Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, September 23 - 27, 2019

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Weekly Threat Briefing • September 27, 2019

The Good

Yet another week went by, and the cyberworld was bustling with a lot of activity — both ethical and otherwise. We’ll first skim through all the positive things that happened before delving into other incidents. A pledge, signed by 27 nations to encourage responsible cyberspace behavior, was released at the United Nations. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released four new insights products. Also, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) has launched a counter-insider threat program to educate analysts on insider threats.

  • A pledge was signed by 27 nations to promote responsible behavior in the cyberworld. The statement that was released at the United Nations recognizes the benefits of cyberspace, but also points out that the platform is being used for illicit activities. It also states that international laws regarding cyberspace must be followed.
  • The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released four new insights products — Mitigate DNS Infrastructure Tampering, Remediate Vulnerabilities for Internet-Accessible Systems, Secure High-Value Assets, and Enhance Email and Web Security. These products offer threat descriptions, lessons learned, recommendations, and relevant resources.
  • The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has launched a counter-insider threat program. The objective of this program is to educate analysts on how to identify potential insider threats and detect suspicious behavior. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's Center for Development of Security Excellence has also provided resources for employees about insider threats.
  • The United States Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) has launched a cybersecurity matrix for information sharing. This online resource, called the Health Industry Cybersecurity Matrix of Information Sharing Organizations (HIC-MISO), provides a list of organizations that facilitate information sharing. Each of these sources comes with its mission and other related details.
  • NHS Digital has launched a new cybersecurity awareness campaign called ‘Keep I.T. Confidential’. This campaign aims to educate the NHS staff about preventing and mitigating potential cyber-attacks. It provides guidance and recommendations on how to protect patient data.

The Bad

Once again, many data breaches and security compromises made news this week. The data of over 20 million Ecuadorian citizens was compromised again because of a leaky server belonging to Databook. Food delivery application DoorDash has reported a data breach that affected almost 5 million users. Millions of Automatic Plate Recognition images were exposed because of an open Microsoft Azure blob.

  • Ecuadorian company Databook’s unprotected server leaked personal details of citizens such as names, workplaces, family member details, phone numbers, vehicle information, and emails. This is the second instance of Ecuadorian citizens’ data being leaked this month. The exposed server is reportedly located in Germany.
  • DoorDash, a food delivery service, has disclosed a data breach that affected nearly 5 million customers. The breach exposed customer details such as names, phone numbers, delivery addresses, email addresses, payment information, and more. The company said that full credit card information and full bank details were not exposed.
  • An unsecured Microsoft Azure blob that belongs to Tesco’s parking web app was uncovered. The blob exposed millions of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) images. 19 of Tesco’s car parks were affected including Braintree, Fareham, and Woolwich.
  • Various high-profile accounts of YouTube creators, especially those in the car and auto community were targeted in a coordinated campaign of hijacking. The victims were sent phishing emails and asked to enter their credentials in a site, from where it was harvested. The hacked YouTube channels include Troy Sowers, Built, and Musafir, among others.
  • A state-sponsored group targeted 17 U.S. utility firms with phishing emails. The purpose of these attacks is believed to be to infect the systems with LookBack remote access trojan. The attacks are reported to have occurred over a five-month period from April 5 to August 29, 2019.
  • A cybersecurity attack disrupted government communications and transactions in the Union City. The public has been requested to avoid any fee or license procession until next week. There has been no request for payment, so the city couldn’t confirm if it was a ransomware attack.
  • A South African internet provider, Cool Ideas, fell victim to a carpet bombing DDoS attack. It is reported that this attack brought down Cool Idea’s external connection to other ISPs. When the company managed to mitigate the attack, a follow-up attack was launched disrupting the systems again.
  • An online dating app called Heyyo exposed users’ personal data including images, location, phone numbers, and dating preferences. This data leak was attributed to an unsecured server and has impacted around 72,000 users. It was reported that the unsecured server was in production and not an old one.
  • Vodafone briefly exposed customer details because of an issue during an app upgrade. Users of the MyVodafone app in New Zealand reported that they were able to see details of other customers. However, Vodafone rolled back the update in 15 minutes.
  • A series of attacks have been reported on Airbus, the European aerospace giant. The hackers were said to be targeting suppliers for commercial secrets. These attacks have not been formally associated with any threat groups yet.
  • An unprotected database belonging to Verlo Mattress Factory was discovered by researchers. Names, phone numbers, emails, home addresses, and billing addresses were among the compromised information. The 387,604 exposed records do not contain payment or credit card information.
  • Travis Central Appraisal District was hit by a ransomware attack that impacted website property search, email, phone, and Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal systems. The District refused to pay the ransom and restored data from its backup servers. No confidential information was reportedly leaked during this attack.

New Threats

This week, researchers reported the rise of several malware and vulnerabilities. Fancy Bear threat group has been reported to have returned with updates to its tools. Meanwhile, a new Aggah campaign was observed by security researchers. On the other hand, bad actors have been observed using old Magecart domains in malvertising campaigns.

  • Old Magecart domains have been observed to be purchased for malicious purposes. Most of the domains used in old Magecart attacks have been sinkholed and seized. However, some of them have been released back into the pool of available domains and are being used in malvertising campaigns by other threat actors.
  • Notorious threat group Fancy Bear has returned with an updated set of tools. This group, known for its politically-motivated attacks, is observed to be using phishing emails. The updates include the use of a new programming language, Nim, and a backdoor written in GoLang.
  • The latest Aggah campaign delivered AZORult as its final payload for the first few days of September 2019, after which it delivered RevengeRAT as its final payload. Researchers said that the RevengeRAT samples observed in this campaign could also be linked to the Gorgon Group.
  • Disguised as a trading app for Mac users, a piece of malware was found to execute bundled shell scripts in the Resources directory. The malware launches an attack for Mac from all sides. Its capabilities include disabling security-related programs, running a fake scan and displaying a fake warning, and downloading malicious browser extension to change the browser homepage.
  • GandCrab hacker group, that was thought to have retired, has now been observed to be responsible for a new series of attacks. Using a ransomware called Sodinokibi, it has impacted 22 Texas municipalities and hundreds of dental practices in the United States. The code has been noted to be similar to earlier attacks, even containing the same mistakes.
  • A website pretending to be an organization offering employment for U.S. veterans is distributing malware. Attackers can take full access of the infected systems using the malware.
  • An anonymous researcher has disclosed details about a zero-day vulnerability in vBulletin, an internet forum software. The vulnerability allows the execution of shell commands on the server running a vBulletin installation, without an account on the targeted forum. Security experts are concerned that this disclosure could trigger a series of attacks exploiting this vulnerability.
  • A new attack has been observed that exploits the Narrator utility to access Windows Systems. A PcShare backdoor is first deployed to control the victim’s system without any credentials. After obtaining access, various post-exploitation tools are deployed including one that overwrites the Narrator utility with the attacker’s version.
  • Researchers have observed that Magecart Group 5 is testing malicious code on L7 routers. Users who are connected to a hotel or airport’s free Wi-Fi are said to be potentially impacted by this attack. When browsed through an infected L7 server, payment data is also said to be compromised.
  • Malicious apps with over 2.1 million downloads have been found on the Google Play Store. The 25 discovered apps appear to have similar code structures and app content. Google removed these apps from the Play Store as soon as it was reported.
  • Cisco has disclosed 13 high-severity vulnerabilities in its network automation software. These vulnerabilities could potentially grant unauthorized access, allow a command-injection attack, or drain a device’s resources leading to a denial of service. It is recommended that admins update their routers to the latest version available.

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