News – April 2023


  • Microsoft SQL servers hacked to deploy Trigona ransomware

    April 19, 2023

    Attackers are hacking into poorly secured and Interned-exposed Microsoft SQL (MS-SQL) servers to deploy Trigona ransomware payloads and encrypt all files. The MS-SQL servers are being breached via brute-force or dictionary attacks that take advantage of easy-to-guess account credentials. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer  

  • Growth of ‘hackers for hire’ will lead to more attacks and unpredictable threats, UK cyber security agency warns

    April 19, 2023

    The number of “hackers for hire” is set to grow over the next five years, leading to more cyber attacks and increasingly unpredictable threats, the UK’s cyber security agency has warned. A rise in spyware is also anticipated and other hacking tools, according to a new report by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is ...

  • Google patches another actively exploited Chrome zero-day

    April 19, 2023

    Google has released a security update for the Chrome web browser to fix the second zero-day vulnerability found to be exploited in attacks this year. “Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-2136 exists in the wild,” reads the security bulletin from the company. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer  

  • Play ransomware gang uses custom Shadow Volume Copy data-theft tool

    April 19, 2023

    The Play ransomware group has developed two custom tools in .NET, namely Grixba and VSS Copying Tool, which it uses to improve the effectiveness of its cyberattacks. The two tools enable attackers to enumerate users and computers in compromised networks, gather information about security, backup, and remote administration software, and easily copy files from Volume Shadow ...

  • Chatham House Cyber Conference 14 June 2023 – In person and broadcast live

    April 19, 2023

    You are invited to join the upcoming Chatham House Cyber conference taking place at Chatham House and broadcast live. Connect with cyber security experts and senior policymakers to explore the role of cyber security in the global economy and the collaboration required to deliver an open and secure internet. Speakers include: Keynote address: Lindy Cameron, CEO, National Cyber ...

  • The Cyber Security & Cloud Congress North America (17-18th May) has announced exciting new additions to its line-up of speakers and panellists for the upcoming two-day event in Santa Clara.

    April 19, 2023

    The event will take place on May 17th and 18th, 2023, and will feature a diverse range of tech industry experts, including CIOs, CTOs, Cyber Security, Cloud Architects, and other key players in the field. Attendees will have a great opportunity to hear from the most talented speakers including: Prasanna P., Digital Transformation Leader – Enterprise Architecture ...

  • Capita IT breach gets worse as Black Basta claims it’s now selling off stolen data

    April 18, 2023

    Black Basta, the extortionists who claimed they were the ones who lately broke into Capita, have reportedly put up for sale sensitive details, including bank account information, addresses, and passport photos, stolen from the IT outsourcing giant. A spokesperson for the London-based corporation, which has UK government contracts totaling £6.5 billion ($8 billion), said it hasn’t ...

  • Nation-state threat actor Mint Sandstorm refines tradecraft to attack high-value targets

    April 18, 2023

    Over the past several months, Microsoft has observed a mature subgroup of Mint Sandstorm, an Iranian nation-state actor previously tracked as PHOSPHORUS, refining its tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Specifically, this subset has rapidly weaponized N-day vulnerabilities in common enterprise applications and conducted highly-targeted phishing campaigns to quickly and successfully access environments of interest. This Mint ...

  • CISA Releases Four Industrial Control Systems Advisories

    April 18, 2023

    CISA released four Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories on April 18, 2023. These advisories provide timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits surrounding ICS. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the newly released ICS advisories for technical details and mitigations: ICSA-23-108-01 Omron CSCJ Series ICSA-23-108-02 Schneider Electric Easy UPS Online Monitoring Software Read more… Source: U.S. Cybersecurity ...

  • State-sponsored campaigns target global network infrastructure

    April 18, 2023

    Recently, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) released a report on a sustained campaign by a Russian intelligence agency targeting a vulnerability in routers that Cisco had published a patch for in 2017. This campaign, dubbed “Jaguar Tooth,” is an example of a much broader trend of sophisticated adversaries targeting networking infrastructure to advance ...

  • New QBot email attacks use PDF and WSF combo to install malware

    April 17, 2023

    QBot malware is now distributed in phishing campaigns utilizing PDFs and Windows Script Files (WSF) to infect Windows devices. Qbot (aka QakBot) is a former banking trojan that evolved into malware that provides initial access to corporate networks for other threat actors. This initial access is done by dropping additional payloads, such as Cobalt Strike, Brute ...

  • Update now: Google emits emergency fix for zero-day Chrome vulnerability

    April 17, 2023

    Google on Friday released an emergency update for Chrome to address a zero-day security flaw. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-2033, can be exploited by a malicious webpage to run arbitrary code in the browser. Thus, surfing to a bad website with a vulnerable browser could lead to your device being hijacked. Exploit code for this hole ...

  • Hackers abuse Google Command and Control red team tool in attacks

    April 17, 2023

    The Chinese state-sponsored hacking group APT41 was found abusing the GC2 (Google Command and Control) red teaming tool in data theft attacks against a Taiwanese media and an Italian job search company. APT 41, also known as HOODOO, is a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group known to target a wide range of industries in the USA, Asia, ...

  • Ex-Conti members and FIN7 devs team up to push new Domino malware

    April 17, 2023

    Ex-Conti ransomware members have teamed up with the FIN7 threat actors to distribute a new malware family named ‘Domino’ in attacks on corporate networks. Domino is a relatively new malware family consisting of two components, a backdoor named ‘Domino Backdoor,’ which in turn drops a ‘Domino Loader’ that injects an info-stealing malware DLL into the memory ...

  • Australians lose record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022

    April 16, 2023

    Doris McAllister spent her whole life working hard to support herself. So, last year, when the 75-year-old saw an international bank offering a good return on deposits, she decided to transfer her life’s savings of $260,000 across to help secure her retirement. Six weeks later, when she needed to make a withdrawal, she realised she had been ...