San Joaquin County Superior Court Cyber Attack

 

Another cyber incident about JoIP (Justice over IP).

But first recall this:

https://bit.ly/40FHQK5

Cybercriminals can target any system connected to the internet, regardless of its importance or sensitivity. From personal devices to critical infrastructure, no system is immune, including justice systems which rely on an IT infrastructure.

Last week, a cyberattack disrupted operations at a California (USA) court, causing technological outages

A pressing concern can arise among the public at this point: If cybercriminals can breach court systems, could they also manipulate critical legal documents?

Well... The answer is not easy to tell. While the exact extent of potential damage is difficult to assess, it is clear that such attacks pose a serious threat to the integrity of the justice system.

https://bit.ly/3CavMGg

"The attack knocked out all of the court’s phone and fax services, websites containing juror reporting instructions, the e-filing platform, credit card payment processing and more. Some jurors scheduled for this week were excused."

"The attack comes just months after the Los Angeles County Superior Court system was hit with a ransomware attack that caused identical issues for weeks..."

"Government bodies across California continue to face an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks affecting city, county and state-level services. On Thursday (31.10.2024), the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles confirmed it is facing its second major cyberattack in the last two years."

Landmark Data Breach

You can take necessary cybersecurity countermeasures for your system but will that be enough?

Of course not. Quite many organizations overlook the security of their third-party service providers, which can lead to significant financial and reputational damage.

"Landmark, a Texas-based third-party insurance administrator, has disclosed a data breach that affects more than 800,000 individuals. The incident was detected in May; the compromised data include names, Social Security numbers, tax ID numbers, drivers’ license and state-issued identification card numbers, passport numbers, bank account and routing numbers, medical information, health insurance policy information, dates of birth, and/or life and annuity policy information..." (OMG! What else?)

See the link below for the summary of the breach:

https://bit.ly/3NQ28bP

https://bit.ly/3NJaEtj

"The Texas-based company works as a third-party administrator for insurance carriers like Liberty Bankers Insurance Group (LBIG), which includes American Monumental Life Insurance Company, Pellerin Life Insurance Company, American Benefit Life Insurance Company, Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Company, Continental Mutual Insurance Company, and Capitol Life Insurance Company."

"The breach notification letters note that the first incident occurred on May 13, when an IT team discovered “suspicious activity” that required them to disconnect the affected systems and hire a third-party cybersecurity firm. 

An investigation revealed that “there was unauthorized access to Landmark’s network and data was encrypted and exfiltrated from its system.” The hackers were in Landmark’s systems from May 13 to June 17." (The hackers were in the system for more than one month.)

"Landmark told regulators in Maine that 806,519 people were affected in total but they also filed documents in California and Texas, warning that about 68,000 Texans were impacted.

Insurance companies and their partners or subsidiaries are frequent targets for cyberattacks eager to steal volumes of sensitive health-related data. Last week, insurance firm Globe Life told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that is being extorted by hackers after data on more than 5,000 people was stolen from a subsidiary."

American Water Works Cyber Attack

Cyber security on critical infrastructure are really critical but you need to understand it before you get hit by a cyber attack. Understand this before you are left without electricity or water. Take the cyber threats seriously and take countermeasures against cyber threats before it's too late.

American Water Works, a major water utility, was recently targeted by a cyber attack, they announced via a statement. While the company reported that its water and wastewater facilities were not directly affected, the incident underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to cyber threats. A successful cyber attack on a critical infrastructure provider could have severe consequences, including disruptions in essential services and potential public health risks. Investing in robust cybersecurity measures is essential to protect critical infrastructure and ensure the continued delivery of essential services.

https://bit.ly/4eNgl50

"The company’s MyWater account system is currently down, according to a notice on the company website, and all appointments set up by customers will be rescheduled. Additionally, all billing has been paused until further notice as they try to bring systems back online — there will be no late charges or service shut offs while systems are down."

"American Water Works provides drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 14 million people in 14 states as well as 18 military installations. From its regulated businesses, the company reported a net income of $971 million for 2023."

"American Water Works did not respond to requests for comment about whether they are dealing with a ransomware attack or if a ransom has been issued."

The EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) said in May (2024) that in recent inspections, over 70% of water systems examined do not fully comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act and some 'have critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities, such as default passwords that have not been updated and single logins that can easily be compromised.'”

China's APT40 Gang is Ready to Attack Vulnerabilities Within Hours or Days

An advisory led by Australia, involving law enforcement agencies from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Germany, has revealed the tradecraft of the China-aligned threat actor APT40, also known as Kryptonite Panda, GINGHAM TYPHOON, Leviathan, and Bronze Mohawk. This state-sponsored cyber group, backed by the PRC Ministry of State Security, prioritizes developing and deploying exploits for new vulnerabilities rapidly. The advisory details how APT40 conducts regular reconnaissance to identify unpatched or obsolete devices, allowing swift deployment of exploits. 

APT40's targets include vulnerabilities like Log4J and Microsoft Exchange, often exploiting end-of-life small-office/home-office (SOHO) devices to mask their attacks as legitimate traffic. The group uses web shells and searches for valid user credentials to maintain persistent access, ultimately installing malware to exfiltrate information.

The advisory provides mitigation tactics such as logging, patch management, network segmentation, multifactor authentication, disabling unused services, web application firewalls, least privilege access, and replacing outdated equipment. It also includes links to ten malware samples used by APT40 and two case studies, though these may now be outdated. This information stems from Australia's Cyber Security Centre's 2022 investigation into an APT40 attack on a local organization.

https://bit.ly/4bKhM24

"The advisory is the result, and suggests that APT40 "possesses the capability to rapidly transform and adapt exploit proof-of-concept(s) (POCs) of new vulnerabilities and immediately utilize them against target networks possessing the infrastructure of the associated vulnerability." The gang also watches networks of interest to look for unpatched targets."

"...Some of the vulns APT40 targets are old news – Log4J (CVE 2021 44228), Atlassian Confluence (CVE-2021-31207, CVE-2021- 26084). and Microsoft Exchange (CVE-2021-31207, CVE 2021-34523, CVE-2021-34473) are high on the hit list."

"The advisory outlines mitigation tactics that are said to offer decent defences against APT40. They're not rocket science: logging, patch management, and network segmentation are all listed.

So are multifactor authentication, disabling unused network services, use of web application firewalls, least privilege access, and replacement of end-of-life equipment."

Cobalt Strike Crackdown of Europol

International joint operations are strongly needed against the bad guys.

Europol announced that a week-long operation at the end of June dropped nearly 600 IP addresses that supported illegal copies of Cobalt Strike.

Cobalt Strike is a commercial penetration testing tool for red team operations, featuring a command and control framework, the Beacon payload for post-exploitation, and supports attack vectors like spear-phishing. It emulates advanced threats to test and enhance cybersecurity defenses.

https://bit.ly/3XWM66f

"Europol said the disruptive action, dubbed Operation Morpheus, is the culmination of work that began three years ago. It was carried out with partners in the private sector between June 24 and 28."

"A total of 690 IP addresses were flagged to online service providers in 27 countries. By the end of the week, 593 of these addresses had been taken down."

"This investigation was led by the UK National Crime Agency and involved law enforcement authorities from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. Europol coordinated the international activity and liaised with the private partners."

"Cobalt Strike has long been the tool of choice for cybercriminals, including as a precursor to ransomware. It is also deployed by nation-state actors, such as Russian and Chinese [groups], to facilitate intrusions in cyber espionage campaigns."

"According to its telemetry, China hosts 43.85 percent of Cobalt Strike resources. To put that in context, the next biggest distributor is the US with a 19.08 percent share."

"Since Fortra bought Cobalt Strike in 2020, it has made strides in ensuring criminals don't get access to legitimate versions of its tools. For example, it soon started vetting all applicants vigorously before giving licenses out, but cracked versions in hard-to-reach places like China may prove difficult to eradicate for good."

Firewalls vs. 911

Imagine that you are in an emergency situation and are calling the emergency number (911, 112, etc.) of your country but you cannot reach them. What would you do and how would you feel?

Well, this is not only a fictitious scenario that happened in Massachusetts in USA. (One of the states of USA with a population of almost 7 million.) The 911 Department of the state was unreachable for 2 hours because of a safety feature on a firewall which was supposed to provide protection against cyber attacks and hacking. Actually, it seems to be that the feature was successful to prevent cyberattacks, as well as legitimate users.

An additional firewall feature can enhance your confidentiality but can also have a crippling effect on your availability in your system. (Remember AIC triangle.) You have to be more than careful if you are working with the critical structures of a region. Money costs can be affordable but life costs CANNOT.

https://bit.ly/3zg0s7I

"On June 18, 2024, at approximately 1:15 pm, the Massachusetts State 911 Department became aware of a statewide interruption to the 911 system. The disruption lasted approximately two hours until operation was fully restored at 3:15 pm."

"A preliminary investigation conducted by the State 911 Department and Comtech determined that the outage was the result of a firewall, a safety feature that provides protection against cyberattacks and hacking. The firewall prevented calls from getting to the 911 dispatch centers, also known as Public Safety Answer Points (PSAPs). Comtech’s initial review of the incident has confirmed that the interruption was not the result of a cyberattack or hack; However, the exact reason the firewall stopped calls from reaching dispatch centers remains under review."

"In 2023, Massachusetts’ 204 Public Safety Answering Points received a total average of 8,800 calls a day."

Norway Recommends Replacing SSL VPN to Prevent Breaches

 A nice cybersecurity step from Norwegian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

The Norwegian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recommends replacing SSLVPN/WebVPN solutions with alternatives due to the repeated exploitation of related vulnerabilities in edge network devices to breach corporate networks.

NCSC's official recommendation for users of Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN/WebVPN) products is to switch to Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) with Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2).

IKEv1 has some vulnerabilities for some product families i.e. "IKEv1 Information Disclosure Vulnerability in Multiple Cisco Products (CVE-2016-6415)" (CVSS 3.0 score is 7.5)

https://bit.ly/4dGmfVI

"The Norwegian National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recommends replacing SSLVPN/WebVPN solutions with alternatives due to the repeated exploitation of related vulnerabilities in edge network devices to breach corporate networks."

"While the cybersecurity organization admits IPsec with IKEv2 isn't free of flaws, it believes switching to it would significantly reduce the attack surface for secure remote access incidents due to having reduced tolerance for configuration errors compared to SSLVPN."

"Unlike IPsec, which is an open standard that most companies follow, SSLVPN does not have a standard, causing network device manufacturers to create their own implementation of the protocol."

"As an example, Fortinet revealed in February that the Chinese Volt Typhoon hacking group exploited two FortiOS SSL VPN flaws to breach organizations, including a Dutch military network."

"In 2023, the Akira and LockBit ransomware operations exploited an SSL VPN zero-day in Cisco ASA routers to breach corporate networks, steal data, and encrypt devices.

Earlier that year a Fortigate SSL VPN vulnerability was exploited as a zero-day against government, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure."