As both digital protection strategies and digital attacks become more sophisticated, organizations that know the terrain have a better chance of navigating it.

Technological achievements that change business and lives come fast and furious today. Across all the advances, those who would use technology to empower individuals and open society are facing off against those who would use it to exploit or control others.

Digital identity — fundamentally defining who we are within a society's systems — is both a fertile and tangled ground for this inevitable fight. Digital identity includes any digital representation of physical documents, such as birth certificates, passports, licenses, voter registrations, medical insurance cards, and Social Security IDs, or the data therein. It also includes "soft" identities like online credentials, usernames, passwords, and one-time access tokens for multifactor authentication that enable us to use e-commerce, social media, and banking apps. Digital ID ecosystems can even use our mobile numbers to identify us, as well as biometric measures like fingerprints, voice patterns, faces, and our eyes.

As both digital protection strategies and digital attacks in this realm become more sophisticated, organizations that know the terrain have a better chance of navigating it. Here are three fronts where the battle for digital identity is especially complex and ferocious right now.

**Liveness Detection vs. Deepfakes**

Banks, insurance companies, healthcare providers, government agencies, and others are increasingly using liveness detection to verify an individual's identity. This usually involves directing a person to look into their laptop or phone's camera to determine they are an actual, living person and to match their face with their official digital ID photo or video on record. But widespread facial recognition technologies and computer vision have recently and repeatedly proven to be vulnerable to deepfakes powered by AI and machine learning. Deepfake images and videos — conveying synthetic human likenesses — have become so realistic that researchers at Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology showed that "four of the most common verification methods currently in use could be easily bypassed using deepfakes."

But all is not lost. Organizations can combat this deepfake onslaught by using multiple verification techniques such as comparative mobile location behaviors, facial depth sensors, device intelligence detecting emulators, and real-time readback of unique server-side generated alphanumeric strings during a verification check employing voice biometrics. Additionally, on-demand facial expression and movement instructions during the liveness check can help detect a fake, when leveraged in conjunction with the other techniques.

**Remote Processes vs. Digital Impersonation**

When the pandemic ushered in a new remote-based reality across the world, criminals seized upon hastily established automated processes and a lack of in-person engagement to expand their digital impersonation attacks. As a result, services like car sharing in Europe are rife with this kind of fraud.

It's accomplished in a few steps. Increasingly sophisticated phishing emails, often appearing to come from large, well-known companies, trick people into sharing key personal information. With that, fraudsters can employ techniques widely available on the Dark Web to generate identification documents with machine-readable zones. All a fraudulent onboarder needs to access a car-sharing account or open a bank account online is a remote system with a verification process that fails to require a robust constellation of checks — background, biometric, and multifactor authentication. An effective process can no longer include one without the others.

**Regulation vs. Crypto Chaos**

Over the past year, industries such as banking and crypto have experienced a twofold increase in fraud. But crypto is particularly vulnerable because it lacks the array of regulatory protections that serve banks — as well as the guarantees that individuals and businesses rely on when using more traditional financial instruments. Confidence in crypto continues to be in limbo as poor leadership, hype-fueled speculation, confusion, and devaluation have plagued the industry.

Previously, crypto holders have been out of luck when someone steals their identity and wallet or transfers their coins without their knowledge. But regulators are finally steering markets around the world in a more mature direction that acknowledges the need for balance between data privacy and digital fraud concerns. For example, the "Travel Rule," which subjects transfers of virtual assets (VAs) like cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to global standards used across mainstream financial services, was introduced in 2019 but only now is coming into effect.

Requiring that senders and recipients of crypto exchange identifying information, guarantee its accuracy, and convey the data to government if asked, about 29 of 98 countries under the rule have enacted binding legislation, with more nations planning to do so.

Making progress on this front now lies in effective implementation of tools and digital identity ecosystems that will tame crypto chaos and stop anonymous money laundering.

3 Fronts in the Battle for Digital Identity

The application allows companies to proactively surface risks and remediation plans via programmatic risk assessments.

TrustCloud's latest application, TrustRegister, empowers businesses to verify and assure trust in every relationship.

TrustRegister allows companies to leverage programmatic risk assessments to proactively identify risks, simplify collaboration, and understand risk-related revenue and business impact, the company says. Because TrustRegister ties contracts and customers to risks, businesses can assess risk-related revenue impact and see exactly how risks will affect the bottom line.

Companies relying on frameworks such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for compliance are required to complete risk assessments to identify and document potential threats, the likelihood of occurrence, and effective plans to mitigate the threats. TrustRegister automatically assigns, notifies, and prioritizes tasks and remediation plans to reduce enterprise risk. Automated workflows streamline collaboration across dispersed teams.

“TrustCloud is empowering InfoSec leaders to make a business case for GRC programs because they know the revenue and liability impact of security and privacy risks,” said Sravish Sridhar, founder and CEO of TrustCloud.

TrustCloud's predictive Trust Assurance platform elevates governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) into a profit center, the company says.

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New GRC Platform TrustRegister Links Risk to Revenue Impact

Cybereason announces additional funding led by Softbank Corp.

**BOSTON, April 3, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --** Cybereason, the XDR company, today  
announced a $100 million investment led by SoftBank Corp. to support the  
company's global growth and advance its innovation in XDR, EDR, and EPP  
solutions. In addition, Cybereason announced that Eric Gan will serve as the  
company's new CEO, subject to confirmation by the company's board and pending  
customary regulatory approvals, while current CEO and Co-Founder Lior Div will  
transition to the role of advisor.

As an Executive Vice President of SoftBank Corp., Eric Gan has a long history  
with Cybereason, starting with SoftBank Corp.'s initial investment in Cybereason  
in 2015. Prior to SoftBank Corp., Gan co-founded eAccess, a telecommunications  
company. Gan later became an Executive Vice President of SoftBank Corp., where  
he led its Business Development Unit, which formed alliances with overseas  
companies. Before eAccess, Gan was an analyst and managing director for Goldman  
Sachs.

"I have watched Cybereason grow from its earliest stages to a leader in the  
cyber industry as evidenced by its recent position as a leader in the Gartner  
Magic Quadrant for EPP and its record-breaking MITRE ATT&CK results. I look  
forward to supporting Cybereason's next stage of global growth and scale," said  
Gan.

"I am so proud of what we have accomplished at Cybereason and I look forward to  
being a part of helping the company move to the next level," said Div.

This round of funding comes as Cybereason has experienced significant traction  
in recent months including:

Being named a Leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection  
Platforms;

Achieving the best results in the history of the MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK®  
Evaluations for Enterprise, scoring 100% in Prevention, 100% in Visibility, and  
100% in Real-Time Protection;

Being named to the prestigious Forbes Cloud 100;

Being named to CNBC's 10th Annual Disruptor 50 list of the most innovative  
privately held global companies.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP is representing Cybereason in the financing,  
and Goodwin Procter LLP is representing Softbank Corp. in the financing.

**About Cybereason**

  
Cybereason is the XDR company, partnering with Defenders to end attacks at the  
endpoint, in the cloud, and across the entire enterprise ecosystem. Only the  
AI-driven Cybereason Defense Platform provides predictive prevention, detection,  
and response that is undefeated against modern ransomware and advanced attack  
techniques. The Cybereason MalOp(TM) instantly delivers context-rich attack  
intelligence across every affected device, user, and system with unparalleled  
speed and accuracy. Cybereason turns threat data into actionable decisions at  
the speed of business. Cybereason is a privately held international company  
headquartered in Boston with customers in more than 40 countries.**

Forward-Looking Statements

**  
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words "believe,"  
"may," "will," "potentially," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend,"  
"could," "plan," "expect," and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of  
future events or outcomes are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements  
concerning the following: (i) whether or not the conditions to closing upon some  
or all of the Financing occur and/or if the Financing occurs at all (in whole or  
in part), (ii) whether or not regulatory approvals are obtained and/or events  
conditioned on the receipt of regulatory approvals occur at all, (iii) the  
potential for growth in the market for cloud-based security solutions  
(domestically and internationally) and future cybersecurity spending; (iv) our  
business plan and our ability to effectively manage our growth; (v) anticipated  
trends, growth rates and challenges in our business and in the markets in which  
we operate; and (vi) the ability of the Company to manage costs and find  
efficiencies and the sufficiency of our cash to meet our cash needs.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks,  
uncertainties. It is not possible for the Company to predict all risks, nor can  
the Company assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to  
which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ  
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. In light of  
these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events and  
circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results  
could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the  
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this press  
release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made.  
We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for  
any reason to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our  
expectations. In addition, statements that "we believe" and similar statements  
reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are  
based upon information available to us as of the date of this press release,  
which may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to  
indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all  
potentially available relevant information. These and all other forward-looking  
statements are inherently uncertain and should not be relied upon.

Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/  
Follow us: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Cybereason Secures $100M in Funding Led by SoftBank Corp.

Phoenix addresses the critical need for smaller operators to secure their operations with an easy-to-use and cost-effective OT security solution.

**FOXBOROUGH,** **Mass.****,** **April** **4,** **2023** **/PRNewswire/** **\--** Industrial Defender, the leading provider of OT asset data and cybersecurity solutions for industrial organizations is excited to announce the launch of Phoenix, an innovative OT security solution tailored to the needs of small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs).

Phoenix is revolutionizing how smaller industrial organizations approach OT security by providing quick, comprehensive visibility into all their OT assets and their associated cyber risks. By providing a solution that is easy to deploy and cost-effective, Phoenix enables SMBs to overcome resource barriers and secure their operations effectively.

"From ransomware campaigns to nation-state attacks, cyber threats against industrial organizations have never been higher. Attackers are increasingly targeting operational technology, and smaller organizations are especially vulnerable due to their limited resources," said Jay Williams, CEO of Industrial Defender. "SMBs often believe they wouldn't be targeted, but all users of operational technology are at risk of cyberattacks, whether they are the intended target or just caught in the blast radius. Cyber incidents are crippling for small businesses, and Industrial Defender is excited to launch Phoenix as a solution to help protect their operations."

Plants and factories of all sizes rely on control systems, sensors, and software to drive their operations. These systems make up the OT attack surface and can be difficult to track and monitor for security issues. Due to the unique operational requirements of OT assets, popular IT solutions cannot be used to monitor and secure them. Meanwhile, other OT security solutions in the market today are geared toward major critical infrastructure operators and large manufacturers, and their high cost and complexity to deploy and manage make them unsuitable for SMBs.

Phoenix is a simplified, all-in-one solution specifically designed for small to medium-sized businesses struggling with limited resources and budget. Suited for environments with up to 200 endpoints, Phoenix provides a quick, automated view of all OT assets and vital endpoint information including:

*   Device type, make, model and serial number
*   Software and firmware
*   User accounts
*   Ports and services
*   Configuration details

Phoenix provides a quick on-ramp to asset discovery by monitoring network communication. In addition, Phoenixcombines passive means with agentless and active discovery methods for an enhanced, more comprehensive dataset. Phoenix also enables Security Event Management by providing event log data, Network Analytics through network monitoring and visibility into communication flows, and Enterprise Integration with flexible APIs.

"Just because operators have smaller footprint facilities, whether a specialty manufacturer, a water treatment site, or a micro power generator, it does not mean they should operate with a blind spot to their cyber and business risks. We are proud to support SMBs in the important role they play in fueling our economy and advancing our quality of life," said Williams.

Phoenix is available at flexible and cost-effective pricing options that provide the right fit for small to mid-sized environments. Even as needs and operations expand, Phoenix is an effective starting solution that can be scaled into a network of enterprise-grade solutions to enable future growth. Now any organization can achieve situational awareness and enhance the security and resilience of their industrial operations.

For a product demo and more information about Industrial Defender's Phoenix solution for protecting small to medium sized operations, please visit: www.industrialdefender.com/phoenix.

**About Industrial Defender**

Industrial Defender is the single best source of OT asset data. For more than decade, Industrial Defender has been solving the challenge of safely collecting, monitoring, and managing OT asset data at scale, while providing cross-functional teams with a unified view of security. Our mission is to protect our customers' reputations and competitive edge as the cyber-physical landscape evolves. U.S. based and established in 2006, we have built a reputation as trusted cybersecurity and compliance partners to the largest industrial and critical infrastructure operators in the world. Learn more at www.industrialdefender.com.

SOURCE Industrial Defender

Industrial Defender Launches Phoenix: OT Visibility & Security Solution for Small to Midsized Operations

Enables enterprises to operationalize MITRE ATT&CK and build a multi-layered, threat-informed defense to eliminate gaps based on organizational risk and priorities.

**TEL-AVIV, Israel** **and** **BOSTON****,** **April 4, 2023** **/PRNewswire/ --** CardinalOps, the detection posture management company, today announced a new approach for measuring detection posture and identifying gaps using the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

As the standard framework for understanding adversary playbooks and behavior, MITRE ATT&CK now describes more than 500 techniques and sub-techniques used by threat groups such as APT28, the Lazarus Group, FIN7, and LAPSUS$.

According to ESG research, 89% of organizations currently use MITRE ATT&CK to reduce risk for security operations use cases such as determining priorities for detection engineering, applying threat intelligence to alert triage, and gaining a better understanding of adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

**Why a New Coverage Metric Is Required**

Traditional MITRE ATT&CK coverage metrics and heat maps are too simplistic because they only add up the total number of detections aligned to a given technique – without measuring how much of the attack surface in your infrastructure is actually covered by all your detections.

Developed by CardinalOps, MITRE ATT&CK Security Layers dramatically extends the concept of ATT&CK coverage by measuring the "depth" of detection coverage for the first time. It does this by mapping each detection to a specific security layer – such as endpoint, network, email, cloud, containers, and IAM – and then enumerating the number of distinct layers covered for a given technique.

This enables SecOps teams to ensure they have "detection-in-depth" at multiple layers for the techniques that matter most to them.

Additionally, Security Layers enable organizations to link their coverage to desired business outcomes by immediately identifying blind spots related to crown-jewel assets such as their most sensitive applications and data. It also reveals missing telemetry and data sources that can be incorporated into their detection strategy to increase depth of coverage.

Coverage tracking using Security Layers is built into the CardinalOps automation platform, which continuously audits the rule set of existing SIEM/XDRs and groups them into their respective layers for each ATT&CK technique. The platform integrates natively with major SIEMs including Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, Google Chronicle SIEM, CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale, and Sumo Logic.

"Security layers add context and detail to the MITRE ATT&CK framework and associated detection rules," said Jon Oltsik, distinguished analyst and fellow at the Enterprise Strategy Group. "In this way, CardinalOps can help organizations further focus their attention on detecting the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of adversaries most likely to target their organizations. This can help reinforce security defenses in critical areas – especially for understaffed organizations lacking advanced cybersecurity skills and resources."

CardinalOps has contributed to the MITRE ATT&CK community in the past by providing new sub-techniques that were subsequently incorporated into the standard ATT&CK framework.

**How Automation Helps Operationalize MITRE ATT&CK**

Until recently, many organizations have struggled with operationalizing MITRE ATT&CK in their day-to-day operations because they had to rely on manual approaches like spreadsheets and open source tools to measure their coverage and identify blind spots.

Using automation and specialized analytics, the CardinalOps platform helps organizations continuously measure and visualize their detection posture using MITRE ATT&CK Security Layers. Coverage can be filtered based on organizational priorities such as Security Layers as well as by other key risk parameters such as APT groups or specific Tactics and Techniques.

The platform further helps eliminate coverage gaps by providing high-fidelity detections and recommendations to address missing, broken, and noisy detections.

"SecOps teams are looking for a more precise and holistic approach to measure their MITRE ATT&CK detection posture and identify gaps based on organizational priorities and desired business outcomes," said Michael Mumcuoglu, CEO and co-founder of CardinalOps. "We're proud to be helping the ATT&CK community find new and innovative ways to ensure organizations always have the right detections in place to defend against their most relevant adversaries."

**About CardinalOps**

Most security vendors pitch you on replacing your stack or adding new monitoring tools to it. CardinalOps has a more practical approach.

Founded by security experts with nation-state expertise and led by executives from leaders such as Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft Security, and IBM Security, CardinalOps is focused on maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of your _existing_ security stack.

Using automation and MITRE ATT&CK, the CardinalOps platform continuously assesses your detection posture and eliminates coverage gaps in your existing SIEM/XDR — Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, Google Chronicle SIEM, CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale, Sumo Logic — so you can easily implement a threat-informed defense.

What's more, it drives cost savings and greater efficiencies by recommending new ways to tune noisy and inefficient queries, reduce logging volume, and eliminate underused tools in your stack. 

Learn more at cardinalops.com.

CardinalOps Launches MITRE ATT&CK Security Layers for Measuring Detection Posture

Enhanced API defenses, granular machine learning capabilities, and new managed service offerings provide comprehensive protection across distributed environments.

**SEATTLE –** F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) today announced new security capabilities to give customers comprehensive protection and control in managing apps and APIs across on-premises, cloud, and edge locations. Specifically, new machine learning enhancements provide F5’s cloud security portfolio with advanced API endpoint discovery, anomaly detection, telemetry, and behavioral analysis. As more transactions and customer engagements occur through digital channels such as web and mobile apps, organizations are seeking better solutions to provide secure experiences for their end users and maintain their trust. With APIs as the building blocks of modern web and mobile experiences, protecting these assets is the cornerstone of securing digital services.

F5 customers can now strengthen their security posture with a continuously improving analysis engine and unified policy enforcement. These capabilities enable secure app-to-app communications through validated and monitored APIs, thereby reducing the time security teams spend correcting false positives and accelerating time-to-deployment for new services. The enhancements, as well as new managed service offerings for enterprises and service providers, accelerate the momentum of F5 Distributed Cloud Services, introduced in 2022 and bolstered by the recent launch of multi-cloud networking solutions.

Modern organizations continue to demonstrate a clear preference for hybrid solutions. According to F5's 2023 State of Application Strategy (SOAS) Report, 85% of respondents have deployed apps and APIs in distributed environments spanning multiple public clouds, as well as on-premises and edge locations. More than 20% of respondents are deploying apps and APIs in six different environments. At the same time, security teams struggle to provide consistent protection and visibility for a rapidly expanding attack surface area. This is primarily because many contemporary Web application and API protection (WAAP) solutions rely on point products or offerings based on (and provided by) CDN vendor technologies that cannot adequately scale beyond cloud-based apps and lack the ability to be deployed on premises, in public clouds, or in other edge locations.

"Applications and APIs are the building blocks of the digital experiences through which we all work, bank, shop, access healthcare, travel, and play," said Kara Sprague, EVP and Chief Product Officer, F5. "And those experiences are only as secure as the most vulnerable app or API. With greater efficacy achieved via sophisticated profiling techniques and deployment options that span SaaS, packaged software, hardware appliances, and managed services, F5's app and API security solutions are unmatched. Today’s announcement continues our mission to radically simplify app and API security, empowering customers to accelerate digital innovation with the confidence of comprehensive protection no matter how their apps are built or where they live."

F5 offers a full suite of capabilities to provide robust protection for apps and APIs across on-premises, cloud, and edge locations. Moreover, F5's end-to-end approach to security means that threat data can be gathered and analyzed across all deployed locations, including ongoing and emerging attack campaigns detected by the F5 Threat Campaigns service. As part of a larger hardware, software, SaaS, and managed services portfolio that also provides best-in-class application delivery capabilities, F5 security solutions protect a diverse mix of distributed apps and APIs in any environment without adding further operational complexity.

****Enhanced API Security Provides Greater Protection for Modern Apps****

F5 offerings are firmly in step with organizations’ desire to deploy security capabilities in the public cloud and as-a-service. Unlike API-only point product security providers, F5 delivers API auto-discovery, policy enforcement, and anomaly detection as part of a unified WAAP service, simplifying operations and enforcement through a single console for both app and API protection. Since static signature-based controls are insufficient for protecting API endpoints due to their dynamic, evolving nature, F5 Distributed Cloud API Security utilizes optimized machine learning for automatic API discovery, threat detection, and schema enforcement. By observing normal behavior patterns across all endpoints, F5’s advanced analysis engine helps users detect anomalies and refine API schemas to improve their overall security posture. Additionally, F5 supports token identification to detect anomalous behavior accessing JWT tokens and prevent unauthorized usage.

****AI as an Essential Element of App Security****

According to F5's SOAS Report, nearly two-thirds of organizations are prioritizing the use of AI/machine learning, with security as a top use case. CISOs view such capabilities as a means to reduce the time between detection and response without compromising efficacy or requiring additional security staff. In addition to AI-based enhancements for Distributed Cloud API Security, F5 is introducing AI-driven Web application firewall (WAF) capabilities, including unique malicious user detection and mitigation capabilities that create a per-user threat score based on behavioral analysis that determines intent. This enables security operations to choose between alerting or automatic blocking to mitigate an attack that would otherwise go undetected by static signatures. With F5, all traffic is monitored and proactive defenses are applied based on malicious user behavior that can be correlated across Distributed Cloud WAAP deployments. New functionality also provides false positive suppression, making it easier to block bad traffic without accidentally blocking legitimate users, and streamlines operations by reducing the time necessary to enable specific app protections.

****Simplifying App Security through Managed Service Offerings****

Given organizations’ growing challenges in deploying consistent security across increasingly distributed infrastructures—as well as finding available personnel with the required security skillsets—F5 is expanding its managed service offerings:

*   **Distributed Cloud WAAP Managed Services** enable F5 customers to access the experience and expertise of the F5 SOC to manage WAF, bot defense, and DDoS protection. Through a shared console, customers have the ability to seamlessly move between a self-service or managed service model as the needs of their apps and approach to app security change.
*   **Distributed Cloud Managed Service Portal** enables F5 service provider partners to build and tailor their own managed service offerings based on the leading security capabilities of F5 Distributed Cloud WAAP. This approach lets partners manage Distributed Cloud WAAP on behalf of their customers without sacrificing visibility, resulting in new revenue sources and value-added services while extending the overall reach of the solution.

"The beauty of F5 is that they understand each application and provide a solution for that application," said Mhd Wail Wajih Khachfa, Chief Information Security Officer, The Department of Digital Ajman. "For us, F5 is not just a technology provider. They are a strategic partner in our journey to provide the best performance, availability, and security to our customers."

"Just as every business has different risk factors, app security will never be one size fits all," said Chris Steffen, Managing Research Director, Enterprise Management Associates. "Today's leading vendors recognize that a better approach is to provide integrated capabilities that can take advantage of unified security policies—and enhanced machine learning—across data center, cloud, hybrid, and edge deployments. F5 solutions give customers the flexibility to scale their apps and infrastructure in concert while offering leading security in any deployment context."

****Additional Resources****

*   F5's 2023 State of Application Strategy Report
*   F5 Distributed Cloud Services

****About F5****

F5 is a multi-cloud application services and security company committed to bringing a better digital world to life.​​​​​​​ F5 partners with the world’s largest, most advanced organizations to secure and optimize every app and API anywhere—on premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. F5 enables organizations to provide exceptional, secure digital experiences for their customers and continuously stay ahead of threats. For more information, go to f5.com. (NASDAQ: FFIV)

You can also follow @F5 on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies. F5 is a trademark, service mark, or tradename of F5, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

F5 Safeguards Digital Services With New AI-Powered App and API Security Capabilities

Uber gave sensitive data on drivers to a law firm representing the company in legal actions, but the data appears to not have had adequate security protections.

A law firm representing Uber Technologies has notified an unknown number of its drivers that sensitive data, including their names and Social Security numbers, has been stolen by cyberattackers.

It's the third data breach in six months for the ride-share giant.

Law firm Genova Burns LLC, based in Newark, NJ, first noticed suspicious activity at the end of January, and — after an investigation by outside specialists — discovered that its systems had been compromised and data on an undisclosed number of Uber drivers had been stolen, according to a letter published online on April 4. Uber sent the information to the law firm in connection with its legal representation, the letter stated.

Genova Burns did not explain why the law firm needed drivers' personally identifiable information (PII) and did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

"Upon learning of the event, we investigated to determine the nature and scope of the incident and secured the environment by changing all system passwords," the law firm said in the letter sent to Uber drivers. "We also notified law enforcement and are cooperating with its investigation. We will be taking additional steps to improve security and better help protect against similar incidents in the future."

Some major breaches have targeted legal firms, which typically hold very sensitive data and often do not have a dedicated information-security director. In January and February, two cybercriminal campaigns — GootLoader and SocGholish — hit six different law firms with cyberattacks. Notably, the cyberattackers behind GootLoader used search terms that refer to contracts, agreements, and other legal forms as bait in a drive-by download campaign.

By using malicious search engine optimization techniques, the attackers in that case lured potential victims to malicious sites, which then attempt to compromise the user's machine with their malware, says Keith Jarvis, a senior security researcher at Secureworks' Counter Threat Unit (CTU), who adds that it's unclear if the Uber data was specifically targeted or just caught up in such an effort.

"We do not know if this targeting is intentional or incidental, but it has been effective at ensnaring organizations in legal services," he says.

**Hackers Love to Hate Uber**

Uber has been a frequent target of hackers. The ride-sharing service provider had previously leaked information on 50,000 drivers and their license plates in May 2014, followed by a more serious breach in October 2016, when cybercriminals gained access to the private data of 57 million Uber users. In 2022, two more attacks — one through a third-party cloud provider — successfully captured sensitive data, and one resulted in the company's CISO resigning.

In the latest attack, Uber confirmed the breach, but directed questions back to its law firm.

"These drivers have been notified that their Social Security number and/or tax identification number have been potentially impacted and \[were\] offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services," Uber said in a statement. "Genova Burns indicates that they are not aware of any actual or attempted misuse of the information, and confirmed that they are taking additional steps to improve security and better protect against similar incidents in the future."

The law firm first detected the attack on Jan. 31, and, following an investigation by an unnamed third-party forensics and data-security specialist, discovered that its data had been accessed and exfiltrated during the week prior to discovery.

"On March 1, 2023, we determined that information related to you \[the Uber drivers\] was contained in an impacted file, after which we notified Uber," Genova Burns stated in the letter, published by The Register. "At this time, we are unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of your information as a result of this incident."

**Legal Linchpins to Information**

Genova Burns joins a growing group of law firms that have become victims of cyberattackers. In 2021, attackers accessed systems at Campbell Conroy & O'Neill, a law firm with hundreds of major corporate clients, that included names, birthdates, driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, and even medical information.

While most cybercriminals are opportunistic attackers, law firms often attract unwanted scrutiny, says Secureworks' Jarvis.

"For the minority of cybercriminal attacks where a victim is targeted, organizations with access to large amounts of third-party data, such as law firms, present a valuable target," he says. "Law firms also frequently fit the profile of small to midsized organizations with a sizable IT footprint but no dedicated security resources."

Over the past few years, nation-state groups have targeted law firms to uncover information on their clients' intellectual property and technologies in development.

Law Firm for Uber Loses Drivers' Data to Hackers in Yet Another Breach

In the height of tax-return season, a popular tax prep software service leaves a malicious JavaScript file online for weeks.

An IRS-approved software service for filing taxes electronically, eFile.com, was found to be delivering JavaScript malware just at the height of tax-return season.

eFile.com, which was used as a conduit for filing more than 66 million tax returns in 2022, was flagged by users and researchers alike. The malicious file existed on the website for weeks — named "popper.js," it was being loaded by nearly every page on the website.

Suspicions of a "hijacking" of the website first began on March 17 when a Reddit thread raised awareness of the site redirecting users to a fake "Network Error" page. Ultimately, these Reddit users were correct in their suspicions, as researchers found another file named "update.js" that had a fake SSL error message, prompting "users to download next stage payload."

The incident serves as a warning regarding the safety of tax filing services and their cybersecurity due to the highly sensitive information it involves, as well as the fact that the website was compromised for an extended period of time without being resolved.

"Tax filing services and their customers are prime targets for cybercriminals in the peak of their busiest season of the year," said Zane Bond, head of product at Keeper Security, a Chicago-based provider of zero-trust and zero-knowledge cybersecurity software, in an emailed statement. "What should you do when you're up against the deadline to get your taxes filed? Remain cautious and don't make rushed clicks. If you are concerned about the security of any tax filing software you're using, consider using a certified professional or the federal government's e-file site to file your taxes."

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eFile Tax Return Software Found Serving Up Malware

Customers have increased access to Akamai security experts to help protect from sophisticated cyberattacks.

**CAMBRIDGE, Mass.****,** **April 4, 2023** **/PRNewswire/ --** Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and protects life online, today introduced an updated managed security service program and premium service offerings. The new capabilities are intended to help customers protect their businesses 24x7 from the most sophisticated attacks with proactive monitoring and rapid response in the event of a cyberattack. Customers can take advantage of access to more Akamai security experts, reduced pricing, and more direct assistance. In addition, a premium version of the service is available for customers seeking personalized support and prioritized escalation paths.

An ever-widening attack surface is challenging organizations with credential stuffing and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that can disrupt and take down business services. Financial services is one of the most-targeted sectors according to a recent Akamai State of the Internet report, Enemy at the Gates. The industry has seen a 257% increase in web applications and API attacks, an 81% increase in bot activity that could lead to credential stuffing, and a 22% increase in DDoS targets year-over-year.

"Businesses everywhere are struggling to defend against sophisticated cyber adversaries who are determined to create chaos and hinder business continuity. Our customers have asked for higher levels of service, which is what we're delivering with Akamai's managed security service and premium offerings," said Roger Barranco, Vice President of Support Services at Akamai. "We're partnering with our customers in a way that augments the availability of highly skilled proactive cybersecurity professionals."

**Updates to Akamai Managed Security Services**

Akamai Managed Security Services  help customers realize new benefits including:

*   **Access to** **more Akamai Experts:** Technical advisory hours with engagement managers and support delivery managers is included with no overage charges
*   **Same Price. More Value:** The basic package price of Akamai's Managed Security Service remains the same. Pricing per any additional App & API Protector with Advanced Security Management (AAP/ASM) managed policy, Bot Manager Premier (BMP) managed endpoint, and price per managed Page Integrity (PI) configuration have all been reduced
*   **More Assistance:** Off-hours configuration assistance, Akamai University seats, and quarterly customer business reviews included

More information about Akamai Managed Security Services is available on the product page.

**Security Operations Control Center (SOCC) Premium Service Features**

Akamai's premium service is designed to provide a customer-specific support experience and prioritized path to escalation. Premium service features include:

*   **Named Resources:** Customers will have 24/7 access to SOCC experts with customer-specific information to drive better outcomes and alignment
*   **Increased Communication:** Proactive communication from SOCC subject matter experts
*   **Reviews:** Regular reviews with Akamai SOCC experts to collaborate and exchange information
*   **Superior Monitoring:** Customers will have access to enhanced site monitoring and a customer-specific Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) view in the SOCC dashboard
*   **Faster Escalations:** Customers will have immediate access to Akamai subject matter experts and a quicker escalation path to SOCC management

Akamai's SOCC Premium Service will be available for customers starting on April 6, 2023.

**About Akamai**

Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. Akamai Connected Cloud, a massively distributed edge and cloud platform, puts apps and experiences closer to users and keeps threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai's security, compute, and delivery solutions at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Akamai Launches Managed Security Service Updates and New Premium Offering

The malware is one of the most sophisticated ransomwares ever seen in the wild, and marks a leap ahead for cybercrime.

What might be the fastest-ever ransomware encryption binary has been spotted in the wild, locking up systems at nearly twice the speed of the notorious LockBit 3.0 malware.

According to speed tests by Check Point Research (CPR), the new baddie on the scene, dubbed "Rorschach," can encrypt 220,000 local drive files in just four and a half minutes. For comparison, LockBit 3.0 accomplished the task in seven minutes, and it's far, far faster than the median encryption time determined in testing last year.

"What's even more noteworthy is that the Rorschach ransomware is highly customizable. By adjusting the number of encryption threads via the command line argument, it can achieve even faster times," according to CPR research issued April 4.

**A Patchwork of the Best Ransomware Techniques**

Aside from its concerning efficiency, Rorschach is notable because it contains publicly known elements cribbed from leaked source code from other ransomware strains. And interestingly, the operators behind Rorschach don't employ an alias, nor do they brand their wares — very uncommon to see in ransomware gangland where reputation matters and self-promotion is rife.

The result is a malware strain that is open to interpretation in terms of who its operators are and where it fits in the ecosystem — hence the name.

“Just as a psychological Rorschach test looks different to each person, this new type of ransomware has high levels technically distinct features taken from different ransomware families — making it special and different from other ransomware families," says Sergey Shykevich, threat intelligence group manager at CPR.

The Frankenstein aspects present in the malware include:

*   Autonomously carrying out tasks that are usually manual in ransomware strains, such as creating a domain group policy (LockBit 2.0);
*   A hybrid-cryptography scheme that is the basis of its encryption speed (Babuk);
*   Ransom notes that borrow heavily from previous ransomware families (DarkSide and Yanluowang);
*   The list of services to be stopped in Rorschach's configuration (Babuk);
*   The list of languages used to halt the malware (LockBit 2.0);
*   And, the I/O Completion Ports method of thread (LockBit 2.0).

**Rorschach's Unique Coding Elements**

However, while it's a borrower, Rorschach also adds its own special sauce to the proceedings. For instance, CPR spotted it being deployed in the US using DLL side-loading and an older version of Palo Alto Networks' (PAN) Cortex XDR Dump Service Tool — something that PAN verified.

"Palo Alto Networks has verified that Cortex XDR 7.7, and newer versions, with content update version 240, and later content updates, detect and block the ransomware," according to an advisory PAN issued in tandem with CPR's research.

It also makes use of direct syscalls to silently inject malicious code into other processes, which CPR researchers called "startling," since the technique is extremely rare in the ransomware ecosystem.

"This technique is commonly used to evade behavioral detection by advanced and sophisticated malware, and is not commonly observed in ransomware," explains Shykevich. "Implementation of such mechanisms makes it much more difficult to detect the ransomware."

Also notable: It's partially autonomous, meaning that it can worm its way through an environment without user interaction.

"It spreads itself automatically when executed on a Domain Controller (DC), while it clears the event logs of the affected machines," according to the analysis. "In addition, it’s extremely flexible, operating not only based on a built-in configuration but also on numerous optional arguments which allow it to change its behavior according to the operator’s needs."

In all, Rorschach "raises the bar for ransom attacks," according to CPR researchers.

"This is the fastest and one of the most sophisticated ransomware we’ve seen so far," Shykevich says. "It speaks to the rapidly changing nature of cyberattacks and to the need for companies to deploy a prevention-first solution that can stop Rorschach from encrypting their data.”

Source

DARKReading