Cyber Security Alerts & Threat Intelligence

Attacks against U.S. companies spike in Q1 2022 with patchable and preventable external vulnerabilities responsible for bulk of attacks.

Original release date: June 28, 2022  CISA has released guidance on switching from Basic Authentication (“Basic Auth”) in Microsoft Exchange Online to Modern Authentication (“Modern Auth”) before Microsoft begins permanently disabling Basic Auth on October 1, 2022. Basic Auth is a legacy authentication method that does not support multifactor authentication (MFA), which is a requirement for Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies per Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity”. Although this guidance is tailored to FCEB agencies, CISA urges all organizations to switch to Modern Auth before October 1 and enable MFA.    CISA recommends all organizations review Switch…

Original release date: June 28, 2022 The Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute, sponsored by CISA and operated by MITRE, has released the 2022 Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses list. The list uses data from the National Vulnerability Database to compile the most frequent and critical errors that can lead to serious vulnerabilities in software. An attacker can often exploit these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system, obtain sensitive information, or cause a denial-of-service condition. This year’s list also incorporates updated weakness data for recent Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure records in the dataset…

CISA warns that threat actors are ramping up attacks against unpatched Log4Shell vulnerability in VMware servers.

Researchers warn threat actors are using a novel remote code execution exploit to gain initial access to victim’s environments.

Original release date: June 27, 2022   High Vulnerabilities Primary Vendor — Product Description Published CVSS Score Source & Patch Info There were no high vulnerabilities recorded this week. Back to top   Medium Vulnerabilities Primary Vendor — Product Description Published CVSS Score Source & Patch Info There were no medium vulnerabilities recorded this week. Back to top   Low Vulnerabilities Primary Vendor — Product Description Published CVSS Score Source & Patch Info There were no low vulnerabilities recorded this week. Back to top   Severity Not Yet Assigned Primary Vendor — Product Description Published CVSS Score Source & Patch…

Original release date: June 23, 2022  CISA and the United States Coast Guard Cyber Command (CGCYBER) have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to warn network defenders that cyber threat actors, including state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors, have continued to exploit CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell) in VMware Horizon® and Unified Access Gateway (UAG) servers to obtain initial access to organizations that did not apply available patches. The CSA provides information—including tactics, techniques, and procedures and indicators of compromise—derived from two related incident response engagements and malware analysis of samples discovered on the victims’ networks. CISA and CGCYBER encourage users and administrators…

Original release date: June 23, 2022 Summary Actions to take today: • Install fixed builds, updating all affected VMware Horizon and UAG systems to the latest versions. If updates or workarounds were not promptly applied following VMware’s release of updates for Log4Shell in December 2021, treat all affected VMware systems as compromised. • Minimize the internet-facing attack surface by hosting essential services on a segregated demilitarized (DMZ) zone, ensuring strict network perimeter access controls, and implementing regularly updated web application firewalls (WAFs) in front of public-facing services The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and United States Coast Guard Cyber…

Original release date: June 23, 2022 CISA has released its Cloud Security (CS) Technical Reference Architecture (TRA) to guide federal civilian departments and agencies in securely migrating to the cloud. Co-authored by CISA, the United States Digital Service, and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, the CS TRA defines and clarifies considerations for shared services, cloud migration, and cloud security posture management as it fulfills a key mandate in delivering on Executive Order 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. CISA encourages federal program and project managers involved in cloud migration to review and implement the CS TRA.  This product is…

The APT is pairing a known Microsoft flaw with a malicious document to load malware that nabs credentials from Chrome, Firefox and Edge browsers.

Original release date: June 22, 2022 Cybersecurity authorities from the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have released a joint Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CIS) on PowerShell. The CIS provides recommendations for proper configuration and monitoring of PowerShell, as opposed to removing or disabling it entirely due to its use by malicious actors after gaining access into victim networks. These recommendations will help defenders detect and prevent abuse by malicious cyber actors, while enabling legitimate use by administrators and defenders. CISA urges organizations to review Keeping PowerShell: Measures to Use and Embrace and take actions to strengthen their defenses against…

Culture of ‘insecure-by-design’ security is cited in discovery of bug-riddled operational technology devices.