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Cybercrime

Optus Under $1 Million Extortion Threat in Data Breach

Jeremy Kirk  •  September 25, 2022

Australia's Optus telco is facing a $1 million extortion demand to prevent the release of up to 11.2 million sensitive customer records. The data appears to be legitimate. The attacker tells Information Security Media Group an unauthenticated API led to the breach.

Governance & Risk Management

Fortinet, VMware, Cisco Drive SD-WAN Gartner Magic Quadrant

Michael Novinson  •  September 23, 2022

Perennial leaders Fortinet and VMware and a surging Cisco set themselves apart from the pack in SD-WAN, according to the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant. Fortinet and VMware again took the gold and silver in ability to execute, with Cisco leapfrogging both Versa and Palo Alto to capture the bronze.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Sweepstakes Spam Hackers Used Microsoft Infrastructure

Prajeet Nair  •  September 23, 2022

Hackers behind a campaign of deceptive sweepstakes spam hacked their way into Azure cloud accounts that lacked multifactor authentication and obtained admin privileges for Exchange servers. Microsoft advises turning on MFA and other measures such as conditional access.

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Multi-factor & Risk-based Authentication

ISMG Editors: How a Teen's Hack of Uber Adds to MFA Crisis

Anna Delaney  •  September 23, 2022

In the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discuss the industrywide implications of a teenager hacking into Uber's internal systems, key trends in the new Gartner SD-WAN Magic Quadrant report, and how ethics and security culture are center stage due to recent CISO revelations at Uber and Twitter.

Cybercrime

Australian Telco Optus Investigates Scope of Large Breach

Jeremy Kirk  •  September 23, 2022

A criminal investigation is underway into a breach at Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications company. Optus' CEO says the company will notify those affected. It's unknown so far who perpetrated the attack, and the data has not appeared on the dark web.

Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Ransomware's Future: A Continuing Money Spinner

Jeremy Kirk  •  September 23, 2022

What is the future of ransomware, and is it going to continue with the same intensity of the last few years? Michael DeBolt of Intel 471 says anti-ransomware efforts, including government action and better cybersecurity practices, are working. But ransomware isn't going away soon.

Security Operations

Malwarebytes Gets $100M Weeks After Laying Off 14% of Staff

Michael Novinson  •  September 22, 2022

Private equity firm Vector Capital invested $100 million in Malwarebytes a month after the antivirus stalwart laid off 125 employees to focus on smaller customers. The funds will help the vendor reduce clients' attack surfaces and accelerate momentum with MSPs and channel partners.

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Security Operations

Darktrace's Nicole Eagan on How AI Predicts, Prevents Hacks

Michael Novinson  •  September 22, 2022

Darktrace's Cybersprint acquisition allowed the cybersecurity AI vendor to move from focusing solely on internal threats to also defending the external attack surface, Nicole Eagan says. The company says AI will give an outside-in view of the victim and simulate how the attacker will behave.

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Leadership & Executive Communication

Profiles in Leadership: Errol Weiss

Tom Field  •  September 22, 2022

Errol Weiss, chief security officer of Health-ISAC for the past three years, watched the healthcare sector undergo a historic revolution in the digital delivery of services to patients. Also in that time, the attack surface grew exponentially. How can entities best defend it?

Breach Notification

Australian Telco Optus Warns of 'Significant' Data Breach

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  September 22, 2022

Australian telecommunications giant Optus is warning that current and former customers' personal details were exposed, including some driver's license and passport details, but no passwords or financial details, after it suffered a major data breach.

Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks

Universities Urged to Defend Sensitive Research From Hackers

Michael Novinson  •  September 21, 2022

Cyberattacks against universities have forced academia to implement new rules and processes to safeguard sensitive research from adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran. Texas A&M set up an office in 2016 to oversee security around scholarship, and the office works to prevent foreign influence.

Critical Infrastructure Security

Public Water Systems at Cybersecurity Risk, Lawmakers Hear

David Perera  •  September 21, 2022

Public water systems in the United States will continue connecting control systems to the internet despite the risks, members of the House Homeland Security Committee heard today. Water systems need network connectivity for remote repairs, said an official with the National Rural Water Association.