Black Arrow Cyber Threat Briefing 19 May 2023

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

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber Crime Recruitment and Insider Threats

Across all sectors employees are feeling the ramifications of economic uncertainty, coupled with ransomware attacks continuing to evolve and become more sophisticated, and with this, cyber crime gangs are increasing their recruitment efforts. All the while, the cyber security skills gap persists and continues to widen for most organisations. This has the potential to create a perfect storm in terms of insider threats.

Insider threats can be malicious or unintentional, and they might come from current or former employees, business partners, board members or consultants. A recent report found that the past two years have seen a 44% rise in insider incidents. There is no quick fix to solve the insider threat problem. At a time when many businesses are struggling with visibility issues brought on by digital transformation and vendor sprawl, what’s needed is planning. Reducing the risk associated with insider threats requires a multifaceted approach.

https://www.securityweek.com/triple-threat-insecure-economy-cybercrime-recruitment-and-insider-threats/

• Ensuring Security Remains/Becomes Everyone’s Responsibility

In the same way as organisations believe that everyone is somewhat responsible for keeping costs reasonable, why would an organisation not think the same of cyber security, especially as cyber security is not just a technology problem: it is a business problem. One of the best methods for ensuring that security is everyone’s responsibility is to make cyber a top-down issue, with the board and C-suite setting the tone for security; they should provide clear direction and guidance, prioritising security as a business objective.

Other methods that can help ensure security as everyone’s responsibility include integrating it into the functions of roles, creating a security culture, providing awareness and training and rewarding employees for responses such as reporting phishing attacks.

https://cisoseries.com/20-ways-to-ensure-security-remains-becomes-everyones-responsibility/

• Insured Companies More Likely to be Ransomware Victims, Sometimes More Than Once

Companies with cyber insurance are more likely to get hit by ransomware, more likely to be attacked multiple times, and more likely to pay ransoms, according to a recent survey of IT decision makers.

According to the survey by Barracuda Networks, 77% of organisations with cyber insurance were hit at least once, compared to 65% without insurance. Of those with insurance, 39% paid the ransom. Worryingly, the survey found that insured companies were also 70% more likely to be hit multiple times. Repeat victims were also more likely to pay the ransom, and less likely to use backup systems to help them recover.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3696350/insured-companies-more-likely-to-be-ransomware-victims-sometimes-more-than-once.html

• Software Supply Chain Attacks Hit 61% of Firms

More than three-fifths (61%) of businesses have been directly impacted by a software supply chain threat over the past year, according to a new report. The report pointed to open source software as a key source of supply chain risk. Open source is now used by 94% of companies in some form, with over half (57%) using multiple open source platforms, the report revealed.

Organisations may be putting themselves at further risk by not having a full view of the software which is used within their corporate environment. One of the first things an organisation seeking to reduce their risk of a software supply chain attack should do is to understand their attack surface and maintain a record of the software which they use.

https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/software-supply-chain-attacks-hit/

• More than 2.25 Million Exposed Assets on the Dark Web Tied to Fortune 1000 Employees

In a newly released 2023 Fortune 1000 Identity Exposure Report, an analysis of the dark net exposure of employees across 21 industries, including technology, financial, retailing and media, researchers analysed 2.27 billion exposed dark web assets. These assets included more than 423 million records containing personally identifiable information (PII) found in data breaches and exfiltrated from malware-infected devices tied directly to Fortune 1000 employees’ email addresses.  

Additional findings include 27.48 million pairs of credentials with Fortune 1000 corporate email addresses and plain text passwords, and a 62% re-use rate of passwords amongst Fortune 1000 employees. Whilst the research focuses on Fortune 1000 employees, it is unlikely that these are the only employees who are exposed on the dark web. Organisations should be aware of how such PII could include their own employees, and how to avoid password re-use in the corporate environment.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/more-than-2-25-million-exposed-assets-on-the-dark-web-tied-to-fortune-1000-employees/

• Law Enforcement Crackdowns and New Techniques are Forcing Cyber Criminals to Pivot

Researchers say that law enforcement crackdowns and new investigative tools are putting pressure on cyber criminals, but challenges for defenders remain. It can seem like cyber criminals are running rampant across the world's digital infrastructure, launching ransomware attacks, scams, and outright thefts with impunity. Over the last year, however, US and global authorities seized $112 million from cryptocurrency investment scams, disrupted the Hive ransomware group, broke up online illegal drug marketplaces, and sanctioned crypto money launderers, among other operations to crack down on internet-enabled crimes. With such pressure, financially motivated threat actors are pivoting to crimes that have a higher rate of success, such as selling data instead of extorting, and romance scams and pig butchering (building rapport and trust with victims over time only to steal from them) are replacing the old get-rich schemes.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3696748/law-enforcement-crackdowns-and-new-techniques-are-forcing-cybercriminals-to-pivot.html

• Talking Security Strategy: Why Cyber Security Requires a Seat at the Boardroom Table

Cyber security is no longer a fringe issue for businesses. What was once a siloed function is now woven into the fabric of any successful business. Any business still treating its cyber security initiatives as a side project is setting itself up to fail. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has laid to rest any doubts about the importance of cyber security with new regulations around how boards of directors should approach it. The regulations, which are in the process of being finalised, will require companies to openly report any serious cyber security attack and explain who on their board is responsible for dealing with it. The regulations also will require businesses to include board of directors' cyber security experience and credentials as part of any public disclosure.

https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/talking-security-strategy-cybersecurity-has-a-seat-at-the-boardroom-table

• How Incident Response Rehearsals and Readiness Exercises Can Aid Incident Response

Incident response rehearsals and readiness exercises can aid organisations by identifying security gaps, testing communications in the event of a cyber attack, and understanding roles in reducing response times. All of which benefits the business objectives of the organisation.

The importance for organisations to understand who their adversaries are and how they operate against their enterprise environments cannot be overstated. An organisation's approach to cyber security testing and resilience improvements in the face of an increasingly volatile threat landscape must be underpinned around this perspective.

Rehearsals should look to leverage scenarios based on evolving and emerging attacker techniques, tactics and procedures (TTPs), with different levels of complexity; this allows an organisation to constantly sharpen their technique and update rehearsals to reflect the current attack environment. These TTPs should be driven by an intelligence-led and risk-based approach. Additionally, organisations need to set metrics for understanding the results of rehearsals, which in turn should be used in established feedback channels to drive improvement in the organisation’s incident response.

https://www.darkreading.com/edge-articles/5-ways-security-testing-can-aid-incident-response 

• Ransomware’s Real Goals are to Exploit Internet Facing Apps, Mine Intellectual Property and Grab Sensitive Information

The majority of ransomware attacks in 2022 were intended to unearth personal data, mine intellectual property and grab other sensitive information rather than financial extortion or data encryption, Kaspersky said in a new report.

Most attacks started off as exploiting public facing applications (43%), data from compromised user accounts (24%) and malicious emails (12%). The goal was to snatch information the cyber crews could leverage into bigger and more lucrative scores. The report also revealed that the longest-running ransomware attacks began with the exploitation of public-facing applications, with just over 2% of them lasting for a year and more.

https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-research/ransomwares-real-goals-are-exploit-internet-facing-apps-mine-intellectual-property-grab-sensitive-info/

• Organisations’ Cyber Resilience Efforts Fail to Keep Up with Evolving Threats

A steady increase in cyber attacks and an evolving threat landscape are resulting in more organisations turning their attention to building long-term cyber resilience; however, many of these programs are falling short and fail to prove teams’ real-world cyber capabilities, according to Immersive Labs. The report found that while 86% of organisations have a cyber resilience program, 52% of respondents say their organisation lacks a comprehensive approach to assessing cyber resilience.

Organisations have taken steps to deploy cyber resilience programs; however, 53% of respondents indicate the organisation’s workforce is not well-prepared for the next cyber attack and just over half say they lack a comprehensive approach to assessing cyber resilience. These statistics indicate that although cyber resilience is a priority and programs are in place, their current structure and training are ineffective.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/18/cyber-resilience-programs-shortcomings/

• Fraudsters Send Fake Invoice, Follow Up with Fake Executive Confirmation

Fraudsters are trying out a new approach to convince companies to pay bogus invoices: instead of hijacking existing email threads, they are creating convincing ones themselves. The fraud attempt begins with an email containing a payment request for a fake invoice. The recipient, an employee in a company’s finance department, reads the email and checks who sent it. The sender’s email address looks like it belongs to one of the company’s trusted vendors, and the VP of Finance has been CC-ed. Soon after, the “VP of Finance” replies to the email thread, and asks the employee (by name) to pay this at the earliest convenience.

Most organisations view social engineering methods as a one step process; however, threat actors are employing multiple layers. In this case, adding management to increase authenticity. Businesses looking to bolster their resilience should look to ensure that these kinds of attacks are addressed in their organisation’s user education and awareness training.

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/16/payment-request-fraud/

• Capita Warns Customers They Should Assume Data was Stolen

Outsourcing giant Capita is warning customers to assume that their data was stolen in a cyber attack that affected its systems in early April. This includes the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the largest private pension scheme in the UK, which holds pensions of over 500,000 individuals. A total of 350 UK corporate retirement schemes are believed to be impacted. The cyber attack, originally described to be a technical problem, has been reported to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/capita-warns-customers-they-should-assume-data-was-stolen/

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Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Cyber security Often Overlooked as Key Factor for Business Success, New Study Says - MSSP Alert

• Cyber Risk Management in 2023: The People Element (trendmicro.com)

• Is Your Cyber security “Too” Good? (securityintelligence.com)

• Cyber risk: Can banks win the arms race? | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Security breaches push digital trust to the fore | CSO Online

• Cyber-Resilience Programs Failing on Poor Visibility - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 5 Ways Security Testing Can Aid Incident Response (darkreading.com)

• Organisations reporting cyber resilience are hardly resilient: Study | CSO Online

• Organisations' cyber resilience efforts fail to keep up with evolving threats - Help Net Security

• Keeping a competitive edge in the cyber security ‘game’ | CyberScoop

• UK NCSC, ICO debunk 6 cyber attack reporting myths | CSO Online

• An Executive's Guide To The Cyber crime Underground (forbes.com)

• Accelerating Security Risk Management (trendmicro.com)

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• 20 Ways to Ensure Security Remains/Becomes Everyone’s Responsibility (cisoseries.com)

• Talking Security Strategy: Cyber security Has a Seat at the Boardroom Table (darkreading.com)

• ‘Attackers only have to get it right once’: how cyber security burst into the boardroom | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber crime Recruitment and Insider Threats - SecurityWeek

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Threats

Ransomware, Extortion and Destructive Attacks

• Insured companies more likely to be ransomware victims, sometimes more than once | CSO Online

• Ransomware payments nearly double in one year | Cyber crime | The Guardian

• Ransomware’s Real Goals are Exploit Internet Facing Apps, Mine Intellectual Property, Grab Sensitive Info - MSSP Alert

• The Week in Ransomware - May 12th 2023 - New Gangs Emerge (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New trends in ransomware attacks shape the future of cyber security - Help Net Security

• Russia-affiliated CheckMate ransomware quietly targets popular file-sharing protocol-Security Affairs

• Bl00dy Ransomware Gang Strikes Education Sector with Critical PaperCut Vulnerability (thehackernews.com)

• ABB 'suffers cyber attack' by ransomware gang Black Basta (techmonitor.ai)

• Why Amazon S3 is a ransomware target and how to protect it | TechTarget

• Experts question San Bernardino's $1.1M ransom payment | TechTarget

• Manufacturers Targeted as Ransomware Victim Numbers Spike 27% - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware corrupts data, making restoration harder • The Register

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• VPN vulnerability linked to ransomware attack on Law Society: PDPC - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)

• New 'MichaelKors' Ransomware-as-a-Service Targeting Linux and VMware ESXi Systems (thehackernews.com)

• Philadelphia Inquirer operations disrupted after cyber attack (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware gang steals data of 5.8 million PharMerica patients (bleepingcomputer.com)

• New RA Group ransomware targets US orgs in double-extortion attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Ransomware Prevention – Are Meeting Password Security Requirements Enough (bleepingcomputer.com)

• US Offers $10 Million Bounty for Capture of Notorious Russian Ransomware Operator (thehackernews.com)

• Qilin Ransomware Operation Outfits Affiliates With Sleek, Turnkey Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)

• Qilin's Dark Web Ransomware Targets Critical Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Ransomware-as-a-service groups pay affiliates top dollar • The Register

• Russian ransomware affiliate charged with attacks on critical infrastructure (bleepingcomputer.com)

• This new ransomware group is targeting big businesses - here's what you need to know | TechRadar

• Warning Issued About BianLian Ransomware Attacks By CISA & FBI (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• FBI confirms BianLian ransomware switch to extortion only attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• 'Strictly limit' remote desktop to avoid BianLian ransomware • The Register

• MalasLocker ransomware targets Zimbra servers, demands charity donation (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian national indicted for ransomware attacks against the US | CSO Online

• A different kind of ransomware demand: Donate to charity to get your data back | CyberScoop

• Introducing the DRM-Report Q1 2023: Unveiling the Current State of Ransomware - -Security Affairs-Security Affairs

Phishing & Email Based Attacks

• What the Email Security Landscape Looks Like in 2023-Security Affairs

• New Phishing-as-a-Service Platform Lets Cyber criminals Generate Convincing Phishing Pages (thehackernews.com)

• Ongoing Facebook phishing campaign without a sender and (almost) without links

• Google's .zip Top Level domain is already used in phishing attacks - gHacks Tech News

• New ZIP domains spark debate among cyber security experts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Exploring the tactics of phishing and scam websites in 2023 - Help Net Security

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

Other Social Engineering; Smishing, Vishing, etc

• Fraudsters send fake invoice, follow up with fake exec confirmation - Help Net Security

• Insider threats surge across US CNI as attackers exploit human factors | CSO Online

• Microsoft Teams Features Amp Up Orgs' Cyber attack Exposure (darkreading.com)

• Social Engineering Risks Found in Microsoft Teams - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Researchers show ways to abuse Microsoft Teams accounts for lateral movement | CSO Online

Artificial Intelligence

• 10 Types of AI Attacks CISOs Should Track (darkreading.com)

• New Google search tool will distinguish real images from AI-generated phonies | ZDNET

• AI-Powered Tools Threaten Password Strength, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• AI Is About to Be Everywhere: Where Will Regulators Be? (darkreading.com)

• Zut alors! Raclage crapuleux! Clearview AI in 20% more trouble in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)

• Generative AI Empowers Users but Challenges Security (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before Congress, Calls for New Agency to Regulate Artificial Intelligence - SecurityWeek

• BatLoader Impersonates ChatGPT and Midjourney in Cyber-Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Security Vulnerabilities of ChatGPT-Generated Code (trendmicro.com)

• 3 Ways Hackers Use ChatGPT to Cause Security Headaches (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT is about to revolutionize cyber security | VentureBeat

• Mitigating Dark Web Risks: The Role Of AI And Machine Learning (forbes.com)

2FA/MFA

• The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Factor Authentication - Security Boulevard

Malware

• Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware | Ars Technica

• XWorm Malware Exploits Follina Vulnerability in New Wave of Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Atomic malware steals Mac passwords, crypto wallets, and more • Graham Cluley

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Lancefly APT Custom Backdoor Targets Government and Aviation Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• No more macros? No problem, say attackers, we'll adapt • The Register

• Infostealer Malware Surges: Stolen Logs Up 670% on Russian Market - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• The new info-stealing malware operations to watch out for (bleepingcomputer.com)

• DangerousPassword - A Malware Attack Pattern to Infect Devices (gbhackers.com)

• Stealthy MerDoor malware uncovered after five years of attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Hackers Using Golang Variant of Cobalt Strike to Target Apple macOS Systems (thehackernews.com)

• New ZIP domains spark debate among cyber security experts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Infamous cyber crime marketplace offers pre-order service for stolen credentials - Help Net Security

• BatLoader Impersonates ChatGPT and Midjourney in Cyber-Attacks - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Once Again, Malware Discovered Hidden in npm (darkreading.com)

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

Mobile

• Lemon Group Uses Millions of Pre-Infected Android Phones to Enable Cyber crime Enterprise (darkreading.com)

• Parental control app with 5 million downloads vulnerable to attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Apple blocked 1.7 million apps for privacy, security issues in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Converso walks back E2EE claims, yanks app from stores • The Register

• OilAlpha: Emerging Houthi-linked Cyber Threat Targets Arabian Android Users (thehackernews.com)

• Google Announces New Rating System for Android and Device Vulnerability Reports - SecurityWeek

• Millions of Smartphones Distributed Worldwide With Preinstalled 'Guerrilla' Malware - SecurityWeek

Botnets

• Beware Bots: Human Internet Traffic Dives to Lowest Level in Eight Years, New Report Finds - MSSP Alert

• Latest variant of RapperBot botnet adds cryptojacking capabilities-Security Affairs

• Bad bots are coming for APIs - Help Net Security

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

Denial of Service/DoS/DDOS

• Polish news websites hit by DDoS attacks | Reuters

• Europe: The DDoS battlefield - Help Net Security

Internet of Things – IoT

• Netgear Routers' Flaws Expose Users to Malware, Remote Attacks, and Surveillance (thehackernews.com)

• Why 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is both the savior and the scourge of the smart home - The Verge

• Hackers infect TP-Link router firmware to attack EU entities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese Hackers Mustang Panda Attacks TP-Link Routers (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Unpatched Wemo Smart Plug Bug Opens Countless Networks to Cyber attacks (darkreading.com)

• Government Publishes Playbook to Enhance Smart City Security - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Is your car safe from a cyber attack? | E&T Magazine (theiet.org)

Data Breaches/Leaks

• UK's largest private pension scheme hit by Capita attack • The Register

• Capita warns customers they should assume data was stolen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• More than 2.25 Million Exposed Assets on the Dark Web Tied to Fortune 1000 Employees - MSSP Alert

• MP’s laptop stolen from Welcome Break spot 'not covered by CCTV' | UK News | Metro News

• Discord discloses data breach after support agent got hacked (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Data of 237,000 US government employees breached - CNA (channelnewsasia.com)

• Toyota: Car location data of 2 million customers exposed for ten years (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Toyota's bungling of customer privacy is becoming a pattern • The Register

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Exposed Ferrari Website to Hackers - SecurityWeek

• Personal info of 90k hikers leaked by French tourism company La Malle Postale-Security Affairs

• Ransomware gang steals data of 5.8 million PharMerica patients (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Airline exposes passenger info to others due to a 'technical error' (bleepingcomputer.com)

• University admission platform exposed student passports-Security Affairs

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

Organised Crime & Criminal Actors

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• An Executive's Guide To The Cyber crime Underground (forbes.com)

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Former Ubiquiti Employee Gets 6 Years in Jail for $2 Million Crypto Extortion Case (thehackernews.com)

• How Cyber criminals Adapted to Microsoft Blocking Macros by Default (darkreading.com)

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Lemon Group Uses Millions of Pre-Infected Android Phones to Enable Cyber crime Enterprise (darkreading.com)

Cryptocurrency/Cryptomining/Cryptojacking/NFTs/Blockchain

• Atomic malware steals Mac passwords, crypto wallets, and more • Graham Cluley

• Hacker admits he was connected to 'tens of thousands’ laptops to mine crypto (finbold.com)

• CLR SqlShell Malware Targets MS SQL Servers for Crypto Mining and Ransomware (thehackernews.com)

• Latest variant of RapperBot botnet adds cryptojacking capabilities-Security Affairs

• North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan - Nikkei | Reuters

• DangerousPassword - A Malware Attack Pattern to Infect Devices (gbhackers.com)

• Landmark crypto rules make exchanges liable for customer losses in EU | Ars Technica

• 8220 Gang Exploiting Oracle WebLogic Flaw to Hijack Servers and Mine Cryptocurrency (thehackernews.com)

Insider Risk and Insider Threats

• Triple Threat: Insecure Economy, Cyber crime Recruitment and Insider Threats - SecurityWeek

• Avoiding Reputational Damage By Conquering Insider Threats (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Insider threats surge across US CNI as attackers exploit human factors | CSO Online

• Ex-Apple engineer accused of stealing self-driving car secrets - BBC News

• Identity crimes: Too many victims, limited resources - Help Net Security

Fraud, Scams & Financial Crime

• Fraudsters send fake invoice, follow up with fake exec confirmation - Help Net Security

• Exploring the tactics of phishing and scam websites in 2023 - Help Net Security

• Edinburgh coffee shop owner devastated after losing £100,000 life savings to cyber criminals in internet scam | Edinburgh News (scotsman.com)

• How To Avoid Mother's Day Scams By Protecting Your Purse And Heart (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• US Says VoIP Firm Delivered Billions of Scam Robocalls - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

• This Is Catfishing on an Industrial Scale | WIRED

• Admin of the darknet carding platform Skynet Market pleads guilty-Security Affairs

• 18-year-old charged with hacking 60,000 sports betting accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

AML/CFT/Sanctions

• How China came to dominate the black market for money laundering (telegraph.co.uk)

Insurance

• Insured companies more likely to be ransomware victims, sometimes more than once | CSO Online

Dark Web

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Infamous cyber crime marketplace offers pre-order service for stolen credentials - Help Net Security

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Mitigating Dark Web Risks: The Role Of AI And Machine Learning (forbes.com)

Supply Chain and Third Parties

• Capita warns customers they should assume data was stolen (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Capita hit by new data breach incident | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Another security calamity for Capita: Unsecured AWS bucket • The Register

• UK's largest private pension scheme hit by Capita attack • The Register

• Discord Informs Users of Data Breach Involving Customer Support Provider - SecurityWeek

• Preparing for federal supply chain security standardization - Help Net Security

Software Supply Chain

• Software Supply Chain Attacks Hit 61% of Firms - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Cloud/SaaS

• Security experts share cloud auditing best practices | TechTarget

• Stop worrying about cloud-lock-in, and outages: Gartner • The Register

• Microsoft Azure VMs Hijacked in Cloud Cyber attack (darkreading.com)

• Why High Tech Companies Struggle with SaaS Security (thehackernews.com)

• Sticking to traditional security playbook is mistake for cloud security: Palo Alto Networks SVP (techrepublic.com)

• Capita hit by new data breach incident | Financial Times (ft.com)

• Why Amazon S3 is a ransomware target and how to protect it | TechTarget

• Microsoft lets Azure AD choose authentication method • The Register

Encryption

• Converso walks back E2EE claims, yanks app from stores • The Register

• Protect against current and future threats with encryption | TechTarget

API

• Bad bots are coming for APIs - Help Net Security

• Attack automation becomes a prevalent threat against APIs - Help Net Security

Open Source

• EU attempts to secure software could hurt open source • The Register

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Open-source Cobalt Strike port 'Geacon' used in macOS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Malicious open-source components threatening digital infrastructure - Help Net Security

• Congress looks to expand CISA's role, adding responsibilities for satellites and open source software | CyberScoop

• Enhancing open source security: Insights from the OpenSSF on addressing key challenges - Help Net Security

Passwords, Credential Stuffing & Brute Force Attacks

• Time Taken For Hackers to Crack Passwords Revealed - IT Security Guru

• AI-Powered Tools Threaten Password Strength, New Study Finds - MSSP Alert

• Passkeys may not be for you, but they are safe and easy—here’s why | Ars Technica

• Ransomware Prevention – Are Meeting Password Security Requirements Enough (bleepingcomputer.com)

• KeePass 2.X Master Password Dumper allows retrieving the KeePass master password-Security Affairs

Social Media

• Former TikTok official says China had access to app data | Al Arabiya English

• Ongoing Facebook phishing campaign without a sender and (almost) without links

• Twitter wrong to block tweets during Turkey election - Wikipedia founder - BBC News

• Twitter sued over Saudi spying that allegedly landed popular user in prison [Updated] | Ars Technica

Training, Education and Awareness

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

Parental Controls and Child Safety

• Parental control app with 5 million downloads vulnerable to attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

Regulations, Fines and Legislation

• EU attempts to secure software could hurt open source • The Register

• AI Is About to Be Everywhere: Where Will Regulators Be? (darkreading.com)

• ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before Congress, Calls for New Agency to Regulate Artificial Intelligence - SecurityWeek

• Preparing for federal supply chain security standardization - Help Net Security

Secure Disposal

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

Careers, Working in Cyber and Information Security

• How I Got Started: Offensive Security

• Open source and Linux skills are still in demand in a dark economy | ZDNET

• Top 10 Ideas for Addressing the Cyber security Skills Gap in 2023 (analyticsinsight.net)

• Google Cloud CISO on why the Google Cyber security Certificate matters - Help Net Security

• Improving cyber mindfulness - IT Security Guru

• The Future is (Cyber) Mindful - IT Security Guru

Law Enforcement Action and Take Downs

• Law enforcement crackdowns and new techniques are forcing cyber criminals to pivot | CSO Online

• Hacker marketplace still active despite police 'takedown' claim - BBC News

• Spanish cops arrest 69 in immigration bot scheme • The Register

• Identity crimes: Too many victims, limited resources - Help Net Security

• Darknet Carding Kingpin Pleads Guilty: Sold Financial Info of Tens of Thousands (thehackernews.com)

• Admin of the darknet carding platform Skynet Market pleads guilty-Security Affairs

• 18-year-old charged with hacking 60,000 sports betting accounts (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Russian national indicted for ransomware attacks against the US | CSO Online

Privacy, Surveillance and Mass Monitoring

• The UK’s Secretive Web Surveillance Program Is Ramping Up | WIRED

• WhatsApp allows users to lock sensitive chats - Help Net Security

• Apple blocked 1.7 million apps for privacy, security issues in 2022 (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Google details its next steps for wiping out Chrome tracking cookies | Engadget

• Zut alors! Raclage crapuleux! Clearview AI in 20% more trouble in France – Naked Security (sophos.com)

Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

• Pakistan shut down the internet - but that didn't stop the protests - BBC News

• Twitter wrong to block tweets during Turkey election - Wikipedia founder - BBC News

Spyware, Cyber Espionage & Cyber Warfare, including Russian Invasion of Ukraine

• Cyber Warfare Escalates Amid China-Taiwan Tensions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New APT Group Red Stinger Targets Military and Critical Infrastructure in Eastern Europe (thehackernews.com)

• China's 'Satellite Killer' Spacecraft Threatens To Puncture US Military In Space By Crippling Its Recon, Navigation & EW Satellites

• President Zelensky imposes sanctions against the Russian IT sector-Security Affairs

• 4 Countries Join NATO Cyber Defence Center - SecurityWeek

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Nation State Actors

• Former TikTok official says China had access to app data | Al Arabiya English

• Cyber Warfare Escalates Amid China-Taiwan Tensions - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• New APT Group Red Stinger Targets Military and Critical Infrastructure in Eastern Europe (thehackernews.com)

• Russia-affiliated CheckMate ransomware quietly targets popular file-sharing protocol-Security Affairs

• Gatewatcher unveils research into advanced persistent threats | Data Centre Solutions

• China's 'Satellite Killer' Spacecraft Threatens To Puncture US Military In Space By Crippling Its Recon, Navigation & EW Satellites

• How China came to dominate the black market for money laundering (telegraph.co.uk)

• Lancefly APT Custom Backdoor Targets Government and Aviation Sectors - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• Researchers Uncover Powerful Backdoor and Custom Implant in Year-Long Cyber Campaign (thehackernews.com)

• North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan - Nikkei | Reuters

• Hackers infect TP-Link router firmware to attack EU entities (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Chinese Hackers Mustang Panda Attacks TP-Link Routers (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• Cyble — Cisco Routers Exploited by Russian State-Sponsored Attackers

• DOJ links Iran, China and Russia to five IP theft-related cases | SC Media (scmagazine.com)

• Trojan-Rigged Phishing Attacks Pepper China-Taiwan Conflict (darkreading.com)

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Vulnerability Management

• Microsoft will take nearly a year to finish patching new 0-day Secure Boot bug | Ars Technica

• Remote updates on motherboards could lead to bricked servers • The Register

• Hacking Groups Rapidly Weaponizing N-Day Vulnerabilities (gbhackers.com)

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Microsoft Advisories Are Getting Worse (darkreading.com)

• How to build a better vulnerability management program | TechTarget

• Google Announces New Rating System for Android and Device Vulnerability Reports - SecurityWeek

• How to Protect Your Organisation From Vulnerabilities (darkreading.com)

Vulnerabilities

• Hackers target Wordpress plugin flaw after PoC exploit released (bleepingcomputer.com)

• Critical Flaws in Cisco Small Business Switches Could Allow Remote Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• KeePass flaw allows retrieval of master password, PoC is public (CVE-2023-32784) - Help Net Security

• Apple fixes three new zero-days exploited to hack iPhones, Macs (bleepingcomputer.com)

• XWorm Malware Exploits Follina Vulnerability in New Wave of Attacks (thehackernews.com)

• Details Disclosed for Exploit Chain That Allows Hacking of Netgear Routers - SecurityWeek

• CVE-2023-0008 PAN-OS: Local File Disclosure Vulnerability in the PAN-OS Web Interface (paloaltonetworks.com)

• Arm confident Cortex-M is secure after side-channel attack • The Register

• Microsoft Follina Bug Is Back in Meme-Themed Cyber attacks Against Travel Orgs (darkreading.com)

• CISA: Several Old Linux Vulnerabilities Exploited in Attacks - SecurityWeek

• Remote updates on motherboards could lead to bricked servers • The Register

• Microsoft will take nearly a year to finish patching new 0-day Secure Boot bug | Ars Technica

• Microsoft pulls Defender update fixing Windows LSA Protection bug (bleepingcomputer.com)

• WordPress 6.2.1 Released with Fixes for 5 Security Vulnerabilities – WP Tavern

• 8220 Gang Exploiting Oracle WebLogic Flaw to Hijack Servers and Mine Cryptocurrency (thehackernews.com)

• Cisco Says PoC Exploits Available for Newly Patched Enterprise Switch Vulnerabilities - SecurityWeek

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Tools and Controls

• Organisations' cyber resilience efforts fail to keep up with evolving threats - Help Net Security

• Hacking Groups Rapidly Weaponizing N-Day Vulnerabilities (gbhackers.com)

• Cyber-Resilience Programs Failing on Poor Visibility - Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

• 5 Ways Security Testing Can Aid Incident Response (darkreading.com)

• Organisations reporting cyber resilience are hardly resilient: Study | CSO Online

• Making Sure Lost Data Stays Lost (darkreading.com)

• Passkeys may not be for you, but they are safe and easy—here’s why | Ars Technica

• Not-Too-Safe Boot: Remotely Bypassing Endpoint Security Solutions (AV/EDR/…) and Anti-Tampering Mechanisms – Zero-Day Zone (zerodayzone.com)

• The Ultimate Guide to Multi-Factor Authentication - Security Boulevard

• Open-source Cobalt Strike port 'Geacon' used in macOS attacks (bleepingcomputer.com)

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

• Protect against current and future threats with encryption | TechTarget

• Can AI Decision-Making Be Trusted for Cyber security? (analyticsinsight.net)

• 'Strictly limit' remote desktop to avoid BianLian ransomware • The Register

• Millions of deleted files recovered in hard drives purchased online | TechRadar

• Key Metrics In Evaluating DevOps Threat Matrix (informationsecuritybuzz.com)

• ChatGPT is about to revolutionize cyber security | VentureBeat

• A Requirements-Driven Approach to Cyber Threat Intelligence | Mandiant

• Embedding Security by Design: A Shared Responsibility (darkreading.com)

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Reports Published in the Last Week

• UK Cyber security Landscape: challenges and opportunities | Expel

• Kaspersky Incident Response report 2022 | Securelist

• The State of Pentesting 2023 Report | Cobalt

• Introducing the DRM-Report Q1 2023: Unveiling the Current State of Ransomware - -Security Affairs-Security Affairs

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Other News

• Heightened cyber attacks threat before Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik – EURACTIV.com

• White House plan to implement cyber strategy includes ambitious digital education effort | CyberScoop

• 12 common network protocols and their functions explained | TechTarget

• Pentagon Hacking Fears Fueled by Microsoft's Monopoly on Military IT (newsweek.com)

• Ukraine, Ireland, Japan and Iceland join NATO CCDCOE-Security Affairs

• Web entity activity reveals insights into internet security - Help Net Security

• Microsoft Security highlights from RSAC 2023 - Microsoft Security Blog

• Top 5 Cyber security Predictions and Statistics for 2023 (analyticsinsight.net)

• No more macros? No problem, say attackers, we'll adapt • The Register

• Not-Too-Safe Boot: Remotely Bypassing Endpoint Security Solutions (AV/EDR/…) and Anti-Tampering Mechanisms – Zero-Day Zone (zerodayzone.com)

• Researchers show ways to abuse Microsoft Teams accounts for lateral movement | CSO Online

• Rebinding Attacks Persist With Spotty Browser Defences (darkreading.com)

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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.

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·       Construction

·       Critical National Infrastructure (CNI)

·       Defence & Space

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·       Estate Agencies

·       Financial Services

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·       Third Sector & Charities

·       Transport & Aviation

·       Web3

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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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