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Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 April 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 April 2021: Ransomware Demands Up By 43% So Far In 2021, 61% Of Organisations Impacted By Ransomware In 2020 - Ransomware Is Growing At An Alarming Rate, Warns GCHQ Chief; Flubot Spyware Spreading Through Android Devices; Buying Cyber Insurance In 2021? Expect Greater Scrutiny, Higher Premiums
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Ransomware Demands Up By 43% So Far In 2021
The average demand for a digital extortion payment shot up in the first quarter of this year to $220,298, up 43% from the previous quarter. The median payment, too, jumped up 58% from $49,450 to $78,398. The majority of ransomware attacks in the first quarter also involved theft of corporate data, a continuation of a trend of ransomware actors increasingly relying on exfiltration and extortion demands. Seventy-seven percent of ransomware attacks included the threat to publish stolen data in the first quarter of this year, which is up 10%.
https://www.cyberscoop.com/ransomware-extortion-demands-increasing-coveware/
US Tech Pushes For Ransomware To Be Designated A National Security Threat
Big US tech companies and officials are urging governments to designate ransomware as a national security threat in a push to combat a hacking epidemic that has cost businesses tens of millions of dollars. Tech groups including Microsoft, Cisco and Amazon, cyber security companies such as FireEye and officials from the FBI and US Department of Justice have published a report calling for several measures to tackle the lucrative criminal enterprise.
https://www.ft.com/content/6e69efc8-66e2-4a1c-95d4-0a84d80091c7
Flubot Spyware Spreading Through Android Devices
Android mobile phone users across the U.K. and Europe are being targeted by text messages containing a particularly nasty piece of spyware called “Flubot”. The malware is delivered to targets through SMS texts and prompts them to install a “missed package delivery” app. Instead, it takes victims to a scam website where they download the “app” — which is just the spyware. Once installed, it then sets about gaining permissions, stealing banking information and credentials, lifting passwords stored on the device and squirreling away various pieces of personal information. It also sends out additional text messages to the infected device’s contact list, which allows it to “go viral” — like the flu.
https://threatpost.com/flubot-spyware-android-devices/165607/
Ransomware: Do Not Expect A Full Recovery, However Much You Pay
When it comes to all the various types of malware out there, none has ever dominated the headlines quite as much as ransomware. Sure, several individual malware outbreaks have turned into truly global stories over the years. The LoveBug mass-mailing virus of 2000 springs to mind, which blasted itself into hundreds of millions of mailboxes within a few days; so, does CodeRed in 2001, the truly fileless network worm that squeezed itself into a single network packet and spread worldwide literally within minutes.
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2021/04/27/ransomware-dont-expect-a-full-recovery/
61% Of Organisations Impacted By Ransomware In 2020
A full 79% of respondents indicated their companies had experienced a business disruption, financial loss or other setback in 2020 due to a lack of cyber preparedness. Respondents identified ransomware as the chief culprit behind these disruptions. Other insights include: 61% indicated they had been impacted by ransomware in 2020, a 20% increase over the number of companies reporting such disruption in last year’s report. Companies impacted by ransomware lost an average of six working days to system downtime, with 37% saying downtime lasted one week or more. 52% of ransomware victims paid threat actor ransom demands, but only 66% of those were able to recover their data. The remaining 34% never saw their data again, despite paying the ransom.
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/04/26/ransomware-2020/
SolarWinds Campaign Even Wider Than First Thought
A new analysis of the SolarWinds breach suggests that the attacker infrastructure behind the campaign is far larger than first believed. The catastrophic SolarWinds security incident involved the compromise of the IT software vendor's network and later the deployment of malicious SolarWinds Orion updates to clients that contained a backdoor called Sunburst. Now researchers have now uncovered eighteen additional command-and-control servers used in the SolarWinds hacking campaign, indicating that the operation was broader in scope than previously known. The researchers found that this infrastructure was registered under varying names and at different times over several years to avoid establishing a traceable pattern.
Buying Cyber Insurance In 2021? Expect Greater Scrutiny, Higher Premiums
Organisations will face significant challenges in purchasing, renewing, and benefitting from cyber insurance policies this year as various factors drive the sector towards a stricter, more specialized position, global specialists in law, risk, and cyber security predict. These include the continued evolution and impact of cyber threats throughout 2020 and the early months of 2021, chiefly in the form of ransomware attacks and wide-ranging supply chain security issues.
Ransomware Is Growing At An Alarming Rate, Warns GCHQ Chief
The scale and severity of ransomware is growing at an alarming rate as cyber criminals look to exploit poor cyber security to maximise profit, the director of GCHQ has warned. Organisations and their employees have been forced to adapt to different ways of working over the past year, with many now even more reliant on remote services and online collaboration platforms. But cyber-criminal gangs also represent a major threat and Fleming warned that ransomware represents a cyber security danger for organisations of all kinds.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-is-growing-at-an-alarming-rate-warns-gchq-chief/
Threats
Ransomware
A Ransomware Attack On Apple Shows The Future Of Cyber Crime
Microsoft Office SharePoint Targeted With High-Risk Phish, Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware Gang Threatens To Expose Police Informants If Ransom Is Not Paid
A Ransomware Gang Made $260,000 In 5 Days Using The 7zip Utility
Ransomware Task Force Calls For Aggressive Bitcoin Transaction Tracing Measures
New Ransomware Group Uses SonicWall Zero-Day To Breach Networks
Phishing
Scammers Imitate Windows Logo With Html Tables To Slip Through Email Gateways
Phishing Impersonates Global Recruitment Firm To Push Malware
Malware
Rotajakiro: A Linux Backdoor That Has Flown Under The Radar For Years
Prometei Botnet Exploiting Unpatched Microsoft Exchange Servers
Vulnerabilities
Linux Kernel Vulnerability Exposes Stack Memory, Causes Data Leaks
F5 BIG-IP Found Vulnerable to Kerberos KDC Spoofing Vulnerability
Nvidia GPU Owners Warned About Serious Driver Bugs — Update Now
Apple Patches ‘Worst MacOS Bug In Recent Memory’ After It Was Used In The Wild
Data Breaches
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Supply Chain
Nation State Actors
Cyber Spies Target Military Organisations With New Nebulae Backdoor
Report: Russia 'Likely' Kept Access To US Networks After SolarWinds Hack
Reports Published in the Last Week
Other News
What IT Leaders Are Prioritising In Network Security Investments?
Cyber Security Is Not Just For Your Company – It Applies To Your Ecosystem Too
Machine Learning Security Vulnerabilities Are A Growing Threat To The Web, Report Highlights
Organisations Can No Longer Afford To Overlook Encrypted Traffic
FBI Shares 4 Million Email Addresses Used By Emotet With Have I Been Pwned
Smishing: Why Text-Based Phishing Should Be on Every CISO’s Radar
A Facebook Vulnerability Can Allow Hackers To Scrape Users' Email Addresses
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 April 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 April 2021: Cyber Attacks Rise For Businesses, Pushing Many To The Brink; MI5 Warns Of Spies Using LinkedIn To Trick Staff; Sonicwall Warns Customers To Patch 3 Zero-Days Exploited In The Wild; FBI Removed Backdoors From Vulnerable Exchange Servers, Not Everyone Likes The Idea; Pulse Secure VPN Zero-Day Used To Hack Defense Firms & Govt Orgs; Solarwinds Hack Could Cost Insurance Firms $90M; Mount Locker Ransomware Aggressively Changes Up Tactics; QR Codes Offer Easy Cyber Attack Avenues as Usage Spikes
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 Attacks On The Rise For Businesses, Pushing Many To The Brink
The proportion of businesses targeted by cyber criminals in the past year increased from 38% to 43%, with over a quarter of those targeted (28%) experiencing five attacks or more. Those attacks are pushing many firms to the brink, with one in six businesses attacked (17%) saying the financial impact materially threatened the company’s future. On a more positive note, the report shows firms are responding to the cyber challenge: mean spending per business on cyber security has more than doubled in the last two years.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2021/04/19/610514.htm
MI5 Warns Of Spies Using Linkedin To Trick Staff Into Spilling Secrets
At least 10,000 UK nationals have been approached by fake profiles linked to hostile states, on the professional social network LinkedIn, over the past five years, according to MI5. It warned users who had accepted such connection requests might have then been lured into sharing secrets. A campaign has been launched to educate government workers about the threat. The 10,000-plus figure includes staff in virtually every government departments as well as key industries, who might be offered speaking or business and travel opportunities that could lead to attempts to recruit them to provide confidential information.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56812746
SonicWall Warns Customers To Patch 3 Zero-Days Exploited In The Wild
Security hardware manufacturer SonicWall is urging customers to patch a set of three zero-day vulnerabilities affecting both its on-premises and hosted Email Security products. "In at least one known case, these vulnerabilities have been observed to be exploited 'in the wild,'" SonicWall said in a security advisory published earlier today. The company said it is "imperative" that organisations using its Email Security hardware appliances, virtual appliances, or software installations on Microsoft Windows Server machines immediately upgrade to a patched version.
The FBI Removed Hacker Backdoors From Vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers. Not Everyone Likes The Idea
The FBI had worked to remove malicious web shells from hundreds of computers in the United States that were running vulnerable versions of Microsoft Exchange Server. While the move will have helped keep many organisations secure, it has also raised questions about the direction of cyber security. Earlier this year, four zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, which were being actively exploited by a nation-state-backed hacking operation, were uncovered. Microsoft released a critical security update to protect Exchange Server customers from cyber attacks exploiting the vulnerabilities in March, but a significant number of organisations have yet to apply the security patch.
Pulse Secure VPN Zero-Day Used To Hack Defense Firms, Govt Organisations
A zero-day authentication bypass vulnerability in the Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) SSL VPN appliance actively exploited in attacks against worldwide organisations and focused on US Defence Industrial base networks. As a workaround, the vulnerability can be mitigated on some gateways by disabling Windows File Share Browser and Pulse Secure Collaboration features using instructions available in the security advisory published earlier today.
SolarWinds Hack Could Cost Cyber Insurance Firms $90 Million
Cyber insurance vendors are expected to spend $90 million on incident response and forensic services for clients who were compromised by the SolarWinds hackers. “Although the SolarWinds attack is a cyber catastrophe from a national security perspective, insurers may have narrowly avoided a catastrophic financial incident to their businesses,” The Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds attack appear to have avoided large scale exploitation of victims, instead opting to maintain access and collect sensitive data. But if the SolarWinds hackers had been focused on interrupting business and destroying networks, the campaign could have been catastrophic for insurers.
https://www.crn.com/news/security/solarwinds-hack-could-cost-cyber-insurance-firms-90-million
Mount Locker Ransomware Aggressively Changes Up Tactics
The Mount Locker ransomware has shaken things up in recent campaigns with more sophisticated scripting and anti-prevention features, according to researchers. And, the change in tactics appears to coincide with a rebranding for the malware into “AstroLocker.” According to researchers, Mount Locker has been a swiftly moving threat. Having just hit the ransomware-as-a-service scene in the second half of 2020, the group released a major update in November that broadened its targeting capabilities (including searching for file extensions utilized by TurboTax tax-return software to encrypt). It also added improved detection evasion. Attacks have continued to escalate, and now, another major update signals “an aggressive shift in Mount Locker’s tactics,”.
https://threatpost.com/mount-locker-ransomware-changes-tactics/165559/
QR Codes Offer Easy Cyber Attack Avenues as Usage Spikes
The use of mobile quick-response (QR) codes in daily life, for both work and personal use, continues to rise – and yet, most people are not aware that these handy mobile shortcuts can open them up to savvy cyber attacks. A survey of 4,157 consumers across China, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. It found that 57 percent of respondents have increased their QR code usage since mid-March 2020, mainly because of the need for touchless transactions in the wake of COVID-19. In all, three-quarters of respondents (77 percent) said they have scanned a QR code before, with 43 percent having scanned a QR code in the past week.
https://threatpost.com/qr-codes-cyberattack-usage-spikes/165526/
Google Alerts Continues To Be A Hotbed Of Scams And Malware
Google Alerts continues to be a hotbed of scams and malware that threat actors are increasingly abusing to promote malicious websites. While Google Alerts has been abused for a long time, a significant increase in activity over the past couple of weeks. People use Google Alerts to monitor for various terms related to cyber attacks, security incidents, malware, etc. In one Google Alert, almost every new article shared with people today by the service led to a scam or malicious website.
Threats
Ransomware
Campus Still Closed as Portsmouth University Reels from Suspected Ransomware
Ransomware Gang Tries To Extort Apple Hours Ahead Of Spring Loaded Event
Discord Nitro gift codes now demanded as ransomware payments
Phishing
Malware
IOT
Vulnerabilities
Google Issues Chrome Update Patching Seven Security Vulnerabilities
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities In Sonicwall Email Security Are Being Actively Exploited
Cisco Router Flaws Left Small Business Networks Open To Abuse
Firefox 88 Patches Bugs And Kills Off A Sneaky Javascript Tracking Trick
Data Breaches
Organised Crime & Criminal Actors
Cryptocurrency
Supply Chain
Nation State Actors
Denial of Service
Other News
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 April 2021
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 April 2021: Ransomware Attacks Grew By 485% In 2020; Cyber Insurance Firm Suffers Cyber Attack; Ransom Gangs Emailing Victim Customers For Leverage; 'We Have Your Porn Collection' - The Rise Of Extortionware; Should Firms Be More Worried About Firmware Cyber Attacks; Armed Conflict Draws Closer As State-Backed Cyber Attacks Intensify; Coca-Cola Trade Secret Theft Underscores Importance Of Insider Threat Early Detection; Attackers Blowing Up Discord, Slack With Malware
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week
Ransomware Attacks Grew By 485% In 2020
Ransomware attacks increased by an astonishing 485% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to Bitdefender’s 2020 Consumer Threat Landscape Report, which highlighted the ways cyber criminals targeted the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the ransomware attacks took place in the first two quarters of 2020.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-grow-2020/
Cyber Insurance Firm Suffers Sophisticated Ransomware Cyber Attack; Data Obtained May Help Hackers Better Target Firm’s Customers
One of the largest insurance firms in the US CNA Financial was reportedly hit by a “sophisticated cyber security attack” on March 21, 2021. The cyber attack disrupted the company’s employee and customer services for three days as the company shut down “out of an abundance of caution” to prevent further compromise.
Ransom Gangs Emailing Victim Customers For Leverage
Some of the top ransomware gangs are deploying a new pressure tactic to push more victim organisations into paying an extortion demand: Emailing the victim’s customers and partners directly, warning that their data will be leaked to the dark web unless they can convince the victim firm to pay up.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/04/ransom-gangs-emailing-victim-customers-for-leverage/
'We Have Your Porn Collection': The Rise Of Extortionware
Experts say the trend towards ransoming sensitive private information could affect companies not just operationally but through reputation damage. It comes as hackers bragged after discovering an IT Director's secret porn collection. The targeted US firm has not publicly acknowledged that it was hacked. In its darknet blog post about the hack last month, the cyber-criminal gang named the IT director whose work computer allegedly contained the files.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56570862
Should Firms Be More Worried About Firmware Cyber Attacks?
Microsoft recently put out a report claiming that businesses globally are neglecting a key aspect of their cyber security - the need to protect computers, servers, and other devices from firmware attacks. Its survey of 1,000 cyber security decision makers at enterprises across multiple industries in the UK, US, Germany, Japan, and China has revealed that 80% of firms have experienced at least one firmware attack in the past two years. Yet only 29% of security budgets have been allocated to protect firmware.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56671419
Armed Conflict Draws Closer As State-Backed Cyber Attacks Intensify
The world is coming perilously close to nation states retaliating against cyber attacks with conventional weapons, according to a new HP report. Publicly available reports into state-sponsored attacks and interviews with scores of experts. It claimed there has been a 100% increase in “significant” state-backed attacks between 2017-20, and an average of over 10 publicly attributed attacks per month in 2020 alone.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/armed-conflict-closer-state/
Coca-Cola Trade Secret Theft Underscores Importance Of Insider Threat Early Detection
The trial of Xiaorong You started in Greenville, TN, this week. She is accused of trade secret theft and economic espionage after allegedly stealing technologies owned by several companies, including her former employers Coca-Cola and Eastman Chemical Company. The value placed on the development of the stolen technologies is $119.6 million. Other affected companies include Azko-Nobel, Dow Chemical, PPG, TSI, Sherwin Williams and ToyoChem.
The details of the case suggest that the damages the accused is allegedly responsible for could have been minimized if better real-time insider threat detection methods had been in place. They also outline possible motives for the theft of the intellectual property: ego and money.
Attackers Blowing Up Discord, Slack With Malware
Workflow and collaboration tools like Slack and Discord have been infiltrated by threat actors, who are abusing their legitimate functions to evade security and deliver info-stealers, remote-access trojans (RATs) and other malware. The pandemic-induced shift to remote work drove business processes onto these collaboration platforms in 2020, and predictably, 2021 has ushered in a new level cyber criminal expertise in attacking them.
https://threatpost.com/attackers-discord-slack-malware/165295/
Scraped Data Of 500 Million LinkedIn Users Being Sold Online, 2 Million Records Leaked As Proof
An archive containing data purportedly scraped from 500 million LinkedIn profiles has been put for sale on a popular hacker forum, with another 2 million records leaked as a proof-of-concept sample by the post author. The four leaked files contain information about the LinkedIn users whose data has been allegedly scraped by the threat actor, including their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, workplace information, and more.
While users on the hacker forum can view the leaked samples for about $2 worth of forum credits, the threat actor appears to be auctioning the much-larger 500 million user database for at least a 4-digit sum, presumably in bitcoin.
Massive Facebook Data Breach Leaks Info On Millions Of Users
The personal information of hundreds of millions of Facebook users across the globe has been leaked online. Around 533 million Facebook users are thought to have been affected by the data breach, with phone numbers, Facebook ID, full name, location, past location, birthdate, email address, account creation date, relationship status, and personal bios all available. The data is thought to be the same set that was leaked in January 2021 and was available to purchase online, meaning Facebook has failed to secure its users once again.
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/massive-facebook-data-breach-leaks-info-on-millions-of-users
Threats
Ransomware
Phishing
Malware
Mobile
IOT
Vulnerabilities
Critical Zoom vulnerability triggers remote code execution without user input
Bug allows attackers to hijack Windows time sync software used to track security incidents
AMD admits Zen 3 processors are vulnerable to Spectre-like side-channel attack
SAP Bugs Under Active Cyberattack, Causing Widespread Compromise
Data Breaches
Adult content from hundreds of OnlyFans creators leaked online
A huge trove of credit card records and Social Security numbers just got hacked
Booking.com fined €475,000 for late reporting of data breach
Nation State Actors
Privacy
Other News
Ubiquiti is accused of covering up a ‘catastrophic’ data breach — and it’s not denying it
VISA: Hackers increasingly using web shells to steal credit cards
Cloud-native watering hole attack: Simple and potentially devastating
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 December 2020
Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 25 December 2020: The Cyber Threat Is Real and Growing; Ransomware Attacks Surge in Q3; In 2021 there will be a cyber attack every 11 seconds; The West has suffered a massive cyber breach and it's hard to overstate how bad it is; Big tech companies including Intel, Nvidia, and Cisco were all infected during the SolarWinds hack
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
The Cyber Threat Is Real and Growing
The SolarWinds breach could be one of the most significant cyber incidents in history. Russian intelligence—likely the SVR, the foreign-intelligence branch—infiltrated and sat undetected on U.S. and other government networks for nearly 10 months. It was a sophisticated, smart and savvy attack that should alarm the public and private sectors.
We may not know the full extent of the damage for some time. Don’t be surprised if more government entities disclose that they too were victims of this attack. Don’t be surprised either if it emerges that private companies were hit. SolarWinds says it has more than 300,000 customers, including 400 companies in the Fortune 500. That’s a lot of potential victims.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cyber-threat-is-real-and-growing-11608484291
Ransomware Attacks Surge in Q3 as Cyber Criminals Shift Tactics
A record growth in ransomware attacks took place in Q3 of 2020 compared to Q2, from 39% to 51% of all malware attempts according to a new study. The study also found that hacking accounted for 30% of all attacks during Q3, with cyber criminals reducing their emphasis on social engineering tactics compared with earlier this year. The researchers noted that the percentage of social engineering attacks using COVID-19 as a lure fell from 16% in Q2 to just 4% in Q3, which they attribute to people becoming more accustomed to this crisis. Additionally, social engineering attacks targeting organizations fell from 67% of all attempts in Q1 to under half (45%) in Q3.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-surge-q3/
In 2021, there will be a cyber attack every 11 seconds. Here’s how to protect yourself
Experienced outdoor athletes know that with winter rapidly approaching, the secret to success lies in protecting the core. That is, the body’s core temperature through layering, wicking and a host of ever-improving technical fabrics that prevent the cold, snow and ice from affecting performance. The same could be said for cyber security. With organizations and workers now in their ninth month of COVID-19, the time has come to prepare as the threat of cyber attacks becomes even more menacing.
The US, and much of the West, has suffered a massive cyber breach. It's hard to overstate how bad it is
Recent news articles have all been talking about the massive Russian cyber-attack against the United States, but that’s wrong on two accounts. It wasn’t a cyber-attack in international relations terms, it was espionage. And the victim wasn’t just the US, it was the entire world. But it was massive, and it is dangerous.
Espionage is internationally allowed in peacetime. The problem is that both espionage and cyber-attacks require the same computer and network intrusions, and the difference is only a few keystrokes. And since this Russian operation isn’t at all targeted, the entire world is at risk – and not just from Russia. Many countries carry out these sorts of operations, none more extensively than the US. The solution is to prioritize security and defense over espionage and attack.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/23/cyber-attack-us-security-protocols
Big tech companies including Intel, Nvidia, and Cisco were all infected during the SolarWinds hack
Last week, news broke that IT management company SolarWinds had been hacked, possibly by the Russian government, and the US Treasury, Commerce, State, Energy, and Homeland Security departments have been affected — two of which may have had emails stolen as a result of the hack. Other government agencies and many companies are investigating due to SolarWinds’ extensive client list. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that some big tech companies have been infected, too.
Cisco, Intel, Nvidia, Belkin, and VMware have all had computers on their networks infected with the malware. There could be far more: SolarWinds had stated that “fewer than 18,000” companies were impacted, as if that number is supposed to be reassuring, and it even attempted to hide the list of clients who used the infected software. Today’s news takes some of SolarWinds’ big-name clients from “possibly affected’’ to “confirmed affected.”
https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/21/22194183/intel-nvidia-cisco-government-infected-solarwinds-hack
Researchers share the lists of victims of SolarWinds hack
Security experts started analyzing the DGA mechanism used by threat actors behind the SolarWinds hack to control the Sunburst/Solarigate backdoor and published the list of targeted organizations. Researchers from multiple cybersecurity firms published a list that contains major companies, including Cisco, Deloitte, Intel, Mediatek, and Nvidia. The researchers decoded the DGA algorithm used by the backdoor to assign a subdomain of the C2 for each of the compromised organizations.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/112555/hacking/solarwinds-victims-lists.html
Threats
Ransomware
Ransomware: Attacks could be about to get even more dangerous and disruptive
IOT
New Critical Flaws in Treck TCP/IP Stack Affect Millions of IoT Devices
Malware
Emotet Returns to Hit 100K Mailboxes Per Day
Microsoft has discovered yet more SolarWinds malware
3 million users hit with infected Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge extensions
Vulnerabilities
Windows zero-day with bad patch gets new public exploit code
Script for detecting vulnerable TCP/IP stacks released
New SUPERNOVA backdoor found in SolarWinds cyberattack analysis
Smart Doorbell Disaster: Many Brands Vulnerable to Attack
Zero-day exploit used to hack iPhones of Al Jazeera employees
Signal: Cellebrite claimed to have 'cracked' chat app's encryption
Data Breaches
There's been a Nintendo Switch data leak, according to reports
Data breach hits 30,000 signed up to workplace pensions provider
Thousands of customer records exposed after serious data breach
Organised Crime
Cyber criminals have started indexing the dark web
Joker’s Stash Carding Site Taken Down
International sting shuts down 'favourite' VPN of cyber criminals
Dark Web Pricing Skyrockets for Microsoft RDP Servers, Payment-Card Data
NSA Warns of Hacking Tactics That Target Cloud Resources
Denial of Service
Cloudflare has identified a new type of DDoS attack inspired by an acoustic beat
Privacy
The pandemic has taken surveillance of workers to the next level
Other News
Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using Israeli firm's spyware
As usual, contact us to help assess where your risks lie and to ensure you are doing all you can do to keep you and your business secure.
Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.
Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 2 October 2020: Entry to Ransom in 45 Mins; Cyber War Collateral; Gallagher Hit with Ransomware; Adapting to Permanent WFH; Consumers Ditch Breached Firms; Awareness Month
Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 02 October 2020: Ransomware - Entry to Ransom in 45 Minutes; Business concerned by collateral damage in cyber war; Gallagher insurance hit with ransomware; paying ransoms could land you in hot water with regulators; security must adapt to permanent WFH; DDoS attacks are getting more powerful; Consumers Vote to Ditch Breached Firms; New Botnet now Infects Mac and Android Devices; Spyware Variant Snoops on WhatsApp & Telegram Messages; It’s Cyber Security Awareness Month
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.
Ransomware: from Entry to Ransom in Under 45 Minutes
Ransomware gangs are performing wide-ranging internet scans to find vulnerable systems and then accelerating attacks to just minutes to capitalize on COVID-19, Microsoft has warned in a blog post introducing the firm’s latest Digital Defense Report
The report claimed that threat actors have “rapidly increased sophistication” over the past year, with ransomware the number one reason for Microsoft incident response between October 2019 and July 2020.
“Attackers have exploited the COVID-19 crisis to reduce their dwell time within a victim’s system — compromising, exfiltrating data and, in some cases, ransoming quickly — apparently believing that there would be an increased willingness to pay as a result of the outbreak. In some instances, cyber-criminals went from initial entry to ransoming the entire network in under 45 minutes”.
“At the same time, we also see that human-operated ransomware gangs are performing massive, wide-ranging sweeps of the internet, searching for vulnerable entry points, as they ‘bank’ access – waiting for a time that is advantageous to their purpose.”
Why this matters:
Not only are attackers speeding up attacks, attackers have also become more sophisticated in performing reconnaissance on high-value targets, so that they appear to know when certain factors like holidays will reduce the victim organisation’s chances of patching, or otherwise hardening their networks.
They’re also aware of how billing cycles operate in certain industries, and thus when specific targets may be more willing to pay.
Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-from-entry-ransom-under/
Business are concerned their companies will be collateral damage in a future cyber-war
Businesses are worrying about being caught in the crossfire of cyber warfare, according to research from Bitdefender – while industry figures warn that the gap between common-or-garden cyber threats and what nation states are doing is becoming smaller and smaller.
Bitdefender’s latest report, titled 10 in 10, surveyed around 6,000 C-suite executives responsible for cyber security and found “over a fifth” said that cyber warfare was one of the most challenging topics they had to convince their colleagues to take seriously.
Bitdefender don’t think these executives are afraid of cyber warfare in the sense of directly being targeted, more in line with being collateral victims of cyber warfare taking out electric power grids, internet. They need to be prepared for these kind of attacks.
Why this matters:
Cyber warfare, at its simplest, involves disrupting computers to achieve a real-world effect. This could be something like a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against a power grid, intended to cause a power outage, or the infamous Stuxnet malware infection that set back Iran’s nuclear weapon ambitions by several years. It could also include attacks designed to degrade an adversary’s own ability to mount cyber attacks; cyber on cyber.
An attack by one nation against another nation could have significant impact on the ability of a business to continue to operate, either in the short term or over the longer term.
Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/30/cyber_war_fears/
Ransomware hits US-based Arthur J. Gallagher insurance giant
US-based Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) global insurance brokerage and risk management firm confirmed a ransomware attack that hit its systems on Saturday.
AJG is one of the largest insurance brokers in the world with more than 33,300 employees and operations in 49 countries, including Rossborough in Guernsey.
The company is ranked 429 on the Fortune 500 list and it provides insurance services to customers in over 150 countries.
AJG says that it detected the ransomware attack on September 26, 2020, with only a limited number of the company's internal systems being affected, but that they shut down all computing systems to block the attack
"We promptly took all of our global systems offline as a precautionary measure, initiated response protocols, launched an investigation, engaged the services of external cyber security and forensics professionals, and implemented our business continuity plans to minimize disruption to our customers," the company added on September 28th in an filing with US regulators.
Why this matters:
Firms everywhere are being hit with ransomware and the speed, frequency, and sophistication of these attacks is only going to carry on getting worse. Firms must ensure they are prepared for an attack ahead of an attack happening and ensure they have plans in place to be able to recover. Most ransomware starts with a user clicking on a link in an email or downloading an attachment so firms must ensure their staff realise the role they play in defending their organisations – this is not something that IT alone can protect firms against.
Paying ransomware demands could land you in hot water with authorities and regulators
Businesses, governments, and organisations that are hit by crippling ransomware attacks now have a new worry to contend with—big fines from authorities and regulators, such as the US Department of Treasury, in the event that they pay to recover their data.
US Treasury Department officials made that guidance official in an advisory published this week. It warns that payments made to specific entities or to any entity in certain countries—specifically, those with a designated “sanctions nexus”—could subject the payer to financial penalties levied by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC.
The prohibition applies not only to the group that is infected but also to any companies or contractors the hacked group’s security or insurance engages with, including those who provide insurance, digital forensics, and incident response, as well as all financial services that help facilitate or process ransom payments.
Why this matters:
Payments made to criminal groups, sanctioned groups or individuals, or otherwise making a payment that could be funding terrorism will fall foul of regulations in most regulated jurisdictions. The last thing a firm will need is having to recover from the ransomware attack and also then being hit with fines from regulators and authorities.
CIOs say security must adapt to permanent work-from-home
Both private- and public-sector CIOs see many more employees permanently working remotely, and say security needs to adapt to new threats and how they communicate.
Much of the public and private sector was forced to shut down in-person facilities and operations almost overnight in March as COVID quarantines began. The new conditions forced organisations to quickly find ways to secure tens of millions of new, vulnerable endpoints created by at-home workers. Now, six months later, technology leaders are taking stock of what happened and considering how a post-COVID landscape might look.
Why this matters:
COVID has resulted in a lot of changes and is behind a lot of innovation but it looks like some places will be putting up with these short term measures for longer than originally planned.
What might have been OK as a short term fix needs to become ‘business as usual’ and security controls will need to be adapted to these more permanent new ways of working.
DDoS attacks are getting more powerful as attackers change tactics
There's been a surge in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks throughout the course of this year, and the attacks are getting more powerful and more disruptive.
Why this matters:
DDoS attacks are launched against websites or web services with the aim of disrupting them to the extent that they are taken offline. Attackers direct the traffic from a botnet army of hundreds of thousands of PCs, servers and other internet-connected devices they've gained control of via malware towards the target, with the aim of overwhelming it.
An attack can last for just seconds, or hours or days and prevent legitimate users from accessing the online service for that time.
And while DDoS attacks have been a nuisance for years, the prospect of corporate, e-commerce, healthcare, educational and other services being disrupted at a time when the ongoing global pandemic means more people are reliant on online services than ever could create huge problems.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ddos-attacks-are-getting-more-powerful-as-attackers-change-tactics/
KPMG: Consumers Vote to Ditch Breached Firms
Most consumers would take their business elsewhere if they discovered an organisation had suffered a major cyber-attack or data breach, according to new data from KPMG.
The global consulting firm polled over 2000 Canadians in September to better understand the impact of security incidents and the risks for online firms that fail to adequately protect customer data.
As many as 90% of respondents said they would feel wary about sharing personal or financial information with a company that had suffered such an incident, and over two-thirds (67%) are more worried than ever about their data being breached.
Why this matters:
The findings come at a time when consumers are spending more of their lives, and sharing more of their data, online.
Over half (54%) of respondents said they are shopping more online than they used to pre-COVID, rising to 64% for the 18-44 age group. The same number (54%) said they had received a lot more suspicious emails in the first half of 2020, and even more (84%) claimed they were being “extra careful” when shopping online for fear of their data being stolen.
Phishing (38%) and spear-phishing (13%) were revealed as the most common attacks likely to face Canadians, as they are consumers in other Western countries. Unfortunately for brands, they are likely to get the blame for successful attacks on consumers even though it is the email recipients themselves who make the mistake of clicking through.
Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/kpmg-consumers-vote-to-ditch/
InterPlanetary Storm Botnet Infects 13K Mac, Android Devices
A new variant of the InterPlanetary Storm malware has been discovered, which comes with fresh detection-evasion tactics and now targets Mac and Android devices (in addition to Windows and Linux, which were targeted by previous variants of the malware).
Researchers say the malware is building a botnet with a current estimated 13,500 infected machines across 84 countries worldwide – and that number continues to grow. Half of the infected machines are in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. Other infected systems are in Russia, Brazil, the U.S., Sweden and China.
Why this matters:
While the botnet that this malware is building does not have clear functionality yet, it gives the campaign operators a backdoor into the infected devices so they can later be used for cryptomining, DDoS, or other large-scale attacks.
Read more: https://threatpost.com/botnet-mac-android/159714/
Android Spyware Variant Snoops on WhatsApp, Telegram Messages
Researchers say they have uncovered a new Android spyware variant with an updated command-and-control communication strategy and extended surveillance capabilities that snoops on social media apps WhatsApp and Telegram.
The malware, Android/SpyC32.A, is currently being used in active campaigns targeting victims in the Middle East. It is a new variant of an existing malware operated by threat group APT-C-23 (also known as Two-Tailed Scorpion and Desert Scorpion). APT-C-23 is known to utilize both Windows and Android components, and has previously targeted victims in the Middle East with apps in order to compromise Android smartphones.
Why this matters:
APT groups are increasing activity and they are continually, enhancing their toolsets and running new operations. This the group’s newest spyware version features several improvements making it more dangerous to victims. Whilst these attacks are targeting victims in the Middle East different groups will be using similar tactics against different targets in different locations.
Read more: https://threatpost.com/new-android-spyware-whatsapp-telegram/159694/
It’s Cyber Security Awareness Month
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, and annual initiative by the National Cyber Security Alliance. How cyber security aware are you? How cyber security aware are your staff? What about your Board?
Why this matters:
Fundamentally attackers find it easier to your people than to break in via technical means – so cyber security awareness, and instilling in your staff that they have a role to play in helping to secure your organisation is absolutely key.
If you need help raising cyber amongst your staff, users or executives drop us a line – we can help
Read more: https://staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/
Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 11 September 2020: Ransomware 41% of H1 2020 cyber insurance claims, MS Critical RCE Bugs, 60% of emails May/June fraudulent, Insider Data Breaches, Linux Targeting More
Cyber Weekly Flash Briefing 11 September 2020: Ransomware 41% of all H1 2020 cyber insurance claims, MS Patch Tuesday Critical RCE Bugs, 60 percent of emails May/ June were fraudulent, Insider-Enabled Data Breaches, Linux-Based Devices Targeted More, Chilean bank shut down following ransomware, meddling in US politics by Russia, China & Iran, TikTok battles to remove video of livestreamed suicide
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.
Ransomware accounted for 41% of all cyber insurance claims in H1 2020
Ransomware incidents have accounted for 41% of cyber insurance claims filed in the first half of 2020, according to a report published today by one of the largest providers of cyber insurance services in North America.
The high number of claims comes to confirm previous reports from multiple cyber-security firms that ransomware is one of today's most prevalent and destructive threats.
Ransomware doesn't discriminate by industry. An increase in ransom attacks has been seen across almost every industry.
In the first half of 2020 alone, they observed a 260% increase in the frequency of ransomware attacks amongst their policyholders, with the average ransom demand increasing 47%.
Among the most aggressive gangs, the cyber insurer listed Maze and DoppelPaymer, which have recently begun exfiltrating data from hacked networks, and threatening to release data on specialized leak sites, as part of double extortion schemes.
Why this matters:
Ransomware remains, and is likely to remain, by far one of the biggest menaces on the web, it is indiscriminate, anyone can be affected, it can be business destroying, and it is getting worse all the time.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-accounts-to-41-of-all-cyber-insurance-claims/
Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday Packed with Critical RCE Bugs
Microsoft has released patches for 129 security bugs in its September Patch Tuesday update. These include 23 critical flaws, 105 that are important in severity and one moderate bug. Fortunately, none are publicly known or under active exploitation, Microsoft said.
The most severe issue in the bunch is CVE-2020-16875, according to researchers. This is a memory-corruption problem in Microsoft Exchange that allows remote code-execution (RCE) just by sending an email to a target. Running arbitrary code could grant attackers the access they need to create new accounts, access, modify or remove data, and install programs.
Why this matters:
Many organisations are struggling to keep up with the volume of updates and keeping on top of them, or knowing which to prioritise, is critical for firms. At a time while many organisations continue to struggle to support the ongoing distribution of remote workers, Microsoft continues to pile on the updates and finding an efficient method for rolling out these patches has become even more imperative as companies begin to abandon the idea of a short-term fix and shift operations to embrace remote work as part of a lasting, long-term progression of how organisations operate moving forward.
Firms are beginning to realise the negative outcomes of the lenient security measures put in place to quickly adapt to a decentralised workforce and it’s become more important than ever to establish patching policies that can securely support remote endpoints for the foreseeable future.
Read more: https://threatpost.com/microsofts-patch-tuesday-critical-rce-bugs/159044/
60 percent of emails in May and June were fraudulent
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a spike in scams, phishing and malware across all platforms and attack vectors. The latest mid-year threat landscape report from Bitdefender shows that in May and June, an average of 60 percent of all received emails were fraudulent.
In addition there’s been a five-fold increase in the number of coronavirus-themed attacks and a 46 percent increase in attacks aimed at home IoT devices.
IoT malware has become versatile, robust, and is constantly updated. IrcFlu, Dark_Nexus7 and InterPLanetary Storm are some of the examples malware that gained in popularity during the first half of 2020.
Mobile malware has been quick to capitalise too, with malware developers rushing to weaponise popular applications, such as the Zoom video conferencing application, used by employees now working from home. Packing RAT (Remote Access Trojan) capabilities, or bundling them with ransomware, banking malware, or even highly aggressive adware, Android malware developers were also fully exploiting the pandemic wave.
Why this matters:
As we keep saying malicious actors never let a good crisis or tragedy go to waste and will exploit whatever is going on in the world or anything there is a collective interest in to real in unsuspecting victims.
Good awareness and education are key in keeping your employees and users safe and ensuring users at all levels, including board members – who present a significant risk, are up to date with latest tactics and threats.
Email in particular will remain primary vector for attack and this is unlikely to change any time soon.
Read more: https://betanews.com/2020/09/08/60-percent-of-emails-in-may-and-june-were-fraudulent/
Businesses [should] Fear Insider-Enabled Data Breaches
Businesses fear suffering a data breach and expect it to be caused by an insider or internal error.
A survey of 500 IT professionals found that 94% of respondents have experienced a data breach, and 79% were worried their organisation could be next.
The fear associated with breaches stems from the security culture within the organisation, along with the security reporting structure.
Having security teams in close dialogue with executive leadership, supporting the leadership to make informed risk-based decisions and driving the business strategy, including the technologies used, reduces this fear significantly.
Secondly, not understanding information security, its components and principles drives fear and anxiety of the unknown, so having security education training, and developing awareness and consciousness of threats, will enable and empower the entire organisation to act with a ‘security first’ mindset.
Finally, recognising the importance of access control to protect systems and data is a foundational level control that organisations can apply to reduce the risk of a data breach. Hand in hand with this is partnering with trusted identity and access control platform providers who can provide enterprises with that security expertise and industry leadership.
Why this matters:
In terms of what is causing the breaches, 40% of respondents to the survey said accidental employee incidents were to blame, compared to 21% who said it is external attackers. Asked if this is a case of businesses not having a handle on what leaves their organisations (either intentionally or accidentally), insiders already have access and can leave with data invisibly, which might turn up somewhere embarrassing later.
Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/businesses-insider-breaches/
4 top vulnerabilities ransomware attackers exploited in 2020
As more employees work from home, attackers have more endpoints to target. These unpatched vulnerabilities in remote access tools and Windows makes their job easier.
The biggest security trend for 2020 has been the increase of COVID-19-related phishing and other attacks targeting remote workers. New York City, for example, has gone from having to protect 80,000 endpoints to around 750,000 endpoints in its threat management since work-from-home edicts took place.
As noted in a recent Check Point Software Technologies mid-year review, “The first impact of the pandemic was the proliferation of malware attacks that used social engineering techniques with COVID-19 thematic lures for the delivery stage.” Domain names were set up and parked with names relating to the pandemic. As workers started to use videoconferencing platforms, attacks moved to attacking Zoom, Teams and other videoconferencing platforms.
One disturbing trend is that 80% of the observed attacks in the first half of 2020 used vulnerabilities reported and registered in 2017 and earlier, according to the Check Point report, and more than 20% of the attacks used vulnerabilities that are at least seven years old. This showcases that we have a problem in keeping our software up to date.
Why this matters:
Ransomware remains a big threat 2020 and expanding attack surfaces with staff working from home is making the situation worse. Attackers use vulnerabilities in tools used for remote access into Windows networks.
Click read more below to find out the top four vulnerabilities the researchers identified.
APT Groups Increasingly Targeting Linux-Based Devices
APT groups are increasingly executing targeted attacks against Linux-based devices as well as developing more Linux-focused tools, according to an investigation by Kaspersky.
This is as a result of a growing number of organisations’ selecting Linux ahead of Windows to run their strategically important servers and systems, and the perception that the Linux operating system is safer and less likely to be targeted by malware as it is less popular.
However, threat-actors have been observed to adapt their tactics to take advantage of this trend, and Kaspersky noted that “over a dozen APT actors have been observed to use Linux malware or some Linux-based modules” during the past eight years.
These include notorious groups such as Turla, Lazarus, Barium, Sofacy, the Lamberts and Equation. Kaspersky highlighted the example of Russian speaking APT group Turla using Linux backdoors as part of its changing toolset in recent years.
Why this matters:
Attacks that target Linux-based systems are still fewer in number than attacks on Windows based systems, but there is still malware designed to target them, including webshells, backdoors, rootkits and even custom-made exploits.
Read more: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/apt-targeting-linux-based-devices/
Major Chilean bank shuts down all branches following ransomware attack
Banco Estado, the only public bank in Chile and one of the three largest in the country, had to shut down its nationwide operations on Monday due to a cyberattack that turned out to be a ransomware launched by REvil.
According to a public statement, the branches will remain closed for at least one day, but clarified that customers’ funds have not been affected by the incident.
Sources close to the investigation reported that the REvil ransomware gang is behind the attack. It reportedly originated from an Office document infected with the malware that an employee received and proceeded to open.
The incident was reported to the Chilean authorities, who issued a cyber-security alert that warned about a massive ransomware campaign targeting the private sector in the country.
Why this matters:
As above ransomware is not going away and is getting worse all the time. Too many users don’t realise that simply opening a document or clicking on a link in an email could bring down their entire organisations. Staff and users need to be educated about the role they play in securing their organisations.
Vulnerabilities discovered in PAN-OS, which powers Palo Alto Networks’ firewalls
Palo Alto Networks this week remediated vulnerabilities in PAN-OS (operating systems version 8.1 or later) which command injection, cross site scripting and the ability to upload unauhtoised files to a directory which might lead to denial of service.
Why this matters:
Attackers can use these vulnerabilities to gain access to sensitive data or develop the attack to gain access to the internal segments of the network of a company that uses vulnerable protection tools.
Any security fixes for known vulnerabilities across any different product, software or firmware should be tested and applied as soon as possible, so those vulnerabilities cannot be used against you or your organisation.
Read more: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/09/10/vulnerabilities-discovered-in-pan-os/
Russia, China and Iran hackers target Trump and Biden, Microsoft says
Hackers with ties to Russia, China and Iran are attempting to snoop on people and groups involved with the US 2020 presidential election, Microsoft says.
The Russian hackers who breached the 2016 Democratic campaign are again involved, said the US tech firm.
Microsoft said it was "clear that foreign activity groups have stepped up their efforts" targeting the election.
Both President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden's campaigns are in the cyber-raiders' sights.
Russian hackers from the Strontium group have targeted more than 200 organisations, many of which are linked to US political parties - both Republicans and Democrats, Microsoft said in a statement.
Why this matters:
The same attackers have also targeted British political parties, said Microsoft, without specifying which ones. Any meddling in politics by foreign states is a clear threat to the democratic process and shows that unfriendly states will interfere to further their own agendas.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54110457
TikTok battles to remove video of livestreamed suicide
TikTok is battling to remove a graphic video of a livestreamed suicide, after the footage was uploaded to the service on Sunday night from Facebook, where it was initially broadcast.
Although the footage was rapidly taken down from TikTok, users spent much of Monday re-uploading it, initially unchanged, but later incorporated into so-called bait-and-switch videos, which are designed to shock and upset unsuspecting users.
One such video, for instance, begins with a conventional video of an influencer talking to camera, before cutting without warning to the graphic footage.
Why this matters:
Parents, especially of younger children, may think that certain sites and social media channels are safe for children and the content is suitable vetted and controlled, but as this illustrates that is often not the case and caution should be exercised in allow young children unfettered access to social media.
Week in review 03 November 2019: Norsk Hydro insurance payout falls short, breaches from October 2019, businesses stung by Office 365 voicemail scam, Google Chrome flaw exploited in the wild
Week in review 03 November 2019: Norsk Hydro insurance payout falls short, breaches from October 2019, businesses stung by Office 365 voicemail scam, Google Chrome flaw exploited in the wild
Round up of the most significant open source stories of the last week
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.
Insurance Pays Out a Sliver of Norsk Hydro’s Cyberattack Damages
The company received $3.6 million in cyber insurance – out of $71 million incurred in damages after a massive March cyberattack.
On the heels of a severe cyberattack, aluminum giant Norsk Hydro has received only $3.6 million in cyber-insurance – just a fraction of the total costs in damage.
Overall, the Oslo, Norway-based company incurred between $60 million to $71 million in damages from the incident, which forced it to shut down or isolate several plants and send several more into manual mode. While Norsk Hydro said it expects more future compensation from its lead cyberinsurer, AIG, the payment received so far covers only 6 percent of the total damages.
“The cyberattack on Hydro on March 19 affected the entire global organization, with Extruded Solutions having suffered the most significant operational challenges and financial losses,” according to Norsk Hydro’s 2019 third-quarter report. “The financial impact of the cyberattack is estimated to around NOK 550-650 million [$60 to 70 million USD] in the first half year with limited financial effects for the third quarter. Hydro has a robust cyber-insurance in place with recognized insurers. Hydro has recognized NOK 33 million [$3.6 million USD] insurance compensation in the third quarter.”
Full article on ThreatPost here: https://threatpost.com/insurance-pays-norsk-hydro-cyberattack-damages/149707/
List of data breaches and cyber attacks in October 2019 – 421 million records breached
In a month where security experts across Europe were boosting awareness of cyber security, organisations had mixed results in their own data protection practices.
On the one hand, the 421,103,896 data records that were confirmed to have been breached in October represents about 50% of the monthly average.
But on the other hand, there were a staggering 111 incidents, including several in which sensitive and financial information was compromised.
It was also a particularly bad month for the UK, with 9 confirmed breaches.
Full list here: https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/list-of-data-breaches-and-cyber-attacks-in-october-2019
Businesses stung by highly convincing Office 365 voicemail scam
Cyber criminals are stealing the login credentials of Microsoft Office 365 users using a phishing campaign that tricks victims into believing they've been left voicemail messages.
In the last few weeks, there's been a surge in the number of employees being sent malicious emails that allege they have a missed call and voicemail message, along with a request to login to their Microsoft accounts.
The phishing emails also contain an HTML file, which varies slightly from victim to victim, but the most recent messages observed include a genuine audio recording, researchers with McAfee Labs have discovered.
Full article on ITPro here: https://www.itpro.co.uk/phishing/34723/businesses-stung-by-highly-convincing-office-365-voicemail-scam
Phishing is no longer limited to email only.
Phishing is a much wider issue than originally thought, Akamai claims in its latest report. In it, it also details which companies are most at risk of phishing attacks, as well as the various techniques that hackers use to try and breach these companies’ security systems.
Phishing, but also phishing as a service (PaaS) is a hacking method in which a hacker impersonates a legitimate person/company, and asks for personal information. Usually, it is done through email, but Akamai claims that hackers are also leveraging social media and SMS channels, as well.
Hackers were mostly targeting the high technology industry, Akamai claims, saying it analysed 6,035 domains and identified 120 kit variations in the industry. The second most-targeted industry was financial services, with 3,658 domains and 83 kit variants used, followed by e-commerce as third.
Microsoft, PayPal, DHL, and Dropbox were the top targeted brands. Microsoft took up 21.88 per cent of total domains, followed by PayPal with 9.37 per cent, DHL with 8.79 per cent and Dropbox with 2.59 per cent.
Phishing is a long-term problem that will have adversaries continuously going after consumers and businesses alike until personalised awareness training programs and layered defence techniques are put in place.
As businesses improve their defences, hackers look to new and creative solutions. Thus, Akamai says, most of the phishing kits were active 20 days or less, in order to avoid being spotted.
Via: https://www.itproportal.com/news/these-are-the-companies-most-at-risk-of-phishing-attacks/
More info here: https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/news/press/2019-press/state-of-the-internet-security-phishing-baiting-the-hook.jsp
Google Discloses Chrome Flaw Exploited in the Wild
Google is warning users of a high-severity vulnerability in its Chrome browser that is currently being exploited by attackers to hijack computers.
The flaw (CVE-2019-13720), discovered by security researchers at Kaspersky, exists in Google Chrome’s audio component. Google is urging users to update to the latest version of Chrome, 78.0.3904.87 (for Windows, Mac, and Linux) as soon as possible.
This updated version addresses vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit to take control of an affected system according to the alert. The vulnerability was detected in exploits in the wild.”
More from ThreatPost here: https://threatpost.com/google-discloses-chrome-flaw-exploited-in-the-wild/149784/
Keeping up with the evolving ransomware security landscape
Cybercrime is ever-evolving, and is consistently becoming more effective and damaging. While the range of attack vectors available to malicious actors are vast, ransomware remains one of the most prolific forms of cybercrime and has held on to its top spot as leading cyber threat this year.
Hardly a day goes by without reports of another high-profile incident, with large companies and government organisations (particularly in education and healthcare) often at the receiving end – due to weak, legacy infrastructure and poor operational security. Of course, it was also responsible for some of the most damaging attacks ever – with the infamous WannaCry and NotPetya strains that hit headlines in 2017.
As ransomware attacks continue to become more sophisticated, it has never been more important for businesses of all sizes to take a proactive approach to cybersecurity. While this can feel like a seemingly impossible task when you take into consideration the variety of forms and methods of entry that ransomware can take, businesses can ensure they’re adequately protected by reviewing their existing security strategy and ensuring they have adopted a layered approach.
Read the full article on HelpNetSecurity here: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/11/01/ransomware-security-landscape/
The nastiest ransomware, phishing and botnets of 2019
Vendor Webroot released its annual Nastiest Malware list, shedding light on 2019’s worst cybersecurity threats. From ransomware strains and cryptomining campaigns that delivered the most attack payloads to phishing attacks that wreaked the most havoc, it’s clear that cyber threats across the board are becoming more advanced and difficult to detect.
Full article here: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/10/30/nastiest-malware-2019/
The scariest hacks and vulnerabilities of 2019
Yes, this is one of those end-of-year summaries. And it's a long one, since 2019 has been a disaster in terms of cyber-security news, with one or more major stories breaking on a weekly basis.
See the full summary for the past 10 months of security disasters, organized by month here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-scariest-hacks-and-vulnerabilities-of-2019/
One in five IT workers doesn't know what a cyberattack is
A survey of over 1,000 IT workers, carried out by technology services provider Probrand reveals that more than one in five (21 percent) don't actually know what constitutes a 'cyberattack'.
Used as a catch-all term, cyberattack can cover everything from a simple phishing email, right across to a large-scale server attack, however, many IT workers have never seen, or don't understand, what the real detail of an attack actually looks like.
Almost half (43 percent) of those surveyed admit to being unaware of how to defend their company from a cyberattack, with one in three (32 percent) relying on external agencies for crisis support.
"The term, 'cyberattack' is firmly set in business vocabulary, and rightly so as cyber threats present the greatest risk of crisis to most organizations," Matt Royle, marketing director at Probrand says. "However, it is worrying to discover many do not know the details of what a threat looks like, so have little chance of protecting themselves from it."
In addition the study finds that only just over one in ten (12 percent) of respondents say they know what their company's business continuity plan fully constitutes.
"Where no IT team exists, business leaders are exposed to threats without knowledge of how to protect themselves. Where IT teams do exist, managers are hampered by end user issues, lack of budget or time to truly focus on IT strategy, which includes security," adds Royle. "Business leaders need to take another look at prioritizing investment in people, technology and employee training to combat cyber security and protect the continuity of their business."
This article originally appeared on BetaNews: https://betanews.com/2019/11/01/workers-lack-cyberattack-knowledge/