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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 September 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 22 September 2023:
-New Ransomware Victims Surge by 47% as Small Businesses Targeted
-MGM Resorts Lost Millions of Dollars a Day in What Should be a Wakeup Call for Corporate Boards
-SMEs Overestimate Their Cyber Security Preparedness
-China’s Hacking Power Bigger Than Rest of World Combined
-Cyber Insurance Claims for Ransomware Reach Record High
-Cyber Security Still Remains the Greatest Concern for Many C-Suite Executives
-Bad Torts: Law Firms Feel the Heat from Rising Cyber Threats
-Attacker Deepfakes IT Employees’ Voice in Phone Call to Breach Company
-Insider Risks are Getting Increasingly Costly as Organisations Fail to Proactively Address Them
-Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Challenges
-How Social Engineering Takes Advantage of Your Kindness
-Employers Blame Employees as 54% of Firms Face Cyber Attacks Annually
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
New Ransomware Victims Surge by 47% as Small Businesses Targeted
Ransomware attackers are shifting away from “big game” targets and towards easier, less defended organisations, a new report from Trend Micro has found. The report observed a 47% increase in the number of new victims of this vector from the second half of 2022, many of which were small organisations with less mature cyber postures. In fact, 57% of victims of the infamous ransomware gang LockBit, were of organisations up to 200 employees.
Small businesses can be attractive targets; they don’t have the budget of a large organisation and therefore they are more likely to have gaps that can be exploited. To combat this, small businesses need to prioritise their security budgets effectively, to allow themselves the most protection that their budget allows.
Source [Infosecurity Magazine]
MGM Resorts Lost Millions of Dollars a Day in What Should be a Wakeup Call for Corporate Boards
The recent ransomware attack on MGM Resorts has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars daily, not accounting for ransomware fees and reputational damage. MGM Resorts are a client of Okta, who noted that Caesars entertainment and three (not named) other organisations have been hit. Although the other victims have not yet been named, it has been revealed that they are in the manufacturing, retail and technology sectors. As a result of the attacks, Beazley and AIG, who provide cyber insurance, are likely to face significant losses.
The attack should act as wakeup call for corporate boards, as it once again highlights how anyone can be a victim, and if the right controls are not in place, an attack won’t be stopped. Cyber incidents are a matter of when, not if, and boards need to ensure they are prepared, and prepared to handle the fallout when an attack happens.
Sources: [Proactive Investors] [Reuters] [Insurance Insider] [OODA Loop] [Claims Journal]
SMEs Overestimate Their Cyber Security Preparedness
According to a recent report, 57% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have experienced a cyber security breach, with 31% facing such an incident in the past year. Despite the increasing threat, 70% are confident in their defences, though 44% solely rely on their antivirus solutions, and a quarter don't regularly train employees on cyber security best practices or never have.
The report also found that many SMEs either underestimate the importance of robust security, believing they’re too small to be targeted, or put too much trust in their current defences. The increasing number of evolving cyber threats poses a significant risk to SMEs. Rising patterns show frequent and sophisticated attacks, highlighting the urgent need for effective security measures. Understandably, not all small business owners have the resources to obtain in-house cyber security experts. Black Arrow works with organisations of all sizes and sectors to design and prepare for managing a cyber security incident; this can include an Incident Response Plan and an educational tabletop exercise for the leadership team that highlights the proportionate controls to help the organisation prevent and mitigate an incident.
Sources: [Helpnet Security] [Security Magazine]
China’s Hacking Power Bigger Than Rest of World Combined
In a recent conference the director of the FBI highlighted the magnitude of China’s cyber power, most notably explaining that China has a bigger hacking program than the competition combined.
This comes as recent attacks have seen malicious USB drives used to spread malware and now, something we’ve not seen much before, financially motivated hacks by Chinese-speaking actors through a piece of malware known as “ValleyRAT”.
Sources: [Reuters] [Infosecurity Magazine] [WIRED] [Inforisk Today] [TechRadar]
Cyber Insurance Claims for Ransomware Reach Record High
A new report from cyber insurance provider Coalition shows a 12% increase in cyber claims over the first six months of this year, driven by the notable spikes in ransomware (19%), business email compromise (BEC) attacks (26%) and funds transfer fraud (FTF) (31%). The report found that claims severity also increased 61% from the previous six months and 117% over the last year. The average ransom demand was $1.62 million, a 47% increase over the previous six months and a 74% increase over the past year.
The report comes as the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a joint advisory warning that ransomware gangs are increasingly evolving their tactics while targeting critical infrastructure sectors, including Information Technology, and Food and Agriculture. The advisory strongly discourages organisations from paying ransoms and encourages victims to report ransomware incidents to a local agency’s reporting channel. Similar advisories were released earlier in the year warning of ransomware groups such as Cl0p who exploited the vulnerability in MOVEit earlier this year.
Sources: [NextGov] [BetanNews] [Security Magazine] [CSO Online]
Cyber Security Still Remains the Greatest Concern for Many C-Suite Executives
Almost three-quarters (73%) of nearly 700 board members surveyed in a new study, believe their organisations are at risk of cyber attack, including targeted attacks; a sizable increase from the 65% last year, according to a recently released Proofpoint report. Worryingly, with the high number believing they are at risk from an attack, 53% still believed they would be unprepared for such an attack. When it came to their main concerns, malware was the top concern (40%), followed by insider threat (36%) and cloud account compromise (36%).
C-suite concern has propelled budgets, with a third of businesses increasing cyber security spending by a significant margin. As IT has become less centralised with a move towards cloud-based systems, combined with a shortage of skilled cyber security workers, businesses are having to rely more heavily on third party security according to a recent report.
This investment, along with improved security communications to executives, should enhance IT upskilling and employee awareness of cyber security.
Sources: [MSSP Alert] [Tech Radar]
Bad Torts: Law Firms Feel the Heat from Rising Cyber Threats
Publicly available reports of ransomware attacks on law firms have accelerated this year, with massive amounts of sensitive client data now in the hands of threat actors, highlighting a growing trend of cyber incidents afflicting the legal business.
One of the reasons law firms are increasingly targeted is due to the amount of sensitive data that they hold. This data can be used for extortion, insider training and general ransom purposes. In addition, many law firms utilise third parties to handle their data, increasing their risk of becoming a victim through their supply chain.
Source: [Synack]
Attacker Deepfakes IT Employees’ Voice in Phone Call to Breach Company
A recent cyber attack used AI to deepfake an IT employee’s voice. The attack started off with a phishing mail, which the unsuspecting victim employee clicked. The attacker then hit a challenge: multi-factor authentication (MFA). That was until they decided to use artificial intelligence to clone the voice of an IT employee. The attacker, now speaking as if they were the IT employee, was then able to convince the victim employee to provide the needed MFA code. As a result, the attack was successful.
The attack highlights the increase in AI for attacks, whilst also demonstrating that cyber security is more than just technology: it is people and operations too. Think about voice cloning, how would your organisation prepare for this?
Sources [PC Mag]
Insider Risks are Getting Increasingly Costly as Organisations Fail to Proactively Address Them
With the cost of insider risk the highest it has ever been (£13.25m per incident), organisations need to effectively budget and find ways to proactively address insider risk. A report found that 55% of money spent on insider incident response went toward problems caused by negligence or mistakes, and 25% for those were caused by actively malicious insiders, with the remaining 20% being attacks that out-smarted employees.
The cost and damage is acknowledged by organisations, with a separate report finding 46% of organisations self-reported that they were actively planning to spend more on proactively addressing insider risk in 2024. Budgets are not infinite however, and organisations need to effectively allocate their spending to ensure they are getting the most protection for their spend.
Sources: [Computer Weekly] [CSO Online]
Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Challenges
With the surge in the number of attacks taking place through the software supply chain, it is no wonder almost half of executives expect supply chain challenges in the year ahead according to a survey by Deloitte. When asked about their experience, 34% of respondents self-reported that their organisation has experienced one or more supply chain cyber security events during the past year.
One of the ways to improve organisations’ supply chain security is to conduct assessments on the third parties they use, yet 21% of respondents did not do this at all. Potentially, one of the reasons for this is not knowing the correct questions to ask. Black Arrow can support you through a structured approach to asking a suite of targeted questions to your third parties, and assessing the responses for indicators of risk to your business.
Sources [PRnewswire] [SiliconANGLE]
How Social Engineering Takes Advantage of Your Kindness
Last week, MGM Resorts disclosed a massive systems issue that reportedly rendered slot machines, room keys and other critical devices inoperable. What elaborate methods were required to crack a nearly $34 billion casino and hotel empire? According to the hackers themselves, all it took was a ten minute phone call, allowing them to gain access through a simple social engineering attack. Social engineering psychologically manipulates a target into doing what the attacker wants, or giving up information that they shouldn’t. The consequences range from taking down global corporations to devastating the personal finances of unfortunate individual victims.
Extroverted, agreeable, and open individuals are often cyber victims; fear is an attack vector and so is helpfulness. As comfort increases, so too does vulnerability to being hacked. Social engineering attacks target both corporations and individuals. A person’s positive traits can be weaknesses against such threats. Balancing kindness with scepticism is essential.
Source: [Engadget]
Employers Blame Employees as 54% of Firms Face Cyber Attacks Annually
A survey found that despite the percentage of companies that have encountered a cyber security incident in the last 12 months, a worrying 24% of employees have never had any cyber security training. The survey further found that alarmingly 42% of respondents used the same password for both home and work accounts, increasing the risk of exposing their organisational passwords. This risk was furthered by 40% of the total number of respondents keeping their password in an open file or physical notebook.
Organisations, including those already providing training, should look to ensure they implement training from experts that covers such areas; by effectively training employees, organisations will increase their cyber resilience and reduce their risk of suffering a cyber attack. Black Arrow supports organisations of all sizes in designing and delivering proportionate user education and awareness programmes, including in-person and online training as well as simulated phishing campaigns. Our programmes are secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation.
Source: [Information Security Buzz]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Cyber security still remains the greatest concern for many executives | TechRadar
Cyber attacks are constant and test even the best | Newsroom
Companies Struggling With Cyber security: Big Players In Bad Situations (forbes.com)
SMEs overestimate their cyber security preparedness - Help Net Security
Almost Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Security Challenges in Year Ahead (prnewswire.com)
Organisations failing to proactively address insider cyber risk | Computer Weekly
Expensive Investigations Drive Surging Data Breach Costs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Most Global Board Members Unprepared for “Targeted” Cyber attack, Report Finds | MSSP Alert
Changing Role of the CISO: A Holistic Approach Drives the Future (darkreading.com)
How to Get Your Board on Board With Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Regulatory activity forces compliance leaders to spend more on GRC tools - Help Net Security
Going Up! How to Handle Rising Cyber security Costs (securityintelligence.com)
Balancing budget and system security: Approaches to risk tolerance - Help Net Security
Is Director Liability For Cyber security Failure An Immediate Risk? (forbes.com)
83% of IT Security Professionals Say Burnout Causes Data Breaches (prnewswire.com)
Why Cyber security Compliance Standards Still Have A Long Way To Go (forbes.com)
Bot Attack Costs Double to $86m Annually - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Adapting to new rule changes in cyber risk management: How the SEC changed the game - SiliconANGLE
Poor digital experience a blocker for cyber resilience | Computer Weekly
What is Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)? | TechTarget Definition
How to prevent and prepare for a cyber catastrophe (securityintelligence.com)
2023 Cyber Risk and Resiliency Report: How CIOs Are Dueling Disaster (informationweek.com)
Why more security doesn’t mean more effective compliance - Help Net Security
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Digesting the Digits - 2023 ‘record year’ for ransomware attacks - PaymentExpert.com
Attacks on Casino Giants Heralds Resurgence in Ransomware Attacks (claimsjournal.com)
Beazley and AIG likely to face cyber attack losses on casinos (insuranceinsider.com)
LockBit Is Using RMMs to Spread Its Ransomware (darkreading.com)
‘Top’ ransomware gangs favour smaller businesses | Computer Weekly
US cyber insurance claims spike amid ransomware, funds transfer fraud, BEC attacks | CSO Online
Ransomware group's evolving tactics pose growing threat - Nextgov/FCW
Malware distributor Storm-0324 facilitates ransomware access | Microsoft Security Blog
Who is behind the latest wave of UK ransomware attacks? | Cyber crime | The Guardian
NCSC: Why Cyber Extortion Attacks No Longer Require Ransomware (darkreading.com)
Scattered Spider, Alphv, and the MGM hack, explained - The Hustle
Quadruple extortion ransomware maximising monetisation (securitybrief.co.nz)
What is Extortionware? How is it Different from Ransomware? (techtarget.com)
Ransomware cyber insurance claims rose by 27% | Security Magazine
Cyber insurance claims for ransomware reach record high (betanews.com)
Ransomware gang targeting defence firms, FBI warns - Defence One
Scattered Spider snares 100+ victims, moves into ransomware • The Register
BlackCat ransomware hits Azure Storage with Sphynx encryptor (bleepingcomputer.com)
FBI, CISA Issue Joint Warning on 'Snatch' Ransomware-as-a-Service (darkreading.com)
Critical Infrastructure Organisations Warned of Snatch Ransomware Attacks - Security Week
Healthcare's ransomware defences need more preventative action (securitybrief.co.nz)
Ransomware vs. resources: A higher education dilemma - eCampus News
Ransomware Victims
Hackers who breached casino giants MGM, Caesars also hit 3 other firms, Okta says | Reuters
Okta Agent Involved in MGM Resorts Breach, Attackers Claim (darkreading.com)
Hackers claim it only took a 10-minute phone call to shut down MGM Resorts (engadget.com)
MGM, Caesars Face Regulatory, Legal Maze After Cyber Incidents (darkreading.com)
Beazley and AIG likely to face cyber attack losses on casinos (insuranceinsider.com)
Greater Manchester Police Hack Follows Third-Party Supplier Fumble (darkreading.com)k
Clorox products in short supply after cyber attack disrupts operations | CNN Business
Psychiatric hospital near Jerusalem hit by suspected cyber attack | The Times of Israel
UMass Medical School Sued Over MOVEit File-Transfer Data Breach (bloomberglaw.com)
UK IT services provider Agilitas hit by Donut ransomware attack? (techmonitor.ai)
Cyber attack blamed for outages at hospitals in Illinois, Wisconsin (scrippsnews.com)
Major trucking software provider confirms ransomware incident (therecord.media)
Handbag maker Radley London hit by RansomHouse cyber attack? (techmonitor.ai)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
HR phishing: self-evaluation questionnaire | Kaspersky official blog
Phishing victim sends eye-watering $4.5M in USDT to scammer (cointelegraph.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Hackers claim it only took a 10-minute phone call to shut down MGM Resorts (engadget.com)
How social engineering takes advantage of your kindness (engadget.com)
Artificial Intelligence
Hacker Deepfakes Employee's Voice in Phone Call to Breach IT Company | PCMag
NSA Report: Deepfakes Threaten National Security | MSSP Alert
Microsoft AI Researchers Accidentally Expose 38 Terabytes of Confidential Data (thehackernews.com)
Artificial Intelligence Making Cyber Crime Harder to Fight (govtech.com)
Companies still don’t know how to handle generative AI risks - Help Net Security
85% of cyber leaders believe AI will outpace cyber defences (electronicspecifier.com)
McAfee CEO Greg Johnson on the Cyber security Threat From Generative AI (businessinsider.com)
Companies Rely on Multiple Methods to Secure Generative AI Tools (darkreading.com)
2FA/MFA
Malware
NodeStealer Malware Now Targets Facebook Business Accounts on Multiple Browsers (thehackernews.com)
Malware distributor Storm-0324 facilitates ransomware access | Microsoft Security Blog
macOS MetaStealer attacks take aim at business Mac users (appleinsider.com)
Earth Lusca Employs New Linux Backdoor, Uses Cobalt Strike for Lateral Movement (trendmicro.com)
A mysterious new Chinese malware strain is targeting large firms across the globe | TechRadar
New SprySOCKS Linux malware used in cyber espionage attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Bumblebee malware returns in new attacks abusing WebDAV folders (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fake WinRAR exploit PoC drops VenomRAT malware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
P2PInfect botnet activity surges 600x with stealthier malware variants (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ukrainian Hacker Suspected to be Behind "Free Download Manager" Malware Attack (thehackernews.com)
‘Sandman’ hackers backdoor telcos with new LuaDream malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Kaspersky uncovers 3-year old supply chain attack campaign (securitybrief.co.nz)
Mobile
Dangerous permissions detected in top Android health apps (securityaffairs.com)
Android security updates: Everything you need to know | Android Central
Hook: New Android Banking Trojan That Expands on ERMAC's Legacy (thehackernews.com)
APT36 state hackers infect Android devices using YouTube app clones (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
Bot Attack Costs Double to $86m Annually - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
P2PInfect botnet activity surges 600x with stealthier malware variants (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vast majority of bot attacks emanate from China and Russia | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Hikvision Intercoms Allow Snooping on Neighbors (darkreading.com)
No dedicated hardware security for 66% IoT modules: IoT Analytics (securitybrief.co.nz)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Pirated Software Likely Cause of Airbus Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Microsoft AI Researchers Accidentally Expose 38 Terabytes of Confidential Data (thehackernews.com)
Police data breach: 20,000 data points 'at risk' (computing.co.uk)
CardX released a data leak notification impacting their customers in Thailand (securityaffairs.com)
Pizza Hut Australia hack: data breach exposes customer information and order details | Australia
Air Canada says unauthorized group breached employee data, hacked internal system (databreaches.net)
83% of IT Security Professionals Say Burnout Causes Data Breaches (prnewswire.com)
T-Mobile app glitch let users see other people's account info (bleepingcomputer.com)
T-Mobile Racks Up Third Consumer Data Exposure of 2023 (darkreading.com)Over a Third of UK
TransUnion says dump of customer data came from third party • The Register
US govt IT worker accused of leaking top secrets • The Register
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Europol lifts the lid on cyber crime tactics (malwarebytes.com)
One of the FBI’s most wanted hackers is trolling the US government | TechCrunch
India's biggest tech centres named as cyber crime hotspots • The Register
Scattered Spider snares 100+ victims, moves into ransomware • The Register
Financially Motivated Hacks by Chinese-Speaking Actors Surge (inforisktoday.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Multiple crypto raids net Lazarus Group $290M in 15 weeks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
TikTok flooded by 'Elon Musk' cryptocurrency giveaway scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing victim sends eye-watering $4.5M in USDT to scammer (cointelegraph.com)
Mark Cuban loses $870k to a crypto scam: ‘They must have been watching’ – DL News
How Sam Bankman-Fried's parents enabled his criminal empire | Fortune Crypto
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Organisations failing to proactively address insider cyber risk | Computer Weekly
HR’s role in cyber security and insider threat mitigation - Hindustan Times
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Brits Lose $9.3bn to Scams in a Year - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
US cyber insurance claims spike amid ransomware, funds transfer fraud, BEC attacks | CSO Online
TikTok flooded by 'Elon Musk' cryptocurrency giveaway scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mark Cuban loses $870k to a crypto scam: ‘They must have been watching’ – DL News
How Sam Bankman-Fried's parents enabled his criminal empire | Fortune Crypto
Payment Card-Skimming Campaign Now Targeting Websites in North America (darkreading.com)
Court sentences pair for India-based robocall scam • The Register
Shift from UK Analogue to Digital Phone Lines Breeds New SCAMs - ISPreview UK
Singapore to detail fraud liability split for bank & victim • The Register
Deepfakes
Insurance
Cyber insurance claims for ransomware reach record high (betanews.com)
US cyber insurance claims spike amid ransomware, funds transfer fraud, BEC attacks | CSO Online
Beazley and AIG likely to face cyber attack losses on casinos (insuranceinsider.com)
Ransomware cyber insurance claims rose by 27% | Security Magazine
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Almost Half of Executives Expect Supply Chain Security Challenges in Year Ahead (prnewswire.com)
Okta Agent Involved in MGM Resorts Breach, Attackers Claim (darkreading.com)
Greater Manchester Police Hack Follows Third-Party Supplier Fumble (darkreading.com)
Kaspersky uncovers 3-year old supply chain attack campaign (securitybrief.co.nz)
Evaluating New Partners and Vendors from an Identity Security Perspective (darkreading.com)
How cyber attacks on Taiwan are hurting global business - Raconteur
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Why Shared Fate is a Better Way to Manage Cloud Risk (darkreading.com)
IBM X-Force: Use of compromised credentials darkens cloud security picture | Network World
Retool blames breach on Google Authenticator MFA cloud sync feature (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mastering Defence-In-Depth and Data Security in the Cloud Era (darkreading.com)
Understanding the Differences Between On-Premises and Cloud Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Hybrid/Remote Working
Shadow IT
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
EU's quest to fix the internet could become a privacy nightmare | TechRadar
UK Minister Warns Meta Over End-to-End Encryption - Security Week
Signal Messenger Introduces PQXDH Quantum-Resistant Encryption (thehackernews.com)
Open Source
Kaspersky uncovers 3-year old supply chain attack campaign (securitybrief.co.nz)
Chinese hackers have unleashed a never-before-seen Linux backdoor | Ars Technica
New SprySOCKS Linux malware used in cyber espionage attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ukrainian Hacker Suspected to be Behind "Free Download Manager" Malware Attack (thehackernews.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Are your end-users' passwords compromised? Here's how to check. (bleepingcomputer.com)
Why employee login credentials are 'the weakest link in security' (siliconrepublic.com)
Social Media
TikTok fined 345m euro by watchdog over how it processed children’s data | The Independent
NodeStealer Malware Now Targets Facebook Business Accounts on Multiple Browsers (thehackernews.com)
APT36 state hackers infect Android devices using YouTube app clones (bleepingcomputer.com)
Donald Trump Jr.'s X Account Appears To Have Been Hacked (dailydot.com)
UK Minister Warns Meta Over End-to-End Encryption - Security Week
TikTok flooded by 'Elon Musk' cryptocurrency giveaway scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK Minister Warns Meta Over End-to-End Encryption - Security Week
EU's quest to fix the internet could become a privacy nightmare | TechRadar
TikTok Is Hit With $368 Million Fine Under Europe's Strict Data Privacy Rules - Security Week
MGM, Caesars Face Regulatory, Legal Maze After Cyber Incidents (darkreading.com)
California Settles With Google Over Location Privacy Practices for $93 Million - Security Week
Why Cyber security Compliance Standards Still Have A Long Way To Go (forbes.com)
Adapting to new rule changes in cyber risk management: How the SEC changed the game - SiliconANGLE
Models, Frameworks and Standards
How to Interpret the 2023 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation Results (darkreading.com)
How NIST Cyber security Framework 2.0 Tackles Risk Management (securityintelligence.com)
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Expert: Three Skills Cyber security Professionals Should Have in 2024 (newswise.com)
83% of IT Security Professionals Say Burnout Causes Data Breaches (prnewswire.com)
IT pros told to accept burnout as normal part of their job - Help Net Security
Wanted: another 3mn cyber professionals | Financial Times (ft.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
How the FBI Fights Back Against Worldwide Cyber attacks (securityintelligence.com)
Court sentences pair for India-based robocall scam • The Register
Finnish Authorities Dismantle Notorious PIILOPUOTI Dark Web Drug Marketplace (thehackernews.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
California Settles With Google Over Location Privacy Practices for $93 Million - Security Week
TikTok fined 345m euro by watchdog over how it processed children’s data | The Independent
EU's quest to fix the internet could become a privacy nightmare | TechRadar
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Russia
China, Russia ‘Prepared’ to Use Cyber If War Breaks Out, US Warns (thedefencepost.com)
International Criminal Court hacked amid Russia probe • The Register
Portuguese company detects 961 pro-Russian cyber attacks in Western Europe – EURACTIV.com
Vast majority of bot attacks emanate from China and Russia | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
One of the FBI’s most wanted hackers is trolling the US government | TechCrunch
Senators want clarity from Pentagon on Ukraine Starlink access fiasco | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Russian allegedly smuggled US weapons electronics to Moscow • The Register
China
China, Russia ‘Prepared’ to Use Cyber If War Breaks Out, US Warns (thedefencepost.com)
FBI chief says China has bigger hacking program than the competition combined | Reuters
EU warns China on Ukraine disinformation and cyber attacks – POLITICO
Chinese Spies Infected Dozens of Networks With Thumb Drive Malware | WIRED
Chinese hackers have unleashed a never-before-seen Linux backdoor | Ars Technica
Trouble brews after embassy worker finds spy bug in China teapot (thetimes.co.uk)
Vast majority of bot attacks emanate from China and Russia | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
A mysterious new Chinese malware strain is targeting large firms across the globe | TechRadar
Financially Motivated Hacks by Chinese-Speaking Actors Surge (inforisktoday.com)
Growing Chinese Tech Influence in Africa Spurs 'Soft Power' Concerns (darkreading.com)
How cyber attacks on Taiwan are hurting global business - Raconteur
DoD: China's ICS Cyber Onslaught Aimed at Gaining Kinetic Warfare Advantage (darkreading.com)
Iran
Microsoft: 'Peach Sandstorm' Cyber attacks Target Defence, Pharmaceutical Orgs (darkreading.com)
Pro-Iranian Attackers Target Israeli Railroad Network (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Multiple crypto raids net Lazarus Group $290M in 15 weeks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
How a North Korean cyber group impersonated a Washington D.C. analyst (cnbc.com)
Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare
Vulnerability Management
KEV Catalog Reaches 1000, What Does That Mean and What Have We Learned | CISA
Vulnerability management, its impact and threat modeling methodologies (securityintelligence.com)
How SBOMs Help Uncover Vulnerabilities In Enterprise Applications (forbes.com)
Vulnerabilities
Fortinet Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA
Critical Trend Micro vulnerability exploited in the wild (CVE-2023-41179) - Help Net Security
iOS 17.0.1 re-patches 3 actively exploited security flaws - 9to5Mac
If you're still using WinRAR, watch out for this dangerous exploit - and please stop | TechRadar
GitLab Releases Urgent Security Patches for Critical Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft releases firmware update for all Surface devices | TechSpot
Tools and Controls
Expensive Investigations Drive Surging Data Breach Costs (bleepingcomputer.com)
Enterprise networks are evolving; your security architecture needs to evolve, too (betanews.com)
Think Your MFA and PAM Solutions Protect You? Think Again (thehackernews.com)
Do You Really Trust Your Web Application Supply Chain? (thehackernews.com)
Regulatory activity forces compliance leaders to spend more on GRC tools - Help Net Security
Going Up! How to Handle Rising Cyber security Costs (securityintelligence.com)
Shadow IT: Security policies may be a problem - Help Net Security
Balancing budget and system security: Approaches to risk tolerance - Help Net Security
How NIST Cyber security Framework 2.0 Tackles Risk Management (securityintelligence.com)
How Choosing Authentication Is a Business-Critical Decision (darkreading.com)
Understanding the Differences Between On-Premises and Cloud Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Adapting to new rule changes in cyber risk management: How the SEC changed the game - SiliconANGLE
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Why automakers are worried your car is the next target for cyber attacks - CityAM
Consumers are being bombarded with billions of threats every year | TechRadar
Bad torts: Law firms feel the heat from rising cyber threats (synack.com)
SME Cyber Security – Time for a New Approach? - IT Security Guru
Time to Demand IT Security by Design and Default - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Australia’s new cyber security strategy: Build “cyber shields” around the country | CSO Online
Home Office sets up cyber security for Emergency Services Network | UKAuthority
Cyber security Tops Business Risks Challenging European Auditors (bloomberglaw.com)
Energy Is the Most-Targeted Sector for Cyber attacks: Here’s What to Do (powermag.com)
Cyber on the battlefield is about more than IT - Nextgov/FCW
Every Network Is Now an OT Network. Can Your Security Keep Up? - Security Week
Pentagon's 2023 Cyber Strategy Focuses on Helping Allies - Security Week
Singapore's retail banks take steps to enhance cyber security (finextra.com)
Experts fret over fate of CISA cyber programs as shutdown clouds loom | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Strong compliance management is crucial for fintech-bank partnerships - Help Net Security
Rail Travel Free in Estonia as Cyber Attack Disrupts Ticketing (eturbonews.com)
Dairy industry teams with cyber security group to beef up defences | Food Dive
Securing Eurovision’s online voting system against cyber attacks (computerweekly.com)
GCHQ chief takes job in private security company | The Independent
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
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· Defence & Space
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· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 August 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 11 August 2023:
-75% of Organisations Worldwide Set to Ban ChatGPT and Generative AI Apps on Work Devices
-How an Eight-Character Password Could be Cracked in Just a Few Minutes
-Ransomware Victims Surge 143% as Threat Actors Pivot to Zero-Day Exploits
-How Executives’ Personal Devices Threaten Business Security
-77% of Financial Firms Saw an Increase in Cyber Attack Frequency
-Protecting Against Sophisticated Cyber Attacks Requires Layered Defences
-Managing Human Cyber Risks Matters Now More Than Ever
-Hackers are Targeting Top Executives’ Microsoft 365 Accounts to Steal Work Logins
-UK Shaken by Major Data Breaches
-Threat of Cyber Attacks to UK National Security Upgraded: Compared to Chemical Weapons or Nuclear Attack
-Mac Users are Facing More Dangerous Security Threats Than Ever Before
-Cyber Attack to Cost Outsourcing Firm Capita up to £25m
-Government and Public Services Face 40% More Cyber Attacks and Struggle to Protect Due to Lack of Resources
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
75% of Organisations Worldwide Set to Ban ChatGPT and Generative AI Apps on Work Devices
Newly released research found that 75% of organisations worldwide are currently implementing or considering bans on ChatGPT and other generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications within the workplace, with 61% stating that it will be a long term or permanent solution. Despite this, the majority recognised the opportunity such applications bring to the workplace, with 55% believing it would increase efficiency. All in all, 81% remained in favour of AI, highlighting that whilst organisations see the benefit, they are not ready to take the plunge for fear of being caught flat-footed.
Many organisations may simply not have the expertise-in house or confidence to employ AI effectively. These organisations lack an effective AI management plan, which governs the usage of AI in the corporate environment, rather than banning it outright. By having a clear-set AI plan, organisations can use AI to improve their efficiency, whilst maintaining cyber resilience. An increasing number of organisations have approached us at Black Arrow to discuss how to embrace AI securely; contact us to see how we can help you.
Source: [Dark Reading]
How an Eight-Character Password Could be Cracked in Just a Few Minutes
Strong and complex passwords are necessary to protect online accounts and data from cyber criminals. Complex passwords typically use lowercase and uppercase characters, numbers, and special characters. But complexity by itself can still open your password to cracking if it doesn’t contain enough characters, according to research by security firm Hive Systems. The report found that a complex password of eight characters can be cracked in only five minutes, and other weaker or shorter passwords are cracked instantly. However, passwords that have a greater number of characters are less vulnerable: for example an 18 character password, even if only lowercase letters, would take 481,000 years for a computer to crack.
Since creating and remembering multiple complex and lengthy passwords on your own is impossible, a password manager is your best bet. By using a password manager for yourself or within your organisation, you can generate, store and apply strong passwords for websites and online accounts.
Source: [Techrepublic]
Ransomware Victims Surge 143% as Threat Actors Pivot to Zero-Day Exploits
The number of organisations that became victims of ransomware attacks surged 143% between the first quarter of 2022 and first quarter of this year, as attackers increasingly leveraged zero-day vulnerabilities to break into target networks.
In many of these attacks, threat actors did not bother to encrypt data belonging to victim organisations. Instead, they focused solely on stealing their sensitive data and extorting victims by threatening to sell or leak the data to others. The tactic left even those with otherwise robust backup and restoration processes backed into a corner; this highlights the need for organisations to be able to detect and ideally block anomalous exfiltration of data, and have effective and rehearsed incident response plans to address the concept of pure exfiltration, because having backups is not enough.
The costs of these types of controls continue to fall making them viable for even smaller businesses. Without tools like Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), attacks of this nature cannot be detected until it is too late to do anything to stop them.
Source: [Dark Reading]
How Executives’ Personal Devices Threaten Business Security
Individuals, including executives, are considered a major target for cyber attacks. Motivated attackers know the right individual people they want to go after to achieve their larger organisational goal, and they’ll use any means necessary to be successful.
A recent report found that most executives are using their personal devices for work, creating a “backdoor” for cyber criminals to access large organisations. 50% of executive respondents reported receiving work-related scams in their personal emails.
Personal device use can be effective for organisations, however they need to implement an effective bring-your-own-device (BYOD) procedure and provide employees, including executives, with frequent user awareness and education training. All users at all levels within an organisation need to understand the risks, and importantly the role they play in keeping the organisation secure.
Sources: [Help Net Security] [Security Affairs]
77% of Financial Firms Saw an Increase in Cyber Attack Frequency
According a recent report on the financial services sector, 77% of firms reported an increase in attack frequency, and 87% said attacks were more severe. These firms unanimously said they would look to outsource their cyber security programs to third-party providers to shore up their cyber defences. Among the respondents, firms need to protect hybrid work environments (62%), consolidate cyber security and managed IT services (41%) and tap industry-specific and regulatory expertise (33%).
Source: [SecurityMagazine]
Protecting Against Sophisticated Cyber Attacks Requires Layered Defences
Faced with an influx of sophisticated cyber threats, including usage of AI to further enhance the efficacy of social engineering attacks, and the growth of both malware-as-a-service (MaaS) and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), it is critical for organisations to invest in layered security defences.
Services like managed detection and response (MDR) are integral to monitoring, investigating and responding to threats in real time. But without a strong and comprehensive foundational cyber security posture, managed services alone cannot effectively mitigate threats. To ensure comprehensive defences against emerging threats, organisations must prioritise proactive measures that can stop attacks before they even start. As adversaries continue to refine their attack techniques, layered protection that covers every stage in the attack chain becomes imperative.
Source: [Forbes]
Managing Human Cyber Risks Matters Now More Than Ever
As artificial intelligence (AI) amplifies the sophistication and reach of phishing, vishing, and smishing attacks, understanding and managing human cyber risks has become increasingly vital, according to the SANS Institute. It makes sense as no matter the technological advancement, the human element has always been a point of entry for attackers.
A recent study found that mature security programs, marked by robust teams and leadership support, are characterised by having at least three full-time employees in their security awareness teams. In some cases, this isn’t feasible for an organisation and this is where outsourcing comes in. By outsourcing security awareness, organisations can ensure that they have access to security awareness experts, to keep their organisation educated. Here at Black Arrow we offer regular security and awareness training, bespoke to your organisation, for your employees and leadership team.
Source: [Help Net Security]
Hackers are Targeting Top Executives’ Microsoft 365 Accounts to Steal Work Logins
Cyber security provider Proofpoint reported that high-level execs at some of the world’s leading companies are repeatedly targeted with credential-stealing attacks. More alarmingly, according to Proofpoint, around one-third (35%) of the compromised users had multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled.
The attacks come amid a rise in cases of EvilProxy, a phishing tool that allows attackers to steal even MFA-protected credentials. In the three months to June 2023, around 120,000 EvilProxy phishing emails were observed being sent to hundreds of targeted organisations globally, with many targeting Microsoft 365 user accounts in particular. Approximately 39% of the victims were C-level executives of which 17% were Chief Financial Officers, and 9% were Presidents and CEOs. Users must be trained effectively, to help mitigate the chance of them suffering a phishing attack. The C-suite is no exception.
Sources: [Help Net Security] [Security Affairs]
UK Shaken by Major Data Breaches
Recent major data breaches impacting crucial institutions like the UK Electoral Commission (which exposed the data of 40 million UK voters) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, have brought attention to potential risks. Following a recent freedom of information request 10,000 police officers and staff details where published including details such as first name and surname, their rank or grade and the unit and where they are based. This breach occurred when a junior member of staff forgot to remove the master spreadsheet containing sensitive data when responding to the request.
Sources: [Telegraph] [Tech Crunch]
Threat of Cyber Attacks to UK National Security Upgraded: Compared to Chemical Weapons or Nuclear Attack
The UK government has raised the threat level posed by cyber attacks, now deeming the risk of cyber attacks to be more severe than that presented by small-scale chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) attacks according to the latest National Risk Register (NRR) report for 2023. The report also highlighted artificial intelligence (AI) as a “chronic risk” – that is, one that poses “continuous challenges that erode our economy, community, way of life, and/or national security”.
Sources: [ITPro] [Infosecurity Magazine]
Mac Users are Facing More Dangerous Security Threats Than Ever Before
Apple’s MacBook Pro or iPhone devices are often perceived as safer, from a cyber security standpoint, compared to those from Microsoft or Google, mostly because of its “walled garden” approach. However, another key reason why hackers were not historically as interested in Apple was the smaller market share Apple held. That is no longer the case and as attacks are rising against Apple devices, this is something we expect to see continuing to accelerate.
In the last 10 years, Apple’s market share on desktop has increased from less than 7.5% to just over 20% today. Apple frequently patches actively exploited vulnerabilities, with overall 261 security vulnerabilities addressed so far this year. A recent report found that Mac users are targeted by three key threats: Trojans, Adware, and Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUA). Of the three, Trojans are the biggest single threat, making up more than half of all threat detections. Of all those detections, around half (52.7%) were for the EvilQuest encryption malicious software.
Source: [Techradar]
Cyber Attack to Cost Outsourcing Firm Capita up to £25m
Capita expects to take a financial hit of as much as £25m as a result of a cyber attack that began in March, pushing the outsourcing group to a pre-tax loss of almost £68m for the first half of the year. The group is still recovering from the attack by the Black Basta ransomware group, which hacked its Microsoft Office 365 software and accessed the personal data of staff working for the company and dozens of clients. Capita, which runs crucial services for local councils, the military, and the NHS, estimated that the financial costs associated with what it called the “cyber incident” would be between £20m and £25m. Previous estimates had put the cost at £15m to £20m.
The group said this new figure reflected the complexities of analysing the “exfiltrated” data, as well as costs of recovery and remediation and new investment to improve its cyber security. However, Capita said it was not currently able to estimate the level of any potential fine related to the incident and had not yet made any provision to cover any future costs. The company’s shares fell by more than 12% in morning trading on Friday after the release of its results, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 250.
Source: [Guardian]
Government and Public Services Face 40% More Cyber Attacks and Struggle to Protect Due to Lack of Resources
A report published by BlackBerry noted a 40% rise in cyber attacks against public sector organisations and government institutions. One of the reasons is the limited resources and resistance that these government and public have; this makes it much easier for an attacker. An easy target is an attractive target.
Source: [Financial Express]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Protecting Against Sophisticated Cyber attacks Requires Layered Defense (forbes.com)
Managing human cyber risks matters now more than ever - Help Net Security
Executives 'sleepwalking into cyber catastrophe', warns cyber security boss (cityam.com)
How To Deal With the Vagueness in New Cyber Regulations (darkreading.com)
Digital skills gap is challenging the cyber security of UK businesses - IT Security Guru
Cyber attack to cost outsourcing firm Capita up to £25m | Capita | The Guardian
9 common risk management failures and how to avoid them | TechTarget
Alarming survey: Many tech experts fail a test of their cyber security knowledge - SiliconANGLE
Safeguarding Businesses From Data Privacy And Cyber security Risk (forbes.com)
How Do Some Companies Get Compromised Again and Again? (securityintelligence.com)
What happens if cyber insurance becomes unviable? - Raconteur
NIST announces rare overhaul of security framework, focusing on organisational leadership | ITPro
Cyber Security Must Focus on the Goals of Criminals (informationweek.com)
Going Up! How to Handle Rising Cyber Security Costs (securityintelligence.com)
Maintaining Data Security Amidst Rising Concerns of Cyber attacks (techreport.com)
Why it’s time for everyone to reorient their thinking about cyber security | Federal News Network
It's Time for Cyber security to Talk About Climate Change (darkreading.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Healthcare and Finance Firms Ranked as Leading Targets for Cyber Attacks - MSSP Alert
Ransomware victim numbers surge as attackers target zero-day vulnerabilities | CSO Online
Definitive Guide to Ransomware 2023 | IBM whitepaper | ITPro | ITPro
Data exfiltration is now the go-to cyber extortion strategy - Help Net Security
Clop ransomware now uses torrents to leak data and evade takedowns (bleepingcomputer.com)
Spot Fake Extortion Attacks Without Wasting Time and Money (securityintelligence.com)
New Yashma Ransomware Variant Targets Multiple English-Speaking Countries (thehackernews.com)
Ransomware Victims Surge as Threat Actors Pivot to Zero-Day Exploits (darkreading.com)
Recent ransomware attacks share curiously similar tactics - Help Net Security
Ransomware Attacks: 20 Essential Considerations For Prep And Response (forbes.com)
Navigating the gray zone of ransomware payment practices - Help Net Security
Anatomy of a Black Basta Ransomware Attack on BankCard USA - MSSP Alert
Mallox Ransomware Group Revamps Malware Variants, Evasion Tactics (darkreading.com)
Clop Gang Offers Data Downloads Via Torrents - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New Report Exposes Vice Society's Collaboration with Rhysida Ransomware (thehackernews.com)
Dallas pays millions for ransomware expenses after May attack – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (nbcdfw.com)
Strong authentication best defence against Ransomware: Yubico (securitybrief.co.nz)
Best practices for reporting ransomware attacks | TechTarget
Ransomware, healthcare and incident response: Lessons from the Allscripts attack | CSO Online
Microsoft OneDrive is a willing 'ransomware double agent' • The Register
Threat Report: Ransomware Down, Targeted Attacks on the Rise (inforisktoday.com)
Rasnake: Ransomware Now Threatens All, Not Just Elites | Newsmax.com
Ransomware Victims
Hospital System Goes Back To Paper Following Ransomware Attack (forbes.com)
Cyber attack forces hospitals to divert ambulances in Connecticut and Pennsylvania | CNN Politics
Dallas pays millions for ransomware expenses after May attack – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (nbcdfw.com)
Colorado Department of Higher Education warns of massive data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Bnei Brak hospital hit by cyber attack, bringing down computers | The Times of Israel
LockBit posts Siemens company Varian to its victim blog (techmonitor.ai)
Hacker stole more than $6 million from New Haven Public Schools (wfsb.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Hackers are targeting top executives to steal their work logins | TechRadar
Microsoft 365 accounts of execs, managers hijacked through EvilProxy - Help Net Security
9 of 10 Cyber attacks Start with a Phish, Comcast Study Shows - MSSP Alert
Microsoft Teams used in phishing campaign to bypass multi-factor authentication (malwarebytes.com)
AI tools like ChatGPT increasingly used by cyber criminals for phishing, experts warn | NL Times
First quarter of 2023 saw 88% rise in phishing attacks: Kaspersky | The Peninsula Qatar
RTL Today - Up to 80% of all cyber attacks: Phishing attempts surge in post-pandemic age
100K+ VIP Microsoft 365 users got targeted by phishers - OnMSFT.com
Microsoft’s Role in Email Breach to Be Part of US Cyber Inquiry - BNN Bloomberg
Interpol takes down phishing-as-a-service platform used by 70,000 people (therecord.media)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Artificial Intelligence
When your teammate is a machine: 8 questions CISOs should be asking about AI | CSO Online
Generative AI In Cyber Should Worry Us, Here’s Why (forbes.com)
How to Prepare for ChatGPT's Risk Management Challenges (darkreading.com)
Experience: scammers used AI to fake my daughter’s kidnap | Family | The Guardian
White House offers prize money for hacker-thwarting AI (techxplore.com)
AI tools like ChatGPT increasingly used by cyber criminals for phishing, experts warn | NL Times
Data attacks set to enter new era under 'FraudGPT', warn cyber security execs (cityam.com)
Hackers Released New Black Hat AI Tool Evil-GPT (cybersecuritynews.com)
In the age of ChatGPT, Macs are under malware assault | Digital Trends
AI can now steal your passwords with almost 100% accuracy | Digital Trends
Microsoft AI Red Team building future of safer AI | Microsoft Security Blog
ChatGPT Security Concerns: Credentials on the Dark Web and More (techrepublic.com)
AI hacking gets White House backing; some already go rogue (9to5mac.com)
OpenAI to Unleash New Web Crawler to Devour More of the Open Web - Decrypt
5 Pitfalls and Possibilities AI Brings to Cyber Insurance (informationweek.com)
2FA/MFA
Microsoft Teams used in phishing campaign to bypass multi-factor authentication (malwarebytes.com)
Microsoft Authenticator will soon provide codes via WhatsApp - gHacks Tech News
Malware
In the age of ChatGPT, Macs are under malware assault | Digital Trends
Mac users are facing more dangerous security threats than ever before | TechRadar
Threat intelligence's key role in mitigating malware threats - Help Net Security
This PowerPoint could help hackers empty your bank account | Digital Trends
Latest Batloader Campaigns Use Pyarmor Pro for Evasion (trendmicro.com)
Reptile Rootkit: Advanced Linux Malware Targeting South Korean Systems (thehackernews.com)
Malicious npm Packages Found Exfiltrating Sensitive Data from Developers (thehackernews.com)
Fake VMware vConnector package on PyPI targets IT pros (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ukrainian state agencies targeted with open-source malware MerlinAgent (therecord.media)
QakBot Malware Operators Expand C2 Network with 15 New Servers (thehackernews.com)
Hackers use open source Merlin post-exploitation toolkit in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Statc Stealer Malware Emerges: Your Sensitive Data at Risk (thehackernews.com)
Gafgyt malware exploits five-years-old flaw in EoL Zyxel router (bleepingcomputer.com)
CISA: New Whirlpool backdoor used in Barracuda ESG hacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
Google explains how Android malware slips onto Google Play Store (bleepingcomputer.com)
Czech cyber security experts warn against BaiRBIE.me app | Radio Prague International
Removing Spyware From Your Android Phone: A How-To Guide (slashgear.com)
How executives' personal devices threaten business security - Help Net Security
Invisible Ad Fraud Targets Korean Android Users - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Google Play apps with 2.5M installs load ads when screen's off (bleepingcomputer.com)
40 Vulnerabilities Patched in Android With August 2023 Security Updates - Security Week
Android 14 to let you block connections to unencrypted cellular networks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
QakBot Malware Operators Expand C2 Network with 15 New Servers (thehackernews.com)
Two-Thirds of UK Sites Vulnerable to Bad Bots - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Analysing Network Chaos Leads to Better DDoS Detection (darkreading.com)
How to accelerate and access DDoS protection services using GRE - Help Net Security
Researchers Strengthen Defences Against Common Cyber attack - CleanTechnica
Internet of Things – IoT
Panasonic Warns That IoT Malware Attack Cycles Are Accelerating | WIRED
Disposed-of Gadgets Can Lead to Wi-Fi Network Hacks, Kaspersky Says (darkreading.com)
The new technology that is making cars easier for criminals to steal, or crash (techxplore.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Executives 'sleepwalking into cyber catastrophe', warns cyber security boss (cityam.com)
The Top 10 Countries Being Bombarded by Data Breaches (gizmodo.com)
UK Electoral Commission hacked by 'hostile actors' | Reuters
PSNI officers who work with MI5 face relocation after ‘humongous’ security breach (telegraph.co.uk)
Burger King Serves Up Sensitive Data, No Mayo (darkreading.com)
Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August | Meta | The Guardian
TunnelCrack attack may cause vulnerable VPNs to leak traffic • The Register
Phishing-resistant authentication a key to breach prevention (securitybrief.co.nz)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cloud Company Assisted 17 Different Government Hacking Groups: US Researchers | NTD
IRS confirms takedown of bulletproof hosting provider Lolek (therecord.media)
Interpol Shuts Down African Cyber crime Group, Seizes $2 Million (darkreading.com)
Cyber security Must Focus on the Goals of Criminals (informationweek.com)
How fame-seeking teenagers hacked some of the world’s biggest targets | Ars Technica
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
BlackBerry Discloses Major Crypto-Based Malware - The Tech Report
FBI warns of phishing scams and social media account hijackers (cointelegraph.com)
Only 6 out of 45 crypto wallet brands have undergone penetration testing: Report (cointelegraph.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Managing human cyber risks matters now more than ever - Help Net Security
US Navy sailors charged with stealing secret info for China • The Register
Get consent before you monitor your staff, UK MPs suggest • The Register
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Rise in fraudsters spoofing the websites of leading UK banks | Computer Weekly
Extended warranty robocallers fined $300 million after 5 billion scam calls (bleepingcomputer.com)
Experience: scammers used AI to fake my daughter’s kidnap | Family | The Guardian
Data attacks set to enter new era under 'FraudGPT', warn cyber security execs (cityam.com)
Impersonation Attacks
Insurance
What happens if cyber insurance becomes unviable? - Raconteur
Cyber Insurance Experts Make a Case for Coverage, Protection (darkreading.com)
5 Pitfalls and Possibilities AI Brings to Cyber Insurance (informationweek.com)
10 Key Controls to Show Your Organisation Is Worthy of Cyber Insurance (darkreading.com)
Lower Data Breach Insurance Costs with These Tips (trendmicro.com)
Dark Web
Dark web activity targeting the financial sector - Help Net Security
ChatGPT Security Concerns: Credentials on the Dark Web and More (techrepublic.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Government contractor plunges after £25m cyber attack - The Mail (mailplus.co.uk)
37% of third-party applications have high-risk permissions - Help Net Security
Software Supply Chain
Unravelling the importance of software supply chain security - Help Net Security
OWASP Lead Flags Gaping Hole in Software Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)
37% of third-party applications have high-risk permissions - Help Net Security
Cloud/SaaS
Attackers Use EvilProxy to target C-suite Executives (inforisktoday.com)
100K+ VIP Microsoft 365 users got targeted by phishers - OnMSFT.com
Cloud Company Assisted 17 Different Government Hacking Groups: US Researchers | NTD
Microsoft OneDrive is a willing 'ransomware double agent' • The Register
Managing and Securing Distributed Cloud Environments - Security Week
Microsoft 365 guests + Power Apps = security nightmare • The Register
Containers
Identity and Access Management
CrowdStrike observes massive spike in identity-based attacks | TechTarget
Keeper Security reveals SMBs at risk due to lack of PAM (securitybrief.co.nz)
Understanding Active Directory Attack Paths to Improve Security (thehackernews.com)
91% of IT leaders better protected with PAM but want more affordable solutions - IT Security Guru
Strong authentication best defence against Ransomware: Yubico (securitybrief.co.nz)
WhatsApp is working on phishing-proof passkey authentication (androidpolice.com)
Phishing-resistant authentication a key to breach prevention (securitybrief.co.nz)
Encryption
UK minister defends plan to demand access to encrypted messages | Privacy | The Guardian
Quantum computing: A threat to asymmetric encryption. (thecyberwire.com)
Open Source
Is Open Source Security a Ticking Cyber Time Bomb? (securityintelligence.com)
Reptile Rootkit: Advanced Linux Malware Targeting South Korean Systems (thehackernews.com)
Kemba Walden: We need to secure open source software | TechTarget
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
How an 8-character password could be cracked in just a few minutes (techrepublic.com)
AI can now steal your passwords with almost 100% accuracy | Digital Trends
US Dept. of the Interior Employees Use Accounts That Are Easily Hacked (businessinsider.com)
Biometrics
Social Media
Malvertising
Invisible Ad Fraud Targets Korean Android Users - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Google Play apps with 2.5M installs load ads when screen's off (bleepingcomputer.com)
Not so fast: Don’t click that fake Amazon or Microsoft ad. Here’s why | Fox News
Training, Education and Awareness
Managing human cyber risks matters now more than ever - Help Net Security
Why Do Cyber security Awareness Programs Often Fail? (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Travel
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Cyber Bullying, Cyber Stalking and Sextortion
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
How To Deal With the Vagueness in New Cyber Regulations (darkreading.com)
What does the Data Protection and Digital Information (DPID) Bill mean for small businesses? | ITPro
The Problem With Cyber security (and AI Security) Regulation (darkreading.com)
CISA Unveils Cyber security Strategic Plan for Next 3 Years - Security Week
The 5 Ways The SEC Failed Investors On Cyber security (forbes.com)
America’s messy cyber regulations are no match for its adversaries | Financial Times (ft.com)
Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August | Meta | The Guardian
Banks hit with $549 million in fines for using Signal and WhatsApp to evade regulators (nbcnews.com)
ICO threatens enforcement action against websites with 'harmful' cookie banners | ITPro
UK minister defends plan to demand access to encrypted messages | Privacy | The Guardian
Models, Frameworks and Standards
NIST Drafts Major Update to Its Widely Used Cyber security Framework | NIST
Understanding NIST CSF and MITRE ATT&CK Security Frameworks - The New Stack
OWASP Lead Flags Gaping Hole in Software Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)
Understanding Changes in the OWASP API Security Top 10 List - IT Security Guru
5 steps to ensure HIPAA compliance on mobile devices | TechTarget
Data Protection
Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August | Meta | The Guardian
ICO threatens enforcement action against websites with 'harmful' cookie banners | ITPro
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Digital skills gap is challenging the cyber security of UK businesses - IT Security Guru
Alarming survey: Many tech experts fail a test of their cyber security knowledge - SiliconANGLE
6 Essential Strategies for Enterprise Cyber security Workforce Development (govinfosecurity.com)
Seasoned cyber pros are more complacent in their skills than junior staff - Help Net Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
IRS confirms takedown of bulletproof hosting provider Lolek (therecord.media)
Interpol takes down phishing-as-a-service platform used by 70,000 people (therecord.media)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Missing persons NGO alliance kicks off global facial recognition initiative | Biometric Update
China drafts rules for using facial recognition data - Japan Today
Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August | Meta | The Guardian
ICO threatens enforcement action against websites with 'harmful' cookie banners | ITPro
Woman Falsely Arrested Sues Detroit Over Facial Recognition (govtech.com)
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Russia
BlueCharlie changes attack infrastructure in response to reports on its activity - Security Affairs
Microsoft Teams used in phishing campaign to bypass multi-factor authentication (malwarebytes.com)
SpaceX's private control of satellite internet concerns military leaders | Space
Analysts Say Use of Spyware During Conflict Is Chilling (voanews.com)
Ukrainian state agencies targeted with open-source malware MerlinAgent (therecord.media)
Cyber security experts discuss wins, losses and lessons at western Ukraine gathering : NPR
Ukrainian official: Russian hackers change tactics from disruptive attacks | CyberScoop
Ukraine Fends Off Sandworm Battlefield Espionage Ploy (govinfosecurity.com)
Satellite hack on eve of Ukraine war was a coordinated, multi-pronged assault | CyberScoop
US, Ukraine cyber leaders talk resilience, collaboration | TechTarget
Kyiv Cyber Defenders Spot Open-Source RAT in Phishing Emails (govinfosecurity.com)
North Korea compromised Russian missile engineering firm NPO Mashinostroyeniya - Security Affairs
LockBit posts Siemens company Varian to its victim blog (techmonitor.ai)
China
China-Linked Hackers Strike Worldwide: 17 Nations Hit in 3-Year Cyber Campaign (thehackernews.com)
Electric vehicle threat: China will use its EV dominance to spy: UK warning (afr.com)
UK security must not be sacrificed to net zero (telegraph.co.uk)
Chinese cyber attacks on Japan prompts US push for stronger defences - Nikkei Asia
China reportedly had ‘deep, persistent access’ to Japanese networks for months | Engadget
Why the China cyber threat demands an airtight public-private response (federaltimes.com)
China not ahead of US in cyber and surveillance, NSA head says - Nextgov/FCW
China drafts rules for using facial recognition data - Japan Today
US Navy sailors charged with stealing secret info for China • The Register
RedHotel Checks in as Dominant China-Backed Cyber Spy Group (darkreading.com)
US Navy sailors charged with stealing secret info for China • The Register
Microsoft’s Role in Email Breach to Be Part of US Cyber Inquiry - BNN Bloomberg
Iran
North Korea
Reptile Rootkit: Advanced Linux Malware Targeting South Korean Systems (thehackernews.com)
North Korea compromised Russian missile engineering firm NPO Mashinostroyeniya - Security Affairs
Misc/Other/Unknown
Vulnerability Management
Five Eyes Agencies Call Attention to Most Frequently Exploited Vulnerabilities - Security Week
Will CVSS 4.0 be a vulnerability-scoring breakthrough or is it broken? | CSO Online
Microsoft hits back at Tenable’s criticism of its infosec • The Register
The Four Pillars of Vulnerability Management - GovInfoSecurity
Has Microsoft cut security corners once too often? | Computerworld
Why Shellshock Remains a Cyber security Threat After 9 Years (darkreading.com)
The 7 Worst Software Vulnerabilities of All Time (makeuseof.com)
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Patch Tuesday for August 2023 fixed 2 actively exploited flaws - Security Affairs
Microsoft, Intel lead this month's security fix emissions • The Register
Raft of TETRA Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Endanger Industrial Communications (darkreading.com)
Nearly every AMD CPU since 2017 vulnerable to Inception bug • The Register
Microsoft fixes flaw after being called irresponsible by Tenable CEO (bleepingcomputer.com)
New PaperCut critical bug exposes unpatched servers to RCE attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Chrome will get weekly security updates - gHacks Tech News
Downfall: New Intel CPU Attack Exposing Sensitive Information - Security Week
Adobe Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products | CISA
New 'Inception' Side-Channel Attack Targets AMD Processors - Security Week
Dell Credentials Bug Opens VMWare Environments to Takeover (darkreading.com)
Tools and Controls
Managing human cyber risks matters now more than ever - Help Net Security
Windows Defender-Pretender Attack Dismantles Flagship Microsoft EDR (darkreading.com)
MDR: Empowering Organisations with Enhanced Security (thehackernews.com)
9 common risk management failures and how to avoid them | TechTarget
Why Do Cyber security Awareness Programs Often Fail? (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Here’s Why You Need Identity, Privacy, and Device Protection (finextra.com)
Attacker Breakout Time Shrinks Again, Underscoring Need for Automation (darkreading.com)
Managing and Securing Distributed Cloud Environments - Security Week
How to handle API sprawl and the security threat it poses - Help Net Security
Threat intelligence's key role in mitigating malware threats - Help Net Security
Phishing-resistant authentication a key to breach prevention (securitybrief.co.nz)
10 Key Controls to Show Your Organisation Is Worthy of Cyber Insurance (darkreading.com)
Lower Data Breach Insurance Costs with These Tips (trendmicro.com)
AI Risk Database Tackles AI Supply Chain Risks (darkreading.com)
Other News
UK Sounds Warning Over Targeted Healthcare Attack (databreachtoday.co.uk)
Budget constraints threaten cybersecurity in government bodies - Help Net Security
Threat of cyber attacks to national security compared to that of chemical weapons | ITPro
Cyber Security A Major Vulnerability In The Not For Profit Sector | Scoop News
Hacker attacks on Mac users are 10x as high as they were in 2019, report says | iMore
Cyber Security Threats From Online Gaming – Analysis – Eurasia Review
Cyber attack cost Interserve more than £11m | News | Building
Environmental Regulations, OT & the Maritime Industry's New Challenges (darkreading.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 4th August 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence Briefing 04 August 2023:
-Top 12 Exploited Vulnerabilities List Highlights Troubling Reality: Many Organisations Still Are Not Patching
-67% of Data Breaches Start with a Single Click, with 1 in 100 Emails Being Malicious
-Ransomware Attacks Hit All Time High. Attackers’ Motives Change, So Should Your Defence
-The Generative AI War Between Companies and Hackers is Starting
-Spend to Save: The CFO’s Guide to Cyber Security Investment
-Corporate Boards Take Heed: Give CISOs the Cold Shoulder at your Peril
-How the Talent Shortage Impacts Cyber Security Leadership
-Salesforce, Meta Suffer Phishing Campaign that Evades Typical Detection Methods
-Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge
-Microsoft Exposes Russian Hackers' Sneaky Phishing Tactics via Microsoft Teams Chats
-66% of Cyber security Leaders Don’t Trust Their Current Cyber Risk Mitigation Strategies
-Startups Should Move Fast and Remember Cyber Security
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Intelligence 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
Top 12 Exploited Vulnerabilities List Highlights Troubling Reality That Many Organisations Are Still Not Patching
A joint advisory from US and allied cyber security agencies highlights the top routinely exploited vulnerabilities. This is a list that includes old and well-known bugs that many organisations still have not patched, including some vulnerabilities that have been known for more than five years. The list underscores how exploiting years-old vulnerabilities in unpatched systems continues to dominate the threat landscape. Organisations are more likely to be compromised by a bug found in 2021 or 2020 than they are by ones discovered over the past year.
This report emphasises that a vulnerability management strategy relying solely on CVSS for vulnerability prioritisation is proving to be insufficient at best; CVSS is an established method for assigning criticality scores to known vulnerabilities based on different scoring criteria. Additional context is required to allow for a more scalable and effective prioritisation strategy. This context should stem from internal sources, for example, the target environment (asset criticality, mitigating controls, reachability), as well as from external sources, which will permit a better assessment of the likelihood and feasibility of exploitation. Most organisations have a limited patching capacity, affected by the tooling, processes, and skills at their disposal. The challenge is to direct that limited patching capacity towards vulnerabilities that matter most in terms of risk reduction. Therefore, the task of sifting the signal through the noise is becoming increasingly more important.
Sources: [HelpNetSecurity] [NSA.gov] [SCMagazine]
67% of Data Breaches Start with a Single Click, with 1 in 100 Emails Being Malicious
In a report that leveraged data from 23.5 billion cyber security attacks, spanning 500 threat types and 900 distinct infrastructure and software vulnerabilities it was found that approximately 67% of all breaches start with someone clicking on a seemingly safe link, which explains why adversaries begin 80-95% of all attacks with a phishing email.
A separate report found that there was a 36% rise in cyber attacks in the first half of 2023. Email continued to be the main vector for delivering malicious content, with as many as 1 in every 100 emails sent in the first half of 2023 found to be malicious. In addition, malware accounted for 20% of attacks, and business email compromise (BEC) constituted 8%.
The findings reinforce the need for organisations to employ effective and regular security awareness training for users to better help them to not only identify, but also report such attacks to help strengthen the cyber resilience of the organisation. Black Arrow offers bespoke training to all roles within the organisation as well as upskilling tailored to those at the board level.
Source: [Security Intelligence]
Ransomware Attacks Hit All Time High. Attackers’ Motives Change, So Should Your Defence
Cases of straight-up data theft and extortion now appear to be more widespread a threat than ransomware, becoming the single most observed threat in the second calendar quarter of 2023, according to new data released by researchers. 1,378 organisations have been named as victims on ransomware data-leak websites in Q2 2023. This was a 64.4% increase from the record-breaking number of victims named in Q1 2023.
Despite both the rise in threats and the high percentage of respondents whose organisations suffered recent attacks, there hasn’t been a corresponding uptick in strategic measures to shore up cyber resilience. In fact, close to four in five survey respondents don’t have complete confidence that their company has a cyber resilience strategy designed to address today’s escalating cyber challenges and threats.
Sources: [Forbes] [HelpNetSecurity] [ComputerWeekly] [SecurityBrief.co.nz] [Malwarebytes]
The Generative AI War Between Companies and Hackers is Starting
To no one’s surprise, criminals are tapping open-source generative AI programs for all kinds of heinous acts, including developing malware and phishing attacks, according to the FBI. This comes as the UK National Risk Register officially classes AI as a long-term security threat. It’s safe to say AI is certainly a controversial field right now, with the battle between companies and hackers really starting to take place; only recently had technology giants such as Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft met with the US President Joe Biden to pledge to follow safeguards.
A recent report from security firm Barracuda has found that between August 2022 and July 2023, ransomware attacks had doubled and this surge has largely been driven by the breaching of networks via AI-crafted phishing campaigns, as well as automating attacks to increase reach, again using AI.
Despite the controversy, AI can be of tremendous value to organisations, helping to streamline and automate tasks. Organisations employing or looking to employ AI in the workplace should also have effective governance and identification procedures over the usage of said AI. Equally, when it comes to defending against AI attacks, organisations need to have a clear picture of their attack landscape, with layers of defence.
Sources: [CSO Online] [PC MAG] [CNBC] [Tech Radar]
Spend to Save: The CFO’s Guide to Cyber Security Investment
As a CFO, you need to make smart choices about cyber security investments. The increasing impact of data breaches creates a paradox: While more spending is necessary to combat these challenges, this spending isn’t directly tied to profit. Instead, cyber security spending should be seen an investment in the future of your business.
The impact of a cyber event extends beyond quantifiable currency loss. Further impacts include those of reputation and customer retention. CFOs should look to identify weak spots, understand the effect these can have, pick the right solution that mitigates these and finally, advocate cyber security and robust governance at the board level.
It is important to remember, cyber security is not just a technical issue, but also a business one, and you have a key role in ensuring the security and resilience of your organisation.
Source: [Security Intelligence]
Corporate Boards Take Heed: Give CISOs the Cold Shoulder at your Peril
The debate over whether the CISO should, by the very nature of the position, be considered a member of the C-suite has been raging for some time and seems likely to continue for a good while to come. CISOs should not only have a seat among the uppermost echelon at the big table but also be recognised as a foundational element in the success of any business.
There is a danger that, without an effective CISO, organisations can end up in a perilous situation in which there's no one driving the cyber security bus at a time when vulnerabilities and incidents are ever on the rise. When the CISO has a seat at the big table, everybody wins.
Source [CSO Online]
How the Talent Shortage Impacts Cyber Security Leadership
The lack of a skilled cyber security workforce hampers the effectiveness of an organisation’s security program. While technologies like AI and machine learning can provide some support, they are not sufficient, especially for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). The cyber security workforce shortage affects not just current security but the future of leadership roles, including CISOs and CSOs.
Today’s CISOs require a blend of technology and business understanding. According to the (ISC)2 2022 Workforce Study, the global cyber security workforce is nearly 5 million and growing at 26% yearly. However, more than 3 million jobs still need to be filled, including specialised roles in cloud security, data protection, and incident response. This gap jeopardises functions like risk assessment, oversight, and systems patching.
The greatest talent shortage is found in soft skills, leading to a trend of looking outside the traditional security talent pool. The future of CISOs will likely require a solid security background, but as the talent gap widens, finding leadership candidates from the existing pool may remain challenging.
Source: [Security Intelligence]
Salesforce, Meta Suffer Phishing Campaign that Evades Typical Detection Methods
A recent report by cyber security company identified a sophisticated email phishing campaign exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Salesforce's legitimate email services. The vulnerability allowed threat actors to craft targeted phishing emails, cleverly evading conventional detection methods by leveraging Salesforce's domain and reputation and exploiting legacy quirks in Facebook's web games platform.
Whilst Facebook and Salesforce have now addressed the issue, it goes to show that technology alone is not enough to stop phishing; operational and people controls are still necessary and should form part of an effective organisational response.
Source: [Security Brief]
Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge
The cyber insurance industry has been heavily criticised for providing coverage for ransom payments. A frequent accusation, which has become close to perceived wisdom in policymaking and cyber security discussions on ransomware, is that cyber insurance has incentivised victims to pay a ransom following a cyber incident, rather than seek alternative remediation options. However, the insurance industry could do much more to instil discipline in both insureds and the ransomware response ecosystem in relation to ransom payments to reduce cyber criminals’ profits. Insurers’ role as convenors of incident response services gives them considerable power to reward firms that drive best practices and only guide victims towards payment as a last resort.
While the insurance industry has the power to do this, there are still challenges that need to be addressed in the underwriting process. Offering expensive policies that exclude common risks such as ransomware or nation-state attacks is simply not a sustainable approach. This has helped insurers become more profitable for now, but these are only short-term fixes to the real problem at hand. Namely, that the underwriting process for cyber insurance policies is still not that sophisticated. Most underwriters are poorly equipped to effectively measure the cyber risk exposure of new or renewing customers.
Sources: [RUSI] [Dark Reading]
Microsoft Exposes Russian Hackers' Sneaky Phishing Tactics via Microsoft Teams Chats
Microsoft on Wednesday disclosed that it identified a set of highly targeted social engineering attacks mounted by a Russian nation-state threat actor using credential theft phishing lures sent as Microsoft Teams chats. The tech giant attributed the attacks to a group it tracks as Midnight Blizzard.
"In this latest activity, the threat actor uses previously compromised Microsoft 365 tenants owned by small businesses to create new domains that appear as technical support entities" Microsoft said. "Using these domains from compromised tenants, Midnight Blizzard leverages Teams messages to send lures that attempt to steal credentials from a targeted organisation by engaging a user and eliciting approval of multi-factor authentication (MFA) prompts."
Source: [TheHackerNews]
66% of Cyber security Leaders Don’t Trust Their Current Cyber Risk Mitigation Strategies
A recent report found that 66% of cyber security leaders don’t trust their current cyber risk mitigation strategies. It was also found that while 90% of respondents say their organisation has dedicated resources responsible for managing and reducing cyber risk, in almost half of situations (46%) this consists of just one person.
In some cases, it can be hard to get the necessary talent to build out the cyber security arm of an organisation; this is where organisations can look towards outsourcing to fulfil positions with expertise. At Black Arrow we offer many services to help you to govern your cyber security, including as virtual CISO that leverages our diverse team with backgrounds from British intelligence, board governance, IT and finance.
Source: [ITSecurityWire]
UK legal Sector at Risk, National Cyber Security Centre Warns
Over the past three years more than 200 ransomware attacks worldwide have been inflicted on companies in the legal industry. The UK was the second most-attacked country constituting 2.3% of all ransomware attacks across various sectors. The legal sector was the fourth most-attacked industry in the UK in 2022. Ransomware groups are indiscriminate in their targeting, attacking companies of all sizes, from small law firms with only ten employees to large firms with 1,000+ employees, and ranging in revenue from companies generating £100 million to those with under £3 million. No single kind of company is immune to these attacks.
The International Bar Association (IBA) has released a report to guide senior executives and boards in protecting their organisations from cyber risk. Entitled "Global perspectives on protecting against cyber risks: best governance practices for senior executives and boards of directors," the report aims to provide leaders with insight into the primary elements of a robust cyber risk management programme. Its recommendations for senior executives and boards encompass understanding the organisation's cyber risk profile, knowing what information assets to safeguard, being aware of significant regulatory requirements, and recognising the security standards utilised by the organisation.
Sources: [Todays Conveyancer] [Infosecurity Magazine]
Startups Should Move Fast and Remember Cyber Security
The importance of cyber security for startups, which can often be overlooked in the pursuit of fast-paced growth, cannot be overstated. However, cyber attacks can have devastating consequences for businesses of all sizes. The percentage of micro-businesses in the UK that consider cyber security a high priority has dropped from 80% to 68% in the past year, possibly due to wider economic pressures. Cyber criminals target businesses of all sizes, often initially using automated software to find weak spots. Startups can be particularly vulnerable due to their fast-paced environments and new or less familiar supply chains. The use of shared office spaces can also increase risk.
The UK DCMS/DSIT 2023 Cyber Security Breaches survey reported that almost a third of businesses (32%) and a quarter of charities (24%) reported breaches or attacks in the past 12 months alone, with the average victim losing £15,300. Startups have the unique advantage of being able to implement cyber security best practices from the outset and embed them into company culture. It is recommended that startups prioritise cyber security from the get-go to protect their business and ensure long-term growth.
Source: [UKTech] [Cyber security breaches survey 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)]
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Corporate boards take heed: Give CISOs the cold shoulder at your peril | CSO Online
How to lead your organisation through a ransomware attack | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
How the Talent Shortage Impacts Cyber security Leadership (securityintelligence.com)
From tech expertise to leadership: Unpacking the role of a CISO - Help Net Security
Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)
Cyber Risk and Resiliency Report: Dueling Disaster in 2023 (informationweek.com)
Spend to save: The CFO’s guide to cyber security investment (securityintelligence.com)
CISOs Need Backing to Take Charge of Security (darkreading.com)
Create a ‘win-win’ scenario for security teams and cyber insurers | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Risk Appetite vs. Risk Tolerance: How are They Different? (techtarget.com)
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
67% of data breaches start with a single click - Help Net Security
AI-Enhanced Phishing Driving Ransomware Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
The race against time in ransomware attacks - Help Net Security
As Ransomware Attackers’ Motives Changes, So Should Your Defence (forbes.com)
Ransomware gang increases attacks on insecure MSSQL servers | CSO Online
MOVEit Campaign Claims Millions More Victims - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How to lead your organisation through a ransomware attack | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
Ransomware Attacks on Industrial Organisations Doubled in Past Year: Report - SecurityWeek
In new ransomware model, cloud provider acts as front for bad actors: report | CSO Online
Researchers claim US-registered cloud host facilitated state-backed cyber attacks | TechCrunch
Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)
Cyber criminals pivot away from ransomware encryption | Computer Weekly
Ransomware on manufacturing industry caused $46bn in losses - IT Security Guru
How Ransomware Gangs Enlist Insiders (And How to Stop Them) (makeuseof.com)
Linux version of Abyss Locker ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
The Trickbot/Conti Crypters: Where Are They Now? (securityintelligence.com)
Ransomware Victims
MOVEit Campaign Claims Millions More Victims - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Hawai'i Community College pays ransomware gang to prevent data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)
Scottish university UWS targeted by cyber attackers - BBC News
Tempur Sealy isolated tech system to contain cyber burglary • The Register
US govt contractor Serco discloses data breach after MoveIT attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
67% of data breaches start with a single click - Help Net Security
Russian Hackers Are Conducting Phishing Attacks via Microsoft Teams - MySmartPrice
Microsoft downplays damaging report on Chinese hacking its own engineers vetted | CyberScoop
Threat actors abuse Google AMP for evasive phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Humans Unable to Reliably Detect Deepfake Speech - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Artificial Intelligence
AI-Enhanced Phishing Driving Ransomware Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
UK calls artificial intelligence a “chronic risk” to its national security | CSO Online
FBI warns of broad AI threats facing tech companies and the public | CyberScoop
As Artificial Intelligence Accelerates, Cyber crime Innovates (darkreading.com)
Another AI Pitfall: Digital Mirroring Opens New Cyber attack Vector (darkreading.com)
Intersection of generative AI, cyber security and digital trust | TechTarget
Hackers are using AI to create vicious malware, says FBI | Digital Trends
The generative A.I. war between companies and hackers is starting (cnbc.com)
Generative AI and cloud have created gaps in cyber security: Wipro report - BusinessToday
'DarkBERT' GPT-Based Malware Trains Up on the Entire Dark Web (darkreading.com)
A New Attack Impacts ChatGPT—and No One Knows How to Stop It | WIRED
Humans Unable to Reliably Detect Deepfake Speech - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
OWASP Top 10 for LLM applications is out! - Security Affairs
Think tank wants monitoring of China's AI-enabled products • The Register
UK spy agencies want to relax ‘burdensome’ laws on AI data use | Data protection | The Guardian
Researchers figure out how to make AI misbehave, serve up prohibited content | Ars Technica
Organisations want stronger AI regulation amid growing concerns - Help Net Security
Malware
Hackers Abusing Windows Search Feature to Install Remote Access Trojans (thehackernews.com)
Hackers can abuse Microsoft Office executables to download malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
IcedID Malware Adapts and Expands Threat with Updated BackConnect Module (thehackernews.com)
Hackers continue to distribute malware through hacked verified pages on Facebook - Neowin
'DarkBERT' GPT-Based Malware Trains Up on the Entire Dark Web (darkreading.com)
Attackers can turn AWS SSM agents into remote access trojans - Help Net Security
Hackers are infecting Modern Warfare 2 players with a self-spreading malware | TechSpot
Fruity Trojan Uses Deceptive Software Installers to Spread Remcos RAT (thehackernews.com)
Experts link AVRecon bot to malware proxy service SocksEscort - Security Affairs
New P2PInfect Worm Targets Redis Servers with Undocumented Breach Methods (thehackernews.com)
New persistent backdoor used in attacks on Barracuda ESG appliances - Help Net Security
MacOS malware discovered on Russian dark web forum | Security Magazine
Apple Users Open to Remote Control via Tricky macOS Malware (darkreading.com)
NodeStealer 2.0 takes over Facebook Business accounts - Security Affairs
Chrome malware Rilide targets enterprise users via PowerPoint guides (bleepingcomputer.com)
BlackBerry Discovers Crypto-Centric Malware Amid Stopping 1.5 Million Cyber a ttacks (ethnews.com)
Kaspersky crimeware report: Emotet, DarkGate and LokiBot | Securelist
CISA: New Submarine malware found on hacked Barracuda ESG appliances (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
New Android malware uses OCR to steal credentials from images (bleepingcomputer.com)
CherryBlos Malware Uses OCR to Pluck Android Users' Cryptocurrency (darkreading.com)
Apple Sets New Rules for Developers to Prevent Fingerprinting and Data Misuse (thehackernews.com)
Google: Android patch gap makes n-days as dangerous as zero-days (bleepingcomputer.com)
New smartphone vulnerability could allow hackers to track user location (techxplore.com)
Hackers steal Signal, WhatsApp user data with fake Android chat app (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ukrainian hackers viciously troll Russian navy, send malware to their phones (tvpworld.com)
Botnets
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Navigating The Landscape Of Hacktivist DDoS Attacks (forbes.com)
Israel's largest oil refinery website offline amid cyber attack claims (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian hackers crash Italian bank websites, cyber agency says | Reuters
"Mysterious Team Bangladesh" Targeting India with DDoS Attacks and Data Breaches (thehackernews.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Cyber security breaches exposed 146 million records - ITSecurityWire
Hack Crew Responsible for Stolen Data, NATO Investigates Claims (darkreading.com)
Doctors sign up to legal case against Capita over GP data breach - Pulse Today
Cyber attack on B.C. health websites may have taken workers’ personal information (thestar.com)
Cyber security Recovery Guide: How to Recover from a Data Breach (thelondoneconomic.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
As Artificial Intelligence Accelerates, Cyber crime Innovates (darkreading.com)
How Hackers Trick You With Basic Sales Techniques (makeuseof.com)
Space Pirates Turn Cyber Sabers on Russian, Serbian Organisations (darkreading.com)
Kaspersky crimeware report: Emotet, DarkGate and LokiBot | Securelist
Hacktivists fund their operations using common cyber crime tactics (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto Hacks in July Resulted in $165 Million in Losses (beincrypto.com)
New Android malware uses OCR to steal credentials from images (bleepingcomputer.com)
Millions stolen from crypto platforms through exploited ‘Vyper’ vulnerability (therecord.media)
BlackBerry Discovers Crypto-Centric Malware Amid Stopping 1.5 Million Cyber a ttacks (ethnews.com)
Couple admit laundering $4B of stolen Bitfinex Bitcoins • The Register
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
How Ransomware Gangs Enlist Insiders (And How to Stop Them) (makeuseof.com)
US military battling cyber threats from within and without • The Register
Deepfakes
Humans Unable to Reliably Detect Deepfake Speech - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)
Cyber Insurance Underwriting Is Still Stuck in the Dark Ages (darkreading.com)
Create a ‘win-win’ scenario for security teams and cyber insurers | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Dark Web
'DarkBERT' GPT-Based Malware Trains Up on the Entire Dark Web (darkreading.com)
MacOS malware discovered on Russian dark web forum | Security Magazine
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Doctors sign up to legal case against Capita over GP data breach - Pulse Today
Capita boss quits as potential fine looms for huge hack of confidential data | Capita | The Guardian
Iran's APT34 Hits UAE With Supply Chain Attack (darkreading.com)
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Attackers can turn AWS SSM agents into remote access trojans - Help Net Security
New Microsoft Azure AD CTS feature can be abused for lateral movement (bleepingcomputer.com)
Generative AI and cloud have created gaps in cyber security: Wipro report - BusinessToday
In new ransomware model, cloud provider acts as front for bad actors: report | CSO Online
Researchers claim US-registered cloud host facilitated state-backed cyber attacks | TechCrunch
These Are the Top Five Cloud Security Risks, Qualys Says - SecurityWeek
Google warns companies about keeping hackers out of cloud infrastructure | CyberScoop
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
Braverman fights Meta encryption plans ‘that aid paedophiles’ (thetimes.co.uk)
SCARF cipher sets new standards in protecting sensitive data - Help Net Security
Cult of Dead Cow hacktivists design encryption system for mobile apps - The Washington Post
Open Source
Open-source security challenges and complexities - Help Net Security
Linux version of Abyss Locker ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Biometrics
Social Media
Hackers continue to distribute malware through hacked verified pages on Facebook - Neowin
Social media giants on notice over foreign cyber threat (themandarin.com.au)
NodeStealer 2.0 takes over Facebook Business accounts - Security Affairs
Travel
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Strengthening Cyber security: Can The SEC’s New Rules Be Enforced? (forbes.com)
CISA’s security-by-design initiative is at risk: Here’s a path forward | TechCrunch
What is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)? | Definition from TechTarget
Organizations want stronger AI regulation amid growing concerns - Help Net Security
Materiality Definition Seen as Tough Task in New SEC Cyber Rules | Mint (livemint.com)
Cyber security Implementation Plan Offers a Roadmap for Cyber Priorities | Perkins Coie - JDSupra
Models, Frameworks and Standards
OWASP Top 10 for LLM applications is out! - Security Affairs
Security professionals unaware of NCSC Cyber Essentials framework - Lookout - IT Security Guru
What is SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2)? | Definition from TechTarget
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
How the Talent Shortage Impacts Cyber security Leadership (securityintelligence.com)
US Gov Rolls Out National Cyber Workforce, Education Strategy - SecurityWeek
Women two-thirds more likely to fear losing CNI security jobs than men - IT Security Guru
White House Cyber Workforce Strategy: No Quick Fix for Skills Shortage (darkreading.com)
Cyber workforce strategy requires buy-in across sectors, experts say - Nextgov/FCW
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Bar for UK crimes prosecuted with live facial recognition could get much lower | Biometric Update
FBI: Without Section 702, we can't ID cyber criminals • The Register
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
UK spy agencies want to relax ‘burdensome’ laws on AI data use | Data protection | The Guardian
Apple Sets New Rules for Developers to Prevent Fingerprinting and Data Misuse (thehackernews.com)
Instead of obtaining a warrant, the NSA would like to keep buying your data | Ars Technica
Tor’s shadowy reputation will only end if we all use it | Engadget
After talking to security expert, I deleted all Chrome extensions: they see everything | Cybernews
Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage
Russia
BlueBravo Deploys GraphicalProton Backdoor Against European Diplomatic Entities (thehackernews.com)
Russian spies posed as Microsoft tech support in bid to hack governments (telegraph.co.uk)
Elon Musk ‘stopped Ukraine military using Starlink for military operation’ | The Independent
Researchers Expose Space Pirates' Cyber Campaign Across Russia and Serbia (thehackernews.com)
MacOS malware discovered on Russian dark web forum | Security Magazine
Kazakhstan Rebuffs US Extradition Request for Russian Cyber security Expert - The Moscow Times
Russian hackers crash Italian bank websites, cyber agency says | Reuters
Ukrainian hackers viciously troll Russian navy, send malware to their phones (tvpworld.com)
China
FBI warns of broad AI threats facing tech companies and the public | CyberScoop
Multiple Chinese APTs establish major beachheads inside sensitive infrastructure | Ars Technica
US senator victim-blames Microsoft for Chinese hack • The Register
Patchwork Hackers Target Chinese Research Organizations Using EyeShell Backdoor (thehackernews.com)
US Tech Sanctions Against China Are Starting to Bite Hard | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)
Think tank wants monitoring of China's AI-enabled products • The Register
Microsoft downplays damaging report on Chinese hacking its own engineers vetted | CyberScoop
US military battling cyber threats from within and without • The Register
Iran
Iran's APT34 Hits UAE With Supply Chain Attack (darkreading.com)
Iranian Company Plays Host to Reams of Ransomware, APT Groups (darkreading.com)
North Korea
Misc/Other/Unknown
Vulnerability Management
Relying on CVSS alone is risky for vulnerability management - Help Net Security
40% of Log4j Downloads Still Vulnerable (securityintelligence.com)
What Causes a Rise or Fall in Fresh Zero-Day Exploits? (govinfosecurity.com)
Piles of Unpatched IoT, OT Devices Attract ICS Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
Microsoft comes under blistering criticism for “grossly irresponsible” security | Ars Technica
Vulnerabilities
Exploitation of Recent Citrix ShareFile RCE Vulnerability Begins - SecurityWeek
Over 640 Citrix servers backdoored with web shells in ongoing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
New flaw in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile actively exploited in the wild - Security Affairs
Second Ivanti EPMM Zero-Day Vulnerability Exploited in Targeted Attacks - SecurityWeek
Apple iOS, Google Android Patch Zero-Days in July Security Updates | WIRED UK
US fears attacks will continue against Ivanti MDM installs • The Register
Microsoft fixes WSUS servers not pushing Windows 11 22H2 updates (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers exploit BleedingPipe RCE to target Minecraft servers, players (bleepingcomputer.com)
Firefox 116: improved upload performance and security fixes - gHacks Tech News
Tenable CEO accuses Microsoft of negligence in addressing security flaw | CyberScoop
Tools and Controls
Data Loss Prevention for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses - IT Security Guru
Cyber Insurance Underwriting Is Still Stuck in the Dark Ages (darkreading.com)
Spend to save: The CFO’s guide to cyber security investment (securityintelligence.com)
US, Australia Issue Warning Over Access Control Vulnerabilities in Web Applications - SecurityWeek
Data stolen from millions via missing web app access checks • The Register
Keeping the cloud secure with a mindset shift - Help Net Security
Strengthening security in a multi-SaaS cloud environment | TechCrunch
5 Essential Tips For Data Security On The Cloud (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
AI has a place in cyber, but needs effective evaluation | Computer Weekly
Top 5 benefits of SASE to enhance network security | TechTarget
MDR 40-Plus: Top Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Companies: 2023 Edition - MSSP Alert
What is Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)? (thehackernews.com)
Unified XDR and SIEM Alleviate Security Alert Fatigue (darkreading.com)
What is an ISMS (Information Security Management System)? | UpGuard
VPNs remain a risky gamble for remote access - Help Net Security
Insider Threat Protection And Modern DLP (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Risk Appetite vs. Risk Tolerance: How are They Different? (techtarget.com)
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
UK Military Embraces Security by Design - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cyber criminals targeting medical info warns FBI | KSNV (news3lv.com)
How local governments can combat cyber crime - Help Net Security
Governments and public services facing 40% more cyber attacks (securitybrief.co.nz)
Utilities Face Security Challenges as They Embrace Data in New Ways (darkreading.com)
Microsoft Flags Growing Cyber security Concerns for Major Sporting Events (thehackernews.com)
Nearly All Modern CPUs Leak Data to New Collide+Power Side-Channel Attack - SecurityWeek
80 percent of digital certificates vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks (betanews.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 03 March 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Briefing 03 March 2023:
-It’s Time to Evaluate Your Security Education Plan Amongst the Rise in Social Engineering Attacks
-Mobile Users are More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks
-Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber Crime
-Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes
-Attackers are Developing and Deploying Exploits Faster Than Ever
-Old Vulnerabilities are Haunting Organisations and Aiding Attackers
-Scams Drive Nearly $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022
-Economic Pressure are Increasing Cyber Security Risks and a Recession Would Only Further This
-Cyber Security in This Era of Polycrisis
-Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions
-Ransomware Attacks Ravaged Big Names in February
-Firms Who Pay Ransom Subsidise New Attacks
-How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber Crime
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
It’s Time to Evaluate Your Security Education Plan with the Rise in Social Engineering Attacks
Security provider Purplesec found 98% of attacks in 2022 involved an element of social engineering. Social engineering attacks can take many forms including phishing, smishing, vishing and quishing and it’s vital to educate your organisation on how to best prepare for these. Education plans should focusing on educating all levels of users, including those at the top. These plans should also be tested to allow organisations to assess where they are at and identify where they can improve.
Mobile Users are More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks
A report conducted by mobile security provider Lookout focused on the impact of mobile phishing. Some of the key findings from the report included that more than 50% of personal devices were exposed to a mobile phishing attack every quarter, the percentage of users falling for multiple mobile phishing links increasing and an increased targeting of highly regulated industries such as insurance, banking and financial services. It is likely that this has resulted from the increase in relaxed bring your own device (BYOD) policies.
Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber Crime
Phishing attacks are at an all-time high and the usage of Phishing as a Service (PaaS) opens this attack technique to virtually anyone. The sale of “phishing kits” and usage of artificial intelligence has further increased the availability of this attack technique. In response, organisations should look to improve their email security, cloud security and education programs for employees.
https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/23/c/phishing-as-a-service-phaas.html
Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes
The average time it takes for a threat actor to move laterally from a compromised host within an organisation dropped 14% between 2012 and 2022 down to 84 minutes, according to a report by security provider Crowdstrike. With the reduction in time it takes a threat actor to move across systems, organisations have even less time to enact their incident response plans and contain breaches effectively, putting further pressure on the incident response team. By responding quickly, organisations can minimise the cost and damage of a breach. The report from Crowdstrike found that organisations were facing increasing difficulty in detecting suspicious activity as attackers are choosing to use valid organisation credentials rather than malware, to gain access to an organisation’s systems.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/attacker-breakout-time-drops-just/
Attackers are Developing and Deploying Exploits Faster Than Ever
A report from security provider Rapid7 found that over 56% of vulnerabilities were exploited within seven days of public disclosure. Worryingly, the median time for exploitation in 2022 was just one day. The finding from the report highlights the need for organisations to not only conduct threat intelligence to be aware of vulnerabilities but to also look to employ patches where possible in a timely manner.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/attackers-developing-deploying-exploits/
Old Vulnerabilities are Haunting Organisations and Aiding Attackers
Known vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities for which patches have already been made available, are one of the primary attack vectors for threat actors. Vulnerability management vendor Tenable found that the top exploited vulnerabilities were originally disclosed as far back as 2017 and organisations that had not applied these patches were at increased risks of attack.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/03/known-exploitable-vulnerabilities/
Scams Drive Nearly $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022
Americans lost $8.8 billion to fraud last year, with imposter scams responsible for $2.8 billion of that amount, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Losses to business imposters were particularly damaging, climbing to $660 million from the previous year. Interestingly, the FTC found that younger people reported losing money to fraud the most often.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/investment-scams-drive-9bn-in/
Economic Pressure are Increasing Cyber Security Risks and a Recession Would Only Further This
The World Economic Forum’s recent report found that 93% of cyber security leaders and 86% of business leaders think it is moderately or very likely that global geopolitical instability will lead to a catastrophic cyber event in the next two years. Reinforcing this, a report from (ISC)² found that 80% of business executives believe a weakening economy will increase cyber threats and a recession will only amplify this.
Cyber Security in this Era of Polycrisis
A year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the geopolitical context is increasingly tense and volatile. The world faces several major crises in what has been coined a 'polycrisis,' a cluster of global shocks with compounding effects. This, along with increasing geopolitical tensions causes a rise in risk from cyber attacks. In fact, the European Union Agency for Cyber Security (ENISA) recently issued an alert regarding actors conducting malicious cyber activities against businesses and governments in the European Union and findings from Google show a 300% increase in state-sponsored cyber attacks targeting users in NATO countries.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/cybersecurity-in-an-era-of-polycrisis/
Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions
Research provider TRM labs found that some major Russian-linked ransomware crime gangs have rebranded their activities in 2022 to avoid sanctions. To strengthen their anonymity, two major ransomware crime gangs LockBit and Conti restructured their activities. Conti is reported to have restructured into three smaller groups named Black Besta, BlackByte, Karakurt. LockBit on the other hand launched LockBit 3.0, which is focused on monetary gain. Additionally, the report found that Russian-speaking darknet markets had amassed over $130 million in sales.
https://cryptopotato.com/russian-ransomware-projects-rebranded-to-avoid-western-sanctions-report/
Ransomware Attacks Ravaged Big Names in February
Despite the apparent slight drop in ransomware activity last month, several high profile targets of various industries were hit; this ranges from the likes of the US Marshal Service, retailer WH Smith, satellite provider Dish and many more. These attacks reinforce the concept that any organisation can be a victim, regardless of industry.
Firms Who Pay Ransoms Subsidise New Attacks
A report from security provider Trend Micro found that whilst only a relatively small number of ransomware victims pay their extorters, those that do pay are effectively funding 6-10 new attacks. The report also found that attackers are aware of which industries and countries pay ransoms more often, so organisations belonging to those industries and countries may find themselves an even more attractive target.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/firms-pay-ransom-subsidise-10/
How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber Crime
A report from threat intelligence provider Recorded Future has highlighted the impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had on cyber. Recorded Future explain how a number of threat actor groups fled during the war and in addition to differing political views between groups, there has been a disruption to the cyber environment. In fact, Recorded Future found that Russian-language dark web marketplaces have taken a major hit and the prediction is that the epicentre of cyber crime may shift to English-speaking dark web forums, shops and marketplaces.
https://www.darkreading.com/analytics/ukraine-war-fault-line-cybercrime-forever
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Well-funded security systems fail to prevent cyber attacks in US and Europe: Report | CSO Online
Russian Ransomware Projects Rebranded to Avoid Western Sanctions: Report (cryptopotato.com)
New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online
Ransomware Attacks: Don’t Let Your Guard Down - SecurityWeek
Ransomware attacks ravaged big names in February | TechTarget
Cyber Insurance Market Back From Brink After Onslaught of Ransomware Attacks (insurancejournal.com)
Royal Mail schools LockBit in leaked negotiation (malwarebytes.com)
'Ethical hacker' among ransomware suspects arrested • The Register
Wiper malware goes global, destructive attacks surge - Help Net Security
A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 3 (trendmicro.com)
New Exfiltrator-22 post-exploitation kit linked to LockBit ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)
PureCrypter malware hits govt orgs with ransomware, info-stealers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Bitdefender Releases Free Decryptor for MortalKombat Ransomware Strain (thehackernews.com)
Dish Network confirms ransomware attack behind multi-day outage (bleepingcomputer.com)
US Marshals Ransomware Hit Is 'Major' Incident (darkreading.com)
The DoJ Disruption of the Hive Ransomware Group Is a Short-Lived Win (darkreading.com)
Vice Society publishes data stolen during Vesuvius ransomware attack • Graham Cluley
US Cybersecurity Agency Raises Alarm Over Royal Ransomware's Deadly Capabilities (thehackernews.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online
Mobile Users More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks than Two Years Ago - MSSP Alert
Phishing as a Service Stimulates Cyber crime (trendmicro.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
New cyber attack tactics rise up as ransomware payouts increase | CSO Online
Expert strategies for defending against multilingual email-based attacks - Help Net Security
Hackers Target Young Gamers: How Your Child Can Cause Business Compromise (darkreading.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
As Social Engineering Attacks Skyrocket, Evaluate Your Security Education Plan (darkreading.com)
The Top 5 New Social Engineering Attacks in 2023 - (ISC)² Blog (isc2.org)
How to Prevent Callback Phishing Attacks on Your Organization (bleepingcomputer.com)
2FA/MFA
Malware
RIG Exploit Kit still infects enterprise users via Internet Explorer (bleepingcomputer.com)
Exfiltrator-22 Post-Exploitation Toolkit Nips At Cobalt Strike's Heels (darkreading.com)
Malicious package flood on PyPI might be sign of new attacks to come | CSO Online
Iron Tiger hackers create Linux version of their custom malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
It's official: BlackLotus malware can bypass secure boot • The Register
Threat actors target law firms with GootLoader and SocGholish--Security Affairs
Mobile
Mobile Users More Susceptible to Phishing Attacks than Two Years Ago - MSSP Alert
Mobile Banking Trojans Surge, Doubling in Volume (darkreading.com)
Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption - BBC News
Don't be fooled by a pretty icon, malicious apps hide in plain sight - Help Net Security
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Data Breaches/Leaks
LastPass Says DevOps Engineer Home Computer Hacked - SecurityWeek
LastPass Reveals Second Attack Resulting in Breach of Encrypted Password Vaults (thehackernews.com)
Stanford University discloses data breach affecting PhD applicants (bleepingcomputer.com)
Threat actors leak Activision employee data on hacking forum--Security Affairs
10 US states that suffered the most devastating data breaches in 2022 - Help Net Security
Australian orgs lodged 497 data breach notices in back half of 2022 - Security - iTnews
Hatch Bank discloses data breach after GoAnywhere MFT hack (bleepingcomputer.com)
GunAuction site was hacked and data of 565k accounts were exposed--Security Affairs
Chick-fil-A confirms accounts hacked in months-long "automated" attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
What GoDaddy's Years-Long Breach Means for Millions of Clients (darkreading.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Cryptocurrency Bitcoin mining rig found in school crawlspace • The Register
Highly evasive cryptocurrency miner targets macOS--Security Affairs
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Investment Scams Drive $9bn Fraud Surge in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (vice.com)
FTC reveals alarming increase in scam activity, costing consumers billions - Help Net Security
Resecurity identified the investment scam network Digital Smoke - Help Net Security
Pig butchering scam explained: Everything you need to know (techtarget.com)
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Third-party risks overwhelm traditional ERM setups - Help Net Security
Third-Party Risks: Challenges for MSSPs and How to Overcome Them - MSSP Alert
Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)
Software Supply Chain
Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)
SBOM is a 'massive galaxy of mess' for supply chain security • The Register
IBM Contributes Supply Chain Security Tools to OWASP (darkreading.com)
Cloud/SaaS
How to Tackle the Top SaaS Challenges of 2023 (thehackernews.com)
Cloud incident response: Frameworks and best practices | TechTarget
Security teams have no control over risky SaaS-to-SaaS connections - Help Net Security
It only takes one over-privileged identity to do major damage to a cloud - Help Net Security
SCARLETEEL hackers use advanced cloud skills to steal source code, data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Shocking Findings from the 2023 Third-Party App Access Report (thehackernews.com)
Google Cloud Platform allows data exfiltration without a (forensic) trace - Help Net Security
What Happened in That Cyber attack? With Some Cloud Services, You May Never Know (darkreading.com)
New Report: Inside the High Risk of Third-Party SaaS Apps (darkreading.com)
Containers
Hybrid/Remote Working
Work-From-Home Regulations Are Coming. Companies Aren’t Ready. (mit.edu)
How to work from home securely, the NSA way (malwarebytes.com)
Encryption
API
Open Source
Iron Tiger hackers create Linux version of their custom malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Should organisations swear off open-source software altogether? | VentureBeat
IBM Contributes Supply Chain Security Tools to OWASP (darkreading.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
LastPass Says DevOps Engineer Home Computer Hacked - SecurityWeek
Critical Vulnerabilities Allowed Booking.com Account Takeover - SecurityWeek
Sale of Stolen Credentials and Initial Access Dominate Dark Web Markets (darkreading.com)
Social Media
White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek
EU Parliament bans staff from using TikTok over ‘cybersecurity concerns’ – POLITICO
TikTok answers three big cyber-security fears about the app - BBC News
Meta says $725M deal ends all Cambridge Analytica claims; one state disagrees | Ars Technica
Training, Education and Awareness
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
UK seeks to ‘focus’ espionage bill to head off Lords rebellion | Financial Times (ft.com)
Cyber resilience in focus: EU act to set strict standards - Help Net Security
Work-From-Home Regulations Are Coming. Companies Aren’t Ready. (mit.edu)
ML practitioners push for mandatory AI Bill of Rights - Help Net Security
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Third-party risks overwhelm traditional ERM setups - Help Net Security
CISOs Share Their 3 Top Challenges for Cybersecurity Management (darkreading.com)
The Importance of Recession-Proofing Security Operations (darkreading.com)
Third-Party Risks: Challenges for MSSPs and How to Overcome Them - MSSP Alert
CISO Conversations: Code42, BreachQuest Leaders Discuss Combining CISO and CIO Roles - SecurityWeek
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Gartner Prediction: Nearly Half of Cybersecurity Pros Will Change Jobs by 2025 - MSSP Alert
Growing Demand For Skilled Cybersecurity Workforce In Digital Age (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Partnering With a Cybersecurity Vendor Can Help You Recruit Top Talent - MSSP Alert
CISOs Are Stressed Out and It's Putting Companies at Risk (thehackernews.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
'Ethical hacker' among ransomware suspects arrested • The Register
The DoJ Disruption of the Hive Ransomware Group Is a Short-Lived Win (darkreading.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
UK seeks to ‘focus’ espionage bill to head off Lords rebellion | Financial Times (ft.com)
Press greets Home Office redraft of national security bill with scepticism | Media | The Guardian
The Air Force Is Now Using Facial Recognition Drones (gizmodo.com)
How dog tracker apps are snooping on humans, according to cyber security experts (telegraph.co.uk)
Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI Changes Everything We Know About Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
ChatGPT is bringing advancements and challenges for cybersecurity - Help Net Security
How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (vice.com)
ML practitioners push for mandatory AI Bill of Rights - Help Net Security
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Cyber security must be tightened up in this era of polycrisis | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber crime, Possibly Forever (darkreading.com)
Russia-Ukraine War: A Year of Cyber Shortfalls (foreignpolicy.com)
Evaluating the Cyberwar Set Off by Russian Invasion of Ukraine (darkreading.com)
CERT of Ukraine: Russia-linked APT backdoored multiple govt sites-Security Affairs
White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek
Russian charged with smuggling US counterintel tech • The Register
Cyber security in wartime: how Ukraine's infosec community is coping | CSO Online
China's BlackFly Targets Materials Sector in 'Relentless' Quest for IP (darkreading.com)
'Hackers' Behind Air Raid Alerts Across Russia: Official - SecurityWeek
China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says | China | The Guardian
Nation State Actors
Cyber security must be tightened up in this era of polycrisis | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
How the Ukraine War Opened a Fault Line in Cyber crime, Possibly Forever (darkreading.com)
Hacker group defaces Russian websites to display the Kremlin on fire | TechCrunch
Russia-Ukraine War: A Year of Cyber Shortfalls (foreignpolicy.com)
CERT of Ukraine: Russia-linked APT backdoored multiple govt sites-Security Affairs
Evaluating the Cyberwar Set Off by Russian Invasion of Ukraine (darkreading.com)
White House: No More TikTok on Gov't Devices Within 30 Days - SecurityWeek
Russian charged with smuggling US counterintel tech • The Register
Cyber security in wartime: how Ukraine's infosec community is coping | CSO Online
EU Parliament bans staff from using TikTok over ‘cybersecurity concerns’ – POLITICO
China's BlackFly Targets Materials Sector in 'Relentless' Quest for IP (darkreading.com)
'Hackers' Behind Air Raid Alerts Across Russia: Official - SecurityWeek
China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says | China | The Guardian
TikTok answers three big cyber-security fears about the app - BBC News
Russia bans foreign messaging apps in government organisations (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chinese hackers use new custom backdoor to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
A world of hurt for Fortinet and ManageEngine after users fail to install patches | Ars Technica
Hackers are actively exploiting Zoho ManageEngine flaw-Security Affairs
All In One SEO WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Affects Up To 3+ Million (searchenginejournal.com)
CISA warns of hackers exploiting ZK Java Framework RCE flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco patches critical Web UI RCE flaw in multiple IP phones (bleepingcomputer.com)
Aruba Networks fixes six critical vulnerabilities in ArubaOS (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft releases Windows security updates for Intel CPU flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)
Tools and Controls
LastPass Reveals Second Attack Resulting in Breach of Encrypted Password Vaults (thehackernews.com)
Well-funded security systems fail to prevent cyber attacks in US and Europe: Report | CSO Online
The Future of Network Security: Predictive Analytics and ML-Driven Solutions (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft announces automatic BEC, ransomware attack disruption capabilities - Help Net Security
How to use zero trust and IAM to defend against cyber attacks in an economic downturn | VentureBeat
Pentesting No Longer Driven by Regulatory Compliance, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert
Application Security vs. API Security: What is the difference? (thehackernews.com)
Accurately assessing the success of zero-trust initiatives | TechTarget
Other News
Attackers are developing and deploying exploits faster than ever - Help Net Security
Attacker Breakout Time Drops to Just 84 Minutes - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Moving target defence must keep cyber attackers guessing - Help Net Security
Covert cyber attacks on the rise as attackers shift tactics for maximum impact - Help Net Security
Dormant accounts are a low-hanging fruit for attackers - Help Net Security
Dish Network goes offline after likely cyber attack, employees cut off (bleepingcomputer.com)
News Corp says state hackers were on its network for two years (bleepingcomputer.com)
UK won the Military Cyberwarfare exercise Defence Cyber Marvel-Security Affairs
To Safeguard Critical Infrastructure, Go Back to Basics (darkreading.com)
Feds accuse Google of destroying evidence in antitrust case • The Register
Microsoft recommending you scan more Exchange server files • The Register
CISA director urges tech sector to stop shipping unsafe products | CyberScoop
Developers can make a great extension of your security team - Help Net Security
2023 Browser Security Report Uncovers Major Browsing Risks and Blind Spots (thehackernews.com)
Uncovering the most pressing cybersecurity concerns for SMBs - Help Net Security
Wiz execs: Most overhyped security tool is technology itself • The Register
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 August 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 August 2022:
-Businesses Found to Neglect Cyber Security Until it is Too Late
-Cyber Tops Staff Retention as Biggest Business Risk
-Cyber Criminals Weaponising Ransomware Data for BEC Attacks
-Callback Phishing Attacks See Massive 625% Growth Since Q1 2021
-Credential Phishing Attacks Skyrocketing, 265 Brands Impersonated in H1 2022
-Are Cloud Environments Secure Enough for Today’s Threats?
-Most Q2 Attacks Targeted Old Microsoft Vulnerabilities
-Cyber Resiliency Isn't Just About Technology, It's About People
-The “Cyber Insurance Gap” Is Threatening Most Companies
-Easing the Cyber-Skills Crisis with Staff Augmentation
-Mailchimp Suffers Second Breach In 4 Months
-Firm Told It Can't Claim Full Cyber Crime Insurance After Social Engineering Attack
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Businesses Found to Neglect Cyber Security Until it is Too Late
Businesses only take cyber security seriously after falling victim to an attack, according to a report published by the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) this week.
For the research, the UK government surveyed IT professionals and end users in 10 UK organisations of varying sizes that have experienced cyber security breaches in the past three years. This analysed their existing level of security prior to a breach, the business impacts of the attack and how cyber security arrangements changed in the wake of the incident.
Nearly all respondents said their organisation took cyber security much more seriously after experiencing a breach, including reviewing existing practices and significantly increased investment in technology solutions.
While there was a consensus among participants that there is a greater need for vigilance and investment in cyber security, there was significant variation between organisations’ practices in this area. Medium and large organisations tended to have formal plans in place and budget allocated for further cyber security investment, but smaller businesses mostly did not due to resource constraints.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybersecurity-seriously-breach/
Cyber Tops Staff Retention as Biggest Business Risk
Cyber security concerns represent the most serious risk facing organisations, beating inflation, talent acquisition/retention and rising production costs, according to a new PwC study.
The PwC Pulse: Managing business risks in 2022 report was compiled from interviews with 722 US C-suite executives.
Two-fifths (40%) ranked cyber-attacks as a serious risk, rising to 51% of board members. PwC said boardrooms may be getting more attuned to cyber risk after new SEC proposals were published in March that would require directors to oversee cyber security risk and be more transparent about their cyber expertise.
In fact, executives appear to be getting more proactive with cyber security on a number of fronts.
Some 84% said they are taking action or monitoring closely policy areas related to cyber security, privacy and data protection. A further 79% said they’re revising or enhancing their cyber risk management approaches, and half (49%) pointed to increased investments in cyber security and privacy.
By way of comparison, 53% said they’re increasing investment in digital transformation and 52% in IT.
Cyber security is a strategic business enabler – technology is the central nervous system of many companies – and confirming its data is secure and protected can be brand defining.
There’s now heightened attention from a wider range of business leaders and corporate directors as they recognise that cyber security and data privacy should be part of not only a risk management strategy, but also a broader corporate strategy. C-suite and boards are actively taking steps to better understand the global threat landscape, confirm a foundational cyber security program is in place, and manage these risks to create opportunities.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyber-tops-staff-retention-biggest/
Cyber Criminals Weaponising Ransomware Data for BEC Attacks
Cyber criminals and other threat actors are increasingly using data dumped from ransomware attacks in secondary business email compromise (BEC) attacks, according to new analysis by Accenture Cyber Threat Intelligence.
The ACTI team analysed data from the 20 most active ransomware leak sites, measured by number of featured victims, between July 2021 and July 2022. Of the 4,026 victims (corporate, non-governmental organisations, and governmental entities) uncovered on various ransomware groups’ dedicated leak sites, an estimated 91% incurred subsequent data disclosures, ACTI found.
Dedicated leak sites most commonly provide financial data, followed by employee and client personally identifiable information and communication documentation. The rise of double extortion attempts – where attack groups use ransomware to exfiltrate data and then publicise the data on dedicated leak sites – has made large amounts of sensitive corporate data available to any threat actor. The most valuable types of data most useful for conducting BEC attacks are financial, employee, and communication data, as well as operational documents. There is a significant overlap between the types of data most useful for conducting BEC attacks and the types of data most commonly posted on these ransomware leak sites, ACTI said.
The data is a “rich source for information for criminals who can easily weaponise it for secondary BEC attacks,” ACTI said. “The primary factor driving an increased threat of BEC and VEC attacks stemming from double-extortion leaks is the availability of [corporate and communication data].”
Callback Phishing Attacks See Massive 625% Growth Since Q1 2021
Hackers are increasingly moving towards hybrid forms of phishing attacks that combine email and voice social engineering calls as a way to breach corporate networks for ransomware and data extortion attacks.
According to Agari's Q2 2022 cyber-intelligence report, phishing volumes have only increased by 6% compared to Q1 2022. However, the use of 'hybrid vishing' is seeing a massive 625% growth.
Vishing, "voice phishing," involves some form of a phone call to perform social engineering on the victim. Its hybrid form, called "callback phishing," also includes an email before the call, typically presenting the victim with a fake subscription/invoice notice.
The recipient is advised to call on the provided phone number to resolve any issues with the charge, but instead of a real customer support agent, the call is answered by phishing actors.
The scammers then offer to resolve the presented problem by tricking the victim into disclosing sensitive information or installing remote desktop tools on their system. The threat actors then connect to the victim's device remotely to install further backdoors or spread to other machines.
These callback phishing attacks were first introduced by the 'BazarCall/BazaCall' campaigns that appeared in March 2021 to gain initial access to corporate networks for ransomware attacks.
The attacks work so well that multiple ransomware and extortion gangs, such as Quantum, Zeon, and Silent Ransom Group, have adopted the same technique today to gain initial network access through an unsuspecting employee.
"Hybrid Vishing attacks reached a six-quarter high in Q2, increasing 625% from Q1 2021. This threat type also contributed to 24.6% of the overall share of Response-Based threats," details the Agari report.
"While this is the second quarter hybrid vishing attacks have declined in share due to the overall increase of response-based threats, vishing volume has steadily increased in count over the course of the year."
Credential Phishing Attacks Skyrocketing, 265 Brands Impersonated in H1 2022
Abnormal Security released a report which explores the current email threat landscape and provides insight into the latest advanced email attack trends, including increases in business email compromise, the evolution of financial supply chain compromise, and the rise of brand impersonation in credential phishing attacks.
The research found a 48% increase in email attacks over the previous six months, and 68.5% of those attacks included a credential phishing link. In addition to posing as internal employees and executives, cyber criminals impersonated well-known brands in 15% of phishing emails, relying on the brands’ familiarity and reputation to convince employees to provide their login credentials. Most common among the 265 brands impersonated in these attacks were social networks and Microsoft products.
“The vast majority of cyber crime today is successful because it exploits the people behind the keyboard,” said Crane Hassold, director of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security.
“By compromising people rather than networks, it’s easier for attackers to circumvent conventional security measures. This is especially true with brand impersonation, where attackers use urgency and fear to encourage their targets to provide usernames and passwords.”
LinkedIn took the top spot for brand impersonation, but Outlook, OneDrive and Microsoft 365 appeared in 20% of all attacks. What makes these attacks particularly dangerous is that phishing emails are often the first step to compromising employee email accounts. Acquiring Microsoft credentials enables cyber criminals to access the full suite of connected products, allowing them to view sensitive data and use the account to send business email compromise attacks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/08/15/landscape-email-threat/
Are Cloud Environments Secure Enough for Today’s Threats?
Cyber security is a major problem right now. Not only is it the highest priority of any given business to keep their own data and their customers’ and clients’ data secure, but changes in the workplace have had a knock-on effect on cyber security. The concept of working from home has forced businesses all around the world to address old and new cyber security threats. People taking their laptops, and therefore their data, home to public networks that can be hacked or leaving access details like passwords scribbled on notebooks has meant that access to a business and therefore their customers’ data is a lot more accessible.
The saving grace was said to be the cloud. Beyond retraining cyber security in staff workforces, the practical solution was to move data into the cloud. But we’re now a few years from the point when the cloud really gained popularity. Is it still the answer to all our cyber security problems? Is there a chance of risk to using the cloud?
Cloud data breaches do happen and misconfiguration is a leading cause of them, mainly due to businesses inadequate cyber security strategies. This is due to several factors, such as the fundamental nature of the cloud designed to be easy for anyone to access, and businesses unable to completely see or control the cloud’s infrastructure and therefore relying on the cyber security controls that are provided by the cloud service provider (or CSP).
Unauthorised access is also a risk. The internet, which is a readily available public resource to most of the world, makes it easy for hackers to access data if they have the credentials to get past the cyber security set up by the individual business. This is where the ugliness of internal cloud breaches happens. If security is not configured well or credentials like passwords and secret questions are compromised, an attacker can easily access the cloud.
However, it’s not only through an employee that hackers access credentials. Phishing is a very common means of gaining information that would allow access to a customer or business data.
Plus, the simple nature of sharing data can easily backfire on a company. A lot of data access is granted with a link to someone external, which can then be forwarded, either sold or stolen, to an attacker to access the cloud’s data.
https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/08/16/are-cloud-environments-secure-enough-for-todays-threats/
Most Q2 Attacks Targeted Old Microsoft Vulnerabilities
Attacks targeting a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft's MSHTML browser engine — which was patched last September — soared during the second quarter of this year, according to a Kaspersky analysis.
Researchers from Kaspersky counted at least 4,886 attacks targeting the flaw (CVE-2021-40444) last quarter, an eightfold increase over the first quarter of 2022. The security vendor attributed the continued adversary interest in the vulnerability to the ease with which it can be exploited.
Kaspersky said it has observed threat actors exploiting the flaw in attacks on organisations across multiple sectors including the energy and industrial sectors, research and development, IT companies, and financial and medical technology firms. In many of these attacks, the adversaries have used social engineering tricks to try and get victims to open specially crafted Office documents that would then download and execute a malicious script. The flaw was under active attack at the time Microsoft first disclosed it in September 2021.
Attacks targeting a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft's MSHTML browser engine — which was patched last September — soared during the second quarter of this year, according to a Kaspersky analysis. Researchers from Kaspersky counted at least 4,886 attacks targeting the flaw last quarter, an eightfold increase over the first quarter of 2022. The security vendor attributed the continued adversary interest in the vulnerability to the ease with which it can be exploited. According to Kaspersky, exploits for Windows vulnerabilities accounted for 82% of all exploits across all platforms during the second quarter of 2022. While attacks on the MSHTML vulnerability increased the most dramatically, it was by no means the most exploited flaw, which was a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office that was disclosed and patched four years ago that was attacked some 345,827 times last quarter.
Cyber Resiliency Isn't Just About Technology, It's About People
Cyber attacks are on the rise — but if we're being honest, that statement has been true for quite a while, given the acceleration of cyber incidents over the past several years. Recent research indicates that organisations experienced 50% more attack attempts per week on corporate networks in 2021 than they did in 2020, and tactics such as phishing are becoming increasingly popular as attackers refine their tried-and-true methods to more successfully entice unsuspecting targets.
It's no surprise, then, that cyber resiliency has been a hot topic in the cyber security world. But although cyber resiliency refers broadly to the ability of an organisation to anticipate, withstand, and recover from cyber security incidents, many experts make the mistake of applying the term specifically to technology. And while it's true that detection and remediation tools, backup systems, and other resources play an important role in cyber resiliency, organisations that focus exclusively on technology risk are overlooking an equally important element: people.
People are often thought of as the weak link in cyber security. It's easy to understand why. People fall for phishing scams. They use weak passwords and procrastinate on installing security updates. They misconfigure hardware and software, leave cloud assets unsecured, and send confidential files to the wrong recipient. There's a reason so much cyber security technology is moving toward automation: removing people from the equation is seen as one of the most obvious ways to improve security. To many security experts, that's just common sense.
Except — is it, really? It's true that people make mistakes — it's called "human error" for a reason, after all — but many of those mistakes come when employees aren't put in a position to succeed. Phishing is a great example. Most people are familiar with the concept of phishing, but many may not be aware of the nefarious techniques that today's attackers deploy. If employees have not been properly trained, they may not be aware that attackers often impersonate real people within the organisation, or that the CEO asking them to buy gift cards "for a company happy hour" probably isn't legit. Organisations that want to build strong cyber-resiliency cannot pretend that people don't exist. Instead, they need to prioritise the resiliency of their people just as highly as the resiliency of their technology.
Training the organisation to recognise the signs of common attack tactics, practice better password and cyber hygiene, and report signs of suspicious activity can help ease the burden on IT and security personnel by providing them better information in a more timely manner. It also avoids some of the pitfalls that create a drain on their time and resources. By ensuring that people at every level of the business are more resilient, today's organisations will discover that their overall cyber-resiliency will improve significantly.
The “Cyber Insurance Gap” Is Threatening Most Companies
A new study by BlackBerry and Corvus Insurance confirms a “cyber insurance gap” is growing, with a majority of businesses either uninsured or under insured against a rising tide of ransomware attacks and other cyber threats.
Only 19% of all businesses surveyed have ransomware coverage limits above the median ransomware demand amount ($600,000)
Among SMBs with fewer than 1,500 employees, only 14% have a coverage limit in excess of $600,000
37% of respondents with cyber insurance do not have any coverage for ransomware payment demands
43% of those with a policy are not covered for auxiliary costs such as court fees or employee downtime
60% say they would reconsider entering into a partnership or agreement with another business or supplier if the organisation did not have comprehensive cyber insurance
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) software is frequently a key component to obtaining a policy
34% of respondents have been previously denied cyber coverage by insurance providers due to not meeting EDR eligibility requirements
Easing the Cyber-Skills Crisis with Staff Augmentation
Filling cyber security roles can be costly, slow, and chancy. More firms are working with third-party service providers to quickly procure needed expertise.
There are many possible solutions to the cyber security skills shortage, but most of them take time. Cyber security education, career development tracks, training programs, employer-sponsored academies, and internships are great ways to build a talent pipeline and develop skill sets to meet organisational needs in years to come.
But sometimes the need to fill a gap in capability is more immediate.
An organisation in the entertainment industry recently found itself in such a position. Its primary cyber security staff member quit suddenly without notice, taking along critical institutional knowledge and leaving various projects incomplete. With its key defender gone, the organisation's environment was left vulnerable. In a scarce talent market, the organisation faced a long hiring process to find a replacement — too long to leave its digital estate unattended. It needed expertise, and quickly.
According to a 2021 ESG report, 57% of organisations have been impacted by the global cyber security skills crisis. Seventy-six percent say it's difficult to recruit and hire security professionals. The biggest effects of this shortage are increasing workloads, positions open for weeks or months, and high cyber security staff burnout and attrition.
In this climate, more companies are turning to third parties for cyber security staff reinforcement. According to a NewtonX study, 56% of organisations are now subcontracting up to a quarter of their cyber security staff. Sixty-nine percent of companies rely on third-party expertise to assist in mitigating the risk of ransomware — up from 58% in 2017 — per a study by Ponemon and CBI, a Converge Company.
One way that companies gain this additional support is via third-party staff augmentation and consulting services. Cyber security staff augmentation, or strategic staffing, entails trained external consultants acting as an extension of an organisation's security team in a residency. Engagements can be anywhere from a few weeks to a few years, and roles can range from analysts and engineers to architects, compliance specialists, and virtual CISOs.
https://www.darkreading.com/operations/easing-the-cyber-skills-crisis-with-staff-augmentation
Mailchimp Suffers Second Breach In 4 Months
Mailchimp suffered another data breach earlier this month, and this one cost it a client.
In a statement Friday, Mailchimp disclosed that a security incident involving phishing and social engineering tactics had targeted cryptocurrency and blockchain companies using the email marketing platform. It was the second Mailchimp breach to target cryptocurrency customers in a four-month span.
Though Mailchimp said it has suspended accounts where suspicious activity was detected while an investigation is ongoing, it did not reveal the source of the breach or scope of the attack.
More details were provided Sunday by one of the affected customers, DigitalOcean, which cut ties with Mailchimp on Aug. 9.
The cloud hosting provider observed suspicious activity beginning Aug. 8, when threat actors used its Mailchimp account for "a small number of attempted compromises" of DigitalOcean customer accounts -- specifically cryptocurrency platforms.
While it is not clear whether any DigitalOcean accounts were compromised, the company did confirm that some email addresses were exposed. More importantly, the statement attributed a potential source of the most recent Mailchimp breach.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/252523911/Mailchimp-suffers-second-breach-in-4-months
Firm Told It Can't Claim Full Cyber Crime Insurance After Social Engineering Attack
A Minnesota computer store suing its cyber insurance provider has had its case dismissed, with the courts saying it was a clear instance of social engineering, a crime for which the insurer was only liable to cover a fraction of total losses.
SJ Computers alleged in a November lawsuit that Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. owed it far more than paid on a claim for nearly $600,000 in losses due to a successful business email compromise (BEC) attack.
According to its website, SJ Computers is a Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher, reselling Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer products, as well as providing tech services including software installs and upgrades.
Travelers, which filed a motion to dismiss, said SJ's policy clearly delineated between computer fraud and social engineering fraud. The motion was granted with prejudice last Friday.
In the dismissal order, the US District Court for Minnesota found that the two policy agreements are mutually exclusive, as well as finding SJ's claim fell squarely into its social engineering fraud agreement with Travelers, which has a cap of $100,000.
When SJ filed its claim with Travelers, the court noted, it did so only under the social engineering fraud agreement. After realising the policy limit on computer fraud was 10 times higher, "SJ Computers then made a series of arguments – ranging from creative to desperate – to try to persuade Travelers that its loss was not the result of social-engineering-fraud (as SJ Computers itself had initially said) but instead the result of computer fraud," the district judge wrote in the order.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/16/social_engineering_cyber_crime_insurance/
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware Group Threatens to Leak Data Stolen From Security Firm Entrust | SecurityWeek.Com
Cisco Confirms Hack: Yanluowang Ransom Gang Claims 2.8GB Of Data (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Ransomware is still on the rise. Here's what you need to do to stay safe from hackers | ZDNET
Russian Man Extradited to US for Laundering Ryuk Ransomware Money | SecurityWeek.Com
‘Coopetition’ a growing trend among ransomware gangs (computerweekly.com)
Hackers Attack UK Water Supplier, Sends Ransom Demand to the Wrong Company (gizmodo.com)
SOVA malware adds ransomware feature to encrypt Android devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
BlackByte ransomware v2 is out with new extortion novelties - Security Affairs
Ransomware is back, healthcare sector most targeted - Help Net Security
Why Hackers Are Now Targeting Electric Car Charging Stations (nocamels.com)
BlackByte Ransomware Gang Returns With Twitter Presence, Tiered Pricing (darkreading.com)
Ski-Doo maker BRP resumes operations following cyber attack; shares fluctuate - MarketWatch
Argentina's Judiciary of Córdoba hit by PLAY ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Response-based attacks make up 41% of all email-based scams - Help Net Security
PayPal Phishing Scam Uses Invoices Sent Via PayPal – Krebs on Security
Microsoft admits it can't stop scammers fooling you with their latest tricks | ZDNET
Other Social Engineering; SMishing, Vishing, etc
Malware
Hackers Deploy Bumblebee Loader to Breach Target Networks - Infosecurity Magazine
'DarkTortilla' Malware Wraps in Sophistication for High-Volume RAT Infections (darkreading.com)
Malicious browser extensions targeted almost 7 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)
DoNot Team Hackers Updated its Malware Toolkit with Improved Capabilities (thehackernews.com)
Whack-a-Mole: More Malicious PyPI Packages Spring Up Targeting Discord, Roblox (darkreading.com)
Mobile
SOVA Android malware now also encrypts victims' files - Security Affairs
Malware devs already bypassed Android 13's new security feature (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google releases Android 13 with improved privacy and security features - Help Net Security
Android malware apps with 2 million installs found on Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Find 35 Adware Apps on Google Play - Infosecurity Magazine
Nearly 1,900 Signal Messenger Accounts Potentially Compromised in Twilio Hack (thehackernews.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
How attackers are exploiting corporate IoT - Help Net Security
Amazon fixes Ring Android app flaw exposing camera recordings (bleepingcomputer.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
With Plunge in Value, Cryptocurrency Crimes Decline in 2022 (darkreading.com)
Hardware-based threat defence against increasingly complex cryptojackers - Microsoft Security Blog
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Ex-HP manager jailed for $5m company card shopping spree • The Register
Microsoft Employees Exposed Own Company’s Internal Logins (vice.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Organisations are losing cyber insurance as an important risk management tool - Help Net Security
For cyber insurance, some technology leads to higher premiums (techtarget.com)
New Study Reveals Serious Cyber-Insurance Shortfalls - Infosecurity Magazine
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
Cloud/SaaS
Organisations Struggle to Fend Off Cloud and Web Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine
Incident response in the cloud can be simple if you are prepared - Help Net Security
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Credential Theft Is (Still) A Top Attack Method (thehackernews.com)
FBI Warns of Proxies and Configurations Used in Credential Stuffing Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Over 9,000 VNC servers exposed online without a password (bleepingcomputer.com)
Privacy
Google fined $60 million over Android location data collection (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Amazon Ring Vulnerability Could Have Exposed All Your Camera Recordings (thehackernews.com)
Period and pregnancy tracking apps have bad privacy protections, report finds - The Verge
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
5 Russia-Linked Groups Target Ukraine in Cyberwar (darkreading.com)
Russia-linked Gamaredon APT continues to target Ukraine - Security Affairs
Microsoft shuts down accounts linked to Russian spies • The Register
State-Sponsored APTs Dangle Job Opps to Lure In Spy Victims (darkreading.com)
Estonia Repels Biggest Cyber-Attack Since 2007 - Infosecurity Magazine
NHS cyber attacks hit record levels in four in five trusts after Russian invasion (telegraph.co.uk)
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Microsoft disrupts Russian hackers' operation on NATO targets (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian APT29 hackers abuse Azure services to hack Microsoft 365 users (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Disrupts Russian Group's Multiyear Cyber-Espionage Campaign (darkreading.com)
Russian hackers target Ukraine with default Word template hijacker (bleepingcomputer.com)
Estonia says it repelled major cyber attack after removing Soviet monuments | Reuters
Nation State Actors – China
Western companies wake up to China risk | Financial Times (ft.com)
China-backed APT41 Hackers Targeted 13 Organisations Worldwide Last Year (thehackernews.com)
China-linked RedAlpha behind multi-year credential theft campaign - Security Affairs
Chinese Cyberspy Group 'RedAlpha' Targeting Governments, Humanitarian Entities | SecurityWeek.Com
China's APT41 Embraces Baffling Approach for Dropping Cobalt Strike Payload (darkreading.com)
Chinese takeover of tech company blocked over security fears (telegraph.co.uk)
3 ways China's access to TikTok data is a security risk | CSO Online
Montana flagged bugs in cow app exploited in alleged China hack | Business and Economy | Al Jazeera
APT41 group: 4 malicious campaigns, 13 victims, new tools and techniques - Help Net Security
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities
CISA adds 7 vulnerabilities to list of bugs exploited by hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google patches yet another Chrome zero-day vulnerability (techtarget.com)
Chrome browser gets 11 security fixes with 1 zero-day – update now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Cisco fixes High-Severity bug in Secure Web Appliance - Security Affairs
Exploit out for critical Realtek flaw affecting many networking devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Safari 15.6.1 fixes a zero-day flaw actively exploited in the wild - Security Affairs
Rapid7: Cisco ASA and ASDM flaws went unpatched for months (techtarget.com)
Windows Vulnerability Could Crack DC Server Credentials Open (darkreading.com)
ÆPIC and SQUIP Vulnerabilities Found in Intel and AMD Processors (thehackernews.com)
PoC exploit code for the critical Realtek RCE flaw released online - Security Affairs
Other News
Exploiting stolen session cookies to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) - Help Net Security
Janet Jackson music video given CVE for crashing laptops • The Register
How aware are organisations of the importance of endpoint management security? - Help Net Security
The Future of Cyber Security is Prevention | SecurityWeek.Com
DigitalOcean Discloses Impact From Recent Mailchimp Cyber Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 March 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 March 2022:
-Morgan Stanley Client Accounts Breached in Social Engineering Attacks
-Ransomware Is Scary, But Another Scam Is Costing Victims Much, Much More
-Phishing Kits Constantly Evolve to Evade Security Software
-Ransomware Payments, Demands Rose Dramatically in 2021
-7 Suspected Members of LAPSUS$ Hacker Gang, Aged 16 to 21, Arrested in UK
-Here's How Fast Ransomware Encrypts Files
-HEAT Attacks: A New Class of Cyber Threats Organisations Are Not Prepared For
-The Cyber Warfare Predicted In Ukraine May Be Yet To Come
-The Three Russian Cyber Attacks The West Most Fears
-Do These 8 Things Now To Boost Your Security Ahead Of Potential Russian Cyber Attacks
-Cyber Crime Victims Suffered Losses of Over $6.9B in 2021 in the US Alone
-Expanding Threat Landscape: Cyber Criminals Attacking from All Sides
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
Morgan Stanley Client Accounts Breached in Social Engineering Attacks
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management says some of its customers had their accounts compromised in social engineering attacks.
The account breaches were the result of vishing (aka voice phishing), a social engineering attack where scammers impersonate a trusted entity (in this case Morgan Stanley) during a voice call to convince their targets into revealing sensitive information such as banking or login credentials.
The company said in a notice sent to affected clients that, "on or around February 11, 2022," a threat actor impersonating Morgan Stanley gained access to their accounts after tricking them into providing their Morgan Stanley Online account info.
After successfully breaching their accounts, the attacker also electronically transferred money to their own bank account by initiating payments using the Zelle payment service.
Ransomware Is Scary, But Another Scam Is Costing Victims Much, Much More
Business email compromise (BEC) remains the biggest source of financial losses, which totalled $2.4 billion in 2021, up from an estimated $1.8 billion in 2020, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Internet Crime Center (IC3).
The FBI says in its 2021 annual report that Americans last year lost $6.9 billion to scammers and cyber criminals through ransomware, BEC, and cryptocurrency theft related to financial and romance scams. In 2020, that figure stood at $4.2 billion.
Last year, FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 847,376 complaints about cybercrime losses, up 7% from 791,790 complaints in 2020.
BEC has been the largest source of fraud for several years despite ransomware attacks grabbing most headlines.
Phishing Kits Constantly Evolve to Evade Security Software
Modern phishing kits sold on cybercrime forums as off-the-shelf packages feature multiple, sophisticated detection avoidance and traffic filtering systems to ensure that internet security solutions won’t mark them as a threat.
Fake websites that mimic well-known brands are abundant on the internet to lure victims and steal their payment details or account credentials.
Most of these websites are built using phishing kits that feature brand logos, realistic login pages, and in cases of advanced offerings, dynamic webpages assembled from a set of basic elements.
Ransomware Payment Demands Rose Dramatically in 2021
Ransomware attackers demanded dramatically higher ransom fees last year, and the average ransom payment rose by 78% to $541,010, according to data from incident response (IR) cases investigated by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42.
IR cases by Unit 42 also saw a whopping 144% increase in ransom demands, to $2.2 million. According to the report, the most victimised sectors were professional and legal services, construction, wholesale and retail, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Cyber extortion spiked, with 85% of ransomware victims — some 2, 556 organisations — having their data dumped and exposed on leak sites, according to the "2022 Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report."
Conti led the ransomware attack volume, representing some one in five cases Unit 42 investigated, followed by REvil, Hello Kitty, and Phobos.
https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/ransomware-payments-demands-rose-dramatically-in-2021
7 Suspected Members of LAPSUS$ Hacker Gang, aged 16 to 21, Arrested in UK
The City of London Police has arrested seven teenagers between the ages of 16 and 21 for their alleged connections to the prolific LAPSUS$ extortion gang that's linked to a recent burst of attacks targeting NVIDIA, Samsung, Ubisoft, LG, Microsoft, and Okta.
"The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation with its partners into members of a hacking group," Detective Inspector, Michael O'Sullivan, said in a statement shared with The Hacker News. "Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with this investigation and have all been released under investigation. Our enquiries remain ongoing."
The development, which was first disclosed by BBC News, comes after a report from Bloomberg revealed that a 16-year-old Oxford-based teenager is the mastermind of the group. It's not immediately clear if the minor is one among the arrested individuals. The said teen, under the online alias White or Breachbase, is alleged to have accumulated about $14 million in Bitcoin from hacking.
https://thehackernews.com/2022/03/7-suspected-members-of-lapsus-hacker.html
Here's How Fast Ransomware Encrypts Files
Forty-two minutes and 54 seconds: that's how quickly the median ransomware variant can encrypt and lock out a victim from 100,000 of their files.
The data point came from Splunk's SURGe team, which analysed in its lab how quickly the 10 biggest ransomware strains — Lockbit, REvil, Blackmatter, Conti, Ryuk, Avaddon, Babuk, Darkside, Maize, and Mespinoza — could encrypt 100,000 files consisting of some 53.93 gigabytes of data. Lockbit won the race, with speeds of 86% faster than the median. One Lockbit sample was clocked at encrypting 25,000 files per minute.
Splunk's team found that ransomware variants are all over the map speed-wise, and the underlying hardware can dictate their encryption speeds.
https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/here-s-how-fast-ransomware-encrypts-files
HEAT Attacks: A New Class of Cyber Threats Organisations Are Not Prepared For
Web malware (47%) and ransomware (42%) now top the list of security threats that organisations are most concerned about. Yet despite the growing risks, just 27% have advanced threat protection in place on every endpoint device that can access corporate applications and resources.
This is according to research published by Menlo Security, exploring what steps organisations are taking to secure themselves in the wake of a new class of cyber threats – known as Highly Evasive Adaptive Threats (HEAT).
As employees spend more time working in the browser and accessing cloud-based applications, the risk of HEAT attacks increases. Almost two-thirds of organisations have had a device compromised by a browser-based attack in the last 12 months. The report suggests that organisations are not being proactive enough in mitigating the risk of these threats, with 45% failing to add strength to their network security stack over the past year. There are also conflicting views on the most effective place to deploy security to prevent advanced threats, with 43% citing the network, and 37% the cloud.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/22/web-security-threats/
The Cyber Warfare Predicted in Ukraine May Be Yet to Come
In the build-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the national security community braced for a campaign combining military combat, disinformation, electronic warfare and cyber attacks. Vladimir Putin would deploy devastating cyber operations, the thinking went, to disable government and critical infrastructure, blind Ukrainian surveillance capabilities and limit lines of communications to help invading forces. But that’s not how it has played out. At least, not yet.
The danger is that as political and economic conditions deteriorate, the red lines and escalation judgments that kept Moscow’s most potent cyber capabilities in check may adjust. Western sanctions and lethal aid support to Ukraine may prompt Russian hackers to lash out against the west. Russian ransomware actors may also take advantage of the situation, possibly resorting to cyber crime as one of the few means of revenue generation.
https://www.ft.com/content/2938a3cd-1825-4013-8219-4ee6342e20ca
The Three Russian Cyber Attacks the West Most Fears
The UK's cyber authorities are supporting the White House's calls for "increased cyber-security precautions", though neither has given any evidence that Russia is planning a cyber-attack.
Russia has previously stated that such accusations are "Russophobic".
However, Russia is a cyber-superpower with a serious arsenal of cyber-tools, and hackers capable of disruptive and potentially destructive cyber-attacks.
Ukraine has remained relatively untroubled by Russian cyber-offensives but experts now fear that Russia may go on a cyber-offensive against Ukraine's allies.
"Biden's warnings seem plausible, particularly as the West introduced more sanctions, hacktivists continue to join the fray, and the kinetic aspects of the invasion seemingly don't go to plan," says Jen Ellis, from cyber-security firm Rapid7.
This article from the BCC outlines the hacks that experts most fear, and they are repeats of things we have already seen coming out of Russia, only potentially a lot more destructive this time around.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60841924
Do These 8 Things Now to Boost Your Security Ahead of Potential Russian Cyber Attacks
The message comes as the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ramp up warnings about Russian hacking of everything from online accounts to satellite broadband networks. CISA's current campaign is called Shields Up, which urges all organisations to patch immediately and secure network boundaries. This messaging is being echoed by UK and other Western Cyber authorities:
The use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is being very strongly advocated. The White House and other agencies both sides of the Atlantic also urged companies to take seven other steps:
Deploy modern security tools on your computers and devices to continuously look for and mitigate threats
Make sure that your systems are patched and protected against all known vulnerabilities, and change passwords across your networks so that previously stolen credentials are useless to malicious actors
Back up your data and ensure you have offline backups beyond the reach of malicious actors
Run exercises and drill your emergency plans so that you are prepared to respond quickly to minimize the impact of any attack
Encrypt your data so it cannot be used if it is stolen
Educate your employees to common tactics that attackers will use over email or through websites
Work with specialists to establish relationships in advance of any cyber incidents.
Cyber Crime Victims Suffered Losses of Over $6.9B in 2021 in the US Alone
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported a record-breaking year for 2021 in the number of complaints it received, among which business email compromise (BEC) attacks made up the majority of incidents.
IC3 handled 847,376 complaint reports last year — an increase of 7% over 2020 — which mainly revolved around phishing attacks, nonpayment/nondelivery scams, and personal data breaches. Overall, losses amounted to more than $6.9 billion.
BEC and email account compromises ranked as the No. 1 attack, accounting for 19,954 complaints and losses of around $2.4 billion.
"In 2021, heightened attention was brought to the urgent need for more cyber incident reporting to the federal government. Cyber incidents are in fact crimes deserving of an investigation, leading to judicial repercussions for the perpetrators who commit them," Paul Abbate, deputy director of the FBI wrote in the IC3's newly published annual report.
Expanding Threat Landscape: Cyber Criminals Attacking from All Sides
Research from Trend Micro warns of spiralling risk to digital infrastructure and remote workers as threat actors increase their rate of attack on organisations and individuals.
“Attackers are always working to increase their victim count and profit, whether through quantity or effectiveness of attacks,” said Jon Clay, VP of threat intelligence at Trend Micro.
“Our latest research shows that while Trend Micro threat detections rose 42% year-on-year in 2021 to over 94 billion, they shrank in some areas as attacks became more precisely targeted.”
Ransomware attackers are shifting their focus to critical businesses and industries more likely to pay, and double extortion tactics ensure that they are able to profit. Ransomware-as-a-service offerings have opened the market to attackers with limited technical knowledge – but also given rise to more specialisation, such as initial access brokers who are now an essential part of the cybercrime supply chain.
Threat actors are also getting better at exploiting human error to compromise cloud infrastructure and remote workers. Trend Micro detected and prevented 25.7 million email threats in 2021 compared to 16.7 million in 2020, with the volume of blocked phishing attempts nearly doubling over the period. Research shows home workers are often prone to take more risks than those in the office, which makes phishing a particular risk.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/22/threat-actors-increase-attack/
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware Infections Follow Precursor Malware – Lumu • The Register
Ransomware, Malware-as-a-Service Dominate Threat Landscape | SecurityWeek.Com
AvosLocker Ransomware - What You Need To Know | The State of Security (tripwire.com)
What the Conti Ransomware Group Data Leak Tells Us (darkreading.com)
Ransomware Demands And Payments Increase With Use Of Leak Sites (computerweekly.com)
Ten Notorious Ransomware Strains Put to The Encryption Speed Test (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lockbit Wins Ransomware Speed Test, Encrypts 25k Files/Min • The Register
Talos warns of BlackMatter-linked BlackCat Ransomware • The Register
Report: 89% of Organizations Say Kubernetes Ransomware Is A Problem Today | VentureBeat
Top Russian Meat Producer Hit with Windows BitLocker Encryption Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Greece's Public Postal Service Offline Due To Ransomware Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lawsuit Claims Kronos Breach Exposed Data For 'Millions' (techtarget.com)
Estonian Man Sentenced To Prison For Role In Cyber Intrusions, Ransomware Attacks - CyberScoop
Phishing & Email
New Phishing Toolkit Lets Anyone Create Fake Chrome Browser Windows (bleepingcomputer.com)
Browser-in-the-Browser Attack Makes Phishing Nearly Invisible | Threatpost
'Unique Attack Chain' Drops Backdoor in New Phishing Campaign (darkreading.com)
Other Social Engineering
Malware
Malicious Microsoft Excel Add-Ins Used to Deliver RAT Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
BitRAT Malware Now Spreading As A Windows 10 License Activator (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mobile
URL Rendering Trick Enabled WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage Phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)
Downloaders Currently the Most Prevalent Android Malware (darkreading.com)
Experts Uncover Campaign Stealing Cryptocurrency from Android and iPhone Users (thehackernews.com)
Android Password-Stealing Malware Infects 100,000 Google Play Users (bleepingcomputer.com)
IoT
Botnet of Thousands of MikroTik Routers Abused in Glupteba, TrickBot Campaigns (thehackernews.com)
Honda Civics Vulnerable To Remote Unlock, Start Hack • The Register
Data Breaches/Leaks
UK MoD's Capita-Run Recruitment Portal Support Offline • The Register
Background Check Company Sued Over Data Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Who is LAPSUS$, the Gang Hacking Microsoft, Samsung, and Okta? (gizmodo.com)
Hackers Are Targeting European Refugee Charities -Ukrainian Official | Reuters
Hackers Steal From Hackers By Pushing Fake Malware On Forums (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking
An Investigation of Cryptocurrency Scams and Schemes (trendmicro.com)
Global Regulators Monitor Crypto Use in Ukraine War | Reuters
Cryptocurrency Companies Impacted by HubSpot Breach (techtarget.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
6 Types Of Insider Threats And How To Prevent Them (techtarget.com)
HP Staffer Blew $5m On Personal Expenses With Company Card • The Register
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Internet Crime in 2021: Investment Fraud Losses Soar - Help Net Security
NFT Fraud in the UK Soars 400% in 2021 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
DeFiance Capital Founder Loses $1.7M in NFTs To Phishing Scam - Decrypt
Insurance
Dark Web
Supply Chain
Cloud
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Internet Sanctions Against Russia Pose Risks, Challenges For Businesses | CSO Online
Is It Safe To Use Russian-Based Kaspersky Antivirus? No, And Here's Why (komando.com)
Anonymous Leaked 28gb of Data Stolen from The Central Bank of Russia - Security Affairs
President Biden Says Russia Exploring Revenge Cyber Attacks • The Register
Analysis: Putin's next escalation could be a direct cyberattack on the West - CNNPolitics
Russia-backed Hackers Bypassed MFA, Exploited Print Vulnerability - MSSP Alert
Hackers Around The World Deluge Russia's Internet With Simple, Effective Cyber Attacks (nbcnews.com)
Anonymous Targets Western Companies Still Active in Russia - Security Affairs
Ukrainian Enterprises Hit with the DoubleZero Wiper - Security Affairs
NATO, G-7 Leaders Promise Bulwark Against Retaliatory Russian Cyber Attacks (cyberscoop.com)
Russia Hacked Ukrainian Satellite Communications, Officials Believe - BBC News
Russia-linked InvisiMole APT Targets State Organizations Of Ukraine - Security Affairs
Corrupted Open-Source Software Enters the Russian Battlefield | ZDNet
Nestlé Says 'Anonymous' Data Leak Actually A Self-Own • The Register
Nation State Actors – China
Another Chinese Hacking Group Spotted Targeting Ukraine Amid Russia Invasion (thehackernews.com)
Chinese APT Combines Fresh Hodur RAT with Complex Anti-Detection | Threatpost
Mustang Panda Hacking Group Takes Advantage Of Ukraine Crisis In New Attacks | ZDNet
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Vulnerabilities
CISA Adds 66 Vulnerabilities To List Of Bugs Exploited In Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Three Critical RCE Flaws Affect Hundreds of HP Printer Models - Security Affairs
Critical Sophos Firewall vulnerability allows remote code execution (bleepingcomputer.com)
VMware Fixes Carbon Black Command Injection, Upload Bugs • The Register
Western Digital Fixes Critical Bug Giving Root On My Cloud NAS Devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sector Specific
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
Scottish Mental Health Charity SAMH Targeted In Cyber Attack - BBC News
Over 1 Million Impacted in Data Breach at Texas Dental Services Provider | SecurityWeek.Com
Retail/eCommerce
Transport and Aviation
Energy & Utilities
Education and Academia
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
A Better Grasp of Cyber Attack Tactics Can Stop Criminals Faster (bleepingcomputer.com)
The Chaos (and Cost) of the Lapsus$ Hacking Carnage | SecurityWeek.Com
Soldiers told to use Signal instead of WhatsApp for security | The Times
Cyber Security Compliance: Start With Proven Best Practices - Help Net Security
Only 27% of Orgs Have Advanced Threat Protection on Endpoints | VentureBeat
Okta Breach Leads To Questions On Disclosure, Reliance On Third-Party Vendors - CyberScoop
The Challenges Audit Leaders Need To Look Out For This Year - Help Net Security
South Korean DarkHotel Hackers Targeted Luxury Hotels in Macau (thehackernews.com)
ISACA: Two-Thirds of Cybersecurity Teams Are Understaffed - Infosecurity Magazine
Security Teams are Responsible for Over 165k Assets - Infosecurity Magazine
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 29 January 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 29 January 2021: Phishing Attacks Show High-Ranking Execs ‘Most Valuable Asset’ and ‘Greatest Vulnerability’; Paying Ransomware Funding Organised Crime; Police take down botnet that hacked millions of computers; After SolarWinds Hack, Who Knows What Cyber Dangers We Face; Russian businesses warned of retaliatory cyber attacks; iOS vulns actively exploited; Top Cyber Attacks of 2020
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
Phishing Attacks Show High-Ranking Execs May Be ‘Most Valuable Asset,’ and ‘Greatest Vulnerability’
Cyber criminals have been using a phishing kit featuring fake Office 365 password alerts as a lure to target the credentials of chief executives, business owners and other high-level corporate leaders. The scheme highlights the role and responsibility upper management plays in ensuring the security of their own company’s assets.
Insurers 'Funding Organised Crime' by Paying Ransomware Claims
Insurers are inadvertently funding organised crime by paying out claims from companies who have paid ransoms to regain access to data and systems after a hacking attack, Britain’s former top cybersecurity official has warned.
Emotet: Police raids take down botnet that hacked 'millions of computers worldwide'
Emotet, one of the world's most dangerous cyber crime services, has been taken down following one of the largest ever internationally-coordinated actions against cyber criminals. Although it began as banking malware designed to steal financial credentials, Emotet had become an infrastructure tool leased out to cyber criminals to break into victim computer networks and install additional malicious software.
After the SolarWinds Hack, We Have No Idea What Cyber Dangers We Face
Months before insurgents breached the Capitol and rampaged through the halls of Congress, a stealthier invader was muscling its way into the computers of government officials, stealing documents, monitoring e-mails, and setting traps for future incursions. Last March, a hacking team, believed to be affiliated with Russian intelligence, planted malware in a routine software upgrade from a Texas-based I.T. company called SolarWinds, which provides network-management systems to more than three hundred thousand clients.
FSB warns Russian businesses of cyber attacks as retaliation for SolarWinds hack
Russian authorities are alerting Russian organizations of potential cyberattacks launched by the United States in response to SolarWinds attack. The Russian intelligence agency FSB has issued a security alert this week warning Russian organizations of potential cyberattacks launched by the United States in response to the SolarWinds supply chain attack.
Update your iPhone — Apple just disclosed hackers may have 'actively exploited' a vulnerability in its iOS
On Tuesday released a new iOS software update that includes fixes for three security weaknesses in the former version. Its support website that it is aware of the three security bugs and that they "may have been actively exploited. “Also, it does not disclose details regarding security issues "until an investigation has occurred."
Top Cyber Attacks of 2020
"Zoombomb" became the new photobomb—hackers would gain access to a private meeting or online class hosted on Zoom and shout profanities and racial slurs or flash pornographic images. Nation-state hacker groups mounted attacks against organisations involved in the coronavirus pandemic response, including the World Health Organization and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, some in an attempt to politicize the pandemic.
https://thehackernews.com/2021/01/top-cyber-attacks-of-2020.html
Threats
Ransomware
Cyber Criminals use deceased staff accounts to spread Nemty ransomware
US and Bulgarian authorities disrupt NetWalker ransomware operation
Former UK Cyber Security Chief Says Laws Are Needed to Stop Ransomware Payouts
BEC
Phishing
Other Social Engineering
Malware
DreamBus botnet targets enterprise apps running on Linux servers
Trickbot is back again - with fresh phishing and malware attacks
Mobile
Vulnerabilities
Heap-based buffer overflow in Linux Sudo allows local users to gain root privileges
Vulnerability found in top messaging apps let hackers eavesdrop
Experts Detail A Recent Remotely Exploitable Windows Vulnerability
Former LulzSec Hacker Releases VPN Exploit Used to Hack Hacking Team
KindleDrip exploit – Hacking a Kindle device with a simple email
Data Breaches
Charities
Insider Threats
Nation-State Actors
Denial of Service
Privacy
Reports Published in the Last Week
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.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 January 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 22 January 2021: Ransomware Biggest Cyber Concern; Ransomware Payments Grew 311% In 2020; Cyber Security Spending To Soar In 2021; Ransomware Provides The Perfect Cover For Other Attacks; Gdpr Fines Skyrocket As Eu Gets Tough On Data Breaches; Popular Pdf Reader Has Database Of 77 Miliion Users Leaked Online; Malware Incidents On Remote Devices Increase
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
Ransomware is now the biggest Cyber Security concern for CISOs
Ransomware is the biggest cyber security concern facing businesses, according to those responsible for keeping organisations safe from hacking and cyberattacks. A survey of chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief security officers (CISOs found that ransomware is now viewed as the main cyber security threat to their organisation over the course of the next year. Almost half – 46% – of CISOs and CISOs surveyed said that ransomware or other forms of extortion by outsiders represents the biggest cyber security threat.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-is-now-the-biggest-cybersecurity-concern-for-cisos/
Crypto ransomware payments grew 311% in 2020
Crypto payments associated with ransomware grew at least 311% in 2020. “Ransomware” refers to a category of malicious computer programs that force users into paying ransoms. Just 0.34% of all cryptocurrency transactions last year were criminal, down from 2.1% in 2019. But that number is bound to go up, said the firm.
https://decrypt.co/54648/crypto-crime-ransomware-chainalysis-report-2020
The SolarWinds hackers used tactics other groups will copy
One of the most chilling aspects of Russia's recent hacking spree—which breached numerous United States government agencies among other targets—was the successful use of a “supply chain attack” to gain tens of thousands of potential targets from a single compromise at the IT services firm SolarWinds. But this was not the only striking feature of the assault. After that initial foothold, the attackers bored deeper into their victims' networks with simple and elegant strategies. Now researchers are bracing for a surge in those techniques from other attackers.
https://www.wired.com/story/solarwinds-hacker-methods-copycats/
Global Cyber Security spending to soar in 2021
The worldwide cyber security market is set to grow by up to 10% this year to top $60bn, as the global economy slowly recovers from the pandemic. Double-digit growth from $54.7bn in 2020 would be its best-case scenario. However, even in the worst case, cyber security spending would reach 6.6%. That would factor in a deeper-than-anticipated economic impact from lockdowns, although the security market has proven to be remarkably resilient thus far to the pandemic-induced global economic crisis. That said, SMB spending was hit hard last year, along with certain sectors like hospitality, retail and transport.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-cybersecurity-spending-to/
Cyber criminals publish more than 4,000 stolen Sepa files
Sepa rejected a ransom demand for the attack, which has been claimed by the international Conti ransomware group. Contracts, strategy documents and databases are among the 4,000 files released. The data has been put on the dark web - a part of the internet associated with criminality and only accessible through specialised software.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55757884
Ransomware provides the perfect cover for other attacks
Look at any list of security challenges that CISOs are most concerned about and you’ll consistently find ransomware on them. It’s no wonder: ransomware attacks cripple organizations due to the costs of downtime, recovery, regulatory penalties, and lost revenue. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have added an extra sting to these attacks: they are using ransomware as a smokescreen to divert security teams from other clandestine activities behind the scenes
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/01/21/ransomware-cover/
Popular PDF reader has database of 77 million users hacked and leaked online
A threat actor has leaked a 14 GB database online containing over 77 million records relating to thousands of users of the Nitro PDF reader software, with users' email addresses, full names, hashed passwords, company names, IP addresses, and other system-related information.
Ransomware victims that have backups are paying ransoms to stop hackers leaking their stolen data
Some organisations that fall victim to ransomware attacks are paying ransoms to cyber-criminal gangs despite being able to restore their own networks from backups, in order to prevent hackers publishing stolen data. Over the course of the past year, many of the most successful ransomware gangs have added an additional technique in an effort to coerce victims into paying ransoms after compromising their networks – publishing stolen data if a payment isn't received.
GDPR fines skyrocket as EU gets tough on data breaches
Europe’s new privacy protection regime has led to a surge in fines for bad actors, according to research published today. Law firm DLA Piper says that, since January 28th, 2020, the EU has issued around €158.5 million (around $192 million) in financial penalties. That’s a 39-percent increase on the previous 20-month period Piper examined in its report, published this time last year. And as well as the increased fines, the number of breach notifications has shot up by 19 percent across the same 12-month period.
https://www.engadget.com/gdpr-fines-dla-piper-report-144510440.html
Malware incidents on remote devices increase
Devices compromised by malware in 2020, 37% continued accessing corporate emails after being compromised and 11% continued accessing cloud storage, highlighting a need for organizations to better determine how to configure business tools to ensure fast and safe connectivity for all users in 2021.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/01/18/malware-incidents-remote-devices/
Threats
Phishing
Malware
Vulnerabilities
Signal and other video chat apps found to have some major security flaws
Automated exploit of critical SAP SolMan vulnerability detected in the wild
List of DNSpooq vulnerability advisories, patches, and update
Dnsmasq vulnerabilities open networking devices, Linux distros to DNS cache poisoning
New FreakOut botnet targets Linux systems running unpatched software
Data Breaches
Denial of Service
Cloud
Privacy
Other News
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.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 December 2020: The Cyber Threat Is Real and Growing; Ransomware Attacks Surge in Q3; In 2021 there will be a cyber attack every 11 seconds; The West has suffered a massive cyber breach and it's hard to overstate how bad it is; Big tech companies including Intel, Nvidia, and Cisco were all infected during the SolarWinds hack
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
The Cyber Threat Is Real and Growing
The SolarWinds breach could be one of the most significant cyber incidents in history. Russian intelligence—likely the SVR, the foreign-intelligence branch—infiltrated and sat undetected on U.S. and other government networks for nearly 10 months. It was a sophisticated, smart and savvy attack that should alarm the public and private sectors.
We may not know the full extent of the damage for some time. Don’t be surprised if more government entities disclose that they too were victims of this attack. Don’t be surprised either if it emerges that private companies were hit. SolarWinds says it has more than 300,000 customers, including 400 companies in the Fortune 500. That’s a lot of potential victims.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cyber-threat-is-real-and-growing-11608484291
Ransomware Attacks Surge in Q3 as Cyber Criminals Shift Tactics
A record growth in ransomware attacks took place in Q3 of 2020 compared to Q2, from 39% to 51% of all malware attempts according to a new study. The study also found that hacking accounted for 30% of all attacks during Q3, with cyber criminals reducing their emphasis on social engineering tactics compared with earlier this year. The researchers noted that the percentage of social engineering attacks using COVID-19 as a lure fell from 16% in Q2 to just 4% in Q3, which they attribute to people becoming more accustomed to this crisis. Additionally, social engineering attacks targeting organizations fell from 67% of all attempts in Q1 to under half (45%) in Q3.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-surge-q3/
In 2021, there will be a cyber attack every 11 seconds. Here’s how to protect yourself
Experienced outdoor athletes know that with winter rapidly approaching, the secret to success lies in protecting the core. That is, the body’s core temperature through layering, wicking and a host of ever-improving technical fabrics that prevent the cold, snow and ice from affecting performance. The same could be said for cyber security. With organizations and workers now in their ninth month of COVID-19, the time has come to prepare as the threat of cyber attacks becomes even more menacing.
The US, and much of the West, has suffered a massive cyber breach. It's hard to overstate how bad it is
Recent news articles have all been talking about the massive Russian cyber-attack against the United States, but that’s wrong on two accounts. It wasn’t a cyber-attack in international relations terms, it was espionage. And the victim wasn’t just the US, it was the entire world. But it was massive, and it is dangerous.
Espionage is internationally allowed in peacetime. The problem is that both espionage and cyber-attacks require the same computer and network intrusions, and the difference is only a few keystrokes. And since this Russian operation isn’t at all targeted, the entire world is at risk – and not just from Russia. Many countries carry out these sorts of operations, none more extensively than the US. The solution is to prioritize security and defense over espionage and attack.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/23/cyber-attack-us-security-protocols
Big tech companies including Intel, Nvidia, and Cisco were all infected during the SolarWinds hack
Last week, news broke that IT management company SolarWinds had been hacked, possibly by the Russian government, and the US Treasury, Commerce, State, Energy, and Homeland Security departments have been affected — two of which may have had emails stolen as a result of the hack. Other government agencies and many companies are investigating due to SolarWinds’ extensive client list. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that some big tech companies have been infected, too.
Cisco, Intel, Nvidia, Belkin, and VMware have all had computers on their networks infected with the malware. There could be far more: SolarWinds had stated that “fewer than 18,000” companies were impacted, as if that number is supposed to be reassuring, and it even attempted to hide the list of clients who used the infected software. Today’s news takes some of SolarWinds’ big-name clients from “possibly affected’’ to “confirmed affected.”
https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/21/22194183/intel-nvidia-cisco-government-infected-solarwinds-hack
Researchers share the lists of victims of SolarWinds hack
Security experts started analyzing the DGA mechanism used by threat actors behind the SolarWinds hack to control the Sunburst/Solarigate backdoor and published the list of targeted organizations. Researchers from multiple cybersecurity firms published a list that contains major companies, including Cisco, Deloitte, Intel, Mediatek, and Nvidia. The researchers decoded the DGA algorithm used by the backdoor to assign a subdomain of the C2 for each of the compromised organizations.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112555/hacking/solarwinds-victims-lists.html
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware: Attacks could be about to get even more dangerous and disruptive
IOT
New Critical Flaws in Treck TCP/IP Stack Affect Millions of IoT Devices
Malware
Emotet Returns to Hit 100K Mailboxes Per Day
Microsoft has discovered yet more SolarWinds malware
3 million users hit with infected Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge extensions
Vulnerabilities
Windows zero-day with bad patch gets new public exploit code
Script for detecting vulnerable TCP/IP stacks released
New SUPERNOVA backdoor found in SolarWinds cyberattack analysis
Smart Doorbell Disaster: Many Brands Vulnerable to Attack
Zero-day exploit used to hack iPhones of Al Jazeera employees
Signal: Cellebrite claimed to have 'cracked' chat app's encryption
Data Breaches
There's been a Nintendo Switch data leak, according to reports
Data breach hits 30,000 signed up to workplace pensions provider
Thousands of customer records exposed after serious data breach
Organised Crime
Cyber criminals have started indexing the dark web
Joker’s Stash Carding Site Taken Down
International sting shuts down 'favourite' VPN of cyber criminals
Dark Web Pricing Skyrockets for Microsoft RDP Servers, Payment-Card Data
NSA Warns of Hacking Tactics That Target Cloud Resources
Denial of Service
Cloudflare has identified a new type of DDoS attack inspired by an acoustic beat
Privacy
The pandemic has taken surveillance of workers to the next level
Other News
Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using Israeli firm's spyware
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 December 2020: The great hack attack - SolarWinds breach exposes big gaps in cyber security; A wake-up for the world on cyber security; White House activates cyber emergency response; US nuclear weapons agency targeted; UK companies targeted; Increasing Risk of Cyber Attacks; millions of users install malicious browser extensions; C19 Vaccines sold on dark web
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
The great hack attack: SolarWinds breach exposes big gaps in cyber security
Until this week, SolarWinds was a little known IT software group from Texas. Its deserted lobby has a framed magazine article from a few years ago when it was on a list of America’s “Best Small Companies”.
Now the Austin-based company is at the heart of one of the biggest and most startling cyber hacks in recent history, with ramifications that extend into the fields of geopolitics, espionage and national security.
For nine months, sophisticated state-backed hackers have exploited a ubiquitous SolarWinds software product in order to spy on government and business networks around the world, including in the US, UK, Israel and Canada. Wielding innovative tools and tradecraft, the cyber spies lurked in email services, and posed as legitimate staffers to tap confidential information stored in the cloud.
The bombshell revelations have sent 18,000 exposed SolarWinds customers scrambling to assess whether outsiders did indeed enter their systems, what the damage was and how to fix it.
https://www.ft.com/content/c13dbb51-907b-4db7-8347-30921ef931c2
A wake-up for the world on cyber security
Imagine intruders break into your home and loiter undetected for months, spying on you and deciding which contents to steal. This in essence is the kind of access that hackers, assumed to be Russian, achieved in recent months at US government institutions including the Treasury and departments of commerce and homeland security, and potentially many US companies. If the fear in the Cold War was of occasional “moles” gaining access to secrets, this is akin to a small army of moles burrowing through computer systems. The impact is still being assessed, but it marks one of the biggest security breaches of the digital era.
https://www.ft.com/content/d3fc0b14-4a82-4671-b023-078516ea714e
US government, thousands of businesses now thought to have been affected by SolarWinds security attack
Thousands of businesses and several branches of the US government are now thought to have been affected by the attack on software firm SolarWinds.
The Austin-based company has fallen victim to a massive supply chain attack believed to be the work of state-sponsored hackers.
Along with the US treasury and commerce departments, the Department of Homeland Security is now thought to have been affected by the attack. In a statement to the SEC today, SolarWinds said it had notified 33,000 customers of its recent hack, but that only 18,000 of these used the affected version of its Orion platform.
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/solarwinds-suffers-massive-supply-chain-attack
White House activates cyber emergency response under Obama-era directive
In the wake of the SolarWinds breach, the National Security Council has activated an emergency cyber security process that is intended to help the government plan its response and recovery efforts, according to White House officials and other sources.
The move is a sign of just how seriously the Trump administration is taking the foreign espionage operation, former NSC officials told CyberScoop.
The action is rooted in a presidential directive issued during the Obama administration known as PPD-41, which establishes a Cyber Unified Coordination Group (UCG) that is intended to help the U.S. government coordinate multiple agencies’ responses to the significant hacking incident.
The UCG is generally led by the Department of Justice — through the FBI and the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force — as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security.
https://www.cyberscoop.com/solarwinds-white-house-national-security-council-emergency-meetings/
Hackers targeted US nuclear weapons agency in massive cyber security breach, reports say
The National Nuclear Security Administration and Energy Department, which safeguard the US stockpile of nuclear weapons, have had their networks hacked as part of the widespread cyber espionage attack on a number of federal agencies.
Politico reports that officials have begun coordinating notifications about the security breach to the relevant congressional oversight bodies.
Suspicious activity was identified in the networks of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation, and the Richland Field Office of the Department of Energy.
Officials with direct knowledge of the matter said hackers have been able to do more damage to the network at FERC, according to the report.
Microsoft warns UK companies were targeted by SolarWinds hackers
Microsoft has warned that some of its UK customers have been exposed to the malware used in the Russia-linked SolarWinds hack that targeted US states and government agencies.
More than 40 of the tech giant's customers are thought to have used breached SolarWinds software, including clients in Britain, the US, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, Israel, and the UAE.
The company would not name the victims, but said they include government agencies, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and IT firms. Microsoft said four in five were in the US, with nearly half of them tech companies.
“This is not ‘espionage as usual,’ even in the digital age,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft's president. “Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world.”
The attackers, believed to be working for the Russian government, got into computer networks by installing a vulnerability in Orion software from SolarWinds.
Society at Increasingly High Risk of Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks are becoming easier to conduct while conversely security is getting increasingly difficult, according to Kevin Curran, senior IEEE member and professor of cyber security, Ulster University, during a virtual media roundtable.
“Any company you can think of has had a data breach,” he commented. “Whenever a data breach happens it weakens our credentials because our passwords are often reused on different websites.”
He observed that the art of hacking doesn’t necessarily require a significant amount of technical expertise anymore, and bad actors can receive substantial help from numerous and readily accessible tools online. “You don’t have to spend seven years in college to learn how to hack, you just have to know about these sites and what terms to use,” noted Curran.
A number of legitimate online mechanisms that can help damaging attacks to be launched by hackers were highlighted by Curran in his presentation. These include Google Dorks, which are “search strings which point to website vulnerabilities.” This means vulnerable accounts can be identified simply via Google searches.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/society-increasingly-risk-cyber/
Three million users installed 28 malicious Chrome or Edge extensions
More than three million internet users are believed to have installed 15 Chrome, and 13 Edge extensions that contain malicious code, security firm Avast said today.
The 28 extensions contained code that could perform several malicious operations, including:
-redirect user traffic to ads
-redirect user traffic to phishing sites
-collect personal data, such as birth dates, email addresses, and active devices
-collect browsing history
-download further malware onto a user's device
But despite the presence of code to power all the above malicious features, Avast researchers said they believe the primary objective of this campaign was to hijack user traffic for monetary gains.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/three-million-users-installed-28-malicious-chrome-or-edge-extensions/
Vaccines for sale on dark web as criminals target pandemic profits
Black market vendors were offering coronavirus vaccines for sale on hidden parts of the internet days after the first Covid-19 shot was approved this month, as criminals seek to profit from global demand for inoculations.
One such offer on the so-called dark web, traced by cyber security company Check Point Software, was priced at $250 with the seller promising “stealth” delivery in double-wrapped packaging. Shipping from the US via post or a leading courier company would cost $20, with an extra $5 securing overnight delivery.
https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6
Threats
Ransomware
FBI says DoppelPaymer ransomware gang is harassing victims who refuse to pay
House purchases in Hackney fall through following cyber attack against council
Mount Locker Ransomware Offering Double Extortion Scheme to Other Hackers
Ransomware operators use SystemBC RAT as off-the-shelf Tor backdoor
Phishing
Subway Sandwich Loyalty-Card Users Suffer Ham-Handed Phishing Scam
Microsoft Office 365 Credentials Under Attack By Fax ‘Alert’ Emails
IoT
Malware
New iOS and Android spyware responsible for multi-layered sextortion campaign
Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge hijacked by massive malware attack: What you need to know
This nasty malware is infecting every web browser — what to do now
Tor malware is becoming a worryingly popular ransomware tool
Vulnerabilities
Israeli Phone-hacking Firm Claims It Can Now Break Into Encrypted Signal App
PgMiner botnet exploits disputed CVE to hack unsecured PostgreSQL DBs
Zero-day in WordPress SMTP plugin abused to reset admin account passwords
Sophos fixes SQL injection vulnerability in their Cyberoam OS
Wormable code-execution flaw in Cisco Jabber has a severity rating of 9.9 out of 10
Data Breaches
Twitter hit with €450,000 GDPR fine nearly two years after disclosing data breach
Data Leak Exposes Details of Two Million Chinese Communist Party Members
Organised Crime
Nation State Actors
Privacy
UK police unlawfully processing over a million people’s data on Microsoft 365
Sci-fi surveillance: Europe's secretive push into biometric technology
Other News
Reports Published in the Last Week
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.