Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 16 July 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

 84% Of Organisations Experienced Phishing Or Ransomware Attacks In The Last Year

A new report from Trend Micro has found that 84% of organisations have reported phishing or ransomware security incidents in the last 12 months.

The findings come from an Osterman Research study commissioned by Trend Micro that was compiled from interviews with cyber security professionals in midsize and large organisations nationwide. The research also found that half of organisations are not effective at countering phishing and ransomware threats.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/ransomware/360191/84-of-organizations-experienced-phishing-or-ransomware-attacks-in-last

Phishing continues to be one of the easiest paths for ransomware

Ransomware gangs are still using phishing as one of the main ways to attack an organisation, according to a new survey from Cloudian featuring the insights of 200 IT decision-makers who experienced a ransomware attack over the last two years.

More than half of all respondents have held anti-phishing training among employees, and 49% had perimeter defenses in place when they were attacked.

Nearly 25% of all survey respondents said their ransomware attacks started through phishing, and of those victims, 65% had conducted anti-phishing training sessions. For enterprises with fewer than 500 employees, 41% said their attacks started with phishing. About one-third of all victims said their public cloud was the entry point ransomware groups used to attack them.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/phishing-continues-to-be-one-of-the-easiest-paths-for-ransomware-report/

Ransomware: Only Half Of Organisations Can Effectively Defend Against Attacks, Warns Report

Around half of firms don't have the technology to prevent or detect ransomware attacks, according to research by cybersecurity company Trend Micro. It suggests that many organisations don't have the cybersecurity capabilities required to prevent ransomware attacks, such as the ability to detect phishing emails, remote desktop protocol (RDP) compromise or other common techniques deployed by cyber attackers during ransomware campaigns. 

For example, the report warns that many organisations struggle with detecting the suspicious activity associated with ransomware and attacks that could provide early evidence that cyber criminals have compromised the network. That includes failing to identify unusual lateral movement across corporate networks, or being able to spot unauthorised users gaining access to corporate data.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-only-half-of-organisations-can-effectively-defend-against-attacks-warns-report/

MI5 Chief Warns Public Of Cyber-Threat From Hostile States Such As China & Russia

Head of Britain's MI5, Ken McCallum, is urging the public to be as vigilant about threats from "hostile states" as from terrorism.

These include disruptive cyber-attacks, misinformation, espionage and interference in politics - and are usually linked to Russia and China.

McCallum is warning that "less visible threats... have the potential to affect us all," affecting UK jobs and public services and could even lead to a loss of life.

The head of the Security Service wants to challenge the idea that activity by so-called "hostile states", usually taken to mean primarily Russia and China, only affects governments or certain institutions.

Instead, he is to argue in an annual threat update, that the British public are not immune to the "tentacles" of covert action by other states.

In the speech at MI5's Thames House headquarters, Mr McCallum will warn the "consequences range from frustration and inconvenience, through loss of livelihood, potentially up to loss of life".

https://eutoday.net/news/security-defence/2021/uk-mi5-chief-ken-mccallum-warns-public-of-cyber-threat-from-hostile-states-such-as-china-russia

Almost All Organisations Have Suffered Insider Data Breaches

Egress’ Insider Data Breach Survey 2021 claims that 94 percent of organisations have experienced insider data breaches in the last year. Human error was the top cause of serious incidents, according to 84 percent of IT leaders surveyed.

However, IT leaders are more concerned about malicious insiders, with 28 percent indicating that intentionally malicious behaviour is their biggest fear. Despite causing the most incidents, human error came bottom of the list, with just over one-fifth (21 percent) saying that it’s their biggest concern.

Additionally, almost three-quarters (74 percent) of organisations have been breached because of employees breaking security rules, and 73 percent have been the victim of phishing attacks.

The survey, independently conducted by Arlington Research on behalf of Egress, surveyed 500 IT leaders and 3,000 employees in the US and UK across vertical sectors including financial services, healthcare and legal.

https://workplaceinsight.net/almost-all-organisations-have-suffered-insider-data-breaches/

Cyber Crime Costs Organisations Nearly $1.79 Million Per Minute

Cybercrime costs organisations an incredible $1.79m every minute, according to RiskIQ’s 2021 Evil Internet Minute Report.

The study, which analysed the volume of malicious activity on the internet, laid bare the scale and damage of cyber-attacks in the past year, finding that 648 cyber-threats occurred every minute.

The researchers calculated that the average cost of a breach is $7.2 per minute, while the overall predicted cybersecurity spend is $280,060 every minute.

E-commerce has been heavily hit by online payment fraud in the past year, with cyber-criminals taking advantage of the shift to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the e-commerce industry saw a record $861.1bn in sales, it lost $38,052 to online payment fraud every minute.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/cybercrime-costs-orgs-per-minute/

Phishing, Ransomware Driving Wave of Data Breaches

Data compromises have increased every month this year except May.

If that trend continues, or even if there is only an average of 141 new compromises per month for the next six months, the total will still exceed the previous high of 1,632 breaches set in 2017.

These were among the findings of the nonprofit organization Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) latest data breach analysis report, which revealed publicly reported U.S. data breaches are up 38% in the second quarter of 2021, for a total of 491 compromises, compared to Q1.

https://securityboulevard.com/2021/07/phishing-ransomware-driving-wave-of-data-breaches/

Top CVEs Trending with Cybercriminals

An analysis of criminal forums reveal what publicly known vulnerabilities attackers are most interested in.

Criminal small talk in underground forums offer critical clues about which known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) threat actors are most focused on. This, in turn, offers defenders clues on what to watch out for.

An analysis of such chatter, by Cognyte, examined 15 cybercrime forums between Jan. 2020 and March 2021. In its report, researchers highlight what CVEs are the most frequently mentioned and try to determine where attackers might strike next.

“Our findings revealed that there is no 100 percent correlation between the two parameters, since the top five CVEs that received the highest number of posts are not exactly the ones that were mentioned on the highest number of Dark Web forums examined,” the report said. “However, it is still enough to understand which CVEs were popular among threat actors on the Dark Web during the time examined.”

https://threatpost.com/top-cves-trending-with-cybercriminals/167889/

Sonicwall Releases Urgent Notice About 'Imminent' Ransomware Targeting Firmware

Networking device maker SonicWall sent out an urgent notice to its customers about "an imminent ransomware campaign using stolen credentials" that is targeting Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 100 series and Secure Remote Access (SRA) products running unpatched and end-of-life 8.x firmware.

In addition to the notice posted to its website, SonicWall sent an email to anyone using SMA and SRA devices, urging some to disconnect their devices immediately. They worked with Mandiant and other security companies on the issue, according to the release.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/sonicwall-releases-urgent-notice-about-imminent-ransomware-targeting-firmware/

Google Finds Zero-Day Security Flaws In All Your Favourite Browsers

Researchers at Google have shared insight into four zero-day security vulnerabilities in popular web browsers which were exploited in the wild earlier this year.

DIscovered by Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), the four vulnerabilities in Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and WebKit, the browser engine used by Apple's Safari, were used as a part of three different campaigns.

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-finds-zero-day-security-flaws-in-all-your-favorite-browsers

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware attackers are growing bolder and using new extortion methods

• REvil ransomware gang's websites vanish soon after Kaseya fiasco, Uncle Sam threatens retaliation

• What it's really like to negotiate with ransomware attackers

• Holding The World To Ransom: Top 5 Online Gangs

• Ransomware demands are digital extortion: don’t pay

• Ransomware recovery: Plan for it now

• Ransomware shows the power and weakness of the web

• This ransomware gang hunts for evidence of crime to pressure victims into paying a ransom

• HelloKitty ransomware now targets VMware ESXi servers

BEC

• Business email compromise (BEC) attacks take phishing to the next level

Phishing

• Kaseya warns of phishing campaign pushing fake security updates

• Phishing, Ransomware Driving Wave of Data Breaches

Other Social Engineering

• Social Engineering Tactics Behind Ransomware

• Propaganda as a Social Engineering Tool

Malware

• Trickbot Malware Rebounds with Virtual-Desktop Espionage Module

• Hackers Spread BIOPASS Malware via Chinese Online Gambling Sites

Mobile

• iOS zero-day let SolarWinds hackers compromise fully updated iPhones

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft July 2021 Patch Tuesday: 117 vulnerabilities, Pwn2Own Exchange Server bug fixed

• SonicWall vulnerability allows attackers to obtain full control of device and underlying OS

• Microsoft's Emergency Patch Fails to Fully Fix PrintNightmare RCE Vulnerability

• So nice of China to put all of its network zero-day vulns in one giant database no one will think to break into

• Serious Security Vulnerability Hits DrayTek’s UK Fibre Routers

• Kaseya issues patch for on-premise customers, SaaS rollout underway

Data Breaches

• Morgan Stanley suffered data breach of customers after supply chain hack

• Fashion retailer Guess discloses data breach after ransomware attack

• Insurance giant CNA reports data breach after ransomware attack

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• SolarWinds 0-day gave Chinese hackers privileged access to customer servers

• Magecart hackers hide stolen credit card data into images and bogus CSS files

Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

• Does cyber crime impact crypto currency prices? Researchers find out

Insider Threats

• New Code42 Study Reveals Significant Impact of Insider Risk

Dark Web

• Feds: Dark web operator sought to sell inside information

Supply Chain

• UK food supply chain vulnerable to cyber-attack, expert warns

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Vulnerability in Schneider Electric PLCs allows for undetectable remote takeover

• Unpatched Critical RCE Bug Allows Industrial, Utility Takeovers

Nation State Actors

• Fake Zoom App Dropped by New APT ‘Luminous Moth’

• These Iranian hackers posed as academics in a bid to steal email passwords

Privacy

• Threat actors scrape 600 million LinkedIn profiles and are selling the data online – again

User Education, Awareness and Training

• Without training one in three users fall for phishing scams 

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Other News

Kaseya's Staff Sounded the Alarm About Security Flaws for Years Before Ransomware Attack

Israeli Firm Helped Governments Target Journalists, Activists with 0-Days and Spyware

Endpoint Detection (alone) won’t protect your organisation from advanced hacking groups

Kaseya hack proves we need better cyber metrics

Instagram's Security Checkup will help users secure their accounts after a hack

79% of organisations identify threat modelling as a top priority in 2021

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 July 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Hackers Demand $70 Million To End Biggest Ransomware Attack On Record

An affiliate of the notorious REvil gang, best known for extorting $11 million from the meat-processor JBS after a Memorial Day attack, infected thousands of victims in at least 17 countries on Friday, largely through firms that remotely manage IT infrastructure for multiple customers. REvil was demanding ransoms of up to $5 million, the researchers said. But late Sunday it offered in a posting on its dark web site a universal decryptor software key that would unscramble all affected machines in exchange for $70 million in crypto currency.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ransomware-attack-revil-hackers-demand-70-million/

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Zero Day Malware Reached An All-Time High Of 74% In Q1 2021

74% of threats detected in Q1 2021 were zero day malware – or those for which a signature-based antivirus solution did not detect at the time of the malware release – capable of circumventing conventional antivirus solutions. The report also covers new threat intelligence on rising network attack rates, how attackers are trying to disguise and repurpose old exploits, the quarter’s top malware attacks, and more.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/29/zero-day-malware-q1-2021/

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New Trojan Malware Steals Millions Of Login Credentials

There is a new custom Trojan-type malware that managed to infiltrate over three million Windows computers and steal nearly 26 million login credentials for about a million websites. The findings suggest that the Trojan classifies the websites into a dozen categories, which include virtually all popular email services, social media platforms, file storage and sharing services, ecommerce platforms, financial platforms, and more. In all, the unnamed malware managed to siphon away 1.2 terabytes of personal data including over a million unique email addresses, over two billion cookies, and more than six million other files.

https://www.techradar.com/news/malware-steals-millions-of-login-credentials-for-popular-websites

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Ransomware As A Service: Negotiators Are Now In High Demand

The Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) ecosystem is evolving into something akin to a corporate structure, with new openings available for "negotiators" -- a role focused on extorting victims to pay a ransom. A study in RaaS trends has recently come out saying that one-man-band operations have almost "completely dissolved" due to the lucrative nature of the criminal ransomware business. Showing the potential financial gains squeezed from companies desperate to unlock their systems have given rise to specialists in cyber crime and extortion and have also led to a high demand for individuals to take over the negotiation part of an attack chain.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-as-a-service-negotiators-between-hackers-and-victims-are-now-in-high-demand/

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MacOS Targeted In WildPressure APT Malware Campaign

Recently, threat actors known as WildPressure have added a MacOS malware variant to their latest campaign targeting energy sector businesses, while enlisting compromised WordPress websites to carry out attacks. Furthermore, known novel malware, initially identified in March 2020 and dubbed Milum, has now been retooled with a PyInstaller bundle containing a trojan dropper compatible with Windows and MacOS systems, according to researchers. Compromised endpoints allow the advanced persistent threat (APT) group to download and upload files and executing commands.

https://threatpost.com/macos-wildpressure-apt/167606/

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The Cost Of Cyber Insurance Increased 32% Last Year And Shows No Signs Of Easing

The cost of insurance to protect businesses and organisations against the ever-increasing threat of cyber crimes has soared by a third in the last year. Also adding that global cyber insurance pricing has increased by an average of 32 percent in the year to June. Not only are premiums going through the roof, insurers are also attaching more strings to their policies, demanding ever more assurances that firms taking out cover have the necessary systems and processes in place to prevent a cyber mishap. Previous research also suggests that the upward squeeze on premiums shows no sign of easing, which, in turn, is putting more strain on the sector.

https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/05/cyber_insurance_report/

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Critical Flaws In Windows Print Spooler Service Could Allow For Remote Attacks

Administrators are urged to apply the latest patches from Microsoft and disable the Windows Print spooler service in domain controllers and systems not used for printing. This is because Microsoft is currently grappling with a couple of security holes in its Windows Print spooler service that could allow attackers to remotely control an affected system. Anyone able to exploit the more recent vulnerability of the two would be able to run code on the compromised computer with full system privileges. That attacker could then install software, modify data and create new user accounts.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/critical-flaws-in-windows-print-spooler-service-could-allow-for-remote-attacks/

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End Users In The Dark About Latest Cyber Threats, Attacks

According to a recent survey, which polled consumers and end users, high-profile incidents such as the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. and the breach of a Florida city's water utilities were either overlooked or ignored by many outside the IT and information security fields. As a result, the responsibility for keeping users informed and aware of the need for heightened security appears to fall on administrators and IT staff.

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/252503223/End-users-in-the-dark-about-latest-cyber-threats-attacks

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British Airways Settles Over Record Claim For Data Breach

British Airways has settled what is thought to be the biggest claim for a data breach in British legal history, involving 16,000 victims. However, the amount was not disclosed. When The breach took place three years ago, multiple data sources and customer data was leaked, including the leakage of names, addresses and card payment details which affected 420,000 customers and staff. As a result, in 2019 the Information Commissioner’s Office hit BA with its largest ever fine at £20 million.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-airways-settles-over-record-claim-for-data-breach-g0f63dnst

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Hackers On Loose As 9,000 Data Leaks A Year Recorded

Public bodies and the private sector suffered nearly 9,000 data security incidents in 12 months with sensitive and private information hacked, lost or accidentally given to the wrong people. This Data was seen to lists more than 500 organisations hit by ransomware attacks and a further 562 incidents of hacking. There was also a total of 8,815 data security incidents in 2020/21 with the most breaches in the health and education sectors. Furthermore, over the past three years, police forces across England and Wales suffered an average eight breaches a week. Even security experts announced that these figures were “alarming” and that the public would be “disturbed” to learn how often important information/data was being lost.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hackers-9000-data-leaks-recorded-cyber-crime-56nvs7t6w

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Demands Are Digital Extortion: Don’t Pay

• Trickbot Cyber Crime Group Linked To New Diavol Ransomware

• Swedish Coop Supermarkets Shut Due To US Ransomware Cyber Attack

• Ransomware-Hit Law Firm Gets Court Order Asking Crooks Not To Publish The Data They Stole

• The Rise And Rise Of Ransomware As A Service

• This Crowd Sourced Ransomware Payment Tracker Shows How Much Cyber Criminals Have Heisted

• Ransomware: US Warns Russia To Take Action After Latest Attacks

• Kaseya Says Up To 1,500 Businesses Compromised In Massive Ransomware Attack

Phishing

• Attackers Use ‘Offensive AI’ To Create Deepfakes For Phishing Campaigns

Malware

• Microsoft Office Users Face Malware-Protection Bypass

• TrickBot Spruces Up Its Banking Trojan Module

• WildPressure APT Emerges With New Malware Targeting Windows and MacOS

• Fake Kaseya VSA Security Update Drops Cobalt Strike

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft Issues Emergency Patch for Critical Windows PrintNightmare Vulnerability

• Microsoft Warns Of Critical PowerShell 7 Code Execution Vulnerability

• Another 0-Day Looms For Many Western Digital Users

• Researchers Briefly Posted PoC For Windows Print Spooler RCE Flaw

• Kaseya Patches Imminent After Zero-Day Exploits, 1,500 Impacted

• SonicWall Addresses Critical CVE-2021-20026 Flaw In NSM Devices

• Kaseya Left Customer Portal Vulnerable To 2015 Flaw In Its Own Software

• Morgan Stanley Announces Breach Of Customer SSNs Through Accellion FTA Vulnerability

Data Breaches

• Hacker Obtains Data On Thousands Of VPN Users

• US Insurance Giant AJG Reports Data Breach After Ransomware Attack

• Thousands Of Patients Hit By NHS Data Breaches

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• UK, US Agencies Warn Of Large-Scale Brute-Force Attacks Carried Out By Russian APT

• Moroccan Hacker Dr Hex Arrested For Phishing Attacks, Malware Distribution

• Operation Lyrebird: Group-IB Assists INTERPOL In Identifying Suspect Behind Numerous Cyber Crimes Worldwide

Supply Chain

• Kaseya Supply Chain Attack Hits Nearly 40 Service Providers With REvil Ransomware

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Oil & Gas Targeted in Year-Long Cyber Espionage Campaign

Nation State Actors

• SolarWinds Hackers Breached RNC Via Synnex In New Attack: Report

• Lazarus gang targets engineers with job offers using poisoned emails (tripwire.com)

Cloud

• Enterprise Hybrid and Multicloud Security Attack Surface Grows

• Public Cloud Security 'Just Barely Adequate,' Experts Say

Privacy

• A New ‘Digital Violence’ Platform Maps Dozens Of Victims Of NSO Group’s Spyware

• Audio Editor Audacity Denies Spyware Accusation

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Other News

• IT Manager Who Swindled Essex Hospital Trust Out Of £800k Gets 5 Years In Prison

• US Companies Hit By 'Colossal' Cyber Attack

• Watch Out Gamers, Hackers Have You In Their Crosshairs

• Website Of Mongolian Certificate Authority Served Backdoored Client Installer

• Security Problems Worsen As Enterprises Build Hybrid And Multiloud Systems

• Report Shines Light On Revil's Depressingly Simple Tactics: Phishing, Credential Stuffing RDP Servers... The Usual

• Leaked infrastructure code, credentials and keys costing orgs an average of $1.2 million per year

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 02 July 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

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Russian Hackers Target IT Supply Chain In Ransomware Attack Leading To Hundreds Of Firms Being Hit

Hackers began a ransomware attack on Friday, hitting at least 200 companies, according to cyber security researchers. 

In what appears to be one of the largest supply chain attacks to date, hackers compromised Kaseya, an IT management software supplier, in order to spread ransomware to the managed service providers that use its technology, as well as to their clients in turn. 

The attacks have been attributed t=to REvil, the notorious Russia-linked ransomware cartel that the FBI claimed was behind recent crippling attack on beef supplier JBS. 

The attack is the latest example of hackers weaponising the IT supply chain in order to attack victims at scale, by breaching just one provider. Last year, it emerged that Russian state-backed hackers had hijacked the SolarWinds IT software group in order to penetrate the email networks of US federal agencies and corporations, for example. 

Late on Friday, Kaseya urged those using the compromised “VSA server” tool, which provides remote monitoring and patching capabilities, to shut it down immediately. 

https://www.ft.com/content/a8e7c9a2-5819-424f-b087-c6f2e8f0c7a1

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71% Of Organisations Experienced BEC Attacks Over The Past Year

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks are one of the most financially damaging cyber crimes and have been on the rise over the past year. This is according to a new report which revealed that spoofed email accounts or websites accounted for the highest number of BEC attack as 71% of organisations acknowledged they had seen one over the past year. This is followed by spear phishing (69%) and malware (24%). Data from 270 IT and cyber security professionals were collected to identify the latest enterprise adoption trends, gaps and solution preferences related to phishing attacks.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/06/25/bec-attacks-past-year/

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Cyber Insurance Isn't Helping With Cyber Security, And It Might Be Making The Ransomware Crisis Worse, Say Researchers

Cyber insurance is designed to protect organisations against the fallout of cyber attacks, including covering the financial costs of dealing with incidents. However, some critics argue that insurance encourages ransomware victims to simply pay the ransom demand that will then be covered by the insurers, rather than have adequate security to deter hackers in the first place. Insurers argue that it's the customer that makes any decision to pay the ransom, not the insurer.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-has-become-anc`-existential-threat-that-means-cyber-insurance-is-about-to-change/

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LinkedIn Breach Reportedly Exposes Data Of 92% Of Users, Including Inferred Salaries

A second massive LinkedIn breach reportedly exposes the data of 700M users, which is more than 92% of the total 756M users. The database is for sale on the dark web, with records including phone numbers, physical addresses, geolocation data, and inferred salaries. The hacker who obtained the data has posted a sample of 1M records, and checks confirm that the data is both genuine and up to date. No passwords are included, but as the site notes, this is still valuable data that can be used for identity theft and convincing-looking phishing attempts that can themselves be used to obtain login credentials for LinkedIn and other sites. https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/29/linkedin-breach/

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Users Clueless About Cyber Security Risks

Organisations are facing yet another unprecedented threat to their cyber security now that employees are headed back into offices with their personal devices, lax security hygiene and no clue about some of the most catastrophic attacks in history, such as the Colonial Pipeline shutdown. A new survey shows the mountains of work ahead for security teams in not just locking down their organisations’ systems but also in keeping users from getting duped into handing over the keys to the kingdom. 2,000 end users were surveyed in the U.S. and found the dangers to critical infrastructure, utilities and food supplies are not sinking in with the public, despite the deluge of headlines.

https://threatpost.com/users-clueless-cybersecurity-risks-study/167404/

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Ransomware: Paying Up Won't Stop You From Getting Hit Again, Says Cyber Security Chief

Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) has been praised for its response after falling victim to a major ransomware attack and for not giving into cyber criminals and paying a ransom. HSE was hit with Conti ransomware in May, significantly impacting frontline health services. The attackers initially demanded a ransom of $20 million in bitcoin for the decryption key to restore the network. While the gang eventually handed over a decryption key without receiving a ransom, they still published stolen patient data – a common technique by ransomware attackers, designed to pressure victims into paying.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-paying-up-wont-stop-you-from-getting-hit-again-says-cybersecurity-chief/

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Don’t Leave Your Cyber IR Plan To IT, It’s An Organisational Risk

Phishing attacks, insider threats, denial of service disruptions, malware and ransomware — cyber security incidents like these happen on a daily basis. For most of these incidents, the onsite IT team will remediate based on a pre-developed plan and process. And for many of these incidents, that’s a solid approach. But those incident response plans and strategies are IT oriented and geared toward short-term fixes and single incident responses. Meaning, if an incident accelerates beyond a handful of infected laptops or a compromised server and begins to affect operations of all or even part of the organisation, business itself can be disrupted — or even shut down entirely.

https://securityintelligence.com/posts/incident-response-vs-cyber-crisis-management-plan/

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Cyber Crime Never Sleeps

When the Colonial Pipeline fell victim to a ransomware attack, people across the United States were shocked to find that a single episode of cyber crime could lead to widespread delays, gas shortages and soaring prices at the pump. But disruptive ransomware attacks like these are far from rare; in fact, they are becoming more and more frequent. Cyber crime is on the rise, and our cyber security infrastructure desperately needs to keep up. A quick look at the data from the last year confirms that cyber crime is a growing threat. Identity theft doubled in 2020 over 2019.

https://www.newsweek.com/cybercrime-never-sleeps-opinion-1603901

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IT, Healthcare And Manufacturing Facing Most Phishing Attacks

Researchers examined more than 905 million emails for the H1 2021 Global Phish Cyber Attack Report, finding that the IT industry specifically saw 9,000 phishing emails in a one month span out of almost 400,000 total emails. Their healthcare industry customers saw more than 6,000 phishing emails in one month out of an average of over 450,000 emails and manufacturing saw a bit less than 6,000 phishing emails out of about 330,000 total emails. Researchers said these industries are ripe targets because of the massive amount of personal data they collect and because they are often stocked with outdated technology that can be easily attacked.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/it-healthcare-and-manufacturing-facing-most-phishing-attacks-report/

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Classified Ministry Of Defence Documents Found At Bus Stop

Classified Ministry of Defence documents containing details about HMS Defender and the British military have been found at a bus stop in Kent. One set of documents discusses the likely Russian reaction to the ship's passage through Ukrainian waters off the Crimea coast on Wednesday. Another details plans for a possible UK military presence in Afghanistan after the US-led NATO operation there ends. The government said an investigation had been launched.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57624942

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Cabinet Office Increases Cyber Security Training Budget By Almost 500%

The UK’s Cabinet Office increased its cyber security training budget to £274,142.85 in the fiscal year 2021 – a 483% increase from the £47,018 spent in the previous year. In its FOI response, the Cabinet Office detailed the cyber security courses attended by its staff, revealing that the number of booked courses grew from 35 in 2019-20 to 428 in the current fiscal year.

https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/cyber-security/360039/cabinet-office-increases-cyber-spending-by-almost-500-amid-cctv

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Threats

Ransomware

• Ransomware Funds More Ransomware, So How Do We Stop It?

• Cyber Security Chief Warns ‘Ransomware As A Service’ Scam

• New Ransomware Group Hive Leaks Altus Group Sample Files

• Increase In Ransomware Attacks ‘Absolutely Aligns’ With Rise Of Crypto, FireEye CEO Says

• Ransomware Gangs Now Creating Websites To Recruit Affiliates

• New Ransomware Highlights Widespread Adoption Of Golang Language By Cyber Attackers

• $12 Billion Government Contractor Booz Allen Facilitates Ransomware Payments—Even Though The FBI Says Never Pay

• Ransomware: A Thriving Business

• This Major Ransomware Attack Was Foiled At The Last Minute. Here's How They Spotted It

• Babuk Ransomware Builder Mysteriously Appears In VirusTotal

• Using VMs To Hide Ransomware Attacks Is Becoming More Popular

Phishing

• Phishing Most Common Cyber Incident Faced By SMEs

• HMRC-Branded Phishing Scams Up 87% In A Year

Malware

• Microsoft Admits To Signing Rootkit Malware In Supply-Chain Fiasco

• The 'ChaChi' Trojan Is Helping A Ransomware Gang Target Schools

• Indexsinas SMB Worm Campaign Infests Whole Enterprises

Mobile

• Carrier Suspected Of Injecting Ads Into Two-Factor SMS Messages

IoT

• Homes Filled With Smart Devices Could Be Exposed To Thousands Of Hacking Attacks In A Week

Data Breaches

• Tulsa Police Say 18,000 Files Are Leaked After Conti Ransomware Hack

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Cobalt Strike Usage Explodes Among Cybercrooks

• FIN7 ‘Pen Tester’ Headed To Jail Amid $1B In Payment-Card Losses

 Cryptocurrency/Cryptojacking

• Hackers Crack Pirated Games With Crypto Jacking Malware

• Crackonosh Malware Abuses Windows Safe Mode To Quietly Mine For Crypto Currency

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• USB Threats Could Critically Impact Business Operations

Nation State Actors

• Russian Hackers Had Months-Long Access To Denmark's Central Bank

• Russian Hackers Are Trying To Brute-Force Hundreds Of Networks

• US And UK Agencies Accuse Russia Of Political Cyber Campaign

Cloud

• Cloud Security Is Still A Work In Progress

• 50% Of CISOs Say The Push For Rapid Growth And Digital Transformation Stalls Cloud Security

Privacy

• Data Collected To Promote Public Health Must Never Be Surrendered To Police

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Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft Finds Netgear Router Bugs Enabling Corporate Breaches

• Cisco ASA Bug Now Actively Exploited As PoC Drops

• June 2021 Quarterly Exchange Updates

• Exploitable Critical RCE Vulnerability Allows Regular Users To Fully Compromise Active Directory

• Critical VMware Carbon Black Bug Allows Authentication Bypass

• My Book Live Users Wake Up To Wiped Devices, Active RCE Attacks

• Flaws In FortiWeb WAF Expose Fortinet Devices To Remote Hack

• NFC Flaws Let Researchers Hack ATMs By Waving A Phone

• 5G Security Vulnerabilities Fluster Mobile Operators

• Hackers Exploited 0-Day, Not 2018 Bug, To Mass-Wipe My Book Live Devices

• A Second Exploit Has Emerged In The Sad WD My Book Live Data Deletion Saga

• Microsoft Adds Second CVE For PrintNightmare Remote Code Execution

• Zyxel Says A Threat Actor Is Targeting Its Enterprise Firewall And VPN Devices

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Other News

• Microsoft Says SolarWinds Hacking Group Has Breached Three New Victims

• Cyber Security Study: SolarWinds Attack Cost Affected Companies An Average Of $12 Million

• EA Ignored Domain Vulnerabilities For Months Despite Warnings And Breaches

• Hackney Blames A Cyber Attack For Not Issuing Council Tax Refund

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 11 June 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

World’s Biggest Meat Producer JBS Pays $11m Cyber Crime Ransom

JBS, the world’s biggest meat processor, has paid an $11m (£7.8m) ransom after a cyber attack shut down operations, including abattoirs in the US, Australia and Canada. While most of its operations have been restored, the Brazilian-headquartered company said it hoped the payment would head off any further complications including data theft. JBS, which supplies more than a fifth of all beef in the US, reportedly made the payment in bitcoin.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/10/worlds-biggest-meat-producer-jbs-pays-11m-cybercrime-ransom

Jackware: A New Type Of Ransomware Could Be 10 Times As Dangerous

Between the attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS, which disrupted nearly half of the East Coast’s gasoline supply for a week and threatened 20% of the U.S. meat market, respectively, consumers are finally experiencing the first physical impacts to their daily lives from cyber attacks. As bad as these attacks are, they could get a lot worse. Cyber criminals are constantly evolving, and what is keeping many security professionals up at night is the growing risk of “jackware” — a new type of ransomware that could be 10 times more dangerous because instead of encrypting Windows computers and servers. Jackware hijacks the actual physical devices and machines that make modern life possible. It’s only a matter of when we will see these attacks happen

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ransomware-jackware-115229732.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

Lewd Phishing Lures Aimed At Business Explode

Attackers have amped up their use of X-rated phishing lures in business email compromise (BEC) attacks. A new report found a stunning 974-percent spike in social-engineering scams involving suggestive materials, usually aimed at male-sounding names within a company. The Threat Intelligence team with GreatHorn made the discovery and explained it’s not simply libido driving users to click on these suggestive scams. Instead, these emails popping up on people’s screens at work are intended to shock the user, opening the door for them to make a reckless decision to click. It’s a tactic GreatHorn called “dynamite phishing.”

https://threatpost.com/lewd-phishing-lures-business-explode/166734/

UK Schools Forced To Shut Following Critical Ransomware Attack

Two schools in the south of England have been forced to temporarily close their doors after a ransomware attack that encrypted and stole sensitive data. The Skinners' Kent Academy and Skinners' Kent Primary School were attacked on June 2, according to a statement on the trust’s website which said it is currently working with third-party security experts, the police, and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). It revealed that on-premises servers were targeted at the Tunbridge Well-based schools. As student and staff emergency contact details, medical records, timetables, and registers were encrypted by the attackers, the decision was taken to close on Monday.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/schools-shut-ransomware-attacl/

Emerging Ransomware Targets Dozens Of Businesses Worldwide

An emerging ransomware strain in the threat landscape claims to have breached 30 organisations in just four months since it went operational by riding on the coattails of a notorious ransomware syndicate. First observed in February 2021, "Prometheus" is an offshoot of another well-known ransomware variant called Thanos, which was previously deployed against state-run organisations in the Middle East and North Africa last year. The affected entities are believed to be government, financial services, manufacturing, logistics, consulting, agriculture, healthcare services, insurance agencies, energy and law firms in the U.S., U.K., and a dozen more countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.

https://thehackernews.com/2021/06/emerging-ransomware-targets-dozens-of.html

COVID-19 Has Transformed Work, But Cyber Security Is Not Keeping Pace, Report Finds

An international survey of tech professionals from the Thales Group finds some bleak news for the current state of data security: the COVID-19 pandemic has upended cyber security norms, and security teams are struggling to keep up. The problems appear to be snowballing; lack of preparation has led to a scramble resulting in poor data protection practices, outdated security infrastructure not receiving needed overhauls, a jumble of new systems that only make matters worse and priority misalignment between security teams and leadership.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/covid-19-has-transformed-work-but-cybersecurity-isnt-keeping-pace-report-finds/

Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack Was The Result Of An Old VPN Password

It took only one dusty, no-longer-used password for the DarkSide cyber criminals to breach the network of Colonial Pipeline Co. last month, resulting in a ransomware attack that caused significant disruption and remains under investigation by the U.S. government and cyber security experts. Attackers used the password to a VPN account that was no longer in use but still allowed them to remotely access Colonial Pipeline’s network, Charles Carmakal, senior vice president at FireEye’s cyber security consulting firm Mandiant, told Bloomberg in an interview, according to a published report on the news outlet’s website.

https://threatpost.com/darkside-pwned-colonial-with-old-vpn-password/166743/

Evil Corp Rebrands Ransomware To Escape Sanctions

Threat actors behind a notorious Russian cyber crime group appear to have rebranded their ransomware once again in a bid to escape US sanctions prohibiting victims from paying them. Experts took to Twitter to point out that a leak site previously run by the Babuk group, which famously attacked Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), had rebranded to “PayloadBin.” The Babuk group claimed that it was shutting down its affiliate model for encrypting victims and moving to a new model back in April. A ‘new’ ransomware variant with the same name has also been doing the rounds of late, but according to CTO of Emsisoft, Fabian Wosar, it’s nothing more than a copycat effort by Evil Corp.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/evil-corp-rebrands-ransomware/

Billions Of Passwords Leaked Online From Past Data Breaches

A list of leaked passwords discovered on a hacker forum may be one of the largest such collections of all time. A 100GB text file leaked by a user on a popular hacker forum contains 8.4 billion passwords, likely gathered from past data breaches.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/billions-of-passwords-leaked-online-from-past-data-breaches/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Emerging 'Prometheus' Ransomware Claims 30 Victims In A Dozen Countries, Palo Alto Networks Says

• Ransomware Gangs Are Increasingly Going After SonicWall Devices

• A Deep Dive Into Nefilim, A Ransomware Group With An Eye For $1BN+ Revenue Companies

• Fujifilm Refuses To Pay Ransomware Demand, Restores Network From Backups

Phishing

• New Sophisticated Email-Based Attack From Nobelium

• Phishing Emails Remain In User Inboxes Over 3 Days Before They're Removed

• This Phishing Email Is Pushing Password-Stealing Malware To Windows PCs

Other Social Engineering

• Dangerous Connections: Sextortion Scams Soar During Lockdown, ITV News Investigation Finds

• WhatsApp Hijack Scam Continues To Spread

Malware

• Pirated Games Helped A Malware Campaign Compromise 3.2 Million PCs

• Steam Gaming Platform Hosting Malware

• Mystery Malware Steals 26M Passwords From Millions Of PCs. Are You Affected?

• Unit 42 Discovers First Known Malware Targeting Windows Containers

• Freakout Malware Worms Its Way Into Vulnerable VMware Servers

Mobile

• Android Banking Malware Sharply Increased In The First Chunk Of 2021, Reckons ESET

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft June 2021 Patch Tuesday: 50 Vulnerabilities Patched, Six Zero-Days Exploited In The Wild

• Adobe Issues Security Updates For 41 Vulnerabilities In 10 Products

• Update Google Chrome Right Now To Avoid A Zero-Day Vulnerability

• Puzzlemaker Attacks Exploit Windows Zero-Day, Chrome Vulnerabilities

• Another Brick In The Wall: eCrime Groups Leverage SonicWall VPN Vulnerability

• Google Patches Critical Android RCE Bug

• Intel Plugs 29 Holes In CPUs, Bluetooth, Security

• Critical Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Found In ‘Unsupported’ Fedena School Management Software

• Microsoft Office MSGraph Vulnerability Could Lead To Code Execution

• WordPress Force Installs Jetpack Security Update On 5 Million Sites

Data Breaches

• EA Got Hit By A Data Breach, And Hackers Are Selling Source Code

• Dutch Pizza Chain Discloses Breach After Hacker Tries To Extort Company

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• ANOM: Hundreds Arrested In Massive Global Crime Sting Using Messaging App

Cryptocurrency

• Bitcoin Falls After US Seizes Most Of Colonial Ransom

• Crypto Currency Dealers Face Closure For Failing Uk Money Laundering Test

Nation State Actors

• Gelsemium: When Threat Actors Go Gardening

• Security Researcher Says Attacks On Russian Government Have Chinese Fingerprints – And Typos, Too

• Novel ‘Victory’ Backdoor Spotted In Chinese APT Campaign

• Chinese Hackers Using Previously Unknown Backdoor

Denial of Service

• ‘Fancy Lazarus’ Cyber Attackers Ramp Up Ransom DDoS Efforts

• DDoS Attacks Increase 341% Amid Pandemic

Charities

• Hackers Stole $650,000 From Nonprofit And Got Away

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Other News

• US Investigates Leak Of Records Showing Billionaires Pay Little Tax

• Most Mobile Finance Apps Vulnerable To Data Breaches

• Many Executives Still Don't Understand Basic Tech

• The Rise Of Cyber Security Debt

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 04 June 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Cyber Insurers Recoil As Ransomware Attacks ‘Skyrocket’

The Great Fire of London helped forge the property insurance market, as residents feared a repeat of the savage destruction of 1666. In the absence of a state-backed fire service, some insurers even employed their own brigades, betting that limiting the damage to a property would be cheaper than rebuilding it. After a wave of high-profile cyber assaults, Graeme Newman, chief innovation officer at London-based insurance provider CFC, draws a parallel with today’s rapidly evolving market for cyber coverage. Insurance companies now provide emergency support services as well as financial compensation, so “the insurers own the digital fire trucks”, he said.

https://www.ft.com/content/4f91c4e7-973b-4c1a-91c2-7742c3aa9922

US Puts Cyber Crime On Par With Terror After Ransomware Attacks

The US government is raising the fight against cyber criminals to the same level as the battle against terrorists after a surge of ransomware attacks on large corporations. Internal guidance circulated by the Department of Justice instructs prosecutors to pool their information about hackers. The idea, said John Carlin, of the attorney-general’s office, is to “make the connections between actors and work your way up to disrupt the whole chain”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/us-cybercrime-terror-ransomware-attacks-joe-biden-pzrqbkfwt

Russia Under Fire As Cyber Attack Leaves 7,000 Out Of Work

An attack this week on JBS meatworks in North America and Australia brought the firm to a standstill, and now threatens to turn into a diplomatic row with Russia. JBS are reported to supply 20% of the world meat market and the ransomware attack has left 7,000 workers unable to do their jobs.

https://www.afr.com/politics/russia-under-fire-as-ransomware-attack-leaves-7000-out-of-work-20210602-p57xha

Irish Health Service Confirms Data Of Nearly 520 Patients Is Online After Cyber Attack

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed the data of nearly 520 patients is online after media reports of their publication. In a statement, the HSE said the data contains correspondence with patients, minutes of meetings and includes sensitive patient data. The HSE also confirmed corporate documents are among the HSE data illegally accessed.  Confirmation of the authenticity of this data follows an analysis carried out by the agency and comments from the Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, that reports of patient data being shared online are "very credible".

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40301054.html

Enterprise Networks Vulnerable To 20-Year-Old Exploits

While the industry focuses on exotic attacks – like the SolarWinds incident — the real risk to enterprises comes from older exploits, some as much as 20-years old. “While organisations always need to keep up with the latest security patches, it is also vital to ensure older system and well-known vulnerabilities from years past are monitored and patched as well,” says Etay Maor, senior director of security strategy at Cato Networks. “Threat actors are attempting to take advantage of overlooked, vulnerable systems.” Our research showed that attackers often scanned for end-of-life and unsupported systems. Common Vulnerability and Exposures (CVE) identified were exploits targeting software, namely vSphere, Oracle WebLogic, and Big-IP, as well as routers with remote administration vulnerabilities.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/05/27/enterprise-networks-vulnerable/

US Authorities Seize Two Domains Used By SolarWinds Intruders For Malware Spear-Phishing Operation

Uncle Sam on Tuesday said it had seized two web domains used to foist malware on victims using spoofed emails from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The domain takeovers, which occurred on Friday, followed a court order issued in the wake of a Microsoft report warning about the spear-phishing campaign. The phishing effort relied on malware-laden messages sent via marketing service Constant Contact. "Cyber intrusions and spear-phishing email attacks can cause widespread damage throughout affected computer networks, and can result in significant harm to individual victims, government agencies, NGOs, and private businesses,” said Acting US Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement. "As demonstrated by the court-authorized seizure of these malicious domains, we are committed to using all available tools to protect the public and our government from these worldwide hacking threats."

https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/02/feds_seize_nobelium/

Hacker Group DarkSide Operates In A Similar Way To A Franchise

DarkSide, the hacker group behind the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, has a business model that’s more familiar than people think, according to New York Times correspondent Andrew Kramer, “It operates something like a franchise, where individual hackers can come and receive the ransomware software and use it, as well as, use DarkSide’s reputation, as it were, to extract money from their targets, mostly in the United States,” Kramer said in an interview that aired Wednesday night.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/hacker-group-darksides-operates-in-a-similar-way-to-a-franchise-new-york-times-reporter-says.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar

Interpol Intercepts $83 Million Fighting Financial Cyber Crime

The Interpol (short for International Criminal Police Organisation) has intercepted $83 million belonging to victims of online financial crime from being transferred to the accounts of their attackers. Over 40 law enforcement officers specialized in fighting cyber crime across the Asia Pacific region took part in the Interpol-coordinated Operation HAECHI-I spanning more than six months. Between September 2020 and March 2021, law enforcement focused on battling five types of online financial crimes: investment fraud, romance scams, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, online sextortion, and voice phishing.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/interpol-intercepts-83-million-fighting-financial-cyber-crime/

Is It Really The Wild West In Cyber Crime? Why We Need To Re-Examine Our Approach To Ransomware

Once again, cyber security has become a headline topic within and well outside technology circles, along with the little-known operator of a significant fuel pipeline: Colonial Pipeline. A ransomware attack, and ensuing panic buying of gasoline, resulted in widespread fuel shortages on the east coast, thrusting the issue of cyber security into the lives of everyday Americans. Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount later acknowledged that his company ultimately paid the cybercriminals $4.4 million to unlock company systems, generating a great deal of controversy around the simple question (and associated complex potential answers), of whether companies should pay when their systems are held hostage by ransomware.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/is-it-really-the-wild-west-in-cybercrime-why-we-need-to-re-examine-our-approach-to-ransomware/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Anti-Ransomware Biz Exagrid ‘Paid $2.6M Ransomware Demand’

• White House Contacts Russia After Hack Of World’s Largest Meatpacking Company

• This New Ransomware Is Targeting Unpatched Microsoft Exchange Servers

• Fujifilm Becomes Latest Ransomware Victim As White House Urges Business Leaders To Take Action

• Cyber Crime Forum Advertises Alleged Database, Source Code From Russian Firm That Helped Parler

• On The Taxonomy And Evolution Of Ransomware

Phishing

• Phishing Emails Remain in User Inboxes Over 3 Days ... (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering

• The Bizarro Streaming Site That Hackers Built From Scratch

Malware

• Malware Can Use This Trick To Bypass Ransomware Defense In Antivirus Solutions

• Exchange Servers Targeted By ‘Epsilon Red’ Malware

Mobile

IOT

• Amazon Sidewalk Poised To Sweep You Into Its Mesh

 Vulnerabilities

• XSS Vulnerability Found In Popular WYSIWYG Website Editor

• Huawei USB LTE Dongles Are Vulnerable To Privilege Escalation Attacks

• Hackers Actively Exploiting 0-Day In WordPress Plugin Installed On Over 17,000 Sites

• EPUB Vulnerabilities: Electronic Reading Systems Riddled With Browser-Like Flaws

• SonicWall Urges Customers To 'Immediately' Patch NSM On-Prem Bug

Data Breaches

• GDPR: EU Privacy Watchdog Probing The Use Of AWS And Azure Cloud Services

Supply Chain

• What Is A Supply Chain Attack?

• Microsoft Office 365 A Major Supply Chain Attack Vector

Nation State Actors

• Chinese Cyber Criminals Spent Three Years Creating A New Backdoor To Spy On Governments

• Kimsuky APT Continues To Target South Korean Government Using Appleseed Backdoor

• Russian Hacker Pavel Sitnikov Arrested For Sharing Malware Source Code

Privacy

• You Have A Week To Opt-Out Of Amazon Sidewalk, Do It Now

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Other News

• “Have I Been Pwned” Breach Site Partners With… The FBI!

• 17 Cyber Insurance Application Questions You'll Need To Answer

• Cyber Criminals Go Corporate As Hacking Becomes A Business

• The Human Cost Of Understaffed SOCs

• Security Ops Teams Struggle To Switch Off At Home

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 21 May 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

5 Reasons Why Enterprises Need Cyber Security Awareness And Training

Research shows that most cyber attacks rely on exploiting the human factor with the help of creative and innovative phishing techniques and other attack vectors. Almost 90% of all data breaches are caused due to human error. Therefore, even if an organisation has a robust cyber security infrastructure in place, the absence of cyber security awareness among employees can leave a huge gap in its cyber security framework. This gap can be easily exploited by cyber criminals to launch various types of cyber attacks. Hence, cyber security awareness and training are very much needed for any enterprise to secure it against cyber attacks.

https://securityboulevard.com/2021/04/5-reasons-why-enterprises-need-cyber-security-awareness-and-training/

Ban Ransom Payments To Hackers, Urges Ex-GCHQ Boss

Britain’s former cyber security chief has called for a ban on ransomware payments after the Irish health service became the latest to be hit by a major attack from international criminals. Ciaran Martin, the founding chief executive of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said that making payments illegal would help to break the lucrative global hacking business model. Martin said that businesses were helping to fund the organised criminals who locked and stole their data. “At the moment you can pay to make it quietly go away. There’s no legal obligations involved,” he said. “There’s no obligation to report to anybody, there’s no traceability of payment of crypto currency. We have allowed this to spiral in an invisible way.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stop-paying-hackers-ransom-demands-ex-gchq-cybersecurity-chief-warns-323fqg8zt

Ransomware’s New Swindle: Triple Extortion

Ransomware attacks are exploding at a staggering rate, and so are the ransoms being demanded. Now experts are warning against a new threat — triple extortion — which means that attackers are expanding out to demand payments from customers, partners and other third parties related to the initial breach to grab even more cash for their crimes. Check Point’s latest ransomware report found that over the past year, ransomware payments have spiked by 171 percent, averaging about $310,000 — and that globally, the number of attacks has surged by 102 percent.

https://threatpost.com/ransomwares-swindle-triple-extortion/166149/

‘It’s A Battle, It’s Warfare’: Experts Seek To Defeat Ransomware Attackers

Cyber security experts like to joke that the hackers who have turned ransomware attacks into a multibillion-dollar industry are often more professional than even their biggest victims. Ransomware attacks — when cyber attackers lock up their target’s computer systems or data until a ransom is paid — returned to the spotlight this week after attacks hit one of the biggest petroleum pipelines in the US, Toshiba’s European business, and Ireland’s health service. While governments have pledged to tackle the problem, experts said the criminal gangs have become more enterprising and continue to have the upper hand. For businesses, they said, there is more pain to come. “This is probably the biggest conundrum in security because companies have to decide how far they participate in this cat-and-mouse game,” said Myrna Soto, former chief strategy and trust officer at Forcepoint and current board member of gas and electricity group Consumers Energy. “It’s a battle, it’s warfare, to be honest.”

https://www.ft.com/content/b48a2d70-4a8c-4407-83a2-59cd055068f8

Colonial Pipeline Boss Confirms $4.4M Ransom Payment

Its boss told the Wall Street Journal he authorised the payment on 7 May because of uncertainty over how long the shutdown would continue. "I know that's a highly controversial decision," Joseph Blount said in his first interview since the hack. The 5,500-mile (8,900-km) pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day. According to the firm, it carries 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel. Chief executive Mr Blount told the newspaper that the firm decided to pay the ransom after discussions with experts who had previously dealt with DarkSide, the criminal organisation behind the attack.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57178503

10 Emerging Cyber Security Trends To Watch In 2021

A flurry of new threats, technologies and business models have emerged in the cyber security space as the world shifted to a remote work model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of a network perimeter in this new world accelerated the adoption of SASE (secure access service edge), zero trust and XDR (extended detection and response) to ensure remote users and their data are protected. Adversaries have taken advantage of the complexity introduced by newly remote workforces to falsely impersonate legitimate users through credential theft and have upped the ante by targeting customers in the victim’s supply chain. The ability to monetize ransomware attacks by threatening to publicly leak victim data has made it more lucrative, while employers continue to fend off insiders with an agenda.

https://www.crn.com/news/security/10-emerging-cybersecurity-trends-to-watch-in-2021

How Penetration Testing Can Promote A False Sense Of Security

Rob Gurzeev is concerned about blind spots—past and present. In his DarkReading article Defending the Castle: How World History Can Teach Cyber security a Lesson, Gurzeev mentioned, "Military battles bring direct lessons and, I find, often serve as a reminder that attack surface blind spots have been an Achilles' heel for defenders for a long time." "Cyber security attackers follow this same principle today," wrote Gurzeev. "Companies typically have a sizable number of IT assets within their external attack surface they neither monitor nor defend and probably do not know about in the first place."

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-penetration-testing-can-promote-a-false-sense-of-security/

Ransomware Attacks Are Only Getting Worse, Darkside Group "Quits," But That May Just Be A Strategy

Earlier this month, a hacker group named DarkSide launched a ransomware attack against the business network of the Colonial Pipeline, forcing the company to shut down the 5,500-mile main pipeline and leading to fuel shortages in 17 states and Washington DC last week. According to a Bloomberg report, Colonial paid 75 Bitcoin (around $5 million on the day of the transaction) in ransom to the Eastern European hackers, but officially the company has maintained a different narrative of not having any intention of paying the extortion fee in crypto currency, as the DarkSide group had demanded. However, the Georgia-based company is said to have made the payment within hours of the attack, possibly using a cyber insurance policy to cover it.

https://www.techspot.com/news/89689-ransomware-attacks-only-getting-worse-darkside-group-quits.html

Learning From Cyber Attacks Could Be The Key To Stopping Them

Organisations should use major cyber incidents as a way to think through the core of their security strategies in order to prevent or recover better from similar attacks. "A significant cyber incident is really an opportunity; because it's an opportunity to focus on the core issues that led to these cyber incidents," said Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology at the White House, speaking at the UK National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) CYBERUK 21 virtual conference. Neuberger said that whether it's something like the SolarWinds sophisticated supply chain attack or the Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident, "we know that vulnerabilities across software and hardware can bring on larger concerns", but that looking at the core issues can help everyone improve their security.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/learning-from-cyber-attacks-could-be-the-key-to-stopping-them/

Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Allegedly Has An Alarming Active Vulnerability

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is an incredibly useful feature used by likely millions of people every day. Considering it is free and preinstalled from Microsoft, it beats out most other Windows-based remote desktop software with ease. This, however, does not give it a free pass from having flaws; however, as a security researcher has discovered his password in cleartext within the RDP service’s memory. Researcher Jonas Lykkegård of the Secret Club, a group of hackers, seems to stumble across interesting things from time to time. He recently posted to Twitter about finding a password in cleartext in memory after using the RDP service. It seems he could not believe what he had found, as he tested it again and produced the same results using a new local account.

https://hothardware.com/news/remote-desktop-protocol-storing-passwords-in-cleartext-in-accessible-memory

Amazon’s Ring Is The Largest Civilian Surveillance Network The US Has Ever Seen

In a 2020 letter to management, Max Eliaser, an Amazon software engineer, said Ring is “simply not compatible with a free society”. We should take his claim seriously. Ring video doorbells, Amazon’s signature home security product, pose a serious threat to a free and democratic society. Not only is Ring’s surveillance network spreading rapidly, it is extending the reach of law enforcement into private property and expanding the surveillance of everyday life. What’s more, once Ring users agree to release video content to law enforcement, there is no way to revoke access and few limitations on how that content can be used, stored, and with whom it can be shared.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/18/amazon-ring-largest-civilian-surveillance-network-us

Ransomware Attacks Are Spiking. Is Your Company Prepared?

With the migration to remote work over the last year, cyber attacks have increased exponentially. We saw more attacks of every kind, but the headline for 2020 was ransom attacks, which were up 150% over the previous year. The amount paid by victims of these attacks increased more than 300% in 2020. Already 2021 has seen a dramatic increase in this activity, with high-profile ransom attacks against critical infrastructure, private companies, and municipalities grabbing headlines on a daily basis. The amount of ransom demanded also has significantly increased this year, with some demands reaching tens of millions of dollars. And the attacks have become more sophisticated, with threat actors seizing sensitive company data and holding it hostage for payment.

https://hbr.org/2021/05/ransomware-attacks-are-spiking-is-your-company-prepared

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Threats

Ransomware

• Insurer AXA Hit By Ransomware After Dropping Support For Ransom Payments

• The Bizarre Story Of The Inventor Of Ransomware

• One Of The US’s Largest Insurance Companies Reportedly Paid $40 Million To Ransomware Hackers

• Cyber Attack 'Most Significant On Irish State'

• Double-Extortion Ransomware Attacks On The Rise

• Darkside Ransomware Made $90 Million In Just Nine Months

• Ransomware’s Dangerous New Trick Is Double-Encrypting Your Data

Phishing

• Microsoft, Google Clouds Hijacked For Gobs Of Phishing

• Ofwat Reveals It Has Received 20,000 Spam And Phishing Emails So Far This Year

Other Social Engineering

• Fraudsters Employ Amazon ‘Vishing’ Attacks In Fake Order Scams

Malware

• Experts Warn About Ongoing AutoHotKey-Based Malware Attacks

• Microsoft Warns: Watch Out For This New Malware That Steals Passwords, Webcam And Browser Data

• FIN7 Backdoor Masquerades As Ethical Hacking Tool

Mobile

• 4 Vulnerabilities Under Attack Give Hackers Full Control Of Android Devices

• Take Action Now – Flubot Malware May Be On Its Way

• Bizarro Banking Trojan Sports Sophisticated Backdoor

• 100M Android Users Hit By Rampant Cloud Leaks

IoT

• Four New Video Doorbells And Home Security Cameras Are Vulnerable To Hacking

• EufyCam Users Should Turn Off Their Security Cams Immediately

Vulnerabilities

• Windows PoC Exploit Released For Wormable RCE

• Windows 10 Security Targeted Via New Critical Vulnerability

• Exploit Released For Wormable Windows HTTP Vulnerability

• QNAP Warns Of eCh0raix Ransomware Attacks, Roon Server Zero-Day

• Cross-Browser Tracking Vulnerability Tracks You Via Installed Apps

• More Security Flaws Found In Apple Airtags

Cryptocurrency

• Elon Musk Impersonators Stole More Than $2M In Crypto Currency Scams

Supply Chain

• Rapid7 Is The Latest Victim Of A Software Supply Chain Breach

Nation State Actors

• Ireland’s Health Service: Russian Hackers Made Their First Attack Two Weeks Ago

Denial of Service

• Keksec Cyber Gang Debuts Simps Botnet for Gaming DDoS

Cloud

• Cloud Compromise Now The Biggest Cyber Security Issue For Financial Institutions

• Privacy Regulations Making Cloud Migration Complex

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber Security Spending To Hit $150 Billion This Year

Reports Published in the Last Week

• DDoS Attacks Up 31% In Q1 2021: Report

Other News

• Hackers Used To Be Humans. Soon, AIs Will Hack Humanity

• Solarwinds CEO Reveals Much Earlier Hack Timeline, Regrets Company Blaming Intern

• Cyber Criminals Scanned For Vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers Within Five Minutes Of News Going Public

• The Moral Underground? Ransomware Operators Retreat

• Verizon: Pandemic Ushers In ⅓ More Cyber Misery

• The Bizarre Story Of The Inventor Of Ransomware

• Should Encryption Be Curbed To Combat Child Abuse?

• 5 Ways Hackers Hide Their Tracks

• The Next Big Gasoline Shortage Is Coming

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 30 April 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Ransomware 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.

https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/solarwinds-campaign-even-wider-than-first-thought-5602.html

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.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3616595/buying-cyber-insurance-in-2021-expect-greater-scrutiny-higher-premiums-thanks-to-ransomware-supply.html

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/

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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

• Ransomware Task Force Releases Long-Awaited Recommendations

• New Ransomware Group Uses SonicWall Zero-Day To Breach Networks

Phishing

• Scammers Imitate Windows Logo With Html Tables To Slip Through Email Gateways

• Phishing Attacks Target Chase Bank Customers

• Phishing Impersonates Global Recruitment Firm To Push Malware

Malware

• Rotajakiro: A Linux Backdoor That Has Flown Under The Radar For Years

• Security Firm Kaspersky Believes It Found New CIA Malware

• 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

• Linux Kernel Bug Opens Door to Wider Cyber Attacks

• 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

• MangaDex Discloses Data Breach After Stolen Database Shared Online

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Spotlight on Cyber Criminal Supply Chains

Supply Chain

• CISA Issues Guidance On Defending Against Software Supply Chain Attacks

Nation State Actors

• Cyber Spies Target Military Organisations With New Nebulae Backdoor

• FBI: Russian Hackers Are Still Trying To Break Into Networks, Here's How To Protect Yours From Attack

• APT Actors Increasingly Turn To Exploits To Launch Attacks

• Report: Russia 'Likely' Kept Access To US Networks After SolarWinds Hack

 Reports Published in the Last Week

• Q1 2021 Ransomware Trends: Most Attacks Involved Threat To Leak Stolen Data

• APT Trends Report Q1 2021

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

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 23 April 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

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.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sonicwall-warns-customers-to-patch-3-zero-days-exploited-in-the-wild/

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.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-fbi-removed-hacker-backdoors-from-vulnerable-microsoft-exchange-servers-not-everyone-likes-the-idea/

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.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/pulse-secure-vpn-zero-day-used-to-hack-defense-firms-govt-orgs/

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.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-alerts-continues-to-be-a-hotbed-of-scams-and-malware/

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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

• Top 5 Ransomware Groups

Phishing

• Phishing Tricks With Microsoft Office

Malware

• Malware That Spreads Via Xcode Projects Now Targeting Apple's M1-based Macs

IOT

• Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities Uncovered In Smart Air Fryer

Vulnerabilities

• Google Issues Chrome Update Patching Seven Security Vulnerabilities

• QNAP Fixes Critical RCE Vulnerabilities In NAS Devices

• 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

• Codecov Breach Impacted ‘Hundreds Of Customer Networks

• Yet Another Dating Site Has Suffered A Serious Data Breach

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• 'High-Level' Organiser Of FIN7 Hacking Group Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison

Cryptocurrency

• Natwest Will Refuse To Serve Business Customers Who Accept Cryptocurrencies

Supply Chain

• Growing Reliance On Third-Party Suppliers Signals Increasing Security Risks

Nation State Actors

• Japan Accuses Chinese Military Hacker Over Cyber Attacks

• Chinese threat actors extract big data and sell it on the dark web

• 5 Security Bugs Under Active Nation-State Cyber attack

• Huawei Denies Spying Accusation In The Netherlands

Denial of Service

• DDoS Attack Trends For 2021

• Telecoms Industry Facing Increased DDoS Attack

Other News

• Pupil Hacked Into School's System To Change Their Grades As Gchq Roll Out Cyber Security Training For Teachers

• Most Common Cyber Attack Techniques On Windows Networks For 2020

• When Cryptography Attacks – How TLS Helps Malware Hide In Plain Sight

• TikTok Sued For Billions Over Use Of Children's Data

• Multi-Factor Authentication: Use It For All The People That Access Your Network, All The Time

• 4 Innovative Ways Cyber Attackers Hunt For Security Bugs

• Uk’s Proposed IoT Cyber Security Law Gathers Momentum

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 09 April 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

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Image by Thank you for your support Donations welcome to support from Pixabay

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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.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cyber-insurance-firm-suffers-sophisticated-ransomware-cyber-attack-data-obtained-may-help-hackers-better-target-firms-customers/amp/

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.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3613953/coca-cola-trade-secret-theft-underscores-importance-of-insider-threat-early-detection.html

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.

https://cybernews.com/news/stolen-data-of-500-million-linkedin-users-being-sold-online-2-million-leaked-as-proof-2/

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

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Threats

Ransomware

• REvil ransomware now changes password to auto-login in Safe Mode

Phishing

• LinkedIn Spear-Phishing Campaign Targets Job Hunters

• Phishing Emails Most Commonly Originate from Eastern Europe

Malware

• IcedID Banking Trojan Surges: The New Emotet?

• New wormable Android malware poses as Netflix to hijack WhatsApp sessions

Mobile

• Another supply-chain attack? Android maker Gigaset injects malware into victims' phones via poisoned update

IOT

• 99% of security pros concerned about their IoT and IIoT security

Vulnerabilities

• Critical Zoom vulnerability triggers remote code execution without user input

• Zero-Day Bug Impacts Problem-Plagued Cisco SOHO Routers

• Bug allows attackers to hijack Windows time sync software used to track security incidents

• Critical Cloud Bug in VMWare Carbon Black Allows Takeover

• AMD admits Zen 3 processors are vulnerable to Spectre-like side-channel attack

• Hackers are actively targeting FortiOS vulnerabilities

• Legacy QNAP NAS Devices Vulnerable to Zero-Day 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

• Spy Operations Target Vietnam with Sophisticated RAT

• North Korean hackers return, target infosec researchers in new operation

Privacy

• Cyber criminals could be watching your home security footage

• The Home Office is preparing another attack on encryption

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

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 12 March 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

‘Really Messy’: Why The Hack of Microsoft’s Email System Is Getting Worse, With Attacks Doubling Every Two Hours

The cyber security community sprang into action after Microsoft first announced a series of vulnerabilities that let hackers break into the company's Exchange email and calendar programs. China has used it to spy on a wide range of industries in the United States ranging from medical research to law firms to defence contractors, the company said. China has denied responsibility. In the past 24 hours, the team has observed "exploitation attempts on organizations doubling every two to three hours." The countries feeling the brunt of attack attempts are Turkey, the United States, and Italy, accounting for 19%, 18%, and 10% of all tracked exploit attempts, respectively.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/really-messy-hack-microsofts-email-system-getting-worse-rcna377

https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-exchange-server-hacks-doubling-every-two-hours/

Trickbot Malware Is Now Your Biggest Security Headache

Trickbot malware has risen to fill the gap left by the takedown of the Emotet botnet, with a higher number of criminals shifting towards it to distribute malware attacks. Emotet was the world's most prolific and dangerous malware botnet before it was disrupted by an international law enforcement operation in January this year.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-trojan-malware-is-now-your-biggest-security-headache/

Cyber Criminals Are Increasingly Targeting Browser Zero Days

As more and more of our work is done within our browsers, cyber criminals have begun to leverage web browser exploits to compromise endpoint systems, according to new research from Menlo Security. At the same time, enterprises around the world were forced to make an almost overnight transition to remote work last year and this surge in employees working from home along with the shift to cloud computing have resulted in a greatly increased attack surface.

https://www.techradar.com/news/cybercriminals-are-increasingly-targeting-browser-zero-days

More Than 1m Small Businesses ‘At Risk Of Collapse’ Due To Cyber Threats

The research, commissioned by Vodafone, also showed that 16 per cent of firms would likely be forced to lay off staff in the event of a hack. As a result, the report called on ministers to beef up the country’s corporate cyber defences, warning that a failure to do so could hamper the post-pandemic economic recovery. It urged the government to expand a dedicated business cyber security within the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of GCHQ, and introduce a five per cent VAT cut on cybersecurity products for small companies.

Number Of Ransomware Attacks Grew By More Than 150%

By the end of 2020, the ransomware market, fueled by the pandemic turbulence, had turned into the biggest cyber crime money artery. Based on the analysis of more than 500 attacks observed during Group-IB’s own incident response engagements and cyber threat intelligence activity, researchers estimate that the number of ransomware attacks grew by more than 150% in 2020.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/03/08/ransomware-attacks-grew-2020/

Hackers Are Using Home Office Selfies To Steal Your Personal Data

The pandemic has been the source of plenty of memes and new internet trends, not least the remote working selfie, which involves people taking photos of their home office setup or video conferencing sessions. However, a new blog suggests cyber criminals are capitalizing on this new genre of selfie to steal a range of personal data that could be used to execute identity or financial fraud.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/hackers-are-using-home-office-selfies-to-steal-your-personal-data

Massive Supply-Chain Cyber Attack Breaches Several Airlines

A communications and IT vendor for 90 percent of the world’s airlines, SITA, has been breached, compromising passenger data stored on the company’s U.S. servers in what the company is calling a “highly sophisticated attack.” The affected servers are in Atlanta, and belong to the SITA Passenger Service System (SITA PSS).

https://threatpost.com/supply-chain-cyberattack-airlines/164549/

Millions Of Windows Devices Are Still Infested With Malware

Over 100 million Windows consumer and business devices across the world were infected with malware last year, new analysis has found. While examining the recent Malwarebytes "State of Malware" report, Atlas VPN noted that whilst the number of infected Windows machines seems high, this landmark figure was actually 12% drop when compared to 2019.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/millions-of-windows-devices-are-still-infested-with-malware

Did You Know Browser Extensions Are Looking at Your Bank Account?

Browser extensions have full access to all the web pages you visit. It can see which web pages you are browsing, read their contents, and watch everything you type. It could even modify the web pages—for example, by inserting extra advertisements. If the extension is malicious, it could gather all that private data of yours—from web browsing activity and the emails you type to your passwords and financial information—and send it to a remote server on the internet.

https://www.howtogeek.com/716771/did-you-know-browser-extensions-are-looking-at-your-bank-account/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Capcom reportedly forced employees to work in the office following ransomware attack

• Fake Ad Blocker Delivers Hybrid Cryptominer/Ransomware Infection

• New ransomware only decrypts victims who join their Discord server

Phishing

• Fake Google reCAPTCHA Phishing Attack Swipes Office 365 Passwords

Malware

• Nim-Based Malware Loader Spreads Via Spear-Phishing Emails

• Supernova malware clues link Chinese threat group Spiral to SolarWinds server hacks

Mobile

• Malicious apps on Google Play dropped banking Trojans on user devices

Vulnerabilities

• Microsoft's March Patch Tuesday: Critical remote code execution flaws, IE zero-day fixed

• F5 issues BIG-IP patches to tackle unauthenticated remote code execution, critical flaws

• Hackers Exploit QNAP Vulnerabilities to Turn NAS Devices Into Crypto Miners

• Malware Can Exploit New Flaw in Intel CPUs to Launch Side-Channel Attacks

• Adobe releases batch of security fixes for Framemaker, Creative Cloud, Connect

• Critical 0-day that targeted security researchers gets a patch

• Intel CPU interconnects can be exploited by malware to leak encryption keys and other info

• Now it is F5’s turn to reveal critical security bugs – and the Feds were quick to sound the alarm on these BIG-IP flaws

Organised Crime

• Police raids across Europe after encrypted phone network shut down

Dark Web

• Dark Web Markets for Stolen Data See Banner Sales

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• Hack of '150,000 cameras' investigated by camera firm

Nation-State Actors

• Researchers Unveil New Linux Malware Linked to Chinese Hackers

• United States considering cyber war on Russia in retaliation for SolarWinds hack

Privacy

• The UK is secretly testing a controversial web snooping tool

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Other News

• This Unassuming Little Device Can Hack Your Smart Home

• Did You Know Browser Extensions Are Looking at Your Bank Account?

• White hat bounty hackers become millionaires

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 05 March 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities, and cyber related news from the last week.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

New Strain Of Ransomware Implements Self-Spreading Capabilities

French experts spotted a new Ryuk ransomware variant that implements self-spreading capabilities to infect other devices on victims’ local networks.

This new version has a new attribute that allows it to self replicate over the local network allowing the malware to propagate itself – machine to machine – within the Windows domain. Once launched, it will spread itself to every Windows machine it can reach.

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/115064/reports/ryuk-ransomware-self-spreading-capabilities.html

One In Four People Use Work Passwords For Consumer Websites

The report found that one in four consumers admit to using their work email or passwords to log in to consumer websites and applications such as food delivery apps, online shopping sites and even dating apps. The report found that consumers are neglecting to implement fundamental security safeguards across smart IoT devices at home, which could have serious security ramifications on both the individual and the enterprise amid increased and ongoing remote work spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/02/26/use-work-passwords-for-consumer-websites/

Massive Rise In Threats Across Expanding Attack Surfaces

New malware samples nearly doubled: New ransomware samples increased 106% year-over-year. Trojans increased 128%, with threat actors using trojans to exploit lower-severity vulnerabilities. Sophisticated, multi-staged attacks and malware-as-a-service have become the norm. Vulnerabilities hit a new high: 18,341 new vulnerabilities in 2020 have been reported. To stay ahead of attacks, security and risk leaders need sophisticated insights into which vulnerabilities are high-risk and remediation options for all assets, including non-patching options.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/02/26/expanding-attack-surfaces/

Half of Organisations Concerned Remote Working Puts Them at Greater Risk of Cyber Attacks

Half of organizations are concerned that the shift to remote work is putting them a greater risk of Cyber Attacks, according to a new study with IDG. A survey of UK CIOs, CTOs and IT decision makers revealed that insecure practices are regularly taking place among remote workers, providing more opportunities for Cyber Criminals to strike.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/half-orgs-remote-working-risk/

Microsoft Patches Four Zero-Day Exchange Server Bugs

Microsoft has been forced to release out-of-band patches to fix multiple zero-day vulnerabilities being exploited by Chinese state-backed threat actors. The unusual step was taken to protect customers running on-premises versions of Microsoft Exchange Server.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/microsoft-patch-four-zeroday/

A Booming Trade In Bugs Is Undermining Cyber Security

If you discover that a favourite vending-machine dispenses free chocolate when its buttons are pressed just so, what should you do? The virtuous option is to tell the manufacturer, so it can fix it. The temptation is to gorge.

https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2021/03/06/a-booming-trade-in-bugs-is-undermining-cyber-security

Is Your Browser Extension A Botnet Backdoor?

A company that rents out access to more than 10 million Web browsers so that clients can hide their true Internet addresses has built its network by paying browser extension makers to quietly include its code in their creations. This story examines the lopsided economics of extension development, and why installing an extension can be such a risky proposition.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/03/is-your-browser-extension-a-botnet-backdoor/

Cyber Attack Shuts Down Online Learning At 15 UK Schools

A threat actor was able to access the trust's central network infrastructure and while an investigation took place, all existing phone, email, and website communication had to be pulled. Students are still learning remotely in England. Schools are set to reopen on March 8, but in the meantime, only a small subset of children are attending school physically, such as the children of key workers.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/cyberattack-shuts-down-online-learning-at-15-uk-schools/

First Fully Weaponized Spectre Exploit Discovered Online

A fully weaponized exploit for the Spectre CPU vulnerability was uploaded on the malware-scanning website VirusTotal last month, marking the first time a working exploit capable of doing actual damage has entered the public domain. The exploit was discovered and targets Spectre, a major vulnerability that was disclosed in January 2018. According to its website, the Spectre bug is a hardware design flaw in the architectures of Intel, AMD, and ARM processors that allows code running inside bad apps to break the isolation between different applications at the CPU level and then steal sensitive data from other apps running on the same system.

https://therecord.media/first-fully-weaponized-spectre-exploit-discovered-online/

Solarwinds Security Fiasco May Have Started With Simple Password Blunders

We still do not know just how bad the SolarWinds security breach is. We do know over a hundred US government agencies and companies were cracked. "The largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen," with more than a thousand hackers behind it. It may have all started when an intern first set an important password to "'solarwinds123." Then, adding insult to injury, the intern shared the password on GitHub.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/solarwinds-security-fiasco-may-have-started-with-simple-password-blunders/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Data analytics agency Polecat held to ransom after server exposed 30TB of records

• Ransomware gang hacks Ecuador's largest private bank, Ministry of Finance

• Ransomware puzzle: These two pieces of malware look very different, but they evolved from the same root

• Search crimes – how the Gootkit gang poisons Google searches

• Qualys hit with ransomware: customer invoices leaked on extortionists' tor blog

Phishing

• COVID19 Vaccine Phishing Scams Surge 26% in Three Months

Malware

• Compromised Website Images Camouflage ObliqueRAT Malware

• Malicious NPM packages target Amazon, Slack with new dependency attacks

Mobile

• This new jailbreak threat could put nearly all iPhones at risk

Vulnerabilities

• These Microsoft Exchange Server zero-day flaws are being used by hackers, so update now

• High severity Linux network security holes found, fixed

• Working Windows and Linux Spectre exploits found on VirusTotal

• Google shares PoC exploit for critical Windows 10 Graphics RCE bug

• Another Chrome zero-day exploit – so get that update done!

• If you own a MacBook, download and install macOS Big Sur 11.2.2 ASAP

Data Breaches

• Data is the world’s most valuable (and vulnerable) resource

• Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked—Including Private Data

• Singapore Airlines frequent flyer members hit in third-party data security breach

Organised Crime

• Three Top Russian Cyber Crime Forums Hacked

• Hackers share methods to bypass 3D Secure for payment cards

• Cyber Crime 'Help Wanted': Job Hunting on the Dark Web

Dark Web

• The 20 Most Common Passwords Found On The Dark Web

Supply Chain

• Why supply chains are today's fastest growing cyber security threat

• Bombardier is latest victim of Accellion supply chain attack

Nation-State Actors

• Indian cyber espionage activity rising amid growing rivalry with China, Pakistan

• Microsoft accuses China over email cyber-attacks

• New nation-state cyber attacks

• Lazarus Targets Defense Companies with ThreatNeedle Malware

• Security News This Week: The SolarWinds Body Count Now Includes NASA and the FAA

Privacy

• How To Reclaim Your Privacy from Windows 10

• Home-security cameras have become a fruitful resource for law enforcement — and a fatal risk

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• Report: Quality, not quantity, is the hallmark of the latest waves of phishing attacks

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Other News

• Next Cyber War will hit regular People online

• Prime-factor mathematical foundations of RSA cryptography ‘broken’, claims cryptographer

• Criminals 'Posing As Cyber Security Experts' As Number Of Firms Rises

• NSA, Microsoft promote a Zero Trust approach to cyber security

• Inside the race to keep secrets safe from the quantum computing revolution

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

Look out for our weekly ‘Cyber Tip Tuesday’ video blog and on our YouTube channel.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 February 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.

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Image by Lukas Bieri from Pixabay

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

Masslogger Swipes Microsoft Outlook, Google Chrome Credentials

Cyber Criminals are targeting Windows users with a new variant of the Masslogger trojan, which is spyware designed to swipe victims’ credentials from Microsoft Outlook, Google Chrome and various instant-messenger accounts. Researchers uncovered the campaign targeting users in Italy, Latvia and Turkey starting in mid-January. When the Masslogger variant launched its infection chain, it disguised its malicious RAR files as Compiled HTML (CHM) files. This is a new move for Masslogger, and helps the malware sidestep potential defensive programs, which would otherwise block the email attachment based on its RAR file extension, said researchers on Wednesday.

https://threatpost.com/masslogger-microsoft-outlook-google-chrome/164011/

Phishers tricking users via fake LinkedIn Private Shared Document

The phishing message is delivered via LinkedIn’s internal messaging system and looks like it has been sent by one of the victim’s contacts. The message urges the recipient to follow a third-party link to view a document. If they fail to find this suspicious, they’ll be redirected to a convincingly spoofed LinkedIn login page, and if they enter their login credentials, their account will probably soon be sending out phishing messages to their contacts.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/02/18/linkedin-private-shared-document/

Solarwinds Attack Hit 100 Companies And Took Months Of Planning’; ‘Largest And Most Sophisticated Attack’ Ever Seen According To Microsoft; Hackers Downloaded Some Azure, Exchange, And Intune Source Code

A hacking campaign that used a tech company as a springboard to compromise a raft of US government agencies has been called “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen”, according to Microsoft. Nine US governmental agencies were breached along with 100 different private sector companies , many of which were technology companies, including products that could be used to launch additional intrusions. Microsoft said it has formally completed its investigation into the SolarWinds-related breach and found no evidence that hackers abused its internal systems or official products to pivot and attack end-users and business customers, though it did state that it had discovered that hackers used the access they gained through the SolarWinds Orion app to pivot to Microsoft's internal network, where they accessed the source code of several internal projects.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/solarwinds-attack-hit-100-companies-and-took-months-of-planning-says-white-house/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/solarwinds-us-russia-hacking-b1802299.html https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-says-solarwinds-hackers-downloaded-some-azure-exchange-and-intune-source-code/

Ransomware gangs are running riot – paying them off doesn’t help

In the past five years, ransomware attacks have evolved from rare misfortunes into common and disruptive threats. Hijacking the IT systems of organisations and forcing them to pay a ransom in order to reclaim them, cyber criminals are freely extorting millions of pounds from companies – and they’re enjoying a remarkably low risk of arrest as they do it.

https://theconversation.com/ransomware-gangs-are-running-riot-paying-them-off-doesnt-help-155254

Most security bugs in the wild are years old

Most vulnerabilities exploited in the wild are years old and some could be remedied easily with a readily available patch. This is one of the findings of a new report, which states that two thirds (65 percent) of CVEs found in 2020 were more than three years old, while a third of those (32 percent) were originally identified in 2015 or earlier.

https://www.itproportal.com/news/most-security-bugs-in-the-wild-are-multiple-years-old/

Hacker Claims to Have Stolen Files Belonging to Prominent Law Firm Jones Day

A hacker claims to have stolen files belonging to the global law firm Jones Day and posted many of them on the dark web. Jones Day has many prominent clients, including former President Donald Trump and major corporations. Jones Day, in a statement, disputed that its network has been breached. The statement said that a file-sharing company that it has used was recently compromised and had information taken. Jones Day said it continues to investigate the breach and will continue to be in discussion with affected clients and appropriate authorities.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hacker-claims-to-have-stolen-files-belonging-to-prominent-law-firm-jones-day-11613514532?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter

Former Spy Chief Calls For Military Cyber Attacks On Ransomware Hackers

The state should launch military cyber attacks to shut down ransomware gangs that have extorted millions of pounds from British businesses, a former spy chief has said.

Ciaran Martin, who previously led the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, said the problem of criminal gangs locking and stealing files has become so serious that Government should now seek to disrupt the operations of prolific criminals.

The plans would mark a major change of tack for the UK authorities, who have long downplayed the idea they could routinely use offensive hacking as well as cyber defence.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2021/02/15/former-spy-chief-calls-military-cyber-attacks-ransomware-hackers/

Think your backups will protect you from ransomware? What do you think the malware attacked first?

If you think your backup strategy means you’re protected from the worst that cyber criminals can throw at you, we’ve got some bad news. Ransomware creators know all about backups, too. So, if you are unlucky enough to get a “pay up or else” notice, there’s a very good chance that the attacker in question has already been stealthily working their way through your systems for some time, ensuring your recovery data has already been comprehensively trashed.

https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/17/protect_yourself_from_ransomware_webcast/

100+ Financial Services Firms Targeted in Ransom DDoS Attacks in 2020

More than 100 financial services firms across multiple countries were targeted in a wave of ransom distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks conducted by the same threat actor in 2020. The attacks moved in methodical fashion across Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia, hitting dozens of organizations in the financial sector in each region, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) disclosed this week. Among those targeted were banks, exchanges, payments companies, card issuers, payroll companies, insurance firms, and money transfer services.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/100+-financial-services-firms-targeted-in-ransom-ddos-attacks-in-2020/d/d-id/1340165

14 million alleged Amazon and eBay account details sold online

An unknown user was offering the data of 14 million Amazon and eBay customers’ accounts for sale on a popular hacking forum. The data appears to come from users who had Amazon or eBay accounts from 2014-2021 in 18 different countries. The database was being sold for $800 and the accounts are divided into their respective countries. The leaked data includes the customer’s full name, postal code, delivery address, and shop name, as well 1.6 million phone records.

https://cybernews.com/security/14-million-amazon-and-ebay-accounts-sold-online-in-new-leak/

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Threats

Ransomware

• Kia Reportedly Under Ransomware Attack With $20M Demand

• Conti ransomware: Evasive by nature

• Egregor ransomware affiliates arrested by Ukrainian, French police

BEC

• This cyber security threat costs business millions. And it's the one they often forget about

Phishing

• This phishing email promises you a bonus - but actually delivers this Windows trojan malware

• How Hackers use Phishing to Hijack Sites through Hosting Provider

• Hackers abusing the Ngrok platform phishing attacks

Malware

• Windows and Linux servers targeted by new WatchDog botnet for almost two years

• Malware Is Now Targeting Apple’s New M1 Processor

• TrickBot's BazarBackdoor malware is now coded in Nim to evade antivirus

Mobile

• Owner of app that hijacked millions of devices with one update exposes buy-to-infect scam

IOT

Vulnerabilities

• The OpenSSL Project addressed three vulnerabilities

• WordPress plugin exploit puts more than one million sites at risk

• Bug in shared SDK can let attackers join calls undetected across multiple apps

• Malvertisers Exploited WebKit 0-Day to Redirect Browser Users to Scam Sites

• Apple patches severe macOS Big Sur data loss bug

• Microsoft Pulls Bad Windows Update After Patch Tuesday Headaches

• Telegram privacy feature failed to delete self-destructing video files

Data Breaches

• Scottish Borders Council apologises for data breach

Organised Crime

• Duo Charged with Multimillion-Dollar Dark Web Drugs Scheme

• Cybercrime Joker Retires With A Reported $2.1 Billion In Bitcoin

Insider Threats

• Yandex Data Breach Exposes 4K+ Email Accounts

Supply Chain

• Supply chain attacks are on the rise: Check your software build pipeline security

OT, ICS, IIoT and SCADA

• The Cyber Risks of Transportation’s Connected OT/IoT Systems

Nation-State Actors

• France Ties Russia's Sandworm to a Multiyear Hacking Spree

• Russian state hackers targeted Centreon servers in years-long campaign

• Feds Indict North Korean Hackers for Years of Heists and Scams

• MPs sign up to Clubhouse app despite Chinese security concerns

Privacy

• More bosses are using software to monitor remote workers. Not everyone is happy about it

• 'Spy pixels in emails have become endemic'

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• State Of Malware 2021 Report

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Other News

• Attacks targeting IT firms stir concern, controversy

• Record year for UK’s £8.9bn cyber security sector

• Most businesses plan to move away from VPNs, adopt a zero-trust access model

• 20 Common Tools & Techniques Used by macOS Threat Actors & Malware

• The biggest cyber attacks in gaming history

• Discord is fast becoming a favourite tool among cyber criminals

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 12 February 2021

Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.

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Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

2020 Sees Ransomware Increase By Over 400 Percent

A new study from Cyber Security company, finds that last year malware increased by 358 percent overall and ransomware increased by 435 percent as compared with 2019. The report which analyzes millions of attacks taking place across the year finds distribution of the Emotet malware skyrocketed by 4,000 percent, while malware threats attacking Android phones increased by 263 percent. July saw the largest increase in malicious activity, up by 653 percent compared with the previous year. Microsoft Office documents are the most manipulated document attack vector and these attacks were up by 112 percent.

https://betanews.com/2021/02/10/ransomware-increase-400-percent/

Remote Desktop Protocol Attacks Surge By 768%

Remote desktop protocol (RDP) attacks increase by 768% between Q1 and Q4 last year, fuelled by the shift to remote working. However, a slower rate of growth was observed in the final quarter of the year, indicating that organizations have enhanced their security for remote users.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/remote-desktop-protocol-attacks/

Even Minor Phishing Operations Can Distribute Millions Of Malicious Emails Per Week

Even small-scale phishing campaigns are capable of distributing millions and millions of malicious emails to victims around the world, according to a new report. Describing the most popular styles of phishing attack, criminal today rely on fast-churning campaigns. They create a single phishing email template (usually in English) and send it out to anywhere between 100 and 1,000 targets.

https://www.itproportal.com/news/even-small-phishing-operations-can-distribute-millions-of-malicious-emails-per-week/

With One Update, This Malicious Android App Hijacked Millions Of Devices

With a single update, a popular barcode scanner app on Google Play transformed into malware and was able to hijack up to 10 million devices. Lavabird Ltd.'s Barcode Scanner was an Android app that had been available on Google's official app repository for years. The app, accounting for over 10 million installs, offered a QR code reader and a barcode generator -- a useful utility for mobile devices.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/with-one-update-this-malicious-android-app-hijacked-10-million-devices/

Cd Projekt Hit By Ransomware Attack, Refused To Pay Ransom, Data Reportedly Sold Off By Hackers

Polish video game maker CD Projekt, which makes Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher, has confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack. In a statement posted to its Twitter account, the company said it will “not give in nor negotiate” with the hackers, saying it has backups in place. “We have already secured our IT infrastructure and begun restoring data,” the company said.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/09/cd-projekt-red-hit-by-ransomware-attack-refuses-to-pay-ransom/

Hacked Florida Water Plant Used Shared Passwords And Windows 7 PCs

The Oldsmar, Florida water plant hacked earlier this week used outdated Windows 7 PCs and shared passwords, the Associated Press has reported. A government advisory also revealed that the relatively unsophisticated attack used the remote-access program TeamViewer. However, officials also said that the hacker’s attempt to boost chemicals to dangerous levels was stopped almost immediately after it started.

https://www.engadget.com/hacked-water-plant-computer-had-shared-passwords-andofdate-windows-os-082552973.html

Top Web Hosting Provider Shuts Down Following Cyber Attack

Cybercriminals often attack websites in order to extort a ransom from their victims but a recent cyberattack against the web hosting company No Support Linux Hosting took quite a different turn. After a hacker managed to breach the company's internal systems and compromise its entire operation, No Support Linux Hosting has announced that it is shutting down. The company alerted its customers to the situation before shutting down its website in a message.

https://www.techradar.com/news/top-web-hosting-provider-shuts-down-following-cyberattack

High Demand For Hacker Services On Dark Web Forums

Nine in 10 (90%) users of dark web forums are searching for a hacker who can provide them with a particular resource or who can download a user database. This is according to new research by Positive Technologies, which analyzed activity on the 10 most prominent forums on the dark web, which offer services such as website hacking and the buying/selling of databases. The study highlights the growing demand for hackers’ services and stolen data, exacerbated by the increased internet usage by both organizations and individuals since the start of COVID-19.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/demand-hacker-services-dark-web/

Facebook Phishing Campaign Tricked Nearly 500,000 Users In Two Weeks

A recent investigation uncovered a large scale phishing operation on Facebook. The Facebook phishing campaign is dangerous and targets user personal information. The phishing scam “Is that you” currently on Facebook has been around in multiple forms for years. The whole trouble starts with a “friend” sending you a message claiming to have found a video or image with you in it. The message is usually a video and after clicking, it takes you through a series of websites. These websites have malicious scripts that get your location, device type, and operating system.

https://www.gizchina.com/2021/02/09/facebook-phishing-campaign-tricked-nearly-500000-users-in-two-weeks/

Hackers Are Tweaking Their Approach To Phishing Attacks In 2021

Cyber criminals are a creative bunch, constantly coming up with new ways to avoid detection and advance their sinister goals. A new report from cyber security experts at BitDam describes a few fresh techniques used in the wild so far in 2021. According to the report, email protection solutions tend to trust newly created email domains that are yet to be flagged as dangerous. Criminals are now increasingly exploiting this fact to increase the chances that phishing, and malware emails make it into victims' inboxes.

https://www.itproportal.com/news/hackers-are-tweaking-their-approach-to-phishing-attacks-in-2021/

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Threats

 Ransomware

• Researchers identify 223 vulnerabilities used in recent ransomware attacks (Potential headline)

• CD Projekt hit by ransomware attack, refuses to pay ransom

• This old form of ransomware has returned with new tricks and new targets

Phishing

• This phishing attack uses some very retro technology to hide its payload

Malware

• Malicious Code Injected via Google Chrome Extension Highlights App Risks

Mobile

• Android devices caught in Matryosh botnet

• Military, Nuclear Entities Under Target By Novel Android Malware

IOT

• This old security vulnerability left millions of Internet of Things devices vulnerable to attacks

Vulnerabilities

• Zero-Day and Six Publicly Disclosed CVEs Fixed

• Swarm of Palo Alto PAN-OS vulnerabilities

• Actively Exploited Windows Kernel EoP Bug Allows Takeover

• Apple fixes serious sudo vulnerability in macOS

• Attackers Exploit Critical Adobe Flaw to Target Windows Users

• Microsoft issues emergency fix for Wi-Fi foul-up delivered hot and fresh on Patch Tuesday

Data Breaches

• The Accellion Data Breach Seems to Be Getting Bigger

• Billions of Passwords Offered for $2 in Cyber-Underground

• Experian to investigate possible data leak

Organised Crime

• Europol takes down hackers who allegedly stole over $100 million in crypto from celebs

Supply Chain

• Supply-chain Hack Breaches 35 Companies, Including Paypal, Microsoft, Apple 

Nation-State Actors

• Android spyware strains linked to state-sponsored Confucius threat group

• 'BendyBear' APT malware linked to Chinese government hackers

• Microsoft to alert Office 365 users of nation-state hacking activity

• Probable Iranian Cyber Actors, Static Kitten, Conducting Cyberespionage Campaign Targeting UAE and Kuwait Government Agencies

• Big Russian hack used a technique experts had warned about for years. Why wasn’t the U.S. government ready?

Privacy

• Browser ‘Favicons’ Can Be Used as Undeletable ‘Supercookies’ to Track You Online

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• The Global Risks Report Highlights The Onslaught Of Cyberattacks And A Failure Of Governments To Stop Them. 

• ESET Threat Report Q4 2020

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Other News

• Google launches Open Source Vulnerabilities (OSV) database

• Quantum computing could make encryption algorithms obsolete

• UK’s enemies trying to ‘tear society apart’ via social media

• 91% of enterprise pros experienced an API security incident in 2020

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

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Links to articles are for interest and awareness and linking to or reposting external content does not endorse any service or product, likewise we are not responsible for the security of external links.

Week in review 29 September 2019: supply chain attacks hit defense firms, malspam contains malicious URLs, Microsoft block extensions to protect email, users mistakenly believe they can spot phishing

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.

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Airbus hit by series of cyber attacks on suppliers

European aerospace giant Airbus has been hit by a series of attacks by hackers who targeted its suppliers in their search for commercial secrets, security sources told AFP, adding they suspected a China link.

There have been four major attacks on Airbus in the last 12 months, according to two security sources involved in investigating the hacking.

The group has long been considered a tempting target because of the cutting-edge technologies that have made it one of the world's biggest commercial plane manufacturers, as well as a strategic military supplier.

In January, it admitted to a security incident that "resulted in unauthorised access to data", but people with knowledge of the attacks outlined a concerted and far bigger operation over the last year.

Hackers targeted British engine-maker Rolls-Royce and the French technology consultancy and supplier Expleo, as well as two other French contractors working for Airbus that AFP was unable to identify.

Airbus and Rolls-Royce did not immediately reply to AFP's request for comment. Expleo said it would neither "confirm nor deny" that it had been targeted.

https://www.france24.com/en/20190926-airbus-hit-by-series-of-cyber-attacks-on-suppliers

Attacks have also targeted other defence contractors in Europe and North America this month:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cyber-attacks-hit-defense-contractors-in-europe-and-north-america/

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Most malspam contains a malicious URL these days, not file attachments

Most malicious email spam (malspam) sent in the first half of the year has contained links to malicious files, rather than file attachments, according to telemetry gathered by cyber-security firm Proofpoint.

More precisely, 85% of all malspam sent in Q2 2019 (April, May, and June) contained a link to a malicious file download, rather than the actual malicious file attached to the email.

The Q2 number continues a Q1 trend, where malicious URLs also dominated as the favourite way of distributing malware via email spam.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/most-malspam-contains-a-malicious-url-these-days-not-file-attachments/

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Microsoft bans 38 file extensions from Outlook to stop you downloading viruses

Microsoft has banned 38 new file extensions from Outlook online, bringing the total number of forbidden file types to 104.

The company hasn't said exactly when the change will roll out, but it's expected to come into force very soon. When it does, you will no longer be able to download files with the blacklisted extensions unless your system admin has made a specific exception.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/microsoft-bans-38-file-extensions-from-outlook-to-stop-you-downloading-viruses

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Employees are mistakenly confident that they can spot phishing emails

While a majority (79%) of people say they are able to distinguish a phishing message from a genuine one, nearly half (49%) also admit to having clicked on a link from an unknown sender while at work, according to a Webroot survey.

Further, nearly half (48%) of respondents said their personal or financial data had been compromised by a phishing message. However, of that group more than a third (35%) didn’t take the basic step of changing their passwords following a breach.

Not only is this false confidence potentially harmful to an employee’s personal and financial data, but it also creates risks for companies and their data.

The report surveyed 4,000 office professionals from the U.S., U.K., Japan and Australia (1,000 per region) to determine what people know about phishing attacks, what makes them click on a potentially malicious link and other security habits.

There is no foolproof way to prevent being phished but taking a layered approach to cybersecurity including ongoing user training will significantly reduce risk exposure.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2019/09/26/spot-phishing-emails/

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Copycat Chrome extensions are filled with malware.

Earlier this month, Google removed a pair of plugins from Chrome with over 1.5 million installs between them. Their names – AdBlock and ublock – might sound familiar, but they definitely weren't the real thing.

First spotted by the AdGuard adblocker team, the plugins were cunningly replicating the well-known and entirely reputable AdBlock by getadblock and uBlock Origin by Raymond Hill.

The fraudulent ad blockers even behaved realistically, simply blocking as normal for a couple of days, after which their behaviour changed to carry out 'cookie stuffing' fraud. At this point, the extension loads tracking cookies onto its users' systems, so its creators can pretend they've referred the user to various sites they might visit, and be rewarded for doing so.

More info and approaches on staying safe here:

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/fake-chrome-extensions-malware

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 Windows malware turns PCs into zombies

A new malware campaign responsible for infecting thousands of Windows PCs worldwide has been discovered by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Defender Research Team found the malware, dubbed Nodersok, and explained in a blog post that it is distributed through malicious adverts which force a Windows system to download files that are used in HTML apps.

After a system has been fully infected, Nodersok can then turn it into a zombie-like proxy machine used to launch other cyberattacks and even create a relay server that can give hackers access to command and control servers as well as other compromised devices. This helps hackers hide their activity from security researchers looking for suspicious behaviour.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/windows-malware-turns-pcs-into-zombies

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GDPR: Only one in three businesses are compliant – here's what is holding them back

DPR came into force over a year ago but many organisations are still struggling to comply with data privacy legislation.

Consultancy firm Capgemini surveyed over 1,000 compliance, privacy and data protection personnel and found that despite three quarters of them having previously been confident about being compliant by the time GDPR came into force in May 2018, that isn't the case in reality and many are still struggling to adhere to the legislation.

Now just 28% of those surveyed believe they're fully GDPR compliant – despite regulators being willing to issue heavy fines.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/gdpr-only-one-in-three-businesses-are-compliant-heres-what-is-holding-them-back/

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 99 percent of all misconfigurations in the public cloud go unreported

Today's data breaches often seem to be caused not just by malware infections or external threat actors, but human error, insiders with an ax to grind, and simple security failures.

The surge in adoption of cloud-based technologies and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) has added a new facet to cyberthreats -- the loss of information caused by misconfigurations and weak credentials in the public cloud space.

According to new research released Tuesday and conducted by cybersecurity firm McAfee, titled, "Cloud-Native: The Infrastructure-as-a-Service Adoption and Risk," the majority of IaaS misconfigurations are going unnoticed.

Indeed, only one percent of IaaS issues are reported, which may suggest there are countless companies across the globe that are unwittingly leaking data.

1,000 IT professionals were surveyed across 11 countries, and cloud usage data from over 30 million McAfee Mvision cloud users was aggregated to compile the report, which also says companies believe they average 37 IaaS misconfiguration issues per month when in reality this number can reach 3,500.

In total, 90 percent of respondents said they had come across security issues with IaaS, but only 26 percent said they were equipped to deal with misconfiguration audits -- and this lack of visibility into their cloud usage may be contributing to an increased data breach risk.

According to McAfee, IaaS-based data loss incidents triggered by data loss prevention (DLP) rules have increased by 248 percent year-over-year. As an example, the report says 42 percent of storage objects measured with recorded DLP incidents were misconfigured.