Cyber security is undergoing a massive transformation, with Artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront of this change, posing both a threat and an opportunity. AI can potentially empower organizations to defeat cyberattacks at machine speed and drive innovation and efficiency in threat detection, hunting, and incident response. Adversaries can use AI as part of their exploits. It is never been more critical for us to design, deploy, and use AI securely.
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The top US intelligence agency has revamped its election security team ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a contest multiple national security leaders have warned could be targeted by foreign adversaries using fast-moving attacks. Jessica Brandt, who previously held a variety of prominent research roles at Washington think tanks, was appointed the first full-fledged director of the Foreign Malign Influence Center in late 2023.
The hub, part of the Office of the Director of National Intell
Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals around the country are at risk for attacks like the one that is crippling operations at a premier Midwestern children’s hospital and that the US government is doing too little to prevent such breaches. Hospitals in recent years have shifted their use of online technology to support everything from telehealth to medical devices to patient records. Today, they are a favorite target for internet thieves who hold systems’ data and networks hostage f
High-profile individuals working on Middle Eastern affairs at universities and research organizations in Belgium, France, Gaza, Israel, the UK, and the US have been targeted by an Iranian cyber espionage group called Mint Sandstorm since November 2023. The threat actor "used bespoke phishing lures in an attempt to socially engineer targets into downloading malicious files," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team reported in a recent analysis, describing it as a "technically and operationally ma
An Israeli-linked hacker group claims to have carried out a major cyber-attack on Iranian petrol stations, knocking 70% of them offline on 18 December. Predatory Sparrow, or “Gonjeshke Darande” in Persian, said it launched the “controlled” attack in response to “aggression” by the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region. “This cyber attack was carried out in a controlled manner to avoid potential damage to emergency services,” the group said.
Addressing Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, th
A water authority in Pennsylvania reportedly suffered a cyberattack, prompting officials to reassure people in the area that drinking water has not been affected by the incident.
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, which serves thousands of customers in communities northwest of Pittsburgh, did not respond to requests for comment but told local news outlet that computer screens at a facility were plastered with a message from hacking group Cyber Av3ngers. The facility, which contains a co
Using a trending item as a malicious lure is relatively common; to do it in a period of military conflict and deliberately target users in the affected region is a different step. Recently, a genuine app: RedAlert - Rocket Alerts, has been popular among users in the Israel and Gaza region, since it allows individuals to receive timely and precise alerts about incoming airstrikes. However, a malicious, spoofed version of the app was detected last week, which collected personal information inclu
The Iranian nation-state group known as MuddyWater has been observed directing destructive attacks on hybrid environments under the guise of a ransomware operation. The name is not to be confused with McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician. Iran could be singing the blues if they keep this up.
According to new findings from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team, which discovered the threat actor ta
The current Ukraine crisis has revealed the willingness of state and non-state actors to involve themselves in conducting attacks of various degrees of severity and frequency. Notably, hacktivists and cybercriminal groups have joined the conflict extending beyond the borders of the two primary combatants, with cyberattacks targeting those governments and private sector organizations perceived to be supporting the other side. Patriotic hacktivism is not necessarily new, especially in troubled a
With women’s rights at issue, hackers have disrupted the works of Iran’s Fars news agency, one of the main sources of news disseminated by the state during protests over Mahsa Amini's death, the agency reported. Iran has been shaken by numerous in country and international protests since Amini’s death while in custody on 16 September after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women. Iran’s first protests focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women,
The FBI released an alert last week warning of hack-and-leak operations targeting organizations in the US and Israel by a group based in Iran. The alert centers on Emennet Pasargad, an Iranian company US law enforcement agencies have previously spotlighted for its role in efforts to interfere with the 2020 US presidential election. Last week, the FBI said the company, which has changed its name several times to avoid sanctions, has targeted entities in Israel since 2020 with attacks that invol
Activity Summary - Week Ending on 24 June 2022:
- Red Sky Alliance identified 19,816 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
- MS hit 376
- Analysts identified 1,800 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
- Security Patches
- Magnus
- GRIM
- Siemens
- Attack on Israel
- Rocket Sirens
Link to full report: IR-22-175-001_weekly175.pdf
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has added “smart submarines,” unmanned underwater vehicles, to its navy for the first time, a report presented on Iranian state TV. Its Guard’s Navy unveiled the vessels, along with new missiles and speedboats, at a ceremony in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.[1]
Its new speedboats can travel at up to 95 knots (about 109 mph) and are able to launch missiles and rockets. The report also said the Guard’s navy was equipped with new maneuverable missiles with a
Previous attacks from the Iranian Phosphorus APT (aka Charming Kitten, APT35) are well documented. Recently a new set of tools incorporated into the group's arsenal, and a connection with the Memento ransomware, have been discovered. Researchers from have detected a new and undocumented PowerShell backdoor that supports downloading malware such as a keylogger and an infostealer. The code runs in the context of a .NET app without launching powershell.exe and thus avoiding detection.
In 2010, Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges were attacked and rendered useless through a computer virus that became known as Stuxnet. It was the first case in which a hacker attack, coordinated by nations (presumably the US and Israel), hit a large military target in the “real world.” A worldwide race to create or acquire cyber weapons was then just taking shape.
Fast forward to last week (11 years later), Ukraine was hit by a massive cyber-attack that targeted government websites. Posted
Activity Summary - Week Ending on 22 December 2021:
- Red Sky Alliance identified 30,069 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
- dauction.ru Still has Issues after 4 weeks !
- Analysts identified 5,039 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
- Log4j Vulnerability
- BlackCat
- AgentTesla Additions
- Iran Hackers
- Cyber and Medical Devices
- Attacking K-12 School Apps
- Cyber Port Protection
- Finite Recruitment
Link to full report: IR-21-356-001_weekly356.pdf
Activity Summary - Week Ending on 24 November 2021:
- Red Sky Alliance identified 26,071 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
- Analysts identified 2,849 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
- DigitalOcean in the Cross-Hairs Again
- Magniber Ransomware
- Ransomware Still #1
- Attack Framework - Left to Right
- Core to the Edge
- Iran Cyber Bullies & Mahan Airlines
- Asia Financial Targets
- CBDC
- Environmentalists Sharing the Brave New World
Link to full report: IR-21-328-001_weekl
The US has seized the domains of 36 websites linked with Iran and Iraq for allegedly publishing disinformation and running malicious influencing campaigns targeting Americans, the Justice Department says. Thirty-three of the websites belong to the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union, or IRTVU, and three belong to Kata’ib Hizballah, or KH, a paramilitary group based in Iraq. KH has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization since 2009, and IRTVU was put under sanctions in Octobe
Iranian hackers have reportedly hit multiple Israeli companies with ransomware, in a new campaign of attacks. A group describing itself as 'N3tw0rm' (Networm) recently added the logo of H&M Israel to their naming and shaming website, just three days after another local firm, Veritas Logistics, was hit.
It is suspected that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind a ransomware campaign that used a contracting company called "Emen Net Pasargard," or ENP, to target over a dozen organiza
China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran continue to pose significant cybersecurity threats to the US, because each is capable of launching disruptive attacks, according to a report published 13 April 2021 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Threats include disinformation campaigns that target elections and try to undermine democratic institutions as well as aggressive hacking campaigns, such as the SolarWinds supply chain attack, according to the report. In many cases, criminal
