Cyber Briefing 23 October 2020: Ransomware Continues to Evolve; Infected IoT Up 100%; Brute Force Attacks Up with more Open RDP Ports; 40% Unsure on Mobile Phishing; Most Imitated Phishing Brands

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.

Threats

Ransomware

This week has been busy with ransomware related news, including new charges against Russian state-sponsored hackers and numerous attacks against well-known organisations.

In 2017, there was an attack utilizing the NotPetya ransomware to destroy data on systems worldwide. This week, the US govt indicted six Russian intelligence operatives [source], known to be part of the notorious 'Sandworm' group, for hacking operations, including NotPetya.

Ransomware variants continue to evolve as crooks chase bigger paydays

The number of ransomware attacks which threaten to leak stolen data if the victim doesn't pay a ransom to get their encrypted files and servers back is growing – and this is being reflected in the changing nature of the cyber criminal market.

Analysis by cyber security researchers found that over the last three months – between July and September - 80 percent of ransomware attacks combined with data dumps were associated with four families of ransomware – Maze, Sodinokibi, Conti and Netwalker.

The period from April to June saw just three ransomware families account for 80 percent of alerts – DoppelPaymer, Maze and Sodinokibi.

The way DoppelPayer has dropped off and how Conti and NetWalker have suddenly emerged some of the most prolific threats shows how the ransomware space continues to evolve, partly because of how successful it has already become for the crooks behind it. [source]

Why this matters:

Maze was the first major family of ransomware to add threats of data breaches to their ransom demands and other ransomware operators have taken note – and stolen the additional extortion tactic.

There is an inherent competitive nature that has befallen the ransomware landscape. The saturated ransomware market pushes ransomware developers to cut through the noise and gain the best ransomware title and this drives more affiliates to carry out their work and, thus, more successful attacks to reach their goal: to make as much money as possible.

DoppelPaymer's activity has dropped over the last few months – although it still remains active - enabling Conti and NetWalker to grab a larger slice of the pie.

Notable ransomware victims of the last week

French IT giant Sopra Steria hit by Ryuk ransomware

French IT services giant Sopra Steria suffered a cyber attack on October 20th, 2020, that reportedly encrypted portions of their network with the Ryuk ransomware.

Sopra Steria is a European information technology company with 46,000 employees in 25 countries worldwide. The company provides a wide range of IT services, including consulting, systems integration, and software development.

The firm has said that the attack has hit all geographies where they operate and have said it will take them several weeks to recover.

Numerous sources have confirmed that it was Ryuk ransomware threat actors who were behind the attack. This hacking group is known for its TrickBot and BazarLoader infections that allow threat actors to access a compromised network and deploy the Ryuk or Conti ransomware infections.

BazarLoader is increasingly being used in Ryuk attacks against high-value targets due to its stealthy nature and is less detected than TrickBot by security software.

When installed, BazarLoader will allow threat actors to remotely access the victim's computer and use it to compromise the rest of the network.

After gaining access to a Windows domain controller, the attackers then deploy the Ryuk ransomware on the network to encrypt all of its devices, as illustrated in the diagram above. [Source1] [source2]

The Nefilim ransomware operators have posted a long list of files that appear to belong to Italian eyewear and eyecare giant Luxottica.

Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world’s largest company in the eyewear industry (which owns brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Apex by Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, Eyemed vision care plan, and Glasses.com. Its best known brands are Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley) and employs over 80,000 people and generated 9.4 billion in revenue for 2019.

The company was hit by a cyber attack and some of the web sites operated by the company were not reachable, including Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, EyeMed, and Pearle Vision.

Reports indicate that the firm was using a Citrix ADX controller device vulnerable to a critical vulnerability and it is believed that a threat actor or actors exploited the above flaw to infect the systems at the company with ransomware. This appears to have subsequently confirmed with Nefilim ransomware operators having posted a long list of files that appear to belong to Luxottica. [source]

Why this matters:

The analysis of the leaked files revealed that they contain confidential information regarding the recruitment process, professional resumes, and info about the internal structures of the Group’s human resource department. The ransomware operators also published a message which accuses Luxottica of having failed the properly manage the attack.

In the past months, the number of ransomware attacks surged, numerous ransomware gangs made the headlines targeting organisations worldwide and threatening victims with releasing the stolen data if the ransom was not paid.

Extortion is the new thing in cyber crime right now, more so than in the past. Companies cannot hide the cyber attack anymore. Now it’s more about how to manage the breach from the communication perspective. Defending companies from these types of attacks becomes even more strategic: data leak damages can generate tremendous amount of costs for companies worldwide.

Other notable ransomware victims this week include:

• Barnes & Noble hit by Egregor ransomware, strange data leaked [source]

• Montreal's STM public transport system hit by ransomware attack [source]

• WastedLocker ransomware hits US-based ski and golf resort operator Boyne Resorts (WastedLocker was the same one used in the attack on Garmin in July) [source]

Other Threats

Infected IoT Device Numbers Surge 100% in a Year

The volume of infected Internet of Things (IoT) devices globally has soared by 100% over the past year, according to new data from Nokia.

It revealed that infected IoT devices now comprise nearly a third (32.7%) of the total number of devices, up from 16.2% in the 2019 report.

Nokia argued that infection rates for connected devices depend dramatically upon the visibility of the devices on the internet.

In networks where devices are routinely assigned public facing internet IP addresses there is a higher infection rate. In networks where carrier grade NAT is used, the infection rate is considerably reduced, because the vulnerable devices are not visible to network scanning.

With the introduction of 5G well underway, it is expected that not only the number of IoT devices will increase dramatically, but also the share of IoT devices accessible directly from the internet will increase as well, and rates of infection rising accordingly. [source]

Brute force attacks increase due to more open RDP ports

While leaving your back door open while you are working from home may be something you do without giving it a second thought, having unnecessary ports open on your computer or on your corporate network is a security risk that is sometimes underestimated. That’s because an open port can be subject to brute force attacks.

A brute force attack is where an attacker tries every way he can think of to get in. Including throwing the kitchen sink at it. In cases where the method they are trying is to get logged in to your system, they will try endless combinations of usernames and passwords until a combination works.

Brute force attacks are usually automated, so it doesn’t cost the attacker a lot of time or energy. Certainly not as much as individually trying to figure out how to access a remote system. Based on a port number or another system specific property, the attacker picks the target and the method and then sets his brute force application in motion. He can then move on to the next target and will get notified when one of the systems has swallowed the hook.

RDP attacks are one of the main entry points when it comes to targeted ransomware operations. To increase effectiveness, ransomware attacks are getting more targeted and one of the primary attack vectors is the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Remote desktop is exactly what the name implies, an option to remotely control a computer system. It almost feels as if you were actually sitting behind that computer. Which is exactly what makes an attacker with RDP access so dangerous. [source]

Why this matters:

Because of the current pandemic, many people are working from home and may be doing so for a while to come. Working from home has the side effect of more RDP ports being opened. Not only to enable the workforce to access company resources from home, but also to enable IT staff to troubleshoot problems on the workers’ devices. A lot of enterprises rely on tech support teams using RDP to troubleshoot problems on employee’s systems.

But ransomware, although prevalent, is not the only reason for these types of attacks. Cyber criminals can also install keyloggers or other spyware on target systems to learn more about the organization they have breached. Other possible objectives might be data theft, espionage, or extortion.

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Phishing

Two in five employees are not sure what a mobile phishing attack is

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly changed the way people work and accelerated the already growing remote work trend. This has also created new security challenges for IT departments, as employees increasingly use their own personal devices to access corporate data and services.

These changes, where employees, IT infrastructures, and customers are everywhere – has led to employees not prioritising security in their new world of work, and the current distributed remote work environment has also triggered a new threat landscape, with malicious actors increasingly targeting mobile devices with phishing attacks.

A new study looking at the impact that lockdown has had on employees working habits polled 1,200 workers across the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand showed that many employees were unaware of how to identify and avoid a phishing attack, and over two in five (43%) of employees are not even sure what a phishing attack is. [source]

Microsoft is Most Imitated Brand for Phishing Attempts in Q3 2020

The latest Check Point ‘Q3 Brand Phishing Report’, highlighting the brands that hackers imitated the most to lure people into giving up personal data, reveals the brands which were most frequently imitated by criminals in their attempts to steal individuals’ personal information or payment credentials during July, August and September.

In Q3, Microsoft was the most frequently targeted brand by cyber criminals, soaring from fifth place (relating to 7% of all brand phishing attempted globally in Q2 of 2020) to the top of the ranking. 19% of all brand phishing attempts related to the technology giant, as threat actors sought to capitalise on large numbers of employees still working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time in 2020, DHL entered the top 10 rankings, taking the second spot with 9% of all phishing attempts related to the company. [source]

Top phishing brands in Q3 2020

• Microsoft (19%)

• DHL (9%)

• Google (9%)

• PayPal (6%)

• Netflix (6%)

• Facebook (5%)

• Apple (5%)

• Whatsapp (5%)

• Amazon (4%)

• Instagram (4%)

Phishing Lures Shifting from COVID-19 updates to Job Opportunities

Researchers are seeing a pivot in the spear-phishing and phishing lures used by cybercriminals, to entice potential job candidates as businesses start to open up following the pandemic.

Cyber criminals cashed in on the surge of COVID-19 earlier this year, with email lures purporting to be from healthcare professionals offering more information about the pandemic. However, as the year moves forward, bad actors are continuing to swap up their attacks and researchers are now seeing ongoing email based attacks that tap into new job opportunities as businesses start to open up. [source]

Denial of Service Attacks

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attacks Triple in Size as Ransom Demands Re-Emerge

The last quarter of 2020 has seen a wave of web application attacks which have used ransom letters to target businesses across a number of industries.

According to research from Akamai, the largest of these attacks sent over 200Gbps of traffic at their targets as part of a sustained campaign of higher Bits Per Second (BPS) and Packets Per Second (PPS) than similar attacks had displayed a few weeks prior.

Prior to August most of these attacks were targeting the gaming industry but since then these attacks abruptly swung to financial organisations, and later in the cycle, multiple other verticals.

Akamai explained that none of the vectors involved in these series of attacks were new, as most of the traffic was generated by reflectors and systems that were used to amplify traffic. However, multiple organisations began to receive targeted emails with threats of DDoS attacks, where this would be launched unless a ransom amount was paid. A small DDoS would be made against the company to show that the attackers were serious, and then there was a threat of a 1Tbps attack if payment was not made.

Many extortion DDoS campaigns start as a threat letter, and never progress beyond that point but this this campaign has seen frequent ‘sample’ attacks that prove to the target that criminals have the capability to make life difficult.

Many of the extortion emails ended up being caught by spam filters, and not all targets are willing to admit they’ve received an email from the attackers.

Why this matters:

This extortion DDoS campaign is not over and the criminals behind this campaign are changing and evolving their attacks in order to throw off defenders and the law enforcement agencies that are working to track them down.

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Vulnerabilities

New Google Chrome version fixes actively exploited zero-day bug

Google released Chrome 86.0.4240.111 this week to address five security vulnerabilities, one of which is being actively exploited.

The announcement from Google stated they they were aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2020-15999 exists in the wild.

This new version of Chrome started rolling out to the entire userbase. Users on Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop users can upgrade to Chrome 86 by going to Settings -> Help -> About Google Chrome.

The Google Chrome web browser will then automatically check for the new update and install it when available.

Adobe releases another out-of-band patch, squashing critical bugs across creative software

Adobe has released a second out-of-band security update to patch critical vulnerabilities across numerous software products.

The patch, released outside of the tech giant's typical monthly security cycle, impacts Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Marketo, Animate, After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, InDesign, and the Creative Cloud desktop application on Windows and macOS machines.

The vulnerabilities across the different products variously could result in privilege escalation, cross-site scripting (XSS), which could be weaponised to deploy malicious JavaScript in a browser session, or otherwise could result in arbitrary code execution.

Last week, Adobe released a separate set of out-of-band security fixes impacting the Magento platform. On October 15, Adobe said the patch resolved nine vulnerabilities, eight of which are critical -- including a bug that could be abused to tamper with Magento customer lists. [source]

WordPress deploys forced security update for dangerous bug in popular plugin

The WordPress security team has taken a rare step last week and used a lesser-known internal capability to forcibly push a security update for a popular plugin called Loginizer, which provides security enhancements for the WordPress login page, but that was found to contain a dangerous SQL injection bug that could have allowed hackers to take over WordPress sites running older versions of the plugin. [source]

Why this matters:

Remote attackers to run code against the WordPress database — in what is referred to as an unauthenticated SQL injection attack.

These are the most worrying vulnerabilities around today

Failure to patch once again leaves organisations open to attacks

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has published a new cyber security advisory in which it details 25 of the most dangerous vulnerabilities actively being exploited in the wild by Chinese state-sponsored hackers and other cyber criminals.

Unlike zero-day vulnerabilities where hardware and software makers have yet to release a patch, all of the vulnerabilities in the NSA's advisory are well-known and patches have been made available to download from their vendors. However, the problem lies in the fact that organisations have yet to patch their systems, leaving them vulnerable to potential exploits and attacks.

The NSA provided further details on the nature of the vulnerabilities in its advisory while urging organisations to patch them immediately.

Most of the vulnerabilities listed below can be exploited to gain initial access to victim networks using products that are directly accessible from the Internet and act as gateways to internal networks. The majority of the products are either for remote access or for external web services and should be prioritised for immediate patching. The full list can be found here.

The first bug in the list, tracked as CVE-2019-11510, relates to Pulse Secure VPN servers and how an unauthenticated remote attacker can expose keys or passwords by sending a specially crafted URI to perform an arbitrary file reading vulnerability.

Another notable bug from the list, tracked as CVE-2020-5902, affects the Traffic Management User Interface (TMUI) of F5 BIG-IP proxies and load balancers and it is vulnerable to a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability that if exploited, could allow a remote attacker to take over an entire BIG-IP device.

The Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway systems are vulnerable to a directory traversal bug, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, that can lead to remote code execution where an attacker does not need to possess valid credentials for the device.

The advisory also mentions BlueKeep, SigRed, Netlogon, CurveBall and other more well-known vulnerabilities.

To avoid falling victim to any potential attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities, the NSA recommends that organisations keep their systems and products updated and patched as soon as possible after vendors release them. [source]

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Miscellaneous Cyber News of the Weeks

Hackers Can Clone Millions of Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia Keys

Owners of cars with keyless start systems have learned to worry about so-called relay attacks, in which hackers exploit radio-enabled keys to steal vehicles without leaving a trace. Now it turns out that many millions of other cars that use chip-enabled mechanical keys are also vulnerable to high-tech theft. A few cryptographic flaws combined with a little old-fashioned hot-wiring—or even a well-placed screwdriver—lets hackers clone those keys and drive away in seconds.

Researchers this week revealed new vulnerabilities in the encryption systems used by immobilisers, the radio-enabled devices inside of cars that communicate at close range with a key fob to unlock the car's ignition and allow it to start. Specifically, they found problems in how Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia implement their encryption system. A hacker who swipes a relatively inexpensive RFID reader/transmitter device near the key fob of any affected car can gain enough information to derive its secret cryptographic value. That, in turn, would allow the attacker to spoof the device to impersonate the key inside the car, disabling the immobiliser and letting them start the engine.

The researchers say the affected car models include the Toyota Camry, Corolla, and RAV4; the Kia Optima, Soul, and Rio; and the Hyundai I10, I20, and I40, amongst others. [source]

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

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

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

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

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 07 August 2020: INTERPOL warn on alarming pace of cyber crime, Canon ransomware, Garmin paid ransom, TV Licence fraud targets elderly, Netgear won’t patch vuln routers

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

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INTERPOL: Cyber crime Growing at an “Alarming Pace” Due to #COVID19

Cyber crime is growing at an “alarming pace” as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and is expected to accelerate even further, a new report from INTERPOL has found.

It revealed the extent to which cyber-criminals are taking advantage of the increasing reliance on digital technology over recent months. This includes the rapid shift to home working undertaken by many organisations, which has involved the deployment of remote systems and networks, often insecurely.

Based on feedback from member countries, INTERPOL said that during the COVID-19 period, there has been a particularly large increase in malicious domains (22%), malware/ransomware (36%), phishing scams/fraud (59%) and fake news (14%).

Threat actors have revised their usual online scams and phishing schemes so that they are COVID-themed, playing on people’s economic and health fears.

Why this matters:

Increases in malicious activity is always a concern, especially when firms don’t realise how bad the situation is already and fail to grasp how much worse it is getting. Cyber criminals have gone through an industrial revolution and have built criminal organisations to rival some of the biggest legitimate business empires. Increases in threats require and increase in defensive capability, across IT, people and governance, to counter this rising tide.

Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybercrime-growing-alarming-pace/

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Capital One fined $80m for data breach

Capital One, one of the top five credit card issuers by balances in the US, has been fined $80m and ordered to improve internal controls after regulators identified a string of failings that allowed hackers to obtain the personal data of more than 106m customers and credit card applicants last year.

The bank was found to have failed to establish effective risk assessment processes prior to migrating significant information technology operations to the public cloud, as well as failing to quickly correct deficiencies.

The data breach exposed names, addresses, phone numbers, self-reported income, credit scores and payment history, as well as some people’s social security numbers.

It has become a cautionary tale for banks migrating their data from their own physical IT to the kind of virtual clouds that the Capital One data was hacked from.

Why this matters:

Moving to the cloud can open up new risks and misconfigurations can go undetected until they are exploited by malicious actors. It is important to make sure you know where the weaknesses and vulnerabilities are before someone else does, and this included cloud infrastructure.

Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/a730c6a0-c362-4664-a1ae-5faf84912f20

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Canon confirms ransomware attack in internal memo

Canon appears to be latest in a number of large high profile firms in recent weeks to suffer a ransomware attack that has had an impact on numerous services, including Canon's email, Microsoft Teams, USA website, and other internal applications. In an internal alert sent to employees, Canon has disclosed the ransomware attack and working to address the issue.

Researchers were alerted by a suspicious outage on Canon's image.canon cloud photo and video storage service resulting in the loss of data for users of their free 10GB storage feature.

However, the final status update was strange as it mentions that while data was lost, "there was no leak of image data."  This led BleepingComputer to believe there was more to the story and that they suffered a cyberattack.

Why this matters:

Any firm of any size can fall victim to ransomware and recovering can be time consuming, expensive and cause significant reputational damage. These attacks invariably stem from users clicking on links in phishing emails, something that IT departments and technical controls aren’t capable of defending against on their own.

Read more: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/canon-confirms-ransomware-attack-in-internal-memo/

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Garmin reportedly paid multimillion-dollar ransom after suffering cyberattack

Following on from Canon being the latest high profile victim, reports indicate that fitness wearable and satellite navigation brand Garmin paid millions of dollars in ransom after an attack took many of its products and services offline last month. The payment was reportedly made through a ransomware negotiation company in order for Garmin to recover data held hostage as a result of the attack.

It was reported last week that Garmin had received a decryption key to access data encrypted by the virus, and that the initial ransom demand was for $10 million.

Why this matters:

If a company had to resort to paying the ransom then it can be inferred that they were unable to recover their data, had insufficient backups or had never tested recovering from backups and when they needed to for real found they were unable. It’s too late to find out when you need something that you don’t have it.

If no firm or individual paid ransoms this problem would go away. For as long as even a small number of firms and individuals pay this will continue to be a massive problem, affecting everyone.

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/4/21353842/garmin-ransomware-attack-wearables-wastedlocker-evil-corp

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Google: Eleven zero-days detected in the wild in the first half of 2020

According to data collected by Google's Project Zero security team, there have been 11 zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in the wild in the first half of the year.

The current number puts 2020 on track to have just as many zero-days as 2019 when Google security researchers said they tracked 20 zero-days all of last year.

Details about these zero-days have been obtained from a spreadsheet managed by Google security researchers, which the company made public available earlier this year. The spreadsheet contains Google's internal statistics about in-the-wild zero-day usage going as far back as 2014, when the company began tracking said stats.

Why this matters:

Zero-days are vulnerabilities for which fixes have not yet been made available and as such as difficult to defend against. Good security is all about having multiple layers of controls and if you have good procedural, people and governance controls in place this should still go a good way to helping to defend against zero-days.

As soon as security updates are made available they should ideally be tested and applied on all applicable devices as soon as possible to prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-eleven-zero-days-detected-in-the-wild-in-the-first-half-of-2020/

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TeamViewer flaw could be exploited to crack users’ password

A high-risk vulnerability (CVE-2020-13699) in TeamViewer for Windows could be exploited by remote attackers to crack users’ password and, consequently, lead to further system exploitation.

TeamViewer is an application that is used primarily for remote access to and control of various types of computer systems and mobile devices, but also offers collaboration and presentation features (e.g., desktop sharing, web conferencing, file transfer, etc.)

Since the advent of COVID-19, enterprise use of the software has increased due to many employees being forced to work from home.

Why this matters:

Credentials stolen from any successful breach are likely to be used in credential stuffing attacks (where the same usernames and passwords are reused) against other sites and services.

Read more: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/08/06/cve-2020-13699/

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Qualcomm chip vulnerability puts millions of phones at risk

Smartphone devices from the likes of Google, LG, OnePlus, Samsung and Xiaomi are in danger of compromise by cyber criminals after 400 vulnerable code sections were uncovered on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon digital signal processor (DSP) chip, which runs on over 40% of the global Android estate.

To exploit the vulnerabilities, a malicious actor would merely need to convince their target to install a simple, benign application with no permissions at all.

Why this matters:

The vulnerabilities leave affected smartphones at risk of being taken over and used to spy on and track their users, having malware and other malicious code installed and hidden, or even being bricked outright. Hopefully a fix will be forthcoming but it looks like it might be months before this fix is widely available.

Read more here: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252487274/Qualcomm-chip-vulnerability-puts-millions-of-phones-at-risk

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Over-75s warned of rise in TV Licence 'phishing' fraud

Over-75s awaiting letters about their new licence fee payments are falling victim to fraudsters, it has emerged.

The BBC has told 4.5 million pensioners to expect a letter from TV Licensing advising them on how to set up payment, as the free scheme for over-75s ended on July 31.

But the corporation has not given an indication of when the communication will arrive or what the wording will be, and in the meantime pensioners are being duped by scam emails which purport to be official.

The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, said the number of licence fee “phishing” emails had risen in July, compared to previous months, and it was working hard to block them.

A spokesman said: “It is despicable that criminals are targeting over-75s in this way. TV Licensing would never ask for payment details over an email, so as soon as we were alerted to the scam messages sent in this callous campaign, they were immediately blocked.

Why this matters:

Cyber criminals are unscrupulous and will happily target the most vulnerable members of our society. If you have elderly relatives make them aware of these scams and encourage them not to respond for requests sent via email.

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/03/over-75s-warned-rise-tv-licence-phishing-fraud/

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Netgear Won’t Patch 45 Router Models Vulnerable to Serious Flaw

Netgear will not patch 45 router models that are vulnerable to a high-severity remote code execution flaw, the router company revealed last week. However, the company says that routers that won’t receive updates are outdated or have reached EOL (End of Life).

The remote code execution vulnerability in question, which was disclosed June 15, allows network-adjacent attackers to bypass authentication on vulnerable Netgear routers – sans authentication. The high-severity flaw affects 79 Netgear Wi-Fi routers and home gateway models – but Netgear says that 45 of those router models are outside of its “security support period.”

Why this matters:

If you are using a Netgear device ensure that it is not in the list of devices that are no longer supported and if necessary replace it with a different router that is supported. If the device you own is still supported you should log into the web interface and ensure that it is updated to the most recent version of firmware to include any security updates.

Many people never update the firmware on their networking devices at home and this means that there can be a significant number of significant security vulnerabilities that have gone unfixed jeopardising the security of any devices connected to that router. If you don’t know how to update home networking devices contact someone who can help you to do this.

Read more: https://threatpost.com/netgear-wont-patch-45-router-models-vulnerable-to-serious-flaw/157977/

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

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

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

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 24 July 2020: Cyber crime up 23% Over Past Year, Nearly 50% of employees have made a serious security mistake at work, 99.9% of Hacked Microsoft Accounts Don’t Use 2FA

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

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Cybercrime Jumped 23% Over Past Year, Says ONS

Cybercrime offenses reported by individuals and businesses have risen 23% over the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The UK government body explained that 26,215 incidents were referred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) by Action Fraud in the year ending March 2020.

The year-on-year increase was driven by a large uptick in the two highest-volume “computer misuse” types reported to Action Fraud. “Hacking – social media and email” saw a 55% increase from 12,894 offenses, and “computer viruses/malware” incidents soared by 61% to reach 6745 cases.

The double-digit increase in reported cybercrime came in spite of improvements to “internal case review processes” and an online reporting tool at Action Fraud in October 2018 which meant some offenses previously categorized as computer misuse are now being properly identified as fraud, ONS said.

Why this matters:

Any increase in reported cyber crime is significant, but such a large rise is even more alarming and demonstrates that firms and individuals need to make sure they are treating these threats seriously.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybercrime-jumped-23-over-past-year#disqus_thread

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Nearly half of employees have made a serious security mistake at work

Distraction and burnout can lead to serious mistakes when working online

New research from an email security firm has revealed that almost half (43%) of employees in the US and UK have made mistakes at work that have resulted in cyber security repercussions for themselves or their company.

A survey of 2,000 professionals between the ages of 18 and 51 to find out more about why workers make mistakes and how they can be prevented before they end up turning into data breaches.

Of the employees surveyed, a quarter of them confessed to clicking on links in a phishing email at work. The research also found that employees between 31 and 40 years of age were four times more likely than employees over age 51 to click on a phishing email. At the same time, male employees were twice as likely to do so than their female coworkers.

Why does this matter:

Cyber and Information Security is fundamentally a human problem, not an IT problem, and all the IT controls in the world are worth very little if humans bypass them or fail to follow safe working practices. Ensure your users, at all levels, are aware of the role they play in securing your organisation and make sure they receive adequate and suitable training.

https://www.techradar.com/news/nearly-half-of-employees-have-made-a-mistake-that-had-cybersecurity-repercussions

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99.9 Percent of Hacked Microsoft Accounts Don’t Use 2FA

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the single most effective method of preventing unauthorised access to an online account as number from Microsoft prove.

Microsoft tracks over 1 billion active accounts monthly, which is nearly 1/8 of the world’s population. These generate more than 30 billion monthly login events. Every login to a corporate O365 account can generate multiple login entries across multiple apps, as well as additional events for other apps that use O365 for single sign-on.

If that number sounds big, bear in mind that Microsoft stops 300 million fraudulent sign-in attempts every day. Again, that’s not per year or per month, but 300 million per day.

In January 2020, 480,000 Microsoft accounts—0.048 percent of all Microsoft accounts—were compromised by spraying attacks. This is when an attacker runs a common password (like “Spring2020!”) against lists of thousands of accounts, in the hopes that some of those will have used that common password.

Sprays are just one form of attack; hundreds and thousands more were caused by credential stuffing. To perpetuate these, the attacker buys usernames and passwords on the dark web and tries them on other systems.

Then, there’s phishing, which is when an attacker convinces you to log in to a fake website to get your password. These methods are how online accounts are typically “hacked,” in common parlance.

In all, over 1 million Microsoft accounts were breached in January. That’s just over 32,000 compromised accounts per day, which sounds bad until you remember the 300 million fraudulent login attempts stopped per day.

But the most important number of all is that 99.9 percent of all Microsoft account breaches would have been stopped if the accounts had two-factor authentication enabled.

Why this matters:

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the single most effective method of preventing unauthorised access to online accounts, remediating (or preventing) approximately 95% of attacks. That this simple step, normally available free of charge from online account providers, is so effective means it should be implemented wherever and whenever possible.

Read more here: https://www.howtogeek.com/681419/watch-out-99.9-of-hacked-microsoft-accounts-dont-use-2fa/

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Adobe issues emergency fixes for critical vulnerabilities in Photoshop, Bridge, Prelude

Adobe has released an out-of-band emergency security update for Photoshop, Prelude, and Bridge.

On Tuesday, a week after issuing the firm's standard monthly security update, Adobe published security advisories revealing a total of 13 vulnerabilities, 12 of which are deemed critical.

Five vulnerabilities have now been resolved in Photoshop CC 2019 -- versions 20.0.9 and earlier -- and Photoshop 2020 -- versions 21.2 and earlier -- on Windows machines.

All of these vulnerabilities are considered critical, as if exploited, can lead to arbitrary code execution.

Why does this matter:

Vulnerabilities in software are exploited by attackers, patching these vulnerabilities means the vulnerabilities cannot then be exploited. Updates should always be installed as soon as possible to prevent them from being used in attacks.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/adobe-issues-emergency-fixes-for-vulnerabilities-in-photoshop-prelude/

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Blackbaud Hack: Universities lose data to ransomware attack

At least 10 universities in the UK, US and Canada have had data stolen about students and/or alumni after hackers attacked a cloud computing provider.

Human Rights Watch and the children's mental health charity, Young Minds, have also confirmed they were affected.

The hack targeted Blackbaud, one of the world's largest providers of education administration, fundraising, and financial management software.

The US-based company's systems were hacked in May and it has been criticised for not disclosing this externally until July and for having paid the hackers an undisclosed ransom.

In some cases, the data was limited to that of former students, who had been asked to financially support the establishments they had graduated from. But in others it extended to staff, existing students and other supporters.

The institutions the BBC has confirmed have been affected are:

·         University of York

·         Oxford Brookes University

·         Loughborough University

·         University of Leeds

·         University of London

·         University of Reading

·         University College, Oxford

·         Ambrose University in Alberta, Canada

·         Human Rights Watch

·         Young Minds

·         Rhode Island School of Design in the US

·         University of Exeter

In some cases, the stolen data included phone numbers, donation history and events attended. Credit card and other payment details do not appear to have been exposed.

Why does this matter:

Every entity, business, organisation and individual is at risk from ransomware, the bigger the organisation the more point of entries exist but this does not mean this is not a major threat to smaller businesses too. Nearly all these attacks stem from a user clicking on a link in a phishing email so make sure your staff are adept at spotting phishing emails.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53516413

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Amazon Prime phishing scam returns - here's all you need to know

Shoppers warned of phone and email attacks against Amazon Prime users

Shoppers using Amazon Prime have been warned about a major phishing scam which appears to have resurfaced across the country

The scammers target victims via an automated telephone call claiming that they have opened an Amazon Prime account and that they should "press one" to cancel the transaction.

Doing so will connect the call to a fraudster posing as an Amazon customer service representative who then informs the recipient of the call that their subscription was purchased fraudulently due to a supposed "security flaw" on the targeted person's computer. The bogus Amazon representative then asks for remote access to the recipient's computer, supposedly to fix the security breach. Remote access gives control access allowing the scammers to steal personal information, including passwords and banking information.

There is also an email version of the same scam.

The email version of this scam sees the victim receiving a message stating they have started an Amazon Music subscription charged at £28.99 per month. The email then asks the recipient to click a link if they want to cancel the subscription and receive a refund - but the page they are taken to in order to input their card details and receive the refund will instead send their details to fraudsters.

Why does this matter:

Scammers only need a small number of people they target to fall for the scam for it to be profitable for them, so unfortunately these types of scams are not going to go away any time soon. Make sure you keep up to date with the latest and emerging scams and make sure relatives who might fall victim to these scams are also aware that these types of attacks are happening all the time so to exercise caution if they receive calls or emails of this nature.

Read more here: https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/amazon-prime-phishing-scam-returns-heres-all-you-need-to-know

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Phishing attacks concealed in Google Cloud Services

Cyber criminals are increasingly concealing phishing efforts behind legitimate resources.

A lie is best concealed between two truths, an old saying goes, and it seems hackers are using this wisdom to better hide their phishing efforts.

Cyber security researchers are warning of a phishing campaign that utilises Google Cloud Services and offers legitimate PDF whitepapers to victims that give away their login credentials.

According to the researchers, it all starts with a PDF document uploaded to Google Drive, containing a link to a phishing page. The landing page requires the user to log in with their Office 365 or organisation email.

After the victim gives away their login credentials, they are redirected to a genuine PDF report published by a “renowned global consulting firm.”

Why does this matter:

Since the phishing page is hosted on Google Cloud Storage, the user might not become suspicious. Hackers are swarming around the cloud storage services that we rely on and trust, making it much tougher to identify actual phishing attacks. Traditional red flags of a phishing attack, such as look-alike domains or websites without certificates, won’t help us much as we enter a potential cyber pandemic. Users of Google Cloud Platform, even AWS and Azure users, should all beware of this fast-growing trend and learn how to protect themselves. It starts by thinking twice about the files you receive from senders.

Read more here: https://www.itproportal.com/news/phishing-attacks-concealed-in-google-cloud-services/

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Analysts Detect New Banking Malware

A new strain of banking malware dubbed BlackRock has been detected by researchers

An investigation into its origins has revealed BlackRock to be derived from the Xerxes banking malware. Xerxes was in turn spawned out of the LokiBot Android banking Trojan, first detected around four years ago.

The source code of the Xerxes malware was made public by its author around May 2019, making it possible for any threat actor to get their hands on it. Despite the code's availability, researchers found that the only Android banking Trojan based on Xerxes' source code that is currently operating appears to be BlackRock.

Why this matters:

This malevolent malware steals credentials not only from banking apps but also from other apps designed to facilitate communication, shopping and business. In total, the researchers found 337 Android apps were impacted, including dating, social networking and cryptocurrency apps.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/analysts-detect-new-banking/#disqus_thread

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Hackers wipe out more than 1,000 databases, leaving only the word 'meow'

Over 1000 unsecured databases have been permanently deleted, leaving only the word “meow” behind.

The attack saw a database that had details of the UFO VPN. UFO VPN, and other products from seemingly the same company, had recently been in the news for exposing user information.

Information exposed include unencrypted account passwords, location information, and IP addresses of user devices and VPN servers.

The VPN, and others like it, claimed that it was not logging user details. Reports alleged that this was not the case.

The attack seems to have come from a bot, according to Forbes, as the attack script overwrites database indexes with random numerical strings and the word ‘Meow’.

Why does this matter:

Unsecured databases are wide open to attackers and not only can the contents be read and information gleaned used in other attacks they can also, as was the case in this attack, be deleted, losing all data.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/database-hack-meow-attack-security-ufo-vpn-a9634906.html

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Is your smart home hosting malware attacks?

It’s not only computers that can be compromised by hackers, almost any electronic device can be compromised – including your smart home gadgets.

Researchers have discovered a new family of malware called Mozi that has been quickly spreading online since last year and appears to have been designed specifically to attack low-power smart devices. Once installed, the malware tries to make contact with other infected devices, adding itself to a botnet (a collection of other compromised devices).

Infected device continues to operate normally however the devices constantly ‘listening’ for instructions from the botnet. The botnet has been designed to launch Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS) that can be used to attack and crash online services and websites. Once activated, your infected devices will be used by hackers to participate in large DDoS attacks.

Some variants can also steal data, or execute additional code, allowing hackers to gain control of your network.

As the malware evolves, the list of affected devices will undoubtedly grow.

Why does this matter:

Almost any electronic device can be compromised to serve malware, be co-opted into taking part in distributed denial of service attacks or otherwise be exploited or used as a point of entry into a network. As more and more of these devices appear in our homes and offices many people do not realise they are significantly increasing their potential attack surface.

Read more: https://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/mobile-news/smart-home-hosting-malware/

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Russian cyber attacks an 'urgent threat' to national security

Russia's cyber attack capabilities -- and its willingness to use them -- pose an "immediate and urgent threat" to the UK's national security, according to a report from a committee of MPs.

The long- delayed Russia report from the UK parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) describes how it sees Russia's abilities to use malicious cyber activities to further its aims.

"Russia's cyber capability, when combined with its willingness to deploy it in a malicious capacity, is a matter of grave concern, and poses an immediate and urgent threat to our national security," the report said.

Why does this matter:

Given the immediate threat that Russia poses to UK national security, it is concerning that there is no clear coordination of the numerous organisations across the UK intelligence community working on this issue. The risks posed by Russia, and other nation states such as China, Iran and North Korea should not be understated or ignored.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/russian-cyberattacks-an-urgent-threat-to-national-security/

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

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

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

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 17 July 2020: Major US Twitter accounts hacked, Malware in Chinese Tax Software, NK steals $2bn through cyber heists, Counterfeit Cisco kit, Windows DNS vulns, Citrix vuln

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

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Major US Twitter accounts hacked in Bitcoin scam

Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are among many prominent US figures targeted by hackers on Twitter in an apparent Bitcoin scam.

The official accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kanye West also requested donations in the cryptocurrency.

"Everyone is asking me to give back," a tweet from Mr Gates' account said. "You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000."

The US Senate Commerce committee has demanded Twitter brief it about the incident next week.

Twitter said it was a "co-ordinated" attack targeting its employees "with access to internal systems and tools".

"We know they [the hackers] used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf," the company said in a series of tweets.

It added that "significant steps" had been taken to limit access to such internal systems and tools while the company's investigation was ongoing.

The firm has also blocked users from being able to tweet Bitcoin wallet addresses for the time being.

Read more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53425822

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More Malware Found Hidden in Chinese Tax Software

A malware campaign hiding backdoors in mandatory Chinese corporate tax software is far more extensive than at first thought, according to researchers from Trustwave.

The vendor warned last month that it discovered several clients had unwittingly installed the GoldenSpy backdoor after agreeing to download the Intelligent Tax software product, produced by Aisino Corporation.

China’s banks require all companies to download software from either Aisino or Baiwang to comply with its Golden Tax VAT scheme, indicating that the malware campaign has either direct sponsorship from the government, or is happening with its blessing.

Soon after Trustwave reported on the powerful GoldenSpy backdoor, which it said could not be removed, an uninstaller appeared out of the blue which directly negates the threat.

Now the vendor has discovered a second piece of malware, dubbed GoldenHelper, which dates back to before GoldenSpy. It’s found in the Golden Tax Invoicing Software (Baiwang edition), which is digitally signed by a subsidiary of Aisino, Nou Nou Technologies.

The malware, while functionally different to GoldenSpy, has a similar delivery mechanism and it utilises three DLL files to: interface with the Golden Tax software; bypass Windows security and escalate privileges; and download and execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges.

It also uses multiple techniques to hide its presence and activity, including randomization of name whilst in transit and of file system location, timestomping, IP-based Domain Generation Algorithm (DGA), and UAC bypass and privilege escalation.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/more-malware-hidden/

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How North Korea’s army of hackers stole $2bn through cyber bank heists

Towards the end of last year, a series of seemingly innocuous LinkedIn messages were sent to employees of aerospace and military companies in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Curious engineers who replied to the job offers were sent further messages urging them to download files to find out more about the opportunities.

The file contained a list of available jobs and the salaries for each role. While recipients read through the list of highly paid positions, their computers were silently taken over by hackers who implanted software that allowed them to peer through all of their files and emails.

The lucrative jobs weren’t real, and neither were the recruiters. Instead the messages were sent by Lazarus, a notorious North Korean hacking group, which in 2014 had managed to break into the servers of Sony Pictures and in 2017 brought parts of the NHS to a standstill during the WannaCry ransomware attack.

Once the hackers had gained access to their target’s computer, the fake LinkedIn profiles vanished.

One hacker then used his access to a victim’s email account to find an outstanding invoice. He sent an email to another business demanding payment, but asked for the money to be sent to a new bank account controlled by the hacking group.

This cyber attack is a typical example of North Korea’s unique approach to hacking. As well as attacks to make political statements, the country uses its legions of hackers to generate billions of dollars for the regime through a series of audacious cyber bank heists.

A United Nations report published last year estimated that North Korean hackers have stolen more than $2bn (£1.5bn) and said the money was being funneled into the regime’s missile development programmes.

Cut off from almost all of the world’s financial systems, North Korea has for years relied on a series of illegal activities to bolster its income. As well as thriving drug trafficking and counterfeiting schemes, the regime has also funded hundreds of its own digital bank heists.

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/07/12/north-koreas-army-hackers-stole-2bn-cyber-bank-heists/

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UK ‘on alert for China cyber attack’ in retaliation for Hong Kong

The government must be alert to potential cyber attacks from countries such as China, ministers have said as tensions increase between London and Beijing.

Last month relations between the UK and China soured after Boris Johnson pledged to offer refuge to millions of Hong Kong citizens if the country implements its planned national security law. The government is also reported to have ‘changed its view’ on plans for Chinese tech company Huawei to play a role in developing the UK’s 5G network due to growing unease over security risks.

Now senior sources claim the worsening ties could see Britain be targeted by Chinese-backed hackers in a so-called ‘cyber 9/11’. This could damage computer networks, cause power and phone blackouts and bring hospitals, government and businesses to a standstill.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre says it is not ‘expecting’ a rise in attacks. However, one senior minister said the threat was ‘obviously part of conversations’, but added that ‘all risk must be looked at in the round’.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/12/ministers-fear-cyber-attack-uk-relations-worsen-china-12978970/

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Ransomware warning: Now attacks are stealing data as well as encrypting it

There's now an increasing chance of getting your data stolen, in addition to your network being encrypted, when you are hit with a ransomware attack – which means falling victim to this kind of malware is now even more dangerous.

The prospect of being locked out of the network by cyber criminals is damaging enough, but by leaking stolen data, hackers are creating additional problems. Crooks use the stolen data as leverage, effectively trying to bully organisations who've become infected with ransomware into paying up – rather than trying to restore the network themselves – on the basis that if no ransom is paid, private information will be leaked.

Ransomware groups like those behind Maze and Sodinokibi have already shown they'll go ahead and publish private information if they're not paid and now the tactic is becoming increasingly common, with over one in ten attacks now coming with blackmail in addition to extortion.

Organisations in the legal, healthcare and financial sectors are among the most targeted by these campaigns, based on the assumption that they hold the most sensitive data.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-warning-now-attacks-are-stealing-data-as-well-as-encrypting-it/

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Stop Ignoring Two-Factor Authentication Just Because You’re Lazy

A large number of people and businesses are missing out on a simple, effective online security solution by ignoring two-factor authentication (2FA), also called multi-factor authentication (MFA). The only requirement is to enter a code or press a button on a separate device from the one being used, yet for many, that effort seems too great. Laziness literally becomes the weakest point in their data protection systems.

If this sounds familiar, it’s time to change, as 2FA strengthens the security of all-important apps, including those where you share financial details such as banking and shopping apps – but to work, it has to be used.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/authentication-lazy/

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Russian hackers ‘try to steal vaccine research’ in cyber attack on labs

Hackers linked to Russian intelligence agencies are targeting British scientists seeking to develop a coronavirus vaccine, spooks in the US, UK and Canada have warned.

In a joint statement Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the US National Security Agency and the Canadian Communication Security Establishment, said that the APT29 hacking group, also known as the ‘Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear’ has been hitting medical organisations and universities with cyber attacks which they believe have had the Kremlin’s blessing.

These attacks are part of a global campaign to steal research secrets of research. While the institutions targeted have not been revealed, the UK is home to two of the world’s leading coronavirus vaccine development programmes based at Oxford University and Imperial College London.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/16/russian-hackers-launch-cyber-attack-uk-vaccine-researchers-12998769/

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Counterfeit Cisco switches raise network security alarms

In a disconcerting event for IT security professionals, counterfeit versions of Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series switches were discovered on an unnamed business network, and the fake gear was found to be designed to circumvent typical authentication procedures, according to a report.

researcher say their investigators found that while the counterfeit Cisco 2960-X units did not have any backdoor-like features, they did employ various measures to fool security controls. For example, one of the units exploited what F-Secure believes to be a previously undiscovered software vulnerability to undermine secure boot processes that provide protection against firmware tampering.

Read more: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3566705/counterfeit-cisco-switches-raise-network-security-alarms.html

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Vulnerability in Windows DNS servers

Microsoft has reported a critical vulnerability in Windows DNS server under CVE-2020-1350.

Bad news: The vulnerability scored 10 on the CVSS scale, which means it’s critical. Good news: Cyber criminals can exploit it only if the system is running in DNS server mode; in other words, the number of potentially vulnerable computers is relatively small. Moreover, the company has already released patches and a workaround.

The vulnerability lets a malefactor force DNS servers running Windows Server to execute malicious code remotely. In other words, the vulnerability belongs to the RCE class. To exploit CVE-2020-1350, one just has to send a specially generated request to the DNS server.

Installing the Microsoft patch modifies the method of handling requests by DNS servers. The patch is available for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server version 1903, Windows Server version 1909, and Windows Server version 2004.

Read more here: https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/cve-2020-1350-dns-rce/36366/

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Threat actors are scanning the Internet for Citrix systems affected by the recently disclosed vulnerabilities.

This week Citrix has addressed 11 vulnerabilities affecting the ADC, Gateway, and SD-WAN WANOP networking products. The vulnerabilities could be exploited by attackers for local privilege escalation, to trigger a DoS condition, to bypass authorization, to get code injection, and to launch XSS attacks.

Some of the addressed flaws could be exploited only if the attackers have access to the targeted system and request user interaction, or other conditions must be verified. For this reason, Citrix believes the flaws are less likely to be exploited.

Now, hackers are scanning the web for systems affected by the recently disclosed Citrix vulnerabilities.

Read more here: https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/105776/hacking/vulnerable-citrix-systems-scan.html

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Iranian Spies Accidentally Leaked Videos of Themselves Hacking

A security team obtained five hours of Iranian state actor group APT35 hacking operations, showing exactly how the group steals data from email accounts—and who it’s targeting.

Normally security researchers need to painstakingly piece together the blow-by-blow of a state-sponsored hacking operation, they're usually following a thin trail of malicious code samples, network logs, and connections to faraway servers. That detective work gets significantly easier when hackers record what they’re doing and upload the video to an unprotected server on the open internet. Which is precisely what a group of Iranian hackers may have unwittingly done.

Read more here: https://www.wired.com/story/iran-apt35-hacking-video/

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Amazon-Themed Phishing Campaigns Swim Past Security Checks

A pair of recent campaigns aim to lift credentials and other personal information under the guise of Amazon package-delivery notices.

Amazon in the era of COVID-19 has become a staple of many people’s lives, as they order everything from sourdough starter to exercise equipment. Cybercrooks have latched onto the delivery behemoth as a lure for phishing emails, knowing that plenty of legitimate delivery messages are also making it into people’s inboxes and offering cover.

Researchers recently spotted a pair of savvy campaigns leveraging Amazon: A credential-phishing attempt using a purported Amazon delivery order failure notice; and a voice phishing (vishing) attempt also using Amazon delivery order. Both are examples of the ever-more sophisticated phishing efforts being developed by fraudsters that are aimed at gaming traditional email security efforts, researchers said.

Read more here: https://threatpost.com/amazon-phishing-campaigns-security-checks/157495/

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Malicious Router Log-Ins Soar Tenfold in Botnet Battle

Home users are being urged to ensure their routers are adequately protected after experts revealed a tenfold spike in brute force log-in attempts.

According to the latest research from Trend Micro “Worm War: The Botnet Battle for IoT Territory”, describes a threat landscape in which rival cyber-criminals are competing against each other in a race to compromise as many devices as possible, to conscript into botnets.

The vendor claimed that automated log-in attempts against routers rose from 23 million in September to nearly 249 million attempts in December 2019. As recently as March this year, it detected almost 194 million brute force logins.

The report also revealed an uptick in routers attempting to open telnet sessions with other devices. As telnet is unencrypted it’s a favorite way for hackers or their botnets to sniff user credentials and therefore infect more routers or IoT devices.

Nearly 16,000 devices attempted to open telnet sessions with other IoT devices in a single week in mid-March, according to the data.

The report warned that these mass compromises could cause serious disruption for home networks at a time when many global users are being forced to work and study from home.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malicious-router-logins-soar/

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

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

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

Maintaining Good Cyber Hygiene during the Coronavirus Crisis - Guernsey Press 24 March 2020

With more of us working from home in the Coronavirus crisis, there is evidence of increasing attacks by cyber criminals who are exploiting those unaware of the risks, according to Tony Cleal, Director of Guernsey’s Black Arrow Cyber Consulting

Businesses are making significant changes in response to the virus, including asking employees to work from home for the first time. These new practices have often been implemented as quickly as possible, with a priority on keeping the business operations going.

At the same time, the cyber and information security consultants at Black Arrow are seeing reports from specialist intelligence and the wider media which show cyber criminals are feasting on the current chaos as they target employees and companies who let their guard down.

‘Cyber criminals usually target people, not technology, to get into their employer’s systems. Companies need to ensure they consider all the basic risks to prevent this, and implement layers of defence that start with the user. As an analogy, the easiest way for a criminal to get into someone’s home is to convince the resident to let them in, for example by pretending to repair an emergency gas leak. It doesn’t matter how good the window locks are, or how sophisticated the burglar alarm is; all they need to do is knock on the front door and be convincing. Thousands of coronavirus scam and malware sites are being created on a daily basis, and we see cyber criminals taking advantage of the crisis to get access to the organisation’s money and information’.

That means companies and employees need to maintain good cyber hygiene when working from home, just as they do in the office. People behave differently at home, and are often less alert to information security risks than in the office.

‘We have seen Guernsey employees posting pictures on Facebook to show their new desk at home, but these pictures risk showing confidential documents on the table and screen. This is further evidence that cyber security is a business-wide risk that needs the aligned strength of people and culture, as well as business operations and technology’.

Some smaller businesses consider cyber security to be more relevant for larger organisations.

‘Weakened defences will always be exploited, whether by biological viruses or malicious actors. 43% of cyber attacks hit smaller businesses, and a breach now on top of everything else would likely be catastrophic. Luckily, there are things you can do to protect yourself, even with limited resources; we can help ensure that the scarce money is spent wisely by addressing cyber security as a business-wide risk owned by the business leadership.’

Tony concluded: ‘Now more than ever, because of the disruption and changes to business practices, companies need to take appropriate steps to protect themselves against cyber-attacks. We are committed to helping improve cyber hygiene in Guernsey. This started when I used my experience in British Intelligence to lead the review of cyber security across the Bailiwick for the GFSC, which informed the forthcoming new standards. Now at Black Arrow we are reducing our prices during this crisis, to make cyber hygiene easier for all organisations; of course, charities and non-profits can continue to contact us for help free of charge.’

https://guernseypress.com/news/2020/03/24/maintaining-good-cyber-hygiene/

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing for 20 March 2020 – Working from home brings security challenges, COVID-19 scams and malware, VPNs and MFA, broadband strain, critical patches

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

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Working from Home: COVID-19’s Constellation of Security Challenges

Organisations are sending employees and students home to work and learn — but implementing the plan opens the door to more attacks, IT headaches and brand-new security challenges.

As the threat of coronavirus continues to spread, businesses are sending employees home to work remotely, and students are moving to online classes. But with the social distancing comes a new threat – a cyber-related one.

As organisations rush to shift their businesses and classes online, cybercriminals are ramping up their tactics to take advantage of those who may have inadequate or naive security postures as a result. Given the challenges in securing work- and learn-from-home environments, the attack surface represents an attractive opportunity for threat actors

Read more here: https://threatpost.com/working-from-home-covid-19s-constellation-of-security-challenges/153720/

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Thousands of COVID-19 scam and malware sites are being created on a daily basis

Malware authors and fraudsters aren't letting a tragedy go to waste.

In the midst of a global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, hackers are not letting a disaster go to waste and have now automated their coronavirus-related scams to industrial levels.

According to multiple reports, cybercriminals are now creating and putting out thousands of coronavirus-related websites on a daily basis.

Most of these sites are being used to host phishing attacks, distribute malware-laced files, or for financial fraud, for tricking users into paying for fake COVID-19 cures, supplements, or vaccines.

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/thousands-of-covid-19-scam-and-malware-sites-are-being-created-on-a-daily-basis/

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EU warns of broadband strain as millions work from home

The EU has called on streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube to limit their services in order to prevent the continent’s broadband networks from crashing as tens of millions of people start working from home. 

Until now, telecoms companies have been bullish that internet infrastructure can withstand the drastic change in online behaviour brought about by the coronavirus outbreak. 

But on Wednesday evening, Thierry Breton, one of the European commissioners in charge of digital policy, said streaming platforms and telecoms companies had a “joint responsibility to take steps to ensure the smooth functioning of the internet” during the crisis.

Read more on the FT here: https://www.ft.com/content/b4ab03db-de1f-4f98-bcc2-b09007427e1b

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COVID-19: With everyone working from home, VPN security has now become paramount

With most employees working from home amid today's COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, enterprise VPN servers have now become paramount to a company's backbone, and their security and availability must be the focus going forward for IT teams.

It is critical that the VPN service is patched and up to date because there will be more scanning against these services.

It is also critical that multi factor authentication (MFA or 2FA) is used to protect connections over VPN.

More: https://www.zdnet.com/article/covid-19-with-everyone-working-from-home-vpn-security-has-now-become-paramount/

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What do you not want right now? A bunch of Cisco SD-WAN, Webex vulnerabilities? Here are a bunch of them

Cisco has issued a series of security updates for its SD-WAN and Webex software, just when they're most needed.

SD-WAN is host to five vulnerabilities ranging from privilege escalation to remote code injection.

Meanwhile, the Webex video-conferencing software also needs some sorting out right when everyone's working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The patch bundle includes a fix for Cisco Webex Network Recording Player for Microsoft Windows and Cisco Webex Player for Microsoft Windows. A hacker can send a suitably crafted file in either the Advanced Recording Format (ARF) or the Webex Recording Format (WRF), and if the recipient clicks on it on a vulnerable computer, they get pwned. iOS users also need to patch an information-disclosure bug.

The other fixes mention SQL injection and cross-site scripting flaws.

More on The Register here: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/19/cisco_sdwan_bugs/

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Windows 10 or Mac user? Patch Adobe Reader and Acrobat now to fix 9 critical security flaws

Adobe has released an important security update for its popular PDF products, Adobe Acrobat and Reader after missing its usual release aligned with Microsoft Patch Tuesday.

The company has released an update for the PDF software for Windows and macOS machines. The update addresses nine critical flaws and four vulnerabilities rated as important.

The critical flaws include an out-of-bounds write, a stack-based overflow flaw, a use-after-free, buffer overflow, and memory corruption bug.

All the critical flaws allow for arbitrary code execution, meaning attackers could use them to rig a PDF to install malware on a computer running a vulnerable version of the software.

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-or-mac-user-patch-adobe-reader-and-acrobat-now-to-fix-9-critical-security-flaws/

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WordPress and Apache Struts account for 55% of all weaponized vulnerabilities

Comprehensive study looks at the most attacked web technologies of the last decade.

A study that analysed all the vulnerability disclosures between 2010 and 2019 found that around 55% of all the security bugs that have been weaponized and exploited in the wild were for two major application frameworks, namely WordPress and Apache Struts.

The Drupal content management system ranked third, followed by Ruby on Rails and Laravel, according to a report published this week.

In terms of programming languages, vulnerabilities in PHP and Java apps were the most weaponized bugs of the last decade.

Read the full article here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-and-apache-struts-account-for-55-of-all-weaponized-vulnerabilities/

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Trickbot malware adds new feature to target telecoms, universities and finance companies

Researchers uncover a Trickbot campaign with new abilities that looks like it's being used in an effort to steal intellectual property, financial data - and potentially for espionage.

The new form of the infamous Trickbot malware is using never-before-seen behaviour in attacks targeting telecommunications providers, universities and financial services in a campaign that looks to be going after intellectual property and financial data.

Trickbot has been in operation since 2016 and, while it started life as a banking trojan, the modular nature of the malware means it can be easily re-purposed for other means, which has led to it becoming one of the most advanced and capable forms of malware attack delivery in the world today.

And now it has been updated with yet another new capability, with a module that uses brute force attacks against targets mostly in telecoms, education, and financial services in the US and Hong Kong. These targets are pre-selected based on IP addresses, indicating that the attackers are going after them specifically.

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/trickbot-malware-adds-new-feature-to-target-telecoms-universities-and-finance-companies/

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Most organizations have yet to fix CVE-2020-0688 Microsoft Exchange flaw

Organisations are delaying in patching Microsoft Exchange Server flaw (CVE-2020-0688) that Microsoft fixed with February 2020 Patch Day updates.

The CVE-2020-0688 flaw resides in the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) component, the root cause of the problem is that Exchange servers fail to properly create unique keys at install time.

A remote, authenticated attacker could exploit the CVE-2020-0688 vulnerability to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges on a server and take full control.

More here: https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/99752/hacking/companies-cve-2020-0688-fixed.html

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Two Trend Micro zero-days exploited in the wild by hackers

Hackers tried to exploit two zero-days in Trend Micro antivirus products, the company said in a security alert this week.

The Japanese antivirus maker has released patches on Monday to address the two zero-days, along with three other similarly critical issues (although, not exploited in the wild).

According to the alert, the two zero-days impact the company's Apex One and OfficeScan XG enterprise security products.

Trend Micro did not release any details about the attacks.

These two zero-days mark the second and third Trend Micro antivirus bugs exploited in the wild in the last year.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/two-trend-micro-zero-days-exploited-in-the-wild-by-hackers/

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Most ransomware attacks take place during the night or over the weekend

27% of all ransomware attacks take place during the weekend, 49% after working hours during weekdays

The vast majority of ransomware attacks targeting the enterprise sector occur outside normal working hours, during the night or over the weekend.

According to a report published this week, 76% of all ransomware infections in the enterprise sector occur outside working hours, with 49% taking place during night-time over the weekdays, and 27% taking place over the weekend.

The numbers were compiled from dozens of ransomware incident response investigations from 2017 to 2019.

The reason why attackers are choosing to trigger the ransomware encryption process during the night or weekend is because most companies don't have IT staff working those shifts, and if they do, they are most likely short-handed.

If a ransomware attack does trigger a security alert within the company, then there would be nobody to react right away and shut down a network, or the short-handed staff would have a hard time figuring what's actually happening before the ransomware encryption process ends and the company's network is down & ransomed.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/most-ransomware-attacks-take-place-during-the-night-or-the-weekend/

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

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

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

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing for 14 February 2020 – Microsoft patches 99 vulns, Nedbank 1.7m customer breach, PC malware spreads via WiFi, Cybercrime losses triple

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

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Microsoft Patch Tuesday fixes IE zero‑day and 98 other flaws

This month’s Patch Tuesday fell this week and it came with fixes for no fewer than 99 security vulnerabilities in Windows and other Microsoft software.

Twelve flaws have received the highest severity ranking of “critical”, while 5 security holes are listed as publicly known at the time of release.

In fact, one vulnerability ticks both boxes – an actively exploited zero-day in Internet Explorer (IE). Microsoft disclosed this flaw, indexed as CVE-2020-0674, three weeks ago but didn’t roll out a patch until now. Successful exploitation of this remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability enables remote attackers to run code of their choice on the vulnerable system.

Another 16 RCE holes are being plugged as part of this month’s bundle of security patches. This includes two severe vulnerabilities in the Windows Remote Desktop Client, CVE-2020-0681 and CVE-2020-0734, where exploitation is seen as likely by Microsoft.

Updates have been released for various flavours of Windows, as well as for Office, Edge, Exchange Server, SQL Server and a few more products. The number of fixes this month is unusually high; for example, last month’s Patch Tuesday rollout fixed 49 vulnerabilities.

Read more here: https://www.welivesecurity.com/2020/02/12/microsoft-patch-tuesday-fixes-99-vulnerabilities-ie-zero-day/

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Nedbank says 1.7 million customers impacted by breach at third-party provider

Nedbank, one of the biggest banks in the South Africa region, has disclosed a security incident yesterday that impacted the personal details of 1.7 million users.

The bank says the breach occurred at Computer Facilities (Pty) Ltd, a South African company the bank was using to send out marketing and promotional campaigns.

In a security notice posted on its website, Nedbank said there was a vulnerability in the third-party provider's systems that allowed an attacker to infiltrate its systems.

The data of 1.7 million past and current customers is believed to have been affected. Details stored on the contractor's systems included things like names, ID numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

The bank began notifying customers about the breach yesterday

More information here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/nedbank-says-1-7-million-customers-impacted-by-breach-at-third-party-provider/

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Why you can’t bank on backups to fight ransomware anymore

Ransomware operators stealing data before they encrypt means backups are not enough.

The belief that no personally identifying information gets breached in ransomware attacks is common among victims of ransomware—and that's partially because ransomware operators had previously avoided claiming they had access to victims' data in order to maintain the "trust" required to extract a payment. Cyber insurance has made paying out an attractive option in cases where there's no need for an organisation to reveal a breach, so the economics had favoured ransomware attackers who provided good "customer service" and gave (usually believable) assurances that no data had been taken off the victims' networks.

Unfortunately, that sort of model is being blown up by the Maze and Sodinokibi (REvil) ransomware rings, which have adopted a model of using stolen data as leverage to ensure customers will make a payment. Even in cases where a victim can relatively quickly recover from a ransomware attack, they still will face demands for payment in order to avoid the publication or sale of information stolen by the attackers before the ransomware was triggered.

Read more here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/02/why-you-cant-bank-on-backups-to-fight-ransomware-anymore/

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Newly discovered PC malware version spreads through Wi-Fi networks

A new version of a highly sophisticated Trojan that can spread via Wifi networks has been discovered. The Emotet Trojan that also acts as a loader for other malware has found to now take advantage of the wlanAPI interface to spread to all PCs on a network through the Wi-fi. The Trojan was previously known to spread only through spam emails and infected networks.

The ability of this Trojan to brute force its way into networks through Wi-fi from the infected PC has supposedly gone undetected for at least two years. When the malicious software enters into a system, it begins listing and profiling wireless networks using the wlanAPI.dll calls so that it can spread to any networks that are accessible. This is because the wlanAPI.dll calls are used by Native Wi-Fi to manage wireless network profiles and wireless network connections.

Read more here: https://www.neowin.net/news/newly-discovered-pc-malware-version-spreads-through-wi-fi-networks/

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Why the ransom is only a fraction of the cost of a ransomware attack

The expense of dealing with a ransomware attack is far in excess of what was previously thought, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Estimate for the total ransom payments demanded in 2019 was $25 billion. But this is only one seventh of the actual cost to the companies affected, which could be as much as $170 billion, according to estimates. Most of these costs arise from downtime and are associated with dealing with the attack, rather than the ransom itself, according to the report.

Read more here: https://decrypt.co/19084/why-ransom-fraction-cost-ransomware-attack

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5 Critical Zero-day Vulnerabilities Affected Tens of Millions of Cisco Switches, Routers, IP Phones and Cameras

Researchers discovered 5 critical zero-day vulnerabilities (dubbed CDPwn)  in Cisco Discovery Protocol that are used in multiple Cisco products such as Routers, Switches, IP phones, Cameras and more.

Cisco Discovery Protocol is also known as CDP is the Cisco proprietary Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) network protocol and is virtually implemented in Cisco products including switches, routers, IP phones, and cameras to discover the information about the Cisco equipment.

Four of the five vulnerabilities are remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities that affected 10 of millions of users, and it allows attackers to completely take over the vulnerable devices without any sort of user interaction.

One vulnerability cause Denial of Service in Cisco FXOS, IOS XR and NX-OS Software Cisco Discovery Protocol implemented target routers, and in turn, completely disrupt target networks.

Read more here: https://gbhackers.com/zero-day-vulnerability-affected-cisco-cdp-devices/

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Average tenure of a CISO is just 26 months due to high stress and burnout

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs, or CSOs) across the industry are reporting high levels of stress.

Many say the heightened stress levels has led to mental and physical health issues, relationship problems, medication and alcohol abuse, and in some cases, an eventual burnout, resulting in an average 26-month tenure before CISOs find new employment.

The numbers, reported by Nominet, represent a growing issue that's been commonly acknowledged, but mostly ignored across the information security (infosec) community, but one that is slowly starting to rear its ugly head as once-ignored infosec roles are becoming more prominent inside today's companies.

Today, many companies are adopting CISO roles. The constant threat of hacks, ransomware, phishing, and online scams makes establishing a cyber-security department in any company a unavoidable decision.

However, most companies are not ready to embed CISOs into their company culture and day-to-day operations.

Today, CISO jobs come with low budgets, long working hours, a lack of power on executive boards, a diminishing pool of trained professionals they can hire, but also a constant stress of not having done enough to secure the company's infrastructure against cyber-attacks, continuous pressure due to newly arising threats, and little thanks for the good work done, but all the blame if everything goes wrong.

Across the years, many CISOs have often pointed out the problems with their jobs and the stress and damage they inflict. However, there has been no conclusive study to support broad assertations.

Read the full article here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/average-tenure-of-a-ciso-is-just-26-months-due-to-high-stress-and-burnout/

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Ex-GCHQ spy chief says scammers are running rings around Google

Bogus investment and savings adverts banned by Google are reappearing at the top of its search results because con artists can easily circumnavigate the internet giant’s systems, according to a former spy.

Scammers are able to dupe the world’s most powerful search engine simply by making slight alterations to the names of their fake firms.

For example, one website, info.bond-finder.co.uk, appeared at the top of Google’s search results when consumers typed in “best fixed rate Isa”. But the website had the same contact details as another site, bonds-finder.com, which was identified by the financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as a likely scam in January and deleted by Google.

Google launched an investigation after it was alerted to the matter by this newspaper and, after a connection between the two sites was confirmed, the advert was removed.

The company has been in talks with the FCA for almost a year about how to solve the problem of unregulated investment firms and fraudsters duping consumers by paying to appear first in search results through Google’s Ads service.

Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/ex-gchq-spy-chief-says-scammers-running-rings-around-google/

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FBI: Cybercrime losses tripled over the last 5 years

In 2019, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received more than 467,000 cybercrime complaints that caused an estimated US$3.5 billion in losses, according to the Bureau’s annual 2019 Internet Crime Report (IC3). Last year saw both the highest number of complaints and the highest dollar losses on record; in 2015, for example, annual losses totaled ‘only’ US$1.1 billion.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud remains the costliest type of fraud on the list, accounting for more than half of the total losses and costing businesses almost US$1.8 billion. These schemes are constantly evolving, too. Back in 2013, scammers would typically hack or spoof the email account of a CEO or CFO to request a fraudulent transfer of funds to accounts under their control. Over the years the tactics have evolved to also include compromising personal or vendor emails as well as spoofing lawyers’ email accounts.

Payroll diversion emerged as a popular form of BEC fraud last year. Scammers target HR and payroll departments by acting as employees who want to update their direct deposit information for the current payment period. The updated information then usually directs the funds to a pre-paid card account.

Elder fraud is also an increasingly pressing issue. With 68,013 victims, this type of fraud had the highest number of victims; under-twenties claimed “just” 10,724 victims. The number of victims may not reflect the true extent of the problem since providing the age range is voluntary.

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

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

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

Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing for 07 February 2020 – Corononavirus phishing, financial malware keylogger trick, remote workers, Cisco critical vulns, Mirai botnet holds up

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

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Coronavirus Scams: Prepare for Phishing Emails, Fake Alerts and Cyberthreats

As new global stories emerge by the hour on the coronavirus, bad actors are (again) trying to confuse online updates with phishing scams and destructive malware. Here’s why action is required now.

Wherever you turn for news coverage online, coronavirus alarm bells are ringing louder.

But users should not trust all of those bells, as fake news, phishing scams and even malicious malware is actively being distributed under the coronavirus umbrella.  

Sadly, a perfect storm may be brewing. As government officials and health experts appeal louder for calm, the public is actually getting more worried and searching the Internet for answers.

Read the original article here: https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/coronavirus-scams-prepare-for-a-deluge-of-phishing-emails-fake-alerts-and-cyberthreats.html

Metamorfo Returns with Keylogger Trick to Target Financial Firms

The malware uses a tactic to force victims to retype passwords into their systems – which it tracks via a keylogger.

Researchers have discovered a recent spate of phishing emails spreading a new variant of Metamorfo, a financial malware known for targeting Brazilian companies. Now, however, it’s expanding its geographic range and adding a new technique.

Metamorfo was first discovered in April 2018, in various campaigns that share key commonalities (like the use of “spray and pray” spam tactics). These campaigns however have small, “morphing” differences — which is the meaning behind its name.

This newest variant, which targets payment-card data and credentials at financial institutions with Windows platforms, packs a new trick up its sleeve. Once executed, the malware kills the auto-suggest data entry fields in browsers, forcing victims to write out their passwords – which it then tracks via a keylogger.

Read more here: https://threatpost.com/metamorfo-variant-keylogger-financial/152640/

What's in your network? Shadow IT and shadow IoT challenge technology sensibilities

A couple of years ago, a survey found most CIOs thought they had roughly 30 to 40 apps running within their enterprises, but researchers at Symantec estimated that the average enterprise actually had at least 1,516 applications -- a number that has doubled over a three-year period.

It's not that CIOs are naive. It's just that shadow IT is a difficult thing to measure, since employees pull down apps outside the official channels, and off budget sheets. To some degree, it's even purposely overlooked, condoned, or even encouraged, as employees need the right tools to do their jobs, and IT can't always be there.

Now, it appears CIOs are battling shadow IT on two fronts. There's the user-initiated apps and clouds, and there's something more insidious -- "shadow IoT."

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/shadow-it-and-now-shadow-iot-challenge-technology-leaders/

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Remote workers prime targets for cyber attacks

According to a study into the future of work, more than half of CIOs expect a rise in employees working remotely, while 97% say that soon their workforce will be widely dispersed across geographies and time zones. Businesses are being forced to adapt to the rising demand for a dynamic working environment, which can manifest as anything from workers bringing their own devices to work to employees using corporate machines at home as part of a flexible work schedule. However, this increases the security burden through the need for better identity management.

Read the full article here: https://www.techradar.com/news/remote-workers-prime-targets-for-cyber-attacks

Critical Cisco vulnerabilities put millions of network devices at risk

Five different critical vulnerabilities, collectively known as CPDwn, have been discovered in Cisco’s Discovery Protocol, potentially putting tens of millions of enterprise network devices such as desk phones, cameras, and network switches, at risk.

Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is a level 2 protocol that is used to discover information about Cisco equipment that are directly connected nearby.

According to researchers, this flaw could allow hackers to control the products deep within the network without any human intervention. This could be done remotely by just sending a malicious CDP packet to the target device.

Read more: https://www.techradar.com/news/critical-cisco-vulnerabilities-put-millions-of-network-devices-at-risk

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This latest phishing scam is spreading fake invoices loaded with malware - campaigns are launched against financial institutions in the US and UK.

A notorious malware campaign is targeting banks and financial institutions in the US and the UK with cyberattacks that are not only destructive in their own right, but could also be used as the basis for future intrusions by other hackers.

Emotet started life as a banking trojan, but has also evolved into a botnet, with its criminal operators leasing out its capabilities to those who want to distribute their own malware to compromise machines.

Such is the power of Emotet that at one point last year it accounted for almost two-thirds of malicious payloads delivered in phishing attacks.

Emotet activity appeared to decline during December, but it sprung back to life in January – and it currently shows no signs of slowing down as researchers have detailed yet another campaign.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-latest-phishing-scam-is-spreading-fake-invoices-loaded-with-malware/

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90% of UK Data Breaches Due to Human Error in 2019

Human error caused 90% of cyber data breaches in 2019, according to a CybSafe analysis of data from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

According to the cybersecurity awareness and data analysis firm, nine out of 10 of the 2376 cyber-breaches reported to the ICO last year were caused by mistakes made by end-users. This marked an increase from the previous two years, when respectively, 61% and 87% of cyber-breaches were ascribed to user error.

CybSafe cited phishing as the primary cause of breaches in 2019, accounting for 45% of all reports to the ICO. ‘Unauthorized access’ was the next most common cause of cyber-breaches in 2019, with reports relating to malware or ransomware, hardware/software misconfiguration and brute force password attacks also noted.

Read the full article here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/90-data-breaches-human-error/

Police Warning: Cyber Criminals Are Using Cleaners to Hack Your Business

Criminal gangs are planting “sleepers” in cleaning companies so that they can physically access IT infrastructure, a senior police officer with responsibility for cyber crime has warned, urging businesses to bolster their physical security processes in the face of the growing threat.

Shelton Newsham, who manages the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Cyber Crime Team, told an audience at the SINET security event that he was seeing a “much larger increase in physical breaches” as cyber crime groups diversify how they attack and move laterally inside institutions.

Read more here: https://www.cbronline.com/cybersecurity/threats/cyber-criminals-cleaners/

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The Mirai IoT botnet holds strong in 2020

The Mirai botnet has been a constant IoT security threat since it emerged in fall 2016. The subsequent release of its source code only extended Mirai's reach and is one of the many reasons it has been labelled the "king of IoT malware."

Mirai continues to be successful for a well-known reason: Its targets are IoT devices with hardcoded credentials found in a simple web search. Such devices listen for inbound telnet access on certain ports and have backdoors through which Mirai can enter. Once a device is subsumed in the botnet it immediately scans for other victims.

Read the original article here: https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/feature/The-Mirai-IoT-botnet-holds-strong-in-2020

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Governments Are Soft Targets for Cyber-criminals

New research has found that governments are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks than other organisations.

A report on the security of municipal governments and agencies identified three key factors that made governments particularly soft targets. Researchers found that governments had larger attack surfaces, lower usage rates of even the most basic email authentication schemes, and much higher rates of internal hosting than other organisations.

Government attack surfaces, consisting of open ports and applications, were found to be on average 33% larger than those risked by other organisations.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/governments-are-soft-targets-for/

BYO Hardware Driver: New Ransomware Attacks Kernel Memory and brings its own vulnerability

A ransomware strain dubbed “RobbinHood” is using a vulnerability in a “legitimate” and signed hardware driver to delete security products from targeted computers before encrypting users files, according to security researchers.

The ransomware exploits a known vulnerability in the driver from Taiwan’s GIGABYTE to subvert a setting in kernel memory in Windows 10, 8 and 7, meaning it “brings its own vulnerability” and can attack otherwise patched systems.

Read more here: https://www.cbronline.com/cybersecurity/threats/robbinhood-ransomware-gigabyte-driver/

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

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

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

Week in review 19 January 2020 – hacker leaks IoT passwords, WordPress plugin vulns, Oracle record patch haul, 25% of users fall for phishing, quarter of PCs vulnerable now Windows 7 unsupported

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

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Hacker leaks passwords for more than 500,000 servers, routers, and IoT devices

A hacker has published this week a massive list of Telnet credentials for more than 515,000 servers, home routers, and IoT (Internet of Things) "smart" devices.

The list, which was published on a popular hacking forum, includes each device's IP address, along with a username and password for the Telnet service, a remote access protocol that can be used to control devices over the internet.

According to experts, and a statement from the leaker himself, the list was compiled by scanning the entire internet for devices that were exposing their Telnet port. The hacker than tried using (1) factory-set default usernames and passwords, or (2) custom, but easy-to-guess password combinations.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/hacker-leaks-passwords-for-more-than-500000-servers-routers-and-iot-devices/

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Equifax Breach Settlement Could Cost Firm Billions

Equifax could end up paying as much as $9.5bn following a data breach settlement branded one of the largest in history by its presiding judge.

The credit reporting giant suffered a major cyber-attack in 2017 after hackers exploited an unpatched Apache Struts vulnerability, compromising highly sensitive personal and financial information on around 148 million customers.

Over two-fifths (44%) of the population of the US are thought to have been affected.

This week, a court in Georgia finally approved a settlement in the long-running class action case that followed the breach, which will require Equifax to pay $380.5m, plus potentially an extra $125m, to satisfy claims of out-of-pocket losses.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/equifax-breach-settlement-could/

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WordPress plugin vulnerability can be exploited for total website takeover

A WordPress plugin has been found to contain "easily exploitable" security issues that can be exploited to completely take over vulnerable websites.

The plugin at the heart of the matter, WP Database Reset, is used to reset databases -- either fully or based on specific tables -- without the need to go through the standard WordPress installation process.

According to the WordPress library, the plugin is active on over 80,000 websites.

The two severe vulnerabilities were found on January 7 and either of the vulnerabilities can be used to force a full website reset or takeover.

Tracked as CVE-2020-7048, the first critical security flaw has been issued a CVSS score of 9.1. As none of the database reset functions were secured through any checks or security nonces, any user was able to reset any database tables they wished without authentication.

More here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-plugin-vulnerability-can-be-exploited-for-full-website-hijacking/

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Oracle Issues Record Critical Patch Update cycle with 334 Patches

Oracle has hit an all-time record for number of security fixes issued in a critical patch update (CPU), providing sysadmins with over 330 in its first quarterly release of the decade.

The enterprise software giant issued 334 patches in total across more than 90 products this week. As such, January 2020 easily beats the previous largest CPU, consisting of 308 fixes in July 2017.

Oracle strongly urged firms to apply the patches as soon as possible, claiming that attacks have had success in compromising customers that failed to update their systems promptly.

Among the products affected by this quarter’s CPU are popular platforms including: Oracle Database Server, which featured 12 new patches including three remotely exploitable; Oracle Communications Applications (25 patches, 23 of which are remotely exploitable); Oracle E-Business Suite (23, 21); Oracle Enterprise Manager (50, 10); Fusion Middleware (38, 30); Java SE (12); JD Edwards (9); MySQL (19, 6); Siebel CRM (5); Oracle Virtualization (22, 3); and PeopleSoft (15, 12).

It’s a busy time of the year for IT administrators. Earlier this week, Microsoft released fixes for scores of vulnerabilities in the last regular Patch Tuesday for Windows 7 and Server 2008.

Read the original article here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/oracle-issues-record-cpu-with-334/

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Giant botnet has just sprung back to life pushing a big phishing campaign

One of the world's most prolific botnets has returned and is once again attempting to deliver malware to victims via phishing attacks.

Emotet started life as a banking trojan before evolving into a botnet, which its criminal operators leased out to other hackers as a means of delivering their own malware to previously compromised machines.

Such was the power of the botnet that at one point last year it accounted for almost two-thirds of of malicious payloads delivered in phishing attacks.

But after seemingly disappearing towards the end of 2019, Emotet has now returned with a giant email-spamming campaign, as detailed by researchers at cybersecurity company Proofpoint.

Read more here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-giant-botnet-has-just-sprung-back-into-life-pushing-a-big-phishing-campaign/

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A quarter of users will fall for basic phishing attacks

Slightly more than a quarter of people will fall for a phishing scam that claims to be an urgent message prompting them to change a password, according to statistics gathered by a cyber security testing and training firm.

The security firm studied tens of thousands of email subject lines both from simulated phishing tests and those found in the wild, and found many of the most-clicked emails related either to security or urgent work-related matters.

It revealed its top 10 most effective simulated subject lines to be: Change of Password Required Immediately (26% opened); Microsoft/Office 365: De-activation of Email in Process (14% opened); Password Check Required Immediately (13% opened); HR: Employees Raises (8% opened); Dropbox: Document Shared With You (8% opened); IT: Scheduled Server Maintenance – No Internet Access (7% opened); Office 365: Change Your Password Immediately (6% opened); Avertissement des RH au sujet de l’usage des ordinateurs personnels (6% opened); Airbnb: New device login (6% opened); and Slack: Password Reset for Account (6% opened).

In the wild, subject lines often tended to relate to Microsoft, with emails about SharePoint and Office 365 particularly likely to be opened, as well as notifications about Google and Twitter accounts. People were also likely to fall for emails pretending to be related to problems with a shipping company, with FedEx the most widely impersonated, as well as the US Postal Service.

Read the full article here: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252476845/A-quarter-of-users-will-fall-for-basic-phishing-attacks

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Business Disruption Attacks Most Prevalent in Last 12 Months

Business disruption was the main objective of attackers in the last year, with ransomware, DDoS and malware commonly used.

According to the CrowdStrike Services Cyber Front Lines Report, which offers observations from its incident response and proactive services, a third (36%) of incidents often involved ransomware, destructive malware or denial of service attacks. Crowdstrike determined that these three factors to be focused on “business disruption,” and while an adversary’s main goal in a ransomware attack is financial gain, the impact of disruption to a business can often outweigh the loss incurred by paying the ransom.

Also observed in 25% of the investigated incidents was data theft, including the theft of intellectual property, personally identifiable information and personal health information. IP theft has been linked to numerous nation state adversaries that specialize in targeted intrusion attacks, while PII and PHI data theft can enable both espionage and criminally-motivated operations.

Read more here: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/business-disruption-attacks/

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Quarter of PCs could now be more at risk from ransomware

Last week saw the day when Windows 7 reached end of life. That means that Microsoft will no longer issue regular patches or updates for the famed operating system. From now on, any flaw or vulnerability discovered will remain unpatched, and the machines running the old system will remain at risk.

Any businesses or individuals running legacy and unsupported operating systems will be at a greater risk of ransomware than before.

WannaCry, one of the most devastating ransomwares of all time, was successful mostly because of unpatched systems. Roughly 200,000 devices in 150 countries around the world will be vulnerable to similar malware, now that Windows 7 is no longer receiving security updates from Microsoft.

From this month, a quarter of all PCs are going to fall into this unsupported category so it is vital that any organisations that rely on Windows 7 are aware of the risks and what they need to mitigate them.

Read the original article here: https://www.itproportal.com/news/quarter-of-pcs-could-now-be-more-at-risk-from-ransomware/

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5 tips to avoid spear-phishing attacks

Phishing, very briefly defined, is where a cybercriminal tricks you into revealing something electronically that you ought to have kept to yourself.

The good news is that most of us have learned to spot obvious phishing attacks these days.

The bad news is that you can’t reliably spot phishing attacks just by watching out for obvious mistakes, or by relying on the crooks saying “Dear Customer” rather than using your name.

You need to watch out for targeted phishing, often rather pointedly called spear-phishing, where the crooks make a genuine effort to tailor each phishing email, for example by customising it both to you and to your company.

Spear-phishing, where the fake emails really are believable, isn’t just an issue for high-profile victims such as the Burismas of the world.

Acquiring the specific data needed to come up with personalised phishing emails is easier than you might think, and much of the data gathering can be automated.

So here are Sophos’ 5 tips for dealing with phishing attacks, especially if you’re facing a crook who’s willing to put in the time and effort to win your trust instead of just hammering you with those “Dear Customer” emails:

1. Don’t be swayed just because a correspondent seems to know a lot about you

2. Don’t rush to send out data just because the other person tells you it’s urgent

3. Don’t rely on details provided by the sender when you check up on them

4. Don’t follow instructions on how to view an email that appear inside the email itself

5. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion

Read the full article here: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2020/01/17/5-tips-to-avoid-spear-phishing-attacks/

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Organized cybercrime -- not your average mafia

Does the common stereotype for "organised crime" hold up for organisations of hackers? Research from a University in US is one of the first to identify common attributes of cybercrime networks, revealing how these groups function and work together to cause an estimated $445-600 billion of harm globally per year.

"It's not the 'Tony Soprano mob boss type' who's ordering cybercrime against financial institutions," said Thomas Holt, MSU professor of criminal justice and co-author of the study. "Certainly, there are different nation states and groups engaging in cybercrime, but the ones causing the most damage are loose groups of individuals who come together to do one thing, do it really well - and even for a period of time - then disappear."

In cases like New York City's "Five Families," organised crime networks have historic validity, and are documented and traceable. In the online space, however, it's a very difficult trail to follow, Holt said.

Read more here: https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/msu-oc-011620.php

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Cybercrime Statistics in 2019

It doesn’t make for cheery reading but a researcher has compiled a list of statistics for cyber crime, here are few choice headlines:

• Cybercrime will cost as much as $6 trillion annually by 2021

• Financial losses reached $2.7 billion in 2018

• The total cost of cybercrime for each company in 2019 reached US$13M

• The total annual cost of all types of cyberattacks is increasing

Read the full article here: https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/96531/cyber-crime/cybercrime-statistics-in-2019.html

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