- Cyber-attacks: the apex of crime-as-a-service (IOCTA 2023)
September 15, 2023
The Spotlight Report ‘Cyber-attacks: the apex of crime-as-a-service’, examines the developments in cyber-attacks, discussing new methodologies and threats as observed by Europol’s operational analysts. It also outlines the types of criminal structures that are behind cyber-attacks, and how these increasingly professionalised groups are exploiting changes in geopolitics as part of their methodologies. This report is the ...
- Peach Sandstorm password spray campaigns enable intelligence collection at high-value targets
September 14, 2023
Since February 2023, Microsoft has observed password spray activity against thousands of organizations carried out by an actor we track as (HOLMIUM). Peach Sandstorm is an Iranian nation-state threat actor who has recently pursued organizations in the satellite, defense, and pharmaceutical sectors around the globe. Based upon the profile of victim organizations targeted and the observed ...
- UK: Greater Manchester Police officers’ details hacked in cyber attack
September 14, 2023
Police officers’ personal details have been hacked after a company was targeted in a cyber attack. The firm in Stockport, which makes ID cards, holds information on various UK organisations including some of the staff employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The force confirmed it was aware of the ransomware attack. The hack means thousands of ...
- China: Identity of NSA hacker behind cyberattack on China’s leading aviation university identified
September 14, 2023
During the investigation of the cyberattack against Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), a leading Chinese aviation university, China has successfully extracted multiple samples of the spyware named SecondDate, and with the collaborative efforts of partners in various countries, the real identity of the US’ National Security Agency (NSA) personnel responsible for launching the cyberattack on NPU ...
- Watch out, this LastPass email with “Important information about your account” is a phish
September 14, 2023
The consequences of last year’s LastPass breach continue to be felt, with the latest insult to users coming in the form of a highly convincing phishing email. Although the “unauthorized party” that compromised LastPass users’ data was able to steal password vaults, it’s likely that they are having a hard time cracking them open. LastPass’s own ...
- Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. Statistics for H1 2023
September 13, 2023
In the first half of 2023, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased from H2 2022 by just 0.3 pp to 34%. That said, he percentage of attacked ICS computers dropped in Q1 2023, but then rose again in Q2 2023, reaching highest quarterly figure since 2022 – 26.8%. Read more… Source: Kaspersky
- 3AM: New Ransomware Family Used As Fallback in Failed LockBit Attack
September 13, 2023
A new ransomware family calling itself 3AM has emerged. To date, the ransomware has only been used in a limited fashion. Symantec’s Threat Hunter Team, part of Broadcom, has seen it used in a single attack by a ransomware affiliate that attempted to deploy LockBit on a target’s network and then switched to 3AM when ...
- RedLine/Vidar Abuses EV Certificates, Shifts to Ransomware
September 13, 2023
Trend Micro researchers have been observing malware families RedLine and Vidar since the middle of 2022, when both were used by threat actors to target victims via spear-phishing scams. Earlier this year, RedLine targeted the hospitality industry with its info stealer malware. Their latest investigations show that the threat actors behind RedLine and Vidar now ...
- China denies iPhone ban for officials but notes its ‘security incidents’
September 13, 2023
Just hours after Apple wrapped up its annual product launch for the hotly anticipated iPhone 15, the Chinese government denied reports that it had banned officials from using the smartphones — and then noted recent “security incidents” involving the devices. “China has not issued any legislation, regulations or policy documents prohibiting the purchase and use of ...
- Sri Lanka: Report called over cyberattack on government sites
September 13, 2023
The Ministry of Technology said an investigation was called into the cyberattack that transpired on the 26th of August 2023. The statement added that the cyberattack, which targeted email systems under the ‘gov.lk’ domain, resulted in substantial data loss and a disruption of communications within various state offices. It stated that the ICTA disclosed that this ...
- A peek into APT36’s updated arsenal
September 12, 2023
In July 2023, Zscaler ThreatLabz discovered new malicious activity perpetuated by the Pakistan-based advanced persistent threat group (APT36). APT36 is a sophisticated cyber threat group with a history of conducting targeted espionage operations in South Asia. Zscaler ThreatLabz observed APT36 targeting Indian government sectors using a previously undocumented Windows RAT, new cyber espionage utilities for ...