056/Ransomware-attacks-ravaged-big-names-in-February

  • Firms Who Pay Ransoms Subsidise New Attacks

A report from security provider Trend Micro found that whilst only a relatively small number of ransomware victims pay their extorters, those that do pay are effectively funding 6-10 new attacks. The report also found that attackers are aware of which industries and countries pay ransoms more often, so organisations belonging to those industries and countries may find themselves an even more attractive target.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/firms-pay-ransom-subsidise-10/

  • How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber Crime

A report from threat intelligence provider Recorded Future has highlighted the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on cyber. Recorded Future explain how a number of threat actor groups fled during the war and in addition to differing political views between groups, there has been a disruption to the cyber environment. In fact, Recorded Future found that Russian-language dark web marketplaces have taken a major hit and the prediction is that the epicentre of cyber crime may shift to English-speaking dark web forums, shops and marketplaces.

https://www.darkreading.com/analytics/ukraine-war-fault-line-cybercrime-forever

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

AML/CFT/Sanctions

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Cloud/SaaS

Containers

Hybrid/Remote Working

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Artificial Intelligence

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Nation State Actors

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

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Black Arrow 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.

https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/infosec-news/79-of-the-companies-only-invest-in-cybersecurity-after-hacking-incidents/

  • 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.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/08/30/nearly-half-of-breaches-during-first-half-of-2022-involved-stolen-credentials/

  • 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.

https://therecord.media/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 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.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/cybercrime-underground-more-dangerous-than-organizations-realize-threat-intelligence-firm-warns/

  • 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.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/08/newfangled-edr-malware-detection-generates-billions-but-is-easy-to-bypass/

Threats

Ransomware

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Malware

Mobile

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

Cloud/SaaS

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Privacy

Travel

Parental Controls and Child Safety

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

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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

Read More