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Hackers Backdoor Unpatched Microsoft SQL Database Servers with Cobalt Strike

Hackers Backdoor Unpatched Microsoft SQL Database Servers with Cobalt Strike

Feb 22, 2022
Vulnerable internet-facing Microsoft SQL (MS SQL) Servers are being targeted by threat actors as part of a new campaign to deploy the Cobalt Strike adversary simulation tool on compromised hosts. "Attacks that target MS SQL servers include attacks to the environment where its vulnerability has not been patched, brute forcing, and  dictionary attack  against poorly managed servers," South Korean cybersecurity company AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC)  said  in a report published Monday. Cobalt Strike is a commercial, full-featured  penetration testing framework  that allows an attacker to deploy an agent named "Beacon" on the victim machine, granting the operator remote access to the system. Although billed as a red team threat simulation platform,  cracked versions  of the software have been  actively used  by a wide range of threat actors. Intrusions observed by ASEC involve the unidentified actor scanning port 1433 ...
New Android Banking Trojan Spreading via Google Play Store Targets Europeans

New Android Banking Trojan Spreading via Google Play Store Targets Europeans

Feb 21, 2022
A new Android banking trojan with over 50,000 installations has been observed distributed via the official Google Play Store with the goal of targeting 56 European banks and carrying out harvesting sensitive information from compromised devices. Dubbed  Xenomorph  by Dutch security firm ThreatFabric, the in-development malware is said to share overlaps with another banking trojan tracked under the moniker Alien while also being "radically different" from its predecessor in terms of the functionalities offered. "Despite being a work-in-progress, Xenomorph is already sporting effective overlays and being actively distributed on official app stores," ThreatFabric's founder and CEO, Han Sahin, said. "In addition, it features a very detailed and modular engine to abuse accessibility services, which in the future could power very advanced capabilities, like ATS." Alien, a remote access trojan (RAT) with notification sniffing and authenticator-based 2FA ...
Iranian State Broadcaster IRIB Hit by Destructive Wiper Malware

Iranian State Broadcaster IRIB Hit by Destructive Wiper Malware

Feb 21, 2022
An investigation into the cyberattack targeting Iranian national media corporation, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in late January 2022 revealed the deployment of a wiper malware and other custom implants, as the country's national infrastructure continues to face a  wave  of  attacks  aimed at inflicting serious damage. "This indicates that the attackers' aim was also to disrupt the state's broadcasting networks, with the damage to the TV and radio networks possibly more serious than officially reported," Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm Check Point  said  in a report published last week. The 10-second attack, which took place on January 27, involved the breach of state broadcaster IRIB to air pictures of Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization ( MKO ) leaders Maryam and Massoud Rajavi alongside a call for the assassination of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "This is an extremely complex attack and only the owners of this technology ...
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A Free Solution to Protect Your Business from 6 Biggest Cyber Threats in 2022

A Free Solution to Protect Your Business from 6 Biggest Cyber Threats in 2022

Feb 21, 2022
For the last few years, the cybersecurity threat landscape has gotten progressively more complex and dangerous. The online world is now rife with data thieves, extortionists, and even state actors looking to exploit vulnerabilities in businesses' digital defenses.  And unfortunately — the bad guys have the upper hand at the moment. Part of the reason for that is the fallout from the rapid digitization made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to research on the subject,  more than half of businesses  have yet to mitigate the risks created by that digitization. And when you add a persistent shortage of cybersecurity workers to that fact, you have the makings of a scary situation. But businesses aren't helpless. There are plenty of things they can do to augment their defenses as they look to mitigate cyber risks. And best of all, some of those options won't cost them a thing. A great example of that is the open-source security platform  Wazuh . It offers ...
Hackers Exploiting Infected Android Devices to Register Disposable Accounts

Hackers Exploiting Infected Android Devices to Register Disposable Accounts

Feb 21, 2022
An analysis of SMS phone-verified account (PVA) services has led to the discovery of a rogue platform built atop a botnet involving thousands of infected Android phones, once again underscoring the flaws with relying on SMS for account validation. SMS PVA services, since gaining prevalence in 2018, provide users with alternative mobile numbers that can be used to register for other online services and platforms, and help bypass SMS-based authentication and single sign-on (SSO) mechanisms put in place to verify new accounts. "This type of service can be used by malicious actors to register disposable accounts in bulk or create phone-verified accounts for conducting fraud and other criminal activities," Trend Micro researchers  said  in a report published last week. Telemetry data gathered by the company shows that most of the infections are located in Indonesia (47,357), followed by Russia (16,157), Thailand (11,196), India (8,109), and France (5,548), Peru (4,915), Moroc...
Master Key for Hive Ransomware Retrieved Using a Flaw in its Encryption Algorithm

Master Key for Hive Ransomware Retrieved Using a Flaw in its Encryption Algorithm

Feb 20, 2022
Researchers have detailed what they call the "first successful attempt" at decrypting data infected with Hive ransomware without relying on the private key used to lock access to the content. "We were able to recover the master key for generating the file encryption key without the attacker's private key, by using a cryptographic vulnerability identified through analysis," a group of academics from South Korea's Kookmin University  said  in a new paper dissecting its encryption process. Hive, like other cybercriminal groups, operates a ransomware-as-a-service that uses different mechanisms to compromise business networks, exfiltrate data, and encrypt data on the networks, and attempts to collect a ransom in exchange for access to the decryption software. It was  first observed  in June 2021, when it struck a company called Altus Group. Hive leverages a variety of initial compromise methods, including vulnerable RDP servers, compromised VPN credentials,...
Justice Department Appoints First Director of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Justice Department Appoints First Director of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Feb 19, 2022
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) earlier this week appointed Eun Young Choi to serve as the first Director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) it established last year. The NCET was  created  to tackle the criminal misuse of cryptocurrencies and digital assets," with a focus on illegal activities in virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering infrastructure actors to fuel cyberattacks and ransomware and extortion schemes. "The NCET will serve as the focal point for the department's efforts to tackle the growth of crime involving [digital assets and distributed ledger] technologies,"  said  Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. Separately, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it's  launching  a new effort of its own called the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit (VAXU) dedicated to tracking and seizing illicit cryptocurrencies as part...
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