Threat Source newsletter (Oct. 6, 2022) — Continuing down the Privacy Policy rabbit hole

Why do I care? 

Exchange vulnerabilities have become increasingly popular with threat actors, as they can provide initial access to network environments and are often used to facilitate more effective phishing and malspam campaigns. The Hafnium threat actor exploited several zero-day vulnerabilities in Exchange Server in 2021 to deliver ransomware, and Cisco Talos Incident Response reported that the exploitation of Exchange Server issues was one of the four attacks they saw most often last year.  

So now what?

While no fixes or patches are available yet, Microsoft has provided mitigations for on-premises Microsoft Exchange users on Sept. 29, 2022. Even organizations that use Exchange Online may still be affected if they run a hybrid server. While Microsoft continues to update their mitigations, some security researchers posit they can be bypassed. Talos has released several Snort rules to detect the exploitation of these vulnerabilities and associate malware families used in these attacks. 

Top security headlines from the week

More than 2 million Australians’ personal information is at risk after a data breach at telecommunications giant Optus. More than 1.2 million customers have had at least one ID number from a current and valid form of identification, along with other personal data, according to an update from the company’s CEO. Adding to the confusion, the company told many residents in New South Wales that it would need to replace their driver’s license, only to later backtrack to say that would not be the case for everyone affected. Optus says it enlisted a third party to complete a thorough review of the compromise to identify security gaps and any other potential fallout. (ABC News, Nine News) 

The Vice Society ransomware group leaked more than 500 GB worth of data on employees and students at the unified Los Angeles School District after the district refused to pay a requested extortion payment after a ransomware attack several weeks ago. Officials said the leak was less extensive than originally expected and limited to attendance and academic records from 2013 - 2016. The district declined to pay the ransom because there was no guarantee that the actors would not leak the information anyway. Threat actors have commonly targeted the education sector with ransomware attacks as the school year started and their networks were particularly vulnerable. (Axios, Los Angeles Times) 

The infamous Lazarus Group threat actor continues to ramp up its activity, recently exploiting open-source software and Dell hardware to target companies all over the globe. A recent report from Microsoft found that the group was impersonating contributors to open-source projects and injecting malicious updates for that software to users. In a separate campaign, the APT also used an exploit in a Dell firmware driver to deliver a Windows rootkit targeting an aerospace company and high-profile journalist in Belgium. Lazarus Group is known for operating with North Korean state interests, often stealing cryptocurrency or finding other ways to earn money. (Bleeping Computer, Security Affairs)  

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Most prevalent malware files from Talos telemetry over the past week