Industry News

Poor Patch Management Policies to Blame for Equifax Data Breach

by titanadmin | September 15, 2017 | Industry News

It has been confirmed that poor patch management policies opened the door for hackers and allowed them to gain access to the consumer data stored by the credit monitoring bureau Equifax.  The massive Equifax data breach announced earlier this month saw the personal information – including Social Security numbers – of almost half the population of the United States exposed/stolen by hackers.

Poor Patch Management Policies to Blame for Yet Another Major Cyberattack

The vulnerability may have been different to that exploited in the WannaCry ransomware attacks in May, but it was a similar scenario. In the case of WannaCry, a Microsoft Server Message Block vulnerability was exploited, allowing hackers to install WannaCry ransomware.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2017-010, was corrected in March 2017 and a patch was issued to prevent the flaw from being exploited. Two months later, the WannaCry ransomware attacks affected organizations around the world that had not yet applied the patch.

Few details about the Equifax data breach were initially released, with the firm only announcing that access to consumer data was gained via a website application vulnerability. Equifax has now confirmed that access to data was gained by exploiting a vulnerability in Apache Struts, specifically, the Apache Struts vulnerability tracked as CVE-2017-5638.

As with WannaCry, a patch had been released two months before the attack took place. Hackers took advantage of poor patch management policies and exploited the vulnerability to gain access to consumer information.

The Exploited Apache Struts Vulnerability

Apache Struts is used by many Fortune 100 firms and is popular with banks, airlines, governments, and e-commerce stores. Apache Struts is an open-source, MVC framework that allows organizations to create front and back-end Java web applications, such as applications on the public website of Equifax.

The CVE-2017-5638 Apache Struts vulnerability is well known. Details of the vulnerability were published in March 2017 and a patch was issued to correct the flaw. The flaw is relatively easy to exploit, and within three days of the patch being issued, hackers started to exploit the vulnerability and attack web applications that had not been patched.

The remote code execution vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the affected application. While many organizations acted quickly, for some, applying the patch was not straightforward. The process of upgrading and fixing the flaw can be a difficult and labor-intensive task. Some websites have hundreds of apps that all need to be updated and tested. While it is currently unclear if Equifax was in the process of upgrading the software, two months after the patch had been released, Equifax had still not updated its software. In mid-May, the flaw was exploited by hackers and access was gained to consumer data.

Poor Patch Management Policies Will Lead to Data Breaches

All software contains vulnerabilities that can be exploited. It is just a case of those vulnerabilities being found. Already this year, there have been several vulnerabilities discovered in Apache Struts of varying severity. As soon as new vulnerabilities are discovered, patches are developed to correct the flaws. It is up to organizations to ensure patches are applied promptly to keep their systems and data secure. Had the patch been applied promptly, the breach could have been prevented.

Even though a widely exploited vulnerability was known to exist, Equifax was not only slow to correct the flaw but also failed to detect that a breach had occurred for several weeks. In this case, it would appear that the attackers were throttling down on data exfiltration to avoid detection, although questions will certainly be asked about why it took so long for the Equifax cyberattack to be discovered.

Since zero-day vulnerabilities are often exploited before software developers become aware of flaws and develop patches, organizations – especially those of the size of Equifax – should be using intrusion detection solutions to monitor for abnormal application activity. This will help to ensure any zero-day exploits are rapidly identified and action is taken to limit the severity of any breach.

What Will the Cost of the Equifax Data Breach Be?

The cost of the Equifax data breach will be considerable. State attorneys general are lining up to take action against the credit monitoring bureau for failing prevent the breach. 40 attorneys general have already launched and Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey has announced the state will be suing Equifax for breaching state laws.

Healey said, the Equifax data breach was “the most egregious data breach we have ever seen. It is as bad as it gets.” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has also spoken out about the breach promising an in-depth investigation to determine whether state laws have been violated. If they have, action will certainly be taken.

U.S. consumers are also extremely angry that their highly sensitive information has been breached, especially since they did not provide their data to Equifax directly. Class-action lawsuits are certain to be launched to recover damages.

As if the breach itself is not bad enough, questions have been raised about the possibility of insider trading. Three Equifax executives allegedly sold $2 million in stock just days after the breach was discovered and before it had been made public.

The final cost of the Equifax data breach will not be known for years to come, although already the firm has lost 35% of its stock value – wiping out around $6 billion. Multiple lawsuits will be filed, there are likely to be heavy fines. The cost of the Equifax breach is therefore certain to be of the order of hundreds of millions. Some experts have suggested a figure of at least 300 million is likely, and possibly considerably more.

Bashware Allows Malware to be Run on Windows 10 Undetected

by titanadmin | September 14, 2017 | Industry News

A new attack method – termed Bashware – could allow attackers to install malware on Windows 10 computers without being detected by security software, according to research conducted by Check Point.

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) was introduced to make it easier for developers to run Linux tools on Windows without having to resort to virtualization; however, the decision to add this feature could open the door to cybercriminals and allow them to install and run malware undetected.

Checkpoint researchers have conducted tests on Bashware attacks against leading antivirus and antimalware security solutions and in all cases, the attacks went undetected. Check Point says no current antivirus or security solutions are capable of detecting Bashware attacks as they have not been configured to search for these threats. Unless cybersecurity solutions are updated to search for the processes of Linux executables on Windows systems, attacks will not be detected.

Microsoft says the Bashware technique has been reviewed and has been determined to be of low risk, since WSL is not turned on by default and several steps would need to be taken before the attack is possible.

For an attack to take place, administrator privileges would need to be gained. As has been demonstrated on numerous occasions, those credentials could easily be gained by conducting phishing or social engineering attacks.

The computer must also have WSL turned on. By default, WSL is turned off, so the attacks would either be limited to computers with WSL turned on or users would have to turn on WSL manually, switching to development mode and rebooting their device. The potential for Bashware attacks to succeed is therefore somewhat limited.

That said, Check Point researchers explained that WSL mode can be switched on by changing a few registry keys. The Bashware attack method automates this process and will install all the necessary components, turn on WSL mode and could even be used to download and extract the Linux file system from Microsoft.

It is also not necessary for Linux malware to be written for use in these attacks. The Bashware technique installs a program called Wine that allows Windows malware to be launched and run undetected.

WSL is now a fully supported feature of Windows. Check Point says around 400 million computers are running Windows 10 are currently exposed to Bashware attacks.

Researchers Gal Elbaz and Dvir Atias at Check Point said in a recent blog post, “Bashware is so alarming because it shows how easy it is to take advantage of the WSL mechanism to allow any malware to bypass security products.”

Check Point has already updated its solutions to detect these types of attacks, and Kaspersky Lab is making changes to its solutions to prevent these types of attacks. Symantec said its solutions already check for malware created using WSL.

UNITEDRAKE Malware Released by Shadow Brokers

by titanadmin | September 8, 2017 | Industry News

Shadow Brokers are offering a new National Security Agency (NSA) hacking tool – UNITEDRAKE malware – making good on their promise to issue monthly releases of NSA exploits. The latest malware variant is one of several that were allegedly stolen from the NSA last year.

Shadow Brokers previously released the ETERNALBLUE exploit which was used in the WannaCry ransomware attacks in May that affected thousands of businesses around the world. There is no reason to suggest that this new hacking tool is not exactly what they claim.

UNITEDRAKE malware is a modular remote access and control tool that can capture microphone and webcam output, log keystrokes, and gain access to external drives. Shadow Brokers claim UNITEDRAKE malware is a ‘fully extensive remote collection system’ that includes a variety of plugins offering a range of functions that allow malicious actors to perform surveillance and gather information for use in further cyberattacks. UNITEDRAKE malware gives attackers the ability to take full control of an infected device.

Plugins include CAPTIVATEDAUDIENCE, which records conversations via an infected computer’s microphone, GUMFISH gives the attackers control of the webcam and allows them to record video and take images. FOGGYBOTTOM steals data such as login credentials, browsing histories and passwords, SALVAGERABBIT can access data on external drives such as flash drives and portable hard drives when they are connected, and GROK is a keylogger plugin. The malware is also able to self-destruct when its tasks have been performed.

The malware works on older Windows versions including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and 8 and Windows Server 2012.

According to documents released by Edward Snowden in 2014, the malware has been used by the NSA to infect millions of computers around the world. The malware will soon be in the hands of any cybercriminal willing to pay the asking price of 500 Zcash – around $124,000. Shadow Brokers have released a manual for the malware explaining how it works and its various functions.

TrendMicro said in a recent blog post there is currently no way of blocking or stopping the malware. When attacks occur, they will be analyzed by security researchers looking for clues as to how the malware works. That should ultimately lead to the development of tools to block attacks.

In the meantime, organizations need to improve their security posture by ensuring all systems are patched and operating systems are upgraded to the latest versions. An incident response plan should also be developed to ensure it can be implemented promptly in the event of an attack.

A further NSA exploit is expected to be released later this month, with the monthly dumps scheduled for at least the next two months.

Recently Discovered Spambot Contains 711-Million Email Addresses

by titanadmin | August 30, 2017 | Industry News

A Netherlands-based spambot has recently been discovered that is being used to send massive volumes of spam email containing ransomware and malware. What sets this spambot aside from the many others in use is the scale of the spamming operations. Paris-based cybersecurity firm Benkow says the spambot contains an astonishing 711,000,000 email addresses.

To put that absurdly high figure into perspective, it corresponds to the entire population of Europe or two email addresses for every resident in the United States and Canada.

The spambot – called Onliner – is being used as part of a massive malware distribution network that has been distributing Ursnif banking malware. Not only are these email addresses being used for spamming and malware distribution, the passwords associated with many of those accounts are also publicly available on the same server. Malicious actors could access the data and use the information to gain access to the compromised accounts to search for sensitive information.

All of the email addresses in the list have now been uploaded to HaveIBeenPwned. Troy Hunt of HaveIBeenPwned recently explained in a blog post that this is the single largest set of email addresses that has ever been uploaded to the database. Hunt said it took 110 separate data breaches and more than two and a half years for the site to amass a database of that size.

Hunt explained that an analysis of some of the email addresses in one of the text files were all present in the data from the LinkedIn breach, another set related to the Badoo breach and another batch were all in the exploit.in list, suggesting this massive collection of email addresses has been amalgamated from past data breaches. That shows data is being extensively bought and sold on forums and darknet marketplaces. However, not all of the email addresses were already in the database, suggesting they came either from previously undisclosed breaches and scrapes of Internet sites.

Some of the lists obtained contained email addresses, corresponding passwords, SMTP servers and ports, which allow spammers to abuse those accounts and servers in their spamming campaigns. Hunt says the list includes approximately 80 million email servers that are being used in spamming campaigns.

The problem is these are legitimate accounts and servers, which the spammers can abuse to send massive amounts of spam and even defeat some spam filters, ensuring malicious messages get delivered. Hunt says authorities in the Netherlands are currently attempting to shut down Onliner.

As a precaution, everyone is recommended to visit HaveIBeenPwned to check if their email addresses/passwords have been added to the database. If they are present, it is important to update the passwords for those email accounts and never to use those passwords again.

Cyberattacks in Q2 2017 Jumped by Almost a Quarter

by titanadmin | August 9, 2017 | Industry News

Cyberattacks are continuing to rise, according to the latest threat report from NTT Security. Cyberattacks in Q2 2017 jumped considerably, while phishing emails are now being extensively used to spread malware. The majority of cyberattacks in Q2 2017 affected the manufacturing, finance and healthcare industries, which accounted for 72% of all detected attacks.

Cyberattacks in Q2 2017 Increased by Almost a Quarter

Cyberattacks in Q2 2017 were 24% higher than the previous quarter and the manufacturing industry is in hackers’ crosshairs. Manufacturing accounted for 34% of all malicious attacks last quarter, followed by finance with 25% of attacks and healthcare on 13%.

Cyberattacks on manufacturing firms are not limited geographically. Manufacturing was the most attacked industry in five out of the six geographical regions tracked by NTT Security. The attacks have involved ransomware, industrial espionage, sabotage and data theft. Even though cyberattacks on manufacturing firms have increased sharply, 37% of firms in the sector have yet to develop an incident response plan.

Flash Continues to Cause Security Headaches for Businesses

Unpatched vulnerabilities continue to cause headaches for businesses, with Adobe Flash the main culprit. Adobe will finally retire Flash in 2020, but until then, it remains something of a liability. 98% of vulnerabilities corrected by Adobe were in Flash, and in Q2, an Adobe Flash vulnerability was the most commonly exploited. The Adobe Flash remote code execution vulnerability CVE-2016-4116 was exploited in 57% of vulnerability exploitation attacks.

The message to businesses is clear. If Adobe Flash is not essential it should be disabled or uninstalled. If it is necessary, it is essential that patches are applied as soon as humanly possible. NTT Security notes that attacks increase exponentially once proof-of-concept code is published.

Increase in Use of Phishing Emails for Malware Delivery

The NTT Security report shows 67% of malware attacks on organizations were the result of phishing emails. The NTT Security report ties in with the findings of a recent threat report issued by Symantec, which showed that malware emails were at now at the highest levels seen this year.

The use of phishing emails to deliver malware is understandable. The emails target employees – a weak link in most organizations’ defenses. Phishing emails take just a few minutes to craft and can be sent in large volumes quickly and easily. The phishing scams are also highly effective, taking advantages of flaws in human nature.

Many organizations are still only providing annual security awareness training, rather than regular refresher training sessions, ongoing CBT courses and monthly bulletins detailing the new threats. Ineffective spam filtering also results in more messages reaching end users’ inboxes, increasing the chance of one of those emails being opened and malware being downloaded.

Improving defenses against phishing is now critical, yet many organizations are failing to appreciate how serious the threat from phishing really is. The volume of malware infections now occurring via phishing emails should be a wakeup call for organizations.

Technical solutions such as advanced spam filters, link blocking technology such as web filters and employee security awareness training should all now feature in organizations’ cybersecurity defenses.

Ransomware Attacks on Small Businesses Cause Devastating Losses

by titanadmin | August 7, 2017 | Industry News

Ransomware attacks on small businesses can be devastating. Many small businesses have little spare capital and certainly not enough to be handing out cash to cybercriminals, let alone enough to cover the cost of loss of business while systems are taken out of action. Many small businesses are one ransomware attack away from total disaster. One attack and they may have to permanently shut their doors.

A recent research study commissioned by Malwarebytes – conducted by Osterman Research – has highlighted the devastating effect of ransomware attacks on small businesses.

1,054 businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees were surveyed and asked about the number of ransomware attacks they had experienced, the cost of mitigating those attacks and the impact of the ransomware attacks on their business.

Anyone following the news should be aware of the increase in ransomware attacks. Barely a week goes by without a major attack being announced. The latest study has confirmed the frequency of attacks has increased. More than one third of companies that took part in the survey revealed they had experienced at least one ransomware attack in the past 12 months.

22% of Small Businesses Shut Down Operations Immediately Following a Ransomware Attack

The survey also showed the devastating impact of ransomware attacks on small businesses. More than one fifth of small businesses were forced to cease operations immediately after an attack. 22% of businesses were forced to close their businesses.

Those companies able to weather the storm incurred significant costs. 15% of companies lost revenue as a result of having their systems and data locked by ransomware and one in six companies experienced downtime in excess of 25 hours. Some businesses said their systems were taken out of action for more than 100 hours.

Paying a ransom is no guarantee that systems can be brought back online quickly. Each computer affected requires its own security key. Those keys must be used carefully. A mistake could see data locked forever. A ransomware attack involving multiple devices could take several days to resolve. Forensic investigations must also be conducted to ensure all traces of the ransomware have been removed and no backdoors have been installed. That can be a long-winded, painstaking process.

Multiple-device attacks are becoming more common. WannaCry-style ransomware attacks that incorporate a worm component see infections spread rapidly across a network. However, many ransomware variants can scan neworks and self-replicate. One third of companies that experienced attack, said it spread to other devices and 2% said all devices had been encrypted.

Can Ransomware Attacks on Small Businesses be Prevented?

Can ransomware attacks on small businesses be prevented? Confidence appears to be low. Almost half of respondents were only moderately confident they could prevent a ransomware attack on their business. Even though a third of businesses had ‘anti-ransomware’ defenses in place, one third still experienced attacks.

Unfortunately, there is no single solution that can prevent ransomware attacks on small businesses. What organizations must do is employ multi-layered defenses, although that can be a major challenge, especially with limited resources.

A risk assessment is a good place to start. Organizations need to look at their defenses critically and assess their infrastructure for potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited.

Improving Defenses Against Ransomware

Ransomware attacks on small businesses usually occur via email with employees targeted using phishing emails. Organizations should consider implementing a spam filtering solution to reduce the number of malicious emails that reach inboxes.

Some emails will inevitably slip past these defenses, so it is important for staff to be security aware. Security awareness training should be ongoing and should involve phishing simulations to find out how effective training has been and to single out employees that need further training.

While ransomware can arrive as an attachment, it is usually downloaded via scripts of when users visit malicious websites. By blocking links and preventing end users from visiting malicious sites, ransomware downloads can be blocked. A web filtering solution can be used to block malicious links and sites.

Anti-virus solutions should be kept up to date, although traditional signature-based detection technology is not as effective as it once was. Alone, anti-virus software will not offer sufficient levels of protection.

As was clearly shown by the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks, malware can be installed without any user interaction if systems are not configured correctly and patches and software updates are not applied promptly. Sign up to alerts and regularly check for updated software and don’t delay patching computers.

A ransomware attack need not be devastating. If organizations back up their data to the cloud, on a portable (unplugged) local storage device and have a copy of data off site, in the event of an attack, data will not be lost.

58% of Companies Not Deprovisioning Former Employees Promptly

by titanadmin | July 19, 2017 | Industry News

You’ve secured the network perimeter, installed a spam filter, trained your employees to recognize phishing emails and have an intrusion detection system in place, but are you deprovisioning former employees to prevent data theft? According to a new report from OneLogin, 58% of companies are lax when it comes to blocking network access when employees leave the company.

For the study, 600 IT professionals with responsibility or partial responsibility for security decisions about hardware, software or cloud services were interviewed. When asked about the time delay between employees leaving the company and their accounts being deactivated, 58% said that it takes more than a day for that to happen and a quarter said it takes more than a week. 28% of respondents said deprovisioning former employees takes a month or longer.

48% of respondents said they were aware that former employees still had access to applications after they had left the company and 44% said they were not confident that deprovisioning former employees had actually occurred.

Even though there is a significant time delay involved in blocking access for former employees, only four out of ten organizations are using a security information and event management solution (SIEM). A SIEM would allow them to monitor app usage by former employees and would alert them if systems were still being accessed, yet only 45% of respondents said they used such a solution.

Organizations are taking a big risk by not ensuring accounts are deactivated before employees walk through the door for the final time. The study revealed that the risk is considerable. When asked if they had suffered data breaches due to former employees, 24% said they had.

Deprovisioning employees is time consuming, especially when they have been employed for a long time and have access to many business applications and networks. 92% of respondents said it takes up to an hour to deprovision employees and many must complete the process manually. Time may be pressed, but failing to block access promptly is a data breach waiting to happen.

Trump Hotels Confirms 14 Locations Affected by Sabre Hospitality Solutions Data Breach

by titanadmin | July 3, 2017 | Industry News

Trump Hotels has announced that guests at some of its hotels have been impacted by the Sabre Hospitality Solutions data breach and have had their credit/debit card details stolen. Sabre Hospitality Solutions provides the hotel reservation system used at certain Trump Hotels, and it was this system that was compromised not the systems used at Trump Hotels. Sabre’s system is used by more than 32,000 hotels and lodging establishments around the world.

Attackers gained access to the Sabre SynXis Central Reservations system (CRS) which is used by hotels and travel agencies to make hotel bookings. Sabre discovered the breach on June 5, 2017, with the attacker understood to have obtained account credentials that enabled access to the CRS and the payment card data processed through the system.

The data breach affected 13 Trump Hotels (Central Park, Chicago, Doonbeg, Doral, Las Vegas, Panama, Soho, Toronto, Turnberry, Vancouver, Waikiki, DC, Rio de Janeiro) and the Albemarle Estate. Each hotel was affected at a different time and for a different duration, with the first instance occurring on August 10, 2016. The last data access was on March 9, 2017. The hotel reservation system was compromised at most of the affected hotels for a few days up to three weeks in November 2016, with the exception of Trump Las Vegas, Trump Panama, and Trump DC, which saw systems compromised for around four months.

When the Sabre Hospitality Solutions data breach was detected, the company contracted cybersecurity firm Mandiant to conduct a forensic analysis to determine how the breach occurred, which hotels were affected and to ensure that access to its systems was blocked. Sabre reports that after March 9, 2017, no further unauthorized access to its system has occurred.

During the time that access to data was possible, the attackers were able to obtain the names of card holders, card numbers, expiration dates and in some cases, CVV codes. Other information potentially accessed includes guests’ names, addresses, phone numbers and potentially other information, although not Social Security numbers or driver’s licenses.

The Sabre Hospitality Solutions data breach affected many organizations, with Google recently announcing that some of its employees have had information exposed. In the case of Google, it was a travel agency – Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) – that was affected. CWT was one of the companies used by Google to book hotels for its staff.

The hospitality industry has been hit with numerous POS system breaches over the past few years. The industry is an attractive target for cybercriminals. Most hotel bookings are made with credit and debit cards, cybersecurity protections are often poor and once access is gained to the systems it can be months before a data breach is detected.

A variety of attack vectors are used, although login credentials are commonly stolen in phishing attacks. Phishing emails are sent to company employees and social engineering tricks are used to convince those employees to disclose their login credentials or open malicious email attachments that install malware.

Email security solutions that prevent spam emails from being delivered to end users’ inboxes offer protection against phishing attacks. As an additional precaution, security awareness training should be provided to all hotel employees who have access to corporate email accounts.

With SpamTitan installed, hotel chains are well protected from phishing attacks. SpamTitan blocks more than 99.9% of spam emails, adding an important layer of protection for hotels to prevent data breaches.

57% Cyber Incidents Caused by Phishing and Social Engineering

by titanadmin | June 30, 2017 | Industry News

Phishing and social engineering attacks are the biggest cyber risks faced by organizations. Not only are attacks on the rise, they are becoming more sophisticated. The increase in attacks and cost of mitigating cyber incidents is having a major negative impact on businesses.

Organizations can tackle the problem of phishing and social engineering by implementing technologies that preventing phishing emails from reaching end users’ inboxes and ensuring employees know how to identify threats and response when a malicious email arrives in their inbox.

One of the most effective ways of blocking these phishing and social engineering attacks is implementing an advanced spam filtering solution. SpamTitan blocks more than 99.9% of email spam and uses two antivirus engines to identify and block emails with malicious attachments.

Many organizations provide security training to their employees and teach them to be more security aware, although a new report from the Business Continuity Institute calls for businesses to do more in this regard. In order to tackle phishing and improve resilience to attacks BCI says user education needs to improve.

A one-off training program as part of an employee’s induction is no longer sufficient. Training should be an ongoing process with regular refresher training sessions provided throughout the year. Phishing simulation exercises are also highly beneficial for reinforcing training and gauging how effective training has been.

However, the study suggests only 52% of companies conduct awareness-raising seminars and just 55% conduct regular exercises on likely cybersecurity scenarios. Only 46% run desktop exercises such as attack simulations.

The BCI study confirmed just how often phishing and social engineering attacks result in cyber incidents. The report shows that 57% of cyber incidents involve phishing or social engineering emails. Malware is responsible for 41% of cyber disruptions, with spear phishing emails accounting for 30% of attacks. Ransomware has grown into a major issue in recent months and is behind 19% of cyber disruptions.

The survey was conducted on 734 individuals from 69 countries. Two thirds of respondents had experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months with 15% saying they had experienced 10 or more disruptions in the past year. 5% said they experienced between 11 and 20 incidents in the past 12 months, a further 5% experienced between 21 and 50 incidents and 5% said they experienced 51 or more incidents. Responding to these incidents takes up valuable time. 67% of attacks take more than an hour to resolve with 16% taking more than four hours.

These incidents are costing businesses dearly. 33% of organizations said the cost of those attacks exceeded €50,000, while 13% of respondents said they had spent over €250,000 remediating attacks. It should be noted that 40% of respondents that took part in the survey were from SMEs with an annual turnover of less than €1 million.

Cybercriminals are only likely to increase their efforts and conduct more phishing and social engineering attacks. It is therefore essential for businesses to have a high commitment to cyber resilience and to do more to improve cybersecurity defenses. The survey suggests only 60% of senior management are committed to improving their defenses, so there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Erebus Ransomware Attack Results in $1 Million Ransom Payment

by titanadmin | June 23, 2017 | Industry News

A $1 million ransom payment has been made to cybercriminals who used Erebus ransomware to attack the South Korean web hosting firm Nayana.

Erebus ransomware was first detected in September last year and was downloaded via websites hosting the Rig exploit kit. Traffic was directed to the malicious website hosting the Rig EK via malvertising campaigns. Vulnerable computers then had Erebus ransomware downloaded. This Erebus ransomware attack is unlikely to have occurred the same way. Trend Micro suggests the attackers leveraged vulnerabilities on the comapny’s Linux servers, used a local exploit or both.

The infection spread to all 153 Linux servers used by Nayana. Those servers hosted the websites of 3,400 businesses. All of the firm’s customers appear to have been affected, with website files and databases encrypted.

Nayana was attacked on June 10, 2017 in the early hours. The hosting company responded rapidly. Law enforcement was contacted and it was initially hoped that it would be possible to crack the ransomware and decrypt files without paying the ransom. It soon became clear that was not an option.

Companies can avoid paying ransom payments following ransomware attacks by ensuring backups are made of all data. Having multiple backups increases the likelihood of files being recoverable. In this case, Nayana had an internal and external backup; however, both of those backups were also encrypted in the attack. Nayana therefore had no alternative but to negotiate with the attackers.

While ransom payments for businesses are often in the $10,000 to $25,000 price bracket, the gang behind this attack demanded an astonishing 550 Bitcoin for the keys to unlock the encryption – Approximately $1.62 million. On June 14, Nayana reported that it had negotiated a ransom payment of 397.6 Bitcoin – Approximately $1.01 million, making this the largest ransomware ransom payment reported to date.

That payment is being made in three instalments, with keys supplied to restore files on the servers in batches. When one batch of servers was successfully recovered, the second ransom payment was made. Nayana said that the recovery process would take approximately 2 weeks for each of the three batches of servers, resulting in considerable downtime for the company’s business customers. Nayana experienced some problems restoring databases but says it is now paying the final payment.

This incident shows how costly ransomware resolution can be and highlights how important it is to ensure that operating systems and software are updated regularly. Patches should be applied promptly to address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by cybercriminals.

Simply having a backup is no guarantee that files can be recovered. If the backup device is connected to a networked machine when a ransomware attack occurs, backup files can also be encrypted. This is why it is essential for organizations to ensure one backup is always offline. It is also wise to segment networks to limit the damage caused by a ransomware attack. If ransomware is installed, only part of the network will be affected.

New Microsoft Windows XP Updates Released in Wake of WannaCry Attacks

by titanadmin | June 14, 2017 | Industry News

Microsoft took the decision to issue emergency Windows XP updates to prevent exploitation of the Windows Server Message Block (SMB) vulnerability used to infect worldwide computers with ransomware on May 12, 2017.

The move came as a surprise since the operating system is no longer supported. Extended support came to an end on April 8, 2014. Yesterday, saw further Microsoft Windows XP updates released. The patches prevent further flaws in the operating system from being exploited by cybercriminals in WannaCry ransomware-style attacks.

Microsoft’s Cyber Defense Operations Center head, Adrienne Hall, said “Due to the elevated risk for destructive cyber-attacks at this time, we made the decision to take this action because applying these updates provides further protection against potential attacks with characteristics similar to WannaCrypt.”

In total, nearly 100 vulnerabilities were patched this Patch Tuesday, including 18 critical flaws that can be remotely exploited by cybercriminals to take full control of vulnerable systems. In some cases, as was the case with the WannaCry ransomware attacks, no user interaction is required for the flaws to be exploited.

One of the flaws – tracked as CVE-2017-8543 – similarly affects the Windows Server Message Block service. Microsoft says CVE-2017-8543 is being actively exploited in the wild, with Windows Server 2008, 2012, and 2016 all affected as well as more recent versions of Windows – v7, 8.1 and Windows 10. It is this flaw that has been patched for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. As was the case on May 12, once the attackers infect one device, they can search for other vulnerable devices. Infection can spread incredibly quickly to many other networked devices.

Some security experts have criticized Microsoft for issuing yet more Windows XP updates, arguing that this sends a message to users of outdated operating systems that it is OK not to upgrade the OS. Windows XP has many unpatched flaws, but the recent Windows XP updates suggest that if a particularly serious vulnerability is discovered that is being actively exploited, patches will be issued.

While Microsoft Windows XP updates have been released, this should not be taken as signaling a change in Microsoft’s standard servicing policies. Further patches may not be released for unsupported Windows versions, so organizations should not delay upgrading their OS. Microsoft’s general manager of its Security Response Center, Eric Doerr, said “The best protection is to be on a modern, up-to-date system that incorporates the latest defense-in-depth innovations. Older systems, even if fully up-to-date, lack the latest security features and advancements.”

In total, there were 95 updates issued this patch Tuesday. Like CVE-2017-8543, a LNK remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2017-8464) is also being exploited in the wild.

The latest round of updates also includes a patch for a serious flaw in Microsoft Outlook (CVE-2017-8507). Typically, in order to exploit vulnerabilities an end user would be required to open a specially crafted email attachment. However, if an attacker were to send a specially crafted message to an Outlook user, simply viewing the message would allow the attacker to take full control of the machine.

Adobe has also issued a slew of updates to address 21 vulnerabilities spread across four products (Flash, Shockwave Player, Captivate and Adobe Digital editions). 15 of those vulnerabilities have been marked as critical and would allow remote code execution.

As the WannaCry ransomware attacks clearly showed, the failure to apply patches promptly leaves the door wide open to cybercriminals. These updates should therefore not be delayed, especially since two of the flaws are being actively exploited.

Samba Flaw Could Be Exploited and Used in Network Worm Attacks

by titanadmin | May 30, 2017 | Industry News

A critical Samba flaw has been discovered that has potential to be exploited and used for network worm attacks similar to those that resulted in more than 300,000 global WannaCry ransomware infections.

Samba is used to provide Windows-like file and print services on Unix and Linux servers and is based on the Windows Server Message Block (SMB) protocol that was exploited in the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks. The wormable remote code execution vulnerability has been identified in versions 3.5.0 an above.

The Samba flaw – tracked as CVE-2017-7494 – has existed for around 7 years, although no known attacks are understood to have occurred. That may not remain the case for long.

Samba is commonly installed on enterprise Linux servers, with around 104,000 machines believed to be vulnerable, per a recent search conducted by Rapid7 researchers. The Samba flaw can be exploited easily, requiring just a single line of code.

The Samba vulnerability has been rated as critical, although the good news is Samba has already issued an update that addresses the vulnerability. The patch can be applied to versions 4.4 and above. Any organization that is using an unsupported version of Samba, or is unable to apply the patch, can use a workaround to address the Samba vulnerability and secure their Linux and Unix servers.

The workaround is straightforward, requiring the addition of the following parameter to the [global] section of your smb.conf

nt pipe support = no

After the parameter has been added, the smbd daemon must be restarted. This will prevent clients from accessing any named pipe endpoints.

US-CERT has advised all organizations to apply the patch or use the workaround as soon as possible to prevent the vulnerability from being exploited.

If a threat actor were to exploit the Samba flaw, it would allow them to “upload a shared library to a writable share, and then cause the server to load and execute it.” A malicious file could be remotely uploaded on any vulnerable device. That could be ransomware, a network worm, or any other malicious file. That file could then be executed with root access privileges.

NAS devices also use Samba and may also be vulnerable to attack. Malicious actors could target NAS devices and access or encrypt stored data. Many organizations use NAS devices to store backups. An attack on those devices, using ransomware for instance, could be devastating. Bob Rudis, chief data scientist at Rapid7, said “A direct attack or worm would render those backups almost useless. Organizations would have little choice but to pay the ransom demand.

A proof-of-concept exploit for the Samba vulnerability is available to the public. It is therefore only a matter of time before the vulnerability is exploited. The patch or workaround should therefore be applied ASAP to mitigate risk.

TitanHQ Partners with Purple to Provide Secure Content Filtering for WiFi Networks

by titanadmin | May 25, 2017 | Industry News

TitanHQ announced a new partnership with Purple, the intelligent spaces company, which is now using the WebTitan WiFi filtering solution to control the content that can be accessed through its WiFi networks.

Businesses are now realizing they can attract more customers by providing free WiFi access, with Purple allowing businesses to get something back from providing free WiFi access to customers.

Purple provides WiFi analytics and marketing solutions allowing businesses to get more out of their WiFi networks. Those services have proven incredibly popular, with Purple rapidly expanding its business to serve clients in more than 70 countries.

Businesses are facing increasing pressure not only to provide Internet access to customers, but also to ensure that the Internet can be accessed safely and securely. The recent WannaCry ransomware attacks have highlighted just how important Internet security has now become. An Internet content filtering solution is therefore necessary to ensure inappropriate website content can be filtered out and malicious websites are blocked.

TitanHQ’s website content filtering solution – WebTitan – is the global leading content filtering solution for WiFi networks. Each day, WebTitan detects and blocks more than 60,000 different types of malware and ransomware, preventing users from infecting their devices. The solution is managed from a web-based control panel and can instantly be applied to any number of global WiFi access points.

The solution can be easily configured, has no latency, and allows precise control over the types of content that can be accessed through WiFi networks.

Following the rollout of WebTitan, which took just a few days, Purple customers have started benefitting from the industry-leading WiFi filtering solution.

James Wood, Head of Integration at Purple, communicated Purple’s unique requirements to TitanHQ which was able to provide a solution that exactly matched the company’s needs. Wood said, “From day one it was evident that they were capable of not only providing what we needed but were very responsive and technically adept.”

The solution was ideal for Purple. Woods explained that “Along with superior protection, WebTitan also allows us to extend the control to our customers via their API. Our customers can now manage their own filtering settings directly from the Purple Portal.”

More and more companies are realizing that it is no longer sufficient to just offer free WiFi access to customers. Customers now want to be reassured that they can access the Internet securely. TitanHQ CEO Ronan Kavanagh said “Content filtering for Wi-Fi will be a given in service terms over the next few years. Purple again is leading the way with their focus on this area.”

Why WebTitan Cloud for WiFi is Such a Popular Choice for Service Providers

Managed Service Providers, ISPs , and Resellers can join the TitanShield program and gain important benefits that are lacking in many other WiFi filtering solutions. These include:

• Accurately filter web content through 53 pre-set categories and up to 10 custom categories.
• Filter by keyword and keyword score.
• Filter content in 200 languages.
• Multiple hosting options, including within your own data center
• No limit on access points or users
• manage multiple access points through a single web-based administration portal
• Easy integration into existing billing, auto provisioning and monitoring systems through a suite of APIs
• WebTitan Cloud for WiFi can be provided as a white label ready to take your own branding
• World class customer service with dedicated account managers
• Highly competitive pricing and a fully transparent pricing policy
• Flexible pricing to meet the needs of MSPs as seats fluctuate
• Easy delegation of access point management
• Extensive reporting suite including report scheduling, real-time views of Internet activity, and drill down reporting

Who Conducted the WannaCry Ransomware Attacks? Link Found to North Korea

by titanadmin | May 16, 2017 | Industry News

Who Conducted the WannaCry Ransomware Attacks?

The WannaCry ransomware attacks that started on Friday May 12 rapidly spread to more than 150 countries. While the attacks have been halted, IT security professionals are still scrambling to secure their systems and the search is now on for the perpetrators.

Malware researchers are analyzing the ransomware code and attack method to try to find clues that will reveal who conducted the WannaCry ransomware attacks.

At this stage in the investigation, no concrete evidence has been uncovered that links the attacks to any individual or hacking group, although a Google security researcher, Neel Mehta, has found a possible link to the Lazarus Group; a hacking organization believed to be based in China with links to North Korea.

The Lazarus Group is thought to be behind the attack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and the major heist on the Bangladesh central bank in February this year. While the link between the Lazarus Group and North Korea has not been comprehensively proven, the U.S. government is sure the group has been backed by North Korea in the past.

WannaCry Ransomware Code has been Reused

Mehta discovered parts of the ransomware code from the latest attacks were the same as code in a 2015 backdoor used by the Lazarus Group, suggesting the WannaCry ransomware attacks were conducted either by the Lazarus Group or by someone who has access to the same code.

Mehta also compared the code from the latest WannaCry ransomware variant and the backdoor to an earlier version of WannaCry ransomware from February and found code had been shared between all three. Symantec’s researchers have confirmed the code similarities.

Whether the Lazarus Group conducted the attacks is far from proven, and there is no evidence to suggest that were that to be the case, that the group had any backing from North Korea. The group could have been acting independently.

While some have called this link ‘strong evidence’, it should be explained that comparing code between malware samples does not confirm origin. Code is often reused and it is possible that the actors behind this campaign may have put in a false flag to divert attention from themselves onto the Lazarus Group and North Korea.

While the false flag idea is possible and plausible, Kaspersky Lab believes it is improbable and that the similarities in the source code point the finger of blame at the Lazarus Group.

Many Questions Remain Unanswered

The link with the Lazarus Group/North Korea is now being investigated further, but there are currently many questions unanswered.

The ransomware included a self-replicating function making it act like a worm, allowing it to rapidly spread to all vulnerable computers on a network. The sophistication of the attack suggests it was the work of a highly capable organization rather than an individual. However, the kill switch in the ransomware that was discovered by UK researcher ‘Malware Tech,’ allowed the infections to be halted. Such an ‘easily found’ kill switch would be atypical of such a sophisticated hacking group.

Previous attacks linked with the Lazarus Group have also been highly targeted. The WannaCry ransomware attacks over the weekend were purposely conducted in multiple countries, including China and Russia. The widespread nature of the attacks would be a departure from the typical attack methods used by Lazarus.

There are doubts as to whether North Korea would back an attack on its neighbours and allies, and while financially motivated attacks cannot be ruled out, past state-sponsored attacks have had a political purpose.

At this stage, it is not possible to tell who conducted the WannaCry ransomware attacks, but the latest discovery is an important clue as to who may be responsible.

Does GDPR Apply to American Companies?

by titanadmin | April 30, 2017 | Industry News

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new data privacy and security law in Europe that comes into force next year, but does GDPR apply to American companies? As many U.S. companies have recently discovered, not only does GDPR apply to American companies, doing business within the EU is likely to be extremely costly for companies that do not comply with GDPR.

Any organization or individual that does business within any of the 28 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) must comply with GDPR or face heavy penalties.

The penalty for non-compliance with GDPR for enterprises is up to 20,000,000 Euros ($23,138,200) or 4% of the annual global turnover of the company for the previous fiscal year, whichever is the greatest. An enterprise found not to have complied with GDPR will also be subjected to regular, periodic data protection audits to ensure its policies and procedures are updated and the firm continues to comply with GDPR.

So, what is the regulation and how does GDPR apply to American companies? What do U.S firms need to do to comply with GDPR?

How Does GDPR Apply to American Companies?

The main purpose of GDPR is to give EU citizens greater control over how their personal data is collected, protected and used. While the legislation applies to EU companies, it also applies to any company that chooses to do business in the EU. That includes any online business that owns a website that is accessible by EU citizens if that website collects user data.

Since the definition of personal information includes online identifiers such as cookies, GDPR has implications for huge numbers of U.S businesses. GDPR applies to all companies that do business with persons based in EU member states, with the exception of law enforcement agencies or when data are collected for national security activities.

To continue to do business in the EU, most companies will have to implement additional privacy protections and adopt end-to-end data protection strategies.

The EU classes personal data as “Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person,” which includes a wide range of information from names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses to bank information and credit card details, photos, posts on social media websites, medical information, and even an individuals IP address.

Even when controls have been implemented to keep data secure, it may still be necessary to overhaul systems to ensure sufficient protections are in place. Companies must be aware where data are stored and employees must be trained to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities with regards to the use of data.

Organizations will need to provide customers – and website visitors – with detailed information on data that are collected and how data will be used. Consent must be obtained before any data are collected and consent must be obtained from a parent or custodian of a minor.

There must be a legitimate and lawful reason for collecting data and limited to the minimum necessary information for the purpose for which data are collected. Data must be deleted when that purpose has been achieved.

Organizations must appoint a Data Protection Officer who is knowledgeable about GDPR and will oversee compliance if their core activities are data collection, storage or data processing. That individual must also have a thorough understanding of the company’s organizational and technical infrastructure.

Organizations also need to implement appropriate policies, procedures and technologies to ensure that the data of EU citizens can be permanently erased. GDPR includes the right to be forgotten – termed ‘Right to Erasure’.

The legislation that GDPR replaces only required data to be deleted when it caused substantial damage or distress. However, from next year, an EU citizen can request that all data collected on them be permanently deleted if the information is no longer needed for the purpose that it was originally collected. Data must also be deleted if consent to use the data is withdrawn or if the processing of data is unlawful and breaches GDPR.

Many U.S. companies already have technologies in place that will comply with the data protection requirements of GDPR, but the right to erasure requirement could pose problems.

Symantec recently conducted a survey that revealed 9 out of 10 businesses were concerned that they would not be able to comply with the right to erasure requirement of GDPR, with only 4 out of 10 businesses already having a system in place that could potentially allow all data to be deleted.

Compliance with GDPR in the United States

A recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers on large multinational companies in the United States shows efforts are already underway to ensure compliance with the EU regulation. More than half of surveyed firms said GDPR is now their main data protection priority, with 92% saying compliance with GDPR is a top priority this year.  The cost of compliance is considerable. 77% of surveyed firms said they are planning to spend more than $1 million on GDPR compliance, with one of the main spending priorities being improving their information security defenses.

Many companies are starting to ask how how does GDPR apply to American companies, but a study conducted by NTT Security suggests that three quarters of U.S. businesses are ignoring GDPR because they do not believe the regulation applies to them. Ignorance could prove very costly indeed. Further, time is running out. For many companies, compliance with GDPR will not be a quick process and the deadline is fast approaching. GDPR comes into effect on May 25, 2018. Miss the deadline and fines await.

Further Reading:  Read a more detailed explanation of the GDPR regulations for US companies here.

Cyberattacks on Educational Institutions Increase Sharply

by titanadmin | April 28, 2017 | Industry News

Cyberattacks on educational institutions are occurring at an alarming rate. While the education sector has not been as heavily targeted as the financial services and healthcare in recent years, that is no longer the case. Cybercriminals and state-actors now have the education sector in their crosshairs.

Cybercriminals have realized that cyberattacks on educational institutions can be highly profitable, with this year seeing a sharp rise in attacks.

Schools, colleges and higher education institutions hold vast quantities of data that can be used for fraud and identity theft. As we have already seen this year, cyberattacks on educational institutions are now much more common. The first quarter of the year saw a rise in W-2 phishing attacks, with criminals managing to obtain the tax information of many thousands of staff members. Those data were used to file fraudulent tax returns. Student records can be used for identity theft and can be sold for big bucks on darknet marketplaces. Attacks aimed at obtaining the personal data of students have similarly increased.

Educational institutions also conduct extensive research. The past year has seen a sharp rise in espionage related cyberattacks on educational institutions. Criminals are also conducting attacks to gain access to bank accounts. This year, two major cyberattacks on educational organizations have resulted in bank transfers being made to criminals’ accounts. At the start of the year, a phishing attack on the Cleveland Metropolitan School District resulted in more than $100,000 being obtained by the attackers. Denver Public Schools was also attacked, with the attackers redirecting $40,000 in payroll funds to their own accounts.

The recently published Data Breach Investigation Report from Verizon clearly shows the new attack trend. Over the past year, there have been 455 incidents reported by educational institutions, 73 of which have resulted in the theft of data.

While many industries see cyberattacks conducted for financial reasons, in education, financial gain was only the motive behind 45% of cyberattacks. 43% of attacks involved espionage and 9% of attacks were conducted for fun. Out of all reported data breaches, 26% involved espionage. Last year the percentage was just 5%.

Attacks are coming from all angles – Internal attacks by students; attacks by cybercriminals looking to steal data, and state-sponsored actors looking to steal research. The latter accounted for more than half of data breaches in the past year.

The Verizon report indicates hacking is the biggest threat. 43% of breaches were due to hacks, although social attacks and malware were also common. Verizon reports that almost 44% of breaches involved social and around a third involved malware. Social attacks and malware have increased considerably over the course of the past year. The most common social attack was phishing via email.

As long cyberattacks on educational institutions remain beneficial or profitable, cyberattacks will continue.  Educational institutions therefore need to take steps to improve their security posture. Since social attacks such as phishing are commonplace, and malware infections commonly occur via email, educational institutions need review their email defenses.

Password policies should be introduced to ensure strong passwords are set on email accounts and policies introduced to ensure passwords are regularly changed. Spam filtering solutions should be implemented and all staff and students should receive training on security awareness. Verizon suggests staff and students should be encouraged or rewarded for reporting phishing and pretexting attacks.

Shoney’s Restaurants Malware Incident Affects 37 Restaurants

by titanadmin | April 19, 2017 | Industry News

A Shoney’s Restaurants malware infection has resulted in the theft of customers’ payment card details. Hackers managed to install malware on the POS system used by dozens of Shoney’s restaurants

Shoney’s is a 70-year-old Nashville, Tennessee-based restaurant chain that operates approximately 150 restaurants across the Southern United States, Midwest and lower Atlantic region. The chain serves customers in 17 states, although only selected restaurants in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia were affected. At least 37 restaurants were affected.

Financial institutions identified a trend in credit card fraud and were able to determine that all of the affected cardholders had visited a Shoney’s Restaurant. Best American Hospitality Corp., which manages and operates a number of Shoney’s establishments, was notified of a potential cyberattack and started an investigation. Kroll Cyber Security LLC was hired to conduct an investigation into the attack.

Kroll’s investigation revealed the malware enabled the attackers to steal cardholder names, credit card numbers, CVV codes, and expiry dates, although in some cases, cardholder names were not obtained. It is unclear how many individuals have been impacted, although any individual who visited one of the affected restaurants and paid by credit card has potentially had their information stolen. The malware was capable of reading data from the magnetic strips of payment cards as the information was routed through its computer system.

Access to the POS system is understood to have first been gained on December 27, 2016, although some restaurants were not infected until January 11. The Shoney’s Restaurants malware infection was contained on March 6, 2017, according to a press release issued by Best American Hospitality Corp.

The Shoney’s Restaurants malware attack is the latest is a slew of POS system breaches that have hit the hospitality sector hard. Earlier this year, the Arby’s restaurant chain was attacked and had credit card data stolen, while Wendy’s suffered a major credit card breach last year. Hotels have also been attacked, with more than 1,100 Intercontinental Hotel Group hotels discovered to have had malware installed that accessed its POS system.

Cyberattacks on the hospitality sector are to be expected. Hotels and restaurants are visited by tens of thousands of customers, and payment by credit card is common. Card details can be stolen and encoded onto magnetic strips on blank cards and used for fraudulent purchases. Each card number can allow criminals to steal hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

All too often, data breaches occur due to poor security practices such as the failure to use strong passwords or failing to change default passwords. Other basic security failures that can open the door to attackers include failing to use web and email security products, not using two-factor authentication and not implementing security patches promptly.  Businesses should also conduct regular vulnerability scans and penetration tests to ensure all of their systems are secure.

If you would like advice on web and email security protections that can prevent hackers from gaining access to your POS system and installing malware, contact the TitanHQ team today and find out how you can improve your resilience against malware and cyberattacks.

2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index Provides Insight into Cyberattack Trends

by titanadmin | March 31, 2017 | Industry News

The 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index has been released this week. The report provides an insight into the main cybersecurity threats faced by all industries and major cyberattack trends, data breaches and security incidents experienced by U.S. organizations in 2016.

Last year’s IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index showed healthcare was the industry most heavily targeted by cybercriminals. However, the 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index shows cybercriminals changed their focus in 2016. Last year, the financial services was hit the hardest. The healthcare dropped down to fifth place.

The healthcare industry did not suffer mega data breaches of the same scale as 2015 – which saw a 78.8 million-record cyberattack on Anthem Inc., and 10 million record+ data breaches at Premera Blue Cross and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. However, there were security breaches aplenty. 2016 was the worst ever year for healthcare industry breaches, with more incidents reported than any other year in history.

Those breaches resulted in far fewer records being exposed or stolen. The 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index indicates there was an 88% drop in exposed or stolen healthcare records in 2016 compared to the previous year. Around 12 million healthcare records were exposed or stolen in 2016.

The 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index also shows that there was a shift in the nature of attacks, with cybercriminals targeting unstructured data rather than structured data. Data breaches involving email archives, intellectual property, and business documents all rose in 2016.

The healthcare industry may not have seen so many records exposed, but that was certainly not the case across all industry sectors. 2016 was a very bad year for cyberattacks. In 2015, around 600 million records were exposed or stolen. In 2016 the total jumped to an incredible 4 million records, helped in no small part by the 1.5 billion record breach at Yahoo and the discovery of massive data breaches at LinkedIn, MySpace, and Dropbox. It is therefore no surprise that IBM called 2016 The Year of the Mega Data Breach.

Top of the list of attacked industries in 2016 was financial services. Both the financial services and healthcare sectors saw a fall in attacks by outsiders, but attacks by malicious insiders and inadvertent actors increased in both industry sectors.

In the financial services, 5% of attacks involved malicious insiders and 53% involved inadvertent actors. In healthcare, 25% of attacks involved malicious insiders and 46% involved inadvertent actors. The financial services saw 42% of attacks conducted by outsiders. Healthcare cyberattacks by outsiders accounted for 29% of the annual total.

According to the 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, the second most targeted industry was information and communications, followed by manufacturing and retail. All three industries saw increases in attacks by outsiders, which accounted for the vast majority of attacks. 96% of attacks on information and communications were by outsiders, with 91% apiece for manufacturing and retail.

The financial services sector saw a substantial rise in SQLi and OS CMDi attacks in 2016 – The most common attack method for the industry. The main attack method on the information and communications sector involved exploitation of vulnerabilities allowing attackers to trigger buffer overflow conditions. The main attack method on the manufacturing, retail and healthcare industries was also SQLi and OS CMDi attacks, which accounted for 71% of manufacturing industry cyberattacks, 50% of retail cyberattacks, and 48% of healthcare cyberattacks.

The 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index indicates cybercriminals favored older attack methods in 2016 such as ransomware, malware toolkits, and command injection to gain access to valuable data and resources.

Ransomware was big news in 2016. Many cybercriminals turned to ransomware as a quick and easy source of income. Figures from the FBI indicate $209 million in ransom payments were made in the first three months of 2016 alone.

Malware was also extensively used in attacks, with Android malware and banking Trojans big in 2016. Not all attacks targeted organizations for their data. DDoS attacks increased, both in frequency and severity. While attacks of 300+ Mbps were unusual in 2015, they became the norm in 2016. One attack in excess of 1 Tbps was reported.

While 2015 saw exploit kits extensively used to infect endpoints with malware, in 2016 spam email was favored. Spam was a primary attack tool of cybercriminals, especially in the second half of the year. While the first half of the year saw spam email volume remain steady, the 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index indicates there was a significant increase in spam volume in the second half of the year and a massive rise in the number of malicious email attachments.

The 2017 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index shows the vast majority of malicious attachments were ransomware or ransomware downloaders, which accounted for 85% of malicious email attachments.

The increase in the use of spam email as an attack vector shows how important it is for organizations to improve their defenses against email attacks. An advanced spam filter is essential as is training of employees on security best practices and phishing attack prevention.

Cybersecurity Howlers Are Committed by Intelligent People

by titanadmin | March 22, 2017 | Industry News

A recent survey conducted by CBT Nuggets has revealed that even tech savvy people are prone to commit cybersecurity howlers and place themselves, and their organization, at risk. In fact, far from intelligence preventing individuals from suffering online identity theft and fraud, it appears to make it far more likely.

The survey, which was conducted on 2,000 respondents, showed that people who believed they were tech savvy were actually 18 times more likely to become victims of online identity theft.

The more educated individuals were, the more likely they were to become victims of cybercrime. The survey revealed that high school graduates were less likely to be victims of cybercrime than individuals who had obtained a Ph.D.

24% of respondents with a Ph. D said they were a victim of identity theft compared to 14% who had a Bachelor’s degree, 13% who were educated to college level and 11% who had been educated only to high school level.

Women were found to be 14% more likely to have their identities stolen than men, and millennials were less likely to suffer identity theft than Baby Boomers and Generation X.

Interestingly, while the vast majority of malware targets Windows users, the survey revealed that users of Apple devices were 22% more likely to be victims of identity theft than Windows users, although Android phone users were 4.3% more likely than iPhone users to suffer identity theft.

There were some interesting results about the level of care used when venturing online. Even though the risk of cyberattacks on law firms has increased in recent years and law firms are a major target for cybercriminals, lawyers were less likely than other professionals to follow online security best practices.

69% of respondents from the legal profession did not follow online security best practices because they were too lazy to do so. Only people in ‘religious industries’ fared worse on the laziness scale (70%).

46% of healthcare industry professionals said they were too lazy when it came to cybersecurity, a particular worry considering the value of healthcare data and the extent to which cybercriminals are conducting attacks on the healthcare industry. The most common reason given for lax security and taking risks online was laziness, being too busy and it being inconvenient to follow security best practices.

65.9% of respondents believed they faced a medium or high risk of being hacked, yet only 3.7% of respondents said they followed all of the basic security recommendations. Perhaps that’s why so many people felt they faced a medium or high risk of being hacked!

One of the biggest risks taken by respondents was avoiding using public Wi-Fi networks. Only 11.8% of respondents said they avoided connecting to the Internet on public Wi-Fi networks. However, when it comes to divulging sensitive information while connected to a public Wi-Fi network, people were more savvy. 83.3% said they avoided transmitting sensitive information when connected to public Wi-Fi networks. Only 40.6% of respondents said they updated their devices every time they were prompted to do so.

The survey also showed which states were the worst for identity theft. While Florida often makes the headlines, the state ranked in the bottom ten for identity theft, with just 11% of respondents from the state saying they had suffered identity theft. The worst states were Maryland with 28% of respondents saying they were victims of identity theft, followed by Alabama with 26% and Kentucky with 22%. The safest states were Alabama (6%) and Louisiana (5%).

MedStar Health Ransomware Attack Causes Network Shutdown

by titanadmin | March 31, 2016 | Industry News

The past two months have seen a number of healthcare organizations attacked by cybercriminals; however, the MedStar Health ransomware attack discovered on Monday this week must rank as one of the most severe.

The MedStar Health ransomware attack is the latest in a string of attacks on U.S. healthcare organizations, as hackers up the ante and go for much bigger targets where the potential rewards are greater. It would appear that the 10-hospital health system will not need to pay a ransom to regain access to its data, but for three days MedStar Health has been forced to work without access to some of its computer systems after they were shut down to prevent the spread of the infection.

MedStar Health Ransomware Attack Affects 10 Hospitals and More than 250 Outpatient Facilities

MedStar Health is a large U.S health system operating more than 250 outpatient facilities and ten hospitals in the Washington D.C., area. On Monday morning, a virus was discovered to have been installed. The infection triggered emergency IT procedures and rapid action taken to limit the spread of the virus. Three clinical information systems were shut down, including email and the electronic health record system used to record and view patient data.

Without access to email and patient data, services at the hospital were slowed although business continued as close to normal as possible. No facilities closed their door to patients. However, in the 48 hours since the virus was discovered, IT security teams have been working around the clock to bring systems back online. Yesterday, MedStar Health reported that systems were being brought back online with enhanced functionality added bit by bit.

MedStar Health has kept the media and patients notified of progress via social media. The health system reported that “The malicious malware attack has created many inconveniences and operational challenges for our patients and associates.”

While no information was initially released on the exact nature of the computer virus that was discovered to have infiltrated its systems, a number of sources indicate the malicious software was ransomware. It has since emerged that the MedStar Health ransomware attack involved a ransomware from the Samsam family. The ransomware is also known as MSIL and Samas. The attack occurred at the Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.

Some computer users were presented with a message demanding a ransom to unlock files. The Baltimore Sun reported that the MedStar Health ransomware attack saw attackers demand a ransom of 45 Bitcoin (approximately $18,500) to unlock all 18 computers that were infected, with an offer to unlock one machine for 3 Bitcoin (approximately $1233).

FBI Issued Warning About Samsam Ransomware on March 25

The FBI reached out to businesses for assistance dealing with the latest ransomware threat from Samsam. While many ransomware infections use email as the vector, Samsam is installed via a tool called JexBoss. JexBoss is used to discover a vulnerability that exists in JBOSS systems. This attack is not conducted using phishing or website exploit kits, instead it works by compromising servers and spreading the infection laterally.

The vulnerability exploited is in the default configuration of the Boss Management Console (JMX) which is used to control JBoss application servers. In its default state, JMX allows unsecured access from external parties and this is used to gain shell access to install the ransomware.

Once a web application server has been infected, the ransomware does not communicate with a command and control server, but will spread laterally and to infect Windows machines, hence the need to shut down systems. The MedStar Health ransomware attack could have been much more severe had rapid action not been taken.

This attack highlights just how important it is to ensure that all systems are patched and default software configurations are changed. Other attacks recently reported by healthcare organizations in the United States have involved Locky ransomware, which is spread via exploit kits on compromised websites and via email spam. Healthcare organizations can protect against those attacks by using web filtering and anti-spam solutions. However, it is also essential to train staff never to open email attachments from unknown sources.

Best Antivirus Software Solution for 2015 Awards Announced

by titanadmin | January 22, 2016 | Industry News

What was the best antivirus software solution for 2015 for the enterprise?

Protecting against the ever increasing number of cyberthreats is a full time job. The attack surface is now broader than ever before and hackers are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of obtaining data. The measures that must now be implemented to keep cyberattackers at bay have also increased in diversity and complexity.

Once of the core protections required by all organizations and individuals is an anti-virus software solution, and there is certainly no shortage of choice. But what was the best antivirus software solution for 2015?

The best AV software engines rated by AV-Comparatives

What AV engine detects and removes the most malware? What product offers the best real world protection? Which boasts the best file detection rates? These are all important considerations if you want to keep your organization protected. These and other factors were assessed over the course of the year by AV-comparatives.

AV-Comparatives is an independent testing lab based in Innsbruck, Austria. Each year the company publishes a report detailing the results of the AV tests the company conducted over the course of the year. The report is an excellent indicator of performance.

The company tested 21 of the top AV products on the market, subjecting each to a wide range of rigorous tests to determine the potential of each to protect users against malicious attacks.

The test results clearly show that not all antivirus products are the same. While all AV engines under test offered an acceptable level of performance, “acceptable” may not be good enough for enterprise installations.

The best antivirus software solution of 2015

AC-Comparatives rated performance and issued a number of awards to companies that excelled in specific areas of antivirus and antimalware protection. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were awarded along with an overall best antivirus software solution for 2015 award.

Antivirus award categories:

• Real-world detection
• File detection
• False positives
• Overall performance
• Proactive protection
• Malware removal

Contenders for the ‘Best Antivirus Software Solution for 2015 Awards’

The Antivirus protects tested and considered for the awards were:

• Avast Free Antivirus
• AVG Internet Security
• Avira Antivirus Pro
• Baidu Antivirus
• Bitdefender Internet Security
• BullGuard Internet Security
• Emsisoft Anti-Malware
• eScan Internet Security Suite
• ESET Smart Security
• F-Secure Internet Security
• Fortinet FortiClient (with FortiGate)
• Kaspersky Internet Security
• Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+
• McAfee Internet Security
• Microsoft Windows Defender for Windows 10
• Panda Free Antivirus
• Quick Heal Total Security
• Sophos Endpoint Security and Control
• Tencent PC Manager
• ThreatTrack VIPRE Internet Security
• Trend Micro Internet Security

The Best Antivirus Software Solution for 2015 Award

After assessing all categories of anti-virus protection there were two AV products that excelled in all categories and received an Advanced+ rating: Bitdefender and Kaspersky Lab, with Kaspersky Lab bestowed the best antivirus software solution for 2015. Kaspersky Lab is one of the two AV engines at the core of SpamTitan anti-spam solutions.

The Russian antivirus company also received a Gold Award for “Real-World” protection, file detection, and malware removal, as well as a Silver Award for proactive (Heuristic/Behavioral) protection, and a Bronze Award for overall low system impact performance.

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McAfee SaaS Email Protection Products Dropped by Intel Security

by titanadmin | December 16, 2015 | Industry News

Following the recent news that Intel Security will be discontinuing McAfee SaaS Email Protection products, SpamTitan is preparing for 2016 when business customers start looking for a new email security vendor to ensure continued protection.

McAfee SaaS Email Protection to Come to an End

Intel Security, the new company name for McAfee, has taken the decision to exit the email security business. The company will be dropping McAfee SaaS Email Protection products and will be concentrating on other areas of business.

From January 11, 2016, McAfee SaaS Email Protection and Archiving and McAfee SaaS Endpoint will stop being sold by Intel Security. The news is not expected to trigger a mass exodus in early 2016, as Intel Security has announced that it will continue to provide support for the products for a further 3 years. Support for both McAfee SaaS Email Protection and Archiving and SaaS Endpoint will stop after January 11, 2019. However, many customers are expected to make the switch to a new email security provider in the new year.

SpamTitan Technologies Anti-Spam Solutions

SpamTitan Technologies offers a range of cost effective business email security appliances which keep networks protected from malware, malicious software, and email spam. Users benefit from dual AV engines from Bitdefender and Clam Anti-Virus, offering excellent protection from email spam, phishing emails, and inbox-swamping bulk mail.

SpamTitan is a highly effective anti-spam solution that was first launched as an image solution. Following an agreement with VMware, SpamTitan was developed into a virtual appliance. The range of anti-spam products has since been developed to include SpamTitan OnDemand in 2011 and SpamTitan Cloud in 2013. In August 2015, SpamTitan blocked 2,341 billion emails and has helped keep business networks free from malware and viruses.

SpamTitan was the first Anti-Spam Appliance to be awarded with two Virus Bulletin VBSPAM+ awards and has also received 22 consecutive VBSpam Virus Bulletin certifications. Additionally, SpamTitan was awarded the Best Anti-Spam Solution prize at the Computing Security Awards in 2012.

Companies in over 100 countries around the world have chosen SpamTitan as their anti-email spam partner. The email security appliance stops 99.98% of email spam from being delivered.

WebTitan Web Filtering Solutions from SpamTitan Technologies

WebTitan Gateway offers small to medium businesses a cost effective method of blocking malware and malicious websites, with highly granular controls allowing individual, group, and organization-wide privileges to be set. Delivered as a software appliance that can be seamlessly integrated into existing networks, it is an essential tool to protect all business users and allow the Internet to be viewed securely.

WebTitan Cloud is a cloud-based web filtering solution requiring no software installations. Create your own web usership policies and block malware-infected websites, objectionable websites, and restrict Internet access to work-related content with ease. Benefit from a comprehensive set of reporting tools which allow the browsing activity of every end user in the organization to be easily monitored.

WebTitan Wi-Fi has been developed for Wi-Fi providers and MSPs to allow easy control of Internet access. WebTitan Wi-Fi allows users to easily block objectionable content and malicious websites, with controls able to be applied by location. The cloud solution requires no software installations. All that is required to start protecting your business is a simple DNS redirect to WebTitan cloud servers.

WebTitan web filtering solutions blocked 7,414 malware-infected webpages in August 2015, and have helped keep businesses better protected from malicious website content, phishing campaigns, and drive-by malware downloads.