CyberWire Daily

The goal of malicious activity is to compromise the system to install some unauthorized software. Increasingly that goal is tied to one thing: the user. Over the past several years, we as an industry improved exploit mitigation and the value of working exploits has increased accordingly. Together, these changes have had an impact on the threat landscape. We still see large amounts of active exploitation, but enterprises are getting better at defending against them.This has left adversaries with a couple of options, develop or buy a working exploit that will defeat today's protections, which can be costly, or pivot to enticing a user to help you. In today's threat landscape, adversaries are always trying to develop and implement the most effective lures to try and draw users into their infection path. They've tried a multitude of different tactics in this space, but one always stands out — current events.Joining us on this week's Research Saturday from Craig Williams from Cisco's Talos Outreach team to walk us through how current events are used as lures.The research and blog post can be found here: Adversarial use of current events as lures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Observers see a shift in Russia’s influence tactics, but prank calls are (probably) not among those tactics. An event site suffers a data breach, and warns customers to be alert for spoofing. COVID-19 contact tracing continues to arouse privacy concerns. Joe Carrigan has tips for safe online shopping during the holidays. Our guest is Dmitry Volkov from Group-IB with insights from their latest Hi-Tech Crime Trends report. Ransomware hits another US school district, and social media are being used to intimidate cooperating witnesses.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/228 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mustang Panda goes to church, but not in a good way. Hoods are trying to spoof the FBI with Bureau-themed domains. Dodgy routers and suspect smart doorbells. A quick look at the incoming US Administration, from a cybersecurity point of view. Someone’s allegedly swapping iPads for concealed carry permits--say it ain’t so, Santa Clara County. DHS investigates Windows help desk scammers. Ben Yelin on a Massachusetts ballot initiative involving connected cars. Our guest is Larry Roshfeld from AffirmLogic on the pros and cons of a Treasury Dept advisory that could put companies who facilitate ransomware payments in legal jeopardy.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/227 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Qbot is dropping Egregor ransomware, and RagnarLocker continues its recent rampage. Cryptocurrency platforms troubled by social engineering at a third party. TrickBot reaches version 100. Stuffed credentials exposed in the cloud. COVID-19 practices may endure beyond the pandemic. Advice for safer online shopping over the course of the week. Malek Ben Salem from Accenture Labs has methods for preserving privacy when using machine learning. Rick Howard digs deeper into SOAR. And someone’s hacking a Premier League side.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/226 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founder and CEO of Immersive Labs James Hadley takes us through his career path from university to cybersecurity startup. James tells us about his first computer and how he liked to push it to its limits and then some. He joined GCHQ after college and consulted across government departments. Teaching in GCHQ's cyber summer school was where James felt a shift in his career. As a company founder, he shares that he is very driven, very fast and also very caring. James offers advice to those looking to get into the industry recommending they chase what interests them rather than certifications. We thank James for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Identity and access are intrinsically connected when providing security to cloud platforms. But security is only effective when environments are properly configured and maintained. In the 2H 2020 edition of the biannual Unit 42 Cloud Threat Report, researchers conducted Red Team exercises, scanned public cloud data and pulled proprietary Palo Alto Networks data to explore the threat landscape of identity and access management (IAM) and identify where organizations can improve their IAM configurations.During a Red Team exercise, Unit 42 researchers were able to discover and leverage IAM misconfigurations to obtain admin access to a customer’s entire Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environment – a potentially multi-million dollar data breach in the real-world. These examples highlight just how serious the failure to secure IAM can be for an organization.Joining us in this week's Research Saturday to discuss the report for Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 is CSO of Public Cloud, Matt Chiodi.The research can be found here:Highlights from the Unit 42 Cloud Threat Report, 2H 2020 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Her Majesty’s Government discloses the existence of a National Cyber Force. Hanoi tells Facebook to crack down on posts critical of Vietnam’s government. Chinese cyberespionage campaign targets Japanese companies. Egregor ransomware prints its extortion notes in hard copy. SEO poisoning with bad reviews. Mike Benjamin from Lumen on credential stuffing and password spraying. Our guest is Mark Forman from SAIC with a look at government agencies' COVID-19 response. And CISA may have a permanent director inbound.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/225 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ghosts in the virtual machines. Cloudbursts in the forecast. The US Intelligence Community is preparing a report on foreign election interference. CISA has a new interim director. A view of the threat landscape from Canada. Caleb Barlow from Cynergistek on reclassifying the internet as critical infrastructure. Our guests are Shai Cohen and Brooke Snelling from TransUnion on building trust in a digital consumer landscape. And a look into the near future.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/224 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FunnyDream? No, it’s real: a cyberespionage crew operating against Southeast Asian governments. President Trump fires US CISA Director Krebs. Twitter and Facebook CEOs testify before the Senate as legislators consider Section 230. The extradition hearing for Huawei’s CFO continues in Vancouver. Joe Carrigan looks at fleeceware on the Google Play store. Rick Howard speaks with Tenable’s Steve Vintz on communication between C-Suites and security teams. And the most common passwords in 2020 are now out, and “password” only comes in at Number 4. We’re not sure that really represents progress, because wait ‘til you hear Number 1.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/223 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hidden Cobra inserts Lazarus malware into security management chains. Malsmoke malvertizing doesn’t need exploit kits, anymore. Ransomware operators shift toward social engineering as the ransomware-as-a-service criminal market flourishes. Draft EU data transfer regulations implement the Schrems II decision. Robert M. Lee from Dragos shares a little love for the lesser-known areas of ICS security. Our guest is Greg Smith from CAMI with insights on promoting cyber capabilities at the state level. And the next thing in disinformation? No surprises here: it’s COVID-19 vaccines.For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief:https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/222 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices