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Dark Web Malware Logs Expose 3,300 Users Linked to Child Abuse Sites

Dark Web Malware Logs Expose 3,300 Users Linked to Child Abuse Sites

Jul 08, 2024 Dark Web / Cyber Crime
An analysis of information-stealing malware logs published on the dark web has led to the discovery of thousands of consumers of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), indicating how such information could be used to combat serious crimes. "Approximately 3,300 unique users were found with accounts on known CSAM sources," Recorded Future said in a proof-of-concept (PoC) report published last week. "A notable 4.2% had credentials for multiple sources, suggesting a higher likelihood of criminal behavior." Over the past few years, off-the-shelf info-stealer variants have become a pervasive and ubiquitous threat targeting various operating systems with an aim to siphon sensitive information such as credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, payment card data, and screenshots. This is evidenced in the rise of new stealer malware strains such as Kematian Stealer , Neptune Stealer , 0bj3ctivity , Poseidon (formerly RodStealer), Satanstealer , and StrelaStealer . Distribut...
Ukraine Police Arrest Suspect Linked to LockBit and Conti Ransomware Groups

Ukraine Police Arrest Suspect Linked to LockBit and Conti Ransomware Groups

Jun 13, 2024 Cyber Crime / Ransomware
The Cyber Police of Ukraine has announced the arrest of a local man who is suspected to have offered their services to LockBit and Conti ransomware groups. The unnamed 28-year-old native of the Kharkiv region allegedly specialized in the development of crypters to encrypt and obfuscate malicious payloads in order to evade detection by security programs. The product is believed to have been offered to the Conti and LockBit ransomware syndicates that then used the crypter to disguise the file-encrypting malware and launch successful attacks. "And at the end of 2021, members of the [Conti] group infected the computer networks of enterprises in the Netherlands and Belgium with hidden malware," according to a translated version of the statement released by the agency. As part of the investigation, authorities conducted searches in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and seized computer equipment, mobile phones, and notebooks. If found guilty, the defendant is expected to face up to 15 years ...
The Future of Serverless Security in 2025: From Logs to Runtime Protection

The Future of Serverless Security in 2025: From Logs to Runtime Protection

Nov 28, 2024Cloud Security / Threat Detection
Serverless environments, leveraging services such as AWS Lambda, offer incredible benefits in terms of scalability, efficiency, and reduced operational overhead. However, securing these environments is extremely challenging. The core of current serverless security practices often revolves around two key components: log monitoring and static analysis of code or system configuration. But here is the issue with that: 1. Logs Only Tell Part of the Story Logs can track external-facing activities, but they don't provide visibility into the internal execution of functions. For example, if an attacker injects malicious code into a serverless function that doesn't interact with external resources (e.g., external APIs or databases), traditional log-based tools will not detect this intrusion. The attacker may execute unauthorized processes, manipulate files, or escalate privileges—all without triggering log events. 2. Static Misconfiguration Detection is Incomplete Static tools that check ...
Prevent Account Takeover with Better Password Security

Prevent Account Takeover with Better Password Security

Jun 06, 2024 Password Security / Dark Web
Tom works for a reputable financial institution. He has a long, complex password that would be near-impossible to guess. He's memorized it by heart, so he started using it for his social media accounts and on his personal devices too. Unbeknownst to Tom, one of these sites has had its password database compromised by hackers and put it up for sale on the dark web. Now threat actors are working hard to link these leaked credentials back to real-life individuals and their places of work. Before long, a threat actor will use Tom's legitimate email account to send a spear-phishing link to his CEO. This is a common account takeover scenario where malicious attackers gain unauthorized access to the organization's systems, putting critical information and operations at risk. It usually starts with compromised credentials. We'll run through why account takeover is so hard to stop once it starts and why strong password security is the best prevention.  Why are account takeover attacks so...
cyber security

Creating, Managing and Securing Non-Human Identities

websitePermisoCybersecurity / Identity Security
A new class of identities has emerged alongside traditional human users: non-human identities (NHIs). Permiso Security's new eBook details everything you need to know about managing and securing non-human identities, and strategies to unify identity security without compromising agility.
Hackers Exploit Legitimate Packer Software to Spread Malware Undetected

Hackers Exploit Legitimate Packer Software to Spread Malware Undetected

Jun 06, 2024 Endpoint Security / Malware
Threat actors are increasingly abusing legitimate and commercially available packer software such as BoxedApp to evade detection and distribute malware such as remote access trojans and information stealers. "The majority of the attributed malicious samples targeted financial institutions and government industries," Check Point security researcher Jiri Vinopal said in an analysis. The volume of samples packed with BoxedApp and submitted to the Google-owned VirusTotal malware scanning platform witnessed a spike around May 2023, the Israeli cybersecurity firm added, with the artifact submissions mainly originating from Turkey, the U.S., Germany, France, and Russia. Among the malware families distributed in this manner are Agent Tesla, AsyncRAT, LockBit, LodaRAT, NanoCore, Neshta, NjRAT, Quasar RAT, Ramnit, RedLine, Remcos, RevengeRAT, XWorm, and ZXShell. Packers are self-extracting archives that are often used to bundle software and make them smaller. But over the year...
Unpacking 2024's SaaS Threat Predictions

Unpacking 2024's SaaS Threat Predictions

Jun 05, 2024 SaaS Security / Artificial Intelligence
Early in 2024, Wing Security released its State of SaaS Security report , offering surprising insights into emerging threats and best practices in the SaaS domain. Now, halfway through the year, several SaaS threat predictions from the report have already proven accurate. Fortunately, SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) solutions have prioritized mitigation capabilities to address many of these issues, ensuring security teams have the necessary tools to face these challenges head-on. In this article, we will revisit our predictions from earlier in the year, showcase real-world examples of these threats in action, and offer practical tips and best practices to help you prevent such incidents in the future. It's also worth noting the overall trend of an increasing frequency of breaches in today's dynamic SaaS landscape, leading organizations to demand timely threat alerts as a vital capability. Industry regulations with upcoming compliance deadlines are demanding similar time-sens...
U.S. Dismantles World's Largest 911 S5 Botnet with 19 Million Infected Devices

U.S. Dismantles World's Largest 911 S5 Botnet with 19 Million Infected Devices

May 30, 2024 Financial Fraud / Dark Web
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday said it dismantled what it described as "likely the world's largest botnet ever," which consisted of an army of 19 million infected devices that was leased to other threat actors to commit a wide array of offenses. The botnet, which has a global footprint spanning more than 190 countries , functioned as a residential proxy service known as 911 S5 . A 35-year-old Chinese national, YunHe Wang, was arrested in Singapore on May 24, 2024, for creating and acting as the primary administrator of the illegal platform from 2014 to July 2022. Wang has been charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, substantive computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, Wang faces a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison. The Justice Department said the botnet was used to carry out cyber attacks, financial fraud, identity theft, child exploitation, harassment, bo...
BreachForums Returns Just Weeks After FBI Seizure - Honeypot or Blunder?

BreachForums Returns Just Weeks After FBI Seizure - Honeypot or Blunder?

May 29, 2024 Cyber Crime / Data Breach
The online criminal bazaar BreachForums has been resurrected merely two weeks after a U.S.-led coordinated law enforcement action dismantled and seized control of its infrastructure. Cybersecurity researchers and dark web trackers Brett Callow , Dark Web Informer , and FalconFeeds revealed the site's online return at breachforums[.]st – one of the dismantled sites – by a user named ShinyHunters, who has since offered for sale a 1.3 TB database containing details of allegedly 560 million Ticketmaster customers for $500,000. This includes full names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, ticket sales and event information, and the last four digits of credit cards and their associated expiration dates. However, in an interesting twist, visitors of the site are now being asked to sign up for an account in order to view the content. The development follows a joint law enforcement action that seized all the new domains belonging to BreachForums (breachforums[.]st/.cx/.is/....
Ukrainian REvil Hacker Sentenced to 13 Years and Ordered to Pay $16 Million

Ukrainian REvil Hacker Sentenced to 13 Years and Ordered to Pay $16 Million

May 02, 2024 Ransomware / Cyber Crime
A Ukrainian national has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution for carrying out thousands of ransomware attacks and extorting victims. Yaroslav Vasinskyi (aka Rabotnik), 24, along with his co-conspirators part of the  REvil ransomware group  orchestrated more than 2,500 ransomware attacks and demanded ransom payments in cryptocurrency totaling more than $700 million. "The co-conspirators demanded ransom payments in cryptocurrency and used cryptocurrency exchangers and mixing services to hide their ill-gotten gains," the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ)  said . "To drive their ransom demands higher, Sodinokibi/REvil co-conspirators also publicly exposed their victims' data when victims would not pay ransom demands." Vasinskyi was  extradited  to the U.S. in March 2022 following his arrest in Poland in October 2021. REvil, prior to formally going offline in late 2021, was responsible ...
DOJ Arrests Founders of Crypto Mixer Samourai for $2 Billion in Illegal Transactions

DOJ Arrests Founders of Crypto Mixer Samourai for $2 Billion in Illegal Transactions

Apr 25, 2024 Cryptocurrency / Cybercrime
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday  announced  the arrest of two co-founders of a cryptocurrency mixer called Samourai and seized the service for allegedly facilitating over $2 billion in illegal transactions and for laundering more than $100 million in criminal proceeds. To that end, Keonne Rodriguez, 35, and William Lonergan Hill, 65, have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business from 2015 through February 2024. Rodriguez and Hill face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison each. Rodriguez, the CEO of the company, and CTO Hill intentionally designed Samourai to help "criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion," while ostensibly marketing as a privacy-oriented service, the DoJ said. Samourai laundered money from illegal dark web marketplaces, including Silk Road and Hydra, as well as spear-phishing schemes and sca...
Ransomware Double-Dip: Re-Victimization in Cyber Extortion

Ransomware Double-Dip: Re-Victimization in Cyber Extortion

Apr 22, 2024 Ransomware / Cyber Defense
Between crossovers - Do threat actors play dirty or desperate? In our dataset of over 11,000 victim organizations that have experienced a Cyber Extortion / Ransomware attack, we noticed that some victims re-occur. Consequently, the question arises why we observe a re-victimization and whether or not this is an actual second attack, an affiliate crossover (meaning an affiliate has gone to another Cyber Extortion operation with the same victim) or stolen data that has been travelling and re-(mis-)used. Either way, for the victims neither is good news.  But first thing's first, let's explore the current threat landscape, dive into one of our most recent research focuses on the dynamics of this ecosystem; and then explore our dataset on Law Enforcement activities in this space. Might the re-occurrence that we observe be foul play by threat actors and thus show how desperately they are trying to regain the trust of their co-offenders after disruption efforts by Law Enforcement? Or ar...
The Drop in Ransomware Attacks in 2024 and What it Means

The Drop in Ransomware Attacks in 2024 and What it Means

Apr 08, 2024 Ransomware / Cybercrime
The  ransomware industry surged in 2023  as it saw an alarming 55.5% increase in victims worldwide, reaching a staggering 5,070.  But 2024 is starting off showing a very different picture.  While the numbers skyrocketed in Q4 2023 with 1309 cases, in Q1 2024, the ransomware industry was down to 1,048 cases. This is a 22% decrease in ransomware attacks compared to Q4 2023. Figure 1: Victims per quarter There could be several reasons for this significant drop.  Reason 1: The Law Enforcement Intervention Firstly, law enforcement has upped the ante in 2024 with actions against both LockBit and ALPHV. The LockBit Arrests In February, an international operation named "Operation Cronos" culminated in the arrest of at least three associates of the infamous LockBit ransomware syndicate in Poland and Ukraine.  Law enforcement from multiple countries collaborated to take down LockBit's infrastructure. This included seizing their dark web domains and gaining ac...
Ukraine Arrests Trio for Hijacking Over 100 Million Email and Instagram Accounts

Ukraine Arrests Trio for Hijacking Over 100 Million Email and Instagram Accounts

Mar 20, 2024 Cybercrime / Dark Web
The Cyber Police of Ukraine has  arrested  three individuals on suspicion of hijacking more than 100 million emails and Instagram accounts from users across the world. The suspects, aged between 20 and 40, are said to be part of an organized criminal group living in different parts of the country. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison. The accounts, authorities said, were taken over by carrying out brute-force attacks, which employ trial-and-error methods to guess login credentials. The group operated under the direction of a leader, who distributed the hacking tasks to other members. The cybercrime group subsequently monetized their ill-gotten credentials by putting them up for sale on dark web forums. Other threat actors who purchased the information used the compromised accounts to conduct a variety of  fraudulent schemes , including those in which scammers reach out to the victim's friends to urgently transfer money to their bank account. "You can pr...
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