New Chaos Malware Variant Ditches Wiper for Encryption

New Chaos Malware Variant Ditches Wiper for Encryption
Tara Seals
Managing Editor, News, Dark Reading

Article

The Chaos malware-builder, which climbed up as a wiper from the underground murk nearly a year ago, has shape-shifted with a rebranded binary dubbed Yashma that incorporates fully fledged ransomware capabilities.

That’s according to researchers at BlackBerry, who say that Chaos is on track to become a significant threat to businesses of every size.

Chaos began life last June purporting to be a builder for a .NET version of the Ryuk ransomware – a ruse its operators leaned into hard, even using Ryuk branding on its user interface. However, a Trend Micro analysis at the time showed that binaries created with this initial version shared very little heritage with the well-known ransomware baddie. Instead, the sample was “more akin to a destructive trojan than to traditional ransomware,” the firm noted – mainly overwriting files and rendering them unrecoverable.

Inside the Chaos
Chaos targets more than 100 default file extensions for encryption and also has a list of files it avoids targeting, including .DLL, .EXE, .LNK, and .INI – presumably to prevent crashing a victim’s device by locking up system files.

In each folder affected by the malware, it drops the ransom note as “read_it.txt.”

“This option is highly customizable within all iterations of the builder, giving malware operators the ability to include any text they want as the ransom note,” according to BlackBerry’s analysis. “In all versions of Chaos Ransomware Builder, the default note stays relatively unchanged, and it includes references to the Bitcoin wallet of the apparent creator of this threat.”

Over time, the malware has added more sophisticated capabilities, such as the ability to:

  • Delete shadow copies
  • Delete backup catalogs
  • Disable Windows recovery mode
  • Change the victim’s desktop wallpaper
  • Customizable file-extension lists
  • Better encryption compatibility
  • Run on startup
  • Drop the malware as a different process
  • Sleep prior to execution
  • Disrupt recovery systems
  • Propagate the malware over network connections
  • Choose a custom encryption file-extension
  • Disable the Windows Task Manager

  • Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

    Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient

    “Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

 

iPhones Open to Attack Even When Off, Researchers Say

Wireless chips that run when the iPhone iOS is shut down can be exploited.
By Dark Reading Staff

Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC) and ultra-wideband (UWB) operate when iPhone’s iOS system is shut off, meaning even powered-down devices are vulnerable to attack.

New research from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany examined the chips that enable the “Find My” functions and allow users to access banking and identification information even when the device is in low-power mode. This access also has the unintended consequence of leaving the device open to attack, even though the user might think the iPhone is offline and secure. according to the team’s paper, entitled “Evil Never Sleeps.”

“On recent iPhones, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), and U=ultra-wideband (UWB) keep running after power off, and all three wireless chips have direct access to the secure element,” the paper states. “As a practical example what this means to security, we demonstrate the possibility to load malware onto a Bluetooth chip that is executed while the iPhone is off.”

That said, exploitation is far from simple, requiring several steps and the use of known bugs like BrakTooth, the researchers explain.

Article

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President
Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient
“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

 

Zero-Click Zoom Bug Allows Code Execution Just by Sending a Message

Google has disclosed a nasty set of six bugs affecting Zoom chat that can be chained together for MitM and RCE attacks, no user interaction required.

A vulnerability chain discovered in Zoom’s chat functionality can be exploited to allow zero-click remote code execution (RCE), threat hunters have revealed.

Google’s Project Zero uncovered an attack path that would allow cyber adversaries to silently force a victim to connect to a man-in-the-middle (MitM) server — no user action needed. From there, attackers can intercept and modify client update requests and responses in order to send the victim a malicious update, which will automatically download and execute, thus allowing RCE.

Article

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President
Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient
“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

CISA and DoD Release 5G Security Evaluation Process Investigation Study

CISA and DoD Release 5G Security Evaluation Process Investigation Study
05/26/2022 09:00 AM EDT

2.3 5G Threat Landscape
A key input to any security risk assessment is threat analysis. The 5G system model supports
depiction of the attack surface for the investigation. There are numerous threat frameworks such as
those offered by MITRE ATT&CK® [5]; the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity’s (ENISA) 5G
Threat Landscape [6]; the Threat Modeling Framework for Mobile Communication Systems [7];
3GPP’s Security Assurance Specifications (SCAS) and Technical Specification (TS) 33.501 [8];
publications released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Communications Security,
Reliability, and Interoperability Council VII (CSRIC) [9]; 5G Enablers for Network and System Security
and Resilience (ENSURE) [10]; and the GSM Association’s (GSMA) Security Manual [11]. The study
team examined these resources as well as threat analyses conducted by 3GPP and a paper on
potential 5G threat vectors published by the Enduring Security Framework’s 5G Threat Model
Working Panel [12]. Figure 3 shows some of the threats to the 5G subsystems that were extracted
from these sources. Some of the threats such as eavesdropping, theft of user data, or user location
tracking may impact integrity and confidentiality of user data as well as service availability to
individual users. Other threats may impact local or regional network, application, or service availability
(e.g., denial of service [DoS] or Distributed DoS [DDoS] attacks, misconfigured or compromised
virtualization platforms or network functions, vulnerable components [supply chain threats], or
physical attacks on edge computing components), with follow-on effects on the confidentiality,
integrity, and availability of 5G services and applications for enterprises relying on 5G for their
missions

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient

“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

5G_Security_Evaluation_Process_Investigation_508c

MSP’s beware of world economics

It has come to my attention that a lot of “RMM Firms are trying to buy your business on 1 year special pricing vs monthly sort of like what Microsoft proposed for O365  pricing. Most of the these firms are scrambling to stay in business

As a distributor of security software I changed this model around to monthly without a contract 12 year ago. In the case of MspPortal Partners we can flex on accounts receivable against our accounts payable.

If any of you can remember the dot com bubble 2000, or Financial Market crash 2008, I know personally it seemed we received weekly bankruptcy notices from firms going out of business. Just review the business community they are laying off or cutting back hiring

If you can provide your clients “Flex Power” to grow and retract on the fly, your business will continue to grow now and into the future

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President
Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace,  Axcient
“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

Important: Microsoft 365 – Term and Prices Announcement

As a Security Provider of Security Software by Rackspace be aware Microsoft will be reaching into your pocketbook  (Wrong) MspPortal Partners refuses to sell O365.

Rackspace offers a Standalone  or Hosted mail server and at MspPortal Partners monthly  and no contract pricing.

We previously shared an announcement about changes to the Microsoft 365 CSP experience regarding the enforcement of annual-commit subscription terms, price increases on select products, and a premium charge for monthly-commit licenses. Microsoft is now enforcing annual commitments which historically they have not enforced, and they have created an offer for monthly-commitment options but with a premium charge.

This communication serves as a reminder that monthly-commit licenses will receive a price increase due to the pricing premium from Microsoft for monthly adjustment flexibility. As required by Rackspace’s agreement with our Customers, this communication serves as your 45-day notice that Rackspace will begin to pass Microsoft’s price increase through to our customers on July 1, 2022, per the terms of our agreement.

Microsoft is currently not allowing terms to change from monthly to annual commitments. However, we are working closely with Microsoft to provide an option to allow our customers to switch to annual licenses prior to July 1 to avoid the monthly premium should they wish to do so. Please continue to monitor the control panel where you manage licenses, as we will enable this feature via the control panel once we come to a resolution with Microsoft.

In the initial announcement, we announced Microsoft’s price increases on six products, reflected on invoices as of April 1 with pricing as follows (annual-commit pricing, per user/per month):

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient

“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

Apple Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products

Original release date: May 17, 2022

Apple has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. An attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system. Note: Apple notes they are aware of a report that states CVE-2022-22675 may have been actively exploited. CVE-2022-22675 affects watchOS, tvOS, and macOS Big Sur.

CISA encourages users and administrators to review the Apple security pages for the following products and apply the necessary updates.

watchOS 8.6
tvOS 15.3
macOS Catalina
macOS Big Sur 11.6.6
macOS Monterey 12.4
iOS 15.5 and iPad OS 15.5
Xcode 13.4

 

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient

“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

Microsoft the No. 1 Most-Spoofed Brand in Phishing Attacks (O365)

1) Microsoft the No. 1 Most-Spoofed Brand in Phishing Attacks
Nearly 60% of all phishing attacks impersonate Microsoft and about half a million Microsoft 365 accounts were compromised in 2021, new data shows.

Barracuda Networks’ telemetry — from from millions of emails it analyzed — shows that in 2021, a little over half of all social engineering attacks came via phishing, and Microsoft was the most-impersonated brand in those attack attempts. Overall, attackers sent 3 million emails from 12,000 compromised accounts, and one in five organizations suffered an account compromise last year.

As a Security Software Distributor of Barracuda there security mail which is by far the best in the industry. Built from scratch using open source. For a very inexpensive dollar amount you could be protected> Call your MSP/Tech firm for pricing and then have them call MspPortal Partners to assist in implementing a secure solution at no additional cost.

1) Google Emergency Update Fixes Chrome Zero-Day
Google patches a critical flaw in its Chrome browser, bringing its count of zero-day vulnerabilities fixed in 2022 to four already. Do you really want to use Chrome or Google period let alone Google Mail
2) Microsoft Releases Advisory to Address Critical Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2022-26809)
3)Microsoft Releases April 2022 Security Updates (112)
4) Apple Releases Security Updates (its getting worse)

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

Security Software Distributor: Bitdefender , Barracuda, RackSpace, Axcient

“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”

 

Bitdefender enforces two-factor authentication for all GravityZone Cloud accounts on April 12, 2022 IMPORTANT

Bitdefender enforces two-factor authentication for all GravityZone Cloud accounts on April 12, 2022 (Read More)

Due to a scheduled update, Control Center will be unavailable from 4/12/2022, 8:30:00 PM GMT-07:00 to 4/12/2022, 11:30:00 PM GMT-07:00. Release Notes

Bitdefender has today released version 7.4.10.200020 of Endpoint Security for Mac on slow ring. The release notes are available here (English only).

Industry News Security

Google Fixes Critical Security Flaw in Chrome’s Blink Engine – Patch Now! (https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/google-fixes-critical-security-flaw-in-chromes-blink-engine-patch-now/)

Google this week is rolling out an incremental update to Chrome users to address multiple security flaws, including many labeled high risk. One flaw, discovered in the browser’s rendering engine, is rated critical. Chrome 99 has been around since the beginning of March [https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/chrome-99-rolls-out-with-dozens-of-security-fixes-update-now/] . In the meantime, researchers have kept busy mining the browser’s code for bugs, not just to keep users safe from hackers, but also to fetch a well-deserved bug bounty. Yesterday personally I dealt with 3 gmail scams account be hacked and sending encrypted messages on compromised mail accounts

Researchers Identify Backdoor Infection Spike on Several GoDaddy-Hosted Websites

Researchers Identify Backdoor Infection Spike on Several GoDaddy-Hosted Websites (https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/researchers-identify-backdoor-infection-spike-on-several-godaddy-hosted-websites/)
Security researchers have noticed a surge in backdoor infections on hundreds of websites hosted on GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress service, all compromised by the same payload. The incident affects websites such as tsoHost, MediaTemple, Domain Factory, Heart Internet,

Beware and update your security and change your passwords at least every 30-60 days

Roy Miehe | MspPortal Partners Inc. | Ceo/President

Bitdefender / Distributor

“Where Service and Technical Skills Count”