3,500 Arrested in Global Operation HAECHI-IV Targeting Financial Criminals

A six-month-long international police operation codenamed HAECHI-IV has resulted in the arrests of nearly 3,500 individuals and seizures worth $300 million across 34 countries. The exercise, which took place from July through December 2023, took aim at various types of financial crimes such as voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering

Are We Ready to Give Up on Security Awareness Training?

Some of you have already started budgeting for 2024 and allocating funds to security areas within your organization. It is safe to say that employee security awareness training is one of the expenditure items, too. However, its effectiveness is an open question with people still engaging in insecure behaviors at the workplace. Besides, social engineering remains one of the most prevalent attacks

Four U.S. Nationals Charged in $80 Million Pig Butchering Crypto Scam

Four U.S. nationals have been charged for participating in an illicit scheme that earned them more than $80 million via cryptocurrency investment scams. The defendants – Lu Zhang, 36, of Alhambra, California; Justin Walker, 31, of Cypress, California; Joseph Wong, 32, Rosemead, California; and Hailong Zhu, 40, Naperville, Illinois – have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering,

CISA Urges Manufacturers Eliminate Default Passwords to Thwart Cyber Threats

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is urging manufacturers to get rid of default passwords on internet-exposed systems altogether, citing severe risks that could be exploited by malicious actors to gain initial access to, and move laterally within, organizations. In an alert published last week, the agency called out Iranian threat actors affiliated with

MongoDB Suffers Security Breach, Exposing Customer Data

MongoDB on Saturday disclosed it's actively investigating a security incident that has led to unauthorized access to "certain" corporate systems, resulting in the exposure of customer account metadata and contact information. The American database software company said it first detected anomalous activity on December 13, 2023, and that it immediately activated its incident response

China's MIIT Introduces Color-Coded Action Plan for Data Security Incidents

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Friday unveiled draft proposals detailing its plans to tackle data security events in the country using a color-coded system. The effort is designed to "improve the comprehensive response capacity for data security incidents, to ensure timely and effective control, mitigation and elimination of hazards and losses caused

Bug or Feature? Hidden Web Application Vulnerabilities Uncovered

Web Application Security consists of a myriad of security controls that ensure that a web application: Functions as expected. Cannot be exploited to operate out of bounds. Cannot initiate operations that it is not supposed to do. Web Applications have become ubiquitous after the expansion of Web 2.0, which Social Media Platforms, E-Commerce websites, and email clients saturating the internet

Russian SVR-Linked APT29 Targets JetBrains TeamCity Servers in Ongoing Attacks

Threat actors affiliated with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) have targeted unpatched JetBrains TeamCity servers in widespread attacks since September 2023. The activity has been tied to a nation-state group known as APT29, which is also tracked as BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), and The Dukes. It's notable for the supply chain

Microsoft Warns of Hackers Exploiting OAuth for Cryptocurrency Mining and Phishing

Microsoft has warned that adversaries are using OAuth applications as an automation tool to deploy virtual machines (VMs) for cryptocurrency mining and launch phishing attacks. "Threat actors compromise user accounts to create, modify, and grant high privileges to OAuth applications that they can misuse to hide malicious activity," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in an

Playbook: Your First 100 Days as a vCISO - 5 Steps to Success

In an increasingly digital world, no organization is spared from cyber threats. Yet, not every organization has the luxury of hiring a full-time, in-house CISO. This gap in cybersecurity leadership is where you, as a vCISO, come in. You are the person who will establish, develop, and solidify the organization's cybersecurity infrastructure, blending strategic guidance with actionable

SpyLoan Scandal: 18 Malicious Loan Apps Defraud Millions of Android Users

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered 18 malicious loan apps for Android on the Google Play Store that have been collectively downloaded over 12 million times. "Despite their attractive appearance, these services are in fact designed to defraud users by offering them high-interest-rate loans endorsed with deceitful descriptions, all while collecting their victims' personal and

Webinar — Psychology of Social Engineering: Decoding the Mind of a Cyber Attacker

In the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, one method stands out for its chilling effectiveness – social engineering. But why does it work so well? The answer lies in the intricate dance between the attacker's mind and human psychology. Our upcoming webinar, "Think Like a Hacker, Defend Like a Pro," highlights this alarming trend. We delve deep into social engineering, exploring its

Hacking the Human Mind: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in the 'First Line of Cyber Defense'

Humans are complex beings with consciousness, emotions, and the capacity to act based on thoughts. In the ever-evolving realm of cybersecurity, humans consistently remain primary targets for attackers. Over the years, these attackers have developed their expertise in exploiting various human qualities, sharpening their skills to manipulate biases and emotional triggers with the objective of

Building a Robust Threat Intelligence with Wazuh

Threat intelligence refers to gathering, processing, and analyzing cyber threats, along with proactive defensive measures aimed at strengthening security. It enables organizations to gain a comprehensive insight into historical, present, and anticipated threats, providing context about the constantly evolving threat landscape. Importance of threat intelligence in the cybersecurity ecosystem

Meta Launches Default End-to-End Encryption for Chats and Calls on Messenger

Meta has officially begun to roll out support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in Messenger for personal calls and one-to-one personal messages by default in what it called the "most significant milestone yet." "This isn't a routine security update: we rebuilt the app from the ground up, in close consultation with privacy and safety experts," Loredana Crisan, vice president of

Scaling Security Operations with Automation

In an increasingly complex and fast-paced digital landscape, organizations strive to protect themselves from various security threats. However, limited resources often hinder security teams when combatting these threats, making it difficult to keep up with the growing number of security incidents and alerts. Implementing automation throughout security operations helps security teams alleviate

Qualcomm Releases Details on Chip Vulnerabilities Exploited in Targeted Attacks

Chipmaker Qualcomm has released more information about three high-severity security flaws that it said came under "limited, targeted exploitation" back in October 2023. The vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-33063 (CVSS score: 7.8) - Memory corruption in DSP Services during a remote call from HLOS to DSP. CVE-2023-33106 (CVSS score: 8.4) - Memory corruption in

Russia's AI-Powered Disinformation Operation Targeting Ukraine, U.S., and Germany

The Russia-linked influence operation called Doppelganger has targeted Ukrainian, U.S., and German audiences through a combination of inauthentic news sites and social media accounts. These campaigns are designed to amplify content designed to undermine Ukraine as well as propagate anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, U.S. military competence, and Germany's economic and social issues, according to a new

New FjordPhantom Android Malware Targets Banking Apps in Southeast Asia

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a new sophisticated Android malware called FjordPhantom that has been observed targeting users in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam since early September 2023. "Spreading primarily through messaging services, it combines app-based malware with social engineering to defraud banking customers," Oslo-based mobile app

U.S. Treasury Sanctions North Korean Kimsuky Hackers and 8 Foreign-Based Agents

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned the North Korea-linked adversarial collective known as Kimsuky as well as eight foreign-based agents who are alleged to have facilitated sanctions evasion. The agents, the Treasury said, helped in "revenue generation and missile-related technology procurement that support the DPRK's

This Free Solution Provides Essential Third-Party Risk Management for SaaS

Wing Security recently announced that basic third-party risk assessment is now available as a free product. But it raises the questions of how SaaS is connected to third-party risk management (TPRM) and what companies should do to ensure a proper SaaS-TPRM process is in place. In this article we will share 5 tips to manage the third-party risks associated with SaaS, but first...  What

7 Uses for Generative AI to Enhance Security Operations

Welcome to a world where Generative AI revolutionizes the field of cybersecurity. Generative AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to generate or create new data, such as images, text, or sounds. It has gained significant attention in recent years due to its ability to generate realistic and diverse outputs. When it comes to security operations, Generative AI can

How Hackers Phish for Your Users' Credentials and Sell Them

Account credentials, a popular initial access vector, have become a valuable commodity in cybercrime. As a result, a single set of stolen credentials can put your organization’s entire network at risk. According to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, external parties were responsible for 83 percent of breaches that occurred between November 2021 and October 2022.&

U.S., U.K., and Global Partners Release Secure AI System Development Guidelines

The U.K. and U.S., along with international partners from 16 other countries, have released new guidelines for the development of secure artificial intelligence (AI) systems. "The approach prioritizes ownership of security outcomes for customers, embraces radical transparency and accountability, and establishes organizational structures where secure design is a top priority," the U.S.

Cybercriminals Using Telekopye Telegram Bot to Craft Phishing Scams on a Grand Scale

More details have emerged about a malicious Telegram bot called Telekopye that's used by threat actors to pull off large-scale phishing scams. "Telekopye can craft phishing websites, emails, SMS messages, and more," ESET security researcher Radek Jizba said in a new analysis. The threat actors behind the operation – codenamed Neanderthals – are known to run the criminal enterprise as a

6 Steps to Accelerate Cybersecurity Incident Response

Modern security tools continue to improve in their ability to defend organizations’ networks and endpoints against cybercriminals. But the bad actors still occasionally find a way in. Security teams must be able to stop threats and restore normal operations as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s essential that these teams not only have the right tools but also understand how to effectively

North Korean Hackers Pose as Job Recruiters and Seekers in Malware Campaigns

North Korean threat actors have been linked to two campaigns in which they masquerade as both job recruiters and seekers to distribute malware and obtain unauthorized employment with organizations based in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The activity clusters have been codenamed Contagious Interview and Wagemole, respectively, by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. While the first set of attacks

AI Solutions Are the New Shadow IT

Ambitious Employees Tout New AI Tools, Ignore Serious SaaS Security RisksLike the SaaS shadow IT of the past, AI is placing CISOs and cybersecurity teams in a tough but familiar spot.  Employees are covertly using AI with little regard for established IT and cybersecurity review procedures. Considering ChatGPT’s meteoric rise to 100 million users within 60 days of launch, especially with little

ClearFake Campaign Expands to Target Mac Systems with Atomic Stealer

The macOS information stealer known as Atomic is now being delivered to target via a bogus web browser update chain tracked as ClearFake. "This may very well be the first time we see one of the main social engineering campaigns, previously reserved for Windows, branch out not only in terms of geolocation but also operating system," Malwarebytes' Jérôme Segura said in a Tuesday analysis. Atomic

LockBit Ransomware Exploiting Critical Citrix Bleed Vulnerability to Break In

Multiple threat actors, including LockBit ransomware affiliates, are actively exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw in Citrix NetScaler application delivery control (ADC) and Gateway appliances to obtain initial access to target environments. The joint advisory comes from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

Play Ransomware Goes Commercial - Now Offered as a Service to Cybercriminals

The ransomware strain known as Play is now being offered to other threat actors "as a service," new evidence unearthed by Adlumin has revealed. "The unusual lack of even small variations between attacks suggests that they are being carried out by affiliates who have purchased the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and are following step-by-step instructions from playbooks delivered with it," the

Malicious Apps Disguised as Banks and Government Agencies Targeting Indian Android Users

Android smartphone users in India are the target of a new malware campaign that employs social engineering lures to install fraudulent apps that are capable of harvesting sensitive data. “Using social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, attackers are sending messages designed to lure users into installing a malicious app on their mobile device by impersonating legitimate organizations,

8Base Group Deploying New Phobos Ransomware Variant via SmokeLoader

The threat actors behind the 8Base ransomware are leveraging a variant of the Phobos ransomware to conduct their financially motivated attacks. The findings come from Cisco Talos, which has recorded an increase in activity carried out by the cybercriminals. “Most of the group’s Phobos variants are distributed by SmokeLoader, a backdoor trojan," security researcher Guilherme Venere said in an

U.S. Cybersecurity Agencies Warn of Scattered Spider's Gen Z Cybercrime Ecosystem

U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence agencies have released a joint advisory about a cybercriminal group known as Scattered Spider that's known to employ sophisticated phishing tactics to infiltrate targets. "Scattered Spider threat actors typically engage in data theft for extortion using multiple social engineering techniques and have recently leveraged BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware alongside their

New Campaign Targets Middle East Governments with IronWind Malware

Government entities in the Middle East are the target of new phishing campaigns that are designed to deliver a new initial access downloader dubbed IronWind. The activity, detected between July and October 2023, has been attributed by Proofpoint to a threat actor it tracks under the name TA402, which is also known as Molerats, Gaza Cyber Gang, and shares tactical overlaps with a pro-Hamas

Vietnamese Hackers Using New Delphi-Powered Malware to Target Indian Marketers

The Vietnamese threat actors behind the Ducktail stealer malware have been linked to a new campaign that ran between March and early October 2023, targeting marketing professionals in India with an aim to hijack Facebook business accounts. "An important feature that sets it apart is that, unlike previous campaigns, which relied on .NET applications, this one used Delphi as the programming

Microsoft Warns of Fake Skills Assessment Portals Targeting IT Job Seekers

A sub-cluster within the infamous Lazarus Group has established new infrastructure that impersonates skills assessment portals as part of its social engineering campaigns. Microsoft attributed the activity to a threat actor it calls Sapphire Sleet, describing it as a "shift in the persistent actor's tactics." Sapphire Sleet, also called APT38, BlueNoroff, CageyChameleon, and CryptoCore, has a

The New 80/20 Rule for SecOps: Customize Where it Matters, Automate the Rest

There is a seemingly never-ending quest to find the right security tools that offer the right capabilities for your organization. SOC teams tend to spend about a third of their day on events that don’t pose any threat to their organization, and this has accelerated the adoption of automated solutions to take the place of (or augment) inefficient and cumbersome SIEMs. With an estimated 80% of

Offensive and Defensive AI: Let’s Chat(GPT) About It

ChatGPT: Productivity tool, great for writing poems, and… a security risk?! In this article, we show how threat actors can exploit ChatGPT, but also how defenders can use it for leveling up their game. ChatGPT is the most swiftly growing consumer application to date. The extremely popular generative AI chatbot has the ability to generate human-like, coherent and contextually relevant responses.

Predictive AI in Cybersecurity: Outcomes Demonstrate All AI is Not Created Equally

Here is what matters most when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity: Outcomes.  As the threat landscape evolves and generative AI is added to the toolsets available to defenders and attackers alike, evaluating the relative effectiveness of various AI-based security offerings is increasingly important — and difficult. Asking the right questions can help you spot solutions

HelloKitty Ransomware Group Exploiting Apache ActiveMQ Vulnerability

Cybersecurity researchers are warning of suspected exploitation of a recently disclosed critical security flaw in the Apache ActiveMQ open-source message broker service that could result in remote code execution. "In both instances, the adversary attempted to deploy ransomware binaries on target systems in an effort to ransom the victim organizations," cybersecurity firm Rapid7 disclosed in a

Pro-Hamas Hacktivists Targeting Israeli Entities with Wiper Malware

A pro-Hamas hacktivist group has been observed using a new Linux-based wiper malware dubbed BiBi-Linux Wiper, targeting Israeli entities amidst the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war. "This malware is an x64 ELF executable, lacking obfuscation or protective measures," Security Joes said in a new report published today. "It allows attackers to specify target folders and can potentially destroy an entire

How to Keep Your Business Running in a Contested Environment

When organizations start incorporating cybersecurity regulations and cyber incident reporting requirements into their security protocols, it's essential for them to establish comprehensive plans for preparation, mitigation, and response to potential threats. At the heart of your business lies your operational technology and critical systems. This places them at the forefront of cybercriminal

Google Expands Its Bug Bounty Program to Tackle Artificial Intelligence Threats

Google has announced that it's expanding its Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) to compensate researchers for finding attack scenarios tailored to generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems in an effort to bolster AI safety and security. "Generative AI raises new and different concerns than traditional digital security, such as the potential for unfair bias, model manipulation or

Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware

The prolific threat actor known as Scattered Spider has been observed impersonating newly hired employees in targeted firms as a ploy to blend into normal on-hire processes and takeover accounts and breach organizations across the world. Microsoft, which disclosed the activities of the financially motivated hacking crew, described the adversary as "one of the most dangerous financial criminal

Malvertising Campaign Targets Brazil's PIX Payment System with GoPIX Malware

The popularity of Brazil's PIX instant payment system has made it a lucrative target for threat actors looking to generate illicit profits using a new malware called GoPIX. Kaspersky, which has been tracking the active campaign since December 2022, said the attacks are pulled off using malicious ads that are served when potential victims search for "WhatsApp web" on search engines. "The

Backdoor Implanted on Hacked Cisco Devices Modified to Evade Detection

The backdoor implanted on Cisco devices by exploiting a pair of zero-day flaws in IOS XE software has been modified by the threat actor so as to escape visibility via previous fingerprinting methods. "Investigated network traffic to a compromised device has shown that the threat actor has upgraded the implant to do an extra header check," NCC Group's Fox-IT team said. "Thus, for a lot of devices

1Password Detects Suspicious Activity Following Okta Support Breach

Popular password management solution 1Password said it detected suspicious activity on its Okta instance on September 29 following the support system breach, but reiterated that no user data was accessed. "We immediately terminated the activity, investigated, and found no compromise of user data or other sensitive systems, either employee-facing or user-facing," Pedro Canahuati, 1Password CTO, 

Cisco Zero-Day Exploited to Implant Malicious Lua Backdoor on Thousands of Devices

Cisco has warned of a new zero-day flaw in IOS XE that has been actively exploited by an unknown threat actor to deploy a malicious Lua-based implant on susceptible devices. Tracked as CVE-2023-20273 (CVSS score: 7.2), the issue relates to a privilege escalation flaw in the web UI feature and is said to have been used alongside CVE-2023-20198 (CVSS score: 10.0) as part of an exploit chain. "The

Microsoft Warns of North Korean Attacks Exploiting JetBrains TeamCity Flaw

North Korean threat actors are actively exploiting a critical security flaw in JetBrains TeamCity to opportunistically breach vulnerable servers, according to Microsoft. The attacks, which entail the exploitation of CVE-2023-42793 (CVSS score: 9.8), have been attributed to Diamond Sleet (aka Labyrinth Chollima) and Onyx Sleet (aka Andariel or Silent Chollima). It's worth noting that both the

Critical Citrix NetScaler Flaw Exploited to Target from Government, Tech Firms

Citrix is warning of exploitation of a recently disclosed critical security flaw in NetScaler ADC and Gateway appliances that could result in exposure of sensitive information. Tracked as CVE-2023-4966 (CVSS score: 9.4), the vulnerability impacts the following supported versions - NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 14.1 before 14.1-8.50 NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway 13.1 before 13.1-

Webinar: Locking Down Financial and Accounting Data — Best Data Security Strategies

Financial data is much more than just a collection of numbers; it is a crucial component of any business and a prime target for cybercriminals. It's important to understand that financial records can be a veritable treasure trove for digital pirates. A security breach not only puts customers' personal information in jeopardy but also enables fraudsters to drain company funds and exploit clients.

Exploring the Realm of Malicious Generative AI: A New Digital Security Challenge

Recently, the cybersecurity landscape has been confronted with a daunting new reality – the rise of malicious Generative AI, like FraudGPT and WormGPT. These rogue creations, lurking in the dark corners of the internet, pose a distinctive threat to the world of digital security. In this article, we will look at the nature of Generative AI fraud, analyze the messaging surrounding these creations,

Warning: Unpatched Cisco Zero-Day Vulnerability Actively Targeted in the Wild

Cisco has warned of a critical, unpatched security flaw impacting IOS XE software that’s under active exploitation in the wild. Rooted in the web UI feature, the zero-day vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2023-20198 and has been assigned the maximum severity rating of 10.0 on the CVSS scoring system. It’s worth pointing out that the shortcoming only affects enterprise networking gear that have the

FBI, CISA Warn of Rising AvosLocker Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

The AvosLocker ransomware gang has been linked to attacks against critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S., with some of them detected as recently as May 2023. That's according to a new joint cybersecurity advisory released by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailing the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation's

Citrix Devices Under Attack: NetScaler Flaw Exploited to Capture User Credentials

A recently disclosed critical flaw in Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway devices is being exploited by threat actors to conduct a credential harvesting campaign. IBM X-Force, which uncovered the activity last month, said adversaries exploited "CVE-2023-3519 to attack unpatched NetScaler Gateways to insert a malicious script into the HTML content of the authentication web page to capture user

Webinar: How vCISOs Can Navigating the Complex World of AI and LLM Security

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) has become ubiquitous across various industries. This wave of innovation promises improved efficiency and performance, but lurking beneath the surface are complex vulnerabilities and unforeseen risks that demand immediate attention from cybersecurity professionals

Chinese Hackers Target Semiconductor Firms in East Asia with Cobalt Strike

Threat actors have been observed targeting semiconductor companies in East Asia with lures masquerading as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) that are designed to deliver Cobalt Strike beacons. The intrusion set, per EclecticIQ, leverages a backdoor called HyperBro, which is then used as a conduit to deploy the commercial attack simulation software and post-exploitation toolkit.

Cisco Releases Urgent Patch to Fix Critical Flaw in Emergency Responder Systems

Cisco has released updates to address a critical security flaw impacting Emergency Responder that allows unauthenticated, remote attackers to sign into susceptible systems using hard-coded credentials. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-20101 (CVSS score: 9.8), is due to the presence of static user credentials for the root account that the company said is usually reserved for use during

CISA Warns of Active Exploitation of JetBrains and Windows Vulnerabilities

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday added two security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog due to active exploitation, while removing five bugs from the list due to lack of adequate evidence. The vulnerabilities newly added are below - CVE-2023-42793 (CVSS score: 9.8) - JetBrains TeamCity Authentication Bypass Vulnerability CVE-