Microsoft: SolarWinds Attackers Downloaded Azure, Exchange Code

Threat actors downloaded some Microsoft Exchange and Azure code repositories during the sprawling SolarWinds supply-chain attack but did not use the company’s internal systems or products to attack other victims. That’s the final verdict this week by the tech giant now that it’s completed a...

Researchers Uncover Android Spying Campaign Targeting Pakistan Officials

Two new Android surveillanceware families have been found to target military, nuclear, and election entities in Pakistan and Kashmir as part of a pro-India, state-sponsored hacking campaign. Dubbed Hornbill and Sunbird, the malware impersonates legitimate or seemingly innocuous services to cover...

ZINC attacks against security researchers

In recent months, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting security researchers by an actor we track as ZINC. The campaign originally came to our attention after Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detected an attack in progress. Observed targeting includes pen testers, private offensive securit...

State-Sponsored Threat Actors Target Security Researchers

This blog was co-authored by Caitlin Condon, VRM Security Research Manager, and Bob Rudis, Senior Director and Chief Security Data Scientist. On Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, Google’s Threat Analysis Group TAG published a blog on a widespread social engineering campaign that targeted security researcher...

Feds Pinpoint Russia as ‘Likely’ Culprit Behind SolarWinds Attack

The U.S. government has identified Russia as the “likely” culprit behind the widespread SolarWinds cyberattack that has so far affected multiple federal agencies and private-sector companies. Cyberespionage is cited as the motivation behind the attack, which the feds characterized as ongoing. In ...

Defending Against State and State-Sponsored Threat Actors

Security threats from states and state-sponsored actors have been around since before the field of cybersecurity was defined. They have now evolved to cyberspace, and present unique challenges for defenders. While there are fundamental differences between activist and criminal activity, and those...

SolarWinds advanced cyberattack: What happened and what to do now

We learned more about the sophisticated attack first disclosed on December 8 when security firm FireEye reported it had been the victim of a state-sponsored adversary that stole Red Team assessment tools. On December 13 there was a new development when IT company SolarWinds announced it had been...

Cybersecurity Firm FireEye Got Hacked; Red-Team Pentest Tools Stolen

FireEye, one of the largest cybersecurity firms in the world, said on Tuesday it became a victim of a state-sponsored attack by a "highly sophisticated threat actor" that stole its arsenal of Red Team penetration testing tools it uses to test the defenses of its customers. The company said it's...

FireEye Cyberattack Compromises Red-Team Security Tools

Cybersecurity firm FireEye has been hit in what CEO Kevin Mandia described as a highly targeted cyberattack. The attacker targeted and was able to access certain Red Team assessment tools that the company uses to test its customers’ security. Mandia on Tuesday said that based on the techniques an...

NSA Releases Advisory on Russian State-Sponsored Malicious Cyber Actors Exploiting CVE-2020-4006

The National Security Agency NSA has released a Cybersecurity Advisory on Russian state-sponsored actors exploiting CVE-2020-4006, a command-injection vulnerability in VMware Workspace One Access, Access Connector, Identity Manager, and Identity Manager Connector. The actors were found exploiting...

Russian State-Sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat Actor Compromises U.S. Government Targets

Summary This joint cybersecurity advisory uses the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge ATT &CK® framework. See the ATT&CK for Enterprise framework for all referenced threat actor tactics and techniques This joint cybersecurity advisory—written by the Federal Bureau of...

Trump Fires Security Chief Christopher Krebs

President Trump on Tuesday fired his top election security official Christopher Krebs no relation. The dismissal came via Twitter two weeks to the day after Trump lost an election he baselessly claims was stolen by widespread voting fraud. Chris Krebs. Image: CISA. Krebs, 43, is a former Microsof...

CISA, FBI, and CNMF Identify a New Malware Variant: ComRAT

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, and the Department of Defense Cyber National Mission Force CNMF have identified a malware variant—referred to as ComRAT—used by the Russian-sponsored advanced persistent threat APT actor Turla. In...

NSA Alert: Chinese State-Sponsored Actors Exploit Known Vulnerabilities

On October 20, 2020, the United States National Security Agency NSA released a cybersecurity advisory on Chinese state-sponsored malicious cyber activity. The NSA alert provided a list of 25 publicly known vulnerabilities that are known to be recently leveraged by cyber actors for various hacking...

Addressing cybersecurity risk in industrial IoT and OT

As the industrial Internet of Things IIoT and operational technology OT continue to evolve and grow, so too, do the responsibilities of the Chief Information Security Officer CISO. The CISO now needs to mitigate risks from cloud-connected machinery, warehouse systems, and smart devices scattered...

NSA Advisory on Chinese Government Hacking

The NSA released an advisory listing the top twenty-five known vulnerabilities currently being exploited by Chinese nation-state attackers. This advisory provides Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures CVEs known to be recently leveraged, or scanned-for, by Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors to...

NSA Releases Advisory on Chinese State-Sponsored Actors Exploiting Publicly Known Vulnerabilities

The National Security Agency NSA has released a cybersecurity advisory on Chinese state-sponsored malicious cyber activity. This advisory provides 25 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures CVEs known to be recently leveraged, or scanned-for, by Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors to enable...

Account Takeover Fraud Losses Total Billions Across Online Retailers

Account takeover ATO attacks are on the rise, and in fact have become a go-to attack of choice cybercriminals of all stripes. In fact, in 2019 alone, ATO attacks cost consumers and e-commerce retailers a whopping $16.9 billion in losses. To be clear, ATO fraud isn’t new, it’s been a concern for...

Twitter removes Iranian accounts disrupting US presidential debate

By Deeba Ahmed The account holders were chattering about disrupting the first US Presidential Debate on Tuesday. Its only been a month when Microsoft warned about possible attempts of state-sponsored cybercriminals, particularly Iranian hackers, to disrupt the upcoming US presidential elections...

FinSpy Spyware for Mac and Linux OS Targets Egyptian Organisations

Amnesty International today exposed details of a new surveillance campaign that targeted Egyptian civil society organizations with previously undisclosed versions of FinSpy spyware designed to target Linux and macOS systems. Developed by a German company, FinSpy is extremely powerful spying...