Cybersecurity news and trends curated from major news outlets, trade pubs and infosec bloggers.

SonicWall had an excellent news week. The highlight was a report by BBC on over-qualified workers struggling to find jobs, with a quote from Terry Greer-King, SonicWall vice-president for EMEA operations. There were also articles quoting Bill Conner, bylined articles by Immanuel Chavoya, articles citing the 2022 Cyber Threat Report, plus US Representative Elissa Slotkin, from Michigan, who mentioned SonicWall threat data.

Industry news was also very busy. We found a report from ZDNet about crooks using deepfakes to apply for remote work tech jobs. From Bleeping Computer, an alert about the PwnKit exploit on Linux. There was a fascinating report from New York Times about how North Korea used stolen cryptocurrency to keep the country afloat. We have a consolidated report from Dark Reading, WAFB News and Health IT Security on cyberattacks on US healthcare organizations. ZDNet (again) reported on the UK government warning businesses that paying ransoms will not keep their data safe. From HackerNews, Google blocks dozens of malicious domains operated by hack-for-hire groups. And finally, from The Star, the massive AMD breach was aided by “terrible passwords” used by employees.

Remember, cybersecurity is everyone’s business. Be safe out there!

SonicWall News

Here Today, gone to Maui: That’s Your Data Captured By North Korean Ransomware

The Register, Threat Report Mention: “According to SonicWall, there were 304.7 million ransomware attacks in 2021, an increase of 151 percent. In healthcare, the percentage increase was 594 percent.”

Over-Qualified Workers Struggling to Find a Job

BBC, Terry Greer-King Quoted: “They move towards the peak of a pyramid,” explains Terry Greer-King, vice-president of EMEA at cybersecurity firm SonicWall. “As employees gain greater experience, there’s less breadth in terms of opportunities: trying something different would require scaling back down the pyramid.”

Staying Protected Amidst the Cyber Weapons Arms Race

Information Age, Immanuel Chavoya Byline: “Immanuel Chavoya, emerging threat detection expert at SonicWall, discusses how businesses can stay protected against customizable ransomware and the wider cyber weapons arms race.”

Ransomware Gangs Are Turning to Cryptojacking For A Quieter Life

TechMonitor, Terry Greer-King Quoted: “The toolkits from big RaaS gangs such as REvil are becoming much cheaper and easier to use, agrees Terry Greer-King, vice president for EMEA at SonicWall. “Only a few years ago, they needed to write their own malicious code. Now, anyone with bad intentions can buy a ransomware kit for as little as $50 on the dark web,” he says.”

Mystery Hacker Says 1 billion People Exposed In ‘Biggest Hack In History’

The Independent, Bill Conner Quoted: ““Organizations and government entities carry a responsibility to consumers and civilians alike to guard their most valuable information at all costs,” Bill Conner, CEO of cybersecurity firm SonicWall and adviser to GCHQ and Interpol, told The Independent. Personal information that does not change as easily as a credit card or bank account number drives a high price on the dark web. This kind of personally identifiable information is highly sought after by cybercriminals for monetary gain. Companies should be implementing security best practices such as a layered approach to protection, as well as proactively updating any out-of-date security devices, as a matter of course.”

Cloud Security Best Practices: A Summer School District To-Do List

Security Boulevard, Threat Report Mention: “According to research from SonicWall, cyber threats of nearly all types are increasing at breakneck speed. Ransomware, for example, has increased 232% since 2019. With the rate of attack accelerating, it’s only logical that school districts close their data protection gap and identify an adequate cloud platform.”

Russian Hackers Claim Responsibility for Ongoing Lithuania Cyberattacks

Silicon Republic, Bill Conner Quoted: “Speaking about the latest cyberattacks on Lithuania, Bill Conner, CEO of cybersecurity firm SonicWall, said threat actors have gotten more efficient in their attacks. He added that these groups are leveraging cloud tools to reduce costs and expand their scope in targeting additional attack vectors. “We are dealing with an escalating arms race,” Conner said. “It’s a cyber arms race that will likely never slow, so we can never slow in our efforts to protect organizations. The good news is that the cybersecurity industry has gotten more sophisticated in identifying and stopping new ransomware strains and protecting organizations. There’s better cooperation between the public and private sectors, and greater transparency in many areas.”

CISA Reiterates Two-Year Timeline to Implement Breach-Reporting Rules

SC Magazine, US Representative cites threat report: “Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., chair of the Homeland Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism, cited research from private cybersecurity company SonicWall claiming a 98% increase in observed ransomware attacks over the past year, while she also noted “we heard from [Michigan] state officials …that ransomware attacks have doubled since last year.”

Lethal Drinking Water, Runs on Banks And Panic Buying: What A Real Undeclared War Cyber Attack Could Mean

iNews, Bill Conner Quoted: “Bill Conner, who has advised GCHQ, Interpol and Nato on cyber security and is president and CEO of SonicWall, told: “When you look at what’s happened here in the States, like Colonial Pipeline, our water system, our electrical grids – even though our electrical grids are very different than the UK – they’re still very vulnerable. Our healthcare systems are vulnerable.”

Best Practices for Protecting Against Phishing, Ransomware and Email Fraud

CXOtoday (India), SonicWall Byline: Security teams and the organizations they support live in difficult times: they increasingly are the targets of sophisticated threats developed by a shadowy and very well financed cybercrime industry that has demonstrated it can often outsmart even the most robust security defenses.

Dicker Data, Hitech Support, Next Telecom, Datacom score SonicWall Honors

CRN (Australia), SonicWall News: “SonicWall has awarded Australian partners Dicker Data, Hitech Support, Next Telecom, Datacom System and Dell Australia for their work at its Asia-Pacific Partner Awards for the 2022 financial year.”

Industry News

FBI Warns: Crooks Use Deepfakes for Remote Tech Jobs

ZDNet: According to the FBI, scammers and criminals use deepfakes to steal personally identifiable information when they apply for remote jobs. Deepfakes, synthetic audio, video and image content created using AI or machine-learning technology have been a concern for phishing threats for many years.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says they have seen increased complaints about deepfakes and stolen personally identifiable information used to apply for remote roles in tech. Some offices are asking employees to return to work. Information technology is one job category that has seen a lot of remote work. Reports to IC3 primarily concern remote vacancies in information technology programming, database, or software-related job function functions.

The FBI highlights the dangers of an organization hiring fraudulent applicants by noting that some of the positions reported include access to financial data and customer PII.

CISA Issues Warnings About Hackers Exploiting PwnKit Linux Security

Bleeping Computer: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has added PwnKit, a severe Linux vulnerability, to its bug list.

CVE-2021-4034 was identified as the security flaw in Polkit’s Polkit’s Pkexec component, which is used by all major distributions, including Ubuntu, Fedora and CentOS. PwnKit is a memory corruption bug that unprivileged people can exploit to gain full root rights on Linux systems with default configurations.

It was discovered by researchers at Qualys Information Security, who also found its source in the original commit of pkexec. This means that it affects all Polkit versions. It has been hidden in plain sight since May 2009, when pkexec was first released. The proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code was posted online within three hours of Qualys publishing technical details about PwnKit.

How North Korea used Crypto to Hack its Way Through the Pandemic

New York Times: North Korea has suffered severe economic damage from the United Nations sanctions and coronavirus pandemic. The government warned of severe food shortages. Unidentified intestinal diseases began to spread among the population in June.

Yet, the country has conducted more missile tests than any other year. The government is providing luxury homes for party elites. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to create advanced technology for its growing arsenal of weapons. The country will likely conduct a new nuclear test, its seventh, in the not-too-distant future.

Where did the money come from?

In April, the United States publicly accused North Korean hackers of stealing $620 million in cryptocurrency from Axie Infinity. This theft, the largest of its kind, is the most substantial evidence that North Korea’s use of cryptocurrency heists to raise money to support its regime during the pandemic and fund its weapon development and maintenance was highly profitable.

According to Chainalysis, North Korean hackers could have taken home nearly $400 million worth of cryptocurrency last year. North Korea’s total haul this year is just under $1 billion. These figures are to be viewed in context. According to South Korea’s statistical agency, $89 million was earned in official exports for the country in 2020.

North Korean State Agents Launch Cyberattacks on US Healthcare Orgs

Dark Reading: The FBI, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Treasury Department warned Wednesday about North Korean state-sponsored threat agents targeting US healthcare and public-health organizations. These attacks are using a new, unusually operated ransomware tool called Maui.

Multiple incidents have occurred since May 2021 in which threat actors using the malware have encrypted servers critical to healthcare services. They have also attacked digital diagnostic devices and electronic health records servers.

In a related story from WAFB News and Health IT Security, hospitals in Wisconsin, Georgia, and Louisiana reported separate healthcare cyberattacks. Reports of healthcare cyberattacks continue to roll in as threat actors advance their tactics and narrow in on widespread vulnerabilities in the sector. For example, at Baton Rouge General, LA, a Mayo Clinic care network member, reports of a cyberattack emerged on June 28. As of this report, the hospital has reverted to paper records. Other hospitals report various damage from system lockouts to compromised patient and employee records.

Paying Up Will Not Keep Your Data Secure, NCSC

ZD Net: The number of businesses paying a ransom following a ransomware attack is increasing. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are asking attorneys to remind their clients that paying up may not keep their data safe.

In a joint letter, The NCSC and ICO noted a rise in ransomware payments. Also, they reasoned that some attorneys may have advised clients to pay ransoms to keep their data safe or avoid a financial penalty from ICO. However, both agencies warn that not only are ransom payments not condoned; such payments only serve to encourage hackers to push on with more attacks.

The joint letter also reminds UK businesses and organizations that ransom payment offers no guarantee that hackers will return data or keep it safe. They note that even though hackers provided an encryption key, some do not work correctly. It is also possible that cyber criminals may not keep their word and delete data stolen in a ‘double-extortion’ attack to intimidate victims into paying.

Google Blocks Dozens of Malicious Domains Operated by Hack-for-Hire Groups

The Hacker News: Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), Thursday’s disclosure by the Hacker News, revealed that it had blocked as many as 36 malicious websites operated by hacker-for-hire groups from India, Russia, or the UAE.

Hack-for-hire companies allow their clients to launch targeted attacks against corporates, activists, journalists, and other high-risk users like the surveillance ware environment. These operators are known to carry out intrusions on behalf of clients anxious to hide their roles in the attack.

One hack-for-hire operator allegedly launched a recent attack on an IT company in Cyprus, a financial technology company in the Balkans, a Nigerian education institution, and an Israeli shopping company to demonstrate the breadth of the victims affected.

An identical set of credential theft attacks against journalists, European politicians and non-profits was linked to a Russian threat actor named Void Balaur.

The same group may have also been working for the past five years to target individual accounts at major webmail providers such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! plus regional webmail providers such as abv.bg, mail.ru, inbox.lv and UKR.

AMD Breach was Due to Terrible Passwords

The Star: The Silicon Valley tech giant AMD was hit by a data breach last week. But that’s no big news. According to this story, what’s utterly amazing is that the hackers had help from employees using terrible passwords such as “password” and “123456.

According to SF Gate, AMD, a microchip manufacturer, was attacked by RansomHouse hackers.

In a statement, the semiconductor giant confirmed that there was a digital breach. But the company had no answers asked why employees of multinational manufacturers aren’t subject to standard password protection rules such as regularly changing passwords and including numbers and symbols in passwords.

Lesson learned: breaches are increasing — time has long since passed to take the threat seriously.

In Case You Missed It

Enhance Security and Control Access to Critical Assets with Network Segmentation – Ajay Uggirala

Three Keys to Modern Cyberdefense: Affordability, Availability, Efficacy – Amber Wolff

BEC Attacks: Can You Stop the Imposters in Your Inbox? – Ken Dang

SonicWall CEO Bill Conner Selected as SC Media Excellence Award Finalist – Bret Fitzgerald

Cybersecurity in the Fifth Industrial Revolution – Ray Wyman

What is Cryptojacking, and how does it affect your Cybersecurity? – Ray Wyman

Why Healthcare Must Do More (and Do Better) to Ensure Patient Safety – Ken Dang

SonicWall Recognizes Partners, Distributors for Outstanding Performance in 2021 – Terry Greer-King

Anti-Ransomware Day: What Can We Do to Prevent the Next WannaCry? – Amber Wolff

CRN Recognizes Three SonicWall Employees on 2022 Women of the Channel List – Bret Fitzgerald

Enjoy the Speed and Safety of TLS 1.3 Support – Amber Wolff

Four Cybersecurity Actions to Lock it All Down – Ray Wyman

Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and Evaluations – Part 2 – Suroop Chandran

Five Times Flawless: SonicWall Earns Its Fifth Perfect Score from ICSA Labs – Amber Wolff

NSv Virtual Firewall: Tested and Certified in AWS Public Cloud – Ajay Uggirala

How SonicWall’s Supply-Chain Strategies Are Slicing Wait Times – Amber Wolff

SonicWall SMA 1000 Series Earns Best-Of Enterprise VPNs Award from Expert Insights – Bret Fitzgerald

World Backup Day: Because Real Life Can Have Save Points Too – Amber Wolff

CRN Honors SonicWall With 5-Star Rating in 2022 Partner Program Guide – Bret Fitzgerald

Cyberattacks on Government Skyrocketed in 2021 – Amber Wolff

Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman

Stories about cybersecurity news and trends curated from major news outlets, trade pubs and infosec bloggers.

SonicWall news finishes a strong week with more mentions from the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, bylines by our cybersecurity leaders, and quotes. And of course, Industry News was very busy. From DarkReading, we learn about the retiring Internet Explorer and how it (and the associated cyber risk) will linger for years. KrebsOnSecurity and SC Media report on ransomware attackers launching a searchable public database of their victims. SiliconValley News reports on the 9-year jail sentence earned by the infamous hacker who stole millions of private images from iCloud. From Reuters, hackers managed to crash the Russian Davos event and (temporarily) stop President Vladimir Putin from speaking. In the New Zealand Herald, the story about how a spelling error saved a man from Perth $6M. And finally, our big read for the week on the successful dismantling of a huge Russian Botnet, compiled from the US Department of Justice, Bloomberg Law, Politico, and Forbes.

Remember, cybersecurity is everyone’s business. Be safe out there!

SonicWall News

Contractors Beset by Ransomware Threats Have Too Few Options

Bloomberg Law, Bill Conner Quote: The contracting community is aware of the confusion. Chester Wisniewski at Sophos, Carolyn Crandall at SentinelOne, and Bill Conner at SonicWall all outlined suggestions to Bloomberg Government in a series of interviews. Conner, SonicWall’s president and CEO, said he wants the government to install so-called “cyber czars” at each federal agency to better streamline communication.

SonicWall Recognizes APAC Partners and Distributors at FY2022 Partner Awards

Channel Life (Australia), SonicWall News: SonicWall has recognized its distributors and partners for their efforts in producing the company’s most successful year to date. The recent SonicWall FY2022 Partner Awards recognized companies for their commitment to demonstrating excellence, innovation and leadership in cybersecurity during the fiscal year. They are also thanked for continuing to drive digital transformation for businesses that leverage SonicWall solutions.

The Powerful Cyberattack That Has America on Alert

Swiss Info (Deutsch), SonicWall Threat Report Mention: The Cyber Threat Report 2022 of the US firm SonicWall, shows a rebound of 105% in data hijacking last year, surpassing 623 million attacks worldwide – almost twenty attempts per second – with the United States in the lead (421 million or 67.5% of the total).

SonicWall Awards Top Partners for FY22

ARN (Australia), SonicWall News: Cyber security vendor SonicWall has awarded its top-performing partners for its 2022 fiscal year ending 31 January.

The Cybersecurity Challenges of Remote Working and How a Brand Can Eliminate Them

E Business (UK), SonicWall Mention: SonicWall provides trusted solutions delivering wireless, switches, firewalls, and CCTV that can keep businesses safe from an attack and avoid downtime.

Best Practices for Protecting Against Phishing, Ransomware and Email Fraud

CXOtoday (India), SonicWall Byline: Security teams and the organizations they support live in difficult times: they increasingly are the targets of sophisticated threats developed by a shadowy and very well financed cybercrime industry that has demonstrated it can often outsmart even the most robust security defenses.

Dicker Data, Hitech Support, Next Telecom, Datacom score SonicWall Honors

CRN (Australia), SonicWall News: “SonicWall has awarded Australian partners Dicker Data, Hitech Support, Next Telecom, Datacom System and Dell Australia for their work at its Asia-Pacific Partner Awards for the 2022 financial year.”

What is a Cyberattack? Types and Defenses

eSecurity Planet, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: Driven by the global pandemic, the increase in remote and hybrid work, and unprepared network defenses, cyberattacks have been rising exponentially. The 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report found that all types of cyberattacks increased in 2021. Encrypted threats spiked 167%, ransomware increased 105%, and 5.4 billion malware attacks were identified by the report.

Ransomware, the Cyberattack That Set Off Alarms in Latin America

Forbes Colombia, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: The Cyber Threat Report 2022 of the US firm SonicWall, shows a rebound of 105% in data hijacking last year, surpassing 623 million attacks worldwide – almost twenty attempts per second – with the United States in the lead (421 million or 67.5% of the total).

Industry News

Internet Explorer Is Now Retired but Remains an Attack Target

DarkReading: Microsoft’s June 15th official end-of-support for Internet Explorer 11 desktop software has left behind a browser that has been around for almost 27 years. Even so, IE will likely remain a lucrative target for attackers.

Despite Microsoft’s long-standing plans to discontinue Internet Explorer (IE), some organizations continue to use it. Microsoft has maintained the MSHTML (aka Trident), IE browser engine in Windows 11 through 2029. This allows organizations to continue to use IE mode while transitioning to Microsoft Edge. So IE is not dead yet.

Although IE is typically a minor player in the global browser market (0.52%), many companies use it internally or have legacy applications tied to IE. This week, Nikkei Asia stories and Japan Times cited a Keyman’s Net survey showing that almost 49% of 350 Japanese companies surveyed use IE daily. Likewise, South Korea’s MBN indicated that many large organizations are still using IE and will likely continue using it for the foreseeable future.

Ransomware Group Launches Searchable Victim Data

KrebsOnSecurity – Cybercriminals that target corporate data theft and demand ransoms to keep it from being published have tried many methods to shame victims into paying. The ALPHV ransomware group, also known as “BlackCat,” has made the gambit harder and harder to avoid.

They previously tried publishing victim data in repositories on the Dark Web. Now they’re going big with a new public website to post their booty on individual victims. And they’re inviting the public to search the leaked data.

ALPHV announced its new victim-shaming website that they had hacked a luxury resort and spa in the western United States. The database of shame includes the personal data of more than 1,500 resort employees and 2,500 resort residents. In addition, the page’s top has two buttons that allow guests to “Check Yourself” – one for employees and the other for guests.

SC Media also reported that their security expert described the site as “kinda like a bad guy’s version of HaveIBeenPwned,” with the main difference being that data on HaveIBeenPwned is anonymized. ALPHV displays all, including full names, dates, expenditures, and other personal data, including email addresses, birthdays, and social security numbers.

SC Media and KrebsOnSecurity chose not to reveal the hotel’s name to protect their personal information. The whole point of the ALPHV website is to pressure the hotel for payment.

Hacker Sentenced to 9 Years for Hacking Apple iCloud and Stealing Private Images

SiliconValley: Nine years of federal imprisonment have been given to a Californian man accused of hacking Apple iCloud and stealing private images and videos of young women, some nude and some engaged in personal activities.

According to court records, Hao Kuo Chi, 41, from La Puente in California, was sentenced Wednesday at a federal court in Tampa, Florida. According to court records, he pleaded guilty to three counts of computer fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit computer crime last October.

Chi also ran a notorious website Anon-IB for many years, where users posted images labeled as “revenge porn.” Officials claim that Chi hacked into victims’ Apple iCloud accounts to steal their private photos and videos. They also said he shared and traded the images with other users on AnonIB.

Chi’s email accounts contained the iCloud credentials for approximately 4,700 victims and had collected enough media to fill 3.5 terabytes on iCloud and physical storage devices.

Court testimony reveals that he shared stolen content with conspirators over 300 times. While some conspirators publicly released the images, he kept some of the images for himself connected to 500 victims.

Hackers Crash “Russian Davos” and Stops Putin’s Speech

Reuters: Hackers impeded President Putin’s speech at Russia’s top economic forum last Friday. This happened as Russia worked to adjust to its “new reality.” The meeting was already struggling due to a lack of Western participation. Nevertheless, the 25th St Petersburg International Economic Forum was attended by many state companies, with many stalls featuring floor-to-ceiling display screens and glamorous attendants.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, stated that a denial-of-service attack (which involves flooding servers with fake traffic) had caused the forum’s admission and accreditation systems to be hampered. Although he did not blame the incident on the ongoing war in Ukraine, reporters noted that it was unofficially suspected.

Spelling Mistake Stops Perth Man’s $6m Fortune from Being Stolen by BEC Hackers

NZ Herald: This story illustrates how cybersecurity is everyone’s business. A Perth businessman almost lost $6 million to hackers, but one misspelled word saved him from watching his fortune falling into the wrong hands.

He was at the end of a multimillion-dollar property settlement with a trusted buyer. But unfortunately, the other party’s business email account in the deal was compromised by cybercriminals. The hackers intercepted the emails and changed the bank account details to their accounts.

An entry-level employee noticed that the word “group” was misspelled as “gruop.” After her timely alert, an inspection revealed that the business email account was compromised, and the bankers stopped the transaction just in time.

Also see “BEC – Business Email Compromise”

US and Global Law Enforcement Partners Dismantle Russian Botnet

Multiple Sources: According to the US Department of Justice, US cybersecurity agents worked with law enforcement partners from the UK, Netherlands and Germany to dismantle the infrastructure of a Russian botnet called RSOCKS that hacked into millions of computers around the globe.

A botnet is an internet-connected group of devices that have been hacked and are controlled by attackers. They are often used to commit malicious acts. Each device connected to the internet has an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

Bloomberg Law provides additional details that the Botnet targeted IoT devices like clocks, routers and streaming devices. Hackers used these compromised devices as proxy servers to allow paying customers to access the compromised devices’ IP addresses and launch attacks. According to Bloomberg, the group’s Twitter account claimed access to more than eight million residential IPs and more than a million mobile IPs.

Politico reported that proxy services, which aren’t inherently illegal, provide IP addresses for their clients for a fee. However, the service includes bypassing censorship and accessing geo-blocked for a specific region. Prosecutors claim that RSOCKS was hacking into millions of devices using brute force attacks.

Customers could visit a web-based storefront to rent proxies for a specified period. Additionally, the customer could download a list of IP addresses and ports associated with the Botnet’s backend server and route malicious internet traffic through these compromised devices while hiding the source.

A related story by Forbes states that the Botnet was the home of a darknet market called Hydra Market. The marketplace’s closure is linked to subsequent seizures, including a superyacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg and $5.4M cash from Konstantin Malofeyev. The US DOJ identified Malofeyev as a Russian oligarch who attempted to use the Botnet services to circumvent sanctions.

In Case You Missed It

BEC Attacks: Can You Stop the Imposters in Your Inbox? – Ken Dang

SonicWall CEO Bill Conner Selected as SC Media Excellence Award Finalist – Bret Fitzgerald

Cybersecurity in the Fifth Industrial Revolution – Ray Wyman

What is Cryptojacking, and how does it affect your Cybersecurity? – Ray Wyman

Why Healthcare Must Do More (and Do Better) to Ensure Patient Safety – Ken Dang

SonicWall Recognizes Partners, Distributors for Outstanding Performance in 2021 – Terry Greer-King

Anti-Ransomware Day: What Can We Do to Prevent the Next WannaCry? – Amber Wolff

CRN Recognizes Three SonicWall Employees on 2022 Women of the Channel List – Bret Fitzgerald

Enjoy the Speed and Safety of TLS 1.3 Support – Amber Wolff

Four Cybersecurity Actions to Lock it All Down – Ray Wyman

Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and Evaluations – Part 2 – Suroop Chandran

Five Times Flawless: SonicWall Earns Its Fifth Perfect Score from ICSA Labs – Amber Wolff

NSv Virtual Firewall: Tested and Certified in AWS Public Cloud – Ajay Uggirala

How SonicWall’s Supply-Chain Strategies Are Slicing Wait Times – Amber Wolff

SonicWall SMA 1000 Series Earns Best-Of Enterprise VPNs Award from Expert Insights – Bret Fitzgerald

World Backup Day: Because Real Life Can Have Save Points Too – Amber Wolff

CRN Honors SonicWall With 5-Star Rating in 2022 Partner Program Guide – Bret Fitzgerald

Cyberattacks on Government Skyrocketed in 2021 – Amber Wolff

Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman

Third-Party ICSA Testing – Perfect Score Number 4 – Kayvon Sadeghi

Ransomware is Everywhere – Amber Wolff

Shields Up: Preparing for Cyberattacks During Ukraine Crisis – Aria Eslambolchizadeh

Read a curated collection of stories about cybersecurity news and trends from major outlets, trade journals, and infosec bloggers.

We found another crop of articles for SonicWall news, with one from Financial Times that reasons the best defense can be identifying vulnerabilities and “blocking digital assault pathways.” And in another article, Insurance Business America wonders how small businesses can protect themselves from cyber threats. Both use SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report and are good reads for anyone tracking solid ideas and solutions. It was another week of dizzying details from Industry News, starting with a story from Politico about why politicians’ phones are getting hacked. Next is from Krebs on Security with additional information from Dark Reading about the pawn game between Costa Rica, Hive, Conti, and US sanctions. Next is a story from CNN detailing a confession from US Cyber Command: yes, they have been hacking Russian assets. And another story is about Chinese hackers exploiting new Microsoft vulnerabilities reported by The Verge and Tech Crunch. Finally, from Bleeping Computer, a story about a ransomware group that’s added a new twist: they’re going public by putting the ransom note on your website.

As always, click through to the links in the headlines to see the full stories from our sources. And remember, cybersecurity is everyone’s business. Be safe!

SonicWall News

SonicWall Honors Its Partners and Distributors Who Achieved Outstanding Lines In 2021

IT Reseller (Deut), SonicWall in the News: Cybersecurity specialist SonicWall has honored its most important partners and distributors of 2021. The SonicWall FY2022 Security Awards are awarded to one partner per region and, according to the manufacturer, are based on various factors such as annual sales, portfolio distribution, online activities, project success rate, certification level, the degree of commitment and feedback from their team.

GCHQ Advisor: It’s A Cyberarms Race as Ransomware Builder Emerges

IT Supply Chain (UK), Bill Conner quote: It’s an arms race, because as good as we’ve gotten, the bad guys have gotten even better and more efficient in their threat- actually moving at a faster pace than, than we can defend right now. The bad guys have gotten more sophisticated tools that enable smarter ways to store stock – for example in the cloud and around the world in multiple places.

SonicWall Celebrates Multiple Award Wins, Amidst Outstanding Business Performance in Asia-Pacific

CXOToday, Threat Report Mention: SonicWall today announced that the company has been awarded several prestigious awards on top of its growing list of accolades. SonicWall’s consistent track record and recognition by cybersecurity industry experts over the last few years is a testament to the vision, commitment and innovative spirit of its employees, leaders and partners to continuously deliver value to customers by way of optimizing business efficiencies and enhancing security.

Cyber Attackers: If You Can’t Stop Them, Disrupt Them

Financial Times, Threat Report Mention: Companies in all industries have been targeted. Data from SonicWall show a 105 per cent rise in ransomware attacks in 2021.

How To Ensure the Security of Company Data?

RCN Radio (Colombia), Threat Report mention: According to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report, in 2021 there were more than 623 million ransomware attacks worldwide. And Colombia, with more than 11 million threats detected in that year, is in the top 10 of the most attacked countries worldwide.

Meteoric Rise: Triangle Cybersecurity Startup JupiterOne Reaches ‘Unicorn’ Status With $70M Cash Injection

WRAL.com, Threat Report Mention: Governments worldwide saw a 1,885% increase in ransomware attacks in 2021, according to the 2022 Cyber Threat Report recently released by SonicWall, an internet cybersecurity company. Ransomware also rose 104% in North America, just under the 105% average increase worldwide, according to the report.

An Update from SonicWall on ICSA Certification

Security Brief (Asia), SonicWall in the News: Ken joins us today to discuss SonicWall’s recent ICSA certification and also current threat detection research that is currently taking place.

How Can Small Businesses Protect Themselves from Cyber Threats?

Insurance Business America, Threat Report Mention: Separate data gathered by cybersecurity firm SonicWall has shown that there were almost 421.5 million ransomware attempts against US businesses in 2021 – a figure that dwarfed that of second-placer Germany, which registered about 34.3 million hits.

Industry News

Why We Expect More Hacking on Politicians’ Phones – HINT: It’s Politics

Politico: Government officials all over the globe are facing a hard truth: They will have to accept spyware infecting their devices because they don’t want to ban the technology.

Numerous government officials have had their phones hacked over the past few years. These include Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and French President Emmanuel Macron. Staffers for Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister, and the EU’s justice commissary. There are also at least nine US diplomats.

Here’s the truth: many governments use the same spyware used against them—the tool of choice: Pegasus software by the Israeli company NSO Group. Pegasus has proven effective in pursuing terrorists planning attacks or pedophiles. Investigators have used tools like Pegasus to catch highly sought criminals such as Joaquin “El Chapo,” a well-known drug lord.

Pegasus can infect the target’s device and allow government agencies or organizations to access personal information, including (but not limited to) turning on microphones and cameras. As a result, anti-spyware activists have asked governments to ban spyware companies or at the very least regulate them. The United Nations Human Rights Office also called for governments to regulate the sale and use of spyware technology last year.

There are no international agreements restricting spyware. Even governments that ban Pegasus face the problem of other, less visible and more regulated spyware companies. As a result, officials are forced to use low-tech methods of protection with varying degrees of effectiveness.

And on it goes.

Costa Rica Pawned by Conti Ransomware Group’s bid to Rebrand and Evade Sanctions

Krebs on Security: The Russian ransomware group Hive hacked Costa Rica’s national healthcare system earlier this week. This intrusion occurred just weeks after Rodrigo Chaves, the Costa Rican president, declared a state emergency to address a ransomware attack by Conti. Cybersecurity experts say that there are good reasons to believe that the same cybercriminals are behind both attacks. Apparently, Hive helped Conti rebrand and avoid international sanctions designed to target ransomware payments to Russian hacker gangs.

Local media reported the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) as being taken offline on May 31. However, the extent of the breach is still unknown. The CCSS oversees Costa Rica’s public healthcare sector. Worker and employer contributions are required by law.

The Dark Reading newsletter reports ransomware hackers sanctioned in the United States have learned how to rebrand their software and avoid the sanctions. This is a strategy to make victims pay more. Example: The Evil Corp gang was already subject to sanctions when the Department announced that it was responsible in part for a ransomware strain called WastedLocker. Evil Corp quickly stopped using WastedLocker software and created variants with different names and graphics. These ransomware variants were the most popular in the last two years. However, it was not always clear if Evil Corp was behind them.

Microsoft Disallows Iran-Linked Hacker Groups Targeting Israeli Companies

The Jerusalem Post: Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Centre (MSTIC) detected that an Iran-linked hacking group was using their OneDrive cloud storage platform to command and control (C2) purposes. The hacking group was identified as “Polonium” and found to be targeting more than 20 Israeli companies and one intergovernmental organization with operations in Lebanon.

MSTIC assessed the group’s location and observed them creating and using legitimate OneDrive accounts, then utilizing those accounts to execute part of their attack operation.

Microsoft noted that the activity does not represent a vulnerability or cybersecurity issue on the OneDrive platform. However, Microsoft added that it has deployed security intelligence updates that will “quarantine” tools developed by Polonium operators. The story goes on to report that as part of their enforcement process, MSTIC suspended more than 20 malicious OneDrive applications.

US Confirms That Military Hackers Conducted Cyber Operations to Support Ukraine

CNN: The US Cyber Command made a rare public acknowledgment about hacking operations often shrouded in mystery. The hacking unit of the US military conducted cyber operations to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Cyber Command admitted that they had conducted operations across all facets of the spectrum, including offensive, defensive and information operations.

This disclosure highlights how crucial projecting cyber power – to support Ukraine’s defenses and possibly deter Russia from conducting cyberattacks on US infrastructure – is to the Biden administration. This admission suggests that the Biden administration is comfortable in cyberspace and can counter Russia without fear of escalation. So long as the US and its allies don’t attack Russia, President Joe Biden has promised not to engage with Russia militarily in the Ukraine war.

This is the fullest example of foreign relations brinksmanship.

Chinese Company Accused NSA Hacking Has Global Ambitions

Washington Post: The US government and American cybersecurity firms have long claimed that China is responsible for brazen hacks that absconded troves worth of sensitive documents. Chinese officials denied the allegations and accused the US repeatedly of cyber-espionage without providing any evidence. In February, a well-connected Chinese cybersecurity company made public what it claimed to be a US National Security Agency campaign targeting computers in 45 countries and areas, including China. At the time, US officials did not respond to inquiries for comment.

This disclosure suggests that China takes a firmer stance against foreign hacking attempts. It also revealed the increasing influence of Qi An Xin Technology Group Inc., a Chinese technology company established in 2014 with ambitions to become a global cybersecurity leader.

The company’s headquarters are located a 10-minute drive from the Forbidden city. They have been part of a three-year plan to grow China’s cybersecurity sector to more than 250 billion Yuan ($39.3B) by 2023. This plan involves increasing investment in the industry and simplifying regulation.

China-Linked Hackers Exploit a New Vulnerability Within Microsoft Office

The Verge: According to threat analysis research by security firm Proofpoint, hackers are already exploiting a newly discovered Microsoft Office vulnerability.

TechCrunch also shared details about how a hacker group called TA413 used the “Follina” vulnerability to create malicious Word documents that purportedly were sent from the Central Tibetan Administration. This is the Tibetan government exiled in Dharamsala in India. The TA413 APT (a designation for “advanced persistent danger”) actor is believed to be connected to the Chinese government. It has previously been used to target the Tibetan exile community.

On May 27, Nao Sec, a security research group, first highlighted Microsoft Word’s vulnerability. They took to Twitter to share a sample they had submitted to the online malware scanner VirusTotal. Nao Sec reported that hackers delivered the malicious code via Microsoft Word documents. The files then executed PowerShell commands, a powerful tool for Windows system administration.

Chinese hackers have used security holes in the software to target Tibetans over the years. Citizen Lab published a report in 2019 that documented widespread targeting of Tibetan politicians with spyware. This included Android browser exploits as well as malicious links sent via WhatsApp. Proofpoint analysis has shown that browser extensions also spy on Tibetan activists.

Ransomware Gang Now Hacks Corporate Websites to Show Ransom Notes

Bleeping Computer: Ransomware gangs are taking extortion to new heights by hacking corporate websites and publicly displaying ransom notes.

Reporters identify Industrial Spy as the new extortion gang behind this new strategy. The group follows the usual expected process of deploying ransomware in their attacks to breach networks, steal data, and deploy malware on devices. The threat actors then threaten to sell the stolen data on their Tor marketplace if a ransom is not paid. In one case, the group is now selling data they claim was stolen by a French company called SATT Sud-Est for $500,000-USD.

The new bent to the crime is that the group found a way to hack into the company’s website, vandalized the home page with a message warning that 200GB of data had been stolen. Of course, if the victim doesn’t pay the ransom, the attackers are ready to sell the data. And then there’s the public disclosure for added measure.

In Case You Missed It

SonicWall CEO Bill Conner Selected as SC Media Excellence Award Finalist – Bret Fitzgerald

Cybersecurity in the Fifth Industrial Revolution – Ray Wyman

What is Cryptojacking, and how does it affect your Cybersecurity? – Ray Wyman

Why Healthcare Must Do More (and Do Better) to Ensure Patient Safety – Ken Dang

SonicWall Recognizes Partners, Distributors for Outstanding Performance in 2021 – Terry Greer-King

Anti-Ransomware Day: What Can We Do to Prevent the Next WannaCry? – Amber Wolff

CRN Recognizes Three SonicWall Employees on 2022 Women of the Channel List – Bret Fitzgerald

Enjoy the Speed and Safety of TLS 1.3 Support – Amber Wolff

Four Cybersecurity Actions to Lock it All Down – Ray Wyman

Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and Evaluations – Part 2 – Suroop Chandran

Five Times Flawless: SonicWall Earns Its Fifth Perfect Score from ICSA Labs – Amber Wolff

NSv Virtual Firewall: Tested and Certified in AWS Public Cloud – Ajay Uggirala

How SonicWall’s Supply-Chain Strategies Are Slicing Wait Times – Amber Wolff

SonicWall SMA 1000 Series Earns Best-Of Enterprise VPNs Award from Expert Insights – Bret Fitzgerald

World Backup Day: Because Real Life Can Have Save Points Too – Amber Wolff

CRN Honors SonicWall With 5-Star Rating in 2022 Partner Program Guide – Bret Fitzgerald

Cyberattacks on Government Skyrocketed in 2021 – Amber Wolff

Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman

Third-Party ICSA Testing – Perfect Score Number 4 – Kayvon Sadeghi

Ransomware is Everywhere – Amber Wolff

Shields Up: Preparing for Cyberattacks During Ukraine Crisis – Aria Eslambolchizadeh

Cybersecurity News & Trends

This week, SonicWall emerged with excellent “in the news” quotes and citations. Note the articles about “AI-Powered Ransomware.” Industry news produced findings about Bluetooth vulnerabilities that could shake the consumer markets from automotive to home security. The Justice Department says that it will no longer prosecute “good faith researchers” who hack software and devices to find vulnerabilities. The US government is also reportedly remanding government agencies slow to fix bugs that hackers are currently exploiting. The Costa Rican government reports that Russian hacking cartels are attacking their agencies and infrastructure. Finally, leave it to the Bank of Zambia to come up with a creative way to troll hackers. Stay safe and remember that cybersecurity is everyone’s business.

SonicWall News

Ruling Voice on Ransomware – SonicWall Takes its Place at NCSC Cyber Conference

FinTech Herald, SonicWall in the News: SonicWall, global leader in cybersecurity solutions and publisher of the world’s most quoted ransomware threat intelligence, is set to take centre stage at the UK Government’s flagship cybersecurity event, CYBERUK 2022, taking place on 10–11 May in the ICC Wales in Newport.

Providers Experienced 121% Spike in Malware Attacks In 2021

DotMed Healthcare Business News, Threat Report Mention/Immanuel Chavoya Quote: The HHS breach report highlights all reported cases of a breach in the health sector under investigation, of which there are currently 151 for 2022. What’s more alarming is that at the time of this report, there appears to be a staggering 8 million individuals affected for the year of 2022,” Immanuel Chavoya, threat detection and response strategist for SonicWall, told HCB News.

Ransomware is already out of control. AI-powered ransomware could be ‘terrifying.’

Protocol, SonicWall in the News: Currently, ransomware attacks are often very tailored to the individual target, making the attacks more difficult to scale, Driver said. Even still, the number of ransomware attacks doubled year-over-year in 2021, SonicWall has reported — and ransomware has been getting more successful as well. The percentage of affected organizations that agreed to pay a ransom shot up to 58% in 2021, from 34% the year before, Proofpoint has reported.

Finalists: Security Executive of the Year

SC Magazine, SonicWall in the News: Bill Conner has been named a finalist In the Best Security Executive of the Year by SC Magazine. Executives recognized in this category are the veterans and perennial influencers in the cybersecurity development community, with a history of leadership in companies that have their pulse on the needs of users and have a proven track record in delivery of products and services that meet the requirements of businesses large and small.

Russia-Based Conti Made $77 Million From Ransomware In 21 Months

CryptoSaurus, SonicWall in the News: In 2021 alone, ransomware attacks nearly doubled to 623 million cases globally, according to US cyber security company SonicWall. This is an increase of 105% year-on-year, and various analyzes and experts have highlighted that hackers linked to Russia are responsible for the majority.

AI + ransomware = “terrifying”

Protocol, SonicWall in the News: The number of ransomware attacks doubled year-over-year in 2021, SonicWall has reported — and ransomware has been getting more successful as well.

Industry News

Vulnerabilities Found in Bluetooth Low Energy Devices

TechRepublic: A critical flaw found in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) receivers may grant cybercriminals entry to anything from personal devices, such as phones or laptops, to even cars and houses. The new findings from cybersecurity company NCC Group detail how BLE uses proximity to authenticate the user near the device. Researchers were able to fake the authentication, which could affect everyone, from the average consumer to organizations seeking to lock the doors to their premises.

This issue is believed to be something that the industry can’t easily patch since it is more than a simple error in Bluetooth specification. Moreover, the flaw could be an exploit that could affect millions of people. According to NCC Group experts cited in the article, BLE-based proximity authentication was not originally designed to be used by critical systems such as locking mechanisms in smart locks.

To quote NCC Group’s findings, “by forwarding data from the baseband at the link layer, the hack gets past known relay attack protections, including encrypted BLE communications, because it circumvents upper layers of the Bluetooth stack and the need to decrypt.”

According to the cybersecurity company, these Bluetooth systems are used to lock items such as vehicles or residences that are using Bluetooth proximity authentication mechanisms that hackers can easily break with cheap off-the-shelf hardware. As a proof of concept, it was found by Khan that a link-layer relay attack conclusively defeats existing applications of BLE-based proximity authentication. According to the report, the following device categories are vulnerable:

• Cars with automotive keyless entry
• Laptops with Bluetooth proximity unlock feature
• Mobile phones
• Residential smart locks
• Building access control systems
• Asset and medical patient tracking

One of the specified vehicles affected by this exploit is the Tesla Models 3 and Y.

Justice Dept. Says ‘Good Faith Researchers’ No Longer Face Hacking Charges

Washington Post: On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department stated that it would not use its country’s anti-hacking law to prosecute cybersecurity researchers trying to find security flaws. This is a move that both protects and validates a practice still vilified by many officials and companies.

Top Justice officials issued a five-page policy statement to federal prosecutors. They said that local U.S. Attorneys should not be charged when “good faith” researchers exceed “authorized” access. This vague phrase is from the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, interpreted as covering routine practices such as automated downloading of Web content.

TechCrunch also reported that the DoJ stated that “good-faith research” includes anyone who conducts their activity “in a manner designed to avoid harm to individuals and the public.” It also concludes that such information “primarily promotes the security or safety the class of devices or machines to which the computer belongs, as well as those who use such machines, devices, or services.”

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (or CFAA) was enacted into law in 1986 and predate the modern internet and current cyber threats. Federal law defines computer hacking, specifically “unauthorized” access to a computer system. However, the CFAA has been criticized over its vague and outdated language, which fails to distinguish between malicious actors who (for example) extort companies and good-faith researchers who work to uncover vulnerabilities before people are exploited by them.

US Officials Order Government Agencies to Fix Serious Software Bugs

CNN: US cybersecurity officials on Wednesday ordered all federal civilian agencies to fix flaws in widely used software that officials said foreign government-linked hackers are likely moving to exploit.

“These vulnerabilities pose an unacceptable risk to federal network security,” US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said.

The “emergency directive” from CISA gives agencies five days to either update the vulnerable software or remove it from their networks. However, the directive does not apply to the Pentagon computer networks, not under CISA’s jurisdiction. The vulnerabilities are in a type of software made by VMware, a California-based technology giant whose products are widely used by the US government.

VMware, on April 6, issued a fix for the software flaws, which could allow hackers to access computer files and burrow further into a network remotely. Within two days of the fix’s release, hackers had figured out a way to break into computers using the vulnerabilities, according to CISA. Then, on Wednesday, VMWare released software updates for newly discovered vulnerabilities that CISA has ordered agencies to address.

The agency did not identify the hackers or what systems they had targeted.

Russian Hacking Cartel Attack Costa Rican Government Agencies

New York Times: A Russian hacking cartel carried out an extraordinary cyberattack against the government of Costa Rica, crippling tax collection and export systems for more than a month so far and forcing the country to declare a state of emergency.

The ransomware gang Conti, based in Russia, claimed credit for the attack, which began on April 12, and threatened to leak the stolen information unless it was paid $20 million. Experts who track Conti’s movements said the group had recently begun to shift its focus from the United States and Europe to Central and South American countries, perhaps to retaliate against nations that have supported Ukraine.

Some experts also believe Conti feared a crackdown by the United States and sought fresh targets, regardless of politics. According to estimates from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the group is responsible for more than 1,000 ransomware attacks worldwide that have led to earnings of more than $150 million.

The BBC also reports that the Costa Rican Treasury told civil servants that the hack had affected automatic payment services. It warned that they would not be paid on time and would need to apply for their salaries by email or on paper by hand.

The ministry said: “Due to the temporary downturn of the institutional systems, the service of issuing certificates regarding the amounts of salaries owed to the civil servants of the Central Administration is suspended.

“All applications received via email or in the windows of the National Accountancy will be attended to once systems are restored.”

According to the government, the attacks also affected its foreign trade by hitting its tax and customs systems.

‘Security researchers’ make $800k in prize money for Hacking Windows 11

PCGamer: Contestants in a hacking contest have netted over $800K in prize money after finding exploits in Windows 11, Microsoft Teams, and other enterprise software on the first day. During this 15th annual Pwn2Own Vancouver hacking competition, the teams discovered 16 zero-day bugs on multiple products like Firefox, Oracle Virtualbox, Windows 11, and other popular enterprise software.

Pwn2Own Vancouver 2022 is a three-day-long hacking competition sponsored by Microsoft, Zoom, and other big tech companies. Teams of hackers or ‘security researchers’ attempt to find zero-day vulnerabilities in their software for prize money.

Think of it like bug bounties except with more money and kudos. A zero-day is a software exploit or vulnerability that an attacker could discover. The software makers aren’t already aware; there’s no patch, and the attack will likely succeed. Known bugs or exploits are not valid for rewards.

National Bank of Zambia Hit by Ransomware Then Trolls Hackers

Bleeping Computer: Leave it to the executives at the Bank of Zambia to leave us grinning. After suffering a ransomware attack by the Hive operation, the Bank of Zambia made it clear to the hackers that they were not going to pay – by posting a picture of male genitalia and telling the hackers to s… (and here, you’ll have to fill in the colorful language they used).

Last week, the Bank of Zambia, the country’s central bank, disclosed that recent technical outages resulted from a cyberattack. While the Bank of Zambia did not disclose the details of the cyberattack, BleepingComputer learned that the attack was conducted by the Hive ransomware operation, which claimed to have encrypted the bank’s Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.

Today, Bloomberg reported that the Bank’s Technical Director, Greg Nsofu, said they had protected the bank’s core systems, so it was unnecessary to engage with the threat actors.

In Case You Missed It

What is Cryptojacking, and how does it affect your Cybersecurity? – Ray Wyman

Why Healthcare Must Do More (and Do Better) to Ensure Patient Safety – Ken Dang

SonicWall Recognizes Partners, Distributors for Outstanding Performance in 2021 – Terry Greer-King

Cybersecurity in the Fifth Industrial Revolution – Ray Wyman

Anti-Ransomware Day: What Can We Do to Prevent the Next WannaCry? – Amber Wolff

CRN Recognizes Three SonicWall Employees on 2022 Women of the Channel List – Bret Fitzgerald

Enjoy the Speed and Safety of TLS 1.3 Support – Amber Wolff

Four Cybersecurity Actions to Lock it All Down – Ray Wyman

Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and Evaluations – Part 2 – Suroop Chandran

Five Times Flawless: SonicWall Earns Its Fifth Perfect Score from ICSA Labs – Amber Wolff

NSv Virtual Firewall: Tested and Certified in AWS Public Cloud – Ajay Uggirala

How SonicWall’s Supply-Chain Strategies Are Slicing Wait Times – Amber Wolff

SonicWall SMA 1000 Series Earns Best-Of Enterprise VPNs Award from Expert Insights – Bret Fitzgerald

World Backup Day: Because Real Life Can Have Save Points Too – Amber Wolff

CRN Honors SonicWall With 5-Star Rating in 2022 Partner Program Guide – Bret Fitzgerald

Cyberattacks on Government Skyrocketed in 2021 – Amber Wolff

Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman

Third-Party ICSA Testing – Perfect Score Number 4 – Kayvon Sadeghi

Ransomware is Everywhere – Amber Wolff

Shields Up: Preparing for Cyberattacks During Ukraine Crisis – Aria Eslambolchizadeh

Cybersecurity News & Trends

More hot news for SonicWall with lots of coverage for the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report and the astounding five consecutive perfect results in third-party certification tests (100% detection and zero false positives). In global cybersecurity news, security experts recently gained significant data that is already illuminating the inner workings of ransomware gangs based in Russia and elsewhere. Just in time too with the return of Emotet, “the most dangerous malware in the world.” Krebs dropped a report about Russia using “tech-savvy” prisoners for the benefit of Russian corporations. And finally, a stunning story about Chinese hackers who have (so far) stolen “trillions” in intellectual property from 30 multinational companies.

SonicWall News

Providers Experienced 121% Spike in Malware Attacks In 2021

DotMed, Threat Report Mention/Immanuel Chavoya Quote: The HHS breach report highlights all reported cases of a breach in the health sector under investigation, of which there are currently 151 for 2022. What’s more alarming is that at the time of this report, there appears to be a staggering 8 million “individuals affected” for the year of 2022,” Immanuel Chavoya, threat detection and response strategist for SonicWall, told HCB News.

How To Be Proactive in The Face of Growing Cyber Threats

Security Magazine, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: SonicWall reported that in 2020, the number of malware variants detected grew by 62%. Identity, email, endpoint security and antivirus are all important, but they are not enough.

A Cybersecurity Stock with Monster Tailwinds

Guru Focus, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: With the rising price of cryptocurrency, this has caused these types of attacks to increase in popularity from 66,000 cases in 2020 to 436,000 in the UK alone, according to data from SonicWall.

Negate The Quantum Cyber Threat to Safely Unlock the Potential of Quantum Computers

Inside Quantum Technology News, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: Ransomware, encrypted threats and cryptojacking are just a few attack methods found to have significantly increased in number over the past year, according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report.

Ransomware Hits 2 Colleges at Semester’s End. What Can Others Do?

Higher Ed Dive, SonicWall in the News: Ransomware attacks doubled worldwide and in North America last year, according to a recent report from SonicWall, a cybersecurity firm. And software company Emsisoft said at least 26 U.S. colleges and universities were hit with ransomware last year.

Cyberattacks Growing in Frequency, Severity, and Complexity

Triple I Blog, SonicWall in the News: In 2021, there were 623.3 million cyberattacks globally, with U.S. cyberattacks rising by 98 percent, according to cybersecurity firm SonicWall. Almost every threat increased in 2021, particularly ransomware, encrypted threats, Internet of Things (IoT) malware, and cryptojacking, in which a criminal uses a victim’s computing power to generate cryptocurrency.

Cyber Prevention or Mitigation… Why Can’t It Be Both?

IDG Connect, SonicWall in the News: As it stands, ransomware remains the biggest threat to organisations. According to SonicWall, the past year witnessed 623.3 million ransomware attacks across the world, a 105% increase compared to the previous year.

SonicWall Capture ATP Once Again Receives the Highest Score in the ICSA Labs Test

InfoPointSecurity (Deut), SonicWall in the News: SonicWall has received an astonishing five consecutive perfect results in the test against some of the most unknown and rigorous threats – unprecedented performance among the tested providers, said Bill Conner, President and CEO of SonicWall.

Cyberwar Zone: Biden, Experts Warn Business Attacks are Coming

Virginia Business, SonicWall in the News: “But many cybercrimes go unreported, and private sector numbers paint a far worse picture. Cybersecurity firm SonicWall reports that its researchers recorded 623.3 million ransomware attacks worldwide in 2021 — a 105% increase from 2020.”

Cyberwar Zone: Biden, Experts Warn Business Attacks are Coming

Virginia Business, SonicWall in the News: But many cybercrimes go unreported, and private sector numbers paint a far worse picture. Cybersecurity firm SonicWall reports that its researchers recorded 623.3 million ransomware attacks worldwide in 2021 — a 105% increase from 2020.

What Should You Do If Your Brand is the Target of a Data Breach?

TFL, Threat Report Mention: The same is true in the U.S., with ransomware attacks, alone, rising by almost 100 percent in 2021 according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report.

Industry News

Experts Analyze Conti and Hive Ransomware Gangs’ Chats with Their Victims

Hacker News: A four-month analysis of chat logs that spans more than 40 conversations between Conti and Hive ransomware operators and victims is giving cybersecurity analysts new insights into the inner workings of negotiations. One exchange claims that the Conti Team significantly decreased ransom demand from $50 million to $1million, a 98% drop. This suggests a willingness to settle with a lower amount.

The report explains that both Hive and Conti are quick to lower ransom demand, routinely offering substantial decreases multiple times during negotiations. It shows that ransomware victims have at least some negotiating power, contrary to popular belief.

Conti and Hive are among the most prevalent ransomware strains in the threat landscape, cumulatively accounting for 29.1% of attacks detected during the three months between October and December 2021.

Conti Ransomware Source Code Leaked on Twitter Out Of Revenge

Bleeping Computer: After the much of the people behind the Conti Ransomware operation supported Russia in the invasion of Ukraine, a Ukrainian researcher called ‘ContiLeaks’ decided to leak source code and data belonging to the ransomware group as his revenge. The leaked source code was a modified version of the Conti ransomware operations, according to the report.

The researcher also published nearly 170,000 chat messages between Conti ransomware gang members last month. These conversations, spanning 2021 and part of 2022, illuminates the operational processes, their activities, how members are involved, and even some insight into organizational structure and the distribution of money.

The researcher leaked the Conti ransomware source code on September 15, 2020. Although the code was quite old, it enabled researchers and law enforcement to understand the malware’s workings better. He then leaked Conti version 3 with a last mod date of January 25, 2021.

Washington Post also noted that thanks to the leaks, authorities now have a better picture of cybercriminals’ personalities, quirks, and habits that have run rampant over U.S. institutions. It also shows how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has split some criminal gangs.

Emotet is Back From ‘Spring Break’ With New Nasty Tricks

Threat Report: Emotet malware attacks are back after a 10-month “spring break” – with criminals behind the attack rested, tanned and ready to launch a new campaign strategy. According to recent research, that new approach includes more targeted phishing attacks, unlike the previous spray-and-pray campaigns.

According to a Tuesday report, Proofpoint analysts linked this activity to the threat actor known as TA542, which since 2014 has leveraged the Emotet malware with great success.

Emotet, once dubbed “the most dangerous malware,” is being leveraged in its most recent campaign to deliver ransomware. For years, those behind distributing the malware have been in law enforcement’s crosshairs. In January 2021, authorities in Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States worked together to take down hundreds of botnet servers supporting Emotet as part of “Operation LadyBird.”

Bleeping Computer also reported that the Japan CERT had released a new version of their EmoCheck utility to detect new 64-bit versions of the Emotet malware that began infecting users this month. The new 64-bit loader and stealer versions make existing detections less useful. Furthermore, the EmoCheck tool could no longer detect the new 64-bit Emotet versions with this switch. Last week, JPCERT released EmoCheck 2.2 to support the new 64-bit versions and can now catch them, which is safely downloadable from Japan CERT’s GitHub repository.

Russia to Rent Tech-Savvy Prisoners to Corporate IT?

Krebs on Security: Faced with a brain drain of smart people fleeing the country following its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation is floating a new strategy to address a worsening shortage of qualified information technology experts: Forcing tech-savvy people within the nation’s prison population to perform low-cost IT work for domestic companies.

Multiple Russian news outlets published stories on April 27 saying the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service had announced a plan to recruit IT specialists from Russian prisons to work remotely for domestic and commercial companies.

Russians sentenced to forced labor will serve out their time at one of many correctional centers across dozens of Russian regions, usually at the center that is closest to their hometown. Alexander Khabarov, deputy head of Russia’s penitentiary service, said his agency had received proposals from businesspeople in different regions to involve IT specialists serving sentences in correctional centers to work remotely for commercial companies.

Khabarov told Russian media outlets that under the proposal, people with IT skills at these facilities would labor only in IT-related roles but would not be limited to working with companies in their own region.

The 10 Largest Data Breaches Ever Reported in Healthcare

Beckers Hospital Review: Data breaches in healthcare can cause widespread damage, including the loss of medical records, financial losses for the organization, identity theft and fraud, lawsuits, and a loss of patient trust. Now the industry is more at risk of severe cyberattacks than ever before. The report goes on to list the biggest data breaches ever reported. The story was also reported by Pulse Headlines.

Chinese Hackers Took Trillions in Intellectual Property From About 30 Multinational Companies

CBS News: A yearslong malicious cyber operation spearheaded by the notorious Chinese state group, APT 41, has siphoned off estimated trillions of dollars in intellectual property theft from approximately 30 multinational companies within the manufacturing, energy and pharmaceutical sectors.

The story was chiefly compiled by cybersecurity firm, Cybereason, and reveals a malicious campaign — dubbed Operation CuckooBees — exfiltrating hundreds of gigabytes of intellectual property and sensitive data, including blueprints, diagrams, formulas, and manufacturing-related proprietary data from multiple intrusions, spanning technology and manufacturing companies in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The report explains that the intellectual property stolen includes blueprint diagrams of fighter jets, helicopters, missiles, and drugs around diabetes, obesity, and depression. But, the worst part, the campaign reportedly has not yet been stopped.

In a related story reported by The Hacker News, the China-based threat actor known as Mustang Panda has been observed refining and retooling its tactics and malware to strike entities located in Asia, the European Union, Russia, and the U.S. The group has targeted a wide range of organizations since at least 2012, with the actor primarily relying on email-based social engineering to gain initial access to drop PlugX, a backdoor predominantly deployed for long-term access.

In Case You Missed It

Enjoy the Speed and Safety of TLS 1.3 Support – Amber Wolff

Four Cybersecurity Actions to Lock it All Down – Ray Wyman

Understanding the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and Evaluations – Part 2 – Suroop Chandran

Five Times Flawless: SonicWall Earns Its Fifth Perfect Score from ICSA Labs – Amber Wolff

NSv Virtual Firewall: Tested and Certified in AWS Public Cloud – Ajay Uggirala

How SonicWall’s Supply-Chain Strategies Are Slicing Wait Times – Amber Wolff

SonicWall SMA 1000 Series Earns Best-Of Enterprise VPNs Award from Expert Insights – Bret Fitzgerald

World Backup Day: Because Real Life Can Have Save Points Too – Amber Wolff

CRN Honors SonicWall With 5-Star Rating in 2022 Partner Program Guide – Bret Fitzgerald

Cyberattacks on Government Skyrocketed in 2021 – Amber Wolff

Meeting the Cybersecurity Needs of the Hybrid Workforce – Ray Wyman

Third-Party ICSA Testing – Perfect Score Number 4 – Kayvon Sadeghi

Ransomware is Everywhere – Amber Wolff

Shields Up: Preparing for Cyberattacks During Ukraine Crisis – Aria Eslambolchizadeh

Capture Client 3.7: Rapid Threat Hunting with Deep Visibility and Storylines – Suroop Chandran

2021 Threat Intelligence Shows Attacks Rising Across the Board – Amber Wolff

Break Free with SonicWall Boundless 2022 – Terri O’Leary

SonicWall’s Bob VanKirk, HoJin Kim & David Bankemper Earn 2022 CRN Channel Chief Recognition – Bret Fitzgerald