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IT Security News Blast – 10-15-2021
 
This is the IT Security News Blast.
A brief situational awareness summary for key sectors, threats and vulnerabilities, noteworthy events. Security, Privacy, Surveillance. Sign up for the blast here:
https://www.criticalinsight.com/resources/daily-news
 
Security Awareness Training – TODAY 12PM PDT
Join us for our now weekly security awareness presentation. Peppered with materials collected over many years and right up to recently, I'll present examples of all kinds of bait, explain how "they" get into your networks, and leave you with some good advice. Meets regulatory requirements for annual training, and we promise it won't be boring.
https://app.livestorm.co/critical-insight/security-awareness-training-2021
 
Missouri gov. calls journalist who found security flaw
Parson further claimed that the incident "may cost Missouri taxpayers up to $50 million and divert workers and resources from other state agencies," though that number might be inflated by Parson trying to turn a simple report of a security vulnerability into a criminal hacking case.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/missouri-gov-calls-journalist-who-found-security-flaw-a-hacker-threatens-to-sue/
 
CISA outlines cyberthreats targeting US water and wastewater systems
Bjorn Townsend, a water infrastructure incident responder for cybersecurity company Critical Insight, said alerts like this "indicate that they have specific intelligence that threat actors are attempting to tamper with our water systems on an ongoing basis, and they're trying to alert water system operators to that fact."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisa-outlines-cyberthreats-targeting-us-water-and-wastewater-systems/
 
Malware, Unauthorized Access Lead to Healthcare PHI Breaches
  • AG ANNOUNCES $495K SETTLEMENT FOR IMPROPER DATA SECURITY MEASURES AT NJ FERTILITY CLINIC
  • HACKERS REMOVE 69K PATIENT FILES FROM NM MEDICAL CENTER’S NETWORK
  • MA FERTILITY CLINIC RANSOMWARE ATTACK EXPOSES PHI OF 350K
  • TERMINATED EXECUTIVE ACCESSED PHI OF 37K AT TEXAS ACO
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/malware-unauthorized-access-lead-to-healthcare-phi-breaches
 
Homeland Security Warns of Cyberattacks Intended to Kill People
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is warning that the next cyberattack could end up killing people — a dangerous and imminent shift from ransomware to “killware.” [...] Eventually, cyber attackers could end up posing a very real threat. In a July report, security firm Gartner warned that “cyber attackers will have weaponized operational technology environments to successfully harm or kill humans” by 2025.
https://futurism.com/homeland-security-cyberattacks-kill-people
 
Third-party cyber risks are a ‘glaring blind spot’ finds PwC survey
Notably, 56 percent of respondents say their organizations expect a rise in breaches via their software supply chain, yet only 34 percent have formally assessed their enterprise’s exposure to this risk. Similarly, 58 percent expect a jump in attacks on their cloud services, but only 37 percent profess to have an understanding of cloud risks based on formal assessments.
https://www.continuitycentral.com/index.php/news/erm-news/6736-third-party-cyber-risks-are-a-glaring-blind-spot-finds-pwc-survey
 
Ransomware actors target VoIP service with another wave of DDoS attacks
According to The Register, last week’s downtime was the result of "an alarmingly large and sophisticated DDoS attack attached to a colossal ransom demand" which VoIP Unlimited has pinned to the REvil ransomware gang. The attack is also blamed for disrupting the operations of other UK VoIP providers at the same time as well.
https://www.techradar.com/news/ransomware-actors-target-voip-service-with-another-wave-of-ddos-attacks
 
Biz Interruption, Recovery Costs Drive Financial Losses From Cyber Attacks: Report
“The average total cost of recovery and downtime – on average 23 days – from a ransomware attack more than doubled over the past year, increasing from $761,106 to $1.85 million in 2021,” said the AGCS cyber insights report, titled “Ransomware trends: Risks and Resilience.” (See related article, which contains AGCS’ list of recommendations to avoid ransomware attacks.)
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2021/10/14/637049.htm
 
Fitch Ratings Analyzes Global Insurers Cyber Risk
The report found that that there is a positive correlation between the agency’s credit ratings, and SSC’s cybersecurity grades. This implies that insurance companies that focus on managing their own credit risk tightly also appear better at managing their cyber risks.
https://www.fitchratings.com/research/insurance/fitch-ratings-analyzes-global-insurers-cyber-risk-14-10-2021
 
How Financial Institutions Can Prepare for Advanced Cyberthreats in 2022 and Beyond
Implementing continuous monitoring and threat detection capabilities is essential[.] [...] Regardless of whether an organization has had an incident or not, it is important to monitor the entire range of networks and apps across the IT landscape on a continuous basis as opposed to periodic assessments. With this type of constant visibility, companies know if they are compromised or secure.
https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/21053/how-financial-institutions-can-prepare-for-advanced-cyberthreats-in-2022-and-beyond
 
Fast & Furious: The Biden administration’s cybersecurity series
But in the Biden administration’s version, agencies must find their freedom from cyber attackers through the improved use of end point detection and response tools. The new end point detection and response memo details a series of deadlines for agencies and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) over the next 90-to-120 days.
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2021/10/fast-furious-the-biden-administrations-cybersecurity-series/
 
Federal Agencies Unite to Prevent Ransomware Attacks
For the Department of Justice, this means emphasizing enforcement as a first goal. The agency wants to approach ransomware with the same sense of urgency as other national security threats, noted DOJ's Deputy Assistant Attorney General of National Security Division Adam Hickey.
https://governmentciomedia.com/federal-agencies-unite-prevent-ransomware-attacks
 
NSA to Pentagon: Lock Down Your Weapons Before Hackers Get to Them
The computers add functionality, including fire control (correcting and adjusting aim against distant or fast-moving targets), navigation (receiving GPS signals), and communications (voice and data transmission). These computers often tie into large, sometimes globe-spanning networks to issue orders, collect data, report enemy sightings, and even coordinate attack or defense among geographically disparate forces.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a37896509/nsa-pentagon-weapons-systems-cyberattack-risk/
 
We’re already very much at war with China, argues a provocative new book
Indeed, he says, one need look no further than India — which seemed to receive a warning by the Chinese government last year when the power went out in a city of 20 million people — of what could be coming to the U.S. absent drastic and unified action on the part of private industry and the federal government. He talked us yesterday in a chat that has been edited for length.
https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/14/were-now-very-much-at-war-with-china-argues-a-provocative-new-book/
 
False Flag Attacks Resurface in Cyber Warfare
Engaging in combat dressed in a uniform other than your own country’s is a no-no under the Hague Convention, but the concept of false flag has been expanded to the scenario where Country X internally attacks or subdues its own citizens, while acting as another country or group motivated by the notion that a political cause will gain support with such an action.
https://news.clearancejobs.com/2021/10/13/false-flag-attacks-resurface-in-cyber-warfare/
 
Russia sends warning to cyber security sector with arrest of Ilya Sachkov
The detail of the charges against him are classified, but his arrest and the 20-year sentence he faces if found guilty have reverberated around Russia’s cyber security community. Three people in Russia’s cyber security community said the Kremlin was signalling that it did not want to co-operate with the west on cyber crime — and would punish those who stepped out of line.
https://www.ft.com/content/ac0f8029-bb18-45e8-bb2c-f79dbe580ab6
 
FreakOut Botnet Turns DVRs Into Monero Cryptominers
Juniper Threat Labs researchers have issued a report detailing new activities from FreakOut, also known as Necro Python and Python.IRCBot. In late September, the team noticed that the botnets started to target Visual Tools DVR VX16 4.2.28.0 models with cryptomining attacks. The devices are typically deployed as part of a professional-quality surveillance system.
https://threatpost.com/freakout-botnet-dvrs-monero-cryptominers/175467
 
New Sydney factory to build malware-free computers
The development of a local facility to build clean, auditable cloud server boxes comes amid an increasing push to ensure full sovereign control over sensitive data. “The notion of a sovereign cloud has become very important at the government level, but in the near future I think that starts to become much more important in industry,” Mr Van der Schyff said.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/new-sydney-factory-to-build-clean-computers-20211014-p58zv1
 
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