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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 June 2023

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 June 2023:

-How to Keep Cyber Attacks from Tanking Your Balance Sheet

-Company Size Doesn’t Matter When It Comes to Cyber Attacks

-‘Exceptional’ Cyber Attacks Now Normal, says BT Security Chief

-How State-Sponsored/Advanced Persistent Threat Groups (APTs) Target SMBs

-Phishing Campaigns Thrive as Evasive Tactics Outsmart Conventional Detection

-Don't be Polite When you Get a Text from a Wrong Number

-Capita Cyber Attack: 90 Downstream Organisations Reported Data Breaches

-Travel-Themed Phishing, BEC Campaigns Get Smarter as Summer Season Arrives

-Organisations Spend 100 Hours Battling Post-Delivery Email Threats

-Ransomware Gangs Adopting Business-like Practices to Boost Profits

-The Sobering Truth About Ransomware—For The 80% Who Paid Up

-The Great CISO Resignation: Why Security Leaders are Quitting in Droves

-When is it Time for a Cyber Hygiene Audit?

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

  • How to Keep Cyber Attacks from Tanking Your Balance Sheet

According to a recent Forrester report, last year saw 1 billion records exposed in the top 35 breaches, $2.6 billion stolen in the top nine cryptocurrency breaches, and $2.7 billion in fines levied to the top 35 violators.

The average cost of a data breach reached $4.35 million in 2022, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report for that year, which represents a 2.6% increase over the prior year, and a 12.7% increase from 2020. For ransomware, a report found the average payment in 2021 was approximately $1.85 million, more than double the $760,000 figure from 2020. These are just direct costs; indirect costs are far greater and can include lost business, lost customers, reputational loss and regulatory fines.

When it comes to managing cyber risk, corporate boards should look to understand cyber security as a strategic business enabler, understand the impacts, align risk-management with business needs, ensure the organisation supports cyber security, incorporate cyber security expertise into governance and encourage systemic resilience.

https://hbr.org/2023/06/how-to-keep-cyberattacks-from-tanking-your-balance-sheet

  • Company Size Doesn’t Matter When It Comes to Cyber Attacks

65% of large organisations suffered a cyber attack within the last 12 months, which is similar to the results among companies of all sizes (68%), according to a recent report. The most common security incidents were the same for all companies; these were phishing, ransomware and user account compromise, also known as business email compromise (BEC).

Smaller companies often underestimate their risk, with the reasoning that cyber criminals want the biggest targets as they will likely have more intellectual property, however all businesses have valuable data and are therefore a target. Additionally, smaller organisations can sometimes be seen as a way into larger organisations that use their services.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/29/larger-organizations-cyberattacks/

  • ‘Exceptional’ Cyber Attacks Now Normal, says BT Security Chief

The threat of cyber attacks is growing at an “unprecedented” pace, according to the chief security officer at multinational teleco BT, Howard Watson, but it is not just large organisations such as BT who will be impacted by this increase.

Watson highlighted that the increase in sophisticated technology poses the biggest threat in the long run: “Technological advancement, as ever, is a double-edged sword in security. Quantum and AI have great potential for benefits in the right hands, or to cause massive damage in the wrong hands. But we know that cyber criminals will utilise these technologies, so we have to be able to respond in kind.”  Adding to this, the chief security officer highlighted that events that were previously considered as ‘exceptional’ need to be assessed and planned for as a probability, rather than a possibility.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/exceptional-cyberattacks-now-normal-says-bt-security-chief-nd2kfp3gc

  • How State-Sponsored/Advanced Persistent Threat Groups (APTs) Target SMBs

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are not exempt from being targeted by advanced persistent threat (APT) actors, according to Proofpoint researchers who collected data from over 200,000 SMB customers. Proofpoint identified a rise in phishing campaigns originating from such state-sponsored APT groups, who are highly skilled and typically state-sponsored groups with distinct strategic goals. These goals range from espionage and intellectual property theft to destructive attacks, state-sponsored financial theft, and disinformation campaigns.

Unfortunately, SMBs often lack adequate cyber security measures, making them vulnerable to all kinds of cyber threats. APT actors exploit this weakness by targeting SMBs as a stepping stone towards achieving their larger goals.

Alongside phishing campaigns, it was identified that APTs are increasingly targeting regional outsourced IT providers/Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to mount supply chain attacks. By compromising regional MSPs within geographies that align with the strategic collection requirements of APT actors, threat actors can gain access to multiple SMBs to extract sensitive information or execute further attacks.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/31/apt-targeting-smbs/

  • Phishing Campaigns Thrive as Evasive Tactics Outsmart Conventional Detection

According to research, 2022 saw a 25% increase in the use of phishing kits. These phishing kits are a set of tools that enable cyber criminals to effortlessly create and maintain large scale sophisticated phishing campaigns. It is this sophistication that allows cyber criminals to circumnavigate conventional detections; in fact, the research found a 40% increase in the use of anti-bot technologies designed to prevent automated scanners from identifying content as phishing.

In some cases (11% of observed phishing kits) malicious links would not be detected when tested by anti-phishing controls because those controls do not use the exact device parameters, geolocation and referrer of the intended target victim’s profile; therefore the malicious link is allowed to be delivered to the intended target.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/06/01/advanced-detection-evasion-techniques/

  • Don't be Polite When you Get a Text from a Wrong Number

You should immediately be suspicious of any text you get from a number not in your contacts, even if it may be innocent looking. Your first reaction may be to be polite and let them know they have the wrong number, but this person is a stranger. Strangely, despite teaching our children not to talk to strangers, many are comfortable with divulging information to them. Although letting them know they made a mistake seems harmless, responding opens you up to being scammed and you’ve just let them know you’re a real person. Every bit of helpful information you provide has the potential to be leveraged by an attacker.

https://www.kens5.com/article/money/consumer/wrong-number-text-messages/273-c94cd68b-6117-4add-bf16-e010f7e16726

  • Capita Cyber Attack: 90 Downstream Organisations Reported Data Breaches

90 organisations have reported breaches of personal information held by Capita after the outsourcing group had suffered a cyber attack, according to Britain’s data watchdog. The attack on Capita, which occurred in March, is still impacting businesses, with the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) making enquiries. Organisations must notify the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach.

The impact of the attack, and its knock-on effect, highlights the need for organisations to consider their third party security, no matter the size of the third party they use.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/30/capita-cyber-attack-data-breaches-ico

  • Travel-Themed Phishing, BEC Campaigns Get Smarter as Summer Season Arrives

A recent survey from McAfee found that nearly a third (30%) of adults have fallen victim or know someone who has fallen victim to an online scam when bargain hunting for travel deals during the summer season, with a full two-thirds of victims losing up to $1,000.

This has extended to the corporate environment, with threat actors impersonating the HR department and exploiting the trust users place in their employers, a report has found. The attack leverages regular HR procedures associated with holiday requests and taps into the anticipation and excitement surrounding the summer travel season, to capitalise on exploiting the user.

https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/travel-themed-phishing-bec-campaigns-smarter-summer-season

  • Organisations Spend 100 Hours Battling Post-Delivery Email Threats

Nearly every victim of a spear-phishing attack in the last 12 months saw impacts on their organisation, including malware infections, stolen data, and reputational damage, according to Barracuda Networks. The research shows that cyber criminals continue to barrage organisations with targeted email attacks, and many companies are struggling to keep up.

While spear-phishing attacks are low-volume, they are widespread and highly successful compared to other types of email attacks. On average, organisations take nearly 100 hours to identify, respond to, and remediate a post-deliver email threat: 43 hours to detect the attack and 56 hours to respond and remediate after the attack is detected.

Users at companies with more than a 50% remote workforce report higher levels of suspicious emails: 12 per day on average, compared to 9 per day for those with less than a 50% remote workforce. Companies with more than a 50% remote workforce also reported that it takes longer to both detect and respond to email security incidents: 55 hours to detect and 63 hours to respond and mitigate, compared to an average of 36 hours and 51 hours respectively for organisations with fewer remote workers.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/30/2023-spear-phishing-trends/

  • Ransomware Gangs Adopting Business-like Practices to Boost Profits

Ransomware gangs are using a variety of business-like practices to boost profits, making it more difficult for defenders to differentiate various groups, a new report by WithSecure has surmised. This move towards mirroring legitimate businesses practices means that tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) are blurring.

The underground marketplace now includes entities including ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups, Initial Access Brokers (IAB), crypter-as-a-service (CaaS), cryptojackers, malware-as-a-service (MaaS) groups and nation-state actors. This allows nation-states to use tools available on the underground market to gain access to networks and systems without being detected. Ultimately, this trend towards professionalisation makes the expertise and resources to attack organisations accessible to lesser-skilled or poorly resourced threat actors.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-gangs-business-practices/

  • The Sobering Truth about Ransomware—for the 80% Who Paid Up

Newly published research of 1,200 organisations impacted by ransomware reveals a sobering truth that awaits many of those who decide to pay the ransom. According to research, 80% of the organisations surveyed decided to pay the demanded ransom in order to both end the ongoing cyber attack and recover otherwise lost data. This is despite 41% of those organisations having a “do not pay” policy in place, which only goes to reinforce the cold hard fact that cyber crime isn’t an easy landscape to navigate. This is something that’s especially true when your business is facing the real-world impact of dealing with a ransomware attack.

Of the 960 organisations that paid a ransom, 201 of them (21%) were still unable to recover their lost data. The same number also reported that ransomware attacks were now excluded from their insurance policies. Of those organisations with cyber insurance cover, 74% reported a rise in premiums. Another report, published by Sophos, revealed that 32% of those surveyed opted to pay the ransom but a shocking 92% failed to recover all their data and 29% were unable to recover more than half of the encrypted data.

Some groups have switched to stealing sensitive customer or corporate data instead, with the ransom demanded in return for them not selling it to the highest bidder or publishing it online. Many groups combine the two for a double extortion ransomware attack.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2023/05/30/the-sobering-truth-about-ransomware-for-the-80-percent-who-paid-up 

  • The Great CISO Resignation: Why Security Leaders are Quitting in Droves

With the rise in AI tools such as ChatGPT broadening an attacker’s arsenal, this places greater and greater pressure on security leaders who are already dealing with shrinking budgets, skeleton crew staff and a conglomeration of security tools and protocols — so much so that they are increasingly quitting. A recent report found that nearly a third (32%) of CISOs in the US and UK were considering leaving their current organisation and 9 out of 10 reported themselves as “moderately” or “tremendously” stressed.

This so-called Great CISO Resignation is concerning, because what happens when there’s nobody guarding the gate and rallying the troops?

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/analysis/the-great-ciso-resignation-why-security-leaders-are-quitting-in-droves/2023/05/

  • When is it Time for a Cyber Hygiene Audit?

Effective cyber hygiene practices limit threats against your systems, devices and users, preventing breaches that could compromise sensitive business information, database information, and personal data. But cyber hygiene isn’t a static or one-off process. It requires routine execution and, occasionally, a full audit. This audit typically covers a range of aspects including encryption, documentation, authentication, patches, security and ongoing cyber hygiene.

Good cyber hygiene is a necessary part of maintaining IT security. Setting up processes and procedures within your organisation’s regular operating procedures is an effective way to maintain cyber hygiene. Although the responsibilities may differ by position, everyone in the organisation plays a role.

An audit provides important information on where and where you need to improve. It also provides a baseline for measuring improvement and effectiveness. The key to success is to integrate hygiene into routine process starting top down from policies into every part of the business and making use of third party experts to help aid in the process.

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/devops/23/e/cyber-hygiene-audit-best-practices.html



Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Botnets

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

AML/CFT/Sanctions

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Shadow IT

Identity and Access Management

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Travel

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda




Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities





Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·       Automotive

·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

·       Education & Academia

·       Energy & Utilities

·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

·       FinTech

·       Food & Agriculture

·       Gaming & Gambling

·       Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·       Health/Medical/Pharma

·       Hotels & Hospitality

·       Insurance

·       Legal

·       Manufacturing

·       Maritime

·       Oil, Gas & Mining

·       OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber Physical Systems

·       Retail & eCommerce

·       Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·       Startups

·       Telecoms

·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3


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

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

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

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

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Black Arrow Admin Black Arrow Admin

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 January 2021

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 January 2021: Ryuk gang estimated to have made more than $150 million from ransomware; China's hackers move to ransomware; Amid hardened security, attackers seek softer targets; Hackney Council files leaked online after cyber attack; PayPal users targeted in new SMS phishing campaign; the rise of cyber-mercenaries; Declutter Your Devices to Reduce Security Risks

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


Top Cyber Headlines of the Week

Ryuk gang estimated to have made more than $150 million from ransomware attacks

In a joint report published today, threat intel company Advanced Intelligence and cyber security firm HYAS said they tracked payments to 61 Bitcoin addresses previously attributed and linked to Ryuk ransomware attacks. "Ryuk receives a significant amount of their ransom payments from a well-known broker that makes payments on behalf of the ransomware victims," the two companies said. "These payments sometimes amount to millions of dollars and typically run in the hundreds of thousands range."

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ryuk-gang-estimated-to-have-made-more-than-150-million-from-ransomware-attacks/

China's APT hackers move to ransomware attacks

Security researchers investigating a set of ransomware incidents at multiple companies discovered malware indicating that the attacks may be the work of a hacker group believed to operate on behalf of China. Although the attacks lack the sophistication normally seen with advanced threat actors, there is strong evidence linking them to APT27, a group normally involved in cyber espionage campaigns, also known as TG-3390, Emissary Panda, BRONZE UNION, Iron Tiger, and LuckyMouse.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chinas-apt-hackers-move-to-ransomware-attacks/

SolarWinds hack: Amid hardened security, attackers seek softer targets

Reported theories by SolarWinds hack investigators that federal agencies and private companies were too busy focusing on election security to recognize vulnerabilities tied to the software supply chain are unfair and misleading. And yet, those same experts acknowledge that such accusations offer an important cyber security lesson for businesses: organizations must ensure that their entire attack surface receives attention.

https://www.scmagazine.com/home/solarwinds-hack/solarwinds-hack-amid-hardened-security-attackers-seek-softer-targets/

Hackney Council files including alleged passport documents leaked online after cyber attack

The council in East London was hit by what it described as a "serious cyber attack" in October. It reported itself to the data watchdog due to the risk criminals accessed staff and residents' data. The council said it was working with the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Ministry of Housing to investigate and understand the impact of the incident.

https://news.sky.com/story/hackney-council-files-including-alleged-passport-documents-leaked-online-after-cyber-attack-12181017

PayPal users targeted in new SMS phishing campaign

Now, at first glance the message may not seem all that suspicious since PayPal may, in fact, impose limits on sending and withdrawing money. The payment provider usually does so when it suspects that an account has been accessed by a third party without authorization, when it has detected high-risk activities on an account, or when a user has violated its Acceptable Use Policy. However, in this case it really is a case of SMS-borne phishing, also known as Smishing. If you click on the link, you will be redirected to a login phishing page that will request your access credentials. Should you proceed to “log in”, your credentials will be sent to the scammers behind the ruse and the fraudulent webpage will attempt to gather further information, including the full name, date of birth address, and bank details.

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/01/04/paypal-users-targeted-new-sms-phishing-campaign/

SolarWinds, top executives hit with class action lawsuit over Orion software breach

SolarWinds and some of its top executives have been hit with a class action lawsuit by stockholders, who allege the company lied and materially misled them about security practices leading up to a massive breach of its Orion management software that has reverberated throughout the public and private sector.

https://www.scmagazine.com/home/solarwinds-hack/solarwinds-top-executives-hit-with-class-action-lawsuit-over-orion-software-breach/

The rise of cyber-mercenaries poses a growing threat for both governments and companies

These days, 21st century mercenaries are as likely to be seated behind a computer screen, wreaking havoc for their paymasters’ enemies as slugging it out on a real-world battlefield. But the rapid rise of cyber-mercenaries - or Private Sector Offensive Actors (PSOAs) - is vexing some of the biggest names in the global technology industry, and for good reason. Globally, the cyber security industry is already vast, raking in an estimated $156bn in revenues in 2019. It is set to nearly double in size by 2027.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/01/07/privatisation-cyber-security-growing-threat-governments-companies/

Declutter Your Devices to Reduce Security Risks

Everyone should set aside time to review what they’ve installed on their various devices—typically apps, but that can also include games and addons. In fact, this should be an annual cleaning, at minimum.

You’re not just doing this because you want your device to look good. That’s one benefit you get from cleaning up your digital life, but it’s not the most important one. You’re also doing this to bolster your digital security. Yes, security.

https://lifehacker.com/declutter-your-devices-to-reduce-security-risks-1845991606


Threats

Ransomware

New Year, New Ransomware: Babuk Locker Targets Large Corporations

Phishing

This new phishing attack uses an odd lure to deliver Windows trojan malware

Facebook ads used to steal 615000+ credentials in a phishing campaign

Malware

North Korean hackers launch RokRat Trojan in campaigns against the South

Thousands infected by trojan that targets cryptocurrency users on Windows, Mac and Linux

A hacker’s predictions on enterprise malware risk

Vulnerabilities

Google Warns of Critical Android Remote Code Execution Bug

Hackers are actively exploiting this leading VPN, so patch now

Data Breaches

Hacker posts data of 10,000 American Express accounts for free

Vodafone's ho. Mobile admits data breach, 2.5m users impacted

The gaming industry under attack, Over 500,000 credentials for the top two dozen leading gaming firms, including Ubisoft, leaked on online.

T-Mobile data breach: ‘Malicious, unauthorized’ hack exposes customer call information
Exclusive Networks hit by cyberattack on New Year's Eve

Up to half a million victims of BA data breach could be eligible for compensation

Nation State Actors

Even Small Nations Have Jumped into the Cyber Espionage Game

Denial of Service

Ransom DDoS attacks target a Fortune Global 500 company

Privacy

Telegram feature exposes your precise address to hackers

Whatsapp Competitor Signal Stops Working Properly As Users Rush To Leave Over Privacy Update

Google Chrome browser privacy plan investigated in UK

Singapore police can access COVID-19 contact tracing data for criminal investigations

Other News

Feds Issue Recommendations for Maritime Cybersecurity


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.

Read More