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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 April 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 05 April 2024:
-Corporations with Effective Cyber Governance Create 4 Times More Value, Boosting Shareholder Returns
-Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled
-Half of British SMEs Have Lost Data in Past Five Years: Threat Indicators Show 2024 Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023
-Researchers Report Sevenfold Increase in Data Theft Cases, as 17 billion Personal Records Exposed in Breaches in 2023
-AI Abuse and Misinformation Campaigns Threaten Financial Institutions
-Security Teams are ‘Overconfident’ About Handling Next-Gen Threats
-AI Makes Phishing Attacks Accessible to Basic Users
-Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise
-73% Brace for Cyber Security Impact on Business in Next Two Years
-To Stay Ahead of Ransomware Businesses Need to Adopt An Offensive Security Mindset
-Cyber Security Imperative for Protecting Executives
-The Increasing Role of Cyber Security Experts in Complex Legal Disputes
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Corporations with Effective Cyber Governance Create 4 Times More Value, Boosting Shareholder Returns
According to a recent report, companies who demonstrated an advanced level of cyber security performance generated a shareholder return 372% higher than their peers over a 5 year period. The report highlighted that having board committees focused on specialised risk and audit compliance produced the best outcomes; however, it was found that only a small number of those surveyed had done this. Financial institutions and healthcare had the highest cyber security ratings, highlighting the correlation between regulatory environments and cyber security performance.
Sources: [Help Net Security ] [Dark Reading]
Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled
The number of security and ransomware incidents reported to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) surged in 2023, according to a freedom of information request. 31% of these incidents were categorised as ransomware, which had double the number of reports as the previous year. To note, these statistics address the number of ransomware incidents involving financial services that were disclosed: the number of actual incidents could be far higher.
Sources: [Digital Journal] [Digital Journal]
Half of British SMEs Have Lost Data in Past Five Years: Threat Indicators Show 2024 Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023
According to a new report, since 2019 nearly half (48%) of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have lost access to data, potentially costing billions. The report found that nationwide, the number of businesses that lost data temporarily or permanently could amount to more than 800,000. Unfortunately, the report found that half of respondents assessed were relying on flawed backup processes, with a quarter not backing up data at all.
A number of organisations assume that they are backing data up automatically and that these backups are safe, but it is an assumption that can have cost. Added to this, some organisations are not aware that their backups can be changed, or deleted, by a malicious actor; a situation better mitigated by implementing immutable backups.
To better their situation, organisations need to understand the cause of a breach, map their data and understand where it is stored, follow the 3,2,1 rule (three copies of data, two separate locations, one in the cloud), consider immutable backups and monitor their backups. An effective backup policy will help.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Security Week] [IT Security Guru]
Researchers Report Sevenfold Increase in Data Theft Cases, as 17 billion Personal Records Exposed in Breaches in 2023
According to a global threat intelligence report, data breach incidents rose by 34.5% in 2023, with 17 billion personal records compromised throughout the year. The research also observed a 429% spike in stolen or leaked personal data in the first two months of 2024. In a separate report, Kaspersky found that roughly 10 million devices encountered data-stealing malware in 2023, a sevenfold increase since 2020.
The reports highlight the importance of ensuring that precautions and mitigations are undertaken to thwart attackers. This should include enabling multi-factor authentication, strong and unique passwords, and using a password manager.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Infosecurity Magazine]
AI Abuse and Misinformation Campaigns Threaten Financial Institutions
According to the Financial Services Information Sharing Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), cyber threats relating to generative AI in financial services are a consistent concern, with threat actors using generative AI to write malware and other types of attacks. In some cases, attackers are injecting contaminated data into the large language models used by AI, in order to supply it with misinformation which will in turn feed back to financial institutions.
Not all risks are malicious, however. In some cases where generative AI uses enormous datasets, this can contain privileged information or biased data, which can in turn cost financial firms the trust of regulators, consumers and investors. The FS-ISAC stated “As we look ahead to a critical year marked by emerging technology and heightened geopolitical tensions, the best way to maintain the integrity, security, and trust of the sector is through global information sharing.”
Source: [Help Net Security]
Security Teams are ‘Overconfident’ About Handling Next-Gen Threats
In a new study of more than 8,000 cyber security decision makers, Cisco found that nearly three-quarters of organisations anticipated a cyber incident to disrupt their business in the next two years and 80% said they felt at least “moderately confident” in their ability to defend against emerging threats. In contrast, Cisco’s own analysis rated the maturity of these organisations, finding 71% were deemed to be rated as ‘formative’ or ‘beginner’, the two lowest categories.
Source: [CSO Online]
AI Makes Phishing Attacks Accessible to Basic Users
One of the big selling points of AI is its ability to allow even an unsophisticated user to advance their capability and operate at a far more damaging level. Crucially AI can enable a completely non-technical user to understand and produce technical output. Unfortunately, many cyber criminals have realised this and are using AI to sharpen the efficacy of their phishing emails. With AI, phishing emails can now be created without telltale grammatical errors, and can be convincingly formatted to use a certain style to resonate with given target audience, such as a board level executive. AI is also enabling these phishing campaigns to be replicated across languages and geographies, giving malicious actors wider nets than ever before. Whilst low sophistication ‘Nigerian Prince’ type phishing emails are still doing the rounds they are largely being replaced by much more convincing and devious legitimate looking emails.
Source: [The Economic Times]
Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise
According to a report, more than 500 industrial operational technology (OT) sites worldwide suffered physical consequences as the result of a cyber attack last year, a near 20% rise from the previous year. The report found that some of the attacks cost the organisation up to $100 million in damages.
Attacks on utilities, water, energy, and other critical national infrastructure (CNI) have seen a sharp rise over the last year, against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and actions by nation state aggressors such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, as well as hacktivist groups and other malicious actors.
Threats to IT may be better known than threats to OT, but the latter can result in very serious real world consequences, ultimately leading to potential mass loss of life events.
Source: [Dark Reading]
73% Brace for Cyber Security Impact on Business in Next Two Years
A survey has found that 73% of organisations are expecting a business disruption relating to a cyber incident in the next 12 to 24 months. Part of this was based on previous experiences, with 54% experiencing a cyber incident in the last 12 months, and 52% of those impacted reporting costs of at least $300,000. 87% reported issues with talent, and 46% reported having more than 10 unfilled roles related to cyber security.
Source: [Help Net Security]
To Stay Ahead of Ransomware Businesses Need to Adopt An Offensive Security Mindset
2023 was the most lucrative year yet for ransomware attacks and it was also the year that saw the biggest shift in ransomware tactics, with the majority of ransomware actors now implementing data exfiltration and extortion, in addition to encryption. As it is getting harder for organisations to defend against these attacks and to stay ahead of ransomware, organisations need to develop an offensive security mindset, working out how an attacker might gain access to their systems. This includes keeping up with the latest tactics, communicating this throughout the organisation and running threat-led attack simulations.
Source: [IBTimes]
Cyber Security Imperative for Protecting Executives
The stakes are high in cyber security, and particularly for executives whose positions amplify the potential fall out and damage from cyber incidents. The variety of sensitive information that they have access to, and their authority in the organisation, makes them a desirable target for business email compromise.
Organisations need to implement a robust security culture, led by executives, to foster an environment where cyber threats are understood and mitigated. As part of this, training needs to be given to the whole organisation, including executives.
Executives may have historically excluded themselves from security controls, yet ironically it is this exclusion and their position in the organisation that makes them such a lucrative target.
Source: [Forbes]
The Increasing Role of Cyber Security Experts in Complex Legal Disputes
Expert witnesses have been known to play significant roles in matters where their valuable insight is required. In today’s world, with the number of high-stake crimes now involving technology, cyber security professionals have become some of the most sought-after experts.
Disputes involving highly complex cyber crimes typically require more technical experience than is on hand, and the contributions of a cyber expert are significant in uncovering critical evidence and shaping the legal strategy, as well as explaining cyber security in the courtroom.
Source: [JDSupra]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Ransomware incidents reported to UK financial regulator have doubled - Digital Journal
AI abuse and misinformation campaigns threaten financial institutions - Help Net Security
The Big Question: Are SMEs now at the forefront of cyber risks? - Emerging Risks Media Ltd
Threat Indicators Show 2024 Is Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023 - Security Week
Security teams are ‘overconfident’ about handling next-gen threats | CSO Online
Banks told to expand risk management to cover AI (finextra.com)
Corporations With Cyber Governance Create 4X More Value (darkreading.com)
Cyber Leaders Struggle With Heightened Job Expectations, Communicating With Board - WSJ
73% brace for cyber security impact on business in the next year or two - Help Net Security
Businesses overestimating their skills amid cyber security crisis, survey reveals (holyrood.com)
Why your data isn’t as safe as you think and what it could cost you - IT Security Guru
Unspoken Battle: Cyber Security Imperative For Protecting Executives (forbes.com)
Businesses must prioritise prevention to lock out online threats (yahoo.com)
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Lessons from the World's Costliest Corporate Cyber Attacks - Management Today
Three trends set to drive cyber attacks in 2024 (networkingplus.co.uk)
Why Cyber Security Is a Whole-of-Society Issue (darkreading.com)
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisationwide (darkreading.com)
How CISOs Can Make Cyber Security a Long-Term Priority for Boards (darkreading.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Cyber security incidences surge in the UK financial services sector - Digital Journal
Ransomware attacks rise by 46% in February 2024, finds NCC Group (securitybrief.co.nz)
RDP Abuse Present in 90% of Ransomware Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Trend Micro: LockBit ransomware gang's comeback is failing | TechTarget
Hosting firm's VMware ESXi servers hit by new SEXi ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Victims
Ransomware attacks ravaged municipal governments in March | TechTarget
NHS Scotland confirms ransomware attackers leaked patients' data - Help Net Security
Yacht retailer MarineMax discloses data breach after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Ransomware gang leaks UK city council’s confidential files • The Register
Omni Hotels confirms cyber attack behind ongoing IT outage (bleepingcomputer.com)
World’s second-largest lens-maker blinded by cyber incident • The Register
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
This new phishing attack targets iPhone and Android alike via RCS | TechRadar
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
$1.28 Million Lost From Crypto Phishing Attacks (coinpedia.org)
Naked photos sent in WhatsApp ‘phishing’ attacks on UK MPs and staff – POLITICO
Cyber security: Enabled by AI, phishing becomes quite simple - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Phishing Attacks Targeting Political Parties, Germany Warns (govinfosecurity.com)
A phish by any other name should still not be clicked – Computerworld
Google now blocks spoofed emails for better phishing protection (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Phishing Campaign Targets Oil & Gas with Evolved Data-Stealing Malware (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft Teams phishing attacks and how to prevent them | TechTarget
Artificial Intelligence
Banks told to expand risk management to cover AI (finextra.com)
AI abuse and misinformation campaigns threaten financial institutions - Help Net Security
22% of employees admit to breaching company rules with GenAI - Help Net Security
6 Prompts You Don't Want Employees Putting in Microsoft Copilot (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Copilot Blocked on US Congress Devices Over Security Concerns | Cryptopolitan
Cyber security: Enabled by AI, phishing becomes quite simple - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Microsoft Announces New Safety System to Filter Malicious AI Output | Extremetech
Microsoft GM on AI and elections: 'There will be fakes' • The Register
The ‘complicated relationship’ between AI and cyber security (siliconrepublic.com)
Chinese hackers turn to AI to meddle in elections | CyberScoop
Security and AI occupy SME thoughts | Microscope (computerweekly.com)
Malware
Escalating malware tactics drive global cyber crime epidemic - Help Net Security
Linux Version of DinodasRAT Spotted in Cyber Attacks Across Several Countries (thehackernews.com)
TheMoon Malware Rises Again with Malicious Botnet for Hire (darkreading.com)
Hackers Target macOS Users with Malicious Ads Spreading Stealer Malware (thehackernews.com)
Vultur Android Banking Trojan Returns with Upgraded Remote Control Capabilities (thehackernews.com)
Botnets: The uninvited guests that just won’t leave | CSO Online
Detecting Windows-based Malware Through Better Visibility (thehackernews.com)
Apple macOS users targeted with more cyber attacks via dodgy ads and websites | TechRadar
Europe subjected to Mispadu trojan attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
YouTube Video Game ‘Hacks’ Contain Malware Links - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
The Biggest Takeaways from Recent Malware Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Thousands of Australian Businesses Targeted With RAT (darkreading.com)
Mobile
This new phishing attack targets iPhone and Android alike via RCS | TechRadar
2 wireless protocols expose mobile users to spying — the FCC wants to fix that - Nextgov/FCW
Location tracking and the battle for digital privacy - Help Net Security
How and why to enable Stolen Device Protection on your iPhone (idownloadblog.com)
Google fixed two actively exploited Pixel vulnerabilities (securityaffairs.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Porsche Kills Two More Models Due to Cyber Security Regulations - autoevolution
UK Encouraged to Prioritise Cyber Security with Electric Vehicle Charging Points - Electrical Times
Data Breaches/Leaks
Highly sensitive files mysteriously disappeared from EUROPOL headquarters (securityaffairs.com)
Almost 2.9M impacted by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care breach | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Ivanti-linked breach of CISA potentially affected more than 100,000 individuals | CyberScoop
Prudential Insurance says data of 36,000 exposed during February cyber attack (therecord.media)
Hotel Self Check-In Kiosks Exposed Room Access Codes - Security Week
Nearly 1M medical records feared stolen from City of Hope • The Register
SurveyLama data breach exposes info of 4.4 million users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cyber criminals steal data of around 700,000 Apotheka pharmacy customers | News | ERR
PandaBuy data breach allegedly impacted +1.3M customers (securityaffairs.com)
OWASP discloses breach due to a Wiki web server misconfig • The Register
US cancer center data breach exposes info of 827,000 patients (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Escalating malware tactics drive global cyber crime epidemic - Help Net Security
Threat Indicators Show 2024 Is Already Promising to be Worse Than 2023 - Security Week
Rise of non-tech hackers: new era of cyber threats - VnExpress International
India rescuing citizens forced into cyber fraud schemes in Cambodia | Reuters
Cyber criminal adoption of browser fingerprinting - Help Net Security
With just $700 and a Raspberry Pi — you too can become a cyber criminal | TechRadar
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for crypto fraud (cnbc.com)
$1.28 Million Lost From Crypto Phishing Attacks (coinpedia.org)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisation wide (darkreading.com)
Insurance
Can cyber insurance help secure business? | Mint (livemint.com)
How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry? (securityintelligence.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
How much does cloud-based identity expand your attack surface? - Help Net Security
Who owns your data? SaaS contract security, privacy red flags | CSO Online
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Linux and Open Source
New Linux Bug Could Lead to User Password Leaks and Clipboard Hijacking (thehackernews.com)
Red Hat warns of backdoor in XZ tools used by most Linux distros (bleepingcomputer.com)
A new XZ backdoor scanner will be able to safeguard any Linux binary from threats (msn.com)
What we know about the xz Utils backdoor that almost infected the world | Ars Technica
Malicious xz backdoor reveals fragility of open source • The Register
Linux Version of DinodasRAT Spotted in Cyber Attacks Across Several Countries (thehackernews.com)
German state switches to LibreOffice, promises Windows move • The Register
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Cisco warns of password-spraying attacks targeting VPN services (bleepingcomputer.com)
American fast-fashion firm Hot Topic hit by credential stuffing attacks (securityaffairs.com)
Social Media
WhatsApp was down in Meta’s second big outage this year | TechCrunch
YouTube Video Game ‘Hacks’ Contain Malware Links - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Malvertising
Apple macOS users targeted with more cyber attacks via dodgy ads and websites | TechRadar
New Chrome feature aims to stop hackers from using stolen cookies (bleepingcomputer.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Instilling the Hacker Mindset Organisation wide (darkreading.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Ransomware incidents reported to UK financial regulator have doubled - Digital Journal
EU's reimagined NIS 2 cyber security vision to go live (electronicspecifier.com)
6 business benefits of data protection and GDPR compliance | TechTarget
Treasury accuses banks of 'insufficient data sharing' on fraud | American Banker
A CISO's Guide to Materiality and Risk Determination (darkreading.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Using the NIST CSF for Strong Cyber Security Compliance | NAVEX - JDSupra
NIST And CISA: 13 Must-Review Resources For SMBs (forbes.com)
Are businesses prepared for the CSF 2.0 challenge? - Digital Journal
Backup and Recovery
World Backup Day triggers call for holistic cyber security overhaul (securitybrief.co.nz)
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
Data Protection
6 business benefits of data protection and GDPR compliance | TechTarget
How to conduct a data privacy audit, step by step | TechTarget
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
The Complexity and Need to Manage Mental Well-Being in the Security Team - Security Week
Cyber Leaders Struggle With Heightened Job Expectations, Communicating With Board - WSJ
Unlocking Cyber Security Success: The Importance of Certifications - ClearanceJobs
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Are you okay? Understanding the world of a CISO | CSO Online
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Wars prompt questions for facial recognition providers, and obscure the answers | Biometric Update
UN Peace Operations Under Fire from State-Sponsored Hackers (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors
China
UK minister confirmed as 12th target in Westminster ‘spear-phishing’ scandal – POLITICO
Pulling the Curtain Back on China’s Cyberespionage (informationweek.com)
MPs challenge government claims China cyber attack was unsuccessful (ft.com)
Chinese hackers turn to AI to meddle in elections | CyberScoop
UK, Czech ministers among China’s hacking targets – POLITICO
Security fears over supercomputer deal with Chinese firm Lenovo (thetimes.co.uk)
Russia
Ukraine gives award to foreign vigilantes for hacks on Russia - BBC News
STA: Russian hackers take responsibility for cyber attack on Slovenia
Exclusive: Hackers stole Russian prisoner database to avenge death of Navalny | CNN Politics
Russian network that 'paid European politicians' busted, authorities claim - BBC News
Russia charges suspects behind theft of 160,000 credit cards (bleepingcomputer.com)
Iran
Iran's Evolving Cyber Enabled Influence Operations to Support Hamas (darkreading.com)
Satellite Cyber Security, Iran, and the Israel-Hamas War | Geopolitical Monitor
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
CVE and NVD - A Weak and Fractured Source of Vulnerability Truth - Security Week
Attack Surface Management vs. Vulnerability Management (thehackernews.com)
Vulnerabilities
Are You Affected by the Backdoor in XZ Utils? (darkreading.com)
Red Hat issues urgent alert for Fedora Linux users due to malicious code (betanews.com)
Hosting firm's VMware ESXi servers hit by new SEXi ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco warns of password-spraying attacks targeting VPN services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco addressed high-severity flaws in IOS and IOS XE software (securityaffairs.com)
Ivanti Rushes Patches for 4 New Flaws in Connect Secure and Policy Secure (thehackernews.com)
Apple GoFetch was caused by an obsession with speed • The Register
Heartbleed is 10 Years Old – Farewell Heartbleed, Hello QuantumBleed! - Security Week
Critical Security Flaw Found in Popular LayerSlider WordPress Plugin (thehackernews.com)
Critical Vulnerability in Progress Flowmon Allows Remote Access to Systems - Security Week
Google fixed two actively exploited Pixel vulnerabilities (securityaffairs.com)
Splunk Patches Vulnerabilities in Enterprise Product - Security Week
JetBrains fixes 26 'security problems,' offering no details • The Register
Tools and Controls
RDP Abuse Present in 90% of Ransomware Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New XZ backdoor scanner detects implant in any Linux binary (bleepingcomputer.com)
The ‘complicated relationship’ between AI and cyber security (siliconrepublic.com)
How much does cloud-based identity expand your attack surface? - Help Net Security
How Pentesting-as-a-Service can Reduce Overall Security Costs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Building a cyber security risk assessment template - Security Boulevard
Microsoft unveils safety and security tools for generative AI | InfoWorld
The Biggest Mistake Security Teams Make When Buying Tools (darkreading.com)
World Backup Day triggers call for holistic cyber security overhaul (securitybrief.co.nz)
Cloud Email Filtering Bypass Attack Works 80% of the Time (darkreading.com)
Can cyber insurance help secure business? | Mint (livemint.com)
71% Website Vulnerable: API Security Becomes Prime Target for Hackers - Security Boulevard
Old Technology, New Tricks: Why DNS Is Still A Major Security Target (forbes.com)
Cyber Risk Management: A Beginner's Guide - Security Boulevard
Microsoft Entra Recommendations adds several more for better user security - Neowin
A CISO's Guide to Materiality and Risk Determination (darkreading.com)
Attack Surface Management vs. Vulnerability Management (thehackernews.com)
Why a Cloud Security Platform Approach is Critical | Trend Micro (US)
The Importance Of Physical Cyber Security Testing (forbes.com)
CISOs Are Facing Challenges In Proactive Threat Defence And Compliance Management (forbes.com)
Human risk is the top cyber threat for IT teams - Help Net Security
Data protection vs. data backup: How are they different? | TechTarget
SIEM Implementation: Strategies and Best Practices | MSSP Alert
Is Windows Defender All the Antivirus Protection You Need? (makeuseof.com)
Other News
Cyber Attacks Wreaking Physical Disruption on the Rise (darkreading.com)
Cyber Safety Review Board: Microsoft security culture 'inadequate' (geekwire.com)
Microsoft slammed for lax infosec that led to Exchange crack • The Register
Infosec professionals praise CSRB report on Microsoft breach | TechTarget
76% of consumers don't see themselves as cyber crime targets - Help Net Security
Shielding the lifelines: Protecting energy and infrastructure from cyber threats (betanews.com)
Cyber Security Statistics In 2024: Is Your Law Firm Protected? - Above the Law
Sellafield nuclear waste dump faces prosecution over cyber security failures (bitdefender.com)
Australia Doubles Down On Cyber Security After Attacks (darkreading.com)
Furry Hackers Use Church's Money To Buy Inflatable Sea Lions (dailydot.com)
Windows 10 Support Deadline: Your Guide to Extended Security Updates (ESU) (mspoweruser.com)
Healthcare's cyber resilience under siege as attacks multiply - Help Net Security
Rise of non-tech hackers: new era of cyber threats - VnExpress International
Why Cultural Institutions Are Rich Targets for Cyber Attackers (informationweek.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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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 15 March 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 15 March 2024:
-Mind The Gap - Mimecast Report Finds Humans Are Biggest Security Flaw
-Three-Quarters of Cyber Victim Are SMBs - Why SMBs are Becoming More Vulnerable
-Cyber Security Skills Gap and Lack of Boardroom Engagement Invite Hacker Havoc
-UK Government’s Ransomware Failings Leave Country ‘Exposed and Unprepared’
-Data Breaches up 72% to New Record High: Cyber Security Incidents Rank as #1 Global Business Threat in 2024
-Finance Sector Facing Huge Number of Cyber Attacks That Could Leave It On its Knees, Highlights the Need to Build a Robust Security Culture
-Microsoft Confirms Russian Hackers Stole Source Code, Some Customer Secrets
-Independent Cyber Security Audits Are Powerful Tools for Boards
-Navigating Cyber Security in The Era of Mergers
-Phishing Tactics Evolve as Sophisticated Vishing and Image-based Phishing Take World by Storm
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
Mind The Gap: Mimecast Report Finds Humans Are Biggest Security Flaw
A global report from Mimecast has found that 74% of all cyber breaches are caused by human factors, including errors, misuse of access privileges or social engineering. Email remains the primary attack vector for cyber threats. Further, 67% of respondents expect AI-driven attacks to soon be the norm and 69% believe their company will be harmed by an attack.
No matter the size, sector or budget of an organisation, people remain a consistent risk factor. Even with strong technology controls, people can still be the risk that brings down the organisation. It is therefore important for organisations to integrate people into their cyber security investments. This should include awareness and education training, and fostering a cyber secure culture in the organisation.
Sources: [IT Security Guru] [Beta News] [Verdict]
Three-Quarters of Cyber Victim Are SMBs: Why SMBs are Becoming More Vulnerable
According to a recent Sophos report, over three-quarters of cyber incidents impacted smaller businesses in 2023, with ransomware having the largest impact. The research also found that in 90% of attacks, data or credential theft was involved and in 43%, data theft was the main focus.
The report found significant usage of initial access brokers; these are attackers whose speciality is to break into computer networks and sell ready-to-go access to other attackers. In fact, the report found that almost half of all malware detected in SMBs were malicious programs used to steal sensitive data and login credentials. Unfortunately, many SMBs struggle to keep up due to a lack of resources and budget; instead, they must be able to prioritise their cyber security efforts to get the most return on investment.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Help Net Security] [TechRadar] [Nairametrics] [TechTarget]
Cyber Security Skills Gap and Lack of Boardroom Engagement Invite Hacker Havoc
The Ipsos report on Cyber Security Skills in the UK Labour Market 2023 sheds light on the persistent challenges faced in recruiting, training, and retaining cyber security professionals across various domains. With approximately 739,000 businesses lacking basic cyber skills and 487,000 facing advanced skills gaps, the demand for trained professionals is escalating. The shortage of incident response skills highlights the need for comprehensive education and training programs. Senior management and board-level executives must also be equipped with the knowledge to manage incidents effectively, emphasising reporting, seeking external assistance, and maintaining a no-blame culture. Understanding cyber risks at the business level is crucial, as cyber crime has evolved into a well-organised industry with distinct roles and profit-sharing mechanisms among cyber criminal groups. Conducting tabletop incident response exercises can effectively prepare senior leadership for cyber incidents, ensuring a proactive and coordinated response to mitigate risks and safeguard organisational resilience.
Source: [TechRadar]
UK Government’s Ransomware Failings Leave Country ‘Exposed and Unprepared’
The recent response from the British government to warnings about the looming ransomware threat has sparked criticism, with accusations of adopting an "ostrich strategy" by downplaying the severity of the national cyber threat. Despite alarming assessments from the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) regarding the high risk of a catastrophic ransomware attack, the government's formal response has been met with scepticism. Key recommendations, such as reallocating responsibility for tackling ransomware away from the Home Office, were rejected, with the government arguing that its existing regulations and the current National Cyber Strategy were sufficient. This argument has raised concerns about the government's preparedness and resource allocation. With ransomware attacks escalating in the UK, the Committee underscores the urgency for a proactive national security response to mitigate the potentially devastating impacts on the economy and national security.
Source: [The Record Media]
Data Breaches up 72% to New Record High: Cyber Security Incidents Rank as #1 Global Business Threat in 2024
Research conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that 2023 set an all time high in data breaches, 72% more than the prior year. Separately, the Allianz Risk Barometer identified cyber incidents as the biggest global business threat for 2024, ranking above regulatory concerns, climate change and a shortage of skilled workers. It is crucial that the severity of this risk is reflected in the actions taken by organisations, who must effectively govern and implement their cyber security strategy.
Sources: [JDSupra]
Finance Sector Facing Huge Number of Cyber Attacks That Could Leave It On its Knees, Highlights the Need to Build a Robust Security Culture
Cyber security has become a pressing issue on financial institutions due to the rise in cyber attacks, as highlighted by the February attack on Bank of America via a third-party service. The involvement of the LockBit ransomware group underlines the persistent nature of these threats, particularly targeting the financial sector. These attacks disrupt services and undermine trust in the financial system, necessitating robust cyber security frameworks. The new US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule requiring immediate disclosure of cyber security incidents presents both benefits and challenges, calling for clear guidelines and industry-wide collaboration. BlackBerry’s Global Threat Intelligence Report revealed a staggering million attacks globally in just 120 days last year. These attacks, often using commodity malware, make up almost two-thirds of all industry-related incidents. The 27% increase in novel malware samples highlights the need for improved defences. These findings emphasise the need for AI-driven detection and defence strategies. While critical infrastructure remains a primary focus, commercial enterprises must remain vigilant, with a third of threats targeting various sectors, emphasising the pervasive nature of cyber threats across industries.
Source:[ SC Media] [TechRadar]
Microsoft Confirms Russian Hackers Stole Source Code, Some Customer Secrets
In a recent revelation, Microsoft disclosed that the Kremlin-backed threat group known as Midnight Blizzard successfully accessed some of Microsoft’s source code repositories and internal systems following a hack in January 2024. The breach, believed to have originally occurred in November 2023, exploited a legacy test account lacking multi-factor authentication by employing a password spray attack. Microsoft assured no compromise to customer-facing systems but warned of ongoing attempts by Midnight Blizzard to exploit stolen corporate email data. The extent of the breach remains under investigation, with concerns raised over the potential accumulation of attack vectors by the threat actor. The incident underscores the escalating sophistication of nation-state cyber threats and prompts a re-evaluation of security measures, highlighting the imperative for robust defences against such adversaries.
Source: [The Hacker News]
Independent Cyber Security Audits Are Powerful Tools for Boards
Board members are increasingly held accountable for their organisation's cyber posture, facing personal liability for lapses. To gain insight and demonstrate proactive leadership, independent cyber security audits have become indispensable. These audits not only aid in regulatory compliance but also uncover blind spots in the organisation's security measures. Recent regulations, such as by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) underscore the imperative for robust cyber security oversight at the board level. The audit process involves defining the scope, conducting assessments, validating findings through simulations, and presenting comprehensive reports to leadership. By embracing cyber security audits, boards can fulfil their duty of overseeing and enhancing the organisation's cyber resilience in an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Source: [Bloomberg Law]
Navigating Cyber Security in The Era of Mergers
In today's landscape of frequent mergers and acquisitions (M&A), organisations grapple with the challenge of aligning cyber security measures across subsidiaries, posing a risk to overall security. According to an IBM survey, over one in three executives attribute data breaches to M&A activity during integration. This complexity arises as security teams may lack insight into subsidiary infrastructure, hindering risk assessment and mitigation efforts. Historical incidents like the NotPetya attack on Merck and the Talk Talk hack highlight vulnerabilities post-acquisition, emphasising the need for a proactive approach to subsidiary cyber security. To address these challenges, organisations must conduct comprehensive risk assessments, standardise security protocols, foster collaboration, and consider unified security platforms. By proactively addressing visibility gaps and implementing standardised protocols, organisations can fortify their defences against evolving cyber threats amidst M&A activities.
Source: [Forbes]
Phishing Tactics Evolve as Sophisticated Vishing and Image-based Phishing Take World by Storm
According to a recent report, 76% of organisations were compromised by QR-code phishing in the last 12 months. Along with this, there has also been a rise in the number of sophisticated vishing attacks, with recent attacks costing organisations millions. The introduction of artificial intelligence has only added fuel to this fire already impacting security controls such as call-back procedures. With the tactics of phishing evolving, organisations need to ensure they are up-to-date and that employees are trained effectively to mitigate the risk of these.
Sources: [Help Net Security] [Dark Reading]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Cyber Security skills gap and boardroom blindness invite hacker havoc | TechRadar
Independent Cyber Security Audits Are Powerful Tools for Boards (bloomberglaw.com)
Navigating Cyber Security In The Era Of Mergers (forbes.com)
SMEs invest in tech opportunities but risk missing security safeguards (betanews.com)
Your tech tools won’t save you from cyber threats | TechRadar
The CISO Role Is Changing. Can CISOs Themselves Keep Up? (darkreading.com)
Cyber Insurance Strategy Requires CISO-CFO Collaboration (darkreading.com)
How enterprises can tackle risky cyber security behavior and improve workforce resilience | ITPro
Building a Security Culture of Shared Responsibility - Security Boulevard
MDR Metrics that Matter – From Analysts to the Board of Directors | Binary Defense
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Sophos: Remote ransomware attacks on SMBs increasing | TechTarget
UK government’s ransomware failings leave country ‘exposed and unprepared’ (therecord.media)
Understanding the multi-tiered impact of ransomware. (thecyberwire.com)
Ransomware tracker: The latest figures [March 2024] (therecord.media)
The effects of law enforcement takedowns on the ransomware landscape - Help Net Security
UK Conservatives Say 'No' to Cyber Insurance Backstop (inforisktoday.com)
Businesses leaving their Kubernetes containers exposed to ransomware | TechRadar
StopCrypt: Most widely distributed ransomware now evades detection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Member of LockBit ransomware group sentenced to 4 years in prison | Ars Technica
Ransomware Victims
British Library’s legacy IT blamed for lengthy rebuild • The Register
British Library shares lessons from cyber attack | UKAuthority
Stanford University failed to detect intruders for 4 months • The Register
Stanford says data from 27,000 people leaked in September ransomware attack (therecord.media)
Law Firm Sues MSP Over Black Basta Ransomware Attack | MSSP Alert
Play ransomware group stole 65,000 Swiss government files • The Register
Cancer Clinics Face Cash Crunch After Hack Rocks US Health Care (claimsjournal.com)
Nissan confirms ransomware attack exposed data of 100,000 people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Equilend warns employees their data was stolen by ransomware gang (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Phishing Threats Rise as Malicious Actors Target Messaging Platforms - Security Boulevard
MiTM phishing attack can let attackers unlock and steal a Tesla (bleepingcomputer.com)
What is phishing? Examples, types, and techniques | CSO Online
Other Social Engineering
Sophisticated Vishing Campaigns Take World by Storm (darkreading.com)
Your tech tools won’t save you from cyber threats | TechRadar
Artificial Intelligence
AI Poses Extinction-Level Risk, State-Funded Report Says | TIME
Cyber crime underworld has removed all the guardrails on AI frontier
Critical ChatGPT Plug-in Vulnerabilities Expose Sensitive Data (darkreading.com)
Cyber attackers are threatening businesses with AI, says Microsoft (qz.com)
Intelligence officials warn pace of innovation in AI threatens US | CyberScoop
How advances in AI are impacting business cyber security - Help Net Security
NCSC Blog - AI and cyber security: what you need to know (techuk.org)
4 types of prompt injection attacks and how they work | TechTarget
Former Google engineer charged with stealing AI trade secrets | TechTarget
How to craft a generative AI security policy that works | TechTarget
2FA/MFA
Malware
Keyloggers, spyware, and stealers dominate SMB malware detections - Help Net Security
SMBs are being hit with more malware attacks than ever, and many can't keep up | TechRadar
Magnet Goblin hackers use 1-day flaws to drop custom Linux malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers exploit WordPress plugin flaw to infect 3,300 sites with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets: The uninvited guests that just won’t leave | CSO Online
Hackers using Weaponized PDF Files to Deliver Remcos RAT (cybersecuritynews.com)
RedLine malware top credential stealer of last 6 months | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Windows SmartScreen Bypass Flaw Exploited to Drop DarkGate RAT (darkreading.com)
Mobile
Blog: Why Hackers Love Phones - Keep your Eye on the Device - Security Boulevard
SIM swappers hijacking phone numbers in eSIM attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
PixPirate Android malware uses new tactic to hide on phones (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
French government sites disrupted by très grande DDOS • The Register
Alabama Under DDoS Cyber Attack by Russian-Backed Hacktivists (darkreading.com)
RIA: Estonia's state institutions hit by largest cyber attack to date | News | ERR
DDoS attacks reach critical levels in 14 seconds | Security Magazine
Internet of Things – IoT
Internet of Risks: Cyber Security Risk in the Internet of Things | UpGuard
Unpatched Sceiner Smart Lock Vulnerabilities Allow Hackers to Open Doors - Security Week
Heated Seats? Advanced Telematics? Software-Defined Cars Drive Risk (darkreading.com)
Chinese spies want to steal IP by backdooring safe locks • The Register
Experts Say Chinese Safes Pose Risks to US National Security (inforisktoday.com)
MiTM phishing attack can let attackers unlock and steal a Tesla (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Data Breaches up 72% From Record High: Cyber Incident Readiness Must be Top of Mind | Epiq - JDSupra
Jersey regulator's data breach leaks names and addresses - BBC News
Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Okta denies it was hacked again after data appears on hacking site | TechRadar
Over 12 million auth secrets and keys leaked on GitHub in 2023 (bleepingcomputer.com)
French unemployment agency data breach impacts 43 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
How to Identify a Cyber Adversary: Standards of Proof (darkreading.com)
How to Identify a Cyber Adversary: What to Look For (darkreading.com)
Broke Cyber Pros Flock to Cyber Crime Side Hustles (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto phishers stole $47M last month, impersonators on X to blame (cointelegraph.com)
Bitcoin Fog mixer operator convicted for laundering $400 million (bleepingcomputer.com)
US Seizes $1.4 Million in Cryptocurrency From Tech Scammers - Security Week
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insider threats can damage even the most secure organisations - Help Net Security
Your tech tools won’t save you from cyber threats | TechRadar
Former Google engineer charged with stealing AI trade secrets | TechTarget
How enterprises can tackle risky cyber security behaviour and improve workforce resilience | ITPro
Building a Security Culture of Shared Responsibility - Security Boulevard
How to Battle Cyber Security Burnout and Protect Your People | Entrepreneur
Insurance
Cyber Insurance Strategy Requires CISO-CFO Collaboration (darkreading.com)
UK Conservatives Say 'No' to Cyber Insurance Backstop (inforisktoday.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Play ransomware group stole 65,000 Swiss government files • The Register
Industry: Act Now To Secure the Solutions You Offer the Military | AFCEA International
Cloud/SaaS
EU’s use of Microsoft 365 found to breach data protection rules | TechCrunch
Guide: On-Prem is Dead. Have You Adjusted Your Web DLP Plan? (thehackernews.com)
How Not to Become the Target of the Next Microsoft Hack (darkreading.com)
Cloud Account Attacks Surged 16-Fold in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Mastering SANS Security Principles: A Deep Dive (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Cloud security vs. network security: What's the difference? | TechTarget
Encryption
Linux and Open Source
How to Ensure Open Source Packages Are Not Landmines (darkreading.com)
Magnet Goblin hackers use 1-day flaws to drop custom Linux malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Russian Hackers Are Weaponizing Stolen Microsoft Passwords (claimsjournal.com)
Overcoming the threat of account takeover fraud (securitybrief.co.nz)
LastPass suffers worldwide outage causing site 404 error - 9to5Mac
Social Media
Crypto phishers stole $47M last month, impersonators on X to blame (cointelegraph.com)
Meta sues “brazenly disloyal” former exec over stolen confidential docs | Ars Technica
TikTok Ban Raises Data Security, Control Questions (darkreading.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Your tech tools won’t save you from cyber threats | TechRadar
How enterprises can tackle risky cyber security behaviour and improve workforce resilience | ITPro
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Everything you need to know about the EU's Cyber Solidarity Act | ITPro
The New Hacker Playbook: Weaponizing the SEC’s Cyber Disclosure Rules | Woodruff Sawyer - JDSupra
Models, Frameworks and Standards
4 Security Tips From PCI DSS 4.0 Anyone Can Use (darkreading.com)
Mastering SANS Security Principles: A Deep Dive (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Backup and Recovery
Data Protection
EU’s use of Microsoft 365 found to breach data protection rules | TechCrunch
How do you lot feel about Pay or OK model, ICO asks Brits • The Register
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Half of firms struggling to hire cyber security experts (securitybrief.co.nz)
UK Council's Vision: Set High Standards in Cyber Security (govinfosecurity.com)
How to Battle Cyber Security Burnout and Protect Your People | Entrepreneur
Cyber security skills gap and boardroom blindness invite hacker havoc | TechRadar
Broke Cyber Pros Flock to Cyber Crime Side Hustles (darkreading.com)
How To Overcome The Machismo Problem In Cyber Security (forbes.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Nation State Actors
China
TikTok Ban Raises Data Security, Control Questions (darkreading.com)
Lithuania security services warn of China's espionage against the country (securityaffairs.com)
Chinese Cyber Crime: Discretion Is the Better Part of Valor (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Chinese spies want to steal IP by backdooring safe locks • The Register
Experts Say Chinese Safes Pose Risks to US National Security (inforisktoday.com)
Russia
Microsoft says Russian hackers stole source code after spying on its executives - The Verge
Microsoft says Russian hackers breached its systems, accessed source code (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft: Russians are using stolen information to breach company’s systems (therecord.media)
Microsoft says it hasn't been able to evict Russian state hackers | AP News
Kremlin accuses US of plotting election-day cyber attack • The Register
Major operation under way to identify source of Russian attack that 'jammed signals' on... - LBC
First-ever South Korean national detained for espionage in Russia (securityaffairs.com)
Alabama Under DDoS Cyber Attack by Russian-Backed Hacktivists (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Vulnerability Management
How to Streamline the Vulnerability Management Life Cycle - Security Boulevard
Researchers expose Microsoft SCCM misconfigs usable in cyber attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulnerability management, its impact and threat modeling methodologies (securityintelligence.com)
Vulnerabilities
Adobe Patches Critical Flaws in Enterprise Products - Security Week
Major CPU, Software Vendors Impacted by New GhostRace Attack - Security Week
Critical Fortinet flaw may impact 150,000 exposed devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fortinet Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA
SAP Patches Critical Command Injection Vulnerabilities - Security Week
Cisco addressed severe flaws in its Secure Client (securityaffairs.com)
5M WordPress Websites At Risk Amid LiteSpeed Plugin Flaw - Security Boulevard
New cyber crime crew Magnet Goblin caught exploiting Ivanti • The Register
Stealth Bomber: Atlassian Confluence Exploits Drop Web Shells In-Memory (darkreading.com)
Threat actors breached two crucial systems of the US CISA (securityaffairs.com)
Researchers found multiple flaws in ChatGPT plugins (securityaffairs.com)
Exploited Building Access System Vulnerability Patched 5 Years After Disclosure - Security Week
Tools and Controls
Independent Cyber Security Audits Are Powerful Tools for Boards (bloomberglaw.com)
NSA's Zero-Trust Guidelines Focus on Segmentation (darkreading.com)
Expert Cyber Security Strategies For Protecting Remote Businesses (forbes.com)
Guide: On-Prem is Dead. Have You Adjusted Your Web DLP Plan? (thehackernews.com)
Cyber Insurance Strategy Requires CISO-CFO Collaboration (darkreading.com)
How enterprises can tackle risky cyber security behaviour and improve workforce resilience | ITPro
Cloud security vs. network security: What's the difference? | TechTarget
Immutability: A boost to your security backup (betanews.com)
MDR Metrics that Matter – From Analysts to the Board of Directors | Binary Defense
How teams can improve incident recovery time to minimize damages - Help Net Security
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Finance sector facing huge amount of cyber attacks that could leave it on its knees | TechRadar
French state services hit by cyber attacks of 'unprecedented intensity' (france24.com)
Better Safe Than Sorry: Making Cyber Security a Priority | HealthLeaders Media
How Dangerous Is the Cyber Attack Risk to Transportation? (securityintelligence.com)
Pi Day: How Hackers Slice Through Security Solutions - Security Boulevard
78% of MSPs state cyber security is a prominent IT challenge | Security Magazine
No, 'Leave the World Behind' and 'Civil War' Aren’t Happening Before Your Eyes | WIRED
Maritime cyber security: threats and challenges - Port Technology International
What resources do small utilities need to defend against cyber attacks? | CyberScoop
10 free cyber security guides you might have missed - Help Net Security
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 January 2024
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 12 January 2024:
-Boardrooms on Notice: Cyber Security Oversight More Important Than Ever
-Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled in 2023
-Businesses Can’t Survive Without Their IT Systems – and They’re Under Attack More Than Ever
-Cyber Insecurity and Misinformation Top WEF Global Risk List
-Why Effective Cyber Security and Risk Management are Crucial for Business Growth
-The Cost of Dealing with a Cyber Attack Doubled Last Year
-Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim – Leaving Cyber Warfare Definition Unresolved
-Mandiant, SEC Lose Control of X Accounts Without 2FA
-If you Prepare, a Data Security Incident Should Not Cause an Existential Crisis
-82% of Companies Struggle to Manage Security Exposure, with 28,000 New Vulnerabilities Reported Last Year
-Cyber Security is the Number One Priority for the Financial Sector Again
-Cyber Crime Marketplaces Soar in 2024: All Threats Now Available ‘As-a-Service’
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
Boardrooms on Notice: Cyber Security Oversight More Important Than Ever
In 2023, the rise in security breaches and cyber attacks caused cyber security to transcend its usual confines and emerge as a critical boardroom concern, prompting executives to recognise the need for proactive engagement. The current landscape has necessitated executive decision-makers to proactively engage in cyber security, instead of just passively observing. It is no surprise that in a survey from KMPG of over 300 CEO’s, dealing with cyber risk was designated as the top priority for the foreseeable three to five years.
When a company faces a substantial fine or penalty from a breach, it serves two crucial purposes. Firstly, it sets a precedent for ensuring companies across the board understand the repercussions of lax cyber security measures and secondly, it pushes organisations towards proactive investment in robust cyber security frameworks. Many organisations are beginning to realise that the cost of a breach, both financial and reputational, far outweighs that of prevention. Furthermore, many frameworks are now placing the board as directly responsible.
Sources: [Lexology] [Security Brief]
Ransomware Incidents Reported to UK Financial Regulator Doubled in 2023
Ransomware reported to the UK financial regulator in 2023 doubled, and the impact is clear. In a survey of CISOs based in the UK, one-third confessed to paying ransomware groups millions in recent years in a bid to alleviate the impact of an attack. The minimum ransom paid by UK businesses across a five year period stood at around $250,000, the study found. Ransomware is the dominant threat that continues to plague organisations, and it is important that your organisation is doing all it can to prevent such an attack, and has plans in place to recover when such an attack happens.
Sources: [Data Breaches] [UK mortgage news] [The Hacker News]
Businesses Can’t Survive Without Their IT Systems – and They’re Under Attack More Than Ever
As organisations find themselves more and more reliant on digital technology than ever before, the impact of not having it becomes greater and greater. As reliance on these systems grows, the level of cyber threat grows as well. A recent report found 68% of those surveyed believed they would not survive more than a single day without their IT systems, up from 46% in 2017. The report found that 54% of organisations said they experienced some form of cyber attack last year, with ransomware cited as the most disruptive.
Source: [TechRadar]
Cyber Insecurity and Misinformation Top WEF Global Risk List
In the latest report by the World Economic Forum, misinformation and disinformation have emerged as the most severe global risk anticipated over the next two years, with the risk becoming more likely as elections in several economies take place this year. As artificial intelligence models become easier to use and more accessible to the general population, this will enable an explosion of false information and synthetic content such as cloned voices and fake websites.
Another top concern identified in the report is the risk of cyber attacks and cyber insecurities. Currently the production of AI technologies is highly concentrated; this creates a significant supply chain risk, as the reliance of one or two models could give rise to systemic cyber vulnerabilities, paralysing critical infrastructure.
Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]
Why Effective Cyber Security and Risk Management are Crucial for Business Growth
Technology has changed, enhanced and transformed how business is conducted. However, these new advancements such as cloud, IoT and AI have introduced a range of new cyber security risks. It is crucial for leaders to grasp the accompanying risks to ensure the safety of their organisations, customers and products. Given the inevitability of business risk, particularly cyber risk, leaders should focus on managing it by identifying mission-critical aspects of their organisation and then determining how best to protect them. The first step to a proactive approach to cyber security is to devise a robust and tailored cyber security strategy aligned to the organisation’s risk profile. This not only improves the safety and security of the organisation, but also the trust of its customers and products in an increasingly digital world.
Source: [World Economic Forum]
The Cost of Dealing with a Cyber Attack Doubled Last Year
New research by Dell claims that the cost of global cyber attacks reached a new high in 2023, topping out at $1.41 million per attack, up $660,000 from the previous year. It was found that almost half (48%) of UK based organisations reported suffering either a cyber attack or incident that prevented access to company data.
Over half of global respondents report that malicious links in spam or phishing emails, hacked devices, and stolen credentials are the most common entry points for cyber attacks.
Source: [TechRadar]
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim – Leaving Cyber Warfare Definition Unresolved
Merck’s long legal battle with its insurers over the damage caused by the infamous NotPetya attack has finally come to an end, with the Merck agreeing to settle with their insurer providers who had refused to pay $699 million of the $1.4 million that was claimed in damages.
The legal battle began when Merck, who did not have cyber insurance, had made a claim under its ‘all-risks’ coverage. In 2022, it was stated that the NotPetya attack “is not sufficiently linked to a military action or objective as it was a non-military cyber attack against an accounting software provider” and in May 2023, this decision was upheld, forcing the insurers to settle.
Source: [Security Week] [Dark Reading]
Mandiant, SEC Lose Control of X Accounts Without 2FA
While security teams are focused on preventing the gamut of different levels of cyber attack sophistication, it can be easy for even the sharpest teams to overlook the simple stuff. This was recently seen when Google’s cyber security operation, Mandiant, temporarily lost control of its account on X (formerly known as Twitter) due to not having two-factor authentication (2FA). A separate high-profile incident also occurred this week, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) account on X was hijacked to post a fake announcement about bitcoin, raising its value by 5%.
In March of 2023, X changed the way multi-factor authentication (MFA) worked, so that only premium subscribers have access to it. The two high-profile attacks, which were due to accounts not having MFA, show that cyber criminals are taking advantage of these changes. These incidents serve as a clear reminder that organisations must prioritise even the most fundamental security practices, such as MFA, to protect their digital assets.
Further, the attack on the SEC has opened them to criticism from firms such as SolarWinds who the SEC had previously reprimanded for cyber security failures.
Source: [Dark Reading]
If you Prepare, a Data Security Incident Should Not Cause an Existential Crisis
A question to ask is why, in the event of a data security incident, is there an overwhelming feeling that the company is doomed? Yet when there are other issues, such as internal investigations, the feeling is not as strong. For a lot of companies, these cyber incidents are the first time that their cyber response plan (if they have one at all) is enacted and it is this lack of preparation that causes such a feeling. Companies looking to increase their cyber resilience should look to have and regularly test a cyber incident response plan; you do not want to be in the position of having to learn your plan and deal with a cyber incident at the same time.
Source: [Help Net Security]
82% of Companies Struggle to Manage Security Exposure, with 28,000 New Vulnerabilities Reported Last Year
A substantial 82% of companies have reported a widening gap between security exposures and their ability to manage them according to a recent report. For many, the issue is caused by a lack of proper remediation solutions; this formed part of the reason why 87% of surveyed organisations reported plans to enhance vulnerability and exposure remediation within the next year. The need increases when considering last year there were more than 28,000 new vulnerabilities; that is the equivalent of nearly 80 every day.
Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [SecurityWeek]
Cyber Security is the Number One Priority for the Financial Sector Again
In Softcat's annual Business Tech Priorities Report, the financial sector's tech investments for the coming year have been unveiled. Notably, cyber security remains the top priority for the sector with 55% prioritising cyber security before anything else, reflecting the critical need to protect against the escalating threat landscape. It's important to understand that cyber security is not merely an IT problem; it is a business imperative. As consumers increasingly embrace digital banking, the impact of digitalisation on the financial sector is evident. With cyber incidents on the rise, investment in cyber security, including zero-trust security and AI threat hunting, is imperative for safeguarding not only data but the entire business.
Sources: [The Fintech Times] [Islamic Finance News]
Cyber Crime Marketplaces Soar in 2024: All Threats Now Available ‘As-a-Service’
In 2024, cyber crime marketplaces are expected to surge even more, transitioning every cyber threat further into the “as-a-service” model. The term “as-a-service” refers to the provision of specific functionalities or tools as a service, typically offered on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. This allows malicious actors with limited technical skills to launch sophisticated attacks. This trend was already being spotted at the end of 2023 as a report found that 73% of all internet traffic is currently composed of malicious bots and related fraud farm activities. This highlights the need for organisations to have accurate threat intelligence and analysis to understand the digital terrain ahead of these continued and expanding “as-a-service” threats.
Source: [Security Boulevard]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
If you prepare, a data security incident will not cause an existential crisis - Help Net Security
IFN – Cyber Security: Not an IT problem, but a business one (islamicfinancenews.com)
The cost of dealing with a cyber attack doubled last year | TechRadar
Board Priorities 2024: Cyber preparedness & resilience - Lexology
Boardrooms on notice: Cyber security oversight more important than ever (securitybrief.co.nz)
Why cyber security and risk management are crucial for growth | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
How to Plan Your Security Budget Without Compromising Your Security Stack - Security Boulevard
The expanding scope of CISO duties in 2024 - Help Net Security
War or Cost of Doing Business? Cyber Insurers Hashing Out Exclusions (darkreading.com)
The Reality Of Cyber In 2024: What Dangers Do Businesses Face? - Minutehack
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Global legal risks in cyber security investigations (iapp.org)
The power of basics in 2024's cyber security strategies - Help Net Security
Here's how to build a more inclusive cyber security strategy | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim, Leaving Cyberwar Definition Unresolved - Security Week
How the Merck Case Shapes the Future of Cyber Insurance (databreachtoday.co.uk)
British Library ransomware cyber attack ‘set to cost £7million’ (yahoo.com)
There is a Ransomware Armageddon Coming for Us All (thehackernews.com)
Ransomware victims targeted in follow-on extortion attacks • The Register
Swatting: The new normal in ransomware extortion tactics • The Register
Another top US mortgage firm hit by major cyber attack | TechRadar
Capital Health attack claimed by LockBit ransomware, risk of data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)
Wiper malware found in analysis of Iran-linked attacks on Albanian institutions (therecord.media)
Babuk ransomware decryptor updated with Tortilla support • The Register
"Security researcher" offers to delete data stolen by ransomware attackers - Help Net Security
Pikabot Malware Surfaces As Qakbot Replacement for Black Basta Attacks (darkreading.com)
Finland warns of Akira ransomware wiping NAS and tape backup devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware payment ban: Wrong idea at the wrong time • The Register
Ransomware Victims
In $1.4B coverage over cyber attack, Merck settles with insurers (fiercepharma.com)
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim, Leaving Cyberwar Definition Unresolved - Security Week
British Library says final cost of cyber attack is ‘not confirmed’ | Evening Standard
Ransomware attackers threaten to send SWAT teams to patients of hacked hospitals - Neowin
Mortgage firm loanDepot cyber attack impacts IT systems, payment portal (bleepingcomputer.com)
Toronto Zoo: Ransomware attack had no impact on animal wellbeing (bleepingcomputer.com)
LockBit ransomware gang claims the attack on Capital Health (securityaffairs.com)
Fidelity National Financial says hackers stole data on 1.3 million customers | TechCrunch
HMG Healthcare Says Data Breach Impacts 40 Facilities - Security Week
Full reopening of Isle of Man dentist delayed by 'serious cyber attack' | iomtoday.co.im
Ransomware wrecks Paraguay’s largest telco (databreaches.net)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Uncovering the hidden dangers of email-based attacks - Help Net Security
Framework discloses data breach after accountant gets phished (bleepingcomputer.com)
Female cyber pros group targeted in phishing scam | IT Business
Artificial Intelligence
Adapting Security to Protect AI/ML Systems (darkreading.com)
NIST identifies AI cyber security vulnerabilities (iapp.org)
NIST: No Silver Bullet Against Adversarial Machine Learning Attacks - Security Week
Why Cyber Security Is Foundational To AI Safety (forbes.com)
FTC offers $25,000 prize for detecting AI-enabled voice cloning (bleepingcomputer.com)
The growing challenge of cyber risk in the age of synthetic media - Help Net Security
Securing AI systems against evasion, poisoning, and abuse - Help Net Security
Staying One Step Ahead of Hackers When It Comes to AI | WIRED
New AI tools spawn fears of greater 2024 election threats, survey finds - Nextgov/FCW
AI discovers that not every fingerprint is unique (techxplore.com)
VW AI move is greeted with caution as risks still real says expert (emergingrisks.co.uk)
2FA/MFA
Mandiant, SEC Lose Control of X Accounts Without 2FA (darkreading.com)
Security firm Mandiant says it didn’t have 2FA enabled on its hacked Twitter account • Graham Cluley
Malware
A new macOS backdoor could let hackers hijack your device without you knowing | TechRadar
Stealthy AsyncRAT malware attacks targets US infrastructure for 11 months (bleepingcomputer.com)
North Korea Debuts 'SpectralBlur' Malware Amid macOS Onslaught (darkreading.com)
SpectralBlur: New macOS Backdoor Threat from North Korean Hackers (thehackernews.com)
Threat Group Using Rare Data Transfer Tactic in New RemcosRAT Campaign (darkreading.com)
Stuxnet: The malware that cost a billion dollars to develop? • Graham Cluley
Wiper malware found in analysis of Iran-linked attacks on Albanian institutions (therecord.media)
Linux devices are under attack by a never-before-seen worm | Ars Technica
Pikabot Malware Surfaces As Qakbot Replacement for Black Basta Attacks (darkreading.com)
‘Yet another Mirai-based botnet’ is spreading an illicit cryptominer (therecord.media)
Atomic Stealer Gets an Upgrade - Targeting Mac Users with Encrypted Payload (thehackernews.com)
Pro-Iranian Hacker Group Targeting Albania with No-Justice Wiper Malware (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
CISA warns agencies of fourth flaw used in Triangulation spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Android's January 2024 Security Update Patches 58 Vulnerabilities - Security Week
Internet of Things – IoT
Coming Soon to a Network Near You: More Shadow IoT - Security Week
The Connection Between Alaska Airlines, Blown Out Windows, and IoT Security - Security Boulevard
Surveyed drivers prefer low-tech cars over data-sharing ones • The Register
VW AI move is greeted with caution as risks still real says expert (emergingrisks.co.uk)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Law Firm Orrick Reveals Extensive Data Breach, Over Half a Million Affected - Security Week
Framework discloses data breach after accountant gets phished (bleepingcomputer.com)
2.2 billion records compromised by security incidents In Dec 2023 (itsecuritywire.com)
Texas-based care provider HMG Healthcare says hackers stole unencrypted patient data | TechCrunch
Midwives clinic takes nine months to deliver news of data breach (bitdefender.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cyber Crime Marketplaces Soar in 2024: All Threats Now Available ‘As-a-Service’ - Security Boulevard
Cyber Attacks Drain $1.84bn from Web3 in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
BreachForums admin jailed again for using a VPN, unmonitored PC (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nigerian Gets 10 Years For Laundering Scam Funds - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Move Over, APTs: Common Cyber Criminals Begin Critical Infrastructure Targeting (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
What Is Cryptojacking, and Why Is Higher Education Being Targeted? | EdTech Magazine
X users fed up with constant stream of malicious crypto ads (bleepingcomputer.com)
Iranian crypto exchange Bit24.cash leaks user passports and IDs (securityaffairs.com)
Netgear, Hyundai latest X accounts hacked to push crypto drainers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency community lost over $100 million last week (coinpaper.com)
‘Yet another Mirai-based botnet’ is spreading an illicit cryptominer (therecord.media)
Child Abusers Are Getting Better at Using Crypto to Cover Their Tracks | WIRED
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insurance
How the Merck Case Shapes the Future of Cyber Insurance (databreachtoday.co.uk)
War or Cost of Doing Business? Cyber Insurers Hashing Out Exclusions (darkreading.com)
2024 Cyber Insurance Requirements Predictions (trendmicro.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
SaaS cyber crime levels are expected to rise this year - Digital Journal
Microsoft Lets Cloud Users Keep Personal Data Within Europe to Ease Privacy Fears - Security Week
Why Public Links Expose Your SaaS Attack Surface (thehackernews.com)
Identity and Access Management
Linux and Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Mandiant's X Account Was Hacked Using Brute-Force Attack (thehackernews.com)
Security firm Mandiant says it didn’t have 2FA enabled on its hacked Twitter account • Graham Cluley
What is credential stuffing and how do you keep your accounts safe from it (engadget.com)
Social Media
Mandiant's X Account Was Hacked Using Brute-Force Attack (thehackernews.com)
Security firm Mandiant says it didn’t have 2FA enabled on its hacked Twitter account • Graham Cluley
X users fed up with constant stream of malicious crypto ads (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fake Recruiters Defraud Facebook Users via Remote Work Offers (darkreading.com)
Sexual assault in the metaverse investigated by British police • Graham Cluley
Netgear, Hyundai latest X accounts hacked to push crypto drainers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Serious New Facebook Warning For Apple iPhone and Google Android Users (forbes.com)
Why You Shouldn't Opt In to Facebook's Link History Feature (makeuseof.com)
Coinbase Offers SEC Security Assistance After X Account Hack (beincrypto.com)
Malvertising
X users fed up with constant stream of malicious crypto ads (bleepingcomputer.com)
Serious New Facebook Warning For Apple iPhone and Google Android Users (forbes.com)
Why You Shouldn't Opt In to Facebook's Link History Feature (makeuseof.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
US DOD’s CMMC 2.0 rules lift burdens on MSPs, manufacturers | CSO Online
SEC Speech on Cyber Security Disclosure | Paul Hastings LLP - JDSupra
What does the EU’s Cyber Security Regulation aim to achieve? (siliconrepublic.com)
SEC Had a Fraught Cyber Record Long Before X Account Was Hacked (bloomberglaw.com)
SolarWinds Hits Back at SEC After Agency’s X Account Was Hacked (bloomberglaw.com)
Mandiant, SEC Lose Control of X Accounts Without 2FA (darkreading.com)
Cyber Criminal Whistleblowers will Get Smarter - Security Boulevard
Ofcom poaches Big Tech staff in push to enforce new internet curbs (ft.com)
Cyber Security | UK Regulatory Outlook January 2024 - Osborne Clarke | Osborne Clarke
Models, Frameworks and Standards
NIST identifies AI cyber security vulnerabilities (iapp.org)
NIST: No Silver Bullet Against Adversarial Machine Learning Attacks - Security Week
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
BreachForums admin jailed again for using a VPN, unmonitored PC (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nigerian Gets 10 Years For Laundering Scam Funds - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity
Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
War or Cost of Doing Business? Cyber Insurers Hashing Out Exclusions (darkreading.com)
Merck settles with insurers regarding a $1.4 billion claim (securityaffairs.com)
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim, Leaving Cyberwar Definition Unresolved - Security Week
How the Merck Case Shapes the Future of Cyber Insurance (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Nation State Actors
China
AI is helping US spies catch stealthy Chinese hacking ops, NSA official says | CyberScoop
Bribed US Navy sailor sold secrets to China for just $14k • The Register
China Claims It Caught a Foreign Consultant Spying for UK’s MI6 | TIME
Volexity Catches Chinese Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Zero-Days - Security Week
China-Linked Volt Typhoon Hackers Possibly Targeting Australian, UK Governments - Security Week
Russia
Merck settles with insurers regarding a $1.4 billion claim (securityaffairs.com)
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim, Leaving Cyberwar Definition Unresolved - Security Week
Threat Group Using Rare Data Transfer Tactic in New RemcosRAT Campaign (darkreading.com)
Military briefing: Russia has the upper hand in electronic warfare with Ukraine (ft.com)
Russia's Sandworm blamed for Kyivstar telecom cyber attack • The Register
Ukraine is on the front lines of global cyber security - Atlantic Council
Iran
Wiper malware found in analysis of Iran-linked attacks on Albanian institutions (therecord.media)
Who Is Behind Pro-Ukrainian Cyber Attacks on Iran? (darkreading.com)
Pro-Iranian Hacker Group Targeting Albania with No-Justice Wiper Malware (thehackernews.com)
Iranian crypto exchange Bit24.cash leaks user passports and IDs (securityaffairs.com)
Investigation on Stuxnet malware triggers doubt | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
North Korea
North Korea Debuts 'SpectralBlur' Malware Amid macOS Onslaught (darkreading.com)
South Korea's technological superiority challenged by North Korea's cyber attacks - The Korea Times
Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence
Sea Turtle Cyber Espionage Campaign Targets Dutch IT and Telecom Companies (thehackernews.com)
Turkish Hackers Target Microsoft SQL Servers in Americas, Europe - Security Week
Young Britons exposed to online radicalisation following Hamas attack - BBC News
Who Is Behind Pro-Ukrainian Cyber Attacks on Iran? (darkreading.com)
Hackers Dox Lawmakers Behind North Carolina Age Verification (dailydot.com)
CISA warns agencies of fourth flaw used in Triangulation spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerability Handling in 2023: 28,000 New CVEs, 84 New CNAs - Security Week
Researchers develop technique to prevent software bugs - Help Net Security
Best Practices for Vulnerability Scanning: When and How Often to Perform - Security Boulevard
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft January 2024 Patch Tuesday fixes 49 flaws, 12 RCE bugs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Patch Tuesday for January 2024 fixed 2 critical flaws (securityaffairs.com)
Patch Now: Critical Windows Kerberos Bug Bypasses Microsoft Security (darkreading.com)
Ivanti warns of Connect Secure zero-days exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Unity Connection Product - Security Week
KyberSlash attacks put quantum encryption projects at risk (bleepingcomputer.com)
QNAP Patches High-Severity Flaws in QTS, Video Station, QuMagie, Netatalk Products - Security Week
CISA Adds Six Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog | CISA
Attacks aimed at vulnerable Apache RocketMQ servers underway | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Fortinet Releases Security Updates for FortiOS and FortiProxy | CISA
Alert: New Vulnerabilities Discovered in QNAP and Kyocera Device Manager (thehackernews.com)
Android's January 2024 Security Update Patches 58 Vulnerabilities - Security Week
SAP's First Patches of 2024 Resolve Critical Vulnerabilities - Security Week
Volexity Catches Chinese Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Zero-Days - Security Week
CISA Flags 6 Vulnerabilities - Apple, Apache, Adobe, D-Link, Joomla Under Attack (thehackernews.com)
CISA Urges Patching of Exploited SharePoint Server Vulnerability - Security Week
Over 150k WordPress sites at takeover risk via vulnerable plugin (bleepingcomputer.com)
SQLi vulnerability in Cacti could lead to RCE (CVE-2023-51448) - Help Net Security
Tools and Controls
Why Red Teams Can't Answer Defenders' Most Important Questions (darkreading.com)
Continuity in Chaos: Applying Time-Tested Incident Response to Modern Cyber Security - Security Week
Why Public Links Expose Your SaaS Attack Surface (thehackernews.com)
APIs are increasingly becoming attractive targets - Help Net Security
Whodunit in Cyber Space: The Rocky Road from Attribution to Accountability • Stimson Center
Insufficient Internal Network Monitoring in Cyber Security - Security Boulevard
Threat Actors Increasingly Abusing GitHub for Malicious Purposes (thehackernews.com)
How to Plan Your Security Budget Without Compromising Your Security Stack - Security Boulevard
Embracing offensive cyber security tactics for defence against dynamic threats - Help Net Security
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Global legal risks in cyber security investigations (iapp.org)
Here's how to build a more inclusive cyber security strategy | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
2024 Cyber Insurance Requirements Predictions (trendmicro.com)
Exposed Secrets are Everywhere. Here's How to Tackle Them (thehackernews.com)
Other News
SEC Had a Fraught Cyber Record Long Before X Account Was Hacked (bloomberglaw.com)
SolarWinds Hits Back at SEC After Agency’s X Account Was Hacked (bloomberglaw.com)
Cyber Focused FBI Agents Deploy to Embassies Globally (darkreading.com)
A cyber attack hit the Beirut International Airport (securityaffairs.com)
Cyber attacks on Island ‘are mostly from Russia’ - Jersey Evening Post
Whodunit in Cyber Space: The Rocky Road from Attribution to Accountability • Stimson Center
Hackers Dox Lawmakers Behind North Carolina Age Verification (dailydot.com)
Threat Actors Increasingly Abusing GitHub for Malicious Purposes (thehackernews.com)
It’s 2024. Time to Have Attribution Standards in Cyber Space - OODA Loop
Protecting Critical Infrastructure Means Getting Back to Basics (darkreading.com)
6 of the biggest threats banks faced in 2023 | American Banker
US to hospitals: Meet security standards or no federal money • The Register
Hospitals Must Treat Patient Data and Health With Equal Care (darkreading.com)
Cyber Security Risk Mitigation for Law Firms in 2024 | US Legal Support - JDSupra
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 May 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 May 2023:
-79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence
-61% of Business Leadership Overlook the Role of Cyber Security as a Business Enabler and as being Key to Business Success
-Risk Managers Warn Cyber Insurance Could Become ‘Unviable Product’
-Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Don’t Give up on Cyber Security
-AI Has Been Dubbed a 'Nuclear' Threat to Cyber Security, but It Can Also Be Used for Defence
-Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows
-Majority of US, UK CISOs Unable to Protect Company 'Secrets'
-Company Executives Can’t Afford to Ignore Cyber Security Anymore
-BEC Campaign via Israel Spotted Targeting Multinational Companies
-CISOs Worried About Personal Liability for Breaches
-UK, US and International Allies Uncover Russian Snake Malware Network in 50+ Countries
-Plug-and-Play Microsoft 365 Phishing Tool 'Democratizes' Attack Campaigns
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence
In a recent report, 79% of security pros say they make decisions without adversary insights “at least the majority of the time.” Why aren’t companies effectively leveraging threat intelligence? And does the C-Suite know this is going on?
Threat intelligence helps organisations stay informed about the latest cyber threats and vulnerabilities. By gathering and analysing information about potential attacks, threat intelligence can provide organisations with valuable insights into the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by cyber criminals.
Given the deep value provided by threat intelligence, why aren’t more cyber pros taking advantage of it?
61% of Business Leadership Overlook the Role of Cyber Security as a Business Enabler and as being Key to Business Success
A recent report found only 39% of respondents think their company's leadership has a sound understanding of cyber security's role as a business enabler. Cyber security can be a huge business enabler; executive leaders need to think of cyber security in terms of the value it can deliver at a more strategic level.
Risk Managers Warn Cyber Insurance Could Become ‘Unviable Product’
The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), an umbrella body representing 22 trade associations, said the cyber insurance market is “evolving in isolation from the industries it serves”.
It highlighted a move by Lloyd’s of London, the specialist insurance market and hub for cyber insurance, demanding that standard cyber policies have an exemption for big state-backed attacks.
“Without a more collaborative approach to cyber balancing the risk appetite of the insurance market with the coverage requirements of the corporate buyers, there is a risk that cyber insurance becomes an unviable product for many organisations,” FERMA said in a statement shared with the Financial Times.
The intervention is the strongest yet by the business lobby over the controversial exemption and wider concerns about cyber insurance.
https://www.ft.com/content/401629cc-e68a-41a4-8d50-e7c0d3e27835
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Don’t Give up on Cyber Security
In today’s increasingly hostile environment, every enterprise, big or small, should be concerned about cyber security and have access to protection from hackers, scammers, phishers, and all the rest of the host of bad actors who seem to be sprouting up around the world.
Yet time and again, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are left out in the cold, an unaddressed market segment that finds real protection either too expensive or far too complex to adopt. Thus, cyber security becomes an “afterthought” or “add when we can” kind of service that leaves SMBs far more vulnerable than the corporate giants — just reading the news every day shows even they aren’t immune to ransomware, intrusions, and data theft. If you haven’t already, start thinking about security now.
AI Has Been Dubbed a 'Nuclear' Threat to Cyber Security, but It Can Also Be Used for Defence
Hackers using ChatGPT are faster and more sophisticated than before, and cyber security analysts who don’t have access to similar tools can very quickly find themselves outgunned and outsmarted by these AI-assisted attackers. However, corporations are stumbling to figure out governance around AI, and while they do so, their employees are clearly defying rules and possibly jeopardising company operations. According to a study of 1.6 million workers, 3.1% input confidential company information into ChatGPT. Although the number seems small, 11% of users' questions include private information. This is a fatal flaw for corporate use considering how hackers can manipulate the system into giving them previously hidden information. In another study, it was found that 80% of security professionals used AI, with 46% of these giving specialised capabilities as a reason.
Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows
In three out of four cyber attacks, the hijackers succeeded in encrypting victims’ data, cyber security provider Sophos said in its newly released State of Ransomware 2023 report.
The rate of data encryption amounted to the highest from ransomware since Sophos first issued the report in 2020. Overall, roughly two-thirds of the 3,000 cyber security/IT leaders’ organisations were infected by a ransomware attack in the first quarter of 2023, or the same percentage as last year.
Much advice has been doled out by cyber security providers and law enforcement urging organisations to not pay a ransom. According to Sophos’ survey, the data shows that when organisations paid a ransom to decrypt their data, they ended up doubling their recovery costs. On average, those organisations paying ransoms for decryption forked out $750,000 in recovery costs versus $375,000 for organisations that used backups to recover their data.
Moreover, paying the ransom usually meant longer recovery times, with 45% of those organisations that used backups recovering within a week, compared to 39% of those that paid the ransom.
Majority of US, UK CISOs Unable to Protect Company 'Secrets'
A recent study found 75% of organisations have experienced a data leak involving company secrets, including API keys, usernames, passwords, and encryption keys, in the past. It was found that about 52% of chief information and security officers (CISOs) in the US and UK organisations are unable to fully secure their company secrets. The study showed that a huge chunk of the IT sector realises the danger of exposed secrets. Seventy-five percent said that a secret leak has happened in their organisation in the past, with 60% acknowledging it caused serious issues for the company, employees, or both. The report has pointed out that even though secrets management practice across the US and the UK has seen some maturity, it still needs to go a long way.
Company Executives Can’t Afford to Ignore Cyber Security Anymore
In a recent survey, when asked about the Board and C-Suite‘s understanding of cyber security across the organisation, only 36% of respondents believe that it is considered important only in terms of compliance and regulatory demands, while 17% said it is not seen as a business priority. The disconnect between business and security goals appears to have caused at least one negative consequence to 89% of respondents’ organisations, with 26% also reporting it resulted in an increased number of successful cyber attacks at their company. On the misalignment of cyber security goals, respondents believed it contributed to delays in investments (35%), delays in strategic decision making (34%), and unnecessary increases in spending (27%).
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/10/cybersecurity-business-goals-alignment/
BEC Campaign via Israel Spotted Targeting Multinational Companies
An Israel-based threat group was discovered carrying out a business email compromise (BEC) campaign primarily targeting large and multinational enterprises. The group has conducted 350 BEC campaigns since February 2021, with email attacks targeting employees from 61 countries across six continents. The group operate through two personas — a CEO and an external attorney and spoofed email addresses using real domains.
CISOs Worried About Personal Liability for Breaches
Over three-fifths (62%) of global CISOs are concerned about being held personally liable for successful cyber attacks that occur on their watch, and a similar share would not join an organisation that fails to offer insurance to protect them, according to Proofpoint annual ‘Voice of the CISO’ survey for 2023. The security vendor polled 1600 CISOs from organisations of 200 employees or more across different industries in 16 countries to compile the report.
It revealed that CISOs in sectors with high volumes of sensitive data and/or heavy regulation such as retail (69%), financial services (65%) and manufacturing (65%) are most likely to demand insurance coverage.
Such concerns only add to the mental load on corporate IT security bosses. A combination of high-stress working environments, shrinking budgets and personal liability could be harming CISOs’ quality of life. Some 60% told Proofpoint they’ve experienced burnout in the past 12 months.
CISOs are most likely to experience burnout in the retail (72%) and IT, technology and telecoms (66%) industries.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cisos-worried-personal-liability/
UK, US and International Allies Uncover Russian Snake Malware Network in 50+ Countries
The UK NCSC along with the US National Security Agency (NSA) and various international partner agencies have discovered infrastructure connected with the sophisticated Russian cyber-espionage tool Snake in over 50 countries worldwide. Snake operations have been attributed to a specific unit within Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Center 16.
Cyber criminals reportedly used Snake to retrieve and remove confidential documents related to international relations and diplomatic communications.
According to an advisory published by the agencies on Tuesday, the FSB targeted various industries, including education, small businesses, media, local government, finance, manufacturing and telecommunications. The Snake malware is installed on external infrastructure nodes for further exploitation.
According to the NSA Russian government actors have used this tool for years for intelligence collection and it is hoped that the technical details shared in the advisory will help many organisations find and shut down the malware globally.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nsa-uncovers-russian-snake-malware/
Plug-and-Play Microsoft 365 Phishing Tool 'Democratizes' Attack Campaigns
A new phishing-as-a-service tool called "Greatness" is being used in attacks targeting manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and other sectors.
Researchers at Cisco Talos detailed their findings on "Greatness," a one-stop-shop for all of a cyber criminal's phishing needs. With Greatness, anyone with even rudimentary technical chops can craft compelling Microsoft 365-based phishing lures, then carry out man-in-the-middle attacks that steal authentication credentials — even in the face of multifactor authentication (MFA) — and much more.
The tool has been in circulation since at least mid-2022 and has been used in attacks against enterprises in manufacturing, healthcare, and technology, among other sectors. Half of the targets thus far have been concentrated in the US, with further attacks occurring around Western Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa.
https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/plug-and-play-microsoft-365-phishing-tool-democratizes-attacks
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Make them pay: Hackers devise new tactics to ensure ransomware payment | CSO Online
Ransomware gangs display ruthless extortion tactics in April | TechTarget
Our appetite for data increases the risk of being held to ransom (thetimes.co.uk)
Paying Cyber Hijackers’ Ransoms Doubles Cost of Recovery, Sophos Study Shows - MSSP Alert
Refined methodologies of ransomware attacks - Help Net Security
Ranking ransomware: The gangs, the malware and the ever-present risks | CyberScoop
Ransomware Encryption Rates Reach New Heights - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
UK ‘increasingly concerned’ ransomware victims are keeping incidents secret (therecord.media)
Royal ransomware gang quickly expands reign | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Legitimate Software Abuse: A Disturbing Trend in Ransomware Attacks (darkreading.com)
Ransomware attack confirmed at Rochester Public Schools, FBI alerted - Bring Me The News
Constellation Struck By Ransomware Attack, ALPHV Lays Claim (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
New Ransomware Strain 'CACTUS' Exploits VPN Flaws to Infiltrate Networks (thehackernews.com)
New Akira Ransomware Operation Hits Corporate Networks | Black Hat Ethical Hacking
Babuk code used by 9 ransomware gangs to encrypt VMWare ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
$1.1M Paid to Resolve Ransomware Attack on California County - SecurityWeek
Western Digital store offline due to March breach - Help Net Security
Western Digital Confirms Ransomware Group Stole Customer Information - SecurityWeek
Former Conti members are behind latest Royal ransomware hacking spree, report finds (axios.com)
Hackers Contacted Dragos CEO’s Son, Wife in Extortion Attempt - Bloomberg
Multiple Ransomware Groups Adapt Babuk Code to Target ESXi VMs (darkreading.com)
Australian software giant won’t say if customers affected by hack | TechCrunch
Multinational tech firm ABB hit by Black Basta ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Gmail gets blue verification checks to protect against spoofing and phishing | ZDNET
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
2FA/MFA
Malware
Chrome users, stay alert: Malware may be just one click away - gHacks Tech News
Microsoft issues optional fix for Secure Boot zero-day used by malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
56,000+ cloud-based apps at risk of malware exfiltration - Help Net Security
Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware • The Register
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Fake system update drops Aurora stealer via Invalid Printer loader (malwarebytes.com)
Stealthier version of Linux BPFDoor malware spotted in the wild (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Millions of mobile phones come pre-infected with malware • The Register
Mobile hacking and spyware – understanding the risks - TechHQ
Google Announces New Privacy, Safety, and Security Features Across Its Services (thehackernews.com)
Google Improves Android Security With New APIs - SecurityWeek
New Android FluHorse malware steals your passwords, 2FA codes (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Android updates fix kernel bug exploited in spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet- Security Affairs
RapperBot DDoS malware adds cryptojacking as new revenue stream (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
FBI seizes 13 more domains linked to DDoS-for-hire services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet- Security Affairs
RapperBot DDoS malware adds cryptojacking as new revenue stream (bleepingcomputer.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Security researcher finds trove of Capita data exposed online | TechCrunch
In a new hacking crime wave, more personal data is being held hostage (cnbc.com)
Western Digital says hackers stole customer data in March cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Leak of MSI UEFI signing keys stokes fears of “doomsday” supply chain attack | Ars Technica
Boot Guard Keys From MSI Hack Posted, Many PCs Vulnerable | Tom's Hardware(tomshardware.com)
1 Million Impacted by Data Breach at NextGen Healthcare - SecurityWeek
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
Food distribution giant Sysco warns of data breach after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
North Korean Hackers Stole 830K Data From Seoul's Top Hospital (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Brightly warns of SchoolDude data breach exposing credentials (bleepingcomputer.com)
Simplify data hack cost the firm almost £7m - Property Industry Eye
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
In a new hacking crime wave, more personal data is being held hostage (cnbc.com)
The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyber attack-for-Hire Services | WIRED
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Former Ubiquiti Employee Who Posed as Hacker Sentenced to Prison - SecurityWeek
UK cops score another legal win in EncroChat spying case • The Register
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Human Error Drives Most Cyber Incidents. Could AI Help? (hbr.org)
Overlooking These 4 Critical Measures Expose Your Company to Cyber Attacks | Entrepreneur
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
UK’s new fraud strategy too weak to tackle soaring crime, say experts | Financial Times (ft.com)
Your voice could be your biggest vulnerability - Help Net Security
QR codes used in fake parking tickets, surveys to steal your money (bleepingcomputer.com)
Deepfakes
Insurance
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Security researcher finds trove of Capita data exposed online | TechCrunch
Cyber hack to cost UK outsourcer Capita up to $25 mln | Reuters
Leak of MSI UEFI signing keys stokes fears of “doomsday” supply chain attack | Ars Technica
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
56,000+ cloud-based apps at risk of malware exfiltration - Help Net Security
How to reduce risk with cloud attack surface management | TechTarget
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Hybrid/Remote Working
Attack Surface Management
Identity and Access Management
Top 3 trends shaping the future of cyber security and IAM - Help Net Security
Review your on-prem ADCS infrastructure before attackers do it for you | CSO Online
Why the FTX Collapse Was an Identity Problem (darkreading.com)
Asset Management
CISOs confront mounting obstacles in tracking cyber assets - Help Net Security
How Attack Surface Management Supports Continuous Threat Exposure Management (thehackernews.com)
Encryption
API
Open Source
India bans open source messaging apps on security grounds • The Register
Stealthier version of Linux BPFDoor malware spotted in the wild (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
83% of Americans’ Passwords Can Be Hacked in Less Than a Second, Study Shows (thedailybeast.com)
Top 5 Password Cracking Techniques Used by Hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Social Media
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
TikTok tracked UK journalist via her cat's account - BBC News
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK’s new fraud strategy too weak to tackle soaring crime, say experts | Financial Times (ft.com)
EU parliament report calls for tighter regulation of spyware | Surveillance | The Guardian
India bans open source messaging apps on security grounds • The Register
PEGA committee calls for EU level regulation of spyware • The Register
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Europe’s Moral Crusader Lays Down the Law on Encryption | WIRED
Scanning Plans On Europe's CSAM May Violate International Law (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Risk managers warn cyber insurance could become ‘unviable product’ | Financial Times (ft.com)
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence (securityintelligence.com)
Company executives can't afford to ignore cyber security anymore - Help Net Security
Majority of US, UK CISOs unable to protect company 'secrets': Report | CSO Online
Small- and medium-sized businesses: don’t give up on cyber security | CSO Online
(ISC)² Calls for Global Cyber security Standards, Collaboration, Frameworks - MSSP Alert
Organisations Reliant on Social Media For Threat Intelligence - TechRound
Recognizing Cyberthreat Trends For Effective Defence (forbes.com)
Digital trust can make or break an organisation - Help Net Security
Why more transparency around cyber attacks is good for everyone - NCSC
CISOs face mounting pressures, expectations post-pandemic | TechTarget
CISOs' confidence in post-pandemic security landscape fades - Help Net Security
Overlooking These 4 Critical Measures Expose Your Company to Cyber Attacks | Entrepreneur
NCSC and ICO Dispel Incident Reporting Myths - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
(ISC)² Calls for Global Cyber security Standards, Collaboration, Frameworks - MSSP Alert
ENISA leans into EU clouds with draft cyber security label • The Register
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
FBI seizes 13 more domains linked to DDoS-for-hire services (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing Ring Bust, Spanish Police Have Arrested 40 People (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
UK cops score another legal win in EncroChat spying case • The Register
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
The (Security) Cost of Too Much Data Privacy (darkreading.com)
Twitter admits 'security incident' broke Circle privacy • The Register
TikTok tracked UK journalist via her cat's account - BBC News
Artificial Intelligence
Top US cyber official warns AI may be the 'most powerful weapon of our time' | CyberScoop
Amazon Is Being Flooded With Books Entirely Written by AI (futurism.com)
Your voice could be your biggest vulnerability - Help Net Security
The security and privacy risks of large language models - Help Net Security
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
EU parliament report calls for tighter regulation of spyware | Surveillance | The Guardian
China targets foreign consulting companies in anti-spying raids | China | The Guardian
Mobile hacking and spyware – understanding the risks - TechHQ
New Android updates fix kernel bug exploited in spyware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
CERT-UA Warns of SmokeLoader and RoarBAT Malware Attacks Against Ukraine (thehackernews.com)
PEGA committee calls for EU level regulation of spyware • The Register
FBI-led Operation Medusa kills Russian FSB malware network • The Register
How one of Vladimir Putin’s most prized hacking units got pwned by the FBI | Ars Technica
Nation State Actors
Microsoft warns Iran increasing its cyber-enabled influence operations | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
China labels USA ‘Empire of hacking’ citing old WikiLeaks • The Register
CERT-UA Warns of SmokeLoader and RoarBAT Malware Attacks Against Ukraine (thehackernews.com)
LinkedIn shuts service in China, lays off employees | Fortune
Microsoft: Iranian hacking groups join Papercut attack spree (bleepingcomputer.com)
FBI-led Operation Medusa kills Russian FSB malware network • The Register
China targets foreign consulting companies in anti-spying raids | China | The Guardian
Beijing raids consultancy firm Capvision, promises more • The Register
SideWinder Strikes Victims in Pakistan, Turkey in Multiphase Polymorphic Attack (darkreading.com)
North Korean Hackers Stole 830K Data From Seoul's Top Hospital (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Exploit Network Providers and Devices | CISA
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft's May Patch Tuesday Fixes 38 Flaws, Including Active Zero-Day Bug (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft warns of two bugs under active exploit • The Register
Light May Patch Tuesday will weigh heavily on Windows admins | TechTarget
Fortinet fixed two severe issues in FortiADC and FortiOS-Security Affairs
New PaperCut RCE exploit created that bypasses existing detections (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft issues optional fix for Secure Boot zero-day used by malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Adobe Patches 14 Vulnerabilities in Substance 3D Painter - SecurityWeek
Severe Ruckus RCE Flaws Utilized By Fresh DDoS Botnet Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
CyberGhost VPN patches command injection vulnerability | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
A Linux NetFilter kernel flaw allows escalating privileges to 'root'-Security Affairs
SAP Patches Critical Vulnerabilities With May 2023 Security Updates - SecurityWeek
Fortinet warns of a spike of the activity linked to AndoryuBot botnet-Security Affairs
Tools and Controls
Risk managers warn cyber insurance could become ‘unviable product’ | Financial Times (ft.com)
79% of Cyber Pros Make Decisions Without Threat Intelligence (securityintelligence.com)
Human Error Drives Most Cyber Incidents. Could AI Help? (hbr.org)
Identifying Compromised Data Can Be a Logistical Nightmare (darkreading.com)
Organisations Reliant on Social Media For Threat Intelligence - TechRound
Recognizing Cyberthreat Trends For Effective Defence (forbes.com)
Digital trust can make or break an organisation - Help Net Security
Prevent attackers from using legitimate tools against you - Help Net Security
How to implement principle of least privilege in Azure AD | TechTarget
What is Digital Forensics? Tools, Types, Phases & History (cybersecuritynews.com)
Microsoft enforces number matching to fight MFA fatigue attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
AI Will Take Many Cyber security Jobs, But It's Not a Complete Disaster | PCMag
Google Broadens Dark Web Monitoring To Track All Gmail Users (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
5 SBOM tools to start securing the software supply chain | TechTarget
The Industrywide Consequences of Making Security Products Inaccessible (darkreading.com)
Top 3 trends shaping the future of cyber security and IAM - Help Net Security
Other News
The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyber attack-for-Hire Services | WIRED
Why Should You Take IT Security Seriously? - IT Security Guru
To enable ethical hackers, a law reform is needed - Help Net Security
How datacentre operators can fend off cyber attacks | Computer Weekly
'Windows for Gamers' Rolls Dice With Your Security (vice.com)
Risk of cyber attack is main Eurovision worry, says BBC executive | Eurovision 2023 | The Guardian
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 February 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 February 2023:
-Business Leaders Need a Hands-on Approach to Stop Cyber Crime, Says Spy Chief
-Rising ‘Firebrick Ostrich’ BEC Group Launches Industrial Scale Cyber Attacks
-The Corporate World is Losing its Grip on Cyber Risk
-Microsoft Reveals Over 100 Threat Actors are Deploying Ransomware in Attacks
-Greater Incident Complexity, a Shift in How Threat Actors Use Stolen Data Will Drive the Cyber Threat Landscape in 2023
-The Threat from Within: 71% of Business Leaders Surveyed Think Next Cyber Security Breach Will come from the Inside
-98% of Organisations Have a Supply Chain Relationship That Has Been Breached
-New Survey Reveals 40% of Companies Experienced a Data Leak in the Past Year
-Russian Hackers Launch Cyber Attack on Germany in Leopard Tank Retaliation
-Financial Services Targeted in 28% of UK Cyber Attacks Last Year
-Phishing Attacks are Getting Scarily Sophisticated. Here’s what to Watch Out For
-City of London on High Alert After Ransomware Attack
-Ransomware Conversations: Why the CFO is Pivotal to Discussing and Preparing for Risk
-JD Sports Warns of 10 Million Customers Put at Risk in Cyber Attack
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
Business Leaders Need a Hands-on Approach to Stop Cyber Crime, Says Spy Chief
Business leaders must not see cyber crime as “just a technical issue” that can be left up to IT departments, said Lindy Cameron, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Ms Cameron later commented that “In the world of cyber security, the new year has brought with it some sadly familiar themes - a continuation of cyber incidents affecting organisations large and small as well as the British public”.
Along with this, came the urge for business leaders to step up their efforts in combating cyber crime by taking an active interest and educating themselves on the subject. When commenting upon board members’ level of understanding, Ms Cameron said “I’d also encourage board members to develop a basic understanding of cyber security, which can help when seeking assurances from IT teams about the resilience of an organisation - in a similar way that leaders have a certain level of understanding of finance to assess financial health”.
Rising ‘Firebrick Ostrich’ BEC Group Launches Industrial Scale Cyber Attacks
Business email compromise (BEC) has become one of the most popular methods of financially motivated hacking. And over the past year, one group in particular has demonstrated just how quick, easy, and lucrative it really is.
"Firebrick Ostrich" is a threat actor that's been performing BEC at a near-industrial scale. Since April 2021, the group has carried out more than 350 BEC campaigns, impersonating 151 organisations and utilising 212 malicious domains in the process. This volume of attacks is made possible by the group's wholesale gunslinging approach. Firebrick Ostrich doesn't discriminate much when it comes to targets, or gather exceptional intelligence in order to craft the perfect phishing bait. It throws darts at a wall because, evidently, when it comes to BEC at scale, that's enough.
BEC is attractive to bad actors due to the lower barriers to entry than malware, less risk, faster scaling opportunities, and way more profit potential to higher echelons than other methods of attack. These factors may explain why such attacks are absolutely the emerging trend, potentially even leaving even ransomware in the dust. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of these groups out there.
The Corporate World is Losing its Grip on Cyber Risk
Lloyd's of London’s insurance market prides itself on being able to put a price on anything, from Tina Turner’s legs or Bruce Springsteen’s vocal cords, to the risk that a bounty hunter might claim the reward from Cutty Sark Whisky in the 1970s for capturing the Loch Ness monster.
But from the end of March, there will be something it won’t price: systemic cyber risk, or the type of major, catastrophic disruption caused by state-backed cyber warfare. In one sense, this isn’t surprising. Insurance policies typically exclude acts of war. Russia’s NotPetya attack on Ukraine in 2017 showed how state-backed cyber assaults can surpass traditional definitions of armed conflict and overspill their sovereign target to hit global businesses. It caused an estimated $10bn in damages and years of wrangling between companies like pharma group Merck and snack maker Mondelez and their insurers.
But the move is prompting broader questions about the growing pains in this corner of the insurance world. “Cyber insurance isn’t working anywhere at the moment as a public good for society,” says Ciaran Martin, former head of the UK National Cyber Security Centre. “It has a huge role to play in improving defences in a market-based economy and it has been a huge disappointment in that sense so far.”
The Lloyd’s move is designed, say insurers, to clarify rather than restrict coverage. Whether it succeeds is another matter: this is a murky world, where cyber crime groups operate with impunity in certain jurisdictions.
https://www.ft.com/content/78bfdf29-1e20-4c12-a348-06e98d5ae906
Microsoft Reveals Over 100 Threat Actors are Deploying Ransomware in Attacks
Microsoft revealed this week that its security teams are tracking over 100 threat actors deploying ransomware during attacks. In all, the company says it monitors over 50 unique ransomware families, with some of the most prominent ransomware payloads in recent campaigns including Lockbit, BlackCat (aka ALPHV), Play, Vice Society, Black Basta, and Royal.
Microsoft said that defence strategies should focus less on payloads themselves but more on the chain of activities that lead to their deployment, since ransomware gangs are still targeting servers and devices not yet patched against common or recently addressed vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, while new ransomware families launch all the time, most threat actors utilise the same tactics when breaching and spreading through networks, making the effort of detecting such behaviour even more helpful in thwarting their attacks.
Attackers are increasingly relying on tactics beyond phishing to conduct their attacks, with threat actors for example capitalising on recently patched Exchange Server vulnerabilities to hack vulnerable servers and deploy Cuba and Play ransomware.
Ransomware Conversations: Why the CFO is Pivotal to Discussing and Preparing for Risk
With the amount of cyber attacks in all industries, organisations are beginning to grasp the significance of cyber risk and how it is integral to protecting and maintaining an efficient business. In fact, the first half of 2022 alone saw 236.1 million cases of ransomware.
Whilst the expectation for responsibility has typically fallen on Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are just as vital in managing cyber risk, which is now inherently also business risk. The CFO plays an important part in determining whether cyber security incidents will become material and affect the business more seriously. Their insight is critical across many areas which include ransomware, cyber insurance, regulatory compliance and budget management.
Greater Incident Complexity, a Shift in How Threat Actors Use Stolen Data Will Drive the Cyber Threat Landscape in 2023
Insurance provider Beazley released their Cyber Services Snapshot Report which claims the cyber security landscape will be influenced by greater complexity and the way threat actors use stolen data. The report also found that as a category, fraudulent instruction experienced a growth as a cause of loss in 2022, up 13% year-over year.
In response to vulnerabilities such as fraudulent instructions, the report suggests organisations must get smarter about educating users to spot things such as spoofed emails or domain names. The report also cautions organisations to watch for social engineering, spear phishing, bypassing of multi-factor authentication (MFA), targeting of managed service providers (MSP) and the compromise of cloud environments as areas of vulnerability.
The Threat from Within: 71% of Business Leaders Surveyed Think Next Cyber Security Breach Will Come from the Inside
A survey conducted by IT provider EisnerAmper found that 71% of business executives worry about accidental internal staff error as one of the top threats facing their organisation and 23% of these worried about malicious intent by an employee. In comparison, 75% of business executives had concerns about external hackers. The survey also asked about current safety measures, with 51% responding that they were “somewhat prepared”. Despite this, only 50% of respondents reported conducting regular cyber security training.
98% of Organisations Have a Supply Chain Relationship That Has Been Breached
A report from SecurityScorecard found that 98% of organisations have a relationship with at least one third party that has experienced a breach in the last two years, while more than 50% have an indirect relationship with more than 200 fourth parties that have been breached. Of course, this is keeping in mind that not all organisations disclose or even know they have been breached.
New Survey Reveals 40% of Companies Experienced a Data Leak in the Past Year
Software provider SysKit has published a report on the effects of digital transformation on IT administrators and the current governance landscape. The report found that 40% of organisations experienced a data leak in the previous year. A data leak can have severe consequences on an organisation's efficiency and the impact can lead to large fines, downtime, and loss of business-critical certifications and customers.
In addition, the Survey found that the biggest challenge for IT administrators was a lack of understanding from superiors, huge workloads and misalignment of IT and business strategies.
Russian Hackers Launch Cyber Attack on Germany in Leopard Tank Retaliation
The websites of key German administrations, including companies and airports, have been targeted by cyber attacks, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) stated.
The BSI commented they had been informed of DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks “currently in progress against targets in Germany". This was followed by the statement that “Individual targets in the financial sector” and federal government sites were also attacked, with some websites becoming temporarily unavailable. It is believed that this is due to the approved deployment of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, with Russian hacker site Killnet taking credit.
Financial Services Targeted in 28% of UK Cyber Attacks Last Year
Based on data from security provider Imperva, security researchers have identified that over a quarter (28%) of all cyber attacks in the UK hit the financial services and insurance (FSI) industry in the last 12 months. The data also found that Application Programme Interface (API) attacks, malicious automated software and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks were the most challenging for the industry. In addition, the data found that roughly 40% of all account takeover attempts were targeted at the FSI industry.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/quarter-cyber-attacks-uk-financial/
Phishing Attacks are Getting Scarily Sophisticated. Here’s What to Watch Out For
Hackers are going to great lengths, including mimicking real people and creating and updating fake social media profiles, to trick victims into clicking phishing links and handing over usernames and passwords. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns that these phishing attacks are targeting a range of sectors.
The NCSC has also released mitigation advice to help organisations and individuals protect themselves online. The mitigation advice included the use of strong passwords, separate to other accounts; enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA); and applying the latest security updates.
City of London on High Alert After Ransomware Attack
A suspected ransomware attack on a key supplier of trading software to the City of London this week appears to have disrupted activity in the derivatives market. The company impacted, Ion Cleared Derivatives, is investigating. It is reported that 42 clients were impacted by the attack.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/city-of-london-high-alert/
JD Sports Warns of 10 Million Customers Put at Risk in Cyber Attack
Sportswear retailer JD Sports said it was the victim of a cyber attack that exposed the data of 10 million customers, in the latest spate of hacks on UK companies.
JD Sports explained that the attack involved unauthorised access to a system that contained “the name, billing address, delivery address, phone number, order details and the final four digits of payment cards”. The data related to customers’ orders made between November 2018 and October 2020, with outdoor gear companies Millets and Blacks also impacted. A full review with cyber security and external specialists is underway.
https://www.ft.com/content/afe00f2f-afcd-478f-9e4d-1cf9c943fa79
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
City Of London Traders Hit By Russia-Linked Cyber Attack (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
New Nevada Ransomware targets Windows and VMware ESXi systems (bleepingcomputer.com)
US puts a $10m bounty on Hive while Russia shuts down access • The Register
Copycat Criminals mimicking Lockbit gang in northern Europe security affairs
Most criminal cryptocurrency is funneled through just 5 exchanges | Ars Technica
Cyber Attack Hits Derivatives Unit of Trading Software Firm ION - Bloomberg
Regulators weigh in on ION attack as LockBit takes credit • The Register
New Mimic Ransomware Abuses Windows Search Engine (cyber securitynews.com)
Stratford University discloses ransomware attack — but which ransomware attack? (databreaches.net)
Schools don't pay, but ransomware attacks still increasing | TechTarget
Poser Hackers Impersonate LockBit in SMB Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
Risk & Repeat: The FBI's Hive ransomware takedown | TechTarget
Nevada Ransomware Has Released Upgraded Locker security affairs
LockBit Green ransomware variant borrows code from Conti one security affairs
Arnold Clark customer data stolen in attack claimed by Play ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware attacks on public sector persist in January | TechTarget
Ransomware attack on data firm ION could take days to fix -sources | Reuters
APT groups use ransomware TTPs as cover for intelligence gathering and sabotage | CSO Online
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Phishing attacks are getting scarily sophisticated. Here's what to watch out for | ZDNET
Rising ‘Firebrick Ostrich’ BEC Group Launches Industrial-Scale Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
Porsche halts NFT launch, phishing sites fill the void (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishers Trick Microsoft Into Granting Them 'Verified' Cloud Partner Status (darkreading.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
2FA/MFA
Malware
How Can Disrupting DNS Communications Thwart a Malware Attack? (darkreading.com)
Hackers use new IceBreaker malware to breach gaming companies (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Threat: Stealthy HeadCrab Malware Compromised Over 1,200 Redis Servers (thehackernews.com)
PoS malware can block contactless payments to steal credit cards (bleepingcomputer.com)
HeadCrab malware targets Redis to mine cryptocurrency | TechTarget
Malvertising attacks are distributing .NET malware loaders • The Register
Hackers weaponize Microsoft Visual Studio add-ins to push malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Google Fi data breach let hackers carry out SIM swap attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Over 1,800 Android phishing forms for sale on cyber crime market (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile phone fraud: 'They stole £22,500 using my banking app' - BBC News
Botnets
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Killnet Attackers DDoS US and Dutch Hospitals - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New DDoS-as-a-Service platform used in recent attacks on hospitals (bleepingcomputer.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
IoT, connected devices biggest contributors to expanding application attack surface | CSO Online
European IoT Manufacturers Lag in Vulnerability Disclosure (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Anker finally comes clean about its Eufy security cameras - The Verge
Data Breaches/Leaks
JD Sports warns data of 10mn customers put at risk in cyber attack | Financial Times (ft.com)
New Survey Reveals 40% of Companies Experienced a Data Leak in the Past Year (darkreading.com)
Planet Ice hacked! 240,000 skating fans' details stolen (bitdefender.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cyber crime job ads on the dark web pay up to $20k per month (bleepingcomputer.com)
Most criminal cryptocurrency is funneled through just 5 exchanges | Ars Technica
Cyber crime Ecosystem Spawns Lucrative Underground Gig Economy (darkreading.com)
Cyber crime job ads on the dark web pay up to $20k per month (bleepingcomputer.com)
Developers, Attackers Top List of Most In Demand Dark Web Jobs, Kaspersky Reports - MSSP Alert
Report on hackers' salaries shows poor wages for developers • The Register
6 Examples of the Evolution of a Scam Site (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Most criminal cryptocurrency is funneled through just 5 exchanges | Ars Technica
FBI: North Korea’s Lazarus Group behind $100m crypto attack • The Register
Oxford student jailed for £2m crypto theft after PhD blunder | News | The Times
Porsche halts NFT launch, phishing sites fill the void (bleepingcomputer.com)
Crypto theft: North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.7b in 2022 - BBC News
HeadCrab malware targets Redis to mine cryptocurrency | TechTarget
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Insider attacks becoming more frequent, more difficult to detect - Help Net Security
Are Your Employees Thinking Critically About Their Online Behaviours? (darkreading.com)
The next cyber threat may come from within - Help Net Security
Insider threats: The cyber risks lurking in the dark (betanews.com)
Former Ubiquiti dev pleads guilty to data theft, extortion • The Register
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
FBI: North Korea’s Lazarus Group behind $100m crypto attack • The Register
Oxford student jailed for £2m crypto theft after PhD blunder | News | The Times
Porsche halts NFT launch, phishing sites fill the void (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian Millionaire on Trial in Hack, Insider Trade Scheme - SecurityWeek
6 Examples of the Evolution of a Scam Site (darkreading.com)
Mobile phone fraud: 'They stole £22,500 using my banking app' - BBC News
Crypto theft: North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.7b in 2022 - BBC News
Romance fraud losses rose 91% during the pandemic, claims UK's TSB bank | Tripwire
Romance Fraudsters Have Stolen £65m From Brits Since 2020 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Impersonation Attacks
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Dark Web
There’s a Wild Scramble for Control of the Dark Web Taking Place in Russia (vice.com)
Cyber crime job ads on the dark web pay up to $20k per month (bleepingcomputer.com)
Developers, Attackers Top List of Most In Demand Dark Web Jobs, Kaspersky Reports - MSSP Alert
Report on hackers' salaries shows poor wages for developers • The Register
Supply Chain and Third Parties
98% of Firms Have a Supply Chain Relationship That Has Been Breached: Analysis - SecurityWeek
Cyber attack Impact “Catastrophic” for Third Parties, New Study Finds MSSPs at Risk? - MSSP Alert
New “MITRE ATT&CK-like” framework outlines software supply chain attack TTPs | CSO Online
CISA to Open Supply Chain Risk Management Office (darkreading.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Misconfiguration and vulnerabilities biggest risks in cloud security: Report | CSO Online
Hybrid cloud storage security challenges - Help Net Security
Short-staffed SOCs struggle to gain visibility into cloud activities - Help Net Security
Containers
Encryption
Serious Security: The Samba logon bug caused by outdated crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Encryption Explained: At Rest, In Transit & End-To-End Encryption | Splunk
Cyber Insights 2023 | Quantum Computing and the Coming Cryptopocalypse - SecurityWeek
API
The emergence of trinity attacks on APIs - Help Net Security
API management (APIM): What It Is and Where It’s Going security affairs
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Bitwarden Password Manager users are being targeted by phishing ads on Google- gHacks Tech News
KeePass disputes vulnerability allowing stealthy password theft (bleepingcomputer.com)
Social Media
Inside TikTok’s proposal to address US national security concerns | CyberScoop
Facebook Bug Allows 2FA Bypass Via Instagram (darkreading.com)
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Regulators weigh in on ION attack as LockBit takes credit • The Register
New UN cyber crime convention has a long way to go in a tight timeframe | CSO Online
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Business leaders need hands-on approach to stop cyber crime, says spy chief (telegraph.co.uk)
New Survey Reveals 40% of Companies Experienced a Data Leak in the Past Year (darkreading.com)
70% of CIOs anticipate their involvement in cyber security to increase - Help Net Security
Cyber security Budgets Are Going Up. So Why Aren't Breaches Going Down? (thehackernews.com)
The corporate world is losing its grip on cyber risk | Financial Times (ft.com)
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
The Effect of Cyber security Layoffs on Cyber security Recruitment - SecurityWeek
Economic headwinds could deepen the cyber security skills shortage | CSO Online
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
7 Ways Hive Ransomware Gang Caused Chaos Before FBI Hacked It (gizmodo.com)
US puts a $10m bounty on Hive while Russia shuts down access • The Register
Hacker accused of having stolen personal data of all Austrians security affairs
Risk & Repeat: The FBI's Hive ransomware takedown | TechTarget
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
On Data Privacy Day, Organisations Fail Data Privacy Expectations (darkreading.com)
Hacker accused of having stolen personal data of all Austrians security affairs
Enterprises Need to Do More to Assure Consumers About Privacy (darkreading.com)
Artificial Intelligence
Foreign states already using ChatGPT maliciously, UK IT leaders believe | CSO Online
OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-written text (bleepingcomputer.com)
Reality check: Is ChatGPT really the next big cyber security threat? | CyberScoop
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Iranian APT Leaks Data From Saudi Arabia Government Under New Persona - SecurityWeek
Ukraine Links Media Centre Attack to Russian Intelligence (govinfosecurity.com)
Russia-Linked APT29 Uses New Malware in Embassy Attacks - SecurityWeek
Russia's Sandworm APT Launches Swarm of Wiper Attacks in Ukraine (darkreading.com)
Russia-linked Hackers Launch DDoS Attacks on Germany and US. Hospitals, Threaten Canada - MSSP Alert
Latvia says Russian hackers tried to phish its Ministry of Defence (bitdefender.com)
Inside Killnet: Pro-Russia Hacktivist Group's Support and Influence Grows (darkreading.com)
Crypto theft: North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.7b in 2022 - BBC News
North Korean hackers stole research data in two-month-long breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
APT groups use ransomware TTPs as cover for intelligence gathering and sabotage | CSO Online
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Russian Nuisance Hacking Group KillNet Targets Germany (govinfosecurity.com)
Russian hackers launch cyber attack on Germany in Leopard retaliation | Euronews
Ukraine Links Media Centre Attack to Russian Intelligence (govinfosecurity.com)
A Link to News Site Meduza Can (Technically) Land You in Russian Prison | WIRED
Russia-Linked APT29 Uses New Malware in Embassy Attacks - SecurityWeek
Russia's Sandworm APT Launches Swarm of Wiper Attacks in Ukraine (darkreading.com)
Russia-linked Hackers Launch DDoS Attacks on Germany and US. Hospitals, Threaten Canada - MSSP Alert
Latvia says Russian hackers tried to phish its Ministry of Defence (bitdefender.com)
Killnet Attackers DDoS US and Dutch Hospitals - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
IT Army of Ukraine gained access to 1.5GB archive from Gazprom security affairs
There’s a Wild Scramble for Control of the Dark Web Taking Place in Russia (vice.com)
Inside Killnet: Pro-Russia Hacktivist Group's Support and Influence Grows (darkreading.com)
Nation State Actors – China
Google deletes 50,000 pro-China fake-news vids and blogs • The Register
TikTok CEO to testify before US. Congress over security concerns | Reuters
Nation State Actors – North Korea
FBI: North Korea’s Lazarus Group behind $100m crypto attack • The Register
Crypto theft: North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.7b in 2022 - BBC News
North Korean hackers stole research data in two-month-long breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – Iran
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerability Management
The future of vulnerability management and patch compliance - Help Net Security
What is the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System)? (techtarget.com)
Vulnerabilities
Researchers to release VMware vRealize Log RCE exploit, patch now (bleepingcomputer.com)
Patch management is crucial to protect Exchange servers, Microsoft warns security affairs
QNAP Fixes Critical Vulnerability in NAS Devices with Latest Security Updates (thehackernews.com)
Over 29,000 QNAP devices unpatched against new critical flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
Firmware Flaws Could Spell 'Lights Out' for Servers (darkreading.com)
Why you might not be done with your January Microsoft security patches | CSO Online
HPE, NetApp warn of critical open-source bug | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
High-severity bug in F5 BIG-IP can lead to code execution and DoS security affairs
Cisco fixes bug allowing backdoor persistence between reboots (bleepingcomputer.com)
CISA Alert: Oracle E-Business Suite and SugarCRM Vulnerabilities Under Attack (thehackernews.com)
Threat activity increasing around Fortinet VPN vulnerability | TechTarget
Remote code execution exploit chain available for VMware vRealize Log Insight | CSO Online
Tools and Controls
Other News
We can't rely on goodwill to protect our critical infrastructure - Help Net Security
Playing Military Sim War Thunder May Get You Classed as a National Security Risk
Cyber attacks in space: How safe are our satellites? | Metro News
Massive Microsoft 365 outage caused by WAN router IP change (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 November 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 November 2022:
-Amid Legal Fallout, Cyber Insurers Redefine State-Sponsored Attacks as Act of War
-Supply Chains Need Shoring Up Against Cyber Attacks, C-Suite Executives Say
-Is Your Board Prepared for New Cyber Security Regulations?
-Unwanted Emails Steadily Creeping into Inboxes
-People Are Still Using the Dumbest Passwords Available
-Zero-Trust Initiatives Stall, as Cyber Attack Costs Rocket to $1M per Incident
-44% of Financial Institutions Believe Their Own IT Teams Are the Main Risk to Cloud Security
-MFA Fatigue Attacks Are Putting Your Organisation at Risk
-Cyber Security Training Boosts Risk Posture, Research Finds
-MI5 Chief: UK will have to tackle Russian Aggression ‘for Years to Come’
-Offboarding Processes Pose Security Risks as Job Turnover Increases: Report
-Do Companies Need Cyber Insurance?
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
Amid Legal Fallout, Cyber Insurers Redefine State-Sponsored Attacks as Act of War
As carriers rewrite their act-of-war exclusions following the NotPetya settlement between Mondelez and Zurich, organisations should read their cyber insurance policies carefully to see what is still covered.
The consequences from NotPetya, which the US government said was caused by a Russian cyber attack on Ukraine in 2017, continue to be felt as cyber insurers modify coverage exclusions, expanding the definition of an "act of war." Indeed, the 5-year-old cyber attack appears to be turning the cyber insurance market on its head.
Mondelez International, parent of such popular brands as Cadbury, Oreo, Ritz, and Triscuit, was hit hard by NotPetya, with factories and production disrupted. It took days for the company's staff to regain control of its computer systems. The company filed a claim with its property and casualty insurer, Zurich American, for $100 million in losses. After initially approving a fraction of the claim — $10 million — Zurich declined to pay, stating the attack was an act of war and thus excluded from the coverage. Mondelez filed a lawsuit.
Late last month Mondelez and Zurich American reportedly agreed to the original $100 million claim, but that wasn't until after Merck won its $1.4 billion lawsuit against Ace American Insurance Company in January 2022 for its NotPetya-related losses. Merck's claims also were against its property and casualty policy, not a cyber insurance policy.
Back in 2017, cyber insurance policies were still nascent, and so many large corporations filed claims for damages related to NotPetya — the scourge that caused an estimated $10 billion in damage worldwide — against corporate property and casualty policies.
What's Changed? The significance of these settlements illustrates an ongoing maturation of the cyber insurance market, says Forrester Research.
Until 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber insurance policies were sold in a fashion akin to traditional home or auto policies, with little concern for a company's cyber security profile, the tools it had in place to defend its networks and data, or its general cyber hygiene.
Once a large number of ransomware attacks occurred that built off of the lax cyber security many organisations demonstrated, insurance carriers began tightening the requirements for obtaining such policies.
Is Your Board Prepared For New Cyber Security Regulations?
Boards are now paying attention to the need to participate in cyber security oversight. Not only are the consequences sparking concern, but the new regulations are upping the ante and changing the game.
Boards have a particularly important role to ensure appropriate management of cyber risk as part of their fiduciary and oversight role. As cyber threats increase and companies worldwide bolster their cyber security budgets, the regulatory community, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is advancing new requirements that companies will need to know about as they reinforce their cyber strategy.
Most organisations focus on cyber protection rather than cyber resilience, and that could be a mistake. Resiliency is more than just protection; it’s a plan for recovery and business continuation. Being resilient means that you’ve done as much as you can to protect and detect a cyber incident, and you have also done as much as you can to make sure you can continue to operate when an incident occurs. A company who invests only in protection is not managing the risk associated with getting up and running again in the event of a cyber incident.
Research indicates that most board members believe it is not a matter of if, but when, their company will experience a cyber event. The ultimate goal of a cyber-resilient organisation would be zero disruption from a cyber breach. That makes the focus on resilience more important.
In March 2022, the SEC issued a proposed rule titled Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure. In it, the SEC describes its intention to require public companies to disclose whether their boards have members with cyber security expertise: “Cyber security is already among the top priorities of many boards of directors and cyber security incidents and other risks are considered one of the largest threats to companies. Accordingly, investors may find disclosure of whether any board members have cyber security expertise to be important as they consider their investment in the registrant as well as their votes on the election of directors of the registrant.”
The SEC will soon require companies to disclose their cyber security governance capabilities, including the board’s oversight of cyber risk, a description of management’s role in assessing and managing cyber risks, the relevant expertise of such management, and management’s role in implementing the registrant’s cyber security policies, procedures, and strategies. Specifically, where pertinent to board oversight, registrants will be required to disclose:
whether the entire board, a specific board member, or a board committee is responsible for the oversight of cyber risks,
the processes by which the board is informed about cyber risks, and the frequency of its discussions on this topic,
whether and how the board or specified board committee considers cyber risks as part of its business strategy, risk management, and financial oversight.
https://hbr.org/2022/11/is-your-board-prepared-for-new-cybersecurity-regulations
Unwanted Emails Steadily Creeping into Inboxes
A research from cloud security provider Hornetsecurity has revealed that 40.5% of work emails are unwanted. The Cyber Security Report 2023, which analysed more than 25 billion work emails, also reveals significant changes to the nature of cyber attacks in 2022 – indicating the constant, growing threats to email security, and need for caution in digital workplace communications.
Phishing remains the most common style of email attack, representing 39.6% of detected threats. Threat actors used the following file types sent via email to deliver payloads: Archive files (Zip, 7z, etc.) sent via email make up 28% of threats, down slightly from last year’s 33.6%, with HTML files increasing from 15.3% to 21%, and DOC(X) from 4.8% to 12.7%.
This year’s cyber security report shows the steady creep of threats into inboxes around the world. The rise in unwanted emails, now found to be nearly 41%, is putting email users and businesses at significant risk.
HornetSecurity’s analysis identified both the enduring risk and changing landscape of ransomware attacks – highlighting the need for businesses and their employees to be more vigilant than ever.
New cyber security trends and techniques for organisations to watch out for were also tracked. Since Microsoft disabled macros settings in Office 365, there has been a significant increase in HTML smuggling attacks using embedded LNK or ZIP files to deliver malware. Microsoft 365 makes it easy to share documents, and end users often overlook the ramifications of how files are shared, as well as the security implications. Hornetsecurity found 25% of respondents were either unsure or assumed that Microsoft 365 was immune to ransomware threats.
For these attackers, every industry is a target. Companies must therefore ensure comprehensive security awareness training while implementing next-generation preventative measures to ward off threats.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/11/14/email-security-threats/
People Are Still Using the Dumbest Passwords Available
If you were thinking that most people would have learned by now not to use “password” as the password for their sensitive systems, then you would be giving too much credit to the general scrolling public.
Cyber security researchers from Cybernews and password manager company NordPass both independently reported this week on data surrounding the most commonly-used passwords. Trying to discern the frequently used words, phrases, and numbers among the general public wouldn’t be simple if it weren’t for the troves of leaked passwords being sold on the dark web.
Cybernews said it based its data on a list of 56 million breached or leaked passwords in 2022 found via databases in darknet and clearnet hacker forums. Some of the most-used passwords were exactly what you expect, easy-to-remember junk passwords for company accounts, including “123456,” “root,” and “guest” all looking pretty in the top three.
NordPass, on the other hand, listed its top passwords by country and the supposed gender of the user. In their case, “password” sat in the number one spot for most-used password throughout the globe. Some countries had very specific passwords that were commonly used, such as “liverpool” being the number 4 most-used password in the UK despite it being 197 in the world. The number 2 most-used password for Brazil accounts is “Brasil” while in Germany, number 5 is “hallo.”
NordPass said the list of passwords was built by a team of independent researchers who compiled 3TB of data from listings on the dark web, including some data that was leaked in data breaches that occurred in 2022. The company noted that some data might be from late 2021, though the passwords were listed on the dark web in the new year.
https://gizmodo.com/passwords-hacker-best-passwords-cybersecurity-1849792818
Zero-Trust Initiatives Stall, as Cyber Attack Costs Rocket to $1M per Incident
Researchers find current data protection strategies are failing to get the job done, and IT leaders are concerned, while a lack of qualified IT security talent hampers cyber-defence initiatives.
Organisations are struggling with mounting data losses, increased downtime, and rising recovery costs due to cyber attacks — to the tune of $1.06 million in costs per incident. Meanwhile, IT security teams are stalled on getting defences up to speed.
That's according to the 2022 Dell Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) survey of 1,000 IT decision-makers across 15 countries and 14 industries, which found that organisations that experienced disruption have also suffered an average of 2TB data loss and 19 hours of downtime.
Most respondents (67%) said they lack confidence that their existing data protection measures are sufficient to cope with malware and ransomware threats. A full 63% said they are not very confident that all business-critical data can be reliably recovered in the event of a destructive cyber attack.
Their fears seem founded: Nearly half of respondents (48%) experienced a cyber attack in the past 12 months that prevented access to their data (a 23% increase from 2021) — and that's a trend that will likely continue.
The growth and increased distribution of data across edge, core data centre and multiple public cloud environments are making it exceedingly difficult for IT admins to protect their data.
On the protection front, most organisations are falling behind; for instance, 91% are aware of or planning to deploy a zero-trust architecture, but only 12% are fully deployed.
And it's not just advanced defence that's lacking: Keegan points out that 69% of respondents stated they simply cannot meet their backup windows to be prepared for a ransomware attack.
https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/zero-trust-initiatives-stall-cyberattack-costs-1m-per-incident
44% of Financial Institutions Believe Their Own IT Teams Are the Main Risk to Cloud Security
Netwrix, a cyber security vendor, today announced additional findings for the financial and banking sector from its global 2022 Cloud Security Report.
Compared to other industries surveyed, financial institutions are much more concerned about users who have legitimate access to their cloud infrastructure. Indeed, 44% of respondents in this sector say their own IT staff poses the biggest risk to data security in the cloud and 47% worry about contractors and partners, compared to 30% and 36% respectively in other verticals surveyed.
Financial organisations experience accidental data leakage more often than companies in other verticals: 32% of them reported this type of security incident within the last 12 months, compared to the average of 25%. This is a good reason for them to be concerned about users who might unintentionally expose sensitive information. To address this threat, organisations need to implement a zero-standing privilege approach in which elevated access rights are granted only when they are needed and only for as long as needed. Cloud misconfigurations are another common reason for accidental data leakage. Therefore, security teams must continually monitor the integrity of their cloud configurations, ideally with a dedicated solution that automates the process.
All sectors say phishing is the most common type of attack they experience. However, 91% of financial institutions say they can spot phishing within minutes or hours, compared to 82% of respondents in other verticals.
Even though mature financial organisations detect phishing quickly, it is still crucial for them to keep educating their personnel on this threat because attacks are becoming more sophisticated. To increase the likelihood of a user clicking a malicious link, attackers are crafting custom spear phishing messages that are directed at the person responsible for a certain task in the organisation and that appear to come from an authority figure. Regular staff training, along with continuous activity monitoring, will help reduce the risk of infiltration.
MFA Fatigue Attacks Are Putting Your Organisation at Risk
The rapid advancement of technology in all industries has led to the threat of ever-increasing cyber attacks that target businesses, governments, and individuals alike. A common threat targeting businesses is MFA Fatigue attacks—a technique where a cyber criminal attempts to gain access to a corporate network by bombarding a user with MFA prompts until they finally accept one.
MFA refers to multi-factor authentication, a layered end-user verification strategy to secure data and applications. For a user to log in, an MFA system needs them to submit various combinations of two or more credentials.
Using MFA Fatigue attacks, cyber criminals bombard their victims with repeated 2FA (two-factor authentication) push notifications to trick them into authenticating their login attempts, to increase their chances of gaining access to sensitive information. This attempt can be successful, especially when the target victim is distracted or overwhelmed by the notifications or misinterprets them as legitimate authentication requests.
One major MFA Fatigue attack, also known as MFA bombing, targeted the ride-sharing giant Uber in September 2022. Uber attributed the attack to Lapsus$, a hacking group that started by compromising an external contractor’s credentials.
Cyber criminals increasingly use social engineering attacks to access their targets’ sensitive credentials. Social engineering is a manipulative technique used by hackers to exploit human error to gain private information.
MFA Fatigue is a technique that has gained popularity among hackers in recent years as part of their social engineering attacks. This is a simple yet effective technique with destructive consequences as the hackers are banking on their targets’ lack of training and understanding of attack vectors. Since many MFA users are unfamiliar with this style of attack, they would not understand that they are approving a fraudulent notification.
Cyber Security Training Boosts Risk Posture, Research Finds
Business executives worldwide see the economic advantages of continuing professional cyber security education and the steep downside from a workforce of under-trained individuals, Cybrary, a training platform provider, said in a new report.
The survey of 275 executives, directors and security professionals in North America and the UK who either procure or influence professional cyber security training, was conducted by consultancy Omdia. The results showed that the benefits of professional training boost an employee’s impact on the organisation, the overall risk posture of the organisation, and in the costs associated with finding and retaining highly skilled employees, the analyst said.
The study’s key findings include:
73% of respondents said their team’s cyber security performance was more efficient because of ongoing professional cyber security training.
62% of respondents said that training improved their organisation’s cyber security effectiveness (which encompasses decreases in the number of breach attempts and overall security events).
79% of respondents ranked professional cyber security training at the top or near the top of importance for the organisation’s ability to prevent and rapidly remediate breaches and ensuing consequences such as reputational damage.
70% of companies reported a relationship between an incident and training, and two-thirds of respondents reported increased investments in ongoing cyber security training after a security incident.
Large enterprises are the least likely to delay upskilling until after an incident, indicating that companies with larger cyber security teams firmly understand the importance of ongoing professional training.
67% of surveyed SMBs invested in cyber security training after a security incident, which served as a call to action.
53% invested in professional cyber security training due to a cyber security insurance audit.
48% of organisations said that cyber security training drives retention and decreases the likelihood that a cyber security professional will leave the organisation that trains them.
41% said that ongoing cyber security training has no significant impact on if a cyber security professional leaves.
Cybrary said the research shows the rewards that organisations enjoy by investing in training and upskilling their security professionals. The data “codifies the fiscal and reputational paybacks in proactively improving cyber security defences versus responding to attacks. It also codifies an often-underrecognised benefit of cyber security upskilling: helping the organisation retain invaluable security talent despite market and organisational uncertainty”.
MI5 Chief: UK Will Have to Tackle Russian Aggression ‘for Years to Come’
Britain will have to tackle Russian aggression for years to come, said the MI5’s chief on Wednesday, adding that his agency had blocked more than 100 attempts by the Kremlin to insert suspected spies into the UK since the Salisbury poisonings.
Ken McCallum, giving an annual threat update, said state-based threats were increasing and said the UK also faced a heightened direct threat from Iran, which had threatened “to kidnap or even kill” 10 people based in Britain in the past year.
The spy chief said Russia had suffered a “strategic blow” after 400 spies were expelled from around Europe following the start of the war in Ukraine, but he said the Kremlin was actively trying to rebuild its espionage network.
Britain had expelled 23 Russian spies posing as diplomats after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, yet since then “over 100 Russian diplomatic visa applications” had been rejected on national security grounds.
McCallum accused Russia of making “silly claims” about British activities without evidence, such as that UK was involved in attacking the Nord Stream gas pipelines. But the head of MI5 said “the serious point” was that “the UK must be ready for Russian aggression for years to come”.
Iran’s “aggressive intelligence services” were actively targeting Britain and had made “at least 10” attempts to “kidnap or even kill” British or UK-based individuals since January as the regime felt greater pressure than ever before.
Offboarding Processes Pose Security Risks as Job Turnover Increases: Report
Research from YouGov finds that poor offboarding practices across industries including healthcare and tech are putting companies at risk, including for loss of end-user devices and unauthorised SaaS application use.
Organisations across multiple industries are struggling to mitigate potential risks, including loss of end-user and storage devices as well as unauthorised use of SaaS applications, during their offboarding process, according to new research conducted by YouGov in partnership with Enterprise Technology Management (ETM) firm Oomnitza.
Over the last 18 months, employee turnover has increased, with the US Department of Labor estimating that by the end of 2021, a total of 69 million people, more than 20% of Americans, had either lost or changed their job. Although these figures could initially be attributed to the so-called Great Resignation, this figure is likely to increase due to the numerous job cuts that are now being reported, including layoffs at major technology companies, as organisations look to reduce operational costs.
Although the circumstances of an employee’s departure can sometimes make the offboarding process more complex, ultimately offboarding should aim to prevent disruption and mitigate any potential risks.
However, in YouGov’s 2022 State of Corporate Offboarding Process Automation report, the research found that although implementing a secure offboarding processes is now seen as a business imperative for enterprises, 48% of the survey’s respondents expressed deficiencies in or lack of automated workflows across departments and IT tools to facilitate the secure offboarding of employees.
Supply Chains Need Shoring Up Against Cyber Attacks, C-Suite Executives Say
Nearly every organisation (98%) in a new survey of some 2,100 C-suite executives has been hit by a supply chain cyber attack in the last year, security provider BlueVoyant said in a newly released study.
The study gleaned data from interviews with chief technology officers (CTOs), chief security officers (CSOs), chief operating officers (COOs), chief information officers (CIOs), chief information security officers (CISOs), and chief procurement officers (CPOs) responsible for supply chain and cyber risk management in organisations of more than 1,000 employees across business services, financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing, utilities and energy, and defence industries.
While the number of companies experiencing digital supply chain attacks has stayed relatively static year-over-year, the attention paid by organisations to that attack vector has increased, BlueVoyant said. Still, the New York-based cyber defender said, there’s a lot of room for organisations to better monitor suppliers and “work with them to remediate issues to reduce their supply chain risks.”
Here are some macro highlights from the survey:
40% of respondents rely on the third-party vendor or supplier to ensure adequate security.
In 2021, 53% of companies said they audited or reported on supplier security more than twice per year. That number has improved to 67% in 2022. These numbers include enterprises monitoring in real time.
Budgets for supply chain defence are increasing, with 84% of respondents saying their budget has increased in the past 12 months.
The top pain points reported are internal understanding across the enterprise that suppliers are part of their cyber security posture, meeting regulatory requirements, and working with suppliers to improve their security.
Do Companies Need Cyber Insurance?
Companies are increasingly seeking to transfer risk with cyber insurance. This trend has been influenced by a greater severity in cyber attacks and the resulting skyrocketing costs of incident response, business disruption and recovery.
Companies struggle to afford the high prices of cyber insurance, however. One market index reported the price of cyber insurance increased 79% in the second quarter of 2022. Without it, however, companies risk shouldering the full cost of any resulting harm. Furthermore, insurance companies that lack traditional decades of actuarial data must consider whether to provide cyber insurance to clients unable or unwilling to show their cyber security maturity through independent risk analysis.
This combination of circumstances leaves businesses vulnerable, financially drained and facing potential reputational damage. But does it have to be this way? And is cyber insurance truly necessary? For the majority of organisations, the answer is that cyber insurance is a worthwhile investment as part of their overall risk treatment plans. There are a number of activities, however, that should be undertaken to optimise the benefits and reduce the costs of cyber-risk insurance.
A rise in high-profile attacks, in tandem with increased regulation and compliance surrounding cyber security and privacy, has shifted the conversation around digital safety. No longer is cyber security an optional aspect of the business model with a fixed, stagnant cost. Businesses today have become too digitally dependent to ignore cyber security, with classified, internal information stored online; communication largely conducted via email or another platform; and the workforce transitioned to hybrid and remote work environments. Effective cyber security and privacy, as well as mitigating financial and operational risks, can be strategic enablers to modern digital business.
Cyber insurance is not a solution -- it's a piece of the puzzle. Regardless of industry or company size, all businesses should conduct an independent cyber audit prior to committing to cyber insurance. In doing so, organisations can determine the need for cyber insurance and better understand their organisations' risk posture and weak points.
Even if insurance is needed, the audit further adds value as it lets insurance companies support the company specific to its digital landscape and help it become more digitally strong. Additionally, the existence of an independent audit and risk review may indeed enable the insurance company to offer higher levels of coverage without the need for excessive premiums.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/post/Do-companies-need-cyber-insurance
Threats
Ransomware and Extortion
Ransomware is a global problem that needs a global solution | TechCrunch
FBI: Hive ransomware extorted $100M from over 1,300 victims (bleepingcomputer.com)
The psychological fallout of a ransomware crisis - Help Net Security
New extortion scam threatens to damage sites’ reputation, leak data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Thales Denies Getting Hacked as Ransomware Gang Releases Gigabytes of Data | SecurityWeek.Com
Microsoft Warns of Cyber crime Group Delivering Royal Ransomware, Other Malware | SecurityWeek.Com
Hive Ransomware Has Made $100m to Date - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
LockBit Remains Most Prolific Ransomware in Q3 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
DEV-0569 finds new ways to deliver Royal ransomware, various payloads - Microsoft Security Blog
Transportation sector targeted by both ransomware and APTs - Help Net Security
Ukraine says Russian hacktivists use new Somnia ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware on Healthcare Organisations cost Global Economy $92 bn - IT Security Guru
Russian hacktivists hit Ukrainian orgs with ransomware - but no ransom demands - Help Net Security
Australia to ‘stand up and punch back’ against cyber crims • The Register
LockBit ransomware activity nose-dived in October (techtarget.com)
How to deal with the trauma of the Medibank cyber breach | Andrea Szasz | The Guardian
Researchers secretly helped decrypt Zeppelin ransomware for 2 years (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vanuatu: Hackers strand Pacific island government for over a week - BBC News
Canadian Supermarket Chain Sobeys Hit by Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Two public schools in Michigan hit by a ransomware attack - Security Affairs
Ukraine says Russian hacktivists use new Somnia ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Top enterprise email threats and how to counter them - Help Net Security
China-Based Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Uses 42,000 Domains - Information Security Buzz
Mass Email Extortion Campaign Claims Server Hack - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Netflix Phishing Emails Surge 78% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Earth Preta Spear-Phishing Governments Worldwide (trendmicro.com)
Email Security Best Practices for Phishing Prevention (trendmicro.com)
Malware
Wipermania: Malware Remains a Potent Threat, 10 Years Since 'Shamoon' (darkreading.com)
QBot phishing abuses Windows Control Panel EXE to infect devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Sound Alarm on Dangerous BatLoader Malware Dropper (darkreading.com)
Study: Almost 50% of macOS malware only comes from one app - Neowin
Notorious Emotet botnet returns after a few months off • The Register
Chinese hackers use Google Drive to drop malware on govt networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Warns of Cyber crime Group Delivering Royal Ransomware, Other Malware | SecurityWeek.Com
LodaRAT Malware Resurfaces with New Variants Employing Updated Functionalities (thehackernews.com)
New attacks use Windows security bypass zero-day to drop malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Updated RapperBot malware targets game servers in DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Wins Lawsuit Against Glupteba Botnet Operators | SecurityWeek.Com
Mobile
Internet of Things – IoT
Shocker: EV charging infrastructure is seriously insecure • The Register
Aiphone Intercom System Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Open Doors | SecurityWeek.Com
Data Breaches/Leaks
Police published sexual assault victims' names and addresses on its website (bitdefender.com)
Whoosh confirms data breach after hackers sell 7.2M user records (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Long-Standing Chinese Cyber crime Campaign Spoofs Over 400 Brands | SecurityWeek.Com
Suspected Zeus cyber crime ring leader ‘Tank’ arrested by Swiss police (bleepingcomputer.com)
Australia's Hack-Back Plan Against Cyber attackers Raises Familiar Concerns (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Banks ban crypto to fight fraudsters | Money | The Sunday Times (thetimes.co.uk)
'Three quarters' of retail Bitcoin investors are in the red • The Register
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Massive adware campaign spoofs top brands to trick users | TechRadar
Police Celebrate Arrest of 59 Suspected Scammers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cyber Monday Will Be the Most Fraudulent Day of the Season, Says SEON (darkreading.com)
UK Shoppers Lost £15m+ to Scammers Last Winter - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How scammers are now exploiting cashless parking (telegraph.co.uk)
Experts Advice On International Fraud Awareness Week - Information Security Buzz
Banks ban crypto to fight fraudsters | Money | The Sunday Times (thetimes.co.uk)
Impersonation Attacks
42,000 sites used to trap users in brand impersonation scheme (bleepingcomputer.com)
Instagram Impersonators Target Thousands, Slipping by Microsoft's Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
2022 holiday DDoS protection guide - Microsoft Security Blog
Updated RapperBot malware targets game servers in DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Cloud data protection trends you need to be aware of - Help Net Security
Cyber security implications of using public cloud platforms - Help Net Security
Evolving Security for Government Multiclouds (darkreading.com)
Encryption
Why companies can no longer hide keys under the doormat - Help Net Security
Quantum Cryptography Apocalypse: A Timeline and Action Plan (darkreading.com)
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Social Media
Advertising giant warns clients to stay off Twitter (telegraph.co.uk)
Meta keeps booting small-business owners for being hacked on Facebook | Ars Technica
Guinness, Cadbury’s and Nissan told to avoid ‘toxic’ and ‘dangerous’ Twitter (telegraph.co.uk)
FBI director says he's 'extremely concerned' about China's ability to weaponize TikTok - CyberScoop
Instagram Impersonators Target Thousands, Slipping by Microsoft's Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Electronics repair technicians snoop on your data - Help Net Security
Google to Pay $391 Million Privacy Fine for Secretly Tracking Users' Location (thehackernews.com)
Security firms hijack New York trees to monitor workers • The Register
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Cyber security jobs: Five ways to help you build your career | ZDNET
Google cloud wants CISOs to do more about diversity • The Register
Amazon poaches top National Cyber Security Centre exec Levy | Business News | Sky News
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Zeus Botnet Suspected Leader Arrested in Geneva - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Police Celebrate Arrest of 59 Suspected Scammers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Suspected Zeus cyber crime ring leader ‘Tank’ arrested by Swiss police (bleepingcomputer.com)
Police dismantle pirated TV streaming network with 500,000 users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Chinese hackers target government agencies and defence orgs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian hacktivists hit Ukrainian orgs with ransomware - but no ransom demands - Help Net Security
COP27 Delegates Given Burner Phones To Combat Spying - Information Security Buzz
Avast details Worok espionage group's compromise chain - Security Affairs
Biden set to approve expansive authorities for Pentagon to carry out cyber operations - CyberScoop
Ukraine says Russian hacktivists use new Somnia ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Europe’s spyware scandal is a global wakeup call. (slate.com)
Koch-funded group sues US state over mobile 'spyware' • The Register
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
UK Banks Bolstering Defences As Russian Cyber Threat Rises - Information Security Buzz
EXCLUSIVE Russian software disguised as American finds its way into U.S. Army, CDC apps | Reuters
Pro-Russian hackers claim cyber attack on FBI website: Report | Fox News
Ukraine says Russian hacktivists use new Somnia ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors – China
China playing ‘long game’ as it co-opts UK assets, warns MI5 chief | Financial Times (ft.com)
FBI director says he's 'extremely concerned' about China's ability to weaponize TikTok - CyberScoop
Chinese Cyber espionage Group 'Billbug' Targets Certificate Authority | SecurityWeek.Com
Previously undetected Earth Longzhi APT is a subgroup of APT41 - Security Affairs
Rishi Sunak to hold surprise meeting with Chinese president at G20 | Financial Times (ft.com)
Chinese hackers use Google Drive to drop malware on govt networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
State-sponsored hackers in China compromise certificate authority | Ars Technica
Chinese 'Mustang Panda' Hackers Actively Targeting Governments Worldwide (thehackernews.com)
Reports of Chinese police stations in US worry FBI - BBC News
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Nation State Actors – Iran
US govt: Iranian hackers breached federal agency using Log4Shell exploit (bleepingcomputer.com)
CISA: Iranian APT actors compromised federal network (techtarget.com)
US Gov Warning: Start Hunting for Iranian APTs That Exploited Log4j | SecurityWeek.Com
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Office lets hackers execute arbitrary code, update now | TechRadar
Unpatched Zimbra Platforms Are Probably Compromised, CISA Says (darkreading.com)
Exploit released for actively abused ProxyNotShell Exchange bug (bleepingcomputer.com)
F5 fixes two remote code execution flaws in BIG-IP, BIG-IQ (bleepingcomputer.com)
Samba Patches Vulnerability That Can Lead to DoS, Remote Code Execution | SecurityWeek.Com
Firefox 107 Patches High-Impact Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com
Windows Kerberos authentication breaks after November updates (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nasty SQL Injection Bug in Zendesk Endangers Sensitive Customer Data (darkreading.com)
Mastodon users vulnerable to password-stealing attacks | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)
High Severity Vulnerabilities Reported in F5 BIG-IP and BIG-IQ Devices (thehackernews.com)
Tools and Controls
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Cyber Resilience: The New Strategy to Cope With Increased Threats | SecurityWeek.Com
The 4 horsemen of the cyber security apocalypse | Security Magazine
The Top Five Cyber security Trends of 2023: KnowBe4 Makes Its Predictions - MSSP Alert
Build a mature approach for better cyber security vendor evaluation | CSO Online
Almost half of customers have left a vendor due to poor digital trust: Report | CSO Online
Global 2000 companies failing to adopt key domain security measures | CSO Online
Research: Most North American SMBs Outsource Cyber security Management to Third Parties - MSSP Alert
Repair technicians caught snooping on customer data • The Register
Research: Most North American SMBs Outsource Cyber security Management to Third Parties - MSSP Alert
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 21 January 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 21 January 2022
-Cyber Risks Top Worldwide Business Concerns In 2022
-Bosses Think That Security Is Taken Care Of: CISOs Aren't So Sure
-Fraud Is On the Rise, and It's Going to Get Worse
-Two-Fifths of Ransomware Victims Still Paying Up
-Less Than a Fifth of Cyber Leaders Feel Confident Their Organisation is Cyber-Resilient
-Endpoint Malware And Ransomware Detections Hit All-Time High
-End Users Remain Organisations' Biggest Security Risk
-Supply Chain Disruptions Rose In 2021
-Red Cross Begs Attackers Not to Leak Stolen Data for 515K People
-DHL Dethrones Microsoft As Most Imitated Brand In Phishing Attacks
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Cyber Risks Top Worldwide Business Concerns In 2022
Cyber perils are the biggest concern for companies globally in 2022, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer. The threat of ransomware attacks, data breaches or major IT outages worries companies even more than business and supply chain disruption, natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which have heavily affected firms in the past year.
Cyber incidents tops the Allianz Risk Barometer for only the second time in the survey’s history (44% of responses), Business interruption drops to a close second (42%) and Natural catastrophes ranks third (25%), up from sixth in 2021. Climate change climbs to its highest-ever ranking of sixth (17%, up from ninth), while Pandemic outbreak drops to fourth (22%).
The annual survey incorporates the views of 2,650 experts in 89 countries and territories, including CEOs, risk managers, brokers and insurance experts. View the full global and country risk rankings.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/01/20/cyber-concern-2022/
Bosses Think That Security Is Taken Care Of: CISOs Aren't So Sure
The World Economic Forum warns about a significant gap in understanding between C-suites and information security staff - but it's possible to close the gap.
Organisations could find themselves at risk from cyberattacks because of a significant gap between the views of their own security experts and the boardroom.
The World Economic Forum's new report, The Global Cyber Security Outlook 2022, warns there are big discrepancies between bosses and information security personnel when it comes to the state of cyber resilience within organisations.
According to the paper, 92% of business executives surveyed agree that cyber resilience is integrated into enterprise risk management strategies – or in other words, protecting the organisation against falling victim to a cyberattack, or mitigating the incident so it doesn't result in significant disruption.
However, only 55% of security-focused executives believe that cyber resilience is integrated into risk management strategies – indicating a significant divide in attitudes to cyber security.
This gap can leave organisations vulnerable to cyberattacks, because boardrooms believe enough has been done in order to mitigate threats, while in reality there could be unconsidered vulnerabilities or extra measures put in place.
Fraud Is On the Rise, and It's Going to Get Worse
The acceleration of the digital transformation resulted in a surge of online transactions, greater adoption of digital payments, and increased fraud.
As more daily activities — work, education, shopping, and entertainment — shift online, fraud is also on the rise. A trio of recent reports paint a bleak picture, highlighting concerns that companies are experiencing increasing losses from fraud and that the situation will get worse over the coming year.
In KPMG's survey of senior risk executives, 67% say their companies have experienced external fraud in the past 12 months, and 38% expect the risk of fraud committed by external perpetrators to somewhat increase in the next year. External fraud, which includes credit card fraud and identity theft, is specifically referring to incidents perpetuated by individuals outside the company. For most of these respondents, there was a financial impact: Forty-two percent say their organisations experienced 0.5% to 1% of loss as a result of fraud and cybercrime.
https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/fraud-is-on-the-rise-and-its-going-to-get-worse
Two-Fifths of Ransomware Victims Still Paying Up
Two-fifths (39%) of ransomware victims paid their extorters over the past three years, with the majority of these spending at least $100,000, according to new Anomali research.
The security vendor hired The Harris Poll to complete its Cyber Resiliency Survey – interviewing 800 security decision-makers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, the UAE, Mexico and Brazil.
Some 87% said their organisation had been the victim of a successful attack resulting in damage, disruption, or a breach since 2019. However, 83% said they’d experienced more attacks since the start of the pandemic.
Over half (52%) were ransomware victims, with 39% paying up. Of these, 58% gave their attackers between $100,000 and $1m, while 7% handed over more than $1m.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/two-fifths-ransomware-victims/
Less Than a Fifth of Cyber Leaders Feel Confident Their Organisation is Cyber-Resilient
Less than one-fifth (17%) of cyber leaders feel confident that their organisations are cyber-resilient, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s inaugural Global Cyber Security Outlook 2022 report.
The study, written in collaboration with Accenture, revealed there is a wide perception gap between business executives and security leaders on the issue of cyber security. For example, 92% of businesses believe cyber-resilience is integrated into their enterprise risk-management strategies, compared to just 55% of cyber leaders.
This difference in attitude appears to be having worrying consequences. The WEF said that many security leaders feel that they are not consulted in security decisions, and only 68% believe cyber-resilience forms a major part of their organisation’s overall corporate risk management.
In addition, over half (59%) of all cyber leaders admitted they would find it challenging to respond to a cyber security incident due to a shortage of skills within their team.
Supply chain security was another major concern among cyber leaders, with almost nine in 10 (88%) viewing SMEs as a key threat to supply chains.
Interestingly, 59% of cyber leaders said cyber-resilience and cyber security are synonymous, with the differences not well understood.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyber-leaders-organisation/
Endpoint Malware And Ransomware Detections Hit All-Time High
Endpoint malware and ransomware detections surpassed the total volume seen in 2020 by the end of Q3 2021, according to researchers at the WatchGuard Threat Lab. In its latest report, WatchGuard also highlights that a significant percentage of malware continues to arrive over encrypted connections.
While zero-day malware increased by just 3% to 67.2% in Q3 2021, the percentage of malware that arrived via Transport Layer Security (TLS) jumped from 31.6% to 47%. Data shows that many organisations are not decrypting these connections and therefore have poor visibility into the amount of malware hitting their networks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/01/20/endpoint-malware-ransomware-detections-q3-2021/
End Users Remain Organisations' Biggest Security Risk
With the rapid adoption of hybrid working environments and increased attacks, IT and security professionals worry that future data breaches will most likely be the result of end users who are negligent of or break security policy, according to a recent Dark Reading survey. The percentage of respondents in Dark Reading's 2021 Strategic Security Survey who perceive users breaking policy as the biggest risk fell slightly, however, from 51% in 2020 to 48% in 2021. Other potential issues involving end users showed improvements as well, with social engineering falling in concern from 20% to 15% and remote work worries halving from 26% to 13%.
While this trend is positive, it's unclear where the increased confidence comes from, since more people now report ineffective end-user security awareness training (11%, to 2020's 7%).
Respondents shared their heightened concern about well-funded attacks. In 2021, 25% predicted an attack targeted at their organisations (a rise from 2020, when 20% said the same), and fear of a nation-state-sponsored action rose to 16% from 9% the year before. Yet only 16% reported sophisticated, automated malware as a top concern, a 10% drop from 2020, and fear of a gap between security and IT advances only merited 9%. A tiny 3% worried that their security tools wouldn't work well together, dropping from the previous year's 10%.
Supply Chain Disruptions Rose In 2021
56% of businesses experienced more supply chain disruptions in 2021 than 2020, a Hubs report reveals.
Last year was marked by a number of challenges, including computer chip shortages, port congestion, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, logistics impediments, and energy crises, though with every hurdle faced, solutions are being sought. It is increasingly clear that while certain risks are hard to anticipate and difficult to plan for, it is possible to mitigate the effects of supply chain disruptions by establishing a robust and agile supply chain.
Over 98% of global companies are now planning to boost the resilience of their manufacturing supply chains, however, 37% have yet to implement any measures. As businesses develop long term strategies, over 57% of companies say diversification of their supply chains is the most effective way of building resilience. This report explores last year’s most disruptive events, how disruptions have changed over time, industry trends and strategies for strengthening manufacturing supply chains.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/01/19/supply-chain-disruptions-2021/
Red Cross Begs Attackers Not to Leak Stolen Data for 515K People
A cyber attack forced the Red Cross to shut down IT systems running the Restoring Family Links system, which reunites families fractured by war, disaster or migration. UPDATE: The ICRC says it’s open to confidentially communicating with the attacker.
The Red Cross is imploring threat actors to show mercy by abstaining from leaking data belonging to 515,000+ “highly vulnerable” people. The data was stolen from a program used to reunite family members split apart by war, disaster or migration.
“While we don’t know who is responsible for this attack, or why they carried it out, we do have this appeal to make to them,” Robert Mardini, the director general of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), said in a release on Wednesday. “Your actions could potentially cause yet more harm and pain to those who have already endured untold suffering. The real people, the real families behind the information you now have are among the world’s least powerful. Please do the right thing. Do not share, sell, leak or otherwise use this data.”
https://threatpost.com/red-cross-begs-attackers-not-to-leak-515k-peoples-stolen-data/177799/
DHL Dethrones Microsoft As Most Imitated Brand In Phishing Attacks
DHL was the most imitated brand in phishing campaigns throughout Q4 2021, pushing Microsoft to second place, and Google to fourth.
This isn't surprising considering that the final quarter of every year includes the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas shopping season, so phishing lures based on package deliveries naturally increase.
DHL is an international package delivery and express mail service, delivering over 1.6 billion parcels per year.
As such, phishing campaigns impersonating the brand have good chances of reaching people who are waiting for a DHL package to arrive during the holiday season.
The specific lures range from a package that is stuck at customs and requires action for clearance to supposed tracking numbers that hide inside document attachments or embedded links.
Threats
Ransomware
New White Rabbit Ransomware Linked To FIN8 Hacking Group (bleepingcomputer.com)
Conti Ransomware Gang Started Leaking Files Stolen From Bank Indonesia - Security Affairs
This New Ransomware Comes With A Small But Dangerous Payload | ZDNet
FBI Warning: This New Ransomware Makes Demands Of Up To $500,000 | ZDNet
Experts Warn Of Attacks Using A New Linux Variant Of SFile Ransomware - Security Affairs
SEC Filing Reveals Fortune 500 Firm Targeted in Ransomware Attack | Threatpost
FBI Warns Organisations of Diavol Ransomware Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Marketing Giant RRD Confirms Data Theft In Conti Ransomware Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
After Ransomware Arrests, Some Dark Web Criminals Are Getting Worried | ZDNet
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Phishing
Phishing Impersonates Shipping Giant Maersk To Push STRRAT Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
#COVID19 Phishing Emails Surge 500% on Omicron Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine
Financially Motivated Earth Lusca Threat Actors Targets Orgs Worldwide - Security Affairs
Malware
Microsoft Details Recent Damaging Malware Attacks on Ukrainian Organisations (darkreading.com)
Custom-Written Malware Discovered Across Windows, MacOS, And Linux Systems | TechSpot
Backdoor RAT for Windows, macOS, and Linux went undetected until now | Ars Technica
Ukraine: Wiper Malware Masquerading As Ransomware Hits Government Organisations - Help Net Security
Linux Malware Is On The Rise. Here Are Three Top Threats Right Now | ZDNet
Malware That Can Survive OS Reinstalls Strikes Again, Likely for Cyber Espionage | PCMag
New MoonBounce UEFI Malware Used By Apt41 In Targeted Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Exposed Records Exceeded 40 Billion In 2021 - Help Net Security
European Regulators Hand Out €1.1bn in GDPR Fines - Infosecurity Magazine
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Financially Motivated Earth Lusca Threat Actors Targets Orgs Worldwide - Security Affairs
A Hacker Is Negotiating With Victims on the Blockchain After $1.4M Heist (vice.com)
FBI & European Police Take Down Computer Servers Used In Major Cyberattacks Worldwide - CNNPolitics
Europol Shuts Down VPNLab, Cyber Criminals' Favourite VPN Service (thehackernews.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking
Cyber Criminals Actively Target VMware vSphere with Cryptominers | Threatpost
New BHUNT Password Stealer Malware Targeting Cryptocurrency Wallets (thehackernews.com)
Cheap Malware Is Behind A Rise In Attacks On Cryptocurrency Wallets | ZDNet
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Research: Why Employees Violate Cyber Security Policies (hbr.org)
What CISOs Can Learn About Insider Threats From Iran's Human Espionage Tactics | CSO Online
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
How Buy Now, Pay Later Is Being Targeted By Fraudsters - Help Net Security
Romance Scammer Who Targeted 670 Women Gets 28 Months In Jail – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Insurance
CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA
UK Mulls Making MSPs Subject To Mandatory Security Standards • The Register
‘Anomalous’ Spyware Stealing Credentials In Industrial Firms (bleepingcomputer.com)
European Union Simulated A Cyber Attack On A Fictitious Finnish Power Company - Security Affairs
Nation State Actors
Ukraine Cyber Attack Timeline: Microsoft, CISA, White House and Kyiv Statements - MSSP Alert
Chinese Hackers Spotted Using New UEFI Firmware Implant in Targeted Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Security Scanners Across Europe Tied To China Govt, Military | AP News
Cloud
Privacy
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
Your Keyboard Walking Password Isn’t Complex Or Secure – Review Geek
Box Flaw Allowed To Bypass MFA And Takeover Accounts - Security Affairs
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare
Vulnerabilities
CISA Adds 13 Exploited Vulnerabilities To List, 9 with Feb. 1 Remediation Date | ZDNet
High-Severity Vulnerabilities Patched in McAfee Enterprise Product | SecurityWeek.Com
Cisco Releases Patch for Critical Bug Affecting Unified CCMP and Unified CCDM (thehackernews.com)
A bug in McAfee Agent allows to run code with SYSTEM privileges - Security Affairs
Zoho Fixes A Critical Vulnerability (CVE-2021-44757) in Desktop Central - Security Affairs
Ubuntu Patch For Heap Buffer Overflow Vulnerability • The Register
Google Details Two Zero-Day Bugs Reported in Zoom Clients and MMR Servers (thehackernews.com)
Hackers Attempt to Exploit New SolarWinds Serv-U Bug in Log4Shell Attacks (thehackernews.com)
F5 Patches Two Dozen Vulnerabilities in BIG-IP | SecurityWeek.Com
McAfee Bug Can Be Exploited to Gain Windows SYSTEM Privileges | Threatpost
Oracle Critical Patch Update for January 2022 will fix 483 new flaws - Security Affairs
20K WordPress Sites Exposed by Insecure Plugin REST-API | Threatpost
Cisco Issues Patch for Critical RCE Vulnerability in RCM for StarOS Software (thehackernews.com)
Critical Bugs in Control Web Panel Expose Linux Servers to RCE Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Critical SAP Vulnerability Allows Supply Chain Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Zoho Plugs Another Critical Security Hole In Desktop Central (bleepingcomputer.com)
Safari Exploit Can Leak Browser Histories And Google Account Info | Engadget
Sector Specific
Financial Services Sector
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
More Than Half Of Medical Devices Found To Have Critical Vulnerabilities | ZDNet
Additional Healthcare Firms Disclose Impact From Netgain Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Retail
Education and Academia
Other News
Biggest MSP Takeaways From The Apache Log4j Vulnerability - MSSP Alert
The Emotional Stages Of A Data Breach: How To Deal With Panic, Anger, And Guilt | CSO Online
The Log4j Vulnerability Puts Pressure on the Security World | Threatpost
Hackers Planted Secret Backdoor in Dozens of WordPress Plugins and Themes (thehackernews.com)
BadUSB explained: How rogue USBs threaten your organisation | CSO Online
Millions of UK Wi-Fi Routers Vulnerable To Security Threats - IT Security Guru
NATO, Ukraine Sign Deal to 'Deepen' Cyber Cooperation | SecurityWeek.Com
UK Umbrella Company Parasol Group Confirms Cyber Attack • The Register
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.