Category: Heimdal Security Blog

Stay Ahead of Cyberthreats with Proactive Threat Hunting

In today’s digital age, cyber threats are an ever-present danger to organizations of all sizes. From ransomware attacks to data breaches, the consequences of a successful cyberattack can be devastating. That’s why it’s essential for businesses to adopt a proactive…

US Medical Service Data Breach Impacts 2.3M People

Shields Health Care Group (SHCG), a medical service provider in the United States, announced a data breach that compromised the personal information of more than 2.3 million people. Shields reported the breach to the Maine Attorney General on April 19,…

Millions of Records With Sensitive Data Leaked by ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank, an Indian multinational valued at more than $76 billion, with over 5,000 branches operating across India and 15 other countries worldwide has leaked millions of records with sensitive data, including financial information and personal documents of the bank’s…

Companies Affected by Ransomware [2022-2023]

The increasing frequency and size of ransomware attacks are becoming a huge concern for thousands of organizations globally. All over the world, threat actors take advantage of security vulnerabilities and encrypt data belonging to all sorts of organizations: from private…

Iranian Hackers Target U.S. Energy and Transit Systems

Mint Sandstorm, an Iranian government-backed actor, has been linked to attacks on critical infrastructure in the United States between late 2021 and mid-2022. The entities that were targeted include seaports, energy companies, transit systems, and a major U.S. utility and…

US Company CommScope Hit by Ransomware

Following a ransomware attack back in March, sensitive employee data was compromised at CommScope, a major US telecommunications and IT infrastructure company. The Vice Society ransom gang claims to have published CommScope employee data on its dark web leak site. The…

New ”Domino” Malware Strain Targets Corporate Networks

Researchers recently discovered a new malware family named “Domino”, allegedly created by ITG14, also known as the FIN7 threat group. Reportedly, ex-Conti hackers have been using it since at least February 2023 to spread Project Nemesis info stealer or Cobalt…

Windows Admins Warned About a Critical MSMQ QueueJumper Vulnerability

Security researchers and experts warn Windows admins about a critical vulnerability discovered in the Windows Message Queuing (MSMQ) middleware service, that can expose hundreds of thousands of systems to attacks. The vulnerability has been patched by Microsoft in this month’s…

Balada Injector Infects Nearly 1 Million WordPress Sites

A malware distribution operation known as Balada Injector has been active since 2017, and it is believed that it has infected over a million WordPress sites. According to GoDaddy’s Sucuri, the massive campaign “leverages all known and recently discovered theme…

Two New Emergency Patches from Apple

Apple is backporting two security patches released on Friday. The updated patches address zero-day vulnerabilities on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Details About the Vulnerabilities The first flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-28206, is an out-of-bounds write issue. This bug may permit threat…

Round-Robin DNS Explained. What It Is and How It Works

The Round-robin DNS is a load-balancing technique that helps manage traffic and avoid overloading servers. Multiple IP addresses are assigned to a single domain name; each time the domain name is resolved, the returned IP address is picked in a…

Oldest Law Practice in NYC Hacked, over 90,000 Clients Impacted

Almost 90,000 clients’ personal information was compromised in the cyberattack on the prestigious law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The law firm informed its clients on March 30, 2023, that on November 15, 2022, an unauthorized third party acquired remote…

Cyber Incident Cripples UK Criminal Records Office

After weeks of silence, the UK’s Criminal Records Office (ACRO) has issued a statement saying that the issues with the website that have been ongoing since January 17 were caused by a “cyber security incident.” ACRO manages criminal record information,…

MSI Breach Claimed By Money Message Ransomware Gang

A recent data breach affecting Taiwanese PC parts maker MSI (Micro-Star International) has been listed on the extortion portal of a new ransomware gang known as ‘Money Message’. The threat actors claim to have stolen source code from the company’s…

What Is a Software Restriction Policy?

In today’s digital age, it is crucial for businesses to protect their sensitive data and computer systems from cyber threats. One effective way of doing so is by implementing a software restriction policy. But what exactly is a software restriction…

Designing Your Threat Hunting Framework from Scratch – Core Essentials

A threat hunting framework is a collation of data-driven adversarial scenarios, backed up by hypothetical, field-tested, or time-honored TTPs (i.e., Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures). Serving a wide array of security-wise needs such as baselining, forecasting, threat modeling, vulnerability discovery, and…

Typhon Info-Stealing Malware Comes Back Harder to Detect

Threat actors upgraded Typhon info-stealer to a version that has improved evading features against analysis and anti-virtualization mechanisms. The new Typhon Reborn V2 malware is currently advertised on a dark web forum. Typhon was first discovered in August 2022 and…

What Is Scareware and How to Prevent It?

Are you one of those people who get easily scared by pop-up ads and warning messages on your computer? If so, then beware! You might be falling for a common cybercrime tactic known as scareware. Scareware is a type of…

New Threat Uncovered: Rorschach Ransomware – The Fastest Encryptor

Researchers have unveiled a sophisticated and fast ransomware strain called Rorschach, previously undocumented. Malware experts discovered the new ransomware strain after a cyberattack on a U.S.-based company and described it as having “technically unique features”. Among the capabilities observed was the encryption…

My Cloud Goes Down While Data Storage Giant Announces Network Breach

Western Digital announced that they discovered a network breach had affected their systems, starting March 26th. Threat actors managed to obtain unauthorized access to several of the Company’s systems. While law authorities are still investigating, Western Digital claims the intruder…

15 Million Systems Are Vulnerable to CISA KEV Flaws

Using the Shodan database, IT security researchers were able to track down 15 million vulnerable systems with vulnerabilities from the US cyber security authority CISA’s Known-Exploited-Vulnerabilities-Catalog (KEV). When KEV vulnerabilities are discovered, updates are usually available from the software manufacturer…

Elementor Pro Vulnerability Actively Exploited by Threat Actors

Threat actors are actively exploiting a high-severity vulnerability discovered in the popular plugin Elementor Pro. Elementor Pro is a WordPress page builder plugin with multiple functions that helps users to build professional-looking websites easily, without the need to know how…

SCCM Alternative for Patch Management

In today’s cybersecurity space, properly patching the machines and servers in your company can make the difference between a well-secured organization and a vulnerable one. SCCM is one of the most popular system management solutions on the market and has…

NATO and Diplomats’ Email Portals Targeted by Russian APT Winter Vivern

Winter Vivern (aka TA473), a Russian hacking group, has been exploiting vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-27926) in unpatched Zimbra instances to access the emails of NATO officials, governments, military people, and diplomats. The CVE-2022-27926 flaw affects versions 9.0.0 of Zimbra Collaboration, which is…

Ukrainian Authorities Stop a Phishing Scam Worth $4.3 million

Ukraine’s Cyberpolice Department announced an operation during which they busted a phishing gang. The police arrested two scammers and confiscated equipment used for phishing frauds. Threat actors managed to steal $4,300,000 from over a thousand victims across the EU. The…

Best Practices for Effective Identity Lifecycle Management (ILM)

In today’s fast-paced world, identity management has become a crucial aspect of every organization. From securing sensitive data to ensuring compliance with regulations, effective Identity Lifecycle Management (ILM) is essential for businesses of all sizes. However, implementing an ILM strategy…

Companies Affected by Ransomware [2022-2023]

The increasing frequency and size of ransomware attacks are becoming a huge concern for thousands of organizations globally. All over the world, threat actors take advantage of security vulnerabilities and encrypt data belonging to all sorts of organizations: from private…

What Is User Provisioning?

User provisioning (also known as account provisioning) is a digital Identity and Access Management (IAM) process that involves creating employee/user accounts and their profiles and giving them appropriate rights and permissions across IT infrastructure and enterprise applications and systems. In…

APT43: A New Cyberthreat From North Korea

A new North Korean cyber operator has been attributed to a series of attacks conducted to gather strategic intelligence aligned with the state’s geopolitical interests. Security researchers, which are tracking the threat group’s activity under the moniker APT43, believe that…

Clop Ransomware Exploits Zero-Day Vulnerability to Breach Crown Resorts

A zero-day vulnerability in Crown Resorts’ GoAnywhere secure file-sharing server has led to a data breach at the largest gambling and entertainment company in Australia. The Blackstone-owned company operates complexes in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Macau, and London, and has an annual…

MacStealer MacOS Malware Steals Passwords from iCloud Keychain

Researchers discovered a new MacOS info-stealer that extracts documents, cookies, and login data from infected devices. MacStealer uses Telegram as a command-and-control platform to exploit MacOS machines from Catalina (10.15) and up to Ventura (13.2). It is delivered on the…

Food Giant Dole, Victim of a Ransomware Attack [Updated]

Dole Food Company, one of the world’s largest suppliers of fresh fruit and vegetables, has revealed that it has been hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted its operations. The company is still looking into “the scope of the incident,”…

What Is Quishing: QR Code Phishing Explained

Are you aware of QR code phishing or “quishing”? This form of social engineering attack is gaining popularity among cybercriminals eager to steal your data. In this article, we will find out what quishing is, how it works, and how…

Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Middle Eastern Telecom Companies

New cyber attacks against Middle Eastern telecommunications operators emerged in the first quarter of 2023. Based on technical overlaps, the intrusion set was identified as being the work of a Chinese cyber espionage actor associated with a long-running campaign dubbed…

Enhanced Version of the BlackGuard Stealer Spotted in the Wild

A new variant of the BlackGuard stealer has been discovered in the wild, with new features such as USB propagation, persistence mechanisms, the ability to inject more payloads into memory, and the ability to target more crypto wallets. BlackGuard’s New…

Drive-by Download Attack – What It Is and How It Works

In today’s digital age, cybersecurity is more important than ever before. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are constantly finding new ways to infiltrate networks and steal data. One of the most insidious methods they use is known as a drive-by download attack. This…

37M Subscribers Streaming Platform Lionsgate Exposes User Data

Cybersecurity researchers found that Lionsgate, an entertainment industry giant, exposed the IP addresses and viewing habits of its subscribers. The investigators from Cybernews uncovered that the video-streaming service Lionsgate Play had exposed user information via a publicly accessible ElasticSearch instance.…

What Is Nmap and How to Use It to Enhance Network Security

Nmap is short for Network Mapper, an open-source tool used for IP and port scanning and app detection. System and network admins use it for network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring service uptime. At first, it was developed…

Another Fake ChatGPT Extension Found in Google Chrome Store

Researchers discovered a new fake ChatGPT extension for Chrome in the official Chrome Store. This version steals Facebook session cookies, hijacking accounts. The malicious extension is a copy of “ChatGPT for Google”, a Chrome add-on, but with additional malicious code.…

ShellBot DDoS Malware Targets Poorly Managed Linux Servers

A new campaign is deploying variants of the ShellBot malware, specifically targeting poorly maintained Linux SSH servers. It seems the threat actors use scanner malware to find systems that have SSH port 22 open and proceed to install ShellBot on…

Another GoAnywhere Attack Affects Japanese Giant Hitachi Energy

Hitachi Energy confirmed that it was the victim of a data breach, part of the GoAnywhere attacks. The Clop ransomware gang exploited a Fortra GoAnywhere MFT (Managed File Transfer) zero-day vulnerability to gain access. The Japanese engineering and technology giant…

Ferrari Announces Data Breach. Customers Risk Data Leakage

On March 20th, Ferrari announced they were victims of a cyberattack that could result in customers` data leakage. Threat actors claimed to have breached some of the Ferrari IT systems and sent a ransom demand. Ferrari N.V. announces that Ferrari…

HinataBot: The Latest Go-based Threat Is Launching DDoS Attacks

In January, a Go-based botnet named HinataBot (named after the character from the popular anime series Naruto) was discovered exploiting old vulnerabilities and weak credentials in HTTP and SSH honeypots. HinataBot Overview According to Akamai’s SIRT team, the botnet exploited arbitrary…

What Is Stack Smashing?

Stack smashing is a type of vulnerability that can lead to serious security breaches. This vulnerability occurs when a hacker exploits a flaw in a program’s memory allocation, causing the program to crash or execute arbitrary code. In this article,…

5 Ways Heimdal® Protects You From DNS Attacks

As cyber-attacks continue to proliferate, it’s essential for organizations to stay ahead of the game when it comes to security. One area that requires particular attention is the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS attacks are more common than one might…

Makop Ransomware: The Arsenal of Cybercriminals Becomes Known

In operation since 2020, the Makop ransomware gang is classified as a tier-B ransomware gang. The threat actor has successfully targeted companies in Europe and Italy with its hybrid arsenal of custom-developed and off-the-shelf software tools despite its low classification.…

BianLian Ransomware: The Dangerous Shift Toward Pure Data Extortion

BianLian is a ransomware group that first appeared in July 2022, successfully infiltrating several high-profile organizations. It seems that recently, the ransomware group has shifted its focus from encrypting its victims’ files to only exfiltrating and extorting data found on…

SASE 101: Understanding the Fundamentals of Secure Access Service Edge

In today’s digital age, businesses are increasingly moving their operations to the cloud. However, with this shift comes numerous security risks that can compromise sensitive data and confidential information. That’s where Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) comes in: a cutting-edge…

CISA Warns of Adobe ColdFusion Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild

On March 15, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added a new vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. The said vulnerability impacts Adobe ColdFusion and is actively exploited by threat actors. Details on the Vulnerability The…

Most Common Remote Work Security Risks

Remote work has become a highly popular and common practice around the world, especially now as companies allow a significant part of their employees to remain remote. However, while this practice increases flexibility, improves productivity, and enhances work-life balance, there’s…