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Cybersecurity News & Trends

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A curated collection of the top stories about cybersecurity news and trends that really matter most.

Healthcare cybersecurity continues to be plagued by unpatched, internet-connected IoT devices, which presents a significant vulnerability, according to an FBI Bulletin, and reported by Healthcare Innovation, with additional data from The Register and the Mid-Year Update on the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. Uber was hacked today, with internal systems breached and vulnerability reports stolen, as reported by Bleeping Computer. According to Reuters, three Iranians have been charged with trying to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from women’s shelters and other organizations. FCW found that cybercriminals increasingly rely on ransomware-as-a-service and other malware-free intrusion methods. TechRadar discovered that ransomware gangs had deployed intermittent encryption methods to evade security protections. Hacker News says that hackers armed with self-spreading malware are targeting gamers searching for gamers looking for cheats on YouTube. And finally, Krebs on Security’s ongoing watch on ATM security reveals “crazy thin” deep insert credit card skimmers.

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

SonicWall News

Ransomware Roulette with Consumer Trust – The Link Between Loyalty and Attacks

Information Security Buzz, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: In retail in particular, in the year from February 2021, the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report revealed that there was a 264% increase in ransomware attacks on e-commerce and online retail businesses. Estimates suggest that over 40% of retail organizations suffered a ransomware attack.

Metaverse: An Emerging Market in Virtual Reality

TechSling, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: Cyber-attacks have targeted market participants, raising high sensitivity and security concerns. According to SonicWall, nearly 500 million cyber-attacks were reported through September 2021, with over 1700 attacks reported per organization.

Protecting Against Customizable Ransomware

CXO Today, Threat Report Mention: All sorts of Cybercrimes have grown tremendously in recent years. SonicWall’s Cyber Threat Report published in early 2022, details a sustained meteoric rise in ransomware with 623.3 million attacks globally with an exponential rise in all monitored threats, cyberattacks and malicious digital assaults including: ransomware, encrypted threats, IoT malware and cryptojacking.

The Best Defense Is a Good Defense

ComputerWeekly (Spain), SonicWall Byline: In cybersecurity, building the best possible defense also means incorporating some offensive strategies to gain intelligence about attackers and understand how they try to penetrate systems, says SonicWall.

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Ultra-High-Speed Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

AIthority, Threat Report Mention: SonicWall announced the introduction of the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides always-on, always-secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments. Powered by Wi-Fi 6 technology, the new SonicWave 600 series wireless access points, coupled with Wireless Network Manager (WNM) 4.0, enable organizations to automatically secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity.

Uber’s Ex-Security Chief Faces Landmark Trial Over Data Breach That Hit 57m Users

The Guardian, Threat Report Mention: The trial will play out as reports of ransomware attacks continue to rise. In 2021, the US saw a more than 95% increase in ransomware attacks, according to the threat intelligence firm SonicWall. Many of those attackers have targeted healthcare facilities and schools. Hackers targeted the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest school district in the US, with a cyber-attack over Labor Day weekend.

Public Transport Group Go-Ahead Hit by Cyber Attack

Financial Times, Threat Report Mention: There were 2.8bn known malware attacks in the first half of the year, up 11 percent, according to cyber security company SonicWall.

Kansas Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Fox 4 News Kansas City, SonicWall News: SonicWall reports that malware dropped 4% year over year in 2021, with a total of 5.4 billion hits reported by the firm’s devices around the world. The company detected 2.9 billion malware hits on their US sensors in 2021. Florida saw the most malware hits with 625 million in 2021. The state didn’t appear on the latest list, indicating that these attacks can be successfully thwarted by technologies like antivirus software and firewalls.

Our Success Is Based on The Philosophy of Knowledge Building And Sharing

Digital Terminal (India), SonicWall News: Commenting on the increasing cyber incidents, Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional Sales APJ, SonicWall Inc said, “Across the globe, we saw that pandemic while stretched companies’ networks, accelerated their digital transformation, on the downside exposed them to more cybercrime. Cybersecurity has become much more important in today’s times than ever before. The global cyber security market is estimated to record a CAGR of 10.5% over the forecast period of 2022 to 2032.”

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Ultra-High-Speed Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

European Business Magazine, SonicWall News: SonicWall today announced the introduction of the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides always-on, always-secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

Electronic Specifier, SonicWall News: SonicWall has announced the introduction of the Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Ships Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points

Channel Pro Network, SonicWall News: SonicWall has introduced a pair of remotely manageable Wi-Fi 6 access points designed to secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity. The SonicWave 641 and SonicWave 681, part of the vendor’s new SonicWave 600 series, are based on the 802.11ax standard, which according to SonicWall can increase overall wireless throughput by up to 400% compared to Wi-Fi 5 technology and reduce latency by up to 75%.

10 States Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Digital Journal, SonicWall News: Malware attacks—when an intruder tries to install harmful software on the victim’s computer without their knowledge—are a huge problem around the world. Beyond Identity collected data from the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report to rank the top 10 US states that are the most at risk for malware attacks.

Norway’s Oil Fund Warns Cybersecurity is Top Concern

The Financial Times, Bill Conner Quoted: Perpetrators can range from private criminal groups to state-backed hackers. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the most active state backers of cyber aggression, according to Bill Conner, executive chairman at SonicWall. “As sanctions go up, the need for money goes up as well,” he said. A cyber security expert who advises a different sovereign wealth fund said the “threat landscape” for such groups was “massive.” “When it comes to ransomware, about half of network intrusions are phishing attempts and the other half are remote access attacks using stolen credentials. You’ve also got insider threats [involving] someone with a USB drive, and sometimes people with access are just bribed,” he added.

Industry News

Big Read: FBI Issues Another Cybersecurity Warning about Unhealthy IoT Devices Plaguing Healthcare

The FBI is worried about unpatched, internet-connected medical devices running on outdated software. The agency is concerned that the nation’s healthcare organizations are increasingly being exploited by threat actors, according to a recent bulletin from the FBI. The agency issued a “private industry” flyer that warned hospital administrators that patient safety and the confidentiality of personal health data is at risk.

According to Healthcare Innovation, healthcare providers face challenges that include securely configuring medical devices, devices that lack security features and devices with customized software that needs special patching procedures. Devices at risk include insulin pumps, intracardiac defibrillators, pacemakers and pumps that deliver pain medication.

The newsletter also points out that medical IT administrators must protect connected devices with antivirus software, if possible, to encrypt medical device data and to ensure devices can only be accessed through complex passwords. In addition, if a device is disconnected from an IT network for service, integrity verification must be verified before it is re-connected.

A story from The Register shows the risks involved; a ransomware gang is threatening to release the records of 1 million patients taken in an attack from Texas-based OakBend Medical Center last September 1. causing a shutdown of the organization’s communication and IT systems as well as exfiltrating internal data. The criminals claim to have stolen more than a million records, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and patient treatment information.

The Mid-Year Update on the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report released earlier this year saw a global decrease in traditional ransomware attacks. However, researchers also observed a 123% increase in IoT malware attack volume in healthcare.

Uber Hacked, Internal Systems Breached and Vulnerability Reports Stolen

Bleeping Computer: In a story that broke very early Thursday AM, Uber suffered a cyberattack Thursday afternoon with a hacker gaining access to vulnerability reports and sharing screenshots of the company’s internal systems, email dashboard, and Slack server. The screenshots shared by the hacker show what appears to be full access to many critical Uber IT systems, including the company’s security software and Windows domain. Other systems the hacker accessed include the company’s Amazon Web Services console, VMware ESXi virtual machines, Google Workspace email admin dashboard, and Slack server, to which the hacker posted messages. Uber has since confirmed the attack, tweeting that they are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional information as it becomes available.

Three Iranians Charged with Ransomware Attacks on Women’s Shelters and Businesses

Reuters: Three Iranians have been charged with trying to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from organizations in the United States, Europe, Iran and Israel, including a domestic violence shelter, by hacking into their computer systems, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. According to charges filed by the U.S. Justice Department, other targets included local U.S. governments, regional utilities in Mississippi and Indiana, accounting firms and a state lawyers’ association.

Cybercriminals are Increasingly Relying on RaaS and Other Malware-Free Intrusion Methods

FCW: Cybercriminals are increasingly leaning on ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and malware-free intrusion methods while evading widespread detection and mitigation techniques employed across the public and private sectors, according to a new report. CrowdStrike published the 2022 OverWatch Threat Hunting Insights report on Tuesday. The report details a 50% increase in interactive intrusion campaigns mainly targeting the technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and healthcare industries, as well as the federal government. In addition, the team identified at least 36 threat actors conducting interactive intrusion activity across Russia, North Korea, Iran, China and Turkey, including eCrime and targeted intrusions, from July 2021 to June 2022.

Ransomware Gangs Using Intermittent Encryption to “Dance” Past Security Protections

TechRadar: Researchers have found that ransomware operators have come up with a new encryption method that makes locking files faster and less likely to be noticed by some antivirus and cybersecurity solutions. According to researchers, a rising number of ransomware operators (including Black Basta, BlackCat, PLAY, and others) have adopted a method called “intermittent encryption,” encrypting files partially instead of completely. That way, the files are still rendered useless (unless the owners get a decryption key). Still, the encryption process takes significantly less time, with researchers adding that they expect more groups to adopt the technique in the future.

Self-Spreading Malware Targeting Gamers Looking for Cheats on YouTube

The Hacker News: Gamers looking for cheats on YouTube might want to take care. They’re being targeted with links to rogue password-protected archive files designed to install crypto miners and information-stealing malware such as RedLine Stealer on compromised machines. “The videos advertise cheats and cracks and provide instructions on hacking popular games and software,” Kaspersky security researcher Oleg Kupreev said in a new report published today. Games mentioned in the videos are APB Reloaded, CrossFire, DayZ, Farming Simulator, Farthest Frontier, FIFA 22, Final Fantasy XIV, Forza, Lego Star Wars, Sniper Elite, and Spider-Man, among others.

Say Hello to ‘Crazy Thin’ Deep Insert ATM Skimmers

Krebs on Security: Several financial institutions in and around New York City are dealing with a rash of “crazy thin” skimming devices designed to fit inside the mouth of an ATM’s card acceptance slot. The card skimmers are paired with tiny pinhole cameras cleverly disguised as part of the cash machine. Check out the article on Kreb’s site to see images of the more sophisticated deep insert skimmer technology that fraud investigators have recently found in the wild. The insert skimmer pictured is approximately .68 millimeters tall. This leaves more than enough space to accommodate most payment cards (~.54 mm) without interrupting the machine’s ability to grab and return the customer’s card. For comparison, the flexible skimmer is about half the height of a U.S. dime (1.35 mm). These skimmers do not attempt to siphon chip-card data or transactions but are after the cardholder data still stored in plain text on the magnetic stripe on the back of most payment cards issued to Americans.

In Case You Missed It

Cybersecurity and the Metaverse: Virtual and Real Threats – Ray Wyman

Why 5G Needs to Start with Secure Network Access – Rishabh Parmar

Security Platform Vendors vs. Best-of-Breed Approach to Security Architecture – Rajesh Agnihotri

Why Organizations Should Adopt Wi-Fi 6 Now – David Stansfield

Vote for SonicWall in Computing Security Awards 2022 – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Earns 2022 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) Honor – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Capture ATP Earns 100% ICSA Threat Detection Rating for Sixth Straight Quarter – Amber Wolff

Ten Cybersecurity Books for Your Late Summer Reading List – Amber Wolff

CoinDesk TV Covers Cryptojacking with Bill Conner – Bret Fitzgerald

First-Half 2022 Threat Intelligence: Geopolitical Forces Rapidly Reshaping Cyber Frontlines – Amber Wolff

2022 CRN Rising Female Star – Bret Fitzgerald

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

Cybersecurity News & Trends

/0 Comments/in /by

A curated collection of the top stories about cybersecurity news and trends that really matter most.

From Industry News, a new and ominous warning from CISA and the FBI about the vulnerability of U.S. schools to ransomware just as the school year is kicking off; this story has contributions from the SonicWall Threat Report, NPR, and ABC News. Next, the reconstituted Conti members are working under the banner of the group Initial Access Brokers, or IAB; a story with contributions from Dark Reading and The Verge. SpiceWorks reported on a new attack on another ransomware attack on InterContinental Hotels that affected 4,000 guests. ARS Technica reports that a new wave of data-destroying ransomware attacks that are hitting QNAP NAS devices. Fierce Healthcare reports on warnings about “exceptionally aggressive Hive ransomware” activity. Spiceworks is writing about the Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) ecosystem. And Infosecurity offers a comprehensive report on the Ragnar locker ransomware attack that targeted Greece’s natural gas supplier, DESFA.

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

SonicWall News

The Best Defense Is a Good Defense

ComputerWeekly (Spain), SonicWall Byline: In cybersecurity, building the best possible defense also means incorporating some offensive strategies to gain intelligence about attackers and understand how they try to penetrate systems, says SonicWall.

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Ultra-High-Speed Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

AIthority, Threat Report Mention: SonicWall announced the introduction of the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides always-on, always-secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments. Powered by Wi-Fi 6 technology, the new SonicWave 600 series wireless access points, coupled with Wireless Network Manager (WNM) 4.0, enable organizations to automatically secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity.

Uber’s Ex-Security Chief Faces Landmark Trial Over Data Breach That Hit 57m Users

The Guardian, Threat Report Mention: The trial will play out as reports of ransomware attacks continue to rise. In 2021, the US saw a more than 95% increase in ransomware attacks, according to the threat intelligence firm SonicWall. Many of those attackers have targeted healthcare facilities and schools. Hackers targeted the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest school district in the US, with a cyber-attack over Labor Day weekend.

Public Transport Group Go-Ahead Hit by Cyber Attack

Financial Times, Threat Report Mention: There were 2.8bn known malware attacks in the first half of the year, up 11 percent, according to cyber security company SonicWall.

Kansas Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Fox 4 News Kansas City, SonicWall News: SonicWall reports that malware dropped 4% year over year in 2021, with a total of 5.4 billion hits reported by the firm’s devices around the world. The company detected 2.9 billion malware hits on their US sensors in 2021. Florida saw the most malware hits with 625 million in 2021. The state didn’t appear on the latest list, indicating that these attacks can be successfully thwarted by technologies like antivirus software and firewalls.

Our Success Is Based on The Philosophy of Knowledge Building And Sharing

Digital Terminal (India), SonicWall News: Commenting on the increasing cyber incidents, Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional Sales APJ, SonicWall Inc said, “Across the globe, we saw that pandemic while stretched companies’ networks, accelerated their digital transformation, on the downside exposed them to more cybercrime. Cybersecurity has become much more important in today’s times than ever before. The global cyber security market is estimated to record a CAGR of 10.5% over the forecast period of 2022 to 2032.”

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Ultra-High-Speed Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

European Business Magazine, SonicWall News: SonicWall today announced the introduction of the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides always-on, always-secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

Electronic Specifier, SonicWall News: SonicWall has announced the introduction of the Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Ships Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points

Channel Pro Network, SonicWall News: SonicWall has introduced a pair of remotely manageable Wi-Fi 6 access points designed to secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity. The SonicWave 641 and SonicWave 681, part of the vendor’s new SonicWave 600 series, are based on the 802.11ax standard, which according to SonicWall can increase overall wireless throughput by up to 400% compared to Wi-Fi 5 technology and reduce latency by up to 75%.

10 States Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Digital Journal, SonicWall News: Malware attacks—when an intruder tries to install harmful software on the victim’s computer without their knowledge—are a huge problem around the world. Beyond Identity collected data from the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report to rank the top 10 US states that are the most at risk for malware attacks.

Managing Risk: Cloud Security Today

Silicon UK, Bill Conner Quoted: GCHQ advisor and cybersecurity veteran at SonicWall, Bill Conner, commented on the rise in attacks: “We are dealing with an escalating arms race. At the same time, threat actors have gotten better and more efficient in their attacks. They are now leveraging readily available cloud tools to reduce costs and expand their scope in targeting additional attack vectors. The good news is, that the cybersecurity industry has gotten more sophisticated in identifying and stopping new ransomware strains and protecting organizations.”

Norway’s Oil Fund Warns Cybersecurity is Top Concern

The Financial Times, Bill Conner Quoted: Perpetrators can range from private criminal groups to state-backed hackers. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the most active state backers of cyber aggression, according to Bill Conner, executive chairman at SonicWall. “As sanctions go up, the need for money goes up as well,” he said. A cyber security expert who advises a different sovereign wealth fund said the “threat landscape” for such groups was “massive.” “When it comes to ransomware, about half of network intrusions are phishing attempts and the other half are remote access attacks using stolen credentials. You’ve also got insider threats [involving] someone with a USB drive, and sometimes people with access are just bribed,” he added.

Industry News

Big Read: Feds Anticipate A Hard Year of Ransomware Attacks on U.S. Schools This Year

In a new warning, the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stated that ransomware attacks could rise as the school year starts. This warning comes as Los Angeles Times reports that Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) was the victim of ransomware in the first week of September. Initial suspicions were that there had been technical problems, but LAUSD later revealed that the ransomware was criminal and affected its email system and other apps.

Although the attack is concerning, LAUSD expects to continue operating normally over the next few days. In addition, the attack has not affected critical business systems, such as employee healthcare, payroll, safety and emergency mechanisms.

The Mid-Year Update to the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report reports that ransomware attacks on education have increased by 51%. According to NPR, ransomware has infected 26 U.S. school districts (including Los Angeles) and 24 colleges or universities.

ABC News published a joint federal statement that the FBI and CISA anticipate attacks to increase in the 2022/2023 school years, and criminal ransomware organizations perceive opportunities for successful attacks. The statement also acknowledges that smaller school districts are most at risk School districts with limited cybersecurity capabilities or constrained resources are often at risk. However, cybercriminals may still target schools with solid cybersecurity programs. The bulletin states that K-12 institutions could be lucrative targets because of the sensitive student data available through school systems and managed service providers.

Former Conti Ransomware Members Join Group Targeting Ukraine

Dark Reading: Ex-members of the Russia-linked Conti ransomware group are using their tactics to join the group known as the Initial Access Brokers (IAB), which has been targeting Ukraine in a series of phishing attacks that took place over the past four months. Google Threat Analysis Group (TAG), which tracks the activity of a group it identifies as UAC-0098, is now believed to include former members of the ransomware actor.

The group is well-known for sending the IcedID bank Trojan as a prelude to other human-operated ransomware attacks. Additionally, they have targeted Ukrainian government agencies, pro-Ukraine European humanitarian, and non-profit organizations. This activity was designed to provide continued access to such targets’ networks to different ransomware groups, including Quantum, Conti (aka FIN12 and Wizard Spider).

According To The Verge, the group known as UAC-0098 used an IcedID banking Trojan to launch ransomware attacks. However, Google’s security experts say that the group is using its expertise with IAB hackers who first compromise computers and then sell access to other actors interested in the target.

Ransomware Attack on InterContinental Hotels Affects More Than 4,000 Guests

Spiceworks: ICH confirmed the attack in a filing submitted to the London Stock Exchange, where it is listed. The company did not reveal the nature of the attack, which led to some speculation by stakeholders about the exact scope of “unauthorized access” to its technology systems. According to what we know so far, and what cybersecurity experts have reported, this is another ransomware on the hotel (Reuters reports previous attack in 2017). While it is unconfirmed, IHG will likely be in negotiations with the attackers to try to restore access and get their systems back up and running. According to Spiceworks, hospitality was the eighth most targeted sector by ransomware groups between March 2021 and April 2022. According to the analysis by cyber forensics and intelligence company Hudson Rock, 4,053 ICH users and 15 of its 325,000 employees were compromised in the attack.

A New Wave of Ransomware Attacks on QNAP NAS Devices

ARS Technica: QNAP, a network hardware manufacturer, urges customers to update their network-attached storage devices as soon as possible to prevent a new wave of ransomware attacks. These attacks can wipe out terabytes worth of data in a single attack. QNAP, a Singapore-based company, recently stated that it had identified a new campaign by a ransomware group called DeadBolt. QNAP NAS devices, which use a proprietary feature called Photo Station, are targeted by the attacks. Although the advisory advises customers to update their firmware to avoid being exploited, it doesn’t mention a CVE designation security professionals use to identify such vulnerabilities. DeadBolt first appeared in January. Within a few months, Internet security scanning company Censys reported that the ransomware had compromised thousands of QNAP devices. The unusual move of the company was to automatically push the update to all devices even if they had turned off automatic updating. DeadBolt staff also provided instructions on obtaining the decryption keys needed to recover encrypted files and a proposal to QNAP for purchasing a master key that could be passed along to infected clients.

Feds Warn About a Ransomware Threat to Healthcare

Fierce Healthcare: This week, the Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Program alerted healthcare providers about the “exceptionally aggressive Hive ransomware” group. According to the federal agency, although the group is known to have been operating since June 2021, it has been “highly aggressive” in attacking the U.S. healthcare sector. Like many cybercriminals, the financially motivated ransomware group has sophisticated capabilities. For example, it encrypts and steals data. In addition, the Hive Group employs many common ransomware tactics, including the remote desktop protocol, virtual private networks (VPNs), and phishing attacks. According to HHS, some victims are contacted by the ransomware group by phone to negotiate payment.

Ransomware: Unravelling the RaaS Ecosystem

Spiceworks: Ransomware is a constant in the world today, with an increasing number of attacks. As threat actors and ransomware organizations know, ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is being used to its fullest extent. What is the RaaS ecosystem? And what advice can security professionals give to their clients to protect their businesses? It is challenging to keep track of ransomware organizations, their attack methods, and their targets. However, threat intelligence research and information sharing allow us to continue to learn more about these adversaries. The Spiceworks report includes a review of online forums that analyze malware and hacking tools.

Here’s one bit of advice: ransomware groups are often mistakenly viewed as dysfunctional groups of scammers and hackers. On the contrary, they are organized, highly motivated businesses with well-resourced resources. They are diligent in their research and stay on the job long after an exploit is completed. As a result, RaaS and the groups that deploy these services are at the forefront of the most successful attacks in cybersecurity history.

Ragnar Locker Ransomware Targets Energy Sector

Infosecurity: The largest natural gas supplier in Greece, DESFA, announced that it was the victim of a cyber-attack. This attack impacted some of its systems. Ragnar Locker, a hacking group that operates under the pseudonym Ragnar Locker, claimed responsibility for the ransomware attack. It stated it had published more data than 360 GB allegedly stolen from DESFA.

Two weeks after the attack, security experts from Cybereason released a Threat Analysis report detailing the attack’s details. The document states that Ragnar Locker ransomware has been used since December 2019 and is generally targeted at English-speaking users. The FBI has been monitoring Ragnar Locker ransomware since it was discovered that Ragnar Locker had infected more than 50 organizations within ten crucial infrastructure sectors.

Cybereason advises that Ragnar Locker should check the machine’s location immediately after infecting it. The malware is stopped executing if it finds matches with certain countries such as Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus. Cybereason claims Ragnar Locker can check for specific products, including security software such as antivirus, backup solutions, and I.T. remote management solutions. This allows Ragnar Locker to bypass their defenses and prevent detection.

The ransomware attack on DESFA is the second attack on a major pipeline company in recent years, following the Colonial Pipeline attack in May 2021.

In Case You Missed It

Why 5G Needs to Start with Secure Network Access – Rishabh Parmar

Security Platform Vendors vs. Best-of-Breed Approach to Security Architecture – Rajesh Agnihotri

Why Organizations Should Adopt Wi-Fi 6 Now – David Stansfield

Vote for SonicWall in Computing Security Awards 2022 – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Earns 2022 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) Honor – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Capture ATP Earns 100% ICSA Threat Detection Rating for Sixth Straight Quarter – Amber Wolff

Ten Cybersecurity Books for Your Late Summer Reading List – Amber Wolff

CoinDesk TV Covers Cryptojacking with Bill Conner – Bret Fitzgerald

First-Half 2022 Threat Intelligence: Geopolitical Forces Rapidly Reshaping Cyber Frontlines – Amber Wolff

2022 CRN Rising Female Star – Bret Fitzgerald

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

Cybersecurity News & Trends

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Read a curated collection of stories about cybersecurity news and trends that really matter to all of us.

As SonicWall pushes delivery of Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points, the international trade press is celebrating with a steady flow of ink. In the meantime, here’s something a little different for our “Big Read” of Industry News, focusing on rising threats rather than the ones that have already hit. First, thanks to Hacker News and CyberWire, we learned that over 1,800 poorly scripted mobile apps have hard-coded Amazon Web Services credentials, which means that hackers can harvest them! Then from ProPublica and CNET, there’s the story about how the desire to become a social media influencer outweighs common sense cybersecurity safety. This one just blew our minds. And finally, from AP News and Electronic Frontier Foundation, a new tech tool that gives police departments a mass surveillance system ‘on a budget.’ It’s not big news yet, but we’re pretty sure it will be.

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

SonicWall News

Kansas Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Fox 4 News Kansas City, SonicWall News: SonicWall reports that malware dropped 4% year over year in 2021, with a total of 5.4 billion hits reported by the firm’s devices around the world. The company detected 2.9 billion malware hits on their US sensors in 2021. Florida saw the most malware hits with 625 million in 2021. The state didn’t appear on the latest list, indicating that these attacks can be successfully thwarted by technologies like antivirus software and firewalls.

Our Success Is Based on The Philosophy Of Knowledge Building And Sharing

Digital Terminal (India), SonicWall News: Commenting on the increasing cyber incidents, Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional Sales APJ, SonicWall Inc said, “Across the globe, we saw that pandemic while stretched companies’ networks, accelerated their digital transformation, on the downside exposed them to more cybercrime. Cybersecurity has become much more important in today’s times than ever before. The global cyber security market is estimated to record a CAGR of 10.5% over the forecast period of 2022 to 2032.”

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Ultra-High-Speed Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

European Business Magazine, SonicWall News: SonicWall today announced the introduction of the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides always-on, always-secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Boosts Wireless Play with Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

Electronic Specifier, SonicWall News: SonicWall has announced the introduction of the Wi-Fi 6 wireless security product line, which provides secure connectivity for complex, multi-device environments.

SonicWall Ships Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points

Channel Pro Network, SonicWall News: SonicWall has introduced a pair of remotely manageable Wi-Fi 6 access points designed to secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity. The SonicWave 641 and SonicWave 681, part of the vendor’s new SonicWave 600 series, are based on the 802.11ax standard, which according to SonicWall can increase overall wireless throughput by up to 400% compared to Wi-Fi 5 technology and reduce latency by up to 75%.

10 States Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Digital Journal, SonicWall News: Malware attacks—when an intruder tries to install harmful software on the victim’s computer without their knowledge—are a huge problem around the world. Beyond Identity collected data from the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report to rank the top 10 US states that are the most at risk for malware attacks.

Managing Risk: Cloud Security Today

Silicon UK, Bill Conner Quoted: GCHQ advisor and cybersecurity veteran at SonicWall, Bill Conner, commented on the rise in attacks: “We are dealing with an escalating arms race. At the same time, threat actors have gotten better and more efficient in their attacks. They are now leveraging readily available cloud tools to reduce costs and expand their scope in targeting additional attack vectors. The good news is, that the cybersecurity industry has gotten more sophisticated in identifying and stopping new ransomware strains and protecting organizations.”

Norway’s Oil Fund Warns Cybersecurity is Top Concern

The Financial Times, Bill Conner Quoted: Perpetrators can range from private criminal groups to state-backed hackers. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the most active state backers of cyber aggression, according to Bill Conner, executive chairman at SonicWall. “As sanctions go up, the need for money goes up as well,” he said. A cyber security expert who advises a different sovereign wealth fund said the “threat landscape” for such groups was “massive.” “When it comes to ransomware, about half of network intrusions are phishing attempts and the other half are remote access attacks using stolen credentials. You’ve also got insider threats [involving] someone with a USB drive, and sometimes people with access are just bribed,” he added.

How to be Ransomware Ready in Four Steps

Security Boulevard, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: 2021 was a breakout year for ransomware, growing 105% and exceeding 623.3 million attacks, according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report.

SonicWall’s New CEO on M&A, Channel Commitment and the Biggest Cyber Threats

CRN, SonicWall Mention: Bob VanKirk took command of the platform security vendor on Aug. 1, six years after the company’s spin-off from Dell Technologies.

New SonicWall CEO Bob VanKirk on XDR, SASE & Going Upmarket

Information Security Media Group, SonicWall Mention: New CEO Bob VanKirk wants to capitalize on SonicWall’s distributed network technology and strength in the education and state and local government sectors to expand beyond the company’s traditional strength with small and mid-sized businesses and into larger enterprises. VanKirk says the company’s new high-end firewalls and security management capabilities should be a natural fit for larger customers.

Industry News

We have several stories that caught our eye for the week’s big read – all presenting serious threats to cybersecurity.

Over 1,800 Android and iOS Apps Leaking Hard-Coded AWS Credentials

More than 1,800 poorly scripted mobile apps have hard-coded Amazon Web Services credentials. The astounding part of this news is that many of these tokens gave access to millions of private files stored in Amazon S3 storage boxes. Hackers may have already harvested the tokens hidden in the code of the apps. Companies that the app developers created would be the victims, certainly, but so could any related apps.

Hacker News reports that many of these hard-coded access keys may have been accidentally added to apps by developers who thought they were adding trusted components to their code. For example, they may have used a hard-coded key to perform a function but forgot to limit the time it was active for security reasons. Half of the apps used the same AWS tokens as other apps by developers or companies. This highlights a severe supply chain problem with profound implications.

CyberWire adds that of the 1,800 apps identified in the breach, 98% were iOS apps. Additionally, 77% contained valid AWS tokens that allow access to AWS cloud services, and 47% included tokens that gave access to multiple files via the Amazon Simple Storage Service. Interestingly, over half of the AWS tokens discovered were used in other apps, even from differing developers and companies, and were traced to shared components within apps.

How The Desire to Influence Outweighs Common Sense Cybersecurity Safety

ProPublica published a detailed story about a scheme that netted several high-profile social media influencers – all in a plot to capture the all-important “blue check” which verifies the individual is whom they say they are. In one particularly sordid case involving Instagram and an influencer physician, medical patients were abused and had, in turn, launched an unrelated class-action lawsuit against him. But the focus is on how the physician received his “blue check mark.” Apparently, he devised a process to trick Meta (the owner of Instagram and Facebook), then went on to use the same scheme to verify hundreds of other accounts, including jewelers, crypto entrepreneurs, OnlyFans models and reality show TV stars.

While the dust settles on that event, now it appears that Instagram users are being suckered into giving away their passwords and personal information. How? They are falling for successor phishing offers to verify their profile with a fake blue checkmark badge process. The victim thinks the offer comes from Instagram and clicks a link to fill in the attached form.

CNET reports that researchers say the campaign begins with an email that is very easy to spot for grammatical errors and bad formatting. The fact is, Meta never reaches out to contact users for creating a blue badge. But that doesn’t sway people. The scam is so successful simply because the desire to appear influential is so powerful.

Data Tool Offers Police Mass Surveillance ‘On-a-Budget’

We noticed that a lot of bloggers picked this story up and thought we’d also go directly to the source because it was so remarkable. According Associated Press, about 24 US police departments are now using a data tool that takes derivative cellphone data to keep track of the movements of suspects. Police don’t need a search warrant to access location data. The data is collected by mobile apps such as Waze, Starbucks, and other companies which is then sold to a company named Fog Data Science.

This company harvests the advertising ID tags that are placed on individuals’ smartphones by the mobile applications they downloaded. Note that the advertising ID tag differs from the ID numbers that’s assigned to each phone by the cellphone carrier. The implication, since people don’t have to install apps on their phones, they’ve given permission to be tracked by a third-party who sells their data through an open user agreement. So, the big question is how this process affects state and federal privacy laws. While the idea seems like a cost-saving boon for cash-strapped police departments, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has also reported on this issue, noting that while the so-called derivative advertising identification data that police scan does not produce users’ names or addresses, such data can be cross correlated by following the data to a workplace or residential address. This is definitely a case to watch.

In Case You Missed It

Security Platform Vendors vs. Best-of-Breed Approach to Security Architecture – Rajesh Agnihotri

Why Organizations Should Adopt Wi-Fi 6 Now – David Stansfield

Vote for SonicWall in Computing Security Awards 2022 – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Earns 2022 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) Honor – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Capture ATP Earns 100% ICSA Threat Detection Rating for Sixth Straight Quarter – Amber Wolff

Ten Cybersecurity Books for Your Late Summer Reading List – Amber Wolff

CoinDesk TV Covers Cryptojacking with Bill Conner – Bret Fitzgerald

First-Half 2022 Threat Intelligence: Geopolitical Forces Rapidly Reshaping Cyber Frontlines – Amber Wolff

2022 CRN Rising Female Star – Bret Fitzgerald

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

Cybersecurity News & Trends

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Here’s your summary of curated cybersecurity news and trends from leading media and IT security bloggers.

The mid-year update to the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report continues to garner press hits while other SonicWall news (delivery of Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points) rises to the top of the cycle. Industry News was shaken up with the discovery that Microsoft’s multi-factor authentication was hacked by a Russian group called Nobelium. The MFA hack is our Big Read for the week with sources from Microsoft, ZDNet, TechRadar, and Bleeping Computer. In other news, from Hacker News, SMS-based phishing attacks against employees at Twilio, Cloudflare and other companies were part of an extensive smartphone attack campaign. From TechMonitor, the LockBit ransomware group was targeted with a DDoS attack after they released hacked Entrust data. And according to Bleeping Computer, hackers use a zero-day bug to steal more crypto from Bitcoin ATMs.

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

SonicWall News

SonicWall Ships Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Access Points

Channel Pro Network, SonicWall News: SonicWall has introduced a pair of remotely manageable Wi-Fi 6 access points designed to secure wireless traffic while boosting performance and simplifying connectivity. The SonicWave 641 and SonicWave 681, part of the vendor’s new SonicWave 600 series, are based on the 802.11ax standard, which according to SonicWall can increase overall wireless throughput by up to 400% compared to Wi-Fi 5 technology and reduce latency by up to 75%.

10 States Most at Risk for Malware Attacks

Digital Journal, SonicWall News: Malware attacks—when an intruder tries to install harmful software on the victim’s computer without their knowledge—are a huge problem around the world. Beyond Identity collected data from the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report to rank the top 10 US states that are the most at risk for malware attacks.

Managing Risk: Cloud Security Today

Silicon UK, Bill Conner Quoted: GCHQ advisor and cybersecurity veteran at SonicWall, Bill Conner, commented on the rise in attacks: “We are dealing with an escalating arms race. At the same time, threat actors have gotten better and more efficient in their attacks. They are now leveraging readily available cloud tools to reduce costs and expand their scope in targeting additional attack vectors. The good news is, that the cybersecurity industry has gotten more sophisticated in identifying and stopping new ransomware strains and protecting organizations.”

Norway’s Oil Fund Warns Cybersecurity is Top Concern

The Financial Times, Bill Conner Quoted: Perpetrators can range from private criminal groups to state-backed hackers. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the most active state backers of cyber aggression, according to Bill Conner, executive chairman at SonicWall. “As sanctions go up, the need for money goes up as well,” he said. A cyber security expert who advises a different sovereign wealth fund said the “threat landscape” for such groups was “massive.” “When it comes to ransomware, about half of network intrusions are phishing attempts and the other half are remote access attacks using stolen credentials. You’ve also got insider threats [involving] someone with a USB drive, and sometimes people with access are just bribed,” he added.

How to be Ransomware Ready in Four Steps

Security Boulevard, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: 2021 was a breakout year for ransomware, growing 105% and exceeding 623.3 million attacks, according to SonicWall’s 2022 Cyber Threat Report.

SonicWall’s New CEO on M&A, Channel Commitment and the Biggest Cyber Threats

CRN, SonicWall Mention: Bob VanKirk took command of the platform security vendor on Aug. 1, six years after the company’s spin-off from Dell Technologies.

New SonicWall CEO Bob VanKirk on XDR, SASE & Going Upmarket

Information Security Media Group, SonicWall Mention: New CEO Bob VanKirk wants to capitalize on SonicWall’s distributed network technology and strength in the education and state and local government sectors to expand beyond the company’s traditional strength with small and mid-sized businesses and into larger enterprises. VanKirk says the company’s new high-end firewalls and security management capabilities should be a natural fit for larger customers.

Basingstoke’s Racing Reverend ready for Silverstone Classic

Basingstoke Gazette, SonicWall Mention: Simons Le Mans Cup program is supported by a number of companies including Asset Advantage, SonicWall and The Escape.

Is the drop in ransomware numbers an illusion?

The Washington Post, SonicWall Threat Report Mention: Also in July, SonicWall, NCC Group and GuidePoint Security pointed to decreases across the board, although the companies covered various time periods.

SonicWall Capture ATP Receives 100% ICSA Rating for Threat Detection Again

InfoPointSecurity (Germany), SonicWall News: SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) has once again achieved 100% threat detection at ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense certification for the second quarter of 2022 – for the sixth time in a row.

How will the crypto crash affect ransomware attacks and payments?

SC Magazine, Threat Report: Ransomware attacks dropped 23% globally from January to June, according to U.S. cybersecurity firm SonicWall’s 2022 mid-year cyber threat report. Though this time period overlaps with crypto’s bear market, many experts emphasize that the political conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the biggest factor in ransomware’s decline.

Industry News

Big Read: Attackers are Circumventing Microsoft’s Multi-Factor Authentication

Various Source: According to ZDNet, TechRadar, Bleeping Computer, Microsoft recently discovered that a Russian-based threat group called Nobelium could gain access to systems and bypass multifactor authentication. Microsoft is asking Windows administrators limit and restrict access to Active Directory servers.

The attackers can gain administrative rights to Active Directory Federated Services servers using a tool called MagicWeb. They replace a legitimate DLL file with one of theirs. This tool allows Active Directory authentication tokens to be modified, which allows hackers to log in as any user to bypass multifactor authentication. Hackers have long sought administrative access to servers and domain controllers like Active Directory. These must be isolated and accessible only to designated admin accounts. They also need to be regularly monitored for changes. It is important to keep servers updated with the most recent security updates and take steps to prevent attackers from lateral movement.

According to Bleeping Computer, the campaign started June 2022 when analysts noticed a spike in phishing attempts against specific business sectors (ex: credit unions) and users of Microsoft email services.

TechRadar adds that the source of the vulnerability is still Log4Shell, which was one of the largest and potentially most devastating vulnerabilities to ever be discovered. The flaw is still being leveraged by threat actors more than half a year after it was first observed and patched. Attackers used the flaw on SysAid applications, which is a relatively novel approach according to analysts, noting that while other hacks use Log4j 2 exploits with vulnerable VMware apps, using SysAid apps as a vector for initial access is new.

ZDNet reports that if there’s no additional verification around the MFA enrollment process, anyone who knows the username and password of an account can apply multi-factor authentication to it, so long as they are the first person to do so – and hackers are using this to gain access to accounts. In one instance, attackers attributed to APT29 gained access to a list of undisclosed mailboxes they obtained through unknown means and successfully managed to guess the password of an account that had been set up, but never used.

Twilio Suffers Cybersecurity Breach After Employees Fall Victim to SMS Phishing Attack

Hacker News: Customer engagement platform Twilio on Monday disclosed that a “sophisticated” threat actor gained “unauthorized access” using an SMS-based phishing campaign aimed at its staff to gain information on a “limited number” of accounts.

The SMS phishing attacks were also directed against employees at Cloudflare, and other companies were part of an extensive smartphone attack campaign. Reports say that almost 10,000 people have fallen into the scheme to steal their credentials. They were mainly in the United States. Three of the targeted companies were in Canada. Most organizations use Okta’s access and identity management software. They received texts containing links to fake websites that mimicked Okta’s authentication page. The hackers obtained their usernames, passwords, and login credentials when they logged into the system. It is still not clear how the hackers got a list with targets and mobile phone numbers. Two critical lessons from this incident: One is that administrators must continually remind users/employees about the dangers of logging in from links in emails and text messages, and two is that companies must recognize the risk of continual use of SMS-based multifactor authentication.

The social-engineering attack was bent on stealing employee credentials, the company said, calling the as-yet-unidentified adversary “well-organized” and “methodical in their actions.” The incident came to light on August 4.

LockBit Ransomware Group Targeted with DDoS Attack After Entrust Data Leak

TechMonitor: Ransomware gang LockBit says it has been hit with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which appears to have knocked its leak site offline. The attack comes after the gang claimed responsibility for a hack on security giant Entrust earlier this year. The DDoS attack on LockBit’s darkweb server, which hosts leaks from companies the gang has attacked, began yesterday, and according to analysts, the gang has been receiving 400 requests a second from over 1,000 servers.

Hackers Steal Crypto from Bitcoin ATMs by Exploiting Zero-Day Bug

Bleeping Computer: Hackers have exploited a zero-day vulnerability in General Bytes Bitcoin ATM servers to steal cryptocurrency from customers. When customers would deposit or purchase cryptocurrency via the ATM, the funds would instead be siphoned off by the hackers. General Bytes is the manufacturer of Bitcoin ATMs that, depending on the product, allow people to purchase or sell over 40 different cryptocurrencies. The Bitcoin ATMs are controlled by a remote Crypto Application Server (CAS), which manages the ATM’s operation, what cryptocurrencies are supported, and executes the purchases and sales of cryptocurrency on exchanges.

In Case You Missed It

Why Organizations Should Adopt Wi-Fi 6 Now – David Stansfield

Vote for SonicWall in Computing Security Awards 2022 – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Earns 2022 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC) Honor – Bret Fitzgerald

SonicWall Capture ATP Earns 100% ICSA Threat Detection Rating for Sixth Straight Quarter – Amber Wolff

Ten Cybersecurity Books for Your Late Summer Reading List – Amber Wolff

CoinDesk TV Covers Cryptojacking with Bill Conner – Bret Fitzgerald

First-Half 2022 Threat Intelligence: Geopolitical Forces Rapidly Reshaping Cyber Frontlines – Amber Wolff

2022 CRN Rising Female Star – Bret Fitzgerald

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

Ransomware is Everywhere

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There’s no question that ransomware is on the rise. In the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers reported 623.3 million ransomware attacks globally, a 105% year-over-year increase. And many industries saw triple- and even quadruple-digit spikes, such as government (+1,885%), healthcare (+755%) and education (+152%).

If your organization hasn’t yet dealt with an attack like this, however, it’s easy to see ransomware as an unusual and far-off problem. While this may have been true 10 years ago, today ransomware touches every facet of our lives.

To illustrate both the pervasiveness of ransomware, as well as its ability to disrupt the lives of an average person, we’ve constructed an average day that any business traveler might experience:

At 7 a.m., the alarm on your Apple iPhone jolts you awake to start another day. You suds up with some Avon body wash, pull on your Guess slacks and a Boggi Milano blazer, and grab your Kenneth Cole briefcase before heading out the door.

Once inside your Honda Passport, you tune in to your favorite sports podcast, where they’re recapping last night’s San Francisco 49ers game. You become so immersed in the discussion you almost forget to stop for fuel — you grab a Coke while you’re there, just in case you’re waiting a while for your flight.

Once you get to the airport, you check in, then look for a quiet place to get some work done. Fortunately, at this point the lounge is deserted. You dig out your Bose earbuds and stream some Radiohead from your laptop while you wait for boarding.

Your flight is uneventful, and the crowds at Hartsfield-Jackson International are almost as sparse as the ones at Cleveland Hopkins International. But unfortunately, you’re completely famished by this point. There’s a McDonalds on Concourse A, and you order a cheeseburger.

The evening is young and you consider going out, but it’s been a long day. On your way to check in at the Ritz Carlton, you decide to stop at a Barnes and Noble. You grab a graphic novel and treat yourself to a box of SweeTarts to enjoy during your quiet night in.

According to the cable listings, there’s an NBA game on TV, but it doesn’t start until 9 p.m. — giving you a few minutes to log in to Kronos and get a head start on expense reports. With a full day of meetings ahead of you, you enjoy a hot shower, pull on your pajamas and slippers, and head off to bed.

While the number of organizations affected by ransomware grows every day, yours doesn’t have to be one of them. Part of avoiding ransomware is knowing how ransomware groups operate, what industries they target and where they’re likely to hit next. For a comprehensive look at SonicWall’s exclusive ransomware data for the past year, download the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.

2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report: Unmasking Threats That Target Enterprises, Governments & SMBs

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The launch of the annual SonicWall Cyber Threat Report always reminds us why we’re in this business.

Our engineers and threat researchers dedicate months to the project in order to shed light on how people, businesses and organizations online are affected by cybercrime.

What they found is telling. Across the board, cyberattacks are up. Criminals aren’t relenting. Hackers and nefarious groups are pushing attacks to greater levels of volume and sophistication. And the 2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report outlines how they’re doing it and at what scale.

To understand the fast-changing cyber arms race, download the complimentary 2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. The unification, analysis and visualization of cyber threats will empower you and your organization to fight back with more authority, determination and veracity than ever before. So, let’s take a look at what’s included.

Malware Volume Still Climbing

In 2016, the industry witnessed a decline in malware volume. Since then, malware attacks have increased 33.4 percent. Globally, SonicWall recorded 10.52 billion malware attacks in 2018 — the most ever logged by the company.

UK, India Harden Against Ransomware

SonicWall Capture Lab threat researchers found that ransomware was up in just about every geographic region but two: the U.K. and India. The report outlines where ransomware volume shifted, and which regions were impacted most by the change.

Dangerous Memory Threats, Side-Channel Attacks Identified Early

The report explores how SonicWall Real-Time Deep Memory InspectionTM (RTDMI) mitigates dangerous side-channel attacks utilizing patent-pending technology. Side-channels are the fundamental vehicle used to exploit and exfiltrate data from processor vulnerabilities, such as Foreshadow, PortSmash, Meltdown, Spectre and Spoiler.

Malicious PDFs & Office Files Beating Legacy Security Controls

Cybercriminals are weaponizing PDFs and Office documents to help malware circumvent traditional firewalls and even some modern day network defenses. SonicWall reports how this change is affecting traditional malware delivery.

Attacks Against Non-Standard Ports

Ports 80 and 443 are standard ports for web traffic, so they are where many firewalls focus their protection. In response, cybercriminals are targeting a range of non-standard ports to ensure their payloads can be deployed undetected in a target environment. The problem? Organizations aren’t safeguarding this vector, leaving attacks unchecked.

IoT Attacks Escalating

There’s a deluge of Internet of Things (IOT) devices rushed to market without proper security controls. In fact, SonicWall found a 217.5 percent year-over-year increase in the number of IoT attacks.

Encrypted Attacks Growing Steady

The growth in encrypted traffic is coinciding with more attacks being cloaked by TLS/SSL encryption. More than 2.8 million attacks were encrypted in 2018, a 27 percent increase over 2017.

The Rise & Fall of Cryptojacking

In 2018, cryptojacking diminished nearly as fast is it appeared. SonicWall recorded tens of millions of cryptojacking attacks globally between April and December. The volume peaked in September, but has been on a steady decline since. Was cryptojacking a fad or is more on the way?

Global Phishing Volume Down, Attacks More Targeted

As businesses get better at blocking email attacks and ensuring employees can spot and delete suspicious emails, attackers are shifting tactics. They’re reducing overall attack volume and launching more targeted phishing campaigns. In 2018, SonicWall recorded 26 million phishing attacks worldwide, a 4.1 percent drop from 2017.

2018 Holiday Cyber Threat Data: Final Analysis Shows Big Ransomware Spikes in US, UK

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It’s no secret that consumers flock to online retailers during the holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

Last month, SonicWall provided deep cyber threat data for the nine-day window that included Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the U.S. Over this specific period, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers found that SonicWall customers faced 91 million malware attacks (34 percent decrease over 2017) and 889,933 ransomware attacks (432 percent increase over 2017).

But cyberattacks are hardly static. And they definitely don’t cease once Cyber Monday comes and goes. For this reason, SonicWall collected and analyzed threat data from the full December holiday shopping season to complement its Cyber Week threat analysis.

In the U.S., ransomware and phishing volume more than doubled compared to 2017, while malware was slightly down. In December alone, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers recorded:

  • 2.7 million ransomware attacks (up 177 percent)
  • 276.4 million malware attacks (down 27 percent from 2017)
  • 797,607 phishing attacks (up 116 percent)

In the U.K., ransomware spiked four-fold while malware and phishing attacks were relatively flat. For December, SonicWall Capture Labs logged:

  • 527,734 ransomware attacks (up 432 percent)
  • 52.1 million malware attacks (down 2 percent from 2017
  • 30,740 phishing attacks (no increase over 2017)

SonicWall will soon publish additional global December cyber threat data across all attack types, including encrypted threats, intrusion attempts and web application attacks.

Real-Time Threat Intelligence with SonicWall Capture Security Center

SonicWall cyber threat intelligence is available in the SonicWall Capture Security Center, which provides a graphical view of the worldwide attacks over the last 24 hours, countries being attacked and geographic attack origins.

The SonicWall Capture Security Center provides actionable cyber threat intelligence to help organizations identify the types of attacks they need to be concerned about so they can design and test their security posture ensure their networks, data, applications and customers are properly protected.

Exclusive Video: SonicWall CEO Bill Conner & CTO John Gmuender

SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner and CTO John Gmuender walk you through the current cyber threat landscape, explore the importance of automated real-time breach detection and prevention, and address how to mitigate today’s most modern cyberattacks.

How MSSPs & Artificial Intelligence Can Mitigate Zero-Day Threats

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So, here’s the problem: unknown zero-day threats are just that — unknown. You have no way (besides historical experience) to predict the next vulnerability avenue that will be exploited. You, therefore, don’t know what will need patching or what extra security layer needs injecting. This ultimately leads to a forecast-costing dilemma as you cannot predict the man hours involved.

The other quandary faced when tackling complex targeted zero days is the skills gap. Staffing a security operations center (SOC) with highly skilled cybersecurity professionals comes at a cost and only becomes profitable with economies of scale that a large customer base brings.

Coupled with the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals in the open market, how can you get your SOC off the ground? Could artificial intelligence (AI) level the playing field?

Machine Learning Reality Check

Machine learning and behavioral analytics continue to grow and become synonymous with zero-day threat protection. Is this all hype or is it the new reality? The truth is, it is both.

There is a lot of hype, but for good reason: AI works. Big data is needed to see the behaviors and therein the anomalies or outright nefarious activities that human oversight would mostly fail to catch. Delivered as a layered security approach, AI is the only way to truly protect against modern cyber warfare, but not all AI is deterministic and herein lies the hidden cost to your bottom line.

AI-based analysis tools that provide forensics are very powerful, but the horse has bolted by the time they are used. This approach is akin to intrusion detection systems (IDS) versus intrusion prevention systems (IPS). The former are great for retrospective audits, but what is the cleanup cost? This usage of behavioral analysis AI solely for detection is not MSSP-friendly. What you need is automated, real-time breach detection and prevention. Prevention is key.

So, how do you create an effective prevention technology? You need security layers that filter the malware noise, so each can be more efficient at its detection and prevention function than the last. That means signature-based solutions are still necessary. In fact, they are as important as ever as one of the first layers of defense in your arsenal (content filtering comes in at the top spot).

By SonicWall metrics, the ever-growing bombardment of attacks the average network faces stands at 1,200-plus per day (check out the mid-year update to the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report for more details).

When you do the math, it’s easy to see that with millions of active firewalls, it’s not practical to perform deep analysis on every payload. For the best results, you must efficiently fingerprint and filter everything that has gone before.

Aren’t All Sandboxes Basically the Same?

Only by understanding the behavior of the application and watching what it’s attempting to do, can you uncover malicious intent and criminal action. The best environment to do this is a sandbox, but no SOC manpower in the world could accomplish this with humans at scale. In order to be effective, you must turn to AI.

AI understands the big data coming from behavioral analysis. It can adapt the discovery approach to uncover threats that try to hide and, once determined as malicious, can fingerprint the payload via signature, turning a zero day into a known threat. It is the speed of propagation of this new, known signature to the protection appliances participating in the mesh protection network that drives the efficiencies to discover more threats.

Also, it’s the size of the mesh network catchment area that allows you the largest overall service area of attaches, which helps your AI quickly learn from the largest sample data set.

Luckily, SonicWall has you covered on all these fronts. With more than 1 million sensors deployed across 215 territories and countries, SonicWall has one of the largest global footprint of active firewalls. Plus, the cloud-based, multi-engine SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) sandbox service discovers and stops unknown, zero-day attacks, such as ransomware, at the gateway with automated remediation.

Our recent introduction of the patent-pending Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMITM) technology, which inspects memory in real time, can detect and prevent chip vulnerability attaches such as Spectre, Meltdown and Foreshadow. It’s included with every Capture ATP activation.

At SonicWall, the mantra of automated, real-time breach detection and prevention is fundamental to our security portfolio. It is how our partners drive predictable operational expenditures in the most challenging security environments. Only via connected solutions, utilizing shared intelligence, can you protect against all cyber threat vectors.

A version of this story originally appeared on MSSP Alert and was republished with permission.

How Everyone Can Implement SSL Decryption & Inspection

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Since 2011, when Google announced it was switching to Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) by default, there has been a rapid increase in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) sessions.

Initially, SSL sessions were reserved for only important traffic, where personal, financial or sensitive data was transferred. Now, it seems we can’t receive news or perform a simple search without an encrypted session.

In 2014 and 2015, SSL sessions accounted for about 52 percent of internet traffic. As cloud adoption grew, so did the SSL sessions. By 2017, SSL accounted for 68 percent of all internet traffic. Currently, SonicWall has seen encrypted traffic at almost 70 percent of the total traffic on the internet.

Secure sessions demonstrate that internet users are understanding and embracing session security and privacy. Unfortunately, as SSL sessions have increased, so have encrypted attacks. So far in 2018, SonicWall has seen a 275 percent increase of encrypted attacks since 2017. You find more numbers in the mid-year update of the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.

What is DPI-SSL?

The modern cyber threat landscape requires a defense-in-depth posture, which includes SSL decryption capabilities to help organizations proactively use deep packet inspection of SSL (DPI-SSL) to block encrypted attacks.

However, even firewall vendors that claim to offer SSL decryption and inspection may not have the processing power to handle the volume of SSL traffic moving across a network today.

DPI-SSL extends SonicWall’s Deep Packet Inspection technology to inspect encrypted HTTPS and SSL/TLS traffic. The traffic is decrypted transparently, scanned for threats, re-encrypted and sent along to its destination if no threats or vulnerabilities are found.

Available on all SonicWall next-generation firewalls (Generation 6 or newer), DPI-SSL technology provides additional security, application control, and data leakage prevention for analyzing encrypted HTTPS and other SSL-based traffic.

It is important to have a secure and simple setup that minimizes configuration overhead and complexity. There are two primary paths for implementing DPI-SSL.

Option 1: Remote Implementation

Enabling DPI-SSL can sometimes be complex. Diverse sites and programs use certificates differently, some of which may be affected by DPI-SSL capabilities.

To confirm you have DPI-SSL implemented properly, leverage the SonicWall DPI-SSL Remote Implementation Service to ensure seamless and effective implementation of SonicWall DPI-SSL services.

The Remote Implementation Service for SonicWall DPI-SSL deploys and integrates the product into your environment within 10 business days. This service is delivered by Advanced Services Partners who have completed training and demonstrated expertise in DPI-SSL implementation and configuration.

Option 2: Leverage Easy-to-Use Guidance

For those considering in-house implementation, SonicWall also provides a number of knowledge base (KB) articles and resources that walk you through the DPI-SSL implementation process. Some of the most popular include:

These KBs, and others found within SonicWall’s support section or through the DPI-SSL Remote Implementation Service, ensure every type of user or organization has the resources  to properly activate DPI-SSL within their infrastructure to mitigate encrypted cyberattacks.

For additional guidance, watch “Initial DPI-SSL Configuration,” a popular SonicWall Firewall Series Tutorial.

DPI-SSL Adoption

Thankfully, SonicWall is witnessing gradual adoption of DPI-SSL add-on services. To best protect your environment, pair DPI-SSL capabilities with the Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) cloud sandbox, Gateway Antivirus, Content Filtering and Intrusion Protection Services (IPS). All available in the SonicWall Advanced Gateway Security Suite, which delivers everything you need to protect your network from advanced cyberattacks.

Combine these services with a trusted and secure end-point protection software, such as SonicWall Capture Client, and you can provide a robust security posture that can protect devices — even when they are not behind your firewall.

July 2018 Cyber Threat Intelligence: Malware, Ransomware Attack Volume Still Climbing

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Just a month removed from the mid-year update to the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, the cyber threat landscape continues its volatile pace.

Analyzing the team’s most recent data, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers are recording year-to-date increases for global malware, ransomware, TLS/SSL encrypted attacks and intrusion attempts.

In addition, the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection sandbox, with Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMITM), discovered an average of 1,413 new malware variants per day in July.

Globally, the SonicWall Capture Threat Network, which includes more than 1 million sensors across the world, recorded the following 2018 year-to-date attack data through July 2018:

  • 6,904,296,364 malware attacks (88 percent increase from 2017)
  • 2,216,944,063,598 intrusion attempts (59 percent increase)
  • 215,722,623 ransomware attacks (187 percent increase)
  • 1,730,987 encrypted threats (80 percent increase)

In July 2018 alone, the average SonicWall customer faced:

  • 2,164 malware attacks (28 percent increase from July 2017)
  • 81 ransomware attacks (43 percent increase)
  • 143 encrypted threats
  • 13 phishing attacks each day
  • 1,413 new malware variants discovered by Capture ATP with RTDMI each day

The SonicWall Capture Security Center displays a 70 percent year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks.

SonicWall cyber threat intelligence is available in the SonicWall Security Center, which provides a graphical view of the worldwide attacks over the last 24 hours, countries being attacked and geographic attack origins. This view illustrates the pace and speed of the cyber arms race.

The resource provides actionable cyber threat intelligence to help organizations identify the types of attacks they need to be concerned about so they can design and test their security posture ensure their networks, data, applications and customers are properly protected.

 

Get the Mid-Year Update

Dive into the latest cybersecurity trends and threat intelligence from SonicWall Capture Labs. The mid-year update to the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report explores how quickly the cyber threat landscape has evolved in just a few months.

GET THE UPDATE