From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

• Fedscoop reports,
  • “Legislation to improve federal agency oversight and management of software purchases passed the House on Wednesday [December 4], keeping top IT and software trade groups’ hopes alive that the bill will get through the Senate and become law before this congressional term is up.
  • “The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act (H.R.1695) was introduced by Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., last year and co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 20 House lawmakers. 
  • “Calling the rooting out of waste, fraud and abuse a “signal mission” of the House Oversight Committee, Cartwight said the bill would ensure that federal agencies are required to conduct a “comprehensive assessment of their current software assets and restructure their operations to reduce unnecessary costs.” 
  • “Our federal government spends billions of taxpayer dollars every year on software licenses alone. Most of these software license purchases are purposeful, but some are redundant, duplicative, simply unnecessary,” he said. “This commonsense bill will reduce waste, strengthen cybersecurity and modernize government operations.”

• Cyberscoop adds,
  • “Private-sector tech leaders told House lawmakers Thursday [December 5] that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s [CISA] secure-by-design push may benefit from more of an incentive structure, but poorly trained developers remain “a real problem” for the nearly two-year-old initiative.
  • “The four witnesses testifying before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection all characterized CISA’s voluntary secure-by-design pledge as a net positive that has resulted in significant industry-wide progress. The question posed by subcommittee Chair Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and ranking member Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was how the initiative could level up and better enhance cybersecurity across more U.S. sectors.
  • “Shane Fry, chief technology officer at RunSafe Security, acknowledged that CISA’s secure-by-design program — which now counts over 250 companies as signees — “is making a lot of waves.” But there’s a missing piece, Fry said, in limiting the program to IT systems and not addressing operational technology device manufacturers.
  • “Let’s work with Congress and find a good way, or CISA to find a good way, to incentivize these companies to actually secure their systems,” Fry said. “Because I think limiting it to just IT systems is a little bit short-sighted.”

• Cybersecurity Dive lets us know,
  • Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel on Thursday [December 5] proposed stronger rules requiring telecom operators to secure their networks from intrusions, in response to the wave of China-linked attacks on U.S. carriers’ infrastructure.
  • The measure has two parts. Rosenworcel proposed a declaratory ruling to clarify telecom operators are legally obligated to secure their networks under Section 105 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. The second lever, a notice of proposed rulemaking, includes an annual certification requirement for telecom providers to maintain cybersecurity risk management plans.
  • “While the commission’s counterparts in the intelligence community are determining the scope and impact of the Salt Typhoon attack, we need to put in place a modern framework to help companies secure their networks and better prevent and respond to cyberattacks in the future,” Rosenworcel said in a statement Thursday.

• Dark Reading tells us,
  • “Chasing down members of Scattered Spider, the cybercrime group known for their social engineering takedowns of massive organizations, has been a top law enforcement priority over the past several months. Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has made a new arrest in the case, a 19-year-old hacker living in Fort Worth, Texas — and he’s talking.
  • “Remington Goy Ogletree is accused of a phishing operation that ran from October 2023 to last May, when, according to the complaint, he was able to gain credentials and unauthorized access to two telecommunications companies and one US-based national bank. He then stole data, including API keys and cryptocurrency, and sold off access to other threat actors on the Dark Web, according to the indictment.
  • “He is also accused of hijacking one of the telecommunications platforms to send about 8.5 million phishing texts in an attempt to steal cryptocurrency. Ogletree likewise allegedly used a hacked telecom network to send phishing messages to employees of an unidentified financial institution with the intent to steal their credentials. The FBI complaint added that Ogletree hacked into a second telecommunications organization to send an additional 140,000 fraudulent phishing text messages.”

• Per Department of Health and Human Services press releases,
  • “[On December 3], the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $1.19 million civil monetary penalty against Gulf Coast Pain Consultants, LLC d/b/a Clearway Pain Solutions Institute (Gulf Coast Pain Consultants) in Florida, concerning violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule, following receipt of a breach report that a former contractor for the company had impermissibly accessed their electronic record system. OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, which set forth the requirements that health plans, health care clearinghouses, and most health care providers, and their business associates must follow to protect the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI).” * * * 
  • “In August 2024, OCR issued a Notice of Proposed Determination seeking to impose a civil money penalty. Gulf Coast waived its right to a hearing and did not contest OCR’s findings. Accordingly, OCR imposed a civil money penalty of $1,190,000.
  • “The Notice of Proposed Determination may be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/gulf-coast-pain-consultants-npd/index.html
  • “The Notice of Final Determination may be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/gulf-coast-pain-consultants-nfd/index.html“
• and
  • “[On December 5], the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $548,265 civil monetary penalty against Children’s Hospital Colorado, concerning violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules following receipt of breach reports in 2017 and 2020, relating to email phishing and cyberattacks. OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, which set forth the requirements that covered entities (health plans, health care clearinghouses, and most health care providers), and business associates must follow to protect the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI).” * * *
  • “In June 2024, OCR issued a Notice of Proposed Determination seeking to impose a civil money penalty. Children’s Hospital Colorado waived its right to a hearing and did not contest OCR’s findings. Accordingly, OCR imposed a civil money penalty of $548,265.
  • “The Notice of Proposed Determination can be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/childrens-hospital-colorado-npd/index.html.
  • “The Notice of Final Determination can be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/childrens-hospital-colorado-nfd/index.html.”

From the cybersecurity vulnerabilities and breaches front,

• STAT News reports,
  • “As many as 172 million individuals — more than half the population of the United States — may have been impacted by large health data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2024, according to a STAT analysis of records from HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. It’s a new record for the scale of large health care breaches, breaking one set just last year. 
  • “The vast majority of those health data breaches — 532 of the 656 reported as of December 4 — have resulted from hacks and ransomware attacks, continuing a years-long trend. Since 2018, HHS has reported, it has seen a 264% increase in large ransomware breaches, and seven health systems have been fined up to $950,000 for failing to protect patients’ protected health information from ransomware attacks.” * * *
  • “It’s unlikely that 172 million Americans had their health data exposed in breaches reported this year. There are overlaps in the individuals included in each breach. And after an attack, covered entities have to report that individual data was compromised unless they can actively prove that it wasn’t. “In ransomware, it’s hard to prove that the data was not exfiltrated,” said Jigar Kadakia, chief information security and privacy officer for Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare. “That’s where the escalation has been probably in the last three years.” 

• The Wall Street Journal adds,
  • “Data breaches at healthcare organizations have become common in recent years. But what do hackers want with your health information, anyway?
  • “Usually, hackers break into providers’ networks looking for a ransom, doing things like locking the provider out of its own computer systems or threatening to release its data online. But they are also looking for patient data.
  • “Healthcare records have personal information that hackers are always eager to grab, like addresses and credit-card numbers. But the records also hold an array of private information about patients, ranging from insurance-policy numbers to medical conditions to medications—data that lets crooks scam insurance companies and Medicare and Medicaid, leaving patients exposed to steep financial and medical risk.
  • “They give hackers a full picture to commit insurance fraud, identity theft or other malicious activity in the future,” says John Riggi, the national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, a trade organization that represents 90% of the hospitals in the U.S.
  • “What’s more, the theft of health records can have a longer-lasting impact on victims than regular financial fraud or identity theft, because the information in those records is harder to detect and more challenging to correct when misused.

• Per the Wall Street Journal,
  • “Chinese government hackers have compromised telecommunications infrastructure across the globe as part of a massive espionage campaign that has affected dozens of countries, a top U.S. security official said Wednesday.
  • “Speaking during a press briefing Wednesday, Anne Neuberger, President Biden’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said the so-called Salt Typhoon campaign is ongoing and that at least eight telecommunications firms in the U.S. had been breached.
  • “The Chinese compromised private companies, exploiting vulnerabilities in their systems as part of a global Chinese campaign that’s affected dozens of countries around the world,” Neuberger said.”

• CISA added four known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog this week.
  • December 3, 2024
    • CVE-2023-45727 North Grid Proself Improper Restriction of XML External Entity (XEE) Reference Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-11680 ProjectSend Improper Authentication Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-11667 Zyxel Multiple Firewalls Path Traversal Vulnerability
  • December 4, 2024
    • CVE-2024-51378 CyberPanel Incorrect Default Permissions Vulnerability

• Cybersecurity Dive adds,
  • “Multiple government authorities and security researchers are warning about a directory traversal vulnerability in Zyxel Networks firewalls that threat actors are actively exploiting to deploy Helldown ransomware.
  • “The vulnerability, listed as CVE-2024-11667, with a CVSS score of 7.5, is located in the web management interface of Zyxel ZLD firewall firmware versions 5.00 through 5.38, and could allow an attacker to download or upload files through a crafted URL. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Tuesday added the CVE to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog.
  • “Zyxel, in a blog post, confirmed it is aware of recent attempts to exploit the vulnerability, following disclosures from security researchers at Sekoia. The company is urging users to immediately update their firmware and change their admin passwords.”

From the ransomware front,

• CBS News reported on December 4,
  • PIH Health [located in southern California] was targeted in a ransomware attack, forcing officials to completely shut their network offline and leaving millions in the dark when it comes to healthcare. 
  • Families are being told that they can either wait it out for systems to turn back online, or to go to another hospital for treatment because of the issue, which happened over the weekend. 
  • Officials say that they were targeted on Sunday by a “criminal act” that “compromised their network.” In turn, network services were turned off at their hospitals in Downey, Whittier and downtown LA. 
  • While urgent care centers and emergency room remained open, patients and physicians were left without access to health records, laboratory systems, pharmacy orders and radiation access. On top of that, internet access and phone lines were completely turned off. 

• Cybersecurity News informs us,
  • “Black Basta ransomware operators have improved their tactics, leveraging Microsoft Teams to deploy Zbot, DarkGate, and Custom Malware.
  • “The ongoing social engineering campaign comprises a threat actor flooding a user’s inbox with junk and contacting the user to offer assistance. 
  • “Researchers observed that threat actors used Microsoft Teams as their primary medium for initial communication with the target.
  • ‘Suppose the user responds to the lure by answering the call or sending a message. In that case, the threat actor will try to persuade them to install or run a remote management (RMM) program, such as QuickAssist, AnyDesk, TeamViewer, Level, or ScreenConnect, among others.
  • “After establishing a remote connection, the threat actor proceeds to download payloads from their infrastructure to obtain the credentials of the affected users and continue to persistently target their assets.
  • “The overall goal following initial access appears to be the same: to quickly enumerate the environment and dump the user’s credentials. Operators will still attempt to steal any available VPN configuration files, when possible,” Rapid7 said in a report shared with Cyber Security News.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

• Techradar tells us,
  • “US authorities are urging Americans to use encrypted messaging apps to secure their sensitive data against foreign attackers.
  • “The security call comes in the wake of an “unprecedented cyberattack” on the countries’ telecoms companies, NBC News reported. The attack is considered among the largest intelligence compromises in US history and isn’t yet fully fixed.
  • “The China-linked Salt Typhoon group was first spotted targeting US telecoms with a new backdoor malware a few months ago. It has reportedly hacked the likes of AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies to spy on their customers’ activities.”

• Cybersecurity Dive adds, “T-Mobile undeterred as telecom sector reels from attack campaign. Cybersecurity Dive spoke with CSO Jeff Simon about how the carrier says it thwarted a threat group resembling Salt Typhoon despite its past security failures.”

• The Wall Street Journal asks, “Do Your Passwords Meet the Proposed New Federal Guidelines? New standards want to make passwords secure—but also more user-friendly.”
  • “The key to password security, the standards institute emphasizes, is length rather than special characters. The guidelines recommend passwords be at least eight characters long while suggesting organizations push for a minimum of 15 characters. The shorter minimum is acceptable when combined with multifactor authentication, Regenscheid says, which most federal websites now require when accessing personal information. That means having two different ways to confirm identity, not just the password itself.
  • “The institute also suggested a maximum length of at least 64 characters, a number Regenscheid calls “fairly arbitrary” but sufficient for security needs. Systems need some upper limit to prevent malicious users from trying to overwhelm servers with extremely long passwords, he says, and do things like download sensitive data from databases. 
  • “The emphasis on length over complexity reflects decades of research showing longer passwords are significantly harder to crack. “A truly randomly chosen 24-character password is not going to be broken,” says Stuart Schechter, an associate at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “That’s long enough that it’s not likely to be broken in the lifespan of the universe.
  • “When it comes to creating long, strong passwords, research shows that both random strings of characters and random sequences of words can work well. “People’s brains work differently, and our tech should be designed to help you achieve your desired level of security with the option that works best for you,” Schechter says. His research found most people can memorize either type effectively.
  • “But it is a time-consuming process, and it isn’t clear how many passwords people can remember, Schechter says, so he uses the password manager built into his browser, an option available in browsers like Safari and Chrome. While some security experts push for stand-alone password managers that must be purchased separately, Schechter argues that built-in browser options are a good solution for most people’s needs and are very secure.”

• Per a CISA press release,
  • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published the updated version of the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 Security Capabilities Catalog (SCC) version 3.2. The SCC was recently updated based on the new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF) Version 2.0 mapping updates. 
  • “The TIC 3.0 SCC provides a list of deployable security controls, security capabilities, and best practices. The catalog is intended to guide secure implementations and help agencies satisfy program requirements within discrete networking environments. 
  • “Further, the SCC helps agencies to apply risk management principles and best practices to protect federal information in various computing scenarios. The trust considerations presented in the TIC 3.0 Reference Architecture can be further applied to an agency’s implementation of a given use case to determine the level of rigor required for each security capability. In some cases, the security capabilities may not adequately address residual risks necessary to protect information and systems; agencies are obligated to identify and apply compensating controls or alternatives that provide commensurate protections. Additional collaboration with vendors is necessary to ensure security requirements are adequately fulfilled, configured, and maintained.”

• Per Cybersecurity Dive,
  • “Protecting the cloud: combating credential abuse and misconfigurations. To defend again two of today’s biggest cloud security threats, organizations must adapt and develop proactive strategies, Google Cloud’s Brian Roddy writes [in an opinion piece],
• and
  • “For IT pros, the CrowdStrike crisis was a ‘call to arms’. The global outage triggered investments in people, processes and technologies to beef up enterprise resilience, Adaptavist research found.”

• Here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

• Cyberscoop tells us
  • “Cybersecurity is set to get a decidedly South Dakotan bent in 2025.
  • “Three Republican South Dakota politicians are in line to take on more prominent roles to influence cyber policy next year: Gov. Kristi Noem is president-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Homeland Security Department, Sen. Mike Rounds is poised to seize the gavel of a key cybersecurity subcommittee and John Thune will become Senate majority leader.
  • Cyberscoop interviews “José-Marie Griffiths, [the] president of Dakota State University, a school that has put a big focus on cybersecurity and tech, [who] has worked with all three of them closely on cyber issues — testifying before their committees, consulting them on legislation, being appointed to national commissions by them and more.”
    
• HHS Office of Inspector General criticized the HHS Office for Civil Rights, which enforces the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, for inadequately conducting routine Security Rule audits of HIPAA covered entities and business associates. According to an OIG news release,
  • “We made a series of recommendations to OCR to enhance its HIPAA audit program, including that it expand the scope of its HIPAA audits to assess compliance with physical and technical safeguards from the HIPAA Security Rule, document and implement standards and guidance for ensuring that deficiencies identified during the HIPAA audits are corrected in a timely manner, and define metrics for monitoring the effectiveness of OCR’s HIPAA audits at improving audited covered entities and business associates’ protections over ePHI and periodically review whether these metrics should be refined. The full recommendations are in the report.
  • “OCR did not concur with one recommendation but concurred with our three other recommendations and detailed steps it has taken and plans to take in response.”

• Per an HHS press release, the Office of Civil Rights announced
  • “a settlement with Holy Redeemer Family Medicine (Holy Redeemer), a Pennsylvania hospital, concerning an alleged violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule due to an impermissible disclosure of a female patient’s protected health information, including information related to reproductive health care.”
  • The Hospital had mistakenly sent the woman’s entire medical record to the patient’s prospective employer instead of sending a specific test result as requested.
  • OCR evidently spends more time on enforcement than on routine audits.

• The Wall Street Journal considers the pros and cons of creating a cybersecurity branch of the U.S. armed forces.
  • “The idea of creating a military branch dedicated to cybersecurity has been floated before. Last year, an independent study of the idea was initially included in—but then dropped from—Congress’s annual National Defense Authorization Act, legislation that specifies the annual budget and expenditures of the Defense Department. This year’s version of the bill currently includes the study, but that could change before it comes to a vote. 
  • “Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R., Texas) says a study would provide significant data to understand what more, if anything, needs to be done to increase the country’s cybersecurity. “That’s fair” as a way to address conflicting views about a Cyber Force, says Luttrell, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and is one of the representatives who proposed including a study in this year’s spending bill. “It gives us the ability to negotiate and debate,” he says.”

• Bleeping Computer reports,
  • “Russian law enforcement has arrested and indicted notorious ransomware affiliate Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev (also known as Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x, and Boriselcin) for developing malware and his involvement in several hacking groups.
  • “While the prosecutor’s office has yet to release any details on the individual’s identity (described as a “programmer” in court documents), the individual is Matveev, according to an anonymous source of the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
  • “At present, the investigator has collected sufficient evidence, the criminal case with the indictment signed by the prosecutor has been sent to the Central District Court of the city of Kaliningrad for consideration on the merits,” the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.” * * *
  • “Last year, in May 2023, the U.S. Justice Department also filed charges against Matveev for his involvement in the Hive and LockBit ransomware operations that targeted victims across the United States.”

From the cyber vulnerabilities and breaches front,

• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added one known exploited vulnerability to its catalog this week.
  • November 25, 2024 — CVE-2023-28461 Array Networks AG and vxAG ArrayOS Improper Authentication Vulnerability
    
• Hacker News adds,
  • “The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a now-patched critical security flaw impacting Array Networks AG and vxAG secure access gateways to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog following reports of active exploitation in the wild.
  • “The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-28461 (CVSS score: 9.8), concerns a case of missing authentication that could be exploited to achieve arbitrary code execution remotely. Fixes (version 9.4.0.484) for the security shortcoming were released by the network hardware vendor in March 2023.” * * *
  • “The inclusion to KEV catalog comes shortly after cybersecurity company Trend Micro revealed that a China-linked cyber espionage group dubbed Earth Kasha (aka MirrorFace) has been exploiting security flaws in public-facing enterprise products, such as Array AG (CVE-2023-28461), Proself (CVE-2023-45727), and Fortinet FortiOS/FortiProxy (CVE-2023-27997), for initial access.”

• Cybersecurity Dive warns,
  • “The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Tuesday [November 26] warned businesses to protect themselves against cybercriminals trying to fraudulently divert payments during the holiday season.
  • “Threat activity involving fraudulent third parties usually accelerates during the holiday season, the agencies said. Businesses need to be aware of emails from alleged vendors or retailers claiming to change their account numbers. 
  • “Officials urged businesses and individuals that are targeted to promptly report the incidents to IC3, which has an asset recovery unit that can help intercept fraudulent payment activity and return those payments back to the victim.”

• Cyberscoop informs us,
  • “Those with firsthand knowledge of Salt Typhoon’s hack of several U.S. telecommunications companies have called the group’s actions some of the most sophisticated cyber-espionage efforts they have ever seen. A prominent security vendor may have unearthed some malware that shows why. 
  • “Trend Micro released a report Monday that gives details on the tactics, techniques and procedures used by Salt Typhoon, which the company referred to as one of “the most aggressive Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) groups” currently in operation. 
  • “While the company explicitly states that it does not have any evidence the malware detailed in the report was used in the telecom hacks, Trend Micro researchers write that several pieces of malware used by the group have been used to infiltrate other telecommunications companies and government entities around the world. Tracked as “Earth Estries,” Trend Micro says this group, which is also known as FamousSparrow, GhostEmperor, and UNC2286, has used the malware in the U.S., Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and South Africa.”

From the ransomware front,

• Cybersecurity Dive relates,
  • “Just ahead of the holiday season, U.S. companies and critical infrastructure providers are once again bracing for the potential risk of cyberattack, as threat groups look to exploit distracted IT security teams for maximum leverage.
  • “The vast majority of organizations — nearly 9 in 10 — hit by ransomware over the past 12 months were targeted at night or over a weekend period, when IT security staffing was low, a November report from Semperis shows. 
  • “Nearly two-thirds of organizations said they were targeted by ransomware after a major corporate event when employees could be distracted, such as a restructuring or major layoff announcement, an initial public offering or a corporate merger. 
  • “The report, conducted in partnership with Censuswide, is based on a survey of more than 900 IT security professionals in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany.”

• The Wall Street Journal reported on November 25,
  • “A ransomware attack against a major supply chain technology provider left retailers including Starbucks and U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury’s triggering backup plans to manage operations including scheduling and handling inventories.
  • “Blue Yonder, one of the world’s largest supply chain software providers, said Monday it was working to restore services after the attack last week disrupted systems it hosts for customers.
  • “Blue Yonder said it didn’t have a timeline for when services would be restored. The company said the attack didn’t affect systems that run on public cloud-based platforms.
  • “Starbucks said Monday the ransomware attack affected company-owned stores in its network of around 11,000 sites in North America. It disrupted the coffee chain’s ability to pay baristas and manage their schedules, leaving cafe managers to manually calculate employees’ pay. * * *
  • “The incident is the latest cyberattack to disrupt grocery supply chains this month as companies prepare for the busy holiday shopping season.
  • “Dutch supermarket conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, which owns Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and other grocery chains, on Nov. 8 reported a “cybersecurity issue” within its U.S. network. The incident caused nearly two weeks of product shortages at Stop & Shop stores across the Northeast U.S.”
  • P.S. The FEHBlog could not find any articles closing the loop on the Blue Yonder attack.

• SC Media added yesterday,
  • “Both Texas’ City of Coppell and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board were admitted having been compromised by the RansomHub ransomware operation, which also claimed to target two U.S. schools, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

• CISA gives advice on “Shop[ping] Safely Online This Holiday Season with Tips from Secure Our World.”

• Federal New Network reports,
  • The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is rolling out a new education platform that the agency says will offer a more modern cyber training environment for CISA staff, the broader federal workforce, veterans and other users.
  • The new platform, CISA Learning, debuted this month. It serves up cybersecurity classes ranging from cloud security and ethical hacking to risk management and malware analysis.
  • The new platform is replacing both CISA’s internal education platform, as well as the Federal Virtual Training Environment, known as FedVTE, which had been used by users from across the federal government and other external organizations.

• Dark Reading reports,
  • “A data-focused approach to tackling phishing and business fraud promises significant reductions in the amount of phishing and phone-based fraud that companies — and their customers — face but worries remain over whether fraudsters will adapt.
  • “The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) unveiled its Phishing Prevention Framework on Nov. 19, a program consisting of best practices in data collection, defense, and customer communications that has already reduced the volume of phishing incidents — as measured by abuse complaints — in a pilot program with three banks. The framework cut the incidence of abuse complaints for those financial services firms in half and promises significant benefits for any business targeted by cybercriminals, if they implement certain best practices — such as security education and intelligence collection — included in the framework.
  • “While FS-ISAC has released the framework for the financial services sector — where phishing is a pernicious problem — the techniques are broadly applicable, says Linda Betz, executive vice president of global community engagement at the organization.”

• SC Media offers “Five steps to better cyber risk assessments via autonomous pentesting.”
  
• Dark Reading adds,
  • “Businesses are not the only organizations looking for skilled cybersecurity professionals; cybercriminals are also advertising for individuals capable of creating dark AI models and penetration-testing products — that is, ransomware — to reduce the chance of defenders finding ways to circumvent the scheme.
  • “In advertisements on Telegram chats and forums — such as the Russian Anonymous Marketplace, or RAMP — ransomware affiliate groups and initial access providers are seeking cybersecurity professionals to help find and close holes in their malware and other attack tools, security firm Cato Networks stated in its “Q3 SASE Threat Report.” In the past, the firm’s threat researchers have noted advertisements seeking developers capable of creating a malicious version of ChatGPT.
  • “The search for more technical talent highlights the recent success of law enforcement and private companies in taking down botnets and helping defenders recover their data, says Etay Maor, chief security strategist at Cato Networks.”

• Finally, here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

From the cybersecurity policy front,

• Cybersecurity Dive offers “four tech issues to watch in Trump’s second term.”

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “A federal agency has issued a directive to employees to reduce the use of their phones for work matters because of China’s recent hack of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter.
  • “In an email to staff sent Thursday, the chief information officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that internal and external work-related meetings and conversations that involve nonpublic data should only be held on platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx and not on work-issued or personal phones.
  • “Do NOT conduct CFPB work using mobile voice calls or text messages,” the email said, while referencing a recent government statement acknowledging the telecommunications infrastructure attack. “While there is no evidence that CFPB has been targeted by this unauthorized access, I ask for your compliance with these directives so we reduce the risk that we will be compromised,” said the email, which was sent to all CFPB employees and contractors.
  • “The alert is the latest demonstration of concerns within the federal government about the scale and scope of the hack, which investigators are still endeavoring to fully understand and have attributed to a group dubbed Salt Typhoon.” 

• The Office of National Coordination for Health IT released version 3.5 of its HIPAA Security Risk Assessment tool for small and medium healthcare entities.

From the cybersecurity vulnerabilities front,

• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added six known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog this week.
  • November 4, 2024
    • CVE-2024-8957 PTZOptics PT30X-SDI/NDI Cameras OS Command Injection Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-8956 PTZOptics PT30X-SDI/NDI Cameras Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
  • November 7, 2024
    • CVE-2024-43093 Android Framework Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-51567 CyberPanel Incorrect Default Permissions Vulnerability
    • CVE-2019-16278 Nostromo nhttpd Directory Traversal Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-5910 Palo Alto Expedition Missing Authentication Vulnerability

• Bleeping Computer adds,
  • “Today, CISA warned that attackers are exploiting a critical missing authentication vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Expedition, a migration tool that can help convert firewall configuration from Checkpoint, Cisco, and other vendors to PAN-OS.
  • “This security flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-5910, was patched in July, and threat actors can remotely exploit it to reset application admin credentials on Internet-exposed Expedition servers.
  • “Palo Alto Expedition contains a missing authentication vulnerability that allows an attacker with network access to takeover an Expedition admin account and potentially access configuration secrets, credentials, and other data,” CISA says.
  • “While the cybersecurity agency has yet to provide more details on these attacks, Horizon3.ai vulnerability researcher Zach Hanley released a proof-of-concept exploit in October that can help chain this admin reset flaw with a CVE-2024-9464 command injection vulnerability (patched last month) to gain “unauthenticated” arbitrary command execution on vulnerable Expedition servers.”
    
• Also from Bleeping Computer,
  • “A malicious Python package named ‘fabrice’ has been present in the Python Package Index (PyPI) since 2021, stealing Amazon Web Services credentials from unsuspecting developers.
    According to application security company Socket, the package has been downloaded more than 37,000 times and executes platform-specific scripts for Windows and Linux.
  • “The large number of downloads is accounted by fabrice typosquatting the legitimate SSH remote server management package “fabric,” a very popular library with more than 200 million downloads.
  • “An expert explained to Bleeping Computer that that fabrice remained undetected for so long because advanced scanning tools were deployed after its initial submission on PyPI, and very few solutions conducted retroactive scans.”

From the ransomware front,

• Per Bleeping Computer,
  • “After being used in Akira and Fog ransomware attacks, a critical Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) security flaw was also recently exploited to deploy Frag ransomware.
  • “Code White security researcher Florian Hauser found that the vulnerability (tracked as CVE-2024-40711) is caused by a deserialization of untrusted data weakness that unauthenticated threat actors can exploit to gain remote code execution (RCE) on Veeam VBR servers.
  • “watchTowr Labs, which published a technical analysis on CVE-2024-40711 on September 9, delayed releasing a proof-of-concept exploit until September 15 to give admins enough time to apply security updates issued by Veeam on September 4.”
  • “Code White also delayed sharing more details when it disclosed the flaw because it “might instantly be abused by ransomware gangs.”
• and
  • “A new phishing campaign dubbed ‘CRON#TRAP’ infects Windows with a Linux virtual machine that contains a built-in backdoor to give stealthy access to corporate networks.
  • “Using virtual machines to conduct attacks is nothing new, with ransomware gangs and cryptominersusing them to stealthily perform malicious activity. However, threat actors commonly install these manually after they breach a network.
  • “A new campaign spotted by Securonix researchers is instead using phishing emails to perform unattended installs of Linux virtual machines to breach and gain persistence on corporate networks.
• and
  • “UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published an analysis of a Linux malware named “Pigmy Goat” created to backdoor Sophos XG firewall devices as part of recently disclosed attacks by Chinese threat actors.
  • “Last week, Sophos published a series of reports dubbed “Pacific Rim” that detailed five-year attacks by Chinese threat actors on edge networking devices.
  • ‘One of the custom malware used in these attacks is a rootkit that closely impersonated Sophos product file naming conventions. 
  • ‘The malware, which is designed for compromising network devices, features advanced persistence, evasion, and remote access mechanisms and has a rather complex code structure and execution paths.
  • “Although the NCSC report does not attribute the observed activity to known threat actors, it underlines similar techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) to the “Castletap” malware, which Mandiant has associated with a Chinese nation-state actor.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

• Cybersecurity Dive tells us,
  • “Google Cloud is mandating multifactor authentication for all users, the company said in a Monday blog post. It will roll out MFA in phases through the end of 2025.
  • “The hyperscaler said it will start encouraging users to enroll in MFA this month. More than 70% of Google accounts owned by people who regularly use its products already use MFA, the company said. 
  • “In early 2025, Google Cloud said it will require MFA for all users who sign into their account with a password. By the end of next year, the MFA requirement will extend to all users who federate authentication into Google Cloud via identity providers.” 

• A Dark Reading commentator discusses ‘[t]he Power of Process in Creating a Successful Security Posture. Establishing realistic, practitioner-driven processes prevents employee burnout, standardizes experiences, and closes many of the gaps exposed by repeated one-offs.”

• Here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

• Cyberscoop tells us,
  • “The White House is close to finalizing a second executive order on cybersecurity that covers a wide range of subjects for federal agencies to address, including artificial intelligence, secure software, cloud security, identity credentialing and post-quantum cryptography, according to sources familiar with work on the document.
  • ‘The executive order, a follow-up to the sweeping cybersecurity executive order President Joe Biden signed in his first year in office, had been working its way through the interagency process, during which agencies give feedback on the draft, sources said.
  • “According to one source familiar with the order, the interagency process has wrapped up and a draft is “95%” of the way toward its final incarnation. The target is to get something signed in early December, subject to the president’s review and approval. But another source recently told CyberScoop that the executive order is viewed as “pretty aspirational to get it done.”
• and
  • “A coalition of influential infrastructure trade groups and associations want to change key definitions around an incoming cyber reporting mandate, citing long-standing “concerns” around the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s engagement process and existing regulatory requirements.
  • “In a letter to CISA Director Jen Easterly this week, 21 organizations from the communications, energy, aviation, IT, and transportation sectors, among others, asked the cyber agency to start an “ex parte” process that would apply the critical infrastructure cyber reporting mandate “in a manner consistent with congressional intent.”
  • “Simply put, the public record to date is insufficient, and a single round of comments in response to CISA’s [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] will not allow the agency to effectively capture and leverage stakeholder feedback,” the letter states. “Absent increased industry engagement, CISA’s proposed regulation may inadvertently impose requirements that hinder rather than help our sectors maintain security and operational efficiency.”

• Per Fedscoop,
  • “A week before a deadline for federal agencies to submit to the White House their updated zero-trust implementation plans, a coalition of government IT leaders released a guide intended to strengthen data security practices.
  • “The 42-page Federal Zero Trust Data Security Guide, spearheaded by the Federal Chief Data Officers and Federal Chief Information Security Officers councils, zeroes in on “securing the data itself, rather than the perimeter protecting it,” part of what a Thursday press release termed “a foundational pillar of effective” zero-trust implementation.
  • “By Nov. 7, federal agencies must provide their updated plans for zero-trust implementation to the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Management and Budget.
  • “This guide represents insights from agency practitioners who are in the trenches working to implement zero trust and secure their organization’s data,” Kirsten Dalboe, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s CDO and chair of the CDO Council, said in a statement. “We’re building a cooperative relationship between data and cyber to tackle this government-wide challenge and ultimately ensure the public’s data is secured.” 

• Per October 31, 2024, HHS press releases,
  • “Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a settlement with Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, for several potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule, following its investigation into a ransomware attack breach by OCR. Ransomware and hacking are the primary cyber-threats in health care.” * * *
  • “OCR initiated an investigation following the receipt of a breach report filed by Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota in July 2017, which reported that it discovered that nine workstations and two servers were infected with ransomware, affecting the protected health information of 10,229 individuals. The credentials the hacker(s) used to access Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota’s network were obtained through a brute force attack (hacking method that uses trial and error to guess passwords, login information, encryption keys, etc.) to their remote desktop protocol. After discovering the breach, Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota was unable to restore the affected servers from backup.
  • “OCR’s investigation revealed multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule, including failures to conduct a compliant risk analysis to determine the potential risks and vulnerabilities to ePHI in its systems; implement security measures sufficient to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities to ePHI to a reasonable and appropriate level; implement procedures to regularly review records of information system activity; and implement policies and procedures to address security incidents.” * * *
  • “Under the terms of the settlement, Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota paid $500,000 to OCR and agreed to implement a corrective action plan that requires them to take steps to resolve potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule and protect the security of electronic protected health information.” * * *
  • “The resolution agreement and corrective action plan may be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/psa-ra-cap/index.html .”
• and
  • “Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with Bryan County Ambulance Authority (BCAA), a provider of emergency medical services in Oklahoma for a potential violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. The settlement resolves an investigation concerning a ransomware attack on BCAA’s information systems.” * * *
  • “In May 2022, OCR received a breach report concerning a ransomware incident that encrypted files on BCAA’s network. BCAA determined that the encrypted files affected the protected health information of 14,273 patients. OCR’s investigation determined that BCAA had failed to conduct a compliant risk analysis to determine the potential risks and vulnerabilities to ePHI in BCAA’s systems.
  • “Under the terms of the resolution agreement, BCAA agreed to pay $90,000 and to implement a corrective action plan that will be monitored by OCR for three years. Under the corrective action plan, BCAA will take a number of steps to ensure compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule and protect the security of ePHI * * * . * * *
  • “The resolution agreement and corrective action plan may be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/compliance-enforcement/agreements/bcaa-ra-cap/index.html .
    

From the cybersecurity vulnerabilities and breaches front,

• Infor Security lets us know,
  • “Cybersecurity firm Sophos has detailed evolving tactics by Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) groups following five years of collecting telemetry on campaigns targeting its customers.
  • “Working with other cybersecurity vendors, governments and law enforcement agencies, the researchers were able to attribute specific clusters of observed activity from December 2018 to November 2023 to the groups Volt Typhoon, APT31 and APT41/Winnti.
  • “A notable shift from widespread, indiscriminate attacks towards narrow targeting of high value organizations was observed over the period.
  • “Sophos assessed with high confidence that exploits developed by the threat actors were shared with multiple Chinese state-sponsored frontline groups, which have differing objectives, capabilities, and post-exploitation tooling.
  • ‘The analysis was conducted in response to calls from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for technology developers to provide transparency around the scale of exploitation of edge network devices by state-sponsored adversaries.
  • “In the interests of our collective resilience, we encourage other vendors to follow our lead,” Sophos wrote in a blog dated October 31, 2024.”

• Cybersecurity Dive alerts us on October 31,
  • “Fortinet alerted customers to four new indicators of compromise for a widely exploited zero-day vulnerability in its network and security management tool FortiManager in an updated security advisory on Wednesday.
  • “The cybersecurity vendor said the situation is evolving and the updates don’t reflect any major changes. “Since we worked with the hosting provider to take down the actor infrastructure, some IP IoCs have changed,” a Fortinet spokesperson said Wednesday in an email.
  • “Fortinet initially disclosed active exploitation of CVE-2024-47575, a missing authentication for critical function vulnerability which has a CVSS score of 9.8, last week. Mandiant said at least 50 organizations across various industries were impacted by a spree of attacks it described as a “mass exploitation” event.”

• Cybersecurity Dive adds,
  • “Enterprise modernization initiatives are too often threatened by aging infrastructure and systems that have run out of technical support, according to a recent Kyndryl report. The IT services firm surveyed 3,200 C-suite executives and collected anonymized customer data from its Kyndryl Bridge platform.
  • “While 9 in 10 executives said their company’s technology is best-in-class, nearly two-thirds acknowledged that outdated systems present a major concern. Data indicating 44% of mission-critical enterprise IT infrastructure is approaching or at end-of-life confirmed the apparent paradox.
  • “If a company lacks comprehensive IT asset and configuration management, locating tech debt is a challenge, according to Michael Bradshaw, Kyndryl’s SVP and global practice leader for applications, data and AI. “It’s almost like an archaeological dig,” he said. “You don’t know where the problems are unless you stub your toe on something that’s reached end-of-support.”

• CISA did not add known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog this week.

From the ransomware front,

• The American Hospital Association reports,
  • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Oct. 31 issued an alert on a large-scale spear-phishing campaign targeting organizations in several sectors. The agency received multiple reports on the matter. According to the agency, the foreign threat actor, often posing as a trusted entity, sends spear-phishing emails with malicious remote desktop protocol files to targeted organizations to connect to and access files stored on the target’s network. If the threat actor gains access, it could perform additional activities, such as deploying malicious code to achieve persistent access to the target’s network. CISA, other federal agencies and partners are coordinating and assessing the impact of the campaign and urged organizations to take proactive measures to protect their data and systems. 
  • “The malicious use of RDP to conduct cyberattacks, including highly disruptive ransomware attacks, continues to be a significant attack vector used by foreign cybercriminals, ransomware gangs and spies,” said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “To help mitigate this type of cyberattack risk, it is strongly recommended health care organizations restrict outbound RDP connections, block RDP connections in communication platforms, prevent execution of RDP files and use phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication for all remote access. Please review the alert for additional recommendations.” 

• Info Security reports,
  • “A North Korean-backed hacking group has engaged in a ransomware campaign for the first time, according to Palo Alto Networks.
  • “Jumpy Pisces, a hacking group tied to the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, has been involved in a recent ransomware incident, according to a new report by Palo Alto’s threat intelligence team, Unit 42, published on October 30.
  • “This marks a shift in the nation-state group’s tactics and the first time they have been involved with financially motivated cyber threat actors.”

From the cyber defenses front,

• Cybersecurity Dive relates
  • “UnitedHealth Group appointed Tim McKnight to CISO, marking a change in the company’s security leadership eight months after a ransomware attack on subsidiary Change Healthcare led to sustained nationwide disruptions. McKnight shared the news on LinkedIn this week. 
  • “McKnight replaces Steven Martin, who became CISO in May 2023, nine months before the ransomware attack. As part of the change, Martin shifted to a new role at UnitedHealth as chief restoration officer. Martin previously served as CIO and CTO at Change Healthcare and Optum, another subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
  • “Earlier this month, UnitedHealth Group confirmed the cyberattack, which involved compromised credentials to a remote access Citrix portal, compromised data on at least 100 million people, the largest healthcare data breach ever reported to federal regulators. The attack also hinged on a consequential mistake the healthcare giant made in failing to protect a critical system: it did not turn on multifactor authentication.”

• Here is a link to Dark Reading’s CISO Corner.

From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

• Security Week tells us,
  • “The US cybersecurity agency CISA and the FBI have released new guidance on security bad practices for software manufacturers and are inviting the public to provide feedback on it.
  • “The guidance urges the makers of software and services for the critical infrastructure or national critical functions (NCFs) to prioritize security throughout the development process and reduce customer security risks.
  • “It offers an overview of product security bad practices considered exceptionally risky and provides recommendations for mitigating them, in line with CISA’s Secure by Design initiative.
  • “The guidance contained in this document is non-binding and while CISA encourages organizations to avoid these bad practices, this document imposes no requirement on them to do so,” the agency notes.”

• Cybersecurity Dive informs us,
  • “A federal grand jury on Wednesday unsealed charges and announced a prior operation to disrupt Anonymous Sudan, a prolific hacktivist group that was linked to some of the biggest DDoS attacks in the world, including a 2023 attack against Microsoft. 
  • “Federal officials indicted two Sudanese nationals, Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22 and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, on charges of conspiracy to damage computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers. 
  • “In March, the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office, pursuant to a warrant, disabled and seized a DDoS tool the group used to conduct attacks against the U.S. State Department, the Department of Defense, the FBI, Microsoft, Riot Games, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and other organizations. The group also allegedly sold the DDoS tool to other threat actors.”

• Per Fedscoop,
  • “National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie Locascio will leave the administration in January after more than two-and-a-half years leading the standard-setting agency.
  • “Following her departure, Locascio will join the American National Standards Institute as its president and CEO. She has served as director of NIST and undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology at the Department of Commerce since April 2022. 
  • “In the meantime, Locascio “will continue to serve as Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director until then, providing leadership for important programs such as the CHIPS for America program and NIST’s extensive work in AI, including the U.S. AI Safety Institute,” a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce said in an emailed statement.”

• Federal News Network lets us know,
  • “A new survey of federal cyber experts has found most agencies are mapping out their journey to post-quantum cryptography, but many feel hamstrung by a lack of formal guidance on an initiative that’s expected to cost billions of dollars in the coming decade.
  • “In a study released today, General Dynamics Information Technology found 50% of federal cyber experts have a strategy for post-quantum cryptography readiness, while 22% are engaged in pilot projects and 12% are preparing their workforce for a post-quantum future.
  • “Only 17% of those surveyed responded that they had “no defined strategy” and “PQC initiatives are not currently a priority.”
  • “But 37% of respondents also said a “lack of planning, guidance and strategy” poses a critical challenge to the post-quantum cryptographic transition.”

From the cyber vulnerabilities and breaches front,

• Per a National Security Agency press release,
  • “The National Security Agency (NSA) is joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and others in releasing a Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA), “Iranian Cyber Actors’ Brute Force and Credential Access Activity Compromises Critical Infrastructure Organizations,” to warn network defenders of malicious activity that can enable persistent access in sensitive systems.
  • ‘Since October 2023, Iranian cyber actors have used a technique known as brute force to compromise user accounts and obtain access to organizations to modify MFA registrations, enabling persistent access. 
  • “Our agencies are sharing detailed insight into this malicious cyber activity and what organizations can do to shore up their defenses,” said Dave Luber, NSA Cybersecurity Director. “We explain the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the Iranian actors, as well as indicators of compromise.”  

• Beckers Health IT notes,
  • “The costs of the Change Healthcare cyberattack continue to grow for parent company UnitedHealth Group.
  • “UnitedHealth estimated the company would absorb about an additional 10 cents a share in costs for the February ransomware attack that disrupted claims processing and breached patient data across the nation, bringing the total to 75 cents a share, according to a third-quarter earnings report.
  • “The healthcare conglomerate now estimates it will take a $2.87 billion hit from the cyberattack in 2024, after originally anticipating $1.6 billion in costs.
  • “After the cyberattack, we prioritized devoting resources to support care providers, over some activities such as share repurchase,” President and CFO John Rex said in an Oct. 15 earnings call.
  • “UnitedHealth has disbursed $8.9 billion in loans to providers affected by the IT outage, with $3.2 billion having been paid back.”

• Cybersecurity Dive reports,
  • “Microsoft said it mitigated an issue that led to the partial loss of more than two weeks of security log data during September. 
  • “The company previously notified customers that some security logs were lost due to a bug in the company’s internal monitoring agents. The security logs provide critical information to Microsoft customers as they can be used to flag evidence of a malicious attack. 
  • ‘The lost security data impacted several Microsoft platforms, including Microsoft Entra, Sentinel, Purview and Defender for Cloud.” 

• This week CISA added four known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog.
  • October 15, 2024
    • CVE-2024-30088 Microsoft Windows Kernel TOCTOU Race Condition Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Vulnerability
    • CVE-2024-28987 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credential Vulnerability
  • October 17, 2024
    • CVE-2024-40711 Veeam Backup and Replication Deserialization Vulnerability

• Furthermore,
  • Cybersecurity Dive adds,
    • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added a critical hardcoded credentials flaw in SolarWinds Web Help Desk to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog on Tuesday, marking the second actively exploited CVE in the same product since August.
    • “The vulnerability, listed as CVE-2024-28987, allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to access internal functionality and potentially modify data. The software defect has a CVSS score of 9.1.
    • “SolarWinds previously said the vulnerability impacted customers using Web Help Desk 12.8.3 HF1 and all prior versions, in an August security advisory. The company told customers to upgrade to the fixed version at that time.”  * * *
    • “It is not immediately clear what specific threat activity led CISA to add CVE-2024-28987 to the KEV catalog, however the listing requires federal civilian executive branch agencies to take mitigation steps to protect their systems from exploitation.” 
  • and
    • “Hackers are actively exploiting a critical format string vulnerability in four Fortinet products, federal authorities and security researchers said last week. 
    • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added the vulnerability, listed as CVE-2024-23113, to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog on Wednesday. The vulnerability, originally disclosed in February, has a CVSS score of 9.8. 
    • “Exploitation of the vulnerability in FortiOS could allow a remote, unauthenticated hacker to execute arbitrary code or commands on a system, FortiGuard Labs said in a Friday blog post.”
  • The Record adds,
    • “The nation’s top cybersecurity agency has confirmed that ransomware gangs are using a vulnerability found last month in products from software company Veeam.  
    • “For weeks, experts have expressed alarm about CVE-2024-40711 — a bug Veeam rated critical and gave a severity score of 9.8 when it was disclosed in September.  
    • “CVE-2024-40711 could “allow an attacker to gain full control of a system, manipulate data, and potentially move laterally within a network, making it a relatively high-value target for threat actors,” according to researchers at Censys.  
    • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed on Thursday that the vulnerability has been exploited and took the rare step of specifying that it was being used in ransomware attacks.  
    • “Veeam released a fix on September 4 after the bug was discovered by Code White security researcher Florian Hauser. By September 15, proof-of-concept exploit code was released by watchTowr Labs. Veaam specializes in software for system backups and disaster recovery. 
    • “CISA gave federal civilian agencies until November 7 to patch the bug.  
    • “CISA added the “Known To Be Used in Ransomware Campaigns?” tab in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog almost exactly a year ago but has rarely used it.”

Also from the ransomware front,

• The HHS Office for Civil Rights posted on You Tube a 45-minute-long video on Ransomware and the HIPAA Security Rule.

• Hacker News reports,
  • “Cybersecurity researchers have gleaned additional insights into a nascent ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) called Cicada3301 after successfully gaining access to the group’s affiliate panel on the dark web.
  • “Singapore-headquartered Group-IB said it contacted the threat actor behind the Cicada3301 persona on the RAMP cybercrime forum via the Tox messaging service after the latter put out an advertisement, calling for new partners into its affiliate program.
  • “Within the dashboard of the Affiliates’ panel of Cicada3301 ransomware group contained sections such as Dashboard, News, Companies, Chat Companies, Chat Support, Account, an FAQ section, and Log Out,” researchers Nikolay Kichatov and Sharmine Low said in a new analysis published today.”

• Tripwire assesses the current ransomware landscape.

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

• Cybersecurity Dive points out,
  • “More than 4 in 5 CISOs believe their role needs to be split into two separate positions, as regulatory and financial risks consume a greater part of their job responsibilities, according to a report released Tuesday by Trellix and Vanson Bourne. 
  • “A majority of CISOs are calling for the job to be separated into a technical, hands-on-keyboard security role and another position that focuses on regulatory compliance and boardroom disclosure. 
  • “Regulatory changes from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other bodies have been a mixed blessing for CISOs, according to Harold Rivas, CISO at Trellix.”

• Cyberscoop mentions that “SecureWorks has released research that dives into the tell-tale behaviors behind remote employees that may be working on behalf of North Korea.”

• Dark Reading notes that “A survey shows three-quarters of CISOs are drowning in threat detections put out by a sprawling stack of tools, yet still lack the basic visibility necessary to identify breaches,” and shares “four ways to address Zero-Days in AI/ML security. As the unique challenges of AI zero-days emerge, the approach to managing the accompanying risks needs to follow traditional security best practices but be adapted for AI.”

• Here’s a link to Dark Reading’s CISO corner.

• Security Week asks us to “be aware of eight underrated phishing techniques. There are a number of lesser-known phishing techniques that are often overlooked or underestimated yet increasingly being employed by attackers.”

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

• Here is an excerpt from CISA’s October 1 announcement,
  • Today, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the kickoff of the 21^stCybersecurity Awareness Month. Throughout October, CISA and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) will focus on ways to “Secure Our World” by educating the public on how to stay safe online.  
  • This October and year-round, CISA challenges everyone to help secure our world by adopting four simple steps that everyone can take to stay safe online:  
    • Use strong passwords that are long, random, and unique to each account, and use a password manager to generate them and to save them.
    • Turn on multifactor authentication on all accounts that offer it. We need more than a password on our most important accounts, like email, social media, and financial accounts. 
    • Recognize and report phishing, as we like to say, think before you click. Be cautious of unsolicited emails or texts or calls asking you for personal information, and don’t click on links or open attachments from unknown sources.
    • Update software. In fact, enable automatic updates on software so the latest security patches keep devices we are connected to continuously up to date.

• Here are links to CISA’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month website, the HHS Section 405(d) program’s poster and NIST staff reflections.

From the cybersecurity policy and law enforcement front,

• Federal News Network lets us know,
  • “The Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response is considered HHS’ “one stop shop” for working on cyber issues facing the healthcare and public health sector.
  • “But Brian Mazanec , deputy director in ASPR’s Center for Preparedness, said that doesn’t mean his organization is handling every health sector cybersecurity issue at HHS.” * * *
  • “But even before the Change Healthcare ransomware attack, HHS had already laid out plans to expand ASPR and its role as the “sector risk management agency” for healthcare.
  • “ASPR has since established a cybersecurity division within its Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection. Mazanec said the division is the focal point for ASPR’s cyber work with the sector. The division has hired an “initial tranche” of federal staff, he said.
  • “One of the cyber division’s core responsibilities will be incident response, Mazanec said. When a cyber attack hits a major hospital, for instance, ASPR’s team will work with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to help respond and offer support.
  • “Mazanec said ASPR can help hospitals grapple with how to address the fallout from a cyber incident, like the potential diversion of patients to other facilities.” * * *
  • In addition to hospitals, Mazanec said ASPR is focused on third-party risks, such as the dangers posed by relying on large providers like Change Healthcare. He said ASPR is currently working on a new sector risk assessment as part of a new national security memorandum on critical infrastructure. 
  • “A key part of that is going to is looking at that systemic and third party risk,” Mazenec said. “And the NSM also directs us to develop a sector specific plan informed by that risk assessment . . .  That’s where we’ll grapple with, ‘OK, here’s what the risk posture looks like. What can we do to hit those critical entities and help them better, to make sure we’re as secure and resilient as possible across the ecosystem?’”

• Cyberscoop reports,
  • Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday [October 3] announced the seizure of more than 100 domains used by a Russian-backed hacking unit to target more than two dozen civil society organizations between January 2023 and August 2024.
  • Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit filed a lawsuit with the NGO Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NGO-ISAC) to seize 66 unique domains used by a hacking group Microsoft tracks as Star Blizzard, but which the U.S., British, and other western governments have attributed to the Russian Federal Security Service, more commonly known as the FSB.
  • The Department of Justice simultaneously seized 41 additional domains used by the same group, which it described as an operational unit within the FSB’s Center 18. The U.S. government indicted two Russian nationals working with the group in December 2023, levied sanctions against them and offered a $10 million reward for information on their location.
  • “Rebuilding infrastructure takes time, absorbs resources, and costs money,” Steven Masada, assistant general counsel of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, said in a statement. “By collaborating with DOJ, we have been able to expand the scope of disruption and seize more infrastructure, enabling us to deliver greater impact against Star Blizzard.” 

• Per a Justice Department press release,
  • The Justice Department today [October 1] unsealed an indictment charging Russian national Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov (Александр Викторович Рыженков) with using the BitPaymer ransomware variant to attack numerous victims in Texas and throughout the United States and hold their sensitive data for ransom.
  • According to the indictment, beginning in at least June 2017, Ryzhenkov allegedly gained unauthorized access to the information stored on victims’ computer networks. Ryzhenkov and his conspirators then allegedly deployed the strain of ransomware known as BitPaymer and used it to encrypt the files of the victim companies, rendering them inaccessible. An electronic note left on the victims’ systems contained a ransom demand and instructions on how to contact the attackers to begin ransom negotiations. Ryzhenkov and his conspirators allegedly demanded that victims pay a ransom to obtain a decryption key and prevent their sensitive information from being made public online.
  • The indictment further alleges that Ryzhenkov and others used a variety of methods to intrude into computer systems, including phishing campaigns, malware, and taking advantage of vulnerabilities in computer hardware and software. Ryzhenkov and coconspirators used this access to demand millions of dollars in ransom. Ryzhenkov is believed to be in Russia. View the FBI’s wanted poster for him here.

From the cybersecurity vulnerabilities and breaches front,

• Cybersecurity Dive tells us,
  • “Phishing is the leading initial-access vector for attacks in cloud environments, IBM X-Force said Tuesday in its latest Cloud Threat Landscape Report. IBM’s latest findings are in line with a collection of other recent research from incident response firms and cybersecurity vendors about the prevalence and impact of phishing.
  • “The mode of attack, which threat groups use to harvest credentials for systems and network access, accounted for one-third of all cloud-related incidents IBM X-Force responded to during the two-year period ending in June.
  • “Threat groups most often use phishing emails to trick recipients into entering login information on malicious sites for adversary-in-the-middle attacks, IBM X-Fource found. AITM phishing is a more sophisticated form of a phishing attack that can bypass some forms of multifactor authentication, the report found.”
• and
  • “Threat actors are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability in Ivanti Endpoint Manager that was previously disclosed by the company in May.
  • “The SQL injection vulnerability in the core server of Ivanti EPM 2022 SU5 and prior versions can permit an attacker to execute arbitrary code, according to an advisory from the company updated Wednesday. The vulnerability, listed as CVE-2024-29824, has a CVSS score of 9.6.
  • “The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Wednesday added the CVE to its known exploited vulnerabilities catalog. Ivanti updated a previously issued advisory on the CVE and confirmed a limited number of customers have been impacted.”

• Dark Reading informs us,
  • “Apple has patched two quirky bugs that might have offended privacy-oriented iPhone and iPad owners.
  • “The first — an issue with Apple’s VoiceOver accessibility feature — could have caused iPhones or iPads to announce sensitive passwords out loud. The other issue — affecting voice messages on new iPhone models — could have recorded users for brief seconds before they knew they were being recorded.
  • “New operating system versions are available for both iOS and iPadOS (18.0.1), fixing each bug with improved validation and checks, respectively. Users should update their devices to avoid being vulnerable.”

• This week, CISA added six new known exploited vulnerabilities to its catalog:
  • September 30, 2024
    • CVE-2023-25280 D-Link DIR-820 Router OS Command Injection Vulnerability
    • CVE-2020-15415 DrayTek Multiple Vigor Routers OS Command Injection Vulnerability
    • CVE-2021-4043 Motion Spell GPAC Null Pointer Dereference Vulnerability
    • CVE-2019-0344 SAP Commerce Cloud Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability
  • October 2, 2024
    • CVE-2024-29824 Ivanti Endpoint Manager (EPM) SQL Injection Vulnerability
  • October 3, 2024
    • CVE-2024-45519 Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Command Execution Vulnerability

• Cybersecurity Dive adds,
  • “Federal civilian agencies triaged more than 7,000 vulnerabilities submitted to the Vulnerability Disclosure Policy Platform in 2023, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Monday in an annual report on the program.
  • “Federal agencies remediated 872 vulnerabilities last year, a 78% increase from 2022, CISA said in the report. The federal government determined 15% of the vulnerabilities submitted to the VDP Platform last year were valid.
  • “The program consistently sorts through an increase in critical vulnerabilities. The VDP Platform identified 250 critical vulnerabilities in 2023, a 130% jump from 2022.”

• Per Cyberscoop,
  • Researchers uncovered 14 vulnerabilities, one of them the most severe kind, that left more than 700,000 routers made by Taiwan-based DrayTek exposed to the public internet, but that the company has since patched.
  • ForeScout’s Vedere Labs revealed the vulnerabilities Wednesday and urged security pros to make sure they implemented the fixes, adding that 75% of the routers are used in commercial settings.
  • “These devices are not just hardware; they represent potential entry points for devastating attacks,” ForeScout said. “Our research shows these vulnerabilities could be used in espionage, data exfiltration, ransomware, and denial of service (DoS) attacks.”
  • More than half of the routers at risk (approximately 425,000) are in the European Union and United Kingdom, followed by Asia (190,000), Australia and New Zealand (37,000), the Middle East (30,000), Latin America (15,000) and North America (7,200).

From the ransomware front,

• The Record points out,
  • “Insurance companies must stop issuing policies that incentivize making extortion payments in ransomware attacks, a senior White House official said on Friday.
  • “The call for the practice to end, which was made without any indication the White House was formally proposing to ban the practice, follows the fourth annual International Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) summit in the United States this week, where the 68 members of the CRI discussed tackling the problem.
  • “Writing an opinion piece in the Financial Times newspaper, Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, warned that ransomware was “wreaking havoc around the world.”
  • “She wrote: “Some insurance company policies — for example covering reimbursement of ransomware payments — incentivise payment of ransoms that fuel cyber crime ecosystems. This is a troubling practice that must end.” 
    

• The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center posted a threat actor profile about a relatively new actor, Trinity Ransomware.

• Per Cyberscoop,
  • “A new ‘FakeUpdate’ campaign targeting users in France leverages compromised websites to show fake browser and application updates that spread a new version of the WarmCookie backdoor.
  • “FakeUpdate is a cyberattack strategy used by a threat group known as ‘SocGolish’ who compromises or creates fake websites to show visitors fake update prompts for a variety of applications, such as web browsers, Java, VMware Workstation, WebEx, and Proton VPN.
  • “When users click on update prompts designed to appear legitimate, a fake update is downloaded that drops a malicious payload, like info-stealers, cryptocurrency drainers, RATs, and even ransomware.
  • “The latest campaign was discovered by researchers at Gen Threat Labs, who observed the WarmCookie backdoor being distributed as fake Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Java updates.”

From the cybersecurity defenses front,

• An ISACA commentator discusses “The Hidden Culture Crisis and Human Burden Undermining Cybersecurity Resilience.”

• Here’s a link to Dark Reading’s informative CISO Corner.

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Cybersecurity executives now earn an average of $565,000, reflecting a moderate increase at a time when cyber threats are growing and regulatory pressure is adding stress to the role.
  • “Corporate chief information security officers are on the hook for defending their companies against cyberattacks, as well as handling breach response, participating in regulatory inquiries and, at times, supplying information during litigation. Pay is rising as the job evolves, but not at the pace of change. 
  • “The scope of the role and the demands of the CISO are increasing at a much faster rate than the rewards and compensation,” said Nick Kakolowski, senior research director at cybersecurity firm IANS.
  • “Average compensation for cyber leaders in the U.S. in 2024 is $565,000, according to a survey from IANS and recruiting company Artico Search published Wednesday. Last year, average CISO compensation was $550,000 and $495,000 in 2022. The survey polled 755 security executives between April and August.”