CyberWire Daily

In today’s podcast, we hear that the US House would like some more information from DHS about what prompted its emergency directive about DNS hijacking. More skepticism about Huawei from various governments. A British think tank has been hacked—observers think Russia’s GRU is good for it, but Russia says no, hey, it was Anonymous, and they did a good job. Exposed database leaves financial informat...

In today’s podcast, we hear that Emergency Directive 19-01 has told US Federal civilian agencies to take steps to stop an ongoing DNS-hijacking campaign. The US National Intelligence Strategy is out, and it prominently features cyber as a “topical mission objective.” France says that war has begun in cyberspace, and that the enemy should be en garde. British barristers scramble to restore secure e...

In today’s podcast, we hear that the WordPress Multilingual Plugin was compromised by a disgruntled ex-employee. Stealthy DDoS might escape notice. Anubis droppers wait for the phone to move before executing. EU works against influence in its May elections. France fines Google for lack of transparency under GDPR. Facebook may face FTC action. And more emerges on the curious case of the American/Ca...

Researchers from Netscout's ASERT team have been making use of honeypots to gather information on rapidly evolving IoT botnets that take advantage of default usernames and passwords to gain access and take control of unprotected devices. Matt Bing is a security research analyst with Netscout, and he guides us through their findings. The original research can be found here: https://asert.arbornetwo...

In today’s podcast we hear that Collection #1 is big but not the end-of-the-world. Still, be on the lookout for credential stuffing attacks. Rocke cryptojacker can disable some cloud security services. Beware of Telegram bots. Facebook shuts down a few hundred inauthentic Russian pages, and Sputnik shows up as either a free-speech paladin or another troll farm—take your pick. Epic Games closes a v...

In today’s podcast, we hear that South Korea’s Defense Ministry has disclosed a cyber espionage incident. Fancy Bear sticks to its old tricks with Lojax. The US Justice Department is rumored not to be done with Huawei—this time an IP theft beef is believed to be coming. A big database exposure case in Oklahoma. And an update on yesterday's bogus Washington Post edition: it was a prank by the Yes M...

In today’s podcast, we hear that the SEC and the Department of Justice are going after EDGAR hackers for securities fraud. Flashpoint sees the Lazarus Group in an attack on Chile’s Redbanc. Recorded Future shares notes on Iran’s Ashiyane Forum. Crytpomix ransomware is being distributed by fraudulent charitable appeals. Organized gangs are using Fortnite in-game currency for money laundering. A sli...

In today’s podcast, we hear that a bug hunter has found and responsibly disclosed issues in web hosts. Compromising Passenger Name Records in airline reservations. Business email compromise seems on the rise, and it’s also growing a bit more interactive. A Facebook executive is swatted, and absolutely nobody should dismiss this sort of thing as a joke. China would like everyone to stop saying bad...

In today’s podcast, we hear that Huawei has fired the sales manager arrested for espionage in Poland, and says that if he was spying, he was freelancing. Ryuk ransomware now looks more like a criminal than a state-sponsored operation. And its “big-game hunting” has pulled in almost four million dollars since August. Access control system zero-days found. And a lawsuit is likely to set some precede...

Researchers at RiskIQ have been tracking a series of web-based credit card skimmers known as Magecart. We take a closer look at attacks on Ticketmaster, British Airways, NewEgg and Shopper Approved payment card pages.  Yonathan Klijnsma is lead of threat research at RiskIQ, and he guides us through what they've learned. Links to RiskIQ research: https://www.riskiq.com/blog/labs/magecart-ticketmast...

In today’s podcast, we hear that FireEye has called out Iran “with moderate confidence” for a long-running DNS-hijacking campaign. Smart doorbells may not be smart enough for their users’ comfort, if reports of video sharing are to be credited. Crooks are finding Fuze cards as handy as good-guy consumers do. Poland makes two arrests in an espionage case linked to Huawei. And the Russian media are...

In today’s podcast, we hear that Proofpoint researchers are tracking the latest developments from the unusually diligent cyber criminals fo TA505. ISIS turns to newer, less closely monitored and moderated apps as it’s pushed out of larger social networks. Reddit asks users to reset their passwords, and to make them good ones. Google seems to have made strides against expansive interpretation of th...

In today’s podcast, we hear that ICEPick-3PC is out in the wild and scooping up Android IP addresses. Shin Bet warns of influence operations threatening Israel’s April election—much predictable yelling and finger-pointing ensues. German authorities are pretty convinced Hackerangriff is the work of a lone, disgruntled student. OXO may have suffered a Magecart infestation. Dark Overlord’s labor mark...

In today’s podcast, an arrest has been made in #hackerangriff: a student in the German state of Hessen. The US begins a campaign to heighten businesses’ awareness of cyber espionage. Observers see a coming “cyber cold war,” with China on one side and a large number of other countries on the other. Facebook is following a widening investigation into the use of inauthentic accounts, ads, and sites i...

In today’s podcast, we hear that investigation into the doxing campaign German political leaders suffered continues, and the Interior Minister promises a transparent inquiry. Attribution remains unsettled, but a lot of people are looking toward Russia. Marriott thinks fewer guests were affected by its Starwood breach than initially feared. Online gamers affected by breaches. The Dark Overlord cont...

Researchers from Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks have discovered an interesting relationship between the NOKKI and DOGCALL malware families, as well as a new RAT being used to deploy the malware. Jen Miller-Osborn is Deputy Director of Threat Intelligence with Unit 42, and she joins us to share their findings. The original research can be found here: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42-nokki-...

In today’s podcast, we hear that German politicians, celebrities, and journalists have been doxed by parties unknown. ESET describes the workings of Lojax malware. Google ejects spyware-infested apps from the Play Store. ISIS returns online to inspire, via some hijacked dormant Twitter accounts. Updates on the arrest of a dual US-UK citizen on spying charges in Moscow. And some PewDiePie followers...

In today’s podcast, we hear that prize for first big breach of 2019 goes to Australia, but the year is young. Ryuk “artisanal” malware implicated in newspaper print-plant hacks. reCAPTCHA gets captchu’d, again. The Dark Overlord teases some pretty dull stuff, a step ahead of the law and Pastebin content moderators. PewDiePie followers continue to pester Internet users. And there’s a new play about...

In today’s podcast, we hear that US newspapers sustained a major cyberattack—possibly ransomware—over the weekend that disrupted printing. The attack is said to have originated overseas, but attribution so far is preliminary, murky, and circumstantial. Home security video system is found to have hard-coded credentials. Changes in US Defense leadership. An American is arrested in Mosow on espionage...

Researchers at Duo Security have been looking into Apple's Device Enrollment Program (DEM) and have discovered vulnerabilities that could expose users of the service to potential issues from social engineering and rogue devices. James Barclay is Senior R&D Engineer at Duo Security, and he joins us to share what they've found. The original research can be found here: https://duo.com/blog/weak-apple...

In today’s podcast, we hear that the Five Eyes have had quite enough of Stone Panda’s Cloudhopping, thank you very much, and they want Beijing to put a stop to it. Beijing says it’s all slander, and that the Yankees are probably just as bad. Blind turns out not to be as blind as its users thought. Reputation jacking comes to business email compromise. Alexa complies with GDPR, but goes a little ov...

In the third episode of our four-part series, called “Ground Truth or Consequences: the challenges and opportunities of regulation in cyberspace,” we take at risk and regulation in the financial sector, specifically how it intersects with cyber security. How do organizations operate in a heavily regulated global financial environment, while protecting their employees, their customers, and the inte...

In today’s podcast, we hear that the US has indicted two hackers working for China’s Ministry of State Security. US and allies are said to be planning a joint response to China’s industrial espionage. Twitter sees suspicious customer support traffic. Microsoft issues an emergency patch for Internet Explorer. Facebook continues to struggle with transparency. New Knowledge CEO acknowledges a questio...

In today’s podcast we hear of more international skittishness about Chinese hardware manufacturers. Information operations in Taiwan’s elections. EU diplomatic cables hacked, rehacked, and published. Dumbing down cyber craft as a form of misdirection. More Facebook data-sharing practices come under scrutiny. NASA PII exposed; investigation continues. And did you hear the one about the parrot, Alex...

In today’s podcast, we hear that Shamoon 3 and the renewed activity of Charming Kitty strike observers as the long-expected Iranian cyber retaliation for reimposition of sanctions. The Czech CERT says Huawei and ZTE both represent a threat. Huawei insists it didn’t do nuthin’. Facebook faces a boycott in the wake of Senate commissioned reports on Russian trolling. And PewDiePie’s followers deface...