Is Your MFA Broken?
Multifactor authentication (MFA) has formally been around for more than two decades, gaining the most...
The post Is Your MFA Broken? appeared first on Axiad.
The post Is Your MFA Broken? appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) has formally been around for more than two decades, gaining the most...
The post Is Your MFA Broken? appeared first on Axiad.
The post Is Your MFA Broken? appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Ransomware has been a daunting threat to organizations worldwide for decades. Recent trends show that ransomware attacks continue to grow more advanced and persistent. It’s become increasingly clear that no one is spared as cybercriminals carry out attacks that even target the children of corporate executives to force ransom payments. Despite the high-profile takedowns of criminal ransomware networks in “Operation Endgame” and “Operation Duck Hunt,” the most notorious ransomware groups remain tenacious, quickly regrouping after disruptions and aggressively launching new attacks.
The Zscaler ThreatLabz team has just released its latest research on this critical ransomware threat landscape in the ThreatLabz 2024 Ransomware Report, shedding light on new data and trends. ThreatLabz analyzed 4.4 million ransomware attacks blocked by the Zscaler cloud, amounting to a 17.8% year-over-year increase, and conducted extensive analysis of ransomware samples and attack data. The report offers valuable insights into primary attack targets, the most dangerous ransomware families, and the evolving tactics and demands of ransomware threat actors. Most shockingly, it reveals that ThreatLabz uncovered a record-breaking USD$75 million ransom payment.This blog post will summarize select findings from the report. For a comprehensive understanding of the ransomware landscape and how to strengthen your organization’s defenses against this pervasive threat, download the Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Ransomware Report.
5 key ransomware findingsThe ThreatLabz team tracks ransomware activity extensively to identify and understand how these threats are evolving. The following subset of findings highlight some of the most prominent trends and targets.
Top ransomware trends1. The number of extorted companies based on analysis of malicious data leak sites grew by 57.8% year-over-year, despite law enforcement actions that include criminal arrests, indictments, and seized infrastructure. The report breaks down the most significant law enforcement operations against ransomware groups and initial access brokers over the past year.
2. The use of voice-based social engineering to gain entry into networks is on the rise—a technique made popular by Scattered Spider and the Qakbot threat group.
3. The exploitation of vulnerabilities continues to be a prevalent attack vector for ransomware, emphasizing the critical need for measures like prompt patching and unified vulnerability management, reinforced by a zero trust architecture.
Top ransomware targets4. The manufacturing, healthcare, and technology sectors were the top targets of ransomware attacks between April 2023 and April 2024, while the energy sector experienced a 527.27% year-over-year spike.
5. The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and France were the top five countries targeted by ransomware in the same time period.
Delve into these findings and more data in the full report.
$75M ransom payment uncoveredThreatLabz identified 19 new ransomware families this year, increasing the total number tracked to 391 over the past decade, as cataloged in the ThreatLabz GitHub repository.
With new and emerging ransomware groups come new and ever-evolving methods to maximize their operational impact and financial gains. This was evidenced by the record-breaking $75 million ransom payment uncovered by ThreatLabz. The report discloses the threat group behind this unprecedented payment—also named by ThreatLabz as one of the top five ransomware families that will be a big threat to businesses in the year ahead. Learn about their strategic approach and why ThreatLabz predicts similar strategies will gain traction among other threat actors.The report also shares comprehensive insights into the tactics, potential impacts, and recent activities of other ransomware families that ThreatLabz has identified as high-risk and noteworthy for 2024-2025.
Stopping ransomware starts with zero trustThe growing volume and cost of ransomware attacks found in this year’s report is a stark reminder that organizations must prioritize robust ransomware defenses. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ platform addresses this challenge by offering a holistic approach to stopping ransomware.The Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Ransomware Report provides essential guidance to this end, including:
Fighting AI with AI: Learn about Zscaler’s AI-powered cyberthreat protection capabilities needed to combat AI-driven threats.
Zero trust architecture advantages: Learn how the Zero Trust Exchange stops ransomware at every stage of the attack cycle:
Minimize the attack surface: By replacing exploitable VPN and firewall architectures with a zero trust architecture, it hides users, applications, and devices behind a cloud proxy, making them invisible and undiscoverable from the internet.
Prevent compromise: The platform uses TLS/SSL inspection, browser isolation, advanced sandboxing, and policy-driven access controls to prevent access to malicious websites and detect unknown threats before they reach the network, reducing the risk of initial compromise.
Eliminate lateral movement: Leveraging user-to-app (and app-to-app) segmentation, users connect directly to applications, not the network, eliminating lateral movement risk. It can also help find and stop possible attackers from moving around through identity threat detection and response (ITDR) and deception capabilities.
Stop data loss: Inline data loss prevention measures, combined with full inspection, effectively thwart data theft attempts.
Ransomware prevention checklist: Access the latest best practices to mitigate ransomware risk and protect your organization from existing and emerging threats.
Get your copy of the Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Ransomware Report today. As ransomware threats persist, understanding the latest trends and potential implications of these attacks and assessing your risk will help your organization protect itself against ransomware in 2024 and beyond.
The post ThreatLabz Ransomware Report: Unveiling a $75M Ransom Payout Amid Rising Attacks appeared first on Security Boulevard.
As a Detection Engineer and Threat Hunter, I love MITRE ATT&CK and I whole-heartedly believe that you should too. However, there’s something about the way that some folks leverage MTIRE ATT&CK that has me concerned. Specifically, it is the lack of both precision and accuracy in how mappings are sometimes applied to controls. While we can debate the utility and validity of using MITRE ATT&CK as a “coverage map” or “benchmark” of any kind, the reality is that many teams, organizations, and security products use MITRE ATT&CK (for good reasons) to assess, measure, and communicate breadth and depth of detection and/or prevention capability. If that’s the case, then it seems pertinent to talk about how we can do a better job of presenting a more realistic picture of coverage through closer examination of the quality of our mappings. In this article, I’ll present an argument for why precision and accuracy matter, provide some examples of common mistakes and how to fix them, and finally share some ideas and recommendations for thinking about how to map detections properly moving forward.
Why Accuracy & Precision MatterAccuracy and precision are not just inherently desirable traits; they are essential for the effective use of the MITRE ATT&CK framework within any organization. Accurate and precise mappings are crucial for maximizing the framework’s utility. To understand their importance, let’s first define these terms.
In this context, “accuracy” refers to whether the applied Tactic, Technique, or Sub-Technique correctly represents the activity identified by the detection. Imagine a literal map with cities in the wrong states, states in the wrong regions, and countries in the wrong parts of the world. Such a map would be unreliable for understanding our location or navigating to a new one.
Similarly, inaccurate mappings in threat detection lead to a distorted understanding of our security posture and undermine the integrity and utility of our efforts. This can result in misallocated resources, focusing on areas that don’t need attention while neglecting those that do. Such outcomes are detrimental to Threat Hunters and Detection Engineers, who already face a shortage of useful and actionable tools to understand and navigate the threat landscape effectively. Accurate mappings are therefore critical for these professionals to communicate the value of their work and make informed decisions.
In this context, “precision” refers to the level of specificity or granularity in a given mapping. The ATT&CK Framework is structured as a hierarchy of abstractions: Tactics encompass Techniques, which in turn encompass Sub-Techniques. For Detection Engineers and Threat Hunters, descending this hierarchy results in more granular and specific categories, thereby increasing their usefulness.
To use the metaphor of a literal map, a precision problem would be akin to a map of a country that only shows states or provinces but omits cities and towns. Such a map might help you understand the general direction needed to travel from one state to another, but it would be inadequate for navigating to a specific city within a state.
Similarly, imprecise mappings in threat detection provide only a “general idea” of our security posture and potential areas of focus. While this may offer some strategic insight, it ultimately falls short of being highly actionable. Precise mappings, down to the most granular elements of the ATT&CK Framework, are essential for making informed, effective decisions in threat detection and response.
Without placing explicit and intentional attention on the quality of mappings from detections to ATT&CK, individual errors can add up, giving us a “view of the world” that simply isn’t realistic or useful (can you even imagine what’s happening on the security vendor side?! If it is in their best interest to stretch the truth, do we really know how realistic their coverage is?).
Common MistakesUnlike with a world map, to the average observer, it is not always obvious when there is a lack of accuracy or precision. Mapping detection capabilities to MITRE ATT&CK properly is not easy. The ATT&CK Framework is a vast and deep source of knowledge that, despite being quite granular, still has gaps and is still subject to some degree of expert interpretation. In this section, we’ll highlight a few examples of both accuracy and precision error using Sigma rules from the SigmaHQ repository.
Example 1:
Name: Process Launched Without Image Name
Tactic: Defense Evasion
Technique(s): None
Sub-Technique(s): None
This is the most classic precision error; assigning a Tactic but not attributing it to a particular Technique or Sub-Technique.
Example 2:
Name: Activate Suppression of Windows Security Center Notifications
Tactic: Defense Evasion
Technique(s): T1112: Modify Registry
Sub-Technique(s): None
This is a nuanced precision error; this detection is missing a Sub-Technique which overlaps with but does not mutually exclude T1112.
Example 3:
Name: Unusual Child Process of dns.exe
Tactic: Initial Access
Technique(s): T1133 External Remote Services
Sub-Technique(s): None
This is an accuracy error.
Example 4:
Name: PetitPotam Suspicious Kerberos TGT Request
Tactic: Credential Access
Technique(s): T1187: Forced Authentication
Sub-Technique(s): None
Almost accurate, but not quite! PetitPotam is an example of T1187, but this detection is not identifying PetitPotam, just something (Rubeus) that is likely to happen after PetitPotam is used.
Example 5:
Name: Potential BlackByte Ransomware Activity
Tactic: Execution, Defense Evasion, Impact
Technique(s): T1140: Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information, T1485: Data Destruction, T1498: Network Denial of Service
Sub-Technique(s): T1059.001: Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell
This is primarily an accuracy error; the rule and the threat that it detects are kind of dense, so it would be easy to get confused.
Don’t believe me? Look at what the research article, referenced in the rule, suggests for these specific commands (bottom of article).
Getting It RightWhile it may seem like nit-picking, these small errors, when compounded across hundreds of rules, can lead to a significant misrepresentation of reality. Although there is no definitive formula for mapping rules accurately, there are several high-level principles that can enhance the accuracy and precision of our mappings.
Keep It Simple
Don’t Be Greedy
Become A Better Researcher
Am I suggesting that getting mappings done properly is simple? No.
Is this asking a lot of practitioners? Probably, yes.
Should you do it anyway? Absolutely.
One of my many personal mottos has always been “there’s no free lunch when it comes to solving hard problems”. In other words, we don’t always realize that the “easy buttons” made available to us through modern technology were only made possible by the people who came before us, the people who actually did put in some seriously hard work somewhere earlier down the line to pave the way for everyone else.
Getting It Right With SnapAttackEven though Detection Engineering and Threat Hunting have been around for years, it still feels like most of us are stuck at the starting line. At SnapAttack, we’ve been putting in the work to solve the hard problem of Threat Detection, enabling customers to stand on our shoulders and start ahead of us, and giving them the tools to grow their capabilities beyond us. While I’m not here to give you the hard sell, it would be negligent to not mention at least a few things that we do at SnapAttack that are relevant to this article’s topic.
If any of this sounds even remotely interesting — please reach out for a demo of our platform today! We’d love to show you exactly how we can help you detect more threats faster with SnapAttack.
Detection Rules & MITRE ATT&CK Techniques was originally published in SnapAttack on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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A hacker exploited a misconfiguration in Proofpoint's email protection platform to send millions of spoofed phishing emails from companies like IBM, Nike, and Disney looking to steal money and credit card information from victims.
The post Proofpoint Platform Exploited to Send Millions of Spoofed Phishing Emails appeared first on Security Boulevard.
What does the recent CrowdStrike outage tell us about the state of digital resiliency?
Related: CrowdStrike’s consolation backfires
On a resiliency scale of one to 10, most enterprises are at about two. This was clear over the weekend when over … (more…)
The post GUEST ESSAY: CrowdStrike outage fallout — stricter regulations required to achieve resiliency first appeared on The Last Watchdog.
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Download the Due Diligence Questionnaire for a comprehensive guide to understanding best security practices and monitoring SaaS applications logs.
The post Strengthen SaaS Security Through Due Diligence appeared first on AppOmni.
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... Read more »
The post Deepfactor 3.8 Introduces New Risk Prioritization Dashboard and SSO Support appeared first on Deepfactor.
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Distinguished Paper Award Winner
Authors/Presenters:Guangmeng Zhou, Zhuotao Liu, Chuanpu Fu, Qi Li, Ke Xu
Many thanks to USENIX for publishing their outstanding USENIX Security ’23 Presenter’s content, and the organizations strong commitment to Open Access. Originating from the conference’s events situated at the Anaheim Marriott; and via the organizations YouTube channel.
The post USENIX Security ’23 – An Efficient Design of Intelligent Network Data Plane appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Las Vegas, Nev., July 30, 2024, CyberNewsWire — Amid rising breaches including Snowflake, the platform helps security teams proactively detect and respond to identity-centric threats in business-critical SaaS applications.
Adaptive Shield, a leader in SaaS Security, today announced its … (more…)
The post News Alert: Adaptive Shield to showcase new ITDR platform for SaaS at Black Hat USA first appeared on The Last Watchdog.
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via the comic & dry wit of Randall Munroe, creator of XKCD
The post Randall Munroe’s XKCD ‘House Inputs and Outputs’ appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Microsoft recently announced the deprecation of NTLM protocol for Windows client. This falls in line with Microsoft’s encouragement to move away from NTLM due to the security risks it introduces – and acts as a wakeup call that maintaining NTLM usage puts environments at high risk. We cannot overlook the striking resemblance between today’s NTLM deprecation...
The post NTLM Deprecation is Giving Us XP EOL Flashbacks: Are You Protected? appeared first on Silverfort.
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Resilience is now the prevailing ethos and strategy for cybersecurity programs. This idea is typified by the axioms, “assume breach,” or “not if, but when.” Cybersecurity’s journey to a resilience model makes perfect sense against the evolution of networking and business technology needs. However, our mental model for how we cope with challenges and stress […]
The post Extending Resilience: Reducing Stress and Burnout for Cybersecurity Teams appeared first on OX Security.
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Today we’ve announced our breakthrough Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) platform for SaaS environments. Since entering this space a year ago, we’ve already become a leader in the field, implementing the solution in hundreds of enterprise customer environments. Adaptive Shield will demonstrate its new ITDR platform and award-winning technology at booth #1268 during Black Hat USA, […]
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HYAS is excited to share some important updates to both HYAS Protect and HYAS Insight, designed to strengthen your organization’s cybersecurity.
For HYAS Protect, we’ve enhanced our categorization and content filtering capabilities. With more threat-specific classifications, our security is now even more effective. Domains flagged under Malicious Cyber Activity are now more visible, offering better proactive protection. Additionally, you can fine-tune subcategories within key classifications that are most relevant to your organization. These updates provide greater control and precision, ensuring a secure and efficient digital environment.
In HYAS Insight, we’ve introduced the ability to search and pivot on User Agent Strings, a valuable tool for cybersecurity analysis. This feature allows you to identify and track specific devices and software versions, making it easier to detect anomalies and patterns indicative of malicious activity.
These updates are designed to offer you a more secure and insightful cybersecurity experience with HYAS.
Enhanced Content Filtering in HYAS ProtectBefore we dive into this month’s updates for HYAS Protect, let’s take a moment to explore the role of content filtering and why it’s a crucial element of your cybersecurity strategy.
Content filtering might seem like a basic concept, but it’s actually one of the most critical tools in the cybersecurity toolkit. Think of it as a digital gatekeeper for your company’s network. It monitors and controls access to internet content, emails, and other digital data based on specific rules, much like a vigilant security guard who ensures only authorized individuals gain entry.
Why is content filtering so essential? The internet is a vast landscape filled with potential threats, from phishing sites to malware. Content filtering acts as a protective barrier, blocking access to these dangerous sites and filtering out harmful content. This helps safeguard your company’s sensitive information and defends against data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other disruptive cyber incidents. In essence, content filtering provides a robust first line of defense against a wide range of cyber threats, ensuring your network remains secure and your operations uninterrupted.
But content filtering does more than just bolster security—it also enhances productivity. By blocking access to non-work-related or inappropriate websites, content filtering helps employees stay focused on their tasks. It reduces distractions such as social media browsing and irrelevant videos, creating a more productive and professional work environment.
With that understanding, let’s look at how HYAS simplifies and elevates content filtering for your organization.
HYAS stands out with its sophisticated domain categorization. At the heart of our content filtering solution, domain categorization involves meticulously classifying each website based on its content. We leverage advanced techniques, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to deliver the most accurate and comprehensive classification results. This ensures that your content filtering is not only precise but also adaptive to evolving threats.
HYAS also addresses the challenge of managing large volumes of data by organizing it into seven main categories, each with multiple subcategories. This structured approach allows you to either block entire categories or select specific subcategories, giving you flexibility and control over what content is allowed or restricted. The main categories include: Acceptable Use Policy Content, Anomalous Web Resources, Digital Information Transfer, Dangerous Web Activity, Workplace Distraction, No Category, and the crucial Malicious Cyber Activity.
Websites classified under Malicious Cyber Activity are automatically blocked, providing immediate protection against the most severe online threats. This proactive approach means that HYAS Protect is constantly on guard, neutralizing risks before they can impact your digital environment.
In summary, HYAS transforms the complex task of content filtering into a streamlined and powerful process. By combining advanced categorization with proactive blocking, HYAS ensures that your organization is not only protected from cyber threats but also optimized for productivity. This allows you to focus on what truly matters—growing your business and achieving your goals.
User Agent String Pivoting in HYAS InsightBefore we dive into the latest and greatest from HYAS Insight, let’s get excited about User Agent Strings and why they’re a game-changer for your cybersecurity investigations.
Imagine User Agent Strings as digital fingerprints. Every time a device connects to a web service, it sends a User Agent String that includes valuable information about the device and its software environment. This string reveals details such as the operating system, browser type and version and even device type. In essence, it’s like a digital ID card, providing a snapshot of the incoming connection and helping to paint a complete picture of the device’s identity.
In the realm of cybersecurity, these strings are exceptionally valuable. They allow security professionals to pinpoint which devices and software versions are interacting with their network. This capability is crucial for identifying anomalies and potential threats. For example, if a User Agent String deviates from typical patterns, it could indicate a compromised device or an unauthorized user attempting to gain access. Furthermore, analyzing User Agent Strings helps identify outdated software or vulnerabilities that need attention, thus bolstering overall security.
User Agent Strings are also integral to behavioral analysis. By tracking these strings over time, security teams can establish a baseline of normal network activity. Any significant deviations from this baseline can trigger alerts for deeper investigation. For instance, if a User Agent String appears with an unusual browser or operating system, it could be a sign of a phishing attempt, malware infection, or other malicious activity.
In addition, User Agent Strings play a vital role in forensic analysis. After a cybersecurity incident, these strings provide a trail of evidence that can help trace the attacker’s steps. By examining the User Agent Strings used during an attack, investigators can gain insights into the attacker’s infrastructure. This information is crucial for developing effective countermeasures and preventing future incidents.
Now, let’s delve into how HYAS Insight is revolutionizing the use of User Agent Strings with its latest update. This feature elevates your cybersecurity analysis by providing advanced tools for searching and pivoting on User Agent Strings. You can now track specific devices and software versions with remarkable precision, making it easier to spot anomalies and detect patterns indicative of malicious activity.
The update also introduces expanded capabilities. You can seamlessly pivot from User Agent Strings to other crucial data points, such as GPS IP locations, Dynamic DNS, and C2 (Command and Control) attribution. This added functionality offers a more detailed view of an attacker’s interactions and the underlying attacker infrastructure.
For example, correlating User Agent Strings with GPS IP locations allows you to determine the geographic origin of a connection. This adds valuable context to your threat analysis and can help identify patterns of suspicious activity. By integrating Dynamic DNS information, you can track and manage connections associated with frequently changing IP addresses, which is essential for monitoring and responding to dynamic threats. Additionally, C2 attribution provides insights into the command and control servers used by attackers, offering a clearer understanding of their operational methods.
These enhancements not only improve your detection capabilities but also strengthen your overall security posture. By providing a more comprehensive view of potential attacker infrastructure and enabling precise tracking, HYAS Insight helps you stay ahead of evolving threats. This advanced approach ensures that your network remains secure and resilient, empowering you to effectively combat malicious activities and safeguard your digital environment.
In summary, the latest updates to HYAS Insight offer a powerful and refined approach to using User Agent Strings for cybersecurity analysis. With these new capabilities, you gain deeper insights, enhanced detection, and a stronger defense against cyber threats, ensuring your organization remains protected and agile in the face of evolving challenges.
The post HYAS Product Release News July 2024 appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Articles related to cyber risk quantification, cyber risk management, and cyber resilience.
The post Updates: ISO 27001 Mapping and Model Calibration | Kovrr appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Unaffiliated ‘lone wolf’ threat actors carry out a greater share of attacks
as they attempt to obfuscate their identity in Q2 2024.
The post Ransomware actors pivot away from major brands in Q2 2024 appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Las Vegas, Nevada, 30th July 2024, CyberNewsWire
The post Adaptive Shield Showcases New ITDR Platform for SaaS at Black Hat USA appeared first on Security Boulevard.
New and updated coverage for ransomware and malware variants, including AI Threat Scenario, GuLoader, DarkGate, MirrorBlast, & Kutaki Stealer
The post Poseidon Infostealer, DoNex Ransomware, ElDorado Ransomware, and More: Hacker’s Playbook Threat Coverage Round-up: July 2024 appeared first on SafeBreach.
The post Poseidon Infostealer, DoNex Ransomware, ElDorado Ransomware, and More: Hacker’s Playbook Threat Coverage Round-up: July 2024 appeared first on Security Boulevard.
There is a trend emerging for anyone launching a consumer business. Almost every business these days does two things: the first is to create an app and the second is to publish an API.
The post The Rise of Unofficial Apps in Delivery, Automotive, and E-Commerce appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Learn more about how organizations can use open source software to innovate while minimizing risk.
The post Next-Gen Vulnerability Assessment: AWS Bedrock Claude in CVE Data Classification appeared first on Security Boulevard.