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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 April 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 19 April 2024:
-94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted by Attackers
-Sharing IT Providers Is a Risk for Financial Services, Says IMF, as Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability
-Hackers are Threatening to Publish a Huge Stolen Sanctions and Financial Crimes Watchlist
-Your Annual Cyber Security Is Not Working, but There is a Solution
-73% of Security Professionals Say They’ve Missed, Ignored or Failed to Act on a High Priority Security Alert
-Russia and Ukraine Top Inaugural World Cyber Crime Index
-Police Takedown Major Cyber Fraud Superstore: Will the Cyber Crime Industry Become More Fragmented?
-Small Businesses See Stable Business Climate; Cite Cyber Security as Top Threat
-The Threat from Inside: 14% Surge in Insider Threats Compared to Previous Year
-Dark Web Sales Driving Major Rise in Credential Attacks as Attackers Pummel Networks with Millions of Login Attempts
-Large Enterprises Experience Breaches, Despite Large Security Stacks - Report Finds 93% of Breaches Lead to Downtime and Data Loss
-Charities Doing Worse than Private Sector in Staving off Cyber Attacks
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
94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted by Attackers
Organisations that have backed up sensitive data may believe they are safe from the effects of ransomware attacks; however a new study by Sophos reported that cyber criminals attempted to compromise the backups of 94% of companies hit by ransomware in the past year. The research found that criminals can demand a higher ransom when they compromise an organisation’s backup data, and those victims are twice as likely to pay. The median ransom demand is $2.3 million when backups are compromised, compared to $1 million otherwise.
Additionally, sectors like state and local governments, along with media and entertainment, are particularly vulnerable with nearly all affected organisations experiencing backup compromises.
Source: [Tech Republic]
Sharing IT Providers Is a Risk for Financial Services, Says IMF, as Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability
The International Monetary Fund has found that with greater digitalisation and heightened geopolitical tensions comes a greater risk of cyber attack with systemic consequences. The IMF noted that losses more than quadrupled since 2017 to $2.5 billion.
The push for technology has led to a number of financial services institutions relying on third-party IT firms, increasing their susceptibility to cyber disruption on a wider scale and a potential ripple effect were a third party to be hit. Whilst such third parties can increase the cyber resilience of a financial services institution, they also expose the industry to systemwide shocks, the IMF reports.
The IMF recommend institutions should identify potential systematic risks in their third-party IT firms. If the organisation is unable to perform such risk assessments, they should seek the expert support of an independent cyber security specialist.
Sources: [The Banker] [IMF]
Hackers are Threatening to Publish a Huge Stolen Sanctions and Financial Crimes Watchlist
A cyber crime group named GhostR has claimed responsibility for stealing 5.3 million records from the World-Check database, which companies use for "know your customer" (KYC) checks to screen potential clients for financial crime risks. The data theft occurred in March and originated from a Singapore-based firm with access to World-Check. The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which owns World-Check, confirmed that the breach involved a third-party's dataset and not their systems directly. The stolen data includes sensitive information on individuals identified as high-risk, such as government-sanctioned figures and those linked to organised crime. LSEG is coordinating with the affected third party and authorities to protect the compromised data and prevent its dissemination.
Source: [TechCrunch]
Your Annual Cyber Security Is Not Working, But There is a Solution
Most organisations utilise annual security training in an attempt to ensure every department develops their cyber awareness skills and is able to spot and report a threat. However, this training is often out of date. Additionally, often training has limited interactivity, failing to capture and maintain employees’ attention and retention. On top of this, many training courses fail to connect employees to real-world scenarios that could occur in their specific job.
To get the most return on investment, organisations need to have more regular education, with the aim of long-term behavioural shifts in the work place, nudging employees towards greater cyber hygiene.
Source: [TechRadar]
73% of Security Professionals Say They’ve Missed, Ignored or Failed to Act on a High Priority Security Alert
A new survey from Coro, targeting small medium enterprises (SME) cyber security professionals, reveals that 73% have missed or ignored high priority security alerts due to overwhelming workloads and managing multiple security tools. The 2024 SME Security Workload Impact Report highlights that SMEs are inundated with alerts and responsibilities, which dilute their focus from critical security threats. On average, these professionals manage over 11 security tools and spend nearly five hours daily on tasks like monitoring and patching vulnerabilities. Respondents handle an average of over 2,000 endpoint security agents across 656 devices, more than half dealing with frequent vendor updates.
Source: [Business Wire]
Russia and Ukraine Top Inaugural World Cyber Crime Index
The inaugural World Cybercrime Index (WCI) identifies Russia, Ukraine, and China as the top sources of global cyber crime. This index, the first of its kind, was developed over four years by an international team from the University of Oxford and the University of New South Wales, with input from 92 cyber crime experts. These experts ranked countries based on the impact, professionalism, and technical skills of their cyber criminals across five cyber crime categories, including data theft, scams, and money laundering. Russia topped the list, followed by Ukraine and China, highlighting their significant roles in high-tech cyber criminal activities. The index, expected to be updated regularly, aims to provide a clearer understanding of cyber crime's global geography and its correlation with national characteristics like internet penetration and GDP. Of note the UK and US also made the top ten list, so it is not just other countries we need to worry about.
Top ten Countries in full:
1. Russia
2. Ukraine
3. China
4. United States
5. Nigeria
6. Romania
7. North Korea
8. United Kingdom
9. Brazil
10. India
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Police Takedown Major Cyber Fraud Superstore: Will the Cyber Crime Industry Become More Fragmented?
The London Metropolitan Police takedown of online fraud service LabHost serves as a reminder of the industrial scale on which cyber crimes are being performed, with the service amassing 480,000 debit or credit card numbers and 64,000 PINs: all for the subscription price of £300 a month. The site even included tutorial videos on how to commit crime and offered customer service.
Such takedowns can lead to fragmentation. The 2,000 individuals subscribed to LabHost may have lost access but where there is demand, supply will be found. The takedown of one service allows other, small services to fill the gap. As the saying goes ‘nature abhors a vacuum’ and it is especially true when it comes to cyber crime; there is too much business for empty spaces not to be filled.
Sources: [ITPro] [The Guardian]
Small Businesses See Stable Business Climate; Cite Cyber Security as Top Threat
Small businesses are experiencing a stable business climate, as reflected by the Small Business Index, indicating an increasing optimism about the economy. However, the recent surge in cyber attacks, including major assaults on UnitedHealth Group and MGM Resorts, has underscored the growing vulnerability of these businesses to cyber crime. Despite 80% of small to medium-sized enterprises feeling well-protected by their IT defences, a Devolutions survey reveals that 69% of them still fell victim to cyber attacks last year. This has led to cyber security being viewed as the greatest threat by 60% of small businesses, even surpassing concerns over supply chain disruptions and the potential for another pandemic.
The average cost of these attacks ranges from $120,000 to $1.24 million, leading to 60% of affected businesses closing within six months. This vulnerability is further compounded by a common underestimation of the ransomware threat. While 71% of businesses feel prepared for future threats, the depth of this preparedness varies, with only 23% feeling very prepared for cyber security challenges.
Sources: [Claims Journal] [Inc.com]
The Threat from Inside: Insider Threats Surge 14% Annually as Cost-of-Living Crisis Bites
Employee fraud grew significantly last year thanks to the opportunities afforded by remote working and the pressures of a cost-of-living crisis in the UK, according to Cifas, an anti-fraud non-profit. The number of individuals recorded in its cross-sector Insider Threat Database (ITD) increased 14% year-on-year (YoY) in 2023, with the most common reason being “dishonest action to obtain benefit by theft or deception” (49%).
Insider threats – both by accident or with malicious intent – by their own employees are overlooked, despite accounting for 58% of cybersecurity breaches in recent years. As a result, a large proportion of businesses may lack any strategy to address insider risks, leaving them vulnerable to financial, operational and reputational harm.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine] [TechRadar]
Dark Web Sales Driving Major Rise in Credential Attacks as Attackers Pummel Networks with Millions of Login Attempts
Dark web sales are driving a major rise in credential attacks, with a surge in infostealer malware attacks over the last three years significantly heightening the cyber crime landscape. Kaspersky reports a sevenfold increase in data theft attacks, leading to the compromise of over 26 million devices since 2022. Cyber criminals stole roughly 400 million login credentials last year alone, often sold on dark web markets for as low as $10 per log file. These stolen credentials have become a lucrative commodity, fostering a complex economy of initial access brokers who facilitate broader corporate network infiltrations. The Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions have been particularly affected, with millions of credentials stolen annually.
Simultaneously, Cisco’s Talos team warns of a current credential compromise campaign targeting networks via mass login attempts to VPN, SSH, and web apps. Attackers use a mix of generic and specific usernames with nearly 100 passwords from about 4,000 IP addresses, likely routed through anonymising services (such as TOR). These attacks pose risks like unauthorised access, account lockouts, and potential denial-of-service. The attack volume has increased since 18 March this year mirroring a previous alert by Cisco about a similar campaign affecting VPNs. Despite method and infrastructure similarities, a direct link between these campaigns is yet to be confirmed.
Sources: [Ars Technica] [Data Breach Today]
Large Enterprises Experience Breaches, Despite Large Security Stacks; Report Finds 93% of Breaches Lead to Downtime and Data Loss
93% of enterprises admitting to having had a breach have suffered significant consequences, ranging from unplanned downtime to data exposure or financial loss, according to a recent report. 73% of organisations made changes to their IT environment at least quarterly, however only 40% tested their security at the same frequency. Unfortunately, this means that many organisations are facing a significant gap in which changes in the IT environment are untested, and therefore their risk unknown.
Security tools can aid this, however as the report finds, despite having a large number of security stacks, 51% still reported a breach in the past 24 months. Organisations must keep in mind that security extends beyond the technical realm, and it needs to include people and operations.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Help Net Security]
Charities Doing Worse than Private Sector in Staving off Cyber Attacks
Recent UK Government data reveals a significant cyber security challenge for charities, with about a third experiencing breaches this past year, equating to nearly 924,000 cyber crimes. Notably, 83% of these incidents involved phishing, with other prevalent threats including fraud emails and malware. The data found that 63% of charities said cyber security was a high priority for senior management, however, charities lag behind the private sector in adopting security monitoring tools and conducting risk assessments.
Additionally, while half of the charities implement basic cyber hygiene defences like malware protection and password policies, only about 40% seek external cyber security guidance.
Source: [TFN]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Cyber attack volumes peak in first quarter | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Annual cyber security training isn’t working, so what’s the alternative? | TechRadar
Security breaches are causing more damage than ever before | TechRadar
Small Businesses See Stable Business Climate; Cite Cyber Security as Top Threat (claimsjournal.com)
51% of enterprises experienced a breach despite large security stacks - Help Net Security
Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability (imf.org)
Ex-Uber security exec Joe Sullivan is advising CISOs on how to avoid his legal fate (axios.com)
Cyber Security Tips for Small Businesses Now Considered Big Hacking Targets | Inc.com
The Five Main Steps In A Compliance Risk Assessment Plan (forbes.com)
Pentesting accounts for an average of 13% of total IT security budgets | Security Magazine
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Sophos Study: 94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted (techrepublic.com)
FBI: Akira ransomware raked in $42 million from 250+ victims (bleepingcomputer.com)
What if we made ransomware payments illegal? | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Critical Atlassian Flaw Exploited to Deploy Linux Variant of Cerber Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Moldovan charged for operating botnet used to push ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware, meet DRaaS: The future of disaster mitigation (betanews.com)
A whole new generation of ransomware makers are attempting to shake up the market | TechRadar
Security Think Tank: Approaches to ransomware need a course correction | Computer Weekly
Ransomware Victims Who Pay a Ransom Drops to Record Low (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Ransomware Victims
Change Healthcare’s ransomware attack costs reach nearly $1B • The Register
Ransomware attacks against food, agriculture industry examined | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ransomware attack compromises UN agency data | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
840-bed hospital in France postpones procedures after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
US think tank Heritage Foundation hit by cyber attack | TechCrunch
Daixin ransomware gang claims attack on Omni Hotels (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware feared as Octapharma Plasma closes 150+ centers • The Register
Cyber Attack Takes Frontier Communications Offline (darkreading.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
FBI warns of massive wave of road toll SMS phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
FIN7 targets American automaker’s IT staff in phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Other Social Engineering
Quishing: The New Cyber Threat to the Cleared Workplace - ClearanceJobs
FBI warns of massive wave of road toll SMS phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber criminals pose as LastPass staff to hack password vaults (bleepingcomputer.com)
Artificial Intelligence
CISOs not changing priorities in response to AI threats (betanews.com)
92% of enterprises unprepared for AI security challenges - Help Net Security
AI Copilot: Launching Innovation Rockets, But Beware of the Darkness Ahead (thehackernews.com)
Best Practices & Guidance For AI Security Deployment 2024 (gbhackers.com)
C-suite weighs in on generative AI and security (securityintelligence.com)
2FA/MFA
Cisco Duo warns third-party data breach exposed SMS MFA logs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Roku Mandates 2FA for Customers After Credential-Stuffing Compromise (darkreading.com)
Malware
LockBit 3.0 Variant Generates Custom, Self-Propagating Malware (darkreading.com)
TA558 Hackers Weaponize Images for Wide-Scale Malware Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Evil XDR: Researcher Turns Palo Alto Software Into Perfect Malware (darkreading.com)
Firebird RAT creator and seller arrested in the US and Australia (bleepingcomputer.com)
Destructive ICS Malware 'Fuxnet' Used by Ukraine Against Russian Infrastructure - Security Week
New SteganoAmor attacks use steganography to target 320 orgs globally (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian APT Deploys New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Malicious Google Ads Pushing Fake IP Scanner Software with Hidden Backdoor (thehackernews.com)
Fake cheat lures gamers into spreading infostealer malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Government spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch
iPhone users warned to disable iMessage temporarily to avoid getting hacked - PhoneArena
Enterprises face significant losses from mobile fraud - Help Net Security
SoumniBot malware exploits Android bugs to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
How to protect IP surveillance cameras from Wi-Fi jamming - Help Net Security
CISA warns of critical vulnerability in Chirp smart locks • The Register
New rules for security of connected products in the UK and EU - Lexology
Data Breaches/Leaks
CISA orders agencies impacted by Microsoft hack to mitigate risks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Panama Papers: Money laundering trial of 27 defendants begins
Giant Tiger data breach may have impacted millions of customers (securityaffairs.com)
5 Ways Your Personal Information May End Up On The Dark Web (slashgear.com)
Law Firm to Pay $8M to Settle Health Data Hack Lawsuit (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Chinese fraud victims seek return of £3bn in bitcoin seized in UK (ft.com)
Ex-Amazon engineer gets 3 years for hacking crypto exchanges (bleepingcomputer.com)
Security engineer jailed for 3 years for $12M crypto hacks | TechCrunch
Hackers hijack OpenMetadata apps in Kubernetes cryptomining attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insurance
Cloud/SaaS
What Is Microsoft's Role in the Shared Responsibility Model for Data Security? (prweb.com)
For Service Accounts, Accountability Is Key to Security (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Linux and Open Source
Open source groups say more software projects may have been targeted for sabotage (yahoo.com)
Critical Atlassian Flaw Exploited to Deploy Linux Variant of Cerber Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Attackers are pummelling networks around the world with millions of login attempts | Ars Technica
Roku Mandates 2FA for Customers After Credential-Stuffing Compromise (darkreading.com)
Cisco warns of large-scale brute-force attacks against VPN and SSH services (securityaffairs.com)
For Service Accounts, Accountability Is Key to Security (darkreading.com)
Dark Web Sales Driving Major Rise in Credential Attacks (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Social Media
Malvertising
Government spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker | TechCrunch
Google to crack down on third-party YouTube apps that block ads (bleepingcomputer.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Annual cyber security training isn’t working, so what’s the alternative? | TechRadar
Cyber security training: How to make it more motivating (hrexecutive.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
US Supreme Court ruling suggests change in cyber security disclosure process | CSO Online
New rules for security of connected products in the UK and EU - Lexology
Congress votes to kick Uncle Sam’s data broker habit • The Register
Cops can force suspect to unlock phone with thumbprint, US court rules | Ars Technica
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Backup and Recovery
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
IT and security professionals demand more workplace flexibility - Help Net Security
National Security at Risk as Essential Cyber Security Roles Face Sharp Decline (prnewswire.com)
Break Security Burnout: Combining Leadership With Neuroscience (darkreading.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Firebird RAT creator and seller arrested in the US and Australia (bleepingcomputer.com)
Moldovan charged for operating botnet used to push ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
China
Chinese, Russian Hackers Keep Getting Past Microsoft's Security (businessinsider.com)
Leaked FBI document shows MPs were kept in dark over China hack for two years (inews.co.uk)
Risks are higher than ever for US- China cyber war | Responsible Statecraft
State-Sponsored Hackers Exploit Zero-Day to Backdoor Palo Alto Networks Firewalls - Security Week
Singapore infosec boss: splinternet hinders interoperability • The Register
FBI says Chinese hackers preparing to attack US infrastructure | Reuters
Chinese fraud victims seek return of £3bn in bitcoin seized in UK (ft.com)
Russia
Chinese, Russian Hackers Keep Getting Past Microsoft's Security (businessinsider.com)
CISA orders agencies impacted by Microsoft hack to mitigate risks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft breach allowed Russia to steal Feds' emails • The Register
State-Sponsored Hackers Exploit Zero-Day to Backdoor Palo Alto Networks Firewalls - Security Week
How Ukraine’s cyber police fights back against Russia’s hackers | TechCrunch
Russian 'Cyber Sabotage' A Global Threat: Security Firm | IBTimes
Mandiant upgrades Sandworm to APT44 due to increasing threat | TechTarget
Russia's Sandworm 'cyber attacked US, EU water utilities' • The Register
Sandworm Group Shifts to Espionage Attacks, Hacktivist Personas | Decipher (duo.com)
Russia is trying to sabotage European railways, Czech minister said (securityaffairs.com)
Singapore infosec boss: splinternet hinders interoperability • The Register
Russian APT Deploys New 'Kapeka' Backdoor in Eastern European Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Destructive ICS Malware 'Fuxnet' Used by Ukraine Against Russian Infrastructure - Security Week
Iran
Iranian MuddyWater Hackers Adopt New C2 Tool 'DarkBeatC2' in Latest Campaign (thehackernews.com)
Middle East Cyber Ops Intensify, With Israel the Main Target (darkreading.com)
Iran-Backed Hackers Blast Out Threatening Texts to Israelis (darkreading.com)
Israel Holds Hybrid Cyber & Military Readiness Drills (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Vulnerability Management
How to conduct security patch validation and verification | TechTarget
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities: A Beginner’s Guide - The New Stack
The importance of the Vulnerability Operations Centre for cyber security | TechRadar
Vulnerabilities
State-Sponsored Hackers Exploit Zero-Day to Backdoor Palo Alto Networks Firewalls - Security Week
“Highly capable” hackers root corporate networks by exploiting firewall 0-day | Ars Technica
Cisco discloses root escalation flaw with public exploit code (bleepingcomputer.com)
PuTTY SSH client flaw allows recovery of cryptographic private keys (bleepingcomputer.com)
Citrix Releases Security Updates for XenServer and Citrix Hypervisor | CISA
Yubico Issues YubiKey Security Alert For Windows Users (forbes.com)
Samsung Issues Update Now Warning For Millions Of Galaxy Users (forbes.com)
Juniper Networks Publishes Dozens of New Security Advisories - Security Week
Ivanti warns of critical flaws in its Avalanche MDM solution (bleepingcomputer.com)
Oracle Patches 230 Vulnerabilities With April 2024 CPU - Security Week
iPhone users warned to disable iMessage temporarily to avoid getting hacked - PhoneArena
Delinea Fixes Flaw After Analyst Goes Public With Disclosure First (darkreading.com)
Critical Atlassian Flaw Exploited to Deploy Linux Variant of Cerber Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Telegram fixes Windows app zero-day used to launch Python scripts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Critical RCE Vulnerability in 92,000 D-Link NAS Devices - Security Boulevard
Tools and Controls
Sophos Study: 94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted (techrepublic.com)
Evil XDR: Researcher Turns Palo Alto Software Into Perfect Malware (darkreading.com)
CISA's Malware Analysis Platform Could Foster Better Threat Intel (darkreading.com)
Pentesting accounts for an average of 13% of total IT security budgets | Security Magazine
Annual cyber security training isn’t working, so what’s the alternative? | TechRadar
6 Ways Businesses Can Boost Their Cloud Security Resilience - Compare the Cloud
Dark Web Monitoring: What's the Value? (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware, meet DRaaS: The future of disaster mitigation (betanews.com)
Cyber security training: How to make it more motivating (hrexecutive.com)
The Five Main Steps In A Compliance Risk Assessment Plan (forbes.com)
AI set to enhance cyber security roles, not replace them - Help Net Security
Stateful vs. stateless firewalls: Understanding the differences | TechTarget
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Charities doing worse than private sector in staving off cyber attacks - TFN
The US counterintelligence head says the list of threats is long and getting longer (cfpublic.org)
Critical Infrastructure Security: Observations From the Front Lines (darkreading.com)
Geopolitical tensions escalate OT cyber attacks - Help Net Security
Microsoft, Beset by Hacks, Grapples With Problem Years in the Making - BNN Bloomberg
The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat (theverge.com)
Do we have a plan on how to deal with subsea cables sabotage? | Euronews
Ex-GCHQ chief: Cyber attacks could target fragile trust in utilities - Utility Week
University chiefs to get security service Cobra briefing on hostile states | The Argus
SAP Applications Increasingly in Attacker Crosshairs, Report Shows - Security Week
Emergency services a likely target for cyber attacks, warns DHS - ABC News (go.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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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 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.
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 12 May 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 May 2023:
-79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence
-61% of Business Leadership Overlook the Role of Cyber Security as a Business Enabler and as being Key to Business Success
-Risk Managers Warn Cyber Insurance Could Become ‘Unviable Product’
-Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Don’t Give up on Cyber Security
-AI Has Been Dubbed a 'Nuclear' Threat to Cyber Security, but It Can Also Be Used for Defence
-Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows
-Majority of US, UK CISOs Unable to Protect Company 'Secrets'
-Company Executives Can’t Afford to Ignore Cyber Security Anymore
-BEC Campaign via Israel Spotted Targeting Multinational Companies
-CISOs Worried About Personal Liability for Breaches
-UK, US and International Allies Uncover Russian Snake Malware Network in 50+ Countries
-Plug-and-Play Microsoft 365 Phishing Tool 'Democratizes' Attack Campaigns
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence
In a recent report, 79% of security pros say they make decisions without adversary insights “at least the majority of the time.” Why aren’t companies effectively leveraging threat intelligence? And does the C-Suite know this is going on?
Threat intelligence helps organisations stay informed about the latest cyber threats and vulnerabilities. By gathering and analysing information about potential attacks, threat intelligence can provide organisations with valuable insights into the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by cyber criminals.
Given the deep value provided by threat intelligence, why aren’t more cyber pros taking advantage of it?
61% of Business Leadership Overlook the Role of Cyber Security as a Business Enabler and as being Key to Business Success
A recent report found only 39% of respondents think their company's leadership has a sound understanding of cyber security's role as a business enabler. Cyber security can be a huge business enabler; executive leaders need to think of cyber security in terms of the value it can deliver at a more strategic level.
Risk Managers Warn Cyber Insurance Could Become ‘Unviable Product’
The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), an umbrella body representing 22 trade associations, said the cyber insurance market is “evolving in isolation from the industries it serves”.
It highlighted a move by Lloyd’s of London, the specialist insurance market and hub for cyber insurance, demanding that standard cyber policies have an exemption for big state-backed attacks.
“Without a more collaborative approach to cyber balancing the risk appetite of the insurance market with the coverage requirements of the corporate buyers, there is a risk that cyber insurance becomes an unviable product for many organisations,” FERMA said in a statement shared with the Financial Times.
The intervention is the strongest yet by the business lobby over the controversial exemption and wider concerns about cyber insurance.
https://www.ft.com/content/401629cc-e68a-41a4-8d50-e7c0d3e27835
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Don’t Give up on Cyber Security
In today’s increasingly hostile environment, every enterprise, big or small, should be concerned about cyber security and have access to protection from hackers, scammers, phishers, and all the rest of the host of bad actors who seem to be sprouting up around the world.
Yet time and again, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are left out in the cold, an unaddressed market segment that finds real protection either too expensive or far too complex to adopt. Thus, cyber security becomes an “afterthought” or “add when we can” kind of service that leaves SMBs far more vulnerable than the corporate giants — just reading the news every day shows even they aren’t immune to ransomware, intrusions, and data theft. If you haven’t already, start thinking about security now.
AI Has Been Dubbed a 'Nuclear' Threat to Cyber Security, but It Can Also Be Used for Defence
Hackers using ChatGPT are faster and more sophisticated than before, and cyber security analysts who don’t have access to similar tools can very quickly find themselves outgunned and outsmarted by these AI-assisted attackers. However, corporations are stumbling to figure out governance around AI, and while they do so, their employees are clearly defying rules and possibly jeopardising company operations. According to a study of 1.6 million workers, 3.1% input confidential company information into ChatGPT. Although the number seems small, 11% of users' questions include private information. This is a fatal flaw for corporate use considering how hackers can manipulate the system into giving them previously hidden information. In another study, it was found that 80% of security professionals used AI, with 46% of these giving specialised capabilities as a reason.
Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows
In three out of four cyber attacks, the hijackers succeeded in encrypting victims’ data, cyber security provider Sophos said in its newly released State of Ransomware 2023 report.
The rate of data encryption amounted to the highest from ransomware since Sophos first issued the report in 2020. Overall, roughly two-thirds of the 3,000 cyber security/IT leaders’ organisations were infected by a ransomware attack in the first quarter of 2023, or the same percentage as last year.
Much advice has been doled out by cyber security providers and law enforcement urging organisations to not pay a ransom. According to Sophos’ survey, the data shows that when organisations paid a ransom to decrypt their data, they ended up doubling their recovery costs. On average, those organisations paying ransoms for decryption forked out $750,000 in recovery costs versus $375,000 for organisations that used backups to recover their data.
Moreover, paying the ransom usually meant longer recovery times, with 45% of those organisations that used backups recovering within a week, compared to 39% of those that paid the ransom.
Majority of US, UK CISOs Unable to Protect Company 'Secrets'
A recent study found 75% of organisations have experienced a data leak involving company secrets, including API keys, usernames, passwords, and encryption keys, in the past. It was found that about 52% of chief information and security officers (CISOs) in the US and UK organisations are unable to fully secure their company secrets. The study showed that a huge chunk of the IT sector realises the danger of exposed secrets. Seventy-five percent said that a secret leak has happened in their organisation in the past, with 60% acknowledging it caused serious issues for the company, employees, or both. The report has pointed out that even though secrets management practice across the US and the UK has seen some maturity, it still needs to go a long way.
Company Executives Can’t Afford to Ignore Cyber Security Anymore
In a recent survey, when asked about the Board and C-Suite‘s understanding of cyber security across the organisation, only 36% of respondents believe that it is considered important only in terms of compliance and regulatory demands, while 17% said it is not seen as a business priority. The disconnect between business and security goals appears to have caused at least one negative consequence to 89% of respondents’ organisations, with 26% also reporting it resulted in an increased number of successful cyber attacks at their company. On the misalignment of cyber security goals, respondents believed it contributed to delays in investments (35%), delays in strategic decision making (34%), and unnecessary increases in spending (27%).
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/10/cybersecurity-business-goals-alignment/
BEC Campaign via Israel Spotted Targeting Multinational Companies
An Israel-based threat group was discovered carrying out a business email compromise (BEC) campaign primarily targeting large and multinational enterprises. The group has conducted 350 BEC campaigns since February 2021, with email attacks targeting employees from 61 countries across six continents. The group operate through two personas — a CEO and an external attorney and spoofed email addresses using real domains.
CISOs Worried About Personal Liability for Breaches
Over three-fifths (62%) of global CISOs are concerned about being held personally liable for successful cyber attacks that occur on their watch, and a similar share would not join an organisation that fails to offer insurance to protect them, according to Proofpoint annual ‘Voice of the CISO’ survey for 2023. The security vendor polled 1600 CISOs from organisations of 200 employees or more across different industries in 16 countries to compile the report.
It revealed that CISOs in sectors with high volumes of sensitive data and/or heavy regulation such as retail (69%), financial services (65%) and manufacturing (65%) are most likely to demand insurance coverage.
Such concerns only add to the mental load on corporate IT security bosses. A combination of high-stress working environments, shrinking budgets and personal liability could be harming CISOs’ quality of life. Some 60% told Proofpoint they’ve experienced burnout in the past 12 months.
CISOs are most likely to experience burnout in the retail (72%) and IT, technology and telecoms (66%) industries.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cisos-worried-personal-liability/
UK, US and International Allies Uncover Russian Snake Malware Network in 50+ Countries
The UK NCSC along with the US National Security Agency (NSA) and various international partner agencies have discovered infrastructure connected with the sophisticated Russian cyber-espionage tool Snake in over 50 countries worldwide. Snake operations have been attributed to a specific unit within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Center 16.
Cyber criminals reportedly used Snake to retrieve and remove confidential documents related to international relations and diplomatic communications.
According to an advisory published by the agencies on Tuesday, the FSB targeted various industries, including education, small businesses, media, local government, finance, manufacturing and telecommunications. The Snake malware is installed on external infrastructure nodes for further exploitation.
According to the NSA Russian government actors have used this tool for years for intelligence collection and it is hoped that the technical details shared in the advisory will help many organisations find and shut down the malware globally.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nsa-uncovers-russian-snake-malware/
Plug-and-Play Microsoft 365 Phishing Tool 'Democratizes' Attack Campaigns
A new phishing-as-a-service tool called "Greatness" is being used in attacks targeting manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and other sectors.
Researchers at Cisco Talos detailed their findings on "Greatness," a one-stop-shop for all of a cyber criminal's phishing needs. With Greatness, anyone with even rudimentary technical chops can craft compelling Microsoft 365-based phishing lures, then carry out man-in-the-middle attacks that steal authentication credentials — even in the face of multifactor authentication (MFA) — and much more.
The tool has been in circulation since at least mid-2022 and has been used in attacks against enterprises in manufacturing, healthcare, and technology, among other sectors. Half of the targets thus far have been concentrated in the US, with further attacks occurring around Western Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa.
https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/plug-and-play-microsoft-365-phishing-tool-democratizes-attacks
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Make them pay: Hackers devise new tactics to ensure ransomware payment | CSO Online
Ransomware gangs display ruthless extortion tactics in April | TechTarget
Our appetite for data increases the risk of being held to ransom (thetimes.co.uk)
Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows - MSSP Alert
Refined methodologies of ransomware attacks - Help Net Security
Ranking ransomware: The gangs, the malware and the ever-present risks | CyberScoop
Ransomware Encryption Rates Reach New Heights - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
UK ‘increasingly concerned’ ransomware victims are keeping incidents secret (therecord.media)
Royal ransomware gang quickly expands reign | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Legitimate Software Abuse: A Disturbing Trend in Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)
Ransomware attack confirmed at Rochester Public Schools, FBI alerted - Bring Me The News
Constellation Struck By Ransomware Attack, ALPHV Lays Claim (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
New Ransomware Strain 'CACTUS' Exploits VPN Flaws to Infiltrate Networks (thehackernews.com)
New Akira Ransomware Operation Hits Corporate Networks | Black Hat Ethical Hacking
Babuk code used by 9 ransomware gangs to encrypt VMWare ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
$1.1M Paid to Resolve Ransomware Attack on California County - SecurityWeek
Western Digital store offline due to March breach - Help Net Security
Western Digital Confirms Ransomware Group Stole Customer Information - SecurityWeek
Former Conti members are behind latest Royal ransomware hacking spree, report finds (axios.com)
Hackers Contacted Dragos CEO’s Son, Wife in Extortion Attempt - Bloomberg
Multiple Ransomware Groups Adapt Babuk Code to Target ESXi VMs (darkreading.com)
Australian software giant won’t say if customers affected by hack | TechCrunch
Multinational tech firm ABB hit by Black Basta ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Gmail gets blue verification checks to protect against spoofing and phishing | ZDNET
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
2FA/MFA
Malware
Chrome users, stay alert: Malware may be just one click away - gHacks Tech News
Microsoft issues optional fix for Secure Boot zero-day used by malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
56,000+ cloud-based apps at risk of malware exfiltration - Help Net Security
Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware • The Register
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Fake system update drops Aurora stealer via Invalid Printer loader (malwarebytes.com)
Stealthier version of Linux BPFDoor malware spotted in the wild (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware • The Register
Mobile hacking and spyware – understanding the risks - TechHQ
Google Announces New Privacy, Safety, and Security Features Across Its Services (thehackernews.com)
Google Improves Android Security With New APIs - SecurityWeek
New Android FluHorse malware steals your passwords, 2FA codes (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Android updates fix kernel bug exploited in spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet- Security Affairs
RapperBot DDoS malware adds cryptojacking as new revenue stream (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
FBI seizes 13 more domains linked to DDoS-for-hire services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet- Security Affairs
RapperBot DDoS malware adds cryptojacking as new revenue stream (bleepingcomputer.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Security researcher finds trove of Capita data exposed online | TechCrunch
In a new hacking crime wave, more personal data is being held hostage (cnbc.com)
Western Digital says hackers stole customer data in March cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Leak of MSI UEFI signing keys stokes fears of “doomsday” supply chain attack | Ars Technica
Boot Guard Keys From MSI Hack Posted, Many PCs Vulnerable | Tom's Hardware(tomshardware.com)
1 Million Impacted by Data Breach at NextGen Healthcare - SecurityWeek
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
Food distribution giant Sysco warns of data breach after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
North Korean Hackers Stole 830K Data From Seoul's Top Hospital (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Brightly warns of SchoolDude data breach exposing credentials (bleepingcomputer.com)
Simplify data hack cost the firm almost £7m - Property Industry Eye
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
In a new hacking crime wave, more personal data is being held hostage (cnbc.com)
The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyber attack-for-Hire Services | WIRED
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Former Ubiquiti Employee Who Posed as Hacker Sentenced to Prison - SecurityWeek
UK cops score another legal win in EncroChat spying case • The Register
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Human Error Drives Most Cyber Incidents. Could AI Help? (hbr.org)
Overlooking These 4 Critical Measures Expose Your Company to Cyber Attacks | Entrepreneur
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
UK’s new fraud strategy too weak to tackle soaring crime, say experts | Financial Times (ft.com)
Your voice could be your biggest vulnerability - Help Net Security
QR codes used in fake parking tickets, surveys to steal your money (bleepingcomputer.com)
Deepfakes
Insurance
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Security researcher finds trove of Capita data exposed online | TechCrunch
Cyber hack to cost UK outsourcer Capita up to $25 mln | Reuters
Leak of MSI UEFI signing keys stokes fears of “doomsday” supply chain attack | Ars Technica
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
56,000+ cloud-based apps at risk of malware exfiltration - Help Net Security
How to reduce risk with cloud attack surface management | TechTarget
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Hybrid/Remote Working
Attack Surface Management
Identity and Access Management
Top 3 trends shaping the future of cyber security and IAM - Help Net Security
Review your on-prem ADCS infrastructure before attackers do it for you | CSO Online
Why the FTX Collapse Was an Identity Problem (darkreading.com)
Asset Management
CISOs confront mounting obstacles in tracking cyber assets - Help Net Security
How Attack Surface Management Supports Continuous Threat Exposure Management (thehackernews.com)
Encryption
API
Open Source
India bans open source messaging apps on security grounds • The Register
Stealthier version of Linux BPFDoor malware spotted in the wild (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
83% of Americans’ Passwords Can Be Hacked in Less Than a Second, Study Shows (thedailybeast.com)
Top 5 Password Cracking Techniques Used by Hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Social Media
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
TikTok tracked UK journalist via her cat's account - BBC News
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK’s new fraud strategy too weak to tackle soaring crime, say experts | Financial Times (ft.com)
EU parliament report calls for tighter regulation of spyware | Surveillance | The Guardian
India bans open source messaging apps on security grounds • The Register
PEGA committee calls for EU level regulation of spyware • The Register
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Europe’s Moral Crusader Lays Down the Law on Encryption | WIRED
Scanning Plans On Europe's CSAM May Violate International Law (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Risk managers warn cyber insurance could become ‘unviable product’ | Financial Times (ft.com)
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence (securityintelligence.com)
Company executives can't afford to ignore cyber security anymore - Help Net Security
Majority of US, UK CISOs unable to protect company 'secrets': Report | CSO Online
Small- and medium-sized businesses: don’t give up on cyber security | CSO Online
(ISC)² Calls for Global Cyber security Standards, Collaboration, Frameworks - MSSP Alert
Organisations Reliant on Social Media For Threat Intelligence - TechRound
Recognizing Cyberthreat Trends For Effective Defence (forbes.com)
Digital trust can make or break an organisation - Help Net Security
Why more transparency around cyber attacks is good for everyone - NCSC
CISOs face mounting pressures, expectations post-pandemic | TechTarget
CISOs' confidence in post-pandemic security landscape fades - Help Net Security
Overlooking These 4 Critical Measures Expose Your Company to Cyber Attacks | Entrepreneur
NCSC and ICO Dispel Incident Reporting Myths - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
(ISC)² Calls for Global Cyber security Standards, Collaboration, Frameworks - MSSP Alert
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
FBI seizes 13 more domains linked to DDoS-for-hire services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
UK cops score another legal win in EncroChat spying case • The Register
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
The (Security) Cost of Too Much Data Privacy (darkreading.com)
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
TikTok tracked UK journalist via her cat's account - BBC News
Artificial Intelligence
Top US cyber official warns AI may be the 'most powerful weapon of our time' | CyberScoop
Amazon Is Being Flooded With Books Entirely Written by AI (futurism.com)
Your voice could be your biggest vulnerability - Help Net Security
The security and privacy risks of large language models - Help Net Security
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
EU parliament report calls for tighter regulation of spyware | Surveillance | The Guardian
China targets foreign consulting companies in anti-spying raids | China | The Guardian
Mobile hacking and spyware – understanding the risks - TechHQ
New Android updates fix kernel bug exploited in spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
CERT-UA Warns of SmokeLoader and RoarBAT Malware Attacks Against Ukraine (thehackernews.com)
PEGA committee calls for EU level regulation of spyware • The Register
FBI-led Operation Medusa kills Russian FSB malware network • The Register
How one of Vladimir Putin’s most prized hacking units got pwned by the FBI | Ars Technica
Nation State Actors
Microsoft warns Iran increasing its cyber-enabled influence operations | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
China labels USA ‘Empire of hacking’ citing old WikiLeaks • The Register
CERT-UA Warns of SmokeLoader and RoarBAT Malware Attacks Against Ukraine (thehackernews.com)
LinkedIn shuts service in China, lays off employees | Fortune
Microsoft: Iranian hacking groups join Papercut attack spree (bleepingcomputer.com)
FBI-led Operation Medusa kills Russian FSB malware network • The Register
China targets foreign consulting companies in anti-spying raids | China | The Guardian
Beijing raids consultancy firm Capvision, promises more • The Register
SideWinder Strikes Victims in Pakistan, Turkey in Multiphase Polymorphic Attack (darkreading.com)
North Korean Hackers Stole 830K Data From Seoul's Top Hospital (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Exploit Network Providers and Devices | CISA
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft's May Patch Tuesday Fixes 38 Flaws, Including Active Zero-Day Bug (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft warns of two bugs under active exploit • The Register
Light May Patch Tuesday will weigh heavily on Windows admins | TechTarget
Fortinet fixed two severe issues in FortiADC and FortiOS-Security Affairs
New PaperCut RCE exploit created that bypasses existing detections (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft issues optional fix for Secure Boot zero-day used by malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Adobe Patches 14 Vulnerabilities in Substance 3D Painter - SecurityWeek
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
CyberGhost VPN patches command injection vulnerability | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
A Linux NetFilter kernel flaw allows escalating privileges to 'root'-Security Affairs
SAP Patches Critical Vulnerabilities With May 2023 Security Updates - SecurityWeek
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet-Security Affairs
Tools and Controls
Risk managers warn cyber insurance could become ‘unviable product’ | Financial Times (ft.com)
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence (securityintelligence.com)
Human Error Drives Most Cyber Incidents. Could AI Help? (hbr.org)
Identifying Compromised Data Can Be a Logistical Nightmare (darkreading.com)
Organisations Reliant on Social Media For Threat Intelligence - TechRound
Recognizing Cyberthreat Trends For Effective Defence (forbes.com)
Digital trust can make or break an organisation - Help Net Security
Prevent attackers from using legitimate tools against you - Help Net Security
How to implement principle of least privilege in Azure AD | TechTarget
What is Digital Forensics? Tools, Types, Phases & History (cybersecuritynews.com)
Microsoft enforces number matching to fight MFA fatigue attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
AI Will Take Many Cyber security Jobs, But It's Not a Complete Disaster | PCMag
Google Broadens Dark Web Monitoring To Track All Gmail Users (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
5 SBOM tools to start securing the software supply chain | TechTarget
The Industrywide Consequences of Making Security Products Inaccessible (darkreading.com)
Top 3 trends shaping the future of cyber security and IAM - Help Net Security
Other News
The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyber attack-for-Hire Services | WIRED
Why Should You Take IT Security Seriously? - IT Security Guru
To enable ethical hackers, a law reform is needed - Help Net Security
How datacentre operators can fend off cyber attacks | Computer Weekly
'Windows for Gamers' Rolls Dice With Your Security (vice.com)
Risk of cyber attack is main Eurovision worry, says BBC executive | Eurovision 2023 | The Guardian
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 14 October 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 14 October 2022:
-Ransomware Report: Most Organisations Unprepared for an Attack, Lack Incident Playbook, Research Finds
-LinkedIn Scams, Fake Instagram Accounts Hit Businesses, Execs
-Study Highlights Surge in Identity Theft and Phishing Attacks
-Increase in Cyber Liability Insurance Claims as Cyber Crime Skyrockets
-UK Government Urges Action to Enhance Supply Chain Security
-For Most Companies Ransomware Is the Scariest Of All Cyber Attacks
-EDR Is Not a Silver Bullet
-Attackers Use Automation to Speed from Exploit to Compromise
-Rising Premiums, More Restricted Cyber Insurance Coverage Poses Big Risk for Companies
-Why CISO Roles Require Business and Technology Savvy
-Wi-Fi Spy Drones Used to Snoop on Financial Firm
-Magniber Ransomware Attacking Individuals and Home Users
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Ransomware Report: Most Organisations Unprepared for an Attack, Lack Incident Playbook, Research Finds
Some organisations have made significant improvements to their ransomware readiness profile in the last year, Axio said in a newly released report. However, a lack of fundamental cyber security practices and controls, inadequate vulnerability patching and employee training continues to leave ransomware defences lacking in potency.
Axio’s report reveals that only 30% of organisations have a ransomware-specific playbook for incident management in place. In 2021’s report Axio, maker of a cloud-based cyber management software platform, identified seven key areas emerged where organisations were deficient in implementing and sustaining basic cyber security practices.
The same patterns showed up in the 2022 report:
Managing privileged access.
Improving basic cyber hygiene.
Reducing exposure to supply chain and third-party risk.
Monitoring and defending networks.
Managing ransomware incidents.
Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in a timely manner.
Improving cyber security training and awareness.
Overall, most organisations surveyed are not adequately prepared to manage the risk associated with a ransomware attack. Key data findings include:
The number of organisations with a functional privileged access management solution in place increased by 10% but remains low at 33% overall.
Limitations on the use of service and local administrator accounts remain average overall, with nearly 50% of organisations reporting implementing these practices.
Approximately 40% of organisations monitor third-party network access, evaluate third-party cyber security posture, and limit the use of third-party software.
Less than 50% of respondents implement basic network segmentation and only 40% monitor for anomalous connections.
Critical vulnerability patching within 24 hours was reported by only 24% of organisations.
Active phishing training has improved but is still not practiced by 40% of organisations.
LinkedIn Scams, Fake Instagram Accounts Hit Businesses, Execs
Business owners with public social media accounts are easy targets for scammers who lift information to create fake accounts. The arduous process for removing fraudulent accounts leaves victims frustrated and vulnerable to further data privacy issues. Victims say platform providers, particularly Facebook and Instagram, must improve their responses to reports of fraud.
Impersonation of a brand or executive contributed to more than 40% of all phishing and social media incidents in the second quarter, according to the Agari and Phish Labs Quarterly Threat Trends and Intelligence Report released in August. Q2 marks the second quarter that impersonation attacks have represented the majority of threats, despite a 6.1% decrease from Q1.
Executive impersonation has been on the rise over the past four quarters — representing more than 15% of attacks, according to the report — as impersonating a corporate figure or company on social media is simple and effective for threat actors.
Thom Singer, CEO for the Austin Technology Council and a public speaker, was recently impersonated on Instagram. A scammer created a fake Instagram account with his name and photos, creating a handle with an extra "r" at the end of Singer. That account appeared to amass over 2,300 followers – nearly as many as Singer's own account – lending to its appearance of authenticity.
He learned of the fake account from a contact who texted to ask if he'd reached out on Instagram, which wasn't a channel Singer typically uses to communicate. Singer reported the fraudulent account using the platform's report button and asked his followers to do the same.
"You can't reach anyone at these platforms, so it takes days to get a fake account removed," Singer said. "These social media sites have no liability, nothing to lose when fraud is happening. They need to up their game and have a better process to get [fraud] handled in a timely manner."
Study Highlights Surge in Identity Theft and Phishing Attacks
A new study from behavioural risk firm CybSafe and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) has been launched and it highlights an alarming surge in phishing and identity theft attacks.
The report, titled ‘Oh, Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors report’, studied the opinions of 3,000 individuals across the US, the UK and Canada towards cyber security and revealed that nearly half (45%) of users are connected to the internet all the time, however, this has led to a surge in identity theft with almost 1 in 4 people being affected by the attack.
Furthermore, 1 in 3 (36%) respondents revealed they have lost money or data due to a phishing attack. Yet the study also revealed that 70% of respondents feel confident in their ability to identify a malicious email, but only 45% will confirm the authenticity of a suspicious email by reaching out to the apparent sender.
When it comes to implementing cyber security best practices, only 33% of respondents revealed they use a unique password for important online accounts, while only 16% utilise passwords of over 12 characters in length. Furthermore, only 18% of participants have downloaded a stand-alone password manager, while 43% of respondents have not even heard of multi-factor authentication.
Increase in Cyber Liability Insurance Claims as Cyber Crime Skyrockets
A cyber insurer, Acuity Insurance, is reporting an increased need for cyber liability insurance across both personal and business policyholders. From June 2021 to June 2022, the insurer saw cyber liability insurance claims on its commercial insurance policies increase by more than 50%. For personal policies, they saw more than a 90% increase in cyber claims being reported in 2021 compared with 2020.
Our lives, homes and businesses are more connected than ever before. Being connected leads to a greater risk of cyber attacks, which aren't covered under standard homeowners or business insurance policies.
The insurance experts caution that everyone is at risk — whether you are a small business owner or an individual — as cyber attacks continue to pose a serious financial threat. From 2019 to 2021, cyber attacks were up 50% from the previous year, according to recent research. Wire fraud and gift card scams are two of the most common types of cyber attacks impacting both businesses and individuals.
Scams involving social engineering are some of the easiest to fall for, as fraudsters exploit a person's trust to obtain money or personal information, which can then be used for unauthorised withdrawals of money. Cyber insurance can protect you from financial loss caused by wire transfer fraud, phishing attacks, cyber extortion, cyberbullying and more, Acuity reported.
While all cyber crimes have a financial impact, fraudulent wire transfers often come with greater losses. Banks are typically not responsible for funds lost as a result of a fraudulent wire transfer inadvertently authorised by the customer. Whether it's a wrongful money transfer by a business or an individual, cyber insurance can help mitigate some of the financial loss caused by these scams.
UK Government Urges Action to Enhance Supply Chain Security
The UK government has warned organisations to take steps to strengthen their supply chain security.
New National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance has been issued amid a significant increase in supply chain attacks in recent years, such as the SolarWinds incident in 2020. The NCSC cited official government data showing that just over one in 10 businesses review the risks posed by their immediate suppliers (13%), while the proportion covering the wider supply chain is just 7%.
Aimed at medium-to-large organisations, the document sets out practical steps to better assess cyber security across increasingly complex supply chains. This includes a description of typical supplier relationships and ways that organisations are exposed to vulnerabilities and cyber-attacks via the supply chain, and the expected outcomes and key steps needed to assess suppliers’ approaches to security.
The new guidance followed a government response to a call for views last year which highlighted the need for further advice. Supply chain attacks are a major cyber threat facing organisations and incidents can have a profound, long-lasting impact on businesses and customers. With incidents on the rise, it is vital organisations work with their suppliers to identify supply chain risks and ensure appropriate security measures are in place.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-government-supply-chain-security/
For Most Companies Ransomware Is the Scariest Of All Cyber Attacks
SonicWall released the 2022 SonicWall Threat Mindset Survey which found that 66% of customers are more concerned about cyber attacks in 2022, with the main threat being focused on financially motivated attacks like ransomware.
“No one is safe from cyber attacks — businesses or individuals,” said SonicWall Executive Chairman of the Board Bill Conner. “Today’s business landscape requires persistent digital trust to exist. Supply-chain attacks have dramatically changed the attack surface of the typical enterprise in the past few years, with more suppliers and service providers touching sensitive data than ever before.
“It’s likely we’ll see continued acceleration and evolution of ransomware tactics, as well as other advanced persistent threats (APTs), as cyber crime continues to scale the globe seeking both valuable and weak targets.”
Companies are not only losing millions of dollars to unending malware and ransomware strikes, but cyber attacks on essential infrastructure are impacting real-world services. Despite the growing concern of cyber attacks, organisations are struggling to keep pace with the fast-moving threat landscape as they orient their business, networks, data and employees against unwavering cyber attacks.
“The evolving cyber threat landscape has made us train our staff significantly more,” said Stafford Fields, IT Director, Cavett Turner & Wyble. “It’s made us spend more on cyber security. And what scares me is that an end-user can click on something and bring all our systems down — despite being well protected.”
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/10/12/customers-concerned-ransomware/
EDR Is Not a Silver Bullet
Old lore held that shooting a werewolf, vampire, or even just your average nasty villain with a silver bullet was a sure-fire takedown: one hit, no more bad guy.
As cyber security professionals, we understand – much like folks in the Old West knew – that there are no panaceas, no actual silver bullets. Yet humans gravitate towards simple solutions to complex challenges, and we are constantly (if unconsciously) seeking silver bullet technology.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools have become Standard Operating Procedures for cyber security regimes. They are every CIO’s starting point, and there’s nothing wrong with this. In a recent study by Cymulate of over one million tests conducted by customers in 2021, the most popular testing vector was EDR.
Yet cyber security stakeholders should not assume that EDR is a silver bullet. The fact is that EDR’s efficacy and protective prowess as a standalone solution has been slowly diminished over the decade since the term was first coined by Gartner. Even as it became a mainstay of enterprise and SMB/SME security posture – attacks have skyrocketed in frequency, severity, and success. Today, EDR is facing some of its greatest challenges, including threats laser-targeting EDR systems like the highly-successful Grandoiero banking trojan.
While EDR should not be your only line of defence against advanced threats, including it in a defence solution array is paramount. It should be installed on all organisational servers – including Linux-based ones. Yet installation is not enough. Your organisation is at significant risk if the underlying OS and EDR are not both implemented and fine-tuned.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/10/11/edr-is-not-a-silver-bullet/
Attackers Use Automation to Speed from Exploit to Compromise
A report from Laceworks examines the cloud security threat landscape over the past three months and unveils the new techniques and avenues cyber criminals are exploiting for profit at the expense of businesses. In this latest edition, the Lacework Labs team found a significantly more sophisticated attacker landscape, with an increase in attacks against core networking and virtualisation software, and an unprecedented increase in the speed of attacks following a compromise. Key trends and threats identified include:
Increased speed from exposure to compromise: Attackers are advancing to keep pace with cloud adoption and response time. Many classes of attacks are now fully automated to capitalise on timing. Additionally, one of the most common targets is credential leakage. In a specific example from the report, a leaked AWS access key was caught and flagged by AWS in record time. Despite the limited exposure, an unknown adversary was able to log in and launch tens of GPU EC2 instances, underscoring just how quickly attackers can take advantage of a single simple mistake.
Increased focus on infrastructure, specifically attacks against core networking and virtualisation software: Commonly deployed core networking and related infrastructure consistently remains a key target for adversaries. Core flaws in infrastructure often appear suddenly and are shared openly online, creating opportunities for attackers of all kinds to exploit these potential targets.
Continued Log4j reconnaissance and exploitation: Nearly a year after the initial exploit, the Lacework Labs team is still commonly observing vulnerable software targeted via OAST requests. Analysis of Project Discovery (interact.sh) activity revealed Cloudflare and DigitalOcean as the top originators.
Rising Premiums, More Restricted Cyber Insurance Coverage Poses Big Risk for Companies
Among the many consequences of the rising number of costly data breaches, ransomware, and other security attacks are pricier premiums for cyber security insurance. The rise in costs could put many organisations out of the running for this essential coverage, a risky proposition given the current threat landscape.
Cyber insurance is a type of specialty insurance that protects organisations against a variety of risks related to information security attacks such as ransomware and data breaches. Ordinarily, these types of risks aren’t included with traditional commercial general liability policies or are not specifically defined in these insurance plans.
Given the rise in attacks, the growing sophistication of these incidents and the potential financial impact, having cyber insurance coverage has become critical for many organisations. Premiums for these plans have been on the rise because of the increase in security-related losses and rising demand for coverage.
Cyber insurance premiums increased by an average of 28% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), an association for commercial insurance and employee benefits intermediaries.
Among the primary drivers for the continued price increases were a reduced carrier appetite for the risk and high demand for coverage, CIAB said. The high demand for cyber coverage is in part fueled by greater awareness among companies of the threat cyber risk poses for businesses of all sizes, it said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/companies-are-finding-it-harder-to-get-cyber-insurance-.html
Why CISO Roles Require Business and Technology Savvy
Listening and communicating to both the technical and business sides is critical to successfully leading IT teams and business leaders to the same end-goal.
Of all the crazy postings that advertise for CISO jobs, the one asking for a CISO to code in Python was probably the most outrageous example of the disconnect about a CISO’s role, says Joe Head, CISO search director at UK-based search firm, Intaso. This was a few years ago, and one can only guess that the role had been created by a technologist who didn’t care about or didn’t understand the business — or, inversely by a businessperson who didn’t understand enough about technology.
In either case, the disconnect is real. However, Head and other experts say that when it comes to achieving the true, executive role and reporting to the CEO and board, business skills rule. That doesn’t mean, however, that most CISOs know nothing about technology, because most still start out with technology backgrounds.
In the 2022 CISO survey by executive placement firm, Heidrick & Struggles, most CISOs come from a functional IT background that reflects the issues of the time. For example, in 2022 10% of CISOs came from software engineering backgrounds, which tracks with the White House directive to protect the software supply chain. The report notes that the majority of CISOs have experience in the financial services industry, which has a low risk tolerance and where more money is spent on security.
The survey also indicates that only a small core of CISOs (working primarily for the Fortune 500) rise to the executive level with the combination of business and technical responsibilities that come with the role. In it, more than two-thirds of CISOs responding to the survey worked for companies worth over $5 billion. So, instead of bashing a CISO’s lack of IT skills, the real need lies in developing business skills for the technologists coming up the ranks.
Wi-Fi Spy Drones Used to Snoop on Financial Firm
Modified off-the-shelf drones have been found carrying wireless network-intrusion kit in a very unlikely place.
The idea of using consumer-oriented drones for hacking has been explored over the past decade at security conferences like Black Hat 2016, in both the US and in Europe, but now these sort of attacks are actually taking place. A security researcher recently recounted an incident that occurred over the summer at a US East Coast financial firm focused on private investment.
The hacking incident was discovered when the financial firm spotted unusual activity on its internal Atlassian Confluence page that originated from within the company's network. The company's security team responded and found that the user whose MAC address was used to gain partial access to the company Wi-Fi network was also logged in at home several miles away. That is to say, the user was active off-site but someone within Wi-Fi range of the building was trying to wirelessly use that user's MAC address, which is a red flag. The team then took steps to trace the Wi-Fi signal and used a Fluke system to identify the Wi-Fi device.
This led the team to the roof, where two modified commercially available consumer drones series were discovered. One drone was in fine condition and had a modified Wi-Fi Pineapple device, used for network penetration testing. The second drone was carrying a case that contained a Raspberry Pi, several batteries, a GPD mini laptop, a 4G modem, and another Wi-Fi device. It had landed near the building's heating and ventilation system and appeared to be damaged but still operable.
During their investigation, they determined that the first drone had originally been used a few days prior to intercept a worker's credentials and Wi-Fi, and this data was then hard coded into the tools that were deployed on the second drone.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/drone-roof-attack/
Magniber Ransomware Attacking Individuals and Home Users
A recent analysis shows that Magniber ransomware has been targeting home users by masquerading as software updates.
Reports have shown a ransomware campaign isolated by HP Wolf Security in September 2022 saw Magniber ransomware spread. The malware is known as a single-client ransomware family that demands $2,500 from victims. Magniber was previously primarily spread through MSI and EXE files, but in September 2022 HP Wolf Security began seeing campaigns distributing the ransomware in JavaScript files.
HP Wolf Security reported that some malware families rely exclusively on JavaScript, but have done so for some time. Currently, analysts are also seeing more HTML smuggling, such as with Qakbot and IcedID. This technique also makes use of JavaScript to decode malicious content. The only difference is that the HTML file is executed in the context of the browser and therefore usually requires further user interaction.
Remarkably, HP Wolf Security said, the attackers used clever techniques to evade detection, such as running the ransomware in memory, bypassing User Account Control (UAC) in Windows, and bypassing detection techniques that monitor user-mode hooks by using syscalls instead of standard Windows API libraries.
It appears that with the UAC bypass, the malware deletes the infected system’s shadow copy files and disables backup and recovery features, preventing the victim from recovering their data using Windows tools.
Having recently described the ransomware campaign in a recent interview, HP Wolf noted that the infection chain starts with a web download from an attacker-controlled website.
Threats
Ransomware and Extortion
More and more ransomware is just data theft, no encryption • The Register
Magniber ransomware now infects Windows users via JavaScript files (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fake adult sites push data wipers disguised as ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
It was LockBit that forced NHS tech supplier to shut down • The Register
Ransomware posing as Windows antivirus update will just empty your wallet | TechRadar
Microsoft: New Prestige ransomware targets orgs in Ukraine, Poland (bleepingcomputer.com)
BlackByte ransomware uses new EDR evasion technique (techtarget.com)
Prevent Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure (trendmicro.com)
Microsoft Exchange servers hacked to deploy LockBit ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Harvard Business Publishing licensee hit by ransomware - Security Affairs
LockBit affiliates compromise Microsoft Exchange servers to deploy ransomware - Security Affairs
Police tricks DeadBolt ransomware out of 155 decryption keys (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Caffeine service lets anyone launch Microsoft 365 phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
A whole load of phishing emails make it past Microsoft Defender, researchers say | TechRadar
Google Forms abused in new COVID-19 phishing wave in the U.S. (bleepingcomputer.com)
US election workers hit with phishing, malware emails • The Register
Cyber criminals are having it easy with phishing-as-a-service - Help Net Security
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Malware
How a Microsoft blunder opened millions of PCs to potent malware attacks | Ars Technica
Banks face their 'darkest hour' as crimeware powers up • The Register
Emotet Rises Again With More Sophistication, Evasion (darkreading.com)
QAKBOT Attacks Spike Amid Concerning Cyber Criminal Collaborations (darkreading.com)
Hackers behind IcedID malware attacks diversify delivery tactics (bleepingcomputer.com)
Eternity threat group’s LilithBot: A criminal multitool • The Register
Here's another excellent reason not to browse adult websites at work | TechRadar
Experts analysed the evolution of the Emotet supply chain - Security Affairs
Mobile
Modified WhatsApp App Caught Infecting Android Devices with Malware (thehackernews.com)
Meta uncovers 400 malicious apps on Android and iOS apps | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
‘Zero-Click’ Spyware Emerges as a Menacing Mobile Threat - Bloomberg
Mullvad: Android may leak information when connected to a VPN - gHacks Tech News
Android Security Updates Patch Critical Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com
Hackers Using Vishing to Trick Victims into Installing Android Banking Malware (thehackernews.com)
Mystery iPhone update patches against iOS 16 mail crash-attack – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Client data exfiltrated in Advanced NHS cyber attack (digitalhealth.net)
Mormon Church data stolen in 'state-sponsored' cyber attack • The Register
2K Customer Data Stolen, Sold Online After Support Desk Scam (kotaku.com)
Toyota discloses data leak after access key exposed on GitHub (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fast Company says Executive Board member info was not stolen in attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
State Bar of Georgia Confirms Data Breach Following Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Singtel's second unit faces cyber attack weeks after Optus data breach | Reuters
Zoetop pays $1.9m to settle customer data theft case • The Register
CommonSpirit Health IT still suffering after cyber attack • The Register
Over 80,000 DJI drone IDs exposed in data leak: Report (dronedj.com)
High-Value Targets: String of Aussie Telco Breaches Continues (darkreading.com)
Data of 380K patients compromised in hack of 13 anesthesia practices | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Australian police secret agents exposed in Colombian data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)
Toyota Reveals Data Leak of 300,000 Customers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
INTERPOL arrests ‘Black Axe’ cyber crime syndicate members (bleepingcomputer.com)
Caffeine Phishing-as-a-Service toolkit available in the underground - Security Affairs
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
North Korea's Crypto Hackers Are Paving the Road to Nuclear Armageddon - CNET
Fake Solana Phantom security updates push crypto-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
'Baby Al Capone' to pay $22m to SIM-swap crypto-heist victim • The Register
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Alternative payment methods are creating new fraud risks - Help Net Security
Prison inmate charged with $11m fraud via cell phone • The Register
Mastercard moves to protect ‘risky and frisky’ transactions • The Register
Deepfakes
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Dark Web
Software Supply Chain
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
US airports' sites taken down in DDoS attacks by pro-Russian hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian DDoS attack project pays contributors for more firepower (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Encryption
Microsoft Office 365 uses insecure block ciphers • The Register
Microsoft Office 365 email encryption could expose message content (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Social Media
Training, Education and Awareness
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Backup and Recovery
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s hybrid war has begun and the West must be ready | Evening Standard
Internet outages hit Ukraine following Russian missile strikes (bitdefender.com)
Seven 'Creepy' Backdoors Used by Lebanese Cyberspy Group in Israel Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Researchers Uncover Custom Backdoors and Spying Tools Used by Polonium Hackers (thehackernews.com)
We must tackle Europe’s winter cyber threats head-on – POLITICO
Researchers Detail Malicious Tools Used by Cyber Espionage Group Earth Aughisky (thehackernews.com)
‘Zero-Click’ Spyware Emerges as a Menacing Mobile Threat - Bloomberg
SpaceX’s Starlink terminals in Ukraine back online after outages | Financial Times
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
German Cyber security Chief Accused of Russian Contact Faces Sacking - IT Security Guru
Russian DDoS attack project pays contributors for more firepower (bleepingcomputer.com)
Extreme Networks admits sales to banned Russian arms maker • The Register
Nation State Actors – China
UK Spy Chief to Warn of 'Huge' China Tech Threat | SecurityWeek.Com
China’s attack motivations, tactics, and how CISOs can mitigate threats | CSO Online
China will manipulate new tech for global influence, warns GCHQ boss | Metro News
UK telcos legally required to remove Huawei equipment • The Register
Chinese-linked hackers targeted U.S. state legislature, researchers say - CyberScoop
New Chinese Malware Attack Framework Targets Windows, macOS, and Linux Systems (thehackernews.com)
UK to designate China a ‘threat’ in hawkish foreign policy shift | Foreign policy | The Guardian
WIP19, a new Chinese APT targets IT Service Providers and Telcos - Security Affairs
China-linked Budworm APT returns to target a US entity - Security Affairs
We must tackle China’s satellite-busting technology, says GCHQ chief | News | The Times
GCHQ boss: China could use Digital Yuan to swerve sanctions • The Register
Young people using TikTok is no problem, GCHQ chief says | TikTok | The Guardian
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Concerns Over Fortinet Flaw Mount; PoC Released, Exploit Activity Grows (darkreading.com)
Microsoft October 2022 Patch Tuesday fixes zero-day used in attacks, 84 flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Addresses Zero-Days, but Exchange Server Exploit Chain Remains Unpatched (darkreading.com)
Auth bypass bug in FortiOS, FortiProxy is exploited in the wild (CVE-2022-40684) - Help Net Security
Chrome 106 Update Patches Several High-Severity Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com
Researchers Detail Windows Zero-Day Vulnerability Patched Last Month (thehackernews.com)
Almost 900 servers hacked using Zimbra zero-day flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
Patch Tuesday: Critical Flaws in ColdFusion, Adobe Commerce | SecurityWeek.Com
Aruba fixes critical RCE and auth bypass flaws in EdgeConnect (bleepingcomputer.com)
WordPress Vulnerability In Shortcodes Ultimate Impacts 700,000 Sites (searchenginejournal.com)
Critical Open Source vm2 Sandbox Escape Bug Affects Millions (darkreading.com)
VMware vCenter Server bug disclosed last year still not patched (bleepingcomputer.com)
Other News
Board members should make CISOs their strategic partners - Help Net Security
5 Attack Elements Every Organisations Should Be Monitoring (darkreading.com)
Ukraine’s Starlink problems show the dangers of digital dependency | Financial Times (ft.com)
Here's 5 of the world's riskiest connected devices - Help Net Security
Older, Stored Data Is Cyber Security Risk, Report Warns - MSSP Alert
What the Uber Breach Verdict Means for CISOs in the US (darkreading.com)
Increasing network visibility is critical to improving security posture - Help Net Security
What the Uber Hack can teach us about navigating IT Security (bleepingcomputer.com)
Consumers want more transparency on how companies manage their data - Help Net Security
Gaming Is Booming. That’s Catnip for Cyber criminals. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Fear of cyber criminals drives cyber security improvements - Help Net Security
The next Ford Mustang won’t be easy to tune; blame cyber security | Ars Technica
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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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 May 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 13 May 2022
-UK, US Intelligence Agencies Warn Managed Service Providers, including External IT Providers, Are Now Prime Targets for Cyber Attacks
-Wannacry – 5 Years On, 68% Of Enterprises Are Still At Risk
-You Can’t Eliminate Cyber Attacks, So Focus on Reducing the Blast Radius
-Just In Time? Bosses Are Finally Waking Up to The Cyber Security Threat
-Most Organisations Hit by Ransomware Would Pay Up If Hit Again
-31,000 FTSE 100 Logins Found on Dark Web
-Ransomware: How Executives Should Prepare Given the Current Threat Landscape
-What Your Cyber Insurance Application Form Can Tell You About Ransomware Readiness
-NCSC Shut Down 2.7 Million Scams in 2021
-Top 6 Security Threats Targeting Remote Workers
-Password Reuse Is Rampant Among Employees in All Sectors
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
UK, US Intelligence Agencies Warn Managed Service Providers, including External IT Providers, Are Now Prime Targets for Cyber Attacks
The Five Eyes coalition of international cyber security authorities, this week issued an advisory to warn managed service providers (MSPs), including external IT providers, of an escalating threat of attack from both everyday cyber criminals and state-sponsored threat actors.
MSPs provide or operate information and communications technology services.
With input from cyber security leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, the NSA provided recommendations to help bolster their cyber defences, including:
Finding and disabling dormant accounts.
Implementing and enforcing multifactor authentication on accounts.
Ensuring contracts clearly map out who owns and is responsible for securing data.
Malicious actors are targeting MSPs to break into their customers' networks and deploy ransomware, steal data, and spy on them, the Five Eyes authorities have formally warned in a joint security alert.
"The UK, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and US cyber security authorities expect malicious cyber actors — including state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) groups — to step up their targeting of MSPs in their efforts to exploit provider-customer network trust relationships," the alert warned.
These types of supply-chain or "island-hopping" attacks can prove very lucrative for cyber criminals because once they break into an MSP, they gain access to all of the customers' networks and data being managed, and in turn commit computer crimes and fraud against those customers' customers.
Wannacry – 5 Years On, 68% Of Enterprises Are Still at Risk
5 years on from one of the world’s most damaging ransomware attacks, research from network detection and response leader ExtraHop has found that 68% of enterprises are still running insecure protocol that were exploited by the North Korean ransomware.
The events of 12 May 2017 live on in cyber security lore. WannaCry revealed just how extensive the damage caused by ransomware can be if deployed in large scale – from downtime to ransom paid to reputational damage. Yet despite the danger, huge numbers of organisations are still running SMBv1, the protocol exploited in the WannaCry attacks that has been publicly deprecated since 2014.
You Can’t Eliminate Cyber Attacks, So Focus on Reducing the Blast Radius
Given it is impossible to prevent all cyber attacks, many organisations should look to reduce the size of the company’s attack surface and the limit the “blast radius” of a potential attack.
There is a danger that the biggest risk concerning cyber attacks is that we’re becoming desensitised to them. After all, businesses experience a ransomware attack every 11 seconds—the majority of which the public never hears about. Faced with this reality, it may seem like efforts to safeguard the enterprise are futile. But that’s all the more reason to strengthen your resolve—and switch up your cyber defence strategy.
The core of this strategy should be the concept of “reducing the blast radius” of an attack, and since you can’t completely eliminate cyber attacks, you need to take steps to contain the impact.
This strategy should contain basic blocking and also consider things such as Zero Trust for remote access, traffic inspection, software-based micro-segmentation and other practical measures to reduce your attack surface.
https://threatpost.com/cyberattacks-blast-radius/179612/
Just In Time? Bosses Are Finally Waking Up to The Cyber Security Threat
Boardrooms have a reputation for not paying much attention to cyber security, but it could be that executives are finally keen to take more interest in securing the systems and networks their businesses rely on.
Senior figures from American, British and Australian cyber security agencies have said that business execs are now more aware of cyber threats and are actively engaging with their chief information security officer (CISO) and information security teams.
Chief execs are starting to ask their CISOs the right questions, rather than leaving them to it because they don't have to understand complex technology. It does feel like a much more engaging strategic conversation, but there can still be a disconnect between knowing what needs to happen, then actually budgeting for and implementing a cyber security strategy.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/just-in-time-bosses-are-finally-waking-up-to-the-cybersecurity-threat/
Most Organisations Hit by Ransomware Would Pay Up If Hit Again
Almost nine in 10 organisations that have suffered a ransomware attack would choose to pay the ransom if hit again, according to a new report, compared with two-thirds of those that have not experienced an attack.
The findings come from a report titled "How business executives perceive ransomware threat" by security company Kaspersky, which states that ransomware has become an ever-present threat, with 64 percent of companies surveyed already having suffered an attack, but more worryingly, that executives seem to believe that paying the ransom is a reliable way of addressing the issue.
The report is based on research involving 900 respondents across North America, South America, Africa, Russia, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The respondents were in senior non-IT management roles at companies between 50 and 1,000 employees.
Kaspersky claims that in 88 percent of organisations that have had to deal with a ransomware incident, business leaders said they would choose to pay the money if faced with another attack. In contrast, among those that have not so far suffered a ransomware attack, only 67 percent would be willing to pay, and they would be less inclined to do so immediately.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/13/organizations_pay_ransomware/
31,000 FTSE 100 Logins Found on Dark Web
Researchers with Outpost24 are reporting over 31,000 corporate credentials for many of the UK’s leading FTSE 100 firms on the dark web. These are the 100 biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange by market capitalisation. The researchers used their threat monitoring and auditing tool Blueliv to search dark web sites for the breached credentials.
Key findings from stolen and leaked credentials study:
The majority (81%) of the companies within the FTSE 100 had at least one credential compromised and exposed on the dark web
31,135 total stolen and leaked credentials detected for FTSE 100 companies, with 38% disclosed on the underground in the past 12 months
Nearly half (42%) of FTSE 100 companies have more than 500 compromised credentials exposed on the dark web
Up to 20% of credentials are stolen via malware infection and stealers
11% disclosed in the last 3 months (21% in the last 6 months and over 68% have been exposed for over 12 months)
Over 60% of stolen credentials came from 3 industries – IT/Telecom (23%), Energy and Utility (22%) and Finance (21%)
IT/Telecoms industry is the most at risk with the highest total amount (7,303) and average stolen credentials per company (730), they are most affected by malware infection and have the most amount of stolen credentials disclosed in the last 3 months
On average, healthcare has the highest number of stolen credentials per company (485) from data breach as they found themselves increasingly in the cyber criminals’ crosshairs since the pandemic.
https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/expert-comments/31000-ftse-100-logins-found-on-dark-web/
Ransomware: How Executives Should Prepare Given the Current Threat Landscape
As the number of ransomware attacks continue to increase, the response at C-level must be swift and decisive.
Top executives are increasingly dreading the phone call from their fellow employee notifying them that their company has been hit by a cyber attack. Nearly every week in 2021 and early 2022, a prominent organisation has been in the media spotlight as their public relations team struggles to explain how they were attacked and how they can regain consumer confidence. A recent survey showed that 37 percent of organisations surveyed had been affected by ransomware attacks in the last year.
Worse, the days when executive leadership teams could fully delegate responsibility to a CISO are over. Regardless of reality, surveys have shown that about 40 percent of the public perception of fault for a ransomware attack lands squarely on the CEO’s shoulders, and that 36 percent of attacks result in the loss of C-level talent. While executive involvement in the security program does not guarantee a successful defence, it does give the executive leadership team (ELT) a degree of ownership of the final product, as well as the ability to speak confidently and knowledgeably to the public.
What Your Cyber Insurance Application Form Can Tell You About Ransomware Readiness
The annual cyber insurance application form shows what the carriers think you should be doing to best prevent and recover from ransomware attacks. Pay attention.
If it’s the time of year for you to fill out the annual cyber insurance policy application, you will see how the focus for insurance firms is changing. Each year you can get an insight into what insurance vendors are using to rate the risks and threats to your business and what they are stressing firms should have in place as best practice or what they are expecting you should have in place as a baseline set of controls. Not having them in place could affect insurance rates, whether you are able to get cyber coverage at all, or crucially whether they would pay out in the event of you having to make a claim.
This year you might find more questions specifically around ransomware prevention techniques and protections, from Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) to Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and email filtering protections to the robustness of your backups.
Make sure to review your cyber insurance policy and its related questionnaire. And ask whether you are doing everything you can to protect your firm and tailoring your actions to align with what your insurance provider has deemed as a best practice.
NCSC Shut Down 2.7 Million Scams in 2021
The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) removed 2.7 million online scams last year, it was revealed this week, four times as many scams compared to 2020.
The announcement comes as the security agency shared the most recent data from its Active Cyber Defence initiative at the CYBERUK summit earlier in the week.
According to the NCSC, neutralised scams included fake celebrity endorsements and spoof extortion emails.
It has also been revealed that fraud campaigns used common themes, with NHS vaccines and vaccine passports being particularly popular.
Some cyber criminals even posed as NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron – victims received an email claiming the NCSC had prevented £5m of their money from being stolen, and were urged to supply personal information to retrieve the funds.
https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/05/10/ncsc-shut-down-2-7-million-scams-in-2021/
Security Threats Targeting Remote Workers
Remote work offers great benefits, like reduced commute time, increased freedom, and more time to spend with loved ones. But there can be security downsides if sufficient controls are not in place to protect remote workers against the digital threats that come with working via unsecured connections.
Being on a home network lacks the layered network security of the company environment. Remote work itself is not new, but the dramatic shift to working from home over the past two years means there are more security-naive people who are not in the office.
Not all security threats are the fault of technology. Much of it also comes from human error.
Remote work greatly exacerbates human-activated risk, and people are working in more distracting environments where they may have to answer the door for deliveries or might multitask with household chores. That means mistakes are more likely to happen, like sending an email to the wrong recipient or falling for a malicious email attack.
Recent research by Egress found that 77% of IT leaders said they have seen an increase in security compromises since going remote two years ago.
https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/top-6-security-threats-targeting-remote-workers
Password Reuse Is Rampant Among Employees in All Sectors
SpyCloud published an annual analysis of identity exposure among employees of Fortune 1000 companies in key sectors such as technology, finance, retail and telecommunications.
Drawing on a database of over 200 billion recaptured assets, researchers identified over 687 million exposed credentials and PII tied to Fortune 1000 employees, a 26% increase from last year’s analysis.
Analysis of this data showed a 64% password reuse rate, widespread use of easy-to-guess passwords, and a spike in malware-infected devices –– all sources of cyber risk for both employers and consumers who rely on businesses to safeguard their personal data. With remote work blurring the lines between work and personal device use, a larger attack surface compounds the risk of cyber attacks proliferating beyond compromised employee and consumer identities to penetrate corporate networks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/11/fortune-1000-identity-exposure/
Threats
Ransomware
Costa Rica Shows the Damage Ransomware Can Do to a Country - The Washington Post
Ransomware Works Fast, You Need to Be Faster To Counter It - Help Net Security
A Closer Look At Today’s Ransomware Attack Landscape - MSSP Alert
Ransomware Is a National Security Threat, So Please Tell Us About Attacks, Says Government | ZDNet
5 Years That Altered the Ransomware Landscape (darkreading.com)
Colonial Pipeline Faces Nearly $1m Fine After Ransomware • The Register
These Ransomware Attackers Sent Their Ransom Note to The Victim's Printer | ZDNet
New Malware Samples Indicate Return of REvil Ransomware | SecurityWeek.Com
How to Avoid Falling Victim to PayOrGrief's Next Rebrand (darkreading.com)
Examining the Black Basta Ransomware’s Infection Routine (trendmicro.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Novel Phishing Trick Uses Weird Links to Bypass Spam Filters | Threatpost
New Email Security Tool Launched to Help Organisations Check Their Defences - NCSC.GOV.UK
Malware
Novel ‘Nerbian’ Trojan Uses Advanced Anti-Detection Tricks | Threatpost
Low-rent Remote Access Trojan (RAT) Worries Researchers | Threatpost
Eternity Malware Kit Offers Stealer, Miner, Worm, Ransomware Tools (bleepingcomputer.com)
It costs $7 to Rent DCRat Malware to Backdoor Your Network • The Register
Shopping For Malware: $260 Gets You a Password Stealer... • The Register
Microsoft: Sysrv Botnet Targets Windows, Linux Servers with New Exploits (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Drive Emerges as Top App For Malware Downloads - Help Net Security
Stealthy Linux Implant BPFdoor Compromised Organizations Globally For Years | CSO Online
Malware Attacks Getting More Regional, Claims Netskope • The Register
5-Buck DCRat Malware Foretells a Worrying Cyber Future (darkreading.com)
Threat Actors Use Telegram to Spread ‘Eternity’ Malware-as-a-Service | Threatpost
German Automakers Targeted in Year-Long Malware Campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
PII Of 21M SuperVPN, GeckoVPN Users Leaked On Telegram - Information Security Buzz
Victims of Horizon Actuarial Data Breach Exceed 1M (techtarget.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Crypto Robber Who Lured Victims Via Snapchat and Stole £34,000 Jailed (bleepingcomputer.com)
Crook Jailed for Selling Stolen Credentials On Dark Web • The Register
US Agrees to International Electronic Cyber Crime Evidence Swap (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs
NFTs Emerge as the Next Enterprise Attack Vector (darkreading.com)
Fake Binance NFT Mystery Box Bots Steal Victim's Crypto Wallets (bleepingcomputer.com)
Possible $1 Billion Crypto Ponzi Scheme Probed by Tax Investigators - Bloomberg
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
How Can Your Business Defend Itself Against Fraud-as-a-Service? (darkreading.com)
Scammers Impersonate Britain’s Top Cyber Crime Chief in Fake £5m Heist (telegraph.co.uk)
Caramel Credit Card Stealing Service Is Growing in Popularity (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers Are Exploiting WordPress Themes, Plugins to Hawk Scams (gizmodo.com)
Thousands of WordPress Sites Hacked to Redirect Visitors to Scam Sites (thehackernews.com)
Insurance
Multi-Factor Authentication: A Key to Cyber Risk Insurance Coverage (tripwire.com)
How Cyber Liability Insurance Can Help Protect Your Business Reputation - MSSP Alert
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
Cloud
Open Source
Travel
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Wars Start in Cyberspace Well Before Shots Are Fired • The Register
#CYBERUK22: Cyber Trends from the Russia-Ukraine War - Infosecurity Magazine
US Pledges to Help Ukraine Keep the Internet and Lights On (darkreading.com)
Spain’s Spy Chief Sacked Over Pegasus Scandal - Infosecurity Magazine
OpRussia Update: Anonymous Breached Other Organizations - Security Affairs
Pro-Russian Hacktivists Target Italy Government Websites - Security Affairs
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Russian Hackers Targeting Opponents Of Ukraine Invasion, Warns GCHQ Chief | Hacking | The Guardian
Western Intelligence Blames Russia for Europe-Wide Cyber Attack - Infosecurity Magazine
State Department Says Russian Cyber War Against Ukraine Began in January | The Independent
Ukraine War: Don’t Underestimate Russia Cyber-Threat, Warns US - BBC News
Nation State Actors – China
Experts Uncovered a New Wave Of Attacks Conducted By Mustang Panda - Security Affairs
China-Backed Winnti Hackers Attacked Manufacturers Globally, Cybereason Alleges - MSSP Alert
Nation State Actors – Iran
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Critical F5 BIG-IP Vulnerability Exploited to Wipe Devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Adobe Warns of 'Critical' Security Flaws in Enterprise Products | SecurityWeek.Com
Log4Shell Exploit Threatens Enterprise Data Lakes, AI Poisoning (darkreading.com)
Intel Emits Raft of Firmware Patches For Security Flaws • The Register
Actively Exploited Zero-Day Bug Patched by Microsoft | Threatpost
HP Fixes Bug Letting Attackers Overwrite Firmware in Over 200 Models (bleepingcomputer.com)
Zyxel Fixes Firewall Flaws That Could Lead to Hacked Networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Releases Fixes for Azure Flaw Allowing RCE Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Find Flaws in Word, PDF Script Handling • The Register
SonicWall Releases Patches for New Flaws Affecting SSLVPN SMA1000 Devices (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft: May Windows Updates Cause AD Authentication Failures (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sector Specific
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
Ransomware Group Strikes Second US Health Care System in The Last Two Months - CyberScoop
Is That Health App Safe to Use? A New Framework Aims To Provide An Answer - Help Net Security
Manufacturing
German Automakers Targeted in Year-Long Malware Campaign (bleepingcomputer.com)
China-Backed Winnti Hackers Attacked Manufacturers Globally, Cybereason Alleges - MSSP Alert
Education and Academia
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
An Offensive Mindset Is Crucial for Effective Cyber Defence - Help Net Security
Zero-Click Attacks Explained, And Why They Are So Dangerous | CSO Online
Britain Must Upgrade Cyber Defences ‘Or Be Hit By 9/11-Style Attack’ (telegraph.co.uk)
Everything We Learned From the LAPSUS$ Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Threat Actors Are Stealing Data Now to Decrypt When Quantum Computing Comes (darkreading.com)
Prepare for What You Wish For: More CISOs on Boards | SecurityWeek.Com
Ready, IAM, Fire: How Weak Identity and Access Management (IAM) Makes You a Target (darkreading.com)
How Privileged Access Management (PAM) Must Evolve - MSSP Alert
Secure Your CMS-Based Websites Against Pervasive Attacks - Help Net Security
Threats To Hardware Security Are Growing - Help Net Security
Government’s “Whole of Society” Cyber Strategy Takes Shape - Infosecurity Magazine
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 05 March 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 March 2021: New Strain Of Ransomware Implements Self-Spreading Capabilities; One In Four People Use Work Passwords For Consumer Websites; Massive Rise In Threats Across Expanding Attack Surfaces; Half of Orgs Concerned Remote Working Puts Them at Greater Risk of Cyber Attacks; Microsoft Patches Four Zero-Day Exchange Server Bugs; A Booming Trade In Bugs Is Undermining Cyber Security; Weaponized Spectre Exploit Discovered; Solarwinds Security Fiasco May Have Started With Simple Password Blunders
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 Strain Of Ransomware Implements Self-Spreading Capabilities
French experts spotted a new Ryuk ransomware variant that implements self-spreading capabilities to infect other devices on victims’ local networks.
This new version has a new attribute that allows it to self replicate over the local network allowing the malware to propagate itself – machine to machine – within the Windows domain. Once launched, it will spread itself to every Windows machine it can reach.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/115064/reports/ryuk-ransomware-self-spreading-capabilities.html
One In Four People Use Work Passwords For Consumer Websites
The report found that one in four consumers admit to using their work email or passwords to log in to consumer websites and applications such as food delivery apps, online shopping sites and even dating apps. The report found that consumers are neglecting to implement fundamental security safeguards across smart IoT devices at home, which could have serious security ramifications on both the individual and the enterprise amid increased and ongoing remote work spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/02/26/use-work-passwords-for-consumer-websites/
Massive Rise In Threats Across Expanding Attack Surfaces
New malware samples nearly doubled: New ransomware samples increased 106% year-over-year. Trojans increased 128%, with threat actors using trojans to exploit lower-severity vulnerabilities. Sophisticated, multi-staged attacks and malware-as-a-service have become the norm. Vulnerabilities hit a new high: 18,341 new vulnerabilities in 2020 have been reported. To stay ahead of attacks, security and risk leaders need sophisticated insights into which vulnerabilities are high-risk and remediation options for all assets, including non-patching options.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/02/26/expanding-attack-surfaces/
Half of Organisations Concerned Remote Working Puts Them at Greater Risk of Cyber Attacks
Half of organizations are concerned that the shift to remote work is putting them a greater risk of Cyber Attacks, according to a new study with IDG. A survey of UK CIOs, CTOs and IT decision makers revealed that insecure practices are regularly taking place among remote workers, providing more opportunities for Cyber Criminals to strike.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/half-orgs-remote-working-risk/
Microsoft Patches Four Zero-Day Exchange Server Bugs
Microsoft has been forced to release out-of-band patches to fix multiple zero-day vulnerabilities being exploited by Chinese state-backed threat actors. The unusual step was taken to protect customers running on-premises versions of Microsoft Exchange Server.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/microsoft-patch-four-zeroday/
A Booming Trade In Bugs Is Undermining Cyber Security
If you discover that a favourite vending-machine dispenses free chocolate when its buttons are pressed just so, what should you do? The virtuous option is to tell the manufacturer, so it can fix it. The temptation is to gorge.
Is Your Browser Extension A Botnet Backdoor?
A company that rents out access to more than 10 million Web browsers so that clients can hide their true Internet addresses has built its network by paying browser extension makers to quietly include its code in their creations. This story examines the lopsided economics of extension development, and why installing an extension can be such a risky proposition.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/03/is-your-browser-extension-a-botnet-backdoor/
Cyber Attack Shuts Down Online Learning At 15 UK Schools
A threat actor was able to access the trust's central network infrastructure and while an investigation took place, all existing phone, email, and website communication had to be pulled. Students are still learning remotely in England. Schools are set to reopen on March 8, but in the meantime, only a small subset of children are attending school physically, such as the children of key workers.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/cyberattack-shuts-down-online-learning-at-15-uk-schools/
First Fully Weaponized Spectre Exploit Discovered Online
A fully weaponized exploit for the Spectre CPU vulnerability was uploaded on the malware-scanning website VirusTotal last month, marking the first time a working exploit capable of doing actual damage has entered the public domain. The exploit was discovered and targets Spectre, a major vulnerability that was disclosed in January 2018. According to its website, the Spectre bug is a hardware design flaw in the architectures of Intel, AMD, and ARM processors that allows code running inside bad apps to break the isolation between different applications at the CPU level and then steal sensitive data from other apps running on the same system.
https://therecord.media/first-fully-weaponized-spectre-exploit-discovered-online/
Solarwinds Security Fiasco May Have Started With Simple Password Blunders
We still do not know just how bad the SolarWinds security breach is. We do know over a hundred US government agencies and companies were cracked. "The largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen," with more than a thousand hackers behind it. It may have all started when an intern first set an important password to "'solarwinds123." Then, adding insult to injury, the intern shared the password on GitHub.
Threats
Ransomware
Data analytics agency Polecat held to ransom after server exposed 30TB of records
Ransomware gang hacks Ecuador's largest private bank, Ministry of Finance
Search crimes – how the Gootkit gang poisons Google searches
Qualys hit with ransomware: customer invoices leaked on extortionists' tor blog
Phishing
Malware
Mobile
Vulnerabilities
These Microsoft Exchange Server zero-day flaws are being used by hackers, so update now
Working Windows and Linux Spectre exploits found on VirusTotal
Google shares PoC exploit for critical Windows 10 Graphics RCE bug
If you own a MacBook, download and install macOS Big Sur 11.2.2 ASAP
Data Breaches
Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked—Including Private Data
Singapore Airlines frequent flyer members hit in third-party data security breach
Organised Crime
Dark Web
Supply Chain
Why supply chains are today's fastest growing cyber security threat
Bombardier is latest victim of Accellion supply chain attack
Nation-State Actors
Indian cyber espionage activity rising amid growing rivalry with China, Pakistan
Security News This Week: The SolarWinds Body Count Now Includes NASA and the FAA
Privacy
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 31 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 31 December 2020: SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared; Threat actor selling 368.8 million records from 26 data breaches; The Worst Hacks of 2020; Nasty Strain of malware is back and hits 100K recipients per day; Ransomware in 2020: A Banner Year for Extortion; Russia’s global hacking efforts are going to unwind in 2021
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared
The Russia-linked SolarWinds hack which targeted US government agencies and private corporations may be even worse than officials first realized, with some 250 federal agencies and business now believed affected.
Microsoft has said the hackers compromised SolarWinds’ Orion monitoring and management software, allowing them to “impersonate any of the organisation’s existing users and accounts, including highly privileged accounts.” The Times reports that Russia exploited layers of the supply chain to access the agencies’ systems.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/2/22210667/solarwinds-hack-worse-government-microsoft-cybersecurity
Threat actor is selling 368.8 million records from 26 data breaches
Security experts reported that a threat actor is selling user records allegedly stolen from twenty-six companies on a hacker forum.
The total volume of data available for sale is composed of 368.8 million stolen user records.
For some of these companies, the data breaches have not been previously disclosed, including Teespring.com, MyON.com, Chqbook.com, Anyvan.com, Eventials.com, Wahoofitness.com, Sitepoint.com, and ClickIndia.com.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112842/data-breach/data-breaches-records-sale.html
The Worst Hacks of 2020, a Surreal Pandemic Year
WHAT A WAY to kick off a new decade. 2020 showcased all of the digital risks and cybersecurity woes you've come to expect in the modern era, but this year was unique in the ways Covid-19 radically and tragically transformed life around the world. The pandemic also created unprecedented conditions in cyberspace, reshaping networks by pushing people to work from home en masse, creating a scramble to access vaccine research by any means, generating new fodder for criminals to launch extortion attempts and scams, and producing novel opportunities for nation-state espionage.
https://www.wired.com/story/worst-hacks-2020-surreal-pandemic-year/
A Nasty Strain of malware is back and hits 100K recipients per day
The Emotet banking trojan has been active at least since 2014, the botnet is operated by a threat actor tracked as TA542. In the middle-August, the malware was employed in fresh COVID19-themed spam campaign Recent spam campaigns used messages with malicious Word documents, or links to them, pretending to be an invoice, shipping information, COVID-19 information, resumes, financial documents, or scanned documents.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112650/malware/december-emotet-redacted.html
Ransomware in 2020: A Banner Year for Extortion
From attacks on the UVM Health Network that delayed chemotherapy appointments, to ones on public schools that delayed students going back to the classroom, ransomware gangs disrupted organizations to inordinate levels in 2020. Remote learning platforms shut down. Hospital chemotherapy appointments cancelled. Ransomware attacks in 2020 dominated as a top threat vector this past year. Couple that with the COVID-19 pandemic, putting strains on the healthcare sector, and we witnessed ransomware exact a particularly cruel human toll as well. Attacks had an impact on nearly all sectors of the global economy – costing business $20 billion collectively and creating major cybersecurity headaches for others.
https://threatpost.com/ransomware-2020-extortion/162319/
Ransomware Is Headed Down a Dire Path
AT THE END of September, an emergency room technician in the United States gave WIRED a real-time account of what it was like inside their hospital as a ransomware attack raged. With their digital systems locked down by hackers, health care workers were forced onto backup paper systems. They were already straining to manage patients during the pandemic; the last thing they needed was more chaos. "It is a life-or-death situation," the technician said at the time.
The same scenario was repeated around the country this year, as waves of ransomware attacks crashed down on hospitals and health care provider networks, peaking in September and October. School districts, meanwhile, were walloped by attacks that crippled their systems just as students were attempting to come back to class, either in person or remotely. Corporations and local and state governments faced similar attacks at equally alarming rates.
https://www.wired.com/story/ransomware-2020-headed-down-dire-path/
Russia’s global hacking efforts are going to unwind in 2021
Russia has become adept at using cyberattacks and digital-media manipulation to influence events in other countries. We know there was Russian digital interference in the 2016 US general election and the 2017 presidential election in France: both involved fake social-media accounts and “hack-and-leak” operations to steal emails. The UK government has not investigated whether, as must be probable, Russia had also been using its tools of covert subversion during the Scottish independence and Brexit referenda, but it has said that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general election through the online dissemination of illicitly acquired government documents, thought to relate to US/UK trade negotiations.
Threats
IOT
FBI Warn Hackers are Using Hijacked Home Security Devices for ‘Swatting’
Malware
New Golang worm turns Windows and Linux servers into monero miners
Emotet malware hits Lithuania's National Public Health Centre
GitHub-hosted malware calculates Cobalt Strike payload from Imgur pic
Vulnerabilities
Cross-layer attacks: New hacking technique raises DNS cache poisoning, user tracking risk
Windows Zero-Day Still Circulating After Faulty Fix
Backdoor account discovered in more than 100,000 Zyxel firewalls, VPN gateways
Data Breaches
T-Mobile warns customers of second data breach in less than a year
Kawasaki discloses security breach, potential data leak
Finland says hackers accessed MPs' emails accounts
Organised Crime
21 arrests in nationwide cyber crackdown
Nation State Actors
India: A Growing Cyber Security Threat
Denial of Service
Citrix devices are being abused as DDoS attack vectors
Privacy
Mapped: The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide
Cryptocurrency
Voyager cryptocurrency broker halted trading due to cyber attack
Other News
Brexit deal mentions Netscape browser and Mozilla Mail
6 Questions Attackers Ask Before Choosing an Asset to Exploit
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.