CyberWire Daily

Southwest flights are back in the air after an IT issue disrupted them yesterday. Paradise ransomware source code has been leaked online. Some networked camera feeds may be accessible to unauthorized viewers. TSA is preparing a second, more prescriptive pipeline cybersecurity directive. The Russo-US summit is underway. Our guest is Jay Paz from Cobalt on bad actors targeting hackers. Joe Carrigan...

Microsoft disrupts a major BEC campaign. The scope of cyberespionage undertaken via exploitation of vulnerable Pulse Secure instances seems wider than previously believed. Secureworks offers an account of Hades ransomware, and differs with others on attribution. Final notes during the run-up to tomorrow’s US-Russia summit, where cyber will figure prominently. Helping employees stay secure. Carole...

Volkswagen warns North American customers of a third-party data breach. An “anti-monopoly agenda” advances in the US House Judiciary Committee. Speculation about how the FBI recovered ransom from DarkSide. How EA was hacked. Is Avaddon going out of business? Craig Williams from Cisco Talos explains why they’re calling some cyber criminals “privateers”. Rick Howard shares thoughts on professional d...

Principal Research Scientist for Human Behavior at Forcepoint, Margaret Cunningham shares her story of how she landed in cybersecurity. With a background in psychology and counseling and not feeling that one-on-one counseling was her thing, Margaret had a transformational moment in her PhD program in applied experimental technology when she realized she could "provide helping services and good wor...

Guest Adam Tagert is a Science of Security (SoS) Researcher in the National Security Agency Research Directorate. The National Security Agency (NSA) sponsors the Science of Security (SoS) Initiative for the promotion of a foundational cybersecurity science that is needed to mature the cybersecurity discipline and to underpin advances in cyberdefense. Adam works in all aspects of SoS particularly i...

Diplomatic Backdoor afflicts Africa, Europe, and Southwest Asia. Electronic Arts source code stolen. “Fancy Lazarus” is back: despite the name, it’s an extortion gang, not an espionage service. An international law enforcement action takes down a credential market. Making good data available for AI research. There’s a growing appetite for cyber regulation in Washington. Thomas Etheridge from Crowd...

JBS discloses that it paid REvil roughly eleven-million dollars in ransom. REvil not only had a good haul, but the gang made a few points about its brand, too. Colonial Pipeline explains, and defends, its decision to pay ransom. The US Congress has a third-party problem that constituents may or may not notice. Dan Prince from Lancaster University on the science of cybersecurity. Our guest is Kris...

SentinelOne attributes the cyberespionage campaign against Russia’s FSB to Chinese services. President Biden replaces his predecessor’s bans on TikTok and WeChat with a process of engagement, security reviews, and data protection. More on the FBI-led Operation Trojan Shield. Privateering, again. NATO’s Article 5 in cyberspace. Joe Carrigan weighs in on recent high profile cyber incidents. Our gues...

The FBI seized a large portion of the funds DarkSide obtained from its extortion of Colonial Pipeline. An international sweep stings more than eight-hundred suspected criminals who were caught while using an encrypted chat app law enforcement was listening in on. CISA advises users to update their VMware instances. A new phishing campaign distributes Agent Tesla. Ben Yelin examines renewed controv...

Dark Side seems to have attacked Colonial Pipeline through an old VPN account. Washington and Moscow prepare for this month’s summit, with cyber on the agenda. DDoS affects German banks. Anonymous may be back, and out to bring to book those who would troll Bitcoiners. Rick Howard looks at process management in security. David Dufour from Webroot on lessons learned from Exchange Server vulnerabilit...

VP of Information Security at Barracuda Dave Farrow shares how a teenage surfer fell in love with software development and made his way in the cybersecurity field. Dave chose to study electrical engineering in college because he wanted to learn something that didn't make sense to him. He says he's done things in his career that he said he'd never do: for example, he went into and fell in love with...

Guest Karl Sigler of Trustwave's SpiderLabs joins Dave Bittner to talk about their research: "Hidden Phishing at Free JavaScript Site". The research describes an interesting phishing campaign SpiderLabs encountered recently. In this campaign, the email subject pertains to a price revision, followed by some numbers. There is no email body, but there is an attachment about an ”investment.” The attac...

JBS recovers from its REvil ransomware attack, and this and other apparent instances of privateering will figure among the agenda at the upcoming US-Russia summit. (The US is said to be mulling retaliation.) The White House issues general advice on preparing for ransomware attacks. The Tokyo Olympic committee suffers a data breach. Ransomware may have interrupted some media livestreaming yesterday...

Evil, your name is REvil, except when it’s Sodinokibi. That’s what the Bureau says about the JBS ransomware attack, anyway. The US is expected to make strong objections to Russian cyber privateering at the upcoming summit. Other ransomware incidents are disclosed by regional transportation operators. A possible Mustang Panda sighting. Andrea Little Limbago from Interos on cyber related executive o...

Food processing is also vulnerable to ransomware: the case of multi-national meat-provider JBS. The US and Russia are in communication about the possibility that the criminals responsible for the JBS incident might be harbored in Russia. Domains used in the USAID impersonation campaign have been seized by the US Justice Department. Our guest is Melissa Gaddis from TransUnion with results from thei...

Iran’s wiper attacks may have been posing as criminal gang capers. CISA issues an alert on the USAID Constant Contact credential compromise. European governments express concern over reports of US surveillance (enabled, allegedly, by Danish organizations). Epsilon Red ransomware is out and active. Ben Yelin looks at Florida Governor DeSantis’ bill aimed at Social Media companies. Our guest is Giov...

Guest Lenny Zeltser, CISO of Axonius, sits down with the CyberWire's CSO and Chief Analyst Rick Howard to discuss one of Rick's favorite topics, zero trust. Lenny shares his views on this cybersecurity first principle, taking into account changes in mindsets during the COVID-19 pandemic that have necessitated many to move toward zero trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

Managing Director at Cerberus Sentinel, Chief Compliance Officer and the President of TalaTek, Baan Alsinawi shares her cybersecurity journey from a teenager who wanted to understand computers and held several positions in IT from help desk to systems engineering and cybersecurity. Founding her own business focusing on compliance, Baan says she spends maybe only 20% of her day on technical tasks a...

Guest Brandon Hoffman of Intel 471 joins Dave Bittner to share his team's research "How China’s cybercrime underground is making money off big data". Through Intel 471’s observation and analysis of open source information and behavior on multiple closed forums, they found actors adopting the use of legitimate big data technology for cybercrime and monetizing the data they obtain on the Chinese-lan...

A phishing campaign this week appears to be the work of Russia’s SVR. Chinese government threat actors continue to exploit unpatched Pulse Secure instances. FBI renews warnings about unpatched Fortinet appliances. Healthcare organizations still work to recover from ransomware. Rick Howard speaks with author Andy Greenberg on his book Sandworm. Ben Yelin weighs in on questions Senator Wyden has for...

Chinese-speaking operators are reported to be phishing to compromise devices belonging to Uyghurs. The US Department of Homeland Security issues pipeline cybersecurity regulations. Security companies take various approaches to offering decryptors against ransomware. Huawei would like to chat with President Biden. Rick Howard speaks with authors Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking on their book "Like...

Hafnium visits Belgium. “Low-sophistication” attacks on operational technology. Updates on healthcare sector ransomware attacks in New Zealand and Ireland. Wipers masquerading as ransomware. “Privateers” are defined as a new category of threat actor. TSA’s new standards for pipeline security. The World Economic Forum has advice for Boards in the oil and gas sector. Rick Howard interviews Liza Mund...

The CryptoCore campaign that looted cryptocurrency exchanges is said to have been the work of North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Insurers are taking a hard look at ransomware and the cyber insurance policies that might cover it. Managing ransomware risk, and a role for standards bodies. Can there be such a thing as responsible disclosure of decryptors and other remediation tools? Ransomware gangs regrou...

Ransomware warnings in the US, Ireland, New Zealand, and Germany--healthcare organizations are said to be at particular risk. Belgium adopts a new cybersecurity strategy. China isn’t happy with freelance cryptominers. Air India sustains a third-party breach of passenger personal data. An FBI analyst is indicted for mishandling classified material. Rick Howard previews this week’s CSO Perspective p...

Senior Security Officer at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Michael Bishop Jr. shares his journey from Army infantryman deployed to Iraq to working in cybersecurity. After 12 years in the U.S. Army, Mike found himself in a rough spot. Looking for work and having some personal challenges, Mike's mentor, an Army officer he met while enlisted, recognized Mike's struggles and helped to nudge...