X-Industry

Last week, a high-ranking tech executive was arrested in Michigan on data theft suspicion at the behest of Los Angeles CA county district attorney.  Konnech Corporation CEO Eugene Yu was arrested on suspicion of storing election workers’ data on servers in China.  Konnech develops PollChief, a payroll, communication, training, and logistics management system for election workers that the Los Angeles county leverages under contract during elections.  “Under its $2.9 million, five-year contract wi

Some of the largest airports in the US have been targeted for cyber-attacks; as recent as 10 October, by an attacker group within the Russian Federation.  It’s important to note that the airport operations IT systems targeted did not handle air traffic control, internal airline communications and coordination or transportation security.  "It's an inconvenience," the source said. The attacks have resulted in targeted "denial of public access" to public-facing web domains that report airport wait

The International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH) has recently published its summary report “Closing the Gaps," highlighting key actions in digitalization, decarbonization and resilience the maritime sector.”[1]  IAPH defines and identifies the principal gaps in port and port-related infrastructure on a global scale.  These gaps were identified in terms of efficiency, connectivity and accessibility, digitalization, decarbonization, shipping costs and regulatory environment.

The report serv

Activity Summary - Week Ending on 7 October 2022:

• Red Sky Alliance identified 24,201 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
• Pptechnology Limited in Romania hit 485x
• Analysts identified 1,163 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
• Royal Ransomware
• Phishing Microsoft
• US National Elections
• Vice Society
• New Zealand Attack
• Ferrari Issues

Link to full report: IR-22-281-001_weekly281.pdf

US cybersecurity, law enforcement and intelligence officials revealed on Tuesday that sophisticated hackers infiltrated a likely US military contractor and maintained “persistent, long-term” access to their system.  The National Security Agency (NSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI released a detailed, joint advisory containing the notification, explaining that in November 2021 CISA responded to a report of malicious activity on an anonymous “Defense Indu

Financial messaging system SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) has laid out its blueprint for a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) network following an 8-month experiment on different technologies and currencies.  The trial, which involved France and Germany's national central banks as well as global lenders like HSBC, Standard Chartered and UBS, looked at how CBDCs could be used internationally and even converted into fiat money if needed.  Around 90% o

Fortinet researchers recently found some malicious Microsoft Office documents that attempted to leverage legitimate websites, MediaFire and Blogger, to execute a shell script and then dropped two malware variants of Agent Tesla and njRat.  Agent Tesla is a well-known spyware, first discovered in 2014, which can steal personal data from web browsers, mail clients, and FTP servers, collect screenshots and videos, and capture clipboard data.  njRat (also known as Bladabindi) is a remote agent Troja

A cyberattack campaign, potentially bent on cyber espionage, is highlighting the increasingly sophisticated nature of cyber threats targeting defense contractors in the US and elsewhere.  The covert campaign, which researchers detected and are tracking as STEEP#MAVERICK, has hit multiple weapons contractors in Europe in recent months, including potentially a supplier to the US F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft program.

What makes the campaign noteworthy, according to investigators, is the overa

The amount of computing power we can now squeeze into the smallest of devices is somewhat remarkable compared with what was achievable a decade ago.  Looking back even five or so years and a consumer desktop system that was the best in its class would be deemed outdated if put into a smartphone of today’s standards.  This is made possible simply because chip makers can increase the number of transistors on a chip significantly every year as developments in chip research advance.[1]

Back in 1965,

Agent 007 would never put up with this type of attack.  MI5’s website was down for part of 30 September after a possible cyber-attack.  The UK’s security service public site was briefly unavailable for intermittent periods in the morning but is now back online, with the incident resolved.[1]  Quick action by the new cyber “agents.”

Pro-Russian hackers allegedly attacked MI5’s public website, briefly causing it to go offline as the Ukrainian conflict continued to escalate.  A group called Anonymo

Due to the energy and cost-of-living crisis, the cost of charging an electric vehicle is now almost as much as the equivalent cost for petrol/gasoline.   In the UK, the cost of charging at a Pay-As-You-Go rapid charger has increased 42% since May, according to RAC reports (UK’s Report on Motoring) this past week.[1]  This means drivers now pay 18p per mile to drive their electric vehicle, compared to 19p for petrol (gas) cars.[2]

The motoring group said the average price for using the chargers h

Activity Summary - Week Ending on 30 September 2022:

• Red Sky Alliance identified 31,149 connections from new IP’s checking in with our Sinkholes
• Hetzner in Bavaria Germany hit 28x
• Analysts identified 3,298 new IP addresses participating in various Botnets
• dotCMS Issues
• Meta to the Rescue
• Noberus, aka: BlackCat ALPHV
• Optus
• Industroyer

Link to full report: IR-22-274-001_weekly274.pdf

This past week, the Australian telecoms company Optus is coming under fire for a breach of customer data.  Optus’ initial press release regarding this breach went out on 21 September 2022, informing customers that services were not affected and that they were investigating a possible breach [1].  Optus has subsequently release further updates, including informing customers that they will be contacted if their data was compromised.  In addition, Optus will be offering the Equifax Protect servi

Cybersecurity today matters so much because of everyone's dependence on technology, from collaboration, communication, and collecting data to e-commerce and entertainment. Every organization that needs to deliver services to their customers and employees must protect their IT network(s) and all of the apps and connected devices from laptops and desktops to servers and smartphones.

Traditionally, all of these would be limited to only one corporate network.  Networks today are often made up of the

A cyber-attack on Britain’s NHS systems detected nearly two months ago is still "compromising" the quality of care trusts can provide, a health boss said.  Software used for check-ins, notes and the NHS 111 service was affected by the ransomware attack found on 4 August 2022.  The chief executive of Oxford Health Foundation Trust (OH) said it has done all it can to maintain services despite the disruption.  Software provider Advanced said disruption could continue for weeks.  The OH said it init

Stealing, skimming and scams are nothing new in the credit card industry.  But a new report by Reason Labs shows new twists to a credit card scam. In 2022, the cybersecurity world is no stranger to phishing attacks, credit card scams, virus distribution, and identity theft.  They are ongoing on a daily basis and we have almost reached the point where we think we have seen it all. However, researchers have just uncovered potentially one of the largest fraudulent online credit card schemes active

Red Sky Alliance has been supporting cyber security prevention for years.  Prevention works and need to be employed to all cyber defenses.  Cyber-attacks know no boundaries.  They happen everywhere – even in Africa.  Companies are confronted with the increasingly difficult task of safeguarding their expanded digital estate against rising cyber threats. Previously, they'd implement security processes based on the physical network boundary, which was limited to their official premises.

Following t

US tech firms that have received federal funding in the past will be prevented from creating advanced technology factories in China for at least a decade.  The Biden administration has announced new guidelines as part of a $53 Billion plan to build up the US national semiconductor industry.  The “brain” in every electronic device, from cars to household appliances, is predominantly manufactured in Asia, notably in Taiwan's sophisticated and immensely costly fabrication plants.

The US Chips and S

Operational technology/industrial control system (OT/ICS) assets that operate, control, and monitor day-to-day critical infrastructure and industrial processes continue to be an attractive target for malicious cyber actors.  These cyber actors, including advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, target OT/ICS assets to achieve political gains, economic advantages, or destructive effects. Because OT/ICS systems manage physical operational processes, cyber actors’ operations could result in physica

The Uyghur community was targeted with an Android-based malware campaign for over seven years, according to researchers with cybersecurity firm Check Point.  The last sample they found dated to the middle of August 2022.  The Android spyware is called MobileOrder and has been used in various forms since 2015.  “The scale and the persistence of the campaign is remarkable. Furthermore, the malware has a lot of active capabilities like calls and surround recording, real time geolocation and even th