Iran's covert cyber operations exposed.

4 snips

Apr 24, 2024

Iranian hackers indicted by the DOJ, TikTok legislation, Russian hack on water treatment plant, dark web data leaks. Mandiant monitors dwell times, North Korean hackers target defense secrets. CISSP certification journey discussion, pain points for CISOs & CIOs. Ransomware impacts Sweden’s liquor stores.

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ANECDOTE

Russian Hackers Claim Tipton Water Attack But Impact Is Limited

The Cyber Army of Russia claimed an attack on Tipton Wastewater Treatment Plant but local officials reported minimal disruption while investigations continue.
Mandiant links the group to Sandworm and notes their history of targeting US infrastructure.

INSIGHT

Median Attacker Dwell Time Drops To Ten Days

Mandiant's 2024 report shows median attacker dwell time fell to 10 days in 2023 (from 16 in 2022), aided by more ransomware incidents and improved detection.
Regionally APAC saw the biggest decrease while EMEA slightly increased; zero-days are rising as evasion tactics.

INSIGHT

Bcrypt Holds But Short Or Predictable Passwords Are Vulnerable

New GPU cracking tests against bcrypt show sub-7-character passwords crack within hours on an RTX 4090, while strong 8+ character mixed passwords resist for months or years.
Hive Systems warns non-random predictable passwords remain vulnerable despite bcrypt's robustness.

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The DOJ indicts four Iranian nationals on hacking charges. Legislation to ban or force the sale of TikTok heads to the President’s desk. A Russian hack group claims a cyberattack on an Indiana water treatment plant. A roundup of dark web data leaks. Mandiant monitors dropping dwell times. Bcrypt bogs down brute-forcing. North Korean hackers target defense secrets. On our Learning Layer segment, host Sam Meisenberg and Joe Carrigan continue their discussion of Joe's ISC2 CISSP certification journey. On our Industry Voices segment, Tony Velleca, CEO of CyberProof, joins us to explore some of the pain points that CISOs & CIOs are experiencing today, and how they can improve their cyber readiness. Ransomware may leave the shelves in Sweden’s liquor stores bare.

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CyberWire Guests

Learning Layer

On our Learning Layer segment, host Sam Meisenberg and Joe Carrigan continue their discussion of Joe's ISC2 CISSP certification journey using N2K’s comprehensive CISSP training course, CISSP practice test, and CISSP practice labs. Sam and Joe discuss content and study strategies for CISSP Domain 3 Security Architecture and Engineering, and discuss encryption and non-repudiation. Specifically they cover sub-domain 3.6, "Select and determine cryptographic solutions," which includes:

Cryptographic life cycle
Cryptographic method
Public key infrastructure (PKI).

Industry Voices

On our Industry Voices segment, Tony Velleca, CEO of CyberProof, joins us to explore some of the pain points that CISOs & CIOs are experiencing today, and how they can improve their cyber readiness.

Selected Reading

Rewards Up to $10 Million for Information on Iranian Hackers (GB Hackers)

Congress passes bill that could ban TikTok after years of false starts (Washington Post)

Russian hackers claim cyberattack on Indiana water plant (The Record)

Major Data Leaks from Honda Vietnam, US Airports, and Chinese Huawei/iPhone Users (SOCRadar® Cyber Intelligence Inc.)

Global attacker median dwell time continues to fall (Help Net Security)

New Password Cracking Analysis Targets Bcrypt (SecurityWeek)

North Korean Hackers Target Dozens of Defense Companies (Infosecurity Magazine)

Hackers hijack antivirus updates to drop GuptiMiner malware (Bleeping Computer)

Sweden's liquor shelves to run empty this week due to ransomware attack (The Record)

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