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Category — network security
U.S. Telecom Giant T-Mobile Detects Network Intrusion Attempts from Wireline Provider

U.S. Telecom Giant T-Mobile Detects Network Intrusion Attempts from Wireline Provider

Nov 28, 2024 Network Security / Cyber Espionage
U.S. telecom service provider T-Mobile said it recently detected attempts made by bad actors to infiltrate its systems in recent weeks but noted that no sensitive data was accessed. These intrusion attempts "originated from a wireline provider's network that was connected to ours," Jeff Simon, chief security officer at T-Mobile, said in a statement. "We see no instances of prior attempts like this." The company further said its security defenses prevented the threat actors from disrupting its services or obtaining customer information. It has since confirmed that it cut off connectivity to the unnamed provider's network. It did not explicitly attribute the activity to any known threat actor or group, but noted that it has shared its findings with the U.S. government. Speaking to Bloomberg, Simon said the company observed the attackers running discovery-related commands on routers to probe the topography of the network, adding the attacks were containe...
Matrix Botnet Exploits IoT Devices in Widespread DDoS Botnet Campaign

Matrix Botnet Exploits IoT Devices in Widespread DDoS Botnet Campaign

Nov 27, 2024 IoT Security / Network Security
A threat actor named Matrix has been linked to a widespread distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) campaign that leverages vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in Internet of Things (IoT) devices to co-opt them into a disruptive botnet. "This operation serves as a comprehensive one-stop shop for scanning, exploiting vulnerabilities, deploying malware, and setting up shop kits, showcasing a do-it-all-yourself approach to cyberattacks," Assaf Morag, director of threat intelligence at cloud security firm Aqua, said . There is evidence to suggest that the operation is the work of a lone wolf actor, a script kiddie of Russian origin. The attacks have primarily targeted IP addresses located in China, Japan, and to a lesser extent Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, India, and the U.S. The absence of Ukraine in the victimology footprint indicates that the attackers are purely driven by financial motivations, the cloud security firm said. The attack chains are characterized by ...
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 ...
CISA Urges Agencies to Patch Critical "Array Networks" Flaw Amid Active Attacks

CISA Urges Agencies to Patch Critical "Array Networks" Flaw Amid Active Attacks

Nov 26, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
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.  "Array AG/vxAG remote code execution vulnerability is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to browse the filesystem or execute remote code on the SSL VPN gateway using flags attribute in HTTP header without authentication," Array Networks said. "The product can be exploited through a vulnerable URL." The inclusion to KEV catalog comes shortly after cybersecurity company Trend...
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.
Cyber Story Time: The Boy Who Cried "Secure!"

Cyber Story Time: The Boy Who Cried "Secure!"

Nov 21, 2024 Threat Detection / Pentesting
As a relatively new security category, many security operators and executives I've met have asked us "What are these Automated Security Validation (ASV) tools?" We've covered that pretty extensively in the past, so today, instead of covering the " What is ASV?" I wanted to address the " Why ASV?" question. In this article, we'll cover some common use cases and misconceptions of how people misuse and misunderstand ASV tools daily (because that's a lot more fun). To kick things off, there's no place to start like the beginning. Automated security validation tools are designed to provide continuous, real-time assessment of an organization's cybersecurity defenses. These tools are continuous and use exploitation to validate defenses like EDR, NDR, and WAFs. They're more in-depth than vulnerability scanners because they use tactics and techniques that you'll see in manual penetration tests. Vulnerability scanners won't relay hashes or combine vulnerabilities to further attacks, whic...
Over 145,000 Industrial Control Systems Across 175 Countries Found Exposed Online

Over 145,000 Industrial Control Systems Across 175 Countries Found Exposed Online

Nov 21, 2024 ICS Security / IoT Security
New research has uncovered more than 145,000 internet-exposed Industrial Control Systems (ICS) across 175 countries, with the U.S. alone accounting for over one-third of the total exposures. The analysis , which comes from attack surface management company Censys, found that 38% of the devices are located in North America, 35.4% in Europe, 22.9% in Asia, 1.7% in Oceania, 1.2% in South America, and 0.5% in Africa. The countries with the most ICS service exposures include the U.S. (more than 48,000), Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Canada, Spain, China, Germany, France, the U.K., Japan, Sweden, Taiwan, Poland, and Lithuania. The metrics are derived from the exposure of several commonly-used ICS protocols like Modbus, IEC 60870-5-104, CODESYS, OPC UA, and others. One important aspect that stands out is that the attack surfaces are regionally unique: Modbus, S7, and IEC 60870-5-104 are more widely observed in Europe, while Fox, BACnet, ATG, and C-more are more commonly found in North Ame...
Beyond Compliance: The Advantage of Year-Round Network Pen Testing

Beyond Compliance: The Advantage of Year-Round Network Pen Testing

Nov 18, 2024 Penetration Testing / Network Security
IT leaders know the drill—regulators and cyber insurers demand regular network penetration testing to keep the bad guys out. But here's the thing: hackers don't wait around for compliance schedules. Most companies approach network penetration testing on a set schedule, with the most common frequency being twice a year (29%), followed by three to four times per year (23%) and once per year (20%), according to the Kaseya Cybersecurity Survey Report 2024 . Compliance-focused testing can catch vulnerabilities that exist at the exact time of testing, but it's not enough to stay ahead of attackers in a meaningful way. Why More Frequent Testing Makes Sense When companies test more often, they're not just checking a box for compliance—they're actually protecting their networks. The Kaseya survey also points out that the top drivers for network penetration testing are: Cybersecurity Control and Validation (34%) – ensuring the security controls work and vulnerabilities are minimized. Re...
PAN-OS Firewall Vulnerability Under Active Exploitation – IoCs and Patch Released

PAN-OS Firewall Vulnerability Under Active Exploitation – IoCs and Patch Released

Nov 16, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
Palo Alto Networks has released new indicators of compromise (IoCs) a day after the network security vendor confirmed that a zero-day vulnerability impacting its PAN-OS firewall management interface has been actively exploited in the wild. To that end, the company said it observed malicious activity originating from below IP addresses and targeting PAN-OS management web interface IP addresses that are accessible over the internet - 136.144.17[.]* 173.239.218[.]251 216.73.162[.]* The company, however, warned that these IP addresses may possibly represent "third-party VPNs with legitimate user activity originating from these IPs to other destinations." Palo Alto Networks' updated advisory indicates that the flaw is being exploited to deploy a web shell on compromised devices, allowing threat actors to gain persistent remote access. The vulnerability, which is yet to be assigned a CVE identifier, carries a CVSS score of 9.3, indicating critical severity. It allow...
CISA Flags Two Actively Exploited Palo Alto Flaws; New RCE Attack Confirmed

CISA Flags Two Actively Exploited Palo Alto Flaws; New RCE Attack Confirmed

Nov 15, 2024 Network Security / Vulnerability
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday warned that two more flaws impacting the Palo Alto Networks Expedition software have come under active exploitation in the wild. To that end, it has added the vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, requiring Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to apply the necessary updates by December 5, 2024. The security flaws are listed below - CVE-2024-9463 (CVSS score: 9.9) - Palo Alto Networks Expedition OS Command Injection Vulnerability CVE-2024-9465 (CVSS score: 9.3) - Palo Alto Networks Expedition SQL Injection Vulnerability Successful exploitation of the vulnerabilities could allow an unauthenticated attacker to run arbitrary OS commands as root in the Expedition migration tool or reveal its database contents. This could then pave the way for disclosure of usernames, cleartext passwords, device configurations, and device API keys of PAN-OS firewalls, or cr...
Experts Uncover 70,000 Hijacked Domains in Widespread 'Sitting Ducks' Attack Scheme

Experts Uncover 70,000 Hijacked Domains in Widespread 'Sitting Ducks' Attack Scheme

Nov 14, 2024 Online Fraud / Network Security
Multiple threat actors have been found taking advantage of an attack technique called Sitting Ducks to hijack legitimate domains for using them in phishing attacks and investment fraud schemes for years. The findings come from Infoblox, which said it identified nearly 800,000 vulnerable registered domains over the past three months, of which approximately 9% (70,000) have been subsequently hijacked. "Cybercriminals have used this vector since 2018 to hijack tens of thousands of domain names," the cybersecurity company said in a deep-dive report shared with The Hacker News. "Victim domains include well-known brands, non-profits, and government entities." The little-known attack vector, although originally documented by security researcher Matthew Bryant way back in 2016, didn't attract a lot of attention until the scale of the hijacks was disclosed earlier this August. "I believe there is more awareness [since then]," Dr. Renee Burton, vice pre...
OvrC Platform Vulnerabilities Expose IoT Devices to Remote Attacks and Code Execution

OvrC Platform Vulnerabilities Expose IoT Devices to Remote Attacks and Code Execution

Nov 13, 2024 Cloud Security / Vulnerability
A security analysis of the OvrC cloud platform has uncovered 10 vulnerabilities that could be chained to allow potential attackers to execute code remotely on connected devices. "Attackers successfully exploiting these vulnerabilities can access, control, and disrupt devices supported by OvrC; some of those include smart electrical power supplies, cameras, routers, home automation systems, and more," Claroty researcher Uri Katz said in a technical report. Snap One's OvrC, pronounced "oversee," is advertised as a "revolutionary support platform" that enables homeowners and businesses to remotely manage, configure, and troubleshoot IoT devices on the network. According to its website, OvrC solutions are deployed at over 500,000 end-user locations. According to a coordinated advisory issued by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), successful exploitation of the identified vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to ...
Cybercriminals Use Excel Exploit to Spread Fileless Remcos RAT Malware

Cybercriminals Use Excel Exploit to Spread Fileless Remcos RAT Malware

Nov 11, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new phishing campaign that spreads a new fileless variant of known commercial malware called Remcos RAT . Remcos RAT "provides purchases with a wide range of advanced features to remotely control computers belonging to the buyer," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researcher Xiaopeng Zhang said in an analysis published last week. "However, threat actors have abused Remcos to collect sensitive information from victims and remotely control their computers to perform further malicious acts." The starting point of the attack is a phishing email that uses purchase order-themed lures to convince recipients to open a Microsoft Excel attachment. The malicious Excel document is designed to exploit a known remote code execution flaw in Office ( CVE-2017-0199 , CVSS score: 7.8) to download an HTML Application (HTA) file ("cookienetbookinetcahce.hta") from a remote server ("192.3.220[.]22") and launch it using mshta.e...
Palo Alto Advises Securing PAN-OS Interface Amid Potential RCE Threat Concerns

Palo Alto Advises Securing PAN-OS Interface Amid Potential RCE Threat Concerns

Nov 09, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
Palo Alto Networks on Friday issued an informational advisory urging customers to ensure that access to the PAN-OS management interface is secured because of a potential remote code execution vulnerability. "Palo Alto Networks is aware of a claim of a remote code execution vulnerability via the PAN-OS management interface," the company said . "At this time, we do not know the specifics of the claimed vulnerability. We are actively monitoring for signs of any exploitation." In the interim, the network security vendor has recommended that users correctly configure the management interface in line with the best practices, and make sure that access to it is possible only via trusted internal IPs to limit the attack surface. It goes without saying that the management interface should not be exposed to the Internet. Some of the other guidelines to reduce exposure are listed below - Isolate the management interface on a dedicated management VLAN Use jump servers...
AndroxGh0st Malware Integrates Mozi Botnet to Target IoT and Cloud Services

AndroxGh0st Malware Integrates Mozi Botnet to Target IoT and Cloud Services

Nov 08, 2024 IoT Security / Vulnerability
The threat actors behind the AndroxGh0st malware are now exploiting a broader set of security flaws impacting various internet-facing applications, while also deploying the Mozi botnet malware. "This botnet utilizes remote code execution and credential-stealing methods to maintain persistent access, leveraging unpatched vulnerabilities to infiltrate critical infrastructures," CloudSEK said in a new report. AndroxGh0st is the name given to a Python-based cloud attack tool that's known for its targeting of Laravel applications with the goal of sensitive data pertaining to services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), SendGrid, and Twilio. Active since at least 2022, it has previously leveraged flaws in the Apache web server ( CVE-2021-41773 ), Laravel Framework ( CVE-2018-15133 ), and PHPUnit ( CVE-2017-9841 ) to gain initial access, escalate privileges, and establish persistent control over compromised systems. Earlier this January, U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence a...
CISA Alerts to Active Exploitation of Critical Palo Alto Networks Vulnerability

CISA Alerts to Active Exploitation of Critical Palo Alto Networks Vulnerability

Nov 08, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added a now-patched critical security flaw impacting Palo Alto Networks Expedition to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-5910 (CVSS score: 9.3), concerns a case of missing authentication in the Expedition migration tool that could lead to an admin account takeover. "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 said in an alert. The shortcoming impacts all versions of Expedition prior to version 1.2.92, which was released in July 2024 to plug the problem. There are currently no reports on how the vulnerability is being weaponized in real-world attacks, but Palo Alto Networks has since revised its original adviso...
A Hacker's Guide to Password Cracking

A Hacker's Guide to Password Cracking

Nov 07, 2024 Password Security / Network Security
Defending your organization's security is like fortifying a castle—you need to understand where attackers will strike and how they'll try to breach your walls. And hackers are always searching for weaknesses, whether it's a lax password policy or a forgotten backdoor. To build a stronger defense, you must think like a hacker and anticipate their moves. Read on to learn more about hackers' strategies to crack passwords, the vulnerabilities they exploit, and how you can reinforce your defenses to keep them at bay. Analysis of the worst passwords Weak, commonly used passwords represent the easiest targets for hackers. Every year, experts provide  lists of the most frequently used passwords , with classics like " 123456 " and " password " appearing year after year. These passwords are the low-hanging fruit of a hacker's attack strategy. Despite years of security warnings, users still use simple, easy-to-remember passwords—often based on predictable patterns or personal details ...
FBI Seeks Public Help to Identify Chinese Hackers Behind Global Cyber Intrusions

FBI Seeks Public Help to Identify Chinese Hackers Behind Global Cyber Intrusions

Nov 05, 2024 Threat Intelligence / Network Security
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sought assistance from the public in connection with an investigation involving the breach of edge devices and computer networks belonging to companies and government entities. "An Advanced Persistent Threat group allegedly created and deployed malware (CVE-2020-12271) as part of a widespread series of indiscriminate computer intrusions designed to exfiltrate sensitive data from firewalls worldwide," the agency said . "The FBI is seeking information regarding the identities of the individuals responsible for these cyber intrusions." The development comes in the aftermath of a series of reports published by cybersecurity vendor Sophos chronicling a set of campaigns between 2018 and 2023 that exploited its edge infrastructure appliances to deploy custom malware or repurpose them as proxies to fly under the radar. The malicious activity, codenamed Pacific Rim and designed to conduct surveillance, sabotage, and c...
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