There’s been an alarming uptick in partners asking for assistance with ransomware events. While this is terrible news, it’s encouraging to see that most of these events were with their prospects (not existing clients).

While it is definitely good news to hear about getting new prospects, the ransomware attacks are a startling reflection of what’s happening in the world. Cyberattacks increased in June 2023. According to a report by IT Governance, there have been 104 publicly disclosed security incidents in 2023, which accounted for 277,618,767 leaked records. Of these, 23 incidents occurred in June, which is more than any other month so far this year.

So, what’s going on?

It could be the destabilization in Russia, the economy, political activism, or the continued sophistication of hackers. This is a complex issue, but here are a few facts:

• On June 28, 2023, the National Security Agency and Central Security Service issued a report in which they noted the growing sophistication of hackers, and the dire need for vigilance.
• The current destabilization in Russia is creating much uncertainty and fear (this could make people more likely to launch cyberattacks.)
• Every industry is being hit by Inflation, the energy crisis and supply chain issues, which means a new crop of hackers entering the field and lower budgets for organizations to address them.
• Political activists throughout the world are using cyberattacks as a way to hit companies of all sizes in order to make a statement.

I know it’s a holiday, but let’s not forget the danger is real. It’s okay to wake up after the 4th of July to a yard littered with leftovers from a great party. It’s not okay to wake up after the 4th of July to devastation from a cyberattack.

Make sure you get Level 1 Penetration tests after projects or major network changes.

Also, for those of you with ClientWatch clients, let us know when changes occur so we can perform a full Level 3 analysis.

It’s easy to let your guard down during a holiday, but now more than ever, we just can’t afford to do that.

Make sure you have a plan if there’s an event, and remember we are here if you need assistance.

On June 11th, 2023, Fortinet quietly released firmware updates addressing a serious, undisclosed pre-authentication Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting all versions of Fortigate SSL-VPN devices.

The details:

This RCE flaw could allow a malicious agent to interfere via the VPN, even with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) in place.

The FortiOS firmware updates that address this issue include versions 6.0.17, 6.2.15, 6.4.13, 7.0.12, and 7.2.5.

The vulnerability, coded as CVE-2023-27997, was identified by researchers Charles Fol and Rioru.

More than 250,000 Fortigate firewalls are potentially exposed, because they can be reached from the internet, and the majority are likely running affected versions.

What you need to do NOW:

• Apply the Fortinet security patches immediately. The patches are available for FortiOS versions 6.0.17, 6.2.15, 6.4.13, 7.0.12, and 7.2.5. Given the nature of the vulnerability, it is URGENT that these patches are applied promptly.
• Communicate this update to your clients and educate them about the importance of the immediate application of these patches as well as the potential risk to their data if left unpatched.
• Monitor your systems for any irregularities. Since the flaw could potentially be exploited pre-authentication, any signs of abnormal system behavior should be treated with caution.

Remember, historical data suggests threat actors exploit SSL-VPN flaws mere days after patches are released. They use them as initial access points for data theft and ransomware attacks, so this is a crucial time for you and your clients to bolster your defenses.

We understand the gravity of this situation and we’re here to assist you. If you need help applying the patches or want to learn more about how to prevent similar threats, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Stay vigilant and stay secure.

What’s the issue?

The United States and international cybersecurity authorities discovered a cluster of activity associated with a People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actor known as Volt Typhoon. This activity targets networks across critical infrastructure sectors, and there is a potential for similar techniques to be used worldwide.

What’s the risk?

This attacker employs “living off the land” tactics, using built-in network administration tools to carry out their objectives. This allows them to evade detection by blending in with normal Windows systems and network activities. They avoid endpoint detection and response (EDR) products and are nearly undetectable in default logging configurations. Some of the built-in tools used by the actor include wmic, ntdsutil, netsh, and PowerShell.

What’s the solution?

The joint advisory provides hunting guidance and best practices to detect this activity. It includes examples of the actor’s commands and detection signatures to aid network defenders. However, it’s important to note that some of the behavioral indicators also can be legitimate system administration commands, requiring further investigation.

Please check CISA’s website for the joint advisory at http://cisa.gov

Important Action

To enhance cybersecurity posture against this threat actor, we recommend implementing the following mitigations:

• Harden domain controllers and monitor event logs for suspicious process creations.
• Limit port proxy usage and investigate unusual IP addresses and ports in command lines, registry entries, and firewall logs.
• Review perimeter firewall configurations for unauthorized changes.
• Monitor for abnormal account activity and impossible logons.
• Forward log files to a centralized logging server and monitor for log clearing.
• Enable logging on edge devices and network management devices.
• Configure Windows security logs to include “audit process creation” and “include command line in process creation events.”

If you have any questions or need assistance with implementing these mitigations, please reach out to our team at D1 Defend.

CISA Requiring Federal Agencies to patch known iPhone and Mac OS exploits immediately!

What’s the issue?

Apple has released emergency security updates to address two zero-day vulnerabilities that have been exploited in recent attacks affecting iPhones, iPads, and Macs. These vulnerabilities could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges or execute malicious code on hacked devices.

What’s the risk?

Although the exploits were likely used in highly targeted attacks, it’s essential to install these emergency updates as soon as possible to prevent potential attacks.

The list of affected devices is extensive and includes the following:

· iPhone 8 and later,

· iPad Pro (all models),

· iPad Air 3rd generation and later,

· iPad 5th generation and later,

· iPad mini 5th generation and later, and

· Macs running macOS Ventura.

What’s the solution?

Apple has released updates for these vulnerabilities in iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, macOS Ventura 13.3.1, and Safari 16.4.1, with improved input validation and memory management.

Important Action

To secure your devices against these vulnerabilities, it’s crucial to install the updates released by Apple as soon as possible. We strongly advise updating all iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices immediately to address the two zero-day vulnerabilities.

This is a serious, wide-reaching issue and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a directive calling for patching of these vulnerabilities by federal agencies by May 1st, 2023.

If you have any questions, concerns or would like to discuss proper patch management please reach out to our team here at D1 Defend.

Active intrusion campaign targeting users of the 3CX softphone telephony platform. The threat actor group, LABYRINTH CHOLLIMA, associated with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is suspected to be behind this campaign.

CrowdStrike’s Intelligence Team has identified unexpected malicious activity emanating from a legitimate, signed binary, 3CXDesktopApp, a softphone application from 3CX.

WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?

The trojanized malware is signed with 3CX’s certificate, creating complexity for prevention using traditional security controls. The malicious activity includes beaconing to actor-controlled infrastructure, deployment of second-stage payloads, and, in a small number of cases, hands-on-keyboard activity.

The 3CX CEO Nick Galea has been quoted by numerous sources urging users to uninstall the affected software, which includes versions 18.12.407 and 18.12.416 of the Windows application. The Macintosh application also appears to be impacted.

We recommend two steps: first if you have application control set up in your environments make sure this product is blacklisted and cannot run. Then go through and uninstall it.

We also recommend searching your software lists using your RMM to make sure it is not installed on any devices you may be unaware of.

MORE DETAILS: HOW CAN THIS BE DETECTED, SO FAR…

CrowdStrike has behavioral preventions and atomic detectors targeting the abuse of 3CXDesktopApp. If you are a customer, please ensure that your prevention policies are properly configured with “Suspicious Processes” enabled. (This may not be on by default.) We recommend locating the presence of 3CXDesktopApp software in your environment by using the provided queries and hunting for historical presence of indicators in third-party tooling (if available).

Todyl also is tracking the campaign and has released preventions and detections across multiple Todyl modules, in addition to active threat hunting from the MXDR Team. Todyl’s ATI (Adversary Threat Intelligence) team is continuing to monitor developments and coordinating with both the MXDR and Detection Engineering teams.

As of March 29th, 10:43AM MT, VirusTotal showed that most antivirus vendors were not detecting this attack. However, other vendors like Sophos and SentinelOne and ESET have reportedly been marking the 3CX desktop application as malicious.

The actions mentioned in the links below significantly reduce the risk of infection for tenants leveraging CrowdStrike as well as Todyl’s Endpoint Security, SIEM, and SASE modules. However, it is still necessary to audit both you and your client’s environments thoroughly for the presence of 3CX associated malware.

PROTECTIVE ACTION

As this campaign is still developing, it’s crucial to take immediate action to protect your customers from this threat. We recommend that you contact your security vendors to stay informed about their response to this attack. It’s also essential to regularly monitor your environment for any suspicious activities and follow the recommendations provided in the links below. By taking these measures, you can help ensure the safety and security of your business and your customers.

· CrowdStrike Tech Alert (requires a CrowdStrike login) – https://supportportal.crowdstrike.com/s/article/Tech-Alert-CrowdStrike-Tracking-Active-Intrusion-Campaign-Targeting-3CX-Customers

· Todyl’s Blog Post – https://www.todyl.com/blog/post/threat-advisory-3cx-softphone-telephony-campaign

· Please take a look at the Atomic Indicators in this Reddit post from CrowdStrike in order to use them within your own security stack to search for indications of compromise – https://www.reddit.com/r/crowdstrike/comments/125r3uu/20230329_situational_awareness_crowdstrike/