Security News

Scammers are taking advantage of the focus on COVID-19 testing and the need for at-home test kits, says Barracuda Networks. A recent blog post from security firm Barracuda Networks looks at the rise in phishing campaigns that exploit the concerns over such testing.

Dark Web forum posts uncovered by Trustwave show that the recent arrests in Russia have triggered major concerns among fellow criminals. It's these arrests that appear to be causing fear among other cybercriminals.

The Omicron variant has contributed to a 521 per cent rise in COVID test related scam emails between October 2021 and January 2022, according to Barracuda Networks. One of the most common scams include offers to sell counterfeit or unauthorised COVID tests, and other medical supplies such as masks or gloves.

Organizations running sophisticated virtual networks with VMware's vSphere service are actively being targeted by cryptojackers, who have figured out how to inject the XMRig commercial cryptominer into the environment, undetected.Uptycs' Siddharth Sharma has released research showing threat actors are using malicious shell scripts to make modifications and run the cryptominer on vSphere virtual networks.

VPNLab.net, a VPN provider that was used by malicious actors to deploy ransomware and facilitate other cybercrimes, was taken offline following a coordinated law enforcement operation. Europol said it took action against the misuse of the VPN service by grounding 15 of its servers on January 17 and rendering it inoperable as part of a disruptive action that took place across Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine, the U.S., and the U.K. A second outcome of the seizure is that at least 100 businesses that have been identified as at risk of impending cyber attacks are being notified.

Cybercrime continues to be a major concern, with 51% of SMEs experiencing a cybersecurity breach, a Markel Direct survey reveals. In this survey that polled 1000 respondents, Markel Direct explored the issue of cybercrime and its impact on the self-employed and SMEs.

Darktrace reported that the IT and communications sector was globally the most targeted industry by cybercriminals in 2021. Attackers could then launch ransomware attacks against the clients of the backup vendor, preventing recovery and forcing payment.

Due to the sheer number of devices in use, their high power and numerous known vulnerabilities within them, threat actors have been using MikroTik devices for years as the command center from which to launch numerous attacks, researchers said. Eclypsium researchers began exploring the how and why of the weaponization of MikroTik devices in September, based on previous research into how TrickBot threat actors used compromised routers as command-and-control infrastructure.

Black Friday is approaching, and cybercriminals are honing their malware droppers, phishing lures, and fake sites while shoppers prepare to open their wallets. The security firm shared a detailed report highlighting the most common threats expected to surface during this year's Black Friday, as well as the Christmas shopping season.

Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 is running 2022 Planning, a "Four-part webinar series to help cybersecurity teams plan for their 2022 needs." The EMEA edition features Jen Ellis, vice-president of community and public affairs at Rapid7; and Carl Nightingale, a partner in cybersecurity and digital trust at PA Consulting.