CyberSecurity Updates

22 Feb

Operation Texonto: Information operation targeting Ukrainian speakers in the context of the war

Information

ESET products and research have been protecting Ukrainian IT infrastructure for years. Since the start of the war in February 2022, we have prevented and investigated a significant number of attacks launched by Russia-aligned groups. We have also published some of the most interesting findings on WeLiveSecurity: Even though our main focus remains on analyzing threats involving malware, we have found ourselves investigating an information operation or psychological operation (PSYOP) trying to raise doubts in…

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22 Feb

New Leak Shows Business Side of China’s APT Menace

Data Breaches, Information, Insights

A new data leak that appears to have come from one of China’s top private cybersecurity firms provides a rare glimpse into the commercial side of China’s many state-sponsored hacking groups. Experts say the leak illustrates how Chinese government agencies increasingly are contracting out foreign espionage campaigns to the nation’s burgeoning and highly competitive cybersecurity industry. A marketing slide deck promoting i-SOON’s Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) capabilities. A large cache of more than 500 documents…

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22 Feb

CISA Adds One Known Exploited ConnectWise Vulnerability, CVE-2024-1709, to Catalog

Attacks, Insights, Malware

CISA has added one new vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. CVE-2024-1709 ConnectWise ScreenConnect Authentication Bypass Vulnerability CISA urges organizations to review the ConnectWise Security Bulletin and apply the necessary updates: ConnectWise ScreenConnect 23.9.8 security fix   These types of vulnerabilities are frequent attack vectors for malicious cyber actors and pose significant risks to the federal enterprise. Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01: Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities established the…

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21 Feb

CISA, EPA, and FBI Release Top Cyber Actions for Securing Water Systems

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released the joint fact sheet Top Cyber Actions for Securing Water Systems. This fact sheet outlines the following practical actions Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector entities can take to better protect water systems from malicious cyber activity and provides actionable guidance to implement concurrently: Reduce Exposure to the Public-Facing Internet Conduct Regular Cybersecurity Assessments Change Default Passwords Immediately Conduct an…

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20 Feb

Feds Seize LockBit Ransomware Websites, Offer Decryption Tools, Troll Affiliates

Information, Insights

U.S. and U.K. authorities have seized the darknet websites run by LockBit, a prolific and destructive ransomware group that has claimed more than 2,000 victims worldwide and extorted over $120 million in payments. Instead of listing data stolen from ransomware victims who didn’t pay, LockBit’s victim shaming website now offers free recovery tools, as well as news about arrests and criminal charges involving LockBit affiliates. Investigators used the existing design on LockBit’s victim shaming website…

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17 Feb

Cyber-insurance and vulnerability scanning – Week in security with Tony Anscombe

Information

Video Here’s how the results of vulnerability scans factor into decisions on cyber-insurance and how human intelligence comes into play in the assessment of such digital signals 16 Feb 2024 Cyber-insurance has been an increasingly hot topic lately, with the cyber-insurance industry growing of 62 percent last year, which largely appears to be attributable to new contracts. To qualify for a cyber insurance policy, organizations need to meet certain security requirements, which includes having certain…

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16 Feb

The art of digital sleuthing: How digital forensics unlocks the truth

Information

The burgeoning field of digital forensics plays a crucial role in investigating a wide range of cybercrimes and cybersecurity incidents. Indeed, in our technology-centric world, even investigations of ‘traditional’ crimes often include an element of digital evidence that is waiting to be retrieved and analyzed. This art of uncovering, analyzing and interpreting digital evidence has seen substantial growth particularly in investigations involving various kinds of fraud and cybercrime, tax evasion, stalking, child exploitation, intellectual property…

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16 Feb

All eyes on AI | Unlocked 403: A cybersecurity podcast

Information

Video Artificial intelligence is on everybody’s lips these days, but there are also many misconceptions about what AI actually is and isn’t. We unpack the basics and examine AI’s broader implications. Alžbeta Kovaľová 15 Feb 2024 Artificial intelligence (AI) is clearly the topic du jour as technologies that fall under the umbrella term of AI become increasingly woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. But what do we actually talk about when we talk…

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15 Feb

CISA and MS-ISAC Release Advisory on Compromised Account Used to Access State Government Organization

Attacks, Insights, Malware

Today, CISA and the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), Threat Actor Leverages Compromised Account of Former Employee to Access State Government Organization to provide network defenders with the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) utilized by a threat actor and methods to protect against similar exploitation. Following an incident response assessment of a state government organization’s network environment, analysis confirmed compromise through network administrator credentials of a former employee.…

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14 Feb

Deepfakes in the global election year of 2024: A weapon of mass deception?

Information

Digital Security As fabricated images, videos and audio clips of real people go mainstream, the prospect of a firehose of AI-powered disinformation is a cause for mounting concern Phil Muncaster 13 Feb 2024  •  , 5 min. read Fake news has dominated election headlines ever since it became a big story during the race for the White House back in 2016. But eight years later, there’s an arguably bigger threat: a combination of disinformation and…

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