Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 April 2024

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

Top Cyber Stories of the Last Week

94% of Ransomware Victims Have Their Backups Targeted by Attackers

Organisations that have backed up sensitive data may believe they are safe from the effects of ransomware attacks; however a new study by Sophos reported that cyber criminals attempted to compromise the backups of 94% of companies hit by ransomware in the past year. The research found that criminals can demand a higher ransom when they compromise an organisation’s backup data, and those victims are twice as likely to pay. The median ransom demand is $2.3 million when backups are compromised, compared to $1 million otherwise.

Additionally, sectors like state and local governments, along with media and entertainment, are particularly vulnerable with nearly all affected organisations experiencing backup compromises.

Source: [Tech Republic]

Sharing IT Providers Is a Risk for Financial Services, Says IMF, as Rising Cyber Threats Pose Serious Concerns for Financial Stability

The International Monetary Fund has found that with greater digitalisation and heightened geopolitical tensions comes a greater risk of cyber attack with systemic consequences. The IMF noted that losses more than quadrupled since 2017 to $2.5 billion.

The push for technology has led to a number of financial services institutions relying on third-party IT firms, increasing their susceptibility to cyber disruption on a wider scale and a potential ripple effect were a third party to be hit. Whilst such third parties can increase the cyber resilience of a financial services institution, they also expose the industry to systemwide shocks, the IMF reports.

The IMF recommend institutions should identify potential systematic risks in their third-party IT firms. If the organisation is unable to perform such risk assessments, they should seek the expert support of an independent cyber security specialist.

Sources: [The Banker] [IMF]

Hackers are Threatening to Publish a Huge Stolen Sanctions and Financial Crimes Watchlist

A cyber crime group named GhostR has claimed responsibility for stealing 5.3 million records from the World-Check database, which companies use for "know your customer" (KYC) checks to screen potential clients for financial crime risks. The data theft occurred in March and originated from a Singapore-based firm with access to World-Check. The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which owns World-Check, confirmed that the breach involved a third-party's dataset and not their systems directly. The stolen data includes sensitive information on individuals identified as high-risk, such as government-sanctioned figures and those linked to organised crime. LSEG is coordinating with the affected third party and authorities to protect the compromised data and prevent its dissemination.

Source: [TechCrunch]

Your Annual Cyber Security Is Not Working, But There is a Solution

Most organisations utilise annual security training in an attempt to ensure every department develops their cyber awareness skills and is able to spot and report a threat. However, this training is often out of date. Additionally, often training has limited interactivity, failing to capture and maintain employees’ attention and retention. On top of this, many training courses fail to connect employees to real-world scenarios that could occur in their specific job.

To get the most return on investment, organisations need to have more regular education, with the aim of long-term behavioural shifts in the work place, nudging employees towards greater cyber hygiene.

Source: [TechRadar]

73% of Security Professionals Say They’ve Missed, Ignored or Failed to Act on a High Priority Security Alert

A new survey from Coro, targeting small medium enterprises (SME) cyber security professionals, reveals that 73% have missed or ignored high priority security alerts due to overwhelming workloads and managing multiple security tools. The 2024 SME Security Workload Impact Report highlights that SMEs are inundated with alerts and responsibilities, which dilute their focus from critical security threats. On average, these professionals manage over 11 security tools and spend nearly five hours daily on tasks like monitoring and patching vulnerabilities. Respondents handle an average of over 2,000 endpoint security agents across 656 devices, more than half dealing with frequent vendor updates.

Source: [Business Wire]

Russia and Ukraine Top Inaugural World Cyber Crime Index

The inaugural World Cybercrime Index (WCI) identifies Russia, Ukraine, and China as the top sources of global cyber crime. This index, the first of its kind, was developed over four years by an international team from the University of Oxford and the University of New South Wales, with input from 92 cyber crime experts. These experts ranked countries based on the impact, professionalism, and technical skills of their cyber criminals across five cyber crime categories, including data theft, scams, and money laundering. Russia topped the list, followed by Ukraine and China, highlighting their significant roles in high-tech cyber criminal activities. The index, expected to be updated regularly, aims to provide a clearer understanding of cyber crime's global geography and its correlation with national characteristics like internet penetration and GDP. Of note the UK and US also made the top ten list, so it is not just other countries we need to worry about.

Top ten Countries in full:

1.       Russia

2.       Ukraine

3.       China

4.       United States

5.       Nigeria

6.       Romania

7.       North Korea

8.       United Kingdom

9.       Brazil

10.   India

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine]

Police Takedown Major Cyber Fraud Superstore: Will the Cyber Crime Industry Become More Fragmented?

The London Metropolitan Police takedown of online fraud service LabHost serves as a reminder of the industrial scale on which cyber crimes are being performed, with the service amassing 480,000 debit or credit card numbers and 64,000 PINs: all for the subscription price of £300 a month. The site even included tutorial videos on how to commit crime and offered customer service.

Such takedowns can lead to fragmentation. The 2,000 individuals subscribed to LabHost may have lost access but where there is demand, supply will be found. The takedown of one service allows other, small services to fill the gap. As the saying goes ‘nature abhors a vacuum’ and it is especially true when it comes to cyber crime; there is too much business for empty spaces not to be filled.

Sources: [ITPro] [The Guardian]

Small Businesses See Stable Business Climate; Cite Cyber Security as Top Threat

Small businesses are experiencing a stable business climate, as reflected by the Small Business Index, indicating an increasing optimism about the economy. However, the recent surge in cyber attacks, including major assaults on UnitedHealth Group and MGM Resorts, has underscored the growing vulnerability of these businesses to cyber crime. Despite 80% of small to medium-sized enterprises feeling well-protected by their IT defences, a Devolutions survey reveals that 69% of them still fell victim to cyber attacks last year. This has led to cyber security being viewed as the greatest threat by 60% of small businesses, even surpassing concerns over supply chain disruptions and the potential for another pandemic.

The average cost of these attacks ranges from $120,000 to $1.24 million, leading to 60% of affected businesses closing within six months. This vulnerability is further compounded by a common underestimation of the ransomware threat. While 71% of businesses feel prepared for future threats, the depth of this preparedness varies, with only 23% feeling very prepared for cyber security challenges.

Sources: [Claims Journal] [Inc.com]

The Threat from Inside: Insider Threats Surge 14% Annually as Cost-of-Living Crisis Bites

Employee fraud grew significantly last year thanks to the opportunities afforded by remote working and the pressures of a cost-of-living crisis in the UK, according to Cifas, an anti-fraud non-profit. The number of individuals recorded in its cross-sector Insider Threat Database (ITD) increased 14% year-on-year (YoY) in 2023, with the most common reason being “dishonest action to obtain benefit by theft or deception” (49%).

Insider threats – both by accident or with malicious intent – by their own employees are overlooked, despite accounting for 58% of cybersecurity breaches in recent years. As a result, a large proportion of businesses may lack any strategy to address insider risks, leaving them vulnerable to financial, operational and reputational harm.

Source: [Infosecurity Magazine] [TechRadar]

Dark Web Sales Driving Major Rise in Credential Attacks as Attackers Pummel Networks with Millions of Login Attempts

Dark web sales are driving a major rise in credential attacks, with a surge in infostealer malware attacks over the last three years significantly heightening the cyber crime landscape. Kaspersky reports a sevenfold increase in data theft attacks, leading to the compromise of over 26 million devices since 2022. Cyber criminals stole roughly 400 million login credentials last year alone, often sold on dark web markets for as low as $10 per log file. These stolen credentials have become a lucrative commodity, fostering a complex economy of initial access brokers who facilitate broader corporate network infiltrations. The Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions have been particularly affected, with millions of credentials stolen annually.

Simultaneously, Cisco’s Talos team warns of a current credential compromise campaign targeting networks via mass login attempts to VPN, SSH, and web apps. Attackers use a mix of generic and specific usernames with nearly 100 passwords from about 4,000 IP addresses, likely routed through anonymising services (such as TOR). These attacks pose risks like unauthorised access, account lockouts, and potential denial-of-service. The attack volume has increased since 18 March this year mirroring a previous alert by Cisco about a similar campaign affecting VPNs. Despite method and infrastructure similarities, a direct link between these campaigns is yet to be confirmed.

Sources: [Ars Technica] [Data Breach Today]

Large Enterprises Experience Breaches, Despite Large Security Stacks; Report Finds 93% of Breaches Lead to Downtime and Data Loss

93% of enterprises admitting to having had a breach have suffered significant consequences, ranging from unplanned downtime to data exposure or financial loss, according to a recent report. 73% of organisations made changes to their IT environment at least quarterly, however only 40% tested their security at the same frequency. Unfortunately, this means that many organisations are facing a significant gap in which changes in the IT environment are untested, and therefore their risk unknown.

Security tools can aid this, however as the report finds, despite having a large number of security stacks, 51% still reported a breach in the past 24 months. Organisations must keep in mind that security extends beyond the technical realm, and it needs to include people and operations.

Sources: [Infosecurity Magazine] [Help Net Security]

Charities Doing Worse than Private Sector in Staving off Cyber Attacks

Recent UK Government data reveals a significant cyber security challenge for charities, with about a third experiencing breaches this past year, equating to nearly 924,000 cyber crimes. Notably, 83% of these incidents involved phishing, with other prevalent threats including fraud emails and malware. The data found that 63% of charities said cyber security was a high priority for senior management, however, charities lag behind the private sector in adopting security monitoring tools and conducting risk assessments.

Additionally, while half of the charities implement basic cyber hygiene defences like malware protection and password policies, only about 40% seek external cyber security guidance.

Source: [TFN]

Governance, Risk and Compliance

Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

Ransomware Victims

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

Other Social Engineering

Artificial Intelligence

2FA/MFA

Malware

Mobile

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

Internet of Things – IoT

Data Breaches/Leaks

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

Insurance

Cloud/SaaS

Identity and Access Management

Linux and Open Source

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

Social Media

Malvertising

Training, Education and Awareness

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

Models, Frameworks and Standards

Backup and Recovery

Data Protection

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

Nation State Actors, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage and Geopolitical Threats/Activity

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage

China

Russia

Iran

North Korea

Other Nation State Actors, Hacktivism, Extremism, Terrorism and Other Geopolitical Threat Intelligence

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerabilities

Tools and Controls

Reports Published in the Last Week

Other News

Sector Specific

Industry specific threat intelligence reports are available.

Contact us to receive tailored reports specific to the industry/sector and geographies you operate in.

·         Automotive

·         Construction

·         Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·         Defence & Space

·         Education & Academia

·         Energy & Utilities

·         Estate Agencies

·         Financial Services

·         FinTech

·         Food & Agriculture

·         Gaming & Gambling

·         Government & Public Sector (including Law Enforcement)

·         Health/Medical/Pharma

·         Hotels & Hospitality

·         Insurance

·         Legal

·         Manufacturing

·         Maritime

·         Oil, Gas & Mining

·         OT, ICS, IIoT, SCADA & Cyber-Physical Systems

·         Retail & eCommerce

·         Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs)

·         Startups

·         Telecoms

·         Third Sector & Charities

·         Transport & Aviation

·         Web3

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

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

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