- Capita shares sink as outsourcing giant swings to £107m loss, takes £25m hit from cyber attack
March 6, 2024
Capita has incurred £25.3m in costs tied to a cyber attack last March as the outsourcing giant swung to an annual loss and ramped up its cost-cutting programme. Shares fell 16 per cent on Wednesday morning. The group, which runs key local government, military and NHS services, posted a pretax loss of £106.6m for 2023, compared ...
- Germany: Use of non-secure line behind Taurus talk leak to Russia
March 5, 2024
The Ministry of Defence blamed an unnamed individual’s improper use of a “non-secure data line” for the recent leak of a German army conversation about the Taurus weapon system to Russia. The mistake was made by the participant who took part in the conversation from Singapore and had dialled in via a “non-secure data line” such ...
- #StopRansomware: Phobos Ransomware
February 29, 2024
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) are releasing this joint CSA, to disseminate known TTPs and IOCs associated with the Phobos ransomware variants observed as recently as February 2024, according to open source reporting. Phobos is structured as a ransomware-as-a-service ...
- Ireland: Dept of Foreign Affairs investigating potential cybersecurity incident
February 29, 2024
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said that it is investigating a potential cybersecurity incident involving its systems. The DFA said that it was notified by Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) yesterday about the possible security breach and is working closely with the NCSC to establish whether this allegation is authentic. It follows reports ...
- European diplomats targeted by SPIKEDWINE with WINELOADER
February 27, 2024
Zscaler’s ThreatLabz discovered a suspicious PDF file uploaded to VirusTotal from Latvia on January 30th, 2024. This PDF file is masqueraded as an invitation letter from the Ambassador of India, inviting diplomats to a wine-tasting event in February 2024. The PDF also included a link to a fake questionnaire that redirects users to a malicious ZIP ...
- Malawi: Cyber-attack hits immigration service
February 22, 2024
Malawi’s government has suspended the issuing of passports following a cyber-attack on the immigration service’s computer network. President Lazarus Chakwera told MPs that the targeting of the department amounted to a “serious national security breach”. He revealed that the hackers were asking for a ransom. But the president said the government would not give in to ...
- A first analysis of the i-Soon data leak
February 21, 2024
Data from a Chinese cybersecurity vendor that works for the Chinese government has exposed a range of hacking tools and services. Although the source is not entirely clear, it seems that a disgruntled staff member of the group leaked the information on purpose. The vendor, i-Soon (aka Anxun) is believed to be a private contractor that ...
- Australia: OAIC to investigate legal consultant’s data breach
February 21, 2024
The Australian Information Commissioner has launched an investigation into a law firm that provides legal and consulting services to the government, in relation to a data breach and the publication of some of that data on the dark web. At least 65 government entities were affected by the breach last year. The announcement on Wednesday follows ...
- India: EPFO, PMO data breach, Centre says aware of reports, Cert-In looking into details
February 21, 2024
The government is aware of reports of a data breach that claims having datasets from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, and has asked the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) to look into it, senior officials told ET. “We are aware of it but need to verify if the claims ...
- China: Foreign cyber spies attack information systems of key departments, enterprises, stealing sensitive data
February 16, 2024
China’s Ministry of State Security warned on Friday that in recent years, national security agencies have discovered that foreign cyber spies have continuously attacked the information systems of key departments and enterprises within China, resulting in the theft of important sensitive data and posing a threat to China’s data security and cybersecurity. The ministry released an ...
- Philippines: Department of Education checking data breach after hacking
February 14, 2024
The Department of Education (DepEd) is examining its systems for possible data breaches after reports of hackers allegedly harvesting 750 gigabytes of data containing sensitive information on banking details, students, teachers and more. DeepWeb Konek, a collective of cybersecurity practitioners, reported yesterday morning on X that it monitored a post by a “threat actor” in the ...
- Buying Spying: How the commercial surveillance industry works and what can be done about it
February 6, 2024
Private sector firms have been involved in discovering and selling exploits for many years, but there is a rise in turnkey espionage solutions. Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSVs) offer pay-to-play tools that bundle an exploit chain designed to get past security measures, along with the spyware and the necessary infrastructure, in order to collect the desired data ...
- Deputy Prime Minister hosts first global conference targeting ‘hackers for hire’ and malicious use of commercial cyber tools
February 6, 2024
UK, and France, hosting 35 nations at inaugural conference to tackle proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial cyber intrusion tools and services. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will launch new international agreement, signed by participants, to take joint-action – the ‘Pall Mall Process’. States will be joined by big tech leaders, legal experts, and human rights defenders, ...
- Classified Japanese diplomatic info leaked after Chinese cyberattacks in 2020
February 5, 2024
Classified Japanese diplomatic information was leaked following Chinese cyberattacks on the Foreign Ministry in 2020, a government source said Monday, exposing the nation’s digital vulnerability. Japan detected the large-scale attack and release of diplomatic telegrams during a period of government under then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the source said, but the nature of the leaked information ...
- Scaly Wolf uses White Snake stealer against Russian industry
February 2, 2024
The BI.ZONE Threat Intelligence team has identified at least a dozen campaigns linked to Scaly Wolf. The impact spreads across organizations from various industries in Russia, including manufacturing and logistics. One of the group’s characteristics in gaining initial access is their phishing emails designed to look like legitimate correspondence from Russian public authorities. Its phishing arsenal ...
- Hackers obtain confidential information on Romanian officials after cyber attack at Parliament
January 31, 2024
Hackers breached the database of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Parliament, after a recent cyber attack. They reportedly managed to obtain confidential information, such as the prime minister’s identity documents, medical analyses, and other personal data. The hackers threatened to release the personal data of the deputies if they did not ...
- The NSA buys Americans’ internet data, newly released documents show
January 26, 2024
The National Security Agency has been buying Americans’ web browsing data from commercial data brokers without warrants, intelligence officials disclosed in documents made public by a US senator Thursday. The purchases include information about the websites Americans visit and the apps that they use, said Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, releasing newly unclassified letters he received ...
- HP Enterprise was hacked by the same Russian state-sponsored group that targeted Microsoft
January 25, 2024
HP Enterprise was infiltrated by a hacking group linked to Russian intelligence last year, the business IT company has revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The threat actor is believed to be Midnight Blizzard, also known as Cozy Bear, which was the same group that recently breached the email accounts of several senior executives ...
- Lebanon: Ministry of Social Affairs’ website suffers cybersecurity breach
January 22, 2024
The Ministry of Social Affairs’ website has been subjected to a cyber-attack. Authorities are actively working to resolve the issue and ensure the restoration of normalcy to the site. Reportedly, the website does not contain any personal information. Read more… Source: Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International
- Swiss government accused of massive online surveillance
January 11, 2024
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (SRC) is allegedly monitoring the digital activities of the Swiss population, particularly on their mobile phones and computers, according to the German-language magazine Republik.ch on Tuesday. What’s more, Swiss spies are said to be storing far more information than they promised when the new intelligence law was introduced. The SRC denies ...