Today’s interdependent and interconnected world requires joint efforts and holistic approaches to protect critical infrastructure assets from the growing number of attacks and to address ever-evolving cyber threats to government, energy, healthcare, education, banking, transportation, telecommunication and other critical sectors.
With a dedicated section focusing on Critical Infrastructure protection, we aim to enhance cooperation and engage security professionals through news, articles and in-depth analysis of emerging threats and technologies.
NEWS
- Sunburst backdoor – code overlaps with Kazuar
January 11, 2021
On December 13, 2020, FireEye published a blog post detailing a supply chain attack leveraging Orion IT, an infrastructure monitoring and management platform by SolarWinds. In parallel, Volexity published an article with their analysis of related attacks, attributed to an actor named “Dark Halo”. FireEye did not link this activity to any known actor; instead, ...
- Capitol attack’s cybersecurity fallout: Stolen laptops, lost data and possible espionage
January 11, 2021
When hostile actors penetrated the Capitol Building on January 6, they gained access to individual chambers and offices and remained at large within the Capitol complex for well over two hours. We have reports that items were stolen. One report comes from acting US Attorney for DC, Michael Sherwin, who stated “items, electronic items were stolen ...
- United Nations data breach exposed over 100k UNEP staff records
January 11, 2021
Today, researchers have responsibly disclosed a security vulnerability by exploiting which they could access over 100,000 private employee records of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The data breach stemmed from exposed Git directories and credentials, which allowed the researchers to clone Git repositories and gather a large amount of personally identifiable information (PII) associated with over ...
- UK: Fake NHS text asks for bank details in return for coronavirus vaccine
January 8, 2021
People are being warned about a fake NHS text which is demanding bank details from people waiting for a coronavirus vaccine. Liverpool City Council said in a “scam alert” that the message had been “circulating”, advising people they were eligible for a COVID-19 jab. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) also tweeted a warning, reminding those waiting ...
- Investigation launched into vulnerabilities found within US Judiciary case file system
January 8, 2021
The United States Judiciary has announced an audit into its systems, following concerns its case file system has been compromised. In making the announcement, the Judiciary said the Administrative Office of the US Courts was working with the Department of Homeland Security on a security audit relating to vulnerabilities in the Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files ...
- North Korean hackers launch RokRat Trojan in campaigns against the South
January 7, 2021
A North Korean hacking group is utilizing the RokRat Trojan in a fresh wave of campaigns against the South Korean government. The Remote Access Trojan (RAT) has been connected to attacks based on the exploit of a Korean language word processor commonly used in South Korea for several years; specifically, the compromise of Hangul Office documents ...
- CISA Update: Advanced Persistent Threat Compromise of Government Agencies, Critical Infrastructure, and Private Sector Organizations
January 6, 2021
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is aware of compromises of U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure entities, and private sector organizations by an advanced persistent threat (APT) actor beginning in at least March 2020. This APT actor has demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft in these intrusions. CISA expects that removing this threat ...
- Disgruntled Former Employee Disrupted Shipments of Needed PPE During Pandemic
January 6, 2021
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States last spring, a Georgia-based medical equipment packaging company worked to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical workers treating sick patients. But a disgruntled former employee thwarted those efforts at a time when protective equipment was desperately needed. Christopher Dobbins, a vice-president in the company who’d been fired a ...
- JetBrains denies being involved in SolarWinds hack
January 6, 2021
Czech software development firm JetBrains published a statement today denying reports from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal claiming that JetBrains is under investigation for possibly being involved in the SolarWinds hack that impacted thousands of companies across the globe. The reports, citing government sources, said that US officials are looking at a ...
- Cyberattacks on Healthcare Spike 45% Since November
January 5, 2021
As COVID-19 ravages international healthcare systems, cybercriminals have decided to leverage the increasingly dire circumstances to squeeze a few bucks out of the human suffering. According to new findings from Check Point Software, healthcare organizations have seen a 45-percent increase in cyberattacks since November, which is more than double other industry sectors, which a average 22-percent ...
- US government formally blames Russia for SolarWinds hack
January 5, 2021
Four US cyber-security agencies, including the FBI, CISA, ODNI, and the NSA, have released a joint statement today formally accusing the Russian government of orchestrating the SolarWinds supply chain attack. US officials said that “an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, likely Russian in origin” was responsible for the SolarWinds hack, which officials described as “an intelligence ...
- Italian mobile operator offers to replace SIM cards after massive data breach
January 5, 2021
Ho Mobile, an Italian mobile operator, owned by Vodafone, has confirmed a massive data breach on Monday and is now taking the rare step of offering to replace the SIM cards of all affected customers. The breach is believed to have impacted roughly 2.5 million customers. It first came to light last month on December 28 when ...
- Singapore police had used COVID-19 contact tracing data in murder probe
January 5, 2021
The Singapore government has defended its decision to allow the police to access the country’s COVID-19 contact tracing data when necessary, in order to safeguard public safety and interest. It reveals that data collected via the TraceTogether platform already has been tapped at least once to assist in a homicide investigation. Its defence came a day ...
- Japanese Aerospace Firm Kawasaki Warns of Data Breach
December 29, 2020
Japanese aerospace company Kawasaki Heavy Industries on Monday warned of a security incident that may have led to unauthorized access of customer data. According to the company’s data breach notification, it first discovered unauthorized parties accessing a server in Japan, from an overseas office in Thailand, on June 11, 2020. After terminating that access, the company ...
