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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 August 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 26 August 2022:
-Lloyd's to Exclude Certain Nation-State Attacks from Cyber Insurance Policies
-Cyber Security 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
-The World’s Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Warns Cyber Security Is Top Concern as Attacks on Banks and Financial Services Double
-Configuration Errors to Blame for 80% of Ransomware
-Ransomware Surges to 1.2 Million Attacks Per Month
-A Massive Hacking Campaign Stole 10,000 Login Credentials From 130 Different Organisations
-This Company Paid a Ransom Demand. Hackers Leaked Its Data Anyway
-Sophisticated BEC Scammers Bypass Microsoft 365 Multi-Factor Authentication
-77% Of Security Leaders Fear We’re in Perpetual Cyber War from Now On
-Cyber Security Governance: A Path to Cyber Maturity
-The Rise of Data Exfiltration and Why It Is a Greater Risk Than Ransomware
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:
View cyber security as a broad business concern and not just an IT issue.
Build cyber security and data privacy into agendas across the C-suite and board.
Increase investment to improve security.
Educate employees on effective cyber security practices.
For each new business initiative or transformation, make sure there’s a cyber plan in place.
Use data and intelligence to regularly measure cyber risks. Proactively look for blind spots in third-party relationships and supply chains.
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.
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.
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
Threats
Ransomware
[Whoa] Ransomware Strains Almost Double in Six Months from 5,400 to 10,666 (knowbe4.com)
Ransomware dominates the threat landscape - Help Net Security
We need to think about ransomware differently - 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
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)
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
BEC – Business Email Compromise
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)
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
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
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
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
Software Supply Chain
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
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
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
Privacy
Travel
Hackers target hotel and travel companies with fake reservations (bleepingcomputer.com)
British Airways passengers targeted in baggage scam using Twitter | The Independent
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Lloyd's of London Introduces New War Exclusion Insurance Clauses | SecurityWeek.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)
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
Nation State Actors – Misc APT
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
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
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)
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
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)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 29 July 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 29 July 2022
-1 in 3 Employees Don’t Understand Why Cyber Security Is Important
-As Companies Calculate Cyber Risk, The Right Data Makes a Big Difference
-Only 25% Of Organizations Consider Their Biggest Threat to Be from Inside the Business
-The Global Average Cost of a Data Breach Reaches an All-Time High of $4.35 Million
-Race Against Time: Hackers Start Hunting for Victims Just 15 Minutes After a Bug Is Disclosed
-Ransomware-as-a-Service Groups Forced to Change Tack as Payments Decline
-Phishers Targeted Financial Services Most During H1 2022
-HR Emails Dupe Employees the Most – KnowBe4 research reveals
-84% Of Organizations Experienced an Identity-Related Breach In The Past 18 Months
-Economic Downturn Raises Risk of Insiders Going Rogue
-5 Trends Making Cyber Security Threats Riskier and More Expensive
-Ransomware: Publicly Reported Incidents Are Only the Tip of the Iceberg
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
1 in 3 Employees Don’t Understand Why Cyber Security Is Important
According to a new Tessian report, 30% of employees do not think they personally play a role in maintaining their company’s cyber security posture.
What’s more, only 39% of employees say they’re very likely to report a security incident, making investigation and remediation even more challenging and time-consuming for security teams. When asked why, 42% of employees said they wouldn’t know if they had caused an incident in the first place, and 25% say they just don’t care enough about cyber security to mention it.
Virtually all IT and security leaders agreed that a strong security culture is important in maintaining a strong security posture. Yet, despite rating their organisation’s security 8 out 10, on average, three-quarters of organisations experienced a security incident in the last 12 months.
The report suggests this could stem from a reliance on traditional training programs: 48% of security leaders say training is one of the most important influences on building a positive security posture. But the reality is that employees aren’t engaged; just 28% of UK and US workers say security awareness training is engaging and only 36% say they’re paying full attention. Of those who are, only half say it’s helpful, while another 50% have had a negative experience with a phishing simulation. With recent headlines depicting how phishing simulations can go awry, negative experiences like these further alienate employees and decrease engagement.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/28/employees-dont-understand-why-cybersecurity-is-important/
As Companies Calculate Cyber Risk, the Right Data Makes a Big Difference
The proposed US Securities and Exchange Commission’s stronger rules for reporting cyber attacks will have ramifications beyond increased disclosure of attacks to the public. By requiring not just quick reporting of incidents, but also disclosure of cyber policies and risk management, such regulation will ultimately bring more accountability for cyber security to the highest levels of corporate leadership. Other jurisdictions will very likely follow the US in requiring more stringent cyber controls and governance.
This means that boards and executives everywhere will need to increase their understanding of cyber security, not only from a tech point of view, but from a risk and business exposure point of view. The CFO, CMO and the rest of the C-suite and board will want and need to know what financial exposure the business faces from a data breach, and how likely it is that breaches will happen. This is the only way they will be able to develop cyber policies and plans and react properly to the proposed regulations.
Companies will therefore need to be able to calculate and put a dollar value on their exposure to cyber risk. This is the starting point for the ability to make cyber security decisions not in a vacuum, but as part of overall business decisions. To accurately quantify cyber security exposure, companies need to understand what the threats are and which data and business assets are at risk, and they then need to multiply the cost of a breach by the probability that such an event will take place in order to put a dollar figure on their exposure.
While there are many automated tools, including those that use artificial intelligence (AI), that can help with this, the key to doing this well is to make sure calculations are rooted in real and relevant data – which is different for each company or organisation.
Only 25% Of Organisations Consider Their Biggest Threat to Be from Inside the Business
A worrying 73.5% of organisations feel they have wasted the majority of their cyber security budget on failing to remediate threats, despite having an over-abundance of security tools at their disposal, according to Gurucul.
Only 25% of organisations consider their biggest threat to be from inside the business, despite insider threats increasing by 47% over the past two years. With only a quarter of businesses seeing their biggest threat emanating from inside their organisation, it seems over 70% saw the biggest cyber security challenges emanating from external threats such as ransomware. In fact, although external threats account for many security incidents, we must never forget to look beyond those external malicious and bad actors to insider threats to effectively secure corporate data and IP.
The survey also found 33% of respondents said they are able to detect threats within hours, while 27.07% even claimed they can detect threats in real-time. However, challenges persist with 33% of respondents stating that it still takes their organisation days and weeks to detect threats, with 6% not being able to detect them at all.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/28/biggest-threat-inside-the-business/
The Global Average Cost of a Data Breach Reaches an All-Time High of $4.35 Million
IBM Security released the 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report, revealing costlier and higher-impact data breaches than ever before, with the global average cost of a data breach reaching an all-time high of $4.35 million for studied organisations.
With breach costs increasing nearly 13% over the last two years of the report, the findings suggest these incidents may also be contributing to rising costs of goods and services. In fact, 60% of studied organisations raised their product or services prices due to the breach, when the cost of goods is already soaring worldwide amid inflation and supply chain issues.
The perpetuality of cyber attacks is also shedding light on the “haunting effect” data breaches are having on businesses, with the IBM report finding 83% of studied organisations have experienced more than one data breach in their lifetime. Another factor rising over time is the after-effects of breaches on these organisations, which linger long after they occur, as nearly 50% of breach costs are incurred more than a year after the breach.
The 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report is based on in-depth analysis of real-world data breaches experienced by 550 organisations globally between March 2021 and March 2022. The research, which was sponsored and analysed by IBM Security, was conducted by the Ponemon Institute.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/27/2022-cost-of-a-data-breach-report/
Race Against Time: Hackers Start Hunting for Victims Just 15 Minutes After a Bug Is Disclosed
Attackers are becoming faster at exploiting previously undisclosed zero-day flaws, according to Palo Alto Networks. This means that the amount of time that system admins have to patch systems before exploitation happens is shrinking fast..
The company warns in its 2022 report covering 600 incident response (IR) cases that attackers typically start scanning for vulnerabilities within 15 minutes of one being announced.
Among this group are 2021's most significant flaws, including the Exchange Server ProxyShell and ProxyLogon sets of flaws, the persistent Apache Log4j flaws aka Log4Shell, the SonicWall zero-day flaws, and Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus.
While phishing remains the biggest method for initial access, accounting for 37% of IR cases, software vulnerabilities accounted of 31%. Brute-force credential attacks (like password spraying) accounted for 9%, while smaller categories included previously compromised credentials (6%), insider threat (5%), social engineering (5%), and abuse of trusted relationships/tools (4%).
Over 87% of the flaws identified as the source of initial access fell into one of six vulnerability categories.
Ransomware-as-a-Service Groups Forced to Change Tack as Payments Decline
Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operators are evolving their tactics yet again in response to more aggressive law enforcement efforts, in a move that is reducing their profits but also making affiliates harder to track, according to Coveware.
The security vendor’s Q2 2022 ransomware report revealed that concerted efforts to crack down on groups like Conti and DarkSide have forced threat actors to adapt yet again.
It identified three characteristics of RaaS operations that used to be beneficial, but are increasingly seen as a hinderance.
The first is RaaS branding, which has helped to cement the reputation of some groups and improve the chances of victims paying, according to Coveware. However, branding also makes attribution easier and can draw the unwanted attention of law enforcement, it said.
“RaaS groups are keeping a lower profile and vetting affiliates and their victims more thoroughly,” Coveware explained.
“More RaaS groups have formed, resulting in less concentration among the top few variants. Affiliates are frequently shifting between RaaS variants on different attacks, making attribution beyond the variant more challenging.”
In some cases, affiliates are also using “unbranded” malware to make attribution more difficult, it added.
The second evolution in RaaS involves back-end infrastructure, which used to enable scale and increase profitability. However, it also means a larger attack surface and a digital footprint that’s more expensive and challenging to maintain.
As a result, RaaS developers are being forced to invest more in obfuscation and redundancy, which is hitting profits and reducing the amount of resources available for expansion, Coveware claimed.
Finally, RaaS shared services used to help affiliates with initial access, stolen data storage, negotiation management and leak site support.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/raas-groups-forced-change-payments/
Phishers Targeted Financial Services Most During H1 2022
Banks received the lion’s share of phishing attacks during the first half of 2022, according to figures published by cyber security company Vade.
The analysis also found that attackers were most likely to send their phishing emails on weekdays, with most arriving between Monday and Wednesday. Attacks tapered off towards the end of the week, Vade said.
While financial services scored highest on a per-sector basis, Microsoft was the most impersonated brand overall. The company’s Microsoft 365 cloud productivity services are a huge draw for cyber-criminals hoping to access accounts using phishing attacks.
Phishing attacks on Microsoft customers have become more creative, according to Vade, which identified several phone-based attacks. It highlighted a campaign impersonating Microsoft’s Defender anti-malware product, fraudulently warning that the company had debited a subscription fee. It encouraged victims to fix the problem by phone.
Facebook came a close second, followed by financial services company Crédit Agricole, WhatsApp and Orange.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/phishers-financial-services-h1-2022/
HR Emails Dupe Employees the Most – KnowBe4 research reveals
In phishing tests conducted on business emails, more than half of the subject lines clicked imitated Human Resources communications.
New research has revealed the top email subjects clicked on in phishing tests were those related to or from Human Resources, according to the latest ‘most clicked phishing tests‘ conducted by KnowBe4. In fact, half of those that were clicked on had subject lines related to Human Resources, including vacation policy updates, dress code changes, and upcoming performance reviews. The second most clicked category were those send from IT, which include requests or actions of password verifications that were needed immediately.
KnowBe4’s CEO commented “More than 80% of company data breaches globally come from human error, so security awareness training for your staff is one of the least costly and most effective methods to thwart social engineering attacks. Training gives employees the ability to rapidly recognise a suspicious email, even if it appears to come from an internal source, causing them to pause before clicking. That moment where they stop and question the email is a critical and often overlooked element of security culture that could significantly reduce your risk surface.”
This research comes hot off the heels of the recent KnowBe4 industry benchmarking report which found one in three untrained employees will click on a phishing link. The worst performing industries were Energy & Utilities, Insurance and Consulting, with all labelled the most at risk for social engineering in the large enterprise category.
84% Of Organisations Experienced an Identity-Related Breach in the Past 18 Months
60% of IT security decision makers believe their overall security strategy does not keep pace with the threat landscape, and that they are either lagging behind (20%), treading water (13%), or merely running to keep up (27%), according to a survey by Sapio Research.
The report also highlights differences between the perceived and actual effectiveness of security strategies. While 40% of respondents believe they have the right strategy in place, 84% of organisations reported that they have experienced an identity-related breach or an attack using stolen credentials during the previous year and a half.
Promisingly, many organisations are hungry to make a change, particularly when it comes to protecting identities. In fact, 90% of respondents state that their organisations fully recognise the importance of identity security in enabling them to achieve their business goals, and 87% say that it is one of the most important security priorities for the next 12 months.
However, 75% of IT and security professionals also believe that they’ll fall short of protecting privileged identities because they won’t get the support they need. This is largely due to a lack of budget and executive alignment, with 63% of respondents saying that their company’s board still doesn’t fully understand identity security and the role it plays in enabling better business operations.
While the importance of identity security is acknowledged by business leaders, most security teams will not receive the backing and budget they need to put vital security controls and solutions in place to reduce major risks. This means that the majority of organisations will continue to fall short of protecting privileges, leaving them vulnerable to cyber criminals looking to discover privileged accounts and abuse them.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/07/28/identity-related-breach/
Economic Downturn Raises Risk of Insiders Going Rogue
Declining economic conditions could make insiders more susceptible to recruitment offers from threat actors looking for allies to assist them in carrying out various attacks.
Enterprise security teams need to be aware of the heightened risk and strengthen measures for protecting against, detecting, and responding to insider threats, researchers from Palo Alto Network's Unit 42 threat intelligence team recommended in a report this week.
The security vendor's report highlighted several other important takeaways for security operations teams, including the fact that ransomware and business email compromise attacks continue to dominate incident response cases and vulnerability exploits — accounting for nearly one-third of all breaches.
Unit 42 researchers analysed data from a sampling of over 600 incident response engagements between April 2021 and May 2022 and determined that difficult economic times could lure more actors to cyber crime. This could include both people with technical skills looking to make a fast buck, as well as financially stressed insiders with legitimate access to valuable enterprise data and IT assets. The prevalence of remote and hybrid work models has created an environment where it's easier for workers to steal intellectual property or carry out other malicious activity, the researchers found.
https://www.darkreading.com/risk/economic-downturn-raises-the-risk-of-insiders-going-rogue
5 Trends Making Cyber Security Threats Riskier and More Expensive
Since the pandemic the cyber world has become a far riskier place. According to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2022, almost half (48%) of organisations across the US and Europe experienced a cyber attack in the past 12 months. Even more alarming is that these attacks are happening despite businesses doubling down on their cyber security spend.
Cyber security is at a critical inflection point where five megatrends are making the threat landscape riskier, more complicated, and costlier to manage than previously reported. To better understand the evolution of this threat landscape, let’s examine these trends in more detail.
Everything becomes digital
Organisations become ecosystems
Physical and digital worlds collide
New technologies bring new risks
Regulations become more complex
Organisations can follow these best practices to elevate cyber security performance:
Identify, prioritise, and implement controls around risks.
Adopt a framework such as ISO 27001 or NIST Cyber Security Framework.
Develop human-layered cyber security.
Fortify your supply chain.
Avoid using too many tools.
Prioritise protection of critical assets.
Automate where you can.
Monitor security metrics regularly to help business leaders get insight into security effectiveness, regulatory compliance, and levels of security awareness in the organisation.
Cyber security will always be a work in progress. The key to effective risk management is having proactive visibility and context across the entire attack surface. This helps to understand which vulnerabilities, if exploited, can cause the greatest harm to the business. Not all risks can be mitigated; some risks will have to be accepted and trade-offs will have to be negotiated.
Ransomware: Publicly Reported Incidents Are Only the Tip of the Iceberg
The threat landscape report on ransomware attacks published this week by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) uncovers the shortcomings of the current reporting mechanisms across the EU.
As one of the most devastating types of cyber security attacks over the last decade, ransomware, has grown to impact organisations of all sizes across the globe.
This threat landscape report analysed a total of 623 ransomware incidents across the EU, the United Kingdom and the United States for a reporting period from May 2021 to June 2022. The data was gathered from governments' and security companies' reports, from the press, verified blogs and in some cases using related sources from the dark web.
Between May 2021 and June 2022 about 10 terabytes of data were stolen each month by ransomware threat actors. 58.2% of the data stolen included employees' personal data.
At least 47 unique ransomware threat actors were found.
For 94.2% of incidents, we do not know whether the company paid the ransom or not. However, when the negotiation fails, the attackers usually expose and make the data available on their webpages. This is what happens in general and is a reality for 37.88% of incidents.
We can therefore conclude that the remaining 62.12% of companies either came to an agreement with the attackers or found another solution.
The study also shows that companies of every size and from all sectors are affected.
The figures in the report can however only portray a part of the overall picture. In reality, the study reveals that the total number of ransomware attacks is much larger. At present this total is impossible to capture since too many organisations still do not make their incidents public or do not report on them to the relevant authorities.
Threats
Ransomware
LockBit 3.0: Significantly Improved Ransomware Helps the Gang Stay on Top (darkreading.com)
Ransomware looms large over the cyber insurance industry - Help Net Security
800,000 businesses fall victim to ransomware each year (komando.com)
Business services top target of ransomware attacks (securitybrief.co.nz)
How Crypto is Driving the Ransomware Epidemic | Cryptoland Roundtable - YouTube
On security researcher's newsletter, exposing cyber criminals behind ransomware - CyberScoop
LockBit ransomware abuses Windows Defender to load Cobalt Strike (bleepingcomputer.com)
Mailing List Provider WordFly Scrambling to Recover Following Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
No More Ransom helps millions of ransomware victims in 6 years (bleepingcomputer.com)
Lockbit ransomware gang claims to have breached the Italian Revenue Agency - Security Affairs
Lockbit Ramps Up Attacks on Public Sector - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
A ‘Top Tier’ Hacking Gang Is Likely To Be Behind Entrust Ransomware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
No More Ransom Helped More Than 1.5 Million People Decrypt Their Devices (darkreading.com)
Ransomware caused American Dental Association outage, led to stolen data (scmagazine.com)
The road to ransomware recovery starts before an attack • The Register
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Phishing Attacks Skyrocket with Microsoft and Facebook as Most Abused Brands | Threatpost
Phishing scam targeting Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo customers (komando.com)
APT-Like Phishing Threat Mirrors Landing Pages (darkreading.com)
New Callback Malware Campaign Impersonates Legitimate Cyber Security Providers - MSSP Alert
Phishing Attacks: Microsoft Leads Top 25 of Impersonated Brands - MSSP Alert
1,000s of Phishing Attacks Blast Off From InterPlanetary File System (darkreading.com)
New ‘Robin Banks’ phishing service targets BofA, Citi, and Wells Fargo (bleepingcomputer.com)
Other Social Engineering; SMishing, Vishing, etc
Malware
Cisco Incident Response Report: Commodity Malware Top Threat in Q2 - MSSP Alert
Discovery of new UEFI rootkit exposes an ugly truth: The attacks are invisible to us | Ars Technica
As Microsoft blocks Office macros, hackers find new attack vectors (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft Links Raspberry Robin USB Worm to Russian Evil Corp Hackers (thehackernews.com)
Microsoft links Raspberry Robin malware to Evil Corp attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malware-laced npm packages used to target Discord users - Security Affairs
CosmicStrand UEFI malware found in Gigabyte, ASUS motherboards (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sophisticated UEFI rootkit of Chinese origin shows up again in the wild after 3 years | CSO Online
Attackers are slowly abandoning malicious macros - Help Net Security
One of the most beloved Windows tools could actually be a huge security risk | TechRadar
QBot phishing uses Windows Calculator DLL hijacking to infect devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gootkit Loader’s Updated Tactics and Fileless Delivery of Cobalt Strike (trendmicro.com)
Microsoft: Austrian company DSIRF selling Subzero malware (techtarget.com)
Threat actors leverages DLL-SideLoading to spread Qakbot - Security Affairs
Rare 'CosmicStrand' UEFI Rootkit Swings into Cyber crime Orbit (darkreading.com)
Mobile
Here are the top phone security threats in 2022 and how to avoid them | ZDNet
New Android malware apps installed 10 million times from Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)
Roaming Mantis Financial Hackers Targeting Android and iPhone Users in France (thehackernews.com)
Facebook ads push Android adware with 7 million installs on Google Play (bleepingcomputer.com)
Millions of Android devices infected with wallet-draining malware | TechRadar
Over a Dozen Android Apps on Google Play Store Caught Dropping Banking Malware (thehackernews.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
IoT Botnets Fuels DDoS Attacks – Are You Prepared? | Threatpost
Dahua IP Camera Vulnerability Could Let Attackers Take Full Control Over Devices (thehackernews.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
US court system suffered ‘incredibly significant attack’ • The Register
Congress Warns of US Court Records System Breach - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Uber admits covering up massive 2016 data breach in settlement with US prosecutors - The Verge
T-Mobile to pay $500M for one of the largest data breaches in US history [Updated] | Ars Technica
Data Stolen in Breach at Security Company Entrust | SecurityWeek.Com
Fallout from massive Shanghai Police data breach reverberates on dark web - CyberScoop
Big Questions Remain Around Massive Shanghai Police Data Breach (darkreading.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cyber-mercenaries represent shifting criminal business model • The Register
Messaging Apps Tapped as Platform for Cyber Criminal Activity | Threatpost
Teenager Jailed for Snapchat Blackmail Cyber Crimes- IT Security Guru
DUCKTAIL operation targets Facebook’s Business and Ad accounts - Security Affairs
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto fraud on the rise as consumers fall for fake celebrity endorsements | Cybernews
Hackers Increasingly Using WebAssembly Coded Cryptominers to Evade Detection (thehackernews.com)
NFT Hacking Group Attacks On The Rise, Report Finds- IT Security Guru
Hackers steal $6 million from blockchain music platform Audius (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Major shifts and the growing risk of identity fraud - Help Net Security
JPMorgan, UBS accused of shoddy identity theft protection • The Register
Euro Police Bust €3m Internet Fraud Gang - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Romance scammers jailed after tricking Irish OAP out of €250k (bitdefender.com)
What the Titanic Can Teach Us About Fraud? | SecurityWeek.Com
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Dark Web
Cyber crime goods and services are cheap and plentiful - Help Net Security
Hackers Selling Malware on Dark Web Underground Market (cybersecuritynews.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Denial of Service DoS/DDoS
Akamai blocked the largest DDoS attack ever on its European customers - Security Affairs
DDoS Attack Trends in 2022: Ultrashort, Powerful, Multivector Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cloud/SaaS
Kansas MSP shuts down cloud services to fend off cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organisations are struggling with SaaS security. Why? - Help Net Security
Attack Surface Management
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
Transport Layer Security (TLS): Issues & Protocol (trendmicro.com)
SSH2 vs. SSH1 and why SSH versions still matter (techtarget.com)
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Using Account Lockout policies to block Windows Brute Force Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Stop Putting Your Accounts At Risk, and Start Using a Password Manager (thehackernews.com)
Social Media
Facebook security cracked by Malware made in Vietnam • The Register
Cyber-Criminal Offers 5.4m Twitter Users’ Data - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Privacy
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
UK Seizes Nearly $27m in Crypto-Assets - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
European Cops Helped 1.5 Million People Decrypt Their Ransomwared Computers (vice.com)
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Cyberspies use Google Chrome extension to steal emails undetected (bleepingcomputer.com)
Microsoft says it caught an Austrian spyware group using Windows 0-day exploits - The Verge
Pegasus spyware: Just 'tip of the iceberg' seen so far • The Register
Cyber attacks by Iran and Israel now target critical infrastructure. - The Washington Post
US and Ukraine Sign Agreement to Deepen Cyber security Operational Collaboration - MSSP Alert
CISA, Ukrainian cyber agency deepen partnership to combat Russian threat - CyberScoop
How is Anonymous attacking Russia? The top six ways ranked (cnbc.com)
European Lawmaker Targeted With Cytrox Predator Surveillance Spyware | SecurityWeek.Com
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Russia is quietly ramping up its Internet censorship machine | Ars Technica
Apple network traffic takes mysterious detour through Russia • The Register
Nation State Actors – China
Chinese APTs: Interlinked networks and side hustles – Intrusion Truth (wordpress.com)
OneWeb sale risks giving China a stake in ‘Five Eyes’ spying tech (telegraph.co.uk)
Nation State Actors – North Korea
North Korean Hackers Using Malicious Browser Extension to Spy on Email Accounts (thehackernews.com)
North Korean hackers attack EU targets with Konni RAT malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
US puts $10 million bounty on North Korean threat groups • The Register
Is APT28 behind the STIFF#BIZON attacks attributed to North Korea-linked APT37? Security Affairs
Nation State Actors – Iran
Vulnerability Management
Hackers scan for vulnerabilities within 15 minutes of disclosure (bleepingcomputer.com)
Attackers Have 'Favourite' Vulnerabilities to Exploit (darkreading.com)
Taking the Risk-Based Approach to Vulnerability Patching (thehackernews.com)
Organisations struggle to manage devices and stay ahead of vulnerabilities - Help Net Security
2022 Unit 42 Incident Response Report: How Attackers Exploit Zero-Days (paloaltonetworks.com)
Security Teams Overwhelmed With Bugs, Bitten by Patch Prioritization (darkreading.com)
Time between vuln disclosures, exploits is getting smaller • The Register
Vulnerabilities
Critical Samba bug could let anyone become Domain Admin – patch now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Multiple Windows, Adobe Zero-Days Anchor Knotweed Commercial Spyware (darkreading.com)
How to Fix CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability using Microsoft Intune - CloudInfra
CISA releases IOCs for attacks exploiting Log4Shell in VMware Horizon and UAG | CSO Online
Critical FileWave MDM Flaws Open Organisation-Managed Devices to Remote Hackers (thehackernews.com)
Hackers are abusing IIS extensions to establish covert backdoors - Security Affairs
FileWave fixes bugs that left 1,000+ orgs open to ransomware • The Register
Google Chrome Zero-day Vulnerability Discovered By Avast (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
LibreOffice fixed 3 flaws, including a code execution issue - Security Affairs
Drupal developers fixed a code execution flaw in the popular CMS - Security Affairs
LibreOffice Releases Software Update to Patch 3 New Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)
Hackers Exploit PrestaShop Zero-Day to Steal Payment Data from Online Stores (thehackernews.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
A Retrospective on the 2015 Ashley Madison Breach – Krebs on Security
The Great BizApp Hack: Cyber-Risks in Your Everyday Business Applications (darkreading.com)
Threat Actors Pivot Around Microsoft’s Macro-Blocking in Office | Threatpost
Microsoft again reverses course, will block macros by default (scmagazine.com)
Is Your Home or Small Business Built on Secure Foundations? Think Again… (darkreading.com)
Infosec pros want more industry cooperation and support for open standards - Help Net Security
We pass cyber attack costs onto customers, businesses admit • The Register
How to Combat the Biggest Security Risks Posed by Machine Identities (thehackernews.com)
Discord, Telegram Services Hijacked to Launch Array of Cyber Attacks (darkreading.com)
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 20 May 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 20 May 2022
-Fifth of Businesses Say Cyber Attack Nearly Broke Them
-Weak Security Controls and Practices Routinely Exploited for Initial Access
-How Do Ransomware Attacks Impact Victim Organisations’ Stock?
-Prioritise Patching Vulnerabilities Associated with Ransomware
-Researchers Warn of Advanced Persistent Threats/Nation State Actors (APTs), Data Leaks as Serious Threats Against UK Financial Sector
-Remote Work Hazards: Attackers Exploit Weak WiFi, Endpoints, and the Cloud
-Small Businesses Under Fire from Password Stealers
-Email Is the Riskiest Channel for Data Security
-Phishing Attacks for Initial Access Surged 54% in Q1
-State of Internet Crime in Q1 2022: Bot Traffic on The Rise, And More
-Fears Grow for Smaller Nations After Ransomware Attack on Costa Rica Escalates
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
Fifth of Businesses Say Cyber Attack Nearly Broke Them
A fifth of US and European businesses have warned that a serious cyber attack nearly rendered them insolvent, with most (87%) viewing compromise as a bigger threat than an economic downturn, according to Hiscox.
The insurer polled over 5000 businesses in the US, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to compile its annual Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report.
It revealed the potentially catastrophic financial damage that a serious cyber-attack can wreak. The number claiming to have nearly been brought down by a breach increased 24% compared to the previous year.
Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they suffered an attack over the past 12 months, a 12% increase from the previous report’s findings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, businesses in seven out of eight countries see cyber as their biggest threat.
Yet perception appears to vary greatly depending on whether an organisation has suffered a serious compromise or not. While over half (55%) of total respondents said they view cyber as a high-risk area, the figure among companies that have not yet suffered an attack is just 36%.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fifth-of-businesses-cyber-attack/
Weak Security Controls and Practices Routinely Exploited for Initial Access
Cyber actors routinely exploit poor security configurations (either misconfigured or left unsecured), weak controls, and other poor cyber hygiene practices to gain initial access or as part of other tactics to compromise a victim’s system. A joint Cybersecurity Advisory by the cyber security authorities of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom identifies commonly exploited controls and practices and includes best practices to mitigate the issues.
Malicious cyber actors often exploit the following common weak security controls, poor configurations, and poor security practices to employ the initial access techniques.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) is not enforced
Incorrectly applied privileges or permissions and errors within access control lists
Software is not up to date
Use of vendor-supplied default configurations or default login usernames and passwords
Remote services, such as a virtual private network (VPN), lack sufficient controls to prevent unauthorised access
Strong password policies are not implemented
Cloud services are unprotected
Open ports and misconfigured services are exposed to the internet
Failure to detect or block phishing attempts
Poor endpoint detection and response.
https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-137a
How Do Ransomware Attacks Impact Victim Organisations’ Stock?
Ransomware has developed into an extremely lucrative business model with little risk involved for the threat actors. Couple this with the willingness of most victim organisations to pay the ransom demand under the assumption it will return business operations to normal - ultimately encouraging more attacks - and we have a big problem with no easy remedies.
Back in 2021, Cybereason published a report titled Ransomware Attacks and the True Cost to Business that revealed the various costs that organisations face after falling victim to a ransomware attack. Here are some of the most significant findings that stood out:
Two-thirds of ransomware victims said that they endured a significant loss of revenue following the attack
More than half (53%) of organisations suffered damage to their brand and reputation after a ransomware infection
A third of those who fell to ransomware lost C-level talent in the attack’s aftermath
Three in 10 organisations had no choice but to lay off employees due to the financial pressures resulting from a ransomware incident
A quarter of ransomware victims said that they needed to suspend operations.
Prioritise Patching Vulnerabilities Associated with Ransomware
In the last quarter, ransomware attacks have made mainstream headlines on a near-daily basis, with groups like Lapsus$ and Conti’s names splashed across the page. Major organisations like Okta, Globant and Kitchenware maker Meyer Corporation have all fallen victim, and they are very much not alone. The data indicates that increasing vulnerabilities, new advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and new ransomware families are contributing to ransomware’s continued prevalence and profitability.
The top stats include:
22 new vulnerabilities and nine new weaknesses have been associated with ransomware since January 2022; of the 22, a whopping 21 are considered of critical or high risk severity
19 (out of 22) of the newly-added vulnerabilities are associated with the Conti ransomware gang
Three new APT groups (Exotic Lily, APT 35, DEV-0401) and four new ransomware families (AvosLocker, Karma, BlackCat, Night Sky) are deploying ransomware to attack their targets
141 of CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs) are being used by ransomware operators – including 18 newly identified this quarter
11 vulnerabilities tied to ransomware remain undetected by popular scanners
624 unique vulnerabilities were found within the 846 healthcare products analysed.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/19/increase-ransomware-vulnerabilities/
Researchers Warn of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Data Leaks as Serious Threats Against UK Financial Sector
Researchers say that geopolitical tension, ransomware, and cyber attacks using stolen credentials threaten the UK's financial sector.
KELA's security team published a report examining the cyber security issues and attacks that surfaced in 2021 and early 2022, specifically focused on the United Kingdom's banks and other financial services.
The UK was one of the first countries to stand with Ukraine after the invasion by Russia. This could make UK organisations a tempting target for threat actors siding with Russia - whether by state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) groups or hacktivists. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) previously warned businesses to shore up their cyber security following Russia's assault.
APTs are often responsible for attacking the financial sector: account credentials, card numbers, and the personally identifiable information (PII) of customers are useful not only in social engineering and identity theft but also to make fraudulent purchases or for card cloning.
APTs target organisations worldwide, and those located in the UK are no exception. Over the past few years, APTs, including the Chinese APT40 and APT31, have utilised vulnerabilities, including ProxyLogon, to compromise UK businesses.
"In general, APTs may target the financial sector to commit fraud, burglarise ATMs, execute transactions, and penetrate organisations' internal financial systems," KELA says. "Although specific threats to the UK financial sector have not been identified, there is no doubt that the UK has occasionally been a target of APT groups during 2021."
Exposed corporate information and leaked credentials are also of note. After browsing Dark Web forums, the researchers found that UK data is "in demand" by cyber criminals who are seeking PII, access credentials, and internal data.
Remote Work Hazards: Attackers Exploit Weak WiFi, Endpoints, and the Cloud
Infoblox unveils a global report examining the state of security concerns, costs, and remedies. As the pandemic and uneven shutdowns stretch into a third year, organisations are accelerating digital transformation projects to support remote work. Meanwhile, attackers have seized on vulnerabilities in these environments, creating more work and larger budgets for security teams.
1,100 respondents in IT and cyber security roles in 11 countries – United States, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Singapore – participated in the survey.
The surge in remote work has changed the corporate landscape significantly – and permanently. 52% of respondents accelerated digital transformation projects, 42% increased customer portal support for remote engagement, 30% moved apps to third party cloud providers, and 26% shuttered physical offices for good. These changes led to the additions of VPNs and firewalls, a mix of corporate and employee owned devices as well as cloud and on-premises DDI servers to manage data traffic across the expanded network.
The hybrid workforce reality is causing greater concerns with data leakage, ransomware and attacks through remote access tools and cloud services. Respondents indicate concerns about their abilities to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks with limited control over employees, work-from-home technologies, and vulnerable supply chain partners. The sophistication of state-sponsored malware also is a source of worry for many.
Organisations have good reason to worry: 53% of respondents experienced up to five security incidents that led to at least one breach.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/17/state-of-security/
Small Businesses Under Fire from Password Stealers
Password-stealing malware and other cyber attacks have increased significantly against small businesses over the past year, according to Kaspersky researchers.
An assessment released this week detailed the number of Trojan Password Stealing Ware (PSW) detections, internet attacks and attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) between January and April 2022, compared with the same time frame from 2021. Kaspersky's research showed a jump in the detection of password stealers within small business environments, as well as increases in other types of cyber attacks.
According to Kaspersky, the biggest increase in threats against small businesses was password stealers, specifically Trojan PSWs. There were nearly 1 million more detected Trojan PSWs targeting small and medium-sized businesses in the first trimester of 2022 than the first of 2021, increasing from 3,029,903 to 4,003,323.
Email Is the Riskiest Channel for Data Security
Research from Tessian and the Ponemon Institute reveals that nearly 60% of organisations experienced data loss or exfiltration caused by an employee mistake on email in the last 12 months.
Email was revealed as the riskiest channel for data loss in organisations, as stated by 65% of IT security practitioners. This was closely followed by cloud file-sharing services (62%) and instant messaging platforms (57%).
The research surveyed 614 IT security practitioners across the globe to also reveal that:
Employee negligence, because of not following policies, is the leading cause of data loss incidents (40%)
27% of data loss incidents are caused by malicious insiders
It takes up to three days for security and risk management teams to detect and remediate a data loss and exfiltration incident caused by a malicious insider on email
23% of organisations experience up to 30 security incidents involving employees’ use of email every month (for example, email was sent to an unintended recipient).
The most common types of confidential and sensitive information lost or intentionally stolen include: customer information (61%); intellectual property (56%); and consumer information (47%). User-created data (sensitive email content, text files, M&A documents), regulated data (credit card data, Social Security numbers, national ID numbers, employee data), and intellectual property were identified as the three types of data that are most difficult to protect from data loss.
The top two consequences for data loss incidents were revealed as non-compliance with data protection regulations (57%) and damage to an organisation’s reputation (52%). Furthermore, a previous study from Tessian found that 29% of businesses lost a client or customer because of an employee sending an email to the wrong person.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/05/20/data-loss-email/
Phishing Attacks for Initial Access Surged 54% in Q1
Threat actors doubled down on their use of phishing emails as an initial attack vector during the first quarter of 2022 — and in many cases then used that access to drop ransomware or to extort organisations in other ways.
Researchers from Kroll recently analysed data gathered from security incidents they responded to in the first three months of this year. The analysis showed a 54% increase in incidents of phishing for initial access compared with the same period last year.
For the first time since Microsoft disclosed the so-called ProxyLogon set of vulnerabilities in Exchange Server in the first quarter of 2021, incidents tied to email compromises surpassed those related to ransomware. Kroll described the sharp increase in phishing activity as likely the result of a surge in activity tied to Emotet and IceID malware — threat actors have been using both to drop other malware.
https://www.darkreading.com/risk/phishing-attacks-for-initial-access-surged-q1
Fears Grow for Smaller Nations After Ransomware Attack on Costa Rica Escalates
Conti demanded $20M in ransom — and the overthrow of the government.
It’s been a rough start for the newly elected Costa Rica president Rodrigo Chaves, who less than a week into office declared his country “at war” with the Conti ransomware gang.
“We’re at war and this is not an exaggeration,” Chaves told local media. “The war is against an international terrorist group, which apparently has operatives in Costa Rica. There are very clear indications that people inside the country are collaborating with Conti.”
Conti’s assault on the Costa Rican government began in April. The country’s Finance Ministry was the first hit by the Russia-linked hacking group, and in a statement on May 16, Chaves said the number of institutions impacted had since grown to 27. This, he admitted, means civil servants wouldn’t be paid on time and will impact the country’s foreign trade.
In a message posted to its dark web leaks blog, Conti urged the citizens of Costa Rica to pressure their government to pay the ransom, which the group doubled from an initial $10 million to $20 million. In a separate statement, the group warned: “We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack, we have already shown you all the strength and power.”
Conti is among the most prolific hacking groups. The FBI warned earlier this year that the gang was among “the three top variants” that targeted businesses in the United States, and it has been blamed for ransomware attacks targeting dozens of businesses, including Fat Face, Shutterfly and the Irish healthcare service.
But Conti has picked up its pace in recent months: In January and February it published 31 victims on its leaks blog. In March and April, it posted 133 victims.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/20/costa-rica-ransomware-attack/
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware Gangs Rely More on Weaponizing Vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Gang Extorted 725 BTC in One Attack, On-Chain Sleuths Find (coindesk.com)
5 Critical Questions to Test Your Ransomware Preparedness - Help Net Security
“Alarming” Surge in Conti Group Activity This Year - Infosecurity Magazine
Why AI-Powered Ransomware Cyber Attacks Could Be Coming Soon - Protocol
Nikkei Says Customer Data Likely Impacted in Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Wizard Spider Hackers Hire Cold Callers to Scare Ransomware Victims Into Paying Up | ZDNet
Greenland Hit by Cyber Attack, Finds Its Health Service Crippled (bitdefender.com)
Conti Ransomware Shuts Down Operation, Rebrands into Smaller Units (bleepingcomputer.com)
No One Is Slowing Down BlackByte Ransomware Gang • The Register
President Rodrigo Chaves says Costa Rica is at war with Conti hackers - BBC News
Engineering Firm Parker Discloses Data Breach After Ransomware Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
US links Thanos and Jigsaw ransomware to 55-year-old doctor (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russian Conti Ransomware Gang Threatens to Overthrow New Costa Rican Government (thehackernews.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
This Phishing Attack Delivers Three Forms of Malware. And They All Want to Steal Your Data | ZDNet
HTML Attachments Remain Popular Among Phishing Actors In 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Chatbot Army Deployed in Latest DHL Shipping Phish (darkreading.com)
Phishing Gang That Stole Over 400,000 Euros Busted in Spain (tripwire.com)
Long Lost @ Symbol Gets New Life Obscuring Malicious URLs | Malwarebytes Labs
Spanish Police Dismantle Phishing Gang That Emptied Bank Accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malware
Microsoft Identifies Botnet Variant Targeting Windows and Linux Systems - Infosecurity Magazine
Activity of the Linux XorDdos bot increased by 254% over the last 6 monthsSecurity Affairs
Fake Domains Offer Windows 11 Installers - But Deliver Malware Instead | ZDNet
Bruised but Not Broken: The Resurgence of the Emotet Botnet Malware (trendmicro.com)
Malicious PyPI Pymafka Package Opens Backdoors On Windows, Linux, and Macs (bleepingcomputer.com)
April VMware Bugs Abused to Deliver Mirai Malware, Exploit Log4Shell | Threatpost
Mobile
6 Scary Tactics Used in Mobile App Attacks (darkreading.com)
Researchers Find Potential Way to Run Malware on iPhone Even When it's OFF (thehackernews.com)
Google TAG: Cytrox's Predator Spyware Used to Target Android Users | WIRED
IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Ukrainian Hacker Jailed for 4-Years in U.S. for Selling Access to Hacked Servers (thehackernews.com)
US Recovers a Record $15m from the 3ve Ad-Fraud Crew • The Register
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs
How Cryptocurrencies Enable Attackers and Defenders (techtarget.com)
Monero-Mining Sysrv Botnet Targets Windows, Linux Web Servers • The Register
US Brings First-Of-Its-Kind Bitcoin Sanctions-Busting Case • The Register
Fake Pixelmon NFT Site Infects You with Password-Stealing Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers Compromise a String of NFT Discord Channels (vice.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Supply Chain and Third Parties
MITRE Creates Framework for Supply Chain Security (darkreading.com)
The Four Horsemen of Software Supply Chain Attacks - MSSP Alert
Cloud/SaaS
7 Key Findings from the 2022 SaaS Security Survey Report (thehackernews.com)
New Research Identifies Poor IAM Policies as The Greatest Cloud Vulnerability - CyberScoop
Are You Investing in Securing Your Data in the Cloud? (thehackernews.com)
380K Kubernetes API Servers Exposed to Public Internet | Threatpost
Open Source
Privacy
How To Ensure That the Smart Home Doesn’t Jeopardize Data Privacy? - Help Net Security
Privacy. Ad Bidders Haven't Heard of It, Report Reveals • The Register
Third-Party Web Trackers Log What You Type Before Submitting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
The Most Insecure and Easily Hackable Passwords - Help Net Security
Half of IT Leaders Store Passwords in Shared Docs - Infosecurity Magazine
Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Europe Moves Closer to Stricter Cyber Security Standards • The Register
EU's NIS 2 Directive to Strengthen Cyber Security Requirements For Companies - Help Net Security
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Google TAG: Cytrox's Predator Spyware Used to Target Android Users | WIRED
How Mobile Networks Have Become a Front in the Battle for Ukraine (darkreading.com)
China-linked Twisted Panda Caught Spying on Russian R&D Orgs • The Register
Pro-Russian Hackers Spread Hoaxes to Divide Ukraine, Allies | SecurityWeek.Com
A custom PowerShell RAT Targets Germany Using Crisis in Ukraine as Bait - Security Affairs
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Putin Promises to Bolster Russia's IT Security in Face of Cyber Attacks | Reuters
Russian Hackers Declare War On 10 Countries After Failed Eurovision DDoS attack | IT PRO
Pro-Russian Information Operations Escalate in Ukraine War (darkreading.com)
Russian Undersea Cable Threat Shifts Tech Business to UK (telegraph.co.uk)
Russians Allegedly Storm Ukrainian ISP, Blackmail It to Switch To Russian Networks - CyberScoop
Russia-linked Sandworm Continues to Conduct Attacks Against Ukraine - Security Affairs
Russian Cyber Attack on Eurovision Foiled By Italian Authorities (bitdefender.com)
This Russian Botnet Does Far More Than DDoS Attacks - And on A Massive Scale | ZDNet
Nation State Actors – China
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Nation State Actors – Iran
Vulnerabilities
QNAP Urges Users to Update NAS Devices to Prevent Deadbolt Ransomware Attacks (thehackernews.com)
Cisco Fixes an IOS XR Flaw Actively Exploited in The Wild - Security Affairs
2 Vulnerabilities With 9.8 Severity Ratings Are Under Exploit. A 3rd Looms | Ars Technica
Microsoft Rushes a Fix After May Patch Tuesday Breaks Authentication (darkreading.com)
Microsoft Fixes New PetitPotam Windows NTLM Relay Attack Vector (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple Patches Zero-Day Kernel Hole and Much More – Update Now! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
High-Severity Bug Reported in Google's OAuth Client Library for Java (thehackernews.com)
Over 20,000 Zyxel Firewalls Still Exposed to Critical Bug - Infosecurity Magazine
Apple Fixes the Sixth Zero-Day Since The Beginning of 2022 - Security Affairs
Mozilla Patches Wednesday’s Pwn2Own Double-Exploit… on Friday! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Critical Vulnerability in Premium WordPress Themes Allows for Site Takeover | Threatpost
Critical Jupiter WordPress Plugin Flaws Let Hackers Take Over Sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Apple Finally Patches Exploited Vulnerabilities in macOS Big Sur, Catalina | SecurityWeek.Com
NVIDIA Fixes Ten Vulnerabilities in Windows GPU Display Drivers (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Brute Force Attacks Against SQL Servers Use PowerShell Wrapper | SecurityWeek.Com
Sector Specific
Retail/eCommerce
How Crooks Backdoor Sites and Scrape Credit Card Info • The Register
Digital Skimming is Now the Preserve of Non-Magecart Groups - Infosecurity Magazine
Energy & Utilities
Water Companies Are Increasingly Uninsurable Due To Ransomware, Industry Execs Say - CyberScoop
UK Announces Nuclear Cyber Security Strategy - IT Security Guru
Education and Academia
Ransomware Attack Exposes Data of 500,000 Chicago Students (bleepingcomputer.com)
Higher Education Institutions Being Targeted for Ransomware Attacks | TechRepublic
“Incompetent” Council Leaks Details of Students With Special Educational Needs • Graham Cluley
Researchers Find Backdoor in School Management Plugin for WordPress (thehackernews.com)
Other News
UK Government: Lack of Skills the Number One Issue in Cyber Security - Infosecurity Magazine
Malicious Hackers Are Finding It Too Easy to Achieve Their Initial Access (tripwire.com)
How Threat Actors Are a Click Away From Becoming Quasi-APTs (darkreading.com)
Cyber Security: Global Food Supply Chain at Risk From Malicious Hackers - BBC News
Cyber Security Agencies Reveal Top Initial Access Attack Vectors (bleepingcomputer.com)
50% of Orgs Rely on Email to Manage Security (darkreading.com)
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 01 April 2022
-One Tenth of UK Staff Bypass Corporate Security
-Majority Of Data Security Incidents Caused by Insiders
-One-Third of UK Firms Suffer A Cyber Attack Every Week
-Russia's Cyber Criminals Fear Sanctions Will Erase Their Wealth
-86% Of Organisations Believe They Have Suffered a Nation-State Cyber Attack
-Multiple Hacking Groups Are Using the War in Ukraine As A Lure In Phishing Attempts
-4 Ways Attackers Target Humans to Gain Network Access
-Security Incidents Reported to FCA Surge 52% in 2021
-NCSC Suggests Rethinking Russian Supply Chain Risks
-25% Of Workers Lost Their Jobs In The Past 12 Months After Making Cyber Security Mistakes: Report
-Attackers Compromise 94% Of Critical Assets Within Four Steps Of Initial Breach
-UK Spy Chief Warns Russia Looking for Cyber Targets
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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 $42m Fallout from Ransomware Attack - Infosecurity Magazine
Hive Ransomware Uses New 'IPfuscation' Trick to Hide Payload (bleepingcomputer.com)
Shutterfly, Hit By Conti Ransomware Group, Warns Staff Their Data Has Been Stolen • Graham Cluley
FBI: Ransomware Attacks Are Piling Up The Pressure On Public Services | ZDNet
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Calendly Actively Abused in Microsoft Credentials Phishing (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing Attacks: Malicious URLs May Outpace Email Attachment Risks - MSSP Alert
Phishing uses Azure Static Web Pages to impersonate Microsoft (bleepingcomputer.com)
Other Social Engineering
5 Old Social Engineering Tricks Employees Still Fall For, And 4 New Gotchas | CSO Online
Fraudsters Use 'Fake Emergency Data Requests' To Steal Info • The Register
Malware
Mobile
IoT
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Sanctions Hitting Russian Cyber-Criminals Hard - Infosecurity Magazine
Secret World of Pro-Russia Hacking Group Exposed in Leak - WSJ
UK Police Charges Two Teenagers for Their Alleged Role in Lapsus$ Group - Security Affairs
LAPSUS$ Hacks Globant. 70GB of Data Leaked from IT Firm (bitdefender.com)
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
Europol Dismantles Massive Call Centre Investment Scam Operation (bleepingcomputer.com)
Emily Maitlis Opens Up About Terrifying Bank Scam: ‘I Feel Sick’ | The Independent
Supply Chain
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
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare
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
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
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
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
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)
Sector Specific
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
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
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
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)
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
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