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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 20 May 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 20 May 2022
-Fifth of Businesses Say Cyber Attack Nearly Broke Them
-Weak Security Controls and Practices Routinely Exploited for Initial Access
-How Do Ransomware Attacks Impact Victim Organisations’ Stock?
-Prioritise Patching Vulnerabilities Associated with Ransomware
-Researchers Warn of Advanced Persistent Threats/Nation State Actors (APTs), Data Leaks as Serious Threats Against UK Financial Sector
-Remote Work Hazards: Attackers Exploit Weak WiFi, Endpoints, and the Cloud
-Small Businesses Under Fire from Password Stealers
-Email Is the Riskiest Channel for Data Security
-Phishing Attacks for Initial Access Surged 54% in Q1
-State of Internet Crime in Q1 2022: Bot Traffic on The Rise, And More
-Fears Grow for Smaller Nations After Ransomware Attack on Costa Rica Escalates
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
Fifth of Businesses Say Cyber Attack Nearly Broke Them
A fifth of US and European businesses have warned that a serious cyber attack nearly rendered them insolvent, with most (87%) viewing compromise as a bigger threat than an economic downturn, according to Hiscox.
The insurer polled over 5000 businesses in the US, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to compile its annual Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report.
It revealed the potentially catastrophic financial damage that a serious cyber-attack can wreak. The number claiming to have nearly been brought down by a breach increased 24% compared to the previous year.
Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they suffered an attack over the past 12 months, a 12% increase from the previous report’s findings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, businesses in seven out of eight countries see cyber as their biggest threat.
Yet perception appears to vary greatly depending on whether an organisation has suffered a serious compromise or not. While over half (55%) of total respondents said they view cyber as a high-risk area, the figure among companies that have not yet suffered an attack is just 36%.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fifth-of-businesses-cyber-attack/
Weak Security Controls and Practices Routinely Exploited for Initial Access
Cyber actors routinely exploit poor security configurations (either misconfigured or left unsecured), weak controls, and other poor cyber hygiene practices to gain initial access or as part of other tactics to compromise a victim’s system. A joint Cybersecurity Advisory by the cyber security authorities of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom identifies commonly exploited controls and practices and includes best practices to mitigate the issues.
Malicious cyber actors often exploit the following common weak security controls, poor configurations, and poor security practices to employ the initial access techniques.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) is not enforced
Incorrectly applied privileges or permissions and errors within access control lists
Software is not up to date
Use of vendor-supplied default configurations or default login usernames and passwords
Remote services, such as a virtual private network (VPN), lack sufficient controls to prevent unauthorised access
Strong password policies are not implemented
Cloud services are unprotected
Open ports and misconfigured services are exposed to the internet
Failure to detect or block phishing attempts
Poor endpoint detection and response.
https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-137a
How Do Ransomware Attacks Impact Victim Organisations’ Stock?
Ransomware has developed into an extremely lucrative business model with little risk involved for the threat actors. Couple this with the willingness of most victim organisations to pay the ransom demand under the assumption it will return business operations to normal - ultimately encouraging more attacks - and we have a big problem with no easy remedies.
Back in 2021, Cybereason published a report titled Ransomware Attacks and the True Cost to Business that revealed the various costs that organisations face after falling victim to a ransomware attack. Here are some of the most significant findings that stood out:
Two-thirds of ransomware victims said that they endured a significant loss of revenue following the attack
More than half (53%) of organisations suffered damage to their brand and reputation after a ransomware infection
A third of those who fell to ransomware lost C-level talent in the attack’s aftermath
Three in 10 organisations had no choice but to lay off employees due to the financial pressures resulting from a ransomware incident
A quarter of ransomware victims said that they needed to suspend operations.
Prioritise Patching Vulnerabilities Associated with Ransomware
In the last quarter, ransomware attacks have made mainstream headlines on a near-daily basis, with groups like Lapsus$ and Conti’s names splashed across the page. Major organisations like Okta, Globant and Kitchenware maker Meyer Corporation have all fallen victim, and they are very much not alone. The data indicates that increasing vulnerabilities, new advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and new ransomware families are contributing to ransomware’s continued prevalence and profitability.
The top stats include:
22 new vulnerabilities and nine new weaknesses have been associated with ransomware since January 2022; of the 22, a whopping 21 are considered of critical or high risk severity
19 (out of 22) of the newly-added vulnerabilities are associated with the Conti ransomware gang
Three new APT groups (Exotic Lily, APT 35, DEV-0401) and four new ransomware families (AvosLocker, Karma, BlackCat, Night Sky) are deploying ransomware to attack their targets
141 of CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs) are being used by ransomware operators – including 18 newly identified this quarter
11 vulnerabilities tied to ransomware remain undetected by popular scanners
624 unique vulnerabilities were found within the 846 healthcare products analysed.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/19/increase-ransomware-vulnerabilities/
Researchers Warn of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Data Leaks as Serious Threats Against UK Financial Sector
Researchers say that geopolitical tension, ransomware, and cyber attacks using stolen credentials threaten the UK's financial sector.
KELA's security team published a report examining the cyber security issues and attacks that surfaced in 2021 and early 2022, specifically focused on the United Kingdom's banks and other financial services.
The UK was one of the first countries to stand with Ukraine after the invasion by Russia. This could make UK organisations a tempting target for threat actors siding with Russia - whether by state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) groups or hacktivists. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) previously warned businesses to shore up their cyber security following Russia's assault.
APTs are often responsible for attacking the financial sector: account credentials, card numbers, and the personally identifiable information (PII) of customers are useful not only in social engineering and identity theft but also to make fraudulent purchases or for card cloning.
APTs target organisations worldwide, and those located in the UK are no exception. Over the past few years, APTs, including the Chinese APT40 and APT31, have utilised vulnerabilities, including ProxyLogon, to compromise UK businesses.
"In general, APTs may target the financial sector to commit fraud, burglarise ATMs, execute transactions, and penetrate organisations' internal financial systems," KELA says. "Although specific threats to the UK financial sector have not been identified, there is no doubt that the UK has occasionally been a target of APT groups during 2021."
Exposed corporate information and leaked credentials are also of note. After browsing Dark Web forums, the researchers found that UK data is "in demand" by cyber criminals who are seeking PII, access credentials, and internal data.
Remote Work Hazards: Attackers Exploit Weak WiFi, Endpoints, and the Cloud
Infoblox unveils a global report examining the state of security concerns, costs, and remedies. As the pandemic and uneven shutdowns stretch into a third year, organisations are accelerating digital transformation projects to support remote work. Meanwhile, attackers have seized on vulnerabilities in these environments, creating more work and larger budgets for security teams.
1,100 respondents in IT and cyber security roles in 11 countries – United States, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Singapore – participated in the survey.
The surge in remote work has changed the corporate landscape significantly – and permanently. 52% of respondents accelerated digital transformation projects, 42% increased customer portal support for remote engagement, 30% moved apps to third party cloud providers, and 26% shuttered physical offices for good. These changes led to the additions of VPNs and firewalls, a mix of corporate and employee owned devices as well as cloud and on-premises DDI servers to manage data traffic across the expanded network.
The hybrid workforce reality is causing greater concerns with data leakage, ransomware and attacks through remote access tools and cloud services. Respondents indicate concerns about their abilities to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks with limited control over employees, work-from-home technologies, and vulnerable supply chain partners. The sophistication of state-sponsored malware also is a source of worry for many.
Organisations have good reason to worry: 53% of respondents experienced up to five security incidents that led to at least one breach.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/17/state-of-security/
Small Businesses Under Fire from Password Stealers
Password-stealing malware and other cyber attacks have increased significantly against small businesses over the past year, according to Kaspersky researchers.
An assessment released this week detailed the number of Trojan Password Stealing Ware (PSW) detections, internet attacks and attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) between January and April 2022, compared with the same time frame from 2021. Kaspersky's research showed a jump in the detection of password stealers within small business environments, as well as increases in other types of cyber attacks.
According to Kaspersky, the biggest increase in threats against small businesses was password stealers, specifically Trojan PSWs. There were nearly 1 million more detected Trojan PSWs targeting small and medium-sized businesses in the first trimester of 2022 than the first of 2021, increasing from 3,029,903 to 4,003,323.
Email Is the Riskiest Channel for Data Security
Research from Tessian and the Ponemon Institute reveals that nearly 60% of organisations experienced data loss or exfiltration caused by an employee mistake on email in the last 12 months.
Email was revealed as the riskiest channel for data loss in organisations, as stated by 65% of IT security practitioners. This was closely followed by cloud file-sharing services (62%) and instant messaging platforms (57%).
The research surveyed 614 IT security practitioners across the globe to also reveal that:
Employee negligence, because of not following policies, is the leading cause of data loss incidents (40%)
27% of data loss incidents are caused by malicious insiders
It takes up to three days for security and risk management teams to detect and remediate a data loss and exfiltration incident caused by a malicious insider on email
23% of organisations experience up to 30 security incidents involving employees’ use of email every month (for example, email was sent to an unintended recipient).
The most common types of confidential and sensitive information lost or intentionally stolen include: customer information (61%); intellectual property (56%); and consumer information (47%). User-created data (sensitive email content, text files, M&A documents), regulated data (credit card data, Social Security numbers, national ID numbers, employee data), and intellectual property were identified as the three types of data that are most difficult to protect from data loss.
The top two consequences for data loss incidents were revealed as non-compliance with data protection regulations (57%) and damage to an organisation’s reputation (52%). Furthermore, a previous study from Tessian found that 29% of businesses lost a client or customer because of an employee sending an email to the wrong person.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/20/data-loss-email/
Phishing Attacks for Initial Access Surged 54% in Q1
Threat actors doubled down on their use of phishing emails as an initial attack vector during the first quarter of 2022 — and in many cases then used that access to drop ransomware or to extort organisations in other ways.
Researchers from Kroll recently analysed data gathered from security incidents they responded to in the first three months of this year. The analysis showed a 54% increase in incidents of phishing for initial access compared with the same period last year.
For the first time since Microsoft disclosed the so-called ProxyLogon set of vulnerabilities in Exchange Server in the first quarter of 2021, incidents tied to email compromises surpassed those related to ransomware. Kroll described the sharp increase in phishing activity as likely the result of a surge in activity tied to Emotet and IceID malware — threat actors have been using both to drop other malware.
https://www.darkreading.com/risk/phishing-attacks-for-initial-access-surged-q1
Fears Grow for Smaller Nations After Ransomware Attack on Costa Rica Escalates
Conti demanded $20M in ransom — and the overthrow of the government.
It’s been a rough start for the newly elected Costa Rica president Rodrigo Chaves, who less than a week into office declared his country “at war” with the Conti ransomware gang.
“We’re at war and this is not an exaggeration,” Chaves told local media. “The war is against an international terrorist group, which apparently has operatives in Costa Rica. There are very clear indications that people inside the country are collaborating with Conti.”
Conti’s assault on the Costa Rican government began in April. The country’s Finance Ministry was the first hit by the Russia-linked hacking group, and in a statement on May 16, Chaves said the number of institutions impacted had since grown to 27. This, he admitted, means civil servants wouldn’t be paid on time and will impact the country’s foreign trade.
In a message posted to its dark web leaks blog, Conti urged the citizens of Costa Rica to pressure their government to pay the ransom, which the group doubled from an initial $10 million to $20 million. In a separate statement, the group warned: “We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack, we have already shown you all the strength and power.”
Conti is among the most prolific hacking groups. The FBI warned earlier this year that the gang was among “the three top variants” that targeted businesses in the United States, and it has been blamed for ransomware attacks targeting dozens of businesses, including Fat Face, Shutterfly and the Irish healthcare service.
But Conti has picked up its pace in recent months: In January and February it published 31 victims on its leaks blog. In March and April, it posted 133 victims.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/20/costa-rica-ransomware-attack/
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware Gangs Rely More on Weaponizing Vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Gang Extorted 725 BTC in One Attack, On-Chain Sleuths Find (coindesk.com)
5 Critical Questions to Test Your Ransomware Preparedness - Help Net Security
“Alarming” Surge in Conti Group Activity This Year - Infosecurity Magazine
Why AI-Powered Ransomware Cyber Attacks Could Be Coming Soon - Protocol
Nikkei Says Customer Data Likely Impacted in Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Wizard Spider Hackers Hire Cold Callers to Scare Ransomware Victims Into Paying Up | ZDNet
Greenland Hit by Cyber Attack, Finds Its Health Service Crippled (bitdefender.com)
Conti Ransomware Shuts Down Operation, Rebrands into Smaller Units (bleepingcomputer.com)
No One Is Slowing Down BlackByte Ransomware Gang • The Register
President Rodrigo Chaves says Costa Rica is at war with Conti hackers - BBC News
Engineering Firm Parker Discloses Data Breach After Ransomware Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
US links Thanos and Jigsaw ransomware to 55-year-old doctor (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian Conti Ransomware Gang Threatens to Overthrow New Costa Rican Government (thehackernews.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
This Phishing Attack Delivers Three Forms of Malware. And They All Want to Steal Your Data | ZDNet
HTML Attachments Remain Popular Among Phishing Actors In 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chatbot Army Deployed in Latest DHL Shipping Phish (darkreading.com)
Phishing Gang That Stole Over 400,000 Euros Busted in Spain (tripwire.com)
Long Lost @ Symbol Gets New Life Obscuring Malicious URLs | Malwarebytes Labs
Spanish Police Dismantle Phishing Gang That Emptied Bank Accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malware
Microsoft Identifies Botnet Variant Targeting Windows and Linux Systems - Infosecurity Magazine
Activity of the Linux XorDdos bot increased by 254% over the last 6 monthsSecurity Affairs
Fake Domains Offer Windows 11 Installers - But Deliver Malware Instead | ZDNet
Bruised but Not Broken: The Resurgence of the Emotet Botnet Malware (trendmicro.com)
Malicious PyPI Pymafka Package Opens Backdoors On Windows, Linux, and Macs (bleepingcomputer.com)
April VMware Bugs Abused to Deliver Mirai Malware, Exploit Log4Shell | Threatpost
Mobile
6 Scary Tactics Used in Mobile App Attacks (darkreading.com)
Researchers Find Potential Way to Run Malware on iPhone Even When it's OFF (thehackernews.com)
Google TAG: Cytrox's Predator Spyware Used to Target Android Users | WIRED
IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Ukrainian Hacker Jailed for 4-Years in U.S. for Selling Access to Hacked Servers (thehackernews.com)
US Recovers a Record $15m from the 3ve Ad-Fraud Crew • The Register
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs
How Cryptocurrencies Enable Attackers and Defenders (techtarget.com)
Monero-Mining Sysrv Botnet Targets Windows, Linux Web Servers • The Register
US Brings First-Of-Its-Kind Bitcoin Sanctions-Busting Case • The Register
Fake Pixelmon NFT Site Infects You with Password-Stealing Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers Compromise a String of NFT Discord Channels (vice.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Supply Chain and Third Parties
MITRE Creates Framework for Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)
The Four Horsemen of Software Supply Chain Attacks - MSSP Alert
Cloud/SaaS
7 Key Findings from the 2022 SaaS Security Survey Report (thehackernews.com)
New Research Identifies Poor IAM Policies as The Greatest Cloud Vulnerability - CyberScoop
Are You Investing in Securing Your Data in the Cloud? (thehackernews.com)
380K Kubernetes API Servers Exposed to Public Internet | Threatpost
Open Source
Privacy
How To Ensure That the Smart Home Doesn’t Jeopardize Data Privacy? - Help Net Security
Privacy. Ad Bidders Haven't Heard of It, Report Reveals • The Register
Third-Party Web Trackers Log What You Type Before Submitting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
The Most Insecure and Easily Hackable Passwords - Help Net Security
Half of IT Leaders Store Passwords in Shared Docs - Infosecurity Magazine
Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Europe Moves Closer to Stricter Cyber Security Standards • The Register
EU's NIS 2 Directive to Strengthen Cyber Security Requirements For Companies - Help Net Security
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Google TAG: Cytrox's Predator Spyware Used to Target Android Users | WIRED
How Mobile Networks Have Become a Front in the Battle for Ukraine (darkreading.com)
China-linked Twisted Panda Caught Spying on Russian R&D Orgs • The Register
Pro-Russian Hackers Spread Hoaxes to Divide Ukraine, Allies | SecurityWeek.Com
A custom PowerShell RAT Targets Germany Using Crisis in Ukraine as Bait - Security Affairs
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Putin Promises to Bolster Russia's IT Security in Face of Cyber Attacks | Reuters
Russian Hackers Declare War On 10 Countries After Failed Eurovision DDoS attack | IT PRO
Pro-Russian Information Operations Escalate in Ukraine War (darkreading.com)
Russian Undersea Cable Threat Shifts Tech Business to UK (telegraph.co.uk)
Russians Allegedly Storm Ukrainian ISP, Blackmail It to Switch To Russian Networks - CyberScoop
Russia-linked Sandworm Continues to Conduct Attacks Against Ukraine - Security Affairs
Russian Cyber Attack on Eurovision Foiled By Italian Authorities (bitdefender.com)
This Russian Botnet Does Far More Than DDoS Attacks - And on A Massive Scale | ZDNet
Nation State Actors – China
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Nation State Actors – Iran
Vulnerabilities
QNAP Urges Users to Update NAS Devices to Prevent Deadbolt Ransomware Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Cisco Fixes an IOS XR Flaw Actively Exploited in The Wild - Security Affairs
2 Vulnerabilities With 9.8 Severity Ratings Are Under Exploit. A 3rd Looms | Ars Technica
Microsoft Rushes a Fix After May Patch Tuesday Breaks Authentication (darkreading.com)
Microsoft Fixes New PetitPotam Windows NTLM Relay Attack Vector (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple Patches Zero-Day Kernel Hole and Much More – Update Now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
High-Severity Bug Reported in Google's OAuth Client Library for Java (thehackernews.com)
Over 20,000 Zyxel Firewalls Still Exposed to Critical Bug - Infosecurity Magazine
Apple Fixes the Sixth Zero-Day Since The Beginning of 2022 - Security Affairs
Mozilla Patches Wednesday’s Pwn2Own Double-Exploit… on Friday! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Critical Vulnerability in Premium WordPress Themes Allows for Site Takeover | Threatpost
Critical Jupiter WordPress Plugin Flaws Let Hackers Take Over Sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple Finally Patches Exploited Vulnerabilities in macOS Big Sur, Catalina | SecurityWeek.Com
NVIDIA Fixes Ten Vulnerabilities in Windows GPU Display Drivers (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Brute Force Attacks Against SQL Servers Use PowerShell Wrapper | SecurityWeek.Com
Sector Specific
Retail/eCommerce
How Crooks Backdoor Sites and Scrape Credit Card Info • The Register
Digital Skimming is Now the Preserve of Non-Magecart Groups - Infosecurity Magazine
Energy & Utilities
Water Companies Are Increasingly Uninsurable Due To Ransomware, Industry Execs Say - CyberScoop
UK Announces Nuclear Cyber Security Strategy - IT Security Guru
Education and Academia
Ransomware Attack Exposes Data of 500,000 Chicago Students (bleepingcomputer.com)
Higher Education Institutions Being Targeted for Ransomware Attacks | TechRepublic
“Incompetent” Council Leaks Details of Students With Special Educational Needs • Graham Cluley
Researchers Find Backdoor in School Management Plugin for WordPress (thehackernews.com)
Other News
UK Government: Lack of Skills the Number One Issue in Cyber Security - Infosecurity Magazine
Malicious Hackers Are Finding It Too Easy to Achieve Their Initial Access (tripwire.com)
How Threat Actors Are a Click Away From Becoming Quasi-APTs (darkreading.com)
Cyber Security: Global Food Supply Chain at Risk From Malicious Hackers - BBC News
Cyber Security Agencies Reveal Top Initial Access Attack Vectors (bleepingcomputer.com)
50% of Orgs Rely on Email to Manage Security (darkreading.com)
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 04 March 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 04 March 2022
-Cyber Criminals Exploit Invasion of Ukraine
-UK Data Watchdog Urges Vigilance Amid Heightened Cyber Threat
-Phishing - Still a Problem, Despite All The Work
-Phishing Attacks Hit All-Time High In December 2021
-Ransomware Infections Top List Of The Most Common Results Of Phishing Attacks
-Social Media Phishing Attacks Are at An All Time High
-Insurance Giant AON Hit by a Cyber Attack
-How Prepared Are Organisations To Face Email-Based Ransomware Attacks?
-The Most Impersonated Brands in Phishing Attacks
-As War Escalates In Europe, It’s ‘Shields Up’ For The Cyber Security Industry
-2022 May Be The Year Cyber Crime Returns Its Focus To Consumers
-Kaspersky Neutral Stance In Doubt As It Shields Kremlin
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Criminals Exploit Invasion of Ukraine
Cyber criminals are exploiting Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine to commit digital fraud.
In a blog, researchers at Bitdefender Labs said they had witnessed “waves of fraudulent and malicious emails,” some of which were engineered to exploit the charitable intentions of global citizens towards the people of Ukraine.
Since March 1, researchers have been tracking two specific phishing campaigns designed to infect victims with Agent Tesla and Remcos remote access Trojans.
Agent Tesla is a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) Remote Access Trojan (RAT) and data stealer that can be used to exfiltrate sensitive information, including credentials, keystrokes and clipboard data from victims.
Remcos RAT is typically deployed via malicious documents or archives to give the attacker full control over their victims’ systems. Once inside, attackers can capture keystrokes, screenshots, credentials and other sensitive system data and exfiltrate it.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyber-criminals-invasion-ukraine/
UK Data Watchdog Urges Vigilance Amid Heightened Cyber Threat
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reports a ‘steady and significant’ increase in cyber-attacks against UK firms over the past two years.
Employees should report any suspicious emails rather than delete them and firms must step up their vigilance against cyber-attacks in the face of a heightened threat from Russian hackers, the UK’s data watchdog has said.
John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, said a new era of security had begun where instead of blacking out windows, people needed to maintain vigilance over their inboxes.
Experts including the UK’s cyber security agency have said Russian hackers could target Britain, and the imposition of sanctions by London on Moscow has increased those fears.
Asked about the potential for a Russia-Ukraine cyber conflict spreading to the UK, Edwards said: “We have picked up on that heightened threat environment and we think it’s really important to take the opportunity to remind businesses of the importance of security over the data that they hold. This is a different era from blacking out the windows and keeping the lights off. The threats are going to come in through your inbox.”
Phishing - Still a Problem, Despite All The Work
Phishing is a threat that most people know about. Emails designed to trick you into clicking a malicious link or divulge passwords and other credentials have become an everyday occurrence. Despite this familiarity, and the multitude of tools and techniques which purport to stop it, phishing remains the number one initial attack vector affecting organisations and individuals.
Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet. Phishing can only be dealt with using multiple complementary measures. This fact leads to some questions: Which measures are most (cost) effective? How should they be implemented? Can they be automated?
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/phishing-still-a-problem-despite-the-work
Phishing Attacks Hit All-Time High in December 2021
The Anti-Phishing Working Group international consortium (APWG) saw 316,747 phishing attacks in December 2021 — the highest monthly total observed since it began its reporting program in 2004. Overall, the number of phishing attacks has tripled from early 2020.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the financial sector, which includes banks, became the most frequently attacked cohort, accounting for 23.2 percent of all phishing. Attacks against webmail and software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers remained prevalent as well. Phishing against cryptocurrency targets — such as cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers — inched up to represent 6.5 percent of attacks.
Overall, the number of brands that were attacked in 4Q descended from a record 715 in September 2021, cresting at 682 in November for the Q4 period.
The solution provider Abnormal Security observed 4,200 companies, organisations, and government institutions falling victim to ransomware in Q4 2021, some 36 percent higher than in Q3 2021 and the highest number the company has witnessed over the past two years.
“The overall distribution of ransomware victims indicates that ransomware attacks are industry-agnostic,” said Crane Hassold, Director of Threat Intelligence at Abnormal Security.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/03/phishing-attacks-december-2021/
Ransomware Infections Top List of The Most Common Results of Phishing Attacks
A report from insider threat management software company Egress found some startling conclusions when it spoke to IT leadership: Despite the pervasive and very serious threat of ransomware, very few boards of directors consider it a top priority.
Eighty-four percent of organisations reported falling victim to a phishing attack last year, Egress said, and of those 59% were infected with ransomware as a result. If you add in the 14% of businesses that said they weren’t hit with a phishing attack, and you still end up at around 50% of all organisations having been hit with ransomware in 2021.
Egress said that its data shows there has been a 15% increase in successful phishing attacks over the past 12 months, with the bulk of the attacks utilising malicious links and attachments. Those methods aren’t new, but a 15% increase in successful attacks means that something isn’t working.
Social Media Phishing Attacks Are at An All Time High
Phishing campaigns continue to focus on social media, ramping up efforts to target users for the third consecutive year as the medium becomes increasingly used worldwide for communication, news, and entertainment.
The targeting of social media is the highlighted finding in the 2021 Phishing report by cybersecurity firm Vade, who analysed phishing attack patterns that unfolded throughout 2021.
As part of their report, Vade analysed 184,977 phishing pages to create stats based on a billion corporate and consumer mailboxes that the cyber security firm protects.
Vade also recorded a rise in the sophistication of phishing attacks, especially those targeting Microsoft 365 credentials, an evolution in the tech support scams, and the inevitable dominance of COVID-19 and item shipping lures.
Insurance Giant AON Hit by a Cyber Attack
Professional services and insurance giant AON has suffered a cyberattack that impacted a "limited" number of systems.
AON is a multinational professional services firm offering a wide array of solutions, including business insurance, reinsurance, cyber security consulting, risk solutions, healthcare insurance, and wealth management products.
AON generated $12.2 billion of revenue in 2021 and has approximately 50,000 employees spread throughout 120 countries.
In a filing with the US SEC, AON has disclosed that they suffered a cyberattack on February 25th, 2022.
AON has not provided any details of the attack other than that it occurred and affected a limited number of systems.
The company stated that although in the early stages of assessing the incident, based on the information currently known, the company did not expect the incident to have a material impact on its business, operations or financial condition.
In addition to being an insurance broker, AON is also a leading reinsurance company, meaning that they insure the insurance companies.
How Prepared Are Organisations to Face Email-Based Ransomware Attacks?
Proofpoint released a report which provides an in-depth look at user phishing awareness, vulnerability, and resilience. The report reveals that attackers were more active in 2021 than 2020, with findings uncovering that 78% of organisations saw email-based ransomware attacks in 2021, while 77% faced business email compromise attacks (BEC) (18% YoY increase of BEC attacks from 2020), reflecting cyber criminals’ continued focus on compromising people, as opposed to gaining access to systems through technical vulnerabilities
This year’s report examines responses from commissioned surveys of 600 information and IT security professionals and 3,500 workers in the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the UK. The report also analyses data from nearly 100 million simulated phishing attacks sent by customers to their employees over a one-year period, along with more than 15 million emails reported via the user-activated PhishAlarm reporting button.
Attacks in 2021 also had a much wider impact than in 2020, with 83% of survey respondents revealing their organisation experienced at least one successful email-based phishing attack, up from 57% in 2020. In line with this, 68% of organisations said they dealt with at least one ransomware infection stemming from a direct email payload, second-stage malware delivery, or other exploit. The year-over-year increase remains steady but representative of the challenges organisations faced as ransomware attacks surged in 2021.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/02/28/email-based-ransomware-attacks/
The Most Impersonated Brands in Phishing Attacks
Vade announced its annual ranking of the top 20 most impersonated brands in phishing. Facebook, which was in the second spot in 2020, rose to the top spot for 2021, representing 14% of phishing pages, followed by Microsoft, with 13%.
The report analysed 184,977 phishing pages linked from unique phishing emails between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.
Key findings:
· Financial services is the most impersonated industry
· Microsoft is the most impersonated cloud brand and the top corporate brand
· Facebook dominates social media phishing
· 35% of all phishing pages impersonated financial services brands
· Mondays and Tuesdays are the top days for phishing
· 78% of phishing attacks occur on weekdays
· Monday and Thursday are the top days for Facebook phishing
· Thursday and Friday are the top days for Microsoft phishing
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/04/most-impersonated-brands-phishing/
As War Escalates in Europe, It’s ‘Shields Up’ For The Cyber Security Industry
In unprecedented times, even government bureaucracy moves quickly. As a result of the heightened likelihood of cyberthreat from Russian malactor groups, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — part of the Department of Homeland Security — issued an unprecedented warning recommending that “all organisations — regardless of size — adopt a heightened posture when it comes to cyber security and protecting their most critical assets.”
The blanket warning is for all industries to take notice. Indeed, it’s a juxtaposition of sorts to think the cyber security industry is vulnerable to cyber attack, but for many nation state groups, this is their first port of call.
Inspired by the spike in attacks on cyber security agencies globally, a report from Reposify assessed the state of the cyber security industry’s external attack surface (EAS). It coincides with CISA’s warning, and highlights critical areas of concern for the sector and how they mirror trends amongst pharmaceutical and financial companies, providing vital insight into where organisations can focus their efforts, and reinforce the digital perimeter.
2022 May Be The Year Cyber Crime Returns Its Focus to Consumers
Threat analysts expect 2022 to be the tipping point for a shift in the focus of hackers from large companies back to consumers.
This prediction is the result of several factors that make consumers a lot more lucrative to threat actors today than in previous years.
ReasonLabs has compiled a detailed report on the status of consumer-level cyber security and what trends are most likely to emerge this year.
Kaspersky Neutral Stance in Doubt As It Shields Kremlin
Kaspersky Lab is protecting the resources of the Russian Ministry of Defence and other high-value domains that are instrumental to the Russian propaganda machine – Russia Today, TASS news agency, Gazprom bank.
The company insists that they ‘never provide any law enforcement or government organisation with access to user data or the company's infrastructure.”
Eugene Kaspersky's refusal to condemn the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine set the cyber security community on fire. His company has tried to shake ties to the Russian government for years but hasn't succeeded quite yet. And recent events, it seems, only made things worse.
"We welcome the start of negotiations to resolve the current situation in Ukraine and hope that they will lead to a cessation of hostilities and a compromise. We believe that peaceful dialogue is the only possible instrument for resolving conflicts. War isn't good for anyone," Eugene Kaspersky tweeted when Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks near Ukraine's border with Belarus.
https://cybernews.com/security/kaspersky-neutral-stance-in-doubt-as-it-shields-kremlin/
Threats
Ransomware
Accelerated Ransomware Attacks Pressure Targeted Companies to Speed Response (darkreading.com)
Toyota Japan Shutters 14 Plants After Probable Cyber Attack • The Register
Bridgestone Still Struggling With Plant Closures Across North America After Cyber Attack | ZDNet
Cyber Criminals Who Breached Nvidia Issue One Of The Most Unusual Demands Ever | Ars Technica
Conti Ransomware's Internal Chats Leaked After Siding With Russia (bleepingcomputer.com)
Conti Group Encrypts Karma Ransomware Extortion Notes - Infosecurity Magazine
Phishing & Email
Other Social Engineering
'Several Combinations Of Social Engineering' Used During Cyber Attack On Camera Maker Axis | ZDNet
Instagram Scammers As Busy As Ever: Passwords And 2FA Codes At Risk – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Malware
TrickBot Malware Gang Upgrades its AnchorDNS Backdoor to AnchorMail (thehackernews.com)
Rebirth of Emotet: New Features of the Botnet and How to Detect it (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
How Much Do Different Generations Trust Their Mobile Devices' Security? - Help Net Security
TeaBot Android Banking Trojan Continues Its Global Conquest With New Upgrades | ZDNet
SharkBot Malware Hides As Android Antivirus In Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Hackers Leak 190GB Of Alleged Samsung Data, Source Code (bleepingcomputer.com)
NVIDIA Data Breach Exposed Credentials Of Over 71,000 Employees (bleepingcomputer.com)
250,000-Plus Lawyer Disciplinary Records Leak • The Register
Swiss Bank Requests Destruction of Documents - Infosecurity Magazine
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking
Hackers Threaten To Turn Every Nvidia GPU Into A Bitcoin Mining Machine | TechRadar
Beware of Ongoing Crypto Cyber War Amidst the Ukraine Russian War in 2022 (analyticsinsight.net)
Log4shell Exploits Now Used Mostly For DDoS Botnets, Cryptominers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
DoS/DDoS
DDoSers Are Using A Potent New Method To Deliver Attacks Of Unthinkable Size | Ars Technica
DDoS Attackers Have Found This New Trick To Knock Over Websites | ZDNet
Hackers Begin Weaponizing TCP Middlebox Reflection for Amplified DDoS Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Log4shell Exploits Now Used Mostly For DDoS Botnets, Cryptominers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors
Responses to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Likely to Spur Retaliation | Mandiant
Charities, Aid Orgs In Ukraine Attacked With Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber Attacks In Ukraine Could Reach Other Countries - IT Security Guru
Microsoft Finds FoxBlade Malware Hit Ukraine Hours Before Russian Invasion (thehackernews.com)
Ukraine Digital Army Brews Cyberattacks, Intel and Infowar | SecurityWeek.Com
Ukraine Security Agencies Warn Of Ghostwriter Threat Activity, Phishing Campaigns | ZDNet
Ukraine Asks ICANN To Revoke Russian Domains And Shut Down DNS Root Servers | Ars Technica
IsaacWiper, The Third Wiper Spotted Since The Beginning Of Russian Invasion - Security Affairs
Ukrainian Sites Saw A 10x Increase In Attacks When Invasion Started (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chinese Malware Targeted Multiple Governments • The Register
Iranian Hackers Using New Spying Malware That Abuses Telegram Messenger API (thehackernews.com)
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare
Cyber Attack on NATO Could Trigger Collective Defence Clause - Official | Reuters
Ukraine Conflict Spurs Questions Of How To Define Cyberwar - CyberScoop
How China Built A One-Of-A-Kind Cyber-Espionage Behemoth To Last | MIT Technology Review
Russia's Space Chief Says Hacking Satellites 'A Cause For War' - POLITICO
Ukraine Is Building An 'It Army' Of Volunteers, Something That's Never Been Tried Before | ZDNet
China-linked Daxin Malware Targeted Multiple Governments in Espionage Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Vulnerabilities
Get Patching Now: CISA Adds Another 95 Flaws To Its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities List | ZDNet
Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerabilities in Expressway, TelePresence VCS Products | SecurityWeek.Com
Firefox Patches Two In-The-Wild Exploits – Update Now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
New Linux Kernel cgroups Vulnerability Could Let Attackers Escape Container (thehackernews.com)
Critical Security Bugs Uncovered in VoIPmonitor Monitoring Software (thehackernews.com)
New Security Vulnerability Affects Thousands of Self-Managed GitLab Instances (thehackernews.com)
Sector Specific
Financial Services Sector
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Ukraine Conflict Puts Organisations’ Cyber-resilience To The Test - Information Security Buzz
The Cyber Security Implications Of The Russia-Ukraine Conflict (forbes.com)
Multifactor Authentication Is Being Targeted by Hackers – The New Stack
Attacks Abusing Programming APIs Grew Over 600% In 2021 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Soaring Cyber Attacks On BBC – ‘No Industry Is Untouchable’ - Information Security Buzz
Bad Actors Are Becoming More Successful At Evading AI/ML Technologies - Help Net Security
Why the Shifting Nature of Endpoints Requires a New Approach to Security (darkreading.com)
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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