CyberWire Daily

Section 52, CyberX’s threat intelligence team, has uncovered an ongoing industrial cyberespionage campaign targeting hundreds of manufacturing and other industrial firms primarily located in South Korea. CyberX has identified more than 200 compromised systems from this campaign, including one belonging to a multi-billion dollar Korean conglomerate that manufactures critical infrastructure equipmen...

More malware designed for air-gapped systems. A British utility sustains a ransomware attack. The US Cyberspace Solarium Commission sees lessons in the pandemic for cybersecurity. Contact-tracing technologies take a step back,maybe a step or two forward. Rob Lee from Dragos comparing the state of ICS security around the world, our guest is Ian Pitt from LogMeIn on lessons learned working remotely...

ARCHER goes offline after a security incident. Scammers smish victims with bogus contact-tracing messages. Ramsay malware goes after air-gapped systems. Ako ransomware now places a surcharge on deletion of stolen data. Google boots creepware apps with the help of the CreepRank algorithm. Johannes Ullrich explains that when it comes to malicious binaries bypassing anti-malware filters, size matters...

Ransomware continues to steal personal information. Notes on Patch Tuesday--and please, by all means patch. The FBI says it’s investigating cyberespionage directed against COVID-19 researchers (and US officials see direct data corruption in espionage). And the AI doesn’t really know what to make of us any more. Joe Carrigan from JHU ISI on Twitter’s response to 5G related Coronavirus conspiracy th...

Unattributed cyberattacks in an Iranian port prompt speculation that a broader cyberwar in the Middle East may be in the offing. CISA releases malware analysis reports on North Korea’s Hidden Cobra. Astaroth malware grows more evasive (and it was already pretty good at hiding). Texas courts sustain a ransomware attack. COVID-19 espionage warnings are on the way. Twitter’s misinformation warning sy...

A cyberattack with kinetic effect. Shiny Hunters post more stolen wares online. Thunderspy and evil maids. Some developing background to the US bulk power state-of-emergency Executive Order. Contact tracing apps: reliability, privacy, security, familiarity, and rates of adoption all raise questions. The economic consequences of the pandemic emergency. Caleb Barlow from CynergisTek on Alan Brunacin...

Multiple media reports have indicated that the United States’ (U.S.) 2020 general election could be targeted by foreign and domestic actors after the successful cyber and misinformation attacks during the 2016 general election. The responsibility of secure and ethical online campaigning has become a central issue in the 2020 election. In some cases, it has become part of candidate platforms. Joini...

Naikon has returned from four years in the shadows to snoop around the shores of the South China Sea. Tencent trains censorship algorithms on WeChat. Snake ransomware is back, making its way through the healthcare sector. Seeing Charming Kitten's pawprints in World Health Organization networks. Voting security during (or even after) a pandemic. Malek Ben Salem from Accenture on their Technology Vi...

A new Monero miner is out and about. Hidden Cobra is pushing a RAT through a Trojanized two-factor authentication app. The rise and fall of a botnet. Markets, criminal and legitimate, react to the pandemic. Ransomware hits Taiwan. Remcos is resurgent. Michael Sechrist from BAH on where things are headed with ransomware, our guest is Rachael Stockton from LastPass on their Psychology of Passwords r...

Facebook reports on the coordinated inauthenticity it took down in April. Investigations into COVID-19’s origins continue, as does medical espionage. Contact tracing’s challenges. Joe Carrigan from JHU ISI on recent flaws in antivirus products, our guests are Laura Deimling and Courtney Wandeloski from Down To Staff on interviewing tips for employees and hiring managers. And European police take d...

A pretty Fancy Bear hunt in Germany. A new IoT botnet surfaces. Cryptojackers exploit a Salt bug. Bribing an insider as a way to get personal data. The UK’s NCSC and the US CISA issue a joint warning about campaigns directed against institutions working on a response to COVID-19. Britain’s contact tracing app starts its trial on the Isle of Wight. Ben Yelin from UMD CHHS on AI inventions and their...

A US Executive Order on Securing the United States Bulk-Power System declares a state of emergency in electricity generation and distribution. China’s disinformation about COVID-19 may have begun in the earliest stages of the pandemic. Someone’s hacking for information on British biomedical research. Xiaomi seems very interested in users of its phones. Andrea Little Limbago on global privacy trend...

Passwords are the traditional authentication methods for computers and networks. But passwords can be stolen. Biometric authentication seems the perfect solution for that problem. Our guest today is Craig Williams, director of Talos outreach at Cisco. He'll be discussing and providing insights into their report which shows that fingerprints are good enough to protect the average person's privacy i...

Tensions between China and its neighbors. ICS incursions are troubling. The US intelligence community comments on COVID 19 disinformation. The FBI tracks increased cybercrime activity during the pandemic. Johannes Ullrich explains Excel 4 Macro vulnerabilities. Our guest is Tina C. Williams-Koroma, from TCecure on the importance of strong, effective leadership in cybersecurity. And smile for the w...

Ransomware not only encrypts and steals data, but establishes persistence as well. Apple and Google roll out their exposure notification API. GCHQ will help secure Britain’s centralized contact tracing system. A conspiracy-minded motive for doxing. Criminal markets and criminal enterprises continue to mimic legitimate ones. And a new wrinkle in mobile ransomware. Rob Lee from Dragos with insights...

Researchers see a coming shift in tactics used by Chinese “content farmers.” Amplifying disinformation through influencers and other agents of influence. PhantomLance is a quiet and selective Vietnamese cyber espionage campaign. Lawful intercept and contact tracing apps. And the black market for malware is surprisingly open, cheap, and attentive to its customers. Joe Carrigan from JHU ISI on cheat...

Shade ransomware operators close down, or so they say. A US pharmaceutical company is the victim of CLOP ransomware, and a Chinese medical research firm is breached by cyber criminals. Centralized versus decentralized approaches to contact tracing. A GDPR assistance site proves leaky. Disinformation breeds misinformation which breeds folly that brings misery. And Mr. Kim seems to be chillin’ downy...

Reports to the contrary, as far as anyone really knows, North Korea’s Kim is still large and in charge. Poland reports Russian disinformation effort. The EU issues a controversial report on COVID-19 disinformation amid accusations that Europe is knuckling under to Chinese pressure. A cyberattack on wastewater treatment systems in Israel is reported. And the old Hupigon RAT is back, and looking for...

Successful containment of the Coronavirus pandemic rests on the ability to quickly and reliably identify those who have been in close proximity to a contagious individual. Mayank Varia from Boston University describes how his team suggests an approach based on using short-range communication mechanisms, like Bluetooth, that are available in all modern cell phones. The research can be found here: A...

An update on those iOS zero-days: they may not be as serious as assumed. Calls to take biomedical facilities off the hacking target list. Nazar and the ShadowBrokers. NSA and ASD issue joint advice on web shell malware. A report on astroturfing and influence operations. Joker’s Stash lays out more stolen cards. And Nintendo reports a problem with a legacy system. Michael Sechrist from BAH on the i...

Someone, probably Vietnam, is trying to develop intelligence on China’s experience with the coronavirus. Florentine Banker is an example of well-organized crime. iOS zero-days have been exploited in the wild; a fix is promised. A cryptomining botnet is sinkholed. And intelligence services and criminals are tuning their phishbait to current events, as they always do. Malek Ben Salem from Accenture...

The US Senate authorizes more COVID-19 small business relief. A data exposure at the US Small Business Administration. The CTL-League looks like a model for cyber volunteer organizations. The US Senate reports its evaluation of the Intelligence Community’s look at Russian active measures in 2016. Calls for deterrence amid a converged campaign of disinformation. Joe Carrigan from JHU ISI on Microso...

Fears about North Korean instability can wait until it’s determined that there’s actually instability. An economic espionage campaign targeted the oil and gas sector. Much phishing surrounds government COVID-19 economic relief programs around the world. The US Supreme Court will hear a case involving the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. And if you’re studying from home, don’t cheat. And teacher, mayb...

A wave of attacks against hospitals and infrastructure in the Czech Republic seems to have been largely unsuccessful, but more may be on their way. German relief funds earmarked for small business are looted by cybercrooks. PoetRAT is active against ICS targets in Azerbaijan. CISA updates its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce. Breaches at Cognizant, Aptoide, and Webkinz W...

We often hear cybersecurity professionals talking about red teams, blue teams, and purple teams. In this episode of CyberWire-X, we investigate what those terms mean, how security teaming approaches have changed over time, and the value of teaming for organizations large and small. Join us for a lively conversation with our experts Austin Scott from Dragos, and Caleb Barlow, from Cynergistek in pa...