ConnectWise | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an ongoing attack campaign that's leveraging phishing emails to deliver a malware called SSLoad . The campaign, codenamed  FROZEN#SHADOW  by Securonix, also involves the deployment of Cobalt Strike and the ConnectWise ScreenConnect remote desktop software. "SSLoad is designed to stealthily infiltrate systems, gather sensitive information and transmit its findings back to its operators," security researchers Den Iuzvyk, Tim Peck, and Oleg Kolesnikov said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Once inside the system, SSLoad deploys multiple backdoors and payloads to maintain persistence and avoid detection." Attack chains involve the use of phishing messages to randomly target organizations in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with emails containing links that lead to the retrieval of a JavaScript file that kicks off the infection flow. Earlier this month, Palo Alto Networks uncovered at least two d...

ConnectWise has released software updates to address two security flaws in its ScreenConnect remote desktop and access software, including a critical bug that could enable remote code execution on affected systems. The vulnerabilities are listed below - CVE-2024-1708 (CVSS score: 8.4) - Improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory aka "path traversal" CVE-2024-1709 (CVSS score: 10.0) - Authentication bypass using an alternate path or channel The company deemed the severity of the issues as critical, citing they "could allow the ability to execute remote code or directly impact confidential data or critical systems." Both the vulnerabilities impact ScreenConnect versions 23.9.7 and prior, with fixes available in version 23.9.8. The flaws were reported to the company on February 13, 2024. While there is no evidence that the shortcomings have been exploited in the wild, users who are running self-hosted or on-premise versions are recommended...

In cybersecurity, confidence is a double-edged sword. Organizations often operate under a false sense of security , believing that patched vulnerabilities, up-to-date tools, polished dashboards, and glowing risk scores guarantee safety. The reality is a bit of a different story. In the real world, checking the right boxes doesn't equal being secure. As Sun Tzu warned, "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." Two and a half millennia later, the concept still holds: your organization's cybersecurity defenses must be strategically validated under real-world conditions to ensure your business's very survival. Today, more than ever, you need Adversarial Exposure Validation (AEV) , the essential strategy that's still missing from most security frameworks. The Danger of False Confidence Conventional wisdom suggests that if you've patched known bugs, deployed a stack of well-regarded security tools, and passed the nec...

IT service management software platform ConnectWise has released Software patches for a critical security vulnerability in Recover and R1Soft Server Backup Manager (SBM). The issue,  characterized  as a "neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component," could be abused to result in the execution of remote code or disclosure of sensitive information. ConnectWise's advisory notes that the flaw affects Recover v2.9.7 and earlier, as well as R1Soft SBM v6.16.3 and earlier, are impacted by the critical flaw. At its core, the issue is tied to an upstream authentication bypass vulnerability in the ZK open source Ajax web application framework ( CVE-2022-36537 ), which was initially patched in May 2022. "Affected ConnectWise Recover SBMs have automatically been updated to the latest version of Recover (v2.9.9)," the company  said , urging customers to upgrade to  SBM v6.16.4  shipped on October 28, 2022. Cybersecurity firm Huntress...