- New advanced hacking group targets governments, engineers worldwide
September 23, 2021
A new hacking group targeting entities worldwide to spy on them has been unmasked by researchers. Dubbed FamousSparrow by ESET, on Thursday, the team said that the advanced persistent threat (APT) group — many of whom are state-sponsored — is a new entry to the cyberespionage space. Believed to have been active since at least 2019, the ...
- Ransomware encrypts South Africa’s entire Dept of Justice network
September 15, 2021
The justice ministry of the South African government is working on restoring its operations after a recent ransomware attack encrypted all its systems, making all electronic services unavailable both internally and to the public. As a consequence of the attack, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said that child maintenance payments are now on hold ...
- Brazil debates creation of national strategy to tackle cybercrime
September 13, 2021
Amid growing concerns about increasing threats in the cybersecurity space, the Brazilian government and the banking sector are discussing the creation of a strategy to address crime in digital environments. The president at the Brazilian Federation of Banks (FEBRABAN), Isaac Sidney, and the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, have started negotiations for the ...
- Ransomware: It’s only a matter of time before a smart city falls victim, and we need to take action now
August 27, 2021
Ransomware attacks are going to get worse – and one could eventually take out the infrastructure of an entire 5G-enabled smart city, a cybersecurity expert has warned. Cyber criminals deploying ransomware regularly target government services. Not only do public sector IT budgets mean networks are less secure against attacks, but said networks are also used to ...
- Biden to host summit with tech moguls on combating cyberattacks
August 25, 2021
United States President Joe Biden is set to host leaders from the country’s largest technology and finance firms at the White House on Wednesday to discuss how to shore up their cybersecurity defences in the face of increasingly complex attacks. The meeting with top executives comes as Congress considers legislation regarding data-breach notification laws and cybersecurity ...
- Pakistan: Neglect caused Federal Board of Revenue cyber-attack
August 22, 2021
Despite knowing that its information technology equipment is obsolete and some of its software is outdated, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) did not make any serious effort to upgrade them, which resulted into hacking of the data centres. The systems were not improved even though the World Bank approved an $80 million loan two years ...
- Brazilian National Treasury hit with ransomware attack
August 17, 2021
The Brazilian government has released a note stating the National Treasury has been hit with a ransomware attack on Friday (13). According to a statement from the Ministry of Economy, initial measures to contain the impact of the cyberattack were immediately taken. The first assessments so far have found there was no damage to the structuring ...
- ‘Praying Mantis’ threat actor targeting Windows internet-facing servers with malware
July 27, 2021
Windows internet-facing servers are being targeted by a new threat actor operating “almost completely in-memory,” according to a new report from the Sygnia Incident Response team. The report said that the advanced and persistent threat actor — which they have named “Praying Mantis” or “TG1021” — mostly used deserialization attacks to load a completely volatile, custom ...
- WhatsApp chief claims government officials among 1,400 WhatsApp users targeted in 2019 attack
July 24, 2021
Senior government officials around the world – including individuals in high national security positions who are “allies of the US” – were targeted by governments with NSO Group spyware in a 2019 attack against 1,400 WhatsApp users, according to the messaging app’s chief executive. Will Cathcart disclosed the new details about individuals who were targeted in ...
- StrongPity APT Group Deploys Android Malware for the First Time
July 21, 2021
We recently conducted an investigation into a malicious Android malware sample, which we believe can be attributed to the StrongPity APT group, that was posted on the Syrian e-Gov website. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the group has been publicly observed using malicious Android applications as part of ...
- Ecuador’s state-run CNT telco hit by RansomEXX ransomware
July 17, 2021
Ecuador’s state-run Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicación (CNT) has suffered a ransomware attack that has disrupted business operations, the payment portal, and customer support. CNT is Ecuador’s state-run telecommunication carrier that offers fixed-line phone service, mobile, satellite TV, and internet connectivity. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer
- CISA Issues Emergency Directive Requiring Federal Agencies To Mitigate Windows Print Spooler Service Vulnerability
July 13, 2021
WASHINGTON – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Emergency Directive (ED) 21-04 today to mitigate a Microsoft Windows print spooler service vulnerability CVE-2021-34527 being actively exploited. Federal civilian agencies are required to immediately disable the print spooler service on Microsoft Active Directory Domain Controllers, apply the Microsoft July 2021 cumulative updates, and make ...
- White House urges mayors to review local govts’ cybersecurity posture
July 7, 2021
July 7 Following recent ransomware attacks, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger asked US mayors to immediately hold a meeting with state agencies’ chiefs to evaluate their cybersecurity posture. Local governments have been under a constant barrage of ransomware attacks during the last few years as highlighted by an FBI public service announcement issued last year. Read ...
- NSA, Partners Release Cybersecurity Advisory on Brute Force Global Cyber Campaign
July 1, 2021
FORT MEADE, Md. – The National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released a Cybersecurity Advisory today exposing malicious cyber activities by Russian military intelligence against U.S. and global organizations, starting from mid-2019 and likely ongoing. This advisory is ...
- Biden gave Putin list of 16 critical infrastructure entities ‘off limits’ to cyberattacks
June 17, 2021
President Biden told reporters Wednesday he gave President Vladimir Putin a list of 16 critical infrastructure entities that are “off limits” to a Russian cyberattack. Those entities include energy, water, health care, emergency, chemical, nuclear, communications, government, defense, food, commercial facilities, IT, transportation, dams, manufacturing and financial services. “We’ll find out whether we have a cybersecurity arrangement ...
- New SkinnyBoy malware used by Russian hackers to breach sensitive orgs
June 3, 2021
Security researchers have discovered a new piece of malware called SkinnyBoy that was used in spear-phishing campaigns attributed to Russian-speaking hacking group APT28. The threat actor, also known as Fancy Bear, Sednit, Sofacy, Strontium, or PwnStorm, used SkinnyBoy in attacks targeting military and government institutions earlier this year. SkinnyBoy is intended for an intermediary stage of the ...
- Australian Cyber Security Centre using classified capabilities to warn local entities of impending ransomware hit
June 2, 2021
While the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is engaged in helping a local organisation remove and recover from a ransomware hit or cyber attack, its overseer, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is able to use its more secretive powers to find out if any other organisations are on the attackers hit list. Speaking about the attack ...
- Russian gang behind SolarWinds hack returns with phishing attack disguised as mail from US aid agency
May 28, 2021
Nobelium, the Russia-aligned gang identified as the perpetrators of the supply chain attack on SolarWinds’ Orion software, has struck again, Microsoft vice president Tom Burt in a blogpost Thursday. Burt’s post says the attacks saw Nobelium gain access to accounts on the email marketing service “Constant Contact” operated by The United States Agency for International Development ...
- Re-Checking Your Pulse: Updates on Chinese APT Actors Compromising Pulse Secure VPN Devices
May 27, 2021
Mandiant published detailed results of our investigations into compromised Pulse Secure devices by suspected Chinese espionage operators. This blog post is intended to provide an update on our findings, give additional recommendations to network defenders, and discuss potential implications for U.S.-China strategic relations. Mandiant continues to gather evidence and respond to intrusions involving compromises of Pulse ...
- Various Japanese government entities had data stolen in cyber attack: Report
May 27, 2021
Data from various Japanese government entities has reportedly been stolen by hackers that gained access to Fujitsu’s ProjectWEB platform. Fujitsu’s software-as-a-service platform has since been taken down and the Japanese tech giant is currently investigating the scope of the attacks, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said in a report. Among the impacted government entities are the Ministry of ...