Threat Intelligence Blog
Contact us to discuss any insights from our Blog, and how we can support you in a tailored threat intelligence report.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 24 February 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Briefing 24 February 2023:
-Employees Bypass Cyber Security Guidance to Achieve Business Objectives
-Three Quarters of Businesses Braced for Serious Email Attack this Year
-The Cost of Living Crisis is Triggering a Wave of Workplace Crime
-Fighting Ransomware with Cyber Security Audits
-Record Levels of Fraud Impacting 90% of Payment Compliance Teams
-CISOs Struggle with Stress and Limited Resources
-Cyber Threats and Regulations Mount for Financial Industry
-HardBit Ransomware Wants Insurance Details to Set the Perfect Price
-Social Engineering is Becoming Increasingly Sophisticated
-A Fifth of Brits Have Fallen Victim to Online Scammers
-Cyber Attacks Hit Data Centres to Steal Information From Companies
-Phishing Fears Ramp Up on Email, Collaboration Platforms
-The War in Ukraine has Shaken up the Cyber Criminal Eco-system
-Police Bust €41m Email Scam Gang
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
Employees Bypass Cyber Security Guidance to Achieve Business Objectives
Researcher Gartner predicts that by 2025, lack of talent or human failure will be responsible for over half of significant cyber incidents. In a survey conducted by Gartner it was found that 69% of employees had bypassed their organisations cyber security guidance in the previous 12 months and 74% said they would bypass cyber security guidance if it helped them or their team achieve a business objective.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/24/bypass-cybersecurity-guidance/
Three Quarters of Businesses Braced for Serious Email Attack this Year
According to a survey conducted by security provider Vanson Bourne, 76% of cyber security professionals predict that an email related attack will have serious consequences for their organisation in the coming year. The survey found that 82% of companies reported a higher volume of email in 2022 compared with 2021 and 2020 and 74% had said email-based threats had risen over the last 12 months. In addition, a worrying 91% had seen attempts to steal or use their email domain in an attack.
The Cost of Living Crisis is Triggering a Wave of Workplace Crime
Almost 6,000 people were caught stealing from their employer in 2022 according to insurance provider Zurich with the firms facing an average loss of £140,000. Zurich have said “As cost of living pressures mount, employee theft has significantly increased, suggesting some workers could be turning to desperate measures to make ends meet”.
Fighting Ransomware with Cyber Security Audits
With the ever increasing number of devices and distributed environments, it’s easy for organisations to lose track of open IP addresses, administrator accounts and infrastructure configurations; all of this creates an increase in opportunities for threat actors to deploy ransomware. By conducting audits of IT assets, organisations can identify the data they hold and reduce the risk of forgotten devices. The need for auditing of an organisations assets is reinforced where a survey conducted by research provider Enterprise Strategy Group found that nearly 70% of respondents had suffered at least one exploit that started with an unknown, unmanaged, or poorly managed Internet-facing IT asset.
https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/ciso/23/b/cybersecurity-audit.html
Record Levels of Fraud Impacting 90% of Payment Compliance Teams
New research from research provider VIXIO has found that 90% of payment company compliance teams are frequently overwhelmed and increased fraud was a particular concern for teams in the UK.
CISOs Struggle with Stress and Limited Resources
A survey from security provider Cynet has found that 94% of CISOs report being stressed at work, with 65% admitting that this work stress has compromised their ability to protect their organisation. Furthermore, the survey found all respondents said they needed additional resources to adequately cope with current cyber challenges. Amongst some of the key findings were 77% of CISOs believing that a lack of resources had led to important security initiatives falling to the wayside.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/23/cisos-work-related-stress/
Cyber Threats and Regulations Mount for Financial Industry
Nation-state adversaries, new reporting regulations, and a fast-paced threat landscape mean that financial services and technology firms need to bolster their security posture. For example, last year a report conducted by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and security provider Akamai found that distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) attacks rose 73% more for European financial institutions compared to the previous year. This combination of attacks is followed by an increase in regulations such as the requirement to report breaches to the European Authorities to satisfy the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Such increase has caused financial institutions to bolster their security, with a survey conducted by security provider Contrast finding 72% of financial organisations plan to increase their investment in the security of their applications and 64% mandated cyber security requirements for their vendors.
https://www.darkreading.com/risk/cyberthreats-regulations-mount-for-financial-industry
HardBit Ransomware Wants Insurance Details to Set the Perfect Price
Operators of a ransomware threat known as Hardbit are trying to negotiate ransom payments so that they would be covered by victim’s insurance companies. Typically, the threat actor tries to convince the victim that it is in their interest to disclose their insurance details so that the threat actor can adjust their demands so that insurance would cover it.
Social Engineering is Becoming Increasingly Sophisticated
The rapid development of deepfake technology is providing an increase in the sophistication of social engineering attacks. Deepfake technology refers to products created through artificial intelligence, which could allow an individual to impersonate another with likeness and voice during a video conversation. The accessibility of such technology has allowed threat actors to conduct more sophisticated campaigns, including the replication of the voice of a company executive.
https://securityaffairs.com/142487/hacking/social-engineering-increasingly-sophisticated.html
A Fifth of Brits Have Fallen Victim to Online Scammers
Security founder F-Secure have found that a fifth of Brits had fallen victim to digital scammers in the past, yet a quarter had no security controls to protect themselves. When providing a reason for the lack of security, 60% said they found cyber security too complex. This is worrying for organisations who need to ensure these low levels of security awareness are not displayed in the corporate environment.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fifth-brits-have-victim-online/
Cyber Attacks Hit Data Centres to Steal Information from Companies
Cyber attacks targeting multiple data centres globally have resulted in the exfiltration of information relating to companies who used them. In addition, attackers have been seen to publish access credentials relating to these attacks on the dark web. This malicious activity reinforces the need for organisations to be aware of and properly manage their supply chain.
Phishing Fears Ramp Up on Email, Collaboration Platforms
Three quarters of organisations are expecting a serious impact from an email-based attack and with the rapid growth and expansion of collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, it’s expected that these will also be used as a vector for threat actors. Combined with the emergence of Chat-GPT, the landscape provides an increasing amount of opportunities for threat actors.
The War in Ukraine has Shaken up the Cyber Criminal Eco-System
One year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war continues -- including an ever-evolving digital component that has implications for the future of cyber security around the world. Among other things, the war in Ukraine has upended the Eastern European cyber criminal ecosystem, according to cyber security experts from Google, shaking up the way ransomware attacks are playing out. Google later explained that “Lines are blurring between financially motivated and government-backed attackers in Eastern Europe”.
Police Bust €41m Email Scam Gang
A coordinated police operation spanning multiple countries led to the dismantling of a criminal network which was responsible for tens of millions in Business Email Compromise (BEC) losses. In one of the attacks the gang used social engineering to target the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a real estate developer, defrauding them of 38 million euros.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/police-bust-41m-bec-gang/
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
HardBit ransomware wants insurance details to set the perfect price (bleepingcomputer.com)
An Overview of the Global Impact of Ransomware Attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Fight Ransomware with a Cyber security Audit (trendmicro.com)
Time to Deploy Ransomware Drops 94% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Majority of Ransomware Attacks Last Year Exploited Old Bugs (darkreading.com)
A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 1 (trendmicro.com)
A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 2 (trendmicro.com)
Guardian staff forced to work out of former brewery after ransomware attack (telegraph.co.uk)
Royal Ransomware Expands Attacks by Targeting Linux ESXi Servers (trendmicro.com)
Chip company loses $250m after ransomware hits supply chain (malwarebytes.com)
GoAnywhere zero-day opened door to Clop ransomware (malwarebytes.com)
Derivatives market still hit by fallout from Ion Markets cyber attack | Financial Times (ft.com)
Dutch Police arrest three ransomware actors extorting €2.5 million (bleepingcomputer.com)
IBM: Ransomware defenders showing signs of improvement | TechTarget
ESXiArgs Ransomware Has Spread to 500 New Targets in Europe. Will there be More? - MSSP Alert
Ukraine Suffered More Wiper Malware in 2022 Than Anywhere, Ever | WIRED
Food giant Dole hit by ransomware, halts North American production temporarily (bitdefender.com)
Wiper Malware Surges Ahead, Spiking 53% in 3 Months (darkreading.com)
Trellix Report: LockBit 3.0 Ransomware "Most Aggressive" with Demands - MSSP Alert
Israel's Top Tech University Targeted by DarkBit Ransomware (darkreading.com)
Lockbit gang hit Portuguese municipal water utility Aguas do Porto-Security Affairs
Student Medical Records Exposed After LAUSD Breach (darkreading.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Three-quarters of businesses braced for ‘serious’ email attack this year | CSO Online
Phishing Fears Ramp Up on Email, Collaboration Platforms (darkreading.com)
Big rise in 'email thread hijacking' by cyber criminals (rte.ie)
Smishing, vishing and whaling: How phishing scams are evolving | The Star
Microsoft Outlook flooded with spam due to broken email filters (bleepingcomputer.com)
Coinbase Attack Linked to Group Behind Last Year's Twilio, Cloudflare Hacks - SecurityWeek
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Google Translate Helps BEC Groups Scam Companies in Any Language (darkreading.com)
Police Bust €38m BEC Gang - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Social engineering, deception becomes increasingly sophisticated-Security Affairs
Smishing, vishing and whaling: How phishing scams are evolving | The Star
Coinbase cyber attack targeted employees with fake SMS alert (bleepingcomputer.com)
2FA/MFA
Malware
Google Ads Spreads FatalRAT Malware, Disguised As Popular Apps (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Researchers unearth Windows backdoor that’s unusually stealthy | Ars Technica
Researchers warn of 'Havoc' command and control tool • The Register
New WhiskerSpy malware delivered via trojanized codec installer (bleepingcomputer.com)
Frebniis malware abuses Microsoft IIS feature to create a backdoor-Security Affairs
New Stealc malware emerges with a wide set of stealing capabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Experts Warn of RambleOn Android Malware Targeting South Korean Journalists (thehackernews.com)
Hackers use fake ChatGPT apps to push Windows, Android malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Unanswered Questions Cloud the Recent Targeting of an Asian Research Org (darkreading.com)
Hydrochasma Threat Group Bombards Targets with Slew of Commodity Malware, Tools (darkreading.com)
Wiper Malware Surges Ahead, Spiking 53% in 3 Months (darkreading.com)
Russian national accused of developing, selling malware appears in US. court | CyberScoop
Defenders on high alert as backdoor attacks become more common - Help Net Security
Mobile
Five easy steps to keep your smartphone safe from hackers | ZDNET
Apple Updates Advisories as Security Firm Discloses New Class of Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
Accidental WhatsApp account takeovers? It's a thing • The Register
Google will boost Android security through firmware hardening (bleepingcomputer.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Sensitive US military emails exposed by unsecured Azure server • The Register
DNA testing firm inks settlement after forgotten DB break-in • The Register
Activision did not notify employees of data breach for months | TechCrunch
GoDaddy blasted for breach response | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
TELUS investigating leak of stolen source code, employee data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
The war in Ukraine has shaken up the cyber criminal ecosystem, Google says | ZDNET
Russian cyber crime alliances upended by Ukraine invasion • The Register
Spain Orders Extradition of British Alleged Hacker to US. - SecurityWeek
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Norwegian police recover $5.9m crypto stolen by North Korea • The Register
Coinbase Attack Linked to Group Behind Last Year's Twilio, Cloudflare Hacks - SecurityWeek
Coinbase breached by social engineers, employee data stolen – Naked Security (sophos.com)
‘Nevada Group’ hackers target thousands of computer networks | Financial Times (ft.com)
Pirated Final Cut Pro infects your Mac with cryptomining malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
SBF faces four additional charges in FTX collapse case • The Register
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Employees bypass cyber security guidance to achieve business objectives - Help Net Security
Insider Threats Don't Mean Insiders Are Threatening (darkreading.com)
Insider threats must be top-of-mind for organisations facing layoffs - Help Net Security
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
The cost of living crisis is triggering a wave of workplace crime - here's how | UK News | Sky News
FTC: Americans lost $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022 after 30% surge (bleepingcomputer.com)
Europol busts ‘CEO fraud’ gang that stole €38M in a few days (bleepingcomputer.com)
Criminals are flooding the internet with fake advice scams and adware, so watch out | TechRadar
City Fund Managers Jailed for £8m Fraud - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Scammers Mimic ChatGPT to Steal Business Credentials (darkreading.com)
SBF faces four additional charges in FTX collapse case • The Register
Insurance
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Chip company loses $250m after ransomware hits supply chain (malwarebytes.com)
3 Steps to Automate Your Third-Party Risk Management Program (thehackernews.com)
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Google Cloud CISO Phil Venables: Zero trust ‘essential’ to protect the cloud | VentureBeat
Four steps SMBs can take to close SaaS security gaps - Help Net Security
Why Are My Employees Integrating With So Many Unsanctioned SaaS Apps? (darkreading.com)
Four Reasons Why Web Security is as Important as Endpoint Security for MSSP Clients - MSSP Alert
Containers
Encryption
Encrypted Traffic, Once Thought Safe, Now Responsible For Most Cyberthreats (darkreading.com)
AI Helps Crack NIST-Recommended Post-Quantum Encryption Algorithm - SecurityWeek
API
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Social Media
Twitter Limits SMS-Based 2-Factor Authentication to Blue Subscribers Only (thehackernews.com)
7 Tips for Mitigating Cyber-Risks to Your Corporate Social Media (darkreading.com)
Russia's information war against Ukraine went stealth after Meta crackdown | CyberScoop
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Employees bypass cyber security guidance to achieve business objectives - Help Net Security
The financial system is alarmingly vulnerable to cyber attack | Financial Times (ft.com)
Cyber threats, Regulations Mount for Financial Industry (darkreading.com)
Fight Ransomware with a Cyber security Audit (trendmicro.com)
Evolving Threat Landscape Leading to Cyber security Pro “Burnout,” Study Says - MSSP Alert
Benchmarking your cyber security budget in 2023 | VentureBeat
7 reasons to avoid investing in cyber insurance | CSO Online
5 top threats from 2022 most likely to strike in 2023 | CSO Online
Cyber arms race, economic headwinds among top macro cyber security risks for 2023 | CSO Online
Malicious actors push the limits of attack vectors - Help Net Security
Data Protection
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
CISOs struggle with stress and limited resources - Help Net Security
Complexity, volume of cyber attacks lead to burnout in security teams - Help Net Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Police Bust €38m BEC Gang - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Spain Orders Extradition of British Alleged Hacker to US. - SecurityWeek
Russian national accused of developing, selling malware appears in US. court | CyberScoop
Dutch Police arrest three ransomware actors extorting €2.5 million (bleepingcomputer.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Artificial Intelligence
MLOps Security AI power analysis breaks post-quantum security algorithm ... (eenewseurope.com)
AI Helps Crack NIST-Recommended Post-Quantum Encryption Algorithm - SecurityWeek
Hackers use fake ChatGPT apps to push Windows, Android malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
ENISA and CERT-EU warns Chinese APTs targeting EU organisations-Security Affairs
Russian cybercrime alliances upended by Ukraine invasion • The Register
Musk restricts Starlink for Ukraine, cites World War III | Fortune
America Loves Spying by Balloon, Just Like China (gizmodo.com)
How Ukraine War Has Shaped US Planning for a China Conflict - SecurityWeek
Russia blames 'hackers' for fake missile strike alerts • The Register
Ukraine says Russian hackers backdoored govt websites in 2021 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russia's information war against Ukraine went stealth after Meta crackdown | CyberScoop
British Army leads Western Europe’s largest cyber warfare exercise | The British Army (mod.uk)
Nation State Actors
ENISA and CERT-EU warns Chinese APTs targeting EU organisations-Security Affairs
The war in Ukraine has shaken up the cybercriminal ecosystem, Google says | ZDNET
Russian cybercrime alliances upended by Ukraine invasion • The Register
Norwegian police recover $5.9m crypto stolen by North Korea • The Register
America Loves Spying by Balloon, Just Like China (gizmodo.com)
EU Organisations Warned of Chinese APT Attacks - SecurityWeek
How Ukraine War Has Shaped US Planning for a China Conflict - SecurityWeek
Earth Zhulong Familiar Patterns Target Southeast Asian Firms (trendmicro.com)
Earth Kitsune Delivers New WhiskerSpy Backdoor via Watering Hole Attack (trendmicro.com)
Putin Speech Broadcast Temporarily Stopped By DDoS Attack (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Ukraine Suffered More Wiper Malware in 2022 Than Anywhere, Ever | WIRED
Lazarus Group Likely Using New WinorDLL64 Backdoor to Exfiltrate Sensitive Data (thehackernews.com)
Ukraine says Russian hackers backdoored govt websites in 2021 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Russia's information war against Ukraine went stealth after Meta crackdown | CyberScoop
Vulnerability Management
CVSS system criticized for failure to address real-world impact | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)
Majority of Ransomware Attacks Last Year Exploited Old Bugs (darkreading.com)
At least one open source vulnerability found in 84% of code bases: Report | CSO Online
Vulnerabilities
US Cybersecurity Agency CISA Adds Three New Vulnerabilities in KEV Catalog (thehackernews.com)
SolarWinds Announces Upcoming Patches for High-Severity Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
A New Kind of Bug Spells Trouble for iOS and macOS Security | WIRED
VMware Patches Critical Vulnerability in Carbon Black App Control Product (thehackernews.com)
PoC exploit code for critical Fortinet FortiNAC bug released online-Security Affairs
Newly Disclosed Vulnerability Exposes EOL Arris Routers to Attacks - SecurityWeek
Emergency VMware ESXi update fixes Windows Server 2022 VM boot issues (bleepingcomputer.com)
Exploitation attempts observed against Fortinet FortiNAC flaw | TechTarget
Researchers find hidden vulnerabilities in hundreds of Docker containers - Help Net Security
Tools and Controls
Despite Breach, LastPass Demonstrates the Power of Password Management (darkreading.com)
Google Cloud CISO Phil Venables: Zero trust ‘essential’ to protect the cloud | VentureBeat
10 Best Network Security Solutions & Providers - 2023 (cybersecuritynews.com)
Why privileged access management should be critical to your security strategy | VentureBeat
The battle for data security now falls on developers; here’s how they can win | VentureBeat
Zero trust, XDR prominent in Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Endpoint Security | VentureBeat
Advantages of the AWS Security Maturity Model (trendmicro.com)
Other News
Army leads Western Europe’s largest cyber warfare exercise | The British Army (mod.uk)
NSA shares guidance on how to secure your home network (bleepingcomputer.com)
Encrypted Traffic, Once Thought Safe, Now Responsible For Most Cyberthreats (darkreading.com)
Malicious actors push the limits of attack vectors - Help Net Security
Researchers Hijack Popular NPM Package with Millions of Downloads (thehackernews.com)
Justice Department Debuts 'Disruptive Technology Strike Force' (gizmodo.com)
How to Detect New Threats via Suspicious Activities (thehackernews.com)
At least one open source vulnerability found in 84% of code bases: Report | CSO Online
Microsoft urges Exchange admins to remove some antivirus exclusions (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 10 February 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 10 February 2023:
-Companies Banned from Paying Hackers After Attacks on Royal Mail and Guardian
-Fraud Set to Be Upgraded as a Threat to National Security
-98% of Attacks are Not Reported by Employees to their Employers
-UK Second Most Targeted Nation Behind America for Ransomware
-Financial Institutions are Suffering from Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks
-An Email Attack Can End Up Costing You Over $1 Million
-Cyber Crime Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
-Surge of Swatting Attacks Targets Corporate Executive and Board Members
-Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Loom
-Pro-Russian Hacktivist Group is Only Getting Started, Experts Warn
-Crypto Investors Lost Nearly $4 Billion to Hackers in 2022
-PayPal and Twitter Abused in Turkey Relief Donation Scams
-Mysterious Leak of Booking.com Reservation Data is Being Used to Scam Customers
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
UK Companies Banned from Paying Ransomware Hackers After Attacks on Royal Mail and Guardian
British companies have been banned from paying ransomware hackers after a spate of attacks on businesses including Royal Mail and the Guardian newspaper.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday unveiled sanctions on seven Russian hackers linked to a gang called Conti, effectively banning any payments to the group.
Thursday’s sanctions are the first of their kind to be specifically targeted against Russian ransomware gang members.
The actions follow a spate of high-profile attacks on businesses and amid warnings from GCHQ that Russian and Iranian hackers are stepping up actions in Britain.
Fraud Set to Be Upgraded as a Threat to National Security
Fraud is to be reclassified as a threat to national security under UK government plans that will force police chiefs to devote more officers to solving the crime.
It will be elevated to the same status as terrorism, with chief constables mandated to increase resources and combine capabilities in a new effort to combat a fraud epidemic that now accounts for 30 per cent of all crime.
It will be added to the strategic policing requirement, which means that forces will be required by ministers to treat fraud as a major priority alongside not only terrorism, but also public disorder, civil emergencies, serious and organised crime, cyber attacks and child sexual abuse.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/04/fraud-set-upgraded-threat-national-security/
98% of Attacks are Not Reported by Employees to their Employers
Cyber attackers are increasingly using social engineering tactics to lure employees into opening malicious emails in an attempt to trick them into providing login credentials, updating bank account information and paying fraudulent invoices. Worryingly, research conducted by security provider Abnormal has found that 98% of attacks on organisations are not reported to the organisation’s security team. In addition to this, the report found that the volume of business email compromise attacks are spiking, growing by 175% over the past two years. The report also found that nearly two-thirds of large enterprises experiencing a supply chain compromise attack in the second half of 2022.
UK Second Most Targeted Nation Behind America for Ransomware
Security research team Kraken Labs released their report earlier this week, which found that of the 101 different countries that registered victims of ransomware, the UK had registered the second highest number of victims behind the US. Currently, there are over 60 ransomware groups, with the top 3 accounting for a third of all ransomware attacks.
Financial Institutions are Suffering from Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks
This week security provider Contrast Security released its Cyber Bank Heists report, an annual report that exposes cyber security threats facing the financial sector. The report warns financial institutions that security must be a top-of-mind issue amid rising geopolitical tensions, increased destructive attacks utilising wipers and a record-breaking year of zero-day exploits. The report involved a series of interviews with financial sector security leaders and found some notable results. Some of the results include 64% of leaders seeing an increase in application attacks, 72% of respondents planning to increase investment in application security in 2023, 60% of respondents falling victim to destructive attacks and 50% of organisations detecting campaigns which aimed to steal non-public market information.
An Email Attack Can End Up Costing You Over $1 Million
According to a report by security provider Barracuda Network, 75% of organisations had fallen victim to at least one successful email attack in the last 12 months, with those affected facing potential costs of over $1 million for their most expensive attack. The fallout from an email security attack can be significant, with the report finding 44% of those hit had faced significant downtime and business disruption. Additionally financial services greatly impacted by the loss of valuable data (59%) and payments made to attackers (51%). When it came to organisations preparation, 30% felt underprepared when dealing with account takeover and 28% felt unprepared for dealing with business email compromise.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/10/email-attack-damage-1-million/
Cyber Crime Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
Global risks from population pressures and climate change to political conflicts and industrial supply chain challenges characterised 2022. Cyber criminals used this turmoil to exploit these trending topics, including significant events, public affairs, social causes, and anywhere else opportunity appeared. According to security researchers at Zscaler TheatLabz, 2023 will see a rise in Crime-as-a-service (CaaS), supply chains will be bigger targets than ever, there will be a greater need for defence in depth as endpoint protection will not be enough and finally, there will be a decrease in the time between initial compromise and the final stage of an attack.
https://www.darkreading.com/zscaler/cybercrime-shows-no-signs-of-slowing-down
Surge of Swatting Attacks Targets Corporate Executive and Board Members
Swatting is the act of deceiving an emergency service with the purpose of the service then sending an emergency response, often armed, to a targeted persons address. Security provider Black Cloak has found that swatting incidents are now beginning to target C-suite executives and corporate board members, with the number of incidents increasing over the last few months. Malicious actors are using information from the dark web, company websites and property records to construct their swatting attacks.
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence Loom
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making it easier for threat actors to create sophisticated and malicious email campaigns. In their report, security provider Vade found that Q4 of 2022 saw a 36% volume increase in phishing campaigns compared to the previous quarter, with over 278.3 million unique phishing emails in that period. The researchers found in particular, new AI tools such as ChatGPT had made it easy for anyone, including those with limited skills, to conduct a sophisticated phishing campaign. Furthermore, the ability of ChatGPT to tailor phishing to different languages is an area for concern.
https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/bolstered-chatgpt-tools-phishing-surged-ahead
Pro-Russian Hacktivist Group is Only Getting Started, Experts Warn
A pro-Russian hacktivist group's low-level distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on US critical infrastructure could be a precursor to more serious cyber attacks, health care and security officials warned this week. A DDoS attack involves overwhelming a targeted service, service or network with traffic in an attempt to disrupt it. Earlier this week Killnet, a politically motivated Russian hacking group, overloaded and took down some US healthcare organisations. The attack came after threatening western healthcare organisations for the continued NATO support of Ukraine.
https://www.axios.com/2023/02/03/killnet-russian-hackers-attacks
Crypto Investors Lost Nearly $4 Billion to Hackers in 2022
Last year marked the worst year on record for cryptocurrency hacks, according to analytic firm Chainalysis’ latest report. According to the report, hackers stole $3.8 billion in 2022, up from $3.3 billion the previous year. De-centralised finance products, which are products that have no requirement for an intermediary or middle-man accounted for about 82% of all crypto stolen.
PayPal and Twitter Abused in Turkey Relief Donation Scams
Scammers are now exploiting the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria. This time, stealing donations by abusing legitimate platforms such as PayPal and Twitter. It has been identified that multiple scams are running which call for fundraising, linking the victim to a legitimate PayPal site. The money however, is kept by the scammer.
Mysterious Leak of Booking.com Reservation Data is Being Used to Scam Customers
For almost 5 years, Booking.com customers have been on the receiving end of a continuous series of scams that demonstrate criminals have obtained travel plans amongst other personally identifiable information that were provided to Booking.com. The scams have involved users receiving fake emails purporting to be from Booking.com with genuine travel details that victims had provided. These emails contain links to malicious URL’s that look nearly identical to the Booking.com website. These then display the victim’s expected travel information, requiring them to input their card details. Some of the scams have developed and involve scammers sending WhatsApp messages after payment has been made, purporting to be from hotels which have been booked by the victims.
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online
US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek
UK second most targeted nation behind America for Ransomware - IT Security Guru
Hackers who breached ION say ransom paid; company declines comment | Reuters
New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)
Massive ESXiArgs ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide (bleepingcomputer.com)
Royal Ransomware adds support for encrypting Linux, VMware ESXi systems-security affairs
Ongoing VMware ESXi Ransomware Attack Highlights Inherent Virtualisation Risks (darkreading.com)
Lessons Learned on Ransomware Prevention from the Rackspace Attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek
Ransomware Revolution: 4 Types of Cyber Risks in 2023 (trendmicro.com)
Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget
Linux version of Royal Ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nevada Ransomware has released upgraded locker - Help Net Security
Italy, France and Singapore Warn of a Spike in ESXI Ransomware-security affairs
Massive ransomware attack targets VMware ESXi servers worldwide | CSO Online
LockBit ransomware gang claims Royal Mail cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Linux variant of Clop Ransomware uses a flawed encryption-security affairs
After Hive takedown, could the LockBit ransomware crew be the next to fall? | CyberScoop
Russia-Linked Ransomware Gang Claims Responsibility for Royal Mail Attack (gizmodo.com)
Largest Canadian bookstore Indigo shuts down site after cyber ttack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers hit Vesuvius, UK engineering company shuts down affected systems • Graham Cluley
MKS Instruments falls victim to ransomware attack | CSO Online
North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | CyberScoop
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)
Employees Fail to Report 98% of Email Cyber Hacks To Security Teams, Study Finds - MSSP Alert
An email attack can end up costing you over $1 million - Help Net Security
What SOCs Need to Know About Water Dybbuk A BEC Actor Using Open-Source Toolkits (trendmicro.com)
How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)
Cyber criminals exploit volatile job market for targeted email attacks - Help Net Security
'Phishing-as-a-service' kits drive uptick in theft: One business owner's story (cnbc.com)
Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)
NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Malware
Hacker develops new 'Screenshotter' malware to find high-value targets (bleepingcomputer.com)
Threat group targets over 1,000 companies with screenshotting and infostealing malware | CSO Online
ESXiArgs Ransomware Hits Over 3,800 Servers as Hackers Continue Improving Malware - SecurityWeek
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
Hackers backdoor Windows devices in Sliver and BYOVD attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
GuLoader Malware Using Malicious NSIS Executables to Target E-Commerce Industry (thehackernews.com)
Novel Banking Trojan 'PixPirate' Targets Brazil - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
New QakNote attacks push QBot malware via Microsoft OneNote files (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gootkit Malware Adopts New Tactics to Attack Healthcare and Finance Firms (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek
Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register
'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
Android 14 to block malware from abusing sensitive permissions (bleepingcomputer.com)
UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)
Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
Tor and I2P networks hit by wave of ongoing DDoS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs
Internet of Things – IoT
Medusa botnet returns as a Mirai-based variant with ransomware sting (bleepingcomputer.com)
Security manufacturer’s smart cameras went dark for two hours (mybroadband.co.za)
Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Remotely Tamper With Dahua Security Cameras - SecurityWeek
NIST Picks IoT Standard for Small Electronics Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Data Breaches/Leaks
Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)
Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica
TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate confirm data breach affecting 20M customers (bleepingcomputer.com)
20 Million Users Impacted by Data Breach at Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder - SecurityWeek
Over 12% of analysed online stores expose private data, backups (bleepingcomputer.com)
'Money Lover' Finance App Exposes User Data (darkreading.com)
Reddit Suffers Security Breach Exposing Internal Documents and Source Code (thehackernews.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Minister: Cyber crimes Now 20% of Spain’s Registered Offenses - SecurityWeek
Finland’s Most-Wanted Hacker Nabbed in France – Krebs on Security
Australian Man Sentenced for Scam Related to Optus Hack - SecurityWeek
Bungling Optus scammer was no criminal mastermind • Graham Cluley
Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Crypto investors lost nearly $4 billion to hackers in 2022 (cnbc.com)
Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Crypto – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Avraham Eisenberg in court accused of crypto exchange crash • The Register
Crypto Drainers Are Ready to Ransack Investor Wallets (darkreading.com)
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
FTX Being Advised by Cyber security Firm Sygnia on Hack Inquiry, CEO Ray Says (coindesk.com)
Scammers steal $4 million in crypto during in-person meeting • The Register
Enigma Stealer Targets Cryptocurrency Industry with Fake Jobs (trendmicro.com)
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Another RAC staffer nabbed for sharing road accident data • The Register
Ex-Ubiquiti worker pleads guilty to data theft, extortion, and smear plot (bitdefender.com)
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
PayPal and Twitter abused in Turkey relief donation scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)
Mysterious leak of Booking.com reservation data is being used to scam customers | Ars Technica
As V-Day nears: Romance scams cost victims $1.3B last year • The Register
What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)
Father killed himself after falling victim to romance scam | News | The Times
'Brushing' scams send people free items, but could be a warning sign about a data breach - ABC News
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - SecurityWeek
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
Banks leave doors open for scammers with flaws in online security | This is Money
Trio Arrested in COVID PPE Fraud Probe - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs
Impersonation Attacks
What CISOs Can Do About Brand Impersonation Scam Sites (darkreading.com)
HTML smuggling campaigns impersonate well-known brands to deliver malware | CSO Online
AML/CFT/Sanctions
How Cyber criminals Are Operationalising Money Laundering and What to Do About It (darkreading.com)
UK/US cyber crime crackdown sees 7 ransomware criminals sanctioned | CSO Online
US, UK Slap Sanctions on Trickbot Cyber crime Gang - SecurityWeek
Insurance
Tackling the New Cyber Insurance Requirements: Can Your Organisation Comply? (thehackernews.com)
How to Optimise Your Cyber Insurance Coverage (darkreading.com)
Dark Web
BlackSprut: Darknet Drug Market Advertises On Billboards In Moscow (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Dark Web Market Revenues Sink 50% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Have we learnt nothing from SolarWinds supply chain attacks? • The Register
Vulnerability Provided Access to Toyota Supplier Management Network - SecurityWeek
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Cloud Apps Still Demand Way More Privileges Than They Use (darkreading.com)
Amazon S3 to apply security best practices for all new buckets - Help Net Security
Why Some Cloud Services Vulnerabilities Are So Hard to Fix (darkreading.com)
Malicious Google ads sneak AWS phishing sites into search results (bleepingcomputer.com)
7 Critical Cloud Threats Facing the Enterprise in 2023 (darkreading.com)
Hybrid/Remote Working
Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers (telegraph.co.uk)
Predictions For Securing Today's Hybrid Workforce (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
It Isn't Time to Worry About Quantum Computing Just Yet (darkreading.com)
UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal (vice.com)
API
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
Biometrics
Social Media
Twitter Implements API Paywall, but Will That Solve Its Enormous Bot Crisis? (darkreading.com)
Twitter restricted in Turkey after the earthquake amid disinformation fear-security affairs
Malvertising
Training, Education and Awareness
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Infosec Launches New Office Comedy Themed Security Awareness Training Series (darkreading.com)
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)
While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security
Prioritising Cyber security Regulation Harmonisation (darkreading.com)
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Quarter of CFOs Have Suffered $1m+ Breaches - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Swiss authorities open criminal probe into bank data breaches | Financial Times (ft.com)
Trends that impact on organisations' 2023 security priorities - Help Net Security
With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)
Optimising Cyber security Investments in a Constrained Spending Environment (darkreading.com)
Surge of swatting attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online
Lessons From the Cold War: How Quality Trumps Quantity in Cyber security (darkreading.com)
Cyber Hygiene: How to get buy-in from employees (trendmicro.com)
Models, Frameworks and Standards
Data Protection
Corporate ‘privacy’ concerns must not derail Europe’s Data Act | Financial Times (ft.com)
While governments pass privacy laws, companies struggle to change - Help Net Security
Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
European Police Arrest 42 After Cracking Covert App - SecurityWeek
Eurocops shut down Exclu encrypted messaging app • The Register
Finnish psychotherapy extortion suspect arrested in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
Steps To Planning And Implementation Of Data Privacy (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica
Artificial Intelligence
Adversaries Using OpenAI’s ChatGPT Chatbot for Cyber Attacks? Here are Some Clues - MSSP Alert
Phishing Surges Ahead, as ChatGPT & AI Loom (darkreading.com)
IT Leaders Reveal Cyber Fears Around ChatGPT - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
How Can ChatGPT Make It Easier to Boost Phishing Scams? (analyticsinsight.net)
ChatGPT's potential to aid attackers puts IT pros on high alert - Help Net Security
Hackers are selling a service that bypasses ChatGPT restrictions on malware | Ars Technica
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare, and we ought to be concerned | Ars Technica
Jailbreak Trick Breaks ChatGPT Content Safeguards (darkreading.com)
Regulator Halts AI Chatbot Over GDPR Concerns - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Google's Bard AI bot mistake wipes $100bn off shares - BBC News
$120bn wiped off Google after Bard AI chatbot gives wrong answer (telegraph.co.uk)
Why ChatGPT Isn't a Death Sentence for Cyber Defenders (darkreading.com)
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
What is hybrid warfare? Inside the centre dealing with modern threats - BBC News
DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)
Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)
The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security
Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Spies, Hackers, Informants: How China Snoops on the US - SecurityWeek
US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register
Nation State Actors
Pro-Russian hacktivist group Killnet could just be getting started (axios.com)
With TikTok Bans, the Time for Operational Governance Is Now (darkreading.com)
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
Android mobile devices from top vendors in China have pre-installed malware-security affairs
China sharply rebukes US over decision to shoot down spy balloon | Financial Times (ft.com)
Microsoft: Iran Unit Behind Charlie Hebdo Hack-and-Leak Op - SecurityWeek
Here's a list of proxy IPs to help block KillNet's DDoS bots • The Register
Android phones from Chinese vendors share private data • The Register
DPRK Using Unpatched Zimbra Devices to Spy on Researchers (darkreading.com)
SNP MP Stewart McDonald's emails hacked by Russian group - BBC News
Australia to remove Chinese surveillance cameras amid security fears - BBC News
Russian hackers using new Graphiron information stealer in Ukraine (bleepingcomputer.com)
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study (gizmodo.com)
UN Experts: North Korean Hackers Stole Record Virtual Assets - SecurityWeek
Mysterious Russian satellites are now breaking apart in low-Earth orbit | Ars Technica
The impact of Russia's Ukraine invasion on digital threats - Help Net Security
Russian Hackers Steal Data In Ukraine With New Graphiron Malware (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Experts published a list of proxy IPs used by the group Killnet-security affairs
NewsPenguin Goes Phishing for Maritime & Military Secrets (darkreading.com)
US teases new China tech sanctions to deflate balloon-makers • The Register
North Korea ransomware targets hospitals to fund digital spycraft, US agencies warn | Cyber scoop
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerabilities and exposures to rise to 1,900 a month in 2023: Coalition | CSO Online
Patching & Passwords Lead the Problem Pack for Cyber-Teams (darkreading.com)
Hypervisor patching struggles exacerbate ESXiArgs attacks | TechTarget
How to fix the top 5 cyber security vulnerabilities | TechTarget
20 Powerful Vulnerability Scanning Tools In 2023 (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Vulnerabilities
High-Severity Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Patched in VMware Workstation - SecurityWeek
New Wave of Ransomware Attacks Exploiting VMware Bug to Target ESXi Servers (thehackernews.com)
GoAnywhere MFT Users Warned of Zero-Day Exploit - SecurityWeek
Serious security hole plugged in infosec tool binwalk | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)
Cisco fixed command injection bug in IOx Application Hosting Environment-security affairs
Vulnerability In F5 BIG-IP May Cause DoS And Code Execution (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
GoAnywhere MFT zero-day flaw actively exploited-security affairs
Exploitation attempts for Oracle E-Business Suite flaw observed after PoC release-security affairs
Critical vulnerability patched in Jira Service Management Server and Data Center | CSO Online
Warning: Hackers Actively Exploiting Zero-Day in Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT (thehackernews.com)
Exploit released for actively exploited GoAnywhere MFT zero-day (bleepingcomputer.com)
Patch Released for Actively Exploited GoAnywhere MFT Zero-Day - SecurityWeek
Unpatched Security Flaws Disclosed in Multiple Document Management Systems (thehackernews.com)
SonicWall warns web content filtering is broken on Windows 11 22H2 (bleepingcomputer.com)
OpenSSL Fixes Multiple New Security Flaws with Latest Update (thehackernews.com)
Android's February 2023 Updates Patch 40 Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek
Tools and Controls
Other News
Yes, CISOs should be concerned about the types of data spy balloons can intercept | CSO Online
How to Think Like a Hacker and Stay Ahead of Threats (thehackernews.com)
Surge of swatting a attacks targets corporate executives and board members | CSO Online
Bermuda: Major Internet And Power Outage Strikes (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 13 January 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 13 January 2023:
-Quarter of UK SMBs Hit by Ransomware in 2022
-Global Cyber Attack Volume Surges 38% in 2022
-1 in 3 Organisations Do Not Provide Any Cyber Security Training to Remote Workers Despite the Majority of Employees Having Access to Critical Data
-AI-Generated Phishing Attacks Are Becoming More Convincing
-Customer and Employee Data the Top Prize for Hackers
-Royal Mail hit by Ransomware Attack, Causes ‘Severe Disruption’ to Services
-The Guardian Confirms Personal Information Compromised in Ransomware Attack
-Ransomware Gang Releases Info Stolen from 14 UK Schools, Including Passport Scans
-The Dark Web’s Criminal Minds See Internet of Things as Next Big Hacking Prize
-Corrupted File to Blame for Computer Glitch which Grounded Every US Flight
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
Quarter of UK SMBs Hit by Ransomware in 2022
Over one in four (26%) British SMBs have been targeted by ransomware over the past year, with half (47%) of those compromised paying their extorters, according to new data from anti-virus provider Avast. The security vendor polled 1000 IT decision makers from UK SMBs back in October, to better understand the risk landscape over the previous 12 months.
More than two-thirds (68%) of respondents said they are more concerned about being attacked since the start of the war in Ukraine, fuelling concerns that have led to half (50%) investing in cyber-insurance. They’re wise to do so, considering that 41% of those hit by ransomware lost data, while 34% lost access to devices, according to Avast.
Given that SMBs comprise over 99% of private sector businesses in the country, it’s reassuring that cyber is now being viewed as a major business risk. Nearly half (48%) ranked it as one of the biggest threats they currently face, versus 66% who cited financial risk stemming from surging operational cost. More respondents cited cyber as a top threat than did physical security (35%) and supply chain disruption (33%).
Avast argued that SMBs are among the groups most vulnerable to cyber-threats as they often have very limited budget and resources, and many don’t have somebody on staff managing security holistically. As a result, not only are SMB’s lacking in their defence, but they’re also slower and less able to react to incidents.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/quarter-of-uk-smbs-hit-ransomware/
Global Cyber Attack Volume Surges 38% in 2022
The number of cyber attacks recorded last year was nearly two-fifths (38%) greater than the total volume observed in 2021, according to Check Point.
The security vendor claimed the increase was largely due to a surge in attacks on healthcare organisations, which saw the largest year-on-year (YoY) increase (74%), and the activities of smaller, more agile hacking groups.
Overall, attacks reached an all-time high in Q4 with an average of 1168 weekly attacks per organisation. The average weekly figures for the year were highest for education sector organisations (2314), government and military (1661) and healthcare (1463).
Threat actors appear to have capitalised on gaps in security created by the shift to remote working. The ransomware ecosystem is continuing to evolve and grow with smaller, more agile criminal groups that form to evade law enforcement. Hackers are also now increasingly widening their aim to target business collaboration tools such as Slack, Teams, OneDrive and Google Drive with phishing exploits. These make for a rich source of sensitive data given that most organisations’ employees continue to work remotely.
It is predicted that AI tools like ChatGPT would help to fuel a continued surge in attacks in 2023 by making it quicker and easier for bad actors to generate malicious code and emails.
Recorded cyber-attacks on US organisations grew 57% YoY in 2022, while the figure was even higher in the UK (77%). This chimes with data from UK ISP Beaming, which found that 2022 was the busiest year on record for attacks. It recorded 687,489 attempts to breach UK businesses in 2022 – the equivalent of one attack every 46 seconds.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-cyberattack-volume-surges/
1 in 3 Organisations Do Not Provide Any Cyber Security Training to Remote Workers Despite the Majority of Employees Having Access to Critical Data
New research from cyber security provider Hornetsecurity has found that 33% of companies are not providing any cyber security awareness training to users who work remotely.
The study also revealed nearly three-quarters (74%) of remote staff have access to critical data, which is creating more risk for companies in the new hybrid working world.
Despite the current lack of training and employees feeling ill-equipped, almost half (44%) of respondents said their organisation plans to increase the percentage of employees that work remotely. The popularity of hybrid work, and the associated risks, means that companies must prioritise training and education to make remote working safe.
Traditional methods of controlling and securing company data aren't as effective when employees are working in remote locations and greater responsibility falls on the individual. Companies must acknowledge the unique risks associated with remote work and activate relevant security management systems, as well as empower employees to deal with a certain level of risk.
The independent survey, which quizzed 925 IT professionals from a range of business types and sizes globally, highlighted the security management challenges and employee cyber security risk when working remotely. The research revealed two core problems causing risk: employees having access to critical data, and not enough training being provided on how to manage cyber security or how to reduce the risk of a cyber-attack or breach.
AI-Generated Phishing Attacks Are Becoming More Convincing
It's time for you and your colleagues to become more sceptical about what you read.
That's a takeaway from a series of experiments undertaken using GPT-3 AI text-generating interfaces to create malicious messages designed to spear-phish, scam, harass, and spread fake news.
Experts at WithSecure have described their investigations into just how easy it is to automate the creation of credible yet malicious content at incredible speed. Amongst the use cases explored by the research were the use of GPT-3 models to create:
Phishing content – emails or messages designed to trick a user into opening a malicious attachment or visiting a malicious link
Social opposition – social media messages designed to troll and harass individuals or to cause brand damage
Social validation – social media messages designed to advertise or sell, or to legitimise a scam
Fake news – research into how well GPT-3 can generate convincing fake news articles of events that weren’t part of its training set
All of these could, of course, be useful to cyber criminals hell-bent on scamming the unwary or spreading unrest.
Customer and Employee Data the Top Prize for Hackers
The theft of customer and employee data accounts for almost half (45%) of all stolen data between July 2021 and June 2022, according to a new report from cyber security solution provider Imperva.
The data is part of a 12-month analysis by Imperva Threat Research on the trends and threats related to data security in its report “More Lessons Learned from Analysing 100 Data Breaches”.
Their analysis found that theft of credit card information and password details dropped by 64% compared to 2021. The decline in stolen credit card and password data pointing to the uptake of basic security tactics like multi-factor authentication (MFA). However, in the long term, PII data is the most valuable data to cyber-criminals. With enough stolen PII, they can engage in full-on identity theft which is hugely profitable and very difficult to prevent. Credit cards and passwords can be changed the second there is a breach, but when PII is stolen, it can be years before it is weaponised by hackers.
The research also revealed the root causes of data breaches, with social engineering (17%) and unsecured databases (15%) two of the biggest culprits. Misconfigured applications were only responsible for 2% of data breaches, but Imperva said that businesses should expect this figure to rise in the near future, particularly with cloud-managed infrastructure where configuring for security requires significant expertise.
It’s really concerning that a third (32%) of data breaches are down to unsecured databases and social engineering attacks, since they’re both straightforward to mitigate. A publicly open database dramatically increases the risk of a breach and, all too often, they are left like this not out of a failure of security practices but rather the total absence of any security posture at all.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/customer-employee-data-hackers/
Royal Mail hit by Ransomware Attack, Causes ‘Severe Disruption’ to Services
Royal Mail experienced “severe service disruption” to its international export services following a ransomware attack, the company has announced. A statement said it was temporarily unable to despatch export items including letters and parcels to overseas destinations.
Royal Mail said: “We have asked customers temporarily to stop submitting any export items into the network while we work hard to resolve the issue” and advising that “Some customers may experience delay or disruption to items already shipped for export.”
The attack was later attributed to LockBit, a prolific ransomware gang with close ties to Russia. Both the NCSC and the NCA were involved in responding to the incident.
https://www.independent.co.uk/business/royal-mail-cyber-attack-exports-b2260308.html
The Guardian Confirms Personal Information Compromised in Ransomware Attack
British news organisation The Guardian has confirmed that personal information was compromised in a ransomware attack in December 2022.
The company fell victim to the attack just days before Christmas, when it instructed staff to work from home, announcing network disruptions that mostly impacted the print newspaper.
Right from the start, the Guardian said it suspected ransomware to have been involved in the incident, and this week the company confirmed that this was indeed the case. In an email to staff on Wednesday, The Guardian Media Group’s chief executive and the Guardian’s editor-in-chief said that the sophisticated cyber attack was likely the result of phishing.
They also announced that the personal information of UK staff members was compromised in the attack, but said that reader data and the information of US and Australia staff was not impacted. “We have seen no evidence that any data has been exposed online thus far and we continue to monitor this very closely,” the Guardian representatives said. While the attack forced the Guardian staff to work from home, online publishing has been unaffected, and production of daily newspapers has continued as well.
“We believe this was a criminal ransomware attack, and not the specific targeting of the Guardian as a media organisation,” the Guardian said.
The company continues to work on recovery and estimates that critical systems would be restored in the next two weeks. Staff, however, will continue to work from home until at least early February. “These attacks have become more frequent and sophisticated in the past three years, against organisations of all sizes, and kinds, in all countries,” the Guardian said.
https://www.securityweek.com/guardian-confirms-personal-information-compromised-ransomware-attack
Ransomware Gang Releases Info Stolen from 14 UK Schools, Including Passport Scans
Another month, another release of personal information stolen from a school system. This time, it's a group of 14 schools in the United Kingdom.
Once again, the perpetrator appears to be Vice Society, which is well known for targeting educational systems in the US. As the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) pointed out in a bulletin from Sept. 6, "K-12 institutions may be seen as particularly lucrative targets due to the amount of sensitive student data accessible through school systems or their managed service providers."
The UK hack may have turned up even more confidential information than the Los Angeles school system breach last year. As the BBC reported on Jan. 6, "One folder marked 'passports' contains passport scans for pupils and parents on school trips going back to 2011, whereas another marked 'contract' contains contractual offers made to staff alongside teaching documents on muscle contractions."
Some prominent school cyber attacks in the US include public school districts in Chicago, Baltimore, and Los Angeles. A new study from digital learning platform Clever claims that one in four schools experienced a cyber-incident over the past year, and according to a new report from security software vendor Emsisoft, at least 45 school districts and 44 higher learning institutions suffered ransomware attacks in 2022.
Schools are an attractive target as they are typically data-rich and resource-poor. Without proper resources in terms of dedicated staffing and the necessary tools and training to protect against cyber-attacks, schools can be a soft target. Many of the 14 schools hit by this latest leak are colleges and universities, but primary and secondary schools were also hit, according to the BBC's list.
The Dark Web’s Criminal Minds See Internet of Things as Next Big Hacking Prize
Cyber security experts say 2022 may have marked an inflection point due to the rapid proliferation of IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
Criminal groups buy and sell services, and one hot idea — a business model for a crime — can take off quickly when they realise that it works to do damage or to get people to pay. Attacks are evolving from those that shut down computers or stole data, to include those that could more directly wreak havoc on everyday life. IoT devices can be the entry points for attacks on parts of countries’ critical infrastructure, like electrical grids or pipelines, or they can be the specific targets of criminals, as in the case of cars or medical devices that contain software.
For the past decade, manufacturers, software companies and consumers have been rushing to the promise of Internet of Things devices. Now there are an estimated 17 billion in the world, from printers to garage door openers, each one packed with software (some of it open-source software) that can be easily hacked.
What many experts are anticipating is the day enterprising criminals or hackers affiliated with a nation-state figure out an easy-to-replicate scheme using IoT devices at scale. A group of criminals, perhaps connected to a foreign government, could figure out how to take control of many things at once – like cars, or medical devices. There have already been large-scale attacks using IoT, in the form of IoT botnets. In that case, actors leveraging unpatched vulnerabilities in IoT devices used control of those devices to carry out denial of service attacks against many targets. Those vulnerabilities are found regularly in ubiquitous products that are rarely updated.
In other words, the possibility already exists. It’s only a question of when a criminal or a nation decides to act in a way that targets the physical world at a large scale. There are a handful of companies, new regulatory approaches, a growing focus on cars as a particularly important area, and a new movement within the software engineering world to do a better job of incorporating cyber security from the beginning.
Corrupted File to Blame for Computer Glitch which Grounded Every US Flight
A corrupted file has been blamed for a glitch on the Federal Aviation Administration's computer system which saw every flight grounded across the US.
All outbound flights were grounded until around 9am Eastern Time (2pm GMT) on Wednesday as the FAA worked to restore its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which alerts pilots of potential hazards along a flight route.
On Wednesday 4,948 flights within, into or out of the US had been delayed, according to flight tracker FlightAware.com, while 868 had been cancelled. Most delays were concentrated along the East Coast. Normal air traffic operations resumed gradually across the US following the outage to the NOTAM system that provides safety information to flight crews.
A corrupted file affected both the primary and the backup systems, a senior government official told NBC News on Wednesday night, adding that officials continue to investigate. Whilst Government officials said there was no evidence of a cyber attack, it shows the real world impacts that an outage or corrupted file can cause.
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Royal Mail unable to despatch items abroad after 'cyber incident' | UK News | Sky News
Lorenz ransomware gang plants backdoors to use months later (bleepingcomputer.com)
Quarter of UK SMBs Hit by Ransomware in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Worldwide Ransomware Attacks Trend (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
LastPass Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Password Vault Breach (pcmag.com)
Rackspace: Ransomware actor accessed 27 customers' data | TechTarget
Rackspace Ransomware Incident Highlights Risks of Relying on Mitigation Alone (darkreading.com)
Risk & Repeat: Analysing the Rackspace ransomware attack | TechTarget
Guardian confirms it was hit by ransomware attack | The Guardian | The Guardian
Post-ransomware attack, The Guardian warns staff their personal data was accessed • Graham Cluley
The Guardian Confirms Personal Information Compromised in Ransomware Attack | SecurityWeek.Com
Royal Mail cyber attack linked to LockBit ransomware operation (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hive Ransomware leaked 550 GB stolen from Consulate Health Care - Security Affairs
Iowa’s largest school district cancels classes after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers leak sensitive files after attack on San Francisco transit police (nbcnews.com)
Vice Society ransomware claims attack on Australian firefighting service (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware attack at Hope Sentamu Learning Trust in York | York Press
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
AI-generated phishing emails just got much more convincing • The Register
Better Phishing, Easy Malicious Implants: How AI Could Change Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
AI-generated phishing attacks are becoming more convincing | Tripwire
Twitter Data Leak: What the Exposure of 200 Million User Emails Means for You | WIRED
Phishing campaign targets government institution in Moldova - Security Affairs
Malware
Better Phishing, Easy Malicious Implants: How AI Could Change Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
Turla, a Russian Espionage Group, Piggybacked on Other Hackers' USB Infections | WIRED
ChatGPT Used to Develop New Malicious Tools - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Russia’s Turla falls back on old malware C2 domains to avoid detection | Computer Weekly
Many of 13 New Mac Malware Families Discovered in 2022 Linked to China | SecurityWeek.Com
Dridex Malware Now Attacking macOS Systems with Novel Infection Method (thehackernews.com)
Over 1,300 fake AnyDesk sites push Vidar info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Attackers abuse business-critical cloud apps to deliver malware - Help Net Security
New Analysis Reveals Raspberry Robin Can be Repurposed by Other Threat Actors (thehackernews.com)
6 PyPI Packages Detour Firewall Using Cloudflare Tunnels (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Microsoft: Kubernetes clusters hacked in malware campaign via PostgreSQL (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malicious PyPi packages create CloudFlare Tunnels to bypass firewalls (bleepingcomputer.com)
Gootkit Loader Actively Targets Australian Healthcare Industry (trendmicro.com)
Android TV box on Amazon came pre-installed with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
VLC media player is being hiajcked to send out malware | TechRadar
RAT malware campaign tries to evade detection using polyglot files (bleepingcomputer.com)
Italian Users Warned of Malware Attack Targeting Sensitive Information (thehackernews.com)
Hackers push fake Pokemon NFT game to take over Windows devices (bleepingcomputer.com)
How to protect yourself from bot-driven account fraud - Help Net Security
Mobile
Android spyware strikes again targeting financial institutions and your money | Fox News
Messenger billed as better than Signal is riddled with vulnerabilities | Ars Technica
StrongPity hackers target Android users via trojanized Telegram app (bleepingcomputer.com)
Threema claims encryption flaws never had a real-world impact (bleepingcomputer.com)
Latest Firmware Flaws in Qualcomm Snapdragon Need Attention (darkreading.com)
Threat actors claim access to Telegram servers through insiders - Security Affairs
$20K Buys Insider Access to Telegram Servers, Dark Web Ad Claims (darkreading.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
The most significant DDoS attacks in the past year - Help Net Security
Big Prizes, Cash on Offer for Joining 'DDosia' Anti-Ukraine Cyber attack Project (darkreading.com)
Internet of Things – IoT
The dark web's criminal minds see IoT as the next big hacking prize (cnbc.com)
Android TV box on Amazon came pre-installed with malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Hackers can trick Wi-Fi devices into draining their own batteries | New Scientist
Data Breaches/Leaks
Twitter Data Leak: What the Exposure of 200 Million User Emails Means for You | WIRED
14 UK schools hit by cyber attack and documents leaked - BBC News
Air France and KLM notify customers of account hacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Vice Society Releases Info Stolen From 14 UK Schools, Including Passport Scans (darkreading.com)
Twitter's mushrooming data breach crisis could prove costly | CSO Online
Twitter Denies Hacking Claims, Assures Leaked User Data Not from its System (thehackernews.com)
CircleCI – code-building service suffers total credential compromise – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Aflac's Japan says US partner leaked cancer customer info • The Register
Data leak exposes information of 10,000 French social security beneficiaries | CSO Online
Chick-fil-A investigates reports of hacked customer accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
JP Morgan must face suit over $272m cybertheft • The Register
Cyber criminals are already using ChatGPT to own you | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Russian Cyber Crew Targets Ukraine Financial Sector Via Infected USB Drives - MSSP Alert
2022 Was the Biggest Year Yet for Crypto, if You're a Crook (gizmodo.com)
Researchers Find 'Digital Crime Haven' While Investigating Magecart Activity (darkreading.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
2022 Was the Biggest Year Yet for Crypto, if You're a Crook (gizmodo.com)
European police takes down call centres behind cryptocurrency scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
European cops shut down fake crypto call centres • The Register
Kinsing Crypto Malware Hits Kubernetes Clusters via Misconfigured PostgreSQL (thehackernews.com)
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
European police takes down call centres behind cryptocurrency scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nationwide warns ‘checking is important’ as thousands targeted in online scam | Personal Finance |
How to protect yourself from bot-driven account fraud - Help Net Security
Insurance
Insurance Co. Beazley Launches $45M 'Cyber Catastrophe Bond' (gizmodo.com)
Insurer Beazley launches first catastrophe bond for cyber threats | Financial Times (ft.com)
4 Cyber Insurance Requirement Predictions for 2023 (trendmicro.com)
Dark Web
Threat actors claim access to Telegram servers through insiders - Security Affairs
$20K Buys Insider Access to Telegram Servers, Dark Web Ad Claims (darkreading.com)
Pakistan tells government agencies to avoid the dark web • The Register
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Attackers abuse business-critical cloud apps to deliver malware - Help Net Security
Top SaaS Cyber security Threats in 2023: Are You Ready? (thehackernews.com)
Why Do User Permissions Matter for SaaS Security? (thehackernews.com)
Attack Surface Management
Why the atomized network is growing, and how to protect it - Help Net Security
Web 3.0 Shifts Attack Surface and Highlights Need for Continuous Security (darkreading.com)
Identity and Access Management
Encryption
RSA crypto cracked? Or perhaps not! – Naked Security (sophos.com)
What is Triple DES and why is it being disallowed? | TechTarget
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
A fifth of passwords used by federal agency cracked in security audit | Ars Technica
Why FIDO and passwordless authentication is the future - Help Net Security
'Copyright Infringement' Lure Used for Facebook Credential Harvesting (darkreading.com)
Why it might be time to consider using FIDO-based authentication devices | CSO Online
Social Media
Twitter Data Leak: What the Exposure of 200 Million User Emails Means for You | WIRED
Twitter's mushrooming data breach crisis could prove costly | CSO Online
Twitter Denies Hacking Claims, Assures Leaked User Data Not from its System (thehackernews.com)
If governments are banning TikTok, why is it still on your corporate devices? | CSO Online
'Copyright Infringement' Lure Used for Facebook Credential Harvesting (darkreading.com)
Training, Education and Awareness
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Governance, Risk and Compliance
US cyber security director: The tech ecosystem has ‘become really unsafe’ (yahoo.com)
Global Cyber-Attack Volume Surges 38% in 2022 - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Global Risks Report: Understand the risk landscape in 2023 and beyond - Help Net Security
Why Analysing Past Incidents Helps Teams More Than Usual Security Metrics (darkreading.com)
Cyber security spending and economic headwinds in 2023 | CSO Online
Practical Risk Management - Beyond Certification (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Vulnerable software, low incident reporting raises risks | TechTarget
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
European cops shut down fake crypto call centres • The Register
European police takes down call centres behind cryptocurrency scams (bleepingcomputer.com)
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
Artificial Intelligence
AI-generated phishing emails just got much more convincing • The Register
ChatGPT: The infosec assistant that is jack of all trades, master of none - Help Net Security
Better Phishing, Easy Malicious Implants: How AI Could Change Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)
VALL-E AI can mimic a person’s voice from a 3-second snippet • The Register
ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence: An Upcoming Cyber security Threat? (darkreading.com)
Hackers Exploiting OpenAI’s ChatGPT to Deploy Malware (hackread.com)
Cyber criminals are already using ChatGPT to own you | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Trojan Puzzle attack trains AI assistants into suggesting malicious code (bleepingcomputer.com)
ChatGPT Used to Develop New Malicious Tools - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
DHS, CISA plan AI-based cyber security analytics sandbox • The Register
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Turla, a Russian Espionage Group, Piggybacked on Other Hackers' USB Infections | WIRED
Russia’s Turla falls back on old malware C2 domains to avoid detection | Computer Weekly
Exclusive: Russian hackers targeted U.S. nuclear scientists | Reuters
Russian cyber attacks on Ukraine halved with help from Amazon and Microsoft (telegraph.co.uk)
New Dark Pink APT group targets govt and military with custom malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Big Prizes, Cash on Offer for Joining 'DDosia' Anti-Ukraine Cyber attack Project (darkreading.com)
Phishing campaign targets government institution in Moldova - Security Affairs
Russian and Belarusian men charged with spying for Russian GRU - Security Affairs
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Turla, a Russian Espionage Group, Piggybacked on Other Hackers' USB Infections | WIRED
Russia’s Turla falls back on old malware C2 domains to avoid detection | Computer Weekly
Exclusive: Russian hackers targeted U.S. nuclear scientists | Reuters
Russian cyber attacks on Ukraine halved with help from Amazon and Microsoft (telegraph.co.uk)
How Elon Musk’s Starlink has changed warfare | The Economist
Big Prizes, Cash on Offer for Joining 'DDosia' Anti-Ukraine Cyber attack Project (darkreading.com)
Phishing campaign targets government institution in Moldova - Security Affairs
Russian and Belarusian men charged with spying for Russian GRU - Security Affairs
Musk's Starlink Satellite's Role In Ukraine War Inspires Taiwan To Thwart Potential China Attack
Nation State Actors – China
Many of 13 New Mac Malware Families Discovered in 2022 Linked to China | SecurityWeek.Com
If governments are banning TikTok, why is it still on your corporate devices? | CSO Online
Musk's Starlink Satellite's Role In Ukraine War Inspires Taiwan To Thwart Potential China Attack
Nation State Actors – Iran
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerability Management
Patch Where it Hurts: Effective Vulnerability Management in 2023 (thehackernews.com)
70% of apps contain at least one security flaw after 5 years in production - Help Net Security
Rackspace Ransomware Incident Highlights Risks of Relying on Mitigation Alone (darkreading.com)
Does a hybrid model for vulnerability management make sense? • Graham Cluley
Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Patch Tuesday: 97 Windows Vulns, 1 Exploited Zero-Day | SecurityWeek.Com
Microsoft plugs actively exploited zero-day hole (CVE-2023-21674) - Help Net Security
The Roadmap to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) - MSSP Alert
Hundreds of SugarCRM servers infected with critical in-the-wild exploit | Ars Technica
Cyber criminals bypass Windows security with driver-vulnerability exploit | CSO Online
Attackers target govt networks exploiting Fortinet SSL-VPN CVE-2022-42475 - Security Affairs
Adobe Plugs Security Holes in Acrobat, Reader Software | SecurityWeek.Com
Zoom Patches High Risk Flaws on Windows, MacOS Platforms | SecurityWeek.Com
Cisco warns of auth bypass bug with public exploit in EoL routers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Swiss Threema messaging app found to have vulnerabilities • The Register
Fortinet says hackers exploited critical vulnerability to infect VPN customers | Ars Technica
Critical bug in Cisco Small Business Routers will receive no patch - Security Affairs
Severe Vulnerabilities Allow Hacking of Asus Gaming Router | SecurityWeek.Com
JsonWebToken Security Bug Opens Servers to RCE (darkreading.com)
Latest Firmware Flaws in Qualcomm Snapdragon Need Attention (darkreading.com)
Tools and Controls
How to prevent and detect lateral movement attacks | TechTarget
Data Loss Prevention Capability Guide (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
4 key shifts in the breach and attack simulation (BAS) market - Help Net Security
How to prioritize effectively with threat modeling • The Register
XDR and the Age-old Problem of Alert Fatigue | SecurityWeek.Com
Why FIDO and passwordless authentication is the future - Help Net Security
Why it might be time to consider using FIDO-based authentication devices | CSO Online
DHS, CISA plan AI-based cyber security analytics sandbox • The Register
ChatGPT: The infosec assistant that is jack of all trades, master of none - Help Net Security
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 06 January 2023
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 06 January 2023:
-Cyber War in Ukraine, Ransomware Fears Drive Surge in Demand for Threat Intelligence Tools
-Cyber Premiums Holding Firms to Ransom
-Ransomware Ecosystem Becoming More Diverse For 2023
-Attackers Evolve Strategies to Outmanoeuvre Security Teams
-Building a Security-First Culture: The Key to Cyber Success
-Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft Flaws Make Up Half of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogue
-First LastPass, Now Slack and CircleCI. The Hacks Go On (and will likely worsen)
-Data of 235 Million Twitter Users Leaked Online
-16 Car Makers, including BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes and Toyota, and Their Vehicles Hacked via Telematics, APIs, Infrastructure
-Ransomware Gang Apologizes, Gives SickKids Hospital Free Decryptor
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
Cyber War in Ukraine, Ransomware Fears Drive 2022 Surge in Demand for Threat Intelligence Tools
Amid the heightened fear of ransomware in 2022, threat intelligence emerged as a core requirement of doing business in a world gone mad.
A sizable amount of interest in the historically tech-centric discipline was fuelled in part by fear of cyber attacks tied to the war between Russia and Ukraine. In one example, the Ukrainian government warned the world that the Russian military was planning for multi-pronged attacks targeting the energy sector. Other nation-state cyber attack operations also contributed to the demand, including one June 2022 incident were Iran’s Cobalt Mirage exploited PowerShell vulnerabilities to launch ransomware attacks.
And of course, headlines of data breaches tied to vulnerabilities that organisations did not even know existed within their networks caught the attention not just of security teams, but the C-Suite and corporate board. A misconfigured Microsoft server, for example, wound up exposing years of sensitive data for tens of thousands of its customers, including personally identifiable information, user data, product and project details and intellectual property.
Indeed, according to 183 security pros surveyed by CyberRisk Alliance Business Intelligence in June 2022, threat intelligence has become critical in arming their security operations centres (SOCs) and incident response teams with operational data to help them make timely, informed decisions to prevent system downtime, thwart the theft of confidential data, and protect intellectual property.
Threat intelligence has emerged as a useful tool for educating executives. Many also credited threat intelligence for helping them protect their company and customer data — and potentially saving their organisation's reputation.
Cyber Premiums Holding Firms to Ransom
Soaring premiums for cyber security insurance are leaving businesses struggling to pay other bills, a key industry player has warned.
Mactavish, which buys insurance policies on behalf of companies, said that more than half of big businesses that had bought cyber security insurance had been forced to make cuts elsewhere to pay for it.
In a survey of 200 companies with a turnover above £10 million, Mactavish found that businesses were reducing office costs and staff bonuses and were cutting other types of insurance to meet the higher payments.
Last month Marsh, an insurance broker, revealed that costs for cyber insurance had increased by an average of 66 per cent in the third quarter compared with last year.
Meanwhile, the risk to businesses from hackers continues to rise. A government report on digital threats, published this month, showed the proportion of businesses experiencing cyber security incidents at least monthly had increased from 53 per cent to 60 per cent in the past year. Uber, Cisco and InterContinental Hotels Group were among high-profile targets this year.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cyber-safety-premiums-hold-firms-to-ransom-tnrsz3vs2
Ransomware Ecosystem Becoming More Diverse for 2023
The ransomware ecosystem has changed significantly in 2022, with attackers shifting from large groups that dominated the landscape toward smaller ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operations in search of more flexibility and drawing less attention from law enforcement. This democratisation of ransomware is bad news for organisations because it also brought in a diversification of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), more indicators of compromise (IOCs) to track, and potentially more hurdles to jump through when trying to negotiate or pay ransoms.
Since 2019 the ransomware landscape has been dominated by big and professionalised ransomware operations that constantly made the news headlines and even looked for media attention to gain legitimacy with potential victims. We've seen ransomware groups with spokespeople who offered interviews to journalists or issued "press releases" on Twitter and their data leak websites in response to big breaches.
The DarkSide attack against Colonial Pipeline that led to a major fuel supply disruption along the US East Coast in 2021 highlighted the risk that ransomware attacks can have against critical infrastructure and led to increased efforts to combat this threat at the highest levels of government. This heightened attention from law enforcement made the owners of underground cyber crime forums reconsider their relationship with ransomware groups, with some forums banning the advertising of such threats. DarkSide ceased operations soon thereafter and was followed later in the year by REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, whose creators were indicted and one was even arrested. REvil was one of the most successful ransomware groups since 2019.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 quickly put a strain on the relationship between many ransomware groups who had members and affiliates in both Russia and Ukraine, or other former USSR countries. Some groups, such as Conti, rushed to take sides in the war, threatening to attack Western infrastructure in support of Russia. This was a departure from the usual business-like apolitical approach in which ransomware gangs had run their operations and drew criticism from other competing groups.
This was also followed by a leak of internal communications that exposed many of Conti's operational secrets and caused uneasiness with its affiliates. Following a major attack against the Costa Rican government the US State Department put up a reward of $10 million for information related to the identity or location of Conti's leaders, which likely contributed to the group's decision to shut down operations in May.
Conti's disappearance led to a drop in ransomware activity for a couple of months, but it didn't last long as the void was quickly filled by other groups, some of them newly set up and suspected to be the creation of former members of Conti, REvil and other groups that ceased operations over the past two years.
Attackers Evolve Strategies to Outmanoeuvre Security Teams
Attackers are expected to broaden their targeting strategy beyond regulated verticals such as financial services and healthcare. Large corporations (41%) will be the top targeted sector for cyber attacks in 2023, favoured over financial institutions (36%), government (14%), healthcare (9%), and education (8%), according to cyber security solution provider Titaniam.
The fast pace of change has introduced new vulnerabilities into corporate networks, making them an increasingly attractive target for cyber attackers. To compete in the digital marketplace, large companies are adopting more cloud services, aggregating data, pushing code into production faster, and connecting applications and systems via APIs.
As a result, misconfigured services, unprotected databases, little-tested applications, and unknown and unsecured APIs abound, all of which can be exploited by attackers.
The top four threats in 2022 were malware (30%), ransomware and extortion (27%), insider threats (26%), and phishing (17%).
The study found that enterprises expected malware (40%) to be their biggest challenge in 2023, followed by insider threats (26%), ransomware and related extortion (21%), and phishing (16%).
Malware, however, has more enterprises worried for 2023 than it did for 2022. It is important to note that these threats can overlap, where insiders can have a hand in ransomware attacks, phishing can be a source of malware, etc.
Attackers are evolving their strategies to surprise and outmanoeuvre security teams, which have hardened ransomware defences and improved phishing detection. They’re using new malware, such as loaders, infostealers, and wipers to accelerate attacks, steal sensitive data and create mayhem.
They’re also buying and stealing employee credentials to walk in through the front door of corporate networks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/01/04/attackers-evolve-strategies-outmaneuver-security-teams/
Building a Security-First Culture: The Key to Cyber Success
Everyone has heard a car alarm go off in the middle of the night, but how often does that notification actually lead to action? Most people will hear the alarm, glance in its direction and then hope the owner will quickly remedy the situation.
Cars alarms often fail because they go off too often, leading to apathy and annoyance instead of being a cause for emergency. For many, cyber security has also become this way. While we see an increase in the noise surrounding the need for organisations to improve the security skillset and knowledge base of employees, there continues to be little proactive action on this front. Most organisations only provide employees with elementary-grade security training, often during their initial onboarding process or as part of a standard training requirement.
At the same time, many organisations also make the grave mistake of leaving all of their security responsibilities and obligations in the hands of IT and security teams. Time and time again, this approach has proven to be highly ineffective, especially as cyber criminals refine their social engineering tactics and target user accounts to execute their attacks.
Alarmingly, recent research found that 30% of employees do not think that they play a role in maintaining their company’s cyber security posture. The same report also revealed that only 39% of employees say they are likely to report a security incident.
As traditional boundaries of access disintegrate and more employees obtain permissions to sensitive company data and systems to carry out their tasks, business leaders must change the mindset of their employees when it comes to the role they play in keeping the organisation safe from cyber crime. The key is developing an integrated cyber security strategy that incorporates all aspects—including all stakeholders—of the organisation. This should be a strategy that breaks down departmental barriers and creates a culture of security responsibility where every team member plays a part.
Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft Flaws Make Up Half of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogue
Back in November 2021, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalogue to help federal agencies and critical infrastructure organisations identify and remediate vulnerabilities that are actively being exploited. CISA added 548 new vulnerabilities to the catalogue across 58 updates from January to end of November 2022, according to cyber security solution provider Grey Noise in its first-ever "GreyNoise Mass Exploits Report."
Including the approximately 300 vulnerabilities added in November and December 2021, CISA listed approximately 850 vulnerabilities in the first year of the catalogue's existence.
Actively exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, and Apple products accounted for over half of the updates to the KEV catalogue in 2022, Grey Noise found. Seventy-seven percent of the updates to the KEV catalogue were older vulnerabilities dating back to before 2022. Many of these vulnerabilities have been around for two decades.
Several of the vulnerabilities in the KEV catalogue are from products that have already entered end-of-life (EOL) and end-of-service-life (EOSL), according to an analysis by a team from cyber security solution provider Cyber Security Works. Even though Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 are EOSL products, the KEV catalogue lists 127 Server 2008 vulnerabilities and 117 Windows 7 vulnerabilities.
Even though the catalogue was originally intended for critical infrastructure and public-sector organisations, it has become the authoritative source on which vulnerabilities are – or have been – exploited by attackers. This is key because the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) assigned Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifiers for over 12,000 vulnerabilities in 2022, and it would be unwieldy for enterprise defenders to assess every single one to identify the ones relevant to their environments. Enterprise teams can use the catalogue's curated list of CVEs under active attack to create their priority lists.
First LastPass, Now Slack and CircleCI. The Hacks Go On (and will likely worsen)
In the past week, the world has learned of serious breaches hitting chat service Slack and software testing and delivery company CircleCI, though giving the companies' opaque wording—“security issue” and “security incident,” respectively—you'd be forgiven for thinking these events were minor.
The compromises—in Slack’s case, the theft of employee token credentials and for CircleCI, the possible exposure of all customer secrets it stores—come two weeks after password manager LastPass disclosed its own security failure: the theft of customers’ password vaults containing sensitive data in both encrypted and clear text form. It’s not clear if all three breaches are related, but that’s certainly a possibility.
The most concerning of the two new breaches is the one hitting CircleCI. The company reported a “security incident” that prompted it to advise customers to rotate “all secrets” they store on the service. The alert also informed customers that it had invalidated their Project API tokens, an event requiring them to go through the hassle of replacing them.
CircleCI says it’s used by more than 1 million developers in support of 30,000 organisations and runs nearly 1 million daily jobs. The potential exposure of all those secrets—which could be login credentials, access tokens, and who knows what else—could prove disastrous for the security of the entire Internet.
It’s possible that some or all of these breaches are related. The Internet relies on a massive ecosystem of content delivery networks, authentication services, software development tool makers, and other companies. Threat actors frequently hack one company and use the data or access they obtain to breach that company's customers or partners. That was the case with the August breach of security provider Twilio. The same threat actor targeted 136 other companies. Something similar played out in the last days of 2020 when hackers compromised Solar Winds, gained control of its software build system, and used it to infect roughly 40 Solar Winds customers.
For now, people should brace themselves for additional disclosures from companies they rely on. Checking internal system logs for suspicious entries, turning on multifactor authentication, and patching network systems are always good ideas, but given the current events, those precautions should be expedited. It’s also worth checking logs for any contact with the IP address 54.145.167.181, which one security practitioner said was connected to the CircleCI breach.
Data of 235 Million Twitter Users Leaked Online
A data leak containing email addresses for 235 million Twitter users has been published on a popular hacker forum. Many experts have immediately analysed it and confirmed the authenticity of many of the entries in the huge leaked archive.
In January 2022, a report claimed the discovery of a vulnerability that can be exploited by an attacker to find a Twitter account by the associated phone number/email, even if the user has opted to prevent this in the privacy options. The vulnerability was exploited by multiple threat actors to scrape Twitter user profiles containing both private (phone numbers and email addresses) and public data, and was present within the social media platforms application programming interface (API) from June 2021 until January 2022.
At the end of July 2022, a threat actor leaked data of 5.4 million Twitter accounts that were obtained by exploiting the forementioned, now-fixed vulnerability in the popular social media platform. The scraped data was then put up for sale on various online cyber crime marketplaces. In August, Twitter confirmed that the data breach was caused by a now-patched zero-day flaw.
In December another Twitter data leak made the headlines, a threat actor obtained data of 400,000,000 Twitter users and attempted to sell it. The seller claimed the database is private, and he provided a sample of 1,000 accounts as proof of claims which included the private information of prominent users such as Donald Trump JR, Brian Krebs, and many more. The seller, who is a member of a popular data breach forum, claimed the data was scraped via a vulnerability. The database includes emails and phone numbers of celebrities, politicians, companies, normal users, and a lot of special usernames.
https://securityaffairs.com/140352/data-breach/twitter-data-leak-235m-users.html
16 Car Makers, including BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes and Toyota, and Their Vehicles Hacked via Telematics, APIs, and Infrastructure
A group of seven security researchers have discovered numerous vulnerabilities in vehicles from 16 car makers, including bugs that allowed them to control car functions and start or stop the engine.
Multiple other security defects, the researchers say, allowed them to access a car maker’s internal applications and systems, leading to the exposure of personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to customers and employees, and account takeover, among others. The hacks targeted telematic systems, automotive APIs, and infrastructure.
Impacted car models include Acura, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Toyota. The vulnerabilities were identified over the course of 2022. Car manufacturers were informed about the security holes and they released patches.
According to the researchers, they were able to send commands to Acura, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Infiniti, Nissan, and Porsche vehicles.
Using only the VIN (vehicle identification number), which is typically visible on the windshield, the researchers were able to start/stop the engine, remotely lock/unlock the vehicle, flash headlights, honk vehicles, and retrieve the precise location of Acura, Honda, Kia, Infiniti, and Nissan cars.
They could also lock users out of remote vehicle management and could change car ownership.
https://www.securityweek.com/16-car-makers-and-their-vehicles-hacked-telematics-apis-infrastructure
Ransomware Gang Apologises, and Gives SickKids Hospital Free Decrypter
The LockBit ransomware gang has released a free decrypter for the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), saying one of its members violated rules by attacking the healthcare organisation. SickKids is a teaching and research hospital in Toronto that focuses on providing healthcare to sick children.
On December 18th, the hospital suffered a ransomware attack that impacted internal and corporate systems, hospital phone lines, and the website. While the attack only encrypted a few systems, SickKids stated that the incident caused delays in receiving lab and imaging results and resulted in longer patient wait times.
On December 29th, SickKids announced that it had restored 50% of its priority systems, including those causing diagnostic or treatment delays. Two days after SickKids' latest announcement, the LockBit ransomware gang apologised for the attack on the hospital and released a decrypter for free.
“We formally apologise for the attack on sikkids.ca and give back the decrypter for free, the partner who attacked this hospital violated our rules, is blocked and is no longer in our affiliate programme," stated the ransomware gang.
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
Rackspace: Ransomware Attack Bypassed ProxyNotShell Mitigations (darkreading.com)
Rackspace: Customer email data accessed in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware gang cloned victim’s website to leak stolen data (bleepingcomputer.com)
Rackspace identifies hacking group responsible for early December ransomware attack | TPR
Ransomware ecosystem becoming more diverse for 2023 | CSO Online
Rackspace Sunsets Email Service Downed in Ransomware Attack (darkreading.com)
December ransomware disclosures reveal high-profile victims | TechTarget
The Guardian ransomware attack hits week two as staff WFH • The Register
Unraveling the techniques of Mac ransomware - Microsoft Security Blog
Bitdefender releases free MegaCortex ransomware decryptor (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Research: More than 200 US Infrastructure Organisations Attacked in 2022 - MSSP Alert
Ransomware impacts over 200 govt, edu, healthcare orgs in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)
Guardian ransomware attack: Staff told work from home to 23 Jan (pressgazette.co.uk)
Rail giant Wabtec discloses data breach after Lockbit ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Christmas Eve 'cyber attack' forced Arnold Clark's network down | STV News
Royal ransomware claims attack on Queensland University of Technology (bleepingcomputer.com)
LockBit: Sorry for SickKids, but not housing authority • The Register
Canadian mining firm shuts down mill after ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Data of 235 million Twitter users leaked online - Security Affairs
Is NHS The Most Impersonated UK Government "Brand"? (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
The Evolving Tactics of Vidar Stealer: From Phishing Emails to Social Media (thehackernews.com)
Ongoing Flipper Zero phishing attacks target infosec community (bleepingcomputer.com)
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
Malware
Raspberry Robin Worm Evolves to Attack Financial and Insurance Sectors in Europe (thehackernews.com)
Hackers abuse Windows error reporting tool to deploy malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
New SHC-compiled Linux malware installs cryptominers, DDoS bots (bleepingcomputer.com)
Bluebottle hackers used signed Windows driver in attacks on banks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Dridex Returns, Targets MacOS Using New Entry Method (trendmicro.com)
New Linux malware uses 30 plugin exploits to backdoor WordPress sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
PyTorch discloses malicious dependency chain compromise over holidays (bleepingcomputer.com)
WordPress Sites Under Attack from Newly Found Linux Trojan (darkreading.com)
Blind Eagle Hackers Return with Refined Tools and Sophisticated Infection Chain (thehackernews.com)
Raspberry Robin Worm Hatches a Highly Complex Upgrade (darkreading.com)
The Evolving Tactics of Vidar Stealer: From Phishing Emails to Social Media (thehackernews.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
Internet of Things – IoT
Data Breaches/Leaks
Data of over 200 million Deezer users stolen, leaks on hacking forum • Graham Cluley
Five Guys Data Breach Puts HR Data Under a Heat Lamp (darkreading.com)
Analysis Of Top 10 Countries Mostly Targeted By Data Breaches (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
I bought a $15 router at Goodwill — and found a millionaire's dirty secrets (nypost.com)
Critical flaws found in Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, and other carmakers - Security Affairs
Toyota, Mercedes, BMW API flaws exposed owners’ personal info (bleepingcomputer.com)
Threat actors stole Slack private source code repositories - Security Affairs
Data of over 200 million Deezer users stolen, leaks on hacking forum • Graham Cluley
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Threat Actors Evade Detection Through Geofencing & Fingerprinting (darkreading.com)
Attackers create 130K fake accounts to abuse limited-time cloud computing resources | CSO Online
Ukrainian Cops Bust Prolific Fraud Call Centre - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Software engineer busted after being inspired by Office Space scam | PC Gamer
Are Meta and Twitter Ushering in a New Age of Insider Threats? (darkreading.com)
Ex-GE engineer sentenced for stealing turbine tech for China • The Register
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Avast: Expect Cyber crime "Scamdemic" to Continue in 2023 - MSSP Alert
Software engineer busted after being inspired by Office Space scam | PC Gamer
US regulators warn banks over cryptocurrency risks - BBC News
RedZei Chinese Scammers Targeting Chinese Students in the UK (thehackernews.com)
Ukrainian Cops Bust Prolific Fraud Call Centre - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
Impersonation Attacks
AML/CFT/Sanctions
Insurance
Cyber safety premiums holding firms to ransom | Business | The Times
How can businesses decrease cyber insurance premiums while maintaining coverage? - Help Net Security
Dark Web
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Software Supply Chain
Cloud/SaaS
Encryption
API
Car companies massively exposed to web vulnerabilities | The Daily Swig (portswigger.net)
16 Car Makers and Their Vehicles Hacked via Telematics, APIs, Infrastructure | SecurityWeek.Com
What Are Some Ways to Make APIs More Secure? (darkreading.com)
Critical flaws found in Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, and other carmakers - Security Affairs
Open Source
New SHC-compiled Linux malware installs cryptominers, DDoS bots (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Linux malware uses 30 plugin exploits to backdoor WordPress sites (bleepingcomputer.com)
Social Media
Data of 235 million Twitter users leaked online - Security Affairs
The Evolving Tactics of Vidar Stealer: From Phishing Emails to Social Media (thehackernews.com)
Are Meta and Twitter Ushering in a New Age of Insider Threats? (darkreading.com)
Meta fined €390m over use of data for targeted ads - BBC News
More Political Storms for TikTok After US Government Ban | SecurityWeek.Com
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Cyber safety premiums holding firms to ransom | Business | The Times
Attackers never let a critical vulnerability go to waste - Help Net Security
Attackers evolve strategies to outmanoeuvre security teams - Help Net Security
How to start planning for disaster recovery - Help Net Security
Building A Security-First Culture: The Key To Cyber Success (forbes.com)
Data backup is no longer just about operational fallback - Help Net Security
Threat Actors Evade Detection Through Geofencing & Fingerprinting (darkreading.com)
How can businesses decrease cyber insurance premiums while maintaining coverage? - Help Net Security
Secure Disposal
Backup and Recovery
Data Protection
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
National security fears over police using Chinese tech | News | The Times
Meta fined €390m over use of data for targeted ads - BBC News
Artificial Intelligence
ChatGPT: An Easy Cyber crime Target For Cyber attacks (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
OpenAI's ChatGPT previews how AI can help hackers breach more networks (axios.com)
NATO tests AI’s ability to protect critical infrastructure against cyber attacks | CSO Online
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
War and Geopolitical Conflict: The New Battleground for DDoS Attacks (darkreading.com)
Cyber attacks against governments jumped 95% in last half of 2022, CloudSek says | CSO Online
It's time to focus on information warfare's hard questions (cyberscoop.com)
National security fears over police using Chinese tech | News | The Times
Ex-GE engineer sentenced for stealing turbine tech for China • The Register
Pro-Russia cyber attacks aim at destabilizing Poland - Security Affairs
Poland warns of attacks by Russia-linked Ghostwriter hacking group (bleepingcomputer.com)
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Nation State Actors – China
National security fears over police using Chinese tech | News | The Times
Ex-GE engineer sentenced for stealing turbine tech for China • The Register
Nation State Actors – Iran
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerability Management
Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft Flaws Make Up Half of KEV Catalog (darkreading.com)
Attackers never let a critical vulnerability go to waste - Help Net Security
Vulnerabilities
Over 60,000 Exchange servers vulnerable to ProxyNotShell attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft Flaws Make Up Half of KEV Catalog (darkreading.com)
Rackspace: Ransomware Attack Bypassed ProxyNotShell Mitigations (darkreading.com)
Zoho urges admins to patch severe ManageEngine bug immediately (bleepingcomputer.com)
Android's First Security Updates for 2023 Patch 60 Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com
Fortinet and Zoho Urge Customers to Patch Enterprise Software Vulnerabilities (thehackernews.com)
Qualcomm, Lenovo flag multiple high impact firmware vulnerabilities | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Netgear Wi-Fi routers need to be patched immediately | TechRadar
Other News
The cyber security industry will undergo significant changes in 2023 - Help Net Security
SecurityAffairs Top 10 cybersecurity posts of 2022 - Security Affairs
BleepingComputer's most popular cybersecurity stories of 2022
WordPress Security: 22 Ways To Protect Your Website (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Cyber attacks against governments jumped 95% in last half of 2022, CloudSek says | CSO Online
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 December 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 December 2022:
-LastPass Users: Your Info and Password Vault Data are Now in Hackers’ Hands
-Ransomware Attacks Increased 41% In November
-The Risk of Escalation from Cyber Attacks Has Never Been Greater
-FBI Recommends Ad Blockers as Cyber Criminals Impersonate Brands in Search Engine Ads
-North Korea-Linked Hackers Stole $626 Million in Virtual Assets in 2022
-UK Security Agency Wants Fresh Approach to Combat Phishing
-GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges
-Companies Overwhelmed by Available Tech Solutions
-Nine in 10 Third-party Contractors, Freelancers Use Personal, Unmanaged Devices Likely to be Infected
-UK Privacy Regulator Names and Shames Breached Firms
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
LastPass Admits Attackers have an Encrypted Copy of Customers’ Password Vaults
Password locker LastPass has warned customers that the August 2022 attack on its systems saw unknown parties copy encrypted files that contain the passwords to their accounts.
In a December 22nd update to its advice about the incident, LastPass brings customers up to date by explaining that in the August 2022 attack “some source code and technical information were stolen from our development environment and used to target another employee, obtaining credentials and keys which were used to access and decrypt some storage volumes within the cloud-based storage service.” Those creds allowed the attacker to copy information “that contained basic customer account information and related metadata including company names, end-user names, billing addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and the IP addresses from which customers were accessing the LastPass service.”
The update reveals that the attacker also copied “customer vault” data, the file LastPass uses to let customers record their passwords. That file “is stored in a proprietary binary format that contains both unencrypted data, such as website URLs, as well as fully-encrypted sensitive fields such as website usernames and passwords, secure notes, and form-filled data.” The passwords are encrypted with “256-bit AES encryption and can only be decrypted with a unique encryption key derived from each user’s master password”.
LastPass’ advice is that even though attackers have that file, customers who use its default settings have nothing to do as a result of this update as “it would take millions of years to guess your master password using generally-available password-cracking technology.” One of those default settings is not to re-use the master password that is required to log into LastPass. The outfit suggests you make it a complex credential and use that password for just one thing: accessing LastPass.
LastPass therefore offered the following advice to individual and business users: If your master password does not make use of the defaults above, then it would significantly reduce the number of attempts needed to guess it correctly. In this case, as an extra security measure, you should consider minimising risk by changing passwords of websites you have stored.
LastPass’s update concludes with news it decommissioned the systems breached in August 2022 and has built new infrastructure that adds extra protections.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/23/lastpass_attack_update/
Ransomware Attacks Increased 41% In November
Ransomware attacks rose 41% last month as groups shifted among the top spots and increasingly leveraged DDoS attacks, according to new research from NCC Group.
A common thread of NCC Group's November Threat Pulse was a "month full of surprises," particularly related to unexpected shifts in threat actor behaviour. The Cuba ransomware gang resurged with its highest number of attacks recorded by NCC Group. Royal replaced LockBit 3.0 as the most active strain, a first since September of last year.
These factors and more contributed to the significant jump in November attacks, which rose from 188 in October to 265.
"For 2022, this increase represents the most reported incidents in one month since that of April, when there were 289 incidents, and is also the largest month-on-month increase since June-July's marginally larger increase of 47%," NCC Group wrote in the report.
Operators behind Royal ransomware, a strain that emerged earlier this year that operates without affiliates and utilises intermittent encryption to evade detection, surpassed LockBit 3.0 for the number one spot, accounting for 16% of hack and leak incidents last month.
The Risk of Escalation from Cyber Attacks Has Never Been Greater
In 2022, an American dressed in his pyjamas took down North Korea’s Internet from his living room. Fortunately, there was no reprisal against the United States. But Kim Jong Un and his generals must have weighed retaliation and asked themselves whether the so-called independent hacker was a front for a planned and official American attack.
In 2023, the world might not get so lucky. There will almost certainly be a major cyber attack. It could shut down Taiwan’s airports and trains, paralyse British military computers, or swing a US election. This is terrifying, because each time this happens, there is a small risk that the aggrieved side will respond aggressively, maybe at the wrong party, and (worst of all) even if it carries the risk of nuclear escalation.
This is because cyber weapons are different from conventional ones. They are cheaper to design and wield. That means great powers, middle powers, and pariah states can all develop and use them.
More important, missiles come with a return address, but virtual attacks do not. Suppose in 2023, in the coldest weeks of winter, a virus shuts down American or European oil pipelines. It has all the markings of a Russian attack, but intelligence experts warn it could be a Chinese assault in disguise. Others see hints of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. No one knows for sure. Presidents Biden and Macron have to decide whether to retaliate at all, and if so, against whom … Russia? China? Iran? It's a gamble, and they could get unlucky.
Neither country wants to start a conventional war with one another, let alone a nuclear one. Conflict is so ruinous that most enemies prefer to loathe one another in peace. During the Cold War, the prospect of mutual destruction was a huge deterrent to any great power war. There were almost no circumstances in which it made sense to initiate an attack. But cyber warfare changes that conventional strategic calculus. The attribution problem introduces an immense amount of uncertainty, complicating the decision our leaders have to make.
FBI Recommends Ad Blockers as Cyber Criminals Impersonate Brands in Search Engine Ads
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week raised the alarm on cyber criminals impersonating brands in advertisements that appear in search engine results. The agency has advised consumers to use ad blockers to protect themselves from such threats.
The attackers register domains similar to those of legitimate businesses or services, and use those domains to purchase ads from search engine advertisement services, the FBI says in an alert. These nefarious ads are displayed at the top of the web page when the user searches for that business or service, and the user might mistake them for an actual search result.
Links included in these ads take users to pages that are identical to the official web pages of the impersonated businesses, the FBI explains. If the user searches for an application, they are taken to a fake web page that uses the real name of the program the user searches for, and which contains a link to download software that is, in fact, malware.
“These advertisements have also been used to impersonate websites involved in finances, particularly cryptocurrency exchange platforms,” the FBI notes. Seemingly legitimate exchange platforms, the malicious sites prompt users to provide their login and financial information, which the cyber criminals then use to steal the victim’s funds.
“While search engine advertisements are not malicious in nature, it is important to practice caution when accessing a web page through an advertised link,” the FBI says.
Businesses are advised to use domain protection services to be notified of domain spoofing, and to educate users about spoofed websites and on how to find legitimate downloads for the company’s software.
Users are advised to check URLs to make sure they access authentic websites, to type a business’ URL into the browser instead of searching for that business, and to use ad blockers when performing internet searches. Ad blockers can have a negative impact on the revenues of online businesses and advertisers, but they can be good for online security, and even the NSA and CIA are reportedly using them.
North Korea-Linked Hackers Stole $626 Million in Virtual Assets in 2022
South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, estimated that North Korea-linked threat actors have stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets in the past five years.
According to the spy agency, more than half the crypto assets (about 800 billion won ($626 million)) have been stolen this year alone, reported the Associated Press. The Government of Pyongyang focuses on crypto hacking to fund its military program following harsh UN sanctions.
“South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said North Korea’s capacity to steal digital assets is considered among the best in the world because of the country’s focus on cyber crimes since UN economic sanctions were toughened in 2017 in response to its nuclear and missile tests.” reported the AP agency. North Korea cannot export its products due to the UN sanctions imposed in 2016 and 1017, and the impact on its economy is dramatic.
The NIS added that more than 100 billion won ($78 million) of the total stolen funds came from South Korea. Cyber security and intelligence experts believe that attacks aimed at the cryptocurrency industry will continue to increase next year. National Intelligence Service experts believe that North Korea-linked APT groups will focus on the theft of South Korean technologies and confidential information on South Korean foreign policy and national security.
Data published by the National Intelligence Service agency confirms a report published by South Korean media outlet Chosun early this year that revealed North Korean threat actors have stolen around $1.7 billion (2 trillion won) worth of cryptocurrency from multiple exchanges during the past five years.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/139909/intelligence/north-korea-cryptocurrency-theft.html
UK Security Agency Wants Fresh Approach to Combat Phishing
The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has called for a defence-in-depth approach to help mitigate the impact of phishing, combining technical controls with a strong reporting culture.
Writing in the agency’s blog, technical director and principal architect, “Dave C,” argued that many of the well-established tenets of anti-phishing advice simply don’t work. For example, advising users not to click on links in unsolicited emails is not helpful when many need to do exactly that as part of their job.
This is often combined with a culture where users are afraid to report that they’ve accidentally clicked, which can delay incident response, he said. It’s not the user’s responsibility to spot a phish – rather, it’s their organisation’s responsibility to protect them from such threats, Dave C argued.
As such, they should build layered technical defences, consisting of email scanning and DMARC/SPF policies to prevent phishing emails from arriving into inboxes. Then, organisations should consider the following to prevent code from executing:
Allow-listing for executables
Registry settings changes to ensure dangerous scripting or file types are opened in Notepad and not executed
Disabling the mounting of .iso files on user endpoints
Making sure macro settings are locked down
Enabling attack surface reduction rules
Ensuring third-party software is up to date
Keeping up to date about current threats
Additionally, organisations should take steps such as DNS filtering to block suspicious connections and endpoint detection and response (EDR) to monitor for suspicious behaviour, the NCSC advised.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-security-agency-combat-phishing/
GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges
An Android banking malware named 'Godfather' has been targeting users in 16 countries, attempting to steal account credentials for over 400 online banking sites and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The malware generates login screens overlaid on top of the banking and crypto exchange apps' login forms when victims attempt to log into the site, tricking the user into entering their credentials on well-crafted HTML phishing pages.
The Godfather trojan was discovered by Group-IB analysts, who believe it is the successor of Anubis, a once widely-used banking trojan that gradually fell out of use due to its inability to bypass newer Android defences. ThreatFabric first discovered Godfather in March 2021, but it has undergone massive code upgrades and improvements since then.
Also, Cyble published a report yesterday highlighting a rise in the activity of Godfather, pushing an app that mimics a popular music tool in Turkey, downloaded 10 million times via Google Play. Group-IB has found a limited distribution of the malware in apps on the Google Play Store; however, the main distribution channels haven't been discovered, so the initial infection method is largely unknown.
Almost half of all apps targeted by Godfather, 215, are banking apps, and most of them are in the United States (49), Turkey (31), Spain (30), Canada (22), France (20), Germany (19), and the UK (17).
Apart from banking apps, Godfather targets 110 cryptocurrency exchange platforms and 94 cryptocurrency wallet apps.
Companies Overwhelmed by Available Tech Solutions
92% of executives reported challenges in acquiring new tech solutions, highlighting the complexities that go into the decision-making process, according to GlobalDots.
Moreover, some 34% of respondents said the overwhelming amount of options was a challenge when deciding on the right solutions, and 33% admitted the time needed to conduct research was another challenge in deciding.
Organisations of all varieties rely on technology more than ever before. The constant adoption of innovation is no longer a luxury but rather a necessity to stay on par in today’s fast-paced and competitive digital landscape. In this environment, IT and security leaders are coming under increased pressure to show ROIs from their investment in technology while balancing operational excellence with business innovation. Due to current market realities, IT teams are short-staffed and suffering from a lack of time and expertise, making navigating these challenges even more difficult.
The report investigated how organisations went about finding support for their purchasing decisions. Conferences, exhibitions, and online events served as companies’ top source of information for making purchasing decisions, at 52%. Third-party solutions, such as value-added resellers and consultancies, came in second place at 48%.
54% are already using third parties to purchase, implement, or support their solutions, highlighting the value that dedicated experts with in-depth knowledge of every solution across a wide range of IT fields provide.
We are living in an age of abundance when it comes to tech solutions for organisations, and this makes researching and purchasing the right solutions for your organisation extremely challenging.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/12/20/tech-purchasing-decisions/
Nine in 10 Third-party Contractors, Freelancers Use Personal, Unmanaged Devices Likely to be Infected
Talon Cyber Security surveyed 258 third-party providers to better understand the state of third-party working conditions, including work models, types of devices and security technologies used, potentially risky actions taken, and how security and IT tools impact productivity.
Looking at recent high-profile breaches, third parties have consistently been at the epicenter, so they took a step back with their research to better understand the potential root causes. The findings paint a picture of a third-party work landscape where individuals are consistently working from personal, unmanaged devices, conducting risky activities, and having their productivity impacted by legacy security and IT solutions.
Here’s what Talon discovered:
Most third parties (89%) work from personal, unmanaged devices, where organisations lack visibility and cannot enforce the enterprise’s security posture on. Talon pointed to a Microsoft data point that estimated users are 71% more likely to be infected on an unmanaged device.
With third parties working from personal devices, they tend to carry out personal, potentially risky tasks. Respondents note that at least on occasion, they have used their devices to:
Browse the internet for personal needs (76%)
Indulge in online shopping (71%)
Check personal email (75%)
Save weak passwords in the web browser (61%)
Play games (53%)
Allow family members to browse (36%)
Share passwords with co-workers (24%)
Legacy apps such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions are prominent, with 45% of respondents using such technologies while working for organisations.
UK Privacy Regulator Names and Shames Breached Firms
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has taken the unusual step of publishing details of personal data breaches, complaints and civil investigations on its website, according to legal experts.
The data, available from Q4 2021 onwards, includes the organisation’s name and sector, the relevant legislation and the type of issues involved, the date of completion and the outcome.
Given the significance of this development, it’s surprising that the ICO has (1) chosen to release it with limited fanfare, and (2) buried the data sets on its website. Indeed, it seems to have flown almost entirely under the radar.
Understanding whether their breach or complaint will be publicised by European regulators is one of – if not the – main concern that organisations have when working through an incident, and the answer has usually been no. That is particularly the understanding or assumption where the breach or complaint is closed without regulatory enforcement. Now, at least in the UK, the era of relative anonymity looks to be over.
Despite the lack of fanfare around the announcement, this naming and shaming approach could make the ICO one of the more aggressive privacy regulators in Europe. In the future, claimant firms in class action lawsuits may adopt “US-style practices” of scanning the ICO database to find evidence of repeat offending or possible new cases.
The news comes even as data reveals the value of ICO fines issued in the past year tripled from the previous 12 months. In the year ending October 31 2022, the regulator issued fines worth £15.2m, up from £4.8m the previous year. The sharp increase in the value of fines shows the ICO’s increasing willingness selectively to crack down on businesses – particularly those that the ICO perceives has not taken adequate measures to protect customer and employee data.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-privacy-regulator-names-and/
Threats
Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks
20 companies affected by major ransomware attacks in 2021 | TechTarget
NCC Group: Ransomware attacks increased 41% in November | TechTarget
Adversarial risk in the age of ransomware - Help Net Security
FIN7 hackers create auto-attack platform to breach Exchange servers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Uses New Exploit to Bypass ProxyNotShell Mitigations | SecurityWeek.Com
British newspaper The Guardian says it’s been hit by ransomware | TechCrunch
Play ransomware actors bypass ProxyNotShell mitigations | TechTarget
FIN7 Cyber crime Syndicate Emerges as Major Player in Ransomware Landscape (thehackernews.com)
Vice Society ransomware gang is using a custom locker - Security Affairs
NIO suffers user data breach, hacker demands $2.25 million worth of bitcoin - CnEVPost
German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp targeted in a cyber attack - Security Affairs
Paying Ransom: Why Manufacturers Shell Out to Cyber criminals (darkreading.com)
France Seeks to Protect Hospitals After Series of Cyber attacks | SecurityWeek.Com
Fire and rescue service in Victoria, Australia, confirms cyber attack - Security Affairs
Play Ransomware Gang Lay Claims For Cyber Attack On H-Hotels (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Evolving threats and broadening responses to Ransomware in the UAE - Security Boulevard
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Five Best Practices for Consumers to Beat Phishing Campaigns This Holiday Season - CPO Magazine
Hackers continue to exploit hijacked MailChimp accounts in cyber crime campaigns (bitdefender.com)
Holiday Spam, Phishing Campaigns Challenge Retailers (darkreading.com)
Email hijackers scam food out of businesses, not just money • The Register
Telling users to ‘avoid clicking bad links’ still isn’t working - NCSC.GOV.UK
“Suspicious login” scammers up their game – take care at Christmas – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Simple Steps to Avoid Phishing Attacks During This Festive season | Tripwire
BEC – Business Email Compromise
Telling users to ‘avoid clicking bad links’ still isn’t working - NCSC.GOV.UK
What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security
Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc
2FA/MFA
Why Security Teams Shouldn't Snooze on MFA Fatigue (darkreading.com)
Comcast Xfinity accounts hacked in widespread 2FA bypass attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)
Malware
Malicious ‘SentinelOne’ PyPI package steals data from developers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Glupteba Botnet Continues to Thrive Despite Google's Attempts to Disrupt It (thehackernews.com)
Ukraine's DELTA military system users targeted by info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Sophisticated DarkTortilla Malware Serves Imposter Cisco, Grammarly Pages (darkreading.com)
Trojanized Windows 10 installers compromised the Ukrainian government | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Raspberry Robin Worm Targets Telcos & Governments (darkreading.com)
Raspberry Robin worm drops fake malware to confuse researchers (bleepingcomputer.com)
Number of command-and-control servers spiked in 2022: report - The Record by Recorded Future
Mobile
GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges (bleepingcomputer.com)
Godfather makes banking apps an offer they can’t refuse • The Register
T-Mobile hacker gets 10 years for $25 million phone unlock scheme (bleepingcomputer.com)
Botnets
Glupteba Botnet Continues to Thrive Despite Google's Attempts to Disrupt It (thehackernews.com)
Zerobot malware now spreads by exploiting Apache vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Flaws within IoT devices exploited by the Zerobot botnet (izoologic.com)
Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)
Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS
DDoS Attacks are Slowly Growing in the Technology Era (analyticsinsight.net)
Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)
BYOD
Internet of Things – IoT
Millions of IP cameras around the world are unprotected | TechRadar
Zerobot Adds Brute Force, DDoS to Its IoT Attack Arsenal (darkreading.com)
Throw away all your Eufy cameras right now | Android Central
Read what Anker’s customer support is telling worried Eufy camera owners - The Verge
Amazon Ring Cameras Used in Nationwide ‘Swatting’ Spree, US Says - Bloomberg
Connected homes are expanding, so is attack volume - Help Net Security
Security Risks, Serious Vulnerabilities Rampant Among XIoT Devices in the Workplace - CPO Magazine
Data Breaches/Leaks
LastPass users: Your info and password vault data are now in hackers’ hands | Ars Technica
Okta's source code stolen after GitHub repositories hacked (bleepingcomputer.com)
McGraw Hill's S3 buckets exposed 100,000 students' grades • The Register
NIO suffers user data breach, hacker demands $2.25 million worth of bitcoin - CnEVPost
Shoemaker Ecco leaks over 60GB of sensitive data for 500+ days - Security Affairs
Restaurant CRM platform ‘SevenRooms’ confirms breach after data for sale (bleepingcomputer.com)
Leading sports betting firm BetMGM discloses data breach (bleepingcomputer.com)
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
'Russian hackers' help two New York men game JFK taxi system - CyberScoop
What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security
[FIN7] Fin7 Unveiled: A deep dive into notorious cyber crime gang - PRODAFT
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain
FTX's alleged run-of-the-mill frauds depended entirely on crypto (yahoo.com)
GodFather Android malware targets 400 banks, crypto exchanges (bleepingcomputer.com)
Two associates of Sam Bankman-Fried plead guilty to fraud charges in FTX fall | FTX | The Guardian
North Korea-linked hackers stole $626M in virtual assets in 2022 - Security Affairs
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
FTX's alleged run-of-the-mill frauds depended entirely on crypto (yahoo.com)
“Suspicious login” scammers up their game – take care at Christmas – Naked Security (sophos.com)
Fraudulent ‘popunder’ Google Ad campaign generated millions of dollars • The Register
Over 67,000 DraftKings Betting Accounts Hit by Hackers (gizmodo.com)
What happens once scammers receive funds from their victims - Help Net Security
T-Mobile hacker gets 10 years for $25 million phone unlock scheme (bleepingcomputer.com)
Google Ad fraud campaign used adult content to make millions (bleepingcomputer.com)
Two associates of Sam Bankman-Fried plead guilty to fraud charges in FTX fall | FTX | The Guardian
Inside The Next-Level Fraud Ring Scamming Billions Off Holiday Retailers (darkreading.com)
Supply Chain and Third Parties
Cloud/SaaS
McGraw Hill's S3 buckets exposed 100,000 students' grades • The Register
AWS simplifies Simple Storage Service to prevent data leaks • The Register
New Brand of Security Threats Surface in the Cloud (darkreading.com)
Google WordPress Plug-in Bug Allows AWS Metadata Theft (darkreading.com)
Security on a Shoestring? Cloud, Consolidation Best Bets for Businesses (darkreading.com)
Hybrid/Remote Working
Attack Surface Management
Encryption
API
Open Source
Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks
LastPass admits attackers copied password vaults • The Register
LastPass users: Your info and password vault data are now in hackers’ hands | Ars Technica
Social Media
Malvertising
Fraudulent ‘popunder’ Google Ad campaign generated millions of dollars • The Register
Don't click too quick! FBI warns of malicious search engine ads | Tripwire
Google Ad fraud campaign used adult content to make millions (bleepingcomputer.com)
Parental Controls and Child Safety
Buggy parental-control apps could allow device takeover • The Register
Children And The Dangers Of The Virtual World (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
Regulations, Fines and Legislation
TSB fined nearly $60m for platform migration disaster • The Register
FCC proposes record-breaking $300 million fine against robocaller (bleepingcomputer.com)
France Fines Microsoft 60 Million Euros Over Advertising Cookies | SecurityWeek.Com
The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times
Governance, Risk and Compliance
Make sure your company is prepared for the holiday hacking season - Help Net Security
The benefit of adopting a hacker mindset for building security strategies - Help Net Security
Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security
CISO roles continue to expand beyond technical expertise - Help Net Security
UK secret services wants ‘corkscrew thinkers’ for new cyber force | News | The Times
Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs
Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring
France Fines Microsoft 60 Million Euros Over Advertising Cookies | SecurityWeek.Com
What is surveillance capitalism? - Definition from WhatIs.com (techtarget.com)
Google Maps: Important reason you should blur your house on Street View (ladbible.com)
Blur Your House ASAP if It's on Google Maps. Here's Why - CNET
Artificial Intelligence
Threat Modeling in the Age of OpenAI's Chatbot (darkreading.com)
This is how OpenAI's ChatGPT can be used to launch cyber attacks (techmonitor.ai)
Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda
Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
State level cyber attacks – Why and how (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
The risk of escalation from cyber attacks has never been greater | Ars Technica
Ukraine's DELTA military system users targeted by info-stealing malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Trojanized Windows 10 installers compromised the Ukrainian government | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
NATO-Member Oil Refinery Targeted in Russian APT Blitz Against Ukraine (darkreading.com)
Russian APT Gamaredon Changes Tactics in Attacks Targeting Ukraine | SecurityWeek.Com
Kremlin-linked hackers tried to spy on oil firm in NATO country, researchers say | CNN Politics
‘Our weapons are computers’: Ukrainian coders aim to gain battlefield edge | Ukraine | The Guardian
The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times
UK secret services wants ‘corkscrew thinkers’ for new cyber force | News | The Times
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
Nation State Actors – China
Apple accused of censoring apps in Hong Kong and Russia • The Register
The long, long reach of the UK’s national security laws | Financial Times
Nation State Actors – North Korea
Vulnerability Management
Open source vulnerabilities add to security debt - Help Net Security
Top 5 Vulnerabilities Routinely Exploited by Threat Actors in 2022 (socradar.io)
Over 50 New CVE Numbering Authorities Announced in 2022 | SecurityWeek.Com
A Guide to Efficient Patch Management with Action1 (thehackernews.com)
Digging into the numbers one year after Log4Shell | SC Media (scmagazine.com)
Vulnerabilities
Critical Windows code-execution vulnerability went undetected until now | Ars Technica
FoxIt Patches Code Execution Flaws in PDF Tools | SecurityWeek.Com
Old vulnerabilities in Cisco products actively exploited in the wild - Security Affairs
OWASSRF: CrowdStrike Identifies New Method for Bypassing ProxyNotShell Mitigations
Microsoft reports macOS Gatekeeper has an 'Achilles' heel • The Register
Microsoft will turn off Exchange Online basic auth in January (bleepingcomputer.com)
Cisco’s Talos security bods predict new wave of Excel Hell • The Register
Microsoft pushes emergency fix for Windows Server Hyper-V VM issues (bleepingcomputer.com)
Ransomware Uses New Exploit to Bypass ProxyNotShell Mitigations | SecurityWeek.Com
Zerobot malware now spreads by exploiting Apache vulnerabilities (bleepingcomputer.com)
Two New Security Flaws Reported in Ghost CMS Blogging Software (thehackernews.com)
Critical Security Flaw Reported in Passwordstate Enterprise Password Manager (thehackernews.com)
This critical Windows security flaw could be as serious as WannaCry, experts claim | TechRadar
Google WordPress Plug-in Bug Allows AWS Metadata Theft (darkreading.com)
Microsoft Details Gatekeeper Bypass Vulnerability in Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)
Tools and Controls
Companies overwhelmed by available tech solutions - Help Net Security
Is Enterprise VPN on Life Support or Ripe for Reinvention? | SecurityWeek.Com
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
The Growing Risk Of Malicious QR Codes (informationsecuritybuzz.com)
NASA infosec again falls short of required standard • The Register
US Joint Cyber Force Elevated to Newest Subordinate Unified Command - MSSP Alert
The Rise of the Rookie Hacker - A New Trend to Reckon With (thehackernews.com)
What enumeration attacks are and how to prevent them | TechTarget
US consumers seriously concerned over their personal data | CSO Online
The FBI is worried about wave of crime against small businesses (cnbc.com)
Sector Specific
Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.
Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.
· Automotive
· Construction
· Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)
· Defence & Space
· Education & Academia
· Energy & Utilities
· Estate Agencies
· Financial Services
· FinTech
· Food & Agriculture
· Gaming & Gambling
· Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)
· Health/Medical/Pharma
· Hotels & Hospitality
· Insurance
· Legal
· Manufacturing
· Maritime
· Oil, Gas & Mining
· OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems
· Retail & eCommerce
· Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)
· Startups
· Telecoms
· Third Sector & Charities
· Transport & Aviation
· Web3
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 April 2022
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 08 April 2022
-Nearly Two-Thirds of Ransomware Victims Paid Ransoms Last Year, Finds "2022 Cyberthreat Defense Report"
-New Android Banking Malware Remotely Takes Control of Your Device
-Network Intrusion Detections Skyrocketing
-Organisations Underestimating the Seriousness Of Insider Threats
-Watch Out For Phishing Emails From Genuine Mailing Lists, Following Mailchimp Hack
-SpringShell Attacks Target About One in Six Vulnerable Orgs
-New Threat Group Underscores Mounting Concerns Over Russian Cyber Threats
-Consumer Fraud Tripled in The Last Two Years
-Borat RAT: Multiple Threat of Ransomware, DDoS and Spyware
-Bank Had No Firewall License, Intrusion or Phishing Protection – Guess The Rest
-Global APT Groups Use Ukraine War for Phishing Lures
-Paying Ransom Doesn’t Guarantee Data Recovery
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
Nearly Two-Thirds of Ransomware Victims Paid Ransoms Last Year, Finds "2022 Cyberthreat Defense Report"
CyberEdge Group, a leading research and marketing firm serving the cyber security industry’s top vendors, announced the launch of its ninth annual Cyberthreat Defense Report (CDR). The award-winning CDR is the standard for assessing organisations’ security posture, gauging perceptions of information technology (IT) security professionals, and ascertaining current and planned investments in IT security infrastructure – across all industries and geographic regions.
A record 71% of organisations were impacted by successful ransomware attacks last year, according to the 2022 CDR, up from 55% in 2017. Of those that were victimised, nearly two-thirds (63%) paid the requested ransom, up from 39% in 2017.
New Android Banking Malware Remotely Takes Control of Your Device
A new Android banking malware named Octo has appeared in the wild, featuring remote access capabilities that allow malicious operators to perform on-device fraud.
Octo is an evolved Android malware based on ExoCompact, a malware variant based on the Exo trojan that quit the cyber crime space and had its source code leaked in 2018.
The new variant has been discovered by researchers at ThreatFabric, who observed several users looking to purchase it on darknet forums.
Network Intrusion Detections Skyrocketing
A WatchGuard report shows a record number of evasive network malware detections with advanced threats increasing by 33%, indicating a higher level of zero day threats than ever before.
Researchers detected malware threats in EMEA at a much higher rate than other regions of the world in Q4 2021, with malware detections per Firebox at 49%, compared to Americas at 23% and APAC at 29%. The trajectory of network intrusion detections also continued its upward climb with the largest total detections of any quarter in the last three years and a 39% increase quarter over quarter.
Researchers suggest that this may be due to the continued targeting of old vulnerabilities as well as the growth in organisations’ networks. As new devices come online and old vulnerabilities remain unpatched, network security is becoming more complex.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/08/network-malware-detections/
Organisations Underestimating the Seriousness of Insider Threats
Imperva releases data that shows organisations are failing to address the issue of insider threats during a time when the risk is at its greatest.
New research, conducted by Forrester, found that 59% of incidents in EMEA organisations that negatively impacted sensitive data in the last 12 months were caused by insider threats, and yet 59% do not prioritise insider threats the way they prioritise external threats. Despite the fact that insider events occur more often than external ones, they receive lower levels of investment.
This approach is at odds with today’s threat landscape where the risk of malicious insiders has never been higher. The rapid shift to remote working means many employees are now outside the typical security controls that organisations employ, making it harder to detect and prevent insider threats.
Further, the Great Resignation is creating an environment where there is a higher risk of employees stealing data. This data could be stolen intentionally by people looking to help themselves in future employment, because they are disgruntled and want revenge, or it could be taken unintentionally when a careless employee leaves the business with important information.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/08/organizations-insider-threats-issue/
Watch Out for Phishing Emails from Genuine Mailing Lists, Following Mailchimp Hack
A Mailchimp hack means that you’ll want to be even more vigilant than usual about phishing emails. Attackers have taken a clever approach to making their emails appear genuine …
When you subscribe to an email list, there’s a decent chance that the emails you received are actually sent by a company called Mailchimp, rather than directly by the company itself. Mailchimp offers companies a range of tools that make it easy to manage email databases, and send marketing emails and newsletters.
Hackers managed to gain access to more than 100 Mailchimp customer accounts, giving them the ability to send emails that would appear to have come from any one of those businesses.
Users will need to be more vigilant when receiving emails and avoid clicking on links in emails, even if they appear genuine.
https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/05/mailchimp-hack-phishing-alert/
SpringShell Attacks Target About One in Six Vulnerable Orgs
Roughly one out of six organisations worldwide that are impacted by the Spring4Shell zero-day vulnerability have already been targeted by threat actors, according to statistics from one cyber security company.
The exploitation attempts took place in the first four days since the disclosure of the severe remote code execution (RCE) flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-22965, and the associated exploit code.
According to Check Point, who compiled the report based on their telemetry data, 37,000 Spring4Shell attacks were detected over the past weekend alone.
New Threat Group Underscores Mounting Concerns Over Russian Cyber Threats
Crowdstrike says Ember Bear is likely responsible for the wiper attack against Ukrainian networks and that future Russian cyber attacks might target the West.
As fears mount over the prospects of a “cyberwar” initiated by the Russian government, the number of identified Russian threat actors also continues to climb. Last week CrowdStrike publicly revealed a Russia-nexus state-sponsored actor that it tracks as Ember Bear.
CrowdStrike says that Ember Bear (also known as UAC-0056, Lorec53, Lorec Bear, Bleeding Bear, Saint Bear) is likely an intelligence-gathering adversary group that has operated against government and military organisations in eastern Europe since early 2021. The group seems “motivated to weaponize the access and data obtained during their intrusions to support information operations (IO) aimed at creating public mistrust in targeted institutions and degrading government ability to counter Russian cyber operations,” according to CrowdStrike intelligence.
Despite its state-sponsored Russia nexus, Ember Bear differs from its better-known kin such as Fancy Bear or Voodoo Bear because CrowdStrike can’t tie it to a specific Russian organisation. Its target profile, assessed intent, and technical tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) are consistent with other Russian GRU cyber operations.
Consumer Fraud Tripled in The Last Two Years
Reported cases of consumer fraud more than tripled in the years 2020-2021 from prior years, finds a new report by Accenture, presenting a growing challenge for public safety agencies to find new strategies to counter the trend.
The report compiled data from eight developed nations (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States) on consumer fraud, defined as any fraud directly targeting citizens and excluding fraud targeting government agencies and companies. Reports of such fraud increased at an estimated 6.8% rate annually during 2013-2019 and then increased to a 22.5% annual growth rate yearly during 2020-2021 in parallel with the large shift of workers and consumers to digital channels and greater use of technology during the pandemic.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/08/consumer-fraud-tripled/
Borat RAT: Multiple Threat of Ransomware, DDoS and Spyware
A new remote access trojan (RAT) dubbed "Borat" doesn't come with many laughs but offers bad actors a menu of cyberthreats to choose from.
RATs are typically used by cyber criminals to get full control of a victim's system, enabling them to access files and network resources and manipulate the mouse and keyboard. Borat does all this and also delivers features to enable hackers to run ransomware, distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) and other online assaults and to install spyware, according to researchers at cyber security biz Cyble.
"The Borat RAT provides a dashboard to Threat Actors (TAs) to perform RAT activities and also has an option to compile the malware binary for performing DDoS and ransomware attacks on the victim's machine," the researchers wrote in a blog post, noting the malware is being made available for sale to hackers.
Borat – named after the character made famous by actor Sacha Baron Cohen in two comedy films – comes with the standard requisite of RAT features in a package that includes such functions as builder binary, server certificate and supporting modules.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/04/borat-rat-ransomware-ddos/
Bank Had No Firewall License, Intrusion or Phishing Protection – Guess the Rest
An Indian bank that did not have a valid firewall license, had not employed phishing protection, lacked an intrusion detection system and eschewed use of any intrusion prevention system has, shockingly, been compromised by criminals who made off with millions of rupees.
The unfortunate institution is called the Andra Pradesh Mahesh Co-Operative Urban Bank. Its 45 branches and just under $400 million of deposits make it one of India's smaller banks.
It certainly thinks small about security – at least according to Hyderabad City Police, which last week detailed an attack on the Bank that started with over 200 phishing emails being sent across three days in November 2021. At least one of those mails succeeded in fooling staff, resulting in the installation of a Remote Access Trojan (RAT).
Another technology the bank had chosen not to adopt was virtual LANs, so once the RAT went to work the attackers gained entry to the Bank's systems and were able to roam widely – even in its core banking application
https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/05/mahesh_bank_no_firewall_attack/
Global APT Groups Use Ukraine War for Phishing Lures
Security researchers have detected multiple APT campaigns leveraging Ukraine war-themed documents and news sources to lure victims into clicking on spear-phishing links.
Check Point Research said victim locations ranged from South America to the Middle East, with malware downloads designed to perform keylogging and screenshotting and execute commands.
The threat groups in question include El Machete, which is targeting the financial and government sectors in Nicaragua and Venezuela with malicious macro-laden Word documents containing articles on the war.
One of the docs was an article written by the Russian ambassador to Nicaragua titled: “Dark plans of the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine.”
Another is Lyceum, an Iranian state-linked group targeting the energy sector with emails about war crimes in Ukraine that link to a malicious document hosted elsewhere. Its victims so far have been in Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to Check Point.
One email contained a link to an article from The Guardian hosted on the news-spot[.]live domain, alongside several malicious docs about the war.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/global-apt-ukraine-war-phishing/
Paying Ransom Doesn’t Guarantee Data Recovery
OwnBackup announced the findings of a global survey conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) that reveals a staggering 79% of respondent organisations have been targeted by ransomware within the past 12 months. Of those organisations, nearly three quarters said the attack was successful, meaning that it disrupted business operations.
Other key findings
· Of the respondents that said their organisation paid a cyber ransom to regain access to data, applications, and/or systems after an attack, only 14% were able to recover all of their data.
· 87% of respondents who made ransom payments said that they experienced additional extortion attempts beyond the initial ransomware demand.
· 31% of respondent organisations targeted by ransomware indicated that application user and permission misconfigurations were the initial point of compromise.
· 87% of respondents are very or somewhat concerned about their backups being infected by ransomware attacks.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/04/07/organizations-targeted-by-ransomware/
Threats
Ransomware
March Ransomware Attacks Strike Finance, Government Targets (techtarget.com)
Why Paying The Ransom Isn’t The Answer For Ransomware Victims - Information Security Buzz
Companies Are More Prepared to Pay Ransoms Than Ever Before (tripwire.com)
Conti Ransomware Deployed in IcedID Banking Trojan Attack (techtarget.com)
Researchers Connect BlackCat Ransomware with Past BlackMatter Malware Activity (thehackernews.com)
Notorious Hacking Group FIN7 Adds Ransomware to Its Repertoire - CyberScoop
BlackCat Purveyor Shows Ransomware Operators Have 9 Lives (darkreading.com)
FIN7 Hackers Evolve Toolset, Work with Multiple Ransomware Gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)
LockBit Ransomware Attack Costs CRM Services Provider Over $42 Million - MSSP Alert
Snap-on Discloses Data Breach Claimed by Conti Ransomware Gang (bleepingcomputer.com)
Phishing & Email Based Attacks
Other Social Engineering
Malware
Borat RAT Malware: A 'Unique' Triple Threat That Is Far from Funny | ZDNet
Multiple Hacker Groups Capitalizing on Ukraine Conflict for Distributing Malware (thehackernews.com)
Malicious Web Redirect Service Infects 16,500 Sites to Push Malware (bleepingcomputer.com)
Researchers Uncover How Colibri Malware Stays Persistent on Hacked Systems (thehackernews.com)
Mobile
44 Vulnerabilities Patched in Android With April 2022 Security Updates | SecurityWeek.Com
Samsung Security Flaw Left Phones Exposed for Years (androidpolice.com)
SharkBot Android Malware Continues Popping Up on Google Play | SecurityWeek.Com
Android Apps With 45 Million Installs Used Data Harvesting SDK (bleepingcomputer.com)
New Android Spyware Uses Turla-Linked Infrastructure | SecurityWeek.Com
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking
Crypto 2022: Hackers Have Nabbed $1.22 Billion Already (yahoo.com)
Malicious Crypto Miners Can Make A Profit In A Few Hours - Help Net Security
Malicious Actors Targeting the Cloud For Cryptocurrency-Mining Activities - Help Net Security
Cryptocurrency-Mining AWS Lambda-Specific Malware Spotted • The Register
MailChimp Breached, Intruders Conducted Phishing Attacks Against Crypto Customers - Security Affairs
Turkey Seeks 40,000-Year Sentences for Alleged Cryptocurrency Exit Scammers | ZDNet
Insider Risk and Insider Threats
Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime
Traditional Identity Fraud Losses Soar, Totalling $52 Billion in 2021 - Help Net Security
South African and US Officers Swoop on Fraud Gang - Infosecurity Magazine
Insurance
Supply Chain
Cloud
The Importance of Understanding Cloud Native Security Risks - Help Net Security
15 Cyber Security Measures for the Cloud Era - Security Affairs
Privacy
How You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Using Google's Chrome Browser? This New Feature Will Help You Fix Your Security Settings | ZDNet
Passwords & Credential Stuffing
Travel
Spyware, Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Nation State Actors
Nation State Actors – Russia
The Russian Cyber Attack Threat Might Force a New IT Stance | Computerworld
FBI Operation Aims to Take Down Massive Russian GRU Botnet | TechCrunch
Microsoft Sinkholes Russian Hacking Group's Domains Targeting Ukraine (darkreading.com)
FBI Disrupts Russian Military Hackers, Preventing Botnet Amid Ukraine War | Fox News
Russia (still) Trying To Weaponize Facebook Amid Ukraine War • The Register
Nation State Actors – China
Symantec: Chinese APT Group Targeting Global MSPs | SecurityWeek.Com
Chinese Hackers Are Using VLC Media Player to Launch Malware Attacks (androidpolice.com)
Hacked: Inside the US-China Cyberwar | Cybersecurity | Al Jazeera
China Uses AI Software to Improve Its Surveillance Capabilities | Reuters
Nation State Actors – Misc
Vulnerabilities
CISA Warns of Active Exploitation of Critical Spring4Shell Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)
Palo Alto Networks firewalls, VPNs vulnerable to OpenSSL bug (bleepingcomputer.com)
A Vulnerability in Zyxel Firewall Could Allow for Authentication Bypass (cisecurity.org)
Spring4Shell Patching Is Going Slow but Risk Not Comparable To Log4Shell | CSO Online
Apple Leaves Big Sur, Catalina Exposed to Critical Flaws: Intego | SecurityWeek.Com
A Mirai-Based Botnet Is Exploiting the Spring4Shell Vulnerability - Security Affairs
Steady Rise in Severe Web Vulnerabilities - Help Net Security
ACF WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Affects Up To +2 Million Sites (searchenginejournal.com)
Zero Days Are for Life, Not Just For Christmas. Here’s How to Deal With Them • The Register
Sector Specific
Financial Services Sector
FinTech
Health/Medical/Pharma Sector
Manufacturing
CNI, OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA
Europe Warned About Cyber Threat to Industrial Infrastructure | SecurityWeek.Com
BlackCat Ransomware Targets Industrial Companies | SecurityWeek.Com
Energy & Utilities
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
Okta CEO Says Lapsus$ Hack is 'Big Deal,' Aims to Restore Trust (yahoo.com)
86% of Developers Don't Prioritise Application Security - Help Net Security
Digital Transformation Requires Security Intelligence - Help Net Security
Government Officials: AI Threat Detection Still Needs Humans (techtarget.com)
The Original APT: Advanced Persistent Teenagers – Krebs on Security
How Many Steps Does It Take for Attackers To Compromise Critical Assets? - Help Net Security
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.