FBI warns of imposter ads in search results

The FBI has issued a public notice which includes advice to block adverts. Why? Lets take a look. The bogus advert tightrope Its no secret that rogue ads have been a particular plague on the Internet for as far back as we can remember. From irritating pop ups and spinning "Youve won a prize"...

Software provider denied insurance payout after ransomware attack

The Supreme Court of Ohio issued a ruling days before the New Year that a software and service provider shouldn't be covered by insurance against a ransomware attack as it didn't cause direct or physical harm to tangible components of software, as it doesnt have any. "When insurance policy covers...

The FBI's Perspective on Ransomware

Ransomware: contemporary threats, how to prevent them and how the FBI can help In April 2021, Dutch supermarkets faced a food shortage. The cause wasn't a drought or a sudden surge in the demand for avocados. Rather, the reason was a ransomware attack. In the past years, companies, universities,...

New Ransomware Variants Created Using Leaked Conti Source Code

Threat Level Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary The leaked source code of the Conti ransomware has been used to create new strains of the ransomware. These new strains include Putin Team, ScareCrow, BlueSky, and Meow ransomware are being distributed...

Happy 13th Birthday, KrebsOnSecurity!

KrebsOnSecurity turns 13 years old today. Thats a crazy long time for an independent media outlet these days, but then again Im bound to keep doing this as long as they keep letting me. Heck, Ive been doing this so long I briefly forgot which birthday this was! Thanks to your readership and...

The Worst Hacks of 2022

The year was marked by sinister new twists on cybersecurity classics, including phishing, breaches, and ransomware attacks...

Vice Society gang switches to new custom ransomware

Threat Level Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary Vice Society is a well-established ransomware group that has successfully targeted a range of enterprises. They aim to maximize their financial gain by using the standard double extortion strategy. In...

A week in security (December 19 - 25)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: 4 over-hyped security vulnerabilities of 2022 Chasing cryptocurrency through cyberspace, with Brian Carter: Lock and Code S03E26 Restaurant platform SevenRooms confirms data breach Adult popunder campaign used in mainstream ad fraud scheme Malwarebytes earns AV-TES...

Nokoyawa 2.0 A Reworked Rust-Based Ransomware

Threat Level Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary Nokoyawa is a 64-bit Windows-based ransomware family that first appeared in early February 2022. The threat group behind Nokoyawa conducts double-extortion ransomware attacks, first stealing data from...

Vice Society Ransomware Attackers Adopt Robust Encryption Methods

The Vice Society ransomware actors have switched to yet another custom ransomware payload in their recent attacks aimed at a variety of sectors. "This ransomware variant, dubbed 'PolyVice,' implements a robust encryption scheme, using NTRUEncrypt and ChaCha20-Poly1305 algorithms," SentinelOne...

FIN7 Cybercrime Syndicate Emerges as a Major Player in Ransomware Landscape

An exhaustive analysis of FIN7 has unmasked the cybercrime syndicate's organizational hierarchy, alongside unraveling its role as an affiliate for mounting ransomware attacks. It has also exposed deeper associations between the group and the larger threat ecosystem comprising the now-defunct...

New Exploit Method that Bypasses ProxyNotShell Mitigations

Threat Level Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary A new exploit method has been found in the mitigations of the Microsoft Exchange vulnerability ProxyNotShell URL rewrite that allows for remote code execution RCE on compromised servers through Outlook W...

Ransomware and wiper signed with stolen certificates

Introduction On July 17, 2022, Albanian news outlets reported a massive cyberattack that affected Albanian government e-services. A few weeks later, it was revealed that the cyberattacks were part of a coordinated effort likely intended to cripple the countrys computer systems. On September 10,...

The Guardian hit by "ransomware attack"

On Tuesday December 20, 2022 British newspaper The Guardian experienced a major IT security incident that crippled a part of its IT infrastructure. The suspected cause is ransomware. In an online article the newspaper published an internal statement from the chief executive and the editor-in-chie...

CVE-2022-41080, CVE-2022-41082: Rapid7 Observed Exploitation of `OWASSRF` in Exchange for RCE

Emergent threats evolve quickly, and as we learn more about this vulnerability, this blog post will evolve, too. Beginning December 20, 2022, Rapid7 has responded to an increase in the number of Microsoft Exchange server compromises. Further investigation aligned these attacks to what CrowdStrike...

Raspberry Robin Worm Strikes Again, Targeting Telecom and Government Systems

The Raspberry Robin worm has been used in attacks against telecommunications and government office systems across Latin America, Australia, and Europe since at least September 2022. "The main payload itself is packed with more than 10 layers for obfuscation and is capable of delivering a fake...

The Rise of the Rookie Hacker - A New Trend to Reckon With

More zero knowledge attacks, more leaked credentials, more Gen-Z cyber crimes - 2022 trends and 2023 predictions. Cybercrime remains a major threat to individuals, businesses, and governments around the world. Cybercriminals continue to take advantage of the prevalence of digital devices and the...

Ransomware Hackers Using New Way to Bypass MS Exchange ProxyNotShell Mitigations

Threat actors affiliated with a ransomware strain known as Play are leveraging a never-before-seen exploit chain that bypasses blocking rules for ProxyNotShell flaws in Microsoft Exchange Server to achieve remote code execution RCE through Outlook Web Access OWA. "The new exploit method bypasses...

Play ransomware group claims to have stolen hotel chain data

H-Hotels, a large hospitality chain with 60 hotels across several countries including Germany and Switzerland has announced it has fallen victim to a ransomware attack. The incident, which took place on December 11, is allegedly a double whammy of hijacked devices and data theft…if a ransomware...

Conti Team One Splinter Group Resurfaces as Royal Ransomware with Callback Phishing Attacks

From September to December, we detected multiple attacks from the Royal ransomware group. In this blog entry, we discuss findings from our investigation of this ransomware and the tools that Royal ransomware actors used to carry out their attacks...