Cyberspace Solarium Commission Will Soon See 85% of Its Recommendations Completed
CISA warns of seven flaws in ICS product, Threat group TeamTNT is still alive, Hive gang claims ransomware attack on New York Racing Association, Activists launch attacks over hijab victim death, more
Publishing notice: Metacurity will be on holiday on Thursday, September 21, and Friday, September 22. We resume publication on Monday, September 26.
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a public-private and bipartisan organization charged with bolstering U.S. cyber defenses, is on track to have 85% of all of its recommendations implemented, with the remaining recommendations either facing some hurdles or “significant barriers,” according to a new report issued by its successor organization the CSC 2.0.
The commission progress report shows that nearly 60% of its original 82 recommendations have been entirely or almost implemented, and more than 25% are on track to be realized. However, the progress of the remaining recommendations has slowed. For example, the commission recommended the establishment of a National Cybersecurity Certification and Labeling Authority, one instance of an ecosystem-wide reform that hasn’t been implemented. (Suzanne Smalley / Cyberscoop)
Related: The Record by Recorded Future, Washington Post, CSC 2.0, Inside Cybersecurity
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an industrial control system (ICS) advisory warning of seven security flaws in Dataprobe's iBoot-PDU power distribution unit product, primarily used in industrial environments and data centers.
The agency said that “the successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution on the Dataprobe iBoot-PDU device.” Industrial cybersecurity firm Claroty disclosed the flaws and said the weaknesses could be remotely triggered "either through a direct web connection to the device or via the cloud."
Users of Dataprobe iBoot-PDU are recommended to upgrade to the latest firmware version (1.42.06162022) as well as disable SNMP, Telnet, and HTTP, if not in use, as mitigation against some of these vulnerabilities. (Ravie Lakshmanan / The Hacker News)
Related: CISA, Techtribune.net, Claroty, Security Week
Threat analysts at AquaSec have spotted signs of threat actor TeamTNT activity on their honeypots since early September, leading them to believe the notorious hacking group is back in action despite the group’s announcement it was quitting back in November 2021.
The researchers observed three attack types being used in the allegedly new TeamTNT attacks, with the most interesting one dubbed “the Kangaroo attack” because it uses Pollard’s Kangaroo WIF solver to use hijacked servers to run Bitcoin encryption solvers. (Bill Toulas / Bleeping Computer)
Related: Aqua, eSecurityPlanet, Security Affairs
The Hive ransomware operation claimed responsibility for an attack on the New York Racing Association (NYRA), which previously disclosed that a cyber attack on June 30, 2022, impacted IT operations and website availability and compromised member data.
According to breach notifications sent to impacted individuals, among the data, the threat actors may have infiltrated are social security numbers (SSNs), driver's license identification numbers, health records, and health insurance information. The NYRA is offering affected individuals a 24-month-long identity protection service through Experian. (Bill Toulas / Bleeping Computer)
Related: IT Pro, Vermont.gov
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added two Chinese companies to its list of communications equipment suppliers rated a threat to national security: Pacific Network Corp, its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC, and China Unicom (Americas).
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has added two Chinese companies to its list of communications equipment suppliers rated a threat to national security: Pacific Network Corp, its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC, and China Unicom (Americas). (Laura Dobberstein / The Register)
Related: InsideCyberSecurity.com, FCC
An Iranian hacktivist group says it has started its cyber operations against the Islamic Republic in solidarity with the ongoing protests across Iran over the death of a hijab victim Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the hijab enforcement patrols.
Some state-owned websites, including the website of the Central Bank of Iran, were targeted by hackers claiming to be from the ‘Anonymous hacking group. A member of the group posted a message to the Iranians on Twitter on Tuesday, saying, "We are here with you. The operations against Iran began. wait for us." (Iran International)
A hackathon of 20 European police forces coordinated by the Netherlands has identified eleven suspected human traffickers. The anti-trafficking hackathon occurred two weeks ago, although Europol only announced it.
A total of 85 experts participated in the hackathon, including some from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and Ukraine. The hackathon received support from Europol and justice organization Eurojust at the Dutch Police Academy in Apeldoorn.
During the hackathon, the experts monitored 114 online platforms, 30 of which involved vulnerable Ukrainian refugees. They also examined 53 online platforms with suspected links to human trafficking, ten of which involved vulnerable Ukrainian refugees. Finally, they monitored five online platforms related to human trafficking. Of these, four were linked to child abuse on the dark web. (Belga News Agency)
Related: Europol
While spyware firms such as NSO are falling apart under the weight of international scrutiny and condemnation, a company, Intellexa, owned by Tal Dilian, once head of the Israeli Military Intelligence department known as Unit 81, is booming through a cluster of firms that call themselves the “star alliance” of the cyberintelligence and digital world.
Firms within the alliance include WiSpear, a cyber offense company that can hack phones and geolocate targets through Wi-Fi systems, and which Dilian established himself; and Cytrox, a firm (set up by his predecessor in the secret intel unit) whose flagship product is Predator, spyware similar to the now-notorious Pegasus spyware made by the NSO Group.
Sources in the industry say Intellexa is not under Israeli oversight and, as a consequence, can provide services that Israeli firms cannot officially offer, due to fears that defense know-how or secrets will leak. In addition, operating in a pirate fashion, Intellexa can seal big deals in parts of the world where Israelis can no longer get authorization to do business. (Omer Benjakob / Haaretz)
Ahead of a hearing to be held today on the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a redacted, bipartisan assessment of foreign intelligence threats facing the U.S., warning that U.S. spy agencies’ efforts to stop China and other adversaries from stealing secrets are hampered by miscommunication, and a lack of money and staff at the office intended to coordinate those efforts.
The Senate report primarily focuses on NCSC, an element of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. ODNI was created in the 2004 reforms following the Sept. 11 attacks and revelations that agencies did not share information about some of the hijackers involved.
But ODNI is hamstrung by bureaucracy, the report argues. Among its hurdles is an inability to hire new employees quickly, not having the authority to implement national strategies, and not being able to fund counterintelligence programs outside of the spy agencies, either elsewhere in the U.S. government or the private sector.
The report notes experts disagree on a solution. Some want the U.S. to have its own counterintelligence agency that would take some of the responsibilities held by the FBI, CIA, and other spy agencies. (Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press)
Related: Fox News, Senate Intelligence Committee
New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York will install surveillance cameras in every New York City subway car by 2025.
The move aims to increase riders’ confidence in subway safety, Hochul said, as ridership numbers are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. But the decision to install cameras on subway cars worries some privacy advocates, who say it will increase the level of surveillance of New Yorkers without necessarily making the subway safer. (Kevin Collier / NBC News)
Related: Protocol, Mashable, Governor Kathy Hochul
Security review solutions provider SecurityPal has raised $21 million in a Series A venture funding round.
Craft Ventures led the round with participation from Martin Casado, Frederic Kerrest, Anne Raimondi, Iman Abuzeid, and Dev Nag. (FinSMEs)
Related: Business Insider, PR Newswire
CrowdStrike announced it purchased external attack surface management startup Reposify to help give customers an adversary's view of risk across their internal and external attack surfaces.
The Austin-based endpoint security titan says its proposed buy of San Francisco-based Reposify will allow CrowdStrike to combine its insights on endpoints and IT environments with Reposify's internet-scanning capabilities to help customers reduce overall risk. (Michael Novinson / Inforisk Today)
Related: CRN, SDX Central, Crowdstrike
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