Cyber Bites

A study carried out by cyber security specialist Venafi has confirmed existing fears that in most cases of paying the ransom, extortion simply continues. Key findings include: 18% of victims who paid the ransom still had their data exposed on the dark web. 8% refused to pay the ransom, and the attackers tried to extort their customers. 35% of victims paid the ransom but were still unable to retrieve their data. 83% of all successful...

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has provided the UK construction industry with a guidance document titled Cyber security for construction businesses. The document provided practical, tailored advice for construction firms on protecting their businesses and building projects from cyber-attackers. It provides practical, tailored advice for construction firms on how to defend against common attack vectors such as spear-phishing, ransomware and supply chain attacks. The NCSC partnered with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) to...

The European Union's newly formed Cyber Rapid-Response Team (CRRT) has been deployed to Ukraine to aid in combat against Russian threat actors. In a tweet yesterday, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence confirmed the CRRT is to be deployed at the request of the Ukrainian government. Lithuania will sit at the head of a coalition of six EU countries including Poland, Estonia, Croatia, Romania, and the Netherlands with the goal of "helping Ukrainian institutions to cope...

A new report from Dragos suggests that the industrial sector has become a common target for both financially motivated and state sponsored attacks. Ransomware groups known as LockBit and Conti have been most active in targeting organisations with and Industrial Control System (ICS)/Operational Technology (OT) environment in 2021. Researchers noted that the manufacturing vertical was such a common target because "the sector is often the least mature in their OT security defenses.”

Cybercriminals have put most of their time into breaking supply chains over the last year. The manufacturing sector has emerged as a top target. IBM's annual X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, a report based on threat data and security incidents over 2021, suggests that businesses are being "imprisoned" by criminals exploiting vulnerabilities and deploying ransomware. Researchers for the tech giant say that phishing is still the most used attack vector. However, there has also been a 33%...

The UK’s Secretary of State for Defence has reportedly warned Russia that they will retaliate with cyber attacks if the Kremlin targets British networks. The House of Commons statement from Ben Wallace follows President Putin's order to Russian troops to invade the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. “I’m a soldier – I was always taught the best part of defence is offense,” Wallace is reported to have said in the Commons. The statement comes...

The Ukrainian cyberpolice have arrested five individuals who stole credit card data from at least 70,000 people. The group of phishing actors lured people to fake mobile top up service sites. According to law enforcement, the actors used the stolen information to empty their victims' bank accounts. The phishing operation relied on marketing and advertising services to increase visibility on search engines and social media platforms. They achieved this because internet platforms don't have a...

US taxpayers signing up for an online account now have the option of a live interview to verify their identity instead of using ID.me facial recognition. Following discomfort surrounding their collection of biometric data, the IRS has offered the interviews as a short term solution for this year's filing system. The agency previously required taxpayers to authenticate their identity by providing a selfie. Following an $86 million contract  with ID.me, the IRS used their software to...

A French father attempting to use a signal jammer to prevent his children from accessing the internet accidentally knocked out an entire town's internet connection. A complaint was sent to the French Agence Nationale des Fréquences, who are responsible for managing radio frequencies in the country received an unusual complaint (translated) from a mobile phone operator. Strange signal drops impacting the telephone and internet services of residents in the French town of Messanges were detected by...

According to BleepingComputer, Element Vape, a major online vendor of e-cigarettes and vaping kits is serving a credit card skimmer on its live site, presumably after being hacked. The company sells e-cigarettes, vaping equipment, e-liquids and CBD products and has significant presence across the US and Canada. Element Vape's website is hosting a malicious JavaScript file from a third party website, appearing to contain a credit card skimmer. It is currently unknown how long the...