CyberWire Daily

Ghostwriter is back, and has moved its “chaos troops” against fresh targets in Poland and Germany. The Naikon APT has a new secondary backdoor. FluBot, temporarily inhibited by police raids, is back, and expanding its infection of Android devices across Europe. Microsoft is rethinking how much, and with whom, it wants to share vulnerability information. Joe Carrigan examines a phone scam targeting Amazon Prime customers. Our guest is Tzury Bar Yochay of Reblaze on open-source software and scalability. And Signal’s discovery of Cellebrite issues is finding its way into court. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/81 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FBI, CISA, detail SVR cyber activities. Nine US Combatant Commands see declassification as an important tool in information warfare. A convergence of OPSEC and privacy? Apple fixes a significant Gatekeeper bypass flaw. Babuk ransomware hits DC police. A new twist in credential harvesting. Ben Yelin considers the FTCs stance on racially biased algorithms. Our guest Tony Howlett from SecureLink tracks the evolution of threat hunting. And that was no hack; it was just a careless tweet. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/80 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zoom prankers deceive European members of parliament with a deepfake video call. A password manager is compromised. Europol took a good whack at Emotet yesterday, removing the botnet’s malware from infected machines. US response to the Holiday Bear campaign receives cautious good reviews. A cyberattack interferes with cancer treatments. Caleb Barlow from CynergisTek on emergency notification systems. Rick Howard previews the latest CSO Perspectives podcast focused on the healthcare vertical. And movie-themed phishbait chummed the waters around yesterday’s Oscars. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/79 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior security researcher from Secureworks Marcelle Lee shares her career journey into cybersecurity and how she helps solve hard problems in her daily work. Marcelle came into cybersecurity not through any traditional path. She describes her route from a different field and starting in cyber at her local community college through a grant program. Marcelle took full advantage of the opportunities she had and grew her career from there. She recommends finding your specialty, but continue to build other skills. As a woman in the field, she is a strong proponent of diversity and encouraging others to find what excites them. And, we thank Marcelle for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Proliferation of data continues to outstrip our ability to manage and secure data. The gap is growing and alarming,especially given the explosion of non-traditional smart devices generating, storing, and sharing information. As edge computing grows, more devices are generating and transmitting data than there are human beings walking the planet. High-speed generation of data is here to stay. Are we equipped as people, as organizations, and as a global community to handle all this information? Current evidence suggests not. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted in its study, Data Age 2025, that enterprises will need to rely on machine learning, automation and machine-to-machine technologies to stay ahead of the information tsunami, while efficiently determining and iterating on high-value data from the source in order to drive sound business decisions. That sounds reasonable, but many well-known names in the industry are trying - and failing - to solve this problem. The struggle lies in the pivot from “big data,” to “fast data,” the ability to extract meaningful, actionable intelligence from a sea of information, and do it quickly. Most of the solutions available are either prohibitively expensive, not scalable, or both. In this episode of CyberWire-X, guests will discuss present and future threats posed by an unmanageable data avalanche, as well as emerging technologies that may lead public and private sector efforts through the developing crisis. Don Welch of Penn State University and Steve Winterfeld of Akamai share their insights with Rick Howard, and Egon Rinderer from sponsor Tanium offers his thoughts with Dave Bittner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Jason Passwaters of Intel 471 joins us to discuss his team's research into bulletproof hosting (BPH). The research team at Intel 471 defined what a typical BPH service offers and how these services can be stopped in order to limit the damage they have on enterprises, businesses and digital society itself. They examined some popular malware families that actors host or leverage via BPH services. While much more goes into a cybercriminal’s full operation, it would be vastly more difficult to pull off without the ability to host malware and be free from impunity. Finally, they listed of some of the BPH providers that are firmly entrenched in the cybercrime underground and how they give support to other cybercriminal enterprises. By recognizing their behaviors, security teams can begin to take measures to figure out who the actors are, how they operate and what their infrastructure looks like. By doing so, organizations can begin to uncover ways to proactively counter maliciously-used infrastructure before criminals have a chance to launch their attacks. The blog posts can be found here: Hiding in plain sight: Bulletproof Hosting’s dueling forms Bulletproof hosting: How cybercrime stays resilient Here’s who is powering the bulletproof hosting market Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ransomware operators begin timing their releases for more reputational damage. Another gang is equipping its ransomware with scripts to disable defenses, and yet another is now into stock shorting. The US Postal Inspection Service is apparently monitoring social media. GCHQ’s head warns of the dangers of becoming dependent on China’s technology. Johannes Ullrich from SANS on Commodity Malware Targeting Enterprises. Our guest is Etay Maor from Cato with some of the clever ways criminals avoid detection. And it’s not just sharks interested in undersea cables. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/78 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies continue to respond to the Pulse Secure VPN vulnerabilities. Updates on the SolarWinds compromise show that it remains a threat, and that it was designed to escape detection and, especially, attribution. A cryptojacking botnet is exploiting vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Server instances. Facebook takes down two Palestinian groups distributing spyware. Ransomware draws more attention. Craig Williams from Cisco Talos looks at cheating the cheater. Our guest is Bruno Kurtic from Sumo Logic on their Continuous Intelligence Report. And a Cellebrite vulnerability is exposed. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/77 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SonicWall zero-days are under active exploitation; mitigations are available. Pulse Secure VPN is also undergoing exploitation, probably by China, and mitigations are available here, too. The US begins work on shoring up power grid cybersecurity. Cyber ops rise with Russo-Ukrainian tension. The help desk at ISIS tells jihadists to stay away from Bitcoin. Joe Carrigan looks at cryptocurrency anonymity. Our guest is Bert Kashyap from SecureW2 on what needs to be done before devices used for learning from home return to schools. And is your password inspired by cinema? For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/76 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Update on the Codecov supply chain attack. The Babuk gang says they’ve debugged their decryptor. MI5 warns of “industrial scale” catphishing in LinkedIn. Positive Technologies responds to US sanctions. The US stands down the two Unified Coordination Groups it established to deal with the SolarWinds and Exchange Server compromises. Are all Five Eyes seeing eye-to-eye on China? Ben Yelin explains the legal side of the FBI removing webshells following the Microsoft Exchange Server hack. Our guest is May Habib from Writer on how the AI is helping the security industry with outdated and problematic terminology. And, psst: your kitchen appliances are a bunch of sellouts...or something. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/75 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another supply chain incident surfaces. The Natanz sabotage seems to have landed a punch, but not a knock-out blow against Iran’s nuclear program (and it appears to have been a bomb). China’s “big data” gangs and their place in the criminal economy. Tolerating (and protecting?) ransomware gangs in Russia? Betsy Carmelite looks at the intersection of 5G and zero trust. Rick Howard is focusing on finance and fraud in the latest season of CSO Perspectives. Russia’s counterretaliation for US sanctions in the SolarWinds affair. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/74 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CEO and Founder of Votiro Aviv Grafi shares his story from serving as a member of the IDF's intelligence forces to leading his own venture. Aviv says his service in the IDF shaped a lot of his thinking and problem solving. Following his military service, Aviv worked to gain more real world and business experience. Starting his own business as a pentester was where the seeds for what would become Votiro would form. Aviv talks about the roller coaster that you experience when starting your own venture and offers some advice. And, we thank Aviv for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Deepen Desai joins Dave to talk about Zsaler's research "Return of the MINEBRIDGE RAT With New TTPs and Social Engineering Lures." In Jan 2021, Zscaler ThreatLabZ discovered new instances of the MINEBRIDGE remote-access Trojan (RAT) embedded in macro-based Word document files crafted to look like valid job resumes (CVs). Such lures are often used as social engineering schemes by threat actors. MINEBRIDGE buries itself into the vulnerable remote desktop software TeamViewer, enabling the threat actor to take a wide array of remote follow-on actions such as spying on users or deploying additional malware.The use of social engineering tactics targeting security teams appears to be on an upward trend. The research can be found here: Return of the MINEBRIDGE RAT With New TTPs and Social Engineering Lures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Union expresses solidarity with the US over the SolarWinds incident. The UK joins the US in attributing the incident to Russia. Russia objects to US sanctions and hints strongly that it intends to retaliate. IBM discloses new cyber threats to the COVID-19 vaccine cold chain. Iran says Natanz is back in business. Kevin Magee from Microsoft looks at the security of startups. Our guest is Brad Ree of ioXt Alliance with results from their Mobile IoT Benchmark report. And data breaches hit people who park and people who read. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/73 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US announces a broad range of retaliatory actions designed to “impose costs” on Russia for its recent actions in cyberspace, prominently including both the SolarWinds supply chain compromise and attempts to influence elections. More reports on the Natanz incident suggest that a buried bomb was remotely detonated. David Dufour from Webroot has a wakeup call on digital privacy. Our guest is Ganesh Pai from Uptycs on Mitre ATT&CK Evaluations. And IcedID is taking Emotet’s place in the criminal ecosystem. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/72 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Updates on Natanz, where the nature of the sabotage remains unclear--it happened, but there are conflicting explanations of how. Electrical utilities on alert for cyberattack, especially after the SolarWinds incident. The US Government takes extraordinary steps to fix the Microsoft Exchange Server compromise. Joe Carrigan analyses effective phishing campaigns. Our guest is the FBI’s Herb Stapleton on their recent IC3 report. And the US Intelligence Community’s Annual Threat Assessment points, in order of diminishing rsk, to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/71 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Updates on the sabotage at Natanz--whether it was cyber or kinetic, Iran has vowed to take its revenge against Israel. NAME:WRECK vulnerabilities affect DNS implementations. Tax season scammers are phishing for credentials. If you liked the investment opportunities those Nigerian princes used to offer, you’re going to love their loaded ATM cards. Ben Yelin looks at data protection and interoperability. Our guest is Jules Martin from Mimecast on the importance of security integration. And in the Netherlands ransomware is inducing a shortage of cheese. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/70 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iran says Israel was responsible for sabotaging the Natanz nuclear facility yesterday, and Tehran promises revenge. Online plotting results in the arrest of a Texas man alleged to have planned an attack on an Amazon Web Services center. Scraped, not hacked, data from LinkedIn and Clubhouse are being hawked online. Andrea Little Limbago from Interos addresses asymmetric power within cyberspace and how that plays out in warfare. Our guest is Giovanni Vigna from VMware on the takedown of the Emotet infrastructure. And the US moves to fill senior cybersecurity positions. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/69 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Engineering for Digital Guardian Debra Danielson shares her career journey. From aspirations of becoming an astronaut studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, Finding her first job at a local software company that turned into a long term commitment after it was acquired by another firm. Debra mentions that when she was heads-down programming, there were many women in the field and when she emerged from the cube to take on management and leadership positions, the ratio of women had dropped dramatically. She noted at this time that it took a lot of energy to be different. Debra shared that each time she had challenges in her career, she learned from them. She offers advice of taking risks earlier in your career as you don't know what it could lead to. And, we thank Debra for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guests Gage Mele, Winston Marydasan, and Yury Polozov from Anomali join Dave to discuss their research into Static Kitten targeting government agencies in the UAE and Kuwait. Anomali Threat Research uncovered malicious activity very likely attributed to the Iran-nexus cyberespionage group, Static Kitten (Seedworm, MERCURY, Temp.Zagros, POWERSTATS, NTSTATS, MuddyWater), which is known to target numerous sectors primarily located in the Middle East This new campaign, which uses tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) consistent with previous Static Kitten activity, uses ScreenConnect launch parameters designed to target any MOFA with mfa[.]gov as part of the custom field. Anomali's team found samples specifically masquerading as the Kuwaiti government and the UAE National Council respectively, based on references in the malicious samples. The research can be found here: Probable Iranian Cyber Actors, Static Kitten, Conducting Cyberespionage Campaign Targeting UAE and Kuwait Government Agencies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lazarus Group has a new backdoor. Bogus Clubhouse app advertised on Facebook. Cryptojacking goes to school. A ransomware cartel is forming, but so far apparently without much profit-sharing. The US Senate is preparing to make strategic competition with China the law of the land. Dinah Davis from Arctic Wolf looks at phony COVID sites. Our guest is Jaclyn Miller from NTT on the importance of mentoring the next generation. And Russia remains displeased with a lot of Twitter’s content. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/68 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cring ransomware afflicts vulnerable Fortigate VPN servers. Distance learning in France stumbles due to sudden high demand, and possibly also because of cyberattacks. Hafnium’s attack on Microsoft Exchange Servers may have been long in preparation, and may have used data obtained in earlier breaches. Commerce Department adds seven Chinese organizations to its Entity List. 5G security standards in the US are said likely to emphasize zero trust. Atlantic Media discloses a breach of employee data. Caleb Barlow from CynergisTek with a clever way of thinking about ransomware preparedness. Our guest is Amit Kanfer from build.security on authorization, a problem he says remains mostly unsolved. And emissions testing stations in some US states remain down. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/67 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goblin Panda’s upped its game in recent attacks on Vietnamese government targets. The EU is investigating cyberattacks against a number of its organizations. Scraped LinkedIn data is being sold in a hackers’ forum. Facebook talks about the causes of its recent data incident. New Android malware poses as a Netflix app. Joe Carrigan shares comments from the new head of the NCSC. Our guest is Fang Yu from Datavisor with highlights from their Digital Fraud Trends Report. And the Molerats are using voice-changers to phish for IDF personnel. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/66 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A watering hole campaign compromised several Ukrainian sites (and one Canadian one). File transfer blues. A couple of looks into the criminal-to-criminal marketplace: establishing a brand and selling malicious document building tools. Ben Yelin has details on a privacy suit against Intel. Our guest is Steve Ginty from RiskIQ on the threat actors behind LogoKit. And notes on the big and apparently old Facebook breach, including why people care about it. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/65 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An old leaked database has been delivered into the hands of skids. (The news isn’t that the data are out there; it’s that the skids now have it. For free.) CISA and the FBI warn that APTs are scanning for vulnerable Fortinet instances. Cryptojackers pan for alt-coin in GitHub’s infrastructure. Holiday Bear may have looked for network defenders. Threats to water utilities. Johannes Ullrich explains why dynamic data exchange is back. Our guest is Mark Lance from GuidePoint Security tracking parallels between the SolarWinds attack and the RSA hack a decade ago. And a cyberattack snarls vehicle emission testing. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/64 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Corelight Greg Bell describes the twists and turns of his career bringing him back to his childhood joy of computers. Working in a myriad of fields from human rights to Hollywood to writing a history of conspiracy belief before pivoting back to technology. Focusing on the relationships within the open source community, Greg works to change and improve the world through his mission-based organization. For those looking to begin their career in cyber, Greg offers that great mentorship and working for great organizations where you can soak in the culture are really important. And, we thank Greg for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guests Fernando Martinez and Tom Hegel from AT&T Alien Labs join Dave to discuss their team's research "Malware using new Ezuri memory loader." Multiple threat actors have recently started using a Go language (Golang) tool to act as a packer and avoid Antivirus detection. Additionally, the Ezuri memory loader tool acts as a malware loader and executes its payload in memory, without writing the file to disk. While this technique is known and commonly used by Windows malware, it is less popular in Linux environments. The research can be found here: Malware using new Ezuri memory loader Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Goblin Panda might be out and about. Ubiquiti confirms that an extortion attempt was made, but says the attempted attack on data and source code was unsuccessful. The Accellion compromise claims more university victims. It’s National Supply Chain Integrity Awareness Month in the US. BOLO Mr. Korhsunov. Andrea Little Limbago from Interos on supply chain resilience in a time of tectonic geopolitical shifts. Our guest is Paul Nicholson from A10 Networks on their State of DDoS Weapons report. And some down-market phishing attempts. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/63 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

US Cyber Command and CISA plan to publish an analysis of the malware Holiday Bear used against SolarWinds. The DPRK is again phishing for security researchers. Exchange Server exploitation continues. Stone Panda goes after industrial data in Japan. Human error remains the principal source of cyber risk. A US Executive Order on cyber hygiene and breach disclosure nears the President’s desk. David Dufour from Webroot on the 3 types of hackers and where you’ve seen them recently. Rick Howard checks in with our guest Sharon Rosenman from Cyberbit on SOC Evolution. And gamers? Don’t cheat. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/62 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charming Kitten is back, and interested in medical researchers’ credentials. Russian services appear to have been reading some US State Department emails (it’s thought their access was confined to unclassified systems). Risk management practices and questions about the risks of growing too blasé about “management.” Recognizing the approach of an intelligence officer. Volumetric attacks are up. Joe Carrigan examines a sophisticated Microsoft spoof. Our guest is Donna Grindle from Kardon on updates to the HITECH ACT. More concerns, in India and the US, about Chinese telecom hardware. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/61 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US Administration continues to prepare its response to Holiday Bear’s romp through the SolarWinds supply chain. Congress is asking for details on what was compromised in the incident, and why the Department of Homeland Security failed to detect the intrusion. The UN offers some recommendations on norms of conduct in cyberspace. Ben Yelin on a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that phone passcodes are not protected by 5th amendment. Our guest is Frank Kettenstock from FoxIT on the security of PDF files. Developments in ransomware, including Exchange Server exploitation, credible extortion, and attempts to enlist customers against victims. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/60 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

German politicians’ emails are under attack, and the GRU is the prime suspect. Australia’s Nine Network was knocked off the air by a cyberattack, and a nation-state operation is suspected. PHP takes steps to protect itself from an attempt to insert a backdoor in its source code. Apple fixes browser engine bugs. FatFace pays the ransom. Project Zero caught a Western counterterror operation. Betsy Carmelite from Booz Allen Hamilton on Zero Trust. Our guest is Tal Zamir of Hysolate on CISA's new ransomware guidelines. And a guilty plea for one, and almost five-hundred indictments for others. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/59 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vice President of Raytheon's Cyber Offense, Defense Experts Teresa Shea speaks of her journey from math to adapting new technologies on the cutting edge, With a love of math, Teresa was offered a scholarship by the Society of Women Engineering and decided to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. Unsurprisingly, there were few other women in her program, Teresa interned with and then proceeded to work for the National Security Agency becoming their SIGINT director. Following her government career, Teresa worked to help bring new technologies to government through her work at Raytheon. We thank Teresa for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Sergio Caltagirone from Dragos joins us to take us through their 2020 ICS Cybersecurity Year in Review report. Dragos's annual ICS Year in Review provides an overview and analysis of ICS vulnerabilities, global threat activity targeting industrial environments, and industry trends and observations gathered from customer engagements worldwide. The goal of the report is to give asset owners and operators proactive, actionable information and defensive recommendations in order to prepare for and combat the world’s most significant industrial cybersecurity adversaries. The report can be found here: 2020 ICS CYBERSECURITY YEAR IN REVIEW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Criminal-on-criminal cyber crime. Ransomware hits European and North American businesses. Big Tech goes (virtually) to Capitol Hill to talk disinformation and Section 230. The head or NSA and US Cyber Command discusses election security and cyber defense with the Senate Armed Services Committee. Russia complains of a US assault on Russia’s “civilizational pillars.” Accenture’s Josh Ray shares his thoughts on securing the supply chain. Our guest is Sergio Caltagirone from Dragos on their 2020 ICS/OT Cybersecurity Year in Review. And there appears to be a minor resurgence of hacktivism. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/58 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FBI warns organizations that Mamba ransomware is out and about in a newly evolved form. Facebook takes down a Chinese cyberespionage operation targeting Uyghurs. Huawei joins the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Slack thinks it might have made a security and privacy misstep. Caleb Barlow from CynergisTek on Healthcare Interoperability. Our guest is Roei Amit from Deep Instinct on their 2020 Cyber Threat Landscape Report. And a look at fleeceware. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/57 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID-themed phishbait has shifted to vaccines. Notes on the ransomware exploiting vulnerable Exchange Servers. Purple Fox gets wormy. Sierra Wireless halts operations to remediate a ransomware incident. Notes on ICS vulnerabilities. More victims of third-party risk. Joe Carrigan looks at SMS security issues. Our guest is Ron Brash from Verve Industrial with takeaways from their 2020 ICS Vulnerabilities report. And what are the cybercriminals thinking? For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/56 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CyberWire partners with Recorded Future's threat intelligence podcast and our Dave Bittner is the host. It's a weekly show that comes out each Monday afternoon. We thought you might want to check it out and are adding it to our feed today. We hope you like it and consider subscribing in your favorite podcast app. The COVID-19 global pandemic has, predictably, attracted bad actors intent on using fear and uncertainty as a framework for a variety of actions, from run-of-the-mill money scams to targeting phishing, business email compromise, and even espionage. Recorded Future’s Insikt Group has been following these money trails and correlating them with a spectrum of bad actors around the globe. They recently published their findings in a blog post titled, “Follow the Money: Qualifying Opportunism Behind Cyberattacks During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” On today’s episode we’ve got a pair of Insikt Group analysts joining us to share their expertise. Lindsay Kaye is Director of Operational Outcomes and Charity Wright is a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exchange Server patching is going well, they say, but they also say that patching isn’t enough. Crooks are continuing to look for unpatched instances, and even in the patched systems, you’ve got to check to make sure the bad actors have been found and ejected. AFCEA and Shell both disclose being affected by third-party breaches. Citizen Lab sees no particular problem with TikTok. Ben Yelin ponders possible US response to the Microsoft Exchange Server attacks. Our guest is Alex Gizis from Connectify using VPNs to thwart government internet restrictions in Myanmar. And a major manga fan site is down. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/55 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indian authorities warn the country’s transportation sector that it may be a target for cyberespionage. Google’s Project Zero describes an elaborate and expensive campaign that exploited zero-day vulnerabilities. The SilverFish threat group is elaborate, well-resourced, and well-organized. Threat actors are quietly altering mailbox permissions. REvil is back. Some say “yes” to Moscow; others say “nyet.” Dinah Davis from Arctic Wolf on Security Metrics. Our guest is Graeme Bunton from the DNS Abuse Institute. And two Infraud operators are sentenced. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/54 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chief Security Officer of Microsoft Canada Kevin Magee shares his background as a historian and how it applies to his work in cybersecurity. Likening himself to a dashing Indiana Jones, Kevin talks about how he sees history unfolding and the most interesting things right now are happening in security. Spending time tinkering with things in the university's computer room under the stairs gave way to Kevin's love affair with technology. As Chief Security Officer, Kevin says he uses an analogy: "I think we focus on the arrows, not the the archer" meaning there's too much focus on the attacks rather than the ones mounting them. As a historian and witness to our current history, Kevin sees the changes all affecting cybersecurity. We thank Kevin for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Jen Miller-Osborn from Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 joins us to discuss their research into BendyBear. Highly malleable, highly sophisticated and over 10,000 bytes of machine code. The code behavior and features strongly correlate with that of the WaterBear malware family, which has been active since as early as 2009. The malware is associated with the cyber espionage group BlackTech, which many in the broader threat research community have assessed to have ties to the Chinese government, and is believed to be responsible for recent attacks against several East Asian government organizations. Due to the similarities with WaterBear, and the polymorphic nature of the code, Unit 42 named this novel Chinese shellcode “BendyBear.” It stands in a class of its own in terms of being one of the most sophisticated, well-engineered and difficult-to-detect samples of shellcode employed by an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). The research can be found here: BendyBear: Novel Chinese Shellcode Linked With Cyber Espionage Group BlackTech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Helsinki blames Beijing’s APT31 for cyberespionage against Finland’s parliament. Russia withdraws its ambassador to the US, calling him home for consultation, post the US IC’s report on election influence ops. Risk management for industrial control systems, and especially for an often overlooked part of the power grid. Johannes Ullrich from SANS on Evading Anti-Malware Sandboxes with New CPU Architectures. Our guest is Tony Cole from Attivo on dealing with adversaries already inside your network. A guilty plea in an odd extortion attempt, why China’s wary of Teslas, and the indictment of a hacktivist. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/53 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disinformation about a radiation leak that wasn’t. Another warning about Trickbot. The FBI says cybercrime cost victims more than $4.2 billion last year. Investigation and remediation of the SolarWinds and Exchange Server compromises continue. Crypters become a commodity for malware developers. Robert M. Lee from Dragos on lessons from the recent Texas power outages. Our guest is Bob Shaker from Norton Lifelock looking at baddies targeting online gamers. And some people are looking for jobs in all the wrong places. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/52 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US Intelligence Community has released its report on 2020 foreign election meddling. It found no successful hacking, but a lot of clever influence operations. Ukraine says it stopped a significant Russian cyberespionage campaign. Recovery from the SolarWinds and Exchange Server compromises continues. Joe Carrigan shares thoughts on the Verkada hack. Our guest is Oscar Pedroso from Thimble on getting kids hooked on technology. And no, that celebrity tweeter isn’t really going to send you $2000 for every $1000 you give back to the community. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/51 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

McAfee describes Operation Diànxùn, a probable Chinese collection effort directed against telecoms and 5G technology. Organizations around the world continue to work to thwart exploitation of Exchange Server vulnerabilities. What’s a webshell, and what can it do? Ben Yelin looks at cell phone data gathered from the US Capitol riot. Our guest is Ross Rustici from ZeroFOX on the evolution of ransomware. And how much does it cost to redirect all your SMS messages to some goon? Said goon needs only sixteen bucks. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft is looking for a possible leak behind the spread of Exchange Server exploits, and hackers piggyback on webshells placed by other threat actors. The US Government continues to mull how to respond to Holiday Bear and Hafnium. Britain’s PM calls for greater offensive cyber capabilities. India looks for ways of countering China in cyberspace. Sky Global executives indicted for alleged racketeering. Accenture’s Josh Ray takes on defending against nation states. Rick Howard aims the hash table at third party cloud security. And what does it cost to be on a do-not-call list? Nothing. Really. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news brief: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/49 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming from her love of math, VP of R&D at Arctic Wolf Networks Dinah Davis shares how she arrived in the cybersecurity industry after finding her niche. Dinah recalls how at a time of indecision, a computer course at university and a job with the Canadian government helped to solidify her career direction. Dinah mentions how "security and cryptography specifically was this perfect mix of real world problem solving and mathematics and computer science all combined into one ball of happiness." Networking played a key role in Dinah's journey. She recommends that those interested in joining the field to go for what they believe in. And, we thank Dinah for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SolarWinds Orion SUNBURST exploit forced organizations to determine whether and to what extent they’d been compromised. It’s not enough to eject the intruders and their malware from the networks. Affected organizations also need to know what systems and data had been breached, and for how long. The adversary behind SUNBURST is advanced, quietly breaching the perimeter and moving freely to access, steal, or destroy business-critical data, and to disrupt operations. Joining us to share their expertise on the subject are Ryan Olson of Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42, Bill Yurek of Inspired Hacking Solutions, and we close out the show with Matt Cauthorn, from our sponsor ExtraHop, who joins CyberWire-X to discuss the challenges of detecting such advanced threats, and to share insights from behavioral analysis on what the new breed of threat actor is doing inside our networks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Dr. Rosario Cammarota from Intel Labs joins us to discuss confidential computing. Confidential computing provides a secure platform for multiple parties to combine, analyze and learn from sensitive data without exposing their data or machine learning algorithms to the other party. This technique goes by several names — multiparty computing, federated learning and privacy-preserving analytics, among them. Confidential computing can enable this type of collaboration while preserving privacy and regulatory compliance. The research and supporting documents can be found here: Intel Labs Day 2020: Confidential Computing Confidential Computing Presentation Slides Demo video Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices