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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
Ransomware incidents reported to UK financial regulator have doubled - Digital Journal
AI abuse and misinformation campaigns threaten financial institutions - Help Net Security
The Big Question: Are SMEs now at the forefront of cyber risks? - Emerging Risks Media Ltd
Threat Indicators Show 2024 Is Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023 - Security Week
Security teams are ‘overconfident’ about handling next-gen threats | CSO Online
Banks told to expand risk management to cover AI (finextra.com)
Corporations With Cyber Governance Create 4X More Value (darkreading.com)
Cyber Leaders Struggle With Heightened Job Expectations, Communicating With Board - WSJ
73% brace for cyber security impact on business in the next year or two - Help Net Security
Businesses overestimating their skills amid cyber security crisis, survey reveals (holyrood.com)
Why your data isn’t as safe as you think and what it could cost you - IT Security Guru
Unspoken Battle: Cyber Security Imperative For Protecting Executives (forbes.com)
Businesses must prioritise prevention to lock out online threats (yahoo.com)
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Lessons from the World's Costliest Corporate Cyber Attacks - Management Today
Three trends set to drive cyber attacks in 2024 (networkingplus.co.uk)
Why Cyber Security Is a Whole-of-Society Issue (darkreading.com)
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisationwide (darkreading.com)
How CISOs Can Make Cyber Security a Long-Term Priority for Boards (darkreading.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Cyber security incidences surge in the UK financial services sector - Digital Journal
Ransomware attacks rise by 46% in February 2024, finds NCC Group (securitybrief.co.nz)
RDP Abuse Present in 90% of Ransomware Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Trend Micro: LockBit ransomware gang's comeback is failing | TechTarget
Hosting firm's VMware ESXi servers hit by new SEXi ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Victims
Ransomware attacks ravaged municipal governments in March | TechTarget
NHS Scotland confirms ransomware attackers leaked patients' data - Help Net Security
Yacht retailer MarineMax discloses data breach after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Ransomware gang leaks UK city council’s confidential files • The Register
Omni Hotels confirms cyber attack behind ongoing IT outage (bleepingcomputer.com)
World’s second-largest lens-maker blinded by cyber incident • The Register
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
This new phishing attack targets iPhone and Android alike via RCS | TechRadar
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
$1.28 Million Lost From Crypto Phishing Attacks (coinpedia.org)
Naked photos sent in WhatsApp ‘phishing’ attacks on UK MPs and staff – POLITICO
Cyber security: Enabled by AI, phishing becomes quite simple - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Phishing Attacks Targeting Political Parties, Germany Warns (govinfosecurity.com)
A phish by any other name should still not be clicked – Computerworld
Google now blocks spoofed emails for better phishing protection (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Phishing Campaign Targets Oil & Gas with Evolved Data-Stealing Malware (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft Teams phishing attacks and how to prevent them | TechTarget
Artificial Intelligence
Banks told to expand risk management to cover AI (finextra.com)
AI abuse and misinformation campaigns threaten financial institutions - Help Net Security
22% of employees admit to breaching company rules with GenAI - Help Net Security
6 Prompts You Don't Want Employees Putting in Microsoft Copilot (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Copilot Blocked on US Congress Devices Over Security Concerns | Cryptopolitan
Cyber security: Enabled by AI, phishing becomes quite simple - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Microsoft Announces New Safety System to Filter Malicious AI Output | Extremetech
Microsoft GM on AI and elections: 'There will be fakes' • The Register
The ‘complicated relationship’ between AI and cyber security (siliconrepublic.com)
Chinese hackers turn to AI to meddle in elections | CyberScoop
Security and AI occupy SME thoughts | Microscope (computerweekly.com)
Malware
Escalating malware tactics drive global cyber crime epidemic - Help Net Security
Linux Version of DinodasRAT Spotted in Cyber Attacks Across Several Countries (thehackernews.com)
TheMoon Malware Rises Again with Malicious Botnet for Hire (darkreading.com)
Hackers Target macOS Users with Malicious Ads Spreading Stealer Malware (thehackernews.com)
Vultur Android Banking Trojan Returns with Upgraded Remote Control Capabilities (thehackernews.com)
Botnets: The uninvited guests that just won’t leave | CSO Online
Detecting Windows-based Malware Through Better Visibility (thehackernews.com)
Apple macOS users targeted with more cyber attacks via dodgy ads and websites | TechRadar
Europe subjected to Mispadu trojan attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
YouTube Video Game ‘Hacks’ Contain Malware Links - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
The Biggest Takeaways from Recent Malware Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Thousands of Australian Businesses Targeted With RAT (darkreading.com)
Mobile
This new phishing attack targets iPhone and Android alike via RCS | TechRadar
2 wireless protocols expose mobile users to spying — the FCC wants to fix that - Nextgov/FCW
Location tracking and the battle for digital privacy - Help Net Security
How and why to enable Stolen Device Protection on your iPhone (idownloadblog.com)
Google fixed two actively exploited Pixel vulnerabilities (securityaffairs.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Porsche Kills Two More Models Due to Cyber Security Regulations - autoevolution
UK Encouraged to Prioritise Cyber Security with Electric Vehicle Charging Points - Electrical Times
Data Breaches/Leaks
Highly sensitive files mysteriously disappeared from EUROPOL headquarters (securityaffairs.com)
Almost 2.9M impacted by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care breach | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ivanti-linked breach of CISA potentially affected more than 100,000 individuals | CyberScoop
Prudential Insurance says data of 36,000 exposed during February cyber attack (therecord.media)
Hotel Self Check-In Kiosks Exposed Room Access Codes - Security Week
Nearly 1M medical records feared stolen from City of Hope • The Register
SurveyLama data breach exposes info of 4.4 million users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber criminals steal data of around 700,000 Apotheka pharmacy customers | News | ERR
PandaBuy data breach allegedly impacted +1.3M customers (securityaffairs.com)
OWASP discloses breach due to a Wiki web server misconfig • The Register
US cancer center data breach exposes info of 827,000 patients (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Escalating malware tactics drive global cyber crime epidemic - Help Net Security
Threat Indicators Show 2024 Is Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023 - Security Week
Rise of non-tech hackers: new era of cyber threats - VnExpress International
India rescuing citizens forced into cyber fraud schemes in Cambodia | Reuters
Cyber criminal adoption of browser fingerprinting - Help Net Security
With just $700 and a Raspberry Pi — you too can become a cyber criminal | TechRadar
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for crypto fraud (cnbc.com)
$1.28 Million Lost From Crypto Phishing Attacks (coinpedia.org)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisation wide (darkreading.com)
Insurance
Can cyber insurance help secure business? | Mint (livemint.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
How much does cloud-based identity expand your attack surface? - Help Net Security
Who owns your data? SaaS contract security, privacy red flags | CSO Online
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Linux and Open Source
New Linux Bug Could Lead to User Password Leaks and Clipboard Hijacking (thehackernews.com)
Red Hat warns of backdoor in XZ tools used by most Linux distros (bleepingcomputer.com)
A new XZ backdoor scanner will be able to safeguard any Linux binary from threats (msn.com)
What we know about the xz Utils backdoor that almost infected the world | Ars Technica
Malicious xz backdoor reveals fragility of open source • The Register
Linux Version of DinodasRAT Spotted in Cyber Attacks Across Several Countries (thehackernews.com)
German state switches to LibreOffice, promises Windows move • The Register
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Cisco warns of password-spraying attacks targeting VPN services (bleepingcomputer.com)
American fast-fashion firm Hot Topic hit by credential stuffing attacks (securityaffairs.com)
Social Media
WhatsApp was down in Meta’s second big outage this year | TechCrunch
YouTube Video Game ‘Hacks’ Contain Malware Links - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Malvertising
Apple macOS users targeted with more cyber attacks via dodgy ads and websites | TechRadar
New Chrome feature aims to stop hackers from using stolen cookies (bleepingcomputer.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisation wide (darkreading.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Ransomware incidents reported to UK financial regulator have doubled - Digital Journal
EU's reimagined NIS 2 cyber security vision to go live (electronicspecifier.com)
6 business benefits of data protection and GDPR compliance | TechTarget
Treasury accuses banks of 'insufficient data sharing' on fraud | American Banker
A CISO's Guide to Materiality and Risk Determination (darkreading.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Using the NIST CSF for Strong Cyber Security Compliance | NAVEX - JDSupra
NIST And CISA: 13 Must-Review Resources For SMBs (forbes.com)
Are businesses prepared for the CSF 2.0 challenge? - Digital Journal
Backup and Recovery
World Backup Day triggers call for holistic cyber security overhaul (securitybrief.co.nz)
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
Data Protection
6 business benefits of data protection and GDPR compliance | TechTarget
How to conduct a data privacy audit, step by step | TechTarget
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
The Complexity and Need to Manage Mental Well-Being in the Security Team - Security Week
Cyber Leaders Struggle With Heightened Job Expectations, Communicating With Board - WSJ
Unlocking Cyber Security Success: The Importance of Certifications - ClearanceJobs
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Are you okay? Understanding the world of a CISO | CSO Online
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Wars prompt questions for facial recognition providers, and obscure the answers | Biometric Update
UN Peace Operations Under Fire from State-Sponsored Hackers (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors
China
UK minister confirmed as 12th target in Westminster ‘spear-phishing’ scandal – POLITICO
Pulling the Curtain Back on China’s Cyberespionage (informationweek.com)
MPs challenge government claims China cyber attack was unsuccessful (ft.com)
Chinese hackers turn to AI to meddle in elections | CyberScoop
UK, Czech ministers among China’s hacking targets – POLITICO
Security fears over supercomputer deal with Chinese firm Lenovo (thetimes.co.uk)
Russia
Ukraine gives award to foreign vigilantes for hacks on Russia - BBC News
STA: Russian hackers take responsibility for cyber attack on Slovenia
Exclusive: Hackers stole Russian prisoner database to avenge death of Navalny | CNN Politics
Russian network that 'paid European politicians' busted, authorities claim - BBC News
Russia charges suspects behind theft of 160,000 credit cards (bleepingcomputer.com)
Iran
Iran's Evolving Cyber Enabled Influence Operations to Support Hamas (darkreading.com)
Satellite Cyber Security, Iran, and the Israel-Hamas War | Geopolitical Monitor
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
CVE and NVD - A Weak and Fractured Source of Vulnerability Truth - Security Week
Attack Surface Management vs. Vulnerability Management (thehackernews.com)
Vulnerabilities
Are You Affected by the Backdoor in XZ Utils? (darkreading.com)
Red Hat issues urgent alert for Fedora Linux users due to malicious code (betanews.com)
Hosting firm's VMware ESXi servers hit by new SEXi ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco warns of password-spraying attacks targeting VPN services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco addressed high-severity flaws in IOS and IOS XE software (securityaffairs.com)
Ivanti Rushes Patches for 4 New Flaws in Connect Secure and Policy Secure (thehackernews.com)
Apple GoFetch was caused by an obsession with speed • The Register
Heartbleed is 10 Years Old – Farewell Heartbleed, Hello QuantumBleed! - Security Week
Critical Security Flaw Found in Popular LayerSlider WordPress Plugin (thehackernews.com)
Critical Vulnerability in Progress Flowmon Allows Remote Access to Systems - Security Week
Google fixed two actively exploited Pixel vulnerabilities (securityaffairs.com)
Splunk Patches Vulnerabilities in Enterprise Product - Security Week
JetBrains fixes 26 'security problems,' offering no details • The Register
Tools and Controls
RDP Abuse Present in 90% of Ransomware Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New XZ backdoor scanner detects implant in any Linux binary (bleepingcomputer.com)
The ‘complicated relationship’ between AI and cyber security (siliconrepublic.com)
How much does cloud-based identity expand your attack surface? - Help Net Security
How Pentesting-as-a-Service can Reduce Overall Security Costs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Building a cyber security risk assessment template - Security Boulevard
Microsoft unveils safety and security tools for generative AI | InfoWorld
The Biggest Mistake Security Teams Make When Buying Tools (darkreading.com)
World Backup Day triggers call for holistic cyber security overhaul (securitybrief.co.nz)
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
Can cyber insurance help secure business? | Mint (livemint.com)
71% Website Vulnerable: API Security Becomes Prime Target for Hackers - Security Boulevard
Old Technology, New Tricks: Why DNS Is Still A Major Security Target (forbes.com)
Cyber Risk Management: A Beginner's Guide - Security Boulevard
Microsoft Entra Recommendations adds several more for better user security - Neowin
A CISO's Guide to Materiality and Risk Determination (darkreading.com)
Attack Surface Management vs. Vulnerability Management (thehackernews.com)
Why a Cloud Security Platform Approach is Critical | Trend Micro (US)
The Importance Of Physical Cyber Security Testing (forbes.com)
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
SIEM Implementation: Strategies and Best Practices | MSSP Alert
Is Windows Defender All the Antivirus Protection You Need? (makeuseof.com)
Other News
Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise (darkreading.com)
Cyber Safety Review Board: Microsoft security culture 'inadequate' (geekwire.com)
Microsoft slammed for lax infosec that led to Exchange crack • The Register
Infosec professionals praise CSRB report on Microsoft breach | TechTarget
76% of consumers don't see themselves as cyber crime targets - Help Net Security
Shielding the lifelines: Protecting energy and infrastructure from cyber threats (betanews.com)
Cyber Security Statistics In 2024: Is Your Law Firm Protected? - Above the Law
Sellafield nuclear waste dump faces prosecution over cyber security failures (bitdefender.com)
Australia Doubles Down On Cyber Security After Attacks (darkreading.com)
Furry Hackers Use Church's Money To Buy Inflatable Sea Lions (dailydot.com)
Windows 10 Support Deadline: Your Guide to Extended Security Updates (ESU) (mspoweruser.com)
Healthcare's cyber resilience under siege as attacks multiply - Help Net Security
Rise of non-tech hackers: new era of cyber threats - VnExpress International
Why Cultural Institutions Are Rich Targets for Cyber Attackers (informationweek.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.
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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 27 October 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 27 October 2023:
-More Companies Adopt Board-Level Cyber Security Committees
-Ransomware Attacks Rise by More Than 95% Over 2022, to All Time High
-Security Still Not a Priority for a Third of SMBs Despite 73% Suffering Cyber Attack Last Year
-More Than 46 Million Potential Cyber Attacks Logged Every Day
-Fighting Cyber Attacks Requires Top-Down Approach
-Email Security Threats are More Dangerous This Year as Over 200 Million Malicious Emails Detected in Q3 2023
-98% of Security Leaders Worry About Risks of Generative AI as Fears Drive Spending
-48% of Organisations Predict Cyber Attack Recovery Could Take Weeks
-Cyber Security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour
-How Cyber Security Has Evolved in The Past 20 Years
-Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks
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
More Companies Adopt Board-Level Cyber Security Committees
In a recent CISO Report by Splunk, 78% of CISOs and other security leaders reported a dedicated board-level cyber security committee at their organisations. These committees may be made up of qualified individuals or potentially even third parties - not necessarily company employees - that give guidance to the board around matters like risk assessment and cyber security strategy. These board-level cyber security committees can potentially bridge communication barriers between IT, security teams and boards. Black Arrow supports business leaders in organisations of all sizes to demonstrate governance of their cyber risks, by participating in board meetings to upskill and guide the board in requesting and challenging the appropriate information from their internal and external sources.
Source: [Decipher]
Ransomware Attacks Rise by More Than 95% Over 2022, to All Time High
A recent report by Corvus has found that ransomware attacks continued at a record-breaking pace, with Q3 frequency up 11% over Q2 and 95% year-over-year. Even if there were no more ransomware attacks this year, the victim account has already surpassed what was observed for 2021 and 2022. In a separate report, analysis conducted by Sophos has found that dwell times, which is the length of time an attacker is in a victim’s system before they are discovered, has fallen, leaving less time for organisations to detect attacks.
Sources: [Dark Reading] [SC Magazine] [Reinsurance News]
Security Still Not a Priority for a Third of SMBs Despite 73% Suffering Cyber Attack Last Year
Multiple reports highlighting different aspects of small and medium businesses (SMBs) all have one thing in common: the lack of priority that is given to cyber security. One example is a survey conducted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) which found that cyber security is not even a strategic priority for 35% of SMBs when considering moving to the cloud. This comes as a report by Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that 73% of US SMBs reported a cyber attack last year, with employee and customer data being the target in data breaches. Despite the rise in SMB attacks, relatively few organisations are following cyber security best practices to help prevent a breach in the first place. Every business, regardless of size, should do everything it reasonably can to protect its data and ensure connectivity, and smaller organisations may be more likely to be a victim of a cyber attack. Security is an enabler for the wider IT and business strategy to help users build the organisation in greater security. It should be hard-baked from the outset; seeking expert advice can help ensure the right proportionate security decisions are being made.
Sources: [Insider Media] [Infosecurity Magazine] [IT Reseller Magazine] [Infosecurity Magazine]
More Than 46 Million Potential Cyber Attacks Logged Every Day
New data released by the UK’s BT Group has found that more than 500 potential cyber attacks are logged every second. The BT data showed that over the last 12 months the most targeted sectors by cyber criminals were IT, defence, banking and insurance sectors; this was followed by the retail, hospitality and education industries. According to the figures 785,000 charities fell victim to cyber attacks. The data found that hackers are relentlessly scanning devices for vulnerabilities by using automation, and artificial intelligence is now being included by attackers to identify weaknesses in an organisation’s cyber defences.
Sources: [Evening Standard] [Proactive] [The Independent]
Fighting Cyber Attacks Requires Top-Down Approach
Organisations must move away from the posture that their IT division owns responsibility for safeguarding against cyber attacks. Instead, what we really need is for cyber security to come down from the top of the organisation, into the departments so that we have an enterprise-wide culture of security. It is the board’s responsibility to work with the executive team to ensure it is not just an IT-centric issue. By aligning cyber risk management with business needs, creating a cyber security strategy as a business enabler, and incorporating cyber security expertise into board and governance, the organisation will create a solid foundation for this top-down approach.
Source: [Chief Investment Officer]
Email Security Threats are More Dangerous This Year as Over 200 million Malicious Emails Detected in Q3 2023
The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT has made spam and phishing emails infinitely more dangerous, with over 200 million sent in Q3 2023. A recent report found that link-based malware delivery made up 58% of all malicious emails for the quarter, while attachments made up the remaining 42%. Worryingly, 33% of these were delivered through legitimate but compromised websites.
Phishing does not come through emails alone however, there is also phishing via SMS, QR codes, calls and genuine, but compromised accounts. Black Arrow supports organisations of all sizes in designing and delivering proportionate user education and awareness programmes, including in-person and online training as well as simulated phishing campaigns. Our programmes help secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation.
Sources: [Security Magazine] [MSSP Alert] [TechRadar]
98% of Security Leaders Worry About Risks of Generative AI as Fears Drive Spending
Generative AI is playing a significant role in reshaping the phishing email threat landscape, according to a recent report from Abnormal Security. The report found that 98% of security leaders are highly concerned about generative AI's potential to create more sophisticated email attacks, with four-fifths (80.3%) of respondents confirming that their organisation had already received AI-generated email attacks or strongly suspecting that this was the case. A separate report by IBM found that attackers only needed five simple prompts to get the AI to develop a highly convincing phishing email. In a separate report, Gartner stated that AI has created a new scare, which contributed to 80% of CIO’s reporting that they plan to increase spending on cyber security, including AI.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [CSO Online] [Business Wire] [Help Net Security]
48% of Organisations Predict Cyber Attack Recovery Could Take Weeks
A recent report has found that 48% of respondents predicted that it would take days or weeks for their company to recover from cyber attacks, representing a potentially devastating risk to their business. Attacks are a matter of when, not if. Organisations should have plans and procedures in place to be able to recover from an attack; this includes having an incident response plan and regularly testing the organisation’s ability to backup and recover.
Black Arrow works with organisations of all sizes and sectors to design and prepare for managing a cyber security incident; this can include an incident response plan and an educational tabletop exercise for the leadership team that highlights the proportionate controls to help the organisation prevent and mitigate an incident.
Sources: [Security Magazine]
Cyber Security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour
The human element remains a significant vulnerability in cyber security, as reinforced by recent analysis. Repeated studies show that knowledge alone does not change behaviour, and that simply giving people more training is unlikely to change outcomes. The study underscores that even with heightened cyber security awareness, there has not been a notable decline in successful cyber attacks that exploit human errors.
We need to draw parallels to real-world skills. The report suggests that cyber security education should be as continuous and context-driven as learning to drive: no one learnt to drive by having a single lesson once a year. For instance, rather than educating employees on using multifactor authentication (MFA) in isolation, it's more impactful to provide an explanation of the additional security that that control provides and the reasons why it is being used to protect the organisation. This contextual approach, accentuated with insights on the advantages of these controls, is poised to foster the right behaviours and bolster security outcomes. However, the challenges persist, with many employees still bypassing recommended security protocols, underscoring the need for a more hands-on, real-time approach to cyber security education.
Source: [Dark Reading]
How Cyber Security Has Evolved in The Past 20 Years
Twenty years ago, the cloud as we know it didn’t exist. There were no Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, not even Gmail was around. Cyber threats have evolved significantly since then, but so too have the solutions. We’ve transitioned from manual, on-site vulnerability scanning and lengthy breach investigations, to automated tools and remote work capabilities that have reduced investigation times from months to weeks. Alongside technological advancements, laws and regulations surrounding cyber security have also tightened, imposing stricter rules on organisations to protect customer data and penalties for attackers.
The bigger picture is staying a step ahead of threat actors in the automation race. Whether that’s accomplished with AI or some other yet-to-be-discovered technology remains to be seen. In the meantime, as is always the case in this industry, regardless of the latest innovation, everyone needs to stay vigilant for threat actors’ attacks and remember that what was adequate to protect technology 20 years ago will not be sufficient to defend against the threat landscape today, and certainly not against the threats of tomorrow.
Source: [Forbes]
Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks
Governments in the West are warning public and private sector organisations to "remain on heightened alert" for disruptive cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure and key sectors amid a series of escalating global conflicts.
Source: [Info Risk Today]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Cyber security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour (darkreading.com)
How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)
How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)
More Companies Adopt Board-Level Cyber Security Committees | Decipher (duo.com)
Fighting Cyber Attacks Requires Top-Down Approach | Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com)
SMBs Need to Balance Cyber Security Needs and Resources (darkreading.com)
48% of organisations predict cyber attack recovery to take weeks | Security Magazine
Cyber Security Litigation: Five Trends Unpacked | Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP - JDSupra
Cyber attacks now biggest cause of downtime and data loss – report - CIR Magazine
The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)
From Snooze to Enthuse: Making Security Awareness Training 'Sticky' (darkreading.com)
Awaken From Cyber Slumber: 3 Steps To Stronger Cyber security (forbes.com)
AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security
Cyber Resilience And Risk Management: Forces Against Cyber Threats (forbes.com)
The Cyber Security Resilience Quotient: Measuring Security Effectiveness - Security Week
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
SonicWall Data Confirms That Ransomware Is Still the Enterprise's Biggest Fear (darkreading.com)
Ransomware is threatening more businesses than ever before | TechRadar
Ransomware isn’t going away – the problem is only getting worse (bleepingcomputer.com)
Known Ransomware Attack Volume Breaks Monthly Record, Again (govinfosecurity.com)
Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Concerns grow as LockBit knockoffs increasingly target popular vulnerabilities (therecord.media)
The Rise of S3 Ransomware: How to Identify and Combat It (thehackernews.com)
Meet Rhysida, a New Ransomware Strain That Deletes Itself (darkreading.com)
Kaspersky crimeware report: GoPIX, Lumar, and Rhysida. | Securelist
Five things organisations don’t consider before a ransomware attack | TechRadar
Ransomware incidents are on the rise as latest data reveals alarming trend | TechSpot
MGM Resorts hackers 'one of the most dangerous financial criminal groups’ (therecord.media)
Ransomware attacks against hospitals put patients' lives at risk, researchers say : NPR
Ragnar Locker Ransomware Boss Arrested in Paris (darkreading.com)
BlackCat Climbs the Summit With a New Tactic (paloaltonetworks.com)
Ransomware Soars as Myriad Efforts to Stop It Fall Short - Bloomberg
Hackers Using Remote Admin Tools AvosLocker Ransomware (gbhackers.com)
Resilience notes uptick in data exfiltration as cyber criminals change tactics - Reinsurance News
Healthcare Ransomware Attacks Cost US $78bn - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Bracing for AI-enabled ransomware and cyber extortion attacks - Help Net Security
Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defence (trendmicro.com)
Ransomware Victims
MGM Resorts hackers 'one of the most dangerous financial criminal groups’ (therecord.media)
Ambulances diverted as 3 New York hospitals grapple with cyber attacks | Fox News
Operations of Healthcare Solutions Giant Henry Schein Disrupted by Cyber attack - Security Week
US energy firm shares how Akira ransomware hacked its systems (bleepingcomputer.com)
Seiko says ransomware attack exposed sensitive customer data (bleepingcomputer.com)
American Family Insurance confirms cyber attack is behind IT outages (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber Attack Causing Service Interruptions At Ontario Hospitals (databreaches.net)
Cyber crims leak patient pics in low blow bid to win ransom • The Register
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Over 200 million malicious emails were detected in Q3 2023 | Security Magazine
Watch out - that QR code could just be a phishing scam | TechRadar
Booking.com customers targeted by scam ‘confirmation’ emails | Scams | The Guardian
New Hotel Phishing Scam — Be Careful If You're Offered a Discounted Rate | GOBankingRates
Email security threats are more dangerous than ever - here's what you need to know | TechRadar
What is Phishing? 5 Types of Phishing Attacks You Need to Know | MSSP Alert
The US released popular phishing techniques | Inquirer Technology
Akamai research finds more sophisticated phishing threats in hospitality industry - SiliconANGLE
Don’t Get Spooked Into Falling For These Phishing Scams - IT Security Guru
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Artificial Intelligence
AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security
Boardrooms losing control in generative AI takeover, says Kaspersky | Computer Weekly
Governments, firms should spend more on AI safety, top researchers say | Reuters
Cyber-defence systems seek to outduel criminals in AI race (techxplore.com)
Report warns AI could worsen cyber threat, but government will not ‘rush to regulate’ - CIR Magazine
Businesses fear generative AI will cause ‘catastrophic’ cyber attacks (siliconrepublic.com)
Don't use AI-based apps, Philippine defence ordered its personnel (securityaffairs.com)
Businesses ignorant to gen AI security threats suggests research (ship-technology.com)
Deepfakes: Navigating Data Privacy and Cyber Security Risks | DRI - JDSupra
Artificial Intelligence Bad News For Cyber Threats, Report Warns - TechRound
Bracing for AI-enabled ransomware and cyber extortion attacks - Help Net Security
Oops! When tech innovations create new security threats | CSO Online
2FA/MFA
Malware
Hackers are using an incredibly sneaky trick to hide malware | Digital Trends
Vietnamese Hackers Target UK, US, and India with DarkGate Malware (thehackernews.com)
Quasar RAT Leverages DLL Side-Loading to Fly Under the Radar (thehackernews.com)
Dangerous new malware can crack encrypted USB drives | TechRadar
'Grandoreiro' Trojan Targets Global Banking Customers (darkreading.com)
Powerful Malware Disguised as Crypto Miner Infects 1M+ Windows, Linux PCs (pcmag.com)
The Changing Threat Landscape: Infostealers and the MacOS goldmine - F-Secure Blog
Mobile
Android trojan spotted in the wild can record audio and phone calls | ZDNET
Samsung Galaxy S23 hacked twice in one day at Pwn2Own contest (androidauthority.com)
iLeakage attack exploits Safari to steal data from Apple devices (securityaffairs.com)
Intellexa: Irish-linked spyware used in 'brazen attacks' - report - BBC News
Longer Support Periods Raise the Bar for Mobile Security (darkreading.com)
Android adware apps on Google Play amass two million installs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
This DDoS attack is the biggest in internet history. | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Disinformation and its often overlooked potential for denial-of-services. (thecyberwire.com)
Record-Breaking 100 Million RPS DDoS Attack Exploits HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Flaw (thehackernews.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Okta says hackers breached its support system and viewed customer files | Ars Technica
Okta support system breach highlights need for strong MFA policies | CSO Online
1Password suffers cyber security incident after latest Okta breach - Tech Monitor
Okta stock falls after company says client files accessed by hackers via support system (cnbc.com)
Hacker accused of breaching Finnish psychotherapy centre facing 30,000 counts (therecord.media)
City of Philadelphia discloses data breach after five months (bleepingcomputer.com)
500k Irish National Police records exposed by third party • The Register
The 23andMe data breach reveals the vulnerabilities of our interconnected data (theconversation.com)
iLeakage attack exploits Safari to steal data from Apple devices (securityaffairs.com)
DC Board of Elections: Hackers may have breached entire voter roll (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says | The Independent
Spain arrests 34 cyber criminals who stole data of 4 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nigerian Police dismantle cyber crime recruitment, mentoring hub (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Cryptojacking campaign Qubitstrike targets exposed Jupyter Notebook instances | CSO Online
Powerful Malware Disguised as Crypto Miner Infects 1M+ Windows, Linux PCs (pcmag.com)
70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Forget the outside hacker, the bigger threat is inside • The Register
Human-centric Security Design Reduces Threats by Changing User Behavior (prweb.com)
How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)
How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)
The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
New Hotel Phishing Scam — Be Careful If You're Offered a Discounted Rate | GOBankingRates
Booking.com customers targeted by scam ‘confirmation’ emails | Scams | The Guardian
Purchase Scams Surge as Fraud Losses Hit £580m - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Online scammers target desperate loan seekers using online fraud | TechRadar
Christmas scams to watch out for this festive season (nationalworld.com)
Cyber criminals exploit the Israeli-Hamas conflict through scam emails and websites (iol.co.za)
70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)
Deepfakes
Deepfakes: Navigating Data Privacy and Cyber Security Risks | DRI - JDSupra
70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)
Insurance
Telling Small Businesses to Buy Cyber Insurance Isn't Enough (darkreading.com)
Stemming Losses That Go Uncovered by Cyber Insurance | Esquire Deposition Solutions, LLC - JDSupra
Aviva: SMEs ‘woefully underserved’ for cyber cover - Insurance Post (postonline.co.uk)
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Okta Reveals Breach Via Stolen Credential - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
'Log in With...' Feature Allows Full Online Account Takeover for Millions (darkreading.com)
Social Media
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Cyber Security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour (darkreading.com)
This Cyber Security Awareness Month, Don't Lose Sight of Human Risk (darkreading.com)
How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)
How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)
The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)
Cyber Security Awareness Month: What's Still Needed After Twenty Years (forbes.com)
From Snooze to Enthuse: Making Security Awareness Training 'Sticky' (darkreading.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Managed security services [EU Legislation in Progress] | Epthinktank | European Parliament
Report warns AI could worsen cyber threat, but government will not ‘rush to regulate’ - CIR Magazine
UK government finalises IoT cyber security requirements - Lexology
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Backup and Recovery
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Hacker accused of breaching Finnish psychotherapy center facing 30,000 counts (therecord.media)
Alleged developer of the Ragnar Locker ransomware was arrested (securityaffairs.com)
Spain arrests 34 cyber criminals who stole data of 4 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nigerian Police dismantle cyber crime recruitment, mentoring hub (bleepingcomputer.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
‘I’m looking for fewer ways to be traceable, not more’ | Financial Times
Google Chrome's new "IP Protection" will hide users' IP addresses (bleepingcomputer.com)
ShadowDragon: Australian spies monitor PornHub, Tinder, Fortnite (crikey.com.au)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare/Cyber Espionage
ICC: September Breach Was Espionage Raid - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
International Criminal Court attack was targeted and sophisticated (securityaffairs.com)
Governments and hackers agree: the laws of war must apply in cyber space (theconversation.com)
It's Time to Establish the NATO of Cyber Security (darkreading.com)
War Crimes Court Flags Cyber Attack That Targeted Its Work - Law360
International Criminal Court systems breached for cyber espionage (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber attack a ‘serious attempt to undermine’ International Criminal Court - Lawyers Weekly
Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks (inforisktoday.com)
Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber criminals exploit the Israeli-Hamas conflict through scam emails and websites (iol.co.za)
Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum | CyberScoop
Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks (inforisktoday.com)
China
MI5 chief warns of Chinese cyber espionage reached an unprecedented scale (securityaffairs.com)
Glasgow universities on red alert over Chinese spies as they join security scheme - Glasgow Live
Navy ends tradition of Chinese laundrymen on warships over spying fears (telegraph.co.uk)
Russia
Russia Cyber attacks Becoming More Sophisticated, Ukraine Official Says - Bloomberg
European govt email servers hacked using Roundcube zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ministry, police and Crimea summit websites victims of cyber attack | Radio Prague International
Major Russian bank reportedly hacked by Ukraine | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Hackers backdoor Russian state, industrial orgs for data theft (bleepingcomputer.com)
Who is sabotaging underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea? (economist.com)
Pro-Russia hackers target inboxes with 0-day in webmail app used by millions | Ars Technica
Russia-Ukraine War: Cyber Attack and Kinetic Warfare Timeline - | MSSP Alert
France says Russian state hackers breached numerous critical networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber attack a ‘serious attempt to undermine’ International Criminal Court - Lawyers Weekly
Ex-NSA techie admits to selling state secrets to Russia • The Register
Iran
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Concerns grow as LockBit knockoffs increasingly target popular vulnerabilities (therecord.media)
Why Do We Need Real-World Context to Prioritise CVEs? (darkreading.com)
Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defence (trendmicro.com)
Vulnerabilities
Citrix Bleed exploit lets hackers hijack NetScaler accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Exploitation of Citrix NetScaler vulns reaching dangerous levels | Computer Weekly
Critical SolarWinds RCE Bugs Enable Unauthorised Network Takeover (darkreading.com)
CISA adds second Cisco IOS XE flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog - Security Affairs
Cisco hackers likely taking steps to avoid identification | Computer Weekly
F5 Issues Warning: BIG-IP Vulnerability Allows Remote Code Execution (thehackernews.com)
European govt email servers hacked using Roundcube zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)
VMware vCenter Flaw So Critical, Patches Released for End-of-Life Products - Security Week
Critical OAuth Flaws Uncovered in Grammarly, Vidio, and Bukalapak Platforms (thehackernews.com)
Firefox, Chrome Updates Patch High-Severity Vulnerabilities - Security Week
The Forbidden Fruit Of Cyber Security: Hackers Take A Bite Out Of Apple (forbes.com)
Pro-Russia hackers target inboxes with 0-day in webmail app used by millions | Ars Technica
Apple Ships Major iOS, macOS Security Updates - Security Week
Hackers can force iOS and macOS browsers to divulge passwords and much more | Ars Technica
ServiceNow quietly fixes 8-year-old data exposure flaw • The Register
Tools and Controls
48% of organisations predict cyber attack recovery to take weeks | Security Magazine
Cyber attack response plans need to be in place to avoid chaos - FreightWaves
NIST provides solid guidance on software supply chain security in DevSecOps | CSO Online
What is Network Segmentation? Virtual & Physical Segmentation | UpGuard
AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security
Businesses fear generative AI will cause ‘catastrophic’ cyber attacks (siliconrepublic.com)
Is it wise to put all your security solutions in one cyber basket? (securitybrief.co.nz)
Cyber attacks are inevitable, so a focus on resilience is vital - James McGachie (scotsman.com)
Cyber Resilience And Risk Management: Forces Against Cyber Threats (forbes.com)
Are Backup Files the Missing Link in Your Cyber Security? (finextra.com)
Unveiling the power of emerging technologies to empower cyber resilience (techuk.org)
Cyber security concerns grow among physical security professionals | Security Magazine
The Cyber Security Resilience Quotient: Measuring Security Effectiveness - Security Week
Other News
MPs to examine cyber resilience of UK’s critical national infrastructure | CSO Online
Strategies to overcome cyber security misconceptions - Help Net Security
UK NCSC, NPSA launch Secure Innovation campaign to protect tech startups | CSO Online
5 important cyber security takeaways for law firms - Lawyers Weekly
How Cyber Security Has Evolved In The Past 20 Years (forbes.com)
Oops! When tech innovations create new security threats | CSO Online
Spooky Cyber Statistics And Trends You Need To Know (forbes.com)
The Changing Threat Landscape: Infostealers and the MacOS goldmine - F-Secure Blog
Proactively preventing your company from becoming the next cyber attack headline (betanews.com)
Demystifying Cyber Security: Shakespeare To The Rescue | HackerNoon
Cyber Threat: Aviation’s Clear and Present Danger? | Aerospace Tech Review
OT cyber attacks proliferating despite growing cyber security spend - Help Net Security
Cost of a Data Breach: Retail Costs, Risks and Prevention Strategies (securityintelligence.com)
What Would a US Government Shutdown Mean for Cyber Security? (darkreading.com)
Weapons Systems Provide Valuable Lessons for ICS/OT Security - Security Week
Cyber attacks now biggest cause of downtime and data loss – report - CIR Magazine
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 20 October 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 20 October 2023:
-Cyber Insecurity: Many Businesses Scared They May be Hit by a Cyber Attack at Any Moment
-Cyber Security Investments Show Mature Business Mindset
-SMBs Struggle to Keep Pace as Cyber Threats Reach All Time High
-Phishing Attacks Reach Record Highs as Banks, Financial Services Remain Top Targets with HR Remaining the Most Effective Phishing Lure
-Cyber Attacks are a Matter of When not if, The Best Time to Deal With Them is Before They Happen
-Lloyd's Of London Warns Of Worst-Case-Scenario Cyber Attack
-20,000 Britons Approached By Chinese Agents On LinkedIn, Says MI5 Head
-Ransomware - All it Takes is One Employee Mistake, Criminals are Aiming at Third-Party Vendors
-39% of Individuals Use the Same Password for Multiple Accounts
-Why Fourth-Party Risk Management Is a Must-Have
-AI Adoption Surges But Security Awareness Lags Behind
-UK watchdog fines Equifax £11 million for role in cyber breach
-Why Boards Must Understand and Govern Cyber Security Risk
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Insecurity: Many Businesses Scared They May be Hit by a Cyber Attack at Any Moment
A report from the Commvault and the International Data Corporation (IDC) found that 61% of respondents believe that a data loss within the next 12 months is "likely" or "highly likely" to occur due to increasingly sophisticated attacks. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have an unlimited budget; cyber security related spending must therefore be effective, taking an informed risk based approach to prioritise the biggest threats to businesses. To understand these threats, businesses must know the current threat landscape and how that relates to their business specifically. In order to be able to apply any threat intelligence, organisations must first ascertain what they need to protect through a documented asset register; after all you cannot protect something you do not know exists.
Sources: [PR Newswire] [TechRadar]
Cyber Security Investments Show Mature Business Mindset
Companies need to start embracing cyber security as a business enabler, rather than being viewed as a pure cost or as a regulatory burden. Good cyber security is a strong indicator of a mature business mindset, giving customers, employees, and suppliers confidence that you are running a mature, responsible operation that takes the value of its data and IP very seriously. With the perception of customers changing to be more security-based, having a high level of cyber security can establish trust and therefore distinguish a business in the marketplace.
Source: [Insider Media] [Compare the Cloud]
SMBs Struggle to Keep Pace as Cyber Threats Reach All Time High
Research conducted by Sage has found UK small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly struggling with cyber security preparedness, with 57% asking for more support with education and training and 45% not understanding what security is needed for their business. The report found that globally, 70% of SMBs highlighted cyber threats as a major concern, with 51% struggling to keep on top of new threats and 48% experiencing a cyber incident in the past year.
SMBs globally, found that their struggle related to making sure employees know what is expected of them in protecting the organisation (45%), providing education and awareness training (44%) and cost (43%).
Source: (IT Security Guru)
Phishing Attacks Hit Record Highs in Q2 2023, with Emails from HR still the Most Effective Lure
Research has found in the third quarter of this year, phishing attacks soared by 173% compared with the previous three months, and malware was up 110% over the same period, with 233.9 million malicious emails detected. Banks and financial services organisations remained a top target, with a 121% rise in phishing attacks.
In a separate report, human resource topics were found to account for more than half of the top-clicked phishing email subjects. This included emails that related to a change in dress code and updates on annual leave. It’s important for organisations to take this into account when training employees.
Sources: [SiliconANGLE1] [Beta News] [SiliconANGLE2] [TechRadar] [Security Brief]
Cyber Attacks Are a Matter of When, Not If; The Best Time to Deal with Them Is Before They Happen
Another week brings more companies added to the list of victims of cyber attacks. Just this week, UK based social care provider CareTech’s childcare subsidiary Cambian was criticised for keeping a cyber attack quiet, with individuals who had data stolen having to chase Cambian for details.
Cyber attacks happen, and companies need to admit when they have happened and inform relevant people. Honesty and clarity are key. After an attack, there are a number of things going on at once such as finding out what has happened, identifying stolen or encrypted data, fulfilling legal and regulatory requirements and communicating both internally and externally. Unfortunately, many companies do not expect to be attacked and therefore do not have anything in place to respond to an attack. In addition to having the necessary defences in place, organisations must be prepared for the event of an attack. This can be outlined in an incident response plan (IRP).
Black Arrow works with organisations of all sizes and sectors to design and prepare for managing a cyber security incident; this can include an Incident Response Plan and an educational tabletop exercise for the leadership team that highlights the proportionate controls to help the organisation prevent and mitigate an incident.
Sources: [Euronews] [The Times] [AI-CIO]
Lloyd's Of London Warns of Worst-Case-Scenario Cyber Attack
In recent modelling by a Lloyds of London researcher, a worst-case-scenario was found to have the potential to cause $3.5 trillion of economic damage within 5 years. While this may seem implausible, with the increased number of cyber attacks, especially to the financial sector, this figure is not as incredulous as it may seem.
The FBI has also stated that the average annual cost of cyber crime worldwide is expected to soar from $8.4 trillion in 2022 to more than $23 trillion in 2027.
Sources: [Reinsurance News] [ABS-CBN News] [The Motley Fool] [City AM]
20,000 Britons Approached by Chinese Agents on LinkedIn, Says MI5 Head
An estimated 20,000 Britons have been approached by Chinese state actors on LinkedIn in the hope of stealing industrial or technological secrets, the head of MI5 stated ahead of the Five Eyes agencies summit. This summit is a meeting of the heads of security from the Five Eyes nations – UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The summit discussed how industrial espionage was happening at “real scale”, with 10,000 UK businesses being at risk, particularly in artificial intelligence, quantum computing or synthetic biology where China was trying to gain a march.
A 'secure innovation' guideline has been released to assist small to medium-sized enterprises, especially tech start-ups, in bolstering their defences against threats from foreign states, criminals, and competitors. This guideline offers basic security advice on areas like investments, supply chains, IT networks, and cloud computing to safeguard emerging technologies.
Sources: [Computer Weekly] [Tech Monitor] [Guardian]
Ransomware - All it Takes is One Employee Mistake, As Criminals are Aiming Third-Party Vendors
According to a report, human error is the root cause of more than 80% of all cyber breaches. The solution in this case, is for organisations to provide effective training to employees to reduce the risk of such an error happening. However, this does not have any impact on third parties that the organisations use. A separate report found that nearly a third of ransomware claims involved a third-party vendor as a point of failure.
Whilst organisations often focus on improving their own cyber security, third parties can become an easily overlooked area. You don’t want to invest a significant amount into your organisation’s cyber security, only for it to fail due to a third party. This is why it is important for organisations to have an effective way of measuring supply chain risk, to ensure that they know what data their third parties have access to and what is being done by the third parties to protect it.
Black Arrow have helped many clients carry out third party risk assessments on a large number of suppliers and this can be done as a standalone offering or as part of a fractional CISO engagement.
Sources: [Security Affairs] [Claims Journal]
39% of Individuals Use the Same Password for Multiple Accounts
According to a recent survey by Yubico, 80% of respondents are concerned about the security of their online accounts. Additionally, 39% admitted to using the same passwords for multiple accounts. The report found that Boomer-generation users are the least likely to reuse passwords at 20%. In comparison, Millennials are twice as likely to reuse passwords for multiple accounts at 47%. This survey highlights that whilst younger generations may be more tech savvy, having grown up with this technology, it also brings with it a more relaxed and complacent attitude when it comes to cyber security hygiene.
Source: [Security Magazine]
Why Fourth-Party Risk Management Is a Must-Have
Most organisations today are acutely aware of the risks that third-party relationships pose, and many employ some form of third-party risk management to understand and monitor these alliances. Another danger also needs to be borne in mind: the threats organisations face from their third parties’ third parties. These ‘fourth parties’, the vendors of an organisation's vendor, are becoming an increasing concern among regulators, particularly those in the banking and financial services sector. Attackers exploit fourth parties just the same as they do third parties to indirectly target an organisation. As a result, these fourth parties greatly increase an IT environment's attack surface.
Fourth parties pose reputational, operational and regulatory risks, and with new regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in Europe coming into place, organisations need to implement a comprehensive third-party risk management program that extends to cover fourth-party risk management. This is the only way to ensure fourth parties are vetted appropriately.
Source: [Tech Target]
AI Adoption Surges but Security Awareness Lags Behind
A new survey found that security is reportedly not the primary concern for organisations when using tools such as ChatGPT and Google Bard. Respondents are more worried about inaccurate responses than the exposure of customer and employee personally identifiable information (PII), disclosure of trade secrets (33%) and financial loss (25%). Basic security practices are lacking, however, with 82% of respondents confident in their security stacks but less than half investing in technology to monitor generative AI use, exposing them to data loss risks. Only 46% have established security policies for data sharing.
Organisations need to rigorously assess and control how large language models (LLMs) handle data, ensuring alignment with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. This involves employing strong encryption, consent mechanisms and data anonymisation techniques, and ensuring control over how the organisation’s data is used, alongside regular audits and updates to ensure data handling practices remain compliant.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
UK Watchdog Fines Equifax £11 Million For Role in Cyber Breach
Britain's financial watchdog has fined the consumer credit rating body Equifax £11 million ($13.4 million) for its role in "one of the largest" cyber security breaches in history. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stated that "The cyber attack and unauthorised access to data was entirely preventable", identifying that the UK arm of Equifax did not find out data had been accessed until six weeks after their parent company discover the hack.
Source: [Reuters]
Why Boards Must Understand and Govern Cyber Security Risk
The boardroom is a critical control in every company’s system of cyber security risk management. An ineffective approach to cyber security governance creates an overall system of cyber security that is weaker than it needs to be. Boards have typically viewed cyber security as something that it left to IT and have not been able to challenge or interpret the reports that they receive, if any, from their IT departments or IT providers. Governing bodies such as the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have identified this and have started bringing in regulations that force the board of directors to fully understand digital cyber security risk and have a more vital role as part of the system.
Black Arrow supports business leaders in organisations of all sizes to demonstrate governance of their cyber security, by owning their cyber security strategy and leveraging their existing internal and external resources to build resilience against a cyber security incident.
Source: [Forbes]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Many cyber bosses just aren't confident in their company's defences | TechRadar
SMBs seek help as cyber threats reach an all-time high - Help Net Security
SMBs seek cyber training, support as attack risk surges | CIO Dive
The real impact of the cyber security poverty line on small organisations - Help Net Security
Cyber security investments show mature business mindset, says IT expert | Insider Media
Is Cyber security Finally Becoming a Business Enabler? - Compare the Cloud
The best time to deal with cyber attacks is before they happen (thetimes.co.uk)
Preparations Are Key to Weathering Cyber security Incidents | Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com)
Over 70% of firms hit by cyber attack in last 12 months (rte.ie)
The future of cyber security regulation: what to look out for with NIS2 | TechRadar
Getting ready for NIS2 with strong identity controls | ITPro
10 Ways Boards Are Setting Their Companies Up For Cyber security Failure (forbes.com)
NIST Cyber security Framework for Small Businesses: Key Benefits (smallbiztrends.com)
AI and the Imperative to Take Cyber security Precautions (inforisktoday.com)
Cyber attacks to cost $23 trillion in 2027: US official | ABS-CBN News
How Cyber security Provides the Green Light for Business Innovation (govinfosecurity.com)
Essential cyber hygiene: Making cyber defence cost effective - Help Net Security
The Need for a Cyber security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)
The double-edged sword of heightened regulation for financial services - Help Net Security
Report: Cyber attacks No. 1 cause of downtime and data loss | Security Magazine
Will CISOs Become Personally Liable for Breach Response? (inforisktoday.com)
Keeping control in complex regulatory environments - Help Net Security
Generative AI an Emerging Risk as CISOs Shift Cyber Resilience Strategies (informationweek.com)
7 risk mitigation strategies to protect business operations | TechTarget
How to go from collecting risk data to actually reducing risk? - Help Net Security
SEC’s New Cyber Disclosure Rule: Challenges, Consequences, And Compliance | K2 Integrity - JDSupra
Regulations are still necessary to compel adoption of cyber security measures | ZDNET
CISOs and board members are finding a common language - Help Net Security
IT Disaster Recovery Best Practices: Preparing For The Worst (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
When And How To Hire A vCISO For Your Company's Cyber security Program (forbes.com)
18 Factors And Metrics To Show The Value Of Cyber security Initiatives (forbes.com)
Improve your cyber threat understanding with geopolitical context | CSO Online
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Ransomware Attacks Double: Are Companies Prepared for 2024's Cyber Threats? (thehackernews.com)
Ransomware realities in 2023: one employee mistake can cost a company millions (securityaffairs.com)
Ransomware Criminals Aiming at Third-Party Vendors in Hunt for ‘Big Game’ (claimsjournal.com)
Feds: Beware AvosLocker Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure (darkreading.com)
Giant health insurer struck by ransomware didn't have antivirus protection (malwarebytes.com)
CISA shares vulnerabilities, misconfigs used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
What Are the Legal Implications of Paying Ransomware Demands? | HackerNoon
63% of organisations restore data after a ransomware attack | Security Magazine
Black Basta ransomware is out and about, again. (thecyberwire.com)
Ukrainian activists hack Trigona ransomware gang, wipe servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Elastic Global Threat Report 2023 Reveals Dominance of Ransomware | Business Wire
Scammers are targeting plastic surgery clinics with extortion scams | TechRadar
BlackCat ransomware uses new ‘Munchkin’ Linux VM in stealthy attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Law enforcement operation seized Ragnar Locker group's infrastructure (securityaffairs.com)
Ransomware Victims
Lockbit ransomware gang demanded an 80 million ransom to CDW (securityaffairs.com)
Alphv gang stole 5TB of data from Morrison Community Hospital (securityaffairs.com)
Kansas Supreme Court Probes Potential Ransomware Attack (govinfosecurity.com)
KwikTrip all but says IT outage was caused by a cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
More than 95 per cent of phishing attacks target the banking and finance sectors (bizhub.vn)
Phishing attacks hit record high in third quarter, with malware not far behind - SiliconANGLE
VIPRE finds 233.9 million malicious emails detected in Q3 2023 (securitybrief.co.nz)
Make sure that email from HR is legit - it could be another phishing scam | TechRadar
Human resources emails remain top phishing targets - SiliconANGLE
D-Link Confirms Data Breach: Employee Falls Victim to Phishing Attack (thehackernews.com)
Artificial Intelligence
AI and the Imperative to Take Cyber security Precautions (inforisktoday.com)
Generative AI an Emerging Risk as CISOs Shift Cyber Resilience Strategies (informationweek.com)
Exploring the Realm of Malicious Generative AI: A New Digital Security Challenge (thehackernews.com)
AI-generated cyber attacks pose new risk to key UK infrastructure, experts warn | The Independent
North Korea has got its hands on AI - and is testing its ability to commit cyberwarfare | TechRadar
Generative AI is scaring CISOs – but adoption isn’t slowing down | CSO Online
Cyber criminals register .AI domains of trusted brands for malicious activity | CSO Online
2FA/MFA
Malware
Phishing attacks hit record high in third quarter, with malware not far behind - SiliconANGLE
DarkGate malware spreads through compromised Skype accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
BLOODALCHEMY provides backdoor to ASEAN secrets • The Register
Discord still a hotbed of malware activity — Now APTs join the fun (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers warn of increased malware delivery via fake browser updates - Help Net Security
Malicious Notepad++ Google ads evade detection for months (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google-hosted malvertising leads to fake Keepass site that looks genuine | Ars Technica
Russian Hackers Bypass EDR to Deliver Weaponized TeamViewer (gbhackers.com)
Beware - that Google Chrome update alert might actually just be malware | TechRadar
Mobile
SpyNote: Beware of This Android Trojan that Records Audio and Phone Calls (thehackernews.com)
The top 9 mobile security threats and how you can avoid them | ZDNET
Hackers exploit security flaw to target iOS 17 iPhones with 'notification attack' | Macworld
Google Play Protect adds real-time scanning to fight Android malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fake 'RedAlert' rocket alert app for Israel installs Android spyware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Inadequate IoT protection can be a costly mistake - Help Net Security
Israelis told to secure their home security cameras against hackers • Graham Cluley
Logistics Matters - Alert: How hackers use printers to gain access
Data Breaches/Leaks
UK watchdog fines Equifax $13.4 million for role in cyber breach | Reuters
Casio discloses data breach impacting customers in 149 countries (bleepingcomputer.com)
530K people's info stolen from cloud PC gaming's Shadow • The Register
D-Link Confirms Data Breach: Employee Falls Victim to Phishing Attack (thehackernews.com)
Hackers stole a million people's DNA. But what will they do with it? | Tech News | Metro News
23AndMe Hacker Leaks New Tranche of Stolen Data (darkreading.com)
Healthcare breach costs soar requiring new thinking for safeguarding data (securityintelligence.com)
Lost and Stolen Devices: A Gateway to Data Breaches and Leaks - SecurityWeek
Twitter glitch allows CIA informant channel to be hijacked - BBC News
Care provider under fire over response to cyber attack (thetimes.co.uk)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cyber attacks -- where they come from and the tactics they use (betanews.com)
Cyber criminals register .AI domains of trusted brands for malicious activity | CSO Online
Highest percentage of cyber crime activity originates in Russia (securitybrief.co.nz)
Single Sign On and the Cyber crime Ecosystem (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Employees leaving businesses open to cyber attack – QBE research - CIR Magazine
Why disaffected employees are your greatest cyber security risk | Federal News Network
Ex-Navy IT head gets 5 years for selling people’s data on darkweb (bleepingcomputer.com)
Insurance
How MOVEit Is Likely to Shift Cyber Insurance Calculus (darkreading.com)
How Data Changes the Cyber Insurance Market Outlook (darkreading.com)
What to Look for in Cyber Insurance Coverage | Proofpoint US
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
Linux and Open Source
Open To Attack: The Risks Of Open-Source Software Attacks (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Can open source be saved from the EU's Cyber Resilience Act? • The Register
Report Finds Few Open Source Projects are Actively Maintained - Slashdot
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
IT Admins Are Just as Guilty For Weak Password Use- IT Security Guru
Over 40,000 admin portal accounts use 'admin' as a password (bleepingcomputer.com)
39% of individuals use the same password for multiple accounts | Security Magazine
Fighting off cyber attacks? Make sure user credentials aren’t compromised (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passkeys Are Cool, But They Aren't Enterprise-Ready (darkreading.com)
A worrying amount of corporate IDs still aren't properly protected | TechRadar
Social Media
Hamas Hijacked Victims’ Social Media Accounts to Spread Terror - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Twitter glitch allows CIA informant channel to be hijacked - BBC News
Malvertising
Malicious Notepad++ Google ads evade detection for months (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google-hosted malvertising leads to fake Keepass site that looks genuine | Ars Technica
Clever malvertising attack uses Punycode to look like KeePass's official website (malwarebytes.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK watchdog fines Equifax $13.4 million for role in cyber breach | Reuters
One year left for companies to implement NIS2 cyber security directive (wbj.pl)
The future of cyber security regulation: what to look out for with NIS2 | TechRadar
NIS2: Why organisations need a unified cyber security standard | Microscope (computerweekly.com)
Can open source be saved from the EU's Cyber Resilience Act? • The Register
Security Pros Warn That EU's Vulnerability Disclosure Rule Is Risky (darkreading.com)
The double-edged sword of heightened regulation for financial services - Help Net Security
Top US Cyber Agency Pushing Toward First Hack Reporting Rule (bloomberglaw.com)
Keeping control in complex regulatory environments - Help Net Security
UN cyber crime treaty: A menace in the making – EURACTIV.com
SEC’s New Cyber Disclosure Rule: Challenges, Consequences, And Compliance | K2 Integrity - JDSupra
Models, Frameworks and Standards
One year left for companies to implement NIS2 cyber security directive (wbj.pl)
The future of cyber security regulation: what to look out for with NIS2 | TechRadar
NIST Cyber security Framework for Small Businesses: Key Benefits (smallbiztrends.com)
NIS2: Why organisations need a unified cyber security standard | Microscope (computerweekly.com)
Backup and Recovery
Principles for ransomware-resistant cloud backups - NCSC.GOV.UK
63% of organisations restore data after a ransomware attack | Security Magazine
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Over half of cyber security pros say they want to switch jobs (betanews.com)
Compelling Reasons Why You Should Study Cyber Security - Minutehack
Your guide to landing a job in cyber security (fastcompany.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats
Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare
‘Only a matter of time’ before cyber attacks are viewed as acts of war: Ex-NSA chief
Five Eyes issues five tips on thwarting nation state threats | Computer Weekly
Discord: A Playground for Nation-State Hackers Targeting Critical Infrastructure (thehackernews.com)
TetrisPhantom: Cyber Espionage via Secure USBs Targets APAC Governments (thehackernews.com)
Pro-Russian Hackers Exploiting Recent WinRAR Vulnerability in New Campaign (thehackernews.com)
The evolution of deception tactics from traditional to cyber warfare - Help Net Security
Exclusive: Ukraine says joint mission with US derailed Moscow’s cyber attacks (therecord.media)
Government officials debate effectiveness of multilateral relations in cyber security | ZDNET
Defence leaders recognise need to adapt to win in ‘information battlespace’ | BAE Systems
Geopolitical Threats/Activity
How Cyber attacks Could Affect the Israel-Hamas War (govinfosecurity.com)
Israelis told to secure their home security cameras against hackers • Graham Cluley
Gaza Conflict Paves Way for Pro-Hamas Information Operations (darkreading.com)
Pro-Israeli Hacktivist Group Predatory Sparrow Reappears (darkreading.com)
AI-Powered Israeli 'Cyber Dome' Defence Operation Comes to Life (darkreading.com)
Fake 'RedAlert' rocket alert app for Israel installs Android spyware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hamas Hijacked Victims’ Social Media Accounts to Spread Terror - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Pro-Iranian Hacktivists Set Sights on Israeli Industrial Control Systems (darkreading.com)
China
Mandia: China replaces Russia as top cyber threat | CyberScoop
FBI boss slams ‘unprecedented’ Chinese cyberespionage and IP theft | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Five Eyes warn of growing threat of IP 'theft' by China's hackers (techmonitor.ai)
20,000 Britons approached by Chinese agents on LinkedIn, says MI5 head | MI5 | The Guardian
Researchers Unveil ToddyCat's New Set of Tools for Data Exfiltration (thehackernews.com)
BLOODALCHEMY provides backdoor to ASEAN secrets • The Register
TetrisPhantom: Cyber Espionage via Secure USBs Targets APAC Governments (thehackernews.com)
Huawei wants to know why EU labelled it high security risk • The Register
Google TAG Detects State-Backed Threat Actors Exploiting WinRAR Flaw (thehackernews.com)
Russia
Mandia: China replaces Russia as top cyber threat | CyberScoop
Russia-based Wizard Spider is Top Threat Group: Netskope Report | MSSP Alert
Pro-Russian Hackers Exploiting Recent WinRAR Vulnerability in New Campaign (thehackernews.com)
Russian Sandworm hackers breached 11 Ukrainian telcos since May (bleepingcomputer.com)
Exclusive: Ukraine says joint mission with US derailed Moscow’s cyber attacks (therecord.media)
Russian Hackers Bypass EDR to Deliver Weaponized TeamViewer (gbhackers.com)
Highest percentage of cyber crime activity originates in Russia (securitybrief.co.nz)
Iran
Iranian hackers lurked in Middle Eastern govt network for 8 months (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hamas-linked app offers window into cyber infrastructure, possible links to Iran | CyberScoop
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerability Scanning: How Often Should I Scan? (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft Needs to Get Serious About Its Windows 10 Upgrade Problem (pcmag.com)
Vulnerabilities
Number of Cisco Devices Hacked via Unpatched Vulnerability Increases to 40,000 - SecurityWeek
Cisco working on fix for critical IOS XE zero-day | TechTarget
Oracle Patches 185 Vulnerabilities With October 2023 CPU - SecurityWeek
Critical Citrix NetScaler Flaw Exploited to Target from Government, Tech Firms (thehackernews.com)
Juniper Networks Patches Over 30 Vulnerabilities in Junos OS - SecurityWeek
Hackers exploit critical flaw in WordPress Royal Elementor plugin (bleepingcomputer.com)
Critical Vulnerabilities Uncovered in Open Source CasaOS Cloud Software (thehackernews.com)
Zoom, Investors Reach $150 Million Deal Over Security Flaws Suit (bloomberglaw.com)
Pro-Russian Hackers Exploiting Recent WinRAR Vulnerability in New Campaign (thehackernews.com)
Tools and Controls
Well-informed employees act as 1st line of defence against cyber threats
SMBs seek cyber training, support as attack risk surges | CIO Dive
Vulnerability Scanning: How Often Should I Scan? (thehackernews.com)
Essential cyber hygiene: Making cyber defence cost effective - Help Net Security
Preparations Are Key to Weathering Cyber security Incidents | Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com)
Improve your cyber threat understanding with geopolitical context | CSO Online
Why Zero Trust Is the Cloud Security Imperative (darkreading.com)
3 Essential Steps to Strengthen SaaS Security (darkreading.com)
Google Authenticator synchronization raises MFA concerns | TechTarget
Email Security Best Practices for Phishing Prevention (trendmicro.com)
What to Look for in Cyber Insurance Coverage | Proofpoint US
How to go from collecting risk data to actually reducing risk? - Help Net Security
Generative AI an Emerging Risk as CISOs Shift Cyber Resilience Strategies (informationweek.com)
OSINT isn't immediate ground truth--it's the result of analysis. (thecyberwire.com)
How Data Changes the Cyber Insurance Market Outlook (darkreading.com)
What is Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX)? (techtarget.com)
Other News
SMBs Struggle to Keep Pace with Cyber Security Threats - IT Security Guru
Many SMBs really don't know exactly what security tools they need | TechRadar
Hackers Hit The IT Industry: 12 Companies Targeted In 2023 | CRN
What the Hollywood Writers Strike Resolution Means for Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Progress gets SEC subpoena over MOVEit breach – and more! • The Register
Cyber attacks on healthcare organisations affect patient care - Help Net Security
Zoom, Investors Reach $150 Million Deal Over Security Flaws Suit (bloomberglaw.com)
Thinking about the phrase 'cyber security' | Microscope (computerweekly.com)
Space industry group turns up volume on satellite vulnerabilities - SpaceNews
5 Tips for Improving Security in Public Sector (govinfosecurity.com)
Marketers Must Make Cyber security A Priority Every Day (forbes.com)
UK at risk of massive security breach from national HMRC IT meltdown | The Independent
UK warns nuclear power plant operator of cyber security failings (therecord.media)
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 13 October 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 13 October 2023:
-Small Businesses Hit by Frequent Cyber Attacks as 90% of CISOs Faced at least One Attack Last Year
-The Most Effective Cyber Attacks Never Touch Your Organisation's Firewall, HR’s Role in Defending the Organisation
-Ransomware Infection Times Fall from 5 Days to 5 Hours
-80% of Security Leaders See AI as the Biggest Threat to Business
-Is Your Board Cyber-Ready?
-Cyber Security Should Be a Business Priority for CEOs
-The Looming Threat of a Single Phishing Click to Your Business
-40% of Organisations Leave Ransomware to IT
-Auditors Growing Concern About Cyber Security
-The Cyber Villains Are Getting Bolder: Businesses Need to Up Their Game
-Preparing for the Unexpected: A Proactive Approach to Operational Resilience
-Staggering Losses to Social Media and Social Engineering Since 21, as Victims Take $2.7 Billion Hit in US Alone
-Organisations Grapple with Detection and Response Despite Rising Security Budgets
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
Small Businesses Hit by Frequent Cyber Attacks, as 90% of CISOs of Larger Firms Faced at least One Attack Last Year
A survey by Payroll provider Sage found that nearly 48% of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have experienced at least one cyber incident in the past year; of note, this is only based on SMEs self-reporting, and requires SMEs to have both the ability to detect an incident and to have actually identified an incident and then self-report it. The survey found that cyber security was a priority with 68% of respondents reporting that they would use a more expensive security control if it demonstrated better security.
In a separate report by Splunk, it was found that 90% of CISOs reported experiencing at least one disruptive attack in the past year. The difference in numbers could be because organisations who have a CISO are more likely to have tools in place to detect an incident.
Regardless, cyber criminals are showing that any size of organisation can be a victim of a cyber incident and in some cases, smaller organisations may not have the necessary budget and controls to prevent an attack.
Sources: [Security Magazine] [Insurance Times] [Infosecurity Magazine]
The Most Effective Cyber Attacks Never Touch Your Organisation’s Firewall, and HR’s Role in Defending the Organisation
In 2022, total spending on cyber security technologies increased to 71.1 billion USD, illustrating just how much effort goes into protecting companies, their data, and their customers. Regardless of all this spending, there remains a popular attack which can bypass this all: social engineering. Attackers know how much technology protection is placed in organisations, so they often try to bypass this and go straight through the employees.
Cyber security will never work if organisations do not go beyond IT; it is a business-wide issue and requires the engagement and input from across the business, including functions like Human Resources. Having effectively trained employees is a crucial part of creating a culture of security within an organisation, and this starts with HR. Employees will often have training as part of their onboarding and then regular training to ensure competencies; as part of HR’s role, this should include commissioning training on cyber security that is delivered by cyber security experts that understand what attackers are doing.
Source: [News Week] [Beta News]
Ransomware Infection Times Fall from 5 Days to 5 Hours
The amount of time it takes an attacker to infect a system with ransomware has fallen drastically over the last 12 months according to a recent report. The median dwell time (the time that an attacker spends in a victim’s network before being detected) was 5.5 days in 2021, reducing to 4.5 days in 2022, and this year it fell to less than 24 hours with, in 10% of cases, the time taken to deploy ransomware being within 5 hours. As threat actors continue to leverage Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) to execute attacks, dwell times will continue to decrease and the number of attacks will increase.
This coincides with a recent survey by Hornetsecurity that revealed that almost 60% of businesses are concerned about ransomware attacks. 92% of businesses are reported to be aware of ransomware’s potential negative impact, but just 54% of respondents say their leadership is actively involved in conversations and decision making to help prevent attacks.
The report highlights that ransomware is still at large, with the first half of 2023 seeing more ransomware victims than in the whole of 2022. Having good cyber security protection and hygiene is the key to ongoing success. Organisations cannot afford to become victims. Ongoing security awareness training and multi-layered ransomware protection are critical to help avoid insurmountable losses.
Sources: [Cision] [PC Mag] [Security Magazine]
80% of Security Leaders See AI as the Biggest Threat to Business
A report has found that a large majority of security leaders (80%) believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the biggest cyber threat to their business, and that the risks of AI outweigh the many advantages.
In a separate report, 58% agreed that AI is increasing the number of cyber attacks. The benefits of AI were also recognised however, with 73% reporting AI to be an increasingly important tool for security operations.
With AI finding itself both sides of the coin, it is important for organisations to effectively implement their AI solutions, so that they can improve their security whilst reducing the risk that AI presents to their organisation.
Sources: [Diginomica] [Infosecurity Magazine]
Is Your Board Cyber-Ready?
With the recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements entering effect, and the impending Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) requirements for Europe, there is yet another layer added to the complicated issues of managing cyber security risks. However, it is clear that strong corporate governance equips companies to address them efficiently and accurately.
Governance starts with the board, as it is responsible for the oversight of the organisation’s cyber security programs. For a board to do this effectively, the leadership team must be able to understand cyber security; yet despite this, a study found that only 12% of boards had a cyber expert. Black Arrow supports business leaders in organisations of all sizes to gain a strong practical understanding of the fundamentals of cyber security risk management, and to demonstrate governance in implementing their cyber security strategy by leveraging their existing internal and external resources.
Sources: [Harvard.edu] [JDSupra]
Cyber Security Should Be a Business Priority for CEOs
A recent report found that despite 96% of CEOs saying that cyber security is critical to organisational growth and stability, 74% of CEOs are concerned about their organisation’s ability to avert or minimise damage arising from a cyber attack. The report also highlighted that 60% of CEOs don’t incorporate cyber security into their business strategies, products or services from the beginning. 44% believe that cyber security requires episodic intervention rather than ongoing attention.
Adding to this reactive stance is the incorrect assumption by 54% of CEOs that the cost of implementing cyber security is higher than the cost of suffering a cyber attack, despite history showing otherwise. For instance, the report notes that a global shipping and logistics company breach resulted in a 20% drop in business volume, with losses hitting $300 million. In addition, despite 90% of CEOs saying cyber security is a differentiating factor for their products or services to help them build customer trust, only 15% have dedicated board meetings to discuss cyber security issues. This disconnect might be explained by the fact that 91% of CEOs said cyber security is a technical function that is the responsibility of the CIO or CISO.
Source: [HelpNet Security]
The Looming Threat of a Single Phishing Click to Your Business
A single click could be all it takes to get the ball rolling and allow an attacker entry into your organisation. From there, the possibilities are endless. Phishing impacts any employee within the organisation with an email account, phone number or access to the web.
Organisations can mitigate this risk however, by conducting training and awareness programmes, aimed at improving employees’ abilities to identify, report and avoid falling victim to phishing incidents. Such training should be held regularly to maintain their knowledge as well as adapting to the ever-changing landscape of cyber crime. Black Arrow supports organisations of all sizes in designing and delivering proportionate user education and awareness programmes, including in-person and online training as well as simulated phishing campaigns. Our programmes help secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation.
Source: [CMS-lawnow]
40% of Organisations Leave Ransomware to IT
A report found that 93% of respondents said they believe ransomware protection is “very” to “extremely” important in terms of IT priorities for their organisation, yet only 54% reported that the leadership were actively involved in conversations and decision-making around ransomware attacks, and 40% of total respondents were happy to leave the IT team to deal with ransomware attacks.
By only involving the IT team and excluding the leadership, organisations are at risk of not addressing regulatory requirements, or failing to manage such cyber incidents within a business context. This would also suggest a lack of an effective Incident Response Plan to ensure that considerations such as legal, communications, customers, employees and other stakeholders are not forgotten. Black Arrow works with organisations of all sizes and sectors to design and prepare for managing a cyber security incident; this can include an Incident Response Plan and an educational tabletop exercise for the leadership team that highlights the proportionate controls to help the organisation prevent and mitigate an incident.
Source: [MSSP Alert]
Auditors’ Growing Concern About Cyber Security
The majority of chief audit executives and information technology audit leaders consider cyber security to be a top risk over the next year. The survey found that found that nearly 75% of respondents, and an even higher percentage (82%) of technology audit leaders, consider cyber security to be a high-risk area over the next 12 months.
Source: [Accounting Today]
Preparing for the Unexpected: A Proactive Approach to Operational Resilience
Recent insights highlight a pressing need: ensuring operational resilience in financial firms. As the financial sector remains a prime target for cyber threats, the increasing interconnectedness presents evolving challenges. While cyber security aims to defend against attacks, operational resilience ensures the continuity of operations even when incidents occur.
Notably, the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) stresses preparedness, providing a framework for the industry. Although business continuity practices exist, operational resilience offers a more proactive stance, ensuring system reliability that is crucial for global financial trust. Achieving this requires a comprehensive risk assessment, laying the groundwork for a resilient strategy tailored to a firm’s unique position in the financial landscape.
Source: [Dark Reading]
Staggering Losses to Social Media and Social Engineering Since 2021, as Victims Take $2.7 Billion Hit in US Alone
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports that Americans alone, have lost $2.7 billion to social media and social engineering scams since 2021. The losses were incurred through websites, phone calls and email.
It is important for organisations to consider that such scams could very well find themselves in the corporate environment. Already, there has been a significant rise in attacks on employees through LinkedIn. As such, it is important for organisations to provide education and awareness training to users.
Sources: [Bleeping Computer] [Infosecurity Magazine]
Organisations Grapple with Detection and Response Despite Rising Security Budgets
A study by EY found that only a fifth of cyber security leaders today are confident about their organisation’s cyber security approach, with only half trusting the training they provide in-house. CISO respondents reported an average annual spend of $35 million on cyber security, with the median cost of a breach jumping 12% to $2.5 million. The leaders said they anticipate the cost per breach to reach $4 million by the end of the year.
The report found that the biggest internal challenges to the organisation's cyber security approach were "too many potential attack surfaces" at 52%, and "difficulty balancing security and innovation speed" at 50%. The study also noted big discrepancies between the CISOs and other C-suite leaders when it came to their organisation's cyber security preparedness. While 60% of CISOs were confident about the C-suite integration of cyber security into key business decisions, only over half of other C-suite officers believed they were effective. There was also a significant gap (12%) between their satisfaction with the overall cyber security preparedness.
Source: [CSO Online]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Auditors more worried about cyber security than AI risks | Accounting Today
Cyber Security Survey: 40% of Orgs “Leave” Ransomware to IT | MSSP Alert
Cyber attacks are only getting worse for business, so what are CISOs doing about it? | TechRadar
Warning as more businesses fall victim to cyber attacks | Insurance Times
PwC survey reveals rising concerns over cyber security and generative AI in 2024 - Reinsurance News
The Role of HR in Engaging the Workforce for Holistic Cyber Security (newsweek.com)
90% firms experienced cyber attacks; 83% opted to pay attackers: Report (business-standard.com)
The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so - The Hustle
Cyber security is a mindset, not just a set of tools and technologies. (techuk.org)
Cyber security should be a business priority for CEOs - Help Net Security
Organisations grapple with detection and response despite rising security budgets | CSO Online
The undeniable benefits of making cyber resiliency the new standard | CSO Online
Preparing for the Unexpected: A Proactive Approach to Operational Resilience (darkreading.com)
Cyber insurance costs pressure business budgets - Help Net Security
C-suite weighs in on generative AI and security (securityintelligence.com)
Cyber security overtakes cloud as top area of investment - The Recycler - 10/10/2023
New Wave of Cyber Threats Challenges In-House Legal Departments (bloomberglaw.com)
Should businesses follow Google’s footsteps in cyber security? | TechRadar
Cyber security is booming but it comes at a human cost (betanews.com)
A Primer on Cyber Risk Acceptance and What it Means to Your Business (bleepingcomputer.com)
A Cyber security Risk Assessment Guide for Leaders (trendmicro.com)
Addressing a Breach Starts With Getting Everyone on the Same Page (darkreading.com)
Uber's Ex-CISO Appeals Conviction Over 2016 Data Breach (darkreading.com)
6 steps to getting the board on board with your cyber security program (welivesecurity.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
First half of 2023 sees more ransomware victims than all of 2022 | Security Magazine
Cyber security Survey: 40% of Orgs “Leave” Ransomware to IT | MSSP Alert
Cyber criminals can go from click to compromise in less than a day - Help Net Security
Ransomware Infection Times Fall From 5 Days to 5 Hours (pcmag.com)
Ransomwared health insurer wasn't using anti-virus software • The Register
Everest searching for corporate insiders amid rare pivot • The Register
HelloKitty ransomware source code leaked on hacking forum (bleepingcomputer.com)
How to Prevent Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) Attacks (trendmicro.com)
SEC Investigating Progress Software Over MOVEit Hack - Security Week
Ransomware attacks now target unpatched WS_FTP servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Attack on Hospitals Highlights Need to Ensure Continuity of Patient Care (fdd.org)
Ransomware Victims
Cyber attack victim Estes making ‘steady progress’ - FreightWaves
Caesars Offers Two Years of IDX Services to Compromised Data Victims - GamblingNews
Ransomwared health insurer wasn't using anti-virus software • The Register
BianLian extortion group claims recent Air Canada breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
The looming threat of a single phishing click to your business (cms-lawnow.com)
What to do if you’ve clicked on a phishing link or talked to scammers | Kaspersky official blog
LinkedIn Smart Links attacks return to target Microsoft accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing, the campaigns that are affecting Italy (securityaffairs.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Artificial Intelligence
PwC survey reveals rising concerns over cyber security and generative AI in 2024 - Reinsurance News
'Really frightening': IT leaders on cyber security in the age of AI (computing.co.uk)
Cyber security pros predict rise of malicious AI - Help Net Security
Why 80% of CISOs see AI as the biggest threat to their business (diginomica.com)
C-suite weighs in on generative AI and security (securityintelligence.com)
68 percent of IT decision makers are worried about the rise of deepfakes (betanews.com)
US Space Force Pauses Generative AI Based on Security Concerns (bloomberglaw.com)
Generative AI Security: Preventing Microsoft Copilot Data Exposure (bleepingcomputer.com)
How to Guard Your Data from Exposure in ChatGPT (thehackernews.com)
2FA/MFA
Malware
Mirai DDoS malware variant expands targets with 13 router exploits (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft to kill off VBScript in Windows to block malware delivery (bleepingcomputer.com)
How Keyloggers Have Evolved From the Cold War to Today (darkreading.com)
Endpoint malware attacks decline as campaigns spread wider - Help Net Security
Mobile
Beware - GoldDigger malware will drain your bank accounts without you even realizing | TechRadar
China-based Supply Chain Cyber Attacks Hit Thousands of Android Devices | MSSP Alert
Android devices shipped with backdoored firmware as part of the BADBOX network (securityaffairs.com)
Operation Behind Predator Mobile Spyware Is 'Industrial Scale' (darkreading.com)
Hacktivists send fake nuclear attack warning via Israeli Red Alert app (bitdefender.com)
5 quick tips to strengthen your Android phone security today | ZDNET
Botnets
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
HTTP/2 Zero-Day Vulnerability Results in Record-Breaking DDoS Attacks (cloudflare.com)
Google, Amazon Face Massive Denial-of-Service Attack | MSSP Alert
Internet of Things – IoT
Automotive cyber security: A decade of progress and challenges - Help Net Security
Android TV malware case worsens: Tens of millions of devices infected - FlatpanelsHD
Have You Changed the Default Passwords on Your IoT Devices? (makeuseof.com)
Android devices shipped with backdoored firmware as part of the BADBOX network (securityaffairs.com)
Mirai Variant IZ1H9 Adds 13 Exploits to Arsenal - Security Week
Exposed security cameras in Israel and Palestine pose significant risks (securityaffairs.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
3.81 billion records compromised by cyber security incidents in September 2023 (itsecuritywire.com)
23andMe Cyberbreach Exposes DNA Data, Potential Family Ties (darkreading.com)
DC Board of Elections confirms voter data stolen in site hack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lyca Mobile says customer data was stolen during cyber attack | TechCrunch
Third Flagstar Bank data breach since 2021 affects 800,000 customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Caesars Offers Two Years of IDX Services to Compromised Data Victims - GamblingNews
Air Europa customers urged to cancel cards following hack on payment system (therecord.media)
Dymocks breach happened while changing providers | Information Age | ACS
Shadow PC warns of data breach as hacker tries to sell gamers' info (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
The cyber villains are getting bolder. Businesses need to up their game - Raconteur
Protecting your business against the cyber criminal enterprise (techuk.org)
Cyber attackers are combining attacks to bypass detection (siliconrepublic.com)
Hackers 'don't break in anymore, they log in,' expert explains (yahoo.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
‘I felt powerless’: how a crypto scam cost a finance boss £300,000 | Scams | The Guardian
Inside FTX’s All-Night Race to Stop a $1 Billion Crypto Heist | WIRED
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Everest searching for corporate insiders amid rare pivot • The Register
Former US soldier accused of trying to pass secrets to China • The Register
Understanding the human factor of digital safety | TechRadar
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Fooled by cyber criminals: The humanitarian CEO scammed by hackers - GZERO Media
Global job scam to cause $100 mn in losses for over 1,000 companies: Report (odishatv.in)
FTC warns of ‘staggering’ losses to social media scams since 2021 (bleepingcomputer.com)
The dark side of solar panels – how crooks are exploiting net zero (telegraph.co.uk)
Chinese Criminals Backdoor Android Devices for Ad Fraud (govinfosecurity.com)
‘I felt powerless’: how a crypto scam cost a finance boss £300,000 | Scams | The Guardian
Inside FTX’s All-Night Race to Stop a $1 Billion Crypto Heist | WIRED
What to do if you’ve clicked on a phishing link or talked to scammers | Kaspersky official blog
Never click on bank-draining words if message pops up, expert warns (ladbible.com)
Boss of world’s largest cinema chain victim of catfish blackmail plot | Business | The Guardian
Deepfakes
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Cyber insurance costs pressure business budgets - Help Net Security
Insurance industry faces growing concerns over cyber cat risk: Gallagher Re - Reinsurance News
Cyber Insurance Lessens the Sting of Corporate Cyber Attacks (bloomberglaw.com)
Keeping up with the demands of the cyber insurance market - Help Net Security
Insurance cover ‘sufficient’ for $100mn cyber attack hit: MGM (insuranceinsider.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Why open-source software supply chain attacks have tripled in a year | CSO Online
New One-Click Exploit Is a Supply Chain Risk for Linux OSes (darkreading.com)
Cloud/SaaS
The Need for Speed: When Cloud Attacks Take Only 10 Minutes (darkreading.com)
Microsoft and Cabinet Office issue government-wide security guidelines for M365 – PublicTechnology
Securely Moving Financial Services to the Cloud (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
New cryptographic protocol aims to bolster open-source software security | ZDNET
Linux Foundation Announces OpenPubkey Open Source Cryptographic Protocol - Security Week
API
Open Source and Linux
New cryptographic protocol aims to bolster open-source software security | ZDNET
Why open-source software supply chain attacks have tripled in a year | CSO Online
Linux Foundation Announces OpenPubkey Open Source Cryptographic Protocol - Security Week
Security Patch for Two New Flaws in Curl Library Arriving on October 11 (thehackernews.com)
Maintainers warn of vulnerability affecting foundational open-source tool (therecord.media)
New One-Click Exploit Is a Supply Chain Risk for Linux OSes (darkreading.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
CISA publishes top 10 most common security misconfigurations • The Register
Have You Changed the Default Passwords on Your IoT Devices? (makeuseof.com)
Social Media
FTC warns of ‘staggering’ losses to social media scams since 2021 (bleepingcomputer.com)
LinkedIn Smart Links attacks return to target Microsoft accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Brands Beware: X's New Badge System Is a Ripe Cyber-Target (darkreading.com)
What should you do if your Facebook is hacked? (pocket-lint.com)
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Work-related stress “keeps cyber professionals up at night” | ITPro
Cyber security is booming but it comes at a human cost (betanews.com)
eBook: Cyber security career hacks for newcomers - Help Net Security
Turning military veterans into cyber security experts - Help Net Security
CISO Pay Increases Are Slowing – a Look Behind the Figures - Security Week
Skills-based Hiring Can Address Cyber Workforce Shortfalls (fdd.org)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
European Police Hackathon Hunts Down Traffickers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare
Hacking Groups, Including Some Tied to Russia, Are Attacking Israeli Websites (insurancejournal.com)
Cyber Metamorphosis: Ukraine Conflict's Impact on the Threat Landscape (govinfosecurity.com)
Hackers For Hire Hit Both Sides in Israel-Hamas Conflict (darkreading.com)
Beyond the Front Lines: How the Israel-Hamas War Impacts the Cyber security Industry - Security Week
Hamas 'using social engineering attacks' in conflict with Israel (techmonitor.ai)
Could Middle Eastern Cyberwarfare Spill Into Health Sector? (inforisktoday.com)
The Cyberwar Between the East and the West Goes Through Africa (darkreading.com)
Hamas 'using social engineering attacks' in conflict with Israel (techmonitor.ai)
Russia
Dark Horse Ukraine Proves Resistant to Onslaught of Russian Cyber Attacks (kyivpost.com)
Kremlin-Linked Hacker Group Launches Cyber-Attack Against Israel (kyivpost.com)
Russian hacker group "Killnet" declares cyberwar on Israel | Al Bawaba
Gaza-linked hackers and Pro-Russia groups are targeting Israel (securityaffairs.com)
Hacking Groups, Including Some Tied to Russia, Are Attacking Israeli Websites (insurancejournal.com)
Cyber Metamorphosis: Ukraine Conflict's Impact on the Threat Landscape (govinfosecurity.com)
China
A Frontline Report of Chinese Threat Actor Tactics and Techniques (darkreading.com)
Why One Of The Largest Cyber-Attacks Is Still A Mystery (slashgear.com)
Chinese Hackers Target Semiconductor Firms in East Asia with Cobalt Strike (thehackernews.com)
Chinese Criminals Backdoor Android Devices for Ad Fraud (govinfosecurity.com)
China-based Supply Chain Cyber Attacks Hit Thousands of Android Devices | MSSP Alert
Former US soldier accused of trying to pass secrets to China • The Register
Researchers Uncover Grayling APT's Ongoing Attack Campaign Across Industries (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft: China's Behind Atlassian Confluence Attacks; PoCs Available (darkreading.com)
Iran
Escalation In Iranian Cyber Operations: A Shift Toward Espionage | Iran International (iranintl.com)
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Developers take as long as one month to patch security flaws, Synopsys finds (axios.com)
Vulnerability Behind “Largest Attack in Internet History” Found | MSSP Alert
Vulnerabilities
Patch Now: Massive RCE Campaign Wrangles Routers Into Botnet (darkreading.com)
Patch Tuesday: Code Execution Flaws in Adobe Commerce, Photoshop - Security Week
Google Chrome 118 is a massive security update - gHacks Tech News
Security Patch for Two New Flaws in Curl Library Arriving on October 11 (thehackernews.com)
Adobe Acrobat Reader Vuln Now Under Attack (darkreading.com)
Ransomware attacks now target unpatched WS_FTP servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Critical Zero-Day Bug in Atlassian Confluence Under Active Exploit (informationweek.com)
WhatsApp exploits commanding multi-million prices (computing.co.uk)
High-Severity Vulnerabilities Discovered in WebM Project’s Libraries (paloaltonetworks.com)
Credential Harvesting Campaign Targets Unpatched NetScaler Instances - Security Week
Over 17,000 WordPress sites hacked in Balada Injector attacks last month (bleepingcomputer.com)
Thousands of WordPress sites have been hacked through tagDiv plugin vulnerability | Ars Technica
New WordPress backdoor creates rogue admin to hijack websites (bleepingcomputer.com)
libcue Library Flaw Opens GNOME Linux Systems Vulnerable to RCE Attacks (thehackernews.com)
D-Link WiFi range extender vulnerable to command injection attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Maintainers warn of vulnerability affecting foundational open-source tool (therecord.media)
Apple releases iOS 16.7.1 to plug critical security holes | Macworld
The SEC is said to be investigating a Twitter security flaw from the pre-Musk era (engadget.com)
Microsoft: China's Behind Atlassian Confluence Attacks; PoCs Available (darkreading.com)
35 Squid proxy bugs still unpatched after 2 years • The Register
Fortinet Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA
Tools and Controls
Organisations grapple with detection and response despite rising security budgets | CSO Online
Preparing for the Unexpected: A Proactive Approach to Operational Resilience (darkreading.com)
A Primer on Cyber Risk Acceptance and What it Means to Your Business (bleepingcomputer.com)
Reassessing the Impacts of Risk Management With NIST Framework 2.0 (darkreading.com)
16 Essential Factors To Cover In A Disaster Recovery Plan (forbes.com)
A Cyber Security Risk Assessment Guide for Leaders (trendmicro.com)
Addressing a Breach Starts With Getting Everyone on the Same Page (darkreading.com)
Google, Yahoo Push DMARC, Forcing Companies to Catch Up (darkreading.com)
You can't avoid APIs, so you need to secure them (betanews.com)
What is External Attack Surface Management (EASM)? | UpGuard
Why You Should Phish In Your Own (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Why zero trust delivers even more resilience than you think - Help Net Security
Unmasking the limitations of yearly penetration tests - Help Net Security
Keeping up with the demands of the cyber insurance market - Help Net Security
Cyber attackers are combining attacks to bypass detection (siliconrepublic.com)
Keep on keeping your organisation informed to stay cyber secure (techuk.org)
Why identity infrastructure is the new cyberattack surface (siliconrepublic.com)
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Cyber security is a mindset, not just a set of tools and technologies. (techuk.org)
Large law firms experiencing two 'cyber incidents' a month - Legal Futures
Small businesses growing target for cyber criminals (planetradio.co.uk)
The world was already horrifying — technology is making it more so - The Hustle
Legions of Critical Infrastructure Devices Subject to Cyber Targeting (darkreading.com)
Subsea cable business seeks to plug its security holes (lightreading.com)
Old-School Attacks Are Still a Danger, Despite Newer Techniques (darkreading.com)
Protect Critical Infrastructure With Same Rigor as Classified Networks (darkreading.com)
Drug dealers hijack NHS, police and Crimestoppers websites to sell coke in plain sight - Daily Star
Proactive not reactive: adjusting the approach to cyber crime in education
Magecart Campaign Hijacks 404 Pages to Steal Data (darkreading.com)
As biohacking evolves, how vulnerable are we to cyber threats? - Help Net Security
Electric Power System Cyber Security Vulnerabilities (trendmicro.com)
Securing the Food Pipeline from Cyber Attacks (newswise.com)
US construction giant reports cyber security incident • The Register
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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