Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Are on the Rise

Both Google and Mandiant are reporting a significant increase in the number of zero-day vulnerabilities reported in 2021. Google: 2021 included the detection and disclosure of 58 in-the-wild 0-days, the most ever recorded since Project Zero began tracking in mid-2014. That’s more than double the...

Five Eyes Nations Warn of Russian Cyber Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

The Five Eyes nations have released a joint cybersecurity advisory warning of increased malicious attacks from Russian state-sponsored actors and criminal groups targeting critical infrastructure organizations amidst the ongoing military siege on Ukraine. "Evolving intelligence indicates that the...

E.U. Officials Reportedly Targeted with Israeli Pegasus Spyware

Senior officials in the European Union were allegedly targeted with NSO Group's infamous Pegasus surveillance tool, according to a new report from Reuters. At least five individuals, including European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, are said to have been singled out in total, the news agen...

APT 10, a state-sponsored Chinese threat group, conducting a global cyber espionage operation

THREAT LEVEL: Red. For a detailed advisory, download the pdf file here A Chinese state-sponsored advanced persistent threat APT 10 group has been attacking government, legal, religious entities and non-governmental organizations NGOs around the world in what appears to be an espionage campaign th...

Multiple Hacker Groups Capitalizing on Ukraine Conflict for Distributing Malware

At least three different advanced persistent threat APT groups from across the world have launched spear-phishing campaigns in mid-March 2022 using the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war as a lure to distribute malware and steal sensitive information. The campaigns, undertaken by El Machete, Lyceum, and...

CISA Warns CISOs to Brace for Attacks

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, a United States federal agency under the oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, is urging business leaders and those responsible for digital security to prepare for attacks and adapt their digital security posture. This is...

New Variant of Russian Cyclops Blink Botnet Targeting ASUS Routers

ASUS routers have emerged as the target of a nascent botnet called Cyclops Blink, almost a month after it was revealed the malware abused WatchGuard firewall appliances as a stepping stone to gain remote access to breached networks. According to a new report published by Trend Micro, the botnet's...

Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Access Network Misconfigured with Default MFA Protocols

CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory that details how Russian state-sponsored cyber actors accessed a network with misconfigured default multifactor authentication MFA protocols. The actors then exploited a critical Windows Print Spooler...

Researchers Find New Evidence Linking Kwampirs Malware to Shamoon APT Hackers

New findings released last week showcase the overlapping source code and techniques between the operators of Shamoon and Kwampirs, indicating that they "are the same group or really close collaborators." "Research evidence shows identification of co-evolution between both Shamoon and Kwampirs...

Iranian Hackers Targeting Turkey and Arabian Peninsula in New Malware Campaign

The Iranian state-sponsored threat actor known as MuddyWater has been attributed to a new swarm of attacks targeting Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula with the goal of deploying remote access trojans RATs on compromised systems. "The MuddyWater supergroup is highly motivated and can use unauthoriz...

The Top 5 Russian Cyber Threat Actors to Watch

This post was updated on March 10, 2022 to include a section on the Conti Ransomware Group. As we continue to monitor the situation between Russia and Ukraine – and the potential for global cybersecurity impacts – we realize that our customers and other business and industry stakeholders may be...

Crowd-sourced attacks present new risk of crisis escalation

By Matt Olney.An unpredictable and largely unknown set of actors present a threat to organizations, despite their sometimes unsophisticated techniques. Customers who are typically focused on top-tier, state-sponsored attacks should remain aware of these highly motivated threat actors, as... This ...

Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure

Summary Actions Critical Infrastructure Organizations Should Implement to Immediately Strengthen Their Cyber Posture. • Patch all systems. Prioritize patching known exploited vulnerabilities. • Implement multi-factor authentication. • Use antivirus software. • Develop internal contact lists and...

Russia-Ukraine War: Phishing, Malware and Hacker Groups Taking Sides

Ukraine's Computer Emergency Response Team CERT-UA has warned of Belarusian state-sponsored hackers targeting its military personnel and related individuals as part of a phishing campaign mounted amidst Russia's military invasion of the country. "Mass phishing emails have recently been observed...

Iranian State Broadcaster Clobbered by ‘Clumsy, Buggy’ Code

Footage of opposition leaders calling for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader ran on several of the nation’s state-run TV channels in late January after a state-sponsored cyber-attack on Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. The incident – one of a series of politically motivated attacks in Iran...

Russian state-sponsored cyber actors targeting U.S. critical infrastructure

THREAT LEVEL: Red. For a detailed advisory, download the pdf file here In a joint cybersecurity advisory, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, the National Security Agency NSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA revealed that Russian state-sponsored threat actors target...

This Week in Security News - February 18, 2022

SMS PVA services' use of infected Android phones reveals flaws in SMS verification, and 'Russian state-sponsored cyber actors' cited in hacks of U.S. defense contractors...

U.S. Says Russian Hackers Stealing Sensitive Data from Defense Contractors

State-sponsored actors backed by the Russian government regularly targeted the networks of several U.S. cleared defense contractors CDCs to acquire proprietary documents and other confidential information pertaining to the country's defense and intelligence programs and capabilities. The sustaine...

Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Target Cleared Defense Contractor Networks to Obtain Sensitive U.S. Defense Information and Technology

Summary Actions to Help Protect Against Russian State-Sponsored Malicious Cyber Activity: • Enforce multifactor authentication. • Enforce strong, unique passwords. • Enable M365 Unified Audit Logs. • Implement endpoint detection and response tools. From at least January 2020, through February 202...

China Suspected of News Corp Cyberespionage Attack

The Chinese hackers responsible for an attack on media giant News Corp last month likely were seeking intelligence to serve China’s interests in a cyberespionage incident that shows the persistent vulnerability of corporate networks to email-based attacks, security professionals said. Reports on...