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2021 may look a lot like 2020 in cyberspace, only moreso. Cold chain cyberespionage. Cybercriminals are also interested in COVID-19 vaccines. And beware of online dog fraud. Dec 04, 2020

Show notes

Predictions for 2021 focus on ransomware: it’ll be better, more aggressive, bigger, and a greater problem in every way. Cyberespionage and the cold chain. Cybercriminal interest in COVID-19 vaccines extends to both theft and fraud. Johannes Ullrich on the .well-known Directory. Our guest is Michael Magrath from OneSpan on what the financial sector needs to consider now that we’re post-election season. And what’s one effect of the pandemic? Dog fraud. Ask the Better Business Bureau.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/233

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Cyberespionage and influence operations against prospective members of the incoming US Administration. Cold chain attacks. TrickBoot. Vasya, what do you do for a living? Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

Chinese intelligence services are prospecting think tanks and prospective members of the next US Administration. Spearphishing the vaccine cold chain. Expect vaccine-themed phishing. After a temporary, pre-US election suppression, TrickBot’s back. Holiday shopping season is bot-season. Consumers are thought likely to get upset about smart device privacy in 2021. Awais Rashid from Bristol University on privacy at scale. Our guest is JP Perez-Etchegoyen from Onapsis on the risk associated with interconnected cloud and SaaS apps. And suppose you’re a cybercriminal...we know, but suppose. What do you tell your sweetie you do for a living?

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/232

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The Shadow Academy schools anglophone universities. Turla’s Crutch. Cryptojacking as misdirection. Cyberespionage against think tanks. DPRK tries to steal COVID-19 treatment data. Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

The Shadow Academy prospects universities in a domain shadowing campaign. Notes on Turla’s Crutch, an information-stealing backdoor. Bismuth was using crytpojacking as misdirection. CISA and the FBI warn think tanks that cyberspies are after them. North Korean cyberespionage is interested in COVID-19 treatments. Our guest is Carey O’Connor Kolaja from AU10TIX on combating fraud in the financial services and payment industry. David Dufour from Webroot has 2021 predictions. And a member of the Apophis Group gets eight years in prison.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/231

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Cryptojacking cyberspies sighted. Crooks mix banking Trojans and ransomware. Conti ransomware hits industrial IoT company. SCOTUS reviews CFAA. And predictions. Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

Cryptojacking from Hanoi. Dormant networks rise again, for no easily discernible reason (but it doesn’t look good). A gang is hitting German victims with the Gootkit banking Trojan, and sometimes mixing it up with a REvil ransomware payload. Conti ransomware hits IoT chipmaker. SCOTUS reviews the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. A few predictions for 2021. Ben Yelin on Congress passing an IoT security bill. Our guest is Stephen Harvey from BitSight, who’s tracking the correlation between companies with strong cybersecurity and financial success. And it may be back to school tomorrow in Baltimore County.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/230

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Phishing for COVID-19 vaccine data. Bandook is back, and mercenaries have it. School’s out for ransomware. Skepticism about foreign election manipulation. The forever sales. Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

North Korean operators phish a major pharma company. The Bandook backdoor is back, and probably being distributed by mercenaries. A school district cancels classes after a ransomware attack. Man U continues to work on recovering its systems. Former CISA Director says there are no signs of foreign manipulation of US elections. Rick Howard wonders what exactly all those CISOs do. Betsy Carmelite from Booz Allen with insights from their 2021 Cyber Threat Trends Report. And Cyber shopping and the forever sales.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/229

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Camille Stewart: Technology becomes more of an equalizer. [Legal] [Career Notes] Nov 29, 2020

Show notes

Cybersecurity attorney Camille Stewart shares how her childhood affinity for making contracts pointed to her eventual career as an attorney. Having a computer scientist father contributed to Camille's technical acumen and desire to include technology in her life's work. Camille has worked various facets of cybersecurity law from the private sector, federal government, on the Hill and in the Executive Branch, and now as part of Big Tech as Head of Security Policy and Election Integrity for Google Play and Android where she creates policy geared towards making sure users are safe on their platform and equipped to make informed decisions.. We thank Camille for sharing her story with us.

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Encore: Using global events as lures for malicious activity. Nov 28, 2020

Show notes

The goal of malicious activity is to compromise the system to install some unauthorized software. Increasingly that goal is tied to one thing: the user. Over the past several years, we as an industry improved exploit mitigation and the value of working exploits has increased accordingly. Together, these changes have had an impact on the threat landscape. We still see large amounts of active exploitation, but enterprises are getting better at defending against them.

This has left adversaries with a couple of options, develop or buy a working exploit that will defeat today's protections, which can be costly, or pivot to enticing a user to help you. In today's threat landscape, adversaries are always trying to develop and implement the most effective lures to try and draw users into their infection path. They've tried a multitude of different tactics in this space, but one always stands out — current events.

Joining us on this week's Research Saturday from Craig Williams from Cisco's Talos Outreach team to walk us through how current events are used as lures.

The research and blog post can be found here:

Adversarial use of current events as lures

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Influence the gullible, and maybe others will follow. Event site sustains a data breach. Contact tracing and privacy protection. Ransomware, again. Social media used to intimidate witnesses. Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

Observers see a shift in Russia’s influence tactics, but prank calls are (probably) not among those tactics. An event site suffers a data breach, and warns customers to be alert for spoofing. COVID-19 contact tracing continues to arouse privacy concerns. Joe Carrigan has tips for safe online shopping during the holidays. Our guest is Dmitry Volkov from Group-IB with insights from their latest Hi-Tech Crime Trends report. Ransomware hits another US school district, and social media are being used to intimidate cooperating witnesses.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/228

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Mustang Panda needs to repent. Not the FBI. Dodgy consumer routers and smart doorbells. Prospective Presidential appointees and cyber. Crime and investigation. Nov 24, 2020

Show notes

Mustang Panda goes to church, but not in a good way. Hoods are trying to spoof the FBI with Bureau-themed domains. Dodgy routers and suspect smart doorbells. A quick look at the incoming US Administration, from a cybersecurity point of view. Someone’s allegedly swapping iPads for concealed carry permits--say it ain’t so, Santa Clara County. DHS investigates Windows help desk scammers. Ben Yelin on a Massachusetts ballot initiative involving connected cars. Our guest is Larry Roshfeld from AffirmLogic on the pros and cons of a Treasury Dept advisory that could put companies who facilitate ransomware payments in legal jeopardy.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/227

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Ups and downs in the cyber underworld. Enduring effects of COVID-19 in cyberspace. Safer online shopping. “Take me home, United Road, to the place I belong, to Old Trafford, to see United…” Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

Qbot is dropping Egregor ransomware, and RagnarLocker continues its recent rampage. Cryptocurrency platforms troubled by social engineering at a third party. TrickBot reaches version 100. Stuffed credentials exposed in the cloud. COVID-19 practices may endure beyond the pandemic. Advice for safer online shopping over the course of the week. Malek Ben Salem from Accenture Labs has methods for preserving privacy when using machine learning. Rick Howard digs deeper into SOAR. And someone’s hacking a Premier League side.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:

https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/226

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