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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

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Insurance

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

Linux and Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Backup and Recovery

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

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

Geopolitical Threats/Activity

China

Russia

Iran

North Korea

Tools and Controls

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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

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

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Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 September 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 22 September 2023:

-New Ransomware Victims Surge by 47% as Small Businesses Targeted

-MGM Resorts Lost Millions of Dollars a Day in What Should be a Wakeup Call for Corporate Boards

-SMEs Overestimate Their Cyber Security Preparedness

-China’s Hacking Power Bigger Than Rest of World Combined

-Cyber Insurance Claims for Ransomware Reach Record High

-Cyber Security Still Remains the Greatest Concern for Many C-Suite Executives

-Bad Torts: Law Firms Feel the Heat from Rising Cyber Threats

-Attacker Deepfakes IT Employees’ Voice in Phone Call to Breach Company

-Insider Risks are Getting Increasingly Costly as Organisations Fail to Proactively Address Them

-Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Challenges

-How Social Engineering Takes Advantage of Your Kindness

-Employers Blame Employees as 54% of Firms Face Cyber Attacks Annually

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

New Ransomware Victims Surge by 47% as Small Businesses Targeted

Ransomware attackers are shifting away from “big game” targets and towards easier, less defended organisations, a new report from Trend Micro has found. The report observed a 47% increase in the number of new victims of this vector from the second half of 2022, many of which were small organisations with less mature cyber postures. In fact, 57% of victims of the infamous ransomware gang LockBit, were of organisations up to 200 employees.

Small businesses can be attractive targets; they don’t have the budget of a large organisation and therefore they are more likely to have gaps that can be exploited. To combat this, small businesses need to prioritise their security budgets effectively, to allow themselves the most protection that their budget allows.

Source [Infosecurity Magazine]

MGM Resorts Lost Millions of Dollars a Day in What Should be a Wakeup Call for Corporate Boards

The recent ransomware attack on MGM Resorts has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars daily, not accounting for ransomware fees and reputational damage. MGM Resorts are a client of Okta, who noted that Caesars entertainment and three (not named) other organisations have been hit. Although the other victims have not yet been named, it has been revealed that they are in the manufacturing, retail and technology sectors. As a result of the attacks, Beazley and AIG, who provide cyber insurance, are likely to face significant losses.

The attack should act as wakeup call for corporate boards, as it once again highlights how anyone can be a victim, and if the right controls are not in place, an attack won’t be stopped. Cyber incidents are a matter of when, not if, and boards need to ensure they are prepared, and prepared to handle the fallout when an attack happens. 

Sources: [Proactive Investors] [Reuters] [Insurance Insider] [OODA Loop] [Claims Journal]

SMEs Overestimate Their Cyber Security Preparedness

According to a recent report, 57% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have experienced a cyber security breach, with 31% facing such an incident in the past year. Despite the increasing threat, 70% are confident in their defences, though 44% solely rely on their antivirus solutions, and a quarter don't regularly train employees on cyber security best practices or never have.

The report also found that many SMEs either underestimate the importance of robust security, believing they’re too small to be targeted, or put too much trust in their current defences. The increasing number of evolving cyber threats poses a significant risk to SMEs. Rising patterns show frequent and sophisticated attacks, highlighting the urgent need for effective security measures. Understandably, not all small business owners have the resources to obtain in-house cyber security experts. 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: [Helpnet Security] [Security Magazine]

China’s Hacking Power Bigger Than Rest of World Combined

In a recent conference the director of the FBI highlighted the magnitude of China’s cyber power, most notably explaining that China has a bigger hacking program than the competition combined.

This comes as recent attacks have seen malicious USB drives used to spread malware and now, something we’ve not seen much before, financially motivated hacks by Chinese-speaking actors through a piece of malware known as “ValleyRAT”.

Sources: [Reuters] [Infosecurity Magazine] [WIRED] [Inforisk Today] [TechRadar]

Cyber Insurance Claims for Ransomware Reach Record High

A new report from cyber insurance provider Coalition shows a 12% increase in cyber claims over the first six months of this year, driven by the notable spikes in ransomware (19%), business email compromise (BEC) attacks (26%) and funds transfer fraud (FTF) (31%). The report found that claims severity also increased 61% from the previous six months and 117% over the last year. The average ransom demand was $1.62 million, a 47% increase over the previous six months and a 74% increase over the past year.

The report comes as the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)  released a joint advisory warning that ransomware gangs are increasingly evolving their tactics while targeting critical infrastructure sectors, including Information Technology, and Food and Agriculture. The advisory strongly discourages organisations from paying ransoms and encourages victims to report ransomware incidents to a local agency’s reporting channel. Similar advisories were released earlier in the year warning of ransomware groups such as Cl0p who exploited the vulnerability in MOVEit earlier this year.

Sources: [NextGov] [BetanNews] [Security Magazine] [CSO Online]

Cyber Security Still Remains the Greatest Concern for Many C-Suite Executives

Almost three-quarters (73%) of nearly 700 board members surveyed in a new study, believe their organisations are at risk of cyber attack, including targeted attacks; a sizable increase from the 65% last year, according to a recently released Proofpoint report. Worryingly, with the high number believing they are at risk from an attack, 53% still believed they would be unprepared for such an attack. When it came to their main concerns, malware was the top concern (40%), followed by insider threat (36%) and cloud account compromise (36%).

C-suite concern has propelled budgets, with a third of businesses increasing cyber security spending by a significant margin. As IT has become less centralised with a move towards cloud-based systems, combined with a shortage of skilled cyber security workers, businesses are having to rely more heavily on third party security according to a recent report.

This investment, along with improved security communications to executives, should enhance IT upskilling and employee awareness of cyber security.

Sources: [MSSP Alert] [Tech Radar]

Bad Torts: Law Firms Feel the Heat from Rising Cyber Threats

Publicly available reports of ransomware attacks on law firms have accelerated this year, with massive amounts of sensitive client data now in the hands of threat actors, highlighting a growing trend of cyber incidents afflicting the legal business.

One of the reasons law firms are increasingly targeted is due to the amount of sensitive data that they hold. This data can be used for extortion, insider training and general ransom purposes. In addition, many law firms utilise third parties to handle their data, increasing their risk of becoming a victim through their supply chain.

Source: [Synack]

Attacker Deepfakes IT Employees’ Voice in Phone Call to Breach Company

A recent cyber attack used AI to deepfake an IT employee’s voice. The attack started off with a phishing mail, which the unsuspecting victim employee clicked. The attacker then hit a challenge: multi-factor authentication (MFA). That was until they decided to use artificial intelligence to clone the voice of an IT employee. The attacker, now speaking as if they were the IT employee, was then able to convince the victim employee to provide the needed MFA code. As a result, the attack was successful.

The attack highlights the increase in AI for attacks, whilst also demonstrating that cyber security is more than just technology: it is people and operations too. Think about voice cloning, how would your organisation prepare for this?

Sources [PC Mag]

Insider Risks are Getting Increasingly Costly as Organisations Fail to Proactively Address Them

With the cost of insider risk the highest it has ever been (£13.25m per incident), organisations need to effectively budget and find ways to proactively address insider risk. A report found that 55% of money spent on insider incident response went toward problems caused by negligence or mistakes, and 25% for those were caused by actively malicious insiders, with the remaining 20% being attacks that out-smarted employees.

The cost and damage is acknowledged by organisations, with a separate report finding 46% of organisations self-reported that they were actively planning to spend more on proactively addressing insider risk in 2024. Budgets are not infinite however, and organisations need to effectively allocate their spending to ensure they are getting the most protection for their spend.

Sources: [Computer Weekly] [CSO Online]

Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Challenges

With the surge in the number of attacks taking place through the software supply chain, it is no wonder almost half of executives expect supply chain challenges in the year ahead according to a survey by Deloitte. When asked about their experience, 34% of respondents self-reported that their organisation has experienced one or more supply chain cyber security events during the past year.

One of the ways to improve organisations’ supply chain security is to conduct assessments on the third parties they use, yet 21% of respondents did not do this at all. Potentially, one of the reasons for this is not knowing the correct questions to ask. Black Arrow can support you through a structured approach to asking a suite of targeted questions to your third parties, and assessing the responses for indicators of risk to your business.  

Sources [PRnewswire] [SiliconANGLE]

How Social Engineering Takes Advantage of Your Kindness

Last week, MGM Resorts disclosed a massive systems issue that reportedly rendered slot machines, room keys and other critical devices inoperable. What elaborate methods were required to crack a nearly $34 billion casino and hotel empire? According to the hackers themselves, all it took was a ten minute phone call, allowing them to gain access through a simple social engineering attack. Social engineering psychologically manipulates a target into doing what the attacker wants, or giving up information that they shouldn’t. The consequences range from taking down global corporations to devastating the personal finances of unfortunate individual victims.

Extroverted, agreeable, and open individuals are often cyber victims; fear is an attack vector and so is helpfulness. As comfort increases, so too does vulnerability to being hacked. Social engineering attacks target both corporations and individuals. A person’s positive traits can be weaknesses against such threats. Balancing kindness with scepticism is essential.

Source: [Engadget]

Employers Blame Employees as 54% of Firms Face Cyber Attacks Annually

A survey found that despite the percentage of companies that have encountered a cyber security incident in the last 12 months, a worrying 24% of employees have never had any cyber security training. The survey further found that alarmingly 42% of respondents used the same password for both home and work accounts, increasing the risk of exposing their organisational passwords. This risk was furthered by 40% of the total number of respondents keeping their password in an open file or physical notebook.

Organisations, including those already providing training, should look to ensure they implement training from experts that covers such areas; by effectively training employees, organisations will increase their cyber resilience and reduce their risk of suffering a cyber attack. 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 are secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation.  

Source: [Information Security Buzz]

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Botnets

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

Deepfakes

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Shadow IT

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Russia

China

Iran

North Korea

Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare

Other News

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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

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

Read More
Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 21 July 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 21 July 2023:

-Cyber Attacks Reach Two-Year High Amid Ransomware Resurgence as Financial Service Firms Lose $32 Billion in 5 Years

-MOVEit Body Count Closes in on 400 orgs, 20M+ Individuals

-IT Worker Jailed for Impersonating Ransomware Gang to Extort Employer

-Stabilising the Cyber Security Landscape: The CISO Exodus and the Rise of vCISOs

-Risk is Driving Medium-Sized Business Decisions

-Talent and Governance, Not Technology, are Key to Drive Change around Cyber Security

-Hybrid Work, Digital Transformation can Exploit Security Gaps

-Human Cyber-Risk Can Be Demonstrably Mitigated by Behaviour Changing Training

-AI Tool WormGPT Enables Convincing Fake Emails For BEC Attacks

-Pro-Russian Hacktivists Increase Focus on Western Targets

-Infosec Doesn't Know What AI Tools Orgs Are Using

-Google Restricting Internet Access to Some Employees to Reduce Cyber Attack Risk

-Unlocking Business Potential: How CISOs are Transforming Cyber Security into a Strategic Asset

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 Attacks Reach Two-Year High Amid Ransomware Resurgence as Financial Service Firms Lose $32 Billion in 5 Years

The average weekly volume of cyber attacks reached a two-year high in the second quarter of 2023 amid a spike in activity among ransomware groups according to Check Point Research, with healthcare in particular facing a significant year-on-year increase. The impact of ransomware hits every organisation, with separate research finding global financial services organisations having lost over $32bn in downtime since 2018 due to ransomware breaches.

A recent report found that the ransomware gangs LockBit and Cl0p alone accounted for nearly 40% of all recorded ransomware attacks across June 2023. The impact from Cl0p’s MOVEit attack alone has been felt by over 400 organisations since May 2023. One of the key takeaways from the MOVEit attack is that no matter the sector, any organisation can be a victim and as such it is essential to have effective controls in place, incorporating defence-in-depth. It’s worth considering how many organisations are still running vulnerable instances of MOVEit, or have someone in their supply chain who is.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-costs-financial-32bn/

https://www.itpro.com/security/ransomware/weekly-cyber-attacks-reach-two-year-high-amid-ransomware-resurgence

  • MOVEit Body Count Closes in on 400 Organisations, 20M+ Individuals

The number of victims and the costs tied to the MOVEit file transfer hack continues to climb as the fallout from the massive supply chain attack enters week seven. In late May 2023, Russian ransomware gang Cl0p exploited a security hole in Progress Software's MOVEit product suite to steal documents from vulnerable networks. As of last week, the number of affected organisations was closing in on 400 and individual victims exceed 20 million.

The attack highlights the need for organisations to have policies and procedures in place for third parties, and to be aware of the data which a third party supplier has on them. It will be the organisation who will need to let their customers know in the event of a breach.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/20/moveit_victim_count/

  • IT Worker Jailed for Impersonating Ransomware Gang to Extort Employer

28-year-old Ashley Liles, a former IT employee, has been sentenced to over three years in prison for attempting to blackmail his employer during a ransomware attack. Liles, an IT security analyst at an Oxford-based company in the UK, exploited his position to intercept a ransomware payment following an attack suffered by his employer. To deceive the company, he impersonated the ransomware gang extorting them. He tried to redirect the ransomware payments by switching the cyber criminals' cryptocurrency wallet to one under his control. He also accessed a board member's private emails over 300 times.

Insider threat is a risk that organisations need to be aware of and, although it was malicious in this case, it can also come from employee negligence. Organisations looking to achieve a strong level of cyber resilience should incorporate insider risk into their training and controls.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/it-worker-jailed-for-impersonating-ransomware-gang-to-extort-employer/

  • Stabilising the Cyber Security Landscape: The CISO Exodus and the Rise of vCISOs

In today's evolving digital landscape, the role of a chief information security officer (CISO) is critical. These professionals defend against the rising tide of daily cyber threats. Yet many CISOs are leaving or considering leaving their jobs; this trend seems to reflect the intense pressure CISOs endure. They face a constant stream of complex cyber threats, manage compliance issues and struggle with a talent deficit in cyber security. Paired with high expectations, many reconsider their roles which can lead to a leadership gap.

A virtual CISO (vCISO) is an outsourced security practitioner who offers their expertise to businesses on a part-time or contractual basis. These professionals provide many of the same services as a traditional CISO, such as developing and implementing security strategies, ensuring compliance with regulations, training staff and managing a company's cyber security posture. vCISOs, such as from Black Arrow, are often part of a larger team and can bring a wide range of experiences and skills. They are exposed to diverse security landscapes across industries, and can provide a fresh perspective and innovative solutions to your security challenges. The vCISO model may not replace the need for a full-time CISO in all cases, but it can certainly add a flexible and cost-effective tool to the arsenal of businesses looking to bolster their cyber security posture.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2023/07/14/stabilizing-the-cybersecurity-landscape-the-ciso-exodus-and-the-rise-of-vcisos/

  • Risk is Driving Medium-Sized Business Decisions

Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) have long lacked the tools, expertise, staff and budget to make major cyber security investments. However, as threats become more mainstream and more advanced, the focus is shifting, so SMBs need to take the threats seriously and evaluate their cyber security controls.

In a survey of 140 SMBs, it was found that 40% of respondents believe they are very likely or extremely likely to experience a cyber security attack target in the next 12 months. That fear is founded, as 34% of organisations stated they experienced a malware attack in the past year, and 29% experienced a phishing or spear phishing incident. SMBs are putting their time, energy, and budget toward risk management. When it came to budgeting, 67% list their primary budgeting method as “risk-based”, and only 32% as “ad hoc/following an attack or breach”. It was found that over two-thirds of businesses would rather spend money now than pay a ransom later.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-guests/risk-is-driving-small-and-medium-sized-businesses-smb-decisions/

  • Talent and Governance, Not Technology, are Key to Drive Change Around Cyber Security

For the last 20 years, large organisations have been spending significant amounts of money on cyber security products and solutions, on managed services, or with consultancies large and small. Yet maturity levels remain elusive: a report found that 70% of firms surveyed had yet to fully advance to a mature-based approach. Cyber security good practices have been well established for the best part of the last 20 years and continue to provide, in most industries, an acceptable level of protection against most threats and an acceptable level of compliance against most regulations.

However cyber security is often viewed as something external to the business. This perspective leads to talent alienation and execution failures because the employees who should be invested in maintaining and improving cyber security may feel disconnected from these efforts. To make genuine progress, cyber security needs to be intrinsically linked to business values as a visible priority, owned and directed from the highest levels of an organisation.

This approach underlines the importance of governance in setting effective cyber security policies and procedures. It also highlights the crucial role of nurturing talent within the organisation to ensure active involvement in maintaining and improving cyber security measures. While technology is undoubtedly an essential element of cyber security, prioritising talent and governance can lead to lasting progress.

https://technative.io/talent-and-governance-not-technology-are-key-to-drive-change-around-cyber-security/

  • Hybrid Work, Digital Transformation can Exploit Security Gaps

A new study showed that larger organisations generally recognise malware threats but they lack protection against malicious actors and ways to properly remediate infections. The report revealed security leaders are concerned about attacks that leverage malware-exfiltrated authentication data. 53% say they are extremely concerned about attacks, with 1% of security leaders saying they weren’t concerned at all. 98% said that better visibility into at-risk applications would significantly improve their security posture.

The most overlooked entry points for malware include 57% of organisations allowing employees to sync browser data between personal and corporate devices. 54% of organisations struggle with shadow IT, due to employees’ unsanctioned adoption of applications and systems, creating gaps not only in visibility but also in basic security controls and corporate policies.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/digital-transformation-hybrid-work-models-create-perfect-setting-for-cybercriminals-to-exploit-security-gaps-study-finds/

  • Human Cyber Risk Can Be Demonstrably Mitigated by Behaviour Changing Training

The process of encouraging secure cyber habits in end users is evolving from traditional awareness training toward changing end user behaviour. It reflects a growing acceptance that traditional methods haven’t worked. While traditional security awareness teaches users how to recognise social engineering, new behaviour changing trains the brain – almost pre-programs it – on the correct recognition and response to phishing.

What is considered a standard phishing email today may not be tomorrow, and changes in user behaviour will help to combat this. It is simply not enough to be shown one phishing email and be told to follow procedures. Training should instead be focused on going beyond; this should look to change how the user approaches things such as phishing, and gamifying the recognition and reporting of it.

https://www.securityweek.com/human-cyber-risk-can-be-demonstrably-mitigated-by-behavior-changing-training-analysis/

  • AI Tool WormGPT Enables Convincing Fake Emails For BEC Attacks

A generative AI tool, WormGPT, has emerged as a powerful weapon in the hands of cyber criminals, specifically for launching business email compromise (BEC) attacks, according to new findings. The tool is designed for malicious purposes and has no restrictions on what a user can request. Such a tool allows for impeccable grammar in emails to reduce suspicion and allows sophistication with no restrictions on prompts. The lowered entry threshold enables cyber criminals with limited skills to execute sophisticated attacks, democratising the use of this technology.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/wormgpt-fake-emails-bec-attacks/

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/chatgpt-dark-web-wormgpt-hack-b2376627.html

  • Pro-Russian Hacktivists Increase Focus on Western Targets

‘Anonymous Sudan’, apparent pro-Russian hacktivists, claimed a one-hour distributed denial of service attack on the social platform OnlyFans last week. This was the latest in a string of operations aimed at targets in the US and Europe. The group’s digital assaults coincide with attacks coming from a broader network of hackers aligned with Moscow that seek attention by taking down high-profile victims and strategic targets; many of the targets support Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia.

The pro-Russian group appears to be affiliated with Killnet, a pro-Russian hacktivist group that emerged in late 2021 or early 2022 and has claimed distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, data theft and leaks on perceived adversaries of the Russian government, according to an analysis from Google’s Mandiant released earlier this week. The collective’s apparent significant growth in capabilities, demonstrated by Microsoft’s confirmation that Anonymous Sudan was responsible for the outages they experienced, potentially indicates a significant increase in outside investment in the collective, further suggesting a potential tie to the Russian state.

https://cyberscoop.com/anonymous-sudan-killnet-russia-onlyfans/

  • Infosec Doesn't Know What AI Tools Organisations Are Using

With the marketplace awash in new artificial intelligence (AI) tools and new AI features being added to existing tools, organisations are finding themselves lacking visibility into what AI tools are in use, how they are used, who has access, and what data is being shared. As businesses try, adopt, and abandon new generative AI tools, it falls on enterprise IT, risk, and security leaders to govern and secure their use without hindering innovation. While developing security policies to govern AI use is important, it is not possible without knowing what tools are being used in the first place.

Enterprise security teams have to consider how to handle discovery, learning which generative AI tools have been introduced into the environment and by whom, as well as risk assessment.

https://www.darkreading.com/tech-trends/infosec-doesnt-know-what-ai-tools-orgs-are-using

  • Google Restricting Internet Access to Some Employees to Reduce Cyber Attack Risk

In a bid to shrink the attack surface of its employees, and thus boost security, Google is taking an experimental, and some might say extreme, approach: cutting some of their workstations off from the internet. The company originally selected more than 2,500 employees to participate and will disable internet access on the selected desktops, except for internal web-based tools and Google owned websites like Google Drive and Gmail. Some workers who need the internet to do their job will get exceptions, the company stated in materials.

Google is running the programme to reduce the risk of cyber attacks, according to internal materials. If a Google employee’s device is compromised, the attackers may have access to user data and infrastructure code, which could result in a major incident and undermine user trust. The program comes as companies face increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. Just last week, Microsoft said Chinese intelligence hacked into company email accounts belonging to two dozen government agencies in the US and Western Europe, including the US State Department, in a “significant” breach.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/18/google-restricting-internet-access-to-some-employees-for-security.html

https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/19/google_cuts_internet/

  • Unlocking Business Potential: How CISOs are Transforming Cyber Security into a Strategic Asset

Enterprises are responding to growing cyber security threats by working to make the best use of tools and services to ensure business resilience, according to a recent report. Chief information security officers (CISOs) and virtual CISOs (vCISOS) in particular, want more solutions and services that help them align security measures with enterprise objectives and C-level executives have become more aware of the need for cyber resilience. As a result, security investments have expanded beyond detection and response to include rapid recovery and business continuity.

The report found that amongst other things, enterprises are investing in risk assessments and outsourcing more services. In some cases, where a CISO cannot be hired, organisations may look to hire a vCISO. It is important that the vCISO is able to understand cyber in context to the business and help to align security objectives with the organisations objectives. Black Arrow supports clients as their vCISO with specialist experience in cyber security risk management in a business context.

https://www.blackarrowcyber.com/blog/threat-briefing-14-july-2023

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

Artificial Intelligence

Malware

Mobile

Botnets

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

AML/CFT/Sanctions

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Attack Surface Management

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Digital Transformation

Travel

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Russia

China

North Korea

Misc/Other/Unknown

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

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

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

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

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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

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

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

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