Phishing Attacks Are Getting Trickier

Phishing attacks have become the most common method cyber attackers use to target people at work and at home. Phishing attacks have traditionally been emails sent by cyber attackers to trick you into doing something you should not do, such as opening an infected email attachment, clicking on a malicious link, or sharing your password. While traditional phishing attacks continue today, many cyber attackers are creating advanced phishing emails that are more customized and harder to detect. They are also using technologies such as text messaging, social media, or even telephone calls to engage and fool you. Here are their latest tricks and how you can spot them.

Hacktivists claiming attack on Iranian steel facilities dump tranche of ‘top secret documents’

The group claiming responsibility for cyberattacks on multiple Iranian steel facilities last month posted on Thursday what it called a cache of nearly 20 gigabytes of data containing corporate documents that reveal the facilities’ affiliation with Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a series of tweets in both English and Persian, the group — which calls itself Gonjeshke Darande or Predatory Sparrow — said the 19.76 gigabyte cache was just the “first part” of what would be released. The group also posted an image of what appears to be the inside of a steel facility.

The True Cost of a Security Breach

There have been many articles about the cost of a security breach. With the emergence of privacy regulations that assign penalties based on a business’ profit, or those that calculate a value for each compromised record, it is possible to calculate the cost of a breach based on those metrics. However, it would seem that these hard numbers are not detailed enough to placate many security professionals. Too many cybersecurity professionals take the unnecessarily broad leap from the quantifiable, to the speculative with ill-formed notions. Specifically, when discussing data breach costs, the topic of reputational damage always seems to enter the conversation. Yet, to many C-Level executives, this is perceived as a sensationalist ploy, brinksmanship, and an empty threat, and rightfully so. Nothing detracts more from an important message than an unquantifiable peril.

Medical debt collection firm says ransomware attack exposed info on 650+ healthcare orgs

A February ransomware attack on a medical debt collection company caused a widespread data breach affecting 657 healthcare organizations. In a statement issued late last week, Professional Finance Company said that during the attack the ransomware group gained access to databases that held names, addresses, accounts receivable balances, information regarding payments made to accounts, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and health insurance data and medical treatment information. Professional Finance Company said it notified the 657 companies in May. “On February 26, 2022, PFC detected and stopped a sophisticated ransomware attack, in which an unauthorized third party accessed and disabled some of PFC’s computer systems. PFC immediately engaged third party forensic specialists to assist with securing the network environment and investigating the extent of any unauthorized activity,” the company said. 

Hackers Say They Can Unlock and Start Honda Cars Remotely

Hackers could unlock and remotely start virtually all models of Honda cars, according to security researchers. On Thursday, a security researcher who goes by Kevin2600 published a technical report and videos on a vulnerability that he claims allows anyone armed with a simple hardware device to steal the code to unlock Honda vehicles. Kevin2600, who works for cybersecurity firm Star-V Lab, dubbed the attack RollingPWN. “This weakness allows anyone to permanently open the car door or even start the car engine from a long distance,” Kevin2600 wrote in his report. “The Rolling-PWN bug is a serious vulnerability. We found it in a vulnerable version of the rolling codes mechanism, which is implemented in huge amounts of Honda vehicles.”