Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 March 2024

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

Risk-based spending: An Imperative for Cyber Security That Demands Board Attention

Staying ahead of the latest cyber security developments is essential to keeping your organisation safe. But with the rise of artificial intelligence and attackers dreaming up new techniques every day, a lot of organisations are left to question how they can create proactive, agile cyber security strategies and what approach gives the best return on investment, mitigating risks and maximising the value of their cyber security investments.

Unfortunately, most organisations do not have an unlimited budget, and for small and medium-sized businesses, there is even less to work with. What is needed is a risk-based approach, where organisations identify and prioritise their greatest vulnerabilities, correlating these to business impact; this is then used to form the cyber risk strategy for the organisation.

Sources: [Security Week] [The Hacker News] [Risk.net]

If you Pay Ransoms, You May not Get Your Data Back and Worse, You Will Probably Get Hit Again, with 78% of Firms who Paid Then Suffering Repeat Ransomware Attacks

Recent research from Proofpoint has found that 69% of organisations experienced a successful ransomware incident in the past year, a rise of 5% compared to the previous year. The report found that 60% reported four or more separate ransomware incidents and of the total involved, 54% admitted to paying a ransom. In a separate report, it was found that 78% of organisations suffering a ransomware attack suffered repeat attacks even after they paid.

Sources: [databreaches.net] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Infosecurity Magazine] [Claims Journal]

Cyber Resilience and Cyber Hygiene: Why They Matter to Your Business

Cyber resilience unites cyber security with business continuity and organisational durability, with proper implementation allowing the continuation of routine operations during adverse cyber incidents. Cyber hygiene, on the other hand, refers to having strong cyber security processes and procedures, to help the organisation mitigate the chance of an incident. The combination of both of these allows an organisation to reduce their likelihood of suffering a cyber incident, whilst improving their likelihood of continuing operations in the event of such an incident.

Sources: [Information Week] [Security Boulevard]

Why Governance, Risk and Compliance Must be Integrated with Cyber Security

With pressure from regulators, the evolving threat landscape and requirements for stronger oversight, governance, risk and compliance (GRC) has even more of an argument for alignment with cyber security. After all, cyber security is still security. Incorporating cyber security into the GRC programme of an organisation allows for cyber to become a business enabler.

Source: [CSO Online]

More and More UK Firms Concerned About Insider Threats

A report has found that 54% of UK business decision makers are concerned about the likelihood of their employees disclosing sensitive information or providing network access to fraudsters. In a separate report, 35% of respondents cited overworked and distracted staff making mistakes as a reason why they thought their business experienced insider risk. Certainly, insider risk does not just involve malicious employees; it can also include negligence and in some cases, employees may not be trained enough to identify the risk they are placing on the organisation such as not knowing or following an organisation’s call back procedure. It is important for organisations to consider whether their current training addresses this and whether the programme is doing enough to ensure that insider risk is mitigated.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

98% of Businesses Linked to Breached Third Parties

A new report has found that 98% of organisations are associated with a third party that has experienced a breach, and these breaches often take months or more to be discovered. 75% of external business-to-business (B2B) relationships that enabled third-party breaches involved software or other technology products and services. Third party security is an important part of an organisation’s cyber security and to manage it correctly, organisations need to implement a third party risk management programme.

Source: [Help Net Security]

Phishing, Smishing and Vishing Skyrocket 1,265%

According to a report, since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, vishing, smishing, and phishing attacks have increased by a staggering 1,265%. Despite different techniques, these attacks all have one focus, and that’s on the user. Organisations looking to protect themselves should consider a blend of mitigations, including advanced email filtering, enabling multi-factor authentication and arguably the most important, effective user education and awareness training. This training should go beyond ticking boxes, by instead teaching employees how to both recognise and report phishing attempts.

A separate report analysed over 1 billion emails. Some of the key findings included that the majority of phishing attempts (71%) rely on deceptive links, but attachments (22%) and predatory QR codes (7%) are on the rise. When it came to spoofs, Microsoft was the most spoofed entity and financial services were amongst those most targeted sectors.

Source: [Bleeping Computer] [Help Net Security] [Security Affairs]

Business Email Compromise Attacks Are Evolving, But What Can Be Done About It

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks remain a dominant danger, with a staggering $51 billion lost over the last decade. A recent report underscores the prevalence of email as the primary battlefield, far outstripping other cyber attack methods. The low-cost, high-reach nature of email makes it an attractive starting point for cyber criminals. As organisations embrace cloud-based infrastructures, these attacks have morphed, presenting new challenges. Attackers have progressed from direct phishing attempts, to compromising business partners, vendors and other third parties. In this arms race, artificial intelligence (AI) assumes a pivotal role as an essential ally, efficiently discerning between benign and malicious content. This development signifies a significant milestone in the realm of email security resilience.

Source: [ITPro]

Vulnerabilities Count Set to Rise by 25% in 2024

The cyber threat landscape is rapidly evolving, with an anticipated 25% increase in published systems vulnerabilities for 2024. This surge, reaching approximately 2,900 vulnerabilities per month, underscores the critical need for robust vulnerability management strategies. Vulnerabilities serve as prime entry points for ransomware actors, heightening the urgency for organisations to fortify their defences. However, the sheer volume of vulnerabilities poses a daunting challenge for security and IT teams already thinly stretched. Timely risk-scoring remains a significant issue, leaving defenders vulnerable to exploits with threat actors often gaining a head start. Honeypot data reveals a concerning uptick in scans targeting remote desktop protocol (RDP), with businesses running end-of-life (EOL) software at heightened risk. In this dynamic cyber security climate, proactive risk management and expert intervention, such as Managed Detection and Response (MDR), are imperative to safeguarding against emerging threats.

Source: [Help Net Security]

BYOD Increases Mobile Phishing; Risks Have Never Been Higher

The risk of cyber attacks looms large, with stolen employee login credentials serving as a prime target for malicious actors. Mobile phishing has emerged as a significant threat, with data revealing a surge in encounter rates, especially in hybrid work environments and amid Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. Personal devices, once considered outside the realm of corporate security, now pose substantial risks, as attackers exploit social engineering schemes to breach organisational networks. The financial implications of a successful phishing attack are staggering, with estimates suggesting potential losses of up to $4 million for organisations. As phishing encounter rates continue to rise, it's imperative for businesses to bolster their security strategies, ensuring comprehensive protection against mobile phishing threats across all employee devices. To navigate this evolving landscape and safeguard sensitive data, organisations must stay vigilant and adopt proactive measures.

Source: [MSSP Alert]

What Companies Should Know About Rising Legal Threats

The cyber security landscape is witnessing a significant shift as legal actions increasingly target both corporations and individual security officers. Recent cases including lawsuits by Tesla against ex-employees for cyber security breaches and charges by regulatory bodies like the US FTC and SEC, underscore the mounting legal risks associated with cyber security breaches. Notably, private companies are not exempt from such liabilities, facing scrutiny from authorities, regulators, customers and other affected parties. This environment has prompted many cyber security leaders to reconsider their roles, with concerns raised about the future of the profession. Amidst escalating threats and enforcement actions, there's a pressing need for enhanced cyber security budgets, robust risk-based controls and proactive audits or other independent assurance.

Source: [Darkreading]

CIOs Rethink All-In Cloud Strategies as Five Eyes Nations Warn of Evolving Russian Cyber Espionage Practices Targeting Cloud Environments

As organisations embrace the cloud, CIOs recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be optimal. Many now favour a nuanced strategy, shifting workloads from public clouds to platforms offering productivity gains and cost savings; a trend known as ‘cloud exit.’ CIOs are rethinking cloud strategies, assessing each application’s suitability and fostering context-aware hosting decisions.

This comes as a recent advisory issued jointly by cyber security agencies from the UK, US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand reveals that Russian cyber espionage units, including APT29 and Cozy Bear, are adapting tactics to target cloud environments used by both public and private organisations. These sophisticated attacks pose significant threats across industries. Implementing basic cloud security measures is crucial to regularly evaluate dormant accounts, limit system-issued token validity, and enforce stringent device policies. As cloud adoption rises, prioritise cyber security fundamentals for effective defence.

Sources: [CyberScoop] [CIO]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Why governance, risk, and compliance must be integrated with cyber security | CSO Online

• Chart: Cyber Crime Expected To Skyrocket in Coming Years | Statista

• The Imperative for Modern Security: Risk-Based Vulnerability Management - Security Week

• Why Cyber Resilience May Be More Important Than Cyber Security (informationweek.com)

• Beating the drum on cyber risk: the battle for boardroom attention - Risk.net

• What is cyber hygiene and why businesses should know about it - Security Boulevard

• Bridging the Gap: Connecting Cyber Security Spending to Business Results - Security Boulevard

• What Companies & CISOs Should Know About Rising Legal Threats (darkreading.com)

• Essential Guide To Security Metrics For Businesses (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Essential Guide To Information Security Compliance (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Mastering Risk Management: The Art Of Effective Strategy (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• The CISO: 2024’s Most Important C-Suite Officer (forbes.com)

• UK Unveils Draft Cyber Security Governance Code - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• How to Prioritize Cyber Security Spending: A Risk-Based Strategy for the Highest ROI (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber security 'blind spot' leaves businesses exposed - Accountancy Age

• MTTR: The Most Important Security Metric (darkreading.com)

• Building Your Cyber Incident Response Team - Security Boulevard

• 9 Steps to Fostering a Cyber Security-Aware Culture (newsweek.com)

• AWS on why CISOs should track 'the metric of no' | TechTarget

• 2024 will see more cyber threats emerge – here is what SMEs need to know | TechRadar

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Threat Actor Groups, Including Black Basta, are Exploiting Recent ScreenConnect Vulnerabilities (trendmicro.com)

• If you pay ransom, you may not get your data back and worse, you probably WILL get hit again – Cybereason Survey (databreaches.net)

• 78% of Organisations Suffer Repeat Ransomware Attacks After Paying - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 69% of Organisations Infected by Ransomware in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Stages of LockBit Grief: Anger, Denial, Faking Resurrection? (inforisktoday.com)

• What CISOs Need To Know About The Lockbit Takedown - Security Boulevard

• Ransomware crews lean into infostealers for initial access • The Register

• 78% of Organisations Suffer Repeat Ransomware Attacks After Paying (claimsjournal.com)

• Challenges Remain in Evaluating Ransomware Crackdowns | Decipher (duo.com)

• Privacy Beats Ransomware as Top Insurance Concern (darkreading.com)

• Do ransomware attackers keep their word? - TechCentral.ie

• What Are Ransomware Attacks and Can They Be Stopped? Explainer - Bloomberg

• Study: Ransom payment not a shield against future attacks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• FBI, CISA warn US hospitals of targeted BlackCat ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Held to ransom: How criminal gangs are weaponising AI in the name of cyber extortion (holyrood.com)

• Is Now the Right Time for a Ransomware Payment Ban? (govtech.com)

• What is Old is New Again: Lessons in Anti-Ransom Policy | Recorded Future

• 3 Ways Your Organisation Could Be Susceptible To Ransomware Attacks (forbes.com)

• What the war on terrorism teaches us about the war on ransomware | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Cyber criminals follow the money to hit manufacturing sector • The Register

• Why your legitimate software is not safe from ransomware attacks (networkingplus.co.uk)

Ransomware Victims

• Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack: BlackCat Hackers Quickly Returned After FBI Bust | WIRED

• LoanDepot Ransomware Attack Exposed 16.9 Million Individuals - Security Week

• Rhysida ransomware wants $3.6 million for children’s stolen data (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Stolen Donald Trump Court Files Will Be Published February 29, Hackers Say (forbes.com)

• Epic Games attacked by new ransomware group Mogilevich | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Hackers claim to have stolen 7GB of data from Irish Department of Foreign Affairs | Independent.ie

• Insomniac Games alerts employees hit by ransomware data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• German Steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Confirms Ransomware Attack - Security Week

• US pharmacy outage caused by Blackcat attack on Optum (securityaffairs.com)

• MGM Resorts Says Regulators Probing September Cyber Attack (claimsjournal.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• European retailer Pepco loses €15.5 million in phishing (possibly BEC?) attack - Help Net Security

• Vishing, smishing, and phishing attacks skyrocket 1,265% post-ChatGPT - Help Net Security

• BYOD Increases Mobile Phishing; Risks Have Never Been Higher | MSSP Alert

• SMBs are being targeted by this new phishing scam — make sure you don't fall victim | TechRadar

• Need to Know: Key Takeaways from the Latest Phishing Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Unmasking 2024's Email Security Landscape (securityaffairs.com)

• Lookout Discovers Advanced Phishing Kit Targeting US Federal Agency and Cryptocurrency Exchange Organisations | Business Wire

• Registrars can now block all domains that resemble brand names (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Criminals hijacked more than 8,000 trusted domains, sent millions of malicious emails | TechSpot

Other Social Engineering

• Vishing, smishing, and phishing attacks skyrocket 1,265% post-ChatGPT - Help Net Security

• The Silent Threat: Why Vishing is Causing Major Problems for Businesses - Security Boulevard

• Registrars can now block all domains that resemble brand names (bleepingcomputer.com)

• How to stay safe from cyber criminal "quishing" attacks | TechRadar

• Scammers Often Rely on This Psychological Trick | TIME

Artificial Intelligence

• Blackstone's Schwarzman sees peril in “not bright” criminals getting their hands on AI | Fortune

• AI threats: The importance of a concrete strategy in fighting novel attacks | ITPro

• New Hugging Face Vulnerability Exposes AI Models to Supply Chain Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Putin's AI threat to democracy: Russian spies 'have developed artificial intelligence cyber tool to spread disinformation and meddle in elections across the West' | Daily Mail Online

• AI in cyber security presents a complex duality - Help Net Security

• AI and cyber security: Navigating the risks and opportunities | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• Held to ransom: How criminal gangs are weaponising AI in the name of cyber extortion (holyrood.com)

• Cyber experts raise AI fears security fears in Parliament | IT Reseller Magazine (itrportal.com)

• UK ICO Vows to Safeguard Privacy in AI Era - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• BEAST AI attack can break LLM guardrails in a minute • The Register

2FA/MFA

• Strengths & Weaknesses of MFA Methods Against Cyber Attacks | Duo Security

Malware

• Ransomware crews lean into infostealers for initial access • The Register

• BobTheSmuggler: Open-source tool for undetectable payload delivery - Help Net Security

• New IDAT Loader Attacks Using Steganography to Deploy Remcos RAT (thehackernews.com)

• North Korean Hackers Targeting Developers with Malicious npm Packages (thehackernews.com)

• Open-Source Xeno RAT Trojan Emerges as a Potent Threat on GitHub (thehackernews.com)

• GitHub besieged by millions of malicious repositories in ongoing attack | Ars Technica

• Pikabot returns with new tricks up its sleeve - Help Net Security

• TimbreStealer Malware Spreading via Tax-themed Phishing Scam Targets IT Users (thehackernews.com)

• Chinese Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Flaws to Deploy New Malware (thehackernews.com)

• CISA warns against using hacked Ivanti devices even after factory resets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cloud-focused malware campaigns on the increase (betanews.com)

• Hackers are infecting Macs with malware using calendar invites and meeting links | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com)

• New Backdoor Targeting European Officials Linked to Indian Diplomatic Events (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• BYOD Increases Mobile Phishing; Risks Have Never Been Higher | MSSP Alert

• Kaspersky Finds Attacks on Mobile Devices Significantly Increased in 2023 (darkreading.com)

• Meet 'XHelper,' the All-in-One Android App for Global Money Laundering (darkreading.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Down, Not Out: Russian Hacktivists Claiming DDoS Disruptions (govinfosecurity.com)

• DDoS attacks against web apps and APIs surge (betanews.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Half of IT Leaders Identify IoT as Security Weak Point - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The White House Warns Cars Made in China Could Unleash Chaos on US Highways | WIRED

Data Breaches/Leaks

• U-Haul says 67K customers' data was stolen in cyber attack • The Register

• Pharma giant hit by major cyber attack — Cencora confirms data was stolen | TechRadar

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Chart: Cyber Crime Expected To Skyrocket in Coming Years | Statista

• 8 Worrying Cyber Security Statistics You Need to Know in 2024 (tech.co)

• It’s only February and cyber crime is already running rampant (techinformed.com)

• Scottish Police Face Toil and Trouble From Cyber Crime (govinfosecurity.com)

• How active adversaries divide labour to more effectively target victims | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• SonicWall: Cryptojacking Attacks Spike 659% in 2023 | MSSP Alert

• Lookout Discovers Advanced Phishing Kit Targeting US Federal Agency and Cryptocurrency Exchange Organisations | Business Wire

• Cryptojacking is no longer the sole focus of cloud attackers - Help Net Security

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• US man accused of making $1.8m from listening in on wife’s remote work calls | Securities and Exchange Commission | The Guardian

• Are remote workers at greater risk of cyber security threats? | TechRadar

• Over Half of UK Firms Concerned About Insider Threats - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Understanding employees' motivations behind risky actions - Help Net Security

• The human element of cyber security: Why people are the ultimate defence. (thecyberwire.com)

Insurance

• Privacy Beats Ransomware as Top Insurance Concern (darkreading.com)

• A Cyber Insurance Backstop - Schneier on Security

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• New Hugging Face Vulnerability Exposes AI Models to Supply Chain Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• 98% of businesses linked to breached third parties - Help Net Security

Cloud/SaaS

• Five Eyes nations warn of evolving Russian cyberespionage practices targeting cloud environments | CyberScoop

• Russia's 'Midnight Blizzard' Targeting Service Accounts for Initial Cloud Access (darkreading.com)

• CIOs rethink all-in cloud strategies | CIO

• Cryptojacking is no longer the sole focus of cloud attackers - Help Net Security

• Your Data Has Moved to the Cloud: Can Your Security Strategy Keep Up? | MSSP Alert

• Cloud-focused malware campaigns on the increase (betanews.com)

Identity and Access Management

• Superusers Need Super Protection: How to Bridge Privileged Access Management and Identity Management (thehackernews.com)

• How organisations can navigate identity security risks in 2024 - Help Net Security

• Echoes of SolarWinds in New 'Silver SAML' Attack Technique (darkreading.com)

Linux and Open Source

• From Open Source to Enterprise Ready: 4 Pillars to Meet Your Security Requirements - Security Week

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Russia's 'Midnight Blizzard' Targeting Service Accounts for Initial Cloud Access (darkreading.com)

Social Media

• Rights groups file GDPR suits on Meta's pay-or-consent model • The Register

• Meta Patches Facebook Account Takeover Vulnerability - Security Week

Malvertising

• How the Pentagon Learned to Use Targeted Ads to Find Its Targets—and Vladimir Putin | WIRED

• Google faces $2.27 billion lawsuit over advertising practices (searchengineland.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Cyber awareness education is a change-management initiative | CSO Online

• Cyber Security Training Not Sticking? How to Fix Risky Password Habits (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 4 Ways Organisations Can Drive Demand for Software Security Training (darkreading.com)

• Creating a cyber security training curriculum for SMBs and MSPs | TechRadar

• 9 Steps to Fostering a Cyber Security-Aware Culture (newsweek.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• 81% of security leaders predict SEC rules will impact their businesses | Security Magazine

• Orgs Face Major SEC Penalties for Failing to Disclose Breaches (darkreading.com)

• Getting Ahead of Cyber Security Materiality Mayhem - Security Boulevard

• NIST Publishes Final “Cyber Security Resource Guide” on Implementing the HIPAA Security Rule | Foley & Lardner LLP - JDSupra

• UK ICO Vows to Safeguard Privacy in AI Era - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Backup and Recovery

• MTTR: The Most Important Security Metric (darkreading.com)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• NIST CSF 2.0 released, to help all organisations, not just those in critical infrastructure - Help Net Security

• NIST Adds “Govern” Function to Cybersecurity Framework | MSSP Alert

• Top 3 NIST Cyber Security Framework 2.0 takeaways | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Preparing for the NIS2 Directive - Help Net Security

Data Protection

• UK ICO issues warning on biometric employee tracking, guidance for businesses | Biometric Update

• Privacy Beats Ransomware as Top Insurance Concern (darkreading.com)

• Rights groups file GDPR suits on Meta's pay-or-consent model • The Register

• UK ICO Vows to Safeguard Privacy in AI Era - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• A Perfect Cyber Storm is Leading to Burnout | Network Computing

• The Next Gen of Cyber Security Could Be Hiding in Big Tech (darkreading.com)

• Lost to the Highest Bidder: The Economics of Cyber Security Staffing - Security Boulevard

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Is the LockBit gang resuming its operation? (securityaffairs.com)

• Challenges Remain in Evaluating Ransomware Crackdowns | Decipher (duo.com)

• Russian hacker is set to face trial for the hack of a local power grid (securityaffairs.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Putin's AI threat to democracy: Russian spies 'have developed artificial intelligence cyber tool to spread disinformation and meddle in elections across the West' | Daily Mail Online

• US leading global alliance to counter foreign government disinformation | Cyberwar | The Guardian

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Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

• 15 Countries with Cyber Warfare Capabilities (yahoo.com)

• Cyber Espionage France’s Top Threat Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Nation State Actors

China

• Hackers backed by Russia and China are infecting SOHO routers like yours, FBI warns | Ars Technica

• US Official Warns Of China’s Growing Offensive Cyber Power – Analysis – Eurasia Review

• When Hackers Are Hacked, A Chinese Spy Story - Worldcrunch

• Chinese Cyber Attacks:A 12-month Outlook (greydynamics.com)

• Chinese Cyber Espionage Set To Ramp Up This Year (forbes.com)

• The Drums of US-China Cyber War by Stephen S. Roach - Project Syndicate (project-syndicate.org)

• Chinese Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Flaws to Deploy New Malware (thehackernews.com)

• The White House Warns Cars Made in China Could Unleash Chaos on US Highways | WIRED

• Foreign Firms in China Flag Lack of Feedback on Data Security (bloomberglaw.com)

• Beijing Silent Over Russia's Reported War-Gaming of China Invasion

Russia

• Two Years On: How Ukraine's Cyber Warfront Is Redefining Global Cyber Security Strategies | HackerNoon

• Hackers backed by Russia and China are infecting SOHO routers like yours, FBI warns | Ars Technica

• Five Eyes nations warn of evolving Russian cyberespionage practices targeting cloud environments | CyberScoop

• Russia may have just carried out its first direct action against the West (yahoo.com)

• Moscow Military Hackers Used Microsoft Outlook Vulnerability (inforisktoday.com)

• Russia's 'Midnight Blizzard' Targeting Service Accounts for Initial Cloud Access (darkreading.com)

• Ukraine signs security deals with Western allies to help counter Russian cyber attacks (therecord.media)

• Russia cyber spies behind SolarWinds breach adopting new tactics, warn Five Eyes agencies (therecord.media)

• Cyber Security Agencies Warn Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Users of APT28's MooBot Threat (thehackernews.com)

• Putin's AI threat to democracy: Russian spies 'have developed artificial intelligence cyber tool to spread disinformation and meddle in elections across the West' | Daily Mail Online

• Down, Not Out: Russian Hacktivists Claiming DDoS Disruptions (govinfosecurity.com)

• Lazarus APT exploited 0-day in Win driver to gain kernel privileges (securityaffairs.com)

• Lovers' Spat? North Korea Backdoors Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry (darkreading.com)

• Russia warns of "military-technical" response to Sweden's NATO membership (newsweek.com)

• Russian hacker is set to face trial for the hack of a local power grid (securityaffairs.com)

• Russia and Belarus targeted by at least 14 nation-state hacker groups, researchers say (therecord.media)

• Beijing Silent Over Russia's Reported War-Gaming of China Invasion

• Russia subjected to deluge of nation-state, hacktivist cyber threats | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• How the Pentagon Learned to Use Targeted Ads to Find Its Targets—and Vladimir Putin | WIRED

Iran

• Iran-Linked UNC1549 Hackers Target Middle East Aerospace & Defence Sectors (thehackernews.com)

North Korea

• North Korean Hackers Targeting Developers with Malicious npm Packages (thehackernews.com)

• Lovers' Spat? North Korea Backdoors Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• The Imperative for Modern Security: Risk-Based Vulnerability Management - Security Week

• CVE count set to rise by 25% in 2024 - Help Net Security

• Most Commercial Code Contains High-Risk Open Source Bugs - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The rising threat of zero-day attacks | Security Magazine

Vulnerabilities

• Threat Actor Groups, Including Black Basta, are Exploiting Recent ScreenConnect Vulnerabilities (trendmicro.com)

• Moscow Military Hackers Used Microsoft Outlook Vulnerability (inforisktoday.com)

• Lazarus APT exploited 0-day in Win driver to gain kernel privileges (securityaffairs.com)

• Cisco Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities in Data Center OS - Security Week

• CISA warns against using hacked Ivanti devices even after factory resets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Five Eyes Agencies Warn of Active Exploitation of Ivanti Gateway Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)

• One of Apple's best iOS productivity tools had a pretty concerning security flaw, so patch now | TechRadar

• Critical Flaw in Popular 'Ultimate Member' WordPress Plugin - Security Week

• Meta Patches Facebook Account Takeover Vulnerability - Security Week

• MITRE Rolls Out 4 Brand-New CWEs for Microprocessor Security Bugs (darkreading.com)

• Citrix, Sophos software impacted by 2024 leap year bugs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ivanti integrity checker tool needs latest update to work, Five Eyes alert warns | CyberScoop

• Zyxel fixed four bugs in firewalls and access points (securityaffairs.com)

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Tools and Controls

• The Imperative for Modern Security: Risk-Based Vulnerability Management - Security Week

• Cyber awareness education is a change-management initiative | CSO Online

• Why Cyber Security Must Include Protective DNS (hyas.com)

• Championing ethical hackers: a vital defence for the financial industry during turbulent times (finextra.com)

• Strengths & Weaknesses of MFA Methods Against Cyber Attacks | Duo Security

• AI and cyber security: Navigating the risks and opportunities | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• How Zero Trust Data Detection & Response is Changing the Game - Security Boulevard

• APIs become the leading attack vector, cyber security research shows (securitybrief.co.nz)

• Superusers Need Super Protection: How to Bridge Privileged Access Management and Identity Management (thehackernews.com)

• How organisations can navigate identity security risks in 2024 - Help Net Security

• MTTR: The Most Important Security Metric (darkreading.com)

• 9 Steps to Fostering a Cyber Security-Aware Culture (newsweek.com)

• Artificial Arms Race: What Can Automation and AI do to Advance Red Teams - Security Week

• Savvy Seahorse gang uses DNS CNAME records to power investor scams (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cloud Apps Make the Case for Pentesting-as-a-Service (darkreading.com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• A Comparative Study on Cyber Risk: Business vs. Security Perspectives (inforisktoday.com)

• Cyber threat landscape report | Professional Security

• Email Security in 2024: An Expert Look at Email-Based Threats - VIPRE

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Other News

• Cyber attacks on UK law firms on the rise - Spear's (spearswms.com)

• IntelBroker claimed the hack of the Los Angeles International Airport (securityaffairs.com)

• It's time to stop trusting your antivirus software | Digital Trends

• Three new advanced threat groups targeted industrial organisations last year | CSO Online

• What’s on the Radar for Aviation Industry Cyber Security? - Security Boulevard

• Business leaders warn of rising cyber security threat | The Herald (heraldscotland.com)

• Why Health Care Is Top Target for Cyber Criminals (govtech.com)

• RCMP investigating cyber attack as its website remains down (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers exploit 14-year-old CMS editor on govt, edu sites for SEO poisoning (bleepingcomputer.com)

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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.

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·         Construction

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·         Defence & Space

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·         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

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

Look out for our ‘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 January 2024

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

World Economic Forum and UN Warn of Growing ‘Cyber Insecurity’ Amid Heightened Threat Landscape

The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) have highlighted “cyber insecurity” as one of the most critical challenges facing organisations worldwide. A recent report reveals that over 80% of surveyed organisations feel more exposed to cyber crime than in the previous year, leading to calls for increased collaboration across sectors and borders to enhance business resilience. The study shows a growing gap in cyber resilience between organisations, with small and medium-sized enterprises facing declines of 30% in cyber resilience. Moreover, the cyber skills shortage continues to widen, with only 15% of organisations optimistic about improvements in cyber education and skills.

The report also underscores the impact of generative AI on cyber security, emphasising the need for ongoing innovation in digital security efforts. According to a separate report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there has been a significant uptick in the use of large language model-based chatbots, deepfake technology, and automation tools in cyber fraud operations. These technologies pose a significant threat to the formal banking industry and require focused attention from authorities to counter their impact. The convergence of these trends underscores the urgency and complexity of the cyber security landscape.

Sources: [ITPro] [The Debrief]

Cyber Attacks Reveal Fragility of Financial Markets as Attacks on Financial Services Sector Surge

The financial sector is facing an increased risk from cyber attacks, with cyber security now being listed as the top systemic risk according to a Bank of England survey. Cyber attacks rose by 64% in 2023, with a shift towards AI-facilitated ransomware attacks and Vendor Email Compromise (VEC), which rose 137%, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, which rose by 71%, both of which exploit human error and pose a severe threat to the industry.

However, there is a lack of readiness by financial organisations to manage cyber attacks due to sophisticated attacks, talent shortages, and insufficient cyber defence investments. Ransomware incidents reported to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority doubled in 2023, making up 31% of cyber incidents, up from 11% in 2022. The financial sector remains a prime target for cyber criminals, especially ransomware groups.

Sources: [ITPro] [Law Society] [Security Brief] [Financial Times]  [Infosecurity Magazine]

Researcher Uncovers One of The Biggest Password Dumps in Recent History

Researchers have found that nearly 71 million unique stolen credentials for logging into websites such as Facebook, Roblox, eBay, Coinbase and Yahoo have been circulating on the Internet for at least four months. The massive amount of data was posted to a well-known underground market that brokers sales of compromised credentials.

Whilst there is a large number of re-used passwords in the data dump, it appears to contain roughly 25 million new passwords and 70 million unique email addresses. This serves as a crucial reminder about properly securing accounts, such as not reusing passwords, using a password manager and securing accounts with multi factor authentication.

Source: [Ars Technica]

Email Nightmare: 94% of Firms Hit by Phishing Attacks in 2023

Email security remained at the forefront of cyber related issues for decision-makers, with over nine in ten (94%) having to deal with a phishing attack, according to email security provider Egress. The top three phishing techniques used in 2023 were malicious URLs, malware or ransomware attachments, and attacks sent from compromised accounts. 96% of targeted organisations were negatively impacted by these attacks, up 10% from the previous year.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

75% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware in 2023

A recent report found that 75% of participants suffered at least one ransomware attack last year, and 26% were hit four or more times. The report noted that of the 25% who claimed to not have been hit, some could have been a victim but may not have the facilities to detect and therefore be aware as such. Ransomware remains a security threat and no organisation is immune.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

The Dangers of Quadruple Blow Ransomware Attacks

With the introduction of new regulatory requirements like NIS 2.0 and changes to US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) statutes, organisations are now mandated to promptly report cyber incidents, sometimes with deadlines as tight as four days. However, attackers are evolving their tactics to exploit these regulations. They add a new level of coercion by threatening to report non-compliant organisations to the regulator, thereby increasing the pressure on their victims. This was first seen last year as a ransomware gang AlphV reported one of its victims, MeridianLink, to the SEC for failing to report a successful cyber attack.

This coercive strategy places immense pressure on companies, especially as they grapple with data encryption, data exfiltration, and public exposure threats. In response to these evolving threats and regulatory pressures, organisations must invest in cyber resilience. This enables them to effectively respond to attacks, communicate with regulators, and recover services promptly, ultimately fortifying their defences against future threats.

Source: [TechRadar]

Human Error and Insiders Expose Millions in UK Law Firm Data Breaches

UK law firms are falling victim to data breaches primarily because of insiders and human error, according to an analysis of data from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). According to research, 60% of data breaches in the UK legal sector where the result of insider actions. In total, breaches led to the exposure of information of 4.2 million people. Often, even those organisations that implement measures to prevent breaches will still miss insider risk. Insider risk is not always malicious; it can also be negligence or due to a lack of knowledge, and it is important to protect against it.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

It’s a New Year and a Good Time for a Cyber Security Checkup

2023 brought a slew of high-profile vulnerabilities and data breaches impacting various sectors, including healthcare, government, and education. Notable incidents included ransomware attacks, such as the MOVEit, GoAnywhere, and casino operator breaches, along with the exploitation of unpatched legacy vulnerabilities like Log4j and Microsoft Exchange. Furthermore, new regulatory requirements from the likes of the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and state security and privacy laws, added to the complexity. As we enter 2024, it is crucial for organisations, regardless of size, to reassess their cyber security strategies, incorporating lessons learned and adapting to new requirements. Comprehensive cyber security programs encompass people, operations and technology, addressing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

Black Arrow can help with comprehensive and impartial assessments including gap analyses and security testing. These provide you with the objective assurance you need to understand whether your controls are providing you with your intended security and risk management.

Source: [JDSupra]

Applying the Tyson Principle to Cyber Security: Why Attack Simulations are Key to Avoiding Disaster

Mike Tyson’s famous adage “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," is something we too often see in the world of security. When it comes to cyber security, preparedness is not just a luxury but a necessity. Far too often, unrealistic expectations in cyber defences create a false sense of security, leading to dire consequences when the reality of an attack hits. No-one wants to be testing their defences and implementing their response plan for the first time during a real incident.

In comes the benefit of incident and attack simulations: a reality check of your defences in a safe environment. Regular tabletop war-gaming exercises that simulate the fall out of an attack for senior leadership, can help to build muscle memory for when something does happen. They make sure everyone knows what to do, and crucially also not to do, when such an event happens for real. A deeper exercise would be a simulated attack that can be systematic and controlled, to mimic a real attacker and then adapted as attackers change their tactics, techniques, and procedures. From simulations, organisations can assess how their defences performed, applying insights and measuring and refining their defences for the event of a real attack.

Source: [The Hacker News]

Cyber Threats Top Global Business Risk Concern for 2024

Cyber related incidents, including ransomware attacks, data breaches and IT disruptions are the biggest concern for companies globally in 2024, according to a recent report by Allianz. The report highlights that these risks are a concern for businesses of all sizes, but the resilience gap between large and small companies is widening, “as risk awareness among larger organisations has grown since the pandemic with a notable drive to upgrade resilience.” Smaller businesses lack the time and resources that larger organisations have available, and as such need to carefully select and prioritise their resilience efforts.

Source: [Insurance Journal]

Generative AI has CEOs Worried About Cyber Security, PwC Survey Says

A recent PwC global survey found that when it comes to generative AI risks, 64% of CEOs said they are most concerned about its impact on cyber security, with over half of the total interviewed stating concerns about generative AI spreading misinformation in their company.  When we think of generative AI, we often worry about outside risk and the impact it can have for attackers, but the risk can also be internal, with things such as accidental disclosure by employees to unregulated generative AI. There is a necessity for organisations to govern the usage of AI in their corporate environment, to prevent such risks.

Source: [Quartz]

With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, the cyber insurance market is experiencing significant changes that will impact businesses in the coming months with experts predicting that cyber insurance costs are on the verge of an upward trend. The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote work and the cloud disrupted the cyber insurance market, leading to rising costs and reduced coverage options. In 2022, a temporary respite saw lower premiums, but 2023 has seen a resurgence in attacker activity, making it a challenging year for insurers. Cyber insurance remains a critical component of risk management, with the industry expected to continue growing despite higher rates. For businesses, understanding the evolving landscape of cyber insurance and ensuring adequate coverage is crucial in the face of escalating cyber threats.

Source: [Dark Reading]

Digital Resilience: a Step Up from Cyber Security

In today's digital landscape, the focus on digital resilience is paramount for organisations. While cyber security has garnered attention, digital resilience is the new frontier. Digital resilience involves an organisation's ability to maintain, adapt, and recover technology-dependent operations. As we increasingly rely on digital technology and the internet of things, understanding the critical role of technology in core business processes is vital. It goes beyond cyber security, encompassing change management, business resilience, operational risk, and competitiveness. Digital resilience means being ready to adopt new technology and swiftly recover from disruptions. Recognising its value and managing it at the senior level is crucial for long-term success in our rapidly evolving digital world. Moreover, amid a rising number of cyber attacks, addressing the statistic that only 18% of UK businesses provided cyber security training to employees last year is essential. Bridging this knowledge gap through cyber hygiene, a culture of cyber security, and robust safety measures will strengthen an organisation's cyber resilience against evolving threats.

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 help secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation. 

Sources: [CSO Online] [Financial Times]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• World Economic Forum warns of growing ‘cyber insecurity’ amid heightened threat landscape | ITPro

• Cyber Threats Top Global Business Risk Concern for 2024: Allianz (insurancejournal.com)

• Geopolitical tensions combined with technology will drive new security risks - Help Net Security

• JPMorgan suffers 45bn cyber attacks a day (ft.com)

• Improving Supply Chain Security, Resiliency (informationweek.com)

• Generative AI has CEOs worried about cyber security, PwC survey says (qz.com)

• As hacks worsen, SEC turns up the heat on CISOs | TechCrunch

• It’s a New Year and a Good Time for a Cyber Security Checkup | Clark Hill PLC - JDSupra

• Over 90 percent of organisations set to increase data protection spending (betanews.com)

• Financial organisations remain in cyber criminals' crosshairs (emergingrisks.co.uk)

• With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too (darkreading.com)

• Digital resilience – a step up from cyber security | CSO Online

• How to Recover After Failing a Cyber Security Audit - Security Boulevard

• Businesses Lack Confidence Overcome Cyber Attacks | Silicon UK

• Cyber incident response impaired by stress | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Key Considerations for Successful Cyber Security Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) - Security Boulevard

• Security considerations during layoffs: Advice from an MSSP - Help Net Security

• Effective Incident Response Relies on Internal and External Partnerships (darkreading.com)

• InfoSec 101: Why Data Loss Prevention is Important to Enterprise Defence (darkreading.com)

• Norton Rose Fulbright’s 19th Annual Litigation Trends Survey reveals heightened risk around cyber security and data protection amid AI boom (globenewswire.com)

• Applying the Tyson Principle to Cyber Security: Why Attack Simulation is Key to Avoiding a KO (thehackernews.com)

• How to improve cyber resilience across your workforce (ft.com)

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• 75% of Organisations Hit by Ransomware in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK finance firms faced a torrent of ransomware attacks in 2023 as threat actors ramped up activities | ITPro

• Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2024 Finds Cyber Attacks the #1 Cause of Business Outages | Business Wire

• Underwriters concerned about ransomware and supply-chain attacks: Woodruff Sawyer - Reinsurance News

• Akira ransomware attackers are wiping NAS and tape backups - Help Net Security

• Medusa Ransomware on the Rise: From Data Leaks to Multi-Extortion (thehackernews.com)

• The Top 10 Ransomware Groups of 2023 - Security Boulevard

• 3 Ransomware Group Newcomers to Watch in 2024 (thehackernews.com)

• Ransomware causes mental, physical trauma to security pros • The Register

• The dangers of quadruple blow ransomware attacks | TechRadar

• Ransomware: how financial institutions can prepare to react quickly through regulatory compliance (finextra.com)

• Ransomware: To Pay or Not to Pay — What the Experts Say | MSSP Alert

• Poorly secured PostgreSQL, MySQL servers targeted by ransomware bot - Help Net Security

• Outsmarting Ransomware’s New Playbook - SecurityWeek

• TeamViewer abused to breach networks in new ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware negotiation: When cyber security meets crisis management - Help Net Security

Ransomware Victims

• Ransomware gang targets nonprofit providing clean water to world’s poorest (therecord.media)

• Capita hits back as pension holders look to sue over Russian-linked cyber attack (yahoo.com)

• British Library to share learning from cyber attack - Museums Association

• British Library starts restoring services online after hack - BBC News

• British cosmetics firm Lush confirms cyber attack (therecord.media)

• Delay to Manx Care dental services after cyber attack - BBC News

• Email threats to patients escalate after Fred Hutch cyber attack | The Seattle Times

• Majorca city Calvià extorted for $11M in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• A key part of Foxconn has been hit by the Lockbit ransomware | TechRadar

• Kansas State University cyber attack disrupts IT network and services (bleepingcomputer.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Microsoft warns of new spearphishing attack targeting workers at top companies | TechRadar

• Email Nightmare: 94% of Firms Hit by Phishing Attacks in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Vendor Email Attacks Surged by 137% in Financial Sector in 2023 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Modular laptop maker Framework contacts customers after phishing scheme hooks internal spreadsheet packed with personal data | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

• US Secret Service court documents reveal new tactics in antivirus renewal phishing scam | TechRadar

• Threat Actors Team Up for Post-Holiday Phishing Email Surge (darkreading.com)

• Waiting for Your Pay Raise? Cofense Warns Against HR-Related Scams - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Flipping the BEC funnel: Phishing in the age of GenAI - Help Net Security

• US court docs expose fake antivirus renewal phishing tactics (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Email threats to patients escalate after Fred Hutch cyber attack | The Seattle Times

• Shipping-Themed Emails: Not Just for The Holidays - Security Boulevard

Artificial Intelligence

• AI driven cyber threats loom over business in the year ahead says report (emergingrisks.co.uk)

• Organised Crime is Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies, Concerning New UN Report Says - The Debrief

• How cyber criminals are using AI to attack targets faster - Insurance Post (postonline.co.uk)

• Adversaries exploit trends, target popular GenAI apps - Help Net Security

• The Dual Role AI Plays in Cyber Security: How to Stay Ahead (bleepingcomputer.com)

• The power of AI in cyber security - Help Net Security

• Flipping the BEC funnel: Phishing in the age of GenAI - Help Net Security

• AI Could Make Cyber Threats Harder to Detect (newswise.com)

• If you don’t already have a generative AI security policy, there’s no time to lose | CSO Online

• Norton Rose Fulbright’s 19th Annual Litigation Trends Survey reveals heightened risk around cyber security and data protection amid AI boom (globenewswire.com)

2FA/MFA

• Senators want to know why the SEC’s X account wasn’t secured with MFA (engadget.com)

• Out with the old and in with the improved: MFA needs a revamp - Help Net Security

• MFA Spamming and Fatigue: When Security Measures Go Wrong (thehackernews.com)

Malware

• GitLab Releases Updates to Address Critical Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

• Updated Atomic Stealer malware emerges | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Data-theft malware exploits Windows Defender SmartScreen • The Register

• Windows PCs targeted by dangerous new threat that even gets around Defender - and even though there's a fix, you could still be at risk | TechRadar

• MacOS info-stealers quickly evolve to evade XProtect detection (bleepingcomputer.com)Balada Injector continues to infect thousands of WordPress sites (securityaffairs.com)

• 5 malware mistakes most people make while traveling and trying to charge (nypost.com)

• Inferno Drainer Spoofs Over 100 Crypto Brands to Steal $80m+ - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Remcos RAT Spreading Through Adult Games in New Attack Wave (thehackernews.com)

• Botnet activity surges as criminals get braver - can your business stand strong? | TechRadar

• JinxLoader Malware: Next-Stage Payload Threats Revealed - Security Boulevard

• $80M in Crypto Disappears Into Drainer-as-a-Service Malware Hell (darkreading.com)

• Bigpanzi botnet infects 170,000 Android TV boxes with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Stealthy New macOS Backdoor Hides on Chinese Websites (darkreading.com)

• Securing Public Sector Against IoT Malware in 2024 - Security Boulevard

Mobile

• 5 malware mistakes most people make while traveling and trying to charge (nypost.com)

• New Tool Identifies Pegasus and Other iOS Spyware - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Environmental Websites Hit by DDoS Surge in COP28 Crossfire - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Vulnerability Puts Bosch Smart Thermostats at Risk of Compromise - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Your washing machine could be sending 3.7 GB of data a day — LG washing machine owner disconnected his device from Wi-Fi after noticing excessive outgoing daily data traffic | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

• Bigpanzi botnet infects 170,000 Android TV boxes with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Modernising print security for today’s working world | TechRadar

• Securing Public Sector Against IoT Malware in 2024 - Security Boulevard

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Human Error and Insiders Expose Millions in UK Law Firm Data Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Israeli civil servants' personal data latest casualty Iranian cyber war - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

• Insufficient cyber security caused PSNI data breach  (iapp.org)

• Cyber Attack On Insurer Compromised Over 64K, Suit Says - Law360

• Modular laptop maker Framework contacts customers after phishing scheme hooks internal spreadsheet packed with personal data | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

• Email threats to patients escalate after Fred Hutch cyber attack | The Seattle Times

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Just ten groups were responsible for nearly half of all cyber attacks last year | TechRadar

• Organised Crime is Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies, Concerning New UN Report Says - The Debrief

• Threat Actors Team Up for Post-Holiday Phishing Email Surge (darkreading.com)

• GitLab Releases Updates to Address Critical Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

• Stupid Human Tricks: Top 10 Cyber Crime Cases of 2023 - Security Boulevard

• Illegal online casinos spread crypto-crime across Asia • The Register

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Senators Demand Probe into SEC Hack After Bitcoin Price Spike - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Organised Crime is Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrencies, Concerning New UN Report Says - The Debrief

• Hacker spins up 1 million virtual servers to illegally mine crypto (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Inferno Drainer Spoofs Over 100 Crypto Brands to Steal $80m+ - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 29-Year-Old Ukrainian Cryptojacking Kingpin Arrested for Exploiting Cloud Services (thehackernews.com)

• Crypto Heists Surge in 2023, $16.93m Already Stolen in 2024 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Illegal online casinos spread crypto-crime across Asia • The Register

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Human Error and Insiders Expose Millions in UK Law Firm Data Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Preventing insider access from leaking to malicious actors - Help Net Security

Insurance

• Underwriters concerned about ransomware and supply-chain attacks: Woodruff Sawyer - Reinsurance News

• Munich Re secures cyber war exclusions at 1.1 as wording tension dissipates | Insurance Insider

• With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too (darkreading.com)

• Re-writing the underwriting story: How to navigate the complexities of modern risks (allianz.com)

• Fighting ransomware: A guide to getting the right cyber security insurance | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Underwriters concerned about ransomware and supply-chain attacks: Woodruff Sawyer - Reinsurance News

• Capita hits back as pension holders look to sue over Russian-linked cyber attack (yahoo.com)

• Improving Supply Chain Security, Resiliency (informationweek.com)

• Key Considerations for Successful Cyber Security Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) - Security Boulevard

Cloud/SaaS

• Insurance website's buggy API leaked Office 365 password • The Register

• As Enterprise Cloud Grows, So Do Challenges (darkreading.com)

• 29-Year-Old Ukrainian Cryptojacking Kingpin Arrested for Exploiting Cloud Services (thehackernews.com)

• 3 ways to combat rising OAuth SaaS attacks - Help Net Security

• FBI: Beware of cloud-credential thieves building botnets • The Register

• Weaponised AWS SES Accounts Anchor Massive Stealth Attack (darkreading.com)

Identity and Access Management

• Digital nomads amplify identity fraud risks - Help Net Security

Encryption

• New Report Charts Roadmap To A Quantum-Secure Financial System – Eurasia Review

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Researcher uncovers one of the biggest password dumps in recent history | Ars Technica

• GitHub scrambles to rotate keys after credentials in production containers were potentially exposed | ITPro

• Insurance website's buggy API leaked Office 365 password • The Register

• FBI: Beware of cloud-credential thieves building botnets • The Register

Social Media

• Senators Demand Probe into SEC Hack After Bitcoin Price Spike - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Malvertising

• Latest Adblock update causes massive YouTube performance hit (bleepingcomputer.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• The right strategy for effective cyber security awareness - Help Net Security

• Before starting your 2024 security awareness program, ask these 10 questions - Security Boulevard

• How to improve cyber resilience across your workforce (ft.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Senators Demand Probe into SEC Hack After Bitcoin Price Spike - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• As hacks worsen, SEC turns up the heat on CISOs | TechCrunch

• IT consultant in Germany fined for exposing shoddy security • The Register

• Data regulator fines HelloFresh £140K for sending 80M+ spams • The Register

• A Look at UK Domain and IP Address Seizures in the Criminal Justice Bill - ISPreview UK

• Why the US Needs Comprehensive Cyber Security Legislation - Security Boulevard

• Home improvement marketers dial up trouble from regulator • The Register

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• 10 cyber security frameworks you need to know about - Help Net Security

• NIST Offers Guidance on Measuring and Improving Your Company’s Cyber Security Program | NIST

Backup and Recovery

• Akira ransomware attackers are wiping NAS and tape backups - Help Net Security

Data Protection

• Over 90 percent of organisations set to increase data protection spending (betanews.com)

• Data regulator fines HelloFresh £140K for sending 80M+ spams • The Register

• Norton Rose Fulbright’s 19th Annual Litigation Trends Survey reveals heightened risk around cyber security and data protection amid AI boom (globenewswire.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Ransomware causes mental, physical trauma to security pros • The Register

• Protecting the protectors: combating stress in the cyber security industry | The Independent

• Best practices to mitigate alert fatigue - Help Net Security

• Universities not delivering the right skills for cyber security (betanews.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• 29-Year-Old Ukrainian Cryptojacking Kingpin Arrested for Exploiting Cloud Services (thehackernews.com)

• A Look at UK Domain and IP Address Seizures in the Criminal Justice Bill - ISPreview UK

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Staying cyber secure in the age of misdirection | The Independent

• FBI Warns of More Election Chaos in 2024 (darkreading.com)

• Election Security 2024: Biggest Cyber Threats and Practical Solutions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• OODA Loop - Elections Are Coming: Time to Sound Misinformation’s Clarion Call… Again

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Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

• World Economic Forum warns of growing ‘cyber insecurity’ amid heightened threat landscape | ITPro

• Geopolitical tensions combined with technology will drive new security risks - Help Net Security

• Munich Re secures cyber war exclusions at 1.1 as wording tension dissipates | Insurance Insider

• Cyberwar continues to underperform (reason.com)

Nation State Actors

China

• End-of-life Cisco routers targeted by China’s Volt Typhoon group (therecord.media)

• Stealthy New macOS Backdoor Hides on Chinese Websites (darkreading.com)

• Feds warn China-made drones pose risk to US critical infrastructure | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• China warns of AirDrop de-anonymisation flaw • The Register

Russia

• FBI Warns of More Election Chaos in 2024 (darkreading.com)

• Pro-Russia group hit Swiss govt sites after Zelensky visit in Davos (securityaffairs.com)

• Cyber Attack on Ukraine’s largest telecom provider will cost it about $100 million (therecord.media)

• Russia finds way around sanctions on battlefield tech: report – POLITICO

• Moscow imports a third of battlefield tech from western companies (ft.com)

• Prolific Russian hacking unit using custom backdoor for the first time | CyberScoop

• Ukrainian hackers successfully attack payment website of one of Russia's regional energy companies (yahoo.com)

Iran

• Israeli civil servants' personal data latest casualty Iranian cyber war - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

• Threat-hunter says Iran is stepping up the sophistication of its cyber attacks (therecord.media)

Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence

• World Economic Forum warns of growing ‘cyber insecurity’ amid heightened threat landscape | ITPro

• Geopolitical tensions combined with technology will drive new security risks - Help Net Security

• Ukrainian hackers successfully attack payment website of one of Russia's regional energy companies (yahoo.com)

• Israeli civil servants' personal data latest casualty Iranian cyber war - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

• Pro-Russia group hit Swiss govt sites after Zelensky visit in Davos (securityaffairs.com)

• New Tool Identifies Pegasus and Other iOS Spyware - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Why we must bring order to cyber vulnerability chaos | TechRadar

Vulnerabilities

• CISA: Critical SharePoint vuln is under active exploitation • The Register

• Ivanti Connect Secure zero-days now under mass exploitation (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Juniper warns of critical RCE bug in its firewalls and switches (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Over 178,000 SonicWall next-generation firewalls (NGFW) online exposed to hack (securityaffairs.com)

• VMware Urges Customers to Patch Critical Aria Automation Vulnerability  - SecurityWeek

• Zero-Day Alert: Update Chrome Now to Fix New Actively Exploited Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• Two more Citrix NetScaler bugs exploited in the wild • The Register

• Atlassian warns of critical RCE flaw in older Confluence versions (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Millions of GPUs from Apple, AMD and Qualcomm have a serious security flaw — and it could put literally all your data at risk if it isn't fixed | TechRadar

• End-of-life Cisco routers targeted by China’s Volt Typhoon group (therecord.media)

• Apple Magic Keyboards are at risk from security attacks – update now to protect your Mac or iPad | TechRadar

• Windows 10 security update requires some major changes - experts only need apply | TechRadar

• GitLab Patches Critical Password Reset Vulnerability - SecurityWeek

• Balada Injector continues to infect thousands of WordPress sites (securityaffairs.com)

• Vulnerabilities Expose PAX Payment Terminals to Hacking - SecurityWeek

• Government, Military Targeted as Widespread Exploitation of Ivanti Zero-Days Begins - SecurityWeek

• Most older iPhones, Macs, and iPads are vulnerable to GPU flaw (appleinsider.com)

• New UEFI vulnerabilities send firmware devs across an entire ecosystem scrambling | Ars Technica

• China warns of AirDrop de-anonymisation flaw • The Register

• Drupal Releases Security Advisory for Drupal Core | CISA

• Vulnerability Puts Bosch Smart Thermostats at Risk of Compromise - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Opera MyFlaw Bug Could Let Hackers Run ANY File on Your Mac or Windows (thehackernews.com)

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Tools and Controls

• Akira ransomware attackers are wiping NAS and tape backups - Help Net Security

• Underwriters concerned about ransomware and supply-chain attacks: Woodruff Sawyer - Reinsurance News

• Munich Re secures cyber war exclusions at 1.1 as wording tension dissipates | Insurance Insider

• How to improve your organisation's cyber hygiene score | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too (darkreading.com)

• Digital resilience – a step up from cyber security | CSO Online

• If you don’t already have a generative AI security policy, there’s no time to lose | CSO Online

• Key elements for a successful cyber risk management strategy - Help Net Security

• Preventing insider access from leaking to malicious actors - Help Net Security

• Applying the Tyson Principle to Cyber Security: Why Attack Simulation is Key to Avoiding a KO (thehackernews.com)

• Over 90 percent of organisations set to increase data protection spending (betanews.com)

• As Enterprise Cloud Grows, So Do Challenges (darkreading.com)

• Best practices to mitigate alert fatigue - Help Net Security

• Modernising print security for today’s working world | TechRadar

• APIs in peril: Wallarm's latest report exposes uptick in API attacks and highlights security predictions for 2024 | Business Wire

• MFA Spamming and Fatigue: When Security Measures Go Wrong (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber incident response impaired by stress | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Effective Incident Response Relies on Internal and External Partnerships (darkreading.com)

• InfoSec 101: Why Data Loss Prevention is Important to Enterprise Defence (darkreading.com)

• Digital nomads amplify identity fraud risks - Help Net Security

• Out with the old and in with the improved: MFA needs a revamp - Help Net Security

• The right strategy for effective cyber security awareness - Help Net Security

• SOC-as-a-Service: The Five Must-Have Features - Security Boulevard

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Other News

• Post Office scandal latest: MPs 'shocked' by evidence from Fujitsu and Post Office boss - as victims Alan Bates and Jo Hamilton say they were 'gaslit' | UK News | Sky News

• Post Office syndrome: why we’re more vulnerable than ever to Horizon-like computer systems | The Independent

• What’s on the Smartest Cyber Security Minds for 2024? (cybereason.com)

• How news organisations became a prime target for cyber attacks (pressgazette.co.uk)

• UK doubles spending on overseas cyber security projects (ft.com)

• Huge boost for global security with almost £1 billion government investment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• NCSC Builds New “Cyber League” Threat Tracking Community - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 Advisory 17 January 2024 – Citrix and Ivanti Vulnerabilities Under Active Exploitation - Atlassian, Oracle, SonicWall, and VMware also Address Security Flaws

Executive Summary

This week Atlassian, Citrix, Ivanti, Oracle, SonicWall and VMware have addressed multiple vulnerabilities across their product range. Included in the vulnerabilities addressed are two actively exploited 0-days, impacting Ivanti and Citrix products. At the time of writing, over 1700 Ivanti devices have been compromised and over 15,000 devices remain exposed.

Atlassian

CVE-2023-22527 - This exploit is a template injection vulnerability which if successfully exploited, allows an unauthenticated attacker to perform remote code execution on an affected instance.

Impacted Versions:

This vulnerability affects versions 8.0.x, 8.1.x, 8.2.x, 8.3.x, 8.4.x, and 8.5.0-8.5.3.

What can I do?

Atlassian has released patches for the affected products, and it is advised to patch immediately. The listed Fixed Versions are no longer the most up-to-date and do not protect your instance from other non-critical vulnerabilities as outlined in Atlassian’s January Security Bulletin.

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Citrix NetScaler

CVE-2023-6548 – Allows authenticated (low privileged user) remote code execution on Management interface. Requires access to NSIP, CLIP or SNIP with management interface.

CVE-2023-6549 - If exploited allows an attacker to perform a denial of service attack. Appliance must be configured as a gateway or AAA virtual server.

Impacted Versions:

NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 14.1 before 14.1-12.35

NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 13.1 before 13.1-51.15

NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 13.0 before 13.0-92.21

NetScaler ADC 13.1-FIPS before 13.1-37.176

NetScaler ADC 12.1-FIPS before 12.1-55.302

NetScaler ADC 12.1-NDcPP before 12.1-55.302

NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 12.1 (currently end-of-life)

What can I do?

Citrix have released patches for the impacted products. Citrix have reported that this is being actively exploited and seen in the wild so it is advised that the patches are applied immediately.

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Ivanti

CVE-2023-46805 - This is an authentication bypass which enables an attacker to access restricted resources by circumventing control checks.

CVE-2024-21887 - This is a command injection that lets authenticated admins execute arbitrary commands on vulnerable appliances.

Impacted Versions:

These vulnerabilities impact all supported versions, 9.x and 22.x

What can I do?

Ivanti have released mitigation files which can be found below, it is advised to install immediately. Patches are being developed however they are being staggered with the first patches being released on January 22nd and the final patches released on February the 19th.

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Oracle

In their first Critical Patch Update of 2024, Oracle hae released 389 security patches, addressing 200 vulnerabilities. Financial Services Applications were the most impacted, with 71 new security patches. Oracle have urged all customers to apply the patches as soon as possible, warning that it periodically receives reports of in-the-wild exploitation of issues for which it has released fixes.

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SonicWall

CVE-2022-22274 - This is a buffer overflow which if exploited successfully allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service or potentially result in a code execution in the firewall.

CVE-2023-0656 - This is a buffer overflow which if exploited successfully allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service attack which could cause the impacted firewall to crash.

What can I do?

SonicWall have released patches for affected products and it is advised to update to the latest available version.

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VMware

CVE-2023-34063 – The affected products contain a missing access control vulnerability, which if successfully exploited, this vulnerability may lead to unauthorised access to remote organisations and workflows.

VMware Aria Automation (8.11.x, 8.12.x, 8.13.x, and 8.14.x)

VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x and 5.x)

What can I do?

VMware have released patches which can be found in the Security Advisory. It is advised to update as soon as possible. There are no current workarounds.

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Further Information

Atlassian

Further details on the Atlassian vulnerabilities can be found here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/cve-2023-22527-rce-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-confluence-data-center-and-confluence-server-1333990257.html

https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/security-bulletin-january-16-2024-1333335615.html

Citrix NetScaler

Further details on the Citrix NetScaler vulnerabilities can be found here:

https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX584986/netscaler-adc-and-netscaler-gateway-security-bulletin-for-cve20236548-and-cve20236549

Ivanti

Further details on the Ivanti vulnerabilities can be found here:

https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/KB-CVE-2023-46805-Authentication-Bypass-CVE-2024-21887-Command-Injection-for-Ivanti-Connect-Secure-and-Ivanti-Policy-Secure-Gateways?language=en_US 

Oracle

Further details on the Oracle vulnerabilities can be found here:

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2024.html

SonicWall

Further details on the SonicWall vulnerabilities can be found here:

https://bishopfox.com/blog/its-2024-and-over-178-000-sonicwall-firewalls-are-publicly-exploitable

VMware

Further details on the VMware vulnerability can be found here:

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2024-0001.html

https://core.vmware.com/resource/vmsa-2024-0001-questions-answers

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Need help understanding your gaps, or just want some advice? Get in touch with us.

#threatadvisory #threatintelligence #cybersecurity

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 27 October 2023

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

More Companies Adopt Board-Level Cyber Security Committees

In a recent CISO Report by Splunk, 78% of CISOs and other security leaders reported a dedicated board-level cyber security committee at their organisations. These committees may be made up of qualified individuals or potentially even third parties - not necessarily company employees - that give guidance to the board around matters like risk assessment and cyber security strategy. These board-level cyber security committees can potentially bridge communication barriers between IT, security teams and boards. Black Arrow supports business leaders in organisations of all sizes to demonstrate governance of their cyber risks, by participating in board meetings to upskill and guide the board in requesting and challenging the appropriate information from their internal and external sources.

Source: [Decipher]

Ransomware Attacks Rise by More Than 95% Over 2022, to All Time High

A recent report by Corvus has found that ransomware attacks continued at a record-breaking pace, with Q3 frequency up 11% over Q2 and 95% year-over-year. Even if there were no more ransomware attacks this year, the victim account has already surpassed what was observed for 2021 and 2022. In a separate report, analysis conducted by Sophos has found that dwell times, which is the length of time an attacker is in a victim’s system before they are discovered, has fallen, leaving less time for organisations to detect attacks.

Sources: [Dark Reading] [SC Magazine] [Reinsurance News]

Security Still Not a Priority for a Third of SMBs Despite 73% Suffering Cyber Attack Last Year

Multiple reports highlighting different aspects of small and medium businesses (SMBs) all have one thing in common: the lack of priority that is given to cyber security. One example is a survey conducted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) which found that cyber security is not even a strategic priority for 35% of SMBs when considering moving to the cloud. This comes as a report by Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that 73% of US SMBs reported a cyber attack last year, with employee and customer data being the target in data breaches. Despite the rise in SMB attacks, relatively few organisations are following cyber security best practices to help prevent a breach in the first place. Every business, regardless of size, should do everything it reasonably can to protect its data and ensure connectivity, and smaller organisations may be more likely to be a victim of a cyber attack. Security is an enabler for the wider IT and business strategy to help users build the organisation in greater security. It should be hard-baked from the outset; seeking expert advice can help ensure the right proportionate security decisions are being made.

Sources: [Insider Media] [Infosecurity Magazine] [IT Reseller Magazine] [Infosecurity Magazine]

More Than 46 Million Potential Cyber Attacks Logged Every Day

New data released by the UK’s BT Group has found that more than 500 potential cyber attacks are logged every second. The BT data showed that over the last 12 months the most targeted sectors by cyber criminals were IT, defence, banking and insurance sectors; this was followed by the retail, hospitality and education industries. According to the figures 785,000 charities fell victim to cyber attacks. The data found that hackers are relentlessly scanning devices for vulnerabilities by using automation, and artificial intelligence is now being included by attackers to identify weaknesses in an organisation’s cyber defences.

Sources: [Evening Standard] [Proactive] [The Independent]

Fighting Cyber Attacks Requires Top-Down Approach

Organisations must move away from the posture that their IT division owns responsibility for safeguarding against cyber attacks. Instead, what we really need is for cyber security to come down from the top of the organisation, into the departments so that we have an enterprise-wide culture of security. It is the board’s responsibility to work with the executive team to ensure it is not just an IT-centric issue. By aligning cyber risk management with business needs, creating a cyber security strategy as a business enabler, and incorporating cyber security expertise into board and governance, the organisation will create a solid foundation for this top-down approach.

Source: [Chief Investment Officer]

Email Security Threats are More Dangerous This Year as Over 200 million Malicious Emails Detected in Q3 2023

The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT has made spam and phishing emails infinitely more dangerous, with over 200 million sent in Q3 2023. A recent report found that link-based malware delivery made up 58% of all malicious emails for the quarter, while attachments made up the remaining 42%. Worryingly, 33% of these were delivered through legitimate but compromised websites.

Phishing does not come through emails alone however, there is also phishing via SMS, QR codes, calls and genuine, but compromised accounts. 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 help secure employee engagement and build a cyber security culture to protect the organisation. 

Sources: [Security Magazine] [MSSP Alert] [TechRadar]

98% of Security Leaders Worry About Risks of Generative AI as Fears Drive Spending

Generative AI is playing a significant role in reshaping the phishing email threat landscape, according to a recent report from Abnormal Security. The report found that 98% of security leaders are highly concerned about generative AI's potential to create more sophisticated email attacks, with four-fifths (80.3%) of respondents confirming that their organisation had already received AI-generated email attacks or strongly suspecting that this was the case. A separate report by IBM found that attackers only needed five simple prompts to get the AI to develop a highly convincing phishing email. In a separate report, Gartner stated that AI has created a new scare, which contributed to 80% of CIO’s reporting that they plan to increase spending on cyber security, including AI.

Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [CSO Online] [Business Wire] [Help Net Security]

48% of Organisations Predict Cyber Attack Recovery Could Take Weeks

A recent report has found that 48% of respondents predicted that it would take days or weeks for their company to recover from cyber attacks, representing a potentially devastating risk to their business. Attacks are a matter of when, not if. Organisations should have plans and procedures in place to be able to recover from an attack; this includes having an incident response plan and regularly testing the organisation’s ability to backup and recover.

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: [Security Magazine]

Cyber Security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour

The human element remains a significant vulnerability in cyber security, as reinforced by recent analysis. Repeated studies show that knowledge alone does not change behaviour, and that simply giving people more training is unlikely to change outcomes. The study underscores that even with heightened cyber security awareness, there has not been a notable decline in successful cyber attacks that exploit human errors.

We need to draw parallels to real-world skills. The report suggests that cyber security education should be as continuous and context-driven as learning to drive: no one learnt to drive by having a single lesson once a year. For instance, rather than educating employees on using multifactor authentication (MFA) in isolation, it's more impactful to provide an explanation of the additional security that that control provides and the reasons why it is being used to protect the organisation. This contextual approach, accentuated with insights on the advantages of these controls, is poised to foster the right behaviours and bolster security outcomes. However, the challenges persist, with many employees still bypassing recommended security protocols, underscoring the need for a more hands-on, real-time approach to cyber security education.

Source: [Dark Reading]

How Cyber Security Has Evolved in The Past 20 Years

Twenty years ago, the cloud as we know it didn’t exist. There were no Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, not even Gmail was around. Cyber threats have evolved significantly since then, but so too have the solutions. We’ve transitioned from manual, on-site vulnerability scanning and lengthy breach investigations, to automated tools and remote work capabilities that have reduced investigation times from months to weeks. Alongside technological advancements, laws and regulations surrounding cyber security have also tightened, imposing stricter rules on organisations to protect customer data and penalties for attackers.

The bigger picture is staying a step ahead of threat actors in the automation race. Whether that’s accomplished with AI or some other yet-to-be-discovered technology remains to be seen. In the meantime, as is always the case in this industry, regardless of the latest innovation, everyone needs to stay vigilant for threat actors’ attacks and remember that what was adequate to protect technology 20 years ago will not be sufficient to defend against the threat landscape today, and certainly not against the threats of tomorrow.

Source: [Forbes]

Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks

Governments in the West are warning public and private sector organisations to "remain on heightened alert" for disruptive cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure and key sectors amid a series of escalating global conflicts.

Source: [Info Risk Today]

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour (darkreading.com)

• How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)

• How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)

• More Companies Adopt Board-Level Cyber Security Committees | Decipher (duo.com)

• Fighting Cyber Attacks Requires Top-Down Approach | Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com)

• SMBs Need to Balance Cyber Security Needs and Resources (darkreading.com)

• 48% of organisations predict cyber attack recovery to take weeks | Security Magazine

• Businesses access to cyber insurance impacted by employee mistakes and poor security: QBE - Reinsurance News

• Cyber Security Litigation: Five Trends Unpacked | Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP - JDSupra

• Cyber attacks now biggest cause of downtime and data loss – report - CIR Magazine

• The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)

• From Snooze to Enthuse: Making Security Awareness Training 'Sticky' (darkreading.com)

• Awaken From Cyber Slumber: 3 Steps To Stronger Cyber security (forbes.com)

• AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security

• Cyber Resilience And Risk Management: Forces Against Cyber Threats (forbes.com)

• The Cyber Security Resilience Quotient: Measuring Security Effectiveness - Security Week

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• SonicWall Data Confirms That Ransomware Is Still the Enterprise's Biggest Fear (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware attacks surge, highlighting need for detection, response tools: Allianz - Reinsurance News

• 2023 Ransomware Attacks Up More Than 95% Over 2022, According to Corvus Insurance Q3 Report (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware is threatening more businesses than ever before | TechRadar

• Ransomware isn’t going away – the problem is only getting worse (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Known Ransomware Attack Volume Breaks Monthly Record, Again (govinfosecurity.com)

• Ransomware attacks are getting faster: How to adjust incident response plans accordingly | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Concerns grow as LockBit knockoffs increasingly target popular vulnerabilities (therecord.media)

• OpenText Cyber Security Nastiest Malware of 2023 Shows Ransomware-as-a-Service Now Primary Business Model (prnewswire.com)

• The Rise of S3 Ransomware: How to Identify and Combat It (thehackernews.com)

• Meet Rhysida, a New Ransomware Strain That Deletes Itself (darkreading.com)

• Kaspersky crimeware report: GoPIX, Lumar, and Rhysida. | Securelist

• Cl0p named 'nastiest' malware of 2023 | Security Magazine

• Five things organisations don’t consider before a ransomware attack | TechRadar

• Ransomware incidents are on the rise as latest data reveals alarming trend | TechSpot

• MGM Resorts hackers 'one of the most dangerous financial criminal groups’ (therecord.media)

• Ransomware attacks against hospitals put patients' lives at risk, researchers say : NPR

• Ragnar Locker Ransomware Boss Arrested in Paris (darkreading.com)

• BlackCat Climbs the Summit With a New Tactic (paloaltonetworks.com)

• Ransomware Soars as Myriad Efforts to Stop It Fall Short - Bloomberg

• Hackers Using Remote Admin Tools AvosLocker Ransomware (gbhackers.com)

• Resilience notes uptick in data exfiltration as cyber criminals change tactics - Reinsurance News

• Healthcare Ransomware Attacks Cost US $78bn - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Bracing for AI-enabled ransomware and cyber extortion attacks - Help Net Security

• Should Ransom Payments Be Made Illegal | Intel471

• ThreatLabz state of ransomware report | ITPro | ITPro

• Will SEC Ruling Curb Encryption-Less Ransomware Attacks? | ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More

• Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defence (trendmicro.com)

• House Subcommittees Hold Hearing on Combating Ransomware Attacks | Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP - JDSupra

Ransomware Victims

• MGM Resorts hackers 'one of the most dangerous financial criminal groups’ (therecord.media)

• Ambulances diverted as 3 New York hospitals grapple with cyber attacks | Fox News

• Operations of Healthcare Solutions Giant Henry Schein Disrupted by Cyber attack - Security Week

• US energy firm shares how Akira ransomware hacked its systems (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Seiko says ransomware attack exposed sensitive customer data (bleepingcomputer.com)

• American Family Insurance confirms cyber attack is behind IT outages (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber Attack Causing Service Interruptions At Ontario Hospitals (databreaches.net)

• Volex dented by cyber attack costs but full-year results are on track | AIM:VLX (proactiveinvestors.co.uk)

• Cyber crims leak patient pics in low blow bid to win ransom • The Register

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Generative AI phishing fears realised as model develops “highly convincing” emails in 5 minutes | CSO Online

• Over 200 million malicious emails were detected in Q3 2023 | Security Magazine

• Watch out - that QR code could just be a phishing scam | TechRadar

• Booking.com customers targeted by scam ‘confirmation’ emails | Scams | The Guardian

• New Hotel Phishing Scam — Be Careful If You're Offered a Discounted Rate | GOBankingRates

• Email security threats are more dangerous than ever - here's what you need to know | TechRadar

• What is Phishing? 5 Types of Phishing Attacks You Need to Know | MSSP Alert

• The US released popular phishing techniques | Inquirer Technology

• Akamai research finds more sophisticated phishing threats in hospitality industry - SiliconANGLE

• Don’t Get Spooked Into Falling For These Phishing Scams - IT Security Guru

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Social engineering: Hacking minds over bytes (att.com)

Artificial Intelligence

• Generative AI phishing fears realised as model develops “highly convincing” emails in 5 minutes | CSO Online

• New Survey From Abnormal Security Reveals 98% Of Security Leaders Worry About the Risks of Generative AI | Business Wire

• AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security

• Boardrooms losing control in generative AI takeover, says Kaspersky | Computer Weekly

• AI-Based Cyber Attacks Target HR Teams (thehrworld.co.uk)

• Governments, firms should spend more on AI safety, top researchers say | Reuters

• Cyber-defence systems seek to outduel criminals in AI race (techxplore.com)

• Report warns AI could worsen cyber threat, but government will not ‘rush to regulate’ - CIR Magazine

• AI risk must be treated as seriously as climate crisis, says Google DeepMind chief | Technology | The Guardian

• Businesses fear generative AI will cause ‘catastrophic’ cyber attacks (siliconrepublic.com)

• Don't use AI-based apps, Philippine defence ordered its personnel (securityaffairs.com)

• Businesses ignorant to gen AI security threats suggests research (ship-technology.com)

• Inside the battle to contain – and capitalise on – artificial intelligence | World news | The Guardian

• AI to Create Demand for Digital Trust Professionals, ISACA Survey Find - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Deepfakes: Navigating Data Privacy and Cyber Security Risks | DRI - JDSupra

• Artificial Intelligence Bad News For Cyber Threats, Report Warns - TechRound

• Bracing for AI-enabled ransomware and cyber extortion attacks - Help Net Security

• Britain’s Big AI Summit Is a Doom-Obsessed Mess | WIRED

• Oops! When tech innovations create new security threats | CSO Online

• UK officials use AI to decide on issues from benefits to marriage licences | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

2FA/MFA

• Okta support system breach highlights need for strong MFA policies | CSO Online

Malware

• Cisco Zero-Day Exploited to Implant Malicious Lua Backdoor on Thousands of Devices (thehackernews.com)

• OpenText Cyber Security Nastiest Malware of 2023 Shows Ransomware-as-a-Service Now Primary Business Model (prnewswire.com)

• Hackers are using an incredibly sneaky trick to hide malware | Digital Trends

• Vietnamese Hackers Target UK, US, and India with DarkGate Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Quasar RAT Leverages DLL Side-Loading to Fly Under the Radar (thehackernews.com)

• Dangerous new malware can crack encrypted USB drives | TechRadar

• Bad news - these fake LinkedIn job offers are just pushing malware, so don't get your hopes up | TechRadar

• 'Grandoreiro' Trojan Targets Global Banking Customers (darkreading.com)

• Cl0p named 'nastiest' malware of 2023 | Security Magazine

• Cabinet Office tight-lipped on number of government cyber attacks and malware infections (civilserviceworld.com)

• Powerful Malware Disguised as Crypto Miner Infects 1M+ Windows, Linux PCs (pcmag.com)

• The Changing Threat Landscape: Infostealers and the MacOS goldmine - F-Secure Blog

Mobile

• Android trojan spotted in the wild can record audio and phone calls | ZDNET

• Samsung Galaxy S23 hacked twice in one day at Pwn2Own contest (androidauthority.com)

• iOS Zero-Day Attacks: Experts Uncover Deeper Insights into Operation Triangulation (thehackernews.com)

• iLeakage attack exploits Safari to steal data from Apple devices (securityaffairs.com)

• A huge amount of financial apps contain security flaws - and this is the best scoring industry | TechRadar

• Intellexa: Irish-linked spyware used in 'brazen attacks' - report - BBC News

• Longer Support Periods Raise the Bar for Mobile Security (darkreading.com)

• Android adware apps on Google Play amass two million installs (bleepingcomputer.com)

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• This DDoS attack is the biggest in internet history. | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

• Disinformation and its often overlooked potential for denial-of-services. (thecyberwire.com)

• Record-Breaking 100 Million RPS DDoS Attack Exploits HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Flaw (thehackernews.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• How an explosion of 'smart' devices is threatening US households -- and national security (nypost.com)

• UK government finalises IoT cyber security requirements - Lexology

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Okta says hackers breached its support system and viewed customer files | Ars Technica

• Okta support system breach highlights need for strong MFA policies | CSO Online

• 1Password suffers cyber security incident after latest Okta breach - Tech Monitor

• Okta stock falls after company says client files accessed by hackers via support system (cnbc.com)

• Hacker accused of breaching Finnish psychotherapy centre facing 30,000 counts (therecord.media)

• City of Philadelphia discloses data breach after five months (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 500k Irish National Police records exposed by third party • The Register

• The 23andMe data breach reveals the vulnerabilities of our interconnected data (theconversation.com)

• iLeakage attack exploits Safari to steal data from Apple devices (securityaffairs.com)

• DC Board of Elections: Hackers may have breached entire voter roll (bleepingcomputer.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says | The Independent

• Spain arrests 34 cyber criminals who stole data of 4 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Nigerian Police dismantle cyber crime recruitment, mentoring hub (bleepingcomputer.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Top crypto firms named in $1bn fraud lawsuit - BBC News

• Cryptojacking campaign Qubitstrike targets exposed Jupyter Notebook instances | CSO Online

• Powerful Malware Disguised as Crypto Miner Infects 1M+ Windows, Linux PCs (pcmag.com)

• 70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Forget the outside hacker, the bigger threat is inside • The Register

• Former NSA employee pleads guilty to attempted selling classified documents to Russia (securityaffairs.com)

• Human-centric Security Design Reduces Threats by Changing User Behavior (prweb.com)

• How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)

• How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)

• The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• New Hotel Phishing Scam — Be Careful If You're Offered a Discounted Rate | GOBankingRates

• Booking.com customers targeted by scam ‘confirmation’ emails | Scams | The Guardian

• Purchase Scams Surge as Fraud Losses Hit £580m - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Top crypto firms named in $1bn fraud lawsuit - BBC News

• Online scammers target desperate loan seekers using online fraud | TechRadar

• Christmas scams to watch out for this festive season (nationalworld.com)

• Cyber criminals exploit the Israeli-Hamas conflict through scam emails and websites (iol.co.za)

• 70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)

Deepfakes

• Deepfakes: Navigating Data Privacy and Cyber Security Risks | DRI - JDSupra

• 70% of Crypto Companies Report Deepfake Fraud Rise (darkreading.com)

Insurance

• Telling Small Businesses to Buy Cyber Insurance Isn't Enough (darkreading.com)

• Stemming Losses That Go Uncovered by Cyber Insurance | Esquire Deposition Solutions, LLC - JDSupra

• Aviva: SMEs ‘woefully underserved’ for cyber cover - Insurance Post (postonline.co.uk)

Dark Web

• A Look at Key Dark Web Statistics (2023 Data Update) (techreport.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• 500k Irish National Police records exposed by third party • The Register

Software Supply Chain

• NIST provides solid guidance on software supply chain security in DevSecOps | CSO Online

Cloud/SaaS

• The Rise of S3 Ransomware: How to Identify and Combat It (thehackernews.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Okta Reveals Breach Via Stolen Credential - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Passwords - not all they are cracked up to be | TechRadar

• 'Log in With...' Feature Allows Full Online Account Takeover for Millions (darkreading.com)

• 10 Bad Password Habits You Need to Break (howtogeek.com)

Social Media

• Bad news - these fake LinkedIn job offers are just pushing malware, so don't get your hopes up | TechRadar

• Threat actor is selling access to Facebook and Instagram's Police Portal (securityaffairs.com)

Malvertising

• Malvertisers Using Google Ads to Target Users Searching for Popular Software (thehackernews.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Cyber Security Awareness Doesn't Cut It; It's Time to Focus on Behaviour (darkreading.com)

• This Cyber Security Awareness Month, Don't Lose Sight of Human Risk (darkreading.com)

• How to establish a great security awareness culture (att.com)

• How Cyber Security Training Lowers Risk Among Employees (forbes.com)

• The Need for a Cyber Security-Centric Business Culture (darkreading.com)

• Cyber Security Awareness Month: What's Still Needed After Twenty Years (forbes.com)

• From Snooze to Enthuse: Making Security Awareness Training 'Sticky' (darkreading.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Managed security services [EU Legislation in Progress] | Epthinktank | European Parliament

• Report warns AI could worsen cyber threat, but government will not ‘rush to regulate’ - CIR Magazine

• UK government finalises IoT cyber security requirements - Lexology

• Show Your Work: The SEC Cyber Rules and Documenting Materiality Analysis Under NIST FIPS 199 | Baker Donelson - JDSupra

• Will SEC Ruling Curb Encryption-Less Ransomware Attacks? | ITPro Today: IT News, How-Tos, Trends, Case Studies, Career Tips, More

• House Subcommittees Hold Hearing on Combating Ransomware Attacks | Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP - JDSupra

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• NIST provides solid guidance on software supply chain security in DevSecOps | CSO Online

• CMMC 2.0: What You Need to Know - ClearanceJobs

Backup and Recovery

• Are Backup Files the Missing Link in Your Cyber Security? (finextra.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Hacker accused of breaching Finnish psychotherapy center facing 30,000 counts (therecord.media)

• Alleged developer of the Ragnar Locker ransomware was arrested (securityaffairs.com)

• Spain arrests 34 cyber criminals who stole data of 4 million people (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Nigerian Police dismantle cyber crime recruitment, mentoring hub (bleepingcomputer.com)

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• ‘I’m looking for fewer ways to be traceable, not more’ | Financial Times

• Google Chrome's new "IP Protection" will hide users' IP addresses (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ShadowDragon: Australian spies monitor PornHub, Tinder, Fortnite (crikey.com.au)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Disinformation and its often overlooked potential for denial-of-services. (thecyberwire.com)

---

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Misc Nation State/Cyber Warfare/Cyber Espionage

• ICC: September Breach Was Espionage Raid - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• International Criminal Court attack was targeted and sophisticated (securityaffairs.com)

• Governments and hackers agree: the laws of war must apply in cyber space (theconversation.com)

• It's Time to Establish the NATO of Cyber Security (darkreading.com)

• War Crimes Court Flags Cyber Attack That Targeted Its Work - Law360

• International Criminal Court systems breached for cyber espionage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber attack a ‘serious attempt to undermine’ International Criminal Court - Lawyers Weekly

• Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks (inforisktoday.com)

Geopolitical Threats/Activity

• Cyber attacks in the Israel-Hamas war (cloudflare.com)

• Cyber criminals exploit the Israeli-Hamas conflict through scam emails and websites (iol.co.za)

• Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum | CyberScoop

• Rising Global Tensions Could Portend Destructive Hacks (inforisktoday.com)

China

• MI5 chief warns of Chinese cyber espionage reached an unprecedented scale (securityaffairs.com)

• Glasgow universities on red alert over Chinese spies as they join security scheme - Glasgow Live

• Navy ends tradition of Chinese laundrymen on warships over spying fears (telegraph.co.uk)

Russia

• Russia Cyber attacks Becoming More Sophisticated, Ukraine Official Says - Bloomberg

• Ukraine's IT army is a world first: here's why it is an important part of the war (theconversation.com)

• European govt email servers hacked using Roundcube zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ministry, police and Crimea summit websites victims of cyber attack | Radio Prague International

• Pro-Russia group behind today’s mass cyber attack against Czech institutions - Prague, Czech Republic (expats.cz)

• Major Russian bank reportedly hacked by Ukraine | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Hackers backdoor Russian state, industrial orgs for data theft (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Who is sabotaging underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea? (economist.com)

• Pro-Russia hackers target inboxes with 0-day in webmail app used by millions | Ars Technica

• Russia-Ukraine War: Cyber Attack and Kinetic Warfare Timeline - | MSSP Alert

• France says Russian state hackers breached numerous critical networks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber attack a ‘serious attempt to undermine’ International Criminal Court - Lawyers Weekly

• Inside Ukraine's Cyber Army (globelynews.com)

• Former NSA employee pleads guilty to attempted selling classified documents to Russia (securityaffairs.com)

• Ex-NSA techie admits to selling state secrets to Russia • The Register

Iran

• Iran APT Targets the Mediterranean With Watering-Hole Attacks (darkreading.com)

North Korea

• US seizes sites that funnel money from North Korean IT workers for illicit activities | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Freelance Market Flooded With North Korean IT Actors (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Concerns grow as LockBit knockoffs increasingly target popular vulnerabilities (therecord.media)

• Why Do We Need Real-World Context to Prioritise CVEs? (darkreading.com)

• Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defence (trendmicro.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Citrix Bleed exploit lets hackers hijack NetScaler accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Exploitation of Citrix NetScaler vulns reaching dangerous levels | Computer Weekly

• Critical SolarWinds RCE Bugs Enable Unauthorised Network Takeover (darkreading.com)

• CISA adds second Cisco IOS XE flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog - Security Affairs

• Cisco Zero-Day Exploited to Implant Malicious Lua Backdoor on Thousands of Devices (thehackernews.com)

• Cisco hackers likely taking steps to avoid identification | Computer Weekly

• F5 Issues Warning: BIG-IP Vulnerability Allows Remote Code Execution (thehackernews.com)

• European govt email servers hacked using Roundcube zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)

• VMware vCenter Flaw So Critical, Patches Released for End-of-Life Products - Security Week

• Critical OAuth Flaws Uncovered in Grammarly, Vidio, and Bukalapak Platforms (thehackernews.com)

• Firefox, Chrome Updates Patch High-Severity Vulnerabilities - Security Week

• The Forbidden Fruit Of Cyber Security: Hackers Take A Bite Out Of Apple (forbes.com)

• Pro-Russia hackers target inboxes with 0-day in webmail app used by millions | Ars Technica

• Apple Ships Major iOS, macOS Security Updates - Security Week

• Hackers can force iOS and macOS browsers to divulge passwords and much more | Ars Technica

• ServiceNow quietly fixes 8-year-old data exposure flaw • The Register

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Tools and Controls

• 48% of organisations predict cyber attack recovery to take weeks | Security Magazine

• Businesses access to cyber insurance impacted by employee mistakes and poor security: QBE - Reinsurance News

• Ransomware attacks are getting faster: How to adjust incident response plans accordingly | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Cyber attack response plans need to be in place to avoid chaos - FreightWaves

• NIST provides solid guidance on software supply chain security in DevSecOps | CSO Online

• What is Network Segmentation? Virtual & Physical Segmentation | UpGuard

• AI-related security fears drive 2024 IT spending - Help Net Security

• Businesses fear generative AI will cause ‘catastrophic’ cyber attacks (siliconrepublic.com)

• Is it wise to put all your security solutions in one cyber basket? (securitybrief.co.nz)

• Cyber attacks are inevitable, so a focus on resilience is vital - James McGachie (scotsman.com)

• Cyber Resilience And Risk Management: Forces Against Cyber Threats (forbes.com)

• Are Backup Files the Missing Link in Your Cyber Security? (finextra.com)

• Unveiling the power of emerging technologies to empower cyber resilience (techuk.org)

• Cyber security concerns grow among physical security professionals | Security Magazine

• The Cyber Security Resilience Quotient: Measuring Security Effectiveness - Security Week

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Other News

• MPs to examine cyber resilience of UK’s critical national infrastructure | CSO Online

• UK Parliament Opens Inquiry into Cyber-Resilience - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Strategies to overcome cyber security misconceptions - Help Net Security

• UK NCSC, NPSA launch Secure Innovation campaign to protect tech startups | CSO Online

• 5 important cyber security takeaways for law firms - Lawyers Weekly

• How Cyber Security Has Evolved In The Past 20 Years (forbes.com)

• HMRC annual report triggers cyber red alert | AccountingWEB

• Oops! When tech innovations create new security threats | CSO Online

• Spooky Cyber Statistics And Trends You Need To Know (forbes.com)

• The Changing Threat Landscape: Infostealers and the MacOS goldmine - F-Secure Blog

• Proactively preventing your company from becoming the next cyber attack headline (betanews.com)

• Cyber security trends 2023 | Allianz Commercial

• Demystifying Cyber Security: Shakespeare To The Rescue | HackerNoon

• Cyber Threat: Aviation’s Clear and Present Danger? | Aerospace Tech Review

• OT cyber attacks proliferating despite growing cyber security spend - Help Net Security

• Cost of a Data Breach: Retail Costs, Risks and Prevention Strategies (securityintelligence.com)

• What Would a US Government Shutdown Mean for Cyber Security? (darkreading.com)

• Weapons Systems Provide Valuable Lessons for ICS/OT Security - Security Week

• Cabinet Office tight-lipped on number of government cyber attacks and malware infections (civilserviceworld.com)

• Cyber attacks now biggest cause of downtime and data loss – report - CIR Magazine

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 17 March 2023

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

• Almost Half of IT Leaders Consider Security as an Afterthought

A recent industry report found that security is an afterthought for almost half of UK IT leaders, despite 92% of respondents agreeing that security risks had risen in the last five years. Additionally, 48% of respondents felt that the rapid development of new tools had caused challenges around security. The concept of security as an afterthought is worrying when considering that 39% of UK businesses identified a cyber attack within the past 12 months.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/03/14/almost-half-of-it-leaders-consider-security-as-an-afterthought-research-reveals

• Over $10bn Lost to Online Frauds, with Pig Butchering and Investment Scams Accounting for $3B, Overtaking BEC – FBI Report Says

According to the latest FBI crime report pig butchering now accounts for $3 billion of the $10 billion total lost to online fraud. Pig butchering is a rising investment scam that uses the promise of romance and the lure of making easy cryptocurrency profit against its unsuspecting targets. The concept of pig butchering is to “fatten up” the victim, with small returns on cryptocurrency and personal interactions, often with an element of romance; eventually, the victim is lured into making a larger investment with the scammer. In addition to pig butchering, other investment scams are growing in provenance and are set to overtake Business Email Compromise (BEC) as a major earner for cyber criminals.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/pig-butchering-investment-scams-3b-cybercrime-threat-overtaking-bec

• Over 721 Million Passwords were Leaked in 2022

A report published this week discovered 721.5 million exposed credentials online in 2022. Additionally, the report identified 72% of users reusing previously compromised passwords. The study also uncovered 8.6 billion personally identifiable information assets, including 67 million credit card numbers which were publicly available.

https://www.neowin.net/news/study-over-721-million-passwords-were-leaked-in-2022/

• How Much of a Cyber Security Risk are Suppliers?

When your business is digitally connected to a service provider, you need to understand how a cyber security attack on their business can affect yours. You can have all the right measures in place to manage your own cyber risks, but this doesn’t matter if there are undiscovered vulnerabilities in your supply chain. Organisations need to audit the cyber security of suppliers at several stages of their relationship; you may benefit from specialist cyber security support if you can’t do this in-house. Ask hard questions and consider advising your suppliers that if their cyber security is not enough then you may take your business elsewhere. Many businesses now require suppliers to be certified to schemes such as ISO 27001; demonstrating your security posture to your customers is an important ticket to trade.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-much-of-a-cybersecurity-risk-are-my-suppliers-mqbwcf7p2

• 90% of £5m+ Businesses Hit by Cyber Attacks

A study from Forbes found that 57% of small and medium-sized enterprises had suffered an online attack. Businesses with an annual turnover in excess of £5 million were even more likely to experience a cyber crime with the figure rising to nearly 90% of firms of this size suffering a cyber attack. To make matters worse, the study found that a significant proportion of British businesses are without any form of protection against online attacks.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/03/13/nine-in-10-5m-businesses-hit-by-cyber-attacks/

• Rushed Cloud Migrations Result in Escalating Technical Debt

A cloud service provider found 83% of CIO’s are feeling pressured to stretch their budgets even further than before. 72% of CIOs admitted that they are behind in their digital transformation because of technical debt and 38% believed the accumulation of this debt is largely because of rushed cloud migrations. Respondents believed these rushed migrations caused for miscalculations in the cloud budget, which resulted in significant overspend.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/16/managing-cloud-costs/

• Microsoft: 17 European Nations Targeted by Russia in 2023 as Espionage Ramping Up

According to an intelligence report from Microsoft, Russia has been ramping up its cyber espionage operations and this now includes 17 European nations. Of all 74 countries targeted, the UK ranked third, after the US and Poland.

https://www.securityweek.com/microsoft-17-european-nations-targeted-by-russia-in-2023-as-espionage-ramping-up/

• Microsoft Warns of Large-Scale Use of Phishing Kits

Microsoft have found that phishing kits are being purchased and used to perform millions of phishing emails every day. In their report, Microsoft found the availability of purchasing such phishing kits was part of the industrialisation of the cyber criminal economy and lowered the barrier of entry for cyber crime. Microsoft identified phishing kits which had the capability to bypass multi factor authentication selling for as little as $300. The emergence of AI is only going to compound this.

https://thehackernews.com/2023/03/microsoft-warns-of-large-scale-use-of.html

• BEC Volumes Double on Phishing Surge

The number of Business Email Compromise (BEC) incidents doubled last year according to security provider Secureworks. In their report, they found that the main initial access vectors for BEC were phishing and systems with known vulnerabilities, with each accounting for a third of initial accesses.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/bec-volumes-double-on-phishing/

• The Risk of Pasting Confidential Company Data in ChatGPT

Researchers analysed the use of artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT and found that 4.9% of employees have provided company data to the tool; ChatGPT builds its knowledge on this and in turn, this knowledge is shared publicly. The risk is serious, with employees putting their organisation at risk of leaking sensitive and confidential information. The research found that 0.9% of employees are responsible for 80% of leaks caused by pasting company data into ChatGPT and this number is expected to rise.

https://securityaffairs.com/143394/security/company-data-chatgpt-risks.html

• Ransomware Attacks have Entered a Heinous New Phase

With an increasing amount of victims refusing to pay, cyber criminal gangs are now resorting to new techniques; this includes the recent release of stolen naked photos of cancer patients and sensitive student records. Where encryption and a demand for payment were previously the de facto method for cyber criminals, this has now shifted to pure exfiltration. In a report, the FBI highlighted evolving and increasingly aggressive extortion behaviour, with actors increasingly threatening to release stolen data.

https://www.wired.com/story/ransomware-tactics-cancer-photos-student-records/

• MI5 Launches New Agency to Tackle State-Backed Attacks

British intelligence agency MI5 have announced the creation of the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), created as part of a major review of government defences. The NPSA is to operate out of MI5 and absorb and extend the responsibilities for the protection of national infrastructure. The NPSA will work with existing agencies such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Counter Terrorism Security Office (CTSO) to provide defensive advice to UK organisations.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/mi5-new-agency-tackle-statebacked/

• Why Cyber Awareness Training is an Ongoing Process

A survey conducted by Hornetsecurity found that 80% of respondents believed remote working introduced extra cyber security risks and 75% were aware that personal devices are used to access sensitive data, fuelling the need for employees to be cyber aware. Where IT security training is only undertaken once, for example in block training, it is likely that participants will have forgotten a lot of the content after as little as a week; this means that for organisations to get the most out of training, they need to conduct frequent awareness training. By conducting frequent training there is more chance of trainees retaining the training content and allowing the organisation to shape a culture of cyber security.

https://www.hornetsecurity.com/en/security-information/why-cyber-awareness-training-is-an-ongoing-process/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• BianLian Ransomware Pivots From Encryption to Pure Data-Theft Extortion (darkreading.com)

• The changing face of ransomware attacks (pandasecurity.com)

• Rise of Ransomware Attacks Main Focus for SOCs, research finds - IT Security Guru

• 'Vile' Gang Duo Breaches Police Database, Impersonates Officers in Extortion Gambit (darkreading.com)

• FBI: Ransomware hit 860 critical infrastructure orgs in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft fixes Windows zero-day exploited in ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Clop ransomware gang begins extorting GoAnywhere zero-day victims (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Staples-owned Essendant facing multi-day "outage," orders frozen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• CISA now warns critical infrastructure of ransomware-vulnerable devices (bleepingcomputer.com)

• LockBit Ransomware gang claims to have stolen SpaceX confidential data from Maximum Industries- - Security Affairs

• Dissecting the malicious arsenal of the Makop ransomware gang- - Security Affairs

• The Prolificacy of LockBit Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Blackbaud agrees to pay $3m to settle SEC ransomware probe • The Register

• CatB Ransomware | File Locker Sharpens Its Claws to Steal Data with MSDTC Service DLL Hijacking - SentinelOne

• Ransomware Gang Claims It Hacked Amazon's Ring (gizmodo.com)

• 5 Reasons MSSP Clients Need Strong AppSec Strategies to Thwart Ransomware - MSSP Alert

• Dish customers kept in the dark as ransomware fallout continues | TechCrunch

• Cancer patient sues hospital over stolen naked photos • The Register

• ChipMixer platform seized for laundering ransomware payments, drug sales (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Lawyers suspect Arnold Clark hackers have now leaked 45GB of personal data on dark web – Car Dealer Magazine

• Kaspersky Updates Decryption Tool for Conti Ransomware - MSSP Alert

• Conti-based ransomware ‘MeowCorp’ gets free decryptor (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Universities and colleges cope silently with ransomware attacks | CSO Online

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Top 50 most impersonated brands in phishing attacks and new tools you can use to protect your employees from them (cloudflare.com)

• Microsoft Warns of Large-Scale Use of Phishing Kits to Send Millions of Emails Daily (thehackernews.com)

• Software for sale is fueling a torrent of phishing attacks that bypass MFA | Ars Technica

• Cyber criminals Devising More Tactics For Phishing Attacks (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• 6 reasons why your anti-phishing strategy isn’t working | CSO Online

• Cyberthreat On New Email By Exotic Lily (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Botnet that knows your name and quotes your email is back with new tricks | Ars Technica

• Analysts Spot a Wave of SVB-Related Cyber Fraud Striking the Business Sector (darkreading.com)

• How two-step phishing attacks evade detection and what you can do about it - Help Net Security

• Humans Still More Effective Than ChatGPT at Phishing - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Pig Butchering & Investment Scams: The $3B Cyber crime Threat Overtaking BEC (darkreading.com)

• Organizations need to re-examine their approach to BEC protection - Help Net Security

• BEC Volumes Double on Phishing Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

2FA/MFA

• When Partial Protection is Zero Protection: The MFA Blind Spots No One Talks About (thehackernews.com)

• Outlook app to get built-in Microsoft 365 MFA on Android, iOS (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Software for sale is fuelling a torrent of phishing attacks that bypass MFA | Ars Technica

Malware

• SpyCloud Report: Malware Infections the Most Prolific & Persistent Threat to Businesses | Business Wire

• Microsoft OneNote to get enhanced security after recent malware abuse (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Version of Prometei Botnet Infects Over 10,000 Systems Worldwide (thehackernews.com)

• Malware Targets People Looking to Pirate Oscar-Nominated Films (darkreading.com)

• Law enforcement seized the website selling the NetWire RAT- - Security Affairs

• BATLOADER Malware Uses Google Ads to Deliver Vidar Stealer and Ursnif Payloads (thehackernews.com)

• KamiKakaBot Malware Used in Latest Dark Pink APT Attacks on Southeast Asian Targets (thehackernews.com)

• Warning: AI-generated YouTube Video Tutorials Spreading Infostealer Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Emotet attempts to sell access after infiltrating high-value networks | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• What is Zeus Trojan Malware? - CrowdStrike

• Emotet, QSnatch Malware Dominate Malicious DNS Traffic (darkreading.com)

• Winter Vivern APT hackers use fake antivirus scans to install malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese and Russian Hackers Using SILKLOADER Malware to Evade Detection (thehackernews.com)

• New malware sample of defunct TeamTNT threat group raises concerns | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Adobe Acrobat Sign abused to push Redline info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Tracking the global spread of malware - Help Net Security

Mobile

• Xenomorph Android malware now steals data from 400 banks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• GoatRAT Android Banking Trojan Targets Mobile Automated Payment System (darkreading.com)

• WhatsApp Tells UK Government It’s Still Not Willing To Undermine Its Encryption | Techdirt

• Convincing Twitter 'quote tweet' phone scam targets bank customers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Warns Samsung and Pixel Phone Owners About 18 Dire Exploits - CNET

• FakeCalls Android malware returns with new ways to hide on phones (bleepingcomputer.com)

Botnets

• New Version of Prometei Botnet Infects Over 10,000 Systems Worldwide (thehackernews.com)

• Botnet that knows your name and quotes your email is back with new tricks | Ars Technica

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Record Breaking DDoS Attack - 158.2 Million Packets Per Second (gbhackers.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Researchers Uncover Over a Dozen Security Flaws in Akuvox E11 Smart Intercom (thehackernews.com)

• Tesla App Lets Man Accidentally Steal Model 3 That Wasn't His (gizmodo.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Negative Impacts of Data Loss and How to Avoid Them - MSSP Alert

• Mental health provider Cerebral alerts 3.1M people of data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• BMW exposes data of clients in Italy, experts warn- - Security Affairs

• Acronis states that only one customer's account was compromised- - Security Affairs

• Security giant Rubrik says hackers used Fortra zero-day to steal internal data | TechCrunch

• Key aerospace player leaks sensitive data | Cybernews

• Hundreds of thousands of customer records stolen from lender Latitude in cyber-attack | Business | The Guardian

• 'Vile' Gang Duo Breaches Police Database, Impersonates Officers in Extortion Gambit (darkreading.com)

• LA Housing Authority Suffers Year-Long Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Hacker selling data allegedly stolen in US Marshals Service hack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cryptojacking Group TeamTNT Suspected of Using Decoy Miner to Conceal Data Exfiltration (thehackernews.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Cyber crime Losses Exceeded $10 Billion in 2022: FBI - SecurityWeek

• Nine In 10 £5m+ Businesses Hit By Cyber Attacks - IT Security Guru

• CISA: Federal civilian agency hacked by nation-state and criminal hacking groups | CyberScoop

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• FBI Warns of Crypto-Stealing Play-to-Earn Games - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Massive vulnerabilities revealed at Dogecoin, Litecoin, Zcash | Fortune Crypto

• UK Crypto Firm Loses $200m in Cyber-Attack - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• One of the darkweb’s largest cryptocurrency laundromats washed out | Europol (europa.eu)

• UK Bank Limits Crypto Payments to Smother Fraud - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Phishing Campaigns Use SVB Collapse to Harvest Crypto - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cryptojacking Group TeamTNT Suspected of Using Decoy Miner to Conceal Data Exfiltration (thehackernews.com)

• CrowdStrike discovered the first-ever Dero crypto mining campaign- - Security Affairs

• Claim: FTX leaders helped themselves to $3.2B in cash • The Register

• Feds charge exiled Chinese billionaire over crypto fraud • The Register

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Future-Proofing Your Business Against Insider Threats (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams Are Now a $3 Billion Threat | WIRED

• Cyber crime Losses Exceeded $10 Billion in 2022: FBI - SecurityWeek

• Investment Fraud is Now Biggest Cyber crime Earner - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Nine In 10 £5m+ Businesses Hit By Cyber Attacks - IT Security Guru

• ChatGPT fraud is on the rise: Here's what to watch out for | ZDNET

• Analysts Spot a Wave of SVB-Related Cyber Fraud Striking the Business Sector (darkreading.com)

• The SVB demise is a fraudster's paradise, so take precautions - Help Net Security

• Fighting financial fraud through fusion centers - Help Net Security

• UK Crypto Firm Loses $200m in Cyber-Attack - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK Bank Limits Crypto Payments to Smother Fraud - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Convincing Twitter 'quote tweet' phone scam targets bank customers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Claim: FTX leaders helped themselves to $3.2B in cash • The Register

• Feds charge exiled Chinese billionaire over crypto fraud • The Register

Impersonation Attacks

• 'Vile' Gang Duo Breaches Police Database, Impersonates Officers in Extortion Gambit (darkreading.com)

Deepfakes

• Deepfakes, Synthetic Media: How Digital Propaganda Undermines Trust (darkreading.com)

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• One of the darkweb’s largest cryptocurrency laundromats washed out | Europol (europa.eu)

• Russia’s Cyber security Companies Shrug Off Sanctions - CEPA

Dark Web

• One of the darkweb’s largest cryptocurrency laundromats washed out | Europol (europa.eu)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Top 10 operational risks: focus on third-party risk - Risk.net

• How much of a cyber security risk are my suppliers? (thetimes.co.uk)

Software Supply Chain

• We can't wait for SBOMs to be demanded by regulation - Help Net Security

• Best practices for securing the software application supply chain - Help Net Security

• Addressing Software Supply Chain Security - DevOps.com

Cloud/SaaS

• Rushed cloud migrations result in escalating technical debt - Help Net Security

• CrowdStrike report shows identities under siege, cloud data theft up | VentureBeat

• How to Apply NIST Principles to SaaS in 2023 (thehackernews.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Orgs Have a Long Way to Go in Securing Remote Workforce (darkreading.com)

Attack Surface Management

• Access Control Gap in Microsoft Active Directory Widens Enterprise Attack Surface (darkreading.com)

Identity and Access Management

• Access Control Gap in Microsoft Active Directory Widens Enterprise Attack Surface (darkreading.com)

• Navigating the future of digital identity - Help Net Security

Encryption

• Google Proposes Reducing TLS Cert Life Span to 90 Days (darkreading.com)

• WhatsApp Tells UK Government It’s Still Not Willing To Undermine Its Encryption | Techdirt

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Poor Passwords Still Weakest Link Hackers Seek, Report Reveals - MSSP Alert

• Study: Over 721 million passwords were leaked in 2022 - Neowin

• Understanding password behavior key to developing stronger cyber security protocols - Help Net Security

Social Media

• UK bans TikTok from government mobile phones | TikTok | The Guardian

• Spies, lies and influenced children: What TikTok must overcome to show us it can be trusted (telegraph.co.uk)

• Convincing Twitter 'quote tweet' phone scam targets bank customers (bleepingcomputer.com)

Malvertising

• BATLOADER Malware Uses Google Ads to Deliver Vidar Stealer and Ursnif Payloads (thehackernews.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Forgetting Curve according to Dr Ebbinghaus: Why cyber awareness training is an ongoing process - Hornetsecurity

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• UK's New Privacy Bill Could Mean More Work for Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• SEC Charges Software Company Blackbaud Inc. for Misleading Disclosures About Ransomware Attack That Impacted Charitable Donors (databreaches.net)

• When and how to report a breach to the SEC | CSO Online

• WhatsApp Tells UK Government It’s Still Not Willing To Undermine Its Encryption | Techdirt

• The US cyber security strategy won’t address today’s threats with regulation alone | CyberScoop

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Make Sure Your Cyber security Budget Stays Flexible (darkreading.com)

• Getting cyber security right requires a change of mindset | The Strategist (aspistrategist.org.au)

• UK's New Privacy Bill Could Mean More Work for Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 6 principles for building engaged security governance | TechTarget

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• How to Apply NIST Principles to SaaS in 2023 (thehackernews.com)

• Meet Data Privacy Mandates With Cyber security Frameworks (darkreading.com)

Data Protection

• Consumers Believe Vendors Don't Adequately Protect Their Personal Data, Report Finds - MSSP Alert

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• International authorities bring NetWire's malware infrastructure to a standstill | TechSpot

• One of the darkweb’s largest cryptocurrency laundromats washed out | Europol (europa.eu)

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• German states rethink reliance on Palantir technology | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Consumers Believe Vendors Don't Adequately Protect Their Personal Data, Report Finds - MSSP Alert

• Meet Data Privacy Mandates With Cyber security Frameworks (darkreading.com)

Artificial Intelligence

• Warning: AI-generated YouTube Video Tutorials Spreading Infostealer Malware (thehackernews.com)

• How to stop AI waging war on humans (thetimes.co.uk)

• ChatGPT and the Growing Threat of Bring Your Own AI to the SOC - SecurityWeek

• How Businesses Can Get Ready for AI-Powered Security Threats (darkreading.com)

• Humans Still More Effective Than ChatGPT at Phishing - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK spy agency warns of security threat from ChatGPT and rival chatbots | Metro News

• Why red team exercises for AI should be on a CISO's radar | CSO Online

• GPT-4 Can’t Stop Helping Hackers Make Cyber criminal Tools (forbes.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Deepfakes, Synthetic Media: How Digital Propaganda Undermines Trust (darkreading.com)

• Russia disinformation looks to US far right to weaken Ukraine support | Russia | The Guardian

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

• Microsoft: Russian hackers may be readying new wave of destructive attacks | CyberScoop

• UK bans TikTok from government mobile phones | TikTok | The Guardian

• Microsoft: 17 European Nations Targeted by Russia in 2023 as Espionage Ramping Up - SecurityWeek

• UK’s Royal Navy, Ukraine Jointly Repel Simulated, Russian Cyber attack on National Infrastructure - MSSP Alert

• Russians told to rush to nuclear bomb shelters after hackers take over state media (telegraph.co.uk)

• Remcos Trojan Linked to Cyber Espionage Operations Against Ukrainian Government - MSSP Alert

• YoroTrooper cyber spies target CIS energy orgs, EU embassies (bleepingcomputer.com)

• China sought control of telecoms to spy on Micronesia • The Register

• Russia disinformation looks to US far right to weaken Ukraine support | Russia | The Guardian

• This Is the New Leader of Russia's Infamous Sandworm Hacking Unit | WIRED

• Russia’s Cyber security Companies Shrug Off Sanctions - CEPA

• Polish intelligence dismantled a network of Russian spies- Security Affairs

• Microsoft sheds light on a year of Russian hybrid warfare in Ukraine- Security Affairs

• Wave of Stealthy China Cyber attacks Hits US., Private Networks, Google Says - WSJ

• Russian hackers plotting another cyber attack against Ukraine - Microsoft (ukrinform.net)

• Here's how Chinese spies exploited a critical Fortinet bug • The Register

Nation State Actors

• MI5 Launches New Agency to Tackle State-Backed Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• UK bans TikTok from government mobile phones | TikTok | The Guardian

• North Korean hackers used polished LinkedIn profiles to target security researchers | CyberScoop

• A new Chinese era: security and control | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Russians told to rush to nuclear bomb shelters after hackers take over state media (telegraph.co.uk)

• Attacks on SonicWall appliances linked to Chinese campaign: Mandiant | CSO Online

• Remcos Trojan Linked to Cyber Espionage Operations Against Ukrainian Government - MSSP Alert

• The slow Tick‑ing time bomb: Tick APT group compromise of a DLP software developer in East Asia | WeLiveSecurity

• Microsoft fixes Outlook zero-day used by Russian hackers since April 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• China sought control of telecoms to spy on Micronesia • The Register

• CISA: Federal civilian agency hacked by nation-state and criminal hacking groups | CyberScoop

• APT29 abuses EU information exchange systems in recent attacks- Security Affairs

• Chinese and Russian Hackers Using SILKLOADER Malware to Evade Detection (thehackernews.com)

• Russia disinformation looks to US far right to weaken Ukraine support | Russia | The Guardian

• This Is the New Leader of Russia's Infamous Sandworm Hacking Unit | WIRED

• Russia’s Cyber security Companies Shrug Off Sanctions - CEPA

• Microsoft sheds light on a year of Russian hybrid warfare in Ukraine- Security Affairs

• Wave of Stealthy China Cyber attacks Hits US., Private Networks, Google Says - WSJ

• Russian hackers plotting another cyber attack against Ukraine - Microsoft (ukrinform.net)

• Here's how Chinese spies exploited a critical Fortinet bug • The Register

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Vulnerabilities

• Critical Microsoft Outlook/365 bug CVE-2023-23397 under attack (thestack.technology)

• Critical Microsoft Outlook bug PoC shows how easy it is to exploit (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft fixes Outlook zero-day used by Russian hackers since April 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft and Fortinet fix bugs under active exploit • The Register

• CISA warns of actively exploited Plex bug after LastPass breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cisco fixed CVE-2023-20049 DoS flaw affecting enterprise routers- Security Affairs

• Massive vulnerabilities revealed at Dogecoin, Litecoin, Zcash | Fortune Crypto

• SAP releases security updates fixing five critical vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Adobe Warns of ‘Very Limited Attacks’ Exploiting ColdFusion Zero-Day - SecurityWeek

• Microsoft fixes Windows zero-day exploited in ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft March 2023 Patch Tuesday fixes 2 zero-days, 83 flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Firefox 111 patches 11 holes, but not 1 zero-day among them… – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Microsoft Pins Outlook Zero-Day Attacks on Russian Actor, Offers Detection Script - SecurityWeek

• Cyber attackers Continue Assault Against Fortinet Devices (darkreading.com)

• Security firm Rubrik is latest to be felled by GoAnywhere vulnerability | Ars Technica

• Google Warns Samsung and Pixel Phone Owners About 18 Dire Exploits - CNET

• Microsoft shares script to fix WinRE BitLocker bypass flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Here's how Chinese spies exploited a critical Fortinet bug • The Register

• Bitwarden's password manager browser extension has a known exploit it hasn't addressed in five years | TechSpot

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Tools and Controls

• Make Sure Your Cyber security Budget Stays Flexible (darkreading.com)

• What Is a Stateful Inspection Firewall? Ultimate Guide (enterprisestorageforum.com)

• When Partial Protection is Zero Protection: The MFA Blind Spots No One Talks About (thehackernews.com)

• Set up PowerShell script block logging for added security | TechTarget

• Brazil seizing Flipper Zero shipments to prevent use in crime (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Outlook app to get built-in Microsoft 365 MFA on Android, iOS (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 5 Reasons MSSP Clients Need Strong AppSec Strategies to Thwart Ransomware - MSSP Alert

• 5 Steps to Effective Cloud Detection and Response  - The New Stack

• Virtual patching: Cut time to patch from 250 days to (helpnetsecurity.com)

• ChatGPT may be a bigger cyber security risk than an actual benefit (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Change Is Coming to the Network Detection and Response (NDR) Market (darkreading.com)

• Rise of Ransomware Attacks Main Focus for SOCs, research finds - IT Security Guru

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Other News

• CASPER attack steals data using air-gapped computer's internal speaker (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US govt web server attacked by 'multiple' criminal gangs • The Register

• Security firm Rubrik is latest to be felled by GoAnywhere vulnerability | Ars Technica

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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 10 March 2023

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Business Email Compromise Attacks Can Take Just Hours

Microsoft’s security intelligence team found that Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are moving rapidly, with some taking mere minutes. Microsoft found the whole process, from signing in using compromised credentials to registering typo squatting domains and hijacking an email thread, took threat actors only a couple of hours. Such a rapid attack leaves minimal time for organisations to identify and take preventative action. This is worrying when considering the cost of BEC is predicted to more than tens of billions.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-business-email-compromise-attacks-can-take-just-hours/

Research Reveals ‘Password’ is Still the Most Common Term used by Hackers to Breach Enterprise Networks

In a report of over 800 million breached passwords, vendor Specops identified some worrying results. Some of the key findings from the report include 88% of passwords used in successful attacks consisting of 12 characters or less and the most common base terms used in passwords involving ‘password’, ‘admin’, ‘welcome’ and ‘p@ssw0rd’. The report found that 83% of the compromised passwords satisfied both the length and complexity requirements of cyber security compliance standards such as NIST, GDPR, HIPAA and Cyber Essentials.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/03/08/research-reveals-password-still-the-most-common-term-used-by-hackers-to-breach-enterprise-networks/

Just 10% of Firms Can Resolve Cloud Threats in an Hour

Two-thirds (39%) of global organisations reported a surge in breaches over the past year, with IT complexity increasing and detection and response capabilities worsening, according to Palo Alto Networks. It found that as enterprises move more of their data and workloads to the cloud, they’re finding it increasingly difficult to discover and remediate incidents quickly. Over two-fifths (42%) reported an increase in mean time to remediate, while 90% said they are unable to detect, contain and resolve cyber-threats within an hour. Nearly a third (30%) reported a major increase in intrusion attempts and unplanned downtime. Part of the challenge appears to be the complexity of their cloud security environments – partly caused by tool bloat.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/10-firms-resolve-cloud-threats-hour/

MSPs in the Crosshairs of Ransomware Gangs

Many attacks have heightened attention around third-party risk and the security obligations of MSPs in meeting multiple customers’ IT needs. Attacks such as the ones on RackSpace and LastPass show that some ransomware actors are now intentionally targeting MSPs to access sensitive customer data. It is now believed that some advanced persistent threat (APT) groups could be stepping up their attacks on MSP’s in order to gain sensitive customer data.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/msps-in-the-crosshairs-of-ransomware-gangs/

Stolen Credentials Increasingly Empower the Cyber Crime Underground

Threat Intelligence provider Flashpoint found that last year threat actors exposed or stole 22.62 billion credentials and personal records, which often make their way to underground forums and cyber criminal markets. This follows a significant increase in market activity; just last year Flashpoint recorded 190 new illicit markets emerge and the continual rise in attacks focused on stealing credentials only further empowers cyber crime underground.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3690409/stolen-credentials-increasingly-empower-the-cybercrime-underground.html#tk.rss_news

It’s Time to Assess the Potential Dangers of an Increasingly Connected World

As global conflicts continue, cyber has become the fifth front of warfare. The world is approaching 50 billion connected devices, controlling everything from our traffic lights to our nuclear arsenal and we have already seen large-scale cyber attacks. Adding to this, a multitude of infrastructure runs on services ran by a handful of companies; Palo Alto Networks, Cisco and Fortinet control more than 50% of the market for security appliances. As such, an attack on one of these companies could cause a huge ripple effect on their customers.

https://www.darkreading.com/risk/it-s-time-to-assess-the-potential-dangers-of-an-increasingly-connected-world-

Mounting Cyber Threats Mean Financial Firms Urgently Need Better Safeguards

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 64% of banks and supervisory authorities do not mandate testing and exercising cyber security and 54% lack dedicated a cyber incident reporting regime. This increases the risk of experiencing a cyber attack. Regularly testing and exercising security will aid any organisation in its cyber resilience.

https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2023/03/02/mounting-cyber-threats-mean-financial-firms-urgently-need-better-safeguards

Insider Threat: Developers Leaked 10m Credentials Including Passwords in 2022

Security provider GitGuardian found that the rate at which developers leaked critical software secrets jumped by 0.5 to reach 5.5 out of every 1,000 commits to GitHub repositories; overall, this amounted to at least 10 million instances of secrets leaking to a public repository. Generic passwords accounted for the majority of leaked secrets (56%) and more than a third (38%) of leaks involved API keys, random number generator seeds and other sensitive strings. These leaks can have worrying consequences for organisations.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/inside-threat-developers-leaked-10m-credentials-passwords-2022

Cyber Threat Detections Surges 55% In 2022

Security Provider Trend Micro has said that it stopped 146 billion cyber threats in 2022, a 55% increase on the previous year and evidence of the increase of attacks ramping up. Trend Micro also found a 242% increase in the number of blocked malicious files and an 86% increase in backdoor malware detections with the latter showing an increase in attackers gaining initial access. Furthermore, the number of critical vulnerabilities in 2022 doubled compared to the previous year. Trend Micro noted that this is all likely due to an ever expanding attack surface of organisations.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cyberthreat-detections-surge-55/

European Central Bank Tells Banks to Run Cyber Stress Tests after Rise in Hacker Attacks

The European Central Bank (ECB) will ask all major lenders in the Eurozone to detail by next year, how they would respond to and recover from a successful cyber attack. The ECB is in the process of designing a scenario involving a theoretical breach of the financial system’s cyber defences, which will be sent to all of the 111 banks it assesses to see how they would react. The stress test stems from the increasing amount of cyber attacks. If cyber has shown us anything, it’s that anyone can be a target and performing a stress test would help any organisation prepare for the worst.

https://www.ft.com/content/f03d68a4-fdb9-4312-bda3-3157d369a4a6

Employees Are Feeding Sensitive Business Data to ChatGPT

1 in 20 employees have put sensitive corporate data into popular AI tool ChatGPT, raising concerns that this could result in massive leaks of proprietary information. In some cases, this has involved employees cutting and pasting strategic documents and asking ChatGPT to make a PowerPoint.

https://www.darkreading.com/risk/employees-feeding-sensitive-business-data-chatgpt-raising-security-fears

Is Ransomware Declining? Not So Fast Experts Say

Security provider CrowdStrike have explained that the perceived decline in ransomware reflects the abilities of threat actors to adapt, splinter and regroup against defensive measures. CrowdStrike expand on this, stating that whilst ransom payments dipped slightly in 2022, there was an uprise in data extortion and ransomware as a service (RaaS).

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/365532201/Is-ransomware-declining-Not-so-fast-experts-say

Preventing Corporate Data Breaches Starts with Remembering that Leaks have Real Victims

The impact a data breach can have on an individual is devastating and ultimately there’s not much an individual can do themselves if the organisation that holds their data isn’t taking the right steps. To best protect themselves and their clients’ data, organisations should look to have appropriate defence in depth controls, including effective asset management, an open security culture, close monitoring of access, utilising strong authentication and maintaining an awareness of the ever changing threat landscape.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/03/07/preventing-corporate-data-breaches/

Faced With Likelihood of Ransomware Attacks, Businesses Still Choosing to Pay Up

In a recent report Proofpoint found that globally 76% of organisations experienced ransomware attempts, with 64% eventually infected. Amongst those that had a cyber insurance policy, 82% of insurers stepped up to pay the ransom either in full or partially. The report found that with the rise in number and sophistication of attacks it is more important than ever for proper security training and awareness in organisations.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/faced-with-likelihood-of-ransomware-attacks-businesses-still-choosing-to-pay-up/

Experts See Growing Need for Cyber Security Workers as One in Six Jobs go Unfilled

A report by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) found that 1 in 6 cyber security jobs are unfulfilled and this is only expected to grow in the coming years. The ICTC stated that “This is not just about education or government funding, but about companies willing to provide hands-on training and experience to the next generation of cyber security experts”.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/article-experts-see-growing-need-for-cybersecurity-workers-as-one-in-six-jobs/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Faced with likelihood of ransomware attacks, businesses still choosing to pay up | ZDNET

• MSPs in the Crosshairs of Ransomware Gangs - MSSP Alert

• Is ransomware declining? Not so fast, experts say | TechTarget

• FBI and CISA warn of increasing Royal ransomware attack risks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• City of Oakland Faces Major Data Leak - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Indigo Books Refuses LockBit Ransomware Demand (darkreading.com)

• Anatomy of a Ransomware Attack

• Core Members of DoppelPaymer Ransomware Gang Targeted in Germany and Ukraine (thehackernews.com)

• Ransom House ransomware attack hit Hospital Clinic de Barcelona- - Security Affairs

• Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defence (trendmicro.com)

• Ransomware's Favorite Target: Critical Infrastructure and Its Industrial Control Systems (darkreading.com)

• Ransomware review: March 2023 (malwarebytes.com)

• Ransomware gang posts video of data stolen from Minneapolis schools (bleepingcomputer.com)

• IceFire ransomware now encrypts both Linux and Windows systems (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Examining Ransomware Payments From a Data-Science Lens (trendmicro.com)

• DND: Black & McDonald reported ransomware attack | CTV News

• Cyble — BlackSnake Ransomware Emerges from Chaos Ransomware's Shadow

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• AI is taking phishing attacks to a whole new level of sophistication - Help Net Security

• Catches of the Month: Phishing Scams for March 2023 - IT Governance UK Blog

• Emotet starts post-break phishing campaign • The Register

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Microsoft: Business email compromise attacks can take just hours (bleepingcomputer.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Experts Warn of "SMS Pumping" Fraud Epidemic - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Vishing attacks increasing, but AI's role still unclear | TechTarget

• Defeating the Deepfake Danger - SecurityWeek

• Does Your Help Desk Know Who's Calling? (thehackernews.com)

2FA/MFA

• NCSC: Twitter Users Should Find MFA Alternatives - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Malware

• DrayTek VPN routers hacked with new malware to steal data, evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Malicious PyPI package signals direction of cyber crime • The Register

• How to prevent Microsoft OneNote files from infecting Windows with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Snake Keylogger Malware Removal Guide (makeuseof.com)

• Stealthy UEFI malware bypassing Secure Boot enabled by unpatchable Windows flaw | Ars Technica

• New malware infects business routers for data theft, surveillance (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Old Windows ‘Mock Folders’ UAC bypass used to drop malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Emotet malware attacks return after three-month break (bleepingcomputer.com)

• AI-Powered 'BlackMamba' Keylogging Attack Evades Modern EDR Security (darkreading.com)

• New ScrubCrypt Crypter Used in Cryptojacking Attacks Targeting Oracle WebLogic (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers Exploiting Remote Desktop Software Flaws to Deploy PlugX Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Custom Chinese Malware Found on SonicWall Appliance - SecurityWeek

• Remcos Trojan Returns to Most Wanted Malware List After Ukraine Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• FBI and international cops catch a NetWire RAT • The Register

Mobile

• Transparent Tribe Hackers Distribute CapraRAT via Trojanized Messaging Apps (thehackernews.com)

• Officials Targeted with Romance Scams and Android Trojan - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Google One expands security features to all plans with dark web report, VPN access - Help Net Security

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Akamai mitigated a record-breaking DDoS that peaked 900Gbps- Security Affairs

Internet of Things – IoT

• TPM 2.0 Library Vulnerabilities May Affect Billions of IoT Devices - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Chinese Hikvision cameras ‘that pose security threat’ used on King’s Sandringham estate (thetimes.co.uk)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Preventing corporate data breaches starts with remembering that leaks have real victims - Help Net Security

• The LastPass Hack Somehow Gets Worse | WIRED

• LastPass Hack: Engineer's Failure to Update Plex Software Led to Massive Data Breach (thehackernews.com)

• Credential Stuffing attack on Chick-fil-A impacted +71K users- Security Affairs

• Popular fintech apps expose valuable, exploitable secrets - Help Net Security

• PayPal Sued Over Data Breach that Impacted 35,000 users (hackread.com)

• Acer Data Breach? Hacker Claims to Sell 160GB Trove of Stolen Data (hackread.com)

• Brazilian Conglomerate Suffers 3TB Data Breach: Report - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Data breach exposed millions of Verizon customers' account info (androidpolice.com)

• Congress’ Social Security Numbers Leaked in DC Health Link Hack (gizmodo.com)

• Data protection vendor Acronis admits to data leak • The Register

• AT&T confirms 9m wireless accounts exposed by third part • The Register

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• At Least 30% of "Cyber-Criminals" Are Women: Report - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Cyber crime site shows off with a free leak of 2 million stolen card numbers - The Record from Recorded Future News

• BidenCash leaks 2.1M stolen credit/debit cards- Security Affairs

• Malicious PyPI package signals direction of cyber crime • The Register

• Where are the women in cyber security? • The Register

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• FTX Confirms $9 Billion in Customer Funds Vanished (gizmodo.com)

• Russia-Ukraine war: How both sides of the conflict have used crypto to win (cointelegraph.com)

• New ScrubCrypt Crypter Used in Cryptojacking Attacks Targeting Oracle WebLogic (thehackernews.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• 6 Ways To Go Beyond Awareness And Foster A Real Culture Of Cyber security (forbes.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Scams Security Pros Almost Fell For (darkreading.com)

• FTX Confirms $9 Billion in Customer Funds Vanished (gizmodo.com)

• Experts Warn of "SMS Pumping" Fraud Epidemic - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Scammers using voice-cloning A.I. to mimic relatives | Fortune

• Alleged security breach leaves millions of dollars missing from Flutterwave accounts | TechCrunch

• UK Government Plans Skills Boost for Public Sector Fraud Fight - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Officials Targeted with Romance Scams and Android Trojan - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New Rise In ChatGPT Scams Reported By Fraudsters (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Deepfakes

• From Disinformation to Deep Fakes: How Threat Actors Manipulate Reality (thehackernews.com)

• Defeating the Deepfake Danger - SecurityWeek

Insurance

• Talking Cyber Insurance With Munich Re - SecurityWeek

Dark Web

• Cyber crime site shows off with a free leak of 2 million stolen card numbers - The Record from Recorded Future News

• Google One expands security features to all plans with dark web report, VPN access - Help Net Security

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Snap CISO talks risky supply chain security business • The Register

• SolarWinds IR lead: supply-chain attacks 'getting bigger' • The Register

• AT&T confirms 9m wireless accounts exposed by third part • The Register

Software Supply Chain

• SBOMs become a security staple for the software supply chain • The Register

Cloud/SaaS

• Just 10% of Firms Can Resolve Cloud Threats in an Hour - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Experts Reveal Google Cloud Platform's Blind Spot for Data Exfiltration Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers are quickly learning how to target cloud systems (axios.com)

• Understanding the Shared Responsibility Model, Critical Step to Ensure Cloud Security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Attack Surface Management

• 5 Reasons You Should Care About Unmanaged Assets (darkreading.com)

Asset Management

• 5 Reasons You Should Care About Unmanaged Assets (darkreading.com)

Encryption

• New TPM 2.0 flaws could let hackers steal cryptographic keys (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Steganography Breakthrough Enables “Perfectly Secure” Digital Communications (scitechdaily.com)

API

• API Security for UK companies - IT Security Guru

• Attackers exploit APIs faster than ever before - Help Net Security

Open Source

• IceFire ransomware now encrypts both Linux and Windows systems (bleepingcomputer.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Research Reveals 'Password' Still the Most Common Term Used by Hackers to Breach Enterprise Networks - IT Security Guru

• Stolen credentials increasingly empower the cyber crime underground | CSO Online

• The LastPass Hack Somehow Gets Worse | WIRED

• Credential Stuffing attack on Chick-fil-A impacted +71K users- Security Affairs

• The Role of Verifiable Credentials In Preventing Account Compromise (darkreading.com)

• Securing ways to share workplace passwords • The Register

• Young government workers show poor password management habits - Help Net Security

Social Media

• NCSC: Twitter Users Should Find MFA Alternatives - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• TikTok unveils new European data security regime | Reuters

Training, Education and Awareness

• 6 Ways To Go Beyond Awareness And Foster A Real Culture Of Cyber security (forbes.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Biden Administration's Cyber security Strategy Takes Aim at Hackers (gizmodo.com)

• Government Claims New UK GDPR Will Save Firms Billions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Inadequate patches and advisories increase cyber risk - Help Net Security

• Why do Businesses Need to Focus More on Cyber security (hackread.com)

• Flashpoint: Threat vectors converging, increasing damage | TechTarget

• How to achieve and shore up cyber resilience in a recession - Help Net Security

• The cyber security landscape in the era of economic instability – Help Net Security

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• Open letter demands OWASP overhaul, warns of mass project exodus | CSO Online

• PCI Compliance Requirements Guide (trendmicro.com)

• NIST Retooling Cyber security Framework to Reflect Changing Cyber scape – MSSP Alert

Data Protection

• Government Claims New UK GDPR Will Save Firms Billions – Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• Experts see growing need for cyber security workers as one in six jobs go unfilled – The Globe and Mail

• How to Jump-Start Your Cyber security Career (darkreading.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Core Members of DoppelPaymer Ransomware Gang Targeted in Germany and Ukraine (thehackernews.com)

• FBI and international cops catch a NetWire RAT • The Register

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Secret Service and ICE break the law with fake phone towers • The Register

• Thought you'd opted out of online tracking? Think again • The Register

Artificial Intelligence

• AI is taking phishing attacks to a whole new level of sophistication - Help Net Security

• Employees Are Feeding Sensitive Business Data to ChatGPT (darkreading.com)

• You can poison AI datasets for just $60, a new study shows (fastcompany.com)

• Microsoft and MITRE developed a tool to prepare security teams for attacks on ML systems - Help Net Security

• Thousands scammed by AI voices mimicking loved ones in emergencies | Ars Technica

• Vishing attacks increasing, but AI's role still unclear | TechTarget

• AI-Powered 'BlackMamba' Keylogging Attack Evades Modern EDR Security (darkreading.com)

• Criminals will use ChatGPT to unleash wave of fraud, warns Darktrace (telegraph.co.uk)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• From Disinformation to Deep Fakes: How Threat Actors Manipulate Reality (thehackernews.com)

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

• What can security teams learn from a year of cyber warfare? | Computer Weekly

• New Backdoor MQsTTang Attributed to Mustang Panda Group - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Pegasus spyware used to spy on a Polish mayor- Security Affairs

• Russia-Ukraine war: How both sides of the conflict have used crypto to win (cointelegraph.com)

• Sharp Panda targets government entities in Southeast Asia- Security Affairs

• Russia’s Cyber Tactics in Ukraine Shift to Focus on Espionage - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Managed Service Provider Identifies Potential Chinese Spy Ring - MSSP Alert

• Chinese cyber spies target unpatched SonicWall gear • The Register

• What is Cyberwarfare? | Definition from TechTarget

Nation State Actors

• What can security teams learn from a year of cyber warfare? | Computer Weekly

• New Backdoor MQsTTang Attributed to Mustang Panda Group - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Russia Bans Messengers, Including WhatsApp, Telegram, And More (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Russia-Ukraine war: How both sides of the conflict have used crypto to win (cointelegraph.com)

• Chinese Hikvision cameras ‘that pose security threat’ used on King’s Sandringham estate (thetimes.co.uk)

• China-aligned APT is exploring new technology stacks for malicious tools - Help Net Security

• Sharp Panda targets government entities in Southeast Asia- Security Affairs

• Lazarus Group Exploits Zero-Day Vulnerability to Hack South Korean Financial Entity (thehackernews.com)

• Russia’s Cyber Tactics in Ukraine Shift to Focus on Espionage - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Managed Service Provider Identifies Potential Chinese Spy Ring - MSSP Alert

• Chinese firm got Covid contract despite trying to hack NHS data, minister says | Politics | The Guardian

• Chinese cyber spies target unpatched SonicWall gear • The Register

• TikTok unveils new European data security regime | Reuters

• Lazarus group infiltrated South Korean finance firm twice last year | CSO Online

• Remcos Trojan Returns to Most Wanted Malware List After Ukraine Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New Chinese regulatory body expected to streamline data governance rules | CSO Online

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Vulnerability Management

• Inadequate patches and advisories increase cyber risk - Help Net Security

• Build Cyber Resiliency With These Security Threat-Mitigation Considerations

• Zero Day Threat Protection for Your Network (trendmicro.com)

• 557 CVEs Added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog in 2022 - SecurityWeek

• Machine Learning Improves Prediction of Exploited Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

• Security Patch Management Strengthens Ransomware Defense (trendmicro.com)

• VulnCheck: CISA's KEV missing 42 vulnerabilities from 2022 | TechTarget

Vulnerabilities

• TPM 2.0 Library Vulnerabilities May Affect Billions of IoT Devices - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Researchers discover 'kill switch' in Starlink terminals - Security - iTnews

• PoC exploit for recently patched Microsoft Word RCE is public (CVE-2023-21716) - Help Net Security

• CISA's KEV Catalog Updated with 3 New Flaws Threatening IT Management Systems (thehackernews.com)

• Exploitation of Critical Vulnerability in End-of-Life VMware Product Ongoing - SecurityWeek

• Fortinet warns of new critical unauthenticated RCE vulnerability (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Information Disclosure Vulnerability in Adobe Experience Manager affecting multiple companies… | by Fat Selimi | Feb, 2023 | InfoSec Write-ups (infosecwriteups.com)

• Chinese cyber spies target unpatched SonicWall gear • The Register

• Chrome 111 Patches 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

• Bitwarden flaw can let hackers steal passwords using iframes (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Veeam warns to install patches to fix a bug in Backup & Replication- Security Affairs

• Hackers Exploiting Remote Desktop Software Flaws to Deploy PlugX Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Vulnerability Exposes Cisco Enterprise Routers to Disruptive Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Jenkins Server Vulnerabilities Chained for Remote Code Execution  - SecurityWeek

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Tools and Controls

• The LastPass Hack Somehow Gets Worse | WIRED

• 3 Ways Security Teams Can Use IP Data Context (darkreading.com)

• Two-Thirds of European Firms Have Started Zero Trust - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• What is zero trust? A model for more effective security | CSO Online

• Too Many SOAR Vendors are Failing MSSPs - MSSP Alert

• Why enterprise SecOps strategies must include XDR and MDR | TechTarget

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Other News

• Biden Administration's Cyber security Strategy Takes Aim at Hackers (gizmodo.com)

• Tracking device technology: A double-edged sword for CISOs | CSO Online

• From Disinformation to Deep Fakes: How Threat Actors Manipulate Reality (thehackernews.com)

• What CISOs need to understand about document signing - Help Net Security

• Thousands of websites hacked as part of redirection campaign- Security Affairs

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 10 February 2023

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

• UK Companies Banned from Paying Ransomware Hackers After Attacks on Royal Mail and Guardian

British companies have been banned from paying ransomware hackers after a spate of attacks on businesses including Royal Mail and the Guardian newspaper.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday unveiled sanctions on seven Russian hackers linked to a gang called Conti, effectively banning any payments to the group.

Thursday’s sanctions are the first of their kind to be specifically targeted against Russian ransomware gang members.

The actions follow a spate of high-profile attacks on businesses and amid warnings from GCHQ that Russian and Iranian hackers are stepping up actions in Britain.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/09/companies-banned-paying-hackers-attacks-royal-mail-guardian/

• Fraud Set to Be Upgraded as a Threat to National Security

Fraud is to be reclassified as a threat to national security under UK government plans that will force police chiefs to devote more officers to solving the crime.

It will be elevated to the same status as terrorism, with chief constables mandated to increase resources and combine capabilities in a new effort to combat a fraud epidemic that now accounts for 30 per cent of all crime.

It will be added to the strategic policing requirement, which means that forces will be required by ministers to treat fraud as a major priority alongside not only terrorism, but also public disorder, civil emergencies, serious and organised crime, cyber attacks and child sexual abuse.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/04/fraud-set-upgraded-threat-national-security/

• 98% of Attacks are Not Reported by Employees to their Employers

Cyber attackers are increasingly using social engineering tactics to lure employees into opening malicious emails in an attempt to trick them into providing login credentials, updating bank account information and paying fraudulent invoices. Worryingly, research conducted by security provider Abnormal has found that 98% of attacks on organisations are not reported to the organisation’s security team. In addition to this, the report found that the volume of business email compromise attacks are spiking, growing by 175% over the past two years. The report also found that nearly two-thirds of large enterprises experiencing a supply chain compromise attack in the second half of 2022.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/employees-fail-to-report-98-of-email-cyber-hacks-to-security-teams-study-finds/

• UK Second Most Targeted Nation Behind America for Ransomware

Security research team Kraken Labs released their report earlier this week, which found that of the 101 different countries that registered victims of ransomware, the UK had registered the second highest number of victims behind the US. Currently, there are over 60 ransomware groups, with the top 3 accounting for a third of all ransomware attacks.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2023/02/07/uk-second-most-targeted-nation-behind-america-for-ransomware/

• Financial Institutions are Suffering from Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks

This week security provider Contrast Security released its Cyber Bank Heists report, an annual report that exposes cyber security threats facing the financial sector. The report warns financial institutions that security must be a top-of-mind issue amid rising geopolitical tensions, increased destructive attacks utilising wipers and a record-breaking year of zero-day exploits. The report involved a series of interviews with financial sector security leaders and found some notable results. Some of the results include 64% of leaders seeing an increase in application attacks, 72% of respondents planning to increase investment in application security in 2023, 60% of respondents falling victim to destructive attacks and 50% of organisations detecting campaigns which aimed to steal non-public market information.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/financial-institutions-are-suffering-from-increasingly-sophisticated-cyberattacks-according-to-contrast-security

• An Email Attack Can End Up Costing You Over $1 Million

According to a report by security provider Barracuda Network, 75% of organisations had fallen victim to at least one successful email attack in the last 12 months, with those affected facing potential costs of over $1 million for their most expensive attack. The fallout from an email security attack can be significant, with the report finding 44% of those hit had faced significant downtime and business disruption. Additionally financial services greatly impacted by the loss of valuable data (59%) and payments made to attackers (51%). When it came to organisations preparation, 30% felt underprepared when dealing with account takeover and 28% felt unprepared for dealing with business email compromise.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/10/email-attack-damage-1-million/

• Cyber Crime Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

Global risks from population pressures and climate change to political conflicts and industrial supply chain challenges characterised 2022. Cyber criminals used this turmoil to exploit these trending topics, including significant events, public affairs, social causes, and anywhere else opportunity appeared. According to security researchers at Zscaler TheatLabz, 2023 will see a rise in Crime-as-a-service (CaaS), supply chains will be bigger targets than ever, there will be a greater need for defence in depth as endpoint protection will not be enough and finally, there will be a decrease in the time between initial compromise and the final stage of an attack.

https://www.darkreading.com/zscaler/cybercrime-shows-no-signs-of-slowing-down

• Surge of Swatting Attacks Targets Corporate Executive and Board Members

Swatting is the act of deceiving an emergency service with the purpose of the service then sending an emergency response, often armed, to a targeted persons address. Security provider Black Cloak has found that swatting incidents are now beginning to target C-suite executives and corporate board members, with the number of incidents increasing over the last few months. Malicious actors are using information from the dark web, company websites and property records to construct their swatting attacks.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3687177/surge-of-swatting-attacks-targets-corporate-executives-and-board-members.html#tk.rss_news

• Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Loom

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making it easier for threat actors to create sophisticated and malicious email campaigns. In their report, security provider Vade found that Q4 of 2022 saw a 36% volume increase in phishing campaigns compared to the previous quarter, with over 278.3 million unique phishing emails in that period. The researchers found in particular, new AI tools such as ChatGPT had made it easy for anyone, including those with limited skills, to conduct a sophisticated phishing campaign. Furthermore, the ability of ChatGPT to tailor phishing to different languages is an area for concern.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/bolstered-chatgpt-tools-phishing-surged-ahead

• Pro-Russian Hacktivist Group is Only Getting Started, Experts Warn

A pro-Russian hacktivist group's low-level distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on US critical infrastructure could be a precursor to more serious cyber attacks, health care and security officials warned this week. A DDoS attack involves overwhelming a targeted service, service or network with traffic in an attempt to disrupt it. Earlier this week Killnet, a politically motivated Russian hacking group, overloaded and took down some US healthcare organisations. The attack came after threatening western healthcare organisations for the continued NATO support of Ukraine.

https://www.axios.com/2023/02/03/killnet-russian-hackers-attacks

• Crypto Investors Lost Nearly $4 Billion to Hackers in 2022

Last year marked the worst year on record for cryptocurrency hacks, according to analytic firm Chainalysis’ latest report. According to the report, hackers stole $3.8 billion in 2022, up from $3.3 billion the previous year. De-centralised finance products, which are products that have no requirement for an intermediary or middle-man accounted for about 82% of all crypto stolen.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/04/crypto-investors-lost-nearly-4-billion-dollars-to-hackers-in-2022.html

• PayPal and Twitter Abused in Turkey Relief Donation Scams

Scammers are now exploiting the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria. This time, stealing donations by abusing legitimate platforms such as PayPal and Twitter. It has been identified that multiple scams are running which call for fundraising, linking the victim to a legitimate PayPal site. The money however, is kept by the scammer.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/paypal-and-twitter-abused-in-turkey-relief-donation-scams/

• Mysterious Leak of Booking.com Reservation Data is Being Used to Scam Customers

For almost 5 years, Booking.com customers have been on the receiving end of a continuous series of scams that demonstrate criminals have obtained travel plans amongst other personally identifiable information that were provided to Booking.com. The scams have involved users receiving fake emails purporting to be from Booking.com with genuine travel details that victims had provided. These emails contain links to malicious URL’s that look nearly identical to the Booking.com website. These then display the victim’s expected travel information, requiring them to input their card details. Some of the scams have developed and involve scammers sending WhatsApp messages after payment has been made, purporting to be from hotels which have been booked by the victims.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/mysterious-leak-of-booking-com-reservation-data-is-being-used-to-scam-customers/

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online

• US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek

• Bitcoin-demanding cyber criminals use bug from 2021 to initiate global ransomware attack  | TechCrunch

• UK second most targeted nation behind America for Ransomware - IT Security Guru

• Hackers who breached ION say ransom paid; company declines comment | Reuters

• New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)

• Massive ESXiArgs ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Royal Ransomware adds support for encrypting Linux, VMware ESXi systems-security affairs

• Ongoing VMware ESXi Ransomware Attack Highlights Inherent Virtualisation Risks (darkreading.com)

• Lessons Learned on Ransomware Prevention from the Rackspace Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek

• Ransomware Revolution: 4 Types of Cyber Risks in 2023 (trendmicro.com)

• Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget

• Linux version of Royal Ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Nevada Ransomware has released upgraded locker - Help Net Security

• Italy, France and Singapore Warn of a Spike in ESXI Ransomware-security affairs

• Massive ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide | CSO Online

• Major Florida Hospital Shuts Down Networks, Ransomware Attack Suspected - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• LockBit ransomware gang claims Royal Mail cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Linux variant of Clop Ransomware uses a flawed encryption-security affairs

• After Hive takedown, could the LockBit ransomware crew be the next to fall? | CyberScoop

• Russia-Linked Ransomware Gang Claims Responsibility for Royal Mail Attack (gizmodo.com)

• #StopRansomware - Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure Fund DPRK Espionage Activities | CISA

• Largest Canadian bookstore Indigo shuts down site after cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kaspersky Finds Growing Number of Parents Experiencing Ransomware Attacks on Children's Schools (darkreading.com)

• Hackers hit Vesuvius, UK engineering company shuts down affected systems • Graham Cluley

• MKS Instruments falls victim to ransomware attack | CSO Online

• North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | CyberScoop

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)

• Employees Fail to Report 98% of Email Cyber Hacks To Security Teams, Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• An email attack can end up costing you over $1 million - Help Net Security

• What SOCs Need to Know About Water Dybbuk A BEC Actor Using Open-Source Toolkits (trendmicro.com)

• How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)

• Cyber criminals exploit volatile job market for targeted email attacks - Help Net Security

• Hong Kong police and Interpol uncover servers and apps used by global phishing syndicate | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

• 'Phishing-as-a-service' kits drive uptick in theft: One business owner's story (cnbc.com)

• Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)

• NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• What SOCs Need to Know About Water Dybbuk A BEC Actor Using Open-Source Toolkits (trendmicro.com)

Malware

• Hacker develops new 'Screenshotter' malware to find high-value targets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Threat group targets over 1,000 companies with screenshotting and infostealing malware | CSO Online

• ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek

• Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs

• FormBook Malware Spreads via Malvertising Using MalVirt Loader to Evade Detection (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers backdoor Windows devices in Sliver and BYOVD attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• GuLoader Malware Using Malicious NSIS Executables to Target E-Commerce Industry (thehackernews.com)

• Novel Banking Trojan 'PixPirate' Targets Brazil - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New QakNote attacks push QBot malware via Microsoft OneNote files (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Gootkit Malware Adopts New Tactics to Attack Healthcare and Finance Firms (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs

• Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek

• Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register

• 'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)

• Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)

• Android 14 to block malware from abusing sensitive permissions (bleepingcomputer.com)

• UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)

• Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Passion botnet cyber  Attacks hit healthcare, as actors offer threat as DDoS-as-a-service  | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register

• Tor and I2P networks hit by wave of ongoing DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs

Internet of Things – IoT

• Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Security manufacturer’s smart cameras went dark for two hours (mybroadband.co.za)

• Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Remotely Tamper With Dahua Security Cameras - SecurityWeek

• NIST Picks IoT Standard for Small Electronics Cyber security (darkreading.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica

• TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate confirm data breach affecting 20M customers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 20 Million Users Impacted by Data Breach at Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder - SecurityWeek

• US Cyber Ambassador's Twitter account hacked • The Register

• Over 12% of analysed online stores expose private data, backups (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)

• Reddit reveals security incident • The Register

• Reddit Suffers Security Breach Exposing Internal Documents and Source Code (thehackernews.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Minister: Cyber crimes Now 20% of Spain’s Registered Offenses - SecurityWeek

• Finland’s Most-Wanted Hacker Nabbed in France – Krebs on Security

• Australian Man Sentenced for Scam Related to Optus Hack  - SecurityWeek

• Bungling Optus scammer was no criminal mastermind • Graham Cluley

• Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Crypto investors lost nearly $4 billion to hackers in 2022 (cnbc.com)

• Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Avraham Eisenberg in court accused of crypto exchange crash • The Register

• Crypto Drainers Are Ready to Ransack Investor Wallets (darkreading.com)

• How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)

• FTX Being Advised by Cyber security Firm Sygnia on Hack Inquiry, CEO Ray Says (coindesk.com)

• Scammers steal $4 million in crypto during in-person meeting • The Register

• Enigma Stealer Targets Cryptocurrency Industry with Fake Jobs (trendmicro.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Another RAC staffer nabbed for sharing road accident data • The Register

• Ex-Ubiquiti worker pleads guilty to data theft, extortion, and smear plot (bitdefender.com)

• Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• PayPal and Twitter abused in Turkey relief donation scams (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)

• Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica

• Avast Threat Report: Consumers Plagued With Refund Fraud, Tech Support Scams, and Adware (darkreading.com)

• As V-Day nears: Romance scams cost victims $1.3B last year • The Register

• What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)

• Father killed himself after falling victim to romance scam | News | The Times

• 'Brushing' scams send people free items, but could be a warning sign about a data breach - ABC News

• Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek

• From ‘hi mum’ to crypto fraud: five of the latest scams to watch out for | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Criminals use Telegram to recruit 'walkers' as America's big banks see an 84% increase in check fraud (cnbc.com)

• 5 Financial Scams To Watch Out For In 2023 (cnbc.com)

• How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)

• Banks leave doors open for scammers with flaws in online security | This is Money

• Trio Arrested in COVID PPE Fraud Probe - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs

Impersonation Attacks

• What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)

• HTML smuggling campaigns impersonate well-known brands to deliver malware | CSO Online

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)

• UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online

• US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek

Insurance

• Tackling the New Cyber Insurance Requirements: Can Your Organisation Comply? (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber Insurance, A Must-Have for Small Businesses - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• How to Optimise Your Cyber Insurance Coverage (darkreading.com)

Dark Web

• BlackSprut: Darknet Drug Market Advertises On Billboards In Moscow (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Have we learnt nothing from SolarWinds supply chain attacks? • The Register

• Vulnerability Provided Access to Toyota Supplier Management Network - SecurityWeek

Software Supply Chain

• Security pros say third parties are increasingly the cause of cyber security incidents | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• How the Cloud Is Shifting CISO Priorities (darkreading.com)

• Cloud Apps Still Demand Way More Privileges Than They Use (darkreading.com)

• Amazon S3 to apply security best practices for all new buckets - Help Net Security

• Why Some Cloud Services Vulnerabilities Are So Hard to Fix (darkreading.com)

• Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 7 Critical Cloud Threats Facing the Enterprise in 2023 (darkreading.com)

Hybrid/Remote Working

• Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)

• Predictions For Securing Today's Hybrid Workforce (darkreading.com)

Identity and Access Management

• 4 identity predictions for 2023 | TechTarget

Encryption

• It Isn't Time to Worry About Quantum Computing Just Yet (darkreading.com)

• UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)

API

• 10 API Security Best Practices To Protect Your Organisation (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Patching & Passwords Lead the Problem Pack for Cyber-Teams (darkreading.com)

Biometrics

• Novel face swaps emerge as a major threat to biometric security - Help Net Security

Social Media

• Twitter Implements API Paywall, but Will That Solve Its Enormous Bot Crisis? (darkreading.com)

• Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs

Malvertising

• FormBook Malware Spreads via Malvertising Using MalVirt Loader to Evade Detection (thehackernews.com)

• Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)

Training, Education and Awareness

• Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)

• Infosec Launches New Office Comedy Themed Security Awareness Training Series (darkreading.com)

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• It’s never too early to chat to your kids about online safety | Sarah Ayoub | The Guardian

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)

• While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security

• Prioritising Cyber security Regulation Harmonisation (darkreading.com)

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Quarter of CFOs Have Suffered $1m+ Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• A Hackers Pot of Gold: Your MSP's Data (thehackernews.com)

• The dangers of unsupported applications - Help Net Security

• Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Trends that impact on organisations' 2023 security priorities - Help Net Security

• With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)

• Optimising Cyber security Investments in a Constrained Spending Environment (darkreading.com)

• Surge of swatting attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online

• Lessons From the Cold War: How Quality Trumps Quantity in Cyber security (darkreading.com)

• Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• NIST Picks IoT Standard for Small Electronics Cyber security (darkreading.com)

Data Protection

• Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)

• While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security

• Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Hong Kong police and Interpol uncover servers and apps used by global phishing syndicate | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

• European Police Arrest 42 After Cracking Covert App - SecurityWeek

• Eurocops shut down Exclu encrypted messaging app • The Register

• Vastaamo hacking suspect arrested in France | TechTarget

• Finnish psychotherapy extortion suspect arrested in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)

• Steps To Planning And Implementation Of Data Privacy (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica

Artificial Intelligence

• Adversaries Using OpenAI’s ChatGPT Chatbot for Cyber  Attacks? Here are Some Clues - MSSP Alert

• Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)

• IT Leaders Reveal Cyber Fears Around ChatGPT - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)

• ChatGPT's potential to aid attackers puts IT pros on high alert - Help Net Security

• Hackers are selling a service that bypasses ChatGPT restrictions on malware | Ars Technica

• ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica

• Jailbreak Trick Breaks ChatGPT Content Safeguards (darkreading.com)

• Generative AI: A benefit and a hazard - Help Net Security

• Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Google's Bard AI bot mistake wipes $100bn off shares - BBC News

• $120bn wiped off Google after Bard AI chatbot gives wrong answer (telegraph.co.uk)

• Why ChatGPT Isn't a Death Sentence for Cyber Defenders (darkreading.com)

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

• Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)

• Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online

• Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs

• China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register

• What is hybrid warfare? Inside the centre dealing with modern threats - BBC News

• Anonymous leaked 128GB of data stolen from Russian ISP Convex revealing FSB's warrantless surveillance-security affairs

• DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)

• Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Info-Stealer Discovered as Russia Prepares for New Offensive - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security

• Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Spies, Hackers, Informants: How China Snoops on the US - SecurityWeek

• US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register

Nation State Actors

• Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)

• With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)

• Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online

• Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs

• China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Microsoft: Iran Unit Behind Charlie Hebdo Hack-and-Leak Op - SecurityWeek

• US Downs Chinese Balloon Off Carolina Coast - SecurityWeek

• How did the US successfully shoot down China's 'spy balloon' with a single missile - and what was on it? | US News | Sky News

• Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register

• Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register

• US sources insist Chinese balloon was military - BBC News

• DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)

• SNP MP Stewart McDonald's emails hacked by Russian group - BBC News

• Australia to remove Chinese surveillance cameras amid security fears - BBC News

• Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)

• UN Experts: North Korean Hackers Stole Record Virtual Assets - SecurityWeek

• Mysterious Russian satellites are now breaking apart in low-Earth orbit | Ars Technica

• New Info-Stealer Discovered as Russia Prepares for New Offensive - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Downed balloon one of a ‘fleet’ of Chinese surveillance devices, US alleges | Surveillance | The Guardian

• #StopRansomware - Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure Fund DPRK Espionage Activities | CISA

• The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security

• Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs

• NewsPenguin Threat Actor Emerges with Malicious Campaign Targeting Pakistani Entities (thehackernews.com)

• NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)

• US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register

• North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | Cyber scoop

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Vulnerability Management

• Vulnerabilities and exposures to rise to 1,900 a month in 2023: Coalition | CSO Online

• The dangers of unsupported applications - Help Net Security

• Patching & Passwords Lead the Problem Pack for Cyber-Teams (darkreading.com)

• Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget

• How to fix the top 5 cyber security vulnerabilities | TechTarget

• 20 Powerful Vulnerability Scanning Tools In 2023 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Vulnerabilities

• High-Severity Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Patched in VMware Workstation - SecurityWeek

• New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)

• GoAnywhere MFT Users Warned of Zero-Day Exploit - SecurityWeek

• Serious security hole plugged in infosec tool binwalk | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)

• Cisco fixed command injection bug in IOx Application Hosting Environment-security affairs

• Vulnerability In F5 BIG-IP May Cause DoS And Code Execution (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• GoAnywhere MFT zero-day flaw actively exploited-security affairs

• Exploitation attempts for Oracle E-Business Suite flaw observed after PoC release-security affairs

• Critical vulnerability patched in Jira Service Management Server and Data Center | CSO Online

• Warning: Hackers Actively Exploiting Zero-Day in Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT (thehackernews.com)

• Exploit released for actively exploited GoAnywhere MFT zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)

• OpenSSL Ships Patch for High-Severity Flaws - SecurityWeek

• Patch Released for Actively Exploited GoAnywhere MFT Zero-Day - SecurityWeek

• Unpatched Security Flaws Disclosed in Multiple Document Management Systems (thehackernews.com)

• SonicWall warns web content filtering is broken on Windows 11 22H2 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chrome 110 Patches 15 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

• OpenSSL Fixes Multiple New Security Flaws with Latest Update (thehackernews.com)

• Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

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Tools and Controls

• Growing number of endpoint security tools overwhelm users, leaving devices unprotected | CSO Online

• Poor Endpoint Device Management Trigger Cyber  Attacks, New Report Finds - MSSP Alert

• Implementing Digital Rights Management Systems to Safeguard Against Unauthorised Access Of Protected Content (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Endpoint security getting easier, but most organisations lack tool consolidation - Help Net Security

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Other News

• A Hackers Pot of Gold: Your MSP's Data (thehackernews.com)

• Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online

• How to Think Like a Hacker and Stay Ahead of Threats (thehackernews.com)

• Surge of swatting a attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online

• Bermuda: Major Internet And Power Outage Strikes (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 28 October 2022

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

• ‘Biggest Cyber Risk Is Complacency, Not Hackers’ - UK Information Commissioner Issues Warning as Construction Company Fined £4.4 Million

The UK Information Commissioner has warned that companies are leaving themselves open to cyber attack by ignoring crucial measures like updating software and training staff.

The warning comes as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a fine of £4,400,000 to Interserve Group Ltd, a Berkshire based construction company, for failing to keep personal information of its staff secure. This is a breach of data protection law.

The ICO found that the company failed to put appropriate security measures in place to prevent a cyber attack, which enabled hackers to access the personal data of up to 113,000 employees through a phishing email.

The compromised data included personal information such as contact details, national insurance numbers, and bank account details, as well as special category data including ethnic origin, religion, details of any disabilities, sexual orientation, and health information.

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said:

 “The biggest cyber risk businesses face is not from hackers outside of their company, but from complacency within their company. If your business doesn't regularly monitor for suspicious activity in its systems and fails to act on warnings, or doesn't update software and fails to provide training to staff, you can expect a similar fine from my office.

 “Leaving the door open to cyber attackers is never acceptable, especially when dealing with people’s most sensitive information. This data breach had the potential to cause real harm to Interserve’s staff, as it left them vulnerable to the possibility of identity theft and financial fraud.

 “Cyber attacks are a global concern, and businesses around the world need to take steps to guard against complacency. The ICO and NCSC already work together to offer advice and support to businesses, and this week I will be meeting with regulators from around the world, to work towards consistent international cyber guidance so that people’s data is protected wherever a company is based.”

https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2022/10/biggest-cyber-risk-is-complacency-not-hackers/

• Ransomware Threat Shifts from US to EMEA and APAC

The volume of ransomware detections in Q3 2022 was the lowest in two years, but certain geographical regions have become bigger targets as attacks on US organisations wane, according to SonicWall. The security vendor used its own threat detection network, including over one million security sensors in more than 200 countries, to reveal the current landscape.

The good news is that global malware volumes have remained flat for the past three quarters, amounting to a total of over four billion detections in the year to date. Of these, ransomware is also trending down after a record-breaking 2021. Even so, SonicWall detected 338 million compromise attempts in the first three quarters of the year.

Year-to-date ransomware attempts in 2022 have already exceeded the full-year totals from four of the past five years, the vendor claimed. While attacks on US organisations dipped by 51% year-on-year during the period, they increased significantly in the UK (20%), EMEA (38%) and APAC (56%).

The cyber-warfare battlefront continues to shift, posing dangerous threats to organisations of all sizes. With expanding attack surfaces, growing numbers of threats and the current geopolitical landscape, it should be no surprise that even the most seasoned IT professional can feel overwhelmed.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-threat-shifts-from-us/

• Phishing Attacks Increase by Over 31% In Third Quarter

Email security and threat detection company Vade has found that phishing emails in the third quarter this year increased by more than 31% quarter on quarter, with the number of emails containing malware in the first three quarters surpassing the 2021 level by 55.8 million.

Malware emails in the third quarter of 2022 alone increased by 217% compared to same period in 2021. Malware email volume peaked in July, reaching 19.2 million, before month-over-month declines in August and September, with numbers dropping to 16.8 million and 16.5 million respectively.

According to the report, email is the preferred attack vector for phishing and malware, as it gives hackers a direct channel to users, the weakest link in an organisation’s attack surface. The report analyses phishing and malware data captured by Vade, which does business internationally.

As attacks become more sophisticated, Vade said, they also become increasingly capable of evading the basic security offered by email providers, which almost eight in 10 businesses still rely on, according to Vade’s research.

While the activity of threat actors fluctuates, Vade’s research found that impersonating trusted and established brands remains the most popular strategy for hackers. In the third quarter of 2022, Facebook was the most impersonated brand for the second consecutive quarter, followed by Google, MTB, PayPal, and Microsoft.

The financial services sector remains the most impersonated industry, representing 32% of phishing emails detected by Vade, followed by cloud at 25%, social media at 22%, and internet/telco at 13%.

As phishing attacks increase, the techniques used by threat actors continue to evolve. While phishing campaigns were traditionally large scale and random, more recent campaigns seen by Vade suggest that hackers have pivoted to using more targeted campaigns.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3678311/phishing-attacks-increase-by-over-31-in-third-quarter-report.html#tk.rss_news

• UK Urged to Watch for Fraud as People Aim to Make Extra Cash in Cost of Living Crisis

Brits have been warned to “stay alert for fraud” as more people are out to make extra cash as the cost of living rises across the country.

UK Finance said that more than half (56%) of people admitted that they are likely to look for opportunities to make extra money in the coming months, which could leave some people more susceptible to fraud.

According to the trade association’s Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign, one in six, or 16%, of people said the rising cost of living means they are more likely to respond to an unprompted approach from someone offering an investment opportunity or a loan.

Young people were more likely to be at risk, the data suggested, which surveyed 2,000 people across the UK. More than a third (34%) of 18 to 34-year-olds said they are more likely to respond to an unprompted approach from someone, with three in 10 (30%) also more likely to provide their personal or financial details to secure the arrangement.

Overall, three in five people (60%) said they are concerned about falling victim to financial fraud or a scam. It comes as recent figures from UK Finance showed that £609.8m was lost due to fraud and scams in the first half of this year.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-watch-for-fraud-extra-cash-cost-of-living-crisis-230154352.html

• HR Departments Play a Key Role in Cyber Security

A common shortcoming of human resources (HR) departments is that — despite being an operation designed to put humans at the centre of how an organisation is run — they often fail to adequately align with their IT counterparts and the core technology systems that define how a business is run and protected from cyber-risk.

Insufficient coordination between HR and IT processes and procedures remains common and gives rise to security gaps that can represent some of the most dangerous vulnerabilities on a company's attack surface. Let's examine the scope of the challenge and some key cyber-asset management priorities that can close the schism for a more robust cyber security posture.

Gone are the days when HR's role in securing the enterprise relied on basic tutorials for employees about protecting passwords on company equipment. Today's threat environment intersects with the workforce in more ways than ever — from bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and authentication gaps to user vulnerabilities that make spear-phishing seem quaint. Traditional social engineering attacks are now being augmented by zero-click exploits that compromise employee devices without the user ever having to click a link or take any action at all.

Beyond malicious threats, even routine HR processes can introduce risk to the organisation when they're not adequately aligned with the IT processes in an organisation. As just one example, when an employee leaves a company, the offboarding goes far beyond just the exit interview to also include removing access to multiple enterprise systems, accounts, and devices — all of which require close coordination between HR and IT personnel and systems.

To better secure the enterprise, it's mission-critical to get HR and IT more united in a common and advanced understanding of cyber hygiene and risk mitigation. This relies on enhanced awareness of the impact that HR processes have on cyber assets in other parts of the organisation, as well as the HR role in access management for employees and contractors. This requires asset visibility that must be ongoing and in real time, since our roles, devices, and access to data and systems may change multiple times over the course of our employment.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/hr-departments-play-a-key-role-in-cybersecurity

• The Long-Term Psychological Effects of Ransomware Attacks

Northwave has conducted scientific research into the psychological effects of a ransomware crisis on both organisations and individuals. The findings reveal the deep marks that a ransomware crisis leaves on all those affected. It also shows how their IT and security teams can turn in disarray long after the crisis itself has passed.

The research reveals how the psychological impact of ransomware attacks can persist on people in affected organisations for a very long time. It shows that crisis team members may develop serious symptoms far later. Top management and HR need to take measures against this, in fact right from the very beginning of the crisis. They are the ones bearing responsibility for the well-being of their staff.

They also discovered how teams have fallen apart some time after the crisis, with members leaving or staying home on sick-leave. The study reveals that effects can linger throughout the organisation. All in all the investigation shows that this invisible impact of a cyber crisis is an issue for the general business management, and certainly also for HR.

Northwave regards the response to a cyber attack as occurring in three phases. First comes the actual crisis situation, which evolves into an incident phase after about a week. A plan of action is then in place, and recovery measures are launched. The fire has been largely extinguished after a month or so, with the first (basic) functionalities available again.

Full recovery can take one to two years. Each phase has its specific effects on the minds and bodies of those involved, and by extension, on the organisation or parts of it. “On average a company is down for three weeks following a malware attack,” notes Van der Beijl. “But it surprised us that the impact persists for so long afterwards. Psychological issues are still surfacing a year after the actual crisis.”

One of every seven employees involved in the attack, either directly or indirectly, exhibits severe enough symptoms several months later, at a level considered to be above the clinical threshold at which professional trauma treatment help is needed. One in five employees say they would actually have needed more professional help subsequently in coming to terms with the attack. One in three liked to have more knowledge and concrete tools to deal with the psychological effects of the attack.

A ransomware attack has enduring psychological effects on the way employees view the world. Two-thirds of employees, including those not actually involved in the attack, now believe the world is less safe. As one IT manager pointed out, “I’ve become far more suspicious. The outside world is a dangerous place.”

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/10/25/psychological-effects-ransomware/

• 7 Hidden Social Media Cyber Risks for Enterprises

Whether they use it to amplify the brand, recruit new employees, advertise new products, or even sell directly to consumers, corporate brands love social media.

According to recent figures, brand advertising on social media is up by 53% in the last year, and that's not accounting for further investments that brands are making in developing and distributing content. They're pushing viral videos, funny memes, podcasts, written material, and more to increase engagement with their customers.

And brands are doing it across not only the old reliable social networks like Facebook and Twitter, but also emerging platforms like TikTok. In fact, according to another recent study, in 2022 marketers are expanding their horizons, with their increased content investments focused on areas like live streaming, long-form and short-form video content, virtual reality and augmented reality content, experimental content, and live audio chat rooms. The top platforms they're focused on most for increasing spending are now TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

With the broadening of these social-media marketing strategies comes more risk. Whether an organisation uses social media to amplify its brand, or its executives and employees leverage social channels to bolster their professional and personal brands, these marketing platforms are a breeding ground for a wide range of cyber attacks and scams, including in the areas of artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and biometrics.

Cyber criminals, fraudsters, spies, and activists work around the clock to take advantage of emerging attack surfaces that arise from enterprise use of social media. The article below presents just a few avenues that organisations may overlook when they double-down on their social media investments.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/7-hidden-social-media-cyber-risks-enterprises

• 54% of Staff Would Reconsider Working for a Firm That Had Experienced a Cyber Breach, Research Finds

Over half (54%) of office workers would reconsider working for a company that had recently experienced a cyber breach. That's according to a new study by cyber security technology provider, Encore.

An independent study of 100 C-level executives, 100 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and 500 office workers in the US and the UK, conducted by Censuswide, sought to uncover the gap that remains between boards and security teams when it comes to addressing cyber demands.

Only a third (33%) of staff said they would be "completely unphased" if their employer suffered a cyber break-in. The majority (57%) of C-level executives polled said they have been breached in the last 12 months alone. Most office workers, however, were unaware, with only 39% believing their organisation had been the victim of a successful attack.

The immediate financial cost of a cyber-attack remains the number one concern for businesses, but security teams are learning that there is a long tail to these breaches, with employees at risk of losing faith in their company, its ethics and values and its overarching responsibilities to the general public. In a competitive market, this is a stark warning to businesses across the world. Keeping your staff in the dark about cyber risk is a fundamental error, not to mention the additional impact of delayed disclosure to customers.

41% of C-level executives polled named reputational damage as one of the biggest costs to their business following a cyber-attack, with 34% agreeing that loss of clientele or their trust was a significant cost.

Despite many admitting to suffering a cyber breach in the last year, the overwhelming majority (92%) of CISOs and C-level executives polled believe their business is secure at any given moment. Encore believes that a mindset shift is needed at an organisational level, treating cyber incidents and the security of employee and customer data as a fundamental part of normal business operations, not a function that sits on the outside, looking in.

https://www.darkreading.com/careers-and-people/54-of-staff-would-reconsider-working-for-a-firm-that-had-experienced-a-cyber-breach-research-finds

• Evolve as Fast as the Cyber Criminals: Protect Your Business Now, Before It’s Too Late

According to the 2022 Cyber Threat Report, 2021 saw a global average increase of 105% in the number of ransomware attacks. Proofpoint's 2022 State of the Phish report said that a staggering 82% of UK businesses that experienced a ransomware attack sent payment to the cyber criminals – believing this was the cheapest and easiest way to regain access to their data. However, in many cases criminals simply took the payment without restoring access and the organisation finds itself on criminal target lists as it has demonstrated that attacks pay off. Even when decryption keys are handed over it can take an extended period of time to restore data.

One attack, on a hospital in Dusseldorf, Germany, was implicated in the death of a patient who had to be diverted to an alternative site as the A&E department had been forced to close due to the loss of core computer systems. It appears that the attack had been misdirected, and the hackers – who were quickly apprehended by the police – handed over the encryption keys immediately when they realised what had happened. Nevertheless, the decryption process was slow. It began in the early hours of September 11 and by September 20 the hospital was still unable to add or retrieve information, or even send emails. 30 servers had been corrupted.

The methods and techniques required to conduct a cyber-attack have never been more accessible. Whether it is on the darknet or through open-source content, the ability to purchase material that allows a malicious user to conduct a cyber-attack is readily available. Conducting a ransomware attack and using it to extort money from companies and government services alike, is now viewed as a viable business model by organised criminals.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/10/28/evolve-as-fast-as-the-cybercriminals-protect-your-business-now-before-its-too-late/

• Enterprise Ransomware Preparedness Improving but Still Lacking

The majority of organisations have made ransomware preparedness a top-five business priority, yet only half believe their preparedness is stronger than it was two years ago. That is according to a recent survey, "The Long Road Ahead to Ransomware Preparedness" by Enterprise Strategy Group, a division of TechTarget.

Despite warnings and available preparedness resources, ransomware continues to distress companies. Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents said they suffered a successful attack within the last year, and 73% reported they had one or more attacks that caused negative financial impact or disrupted business operations in the same time period.

The good news is the board and the C-suite are finally getting the message that more needs to be done to address impending ransomware attempts. In fact, 79% of respondents said business leaders made ransomware preparedness a top business priority, and 82% of organisations plan to invest more in ransomware preparedness over the next 12 to 18 months.

With preparedness investments expected to grow, the survey asked how organisations currently tackle ransomware. Respondents said the most important prevention tactics involve efforts in the following:

• network security (43%)

• backup infrastructure security (40%)

• endpoint security (39%)

• email security (36%)

• data encryption (36%)

Ongoing activities cited included data recovery testing, employee security awareness training, response readiness assessments, incident response functional exercises, penetration testing, incident planning and playbook development, phishing simulation programs, tabletop exercises, and blue/red/purple team engagements.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Enterprise-ransomware-preparedness-improving-but-still-lacking

• Why Are There So Many Data Breaches? A Growing Industry of Criminals is Brokering in Stolen Data

New details have emerged on the severity of the Australian Medibank hack, which has now affected all users. Optus, Medibank, Woolworths, and, last Friday, electricity provider Energy Australia are all now among the Australian household names that have fallen victim to a data breach.

If it seems like barely a week goes by without news of another incident like this, you would be right. Cyber crime is on the rise – seven major Australian businesses were affected by data breaches in the past month alone.

But why now? And who is responsible for this latest wave of cyber attacks?

In large part, the increasing number of data breaches is being driven by the growth of a global illicit industry that trades in your data. In particular, hackers known as “initial access brokers” specialise in illegally gaining access to victim networks and then selling this access to other cyber criminals.

Hackers and initial access brokers are just one part of a complex and diversifying cyber crime ecosystem. This ecosystem contains various cyber criminal groups who increasingly specialise in one particular aspect of online crime and then work together to carry out the attacks.

Ransomware attacks are complex, involving up to nine different stages. These include gaining access to a victim’s network, stealing data, encrypting a victim’s network, and issuing a ransom demand. Increasingly, these attacks are carried out not by lone cyber criminal groups, but rather by networks of different cyber crime groups, each of which specialises in a different stage of the attack.

Initial access brokers will often carry out the first stage of a ransomware attack. Described by Google’s Threat Analysis Group as “the opportunistic locksmiths of the security world”, it’s their job to gain access to a victim’s network.

https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-data-breaches-a-growing-industry-of-criminals-is-brokering-in-stolen-data-193015

• How The "pizza123" Password Could Take Down an Organisation

Criminal hackers took responsibility for a recent FastCompany breach, saying they exploited an easily guessed default password, "pizza123." The business magazine reused the weak password across a dozen WordPress accounts, according to the hackers, who described the attack in their own article on FastCompany.com before the publication took the site down.

The breach, the bitter taste of pizza123, and the plight of malicious push notifications, demand caution when selecting and managing passwords.

The hackers claimed to have used the vulnerable password pizza123 to access authentication tokens, Apple News API keys, and Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) tokens. Then they sent offensive push notifications to the home screens of subscribers of the FastCompany channel on the Apple News service.

After decades of investment in sculpting the organisation's brand image, a business can watch its reputation flounder in the face of an obscene push notification. The sentiment of millions of faithful customers can turn sour in an instant. By the time organisations block the messages and make public apologies, the harm is done.

Customers can swap to a competitor, or even sue for the offence when they have entrusted a publisher to provide safe content. Regulatory bodies can fine organisations. The company can spend time and money defending itself in court and restoring its image. But malicious push notifications can do a lot worse than offend customers—criminal hackers can load messages with malware and infect consumer devices, leading to privacy violations and consumer financial fraud.

People often build passwords using the first word that comes to mind and a brief series of numbers. Pizza123 is a perfect example of an easy-to-guess password. Employees will create passwords already appearing on breached password lists. Criminal hackers use brute force attacks to confirm working passwords from the same lists.

Nearly two-thirds of employees reuse their passwords. The more they reuse them across business and personal accounts, the more likely criminal hackers will breach them and test them on the organisation. Hackers know to try the same passwords on different companies they hack because of password reuse.

Robust password management enables fine-grained password policies and policy customisation. With a custom password policy, organisations can increase complexity requirements, like length and previous-password change minimums. A custom password policy with increased complexity requirements will block 95% of weak and breached passwords.

Password length is a particularly critical component of strong passwords. Ninety-three percent of the passwords used in brute force attacks include eight or more characters. A custom password policy can require a minimum password length, decreasing password entropy.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/how-the-pizza123-password-could-take-down-an-organization/

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Threats

Ransomware and Extortion

• SonicWall: Ransomware down this year, but there’s a catch • The Register

• Medibank cyber-attack: should the health insurer pay a ransom for its customers’ data? | Health | The Guardian

• Health insurer Medibank's infosec diagnosis is getting worse • The Register

• Microsoft links Raspberry Robin worm to Clop ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• How to detect Windows worm that now distributes ransomware • The Register

• Ransomware Barrage Aimed at US Healthcare Sector, Feds Warn (darkreading.com)

• BlackByte ransomware affiliate also steals victims' data • The Register

• Cuba ransomware affiliate targets Ukraine, CERT-UA warns - Security Affairs

• OldGremlin Ransomware Fierce Comeback Against Russian Targets (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• CISA warns of ransomware attacks on healthcare providers (techtarget.com)

• Industrial Ransomware Attacks: New Groups Emerge, Manufacturing Pays Highest Ransom | SecurityWeek.Com

• Ransom Cartel - REvil Rebrand? (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Addressing Ransomware in Hospitals & Medical Devices (trendmicro.com)

• Australian Clinical Labs says patient data stolen in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Vice Society Hackers Confess To Education Sector Ransomware Attacks (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Why Ransomware in Education on the Rise and What That Means for 2023 (thehackernews.com)

• Largest EU copper producer Aurubis suffers cyber attack, IT outage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hive Ransomware Hackers Begin Leaking Data Stolen from Tata Power Energy Company (thehackernews.com)

• Ransomware Gangs Ramp Up Industrial Attacks in US (darkreading.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• DHL Replaces LinkedIn As Most Imitated Brand in Phishing Attempts - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Social engineering attacks anybody could fall victim to - Help Net Security

• Twilio Says Employees Targeted in Separate Smishing, Vishing Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

Malware

• Threat Groups Repurpose Banking Trojans into Backdoors (darkreading.com)

• Types of cloud malware and how to defend against them (techtarget.com)

• Cranefly Hackers Use Stealthy Techniques to Deliver and Control Malware - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Thousands Of Fake PoC Exploits In GitHub Repositories Deliver Malware – (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Chrome extensions with 1 million installs hijack targets’ browsers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers use Microsoft IIS web server logs to control malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

Mobile

• Apple Releases Patch for New Actively Exploited iOS and iPadOS Zero-Day Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• These Dropper Apps On Play Store Targeting Over 200 Banking and Cryptocurrency Wallets (thehackernews.com)

• Android Hacking Warning As Criminals Target TikTok And PayPal For (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• IoT Fingerprinting Helps Authenticate and Secure All Those Devices (darkreading.com)

• IoT security strategy from enterprises using connected devices | Network World

• Security by design vital to protecting IoT, smart cities around the world, says CEO of UK NCSC | CSO Online

• Your CCTV devices can be hacked and weaponized - Help Net Security

• Critical Flaws in Abode Home Security Kit Allow Hackers to Hijack, Disable Cameras | SecurityWeek.Com

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Thomson Reuters leaked at least 3TB of sensitive data | Cybernews

• See Tickets discloses 2.5 years-long credit card theft breach (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Twilio discloses another hack from June, blames voice phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Seven months after it found out, FamilySearch tells users their personal data has been breached • Graham Cluley

• Bed Bath & Beyond reviewing possible data breach | Reuters

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Ukrainian charged for operating Raccoon Stealer malware service (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Interpol says metaverse opens up new world of cyber crime | Reuters

• From Bounty to Exploit Observations About Cyber criminal Contests (trendmicro.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Researchers uncover cryptojacking campaign targeting Docker, Kubernetes cloud servers | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Purpleurchin: Cryptocurrency miners scour GitHub, Heroku • The Register

• Cryptomining campaign abused free GitHub account trials (techtarget.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• New York Post hacked? No, the culprit is an employee - Security Affairs

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• UK Anti-fraud Efforts Failing (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Dealers Report Dramatic Increase in Identity Fraud: Most Lack Effective Protection (darkreading.com)

• Economic strife fuels cyber anxiety - Help Net Security

• LinkedIn Releases New Security Features To Combat Fraud (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Beware Of SCAMS As Cost Of Living Bites Finances, Expert Comments (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Insurance

• Health insurer Medibank's infosec diagnosis is getting worse • The Register

• Cyber Insurance Market 2022: FAQs & Updates with iBynd (trendmicro.com)

Dark Web

• Notorious ‘BestBuy’ hacker arraigned for running dark web market (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Student arrested for running one of Germany’s largest dark web markets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Dark Web Forum Busts Come Days Apart (darkreading.com)

• British hacker arraigned for running The Real Deal dark web marketplace - Security Affairs

Software Supply Chain

• Supply Chain Attacks Or Vulnerabilities Experienced By 80% Of Organisations (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• How the Software Supply Chain Security is Threatened by Hackers (thehackernews.com)

• Open Source Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg in Software Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)

• Consumer behaviours are the root of open source risk - Help Net Security

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

• Key observations on DDoS attacks in H1 2022 - Help Net Security

• Meet the Windows servers that have been fuelling massive DDoSes for months | Ars Technica

Cloud/SaaS

• Everything you Need to Know about Cloud Hacking and its Methodologies (analyticsinsight.net)

• It’s time to prioritize SaaS security | InfoWorld

• Top Cloud Security Challenges & How to Beat Them (trendmicro.com)

• Atlassian Vulnerabilities Highlight Criticality of Cloud Services (darkreading.com)

• Threat Actors Target AWS EC2 Workloads to Steal Credentials (trendmicro.com)

• Cloud and Hybrid Working Security Concerns Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 4 Reasons Open Source Matters for Cloud Security (darkreading.com)

• Cloud Providers Throw Their Weight Behind Confidential Computing (darkreading.com)

Hybrid Working

• Balancing remote work privacy vs. productivity monitoring (techtarget.com)

• Cloud and Hybrid Working Security Concerns Surge - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Attack Surface Management

• Attack Surface Management 2022 Midyear Review Part 2 (trendmicro.com)

• Asset risk management: Getting the basics right - Help Net Security

Encryption

• New Critical Vuln In Component That Allow Encryption Across Internet - (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Can a new form of cryptography solve the internet’s privacy problem? | Data protection | The Guardian

API

• Thousands Of Publicly Exposed API Tokens Could Threaten Software Integrity (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Key API Security Principles And How To Implement Them (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Open Source

• Open Source Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg in Software Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)

• 4 Reasons Open Source Matters for Cloud Security (darkreading.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Why it's time to expire mandatory password expiration policies (techtarget.com)

• Feds say Ukrainian man running malware service amassed 50M unique credentials | Ars Technica

Biometrics

• ICO Warns of "Immature" Biometric Tech - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Social Media

• LinkedIn Phishing Spoof Bypasses Google Workspace Security (darkreading.com)

• LinkedIn's new security features combat fake profiles, threat actors (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cyber security event cancelled after scammers disrupt LinkedIn live chat (bitdefender.com)

• Expert Opinion: What Does Musk's Takeover Mean For Cyber security? (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Cyber attackers Target Instagram Users With Threats of Copyright Infringement (darkreading.com)

Cyber Bullying, Cyber Stalking and Sextortion

• Ex-cop abused police tool in Snapshot sextortion plot that stole sexually explicit photos and videos (bitdefender.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• UK Construction Biz Fined £4.4m for Serious Security Failings - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Australia Flags New Corporate Penalties for Privacy Breaches | SecurityWeek.Com

Data Protection

• What consumers expect from organisations that handle their personal data - Help Net Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Criminals are starting to exploit the metaverse, says Interpol. So police are heading there too | ZDNET

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

• Ukraine: Russian cyber attacks aimless and opportunistic (techtarget.com)

• Unknown Actors are Deploying RomCom RAT to Target Ukrainian Military (thehackernews.com)

• Slovak, Polish Parliaments Hit by Cyber attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

• Norway arrests man accused of being Russian spy - BBC News

• Cuba ransomware affiliate targets Ukraine, CERT-UA warns - Security Affairs

• Ukraine Warns of Cuba Ransomware Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Russia says Starlink satellites could become military target • The Register

• Calls for inquiry mount after reports that Truss’s phone was hacked | Financial Times

• OldGremlin Ransomware Fierce Comeback Against Russian Targets (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Nation State Actors – China

• Chinese spy duo charged in Huawei case as US condemns ‘egregious’ interference | China | The Guardian

• Chinese Connected Cyber Crew Unleashes Disinformation Campaign Ahead of US Elections - MSSP Alert

• Federal bans don't stop US states from buying Chinese kit • The Register

• Chinese Spies Indicted for Coercing Nationals Living in US to Return as Agents of the PRC - MSSP Alert

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• Kimsuky Hackers Spotted Using 3 New Android Malware to Target South Koreans (thehackernews.com)

Nation State Actors – Iran

• Iranian government blames 'foreign country' for hack-and-leak of nuclear information - CyberScoop

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Vulnerability Management

• Outpost24: How Pentesting-as-a-Service finds vulnerabilities before they're exploited (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Protecting organisations by understanding end-of-life software risks - Help Net Security

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Vulnerabilities

• OpenSSL to fix the second critical flaw ever - Security Affairs

• Urgent: Google Issues Emergency Patch for Chrome Zero-Day (darkreading.com)

• Multiple RCE Vulnerabilities Discovered in Veeam Backup & Replication App - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• ConnectWise fixes RCE bug exposing thousands of servers to attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Critical authentication bug in Fortinet products actively exploited in the wild | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)

• Apple megaupdate: Ventura out, iOS and iPad kernel zero-day – act now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Windows Mark of the Web Zero-Days Remain Patchless, Under Exploit (darkreading.com)

• 22-Year-Old Vulnerability Reported in Widely Used SQLite Database Library (thehackernews.com)

• Cisco warns admins to patch AnyConnect flaws exploited in attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Exploit released for critical VMware RCE vulnerability, patch now (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cisco Confirms In-the-Wild Exploitation of Two VPN Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

• Incoming OpenSSL critical fix: Organisations, users, get ready! - Help Net Security

• Cisco Users Informed of Vulnerabilities in Identity Services Engine | SecurityWeek.Com

• VMware fixes critical RCE in VMware Cloud Foundation - Security Affairs

• VMware Patches Critical Vulnerability in End-of-Life Product | SecurityWeek.Com

• Multiple vulnerabilities affect the Juniper Junos OS - Security Affairs

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Q3 2022 Phishing and Malware Report: Phishing Volumes Increase 31% (vadesecure.com)

• Attack Surface Management 2022 Midyear Review Part 2 (trendmicro.com)

• Justice response inadequate to meet scale of fraud epidemic - Committees - UK Parliament

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Other News

• Cyber Security Risks & Stats This Spooky Season (darkreading.com)

• Cyber Certification Skills Are For Life, Not Just For Linkedin (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• 8 hallmarks of a proactive security strategy | CSO Online

• Implementing Defence in Depth to Prevent and Mitigate Cyber Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Cyber security’s importance and impact reaches all levels of the tech workforce - Help Net Security

• Stress Is Driving Cyber Security Professionals to Rethink Roles (darkreading.com)

• Equifax's Lessons Are Still Relevant, 5 Years Later (darkreading.com)

• Why dark data is a growing danger for corporations - Help Net Security

• Know the dangers you're facing: 4 notable TTPs used by cyber criminals worldwide - Help Net Security

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 14 October 2022

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

• Ransomware Report: Most Organisations Unprepared for an Attack, Lack Incident Playbook, Research Finds

Some organisations have made significant improvements to their ransomware readiness profile in the last year, Axio said in a newly released report. However, a lack of fundamental cyber security practices and controls, inadequate vulnerability patching and employee training continues to leave ransomware defences lacking in potency.

Axio’s report reveals that only 30% of organisations have a ransomware-specific playbook for incident management in place. In 2021’s report Axio, maker of a cloud-based cyber management software platform, identified seven key areas emerged where organisations were deficient in implementing and sustaining basic cyber security practices.

The same patterns showed up in the 2022 report:

• Managing privileged access.

• Improving basic cyber hygiene.

• Reducing exposure to supply chain and third-party risk.

• Monitoring and defending networks.

• Managing ransomware incidents.

• Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in a timely manner.

• Improving cyber security training and awareness.

Overall, most organisations surveyed are not adequately prepared to manage the risk associated with a ransomware attack. Key data findings include:

• The number of organisations with a functional privileged access management solution in place increased by 10% but remains low at 33% overall.

• Limitations on the use of service and local administrator accounts remain average overall, with nearly 50% of organisations reporting implementing these practices.

• Approximately 40% of organisations monitor third-party network access, evaluate third-party cyber security posture, and limit the use of third-party software.

• Less than 50% of respondents implement basic network segmentation and only 40% monitor for anomalous connections.

• Critical vulnerability patching within 24 hours was reported by only 24% of organisations.

• Active phishing training has improved but is still not practiced by 40% of organisations.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/most-organizations-unprepared-for-ransomware-attack-lack-incident-playbook-axio-reports/

• LinkedIn Scams, Fake Instagram Accounts Hit Businesses, Execs

Business owners with public social media accounts are easy targets for scammers who lift information to create fake accounts. The arduous process for removing fraudulent accounts leaves victims frustrated and vulnerable to further data privacy issues. Victims say platform providers, particularly Facebook and Instagram, must improve their responses to reports of fraud.

Impersonation of a brand or executive contributed to more than 40% of all phishing and social media incidents in the second quarter, according to the Agari and Phish Labs Quarterly Threat Trends and Intelligence Report released in August. Q2 marks the second quarter that impersonation attacks have represented the majority of threats, despite a 6.1% decrease from Q1.

Executive impersonation has been on the rise over the past four quarters — representing more than 15% of attacks, according to the report — as impersonating a corporate figure or company on social media is simple and effective for threat actors.

Thom Singer, CEO for the Austin Technology Council and a public speaker, was recently impersonated on Instagram. A scammer created a fake Instagram account with his name and photos, creating a handle with an extra "r" at the end of Singer. That account appeared to amass over 2,300 followers – nearly as many as Singer's own account – lending to its appearance of authenticity.

He learned of the fake account from a contact who texted to ask if he'd reached out on Instagram, which wasn't a channel Singer typically uses to communicate. Singer reported the fraudulent account using the platform's report button and asked his followers to do the same.

"You can't reach anyone at these platforms, so it takes days to get a fake account removed," Singer said. "These social media sites have no liability, nothing to lose when fraud is happening. They need to up their game and have a better process to get [fraud] handled in a timely manner."

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/LinkedIn-scams-fake-Instagram-accounts-hit-businesses-execs

• Study Highlights Surge in Identity Theft and Phishing Attacks

A new study from behavioural risk firm CybSafe and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) has been launched and it highlights an alarming surge in phishing and identity theft attacks.

The report, titled ‘Oh, Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors report’, studied the opinions of 3,000 individuals across the US, the UK and Canada towards cyber security and revealed that nearly half (45%) of users are connected to the internet all the time, however, this has led to a surge in identity theft with almost 1 in 4 people being affected by the attack.

Furthermore, 1 in 3 (36%) respondents revealed they have lost money or data due to a phishing attack. Yet the study also revealed that 70% of respondents feel confident in their ability to identify a malicious email, but only 45% will confirm the authenticity of a suspicious email by reaching out to the apparent sender.

When it comes to implementing cyber security best practices, only 33% of respondents revealed they use a unique password for important online accounts, while only 16% utilise passwords of over 12 characters in length. Furthermore, only 18% of participants have downloaded a stand-alone password manager, while 43% of respondents have not even heard of multi-factor authentication.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/10/12/study-highlights-surge-in-identity-theft-and-phishing-attacks/

• Increase in Cyber Liability Insurance Claims as Cyber Crime Skyrockets

A cyber insurer, Acuity Insurance, is reporting an increased need for cyber liability insurance across both personal and business policyholders. From June 2021 to June 2022, the insurer saw cyber liability insurance claims on its commercial insurance policies increase by more than 50%. For personal policies, they saw more than a 90% increase in cyber claims being reported in 2021 compared with 2020.

Our lives, homes and businesses are more connected than ever before. Being connected leads to a greater risk of cyber attacks, which aren't covered under standard homeowners or business insurance policies.

The insurance experts caution that everyone is at risk — whether you are a small business owner or an individual — as cyber attacks continue to pose a serious financial threat. From 2019 to 2021, cyber attacks were up 50% from the previous year, according to recent research. Wire fraud and gift card scams are two of the most common types of cyber attacks impacting both businesses and individuals.

Scams involving social engineering are some of the easiest to fall for, as fraudsters exploit a person's trust to obtain money or personal information, which can then be used for unauthorised withdrawals of money. Cyber insurance can protect you from financial loss caused by wire transfer fraud, phishing attacks, cyber extortion, cyberbullying and more, Acuity reported.

While all cyber crimes have a financial impact, fraudulent wire transfers often come with greater losses. Banks are typically not responsible for funds lost as a result of a fraudulent wire transfer inadvertently authorised by the customer. Whether it's a wrongful money transfer by a business or an individual, cyber insurance can help mitigate some of the financial loss caused by these scams.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/acuity-reports-increase-in-cyber-liability-insurance-claims-as-cybercrime-skyrockets

• UK Government Urges Action to Enhance Supply Chain Security

The UK government has warned organisations to take steps to strengthen their supply chain security.

New National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance has been issued amid a significant increase in supply chain attacks in recent years, such as the SolarWinds incident in 2020. The NCSC cited official government data showing that just over one in 10 businesses review the risks posed by their immediate suppliers (13%), while the proportion covering the wider supply chain is just 7%.

Aimed at medium-to-large organisations, the document sets out practical steps to better assess cyber security across increasingly complex supply chains. This includes a description of typical supplier relationships and ways that organisations are exposed to vulnerabilities and cyber-attacks via the supply chain, and the expected outcomes and key steps needed to assess suppliers’ approaches to security.

The new guidance followed a government response to a call for views last year which highlighted the need for further advice. Supply chain attacks are a major cyber threat facing organisations and incidents can have a profound, long-lasting impact on businesses and customers. With incidents on the rise, it is vital organisations work with their suppliers to identify supply chain risks and ensure appropriate security measures are in place.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-government-supply-chain-security/

• For Most Companies Ransomware Is the Scariest Of All Cyber Attacks

SonicWall released the 2022 SonicWall Threat Mindset Survey which found that 66% of customers are more concerned about cyber attacks in 2022, with the main threat being focused on financially motivated attacks like ransomware.

“No one is safe from cyber attacks — businesses or individuals,” said SonicWall Executive Chairman of the Board Bill Conner. “Today’s business landscape requires persistent digital trust to exist. Supply-chain attacks have dramatically changed the attack surface of the typical enterprise in the past few years, with more suppliers and service providers touching sensitive data than ever before.

“It’s likely we’ll see continued acceleration and evolution of ransomware tactics, as well as other advanced persistent threats (APTs), as cyber crime continues to scale the globe seeking both valuable and weak targets.”

Companies are not only losing millions of dollars to unending malware and ransomware strikes, but cyber attacks on essential infrastructure are impacting real-world services. Despite the growing concern of cyber attacks, organisations are struggling to keep pace with the fast-moving threat landscape as they orient their business, networks, data and employees against unwavering cyber attacks.

“The evolving cyber threat landscape has made us train our staff significantly more,” said Stafford Fields, IT Director, Cavett Turner & Wyble. “It’s made us spend more on cyber security. And what scares me is that an end-user can click on something and bring all our systems down — despite being well protected.”

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/10/12/customers-concerned-ransomware/

• EDR Is Not a Silver Bullet

Old lore held that shooting a werewolf, vampire, or even just your average nasty villain with a silver bullet was a sure-fire takedown: one hit, no more bad guy.

As cyber security professionals, we understand – much like folks in the Old West knew – that there are no panaceas, no actual silver bullets. Yet humans gravitate towards simple solutions to complex challenges, and we are constantly (if unconsciously) seeking silver bullet technology.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools have become Standard Operating Procedures for cyber security regimes. They are every CIO’s starting point, and there’s nothing wrong with this. In a recent study by Cymulate of over one million tests conducted by customers in 2021, the most popular testing vector was EDR.

Yet cyber security stakeholders should not assume that EDR is a silver bullet. The fact is that EDR’s efficacy and protective prowess as a standalone solution has been slowly diminished over the decade since the term was first coined by Gartner. Even as it became a mainstay of enterprise and SMB/SME security posture – attacks have skyrocketed in frequency, severity, and success. Today, EDR is facing some of its greatest challenges, including threats laser-targeting EDR systems like the highly-successful Grandoiero banking trojan.

While EDR should not be your only line of defence against advanced threats, including it in a defence solution array is paramount. It should be installed on all organisational servers – including Linux-based ones. Yet installation is not enough. Your organisation is at significant risk if the underlying OS and EDR are not both implemented and fine-tuned.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/10/11/edr-is-not-a-silver-bullet/

• Attackers Use Automation to Speed from Exploit to Compromise

A report from Laceworks examines the cloud security threat landscape over the past three months and unveils the new techniques and avenues cyber criminals are exploiting for profit at the expense of businesses. In this latest edition, the Lacework Labs team found a significantly more sophisticated attacker landscape, with an increase in attacks against core networking and virtualisation software, and an unprecedented increase in the speed of attacks following a compromise. Key trends and threats identified include:

• Increased speed from exposure to compromise: Attackers are advancing to keep pace with cloud adoption and response time. Many classes of attacks are now fully automated to capitalise on timing. Additionally, one of the most common targets is credential leakage. In a specific example from the report, a leaked AWS access key was caught and flagged by AWS in record time. Despite the limited exposure, an unknown adversary was able to log in and launch tens of GPU EC2 instances, underscoring just how quickly attackers can take advantage of a single simple mistake.

• Increased focus on infrastructure, specifically attacks against core networking and virtualisation software: Commonly deployed core networking and related infrastructure consistently remains a key target for adversaries. Core flaws in infrastructure often appear suddenly and are shared openly online, creating opportunities for attackers of all kinds to exploit these potential targets.

• Continued Log4j reconnaissance and exploitation: Nearly a year after the initial exploit, the Lacework Labs team is still commonly observing vulnerable software targeted via OAST requests. Analysis of Project Discovery (interact.sh) activity revealed Cloudflare and DigitalOcean as the top originators.

https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/attackers-use-automation-to-speed-from-exploit-to-compromise-according-to-lacework-labs-cloud-threat-report

• Rising Premiums, More Restricted Cyber Insurance Coverage Poses Big Risk for Companies

Among the many consequences of the rising number of costly data breaches, ransomware, and other security attacks are pricier premiums for cyber security insurance. The rise in costs could put many organisations out of the running for this essential coverage, a risky proposition given the current threat landscape.

Cyber insurance is a type of specialty insurance that protects organisations against a variety of risks related to information security attacks such as ransomware and data breaches. Ordinarily, these types of risks aren’t included with traditional commercial general liability policies or are not specifically defined in these insurance plans.

Given the rise in attacks, the growing sophistication of these incidents and the potential financial impact, having cyber insurance coverage has become critical for many organisations. Premiums for these plans have been on the rise because of the increase in security-related losses and rising demand for coverage.

Cyber insurance premiums increased by an average of 28% in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), an association for commercial insurance and employee benefits intermediaries.

Among the primary drivers for the continued price increases were a reduced carrier appetite for the risk and high demand for coverage, CIAB said. The high demand for cyber coverage is in part fueled by greater awareness among companies of the threat cyber risk poses for businesses of all sizes, it said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/companies-are-finding-it-harder-to-get-cyber-insurance-.html

• Why CISO Roles Require Business and Technology Savvy

Listening and communicating to both the technical and business sides is critical to successfully leading IT teams and business leaders to the same end-goal.

Of all the crazy postings that advertise for CISO jobs, the one asking for a CISO to code in Python was probably the most outrageous example of the disconnect about a CISO’s role, says Joe Head, CISO search director at UK-based search firm, Intaso. This was a few years ago, and one can only guess that the role had been created by a technologist who didn’t care about or didn’t understand the business — or, inversely by a businessperson who didn’t understand enough about technology.

In either case, the disconnect is real. However, Head and other experts say that when it comes to achieving the true, executive role and reporting to the CEO and board, business skills rule. That doesn’t mean, however, that most CISOs know nothing about technology, because most still start out with technology backgrounds.

In the 2022 CISO survey by executive placement firm, Heidrick & Struggles, most CISOs come from a functional IT background that reflects the issues of the time. For example, in 2022 10% of CISOs came from software engineering backgrounds, which tracks with the White House directive to protect the software supply chain. The report notes that the majority of CISOs have experience in the financial services industry, which has a low risk tolerance and where more money is spent on security.

The survey also indicates that only a small core of CISOs (working primarily for the Fortune 500) rise to the executive level with the combination of business and technical responsibilities that come with the role. In it, more than two-thirds of CISOs responding to the survey worked for companies worth over $5 billion. So, instead of bashing a CISO’s lack of IT skills, the real need lies in developing business skills for the technologists coming up the ranks.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3675952/why-ciso-roles-require-business-and-technology-savvy.html#tk.rss_news

• Wi-Fi Spy Drones Used to Snoop on Financial Firm

Modified off-the-shelf drones have been found carrying wireless network-intrusion kit in a very unlikely place.

The idea of using consumer-oriented drones for hacking has been explored over the past decade at security conferences like Black Hat 2016, in both the US and in Europe, but now these sort of attacks are actually taking place. A security researcher recently recounted an incident that occurred over the summer at a US East Coast financial firm focused on private investment.

The hacking incident was discovered when the financial firm spotted unusual activity on its internal Atlassian Confluence page that originated from within the company's network. The company's security team responded and found that the user whose MAC address was used to gain partial access to the company Wi-Fi network was also logged in at home several miles away. That is to say, the user was active off-site but someone within Wi-Fi range of the building was trying to wirelessly use that user's MAC address, which is a red flag. The team then took steps to trace the Wi-Fi signal and used a Fluke system to identify the Wi-Fi device.

This led the team to the roof, where two modified commercially available consumer drones series were discovered. One drone was in fine condition and had a modified Wi-Fi Pineapple device, used for network penetration testing. The second drone was carrying a case that contained a Raspberry Pi, several batteries, a GPD mini laptop, a 4G modem, and another Wi-Fi device. It had landed near the building's heating and ventilation system and appeared to be damaged but still operable.

During their investigation, they determined that the first drone had originally been used a few days prior to intercept a worker's credentials and Wi-Fi, and this data was then hard coded into the tools that were deployed on the second drone.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/drone-roof-attack/

• Magniber Ransomware Attacking Individuals and Home Users

A recent analysis shows that Magniber ransomware has been targeting home users by masquerading as software updates.

Reports have shown a ransomware campaign isolated by HP Wolf Security in September 2022 saw Magniber ransomware spread. The malware is known as a single-client ransomware family that demands $2,500 from victims. Magniber was previously primarily spread through MSI and EXE files, but in September 2022 HP Wolf Security began seeing campaigns distributing the ransomware in JavaScript files.

HP Wolf Security reported that some malware families rely exclusively on JavaScript, but have done so for some time. Currently, analysts are also seeing more HTML smuggling, such as with Qakbot and IcedID. This technique also makes use of JavaScript to decode malicious content. The only difference is that the HTML file is executed in the context of the browser and therefore usually requires further user interaction.

Remarkably, HP Wolf Security said, the attackers used clever techniques to evade detection, such as running the ransomware in memory, bypassing User Account Control (UAC) in Windows, and bypassing detection techniques that monitor user-mode hooks by using syscalls instead of standard Windows API libraries.

It appears that with the UAC bypass, the malware deletes the infected system’s shadow copy files and disables backup and recovery features, preventing the victim from recovering their data using Windows tools.

Having recently described the ransomware campaign in a recent interview, HP Wolf noted that the infection chain starts with a web download from an attacker-controlled website.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/10/14/https-www-infosecurity-magazine-com-news-magniber-ransomware-adopts/

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Threats

Ransomware and Extortion

• More and more ransomware is just data theft, no encryption • The Register

• Why paying the ransom is a mistake - Help Net Security

• Ransomware: Undeniably Top of Mind - MSSP Alert

• Black Basta Ransomware Gang Infiltrates Networks via QAKBOT, Brute Ratel, and Cobalt Strike (trendmicro.com)

• Magniber ransomware now infects Windows users via JavaScript files (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Fake adult sites push data wipers disguised as ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• It was LockBit that forced NHS tech supplier to shut down • The Register

• Ransomware posing as Windows antivirus update will just empty your wallet | TechRadar

• Microsoft: New Prestige ransomware targets orgs in Ukraine, Poland (bleepingcomputer.com)

• BlackByte ransomware uses new EDR evasion technique (techtarget.com)

• Prevent Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure (trendmicro.com)

• Microsoft Exchange servers hacked to deploy LockBit ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Harvard Business Publishing licensee hit by ransomware - Security Affairs

• LockBit affiliates compromise Microsoft Exchange servers to deploy ransomware - Security Affairs

• Police tricks DeadBolt ransomware out of 155 decryption keys (bleepingcomputer.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Caffeine service lets anyone launch Microsoft 365 phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kaspersky Warns Of A New Wave Of Malicious Email Campaign, Spreading The (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• A whole load of phishing emails make it past Microsoft Defender, researchers say | TechRadar

• Google Forms abused in new COVID-19 phishing wave in the U.S. (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US election workers hit with phishing, malware emails • The Register

• Cyber criminals are having it easy with phishing-as-a-service - Help Net Security

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• BazarCall Call Back Phishing Attacks Constantly Evolving Its Social Engineering Tactics (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers Using Vishing to Trick Victims into Installing Android Banking Malware (thehackernews.com)

Malware

• How a Microsoft blunder opened millions of PCs to potent malware attacks | Ars Technica

• Banks face their 'darkest hour' as crimeware powers up • The Register

• Emotet Rises Again With More Sophistication, Evasion (darkreading.com)

• QAKBOT Attacks Spike Amid Concerning Cyber Criminal Collaborations (darkreading.com)

• Hackers behind IcedID malware attacks diversify delivery tactics (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Eternity threat group’s LilithBot: A criminal multitool • The Register

• New Report Uncovers Emotet's Delivery and Evasion Techniques Used in Recent Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Here's another excellent reason not to browse adult websites at work | TechRadar

• Experts analysed the evolution of the Emotet supply chain - Security Affairs

• Mirai Botnet Targeted Wynncraft Minecraft Server, Cloudflare Reports - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New Report Uncovers Emotet's Delivery and Evasion Techniques Used in Recent Attacks (thehackernews.com)

Mobile

• Modified WhatsApp App Caught Infecting Android Devices with Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Meta uncovers 400 malicious apps on Android and iOS apps   | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• ‘Zero-Click’ Spyware Emerges as a Menacing Mobile Threat - Bloomberg

• Mullvad: Android may leak information when connected to a VPN - gHacks Tech News

• Android Security Updates Patch Critical Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

• Hackers Using Vishing to Trick Victims into Installing Android Banking Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Mystery iPhone update patches against iOS 16 mail crash-attack – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Internet of Things – IoT

• Smart buildings may be your cyber security downfall - Help Net Security

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Client data exfiltrated in Advanced NHS cyber attack (digitalhealth.net)

• Mormon Church data stolen in 'state-sponsored' cyber attack • The Register

• Singtel's Australian IT Firm Dialog Suffers Data Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 2K Customer Data Stolen, Sold Online After Support Desk Scam (kotaku.com)

• Toyota discloses data leak after access key exposed on GitHub (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Fast Company says Executive Board member info was not stolen in attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• State Bar of Georgia Confirms Data Breach Following Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com

• Singtel's second unit faces cyber attack weeks after Optus data breach | Reuters

• Zoetop pays $1.9m to settle customer data theft case • The Register

• CommonSpirit Health IT still suffering after cyber attack • The Register

• Over 80,000 DJI drone IDs exposed in data leak: Report (dronedj.com)

• High-Value Targets: String of Aussie Telco Breaches Continues (darkreading.com)

• Data of 380K patients compromised in hack of 13 anesthesia practices | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Australian police secret agents exposed in Colombian data leak (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 64,000 Additional Patients Impacted by Omnicell Data Breach - What is Your Data Breach Action Plan? (thehackernews.com)

• Toyota Reveals Data Leak of 300,000 Customers - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Intel Processor UEFI Source Code Leaked (darkreading.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• INTERPOL arrests ‘Black Axe’ cyber crime syndicate members (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Caffeine Phishing-as-a-Service toolkit available in the underground - Security Affairs

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• North Korea's Crypto Hackers Are Paving the Road to Nuclear Armageddon - CNET

• Fake Solana Phantom security updates push crypto-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 'Baby Al Capone' to pay $22m to SIM-swap crypto-heist victim • The Register

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• A New Wave of PayPal Invoice Scams Using Crypto Disguise - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Alternative payment methods are creating new fraud risks - Help Net Security

• Prison inmate charged with $11m fraud via cell phone • The Register

• Mastercard moves to protect ‘risky and frisky’ transactions • The Register

Deepfakes

• DeepFakes Are The Cyber criminal Economy’s Latest Business Line - Security Affairs

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• GCHQ boss: China could use Digital Yuan to swerve sanctions • The Register

Insurance

• Australian insurer takes systems offline over possible hacking | Cybersecurity News | Al Jazeera

Dark Web

• Darkweb market BidenCash gives away 1.2 million credit cards for free (bleepingcomputer.com)

Software Supply Chain

• Novel npm Timing Attack Allows Corporate Targeting (darkreading.com)

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

• The Nation State Threat — Philip Ingram Discusses DDoS and the Possibilities of Cyber War - IT Security Guru

• US airports' sites taken down in DDoS attacks by pro-Russian hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian DDoS attack project pays contributors for more firepower (bleepingcomputer.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Cloud Data Breaches Are Running Rampant. What Are the Common Characteristics? (darkreading.com)

Encryption

• Microsoft Office 365 uses insecure block ciphers • The Register

• Microsoft Office 365 email encryption could expose message content (bleepingcomputer.com)

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• AI and Residual Finger Heat Could Be a Password Cracker's Latest Tools (darkreading.com)

Social Media

• Young people using TikTok is no problem, GCHQ chief says | TikTok | The Guardian

Training, Education and Awareness

• Phishing Simulations Do Not Give Users Enough Context As To Why They Are (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• How to improve employees' cyber security behaviour - Help Net Security

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Client-side scanning to detect child abuse material harmful • The Register

Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking

• Student jailed for hacking female classmates’ email, Snapchat accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• India set to extend deadline for verbose infosec reporting • The Register

Backup and Recovery

• Microsoft Teams: A channel for sensitive business information sharing that needs better backup - Help Net Security

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

• Vladimir Putin’s hybrid war has begun and the West must be ready | Evening Standard

• The Nation State Threat — Philip Ingram Discusses DDoS and the Possibilities of Cyber War - IT Security Guru

• Internet outages hit Ukraine following Russian missile strikes (bitdefender.com)

• Seven 'Creepy' Backdoors Used by Lebanese Cyberspy Group in Israel Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

• Researchers Uncover Custom Backdoors and Spying Tools Used by Polonium Hackers (thehackernews.com)

• We must tackle Europe’s winter cyber threats head-on – POLITICO

• Starlink helped restore energy, communications infrastructure in parts of Ukraine - official | Reuters

• Researchers Detail Malicious Tools Used by Cyber Espionage Group Earth Aughisky (thehackernews.com)

• Ukraine Enhances Cooperation With EU Cybersecurity Agencies - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• ‘Zero-Click’ Spyware Emerges as a Menacing Mobile Threat - Bloomberg

• SpaceX’s Starlink terminals in Ukraine back online after outages | Financial Times

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• German Cyber security Chief Accused of Russian Contact Faces Sacking - IT Security Guru

• Russian DDoS attack project pays contributors for more firepower (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Extreme Networks admits sales to banned Russian arms maker • The Register

Nation State Actors – China

• UK Spy Chief to Warn of 'Huge' China Tech Threat | SecurityWeek.Com

• China’s attack motivations, tactics, and how CISOs can mitigate threats | CSO Online

• China will manipulate new tech for global influence, warns GCHQ boss | Metro News

• UK telcos legally required to remove Huawei equipment • The Register

• Chinese-linked hackers targeted U.S. state legislature, researchers say - CyberScoop

• New Chinese Malware Attack Framework Targets Windows, macOS, and Linux Systems (thehackernews.com)

• Feature-Rich 'Alchimist' Cyber attack Framework Targets Windows, Mac, Linux Environments (darkreading.com)

• China's cyber assault on Taiwan - 60 Minutes - CBS News

• UK to designate China a ‘threat’ in hawkish foreign policy shift | Foreign policy | The Guardian

• WIP19, a new Chinese APT targets IT Service Providers and Telcos - Security Affairs

• China-linked Budworm APT returns to target a US entity - Security Affairs

• We must tackle China’s satellite-busting technology, says GCHQ chief | News | The Times

• GCHQ boss: China could use Digital Yuan to swerve sanctions • The Register

• Young people using TikTok is no problem, GCHQ chief says | TikTok | The Guardian

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• North Korea's Crypto Hackers Are Paving the Road to Nuclear Armageddon - CNET

Nation State Actors – Misc

• Mormon Church data stolen in 'state-sponsored' cyber attack • The Register

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Vulnerability Management

• Apple's Constant Battles Against Zero-Day Exploits (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerabilities

• Concerns Over Fortinet Flaw Mount; PoC Released, Exploit Activity Grows (darkreading.com)

• Microsoft October 2022 Patch Tuesday fixes zero-day used in attacks, 84 flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft Addresses Zero-Days, but Exchange Server Exploit Chain Remains Unpatched (darkreading.com)

• Auth bypass bug in FortiOS, FortiProxy is exploited in the wild (CVE-2022-40684) - Help Net Security

• Chrome 106 Update Patches Several High-Severity Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

• Researchers Detail Windows Zero-Day Vulnerability Patched Last Month (thehackernews.com)

• SAP Patches Critical Vulnerabilities in Commerce, Manufacturing Execution Products | SecurityWeek.Com

• Almost 900 servers hacked using Zimbra zero-day flaw (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Patch Tuesday: Critical Flaws in ColdFusion, Adobe Commerce | SecurityWeek.Com

• Aruba fixes critical RCE and auth bypass flaws in EdgeConnect (bleepingcomputer.com)

• WordPress Vulnerability In Shortcodes Ultimate Impacts 700,000 Sites (searchenginejournal.com)

• Critical Open Source vm2 Sandbox Escape Bug Affects Millions (darkreading.com)

• VMware vCenter Server bug disclosed last year still not patched (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Other News

• Board members should make CISOs their strategic partners - Help Net Security

• 5 Attack Elements Every Organisations Should Be Monitoring (darkreading.com)

• Ukraine’s Starlink problems show the dangers of digital dependency | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Here's 5 of the world's riskiest connected devices - Help Net Security

• 2FA is over. Long live 3FA! - Help Net Security

• White House to unveil ambitious cyber security labeling effort modeled after Energy Star - CyberScoop

• Older, Stored Data Is Cyber Security Risk, Report Warns - MSSP Alert

• What the Uber Breach Verdict Means for CISOs in the US (darkreading.com)

• Increasing network visibility is critical to improving security posture - Help Net Security

• What the Uber Hack can teach us about navigating IT Security (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Consumers want more transparency on how companies manage their data - Help Net Security

• Gaming Is Booming. That’s Catnip for Cyber criminals. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

• 91% of Cyber Pros Experience Mental Health Challenges at Work - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Fear of cyber criminals drives cyber security improvements - Help Net Security

• The next Ford Mustang won’t be easy to tune; blame cyber security | Ars Technica

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 26 August 2022

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

• Lloyd's to Exclude Certain Nation-State Attacks from Cyber Insurance Policies

Lloyd's of London insurance policies will stop covering losses from certain nation-state cyber attacks and those that happen during wars, beginning in seven months' time.

In a memo sent to the company's 76-plus insurance syndicates, underwriting director Tony Chaudhry said Lloyd's remains "strongly supportive" of cyber attack coverage. However, as these threats continue to grow, they may "expose the market to systemic risks that syndicates could struggle to manage," he added, noting that nation-state-sponsored attacks are particularly costly to cover.

Because of this, all standalone cyber attack policies must include "a suitable clause excluding liability for losses arising from any state-backed cyber attack," Chaudhry wrote. These changes will take effect beginning March 31, 2023 at the inception or renewal of each policy.

At a minimum (key word: minimum) these policies must exclude losses arising from a war, whether declared or not, if the policy doesn't already have a separate war exclusion. They must also at least exclude losses from nation-state cyber attacks that "significantly impair the ability of a state to function or that significantly impair the security capabilities of a state."

Policies must also "set out a robust basis" on which to attribute state-sponsored cyber attacks, according to Chaudhry – and therein lies the rub.

Attributing a cyber attack to a particular crime group or nation-state with 100 percent confidence "is absolutely hard," NSA director of cybersecurity Rob Joyce said at this year's RSA Conference.

Threat analysts typically attribute an attack to a nation-state from its level of sophistication, but as advanced persistent crime groups become more sophisticated – and have more resources at their disposal to buy zero-day exploits and employ specialists for each stage of an attack – differentiating between nation-states and cyber crime gangs becomes increasingly difficult, he explained.

There are times when nation-states will act like criminals, using their tools and infrastructure, and sometimes vice versa. The clear line of sophistication and stealth that many have used as a common sense delineation has blurred. Yet, If you are going to pay out money you are likely going to look for something that is more ironclad and likely related to forensic evidence.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/24/lloyds_cybersecurity_insurance/

• Cyber Security Top Risk for Enterprise C-Suite Leaders, PwC Study Says

Cyber security is now firmly on the agenda of the entire C-suite, consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports in a new survey of more than 700 business leaders across a variety of industries.

Of key enterprise issues, cyber security ranks at the top of business risks, with nearly 80% of the respondents considering it a moderate to serious risk. The warning isn’t confined to just chief information security officers, but ranges from chief executives to chief financial officers, chief operating officers, chief technology officers, chief marketing officers and includes corporate board members. Virtually all roles ranked cyber attacks high on their list of risks, PwC said.

Overall, 40% of business leaders ranked cyber security as the top serious risk facing their companies, and 38% ranked it a moderate risk.

Here are six steps businesses can take to address cyber security concerns:

1. View cyber security as a broad business concern and not just an IT issue.

2. Build cyber security and data privacy into agendas across the C-suite and board.

3. Increase investment to improve security.

4. Educate employees on effective cyber security practices.

5. For each new business initiative or transformation, make sure there’s a cyber plan in place.

6. Use data and intelligence to regularly measure cyber risks. Proactively look for blind spots in third-party relationships and supply chains.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/cybersecurity-top-risk-for-enterprise-c-suite-leaders-pwc-study-says/

• Apathy Is Your Company's Biggest Cyber Security Vulnerability — Here's How to Combat It

Human error continues to be the leading cause of a cyber security breach. Nearly 60% of organisations experienced a data loss due to an employee's mistake on email in the last year, while one in four employees fell for a phishing attack.

Employee apathy, while it may not seem like a major cyber security issue, can leave an organisation vulnerable to both malicious attacks and accidental data loss. Equipping employees with the tools and knowledge they need to prevent these risks has never been more important to keep organisations safe.

A new report from Tessian sheds light on the full extent of employee apathy and its impact on cyber security posture. The report found that a significant number of employees aren't engaged in their organisation's cyber security efforts and don't understand the role they play. One in three employees say they don't understand the importance of cyber security at work. What's more, only 39% say they're very likely to report a cyber security incident. Why? A quarter of employees say they don't care enough about cyber security to mention it.

This is a serious problem. IT and security teams can't investigate or remediate a threat they don't know about.

Employees play an important role in flagging incidents or suspicious activity early on to prevent them from escalating to a costly breach. Building a strong cyber security culture can mitigate apathy by engaging employees as part of the solution and providing the tools and training they need to work productively and securely.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/apathy-is-your-company-s-biggest-cybersecurity-vulnerability-here-s-how-to-combat-it

• The World’s Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Warns Cyber Security Is Top Concern, as Attacks on Banks and Financial Service Double

Cyber security has eclipsed tumultuous financial markets as the biggest concern for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, as it faces an average of three “serious” cyber attacks each day.

The number of significant hacking attempts against Norway’s $1.2tn oil fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, has doubled in the past two to three years.

The fund, which reported its biggest half-year dollar loss last week after inflation and recession fears shook markets, suffers about 100,000 cyber attacks a year, of which it classifies more than 1,000 as serious, according to its top executives.

“I’m worried about cyber more than I am about markets,” their CEO told the Financial Times. “We’re seeing many more attempts, more attacks [that are] increasingly sophisticated.”

The fund’s top executives are even concerned that concerted cyber attacks are becoming a systemic financial risk as markets become increasingly digitised.

Their deputy CEO pointed to the 2020 attack on SolarWinds, a software provider, by Russian state-backed hackers that allowed them to breach several US government agencies, including the Treasury and Pentagon, and a number of Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Intel and Deloitte.

“They estimate there were 1,000 Russians [involved] in that one attack, working in a co-ordinated fashion. I mean, Jesus, that’s our whole building on one attack, so you’re up against some formidable forces there,” he said.

Cyber attacks targeting the financial industry have risen sharply in recent months. Malware attacks globally rose 11 per cent in the first half of 2022, but they doubled at banks and financial institutions, according to cyber security specialist SonicWall. Ransomware attacks dropped 23 per cent worldwide, but increased 243 per cent against financial targets in the same period.

https://www.ft.com/content/1aa6f92a-078b-4e1a-81ca-65298b8310b2

Configuration Errors to Blame for 80% of Ransomware

The vast majority (80%) of ransomware attacks can be traced back to common configuration errors in software and devices, according to Microsoft.

The tech giant’s latest Cyber Signals report focuses on the ransomware as a service (RaaS) model, which it claims has democratised the ability to launch attacks to groups “without sophistication or advanced skills.” Some RaaS programs now have over 50 affiliate groups on their books.

For defenders, a key challenge is ensuring they don’t leave systems misconfigured, it added.

“Ransomware attacks involve decisions based on configurations of networks and differ for each victim even if the ransomware payload is the same,” the report argued. “Ransomware culminates an attack that can include data exfiltration and other impacts. Because of the interconnected nature of the cyber-criminal economy, seemingly unrelated intrusions can build upon each other.”

Although each attack is different, Microsoft pointed to missing or misconfigured security products and legacy configurations in enterprise apps as two key areas of risk exposure.

“Like smoke alarms, security products must be installed in the correct spaces and tested frequently. Verify that security tools are operating in their most secure configuration, and that no part of a network is unprotected,” it urged. “Consider deleting duplicative or unused apps to eliminate risky, unused services. Be mindful of where you permit remote helpdesk apps like TeamViewer. These are notoriously targeted by threat actors to gain express access to laptops.”

Although not named in the report, another system regularly misconfigured and hijacked by ransomware actors is the remote desktop protocol (RDP), which often is not protected by a strong password or two-factor authentication. It’s widely believed to be one of the top three vectors for attack.

The bad news for network defenders is they don’t have much time after initial compromise to contain an attack. Microsoft claimed the median time for an attacker to begin moving laterally inside the network after device compromise is one hour, 42 minutes. The median time for an attacker to access private data following a phishing email is one hour, 12 minutes, the firm added.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/configuration-errors-blame-80/

• Ransomware Surges to 1.2 Million Attacks Per Month

Ransomware threat detections have risen to over one million per month this year, with a French hospital the latest to suffer a major outage.

The 1000-bed Center Hospitalier Sud Francilien (CHSF) near Paris revealed it was hit on Sunday morning, in an attack which has knocked out all the hospital's business software, storage systems including medical imaging, and patient admissions. This has led to all but the most urgent emergency patients being diverted to other facilities in the region.

France24 cited figures claiming cyber-attacks against French hospitals surged 70% year-on-year in 2021. "Each day we need to rewrite patients' medications, all the prescriptions, the discharge prescriptions," Valerie Caudwell, president of the medical commission at CHSF hospital, reportedly said. "For the nurses, instead of putting in all the patients' data on the computer, they now need to file it manually from scratch."

Reports suggest Lockbit 3.0 may be to blame for the $10m ransom demand, which the hospital is refusing to pay.

Barracuda Networks claimed in a new report out today that education, municipalities, healthcare, infrastructure and finance have remained the top five targets for ransomware over the past 12 months. However, while attacks on local government increased only slightly, those targeting educational institutions more than doubled, and attacks on the healthcare and financial verticals tripled. Overall, Barracuda claimed that ransomware detections between January and June of this year climbed to more than 1.2 million per month.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-surges-to-12-million/

• A Massive Hacking Campaign Stole 10,000 Login Credentials From 130 Different Organisations

A phishing campaign targeted Okta users at multiple companies, successfully swiping passwords from staffers and then using them to steal company secrets.

Researchers say that a mysterious “threat actor” (a fancy term for a hacker or hacker group) has managed to steal nearly 10,000 login credentials from the employees of 130 organisations, in the latest far-reaching supply chain attack on corporate America. Many of the victims are prominent software companies, including firms like Twilio, MailChimp, and Cloudflare, among many others.

The news comes from research conducted by cyber security firm Group-IB, which began looking into the hacking campaign after a client was phished and reached out for help. The research shows that the threat actor behind the campaign, which researchers have dubbed “0ktapus,” used basic tactics to target staff from droves of well-known companies. The hacker(s) would use stolen login information to gain access to corporate networks before going on to steal data and then break into another company’s network.

“This case is of interest because despite using low-skill methods it was able to compromise a large number of well-known organisations,” researchers wrote in their blog. “Furthermore, once the attackers compromised an organisation they were quickly able to pivot and launch subsequent supply chain attacks, indicating that the attack was planned carefully in advance.”

https://gizmodo.com/oktapus-okta-hack-twilio-10000-logins-130-companies-1849457420

• This Company Paid a Ransom Demand. Hackers Leaked Its Data Anyway

A victim of a ransomware attack paid to restore access to their network – but the cyber criminals didn't hold up their end of the deal.

The real-life incident, as detailed by cyber security researchers at Barracuda Networks, took place in August 2021, when hackers from BlackMatter ransomware group used a phishing email to compromise the account of a single victim at an undisclosed company.

From that initial entry point, the attackers were able to expand their access to the network by moving laterally around the infrastructure, ultimately leading to the point where they were able to install hacking tools and steal sensitive data. Stealing sensitive data has become a common part of ransomware attacks. Criminals leverage it as part of their extortion attempts, threatening to release it if a ransom isn't received. 

The attackers appear to have had access to the network for at least a few weeks, seemingly going undetected before systems were encrypted and a ransom was demanded, to be paid in Bitcoin.

Cyber security agencies warn that despite networks being encrypted, victims shouldn't pay ransom demands for a decryption key because this only shows hackers that such attacks are effective.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-company-paid-a-ransom-demand-hackers-leaked-its-data-anyway/

• Sophisticated BEC Scammers Bypass Microsoft 365 Multi-Factor Authentication

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack recently analysed by cloud incident response company Mitiga used an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) phishing attack to bypass Microsoft Office 365 MFA and gain access to a business executive's account, and then managed to add a second authenticator device to the account for persistent access. According to the researchers, the campaign they analysed is widespread and targets large transactions of up to several million dollars each.

The attack started with a well-crafted phishing email masquerading as a notification from DocuSign, a widely used cloud-based electronic document signing service. The email was crafted to the targeted business executive, suggesting that attackers have done reconnaissance work. The link in the phishing email led to an attacker-controlled website which then redirects to a Microsoft 365 single sign-on login page.

This fake login page uses an AitM technique, where the attackers run a reverse proxy to authentication requests back and forth between the victim and the real Microsoft 365 website. The victim has the same experience as they would have on the real Microsoft login page, complete with the legitimate MFA request that they must complete using their authenticator app. Once the authentication process is completed successfully, the Microsoft service creates a session token which gets flagged in its systems that it fulfilled MFA. The difference is that since the attackers acted as a proxy, they now have this session token too and can use it to access the account.

This reverse proxy technique is not new and has been used to bypass MFA for several years. In fact, easy-to-use open-source attack frameworks have been created for this purpose.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3670575/sophisticated-bec-scammers-bypass-microsoft-365-multi-factor-authentication.html

• 77% Of Security Leaders Fear We’re in Perpetual Cyber War from Now On

A survey of cyber security decision makers found 77 percent think the world is now in a perpetual state of cyber warfare.

In addition, 82 percent believe geopolitics and cyber security are "intrinsically linked," and two-thirds of polled organisations reported changing their security posture in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Of those asked, 64 percent believe they may have already been the target of a nation-state-directed cyber attack. Unfortunately, 63 percent of surveyed security leaders also believe that they'd never even know if a nation-state level actor pwned them.

The survey, organised by security shop Venafi, questioned 1,100 security leaders. They said the results show cyber warfare is here, and that it's completely different to many would have imagined. "Any business can be damaged by nation-states," they stated.

It's been common knowledge for some time that government-backed advanced persistent threat (APT) crews are being used to further online geopolitical goals. Unlike conventional warfare, everyone is a target and there's no military or government method for protecting everyone.

Nor is there going to be much financial redress available. Earlier this week Lloyd's of London announced it would no longer recompense policy holders for certain nation-state attacks.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/27/in-brief-security/

• Cyber Security Governance: A Path to Cyber Maturity

Organisations need cyber security governance programs that make every employee aware of the cyber security mitigation efforts required to reduce cyber-risks.

In an increasingly challenging threat landscape, many organisations struggle with developing and implementing effective cyber security governance. The "Managing Cybersecurity Risk: A Crisis of Confidence" infographic by the CMMI Institute and ISACA stated: "While enterprise leaders recognise that mature cyber security is essential to thriving in today's digital economy, they often lack the insights and data to have peace of mind that their organisations are efficiently and effectively managing cyber risk."

Indeed, damages from cyber crime are projected to cost the world $7 trillion in 2022, according to the "Boardroom Cybersecurity 2022 Report" from Cybersecurity Ventures. As a result, "board members and chief executives are more interested in cyber security now than ever before," the report stated, adding that the time is ripe for turning awareness into action.

How, then, can board leaders have confidence that their organisations are prepared against cyber attacks? The first order of business for most organisations is to enable a strong cyber security governance program.

Cyber security governance refers to the component of governance that addresses an organisation's dependence on cyber space in the presence of adversaries. The ISO/IEC 27001 standard defines cyber security governance as the following: “The system by which an organisation directs and controls security governance, specifies the accountability framework and provides oversight to ensure that risks are adequately mitigated, while management ensures that controls are implemented to mitigate risks”.

Traditionally, cyber security is viewed through the lens of a technical or operational issue to be handled in the technology space. Cyber security planning needs to fully transition from a back-office operational function to its own area aligned with law, privacy and enterprise risk. The CISO should have a seat at the table alongside the CIO, COO, CFO and CEO. This helps the C-suite understand cyber security as an enterprise-wide risk management issue, along with the legal implications of cyber-risks, and not solely a technology issue.

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/post/Cybersecurity-governance-A-path-to-cyber-maturity

• The Rise of Data Exfiltration and Why It Is a Greater Risk Than Ransomware

Ransomware is the de facto threat organisations have faced over the past few years. Threat actors were making easy money by exploiting the high valuation of cryptocurrencies and their victims' lack of adequate preparation.

Think about bad security policies, untested backups, patch management practices not up-to-par, and so forth. It resulted in easy growth for ransomware extortion, a crime that multiple threat actors around the world perpetrate.

Something's changed, though. Crypto valuations have dropped, reducing the monetary appeal of ransomware attacks due to organisations mounting better defence against ransomware.

Threat actors have been searching for another opportunity – and found one. It's called data exfiltration, or exfil, a type of espionage causing headaches at organisations worldwide.

Information exfiltration is rapidly becoming more prevalent. Earlier this year, incidents at Nvidia, Microsoft, and several other companies have highlighted how big of a problem it's become – and how, for some organisations, it may be a threat that's even bigger than ransomware.

Nvidia, for example, became entangled in a complex tit-for-tat exchange with hacker group Lapsus$. One of the biggest chipmakers in the world was faced with the public exposure of the source code for invaluable technology, as Lapsus$ leaked the source code for the company's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) research.

When it comes to exfil extortion, attackers do not enter with the primary aim of encrypting a system and causing disruption the way that a ransomware attacker does. Though, yes, attackers may still use encryption to cover their tracks.

Instead, attackers on an information exfiltration mission will move vast amounts of proprietary data to systems that they control. And here's the game: attackers will proceed to extort the victim, threatening to release that confidential information into the wild or to sell it to unscrupulous third parties.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/08/the-rise-of-data-exfiltration-and-why.html

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Groups Can Adapt Malware Code to Different Operating Systems Simultaneously, Kaspersky Research Finds - MSSP Alert

• [Whoa] Ransomware Strains Almost Double in Six Months from 5,400 to 10,666 (knowbe4.com)

• Ransomware: Most attacks exploit these common cyber security mistakes - so fix them now, warns Microsoft | ZDNET

• Ransomware dominates the threat landscape - Help Net Security

• We need to think about ransomware differently - Help Net Security

• Disk wiping malware knows no borders - Help Net Security

• NATO investigates hacker sale of missile firm data - BBC News           

• Cyber attackers disrupt services at French hospital, demand $10 million ransom (france24.com)

• New 'Agenda' Ransomware Customized for Each Victim | SecurityWeek.Com

• LockBit gang hit by DDoS attack after Entrust leaks • The Register

• New ransomware HavanaCrypt poses as Google software update | CSO Online

• WannaCry explained: A perfect ransomware storm | CSO Online

• LockBit Ransomware Site Hit by DDoS Attack as Hackers Start Leaking Entrust Data | SecurityWeek.Com

• New Golang Ransomware Agenda Customizes Attacks (trendmicro.com)

• New 'BianLian' Ransomware Variant on the Rise (darkreading.com)

• New 'Donut Leaks' extortion gang linked to recent ransomware attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware Attacks are on the Rise | Threatpost

• Quantum ransomware attack disrupts govt agency in Dominican Republic (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Car Dealership Hit by Major Ransomware Attack - Infosecurity Magazine

• Ransomware Gang Leaks Data Allegedly Stolen from Greek Gas Supplier | SecurityWeek.Com

• Major airline technology provider Accelya attacked by ransomware group - The Record by Recorded Future

• Businesses expect the government to increase its financial assistance for all ransomware incidents - Help Net Security

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• Before Portland lost $1.4 million in cyber breach, city treasurer raised red flag - OPB

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Phishing attacks abusing SaaS platforms see a massive 1,100% growth (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Researchers Warn of AiTM Attack Targeting Google G-Suite Enterprise Users (thehackernews.com)

• Unusual Microsoft 365 Phishing Campaign Spoofs eFax Via Compromised Dynamics Voice Account (darkreading.com)

• Hiding a phishing attack behind the AWS cloud • The Register

• 10 key facts about callback phishing attacks - CyberTalk 2022

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• New social engineering tactics discovered in the wild - Help Net Security

Malware

• Threat actor abuses Genshin Impact Anti-Cheat driver to disable antivirus - Security Affairs

• Fake DDoS Protection Alerts Distribute Dangerous RAT (darkreading.com)

• Meet Borat RAT, a New Unique Triple Threat (thehackernews.com)

• Donot Team group updates its Windows malware framework - Security Affairs

• How 'Kimsuky' hackers ensure their malware only reach valid targets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Grandoreiro banking malware targets Mexico and Spain - Security Affairs

• Fake Chrome extension 'Internet Download Manager' has 200,000 installs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Threat actors are using the Tox P2P messenger as C2 server - Security Affairs

Mobile

• Google Play Store Serving Up Chameleon-like Apps (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• We can make our phones harder to hack but complete security is a pipe dream | John Naughton | The Guardian

Internet of Things – IoT

• Cyber criminals Are Selling Access to Chinese Surveillance Cameras | Threatpost

• IoT Vulnerability Disclosures Up 57% in Six Months, Claroty Reveals - Infosecurity Magazine

• Thousands of Organisations Remain at Risk from Critical Zero-Click IP Camera Bug (darkreading.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• LastPass data breach: threat actors stole portion of source code - Security Affairs

• Plex discloses data breach and urges password reset - Security Affairs

• Why the Twilio Breach Cuts So Deep | WIRED

• Plex was compromised, exposing usernames, emails, and passwords - The Verge

• DoorDash discloses new data breach tied to Twilio hackers (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Data on California Prisons' Visitors, Staff, Inmates Exposed | SecurityWeek.Com

• Expert Commentary On The Plex Data Breach (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Textile Company Sferra Discloses Data Breach | SecurityWeek.Com

• Novant Health: Oops, we leaked 1.3m patients' info to Meta • The Register

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• RaaS Kits Are Hiding Who The Attackers Really Are – Expert Comments (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Researchers warn of darkverse emerging from the metaverse | CSO Online

 Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• An anatomy of crypto-enabled cyber crime | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Cryptojackers Spread Across Computers Globally- IT Security Guru

• Hackers Are Breaking Into and Emptying Cash App Accounts (vice.com)

• Threat actors are stealing funds from General Bytes Bitcoin ATMSecurity Affairs

• How Economic Changes and Crypto's Rise Are Fuelling the use of "Cyber Mules" | SecurityWeek.Com

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Scammers Create “AI Hologram” of C-Suite Crypto Exec - Infosecurity Magazine

• Employee fraud: Beware of deepfake job applicants - Protocol

• A closer look at identity crimes committed against individuals - Help Net Security

• What type of fraud enables attackers to make a living? - Help Net Security

Insurance

• Lloyds Of London Ends Insurance Coverage For State Cyber Attacks, Expert (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Software Supply Chain

• Why SBOMs alone aren’t enough for software supply chain security | CSO Online

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

• DDoS attacks jump 203%, patriotic hacktivism surges - Help Net Security

• Threat Actor Deploys Raven Storm Tool to Perform DDoS Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine

• LockBit gang hit by DDoS attack after Entrust leaks • The Register

• Gambling sites are losing significant amounts of revenue due to raising DDoS attacks - Help Net Security

Cloud/SaaS

• Mitiga: Attackers evade Microsoft MFA to lurk inside M365 (techtarget.com)

• Phishing attacks abusing SaaS platforms see a massive 1,100% growth (bleepingcomputer.com)

• How complicated access management protocols have impacted cloud security - Help Net Security

Identity and Access Management

• IT leaders struggling to address identity sprawl - Help Net Security

• Identity Security Pain Points and What Can Be Done (darkreading.com)

• Thoma Bravo: Securing digital identities has become a major priority - Help Net Security

Encryption

• CISA: Action required now to prepare for quantum computing cyber threats | ZDNET

• Encrypted Traffic Analysis: Mitigating Against The Risk Of Encryption (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• US Government: Stop Dickering and Prepare for Post-Quantum Encryption Now - CNET

API

• API security incidents occur at least once a month - Help Net Security

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Credential phishing attacks rise and represent a huge threat to businesses - Help Net Security

• Twilio hackers breached over 130 organisations during months-long hacking spree | TechCrunch

• FBI: Beware Residential IPs Hiding Credential Stuffing - Infosecurity Magazine

Social Media

• Experts Reaction to Poor Security At Twitter (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

Privacy

• Oracle sued over ‘worldwide surveillance machine’ by privacy rights activists | CSO Online

• Most top mobile carriers retain geolocation data for two years on average, FCC findings show - CyberScoop

Travel

• Hackers target hotel and travel companies with fake reservations (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Fake Reservation Links Prey on Weary Travelers | Threatpost

• British Airways passengers targeted in baggage scam using Twitter | The Independent

Models, Frameworks and Standards

• PCI DSS v4.0 is coming, here's how to prepare to comply (techtarget.com)

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

• Lloyd's of London Introduces New War Exclusion Insurance Clauses | SecurityWeek.Com

• The (Nation) State of Cyber: 64% of Businesses Suspect They've Been Targeted or Impacted by Nation-State Attacks (darkreading.com)

• EU Outlines Critical Cyber Response to Ukraine War - Infosecurity Magazine

• Unprecedented cyber attack hit State Infrastructure of Montenegro - Security Affairs

• Suspected Iranian Hackers Targeted Several Israeli Organisations for Espionage (thehackernews.com)

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Microsoft: Russian hackers gain powerful 'MagicWeb' authentication bypass | ZDNET

• Microsoft Attributes New Post-Compromise Capability to Nobelium - Infosecurity Magazine

Nation State Actors – Iran

• Google Uncovers Tool Used by Iranian Hackers to Steal Data from Email Accounts (thehackernews.com)

• Iranian Hackers Exploiting Unpatched Log4j 2 Bugs to Target Israeli Organisations (thehackernews.com)

Nation State Actors – Misc APT

• Donot Team group updates its Windows malware framework - Security Affairs

• Cyber crime Groups Increasingly Adopting Sliver Command-and-Control Framework (thehackernews.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Up to 35% more CVEs published so far this year compared to 2021 | CSO Online

• Why patching quality, vendor info on vulnerabilities are declining | CSO Online

• How fast is the financial industry fixing its software security flaws? - Help Net Security

• Highlighting What should be Patched First at the Endpoint (bleepingcomputer.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Cisco Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities in Business Switches | SecurityWeek.Com

• CISA Warns of Active Exploitation of Palo Alto Networks' PAN-OS Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• Critical flaw impacts Atlassian Bitbucket Server and Data Center - Security Affairs

• VMware fixes privilege escalation vulnerabilities in VMware Tools - Infosecurity Magazine

• VMware LPE Bug Allows Cyber attackers to Feast on Virtual Machine Data (darkreading.com)

• Critical RCE bug in GitLab patched, update ASAP! (CVE-2022-2884) - Help Net Security

• Mac users urged to update Zoom, after security patch released for previously-flawed security patch (bitdefender.com)

• Zoom patches root exploit, patches patch due to root exploit • The Register

• US government really hopes you've patched your Zimbra server • The Register

• Apple security flaw ‘actively exploited’ by hackers to fully control devices | Apple | The Guardian

• Microsoft publicly discloses details on critical ChromeOS flaw - Security Affairs

• Mozilla Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities in Firefox, Thunderbird | SecurityWeek.Com

• 'DirtyCred' Vulnerability Haunting Linux Kernel for 8 Years | SecurityWeek.Com

• Privilege Escalation Flaw Haunts VMware Tools | SecurityWeek.Com

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Cyber Signals: Defend against the new ransomware landscape - Microsoft

• Threat Spotlight: The untold stories of ransomware - Journey Notes (barracuda.com)

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Other News

• How attackers use and abuse Microsoft MFA - Help Net Security

• There is an urgent need to reduce systemic cyber risks | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Critical infrastructure is under attack from hackers. Securing it needs to be a priority - before it's too late | ZDNET

• We Need to Talk About How Good A.I. Is Getting - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

• A lack of endpoint security strategy is leaving enterprises open to attack - Help Net Security

• NIST Weighs in on AI Risk (darkreading.com)

• Twitter whistleblower report holds security lessons (techtarget.com)

• Nearly 3 Years Later, SolarWinds CISO Shares 3 Lessons From the Infamous Attack (darkreading.com)

• Data governance: 5 tips for holistic data protection - Microsoft Security Blog

• US Government Spending Billions on Cyber security (thehackernews.com)

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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

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

Look out for our ‘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 July 2022

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

• Insurer Refuses to Pay Out After Victim Misrepresented Their Cyber Controls

In what may be one of the first court filings of its kind, insurer Travelers is asking a district court for a ruling to rescind a policy because the insured allegedly misrepresented its use of multifactor authentication (MFA) – a condition to get cyber coverage.

According to a July filing, Travelers said it would not have issued a cyber insurance policy in April to electronics manufacturing services company International Control Services (ICS) if the insurer knew the company was not using MFA as it said. Additionally, Travelers wants no part of any losses, costs, or claims from ICS – including from a May ransomware attack ICS suffered.

Travelers alleged ICS submitted a cyber policy application signed by its CEO and “a person responsible for the applicant’s network and information security” that the company used MFA for administrative or privileged access. However, following the May ransomware event, Travelers first learned during an investigation that the insured was not using the security control to protect its server and “only used MFA to protect its firewall, and did not use MFA to protect any other digital assets.”

Therefore, statements ICS made in the application were “misrepresentations, omissions, concealment of facts, and incorrect statements” – all of which “materially affected the acceptance of the risk and/or the hazard assumed by Travelers,” the insurer alleged in the filing.

ICS also was the victim of a ransomware attack in December 2020 when hackers gained access using the username and password of an ICS administrator, Travelers said. ICS told the insurer of the attack during the application process and said it improved the company’s cyber security.

Travelers said it wants the court to declare the insurance contract null and void, rescind the policy, and declare it has no duty to indemnify or defend ICS for any claim.

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2022/07/12/675516.htm#

• 5 Cyber Security Questions CFOs Should Ask CISOs

Armed with the answers, chief financial officers can play an essential role in reducing cyber risk.

Even in a shrinking economy, organisations are likely to maintain their level of cyber security spend. But that doesn’t mean in the current economic climate of burgeoning costs and a possible recession they won’t take a magnifying glass to how they are spending the money budgeted to defend systems and data. Indeed, at many companies, cyber security spending isn’t targeting the most significant dangers, according to experts — as evidenced by the large number of successful ransomware attacks and data breaches.

Without a comprehensive understanding of the security landscape and what the organisation needs to do to protect itself, how can CFOs make the right decisions when it comes to investments in cyber security technology and other resources? They can’t.

So, CFOs need to ensure they have a timely grasp of the security issues their organisation faces. That requires turning to the most knowledgeable people in the organisation: chief information security officers (CISOs) and other security leaders on the IT front lines.

Here are five questions CFOs should be asking their CISOs about the security of their companies.

1. How secure are we as an organisation?

2. What are the main security threats or risks in our industry?

3. How do we ensure that the cyber security team and the CISO are involved in business development?

4. What are the risks and potential costs of not implementing a cyber control?

5. Do employees understand information security and are they implementing security protocols successfully?

https://www.cfo.com/technology/cyber-security-technology/2022/07/cybersecurity-spending-protocols-ciso-security-threats-business-development-cyber-control/

• The Biggest Cyber Attacks in 2022 So Far — and it’s Just the Tip of the Iceberg

For those in the cyber resilience realm, it’s no surprise that there’s a continued uptick in cyber attacks. Hackers are hacking, thieves are thieving and ransomers are — you guessed it — ransoming. In other words, cyber crime is absolutely a growth industry.

As we cross into the second half of this year, let’s look at some of the most significant attacks so far:

• Blockchain schmockchain. Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com’s two-factor-identification (2FA) system was compromised as thieves made off with approximately $30 million.

• Still the one they run to. Microsoft’s ubiquity makes it a constant target. Earlier this year, the hacking collective Lapsus$ compromised Cortana and Bing, among other Microsoft products, posting source code online.

• Not necessarily the news. News Corp. journalist emails and documents were accessed at properties including the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones and the New York Post in a hack tied to China.

• Uncharitable ways. The Red Cross was the target of an attack earlier this year, with more than half a million “highly vulnerable” records of Red Cross assistance recipients compromised.

• Victim of success. North Korea’s Lazarus Group made off with $600 million in cryptocurrencies after blockchain gaming platform Ronin relaxed some of its security protocols so its servers could better handle its growing popularity.

• We can hear you now. State-sponsored hackers in China have breached global telecom powerhouses worldwide this year, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.

• Politics, the art of the possible. Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo was breached twice this year as hacktivists exposed the records of donors to Canada’s Freedom Convoy.

• Disgruntled revenge. Businesspeople everywhere were reminded of the risks associated with departing personnel when fintech powerhouse Block announced that a former employee accessed sensitive customer information, impacting eight million customers.

• Unhealthy habits. Two million sensitive customer records were exposed when hackers breached Shields Health Care’s network.

• They even stole the rewards points. General Motors revealed that hackers used a credentials stuffing attack to access personal information on an undisclosed number of car owners. They even stole gift-card-redeemable customer reward points.

For every breach or attack that generates headlines, millions of others that we never hear about put businesses at risk regularly. The Anti-Phishing Working Group just released data for the first quarter of this year, and the trend isn’t good. Recorded phishing attacks are at an all-time high (more than a million in just the first quarter) and were accelerating as the quarter closed, with March 2022 setting a new record for single-month attacks.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-guests/the-biggest-cyberattacks-in-2022-so-far-and-its-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/

• Malware-as-a-Service Creating New Cyber Crime Ecosystem

This week HP released their report The Evolution of Cybercrime: Why the Dark Web is Supercharging the Threat Landscape and How to Fight Back, exploring how cyber-criminals are increasingly operating in a quasi-professional manner, with malware and ransomware attacks being offered on a ‘software-as-a-service’ basis.

The report’s findings showed how cyber crime is being supercharged through “plug and play” malware kits that are easier than ever to launch attacks. Additionally, cyber syndicates are now collaborating with amateur attackers to target businesses, putting the online world and its users at risk.

The report’s methodology saw HP’s Wolf Security threat team work in tandem with dark-web investigation firm Forensic Pathways to scrape and analyse over 35 million cyber criminal marketplaces and forum posts between February and March 2022, with the investigation helping to gain a deeper understanding of how cyber criminals operate, gain trust, and build reputation. Its key findings include:

Malware is cheap and readily available: Over three-quarters (76%) of malware advertisements listed, and 91% of exploits (i.e. code that gives attackers control over systems by taking advantage of software bugs), retail for under $10.

Trust and reputation are ironically essential parts of cyber-criminal commerce: Over three-quarters (77%) of cyber criminal marketplaces analysed require a vendor bond – a license to sell – which can cost up to $3000.  Of these, 92% have a third-party dispute resolution service.

Popular software is giving cyber criminals a foot in the door: Kits that exploit vulnerabilities in niche systems command the highest prices (typically ranging from $1,000-$4,000), while zero day vulnerabilities are retailing at 10s of thousands of pounds on dark web markets.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malware-service-cybercrime/

• The Rise and Continuing Popularity of LinkedIn-Themed Phishing

Phishing emails impersonating LinkedIn continue to make the bulk of all brand phishing attempts. According to Check Point, 45% of all email phishing attempts in Q2 2022 imitated the style of communication of the professional social media platform, with the goal of directing targets to a spoofed LinkedIn login page and collecting their account credentials.

The phishers are generally trying to pique the targets’ interest with fake messages claiming that they “have appeared in X searches this week”, that a new message is waiting for them, or that another user would like to do business with them, and are obviously taking advantage of the fact that a record number of individuals are switching or are considering quitting their job and are looking for a new one.

To compare: In Q4 2021, LinkedIn-themed phishing attempts were just 8 percent of the total brand phishing attacks flagged by Check Point. Also, according to Vade Secure, in 2021 the number of LinkedIn-themed phishing pages linked from unique phishing emails was considerably lower than those impersonating other social networks (Facebook, WhatsApp).

Other brands that phishers loved to impersonate during Q2 2022 are (unsurprisingly) Microsoft (13%), DHL (12%) and Amazon (9%).

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/21/linkedin-phishing/

• Microsoft Teams Default Settings Leave Organisations Open to Cyber Attacks

Relying on default settings on Microsoft Teams leaves organisations and users open to threats from external domains, and misconfigurations can prove perilous to high-value targets.

Microsoft Teams has over 270 million active monthly users, with government institutions using the software in the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, and other countries at varying levels.

Cyber security researchers have discovered that relying on default MS Teams settings can leave firms and high-value users vulnerable to social engineering attacks. Attackers could create group chats, masquerade as seniors within the target organisation and observe whether users are online.

Attackers could, rather convincingly, impersonate high-ranking officials and possibly strike up conversations, fooling victims into believing they’re discussing sensitive topics with a superior. Skilled attackers could do a lot of harm with this capability.

https://cybernews.com/security/microsoft-teams-settings-leave-govt-officials-open-to-cyberattacks/

• Top 10 Cyber Security Attacks of Last Decade Show What is to Come

Past is prologue, wrote William Shakespeare in his play “The Tempest,” meaning that the present can often be determined by what has come before. So it is with cyber security, serving as the basis of which is Trustwave’s “Decade Retrospective: The State of Vulnerabilities” over the last 10 years.

Threat actors frequently revisit well-known and previously patched vulnerabilities to take advantage of continuing poor cyber security hygiene. “If one does not know what has recently taken place it leaves you vulnerable to another attack,” Trustwave said in its report that identifies and examines the “watershed moments” that shaped cyber security between 2011 and 2021.

With a backdrop of the number of security incidents and vulnerabilities increasing in volume and sophistication, here are Trustwave’s top 10 network vulnerabilities in no particular order that defined the decade and “won’t be forgotten.”

• SolarWinds hack and FireEye breach, Detected: December 8, 2020 (FireEye)

• EternalBlue Exploit, Detected: April 14, 2017

• Heartbleed, Detected: March 21, 2014

• Shellshock, Remote Code Execution in BASH, Detected: September 12, 2014

• Apache Struts Remote Command Injection & Equifax Breach, Detected: March 6, 2017

• Chipocalypse, Speculative Execution Vulnerabilities Meltdown & Spectre

• BlueKeep, Remote Desktop as an Access Vector, Detected: January, 2018

• Drupalgeddon Series, CMS Vulnerabilities, Detected: January, 2018

• Microsoft Windows OLE Vulnerability, Sandworm Exploit, Detected: September 3, 2014

• Ripple20 Vulnerabilities, Growing IoT landscape, Detected: June 16, 2020

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/top-10-cybersecurity-attacks-of-last-decade-show-what-is-to-come-report/

• Software Supply Chain Concerns Reach C-Suite

Major supply chain attacks have had a significant impact on software security awareness and decision-making, with more investment planned for monitoring attack surfaces.

Organisations are waking up to the need to establish better software supply chain risk management policies and are taking action to address the escalating threats and vulnerabilities targeting this expanding attack surface.

These were among the findings of a CyberRisk Alliance-conducted survey of 300 respondents from both software-buying and software-producing companies.

Most survey respondents (52%) said they are "very" or "extremely" concerned about software supply chain risks, and 84% of respondents said their organisation is likely to allocate at least 5% of their AppSec budgets to manage software supply chain risk.

Software buyers are planning to invest in procurement program metrics and reporting, application pen-testing, and software build of materials (SBOM) design and implementation, according to the findings.

Meanwhile, software developers said they plan to invest in secure code review as well as SBOM design and implementation.

https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/software-supply-chain-concerns-reach-c-suite

• EU Warns of Russian Cyber Attack Spillover, Escalation Risks

The Council of the European Union (EU) said that Russian hackers and hacker groups increasingly attacking "essential" organisations worldwide could lead to spillover risks and potential escalation.

"This increase in malicious cyber activities, in the context of the war against Ukraine, creates unacceptable risks of spillover effects, misinterpretation and possible escalation," the High Representative on behalf of the EU said.

"The latest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against several EU Member States and partners claimed by pro-Russian hacker groups are yet another example of the heightened and tense cyber threat landscape that EU and its Member States have observed."

In this context, the EU reminded Russia that all United Nations member states must adhere to the UN's Framework of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace to ensure international security and peace.

The EU urged all states to take any actions required to stop malicious cyber activities conducted from their territory.

The EU's statement follows a February joint warning from CISA and the FBI that wiper malware attacks targeting Ukraine could spill over to targets from other countries.

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) said in late March that it observed phishing attacks orchestrated by the Russian COLDRIVER hacking group against NATO and European military entities.

In May, the US, UK, and EU accused Russia of coordinating a massive cyber attack that hit the KA-SAT consumer-oriented satellite broadband service in Ukraine on February 24 with AcidRain data destroying malware, approximately one hour before Russia invaded Ukraine.

A Microsoft report from June also confirms the EU's observation of an increase in Russian malicious cyber activities. The company's president said that threat groups linked to Russian intelligence agencies (including the GRU, SVR, and FSB) stepped up cyber attacks against government entities in countries allied with Ukraine after Russia's invasion.

In related news, in July 2021, President Joe Biden warned that cyber attacks leading to severe security breaches could lead to a "real shooting war," a statement issued a month after NATO said that cyber attacks could be compared to "armed attacks" in some circumstances.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/eu-warns-of-russian-cyberattack-spillover-escalation-risks/

• Critical Flaws in GPS Tracker Enable “Disastrous” and “Life-Threatening” Hacks

A security firm and the US government are advising the public to immediately stop using a popular GPS tracking device or to at least minimise exposure to it, citing a host of vulnerabilities that make it possible for hackers to remotely disable cars while they’re moving, track location histories, disarm alarms, and cut off fuel.

An assessment from security firm BitSight found six vulnerabilities in the Micodus MV720, a GPS tracker that sells for about $20 and is widely available. The researchers who performed the assessment believe the same critical vulnerabilities are present in other Micodus tracker models. The China-based manufacturer says 1.5 million of its tracking devices are deployed across 420,000 customers. BitSight found the device in use in 169 countries, with customers including governments, militaries, law enforcement agencies, and aerospace, shipping, and manufacturing companies.

BitSight discovered what it said were six “severe” vulnerabilities in the device that allow for a host of possible attacks. One flaw is the use of unencrypted HTTP communications that makes it possible for remote hackers to conduct adversary-in-the-middle attacks that intercept or change requests sent between the mobile application and supporting servers. Other vulnerabilities include a flawed authentication mechanism in the mobile app that can allow attackers to access the hardcoded key for locking down the trackers and the ability to use a custom IP address that makes it possible for hackers to monitor and control all communications to and from the device.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/07/critical-flaws-in-gps-tracker-enable-disastrous-and-life-threatening-hacks/

• Russian Hackers Behind Solarwinds Breach Continue to Scour US And European Organisations for Intel, Researchers Say

The Russian hackers behind a sweeping 2020 breach of US government networks have in recent months continued to hack US organisations to collect intelligence while also targeting an unnamed European government that is a NATO member.

The new findings show how relentless the hacking group — which US officials have linked with Russia's foreign intelligence service — is in its pursuit of intelligence held by the US and its allies, and how adept the hackers are at targeting widely used cloud-computing technologies.

The hacking efforts come as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to fray US-Russia relations and drive intelligence collection efforts from both governments.

In recent months, the hacking group has compromised the networks of US-based organisations that have data of interest to the Russian government.

In separate activity revealed Tuesday, US cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks said that the Russian hacking group had been using popular services like Dropbox and Google Drive to try to deliver malicious software to the embassies of an unnamed European government in Portugal and Brazil in May and June.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/19/politics/russia-solarwinds-hackers/index.html

• The Next Big Security Threat Is Staring Us in The Face. Tackling It Is Going to Be Tough

If the ongoing fight against ransomware wasn't keeping security teams busy, along with the challenges of securing the ever-expanding galaxy of Internet of Things devices, or cloud computing, then there's a new challenge on the horizon – protecting against the coming wave of digital imposters or deepfakes.

A deepfake video uses artificial intelligence and deep-learning techniques to produce fake images of people or events.

One recent example is when the mayor of Berlin thought he was having an online meeting with former boxing champion and current mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. But the mayor of Berlin grew suspicious when 'Klitschko' started saying some very out of character things relating to the invasion of Ukraine, and when the call was interrupted the mayor's office contacted the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin – to discover that, whoever they were talking to, it wasn't the real Klitschko.

It's a sign that deepfakes are getting more advanced and quickly. Previous instances of deepfake videos that have gone viral often have tell-tale signs that something isn't real, such as unconvincing edits or odd movements, but the developments in deepfake technology mean it isn't difficult to imagine it being exploited by cyber criminals, particularly when it comes to stealing money.

While ransomware might generate more headlines, business email compromise (BEC) is the costliest form of cyber crime today. The FBI estimates that it costs businesses billions of dollars every year. The most common form of BEC attack involves cyber criminals exploiting emails, hacking into accounts belonging to bosses – or cleverly spoofing their email accounts – and asking staff to authorise large financial transactions, which can often amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The emails claim that the money needs to be sent urgently, maybe as part of a secret business deal that can't be disclosed to anyone. It's a classic social-engineering trick designed to force the victim into transferring money quickly and without asking for confirmation from anyone else who could reveal it's a fake request. By the time anyone might be suspicious, the cyber criminals have taken the money, likely closed the bank account they used for the transfer – and run.

BEC attacks are successful, but many people might remain suspicious of an email from their boss that comes out the blue and they could avoid falling victim by speaking to someone to confirm that it's not real. But if cyber criminals could use a deepfake to make the request, it could be much more difficult for victims to deny the request, because they believe they're actually speaking to their boss on camera.

Many companies publicly list their board of directors and senior management on their website. Often, these high-level business executives will have spoken at events or in the media, so it's possible to find footage of them speaking. By using AI-powered deep-learning techniques, cyber criminals could exploit this public information to create a deepfake of a senior-level executive, exploit email vulnerabilities to request a video call with an employee, and then ask them to make the transaction. If the victim believes they're speaking to their CEO or boss, they're unlikely to deny the request.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-next-big-security-threat-is-staring-us-in-the-face-tackling-it-is-going-to-be-tough/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Post-Breakup, Conti Ransomware Members Remain Dangerous (darkreading.com)

• The Kronos Ransomware Attack: What You Need to Know So Your Business Isn't Next (darkreading.com)

• New Luna ransomware encrypts Windows, Linux, and ESXi systems (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Digital security giant Entrust breached by ransomware gang (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Protecting Against Kubernetes-Borne Ransomware (darkreading.com)

• Knauf cyber attack: Black Basta ransomware gang claims responsibility (techmonitor.ai)

• New Redeemer ransomware version promoted on hacker forums (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Kaspersky report on Luna and Black Basta ransomware | Securelist

• Snowballing Ransomware Variants Highlight Growing Threat to VMware ESXi Environments (darkreading.com)

• New Cross-Platform 'Luna' Ransomware Only Offered to Russian Affiliates | SecurityWeek.Com

• Conti’s Reign of Chaos: Costa Rica in the Crosshairs | Threatpost

• Researchers uncover potential ransomware network with U.S. connections - CyberScoop

• How Conti ransomware hacked and encrypted the Costa Rican government (bleepingcomputer.com)

• A small Canadian town is being extorted by a global ransomware gang - The Verge

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• The biggest cyber-crime threat is also the one that nobody wants to talk about | ZDNet

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Phishing Bonanza: Social-Engineering Savvy Skyrockets as Malicious Actors Cash In (darkreading.com)

• Outlook users report suspicious activity from Microsoft IPs • The Register

• PayPal Used to Send Malicious “Double Spear” Invoices - Infosecurity Magazine

• LinkedIn remains the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google Calendar provides new way to block invitation phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

Other Social Engineering

• Ongoing 'Roaming Mantis' Smishing Campaign Hits Over 70,000 Users in France | SecurityWeek.Com

Malware

• Hacking group '8220' grows cloud botnet to more than 30,000 hosts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Buy ‘plug-n-play’ malware for the price of a pint of beer (computerweekly.com)

• The Market Is Teeming: Bargains on Dark Web Give Novice Cyber Criminals a Quick Start (darkreading.com)

• New ‘Lightning Framework’ Linux malware installs rootkits, backdoors (bleepingcomputer.com)

Mobile

• Google pulls malware-infected apps, 3 million users at risk • The Register

• Several New Play Store Apps Spotted Distributing Joker, Facestealer and Coper Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Roaming Mantis hits Android and iOS users in malware, phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

BYOD

• The New Weak Link in SaaS Security: Devices (thehackernews.com)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Neopets data breach exposes personal data of 69 million members (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Verified Twitter Vulnerability Exposes Data from 5.4 Million Accounts | RestorePrivacy

• Mixed Messages as Neopets Scrambles to Respond to Mega Breach - Infosecurity Magazine

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Cyber crime escalates as barriers to entry crumble | CSO Online

• Understanding the Evolution of Cyber Crime to Predict its Future | SecurityWeek.Com

• The growth in targeted, sophisticated cyber attacks troubles top FBI cyber official - CyberScoop

• 'AIG' Threat Group Launches with Unique Business Model (darkreading.com)

• US DOJ report warns of escalating cyber crime, 'blended' threats (techtarget.com)

• Chaotic LAPSUS$ Group Goes Quiet, but Threat Likely Persists (darkreading.com)

• Last member of Gozi malware troika arrives in US for criminal trial – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Romanian hacker faces US trial over virus-for-hire service - The Verge

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• This Cloud Botnet Has Hijacked 30,000 Systems to Mine Cryptocurrencies (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers Use Evilnum Malware to Target Cryptocurrency and Commodities Platforms (thehackernews.com)

• Singapore distances itself from local crypto companies • The Register

• FBI Warns Fake Crypto Apps are Bilking Investors of Millions | Threatpost

• Ex-Coinbase manager charged in crypto insider trading case • The Register

• FBI Warns of Fake Cryptocurrency Apps Stealing Millions from Investors (thehackernews.com)

• My Big Coin founder guilty of $6m crypto-fraud • The Register

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Three Charged in First Crypto Insider-Trading Case- IT Security Guru

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• How to identify and combat online fraud - Help Net Security

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• UK Regulator Issues Record Fines as Financial Crime Surges - Infosecurity Magazine

• Broker Fined £2m for Financial Crime Control Failings - Infosecurity Magazine

Insurance

• Graff paid a $7.5M ransom and sued its insurance firm for refusing to cover this payment - Security Affairs

• 82% of global insurers expect the rise in cyber insurance premiums to continue - Help Net Security

• Will Your Cyber Insurance Premiums Protect You in Times of War? (darkreading.com)

Dark Web

• Stolen Credentials Selling on the Dark Web for Price of a Gallon of Gas – Security Review Magazine

• The Market Is Teeming: Bargains on Dark Web Give Novice Cyber criminals a Quick Start (darkreading.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Supply chain security breaches jumped in 2021 | CSO Online

Software Supply Chain

• Improving Software Supply Chain Cyber Security (trendmicro.com)

• Why SBOMs aren't the silver bullet they're portrayed as - Help Net Security

• Breaking down CIS's new software supply chain security guidance | CSO Online

Cloud/SaaS

• 60% of IT leaders are not confident about their secure cloud access - Help Net Security

• Public Cloud Customers Admit Security Challenges - Infosecurity Magazine

• The New Weak Link in SaaS Security: Devices (thehackernews.com)

Identity and Access Management

• Authentication weakness responsible for 80% of financial breaches (scmagazine.com)

Encryption

• British recycle old arguments for bypassing E2E encryption • The Register

Open Source

• Open source security needs automation as usage climbs amongst organisations | ZDNet

• New ‘Lightning Framework’ Linux malware installs rootkits, backdoors (bleepingcomputer.com)

• The US military wants to understand the most important software on earth | MIT Technology Review

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• The importance of secure passwords can't be emphasized enough - Help Net Security

• 3rd Party Services Are Falling Short on Password Security (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Okta Exposes Passwords in Clear Text for Possible Theft (darkreading.com)

• Enforcing Password History in Your Windows AD to Curb Password Reuse (bleepingcomputer.com)

Social Media

• LinkedIn remains the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hacker selling Twitter account data of 5.4 million users for $30k (bleepingcomputer.com)

• TikTok Engaging in Excessive Data Collection - Infosecurity Magazine

Privacy

• New Deanonymization Attack Works on Major Browsers, Websites | SecurityWeek.Com

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• UK cyber security chiefs back plan to scan phones for child abuse images | GCHQ | The Guardian

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• UK Regulator Issues Record Fines as Financial Crime Surges - Infosecurity Magazine

• Legal Experts Concerned Over New UK Digital Reform Bill - Infosecurity Magazine

• Understanding Proposed SEC Rules Through an ESG Lens (darkreading.com)

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

• What NATO's virtual rapid response cyber capability means for the fight against cyber warfare - Help Net Security

• EU warns of risks of spillover effects associated with ongoing war - Security Affairs

• Continued cyber activity in Eastern Europe observed by Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) (blog.google)

• US Cyber Command IDs new malware strains targeting Ukraine • The Register

• Russian hackers use fake DDoS app to infect pro-Ukrainian activists (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Experts Uncover New CloudMensis Spyware Targeting Apple macOS Users (thehackernews.com)

• Hackers attempt to infiltrate Ukrainian tech company with backdoor malware, Talos says - CyberScoop

• Will Your Cyber-Insurance Premiums Protect You in Times of War? (darkreading.com)

• Hackers Target Ukrainian Software Company Using GoMet Backdoor (thehackernews.com)

• Copycat DoS App Created by Russian Hackers to Target Ukraine - IT Security Guru

• Inside Ukraine’s Decentralized Cyber Army (vice.com)

• Albanian government websites go dark after cyber attack • The Register

• China Accuses Indian APT Group of Cyber Warfare Against Pakistan; 2nd Major Accusation After 'Evil Flower' (eurasiantimes.com)

• Mysterious, Cloud-Enabled macOS Spyware Blows Onto the Scene (darkreading.com)

• Belgium claims China-linked APT groups hit its ministries - Security Affairs

• Hacked Ukrainian Radio Stations Broadcast Fake News About President Zelensky’s Health - Infosecurity Magazine

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• Google, EU Warn of Malicious Russian Cyber Activity | SecurityWeek.Com

• Russian cyber spies targeting NATO countries in new hacking campaign | Science & Tech News | Sky News

• Google warns Kremlin-backed goons pose as pro-Ukraine app • The Register

• Russia Released a Ukrainian App for Hacking Russia That Was Actually Malware (vice.com)

• Cloaked Ursa (APT29) Hackers Use Trusted Online Storage Services (paloaltonetworks.com)

• Russian SVR hackers use Google Drive, Dropbox to evade detection (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russia, Iran discuss broad tech collaboration • The Register

• Half of Russian spies in Europe expelled since Ukraine invasion, says MI6 chief | MI6 | The Guardian

Nation State Actors – China

• Belgium says Chinese APT gangs attacked its government • The Register

• A massive cyber attack hit Albania - Security Affairs

• Government blocks Chinese tech deal on national security grounds | Business News | Sky News

Nation State Actors – North Korea

• US seizes stolen funds from suspected North Korean hackers - BBC News

Nation State Actors – Iran

• Russia, Iran discuss broad tech collaboration • The Register

Nation State Actors – Misc APT

• Unit 42 Threat Group Naming Update (paloaltonetworks.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Mind the Gap – How to Ensure Your Vulnerability Detection Methods are up to Scratch (thehackernews.com)

• Zero-day attacks climb as hackers get more sophisticated (securitybrief.com.au)

Vulnerabilities

• Chrome 103 Update Patches High-Severity Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

• Critical Bugs Threaten to Crack Atlassian Confluence Workspaces Wide Open (darkreading.com)

• WordPress Page Builder Plug-in Under Attack, Can't Be Patched (darkreading.com)

• Apple Releases Security Patches for all Devices Fixing Dozens of New Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)

• SonicWall: Patch critical SQL injection bug immediately (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Cisco fixes bug that lets attackers execute commands as root (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Atlassian reveals critical flaws across its product line • The Register

• Netwrix Auditor Vulnerability Can Facilitate Attacks on Enterprises | SecurityWeek.Com

• Azure's Security Vulnerabilities Are Out of Control - Last Week in AWS Blog

• Oracle Releases 349 New Security Patches With July 2022 CPU | SecurityWeek.Com

• 0-day used to infect Chrome users could pose threat to Edge and Safari users, too | Ars Technica

• Juniper Networks Patches Over 200 Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

• Experts Notice Sudden Surge in Exploitation of WordPress Page Builder Plugin Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• Google Chrome Zero-Day Weaponized to Spy on Journalists (darkreading.com)

• Apple Ships Urgent Security Patches for macOS, iOS | SecurityWeek.Com

• Cisco Releases Patches for Critical Flaws Impacting Nexus Dashboard for Data Centers (thehackernews.com)

• Juniper Releases Patches for Critical Flaws in Junos OS and Contrail Networking (thehackernews.com)

• Code Execution and Other Vulnerabilities Patched in Drupal | SecurityWeek.Com

• Atlassian Rolls Out Security Patch for Critical Confluence Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

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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

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• The Evolution of Cyber Crime:  Why the Dark Web is Supercharging the Threat Landscape and How to Fight Back - HP

• Decade Retrospective: The State of Vulnerabilities | Trustwave

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Other News

• Hackers for Hire: Adversaries Employ 'Cyber Mercenaries' | Threatpost

• Companies around the globe still not implementing MFA - Help Net Security

• Global Firms Fear the Worst Over Risk Management Failures - Infosecurity Magazine

• Humans are becoming the primary security risk for organisations around the world - Help Net Security

• What threats and challenges are CISOs and CROs most focused on? - Help Net Security

• What InfoSec Pros Can Teach the Organisation About ESG (darkreading.com)

• SATAn Turns Hard Drive Cable Into Antenna To Defeat Air-Gapped Security | Hackaday

• Cyber security hiring remains red-hot—the industry to surpass $400 billion market size by 2027 | Fortune

• Lack of staff and resources drives smaller teams to outsource security - Help Net Security

• Office macro security: on-again-off-again feature now BACK ON AGAIN! – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• New Study Finds Most Enterprise Vendors Failing to Mitigate Speculative Execution Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Analysing Penetration-Testing Tools That Threat Actors Use to Breach Systems and Steal Data (trendmicro.com)

• Removing the blind spots that allow lateral movement - Help Net Security

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 01 April 2022

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

• One Tenth of UK Staff Bypass Corporate Security

A new study from Cisco has found that a tenth of UK employees actively circumvent their organisation’s security measures.

The network technology company polled over 1000 UK professionals working for organisations that allow hybrid working, in order to better understand the potential security risks of the modern, flexible workplace.

The research has revealed that many hybrid workers do not see cyber security as their responsibility, with many actively finding workarounds or engaging in risky behaviours such as password reuse.

19% of employees said they reuse passwords for multiple accounts and applications, with only 15% using password managers.

The problem seems to stem from user friction in existing security measures. Only 44% of survey participants said they found it easy to securely access their IT equipment.

A majority said they would be willing to use biometric authentication, a reflection of how enterprise security is still catching up to consumer functionality.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/28/one-tenth-of-uk-staff-bypass-corporate-security/

• Majority Of Data Security Incidents Caused by Insiders

New research from Imperva has revealed that 70% of EMEA organisations have no insider risk strategy, despite 59% of data security incidents being caused by employees.

The shocking revelation comes as part of a wider study carried out by Forrester: Insider Threats Drive Data Protection Improvements. The study involved interviewing 150 security and IT professionals in EMEA.

An insider threat is defined by Imperva as originating from “inappropriate use of legitimate authorised user accounts” by either their rightful owner or a threat actor who has managed to compromise them.

The study found that insider threats were responsible for 59% of incidents impacting sensitive data in the past 12 months. This supports a previous Imperva analysis of the most significant breaches of the past five years, revealing that 24% were caused by either human error or compromised credentials.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/04/01/majority-of-data-security-incidents-caused-by-insiders/

• One-Third of UK Firms Suffer a Cyber Attack Every Week

Cyber attacks and related incidents at UK organisations continue their seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory, with new statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealing that 31% of businesses and 26% of charity organisations now experience incidents on a weekly basis.

The data, contained in the annual cyber security breaches survey report, paints a stark picture of the scale of the threat facing the average organisation, and the urgent need to boost standards and defences.

It is vital that every organisation takes cyber security seriously as more and more business is done online and we live in a time of increasing cyber risk.  No matter how big or small your organisation is, you need to take steps to improve digital resilience.

Some 20% of businesses and 19% of charities said they had experienced a negative outcome as a direct consequence of an attack. The average cost of an attack, spread out across all organisations, now works out at £4,200, or £19,400 if only medium and large businesses are considered, although there is probably a vast amount of under-reporting, so the true figures are certainly higher.

Meanwhile, 35% of businesses and 38% of charities said they had experienced some kind of negative impact during the incident, such as service downtime.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252515288/One-third-of-UK-firms-suffer-a-cyber-attack-every-week

• Russia's Cyber Criminals Fear Sanctions Will Erase Their Wealth

Punitive economic sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine had crooks discussing the best ways to adapt to the new reality.

Members of Russian-language underground forums are not immune to the latest news. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent economic sanctions against Moscow got forum users to discuss how to live in this new world they find themselves in.

According to a report by the Digital Shadows Photon team, dark web forums are teeming with questions on how to ensure the safety of funds held in Russia-based accounts.

One user sought advice on what to do with dollars held in a Russian bank, with others suggesting converting dollars to rubles for a few months.

"I hope you were joking about [holding the funds in rubles for] half a year? After half a year, your rubles will only be good for lighting a fire, they will not be good for anything else," a forum user responded.

https://cybernews.com/news/russias-cybercriminals-fear-sanctions-will-erase-their-wealth/

• 86% Of Organisations Believe They Have Suffered a Nation-State Cyber Attack

A new study by Trellix and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has revealed that 86% of organisations believe they have fallen victim to a nation-state cyber attack.

The research surveyed 800 IT decision-makers in Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and US.

It has also been revealed that 92% of respondents have faced, or suspect they have faced, a nation-state backed cyber attack in the past 18 months, or anticipate one in the future.

Russia and China were identified as the most likely suspects behind said attacks. 39% of organisations that believe they have been hit with a nation-state cyber attack believe Russia were the perpetrators.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/29/86-of-organisations-believe-they-have-suffered-a-nation-state-cyberattack/

• Multiple Hacking Groups Are Using the War in Ukraine as A Lure in Phishing Attempts

Hostile hacking groups are exploiting Russia's invasion of Ukraine to carry out cyber attacks designed to steal login credentials, sensitive information, money and more from victims around the world.

According to cyber security researchers at Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), government-backed hackers from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as various unattributed groups and cyber criminal gangs, are using various themes related to the war in Ukraine to lure people into becoming victims of cyber attacks.

In just the last two weeks alone, Google has seen several hacking groups looking to take advantage of the war to fulfil their malicious aims, whether that's stealing information, stealing money, or something else.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-multiple-hacking-groups-are-using-the-war-in-ukraine-as-a-lure-in-phishing-attempts/

• 4 Ways Attackers Target Humans to Gain Network Access

Since the day we started receiving email, we hope that our antivirus or endpoint protection software alerts us to problems. In reality, it often does not. When technology fails, it’s likely because the attacker made an end run around it by targeting humans. Here are four ways they do it:

1. The targeted human attack

2. Fraudulent wire transfer email

3. Tricking users into handing over credentials

4. Bypassing multi-factor authentication

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3654850/4-ways-attackers-target-humans-to-gain-network-access.html#tk.rss_news

• Security Incidents Reported to FCA Surge 52% in 2021

The number of cyber security incidents reported to the UK’s financial regulator surged by over 50% last year after a significant increase in cyber-attacks, according to new figures from Picus Security.

The security vendor submitted Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to compile its latest report, Cyber Security Incidents in the UK Financial Sector.

The 52% year-on-year increase in “material” security incidents reported to the FCA seems to have been driven by cyber-attacks, which comprised nearly two-thirds (65%) of these reports.

Picus Security claimed that the rest are likely explained by “system and process failures and employee errors.”

In addition, a third of incident reports were about corporate or personal data breaches, and a fifth involved ransomware.

Picus Security explained that to qualify as a material incident, there needs to have been a significant loss of data, operational IT outages, unauthorized IT access, and/or an impact on a large number of customers.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/security-incidents-reported-fca/

• NCSC Suggests Rethinking Russian Supply Chain Risks

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the UK has urged organisations to reconsider the risks associated with “Russian-controlled” parts of their supply chains.

Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC argued that “Russian law already contains legal obligations on companies to assist the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and the pressure to do so may increase in a time of war. We also have hacktivists on each side, further complicating matters, so the overall risk has materially changed.”

Levy has suggested that while there is currently nothing to suggest that the Russian state intends to force commercial providers to sabotage UK interests, that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/03/30/ncsc-suggests-rethinking-russian-supply-chain-risks/

• 25% Of Workers Lost Their Jobs in The Past 12 Months After Making Cyber Security Mistakes: Report

For business leaders, there is never a good time for their employees to make mistakes on the job. This is especially true now for workers who have anything to do with the cyber security of their companies and organisations. Given the growing risks of cyber attacks across the world and the increased threats posed by Russia in the aftermath of their invasion of Ukraine, these are certainly perilous times.

Indeed, a new study released by email security company Tessian found that one in four employees (26%) lost their job in the last 12 months after making a mistake that compromised their company’s security.

According to the second edition of Tessian’s Psychology of Human Error report, people are falling for more advanced phishing scams—and the business stakes for mistakes are much higher.

The study also found that:

• Two-fifths (40%) of employees sent an email to the wrong person, with almost one-third (29%) saying their business lost a client or customer because of the error

• Over one-third (36%) of employees have made a mistake at work that compromised security and fewer are reporting their mistakes to IT.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/03/29/25-of-workers-lost-their-jobs-in-the-past-12-months-after-making-cybersecurity-mistakes-report/?sh=d47cdfa49b26

• Attackers Compromise 94% of Critical Assets Within Four Steps of Initial Breach

New research from XM Cyber analysing the methods, attack paths, and impacts of cyber attacks has discovered that attackers can compromise 94% of critical assets within just four steps of initial breach points. The hybrid cloud security company’s Attack Path Management Impact Report incorporates insights from nearly two million endpoints, files, folders, and cloud resources throughout 2021, highlighting key findings on attack trends and techniques impacting critical assets across on-prem, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments.

The findings showed that 75% of an organisation’s critical assets are open to compromise in their current security state, while 73% of the top attack techniques used last year involved mismanaged or stolen credentials. Just over a quarter (27%) of most common attack techniques exploited a vulnerability or misconfiguration.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3655633/attackers-compromise-94-of-critical-assets-within-four-steps-of-initial-breach.html

• UK Spy Chief Warns Russia Looking for Cyber Targets

A UK intelligence chief warned that the Kremlin is hunting for cyber targets and bringing in mercenaries to shore up its stalled military campaign in Ukraine.

Jeremy Fleming, who heads the GCHQ electronic spy agency, praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “information operation” for being highly effective at countering Russia’s massive disinformation drive spreading propaganda about the war.

While there were expectations that Russia would launch a major cyber attack as part of its military campaign, Fleming said such a move was never a central part of Moscow’s standard playbook for war.

“That’s not to say that we haven’t seen cyber in this conflict. We have — and lots of it,” Fleming said in a speech in Canberra, Australia, according to a transcript released in London on Wednesday.

He said GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre has picked up signs of “sustained intent” by Russia to disrupt Ukrainian government and military systems.

“We’ve seen what looks like some spillover of activity affecting surrounding countries,” Fleming said. “And we’ve certainly seen indicators which suggest Russia’s cyber actors are looking for targets in the countries that oppose their actions.”

He provided no further details. He said the UK and other Western allies will continue to support Ukraine in beefing up its cyber security defences.

https://www.securityweek.com/uk-spy-chief-warns-russia-looking-cyber-targets

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Payments Hitting New Records In 2021 - Help Net Security

• UK Ransomware Attacks Double In Past Year, Expert Insight - Information Security Buzz

• Ransomware, Endpoint Risks Are Top Concerns for DFIR Professionals | CSO Online

• Not Enough Businesses Have A Formal Ransomware Plan In Place - Help Net Security

• Ukraine, Conti, and the law of unintended consequences | CSO Online

• FBI Investigating More than 100 Ransomware Variants - Infosecurity Magazine

• Precursor Malware Is an Early Warning Sign for Ransomware (darkreading.com)

• Cyber Blackmail Gains Traction in Ransomware Hijackers' Tool Set - MSSP Alert

• Services Giant Admits $42m Fallout from Ransomware Attack - Infosecurity Magazine

• Hive Ransomware Uses New 'IPfuscation' Trick to Hide Payload (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Shutterfly, Hit By Conti Ransomware Group, Warns Staff Their Data Has Been Stolen • Graham Cluley

• FBI: Ransomware Attacks Are Piling Up The Pressure On Public Services | ZDNet

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• FBI Disrupts BEC Cyber Crime Gangs Targeting Victims Worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• Calendly Actively Abused in Microsoft Credentials Phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Phishing Attacks: Malicious URLs May Outpace Email Attachment Risks - MSSP Alert

• Hackers Hijack Email Reply Chains on Unpatched Exchange Servers to Spread Malware (thehackernews.com)

• Phishing uses Azure Static Web Pages to impersonate Microsoft (bleepingcomputer.com)

Other Social Engineering

• 5 Old Social Engineering Tricks Employees Still Fall For, And 4 New Gotchas | CSO Online

• Fraudsters Use 'Fake Emergency Data Requests' To Steal Info • The Register

Malware

• A Third of Malware Infections Used Log4Shell- IT Security Guru

Mobile

• Russian-Linked Android Malware Records Audio, Tracks Your Location (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Malware Disguised As Cryptocurrency Wallets Used To Steal From iOS and Android Users (androidpolice.com)

IoT

• Wyze Cam Flaw Lets Hackers Remotely Access Your Saved Videos (bleepingcomputer.com)

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Sanctions Hitting Russian Cyber-Criminals Hard - Infosecurity Magazine

• Secret World of Pro-Russia Hacking Group Exposed in Leak - WSJ

• UK Police Charges Two Teenagers for Their Alleged Role in Lapsus$ Group - Security Affairs

• LAPSUS$ Hacks Globant. 70GB of Data Leaked from IT Firm (bitdefender.com)

• Man Linked to Multi-Million Dollar Ransomware Attacks Gets 66 Months In Prison For Online Fraud | ZDNet

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

• How CISOs can Mitigate Cryptomining Malware (trendmicro.com)

• Ronin Blockchain Hit With $620 Million Crypto Heist - IT Security Guru

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Yale Finance Director Stole $40m In Computers to Resell • The Register

• Making Security Mistakes May Come With A High Price For Employees - Help Net Security

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• How To Avoid Investment Scams On Social Media, As 25% Of UK Victims Are Youths Online - Information Security Buzz

• Europol Dismantles Massive Call Centre Investment Scam Operation (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Scammers Turn Attention to Hard-Up Students • The Register

• Emily Maitlis Opens Up About Terrifying Bank Scam: ‘I Feel Sick’ | The Independent

Supply Chain

• A Large-Scale Supply Chain Attack Distributed Over 800 Malicious NPM Packages (thehackernews.com)

Denial of Service DoS/DDoS

• DDoS Attacks Becoming Larger And More Complex, Finance Most Targeted Sector - Help Net Security

• Number of DDoS Attacks in 2021 Reached 9.75 Million - Help Net Security

• Beastmode Botnet Boosts DDoS Power With New Router Exploits (bleepingcomputer.com)

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

• What Is Credential Stuffing? And How To Prevent It? Security Affairs

Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare

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Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Anonymous Targets Oligarchs' Russian Businesses - Security Affairs

• With War Next Door, EU is Warned on Cyber Security Gaps | SecurityWeek.Com

• Ukraine Intelligence Leaks Names of 620 Alleged Russian FSB Agents - Security Affairs

• Russian Credential Thieves Target NATO, European Military • The Register

• Viasat Confirms Satellite Modems Were Wiped with AcidRain Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Internet Provider to Ukrainian Military Hit With Major Cyber Attack - WSJ

• GhostWriter APT Targets State Entities of Ukraine with Cobalt Strike Beacon - Security Affairs

• Hacked WordPress Sites Force Visitors to DDoS Ukrainian Targets (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russia Facing Internet Outages Due to Equipment Shortage (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Anonymous Is Working On A Huge Data Dump That Will Blow Russia Away - Security Affairs

• Phishing Campaign Targets Russian Govt Dissidents With Cobalt Strike (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Leaked Hacker Logs Show Weaknesses of Russia’s Cyber Proxy Ecosystem | CSO Online

• Russian Aviation Authority Switches to Paper After Losing 65TB of Data | CyberNews

• Anonymous Hacked Russian Thozis Corp, But Denies Attacks on Rosaviatsia - Security Affairs

• ZTE Whistleblower: Chinese Companies Will Sell to Russia • The Register

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Nation State Actors

Nation State Actors – Russia

• UK Spy Boss Warns About Russia-China Tech Collaboration • The Register

• UK Cyber Security Centre Advises Review of Russian Tech • The Register

• You're Going To See Russian Activity Directed Against Government And Military Capabilities: Fmr. NSA director (cnbc.com)

• Russia Ranks Top For State-Linked Online Misinformation • The Register

• Google: Russian phishing attacks target NATO, European military (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian Spies Unmasked In Embarrassing Blow For Vladimir Putin (telegraph.co.uk)

Nation State Actors – China

• Chinese Hackers Deep Panda Return With Log4Shell Exploits, New Fire Chili Rootkit | ZDNet

• China APT Group Uses COVID-19, Russia in Phishing Scams • The Register

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Vulnerabilities

• CISA Adds 66 Vulnerabilities to 'Must Patch' List | SecurityWeek.Com

• Apple Rushes Out Patches for Two 0-days Threatening iOS and macOS Users | Ars Technica

• Zero-day Attacks Doubled in 2021 - Infosecurity Magazine

• Chrome Browser Gets Major Security Update | SecurityWeek.Com

• Critical SonicOS Vulnerability Affects SonicWall Firewall Appliances (thehackernews.com)

• Log4JShell Used to Swarm VMware Servers with Miners, Backdoors | Threatpost

• Experts Warn Defenders: Don't Relax on Log4j | SecurityWeek.Com

• Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge Updated to Close Security Hole • The Register

• RCE Bug in Spring Cloud Could Be the Next Log4Shell, Researchers Warn | Threatpost

• Spring4Shell: No need To Panic, But Mitigations Are Advised - Help Net Security

• Sophos Firewall Affected by A Critical Authentication Bypass Flaw - Security Affairs

• CVE-2022-1162 Flaw in GitLab Allowed Threat Actors To Take Over Accounts - Security Affairs

• Trend Micro Fixed High Severity Flaw In Apex Central Product Console - Security Affairs

• Zyxel Urges Customers To Patch Critical Firewall Bypass Vulnerability | ZDNet

• QNAP Warns of OpenSSL Infinite Loop Vulnerability Affecting NAS Devices (thehackernews.com)

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Sector Specific

Health/Medical/Pharma Sector

Washington Health District Suffers Another Data Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Hive Ransomware Group Claims Partnership HealthPlan of California Data Breach | CSO Online

LockBit Victim Estimates Cost of Ransomware Attack To Be $42 Million (bleepingcomputer.com)

Retail/eCommerce

Shopping Trap: The Online Stores’ Scam That Hits Users Worldwide - Security Affairs

Automotive

Automaker Cyber Security Lagging Behind Tech Adoption, Experts Warn | Threatpost

CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

The Spectre of Stuxnet: CISA Issues Alert on Rockwell Automation ICS Vulnerabilities | ZDNet

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Psychology of Human Error 2022 | Research Report | Tessian

• 2022 Attack Path Management Impact Report (xmcyber.com)

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Other News

• Protecting Your Organisation Against a New Class of Cyber Threats: HEAT (darkreading.com)

• Why Do Organisations Need To Prioritize Cyber Resiliency? - Help Net Security

• How Security Complexity Is Being Weaponized (darkreading.com)

• In Charts: Cyber Security Risks And Companies’ Readiness | Financial Times (ft.com)

• CISA Warns of Attacks Against Internet-Connected UPS Devices | CSO Online

• New UK Study Shows Just 1/3rd Of Orgs Use MFA Auth, Practice Cyber Compliance - Information Security Buzz

• Hackers Posing as Police Convinced Apple and Meta to Share Basic Subscriber Info (softpedia.com)

• Exploring the Intersection of Physical Security and Cyber Security (darkreading.com)

• The Current State Of Enterprise Backup And Recovery - Help Net Security

• Why Metrics Are Crucial To Proving Cyber Security Programs’ Value | CSO Online

• COVID Bounce: A Massive 2021 Resurgence of Cyber Threats - Help Net Security

• Rapid7 Finds Zero-Day Attacks Surged In 2021 (techtarget.com)

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

Look out for our ‘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 18 February 2022

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

As Ukraine Tensions Rise, UK Organisations Should Protect Themselves From Cyber Threats

In a world that is so dependent on digital assets, cyber resilience is more important than ever. At the National Cyber Security Centre – a part of GCHQ – the mission is to make the UK the safest place to live and work online, but they have said they cannot do it alone. 

Now, at a time of heightened cyber threats, the NCSC is urging all organisations to follow their advice on the steps they should take to improve their resilience.

The UK is closer to the crisis in Ukraine than you might think. While 2,000-odd miles separate us physically from their borders with Russia, that distance is much shorter in cyber space – and attacks targeting Ukraine’s digital infrastructure could be felt here in Britain.

Cyber attacks do not respect geographic boundaries. On a daily basis, businesses in the UK are targeted by ransomware attacks from criminals overseas.

And as tensions have risen in Ukraine in recent weeks, authorities have already seen a number of cyber attacks occurring. On Friday evening, the UK government judged that the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) was involved in last week’s distributed denial of service attacks against the financial sector in Ukraine.

If the situation continues to escalate, we could see cyber attacks that have international consequences, intentional or not. Rising tensions in the region, with the risk of overspill, are why the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said that the UK’s cyber risk has heightened in the last month, although there is no evidence of the UK being specifically targeted.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/19/uk-organisations-should-protect-now-unintended-consequences/

Small Businesses Facing Upwards of 11 Cyber Threats Per Day Per Device

BlackBerry's 2022 Threat Report highlights growing threats to SMBs, calls on government to make cyber security top priority

BlackBerry Limited has released the 2022 BlackBerry Annual Threat Report, highlighting a cybercriminal underground which it says has been optimised to better target local small businesses. Small businesses will continue to be an epicentre for cybercriminal focus as SMBs facing upward of 11 cyber threats per device per day, which only stands to accelerate as cybercriminals increasingly adopt collaborative mindsets.

The report also uncovered cyber breadcrumbs from some of last year’s most notorious ransomware attacks, suggesting some of the biggest culprits may have simply been outsourced labour.  In multiple incidents BlackBerry identified threat actors leaving behind playbook text files containing IP addresses and more, suggesting the authors of this year’s sophisticated ransomware are not the ones carrying out attacks. This highlights the growing shared economy within the cyber underground.

https://www.itsecurityguru.org/2022/02/15/small-businesses-facing-upwards-of-11-cyberthreats-per-day-per-device/

Microsoft Teams Targeted With Takeover Trojans

Threat actors are targeting Microsoft Teams users by planting malicious documents in chat threads that execute Trojans that ultimately can take over end-user machines, researchers have found.

Researchers began tracking the campaign in January, which drops malicious executable files in Teams conversations that, when clicked on, eventually take over the user’s computer, according to a report published Thursday.

Using an executable file, or a file that contains instructions for the system to execute, hackers can install DLL files and allow the program to self-administer and take control over the computer. By attaching the file to a Teams attack, hackers have found a new way to easily target millions of users.

Cyber criminals long have targeted Microsoft’s ubiquitous document-creation and sharing suite – the legacy Office and its cloud-based version, Office 365 – with attacks against individual apps in the suite such as PowerPoint as well as business email compromise and other scams.

Now Microsoft Teams – a business communication and collaboration suite – is emerging as an increasingly popular attack surface for cybercriminals.

https://threatpost.com/microsoft-teams-targeted-takeover-trojans/178497/

The European Central Bank is Warning Banks of Possible Russia-Linked Cyber Attack Amid the Rising Crisis With Ukraine

The European Central Bank is warning banks of possible Russia-linked cyber attack amid the rising crisis with Ukraine and is inviting them to step up defences.

The news was reported by Reuters, citing two unnamed sources. The ECB pointed out that addressing cyber security is a top priority for the European agency.

“The European Central Bank is telling euro zone banks zone to step up their defences against cyber attacks, also in the context of geopolitical tensions such as the stand-off between Russia and Ukraine, the ECB’s top supervisor said on Thursday.” reported Reuters.

ECB warned that the rising risk from cyber attacks begun in 2020.

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/128004/breaking-news/european-central-bank-warns-russia-cyberattacks.html

Companies Face Soaring Prices For Cyber Insurance

The cost of cyber insurance has risen steeply over the past year. According to Marsh, the price of cover in the US grew by 130 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, while in the UK it grew by 92 per cent. That has increased pressure on companies who are facing cost inflation in other parts of their business.

The steep hikes in the cost of cyber insurance come against a backdrop of rising prices more broadly. According to Marsh, commercial insurance prices rose 13 per cent in the final quarter of 2021.

The hardening market from reduced capacity allied with increasing cyber fraud are potent forces. Pricing becomes more challenging, reinsurance appetite reduced whilst costs increasing and fraudsters have as much access to the latest technologies as do enterprises, the government sector and the insurance industry.

There may be limits to what insurers can cover. Speaking to the Financial Times last week the chief executive of Zurich said: “A connected economy offers lots of opportunities for cyber attacks.” A major cyber risk, he added, “is something only governments can manage”.

Companies will have to do more themselves to fight cyber fraud with technology partners. Meanwhile brokers and insurers must review underwriting data and practices and government raise effectiveness at prosecuting criminals.

https://www.ft.com/content/60ddc050-a846-461a-aa10-5aaabf6b35a5

Even When Warned, Businesses Ignore Critical Vulnerabilities And Hope For The Best

A Bulletproof research found the extent to which businesses are leaving themselves open to cyber attack. When tested, 28% of businesses had critical vulnerabilities – vulnerabilities that could be immediately exploited by cyber attacks.

A quarter of businesses neglected to fix those critical vulnerabilities, even though penetration testing had highlighted them to the business after a retest was completed.

The research analyzed data from over 3,800 days’ worth of penetration testing services. These tests are a means of identifying vulnerabilities within an organisation’s security systems by simulating how malicious actors would seek to exploit such shortcomings.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/02/18/businesses-critical-vulnerabilities/

Ransomware-Related Data Leaks Nearly Doubled in 2021: Report

There was a significant increase in ransomware-related data leaks and interactive intrusions in 2021, according to the 2022 Global Threat Report released on Tuesday by endpoint security firm CrowdStrike.

The number of ransomware attacks that led to data leaks increased from 1,474 in 2020 to 2,686 in 2021, which represents an 82% increase. The sectors most impacted by data leaks in 2021 were industrial and engineering, manufacturing, and technology.

The growth and impact of big game hunting in 2021 was a palpable force felt across all sectors and in nearly every region of the world. Although some adversaries and ransomware ceased operations in 2021, the overall number of operating ransomware families increased,” CrowdStrike said in its report.

https://www.securityweek.com/ransomware-related-data-leaks-nearly-doubled-2021-report

Online Fraud Skyrocketing: Gaming, Streaming, Social Media, Travel and Ecommerce Hit the Most

An Arkose Labs report is warning UK commerce that it faces its most challenging year ever. Experts analyzed over 150 billion transaction requests across 254 countries and territories in 2021 over 12 months to discover that there has been an 85% increase in login attacks and fake consumer account creation at businesses.

Alongside this, it identified that one in four new online accounts created were fake. A further 21% of all traffic was confirmed as a fraudulent cyber attack.

From the earliest days of online information to the rapid evolution of today’s metaverses, the internet has come a long way. However, this latest data shows that it is more under attack than ever before.

Your digital identity is a currency for fraudsters and wherever there is online commerce, cyber criminals are quick to identify vulnerabilities.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/02/14/fake-consumer-account/

Poor Security Hygiene Organisations and Ransomware Attacks: Painful Math

Poor cyber security hygiene is widely considered to be a major influencing factor for exposure to a ransomware attack. But is that an accurate assessment?

In a new study, RiskRecon, a security best practices specialist, investigated 600+ cyber hijacks to determine if companies victimized by a “detonation” had poor cyber security hygiene at the time and which factors, such as web encryption, application security and email security, are key gaps in coverage.

The answer: Cyber security hygiene does in fact play a large role in an organisation’s vulnerability to a ransomware attack. RiskRecon analyzed the cyber security hygiene on the day of ransomware incident for 622 organisations spanning 633 ransomware events occurring between 2017 and 2021. Based on a comparison population of cyber security ratings and assessments of some 100,000 entities, companies that have very poor cyber security hygiene in their internet-facing systems (a ‘D’ or ‘F’ RiskRecon rating) have about a 40 times higher rate of destructive ransomware events as compared to those with clean cyber security hygiene. Only .03 percent of ‘A-rated’ companies were victims of a destructive ransomware attack, compared with 1.08 percent of ‘D-rated’ and 0.91 percent of ‘F-rated’ companies.

The cyber security conditions underlying the RiskRecon rating reveal just how poor the cyber security hygiene is of companies, on average, that fall victim to a material system-encrypting ransomware attack. For example, ransomware victims have an average of 11 material software vulnerabilities in their internet-facing systems, in comparison with only one issue in the general population. Looking at network services that criminals commonly exploit, ransomware victims expose 3.3 times more unsafe network services to the internet than the general population.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/poor-security-hygiene-organisations-and-ransomware-attacks-painful-math/

Security Teams Expect Attackers to Go After End Users First

Phishing, malware, and ransomware have spurred organisations to increase their investments in endpoint security, according to Dark Reading’s Endpoint Security Survey.

The shift to a more distributed work environment and an increase in digital transformation initiatives have motivated organisations to bolster their endpoint security defences. However, end users continue to be a major source of worry for IT and security decision-makers, according to the latest Dark Reading survey.

Phishing, malware, and ransomware pose major threats to organisations, as do attacks involving credential theft. An overwhelming 93% of IT and security professionals in Dark Reading’s "2022 Endpoint Security Survey" cite the growing number of ransomware attacks as the reason behind increased investments in endpoint security. Similarly, 83% say the increase in attacks using end-user credentials spurred their endpoint investments.

End users pose one of the biggest threats to the organisation, as 87% expect that if attackers wanted to steal the organisation’s data, they would begin by targeting a single end user.

Concerns about the end user are not new. Verizon’s "2021 Data Breach Investigations Report" found that 85% of the breaches it investigated in 2020 involved end users in some way – such as stolen account credentials, incorrectly assigned privileges or elevated privileges, social engineering, and user error.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-threat-monitor/end-users-remain-one-of-the-biggest-headaches-in-it-security

US Warns of Imminent Russian Invasion of Ukraine With Tanks, Jet Fighters, Cyber Attacks

President Biden said Friday he is convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and that he expects an attack in the coming days, with targets including the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

US officials said a Russian attack could involve a broad combination of jet fighters, tanks, ballistic missiles and cyberattacks, with the ultimate intention of rendering Ukraine’s leadership powerless.

The officials said Mr. Putin has laid the groundwork in recent days through a series of destabilizing activities and false-flag operations, long predicted by U.S. and allied officials and intended to make it look as if Ukraine has provoked Russia into a conflict, thus justifying the Russian invasion.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-troops-told-to-exercise-restraint-to-avoid-provoking-russian-invasion-11645185631

TrickBot Malware Targeted Customers of 60 High-Profile Companies Since 2020

The notorious TrickBot malware is targeting customers of 60 financial and technology companies, including cryptocurrency firms, primarily located in the U.S., even as its operators have updated the botnet with new anti-analysis features.

TrickBot is a sophisticated and versatile malware with more than 20 modules that can be downloaded and executed on demand.

In addition to being both prevalent and persistent, TrickBot has continually evolved its tactics to go past security and detection layers. To that end, the malware's "injectDll" web-injects module, which is responsible for stealing banking and credential data, leverages anti-deobfuscation techniques to crash the web page and thwart attempts to scrutinize the source code.

Also put in place are anti-analysis guardrails to prevent security researchers from sending automated requests to command-and-control (C2) servers to retrieve fresh web injects.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/02/trickbot-malware-targeted-customers-of.html

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware’s Savage Reign Continues As Attacks Increase 105% - Help Net Security

• SonicWall CEO on ransomware: Every good vendor was hit in past 2 years - The Register

• Are You Prepared for 2022's More Destructive Ransomware? | SecurityWeek.Com

• CISA Advisory Cautions MSPs: Beware More Ransomware Attacks - MSSP Alert

• Conti Ransomware Gang Takes Over Trickbot Malware Operation (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware Gangs Are Changing Their Tactics. That Could Prove Very Expensive For Some Victims | ZDNet

• FBI Eyes Ransomware Profits With New Cryptocurrency Crimes Unit | TechCrunch

• FBI Warns BlackByte Ransomware Is Targeting US Critical Infrastructure | TechCrunch

• Ransomware Is A Clear And Present Danger. So Why Rely On Legacy DR To Recover From It? • The Register

BEC – Business Email Compromise

• FBI Warns of BEC Scams Abusing Virtual Meeting Platforms | SecurityWeek.Com

Phishing & Email

• LinkedIn Phishing Attacks Up 232% | Phishing | Egress

• Half Of All Emails In 2021 Were Spam- IT Security Guru

• Microsoft Warns of 'Ice Phishing' Threat on Web3 and Decentralized Networks (thehackernews.com)

Malware

• Emotet Now Spreading Through Malicious Excel Files | Threatpost

• A Modern Ninja: Evasive Trickbot Attacks Customers of 60 High-Profile Companies - Check Point Research

• PseudoManuscrypt Malware Spreading the Same Way as CryptBot Targets Koreans (thehackernews.com)

• Baby Golang-Based Botnet Already Pulling in $3K/Month for Operators | Threatpost

• 25 Years On, Microsoft Makes Another Stab At Stopping Macro Malware • Graham Cluley

• Three-Fifths of Cyber-Attacks in 2021 Were Malware-Free - Infosecurity Magazine

Data Breaches/Leaks

• Millions of Internet Society Personal Files Exposed In Data Leak | Laptop Mag

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• 74% of Ransomware Revenue Goes to Russia-Linked Hackers - BBC News

• Interpol Must Change With Cyber Crime, Says Director • The Register

• Attackers Hone Their Playbooks, Become More Agile (darkreading.com)

• Cyber Criminals Have Changed Tactics (darkreading.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

• ‘Heist Of The Century’: US Bitcoin Case Tests Ability To Crack Down On Cyber Crime | Law (US) | The Guardian

• SIM-Swapping Attacks, Many Aimed at Crypto Accounts, Are on the Rise - WSJ

• FBI Says Crypto Payments Are a 'Huge Challenge' Amid Rise in Ransomware Attacks - Decrypt

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• The Rise Of The Super Malicious Insider: Yes, We Need To Worry - Help Net Security

• Finance Officer Jailed After Stealing £200,000 from Charity - Infosecurity Magazine

• Ex IT Tech Jailed For Wiping School Network During Lockdown • The Register

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Barclays: Scams Surged in Final Quarter of 2021 - Infosecurity Magazine

• Fraud and Scam Activity Hits All-Time High - Help Net Security

• Soaring Losses Accelerate Investments In Anti-Fraud Tech - Help Net Security

• Threat Actors Still Love a Romance Scam - Infosecurity Magazine

• Singapore Introduces Strong Measures To Stop Online Scams • The Register

• 7 Tips for How To Spot a Scammer and Protect Yourself | Well+Good

DoS/DDoS

• Ukraine Defence and Bank Networks DDoS-ed - Infosecurity Magazine

• Carpet Bombing Attacks on the Rise - Infosecurity Magazine

Nation State Actors

• Russia’s Offensive Cyber Actions Should Be A Cause For Concern For CISOs | CSO Online

• Russia Stole US Defense Data From IT Systems, Says CISA • The Register

• Cyber Security: These Countries Are The New Hacking Threats To Fear As Offensive Campaigns Escalate | ZDNet

• Researchers Link ShadowPad Malware Attacks to Chinese Ministry and PLA (thehackernews.com)

• Chinese MI6 Informant Gave Information To MPs About Huawei Threat | Huawei | The Guardian

• Red Cross Attributes Server Breach To Nation-State Actor - CyberScoop

• Iranian Hackers Targeting VMware Horizon Log4j Flaws to Deploy Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

Cloud

• Report: 63% of IT Pros Say Cyber Threats Are Top Obstacle To Cloud Adoption Strategy | VentureBeat

• EU Watchdog To Probe Public Sector's Love Affair With Cloud • The Register

Privacy

• Facebook Agrees to Pay $90 Million to Settle Decade-Old Privacy Violation Case (thehackernews.com)

Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare

• How a Russia Cyber Attack On The UK Would Target Online Shopping, Card Payments And NHS Records (inews.co.uk)

• The Conflict In Ukraine Proves Cyber-Attacks Are Now Weapons Of War (thenextweb.com)

• Cyber, War and Ukraine: What Does Recent History Teach Us To Expect? | Science & Tech News | Sky News

• Cyber Warfare In Ukraine Poses A Threat To The Global System | Financial Times (ft.com)

• EU Data Protection Watchdog Calls for Ban on Pegasus-like Commercial Spyware (thehackernews.com)

• More Polish Opposition Figures Found To Have Been Targeted By Pegasus Spyware | Poland | The Guardian

• Using Mobile Networks For Cyber Attacks As Part Of A Warfare Strategy - Help Net Security

• Moses Staff Hackers Targeting Israeli Organisations for Cyber Espionage (thehackernews.com)

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Vulnerabilities

• Squirrelwaffle, Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerabilities Exploited For Financial Fraud | ZDNet

• Attackers Can Crash Cisco Email Security Appliances by Sending Malicious Emails (thehackernews.com)

• New Chrome 0-Day Bug Under Active Attack – Update Your Browser ASAP! (thehackernews.com)

• Multiple Vulnerabilities Put 40 Million Ubuntu Users At Risk | TechRadar

• Critical Flaw Uncovered in WordPress Backup Plugin Used by Over 3 Million Sites (thehackernews.com)

• High-Severity Vulnerability Found in Apache Database System Used by Major Firms | SecurityWeek.Com

• VMware Fixes Holes That Could Allow Virtual Machine Escapes – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Another Critical RCE Discovered in Adobe Commerce and Magento Platforms (thehackernews.com)

• T2 Mac Security Vulnerability: Passwords Can Now Be Cracked - 9to5Mac

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Sector Specific

Financial Services Sector

• Open Banking Innovation: A Race Between Developers And Cyber Criminals - Help Net Security

• Canada's Major Banks Go Offline In Mysterious Hours-Long Outage (bleepingcomputer.com)

Defence

• US Says Russian State Hackers Lurked In Defense Contractor Networks For Months | Ars Technica

Transport and Aviation

• Warning Over Mysterious Hackers That Have Been Targeting Aerospace And Defence Industries For Years | ZDNet

• Unskilled Hacker Linked To Years Of Attacks On Aviation, Transport Sectors (bleepingcomputer.com)

Energy & Utilities

• Energy, Oil And Utility Sector Most Likely To Pay Ransoms - Help Net Security

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• 2022 Global Threat Report: A Year of Adaptability and Perseverance (crowdstrike.com)

• Threat Intelligence Report 2022: Cyber Security Priorities - Truesec

• The Year of Living Dangerously: Details from the BlackBerry 2022 Threat Report

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Other News

• Over 28,000 Vulnerabilities Disclosed in 2021: Report | SecurityWeek.Com

• Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) Can't Give Organisations The Security They Need - Help Net Security

• How Challenging Is Corporate Data Protection? - Help Net Security

• Local Authority Sets Aside £380k for Cyber-Attack Recovery - Infosecurity Magazine

• Traditional MFA Is Creating A False Sense Of Security - Help Net Security

• Massive LinkedIn Phishing, Bot Attacks Feed on the Job-Hungry | Threatpost

• Be Flexible About Where People Work — But Not on Data Privacy (darkreading.com)

• Researchers Block “Largest Ever” Bot Attack - Infosecurity Magazine

• BadUSB: The Cyber Threat That Gets You To Plug It In – CloudSavvy IT

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

Look out for our ‘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 14 January 2022

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Businesses Suffered 50% More Cyber Attack Attempts per Week in 2021

Cyberattack attempts reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2021, jumping to 925 a week per organisation, partly due to attempts stemming from the Log4j vulnerability, according to new data.

Check Point Research on Monday reported that it found 50% more attack attempts per week on corporate networks globally in calendar year 2021 compared with 2020.

The researchers define a cyberattack attempt as a single isolated cyber occurrence that could be at any point in the attack chain — scanning/exploiting vulnerabilities, sending phishing emails, malicious website access, malicious file downloads (from Web/email), second-stage downloads, and command-and-control communications.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/corporate-networks-saw-50-more-attacks-per-week-in-2021-

Cyber Attacks Against MSPs Jump 67%

Cyber attacks spiked by 50 percent in 2021 as compared to 2020, aided by millions of attacks in December by hackers attempting to exploit the Log4J vulnerability, according to a Check Point Software Technologies research report.

In terming 2021 a “record breaking year,” the security provider pointed to a worldwide peak of 925 cyber attacks per organisation weekly and an October 2021 measure that showed a 40 percent increase in cyberattacks, with one out of every 61 entities hit by ransomware each week. The number of cyberattacks on managed service providers (MSPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) rose by nearly 70 percent year over year.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/cyberattacks-vs-msps-skyrocket/

SMEs Still An Easy Target For Cyber Criminals

Cyber crime continues to be a major concern, with 51% of SMEs experiencing a cyber security breach, a Markel Direct survey reveals.

In this survey that polled 1000 respondents, Markel Direct explored the issue of cybercrime and its impact on the self-employed and SMEs. The survey found the most common cybersecurity attacks were malware/virus related (24%) followed by a data breach (16%) and phishing attack (15%), with 68% reporting the cost of their breach was up to £5,000.

This comes after the latest Quarterly Fraud and Cyber Crime Report revealed that Britons lost over £1 billion in the first six months of 2021, due to the considerable increase in fraudulent activity.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/01/12/smes-cybersecurity-breach/

World Economic Forum: Cyber Security Failures an Increasing Global Threat

Cybersecurity was once again identified as a major short and medium-term threat to the world in this year’s World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) The Global Risk Report. The analysis was based on insights from nearly 1000 global experts and leaders who responded to the WEF’s Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, environmental issues like climate action failure and extreme weather ranked highest on the risks facing the world over the short (0-2 years), medium (2-5 years) and long-term (5-10 years). In addition, a number of challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as livelihood crises, infectious diseases and mental health deterioration, also scored highly. Overall, this added up to a pessimistic assessment, with 84.2% of respondents stating they were either “worried” or “concerned” about the global outlook.

Digital challenges, such as “cyber security failures,” were also viewed as a significant and growing problem to the world. Nearly one in five (19.5%) respondents believe cybersecurity failures will be a critical threat to the world in just the next 0-2 years, and 14.6% said it would be in 2-5 years

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/world-economic-forum-cybersecurity/

Microsoft Faces Wormable, Critical RCE Bug & 6 Zero-Days

Microsoft started 2022 with a large January Patch Tuesday update covering nine critical CVEs, including a self-propagator with a 9.8 CVSS score.

Microsoft has addressed a total of 97 security vulnerabilities in its January 2022 Patch Tuesday update – nine of them rated critical – including six that are listed as publicly known zero-days.

The fixes cover a swath of the computing giant’s portfolio, including: Microsoft Windows and Windows Components, Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), Exchange Server, Microsoft Office and Office Components, SharePoint Server, .NET Framework, Microsoft Dynamics, Open-Source Software, Windows Hyper-V, Windows Defender, and Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

https://threatpost.com/microsoft-wormable-critical-rce-bug-zero-day/177564/

Russia Arrests REvil Ransomware Gang Responsible for High-Profile Cyber Attacks

In an unprecedented move, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the country's principal security agency, on Friday disclosed that it arrested several members belonging to the notorious REvil ransomware gang and neutralized its operations.

The surprise takedown, which it said was carried out at the request of the US authorities, saw the law enforcement agency conduct raids at 25 addresses in the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Leningrad and Lipetsk regions that belonged to 14 suspected members of the organised cyber crime syndicate.

"In order to implement the criminal plan, these persons developed malicious software, organised the theft of funds from the bank accounts of foreign citizens and their cashing, including through the purchase of expensive goods on the Internet," the FSB said in a statement.

In addition, the FSB seized over 426 million rubles, including in cryptocurrency, $600,000, €500,000, as well as computer equipment, crypto wallets used to commit crimes, and 20 luxury cars that were purchased with money obtained by illicit means.

https://thehackernews.com/2022/01/russia-arrests-revil-ransomware-gang.html

North Korea Hackers Stole $400m Of Cryptocurrency In 2021, Report Says

North Korean hackers stole almost $400m (£291m) worth of digital assets in at least seven attacks on cryptocurrency platforms last year, a report claims.

Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis said it was one of most successful years on record for cyber-criminals in the closed east Asian state.

The attacks mainly targeted investment firms and centralised exchanges.

North Korea has routinely denied being involved in hack attacks attributed to them.

"From 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks jumped from four to seven, and the value extracted from these hacks grew by 40%," Chainalysis said in a report.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59990477

No Lights, No Heat, No Money - That's Life In Ukraine During Cyber Warfare

Hackers who defaced and interrupted access to numerous Ukrainian government websites on Friday could be setting the stage for more serious cyberattacks that would disrupt the lives of ordinary Ukrainians, experts said.

"As tensions grow, we can expect more aggressive cyber activity in Ukraine and potentially elsewhere," said John Hultquist, an intelligence analyst at US cyber security company Mandiant, possibly including "destructive attacks that target critical infrastructure."

"Organisations need to begin preparing," Hultquist added.

Intrusions by hackers on hospitals, power utility companies, and the financial system were until recently rare. But organised cyber criminals, many of them living in Russia, have gone after institutions aggressively in the past two years with ransomware, freezing data and computerized equipment needed to care for hospital patients.

In some cases, those extortion attacks have led to patient deaths, according to litigation, media reports and medical professionals.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/no-lights-no-heat-no-money-thats-life-ukraine-during-cyber-warfare-2022-01-14/

Ukrainian Police Arrest Five Members Of Ransomware Affiliate

Ukrainian police announced the arrest of five members of a ransomware affiliate on Thursday, noting that the group was behind attacks on more than 50 companies across Europe and the US.

In a statement, both the Ukrainian Security Service and Ukrainian Cyber Police said the group made at least $1 million through their attacks on the companies.

US and UK law enforcement officials worked with Ukrainian officials on the operation.

Officials said the leader of the group was a 36-year-old who worked with his wife and three other people out of Kyiv. The five are facing a variety of charges in Ukraine related to money laundering, hacking, and selling malware.

One of the people charged is wanted by law enforcement agencies in UK after "using a virus to obtain bank card details of the customers of British banks," according to the police statement.

The bank card details were used to buy things online that were then resold.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ukrainian-police-arrest-members-of-ransomware-affiliate/

Fingers Point To Lazarus, Cobalt, Fin7 As Key Hacking Groups Attacking Finance Industry

The Lazarus, Cobalt, and FIN7 hacking groups have been labeled as the most prevalent threat actors striking financial organisations today.

According to "Follow the Money," a new report (.PDF) published on the financial sector by Outpost24's Blueliv on Thursday, members of these groups are the major culprits of theft and fraud in the industry today.

The financial sector has always been, and possibly always will be, a key target for cybercriminal groups. Organisations in this area are often custodians of sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to customers and clients, financial accounts, and cash.

They also often underpin the economy: if a payment processor or bank's systems go down due to malware, this can cause irreparable harm not only to the victim company in question, but this can also have severe financial and operational consequences for customers.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/fingers-point-to-lazarus-cobalt-fin7-as-key-hacking-groups-focused-on-finance-industry/

Ransomware, Supply Chain, And Deepfakes: The Top Threats The Finance Industry Needs To Prepare For

The finance industry is constantly targeted by numerous threat actors, and they are always innovating and trying new techniques (such as deepfakes) to outsmart security teams and breach an organisation’s network.

In addition to that, there is currently a huge demand for data and new tools on the dark web. In fact, users are selling access to point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and login details to the websites of financial services organisations all the time.

How can financial organisations protect themselves from existing threats and combat new ones at the same time?

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/01/12/finance-industry-threats/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Night Sky Ransomware Is Attacking Corporate Networks For 800k Ransom - The Cybersecurity Times

• One Of The REvil Members Arrested Was Behind Colonial Pipeline Attack - Security Affairs

• Ransomware Is Being Rewritten In Go For Joint Attacks On Windows, Linux Users | IT PRO

• Inside a Ransomware Hit at Nordic Choice Hotels - WSJ

• Watch Out, That Microsoft Edge Update Is Actually Ransomware | TechRadar

• Qlocker Ransomware Returns To Target QNAP NAS Devices Worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Trends That Shaped Ransomware – And Why It’s Not Slowing Down - CyberScoop

Phishing

• Check Your SPF Records: Wide IP Ranges Undo Email Security And Make For Tasty Phishes | ZDNet

• Phishers Are Targeting Office 365 Users By Exploiting Adobe Cloud - Help Net Security

• Hackers Exploiting Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerabilities in Enterprise Phishing Campaigns - MSSP Alert

• Real Big Phish: Mobile Phishing & Managing User Fallibility | Threatpost

Malware

• Microsoft Defender Weakness Lets Hackers Bypass Malware Detection (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New RedLine Malware Version Spread As Fake Omicron Stat Counter (bleepingcomputer.com)

• ‘Fully Undetected’ SysJoker Backdoor Malware Targets Windows, Linux & macOS | Threatpost

• FluBot Malware Continues To Evolve. What's New In Ver 5.0 And Beyond? Security Affairs

• Oops: Cyberspies Infect Themselves With Their Own Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)

Mobile

• Android Users Can Now Disable 2G to Block Stingray Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• EFF Praises Android’s New 2G Kill Switch, Wants Apple To Follow Suit | Ars Technica

• How To Protect Yourself Against Sim-Swapping Scams With Mobile Phone Fraud On The Rise (inews.co.uk)

IoT

• How a Hacker Controlled Dozens of Teslas Using a Flaw in Third-Party App (vice.com)

• Better Smart Home Security In 5 Easy Steps - CNET

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Cyber Attacks On Corporations Hit Record Breaking Highs - IT Security Guru

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

• Abcbot Botnet Is Linked To Xanthe Cryptojacking Group | ZDNet

• North Korean Hackers Impersonate Major Crypto Investment Firm to Scam Startups (vice.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Insider Threat Does Not Have To Be Malicious, So How Do You Protect Your Organisation? - Help Net Security

• Data Security In The Age Of Insider Threats: A Primer - Help Net Security

• Former DHS Official Charged With Stealing Govt Employees' PII (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Forensics Expert Kept Murder Snaps on PC - Infosecurity Magazine

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• £92m Lost To Romance Scammers In 2021 - IT Security Guru

• ‘It Felt Like Losing A Husband’: The Fraudsters Breaking Hearts – And Emptying Bank Accounts | Relationships | The Guardian

DoS/DDoS

• Extortion DDoS Attacks Grow Stronger And More Common (Bleepingcomputer.Com)

• DDoS Attacks That Come Combined With Extortion Demands Are On The Rise | ZDNet

CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Manufacturers Are Starting To Realize The Importance Of OT Security - Help Net Security

• FBI, NSA and CISA Warns of Russian Hackers Targeting Critical Infrastructure (thehackernews.com)

• Critical Infrastructure Falls Short on Ransomware Readiness, Mitigation, Recovery - MSSP Alert

Nation State Actors

• Ukraine Hacks Add to Worries of Cyber Conflict With Russia | SecurityWeek.Com

• Destructive Malware Targeting Ukrainian Organisations - Microsoft Security Blog

• US Olympic Athletes Urged to Leave Phones Behind (gizmodo.com)

• Suspected Chinese Hackers Use Log4j Flaw To Deploy Night Sky Ransomware, Microsoft Warns - CyberScoop

• Russian Submarines Threatening Undersea Cables, UK Defence Chief Warns - Security Affairs

• Iranian Hackers Exploit Log4j Vulnerability to Deploy PowerShell Backdoor (thehackernews.com)

• US Cyber Command Links 'MuddyWater' Hacking Group to Iranian Intelligence (thehackernews.com)

Cloud

• The Rising Threat Of Cyber Criminals Targeting Cloud Infrastructure In 2022 - Help Net Security

• 5 Top Hybrid Cloud Security Challenges | CSO Online

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

• 4 Ways Cyber Criminals Hide Credential Stuffing Attacks | CSO Online

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• UK Hacker Jailed for Spying on Children and Downloading Indecent Images (thehackernews.com)

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Vulnerabilities

• CISA Adds 15 Exploited Vulnerabilities From Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle And More To Catalog | ZDNet

• Threat Actors Can Bypass Malware Detection Due To Microsoft Defender Weakness - Security Affairs

• noPac Exploit: Microsoft AD Flaw May Lead to Total Domain Compromise | CrowdStrike

• Adobe Fixes 4 Critical Reader Bugs That Were Demonstrated At Tianfu Cup - Security Affairs

• WordPress 5.8.3 Security Update Fixes SQL Injection, XSS Flaws (bleepingcomputer.com)

• WordPress Bugs Exploded in 2021, Most Exploitable | Threatpost

• Sonicwall SMA 100 VPN Box Security Hole Exploit Info Shared • The Register

• Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Contact Center Products | SecurityWeek.Com

• Millions of Routers Exposed to RCE by USB Kernel Bug | Threatpost

• MacOS Bug Could Let Creeps Snoop On You | Threatpost

• Mozilla Patches High-Risk Firefox, Thunderbird Security Flaws | SecurityWeek.Com

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Sector Specific

Financial Services Sector

• When It Comes To Banking Security, There's No Silver Bullet - Help Net Security

SMBs – Small and Medium Businesses

• Over Half of SMEs Have Experienced a Cyber Security Breach - Infosecurity Magazine

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Finance Whitepaper. Digital risk management for FSIs. (blueliv.com)

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Other News

• Hackers Penetrate 93% of Local Company Networks, Cyber Simulation Finds - MSSP Alert

• URL Parsing: A Ticking Time Bomb Of Security Exploits - TechRepublic

• Europol Told to Delete Vast Trove of Personal Information - Infosecurity Magazine

• The Race Towards Renewable Energy Is Creating New Cyber Security Risks | ZDNet

• What Is Clipboard Hijacking? How to Avoid Becoming a Victim (makeuseof.com)

• White House Reminds Tech Giants Open Source Is A National Security Issue (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Want To Improve Corporate Security? Prioritize Personal Security | ZDNet

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

Look out for our ‘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 07 January 2022

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Microsoft Sees Rampant Log4j Exploit Attempts, Testing

Microsoft says it’s only going to get worse: It’s seen state-sponsored and cyber-criminal attackers probing systems for the Log4Shell flaw through the end of December.

No surprise here: The holidays bought no Log4Shell relief.

Threat actors vigorously launched exploit attempts and testing during the last weeks of December, Microsoft said on Monday, in the latest update to its landing page and guidance around the flaws in Apache’s Log4j logging library.

“We have observed many existing attackers adding exploits of these vulnerabilities in their existing malware kits and tactics, from coin miners to hands-on-keyboard attacks,” according to Microsoft.

https://threatpost.com/microsoft-rampant-log4j-exploits-testing/177358/

Warning: Log4j Still Lurks Where Dependency Analysis Can’t Find It

The best programming practice to include a third-party library in source code is to use the import command. It is the easiest way to do it, and it is also the way that most dependency analysis programs work to determine if a vulnerable library is in play. But any time code is included without calling it as an external package, traditional dependency analysis might not be enough to find it — including when Java coders use a common trick to resolve conflicting dependencies during the design process.

A new study by jFrog found that 400 packages on repository Maven Central used Log4j code without calling it as an external package. Around a third of that came from fat jars — jar files that include all external dependencies to make a more efficient product. The remainder came from directly inserting Log4j code into the source code, including shading, a work-around used when two or more dependencies call different versions of the same library in a way that might conflict.

While 400 may not seem like a lot for Maven Central, where Google found 17,000 packages implementing the vulnerable Log4j library, some of the 400 packages unearthed by JFrog are widely used.

https://www.scmagazine.com/analysis/devops/warning-log4j-still-lurks-where-dependency-analysis-cant-find-it

Hackers Sending Malware-Filled USB Sticks to Companies Disguised as Presents

The "malicious USB stick" trick is old but apparently it's still wildly popular with the crooks.

Word to the wise: If a stranger ever offers you a random USB stick as a gift, best not to take it.

On Thursday, the FBI warned that a hacker group has been using the US mail to send malware-laden USB drives to companies in the defence, transportation and insurance industries. The criminals’ hope is that employees will be gullible enough to stick them into their computers, thus creating the opportunity for ransomware attacks or the deployment of other malicious software, The Record reports.

The hacker group behind this bad behaviour—a group called FIN7—has gone to great lengths to make their parcels appear innocuous. In some cases, packages were dressed up as if they were sent by the US Department of Health and Human Services, with notes explaining that the drives contained important information about COVID-19 guidelines. In other cases, they were delivered as if they had been sent via Amazon, along with a “decorative gift box containing a fraudulent thank you letter, counterfeit gift card, and a USB,” according to the FBI warning.

https://gizmodo.com/hackers-have-been-sending-malware-filled-usb-sticks-to-1848323578

Patch Systems Vulnerable To Critical Log4j Flaws, UK And US Officials Warn

One of the highest-severity vulnerabilities in years, Log4Shell remains under attack.

Criminals are actively exploiting the high-severity Log4Shell vulnerability on servers running VMware Horizon in an attempt to install malware that allows them to gain full control of affected systems, the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system is warning.

CVE-2021-44228 is one of the most severe vulnerabilities to come to light in the past few years. It resides in Log4J, a system-logging code library used in thousands if not millions of third-party applications and websites. That means there is a huge base of vulnerable systems. Additionally, the vulnerability is extremely easy to exploit and allows attackers to install Web shells, which provide a command window for executing highly privileged commands on hacked servers.

The remote-code execution flaw in Log4J came to light in December after exploit code was released before a patch was available. Malicious hackers quickly began actively exploiting CVE-2021-44228 to compromise sensitive systems.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/01/patch-systems-vulnerable-to-critical-log4j-flaws-uk-and-us-officials-warn/

‘Elephant Beetle’ Lurks For Months In Networks

The group blends into an environment before loading up trivial, thickly stacked, fraudulent financial transactions too tiny to be noticed but adding up to millions of dollars.

Researchers have identified a threat group that’s been quietly siphoning off millions of dollars from financial- and commerce-sector companies, spending months patiently studying their targets’ financial systems and slipping in fraudulent transactions amongst regular activity.

The Sygnia Incident Response team has been tracking the group, which it named Elephant Beetle, aka TG2003, for two years.

In a Wednesday report, the researchers called Elephant Beetle’s attack relentless, as the group has hidden “in plain sight” without the need to develop exploits.

https://threatpost.com/elephant-beetle-months-networks-financial/177393/

Sonicwall: Y2k22 Bug Hits Email Security, Firewall Products

SonicWall has confirmed today that some of its Email Security and firewall products have been hit by the Y2K22 bug, causing message log updates and junk box failures starting with January 1st, 2022.

The company says that email users and administrators will no longer be able to access the junk box or un-junk newly received emails on affected systems.

They will also no longer be able to trace incoming/outgoing emails using the message logs because they're no longer updated.

On January 2nd, SonicWall deployed updates to North American and European instances of Hosted Email Security, the company's cloud email security service.

It also released fixes for its on-premises Email Security Appliance (ES 10.0.15) and customers using firewalls with the Anti-Spam Junk Store functionality toggled on (Junk Store 7.6.9).

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sonicwall-y2k22-bug-hits-email-security-firewall-products/

Hackers Use Video Player To Steal Credit Cards From Over 100 Sites

Hackers used a cloud video hosting service to perform a supply chain attack on over one hundred real estate sites that injected malicious scripts to steal information inputted in website forms.

These scripts are known as skimmers or formjackers and are commonly injected into hacked websites to steal sensitive information entered into forms. Skimmers are commonly used on checkout pages for online stores to steal payment information.

In a new supply chain attack discovered by Palo Alto Networks Unit42, threat actors abused a cloud video hosting feature to inject skimmer code into a video player. When a website embeds that player, it embeds the malicious script, causing the site to become infected.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-use-video-player-to-steal-credit-cards-from-over-100-sites/

Cyber World Is Starting 2022 In Crisis Mode With The Log4j Bug

The cyber security world is starting off 2022 in crisis mode.

The newest culprit is the log4j software bug, which cyber security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly called “the most serious vulnerability I have seen in my decades-long career.” It forced many cyber security pros to work through the holidays to protect computer systems at Big Tech firms, large and small companies and government agencies.

But crises like log4j have become the norm rather than the exception during the past few years.

Last year kicked off with the SolarWinds hack — a Russian government operation that compromised reams of sensitive information from U.S. government agencies and corporations.

Digital threats of all sorts are growing far faster than the capability to defend against them. If past is prologue, 2022 is likely to be a year of big hacks, big threats and plenty more crises.

“We’re always in crisis is the long and short of it,” Jake Williams, a former National Security Agency (NSA) cyber operator and founder of the firm Rendition Infosec, told me. “Anyone looking for calm rather than the storm in cyber is in the wrong field.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/03/cyber-world-is-starting-2022-crisis-mode-with-log4j-bug/

Everything You Need To Know About Ransomware Attacks and Gangs In 2022

Ransomware is a lucrative business for criminals. It is paying off, and it is working.

According to a recent Trend Micro report, a staggering 84% of US organisations experienced either a phishing or ransomware attack in the last year. The average ransomware payment was over $500,000.

Bad actors want to keep cashing in. So they’re going as far as creating ransomware kits as a service (Ransomware as a Service) to be sold on the dark web and even setting up fake companies to recruit potential employees.

Many ransomware gangs function like real companies — with marketing teams, websites, software development, user documentation, support forums and media relations.

If the “companies” run by ransomware gangs can operate with minimal expenses and mind-blowing revenues, what’s stopping them from growing in number and size?

https://securityintelligence.com/articles/ransomware-attacks-gangs-2022/

Why the Log4j Vulnerability Makes Endpoint Visibility and Zero Trust Security More Important Than Ever

The Apache Log4j vulnerability is one of the most serious vulnerabilities in recent years—putting millions of devices at risk.

IT organisations worldwide are still reeling from the discovery of a major security vulnerability in Apache Log4j, an open-source logging utility embedded in countless internal and commercial applications.

By submitting a carefully constructed variable string to log4j, attackers can take control of any application that includes log4j. Suddenly, cyber criminals around the world have a blueprint for launching attacks on everything from retail store kiosks to mission-critical applications in hospitals.

If security teams overlook even one instance of log4j in their software, they give attackers an opportunity to issue system commands at will. Attackers can use those commands to install ransomware, exfiltrate data, shut down operations — the list goes on.

How should enterprises respond to this pervasive threat?

https://www.cio.com/article/302868/why-the-log4j-vulnerability-makes-endpoint-visibility-and-zero-trust-security-more-important-than-ever.html

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Threats

Ransomware

• Night Sky Is The Latest Ransomware Targeting Corporate Networks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Counties In New Mexico, Arkansas Begin 2022 With Ransomware Attacks | ZDNet

• Ransomware Attack Affects The Websites Of 5,000 Schools - CNNPolitics

Phishing

• Google Docs Comments Weaponized in New Phishing Campaign (darkreading.com)

• US Arrests Suspect Who Stole Unpublished Books In Phishing Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

Malware

• FluBot Malware Now Targets Europe Posing As Flash Player App (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New Mac Malware Samples Underscore Growing Threat (darkreading.com)

• Purple Fox Rootkit Now Bundled With Telegram Installer | Malwarebytes Labs

• ‘Malsmoke’ Exploits Microsoft’s E-Signature Verification | Threatpost

Mobile

• Apple iPhone Malware Tactic Causes Fake Shutdowns to Enable Spying | Threatpost

IoT

• IoT's Importance is Growing Rapidly, But Its Security Is Still Weak | SecurityWeek.Com

Data Breaches/Leaks

• List Of Data Breaches And Cyber Attacks In December 2021 | 219M records (itgovernance.co.uk)

• Have I Been Pwned Warns Of DatPiff Data Breach Impacting Millions (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Morgan Stanley To Pay $60 Million To Resolve Data Security Lawsuit (Yahoo.Com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking

• Report: $2.2 Billion In Cryptocurrency Stolen From DeFi Platforms In 2021 | ZDNet

• UK Police Seize £322m of Cryptocurrency in Past Five Years - Infosecurity Magazine

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Broker-Dealers Impersonators Stole $50 Million Using Spoofed Sites (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 'Sextortion' Leads To Financial Losses And Psychological Trauma. Here's What To Look Out For On Dating Apps (theconversation.com)

DoS/DDoS

• CDN Cache Poisoning Allows DoS Attacks Against Cloud Apps (darkreading.com)

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Why The UK’s Energy Sector Is Fragile And Ripe To Cyber Attacks - Help Net Security

Nation State Actors

• Should Businesses Be Concerned About APT-Style Attacks? - Help Net Security

• MI6 Chief Thanks China For ‘Free Publicity’ After James Bond Spoof | China | The Guardian

• Log4j Vulnerabilities: New Patches And Nation-State Exploitation. (thecyberwire.com)

• North Korea-Linked Konni APT Targets Russian Diplomatic Bodies - Security Affairs

Privacy

• Swiss Army Bans All Chat Apps But Locally-Developed Threema (bleepingcomputer.com)

• France Fines Google, Facebook €210 Million Over Privacy Violating Tracking Cookies (thehackernews.com)

Passwords & Credential Stuffing

• 1.1M Compromised Accounts Found at 17 Major Companies | Threatpost

Spyware and Espionage

• US Counterintelligence Shares Tips To Block Spyware Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

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Vulnerabilities

• Google Chrome Update Includes 37 Security Fixes | ZDNet

• Emergency Windows Server Update Fixes Remote Desktop Issues (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Microsoft Rolled Out Emergency Fix For Y2k22 Bug In Exchange Servers - Security Affairs

• VMware Fixed CVE-2021-22045 Heap-Overflow In Workstation, Fusion and ESXi - Security Affairs

• Latest WordPress Security Release Fixes XSS, SQL Injection Bugs | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)

• Internet Bug Bounty: High Severity Vulnerability In Apache HTTP Server Could Lead To RCE | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)

• QNAP: Get NAS Devices Off the Internet Now | Threatpost

• New Ubuntu Linux Kernel Security Updates Fix 9 Vulnerabilities, Patch Now - 9to5Linux

• JFrog Researchers Find JNDI Vulnerability In H2 Database Consoles Similar To Log4Shell | ZDNet

• Unpatched HomeKit Vulnerability Exposes iPhones, iPads to DoS Attacks | SecurityWeek.Com

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Sector Specific

Defence

• FBI: Hackers Use BadUSB To Target Defence Firms With Ransomware (bleepingcomputer.com)

Health/Medical/Pharma Sector

• Are Medical Devices at Risk of Ransomware Attacks? (thehackernews.com)

Estate Agents

• Hackers Target Real Estate Websites with Skimmer in Latest Supply Chain Attack (thehackernews.com)

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Other News

Log4j Flaw Attack Levels Remain High, Microsoft Warns | ZDNet

Cyber Attack Against UK Ministry of Defence Training Academy Revealed | ZDNet

API Security: Understanding The Next Top Attack Vector - Help Net Security

E-Waste Is a Cybersecurity Problem, Too - IEEE Spectrum

The Log4j Debacle Showed Again That Public Disclosure Of 0-Days Only Helps Attackers - Help Net Security

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

Look out for our ‘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 Advisory – Critical SonicWall VPN Bug Allows Remote Unauthenticated Takeover

Black Arrow Cyber Advisory – Critical SonicWall VPN Bug Allows Remote Unauthenticated Takeover

Executive Summary

SonicWall, a security vendor best known for their hardware appliances, is the subject of a critical advisory relating to its Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 100 series VPN appliances. The SMA 100 series provides secured end-to-end remote access to corporate networks and resources in a variety of environments, such as on-premises, hybrid or cloud infrastructure. The SMA 100 also provides policy driven access control, based on trusted users and devices.

The bug, rated a 9.8 out of 10 on the CVSS scale, allows a remote attacker to authenticate as “nobody”, effectively granting them the lowest level of access to the device. As such, an attacker would be able to modify policies, alter security settings or launch additional attacks from the compromised device.

What’s the risk to my business?

If you or your IT provider use the SonicWall SMA 100 appliance, the risk could be high. CVSS scores of 9.0 and higher carry a “fix immediately” flag, as any attack capable of remote execution provides an attractive target to bad actors. As firewalls and other perimeter security devices generally form the first line of defence, and protect a huge quantity of assets, compromising one can facilitate any number of additional attacks.

What can I do?

Speak to your IT service provider or IT team to find out if the SMA 100 is used in your environment. SonicWall have urged users to patch and continue to patch their devices, as SonicWall have been the subject of numerous attacks in recent years.

Technical Summary

The vulnerability – CVE-2021-20038 – has been found in the string concatenate function strcat(), which is used when handling environment variables in a HTTP GET method. The bug runs under the Apache httpd server, allowing attackers to run a stack-based buffer overflow to result in code execution.

A complete list of impacted devices can be found on SonicWall’s website.

Need help understanding your gaps, or just want some advice? Get in touch with us.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 16 July 2021

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

 84% Of Organisations Experienced Phishing Or Ransomware Attacks In The Last Year

A new report from Trend Micro has found that 84% of organisations have reported phishing or ransomware security incidents in the last 12 months.

The findings come from an Osterman Research study commissioned by Trend Micro that was compiled from interviews with cyber security professionals in midsize and large organisations nationwide. The research also found that half of organisations are not effective at countering phishing and ransomware threats.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/ransomware/360191/84-of-organizations-experienced-phishing-or-ransomware-attacks-in-last

Phishing continues to be one of the easiest paths for ransomware

Ransomware gangs are still using phishing as one of the main ways to attack an organisation, according to a new survey from Cloudian featuring the insights of 200 IT decision-makers who experienced a ransomware attack over the last two years.

More than half of all respondents have held anti-phishing training among employees, and 49% had perimeter defenses in place when they were attacked.

Nearly 25% of all survey respondents said their ransomware attacks started through phishing, and of those victims, 65% had conducted anti-phishing training sessions. For enterprises with fewer than 500 employees, 41% said their attacks started with phishing. About one-third of all victims said their public cloud was the entry point ransomware groups used to attack them.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/phishing-continues-to-be-one-of-the-easiest-paths-for-ransomware-report/

Ransomware: Only Half Of Organisations Can Effectively Defend Against Attacks, Warns Report

Around half of firms don't have the technology to prevent or detect ransomware attacks, according to research by cybersecurity company Trend Micro. It suggests that many organisations don't have the cybersecurity capabilities required to prevent ransomware attacks, such as the ability to detect phishing emails, remote desktop protocol (RDP) compromise or other common techniques deployed by cyber attackers during ransomware campaigns. 

For example, the report warns that many organisations struggle with detecting the suspicious activity associated with ransomware and attacks that could provide early evidence that cyber criminals have compromised the network. That includes failing to identify unusual lateral movement across corporate networks, or being able to spot unauthorised users gaining access to corporate data.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-only-half-of-organisations-can-effectively-defend-against-attacks-warns-report/

MI5 Chief Warns Public Of Cyber-Threat From Hostile States Such As China & Russia

Head of Britain's MI5, Ken McCallum, is urging the public to be as vigilant about threats from "hostile states" as from terrorism.

These include disruptive cyber-attacks, misinformation, espionage and interference in politics - and are usually linked to Russia and China.

McCallum is warning that "less visible threats... have the potential to affect us all," affecting UK jobs and public services and could even lead to a loss of life.

The head of the Security Service wants to challenge the idea that activity by so-called "hostile states", usually taken to mean primarily Russia and China, only affects governments or certain institutions.

Instead, he is to argue in an annual threat update, that the British public are not immune to the "tentacles" of covert action by other states.

In the speech at MI5's Thames House headquarters, Mr McCallum will warn the "consequences range from frustration and inconvenience, through loss of livelihood, potentially up to loss of life".

https://eutoday.net/news/security-defence/2021/uk-mi5-chief-ken-mccallum-warns-public-of-cyber-threat-from-hostile-states-such-as-china-russia

Almost All Organisations Have Suffered Insider Data Breaches

Egress’ Insider Data Breach Survey 2021 claims that 94 percent of organisations have experienced insider data breaches in the last year. Human error was the top cause of serious incidents, according to 84 percent of IT leaders surveyed.

However, IT leaders are more concerned about malicious insiders, with 28 percent indicating that intentionally malicious behaviour is their biggest fear. Despite causing the most incidents, human error came bottom of the list, with just over one-fifth (21 percent) saying that it’s their biggest concern.

Additionally, almost three-quarters (74 percent) of organisations have been breached because of employees breaking security rules, and 73 percent have been the victim of phishing attacks.

The survey, independently conducted by Arlington Research on behalf of Egress, surveyed 500 IT leaders and 3,000 employees in the US and UK across vertical sectors including financial services, healthcare and legal.

https://workplaceinsight.net/almost-all-organisations-have-suffered-insider-data-breaches/

Cyber Crime Costs Organisations Nearly $1.79 Million Per Minute

Cybercrime costs organisations an incredible $1.79m every minute, according to RiskIQ’s 2021 Evil Internet Minute Report.

The study, which analysed the volume of malicious activity on the internet, laid bare the scale and damage of cyber-attacks in the past year, finding that 648 cyber-threats occurred every minute.

The researchers calculated that the average cost of a breach is $7.2 per minute, while the overall predicted cybersecurity spend is $280,060 every minute.

E-commerce has been heavily hit by online payment fraud in the past year, with cyber-criminals taking advantage of the shift to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the e-commerce industry saw a record $861.1bn in sales, it lost $38,052 to online payment fraud every minute.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybercrime-costs-orgs-per-minute/

Phishing, Ransomware Driving Wave of Data Breaches

Data compromises have increased every month this year except May.

If that trend continues, or even if there is only an average of 141 new compromises per month for the next six months, the total will still exceed the previous high of 1,632 breaches set in 2017.

These were among the findings of the nonprofit organization Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) latest data breach analysis report, which revealed publicly reported U.S. data breaches are up 38% in the second quarter of 2021, for a total of 491 compromises, compared to Q1.

https://securityboulevard.com/2021/07/phishing-ransomware-driving-wave-of-data-breaches/

Top CVEs Trending with Cybercriminals

An analysis of criminal forums reveal what publicly known vulnerabilities attackers are most interested in.

Criminal small talk in underground forums offer critical clues about which known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) threat actors are most focused on. This, in turn, offers defenders clues on what to watch out for.

An analysis of such chatter, by Cognyte, examined 15 cybercrime forums between Jan. 2020 and March 2021. In its report, researchers highlight what CVEs are the most frequently mentioned and try to determine where attackers might strike next.

“Our findings revealed that there is no 100 percent correlation between the two parameters, since the top five CVEs that received the highest number of posts are not exactly the ones that were mentioned on the highest number of Dark Web forums examined,” the report said. “However, it is still enough to understand which CVEs were popular among threat actors on the Dark Web during the time examined.”

https://threatpost.com/top-cves-trending-with-cybercriminals/167889/

Sonicwall Releases Urgent Notice About 'Imminent' Ransomware Targeting Firmware

Networking device maker SonicWall sent out an urgent notice to its customers about "an imminent ransomware campaign using stolen credentials" that is targeting Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 100 series and Secure Remote Access (SRA) products running unpatched and end-of-life 8.x firmware.

In addition to the notice posted to its website, SonicWall sent an email to anyone using SMA and SRA devices, urging some to disconnect their devices immediately. They worked with Mandiant and other security companies on the issue, according to the release.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/sonicwall-releases-urgent-notice-about-imminent-ransomware-targeting-firmware/

Google Finds Zero-Day Security Flaws In All Your Favourite Browsers

Researchers at Google have shared insight into four zero-day security vulnerabilities in popular web browsers which were exploited in the wild earlier this year.

DIscovered by Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), the four vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and WebKit, the browser engine used by Apple's Safari, were used as a part of three different campaigns.

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-finds-zero-day-security-flaws-in-all-your-favorite-browsers

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware attackers are growing bolder and using new extortion methods

• REvil ransomware gang's websites vanish soon after Kaseya fiasco, Uncle Sam threatens retaliation

• What it's really like to negotiate with ransomware attackers

• Holding The World To Ransom: Top 5 Online Gangs

• Ransomware demands are digital extortion: don’t pay

• Ransomware recovery: Plan for it now

• Ransomware shows the power and weakness of the web

• This ransomware gang hunts for evidence of crime to pressure victims into paying a ransom

• HelloKitty ransomware now targets VMware ESXi servers

BEC

• Business email compromise (BEC) attacks take phishing to the next level

Phishing

• Kaseya warns of phishing campaign pushing fake security updates

• Phishing, Ransomware Driving Wave of Data Breaches

Other Social Engineering

• Social Engineering Tactics Behind Ransomware

• Propaganda as a Social Engineering Tool

Malware

• Trickbot Malware Rebounds with Virtual-Desktop Espionage Module

• Hackers Spread BIOPASS Malware via Chinese Online Gambling Sites

Mobile

• iOS zero-day let SolarWinds hackers compromise fully updated iPhones

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft July 2021 Patch Tuesday: 117 vulnerabilities, Pwn2Own Exchange Server bug fixed

• SonicWall vulnerability allows attackers to obtain full control of device and underlying OS

• Microsoft's Emergency Patch Fails to Fully Fix PrintNightmare RCE Vulnerability

• So nice of China to put all of its network zero-day vulns in one giant database no one will think to break into

• Serious Security Vulnerability Hits DrayTek’s UK Fibre Routers

• Kaseya issues patch for on-premise customers, SaaS rollout underway

Data Breaches

• Morgan Stanley suffered data breach of customers after supply chain hack

• Fashion retailer Guess discloses data breach after ransomware attack

• Insurance giant CNA reports data breach after ransomware attack

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• SolarWinds 0-day gave Chinese hackers privileged access to customer servers

• Magecart hackers hide stolen credit card data into images and bogus CSS files

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

• Does cyber crime impact crypto currency prices? Researchers find out

Insider Threats

• New Code42 Study Reveals Significant Impact of Insider Risk

Dark Web

• Feds: Dark web operator sought to sell inside information

Supply Chain

• UK food supply chain vulnerable to cyber-attack, expert warns

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Vulnerability in Schneider Electric PLCs allows for undetectable remote takeover

• Unpatched Critical RCE Bug Allows Industrial, Utility Takeovers

Nation State Actors

• Fake Zoom App Dropped by New APT ‘Luminous Moth’

• These Iranian hackers posed as academics in a bid to steal email passwords

Privacy

• Threat actors scrape 600 million LinkedIn profiles and are selling the data online – again

User Education, Awareness and Training

• Without training one in three users fall for phishing scams 

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Other News

Kaseya's Staff Sounded the Alarm About Security Flaws for Years Before Ransomware Attack

Israeli Firm Helped Governments Target Journalists, Activists with 0-Days and Spyware

Endpoint Detection (alone) won’t protect your organisation from advanced hacking groups

Kaseya hack proves we need better cyber metrics

Instagram's Security Checkup will help users secure their accounts after a hack

79% of organisations identify threat modelling as a top priority in 2021

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 July 2021

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Hackers Demand $70 Million To End Biggest Ransomware Attack On Record

An affiliate of the notorious REvil gang, best known for extorting $11 million from the meat-processor JBS after a Memorial Day attack, infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries on Friday, largely through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers. REvil was demanding ransoms of up to $5 million, the researchers said. But late Sunday it offered in a posting on its dark web site a universal decryptor software key that would unscramble all affected machines in exchange for $70 million in crypto currency.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ransomware-attack-revil-hackers-demand-70-million/

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Zero Day Malware Reached An All-Time High Of 74% In Q1 2021

74% of threats detected in Q1 2021 were zero day malware – or those for which a signature-based antivirus solution did not detect at the time of the malware release – capable of circumventing conventional antivirus solutions. The report also covers new threat intelligence on rising network attack rates, how attackers are trying to disguise and repurpose old exploits, the quarter’s top malware attacks, and more.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/29/zero-day-malware-q1-2021/

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New Trojan Malware Steals Millions Of Login Credentials

There is a new custom Trojan-type malware that managed to infiltrate over three million Windows computers and steal nearly 26 million login credentials for about a million websites. The findings suggest that the Trojan classifies the websites into a dozen categories, which include virtually all popular email services, social media platforms, file storage and sharing services, ecommerce platforms, financial platforms, and more. In all, the unnamed malware managed to siphon away 1.2 terabytes of personal data including over a million unique email addresses, over two billion cookies, and more than six million other files.

https://www.techradar.com/news/malware-steals-millions-of-login-credentials-for-popular-websites

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Ransomware As A Service: Negotiators Are Now In High Demand

The Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) ecosystem is evolving into something akin to a corporate structure, with new openings available for "negotiators" -- a role focused on extorting victims to pay a ransom. A study in RaaS trends has recently come out saying that one-man-band operations have almost "completely dissolved" due to the lucrative nature of the criminal ransomware business. Showing the potential financial gains squeezed from companies desperate to unlock their systems have given rise to specialists in cyber crime and extortion and have also led to a high demand for individuals to take over the negotiation part of an attack chain.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-as-a-service-negotiators-between-hackers-and-victims-are-now-in-high-demand/

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MacOS Targeted In WildPressure APT Malware Campaign

Recently, threat actors known as WildPressure have added a MacOS malware variant to their latest campaign targeting energy sector businesses, while enlisting compromised WordPress websites to carry out attacks. Furthermore, known novel malware, initially identified in March 2020 and dubbed Milum, has now been retooled with a PyInstaller bundle containing a trojan dropper compatible with Windows and MacOS systems, according to researchers. Compromised endpoints allow the advanced persistent threat (APT) group to download and upload files and executing commands.

https://threatpost.com/macos-wildpressure-apt/167606/

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The Cost Of Cyber Insurance Increased 32% Last Year And Shows No Signs Of Easing

The cost of insurance to protect businesses and organisations against the ever-increasing threat of cyber crimes has soared by a third in the last year. Also adding that global cyber insurance pricing has increased by an average of 32 percent in the year to June. Not only are premiums going through the roof, insurers are also attaching more strings to their policies, demanding ever more assurances that firms taking out cover have the necessary systems and processes in place to prevent a cyber mishap. Previous research also suggests that the upward squeeze on premiums shows no sign of easing, which, in turn, is putting more strain on the sector.

https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/05/cyber_insurance_report/

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Critical Flaws In Windows Print Spooler Service Could Allow For Remote Attacks

Administrators are urged to apply the latest patches from Microsoft and disable the Windows Print spooler service in domain controllers and systems not used for printing. This is because Microsoft is currently grappling with a couple of security holes in its Windows Print spooler service that could allow attackers to remotely control an affected system. Anyone able to exploit the more recent vulnerability of the two would be able to run code on the compromised computer with full system privileges. That attacker could then install software, modify data and create new user accounts.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/critical-flaws-in-windows-print-spooler-service-could-allow-for-remote-attacks/

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End Users In The Dark About Latest Cyber Threats, Attacks

According to a recent survey, which polled consumers and end users, high-profile incidents such as the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. and the breach of a Florida city's water utilities were either overlooked or ignored by many outside the IT and information security fields. As a result, the responsibility for keeping users informed and aware of the need for heightened security appears to fall on administrators and IT staff.

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/252503223/End-users-in-the-dark-about-latest-cyber-threats-attacks

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British Airways Settles Over Record Claim For Data Breach

British Airways has settled what is thought to be the biggest claim for a data breach in British legal history, involving 16,000 victims. However, the amount was not disclosed. When The breach took place three years ago, multiple data sources and customer data was leaked, including the leakage of names, addresses and card payment details which affected 420,000 customers and staff. As a result, in 2019 the Information Commissioner’s Office hit BA with its largest ever fine at £20 million.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-airways-settles-over-record-claim-for-data-breach-g0f63dnst

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Hackers On Loose As 9,000 Data Leaks A Year Recorded

Public bodies and the private sector suffered nearly 9,000 data security incidents in 12 months with sensitive and private information hacked, lost or accidentally given to the wrong people. This Data was seen to lists more than 500 organisations hit by ransomware attacks and a further 562 incidents of hacking. There was also a total of 8,815 data security incidents in 2020/21 with the most breaches in the health and education sectors. Furthermore, over the past three years, police forces across England and Wales suffered an average eight breaches a week. Even security experts announced that these figures were “alarming” and that the public would be “disturbed” to learn how often important information/data was being lost.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hackers-9000-data-leaks-recorded-cyber-crime-56nvs7t6w

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Demands Are Digital Extortion: Don’t Pay

• Trickbot Cyber Crime Group Linked To New Diavol Ransomware

• Swedish Coop Supermarkets Shut Due To US Ransomware Cyber Attack

• Ransomware-Hit Law Firm Gets Court Order Asking Crooks Not To Publish The Data They Stole

• The Rise And Rise Of Ransomware As A Service

• This Crowd Sourced Ransomware Payment Tracker Shows How Much Cyber Criminals Have Heisted

• Ransomware: US Warns Russia To Take Action After Latest Attacks

• Kaseya Says Up To 1,500 Businesses Compromised In Massive Ransomware Attack

Phishing

• Attackers Use ‘Offensive AI’ To Create Deepfakes For Phishing Campaigns

Malware

• Microsoft Office Users Face Malware-Protection Bypass

• TrickBot Spruces Up Its Banking Trojan Module

• WildPressure APT Emerges With New Malware Targeting Windows and MacOS

• Fake Kaseya VSA Security Update Drops Cobalt Strike

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft Issues Emergency Patch for Critical Windows PrintNightmare Vulnerability

• Microsoft Warns Of Critical PowerShell 7 Code Execution Vulnerability

• Another 0-Day Looms For Many Western Digital Users

• Researchers Briefly Posted PoC For Windows Print Spooler RCE Flaw

• Kaseya Patches Imminent After Zero-Day Exploits, 1,500 Impacted

• SonicWall Addresses Critical CVE-2021-20026 Flaw In NSM Devices

• Kaseya Left Customer Portal Vulnerable To 2015 Flaw In Its Own Software

• Morgan Stanley Announces Breach Of Customer SSNs Through Accellion FTA Vulnerability

Data Breaches

• Hacker Obtains Data On Thousands Of VPN Users

• US Insurance Giant AJG Reports Data Breach After Ransomware Attack

• Thousands Of Patients Hit By NHS Data Breaches

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• UK, US Agencies Warn Of Large-Scale Brute-Force Attacks Carried Out By Russian APT

• Moroccan Hacker Dr Hex Arrested For Phishing Attacks, Malware Distribution

• Operation Lyrebird: Group-IB Assists INTERPOL In Identifying Suspect Behind Numerous Cyber Crimes Worldwide

Supply Chain

• Kaseya Supply Chain Attack Hits Nearly 40 Service Providers With REvil Ransomware

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Oil & Gas Targeted in Year-Long Cyber Espionage Campaign

Nation State Actors

• SolarWinds Hackers Breached RNC Via Synnex In New Attack: Report

• Lazarus gang targets engineers with job offers using poisoned emails (tripwire.com)

Cloud

• Enterprise Hybrid and Multicloud Security Attack Surface Grows

• Public Cloud Security 'Just Barely Adequate,' Experts Say

Privacy

• A New ‘Digital Violence’ Platform Maps Dozens Of Victims Of NSO Group’s Spyware

• Audio Editor Audacity Denies Spyware Accusation

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Other News

• IT Manager Who Swindled Essex Hospital Trust Out Of £800k Gets 5 Years In Prison

• US Companies Hit By 'Colossal' Cyber Attack

• Watch Out Gamers, Hackers Have You In Their Crosshairs

• Website Of Mongolian Certificate Authority Served Backdoored Client Installer

• Security Problems Worsen As Enterprises Build Hybrid And Multiloud Systems

• Report Shines Light On Revil's Depressingly Simple Tactics: Phishing, Credential Stuffing RDP Servers... The Usual

• Leaked infrastructure code, credentials and keys costing orgs an average of $1.2 million per year

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 June 2021

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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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

BEC Losses Top $1.8B As Tactics Evolve

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks ramped up significantly in 2020, with more than $1.8 billion stolen from organisations with these types of attacks last year alone — and things are getting worse. BEC attacks are carried out by cyber criminals either impersonating someone inside an organisation, or masquerading as a partner or vendor, bent on financial scamming. A new report from Cisco’s Talos Intelligence examined the tactics of some of the most dangerous BEC attacks observed in the wild in 2020 and reminded the security community that in addition to technology, smart users armed with a healthy scepticism of outside communications and the right questions to ask are the best line of defence. “The reality is, these types of emails and requests happen legitimately all over the world every day, which is what makes this such a challenge to stop,” the report said.

https://threatpost.com/bec-losses-top-18b/167148/

30M Dell Devices At Risk For Remote BIOS Attacks, Remote Code Execution

A high-severity series of four vulnerabilities can allow remote adversaries to gain arbitrary code execution in the pre-boot environment on Dell devices, researchers said. They affect an estimated 30 million individual Dell endpoints worldwide. According to analysis the bugs affect 129 models of laptops, tablet, and desktops, including enterprise and consumer devices, that are protected by Secure Boot. Secure Boot is a security standard aimed at making sure that a device boots using only software that is trusted by the device original equipment manufacturer (OEM), to prevent rogue takeovers.

https://threatpost.com/dell-bios-attacks-rce/167195/

Bad Employee Behaviours Picked Up During Remote Working Pose Serious Security Risks in the New Hybrid Workplace

Most employers are wary that the post-pandemic hybrid workforce would bring bad cyber security behaviours. More than half (56%) of employers believed that employees had picked bad security practices while working remotely. Similarly, nearly two-fifths (39%) of employees also admitted that their employee behaviours differed significantly while working from home compared to the office. Additionally, nearly a third (36%) admitted discovering ‘workarounds’ since they started working remotely. Younger workers were more prone to these bad employee behaviours, with 51% of 16-24, 46% of 25-34, and 35% of 35-44-year-olds using ‘workarounds.’ Close to half (49%) of workers adopted the risky behaviour because they felt that they were not being watched by IT departments. Nearly a third (30%) said they felt that they could get away with the risky employee behaviours while working away from the office.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/bad-employee-behaviors-picked-up-during-remote-working-pose-serious-security-risks-in-the-new-hybrid-workplace/

7 Ways Technical Debt Increases Security Risk

Two in three CISOs believe that technical debt, the difference between what's needed in a project and what's finally deployed, to be a significant cause of security vulnerability, according to the 2021 Voice of the CISO report. Most technical debt is created by taking shortcuts while placing crucial aspects such as architecture, code quality, performance, usability, and, ultimately, security on hold. Many large organisations are carrying tens or hundreds of thousands of discovered but un-remediated risks in their vulnerability management systems,. In many sectors there's this insidious idea that underfunded security efforts, plus risk management, are almost as good as actually doing the security work required, which is dangerously wrong.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3621754/7-ways-technical-debt-increases-security-risk.html

Organisations Ill-Equipped To Deal With Growing BYOD Security Threats

A report shows the rapid adoption of unmanaged personal devices connecting to work-related resources (aka BYOD) and why organisations are ill-equipped to deal with growing security threats such as malware and data theft. The study surveyed hundreds of cyber security professionals across industries to better understand how COVID-19’s resulting surge of remote work has affected security and privacy risks introduced using personal mobile devices. The insights in this report are especially relevant as more enterprises are shifting to permanent remote work or hybrid work models, connecting more devices to corporate networks and, as a result, expanding the attack surface.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/17/byod-security/

Firewall Manufacturer SonicWall Sees 226.3 Million Ransomware Attack Attempts This Year

Firewall manufacturer SonicWall said it saw dramatic increases in almost every market, even in those such as the US and UK, where ransomware attacks were already common. The US saw a 149% spike, and the UK 69%. “The bombardment of ransomware attacks is forcing organisations into a constant state of defence rather than an offensive stance,” said the SonicWall CEO. “And as the tidal wave of ransomware attacks continues to crush company after company, there is a lot of speculation on how to keep individual organisations safe, but no real consensus on how to move forward when it comes to combating ransomware.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252502854/SonicWall-sees-2263-million-ransomware-attack-attempts-this-year

Ransomware Criminals Look To Other Hackers To Provide Them With Network Access

According to a new report, cyber criminals distributing ransomware are increasingly turning to other hackers to buy access into corporate networks.

Researchers said a robust and lucrative criminal ecosystem exists where criminals work together to carry out ransomware attacks. In this ecosystem, ransomware operators buy access from independent cyber criminal groups who infiltrate major targets for part of the ransom proceeds.

Cyber criminal threat groups already distributing banking malware or other trojans may also become part of a ransomware affiliate network said researchers.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/ransomware/359919/ransomware-criminals-look-to-other-hackers-to-provide-them-with-network

5 Biggest Healthcare Security Threats For 2021

Cyber Attacks targeting the healthcare sector have surged because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting rush to enable remote delivery of healthcare services. Security vendors and researchers tracking the industry have reported a major increase in phishing attacks, ransomware, web application attacks, and other threats targeting healthcare providers. The trend has put enormous strain on healthcare security organisations that already had their hands full dealing with the usual volume of threats before the pandemic. “The healthcare industry is under siege from a range of complex security risks," says Terry Ray. Cyber Criminals are hunting for the sensitive and valuable data that healthcare has access to, both patient data and corporate data, he says. Many organisations are struggling to meet the challenge because they are under-resourced and rely on vulnerable systems, third-party applications, and APIs to deliver services.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3262187/biggest-healthcare-security-threats.html

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Threats

Ransomware

• What’s Making Your Company A Ransomware Sitting Duck

• Have We Reached Peak Ransomware? How The Internet's Biggest Security Problem Has Grown And What Happens Next

• Ransomware: Now Gangs Are Using Virtual Machines To Disguise Their Attacks

• Ransomware Gangs Get Paid Off As Officials Struggle For Fix

• Clop Ransomware Gang Doxes Two New Victims Days After Police Raids

• Wormable Bash DarkRadiation Ransomware Targets Linux Distros And Docker Containers

• Faux ‘DarkSide’ Gang Takes Aim At Global Energy, Food Sectors

• A Deep Dive Into The Operations Of The LockBIT Ransomware Group

• Fashion titan French Connection Says 'FCUK' Ss REvil-Linked Ransomware Makes Off With Data

BEC

• 71% Of Organisations Experienced BEC Attacks Over The Past Year

Phishing

• Phishing Attack's Unusual File Attachment Is A Double-Edged Sword

• Man Arrested After 26,000 'Phishing' Text Messages Sent Out In A Single Day

Other Social Engineering

• FIN7 Scammers Posed As Sec Officials, Sick Restaurant Customers To Hack Victims

Malware

• 50% Of Misconfigured Containers Hit By Botnets In Under An Hour

• Spam Downpour Drips New IcedID Banking Trojan Variant

• Dirtymoe Malware Has Infected More Than 100,000 Windows Systems

Mobile

• Flubot Seeks To Steal Financial Data On Android Phones

• 76% Of IT Decision Makers More Vulnerable To Mobile Attacks Than Just A Year Ago

Vulnerabilities

• Email Bug Allows Message Snooping, Credential Theft

• Google Confirms 7th Chrome ‘Zero Day’ Vulnerability, Upgrade Now

• Linux Marketplaces Vulnerable To RCE And Supply Chain Attacks

• Critical Palo Alto Cyber-Defense Bug Allows Remote ‘War Room’ Access

• Google Docs Is Being Weaponized By Hackers

• Sonicwall Bug Affecting 800k Firewalls Was Only Partially Fixed

• Hackers Are Using Unknown User Accounts To Target Zyxel Firewalls And VPNs

• SonicWall ‘Botches’ October Patch For VPN Bug

• Lexmark Printers Open To Arbitrary Code-Execution Zero-Day

• Misconfigurations In Most Active Directory Environments Create Serious Security Holes, Researchers Find

Data Breaches

• Tulsa’s Police-Citation Data Leaked By Conti Gang

• Cl0p Ransomware Group Dumps New Tranche Of Stolen Data

• Carnival Cruise Cyber-Torpedoed By Cyber Attack

Cryptocurrency

• Monero Emerges As Crypto Of Choice For Cyber Criminals

• Hackers Crack Pirated Games with Cryptojacking Malware

Dark Web

• Law Enforcement Secretly Ran Part Of The Dark Web, Again

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Hackers Tried To Poison California Water Supply In Major Cyber Attack

Nation State Actors

• Cyber Attacks Are Primary Funding Source For North Korea

• The Lazarus Heist: How North Korea Almost Pulled Off A Billion-Dollar Hack

• South Korea's Nuclear Research Agency Hacked Using VPN Flaw

• Cyber Espionage By Chinese Hackers In Neighbouring Nations Is On The Rise

• Cyber Attack On Polish Government Officials Linked To Russian Hackers

Cloud

• NATO's Cloud Platform Has Been Hacked

Privacy

• I spy: are smart doorbells creating a global surveillance network?

• EU Data Protection Authorities Call For Ban On Facial Recognition

• All The Ways Amazon Tracks You And How To Stop It

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Other News

• IT Leaders Say Cyber Security Funding Being Wasted On Remote Work Support

• Hackers Are Trying To Attack Big Companies. Small Suppliers Are The Weakest Link

• Only 7% Of Security Leaders Are Reporting To The CEO

• APNIC Left A Dump From Its WhoIS SQL Database In A Public Google Cloud bucket

• Average Time To Fix Critical Cyber Security Vulnerabilities Is 205 Days

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

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

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

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

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 18 June 2021

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.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Ransomware Now Ranks As UK’s Top Cyber Security Danger

Ransomware hackers are now the biggest cyber security threat in the UK for the majority of individuals and businesses in the region, Lindy Cameron, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said in a speech. “For the vast majority of UK citizens and businesses, and indeed for the vast majority of critical national infrastructure providers and government service providers, the primary key threat is not state actors but cyber criminals,” Cameron said in the speech at the second annual cyber security meeting at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the oldest independent defense and security think tank worldwide.

https://www.pymnts.com/news/security-and-risk/2021/ransomware-now-ranks-as-uks-top-cybersecurity-danger/

54% of all employees reuse passwords across multiple work accounts

Results of a study into current attitudes and adaptability to at-home corporate cyber security, employee training, and support in the current global hybrid working era revealed some interesting results. The report surveyed 3,006 employees, business owners, and C-suite executives at large organisations (250+ employees), who have worked from home and use work issued devices in the UK, France and Germany.

According to the findings 54% of all employees use the same passwords across multiple work accounts. 22% of respondents still keep track of passwords by writing them down, including 41% of business owners and 32% of C-level executives.

42% of respondents admit to using work-issued devices for personal reasons daily while working from home. Of these, 29% are using work devices for banking and shopping, and 7% admit to watching illegal streaming services. Senior workers are among the biggest offenders, as 44% of business owners and 39% of C-level executives admit to performing personal tasks on work-issued devices every day since working from home, with 23% of business owners and 15% of C-level respondents using them for illegal streaming/watching TV.

A year after the pandemic began and work-from-home policies were implemented, 37% of all employees across all sectors are yet to receive cyber security training to work from home, leaving businesses largely exposed to evolving risks. 43% of all employees suggest that cyber security isn’t the responsibility of the workforce, with 60% believing this should be handled by IT teams.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/10/employees-reuse-passwords-across-multiple-work-accounts/

VPN Attacks Up Nearly 2000% As Companies Embrace A Hybrid Workplace

In Q1 2021, there was a 1,916% increase in attacks against Fortinet’s SSL-VPN and a 1,527% increase in Pulse Connect Secure VPN. These vulnerabilities allow a threat actor to gain access to a network. Once they are in, they can exfiltrate information and deploy ransomware. “2020 was the era of remote work and as the workforce adjusted, information technology professionals scrambled to support this level of remote activity by enabling a wide variety of remote connectivity methods,” said J.R. Cunningham, CSO at Nuspire. “This added multiple new attack vectors that enabled threat actors to prey on organisations, which is what we started to see in Q1 and are continuing to see today.”

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/15/vpn-attacks-up/

Most Firms Face Second Ransomware Attack After Paying Off First

Most businesses that choose to pay to regain access to their encrypted systems experience a subsequent ransomware attack. And almost half of those that pay up say some or all their data retrieved were corrupted. Some 80% of organisations that paid ransom demands experienced a second attack, of which 46% believed the subsequent ransomware to be caused by the same hackers. Amongst those that paid to regain access to their systems, 46% said at least some of their data was corrupted, according to a survey released Wednesday. The study polled 1,263 security professionals in seven markets worldwide, including 100 in Singapore, as well as respondents in Germany, France, the US, and UK.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/most-firms-face-second-ransomware-attack-after-paying-off-first/

Over 65,000 Ransomware Attacks Expected In 2021: Former Cisco CEO

U.S. companies are expected to endure over 65,000 ransomware attacks this year — and that's “a conservative number,” according to John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Systems. With McDonald’s, JBS, and Colonial Pipeline Co. all recently coming under cyber attacks, Chambers does not foresee an end to the onslaught of cyber security threats anytime soon. He estimated that the number of ransomware attacks in 2021 could end up being as high as 100,000, with each one costing companies an average of $170,000. In the case of Colonial, just one password was needed for hackers to compromise the entire company’s IT infrastructure. This led to Colonial and JBS paying a combined $15 million in ransom against FBI advice.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/over-65000-ransomware-attacks-expected-in-2021-former-cisco-ceo-125100793.html

Business Leaders Now Feel More Vulnerable To Cyber Attacks

Geographically speaking, 55% of US and 49% of UK respondents have experienced the most severe impact to their network security due to these attacks (suggesting that their businesses are more of a target than those in continental Europe) which, in turn, has resulted in a clear majority of respondents (60%) increasing their investment in this area. A sizeable 68% of leaders said their company has experienced a DDoS attack in the last 12 months with the UK (76%) and the US (73%) experiencing a significantly higher proportion compared to 59% of their German and 56% French counterparts. Additionally, over half of the leaders who participated in the survey confirmed that they specifically experienced a DDoS ransom or extortion attack in that time, with a large number of them (65%) targeted at UK companies, compared with the relatively low number in France (38%).

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/14/business-leaders-feel-vulnerable-cyber-attacks/

Ransomware Gang Turns To Revenge Porn

At least one ransomware gang has taken a rare and highly invasive step in order to convince its victims to pay: leaking nude images allegedly uncovered as part of their hack of a target company. The news presents an escalation in the world of ransomware and digital extortion, and comes as the U.S. government and other countries discuss new measures to curb the spike in ransomware incidents. Ransomware groups have recently targeted, and in some cases extracted payment from, the Colonial Pipeline Company, meat producer JBS, and the Irish healthcare system. Locking down computers with ransomware can already have a substantial impact on business operations; leaking information on top of that can present victims with another risk. But posting nude images publicly on the internet threatens to make extortion of organisations a much more personal matter.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xzby/ransomware-gang-revenge-porn-leaks-nude-images

Bank Of America Spends Over $1 Billion Per Year On Cyber Security

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Monday that the company has ramped its cyber security spending to over $1 billion a year. “I became CEO 11 and a half years ago, and we probably spent three to $400 million [per year] and we’re up over a billion now,” Moynihan said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The institutions around us, other institutions and my peers, spend like amounts, and our contracting parties spend like amounts,” he added. “In other words, we cause spending in third parties that provide services to us to protect us in the same way. So there’s a lot of money being spend on this, and I think one of the things our industry has done a great job of is work together.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/14/bank-of-america-spends-over-1-billion-per-year-on-cybersecurity.html

Bad Cyber Security Behaviours Plaguing The Remote Workforce

According to the report, younger employees are most likely to admit they cut cyber security corners, with 51% of 16-24 year olds and 46% of 25-34 year olds reporting they’ve used security workarounds. In addition, 39% say the cyber security behaviours they practice while working from home differ from those practiced in the office, with half admitting it’s because they feel they were being watched by IT departments. IT leaders are optimistic about the return to office, with 70% believing staff will more likely follow company security policies around data protection and privacy. However, only 57% of employees think the same.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/16/cybersecurity-behaviors/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Why Backups Are Not The Panacea For Recovery From A Ransomware Attack

• Microsoft Systems Targeted By 'Black Kingdom' Ransomware

• Takeaways From The Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack

• Police Bust Major Ransomware Gang Cl0p

• Ryuk Ransomware Recovery Cost Us $8.1m And Counting, Says Baltimore School Authority

• Paradise Ransomware Source Code Released On A Hacking Forum

• Experts Shed Light On Distinctive Tactics Used By Hades Ransomware

• How Remote Work Opened The Floodgates To Ransomware

• The latest Revil Ransomware Victim? Sol Oriens. Oh, A US Nuclear Weapons Contractor

• Ransomware Attackers Are Leveraging Old SonicWall SRA Flaw

BEC

• Microsoft Takes Down Large‑Scale BEC Operation

• Behind The Scenes Of Business Email Compromise: Using Cross-Domain Threat Data To Disrupt A Large BEC Campaign

• Microsoft: Scammers Bypass Office 365 MFA In BEC Attacks

Phishing

• Threat Actors Use Google Docs To Host Phishing Attacks

Malware

• Malicious PDFs Flood the Web, Lead To Password-Snarfing

• Alarming Malware Discovery Reveals 1.2 TB Data Theft From Millions Of Windows PCs

Vulnerabilities

• Update Your Chrome Browser To Patch Yet Another 0-Day Exploited In-The-Wild

• Vulnerability In Microsoft Teams Granted Attackers Access To Emails, Messages, And Personal Files

• McAfee Finds Security Vulnerability In Peloton Products

• Critical Remote Code Execution Flaw In Thousands Of VMWare vCenter Servers Remains Unpatched

Data Breaches

• UK Listed Law Firm Gateley Admits Client Data Lost Through Cyber Attack

• Alibaba Suffers Billion-Item Data Leak Of Usernames And Mobile Numbers

• Maritime Firm HMM Suffers Security Breach And Cyber Attack On Its Email Systems

• Mensa Data Spillage Was Due to 'Unauthorised Internal Download'

• Volkswagen, Audi Disclose Data Breach Impacting Over 3.3 Million Customers, Interested Buyers

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Police Grab Slilpp, Biggest Stolen-Logins Market

Cryptocurrency

• Criminals Are Mailing Altered Ledger Devices To Steal Crypto Currency

Supply Chain

• NoxPlayer Supply-Chain Attack Is Likely The Work Of Gelsemium Hackers

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Utilities ‘Concerningly’ At Risk from Active Exploits

Nation State Actors

• Biden Says He Told Putin U.S. Will Hack Back Against Future Russian Cyber Attacks

• Little-Noticed Cyber Spying Campaign Blamed On China Was Much Wider Than Thought

Denial of Service

• 100% Increase In Daily DDoS Traffic In 2020 As Potential Grows For 10 TBPS Attack

Cloud

• Unsecured Servers And Cloud Services: How Remote Work Has Increased The Attack Surface That Hackers Can Target

• Complexity Is The Biggest Threat To Cloud Success And Security

Privacy

• Amazon To Let Customers Sue After Thousands Of Alexa Complaints

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Other News

• Airline And Bank Websites Go Down In Another Major Internet Failure

• Corporate Attack Surfaces Growing Concurrently With A Dispersed Workforce

• This Secretive Firm Has Powerful New Hacking Tools

• Vigilante Malware Rats Out Software Pirates While Blocking The Pirate Bay

• Fallout Of EA Source Code Breach Could Be Severe, Cyber Security Experts Say

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

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

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

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