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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 16 December 2022

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 16 December 2022:

-Executives Take More Cyber Security Risks Than Office Workers

-CISO Role is Diversifying from Technology to Leadership & Communication Skills

-How Emerging AIs, Like ChatGPT, Can Turn Anyone into a Ransomware and Malware Threat Actor

-Cyber Security Drives Improvements in Business Goals

-Incoming FCA Chair Says Crypto Firms Facilitate Money Laundering

-Managing Cyber Risk in 2023: The People Element

-What We Can't See Can Hurt Us

-Uber Suffers New Data Breach After Attack on Vendor, Info Leaked Online

-When Companies Compensate the Hackers, We All Foot the Bill

-HSE Cyber-Attack Costs Ireland $83m So Far

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

  • Executives Take More Cyber Security Risks Than Office Workers

IT software company Ivanti worked with cyber security experts and surveyed 6,500 executive leaders, cybersecurity professionals, and office workers to understand the perception of today’s cybersecurity threats and to find out how companies are preparing for yet-unknown future threats.

The report revealed that despite 97% of leaders and security professionals reporting their organisation is as prepared, or more prepared, to defend against cybersecurity attacks than they were a year ago, one in five wouldn’t bet a chocolate bar that they could prevent a damaging breach.

In fact, the study finds that organisations are racing to fortify against cyber attacks, but the industry still struggles with a reactive, checklist mentality. This is most pronounced in how security teams are prioritising patches. While 92% of security professionals reported they have a method to prioritise patches, they also indicated that all types of patches rank high – meaning none do.

“Patching is not nearly as simple as it sounds,” said Ivanti. “Even well-staffed, well-funded IT and security teams experience prioritisation challenges amidst other pressing demands. To reduce risk without increasing workload, organisations must implement a risk-based patch management solution and leverage automation to identify, prioritise, and even address vulnerabilities without excess manual intervention”.

Cyber security insiders view phishing, ransomware, and software vulnerabilities as top industry-level threats for 2023. Approximately half of respondents indicated they are “very prepared” to meet the growing threat landscape including ransomware, poor encryption, and malicious employees, but the expected safeguards such as deprovisioning credentials is ignored a third of a time and nearly half of those surveyed say they suspect a former employee or contractor still has active access to company systems and files.

The report also revealed that leaders engage in more dangerous behaviour and are four times more likely to be victims of phishing compared to office workers.

Additionally:

  • More than 1 in 3 leaders have clicked on a phishing link

  • Nearly 1 in 4 use easy-to-remember birthdays as part of their password

  • They are much more likely to hang on to passwords for years

  • And they are 5x more likely to share their password with people outside the company.

One survey taker shared, “We’ve experienced a few advanced phishing attempts and the employees were totally unaware they were being targeted. These types of attacks have become so much more sophisticated over the last two years – even our most experienced staff are falling prey to it.”

To cope with a rapidly expanding threat landscape, organisations must move beyond a reactive, rules-based approach.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/16/executives-take-more-cybersecurity-risks-than-office-workers/

  • CISO Role is Diversifying from Technology to Leadership & Communication Skills

The role of chief information security officer (CISO), a relatively new executive position, is undergoing some significant changes and an archetype has yet to emerge, a new global report from Marlin Hawk, an executive recruiting and leadership consultant, said.

CISOs are still more likely to serve on advisory boards or industry bodies than on the board of directors. Only 13% of the global CISOs analysed are women; approximately 20% are non-white. Each diversity dimension analysed is down one percentage point year-on-year.

According to James Larkin, managing partner at Marlin Hawk, “Today’s CISOs are taking up the mantle of responsibilities that have traditionally fallen solely to the chief information officer (CIO), which is to act as the primary gateway from the tech department into the wider business and the outside marketplace. This widening scope requires CISOs to be adept communicators to the board, the broader business, as well as the marketplace of shareholders and customers. By thriving in the ‘softer’ skill sets of communication, leadership, and strategy, CISOs are now setting the new industry standards of today and, I predict, will be progressing into the board directors of tomorrow.”

The job does not come without its downsides. For one, according to the search firm, many CISOs change roles and leave their jobs. Their skillset may not be adequate or new leaders get appointed to the job, they lack the necessary internal support, or their company may not have the required commitment to cyber security to make the job effective.

Key findings from the report include:

  • 45% of global CISOs have been in their current role for two years or less, down from 53% in 2021, with 18% turnover year-on-year. While there is still a lot of movement in the CISO seat, there is potentially some stabilisation emerging.

  • Approximately 62% of global CISOs were hired from another company, indicating a slight increase in the number of CISOs hired internally (38% were hired internally compared to 36% in 2021) but a large gap remains in appropriate successors.

  • 36% of CISOs analysed with a graduate degree received a higher degree in business administration or management. This is down 10% from last year (46% in 2021). Conversely, there has been an increase to 61% of CISOs receiving a higher degree in STEM subjects (up from 46% in 2021).

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/ciso-role-is-diversifying-from-technology-to-leadership-communication-skills/

  • How Emerging AIs, Like ChatGPT, Can Turn Anyone into a Ransomware and Malware Threat Actor

Ever since OpenAI launched ChatGPT at the end of November, commentators on all sides have been concerned about the impact AI-driven content-creation will have, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. In fact, many researchers are concerned that generative AI solutions will democratise cyber crime.

With ChatGPT, any user can enter a query and generate malicious code and convincing phishing emails without any technical expertise or coding knowledge.

While security teams can also leverage ChatGPT for defensive purposes such as testing code, by lowering the barrier for entry for cyber attacks, the solution has complicated the threat landscape significantly. From a cyber security perspective, the central challenge created by OpenAI’s creation is that anyone, regardless of technical expertise, can create code to generate malware and ransomware on-demand.

Whilst it can be used for good to assist developers in writing code for good, it can (and already has) been used for malicious purposes. Examples including asking the bot to create convincing phishing emails or assist in reverse engineering code to find zero-day exploits that could be used maliciously instead of reporting them to a vendor.

ChatGPT does have inbuilt guardrails designed to prevent the solution from being used for criminal activity. For instance, it will decline to create shell code or provide specific instructions on how to create shellcode or establish a reverse shell and flag malicious keywords like phishing to block the requests.

The problem with these protections is that they’re reliant on the AI recognising that the user is attempting to write malicious code (which users can obfuscate by rephrasing queries), while there’s no immediate consequences for violating OpenAI’s content policy.

https://venturebeat.com/security/chatgpt-ransomware-malware/

  • Cyber Security Drives Improvements in Business Goals

Cyber threats should no longer be viewed as just an IT problem, but also a business problem, Deloitte said in its latest Future of Cyber study. Operational disruption, loss of revenue, and loss of customer trust are the top three significant impacts of cyber incidents. More than half, or 56%, of respondents told Deloitte they suffered related consequences to a moderate or large extent.

In 2021, the top three negative consequences from cyber incidents and breaches were operational disruption, which includes supply chain and the partner ecosystem, intellectual property theft, and a drop in share price. While operational disruption remained the top concern in 2022, loss of revenue and loss of customer trust and negative brand impact moved up in importance. Intellectual property theft and drop in share price dropped to eighth and ninth (out of ten) in ranking. Losing funding for a strategic initiative, loss of confidence in the integrity of the technology, and impact on employee recruitment and retention moved up in ranking in 2022. Respondents were also asked to mark two consequences they felt would be most important in 2023: Operational disruption and loss of revenue topped the list.

"Today, cyber means business, and it is difficult to overstate the importance of cyber as a foundational and integral business imperative," Deloitte noted in its report. "It [cyber] should be included in every functional area, as an essential ingredient for success—to drive continuous business value, not simply mitigate risks to IT."

Deloitte categorised organisations' cyber security maturity based on their adoption of cyber planning, risk management, and board engagement. Risk management included activities such as industry benchmarking, incident response, scenario planning, and qualitative and quantitative risk assessment.

Whether or not the organisation adopted any of these three practices hinged on stakeholders recognising the importance of cyber responsibility and engagement across the whole organisation, Deloitte said in its report. Examples included having a governing body that comprises IT and senior business leaders to oversee the cyber program, conducting incident-response scenario planning and simulation at the organisational and/or board level, regularly providing cyber updates to the board to secure funding, and conducting regular cyber awareness training for all employees.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-threat-monitor/cybersecurity-drives-improvements-in-business-goals

  • Incoming FCA Chair Says Crypto Firms Facilitate Money Laundering

The man who will lead UK efforts to regulate cryptocurrency firms issued a stark condemnation of the sector on Wednesday, telling MPs that in his experience crypto platforms were “deliberately evasive”, facilitated money laundering at scale and created “massively untoward risk”.

The comments from Ashley Alder, the incoming chair of the Financial Conduct Authority, suggest that crypto firms hoping to build businesses in the UK will face an uphill battle when the FCA assumes new powers to regulate broad swaths of the sector.

They also put Alder, who will become FCA chair in February, on a potential collision course with the government’s aspiration to create a high quality crypto hub that fosters innovation, a vision ministers have remained loyal to even as the global crypto market lurches from crisis to crisis, epitomised by the collapse of FTX. The FCA declined to comment on whether their incoming chair’s views were at odds with those of the government.

Alder comments came during a sometimes terse appointment hearing with the cross-party Treasury select committee, where he faced sustained criticism for appearing virtually from Hong Kong and for his lack of familiarity with some parts of the UK market place and its accountability structures.

https://www.ft.com/content/7bf0a760-5fb5-4146-b757-1acc5fc1dee5

  • Managing Cyber Risk in 2023: The People Element

2022 has had many challenges from cyber war between Russia and Ukraine, continuing ransomware attacks, and a number of high-profile vulnerabilities and zero day attacks.  With the attack surface constantly expanding, CISOs and security leaders are acutely aware of the need to minimise risk across people, processes, and technology.

Top infrastructure risk: people

It’s common knowledge that it’s not if, but when, your organisation will be the target of a cyber attack. CISOs and security leaders seem to share the same opinion—according to Trend Micro’s latest Cyber Risk Index (CRI) (1H’2022), 85% of 4,100 respondents across four global regions said its somewhat to very likely they will experience a cyber attack in the next 12 months.  More concerning was 90% of respondents had at least one successful cyber attack in the past 12 months.

The CRI (1H’2022) also found that CISOs, IT practitioners, and managers identified that most organisations’ IT security objectives are not aligned with the business objectives, which could cause challenges when trying to implement a sound cyber security strategy.

It’s important to note that while ideal, avoiding a cyber attack isn’t the main goal—companies need to address critical challenges across their growing digital attack surface to enable faster detection and response, therefore minimising cyber risk.

While it's commonly assumed that security efforts should be largely focused on protecting critical servers and infrastructure, the human attack vector shouldn’t be so quickly forgotten.

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/22/e/managing-cyber-risk.html

  • What We Can't See Can Hurt Us

In speaking with security and fraud professionals, visibility remains a top priority. This is no surprise, since visibility into the network, application, and user layers is one of the fundamental building blocks of both successful security programs and successful fraud programs. This visibility is required across all environments — whether on-premises, private cloud, public cloud, multicloud, hybrid, or otherwise.

Given this, it is perhaps a bit surprising that visibility in the cloud has lagged behind the move to those environments. This occurred partially because few options for decent visibility were available to businesses as they moved to the cloud. But it also partially happened because higher priority was placed on deploying to the cloud than on protecting those deployments from security and fraud threats.

This is unfortunate, since what we can't see can hurt us. That being said, cloud visibility is becoming a top priority for many businesses. There are a few areas where many businesses are looking for visibility to play a key role, including Compliance, Monitoring, Investigation, Response, API Discovery, Application Breaches, and Malicious User Detection.

Organisation have been a bit behind in terms of ensuring the requisite visibility into cloud environments. Whilst time has been lost, it does seem that gaining visibility into the network, application, and user layers is now a priority for many businesses. This is a positive development, as it enables those businesses to better mitigate the risks that operating blindly creates.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/what-we-can-t-see-can-hurt-us

  • Uber Suffers New Data Breach After Attack on Vendor, Info Leaked Online

Uber has suffered a new data breach after a threat actor leaked employee email addresses, corporate reports, and IT asset information stolen from a third-party vendor in a cyber security incident.

On Saturday last week, a threat actor named 'UberLeaks' began leaking data they claimed was stolen from Uber and Uber Eats on a hacking forum known for publishing data breaches. The leaked data includes numerous archives claiming to be source code associated with mobile device management platforms (MDM) used by Uber and Uber Eats and third-party vendor services.

The threat actor created four separate topics, allegedly for Uber MDM at uberhub.uberinternal.com and Uber Eats MDM, and the third-party Teqtivity MDM and TripActions MDM platforms. Each post refers to a member of the Lapsus$ hacking group who is believed to be responsible for numerous high-profile attacks, including a September cyber attack on Uber where threat actors gained access to the internal network and the company's Slack server.

News outlet BleepingComputer has been told that the newly leaked data consists of source code, IT asset management reports, data destruction reports, Windows domain login names and email addresses, and other corporate information. One of the documents seen by BleepingComputer includes email addresses and Windows Active Directory information for over 77,000 Uber employees.

While BleepingComputer initially thought this data was stolen during the September attack, Uber told BleepingComputer it believes it is related to a security breach on a third-party vendor.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/uber-suffers-new-data-breach-after-attack-on-vendor-info-leaked-online/

  • When Companies Compensate the Hackers, We All Foot the Bill

Companies are always absorbing costs that are seen as par for the course of budget planning: maintenance, upgrades, office supplies, wastage, shrinkage, etc. These costs ratchet up the price of a company's products and are then passed on to the consumer. Breaches in cyber security and paying out ransoms to hackers should be outside of this remit, and yet more than half of all companies admit to transferring the costs of data breaches on to consumers. Careless or ill-informed employees and other weaknesses in a company's protections lead to catastrophic losses to businesses of around $1,797,945 per minute — and the consumers are paying it off.

If a company estimates the recovery costs from a ransomware attack to exceed the requested payment from the hacker, then it feels like a no-brainer — they're better off just cutting their losses and giving in to the cyber criminal's demands. The issue is that this creates an unvirtuous circle of paying the hacker, which enforces nefarious behaviour and empowers hackers to increase the number and volume of ransoms.

When it comes to ransomware, 32% of companies pay off hackers, and, of that percentage, the average company only retrieves about 65% of its data. Giving in to hackers is counterintuitive. On an even more disturbing note, one study found that 80% of companies that paid a ransom were targeted a second time, with about 40% paying again and a majority of that 40% paying a higher ransom the second time round. This is ludicrous. With 33% of companies suspending operations following an attack, and nearly 40% resorting to laying off staff, it comes as no surprise that the downstream costs are picked up to some extent by the consumer.

As for smaller companies, about 50% of US small businesses don't have a cyber security plan in place, despite the fact that small businesses are three times more likely to be targeted by cyber criminals than larger companies. An average breach costs these companies around $200,000 and has put many out of business. It isn't simply the cost passed on to consumers, it's also the intangible assets, such as brand reputation.

When data is leaked and a site goes down, customers become rightly anxious when their information is sold to the highest bidder on the Dark Web. To safeguard against this, companies of all sizes should exploit automated solutions while training every single member of staff to recognise and report online threats. Paying a ransom does not guarantee the return of data, and for a smaller business, losing valuable customer information could cause long-term damage way beyond the initial attack.

Cyber security professionals, governments, and law enforcement agencies all advise companies to avoid paying the hackers' ransoms. This strategy is affirmed by the success businesses have had in retrieving the stolen data and turning the lights back on — 78% of organisations who say they did not pay a ransom were able to fully restore systems and data without the decryption key. This evidently is not enough to reassure companies who, at the click of a dangerous email being opened, have lost sensitive information and access to their systems and are desperate to get back online. There are many preventative techniques businesses can take advantage of before it even gets to that stage.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/when-companies-compensate-the-hackers-we-all-foot-the-bill

  • HSE Cyber-Attack Costs Ireland $83m So Far

The cost of the cyber-attack that hit the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) last year has officially reached €80m ($83.75m).

The figures come from a letter from HSE’s chief information officer, seen by The Irish Times. This comes months after the Department of Health suggested in February the attack could end up costing up to €100m ($104m). The letter confirmed that the costs reached €42m ($43.97m) in 2021 and almost €39m ($40.83m) until October of this year.

Ireland has a very capable national cyber security centre and a well-oiled CSIRT team that engages the public/private sector. If the cost does continue to escalate to €100m, that is the equivalent to everyone in the Republic of Ireland having been defrauded by €20. According to The Irish Times, the costs were said to be “enormous,” and the government has been asked to complete a comprehensive assessment of the impact caused by the breach.

The cyber-attack, believed to have been conducted by Russia-based state actors, was reportedly caused by a malicious Microsoft Excel file delivered via a phishing email. According to a December 2021 report, the file was opened at an HSE workstation in March 2021. The malware would have been latent for two months before the breach, which was reportedly discovered in May, two months later. A total of roughly 100,000 people had their personal data stolen during the cyber-attack.

Healthcare continues to be a target of attacks given their enormous attack surface across critical applications, cloud environments and IoT devices.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/hse-cyber-attack-ireland-dollar83m/

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

Malware

Mobile

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

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Cyber Bullying, Cyber Stalking and Sextortion

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Backup and Recovery

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

Artificial Intelligence

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

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

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

Other News

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 Cyber Threat Briefing 09 December 2022

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 December 2022:

-Economic Uncertainty Will Greatly Impact the Spread of Cyber Crime

-Cyber Security Resilience Emerges as Top Priority as 62% of Companies Say Security Incidents Impacted Business Operations

-Cyber Security Should Focus on Managing Risk

-Fear of Cyber Attacks Drives SMBs to Spend More on Software

-Business Email Compromise (BEC) Fraud Attacks Expand Beyond Email and Toward Mobile Devices

-Ransomware Professionalisation Grows as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) Takes Hold

-Automated Dark Web Markets Sell Corporate Email Accounts For $2

-Cloud Hosting Provider Rackspace Warns of Phishing Risks Following Ransomware Attack

-Security Concerns Scupper Deals for Two-Thirds of Firms

-Microsoft Encourages 'Strong Cyber Hygiene' in Light of Increasing Russian Cyber Attacks

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

  • Economic Uncertainty Will Greatly Impact the Spread of Cyber Crime

Norton released its top cyber trends to watch in 2023, emphasising that the economy will have the greatest impact on the spread of cyber crime next year. Experts predict the pressures associated with economic uncertainty and rising costs will create the perfect environment for scammers to take advantage of people when they are more vulnerable.

It’s expected that cyber criminals will trick victims into surrendering personal information, emptying their bank accounts, or spending money for products, services or “lottery winnings” that never arrive. “We anticipate scammers will continue to prey on the vulnerability of people as economic pressures rise in 2023,” said Norton.

“Cyber criminals love to exploit seasonal opportunities, and consumers are facing a perfect storm of rising prices in the middle of the busiest shopping season of the year when scammers are particularly active. Scams are always harder to detect during the holiday season because consumers expect deep discounts and may believe prices that would normally seem too good to be true. This year, inflation and other unfavourable macroeconomic factors are likely to make people particularly eager to find good deals and they may therefore be at greater risk than in previous years. Taking a few proactive steps today could help you to be safer all year long.”

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/06/economic-uncertainty-cybercrime/

  • Cyber Security Resilience Emerges as Top Priority, as 62% of Companies Say Security Incidents Impacted Business Operations

Cyber security resilience is a top priority for companies as they look to defend against a rapidly evolving threat landscape, according to the latest edition of Cisco's annual Security Outcomes Report.

Resilience has emerged as a top priority as a staggering 62 percent of organisations surveyed said they had experienced a security event that impacted business in the past two years. The leading types of incidents were network or data breaches (51.5 percent), network or system outages (51.1 percent), ransomware events (46.7 percent) and distributed denial of service attacks (46.4 percent).

These incidents resulted in severe repercussions for the companies that experienced them, along with the ecosystem of organisations they do business with. The leading impacts cited include IT and communications interruption (62.6 percent), supply chain disruption (43 percent), impaired internal operations (41.4 percent) and lasting brand damage (39.7 percent).

With stakes this high, it is no surprise that 96 percent of executives surveyed for the report said that security resilience is high priority for them. The findings further highlight that the main objectives of security resilience for security leaders and their teams are to prevent incidents, and mitigate losses when they occur.

Technology is transforming businesses at a scale and speed never seen before. While this is creating new opportunities, it also brings with it challenges, especially on the security front. To be able to tackle these effectively, companies need the ability to anticipate, identify, and withstand cyber threats, and if breached be able to rapidly recover from one. That is what building resilience is all about.

Security, after all, is a risk business. As companies don't secure everything, everywhere, security resilience allows them to focus their security resources on the pieces of the business that add the most value to an organisation, and ensure that value is protected.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/cybersecurity-resilience-emerges-as-top-priority-as-62-of-companies-say-security-incidents-impacted-business-operations

  • Cyber Security Should Focus on Managing Risk

Preventing all data breaches is an unrealistic goal. Instead, focus on finding and minimising the greatest risks.

There is a common misconception that all problems have clear, straightforward solutions — as long as you look hard enough. While this is a bold and ambitious goal, it's misguided when applied to cyber security. Organisations cannot prevent data breaches or cyberattacks altogether, and avoiding a breach or cyber incident is nearly impossible in the modern era. Organisations can, however, take steps to reduce an attack's negative impacts.

Eradicating risk is an impractical goal because you cannot "solve" something that constantly changes. To understand the risks you need to think like an attacker.

Threat actors are, first and foremost, opportunistic. They will always look for the easiest targets to maximise their financial gain. So intimately understanding an organisation's level of risk is the first step to managing and reducing it — and making yourself less of a target.

In line with Verizon’s "Data Breach Investigations Report" (DBIR) the four critical ways that threat actors most frequently use to compromise organisations large and small are credential compromise, phishing, vulnerability exploitation, and botnets, and these are the areas organisations should look reduce risks.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/cybersecurity-should-focus-on-managing-risk

  • Fear of Cyber Attacks Drives SMBs to Spend More on Software

Despite fears of a looming recession, small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are spending more on software in 2023, according to Capterra’s 2023 SMB Software Buying Trends Survey. 75% of US SMBs estimate they’ll spend more on software in 2023 compared to 2022.

Alongside increased software budgets, Capterra’s survey of over 500 SMBs reveals four other major trends in software buying behaviours and challenges that will impact businesses in 2023:

  • Fearful of cyber attacks, US businesses rate security as a top motivator for software purchases

  • Implementation concerns are SMBs’ biggest purchase barrier

  • Most SMB software purchases are solely handled by IT, disregarding other important stakeholders

  • Customer reviews sway purchase decisions, and verified reviews are critical

Despite the expected increase in software investments, many US SMBs regret their technology purchases. 61% of US SMBs say they have buyer’s remorse over a technology purchase in the past 12-18 months. Inadequate support services (39%) and higher-than-anticipated costs (34%) are the top reasons behind such regrets.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/07/smbs-software-spending-2023/

  • Business Email Compromise (BEC) Fraud Attacks Expand Beyond Email and Toward Mobile Devices

Business email compromise (BEC) scams have been increasingly targeting mobile devices, particularly with SMS-focused attacks. According to a new advisory by cyber security specialists at Trustwave, the trend indicates a broader shift towards phishing scams via text messages.

“Phishing scams are prevalent in the SMS threat landscape, and now, BEC attacks are also going mobile,” reads the report. Trustwave further added that scammers typically obtain mobile numbers from data breaches, social media and data brokers, among other methods. After that, attackers ask victims for a wire transfer, send a copy of an aging report or change a payroll account, luring them into paying for something that should be reimbursed later (but never will).

BEC attacks will always be here so long as they remain profitable. Their continued profitability proves that employee cyber security behaviour is neglected and mismanaged by the compliance-based approach to security awareness.

Security culture needs a reformation that begins with transforming the human layer into an asset which, when empowered by the right training and platform, augments the protect-detect-respond pillars of the [National Institute of Standards and Technology] NIST framework.

Trustwave’s findings were also confirmed in SlashNext’s State of Phishing 2022 report, which recently highlighted a 50% increase in attacks on mobile devices, with scams and credential theft at the top of the list of payloads. The document also suggested 83% of organisations reported that mobile device threats had been growing more quickly than other device threats.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/bec-attacks-expand-toward-mobile/

  • Ransomware Professionalisation Grows as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) Takes Hold

Ransomware groups are getting their acts together, growing in sophistication and business acumen while monetising ransomware beyond encryption, including double and triple extortion, as the market for ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) matures.

In first half of 2022, LockBit, Conti, Alphv, Black Basta, and Vice Society were among the most prolific ransomware gangs, focusing their attack on US-based organisations, according to a LookingGlass report on the topic.

The report confirmed and attributed 1,133 ransomware attacks in the first six months of the year and attributed 207 data leaks across all active threat actor groups throughout the same period. Of the more than 1,300 incidents, the bulk came from the top 15 most active ransomware groups, led by LockBit, Conti, and Alphv.

Ransomware gangs have primarily targeted two sectors during the analysis period: manufacturing and industrial products, followed by engineering and construction and healthcare and life sciences, with the consumer and retail industry rounding out the top five.

The report highlighted the rise of sophisticated software and networks as a principal contributor to the professionalisation of ransomware, with malicious actors now offering RaaS, bug bounties, sales teams, and even customer support.

“This new, more professional ransomware structure can only mean that the problem will continue to grow in the months ahead," the report noted. "We anticipate the adoption of more traditional business practices as the underground economy continues to remain robust”.

https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/ransomware-professionalization-grows-as-raas-takes-hold

  • Automated Dark Web Markets Sell Corporate Email Accounts For $2

Cyber crime marketplaces are increasingly selling stolen corporate email addresses for as low as $2 to fill a growing demand by hackers who use them for business email compromise and phishing attacks or initial access to networks.

Analysts at Israeli cyber-intelligence firm KELA have closely followed this trend, reporting at least 225,000 email accounts for sale on underground markets.

The largest webmail shops are Xleet and Lufix, claiming to offer access to over 100k breached corporate email accounts, with prices ranging between $2 and $30, if not more, for highly-desirable organisations.

Typically, these accounts were stolen via password cracking (brute-forcing) or credential stuffing, had their credentials stolen through phishing, or were bought from other cyber criminals.

Hackers use their access to corporate email accounts in targeted attacks like business email compromise (BEC), social engineering, spear-phishing, and deeper network infiltration.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/automated-dark-web-markets-sell-corporate-email-accounts-for-2/

  • Cloud Hosting Provider Rackspace Warns of Phishing Risks Following Ransomware Attack

Cloud computing provider Rackspace warned customers on Thursday of increased risks of phishing attacks following a ransomware attack affecting its hosted Microsoft Exchange environment.

While the company is still investigating the incident and is working on bringing affected systems back online, it says that cyber criminals might also take advantage and exploit this incident for their own purposes.

"If you do receive a message from an individual you do not recognise, do not reply. Please login to your control panel and create a ticket, including details about the message you received," Rackspace said. "We understand that contact such as this may be alarming, but we currently have no evidence to suggest that you are at increased risk as a result of this direct contact."

Rackspace added that customers could easily spot scammers attempting to steal their sensitive information since:

  • Emails from Rackspace will be sent from @rackspace.com emails (although attackers might still use a spoofed email address and redirect their targets to a landing phishing page)

  • Rackspace support will not ask for login credentials or personal information (e.g., social security number, driver's license) during phone calls

Even though the company is yet to reveal if it has any evidence that the attackers have stolen data from its systems during the breach, customers were advised to remain vigilant and monitor their credit reports and banking account statements for suspicious activity.

Some customers are also reporting an increase in phishing emails impersonating Rackspace since the ransomware attack. Those affected by the Rackspace ransomware attack and outage should not open any suspicious email attachments or click any suspicious links.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/rackspace-warns-of-phishing-risks-following-ransomware-attack/

  • Security Concerns Scupper Deals for Two-Thirds of Firms

Two-thirds (67%) of global organisations have admitted to losing out on acquiring potential customers due to concerns about their security posture, according to LogRhythm.

The security vendor polled 1175 security professionals and executives across five continents to compile its latest report, The State of the Security Team 2022. It found that security due diligence among customers and partners is increasingly rigorous.

Some 91% of respondents said that their security strategy must now align with customers’ security policies and standards, while 85% claimed their company must provide proof that they meet partners’ security requirements.

There was more worrying news from the report: 70% of respondents reported an increase in workplace stress for security teams, with nearly a third (30%) citing a “significant” increase. Among the key stress factors highlighted in the study were growing attack sophistication, greater responsibilities and increasing attack frequency.

Two-fifths (41%) claimed that better integrated solutions would help to relieve these pressures, while a similar number (42%) pointed to the need for more experienced security professionals. The latter would seem unlikely, given the coming recession’s likely impact on budgets, and persistent industry skills shortages. The gap is now 3.4 million globally, including 56,800 in the UK, a massive 73% year-on-year increase, according to ISC2.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/security-concerns-scupper-deals/

  • Microsoft Encourages 'Strong Cyber Hygiene' in Light of Increasing Russian Cyber Attacks

Microsoft is gearing up for a slew of Russian cyber attacks this winter, and warns others to stay vigilant. Between missiles, drones, and cyber attacks the onslaught against Ukraine has been a brutal one, and reportedly only set to get worse in the coming months.

"Moscow has intensified its multi-pronged hybrid technology approach to pressure the sources of Kyiv’s military and political support," says Microsoft in a recent blog post. "Recent attacks in Poland suggest that Russian state-sponsored cyber attacks may increasingly be used outside Ukraine in an effort to undermine foreign-based supply chains."

In late October, Russian forces were pushed from formerly occupied territory, retaliating with missile, drone, and cyber strikes that left much of Kyiv in need of simple running water.

The Russian group known to Microsoft as IRIDIUM (aka Sandworm) is thought to be working with the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, in coordinated efforts to inflict suffering on the people of Ukraine. The group has been at large for almost a decade, as Microsoft notes, "Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, IRIDIUM launched a series of wintertime operations against Ukrainian electricity providers, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of citizens in 2015 and 2016."

https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-encourages-strong-cyber-hygiene-in-light-of-increasing-russian-cyberattacks/

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

BEC – Business Email Compromise

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

Malware

Mobile

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

Deepfakes

AML/CFT/Sanctions

Insurance

Dark Web

Supply Chain and Third Parties

Software Supply Chain

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

Cloud/SaaS

Hybrid/Remote Working

Encryption

API

Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Training, Education and Awareness

Parental Controls and Child Safety

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

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

Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

Nation State Actors – China

Nation State Actors – North Korea

Nation State Actors – Iran

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.

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

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