Over the weekend, the FBI, Google and Palo Alto Networks flagged a surge in cyber attacks on airlines and travel firms. These alerts match the operating pattern of the hacker group known as Scattered Spider. Recent signs suggest Australia may...
Espionage in the digital age has taken on a new dimension altogether. Countries are using advanced spying tools to snoop on their adversaries. The snooping is not only on government-controlled entities but on other industries as well. These include services,...
Background The Log4Shell critical vulnerability in the widely used logging tool Log4j has caused concern beyond the cyber security community. This is because Log4j - rather than being a single piece of software - is a software component that’s used by millions of computers worldwide running online services....
Background Apache Log4j2 is a ubiquitous library used by millions for Java applications; the library is part of the Apache Software Foundation’s Apache Logging Services project. The vulnerability CVE-2021-44228, disclosed on December 9, 2021, allows for remote code execution against...
Background BlackMatter is a new ransomware threat discovered at the end of July 2021. BlackMatter is ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) tool that allows the ransomware's developers to profit from cybercriminal affiliates (i.e., BlackMatter actors) who deploy it against victims. This malware started...
Background The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has released information on the uncovering of a widespread malicious email campaign undertaken by the activity group that Microsoft tracks as NOBELIUM. Nobelium, which operates from Russia, is the name given to the threat actor behind...
The FBI is continuing to warn about Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors exploiting Fortinet vulnerabilities. As of at least May 2021, an APT actor group almost certainly exploited a Fortigate appliance to access a webserver hosting the domain for a...
In March 2021 it was observed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors scanning devices on ports 4443, 8443, and 10443 for CVE-2018-13379, and enumerated devices for CVE-2020-12812 and CVE-2019-5591. It is likely that the APT actors are scanning for these vulnerabilities...
Australian organizations are continually failing to fend off ‘inevitable’ and costly cyber-attacks! Watchdog rips into NZX for repeated tech fails & OAIC finds 'multiple' Australian companies downplaying data breaches. A recent study has reported that Australian businesses and organizations are...
New Zealand's central bank reports that an anonymous hacker who has potentially accessed commercially and personally confidential information has compromised one of its data systems. According to a statement, from a Wellington-based bank, a third-party file-sharing service used by the...