WARNING: Hackers Install Secret Backdoor on Thousands of Microsoft SQL Servers

Cybersecurity researchers today uncovered a sustained malicious campaign dating back to May 2018 that targets Windows machines running MS-SQL servers to deploy backdoors and other kinds of malware, including multi-functional remote access tools RATs and cryptominers. Named "Vollgar " after the...

WildPressure targets industrial-related entities in the Middle East

In August 2019, Kaspersky discovered a malicious campaign distributing a fully fledged C++ Trojan that we call Milum. All the victims we registered were organizations from the Middle East. At least some of them are related to industrial sector. Our Kaspersky Threat Attribution Engine KTAE doesn't...

Coronavirus-Themed APT Attack Spreads Malware

An advanced persistent threat APT group is leveraging the coronavirus pandemic to infect victims with a previously unknown malware, in a recently discovered campaign that researchers call “Vicious Panda.” Researchers identified two suspicious Rich Text Format files RTF — a text file format used b...

Ransomware Against the Machine: How Adversaries are Learning to Disrupt Industrial Production by Targeting IT and OT

Since at least 2017, there has been a significant increase in public disclosures of ransomware incidents impacting industrial production and critical infrastructure organizations. Well-known ransomware families like WannaCry, LockerGoga, MegaCortex, Ryuk, Maze, and now SNAKEHOSE a.k.a. Snake /...

Emerson OpenEnterprise

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 8.1 ATTENTION: Exploitable remotely Vendor: Emerson Equipment: OpenEnterprise SCADA Server Vulnerability: Heap-based Buffer Overflow 2. RISK EVALUATION Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute code on an OpenEnterprise SCADA...

U.S. Finance Sector Hit with Targeted Backdoor Campaign

The financial services sector in the U.S. found itself under a barrage of cyberattacks last month, all bent on delivering a powerful backdoor called Minebridge. The attack chain employed a known method called “VBA Stomping” to avoid detection. According to researchers at FireEye, the campaigns,...

Advanced Obfuscation Marks Widespread Info-Stealing Campaign

A large-scale spam campaign bent on spreading info-stealing malware is applying advanced obfuscation techniques to get around security scanning and maximize infection rates. According to Lastline researchers, a large botnet is distributing malicious rich text format RTF documents that act as...

A week in security (January 20 – 26)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we reported on a Ryuk ransomware attack on The Tampa Bay Times, a newspaper in Florida; unmasked an elaborate browser locking scheme behind the more advanced tech support operations that are currently active; and looked at the latest laws on regulating deepfakes...

This Week in Security News: The First Patch Tuesday Update of 2020 and Pwn2Own Vancouver Announced

Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, learn about a major crypto-spoofing bug impacting Windows 10 that has been fixed as part of Microsoft’s January Patch Tuesday update. Also,...

CISA Releases Emergency Directive and Activity Alert on Critical Microsoft Vulnerabilities

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA has released an Emergency Directive and Activity Alert addressing critical vulnerabilities affecting Windows CryptoAPI, Windows Remote Desktop Gateway RD Gateway, and Windows Remote Desktop Client. A remote attacker could exploit these...

ZeroCleare: New Iranian Data Wiper Malware Targeting Energy Sector

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new, previously undiscovered destructive data-wiping malware that is being used by state-sponsored hackers in the wild to target energy and industrial organizations in the Middle East. Dubbed ZeroCleare , the data wiper malware has been linked to not one...

ZeroCleare: New Iranian Data Wiper Malware Targeting Energy Sector

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new, previously undiscovered destructive data-wiping malware that is being used by state-sponsored hackers in the wild to target energy and industrial organizations in the Middle East. Dubbed ZeroCleare, the data wiper malware has been linked to not one...

NCSC-NZ Releases Cyber Governance Resource for Leaders

The New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre NCSC-NZ has released an article on a new cybersecurity governance resource to support public and private sector leaders in making decisions about their cybersecurity resilience and risk. NCSC-NZ developed this governance—a series of documents with...

Iran Targets Mideast Oil with ZeroCleare Wiper Malware

A freshly-discovered wiper malware dubbed “ZeroCleare” has been deployed to target the energy and industrial sectors in the Middle East. According to IBM’s X-Force Incident Response and Intelligence Services IRIS, ZeroCleare so-named because of the program database pathname of its binary file was...

Nuclear Satcoms

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident in 2011 has led to safety changes that may have an interesting knock-on effect on reactor security. Loss of telemetry during the flooding, as a result of the subsequent loss of power, made assessment of the incident hard to manage. Critical data about the...

A week in security (November 25 – December 1)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we discussed why the notion of "data as property" may potentially hurt more than help, homed in on sextortion scammers getting more creative, and explored the possible security risks Americans might face if the US changed to universal healthcare coverage. Other...

RevengeHotels: cybercrime targeting hotel front desks worldwide

RevengeHotels is a targeted cybercrime malware campaign against hotels, hostels, hospitality and tourism companies, mainly, but not exclusively, located in Brazil. We have confirmed more than 20 hotels that are victims of the group, located in eight states in Brazil, but also in other countries...

Philips IntelliBridge EC40/80 (Update A)

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CVSS v3 6.3 ATTENTION: Low skill level to exploit Vendor: Philips Equipment: IntelliBridge EC40 and EC80 Vulnerability: Inadequate Encryption Strength 2. UPDATE INFORMATION This updated advisory is a follow-up to the original advisory titled ICSMA-19-318-01 Philips...

What Makes Island Hopping a Formidable Threat?

Island hopping is a technique used by cybercriminals to exploit less sophisticated organizations in order to breach their larger affiliates. Attackers use vulnerabilities in the first company’s defenses as a point of entry to the second. This is no small threat. In fact, half of cyber attacks tod...

CSET Version 9.2 Now Available

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA has released version 9.2 of its Cyber Security Evaluation Tool CSET. CSET is a desktop software tool that guides asset owners and operators through a consistent process for evaluating control system networks as part of a comprehensive...