Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 September 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 Stories of the Last Week 

Ransomware Attacks Soar 288% in First Half of 2021

The number of ransomware attacks surged by 288% between the first and second quarters of 2021 as double extortion attempts grew, according to the latest data.

Nearly a quarter (22%) of data leaks in the second quarter came from the Conti ransomware group, who typically gain initial network access to victim organisations via phishing emails.

It’s an unfortunate fact that no organisation in any sector is safe from ransomware today.

Targets range from IT companies and suppliers to financial institutions and critical national infrastructure providers, with ransomware-as-a-service increasingly being sold by ransomware gangs in a subscription model. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-soar-half-2021/  

Ransomware Costs Expected To Reach $265 Billion By 2031

Think ransomware is expensive now? It’s not predicted to get any cheaper over the next decade. Ransoms could cost victims a collective total of $265 billion by 2031. The estimate is based on the prediction that the price tag will increase 30% every year over the next 10 years. https://securityintelligence.com/news/ransomware-costs-expected-265-billion-2031/ 

Brute Force Email Attacks and Account Takeover Attempts Rise 671%, Reaching Unprecedented Levels, Causing Financial And Reputational Damage

A new Email Threat Report for Q3 2021 examines the escalating adverse impact of socially-engineered and never-seen-before email attacks, and other advanced email threats—both financial and reputational—to organisations worldwide. The report surveyed advanced email attacks across eight major industry sectors, including retail and consumer goods, manufacturing, technology, energy and infrastructure services, medical, media and television, finance, and hospitality.

The report also finds 61% of organisations experienced a vendor email compromise/supply chain attack in Q2 2021.

Key report findings include:

• 32.5% of all companies were targeted by brute force attacks in early June 2021

• 137 account takeovers occurred per 100,000 mailboxes for members of the C-suite

• 61% of organisations experienced a vendor email compromise attack this quarter

• 22% more business email compromise attacks since Q4 2020

• 60% chance of a successful account takeover each week for organisations with 50,000+ employees

• 73% of all advanced threats were credential phishing attacks

• 80% probability of attack every week for retail and consumer goods, technology, and media and television companies

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brute-force-email-attacks-account-120100299.html  

Investigation Into Hacked "Map" Of UK Gun Owners

Gun-selling site Guntrader announced a data breach affecting more than 100,000 customers in July. This week, reports emerged that an animal rights activist blog had published the information. The group had formatted the data so it could be easily imported into mapping software to show individual homes. The National Crime Agency, which has been investigating the data breach and its fallout, said it "is aware that information has been published online as a result of a recent data breach which impacted Guntrader". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58413847 

Eight US Financial Services Firms Given Six-Figure Fines Over BEC Data Breaches

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sanctioned multiple financial services firms for cyber security failures that led to the compromise of corporate email accounts and the personal data of thousands of individuals. The case was brought after the unauthorised takeover of cloud-based email accounts at Seattle-based KMS Financial Services, and subsidiaries of California-headquartered Cetera Financial Group and Iowa-based Cambridge Investment Group. https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/eight-us-financial-services-firms-given-six-figure-fines-over-bec-data-breaches

Ransomware Has Been A ‘Game Changer’ For Cyber Insurance

Ransomware attacks accounted for nearly one quarter of all cyber incidents globally last year, according to a software company. The researchers “think of December 2019 as the tipping point for when we started to see ransomware take hold”. The U.S. was hit by a barrage of ransomware attacks in 2019 that impacted at least 966 government agencies, educational establishments, and healthcare providers at a potential cost in excess of $7.5 billion. All of this has a massive knock-on affect for the Insurance firms. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/08/30/628672.htm 

Getting Ahead Of A Major Blind Spot For CISOs: Third-Party Risk

For many CISOs and security leaders, it was not long ago that their remit focused on the networks and digital ecosystems for their organisation alone. In today’s digital world, those days are a thing of the past with a growing number of businesses relying on third-party vendors to scale, save time and outsource expertise to stay ahead. With this change, new security risks affiliated with third-party vendors are more prevalent than ever before. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/09/01/getting-ahead-of-a-major-blind-spot-for-cisos-third-party-risk/ 

WhatsApp Hit With $267 Million GDPR Fine For Bungling User Privacy Disclosure

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Facebook-owned messenger WhatsApp for $225 million for failing to provide users enough information about the data it shared with other Facebook companies.

The fine is the largest penalty that the Irish regulator has waged since the European Union data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, went into effect in 2018. https://www.cyberscoop.com/whatsapp-hit-with-267-million-gdpr-fine-for-bungling-user-privacy-disclosure/  

Microsoft Warns About Open Redirect Phishing Campaign

Microsoft’s Security Intelligence team is warning over phishing campaigns using open redirector links, links crafted to subvert normal inspection efforts. Smart users know to hover over links to see where they're going to lead, but these links are prepared for that type of user and display a safe destination designed to lure targets into a false sense of security. Click the link and you'll be redirected to a domain that appears legit (such as a Microsoft 365 login page, for example) and sets the stage for you to voluntarily hand over credentials to bad actors without even realising it until it's too late. https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-warns-about-open-redirect-phishing-campaign

Previous Employees With Access To Corporate Data Remain A Threat To Businesses

Offboarding employees securely is a key problem for business leaders, with 40% concerned that employees who leave a company retain knowledge of passwords that grant access to corporate data. This is according to a report, which found few organisations are implementing access management solutions that work with all applications, meaning most lack the ability to revoke access to all corporate data as soon as an employee leaves. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/09/02/previous-employees-access-data/

BEC Scammers Seek Native English Speakers On Underground

Looking for work? Speak fluent English? Capable of convincingly portraying a professional – as in, somebody a highly ranked corporate leader would talk to? If you lack scruples and disregard those pesky things called “laws,” it could be your lucky day: Cyber Crooks are putting up help-wanted ads, looking for native English speakers to carry out the social-engineering elements of business email compromise (BEC) attacks. https://threatpost.com/bec-scammers-native-english-speakers/169092/

Half Of Businesses Can't Spot These Signs Of Insider Cyber Security Threats

Most businesses are struggling to identify and detect early indicators that could suggest an insider is plotting to steal data or carry out other cyber attacks. Research suggests that over half of companies find it impossible or very difficult to prevent insider attacks. These businesses are missing indicators that something might be wrong. Those include unusual amounts of files being opened, attempts to use USB devices, staff purposefully circumventing security controls, masking their online activities, or moving and saving files to unusual locations. All these and more might suggest that a user is planning malicious activity, including the theft of company data. https://www.zdnet.com/article/half-of-businesses-cant-spot-these-signs-of-insider-cybersecurity-threats/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Conti Ransomware Now Hacking Exchange Servers With ProxyShell Exploits

• First Ransomware to Use Intermittent Encryption Revealed

• Ransomware: It's Only A Matter Of Time Before A Smart City Falls Victim, And We Need To Take Action Now

• LockFile Ransomware Bypasses Protection Using Intermittent File Encryption

• FBI, CISA: Ransomware Attack Risk Increases On Holidays, Weekends

• How Ransomware Runs The Underground Economy

• LockBit Jumps Its Own Countdown, Publishes Bangkok Air Files

Phishing

• This Phishing Attack Is Using A Sneaky Trick To Steal Your Passwords, Warns Microsoft

• Report Analysis On Phishing Campaign Utilizing Vzwpix

Malware

• Cyber Attackers Are Now Quietly Selling Off Their Victim's Internet Bandwidth

• Cyber Criminal Sells Tool To Hide Malware In AMD, NVIDIA GPUS

• Cyber Criminals Abusing Internet-Sharing Services To Monetise Malware Campaigns

Mobile

• Snowden Slams Apple CSAM: Warns iPad, iPhone, Mac Users Worldwide

• Kaspersky Lab Has Reported About Android Viruses Designed To Steal Money Automatically

• Dangerous Android Malware Is Spreading — Beware Of Text Message Scam

Vulnerabilities

• ProxyToken: Another Nail-Biter From Microsoft Exchange

• New BrakTooth Flaws Leave Millions Of Bluetooth-Enabled Devices Vulnerable

• Atlassian Confluence Flaw Under Active Attack

• Meltdown-Like Vulnerability Disclosed For AMD Zen+ And Zen 2 Processors

• NPM Package With 3 Million Weekly Downloads Had A Severe Vulnerability

• Cisco Patches Critical Authentication Bug With Public Exploit

• QNAP Working On Patches For OpenSSL Flaws Affecting Its NAS Devices

• This Top TP-Link Router Ships With Some Serious Security Flaws

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• The Consumerisation Of The Cyber Crime-As-A-Service Market

• Chinese Authorities Arrest Hackers Behind Mozi IOT Botnet Attacks

Dark Web

• Data From Fujitsu Is Being Sold On The Dark Web

DoS/DDoS

• Cloudflare Says It Stopped The Largest DDoS Attack Ever Reported

• UK VoIP Telco Receives 'Colossal Ransom Demand', Reveals REvil Cyber Crooks Suspected Of 'Organised' DDoS Attacks On UK VoIP Companies

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Nine Cyber Attacks On UK's Transport Sector Missed By Mandatory Reporting Laws

Cloud

• “Worst Cloud Vulnerability You Can Imagine” Discovered In Microsoft Azure

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Other News

• Why Zero-Trust Models Should Replace Legacy VPNs

• T-Mobile CEO Calls Latest Data Breach ‘Humbling,’ Claims It’s Committed To Security

• China Restricts Kids’ Online Gaming To Three Hours A Week

• Unpatched Exchange Servers An Overlooked Risk

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

Look out for our 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 23 July 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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

40% Fell Victim To A Phishing Attack In The Past Month

The global shift to remote work has exacerbated the onslaught, sophistication, and impact of phishing attacks, according to Ivanti. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents said their organisations have fallen victim to a phishing attack in the last year, with 40% confirming they have experienced one in the last month.

Eighty percent of respondents said they have witnessed an increase in volume of phishing attempts and 85% said those attempts are getting more sophisticated. In fact, 73% of respondents said that their IT staff had been targeted by phishing attempts, and 47% of those attempts were successful.

Smishing and vishing scams are the latest variants to gain traction and target mobile users. According to recent research by Aberdeen, attackers have a higher success rate on mobile endpoints than on servers – a pattern that is trending dramatically worse. Meanwhile, the annualized risk of a data breach resulting from mobile phishing attacks has a median value of about $1.7M, and a long tail of value of about $90M.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/07/23/risk-phishing-attacks/

Traditional Ransomware Defences Are Failing Businesses

Traditional cyber security strategies are failing to protect organisations from ransomware attacks, new research suggests. Based on a poll of 200 IT decision-makers whose businesses recently suffered ransomware attacks, 54 percent of all victims had their employees go through anti-phishing training. Furthermore, almost half (49 percent) had perimeter defences set up at the time of the attack. However, attack methods have grown too sophisticated for traditional security measures to keep up. Many attacks (24 percent) still start with a successful phishing attempt, while almost a third (31 percent) see attacker enter the network through public cloud.

https://www.itproportal.com/news/traditional-ransomware-defenses-are-failing-businesses/

Cyber Security Risk: The Number Of Employees Going Around IT Security May Surprise You

Last month, a report was published highlighting challenges associated with enabling IT freedoms while ensuring tight security procedures. The findings detail a complex balancing act between IT teams and network users. Calibrating this equilibrium is particularly challenging in the age of remote work as employees log on and virtually collaborate via a host of digital solutions. Overall, the survey found that virtually all employees (93%) "are working around IT restrictions," and a mere 7% said they were "satisfied with their corporate IT restrictions." Interestingly, this information about IT workarounds does not match security leaders' and IT expectations.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/cybersecurity-risk-the-number-of-employees-going-around-it-security-may-surprise-you/

740 ransomware victims named on data leak sites in Q2 2021: report

More than 700 organizations were attacked with ransomware and had their data posted to data leak sites in Q2 of 2021, according to a new research report from cyber security firm Digital Shadows.

Out of the almost 2,600 victims listed on ransomware data leak sites, 740 of them were named in Q2 2021, representing a 47% increase compared to Q1.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/740-ransomware-victims-named-on-data-leak-sites-in-q2-2021-report/

A More Dynamic Approach Is Needed To Tackle Today’s Evolving Cyber Security Threats

For decades, the cyber security industry has followed a defense-in-depth strategy, which allowed organisations to designate the battlefield against bad actors at their edge firewall. Nowadays, cyber criminals have become as creative as ever. New cyber threats are emerging every day, and with the constantly increasing rate of Ransomware, Phishing, etc. We’re forced to take a more dynamic approach when tackling these cyber threats on a day to day basis. Recent statistics demonstrate the scale of the cyber security issues faced by companies. In 2020, malware attacks increased by 358% and ransomware increased by 435%, and the average cost of recovering from a ransomware attack has doubled in the last 12 months, reaching almost $2 million in 2021.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/07/13/dynamic-approach-cybersecurity-threats/

Law Firm For Ford, Boeing, Exxon, Marriott, Walgreens, And More Hacked In Ransomware Attack

Campbell Conroy & O'Neil, P.C., a law firm handling hundreds of cases for the world's leading companies, has announced a large data breach that resulted from a ransomware attack in February.  In a statement, the law firm said it noticed unusual activity on its network on February 27. The firm later realized it was being hit with a ransomware attack and contacted the FBI as well as cyber security companies for help.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/law-firm-for-ford-boeing-exxon-marriott-walgreens-and-more-hacked-in-ransomware-attack/

UK And Allies Accuse China Of 'Reckless' Cyber Extortion And Microsoft Hack

The Government was hinting yet again at covertly using Britain’s own offensive cyber capabilities – hitting back at cyber attacks with cyber attacks of our own. This approach goes all the way back to 2013, when then defence secretary told the Conservative Party conference that the UK would “build a dedicated capability to counter-attack in cyber space and, if necessary, to strike in cyber space”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/07/19/uk-allies-accuse-china-reckless-cyber-extortion-microsoft-hack/

Even after Emotet takedown, Office docs deliver 43% of all malware downloads now

Malware delivered over the cloud increased by 68% in Q2, according to data from cyber security firm Netskope.

The company released the fifth edition of its Cloud and Threat Report that covers the cloud data risks, threats and trends they see throughout the quarter.

The report noted that cloud storage apps account for more than 66% of cloud malware delivery.

"In Q2 2021, 43% of all malware downloads were malicious Office docs, compared to just 20% at the beginning of 2020. This increase comes even after the Emotet takedown, indicating that other groups observed the success of the Emotet crew and have adopted similar techniques," the report said.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/even-after-emotet-takedown-office-docs-deliver-43-of-all-malware-downloads-now/

Gun Owners' Fears After Firearms Dealer Data Breach

Thousands of names and addresses belonging to UK customers of a leading website for buying and selling shotguns and rifles have been published to the dark web following a "security breach".

Guntrader.uk told the BBC it learned of the breach on Monday and had notified the Information Commissioner's Office.

Police, including the National Crime Agency, are investigating.

One affected gun owner said he was afraid the breach could lead to his family being targeted by criminals.

Gun ownership is tightly controlled in the UK, making guns difficult to acquire, and potentially valuable on the black market.

The individual, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC the breach "seriously compromises my security arrangements for my firearms and puts me in a situation where me and my family could be targeted and in danger".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57932823  

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Threats

Ransomware

• SpearTip Finds New Diavol Ransomware Does Steal Data

• The Ransomware Point Of Attack Is Sharper

• Ransomware Incident At Major Cloud Provider Disrupts Real Estate, Title Industry

• In The Fight Against Ransomware, Microsoft Must Do More

• Tracking Malware And Ransomware Domains In 2021

BEC

Phishing

• Google Chrome Now Comes With Up To 50x Faster Phishing Detection

Malware

• Leaked NSO Group Data Hints At Widespread Pegasus Spyware Infections

• This New Malware Hides Itself Among Windows Defender Exclusions To Evade Detection

• MacBook Users Beware! Hackers Are Buying $49 Malware To Wreak Havoc On MacOS

• New MosaicLoader Malware Targets Software Pirates Via Online Ads

• CISA Warns Of Stealthy Malware Found On Hacked Pulse Secure Devices

• This Password-Stealing Windows Malware Is Distributed Via Ads In Search Results

• Pirate Gamers, Beware: This Malware Targets You

Mobile

• Joker Malware Returns To Target Millions More Android Devices

Vulnerabilities

• You'll Want To Shut Down The Windows Print Spooler Service (Yes, Again): Another Privilege Escalation Bug Found

• Google Patches Chrome Zero-Day, Eighth One In 2021

• Researcher Uncovers Yet Another Unpatched Windows Printer Spooler Vulnerability

• 16-Year-Old Security Bug Affects Millions Of HP, Samsung, Xerox Printers

• Fortinet Fixes Bug Letting Unauthenticated Hackers Run Code As Root

• Windows 10 Vulnerability Lets Anyone Get Administrator Privileges

• Researchers Discover Security Flaws In Telegram Encryption Protocol

• New Sequoia Bug Gives You Root Access On Most Linux Systems

• Microsoft Shares Workaround For Windows 10 SeriousSAM Vulnerability

• Apple Issues Urgent iPhone Updates; None for Pegasus Zero-Day

Data Breaches

• Aruba Waited Months To Notify Customers Regarding A Recent Data Breach

• Data Breach Claimants Lose Bid For Anonymity In Court

• Oil Giant Saudi Aramco Hit By 1TB Data Breach

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Botnet Operator Who Proxied Traffic For Other Cybercrime Groups Pleads Guilty

Supply Chain

• NPM Package Steals Passwords via Chrome’s Account-Recovery Tool

DoS/DDoS

• DDoS: Google Has A New Tool To Defend Against Attacks Launched By Botnets

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Industrial Networks Exposed Through Cloud-Based Operational Tech

Nation State Actors

• Iranian State Sponsored Hacking Attempts

• UK And Allies Hold Chinese State Responsible For Pervasive Pattern Of Hacking

• China Accused Of Cyber-Attack On Microsoft Exchange Servers

• Chinese Hacking Group APT31 Uses Mesh Of Home Routers To Disguise Attacks

• France Warns Of APT31 Cyber Spies Targeting French Organisations

• APT Hackers Distributed Android Trojan Via Syrian E-Government Portal

Cloud

• Why The Bank Of England Has Its Head In The Cloud Over Data Security

Privacy

• FT Editor Among 180 Journalists Identified By Clients Of Spyware Firm

• Revealed: leak uncovers global abuse of cyber surveillance weapon

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Other News

• Is Open-Source Software Secure?

• Application Security Tools Ineffective Against New And Growing Threats

• Pegasus: What Is The Israeli Spyware And How Can You Tell If It’s On Your Phone?

• UK.Gov's Huawei Watchdog Says Firm Made 'No Overall Improvement' On Firmware Security But Won't Say Why

• DHS Releases New Mandatory Cyber Security Rules For Pipelines After Colonial Ransomware Attack

• 1 in 5 companies fail PCI compliance assessments of their infrastructure

• Biden Puts a $10M Bounty on Foreign Hackers

• MITRE updates list of top 25 most dangerous software bugs

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

Look out for our 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.