Malware as-a-Service

Article

Feds Indict 'Fxmsp' for Hacking Multiple Firms

Ishita Chigilli Palli • July 8, 2020

The U.S. Justice Department has charged Kazakhstan national Andrey Turchin with being the hacker known as "Fxmsp," as well as running a hacking collective known by the same name that's been tied to 300 attacks worldwide, including against anti-virus vendors.

Article

North Korean Hacking Infrastructure Tied to Magecart Hits

Mathew J. Schwartz • July 6, 2020

Hackers with apparent ties to North Korea have extended their bag of online attack tricks beyond cryptocurrency mining, online bank heists and ransomware. Now, they're also hitting e-commerce merchants in the U.S. and Europe with Magecart attacks to steal payment card data, security firm Sansec reports.

Article

How Ekans Ransomware Targets Industrial Control Systems

Akshaya Asokan • July 4, 2020

Researchers with FortiGuard Labs have uncovered two samples of the Ekans ransomware strain that offer some additional insight into how the crypto-locking malware targets industrial control systems, according to a new report. Ekans, also known as Snake, was first spotted earlier this year.

Article

Operators Behind Valak Malware Expand Malicious Campaign

Ishita Chigilli Palli • July 3, 2020

The operators behind the Valak malware strain have expanded their malicious campaigns to other parts of the world, targeting financial, manufacturing, healthcare and insurance firms, according to Cisco Talos. Attackers are now using existing email threads and ZIP files to spread the information stealer.

Webinar

Live Webinar | The Post-Pandemic New Normal: Rethink and Rebuild Cyber Security (11 am AEST I 1 pm NZST)

Jinan Budge, Principal Analyst Serving Security & Risk Professionals, Forrester , Ashwin Pal, Director of Cybersecurity Services, Asia Pacific, Unisys , Gergana Winzer, Industry Director of Cybersecurity, Australia and New Zealand, Unisys • June 25, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has put new security pressures on organizations, which are adapting to having large numbers of employees working from home. The threat landscape has changed, and attackers are looking to exploit weaknesses in how organizations have changed access to applications and data assets, which has forced...

Article

Nefilim Ransomware Gang Tied to Citrix Gateway Hacks

Mathew J. Schwartz • June 22, 2020

Hackers wielding Nefilim ransomware are targeting unpatched or poorly secured Citrix remote-access technology, then stealing data, unleashing crypto-locking malware and threatening to dump data to try to force payment, New Zealand's national computer emergency response team warns.

Article

Italian Security Firm Allegedly Pushed Malware: Report

Doug Olenick • June 15, 2020

An Italian cybersecurity company allegedly was a front for a criminal gang selling access to a dropper Trojan known as CloudEyE, according to analysts at the security firm Check Point Research.

Article

Gamaredon Group Using Fresh Tools to Target Outlook

Akshaya Asokan • June 13, 2020

The Gamaredon hacking group is now using a new set of malicious tools to compromise Microsoft Outlook as a way of sending spear-phishing emails to victims' contact lists, according to security firm ESET. This hacking group, which appears to have ties to Russia, has primarily targeted Ukraine for years.

Article

City Pays Ransom Despite Pre-Ransomware Outbreak Hack Alert

Mathew J. Schwartz • June 12, 2020

The attack sounds ripped from an episode of TV show "24": Hackers have infiltrated a government network, and they're days away from unleashing ransomware. Unfortunately for Florence, a city in Alabama, no one saved the day, and officials are sending $300,000 in bitcoins to attackers for a decryption key.

Article

Unsecured AWS S3 Buckets Infected With Skimmer Code

Ishita Chigilli Palli • June 11, 2020

Cybercriminals are continuing to take advantage of unsecured Amazon S3 buckets, with RiskIQ researchers recently finding card skimming code and redirects to a long-running malvertising campaign infecting several websites.

Article

Kingminer Botnet Targeting SQL Servers for Cryptomining

Akshaya Asokan • June 10, 2020

The operators behind the Kingminer botnet have recently started targeting vulnerable Microsoft SQL Server databases using brute-force methods in order to mine cryptocurrency, according to research from Sophos. In addition, the botnet operators have attempted to exploit the EternalBlue vulnerability.

Interview

The State of Payments Fraud in a Pandemic

Nick Holland • June 10, 2020

Payment fraud continues to evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploiting changing habits and behaviors of consumers. Melissa Gaddis of TransUnion, who has been tracking these changes, says one of the surprising changes concerns millennials: They're now fraudsters' top target.

Article

Study Finds Open Source Vulnerabilities Doubled in 2019

Doug Olenick • June 9, 2020

The number of reported vulnerabilities found in open source software more than doubled in 2019 to almost 1,000, with projects such as Magento, GitLab, and Jenkins posting the largest increases, according to security firm RiskSense.

Article

Maze Ransomware Gang Hits Defense Contractor ST Engineering

Doug Olenick • June 8, 2020

The prolific Maze ransomware gang has been tied to yet more attacks, including against Singapore-based defense contractor ST Engineering's North American subsidiary, VT San Antonio Aerospace. Separately, the ransomware gang breached systems at nuclear missile contractor Westech.

Article

Maze Promotes Other Gang's Stolen Data On Its Darknet Site

Doug Olenick • June 4, 2020

The Maze ransomware gang is hosting and promoting data stolen by other ransomware operators on its "Maze News" website, according to IBM researchers, who are concerned this could be a sign of growing collaboration among cybercrime groups.