AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse

August 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

There is no threat greater then a nation-state hacking team, as they are highly skilled, fully equipped with the latest attack methodologies, have unlimited resources, can launch attacks in large scale and are almost untouchable by law enforcement.  North Korea has been a major player in this space for years, adding billions to their economy through cyber attacks.   Researchers have concluded that they are currently upgrading their operations and expanding their list of targets.  Their newest weapon allows them to attack Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems, and give them the ability to move laterally inside a network.  Defending against this type of attack requires layers of security in order to detect command and control communications, privilege escalation, memory resource allocation and computer behavior heuristics.   This is a good time to ensure that your recent security assessment was thorough enough.  If you still have nagging doubts, call us – we’re here to help.

Researchers have discovered that it is possible to modify the firmware for fast-charging devices that people commonly use to charge their smartphones and tablets.  They can alter the current, causing devices to melt, batteries to explode and charging devices to catch fire.  It takes only moments to change the firmware, but an attacker needs to attach to the device in order to make the modifications.  While this is currently a proof of concept, it is only a matter of time before someone weaponizes it.  Keep your charging systems secure and do not share them with persons that you do not know.  Also, don’t use any public charging kiosks in the event that they are compromised.

We are currently on track for over 20,000 vulnerabilities in 2020.   This is significant considering the work-force is no longer protected by being on a corporate-administered internal network.  20,000 vulnerabilities represents countless ways attackers can leverage exploits for systems that are not continuously patched – home networks are nefarious for this.  Ensure that your patch-management program is capable of detecting and remediating remote users as well as systems on your internal network.

~Stay Secure

July 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

Email continues to be the largest attack vector, according to a recent study from Mimecast. Most organizations realize this but lack additional controls and fail to properly educate their users on how to identify attack methods such as phishing, malicious attachments and Business Email Compromise. The axiom is “People, Process, Technology” – use them properly to minimize email-based threats.

Intel is back in the news with another vulnerability related to their CPU architecture. Two separate academic teams disclosed two new and distinctive exploits that bypass Intel’s Software Guard eXtension, which is the most sensitive region of the company’s processors because it protects encryption keys. The new SGX attacks are known as SGAxe and CrossTalk. Both break into the fortified CPU region using separate side-channel attack. Keep your eyes open for patches that are on their way.
Have you ever wondered what your data is worth on the dark web? While criminals are willing to pay for personal data, the COST to those who’s information has been compromised is larger, by an order of magnitude.

• Online banking logins cost an average of $35
• Full credit card details including associated data cost $12-20
• A full range of documents and account details allowing identity theft can be obtained for $1,500

An alarming trend that is being observed – ransomware attackers are not just encrypting systems and waiting for payment. They are moving laterally across the organization, using gathered credentials to steal unencrypted files before deploying the ransomware attack. They also find additional ways to “persist” on the network undiscovered even after the ransomware attack has concluded. Be aware, be informed.

~Stay Secure

June 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

Intel is back in the news with another vulnerability related to their CPU architecture. Two separate academic teams disclosed two new and distinctive exploits that bypass Intel’s Software Guard eXtension, which is the most sensitive region of the company’s processors because it protects encryption keys. The new SGX attacks are known as SGAxe and CrossTalk. Both break into the fortified CPU region using separate side-channel attack. Keep your eyes open for patches that are on their way.

Researches have found that users rarely change their passwords, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN BREACHED. Of the users who changed passwords, only a third changed it to a stronger password, but the rest created passwords of weaker or similar strength, usually by reusing character sequences from their previous password, or by using passwords that were similar to other accounts that were stored inside their browser. This creates a risk of secondary breaches of user accounts (often their personal accounts), and for credential stuffing attacks where the attacking system has a list of current passwords as well as common combinations. The simplest defense against credential stuffing attacks is rotating complex passwords at regular intervals.

Email continues to be a risk for business, as new phishing attacks and new malware campaigns out this month use email as the attach vector. Users are also under attack from fake apps on their smartphones. Now tie all of these articles together. The risks are increasing, but the users are not 100% working with you. The answer – at a minimum, implement multi-factor authentication for all critical systems, and for anything externally facing.

~Stay Secure

May 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

Covid-related social engineering attacks continue to make headlines, as most businesses shift work to a stay-at-home model for continued operations. There are numerous articles about attack types and vectors, so make sure your users are aware and informed.

A new zero-day vulnerability has been announced that impacts all supported versions of the Windows operation system. Both vulnerabilities reside in the Windows Adobe Type Manager Library, a font parsing software that not only parses content when open with a 3rd-party software but also used by Windows Explorer to display the content of a file in the ‘Preview Pane’ or ‘Details Pane’ without having users to open it. No patch is yet available, but there are some workarounds that have been published.

Covid-19 still dominates the news and continues to add to the security woes of companies. Of interest is a new study that states that 3 in 4 CFOs plan to shift at least 5% of newly remote workers permanently post-pandemic. I think this is the first of several major shifts in how business will operate moving forward.

A new report finds that there is a 47 percent jump in insider threats in the past two years. To make things worse, the average cost has increased 31% as well. With the rush to expand operations to a work from home posture, many companies may have left security gaps open, allowing for a surge in insider threat incidents. Ensure that your organization is not left exposed.

And finally, the Emotet botnet is back – “New and Improved.” It was the most dangerous malware botnet of 2019, and its new feature lets it spread inside the network once it’s infected a system. It’s dangerous because it delivers malware of a variety of types. Be patched. Be vigilant.

~Stay Secure

February 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

27% of IT managers believe that attacks against their network can be attributed to nation states. This figure is up significantly from a year ago, and it should wake up anyone involved in Risk and Security. Ensure that you have properly adjusted the risk to your organization for the possibility of a sophisticated attack from a Nation State and calculated for the type of damage that they could inflict.

A new study shows that attackers, once inside your network, are able to stay in longer (aka “dwell time”) in order to get to know your business, processes and technology. The longer they stay in your network, the more damage they can do to you, your clients and your data. Most security systems are designed to monitor the perimeter, not the inside systems, so ensure that you have security controls and alerting for critical internal systems to detect unusual behavior and lateral movement.

January 2020 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

With tension rising between Iran and the United States, cyber warfare is on the rise. Many government agencies are releasing statements advising company’s and governments to stay protected and aware of potential threats. This past week we have seen pro Iran targets deface government websites and launch multiple attacks. Some of these are effecting entire cities and states. Both the state of Texas and the city of Las Vegas were targets for cyber attacks that believe to either be initiated by Iran or Pro Iran attackers. Thankfully, some of these attacks have been prevented but it is expected that these attacks will continue to rise in numbers. Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned Texans to be vigilant regarding cyberterrorism from Iran. The Texas Department of Information Resources released a statement advising that as many as 10,000 attempted attacks per minute from Iran had been detected over the past 48 hours on state agency networks. This number is especially startling when considering the normal occurrence of these attacks, about 420.

September 2019 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

This month we have seen mobile and smart devices become a key topic of discussion. With the Chinese company Tencent exposing flaws in the Qualcomm chipsets found in most android devices today, we must remember to stay vigilant in monitoring who and what our devices are connected to. The QualPwn bugs flaws, as they are known collectively, allow hackers to compromise these devices remotely by sending malicious packets over-the-air with no user interaction required.

May 2019 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

April 2019 AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

Computer hardware manufacturer ASUS was the victim of a sophisticated attack that left backdoor malware embedded in their update software. The researchers estimate half a million Windows machines received the malicious backdoor through the ASUS update server, although the attackers appear to have been targeting only about 600 of those systems. The malware searched for targeted systems through their unique MAC addresses, reached out to a command-and-control server the attackers operated, and installed additional malware on those machines. Supply-chain attacks are starting to grow in number and complexity – make sure that you have a plan to address them.
A recent survey of the 22,000 new vulnerabilities that were discovered in 2018 indicates that 1/3 have public exploits and 50% can be exploited remotely. Ensure that you have total visibility into all of your endpoints and that they are patched and up to date.

March AccumeView: Executive Cybersecurity Pulse Newsletter

California is proposing an update to their data breach notification law. When California State Bill 1386 went into effect in 2003, it was country’s first data breach notification legislation. California’s data breach notification rules continue to be among the strongest in the U.S. New changes proposed will include notification if passport numbers were exposed as well as government-issued identification numbers and biometric data. The bill would update California state’s definition of personal information as constituting “an individual’s first name or first initial and last name” in combination with any of the following, when either the name or these data elements have not been encrypted.