The Hacker News

 "VEIL Drive attack exploits Microsoft services to evade detection and distribute malware."

Views expressed in this cybersecurity, cyber crime update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 07 November 2024, 0110 UTC.

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

VEILDrive Attack Exploits Microsoft Services to Evade Detection and Distribute Malware

Nov 06, 2024 SaaS Security / Threat Detection

An ongoing threat campaign dubbed VEILDrive has been observed taking advantage of legitimate services from Microsoft, including Teams, SharePoint, Quick Assist, and OneDrive, as part of its modus operandi. "Leveraging Microsoft SaaS services — including Teams, SharePoint, Quick Assist, and OneDrive — the attacker exploited the trusted infrastructures of previously compromised organizations to distribute spear-phishing attacks and store malware," Israeli cybersecurity company Hunters said in a new report. "This cloud-centric strategy allowed the threat actor to avoid detection by conventional monitoring systems." Hunters said it discovered the campaign in September 204 after it responded to a cyber incident targeting a critical infrastructure organization in the United States. It did not disclose the name of the company, instead giving it the designation "Org C." The activity is believed to have commenced a month prior, with the attack culminating in

Winos 4.0 Malware Infects Gamers Through Malicious Game Optimization Apps

Nov 06, 2024 Malware / Online Security

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that a command-and-control (C&C) framework called Winos is being distributed within gaming-related applications like installation tools, speed boosters, and optimization utilities. "Winos 4.0 is an advanced malicious framework that offers comprehensive functionality, a stable architecture, and efficient control over numerous online endpoints to execute further actions," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Rebuilt from Gh0st RAT , it includes several modular components, each handling distinct functions." Campaigns distributing Winos 4.0 were documented back in June by Trend Micro and the KnownSec 404 Team. The cybersecurity companies are tracking the activity cluster under the names Void Arachne and Silver Fox. These attacks have been observed targeting Chinese-speaking users, leveraging black hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics, social media, and messaging platforms like Te

AWS EKS Security Best Practices [Cheat Sheet]

Wiz.ioCloud Security / Kubernetes

Unlock this one-stop resource for mastering EKS security best practices and safeguarding your cloud-native applications.

9 Steps to Get CTEM on Your 2025 Budgetary Radar

Nov 06, 2024 Threat Management / Business Continuity

Budget season is upon us, and everyone in your organization is vying for their slice of the pie. Every year, every department has a pet project that they present as absolutely essential to profitability, business continuity, and quite possibly the future of humanity itself. And no doubt that some of these actually may be mission critical. But as cybersecurity professionals, we understand that the rollout of a viable CTEM ( Continuous Threat Exposure Management ) program actually is . In any year, cybersecurity investments are tough budgetary sells – they're hard to quantify and don't always clearly drive revenues or cut costs. In today's belt-tightening climate, all the more so. Even though cybersecurity budgets will likely grow this year according to Forrester, it's still important to make sure today that CTEM doesn't slip down the budget priority list.  In this article, we'll discuss how to keep CTEM on the budgetary radar. But First – Here are Some Reasons Why CTEM is Objectiv

INTERPOL Disrupts Over 22,000 Malicious Servers in Global Crackdown on Cybercrime

Nov 06, 2024 Cyber Threat / Cybercrime

INTERPOL on Tuesday said it took down more than 22,000 malicious servers linked to various cyber threats as part of a global operation. Dubbed Operation Synergia II, the coordinated effort ran from April 1 to August 31, 2024, targeting phishing, ransomware, and information stealer infrastructure. "Of the approximately 30,000 suspicious IP addresses identified, 76 per cent were taken down and 59 servers were seized," INTERPOL said . "Additionally, 43 electronic devices, including laptops, mobile phones and hard disks were seized." The actions also led to the arrest of 41 individuals, with 65 others still under investigation. Some of the other key outcomes across countries are listed below - Takedown of more than 1,037 servers by Hong Kong police Seizure of a server and the identification of 93 individuals with links to illegal cyber activities in Mongolia Disruption of 291 servers in Macau Identification of 11 individuals with links to malicious servers and

South Korea Fines Meta $15.67M for Illegally Sharing Sensitive User Data with Advertisers

Nov 06, 2024 Data Privacy / Tech Regulation

Meta has been fined 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) by South Korea's data privacy watchdog for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with advertisers without their consent. The country's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said Meta gathered information such as religious affiliations, political views, and same-sex marital status of about 980,000 domestic Facebook users and shared it with 4,000 advertisers. "Specifically, it was found that behavioral information, such as the pages that users 'liked' on Facebook and the ads they clicked on, was analyzed to create and operate advertising topics related to sensitive information," the PIPC said in a press statement. These topics categorized users as following a certain religion, identifying them as a gay or transgender person, or being a defector from North Korea, it added.  T

Google Cloud to Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication by 2025 for All Users

Nov 06, 2024 Cloud Security / Phishing Protection

Google's cloud division has announced that it will enforce mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users by the end of 2025 as part of its efforts to improve account security. "We will be implementing mandatory MFA for Google Cloud in a phased approach that will roll out to all users worldwide during 2025," Mayank Upadhyay, vice president of engineering and distinguished engineer at Google Cloud, said in a statement. "To ensure a smooth transition, Google Cloud will provide advance notification to enterprises and users along the way to help plan MFA deployments." The rollout process is scheduled to take place over three stages, starting from this month and until the end of 2025 - Phase 1 (Starting November 2024), when administrators will be provided information to prepare for the security upgrade  Phase 2 (Early 2025), when Google will begin requiring MFA for all new and existing Google Cloud users who sign in with a password Phase 3 (En

Enterprise Identity Threat Report 2024: Unveiling Hidden Threats to Corporate Identities

Oct 31, 2024Identity Security / Browser Security

In the modern, browser-centric workplace, the corporate identity acts as the frontline defense for organizations. Often referred to as "the new perimeter", the identity stands between safe data management and potential breaches. However, a new report reveals how enterprises are often unaware of how their identities are being used across various platforms. This leaves them vulnerable to data breaches, account takeovers, and credential theft. The "Enterprise Identity Threat Report 2024" ( download here ) is based on exclusive data available only to the LayerX Browser Security platform. This data derives from LayerX's unique visibility into every user action in the browser, across industries. It provides a detailed analysis of emerging risks and uncovered hidden threats. To register to a live webinar to cover the key findings in this report, Click here . Below is a deeper dive into some of the report's most critical findings: 1. The Greatest Risk Comes from 2% of Users Security profe

FBI Seeks Public Help to Identify Chinese Hackers Behind Global Cyber Intrusions

Nov 05, 2024 Threat Intelligence / Network Security

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sought assistance from the public in connection with an investigation involving the breach of edge devices and computer networks belonging to companies and government entities. "An Advanced Persistent Threat group allegedly created and deployed malware (CVE-2020-12271) as part of a widespread series of indiscriminate computer intrusions designed to exfiltrate sensitive data from firewalls worldwide," the agency said . "The FBI is seeking information regarding the identities of the individuals responsible for these cyber intrusions." The development comes in the aftermath of a series of reports published by cybersecurity vendor Sophos chronicling a set of campaigns between 2018 and 2023 that exploited its edge infrastructure appliances to deploy custom malware or repurpose them as proxies to fly under the radar. The malicious activity, codenamed Pacific Rim and designed to conduct surveillance, sabotage, and c

New Android Banking Malware 'ToxicPanda' Targets Users with Fraudulent Money Transfers

Nov 05, 2024 Mobile Security / Cyber Attack

Over 1,500 Android devices have been infected by a new strain of Android banking malware called ToxicPanda that allows threat actors to conduct fraudulent banking transactions. "ToxicPanda's main goal is to initiate money transfers from compromised devices via account takeover (ATO) using a well-known technique called on-device fraud ( ODF )," Cleafy researchers Michele Roviello, Alessandro Strino, and Federico Valentini said in a Monday analysis. "It aims to bypass bank countermeasures used to enforce users' identity verification and authentication, combined with behavioral detection techniques applied by banks to identify suspicious money transfers." ToxicPanda is believed to be the work of a Chinese-speaking threat actor, with the malware sharing foundational similarities with another Android malware dubbed TgToxic , which can steal credentials and funds from crypto wallets. TgToxic was documented by Trend Micro in early 2023. A majority of the com

Leveraging Wazuh for Zero Trust security

Nov 05, 2024 Network Security / Zero Trust

Zero Trust security changes how organizations handle security by doing away with implicit trust while continuously analyzing and validating access requests. Contrary to perimeter-based security, users within an environment are not automatically trusted upon gaining access. Zero Trust security encourages continuous monitoring of every device and user, which ensures sustained protection after successful user authentication. Why companies adopt Zero Trust security Companies adopt Zero Trust security to protect against complex and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. This addresses the limitations of traditional, perimeter-based security models, which include no east-west traffic security, the implicit trust of insiders, and lack of adequate visibility.  Traditional vs. Zero Trust security Zero Trust security upgrades an organization's security posture by offering: Improved security posture : Organizations can improve their security posture by continuously gathering data on