Security News

Cambridge University researchers have detailed a new way targeted vulnerabilities can be introduced into source code while making them invisible to human code reviewers, allowing for extensive supply-chain attacks. "We have discovered ways of manipulating the encoding of source code files so that human viewers and compilers see different logic. One particularly pernicious method uses Unicode directionality override characters to display code as an anagram of its true logic," professor Ross Anderson explained.

Nobelium has been attempting to replicate the approach it has used in past attacks by targeting organizations integral to the global IT supply chain. This time, it is attacking a different part of the supply chain: resellers and other technology service providers that customize, deploy and manage cloud services and other technologies on behalf of their customers.

The cybercrime group behind the SolarWinds hack remains focused on the global IT supply chain, says Microsoft, with 140 resellers and service providers targeted since May. The Russian-backed hacking group responsible for the SolarWinds attack has been targeting more companies with the goal of disrupting the worldwide IT supply chain.In a blog post published Monday, Microsoft cautioned of new attacks by Nobelium, revealing that it notified 140 resellers and technology service providers targeted by the group.

Lazarus Group, the advanced persistent threat group attributed to the North Korean government, has been observed waging two separate supply chain attack campaigns as a means to gain a foothold into corporate networks and target a wide range of downstream entities. The latest intelligence-gathering operation involved the use of MATA malware framework as well as backdoors dubbed BLINDINGCAN and COPPERHEDGE to attack the defense industry, an IT asset monitoring solution vendor based in Latvia, and a think tank located in South Korea, according to a new Q3 2021 APT Trends report published by Kaspersky.

Nobelium, the threat actor behind the SolarWinds compromise in December 2020, has been behind a new wave of attacks that compromised 14 downstream customers of multiple cloud service providers, managed service providers, and other IT services organizations, illustrating the adversary's continuing interest in targeting the supply chain via the "Compromise-one-to-compromise-many" approach. Microsoft, which disclosed details of the campaign on Monday, said it notified more than 140 resellers and technology service providers since May. Between July 1 and October 19, 2021, Nobelium is said to have singled out 609 customers, who were collectively attacked a grand total of 22,868 times.

Lazarus - a North Korean advanced persistent threat group - is working on launching cyberespionage-focused attacks on supply chains with its multi-platform MATA framework. The MATA malware framework can target three operating systems: Windows, Linux and macOS. MATA has historically been used to steal customer databases and to spread ransomware in various industries, but in June, Kaspersky researchers tracked Lazarus using MATA for cyber-espionage.

North Korean-sponsored Lazarus hacking group has switched focus on new targets and was observed by Kaspersky security researchers expanding its supply chain attack capabilities. Lazarus used a new variant of the BLINDINGCAN backdoor to target a South Korean think tank in June after deploying it to breach a Latvian IT vendor in May. "In the first case discovered by Kaspersky researchers, Lazarus developed an infection chain that stemmed from legitimate South Korean security software deploying a malicious payload," the researchers said.

The SolarWinds attackers - an advanced persistent threat known as Nobelium - have started a new wave of supply-chain intrusions, this time using the technology reseller/service provider community to attack their targets. "While the SolarWinds supply-chain attack involved malicious code inserted in legitimate software, most of this recent intrusion activity has involved leveraging stolen identities and the networks of technology solutions, services and reseller companies in North America and Europe to ultimately access the environments of organizations that are targeted by the Russian government."

Historically, it's a big national security concern, as it should be, whether other governments might be poison-pilling some of our software and supply chains. CW. Well, certainly one place to start with as a software provider is understanding that the security of your software is only as good as the security of your entire environment that's used to build and maintain that software.

Weather events and port issues have caused major disruptions in the global supply chain. So here are five tips for dealing with supply chain disruptions.