Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 August 2022

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

• Three Ransomware Gangs Consecutively Attacked the Same Network

Hive, LockBit and BlackCat, three prominent ransomware gangs, consecutively attacked the same network, according to Sophos. The first two attacks took place within two hours, and the third attack took place two weeks later. Each ransomware gang left its own ransom demand, and some of the files were triple encrypted.

It’s bad enough to get one ransomware note, let alone three. Multiple attackers create a whole new level of complexity for recovery, particularly when network files are triple encrypted. Cyber security that includes prevention, detection and response is critical for organisations of any size and type—no business is immune.

The “Multiple Attackers: A Clear and Present Danger” whitepaper further outlines additional cases of overlapping cyber attacks, including cryptominers, remote access trojans (RATs) and bots. In the past, when multiple attackers have targeted the same system, the attacks usually occurred across many months or multiple years. The attacks described in Sophos’ whitepaper took place within days or weeks of each other—and, in one case, simultaneously—often with the different attackers accessing a target’s network through the same vulnerable entry point.

Typically, criminal groups compete for resources, making it more difficult for multiple attackers to operate simultaneously. Cryptominers normally kill their competitors on the same system, and today’s RATs often highlight bot killing as a feature on criminal forums. However, in the attack involving the three ransomware groups, for example, BlackCat—the last ransomware group on the system—not only deleted traces of its own activity, but also deleted the activity of LockBit and Hive.

In another case, a system was infected by LockBit ransomware. Then, about three months later, members of Karakurt Team, a group with reported ties to Conti, was able to leverage the backdoor LockBit created to steal data and hold it for ransom.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/09/ransomware-gangs-attacks/

• As The Cost of Cyber Insurance Rises, The Number of Organisations Who Can’t Afford It Is Set to Double

The number of organisations that will be either unable to afford cyber insurance, be declined cover, or experience significant coverage limitations is set to double in 2023, according to Huntsman Security.

Even for those insured, the perfect storm of ongoing attacks, tightening regulations and growing financial pressures is making it more likely that any attack on an organisation will leave it exposed.

Factors like the supply chain crisis, inflation and skill shortages are all adding to the difficulty for organisations trying to execute on their cyber security strategy. At the same time, increases in insurance premiums, limits on coverage, increasing underwriting rigour, and capacity constraints are all limiting the accessibility of cyber insurance, for many.

Loss ratios will not improve until premium incomes better match the current level of pay-outs. With this reduced insurance access alongside increasing cyber threats and tightening regulations, many organisations are losing cyber insurance as an important risk management tool. Even those who can still get insurance are paying a prohibitively high cost.

With a third of UK firms subject to cyber attacks at least once a week, cyber insurance as part of overall risk management is crucial. To bridge this accessibility gap insurers are seeking to improve the quality of risk information, so premiums better reflect the true cost of that risk. Unless organisations can demonstrate they have insurers’ specified controls in place to manage their security risks, insurers will continue to have difficulty quantifying that risk. It’s for these reasons that insurers have changed the basis upon which their products are offered to reflect the risk being underwritten more accurately.

In this environment, improving and demonstrating the effectiveness of security controls will now be essential: both for organisations looking to improve their cyber resilience and oversight while enhancing their eligibility for insurers, and for insurers who need to minimise their own exposure by ensuring the accuracy of their risk pricing process.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/11/afford-cyber-insurance/

• Identity Cyber Attacks, Microsoft 365 Dominate Cyber Security Incidents, Expel Research Finds

Identity-based cyber attacks (including credential theft, credential abuse and long-term access key theft) accounted for 56% of all incidents in Q2 of 2022, and Microsoft 365 remained the prime target for SaaS attacks, according to Expel’s Quarterly Threat Report.

Among the key findings:

• Business email compromise (BEC) and business application compromise (BAC) access to application data represented 51% of all incidents.

• Identity-based attacks in popular cloud environments like Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounted for 5%.

• Ransomware groups change tactics, with threat groups and their affiliates all but abandoning the use of Visual Basic for Application (VBA) macros and Excel 4.0 macros to gain initial entry to Windows-based environments. In Q1, a macro-enabled Microsoft Word document (VBA macro) or Excel 4.0 macro was the initial attack vector in 55% of all pre-ransomware incidents. In Q2, that figure fell sharply to 9%. Instead, ransomware operators opted to use disk image (ISO), short-cut (LNK) and HTML application (HTA) files to gain initial entry.

• Cloud attacks are becoming more sophisticated, with 14% of identity attacks against cloud identity providers tackling the multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirement by continuously sending push notifications.

• Microsoft 365 is a common threat target, with BEC in Microsoft Office 365 (O365) remaining the top threat to organisations in Q2. 45% of all Q2 incidents were BEC attempts in O365. No BEC attempts were identified in Google Workspaces. 19% of BEC attempts bypassed MFA in O365 using legacy protocols, a 16% increase of compared to Q1.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/identity-cyberattacks-targeting-microsoft-365-dominate-cybersecurity-incidents-expel-research-finds/

• Exploit Activity Surges 150% in Q2 Thanks to Log4Shell

Detections of malware events, botnet activity and exploits all increased significantly in the second quarter of 2022, according to new data from Nuspire.

The managed security services provider (MSSP) gathered the data from its endpoint detection and response (EDR) and managed detection and response (MDR) tools to produce its Q2 2022 Quarterly Threat Report.

The company recorded an increase in malware events of over 25%, a doubling of botnet detections and a rise in exploit activity of 150% versus the first quarter.

Botnet activity in particular surged towards the end of Q2, thanks to the Torpig Mebroot botnet – a banking trojan designed to scrape credit card and payment information from infected devices, the report revealed. Nuspire claimed it is particularly difficult to detect and remove, because it targets a machine’s master boot record.

It attributed much of the surge in exploit activity to the persistent threat posed by the Log4j bugs discovered at the end of December 2021. At the time, experts warned that the ubiquity of the utility, and the difficulty many organisations have in finding all instances of the CVE due to complex Java dependencies, means it may be exploited for years.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/exploit-activity-150-q2-log4shell/

• Ransomware Is Not Going Anywhere: Attacks Are Up 24%

Avast released a report revealing a significant increase in global ransomware attacks, up 24% from Q1/2022. Researchers also uncovered a new zero-day exploit in Chrome, as well as signals of how cyber criminals are preparing to move away from macros as an infection vector.

After months of decline, global ransomware attacks increased significantly in Q2/2022, up 24% from the previous quarter. The highest quarter-on-quarter increases in ransomware risk ratio occurred in Argentina (+56%), UK (+55%), Brazil (+50%), France (+42%), and India (+37%).

Businesses and consumers should be on guard and prepared for encounters with ransomware, as the threat is not going anywhere anytime soon.

The decline in ransomware attacks observed in Q4/2021 and Q1/2022 were thanks to law enforcement agencies busting ransomware group members, and caused by the war in Ukraine, which also led to disagreements within the Conti ransomware group, halting their operations. Things dramatically changed in Q2/2022. Conti members have now branched off to create new ransomware groups, like Black Basta and Karakurt, or may join other existing groups, like Hive, BlackCat, or Quantum, causing an uptick in activity.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/12/increase-ransomware-attacks/

• Email Is the Single Biggest Threat to Businesses, And Here’s What You Can Do About It

Email remains one of the most popular methods of communication, particularly for business communications. There were 316.9 billion emails sent and received every day in 2021, and this is set to increase to 376.4 billion by 2025. But despite the scale of its use and how much people exchange confidential information over email, it is not a secure system by design.

Consequently, email is a major attack vector for organisations of all sizes. Deloitte found that 91% of all cyber attacks originate from a phishing email (an email that attempts to steal money, identity or personal information through a spoof website link that looks legitimate). The cost to organisations can be catastrophic with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reporting in August 2021 that phishing email attacks had cost UK organisations more than £5 million in the past 13 months.

It’s not enough for individuals to create complex passwords or rely on the security services of their email provider. Spam filters are not enough to stop malicious emails creeping into inboxes. Fortunately, safeguarding your emails with enterprise-grade email security doesn’t have to cost the earth or be hard to integrate so businesses of any size can protect themselves.

https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/articles/email-is-the-single-biggest-threat-to-businesses-and-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it/

• Realtek SDK Vulnerability Exposes Routers from Many Vendors to Remote Attacks

A serious vulnerability affecting the embedded Configurable Operating System (eCos) software development kit (SDK) made by Taiwanese semiconductor company Realtek could expose the networking devices of many vendors to remote attacks.

The security hole, tracked as CVE-2022-27255 and rated ‘high severity’, has been described as a stack-based buffer overflow that can allow a remote attacker to cause a crash or achieve arbitrary code execution on devices that use the SDK. An attack can be carried out through the wide area network (WAN) interface using specially crafted session initiation protocol (SIP) packets.

The Realtek eCos SDK is provided to companies that manufacture routers, access points and repeaters powered by RTL819x family SoCs. The SDK implements the base functionalities of the router, including the web administration interface and the networking stack. Vendors can build on top of this SDK to add custom functionality and their branding to the device.

Realtek informed customers about the eCos SDK vulnerability in March, when it announced the availability of a patch. However, it’s up to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) using the SDK to ensure that the patch is distributed to end-user devices.

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely — directly from the internet — to hack affected routers running with default settings. No user interaction is required for successful exploitation.

https://www.securityweek.com/realtek-sdk-vulnerability-exposes-routers-many-vendors-remote-attacks

• Most Companies Are at An Entry-Level When It Comes to Cloud Security

Ermetic released a study by Osterman Research that found 84% of respondents were at an entry-level (one or two rating, with four being the highest) in terms of their cloud security capabilities.

The study found that only 16% ranked on the Ermetic Cloud Security Model at the top two levels, and 80% of companies said they lack a dedicated security team responsible for protecting cloud resources from threats.

“One of the most unexpected findings that emerged from this study was the lack of cloud security maturity among the largest enterprises surveyed,” said the author of the report. “Less than 10% of companies with more than 10,000 employees reported being at the top two maturity levels, while nearly 20% of smaller enterprises have achieved repeatable or automated & integrated cloud security capabilities.”

The report shows why new cloud data breaches are being reported all the time. Multi-cloud deployments, plus low investment in security, does not make for a good combination.

The new frontiers of cyber security, such as cloud security or internet of things (IoT) security are often at early stages of maturity. Organisations that are mature in their IT and data centre security are already overwhelmed and stretched thin and that’s why automation and simplification will help organisations accelerate their maturity in areas like cloud security.

There’s a mistaken belief that cloud computing environments inherently have security built-in — they don’t.

https://www.scmagazine.com/news/cloud-security/most-companies-are-at-an-entry-level-when-it-comes-to-cloud-security

• The Impact of Exploitable Misconfigurations on Network Security

Network professionals feel confident with their security and compliance practices but data suggests that they also leave their organisations open to risk, which is costing a significant amount of revenue, according to Titania.

In addition, some businesses are not minimising their attack surface effectively. Companies are prioritising firewall security and chronicle a fast time to respond to misconfigurations when detected in annual audits. However, switches and routers are only included in 4% of audits and these devices play a vital role in reducing an organisation’s attack surface and preventing lateral movement across the network.

Respondents also indicated that financial resources allocated to mitigating network configuration, which currently stands around 3.4% of the total IT budget, and a lack of accurate automation are limiting factors in misconfiguration risk management.

The study, which surveyed 160 senior cyber security decision-makers revealed:

• Misconfigurations cost organisations millions, up to 9% of their annual revenue but the true cost is likely to be higher.

• Compliance is a top priority, with 75% of organisations across all sectors saying their business relies on compliance to deliver security. Whilst almost every organisation reported that it is meeting its security and compliance requirements, this is at odds with a number of the other findings from the survey and other reports that show a decline in organisations maintaining full compliance with regulated data security standards.

• Remediation prioritisation is a challenge. 75% said their network security tools meant they could categorise and prioritise compliance risks ‘very effectively’. However, 70% report difficulties prioritising remediation based on risk and also claim inaccurate automation as the top challenges when meeting security and compliance requirements.

• Routers and switches are mostly overlooked. 96% of organisations prioritise the configuration and auditing of firewalls, but not routers or switches. This leaves these devices exposed to potentially significant and unidentified risks.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/12/impact-exploitable-misconfigurations-network-security/

• Industrial Spy Ransomware: New Threat Group Emerges to Exfiltrate Data, Extort Victims

A new ransomware group dubbed Industrial Spy that first emerged in April 2022 is specialising in exfiltration and double extortion tactics and has the potential to do significant damage, Zscaler’s threat tracking team said.

The threat crew has shown that it possesses the capability to breach organisations and have been “actively adding unencrypted data from two or three victims every month,” Zscaler said. In some instances, the threat group appears to only exfiltrate and ransom data. In other cases, they encrypt, exfiltrate and ransom the data, the cloud security provider said.

At this point, it’s not clear who’s behind the threat entry or if it’s nation-state affiliated. The group started as a data extortion marketplace where criminals could buy large companies’ internal data, promoting the marketplace through Readme.txt files downloaded using malware downloaders.

In May, 2022, the threat group introduced their own ransomware to create double extortion attacks that combine data theft with file encryption.

What you need to know:

• Industrial Spy started by ransoming stolen data and more recently has combined these attacks with ransomware.

• The threat group exfiltrates and sells data on their dark web marketplace, but does not always encrypt a victim’s files.

• The ransomware utilises a combination of RSA and 3DES to encrypt files.

• Industrial Spy lacks many common features present in modern ransomware families.

• The Industrial Spy ransomware family is relatively basic, and parts of the code appear to be in development.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-breaches-and-attacks/ransomware/new-ransomware-family-industrial-spy-emerges-to-exfiltrate-data-extort-victims/

• UK NHS Service Recovery May Take a Month After MSP Ransomware Attack

Managed service provider (MSP) Advanced confirmed that a ransomware attack on its systems disrupted emergency services (111) from the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS). Customers of seven solutions from the British MSP have been impacted either directly or indirectly, the company said. The first has stated it could take a month to recover systems to full service.

The ransomware attack started to disrupt Advanced systems on Thursday, August 4 and was identified around 7 AM. It caused a major outage to NHS emergency services across the UK.

Advanced did not disclose the ransomware group behind the attack but said that it took immediate action to mitigate the risk and isolated Health and Care environments where the incident was detected. The company is working with forensic experts from Microsoft (DART) and Mandiant, who are also helping bring the affected systems back online securely and with added defences:

• Implementing additional blocking rules and further restricting privileged accounts for Advanced staff

• Scanning all impacted systems and ensuring they are fully patched

• Resetting credentials

• Deploying additional endpoint detection and response agents

• Conducting 24/7 monitoring

After implementing the security measures above, Advanced said it would restore connectivity to its environments and assist customers to gradually reconnect safely and securely.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/uk-nhs-service-recovery-may-take-a-month-after-msp-ransomware-attack/

• A Single Flaw Broke Every Layer of Security in MacOS

Every time you shut down your Mac, a pop-up appears: “Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?” Nestled under the prompt is another option most of us likely overlook: the choice to reopen the apps and windows you have open now when your machine is turned back on. Researchers have now found a way to exploit a vulnerability in this “saved state” feature—and it can be used to break the key layers of Apple’s security protections.

The vulnerability, which is susceptible to a process injection attack to break macOS security, could allow an attacker to read every file on a Mac or take control of the webcam. It's basically one vulnerability that could be applied to three different locations.

https://www.wired.com/story/a-single-flaw-broke-every-layer-of-security-in-macos/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Cisco hacked by Yanluowang ransomware gang, 2.8GB allegedly stolen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware, email compromise are top security threats, but deepfakes increase | CSO Online

• Feds: Zeppelin Ransomware Resurfaces with New Compromise, Encryption Tactics | Threatpost

• Black Basta: New ransomware threat aiming for the big league | CSO Online

• Could criminalizing ransomware payments put a stop to the current crime wave? - Help Net Security

• 7-Eleven Denmark confirms ransomware attack behind store closures (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Update: Colosseum Dental Benelux pays ransom to threat actors (databreaches.net)

• SolidBit Ransomware Group Recruiting New Affiliates on Dark Web - Infosecurity Magazine

• Fears for patient data after ransomware attack on NHS software supplier | NHS | The Guardian

• US reveals 'Target' pic of Conti man with $10m reward offer • The Register

• Organisations would like the government to help with ransomware demand costs - Help Net Security

• Hacker uses new RAT malware in Cuba Ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Maui ransomware linked to North Korean group Andariel • The Register

• How to Stop Zeppelin Ransomware Attacks: CISA, FBI Mitigation Guidance - MSSP Alert

• Novel Ransomware Comes to the Sophisticated SOVA Android Banking Trojan (darkreading.com)

• US govt will pay you $10 million for info on Conti ransomware members (bleepingcomputer.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• LogoKit update: The phishing kit leveraging open redirect vulnerabilities - Help Net Security

• Phishing site masquerading "Have I Been Pwned" website detected. Be careful as very similar URL (exploitone.com)

Other Social Engineering; SMishing, Vishing, etc

• Hackers Behind Twilio Breach Also Targeted Cloudflare Employees (thehackernews.com)

• SMS phishing nabs Twilio employee credentials, allowed access customer data (scmagazine.com)

Malware

• Cyber criminals Shift From Macros to Shortcut Files to Hack Business PCs, HP Reports - Infosecurity Magazine

• Emotet Tops List of July's Most Widely Used Malware - Infosecurity Magazine

• Top malware strains observed in 2021 | Security Magazine

• Microsoft blocks UEFI bootloaders enabling Windows Secure Boot bypass (bleepingcomputer.com)

Mobile

• Google researchers dissect Android spyware, zero days (techtarget.com)

• Novel Ransomware Comes to the Sophisticated SOVA Android Banking Trojan (darkreading.com)

• Xiaomi Phones with MediaTek Chips Found Vulnerable to Forged Payments (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers install Dracarys Android malware using modified Signal app (bleepingcomputer.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• The Time Is Now for IoT Security Standards (darkreading.com)

• Introducing the book: If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable - Help Net Security

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Cisco hacked by access broker with Lapsus$ ties (techtarget.com)

• New dark web markets claim association with criminal cartels (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Dark Utilities C2 service draws thousands of cyber criminals • The Register

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Email marketing firm hacked to steal crypto-focused mailing lists (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Swan Bitcoin Discloses Data Leak Due to Phishing Attack on Newsletter Provider - Decrypt

• Phishers Swim Around 2FA in Coinbase Account Heists | Threatpost

• Crypto and the US government are headed for a decisive showdown | Ars Technica

• Cameo’s CEO fell victim to the latest Bored Ape NFT heist - The Verge

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• “Hi Mum” Phishing Scam Swindles Unsuspecting Parents (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• How hackers are stealing credit cards from classifieds sites (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Why robotexts are scammers' favourite new tool - CyberScoop

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• US Sanctions Crypto 'Laundering' Service Tornado | SecurityWeek.Com

• Virtual Currency Platform ‘Tornado Cash’ Accused of Aiding APTs | Threatpost

• Greece Flies Russian Money Launderer to US: Lawyer | SecurityWeek.Com

Insurance

• BlackBerry Study: Most SMBs Have Less Than $600K in Ransomware Coverage - MSSP Alert

• Number Of Firms Unable To Access Cyber-Insurance Set To Double (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Australian court finds insurer not liable for ransomware clean-up costs - Security - iTnews

Cloud/SaaS

• Implementing zero trust for a secure hybrid working enterprise - Help Net Security

• How to Clear Security Obstacles and Achieve Cloud Nirvana (darkreading.com)

• Why SAP systems need to be brought into the cyber security fold - Help Net Security

Open Source

• Chinese hackers backdoor chat app with new Linux, macOS malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

Social Media

• Facebook's Metaverse is Expanding the Attack Surface (trendmicro.com)

• Meta's chatbot says the company 'exploits people' - BBC News

• Facebook’s In-app Browser on iOS Tracks ‘Anything You Do on Any Website’ | Threatpost

Training, Education and Awareness

• 25% of employees don't care enough about cyber security to report a security incident - Help Net Security

Privacy

• Facebook’s In-app Browser on iOS Tracks ‘Anything You Do on Any Website’ | Threatpost

Travel

• Don't get stung by these fake holiday cyber-scams this summer | TechRadar

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Predator Pleads Guilty After Targeting Thousands of Young Girls Online - Infosecurity Magazine

• Huge rise in self-generated child sexual abuse content online, report finds | Internet safety | The Guardian

• Online sexual blackmail of primary school children surges since lockdown (telegraph.co.uk)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• Compliance Certifications: Worth the Effort? (darkreading.com)

Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Russia's digital attacks are haphazard, chaotic, says top Ukrainian cyber official - CyberScoop

• Cyberspying Aimed at Industrial Enterprises in Russia and Ukraine Linked to China | SecurityWeek.Com

• Killnet Releases 'Proof' of its Attack Against Lockheed Martin | SecurityWeek.Com

• Meta Cracks Down on Cyber Espionage Operations in South Asia Abusing Facebook (thehackernews.com)

• New Hacker Forum Takes Pro-Ukraine Stance | Threatpost

• Ex Twitter employee found guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia - Security Affairs

• Ex-CIA security boss predicts coming crackdown on spyware • The Register

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Russia Is Escalating Ukraine Hacking, Black Hat Research Says (gizmodo.com)

• Russian invasion has destabilized cyber security norms • The Register

• Russia-Ukraine Conflict Holds Cyberwar Lessons (darkreading.com)

• Industroyer2: How Ukraine avoided another blackout attack (techtarget.com)

Nation State Actors – China

• Chinese Hackers May Be Behind Attacks Targeting Eastern Europe and Afghanistan - Infosecurity Magazine

• China-linked spies used six backdoors to steal defence info • The Register

• Mandiant researchers uncover significant new disinformation campaign (securitybrief.co.nz)

• Stats say Chinese researchers are not deterred by China's vulnerability law (scmagazine.com)

• Chinese scammers target kids with promise of extra gaming • The Register

• Chinese hackers backdoor chat app with new Linux, macOS malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• North Korea Allegedly Stole Millions of Dollars Worth of Crypto Assets - IT Security Guru

• Maui ransomware linked to North Korean group Andariel • The Register

• North Korean hackers target crypto experts with fake Coinbase job offers (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Google's bug bounty boss: Finding vulns is 'totally useless' • The Register

• Patch Madness: Vendor Bug Advisories Are Broken, So Broken (darkreading.com)

• Human Threat Hunters Are Essential to Thwarting Zero-Day Attacks (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft Patches ‘Dogwalk’ Zero-Day and 17 Critical Flaws | Threatpost

• Cisco Patches High-Severity Vulnerability Affecting ASA and Firepower Solutions (thehackernews.com)

• Yet another Microsoft RCE bug under active exploit • The Register

• Palo Alto Networks: New PAN-OS DDoS flaw exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• CISA adds UnRAR and Windows flaws to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog - Security Affairs

• Zimbra auth bypass bug exploited to breach over 1,000 servers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Researchers Debut Fresh RCE Vector for Common Google API Tool (darkreading.com)

• Surge in CVEs as Microsoft Fixes Exploited Zero Day Bugs - Infosecurity Magazine

• Risky Business: Enterprises Can’t Shake Log4j flaw - Security Affairs

• Years after claiming DogWalk wasn't a vulnerability, Microsoft confirms flaw is being exploited and issues patch (bitdefender.com)

• Three flaws allow attackers to bypass UEFI Secure Boot feature - Security Affairs

• Windows devices with newest CPUs are susceptible to data damage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Critical Flaws Disclosed in Device42 IT Asset Management Software (thehackernews.com)

• Cisco fixed a flaw in ASA, FTD devices that can give access to RSA private key - Security Affairs

• Organisations Warned of Critical Vulnerabilities in NetModule Routers | SecurityWeek.Com

• 4 Flaws, Other Weaknesses Undermine Cisco ASA Firewalls (darkreading.com)

• New vulnerability in AMD Ryzen CPUs could seriously jeopardize performance | TechRadar

• ÆPIC Leak: Architectural Bug in Intel CPUs Exposes Protected Data | SecurityWeek.Com

• Microsoft Paid $13.7 Million via Bug Bounty Programs Over Past Year | SecurityWeek.Com

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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

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Other News

• Microsoft 365 outage triggered by Meraki firewall false positive (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Why VPN no longer has a place in a secure work environment | TechRadar

• VMware: The threat of lateral movement is growing (techtarget.com)

• 36% of orgs expose insecure FTP protocol to the internet, and some still use Telnet - Help Net Security

• 5 key things learned from CISOs of smaller enterprises survey - Help Net Security

• Stolen credentials are the most common attack vector companies face - Help Net Security

• Your cyber security staff are burned out - and many have thought about quitting | ZDNet

• Researchers Use ‘Invisible Finger’ to Remotely Control Touchscreens (vice.com)

• Businesses are struggling to balance security and end-user experience - Help Net Security

• Starlink Successfully Hacked Using $25 Modchip | Threatpost

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 November 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

70% Of IT Pros Say Security Hygiene Has Got Harder Over Past Two Years

A new report from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) and JupiterOne warns of inadequate security hygiene and posture management practices at many organizations. The research found that 86% of organizations believe they follow best practices for security hygiene and posture management. However, 70% of organizations said they use more than ten security tools to manage security hygiene and posture management, which raises concerns about data management and operations overhead.

In addition, 73% of security professionals admitted that they still depend on spreadsheets to manage security hygiene and posture at their organizations. As a result, 70% of respondents said that security hygiene and posture management had become more difficult over the past two years as their attack surfaces have grown.

https://venturebeat.com/2021/11/19/report-70-of-it-pros-say-security-hygiene-has-gotten-harder-over-past-two-years/

As Digital Shopping Surges, Researchers Predict 8 Million Daily Attacks

Arkose Labs released new data on the latest fraud trends, revealing increased threats during the holidays, rising bot attacks, and a resurgence in attacks on travel companies. As shoppers fill their online carts, account takeover (ATO) attacks and gift-card fraud remain persistent.

The report shares the top six fraud-fighting trends from the previous 3 months and provides data highlighting that no digital business is immune from attack. Financial industries saw 32 percent more attacks than in the first half of 2021.

Retail and travel attacks increased 63 percent in Q3, and gaming saw a spate of fake new accounts being set up for fraudulent purposes. Media and streaming businesses saw 60 percent of malicious activity targeting logins, and 20 percent of these attacks originating from human fraud farms.

Technology platforms see 91 percent of all attacks powered by bots. Overall, attacks are increasing in every industry, and they are growing more sophisticated.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/22/threats-during-holidays/

More Ransomware Attacks Up to September Than Whole of 2020

Most UK business leaders expect cyber-threats to surge next year, with ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), cloud and supply chain attacks all predicted to increase, according to PwC.

The findings come from the consulting giant’s 2022 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey and were distilled from interviews with 257 business and technology executives in the UK.

Although most (63%) respondents said they expect security budgets to increase next year, even more (66%) predicted cyber-threats would rise. Ransomware (61%), BEC (61%), malware via software updates (63%), and cloud compromise (64%) were among the most notable.

Bobbie Ramsden-Knowles, crisis and resilience partner at PwC UK, claimed the firm’s threat intelligence team has tracked more ransomware incidents globally up to September this year than for the whole of 2020.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/more-ransomware-attacks-september/

Ransomware Warning: Hackers See Holidays And Weekends As A Great Time To Attack

Just because you're taking a break, that doesn't mean hackers will be too.

Ahead of the holidays cyber agencies have released a warning to stay vigilant on holidays and weekends, because hackers don't plan on taking a holiday break.

Warnings remind organisations that ransomware attackers often choose to launch attacks on holidays and weekends, specifically when businesses are likely to be closed.

Recent history tells us that this could be a time when these persistent cyber actors halfway across the world are looking for ways—big and small—to disrupt the critical networks and systems belonging to organizations, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Some of the worst ransomware attacks happened on holidays and weekends.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/security-warning-ransomware-attackers-are-working-on-the-holidays-even-if-you-arent/

Suspect Arrested In 'Ransom Your Employer' Criminal Scheme

A Nigerian man has been arrested in connection to a scheme attempting to lure insiders to deploy ransomware on employer systems.

On November 22, security expert Brian Krebs reported that the man, Oluwaseun Medayedupin, was arrested by Nigerian authorities on Friday.

The suspect is allegedly linked to a 'ransom your employer' scheme investigated by Abnormal Security in August.

Customers of the cybersecurity firm were sent emails with the subject "Partnership affiliate offer," requesting that the recipient considered becoming an accomplice in a cyberattack.

The emails offered a 40% cut of an anticipated $2.5 million ransomware payment in Bitcoin (BTC), made after the recipients installed the DemonWare ransomware on their employer's systems.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/suspect-arrested-in-ransom-your-employer-criminal-scheme/

The Newer Cyber Crime Triad: Trickbot-Emotet-Conti

Advanced Intelligence researchers argue that the restarting of the Emotet botnet was driven by Conti ransomware gang.

Early this year, law enforcement and judicial authorities worldwide conducted a joint operation, named Operation Ladybird, which disrupted the EMOTET botnet. At the time the investigators have taken control of its infrastructure in an international coordinated action.

This operation was the result of a joint effort between authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust.

The law enforcement agency was able to take over at least 700 servers used as part of the Emotet botnet’s infrastructure. The FBI collected millions of email addresses used by Emotet operators in their malware campaigns as part of the cleanup operation.

The Emotet banking trojan has been active at least since 2014, the botnet is operated by a threat actor tracked as TA542. The infamous banking trojan was also used to deliver other malicious code, such as Trickbot and QBot trojans, or ransomware such as Conti, ProLock, Ryuk, and Egregor.

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/124807/cyber-crime/trickbot-emotet-conti-triad.html

Threat Actors Find And Compromise Exposed Services In 24 Hours

Researchers set up 320 honeypots to see how quickly threat actors would target exposed cloud services and report that 80% of them were compromised in under 24 hours.

Malicious actors are constantly scanning the Internet for exposed services that could be exploited to access internal networks or perform other malicious activity.

To track what software and services are targeted by threat actors, researchers create publicly accessible honeypots. Honeypots are servers configured to appear as if they are running various software as lures to monitor threat actors' tactics.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/threat-actors-find-and-compromise-exposed-services-in-24-hours/

Does Your Company Employ A CISO? Many Are Operating Without Security Leadership

45% of companies do not employ a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), a Navisite research found. Of this group, 58% think their company should hire a CISO.

Only 40% of respondents stated their cybersecurity strategy was developed by a CISO or member of the security team, with 60% relying on other parts of their organization, including IT, executive leadership and compliance.

130 security, IT and compliance professionals were polled in the US to determine their perceptions on the state of cybersecurity leadership and readiness within their organizations. More than 80% of respondents described their job title as either executive leadership or management, with more than 60% of respondents coming from mid-sized organizations between 100-5,000 employees.

Why you should employ a CISO?

·       21% of respondents admit their company does not have a dedicated person or staff whose sole responsibility is security/cybersecurity.

·       75% of respondents said their company experienced an increase in overall cybersecurity threat volume in the last year.

·       80% of respondents felt their company exhibited strong cybersecurity leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

·       70% of respondents expressed confidence in the effectiveness of their cybersecurity program—but that confidence dropped to 58% for companies without a CISO.

·       47% of survey takers believe their company spends too little on cybersecurity.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/23/employ-ciso/

New Malware Is Capable Of Evading Almost All Antivirus Products

There’s a new JavaScript downloader on the prowl that not only distributes eight different Remote Access Trojans (RATs), keyloggers and information stealers, but is also able to bypass detection by a majority of security tools, experts have warned.

Cyber security researchers at HP Wolf Security named the malware RATDispenser, noting that while JavaScript downloaders typically have a lower detection rate than other downloaders, this particular malware is more dangerous since it employs several techniques to evade detection.

“It’s particularly concerning to see RATDispenser only being detected by about 11% of antivirus systems, resulting in this stealthy malware successfully deploying on victims’ endpoints in most cases,” noted Patrick Schlapfer, Malware Analyst at HP.

https://www.techradar.com/news/new-malware-is-capable-of-evading-almost-all-antivirus-products

Interpol Arrests Over 1,000 Suspects Linked To Cyber Crime

Interpol has coordinated the arrest of 1,003 individuals linked to various cyber-crimes such as romance scams, investment frauds, online money laundering, and illegal online gambling.

This crackdown results from a four-month action codenamed ‘Operation HAEICHI-II,’ which took place in twenty countries between June and September 2021.

These were Angola, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On the financial aspect of the operation, the authorities have also intercepted nearly $27,000,000 and froze 2,350 banking accounts linked to various online crimes.

As the Interpol announcement details, at least ten new criminal modus operandi were identified in HAEICHI-II, indicative of the evolving nature of cyber-crime.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/legal/interpol-arrests-over-1-000-suspects-linked-to-cyber-crime/

Researchers Warn Of Severe Risks From ‘Printjack’ Printer Attacks

A team of Italian researchers has compiled a set of three attacks called 'Printjack,' warning users of the significant consequences of over-trusting their printer.

The attacks include recruiting the printers in DDoS swarms, imposing a paper DoS state, and performing privacy breaches.

As the researchers point out, modern printers are still vulnerable to elementary flaws and lag behind other IoT and electronic devices that are starting to conform with cybersecurity and data privacy requirements.

By evaluating the attack potential and the risk levels, the researchers found non-compliance with GDPR requirements and the ISO/IEC 27005:2018 (framework for managing cyber-risks).

This lack of in-built security is particularly problematic when considering how omnipresent printers are, being deployed in critical environments, companies, and organizations of all sizes.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/researchers-warn-of-severe-risks-from-printjack-printer-attacks/

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Threats

Ransomware

• New Memento Ransomware Uses Password-Protected WinRAR Archives To Block Access To The Files - Security Affairs

• Defense Contractors Are Highly Susceptible To Ransomware Attacks - Help Net Security

• Holidays Don't Mean Much To Ransomware Attackers - Help Net Security

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Two Nigerians Sentenced to Prison in US for Role in BEC Scams | SecurityWeek.Com

Phishing

• TrickBot Phishing Checks Screen Resolution To Evade Researchers (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

Malware

• Crooks Compromise Microsoft Exchange Servers To Hijack Internal Email Chains - Security Affairs

• Hackers Using Microsoft MSHTML Flaw to Spy on Targeted PCs with Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Malicious Python Packages Employ Advanced Detection Evasion Techniques - Help Net Security

• Stealthy New JavaScript Malware Infects Windows PCs with RATs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Golang-based Linux Malware Targeting eCommerce Websites (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• Spyware Alert! 23 Apps Found Spying On Android Users Via Mobile Camera | techgig

• MediaTek Chip Flaw Could Have Let Attackers Spy on Android Phones (darkreading.com)

• Over 9 Million Android Phones Running Malware Apps from Huawei's AppGallery (thehackernews.com)

IOT

• Hikvision Security Cameras Potentially Exposed to Remote Code Execution (sans.edu)

• Some Tesla Owners Unable To Unlock Cars Due To Server Errors (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

Vulnerabilities

• All Versions of Windows Are Vulnerable to a New Zero-Day Exploit (pcmag.com)

• Attackers Hijack Email Using Proxy Logon/Proxyshell Flaws | Threatpost

• Cisco Flaw Affects Firewalls - Infosecurity Magazine

• Expert Discloses Details Of Flaws In Oracle VirtualBox - Security Affairs

• VMware Warns of Newly Discovered Vulnerabilities in vSphere Web Client (thehackernews.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• GoDaddy Hack Exposes Accounts Of 1.2 Million Customers (Bitdefender.Com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Hackers Accused Of Stealing $100m Live Openly In Russia | World | The Times

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

• Teen Accused of Stealing Bitcoin Worth $36.5M - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Fraud & Financial Crime

• Fraud Fighters Aren't Prepared For The Multi-Billion Dollar Threat Of Global Insurance Fraud - Help Net Security

Insurance

• Work From Home, Digital Shift During Covid Drives Cyber Insurance Prices (bloombergquint.com)

Nation State Actors

• NCSC Warns Industry, Academia Of Foreign Threats To Their Intellectual Property | CSO Online

• North Korean Hackers Found Behind a Range of Credential Theft Campaigns (thehackernews.com)

• US Bans Chinese Firms For Feeding Tech To The Military • The Register

Cloud

• Observing Attacks Against Hundreds of Exposed Services in Public Clouds (paloaltonetworks.com)

Passwords

• Attackers Don't Bother Brute-Forcing Long Passwords, Microsoft Engineer Says - The Record By Recorded Future

• Less than Half of Consumers Change Password Post-Breach - Infosecurity Magazine

Parental Controls

• Products Used By Children Are Not Nearly As Privacy-Protecting As They Should Be - Help Net Security

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Sector Specific

Financial Services Sector

• Credentials Exposed For Majority Of US Financial Firm Employees | Sc Media (Scmagazine.Com)

• US Government Securities Watchdog Spoofed By Investment Scammers – Don’t Fall For It! – Naked Security (sophos.com)

SMBs – Small and Medium Businesses

• UK Govt Warns Thousands Of SMBs Their Online Stores Were Hacked (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

Defence

• Defence Contractors Are Highly Susceptible To Ransomware Attacks - Help Net Security

Health/Medical/Pharma Sector

• Devious ‘Tardigrade’ Malware Hits Biomanufacturing Facilities | WIRED

• Preventing a Cyber Pandemic in Healthcare | SecurityWeek.Com

• Healthcare Organisations At Risk: The Attack Surface Is Expanding - Help Net Security

• ENISA - The Need For Incident Response Capabilities In The Health Sector - Security Affairs

• Philips Working on Patches for Vulnerabilities Found in Medical Products | SecurityWeek.Com

Transport and Aviation

• Hackers Hit Iran's Mahan Airline, Claim Confidential Data Theft (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

Maritime

• Marine Services Provider Swire Pacific Offshore Hit By Ransomware (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• The Evolving Threat of Ransomware | The State of Security (tripwire.com)

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Other News

• As Digital Shopping Surges, Researchers Predict 8 Million Daily Attacks - Help Net Security

• Rising Cyber Crime Demands Laws And Users Keep Up | The Seattle Times

• IKEA Email Systems Hit By Ongoing Cyber Attack (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

• UK and German Police Take Down 21 Jihadist Websites - Infosecurity Magazine

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