Cyware Weekly Cyber Threat Intelligence July 16 - July 20, 2018

Weekly Threat Briefing • July 20, 2018
Weekly Threat Briefing • July 20, 2018
Friday has come around again and it’s time to round up the biggest breaches, attacks and sneaky new malware that popped up this week. It is also worth mentioning some cybersecurity wins made by law enforcement and researchers. Japan is strengthening its cybersecurity ahead of the Olympics. The author of LuminosityLink RAT pleaded guilty while a Silk Road admin was extradited to the US. Instagram is building a non-SMS 2FA system. Meanwhile, researchers are working on a program to stop hacking by supercomputers.
Japan and the European Union are strengthening their cybersecurity cooperation ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. To tackle cyber attacks and threats, Japan is acquiring and exchanging knowledge and best practices on cybersecurity with EU, as well as making collaborative efforts in developing new capabilities.
Colton Grubbs, the 21-year-old malware author behind the infamous LuminosityLink RAT, has pleaded guilty in federal court. He admitted to creating the RAT in April 2015 and later sold it online via hacking forums under the online moniker KFC Watermelon. US authorities secretly arrested Grubb in July 2017.
Irish resident and alleged administrator of the now-defunct Silk Road, Gary Davis, has been extradited to the US to face charges over his involvement with the Dark Web marketplace. Facing charges of computer intrusion, money laundering and narcotics distribution, Davis could face life in prison if convicted.
The Girl Scouts of the USA have unveiled a new set of 30 STEM badges that girls aged 5 to 18 can earn for efforts, completing activities and advocacy in “some of society’s most pressing needs.” The new STEM badges will help girls hone their skills in coding, robotics, cybersecurity, mechanical engineering and more.
Instagram is upgrading its two-factor authentication (2FA) that would not require a user’s phone number to better guard against SIM hacking. The social media company confirmed it is building a token-based 2FA system that works with security apps like Google Authenticator or Duo. Users can receive a special code to log in that can’t be generated on a different phone used by a hacker in a SIM porting attack .
Researchers at Australia’s Monash University have developed a post-quantum secure algorithm to help stop cyberattacks by supercomputers. The Lattice-Based One Time Ring Signature (L2RS) deploys cryptographical techniques designed to protect the privacy of users, large transactions and transfer of data without risk of being hacked by quantum computers.
The past week was peppered with several security breaches, data leaks and cyberattacks coming to light. Thousands of Dahua DVR passwords were exposed via ZoomEye. LabCorp was hit by the SamSam ransomware while Robocent leaked thousands of US voter records. Millions were impacted in the Telefonica breach. Ubisoft was also hit with DDoS attacks.
Hackers are developing new sophisticated techniques to exploit victims as well as upgrading older ware with new capabilities. Magniber ransomware is now a global threat while Upatre has new evasion techniques. Fancy Bear hackers are behind the ‘Roman Holiday’ campaign. Meanwhile, a malware author built a massive botnet in a day.