Security News

Much of the promise associated with future digital identity infrastructures is associated with greater automation of the identity lifecycle and the provision of greater control of personal data to end-users. New approaches to digital identity aim to provide more autonomy to end-users and to enforce a separation of concerns between the organization that initially verifies an identity and organizations that rely upon the trustworthiness of that identity.

"In most of the web application compromises, APT41 conducted.NET deserialization attacks; however, we have also observed APT41 exploiting SQL injection and directory traversal vulnerabilities," they said. APT41 "Heavily" used the Windows version of the KEYPLUG backdoor at state government victims between June 2021 and December 2021, researchers said.

Chinese hackers attempted phishing on emails affiliated with US government. According to Google's Threat Analysis Group, multiple Gmail users affiliated with the U.S. government were alerted to an attempted phishing attack by a Chinese-backed hacking group noted as APT31 in February.

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned U.S. financial institutions this week to keep an eye out for attempts to evade sanctions and US-imposed restrictions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. FinCEN said [PDF] that it's critical to "Identify and quickly report suspicious activity associated with potential sanctions evasion, and conduct appropriate risk-based customer due diligence or, where required, enhanced due diligence."

Department of Defense contractors struggling to comply with upcoming cybersecurity regulations under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification can breathe a sigh of relief-the DoD has announced its intent to release CMMC 2.0, with promises to streamline the certification process and ease security regulations for contractors and sub-contractors handling low-priority information. Intended to promote compliance with DoD cybersecurity procedures and give teeth to enforcement, the CMMC program was first announced in 2020 to regulate the control of unclassified information and high-value assets by external contractors.

The Ragnar Locker ransomware gang has so far infected at least 52 critical infrastructure organizations in America across sectors including manufacturing, energy, financial services, government, and information technology, according to an FBI alert this week. The crew steals sensitive data, encrypts the victim's systems, and threatens to leak the stolen documents if the ransom to restore the files isn't paid.

Beijing's spies compromised government computer networks in six US states by exploiting, among other flaws, a vulnerability in a cattle-counting system, according to Mandiant. Mandiant said APT41 aka Double Dragon, one of China's more aggressive intrusion crews, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in a web app called USAHerds, used by agriculture officials to track the health and density of the nation's livestock, as well as the Log4j flaw, to break into American local government systems.

Beijing's spies compromised government computer networks in six US states by exploiting, among other flaws, a vulnerability in a cattle-counting system, according to Mandiant. Mandiant said APT41 aka Double Dragon, one of China's more aggressive intrusion crews, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in a web app called USAHerds, used for tracking the health and density of the nation's livestock, as well as the Log4j flaw, to break into American public-sector systems.

Google's Threat Analysis Group has warned multiple Gmail users that they were targeted in phishing attacks conducted by a Chinese-backed hacking group tracked as APT31. "In February, we detected an APT31 phishing campaign targeting high profile Gmail users affiliated with the U.S. government," Google Threat Analysis Group's Director Shane Huntley revealed today.

Security vendors pledge free protection for US hospitals and utilities amid fear of Russian cyberattacks. With that in mind, three security companies are offering their products for free to US hospitals and utilities.