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"Europol dismantles criminal messaging service MATRIX in major global takedown."

Views expressed in this cybersecurity, cyber crime update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 04 December 2024, 1358 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://www.hawaiicybersecurityjournal.net).

 

Europol Dismantles Criminal Messaging Service MATRIX in Major Global Takedown

Dec 04, 2024 Encryption / Cybercrime

Europol on Tuesday announced the takedown of an invite-only encrypted messaging service called MATRIX that's created by criminals for criminal purposes. The joint operation, conducted by French and Dutch authorities under the moniker Passionflower , comes in the aftermath of an investigation that was launched in 2021 after the messaging service was discovered on the phone of a criminal convicted for the murder of a Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries . This allowed authorities to intercept messages being sent via the service for a period of three months, amassing a total of more than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages. The messages, Europol said, are associated with serious crimes such as international drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and money laundering.  It's worth noting at this stage that MATRIX is different from the open-source, decentralized messaging app of the same name ("matrix[.]org"). Also known by other names such as Mactrix, Totalsec, X-quantum...

7 PAM Best Practices to Secure Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Environments

Dec 04, 2024 Risk Management / Zero Trust

Are you using the cloud or thinking about transitioning? Undoubtedly, multi-cloud and hybrid environments offer numerous benefits for organizations. However, the cloud's flexibility, scalability, and efficiency come with significant risk — an expanded attack surface. The decentralization that comes with utilizing multi-cloud environments can also lead to limited visibility into user activity and poor access management.  Privileged accounts with access to your critical systems and sensitive data are among the most vulnerable elements in cloud setups. When mismanaged, these accounts open the doors to unauthorized access, potential malicious activity, and data breaches. That's why strong privileged access management (PAM) is indispensable. PAM plays an essential role in addressing the security challenges of complex infrastructures by enforcing strict access controls and managing the life cycle of privileged accounts. By employing PAM in hybrid and cloud environments, you're not...

How to Plan a New (and Improved!) Password Policy for Real-World Security Challenges

Dec 04, 2024 Data Protection / Regulatory Compliance

Many organizations struggle with password policies that look strong on paper but fail in practice because they're too rigid to follow, too vague to enforce, or disconnected from real security needs. Some are so tedious and complex that employees post passwords on sticky notes under keyboards, monitors, or desk drawers. Others set rules so loose they may as well not exist. And many simply copy generic standards that don't address their specific security challenges. Creating a password policy that works to protect your organization in the real world requires a careful balance: it must be strict enough to protect your systems, flexible enough for daily work, and precise enough to be enforced consistently. Let's explore five strategies for building a password policy that works in the real world. 1. Build compliant password practices Is your organization in a regulated industry like healthcare, government, agriculture, or financial services? If so, one of your top priorities...

Creating, Managing and Securing Non-Human Identities

PermisoCybersecurity / Identity Security

A new class of identities has emerged alongside traditional human users: non-human identities (NHIs). Permiso Security's new eBook details everything you need to know about managing and securing non-human identities, and strategies to unify identity security without compromising agility.

Researchers Uncover Backdoor in Solana's Popular Web3.js npm Library

Dec 04, 2024 Supply Chain Attack

Cybersecurity researchers are alerting to a software supply chain attack targeting the popular @solana/web3.js npm library that involved pushing two malicious versions capable of harvesting users' private keys with an aim to drain their cryptocurrency wallets. The attack has been detected in versions 1.95.6 and 1.95.7. Both these versions are no longer available for download from the npm registry. The package is widely used, attracting over 400,000 weekly downloads. "These compromised versions contain injected malicious code that is designed to steal private keys from unsuspecting developers and users, potentially enabling attackers to drain cryptocurrency wallets," Socket said in a report. @solana/web3.js is an npm package that can be used to interact with the Solana JavaScript software development kit (SDK) for building Node.js and web apps. According to Datadog security researcher Christophe Tafani-Dereeper , "the backdoor inserted in v1.95.7 adds an ...

Joint Advisory Warns of PRC-Backed Cyber Espionage Targeting Telecom Networks

Dec 04, 2024

A joint advisory issued by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. has warned of a broad cyber espionage campaign undertaken by People's Republic of China (PRC)-affiliated threat actors targeting telecommunications providers. "Identified exploitations or compromises associated with these threat actors' activity align with existing weaknesses associated with victim infrastructure; no novel activity has been observed," government agencies said . U.S. officials told Tuesday that the threat actors are still lurking inside U.S. telecommunications networks about six months after an investigation into the intrusions commenced. The attacks have been attributed to a nation-state group from China tracked as Salt Typhoon, which overlaps with activities tracked as Earth Estries, FamousSparrow, GhostEmperor, and UNC2286. The group is known to be active since at least 2020, with some of the artifacts developed as early as 2019. Last week, T-Mobile acknowledged that it ...

Veeam Issues Patch for Critical RCE Vulnerability in Service Provider Console

Dec 04, 2024 Vulnerability / Ransomware

Veeam has released security updates to address a critical flaw impacting Service Provider Console (VSPC) that could pave the way for remote code execution on susceptible instances. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-42448, carries a CVSS score of 9.9 out of a maximum of 10.0. The company noted that the bug was identified during internal testing. "From the VSPC management agent machine, under the condition that the management agent is authorized on the server, it is possible to perform Remote Code Execution (RCE) on the VSPC server machine," Veeam said in an advisory. Another defect patched by Veeam relates to a vulnerability (CVE-2024-42449, CVSS score: 7.1) that could be abused to leak an NTLM hash of the VSPC server service account and delete files on the VSPC server machine. Both the identified vulnerabilities affect Veeam Service Provider Console 8.1.0.21377 and all earlier versions of 7 and 8 builds. They have been addressed in version 8.1.0.21999. Veeam furt...

Unlocking Google Workspace Security: Are You Doing Enough to Protect Your Data?

Nov 22, 2024Google Workspace / SaaS Backup

Google Workspace has quickly become the productivity backbone for businesses worldwide, offering an all-in-one suite with email, cloud storage and collaboration tools. This single-platform approach makes it easy for teams to connect and work efficiently, no matter where they are, enabling seamless digital transformation that's both scalable and adaptable. As companies shift from traditional, on-premises setups focused on device security, to more user-centered, hybrid models, Google Workspace is perfectly positioned to support this evolution. Now, the user account itself is the central hub, allowing access from any device or location — a game changer in today's remote and distributed work environments. However, with all this connectivity and flexibility comes a challenge. Google Workspace connects to countless apps and touches every user in the organization, making it an appealing target for cybercriminals. The platform's internet accessibility opens up additional entry points, raisi...

Critical SailPoint IdentityIQ Vulnerability Exposes Files to Unauthorized Access

Dec 04, 2024 Vulnerability / Software Security

A critical security vulnerability has been disclosed in SailPoint's IdentityIQ identity and access management (IAM) software that allows unauthorized access to content stored within the application directory. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-10905 , has a CVSS score of 10.0, indicating maximum severity. It affects IdentityIQ versions 8.2. 8.3, 8.4, and other previous versions. IdentityIQ "allows HTTP access to static content in the IdentityIQ application directory that should be protected," according to a description of the flaw on NIST's National Vulnerability Database (NVD). The vulnerability has been characterized as a case of improper handling of file names that identify virtual resources ( CWE-66 ), which could be abused to read otherwise inaccessible files. There are currently no other details available about the flaw, nor has SailPoint released a security advisory. The exact list of versions impacted by CVE-2024-10905 is listed below - 8.4 and all 8.4 pa...

Hackers Use Corrupted ZIPs and Office Docs to Evade Antivirus and Email Defenses

Dec 04, 2024 Email Security / Malware

Cybersecurity researchers have called attention to a novel phishing campaign that leverages corrupted Microsoft Office documents and ZIP archives as a way to bypass email defenses. "The ongoing attack evades #antivirus software, prevents uploads to sandboxes, and bypasses Outlook's spam filters, allowing the malicious emails to reach your inbox," ANY.RUN said in a series of posts on X. The malicious activity entails sending emails containing ZIP archives or Office attachments that are intentionally corrupted in such a way that they cannot be scanned by security tools. These messages aim to trick users into opening the attachments with false promises of employee benefits and bonuses. In other words, the corrupted state of the files means that they are not flagged as suspicious or malicious by email filters and antivirus software. However, the attack still works because it takes advantage of the built-in recovery mechanisms of programs like Word, Outlook, and WinRAR ...

Cisco Warns of Exploitation of Decade-Old ASA WebVPN Vulnerability

Dec 03, 2024 Vulnerability / Network Security

Cisco on Monday updated an advisory to warn customers of active exploitation of a decade-old security flaw impacting its Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA). The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2014-2120 (CVSS score: 4.3), concerns a case of insufficient input validation in ASA's WebVPN login page that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a targeted user of the appliance. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to access a malicious link," Cisco noted in an alert released in March 2014. As of December 2, 2024, the networking equipment major has revised its bulletin to note that it has become aware of "additional attempted exploitation" of the vulnerability in the wild. The development comes shortly after cybersecurity firm CloudSEK revealed that the threat actors behind AndroxGh0st are leveraging an extensive list of security vulnerabilities in various internet-faci...

NachoVPN Tool Exploits Flaws in Popular VPN Clients for System Compromise

Dec 03, 2024 Endpoint Security / Vulnerability

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed a set of flaws impacting Palo Alto Networks and SonicWall virtual private network (VPN) clients that could be potentially exploited to gain remote code execution on Windows and macOS systems. "By targeting the implicit trust VPN clients place in servers, attackers can manipulate client behaviours, execute arbitrary commands, and gain high levels of access with minimal effort," AmberWolf said in an analysis. In a hypothetical attack scenario, this plays out in the form of a rogue VPN server that can trick the clients into downloading malicious updates that can cause unintended consequences. The result of the investigation is a proof-of-concept (PoC) attack tool called NachoVPN that can simulate such VPN servers and exploit the vulnerabilities to achieve privileged code execution. The identified flaws are listed below - CVE-2024-5921 (CVSS score: 5.6) - An insufficient certificate validation vulnerability impacting Palo Alto N...

North Korean Kimsuky Hackers Use Russian Email Addresses for Credential Theft Attacks

Dec 03, 2024 Threat Intelligence / Email Security

The North Korea-aligned threat actor known as Kimsuky has been linked to a series of phishing attacks that involve sending email messages that originate from Russian sender addresses to ultimately conduct credential theft. "Phishing emails were sent mainly through email services in Japan and Korea until early September," South Korean cybersecurity company Genians said . "Then, from mid-September, some phishing emails disguised as if they were sent from Russia were observed." This entails the abuse of VK's Mail.ru email service, which supports five different alias domains, including mail.ru, internet.ru, bk.ru, inbox.ru, and list.ru. Genians said it has observed the Kimsuky actors leveraging all the aforementioned sender domains for phishing campaigns that masquerade as financial institutions and internet portals like Naver. Other phishing attacks have entailed sending messages that mimic Naver's MYBOX cloud storage service and aim to trick users into ...

Horns&Hooves Campaign Delivers RATs via Fake Emails and JavaScript Payloads

Dec 03, 2024 Malware / Phishing Attack

A newly discovered malware campaign has been found to target private users, retailers, and service businesses mainly located in Russia to deliver NetSupport RAT and BurnsRAT. The campaign, dubbed Horns&Hooves by Kaspersky, has hit more than 1,000 victims since it began around March 2023. The end goal of these attacks is to leverage the access afforded by these trojans to install stealer malware such as Rhadamanthys and Meduza . "Recent months have seen a surge in mailings with lookalike email attachments in the form of a ZIP archive containing JScript scripts," security researcher Artem Ushkov said in a Monday analysis. "The script files [are] disguised as requests and bids from potential customers or partners." The threat actors behind the operations have demonstrated their active development of the JavaScript payload, making significant changes during the course of the campaign. In some instances, the ZIP archive has been found to contain other docum...