Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 04 December 2020
Welcome to this week’s Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing – a weekly digest, collated and curated by our cyber experts to provide senior and middle management with an easy to digest round up of the most notable threats, vulnerabilities and cyber related news from the last week.
Top Cyber Headlines of the Week
Covid vaccine supply chain targeted by hackers, say security experts
Cyber attackers have targeted the cold supply chain needed to deliver Covid-19 vaccines, according to a report detailing a sophisticated operation likely backed by a nation state.
The hackers appeared to be trying to disrupt or steal information about the vital processes to keep vaccines cold as they travel from factories to hospitals and doctors’ offices.
https://www.ft.com/content/9c303207-8f4a-42b7-b0e4-cf421f036b2f
Criminals to Favour Ransomware and BEC Over Breaches in 2021
The era of the mega-breach may be coming to an end as cyber-criminals eschew consumers’ personal data and focus on phishing and ransomware.
Cyber-criminals are relying less on stolen personal information and more on “poor consumer behaviors” such as password reuse to monetize attacks.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/criminals-favor-ransomware-bec/
Bank Employee Sells Personal Data of 200,000 Clients
South Africa–based financial services group Absa has stated that one of its employees sold the personal information of 200,000 clients to third parties.
The group confirmed on Wednesday that the illegal activity had occurred and that 2% of Absa's retail customer base had been impacted.
The employee allegedly responsible for it was a credit analyst who had access to the group's risk-modeling processes.
Data exposed as a result of the security incident included clients' ID numbers, addresses, contact details, and descriptions of vehicles that they had purchased on finance.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/bank-employee-sells-personal-data/
LastPass review: Still the leading password manager, despite security history
"'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' is all wrong. I tell you 'put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket,'" said industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1885. When it comes to privacy tools, he's usually dead wrong. In the case of password managers, however, Carnegie is usually more dead than wrong. To wit, I have been using LastPass so long I don't know when I started using LastPass and, for now, I've got no reason to change that.
The most significant security innovations of 2020
Who gets access? That is the question that drives every security measure and innovation that’s landed on PopSci’s annual compendium since we launched the category in 2008. Every year, that question gets bigger and bigger. In 2020, the world quaked under a global pandemic that took 1.4 million lives, the US saw a rebirth in its civil rights movement, and a spate of record-breaking wildfires forced entire regions to evacuate. And those are just the new scares. A buildup of angst against ad trackers and app snooping led to major changes in hardware and software alike. It was a year full of lessons, nuances, and mini revolutions, and we strive to match that with our choices.
https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/most-important-security-innovations-2020/
2020 security priorities: Pandemic changing short- and long-term approaches to risk
Security planning and budgeting is always an adventure. You can assess current risk and project the most likely threats, but the only real constant in cybersecurity risk is its unpredictability. Layer a global pandemic on top of that and CISOs suddenly have the nearly impossible task of deciding where to request and allocate resources in 2021.
Show how the COVID pandemic has changed what security focuses on now and what will drive security priorities and spending in 2021. Based on a survey of 522 security professionals from the US, Asia/Pacific and Europe, the study reveals how the pandemic has changed the way organizations assess risk and respond to threats—permanently.
Cyber risks take the fun out of connected toys
As Christmas approaches, internet-enabled smart toys are likely to feature heavily under festive trees. While some dolls of decades past were only capable of speaking pre-recorded phrases, modern equivalents boast speech recognition and can search for answers online in real time.
Other connected gadgets include drones or cars such as Nintendo’s Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, where players race each other in a virtual world modelled after their home surroundings.
But for all the fun that such items can bring, there is a risk — poorly-secured Internet of Things toys can be turned into convenient tools for hackers.
https://www.ft.com/content/c653e977-435f-4553-8401-9fa9b0faf632
Remote Workers Admit Lack of Security Training
A third of remote working employees have not received security training in the last six months.
400 remote workers in the UK across multiple industries, while 83% have had access to security best practice training and 88% are familiar with IT security policies, 32% have received no security training in the last six months.
Also, 50% spend two or more hours a week on IT issues, and 42% felt they had to go around the security policies of their organization to do their job.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/remote-workers-training/
Threats
Ransomware
Delaware County Pays $500,000 Ransom After Outages
A US county is in the process of paying half-a-million dollars to ransomware extorters who locked its local government network, according to reports.
Pennsylvania’s Delaware County revealed the attack last week, claiming in a notice that it had disrupted “portions of its computer network.
“We commenced an immediate investigation that included taking certain systems offline and working with computer forensic specialists to determine the nature and scope of the event. We are working diligently to restore the functionality of our systems,” it said.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/delaware-county-pays-500k-ransom/
MasterChef Producer Hit by Double Extortion Ransomware
A multibillion-dollar TV production company has become the latest big corporate name caught out by ransomware, it emerged late last week.
The firm owns over 120 production firms around the world, delivering TV shows ranging from MasterChef and Big Brother to Black Mirror and The Island with Bear Grylls.
In a short update last Thursday, it claimed to be managing a “cyber-incident” affecting the networks of Endemol Shine Group and Endemol Shine International, Dutch firms it acquired in a $2.2bn deal in July.
Although ransomware isn’t named in the notice, previous reports suggest the firm is being extorted.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/masterchef-producer-double/
Sopra Steria to take multi-million euro hit on ransomware attack
The company revealed in October that it had been hit by hackers using a new version of Ryuk ransomware.
It now says that the fallout, with various systems out of action, is likely to have a gross negative impact on operating margin of between €40 million and €50 million.
The group's insurance coverage for cyber risks is EUR30 million, meaning that negative organic revenue growth for the year is now expected to be between 4.5% and five per cent (previously between two per cent and four per cent). Free cash flow is now expected to be between €50 million and €100 million (previously between €80 million and €120 million).
BEC
FBI: BEC Scams Are Using Email Auto-Forwarding
The agency notes in an alert made public this week that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, leading to an increasingly remote workforce, BEC scammers have been taking advantage of the auto-forwarding feature within compromised email inboxes to trick employees to send them money under the guise of legitimate payments to third parties.
This tactic works because most organizations do not sync their web-based email client forwarding features with their desktop client counterparts. This limits the ability of system administrators to detect any suspicious activities and enables the fraudsters to send malicious emails from the compromised accounts without being detected, the alert, sent to organizations in November and made public this week, notes.
https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/fbi-bec-scams-are-using-email-auto-forwarding-a-15498
Phishing
Phishing lures employees with fake 'back to work' internal memos
Scammers are trying to steal email credentials from employees by impersonating their organization's human resources (HR) department in phishing emails camouflaged as internal 'back to work' company memos.
These phishing messages have managed to land in thousands of targeted individuals' mailboxes after bypassing G Suite email defences according to stats provided by researchers at email security company Abnormal Security who spotted this phishing campaign.
There is a high probability that some of the targets will fall for the scammers' tricks given that during this year's COVID-19 pandemic most companies have regularly emailed their employees with updates regarding remote working policy changes.
Warning: Massive Zoom phishing targets Thanksgiving meetings
Everyone should be on the lookout for a massive ongoing phishing attack today, pretending to be an invite for a Zoom meeting. Hosted on numerous landing pages, BleepingComputer has learned that thousands of users' credentials have already been stolen by the attack.
With many in the USA hosting virtual Thanksgiving dinners and people in other countries conducting Zoom business meetings, as usual, today is a prime opportunity to perform a phishing attack using Zoom invite lures.
Malware
All-new Windows 10 malware is excellent at evading detection
Security researchers at Kaspersky have discovered a new malware strain developed by the hacker-for-hire group DeathStalker that has been designed to avoid detection on Windows PCs.
While the threat actor has been active since at least 2012, DeathStalker first drew Kaspersky's attention back in 2018 because of its distinctive attack characteristics which didn't resemble those employed by cybercriminals or state-sponsored hackers.
https://www.techradar.com/news/all-new-windows-10-malware-is-excellent-at-evading-detection
New TrickBot version can tamper with UEFI/BIOS firmware
The operators of the TrickBot malware botnet have added a new capability that can allow them to interact with an infected computer's BIOS or UEFI firmware.
The new capability was spotted inside part of a new TrickBot module, first seen in the wild at the end of October, security firms Advanced Intelligence and Eclypsium said in a joint report published today.
The new module has security researchers worried as its features would allow the TrickBot malware to establish more persistent footholds on infected systems, footholds that could allow the malware to survive OS reinstalls.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-trickbot-version-can-tamper-with-uefibios-firmware/
Russia-linked APT Turla used a new malware toolset named Crutch
Russian-linked APT group Turla has used a previously undocumented malware toolset, named Crutch, in cyberespionage campaigns aimed at high-profile targets, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a European Union country.
The Turla APT group (aka Snake, Uroburos, Waterbug, Venomous Bear and KRYPTON) has been active since at least 2007 targeting diplomatic and government organizations and private businesses in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and former Soviet bloc nations.
https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/111813/apt/turla-crutch-malware-platform.html
MacBooks under attack by dangerous malware: What to do
a recent spate of malware attacks targeting macOS of late that installs backdoors to steal sensitive personal information. The security firm discovered that a new malware variant is being used online and backed by a rogue nation-state hacking group known as OceanLotus, which also operates under the name AKTP2 and is based in Vietnam.
The new malware was created by OceanLotus due to the “similarities in dynamic behavior and code” from previous malware connected to the Vietnamese-based hacking group.
https://www.laptopmag.com/news/macbooks-under-attack-by-dangerous-malware-what-to-do
Hackers Using Monero Mining Malware as Decoy, Warns Microsoft
The company’s intelligence team said a group called BISMUTH hit government targets in France and Vietnam with relatively conspicuous monero mining trojans this summer. Mining the crypto generated side cash for the group, but it also distracted victims from BISMUTH’s true campaign: credential theft.
Crypto-jacking “allowed BISMUTH to hide its more nefarious activities behind threats that may be perceived to be less alarming because they’re ‘commodity’ malware,” Microsoft concluded. It said the conspicuousness of monero mining fits BISMUTH’s “hide in plain sight” MO.
Microsoft recommended organizations stay vigilant against crypto-jacking as a possible decoy tactic.
https://www.coindesk.com/hackers-using-monero-mining-malware-as-decoy-warns-microsoft
Vulnerabilities
Zerologon is now detected by Microsoft Defender for Identity
There has been a huge focus on the recently patched CVE-2020-1472 Netlogon Elevation of Privilege vulnerability, widely known as ZeroLogon. While Microsoft strongly recommends that you deploy the latest security updates to your servers and devices, we also want to provide you with the best detection coverage possible for your domain controllers. Microsoft Defender for Identity along with other Microsoft 365 Defender solutions detect adversaries as they try to exploit this vulnerability against your domain controllers.
Privacy
'We've heard the feedback...' Microsoft 365 axes per-user productivity monitoring after privacy backlash
If you heard a strange noise coming from Redmond today, it was the sound of some rapid back-pedalling regarding the Productivity Score feature in its Microsoft 365 cloud platform.
Following outcry from subscribers and privacy campaigners, the Windows giant has now vowed to wind back the functionality so that it no longer produces scores for individual users, and instead just summarizes the output of a whole organization. It was feared the dashboard could have been used by bad bosses to measure the productivity of specific employees using daft metrics like the volume of emails or chat messages sent through Microsoft 365.
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.