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3rd Party Risk Management

SolarWinds Supply Chain Hack: Investigation Update

Anna Delaney  •  January 15, 2021

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report describes new details emerging from the SolarWinds supply chain hack investigation. Also featured: A discussion of why security education is so crucial in 2021 and tips on how to retain security and operations center analysts.

Application Security

SolarWinds Describes Attackers' 'Malicious Code Injection'

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 12, 2021

Investigators probing the supply chain attack that hit SolarWinds say attackers successfully hacked the company's Microsoft Visual Studio development tools to add a backdoor into Orion network monitoring security software builds. They warn that other vendors may have been similarly subverted.

Cybercrime

Massive DarkMarket Underground Marketplace Taken Down

Doug Olenick  •  January 12, 2021

A global law enforcement operation has taken down DarkMarket, which Europol describes as the world's largest underground marketplace of illegal goods on the dark web. The market has generated about $170 million in revenue selling drugs, malware, credit cards and more, officials say.

Cybercrime as-a-service

FBI Issues Alert on Growing Egregor Ransomware Threat

Scott Ferguson  •  January 9, 2021

The FBI has issued a warning about the growing threat from the operators behind the Egregor ransomware variant and other cybercriminal gangs affiliated with the group. Since September, the crypto-locking malware has been associated with nearly 100 attacks worldwide.

3rd Party Risk Management

Analysis: The Latest SolarWinds Hack Developments

Anna Delaney  •  January 8, 2021

This edition of the ISMG Security Report features an analysis of the very latest information about the SolarWinds hack. Also featured are discussions of "zero trust" for the hybrid cloud environment and data privacy regulatory trends.

Application Security

ElectroRAT Malware Targets Cryptocurrency Wallets

Prajeet Nair  •  January 7, 2021

A recently uncovered remote access Trojan, dubbed ElectroRAT, has been stealing cryptocurrency from digital wallets over the past year, according to researchers at Intezer Labs. The malware, written in Golang, can target Windows, Linux and macOS platforms.

Application Security

Severe SolarWinds Hacking: 250 Organizations Affected?

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 5, 2021

As investigators probe the SolarWinds hack, they're finding that the supply chain campaign appears to have deeply compromised more than the 50 organizations originally suspected. Meanwhile, the federal agencies overseeing the investigation now officially believe a Russian-linked hacking group is responsible.

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3rd Party Risk Management

2021: The Evolution of 'Zero Trust'

Suparna Goswami  •  January 4, 2021

In 2020, the "zero trust" conversation evolved from "What is it?" to "How do we achieve a zero trust architecture?" Chase Cunningham, principal analyst serving security and risk professionals at Forrester, offers an outlook for what we can expect in 2021.

3rd Party Risk Management

SolarWinds Orion: Fixes Aim to Block Sunburst and Supernova

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  December 29, 2020

Software vendor SolarWinds has updated multiple versions of its Orion network-monitoring software to address the Sunburst backdoor that was added to its code and to block Supernova malware that exploited a vulnerability in Orion. But incident response experts have warned that full cleanup may take years.

3rd Party Risk Management

Microsoft Warned CrowdStrike of Possible Hacking Attempt

Akshaya Asokan  •  December 26, 2020

Microsoft warned CrowdStrike of a failed attempt by unidentified attackers to access and read the company's emails, according to a blog post published by the security firm. The unsuccessful hacking incident is reportedly tied to the breach of SolarWinds.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

CISA Warns SolarWinds Incident Response May Be Substantial

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  December 24, 2020

Federal, state and local governments are among the many victims of the supply chain attack that backdoored the SolarWinds' Orion network-monitoring software, and victims "may need to rebuild all network assets" being monitored by the software, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warns.

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DevSecOps

NIST's Ron Ross: 'The Adversary Lives in the Cracks'

Tom Field  •  December 23, 2020

In the wake of the SolarWinds breach, NIST's Ron Ross has turned his attention to systems security engineering - and the reality that the adversaries are exploiting it to their advantage better than the defenders are. This disparity, Ross says, has to change.