Can I say good job?
Month: February 2022
NotPetya2 – Cont.
So significant ransomware attacks on Ukraine right now. Dark Reading notes that 77% of organizations have poor segmentation, 70% have exposed Industrial Control System connections and 44% shared credentials:
https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/ransomware-trained-on-manufacturing-firms-led-cyberattacks-in-industrial-sector
Most of last year also saw scans of TCP Port 502, which is used by a protocol called Modbus, the transportation systems of Ukraine. (That is SCADA devices as well.)
Significant was the use of a new data wiper called “HermeticWiper” (aka KillDisk.NCV) with evolving attacks over the past two months. Over 121 unsuccessful cyber attacks took place last month, one which was called “WhisperGate.”
The prep for the main event was overwhelming distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Ukrainian government offices and banks. The Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) was fingered by U.S. and U.K. officials, with subsequent denial of course by the Kremlin.
The propaganda war is trying to sow panic and spread miss information.
“President Joe Biden said last month the US could respond with cyberoperations of its own if Russia conducts additional cyberattacks in Ukraine.”
This is not about websites. This is about basic economic processes and transportation. ICS and SCADA systems are being compromised.
The attacks began Feb12. The second version of NotPetya? I have a feeling that we will know the damages more than anything ever before. Alarming is the data wiping that happened before the kinetic events.
Key Ukrainian government websites hit by series of cyberattacks – CNN
Register the assets to be prepared
No doubt some of these are due to lack of a comprehensive asset audit. In a larger organization, things can get lost in the shuffle.
NotPetya 2
Biden notes that a physical war could result from cyber breaches. In spite of NATO, Putin and crew could do some damages that would cost billions.
NotPetya was the largest and most expensive cyberattack ever and was perpetrated largely on Ukraine by Russian criminals working for the government. It caused more than $10 billion in damages in 2017. Is part 2 in order?
I’m hoping that now we will be ready and that NATO will act together. This is all new territory though. We haven’t seen physical war yet, but I think it will be tit-for-tat unless it takes down some infrastructure that is critical and/or relies on IRL human processes.
Jax the Sun Dog
Jax is too funny. He follows the sun around to such an extent that he sits in this pot. When the sun moves, he does.
Will Someone Please Stop the Oversaturated Vendor Problem in Balboa Park?
UPDATE: Well, according to sources at the Balboa Park visitor’s center, someone put in a new rule that vendors there have to be 100 feet apart. Doesn’t mean a lot imho; street vendors have been a problem for business owners throughout the city, who have some of the same products, just without the overhead. But now the city council said they will vote on March 1 to rule on placing restrictions on vendors and prohibit them in certain parks, beaches, and places like Old Town: “The ordinance requires vendors to obtain a business license and vendor permit. It would define specific distance parameters around statues, art displays and other vendors.”
Though the park website says “The City of San Diego must issue a permit for any commercial filming for exterior areas in Balboa Park,” vendors, with hygiene requirements, don’t need a permit? I don’t see why this took so long to address.
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Ah, to get back to normal life. At Balboa Park, the museums are starting to open, the Spanish Village artists are back at work, and the rose garden is in full bloom.
But now someone needs to do something about the high number of what appears to be unapproved vendors who are in Balboa Park. They seem to have little food safety and basic hygiene, and poor trash management. The U-T interviewed Alexis Villanueva, senior program manager of economic development with City Heights CDC, who maintains that “micro-enterprise” vendors contribute to the economy. Yes, but they can also contribute other, unwanted things. There has to be a balance here between rules, regulations and freedoms.
Continue reading “Will Someone Please Stop the Oversaturated Vendor Problem in Balboa Park?”
Do you have a dark web presence?
Heard this radio interview yesterday with BorderLAN. Among the notes:
1. Don’t be lazy in getting your cyber. Don’t say “we’re just a small company and hackers are not after us.”
2. In order to get cyber insurance, you are first going to have to:
A. Perform on/offsite backups
B. Get effective anti-malware
C. Have you even blocked certain IPs, like from North Korea?
“Do what you do as a small business and leave us to do our job, what we do to protect you,” said the company rep.
The dark web is filled with data. There are supercomputers out there doing continual scans for vulns. We can search for your data out there. It’s like Amazon/auction for hackers. Free hacking tools for script kiddies (no experience needed).
The government just spent $2-3 trillion but $5-6 trillion is already out there on the dark web (ransomware and other data hostage, things like free videos of porn, human trafficking, software serial numbers, free stuff!)
REvil stops momentarily but then…?
After Russian security forces arrested some of REvil’s operators, “You can hit the jackpot once, but provoke such a geopolitical conflict that you will be quickly found. It is better to quietly receive stable small sums from mid-sized companies.”
The up-and-coming local cyber provider for whom I am working is targeting its marketing toward SMBs, which are vulnerable more than ever now to ransomware.
Pegasus and the Israeli Left
For those who think that Israel is some kind of right-wing regime, here the Israeli Left and right–and the public at large–are united in their alarm at police actions in using NSO’s Pegasus software to spy on top officials without a court order. Just more proof that Israeli politics are democratic, the worst kind of politics other than every other one.
Credentials no-no
For your interactions with reputable companies out there:
THEY WILL NEVER ASK FOR YOUR USER NAME AND PASSWORD
Recovery
It’s been a few weeks now and I have not been consistent in writing here. I really have not been following the main news lately, but reading an interesting piece on Trickbot in Wired. Ransomware does not slow down. These lowlifes have no qualms about attacking life-sustaining systems. Brazen.