Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - January 02–06

The Good

Welcoming you all to the first weekly threat briefing for 2023, and with that allow us to give you a peek into the new developments in cyberspace. The NIST finalized the cybersecurity framework for the ground-based operations of the space industry with an aim to manage cyber risks against satellites and other critical infrastructures. In another vein, victims hit by MegaCortex ransomware can now decrypt their files without giving in to ransom demands. Thanks to a free decryption tool released in collaboration between cybersecurity researchers and law enforcement agencies.

• The NIST published the final version of its cybersecurity framework for the ground segment of space operations. The framework is designed to help organizations in the space sector manage their cybersecurity risks by implementing security measures on satellites and other critical infrastructure.
• Victims of MegaCortex ransomware can now unlock their files for free. Several cybersecurity researchers in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, including Europol, the NoMoreRansom Project, the Zürich Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Zürich Cantonal Police, have released a decryption tool to decrypt the encrypted files.
• President Joe Biden approved a set of new laws under the VA Cybersecurity Act of 2022 to boost cybersecurity across the Department of Veterans Affairs. As a part of the new law, the department needs to obtain an independent audit of its IT systems and cybersecurity programs. This is intended to boost data security for veterans.

The Bad

As holidays are over and kids are heading back to school, a new data leak affecting around 14 U.K schools has come to light. The Vice Society ransomware group is believed to be behind this incident. Meanwhile, the ProxyNotShell flaw remains a big threat to organizations as a new report suggests that over 70,000 Microsoft Exchange servers remain unpatched. Furthermore, the notoriety of the LockBit ransomware group continues to terrify organizations as a US-based locomotive firm confirms an attack.

• The widely used instant messaging platform Slack disclosed a security issue involving unauthorized access to a subset of its private GitHub code repositories. While the investigation is ongoing, the firm confirmed that there is no evidence of customer data being stolen.
• U.S. rail and locomotive company Wabtec Corporation confirmed being hit in an attack by the LockBit ransomware gang. The incident took place in June 2022 and impacted its operations in the U.S. Canada, U.K., and Brazil. It was further revealed that the ransomware was introduced onto certain systems as early as March 15, 2022.
• A ransomware attack forced Swansea Public schools, Massachusetts, to cancel its classes on Wednesday. The preliminary investigation reveals that the personal information of no student or staff was compromised in the attack.
• Toyota Motor Corporation revealed a data breach at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a joint venture with Indian giant Kirloskar Group, that compromised the personal information of over 290,000 customers. The breach was reported after an access key was left exposed to the public on GitHub for over five years.
• The team behind PyTorch discovered a supply chain attack that impacted its nightly builds on Linux. Threat actors turned a previously safe dependency, named torchtriton, malicious and installed a binary to collect system information and read sensitive files.
• Around 70,000 Microsoft Exchange servers are vulnerable to the ProxyNotShell flaw that can allow adversaries to escalate privileges and gain arbitrary code execution on unpatched servers. Most of these servers are located in Europe, North America, and Asia.
• A misconfigured AWS server belonging to the Cricketsocial.com community platform left over 100,000 records exposed online. Among the leaked data were email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and physical addresses of users.
• A database containing over 235 million records of Twitter users is now available for free on the web. The exposed information includes names, email addresses, follower counts, and creation counts of users. This database is believed to be a subset of the recently reported 400 million Twitter user records breach.
• The Shibuya ward office in Tokyo apologized for disrupted services after an apparent cyber attack. The website is still down. The ‘Anonymous’ hacktivist group has taken the responsibility of the attack.
• Confidential data from 14 U.K schools was leaked online by hackers. These include SEN information and passport scans of children, along with contract details and pay scales of staff members. The attacks and leaks were believed to be perpetrated by the Vice Society ransomware group.
• In a new update, Rackspace disclosed that threat actors accessed the personal storage files of 27 of its customers. The firm suffered a ransomware attack last year. Moreover, it was also found that the Play ransomware affiliates had leveraged the OWASSRF exploit to compromise its Microsoft Exchange Server environment.
• A security breach at the CircleCI software development platform exposed security tokens and other secrets used by more than a million developers. As a precautionary measure, the firm urged users to rotate all secrets stored in the platform.

New Threats

There has been a buzz around the recently launched ChatGPT and, just like everything else, it also grabbed the attention of cybercriminals who are exploring ways to take advantage of the AI chatbot for malicious purposes. In other threat updates, the notorious BitRAT malware and Raspberry Robin worm were found targeting different financial firms to steal sensitive data.

• Critical flaws discovered in vehicles of popular brands, including Honda, Nissan, BMW, Rolls Royce, Ford, Ferrari, and Toyota, could allow attackers to perform malicious activities. Some of these flaws can be exploited to achieve remote code execution or access the content of the memory of some systems.
• Symantec researchers documented the activities of Bluebottle (aka OPERA1ER), a cybercrime group that targeted banks in French-speaking nations in Africa. The initial infection vector is unknown but in some cases, job-themed file lures written in the French language were leveraged to trick victims.
• The BlackCat (aka ALPHV) ransomware group upgraded its extortion tactics by creating a replica of a recent victim’s site to publish stolen data and pressurize them into paying the ransom. As part of the tactic, the attackers published data of a company in the financial services industry.
• A Shc-based malware downloader was found installing XMRig coinminer after exploiting vulnerable Linux SSH servers. The malware downloader was deployed alongside an IRC bot with DDoS capabilities in the attack.
• Multiple lures targeting a Columbian cooperative bank’s infrastructure enabled attackers to drop BitRAT on victims’ systems and steal sensitive data. Over 418,777 rows of sensitive data containing email addresses, phone numbers, payment records, and salaries of customers were found on the dark web.
• Blind Eagle (aka APT-C-36) used QuasarRAT in an ongoing financially motivated attack campaign targeting Ecuador-based organizations. The attack was launched via phishing emails pretending to be from the Colombian government.
• Numerous financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC U.K., Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Nubank, are being targeted by a new version of SpyNote Android malware. The attack campaign has been active since October 2022 and the malware comes with a plethora of data-stealing capabilities.
• Instances of cybercriminals misusing the ChatGPT AI chatbot interface have come to the notice of researchers. From creating a convincing spear-phishing email to running a reverse shell, and creating an encryption tool, threat actors are exploring creative ways to misuse the tool.
• In a new finding, the Raspberry Robin worm has been found targeting financial and insurance firms in Europe. The malware is being distributed via a 7-Zip file, containing an MSI installer file designed to drop multiple modules.
• A variant of Dridex was observed targeting macOS platforms with a new technique. The malware uses malicious macros as an entry method, wherein the macros are embedded in documents to trick users without having to pretend to be invoices or business-related files.
• The NetSupport RAT malware has been discovered being distributed via phishing pages disguised as Pokemon card games. The campaign has been active since December 2022 and threat actors are also mimicking programs other than Pokemon to distribute malware.