Insights

NIST’s International Cybersecurity and Privacy Engagement Update – International Dialogues, Workshops, and Translations

Credit: Shutterstock/Michael Traitov With the new year under way, NIST is continuing to engage with our international partners to enhance cybersecurity.  Here are some updates on our international work from the end of 2023 into the beginning of 2024: Conversations have continued with our partners throughout the world on the update to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0.  The current Draft CSF 2.0 has been shared in a public comment period that ended in November 2023.  Stay…

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From Cybercrime Saul Goodman to the Russian GRU

In 2021, the exclusive Russian cybercrime forum Mazafaka was hacked. The leaked user database shows one of the forum’s founders was an attorney who advised Russia’s top hackers on the legal risks of their work, and what to do if they got caught. A review of this user’s hacker identities shows that during his time on the forums he served as an officer in the special forces of the GRU, the foreign military intelligence agency…

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CISA and Partners Release Advisory on PRC-sponsored Volt Typhoon Activity and Supplemental Living Off the Land Guidance

Today, CISA, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), PRC State-Sponsored Actors Compromise and Maintain Persistent Access to U.S. Critical Infrastructure alongside supplemental Joint Guidance: Identifying and Mitigating Living off the Land Techniques. The following federal agencies and international organizations are additional co-authors on the joint advisory and guidance: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Australian…

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Arrests in $400M SIM-Swap Tied to Heist at FTX?

Three Americans were charged this week with stealing more than $400 million in a November 2022 SIM-swapping attack. The U.S. government did not name the victim organization, but there is every indication that the money was stolen from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which had just filed for bankruptcy on that same day. A graphic illustrating the flow of more than $400 million in cryptocurrencies stolen from FTX on Nov. 11-12, 2022. Image: Elliptic.co. An…

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Moby and Open Container Initiative Release Critical Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities Affecting Docker-related Components

Moby and the Open Container Initiative (OCI) have released updates for multiple vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-23651, CVE-2024-23652, CVE-2024-23653, CVE-2024-21626) affecting Docker-related components, including Moby BuildKit and OCI runc. A cyber threat actor could exploit these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the advisories from Moby BuildKit (CVE-2024-23651, CVE-2024-23652, CVE-2024-23653) and OCI runc (CVE-2024-21626), as well as the Snyk blog post about these vulnerabilities and apply the necessary updates.

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CISA and FBI Release Secure by Design Alert Urging Manufacturers to Eliminate Defects in SOHO Routers

Today, CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published guidance on Security Design Improvements for SOHO Device Manufacturers as a part of the new Secure by Design (SbD) Alert series that focuses on how manufacturers should shift the burden of security away from customers by integrating security into product design and development. This third publication in CISA’s SbD Alert series examines how manufacturers can eliminate the path threat actors—particularly the People’s Republic of China…

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Fla. Man Charged in SIM-Swapping Spree is Key Suspect in Hacker Groups Oktapus, Scattered Spider

On Jan. 9, 2024, U.S. authorities arrested a 19-year-old Florida man charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiring with others to use SIM-swapping to steal cryptocurrency. Sources close to the investigation tell KrebsOnSecurity the accused was a key member of a criminal hacking group blamed for a string of cyber intrusions at major U.S. technology companies during the summer of 2022. A graphic depicting how 0ktapus leveraged one victim to attack another. Image…

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New Mitigations to Defend Against Exploitation of Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure Gateways

CISA is releasing this alert to provide cyber defenders with new mitigations to defend against threat actors exploiting Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure Gateways vulnerabilities in Ivanti devices (CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887).   Threat actors are continuing to leverage vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure Gateways to capture credentials and/or drop webshells that enable further compromise of enterprise networks. Some threat actors have recently developed workarounds to current mitigations and detection methods and…

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