Information Technology

Sierra Wireless, the multinational manufacturer of Internet of Things devices, has resumed production after being hit by a ransomware attack.The Canadian company became the victim of a ransomware attack against its IT systems on March 20, disrupting internal operations and production facilities.But now Sierra Wireless has restored production at its manufacturing sites and is working towards restoring internal networks.The company has been working with cybersecurity law firm Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP and cybersecurity investigators from KMPG in response to the ransomware attack, and to analyse what happened. “Security is a top priority, and Sierra Wireless is committed to taking all appropriate measures to ensure the highest integrity of all of our systems,” said Sam Cochrane, CFO at Sierra Wireless. “I’m proud of the efforts of our IT team and external advisors as they have mitigated the attack and made real progress in getting operations up and running,” Cochrane added.SEE: IoT: Major threats and security tips for devices (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

The impact of the attack was limited to internal Sierra Wireless systems, with customer-facing products unaffected by ransomware, because IT systems for internal operations and those for customer operations are separated.”At this point in its investigation of the ransomware attack, the company does not expect there to be any product security patches, or firmware or software updates required as a result of the attack,” the company said in a statement.It’s unclear when the remaining systems affected by the ransomware attack will be restored. At the time of writing, Sierra Wireless hasn’t disclosed what form of ransomware encrypted the network, or how the organisation ended up falling victim to the cyber attack.Ransomware continues to remain  an issue for organisations across the world and a recent report detailed it as the biggest cybersecurity concern for chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief security officers (CSOs).MORE ON CYBERSECURITY More

Many on-premises Exchange servers are being patched, but Microsoft warns that its investigations have found multiple threats lurking on already-compromised systems.Microsoft is raising an alarm over potential follow-on attacks targeting already compromised Exchange servers, especially if the attackers used web shell scripts to gain persistence on the server, or where the attacker stole credentials during earlier attacks.

Exchange attacks

Microsoft released patches for Exchange on-premises systems on March 2. Four Exchange bugs were already under attack from a state-sponsored hacking group called Hafnium. SEE: Security Awareness and Training policy (TechRepublic Premium)Microsoft earlier this week said that 92% of vulnerable Exchange servers had been patched or had mitigations applied. However, cybersecurity firm F-Secure said “tens of thousands” of Exchange servers had already been breached.      In a new blog post, Microsoft reiterated its warning that “patching a system does not necessarily remove the access of the attacker”.”Many of the compromised systems have not yet received a secondary action, such as human-operated ransomware attacks or data exfiltration, indicating attackers could be establishing and keeping their access for potential later actions,” the Microsoft 365 Defender Threat Intelligence Team notes. 

Where systems have been compromised, Microsoft urges admins to practice the principle of least privilege and mitigate lateral movement on a network.Least privilege will help address the common practice where an Exchange service or scheduled task has been configured with a highly privileged account to perform tasks like backups.”As service account credentials are not frequently changed, this could provide a great advantage to an attacker even if they lose their initial web shell access due to an antivirus detection, as the account can be used to elevate privileges later,” Microsoft notes. Using DoejoCrypt ransomware, aka DearCry, as an example, Microsoft notes that the web shells used by that strain write a batch file to C:WindowsTempxx.bat. This was found on all systems hit by DoejoCrypt and may offer the attacker a route to regaining access where infections have been detected and removed.”This batch file performs a backup of the Security Account Manager (SAM) database and the System and Security registry hives, allowing the attackers later access to passwords of local users on the system and, more critically, in the LSA [Local Security Authority] Secrets portion of the registry, where passwords for services and scheduled tasks are stored,” Microsoft notes. Even where victims have not been ransomed, the attacker’s use of the xx.bat file allows them to explore a network via the web shell that dropped the file in the first place. The web shell also downloads the Cobalt Strike penetration testing kit before downloading the ransomware payload and encrypting files. In other words, a victim may not have been ransomed today, but the attacker has left the tools on the network to do it tomorrow. The other cybercrime threat to Exchange servers comes from malicious cryptocurrency miners. The Lemon Duck cryptocurrency botnet was observed exploiting vulnerable Exchange servers. Interestingly, the operators of Lemon Duck cleaned up an Exchange server with the xx.bat file and a web shell, giving it exclusive access to the Exchange server. Microsoft also found that it was being used to install other malware rather just mining for cryptocurrency.    Microsoft has published numerous indicators of compromise that network defenders can use to search for the presence of these threats and signs of credential theft. More

Cybersecurity still isn’t taken as seriously as it should be by boardroom executives – and that’s leaving organisations open to cyber attacks, data breaches and ransomware, the new boss of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned.In her first speech since taking the helm of the UK cybersecurity agency, CEO Lindy Cameron said cybersecurity should be viewed with the same importance to CEOs as finance, legal or any other vital day-to-day part of the enterprise.”The cybersecurity landscape we see now in the UK reflects huge progress and relative strength – but it is not a position we can be complacent about. Cybersecurity is still not taken as seriously as it should be, and simply is not embedded into the UK’s boardroom thinking,” said Cameron during a speech at Queen’s University, Belfast.

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“The pace of change is no excuse – in boardrooms, digital literacy is as non-negotiable as financial or legal literacy. Our CEOs should be as close to their CISO as their finance director and general counsel.”SEE: Security Awareness and Training policy (TechRepublic Premium)Recent cyber incidents, including the cyber-espionage campaign exploiting SolarWinds and cyber attackers taking advantage of zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, are just two examples of how organisations can find themselves facing large-scale cyberattacks. The NCSC says it helped detect and remove malware related to the Exchange attack from 2,300 machines at businesses in the UK. The aftermath of the attack has seen cyber criminals rush to exploit vulnerabilities before organisations have had a chance to apply the critical updates required to protect them.

“As our reliance on technology grows, it sadly also presents opportunities for those who want to do us harm online,” said Cameron, who cited ransomware as a major cybersecurity issue for businesses.”Ransomware remains a serious – and growing – threat, both in terms of scale and severity. Ransomware is not just about fraud – and theft – of money or data, serious as both are. It’s about the loss of key services and unenviable choices for unprepared businesses.” Such is the extent of the problem of ransomware targeting schools, colleges and universities in recent months, the NCSC put out an alert about the issue, with advice on how institutions can protect themselves. SEE: Phishing: These are the most common techniques used to attack your PCWhile digital technology brings many benefits, it also brings risks, as cyber criminals, nation-state hacking operations and others attempt to take advantage of vulnerabilities for their own ends: whether by stealing vast amounts of information, or attempting to compromise critical infrastructure.”We need to ensure that our adversaries – be they state or criminal, traditional or new – think twice before attacking UK targets,” said Cameron. “And we need to ensure that future generations are better equipped to deal with this complexity than any of their predecessors.”MORE ON CYBERSECURITY More

Google has set up the Android Ready SE Alliance to support the adoption of Android smartphones and wearables as digital keys, identity documents, and wallets for digital cash.As part of the alliance’s inauguration, Google has launched the general availability (GA) version of the StrongBox for SE applet. SE stands for Secure Element, a discrete tamper-resistant piece of hardware, such as Google’s Titan M chip. 

While most modern phones have an SE, the alliance is about standardising multiple Android OEMs around the way Pixel devices use the Titan M chip as a tamper-resistant hardware enclave. Android’s StrongBox, which runs on this hardware enclave on Pixel phones, is used for storing cryptographic keys in an environment that’s isolated from the CPU.  SEE: IoT: Major threats and security tips for devices (free PDF) (TechRepublic)Google notes that StrongBox and Titan M-like hardware will be important for emerging user features, including digital keys for your car, home and office, identification documents such as mobile driver’s licence (mDL), National ID, and ePassports, and Wallet for digital money.The SE alliance is working with Google to create open-source and validated SE applets, such as StrongBox for SE. This applet is available from alliance members, including chip makers Giesecke+Devrient, Kigen, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Thales.Google is confident in the security of its Titan M chip and sees it as important enough to warrant a $1 million reward for anyone who finds a way to achieve a full chain remote code execution exploit with persistence that compromises data protected by the chip.      

Additionally, StrongBox is applicable to WearOS, Android Auto Embedded, and Android TV devices.Android phone brands or OEMs will need to pick validated hardware from an SE alliance vendor and to work with Google to provision Attestation Keys/Certificates in the SE factory. Android OEMs will also need use the GA version of the StrongBox for SE applet, adapted to the specific SE in use.SEE: Google: Here’s how we’re toughening up Android securityGoogle notes that it is prioritising the development of applets for mobile driver’s licence and identity credentials, as well as digital car keys for future Android releases.”A major goal of this alliance is to enable a consistent, interoperable, and demonstrably secure applets across the Android ecosystem,” Google says on its page for the Android Ready SE Alliance.”Validated implementations of Android Ready SE applets build even stronger trust in the Android Platform. OEMs that adopt Android Ready SE can produce devices that are more secure and allow for remote updates to enable compelling new use cases as they are introduced into the Android platform.” More

An unknown threat group is deploying a variant of Hades in targeted attacks against US big game. 

On Friday, Accenture’s Cyber Investigation & Forensic Response (CIFR) and Cyber Threat Intelligence (ACTI) teams published an analysis into the latest Hades campaign which has been operating since at least December 2020 until this month. According to the cybersecurity researchers, at least three major companies have been successfully attacked with the ransomware strain including a transport & logistics company, a consumer products retailer, and a global manufacturer. Forward Air was reportedly a past victim. Accenture says that the threat actors are focused on hunting organizations that generate at least $1 billion in annual revenue.  In the latest recorded attacks, the threat actors take a hands-on approach and use a mix of custom tools and fileless approaches.  Hades appears to infiltrate systems through internet-facing systems, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), or Virtual Private Network (VPN) setups using legitimate credentials — which may be obtained through brute-force attacks or stolen data dumps.  Once Hades lands on a victim’s machine, it creates a copy of itself and relaunches itself via the command line. The ‘spare’ copy is then deleted and an executable is unpacked in memory. A scan is then performed in local directories and network shares to find content to encrypt but each Hades sample secured uses a different extension. 

A ransom note, “HOW-TO-DECRYPT-[extension].txt,” is then dropped on the machine.  The ransomware notes obtained through Hades samples direct victims to install Tor and a unique address appears to be generated for each target. In total, six have been traced, which may indicate further infections.  Similarities between ransom notes used by the Hades group and REvil ransomware operators. CrowdStrike considers Hades to be the successor to WastedLocker ransomware, a variant that has been deployed by REvil against US targets in past campaigns. Cobalt Strike and Empire are used to manage command-and-control (C2) servers and to maintain persistence. Batch scripts, log clearance, disabling endpoint antivirus products, and modifying Group Policy Object (GPO) to disable audit logging are all implemented to circumvent existing defenses. Hades also includes code obfuscation to avoid signature-based detection. A variety of reconnaissance tools are also utilized to grab network, host, and domain information and to achieve lateral movement through networks.  “In addition, the threat actors operated out of the root of C:ProgramData where several executables tied to the intrusion set were found,” Accenture noted. Prior to encryption, Hades operators steal and archive data before whisking it away to a C2 in what is known as a double-extortion tactic: pay up, or risk the leak of corporate data online.  “We assess with moderate confidence that the group’s operations have just begun, and that Hades activity will likely continue to proliferate into the foreseeable future, impacting additional victims,” Accenture says.  CIFR and ACTI have published Indicators of Compromise (IoC) for the threat group and Hades variant.  Previous and related coverage Have a tip? Get in touch securely via WhatsApp | Signal at +447713 025 499, or over at Keybase: charlie0 More

Google has offered the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) a number of suggestions on how best to move forward with regulation in the digital advertising space, saying a “collaborative” approach would provide the most benefit to consumers and Australian businesses.”Google succeeds when our partners do — so we have a strong incentive to ensure a healthy digital advertising ecosystem,” a blog post penned by Google Australia’s marketing director Barney Pierce said. The competition watchdog is currently probing the advertising technology (ad tech) sector, focusing its efforts, again, on the search giant, with the ACCC concerned with “Google’s industry-leading position”.In response to the ACCC kicking off the inquiry, Google argued ad tech is a competitive market with low barriers to entry, and that it’s merely one of the many companies offering such a service.The search engine giant said it creates AU$32 billion in benefits annually for businesses and content creators in Australia through its advertising platforms.  In its 68-page submission [PDF] to the inquiry, Google said the ACCC’s Interim Report presented an incomplete view of the digital advertising industry. “Focussing only on web-based open display advertising results in a misleading view of industry dynamics,” it said.

“Any regulatory intervention must not reduce the innovation and competition that has driven so many benefits”.Google said ad tech has been marked by constant innovation, driven by the evolving needs of advertisers, publishers, and consumers. This constant innovation, Google claimed, substantially changes the ad tech landscape every two to three years.”The dynamism of the ad tech ecosystem combined with these differing interests means that it will be extremely difficult to predict all of the consequences of any intervention,” it said. “In the face of these issues, regulation is likely to create unanticipated disadvantages and disruptions.”Google has asked the ACCC to also consider the implications for consumer privacy when designing proposals. “Several of the ACCC’s proposals will impact consumer privacy,” it said. “This extends beyond data portability and interoperability measures (which the ACCC has recognised will depend on the underlying privacy regulatory framework currently under review).”It also said the ACCC’s proposals around data separation measures, such as through data silos or purpose limitation requirements, may overlap with the issues being considered in the Privacy Act Review. Similarly, Google said the watchdog’s proposals to increase transparency and address issues of supply chain opacity may conflict with the privacy issues being considered in the review.”We therefore think it is critical that the ACCC consult with the Attorney-General’s Department, the OAIC, and other relevant stakeholders (including privacy advocacy groups such as the Australian Privacy Foundation) for the remainder of the Inquiry to consider the privacy implications of the ACCC’s proposals,” it said.Google in its submission also provided comment on how the ACCC should consider measures for improving data portability and interoperability.”We believe the ACCC’s objectives are best achieved by data portability measures that are industry-led and industry-wide and where the user is in control,” Google said. “To safeguard consumer privacy and promote participation and competition, such measures should only apply to data controlled by the user.”Data portability measures should not apply to data that the user does not control, Google said, providing examples such as data about a consumer’s activity on a website where their ads are displayed.Google added that data portability should not extend to data that a service provider creates by using a consumer’s data — inferred data — such as a user profile created by analysis of the data collected. On the issue of conflict of interest and self-preferences, Google said it believes the current Competition and Consumer Act 2010 provisions are sufficient for addressing potential competition concerns that may arise from vertical integration in the ad tech chain.In addition, Google labelled the interim report as having a narrow focus, stating it omits key competition dynamics that constrain Google’s ad tech business.MORE GOOGLE VS ACCC More

Services Australia has told Senate Estimates that it reported a total of 20 cybersecurity incidents to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) in 2019-20, covering its responsibility across the Department of Social Services, the National Disability Insurance Agency, and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, in addition to its own IT shop.The ACSC reported receiving a total of 436 notifications from government entities.Services Australia CEO Rebecca Skinner said while it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss the nature of the incidents, her agency did not have breaches of Australian citizen data. As one of the largest government entities, Services Australia has its own security operation centre (SOC) that, since 2017, has been responsible for protecting all of its systems, including the ones that hold Centrelink, Medicare, and child support information.”We are always undertaking security reviews, upgrades, patches — those sorts of things to maintain our responsibilities against [the] ASD essential eight security arrangements,” she added.Skinner said the agency’s cybersecurity division blocks about 14 million suspicious emails a month.”If something looks strange, people do something,” she said, noting the division also detects multiple campaigns attempting to attack its systems. “We’re monitoring all of those.”

Services Australia chief information officer Michael McNamara said the SOC also “runs its own testing, in terms of the dark web”.See also: Cops are the only ones being lawful on the dark web, AFP declares”We have our own internal capability … that routinely works through that and identifies issues in that domain,” he told Senators. “We can’t discuss any individual cases, But we do work very, very closely with the AFP and the ACSC and ASD.”McNamara said that while a lot of its data is not classified with a national security classification, it is all treated the same as the agency’s most sensitive and important datasets.”They reside, if you like, in physical security centres that are equivalent to the sorts that you would protect national security information in, it’s just technically, they don’t have a national security classification,” he explained.”We have a very robust data security framework inside the agency … [including] a data integrity framework, which looks at training our staff on the use of data on the inappropriate and appropriate use of data, distribution of data. We do that on a regular basis.”He said there are also a number of access controls in place, such as monitoring tools, in addition to multifactor authentication across the agency and the systems it controls. “Our systems, as you can imagine, are secure by their very nature and design, and the data is encrypted at rest,” he added. “As that data is moved, we will use our monitoring tools to control the movement, the distribution of that data, particularly if it leaves the agency.”He said the same requirements are placed on its biggest contractors — Telstra, Microsoft, and IBM.MORE FROM SERVICES AUSTRALIA More

Australia’s coronavirus contact tracing app, COVIDSafe, was sold as “digital sunscreen” with people encouraged by the Prime Minister to download the app in order to have life return to some form of normal.There have been over 7 million downloads of the app, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s logged into, or being used by individuals that have the app taking up real estate on their phone. The app has received scrutiny from the country’s security community from day one, and it has only accounted for a total of 17 cases found, with 81 close contacts of those 17 identified through the app, too. The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 also previously said the app significantly under-delivered on Scott Morrison’s promise that the app would enable an opening up of the economy in a COVID safe manner.As previously disclosed by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), the app cost in excess of AU$5 million.DTA CEO Randall Brugeaud told senators on Thursday night that the cost to keep the app’s lights on, so far, has been around AU$900,000.”The spend to date on the app is AU$6,745,322.31, that’s to 31 January,” he said.”That includes a combination of development, which is the actual build of the app, and the hosting of the app. So the breakdown is, for the development of the app, AU$5,844,182.51 and the hosting is AU$901,139.80.”

Brugeaud said COVIDSafe has moved into the “business as usual state”, which means the DTA simply applies “very small amounts of maintenance”. “It costs about AU$100,000 per month to run the infrastructure and we’ve made a provision for about AU$200,000 per month to allow us to make future changes,” he said. “Now, that isn’t money that must be spent, but we’ve estimated about AU$200,000 a month for future feature changes that may be required by the Department of Health who is the business owner of the app.”Labor Senator Nita Green asked why there was a need to continue sinking funds into an app that has barely been used.”COVIDSafe was developed based on the health need and it will continue to be supported until we’re advised that capability is no longer required,” Brugeaud said.”I know it seems like a small number, 17 … I think it was 774 detections that have occurred, but just think through 17 people going undetected, and what that might look like in terms of shutdowns,” Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston added.”Even though it may seem like a small number, that could have had a very significant impact on the health outcomes or the economic outcomes for our country.”Ruston said the app was designed at a time when it was thought Australia would have a lot more cases than it did. “Not withstanding that, it was something that was put in place at the time, an unknown time, it has served a purpose, whether it has served as much of a purpose as perhaps it might otherwise — but, clearly the health officers, the CMOs in both Victoria and New South Wales have both indicated that they believe that the app has had provided a very positive opportunity and benefit to their states,” she said. “It was a decision that was taken that has provided some value.”Brugeaud said there could be more contacts located via the app, but legislation is preventing the government from having access to the data.He also said, however, the app has received “very good feedback” from the tech community to help the DTA improve the app.Digital vaccination record limboLast month, Minister for Government Services Stuart Robert touted a vaccination passport, a digital record confirming people have received the jab through the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).”They will have a record, they will have a digital and paper certificate. For some 89% of Australians that have a smartphone, they will be able to access that digital certificate in their smartphone, download it onto their phone as a permanent record,” Robert said at the time.The certificate would be available, he said, through linking myGov and Medicare online services.Brugeaud said the DTA has been working with Services Australia on a “range of enhancements” to myGov, including a release which is about to occur and will provide access through myGov to the AIR.”That will provide access to the current immunisation record,” he said. “There are discussions currently underway in relation to the creation of a potential vaccination certificate, but that would be a question for Services Australia … we’re not leading the work on the vaccination certificate.”Time ran out during Senate Estimates on Thursday night to hear testimony from Services Australia on the progress of the AIR.HERE’S MORE More