CyberWire Daily

Bitdefender researchers have recently found the APT group StrongPity has been targeting victims in Turkey and Syria. Using watering hole tactics to selectively infect victims and deploying a three-tier C&C infrastructure to thwart forensic investigations, the APT group leveraged Trojanized popular tools, such as archivers, file recovery applications, remote connections applications, utilities, and even security software, to cover a wide range of options that targeted victims might be seeking.Joining us on this week's Research Saturday to discuss the research is Bitdefender's Liviu Arsene. You can find the research here: StrongPity APT – Revealing Trojanized Tools, Working Hours and Infrastructure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An update on Fancy Bear and its Drovorub rootkit. Karma Panda, a.k.a. CactusPete, is scouting Eastern European financial and military targets with the latest version of a venerable backdoor. How criminals and terrorists exploit COVID-19, and how law enforcement tracks them down. Caleb Barlow from Cynergistek covers security assessments and HIPAA data. Our guest is Ryan Olson from Palo Alto Networks on the 10th Anniversary of Stuxnet. And those celebrity endorsed investment scams aren’t actually endorsed by celebrities, and they’re not actually good investments. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/158 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NSA and FBI release a detailed report on a GRU toolset. North Korea’s Operation Dream Job phishes in Israeli waters. CISA warns of COVID-19 loan relief scams. Malek Ben Salem from Accenture with highlights from their 2020 Security Vision report. Our guest is Mike Hamilton from CI Security, who clears the air on election security and the shift to absentee status. And crooks are using infection and job loss as retail phishbait. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/157 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regional rivals tussle in cyberspace, and governments have it out with dissidents and the opposition. Market penetration as an instrument of state power. TikTok gets more unwelcome scrutiny over its privacy practices. Joe Carrigan on a credential harvesting phishing scheme using Zoom as bait. Our guest is Avi Shua from Orca Security on accidental vulnerabilities. And suppressing creepware is apparently harder than it looks. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/156 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Belarus shuts down its Internet after its incumbent president’s surprising, perhaps implausible, no...really implausible landslide reelection. Papua New Guinea undergoes buyer’s remorse over that Huawei-built National Data Centre it sprung for a couple of years ago. Versions of Chrome found susceptible to CSP rule bypass. Zoom is taken to court over encryption. Patch Tuesday notes. Ben Yelin looks at mobile surveillance in a Baltimore criminal case. Carole Theriault returns to speak with our guest, Alex Guirakhoo from Digital Shadows with a look at dark web travel agencies. And card-skimmers hit a university’s online store. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/155 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A network mapping tool that pings IP addresses looking for a response and can discover host names, open communications ports, operating system names and versions. Written and maintained by Gordon Lyon, a.k.a. Fyodor, it is a free and open source software application used by both system admins and hackers alike and has been a staple in the security community for well over two decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released an appreciation of the goals of election interference among three principal US adversaries, Russia, China and Iran. Anomali offers a look at the ransomware-as-a-service market with its research on Smaug. The CyberWire’s Rick Howard continues his exploration of incident response. Andrea Little Limbago from Interos on cyber regionalism. And the tangles that need to be untangled in the TikTok affair, with a deadline looming less than a month from now. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/154 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson takes us on her career journey from being a journalist to making the switch to industrial security. As a child who wrote a book about a green goldfish who dealt with bullying, Selena always liked investigating and researching things. Specializing in cybersecurity journalism led to the realization of how closely aligned or similar skills are required from an investigative journalist and a cyber threat intelligence analyst. Our thanks to Selena for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Cyberbunker” refers to a criminal group that operated a “bulletproof” hosting facility out of an actual military bunker. “Bullet Proof” hosting usually refers to hosting locations in countries with little or corrupt law enforcement, making shutting down criminal activity difficult. Cyberbunker, which is also known as “ZYZtm” and “Calibour”, was a bit different in that it actually operated out of a bulletproof bunker. In September of last year, German police raided this actual Cyberbunker and arrested several suspects.While most of the group's assets were seized during the initial raid, the IP address space remained and was later sold to Legaco Networks. Before being shut down, Legaco Networks temporarily redirected the traffic to the SANS Internet Storm Center honeypots for examination.Joining us on this week's Research Saturday from SANS Technology Institute is graduate student Karim Lalji and Dean of Research Johannes Ullrich to discuss their experiences. The research and blog post can be found here:  Real-Time Honeypot Forensic Investigation on a German Organized Crime Network Cyberbunker 2.0: Analysis of the Remnants of a Bullet Proof Hosting Provider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump issues Executive Orders restricting TikTok and WeChat in the US. A Chinese APT has been active in industrial espionage against Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Intel sustains a leak of sensitive company intellectual property. Rewards for Justice communicated to Russian and Iranian individuals by text message. Coordinated inauthenticity from Romanian actors, probably criminals. Magecart moves to homoglyph attacks. Craig Williams from Cisco Talos on ransomware campaigns making use of Maze and Snake malware. Our guest is Monica Ruiz from the Hewlett Foundation Cyber Initiative on the potential for a volunteer cyber workforce. And, sorry Fort Meade--there are limits to telework. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/9/153 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices